WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.040 Amen. So some of us will be aware that we are in the build-up to festival season, music-wise. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.679 ! So let me begin with a music image. I imagine if you're not that much into music, you know what 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:21.679 ! happens when someone plays unplugged. A band or a singer has an unplugged set. What you get is 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:28.640 the song stripped back without all the extras. So there's no effects, there's no solos, maybe there's 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:35.840 no big choir, it's stripped back to the heart of the song. And there's something really powerful in that. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:43.600 Well, Jesus, as He continues to preach this famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, in effect says 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:53.439 to you and I today, tell the truth unplugged. Don't add extras. We don't need to add 00:00:53.439 --> 00:01:02.239 oaths, often false oaths. We don't need to dress up the truth, and we should not shade the truth. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:10.560 What we have from Jesus are really simple but challenging words, and I hope that we'll all 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:18.000 see that in different ways we stand in need of Jesus' truth. Think about our own words. You and I know that 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:26.799 our words matter, and they matter to the people around us. If we have words that are truthful, 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:37.280 then that links with being trustworthy. We don't want to be the boy who cried woo. And we admire those 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:46.960 people who are known for telling the truth, where their word is their bond. The kind of person we meet 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:52.479 from Psalm 15, someone who speaks truth from the heart, someone who doesn't slander others, 00:01:52.479 --> 00:02:00.479 someone who keeps their word even when it hurts. So the teaching of Jesus matters for our own words, 00:02:00.479 --> 00:02:07.679 but I think we recognize too it matters for our world. There are lots of people commenting and 00:02:07.679 --> 00:02:16.240 writing about the fact that we are experiencing truth decay. So at the same time as we've never had more 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:23.040 access to information, the question of what is truth and where is it to be found becomes harder and 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:30.879 harder to answer. It's increasingly recognized that we don't have anymore a shared concept of truth 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:36.719 that's rooted in something that is objective and agreed upon. Rather, we have the idea, 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:45.599 well, this is my truth, you tell me yours. Truth is often manipulated to suit personal agenda. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:55.840 And what we're seeing as a society is that loss of truth has led to a loss of trust in authority and 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:04.879 institutions. And also we're losing a sense of community. If we're not able to discuss constructively, 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:09.199 because there's no shared idea of truth, then we really struggle to build community. 00:03:10.079 --> 00:03:14.639 So Jesus' words on truth really matter for the world in which we live. But they also matter if 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:21.199 we're Christians for our witness. Remember earlier, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount talked about being 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:27.519 the salt of the earth and the city on the hill to be the light of the world. You know, you and I, 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:35.280 while we can't change government, we can't change how big business or social media operates, we can 00:03:36.320 --> 00:03:44.480 commit ourselves personally to pursue truth and integrity, to be people who are known for truth 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:53.840 telling, to build trust in our words in such a way that we might shine a spotlight on the greatest truth of all. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:04.240 God in Jesus has come to save us and to bring us into his kingdom. So I think this is a really important 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:10.159 message, a really simple message. We can summarize it in one sentence. Here it is. Followers of Jesus 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:20.399 speak the truth simply and sincerely to demonstrate love for God and love for our neighbor. So we'll see 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:26.799 that as we go. The first principle I think that Jesus identifies for us is this, speak the truth 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:33.359 knowing that your Father sees you. So again, as Jesus teaches here, he very much has in view 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:41.759 the Pharisees, the other religious teachers, and how they treat oaths and what their attitude to the truth 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:47.519 actually is. To help us to see this, we need to understand oaths in the Old Testament and to 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:54.560 understand that an oath was never commanded by God. It wasn't seen as necessary, but it was permitted. 00:04:55.919 --> 00:05:02.879 People were permitted to make oaths as an expression of their love for God, of their loyalty to the Lord 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:10.560 as God. So a few texts to show us, Numbers 30 verse 2, when a man makes a vow or an oath to the Lord, 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:17.040 he must not break his word, but must do everything he said. Deuteronomy 6, we heard it, 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:25.040 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only, and take your oaths in his name. And then later on in Deuteronomy, 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.240 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:38.160 demand it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. So the teaching of the Old Testament, that oath 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:49.840 was an act of worship. It was about our heart and our life showing commitment to God, expressed in the 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:56.000 form of an oath, with the obligation therefore to obey. So here's what we need to understand. We need 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:03.200 to understand what have the Pharisees done with that concept. And what they've done, and we saw this last 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:09.839 week, is they've figured out, here's another escape tunnel I can dig. This time, here's a way to escape 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:20.319 from my oath. And so they were acting and teaching that my oath, my word, is only binding if I specifically 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:28.159 reference the Lord God. So what they've done is they've got these series of get-out clauses. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:37.200 Look at verse 34. It's clear that they've been swearing by heaven, or they've been swearing by the 00:06:37.200 --> 00:06:41.440 earth, or they've been swearing by the city of Jerusalem. They've even been swearing by their head. 00:06:41.440 --> 00:06:48.640 And the point is, well if I just do that, then I don't really need to keep that promise. I'm not 00:06:48.640 --> 00:06:56.320 disobeying God if I fail to keep my word. It would work like this. If I was to say to you, 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:04.240 I swear on my head, ma'am, I will give you 20 pounds next week. If you came to me next week and 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:10.399 said, where's my 20 pound? I'd say, oh sorry, I didn't swear in God's name. I only swore on my head, 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:19.800 therefore I'm not obligated to give you the money. It's a basic dishonesty in the form of an oath. 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:28.460 And Jesus challenges that basic dishonesty by reminding them, reminding us, that everything 00:07:28.460 --> 00:07:36.040 belongs to God. So look at verse 34. Don't swear by heaven, because what's heaven? It's God's throne. 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:42.259 Don't swear by the earth. Recognize the earth is God's footstool. Jerusalem, that's God's city. 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:54.019 Our head, well that belongs to God also. And that was designed by Jesus to remind us that our Father 00:07:54.019 --> 00:08:00.500 is present. He is a witness to all our words and promises, whether we use His name or not. 00:08:02.099 --> 00:08:09.860 And that should shape our words. And especially as we remember that every word matters to God. 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:23.300 Our God speaks truth and only truth. Our God is truth. Truth is sacred to God. And as image-baders, 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:30.900 we are called likewise to love, to value, and to protect truth. 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:42.659 And so Jesus says, do not swear an oath at all. Now here He's not referring to the law courts or 00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:49.199 promises that we make at a wedding ceremony. He's thinking about that idea in our regular discourse, 00:08:49.199 --> 00:08:55.980 where we resort to adding words that actually reveal a basic dishonesty in our speaking. 00:08:55.980 --> 00:09:06.860 I guess we maybe grew up with expressions like, cross my heart and hope to die. You know, I swear on my 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:13.659 mother's grave. What are we doing there? We're adding intensity in our words to gain trust. But that 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:20.139 reflects the fact that maybe we have a dishonesty problem. And it's really interesting as well to 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:26.620 think about how this kind of crops up in our everyday conversation. Phrases that we use, 00:09:27.419 --> 00:09:36.379 either speaking or in response, like, honestly? Or we want someone to believe us and we say, 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:43.819 you know, there's not a word of a lie. We say, oh, you wouldn't believe it. Really? Seriously? Seriously? 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:50.220 Did we notice? Maybe not all of us have that same conversation tick, but a lot of us probably do. 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:55.580 And it reminds us, I think, as people, we have a complicated relationship with truth. 00:09:57.420 --> 00:10:02.140 We really want people to believe our words, but often we struggle to be trustworthy. 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:10.220 What is it that makes us tell a lie? What is it that makes us shade the truth? What is it that leads us 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:19.180 to make bold claims that we can't back up? All of us are different. And I think it's really important 00:10:19.180 --> 00:10:26.860 for all of us to know our own heart, to recognize where we are tempted to lie or to shade the truth. 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:34.300 And maybe for you, like for me, I think, that we want to protect our reputation. 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:42.939 I don't want my failure to be seen, so I will try and hide the truth as much as possible. 00:10:44.219 --> 00:10:51.819 Maybe it's we want to avoid taking responsibility. We don't like the consequences that might come. 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:57.259 We don't want to be found out, so therefore we will not tell the truth. 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:05.500 Maybe it's because of insecurity that we shade the truth in such a way that it puts ourselves in the 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:12.860 best light possible and puts other people in the worst light. Maybe it's because of fear. 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:21.899 If I tell someone the truth, if I tell someone the truth about myself, will this person show me grace or 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:28.539 not? Is this going to mean the end of a relationship? Am I going to be exposed or rejected? 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:36.379 There's lots of causes in our heart that can make us struggle with the truth. But Jesus says, 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:42.139 speak the truth. Remember, your father sees you. And notice how he finishes in verse 37. All you need 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:48.939 to say is simply yes and no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one. When we lie, 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:57.260 when we hold on to the truth lightly, when we only talk a good game but we've got no intention of 00:11:57.260 --> 00:12:03.980 following through, Jesus reminds us we're speaking the devil's native language. Who is the devil? He's 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:13.500 the father of lies. He's the great deceiver. And at the same time, we stop speaking God's language, 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:23.259 the language of truth. I read an article from a diplomat this week, which I found really interesting. 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:28.539 Eric called Gabriel Ashinafi. Listen to him. After he talked about this sort of the decay of truth, 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:37.179 he said this, when truth is subjective, society loses its ability to engage in constructive conversation. 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:45.979 Citizens retreat into their own version of reality where they are unable to find common ground with 00:12:45.979 --> 00:12:57.179 others. Having truth matters and speaking the truth matters for community and for society. And Jesus' 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:04.059 teaching reminds us that every promise that you and I give, every word that you and I speak, 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:13.179 we do before our Father in heaven. And as much as we might struggle with the fear of others, 00:13:13.179 --> 00:13:18.859 will I lose reputation? Will I experience consequence? Again, we're invited to live with the fear of the Lord. 00:13:19.819 --> 00:13:28.059 In that sense that we are conscious of His presence, of that desire we have above everything to love Him 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:35.500 and to obey Him, and to bring that right down to the nitty-gritty of our words and our truth. 00:13:37.339 --> 00:13:43.259 So, that's the first principle that Jesus invites us to consider, speak the truth because our Father sees us. 00:13:44.219 --> 00:13:49.419 The second principle that we see here is, speak the truth and keep it simple and sincere. 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:58.539 I think Jesus puts His finger on a temptation that maybe we also experience. That temptation to pile up 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:07.579 words upon words to make them sound more believable. Or perhaps we want to disguise the truth under this 00:14:07.579 --> 00:14:18.139 great cascade of words that pours from us. There are some places where we recognize that as people we have a 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:28.379 great ability to sidestep or to disguise the truth. I think we can see it in the movement of our politicians. 00:14:28.379 --> 00:14:32.539 Because they are experts, aren't they? You watch any interview with a politician, they're experts at 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:39.179 sidestepping the question at hand. Even if, you know, even if the interview is saying, listen, I just need a 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:50.059 simple yes or no answer. They can find a way with a whole barrage of words to get around giving a simple direct answer. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:55.339 Sadly, that's not just restricted to politicians. 00:14:57.579 --> 00:15:05.500 In fact, it's probably something that we all learn as children. If we don't even need to be taught it, learning it maybe 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:14.139 makes it sound like it's not something that we just have instinctively. You ask a child, did you draw on that wall? 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:25.740 No. While the crayon drops to the floor behind them. Did you hit your brother? That's a fairly simple yes or no. 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:37.259 But he stole my toy. But he started it. Did you clean your room? You'll get an answer, but there's always essential follow-ups. 00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:46.060 Not just, did you hide it under the bed, stuff it in the bottom of the cupboard. But we understand that from childhood, 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:56.619 we struggle with simple, sincere truth. It's a habit that we find really hard to develop out of. 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:00.379 And so Jesus takes us back to first words. 00:16:02.059 --> 00:16:07.899 All you need to say is simply yes or no. 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:14.299 If we care about truth, Jesus is saying, we need to learn to cut out the extras. 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:21.579 We need to keep it simple. We need to practice truth unplugged. 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:30.459 Even as much as that may be uncomfortable for us. He gives us these basic rules for our words and for our intentions. 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:37.340 Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. 00:16:38.060 --> 00:16:40.940 It's not complicated, but it's really challenging, isn't it? 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:49.180 Here is Jesus. His kingdom is built on grace and truth. And he says to us, now that you've discovered 00:16:49.180 --> 00:16:54.620 God's grace and you've been brought in, I want you to live practicing truth. 00:16:54.620 --> 00:17:03.820 And as we keep the truth simple and sincere, that yes or no, it shows that we value truth. We want to 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:11.819 protect the truth. And it shows that we want to honor God our Father. We want to keep His command, 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:18.700 do not lie. We don't want to see how close we can get to that. We want to see how much we can walk 00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:26.779 in integrity and in truthfulness. God speaks truth. He is our Father. We want to wear His family likeness. 00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:33.819 But as we have this commitment to simple, sincere truth, it also shows we honor other people. 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:42.460 We want to be reliable. We want to have integrity. We want to be simple and sincere and transparent in 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:50.220 our dealings. So again, it sounds simple. It's not complicated. There's nothing complicated here. 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:53.980 But I think the working out of it is really challenging. 00:17:56.059 --> 00:18:03.259 Because there are those situations where we want others to think well of us. And so we are tempted 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:09.259 to tell the little white lie. It's no big deal. Perhaps we think nobody will ever find out. 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:18.299 I like what C.S. Lewis said. He said, a little lie is like a little pregnancy. It doesn't take long 00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:25.579 before everyone knows. And so we should practice integrity. But it's hard. There are times where we 00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:33.339 don't want to face an uncomfortable truth. And we know that telling our truth will land us into 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:39.259 difficulty. So we might be deliberately vague. We might paint a picture where we're 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:49.740 seen to be the hero rather than guilty of wrongdoing. It is hard to be honest when we fear damage to our 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:55.980 relationship. And so we are tempted to think, well, it's maybe better to cover up rather than risk a 00:18:55.980 --> 00:19:04.779 negative reaction. When Jesus says, let your yes be yes and your no be no, he knows that as people we are 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:21.660 prone to exaggeration. And so Jesus wants his followers simply to cut it out. To speak the truth simply and 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:33.500 sincerely. And when we do, it's one way for us to show our love for God. And Jesus was asked, what's the 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:38.700 greatest commandment? He went to Deuteronomy 6? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:47.980 mind and strength. God is the one true and living God. He speaks grace and truth. He is unique. He has 00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:52.980 created us. He has saved us in Jesus. He deserves our worship and our obedience, including our truth 00:19:52.980 --> 00:20:01.500 telling. Jesus said to his disciples really clearly, if you love me, you will obey my commands. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:11.500 Those commands include, do not lie, but do tell the truth. And when we break that love command, 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:21.740 it opens the door for breaking every other command. But if we want to keep the command to love God, 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:31.119 that will influence our attitude towards truth. As we look to factor God into every area of our life, 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:38.699 as we want to practice the fear of the Lord, as we want to show that he is Lord of all of our life, 00:20:40.139 --> 00:20:43.119 then that's going to have an influence on the words that we speak. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:53.259 It's an invitation to us to let the word of the gospel shape our words, to recognize that we are 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:59.199 loved, we are accepted, we are called into his kingdom, that that would influence how we speak, 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.599 that we would show love for God. But also, as we commit to speaking the truth simply and sincerely, 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:11.679 it shows a love for other people. Remember when Jesus is asked what the two great commandments, 00:21:11.819 --> 00:21:14.740 the first one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, the other, 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:23.199 love your neighbor as yourself. Do we recognize what a gift it is to one another, to the people in our 00:21:23.199 --> 00:21:27.779 lives, to our community, if we are committed to telling the truth? 00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:37.839 What a wonderful group of people to discover. Here is a group of people whose word is reliable. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:47.680 When they say they will do something, they do it. Here's a group of people who speak with clarity 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:56.259 and transparency so that we know where we stand with them. That's something really refreshing 00:21:56.259 --> 00:22:02.039 in a world full of half-truths where it's hard to figure out where is the truth to be found. We have 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:08.960 the truth in God's word, and that shapes our attitude to truth-telling, and that is effective in building 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:18.379 real community. The life of truth-telling that Jesus calls us to is such a gift to the people around us, 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:25.819 to our friends, to our family, to our colleagues. It is a really great way to love our neighbor. 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:34.019 We don't want to be lied to. We don't want to have to figure out if a person's word is reliable or not. 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:37.319 Therefore, we want to be honest with others and be really transparent. 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:45.720 So perhaps one of the responses that we have to the words of Jesus is that we would start this new 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.299 week committing to speak the truth. Think about where you're going to find yourself this week, 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:56.779 the people that you're going to mix with, and determine even when it's costly you're going to 00:22:56.779 --> 00:23:05.159 speak the truth. Start at home, your family with the people that you live with. Think about the place 00:23:05.159 --> 00:23:10.700 where you work or your school. Think about what's going to happen when you go to a community group, 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:14.419 when the guys gather here on a Friday to share a meal. 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:23.680 As we commit to truth, we're committing to building trust together, and we're committing to bless others. 00:23:26.080 --> 00:23:36.400 One last principle to consider. Speak the truth and let Jesus help you. Because it's challenging 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:44.820 to pursue honesty and truthfulness. So when we struggle with truth-telling, when we're tempted 00:23:44.820 --> 00:23:53.500 to shade the truth, when our fear and insecurity would lead us to speak with forked tongues, 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:59.500 where do we find help? Where do we find the power to change and to grow? 00:23:59.500 --> 00:24:09.140 Well, Jesus invites us to look to Him, who is Jesus. Jesus is truly God. He is the one who said, 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:17.539 I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the one who invites us to come to Him. He says, 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:27.880 you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. We're invited to come to Jesus and to 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:38.300 recognize here is the truly righteous man of Psalm 15. Remember that description of the righteous person? 00:24:39.320 --> 00:24:45.180 Here is the one who speaks with integrity. All his words and his ways are righteousness. 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:55.040 And then there's that wonderful promise that this righteous man keeps his oath, keeps his promise, 00:24:55.039 --> 00:25:07.440 even when it hurts. Now think about that in relation to the mission of Jesus. Jesus is committed to God's 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:17.099 mission of salvation. Jesus is committed to establishing a new covenant between God and His people. And for Him 00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:32.099 to keep that promise, it hurts. It involves betrayal and rejection and suffering and ultimately dying on the cross 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:41.579 in the place of sinners like us. Taking the penalty for our lies, for our shade in the truth, for our breaking 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:45.579 our promises in the truth. And for our sake of salvation, we're not going to be able to keep God's promise. 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:50.419 We're not going to be able to keep God's promise of salvation to us. That through Jesus' broken body, 00:25:50.819 --> 00:25:59.839 through His shed blood, there is forgiveness. There is restored life with God. There's the truth that sets us free. 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:07.539 And the truth of the gospel continues to set us free to pursue truth in our own lives. 00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:21.099 When I live knowing and living out the truth that in Jesus, I have God's approval, I have His love, 00:26:22.700 --> 00:26:26.539 then I'm going to find that there is freedom to be honest with my words, 00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:31.879 to be honest about my weakness, to be honest about our sin. 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:41.200 God knows the truth about me, and still He loves me, and He approves of me, and He accepts me. 00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:52.200 That truth frees us up to live out truth. When we believe and live knowing that Jesus paid for all my sins, 00:26:53.460 --> 00:26:59.640 all those little white lies that I justify, all those big lies that I am so ashamed of, 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:06.800 He has paid the price in full. There is no condemnation. When He is my King of grace and truth, 00:27:06.840 --> 00:27:12.520 and He rules in my heart, what do we have? We have freedom from guilt. 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:21.360 We have a new motivation and a new power to choose His way, the way of truth and love. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:27.899 When we hear the true words of the gospel spoken to us, 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:36.759 I love you. I will never let you go. I will send my Spirit to be with you, and He will help you. 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:45.099 I will take you home to be with me. As we hear the gospel, as our words are shaped by 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:52.619 the gospel word, we have that new power and that new desire to love and speak the truth. 00:27:55.019 --> 00:28:01.740 So, for us to speak the truth simply and sincerely, knowing the Father sees us, 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:09.459 to speak the truth unplugged, we need to come to Jesus. We need to hear the truth of His love. 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:19.519 And from that position, we go with Jesus to speak the truth to one another. Let's pray together. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:19.680 Amen. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:19.680 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:19.680 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:19.680 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:19.680 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:19.680