To Tell the Truth I, Telling Yourself the Truth

I'd like you to turn with me in your Bibles, please, to John's Gospel this morning. We're going to begin reading in verse 14. This will be the center point of our Christmas season Bible studies over the next month. John 1, 14. The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me. And from the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Just a couple of years ago, I was involved in a heated tennis match with an unnamed player, who is here in the room, who was playing totally out of his mind. The match was extremely close. And in one of my excellent shots that sent him careening back toward the back screen, over his shoulder he went like this, not seeing anywhere where he was hitting, and hit the ball and lobbed it up, just barely making it. And as he fell flat in the opposite direction, I stood there and watched that ball breathe on the marking line. I knew that he couldn't see anything, as he was flat out. I knew that this was the crucial turning point in the match. I knew that that ball, to the naked eye, had not hit the line, but to the judge's eye, might have. Might have just touched the very end. I mean, you know, the perpendicular part of the line. And I faced a moment of truth, because I could have easily, in the heat of that moment, called the point for me, won that game and probably the match, and savored the hard-fought victory, or I could tell the truth and give the point to my opponent. Truth is one of those things, and I'm not going to tell you what I did, by the way. That we don't really think an awful lot about, until it gets down to where we live. When I first shared some weeks ago that this was going to be the direction of our messages in the month of December, a lot of people said, well, you know, I really wonder. I want to hear about truth as it relates to the cults and other people who, you know, third world people who have crazy ideas about things and communist dogma and political. But folks, you see, truth fundamentally starts on the inside. The issue of truth isn't so radically significant out there, until it gets radically significant in here. And it's very, very personal. You'll discover, by the way, that truth is truth, whether you believe it or not, for your own life. You see, it's truth that if I take a long step off this platform, I'm going to fall down on the floor. I may not believe it, but gravity is truth and truth works. Likewise, things that you will discover about your life in light of God's Word are truth, whether you believe them or not, and they will come to pass. I want to begin looking today, not at truth as some alien concern about some general body of knowledge out there that scientists know or politicians know. I want to talk about Psalm 51.6, where God says, Surely you desire truth in the inward parts. You will not live in truth out there in the marketplace, if you are not living in truth in the inward parts of your heart. And though truth and coming to terms with it may cause some pain over the next weeks, I believe the present moment of pain will be far less than the long-term consequences of living in deception and lies, which, my dear ones, our world is full of people who've chosen that. Truth in the inward parts, we have a little definition for you to jot down. It's the process of living honestly with God and yourself, acknowledging failures and facing them openly while choosing to live in the light of His revelation. That's truth in the inward parts. You're living honestly with God and yourself. You're not in any pretense, and you admit you make mistakes and you have problems, but you choose to live in the light of His revelation, the revelation of His truth. And I want to begin today by talking about the truth that relates to what you tell yourself about yourself. The private conversations that you carry on in your own life in the day-to-day. How many parents have ever snuck up? Maybe you didn't mean to be, but you walked up the steps, kind of like I did a while back. And my son was in the bathroom, and he was talking. And he was just going on and on, and he had this conversation with inflection and emotion going back and forth. And I said, wow, that's strange. He usually takes a bath by himself. And I knocked on the door and peeked in, and guess what? He was talking to himself. Now, we expect that from a child, but how many of you know we all do it? Even we big children. We have these ongoing internal dialogues when we're speaking to ourselves about ourselves. Let me ask you about the last time you walked into the bathroom. Let's say one morning, just a little earlier this week, what was the first thing you said to yourself when you looked in the mirror this week? Oh, I look horrible. Oh, those bags and wrinkles. Oh, I'm getting fatter. Then you hear this voice say, oh, it's not that bad. It is too. No, it's not. Yes, it is. It's that bad. You see, we carry on conversations in our mind all the time. One conversation I'm always carrying on with myself is, what's the next thing I've got to do? What's next? What's next? Three in the morning. What's next? Go back to sleep. Okay. Most of those conversations are innocuous and unimportant. Most of them pass and just kind of fill up the airwaves inside of our brain. But make no mistake that the Bible says that many of those conversations are extremely important. In fact, Proverbs 23, 7 says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And what you're hearing, those are the musings of your heart. That's what you're carrying on in dialogue with yourself. That's what you really are coming to terms with. And what we say to ourselves in some particular areas are very important. In fact, let me just say that they are life-changing. So the first thing we need to do is to be aware of what's going on. And let me give you now, in terms of coming aware, being aware of where, what you're thinking to yourself, I want to talk about four specific areas where I think it's very important. Number one, what are you saying to yourself? What's your internal dialogue? What's going on if someone would lean up and listen to what's happening in your heart? What would they hear you saying to yourself about yourself? About your self-worth? Now, in a room with this many people, there's a high likelihood that there's someone sitting in one of these sections today whose internal dialogue is something like this. You know, I don't really belong in this place. I'm not like these people. I'm not as happy. I'm not as wealthy. I'm certainly not as spiritual. And they don't really care that much about me anyhow. And if I wouldn't come back, they wouldn't miss me. I couldn't really make a difference here. It's too big. This is going to be my last week. You see, there are people here today who have programmed themselves by talking to themselves over years that they don't really matter. And those thoughts bombarding even against... You see, you hear the Word. It's saying, wait a minute. You're hearing the music and you're sensing the worship and the presence of God. And you're saying, maybe there is. But that talk inside of you keeps saying, no, no, it's not true. You're not important. You don't matter. And that must be addressed because there are some other people here today. Maybe they're new to this body as well. Maybe they've only been here a little while. And they're thinking something like this. Wow, this is an exciting place. Look what's happening here. Even though there's all these people, God knows my name. And He knows that I have some unique things that I can offer this people. This is great. In fact, I bet I'm going to meet some new people today. I'm going to find someone that I can be a blessing to today. Lord, I thank You that You know me and You know who I am. And even with all this wonderful singing, You hear my voice today. It's a little scratchy, but You love it anyhow. You see the difference, how people see themselves? The same circumstances. One is delighted and the other is destroyed. All based on what they're telling themselves on the inside. Let's take the area of personal abilities for just a moment. I'm going to talk at the end of the service for just about a minute about our Christmas banquet and all the things that we need. There's some people that are here today who will look at that list of things and say, I couldn't do that. I couldn't go down there. I couldn't make a difference down there. I don't have any gifts to give. I'll probably spill the dinner on somebody. I'll probably get lost on my way down. I'll make a mess of it. But then there's some people who are saying, wow, a banquet. What a great opportunity to get involved and to make a difference. I've always wanted to wait on a table anyhow and see what it felt like. I'm going to make a difference in some people's lives. You see, that happens over and over and over again. Trust me, my brothers and sisters. I have conversations with people who just don't believe that they have anything to give. And they've told themselves that for years and now they believe it. Our inner conversation is going all the time in relationship to relationships and how we think people will receive us. If we feel like our acceptance is contingent upon how someone else looks at us, we are likely to walk around paranoid. If we say the wrong thing or look the wrong way or have the wrong something about us, we're not going to be accepted. I don't know how many people have, over the years, I've heard the thing, because someone didn't look at them right or say something to them right, they felt rejected and they said, well, that's it. Just no one loves me here. And they convince themselves. They talk it through. Or in your place of work, if a particular person doesn't like what you do, then suddenly everything you do is worthless. When in fact, those relationships are designed by God to have you make a difference. To have you contribute to the life of another. Not that you're going to live in ought to's and should's and what if's and I wonders. But rather you're going to be able to live giving, confidently. Because you know, open-mindedly, and you know, matter-of-factly, that there's a difference that you can make. But I want to talk, number four, about what you're saying to yourself concerning your spiritual life. What's the conversation like in there today about your walk with God? Now, out there in the world at large, people concern themselves and convince themselves of all kinds of things about God and where He is and what He's about. I wonder today as you exit this building in about an hour or half hour, whatever it's going to be, half hour. And people are the same after the second service. And cars line up in Richard Road, you see. And someone comes from up in one of the housing plans and drives up Richard Road. See, there's a long line of traffic. I wonder what you'd hear if you put your ear on their heart. You'd probably hear something like, those poor people, you know, they think going to church is the thing to do. I mean, why be so serious about this God stuff? I'm a Christian. And you'd probably hear them thinking, it's all going to work out anyhow. I mean, I'm as good as the next guy. Or you might hear them thinking, that crazy cult, those people down there, they're so nuts. Those pot bangers. But the person in the third car back might be thinking, you know, I really, my life is not going anywhere. What are all these people finding in this church? I need to get right with God. I've got to find some purpose for all this effort I'm putting out. You see, these are incredibly important thoughts. People think them all the time about themselves, and about what they can do, and about their relationships, and about God. Many of you right now are having all these thoughts. You're wondering, what is this? What does this mean? You see, for even in here, what you're saying to yourself is very, very important. We have a way here on Sunday mornings of filtering through truth too. Believe me, it's easy to see in the eyes of people, what they're doing with the truth that's coming forth. And it's so apparent when people here, when you who come, are tuned in, and when the truth is getting a little too tight, a little too close to where you're living, and you begin to tune out. Just getting the cutting edge of the Holy Spirit, the sword of the Spirit, the truth of God's cutting in a little close, and you're beginning to feel that discomfort. Because you know that if you hear the truth, you're accountable for it in your life, and you're thinking, boy, if I hear that, then I've got to live it. And so I'll just tune out for a while, until he gets to the next story, and then I'll get back in. And people do that all the time. They tune in when they want to hear it, and they tune out when they don't. You know, just better take it easy right there. Think about the next project I'm working on. Think about the next visit I'm going to have in my company. You see, if we're not careful, we can be real selective. And then we begin to think, when we hear the truth, well, that's just Jay's idea. Or that's just what North Way thinks. You see, the Bible says of itself, Thy word is truth. And it's amazing to me, how some people won't even consider changing until a prophecy comes. Because the prophecy to them is the neutral zone. Well, that's really God. That must really be God. But the word coming forth, week by week, Wednesday nights, home group. You see, the word is truth. The prophecy is just another way of speaking the truth. We need to get away from looking at the instrument and saying, well, I don't know if I agree, I don't know if that's His interpretation. And just say, wait a minute, God, if it's Your truth, I need it in my life. I need it in my life. It will change me. What we're saying to our own selves, in our minds today, is vitally important. We need to hear Psalm 15, verse 2, which says that we speak the truth to ourselves in our hearts. What you say in your heart is vitally important today. If it's not the truth, then what is it? It's a lie. There isn't any neutral stuff out there. It's either truth or it's a lie. And how many of you know who the father of lies is? Jesus told us. John 8, verse 44 says that the devil is the father of lies. So, you see, if what you're believing about yourself, what you're saying isn't the truth, then it's a lie. And if it's a lie, it's from the enemy. And if it's from the enemy, it's against the purposes of God for you. You see, God has your best at heart. Oh, church. Those of you, I just want to throw this in here. Those of you who struggled with making a financial commitment and didn't know all about what it meant and where it's going, God has your best. He is not going to squeeze you out until you have to sell your kids to pay your pledge off. God has your best. I'm so full of anticipation for those of you who are learning to tithe for the first time. Because God has your best. He doesn't need our money. But He has our best at heart. And that's the truth. I didn't say it. God said it. See if I don't open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you can't contain. And if we learn to speak the truth to ourselves, there will be an enormous difference in what happens in our lives. When we start lying, the consequences will be devastating. Do you know there are people who have lied to themselves to the point where they don't believe it matters what you think about God. You know people. I know people who think the lie they've believed is they just go to church. That's all it takes. And in the end, God's going to grate on the curve and some, you know, I'm as good as the next guy so I'll make it through. My dear brothers and sisters, that's not the truth. And that internal conversation which just goes on millions of times in America today is a lie. That people say to themselves, this is what I must do. So be aware of what you're saying to yourself in those inner places of the heart concerning your self-worth, concerning what you can do, concerning your relationships and concerning your walk with God. Number two, Roman numeral two. Once you know what you're saying, if you find out that really what you're believing is a lie, then be upfront about it. Just say, you know, I'm believing a lie. If you find yourself thinking today, you know, I don't have anything worth offering to the body of Christ. That's a lie. Tell yourself that. Right in the middle of the sentence. Say, I'm not going to believe that anymore. I can make a difference. And then begin, number three, to replace the lie with the truth. Begin to put the truth where the lie was. Put the truth where the lie was holding you back. Put the truth in there. Put the truth of God's Word in that place. Yeah, it's going to cost you something. There's going to be some pain there. Now, I can't tell you. How many of you know that many, many times in the moment it's easier not to tell the truth? You ever heard the term little white lie? What is a little white lie? Well, a little white lie is something that you say that's not exactly the truth because to say the truth, you figure it's going to be so painful that you really couldn't bear it. How many times are we tempted just to tell a little white lie? It's not really hurting anybody. But you see, that little bit of pain for speaking the truth is so much easier to bear in the long run than the pain that comes from living in a lie. I'm going to ask you as we leave today to take a little lie detector test of yourself. All right? Just in conclusion, I want you to think in your own heart. The same John that wrote the Gospel also wrote back in his epistle these words. 1 John 1. Just write it down. I'll read it. Verses 5 and 7. God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. And if we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. Let me ask you about the truth as you're living it concerning your self-worth today. What do you believe? What conversation have you had about your self-worth? Are you telling yourself how much you really matter to God? Do you know the Bible says some marvelous things about how much you matter to God? If you're reading the Psalms through, as most of us are, day by day in the Scriptures, it's marvelous to hear the things that God says about us, how much He loves us. Listen, for example, in Isaiah. I want to turn there. Isaiah 43. Listen to what He says about how much He loves you. Fear not, He said, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. And when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for your life. Over and over and over again, the promise of His Word tells us that we're valuable. Psalm 56 says that the Lord takes every tear of yours and puts it in a bottle. He's saying no matter where you walk, I love you enough to be with you. I'll lead your steps. I'll guide you. I cherish you. And there are some people, now this may not apply to all you folks, but there are definitely some people here this morning who need to know that despite what your parents told you, despite what your boss tells you, despite what your spouse tells you, you are a loved and valued person. And that's God's Word. That's the truth. And you need to tell yourself that. It will change your life. God said it so loud that He gave the greatest gift of all. Some of you need to tell yourself about your personal abilities that you can make a difference. That God has created you. Psalm 139, 13 and 14 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, that you've been given a unique gift. Our network ministry is designed to help you find what that is and plug it in. Plug it in. I'll tell you what, people who found their gift are so motivated, they know that God's given them that gift to use and they are excited about using it. You have something to give. Number three, and I'm going to talk about this over the next weeks. What do you believe? What are you telling yourself about relationships? Do you believe just kind of what someone along the way imparted to you that they're not interested and you don't have much to give? Maybe when you were a junior hire, you got cut out of a little group of girls and ever since then, you felt defeated. That relationships aren't for you. I want to say loud and clear today, God's put you in a body. He's linked you with men and women that are called your brothers and sisters, your family. And that's the greatest truth. Tell yourself that. You're loved here. You have a place here. Your part is necessary for my part. I'll talk about this more in the coming weeks. And number four, I couldn't really end today without talking for a moment about what you're saying to yourself about your spiritual walk. What are you talking about when it comes to your walk with God? Are you telling yourself the truth? I've already talked to you about the person that's out there kind of deceiving themselves in general terms. It's easy to see someone who's living a counterfeit life. Someone who says, I'll just take my chances. In the end, I figure God's going to open the doors wide enough but also by one way or another. But you know, truthfully today, especially at this service, I'm more concerned about many of us who for whatever reasons have accepted half-truths and have begun over the years to talk to ourselves in half-truths. We know enough of the Bible to be comfortable about what we think, but we will not accept the whole truth. And half-truth produces half-hearted Christians. I really believe the best thing that some of us could do would be to leave this auditorium today and get along with God, turn the TV set off for an hour, get away from everybody for just a little bit and say, God, let's be real honest here. I've been fighting you. You're not my Lord. Turn to the Lord and say, God, I've been saying that I really love you, but I've got lots of other things that are right up there beside you. I've been saying, God, I'm real committed, but my life hasn't shown it. See, the irony is we think that we're pulling something off and just kind of walking a line that God's just sort of allowing and figures, well, that's the best I can get. That's not the truth. The truth is that when you compromise anything in your walk toward God, you are basically cutting yourself off from the fullness of His purpose and destiny. And if you're willing to face the truth, face the pain of saying, Okay, God, I'm just not there yet. Then, God... Remember, Jesus came full of grace. The grace comes when you admit the truth. And if you're not where you need to be with God, then admit it to Him and let grace come. Stop lying to yourself. Repent. And get people out of it. Don't use your home group leader or an elder or some Bible teacher somewhere as the excuse of being where you are. You're where you are because you're where you are. And God is able to meet you right where you are. And if you'll accept the truth, Jesus said this, and I conclude, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. I yearn for us to be a people of light and of truth. You know, I'm already committing myself in 1989 to be a whole lot more truthful with myself, about myself, before God. And with you. I don't want to accept the pain. I know it's going to come. But you know, that little bit of pain now will give us great, eternal peace and reward as a result. Let's trust the Lord. As we know His truth, His truth will set us free. Amen. Praise the Lord. Would you stand with me in just a word of prayer before we prepare to dismiss. Heavenly Father, it's an awesome thing to realize that You are the center, the focal point of all truth. And Lord, we don't have an option. As believers in Jesus, we have been given the truth of Your Word. And Lord, we so easily pick and choose. I thank You today that we can set ourselves on a course over these next several weeks to speak the truth in love to ourselves. Let those inner conversations be truthful ones. To be edified in our spirit because we're telling ourselves the truth about how much You love us, how much You've given us, how adequate You are. And I do so pray, Lord, that we be willing to face the pain of truthfulness so that we might know the freedom and joy of the future we share together. In Jesus' name. If that's your prayer, say amen.