"To Tell the Truth"

Outline

1. Jesus tells us to tell the truth.
Matthew 5:33-37

2. The spirit of truthfulness that we need can only be found in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Matthew 4:19; 5:3-16; John 14:6; 2 Corinthians 1:15-20

3. God makes us people of the truth, and calls us to tell the truth everywhere.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Quote

“If the supreme Creator God exists, then there is Truth with a capital T. God is simply there, and he must be taken as he is. We do not make him or shape him or define him. He makes all things. He shapes. And he defines. So we come into a universe that is full of givens. God is simply there. And he has made the world one way and not another way. And he and his ways are the truth….the truth of God's character and promises… take away the impulse to lie. There are such incredibly great promises for God's people that if we really believed them, the fear and greed that tempt us to lie would melt like icicles under an April sun and we would be full of freedom and light—and, therefore, truth. Truth-telling is a "work of faith" (1 Thessalonians 1:3), because faith in the goodness and sovereign power of God conquers the deceitful craving for esteem and safety and money and power that causes us to distort the truth in order to gain a worldly advantage.”
-- John Piper

Life Group Discussion Questions

1. Why do we lie? Does everyone lie? What are our most common prevarications?

2. Why would Christians ultimately lie less than non-believers?

3. What is the most important truth of the universe? Comment on the quote from John Piper in the outline.

4. How do the promises of God keep us from lying?

5. In the last verse of chapter one, Paul says he is working for their joy. How does telling the truth work for our joy?