We Need an Honesty Renaissance | Applause of Heaven

What if true freedom isn’t about getting ahead—but about being honest? 🤔

In a world where lying seems like the easiest way to protect ourselves, Jesus calls us to something higher: an honesty renaissance. When we’re honest with God and ourselves, we unlock boldness, peace, and a clear conscience.

In this message, we’ll explore:
✅ Honesty with God – How truth unlocks deeper intimacy and boldness in prayer
✅ Honesty with Yourself – Why self-deception holds you back from true freedom
✅ Living with Integrity – How turning to God’s truth brings clarity and peace

🎭 Storytelling Elements:
The Woman at the Well – How her honesty with Jesus led to transformation
The weight of self-deception – How living in denial creates spiritual exhaustion
Confession and freedom – How admitting the truth to God and others brings peace

Transcript

Liver King and Modern Deception

Speaker 1 0:00

I don't know if you know who the Liver King is . The Liver King is an online influencer and he's kind of famous for what he calls the ancestral lifestyle , and what this lifestyle includes is , he would claim he's so buff and so like that because he eats raw animal organs , especially liver . Okay , so raw liver , he eats it , and he's claimed up and down , this is why I'm so strong . I don't take any steroids or anything like that . However , some emails were leaked of his receipts for $11,000 monthly for anabolic steroids , and so I'm sure maybe he does still eat the liver , but steroids are helping , okay , and he was claiming that it wasn't helping and that's just . That's just how it rolls .

Speaker 1 0:45

Man , everybody sometimes it feels like , has a story , and there's a hidden part of the story , especially in today's day and age , where there's always a spin , there's always a twist . There's an entire generation that is now kind of like constantly feeling like they're supposed to entertain everybody , they're supposed to capture everything online . Everywhere they go , they're thinking about how do I get the pictures , how do I get the story and how do I share it in the most pretty way , even if the rest of that time is not necessarily so pretty . I want to talk to you today about four areas . We need an honesty renaissance . Four areas we need an honesty renaissance . The problem is it's not only them out there , it's us in here . There's misinformation out there , but there's misinformation in here . There's subtle spin to . So I'm going to say it just right . So in some ways I'm not technically lying , but I'm leaving you with the impression that something is this way . But it's not actually that way . We're not only around it , we're trained by it and we do it . And it causes us to do a little trick on the inside . And that is , we not only occasionally lie to other people , sometimes on accident , but sometimes on perfect . We not only do that , we even lie on the inside . We tell ourselves well , that's mostly true . So I decide that it is true and we're not tricking anybody . We're especially not tricking God . We would do this probably most of us , because there's some reward attached to the lie being told or the spin being spun . There's some way that I'm avoiding a negative consequence or I'm , you know , getting something good if I just shape it a little bit different . Whether maybe that's just praise , whether that's likes , but the truth is , maybe most of us are not quite as honest as we think .

Speaker 1 2:31

Let me just give you a little challenge . Let's say that your health depended on you never embellishing the truth constant , 100% , pure purity . Would you be sicker than you are right now , or would you be the same ? Most of us say if I was really going to get less healthy every time I said anything that was less pure , yeah , I wouldn't be as healthy . What if your paycheck was tied to ? How often you didn't tell the truth ? What if every time you know it just happened Every time you said something that was slightly that's not really how it was , and you knew that it wasn't and you just that's 50 bucks , right there . Another 50 bucks , another 50 bucks . How many ? Think real quick . You'd get real honest . You'd think about this a little

Four Areas Needing Honesty Renaissance

Speaker 1 3:12

bit more because you don't want to lose that money . That's kind of the situation here that Jesus is talking to us about .

Speaker 1 3:18

Back in the Sermon on the Mount , we're back in the applause of heaven . We've got three more , I think , in this chunk of the Sermon on the Mount . Then we're going to do a series called Hot Takes right after Easter . I think you're going to like it . Talk about more controversial stuff , but right now we're talking about being honest , and some rabbis had passed down over time not all of them , but some of them they'd said you know , god has commanded us to take oaths , and take oaths meaning sometimes things are so serious that you want to tell everybody God is my witness .

Speaker 1 3:45

God would say this is true also , and so they take an oath , and people take an oath in the Bible Even . In fact , paul takes oaths , jesus himself takes an oath . There's nothing necessarily wrong with taking an oath . But these folks were twisting it . They were saying okay , I think we can work around this a little bit , so let's just make it . If you swear by God himself , then for sure you got to tell the truth . But if you just swear by something less than that like maybe you swear by the temple , or maybe you swear by your own head , or maybe you swear on your mother's grave , whatever it is if you swear that way , it doesn't really count . Okay , it's not really the sin against God of betraying your oath . You're just , you're sounding really like it's a big deal , but you know , on the inside it's not really a big deal .

Speaker 1 4:30

The problem is not everybody knew this , and so people would be taking oaths and they'd be making vows that are not really vows , but they're presenting them as like they are . So that's what Jesus is talking about . That's what he's dealing with today . So let me give some examples . Let's say the merchant . He's selling some grain on the street and somebody comes up and the merchant says this is the best grain you're going to find . It's the lowest price , it's the healthiest , it has the least GMOs in it . Like it tells all this stuff he's really selling it up . He says I swear by the temple , this is the best deal you're going to get . Now in his heart there's a little voice that just says this is the best deal that I know about . Doesn't really know that . No one told him that he's deciding . It's probably true that this is the best deal . The person who's going to buy the grain he's like he swears by the temple . That's a big deal . Someone's going to swear by the temple . That's God's temple man . He must be telling me the truth . He goes on , he buys the stuff Down the road . It's for sale Same stuff just cheaper .

Speaker 1 5:31

The person who sold it thinks that they obeyed because they didn't take an oath to God . But Jesus is saying you didn't obey , you just found a clever way to lie . You lied to yourself first and then you lied to this other person . Second Works the same way .

Speaker 1 5:47

Let's say somebody's in a court of law , back in this time they're supposed to present evidence . Hey , this is the way it was . I swear by my head . This is how it went down . People are like , wow , the judge says he swears by his head , he wants to keep his head , so that must be a big deal to him . Okay , he swears by his head .

Speaker 1 6:08

Now something because he swears by his head , the wrong information isn't included . There's some kinky stuff that wasn't pointed out , and so maybe the villain goes free . Whatever it is , there's real life consequences , because someone decided I'm going to not really all the way lie , but I'm going to present reality as different than it actually was . So I can either get out of a negative consequence or I can get something that I want . Is this sounding familiar at all to anybody so far in our generation ?

Speaker 1 6:33

So now , now , hopefully , you can hear Jesus's words a little bit better with that backdrop , because here's what Jesus is going to do . He's going to challenge us , just like he has throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount series . He's going to challenge us . I want a higher level of morality on the inside of my people that are being reformed and saying that I'm their king , my kingdom people . I want them to have a higher level of morality on the inside , not just the exteriors . I don't want you to just be legally possibly close to right , not just the exteriors . I don't want you to just be legally possibly close to right . I want you to actually be a Jesus representative on planet earth . So that's what he's going to challenge them to do . That's what we're going to take a look at Matthew

Jesus on Oaths and Truth-Telling

Speaker 1 7:11

5 , 33 .

Speaker 1 7:12

Again , you've heard it said to the people long ago do not break your oath , but fulfill to the Lord the vows that you have made . Fulfill to the Lord the vows that you have made . But I tell you , but I tell you , but I tell you . There he goes again . He said it all the other times . But I tell you he's saying look , I'm not just a teacher , I'm not just an interpreter of law . I am the authority on everything God means . I was there in the writing of the law . I'm the one who told Moses what to write down . I am the law giver , not just the law interpreter . I'm telling you God's heart behind what your speech looks like . I'm interested in the inner person of the heart . I don't just want you acting a certain way , I want you living a certain way . We understand that . Let's take an example . You got to flow with me here because I don't want to offend the wrong people .

Speaker 1 8:04

Today let's talk about mercenaries back in medieval times or mercenaries back in feudal times . What a mercenary was ? Many of you know this is just hired muscle . It's someone's got . Hey , you pay me , king , I'm going to go and I'm going to fight in your war and I might die but I might get paid . Your war and I might die but I might get paid . So that's worth it to me . I don't have any necessary allegiance to your kingdom . I have allegiance to money . I will do the thing you want me to do , but I'm not dying for the ideals of the kingdom . I'm just dying because it's what I'm possibly dying , hopefully living because you're giving me money and it's what I'm supposed to do . Contrast that with the person who's not even maybe as skilled as that mercenary is . But they're fighting because they believe in the nation . They're fighting because they believe in those ideals , in their people , in the king . They're fighting for a different purpose . They're fighting for the kingdom itself .

Speaker 1 8:54

And that's what Jesus is asking , saying don't just get it exteriorly right , don't just be a mercenary . Be someone who says I'm fighting for my king himself , I'm obeying , I'm being honest on the inside for the king himself , not just so you think I'm honest because I want his approval , I want his high five , I want him to think man , that dude really does love me . But I tell you , do not swear an oath at all , either by heaven , for it is God's throne , or by earth , for it is his footstool , or by Jerusalem , for it is the city of the great king . And don't swear by your head . You can't make even one hair black or white . One of the things Jesus is saying is when you swear by , let's say , the earth , yeah , well , that's connected to God , dude , god made the earth , so you can't swear by anything and not really be swearing to God . So , just if this makes you lie , if you have to lie when you take oaths , just don't take them .

Speaker 1 9:46

Maybe a different way to say it is make everything an oath . Be so honest . No one's ever going to question you Because you always tell the truth . There is no space in your heart that you create for well . This is like , mostly true , but here's vow level true . No , jesus says just make everything true , just always talk so that everyone's like . You don't need a guarantee with that . You don't need a guarantee because it's guaranteed , because they're saying it .

Speaker 1 10:14

It goes without saying that girl , she always tells the truth . It goes without saying . There's nothing you need to suspect about that guy . I don't know , maybe some of these other folks , but when he says it , dude , I'm telling you , I've known him , it's just going to happen . That's how it goes . Meaning don't verbally cross your fingers , don't ever , on the inside , be like well , I'm saying this , but I mean that Jesus is saying don't do it .

Speaker 1 10:38

What does he say instead ? He says all you need to say is a simple yes or no . Anything beyond that comes from the evil one . He says because you're always before your heavenly father . Your heavenly father , in his mercy , is a divine record keeper . He's keeping tabs on everything you think and say . He knows all of it . So it's never really hidden . It's not that nobody actually sees it , you're just thinking he doesn't necessarily see it . And when you do this , if you fail to do this , you remind me . What does he say of the evil one ? We don't think about it like that , though , right , like we don't think . When I fudge the truth a little bit , that reminds Jesus of Satan , because he's the one who twists , he's the one who says one thing and means another . He's the one who's trying to trick everybody . And Jesus says that's not who you are , that's not a citizen of my kingdom . You're acting like the opposite side . So just instead , just have nothing hidden .

Speaker 1 11:40

And when you do this , this is the advantages that you and I get we get a clear conscience . We get a clear conscience . That is powerful . Sometimes we forget what it's like to even have a clear conscience because we're so used to bending the truth . And once we've come clean , once we've told everybody , once we said look , it was really this . Now we have a new confidence .

Speaker 1 12:01

Here's some things that confidence does . One it gives you boldness before God , meaning you don't feel like there's anything between you and God . It gives you boldness to speak for God . Okay , so when maybe you're called upon in your work situation , god's leading you to say something about Jesus , and if you haven't filled your soul with half-truths , you have a little bit more confidence to say I know God's sending me . So I'm just going to say this it may be that if you keep a clear conscience , you're just going to have more confidence in prayer , because you know there's been times you didn't have confidence in prayer because you're like , yeah , but I really jacked that up , like just yesterday , like my conscience knows

Clear Conscience: The Power of Honesty

Speaker 1 12:40

, I did X , y and Z , so I'm feeling less confident . It's not even necessarily that God wouldn't answer the prayer , but you're less confident about it . In addition , I mean I've just found this to be true Okay , whatever you get by deception , you've got to keep by deception .

Speaker 1 12:59

See , this is why it doesn't make sense to lie to get ahead , to lie to get more money , to lie to get more money , to lie to get x , y or z , because whatever you got to do , if you had to lie to get that now you got to keep up the lie . Plus , I mean , I don't know how it is for ladies , but for guys it's just hard to remember all those lies , and so if you just don't lie , you don't have to remember anything . You just say what happened . What do we do ? Well , we confess to God and we confess to others , and that's going to be the hard part . That's where we need an honesty renaissance . Everybody wants to do that , but the hard part is doing it .

Speaker 1 13:34

If we can get a value for honesty on the inside , the internal version that Jesus is talking about , we can have a renaissance in some areas . Let's talk about what they are . Number one we need an honesty renaissance with God . We need an honesty renaissance with God . Jesus was talking to the woman at the well and she's talking to him . She's a little bit uncomfortable and she changes the conversation .

Speaker 1 13:57

Well , let's just talk about worship , because that's kind of a you know something we don't always necessarily see eye to eye on , eye to eye on . I'm a Samaritan , you're a Jew , you guys think the right place to worship is in Jerusalem . We think a different place is the right mountain to worship on , and Jesus says whoa , let me stop you right there , because the time is coming indeed is here now when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth . The father's looking for those who worship him that way , in truth , in truth , there's a couple of ways this plays out . If we're going to worship in truth , first , I would encourage you , anytime you're worshiping in here or anywhere else that you are . Just do what's real . Just do what's true .

Speaker 1 14:44

Some of the first years of my walk with God it didn't mess with my whole walk with God , but it messed with the worship part . I was in a very demonstrative church , but it was so demonstrative it was like unreal . It became like a demonstration competition . It was a little bit like reality TV . People would try to come up with the most outlandish ways to prove that they truly loved God . Now I've seen people do some pretty wow things as they worship God .

Speaker 1 15:10

I'm not talking about when it's real . I'm talking about when the tone in the room is everyone's trying to do something to be more pleasing to God , and that's a joke and a lie and it's not what Jesus just said . First , you don't need to be more pleasing to God with your own stuff , because that's not going to work . You need Jesus's stuff to be pleasing to God . But what does the father want ? He's seeking worshipers that will just say hey , dude , whether you like to throw up your hands , whether you like to run around the building , whether you like to shout from time to time hallelujah , whatever you want to do , it's all great , as long as it's true , do it , because that's actually what you want to do . So can I just invite you ? If you've been messed up , if your worship has been you kind of think I got to do special things so God likes my worship , just forget all that . You don't need to do that at all . All you need to do is worship in spirit . That means with his help and in truth .

Speaker 1 15:58

And when we're honest with God , that means I'm open to God . I'm open to his conviction , because the Holy Spirit is sent to convict the world of sin . We don't remember that about the Holy Spirit . Sometimes he's an advisor , he's a helper , he's an advocate , he's a strengthener , he's an encourager , but he's also he was sent to convict the world of sin . We're still in the world . He still wants to convict us of sin . When we're honest with God , we're saying just , you know , I'm open . You tell me whatever you want to tell me and I'm going to believe you . I'm going to be open to that . I'm ready to be convicted . Instead of argue with you like you're not right , I'm saying ahead of time God , whatever you , however , you convict my soul of sin , I'm going to say you're right . I'm going to say you're not lying , you're right .

Speaker 1 16:44

Some of you , like me , maybe occasionally , when you were a kid in school , pretended you had an invisibility cloak . I would daydream sitting in my fourth grade desk . Wouldn't it just be cool if I had an invisibility cloak and I could just no one would even know . I just put it on , I just walk right out . I don't have a great relationship with school right now and it'd be great if I could just walk right out and no one would ever know .

Speaker 1 17:04

Some of us feel like that sometimes , right now , some of us sometimes act like when it comes to our sin , we have an invisibility cloak on . No one knows . No one knows that I'm not quite truthful about this . No one knows that I'm saying it this way , I actually mean this way , but they asked it this way , so I'm just going to , I'm just going to say it that way . We're wearing an invisibility cloak , but not to God . God sees right through that cloak , yo , he knows who you really are , he knows what you're really doing . That means so when we say , when the spirit of God convicts us , that was an outburst of anger right there , and we say , no , lord , no , that was me blowing off some steam because I'm stressed it wasn't . I don't need to repent for that , because that wasn't really sin . This is what it was , god . That's dishonesty with God . No , he's right . We stay open . Oh , it was Lord . Oh , forgive me . In Jesus name , I repent . Please forgive me .

Speaker 1 18:00

Or when we tell somebody something and we're keeping part of it back and we know they want to know the part we're keeping back , but they didn't ask it that way , we're lying in our relationship with God . First . We're lying on the inside , just like those merchants on the street . We're lying on the inside and say I'm just going to decide that they're really asking this , even though I know it's not . I think there's also a time when we're not being honest in our relationship with God , and this is dangerous for church people . Okay , so flow with me .

Speaker 1 18:31

It's dangerous for church people to think that because I go to church which is very healthy and very helpful to your soul because I do that , I'm good with God . That's not true and that's not what God says is true . What God says is true is every one of us has fallen short of God's glorious standard . We've all sinned in a way that we can't get back to him and the only thing that can save us is him . And when we try to add to that and say , well , no , I'll help God , though , because I'm good and I went to church and I did good things in the planet Because of that , then he'll say no , no , no , that's a lie , that's not true . Believe God Instead , let go of all that and trust . No , god is right . My helping God won't work . That's not a good plan . That's not going to lead where I want it to go .

Speaker 1 19:17

So we need to be honest in our relationship with God . But what about this

Honesty with God: True Worship

Speaker 1 19:20

? We need an honesty renaissance with ourselves . Behold , you delight in truth , in the inward being . You teach me wisdom in the secret place , or sorry , the secret heart . I like the secret heart translation because it reminds me that there's a place that no one else can access except for God . There's a place inside you that God can get to , that nobody else can get to . That's where he wants truth .

Speaker 1 19:42

That means , even though you might not think so all the time , god actually wants you to tell him the truth about how you feel , even if it's harsh , even if you think like it's inappropriate . He says no , no , no , don't pretend to do what you think I want Tell me how you actually feel when you're sad . I want to know that you're sad . When you're feeling envious , I want to know that you're envious . When you're feeling tired , I want you to say you're tired . Don't just say the rote things that you always say . Come to me with your stuff . And this is why prayer is so powerful . When we come to God and we start to ask and talk to him about our sin , he reveals sinful attitudes that we can say , ah , that's right , it's not even just something I did , god . This is a way I'm thinking and you're right . I do feel that way and I do think that way . Would you help me ? Would you walk with me ? Would you help us get rid of this thing ?

Speaker 1 20:31

There's a closet in my bedroom . It is the walk-in closet . Now I recognize that it is a privilege to have a walk-in closet . I remember when Kenzie and I had a closet that was so frightening . It was dark and dank and you didn't know what lived in there . And so now we have a nice closet and if you walked in our room , it's relatively clean most of the time . Okay , but the closet is a different story . Now . Kenzie's awesome because she cleans it every few months , like she makes it look beautiful . It's spick and span , but life takes over , okay , and we're in and out of that place and we're I'm trying on this , but I gotta go , so I throw those clothes . Over there there's a pile of wrapping paper . We don't have time to put that back together into some corner , and so there's just stuff that builds up and there's . We just call it clutter . There's just clutter in that closet until Kenzie says , not today , devil , and she goes in there and she rearranges and she reorders .

Speaker 1 21:24

My friends , there's little clutters in our heart , in our secret heart , in the secret place that we don't even always know is there , and we invite God . Would you help me tell you the truth about what's in here ? I need you to reorganize this . We need to get rid of that old stupid thing that's dumb . We need more of this . This is really good . We've all got a closet that God sometimes just needs to clean . We just have to invite him into it . That means we're honest . See what we'll do , and you guys do this , I do this . We'll say that didn't hurt . I'm tougher than that . And the Spirit of God says yeah , it did that hurt .

Honesty with Ourselves: The Secret Heart

Speaker 1 21:55

Don't tell me it didn't hurt . I know that it did hurt and I can minister to you , if you'll call it what it is , all right If we say I'm not burnt out because people like me are so powerful and productive .

Speaker 1 22:08

We don't get burnt out . That's a lie . You're trying to lie yourself into thinking that . But God says that's not true . You're burnt out and what I need you to do is come along , come unto me . You say I'm not lonely , I don't need people , I'm fine . And God says that's not true . You're lonely and I can help with that , I can lead you to courageous steps with that . But if you won't admit that , you're being dishonest with God when you say well , you know I'm divorced , so now I'm broken and what might've happened for my life can just never happen , and God will tell you the truth . So I know you feel that way , but also I bring my glory through broken jars of clay , sometimes the best , because it shows off how awesome I am . God will tell you the truth about you if we'll just be honest with him .

Speaker 1 22:59

Here's number three . So God , ourselves and we need an honesty , renaissance with our family and our found family and people in our lives , the folks we're with Ephesians 4.25 . So stop telling lies . Let us tell our neighbors the truth , for we are all parts of the same body . Tell our neighbors the truth . I have found I don't know about you guys . Sometimes it's the closest people it's hardest to tell the truth . I have found I don't know about you guys . Sometimes it's the closest people it's hardest to tell the truth to , because that might affect the future . And so it takes a lot of courage to say I'm gonna trust God and I'm hopefully gonna build relationships where I can trust them . I'm gonna tell you the truth , even though it's a hard thing to do .

Speaker 1 23:37

We need to have vitally healthy relationships in our lives , and if you can't tell the truth , you can't have that . If you can't tell the truth , you're never really dealing with reality . Everyone's just saying stuff that they don't quite mean and they're dodging what they do mean , and so you're relating to people but it's not even true relationship entirely , because you're not able to name it . So we need to be courageous , and this is where I think this is the hard part , this is the okay . Lord , we need to do this and I don't want to do this , and people have responded bad about this in the past , but I'm going to trust you and here we go and we need to be candid because we know that there might be a cost . But we need to be clear and we need to do it in such a way that it's not de-dignifying , that it's not a slam Some of you remember I don't know if people even know what this is anymore but Jerry Springer , yeah , y'all know about that .

Speaker 1 24:36

I'd say , google it , but maybe not . Okay , what it really was , guys , it was just sucker punching with truth for the sake of beating people down , slash entertainment , in other words . It wasn't really restorative . It was like look at these crazy people , we're going to make them tell the truth and they would hurt each other on TV . That's not the kind of candidness that God wants us to operate with . He wants it in a safe relationship where we can tell the truth to our kids and our co-workers and our neighbors and we can name it . But we're not trying to hurt them on purpose . We even maybe give them a heads up . This might hurt . I don't want it to hurt , but I want us to be tight more than I want to avoid this . So let's hold hands . We're going to do it right now , together . It's because I love you that I say it , not because that's why I don't withhold it .

Speaker 1 25:31

Honesty is a little bit different . Let's just clarify , we're almost done . Honesty is a little bit different than transparency , entirely Okay . So think about this . Sometimes we talk about transparency , but if we were truly transparent , that means share everything and everything with regard to that thing that you know about . That's not what honesty is really .

Speaker 1 25:48

God is honest with you , but he's not entirely transparent about everything . Can somebody say amen , he knows about the trials you're gonna have in two years . Now he knows they're gonna be very painful and it's gonna take you two weeks to get through it . He doesn't tell you now because like , oh geez , I don't want to think about that for two years . If he was totally transparent , he'd tell you now all the things are going to happen . But he's not going to tell you now because he'll be your shepherd then

Honesty with Family and Relations

Speaker 1 26:26

he's going to be you .

Speaker 1 26:26

Every little thought I've had with regard to this . Sometimes I think you're a real butthead . I don't need to say that right now , because that's not a bill . That's closer to Jerry Springer type talk . I don't need to say that . That would be transparent . But that's not what we're trying to do here ? I , that would be transparent . But that's not what we're trying to do here . I'm trying to just tell you the things that you're asking , that we're trying to know together and share . Amen Now . So it's a little bit different . Here's what I found . That's curious and wonderful .

Speaker 1 26:58

Proverbs 28 , 13 says people who conceal their sins will not prosper , but if they confess and turn from them , they'll receive mercy . Every time I'm tempted to not tell the truth about something , I gotta go tell my wife something . I gotta go tell my friends something . I try to think of that verse and be like I know it's . My body and my spirit and my devil are all telling me don't tell them because it's gonna go bad . But God says it's most likely , most of the time , that you're gonna find mercy for telling them . So just go ahead and do it . It takes a lot of courage , takes a lot of candidness , but if we do it you're just gonna have a clear conscience and you're gonna live in power with God . Here's one more God , ourselves , our family and , number four , our money . We need an honesty renaissance with money , for where your treasure is there , your heart will also be Wherever your treasure is Now , this takes a little math and I'm not a great mather , but I can work a spreadsheet a little .

Speaker 1 27:48

It takes a little math to find out what percentage of your income are you actually spending on these different things , because where your money is , there your heart is . I'm so encouraged . Sometimes I'm like doggone . We spend so much on streaming anymore . Golly , what is up . And then I go look at the budget and I'm oh , it's only 1% . I feel a lot better . You might say , well , that's too much . Well maybe , but I'm feeling like it's 20% with all the shows everybody watches . But I feel better because it's really only 1% . But what did I do ? I got a perspective . What is it , though ? What is it I want to know so I can look at what is my generosity level look like and I can be truthful about where's my heart actually ? Am I just saying that ? Am I just lying to myself about my generosity , or am I actually being generous ? As important , it should get our attention to ask that question .

Speaker 1 28:41

Proverbs 11 , 28 says those who depend on their wealth will fall like the leaves of autumn . That just means they're gonna wipe out . That's what it means , and they ain't pretty . They're gonna wipe out , but the righteous will prosper like the leaves of the summer . All that to say God cares about how we get stuff , not just that we get stuff . God has all kinds of treasure for us . He has all kinds of prizes , he has all kinds of things that he just wants to give you just because he loves you , but he cares about how we get them . And so if we're faithfully managing our money in ways that are righteous , we're not trying to scooch along the side , we're not just trying to get stuff , that really that you're trying to take a shortcut to get something that you shouldn't even have yet , if we're doing it above board , god says I will reward that , but you're going to be like an autumn leaf if you try to do it without me . I'll give you two examples .

Speaker 1 29:28

Sometimes you might be prompted in a worship experience like this . God says I want you to give this much money . And we might lie to ourselves right in that moment and say that's the devil . He wants me to give . It's not the devil , probably . The devil hates God's kingdom and he doesn't want it to advance , so he's not going to tempt you to give , so don't buy that lie . Here's another one , though , that I hear much more often . If it's on sale , I'm actually saving money . Yeah , guys , that's dishonesty about our money . That's third grade math will get you out of that one . That's not even a little bit true , okay . But we got to be responsible and truth tellers to ourselves . We got to do it . We got to tell the truth . In truth , there's freedom .

Speaker 1 30:10

Jesus was before the Sanhedrin . He's being tried . They're looking for a reason to kill him . They only need one . They just need him to say that he's the son of God . They just need him to claim deity . And they're like we got him , let's do it . And so Jesus has an opportunity right now to either not answer their question or just say it in a way that they're not going to , you know , bring the consequences that they want to bring .

Speaker 1 30:34

Mark 14 , 61, . But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer . Again , the high priest asked him are you the Messiah , the son of the blessed one ? Verse 62, . I am , just the same way that the spirit of God told Moses I am , that I am . Jesus says bloody beard pulled out already . Beat , beat , beat . And he says I am , and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven . The high priest tore his clothes . Why do we need any more witnesses ? He asked . You've heard the blasphemy . What do you think ?

Speaker 1 31:05

They all condemned him as worthy of death . First of all , I just want you to know , in case anybody any person on TikTok ever tells you Jesus never claimed to be God . Read that , because he just did . That's why they put him to death . They can't just put him to death for anything . They're putting him to death because he claimed to be God .

Speaker 1 31:24

But also , I want you to notice that Jesus told the truth and he could have gotten out of it . He didn't even have to lie . He could have just said a thousand angels kill all these people , and it would have been done . He could have just vanished . He could have done probably a million other God-level things , but he didn't do any of them . Instead , he took the consequence for telling the truth .

Speaker 1 31:46

And here's what's powerful . Jesus told the truth to cover your and my lies . Are you discouraged a little bit after a message like this ? Geez , I can't . I don't even know if I am honest .

Honesty with Money: Heart's True Location

Speaker 1 31:58

Take heart , my friend , be encouraged . The Son of God died to cover your lies . He told the truth when he didn't have to to cover all the lies that you told , maybe even when you wanted to . The son of God has got you . All you have to do is trust him and put all these dishonesties in his hand and say , god , help me be more like the servant of the mouth , help me be more truthful , help me have an honesty renaissance . Let's bow our heads , god .

Speaker 1 32:28

This is one of those messages that I feel like it's easy to say amen to and it's really hard to do . It's really hard to even keep Like . Maybe we'll think about it for the next three days , but then we'll lose it . So I pray for staying power . I pray you'd keep this in our hearts . I pray that the conviction of the Holy Spirit would come quickly , that because we're so appreciative of Jesus telling the truth and experience the consequences for that for us , that we're willing to boldly , bravely , sometimes , with not perfect outcomes we're gonna take the step into honesty . When we could get something out of bending the truth a little bit , we're gonna pull back . When we could leave out information , we're going to put it back in . Father , in Jesus' name , make us representatives of the kingdom of the beautiful , wonderful , self-sacrificing King In Jesus' name , amen . Hey , thanks for tuning in today . If God has used the ministry of Fierce in your life , please consider paying it forward with a financial gift at fiercechurchgive Amen .