Matthew 5, 33 to 37. Again you have heard that it was said to the people long ago,
do not break your oath but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. But I
tell you do not swear an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne,
or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of
the great king. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair
white or black. All you need to say simply yes or no, anything beyond this
comes from the evil one.
Good morning everyone. Thank you Rob and Des and Dave for leading us in prayer
and such. Sorry, I'm getting used to this new pulpit that we, you may have noticed,
that we have, built by the brilliant Matt Vanderveld. Is that right? Yes, I've said
the name right. And there's a bit of history in this because he got the wood
and sourced the wood from an old barn, but more importantly from Clem White's
library. These were his old shelves. So it's wonderful to have a bit of history
here with us this morning. But yes, Matt played the role of Noah and he put this
thing together and it's beautiful. So yes, if you are wondering you can come
and pass it later and you can even smell it because it smells amazing. But in
saying all of that, why don't we come to our Lord in prayer before we come to His
Word this morning. Father, we are so thankful that we can be together here
this morning to be so public in our worship, to be led in prayer, to be led
in song, to have your Word read without shame or compromise among us this morning.
We are so thankful for these things. We pray Father that as we come to your Word
this morning, that our Lord Jesus would be held high among us and that we would
be changed by the Word and we ask for this in Jesus' name. Amen. So for the past
couple of days I've been reading Elizabeth Rogers' book, Stories of
Australia's Christian Heritage, in which she presents a number of essays about
the spiritual lives of some of Australia's greatest explorers. Now what
I found so fascinating about the different essays is that though there
was a race to become the most famous adventurer in which to map Australia
out, the explorers that made it into the history books, though tempted, never
exaggerated or made up their claims as to what they had reached or discovered.
And they gained a reputation as being brutally truthful. Now in a day and age
where no one could really verify what they had claimed, it's interesting that
no one ever made these explorers take an oath or a vow to verify if they were
telling the truth or not. That's because the early settlers knew that these
explorers held the truth to be the most important factor in the whole world
because these men knew for people to survive, for society to flourish, that
their word was the only thing that the settlers had to go on. And so these
explorers were taken at their word. Fascinating stuff, a great read, whole
families, whole towns trusting in the word of a couple of men because of their
reputation of being honest and truthful. What a reputation to have, right? To be
so the people of truth that complete strangers are willing to bet their very
lives on nothing more than your yes being yes and your no being no. This is
the very picture that Jesus would have for his church. But first let's get a bit
of context to our passage this morning. So for the past few weeks we've been at
the feet of Jesus who has been teaching the crowds and more specifically his
disciples on this mountain about what it is to enter into the kingdom of heaven
and how one should conduct themselves in this world and looking forward to the
day of its full manifestation which is still to come, which Jesus likened to
being the salt and the light of this world. That's what the disciples of Jesus
do, right? We hear the gospel, we repent and trust in Jesus and we enter into the
kingdom of heaven instantly. That's what happens when anyone calls upon the name
of the Lord. Yet as we know we're not instantly and physically transported
into that kingdom but continue to live here on earth looking forward in hope to
that day when heaven and earth finally meet. But in doing that says Jesus, in
following him as the king of this world, in being a citizen of the heavenly
kingdom, in being the salt and the light of this world, well we will also come
against all kinds of persecution in this world. So we might ask the question here
what might make this dark world hate the light of the kingdom so much? Quite
simply because all disciples of Jesus are meant to live and breathe and have
their being in following Jesus Christ, the King of this kingdom. That's what
disciples of Jesus do, they follow Jesus and seek to obey him in all that they do
and say because he is our Lord and King. But this is the rub. Jesus isn't some
hippie cult leader where his motto is all is children, it's going to be okay so
just do what you want as Hollywood might sell him to be. No not in any sense as it
was this very same Jesus who bought in the kingdom of heaven who said of
himself that he had not come to rid the world of the law of God but had come to
fulfill it. In other words he had come to give the law its fullest expression
and more than that he also said that all his disciples are not just to follow
what he has laid out for us but that we are also to teach all people to follow
what he has had to say on the law. That's what Jesus has been taking us through
from verse 21 onwards of chapter 5. He's been taking us through how we are to
understand the law in light of how it was meant to be understood and that's
that the law was given to expose the heart. Allow me to illustrate this in the
context of gardening. The law wasn't given as pruning scissors to exclusively
deal with the leaves on the tree as was the popular understanding of the time.
No it was given as a bobcat to dig right down past what any shovel could hope to
do so as to expose the very roots of the tree so that we might might see the rot
and damage that sin has done and call out to God for a total and utter
transplant. In other words the popular teaching of the time which came from the
Pharisees focused on applying the law to the external actions of the person but
as Jesus has been showing us over and over and over through the weeks though
the actions of his disciples must change and they really must change. Change must
happen from the very core of our being. As the law actually goes after the
thoughts and the intentions of a person to expose what's going on deep under
the surface and it's there says Jesus it's there in the very heart and mind of
a person that sin needs to be both exposed and dealt with in order that
they might truly enter the kingdom of heaven. So that's where we are so far
church. We're now just over halfway in a series of but I tell you antidotes that
our Lord has made in the face of the popular teaching of the Jewish religious
teachers of the time. So if you have your Bibles we'll be in our text quite a bit
this morning so if you do have your Bibles please look with me at verse 33.
We read these words. Again you have heard that it was said to the people of long
ago do not break your oath but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. Now I
want you to notice a word there at the beginning of verse 33. That is the word
again and I want you to notice that word because Jesus is again taking the
popular teaching of the day the stuff that his disciples had heard and
understood in regards to how to apply the law and he's going to again contrast
what they had been taught with what the law was actually getting at. That's what
we've been seeing so far right? Jesus has said you've heard it said to the people
long ago don't murder but I tell you the Lord judges you guilty of murder in the
heart when you hate, guilty of adultery when you lust, guilty of adultery when
you tear apart what God has put together. That's how we have seen Jesus treat the
law so far. So what is he directing his audience to now? Well to their dodgy
understanding in regards to oath-taking. You see through the weeks we've not only
seen how Jesus applied the law but in contrast we've also seen how the
religious teachers of the day known as these Pharisees understood and applied
the law as well. And what have we learned about them? Well that the the rabbis
tended to be pretty permissive in their attitude towards people's actions so
long as the letter of the law was upheld. For example like we saw last week as
long as your wife received that certificate that Moses commanded to be
forgiven then your divorce was legal and permitted in the eyes of God. So it goes
without saying that that theology that they held to also leaped into other
areas of their teaching as well and we'll certainly see that when it comes
to their teaching about oaths and vows. But before we dive into this greater
detail we have to have a good think about where this theological
knife fight lay. Well that battle lays with the phrase, do not break your oath
but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. Now something to note here
this phrase in and of itself is a summary of a general principle that
can be derived from a whole bunch of passages that come out of the law and
put together. For example Leviticus 19 12 we read, do not swear falsely by my name
and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Hear that the stress is not on
swearing falsely. Again numbers 30 verse 2, when a man makes a vow to the Lord
or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge he must not break his word but
must do everything he said. Again this passage takes up the idea of not
breaking your oath and applies it to the people of God. Deuteronomy 23 21, if you
make a vow to the Lord your God do not be slow to pay it for the Lord your God
will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. Okay so with all
of these verses put together and there's a few more we get an idea that this
general saying would have been what was on view here in verse 33 which was
basically if you make an oath in the name of God make sure you do what you
have said that you would do. Now church the question might be asked here why did
people use to make vows at all these oaths and vows at all? What was the point
of them? Well believe it or not vows, oaths as they're used interchangeably
here are more common in our day and age than you might think and they were very
very common in this context. You see vows are a way of calling down a higher
judgment upon ourselves than ourselves because people simply don't trust one
another. In other words it's calling on God to witness what is said so that
people will be assured of one's honesty. To put it simply vows are a way of
solemnizing an agreement an arrangement or a promise and calling God in as the
legal witness. If you're a fan of whodunnits you would have seen something
similar to this when someone puts their hand on the Bible to make a vow in court
to speak the truth and nothing but the truth. They're calling God to witness the
testimony that they're about to give. We even see world leaders doing it when
they're sworn into office though admittedly less and less here in
Australia with our Prime Ministers. Now what seems to be on view in our passage
this morning is very similar to what we see in our courts in that the Pharisees
taught that vow taking was very important business in the context of
their civil courts. I mean we've seen it in just those few verses that I've read
they weren't rejecting what had come out of Leviticus at numbers and
Deuteronomy. No they taught that you had to be truthful especially when a solemn
promise had been given in the name of God. Yet there seemed to be a problem
with how they both were both understanding and applying the law when
it came to this vow taking. Read with me verses 34 through to 36. It says Jesus
speaking, but I tell you do not swear an oath at all, either by heaven for it is
God's throne or by the earth for it is his footstool or by Jerusalem for it is
the city of the great King and do not swear by your head for you cannot make
even one hair white or black. Now I say that there must have been a problem
with their application because like we've seen in previous weeks Jesus isn't
hitting back against what God had revealed through Moses in any which way.
No far from it he's been deepening and broadening the shallow and external
teaching that the Pharisees had taught the people. You have heard it said Jesus
says. So in no sense should we take this as Jesus saying that we mustn't be
truthful nor is he saying that vows are completely off the table and we'll come
back to that in just a moment. Now Jesus's problem seems to be with the
pharisee to call restriction of the law. You see in verses 34 through to 36 we
see something emerge that Jesus was challenging and that wasn't what God
revealed about oath-taking in his name but the pharisee to call system that had
developed around it. You see as we've seen through the weeks the Pharisees
were obsessed with the letter of the law and so because they didn't want to
break the law well at least externally they developed these little man-made
laws known as the traditions of the fathers which actually kept people from
following the big God-given revealed law. Think about it like this. Imagine you
have a pool and you didn't want anyone falling in the pool because you were
scared that they would drown. So the responsible thing to do would be to put
a fence around that pool right? Well admittedly it certainly seems like the
safer option but where it had all gone wrong with the Pharisees is that the
fence had become the be-all and end-all. So instead of teaching people about water
safety let's say the Pharisees busied themselves with telling people all about
the fence and nothing about the pool and in that way that's what we're seeing
here. God had revealed in the law the way in which one could lawfully take a vow
and make an oath in his name yet because the Pharisees were terrified of breaking
this law they developed a fence around the law to make the binding of any oath
any vow a little more squishy. Here's what I mean. The Pharisees were saying
that if you make a vow in the name of the Lord well that needs to be kept no
matter what but to avoid that kind of commitment if you make an oath in the
name of let's say Jerusalem well a city isn't on the same level as God nor is it
going to hold you to the same account. So maybe swearing on that is a little bit
more flexible if things don't work out. Same goes with heaven and earth and even
your own head but whatever you do if you make a vow in the name of the Lord well
there's no getting away from that. It's incredibly serious and whatever you
swore to do well that thing needs to be done because you made it in the name of
the Lord and it's this theology that Jesus is challenging because at the end
of the day though they thought they were honoring the law with these fences they
were actually playing fast and loose with the truth. Now before we unpack what
Jesus is really getting at here I want to go back and ask that question is it
ever wrong to take a vow or an oath? I mean we do it in marriage vows with
church membership vows we even pledge ourself as a church to those who are
being baptized among us to help them in their Christian walk which we're going
to do on the 11th of June with the Decker family. Is Jesus saying, she's
excited to be baptized you can hear it, is Jesus saying that we have what we
have done to our spouse or even to each other as a church was that wrong? Well if
we look at the whole council of Scripture it's clear that godly people
under the right circumstances took vows. We see it with the patriarchs making
promises, oaths, vows to the living God and they weren't rebuked. We see Paul
making vows to different churches when he wrote to them under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit Romans 1 9 for example and we even read in Hebrews 6 17
that because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very
clear to the heirs of what was promised he confirmed it with an oath.
Hear that even even God took an oath in his own name. So with what we've seen the
law reveal about vows and what we see the whole council of Scripture speaking
to us about which is beautifully summed up in chapter 22 of the Westminster
Confession we have to conclude that it is not vow taking per se that Jesus is
totally against here. Now in context to what he is addressing in regards to the
phariseedical teaching on oaths Jesus is totally and utterly against committal
speech that attaches itself to a seemingly solemn truth statement yet had
an escape plan or escape clause in the fine print. That's what Jesus is opposing
here. He's against people who make vows but in their hearts are thinking well
it's not like I'm calling on God and using his name here. So we might ask the
question what is Jesus saying? What is he speaking to us as disciples about? What
is he warning us? Well fortunately for us brothers and sisters Jesus actually
picks this very theme up again and challenges the Pharisees on this very
hypocritical teaching later on in his ministry which gives us an incredible
insight as to where all of this is coming from and what he is wanting us
his disciples to think about when it comes to the way we speak. We read in
Matthew 23 16 through to 22. Woe to you blind guides, that's to the Pharisees. You
say if anyone swears by the temple it means nothing but anyone who swears by
the gold of the temple is bound by that oath. You blind fools which is greater
the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred. You also say if anyone
swears by the altar it means nothing but anyone who swears by the gift of the
altar is bound by that oath. You blind men which is greater the gift or the
altar that makes the gift sacred and this is where I really want us to pay
attention this morning church. Jesus goes on therefore anyone who swears by the
altar swears by it and everything on it and anyone who swears by the temple
swears by it and the one who dwells in it and anyone who swears by heaven
swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. Notice that church again
Jesus takes us to the very heart of the law by making it clear that everything is
God's everything is his. So whether people swear by Jerusalem by the earth
by some created thing or even by God's temple everything that is belongs to him.
It's all under him and so because of that the Pharisees had fallen into the
grave error into grave error because they thought that they could compartmentalize
truth and bind themselves absolutely only when they had taken an oath in the
name of the Lord. No says Jesus that doesn't work because everything it's all
under God everything is his and so by implication of that fact Jesus is
teaching his disciples that all our speech is meant to be the truth not just
when we make vows. That's what Jesus is getting at here he's teaching that
everything that we say as believers is a reflection on God because we bear God's
name as people of his kingdom. We are his people the salt and light of this world
and that's all our speech must be seasoned with the truth not just our
vows and promises. This is the solemn warning church there is nothing that we
should say nothing that we should look to vow on that is any less binding than
when taking an oath in the name of the Living God. No says Jesus everything we
say everything we say we will do must be said in the light of knowing that it is
all said under the watchful eye of our Creator. This means that everything we
say we we promise we vow must be the truth because truth mustn't be
mentalized and tied to greater or lesser binding statements. That's because every
promise is made under God every vow is a promise before God. Verse 37 Jesus makes
it clear for us all you need to say is yes or no. Now in light of all of that
we've seen this morning Jesus is simply saying to be very careful with what we
say keep a watchful eye on your words be careful about making those promises that
we're not able to keep. The Pharisees thought they had found a way to say one
thing with their mouth all the while having their fingers crossed behind
their back. I don't know if you've ever seen your kids do that. Jesus says you
don't need to enter into that word spaghetti just simply do what you say
will do or if you can't be upfront say no. Anything beyond this comes from the
evil one. And church again we find ourselves at the feet of Jesus listening
to how the popular teaching of the day totally fell short of what the law was
always meant to do. And this morning we've seen that because God keeps us in
this world to advance his kingdom it is vitally important that we individually
and as the church reflect him in all that we do and say. And the fact of the
matter is this brothers and sisters it is Jesus who called himself the way the
truth and the life. And this morning he's drawing us into that realization that as
his disciples as his followers as the ones who bear his name Christians truth
must permeate every commitment we make as everything that we commit to do we
are doing in the name of the Living God who is truth. That is no small thing. If
we think about it Jesus is reminding us here this morning that we all every
single one of us in this room who have called upon the name of the Lord we are
ambassadors who represent the Living God wherever we go. This means we take him
into the workplace so when we say we'll have something done let's get it
done. When we make a business deal it had better be done in the light. No shady
bits going on in the background. Husbands when we give our word to our wives about
doing the dishes or fixing that fence we're not just bound to doing these
things from good will. No these those words they have a weight behind them.
Young ones if your parents ask you have you done your homework make sure that
you don't deceive them because your words aren't just random vibrations
hitting somebody else's eardrum. Parents if you say no to something stick to it
even when your little one gives you that gorgeous little puppy dog face because
we're teaching them that our yes means yes our no means no and that our words
really matter in this dark and deceptive world. What have we seen here this
morning? Well we've seen that when we make a commitment the world is watching
therefore we must be truthful in what we say. Yes is yes no is no and we stick to
what we say because we are representing the living God in all we say and do.
Imagine for a moment if that was the reputation of the church in this world
imagine it. Well brothers and sisters it can start here in Armidale at this
church this morning because that's how Jesus directs us to conduct ourselves in
this world. He directs us to keep truth central in all that we say and do in
public and in private. This means that we must conduct ourselves in the knowledge
that all that we do is done in the sight of the living God. This is the warning
when we deceive when we hide the truth we don't just run the risk of ruining our
reputation we bring the name of God into the mud as well. So if you are here this
morning and you would say you really struggle with keeping the truth central
in business in marriage in parenting in life in general then I want to remind
you that there is a battle raging and that we are not yet perfected. We're not
entirely sanctified and that struggle with deceit on this side of eternity
dealing with our fallen natures that attempted to protect ourselves will
happen until Kingdom come. Now I don't want to downplay this at all this
morning. The sin does have its consequences not only in our lives but
also it affects the lives of other people and before God but people lie for
a plethora of different reasons. The people usually lie tell half truths and
exaggerate not usually because they're wanting to completely ruin themselves
and other people but usually because the truth can paint them in a bad light
whether that's to do with our past or something that we haven't done well or
even something that we want to be true. That's where we usually find ourselves
not telling the truth and nothing but the truth or hiding the truth to make
things seem a little bit better even when we attach that word promise to it.
But we need to see that for what it is brothers and sisters. That is fear of
what others will think. That's usually why we play loosely with the truth
because we fear what others will think of us but this is the thing if you have
called upon the name of the Lord your identity is no longer defined by your
past. Your abilities, your talents no longer give you that worth. No in Christ
because of his perfect truth-keeping and truth speaking from the very heart in
all that he did live which has been given to us we stand justified before
the creator of the universe at this very moment. We have nothing to prove in
Christ we are worthy in Christ. So I want to remind you here this morning we have
a gracious God. A gracious God who desires to work in us to bring truth and
integrity into all we say and do in all areas of our life. And so if you see your
sin, you hate your deception then might these words from the Lord Jesus Christ
be held high among us this morning. It is he who says blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for
they will be comforted blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.
Church the kingdom is open to every and anyone who realizes their sin and turns
to God. Though we might struggle though we might mourn in that struggle and
battle we have one who invites us to go to him in our mess over and over and over
and over again. So this morning church would you join me in praying to the only
to to to not only be a truth seeker in this world but a truth speaker in all
that we say. Let's pray. Father God we thank you that your word is indeed the
double-edged sword. And Father we thank you that in Christ that where we see
where we fall short we can look to the beloved we can look to the one who has
kept the law perfectly. Not just in all that he did but in all that he said and
all that he thought all that he intended to do he never once sinned against you
in that area. We thank you Father God that that life that perfect life has
been given to us. Father we are keenly aware that we are on this side of
eternity that we're in different contexts in business in work in parenting
being young university whatever it might be where truth can sometimes be something
that we're tempted to hide. Father would you please help us would you please
change us. Might this church here in Armidale be a place that is known to be
truthful, truth in love that we are not a bashing symbol a clanging gone but a
place that holds the truth of the gospel high in this city and that you would
draw all manner of people to yourself. We ask for this in Jesus name. Amen.