1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,360 again to go to Matthew's Gospel as we're making our way through this blessed 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,560 book. 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,000 We're still in the fifth chapter, 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,440 and we're still in the section of what is known as a Sermon on the Mount. 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:27,640 All of Matthew 5 and 6 and 7 is one section of Scripture, and it's the Lord's 6 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:33,000 Sermon to his disciples there on the Mount of Beatitudes and mostly followers, 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,040 but the religious leaders were gathered there as well listening to him. And today 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:44,760 our text we pick up in verse 33. And Jesus said, and you have heard that it 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:50,000 was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform 10 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:56,520 your oaths to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, 11 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:03,280 for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, 12 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:09,120 for it is the city of the great king, nor shall you swear by your head, because 13 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:17,280 you cannot make one hair white or black, but let your yes be yes, and your no be 14 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:24,840 no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one. Let us pray. Oh Father 15 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:30,520 God help us this morning Lord. Lord we hear from the King about life in his 16 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:36,440 kingdom. Lord lead us to grace to make this a reality in our lives. Oh bless God 17 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:41,160 Lord we pray for your Holy Spirit and the aid and help of your spirit. Lord would 18 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:48,320 you grant that this morning. Speak, give eyes and open hearts to behold the beauty 19 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:53,360 and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it's in his name we 20 00:01:53,360 --> 00:02:00,800 pray. Amen. I don't think it comes to a surprise to anyone to hear today that we 21 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,760 live in an age of deception and dishonesty. I mean if we think about it, 22 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:10,360 deception it's ubiquitous. I mean you see it in ads and you see it online. There 23 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,880 are products that always over promise what they can actually do. This is the 24 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:19,880 advertiser's secret, right? I mean if you just use this cream and you can 25 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:25,040 erase years from your face it's not happening. This year for Christmas my 26 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:29,440 kids have asked for a particular teddy bear it's called Thready Bear and I have 27 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,240 told them as they're sitting right here laughing because they are asking this 28 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,520 for Christmas and they really believe that Thready Bear will come to life as 29 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,840 advertised. Don't worry I've already let them down they just don't believe me 30 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,660 they believe the advertisers. So they think a bear is going to come to life. We 31 00:02:43,660 --> 00:02:47,640 also hear if you will just take this pill you can lose weight without having 32 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,720 to diet or exercise. If you've ever traveled and you've got a brochure one 33 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:58,080 thing for sure brochures over promise what the resort will actually look and 34 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,800 be like. And then of course we all are familiar with high-pressure sales pitches. 35 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:09,420 You hide high pressure high-pressured salesmen using flattery to make us make 36 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:14,240 a rash decision. I don't know if you've ever sat through a timeshare presentation 37 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,160 or not but this is what they do. But also we see it in the political world. We're 38 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,080 coming out of an election cycle and we've grown accustomed to this we've 39 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,800 grown numb to it. Candidates on either side constantly going to over promise 40 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:34,920 what they will do. On day one here's what I will do. On day one I promise to do. 41 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,920 That's not going to happen not everything that they said is going to 42 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:43,400 happen. And it used to be that a man's word and the handshake were all that was 43 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:49,640 needed for a man who was expected to fulfill his word. But think about today 44 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,640 no one just uses a handshake. We have contracts that we have to have notarized 45 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,600 in the presence of witnesses also signed usually in the presence of lawyers if we 46 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:05,720 are going to have any type of business. But why why do we need all those things? 47 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:11,880 Because people and companies are going to try to find some loophole to get out 48 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,560 from under their contractual obligation. But I wonder about the people of God. 49 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:23,360 When people hear your name what comes to their mind? Are you an honest person who 50 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:28,760 consistently speaks the truth? Are you a person who consistently follows through 51 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:34,120 on your commitments and promises? Or on the other hand are you known as someone 52 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:40,920 who exaggerates or embellishes to make stories appear better than they are? Let 53 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:45,880 me ask you this. Have you ever told someone I will pray for you and then 54 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,360 don't do it? We often do that don't we? I mean that's one of the most probably 55 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,640 common forms of lying in the church. Oh we'll pray for you but do you do you 56 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:58,080 pray for that person? What about this do you tell others hey I'm leaving the 57 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:03,280 house in 15 I'll be leaving the house right now and yet you know you're not 58 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:08,040 going to leave for at least another 15 minutes? See today as we come to our text 59 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:16,560 in Matthew 5 as a central premise Jesus puts forth truthfulness and integrity. As 60 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,960 I said a moment ago this is the Sermon on the Mount and we have our Lord who 61 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:25,200 is the King and he's sharing with his disciples what life in his kingdom looks 62 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:31,800 like and he wants them to know something. Life in the kingdom of God is radically 63 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,600 different from life in the kingdom of man. If we look at the kingdom of God we 64 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:44,120 find integrity, honesty, purity both internal and external. It's not just that 65 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,280 you're simply abiding by a set of ethics but there's an internal purity as well 66 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:54,040 that leads you to do so. In the sermon the Lord is also exposing the hypocrisy 67 00:05:54,040 --> 00:06:00,200 of the religious leaders. So really the sermon is twofold it's an exhortation to 68 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:06,080 his disciples. He's informing them and exhorting them of what life as a follower 69 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,600 of Christ looks like but at the same time it serves as a rebuke to the 70 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,560 religious elite of his day. You might say well how is he rebuking the religious 71 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:21,320 elite? Well in Matthew 5 he will give six examples of what these leaders have done, 72 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:27,280 how they've taken the law of God and they perverted it, they've twisted it to 73 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:31,800 their own benefit. I mean that's what their masters at. They take the law, they 74 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,000 mishandle it, they reduce the standards of the law to things that they felt more 75 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:45,760 manageable and that they could keep until, until Christ the divine Son who is 76 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:50,600 the great lawgiver, he came on the scene and he gave the true interpretation 77 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:56,800 which exposed these men, these leading religious officials as hypocrites. 78 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:02,160 Suffice it to say they were not happy with our Lord. For example we looked a 79 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,400 few weeks ago in the Sixth Commandment. There the Lord showed it was not simply 80 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:12,160 murder that was forbidden by the Sixth Commandment, not simply homicide, the 81 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:18,000 anger in the heart also breaks the Sixth Commandment. Then a few weeks ago we also 82 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:23,280 looked at the Seventh Commandment, the act of adultery. It wasn't just simply 83 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:28,120 the physical act of adultery that broke the Seventh Commandment. The Lord said 84 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:34,240 lust that lie in the heart of man is also a violation of God's commandment. 85 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:40,320 But these religious leaders, keep in mind they were very sly. They had designed an 86 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,320 elaborate system that allowed them to technically, and I put those words in 87 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,880 quotes, keep the law but that also allowed them to do what they wanted to 88 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:54,440 do. Now the leading religious officials were Pharisees and Sadducees. The 89 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:59,480 Pharisees were the purity gatekeepers. They were the one who fastidiously kept 90 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:04,800 the law. They would never dream of committing adultery. So how are they going 91 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,320 to get around this commandment when they wanted another woman? Well they developed 92 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,200 a system where they could willfully divorce their wife and then marry 93 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:17,360 another so technically they're not committing adultery. They divorced and 94 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:24,520 remarried and Jesus said you hypocrites, you are committing adultery through the 95 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:31,120 divorce and subsequent remarriage. Do you see what they've done? They're taking 96 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:36,320 God's law and distorted it to justify their own lust. But our Lord's not 97 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,680 finished. Today once again he's going to show the hypocrisy of these corrupt 98 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:44,600 leaders and their perversion in God's law because once again you find them 99 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:50,400 developing an elaborate system this time dealing with oaths and vows. They said 100 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:55,520 some oaths, some vows are binding, yeah others well they're permissible to break 101 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:02,920 and a law had to be fulfilled if if it was a public vow and it invoked God's 102 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:09,400 name the name of Yahweh or Jehovah. However if the vow was made in the 103 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,560 course of everyday conversation, private speech, and it didn't reference the 104 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:19,760 divine name but maybe reference heaven or earth or Jerusalem, well now 105 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:25,520 technically you're not using God's name so it's not really binding. It was 106 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:31,000 considered to be less significant and since it's less significant it did not 107 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:37,320 demand the person to be so conscientious about keeping that particular vow. So do 108 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,880 you see what they're doing? These false shepherds had allowed a loophole where 109 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:47,240 they could lie or exaggerate in their conversation but it would lend them an 110 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:53,160 air of credibility because they would swear or take an oath. Now again how they 111 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,440 do that? Because if it was a public vow well you had to keep it but these 112 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:01,440 private vows that did not invoke God's name well they're not held to account. 113 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:06,920 Kent Hughes in his commentary speaks of this. The Mishnah, by the way that's the 114 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:11,760 oral tradition of the rabbis. They devote a one whole section I'll just call 115 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:16,320 oaths to an elaborate discussion of when oaths are binding and when they're not. 116 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,000 The swearing of oaths had degenerated into a system of rules as to when you 117 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:26,280 could lie and when you could not. There was an ongoing epidemic of frivolous 118 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,920 swearing. There was an inevitable trivialization of everyday language and 119 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:37,520 integrity. It became commonplace practice to convince another that you're telling 120 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:42,920 the truth while lying by bringing some person or imminent object into reference. 121 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,160 Let me give you an example of the hypocrisy and this literally happens 122 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:52,560 found in the Mishnah. One rabbi said if you swear by Jerusalem you are not bound 123 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:59,360 to keep that oath but if you swear while facing Jerusalem now you were bound to 124 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:04,360 keep that oath and that's what they were doing. They had all this religious 125 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:10,960 this sophisticated system to allow them to get out from what the law said. It's 126 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,560 similar to what children do when they're convincing you they're telling the 127 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:18,440 truth while fingers crossed. So technically I don't have to tell the 128 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:23,040 truth because my fingers are crossed. Our Lord comes and he says this is absolute 129 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:28,760 hypocrisy and he's going to warn against this. Look at verse 33. This is our first 130 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:35,960 verse. You have heard that it said to those of old do not swear falsely but you 131 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,400 shall perform your oaths to the Lord. Well that's correct that's a correct 132 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:43,240 saying you have heard the law required the law of Moses required not only that 133 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,040 you would not swear falsely but once you did make an oath you had to keep it. 134 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:53,040 Where do they get that? Well number 30. If a man makes a vow to the Lord or 135 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:57,080 swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement he shall not break his word 136 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,120 and he should do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 137 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,760 Verse 23. Now that's an oath to the Lord though right? That which has gone from 138 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,320 your lips you shall keep and perform for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your 139 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:13,040 God what you've promised with your mouth. Now let me just say it's not wrong then 140 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:19,320 to make a vow it's not wrong to swear an oath or even an oath in God's name but 141 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:26,680 once you did it you were bound to it. It was finalized. You had to fulfill it. Now 142 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:32,480 so the law of Moses allowed for this but the Lord the one who gave the law he's 143 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:38,520 going to take us beyond just a letter and reveal the true intention. Now first 144 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:43,680 of all Jesus never does say that oaths or vows are inherently evil. He doesn't 145 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:49,760 say it. His point is they should be unnecessary. Not that they're evil they 146 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:55,880 should be unnecessary for the people of God. Why? As children of the kingdom I 147 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:02,600 think we should be so solid that there be no need to add some other affirmation 148 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,120 that we are telling the truth. You're simply supposed to tell the truth at all 149 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:11,200 times and you don't have to swear by something that you're doing it. Now the 150 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:16,040 law of Moses did restrict those as well. They were really reserved for serious 151 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:21,400 important matters but that changed through time. The people started using an 152 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:25,280 oath or a vow for trivial and mundane matters. They used them in everyday 153 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,400 speech. It was very commonplace at the time of Jesus. Even the religious leaders 154 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:36,720 participated in this and they were also trivializing the law of God. But Jesus 155 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:42,360 has had enough and he shows her hypocrisy and verses 34 through 36 and he 156 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,400 tells you don't swear at all and he tells you what not to swear by. So here's 157 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:52,200 again I want to make sure we understand this. If you swear by God or you swear a 158 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:57,120 reference to his name they said you have to fulfill that. But if you swore by 159 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,960 heaven or earth, your own head or Jerusalem, well that's not a solemn as 160 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:09,120 the divine name so there's really no penalty if you would break that vow. Now 161 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:17,440 keep in mind how ridiculous this sounds. You have devout, supposedly pious Jews. 162 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:23,120 They had respect for the divine name. They didn't even like to write it. That's 163 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,640 how we got Jehovah and Yahweh. But so if you would invoke that name, the divine 164 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,280 name, the covenant-keeping name of Yahweh or Jehovah is the sovereign one, that has 165 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:37,960 to be kept. If you did not keep that vow then you were considered to have taken 166 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,360 God's name in vain. That's a violation of the third commandment. So they didn't 167 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:48,000 want to do that. So what do they do? They begin to use surrogates. They begin to use 168 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:53,920 substitutes. No longer am I swearing by God. I swear by Jerusalem. I swear by 169 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,520 heaven. I swear by the hair on my head. I know that would not do well for me. I 170 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,680 understand. I'll get the joke for you today. So this is what's happening. They 171 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:10,200 believed the further the oath was removed from the name of God, then the 172 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:16,000 less binding and the less danger was involved if they broke it. This is crazy. 173 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,800 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, he said this, they had so construed the meaning and so turned 174 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:26,320 and phrased it in a legal form that they allowed themselves ample scope to do 175 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,360 many things that were utterly contradictory to the spirit of the law. 176 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:35,600 Yet they felt they were free because they had not actually broken the letter. 177 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:42,200 To commit perjury, lying under oath of God, was to them a very serious and solemn 178 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,040 matter. A terrible sin and they denounced it. You could however take all kinds of 179 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:53,680 oaths and do all sorts of things, but as long as you never committed perjury, well 180 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:58,680 then you were innocent before the law. You were not guilty. The Lord says you've 181 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:03,120 got to be kidding me here. He said even if you don't swear by God, but you 182 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:08,480 swear by heaven, you still have to keep that oath. Why? Because when you swear by 183 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:14,680 heaven, you're still calling God the witness. How? Heaven belongs to God. You 184 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:20,280 swear by earth, you're still calling God the witness. How? The earth belongs to God. 185 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:25,720 To swear by Jerusalem, is to still calling God the witness. How? Jerusalem 186 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,960 belongs to God. You swear by your own head with the hairs on your head, you're 187 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:37,200 still calling God to witness. Why? You belong to God by right of creation. Psalm 188 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,720 24 verse 1, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all 189 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:47,320 those who dwell therein. Anything you swear by, think of anything that you 190 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:52,720 swear by, belongs to God, thereby you are calling God to witness in the vow you 191 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:58,920 are making. And that's a true statement. But the Pharisees are rife with 192 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:04,360 hypocrisy and it justly angered our Lord. I mean what were the religious leaders? 193 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:09,440 What was their duty? They were shepherds. They were to be leading people to God and 194 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:14,440 yet he said you were making them twice the sons of hell. You're taking them away 195 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:20,760 from God. In Matthew 23, these same people, the Lord is pronouncing a woe upon. 196 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:28,760 Listen with open ears to our Lord here this morning. But woe to you, scribes and 197 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:34,920 Pharisees, hypocrites. For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. This 198 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:40,820 next phrase is terrifying. For you neither go in yourselves nor do you allow 199 00:17:40,820 --> 00:17:46,120 those who are entering to go in. You're excluded from the kingdom, you hypocrites. 200 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:51,400 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you devour widows' houses and 201 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:56,480 for pretense you make long prayers. Oh, you will receive the greater condemnation. 202 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:02,720 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you travel land and sea to 203 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,920 win one proselyte and when he has won you make him twice as much a son of hell as 204 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:14,680 yourselves. Woe to you blind guides who say whoever swears by the temple is 205 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,880 nothing but whoever swears by the gold of the temple he's obliged to perform 206 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:25,520 it. Fools and blind. For which is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifies 207 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:29,840 the gold? And whoever swears by the altar, well that's nothing but whoever swears 208 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:35,760 by the gift that is on it he is obliged to perform it. You fools and blind. What's 209 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:41,960 greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? So you want to swear 210 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,000 by the altar? Well then when you do you swear by it and by all the things on it. 211 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,440 You swear by the temple, you swear by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever 212 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:59,120 swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it. Just stop 213 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:04,440 for just a moment. Could there be anything more terrifying and dreadful 214 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:11,600 than to have the Son of God pronounce a woe upon you? There's nothing. Anguish, 215 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:18,840 affliction, wretchedness, calamity, trouble, eternal destruction will be theirs at 216 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:24,920 the last judgment. It's a serious thing we're talking about. You feel the 217 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,280 righteous anger of our Lord because these corrupt leaders were leading his 218 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:33,200 people astray. They perverted the law of God who is all truthful to allow for 219 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:39,200 some form of lying. Yes the law did allow you to use an oath but it was done to 220 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,360 show the seriousness of what was taking place. It was never meant to justify 221 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:50,360 lying nor to get out of one's commitment. But again what about you? Do you ever 222 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:54,160 have to give an affirmation to certify that you're telling the truth? I promise, 223 00:19:54,160 --> 00:20:01,040 and I promise you now, I promise on my mother's grave. People say things like 224 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:06,360 that to show that now I'm really speaking the truth which calls into 225 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:10,960 question every other time they have spoken. Friends if you and I have to 226 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,680 convince someone that we are telling the truth by promising or swearing by 227 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:21,160 something, our integrity has already been tarnished. It's gone. I loved what J. 228 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,080 Vernon McGee he said, when a man tells me I would swear on a stack of Bibles a 229 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:29,720 mile high, he said that is a fathom I do not believe because I think the lie he's 230 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:35,640 telling is a mile high. Absolutely true. And by the way, why if you swear on one 231 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:42,000 Bible versus a sack of Bibles? But this is what we do, right? The Pharisees had 232 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,200 taken the law of God and they reduced it like they did the sixth and seventh 233 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:52,040 command to perjury only, lying while invoking the name of God. And yet at the 234 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:57,240 same time they're missing the entire point which is designed to have 235 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:05,640 truthfulness at all times. What is the answer? Verse 37, you citizens of the 236 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:11,360 kingdom just say yes and no. For if you want to go beyond that it comes from the 237 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:16,120 evil one. Jesus is the one who gave the law and he corrected those religious 238 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:21,800 leaders. He said I tell you, I say to you don't swear at all. Now stop right there. 239 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,200 Some groups like Quakers and others have taken this at any oath or any value 240 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:33,400 is bad or evil. So they said you should never do it. Well no, we have to 241 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:38,720 interpret scripture by scripture. We see Abraham took an oath from a servant when 242 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,960 he went to find a wife for Isaac, right? Jacob took an oath from Joseph that his 243 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:51,760 bones would be leaving Egypt. Joseph took an oath from his relatives. 244 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:59,400 Jonathan asked for an oath from David. Jesus when he was asked by the high 245 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,800 priest who adjured him by the living God to answer if he was the Christ the Son 246 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:09,920 of God while under oath he answered. Paul in many of his letters calls God the 247 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:16,520 witness. Second Corinthians 1 23, listen to Paul. I call God as witness against my 248 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:22,520 soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. Paul swearing by God but he's 249 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,760 doing so because the Corinthians have doubted his integrity and sincerity and 250 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,780 he's trying to regain that. So it wasn't wrong for Paul to do that. In Hebrews we 251 00:22:31,780 --> 00:22:36,360 read and it records that God himself took an oath when he could swear by no 252 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:41,040 greater he swore by himself. So friends it's not that if you ever take an oath 253 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:47,040 you're in violation of this passage. The oath can add a solemn authority that 254 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:53,280 nothing else can give. For example if you're married you took sacred vows. 255 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:58,440 Marriage vows that's a solemn oath that you swear before God and gathered 256 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:04,560 witnesses. If you go to court you will take a public oath to tell the truth and 257 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,980 nothing but the truth so help you God with your hand on a Bible it adds to 258 00:23:07,980 --> 00:23:12,600 the seriousness of what is taking place in the courtroom. But what is Jesus then 259 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:19,200 calling for? He's calling for an end of this in everyday speech. Just say yes 260 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:25,080 just say no. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Just tell the whole truth and 261 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:30,200 there's no need to invoke an oath or swear by anything. By the way this also 262 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:36,360 helps us and protects us from irreverently taking God's name in vain. 263 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:43,840 If you use oaths in everyday speech people will take God's name irreverently 264 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,120 even without knowing it. They're just speaking and there is just a film. Well 265 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:57,060 God knows. Well God knows. May God strike me dead or if I'm lying God help us. But 266 00:23:57,060 --> 00:24:03,140 there's no thought of the God that they are invoking. The one true living God who 267 00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:07,480 dwells in unapproachable light who does not take lightly that his name is used 268 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:13,820 in vain. We don't use the name of God flippantly nor irreverently. When we 269 00:24:13,820 --> 00:24:19,240 gather there ought to be a holy reverence about us. This is worship of the one true 270 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:25,760 living triune God. Friends there ought to be a seriousness of sobriety about us. Once 271 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:31,820 again I quote Kent Hughes. Today there's an urgent truth shortage. There's a time 272 00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:35,000 in the Western land where which was distinguished from other cultures by at 273 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,760 least a conventional outward sense of obligation to tell the truth. But now 274 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,820 there's a pervasive indifference to truth-telling and this is not only 275 00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:49,680 infected day-to-day conversation but the most solemn pledges of life. Perjury 276 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:54,920 under solemn oath is epidemic. The sacred vows of marriage are broken almost as 277 00:24:54,920 --> 00:25:00,720 often as repeated. God's name is invoked by blatant liars who purport to be 278 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:07,440 witnesses to the truth. The message that our Lord is communicating here is that 279 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:13,040 his kingdom is a kingdom of truth. It is a kingdom of light and he doesn't desire 280 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:18,800 simply truth externally but in the inner man. Friends I don't know how to say it 281 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,520 any differently. Citizens of heaven ought to be people of integrity who will only 282 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:28,800 speak the truth. J. Dwight Fennacost says let your character, your reputation for 283 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,840 honesty, your word be so obviously true and undefiled and without duplicity that 284 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,360 no man would think it necessary to put you under an oath because he he does not 285 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:44,580 suspect that you are deceiving him. Parents let me just say this. Do your 286 00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:48,560 children have to make you promise? Are we're going to do something? Mom promise 287 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,440 me? We're going to do it. Promise me mom. If our children are having to 288 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:58,480 invoke that it's because somehow we've not been fully truthful with them. They 289 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,400 know just because mom or dad says yes doesn't mean it's going to take place. 290 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:06,320 Which is why we better be careful before we speak right? Don't make rash valves. 291 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:11,040 Don't say you're going to do it and then not do it. Again I quote Pentecost. He 292 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,760 said there's only one way to interpret yes. Yes does not mean no. There's only 293 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,440 one way you can interpret no. When you say yes it means yes. When you say no it 294 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,800 means no. The Lord demanded that one speech be so trustworthy that men would 295 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,520 not have to debate what was meant and interpret it. Interpret what was said. 296 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:32,320 They would know what was meant because he was an honest man. I think several 297 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:37,040 years ago and you know when our presidents debated the word is. What do 298 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,720 you mean by is? That's the type of loophole our Lord is downcing. See life 299 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:48,240 in God's kingdom is kingdom of honesty. But life in the kingdom of man in which 300 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,960 we don't hear on this earth have truths, white lies, exaggerations, embellishments 301 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:58,480 and all those come from Satan who is the father of lies. But you and I are 302 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:03,200 children of light not of the darkness and we should be known for our impeccable 303 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:09,600 honesty and integrity. More than that friends you bear the Imago Dei. You are 304 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,800 an image bearer of God and you're called to reflect the character of our Father 305 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,840 in heaven. There should be no need to invoke God's name or swear by something 306 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:24,520 to have any other person believe us. That shows the lack of character. That people 307 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,480 aren't going to believe you unless you swear. But let me make this a little 308 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:33,160 practical too. What about when you tell someone you'll do something? Are you 309 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,520 honest in your answer and do it? Do you fulfill your vows? Do you fulfill your 310 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,920 obligations? What if something better comes along? Do you then seek to wiggle 311 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:48,160 out of your prior commitment? Are you faithful to perform the duties you 312 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:54,280 volunteered for? What about your commitment to the nursery rotation or 313 00:27:54,280 --> 00:28:01,800 to toddler church to teach Sunday school? Some of you with faith promise giving. 314 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:07,040 Are you faithful to give as he said you would if the Lord gave it to you? You 315 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:14,880 said that. See Psalm 15 I think it's so helpful as we start to close. The psalmist 316 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,840 asks, Lord who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy 317 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:27,040 hill? The answer, he who walks uprightly and works righteousness, speaks the truth 318 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,280 where? In his heart. He does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his 319 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,600 neighbor nor does he take up or approach against his friend. In whose eyes a vile 320 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,920 person is despised. But he honors those who fear the Lord. But look at the latter 321 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:46,880 part of verse 4. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. What's that 322 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:52,600 mean? The man is going to keep his promise even if it hurts him. Even if it 323 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:58,640 costs him. This is life in the kingdom. By the way I think this has wonderful 324 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,640 wonderful implications for marriage and the divorce culture in which we live. 325 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,560 Christian, I don't know how to say any more succinctly than this. You stood 326 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:12,520 before God and witnesses to take this spouse for better or worse and God 327 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:18,680 intends you intends for you to fill that vow. There's no wiggle room. You said you 328 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:25,400 would do it right? Keep it. That's integrity. Don't wiggle out of it. 329 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,280 Keith Hughes says when people know that you do not lie your testimony have more 330 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:34,860 effect than all the theology you could ram at them. What a difference a truth 331 00:29:34,860 --> 00:29:43,560 will life makes. Children of the kingdom right? You wear his holy name in baptism. 332 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,400 When you were baptized the name of God was placed upon you right? When we 333 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:52,020 baptized we baptized you in the name of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit. 334 00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:58,040 You were baptized into that holy name. We saw in Ephesians 4 you have a calling to 335 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,280 walk worthy. There's a high calling to walk worthy of this noble calling that 336 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,920 you and I have received in Christ. You and I are to reflect his faithfulness 337 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,200 and you and I are to reflect his truthfulness. 338 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:16,320 Charles Simeon he said let all of every class and every degree remember this. If 339 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:21,720 you are Christ indeed you will remember him in whose lips there was no guile 340 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:27,080 found. Let truth be in your inward parts and let it ever be dear to your souls. 341 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:33,040 This last part was so instructive he's quoting scripture. For of every idle 342 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,480 word you will give account in the day of judgment. 343 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:43,840 Yea by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned. 344 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:52,360 It's a sobering thought for me as a man of many words. Every idle word God will 345 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,920 cost account for. So you say okay we're done so so what how what do we do 346 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:03,160 pastor? Well we just heard from the King, King Jesus and he's issued a high 347 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,200 calling to his kingdom of truthfulness. That means dear Christian you are to 348 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,960 keep your promise, you are to measure your word and you answer unequivocally 349 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:17,840 with either yes or no. You and I are to call to be people of such character and 350 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,320 integrity that no one's going to even think of asking you to confirm to 351 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:27,560 confirm that you're telling the truth by taking a vow or a promise. But alas as 352 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:33,960 much as we make progress and as much as we strive toward that lofty goal none of 353 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:39,680 us fully masters the tongue. James tells us the tongue is an unruly member in our 354 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:46,640 bodies. No man can tame it, no man can master it. So what's today? I hear the 355 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:53,160 lofty standards of Christ and I look at this impossible standard of purity that 356 00:31:53,160 --> 00:32:01,460 he demands. Lord I can't do this. We hear it. We hear the word of the law in our 357 00:32:01,460 --> 00:32:10,940 ears and we see our failure. What do we do? We moan that, we decry it. Why? Because 358 00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:17,160 we fall short of the goal. So what do we do then? Do we just sit here as failures 359 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:24,520 and losers? Let us confess our sin. Confess it today. We'll do that before you 360 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:31,680 come to the table. Agree with God what it is and agree with God what it deserves. 361 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:37,400 The bloody death and shed blood of Christ is a reminder of this. And then 362 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:44,000 let us repent of it. Hate it, forsake it, not justifying it, not 363 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:53,000 excusing it. Then church in faith let us go to the one who gave the law and ask 364 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:58,440 him for forgiveness for having broken his law. So we confess it and we can ask 365 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:04,960 him to forgive us and then we go to Christ and we see the one who perfectly 366 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:10,840 kept the law of God and we ask him in faith would you clothe us with 367 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:19,800 your righteousness. Mine will suffice and Jesus does and then let us rest in the 368 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:26,320 promise of God that he has forgiven all our trespasses, all of our violations of 369 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:32,680 his holy law in Christ Jesus. That's what the table of the word does. You and I 370 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:40,240 come today limping, halting, weak, maimed and we see Christ and God has made 371 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,440 promises and you're going to take them today. You're going to take in these 372 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:50,680 promises of God as the forgiven people of his kingdom. What a great God we serve. 373 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:55,680 What a glorious God. But if you're here today and you have never bowed the knee 374 00:33:55,680 --> 00:34:00,340 to King Jesus, you've never confessed your sin and repented of it, you have 375 00:34:00,340 --> 00:34:04,240 never bowed your knee to him asking him to be your Savior, you have never 376 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:08,920 submitted to him in the waters of baptism. Today I remind you there is a 377 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:14,680 Savior, there is a fountain. All the cleansing is deep and it is forever. If 378 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:19,600 you will come to Christ, he will receive you. If you want to know more what it 379 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,800 means to follow the Lord Jesus Christ or what it means to be a son or daughter of 380 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,200 God after the service, I want you to immediately come to me and this is the 381 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:31,680 greatest thing that we get to do as pastors and ministers is point people to 382 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:36,920 the risen Christ. Let us prepare our hearts for the table as we then prayer 383 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,240 and the deacons if you'd come forward. 384 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:48,520 Father, I thank you this morning that Lord God we have a witness of your holy 385 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:58,240 desire and your calling upon us Lord so that we're not