Matthew 5, we'll read verses 17 on to verse 37. And our focus will be on verses 33 to 37. But to remind you of the context, Jesus is talking about the law and his relationship to it. Let us hear the word of God, beginning with verse 17. Do not think I've come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota nor a dot will pass on the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders shall not be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court. Thus your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you've paid the last penny. You've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery, but I say to you, The everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better for you to lose one of your members than your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body. Go into hell. It was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the grounds of sexual immorality, makes or commits adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you should not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil. That could be translated, comes from the evil one. It was the evening of August 18th, 1988, when the words were spoken that have been described as the six most destructive words in history of presidential politics. What words could be so destructive? There are many accusations that go forth, many charges, but what's six words? Well, the occasion was the Republican National Convention and it was during the acceptance speech of then Vice President George H.W. Bush. that he said those faithful words as he looked into the camera, read my lips, no new taxes. That speech and that phrase and really the point that he was making is credited with giving him a boost in his campaign and being part of what led to his election as president. And then two years later, under pressure from Congress, he goes along with a tax increase. And it's generally seen that the reason he did not win re-election because of that promise not to raise taxes. And why? Well, if you took a survey of the people at that time, they would have said that their taxes needed to go up. They knew, for the conventional wisdom, was that higher taxes would be better for our nation and the struggle that was undergoing economically. And so it wasn't so much the fact that the taxes were raised that did him in, but because he was not true to his word. He had given a promise very boldly, very straightforwardly. He'd even given the scenario of what was going to happen. The Democrats are going to push, and I'm going to say no, and they're going to push some more, and I'm going to say no, and they're going to push some more, and I'm going to say no. And I'm going to say, read my lips, no new taxes. And that's exactly what happened. The Democratic Congress pushed and said, we need new taxes. And he said, no, we need new taxes. And he said, no, and we need new taxes. And he said, read my lips, yes. He went along with it. And he's voted out. Because he had broken trust with the people. He'd make a promise. And they put confidence in those words, in that promise, and he hadn't kept it. His words mattered. Our words mattered. And in this section on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is making that very point. Our speech, what we say is important, and especially When it comes to making an oath. But it really has wider implications to all that we say, and Jesus really draws us back that all that we say. Needs to be spoken with integrity. Honesty and sincerity. And so they look at that these verses we need to understand that. And so the first point we need to understand is that the truth matters. What is the truth that matters to God? First of all, because of God's relationship to the truth. Truth, truthfulness, truthful communications are at the very heart of who God is. We're told in John 17, 17 that God's word is true. Jesus prays, sanctify, talking about the disciples, sanctify them in the truth, your word. God's word is truth. So what God has communicated to us is truth. Nothing but the truth. God's actions are done in truth. Psalm 34, 4 talks about all God's works are done in faithfulness. Or we could translate it in truth. So God's works and his words. God is said to be abundant in truth. You think of Moses as God's presence passed before him in Exodus 34. And what does God proclaim? That he's abundant in loving kindness and in truth. But more than that, if we look, we see that God himself is truth. Speaking about the Father in Psalm 31, verse 5, He's called the God of truth. The Son in John 14, 6, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. And in John 16, 13, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. Part of the very essence of God is His truth. It reveals His nature. His nature is true. He cannot lie. And for what reason did Jesus come into this world? Jesus tells us Himself in John 18, 37. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world. What is that purpose? To bear witness? To the truth. And think about it. It's the very nature of God can be characterized by truth and it can be. And if all of God's words and all of God's works display truth and they do. And if the Messiah left the glories of heaven and came to earth to testify the truth, then the truth. must be awfully important. It must be crucial. It must be something that we should not take very lightly. And indeed, as you consider the Ten Commandments, you get down to the ninth commandment, the commandment not to bear false witness against our neighbor. It implies that we're to be speaking the truth, especially in that most important circumstance when we're testifying about someone else. Now it's wrong and it's bad not to be truthful at all times. And perhaps we slip into this as parents, you know, we say to our children, sort of I'm thinking if you clean up your room on Saturday I'll go take you out for some ice cream and Saturday comes around and we don't keep our word. That's bad because it breaks trust with your children. But how much worse if we're called to testify about someone else? Our words could destroy that person's reputation. Our words could cause them to lose their freedom. Our words could hurt their economic well-being, or possibly our words could even put an end to their life. Our words are important, especially when we're testifying. We must be concerned for the truth. Or B, as we think about that, we should note that we have a wonderful opportunity in this area of truth to be imitating God, because God is truth, because God's works are true, because God's words are true. When we're truthful, we are imitating God. When we keep Our words, even at a cost to ourselves. And we just sang about that in Psalm 15. That man who makes a promise and then keeps it even though it causes pain. Even though it causes hurt to himself. We're imitating God. We're showing the importance of truthfulness. And we live in a society that says, you know, words don't matter. Talk is cheap. and dismisses truth and lies. You know, it's only a little white lie. Doesn't hold people accountable for the promises they make. Expects people at times to lie in order to gain an advantage. You know, do you seriously expect that politicians to keep every one of their promises that they make when they're running for office? Christians who do that, who do what they say, will stick up. That they know the God of truth, and they share his concern for the truth. Now the second point is we see in these verses is that Jesus points out a flagrant misuse of words. As we look at this idea of truth and lies, and what had it become So there's a fashionable lie among the Jews, and that was in the area of giving oaths. Now, I maybe need to remark first of all that the need for oaths is based upon the sinfulness of men and women. Oaths are a way of trying to restrain the lies and the false promises. It's an attempt to guarantee the truthfulness of what the person is saying, making it a little bit more solemn, maybe making them swear in the presence of God. As they get on the witness stand and put their hand on the Bible, that they'll think a little bit more seriously before they give an outright lie. And someone is sent to jail needlessly without just cause. And today, our oaths are usually reserved for more formal situations. When we go to a court of law and swear on that Bible, when we stand before the minister in a wedding ceremony and give our vows, when we join the military or maybe are elected to office and affirm our support of the constitution and the president, and when we join the church. So we may do some different things today. Often I think it's in terms of signed contracts. that we want to make sure that what the person is saying, they really mean, and so we have them sign on the dotted line, you know, I'm pledging my word to do this, to make those mortgage payments every single month. You know, I gone are the days when a simple handshake did it, that your words were so true that people would kind of, And so today we often use a contract as a way of confirming or affirming our words that we're going to do that. The end of verse 37 says, anything more than this comes from evil. And that can be taken one of two ways. And I'm not sure which way is proper, because one way would be to understand it comes from a heart of evil. It comes from a sinful heart. And because we have sinful hearts, We need to try to impress upon people the importance of being truthful. And so you have this ritual of oaths and swearing. And so when a person appears in a court of law, the Bible is brought out to help them understand the seriousness of what they're doing. It's an attempt to nail down the truth. because we know the evil in the hearts of men. But there's another way of understanding, and that's B, that it comes from the evil one. And that would be then a reference to what Jesus is talking about here, the practice of the rabbis and how they regarded oaths. And Jesus then is saying, this is a diabolical practice they're doing. And what was that practice? Well, it's maybe based on Leviticus 1912, where God warned you should not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of our God. And so the emphasis was if you took an oath in God's name, You had better be sure to do that. And that seems to be what Jesus is talking about, as he quotes, not directly from any Old Testament passage, but the tenor of what's there and the tenor of the teaching. It seems to say, when it's in God's name, you need to do it. If it's not, well, you don't have to be too worried about a pledge or promise, a vow that you take. But if you invoke the name of God, be sure to do it. And they came up with all sorts of criteria. You know, what is it that really is invoking God? And so they came and said, if you square by Jerusalem, well, that's not binding. You know, Jerusalem is just a city. But if you square toward Jerusalem, and that's where God is seen as dwelling, well, that's binding. If you swear by the temple, well, that's not binding. That's just a building. But if you swear by the gold in the temple that was used in the sacrifices and all the rest of it, that was binding. If you swear by the altar, a sacrifice, that's not binding. Because that's just an altar. But if you swear by the gift on the altar, that's been given to God. And that's binding. And they came up with all these criteria. If you swear by heaven, then you need to do it. But if you swear by the earth, then you don't need to do it. And they were misusing oaths. Instead of using an oath to call God to bear witness to your integrity, that you intend to do what you're saying at that moment, they used it often to free themselves. It sort of reminds me of children on the playground that make a promise and, you know, you give me that candy bar, I'll give you 50 cents, but I've got my fingers behind my back, crossed behind my back, and you give me the candy bar and I don't give you the money. Uh-huh. And it would be saying something to the effect, of course, if I'd sworn by God's name to keep my oath, I would have done it. But the fact that I didn't, that I swore by the earth or by the hairs on my head in an indication that my commitment wasn't real, that I didn't have to keep it. I had my fingers crossed behind my back. Well, see, we can see Jesus' response. First of all, he really points out the utter foolishness of this line of thinking. Whatever we reference ultimately has some relationship to God. And so Jesus points it out, you know, heaven, which is maybe pretty obvious if you look at in Isaiah 66 verse one is called his throne. And so, of course, it has direct reference. But the next very next line in that verse says the earth is God's footstool. So the earth. as well as heaven belongs to God. Jerusalem. In Psalm 48, too, is the city of the great king, the city of the Messiah. And so would belong to God. The hairs on your head and it goes on the top and you don't know you can't change him from white to black. God's the one who does it. You can't control your natural hair color. God counts the number of hairs on your head. So God knows all these things. The very number of hairs you have, the very color of your hair is because of God. And what Jesus is saying is that in some way, God is related to everything. Whatever you would swear by is associated with God in some way. of referencing back to God. And further, it's all done in God's presence. And so to think that some would be binding and some wouldn't. It's theological hocus pocus. Second, it involves really a deep seated dishonesty. Unless we have the command not to take an oath at all. If this is what you're going to do, if you're going to be playing these games of taking oaths, some of which are true and some which are not, some which I need to try to fulfill and some that I can just do away with, it's better not to swear at all than to do that. To let your yes be yes and no more. Let your no be no. To swear in such a way as to deceive the other person, to give the impression that you're going to do this, you're genuinely wanting to do this, when you're holding back and say, well, if it's convenient, I'll do it. It's deceitful. It's dishonest. And so lastly, we see that Jesus calls us as his disciples to be true to our word. And it really doesn't matter whether we give an oath to back it up or not. It shouldn't affect how we try to keep our word. We should keep our word no matter what. And thus, in that way, as you look at verse 37, a simple yes or no. It's sufficient. It doesn't need to be embellished. There shouldn't be any duplicity, any secret motives, any hidden agenda behind our words. It's God's will that what we say we will do, whether we back it up with an oath or not. And for Christians, our words should be dependable. We need to be men and women who are true to our words. You know, Jesus is dispensed with this idea that the wording of an oath matters. What matters is what you said. And you fulfill it. And so the implication of the ninth commandment of Leviticus, you could go on to Deuteronomy that says not to delay in fulfilling your vow. Indicates your word should be good and you should carry it out speedily. and without reservation. We must be people who keep our words, keep our promises. And if we do that, vows will become unnecessary because they'll know. If he said he'd do it, he'll do it. If she said that's the way it is, that's the way it is. Well, the third point is the meaning for us today. What are we to draw from all of this? Well, first, our words should be like a gold standard. If they're said, then everyone around us should know that the truth or the promise that we've made will be fulfilled. Now, I realize it's slack. It's easy to become lax in this area. You know, a parent makes a promise to the child, you know, I'll get you ice cream. And that doesn't do it. And so the parents, often it's toward the ones who are weak, who don't have any recourse that are, you know, we make these false promises to the employer, to the employee. We need to be sure we don't do that. I think of marriage vows. How many marriage vows? are the ones who make up slack about doing it. They promise in sickness and health and rich and poor forsaking all others until death. But what percentage of couples in this country divorce? What percentage of husbands commit adultery and wives commit adultery against their spouse? How many times when one or the other gets paralyzed The wife is paralyzed and the husband is looking at probably decades of caring for his wife. Does he simply decide, well, this is going to be too much and leaves? How good are their words? I think of a prospective employee, you know, hired just to start on Monday. And the employer is looking for them to show up, but they don't come. And they learn a few days later that they've got a better job offer on the weekend and chose that job, even though they promised to take the first. Look at sports. How many contracts are broken? They're not worth the paper they're written on. should consider. We're not to be like that. Our yes is really yes, and our no is really no. If I say something, it's a definite commitment. Am I given to modifying the truth, disguising it, dealing with half-truths? Is my word reliable? Do people around you trust what you say? If you said it, they count it as if it's money in the bank. Second, we need to understand here that Jesus is not forbidding oaths. He's really pointing out there's no need for the Christian to engage in oaths. Our standards should be higher. We should be speaking the truth every time we speak. But he's not ruling it out. There are times when those in authority will call for an oath. An oath in and of themselves are not sinful. We see in the Old Testament, God makes oaths, makes vows to Abraham and other times. A God who has never lied, who would never need to take an oath, does that for our sake. And so there are times when we might be called upon in court or whatever to take an oath and it's not wrong. And Jesus actually did that a little later on in Matthew when he's standing and it's basically called upon under oath to speak before the Sanhedrin, before the high priest. And he does. But Jesus is really emphasizing our words should be so true that a simple yes or no It's not forbidding taking a note and there are times when it might be good to do it, but we better do it with sincerity, with a full commitment to do what we said. Third, I think we need to be concerned about what devalues language. Because these false oaths, what they are doing is devouring language. Our words become meaningless or less important. And one of the things is too many promises, too many oaths become hard to keep. And so we need to be leery of that. But I think a greater issue is just our cheapening of language, the tendencies It's the not value of words. Words are cheap. And one way we do that and the society around us especially does it is by using extravagant words. Think about how many commercials, how many products are the best, the greatest, the most magnificent. We don't say, well, this is a good product. The hospital in Bloomington says, through these doors come the best doctors in the world. Not good doctors or better doctors, but the best. I wonder how they got them all. But we do it as Christians. Give a little note, a thank you note. Thank you for those awesome cookies. Were they really awesome? I expect they were good. But was a person overcome with awe? When they took a bite, did their knees become weak? Can we do that? There's no need to embellish. Jesus saying yes or no. Thanks for the good cookies. Thank you for the delicious cookies. That would suffice. And lastly. As we realize that we can't avoid sins in our speech. As we later on in this chapter read that Jesus calls us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, and we realize that we fail in that. How do we deal with that sin where we flee to Christ for forgiveness? There is one who is the truth. There's one who gives us his righteousness. And as we confess our sins, and as those sins include our lips, include what we say, we can be forgiven. We can be clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ. So indeed, our righteousness does surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees. And so as we realize we sin in our speech, it drives us to Christ. and the forgiveness that's in Him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know that too often we sin in our words. We make promises that we do not keep. We call the truth to put ourselves in a better light. We don't express your truth in an open way. And so we come and confess that we do that, and we do that too often. And we give thanks through Christ's cleansing. Cleansing for the children, cleansing for the adults. Through Jesus Christ. and enable us to be concerned for the truth. That it would be seen in our concern for our words. That we might stand out as those who are the ones deeply concerned for truth. That it is You, our God of truth. That it is part of Your very character and nature is truth. That we would show it. to those around us. Amen. Turn, please, to Psalm 71, Selection C.