June 8, 2008  •  Pastor Randy Smith

Commenting on our current culture, Kent Hughes said, “Today there is an urgent truth shortage! There was a time when western culture was distinguished from other cultures by at least a conventional outward sense of obligation to tell the truth. But now there is a pervasive indifference to truth-telling, and this has not only infected day-to-day conversation but the most solemn pledges of life. Perjury under solemn oath is epidemic. The sacred vows of marriage are broken almost as often as repeated. God’s name is invoked by blatant liars who purport to be witnesses to the truth” (Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom).

Contrary to our culture, truth is a defining characteristic within the Godhead. Jesus said, “I am…the truth” (Jn. 14:6; cf. Jn. 1:14). The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of truth” (Jn. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; cf. 1 Jn. 5:6). Often the Father is called the “true God” (1 Jn. 5:20).

So when it came time for God to speak to His creation and record His words in written revelation, we can be assured that what we read in our Bibles is true. Standing as a Lighthouse in a sea of deception, exists what the biblical writers called, “The word of truth” (Psm. 119:43; 2 Cor. 6:7; Col. 1:15; 2 Tim. 2:15; Jas. 1:18). The Psalmist said, “The sum of Your word is truth” (Psm. 119:160).

And as we have been learning, when God desired to put the final touches on this written word of truth, He sent more than just another prophetic voice that spoke truth. He saved the best for last. He sent the One known as “the Truth” (Jn. 14:6).

As the writer to the Hebrews stated, “In these last days (God) has spoken to us in His Son.” When revelation was to be completed, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to (remember!) fulfill Scripture (Mt. 5:17) and stand as our new lawgiver whereby everything must be seen through His life and teaching. Remember His final words recorded in Matthew 28? “(Teach) them to observe all that I commanded you” (Mt. 28:20).

The God of truth has carefully delivered to us the Word of truth. And the culmination of His revelation was and is Jesus Christ, the Word of God Himself. John said, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). As we have received the truth and are commanded to teach the truth, it is only natural that the Father is passionately concerned that His children live in the truth, which definitely includes speaking the truth.

Over the last two weeks we learned the teaching of Jesus pertaining to anger and lust. The bar was set very high. His attitude toward the words that come out of our mouth is no different.

Once again, this message will be convicting. And once again, we will see the need to run to Jesus Christ for the strength to be repentant and the forgiveness to be saved.

1. THE PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE TRUTH (Verse 33)

We begin in the first point with what I am calling, “The Pronouncement of the Truth.”

In verse 33 our Lord says, “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’”

Though Jesus’ quote is not word-for-word from any Old Testament verse, many verses in the Old Testament speak on this subject and say something very similar (Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Dt. 10:20; 23:21; Psm. 50:14; Zech. 8:17).

Following Scripture, the Jews made oaths (swearing) and vows to guarantee their truthfulness of a specific promise in which in this case they evoked the name of God. They called upon God as their witness, which implied that their words were as truthful as God is truthful. And if they were not, they would incur judgment from the Almighty.

The verses in the Old Testament state that God permitted these oaths, but stressed they must be kept from the moment they were offered. The problem was never with the oaths per say. The problem was with the irreverence when making the oaths and the failure in keeping the oaths. (Even the apostle Peter greatly blew it in this area when he denied knowing Jesus “with an oath” – Mt. 26:72).

Irreverence in making the oath: Just think about the countless people today who “swear to God” without giving much thought to the holiness of God and their sincere intention to ever keep the oath. Failure to keep the oath: Remember the childish games we would play with classmates? “I don’t need to keep my promise because my fingers were crossed,” which progressed to “my toes were crossed” to “my shoelaces were crossed!” As you can see, we still deal with the same problem.

So as we move to the second point, let us examine this misuse from the first century so clearly seen in Jesus’ words that follow.

2. THE PROBLEM OF THE PEOPLE (Verses 34-36)

The attitude in seeking to honor the Lord was corrupted, and it all began at the top with the religious leaders. In verses 34 and 35 we are given a snapshot into the error of their theology (see Mt. 23:16-22 for a direct rebuke of the same issues).

Their basic assumption was that if one swore by something important, but other than God, the seriousness in which that oath must be kept was minimized. In doing this, attention was drawn away from the essence of God’s teaching, which always pertained to the heart, to side issues like reciting the right formula that provided a loophole to disobey and still appear very righteous.

For example one might say, “I promise by the glory of heaven to pay back every cent I borrowed.” Or another might swear, “As the earth is great so is my word to visit you this evening.” Or yet another might comment, “May the walls in Jerusalem come tumbling down, if I am ever found with another woman.”

Once again, another example of man-made religion. For instance, a non-binding oath today is “swearing on our mother’s grave.” Words that are great for the sake of appearance but often utterly deceptive in the eyes of our Lord.

So, in speaking to the error of His day, Jesus said in verses 34-35, “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.”

Do you see what Jesus was saying? In their effort to avoid using the name of God, the people chose objects of great magnificence. But unconsidered in their scheming was the fact that all of these objects are connected to God Himself. Though we attempt to limit God by our rules, there is nothing in the universes that is beyond His control or beyond His ownership. Everything has been created by Him and is intended to be used for His glory. An oath to anything is an oath to Him. We are unable to separate ourselves from His universal lordship!

That includes our own bodies as well. Verse 36, “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.”

What could be more serious than promising to “give our head” (our life) if we are unfaithful to fulfill our verbal obligations? Today’s version with the kids on the playground would sound like this: “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” That’s sick! Then it was, “Take my life.” Now we just say, “Put a pin in my eye!”

But how important do we think we are? For as Jesus said, we cannot (apart from any artificial dye) even change the color of one single hair! We are fully dependent on God for creation and life and being (Ac. 17:28). So not only do we have nothing to offer, but in offering ourselves, we are really offering God’s possession.

The point in all of this is simple. Oaths were intended to promote the truth. Yet this system concocted by the people back then and still used by the people today (under the righteous guise of oaths) actually promoted all forms of deception. Once again, what God has intended for good, we have used for evil (like oaths, this also pertains to anger and lust).

3. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE LORD (Verse 37)

Well, it is time for Jesus to bring the true intention and heart of God’s law, our third point.

Before I get to verse 37, permit me to comment on our Savior’s words at the beginning of verse 34 when He remarked, “But I say to you, make no oath at all.”

There can be little doubt that His words stand in protest to the practice of the religious leaders, given the four illustrations that follow in verses 34, 35 and 36. And as we have seen in pervious weeks and will see in a moment, His words go beyond the external and directly address the issue of the heart.

But before we look at the crux of his comments, allow me to answer the most pressing question that always surrounds this passage and no doubt is presently on your minds as well. “Jesus said, ‘Make no oath at all.’ Does that mean I am never permitted to make an oath?”

Like the removing an eye or the severing a hand that we spoke about last week, some have sought to take Jesus’ words literally. Sects like the Quakers (of today) and Anabaptists (of yesteryear) have refused to take any form of oath whatsoever. While I respect their desire to take the Bible very seriously, I find it difficult to agree with their interpretation.

I say this first of all because of what I see throughout the Bible. If oaths are entirely evil, why does God Himself use the practice of oaths when He communicates deep truths to His people? For example, Hebrews 6:13-14, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’” (cf. Gen 9:9-11; 22:16-17; Lk. 1:71; Ac. 2:27-31; Heb. 6:16-17). Jesus often began many of His sayings with, “Truly, truly I say to you.” Moreover, He Himself entered into an oath during His trial. “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Mt. 26:63-64). On frequent occasions, the apostle Paul swears by God’s name calling God as his witness (Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:23; 1 Thes. 2:5, 10).

Second, I believe Jesus was using hyperbole to make a point. It is much deeper! His teaching extends well beyond whether or not we should take an oath in the courtroom. Jesus is responding in the strongest terms that those who follow Him should speak the truth, always. They should be people who are honest whether they are under an oath or not. So oaths should not be necessary for us nor must we refuse them if required by some external authority to do so – like in a court of law (when we promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God) or a in marriage (when we promise love and fidelity until death do us part) or a church covenant (when we promise to support the church with our time, talents and treasures). None of these expectations are unbiblical!

We should avoid using oaths flippantly or excessively.

Verse 37 confirms that and provides the true intention of Jesus’ teaching. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”

If we need to continually resort to oaths, the implication is that at other times we are untrustworthy! And if people are waiting for our oath, the implication is that we are untruthful until they come. And if we resort to the modern, “to tell you the truth” or “to be perfectly honest with you” phrases, the implication is that we have been lying up to that point.

Here is what Helmut Thielicke wrote: “Whenever I utter the formula ‘I swear by God,’ I am really saying, ‘Now I’m going to mark off an area of absolute truth and put walls around it to cut it off from the muddy floods of untruthfulness and irresponsibility that ordinarily overruns my speech.’ In fact, I am saying even more than this. I am saying that people are expecting me to lie from the start. And just because they are counting on my lying I have to bring up these big guns of oaths and words of honor (Life Can Begin Again).

Based on our character, we should not need all the formulas to make our words more believable. If we just tell the truth and demonstrate ourselves to be people of our word, an oath will never be necessary. Think of it this way, for the liar, an oath is meaningless. For the Christian, an oath is unnecessary.

As people who follow Jesus, “the Truth” (Jn. 14:6), we should be marked as people of the truth. We are called to “walk in truth” (2 Jn. 1:4). The Father seeks “true worshippers” who worship Him “in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23). The church is called “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Therefore, Christians are to “(lay) aside falsehood (and) speak truth” to one-another (Eph. 4:25).

It is often very subtle, but we live in a society of liars. Here is a listing of the top ten lies told in America: 10) Your table will be ready in a minute. 9) One size fits all. 8) This will hurt me more than it hurts you. 7) I’m sorry I’m late; I got stuck in traffic. 6) The check is in the mail. 5) This offer is limited to the first 50 callers. 4) It’s not the money; it’s the principle of the thing. 3) I need just five minutes of your time. 2) I’ll start my diet tomorrow. 1) I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you (Morgan, R.J. Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, p. 132).

But do our words and actions reflect God’s character? Let’s take a simple inventory: Are we inclined to tell the truth only when it benefits us? Do we exaggerate stories to make ourselves look more favorable in the eyes of others? Do we keep our promise as it pertains to being on time, returning phone calls or committing ourselves to prayer? Do we cancel our commitments with others because it is inconvenient or something better came along? Is there any deceit in the way we file our taxes or run our business or complete our homework assignments? Are we inclined to make excuses that are untrue? Do we speak “white lies”?

If our every word truthful, it is unnecessary to adorn and qualify them. According to Jesus in verse 37, it just comes down to a simple “yes” or “no.”

John Stott said, “Oath-taking is really a pathetic confession of our own dishonesty. Why do we find it necessary to introduce our promises by some tremendous formula… The only reason is that we know our simple word is not likely to be trusted… When a monosyllable (like “yes” or “no”) will do, why waste our breath by adding to it” (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, p. 102).

Anything more, says our Lord is “evil” or as some translations put it, “of the evil one.” That reminds me of the apostle John’s words in his Gospel, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44).

Deception is a characteristic of Satan and his children. Truth is a characteristic of God and His children. Our words reveal our true spiritual parent and our words reveal our true destiny.

John also wrote in Revelation, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Rev. 21:8)

James, the half-brother of our Lord paid attention to his Savior’s teaching. He put it all together in his epistle: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment” (Jas. 5:12).

Originally as I approached this passage earlier in the week, I thought this message would be less convicting than the two previous ones. I was greatly mistaken. The temptation to deceive is continuous. Perhaps most grievous is understanding that our words are ultimately a reflection of our heart. Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Mt. 12:34).

In the last two weeks we have learned that anger is murder (the Sixth Commandment) and lust is adultery (the Seventh Commandment) and today, lying is bearing false witness (the Ninth Commandment).

Do you remember the Rich Young Ruler?

“As (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’’ And he said to Him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up’” (Mk. 10:17-20).

Really? Based upon all that we have learned, can anyone say they have kept all the commandments of God? Can anyone expect to get to heaven based on their own goodness? Who can stand before God and say, “I’m innocent?”

But the God of truth has told us there is hope! Jesus Christ died on the cross to take away our sins and declare us holy before God if we receive His gift of salvation through faith and repentance. And when we become His children, He gives us the power to live the lives that He expects, to repent from following the “father of lies,” and to delight in emulating the God of truth.