Jesus: Let me clarify this 'oath' thing...

5.

We're in the Sermon on the Mount.

At the beginning of the sermon, Jesus shared the Beatitudes, blessed is, blessed is, and

he shows us a profile of what a Christian is, and that profile is a blessed life.

And for those who have been born of the Spirit of God, we bear the beautiful fruit that we

see there.

The effect is being sawed in light in a decaying and dark world.

In Matthew 5, 17, Jesus says something really interesting.

He says, do you not think that I've come to abolish the law of the prophets?

I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

So Jesus teaches the Sermon on the Mount, and what he teaches is the fulfillment of the

law.

And so he, in chapter 5, verses 21 and 26, he picks up this anger thing.

And he says, you know what?

Don't just murder, don't hate.

Don't lust either.

And 5, 31 through 32, he says, be actively keeping your life-long exclusive vows to your

spouse.

And in this morning, we're going to be looking at something that Jesus had to say.

And at the outset, he may say, what does that mean?

Well, as followers of Jesus, we no longer speak lies, and we're no longer unfaithful to

our word.

We speak the truth, and we are true to what we say.

And you know what?

We don't have to make oaths anymore.

We don't have to build scaffolding around what we say to ensure people that what we need

is what we need.

We can say something, let our yes be yes, and our no be no.

I'm going to end this sermon today talking about this concept called corum deo.

It's a Latin word.

It means before the face of God.

And we're going to be truth seekers because we live corum deo.

And so hold on.

We'll get there.

But right now, I want you to know that your words matter.

What you say matters.

It matters to God, and it affects the people around you.

And so here in Matthew 5, 33 through 37, Jesus is calling us, his disciples, to be truthful.

Let me read it.

Again, you've heard that it was said to those bold, you shall 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 that comes from evil.

Our Lord Jesus, our King, is calling us to be truthful.

To be consistent with what we say in our lips and the walk we walk day after day.

We'll be truthful in what we say and true to what we say.

And so to help you see this, I'm going to make three points in the sermon this morning.

I want to help you see the truth about oaths, the swearing business, you know, what's that all about.

Let's look at the truth about that, what the Old Testament has to say about that.

And then we're going to look at the truth distorted by Pharisaical technicalities.

And then finally, the last move is Jesus.

He comes and clarifies this whole oath thing.

The truth clarified by living in quorum damn.

So, what we're going to find is we're truthful because we're living for God.

The truth about oaths.

If you look at verse 33, you can guess.

Again, you've heard that it was said to those of all,

You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.

So, the swearing Jesus is talking about is not cussing.

The swearing he's talking about is swearing to do something.

Committing something with your words.

And in verse 34, we see, he says,

What I say to you, do not take an oath at all.

And so swearing and oaths are talking about the same kinds of things.

It's not the same basket, including vows even.

So, what we need to ask at the outset is,

What is an oath?

What's a vow?

What does it mean to swear to do something?

Well, an oath or a vow or swearing to do something

is a verbal guarantee for a serious commitment you're making.

So, one takes an oath or makes a vow

when you're going to do something serious,

something weighty.

For example, January 20, 2017,

we will have a new president being sworn into the Oval Office.

I do solemnly swear that I will thankfully execute

the Office of the President of the United States

and will, to the best of my ability,

preserve, protect, and defend

the Constitution of the United States.

They're being sworn into office.

Or maybe you've taken this kind of oath before.

Left hand on the Bible, right hand up in a court of law.

I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth.

So, help me God.

Take you none.

Take you none.

For wedding vows.

For wedding vows, I had the privilege of

officiating a ceremony this past Friday night,

and I said to the bride and groom,

having indicated your desire to join together as husband and wife,

will you please turn to one other, join hands,

and repeat these vows.

I groan, take you, bride, to be my wedded wife,

to have and behold, for this day forward,

for better and for worse, for riches, for poor,

and sickness and health, to love, to cherish,

put death to his heart, according to God's holy word,

and to that end, I pledge you,

I bow to you, my exclusive devotion.

We're surrounded by oaths.

We're surrounded by vows.

We're surrounded by swearing to do things.

When you speak an oath, when you make a vow,

you are binding yourself to your word.

You are committing, you say,

I'm going to do this no matter what.

What I'm saying is true.

And I'm going to be true to what I'm saying.

So the purpose of an oath

is to guarantee the truthfulness of one's word.

That's the purpose of an oath.

And as R.C. Sproul points out,

there is a place for folks and vows

on occasions of great importance

and lasting significance.

We'll come back to that.

But right now, I want you to realize that

oaths are binding.

Vows are binding.

But there's more to the truth about oaths.

Oaths frequently invoke the name of God.

Or at least something greater

to solemnize the importance of something.

I swear to tell the whole truth

and the truth, the whole truth is nothing but the truth.

So help me, God.

What they're saying in the court of law is,

hey, before God, as God is my witness,

I'm going to tell you the truth as I know it best.

It's a very solemn event when you take an oath.

When you swear to do something by invoking God's name,

or vow to do something in God's name,

or take an oath in God's name,

the Old Testament would say,

not only is that permitted, but it's encouraged.

Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 13 and 14,

Deuteronomy 6:13

you read this.

It is the Lord your God you shall fear.

Him you shall serve,

and by His name you shall swear.

You shall not go after other gods,

the gods and the peoples who are around you.

What Moses is saying is,

hey, if you're going to swear by a God,

swear by your God,

Yahweh, not Baal, not Molek.

Swear by the name of your God.

Deuteronomy 23, verses 21 through 23,

Deuteronomy 23:21–23

we read this.

If you make a vow to the Lord,

the Lord your God,

you shall not delay in fulfilling it,

for the Lord your God will surely require of you

that you will be guilty of sin.

But if you refrain from valuing,

you will not be guilty of sin.

You shall be careful to do what is past your list,

for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God

what you have promised with your mouth.

So what we're learning is that

in the Old Testament,

vows were not prohibited.

They were encouraged in some way.

And if you're going to make a vow,

you better do it.

And if you're familiar with Jephthah,

Judges chapter 11,

Judges 11 · chapter mention

you read like the most tragic of vows ever.

It points to the flawed character

of Israel's leaders at the time.

So just this brief sampling of the Old Testament,

I just want to let you know

that oaths were okay.

Vows were appropriate.

You can swear by God's name.

You just need to make sure you did it.

But here's a little piece that you need to remember.

It's also in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 5:11

Chapter 5, verse 11.

This is kind of a summary of the Ten Commandments

before Israel enters the promised land.

God says,

You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.

So here's what that means

in connection to vows and oaths.

If you were to make an oath in God's name

and then fail to meet the oath,

not only did you fail in the word,

you have now profaned the name of God.

You have emptied the name of God of its glory.

You're making a statement about God himself.

So in the Old Testament,

if they broke an oath in the name of God,

they were profaned in the name of God.

So not only was it a failed commitment,

they have defamed their God.

So as you can see,

making an oath is a pretty serious business.

And so this first section,

the truth about oaths,

as you want to see,

is that an oath is basically about

guaranteeing the truthfulness of one's word.

That's what an oath is about.

And oaths are binding,

and when God's name is invoked,

one's oath becomes a statement

about God's character,

and God will look to it.

So that's the truth about oaths.

Now let's look at this truth

that is distorted by

Pharisees,

Satan,

and the truth about it.

Amen.

Look back at verse 5,

verse 33.

Again, you've heard that it was said to those of old,

you shall not swear falsely,

but shall perform to the Lord

what you have sworn.

Jesus is not taking issue

with the Old Testament.

Jesus is taking issue

with the fair saying,

called twisting,

of the Old Testament

when it came to oaths.

Let me explain.

Now,

you've got to realize

that the religious leaders

of Jesus said

that Pharisees

were fully aware

of what the Old Testament

had to say about oaths.

And there's more

to what the Old Testament

said about oaths

than what I shared with you

just moments ago.

And so,

the Pharisees

certainly did not want

to take God's name

in the fair.

They didn't want to do that.

Yet,

they wanted to keep giving oaths.

And,

if they didn't have

to be held accountable to it,

that would be great.

And so,

they were seeking ways

to speak oaths

and vows

and swear

without binding themselves

to have to do

what they're saying

they're going to do.

They wanted the ability

to make an oath

without being required

to follow through

with that oath.

They wanted to keep

their options open.

So,

you know what they did?

They devised

a very complicated

and technical system

of determining

when an oath

was binding

and when an oath

was not binding.

And you get a glimpse

of that

in Matthew chapter 23.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

So,

we'll just skip ahead

to Matthew chapter 23

Matthew 23:16–22

verses 16 through 22.

And I just want

to let you know up front

what you're going to read

is a lot different

than Matthew 5

and Matthew 23.

This is a poem.

This is Jesus

coming after the Pharisees.

He is rebuking them.

It's a series of

woe to you

scribes and Pharisees.

And so,

look at verse 16.

Woe to you blind guides

who say

if anyone swears

by the temple

that is nothing

but if anyone swears

by the gold

of the temple

he's bound by his own.

You see what's going on there?

The Pharisees

have this devised

system

where they were

slitting hairs

upon

the gold

of the temple

and the temple

as to whether

they're bound

to keep their word

or not.

Let's read up.

You blind fools

for which is greater

the gold

or the temple

that is

made the gold sacred?

And you say

if anyone swears

by the altar

is nothing

but if anyone swears

by the gift

that is on the altar

he's bound

by his own.

You blind men

for which is greater

the gift

or the altar

that makes the gift sacred?

So whoever swears

by the altar

swears by it

and by everything on it

and whoever swears

by the temple

swears by it

and by him

who dwells in it

and whoever swears

by heaven

swears by the throne

of God

and by him

who sits upon it.

Jesus is getting

after the Pharisees

because they wanted

to preserve

the weightiness

of their words

but without

the weightiness

of having to

follow through on it.

They were manipulating

oaths

for personal gain.

Now I mentioned

before that

when you take

an oath

with God's name

you're bound to it

and so what the Pharisees

were trying to do

is they're speaking

making oaths

on the basis

of important things

that weren't

God's name

and the thing

was if we make

an oath

that's not God's name

but it's important

well then we're not

really bound

to do it.

And Jesus is just

blowing that out

of the water.

Imagine what we make

first century

Palestine

there's a widow

her name is Rebecca

she approaches

the Pharisee

named Levi

and she says

I need a fence

built around

my garden

all these rock

badgers

are eating

my cabbage

I'm not going to have

anything to eat

can you please

do something

about it?

And the Pharisee

Levi says

Rebecca

they're slammed

by the temple

we'll get it done

by Thursday

the following

Saturday

at synagogue

Thursday

is coming on

widow Rebecca

flies

to Levi

and says

Levi

you swore

you had that

fence up

by two days ago

and now

the rock

badgers

are going to come

they can eat

all my cabbage

I don't have

anything to eat

to which Levi

would say

yes I know

I swore to you

but I swore

by the temple

not the door

of the temple

let's get something

on the books

for next week

and so when Jesus

says you blind

gods

he needs it

you're misleading

the people

you're bringing

mistrust

the Pharisees

had devised

for themselves

a system

of oaths

and vows

that kept

them off

the hook

while soundly

authoritative

and truthful

and maintaining

their position

now you might

be saying

well that's

ridiculous

I've seen

through that

in a heartbeat

still not

for me today

we appeal

to all sorts

of technicalities

to get ourselves

off the hook

maybe it sounds

familiar

I know I said

that I would

tar the driveway

by the end

of the day

but technically

it's still

11.15pm

I still have

45 minutes

to tar the driveway

technicality

or maybe

you found

yourself

in a situation

like this

oh oh oh

when I agreed

to that

what I really

meant

was that

if I had

time

I would do it

kind of changing

the terms

of the agreement

technicality

you said

I couldn't

watch this

sexually explicit

Netflix show

on TV

and you said

I couldn't

watch it

on TV

but you

didn't say

I couldn't

watch that

Netflix TV

on my laptop

technicality

oh did you

mean you

didn't want me

to watch it

at all

well you know

what when we

had that

conversation

about my

gambling

we had both

agreed that

I couldn't

spend our

money

on gambling

so what I

did

was just

open an

account

my own

name

and I'm

using my

own money

to gamble

technicality

your risk is a

point

politics

today

technicalities

the Pharisees

were using

the system

of technicalities

to shield

themselves

from taking

responsibility

what they

said

happens

today

happens

with all

of us

I'll tell you

that

it's an

evisive

use of

oaths

and so

what the

Pharisees

were doing

what we

are calling

to do

ourselves

are use

oaths

and commitments

and technicalities

to the

thing

having to be

true to our

word

and deal

with the

consequences

of our

decisions

you see

what the

Pharisees

had done

is they

had twisted

the very

purpose of

an oath

the purpose

of those

was to

guarantee

the

truthfulness

of a

statement

and what

the blind

gods

blind

fools

these

blind

men

had done

is

they

can

make

this

system

of oaths

as a

guarantee

a way

out

and Jesus

has a

very

sharp

thing

to say

to them

in Matthew

23

they were

blinded

by this

they didn't

see what

they were

doing

and they

were blinded

by their

own

sinfulness

and pride

because

this system

was serving

their

personal

interests

they were

entrenched

in their

thinking

they just

thought

it was

okay

they didn't

want to

be

accountable

they didn't

want to

have to

submit

to

somebody

else

so

their

practice

of making

oaths

was actually

distorting

the truth

in misleading

people

at this

point

we're like

would someone

please

step into

this mess

and make

sense of

it

and if you

look at

verse 34

Jesus

steps in

but I

say

but I

say

let me

clarify

this oath

there

Jesus

says

but I

say

now those

three words

are really

three important

words

you gotta

remember

who's

saying

this is

God

incarnate

saying

but I

say

let me

bring to

you the

true meaning

of this

oath of

business

let me

just shed

light on

this

clarify this

because the

Pharisees have

just messed

this thing

up

this is

Emmanuel

Emmanuel speaking

this is

Emmanuel speaking

this is the one

and came

through without

giving in

this is the one

who said

after being

baptized

the father

is my son

with whom I

want to

please

this is our

king

and he speaks

with all authority

because he's God

in the flesh

would you just

look back to

the last words

of Matthew

Matthew 7:28

chapter 7

verses 28

29

it says

and when Jesus

finished this

sermon

the crowds

were astonished

as teaching

for he was

teaching them

as one who

had authority

and not as

their

strongness

Jesus was set

apart in what

he's saying

that what I

say

is God

speaking to

us

and so we're

going to come

under what

he says

in verse 34

he says

what I say

do not take

an oath

at all

and I'm

guessing in

your mind

you're wondering

things like

well

is that

everything

does this

mean everything

out there

is that

is that

an exclusive

prohibition

well the

simple answer

that is

no it's

not

Jesus

is not

saying

no you

can't

speak

any

oath

so here's

why

all throughout

the New Testament

we see people

taking oaths

we see people

making vows

swearing by

God's name

the apostle

Paul

will use

the phrase

regularly

he'll say

as God

is my

readiness

Romans 1

9

2 Corinthians

1.23

Philippians 1

8

1 Corinthians

2

5

10

surely

Paul

knew

what

Jesus

is

teaching

here

and

surely

Paul

understood

it

not

as

a

exclusive

prohibition

to

taking

the oath

even

in God's

name

and

Hebrews

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

God

himself

takes

an oath

guaranteeing

our

salvation

salvation

and

maybe

what's

most

interesting

is

Matthew

Matthew 26:63

26

verse

63

Jesus

is

standing

before

Caiaphas

and

Caiaphas

says

what he

says

I

adjure

you

by the

living

God

tell us

that you

are the

Christ

the

son

of

God

he's

putting

Jesus

under

an

oath

swear

by God

your

answer

what

does

Jesus

do

uh

Caiaphas

you

shouldn't

take

oath

what

you

say

is

true

you

accept

so

when

Jesus

says

do not

take

an

oath

at

all

it's

not

an

exclusive

prohibition

but

he's

he's

prohibiting

something

so

what's

he

prohibiting

what

he's

saying

don't

do

this

my

followers

don't

do

this

and

what

he's

going

to

say

is

don't

do

what

the

Pharisees

do

don't

do

this

business

of

turning

oaths

into

guarantees

of

ways

out

so

remember

in

Matthew

5

Jesus

is

teaching

his

followers

and

he's

saying

to

them

do

not

misuse

oaths

he's

not

challenging

the

scriptures

he's

exposing

and

rebuking

the

Pharisees

practice

of

taking

oaths

without

any

intent

to

follow

through

Pharisees

were

misusing

oaths

and so

what

Jesus

is

saying

he's

saying

no

that's

not

why

that's

in

the

Bible

oaths

are

in

the

Bible

to

guarantee

the

truthfulness

of what

you're

saying

don't

do

what

these

Pharisees

are

doing

they

messed

up

you've

heard

it

said

them

all

don't

do

that

so

Jesus

presses

in

verse

34

35

36

exposes

the

false

in the

Pharisee

and

he

says

you

shall

not

swear

falsely

excuse

me

do not

take

oath

at

all

either

by

heaven

verse

35

or

by

earth

or

by

Jerusalem

verse

36

or

by

your

head

that's

what

the

Pharisees

were

doing

they

were

taking

oaths

and

making

oaths

based

upon

heaven

earth

Jerusalem

and

on

their

heads

don't

do that

they were

trying to

avoid

taking

God's

name

and

making

an

oath

in

God's

name

and

binding

themselves

to

what

they

had

to

say

and

Jesus

here

in

Matthew

5

and

he

makes

the same

case

in

Matthew

23

he

makes

a

linkage

he

reunites

what

the

Pharisees

were

trying

to

split

apart

he

says

don't

you know

that

heaven

is

God's

throne

don't

you know

that

the

earth

is

God's

foot

stool

don't

you know

that

Jerusalem

is the

city

of the

king

don't

you know

that

you have

no power

to change

the color

of your

hair

before

heaven

happens

God

God's

God's

promise

determines

the

color

of your

hair

and

the

point

that

Jesus

is

making

is

that

the

God

over

all

anything

you swear

by

it's

connected

to

God

you

can't

escape

accountability

with him

there's

no way

all of

your

swearing

God

hears

it

and

is

going

to

hold

it

what

Jesus

is

doing

here

is

reviewing

the

practice

of the

Pharisees

and

he's

calling

his

disciples

to be

don't

do

that

be

truthful

watchers

be

truthful

these

saints

in

verses

34

35

they're

not

in

God's

name

they all

belong

to

him

they're

all

under

his

authority

not

name

God

doesn't

excuse

them

for being

responsible

for what

their

commitment

is

on

so

Jesus

exposes

the

false

distinction

the

Pharisees

are

making

and

he

exposes

it

in

us

there's

another

thing

I

want

you

to

hear

it's

not

in

Matthew

5

it's

actually

Matthew

12

and

what

it

is

this

it's

another

shot

at the

Pharisee

Jesus

takes

appropriately

so

if you

look at

Matthew

Matthew 12:36

chapter

12

verses

36

and 37

he's

talking

about

trees

are

known by

their

fruits

a

good

tree

produces

good

fruit

bad

tree

produces

bad

fruit

and then

it says

out of

the

abundance

of

your

heart

the

mouth

speaks

and

so

Jesus

said

in

verse

36

I

tell

you

on

the

day

of

judgment

people

will

give

an

account

for

every

careless

word

to

you

for

by

your

words

you

will

be

justified

and

by

your

words

you

will

be

done

what

Jesus

is

saying

there

is

for

those

of

you

who

may

think

that

not

by

swearing

by

God's

name

somehow

you're

not

accountable

for

what

you

say

Jesus

is

saying

that

on

that

day

every

word

every

careless

word

is

going

to

be

judged

by

God

he's

getting

track

of

it

all

he

sees

all

he

knows

all

it's

not

some

formula

that

saves

your

speech

Jesus

gets

right

at

the

heart

of

the

matter

what

we

need

is

not

new

oath

formulas

what

we

need

is

a

new

heart

and

that

is

something

only

God

himself

can

bring

about

by

his

grace

a

heart

that's

transformed

by

God's

grace

bears

the

fruit

of

words

that

are

transformed

by

God's

grace

let me

put it

this

way

a

pharisaical

heart

that is

consumed

with

oneself

is

going

to

speak

words

consumed

with

oneself

out of

the

abundance

of

the

heart

of

God's

grace

but

a

heart

radically

changed

by

God's

grace

that

has

been

made

alive

by

the

spirit

of

God

because

of

what

Christ

has

done

on

the

cross

and

raised

from

the

dead

that

heart

now

wants

what

God

wants

God

delights

in

truth

he's

the

God

of

truth

and

he

sets

Jesus

who

is

the

truth

so

that

we

can

speak

truth

and

be

true

to

our

words

what

this

all

points

to

is

the

need

for

a

new

heart

a

heart

that

is

transformed

by

God's

grace

lives

quorum

deo

before

the

face

of

God

the

face

I'm

most

concerned

about

with

my

speech

is

God's

face

what

he

thinks

his

eyes

his

ear

he

is

the

God

of

truth

the

God

of

truth

is

overall

he sees

all

he sees

your

heart

and he

knows

the

word

that

flow

from

it

and so

when

you

live

quorum

deo

you

no

longer

care

about

using

technicalities

to

evade

consequences

you don't

care

anymore

because

you want

to use

your

words

for the

glory

of the

living

God

and for

the

upbuilding

of those

people

within

ear

of your

speech

and so

the question

within

yourself

becomes

if I

say this

will I

get caught

up in it

will

somebody

hold

accountable

to it

it

becomes

oh God

with what's

in my mind

right now

will that

glorify

your name

if when I

seek that

love will that

build up

people around

me

when you

live

the

cora

of

deo

all of

your

words

matter

not if

some are

oaths or

vows

all of them

matter

your jokes

your whispers

your oaths

and your

minds

it's no

longer

what can I

get out

of this

it's

how do I

give my

glory

when you

live

cora

of

deo

you take

every

thought

captive

before

God

before

it

comes

out

and when

you take

that thought

captive

and ask

God

will this

glorify

you

when

you

speak

it

you

speak

it

in

love

to

build

Jesus

is saying

don't look

like the

Pharisees

live

for

God

let

what

you say

be simply

yes

or no

we don't

need to

make a

vow

vows

and oath

are to be

a few

and far