Man of your word
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Intro
Intro
joke - a little boy looked at his mother and said , Mom i want to talk to you about a bug. The mom said Tommy, we do not talk about bugs at the dinner table. honor our time at supper. After dinner the mother said to tommy, now that dinner is over what did you want to tell me about bugs. Tommy replied, dont worry about it mom , there were bugs in your soup but you you took care of it.
title- Matthew 5:33-37
When the season comes around to vote in a new president the world gets a little crazy.
We are looking to vote in new leaders to pave the way for American success.
we see these men swear that they will do this and that.
more often than not these men prove that they are not men of their word.
JOKE- I think I just heard someone say something about trump.
Trump....didnt he make a promise about a wall or something like that
weather you agree with him or not, He did not keep his word
yet it is culturally acceptable to give a pass to deceptive people.
But God holds all men accountable for every last word they speak. (mat 12:36)
In this sermon we are going to go over 3 attributes that describe a man of his word
He Honors the name of God
He Honors the name of God
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’
jesus is preaching his famous sermon on the mount
again is taking a shot at the leading religious teachers of His day.
This time takes aim 3rd commandment.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
This commandment is meant to keep the name of God in reverence.
It is far more than using Gods name as a cuss word
taking the Lords name in vain is to bring shame on the name of God
Many names for God
each one describes a different aspect of His divine character
some include
ELOHIM- YAHWEH- JEHOVAH JIREH - EL ELYON-
God has many names that all point to His holiness.
Name is a representation of his character....of His being
When we revere His name and do what we say we bring honor to Him
If you are to swear on his name and then lie or not follow through with your oath then you are bringing dishonor to his name.
In our culture oaths are less common.
we take wedding vows, see it in court room
but the principal behind the scripture is just as revelant
The fundamental problem is a lack of reverance for God in our culture
“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.
This verse includes the fact that God would require accountability
the oath maker was virtually saying, if I break my word then God will bring it back on me.
The religious Jews were making loopholes to do evil without officially sinning.
what a concept!
This loophole would allow for flippant oaths that would not be binding in their eyes
and this brings us to our second attribute in a man of his word
He is a man of integrity
He is a man of integrity
integrity -the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
The pharisees were always looking for loopholes in Gods law
this is deception.
we see what they wee doing in verses 34-36
But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
What the the Jewish people had been doing is making oaths and replacing God with other things to give an escape hatch in their oath.
Its amazing how far man will go to justify his sin.
Men commonly swore on the heavens, earth, jerusalem, and even themselves.
These can not be used as loopholes because
God is omnipresent. He is everywhere at all times
speaking of Jesus in
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
God owns the heavens, earth, cities, and every human being on earth.
when you invoke Gods creation you are just as guilty as invoking Him.
They were deceiving themselves by invoking lesser things to swear on
In their mind this would give them freedom to lie and cheat and not be held accountable for breaking an oath.
Q. What loopholes are in your relationship with Christ?
Q. ask yourself if you being too leniant on your sin and making excuses?
God knows where your at
He is gracious with sinners
so dont be fearful to bring it to him.
This brings us to our third attribute found in a man of his word
He takes his word and gods word seriously
He takes his word and gods word seriously
But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Jesus offers a very easy resolution to this sinful dilemma.
His solution- be a man of your word.
your word is as binding as any oath
let the character of your person be what gives your word authenticity
not a half hazard oath
James echoes this same theme in
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
This means to take your word seriously.
When you speak and it does not come to pass you become a liar and fall into judgment
S- im convicted by this because I can be very dismissive at times because I do not take the situation seriously
S- anniversary preaching the gospel during anniversary sunset blue ridge mountain hwy
in the same way the people had become dismissive of the seriousness of an oath to God
The religious Jews had been so flippant in their swearing that their word meant very little.
Flippant- means lack luster or without reverance
They had gone to a place where they did not take the Lord and his commands very seriously.
willing to make up their own rules as to be ignorant of Gods standard
When we build up a false sense of security around our sin, we can become ignorant of this too.
being Ignorant - means that we are unaware that we are wrong.
You may be in that place today -
and unfortunately you might not know it
this is why we ought to examine ourselves.
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
We have to take the word of God seriously and study it to show yourself approved.
otherwise we will find ourselves in a similar place as those who were abusing the practice of taking oaths.
Q. Where are you at with Christ today?
Q. are you turning a blind eye to your sin.
examine your past week.
Q. Are you taking the word of God flippantly?
If this is you
then turn to Christ and ask him to search your heart.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
God will reveal to us the areas we are not taking him seriously.
are you comfortable taking his name in vain
are you comfortable watching sin on the big screen
are you comfortable clocking in early at work
are you comfortable treating your wife poorly
the religious leaders were comfortable lying and taking half hearted oaths that they would break without batting an eye.
Q.what is it in your life that you are not taking seriously
Identify it and bring it to the Lord
outro
outro
When it comes to these scriptures, Jesus is not totally forbiding oaths
He is calling men to be serious about their word.
There are two requirements that make an oath acceptable
1. it must be in Gods name.
2. it must be of the utmost serious occasion
God has called us to be men and women of our word
and men and women of His word
His word teaches us that we can be set free from our sin
If you are struggling with sin in your life, today is the day that you get serious about it.
If your a christian, your sin has already been forgiven.
but God has called you to have victory over that which plauges you.
if you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior, today is the day.
Every time you have brought shame on the name of God can be forgiven
every time you have walked in decietfulness can be forgiven
every time you have disregarded Gods love can be forgiven
Lets pray.
Gospel.