Just tell the Truth

If you have a copy of God’s Word open it up to Matthew 5. I have titled the message this morning, “Just tell the Truth.” Pray with me.

Fitting title for a mothers day Sunday, because if are a mother you have experienced first hand your children lying to you, and not only lying to you, but figuring out super creative ways to lie to you that makes it appear they are not lying to you. And Jesus again is addressing a major issue of the day. Just like we seen after he said scripture cannot be broken and your righteousness must exceed that of the pharisees, he goes after people who are breaking it, and in this text he is addressing a key issue of the day, and I believe in our day as well. we live in a world where many believe truth is greatly subjective, and truth can be stretched, but the reality is truth is truth.

Listen to this quote and then I will read our passage today. 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.There is, indeed, a crisis, but we must not make the mistake of thinking it occurs only out there because it happens among us too. It is difficult to always tell the truth. The great preacher and writer George Macdonald wrote to his son on December 6, 1878, "I always try—I think I do—to be truthful. All the same I tell a great many lies."? I identify with that. I am speaking to someone and suddenly realize that what I am saying is not the truth. Perhaps you have experienced the same. The difficulty comes from the combination of my own deceitful nature and the pervasive deceptiveness of the surrounding culture.

This drought of truth is what makes Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount so meaningful and refreshing. Our text tells us how to build radical truthfulness into our lives how to tell the truth in a truth-perverting world.

Let me read this text to you.

Matthew 5:33–37 (ESV)

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

The main thing I want you to take away from the message this morning is this..

A Christian should always tell the truth because they know the one who is the truth.

few points to help us unpack that main idea the first is this…

God knows everything we say.

v33 Jesus is again going back to something they would know You shall not swear falsely, but preform to the Lord what you have sworn. All these first statements that Jesus is saying is not going to ruffle the feathers of the people unlike what he says in the following verses. He is driving home the fact that one should do what they say they are going to do.

The problem that Jesus is dealing with is not the oath, because the oath was actually a biblical thing a good thing to do that the Jews twisted to not really tell the truth, and ill get into that in a moment… But

Listen to how it was suppose to be. Dt 10:20

Deuteronomy 10:20 ESV

20 You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.

again another verse.

Jeremiah 12:16–17 ESV

16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Vows during that time where encouraged they meant something they were considered binding, they represented covenants, assured promises would be kept If they were followed.

But they were greatly discouraged if you were not going to fulfill them.

Listen to the word again.

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

another one.

Numbers 30:2 ESV

2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

one more. Dt 23:21

Deuteronomy 23:21 ESV

21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

If you say you are going to do something just do it. Because God knows everything we say. So whats the issue then. This is the issue, They really believed they could make a vow to try to make it seem like they were telling the truth and not use God’s name so that if they went back on the truth they would not be sinning in their own eyes. And what Jesus is saying to them Yes God knows everything we say, but you better believe he knows our heart behind it.

And so he is saying to them don’t bother making an oath on something even if its not on my name if you are not going to see it through. I saw one person say these people in Jesus day were like Children using these oaths and having their fingers crossed so they did not really have to tell the truth.

So what does Jesus tell them.

Matthew 5:34–36 ESV

34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

The people hearing this would have been blown away because this is what they were doing. They were taking oath on all kinds of things, I would equal this to saying I swear on my kids or my mom kind of thing, and Jesus is saying hold up the issue you are having is you are just a bunch of liars trying to make it seem like you are not by swearing on all kinds of things even though its not my name.

Listen to one guy. Disciples of Jesus are to be characterized by such honesty and integrity that an oath of any sort is completely unnecessary to add credibility to their words. Jesus says, Don't swear by heaven as if it counts less, since God is there on his throne (v. 34). Don't swear by the earth as if that gives you an out, since it is his creation and where he rests his feet

(v. 35). Don't swear by Jerusalem either, since it is the city of the great King, God himself (v. 35). And don't say, "May my head be cut off if I lie" (the probable meaning of the phrase "by your head"), since you have no authority over your life; only God does In fact, even your hair color is his sovereign prerogative (v. 36). Everything you say, do, and think takes place before the watchful eye of an omniscient and sovereign God, who takes with the greatest seriousness the words that come out of your mouth. The Lord hears every single one of them.

God knows everything we say so everything we say should be truth.

2nd point is this.

Christians should only speak truth.

v37

Matthew 5:37 ESV

37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

This verse believe it or not has been a debate among Christians when it comes to taking oaths in general in fact the Anabaptists and the Quakers make sure they never took an oath because of this verse. In fact the founder of the Quakers George Fox said he would not swear on the bible and they sent him to prison for it, and today you don’t have to do that you just have to affirm you are telling the truth.

But myself and many other people don’t hold this absolution understanding of this. I don’t believe Jesus even held to this because of other places that ill talk in a moment, he said this because there was such an overwhelming problem in that day about taking oaths and not following through it.

Listen to just one of his conversations.

Matthew 26:63–64a (ESV)

63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so.

This was an official oath here and he told the truth.

Paul does this as well in several places I will give you two. 2 Cor 1:23

2 Corinthians 1:23 ESV

23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

He is emphasizing what he is saying is true.

Romans 1:9–10 ESV

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Again he is emphasizing what he is saying is true. And Paul did not go against the teachings of Jesus so we can make oaths, but we better only speak truth when we do, and don’t them lightly in your everyday conversations because one there is no need to and two there is no weight in those oaths. But if we take an oath tell the truth you better do it. Only speak the truth.

We have talked about this as a church at various times but just telling the truth keeps you out of a whole lot of trouble with God, and man.

Reading this week I read something that was really good. The author said we are called to a radical call of truthfulness. and he said We embellish the truth without even realizing that we are doing so.

Listen to this example. One summer this man caught a nice smallmouth bass that he then had stuffed. The taxidermist weighed it at three and three-quarters pounds, but he told me it looked like a four-pounder. It was so easy to brag about my great four-pound smallmouth bass! In fact, the more I talked about it, the more I was sure that it probably was four pounds! Fish get bigger, profits greater, boyfriends more handsome, and strength greater in our world of "newspeak" and exaggeration even in our own words. It is hard to tell the truth!

Listen to George Macdonald's admission in full: I always try—I think I do—to be truthful. All the same I tell a great many petty lies, eg. things that mean one thing to myself though another to other people. But I do not think lightly of it. Where I am more often wrong is in tacitly pretending I hear things which I do not, especially jokes and good stories, the point of which I always miss; but, seeing every one laugh, I laugh too, for the sake of not looking a fool. My respect for the world's opinion is my greatest stumblingblock I fear?

This man would say.. It is not easy to be a totally truthful person today, but it is necessary for the church and the world. The world longs for freedom from dishonesty! Sure, it cultivates deception and promotes it, but deep down people long to escape the show and pretense.

Many look eagerly to believers to display the honesty and integrity for which they so long. Our integrity as followers of Christ can make all the difference to a dying world. "The avoidance of one small fib... may be a stronger confession of faith than a whole 'Christian philosophy' championed in lengthy, forceful discussion." When people know that you do not lie, your testimony will have more effect than all the theology you could ram at them. What a difference a truthful life can make!

A radical truthfulness is also greatly needed in the church. An act of deceit done to another brother or sister is a deceit done to all, for we are all members of one another. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed that his body would be unified, but a body that is not truthful is a body filled with distrust and is therefore not unified. Radical truthfulness is one of the greatest needs of the church today.

What can we personally do to promote Jesus' call to radical truthfulness?

Remember that for Jesus, words were sacramental, for they were outward signs of an inward condition. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." We need a truthful spirit that brings forth an increasing veracity of speech. We also need to remember that our Lord hears every word, not just the oaths, and that we will give account of all our words (see Matthew 12:36). Our words are freighted with eternity. We would do well to take this seriously.

Samuel Johnson wrote something good for mom’s and dad’s.

Accustom your children constantly to this [the telling of the truth]; if a thing happened at one window, and they, when relating it, say that it happened at another, do not let it pass, but instantly check them; you do not know where deviation from truth will end. ... It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world.?

Jesus minced no words with his friends, and neither does he with us. "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all.... Let what you say be simply "Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil" (vv. 34a, 37). Let us be radically truthful!

Final point is this..

The truth of what we say is magnified when we live out the truth.

Amen or ouch huh? I think I have said this alot in a variety of different ways here lately, but the truth is this we got to have Christians living out the truth of the gospel so that our words are not nullified by our actions. Ouch huh. I preaching to myself but on this mothers day I am preaching to you parents, and moms. we have many moms in this room, maybe listening online that can verify their little ones live out the things that their parents say and do.

My daughter contrary to what my wife believes is just like her in a-lot of mannerisms good and let me careful here especially on mother’s day , not so good, and me as well, but alot of us as parents have failed to practice what we preach and we wonder why our kids, friends, family, and the world don’t believe us thats a big ouch for me. To many us are like this Jews during the time Jesus is preaching making a promise to tell the truth then dancing around it living contrary to how we say we are going to live.

we can’t do this. We especially can’t do this in our churches around other believers. Eph 4:25

Ephesians 4:25 ESV

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Ephesians 4 talks about this new life in Christ and truth representing that life, so speak truth especially to other believers.

We have to be people who live out the truth who speak the truth, why because we know the one who is the truth. John 14:6

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you have a relationship with the truth should you not live out the truth for yourself speaking only truth. Living out the truth has eternal implications not only for you but for those who are around you.

and you might ask how can I live out the truth? We live as we have been taught in these beatitudes. I am convinced church that when we finish chapter 7 in a few months and truly look back and live by these truths by the power of the Holy Spirit we will be forever changed, and one of those things we must change is getting rid of any falsehood we have.

Let me wrap this up saying this from Martyn Lloyd Jones and commenting along the way… are not most of our troubles in life due to the fact that men and women are forgetting these things? ( talking about lying ) What is the main trouble in the international sphere? Is it not just that we cannot believe what is being said-lying?

Hitler based his whole policy upon it, and said it was the way to succeed in this world. If you want your nation to be great, you lie about it. And the more you lie the more likely you are to succeed. One country cannot believe another; the oaths, the solemn pledges no longer matter and no longer count.

But it is not only true in the international realm, it is equally true in our own country,( he is from England just a heads up ) and in some of the most sacred associations of lite. One of the great scandals of life today is the appalling increase in divorce and infidelity. To what is it due? It is that men have forgotten the teaching of Christ with regard to vows and oaths, and common veracity and truth and honesty in speech. How like these Pharisees and scribes we are. Men on political platforms have waxed eloquent on the sanctity of international contracts. But, at the very time they were speaking, they were not loyal and true to their own marriage vows. When Hitler lied, we all held up our hands aghast; but we seem to think it is somehow different when we tell what we call a 'white lie' in order to get out of a difficulty. It is terrible, we think, to lie on the international level, but not, apparently, when it comes to a matter between husband and wife, or parents and children.

Is not that the position?

It is the old fallacy. The temple nothing; the gold of the temple everything. The altar-nothing; the gift on the altar-tremendous. No, we must realize that this is a universal law and principle which runs from top to bottom and covers the whole of life. It applies to us also; the message comes right home to each one of us. We must not lie.

And we are all given to it, if not always in a bare-faced form. What a terrible thing perjury is to us. We should never dream of it. But surely to tell a lie is as bad as perjury ( Purjury friends if you did not know is the offense of willfully telling an untruth in a court after having taken an oath or affirmation )

He goes on to say…. For as Christians, we should always speak as in the presence of God. We are His people, and a lie which we may tell to a private individual may come between that individual's soul and its salvation in Christ Jesus. Everything we do is of tremendous importance.

We must not exaggerate, or allow to exaggerate for us, because exaggeration becomes a lie. It gives those who hear a false impression. All that is involved here. Once more: 'Let every man examine himself.' God have mercy upon us in that we are so like these Pharisees and scribes, trying to distinguish between big sins and little sins, lies and things which are not exactly lies.

There is but one way to deal with all these things. ( We need to repent )

If we claim we are walking through this world in fellowship with Him and with His Son and that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Very well, 'grieve not the Holy Spirit of God', says Paul. He sees and hears everything every exaggeration, every suggested lie. He hears it all and it hurts and offends him. Why? Because He is the ‘Spirit of truth', and there is no lie anywhere near Him. Let us then listen to the command of our heavenly King, who is also our Lord and Saviour, who when fled he suffered, threatened not, and of whom we read, that 'there was no guilt found in his mouth'.

Let us follow in His steps and desire to be like Him in all things.

Friends Just tell the truth, because we great God who only tells it like it is and he lived it out for us perfectly for us to the point of death and like we just read Lloyd Jones say doing so without ever finding any guilt in his mouth.

There is not one of us in this room that does not need the grace that comes from the one who died on the cross, and there is not a one of us who has not stretched the truth so much they the Lord can’t save us. We are all liars but if we know the true we will take steps to be truthful. now you know I want to be known for the mission I speak every single time I get up here , but I want us to be known for just telling the truth, about the one who is true Jesus Christ who saved us.

Let us pray…