On God!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Pastor Orr, Sunday School leadership
Our world is under the dark cloud lies, cover-ups, and injustice. . we are praying for the Family Breonna Taylor and the Louisville community.
Are you known for keeping your word? Are you Truthful?
Many of us struggle with being honest and truthful, therefore we have to make oaths and promises to add weight to the words we speak.
I know this is coming off a little too strong but it is the truth. . . we struggle with being honest.
Whether Big Lies or Little ones: we suffer from false words. The easiest one: you are supposed to be somewhere by a certain time, you are running late. . . the phone call comes in with the question How far away are you? The usual response: “i right around the corner!”
“i’m 5 minutes away” . . . “i’m pulling into the parking lot right now”
We all know when we here those words; the person is 15 minutes away.
Every December we see this happen; people make these promises or oaths to themselves and others Called: New years Resolutions. They deal from anything like weight loss, better eating, working out, saving money, and the list goes on. I only know of one person to date who makes a list and gets 80-90% of what they plan on doing. . the rest of us struggle to keep our word.
we make these promises and unfortunately we can’t keep them. God has strong words this: say simply yes or no. . anything more comes from evil.
The Sermon on the Mount calls us to a different way of living, Stay True to your Word!
Jesus takes us back to the Mosiac law to gain insight on what it means to speak truthfully.
And the vows in question are, strictly speaking, ‘oaths’ in which the speaker calls upon God to witness his vow and to punish him if he breaks it. Moses often seems to have emphasized the evil of false swearing and the duty of performing to the Lord one’s oaths.
That’s why we titled the message today: On God
we swear on God, on our grandparents grave, on our life. . as God is my witness.
some examples in the OT:
“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.
You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
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.
“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.
So the twisting of God’s word was in full effect:
They argued that what the law was really prohibiting was not taking the name of the Lord in vain, but taking the name of the Lord in vain. ‘False swearing’, they concluded, meant profanity (a profane use of the divine name), not perjury (a dishonest pledging of one’s word).
Dishonesty is what we see running wild even in our time. The dismissive nature of the devastation of a global pandemic- dishonest. . . ALterations to historical facts (revisionist history). .
We see this happening all the time; the sad reality is that we don’t know what to believe and who to believe anymore.
As we move into our text Jesus is railing against what became the norm of day. . and the so called leaders of his day. He doesn’t say it here but later in matthew he calls the religious and religious leaders “Blind Guides”
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 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.
“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.’ 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.
Fake News!-v33
Fake News!-v33
The Gospel according to Matthew d. Oaths, 5:33–37
He regarded it as important that what his disciples said could always be relied on; it should not be necessary for them to back up their statements with oaths.
Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom The Old Testament’s Traditional Teaching Regarding Truth (v. 33)
Vows were assumed, even encouraged. But once made, they were not to be broken under any circumstances. The Bible taught that they were very serious business.
We all have family members who lie. . I guess i can make that assumption. “Let me hold $20 and i got you next week”- next week never comes.
There are long list of lies we get. . and ultimately that person who is unwilling honor their word looses credibility for the future. No one wants to be around habitual liars.
not just family, but in the church as well. people make promises they know they can’t deliver on. .
They love to embellish in order to impress those around.
i remember many years ago, at a church plant.. . they had different people rotating playing music. One week a young man told the pastor he could “play the piano”. . . . he shows up to rehearsal and he could “play the piano” with one hand but not with both. So in essence he could tap notes on the piano; BUT he could not PLAY. . the piano.
he was never utilized again.
Our words as followers of Jesus Christ should stand
Failed Oaths- v34-36
Failed Oaths- v34-36
The Gospel according to Matthew d. Oaths, 5:33–37
The important thing, Jesus is saying, is to tell the truth and keep one’s pledges without insisting that a certain form of words must be used if it is to be binding. No oath is necessary for the truthful person
The oaths in these verses refer to God
Let me stop and say this; ultimately, there is no way to avoid God and any reference to Him. The whole world belongs to God, and you can’t eliminate Him from any of it.
The Bible says the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof the whole world and they who dwell in it.
The Bible says God upholds the world by the Word of his power.
If you vow by ‘heaven’, it is God’s throne; if by ‘earth’ it is his footstool; if by ‘Jerusalem’ it is his city, the city of the great King. If you swear by your head, it is indeed yours in the sense that it is nobody else’s, and yet it is God’s creation and under God’s control.
Heaven
Earth
Jerusalem
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. Honesty in Speech (33)
What Jesus emphasized in his teaching was that honest men do not need to resort to oaths; it was not that they should refuse to take an oath if required by some external authority to do so
Fair Expectations- v37
Fair Expectations- v37
The Gospel according to Matthew d. Oaths, 5:33–37
The conclusion of the matter is that it is never necessary for Christ’s people to swear an oath before they utter the truth. Their word should always be so reliable that nothing more than a statement is needed from them
Our word should be reliable and stand on their own
james says it in James 5
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
Radical Truthfulness
Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom The Radical Call to Truthfulness
Christ calls us to a life of profound truthfulness. Our problem is that we live in a radically deceptive world, a world that is deceitful at its very roots
Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom The Radical Call to Truthfulness
We embellish the truth without even realizing that we are doing so
how can we show Jesus and his call to truthfulness
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.