To Tell The Truth - [Matthew 5:33-38]

The Divine and Human Sides of Truth

Well, there are two sides to every story. In this particular case, the story is truth. There's the divine side and there's the human side. In the book, The Day America Told the Truth, it describes the human side of truth-telling, or rather the lack thereof.

91 of those surveyed said they lied routinely, 36 they lied about important matters, 86 of the people said they regularly lie to parents, 75 said they lied to friends, 73 said they lied to siblings, and 69 said they regularly lied to their spouses.

As James Russell Lowell said, we live in a time where truth is forever on the scaffold. Whether it's outright lies, white lies, exaggeration, cheating, tax evasion, deception. In the Wall Street Journal three weeks ago, there was an article about pastors getting their sermons from other pastors and preaching someone else's sermon.

When I was a kid and my dad got home early from work, earlier than when he was supposed to, I was to pick up the phone and to say, as they say, is Lee there? No he isn't, may I take a message? And dad was over on the other side of the room going, you know, I was trained well in the art of deception.

It could be betraying a confidence, could be false flattery to get your way, Watergate, Irangate, Whitewatergate, Monicagate. I wasn't feeling well. The check is in the mail. I was only kidding. I was only trying to help.

All too often, not telling the truth. Especially living in an age where black and white truth is gone. If it's true for you, it's true, but it's not true for everyone else. We live in a day of relativism, spin, situational ethics, as long as no one gets hurt.

God as the God of Truth

And then on the other side of the story, we have God. Much different than human beings. Did you know Psalm 31 says, into thy hand I commit my spirit, thou hast ransomed me O Lord, God of, any guesses, truth.

God is a man, not that he should lie, Numbers says. Psalm 5710, a glorious verse, for thy loving kindness is great to the heavens and thy truth to the clouds. God is truth. Titus chapter 1 verse 2 says, God who cannot lie, literally he's the unlying God.

Jesus is truth. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. The spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, John 15 is called the spirit of truth. Psalm 111 verse 7 says, the works of his hands, all of God's works are truth.

They are performed in truth and uprightness. His word is called truth. Psalm 119, thy law is truth, thy commandments are truth. His dwelling place, Jerusalem, is called the city of truth. And his truth will last forever.

Psalm 117 verse 2, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting, praise the Lord. When you put the truth of God next to the lies of men, it gets even worse. And that's why one man called lying a monstrosity.

Jesus' Teaching on Truth in the Sermon on the Mount

What does Jesus say about truth? If you'll turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, let's find out what Jesus said to his followers about this topic of truth. If God is a God of righteousness, he wants his people to therefore be righteous.

If God is a God of truth, third class conditional, since God is a God of truth, he wants his people to be people of truth. And we'll look today at Matthew chapter 5 and the Sermon on the Mount, and we'll see that God expects his people to be truth tellers.

Certainly we can't do it on our own as Christians. The spirit of God indwells us. We have been given the righteousness of Christ externally cloaked upon us. We have been given the spirit who can help us to obey these things.

But God has a premium on truth, and he wants his followers, followers of the truthful one, to tell the truth. And that was an issue back in those days, and it's an issue today. And I think the text, Matthew 5, is really trans-chronological.

It transcends time. It's applicable for all of us back then and for now. And I could ask you the question to start. Are you known for telling the truth? Can you tell someone, I will do it, and then you do it?

I find it a big challenge to be a parent and to tell my children, tomorrow night we'll do such and such. And then tomorrow night comes along and I'm tired or I'm broke or I'm sick or something, and I want to try to be a man of my word.

The Structure and Context of the Sermon on the Mount

Now, Matthew 5 is called the Sermon on the Mount, 5, 6, and 7. And you probably have a red-letter Bible, and if you do, these are the words of Christ. And he starts off with the Beatitudes, and he talks about salt and light, and then he talks about six black-and-white opposite statements that were commonly phrased this way.

You have heard it said, but I what? Say to you. Antithetical statements. People in society say this. Old Testament says this. But I now, Christ, tell you this. And he's talking about how righteousness is manifested in the lives of his people.

Matter of fact, if you look down in chapter 7 of verse 24 and following, Jesus is putting a high premium on the, not Mosaic law now, but on his very words. Of course, Moses was inspired and inerrant and certainly good for the people of Israel, and much can be gleaned for us.

But he's slowly moving the attention away from Moses onto his words, so much so that if you are lawless, it is because you've disobeyed Jesus' words. Do you see that? Verse 24 of Matthew 7. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine, he's talking about his words on the Sermon on the Mount, as he fleshes out the fulfilled law, as the New Testament lawgiver.

The focus is shifting from Moses to himself. And acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rains fell, the floods came, the winds blew and slammed against that house.

And yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Verse 26, and this is where I'm bringing our attention this morning. Everyone who hears these words of mine, the New Testament lawgiver, focusing on his words, not Moses', and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man, built his house on the sand.

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. Jesus, the New Testament lawgiver, comes and says, I'm going to give you my law.

Not on Mount Sinai, but on the Sermon on the Mount, on that particular mountain. And you have in it a call for internal, heartfelt worship. Remember what the Pharisees were doing? It was all what? It was all lip service.

It was all external. It was do as least as you can and get by. And Jesus, the New Testament lawgiver, says it's a heart issue. It's from the inside. And we've seen several of those. There were six total.

So far, we've gone through three. And in review, the first one was found in verses 21 to 26 of Matthew 5. And there he was talking about murder externally. Yes, it's wrong, but if you're angry with someone, you're in fact committing murder.

The second one is found in verses 27 through 30. And he's not saying just because you commit adultery, it's bad. Yes, it's bad, but if you look at someone with lust in your heart, it's like committing adultery.

So he's got the sixth and seventh commandments. And then he moves on to number three that we saw last week, divorce and remarriage, closely related to number two. It was said, verse 31, verse 32, But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

So Jesus' teaching was stark, black and white, truths about kingdom righteousness. If you want to be a follower of Christ, you will act these ways. And now we move to the fourth one, oaths and the truth.

The Fourth Antithetical Statement: Oaths and Truth-Telling

If you have real righteousness, if you have a heartfelt righteousness, here's God's commands for you. Let me read verses 33 through 37, and then we'll take a look at it. And one man says, it may seem a little anticlimactic after all the discussion in verses 21 through 32 about murder, adultery, eye-plucking and hand-lopping.

But it is very, very important because we speak a lot. I think we have two people in our congregation this morning that have their jaws wired shut or they had surgery on their mouth in one way, shape or form.

And so they will soon be better and they will need the sermon as well. But this is required in a day and age where men speak 10 ,000 to 15 ,000 words a day and women speak 30 ,000 words a day. And I just saw it documented on CNN, so email info at CNN, not me.

We just talk a lot. And if we talk a lot, we have a propensity to sin a lot. Of course, there are exceptions to that, but what does Jesus say? Because there are no exceptions here. Verse 33, again, you have heard that the ancients were told.

There's the paradigm again. You have heard it said, but I say to you, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it's 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.

Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair black or white. But let your statement be, yes, yes, or no, no. Anything beyond these is evil. Now, I think if you ask this question, it will be helpful as you try to understand what Jesus is trying to say.

Ask this question. What was going on back in those days? What was the Old Testament culture like? What was the setting? This is many thousands of years ago, and in what situation, or occasion, or circumstance, would Jesus say something like this?

There's got to be a reason why he would talk this way. And so if we understand the setting, it is very, very important for Bible study. I've just said to the men in the discipleship class this morning, a book on manners and customs is very helpful.

Why? Because we don't live in a culture that is Eastern-oriented. We don't live in a culture that has a monarch, nor do we live in a culture that has a benevolent dictator. All of those would be helpful.

We live in a capitalistic democracy or a republic. It's hard for us to understand different languages, different cultures. So what was going on back then? Well, I think we can gain a lot of insight. And if you look at verse 33, let's start there.

You have heard the ancients were told, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. Now, it's a little different this time. Instead of quoting the Old Testament perfectly or verbatim, Jesus is taking three key verses about laws and truth and combining them into one.

He's giving a summary statement. You cannot find that verse in the Old Testament. He's giving a composite, a grouping of truths that would be distilled down into this statement, don't make false vows, fulfill your vows to the Lord.

It's not an exact quote. It comes from, and I'll just read you them and you can look them up another time, Leviticus 19 .12, Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

It also comes from Numbers 30, verse 2, When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. And number 3 found in Deuteronomy 23 .21, If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.

And in general, Jesus is after this. Be reverent about your vowing. Be godly and serious about your oath taking. This is not something that you can just throw out at any time. Now what he's not talking about is dirty, profane, four-letter word swearing.

He's not talking about that kind of language. Of course, that language is unwholesome. And Ephesians 4 said, don't let that ever come from your mouth. We know that's wrong. This is something different.

My kids, when they go to school, they'll say, you know, they'll report on other kids and what they do wrong in school and stuff. And how's that kid doing? And what are they like? And so-and-so got, you know, a detention today.

Well, what did they get a detention for? And so they just say this word. Well, they got it for swears. They got it for swears. And to them, swears is a bad word, a dirty word, a curse word. This is not that kind of swears.

This is a different kind of swearing. And it's talking about oaths. Saying you will do something in the future and calling God as your witness. As God is my witness, I will do such and such. And you're trying to tell the people, in a day and age where there's lies and spin and a cauldron and a witch's brew of untruth, that you really mean what you're going to say this time.

You might not mean it any other time, but this time you really mean it. Cross your heart, hope to die, stick ten needles in your eye. By George. I can tell somebody in the front didn't understand that or never heard it because they go, With solemn declaration, God, I invoke you to witness what I'm going to do.

And one thing we've kind of nicely forgot. If I don't do what I'm going to say, I expect you to judge me. So it was, God, here's a call to your attention. We confess you're the God of the universe. You see all.

You know all. You're righteous. You're truthful. You judge with a pure heart. You're not impartial. And God, before your very eyes, I'm telling this other person that I'm calling your truthfulness and your reputation and your characteristics and the way you deal with people in truthfulness, the way you don't lie.

I'm calling you as my witness. As God is my witness, I will do what I'm going to say. But one thing we've forgotten is that if I don't do it, this God who judges, I want him to judge me so all will know.

I was telling not the truth but falsehood. It's almost this guarantee where we're really telling the truth this time and it's not all bad. Listen to what God does as he swears in Hebrews 6 .16. For men swear by one greater than themselves and with them an oath given as a confirmation, as an end of every dispute.

Then he goes on to talk about how God swears. But the point being is if you want to end a dispute, whose word is really true, what will you do in the future? You can bring God back in the Old Testament.

You bring God as your witness to do something. And God, if I don't do it, avenge yourself against me. But then in verse 34, it's amazing what happens. Jesus said, but I say to you, make no oath at all.

Just stop there for a second. Don't make any oaths. That is amazing to me. But Jesus didn't say this in a vacuum. Oaths were an important part of Old Testament law. Matter of fact, they were even commanded.

So here Jesus is telling people don't make any oaths at all, but they all know oaths are made on a regular basis. But oaths aren't used in everyday language. Oaths aren't used in modern communication where we just talk all the time.

Oaths are special. Oaths are like today where we have an oath when? When you go to court. When you are married. This is my solemn vow. When you get ordained as a gospel minister. I solemnly declare before God.

There are times for good oaths back then, and Jesus knows that. He didn't forbid all oaths from the Old Testament. I'll just read you a few where some oaths in the Bible are mandatory. Deuteronomy 6, you shall fear the Lord your God and shall worship him and swear by his name.

There's a time for the Israelites to swear by his name, and if they don't, it's a sin. Deuteronomy 10, you shall fear the Lord your God and you shall serve him and cling to him and you shall swear by his name.

Jesus is telling them to make no oaths in a culture where they knew there were good oaths. Abraham made oaths. Rahab made an oath. David, Joshua, Abraham and Abimelech, Edbersheba in Genesis 21. They wanted to decide a dispute who's right.

Genesis 21 says, God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me here by God, Abimelech said to Abraham, that you will not deal falsely with me. Hannah, do you remember Hannah? She made an oath that if God granted her a son, she would vow that she would dedicate this son to his service.

Not his, the son's service, but to God's service as a Nazarite. Did you know Paul made vows? Romans 1, for God whom I serve in my spirit is my witness as to how unceasingly I made mention of you. Did you know holy angels make vows?

Revelation 10, and the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever. And as I said earlier, God himself even makes vows.

I will surely bless you, Hebrews 6, and will surely multiply you with a vow. Jesus, in Matthew 26, kept silent and the high priest said to him, and he said to the high priest, I adjure you, Jesus was told by the high priest, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus said, you have said it yourself. So here's the point. Jesus says in everyday language, you guys are making all these false vows and all the Pharisees are telling you what to do and everything's fine and as long as you cross your fingers, as long as you kind of, you know, I promise to tell the truth in everyday language, Jesus is saying don't follow the Pharisees.

Now there's a place for oaths, but I'm telling you if it takes an oath to keep your word, don't make any oaths. And look at how they would make oaths. It is laughable. Verse 34. Either by heaven, for it's the throne of God, by earth, it's a footstool, by Jerusalem, or by your own head.

Here's the deal. If I make an oath by God, I better repay, because He'll judge me. But if I make an oath by something else, I'm cool. I don't have to say I'll do it, but I'll make an oath by heaven, I'll make an oath by earth, I'll make an oath by my head.

And what they did is they took Leviticus 19 where it says, you shall not swear falsely by my name and so I'll swear falsely with somebody else's name. And they create this whole thing of how they can tell lies and sound like they're telling the truth.

Promises that can be trusted, promises that can be broken. And if I use God's name, I have to keep my word. And if I don't use His name, then off I go. Clever oaths to deceive people. And Jesus says to the Pharisees that were influencing these people in Matthew 23, Woe to you blind guides who say whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing.

But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated. You fools and blind men, which is more important, the gold or the temple that has sanctified the gold? Whoever swears by the altar, that's nothing.

But whoever swears by the offering on it, he's obligated. So you've got a business transaction, you've got a marriage, you've got something else and you say, Well, I swear by the gold that's in my mother's temple that I'll obey.

Jesus says whoever swears by heaven swears by both the throne of God and Him who sits upon it in Matthew 23. He kind of gives four examples here. Do you see it in verse 34? Either by heaven, for it is the throne of God.

The Talmud said, If any adjure another by heaven or earth, he is not guilty. It's okay to do. I'll insulate myself from God's wrath by not swearing about God, but I'll swear about heaven. Only God can swear about heaven.

Only God is in control of heaven. That's why God said in Genesis 24, I will swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, the God of earth. Abraham swears to God. He knows who he is. What else do they do? By the earth.

By Jerusalem. In the Mishnah it said one rabbi was told that if you swear by Jerusalem, you're not bound. But if you swear toward Jerusalem, you are bound. You get all confused. And how do you sort through all that?

God owns everything, doesn't he? He owns cattle on a thousand hills. And if you're going to try to say something, I'm going to swear by heaven. Well, God lives there. I swear by earth. That's his footstool.

I swear by some stack of Bibles. He owns all the Bibles. And the worst one, it is stupid. For our Spanish listeners, it is estupido. Verse 36, Nor shall you make an oath by your head. You cannot make one hair white or black.

God, if I'm not telling the truth, then lop my head off. Who made your head? You can't make one of your hairs white or black. If you swear by these things, it's just irreverence. It's just ungodly. You shouldn't have to do that.

You have no control over your life. How can you swear over your head and if it's gray or not? You're accountable to God every time your mouth opens, is what Jesus is after. It's better not to swear at all.

And instead of righteousness coming from the heart, righteousness because of the Pharisees is all this external jingle-jangle of different terms and proper sayings, reducing it to nothing. It's a wordsmith game.

It's just spin. Arthur Pink said, Here Christ made it plain that by no subtle subterfuge can men escape the solemn responsibility of an oath. So Jesus gives an umbrella statement to take care of every oath, especially in light of common everyday language.

Verse 37,. But let your statement be yes, yes, or no, no. Anything beyond this is evil. I'm not going to take God as some cloak and I'm swear by the temple. God made it all. So every time I swear, every time I say yes or no, it's before the God who sees all and knows all and hears all.

No games. God just wants constant truthfulness as a righteous kingdom citizen should have. Well, in the time we have left, I'm going to give you several truths about truthfulness. Truths about truthfulness that hopefully will help you practically and in everyday life.

And I want to make them exhortation because my job is not to just teach you, but to proclaim to you that you should be truth tellers. Truth number one about truthfulness. Jesus wants you, a follower of Christ, to be a truthful person and a man or woman of integrity.

Truth One: Be a Truthful Person and a Man or Woman of Integrity

He wants you to be known as someone who tells the truth and who has integrity. Are you? Do you? We say we have the truth. We follow the one who is the truth. And we are to therefore tell the truth. Everyday language.

No oath concoction needed. I swear on my mother's grave. That's true. We don't need to be people who say things like that. Cross my heart. One man said, let your speech be without fine print. Is yours?

If you say, I promise, then you'll do it. Or if you just say to someone, I will, and then you'll do it. I could ask you these questions along the same lines. Do you avoid exaggeration? Do you think telling white lies are okay?

I like Austin O'Malley, he said of white lies. Those that think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color blind. Isocrates, the great orator from Greece said, a man must lead a life which will gain more confidence in him than ever an oath can do.

Your kids think you're men and women of integrity and tell the truth? Oaths, the way the Pharisees concocted them, sprang forth because men were so full of lies. We ought not to be that way as Christ followers.

Jesus never told a lie. Never. Proactively, would you start today as a Christian to cultivate a reputation for telling the truth? Do people know you mean exactly what you say? I could even kind of get into your business.

Do you pay your bills on time? Do you pay your bills? Do you cut corners with the IRS? Is your word your bond? If Mike said he would do it, I can count on it. John Wesley said it this way, I would not tell one lie to save the souls of the whole world.

Do you need a confirmation about promises or oaths to keep your word? I'm warned when I read that God in Proverbs 6 hates a what? Lying tongue. But you know, Microsoft has so much money. We don't really need to have extra licenses for all those computers because they have a lot of money.

Proverbs says in Proverbs 12, Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. And it grieved Jeremiah so much in Jeremiah 9 that Israel was lying and not telling the truth. One scholar said, Here's the great eternal truth.

Life cannot be divided into compartments, in some of which God is involved and in others of which He is not involved. There cannot be one kind of language in the church and another kind of language in the shipyard or the factory or the office.

There cannot be one kind of conduct in the church and another kind of conduct in the business world. Everything we do, whether it's yes, yes, or I promise and renege is before God. We want to be truth tellers.

Truth Two: God Permits Oaths for Special Occasions

Truth about truthfulness number two. Not only should you be a truthful person, God wants you to be a man or woman of integrity. Number two, God will allow you to take oaths for special occasions. God will allow you to take oaths for special occasions.

Now, the Quakers, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Anabaptists heard these words from Jesus and forgot about the culture and the context of the Old Testament where some vows were commanded, where Paul takes vows often, Jesus takes vows.

Certainly there are bad vows, Jephthah and others, but they forget about this context where vows on occasion, special occasions, are good. Now, I haven't said a vow for a long time, but I have said some vows for my ordination, for my wedding.

I served on court, I don't know, four or five months ago. I think they made me raise my right hand and swear. Well, George Fox, the leader of the Quakers, says, you know what, I can't do any of that. It's my theological conviction.

So you don't have to say, so help me God anymore. You can just say, I do. But Jesus is not categorically, absolutely saying oaths are bad because Paul would be in error, God himself would be in error, Jesus would be in error, Abraham would have been in error.

It's okay on important occasions. 2 Corinthians 1, Paul swears, and he says, but I call on God as my witness to my soul. How about Galatians 1 .20? Now, in writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.

How about Philippians 1 .8? For God is my witness. How I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. He's not swearing like the Pharisees did. He's saying, this is an important point. This is emphasizing something.

Oath permitting is permitted. It's not encouraged. And you should never have to say an oath to someone in everyday language to make them think you're telling the truth. That's the point. It's the condemnation of profane, uncalled for, and hypocritical oaths, William Hendrickson would say.

So if you've got to swear, make sure it's not on a regular basis, and make sure you don't do it in everyday communication. But there is a time to give an oath. Number three, truth number three. First of all, be a person of integrity.

Truth Three: Be Cautious About Those Who Frequently Swear

Second of all, it's okay to take special oaths for special occasions. Number three, this is a good one. When you hear someone swear about something outside of a court or marriage, be careful about believing them.

Don't trust people that swear all the time. I promise, I swear, hope to God, all these things. Be careful. I like what one scholar said, looking at Matthew 5, where Jesus says, anything beyond this is evil.

Here's what the scholar said, whenever I utter the formula, I swear by God, I'm 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.

Now Peter was sitting outside by the courtyard and a certain servant girl came to him and said, you too were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before them all, saying, I don't know what you're talking about.

And when he had gone out of the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said to those who were there, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. In Matthew 26, verse 72 says, and again, he denied it with an oath.

I do not know the man. And a little later, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, surely you too are one of them, for the way you talk gives you away. Then Peter began to curse and swear. I do not know the man.

And immediately a cock. If you're around people who do this kind of swear formula all the time, then you better not trust them so easily, so quickly. Truth number four. Jesus wants you to be a man of truth and a woman of truth.

Truth Four: Don't Relegate Personal Integrity to the Back Burner

Two, you can take oaths on special occasions. Three, be careful about the oath takers. Number four, don't relegate this subject of personal integrity to the back burner. That is to say, if this is a big deal, you should think this is a big deal.

This is not one of those, well, you know, whatever. Out of these six antithetical statements, divorce, remarriage, adultery, anger, Jesus puts truth telling there. And if you turn to James chapter 5, you can see, A, how James was a good student of his half-brother, but B, how important this is in the life of a church, in the life of a Christian.

If you'll turn to the book of James or the book of Jacob, actually it's called. I don't know why King James would ever want to have a book called Jacob turn into James, but that's another story. All from the same root.

James here gives these calls to duty, kind of be a good soldier, kind of commands in a book that talks about if you have faith, you will have works, because God is working in you. Wonderful book about God's right to call his people to act holy.

And James 5 .12, I mean, you can know that Jesus taught this to his half-brother. And his half-brother, by the Spirit's revelation and inspiration, has him pen these words. He has them incarnate, the words of Jesus, into words on paper and parchment and animal skin.

James 5 .12, my truth about truthfulness has to do about the importance. And you can see by the first three English words of James 5 .12 just how important this is. But above all, especially, here's important, guard yourself against this sin.

This morning we didn't have any electricity. And it just reminded me in three or four weeks I go to India, where often on a rolling basis there's no electricity. In India, though, when you want to take a shower and there's no electricity, you can't.

At least in the particular place I was in, hotel, no electricity, no shower. And so I can imagine myself in India. I've got to preach in 15 minutes, the alarm has been laid, and I've got to go across town and preach.