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The Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity
Sermon on the Mount, Eighth Sermon
August 25, 2002
 
TEXT: NKJ Matthew 5:33 " 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.' 34 "But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 "nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 "Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
 
As we have done with Jesus’ previous teachings in the Sermon on the Mount—we investigate the Old Testament teachings that Jesus is referring to
 
Let’s begin with a look at the second giving of the Law in the Book called Deuteronomy
 
NKJ Deuteronomy 23:21 " 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. 22 "But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 "That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.
 
NKJ Deuteronomy 6:13 "You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
 
God also gave a warning not to swear falsely
 
NKJ Leviticus 19:12 'And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
 
When Jesus begins this portion of His Sermon on the Mount—He begins with the words “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old”—reminding the 12 and the multitudes that He is correcting a false teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees
 
Jesus was certainly aware of this Old Testament verse—Deuteronomy 6:13—He quoted it to the devil at the end of the 40 days of temptation in the wilderness
 
NKJ Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
 
Now—as Jesus stands upon the mountain teaching His disciples—and the multitudes—He is correcting centuries of misunderstanding and false teaching concerning oaths
 
Just as He corrected the misunderstandings of “Thou shalt not murder—and thou shalt not commit adultery—He is now explaining the proper interpretation of God’s instructions on swearing and on taking oaths
 
As with the earlier sermons—we must begin by letting Scripture answer Scripture
 
The Lord opens His discussion by telling the Jews and the 12 that swearing falsely is a sin
 
The scribes and the Pharisees were noted for swearing worthless oaths—believing that as long as you didn’t mention God in the oath—it was not a sin
 
As you can remember—this is the same problem they had with the sins of murder and adultery
 
If they didn’t physically place their hands on a man and kill him—they considered themselves innocent of his blood
 
And if they didn’t have physical relations with a person they weren’t married to—if they lusted after another man’s wife but did not have physical relations—they considered themselves innocent of the sin of adultery
 
Adding to these false teachings of the Pharisees and the scribes the swearing of oaths will prevent those listening to their teachings—and those following those teachings—from entering heaven
 
We jump forward to Matthew chapter 23—and witness Jesus’ teaching these very things in the temple
 
NKJ Matthew 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
 
The false teachings of the Pharisees and the scribes will lock men out of heaven—just as those who follow false teachers today will be locked out of heaven
 
            And what were some of the specific sins that Jesus cites in His discussion?
 
NKJ Matthew 23:21 "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22 "And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
 
So what the Pharisees were considering innocent oaths that were not binding—were in fact offensive to God—and were going to keep them—and everyone who followed them—out of heaven
 
The Jews were being taught by their leaders and their teachers of the Law—that swearing by Jerusalem—the heavens—on their own head—etc.—would give an agreement that appeared strong and binding—but was really no greater than if an oath was not sworn at all
 
These are the abuses of God’s people that our Lord is preaching against
 
Some teach that Jesus is saying we can never swear an oath—this we must assure ourselves is not what Jesus means here
 
We need only turn to Paul’s teachings on the interaction of governments with God’s people
 
NKJ Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
 
This is a very important verse—if our government requires us to take an oath—God’s Word here says that we must submit to the authority of that government
 
No government exists except by the will of God—and for us Christians to obey the laws of our government is God-pleasing
 
If the government orders us into military service—and we are placed into a position where we must kill—we are acting under the authority of God
 
When we testify in court—and we are asked to swear that we will tell the truth—we are obeying our government—and therefore obeying our God
 
Is there ever a time when we should not obey the government?  Consider these words of Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians
 
NKJ Galatians 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
 
If our government orders us to follow certain religious beliefs—we must disobey—and follow the Gospel as it has been given to us by the Holy Spirit
 
But look at the words Paul uses to make his point—let him be accursed—so there are situations when God’s people would be expected to curse others—let’s examine some examples
 
First the example of Noah cursing his youngest son Ham—the father of Canaan
 
NKJ Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." 26 And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant."
 
Next we see Jacob speaking to his sons—one who had been with Jacob’s concubine—and two who were just plain mean and ugly when they got angry
 
NKJ Genesis 49:3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it -- He went up to my couch. 5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. 6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.
 
Should Christians curse?  Yes—when they are in obedience with the example of Scripture
 
Cursed be the man that tries to steer us from the true Gospel—and cursed are they that offer false hope to unbelievers through their false doctrines
 
Even Jesus gave us Scriptural examples of cursing false teachers—as we’ve already examined in the Matthew 23 verses earlier—and look further at the things He said
 
NKJ Matthew 23:14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
 
Is this a contradiction—not at all—Jesus taught us on the mountain that we shall not be frivolous with our words concerning promises and oaths
 
He teaches us in Matthew 23 that we should not be tolerant of false teachers—to the point that we curse them—that is—that we lay the facts of God’s Word before them to show them that they are accursed by God
 
Jesus ends this discussion with these words “But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.  If you follow these instructions—there is no need to speak in oaths all the time as the Jews did
 
Speaking in oaths led people to believe that unless you offered an oath—your word was not good
 
Speaking in simple terms—yes is yes—no is no—establishes a reputation of honesty
 
The Jews in Jesus day were swearing without the use of the name of God—and then not honoring the oath because they considered it to be non-binding
 
Jesus holds all of God’s people to their word—that’s the lesson He is teaching on this mountain top
 
That’s why He says let your yes be yes and your no be no—your word is binding even when you do not specifically swear an oath—the word of a Christian—like the Word of God—is truth