Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
This morning in our series The Sermon on the Mount, we’re continuing through a section of Jesus’ teaching where Jesus uses the phrase, “You have heard it said… but I say.” Six times Jesus uses this pattern. The first three we looked at were 1.) murder and anger, 2.) adultery and lust, and, 3.)marriage and divorce. This morning it is fitting after the examination of the vow of marriage Jesus moves onto the integrity of the believer’s word.
A businessman was traveling on a plane for the first time. He had always been terrified of flying but his next appointment required him to do so. The flight was going well when suddenly the plane shuddered. The pilot came over the intercom and announced that the engines on the right side had stopped so they were making an emergency landing. Shortly thereafter, another shudder and the pilot announced the other engines had stopped. Everyone was informed to assume the crash position with their head between their knees.
For the first time, the businessman felt vulnerable. He had never felt the need to cry out to God but at that moment he did. “God,” he prayed. “ If you will allow me to survive this crash I take a solemn vow to give to charity half of all my possessions.”
Suddenly all four engines began working again and the plane glided smoothly onto the runway. The businessman rushed to disembark.
As he made his way out of the runway area the man who had been seated beside him spoke to him. “Excuse me, sir. I am a pastor involved in several charities. I heard your vow to the Lord concerning your possessions. I can guide you in keeping that vow by recommending some outstanding charities that have needs.”
The businessman replied “That won’t be necessary. You see I made a new vow with God. I vowed if I ever got on another plane, He could have it all.” (Sermon Central: Larry Turner)
Surveys show that Americans lie today more than ever. A recent survey showed that 91% of Americans confessed that they regularly lied. The three things we lie about most are our weight, our income, and our age. What is even more amazing from this survey is that most Americans no longer feel that lying is a moral issue. (Sermon Central).
Think about that and what has become of our society. Some of our most honorable and entrusted institution have no credibility today. The doctor-patient relationship as a result of COVID has been terribly eroded. The media, now known as “Fake News” with fact checkers who don’t use facts. We have men pretending to be women and women pretending to be men and telling children it’s their choice what they want to be. Add to that the apostate church who ignores the truth or refuses to preach the truth and we are left to live in days of incredible deception.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, (1 Timothy 4:1)
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it has not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the sanctuary of God, exhibiting himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4)
The very nature of the End Times are days of great deception. Right now, with the accelerated introduction of AI on the forefront of our society, we are now coming to realize that AI is bringing about even more deception. AI is naturally lying to us. This past April, German Photographer Boris Eldagsen withdrew his nomination as the winner of the Sony World Photography competition after confessing the photograph he submitted was a fake; it was AI-generated.
Pastor Brandon Holthouse compares AI to a digital Ouija Board, and he’s right. There are reports of people committing suicide after talking with AI Chatbots, leaving their spouses, and completing fabrications of information.
AI programmers and designers call these lies “hallucinations.” AI queries are purporting hard-left revisionary versions of history and politics. They are making up quotes from fake news stories and then giving them as answers to questions. The experts do not know why they are behaving this way. For instance, according to Google, when prompted about how it works, Bard will ofter times lie. All AI systems. Yet we are looking to use AI to help with medical treatment and public transportation.
So it is not surprising that when it comes to honoring the truth, Jesus holds believers to the highest of standards. Let’s read this passage together:
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36 “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one. (Matthew 5:33–37)
When Jesus said in verse 333, ‘you have heard that the ancients were told...’ he was referring to three specific texts in the Old Testament Law.
‘And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. (Leviticus 19:12)
“If a man makes a vow to Yahweh or swears an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Numbers 30:2)
“When you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh, your God will surely require it of you, and it will be a sin in you. (Deuteronomy 23:21)
So Jesus is now taking displeasure with the Jew's hypocrisy when it comes to taking oaths. It was common for people to say, “As sure as the Lord lives...”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The very existence of oaths is proof that there are such things as lies..”
Oaths in Jesus' day were commonly abused. People would take an oath and break that promise for any kind of reason. But if you take an oath under the name of God, it is a serious offense and a breaking of God’s Law. So the Jews came up with ways around that by shifting to other objects. They would swear an oath on Jerusalem, the Temple, or the gold in the Temple. Jesus rebukes the leadership later on in Matthew for misleading the people this way.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is obligated.’ 17 “You fools and blind men! For which is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? 18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 “And whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears both by the sanctuary and by Him who dwells within it. 22 “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. (Matthew 23:16–22)
Jesus is telling the people that their Word has become meaningless and when they associate their integrity with God and fail to be people of integrity. Jesus is not saying that we should never make a promise. What is is saying is that no matter what you swear by, (the earth, the Temple, the gold, your mother’s grave), it all belongs to God and therefore all promises made before God and man are binding to your word.
Why is this so important, well first of all, Satan is the Father of all lies (John 8:44). So if you are lying, you are listening to the voice of the enemy of God instead of the Holy Spirit. It was the lie of Satan that introduced sin into the heart of the woman to deceive her into eating the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:4)
There are six things which Yahweh hates...17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,... (Proverbs 6:16–17)
Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, But doers of faithfulness are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22)
Jesus was saying, you can’t be a part of his kingdom if your life is nothing but a lie. The very basis of entering into the Kingdom of Heaven, if you remember is the realization of your spiritual poverty. Repentance begins with the truth
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)
This becomes even more important as Paul tells us that the Church is the ‘Pillar and Buttress of truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15). Paul is not inferring that the church is the creator of truth, but instead he is saying that the Church is what upholds the truth in a world full of deception and lies. It is therefore imperative that we have a solid understanding of Scripture and a Berean attitude toward interpreting Scripture. When the Church compromises on the unwavering truths God has established, the entire Gospel is undermined.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
The critical part of all of this is if we as Christians are entrusted with the truth of God’s redemption for man, then we ourselves must be people of impeccable character, especially when it comes to our integrity. That means in how we run our businesses, keep our marriage vows, relate to our children, pay our taxes, all the way to the smallest of things.
“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. (Matthew 15:18)
Some years ago UPI reported this prayer by the Chaplain of the Kansas Senate: “Omniscient Father, Help us to know who is telling the truth. One side tells us one thing, and the other side just the opposite. And if neither side is telling the truth, we would like to know that too. And if each side is telling half the truth, give us the wisdom to put the right halves together. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” (R. Kent Hughes).
Jesus’ solution to the whole issue is quite simple, “let your yes be your yes and your no be your now, anything else comes from the evil one” (verse 37). So what exactly does he mean? If you are a person of your word and good reputation, your word stands on its own authority.
Once there were two brothers who were very rich and very wicked. Both of them lived lives of sinfulness and debauchery and used their wealth to cover up a lot of their wickedness. Both were members of a local church and used their money to be in positions of influence. The day came when one of the brothers died and the pastor prepared the service. The day before the funeral service, the surviving brother pulled the preacher aside and handed him an envelope. He said, “There’s a check in this envelope that is large enough to pay off the new building. All I want you to do is tell all the people at the funeral tomorrow that my brother was a saint. The next day, the preacher stood in front of the large group of people who had come to the funeral and said, “This man in the coffin was an ungodly sinner and wicked to the core. He was unfaithful to his wife and abusive to his children. He was ruthless in business and a hypocrite in the church. But compared to his brother, he was a saint!” (Sermon Central: Michael Luke).
Dishonesty undermines our relationships, ruins our credibility, and it contrary to the character of God. In the Book of Acts, Ananias, and Saphira lied to the Church and it cost them their lives. The problem when we’re dishonest and untruthful is that we can fool other people and we can even fool ourselves, but we cannot fool God. One day we will stand before Him and every lie will be revealed.
Remember Jephthah when he returned from battle? He made a vow with God that the first thing that comes out of his door upon returning home from defeating the Ammonites, he will sacrifice as a burnt offering. Obviously, he was thinking about an animal among his livestock, but the first thing that came from the doors was his daughter, his one and only child.
God made a vow to you that His one and only son would be given as a burnt offering for the remission of your sins and payment for your eternal inheritance. God hasn’t withheld His promise and His promise of His return is just as imminent. The most important person you can be honest with here this morning is yourself. Is your life a reflection of the truth of God?
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Isn’t that an amazing intersection represented by the cross? The cross is foreign to everything we exalt - self over principle, power over meekness, the quick fix over the long haul, cover-up over confession, escapism over confrontation, comfort over sacrifice, feeling over commitment, legality over justice, the body over the spirit, anger over forgiveness, man over God. It demands we come to God humbly and honestly, but with that, we are set free by His truth. Will you come to Him today with a simple yes or no?
