The Teachings of Jesus Christ. Pt. 12 The Sermon on the Mount
Good Morning! It is a warm and lovely day here in South Carolina. We are visiting our son's family at their home in North Myrtle Beach. We are blessed by getting to spend time with our three Carolina Grandkids who are 12, 10 and 7 years of age.
We were able to go to the ocean for an hour yesterday. The waves were choppy and the crests were sparkling brightly in the sunshine. This time of year it is not nearly as packed with tourists and offered us a very enjoyable and relaxing experience. Something very soothing about the sounds of the ocean.
Below is the text of the next paragraph from the Sermon on the Mount. This is an unusual and interesting section which deals with issues regarding the tongue.
Matthew 5:33-37 33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Swearing, perjury and vows to God
Jesus brings us back to the Old Testament and the 3rd commandment. This commandment deals primarily with the subjects of profanity, lying under oath and vows made to Jehovah. The text of this commandment can be read below. We will discuss profanity followed by talking about the vows.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
I think we are all familiar with what using profanity is and the kinds of words used. One study suggested that the average American uses profanity about 80 times per day. I found numerous articles by "professing" Christians justifying why they can use swear words.
Many people who say they are Christians are trying to walk as close to the culture/world as they can and this includes all aspects of the culture not just using profanity.
Swearing using the Divine Name in any form is a sin and those who engage in this practice will be brought to account by Holy God for this sin.
The text below shows us the mind of God regarding any person who swears using His name.v We must not be pressed into the mold of the culture concerning this sin.
Leviticus 24:10- And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.
Perjury is lying under oath in a legal proceeding
Perjury can be something you know to be false as true or stating something that is true to be false. In the Biblical context it was done usually before the appointed judges.
The text below shows an example from the life of Christ during his mock trial. The false witnesses said things about Christ that they knew were not true or not put into proper context in order for the council to convict the Lord.
In the American legal system when we are sworn in as a witness, we are making a public declaration that what we answer is the truth.
"Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God/under pains and penalties of perjury?
Matthew 26:59- Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
Failing to perform a vow you made to Jehovah
Making a vow is what the word "forswear" means in Matthew 5. This is when anyone tells the Lord that they are going to do a certain thing. It may be in the form of limiting what we might do such as restraining ourselves from swearing. It may be in the form of doing something such as saying we will serve the Lord more heartily if He helps us through a crisis.
I have witnessed many people over the years cry out to the Lord for help and promised to serve Him faithfully if He helped them. Then, when the crisis is abated they fail to carry out what they promised to do for the Lord. This is the main thrust of Jesus' teaching.
The Psalmist brings the importance of keeping our vows or promises to God before us in the following text. It is a serious thing for a child of God to call upon the Lord while promising to serve Him in some capacity.
Jehovah always keeps His promises and we know that the name "Jehovah" teaches us that He always does what He says He will do. We should follow through on vows or commitments that we make to Him.
Psalm 50:14-15 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and his words of wisdom reveal the heart of God on this matter. If we make a promise or vow to God and we ignore it or fail to make good on our words then we are like a fool. Jehovah finds no pleasure in our foolish actions. Therefore, Solomon concludes that we either perform what we committed to do or else never make a vow or promise to the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Points to Ponder....
We were able to go to the ocean for an hour yesterday. The waves were choppy and the crests were sparkling brightly in the sunshine. This time of year it is not nearly as packed with tourists and offered us a very enjoyable and relaxing experience. Something very soothing about the sounds of the ocean.
Below is the text of the next paragraph from the Sermon on the Mount. This is an unusual and interesting section which deals with issues regarding the tongue.
Matthew 5:33-37 33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Swearing, perjury and vows to God
Jesus brings us back to the Old Testament and the 3rd commandment. This commandment deals primarily with the subjects of profanity, lying under oath and vows made to Jehovah. The text of this commandment can be read below. We will discuss profanity followed by talking about the vows.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
I think we are all familiar with what using profanity is and the kinds of words used. One study suggested that the average American uses profanity about 80 times per day. I found numerous articles by "professing" Christians justifying why they can use swear words.
Many people who say they are Christians are trying to walk as close to the culture/world as they can and this includes all aspects of the culture not just using profanity.
Swearing using the Divine Name in any form is a sin and those who engage in this practice will be brought to account by Holy God for this sin.
The text below shows us the mind of God regarding any person who swears using His name.v We must not be pressed into the mold of the culture concerning this sin.
Leviticus 24:10- And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.
Perjury is lying under oath in a legal proceeding
Perjury can be something you know to be false as true or stating something that is true to be false. In the Biblical context it was done usually before the appointed judges.
The text below shows an example from the life of Christ during his mock trial. The false witnesses said things about Christ that they knew were not true or not put into proper context in order for the council to convict the Lord.
In the American legal system when we are sworn in as a witness, we are making a public declaration that what we answer is the truth.
"Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God/under pains and penalties of perjury?
Matthew 26:59- Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
Failing to perform a vow you made to Jehovah
Making a vow is what the word "forswear" means in Matthew 5. This is when anyone tells the Lord that they are going to do a certain thing. It may be in the form of limiting what we might do such as restraining ourselves from swearing. It may be in the form of doing something such as saying we will serve the Lord more heartily if He helps us through a crisis.
I have witnessed many people over the years cry out to the Lord for help and promised to serve Him faithfully if He helped them. Then, when the crisis is abated they fail to carry out what they promised to do for the Lord. This is the main thrust of Jesus' teaching.
The Psalmist brings the importance of keeping our vows or promises to God before us in the following text. It is a serious thing for a child of God to call upon the Lord while promising to serve Him in some capacity.
Jehovah always keeps His promises and we know that the name "Jehovah" teaches us that He always does what He says He will do. We should follow through on vows or commitments that we make to Him.
Psalm 50:14-15 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and his words of wisdom reveal the heart of God on this matter. If we make a promise or vow to God and we ignore it or fail to make good on our words then we are like a fool. Jehovah finds no pleasure in our foolish actions. Therefore, Solomon concludes that we either perform what we committed to do or else never make a vow or promise to the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Points to Ponder....
- We know taking the Lord's name in vain or swearing is sinful even if it is popular to do it in the culture.
- Lying at anytime is a sin and lying under oath undermines our legal system.
- Promising God that we are going to serve Him in some way and failing to follow through is a sin.
- Promising God that we are going to stop doing wrong things and then failing to stop is a sin.
I have read several studies that show a big uptick in swearing by those who profess to be born again Christians. This may be popular in the culture but it is detestable to our Holy God.
The number of Christians who lie is also on the rise. God knows what words come of our mouths. If we think we can lie or swear and get away with it, we are wrong. Jehovah will judge what comes out of our mouths.
Some lie by exaggerating the facts or by omitting key details. No matter how we may justify doing this, it is still a lie and is either going to harm someone else or it is going to paint us in a favorable light when we do not deserve it.
The issue of making vows or promises to God is a very serious one and He will not let us slide by if we fail to keep our word.
The bottom line on Jesus' teaching in this section is that we better be careful about what we are saying. We must live out what God has said by putting off the old man influences like swearing, taking the Lord's name in vain, committing perjury in court or in private conversations, and making promises to God that we do not intend to keep.
Lying has spread like the California wildfires in our culture. The Christian is called to live a holy, separated life and that includes sanctifying our communication. We have the truth as noted in the following texts. If we believe and obey it, the truth will set us free from sins of the mouth.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Colossians 3:8-10 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Bob
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