YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID...

1. DON’T MURDER…
Matthew 5:21-22…Exodus 20:13 …6th…“You shall not murder.” || internal anger is also a sin

2. DON’T COMMIT ADULTERY…
Matthew 5:27-28…Exodus 20:14,17 …7th…14 “You shall not commit adultery. || 10th…17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” || Adultery is sin but so is the internal sin of lust (and coveting) || Today we are going to look at the next ‘you have heard that it was said’ statement || todays verse is a little different…dealing with divorce

3. DON’T DIVORCE…
In Matthew 5:31–32, Jesus teaches that divorcing a wife for an inadequate reason, even when the “proper paperwork” is filed, may not be a legitimate divorce in God’s eyes.…only in cases of adultery, abandonment and abuse is divorce permitted...so pursue reconciliation and only pursue divorce as a last resort

4. DON’T LIE…
Today we are going to look at the next ‘you have heard that it was said’ statement dealing with oaths, keeping your word and being truthful

--> THREE THINGS TO LOOK AT IN THIS PASSAGE…

1. What makes a PROMISE a PROMISE?

2. What was the PROBLEM with OATHS?

3. How can we become a BETTER PROMISE KEEPER?

1. WHAT MAKES A PROMISE A PROMISE?…

--> YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID, KEEP YOUR OATHS…
- Jesus began again stating the ‘law’ that the religious leaders were missing the point on, and this time it was in the area of making and keeping an oath - What is an OATH? Oaths in the Old Testament served to bind legal contracts in a time when very few written agreements existed. The oath verbally attested something as true. || Word Origin: akin to erkos (fence, enclosure) The Jews of Jesus’ day developed an intricate system of oath taking. And there were sinful reasons they did that! But more on that in a minute…

Matthew 5:33
“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.’

- Jesus was referring to...

Numbers 30:1-2
“1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. 2 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.”

- He starts off this section by reciting how important it is to do what you say you are going to do. If you do not follow through with your vow, your promise, your oath, you have lied (swear falsely)
- The Old Testament forbids the taking and then breaking of oaths. || It was a big deal.

--> “SWEAR” DOES NOT MEAN CUSSING…
- Jesus is not talking about cussing or using God’s name in that way || in the NT this word always refers to a promise or an oath that has been made, one that guarantees you will do what you said you would do

--> ALL “OATHS” ARE NOT FORBIDDEN…
- There are many place in the Bible that oaths are made, including God making oaths or God telling his people to swear an oath by his name

Deuteronomy 6:13-14
"13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.”

Deuteronomy 10:20-21
“20 You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”

Deuteronomy 23:21-23
"21 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. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.”

Marriage Vows are an example...
That is an oath/promise we should make and keep || And there are many other places we see that not all vows and oaths are bad…

SO WHAT WAS JESUS TALKING ABOUT THEN?

2. WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH OATHS/PROMISES?…

--> THE LOOPHOLE…
- The Jews of Jesus’ day had developed an intricate system of oath taking. - We Jesus begin to address what type of oath he was saying was sinful, the type you should not be taking at all

Matthew 5:34-36
“34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.”

- He lays out several statements that begin to dismantle their intricate system of taking oaths
- The issue at hand is that this system was created so that they could be dishonest, or could intentionally break promises because they avoided making an oath “ON GOD”
- They used several loopholes to avoid being held accountable to promises they made by making an oath “by…” HEAVEN, EARTH, JERUSALEM, YOUR HEAD …

--> JESUS DISMANTLES THE LOOPHOLE…
- The bottom line, Jesus said every promise you make, every oath you make, is before God and therefore has to be kept
-- HEAVEN…it is God’s Throne
-- EARTH…it is God’s Footstool
-- JERUSALEM…is is the city of GOD (they would go so far as to say ‘if you swear BY Jerusalem you can break it, but if you swear TOWARD Jerusalem, then you have to do it, so ridiculous)
-- YOUR HEAD…God even is King over your own head and hairs! There is nothing you can swear on that gives you the loophole, it all belongs to God and when you swear, it all counts!

- We see another time in MT that Jesus addresses the Scribes and Pharisees about this same issue

Matthew 23:16-22
16 “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.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 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.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.”

--> JESUS KEEPS IT SIMPLE…WE SHOULD ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH…WE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP OUR WORD…
- As a Christian, our character should be solid enough that we don’t need any other tag lines to add on to our statements to give them weight or to validate how truthful we are being.
- SALT AND LIGHT…character and conduct
- Jesus again is resetting the expectation of what it means to be a citizen in His Kingdom, a new ethic, not just the letter of the law, but living in such a way that we fulfill the heart of the law
- Jesus says that we should let your answer be simply a YES and a NO

Matthew 5:37
"Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."

- We see other places in the Bible that give us this simple instruction

James 5:12
"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."

- Breaking a promise, not keeping your word is simply LYING…and we know who the father of all lies is…SATAN

Genesis 3:4-5
"But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

John 8:44
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Colossians 3:9-10 [Don't be like satan. Don’t be a liar]
“9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

3. HOW CAN WE BECOME A BETTER PROMISE KEEPER?…3 THINGS…

A. BEFORE MAKING PROMISES…CHECK YOUR MOTIVES
- Before we make a promise we should ask ourselves several questions.
Q: What is my motivation behind the promise?
Q: What is my intention?
Q: Am I doing this for the recipient or for myself? [Sometimes we do something purely out of good intentions. Other times it is for what we will receive.]

- We might believe that we need to say “yes” to get what we want or to ensure someone will like us.
- We tell people what we believe they want to hear so they’re happy
- Be honest with yourself and before God about why you are committing to something. What are you getting out of the deal? That might clue you in as to whether or not you should make the promise in the first place.
-- Sometimes I make promises for the wrong reasons.
-- Sometimes I make promises just to get someone off of my back. [As parents we sometimes do this when our kids are distracting us while we trying to do something. “Go away and I promise I’ll play a game with you in a few minutes.”]
-- Sometimes I make promises because I am trying to win someone’s approval or I want to get something out of them. These kinds of promises can be manipulative.
- If my motives are wrong, then I am going to have a hard time following through. I should only make a promise to someone if it will be good for them and if I am not trying to get something out of them.

B. BEFORE MAKING PROMISES…ARE YOU CAPABLE OF KEEPING THAT PROMISE REALISTICALLY
Q: Am I being realistic?
- Life moves fast and we often have to pick and choose how we spend our time. Consider your schedule, and ask yourself if this is a promise you can keep. It is so easy to promise the world to someone, but so hard to deliver it. And once you break a promise it can affect your witness. Remember Jesus said to be SALT AND LIGHT. Internal Character and external conduct are both important when it comes to being a person who keeps their word. Be realistic when you make promises, don’t over commit…it is probably better to UNDER COMMIT and OVER DELIVER…everyone is happier when we act in this way

C. WHEN YOU MAKE A PROMISE…KEEP IT AT ALL COSTS
- If you make a promise you should keep it, even if it harms or inconveniences you.

Psalm 15:1-4
"1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;…”

- The Bible is clear, if you make a promise you stand by it, even if it will hurt you.
- There was a promise made before the foundations of the Earth, one that God made as he made plans for the salvation of mankind. A plan that took into account the sin that would separate us from him and a pathway for us to be reconciled. Jesus, in full obedience to his Father entered our world, lived a perfect life, endured the hostility of sinful people and willingly laid down his life as a sacrifice for our sins. In the garden, Jesus prayed to his Father to make another way if possible, but if not, he would suffer and die for our sins and experience the full wrath of God. He promised to obey, he promised to make a way, and he did. He was a faithful promise keeper.
- As a citizen of his kingdom, we to must follow his example and be promise keepers, men and women and kids who keep our word, no matter what