The Sermon on the Mount: Your Word

In the eigth in his series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Shane deals with Jesus' teaching about integrity in our speech.  
Click here for the recording of this 3/9/25 Service, and you can fast-forward to 23:02 to get to the start of the sermon.

Our text comes from Matthew Chapter 5.33-37

33 “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, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But make sure your statement is, ‘ Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.”

Introduction…

• We live in a world of exaggeration - read the headlines of Fox and CNN.

• Listen to the verbal chaff of common conversation- “amazing” ”awesome” “fantastic”

• So much of this verbal chaff and exaggeration has made it into the mainstream and social media as to water down communication to the point that it reduces the power of words to meaninglessness- blah, blah, blah

• The more filler words you use, the weaker your ability to use language.

• This is why I am sometimes embarrassed by leaders who cannot seem to string a coherent sentence together, because leaders lead not only with action, but with words

• JFK paraphrased Edward R. Morrow, speaking of Churchill- “In dark days and darker nights, when England stood alone, he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”

V33 - keep your vows to the Lord

• It is interesting that Jesus starts by referencing the OT, the only Bible He and His listeners had- Lev 19:12; Num 30:2; Deut 23:21, 23

• “If there is no text, there is no sermon”- slj

• What is a false vow? Epiorkeō- to break an oath, swear falsely, to forswear one's self, to fail in observing one's oath

• What does it mean to fulfill a vow? Apodidōmi- give, give away; pay, pay back; to give in answer to a claim, or expectation

• “…in biblical times it was universally accepted that all actions and intentions of men were under divine surveillance” (ZPEB 4.476)

V34-36, be careful about oaths

• What is an oath? Omnumi- to declare an oath, swear an oath, promise with an oath

• Jesus tells us to take no oath at all; by Heaven as His throne, Earth as His footstool, Jerusalem as the King’s city, or by your own head

• Jesus is speaking against having to invoke or attach something further to one’s promise in order to give it additional weight

• Your word should stand on its own merit

V37, let it be “yes” or ”no”

• Make sure your word (logos- the spoken word) involves one of two positions

  • Yes, nai- yes, indeed, a marker of strong agreement, affirmation, or emphasis

  • No, ou- no, not at all, in no way 

• You can see the emphatic nature of these two reactions

• Anything beyond this is from the evil one, of satanic origins

• This verse says that any attempt to embellish our words has a satanic agenda

• Two things will impact your word

  • Your character

  • Your history of past behavior

Practical application

• Fulfill your vow(s) to the Lord

• Don’t make a vow you can’t keep

• Honor/keep your commitments, including those to your Lord, family, job and church

• The more verbal chaff you use, the less your words mean

• “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Lk 6.45; thus, sooner or later, what is in you, will come out of you