Thou Shalt Not Forswear Thyself

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by reviewing the Sermon on the Mount's structure, emphasizing Jesus' role not in negating but in fulfilling the Law and Prophets, correcting the scribes' and…

An old church father's quote that 'Moses drew the sketch, and our Lord Jesus came and filled in the details' illustrates Jesus' relationship to the Old Testament Law, showing He doesn't contradict but completes it.

They can't stand him, so they'll persecute him and say all manner of evil against him falsely. Then we came to that pivotal section in which our Lord Jesus clearly states that in laying out this description of a true Christian, a true subject of his kingdom, he is not coming and negating and setting aside all that Moses has taught, and all that the prophets have taught, but by his very mission, his words and his work, he is coming to fill to the full all that God has foreshadowed in the law and in the prophets. And we are well into this section, beginning with verse 21 through verse 48, in whi...

1:18 - 2:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize the tremendous importance of your speech, as it reveals your heart and will be a basis for judgment.

The metaphor 'Your mouth is the echo chamber of your heart' illustrates how one's speech reveals the true condition of their inner being.

And by our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned. Your mouth is the echo chamber of your heart. Your mouth is the echo chamber of your heart. Now there are times when we can studiously attempt to deceive people by our lips, and we can feign words. But by and large, what I say when I'm not forced to say it by the pressure of external circumstances, but I'm just letting something flow out that's within, my mouth is the echo chamber of my heart. And if someone would know what's in my heart, all they need do is expose themselves to that which comes out of my lips.

6:31 - 7:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Avoid reducing God's commands to mere checklists; seek to understand and apply the underlying principles, not just the letter of the law.

The analogy of a child named Joel who keeps the letter of a rule (not touching trinkets) but violates its spirit (touching them with a stick) illustrates how the scribes and Pharisees adhered to the letter of the law while nullifying its true intent.

You should never lie when under an oath. You can take an oath for anything under the sun and oaths were multiplied in our Lord's day so that it was a common practice as we'll see later on in Matthew 23 to take an oath in the name of the gold or the altar of the temple in the name of heaven in the name of Jerusalem and oath taking had become a widespread practice so that the oath lost all its meaning but as long as the scribes and Pharisees and those who followed his teaching as long as they did not make a specific statement of untruth while under oath they felt that they were keeping all that ...

20:23 - 21:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Avoid reducing God's commands to mere checklists; seek to understand and apply the underlying principles, not just the letter of the law.

The analogy of a pilot's checklist is used to illustrate how believers often reduce God's principles to a list of external commands, feeling secure as long as they check them off, similar to the Pharisees' legalism.

but we just miss the principle and we take the specific precept and as long as we're keeping that our consciences are undisturbed we do it constantly you can do the same thing with the New Testament commands that the scribes and pharisees did with the Old Testament commands we've done it lock stock and barrel in our evangelical churches with that command there in 1 John love not the world neither the things that are in the world and so we've got our little list and as long as we can check it off like the pilot before he takes off he has his checklist so many things he has to go over and his in...

24:30 - 25:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin addresses the apparent blanket prohibition 'swear not at all,' demonstrating through numerous biblical examples (Abraham, God, Christ, Apostles, angels) that oath-taking is…

A humorous anecdote about ladies trying to prove Jesus wrong by coloring their hair 'white or black' illustrates the futility of swearing by one's head, as one cannot control even a single hair.

was only to be done in the name of Jehovah and this whole practice of taking oaths in the name of the temple in the name of Jerusalem and all the rest was never ordained of God and so our Lord's words are a condemnation and a prohibition of oath taking after the fashion of the scribes and of the Pharisees and so in this passage our Lord is prohibiting all outward profanity light use of the name of God he is prohibiting all swearing and oath taking by created things the temple, even our own heads and I told Mrs. Martin I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw this passage coming up our Lord says th...

31:50 - 33:20 Read in full sermon

The point: In all your speech, be perfectly candid and honest; let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no' without mental reservation.

The doctrine of mental reservation in Roman Catholicism is used as a negative example to highlight the importance of 'yes' meaning 'yes' without hidden qualifications.

I didn't know any other way to present it than this but now we come to the place where I trust this will take on some practical implications with all of this fact behind us what does this say to me the key to the Lord's message to our hearts is found in verse 37 but in contrast to the scribes and Pharisees who took an oath for everything let your communication your conversation be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil what's our Lord saying I believe he's saying this in all your speech be perfectly candid and honest let yes mean yes you see the Roman Catholics ha...

33:20 - 34:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Deliver yourselves from lying in the name of social politeness; strive for absolute honesty in social interactions.

A humorous example of a husband's response to his wife's new dress illustrates the challenge and importance of speaking honestly even in social politeness.

this touches our social lives there's a lot of lying done in the name of just social politeness our Lord would deliver us from this he would bring us into a context of speech in which we're absolutely honest now you husbands it may hurt your wife sometimes but let your yes mean yes and your no mean no if she comes prancing into the room and she just thinks that dress is well it's just the next best thing to having gone to Paris for a weekend and gotten fitted out with some international designer and she says to you honey don't you think this is wonderful excuse me I'm gonna cough and go on in ...

34:45 - 36:13 Read in full sermon

The point: In business ethics, social lives, and family lives, let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no' to build confidence in your word.

The example of a parent saying 'so help me' when threatening a child illustrates how casual, unkept 'oaths' undermine a child's confidence in their parent's word.

mean yes and then he says let your no mean no may I give an application or two of this it applies in the same areas of our business ethics and our social lives and our family lives I've never heard someone say to his child if you don't straighten up so help me you're going to get a beating now that so help me really is a form of an oath what you're really saying you're just leaving out the word but it comes from the phrase so help me God what you're doing is taking an oath in the presence of your child saying if you don't straighten up so help me you're going to get a licking I've never yet se...

36:13 - 37:40 Read in full sermon

The point: As children and young people, live so that your parents never have to question if you are truly telling the truth; let your 'yes' mean 'yes'.

The childhood phrase 'cross my heart and swear to God' is used as an example of how people, especially when lying, resort to oaths to bolster their untruths, which should be foreign to believers.

because of deceit and chicanery and so our Lord says the moment we revert to this area of feeling we've got to take an oath for everything we say we're just indicating our lack of confidence in one another and in the climate of God's people in the fellowship of his church this should be entirely foreign we should never have to say what little kids do I don't know if they say it anymore do they still say it you fellas and girls tell me afterward will you do they still say cross my heart and swear to God do you still do that I remember doing that as kids we'd say something and always we usually ...

39:15 - 40:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow the Spirit of God to make you true in the inward part, overcoming the natural disposition of lying.

The example of children feigning distress to get attention illustrates how the perversity of the human heart evidences itself in lying actions even before verbal lies.

your students you pass in that paper it's your work your faculty members should have absolute confidence that it is your work that when it's presented yes this is my work that the yes means yes it's not mine and half somebody else's and let your no be no for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil as we conclude our study in this this morning I think it brings us back to where we've come every single morning in our studies the breadth and length of God's holy law we realize that we've come back again to the basic problem which is a problem of the heart isn't it the Psalmist prayed in Psalm...

40:43 - 42:12 Read in full sermon