Swear not at all

Mat 5:33 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:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.


Let your communication be Yes or No- whatsoever is more than these comes from evil.


When we use 'Maybe', what are we really doing? Seriously, think about it for a moment. We've ALL used the word maybe when someone wanted us to say yes or no, haven't we? Ask a question and someone says maybe… you get that gut feeling their real desire is to say no, but when we want them to say yes, or yes when we want them to say no. Maybe is used when a decision isn't ready to be made and that's not such a bad thing. But this isn't really talking about saying maybe it's talking about swearing an oath. We need to understand something- historians of the day tell us that it was common for people before Christ to swear and oath to someone but NOT feel obligated to truly keep that oath believing that God would understand the reasoning- the performing unto the Lord the oaths and NOT the people to whom you've made them was a way to appease the guilt of not keeping your word- and THIS wasn't right. Just as God allowed people to divorce for petty reasons until Jesus came to set them free with the truth because of the people heart hardness- people were allowed to appease their guilt of being unable to complete an oath by claiming God's understanding.


No more! This would be allowed NO longer! People who were genuine in their needing God's help, God's forgiveness when they failed to keep an oath were overshadowed by those abusing the situation. How easy it became for them to make an oath and then know that they NEVER really had to keep that oath- they LIED. Just as people used the allowable reason for divorce and abused that reason, they abused this too.


No reason was good enough to lie! No reason was good enough to make an oath and then NOT keep it! People have DIED to stand by their oaths, but for some reason others think absolutely nothing of lying to a person. Some think nothing of making an oath all the while they know even as they are making that oath that they won't keep it. LIARS!


God cannot abide a liar, and is it any wonder???


Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.


The devil is a LIAR. The devil is the Father of LYING!


Is it any wonder Jesus said this--


Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.


Swear NOT at all.
Swear by NOTHING!
Don't even swear by yourself, not even a HAIR on your head!


If you don't swear - if you don't make any oaths- if you don't make any promises especially if you don't know if you can keep them- then you won't be lying. An oath, a promise, is important. We are NOT to make any oath lightly. In the third commandment God states we are not to take His name in vain. We do take it in vain when we swear by God, when we perform our oaths to God while lying to others. Jesus would have us understand that sin separates us from Him. Lies separate us from God. Every time we lie we sin. People don't want to believe that, they just plain don't want to believe that it's true. They love their lying, they love their cherished white lies, they love the ease with which they can tell untruths and deceive others and they pacify themselves by telling themselves that it isn't hurting anyone. Wrong. It hurts God. It hurts us and we don't even realize it because we don't feel physical pain when we lie. We don't feel physical pain when we are being separated from God. If we felt the pain we wouldn't believe that lying hurts no one. Spiritual pain, agonizing spiritual pain… if we could only realize. God realizes, God knows. Jesus knows and anything that separates us from Him is not acceptable to Him. Love, this is love- God and God with us.


By His grace may we keep from swearing any oaths. By His grace may we keep from lying. By His love now and forever and ever!


Amen.