We are weak but we are warned.

Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

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.

 

This reminds me a bit of Paul -

 

1Co 7:8  I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

1Co 7:9  But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

 

It is better NOT to swear, not to make oaths to GOD or anything that is GOD'S, but the swearing, the making of vows to God was something done.  Jesus Himself did say- 'ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time…'

 

In old time , this was said--

 

Ecc 5:4  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.

Ecc 5:5  Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Ecc 5:6  Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

 

Suffer NOT thy mouth to cause they flesh to sin.

 

Maybe today we don't make vows like they did in old OLD times.  A man seldom uses his word for anything at all. We need contracts and signatures in triplicate in order for our vows and oaths to mean anything to us.  A man's word USED to be his bond, but no longer is that true not in reality. It becomes heresy instantly when the word is broken. Men think very little of perjuring themselves even in court. They make a big deal over it, but in truth you have to prove perjury and when all you have is someone's word there is little proof- it just becomes a he said, she said, or he said, he said, or she said, she said kind of thing and you need to decide who to believe without knowing factually what is true.

 

The thing is, with God, He knows and NEEDS no proof from any one, HE knows the truth- all of it. He knows how easy it is for us to break our word even when we don't mean to.  Yet even though you don't mean to break your vow and were sincere when you made it, the action of breaking it remains and has a cost. 

It is better NEVER to EVER swear by GOD or anything- because ALL things are GOD'S, that to RISK being in a situation of having to break that vow, that oath, that swearing.

 

Why do we make vows?

Why do we swear by God?

Why do we make oaths?

 

Some do these very flippantly without any real regard to the importance of what they are doing. God does not turn a blind eye to such things. Jesus is TEACHING us, remember?

 

 

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.

 

Yes or no - without any EMPHASIS.  Without anything more to add to those words. You can say Yes, but mean no-- you are lying. But when you say yes, and swear by God or any thing that is HIS then but then you lie, YOU are daring to LIE directly to YOUR Creator, YOUR Redeemer!

 

Lies..

 

We know who the father of lies is --

 

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.

 

When you choose to lie you are choosing SATAN.

When you choose to swear by God and inevitably there comes an occasion to break the oath you've made- because SATAN wants us to join him in his hideous well deserved fate of eternal death- then you are choosing SATAN, choosing DEATH.

 

We are weak but we are WARNED!

 

Our strength is CHRIST.

 

CHRIST tells us JUST to say YES or NO, do NOT invoke God's name on anything we are vowing, upon anything we are making an oath towards we have not right to do that, we are WEAK and Satan will exploit us at every opportunity. Our SAVIOR does not want us lost! Our SAVIOR does not want us to put ourselves in the position of choosing Satan over God.

 

Our SAVIOR is trying to teach us, we must learn.

Our SAVIOR is showing us LOVE.

We must surrender to HIS LOVE.

We must believe all these things He is trying to teach us are for our GOOD!

 

BY the grace of GOD may we LEARN, may we LEARN LOVE.

 

Please Lord, please keep us from making oaths, for making vows, for swearing in Your HOLY NAME, please! Save us!

 

In YOUR LOVE!

 

AMAZING LOVE!