Matthew 5:33-37 | Promises, Promises | Matthew Dodd

making a our way through the Gospel of Matthew we're gonna be in Matthew chapter five we're gonna be looking at verses 33 through 37 this evening the title of my message tonight is promises promises promises promises we please join me as I pray father I thank you so much for this privilege to be in your word you're inspired inerrant infallible holy word that you have preserved for us so that we may know your heart for us your plan for us where life is found that we may live life and live it to the full father we pray that even right now that you would move mightily with your Holy Spirit Lord we haven't come Lord just to have some type of social gathering we have come to meet with the Living God we have come Lord to be changed by the power of your Holy Spirit in accordance with your word and we pray father God that we would be hearers of your word and doers of your word because that's where life is found we pray for your anointing over this time in Jesus name and all of God's people said amen and amen promises people make them and people break them right that's our experiences it's easy to make a promise it's also easy to break a promise I think the hard part is keeping your promise and it reminds me of a funny story there was this rich guy who held this huge party and he had this pool which he had collected all sorts of alligators and after lunch he announced that he would give 1 million dollars or his daughter's hand in marriage to the man brave enough to swim across the pool well no sooner had he made the announcement that there was this huge splash and there's this young guy who jumped in the pool and was frantically trying to make it to the other side after getting out of the pool unharmed the people were amazed and now this rich man was bound to keep his promise so he said to the young man he said what do you son the million dollars or my daughter the young man replied sir I don't want your money or your daughter I just want to know who threw me in your pool you know our words reveal much about our character and our faith and as Christians were called to a higher standard because you and I represent Jesus Christ in this world and if we let the world become the standard we are missing the mark and in Matthew chapter 5 verses 33 through 37 Jesus explained what God expects from me and from you when it comes to keeping our promises let's begin in verse 33 again you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not make false vows but shall fulfil your vows to the Lord but I say to you make no oh that all either by heaven for it is the throne of God or by earth for it is his footstool of his feet or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the Great King nor shall you make an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black or in my case grow but let your statement be yes yes or no no anything beyond these is of evil in the first twenty verses of Matthew 5 as we've been making her way through we've seen that Jesus declared the standard for being his disciple and what it takes for entrance into the kingdom of heaven and that standard is absolute perfection for he said in Matthew chapter 5 verse 24 I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven now this was a radical statement for in that day the scribes and the Pharisees considered the absolute standard of righteousness and then Jesus comes onto the scene and he explodes that worldview and he said their standard wasn't good enough because they only stressed and external obedience to the law our God has a higher standard one that looks in the heart you see God wants obedience but he wants an obedience that flows from a heart that's filled with faith because it's been transformed by his love and by His grace because that person that man woman or child has received Jesus as their Savior and there's been a transformation by the power of His Holy Spirit in that person's heart in verses 33 through 37 jesus now explores what's in a person's heart by examining our words again he's raising the standard here and what is this teaching reveal if you're taking notes this it's found in verses 33 through 36 what you say matters what I say what we say matters oh we could be flippant about it we think it has no weight whatsoever but it does matter you see words can give hope amen and words can bring despair right words can create vision and words can also bring confusion and that's why we're told in proverbs 18 verse 21 death and life are in the power of the tongue it can be used for beautiful beautiful things the mouth but it can also be a deadly deadly weapon you see your words reveal what's in your heart now Jesus is pressing in to the point here in Luke chapter 6 verse 45 jesus said the man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart you see if we have godly character then godly words will flow from our lips even when we're cut off by a crazy driver on these Portland streets or when we nail our finger with a hammer you've seen it's in those moments not when everything is good not when everything is peachy keen but it's in those moments of trial what's in the heart spills out and if our character is lacking then we all know we all know right what can come out of a person's mouth all you need to do is look at the garbage mouths on social social media right now who lifted the lid on Pandora's Box that's what I want to know and you know what we need to realize something here it's not going to get better as you and I are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ it's only gonna get worse you think it's bad now just wait as we're waiting upon the Lord for his return the Apostle Paul makes it very very clear in 2nd Timothy 3 verses 1 through 5 what's gonna happen and I believe even now we're experiencing much of it but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant revilers disobedient to parents ungrateful unholy unloving irreconcilable malicious gossips without self-control brutal haters of good treacherous reckless conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God holding to a form of godliness although they have denied us power avoid such men as these listen just because you can quote John 3:16 doesn't mean you've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb ok what is in the heart will eventually come out in their book the day America told the truth author's James Patterson and Peter Kim revealed 91% of Americans lie on a daily basis now I'm amazed by that I am absolutely amazed by that because I didn't know there were that many politicians lawyers and journalists in our country send your complaints - he was just kidding at Calvary Hillsborough org you know in light of this we must not let the world be our guide or standard when it comes to our character our words our actions our Father in Heaven knows what's best for us and his standard brings life to our lives what does God desire for you and me God desires truth in your heart he desires truth in our hearts in verse 33 jesus said again you've heard that the ancients were told you shall not make a false vow but shall fulfil your vows to the Lord now Jesus wasn't quoting from one specific Old Testament passage here but actually he's summarizing different sections from the law of Moses regarding the keeping and making of oaths for instance Leviticus 19 verse 12 says you shall not swear falsely by my name so as to profane the name of your God I am the Lord that's one aspect then in Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 21 when you make a vow to the Lord your God you shall not delay to pay it would we it would be sin in you and the Lord your God will surely require it of you you see the law clearly taught that if a person makes an oath they must keep their word lest they be judged for their unfaithfulness but something interesting happens when you come to verse 34 because Jesus declared I say to you make no earth at all now why is Jesus saying this here we see once again we need to make note of this he's calling out the scribes and Pharisees for their false teaching they taught that it was okay to break an oath as long as a person used the proper oath breaking formula you see if a person invoked the name of the Lord in their oath then they're bound they need to keep their word but if they swore by heaven or the earth or Jerusalem or even your own head they were permitted to break the oath because they did not invoke the name of the Lord so let's boil this down what's really going on here it appears that the person who makes an oath using their oath breaking formula they're lying they never intended to keep their word they have a loophole already built into the equation this is modern day politics all the way back during the time of Jesus here look at what's going on here they were lying like they did with adultery and divorce the scribes and Pharisees wanted to narrow the definition of sin and broaden the definition of purity so that they might be justified in their own eyes and and Jesus here he's revealing the flaw in their logic and the sin in their hearts when he declared that everything really belongs to the Lord if you're gonna swear by heaven that's where God's throne is if you swear by the earth that's the footstool for his feet if you swear by Jerusalem that will be the place where the the King comes the Messiah and even your own head hair and all or lack thereof belongs to the Lord so he's undermining at all Jesus says he's basically saying you've already invoked the Lord he's already a part of your promise Jesus elaborates on this in Matthew 23 verses 21 and 22 when he says and whoever swears by the temple swears both by the temple and by him who dwells within it whoever swears by heaven swears both by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it you see Jesus was driving at a deeper point those who enter his kingdom must have his truth in their hearts and that truth will be revealed in what they say and do here's what will happen when God gets ahold of your heart and my heart when we receive Jesus as our Savior he writes his law on our hearts he puts his spirit within us and now we want to do the things that our Father in heaven would want us to do we follow in his example you see our God is true and he always speaks the truth 1st John 1:5 says God is light and in him there is no darkness at all I find amazing comfort in that verse because I know when I come to the Lord there's no shifting shadows in him he is light there is no darkness in him at all I can trust him wholeheartedly and I don't have to worry about him lying to me in fact Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie praise God and that means God always keeps his promises and you know what we should to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful you know what when this life is over we don't have to worry about God fumbling with his promises he's gonna keep every one of his words his promises to us what we've entrusted to him until that day our very salvation our eternity he is faithful amen and even now even now in this day and age even when it looks like the world is falling apart our God is still on the throne and he is still fulfilling his work and he will always keep every one of his promises amen amen and amen so God how does God feel about lies he hates them but he loves those who are trustworthy and I believe God wants to do a work in our hearts tonight that we love what he loves and hate what he hates notice what it says in proverbs chapter 12 verse 22 verse 22 the Lord detests lying lips but he delights in people who are trustworthy you know truth strengthens relationships but lies destroy relationships have you ever noticed that truth will build and strengthen a relationship up if you have a relationship that's built on truth you are on solid ground but if there are lie upon lies listen it is gonna fall apart it reminds me of a funny story though this store manager he heard his clerk tell a customer no ma'am we haven't had any for a while and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon well the horrified manager comes running over to the customer and says of course we'll have some soon we place an order just last week then the manager takes the clerk aside and reams him out he says never never never never do you ever tell a customer something is out of stock always say we just placed an order and it is coming soon and then he said now what was it that the client wanted anyway and the clerk said rain Rane let us settle in there for a moment you know you can't trust someone who lies it's for this reason I believe that Satan the father of Lies lied about the character of God in Genesis 3 so that Adam and Eve would not trust in God and he's been doing the same lie over and over again not just in our relationship with God but with one another he wants the whole thing to fall apart you see but I believe there is freedom when there is truth truth brings freedom and life lies always lead to more lies lies always lead to more bondage in fact there was a recent study that confirmed this in 2016 there was a study that discovered there's an actual physiological change in our brain when we lie that initially when a person lies the the emotion center of their brain fires off all these things and that's why we get the feelings that we do the anxiety but the more a person lies guess what it doesn't fire off those those feelings anymore which makes it easier for a person to lie there's actually a physiological change to the brain a rewiring of the brain and so it becomes easier for a person alight when you know when we look at the world of what's going on it begins to make sense you know you mean like you say one lie you get away with it it's easier to say another one and another one and another one right very very fascinating they also discovered that a small lie sets the stage for a whopper of a lie later on and that is the truth Jesus said though to counter it John 8 verse 32 you will know the truth and the truth will make you free even if I don't want to hear the truth the truth is the safe this place to be I need the truth I want the truth how about you because there is liberation with the truth now when it comes to our words Jesus also declared this in verse 37 your words and my words are binding our words are binding and this means that you and I when we say something I believe it's imperative that we mean what we say and say what we mean to be a straight-shooter don't we like people who are like that they just call it straight but you always know where you stand with them and I would add this caveat don't use truth as a weapon always speak the truth in love right but mean what you say and say what you mean jesus said in verse 37 but let your statement be yes yes or no no anything beyond this is of evil now I want to back up a second and ask a question why do people think Oh's or promises are necessary because of man's sinfulness right listen when we want people to trust us we make a promise to show them that we're really serious this time we're gonna keep our word right it's gonna be different I promise honey it's gonna be different I'm gonna follow through this time I promise I promise I promise what are we saying trust me I will be credible this time even though I might not have been credible in the past or failed in the past and when people doubt us they demand a promise hoping that it will be different this time that we will actually keep our word and I love the words of John Stott one of my favorite scholars he said oath taking is really a pathetic confession of our own dishonesty my other favorite commentators warned worse be he wrote words depend on character and O's cannot compensate for a poor character you know Jesus declared if you take anything away tonight please take this away right here that we should live our lives in such a way that owes or promises are not necessary that people look at our lives they see our character they see how faithful we are that are yes is yes and our no is no and our word is good that's all that needs to be said we don't need to promise because our yes is yes and our no is no we have a track record for keeping our word which requires then some care on our part before you say yes before you say no make sure you mean what you say and say what you mean because we will be held accountable for our words yes the people around us will hold us accountable but God will hold us accountable as well Matthew 12:36 Jesus said but I tell you that every careless word that people speak they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment now I want to give a word of encouragement here though because many might struggle with keeping the truth with keeping the promises what do I do what do I do if I lie how do I counter lying in my life I want to encourage you to fill your heart with God's truth interestingly another study was done before the study I mentioned a moment ago it was also a study online now this is very fascinating there are these two groups one group the control group was told to write as many of the Ten Commandments down on a piece of paper from memory possible the other group was not told to do that then both groups were given an opportunity to cheat the group that wrote down the Ten Commandments beforehand there was a significant increase in honesty compared to the other group and I find that fascinating science is finally catching up with what the Bible has been saying all along psalm 119 verse 11 your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you hey if you want to overcome lies if you want to be a man or woman of your word then fill your word your life with God's word and let the word of God transform your heart be the kind of person when opportunities come your way hey you're slow to speak quick to listen let your yes be yes and your no be no you see since our words are binding we need to do what we say do what you say keep your words keep your word because you said you would it's just really simple isn't it that's what Jesus is getting at and don't over promise and under perform you know we try to impress we over promise and then we under deliver I want to encourage if you give a promise if you say yes to something then do your best and give your best keep your word now there's a problem in our culture today and the problem is this people often think they can get out of keeping their word by saying well I meant to do this I intended to do this have you ever had someone do that to you before and basically they're saying well because I intended to do it it justifies the lack of action on my part I didn't keep my word guess what just because you intended to do something does not justify your failure to do it amen so we need to realize make your mat your intentions match your actions intend it and do it follow through with it finally keep your word even if it costs you I loved Psalm 15 it talks about a righteous person and I combined a few verses together verses 1 & 2 and verse 4 notice what is said here Lord who may dwell in your sacred tent who may live on your holy mountain the one whose walk is blameless who does what is righteous who speaks the truth from the heart who keeps an oath even when it hurts and does not change his mind that's powerful if you've made a promise listen keep your word even if it cost you because you know what if you keep your word you won't have lost your character you still have your integrity you still have a good reputation amen even if it costs you I'm gonna do the right thing because I said I would you know as I was considering this message and praying about it reflecting over my life thinking about who's influenced me who's encouraged me to be a man of character to be a man who keeps my word and you know I have to and I'd I'm saying this just in all honesty I think of my wife Heidi she more than any other person I've been touched by so many but she has personally impacted my life to be a person who keeps their word and in our marriage there have been times were be easy to take the easy way out but she said no we made a promise we said we would and now we need to and I admire that she's challenged me with that and you know what it goes back to an earlier part in her life many of you know her story that her daughter marquel when she was just a baby her smile small bowel twisted on itself and died and so for the next seven years they're awaiting for a transplant she received the transplant when she was seven years of age but it only lasted three years they were in and out of the hospital for those those ten years more times in the hospital than out of the hospital but she learned a lesson there she knew her time with marquel was short and she wanted to live life without regrets and so whenever she gave her word she always followed it she always fulfilled it if marquel needed to know something about a procedure Heidi never sugar-coated it if marquel said is it gonna hurt and Heidi knew it would yes it's gonna hurt but I'm gonna be here with you and that translates into every area of her life I look at her and again it's not because we drove one car here tonight and they need a ride home she really does live this way because truth is in her hearts and now she speaks the truth that's what God desires for us that's what Jesus is talking about tonight David realized this after he sinned with Bathsheba he's confronted by Nathan the Prophet and he realizes he is blown it he's committed adultery he killed her husband she's pregnant with his child he's confronted by it he's been living lies and what is he saying Psalm 51 verse 6 behold you desire truth in the innermost being if you make an assessment of your life tonight is there truth are there lies life is found in the truth and if you have the name of the Lord Jesus Christ on your lives then guess what God wants to transform you he wants to renew you he wants you to walk in the truth he wants you to speak the truth because there is truth in you how much tolerance should we have for lies in our heart zero right because there's no such thing as a white lie a lie is a lie is a lie and God wants us not to follow after the father of lies but the one who is true amen let's pray father thank you for this time in your word and Lord we come to you right now and we ask father God would you examine our hearts you desire truth you know what's in our hearts but tonight we want to give you permission to root out any lies we want truth in us because you want truth in us and truth is found in being with you Church if that's your heart tonight where you're saying the Lord Lord I want your truth to reign in my life root out anything that's not of you let your truth reign would you just declare that to the Lord by lifting up your hand to him right now say Lord let your truth be in my heart fill my heart with your truth a zero tolerance policy when it comes to lies father I thank you for the hands that are raised and I pray father God that even now that you will move mightily in every heart renewing every heart healing every heart father God that we would just be touched by your truth renewed by your spirit and blessed because you are the God who enable us to walk in your victory father we want your victory over our tongue we want your victory over our hearts over our minds we want to be true through and through and we pray this in Jesus name and all of gods

Channel: Calvary Chapel Worship Center - Hillsboro, Oregon

Views: 985

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: The Bible, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Holy, Pastor Rich Jones, Pastor Matthew Dodd, Calvary Chapel, Faith, Grace, Revival, Truth, Prayer, Salvation, Calvary Chapel Hillsboro, Genesis, Matthew, Promises

Id: WVHzAfp34ug

Length: 33min 41sec (2021 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 24 2018