We're going to get started tonight on chapter 23 discussing lawful oaths. Easy for me to say. Lawful oaths and vows. Lawful oaths and vows. And I really have enjoyed this study. And we'll just get started tonight. And then we'll finish it up next week. We have a limited amount of time left tonight. I want to get started with it. And I will admit that when I first approached this, uh, study, I was a little bit curious as to why these, uh, men devoted a whole section to this. You know, I think it becomes pretty apparent pretty quickly as we, uh, look at the importance of this, uh, this, this section or this, this subject and, um, and how we relate to God. So just to kind of help us get started, I think Numbers chapter 30 gives us a good definition of what a vow is, what an oath is. It may be kind of hard to, uh, separate or to distinguish those in your mind. It was for me, what's the difference between a vow and an oath? And I would start by saying, I think a vow and an oath are very similar. Um, but Numbers 30 verse two, I think help is helpful in, in, uh, sort of giving a little bit of a distinguishing, uh, understanding of the two words. Um, so, and Moses spake into the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel saying, this is the thing which the Lord has commanded. If a man vow, a vow unto the Lord or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeded out of his mouth. Okay. So a man vows a vow to the Lord as swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond. He shall not break his word. He shall do according to all the proceeded out of his mouth. So there are similar. concepts, but they're using the same verse in, in, in, in, uh, in the same verse, they must be a little bit different. So a vow, a vow is a, is a solemn promise that you make directly to the Lord. A vow to the Lord, pay into the Lord, your vows. It's a vow, it's a promise that is made directly to the Lord, a man vowing vow unto the Lord. It's a commitment. Think of it in terms of commitment, a commitment, a promise. that you make to the Lord. Lord, I'm committing to you that I will do this. We make commitments to the Lord, don't we? When we profess faith in Jesus Christ, and we go into the waters of baptism, and we unite ourselves to the Lord, we're making an oath and a vow. Really, we're making a vow unto the Lord. I am following after you. I am your disciple. You are my master and oath is a little bit different. It's also a solemn promise, but it's not made directly to the Lord and oath is a promise that's made to men. So we see this in our world today too, don't we? Do you solemnly swear before these witnesses that you will have and hold love and protect and all the things that we say when we are joining in marriage, right? So you're making a vow. You're making an oath, a promise to men, but your God is there as well, isn't he? God is the witness and God is the judge over this promise. So really you're saying, I am promising this before God. So God, you're my witness. And God, if I don't do this, if I don't comply with this promise, you're my judge. So an oath is a confirmation. It's confirmation that I will do this. Confirmation of a commitment. How do you know that this person will be faithful to their wedding vows or their wedding oath? Because they swore, right? They swore. They made a vow. They made a promise. They made an oath that they would, that's a confirmation that they would stick to what they promised to do. So, so why is this, why is this such an important thing? Well, really two reasons why this is, I think, laid out as a, as a separate chapter in this discussion of important truths. First of all, just the idea of reverence for God, of not using God's name lightly of God, of not taking God's name in vain. One thing that I was impressed with just in thinking about this is how, how much attention people of old gave to words, things that come out of our mouths. They viewed the words that came out of the mouths of Christians of being very, very, very important. That when a Christian opened his mouth to speak, There had better be the fear of God and reverence for God that was accompanying that speech. And you better be able to count on what the Christian said as being true. The mark of a Christian was that what came out of their mouth was trustworthy. The word was their bond. And so there's a warning within this about just making vain and rash promises. Don't make an oath. Don't say, I promise, if you don't know if you can do it or not. That's sort of the idea. And then at all times, at all times, There must be a great reverence for God that accompanies your words. So just, and we probably, we've all been guilty of this to some degree, but we certainly see it around us and we should be careful about this. Very careful. Remember this, the God of Sinai is the God of today. We just, we just have a relationship with him through Christ, but he's still God. He's still holy. And so things like you hear this all the time. I'm telling y'all, I swear to God, this is true. It should never. never be uttered from the mouth of a follower of Jesus Christ. Or using God's name lightly, whether it's through promise, or whether just by the fact that we represent God by claiming to be followers of Christ, we're representing God at all times. And so God is always present in our words, or He's always present as a witness to our words. So the importance of words. Now the other background for this was that there were at least some Christians, you read about some of the Anabaptists, some of the Quakers, the Amish sometimes today, and others who would refuse to ever take an oath. Even if it meant that they would be imprisoned for that, they would not take an oath. They refused to take an oath. Now I think they were wrong theologically. I appreciate their, um, you know, their, their, their, uh, piety and I appreciate their, um, their, their respect for God. That was a part of that, but I think they're wrong theologically. That's what we're gonna look at tonight. So the, the writers of the London Baptist confession, they write that there are lawful oaths and that there are appropriate times to make vows and there are appropriate times to make oaths. And then they write, and here's how they should be done. Here's where they should be done. That's what the chat, the sections of this, of this chapter, uh, are about. Let's think tonight about the first part of that, the refusal of. Christians to take an oath. So if they were called before court, some Christians in past days and some today would say, we will not vow before the court anything. Our word is our bond. We will not make a vow. We won't make an oath to anything. Why? And the whole reason for that is in Matthew chapter five in Jesus's teaching and the sermon on the mouth, Matthew chapter five. So let's look at this Matthew five tonight for our study. Now the, the context of the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus is bringing, bringing light. He's bringing the heart of truth to those who only knew the, um, the letter of truth, if you will. I mean, Jesus said, listen, I don't come to destroy the law. I come to fulfill the law, but I will fulfill it. Not just in letter, I will fulfill it in heart. And the whole fulfillment of the law is what is love. for God. So at the heart of God's laws for us, at the heart of God's laws for us is what is God after? He's after not just obedience, but God is after what? God wants us to obey from the heart. God wants us to obey out of love to Him, right? And so unless it's done at it from the heart, out of love to Him, it's not acceptable to Him. So, as He would tell us, listen, if you have technically not killed somebody, you have not escaped God's command not to murder. If you have hated somebody, you are from the heart, guilty of God's commandment, not to murder. I want your heart. Jesus is saying, isn't that powerful? So he comes down to verse 33 and he says this again. And what does man do with God's laws? What does man do with God's laws? Man either ignores God's laws, for the Pharisees didn't do that, or man will take God's laws and pervert or warp God's laws to fit my needs, to fit man's desires, to fit man's righteousness. And that's what happens, what happened to the Pharisees, unless it's obeyed out of the heart. Jesus is exposing all this. And he comes to verse 33 and he takes a new subject on. Again, you 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. So you, when you swear, you swear by the Lord, you swear unto the Lord. But I say unto you, swear not at all. neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Now again, let me just sidetrack for a moment. Praise God for people who at least look at these verses and take them seriously and say, what does this mean? Praise God for that. Don't just raise their... open their mouths flippantly and just say whatever comes to mind and promise this and promise that and swear this and swear that and curse here and curse there. Friends, we are... Again, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. So what is this? What is this talking about? Let's go to the very first of it in verse 33. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time. So the, the old Testament writers taught something about swear. And they said. Don't forswear thyself, but perform unto the Lord thine own. So let me, I've typed down three of these references to the old writers of the old Testament, just to first look at these together at the same time. Um, the first one, this is a sampling again. The first one though is in Leviticus 19 verse 12 for God says, Moses writes it, ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of the Lord thy God. Ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of the Lord thy God. What do you think God is emphasizing here? What is God looking for here? Truth. That's the word he's emphasizing. What's the other, what else did somebody say? Yeah. Falsehood on both sides, right? Falsehood or truth. He's emphasizing truth. What is God looking for? And the oath truth. Don't take my name. Don't swear and then lie about it. Right? Don't swear and then deceive numbers 30 verse two. If a man vow, a vow, unto the Lord, there's a typo there, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. Brother Davis can't answer this. The emphasis is truth. Same thing, right? Truth. It's obvious, right? Deuteronomy 23, 21 through 23. When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, Thou shalt not slack to pay it, for the Lord thy God will surely require of thee, and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt keep and perform." So, here he's saying, when you vow a vow, you better do it, right? If you don't, it's sin. Now, if you don't vow, he says, in other words, you're saying, I'm not sure if I can do this or not. I'll try, but I don't know if I can do this or not. If you don't vow, you haven't sinned. But that which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt keep and perform. What is he emphasizing here? Truth. Yeah, truth. Got it all three times. Truth. God is looking for truth, isn't he, in oaths? Now, let's read the next verses of Matthew 5. Verse 34. But I say unto you, swear not at all. Listen to what he says next. Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth. for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." Now why does Jesus bring up all these things? Here's the answer. He brings up heaven. He brings up Jerusalem. He brings up people's own head and life, hair and life. He brings up the earth. Let's go back and read these verses of old again. If you wanted to twist God's emphasis, how might you do it? Let's look at these. Don't be scared to answer because you don't want to look like you already have a devious heart. If you wanted to twist God's emphasis, to make it convenient for you to deceive, how might you do it? Leviticus 19 verse 12, you shall not swear by my name falsely. Numbers 30, if a man vow a vow unto the Lord, Deuteronomy 23, when thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, did you hear my emphasis in my voice? How might you practice this deviously? Let me tell you how they did it. They would go back and they would say, when you vow a vow unto God, that's what he said, when you swear by his name falsely, you're in trouble. But he didn't say you're in trouble if you swear by something lesser than God falsely. So I swear by the heavens. that I will love you. I swear by Jerusalem. What is Jesus doing here in this passage? He's exposing the deceitful heart of the Pharisees. Isn't that amazing? We were a little hesitant to answer, but it was clear what the emphasis was in all those verses, right? Truth. They would take that which was obvious and they would twist it to meet their own devious, deceitful intentions. So if you swear by the name of the Lord, it's serious. But if you swear by the name of heaven or my head, and what does Jesus say? Jesus says, wait a minute. The lesser still belongs to God. Heaven is God's throne. You haven't gotten away from your obligation. You're still swearing by God. Heaven belongs to God. And the earth is His footstool. And Jerusalem is His city. You have no control over your head and you have no right to say, you know, really when you're swearing by your life, you're saying, or I'm swearing on my mother. Those kinds of things are horrible things to say. You're saying, let my mother be cursed or, or, or let my life be taken. If I'm not telling you the truth, he says, you have no right to take your own life. Your life belongs to God, right? So you have not gotten away from your obligation because you claim to be swearing by something lesser. The lesser still belongs to God. Jesus is exposing the hypocrisy of the heart. What is Jesus emphasizing? He's emphasizing that truth, honesty, and dependability are all ways to mark the speech of a Christian. What's he saying? Don't swear at all. But let your yes be yes. And you let your no be no. So that people, when they hear you speak, they know that when you say yes, they can expect a yes. When you say no, they can expect it not to happen. And they don't have to wonder as to whether it will or will not. You are trustworthy. Jesus is condemning flippant oaths, flippant statements in daily conversation from untrustworthy people. The real question, though, for tonight's point is, is Jesus saying there are no lawful oaths? And the answer, I believe, biblically to that is Jesus is not saying that. When he says, swear not at all, I believe he's referring to just your normal, everyday conversation Don't just be one of those that say, I promise, I promise, I promise. You know, as somebody pointed out, I think it's true, that when somebody says, or has to say, I promise, I promise, I promise a lot, there's a reason they're doing that. It's because you probably can't trust them, right? Right? It's true. So let me just quickly, in closing, tell you why I believe that the scriptures do not teach that. Oaths are never to be taken. First of all, God himself swore, took an oath. In Hebrews six, God described, the writer describes this for us. Hebrews six. I'll read verse 13 through 17 or 13 through 18. For when God made promise to Abraham, Hebrews six, verse 13, the promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself saying, surely blessing, I will bless thee and multiplying. I will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. And we'll talk about this more next time, but I believe here that God is not only swearing, he's making an oath, right? He's saying, if this is not true, then I'm not God. He's staking his name to this promise. But I believe that not only is God swearing here, but God is also giving us some really helpful parameters for understanding when it is appropriate to make an oath. Don't make them lightly, but listen to what he says here. He says, verse 16, for men verily swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation. That's what an oath is, confirms this commitment, right? An oath for confirmation is to them, is to men an end of all strife. And so in a, in a sinful world, there is always going to be, the question is, can I believe this word or not? Right? Because we live in a dishonest world. We're not sure of the future and all kinds of reasons. Right? And so when men are unsure and they're unsure as to whether to trust a promise or to trust a statement or trust a commitment, an oath is made on really momentous events, really important, momentous events, contracts, marriages, Court cases, right? You're going to court and you're going to be called as witness in a murder trial. People better be sure that the witness is trustworthy. And the best way we can be sure is to say, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God. You're doing that in the presence of God as the witness and judge. That's an oath. That's a pretty momentous thing, right? So an end to strife or an end to conflict or end to wondering can this be trusted or not is when an oath is right to be made. on a momentous event. And so friends, isn't it wonderful that God considered it momentous and important and vital that you and I, who have fled for refuge to Christ, be totally and completely sure that Christ's sacrifice has taken our sin debt. So He swore that it was true. Isn't that good to know? God swore. Secondly, Jesus swore. Jesus testified under oath at his own trial. When he was called before the high priest, he said, I adjure thee by the living God, are you the Christ or you, the cancer, but the question Jesus and Jesus answered his question in the affirmative. Jesus answered under oath. Okay. And then the last one that I would put you to, there's lots of oaths in the Bible. The last one I'll point you to is really, uh, we might look at it more next week. I really love it. Uh, is, is Paul at Corinth. Paul had written his first letter to the Corinthians, a very scathing letter, rebuking letter, and in it he promised to come and see them shortly. He said, I will come see you shortly. Well, he didn't come shortly. God delayed him and Paul himself decided that it was wiser not to go there right now and to give them the time to take in the rebuke that he had given them and give them time to repent. So Paul decided not to go at that time. He went to Macedonia instead first. Well, the people who were trying to discredit Paul in Corinth told the Corinthians, listen, you can't trust anything Paul says. You can't trust his words. You can forget his rebuke, all these things, because Paul didn't show up when he said he was coming. So if Paul didn't follow through on his plans, then Paul can't be trusted at all. And Paul begins the first chapter of 2 Corinthians. And he addresses this, and he swears twice. The first time he says 2 Corinthians 1, I think it's verse 18. Uh, versus three or 16, uh, and to pass by you into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of you be brought on my way towards Judea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use likeness? He said, was I just brashly talking when I, when I told you I was planning that? Of course not. Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh that with me, there should be yay, yay, and nay, nay. But as God is true. What's he doing? He's swearing upon God. As God is true, my word also is true. Our word towards you was not yea and nay. Verse 23, moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth. Paul recognized. that the accusations that he was receiving were really critical, and that the people did not trust him and listened to the rabble-rousers who were trying to discredit him, that the church at Corinth could go really far south. And so he says, I call God for a record upon my soul, that I am telling you the truth, the reason I didn't come earlier, was for your sake, that you might repent, and I might not have to come in with a rod. Paul called God as his witness. I think that's pretty neat. Listen, we should always trust, trust God's people as they are trustworthy. But there's something momentous about an oath. And when we stand before witnesses, especially God and marriage, friends, that is an important, important, important, important thing we're saying. When we stand before church, we say, I am owning Jesus Christ as my Savior. And I am vowing that I will follow Him sincerely, not without sin, but I will follow Him sincerely. I will not walk as a hypocrite. I will not walk according to the lust of this world. Friends, you're doing that before God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. It should be done with great weight and with great understanding. Well, we'll look at the sections. There's probably some rehashing next week and a few new things, but I wanted to go over that part with you. I praise God for those who are sincere enough to even wonder, should we swear at all or not? I think the answer is yes, but never lightly and never flippantly, and always with recognition that we're doing it in the eyes of God. May we be trustworthy, dependable, honest people. Thank you for listening to this message. 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