The Words Of Your Heart

Lead In:

Continuing to move through Matthew 5 we see Jesus once again correcting the generally accepted understanding of the law. In v.17-20 He announces that He did not abolish the law of God, preempting any arguments that might arise when He moves into the rest of this chapter.

Remember, the Pharisees and Scribes had been molding the words of God to try and use their own works, their own actions, to prove how holy they were, all the while spreading their heresy to the people.

Then Jesus comes along, and with perfect patience, clarifies His own words from the Old Testament. He starts, by tightening the restrictions of the 6th Commandment (murder) in v.21-26, by teaching that murder starts in the heart; and that refusing to forgive someone places us on the path to Hell. In v.27-32 He tightens the restrictions of the 7th Commandment (adultery) by teaching that lust is adultery, and gives us a drastic example of what needs to be done to avoid it. In v.31 & 32 (which we looked at the last 2 Sundays) He goes beyond the 10 Commandments to show that He is the final say for every law, by teaching the boundaries of marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

When taken as a whole, and even looking forward into v. 38 - 42 and v.43 - 48; we can see that Jesus is far from the easy-going, nothing but judge-less love for everyone, happy hippy caricature that the modern world portrays Him as. Jesus Christ is just as strict and unmoving in His standard of holiness as The Father He is one with (Jn. 10:30), proving it by teaching what God meant all along, despite the Pharisee’s attempts to circumvent it.

And what God meant all along, with every law across every Book of Scripture, is the inner-self, the heart, is who we truly are. The last few sections of Matt. 5 that we just discussed were aimed at those who used their actions to try and hide their true self. And in our verses today, He is speaking about those who use their words to try and hide it.

Read → Matthew 5:33-37 & Opening Prayer

What did they hear?

Starting out this next point in The Sermon on the Mount just like His previous points, Jesus points out the faulty teaching of the Pharisees. In v.33 when He says → “You have heard that it was said to those of old: ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord’.” He was alluding to both Exodus 20:7 (the 3rd Commandment) and Levi. 19:12.

Ex. 20:7 → “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

Levi. 19:12 → “And you shall not swear by my name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of the Lord your God. I am the Lord.”

Now, if you're guessing that the Pharisees were taking these letters and running with them to the literal extreme, while ignoring the spirit of them…you’re right. They had developed an entire ladder system of “oath taking” that created self-centered loopholes…even though they were literalistically following the law.

Before we talk about their leaky system, however, let's define what an oath is…while paying attention that Jesus talks about taking oaths immediately after He talks about marriage.

For some of us, when we hear about “oaths” we immediately begin to think about a courtroom, and with good reason. Our modern judicial infrastructure was built on the foundation of English Common Law, first established in the 12th Century to better align a nation with Christianity. So much so has America built upon this foundation, that in our recent history, when a witness entered the stand they placed their hand on a Bible as the Bailiff asked them: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you…” what? “So help you God.”

Others, when they hear about “taking oaths”, it brings up a marriage ceremony. The bride and groom, standing before God and man, either write their own or repeat back the vows of the preacher. They are taking oaths at the altar of marriage, solemnly promising to follow through with everything said that day.

So much so has “taking an oath” become a part of our customs, that our everyday language when speaking with others, has taken on these words. Think about a time when someone has tried to convince you of something. Or, perhaps…when you yourself were adamant that your words were true. “I swear on my life…” or “I swear on the grave of my loved one…” or “I swear to God.”.

While I highly doubt that people who use such language are intentionally placing their life upon the line of their words (which we will discuss in just a moment), it helps us to see what an “oath” is. It, like at a marriage altar or a court room, is a solemn promise to fulfill something, and that which is invoked (your life, a grave of a loved one, God, etc) is an attempt to prove to the listeners that you really really mean it.

It is something spoken, out loud, to other people, that will let the hearer know your words are reliable. That you are reliable.

When Jesus uses this word in our verse here this morning, He uses the Greek word, is horkos. Which means “a binding promise” yes, but it comes from the root word for fence; border. Something that encloses and restrains. A defined line that, even though you are physically able to, you are choosing to not cross. Plainly stated; an oath is a self-imposed binding agreement that you are making with someone else. (Do you see why He talks about this immediately after talking about marriage?)

What were the Pharisees teaching?

By the time Jesus spoke our verses, the Pharisees had developed a system whereby they could take an oath on something, make a point to not invoke the name of God, and thereby allow them to appear reliable and trustworthy. They would say “I swear by heaven” “by Jerusalem”, “by my own head!” and absolve themselves of violating the law of God.

“Of course I'm telling the truth, I just swore by heaven didn't I? And no, I didn't violate the 3rd Commandment, or Levi. 19:12, because I didn't use the name of God. Once I do use the name of God, then you’ll know I really mean it.”

All of this resulted in the everyday speech of the people becoming inflated; where claims about something, no matter how arbitrary or minute they were, became “oaths”, and allowed them to follow the letter of the law while manipulating those around them. It was an attempt to appear righteous and trustworthy and reliable, without actually living that way.

Can you see this in the world around you, brothers and sisters? When someone wants to be taken seriously, they take the Lord’s name in vain. Either in an attempt to bolster their own ego in your eyes, or to try and force you to believe they really are serious. Can you see the name of God used so flippantly, by Christians and non-Christians alike? As if His divine name were nothing more than an audible exclamation point?

“I swear to God that was the best pizza I’ve ever had.”

“Really? Are you literally swearing to the cosmic King of the Universe; Him who bathes wicked nations in their own blood; that you’ve never had better pizza? Or do you want me to think that your opinion about pizza is one I should trust?”

This might be a humorous example, of course. But I am sure that you have heard the name of God invoked for far more serious scenarios.

A quick Time Out:

Without getting too far off track; this is why, when someone uses His name in ways that they ought not…it proves that His name has power. You don’t see people shout “Mahamta Ghandi” when they get cut off in traffic, because his name is rotting in Hell with him.

Time In

Now, the Pharisee had developed this oath taking system in an attempt to appear righteous to everyone else, swearing by lesser things than God. Be it “heaven”, “Jerusalem” or their own life (their head), which gave them as many loopholes as they wanted to jump through, while their lies remained nice and comfy in their heart. So when Jesus clarifies the laws they were taking advantage of, He collapses their entire system under His own sovereignty.

What Jesus said:

Seeing the thoughts and intents of their heart; Jesus, the Living Word, taught that every oath, no matter what is invoked to try and prove their trustworthiness, really is in the name of God. And they really are guilty for misusing His name.

Matt. 5:34 - 36 → “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; [35] nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. [36] Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.”

Jesus is saying that no matter what you swear by; no matter what or who you invoke; be it something spiritual (heaven) or physical (your own life); it is all in the name of God because He owns all of it. Everything; in heaven above or earth below; came to exist, and continues to exist because of Him, and will only remain as long as He ordains it to.

To speak as a fool (2 Cor. 11:21); if you want to get away with being selfish, while appearing to be reliable and trustworthy…swear by all the important things in your life. Find something, or someone in your life that has perceived value beyond you, that other people will take seriously, and staple it to your words. It's an almost effective shield for your slothfulness or cowardice to hide behind.

Say whatever you can to convince people that you are reliable and trustworthy.

But…it won't last long, of course.

Eventually your actions will prove your words false.

Eventually people will be able to see that your word is worth nothing; that you can’t be relied upon, and that no matter how grand your promises are, they are nothing but ashes. But hey, at least for a little while you’ll look honorable in the eyes of the people you’ll one day be burning beside in Hell.

So what do we do?

With this we can very easily veer into the kind of territory that the Mennonites or Amish find themselves in, and refuse to take any oaths, even those in a Court Room. Which of course shows that they are simply the Pharisees of the modern world who choose to follow the letter of the law, because it is something that they can accomplish of their own human strength or willpower…all the while ignoring the spirit.

This might be a bold claim, right?

I mean…Jesus straight up says: “But I say to you, do not swear at all…” and the ESV translates it as “...do not take an oath at all…”. How can we get around those words without saying they are wrong? We don’t “get around them”, but we do take the entirety of Scripture into account when forming beliefs about how we are supposed to behave in our day to day life.

And when we do that, when we take all of Scripture to shape our beliefs, a pattern begins to emerge.

In Romans 1, right at the beginning of his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul says this in v.8-10 → “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. [9] For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you [10] always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” (emphasis - mine)

Paul is invoking the name of the neon King of the Universe; Him who wears galaxies as rings and uses the earth as His footstool; to let us know that he is mentioning them in his prayers without ceasing. Every prayer, among many other topics I am sure, had mentions of the Christians he was writing to, and asking God to align His providence in such a way that he could and visit them.

In fact, Paul does this again in his letter to the Romans, in 9:1-3 → “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— [2] that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (emphasis - mine)

Like so many American witnesses who would one day come after him, The Apostle is binding himself to the truth, voluntarily taking an oath in the name of Christ, that he would be willing to spend eternity in the flames of Hell if it meant that his biological kinsmen, other jews, would come to believe.

We also see Paul take an oath in Gal. 1:20 → “In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!” And again in 2 Cor. 1:23 → “But I call God to witness against me…”.

So, was Paul sinning by taking an oath? Or is there something that we’re missing? Before we point out that, yes, there is something we’re missing, we have another example that will fight against those who discredit the words of The Apostle.

In Matthew 26:61-64, when Jesus was on trial, we read this → “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ” [62] And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” [63] But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” [64] Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (emphasis - mine)

Jesus Christ, Him who never sinned (1 Jn. 3:5), Him who “had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Is. 53:9) willingly placed Himself under oath. Furthermore, it is something that God has done several times, and gives us a piece of what we are missing.

In Gen. 22:15-17, as God speaks to Abraham on Mt. Moriah…after a ram with thorns wrapped about his head takes Isaac’s place upon the sacrificial altar…we read this → “Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, [16] and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— [17] blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.”

We also read about this in Heb. 6:13-18 → “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, [14] saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” [15] And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. [16] For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. [17] Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, [18] that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

What are we missing?

So, what are we missing?

If we have several examples of oaths being taken in Scripture, by Paul, Jesus, and God, how can we understand Jesus’ words in our main verses?

To answer, I’d like to re-read one of those verses from Hebrews that we just read, and then ask if that applies…to you. Heb. 6:16 → “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.” When you tell someone, “I promise…I swear…” is that an end of all dispute? Is the question of your reliability brought to a conclusion? Or have you been flippantly invoking the name of God in every context to hide your lack of integrity? Are your words, your promises, your oaths and vows…full of deceit, and therefore (as our verse says) “from the evil one”?

Has your language been so truthful, so reliable, that the people in your life never have to question “if you really mean it”? Or is the only way someone will believe you…is if you repeat a dozen variations of “I swear”? When Jesus tells us to not take oath, but to let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no’.”, He is saying that

all of our

words should be

oaths.

Brothers and sisters, is your language, the way you speak…trustworthy? Are you a truth-teller? Can someone rely on what you say? I hope so, because your words reveal something about yourself to those around you. They show what guides your thoughts and actions. What binds your behavior and choices.

Do you want to know what is in someone’s heart? Listen to their words, because in Matt. 12:35 we read that → “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Does your language show that you value truth and wisdom?

Can other people rely on what you say, at all times…or (to repeat myself) have you been speaking in such a way, for years possibly, that the only way people will take you seriously is if you have to end all of your sentences with “I swear”; “I promise”; “You can trust me about this”; “I really mean it.”

Jesus gives us a haunting warning about our words, in the verse right after the one we just read, in Matt. 12:36 → “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

When your day in court comes before you, children of God, and every aspect of your life is laid bare before the judge…your words, all of them, are going to be examined. When He plays back the audio recording of your own voice, never skipping or censoring a single word…what will He hear? Will He hear “Filthiness, foolish talking, or coarse jesting” that He told us to stay away from? Or will He hear the “giving of thanks”? (Eph. 5:4 )

Will He hear speech that is “always…with grace, seasoned with salt, (so) that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” like He told us how to speak in Col. 4:6? Or…was Solomon talking about you in Prov. 26:18 & 19 when he wrote → “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “I was only joking!”

When the sound of your recorded voice

plays back into the ears of God…what will He hear?

Will they be words of truth, raw and unfiltered by the fear of man? Will they be filled with grace, knowing that you didn’t save yourself? Will your language be so truthful, that everyone in your life can rely on you, no matter the topic, conversation, circumstances, or variables?

Say the truth, or don't say anything.

The character and nature of God

In closing, in our verses this morning, just like those the past few Sundays, Jesus is teaching us the true scope of the law, yes. He is repeating Himself 2,000yrs after Sinai and clearing the air about what he really meant, yes. And every time He does so, He is revealing an aspect of His character and nature to us.

Remember, Jesus Christ is the living law of God, the embodiment of it, so when He explains what the law is teaching, He is explaining who He is. And who is Jesus Christ?

He is the truth.

John 14:6

We quoted a number of verses earlier, and I hope that they were building something in your mind as we read them, but to repeat them and tie them together; Jesus Christ is one who had no deceit in His mouth (Is. 53:9). He is One who invoked Himself in His promise to Abraham (Gen. 22:16), because there is no name higher to swear by (Heb. 6:13), and…it is impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:18). Did you see that? It's impossible for Him to lie. It's something God can’t do. He will always do everything He says He is going to do. He isn't going to forget, get distracted, get worn down and watch His motivation slip away. No.

Brothers and sisters! His saying is His doing!

And what has God said?

That He will forgive every single person who repents, no matter how evil their sin (1 Jn. 1:7). Not because of them, but because His sinless Son took our sin on Himself (2 Cor. 5:21).

Do you believe Him?

You might not, right? You might want to lift up your sin as extra dark, extra evil. So bad that even God can’t forgive you, so…He promised you that He would, and invoked His own name when He did so (Gen. 22:16). Furthermore, He said that once you have repented and believed in Him and are forgiven because of Himself…The God who can’t lie promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

He promised to never cast aside any who ever come to Him (Jn. 6:37).

He promised to never lose a single person that He tried to save (Jn. 6:39).

He promised to use everything that ever happens to you, for your good (Rom. 8:28).

He promised to judge the wicked (Ps. 1:5), that what's done in secret will come to light (Lk. 8:17).

Do you believe Him?

Does the way that you speak prove that you believe Him?

Does your prayer life prove that you believe Him?

Does your evangelism prove that you believe Him?

Does your day to day life prove that you believe what God has long said?

Do you open your Bible every single day; go to Church every single week; receive the elements of Bread and Wine; and Worship on top of your bleeding lungs because you whole heartedly believing that He will use those ordinary means of grace to transform you more and more into the image of His Son (2 Cor. 3:18)?

I pray you do, because

His saying is His doing.

When we act in accordance with our main verses, and live in absolute integrity so that everyone in our life knows our words are truthful and reliable, then we are acting in accordance with the character and nature of God, the source of all truth. And doing so, living how God tells us to live, speaking how God tells us to speak, will have an effect upon your life and the lives of those around you. How can we know? Because God tells us so, and it's impossible for Him to lie.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:13-18 esv) (emphasis mine)

Rev. Jacob Marchitell

May 10th 2026