Well, I invite you this morning to turn to Matthew chapter 5 as we, again, after a few weeks, take up our study in the sermon on the mount, and we are at verse 33 of chapter 5, that's found on page 963, 33 of chapter 5, and we're working down through 42, and then next we conclude chapter 5 on the great intention of the summary of the law and then we move into in chapter 6 what true devotion to the Lord looks like so today we look at Matthew chapter 5 beginning at verse 33 let's give our attention this morning to the word of the Lord again you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not swear falsely but shall perform to the lord what you have sworn but i say to you do not take an oath at all either by heaven for it is the throne of god or by the earth for it is its footstool or by jerusalem for it is the city of the great king and do not take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black let what you say simply be yes or no anything more than this comes from evil you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you do not resist the one who is evil but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic let him have your cloak as well and if anyone forces you to go one mile go with him two miles give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you and there will end the reading of god's word today the sermon on the mount for me has been somewhat life-changing um for me to study after 20 years in the ministry because I've never really preached through it and I don't recall really being so energized to preach through a series there's lots of series I could say that I don't want to say this is my favorite one because you guys will all laugh at me but I think what really takes me about the Sermon on the Mount is I really want to understand what Jesus is doing here I want to understand the intention of the Sermon on the Mount I wanted to understand why Jesus is so pressing at certain points in this sermon and it is his sermon I find it absolutely remarkable that we have the privilege to study the very sermon of our Lord that is what a what a what a blessing what a privilege but mainly it's because I've always found jesus himself at times in reading him to be so direct and at times it feels like combative we sort of wonder is jesus like is this is this what he was like when he taught and preached and it always felt like such a confrontation at times with people i wanted to understand this if you ever wondered why christ seems so strong throughout the earthly ministry and why he was so challenging and at times used hard speech to people I think we get to an answer in that as we study the Sermon on the Mount what he is doing in the Sermon on the Mount is taking down an entire false religion that had developed in Israel it is a giant takedown of a false religion that had prevailed through Israel's pastors that had prevailed through Israel's leaders and Jesus is recovering Ezekiel he's recovering the sheep this is a recovery sermon but he first has to do its work the law has to do its work he first has to combat serious problems in Israel through the scribes and the pharisees and what I've said and maintained in this is this is just the religious stamp on simply what is the natural religion the natural man creates before god and how even the religious person can take religious principles and take the law of god and the handling of the law of god and use that to create something diametrically opposed to what the intention of the law was and what true religion is. Jesus is exposing here the sham and the phony false religion of the Pharisees. People who were just playing the game. People who were simply playing fast and loose in a way with Jesus. But not just that he also wants the law to do its work he wants to free the law to do its work he's setting free the law of god from what they had done to it and in setting free the law of god there are certain consequences that will happen as the law of god is set free in its original intention he's unleashing it and that first sort of response that will happen is everyone's going to say we have really missed the mark here this is utterly crushing this is utterly exposing we have by far not considered the depth of the law of god we've not meditated psalm 1 on the law of god and it has not penetrated very deeply in our lives and that's scary but that great intention then is that we would come to the savior and in receiving forgiveness and in receiving his grace this very truth of what the laws intended here for us that the righteousness of the scribes and the pharisees would be set aside and that we would actually in the new creation begin to be shaped by this in the image of christ is the great intention here but that's that's those are the consequences of jesus first addressing and showing and assaulting if you will the sham religion of the of the pharisees and the scribes he had to take it down he had to undress it he had to expose it and i'm thankful he cared to do this i'm thankful we are indeed looking at the character of the christian we are indeed looking at what a follower of christ should be what a christian should be what somebody who claims to love god's law should be and as you know jesus after saying unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees he began to expose their very righteousness of what everyone thought was such a great model piety to do this he had been working in chapter 5 through certain laws of the moral law of god he had been doing this to help show how they abuse the law of god and in the next chapter he's going to move to show how they in their devotion to the lord it was sham too it was all for everyone to see what true devotion to the lord looks like this is so important isn't it so today we consider his selective working through various abuses of the law we're continuing to do that that our righteousness would surpass this which makes total sense two more of these particular abuses are before us today having to do with a law regarding oaths and retribution the lex talionis the we'll look at the importance of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and jesus addresses these two central categories of the law here that where would be and that we would understand what purity of speech looks like in the christian life and then how we should treat one another but last time we considered the law of marriage and we looked at the law of marriage and issues regarding divorce. But now in chapter 5, he moves to oaths in verse 33. And what we read there is you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. Essentially, we've moved to the third commandment. which is interesting here him addressing something in the first table of their abuse and you'll notice here that the commandment at least as we know on surface level of the third commandment was you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain and when we studied that and we looked into deuteronomy and we looked further into the third commandment there were further injunctions about that that that that the people were to take seriously and this was this is one of those injunctions you shall swear by his name and you shall not swear by his name falsely neither shall you profane the name of the lord your god i am the lord so this was this was a serious deal in the third commandment the leaders took uh this and in general made a good application of it i think that's what's interesting here by the pharisees they made a good application of it at first glance they said when oaths are taken and when we take oaths all that is sworn now here's here's here's the emphasis shall be performed to the lord so far so good the intention of the law was that truth would be told in society honoring living before the lord in all that we do we know this today i think one of our great frustrations in society is there's just no sense that anyone has any accountability when they speak and so we can have leaders get up and they can speak and they can lie through their teeth and we know they're lying and it doesn't matter that's that's a terrible thing that has happened in society that's an awful thing to live through when people are just lying the commandment was intended to promote a well-functioning society in israel and since oath-taking was a big deal in the ancient world the law was given to protect oaths as something that was a very solemn practice it was a a very um was to be a sincere practice it was to be done only in exceptional situations as one pastor said it had exceptional gravity and unusual concern for the individual of the nation and the nation as a whole so oath taking in in very solemn situations we think about marriage we do this and when we stand up and we we take an oath we're making a promise before the lord i promise till death do us part but i will love my spouse it's a promise it's an oath and the goal was to create when we do that a kind of godly fear in the way that people live their lives so that they knew that everything that people did every promise that they made every oath that was taken in the name of the lord would be honored and that this would deter all lying in society and there would be honest behavior and speech in society can you imagine a society like that here's what the pharisees did well leviticus 19 12 said you shall not swear by god's name falsely nor profane the name of the lord amen the real issue is that of perjury when you take an oath and you take it in God's name in one of these very solemn circumstances in an official proceeding you should never falsify that oath you should always tell the truth in that oath in the name of the Lord in that official proceeding all is good but here's what they did they confined the law of god to perjury only so that what happened is is they said as long as you don't take an oath in god's name oaths can be taken in the name of all these other things and none of that is binding i mean it's just crafty what we're dealing with here because it's not in god's name now that's exactly why jesus raises the issue of taking oaths by heaven or taking oaths by earth or taking oaths by jerusalem the city of the king what happened was they began to take oaths and all these other names and because it wasn't in the name of the lord they didn't believe it was binding wasn't in god's name so at the end of the day the oaths could be broken since they were not in the name of the lord and jesus says what an abuse of the intention of the third commandment if you take an oath by heaven is it not god's throne if you take an oath by earth is it not his footstool if you take an oath by the city is it not the city of jerusalem is it not the city of the great king in other words it's all mine jesus was saying wow you guys are crafty you found out in a way out of the intention of the law by separating the spears acting as if the lesser things that you swear by don't matter when all of it belongs to the Lord. So there it is. What a crafty way to get out of the law of God. You know? Totally dishonest. Ruins the intention of the law. And it's not genuine. I saw that Megyn Kelly this week was being interviewed pursuing an annulment of her marriage. First marriage from 16 years ago. She's already been remarried. So, 16 years, she's been married years now to this new guy. For her to have communion in the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church has to declare that that first marriage is annulled. In other words, they have to come to a declaration that the first marriage was never legitimate. So that's what they're going to do. The priest told Megyn Kelly, go through the process. We're trying to honor marriage. You got to be kidding me. What they did was they found a way to disregard the law. What's the law? What God has joined together, let no man separate. But here's the piece of paper. Remember what we were dealing with last time? Here's the piece of paper. It's annulled. Therefore, the first marriage is not a legitimate marriage. Now you can come take communion. This is exactly what Jesus is dealing with. It takes the law and it makes it of no effect. This gets to the heart of sincere religion. this is what i've been trying to show you could take any commandment and do this it's really amazing what we do it's hard to kind of figure out what how we always do this and it requires some real honesty of ourselves and how we do this and pulling down the walls that we put up when it comes to this but the pharisees found a way out of every command think of the fifth commandment you're supposed to intended to honor your parents in old age and care for them and provided for them as they cared for you in younger age, they found a way to say, Corbin, this money is devoted to the Lord. Therefore, it doesn't have to help. We don't have to help them. They were like TBN preachers. Well, I'm not an idolater because I don't have a statue in my front yard. But all your time and energy is being devoted to what? well, I'm not a Sabbath breaker because I attend church when I can. But if I'm honoring my family, that's what's most important. So I can justify not being at church when it's called. I'm not committing adultery in life. But you know that secret sin of pornography? Yeah, that's not as serious. I'm not a thief. But it's okay to hold back in my giving because really what I'm doing, truth be told, is I'm idolizing my money. I'm not covetous. But is it okay to spend all your time worrying and thinking about things and money? Is it? worrying about it all the time is that not covetous you see we always find a way out we always find a way out and the law hasn't done its work when we do this this is the kind of dishonesty to religion that jesus is exposing we've ruined the intention of the law with o's this has utterly wrecked society if you want to be honest this has utterly wrecked society this approach as if as if nobody now has any fear in what they speak that it's before the lord and that truth is no longer promoted in all circumstances so with regard to oath jesus says don't take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black let what you say simply be yes or no anything more than this comes from evil christ is not banning oaths i don't i don't think it's wrong to say he's banning oaths here that somebody can never take an oath god himself took one by two immutable things the apostles took them constantly in their ministry you can read them we take oaths and solemn occasions though don't we in courts or in marriage we make promises what jesus is forbidding is careless speech that makes promises and claims in our ordinary lives as if jesus is saying apart from these solemn occasions the oath really is entirely should be entirely unnecessary your speech should be so full of truth and honesty and integrity it's as binding as if it were one of these solemn occasions your yes should be yes and your no should be no if we're addressing the pharisee jesus saying you're lying in society is just as bad as perjury whatever we say anything and we don't make good on it i'll pray for you and don't do it whenever we're not following through on promises or we say something false we've done that as if we swore a solemn oath in god's name that's what he's saying because all of life is his now the same is true with the lex talionis this one really gets really presses you've heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth that was a um a civil law designed for society so that when crimes were committed against someone the intention of the law was that the punishment should fit the crime the law never intended that the exact measure be meted out in every circumstance they took justice justices and civil judges to make these determinations it was a principle to try to discourage unjust treatment of people knowing that you will receive the same measure in civil society but the pharisees took this and they made it a personal matter dealing in common life with people if someone crosses me then they deserve to receive the same thing in return they demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth that's the principle there of retribution so in other words which meant they could carry out vengeance themselves and demand up from people who offended them the same payment totally disregarding the civil law and justice. So they found a way out of honoring the civil law. They set an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The intention was that the justice system that had been put in place, that the punishment, right, would meet the crime. It would be a deterrent. But Jesus now goes after them on this. Let's talk about this for a minute, who a Christian is. Who a true follower of the Lord is. I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. This is a really important point. during our moment in society right now i can't emphasize how important this is we have a culture that's turned hostile to us let me just say up front he's not talking about police officers he's not talking about government officials he's not talking about those who have been invested with the sword governing authorities the magistrate most certainly resists evil some have taken this over society and said that this is complete pacifism and even governments aren't supposed to do this that is that that is complete conflict with romans 13 he is talking to us as citizens he's talking to us as christians in the world now let me say this he's not even talking to the world here. Christians are not vigilantes. This is why I say that the Sermon on the Mount is not some code of ethics for everyone. It's not what Gandhi said. This is a code of ethics. If everyone lived this society, it'd be great. That's probably true. The issue is, can everyone lived this. Because now we strike up against something that is utterly impossible apart from regeneration. It is totally foreign to the natural man what I'm about to say here. And Jesus knows that. The natural man doesn't act like this. If you look at Hollywood, the most popular selling movies and the greatest figures are the action figures who are accomplishing vigilante justice that's those are the number one selling movies they're bloody denzel washington liam neeson jason stratum who exercise great skill in taking down their enemies and harming them and we're amazed by it We're in awe of it. It sells. It's violent. Right now, what sells in Christianity? Some form of this. Those who are tough. Those who are tough. Everyone thinks they're tough right now. It's very interesting. A lot of these people haven't fought in war who think they're tough. If it's a Marine or it's somebody who's actually been off in war and taken bullets, that's somebody who's pretty tough. Right now, we're attracted to those who are willing to stand up to their enemies. That is attractive. It's in us. Our chests are out in Christianity right now because the society's changed. Those churches are growing the fastest who have most figured out if they're smart, if it's all game and gimmicks. Those churches are growing the fastest who can pitch themselves this way while they're bold. They're standing up to it all. Fight mode. Here's my question. For what? For what? eric metaxas is running around telling everyone if your church is just about preaching the gospel that's heresy he just said it the other night at a dinner that's how nazism flourished so eric what do you want us to do what do you want us to do i'll go vote i know someone's saying right now are you saying we can't stand up to evil in society are you saying we can't resist evil resist bad political policy or even refuse to defend ourselves and i say stop it one pastor said if you're anxious about your relationship to the state or your attitude as a citizen do not stay in the sermon on the mount go to romans 13 or go to first peter you have every right to exercise your rights within the government as a citizen to attempt to stop political evil in society through the channels that are offered to you i think we should encourage that jesus is not here condemning defending yourself if someone comes and tries to kill you that's where we usually go with this let me tell you how many times that's happened to me in life how many times has that happened to you I'm 46 years old I had one guy try to stab me once with a pencil and it was a kid at the continuation high school when I was a teacher if I could do I really want to stab him back and send him into hell well, is that what we want to do? Oh, but we're tough. Take that hateful LGBTQ person, that enemy in your life who hates you for being a Christian. Now let's talk about that. Is there anything in us that looks at them in the eye and is not at all concerned that they are headed for hellfire. That if they die tonight, they are forever separated from Christ. That such a person in their rebellion against God that their hatred of you reflects their hatred of God and that's representative of what you were apart from Christ. Do you ever look at them that way? do you that's what tests us no one can live what i am describing here until they're born from above you cannot begin to have a righteousness that separates what is earthly from that is heavenly until that heavenly life enters you who is that person who is that evil person in your life who persecutes you and oppresses you who hates you for who you are the tendency to me and what comes natural is lord can we call fire down from heaven and destroy them that was in the disciples remember and jesus says you don't know what manner of spirit you're of what that is expected of us what i'm about to say requires a great deal of maturity humility it's a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees right here they wanted to be tough guys they wanted to blow torch their enemies i say to you do not resist one who's evil if someone comes up and backhands you in the most shameful possible way in front of everyone else turn the other cheek to them Jesus is checking that desire for revenge isn't he he's checking the intention of the what the heart the intention of the command is to love even who are enemies easy to love those who love you says jesus and he presses further this comes to your possessions if anyone would sue you now brother is not supposed to go to law against brother so we're not even not even in his mind here that that would happen he's talking about evil people in society bad people who hate you for who you are and they come at you to sue you. I know there's qualifications. I understand all that. But the principle is this. If one forces you to go one mile with him, go two. Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Give them your cloak as well. why what do they have nothing what do you have everything and we hold tight to our lives what's he talking about blessed are the meek blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are the merciful blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake he is bringing an end to you he's bringing an end to me it exposes those things in us that are all about us it belongs to the inner man that we must die to ourself he's bringing an end to us here i don't know anyone who is not deeply troubled by this in the natural man wanting to argue about it and not listening to it I'm just going to read it and then I think you'll understand why Jesus would care so much about this. Finally, all of you be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing because to this you were called. so that you may inherit a blessing. For whoever would love life and see good days, notice how he puts this together from the Sermon on the Mount, must keep their tongue from evil oaths and their lips from deceitful speech. This is 1 Peter. They must turn from evil and do good. They must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, right out of the psalms and his ear is attentive to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil who's going to harm you if you're eager to do good but even if you should suffer for what is right you are blessed do not fear their threats do not be frightened but in your hearts revere christ as lord where do we revere we don't post it on posters everywhere we revere christ as lord in our hearts that's when it's true always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect keeping it keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in christ may be ashamed of their slander that's keeping cold for it's better if it is god's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil now how about this for christ also suffered once for our sins the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to god how what were you like to him what was i like to this you were called because christ suffered for you leaving you an example christ left you the great example in your life that you should follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, speech. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, Instead, he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds, you were healed. This, beloved, is the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us today. Thank you for forgiving us and setting us free. Thank you for exposing sham religion. Help us, O Lord, to be sincere. we confess our hypocrisies. All of us have hypocrisies in our lives. Cover us. And raise us up in strength, O Lord, that we might be like our Lord. For our Lord Jesus, when we were enemies, died for us and forgave us. May this kind of righteousness in honoring the intention of your law be a thing that we pursue, O Lord, in gratitude for everything we just heard that Christ accomplished for us. In Jesus' name, amen.