All right, guys, take a seat. Good singing. That is the perfect song, the perfect plea that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount should bring us to. We cannot obtain the righteousness that we need for heaven by keeping God’s rules. It’s only Jesus’ righteousness. That’s the only righteousness that’s good enough, and it’s a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. We’ll get into the message tonight.

God, thank you for your Word. God, I pray that as we listen, as I teach and as these students and leaders listen, I pray that they would understand what I’m saying, that I would speak with clarity, that my words would match yours. God, I pray that you would be active in the hearts of my hearers and in my heart to make us believe your Word—God, that we would obey you from the heart, that we would trust you. I pray that you would be active tonight and that you would be glorified. Change us through your Word. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Introduction

All right, if you do not have a note sheet, note sheets have the outlines on them. It looks like most people do. Can you raise your hand? Kiki will come down and hand them out. Looks like we’re good.

I want to make you think for a second about how easy it is, and maybe how often you do this, to add “I promise” or “I swear” after you say something. For example, “Oh, I swear I’ll pay it back,” or “I swear I did my homework,” or “I’m totally telling the truth this time—I promise.” Maybe “I promise” has become a meaningless phrase to you. Maybe at home your parents say, “Who made this mess?” and you say, “It wasn’t me, I promise!”

Why do you do that? It’s common. I suspect every single one of you has done that probably this week, maybe even today. Why do you think you tend to add “I promise” or “I swear” to what you say?

Someone might say, “To make it sound more meaningful.” I think that’s probably right, like, “I really mean it this time.” But what does that mean about the way you consider your words the other times when you speak? Maybe it means you have a history of breaking trust or manipulating. If you feel like you need to tell your parents, “Oh, it wasn’t me, I promise,” maybe you have a track record of speaking in a way that normally can’t be trusted. Or you want to emphasize that this time isn’t like all the other times—this time you really mean it.

I don’t want you to shrug this off as just a sermon introduction. I want you to actually think about it, because I suspect that’s the reality for more of us than not. As I was preparing this, I realized I do this too. What we’re going to hear tonight isn’t just for the Pharisees 2,000 years ago in a context that’s not our own. I’m going to have to explain some things from their time, but I hope it shows how our words really matter. That reflex of saying “I promise” or “I swear” might reveal that we need, in light of who God is and our relationship to Him, to elevate our view of truth.

If you realize tonight that you are flippant with your words—that it doesn’t mean much to you if you don’t tell the whole truth—I want you to consider what that means. Have you ever, or maybe someone you know has, promised something and then tried to get off on a technicality?

For instance, your mom asks, “Did you do your homework?” and you say, “Yeah,” but then it turns out it’s only half done, and you respond, “Well, I didn’t say I did all of it!” Or maybe you’re doing a group project and you say, “I promise I’ll come over tomorrow to help,” and then you show up late and do only part of it. Technically, you kept your promise—because you did come over—but not really. Or someone says, “Are you going to be there tomorrow?” and you reply, “Yeah, sure,” but in your mind you think, “I’ll be there if I have nothing better to do.”

In each of these examples, the person claims they kept their promise, but they’re only exploiting loopholes or technicalities to avoid the real intent. This is exactly what’s going on in the hearts of the Pharisees, and it’s what happens in us when we approach God’s Word without a desire to please God. When you come to Scripture without a new heart, you try to keep rules you aren’t capable of truly keeping, and you do strange things to feel like you’re obeying on a technicality.

That’s what we’ve seen so far in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember, by way of review, Jesus said—and it’s at the top of your sheet—unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter heaven. Those were the most outwardly righteous people imaginable. They were the truly religious—always reading and teaching the Bible and telling people how to live. Jesus says your righteousness has to be more genuine than theirs, or you’ll never get to heaven. Then He proceeds to demolish their superficial approach.

If you’re approaching God without a new heart, thinking, “I can keep the rules well enough. I’m not as bad as my friends at school,” or, “I’m not the worst person I know,” or, “I think I can do this if I just try harder,” Jesus’ words should demolish that idea.

Tonight, we’re going to see that Christians don’t need to promise or swear. We should prize truth so highly that we never feel the need to escalate our words. We know that when we speak, it must be truthful. That means there’s no reason to say, “I really mean it this time,” because, as Christians, our words should always mean what they say.

Those around you should know from experience that you are characterized by honesty, so they would never ask you to swear because they doubt your integrity. Jesus calls us to be people whose words are so reliable that we don’t need extra “oath boosters.” We should live with such integrity that a simple yes or no carries truth and weight. Telling the truth at all times is not a matter of technicalities or law-keeping—it’s a matter of the heart.

Reading the Passage (Matthew 5:33-37)

I just gave you the point of this passage. Now, as we read, we’ll step back into the time of the scribes and Pharisees. Let’s read Matthew 5, starting in verse 33:

“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 his 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 be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

Historical Context and the Pharisees’ View of Words

To understand this fully, we need to step into the sandals of the original listeners. Jesus is teaching after having said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you’ll never enter heaven.” Then He begins describing what that true righteousness looks like. It’s not merely external—it’s internal, from a changed relationship with God.

Jesus said He’s not coming to abolish the Law. It might sound like He is, because He references many of the Old Testament statements, but what He’s undoing is the Pharisees’ legalistic, external-only teaching. He’s targeting these false versions of the Law that skip the heart.

When we study the Bible, it’s critical to ask, “How did the original hearers understand this?” We’re separated from them by time, culture, language, and experience. For instance, you might say, “I’ve never been tempted to swear by Jerusalem, so how does this apply to me?” But it does apply, and first we have to see what it meant to them.

So, Jesus quotes the traditional teaching, which is summarized from various Old Testament passages: “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” That’s basically shorthand for multiple verses in the Old Testament that say if you make a vow to the Lord, you must keep your word. It was never meant to imply that if you don’t make a vow to the Lord, you can lie. God’s intent was that people be honest from the heart, especially if they invoke God’s name.

But the Pharisees twisted it. I spent time reading the Mishnah—a written collection (around A.D. 200) of the oral traditions of the Jewish leaders—and there’s a section detailing oaths. It’s basically the exact system Jesus is confronting. It goes on about when you’re “liable” or “not liable” depending on whether you swear by “heaven,” “earth,” “the temple,” “the gold of the temple,” and so on. If you swore by the gold of the temple, you were bound. If you swore by the temple itself, you weren’t. It’s pages of this stuff.

The logic is bizarre, but the biggest error isn’t just that it’s silly—it’s that they were using God’s Word to undermine God’s Word. That’s exactly what happened with their view of divorce: they twisted the protective commands about a certificate of divorce into an excuse to do what they wanted. Here, they twist the commands about keeping your vows into excuses for dishonesty.

John MacArthur puts it well: the greatest error was not the illogic, but the basic dishonesty. Oaths should reinforce truth, but this system reversed it. They had a complex set of codes to justify deception. No wonder Jesus condemned them.

Later in Matthew 23, Jesus says, “Woe to you, blind guides,” calling them fools for teaching these convoluted distinctions. He says swearing by the temple or the altar still involves swearing by the God who makes those things sacred. They were blind men, straining out gnats while swallowing camels. Jesus was angry because these teachers used God’s Word to teach people to disobey God.

Why It Matters and Jesus’ Correction

Before we judge them too harshly, realize it’s easy to fool ourselves similarly. The Pharisees were consumed with outward appearances and missed the heart. If you look at God’s commands, see how far short you fall, and conclude, “I just need to try harder,” you risk following their path—setting up rules that make you feel okay while missing God’s heart.

Jesus corrects them in verse 34: “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 his footstool…” They’d swear by heaven or Jerusalem to find loopholes, but Jesus points out that it’s all connected to God anyway. Heaven is God’s throne, earth is His footstool, Jerusalem is the city of the great King. In other words, you’re never off the hook for telling the truth because everything you invoke belongs to God.

He also says, “Do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.” God is sovereign; we are not. So, Jesus moves from how great God is to how small and powerless we are. We can’t change our hair color by sheer will—so don’t presume you can swear by your own power.

James reiterates this: “You don’t know what tomorrow will bring… What is your life? You are a mist.” Instead of boasting, say, “If the Lord wills.” Don’t say, “I swear I’ll do such-and-such.” Who are you to guarantee the future?

The real issue is heart-level honesty. Jesus isn’t just condemning certain words—He’s going after the integrity of the heart. Lying is always an offense to God, regardless of whether you say “I promise.” Every word we speak is said before the Lord.

That’s why verse 37 says, “Let what you say be simply yes or no; anything more than this comes from evil.” We shouldn’t need special, boosted promises. Our reputation for honesty should be enough that a plain yes or no is believed. That’s one way we stand out as salt and light in the world. Among nonbelievers, you can’t always trust their word, but Christians should be reliable. We know our every statement is spoken before the presence of our Father.

As John MacArthur puts it, every normal word in daily speech should be a truthful word, unadorned by qualifiers regarding its truthfulness.

Application: Examine Your Speech

Examine your speech habits. Do you exaggerate or fudge details? Do you feel the need to say “I promise” because people doubt your honesty? If so, break that pattern. Recognize every word matters because it’s spoken before the Lord.

Be committed to honesty in the little things: homework, quizzes, everyday conversations. Don’t give half-truths to avoid trouble. If your parents ask what’s going on, don’t say just enough to be “technically” truthful while hiding the bigger issue.

In summary, Jesus is condemning manipulative or frivolous oaths and emphasizing a heart-level honesty. We must be known for truth. This reveals which kingdom we belong to: out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The Pharisees cleaned the outside but were dead inside. If your words are unreliable, it reflects a heart that doesn’t love truth.

The solution isn’t merely “try harder.” Yes, you do need to speak truth—but you also need a new heart. Confess your sin to God. Agree with Him that lying is sinful, and trust the promise of 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He forgives the penalty of sin and frees us from its power, enabling us to speak truth from a renewed heart.