Honesty

Retaliation and Grace of God

Series: The Sermon on the Mount

Speaker: Pastor Justin Wheeler

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-40

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What I want to do this morning is to call us again to the foot of the mountain to hear from Jesus as He continues to preach the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Jesus is teaching us what it takes to enter His Kingdom and what it looks like for us to live as citizens of His Kingdom. He wants us to know how to become His disciples and how to live as His disciples.

He kicked things off with a list of beatitudes, statements about happiness and how to find it. But each statement takes our natural sensibilities and turns them upside-down. Jesus tells us in verse 3 that happiness comes to those who are poor in spirit; happy are the spiritually bankrupt. Then He tells us that happiness comes to those who mourn. IOW, happy are the sad. Then happiness is ready and waiting for those who are meek and hungry for righteousness. Happy are those who are starving for righteousness.

What a paradox. What does this mean? These beatitudes are aimed at changing our behavior, they are aimed at changing our heart. What Jesus is showing us here is the heart attitude of those who enter into His Kingdom. Our Journey into following Christ starts with brokenness, a brokenness that occurs when we see God for who He truly is and by contrast we will see ourselves as truly bankrupt before Him. The opening portion of the Sermon on the Mount is not a code of ethics that we must follow in order to become the people of God, but rather it strips us bear to make us understand that if we are to have peace with God it won’t come from us.

No good work on our part can save us from our sin. A lifetime of works can’t save us from sin. We need forgiveness and that only comes as a gift of God’s grace. We don’t simply need to change our behavior, we need a new heart and He is the only One who can truly give us a new heart. This is where our journey in the gospel begins; it begins with true brokenness before God that reveals just how sinful we are and this will cause us to mourn over our sin, and to long for a Savior who will forgive us and lead us to God.

This is the first part of what Jesus wants to teach us in this sermon, how to enter into His Kingdom. The second part is what do we do once we are in? How are we to live as members of His Kingdom? So let’s read our text for today.

Matt 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 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. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 

Transition…

What Jesus is calling for in these verses (and the section that follows) is the pinnacle of Christian conduct. He is calling for us to respond to evil with humility, patience, mercy and grace. He is calling us to live in complete contradiction to our natural instincts, which means that we must be made new before we can hope to live like this. Jesus is not imposing this way of life on the lost kingdom of this world, but He is calling for His born-again people to live like this.

In order to live like Jesus, we are going to learn three things: Justice is Good, Mercy is Better, and Grace is Best.

Sermon Focus…

I. Justice is Good (V. 38)

V. 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

This verse comes straight out of the OT law of Moses and it is referred to as the law of retaliation or Lex Talionis. This law was even recorded in the Code of Hammurabi (Babylonian) as the foundation for justice in the case of person to person interaction. The point of this law was to regulate the human urge to retaliate by legally demanding that any punishment handed down must fit the crime.

Ex 21:22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 

Lev 24:19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

Justice is about balance and this law was given to ensure that the scales were even on both sides. The rule of lex talionis has the double effect of defining justice and also restraining revenge; it was designed to prevent severe retribution and vigilante justice. But from our own experience we know that laws alone are no match for our human desire for revenge.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Revenge is a dish best served cold?” The meaning of this devilish saying is that the most satisfying approach to exacting revenge is to take your time, to plan out your vengeance at a time when no one suspects you and then to savor the moment of revenge as you would a fine meal. I was in middle school when I first read a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, which captured this spirit of intentional vengeance in a very disturbing way.

The story begins like this,

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length, I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled— but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity (without the possibility of being punished for what I planned to do). A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.[1]

Montresor had received a wound from Fortunato, an insult that in his heart he believed demanded revenge, but not just any revenge would do. He would proceed quietly and would plan it out in such a way that he would not get caught. His revenge would be a private matter, beyond the reach of the law, but it would leave a final impression on Fortunato. What began as an insult ended with murder. Montresor’s vengeance was a secret hidden deep in the catacombs and walled in with brick and mortar.

This story is one of a countless number of revenge stories that have captivated audiences for ages. Each of these stories shows us in painstaking detail just how deep our desire for revenge goes. In our hearts we long for vengeance, not justice but vengeance. Our natural instinct is not just to hit back but to hit back even harder and this has been the natural instinct of humanity as far back as Lamech in Genesis 4 who boasted, “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.”

God gave this law as a way to restrain our natural sinful inclination toward revenge and retaliation and as such these laws are aimed at establishing justice in society. But Jesus wants us to understand that there is more to this law than the letter. Below the surface, at the heart-level Jesus wants us to see the root of the problem. The law was given to curb our behavior, but it was also given to reveal the corruption in our hearts and that is what Jesus wants us to see.

II. Mercy is Better (V. 39)

At the heart of adultery is the sin of lust. At the heart of murder is the sin of anger. At the heart retaliation is the sin of vengeance, to be the self-justified distributor of justice.

There is a righteousness greater and more beautiful than self-justice— letting God be the judge and righteousness maker, the one who puts the world to right. This is a consistent theme in the Old Testament regarding interpersonal relations— do not take your own vengeance but let God be the one who sets things to right.[2]

1 Sam 24:12 (David said to Saul) May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.

IOW, Revenge is a dish best not served, because vengeance belongs to the Lord. God has established the means by which justice is meted out and it doesn’t look like Batman or the Punisher. He has established the state, flawed though it is, as the societal institution where justice is handed down. Then beyond the state there is the promise that God Himself will judge all the earth and render to every human being what they deserve for their crimes and sins.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not rejecting the rule of law with regard to the state’s role to seek justice (retribution) but he is teaching us not to take vengeance into our own hands. In fact, he is telling us to fight against the heart impulse of vengeance by showing mercy to people who would seek to take advantage of us.

V. 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil.

I actually think this verse is better understood to read, “Do not set yourself against the evildoer.” The idea is that we don’t take vengeance into our own hands, but in the next verse Jesus takes our understanding further. He says, “When someone insults you with a backhanded slap across the face, don’t lash out to get revenge but instead give that person a chance to double the insult.” This is the first of four illustrations that Jesus uses to teach us about personal restraint.

To turn the other cheek is to reject revenge, to be humble and gentle even when the other person doesn’t deserve it. To turn the other cheek is to show mercy and this is what Jesus calls His disciples to do in the face of an insult to our dignity.

He also tells us to be willing to give away our coat and the shirt off our back. In this case, the law could not demand that a person give away their coat and their shirt, but they could be willingly given. Jesus is calling for His disciples to go above and beyond what justice requires in order to show mercy to others.

In the third illustration, He tells us to go the extra mile. Roman law gave soldiers the right to force a civilian to carry his gear for one mile. This law was designed to give soldiers relief while on active duty. This seems like a fair trade-off for those risk their lives, but don’t forget that the Jews were occupied by Rome. This law forced the Jews to carry the weapons that their oppressors would use against them. But Jesus says, “When they take away your freedom and force you to serve for a mile, show them mercy and go an extra one.”

Finally, Jesus calls us to give to the one who asks and not to refuse the one in need. Now, wisdom would require us to think carefully before giving money to a fool, or a drunkard, or an addict. “If a man is not willing to work, let him not eat (2 Thess 3:10).” In each of these cases we don’t abandon wisdom. The command to turn the other cheek does not imply that we refuse to rescue someone who is being abused or attacked. The point here is that we deny the selfishness in our heart that would cause us to refuse to help someone in serious need.

Jesus wants us to understand that this law of retaliation can help to establish justice within society, but it also reveals that deep down we have a serious problem in our heart.

His teachings in these verses are a call to a way of being in the world that teaches us to look inward and become a different kind of people, (He is teaching) a vision of truly Christian virtue. A radical reorientation to our way of thinking that would have us see justice as good but mercy as better.[3] This is a vision of Christian values that rebukes our flesh and confounds the world. This is a vision for the Christian life that is more concerned with righteousness than personal justice.

By the way, Paul understood this teaching and he restated it for us in Romans 12.

Rom 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Justice is good and right and it has been established by God. He has appointed the law to govern our behavior, He has appointed the state to govern our society and in the end, He will judge all men according to their actions. Justice if good, but mercy is better.

Mercy is better in that it teaches us to deny ourselves and to fight against the sinful impulse of selfishness. Jesus demands of us that we let mercy, not justice, be the motivating ethic in how we interact with others. Mercy means that we reject revenge, that we deny ourselves and that we seek the good of others, even when they wrong us.

Justice is good, mercy is better, but lastly, I want us to see that grace is best.

III. Grace is Best (1 Peter 2:21-24)

Jesus called His disciples with this invitation, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” As believers in Christ, His way is our way. His path is our path. His fate is our fate. His example is ours to follow.

The Apostle Peter heard Jesus invitation and He followed. He gave up everything to surrender his life to Jesus’ teaching and to follow Jesus example. Yes, Peter stumbled along the way just like we do, but in the end, Peter knew that following Jesus would lead us to Heaven.

Listen to Peter explaining how we too are to follow Christ.

1 Pet 2:21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

There is a principle at work here that we don’t come to naturally, and it’s that God values meekness and humility. He values self-sacrificial love and He not only calls His people to embrace it, He embraced it Himself. The greatest display of selfless love (Grace) that this universe has ever seen was when Christ gave His life in our place.

Brothers and sisters, what Jesus is calling us to do with regard to not resisting those who do evil is exactly what He did Himself. When they came to arrest Him on trumped up charges, He didn’t fight back. When they accused Him of blasphemy He didn’t answer their charges. When they struck Him in the face He didn’t fight back. When they mocked Him in the barracks He didn’t defend His dignity. When they crucified Him He didn’t work to free Himself even though He could have done so.

He could have called down angels to free Him and destroy His enemies, but He chose to stay on the cross because love is the only thing powerful enough to overcome our sin. Jesus knew the power of mercy and the beauty of grace so He told the angels to stand down as He took our place on that cross. He didn’t deserve it but He denied Himself and took up the cross.

In His flesh, Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of all His people, all those who would believe. He absorbed the wrath of God that we deserved so that we could go free. With infinite dignity, matchless self-control and amazing grace; Jesus refused to retaliate.

1 Pet 2:23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Conclusion…

It’s not about what our flesh wants, it’s about what the soul needs.

Our calling is to follow Christ’s example. We do not follow His example in order to be saved, but because we are saved by grace and through faith we follow His example. Jesus is first our savior and then our example but it is our calling to follow in His steps.

(Illus... The word example is used of children who trace over the letters of the alphabet in order to learn how to write their letters correctly. When we follow Christ, our lives are tracing over the lines that He drew with His own hands and feet.

When the gospel takes root in our hearts it changes everything. When the love of Christ anchors itself into our heart the calling upon our lives is to walk so closely with Him that we put our feet in his footprints. When we open our mouths, His word is what we hear. When we are mistreated we respond with grace, love and truth. When injustice comes against us we entrust our souls to God.

When suffering comes through persecution or the mistreatment of unjust men and women we know that we are living in the same story as our Lord. We are walking where He walked.  This is our calling to follow in His steps.

 


 

 

[1] Poe, Edgar Allen The Cask of Amantillado (https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Amontillado.pdf)

[2] Pennington, Jonathan T.. The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary (p. 196). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[3] Ibid, pg. 197.

 


 

 
 

To Tell the Truth

Series: The Sermon on the Mount

Speaker: Pastor Justin Wheeler

Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37

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What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen happen in church? Now, I know that this is an odd question and that your response will largely be influenced by the church tradition that you grew up with. I also know that for many of us the strangest thing that we’ve seen in the church doesn’t really make headlines, because it was an argument over the color of the carpet or something like that. But some of us have seen some really shocking things.

For me the strangest thing I’ve seen happen within the church gathering is a toss-up between my visit to a charismatic church with my friends and the church revivals that I witnessed as a child. In both cases I saw things and heard things that were extremely odd and not even close to Biblical. I’ve seen a church auditorium of 400 people go from what I would consider normal and orderly worship to out of control and unbiblical expressions of “spiritual gifts.” I’ve also seen “evangelists” say and do things that may or may not have been true, but they certainly produced results.

As I’ve gotten to know many of you, I’ve heard some strange stories about your experiences. I’ve heard things that were just plain weird and things that make me sad about the state of the church in our country. But there is a story in the book of Acts about what took place in the early church that easily tops anything I’ve ever seen.

In Acts 5, we read the story of Ananias and Saphira, a couple who owned a piece of property and sold it giving some of the proceeds to the church. But apparently, they weren’t honest about their intentions. The couple decided that they would keep some of the money and give the rest to the church, which was fine; but instead of being honest about it they lied to the Apostles about what they were actually doing.

When the husband came and gave the money, Peter said to him, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land…why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down dead and then a few verses later his wife died as well.

Transition…

Can you imagine walking into church and seeing a husband and his wife being carried out dead; all because they lied. Do you take lying that seriously? Do you put a premium on speaking the truth and nothing but the truth?

The first lie occurred in the Garden in Genesis 3 and from that point forward lying is a sin at the very heart of our fallen human nature. Jesus called Satan the “Father of lies” in John 8:44 and Psalm 116:11 tells us that, “All men are liars.” Our God is a covenant keeper who never lies, but we are covenant breakers who lie naturally and treat it like it is no big deal.

But Jesus wants His followers to be men and women who speak the truth.

Matt 5:33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. 

In this passage Jesus is talking about oaths and vows but the real matter at hand is that He wants us to be people who tell the truth. So this morning I want us to look at three thing related to this passage: The Instruction of Moses, The Ongoing Corruption, and The Simple Truth.

Sermon Focus…

I. The Instruction of Moses (V. 33)

V. 33 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.

Here in this verse, Jesus is not quoting from one OT passage, but rather He is combining a handful of passages that are each aimed at teaching the same thing.

Exo 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Lev 19:11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 

Num 30: 2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 

Deut 23:21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth. 

The intention of these verses is to instruct the people of God to be people who speak the truth. God wants His people to be people of integrity, to be people that others can trust. He wants us to be truth-tellers who say what we mean and mean what we say. In other words, God wants us to be like Him and He never lies (Titus 1:2).

But Moses’ instruction is necessary because by our fallen nature we are not like God, when it comes to speaking the truth we are far more influenced by the one who has been lying from the beginning.

The crowning work of God in creation was the marriage of Adam and Eve. God was pleased with all that He had made and He declared that it was good. But He was so pleased in the creation of Adam and Eve the He declared it was very good. There was a measurable increase in goodness.

Then Satan entered the story as a serpent and his aim was not to corrupt creation from the bottom up but from the top down. Satan focused all of his malice upon the intimacy of the man and woman. But how would he bring down God’s crowning creative achievement? How is Satan going to bring down the pinnacle of God’s creation? By Lying.

In Gen 3:1 - Satan said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

The simple answer is “No, that is not what God said”; but Satan isn’t interested in facts. He asks this question as a way to cause Eve to doubt what God had said. Eve had never had any reason to question if God had told her the truth about the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She had never considered the possibility that God was not telling her the truth, nor that He was limiting her experience of life in any way. But now she is, because of Satan’s lie. Satan is a liar and he wants to destroy all trust in God and God’s Word.

So he asks, “Excuse me dear lady, but did I hear God actually say that there was something in this garden that you aren’t allowed to eat? How could God withhold something from you?” She had never thought that way before. Eve had always had everything she needed and everything she wanted. She had never had any reason to doubt God’s Word nor God’s generosity.

Back up at Gen 1:29 we see just how generous God was with Adam and Eve.

V. 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

She had a whole world of fruit to choose from but Satan’s question causes her heart to fix on the one thing that God told her not to eat. And God even gave her an explanation as to why. He told them that they were not allowed to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because, “In the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” You see God was not only being generous but also protective.

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

“Dear lady, this fruit won’t cause you to die, in fact the real reason God doesn’t want you to eat it is that this fruit has the power to make you just like Him.” 

Satan tempted Eve by calling God’s Word into question and by lying about what God had said. God’s Word has fashioned the universe. God’s Word is purer and more powerful than anything we know. God’s Word is the foundation of all reality, but the serpent challenges Eve’s view of reality by calling God a liar. Satan lied to her and turned her heart away from God.

Satan wanted her to believe that God’s Word was a lie. He wants all of humanity to believe that God’s Word is a lie. He wants to turn the world upside-down…with a lie. From the Garden on throughout all of Biblical history we see that God always speaks the truth and that Satan is the father of lies. One of the key distinctions between the people of God and the unbelieving world is whether or not we believe the truth and speak the truth.

So, this is not just some arbitrary decision that telling the truth is good and lying is bad; being honest, being a person of integrity, and speaking the truth are tied to the very character of God. This flows out of who He is. By contrast, to be dishonest, to twist the truth and to knowingly tell lies is an echo of Satan’s influence in our hearts.

But what does all of this Biblical backstory have to do with what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5? Let’s look at that again.

II. The Ongoing Corruption (Vv. 34-36)

V. 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

So, the immediate context of this passage is about the taking of an oath or a vow, which amounts to a solemn promise. If you were to make a vow or take an oath, you would be making a sincere promise to carry out some task, or to follow up on some responsibility.

But the oath or vow is only as good as the integrity of the person making them. In other words, I can make promises all day but what really matters is whether or not I follow through, will I be a man of my word.

Now the Pharisees saw things a little differently. Once again, they were interested only in the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. So long as they were careful in how they worded their vows, they thought there was no need to be so meticulous about carrying them out. So, they created a system of making vows and oaths in carefully worded ways that justified their lack of integrity.

They had trouble telling the truth consistently, just like you and I do, so in order to guard themselves against being found guilty of swearing falsely by the name of God, it seems that they had firmly established the habit of swearing by everything EXCEPT God.[1]

The Pharisees argued that what the law of Moses was really prohibiting was not taking the name of the Lord in vain but taking the name of the Lord in vain. So, they would make promises but as long as they didn’t mention the name of the Lord they didn’t think it was necessary to keep those promises. They had created a system that allowed them to be righteous in the eyes of the law even though they were dishonest in actual practice and for this Jesus called them hypocrites and blind guides in Matthew 23:16-22:

V. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 

The main point of what Jesus is saying in both of these passages is that it doesn’t matter what verbal formula you use, what matters is whether or not you are going to keep your word. If you make a vow you are bound to keep it. If you make a promise you should do everything in your power to keep it. If we learn to be people of our word, people of honesty and integrity; then there really is no need to make a vow at all. We simply become honest and trustworthy people, like our heavenly father.

So Jesus gets around the issue of Oaths and Vows and makes it very simple for us.

III. The Simple Truth (V. 37)

37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. 

Haddon Robinson’s comments on this passage are helpful.

“If anger was the real issue of murder, lust the real issue of adultery, selfishness the real issue of divorce, then deceit is the real issue of oaths.” He went on to add “Jesus wasn’t addressing whether or not we should take an oath. He was talking about whether or not we are truthful…. We don’t tell the truth because we have taken an oath; we tell the truth because we are truthful.”[2]

Honest people don’t need to swear by anything, they are known for their honesty and their word is enough. That’s what Jesus wants us to understand. He wants us to honest and truthful the way He and the Father are honest and truthful. Jesus wants us to follow Him and to be men and women of integrity.

Think about it, if we said what we meant and meant what we said there would be no need to make lofty promises. If we kept our word, even down to the smallest thing, it might cause us to be slow in speaking which would be a good thing, but it would also eliminate the need for solemn vows because people could simple trust us. This is what Jesus wants from his people. He wants us to live simple and quiet lives of honesty and trustworthiness.

This is something that we are going to have to think about and work hard so that we can grow. We are going to have to work hard to avoid some of the more common ways that we fall into deception and falsehood. So let’s talk about some of the ways we commonly fail to tell the truth.

1. The half-truth: you tell the truth, but not all the truth. This happens when our children get into fight and when we try to get to the bottom of what happened we only get one side of the story.

This also happens when a friend tells you about a fight they had with their spouse and when you ask what happened to cause the fight, they only tell you the terrible things their spouse did, while conveniently leaving out the terrible things they’ve done.

Abraham did this when he claimed that Sarah was his sister. She was his half-sister, but he didn’t mention that she also happened to be his wife! He was being deceitful so that he could protect himself and it happens to us more than we care to admit.

2. The “white” lie: these are the “innocent” lies that “don’t hurt anyone.” You call in sick to work when you’re really well. Just because it is culturally expected doesn’t mean that it is right.

3. The lie to cover for someone else: this doesn’t happen as much today, but before we had cell phones we had something called a home-phone. There were times when someone would call to talk to a friend who happened to be sitting right beside you, but you lied and said, “No, they’re not here right now.”

We might see this at work where a secretary would lie about her boss or supervisor not being in the office, when actually they are avoiding someone or some deadline. Whatever the circumstance we are lying to cover for someone else.

4. Exaggeration: stretching the truth to make yourself look better or to evoke sympathy for your cause. Sometimes it’s an old fish story where we want people to think we are better than we actually are. But at other times this is a form of manipulation that we use to gain people’s sympathy. Either way it’s a lie.

5. The silent lie: have you ever had a person assume something flattering about you that is clearly false, but you don’t speak up to correct it.

6. The cover-up lie: You hide your own wrongdoing with the rationalization that it would hurt the other person too much to find out the real truth.

7. The evasive lie: do you ever change the subject or conveniently dodge the truth by not answering directly. [3]

All of these are common and seemingly simple ways of communication, but as Christians we need to learn to see them for what they are…lies. The intention is to hide the truth, to embellish the situation, to manipulate and deceive so that we can gain favor in someone else’s eyes.

James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. 

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

The truth is that we will fail in our speech, but what should we do when we fail? What happens when we make a promise that we simply cannot keep? What happens when we fail to speak the truth? The first thing we must do is to confess our sin to God. Then we must confess our sin to the person we lied to and finally we must seek to make things right with genuine repentance.

Conclusion…

The Bible is filled with warnings for how our tongues can cause destruction.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

Jesus wants us to be people whose tongues give life. He wants us to be a church whose speech is trustworthy.

I want to challenge you, all of us as a church, to take this matter seriously and to work to grow in the area of telling the truth. I have provided for you a copy of 20 Resolutions on Taming the Tongue written by Sinclair Ferguson. Let me urge you to take this and open your Bible to the book of James and read through these two things together examining the common ways you speak and seeking to grow in speaking the truth in all things.

 


 

 

[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/16-yes-or-no-enough-matthew-533-37

[2] The Christian Salt & Light Company [Discovery House Publishing], p. 156-158

[3] ibid