August 31, 2014 | Bob Bartlett
Passage: Matthew 5:33-37
“Keepers of the Word” Matthew 5:33-37
Red Letter Case for Christianity Series
Psalm 15:4 “who keeps his word even when it hurts.”
Quaker version; atheist version; “You do affirm that all the testimony you are about to give in the case now before the court will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; this you do affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury?”
Why we lie:
- To protect ourselves:
- To promote ourselves:
- To avoid confrontation.
- To deceive others.
Because God already sees and knows what the truth is:
- To swear an oath in some part: Denies God’s omnipresence. He lives as a witness to my life.
- Malachi 2:14 (marriage) “the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife”
- To swear an oath in some part: Denies God’s – omniscience. He knows the truth; even the motives behind my actions.
Authentic Christianity(s) keep God’s Word.
Jeremiah 15:16 “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.”
- If I profess, if I bear the name Christ as Lord and do not keep his word then my life is a lie and I am living a lie.
- To not hold to God’s Word is not truth and is not truthful living
Ephesians 4:15 “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”
Authentic Christianity(s) keep their Word.
Psalm 15:2 “who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart…(4)“who keeps his oath even when it hurts,”
- Because they know it is the greatest reflection of their God who keeps His Word.
When we keep God’s Word, and when we keep our word it is the best testimony to the truth of God and the truth of God as a covenant keeper.