Dealing With Your Word. | Upside Down Kingdom Ep.9

Orchard Church | Pastor Jim Jackson

Upside Down Kingdom Pt. 9 Dealing With Your Word Matthew 5:33-37

Swear to the God ABOVE In most ancient cultures, to invoke a god’s name was to say something about that god’s character (Deut. 18:20). In Egypt, taking an oath in a god’s name was binding, but as those gods didn’t exist, breaking it had no divine consequences. Israel was allowed to take oaths in the LORD’s name (Heb. YHWH, Ex. 3:14) but never falsely, rendering Him as also non-existent (c. 1440 BC; Lev. 19:12; Deut. 6:13-15; 20:10). Names are a picture of a person’s personality, position, and power. Israel was to be a light to the nations about the true God (Deut. 26:18, 19). So, Israel wasn’t to use God’s name as profanity, which was blasphemy (‘to treat with irreverence or as common’). When God’s name was uttered, especially in business or in reference to the truth of a matter, it was to guarantee authenticity and integrity. To use YHWH to lie (‘in vain’) in business or in a legal matter, caused the harmed person to dishonor the true God and brought judgment on the violator (Ex. 20:7; Matt. 12:36, 37). Names represent the character of families, teams, cities, nations, and ultimately God. God’s family is to represent their family Name well!

Represent the God WITHIN By the time of Jesus (30 AD), Jews were using God’s name in a way that devalued His character. To correct this, Jesus tells his disciples not to swear an oath by God at all. But they were to have such godly character that their words could be believed without an oath. Christians are ‘small-Christ’ versions, in that they represent Jesus both in name and in action. Christians are the most like Christ when they resemble Christ the most! As believers have the true God living in their heart, they should be acting that way in the world. The God of integrity on the inside should produce believers of integrity on the outside (John 14:23; Eph. 3:17)! Words are an extension of a person both for good or for evil (Luke 6:45). Christians are to be ambassadors to a lost world that needs to experience the true Jesus through true believers (2 Cor. 5:18-20). True believers are the truest example of the true God when they truly act in truth (John 8:31, 32)! Lying and manipulation aren’t from God. For Christians, their word should be their bond and their promise should be their guarantee—at home, at work, at school, and at play. For the Christian, what gets said is what gets done (Ps. 15:1-5; Prov. 12:22)!