A False Promise?A False Promise?

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Matthew 23  16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. (NIV)

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Matthew 2316-22 You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

Pharisees said there were

two kinds of promises:

•Promises you must keep

•Promises you can break

Jesus condemned them

for being hypocrites

None of us would ever

make a promise we don’t

really intend to keep...

Mean What You Say

• As people swore or vowed by things related to God instead of by God himself, more and more things became substitutes for the divine name and thus became clever ways of seeming to swear to God but really not.

• JESUS “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord (Num 30:2).’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all... Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

Common Promises Most People Break

• Newly-weds: “I will always cherish you as God’s greatest gift to me.”

• Brand new parent: “I will always love you unconditionally.”

• New hire: “You will never regret giving me this opportunity. I will never let you down.”

• Christian: “God, if You get me out of this jam, I will give it all away and go wherever You send me.”

Simply say what you mean and mean

what you say. Demonstrate integrity.

Make fewer promises and more good

decisions. Strive for consistency.

When you fail, don’t make excuses.

Come clean and seek forgiveness.