But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. (James 5:12)
WHY THIS NOW?
At first it may seem surprising that this particular subject should bee set before us at this point. Indeed some may even wonder at its importance at all in an epistle such as this. Though its importance at first may seem remote, those of us who have faith in God, His Word, and His Wisdom do have an advantage. We can begin by knowing already that there is a reason for its being here, and a connection with the running theme of the epistle. For we know that there is nothing more beautiful than His heavenly order and design.
LET US GO CAREFULLY AND LEARN
It is for us then, to ask and receive, seek and find, knock to have it opened unto us. We must be careful not to be hasty with our judgment or interpretation of God’s Word, or His intent in giving us that Word. We have already learned from this epistle that we should be swift to hear but slow to speak. Oh, how often we dishonor our Lord by our quick remarks, or snap judgments, or hasty interpretations. We must learn to go slowly, and prayerfully, and carefully, for the results of our going will either honor or dishonor our Lord. At times, I fear, we are more interested to protect our own reputations and name than we are to glorify His.
TOP PRIORITY
The way the subject of our present text is introduced certainly calls for a careful consideration of the teaching that follows. “But above all things, my brethren …” Who can ignore such an introduction? To say, above all things, is to say that it is first, prior to all things. No other place in the epistle does he so clearly declare priority to the subject he is introducing. With due consideration, we should not pass over it lightly.
ITS OUR SPEECH AGAIN
The subject of our text deals with swearing or the declaring of oaths. We are instructed to, “swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath.”
First, we recognize here another reference to our speech, or the things that come out of our mouth. We have already pointed out how many times in this epistle we have been instructed concerning our speaking and the things we say. Our Lord pointed out the truth concerning the matter of our speaking when He said, “Out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt. 12:34-36) Thus we can see the importance of guarding our mouth and the way we use it.
A COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD
Another thing we will recognize is that this is in clear harmony with what our Lord Jesus taught. Jesus addresses this subject in that portion of Scripture referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, beginning at Matthew 5:17, and on through the 5th chapter. I will briefly highlight some of the things a study of these scriptures would show.
CONCERNING RIGHTEOUSNESS
1. The understanding and observance of this teaching is an important part of our personal righteousness. (Matt. 5:20)
YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD
2. The teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning the practice of making oaths was erroneous. They both added to and subtracted from the Word of God concerning this matter until the true intent and spirit of the Law were completely lost. (Matt. 5:33)
BUT I SAY UNTO YOU
3. Our Lord is concerned that we understand the spirit and intent of the commandment and that we observe its teaching for righteousness sake. (Matt. 5:34-37)
SWEAR NOT
4. The practice of swearing, the declaring of the extracting of oaths in all ordinary, day to day communications and conversations is to be strictly avoided. (Matt. 5:34)
IT COMETH OF EVIL
5. Our communication and conversation should be honest, open, and positive. The necessity and practice of adding an oath to confirm our veracity comes of evil. (Matt. 5:37)
A QUALIFICATION
In my 4th point above I qualified the statement by the words; “all ordinary day to day communications and conversations.” I did so purposely because a thorough study of the Word indicates that God does not denounce the oath altogether, but He reserves its use to holy, solemn, and formal occasions. God actually honored and commanded the use of an oath under certain circumstances in the Old Testament. In the New Testament both our Lord and His apostles on occasions used or respected the used of oaths. We are also told that God confirmed His Word with an oath. (Heb 6:17)
OUR WORD SHOULD BE RELIABLE
What our Lord is endeavoring to teach is that our word should be good and reliable without an oath. The reason oaths came into use in ordinary day to day conversation is because of the habit of men to exaggerate and lie. People become so careless and glib with their talk that they as much as announce their words are not reliable except on those occasions when they say, “I swear.”
It was not just a habit of the ancient Jews. We are as guilty today. Many of today’s common expressions have grown out of the tendency either to make an oath or to extract or demand an oath. “I swear to God,” “In the name of heaven,” “For heaven’s sake,” “What in God’s name are you doing?”, “Cross my heart and hope to die,” “On my mother’s grave,” “Honest to God,” “On a stack of Bibles.” And we could go on and on. We will not mention the more profane swearing and cursing which so clearly shows so little regard for holy things. But let us, brethren, take heed how we speak.
OUR LORD’S INJUNCTION
This is the kind of thing our Lord is denouncing. “I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.” (Matt. 5:34-36)
A WICKED PRACTICE
A common expression among us today is that “talk is cheap.” The fact that it is true is very sad. Promises often turn out to be lies, and exaggerations often grow into lies. Our word is no longer binding unless we have added an oath. The Pharisees had gone so far as to consider some oaths binding and some not binding. How wicked! To swear by the temple, they taught, was not binding. To swear by the gold of the temple was binding. To swear by the altar was nothing, but to swear by the gift upon the altar is everything. (Matt. 23:16-22) No wonder our Lord pronounced woe upon those blind hypocrites!
WHOSE CHILDREN ARE WE?
Our words must not be cheap, brethren. Our speech must be straight, honest, and reliable, as children of our Father which is in heaven. Our yea must be yea and our nay must be nay. “Whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil”. (Matt. 5:37)
If we know, let’s say we know. If we don’t know, let’s say we don’t know. If we know but are bound to secrecy, let’s say we know but cannot tell. We are children of God so let us speak the truth. The devil is a liar and the father of lies. Jesus Christ is truth! There should be no need to swear if our word is always reliable. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit!
THE NEED TO SWEAR INDICATES DEEPER PROBLEMS
Not only is the necessity of swearing a sign of low credibility, it is also a sign of sinful pride. Shall we take the holy things that belong to God and use them to decorate our unholy manner of speaking? God forbid! Often it is a sign of impatience. Often we want to add an oath in our impatient desire to impress people of our genuine sincerity, when really only time will prove to them how genuine we really are. If indeed we really are sincere.
IN HONOR TO GOD
Is it not then plain to see why James was directed to write these words at this time? “But above all things, my brethren, swear not…. lest ye fall into condemnation.” He has been teaching about such things as patience, humility, and wisdom from above, virtues that would call us to live carefully and prayerfully before God and men. These virtues can be spoiled by a careless and glib tongue.