Truth or Consequences

MAY 13, 2020 STUDY NOTES JAMES 5:12 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES INTRODUCTION Truth or consequences was a popular game show on TV for many years Contestants had only a few seconds to answer a trivia question correctly If they could not give the correct answer, they would then face the consequences James tells us that Christians also face the fact of truth or consequences in our daily life But it is not a game show, it is a reality show, revealing who we really are If we do not reveal the truth of who we are, we face the consequences James is coming-to the conclusion of his letter, but he is still correcting the tongue James is still concerned about the use and abuse of the tongue A subject that has been a part of every chapter Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Jas 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. Jas 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Jas 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. Jas 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. The correct use of the tongue is “don’t swear,” but pray, praise, worship, confess faults, witness James is going to tell us to use the tongue for the restoration of a brother who goes astray James has also strongly taught us concerning our daily Christian attitude We are to remain Christ-like in all circumstances of life, even in times of affliction In all that we do, do it in Christ-like character, in all that we say, say it in a Godly manner In the conclusion of this letter, James puts it all together for us: attitude, speech, and deeds Jas 5:12 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 begins with “But,” connecting it with what was said before Where James has counseled us to be patient and not complain about our circumstances or others “Above all things” has the thought of importance, give me your undivided attention James says all that he has to say about “swearing” in one verse, but he says pay attention Pay special attention to what I am saying, it is of utmost importance Listen and obey or you will face the consequences Evidently there was a problem within the church family concerning oath-taking The misuse of the practice of swearing by an oath and then keeping that promise James identifies why he is so concerned, he speaks to the “brethren” my brethren, James has a personal interest in them, he is personally concerned about them His words to them are justified because of their relationship “in Christ” It is important that we know who we are and how we are to live Our daily life should be a signed statement, confirming that we are saved Our daily life should give forth the evidence of our new life in Christ James is telling us to just live a normal Christian life, that which is expected of a Christian There should be nothing but total honesty, strict truthfulness, and no half-truths James is telling us that the Christian should be totally honest in all things Paul also instructs the Christian to be honest, Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. The reason we are to be truthful to our neighbor is because of who we are Satan influences us to lie, the Holy Spirit influences us to tell the truth Paul said that lying is a deed of the old nature and must be “put off,” Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; James is correcting them concerning oath-taking because they were not being truthful swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, “Swear not” is not a reference to what we call profanity, taking God’s name in vain James is not referring to dirty talk, filthy jokes, or four-letter words Filthy language should not be a part of the Christian’s vocabulary Which Paul speaks of in, Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. “Corrupt communication” includes cursing but refers to more than cursing or profanity The “mouth” can be filled with cursing, Rom 3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: “Corrupt communication” can also be worthless speech, words that are no good when spoken Which is exactly what James is concerned about, the speaking of worthless words Paul calls it “foolish talking,” Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. There are many sins of the tongue that come under the meaning of “foolish talking” Paul says, “which are not convenient,” meaning something that is out of place James is correcting their oath-taking because it was out of place, James said, “swear not” The meaning of to “swear” was to confirm a statement or a promise with an oath An oath was to confirm that what a person had said was true To emphasize the truthfulness of what has been said or to back up a promise or vow An oath is making an appeal to God, or to something held sacred, to support your words God was being called upon to witness the truth of what a person had said Calling upon God to confirm what has been said, whether it is true or not Taking an oath is saying, if I am not telling the truth then I expect to be punished The swearing of an oath served as a binding agreement between people Why would such an oath even be necessary? Why would anyone question the word of another person? Because our world is filled with the lies of fallen man, man’s character is questionable What do you expect from the children of this world whose father is a liar? Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. If we lived in an honest society no oath-taking would be necessary In our society today even words sworn by an oath are not always trustworthy You do not have to teach children how to be dishonest or to lie, it is of their nature Sinful man has-to be influenced or pressured to tell the truth The problem James is dealing with is using an oath to hide the truth within their heart Which is a form of hypocrisy and within the practice of profanity James had listened to what Jesus had to say about swearing by an oath, Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Jesus is not dealing with the question of whether we should take an oath or not There were some Jews using oaths to deceive others, attempting to cover up their lies The Jews were known for swearing through something other than the name of God Thinking that to swear by heaven or earth was not as binding as swearing by the name of God They were comfortable with covering up a lie through such an oath as heaven or earth But they feared the consequences of covering up a lie through using God’s name in an oath Their thinking seemed to be that God would only get involved if His name were mentioned If you took an oath in His name you were asking Him to get involved The truth is, God is involved whether we have invited His attention or not You are not going to get by telling God, “I had my fingers crossed” “Little white lies” are not sanctified in the eyes of God Jesus said, “Do not swear at all,” He explains why He said that Do not swear by Heaven because it is God’s throne Do not swear by earth because it is God’s footstool Do not swear by Jerusalem because it is the city of the “Great King” (it has not changed) Do not swear by your own head because it is in God’s hands His point is that we must be truthful in all that we say, James is telling us the same thing Taking an oath should not be our motive for telling the truth We are not to tell the truth just because we have taken an oath We are to tell the truth because we are a Christian, Christ is our motive for truthfulness We do not involve God in our words because of an oath, but because of Christ in us, Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Speaking the truth is to be the truth of our life wherever we are and before whoever we speak too Our standard of speech is to be the same whether we are in church or in the-midst of sinners If you want to impress a sinful world do not talk like they do, talk like a Christian To swear by an oath should not be necessary for the Christian neither by any other oath: Christians should be able to affirm or deny something without an oath Our word should speak strong enough without using an oath The truthfulness of the words of a Christian should not have to be guaranteed Yes and No should not have to be confirmed by a witness The word of a Christian should always be truthful The point of James is that we are to be totally honest in what we say and do The fact that an oath is required in the court of law today is a sad commentary It shows us the potential evil of our society today, telling us how easy it is for people to lie today So, does this verse prohibit the Christian from taking an oath in the courtroom? Is it wrong for the Christian to take a courtroom oath, “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God?” The answer is no, the Bible does not condemn honest, meaningful, or judicial oaths Abraham received an oath from God, Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. God confirmed a promise to David with an oath, Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that G od had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; So, it is not wrong to take an oath when called upon to give a testimony in court It is not wrong to take an oath when making a commitment to serve God or others Such as the custom to take an oath when getting married, better not lie at that time The Bible condemns false oaths attempting to cover up what should be revealed The emphasis of James is upon the everyday relations of the Christian It has to do with our daily witness for Christ in a sinful world that rejects Christ but let your yea be yea; James instructs the Christian to be of honest integrity and to speak words of credibility “Let” indicates that we have a personal responsibility and it is our choice “Your,” indicates that we are responsible for our choice because we are a Christian Truth is to be natural, as simple as the normal meaning of yes and no “Yes” should be plain and simple--“Yes” simply means “Yes” With no need of someone to witness it and your nay, nay; “No” is to be plain and simple and there should be no question marks There should be no further need of explanation and no need of exaggeration You do not have to exaggerate to make the truth sound better You do not have to make attempts for truth to impress others, truth speaks for itself We must realize that a half-truth is a whole lie, to stretch the truth is also a lie Truth and nothing but the truth is our Christian duty, say what you mean and mean what you say And then there is no need for any other statement, yes should mean yes and no should mean no You do not have to cross your heart and hope to die But you do need to listen to what James says lest ye fall into condemnation. We must keep in mind that James speaks to the “brethren,” those who are saved Falling into condemnation does not refer to an eternal damnation in hell You are not going to lose your salvation if you tell a lie, but your lie is not going to be overlooked Lying or committing any other sin will come under the chastening hand of God Which James is going to discuss in the following verses, in the closing words of this letter Christians must keep in mind the day when they will stand face to face with Jesus, Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. “Idle words” are words saying one thing but meaning something else Which may not appear to be of much concern to some people But Jesus said it is a matter of concern because you are accountable before God for every word We must speak truth and live the truth, Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Learn the truth, and let your life represent truth, at all-times Through all kinds of circumstances, through the good days and the bad days Judgment can come from the world because of our unfaithful words You will be judged by others because you are not truthful and cannot be trusted You can become known as a hypocrite because you are not truthful at all times CONCLUSION We all need examples to follow, especially when we face trials As Christians we are to glorify God in all things, even in our times of trials We glorify God by living the truth of the Christian life Christians must be an example of truth, truth in all that we say or do The world is watching to see if our faith is genuine, are we telling them the truth? Our witness for Christ can be the most effective when we are faithful in our trials The world must see the truth of our faith, Psa 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. We must be a witness to the world, the truth of faith is a powerful witness Listen to the song, meditate upon the message, and pray that you will be a true witness for Christ LET ME BE YOUR WITNESS