This sermon emphasizes the importance of living a truthful life based on the teachings of Jesus. It delves into the significance of surpassing external righteousness to internal righteousness, as Jesus taught in Matthew 5, focusing on areas like anger, lust, and honesty in making vows. The speaker highlights the need for Christians to be truthful in all aspects of life, even when faced with challenges or potential losses, as honesty reflects our commitment to following Christ and avoiding deception.

We're going to look into God's word again to see all that Jesus taught. That is our theme for these studies and it's because we have this burden which we received from Matthew 28 verse 19 and 20 to go into every nation make disciples and to teach them Jesus said Everything that I have commanded teach them to do it That means you got to do it ourselves first and then teach others to do not just a few important things, but the word Jesus used was all That I commanded what a phrase that is every single thing that I have taught and commanded it is your responsibility to go into every nation and Proclaim that and the early apostles did that but through the centuries Christian preachers and teachers have slowly Compromised on that and they have left out major sections of what Jesus taught So we're looking at Matthew chapter 5 now And we go today to Matthew 5 verse 33. I was mentioning that this whole section Is an expansion of what Jesus said in Matthew 5 20 Your righteousness must surpass or exceed the quality of The righteousness of the Pharisees which is only external yours must be internal as well Jesus was Expanding the understanding of the Ten Commandments He was saying murder means more than murder. It means anger in the heart He said adultery means more than adultery. It means lusting after a woman in your heart. It means divorcing your wife. That's adultery and Now he goes on to the matter of making vows he said in verse 33 In the Old Testament the law was you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. In other words a vow is something that like today we'd say Swearing something under oath people put their hand on a Bible and say now I'm going to speak the truth What they mean is most of the time I tell lies, but now I'm going to speak the truth That's the meaning of a vow or when you Put your hand on your Bible and swear That's why James it says don't swear You should be speaking the truth all the time. That's what Jesus said here. I Say to you don't make an oath By heaven or by the throne of God or by the Bible don't swear the heaven is the throne of God and the earth is his footstool and Jerusalem is the city of the great king and You must not make an oath by your head because you cannot make one hair white or black in your head But let your statement be yes. Yes or No, no, anything beyond these is of Evil that's quite a strong word anything beyond these is from the evil one What was he saying in the sum and substance of these? Five verses is that we should always be truthful not only with our words we must not be ingenious and clever and Subtle with our words and say legally. I spoke the truth as it were in a court of law we must be basically known as truthful people and Not tell lies to people in anything. Our yes must be yes, and our no must be no Anything other than that is evil if I have to say in a devious way yes or no, there's something wrong there It leads ultimately to hypocrisy So even though the Old Testament, you know, by the way, there was no commandment which said you shall not tell lies If you read the Ten Commandments The commandment in Exodus in chapter 20 was not you shall not tell lies The commandment was you shall not bear false witness the ninth commandment was you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor That's basically referring to a court of law That in a court of law, you don't tell a lie In other words you swear to something you must speak the truth when you're in a court of law that was the standard in the Old Testament because God knew that nobody can keep a command saying you shall not tell lies There was no commandment in the Old Testament saying you shall not lose your temper because God knew nobody could keep it You shall not murder. It was the commandment There was no commandment in the Old Testament, which says don't lust after a woman because God knew nobody could keep it So the commandment was don't commit physical adultery, but in the New Covenant with the gift of the Holy Spirit coming within without the gift of the Holy Spirit's impossible, but when the Holy Spirit comes in a Power comes in like electricity that lights up a light or runs the fan or runs our gadgets Then we can do certain things which we could not do without the power of the Holy Spirit So now it's possible to overcome lust of the eyes. It's possible to overcome anger It's possible to stop shouting at your wife or husband. It's possible to speak the truth Even when we don't swear it's possible to speak the truth all the time Let your yes be yes and your no be no In other words to use a more up-to-date illustration If you have signed a sale deed or any other deed or agreement in a court of law with witnesses And you're very careful To read that agreement before you sign it because you know, you have to keep it. It'll be enforced by the court of law For a Christian his word is as good as that signed agreement Now would you say that's true? I remember once When in my own life, I'd agreed someone wanted to buy something that I was selling in my house it was fairly expensive and He we agreed for a price But he didn't come back to take it for many Months, I think and by the time the value of that thing had gone up and I could have said to him. Hey the value of this has gone up and you didn't take it then But I had agreed to him verbally. I didn't sign an agreement But I had verbally agreed to give it to him for that price and the Lord said to me Let your yes be yes, and your no be no He was a brother in Christ and all the more reason why I wanted to keep my word to him I said sure you can have it For that price, of course, he was delighted. What did I suffer? Maybe a certain loss financially I could have made a few thousand rupees perhaps more By giving it to him at a higher price, but I would have had a bad conscience that I did my yes was not yes It's worth losing a little bit of money To be upright and to be Christlike in our conduct Many areas it's when it comes to money that were tested to see whether we are willing to let our yes be yes And our no be no So God tests us in this area before he can lead us higher. I found in my life many many times God tests me with these commandments to see whether I live According to this in places where I may have to lose something or sacrifice something and Then I discover Whether I really believe it or not. There are many situations where speaking the truth costs us nothing That's there's no test there. But when speaking the truth can perhaps cost you your job Then you are tested by God to see whether God can lead you to higher ministry I believe many of these areas are where God tests us and many many People young people have failed God's tests. I remember once asking the Lord. I said Lord India's got 1,200 million people what a huge population Where are the prophets in this land who speak for you who speak faithfully for you? We have wonderful evangelists But where are the prophets who hold up God's standard in his word in every single area exactly the way Jesus taught and lived and spoke and Here's what the Lord has spoken to me under answer to that question. I Have the Lord says I have prepared many young people To be my prophets in this land But many of them have fallen away Through failing the test Either they go after money or they join up with some American Christian organization to get a better salary Or they marry the wrong person or they are unfaithful In with their eyes or their tongue and they don't take sin seriously And so by the time they could have become prophets they are unfit and I have to set them aside And that has happened to so many. I believe it's happened to hundreds of people. I Myself have seen wonderful zealous young people when I was a young man, and where are they today fallen by the wayside? There's been a tremendous loss for God He doesn't force anybody To be his faithful servant. I believe he wants you and me to be faithful servants of his but whether you're going to be faithful or not whether you're going to stick to the standards of God's Word or whether you're gonna be a compromiser to please people Will determine whether you ever become a true servant of God or not if I seek to please men I cannot be the servant of Christ Galatians 110 is absolutely clear I remember I had that verse written on a little wooden plaque and I kept it in my sitting room before me for 25 years I watched it and watched it every day if I seek to please men I cannot be the servant of Christ till it was drilled into my mind. I don't need it in front of me Now I know it in my heart, but this is a very important principle If you ever seek to please men, I can tell you in Jesus name. You will never be a servant of God So don't ever seek to please men seek to please God Jesus spent those 30 years Seeking to please his father and he got a certificate at the end. The question is not whether men think you're truthful. That's my point That can God say about you that your yes is always yes, and your no is always no Think for a situation, for example, if you are working in an office and Maybe there's an expensive machine there which you accidentally misused and spoiled And the thing doesn't work now But nobody saw you doing it many people use that machine and little later on maybe the next day somebody discovers that things not working and The authorities come around the boss comes and says who spoils this machine And you know, it was you But you keep quiet because there's no way they can find out a Lot of people were using it who used it last and you keep quiet You think you haven't told a lie you didn't open your mouth, but you did tell a lie You told a lie without opening your mouth You did not admit that you were the one who used it last and spoilt it in some way and Therefore you keep your job Maybe if you had confessed it They'd have sacked you from the job because it is an expensive machine Which is more important at that time? The devil comes to you at that time and says a lie is almighty And if you tell a lie, you can preserve your job and be here And at the same time the Holy Spirit whispers to your heart. No a lie is not almighty God is almighty. And if you trust God in this situation and speak the truth Maybe you will lose your job But God will give you a better one Do you have that faith? It is in such situations that we are tested I'm not speaking in theory Many many times God has tested me in different things in this area in these different areas to see not Whether I'm clever and ingenious to find my way out of some situation, but whether I'm honest and willing to pay a price for speaking the truth and That is how he anointed me and gave me a ministry to speak the truth from the pulpit irrespective of the cost I Believe God wants many many Prophets of God in the pulpits and Christendom today who will speak the truth Irrespective of the cost if they get thrown out of here or thrown out of there or thrown out of anywhere or despised rejected misunderstood criticized falsely accused anything But it will speak the truth and the way God will prepare you for that ministry is by testing you in the ordinary circumstances of life To see whether you will speak the truth In different circumstances in your secular job Even if you had to pay a price for it and lose your job for it I'll lose money for it because you stand for the truth So this is a very important area the Holy Spirit Will is called the spirit of truth. Let me read to you what Jesus spoke about the spirit of truth in John chapter 16 He said the spirit of truth John 16 13 will guide you into all the truth He will not speak on his own initiative he will disclose you what is to come He will lead you into all the truth I want my life to be totally truthful from head to foot in my entire inner being Because that's what it means to follow Jesus Jesus. I am the truth So often even Christian preachers are diplomatic in their way. They speak to others. They say if I say it like this well That could cause a little problem. And so I become diplomatic, you know that Jesus was never diplomatic He always spoke the truth straight out. I Don't mean he was rude and I don't believe we should be rude But he was not diplomatic for any personal gain. I believe we should be gracious and Considerate in speaking the truth. I'm not asking you to be rude to people I mean if someone is ugly, you don't tell that person you're ugly and say I'm speaking the truth Tell someone you're fat That's rudeness. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about speaking the truth where It's gonna affect you We are always gracious when we speak to other people and but we must be truthful when it comes to ourselves Do you know that the Holy Spirit leads us into all the truth and the first sin? That was judged in the early church was the sin of dishonesty not the sin of covetousness In Acts chapter 5 we read of Ananias and Sapphira who saw so many people Selling their lands and bringing it to the Apostles feet as we read in Acts 4 34 a lot of people are doing that and Ananias and Sapphira also wanted the reputation in the church of being wholehearted surrendered to God completely so they also sold a bit of their land and And But they didn't give the whole thing let's assume they sold the land for a hundred thousand rupees and They kept back fifty thousand rupees and gave fifty percent They brought fifty percent to the church now if somebody sold their property today and brought fifty percent of their sale proceeds to God You would call that person a wholehearted Christian people don't even give ten percent of their sale price to God Here's somebody who gave him fifty percent. Why was he killed? Not because of what he gave or didn't give But because he told a lie He stood in the line in the queue with others Kept his mouth shut as if people were leaving their money in the Apostles We he also left this money and moved on as he moved on Peter said Ananias come back here God gave Peter discernment. This guy's a liar And he told him When this land was yours acts 5-4 it was your own nobody asked you to sell it God doesn't want your money or your land everybody's giving it voluntarily and After you sold it the money was still yours Nobody's asked you to give 50% or even 10% or even 1% Why have you thought of this you have told a lie to God? But Ananias could have said I never opened my mouth. I never said a word You know, you can tell a lie to God without opening your mouth He was just standing in line putting the money there the Apostles feet and moving on never opened his mouth But in that action was a lie This is hypocrisy to pretend you can come to fellowship in a church and pretend to be wholehearted like all the others you're a liar If you sit with people pretending to be wholehearted like the others and you're not wholehearted. You're a liar Even though you didn't open your mouth You can say sing to Jesus take my silver and my gold not a mic would I withhold Because you're singing along with all the others the tune is nice the words are nice, but you may be an absolute liar because you don't mean it a Lot of Christians tell more lies to God on Sunday than any other day of the week with the songs they sing All to Jesus I surrender you haven't surrendered all you're a liar Now you may not hear a preacher tell you the truth But you need to hear it because it is the truth if you have surrendered all to Christ say it Otherwise keep your mouth shut or to say Lord. I want to surrender all I haven't done it all that's more honest it doesn't matter if it doesn't fit in with the tune that others are singing you be honest with God and Likewise later on his wife comes and does says the same thing. It was that lying you can tell a lie without opening your mouth and What is the consequence of this It says in 2nd Thessalonians and chapter 10 to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 and Verse 10 those who don't receive the love of the truth Notice this expression loving the truth is more than speaking the truth I Can speak the truth, but a higher level is to love the truth. I have such a tremendous longing To speak the truth that I love it, and I don't want to ever have any lie in me If I don't receive the love of the truth To be saved from all lying it says in a second Thessalonians 2 verse 11 that God himself will deceive me That's one of the most fearsome verses fearful verses in the New Testament That if you don't love the truth Dear friend let me tell you straight to your face God Almighty will deceive you Almighty God will deceive you Satan is a deceiver Your lust deceive you your heart is deceitful on top of that if Almighty God who's your only hope of? Protection from deception if he also decides to deceive you there is no hope for you And it says here in 2nd Thessalonians 2 11 God will make you believe. What is false He'll make you believe that you're born again when you're not born again He'll make you believe that you're filled with the Holy Spirit when you're not filled with the Holy Spirit Who not the devil God? Why? because of one reason You don't receive the love of the truth You know the first sin mentioned in the Bible. What is the first sin that you see in the Bible a lie? When Satan told a lie to Eve saying you shall not die That's the first sin Mentioned in the Bible. It's a lie. What's the last sin mentioned in the Bible you turn to Revelation and Chapter 22 and you see they're Lying that is the last sin in Revelation 22 15 those who practice lying are outside So the first sin in the last sin mentioned in the Bible a lie is lying the first sin judged in the early church was lying The people whom God deceives deceives are those who don't love the truth So it's very important for us to take this seriously Let your yes be yes And your no be no That protects us from deception Jesus said I am the way Well, we all appreciate that we acknowledge Jesus is the way I am the life He said we appreciate that we want the life of Jesus But he also said I am the truth. I'm reality They couldn't have this in the Old Testament, you know David says in Psalm 51 In Psalm 51 where he makes his confession after sinning with Bathsheba. This is what he says Psalm 51 and verse 6 Lord I realize You desired truth in the innermost being I don't have it I've been a hypocrite. I could kill Goliath I could defeat the Philistines But I was a hypocrite in my heart I sinned with Bathsheba tried to cover it up by First of all getting her husband to go to her bed that day. I didn't succeed there then I got rid of the husband and married her Lord I realize you desired truth the innermost being and I don't have it This is one of the wonderful things we can have today because of the Holy Spirit the spirit of truth Will make us truthful all the way to the innermost Being of our life of our heart in Revelation chapter 14. It speaks about certain people who are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion Revelation 14 a group of overcomers who follow the Lamb wherever he goes Revelation 14 4 and one characteristic about them is Revelation 14 5 no lie was found in their mouth The children of Israel children of men are liars from the time they are born. We read that nice Psalm 58 But here is a group of people Who are completely delivered from lying so that there is no life found in their whole system They have become like Jesus full of truth So I want to encourage you Dear brothers and sisters and my dear friends. We need to cleanse ourselves from every type of lying And I'll tell you this even if you have to pay a price for speaking the truth If you stand for the truth and you decide that you're going to eliminate lying from your life 100% your life will be clean you'll be able to see God and You will never be deceived in all your life By any of the deceptions that are going around in Christendom today, you will know the truth Because God himself will show you the truth and you will you will never be deceived about your spiritual condition Let's pray Heavenly Father Once again, we thank you for your word Thank you for your goodness to us and giving us your word So clearly and simply in Jesus name