James: A Letter from Jesus’ Brother
Lying – James 5:12
One of the most frightening stories in the New Testament is the story of Ananias and Saphira. In the book of Acts, many in the church were poor and without food, clothing, and shelter. And so because Jesus was such a treasure to them, many in the early church gladly sold property and gave the money to the apostles to help the poor.
And Ananias and Saphira had some property, and they sold it. But they lied about how much they were giving. They had sold it for maybe 400,000 denarii. But when they came to the apostles, they said – we are giving everything we got; all 200,00 denarii of it (when in fact they had sold it for 400,000).
Now the problem was not how much they gave; they could have given as much or as little as they wanted. The problem was that they lied. And because they lied, God killed both of them on the spot.
Lying is serious. And as James brings his letter to a close, he wants to remind his readers about the seriousness of lying. So let’s turn to James 5:12. If you need a Bible, please go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. James 5:12 is on page 1013 in the Bibles we are passing out.
We’ve been spending the summer studying a letter that James wrote at around the year 44 AD, to a group of believers who had to flee Jerusalem to escape persecution. They settled maybe 70 miles north of Jerusalem, and James writes this letter to strengthen them in trusting Jesus, to encourage them in trusting Jesus, and also warn them not to turn from Jesus. And one of the warnings he brings has to do with lying.
Look at what James writes in James 5:12 --
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
So this verse has three parts. First, there’s what James calls us not to do; then there’s what James calls us to do; and finally James tells us why.
So what does James call us not to do? Read the first phrase again --
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath …
Now when James talks about swearing he’s not talking about saying something vulgar or profane. He’s talking about backing up what you are saying by appealing to a higher authority. It’s like when I was a juror in court a few months ago: every witness had to swear “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God.” They all swore, by God, to tell the truth.
But what’s puzzling is that James says that we should not swear, but then in the Old Testament we are told that we should swear by God, and in the New Testament we see Paul swearing by God. For example, look at Deu 6:13 –
It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
And in the New Testament we see Paul backing up what he is saying by appealing to God. Look at what Paul writes in 2Cor 1:23 –
But I call God to witness against me--it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.
So in the Old and New Testaments we see that its OK to back up what you are saying by appealing to God.But James says that we are not to swear – we are not to back up our statements by appealing to heaven or earth. So what’s he saying? What helped me was to look at what Jesus taught in Matthew 23:16-17 –
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
The religious leaders of the time had thought up ways to avoid telling the truth. They said that if you swore by the temple you could lie. But if you swore by the gold of the temple – then you had to tell the truth. It’s like what we did when I was growing up. If we said something with our fingers crossed, or while we were stepping on a crack, then we could lie.
That’s what James is talking about. Some of James’ readers thought that if you swore by God, then you had to tell the truth; but if you swore by something less, like heaven or earth, then you could lie.
So that’s what James is talking about in the beginning of v.12. Let’s read it again:
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath [like heaven or earth or crossing your fingers or stepping on a crack].
So what James is saying is – don’t rationalize or justify your lying; don’t lie.
So what is James calling us to do? Look at the second part of v.12 –
… but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no …
So what does that mean?
Picture it like this. Over here is reality, and over here are your words. James says that if we say “yes” with our words, then it should be because there’s a “yes” in reality. Let’s say you are in a restaurant which has a cheaper menu for kids under 9 years old, and they ask if your children are all under 9. If you say “yes,” it should be because the answer is “yes” -- in reality: your kids are all under 9. So our words should always match reality. Our words should always be the truth.
But the problem is that there’s lots of times when we’re tempted to not tell the truth. Like sometimes we’re tempted to exaggerate a story to make a better impact on people. Over here is reality – what really happened. And over here is my story – what I tell people happened. And too often they don’t match up.
Like maybe there was an accident on the 85 and my commute was an hour and a half. That’s reality. But if my words say that my commute was 2 ½ hours – then my words don’t match reality, my “yes” is not yes, and I’m not telling the truth.
Or sometimes we’re tempted to make an excuse in order to shift the blame from ourselves. I remember when I was in high school and my car was getting some repairs and I had a rental. And I was dying to see how fast that rental car would go. And I found out that it went really fast.
But a Highway Patrol officer didn’t like that, and pulled me over. And he asked me if I was speeding. And I made an excuse – said I was just going with the flow of traffic. And he just pulled out his pad of paper and said – you were making the traffic flow.
So here’s reality – I was definitely speeding and making the traffic flow; but here’s my words – that I was just going with the flow of traffic. My words didn’t match reality; I was not telling the truth.
Or sometimes we’re tempted to falsify information to get something or not lose something. Like if in reality your deductions are really $5,000, but on your tax return they somehow become $10,000. Your words don’t match reality; you’re not telling the truth.
So do you see how often we are tempted to lie? But James says let your “yes” be yes, and your ‘no” be no – always tell the truth. Now this doesn’t mean I can always speak my mind no matter what the situation. We need to stir this in with Jesus’ call for us to be kind and encouraging and loving. But what James is calling us to do is – don’t lie; tell the truth.
So how does James motivate us not to lie? That’s the last part of v.12. Let’s read the whole verse to get the flow of thought –
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
That’s why we should not lie – because if we pursue lying, if we continue lying without repentance, without confession, without change – then we will fall under condemnation – God’s condemnation.
All through God’s Word we read that lying receives God’s condemnation. For example, look at what we read in Revelation 21:6-8 –
6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Here’s a picture of God’s condemnation – a lake that burns with fire and sulfur. And notice that liars – those who continue in lying without repentance, without confession, without change – will face God’s condemnation in the lake of fire.
But what is so serious about lying? Why would lying receive such harsh judgment? To answer that turn to Isa 57:11. God is talking to Israel, and look at what He says:
Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not lay it to heart?
Whenever we lie, it’s because we are not remembering God; we have knowingly and willingly forgotten God. Look also at Jer 9:3 --
They bend their tongue like a bow [that’s lying]; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD.
So whenever we lie, we have forgotten God; we have willingly chosen not to know God; we have chosen not to trust God.
Now you might balk at that. You might say “How am I not trusting God?” Let me show you. Turn to Psalm 84:11. There’s a promise in Psalm 84:11 that’s repeated in different words all through the Old and New Testaments. Look at what God promises –
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Now walking uprightly includes telling the truth. So here God promises that if you walk uprightly, including telling the truth, then God will withhold no good thing from you. Or to put it another way, if you walk uprightly, including telling the truth, then God will give you everything that would be good for you.
So what does that have to do with lying? Everything.
Whenever we lie it’s because we think there’s some good thing that we can only get by lying. Why do you lie about how big the fish was that you caught? Because you want the good of impressing people. Why lie to the restaurant manager about how old your kids are? Because you want the good of a cheaper restaurant bill. Why lie on your tax forms? Because you want the good of more money. Why lie about why you’re late for work? Because you want the good of not upsetting your boss. Every time we lie it’s because we think there’s some good thing that we will only get by lying.
But God has said we will get every good thing by trusting Him to give it to us as we tell the truth. So when we lie – we are not trusting God’s promise. When we lie, we are choosing to forget what God has promised. When we lie, we have intentionally turned out backs on what God has said.
That’s why lying is so serious. And that’s why if we continue to pursue lying, without confession, without repentance, then we will face God’s judgment. Not because we have lost our salvation. But because if we never repent, that shows we’ve never had salvation.
So how can we stop lying? The answer is found at the end of Psalm 84:11 – read it again – “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Now this might make some of you feel hopeless, because you see how you don’t walk uprightly. But here’s the good news. Walking uprightly does not mean being perfect. No one is perfect this side of heaven.
Walking uprightly means trusting Jesus. It means turning back to God, confessing my sinfulness, including my lying, and trusting that through Jesus He will forgive me for all my sins. So walking uprightly means trusting Jesus. And as I do that I will grow in obeying Jesus. That’s what it means to walk uprightly.
And because I am walking uprightly, God will withhold no good thing from me. That is an amazing promise. If I am trusting Jesus, forgiven by Jesus, being changed by Jesus – God will withhold no good thing from me. Which means I will have every good thing I need. I will not miss even one thing that would have been good for me. No – God Himself will give me everything that would be good for me.
And when we trust God to do this, we will stop lying. Because, as we saw, the only reason we lie is because we think lying is the only way we can get some good. But now we see that as we walk uprightly, trusting Jesus, which includes telling the truth, God Himself will give us everything that would be good for us.
So why try to impress people by lying about how big that fish was? No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly. If I walk uprightly, which includes telling the truth, God will give me everything that would be good for me – including whatever level of respect He wants me to have with my friends.
Why try to save money by lying to the restaurant manager about the age of my kids? No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly. If I walk uprightly, which includes telling the truth, God will give me everything that would be good for me – including all the money that I need.Why try to avoid problems by lying to my boss about why I’m late? No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly. If I walk uprightly, which includes telling the truth, God will give me everything that would be good for me – which might mean a reprimand from my boss because I overslept, or it could be a promotion because I was honest; God knows exactly what good I need – and He will give it!
So that’s how we stop lying. Turn back to God. And trust that as you walk uprightly, which means trusting Jesus, and telling the truth, God will give you every good thing that you need.
Questions?
So turn back to God. Confess and repent before Jesus. Ask for His power to change you. And trust that no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.