I've entitled this message, Let Your Yea Be Yea, and Nay Be Nay. This is the fourth of the six. You've heard it said, but I say unto you. I love that phrase, don't you? You've heard it said, but I say unto you. The one who speaks with absolute authority, the law giver telling us what the meaning of the law means.

Verse 33, again, you've heard that it's been said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, thou shalt not swear falsely, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths. While there's not a commandment quoted exactly like that in the Old Testament, it's still stated. Leviticus 19.12, and you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of the Lord thy God. Ecclesiastes 5.2, when thou vows to vow to God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou should not vow than that thou shouldst vow and not pay.

We have numerous instances in the Old Testament of saints making vows to the Lord. Remember Jephthah's vow when he said, whatever comes to me first, I'll sacrifice whatever comes to me first to you. He vowed that vow. And Samson vowed a vow and Hannah, vow to vow, just to name a few.

But, verse 34, I say unto you, swear not at all. Does that mean we should refuse to make a wedding vow? What if we were having a wedding here, and I said, do you promise to take this woman and be true to her until death alone? Shepard, you can't make that promise. We've got some problems, don't we? What if someone was in a court of law, and they had to testify, and they were called upon, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Nope, can't do that. But we've got some problems, don't we? What if you borrow some money and the banker puts out the permissory note that you're to sign to promise to pay it back? Say, I can't sign that. You think he's going to give you the money? This is not talking about those kinds of promises. We really can't have a society without that. You know, you promise to pay a certain amount, that's what you pay. If you don't, you don't get it. That's the way life works.

So he's not speaking not making any promises at all, this is a vow to the Lord. If you do this, I promise, I'll do that. A vow to the Lord. A religion of personal promises and vows. Have you ever made a vow to the Lord? I have. Lord, I promise I'll never do that again if you just forgive me. I promise. I promise if you do this, then I will do that. A religion of personal promises, a religion of personal resolve. I resolve, I promise to try harder. I realize I messed up, but I'm going to do better. I promise I will. I'm going to do better. I'm going to try harder. I resolve to never commit that sin again. I promise I won't do it. A religion of vows before the Lord.

Turn with me, hold your finger there and turn with me to James chapter five. And look at the way James, and you know, maybe James was there when the Lord said this. You know, I think he was the Lord's brother. And look what he says in verse 12 of James chapter five. He says, but above all things, above everything that I've said up to this point, well, James said some glorious things, didn't he? But he said above all things, this is it, listen to me. If you don't get this, you don't get the rest of the book. Above all things, swear not at all. Swear not. Neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other earth. But let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay, lest you fall into condemnation.

Now I think this is very interesting, that word condemnation is the word that's generally translated hypocrisy. Any religion that begins with, I'll do this if you'll do that, is hypocrisy. It is lying to God. It's no different than Ananias and Sapphira. It's insincere. Somebody says, I don't feel insincere. Well, God says you are.

Any religion based upon personal resolve that begins with an I will, I promise. Remember the promise keepers some years ago? Real men keep their promises. Well, real men ought to keep their promises, but there's only one true promise keeper. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the true promise keeper. And James says above all, swear not.

Back to our text, verse 34. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven for it's God's throne. You don't have any business swearing by God's throne. You're not sitting on it. You don't have any business doing that. Nor by the earth, for it's his footstool. Don't swear by anything in the earth, neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great king. These things are not yours. You have no business swearing by these things. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black." Did you notice that statement, you can't, you cannot? You make this promise, you don't lack the ability to keep it. There may be circumstances that you don't know anything about that'll take place. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth. Don't be making promises like that.

But let your communication, verse 37, let your communication, whatever you're saying, let it be yay, yay, nay, nay. Whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Now that's the words of the Lord. Anything beyond a yay-yay and a nay-nay. And like I said, this is particularly talking about the vows we make to the Lord. Whatsoever comes over more than yay-yay and nay-nay is evil.

Now yay-yay and nay-nay, Yay-yay is a powerful affirmation. It's strong agreement. When the Lord said he'd not come but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the Syro-Phoenician woman said, it says she came and worshiped him when she heard that. He's only come to the elect. She came and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. And he said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep at the house of Israel. And then, Lord, help me. And he said, it's not right. It's not meet. It's not proper to take the children's bread and to cast it out to dogs. She said, truth, Lord. Yea, Lord. If I ever heard something I agreed with, that's it. Yea, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table.

Strong agreement. He said to those two blind men that groped their way into the house where he was. I love the picture of that. They were blind. I guess they came by hearing his voice. He was in there preaching and they groped their way into the house. And he said, do you believe that I am able to do this? Yay, Lord. Yay, Lord. Yes, we believe. I think of when the Lord said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even so, that's yea, same word. Yea, Lord. Even so, it seemed good in thy sight.

Peter, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord. Quit thinking about your love. Think about Him, who He is. Peter, do you love me? Do you love my sovereignty? Do you love my holiness? Do you love my righteousness? Do you love my power? Do you love my omniscience? Do you love my omnipresence? Do you love my independence? Do you love my immutability? That's who He is. Peter said, yea, Lord. I did. Strong affirmation. The Lord said, behold, I come quickly. Even so, yea, come, Lord Jesus.

When the Pharisees heard the multitudes cry out, Hosanna to the highest. They said, Master, hearst thou not what these say? Yea. Have you never read? I love it when the Lord says that. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Yea, strong affirmation from the heart.

Nay, nay. I have heard that no is the most powerful word in the human language, understood universally by all. Even a dog understands it. No! Dog, that's what you're saying. Are we better than them? In Romans chapter three, verse nine, us Jews, are we better than the Gentiles? No! In no wise. There is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands, there's none that seeketh after God. They've all together gone out of the way, they've together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good, no, not one. There is no difference. I'm looking at this group of people and I'm including it in myself. There's no difference between us. There's no difference. I don't care if you're the most moral person in here or the most immoral person in here. There's no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Therefore, by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. To as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. It's not of him that willeth. nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. There's no respect of persons with God. Don't you love that? He's the only one. He demonstrated that on the cross when sin was found in his son. He killed him. There's no respect of persons with God, no. Where is boasting then? It's excluded. By what law of works? Nay. Do you hear that name? But by the law of faith, speaking of Abraham, when righteousness was reckoned to him, how was it then reckoned when he was circumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

I love when Paul said, I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? Paul did, so does every other believer. A religion that is founded on personal resolve, personal promises, beginning with what I determine I'm going to do. It's bartering with God. Lord, if you do this, I'll do that. A religion that's based upon the promises that you will do, the Lord says is evil. That's what he's talking about. Call it what it is. It is evil. Let your communication be yay, yay, nay, nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

And I believe the scripture that casts most light on this commandment, the Lord gives is found in second Corinthians chapter one. If you turn with me there. Verse 17, Paul says to the Corinthians, when I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness, tickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? Now there we have those two things together. Yea, yea, and nay, nay. Nay, yes and no to the same thing. But, verse 18, as God is true, how true is God? He's the father of lights in whom is no variables, neither shadow of turning. I love this. It's impossible for God to lie. How easily a lie will fall off our tongues. We were born liars. It's easy. Cover yourself. It's impossible for God to lie. He is incapable of doing that. The only true and living God.

As God is true, our word to you is not yea and nay, which is what summarizes most preaching. Yay and nay. Now, any preaching that denies or contradicts any of the attributes of God is nothing more than yay, nay preaching. It's evil preaching.

God wants everybody to be saved. He wills the salvation of all men, but all men are not saved. Now, that's a contradiction of the attributes of God. It's yay, nay preaching. It's a contradiction of his character.

God loves all men the same. God loves Peter. God loves Judas. He wants them both to be saved. But he can love you and you might not be saved. That makes his love meaningless. It makes his love powerless. It makes His love of none effect. If He can love you and you cannot be saved, His love's worthless to you.

Christ died for everybody. He shed His blood for everybody, but not everybody's gonna be saved. You gotta do something to make His blood work for you. Well, two things. Number one, that says God's not just. If God can pay for your sins in the person of His Son and put them away and then turn around and make you pay for them over again, God is not just. And furthermore, that makes your salvation dependent upon you. Not on what God has done, but what you do.

God offers you forgiveness, does he now? Since when is forgiveness offered? I'm offering you forgiveness. It's up to you as to whether or not you'll accept it or reject it. That's foolishness. That's yay-nay preaching. It doesn't even make sense.

Man has a free will. Well, that makes man's will sovereign over God's will, doesn't it? If man has a free will. Does man have a free will? No. No. Well, yes and no. No. No, he doesn't. If he does, that makes his will sovereign over God's will.

Here are examples of yay-nay preaching. Is salvation really by grace? Oh, yes. By grace, as you say. But if you don't apply it and accept it, you won't be saved by it. That's saying yes and no to the same thing. Yea, nay, preaching.

Is the blood of Christ sufficient to save? Oh, yes it is. Yes, it is, but you'll go to hell if you don't apply it to yourself and make sure that it applies to you by what you do, your faith or your... That is yea, nay preaching. It's contradictory. God is not in that.

Is Christ really all in salvation? Yes, he is. But your works will determine your position in glory. Oh, that's yea, nay. Preaching, yes, Christ is all, but no, you're gonna determine your position in glory by the things that you do.

Yes, it's God that worketh in you both to will and do his good pleasure, but you gotta let him do it. That's yea, nay, preaching. These are just a few examples of yea and nay preaching.

Now he said in verse 18, but as God is true, Our word toward you is not yea and nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God, in Him are yea and amen.

Now, I love this language. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was preached among you by us. What think ye of Christ is important. Let me tell you something that's more important. Who is Jesus Christ? The son of God. I love the way he begins with that. God, the son, the second person of the blessed Trinity, equal with God. I love the way the Pharisees understood when he said, I and my father are one, they picked up the stones to stone him. He said, many good works have I done with my father. For which of these do you stone me? And they said, for good works stone we not, but for thou being a man, make us thyself God. No, he didn't make himself God, he is God. The son of God, he that has seen me has seen the father. Those are the words of the Lord.

Isaiah 9, 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Now I have heard men try to explain that. I'm just going to take it for what it says. He's the mighty God. He's the everlasting father. He's the prince of peace. Well, why, if he's the son, why does it say that? I don't know, but I know he's God. He's got the son of God, Jesus Christ, Jesus. That's what I call his name. Jesus for he shall. Save his people from their sins.

I love it when he said to Saul, after he'd been struck blind, he's down on the ground, that great light that struck him down, which is the Lord, he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? He said, who art thou, Lord? And I love his answer. I am Jesus of Nazareth that thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks. You're just hurting yourself. Lord, He now knows who He is. What wilt thou have me to do? Jesus of Nazareth, that name that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord.

Jesus Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, God's King. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was preached among you. Now, I just love that phrase. He was preached among you. We preach Christ crucified. That's all. We preach Christ crucified. That's our whole message. We preach Christ crucified. Who He is, what He did, why He did it.

Now, to the Jews, This is a stumbling block. This is a scandal. We stumble at this. You mean I'm saved for the only reason I'd be saved is because he died for me? My works count for nothing? Why, that's foolishness. That's a stumbling block. That'll encourage sin. That'll encourage ungodliness to say that Christ is, his death will, What's the scripture? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justified them. Who is he that condemned? It's Christ that died. That's the only answer I need. Yea, rather that's risen again who's even at the right hand of God.

Christ was preached. We preach Christ crucified and to the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness. How can preaching a man being nailed to the cross help the culture and the world? And how can it help education? How can it help the economy, how can it help healthcare? I mean, that's foolishness. That's all you preach?

Then Paul said, but unto us which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of God, I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. We don't preach him as yea and nay, He's not a way, He's not a truth, He's not a life, He's the way, He's the truth, and He's the life. Is He the only way? Yes. Is He the only truth? Yes. Is He the only life? Yes. Is He salvation? Yes. Is salvation all of grace? Yes. Is His righteousness the only righteousness? Yes. Do you have to hear this gospel to be saved? Yes. Do you really believe that a believer will persevere because they're preserved? Yes. Do you have to be birthed, given life by the Spirit of God because you're dead in sin and He has to give you life, life that you didn't have before? Yes. Can you be saved without hearing this? No. Can someone be saved apart from the Lord doing it all? No. Can a sheep ever perish? No. Are there other ways to God? No. Does man have any ability to save himself? No. Does man have a free will? No. Will there be anybody in hell that Christ died for? No. Can you be saved and not believe grace? No.

Son of God, when he's preached, it's not yea, nay. Yes and no to the same thing. Look back to our text of Matthew chapter five, how the Lord concludes. Well, no, I forgot the best part of it. Stay back there in 2 Corinthians 1. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Demothus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. for all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him, amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Now, turn back to Matthew chapter five, verse 37, let your communication be yay, yay, nay, nay. With regard to the gospel, this is the only way it can be. Yay, yay, and nay, nay. And whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil. A religion of personal promise, personal resolve is evil. Call it what it is. It's evil. That's all you can call it. Anything that begins with you, something you promise you're going to do. It's evil. It's insincere. It's hypocritical. There's no truth to it. When someone does this, if I do it, if you do it, we're lying to God, we're lying to ourselves. Anything that is not yea, nay, is evil. It's contradictory. It fails to glorify God.

Do you believe that Christ, listen to this question, do you believe that Christ is able to save you with no help from you? Yes. Do you believe that all that God requires of you, he looks to his son for? You believe that? Yes. Do you believe that Christ is all? Yes. Do you believe he's all in the scriptures? He's the only message of the scripture. There is no other message. Do you believe that all scriptures testify of him? Yes. Do you believe he's all in your salvation? You believe that? Yes. Do you believe any part of your salvation is dependent upon you doing something? No. Do you believe that this will encourage a sinful life? No.

First Corinthians chapter two, let's close by looking at that. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came out with excellency of speech, of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. I didn't try to wow you with my oratorical ability or my wisdom of words, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul, is that all you preach? Yes. You don't preach anything else? No. This is the only message yes to this message. No to all other messages. All the promises of God in him are yay. And amen to the glory of God by us.

Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that all the promises you have in your son are yea and amen. How we thank you that there's not a yea and nay. in your gospel, but it's all yay, yay, and nay, nay. Lord, deliver us from a religion of personal resolve and personal promise. Enable us to trust thy son completely, to preach him only, to rest in him only, to love him only. We thank you for your word. Bless this message for your glory and our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.