1 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:45,200 Good morning. You have your Bibles. Matthew 5 is where we'll be. We are in week four of 2 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,960 our series on going through the Sermon on the Mount. By the time we are done with this 3 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:56,440 series we will have looked at every one of Jesus's words to his disciples in the Sermon. 4 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:03,080 This is the first time that we know of that he is spending some quality time with those 5 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:09,560 who have chosen to follow him by teaching them why he came. Now this message would have 6 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:16,920 been offensive to them. I want you to imagine being a young Jewish boy and you have been 7 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:24,120 taught your whole life how to live your life in a way that honors God. You've been to temple 8 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:31,360 many times. You've celebrated Passover. You've observed the Sabbath. You've been told what 9 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:37,720 to expect when the Messiah comes. You've been told he's going to overthrow the government. 10 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:43,280 He's going to wipe out all of your enemies. The Jewish state will be elevated above all 11 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:50,560 others once again. Your entire life, this is what you know to be true. This is what 12 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:57,360 has been indoctrinated into you. Then Jesus shows up and there's some hope that this might 13 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:03,120 be the Messiah but they didn't know yet for sure. He begins telling them that their rabbi 14 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:11,000 and their parents have been teaching the things of God incorrectly. Their entire identity 15 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:19,400 as good Jewish boys is about to be rocked. In this chapter Jesus begins by telling those 16 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:26,360 who are listening that God will bless those who do certain things and have certain attitudes. 17 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:32,960 For example, he says that God will bless those who are gentle and merciful. God will bless 18 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:40,120 those whose hearts are pure and he will bless those who are persecuted for how they live 19 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:45,600 for God. He goes on to tell them that they are the salt of the earth, that they are the 20 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:52,680 light of the world. He's not speaking to large crowds of curious people here. He is teaching 21 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:59,960 his disciples the ones that have chosen to follow him. While his rules appear to be a 22 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:06,240 little different from those who were commonly practiced or understood, Jesus assured his 23 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:12,680 disciples that he'd not come to abolish the law but he came to fulfill the law. As we 24 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:21,720 see here in a minute, God holds his followers to a higher standard. When we begin a relationship 25 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:28,840 with him, when we become a part of his family, he raises the bar of how we are supposed to 26 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:35,160 act and he raises the bar of how we are to behave. So that's our text this morning. I'm 27 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:40,400 going to invite Tabitha up here to read our text out of Matthew 5 this morning. She's 28 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:52,320 going to read verses 21 through 26. Now, today's a special day. Tabitha is nine years old today. 29 00:03:52,320 --> 00:04:01,000 And a couple weeks ago, now you have to know Tabitha to appreciate this, but a couple weeks 30 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:08,080 ago she came up to me and told me that February 9th is her birthday. She's reading the passage. 31 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:13,280 February 2nd is her birthday and she is reading the passage on her birthday. She didn't ask 32 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:19,680 if she could. She said, I'm reading the passage on my birthday. And so she's going to read 33 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,360 our passage this morning. Am I supposed to remind them what I said earlier? Okay. She's 34 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:32,200 accepting gifts for her birthday. If you feel so inclined, one dollar bills, five dollar 35 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:37,240 bills, like if you feel so inclined, this is this girl's birthday. Let's make her day 36 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,680 special. Can we do that? If you're able, we'd love for you to stand and honor the Lord's 37 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:52,280 word as she starts in verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall 38 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:59,440 not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone 39 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:06,000 who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will 40 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:13,320 be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. 41 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:22,880 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and they remember that your brother has something 42 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:29,880 against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go first be reconciled to your 43 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:38,720 brother and then come and offer the gift. Come to terms quickly and the accuser will 44 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:47,960 while you are going with him to the court. Let's your accuser hand you over to the judge 45 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:57,440 and the judge to the guard and you will and you put in prison. Truly I say to you, you 46 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:04,080 will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Amen. Good job. That's pretty 47 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,560 father. We thank you for Tabitha. We thank you for her life and another year and we pray 48 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,120 God that you just bless her abundantly. You walk with her all the days of her life. We 49 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,400 thank you for your word. I pray father that as we look at this text that you will soften 50 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:20,240 our hearts to it, that you will open our eyes to the intention of it and I pray father that 51 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:34,080 you will change us. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. She's going to make 52 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:45,960 a fortune today. So Jesus begins verse 21 by quoting Exodus chapter 20 verse 13 that 53 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:53,320 says, do not murder, which we know of as part of the Ten Commandments. The Lord had given 54 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:59,160 the instructions to Moses and he had passed them on to the people. But there are a lot 55 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:04,760 of people who do everything possible to live within the letter of the law while the whole 56 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:11,920 time they are really living against the very principle behind the law itself. So Jesus 57 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:17,480 is acknowledging the law which is good but now he's about to tell the disciples that 58 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:23,320 everything they had heard in temple wasn't complete. He's going to show that all the 59 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:29,120 righteousness of the Pharisees and all the righteousness of the scribes isn't enough. 60 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:36,440 So he gets to verse 22 and he says, but I say. What he is telling the disciples in that 61 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:42,720 moment is that the religious leaders had a wrong interpretation of the law. We must keep 62 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:49,560 in mind that Jesus was not setting his teaching against the Old Testament. Instead he was 63 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:56,280 referring to the faulty interpretation that the scribes and Pharisees had given to it. 64 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:01,680 Had Jesus been contradicting the Old Testament, he would have been contradicting the very 65 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:08,160 text and words that he had authored. In ancient times people did not have multiple copies 66 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:12,640 of the Bible like we do today. They weren't able to pull it up on their phones. They didn't 67 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,000 have a variety of them with different Bible covers and colors and things like that laying 68 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:22,600 around the house. Their understanding of the Scripture, it was primarily gleaned from what 69 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:28,080 they had heard the scribes and the Pharisees teach and what they saw in their lives and 70 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:35,560 how they practiced it. They relied heavily upon these men to read and interpret the law 71 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:43,560 of God. The problem with this system was that the religious leaders did not always expound 72 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:49,600 the exact meaning of the text. And as we said last week, when Jesus is referring to the 73 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:56,440 law, he's referring to the entire Old Testament. When the Jews refer to the law, they're referring 74 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:02,680 to the Old Testament, but they're also including the Mishnah and the Talmud, which were commentary 75 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:09,320 on what the law meant to them. And they filled in the places where they felt like the law 76 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:17,280 wasn't sufficiently explained. The Jewish leaders only observed the law outwardly. They 77 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:23,960 had deduced the Sixth Commandment of do not murder to the mere act of one person taking 78 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:30,480 another person's life. So in their mind, as long as they didn't kill anybody, they were 79 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:35,560 good. They were obeying the law. They had no trouble sleeping at night because even 80 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:41,320 though they might have wanted to, they made it another day without taking a life, something 81 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:48,960 to be celebrated. Have you ever struggled with the rules before? The disciples knew 82 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:56,200 the law itself, and they knew how to live by the letter of the law. The same is true 83 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:05,240 for us. We know that killing someone is wrong, and most of us, hopefully all of us, would 84 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:10,760 never do that. But sometimes when it comes to rules, we tend to push the limits and see 85 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:15,760 just how much we can get away with. Just how much we can push the boundaries without actually 86 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:22,840 breaking the law. But the reality is that while others may judge us for our outward actions, 87 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:28,440 God will judge what's in our heart. The Bible is clear that while man looks at the outward 88 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:35,600 appearance, God looks at our heart. Jesus is explaining to the disciples here in Matthew 89 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:42,080 chapter five that there's really more behind the heart of the law besides just not killing 90 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:53,800 someone. While that might be the law that the world must follow, as followers of Christ, 91 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:58,920 we are again held to a higher standard, a different standard. Jesus says that this goes 92 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:05,360 way beyond murder. The intention behind this law goes way beyond murder. He texted a step 93 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:13,800 further and says that if you were angry with someone, you were subject to judgment also. 94 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:19,600 You don't even have to kill someone, but you're just as guilty. I want you to stop for a minute 95 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:29,760 and consider something when it comes to murder. Hardly anyone kills another person who wasn't 96 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,480 angry first. I don't think you're just having a great day and everything's good and you 97 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:39,560 decide to go kill somebody. Sometimes people get killed over some stupid stuff. Some of 98 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:44,400 you might remember several years ago, a pastor in Tennessee, he was killed by his wife with 99 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:53,800 a shotgun over an argument about money. I have this list in my office and I keep track 100 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,920 of every time I read about a pastor that's killed by a family member just so I can keep 101 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:08,040 an eye on him. You never know what's going to happen. A few years ago, a man in New 102 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:14,320 Zealand was killed over a game of scrabble. Two of his friends disagreed with him over 103 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:22,720 how a word was to be spelled, so they beat him with a bat and stabbed him in the back. 104 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:28,600 Anyone that's ever played a game of scrabble or any types of games with a family member, 105 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:35,960 like you understand how they got there. Uno can destroy a family pretty quickly, but we 106 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,000 look back and we're like, that's a stupid reason to kill somebody. According to the 107 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:46,720 law, you can't kill someone, but according to the standards of Jesus, you can't be angry 108 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:53,200 with someone. The Pharisees didn't murder anyone, but in their heart there was anger, 109 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,560 and we can for sure see this in the life of Jesus. They did not like him. They were always 110 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:03,200 trying to come up with schemes to try and trap him in something. This eventually led 111 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:09,080 them to pleading with the Romans to have him crucified. The Romans didn't want anything 112 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:15,800 to do with it, but the Jews were angry. So they only observed the law outwardly, but 113 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:20,680 they also neglected the law inwardly. In essence, Jesus is saying, I know what you've 114 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:25,280 heard and I know how you've been taught, but I'm telling you that the command not to 115 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,160 kill goes further than the physical act of murdering somebody. It deals with the matter 116 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:39,480 of hearts as well. In a 1994 article that was titled, Wars Lethal Leftovers Threaten 117 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:45,560 Europeans, the author wrote, the bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. 118 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:51,520 They turn up and sometimes blow up at construction sites in fishing nets or on beaches 50 years 119 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:58,000 after the guns fell silent. Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France 120 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:04,600 alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing 12 people and wounding 121 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:12,160 11. Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time. With the corrosion inside the weapons 122 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:20,880 become more unstable and the detonator can be exposed. May I suggest to you, when it 123 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:29,400 comes to anger, that what is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. If 124 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:35,480 you bury anger, it will explode when you least expect it. What Jesus says in verse 22 is 125 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:46,640 that to be unjustly angry at someone is as evil as actually murdering that person. That 126 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:53,480 is the heart of the law that God gave to Moses. It wasn't because Cain killed Abel and God 127 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,280 was trying to correct something. It wasn't because Moses had killed an Egyptian and God 128 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,760 all of a sudden was like, we're going to see an epidemic here, we've got to get this under 129 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:09,880 control. It was because inward obedience to him is just as important as outward obedience. 130 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:15,160 So what Jesus is giving the disciples is a full and complete explanation of the law and 131 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:21,560 the heart of the law. In no uncertain terms, Jesus clearly states that to feel enmity in 132 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:27,160 our hearts towards our brother unjustly is to be as guilty of murder as if we actually 133 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:34,240 took his life. Now the Bible has a lot to say about anger, which is important because 134 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:40,760 we all feel anger at times, do we not? But what do we do with it? Again, Jesus didn't 135 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:45,400 come to abolish the law so that we know anything that was written up and to that point about 136 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:50,600 anger or any other topic was still relevant then. It's just as relevant today. David says 137 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:59,160 in Psalm 37, refrain from anger and turn from wrath. It only leads to evil. Solomon says 138 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:06,920 in Proverbs 14, a quick tempered person does foolish things. He also says in Ecclesiastes 139 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:15,520 17, anger resides in the lap of fools. Now there's many more examples in the Bible describing 140 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:22,120 anger as a trait that we shouldn't desire unless you want to be foolish. You should desire 141 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:28,080 anger if you want to do evil. But on top of all that, Jesus says that those who hold anger 142 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:37,540 in their heart will be subject to judgment. But he also addresses expressing anger. One 143 00:16:37,540 --> 00:16:45,080 cannot feel anger very long without expressing it. That phrase in your Bible that says insults 144 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:53,280 his brother is the term raka, which means empty or worthless one. The phrase you fool means 145 00:16:53,280 --> 00:17:01,040 to be dull or stupid. Now there are ways in which people can be destroyed short of the 146 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:07,840 physical act of murder. How many of us have had our character assassinated because of 147 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:14,800 words that were said to us or words that were said about us? We might not use the term raka, 148 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:21,520 but we use words that are just as destructive. Proverbs 18, 21 says that the tongue has the 149 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:32,800 power of life and death. When you express your anger, do you do it in a way that destroys 150 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:42,440 someone's character? Does it harm their reputation with others? Now we might not call that person 151 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:50,360 a fool. We might not call that person worthless, but we have our own little phrases that communicate 152 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:58,280 our feelings towards others. In Texas, sweet little old ladies would never call somebody 153 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:09,760 an idiot, but they will say bless your heart. If you've been around people from the south, 154 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:16,200 you know exactly what that means. There was this lady at our former church that was a 155 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,360 little old school which was not a problem for me, but it was a problem for her because 156 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:25,800 at times she did not like some of the things that I said, and she did not like some of 157 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:31,360 the things I did. And she's really sweet, so she's not going to come up to me and look 158 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:36,040 me in the face and tell me what an idiotic thing I just said or what an idiotic thing 159 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:44,200 I just did. Instead, she would just walk up to me and say bless your heart, pastor. Now 160 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,920 I know what she meant. She knows what she meant. She just put a little sugar on top 161 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:59,980 of it. Southerners have perfected the insult. So let's look at some different types of anger 162 00:18:59,980 --> 00:19:05,420 because I think they fall into some basic categories. The first one is our tempers. 163 00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:13,280 Some of us have them and others don't, at least externally. Now I have a temper that 164 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:19,520 the Lord has done a number on over the years. When I think about my temper in the past, 165 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:25,460 I think of uncontrolled rage that violates the principle of self-control that we read 166 00:19:25,460 --> 00:19:31,500 about in Galatians chapter 5. A temper is generally displayed when something happens 167 00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:36,760 that we don't like, and all of a sudden we erupt like a volcano spewing out all kinds 168 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:42,760 of destruction in our path, whether it be verbal or physical. When I think about my 169 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:49,880 life 15 years ago or so, I understand what it means to say that anger leads to foolish 170 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:59,800 things. How foolish is it that there was a period of time where I lacked such self-control 171 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:06,320 that I couldn't keep my hand from going through drywall, that I couldn't get myself to calm 172 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:15,320 down and not feel the need to throw things? It is foolish when my temper flared up. I couldn't 173 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:23,600 even process things reasonably. I could never once consider an alternative idea to fix the 174 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:30,080 situation. Now I might not have ever killed someone, but I have sure felt the rage in 175 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:37,960 my heart that did not honor the Lord one bit. Rage is never acceptable. Regardless of the 176 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:43,720 situation or circumstance, it is a result of being in the flesh, and when we are living 177 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:50,440 in our flesh, we are sinning against God. If you struggle with a temper like I did, pray 178 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:57,400 that God would give you self-control. Pray that He would fill you. I got pretty good 179 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:03,680 at patching holes in the wall, and that's not a skill that I'm proud of. Anger can also 180 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:09,720 be seen in resentment. Now, resentment has been called the frozen rage. Resentment says 181 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:17,320 I'm angry, but I'm not going to tell you or let you see that I'm angry. It leads to bitterness. 182 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:25,320 It leads to broken relationships. When a person harbors resentment and hatred in their hearts, 183 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:30,920 they are always going to be poisoning themselves more than they're hurting the other person. 184 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:38,260 The enemy wants you to walk around with a spirit of resentment towards others, but he 185 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:43,720 especially wants you to walk around with a spirit of resentment towards those that are 186 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:50,400 part of the household of faith. He wants to use every tool that he can to divide you and 187 00:21:50,400 --> 00:22:00,200 keep you from experiencing abundant life. Do not let him win. I think sometimes we wait 188 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:06,200 until the end of the service. We've got to get through the sermon, and then we're going 189 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:16,960 to make a decision after all this hoopla is done. But there's no need to wait. You can 190 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:24,000 resolve in your heart right now to let go of resentment. If the Lord is speaking to you 191 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:30,640 right now, will you decide in your heart to let it go and move forward? Maybe you need 192 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,800 to send a text to someone, schedule a time where you can get together to make things 193 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,760 right, but don't ignore the Lord if he's speaking to you regarding your resentment. 194 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:47,160 The final category of anger is a righteous anger. We know that Jesus had a righteous 195 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:55,240 anger. He walked into the temple and he saw how people were making a mockery of it. They 196 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:00,720 were making money from the things of God. I've heard people use that text as an excuse 197 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:06,080 to explode in anger. I've heard them say, if Jesus can turn over tables in the temple, 198 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:14,000 then I can throw things around my house. If Jesus can make a big scene, then I can make 199 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:19,160 a big scene when my family doesn't do as I expect, that is a complete misunderstanding 200 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:26,960 of this text. Righteous indignation does not allow for apathy or indifference on the part 201 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:34,200 of God's people. Sin should make us angry, not necessarily at a person, but at the evil 202 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:44,720 that is happening around us. There is a way to love the sinner, but hate the sin. I hate 203 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:51,880 what pornography is doing to our culture. I hate how it's affecting our children. I 204 00:23:51,880 --> 00:24:02,600 hate that it's so easily accessible. I hate that abortion has become a political issue. 205 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:10,960 I hate that homosexuality and transgenderism is so prevalent in our culture right now, 206 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:15,920 that our children are having to deal with it. Our children are having to ask the questions, 207 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:26,000 how do we handle this situation? But we shouldn't hate the people that are struggling with it 208 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:31,160 because there's sin that I struggle with. Jesus didn't hate the people that were collecting 209 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:37,000 money in the temple. He hated what they were doing. They were exploiting the worship of 210 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:43,920 God for their own personal benefit. We need to be angry about the things that anger the 211 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:50,800 Lord, to righteous anger. Now, once Jesus is done with explaining the heart of the law, 212 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:56,680 once he is done giving the complete interpretation and reminding the disciples that caring around 213 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:03,000 anger in their hearts is destructive, he gives them the remedy. He gives them the remedy 214 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:08,800 in order for their worship to not be hindered. And in verses 23 through 24, he talks about 215 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:17,520 reconciliation. He shows us that reconciliation should be a priority. Jesus told the disciples 216 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:23,440 that if they were standing before the altar in the temple, if they were offering a sacrifice 217 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,800 to God, and suddenly they remembered that someone has something against them, that they 218 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,160 were holding anger against them, that there was something wrong against them, he tells 219 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:40,720 them to leave there immediately and go be reconciled to that person. It's probably going 220 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:49,120 to be inconvenient, but go reconcile to that person to try and worship God while harboring 221 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:57,200 anger, while harboring bitterness against one another is futile. God will not accept 222 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:03,880 such hypocritical worship. Such was the worship of the scribes and the Pharisees. Any outward 223 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,880 service to God, though it looks good to man, though it makes him look like good people, 224 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:16,360 is an abomination to God if it's done with harboring unconfessed sin in our hearts. The 225 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:24,040 Lord's instructions are very clear as to what we are to do if we realize that we have offended 226 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:32,760 a fellow believer. We are to leave what we're doing and make an effort of reconciliation 227 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:41,960 a priority. We cannot be right with God until we are right with one another. Notice that 228 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:48,200 we as believers are to take the initiative. We don't wait on them to come to us. We take 229 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:53,200 the initiative. Maybe God has not put it on their hearts for reconciliation because he 230 00:26:53,200 --> 00:27:00,600 is wanting to do a work in you. We take the initiative. Then in verses 25-26, Jesus says 231 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:10,120 that there should be an urgency to our reconciliation. No time should be wasted on our part when 232 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:16,680 it comes to making things right. Every day that's spent at odds with another brother 233 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:25,160 is a day spent at odds with God. Every day you continue to walk in unforgiveness or bitterness 234 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:32,560 or anger or resentment. You give the enemy more time to work on you. It gives him more 235 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:39,560 time for that root of bitterness to grow and blossom inside of you. It would be best for 236 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:45,920 a man, he says, to settle out of court. Settle on your way to court. Don't wait until you 237 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:54,080 get before the judge. Settle out of court on your way there. By doing so, he says you're 238 00:27:54,080 --> 00:28:01,800 going to spare yourself a lot of grief. As Jesus is talking about the temple and offering 239 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:09,040 sacrifices on the altar, what he's really talking about is worship. Now we worship a 240 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:15,920 little bit differently today. We're not slaughtering animals on the stage. We're not lighting 241 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,600 fires and burning incense that we hope makes it to heaven, but the same principle still 242 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:30,320 applies. If we come into worship and we show up here on a Sunday morning and there is something 243 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:41,440 wrong between us and another person, we can't worship God. The songs that we sing, the prayers 244 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:50,240 that we pray, the offering that we put in the box will not be honoring to God because our 245 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:57,200 relationship with others isn't right. And therefore our relationship with God is affected. 246 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:03,240 If we are angry or if it caused someone else to be angry at us, we can clearly not worship 247 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:09,360 God as he intended. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4, he says, get rid of all bitterness, 248 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:17,920 rage, anger, harsh words and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, 249 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:23,440 be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has 250 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:30,240 forgiven you. Forgiveness is not possible by our own strength. Forgiveness was made 251 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:37,400 possible through the cross of Christ. That's why we're supposed to forgive others. That's 252 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,640 how we're supposed to give others because Christ has forgiven us. It's clear that Jesus 253 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:46,880 wants our hearts to be pure. It's clear that He wants our actions to be pure. He deserves 254 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:54,080 our worship, not just an outward religion. He deserves to be worshiped. And sometimes 255 00:29:54,080 --> 00:30:00,360 we tend to look at things and react to things on the surface. But over the next several 256 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:05,360 weeks we're going to continue dealing with some other issues that Jesus goes a little 257 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:17,480 deeper on. If you have chosen to be a follower of Christ, you have chosen to give up your 258 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:25,200 life and follow Christ. It's like a life swap. You are not free to act and behave and think 259 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:32,760 as you choose anymore because you've chosen to let Christ be the Lord of your life. You've 260 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:41,080 chosen to let Him be in control. So I want to say just take a few minutes now. Let's 261 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:56,720 reflect on how things in your life are in regards to anger and resentment and bitterness. 262 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:07,200 As you reflect on those things, it's possible that you'll find that you're not giving the 263 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:13,320 Lord control that you're still in control of a lot more than you should be. Why not give 264 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:20,160 Christ control today? Why not surrender everything to Him and live the life that He intended for 265 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:43,960 you to live today? We're about to take communion. We're about to take communion and remember 266 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:53,120 and celebrate the forgiveness that we've been given in Christ. I don't know how you walked 267 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:57,440 in here this morning. I don't know if you're maybe in a season where you feel spiritually 268 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:13,400 dry. I feel the Lord is distant. I feel like He's not speaking to you. My assumption would 269 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:19,720 be that you are walking in some unconfessed sin, that you are harboring some sort of anger 270 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:28,160 in your heart toward somebody else and your worship has been hindered. So my encouragement 271 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:38,400 to you this morning is let's deal with it. Let's handle it. If you need to leave right 272 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:49,640 now to go make peace with somebody, I'd encourage you to just get up and leave. But worship, 273 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:54,520 we come into worship God, we need to be in right relationship with one another. Because 274 00:32:54,520 --> 00:33:01,080 when our worship is hindered, we tend to make it all about us and not about Him. We tend 275 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,520 to really be focused on our preferences and what we want and how we want to worship instead 276 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:10,040 of just realizing it's not about us at all. We get a worship to God that saved us and 277 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:17,720 forgave us and redeemed us. So we're going to take communion together. I'm going to 278 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:23,840 invite Matthew and David up here. Matthew is going to sing a song over us as we take communion. 279 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:49,880 I'm going to invite the elders and the deacons to come forward and get ready to pass these.