WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:07.070 Good evening. As Pastor Kenny mentioned, we are 00:00:07.070 --> 00:00:10.869 beginning a new sermon series tonight. And due 00:00:10.869 --> 00:00:14.949 to a mystery white substance that myself and 00:00:14.949 --> 00:00:18.170 my fellow Midwesterners like to call snow, I 00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:20.649 have the honor and privilege of beginning it 00:00:20.649 --> 00:00:24.609 tonight. And as Kenny and I began talking through 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:28.010 the sermon series and what he had in mind for 00:00:28.010 --> 00:00:30.980 it and dealing with issues of I thought back 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:35.659 on my own life and I looked at society. And I 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:38.719 realized that more than anything else, the sin 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:42.399 of anger unfortunately defines the life of many 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.340 Christians and the life of many non -believers. 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:50.039 And it's one we can see so commonly, even in 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:53.479 the interactions with our spouses. Maybe you 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:55.820 men have been gone for a long day of work, you've 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:58.460 been gone for... nine or 10 hours and you come 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:00.399 home and the first thing your wife asks you to 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:04.180 do is take out the garbage. Or wives, maybe you've 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:07.299 had a long day with the children, they've been 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:09.819 sick, they've been throwing up, they got into 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:12.099 too much Valentine's Day candy and they have 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:15.640 been running rampant all over the house. And 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:17.840 you just need some help but your husband comes 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:21.480 home and he collapses tired and he wakes up the 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:24.760 next day ready for you to yell at him. And it's 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:28.200 one that we can see amongst believers online 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.799 as they argue theology, or even in person when 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.640 they argue theology. They are quick to throw 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.819 insults. This sin, the sin of anger, is ultimately 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:44.599 defined as murder. And Christian, you need to 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.159 face it, you are a murderer. At least that is 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.840 how Jesus defines it. In our text tonight, Matthew 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:58.299 5 verses 21 through 26. Again the the text that 00:01:58.299 --> 00:02:01.260 Jesus uses to define anger is found in Matthew 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:06.980 5 verse 21 through 26 You have heard it said 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:10.439 You heard that it was said to those of old you 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.000 shall not murder and whoever murders will be 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.460 liable to judgment But I say to you that everyone 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:19.000 who is angry with his brother will be liable 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.659 to judgment Whoever insults his brother will 00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:24.800 be liable to counsel and whoever says you fool 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:28.280 will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:30.680 are offering your gift at the altar and there 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:32.479 you remember that your brother has something 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:35.319 against you, leave your gift there before the 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:39.000 altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.180 and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:45.060 quickly with your accuser while you are going 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:47.919 with him to court. Least your accuser hand you 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:50.639 over to the judge and the judge to the guard 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.800 and you be put in prison. Truly I say to you, 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.580 you will never get out until you have paid the 00:02:56.580 --> 00:03:00.000 last penny." Now if we are going to understand 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.539 this text, I think it is first right and proper 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:05.560 to go to God in prayer and ask for help and understanding. 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:11.819 Our Lord and our God, we ask you as we examine 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:14.860 the words of your son tonight that you would 00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:18.159 open our eyes to see and our ears to hear that 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.110 we would understand. what you would like us to, 00:03:21.169 --> 00:03:24.229 that we would understand how great of God we 00:03:24.229 --> 00:03:28.210 have because we are great sinners, and we have 00:03:28.210 --> 00:03:31.569 failed on so many accounts. And we need your 00:03:31.569 --> 00:03:33.509 help, Lord. Help us tonight through your Holy 00:03:33.509 --> 00:03:36.930 Spirit to understand what is in this text. And 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:41.389 I pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen. Now 00:03:41.389 --> 00:03:43.729 as we move into this text, I think it's important 00:03:43.729 --> 00:03:46.449 to understand where we are at to have some background. 00:03:46.810 --> 00:03:49.389 because this sermon is right at the start of 00:03:49.389 --> 00:03:52.770 Jesus' ministry. It comes after his baptism. 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:55.810 It comes after his 40 days in the wilderness 00:03:55.810 --> 00:03:59.069 where he was let out and tested by Satan. At 00:03:59.069 --> 00:04:02.129 this point, he has called his disciples and he 00:04:02.129 --> 00:04:06.250 has began to teach. He started in the region 00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:09.330 of Galilee as he gathered people around him from 00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:12.370 Jerusalem and Judea and the Decapolis, really 00:04:12.370 --> 00:04:15.250 the central and southern parts of Israel. and 00:04:15.250 --> 00:04:18.629 he has taken them north to Galilee. And he takes 00:04:18.629 --> 00:04:20.889 them up on this mountain to preach because Jesus 00:04:20.889 --> 00:04:23.509 did not have the convenience of having a microphone 00:04:23.509 --> 00:04:26.730 like we have this evening. He had to get above 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:29.269 the crowd. So he takes them up to the mountain 00:04:29.269 --> 00:04:32.329 and he begins to preach. And he begins with the 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:35.730 Beatitudes, explaining the types of characteristics 00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:37.709 that should mark believers in the kingdom of 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:41.189 God. Then he moves into how he fulfills the law 00:04:41.189 --> 00:04:45.480 and the true meaning of it. And he begins, actually, 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.980 with the sixth commandment of the law, which 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:53.420 is, thou shall not murder. And he recounts this 00:04:53.420 --> 00:04:56.000 in verse 21. You have heard it said that those 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.220 of old you shall not murder, and whoever murders 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:01.860 will be liable to judgment. Jesus, in this statement, 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.019 he's doing two things. He's quoting the sixth 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:08.199 commandment from Exodus chapter 20, but he's 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.740 also counting the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:05:11.829 --> 00:05:15.230 the people that were deemed more righteous than 00:05:15.230 --> 00:05:18.610 everyone else. These were the Billy Grahams of 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:21.670 your day, your R .C. Sproul, your John MacArthur, 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:25.649 your Pastor Kennes. But unfortunately, they did 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:27.930 not have the same level of grace that any of 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:33.050 those men have or had. They had their Pharisaical 00:05:33.050 --> 00:05:37.290 view. It was very literal, it was very wooden. 00:05:37.550 --> 00:05:40.259 And I don't even think... literal is the right 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:43.259 definition. It was literalistic. They made it 00:05:43.259 --> 00:05:46.980 so literal, it forced any other meaning out of 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:50.300 the text. And so as the scribes and Pharisees 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:53.279 approached the issue of murder, they just said, 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:56.180 well, as long as I keep my hands clean, and I 00:05:56.180 --> 00:05:59.160 do not lay my hand upon my wife or another man, 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:03.680 and I do not take their life and cold blooded 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.480 murder, then I'm okay. This verse is not referring 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.459 to killing in self -defense or killing in a time 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:13.579 of war, but this is cold, and this is a cold 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:16.379 -blooded murder, murder in the first degree. 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:23.100 And Jesus rightly explains that anyone who murders 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:26.379 will be liable to judgment. This is the idea 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:29.240 of eye for the eye, which actually comes from 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:32.899 Leviticus 24, 17, which states, whoever takes 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:36.399 a human life shall surely be put to death. It 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.939 is just in the eyes of God that those who murder 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:41.759 in cold blood, they should also have their life 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:46.360 taken. But Jesus does not want to stay on this 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.699 wooden understanding of the law. He wants to 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:52.519 get at the heart of it, what is behind it, to 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.160 the heart of the believer. The law was never 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:58.839 meant to be a box to live in. It was meant to 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:03.300 be a convicting sight that stood before believers 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:06.720 that made them look inward. That made them understand 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.240 their sin and the weight of it and that was meant 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.839 to drive them to a holy God to a holy Savior 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:18.259 and Jesus goes on to explain it says I say to 00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:21.259 you to you Now it's important to understand that 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:23.600 Jesus is not adding something new to the law 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.740 He is doing he is explaining what the law always 00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:30.180 meant That it was meant to get at the heart. 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:34.560 I love how pastor Adriel Sanchez puts it in this 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:38.399 passage, the law of God has jurisdiction over 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.879 our hearts just as much as he has it over our 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:45.579 hands. The law was always meant to guide the 00:07:45.579 --> 00:07:49.699 heart just as much as it did our hands. And this 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:52.040 is where we will have our great accusation from 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:57.160 Christ that we are murderers. Because he begins 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.199 to say, whoever becomes angry with his brother 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:03.720 is liable to judgment. He takes the words from 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.500 the law, from the wooden understanding of it, 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.100 and he puts it into practice at the heart level. 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:16.079 He talks about anger. Now this anger is not a 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:19.259 holy and righteous anger. We know from Ephesians 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:22.540 4 that you can be angry and you cannot sin. We 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:25.300 see Jesus even execute this type of anger when 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:29.680 he goes into the temple to cleanse it out. He 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.320 goes into the temple and he sees the tax collectors 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:36.159 and the money changers exchanging money and selling 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.340 goods and selling things to sacrifice. But this 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:41.799 was not the place to do sale. This was the place 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:45.679 to sacrifice, to come and worship. And Jesus 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.139 and his anger drove them out, flipping the tables, 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:52.320 even forming a whip as he began to chase them. 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:56.620 This is a holy and righteous anger. And you might 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.490 not think, well, forming a whip and chasing people 00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:03.169 out is not very righteous. But you are dealing 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:05.950 with the Son of God, someone who knew and knows 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:09.830 the law perfectly. And the mercy that he showed 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:11.870 in that forming of a whip and the flipping of 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:14.450 the tables was one that was designed to keep 00:09:14.450 --> 00:09:17.990 those men, those people from eternal judgment. 00:09:18.669 --> 00:09:21.029 That maybe in this one action of Christ, they 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:23.370 would repent and turn to God, that they would 00:09:23.370 --> 00:09:26.509 come to worship instead of coming to sell. This 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:29.710 is a type of anger that many believers struggle 00:09:29.710 --> 00:09:32.429 with. There's maybe one time in my life where 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:35.470 I could say I was genuinely angry in a righteous 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:39.490 way. Because usually our anger comes from a sense 00:09:39.490 --> 00:09:42.289 of pride. It comes from a sense of self -righteousness. 00:09:42.950 --> 00:09:45.190 It's the same exact sin that the serpent committed 00:09:45.190 --> 00:09:48.929 in the garden. He put himself above God. And 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:52.070 that is what we are quick to do. We do not need 00:09:52.070 --> 00:09:55.289 provocation. We do not need anyone calling us 00:09:55.289 --> 00:09:59.820 a name or doing anything. We just need One action, 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:02.100 maybe they just look at us wrong. They don't 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:07.379 have to get to calling us a name. Maybe our neighbor 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:09.360 looks at us funny one morning as we were walking 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:15.259 up to the car and we do not like the way that 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:17.659 they look at us. So we decide to take vengeance 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:20.360 upon them. We decide to go over to their garden 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.960 and pull up all of their daisies and leave it 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.879 as a dirt bed. There's no reasonableness to our 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.460 anger. Our anger will make us punch holes in 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:34.399 walls, throw our keys out the window of our cars, 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:38.019 curse at people going down the street. And I 00:10:38.019 --> 00:10:40.200 think for me, the perfect example of this comes 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:43.379 from freshman year in high school when I played 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:47.059 football. And I know many of the women are really 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:49.419 a football analogy. You're just going to have 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:52.059 to bear with me. I'll do my best to explain the 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:54.740 terms of the game. When I played football freshman 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:57.570 year, I was third string. As third string that 00:10:57.570 --> 00:11:00.370 meant I was not the primary people. I was not 00:11:00.370 --> 00:11:03.169 the backup to the primary people. I was the backup 00:11:03.169 --> 00:11:07.009 to the backup. Which meant in rivalry games I 00:11:07.009 --> 00:11:10.029 never got a chance to play. And we were playing 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:12.909 one of our main rivals one evening and I had 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:14.730 sat through about three quarters of the game. 00:11:15.250 --> 00:11:17.909 Well enough people were tired from this bitter 00:11:17.909 --> 00:11:21.029 rivalry taking place that I had the opportunity 00:11:21.029 --> 00:11:23.970 to go in at kick return. Now kick return happens 00:11:23.970 --> 00:11:26.299 when the game is progressing. and the other team 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:28.500 is not making it far enough up the field so you 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:30.980 get to go in and someone gets to catch the ball 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.220 as it gets kicked off and your job or my job 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:35.700 at the time was to protect the guy running up 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:39.299 the field. While I had sat there on the bench 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:41.679 being filled with more anger because we were 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.340 not doing well in the game I was not getting 00:11:44.340 --> 00:11:46.519 a chance to go out there and fight alongside 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:50.759 of my brothers and I decided as we took off down 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.679 the field before the guy I was meant to defend 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:58.120 even got to the running back, I decided to hit 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.159 him with all my force and with all my might. 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:02.480 And if you know football, you know that would 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.200 be a massive personal foul and would result in 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:08.139 time on the bench if it was not for high school. 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:11.740 But what happened in that instance is he got 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:14.019 thrown on his back and I got thrown on my back 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:16.159 and I think we both stood up with a concussion 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.980 not knowing what just happened. And that is the 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.259 type of anger that Jesus is challenging here. 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:25.320 It came out of my own pride. Our anger comes 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:28.179 out of our own pride, and it makes us do ridiculous 00:12:28.179 --> 00:12:31.259 things that often get us hurt, and most definitely 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:34.460 hurts those around us. And this type of anger 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:37.919 leaves us liable to judgment. It leaves us liable 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.279 to go before a local council, and this time it 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.019 would have been seven elders or seven religious 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:46.279 leaders that had the ability to pronounce a prison 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:49.240 sentence, or at worst even a quick death penalty, 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.179 something like a beheading, something that happened 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:56.460 instantaneously. they were able to handle unjustified 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:58.899 murder. And so in this case, they would be able 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:03.220 to handle our unjustified anger. Now this anger 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:06.000 does not usually stand on its own, it usually 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.659 progresses as Jesus progresses in the text. And 00:13:09.659 --> 00:13:11.600 he said, whoever insults his brother will be 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.779 liable to counsel. Now if you have a different 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:17.340 translation, you might see the word, call his 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:21.179 brother Raka. It is a Greek term. And it's most 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:24.779 similar to the German word Doomkopf, which just 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.620 means dumb head if you translate it literally. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:32.279 Empty headed, stupid, airhead, any of those types 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.000 of words that you can think of. It is a full 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:41.179 insult. It was really a cultural word that you 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:42.700 were not meant to say. It would be equivalent 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:45.000 to one of the curse words that we have today 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.509 because it even tied into the idea of The word 00:13:48.509 --> 00:13:52.429 raka would be used with heretics as Jewish leaders 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:56.269 spit upon a heretic that was espousing theology 00:13:56.269 --> 00:13:59.169 or things about God that were not true. The Jews 00:13:59.169 --> 00:14:01.309 today actually have maintained this practice 00:14:01.309 --> 00:14:04.330 in Israel. They will, as they walk down the street, 00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:06.470 they will spit upon Christians as they tried 00:14:06.470 --> 00:14:09.269 to proclaim the gospel and to proclaim the Messiah. 00:14:10.029 --> 00:14:12.490 This is what the word raka is getting at. It 00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:16.029 is a full insult. And I think most commonly that 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:20.389 happens most often to us in road rage. We are 00:14:20.389 --> 00:14:22.710 driving down the street or trying to get onto 00:14:22.710 --> 00:14:25.570 the interstate and someone drives around us in 00:14:25.570 --> 00:14:30.549 their little car at a speed that is not necessary 00:14:30.549 --> 00:14:33.309 or appropriate. And then they get in front of 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:35.269 us and they slam on their brakes for some reason. 00:14:36.049 --> 00:14:38.250 And usually the thing that comes out of our mouth 00:14:38.250 --> 00:14:41.830 is something to the extent of, you idiot, I cannot 00:14:41.830 --> 00:14:44.409 believe you would do that. I have a place to 00:14:44.409 --> 00:14:47.460 go and things to do and You could have hurt me 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:51.080 or someone else. It is a quick anger. It is an 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.399 insult. This also, as I mentioned, can come out 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.200 with our spouses as we get frustrated or we get 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:02.679 upset. We may have a way of doing things, and 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.759 then our wife or our husband comes in and tries 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:07.700 to do it some way else, in a different way than 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:10.960 how we would do. And we think, how stupid can 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.519 you be? Why would you clean the dishes that way? 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:16.159 Why would you clean the blinds that way? Why 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.740 would you vacuum the floors that way? And this 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:23.940 type of anger, as it progresses, leaves us liable 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:27.320 to counsel. This would be liable to the Sanhedrin, 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:32.679 the counsel of 71. It was designed to handle 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.000 the worst cases of heresy. This is the counsel 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.600 that Jesus had to go through and was spat upon 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.799 as he faced. the wrath of God on the cross, the 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:47.440 righteous anger of God on the cross. They could 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.240 pronounce stoning. They could put people up for 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.340 crucifixion. And this is the type of death that 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:57.080 Jesus says we deserve if we are willing to insult 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:00.860 people, if we are quick with our tongue. And 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:03.820 this continues to progress because often we do 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:06.539 not just stop at calling people stupid. We need 00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:10.509 to attack them morally. We need to believe that 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:14.269 they are godless. And so Jesus gives us a warning. 00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:18.809 And he says, whoever says you fool will be liable 00:16:18.809 --> 00:16:25.429 to the hell of fire. And the word fool here is 00:16:25.429 --> 00:16:29.169 often used in scripture. God uses fool in scripture. 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:33.629 Psalm 14 .1, for instance, says, the fool says 00:16:33.629 --> 00:16:36.710 in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. 00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:41.250 They do abominable deeds. There is none who does 00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:45.470 good. So the word fool is a moral condemnation. 00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:47.669 If you call someone a fool, what you are saying 00:16:47.669 --> 00:16:50.190 is they are without God. They have no knowledge 00:16:50.190 --> 00:16:53.690 of God. They are far from him. You are excommunicating 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:56.570 people with your words and your thoughts and 00:16:56.570 --> 00:17:00.570 your deeds when you call someone fool. The type 00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:04.259 of fool that God wants us, or the word. fool 00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:06.380 that God wants us to be able to use is the same 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:10.519 way he uses it in Psalm 14. There is an element 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:13.299 of grace to it. We can acknowledge that someone 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:16.140 is without God while also acknowledging that 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:20.400 they need great grace. Because we too were once 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:24.140 fools. We were blind to our sin. We were dead 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:26.980 in our trespasses. We were without God and the 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:30.220 wisdom of him. But it is out of his great grace 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:33.480 that he has called us to his mercy. He has called 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:37.440 us to know him. We are no longer fools, but we 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:40.640 have the wisdom of God because of his spirit 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.019 working in our lives. And if we are willing to 00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:46.819 call someone a fool and morally condemn them, 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.859 there is only one punishment that Jesus lays 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:53.740 out, the hell of fire. And this is the word for 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:56.319 hell. This is the word Gehenna. It is not the 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.660 word that we see King David use in the Psalms 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:02.660 where he says, which is the place that people 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:04.400 would go as an intermediate state, the place 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.740 of death. This is the place of weeping and gnashing 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:11.440 of teeth. This is not a place of a little red 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.559 devil where there's just some fire around us 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:18.339 and we get to walk down a lane as we be punished. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:23.680 No, this is a place of condemnation. And to understand 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:26.339 the picture that Jesus is laying here, we must 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:29.039 understand this word, Gehenna. The word comes 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.980 from the Valley of Heman. This is a place of 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:36.279 apostasy. Solomon would use the Valley of Heman 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:40.259 to set up places of Moloch worship. Moloch was 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:45.420 the god of child sacrifice. King Josiah, when 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:48.180 he took the throne and second king, he would 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:50.759 come in and he would destroy these places of 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.519 worship. And then he would use it not for pagan 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:58.789 worship or even just to throw away and things 00:18:58.789 --> 00:19:00.710 that belonged to the pagans, he would use it 00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:04.470 to dump bodies after a war, bodies that had died 00:19:04.470 --> 00:19:07.190 that were unbelieving, and they would be burned 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:11.009 up. They would light the pile on fire, and there 00:19:11.009 --> 00:19:14.609 would be condemnation for it. The Jews even continued 00:19:14.609 --> 00:19:17.190 this practice in the Jesus' day, and they did 00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:19.069 not use it to dump bodies, but they would use 00:19:19.069 --> 00:19:22.609 it to burn their trash. So this is a place from 00:19:22.609 --> 00:19:25.700 the Old Testament all the way into the new. that 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:29.220 was a place of condemnation, of apostasy, a place 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:32.160 of unbelief that was meant to burn the worst 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.259 trash. And this is the condemnation that we all 00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:38.400 deserved when we walked without the wisdom of 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:41.500 God. This is the condemnation we deserve when 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.579 we are quick to look at people on the highway 00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:45.980 as we drive down it and we see them holding up 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:48.740 their political signs of different messages and 00:19:48.740 --> 00:19:51.160 we think, you fool, how can you think any of 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:55.779 those things? Or maybe you're having a Bible 00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:58.240 conversation with one of your brothers or sisters, 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:02.099 and you start to think, you fool, how can you 00:20:02.099 --> 00:20:06.059 not believe in infant baptism? Or maybe how could 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:08.900 you believe in infant baptism? We are quick to 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:13.079 do this condemnation. As we look through each 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:16.480 one of these, the gradation gets worse and worse 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.200 and worse in terms of punishment, but the sins 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.279 themselves become more and more common. Nowadays 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.170 it is so easy to see people, quick to say, you 00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:28.730 fool, to claim that they are without God and 00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:32.309 show them no grace. We are a little slower, but 00:20:32.309 --> 00:20:36.890 not by much to call them stupid. And we are slower 00:20:36.890 --> 00:20:40.470 yet to just pull off and use our fist, use our 00:20:40.470 --> 00:20:45.569 hands to cause harm. And this should make us 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:48.789 ask ourselves as we reflect on this text, why 00:20:48.789 --> 00:20:52.849 are you holding onto your anger? What is beneath 00:20:52.849 --> 00:20:57.650 the surface? I understand that maybe you have 00:20:57.650 --> 00:20:59.789 some sort of physical ailment that makes it hard 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:03.089 to get out of bed in the morning. I understand 00:21:03.089 --> 00:21:07.329 that people abort children and those children 00:21:07.329 --> 00:21:11.150 do not deserve it. But why are you holding on 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:13.910 to your anger? Why are you angry at God? Why 00:21:13.910 --> 00:21:15.789 are you angry at your friend who tried to give 00:21:15.789 --> 00:21:18.650 you good advice? Or at your wife who just wanted 00:21:18.650 --> 00:21:23.339 your help? Or at your husband? who all he needed 00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:27.619 was a hug himself. And we as Christians should 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:31.579 be quick to let go of this anger. We should be 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:34.779 willing to trade in this heart of anger, and 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:37.339 we should trade it in for the heart of Christ. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.740 Ephesians 4, 31 and 32 tells us, let all bitterness 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:46.720 and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.279 put away from you, along with all malice. Be 00:21:50.279 --> 00:21:53.259 kind to one another, tender -hearted, forgiving 00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:58.299 one another as God and Christ forgave you. Just 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:01.619 as God has shown us grace, we should be quick 00:22:01.619 --> 00:22:06.220 to show grace. We even sing this or we pray this 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:09.160 when we pray the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:13.220 debts as we forgive our debtors. We need to forgive 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:16.519 in the same way that Christ forgave. We need 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:20.069 to take radical steps. to fix our relationships 00:22:20.069 --> 00:22:23.549 and to have relationships. And so we move on 00:22:23.549 --> 00:22:27.230 from these three condemnations of murder, of 00:22:27.230 --> 00:22:29.750 anger, to two demonstrations of how we should 00:22:29.750 --> 00:22:34.470 be rectified with our neighbors, with our spouses, 00:22:34.630 --> 00:22:38.730 with our friends. The first one comes when you're 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:41.630 going to worship. Worship, when you're approaching 00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:43.730 it, is always a time where you're meditating 00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:47.200 on the week before. You're thinking of of the 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.200 sin that you committed. You're thinking of the 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.440 fact you just got angry at your wife as you loaded 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.920 the children into the car. You're maybe thinking 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.440 of the time you cursed someone out at work and 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:02.460 they did not deserve it. And we should reflect 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:04.720 on these sins. And maybe you do it as you're 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.220 coming in or maybe you do it while we're praying 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.920 our prayer confession during that time of silent 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:13.000 prayer. Hopefully you're doing it during this 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.940 sermon. Right now you're reflecting. on these 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:19.200 times. But Christ tells us if you're coming in 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.059 to worship and you have a sacrifice to offer, 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:26.200 you have prayers to pray and hymns to sing, but 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:28.859 if you are still angry with your brother, do 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:32.200 not come. You do not have a worship. You do not 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:36.000 have a sacrifice that can truly approach the 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:41.329 Lord. The Lord wants a perfect sacrifice. In 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:43.670 the Psalms we were told, for you will not delight 00:23:43.670 --> 00:23:46.490 in sacrifice, or I will give it. You will not 00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:49.410 be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices 00:23:49.410 --> 00:23:53.950 of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:57.690 heart. O God, you will not despise. God wants 00:23:57.690 --> 00:24:01.329 us to come and to worship with a broken heart, 00:24:01.509 --> 00:24:04.829 a heart of repentance, one that seeks to have 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:07.109 right relationships with him and with others. 00:24:07.529 --> 00:24:10.750 And we cannot come and offer our sacrifices unless 00:24:10.750 --> 00:24:15.670 we have come repentant of all of our sins. And 00:24:15.670 --> 00:24:17.990 as Jesus is giving this command, everyone in 00:24:17.990 --> 00:24:19.589 the crowd would have been thinking, well, this 00:24:19.589 --> 00:24:23.150 is preposterous. The trip from Galilee to Jerusalem 00:24:23.150 --> 00:24:26.509 was an 80 mile trip. It was a four or five day 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:30.349 trip. And so they're in one way. And so they 00:24:30.349 --> 00:24:32.109 have already come to Galilee. Now they need to 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:34.690 go back to Jerusalem. If they get there and they 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:38.529 have a sacrifice to give, but they have had a 00:24:38.529 --> 00:24:41.190 fight with their spouse, if they have had a fight 00:24:41.190 --> 00:24:43.230 with a friend who tried to give them good advice, 00:24:43.569 --> 00:24:46.950 they need to leave their sacrifice, go back, 00:24:47.309 --> 00:24:51.509 take another four or five days, make reconciliation, 00:24:51.730 --> 00:24:55.609 and then come back to worship. Because only then 00:24:55.609 --> 00:25:01.630 they can come with a pure sacrifice. As one commentator 00:25:01.630 --> 00:25:06.359 ultimately put it, if you are unfit, for worship, 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:10.039 you are unfit to die. And so God wants us to 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:13.319 come before him with a broken and contrite heart 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:16.500 so that we can be worshiped, that he can be worshiped 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:19.559 properly, that we can be ready for the Lord to 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:21.819 come back as we sung this morning, as we talked 00:25:21.819 --> 00:25:26.299 about this morning. And Jesus gives us a second 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:29.500 demonstration of how do we seek reconciliation. 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:33.880 And he talks about... Come to terms quickly with 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:35.839 your accuser while you are going with them to 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:38.539 court. Least your accuser hands you over to a 00:25:38.539 --> 00:25:41.460 judge and the judge to the guard and you be put 00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:45.559 in prison. Now this accuser has two different 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:49.059 meanings. There is the real life meaning where 00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:53.259 a legal crime was committed. Maybe someone insulted 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:55.559 you and you thought the only just punishment 00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:59.980 for them was to pick up your fist and press it 00:25:59.980 --> 00:26:04.089 against their cheek. or maybe you had a coworker 00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:07.470 who you thought he was lazy and maybe a glutton 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:10.890 and you decided to make it known before the whole 00:26:10.890 --> 00:26:14.130 office. You decided to call him a liar and maybe 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:16.369 even pronounced sins on him that he did not even 00:26:16.369 --> 00:26:21.490 commit. And now he's looking for a restoration. 00:26:21.670 --> 00:26:26.190 He sues you for defamation or he gets sued for 00:26:26.190 --> 00:26:28.950 assault. And before you even get to court the 00:26:28.950 --> 00:26:32.410 commandment that God gives us, is to go and make 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:37.109 reconciliation. Go apologize in repentance. Pay 00:26:37.109 --> 00:26:42.869 the hospital bill that the man needed to have 00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:46.690 after being assaulted by you. Go to your boss 00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:49.470 and say, hey, this coworker, there are times 00:26:49.470 --> 00:26:51.690 he is lazy, but I am lazy, too, and most of what 00:26:51.690 --> 00:26:55.190 I said was not true. You need to go before you 00:26:55.190 --> 00:26:58.630 ever get to the court date. You need to go before 00:26:58.630 --> 00:27:01.210 you even go to talk with a lawyer. The first 00:27:01.210 --> 00:27:04.289 step you should take is to go and seek reconciliation 00:27:04.289 --> 00:27:07.210 with this person because if it gets to court, 00:27:07.609 --> 00:27:10.289 you will justly owe him everything. They could 00:27:10.289 --> 00:27:12.710 take everything you have, all of your savings. 00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:14.750 If there's not enough there, they could come 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:18.369 after your car or your house or anything you 00:27:18.369 --> 00:27:20.170 own. They could take it and they are right to 00:27:20.170 --> 00:27:24.069 do so because you have attacked them. You have 00:27:24.069 --> 00:27:26.710 murdered their name. You have done great wrong. 00:27:27.069 --> 00:27:30.349 against them, and it needs to be reconciled. 00:27:30.390 --> 00:27:32.650 But then there's a second meaning to this. There 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.369 is a spiritual meaning that we must remember. 00:27:35.789 --> 00:27:37.789 Because throughout this whole passage, Jesus 00:27:37.789 --> 00:27:40.809 does not want to just deal with physical actions, 00:27:41.069 --> 00:27:43.849 not just with the hands. He wants to deal with 00:27:43.849 --> 00:27:47.789 the heart. The spiritual side of this is that 00:27:47.789 --> 00:27:51.089 if we get to heaven and we have been unfit to 00:27:51.089 --> 00:27:54.009 die, we have been unrepentant, we have Jesus 00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:57.839 not as a mediator, not as a friend, but as an 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:01.980 accuser, and justly so. If we stand before God 00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:04.940 with unrepentant sin, it does not matter how 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:08.099 loudly we proclaim Christ, we show ourselves 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:11.299 to be unbelievers if we are unrepentant with 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:14.460 our sin. Now, this does not mean that we can 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:18.160 never get angry. Even unjustly, the Lord knows, 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:21.460 Paul tells us in the scripture that we will still 00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:25.640 wrestle against the flesh. But as John Owen puts 00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:28.839 it we must be killing sin or it will be killing 00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:33.599 you and especially when it comes to anger because 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.339 anger destroys relationships it destroys marriages 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:41.279 it destroys friendships and Often it is blasphemous 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.019 against God because as we dwell in our anger 00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:47.660 We almost cease being angry at our spouse or 00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:50.759 with our friend and we begin to be angry at God 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:53.980 especially if we're facing the loss of a loved 00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:57.220 one or a medical issue. We start to wonder why 00:28:57.220 --> 00:29:00.279 God would put us in this place, why God would 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:03.519 allow us to exist here. Why has he abandoned 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:08.640 us? It's very similar to the Israelites in Numbers 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:11.200 21. As they're pulled through the wilderness, 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:14.079 they begin to doubt God for the food and the 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.099 manna that he has provided, and they call it 00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:20.259 worthless. That is often what we do to God with 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:23.140 our anger. We forget all of the blessings and 00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:27.460 the graces that he has given us and we get angry 00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:33.839 at him. Anger is a radical sin and you must take 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.259 radical steps to repent of it and have right 00:29:37.259 --> 00:29:40.119 relationships. Let me say that one more time 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.519 because if there's anything you get from the 00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:47.460 sermon, this is it. Anger is a radical sin and 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.180 you must take radical steps to repent of it. 00:29:50.220 --> 00:29:54.259 and have right relationships. Maybe, Christian, 00:29:54.299 --> 00:29:57.599 you are sitting here and you're thinking that 00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:59.680 these things that I have described, described 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.140 yourself. Maybe you realize that you have forgotten 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:06.900 the grace of your good God who gave His Son in 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:10.200 your place, who took upon the wrath of God, the 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:13.900 righteous anger of God in your place. He was 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:18.839 spat upon for you. Reflect on your Savior. Turn 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:22.279 back. You do not have to be a slave to your anger 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:25.940 any longer. You can be a slave to righteousness. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:30.680 You are an heir, a child of God. Take on the 00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:33.859 heart of Christ. Take on a tender heart. Take 00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:39.640 on a forgiving heart. Follow your savior. He 00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:43.599 has given you the example. Now follow him. Leave 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:46.420 here seeking forgiveness. Leave here seeking 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:49.890 reconciliation and restoration. with your friend 00:30:49.890 --> 00:30:54.589 or with your spouse. Now maybe you are here tonight 00:30:54.589 --> 00:30:58.869 and you do not know this Christ that I've talked 00:30:58.869 --> 00:31:01.690 about, but you do know that your life has been 00:31:01.690 --> 00:31:05.529 one filled with bitterness and with strife, with 00:31:05.529 --> 00:31:10.109 fighting, with yelling, with maybe broken marriages, 00:31:11.009 --> 00:31:16.410 divorces out of it. You can turn to Christ. Christ 00:31:16.410 --> 00:31:21.900 is the only Savior you can have. He died for 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:25.779 sinners. He died in the place of sinners, and 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.980 you can turn to him. Now, maybe you fit none 00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:34.500 of these categories, but next time you get angry, 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.920 you should stop and say, does this represent 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.039 Christ? And if it does not, seek repentance. 00:31:41.700 --> 00:31:45.940 Seek the radical steps to have right relationships. 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:47.779 Let's pray.