Well, amen. And good evening. It's good to be with you. We are continuing our series as we've been discussing already in the worship service on the Sermon on the Mount. And we'll be in Matthew, chapter 5 tonight, verses 21 through 26, you can go ahead and turn there in your Bibles. We're thinking about Christ teaching on the Kingdom of God in the character of the Christian life. And Kevin began our series with the Beatitudes and verses 5 through 12. And we saw the foundational character of the Kingdom there. And then two weeks ago, Nathan talked to us about the witness of the Kingdom, the foundational character of the Kingdom leads to the witness of the Kingdom, how we are to be salt and light he talked to us about being and doing. And Bruce preached last week on how all the law, all the law, is pointing to Christ. All the law is pointing to Christ, it's fulfilled in Christ. And he emphasized that Christ fulfills the law in three ways, it's that Christ fulfills the law historically in that he fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. He fulfills the law vicariously offering perfect obedience to the Father and he fulfills the law sacrificially as our toning sacrifice. But there's also this prophetic sense in which Christ fulfills the law and that he unfolds the law to us and shows us the right intent of the law, the law rightly understood, and the law rightly applied in our lives. And all of that is intended to shape the character of your heart and my heart. Now ultimately this does point to Christ in his character as Kevin noted when he started the series, it's really important to make this distinction. We are not talking about perfect obedience in the Sermon on the Mount. Only Christ can obey the law perfectly, but just because we cannot obey the law perfectly, it does not mean that we cannot obey the law truly. So we're aiming at not perfect obedience, but true obedience by virtue of our union with Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We can truly come to obey him. And so hopefully you'll see that in our passage this evening as Jesus begins to unfold his teaching into particular areas of our life and tonight it begins with anger or conflict. And the pivot point for this passage is the command thou shalt not murder. And I want us to see three things that Christ does in relation to this command. Number one Christ shows us the reach of the command, Christ shows us the reach of the command. Number two Christ unfolds the revelation behind the command, and then number three Christ brings us to the realization or the fulfillment of the command. So the reach, the revelation, and the realization. And with that, let's go to the word of God and let me read and then we'll pray. Hear the word of the Lord. You have heard that it was said to those of old. You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. And so if you are offering your gift at the altar and they remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. And first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Let's go to the Lord and prayer. And so Father in heaven, we come before your word this evening and we humble ourselves before your word. And we ask that you would speak to us, that you would open our hearts and open our eyes and ears, that we might hear, that we might see, and that we might respond. We pray that you build us up in the faith and grow us and obedience, change and transform us O Lord. We pray tonight through your word and Christ's name. Amen. So my 16-year-old daughter has recently been learning to drive. And that's been, you know, for the most part, a really positive experience. She's going pretty well, but I've become keenly aware of my own sensitivities as I've been riding along with her. You know, use your turn signal, look both ways, and I'm remembering all these things that I neglect to do as a driver myself. And I'm telling her to do it. And there's something else that I've been reminded. You know there's no brake pedal on the passenger side of the car. I mean, I've been testing that over and over again. But there's also this bumper sticker that I've noticed. Maybe you've seen it. Maybe you can have it on your car. Please be patient, student driver. You've probably seen it. And like I said, you might have one. And I have thought probably along with every other teenager who has that on their car. Why is that bumper sticker necessary? Why does that have to be there? And maybe this doesn't strike your amuse, but it does me. What does it say about our culture that we need a bumper sticker that's basically pleading for mercy and patience on the roads? And I think to myself, are we really all just that, are we that close to just exploding? Are we all just riding around on a normal day simmering? It's revealing. When I was in my early 20s, I remember a car pulling out in front of me. And the car pulled out in front of me and sometimes that's not such a bad transgression. You know, if they pull out in front of you and they get on the gas, they realize they put out pulled out in front of you. They get on the gas and they just sort of get out of your way. But this car pulled out in front of me and did not get on the gas. Rather, it was just creeping along. And so I did what any gracious young person would do. I got right on their tail and just followed them. And the anger was just building and building and building. I thought if I get on their tail, maybe they're spinning. No, they're not speeding up. I can't believe they're not speeding. I can't believe they're pulled out in front of me. I can't believe that they're not speeding up to matter with this person. And so I waited for the first opportunity and I angrily jerked the wheel of the car just to go around them and I was going to go around them and just and glare at them. And so I'm going around them and I look in the window to glare at them and I realize it's a true story. It was my grandmother. And I mean, I went from a glare to a wave in a hurry, you know, going right by her. Oh, hey, grandma, how you doing? Just waving. The horror, road rage at your grandmother. That's a new love. But it's amazing what comes out of us when we're triggered. When someone pushes our buttons, when someone pushes your buttons, what comes out of you? Jesus talks to us about something that we all experience. He talks to us about anger. He talks to us about insults. He talks to us about judgment. He talks about conflict. And he talks about reconciliation all within his kingdom. All his aspects of obedience to this command, not to murder. And so let's look at some of these connections. First by observing this first point, the reach within the command. Let's notice the reach within the command. This passage is framed by something that's commonly called the six antithesis. Oh, these are six statements. And they follow in the verses that follow where Christ says, you've heard it said, but I say to you. And it's a curious refrain because Jesus has just told us that he did not come to repudiate the law, destroy the law, but he came to fulfill the law. And yet Christ is saying, you've heard it said, but I say to you, it seems like he's repudiating the law here. But notice that Jesus is speaking to what has been said, not what has been written. And that's an important distinction because the issue for Jesus is not what has been written in the Old Testament or the law. The issue is what is being taught about what has been written in the Old tradition and the rabbinic tradition. And so right off the bat, we see that Christ is offering a correction showing us that something was off in the teaching of the law. Bruce highlighted this last week. There was being interpreted and applied in the wrong way, the Pharisees and their stubbornness, their pridefulness. They were outwardly obeying certain aspects of the law, but inwardly leaving the most vital dimensions alone. They were relaxing the law.
But in what sense were they really relaxing the law? You might wonder, in what sense were they relaxing the law? Well, we've all heard this iron-clad defense. Perhaps you've made it or your children have made it. You might correct your child and say, did you kick your sister? And they may say, yes, but it's not like I killed anyone. I've never killed anyone. And we might think that's what what kind of silly claim demoral innocence is that? Well, it's not like I've ever killed anyone. But this was literally a Pharisees claim. This is what they were saying. You've heard it said, vow shall not murder. Okay, that's good, but attach to that. Whoever murders is liable to judgment. Ah, there's the loophole. So long as you don't murder, you're not liable to judgment. As long as you don't kill anyone. And so Jesus offers this correction. And in doing so, He begins to get at our hearts. Look at verse 22. But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel. Whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. Jesus connects this command to conflict, to strive to our words, to our posture, to our demeanor toward other people. And so right off the bat, we see that this command is not just about avoiding murder. It's actually about how we live with one another. And that's the reach of the command. It's about how we live with one another. And that leads us to point two. Christ unfolds the revelation behind the command. Look at what he says, but I say to you, whoever's angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Wow. The bar just got raised. You might say, well, we all get angry. What's Christ talking about here? Didn't he get angry? Did he turn over tables in the temple course? Then Christ get frustrated with the disciples? What does he mean by this? I think Dan Doriani helps us when he says this. He says Christ anger was mixed with grief over sins such as hypocrisy, willful misunderstanding, fruitlessness, and unbelief. That is there's a category for righteous anger. There's a category for righteous indignation, for anger, for legitimate reasons. And that's not what Jesus is addressing here. In fact, some manuscripts even say, whoever is angry without cause. Whoever is angry without cause, the issue is, the issue is the cause and nature of our anger. Jesus is after unjustified anger in your life and my life. Jesus is after anger that is out of proportion. Anger that's rooted in self-centeredness and pride. My time, my reputation, my comfort, my triggers. I was reading an article about these verses and the central point of this article was that if you follow your anger, you will see what you value the most. If you follow your anger, you'll see what you value the most. Ironically, anger or hatred is rooted in our loves. It's rooted in our disordered loves. Unjustified anger or anger that's out of proportion is always driven by our disordered loves. And so that's one check that we can do on our hearts. When you see this anger in your life, it's always driven by disordered loves. Think about how mad we get as fans of our team and the opposing fans. You think about you walk out of stadium and your team is lost and my team's never really that good, so I've experienced that many times. And the opposing fans are walking out and they have their garb and their stuff on and they're the weird number one. And you just look at them. You just look, they just lose all their humanity almost. You just lose some just opposing fans. Can't believe them. If we're standing in line too long at the grocery store or in a traffic jam or someone has something that we want or desire, D.A. Carson says this kind of anger is revealed most clearly in our personal relationships. That's what happens when your child frustrates you and it just spills over or your spouse disappoints you and you begin to grow bitter toward them over disappointment. Your coworker doesn't meet your expectations and so you're unkind to them. Your friend lets you down in some way and maybe many ways. So you choose to take revenge on them. It's not just a matter of the natural disappointments that we have in our lives and relationships. It's not just a matter of feeling hurt or wounded. That's an entirely different category. We're talking about anger that's rooted in disorder desires and that turns into personal animosity toward others. That's what Jesus is after. Anger rooted in our disorder of desires, turning into personal animosity toward other people, toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think James helps us out here. James chapter four, you can turn there, helps us get at what Jesus is getting out here. James chapter four verses one through three. Familiar passage to many of you. Here's what he says. This is a great question by the way, the way he starts. Ask this about your household. Ask this about your relationships. What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Isn't it not this that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask and you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. James helps us get at the root at this. He calls them our passions and that word there doesn't just mean feelings or emotions. They're more rooted in our desires. That's what he means. It's more than just feelings or emotions. It's a controlling desire. We might say even an over desire for something. It's our passions that are at war within us. Our over desires. We want respect and we don't get it. We want affirmation and we don't get it. We want approval in the self-serving sense and we don't get it and what happens someone pays the price or perhaps when someone's in our way. They're in a way of something we want but they represent an obstacle to us and what do we seek to do? We fight. We quarrel. We seek to do what? We move them out of the way at all costs and in effect seek to eliminate them and we might think well we wouldn't murder them but what we really want is for them to disappear out of our path. Disappear out of our lives. Why? Because they represent an obstacle to something that we desire, something that we want. They keep us from getting it and so we seek to move them out of the way. How do we seek to do it? We fight. We quarrel. We murder. Not just with our actions but with our words, with our minds and our hearts, our disposition toward them and this is what destroys relationships. This is what destroys relationships and this is what destroys people when it begins to take root in our hearts. Ecclesiastes 7.9 says anger lodges in the heart of fools. Anger lodges in the heart of fools. I'll never forget one summer being at a camp and a pastor was preaching on anger. I was a teenager and I don't know why this statement is stuck with me. He stuck with me all of these years that he was preaching on anger and he said this. He said anger and bitterness destroy the vessel in which it is stored more than the vessel upon which it is poured. Anger and bitterness destroy the vessel in which it is stored more than the vessel upon which it is poured. Christ warns us that these things do not escape God's judgment. Let's look at the second one. Here's what Jesus says. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel. The word here for insult is raka. It means to regard someone as good for nothing. It's an expression of contempt. It's regards someone as worthless rather than seeing them as bearing the image of God, raka. He says you'll be liable to the counsel. That is to the religious authorities for such words. He goes on whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. And the Greek word here for fool is moron. It's where we get the word moron. We regard someone as stupid or dull. You may say what doesn't the Bible use this language? Didn't you just quote that? Does it Jesus use this language? But he's not engaging in name calling there. He's speaking to the character of stubbornness and pride of one's heart. That's what the scriptures are doing rather than speaking out of contempt for another person. That's what Jesus has in mind here and using these words. It's contempt for another person. So it's not so much the words. It doesn't have to be these words. It can be other words. It's not so much the words but the heart attitude that is behind the words. That's what's murderous. And so we have to ask ourselves in what ways? In what ways am I allowing contempt to take root in my heart and in my relationships? And how is that expressing itself? And what ways are you allowing contempt to take root in your heart and in your relationships? And how is that expressing itself? Are we allowing contempt to form in our marriages? We need to ask ourselves, do we belittle our spouse? Do we dismiss our spouse? Do we berate them in conflict? Do we make them feel small and insignificant? Then we are allowing conflict to breed contempt. Are we allowing contempt to form in our parenting relationship with our children? Do we provoke our children to wrap with harsh words or biting criticism? Is it becoming a pattern? I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask forgiveness as a dad many times for my words and my tone as a father. Do we despise our friends or siblings or co-workers when they stand in the way of something that we want? Is conflict forming contempt in these relationships? Jesus warns us about this, angry with his brother, liable to judgment, insults his brother, liable to the counsel, you fool, liable to the hell of fire. These seem to be you three gradations of sin with three rising consequences, but I think it's better understood as three hypothetical cases to make one point. What point is Christ trying to illustrate here? He's illustrating that not only are we liable to the human religious authorities, but we're liable to God himself, reliable to God himself. And so the revelation behind the command is that contempt in animosity or murderous seeds that must be, they must be uprooted in your heart and in my heart, they must be dislodged. So what do we do then? When you look in your heart and you see, well, if I'm honest, I just see knots of anger, knots of maybe disdain or resentment, knots of contempt in my heart. What do I do? What do we do then? This brings us to the realization of the command. The realization of the command Christ here juxtaposes personal animosity with personal reconciliation. And he's pressing home one point in these following verses, and that is the urgency of reconciliation. This is the remedy. The urgency of reconciliation. Here's what he says verses 23 and 24. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and they remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. And first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. And so we're talking now about someone that we have offended. And so this tells us something. Jesus says we should be concerned about the seeds of contempt forming in our hearts, but we should also be concerned about the seeds of contempt that might be forming in the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ that we have offended. And so the concern is dual. So we're thinking about that now. Jesus gives us two illustrations that speak to the importance of personal reconciliation in my life and your life. If we're going to live in the kingdom of God, the importance of personal reconciliation. And what follows in these verses is not a magic formula. We need to say that. He's not saying here, if you do A and you do B, A plus B will automatically equal C. As if we're at church and we remember that our brother has something against us and it's 615. Oh, well, let me run out and go find my brother and I go to him and I apologize and say, will you forgive me? I've been waiting for you to come. Sure, I'll forgive you. We embrace and you get back here in time to end the service. He's not talking about that. It's not a magic formula. It's not that easy. And Christ knows it's not that easy. It may take time. It may take a process beyond this. But I think we can nonetheless draw. We can draw out some proverbial wisdom from what Jesus says here based on his larger point. So how does the kingdom person? How does a believer handle conflict? How do you and I handle conflict in our lives? There's three points here I want to make. Number one, the believer deals with conflict urgently. That's the main point. He says go, leave off, get up immediately, even in the midst of the sacred act of worship. Jesus stresses this extreme illustration to show us the urgency that we should have about conflict in our lives. And you know, this kicks against our instinct to bury it. We can often have that temptation just to bury conflict, to prevent like it doesn't exist, or maybe even more so the temptation is to be passive aggressive about it. To avoid it or maybe treat it as differently than what it is, be passive aggressive. But Jesus stresses that we must go. And that leads us back to the Beatitudes. You know, the Beatitudes actually help us interpret and apply the rest of the sermon of the Mount. Think about it this. Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God. He doesn't say blessed are the peacemakers, those who provoke conflict. And he doesn't say blessed are the peacemakers, those who ignore conflict. He says blessed are the peacemakers. And what does a peacemaker do? He pursues peace by moving toward conflict, pursues peace by moving toward conflict. I love what Chris Braun says in his book unpacking forgiveness. And if you're struggling with forgiveness and you're in this kind of situation where it's complicated, I highly recommend that book. And here's what he says, the believer moves toward conflict, not to inflame it, but to resolve it. The believer moves toward conflict, not to inflame it, but to resolve it. Presses a question on us. Do we believe that God resolves conflict? Do we believe that? Do we believe that he can work in the midst of conflict? Do we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts? And the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of our brothers and sisters? What do we believe God is doing in the midst of conflict? Do we believe that he's a peacemaker? And so we have this sense of urgency and it's fueled by faith. It doesn't mean that we're reckless. We can certainly recklessly move toward conflict, but we need to be thoughtful. We need to be prayerful about how we go, but we go. There's a sense of urgency for our brother, for our sister, to be reconciled. The believer moves toward conflict urgently, number two, the believer moves toward conflict or deals with conflict directly. He says, be reconciled to him. And of course, there's times and circumstances where maybe we need to bring in some other people, might require counsel from others, or perhaps it involves a process of plurality of bringing in pastors and elders, and there's a definite process of that. We see that in Matthew 18. And sometimes we need to do that, but the point is we address conflict directly, not through a Facebook ran on social media, or not through texting our friends. We address conflict directly, number three, the believer moves toward conflict in humility. The believer moves toward conflict in humility, and this is part of prayerfully moving toward conflict. We don't just fly toward another person, but we ask the Lord to bless our conversation. We ask the Lord to bless this process, and we ask the Lord to show us, show me, Lord, that there be any offensive way in me. If I offended my brother, if I offended my sister, would you make that plain? Would you let me know? So, I humbly acknowledge my sin or my possible fault. And perhaps that involves even welcoming other people, welcoming older, wiser Christians, welcoming pastors or elders, and saying, here's what's going on, would you help me discern? Could we sit down, could we all thought together? Could you help me discern, where do you see fault? And so, part of humility is not even going, not just going in prayer, but willingly opening ourselves up to others, where we see fault, and where we see fault we ask for forgiveness. And another part of humility is we ask for, rather than demand forgiveness. We ask for, rather than demand forgiveness, we realize that reconciliation does not always involve full restoration. And sometimes humility demands that we're even willing to operate within a changed relationship with someone. The Christ's point is that we pursue these things, and this is great freedom in this, that we trust the Lord for the outcome. So, Church of God, remember Romans 12-18, here's what it says, in so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all. Do you know there's great freedom in that verse? Not all conflicts are within your power to resolve. That's what it's saying. And not all offenses that are taken are legitimate. And that's why the Church gives us a context in which we can pursue reconciliation. So, we carry the wisdom of Romans 12-18 with us, and we trust God for the outcome. The Christ's point is rather than allowing these things to faster, and rather than letting bitterness and contempt creep in and ourselves or another person, no, we move toward them, and this is for our relationship as brothers and sisters in crisis for our familial relationships as well. I'm sorry, would you forgive me? That was the meaning, that was blitling. That was arrogant. That was prideful. I wanted this, and I wanted that, and it didn't come my way, and I was insecure. I was defensive. I was angry. I was sinful. I was wrong. Would you forgive me? And one good principle here, when we move in this way, is not just to say, I'm sorry, but to literally ask, would you forgive me? To ask for forgiveness. These should be regular conversations in our homes. These should be regular conversations in our congregations as worshipers and followers of Christ. That's what Jesus is saying. Let's look at verse 25 as we close out the text. Here's what he says, come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court. Less your accuser hands you over to the judge and the judge, the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. And here again, come to terms quickly with your accuser. Here again, the overarching point is urgency. The overarching point is urgency, but it's also that sometimes our words need to be accompanied by actions. We remember that sometimes our words need to be accompanied by actions. Contextually, this would likely be a situation where someone has defaulted on a loan and they owe a debt and they can't pay the debt. It's there being brought to court because they're not paying their debts. And they're going to be thrown into debtors' prison. The bad thing about a debtor's prison is you can't work to pay off your debt there. The only way to get out of that prison is to have someone who loves you pay your debt. Family member and whatnot. We're a friend. And so essentially Christ is telling us here, seek all avenues in our lives to make amends. Seek all avenues to make amends with our brothers and sisters. Be clear of malice and offense toward others by taking full responsibility for our actions or even taking full responsibility for our inaction. Where possible, if necessary, make amends. Same principle applies here. Do it with urgency. Do it directly. Do it in humility. And here's what he says, if you delay, you might not be able to make amends. You think about regret in life that we don't want to live with. I wish I would have gone to that person. I wish I would have acted on that. I wish I would have pursued reconciliation while there was time. I could have made amends, but I delayed. Jesus says, do not delay. You will be handed over to the human authorities. Justice will be done. And so Christ is telling us that if our righteousness is going to exceed that of the Pharisees, then we must pursue right relationships with one another. I'll tell you what the Pharisees didn't have. They didn't have right relationships with one another. And so we think about the realization of the command. The realization of the command happens as we learn to live peacefully and mercifully with one another. Thou shalt not commit murder. Actually is a positive injunction. A call for us to live peacefully and mercifully with one another. And so we obey that command. And in all of this, as we sort of zoom out and think about the kingdom of God, and what Christ is doing here, and how he's teaching this, in all of this, Jesus is showing us the central presence of forgiveness and reconciliation within the kingdom. And that's the hope that we have. The central presence of forgiveness and reconciliation within the kingdom, forgiveness and reconciliation are one of the primary ways that we serve one another. As Galatians 6 says, bear one another's burdens. That includes our sins. And so forgiveness and reconciliation is to be at the heart of our relationships with one another. Why? Because forgiveness and reconciliation is at the heart of our relationship with God. At the heart of all of this, and this is where we have to fix our eyes at the heart of all of this is Christ, the peacemaker, who made peace with us by the blood of his cross. It's Christ, the mercy giver, who paid our debt, but we cannot make amends. And when we live mercifully and peacefully with one another, what we're really doing is we're mirroring God's saving character. And that's what dislodges anger and bitterness in our hearts.
There's a correlation between mercy received and mercy given. There's a correlation between peace with God and peace with our brothers. So let's look to Christ and see all that he's done for us. Perfectly. So we can learn to live in true obedience to him together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we are grateful for the gospel. We're grateful for your mercy and grace to us. And we're grateful for the central character that takes in the life of your kingdom. And I pray that you would lead us and guide us in this. Lord many of us are in different places with our brothers and sisters in Christ. So pray that you would help us to be pursuers of reconciliation because you have reconciled us by your blood. And I pray that in Christ's name. Amen.