Did you know you are a murderer?
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Joke - when the mail comes the dog barks. one day the dog was growling at the front door before the mailman came. the cat asked the dog why are you always so mad at the mailman. now your growling at him before he even shows up. what did he ever do to you? to which the dog replied, my therapist is helping me work on my angrrrrr.
Matthew 5:21-26
Matthew 5:21-26
The New King James Version Chapter 5
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
Story of Mike Baranski chasing a man down the st with a 2x4.
ended up in jail. got out and was trying to change his life.
one day- got upset with a man and told him. You really make me angry.
the man replied to him , I cant make you feel anything. it is your decision to respond that way.
He has told me this story to remind me that we have the option to respond in the spirit or the flesh to any situation
that If I am angry it is because something is not going my way and it is a problem in my heart.
Q.How often to you get angry for an unjust reason.
Q.How often do you slander those whom you dislike?
How serious do you consider this to be?
In this sermon we will see what Jesus has to say about your anger and the importance of being at peace with others.
Unjust Anger is Compared to Murder
Unjust Anger is Compared to Murder
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
Jesus points out 6th commandment.
“You shall not murder.
Q . How many of you are guilty of murdering another human being?
please do not raise your hand to let us know.
answer this one in your mind.
If you can say you have not murdered anyone than at face value, you have obeyed this commandment perfectly.
This is how the Jewish people understood the commandment. and rightfully so.
you would interpret this commandment in the same way.
But Jesus took the commandment deeper than the religious leaders did.
He drew out the heart principles embedded in the commandment like a nurse who draws blood from her patient to find out what is causing a mans symptoms.
He exposed that murder happens first in the heart and leads to the hands.
your sin always starts in the heart.
This is a common theme in the teaching of our Lord.
The proper understanding of the law was that a man who commits murder was to pay with his life.
But now Jesus is saying that a man who is unjustly angry would pay the same penalty?
In saying this Jesus was communicating the heavenly judgment of his father.
we see this principle taking shape that we must check our heart to see if we are walking in step with God.
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
Q. so what has been coming out of your mouth lately?
Guard your heart from anger and slander
Guard your heart from anger and slander
We see in these verses that one of the fruits of a murderous heart is slander.
We just saw that unjust anger was likened to being subject to the same judgment as physical murder.
Now we see that the slander involved in the murder of your heart is being likened to standing before the council and hell fire.
The council refrences the sanhedrin- 72 elders of pharisees and saduccees who would stone you to death.
hell fire needs no further explanation.
The slanderous term raca means an empty head
you fool another derogatory term.
The point in all three judgment refrences is a warning to the eternal judgment of the father against sin.
Q. who have you slandered lately?
It is so subtle.
this is the evidence of an angry heart!
I dont condemn you because I see the wickedness in my own.
POINTS US TO OUR NEED FOR JESUS.
Story of frank. telling people about how I thought he and the elders were failing.
Thank you Jesus for the blood.
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Sinful anger vs righteous anger
But we often excuse our sin by justifying ourselves.
People say “You know Jesus flipped tables. “
well bud, He flipped tables because men made a mockery of the house of God and you flipped tables because they forgot sour cream on your chulupa.
Im not kidding, i got so mad one time when they messed up my taco bell order. Im pretty sure I murdered the taco bell worker in my heart.
Slander is a good indication that your anger is not righteous.
Q. So what causes us to get so angry with someone that we start to attack them in our hearts.
we can look to a few places in the old testemant but lets focus in on cain and able.
but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
the sin started in the heart!
guilty of murder in the heart when that anger prompted his ill will towards his brother.
James 1 :13-15
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
We are tempted by our own evil desires
Cains pride was hurt and he became jealous of his brother.
sin festered and ultimately brought forth the action of murder
but the murder started earlier in the heart.
so we need to be on guard when that murderous thought comes into our mind.
If you know that sin is crouching at the door and after you then you can be prepared for its schemes.
this leads us well into our third point
Gods desire is peace and reconciliation
Gods desire is peace and reconciliation
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Whenever we see a therefore, we have to ask what is the therefore there for.
look back to Jesus pronouncing the principle behind the commandment that you shall not murder.
He has made every person who heard this message guilty of breaking this commandment.
v 23-24 he gives the example of a man giving a gift at the altar.
offering a sacrafice to atone for sin.
He remembers that someone has something against him.
dont give your gift to the Lord until you are reconciled.
Sheds light on the utmost importance of being reconciled with your brothers in Christ.
to be reconcilled is to come into peace with one another.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
we must reflect on our lives and examine if we have sinned against our brother.
Q.Are you guilty of slandering your brother?
Q.Are you guilty of murdering a brother in your heart?
If you are have you been reconciled with them?
This is why God tells us to make sure our heart is right before we even take part in communion.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
God does not desire our gifts or sacraments as much as he desires our heart to be right towards him and our brothers.
If we find ourselves in a quarell with a brother or sister, we should be quick to admit our fault.
DID you know that even when you are right you can be wrong.
Many times when we are right we can be push the envelope too far and sin against our brother in the way we handle things.
in most every quarell nobody handles it perfectly.
God is looking for humble men and women who can see they have faults and are willing to repent of them.
Story of what happened with frank.
Jesus closes with these verses
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.
Here we see the encouragement to come to terms with your accuser quickly.
We also must acknowledge that at times your accuser may be in the wrong as well.
When you refuse to be reconciled , you will eventually pay the price.
The price of refusing to be reconciled will act as a slow drawn out sentence.
when you walk in disobedience and unforgivness you are walking in opposition to Christ.
This will rob your joy and intimacy with the Lord.
Many times Christians will not even notice that they are refusing to humble themselves and repent.
Therefore we must identify the disputes that we have had with others and to do our part in reconciliation.
This is not only to be made right with the other person
But more importantly it is so that your heart is pure before the Lord.
blessed are the pure in heart.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So we have made the point that Jesus has compared unjust anger to murder
you have murdered in your heart when you get angry at someone without just cause.
You are also guilty of murder when you call others derogatory names.
Jesus points out the violation of your heart.
Therefore we need to guard our hearts against slander and anger.
When we do act out in anger and have disputes with others it is of the utmost importance that we are reconciled to peace with them.
This puts us in a difficult place. ...
Because we are always going to struggle with anger.
It is an emotion that gets the best of us sometimes.
I promise you will be repenting from this sin for the rest of your life.
The point is these verses is to lead you to the savior.
This sermon is not inteded to teach you how to be less angry.
This sermon is intended to lead you to Jesus for mercy and strength to repent when you do get angry.
This sermon is meant to give glory to Jesus for saving us from our sin of anger.
As we continue to turn to him for forgiveness and strength, he will continue to lead us away from our murderous hearts.
You must know that His mercy is new for you every morning.
If your struggling with anger, Bring it to the cross and be forgiven.
Gospel