Murder and Anger

Introduction:

Connection:

One of the beautiful things about the Word of God is that it’s so piercingly plain and simple. It doesn’t submit to worldly standards of being politically correct. It doesn’t hold back any punches. And one such statement from Solomon that often strikes me is this: “Anger lodges in the hearts of fools” (Eccl. 7:9). Generally speaking—an angry man is not a righteous man. An angry man is not a wise man. An angry man is not a holy man. James also says something very similar: “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). Sinful anger is like gunpowder. All it needs is a bit of fire to explode. And if the anger is there within—explosion is always on standby. This is the focus of our sermon this morning as we focus on the words of Jesus Christ as He preaches on the Law of God.

Theme:

Murder & Anger

Need:

We need to keep our hearts lest fury dwells within us. We need to ensure that we are snuffing out any flames in our hearts, lest we explode in murderous outrage. This text isn’t fun—Jesus doesn’t give us warm platitudes here—he searches our minds and hearts and warns us of the impending judgment to come, and not just on those guys.

Purpose:

To expose the true spiritual depth of the 6th commandment; to rebuke shallow interpretations of God’s Law; to warn about the judgment coming upon Law-breakers; to exhort us to be urgent about reconciliation with our brothers; and to comfort us in the divine reconciliation that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Recap:

Two Sundays ago we heard the Words of Jesus as he declared his thesis statement for the Sermon on the Mount—he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it—he came not to revoke it, but to confirm it—and therefore we ought have a hearty and holy desire to keep God’s commandments, not for salvation, but from salvation—seeing that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, else we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Here Jesus begins his practical application of this with the 6th commandment, you shall not murder! And here he contrasts the faulty teaching of the Scribes—with the true meaning of God’s Righteous Law.

Read Text:

Matt. 5:21-26 ESV

PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY

(1) The Heart of Murder is Anger—and the Fruit of Anger is Hellfire - v. 21-22.

Matthew 5:21–22 ESV

“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 council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

(1) The Heart of Murder is Anger—and the Fruit of Anger is Hellfire - v. 21-22.

Two weeks ago I sought to prove that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is not contrasting the Law of Moses with his own new law—but he is contrasting the Pharisees reading of the Law with the Law itself. He is recovering and restoring the true depth of the commandments of God—which we aren’t to relax in the slightest. And so he says:

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

Murray: “When Jesus says ‘it was said to them of old time’ he is alluding to the rabbinic practice of appealing for authority to what was said of old. We have abundant evidence of this practice. The Talmud witnesses to this on almost every page in the ever recurring formula, ‘Our rabbis taught’.

Thus, in the six contrasts in the weeks to come—Jesus is refuting the shallow reading of the Law by Jewish teachers—with the spiritual depth of the Law as it was given by God. The Jewish Teachers were formalists; they were only concerned about the externals. And thus they discipled people into hypocrisy (Matt. 23).

Calvin: By confining the law of God to outward duties only, they trained their disciples, like apes, to hypocrisy. The principal charge brought by Christ against their doctrine may be easily learned from what follows in the discourse, where he removes from the law their false and wicked interpretations, and restores it to its purity.

This is Jewish tradition versus the Holy Law of God. When Jesus refers to the OT itself he often says: It is written; he never says it was said to those of old. So keep that in mind as we continue. And when Jesus speaks, he speaks with authority, he speaks as Immanuel, as God in the flesh, as the only Lawgiver, Judge, and King. This is Christ’s Royal Law—and so he clarifies his royal law with his royal authority: But I Say Unto You!

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;

The Jewish teachers had taught that only literal murder broke the 6th commandment; that only literal murder brought the weight of judgment. But Jesus says—that even anger in the heart breaks the 6th commandment; that even anger in the heart brings the weight of judgment. Why? Because anger in the heart is the gunpowder to actual murder. All that is needed is a bit of fire, and then—boom! It ignites. It explodes. And blood is shed.

Murder by definition—is unjust killing; and unjust killing, says Jesus, is rooted in the anger of the heart. Jesus shows us here that the 6th commandment forbids heart-murder just as it forbids literal-murder. And if you’ve ever had even the tiniest bit of anger toward a brother, then Jesus says you are liable to the judgment of God Almighty. Jesus isn’t giving you any second chances. There are no second chances at the bar of God’s justice; eye for eye; tooth for tooth—every sinful deed in action and in heart must be accounted for, judged, and condemned by the holiness of the living God who searches mind and heart. Jesus is preaching on the condemnation of the holy law of God, which we can’t escape—the curse which we are all guilty of. But not only heart-anger is forbidden by the 6th commandment, so too are verbal-insults! Jesus says:

whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council;

Have you been angry at a brother before? Jesus says you’ve had the seeds of murder in your heart. Have you ever insulted a brother before? Jesus says you’ve practically murdered him with your speech; and you’ll be liable to the council of judgment and wrath. But Jesus turns up the heat even more:

and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

A sinful mocking, slander, and scoffing at a brother, in the eyes of Jesus Christ is worthy of eternal hell fire. Oh brothers and sisters—do you know the living God in this way? Do you have a sense of his holy majesty? Do you have a sense of his infinite justice? Do you have a sense of his unrelenting anger? Do you have a sense of his transcendent glory? Until you know the attributes of the living God who cannot clear the guilty, who is too holy to even behold sin, who has indignation toward the wicked every day, who will pour out the cup of his wrath upon all lawless men—until you have a proper and holy fear of the living God, you will never understand how Jesus could say what he says here.

Jesus says that one verbal slip up is worthy of the hell of fire! Of Gehenna. Of the eternal punishment of hell. John the Baptist called it the unquenchable fire. One verbal sin brings the just retribution of the flames of the thrice holy God! … Then multiply that by every sin we commit every day, for all the days of our lives. And yet we try to claim that God is unjust to punish us in this way… the Apostle Paul asks:

Romans 3:5–6 (ESV)

[Is] God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means!

Do you know this God? Or have you fashioned an idol of your own understanding. Is the God you and I serve the God who condemns sinners because of verbal slander? If not then we don’t know him rightly—we have degraded his holiness—we have softened his justice—we have relaxed his majesty. Until you can say with Isaiah—holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! … And woe is me! Then you will never understand how Jesus could say that anger in the heart, an insult to a brother, and a verbal scoffing justly deserves the hell of fire prepared for the devil and his angels—of which we are told that they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 14; 20). God says through Nahum:

Nahum 1:2 ESV

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

Even one transgression of his holy law, in the heart, or with the mouth—leads to the royal judgment of the Almighty King of kings, and Lord of lords. Oh don’t try to cover up your own sins with pitiful fig leaves. We must not relax God’s holiness, or God’s law, in order to calm our conflicted conscience. You will not find comfort in relaxing God’s commandments, you will only find more wrath for royal treason against the Lord.

Spurgeon: Thus our Lord and King restores the law of God to its true force, and warns us that it denounces not only the overt act of killing, but every thought, feeling, and word which would tend to injure a brother, or [murder] him by contempt.

The Pharisees thought they were righteous—Jesus proves that the very commandment they appealed to is the very commandment that condemns them (and us) by it’s deep spiritual requirement upon all of us toward perfect love. Why does Jesus say these things? To prove that no one is good; that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; that no one is righteous, no not one—that all of us are deserving of hellfire; you and I both; every mouth is stopped before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ whose law we have all broken from the heart innumerable times each and every day of our lives.

And thus Jesus is showing that our only hope in life and in death is not in what we have done, can do, or will do—but in what Christ has done, can do, and will do. Blessed are the poor in spirit. We have nothing to offer. We have nothing to give. We have nothing to contribute. Our hearts are enslaved to the passions of this world. Naturally—our wills are enslaved to the lust of our flesh. Our minds are darkened and led astray by worldly wisdom. But just when we thought all hope was lost—Christ died for the ungodly, Christ came to save sinners, Jesus saves his people from their sins. So don’t rely upon your own goodness; Jesus proves that we don’t have any—we are all murderers in heart, and no murderer has eternal life—unless we are washed in the blood of the Lamb, repenting of our sins, trusting in the Cross, and placing our living hope in the resurrection of our King.

Titus 3:3–7 ESV

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Praise be to God for the grace that is in Jesus Christ—come to Him, cast your only hope upon Him—he alone can bear your sins by washing them clean—and he alone can give you the righteous standing you need to be justified in the courtroom of the holy Judge of heaven—he alone can give you new life, cleansing your sinful anger and transforming you into a new and loving creature by the Holy Spirit.

(1) The Heart of Murder is Anger—and the Fruit of Anger is Hellfire - v. 21-22.

And so we praise God for the redemption that is in the blood of Christ—rich, full, and free—sufficient to cover all our murderous hearts. But once we’re saved by grace and grace alone—we are called to devote ourselves to good works; and so God’s Law becomes our rule of life—not our way to life—but our rule of life; as we follow Jesus in all of life. And so Jesus applies the 6th commandment to his disciples in the sphere of public worship:

(2) The Heart of Worship is Purity—and the Fruit of Purity is Peace - v. 23-24.

Matthew 5:23–24 ESV

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

(2) The Heart of Worship is Purity—and the Fruit of Purity is Peace - v. 23-24.

Jesus is using the picture of public worship when the saints (before the fullness of the new covenant), were still offering animal sacrifices at the alter, out of faith in the Lamb to come. This is a picture of public worship in the household of the living God. Jesus says:

23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

Notice that Jesus is envisioning a time in the midst of worship … your with God’s people, your in God’s house, you’ve come to offer to the Lord your firstfruits of love and service out of gratitude for His goodness and grace … But as you’re there—you remember—you remember that there is an offence against you. You remember that a brother is upset with you, that he is angry with you, that he is harboring that murderous spirit within him.

Your in the middle of worship—what do you do? Do you brush off the thought until the service is over? No. You get up and go—for obedience is better than sacrifice; worship must be in purity. Jesus says:

24 leave your gift there before the altar and go.

Don’t continue in the motions. Don’t try to please God with your service—God requires clean hands and a pure heart. God doesn’t delight in worship at church if you have open accounts of sin and anger directed at you because of your sins and iniquities.

Doriani: Christians sometimes say, “I know that if I have a problem with my brother, I must go to him and work it out.” True enough, but what Jesus says here is not, “If you have something against your brother, go,” but, “If your brother has something against you, go.”

Jesus is talking about if you know that someone else is offended with you! Jesus says get up and go! He says to you even now, Calvary Bible Church, if you need to make things right with your fellow man, get up and go—leave church—and make things right with his fellow image bearers, make things right with your brothers and sisters.

Ritual is vain if relationships are strained.

1 Samuel 15:22–23 (ESV)

And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Psalm 66:18 ESV

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 ESV

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Our Father who is in heaven doesn’t care if you go through the right motions of worship, if you’re not coming to Him in true faith & repentance, and with an earnest desire to be at peace with God and with your fellow man. Pursue peace and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. And so Jesus says:

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Before you come to the worship service to hear God’s Word; before you come to church to sing God’s praise; before you come to the table of the Lord Jesus—first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Not in 3 hours. Not next week. NOW. Go, get up, and be reconciled. The responsibility is on us, it’s on you, it’s on me—don’t wait, now is the time for reconciliation. You have to attempt this; even if they reject it. We are called to live at peace with one another, insofar as it depends upon us.

Henry: We ought carefully to preserve Christian love and peace with all our brethren; and if at any time there is a quarrel, we should confess our fault, humble ourselves to our brother, making or offering satisfaction for wrong done in word or deed: and we should do this quickly; because, till this is done, we are unfit for communion with God in holy ordinances. And when we are preparing for any religious exercises, it is good for us to make that an occasion of serious reflection and self-examination.

This is the heart of true worship—holy purity with the peaceable fruit of the Holy Spirit. So when we approach the Sabbath day, the Lord’s Day—we must prepare our minds and hearts, guarding our steps, that we might come with a clean conscience, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, that we might be filled, and might offer pleasing worship in God’s sight! Here is true peace indeed.

(2) The Heart of Worship is Purity—and the Fruit of Purity is Peace - v. 23-24.

But Jesus has one more warning for his public disciples who are gathered at his feet in the Sermon on the Mount:

(3) The Heart of Court is Justice—and the Fruit of Justice is Recompense - v. 25-26.

Matthew 5:25–26 ESV

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.

(3) The Heart of Court is Justice—and the Fruit of Justice is Recompense - v. 25-26.

What is Jesus doing in these last two verses? Is this a temporal warning about literal prison by failing to live at peace with your fellow man? Or is this allegorical about the prison of hell and failing to live at peace with your fellow man? To be honest, it’s a hard one to answer. I think the primary point Jesus is making is that you will have to bear the consequences of your actions, and you might even come under the wrath of the civil magistrate and government, if you fail to love your neighbour as yourself. He is talking about an earthly court, an earthly judge, an earthly guard, and an earthly prison—but I think you could say there is an underlying spiritual warning about the hellfire that he mentioned earlier. Jesus says:

25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court,

The point being this: if someone has accused you of wrong, and is bringing you to court—go to him privately and try to resolve the matter so it doesn’t need to take public stage. The proverbs are full of these exhortations:

Proverbs 25:9–10 ESV

Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

If there’s an offence, if there’s an accusation—go to your neighbour, make things right, make peace, pursue it with all your heart—lest he brings you to court and you be brought to shame.

If you don’t come to terms quickly with your brother who is accusing you… well Jesus continues:

lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

You can’t run from sin. You can’t cover it up. Sin will always come back to bite you—and crimes that are public sins will also bring judgment and consequences. Crimes against God’s Law and human courts will bring penalties you must bear in this life, for the government is God’s avenger:

Romans 13:1–4 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Jesus is saying that if you don’t pursue peace, the magistrate might pursue you in judgment. You might be brought to trial, condemned as guilty, and put into prison. And Jesus says:

26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

What’s the principle here? As it was in the OT, civil justice was proportional to the crime committed. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth—the punishment must fit the crime. And if you have civilly wronged a neighbour, and he takes you to court, you will have to bear the consequences of your sin and crime. You won’t get out until the justice has been satisfied; until recompense and restitution has been meted out. If your crime will cost you $5000 dollars and 10 years in prison—you won’t get out until you’ve paid the last penny, and borne your consequences in jail.

While I think this is the primary meaning of this text—I think you can also argue that it has a deeper spiritual meaning, especially because of what Jesus mentioned before with judgment bringing liability to the hell of fire, and the wrath of God. It’s not a one-to-one allegory (there are no judges you must face, or guards who will walk you to your cell, before you are thrown into hell). But the point of justice and recompense against sin and sinners can be established from the words of Christ here. Hell is a place where perfect recompense comes against sinners who have broken the perfect law of the Lord, and have rebelled against his royal majesty which is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. If we are going to escape this prison of hell—we must be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, before it is too late! Seek the Lord while he may be found! There is no other way.

Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life—no one comes to the Father but through Him. He alone can bring peace with God and salvation from hell; because he has borne our transgressions, satisfied the eternal weight of hell on that tree, and secured the everlasting mercy of God for his chosen people!

Henry: This is very applicable to the great business of our reconciliation to God through Christ; Agree with him quickly, whilst thou art in the way. Note, [1.] The great God is an Adversary to all sinners—a law-adversary; he has a controversy with them, an action against them. [2.] It is our concern to agree with him, to acquaint ourselves with him, that we may be at peace, Job 22:21; 2 Co. 5:20. [3.] It is our wisdom to do this quickly, while we are in the way. While we are alive, we are in the way; after death, it will be too late to do it; therefore give not sleep to thine eyes till it be done. [4.] They who continue in a state of enmity to God, are continually exposed to the arrests of his justice, and the most dreadful instances of his wrath. It is a fearful thing to be thus turned over to the Lord Jesus, when the Lamb shall become the Lion. Hell is the prison, into which those will be cast that continue in a state of enmity to God, 2 Pt. 2:4. [5.] Damned sinners must remain in it to eternity; they shall not depart till they have paid the uttermost farthing, and that will not be to the utmost ages of eternity: divine justice will be for ever in the satisfying, but never satisfied [for it can only be satisfied in the blood of Jesus Christ alone]!

Oh brothers and sisters—justice is coming, eternal suffering and torment is impending—and our only refuge and escape from the wrath to come is in the peace that has been made by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7; 14). Cast your faith in Jesus alone! Let Him be your only confidence, your only plea—that your sins have been washed white as snow, that you have been reconciled to God by grace, and have been given the hope of eternal life!

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ! And bear fruits in keeping with repentance, striving to be a peace with men, fighting against your sinful heart, keeping the commandments of God, and seeking to do all things for His glory. Let’s fight anger the anger of our hearts—by the power of the Holy Spirit—that our righteousness would exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and that we would magnify the God of our Salvation! And let us remember that in Christ—God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Justice is satisfied, and mercy is secured.

(3) The Heart of Court is Justice—and the Fruit of Justice is Recompense - v. 25-26.

And yet IT IS FINISHED! Glory to God for Jesus Christ. Cast your hope on Him alone to wash away your murderous hearts. And so hear now our conclusion this morning:

(C) The Hell of Fire is for Hearts of Fury—So Be Reconciled to God through Jesus Christ—and Seek Peace with your Fellow Man.

Isaiah 1:15–18 ESV

When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

(C) The Hell of Fire is for Hearts of Fury—So Be Reconciled to God through Jesus Christ—and Seek Peace with your Fellow Man.

And so as we sing, confess our faith, and come to the Lord’s Table—let’s examine our hearts—that we might come with true sincerity by God’s grace—as we feast in the house of Zion with the hope of the Gospel!

Amen? Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions:

(1) What is Jesus contrasting in his teaching on the 6th commandment when he says: ‘You have heard that it was said’ and ‘But I say unto you’?

(2) What does Jesus mean when he says that heart-anger also breaks the 6th commandment and is worthy of judgment & hell? How can this be?

(3) Why does Jesus say that we must be reconciled with our brothers before we worship God in the assembly? How should this affect our preparation for Lord’s Day worship?

(4) What is the point that Jesus is making in the last 2 verses about the consequences of our sins and crimes?

(5) How can we escape the wrath that is coming against evil-hearts—and how can we seek to worship God with pure hearts?