Anger and the Heart of Man

Intro

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Anger, Uncontrolled

Alexander the Great was one of the few men in history who seemed to deserve his descriptive title. He was energetic, versatile, and intelligent. Although hatred was not generally part of his nature, several times in his life he was tragically defeated by anger. The story is told of one of these occasions, when a dear friend of Alexander, a general in his army, became intoxicated and began to ridicule the emperor in front of his men. Blinded by anger and quick as lightning, Alexander snatched a spear from the hand of a soldier and hurled it at his friend. Although he had only intended to scare the drunken general, his aim was true and the spear took the life of his childhood friend.

Deep remorse followed his anger. Overcome with guilt, Alexander attempted to take his own life with the same spear, but he was stopped by his men. For days he lay sick, calling for his friend and chiding himself as a murderer.

Alexander the Great conquered many cities and vanquished many countries, but he had failed miserably to control his own spirit.21

Will Rogers said “people who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.”

Continuing our series, Greatest. Sermon. Ever. A journey through the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew.

Today we see Jesus begin a section of teaching on what the righteousness that surpasses the scribes and Pharisees looks like.

Matthew, in his writing about Jesus’ interpretation of the law and His teaching of it, portrays Jesus, some have suggested, as a new moses and the fulfillment of the Exodus. This is seen in a few ways.

Jesus is the Son that God called our of Egypt.

Matthew 2:15 ESV

and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Jesus passes through the water in His baptism as Moses and the Israelites passed through the water.

He is tested in the wilderness

He expounds the law of God in the mountainous region.

The idea here is this is a new and greater Moses that knows that the rubber meets the road in life in our relationships. He begins with dealing with anger and with reconciliation and then continues into other aspects of relationships.

Matthew 5:21–26 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. 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. 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.

Dallas Willard said, “Actions do not emerge from nothing. They faithfully reveal what is in the heart…The heart is not a mystery at the level of ordinary human interactions. We discern one another quite well.

I. God cares about your heart and not simply your outward behavior.

You have heard it said - not the law itself but the teaching of the law by the scribes and Pharisees

Possible Jewish law had sanctions against specific insult... Jesus shows that any verbal abuse makes one liable to eternal damnation.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Last week we I talked about the scribes and the Pharisees, those religious leaders who wanted to make sur all of their minute details were just so. Jesus had said that those who enter the kingdom of heaven have to possess a righteousness that exceeds that of these religious bean counters. Beginning in this passage, Jesus lays out the commands that are in the law but the deeper principle or intent behind them that the scribes and Pharisees missed all together. The Bible is clear that we can not gain this righteousness on our own but it can only be given to us by Jesus Christ. It is those who are humble in spirit and pure in heart that have this righteousness. It’s fundamentally different than the strict law rule following of the religious “elite” of the day. They wanted to do all of the right things to earn God’s favor without dealing with what was really in need of cleansing, their very soul.

A. God sees the inner person.

B. God cares about the inner person.

C. Jesus came to change the inner person.

This is the spirit behind the law that there is something deep inside us that is broken and only the Lord can fix it. We are nothing without Him. I may sound like a broken record over the next few weeks because this theme is going to keep coming up. Jesus changed the way they were to think about their sin. It wasn’t actions but attitudes and deep in the heart. We are in danger of thinking of sin as something we do as well. It’s not simply action. It’s a sickness, a bondage, a ruler over us prior to Christ’s intervention in our lives.

II. Human anger and a greater standard of righteousness.

The Bible has a lot to say about anger.

Proverbs 14:29 ESV

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 22:24 ESV

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,

Proverbs 29:11 ESV

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Colossians 3:8 ESV

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

James 1:19–21 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

A. Just not murdering is an insufficient standard to measure by.

B. Hatred and anger are heart level companions to the outward action of murder.

C. The things in our hearts lead to our words and actions.

When the pressure is on, what comes out?

Your hatred and anger show where your heart is. Your actions show what is in your heart. And yet we think we can hold onto our sin without anyone knowing or caring.

III. Jesus demands a righteousness that is deeper than skin level or mere action.

in verse 22 we see Jesus dropping down his argument step by step and it gets more and more intense as He does.

Matthew 5:22 ESV

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.

The Greek that is translated “You fool” (mōros) here could be translated moron. Use of this word to someone was liable to the hell of fire. This has always seemed extreme to me. Charles Quarles, in explaining the severity of this insult says,

Exalting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount Are You Right with Your Brothers and Sisters? 5:21-26

The use of mōros in Matthew’s Gospel shows that it is far more severe than merely calling someone an idiot. The word is used in Matthew 7:26; 23:17; 25:2-3,8 to describe those who do not truly belong to the kingdom. Calling a brother “moron” was essentially calling him unregenerate and unsaved and consigning him to hell.

Jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else in the Bible. His words seem strong and extreme to us and I want to caution us all not to try to water them down or take away from them to make them “feel” better for us. We need to sit with them a bit. Jesus wants to shock us into this new understanding of what life in the kingdom looks like. It’s to make things clearly different than by the world’s sinful standards. He’s concerned more about your heart condition than codling you and making you feel good. And Jesus was consistent with this in His ministry. Look what he says in:

Mark 7:20–23 ESV

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

This brings us to verses 23-26 in our main passage. Jesus illustrates his teaching in a couple of scenarios. We are a couple of thousand years removed from the historical context so it’s hard to pin down a one to one correspondence in these situations from then to now but three are basic principles at work that transcend cultures and are true for everyone in all times, and under all circumstances. So let’s take a look at what Jesus is getting at.

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.

This first illustration has to do with our offering or financial giving to the Lord as an act of worship. When we come together to worship God, giving is one of the components of that. I know when people say worship, much of the time they are actually talking about music. But worship is more than simply music. It’s an attitude of the heart. It’s worship to listen to the Word proclaimed, to pray together, to give an offering, and yes, to sing. Anyway, let’s move on.

So this is saying that if you are there to give your offering and remember that someone has something against you, you should leave your gift and go be reconciled with your brother and then come back and give your offering. This thing that someone has against you is not an unreasonable or irrational grudge but something that is a true and legitimate grievance. In this case, you genuinely did something to hurt and wrong your brother or sister. The Lord expects us to reconcile relationships that have friction. This is how we can worship God with integrity, having a clear conscience and right relationships with brothers and sisters.

Don Carson says, “Forget the worship service and be reconciled to your brother; and only then worship God. Men love to substitute ceremony for integrity, purity, and love; but Jesus will have none of it.”

God is more concerned with the heart of the person who gives than the outward action for behavior of giving. A few verses ago, in the Beatitudes, Jesus told us that citizens of the kingdom are peacemakers. So make peace.

The second situation Jesus gives us here is in verses 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.

This one sounds similar but instead of a brother this offense deals with an accuser. Whatever has gone on here has begun to involve the courts as in a civil case. Paul would later, in I Corinthians 6 address a matter in much the same way as Jesus.

There’s a scriptural base layer that helps us understand what Jesus is saying.

Romans 12:18 ESV

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

So far as it depends on you...

You are responsible for what other people hold against you when it’s real… Real sin or folly on our part. Your responsibility is to pursue reconciliation. We also have to live with the pain, the hurt, if the reconciliation fails to succeed. You are not responsible to somehow force or make the reconciliation happen but to pursue it. Take the initiative to restore the relationship.

Let me suggest something to you and it might not be easy to hear or think about. This church has been through a lot of trauma over the last couple of years. There likely are some fractured relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. I don’t know every story but I do know what Jesus expects from His children. If we have offended we should do what we can to pursue reconciliation. It may not be welcomed but we are to live peaceably as far as it depends on us. Is there someone who has something against you that you need to go to? It takes a good degree of humility because you are admitting your fault. You are reconciling because whatever you did, maybe in a blunder, they are holding against you and you have to go and tell them, “that one’s on me… I did that… I know it hurt you… Please forgive me.” This stuff is not for wimps. It’s hardcore peacemaking.

My Favorite Illustrations Why We Can Forgive

God expressed His love for us through Christ. He covered our sins in Him. Thus, through faith in Jesus we are reconciled to God. In that light surely we should be willing to cover sins done to us by other people. Not that we can forgive sin on God’s behalf, but we can do so in our relations to others.

IV. The righteousness that Jesus demands can only come from Him.

- He is the source and the giver.

Conclusion

So let’s ask ourselves a few questions in the quiet of this moment.

Am I responsible for any grudges someone has against me?

Am I responsible for any anger someone has against me?

Am I responsible for any bitterness someone has against me?

Am I responsible for any hostility someone has against me?

A yes answer to any of these means you need to take action. It’s hypocritical to say you’re good and right with God but not good with others, especially your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pursue reconciliation. Pursue peace.

Sinclair Ferguson would tell us:

Exalting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount Are You Right with Your Brothers and Sisters? 5:21-26

Jesus is not telling us to ‘hang out our dirty linen in public,’ but rather to deal urgently and fully with all breakdowns in fellowship before they lead to spiritual assassination”

We are really talking about whole person righteousness.

Invite Matt up to lead a song.

Only Jesus can give us the righteousness required. He is the one who sets us free from the bondages of sin. You see, we are wretched and depraved, sinful from birth, and justly deserve the wrath of God to be poured out on us for all eternity. Now if that sounds bad that’s because it is. We are in chains to our sin but Jesus came to set us free. We don’t have to live in this bondage to sin. If you have trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation, in the truth of the gospel, then we are no longer slaves to sin and not bound to our anger. We have new hearts and new natures and can live out our new desires. And you won’t do it perfectly and you don’t have to because Jesus died for that sin too. It’s not just good news, it’s exceptional, eternity shaking, world changing news and that is what we celebrate this morning. If you’ve never been set free, please talk to me after the service. I want to share how you can know Jesus personally and spend eternity with Him. I want to share how He took your sin and exchanged it for His surpassing righteousness.

PRAY