The Heart of Righteousness - Part 1 Anger - [Matthew 5:21-26]

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The Heart Of Righteousness - Part 2 Adultry and Lust - [Matthew 5:27-30]

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What do you do if your personal testimony isn't exciting, at least in your own opinion?
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Years ago I was listening to a White Horse Inn program and Michael Horton was talking about that very issue and wrote an article.
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What if your testimony just isn't that exciting? If you grew up in a Christian home and your sins were somewhat restricted and after all when you hear somebody stand up and they say that they were a murderer or they served time in jail and God took them from the gutter and saved them and fashioned them into a piece of workmanship for himself, it's exciting to hear that.
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But what if your testimony is just not that exciting? You knew you were a sinner and God showed you that and He saved you?
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This morning I'm going to help you make your testimony exciting. After all, when we realize the depth of our sin from which
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God saved us, it magnifies the glory of God and Christ for His forgiveness.
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It's not in Matthew, but if you'll turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 55 for just a moment,
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I'd like to talk about this idea about how great God's grace was to save us from our guilt because you're going to need to be reminded of that with your new testimony.
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Isaiah chapter 55 is a common chapter to many. We get verse 8, 9, and others from this.
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We say to ourselves, God's word doesn't come back empty, verse 11, but when
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I think about our situation, as the Heidelberg Catechism would say, we have guilt, then we realize
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God's grace, then we have great gratitude. When we realize the depth of our depravity, we can exalt
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Christ Jesus in the same way. That is to say, to know from where we've come, to know where God has taken us, we can praise
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Him. You know the verses in Isaiah 55, haven't you used them before when you couldn't understand a doctrine?
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It's kind of the Deuteronomy 29, 29 of Isaiah, isn't it? The secret things belong to the
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Lord. I can't understand something. I can't understand how God could write the Bible through men.
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I can't understand how Jesus is God and man. Then I kind of use Isaiah 55 or Deuteronomy 29, 29.
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But if you take a look at the verses themselves, if you look at verse 8, it says in Isaiah 55, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, declares
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Yahweh the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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And it is amazing to think that God's ways are way above us. On the other hand, it's not so amazing because He's infinite and we are finite.
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When we remember our depravity and our inability and what God has done for us, and to realize how much we needed salvation and what would have happened to us if we would have died in our sins.
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It is much easier recognizing that guilt to then extol the grace of Christ Jesus at Calvary, the finished work when
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Jesus said, it is finished, I've done it all. I've made reconciliation, you used to be apart from God and I've made you friends.
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I've made redemption, you were in the slave pit of sin and I've bought you out with the price a ransom,
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His blood. God was angry with the wicked every day and then Jesus made propitiation at the cross and instead of being wrathful with us, we are
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His children. He's adopted us into our family. When we understand how depraved we are and how unable we are to respond to God, it makes grace that much better.
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And it makes us think things about God that just makes us want to sing, makes us want to sing not to our name, but to your name,
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God be the glory. The problem with Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9 are not found in Isaiah 55, 8 and 9.
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The problem is we forget that the first word in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8 links it to an earlier passage.
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Do you see the first word there in Isaiah 55, 8? Four. He's talking about something else first.
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He's not talking about the hypostatic union, Jesus is God and man. He's not talking about eternal decrees.
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He's not talking about anything except what he's saying in verse 6 and 7 and I'll read verse 7.
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What is the context for Isaiah 55? Verse 7 says, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the
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Lord. And he, the Lord, God, the creator, the judge, the personal name of God here will have compassion on him and to our
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God. And if you haven't underlined it already, at least underline it in your hearts.
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For he will abundantly pardon. Who is a
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God like our God that pardons sinners? Because he says there's abundant pardon, then the writer
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Isaiah says under the inspiration of the spirit of God, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. God isn't like us.
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We don't pardon. We don't say, well, I have one son and my son is a good son. And by the way, for those that have really bad testimonies,
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I will give that son up. This person deserves to be killed and in his place,
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I will give my son to die on his behalf. I don't think that way, you don't think that way.
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For a good man, we might die, but for less than good, we wouldn't even dare to die. When you think about the depths of your depravity, the exaltation of Christ is more meaningful.
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After all, if I'm okay and you're okay and Jesus came to die as an example, it's pretty okay for Jesus to die, yes?
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But to think about what we deserve, can you imagine on that day that you were saved, the sins that you had committed?
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If you were to go into the courtroom of God, and God were to list off the sins of heart and mind and soul, the sins of omission and commission, the sins of what we have done and what we haven't done, and here comes
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Jesus instead of the advocate, as the prosecuting, omniscient, laser -beam -eyed attorney, comes and brings the case before the
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Father against us, we would be undone. And if I were the judge,
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I would say this, this person with this horrible testimony of sin is in my presence, get him out of here.
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I can't stand to look at this person. And to think, the wonder of wonders, the prosecuting attorney, who is the son of the judge, with triune fellowship with the
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Spirit, before eternity began, decided that the son would die for the sake of the rebels, the sake of the wicked, for our sake.
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And then, instead of saying, get out of my presence to us, since Jesus died on our behalf and in our stead, he says to his son at Calvary, as it were,
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I can't stand to look upon you, and Christ responds, my God, my God, forsaken me.
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And as it were, the Father turns his back on the Son, as the Son bears our sin.
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Oh, and I have left something out. Then the judge says to the murderer, rapist, pedophile, adulterer, approach the bench, and I'd like to adopt you as a son, or I'd like to adopt you as a daughter.
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If we think we're pretty good, and Jesus died for us, then we can half -heartedly sing the praises of Christ.
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But when we know how depraved we are against the standard of God, loving
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Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we do not, loving our neighbor as ourself, and we do not, and then we come to Christ, who is the one who worshiped
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God with his heart, soul, mind, and strength perfectly, he loved his neighbor perfectly, then we are able to say with heart and soul and voice,
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God abundantly pardons. How can his thoughts be our thoughts? How can that be? Amazing love.
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Now, back to this idea about personal testimony. We all have testimonies that besmirch us.
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And this morning, I hope to show you from Matthew chapter 5, by God's word, that you can add to your resume of guilt that should propel you to praise
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God for His grace, that we can all add to our resume that we here as a group, and I as well, are murderers.
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What do you do if your testimony is not that amazing? Well, it is amazing because we are many things of which we are murderers, and let's turn to Matthew 5, and we'll find that out today.
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It is amazing to me that Jesus would die for someone like me. It should be amazing to you as well, because Jesus comes along, and it's not just external issues that He's dealing with, but internal ones, and we'll see today in Matthew chapter 5, in the
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Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays open the idea that He was not going to fulfill the law because He was, and He lays open that external righteousness is enough.
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And we deal with this issue of murder. There's lots to be said about murder in the
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Bible. Cain, Lamech, Pharaoh, Abimelech, Joab, David, Absalom, Zimri, Jezebel, Jehu, Athaliah, Joash, Manasseh, Herod, Barabbas, Herodias, her daughter, and the list goes on and on.
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In history, it's pretty easy to find murderers, yes? Open up the newspaper this week and see what happened in Pennsylvania.
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Study mass murderers. I just studied three this week briefly from Wikipedia. Pol Pot killed three million
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Cambodians. Stalin, there's a big debate whether he killed three million. Nine million or 15 to 17 million.
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But who's counting? I mean, six million plus or minus. Hitler between 39 and 45 in concentration camps, ghettos, and mass executions.
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Eleven million people and six million Jews. Just a little research from 2005.
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There were 16 ,692 murders in America. 2005, 32 ,000 suicides.
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And abortions in 2005, 1 .3 million. 1 ,348 ,692 murders last year.
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But who's counting? That is 3 ,700 per day just in the United States. What does
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God think about murder, I wonder? Does He affirm it? Does He like it? Does He applaud it?
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Well, we'll learn today exactly what Jesus thinks. But before we got into the passage, I wanted to show you
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Christ again because we have a Savior. We have one who forgives this kind of felon.
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Before we start, let me ask you this question. Why does God hate murder? Well, it's against His command.
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But I believe Genesis 9, 6 discusses that it is against God's nature because man was created in the image and what?
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Likeness of God. And you don't have to study the Bible too far to realize that God hates murderers.
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We're very pious. He hates the sin but loves the sinner. I wouldn't go so far to say that.
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Proverbs 6 says, There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven, which are an abomination to Him.
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Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed what? Innocent blood.
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Did you know the description of those outside of heaven includes murderers? Everything that heaven is not.
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Outside of heaven, Revelation 22, are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers.
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What do we do? How do we think about this? Well, the good news is Jesus comes and He helps us think properly and biblically about murder itself.
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And if we take a look in Matthew chapter 5 on what we call the Sermon on the Mount, in the Matthew gospel, the gospel of the mountain, many mountains in this gospel, we see that it's not just murder but it's what is in man's heart.
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After all, for out of the heart comes evil thoughts and what? Murders.
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Well, let's look at 517 to get a little context before we jump in to 520. If you don't have a 521 following, if you don't have a
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Bible, there's a black pew Bible right in front of you and you are going to need that this morning.
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I'll be preaching out of the New American Standard and that's the pew Bible as well. Matthew 517,
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Jesus has already given the beatitudes and the similitudes and now He gives 517 and following, which we've looked at the last three times.
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Jesus said, do not think that I came to abolish the law because they were going to think that, are the prophets.
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I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, unless heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.
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And He lumps all the old covenant, the Old Testament teachings together, the law and the prophets and says, whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
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But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
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And here Jesus comes and He is the fulfiller of the old covenant. He's the fulfiller of the covenant of which is spoken in Jeremiah 31, where the text says, it's not like the covenant
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I made with your forefathers. And here's a covenant that is not just for people who are redeemed temporally out of Egypt, but who are redeemed spiritually by the
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Spirit of God Himself. And Jesus has this great authority, it is amazing. If you sat and listened, if you were a
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Jew of the day, a scribe, a disciple, someone sitting there to Jesus, you would be dumbfounded by the authority in which
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He spoke. You would be shocked. No one ever dreamed that someone would come and have this kind of authority over Moses, over the law of God.
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One man said to the Jew, the law is absolutely holy and divine. It is impossible to exaggerate the place that the law had in their reverence.
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Aristeas said, the law is holy and has been given by God. Philo said, only
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Moses' decrees are everlasting, unchangeable and unshakable. And here
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Jesus comes and says, you're going to think that I'm going to abolish the law by what I've said earlier in the
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Beatitudes, and what I'm going to say with these statements in chapter 5, verses 21 and following.
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But I haven't come to abolish, I've come to fulfill. I'm the new covenant lawgiver,
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I'm going to give the fulfilled law. And it is going to be an exact contrast to what the Pharisees have been teaching.
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External, their own righteousness compared to other people. And Jesus, the new lawgiver, lays down the rules, or the laws, for those here.
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Southern Baptist scholar of old said, A .T. Robertson, Jesus thus assumes a tone of superiority over the
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Mosaic regulations, and proves it in each of the six examples. He goes further than the law into the very heart.
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Jesus is coming, giving the law, and matter of fact, His new law is going to be the standard for judgment.
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Look with me, if you would, at chapter 7. I find it interesting, with all the continuity with God's moral law before Torah, in Torah, in the new covenant.
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Jesus here is very clear that He is one who is greater than Solomon, who is one greater than the temple,
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He is one greater than the Sabbath, He is one greater than Moses. And He says, when it comes to judgment, you are going to be judged by My words.
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He assumes authority. As Moses anticipated this new covenant,
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I am here to realize it and to fulfill it. Anticipation is not bad, it's not fallible, but it's pointing to the new.
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And now, they are My words. If you take a look at Matthew 7, verse 24, you'll see it in 24 and 26, the end of the
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Sermon on the Mount. Therefore, everyone who hears, what? These words of Mine, and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock.
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The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed against that house. And yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
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Here it is again, verse 26. Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
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The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and slammed against that house. And it fell, and the fall was great.
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So, Jesus comes, and certainly there were internal declarations of the
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Old Testament to obey from the heart. The Lord looks on the heart, verse
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Samuel 16. But what was implicit in the old, love God with your heart, it matters not only on the outside, but inside.
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What was in kernel form in the old, now Jesus makes explicitly clear with neon lights in the new,
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I'm after not just your external obedience, but your internal. And He's going to show that clearly with the next six statements
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He gives in Matthew chapter 5, 21 through 48. If you have an outline in your mind,
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He's going to give six antithetical statements. Six contrasts that begin closely to this.
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But you have heard it said, but I say to you. Here's what someone said, here's what Torah said, here's what tradition said, there's a lot of different ways to look at it, but I'm telling you this.
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And we're going to see six of those, and so today we're just going to do the first one. And the first one deals with this topic of murder.
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And so our passage today is found in Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 through 26. The first antithetical statement, the first contrast where people are going to say, you're messing around with Torah, you're messing around with Moses, yet Jesus is saying, here is the fulfilled law.
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Here is the new covenant law. As Aaron's job was made obsolete in the old covenant, he no longer had to slay animals as the leader of the priests, because Jesus was the once for all sacrifice.
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So too, tied in with the sacrificial system was the law, and the law and the sacrifice is tied together, yet God is not antinomian,
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God is not against law, and God now gives His law to the new covenant people. With many similarities to Moses, some differences, but today we only want to look at verses 21 through 26.
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I've called this the heart of righteousness, because it goes straight to the heart. And it convicts us, and it will give us a testimony that will praise
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God for how He has saved us. Matthew 5, verse 21. You have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.
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And here comes the first of those, you've heard it said, but I tell you. If you take a look at your text, do you see the capital letters there in verse 21?
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Most Bibles will show capital letters, because it is quoting from the Old Testament. You shall not commit murder is right there from Exodus.
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Right from the Septuagint, right from the Greek translation, and then a common practice, whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court, is not found in the
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Old Testament. It's just what they did in those days. Here's what you've heard, you shouldn't commit murder.
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By the way, we hear on the news all the time, oh, you should be against killing, and all killing is wrong, because God said you shouldn't murder.
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I hear that all the time in arguments against capital punishment. Have you ever heard that? It says thou shall not kill.
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Well, if you want to study the six to eight different words in Hebrew for kill, you will find that God was after, with the
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Israelites through Moses, that you should not murder with premeditation. You should not be angry and with planning kill someone else.
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It was okay to kill animals. It was okay to kill someone if you had to defend your home,
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Exodus 22. Accidental killings were not punished the same way, Deuteronomy 19.
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You should execute murderers, Genesis 9. War was different.
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But here we're talking about murder, and Jesus quotes it, you shall not commit murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to the court.
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And then he gives, conversely, the opposite, or is it the opposite?
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Is it something advanced to the heart? Is he making something explicit now for the new covenant people? Yes, that's right.
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But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court.
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We move from murder to the internal, and whoever says to his brother, the
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NAS update says you're good for nothing, but we'll just translate it, raka, shall be guilty before the supreme court, and whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
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Wow. Before this week, you know what I call this verse? I call this my bicycling verse.
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I love to road bike, and you get on the pedal road bike, and you just go, and it's mind over matter, and off you go, and how fast can you go, and how far?
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And by the way, for all you car drivers, and truck drivers, and moped drivers, and motorcycle drivers, we bikers have a right to the road.
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If you didn't know that. By law, we have a right to the road.
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Yes, Bob? Can I get an amen on that? Amen, amen. Now, some bikers are really jerky, and go way over, and all these other things, but those are other bikers.
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Those wouldn't be me. If you see a guy with Lycra on, zooming down the street, with a
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Matthew 5 .22 caption on his back, that would be me, and before this week, someone would pull in front of me, and I would say, fool, and then
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I would go, Matthew 5 .22. Closest call I've had so far, is when
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I was on a road right by the Huber's house, and pretty fast traffic, even though the speed limit's slower, and I like to ride on wider roads, but this is just a narrow road here, it's kind of a stenosis thing, and I had to just go on it, and here comes the, sorry for you nurses,
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I put the stenosis in there. It was an occlusion, and the bus passes me, but forgets that it's a bus, and then quickly wants to go in front of me, and I can just see the back of the bus, with all these kids going, like this, coming right over.
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I might not be that fast, but I was going, you know, in the 20s, and here it comes. I could just see it come right up against me, and I thought, yikes.
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It was two weeks ago, a 31 -year -old in New York, killed. Somebody went two feet over, to the right -hand side of the white line, killed the man.
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So I get convicted by this verse, because I realize it's in my heart, and what's in my heart comes out of my lips.
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You can never, ever say before God, well, what I said to my wife, I didn't mean. Have you ever had an argument with your spouse?
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I didn't mean that, honey. Don't say that anymore, because then you're just compounding your problem, and now you're lying, and being biblically illiterate.
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You meant to say it, but what you're saying now is, honey, I wish I wouldn't have said it. Please forgive me, and that was really stupid, and foolish, and sinful.
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I've asked God for forgiveness. Could you please forgive me? So I say to myself, here
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I am, Raqqa, and even this week, someone pulled out in front of me. I was going about 35 miles an hour, down this hill.
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A lady stops in the middle of the road, and then she starts backing up. Now I'm going to go to the left, and cross over.
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She starts backing up into my lane. I'm thinking, what is going on with this woman? And you say, what is going on with this preaching?
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It's not a bike class. I know. My style of preaching, if you haven't figured it out already, is to come at you like this, and then once in a while,
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I just give you a little breather, and you go, because the next cycle of is coming.
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And now she backs up, and I have to swerve over here, and I look over at her, and I go, I said, you're crazy out loud.
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And then I felt really bad, because she looked at me, saying you're crazy, and then she backed into somebody's mailbox.
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Bang! And then I thought, she's got the car, and I've got the bike, so I went as fast as I could, because I thought, she's going to fix the mailbox, and then come after me.
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Are you here today, by the way? Well, back to the text.
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As you know, there are words in the English, and words in the
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Greek, and as we have four different words for love, three used mainly in Greek, so too there are different words for anger, and even though it's wrong for me to yell fool, or raka, or somehow blurt out something in a moment of passion, and even though, like I said, that is sinful and wrong, and it comes from a heart that still has a sin hangover, a harmardiological hangover, this word anger here, is not the blaze up quickly and gone thummus, this is something that is different, and we get the word ogre from that, it is the
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Greek word o -r -g -e, that's at least the root word, it's a longer word, but this is a nursed anger, this is an anger that is warmed, and will not be allowed to die, this is an anger that just sits there, in the crock pot of your soul,
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Sunday for us is crock pot day, and you put the stuff in, and you just turn it on, and it just simmers and simmers, this is the word for anger, it is wrong to say you idiot driver, but it's not wrong because Jesus is going after that here, by implication it comes from our heart, and Jesus wants a righteousness, that is not just external, he is after more than you just smiling, when somebody does that to you, but on the inside you're saying something,
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Jesus has a kingdom because he's a king, and Jesus is the law giver because he's the king, and Christ's law is not just external, it's internal, and he's after a righteousness, that he demands that is so great, he has to give it, and we're only able to obey, as the grace of God will allow us, but here the word is ogre, it's angry yes, and the old manuscripts don't have without a cause, those are newer, and those are translators trying to, almost suppress this a little bit, because it's such a shocking statement, everyone, all, who is angry with his brother, and this is not talking about brother and sister, this is just the word used for some other fellow, some other person, some other woman,
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I could call it your neighbor, this is anger that's nursed, it's long lived, and it says here, the
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Pharisees would at least say, and they were right, they shall be guilty before the court, they'll have to go to the council, if you murdered somebody, you're going to have to go to the council, and now
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God is talking about something, that's not just physical murder, but it's the way we think about people, yes
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Leviticus says, you shall not hate your fellow countrymen, but here now he says, if you say raka, it's almost like he's turning it up, first anger, then it even gets more intense, saying raka, what does raka mean by the way, most people just translate it raka, because we don't exactly know, most think it's numbskull, imbecile, blockhead, dunce, nincompoop, idiot, these are all here,
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I'm just a reporter, empty head, silly fool, maybe some of the words, that were used against Jesus, when they mocked him, in Matthew 27, hail king of the
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Jews, maybe Moses had a little bit of this intent, when he said in Numbers 20 10, when he hit that rock, listen you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock, raka, fool, blockhead, whatever it was, it was common terminology, and Jesus seized on that, says you're good for nothing, and these people are like murderers, and not just going to the highest
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Sanhedrin court, but to God's court, danger, be careful, and it's almost like the level is turned up, when he says, and whoever says you fool, it's one thing to call someone a name, but now you fool is dealing with character, whoever says you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into where?
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The fiery hell, it's one thing to call somebody, raka, it's another thing to call them, what?
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The Greek word is, moros, sound familiar? You moron, it's one thing to say to somebody, you're an idiot, it's another thing to say to someone, that talks about their character more, a slur on their reputation, a slander to say to them, you are foolish, you're already saying, well
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I know Jesus had called, the Pharisees foolish in Matthew 23, yes, but what's happening here, if you haven't seen it so far, you need to understand, this is not saying, you can't ever call someone foolish, a fool has said in his heart, there is what?
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No God, are unbelievers foolish? They are idiots, they are stupid, they are moronic, they are nincompoops, they are numbskulls, doesn't sound right, let's call them rocket and morons, to realize there is the creator
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God, and because of a moral reason, it's the moral word in Psalm 14, a fool has said in his heart,
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I know there is a God, but I'll suppress that knowledge, because I like to sin, that's foolish, you can say to an unbeliever, that's foolish,
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Jesus can say to false teachers, and so can you, that is foolish, you are foolish, ten virgins, five were wise and had the oil, and five were what, because they didn't, foolish, it's not as if we can never use the word foolish, but if someone attacks you personally, if something is done to you personally, and you respond with, because of your own person, and how you were offended, and you were besmirched, and you were defamed, and you respond back with this, that's the kind of foolish retort,
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Jesus says, isn't there for my kingdom, there are foolish builders, in Matthew 7, and there are wise builders, here
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Jesus is after those, who slur others' reputations, who say bad things about others, and who are angry at them, because they have been offended personally, that's what he's after,
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A .B. Bruce summarized these words, raka and moron, by saying, raka expresses contempt for a man's head, you're stupid, moron expresses contempt, for his heart and character, you scoundrel, well the bottom line is this,
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Jesus is saying, explicitly in the new covenant, I'm after internal righteousness, that expresses itself externally,
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I'm after righteousness, that only I can give Christ righteousness, and if I've given you Christ righteousness, given it to your account, credited it to your account, imputed it to your account, clothed you with my perfect obedience, you from the internal aspect, will try to show, that you're righteous, your walk should match with your position, and here murder, is not just taking the knife, it is using our words, and look at the degree of guilt, you see it in the passage, you fools shall be guilty enough, to go into fiery hell, you study the old testament about hell, and you won't see a whole lot, you might find
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Daniel 12 too, as everlasting issues with hell, but you won't find a lot of other things, and hear
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Jesus, seven times I believe in Matthew, out of the 11 times you use the word
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Gehenna, you'll be guilty enough, to go into fiery hell, how many sins does it take by the way, for you to go to hell?
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One, and don't ever believe the nonsense, that says this, I gave them the gospel, and now they're accountable, and if they reject that, then they're going to go to hell without Christ, friends that's not right, because if you hear about Jesus, or don't hear about Jesus, you are in Adam, God says,
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I've counted Adam's transgression against the race, Adam represented you, and we're all fallen, and I know we're all fallen, by lots of reasons, you want to know the reasons?
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Receding hairlines, glasses, but mainly death, people die, because the sin has corrupted us, and we die, one sin will keep you out of heaven, and if it's a sin, against turning your back about Christ, because you hear him, that's just all the more reason, and it's not the only reason, and here, anger in the heart, a simmered kind, a nurse kind, is enough to send us to hell, now
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I find it's very interesting, to do a little study on Gehenna, what is Gehenna by the way? Sometimes if you can have a picture of something, and then learn a concept from that picture, it's helpful, that's what
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Jesus did, there was a valley by Jerusalem, and it was the valley of what? Of Hinnom, and it was a valley, that was an abominable valley, and Jesus is saying, here's a human picture of something, that's horrible,
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I'm telling you, this horrible valley of Hinnom, is so bad, that I've used that as the concept, the initial human idea of hell, which is way worse, it's an illustration, of where the wicked will suffer, it's a little ravine, and guess what they did there?
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They put garbage there, they burned things there, corpses of criminals, they'd burn there, but they did one thing, that was just absolutely wretched, they had an idol there, and his name was
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Moloch, and Moloch as you know, or don't know, was a brass idol, he had a crown,
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God's need crown, God needs a crown, doesn't he? His head was a calf, his arms were sticking out like this, embracing, whosoever would come, and what you would do, is you would heat that statue, as hot as you possibly could, and then you would take your little baby, well it was really hot, and then you would take that baby, and you would lay that newborn, on Moloch's extended arms, and it would be devoured by the heat, problem is, the baby would cry and scream, for a short time, and the mothers would wail, so, in all their upside down wisdom, they got a bunch of drums and instruments, and would play those musical instruments, while the baby would be sacrificed to Moloch, to drown out the cries of the babies, and the mothers, and those drums were called
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Tophs, T -O -P -H, and so this place was called what?
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Tophet, the place where the drums are played, Jeremiah speaks of this, place in the valley of Hinnom, they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the sun of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, and God said, which
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I did not command, and it did not come into my mind, God said, I didn't even think about that, to use this anthropomorphic language, therefore behold the days are coming, declares the
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Lord, when it shall no longer be called Tophet, or in the valley of the sun of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter, for they will bury in Tophet, because there is no other place, thankfully, temporally,
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Josiah came along, good king Josiah, and it says in 2nd Kings 23, he also defiled
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Tophet, which is in the valley of the sun of Hinnom, that no man may make his son or daughter pass through the fire of Moloch, it was so polluted, it was so full of diseases, that here,
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Josiah comes and destroys that spiritual sewer, but it remained a sewer, nonetheless, physically, and it was always burning, there were so many diseases, and so much pollution there, even though Moloch was gone, that it just symbolized contempt, and abomination, and a grossness, and Jesus uses that picture, to say what that picture is temporally, there is a spiritual, eternal, unending reality, and to think that murderers, those that hate in their heart, those who are angry, deserve that kind of punishment in Jesus' kingdom, what a picture, you know what makes me think of, if you turn to 1st
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John chapter 3, John was a good listener, John understood what Jesus said, and we see the unity of the
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Bible, and analogy of the faith, and we see an explicit set of epistles, verses from the epistles rather, that deal with what
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Jesus was talking about, and 1st John chapter 3, verses 15 through 18, is the fleshed out letter, of the beloved apostle
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John, that was highlighting what Jesus said in Matthew 5, Jesus has cloaked us with perfect righteousness, and we by the
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Spirit's power, want to live up to that by our obedience, to use
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Heidelberg again, guilt, grace, gratitude, we want to live like a kingdom son or daughter, 1st
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John 3 .15 it says, everyone who hates his brother is a what? And you know that no murderer, has eternal life abiding in him, can't you see that principle right there from Matthew, Matthew 5 and 1st
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John, it's the same thing, the same Spirit of God, we know love by this, and here's the flip side, if this is a kingdom of righteousness, a kingdom of love, we can obey from the inside, everyone in this kingdom is regenerate, unlike Israel, some saved, some unsaved, some able to obey, some not able to obey from the heart, we can obey from the heart, and here's the gospel here, the gospel of love, we know love by this, it's the opposite of murder, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, we get offended, we don't nurse with anger, we lay our lives down, we love them, whoever has the world's good, and sees his brother in need, verse 17, close his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
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Little children, let us not love with word, or with tongue, but in deed and truth, if you look down in chapter 4, the same book, 1
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John 4, 20, if someone says, I love God, and what? Hates his brother, he is a liar, to use
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Matthew language, he's not in my kingdom, for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love, whom he has not seen, let's just stop right now, and let's make it very personal, is there anybody here at the church, that you hope you don't see on Sunday morning, because you've got something against them, you're angry, and they've done something against you, and you've got that, and instead of having it dismissed, because the love covers a multitude of sin, and you just let it go, but they've done something against you, and you just can't let it go, and so instead of going to them, and saying, you've done this against me, and split our relationship, and let's make it right, you've just sat there, and you've nursed it, and you've held on to it, and one week turns into two, into three, and it's that anger, friends, it is murder, there shouldn't be anyone in this church, that you can't just walk by, and say, my relationship with them, is exactly what it needs to be, because I've made a priority, of having a right relationship with that person, you know what
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Jesus would say, Jesus would say, if anyone is in this room today, and they have a relationship with someone else, that is broken for any reason, let alone the specific today, with hate and anger in your heart, that you should not even be here, you shouldn't even be in this room, and when
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I'm preaching to you, of course I'm included, you shouldn't even be here, you say how can that be, well let's go right back to Matthew 5, as we wrap up our passage today, the urgency of making things right, in Christ's righteous kingdom, the urgency, and you know the passage very well, you've probably read it before, makes more sense before the cross in one sense, but I think we can get an application today certainly,
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Matthew chapter 5, we've seen verse 21, you have heard, Jesus fulfills the law, makes very explicit now, the internal ramifications, in contrast to the
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Sadducees, and the Pharisees, and other external worshipers, and then he comes to 23, and you see the linking word, therefore, because it's all tied together, 21 through 26 go together, and now
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Jesus is going to give two illustrations, of trying to remedy situations quickly, and neither of these situations is with somebody, let me put it this way, both situations deal with someone else's anger, no, they deal with somebody because of your anger, you've offended, did you get that, both situations deal with it, when the here is the cause of another person's anger, rather than the offended party, well, let's find out, verses 23 and 24, is the first illustration of two, about the seriousness of anger, and the urgency of mending relationships in Christ's kingdom, for us in this body, the church, and the first one is with the temple, by the way, the temple was destroyed in 70
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AD, Matthew was written before 70 AD, it's one of the reasons why there are others, therefore, if you're presenting your offering at the altar, and they remember that your brother has something against you, it's not that you're mad at them, that's
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Mark 11, if you've got something there, you forgive, but here it's not talking about that, somebody's got something against you, and the context is, you've been angry, you've got that nursed anger, and you've let it come out, raka, fool, and now they're offended because of your anger,
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Jesus is saying, anger has many problems, number one, you can be judged eternally for it, unless Christ pays for it, number two, your anger will affect someone else, and all the
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Jews knew, you know, I need to be clean to go worship God, there is a worship that God doesn't accept, the psalmist said, and if I regard wickedness in my heart, the
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Lord will not hear, now let's just paint the picture for a second, can you imagine what would happen here, when you realize you get the aha moment, and you have to go be first reconciled, what do
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I do? How do I go about this? Well, in those days, you'd want to go worship, and it was the temple of Herod, and so, before you went to go worship, you'd have to go get an offering, you'd have to get a sacrifice, and you'd have to pay money for that, and you'd have to carry that sacrifice in, and you'd have to weave your way in and out, and you'd have to have a good one, and you had to walk into Jerusalem most likely, if you didn't live there, and you got the sacrifice, you go through the court of Gentiles, you walk to the court of the women, and the court of men, just beyond that is the court of the priest, and only priests were there, and you walk up to the threshold, and the priest is working his way down the line, as it were, you're standing there, you've got your animal, you're holding it, squealing, trying to get away, whatever it's doing, do lambs squeal, don't sound like it was a pig, no,
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God forbid, hands on the sacrifice, and all of a sudden, here comes the priest, you can see him, he's almost there, he's working his way down, and you've done all that, and all of a sudden, you've remembered,
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I've expressed my anger to someone, I've called him foolish, and a scoundrel, and I've attacked their character, and they have responded to me, with obvious disdain, or they're offended, they're mad, and you've got that thing right there, you were so close, so close,
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Jeremiah 7 says, where you steal, murder, commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods, and then come and stand before me, in this house, which is called by my name,
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Isaiah 1 says, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me? I have enough burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed cattle, and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, and lambs, and goats, wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from my sight, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow, and imply it, and then come back with your sacrifice, so you get all the way there, you do all your
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X's and O's, you get so close, and at the last second, you realize, I've forgotten something, what do you do?
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The analogy breaks down, I'm doing the wedding right here yesterday, for Bob and Ann, are you here Bob and Ann? Bob and Ann are right here, and I've done weddings now for nine years,
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I don't know how many of them, quite a few, and I've never had to serve communion to a couple, they've never asked for that, and this time, they asked for that, no problem,
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Friday, I double checked, I got some matzah, made sure there was juice, got the little cups, got the tray, set it all in my study, right on the desk, so when
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I came in Saturday morning, it would all be there, came in on Saturday morning yesterday, there was everything going around, and I was in charge, talking to all these people, never walked in,
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I'm standing right here, halfway through the ceremony, and it dawned on me, I had forgotten to put the communion thing right here, what do you do?
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In a similar way, when something just comes into your brain, and whether it's the spirit of God prompting you to think that way, or however you want to think about it, and you realize,
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I have an offended brother, it is not you're offended to the brother, that's Mark 11, forgive, let it go, here's someone's offended by you, and what are we to do?
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What's the text say? It's amazing, it is an aorist passive imperative, no
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Greek, you don't have to, it's a command, it's an imperative, first be reconciled, you are to turn yourself around, and go be reconciled to that brother, at least as much as you can, there are some people who will not want to be reconciled, it's the time for reconciliation, if today is a day of salvation for unbelievers, for believers who have someone who has been offended by them, their anger, they are to settle the difficulty, they are to make it right, and if you have to confess, confess, if you have to make restitution, make restitution, but you drop the sacrifice, if you were pre -Christ, death, burial, and resurrection, you drop it and you make it right, and for us by implication, we just drop it all,
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I've learned the hard way, but back at Grace Church, where I was, there have been times that we have not, as husband and wife, even entered the worship service, until we have sat in the car, and worked things out, which sometimes has taken the whole service, the text does not say here, dismiss these feelings from your heart, but get your brother to dismiss from his mind, the grudge against you, and then he gives another illustration, there's so much to say, and so little time, there's another illustration, but this one's a judicial setting, and if you see it in verse 25, it'll still show the urgency, of settling your differences, with one who is offended by your anger, it's a big principle, but this is the context, make friends quickly with your opponent at law, while you're with them on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you'd be thrown into prison, truly
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I say to you, you will not come out of there, until you have paid up the last cent, different context, do we have debtor prison today, how many people have
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MasterCard and Visa, you're glad there's no debtor prison, in those days there was a debtor's prison, and so here there's something going on, and there's a problem, and you owe someone, and not only do you owe them, you've been angry with them, and you've had this or gay kind of wrath, and you have not only owed them money, but now you have offended them, and they don't like you, and they're going to exact justice, and they're going to take you to court, and what does
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Jesus say, make friends quickly, it's another imperative, hurry, palmel, fast, while you're on the way, humble yourself, do something, don't delay, you're walking together to the judge, and he's going to sue you, why don't you settle out of court now, before it's worse, because if you get thrown in jail, you didn't get out of debtor's prison, until you paid up the last cent, by the way this has nothing to do with purgatory at all, as some might think, but if it's costly now to settle, if it is humbling now to settle, make it right, that's the point, and you see the passage there, paid up the last cent, it was a
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Roman coin, some called it a farthing, it's a quadrans, it was a quarter of an
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Assyrian, or two mites, something little, and here's the point, if you have anger, and call
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Raka, and say moron, and that will be making you liable to hell, so too if you had this situation come up, you're in big trouble, both temporally and eternally, important to make things right now, if you have offended someone with anger, context here, without anger, just in general, and they're here, and they're part of this church, you need to speedily take care of it, forget the picnic today, meet out in the car, go up to someone and say,
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I'm just a sinner, and I've blown it, and I know I've offended you, do you think you could have it in your heart to forgive me, that's what
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Jesus is after, Jesus is saying, in my kingdom of righteousness, there are these commands, we could never fulfill them, unless the grace of God was in us, that's true, let me just give you a few questions to ask yourself, point blank right away, because I know you're asking this question, isn't some anger good, yes, it's good, how can
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I tell the difference between, being angry for the right thing or the wrong thing, rapid fire questions, number one, am
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I angry at someone or something along with God, it's okay to be angry along with God, holy, wrathful, righteous indignation, yes, that's okay, does my anger stem from a process of biblical thinking, in other words, do
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I just fly off the handle, or do I sit and simmer about issues, or do I think them through biblically and say, you know
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God, I know you're slow to anger, and abundant loving kindness, I want to be the same, I know Proverbs says, that he just slow to anger has understanding, number three, is my anger under control, got a grip on things,
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I love the Psalm 78, it says of God, he restrained his anger, seeking wisdom from other people, accepting counsel, but the big one here to tie it all together, and finish it up, is my anger selfish, ask yourself this question, is
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God offended, or am I offended, if God is offended, I'm offended along with him, but if it's just me who's offended, then
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I need to make my accounts, settled with the Lord, good news and bad news, the bad news is, we all have testimonies of murderers, we are murderers, by nature, by action, the good news is,
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Jesus Christ is a savior of great, great abundance, and he saves murderers, and when he has saved murderers like us, then out of gratitude, not just out of duty, but out of thanksgiving, we ought to act like the people we are, children of God, and not hate our fellow
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Christians, not hate our brothers, but to hold up the banner of Christ, in a way that would honor him, may you not come back next week, until you have obeyed these commands, by the grace of God, and if someone calls you
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PS, and wants to make amends, may you do so, if you're the one who's been offended, with grace, with patience, with humbleness, and with a heart knowing, that you too, are a murderer, and most likely worse than the person, who's asking you for forgiveness, let's pray,
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Lord, we know that you have created unity, in the body of Christ, in John 17, it's been accomplished,
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Father, we would ask in our church, even though, as far as I know, there are no rumblings, and discontentment at a level, that would make a fracture, our schism here, your wonderful bride,
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Lord, we would just beg, and we would ask, and petition you, that you would give us grace, not to hate, not to be angry,
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Father, would you help us, to be like Christ Jesus, 1st Peter chapter 2, where they reviled against him, and he reviled not,
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Lord, would you help us, to be like Christ, through the Spirit's power, that we might entrust our souls, to a faithful creator, in doing right, when people offend us,
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Lord, would you give us, a unity at the church, that's not just based on John 17, but flowing out of John 17, that it would be practical, and that we would obey, and Lord, that we would have, that sweet sense of fellowship, after the argument, after the disagreement, after the offense, where we could be forgiven, not only by you
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Lord, but the person, and may you make our church, stronger for that, may we be a brighter witness, here at the church, because we're unified, and Lord, we know that, it would take the omnipotent,
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God of the universe, to work through people like us, to make that happen, so we beseech your mercy, and your power, for Christ's glory,