Aug. 14, 2016 Afternoon Service: Beatitudes Part 6 by Pastor Josh Sheldon

Lamentations 3: Waiting Quietly for the Salvation of the Lord

Well let's attend again to God's Word as we have time. We continue in the Sermon on the Mount. I'll read our text in a moment. Let's begin though with Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 25 to 30. If you can please stand for the reading of God's Word and after this we'll turn to Matthew chapter 5 and begin at verse 17.

Just six verses from Lamentations 3 beginning at verse 25. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is late on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.

Christ Fulfills the Law and Exceeds Pharisaical Righteousness

Turn please now to Matthew chapter 5 beginning at verse 17. Our text is actually for the preaching verses 21 to 26, but we'll start at verse 17 to remind us of the context in which Jesus speaks here. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And our text for the message this afternoon, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be liable to the 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 will be put in prison.

Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Please be seated. Fathers we now come again to your word. Just pray your blessing be upon us that you will bless preacher and hearer alike.

Preacher with words prepared and hearer with hearts prepared to hear the same word of the same Lord, even Jesus Christ. It's his name. Amen. I would ask you, do you, after having heard our Lord's words there in Matthew 5 beginning at verse 21, do you find yourself asking yourself questions like these, for example?

Do you say things to yourself like, okay, so as long as I don't use the actual word fool, that I'm okay, right? Do you say to yourself, so if I never commit anything so I don't sin by failing to do it, I guess I'm okay, right?

Do I get to fight back after the second slap on the cheek just how many feet are in a mile going ahead to going the second mile? Do you find yourself asking questions like that? How far can I go before I step into the kind of sin that Jesus speaks against so severely?

If you find yourself traveling down a path like any of these, questioning just what does the Lord mean? What's the technical thing that he's getting at here? How far can I actually go? What can I say that expresses some displeasure with my brother without stepping into the Lord's clear rebuke here?

If you find yourself going down that sort of road, I would urge you back to chapter 5 verse 20. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

See, the scribes and the Pharisees were experts in the law. More than just knowing the content of the law, they were skilled at reducing it down to the series of do's and don'ts. And more than that, they had this way of finding the outs, the way out of things, the exceptions, the clauses if you will.

If God said a divorce could be granted for specific and limited cause, referring back to Deuteronomy 24, they taught that so long as a certificate was prepared and duly presented why they could divorce a woman for just about anything.

That's what they asked the Lord in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 3. Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? Our Lord has just gotten through describing the character of his disciples in the Beatitudes.

We've been through those a few weeks ago. And then he spoke of his people, the people who just heard and fit those blessings as salt and light in the world. That is, his people mean something. When we represent him rightly, there is an impact in the world around us.

Christ is seen. And then he explained the abiding validity of God's law. And then, because that law is holy and that law is abiding, then we are told that our status in heaven in large measure, if not exclusively, is determined by our demeanor, our attitude towards that very law.

And that teaching ended with verse 20, the one I just cited back to you. Unless your righteousness exceeds, then you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So now at last, beginning of verse 21, he gives us specific examples, examples of what it means to fall beneath or to exceed that righteousness, which he says is subpar, sub-Christian.

Anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, love for enemies, all starting with what they had been taught, followed by what Christ would have of us. So we're going to this morning, time allowing, look at the first of these.

Anger as Murder in the Heart

Anger. Now I don't think as I looked at this, I don't think it does us a lot of good to trace back whether what they had heard was a direct biblical quote or a quote with something added to it, or if it was some just just some tradition that was current at the time.

And we can take that apart quite a bit, and if you want to study that, you can read John MacArthur's commentary. He is really one of the best, if not the best, at that historical context, and I think there's great value to it.

But for this morning, I'm going to kind of skip over a lot of that, because what I want us to key in on is not so much where the quote came from, whether Jesus is saying, well, you heard this said, and he quotes directly from the Bible, or adds a little to it, or whatever the case is.

I want us to key in on the fact that the pattern is, you heard, but I say. You've been taught something. I say something different. You've been taught you can go this far, here's how much sin you can indulge before you make God really, really angry, if you will.

Jesus says no, but I say. The transition leading into these six examples is verses 19 and 20. I want to read those again to you. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

For I tell you, these are connected. These are connected. What I just read, and this next sentence, and then what follows, hinged on this. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now these commandments refers to the law. The examples that follow are what it means to relax the law. They are the pharisaical substandard righteousness that bars one from the gates of paradise. What these are all about, these six examples that follow, they're about relationships.

Jesus is showing, no he's not showing, he's demanding that the values of the kingdom permeate all aspect of our lives. We are salt. We permeate whatever we are applied to. We are light. We dispel darkness in favor of the illumining Word of Christ, and nowhere is this to be more prominently displayed than in relationships.

Relationships among ourselves, relationships with others. Just one more thing and then we get started into our text proper. What follows here is not some simple listing of moral platitudes. When Jesus gives these six examples, they're not just a bunch of good things to do that will bring God's smiling countenance.

He is pleased when his son receives honor through our obedience. But they're more than that. These describe the inner person whose destiny is heaven. These are descriptions of the inner person, the converted person, the born-again person.

We were speaking about that earlier this morning. These are speaking of people whose soul has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. They describe not so much what we do as they describe what we are.

So we'll cover the first one, anger. The word is ergizomai. Orgizomai. Excuse me, I mispronounced that. Orgizomai. You heard that it was said you should not commit murder? But I say whoever is angry. Orgizomai.

That means the lavish swelling of sap and vigor. Impulsive nature of man or beast, especially the impulsive state of the human disposition, which in contrast to a more, which is in contrast to a more inward and quiet spirit.

Lavish swelling of sap and power. Impulsive. In contrast to an inward quietude. Now the law says not to murder. Almost everybody knows that. It's the sixth commandment. Almost every society on earth has agreed with this and agrees with it now, though there's some variance in their reason and definitions of what murder actually is.

It's not though God who decided to codify what man seemed to have found out for himself. That law is written on the heart and that's why all men everywhere know that murder is wrong. So we've all heard it said you shall not murder.

Whether you knew it was the sixth commandment or not, you know this. It's written on your heart. What Jesus does here is he applies this to how we treat our brother. That is, the first application of the sixth commandment and all its consequent penalties is made in our relationships within the church.

Everyone is angry with his brother. Later on he says, if your brother sins against you. You see, the salt and light influence. You're the salt, the earth. You are the light of the world. That influence must start here.

Ephesians 2, 14 to 16 speaks of the church as being populated by those people whose mutual hostility was killed by the cross of Jesus Christ. And he goes on to say that he himself is our peace. Jesus is our peace.

Speaking of us here today in this place. Because we individually and together have by the cross of Jesus peace with God. Therefore we must have peace with each other. We mustn't reduce the law here to merely not taking someone's life.

That of course is sin and the penalty for that in God's and man's eyes is severe. But Jesus expects so much more of us than just not killing. Is he giving a new law? Is he telling us what the law was always meant to teach?

If only man had been teachable. These questions have vexed men for a long time and it vexes you to understand what is he doing here? Is this new? Is it explanation? Is he expositing? What's he doing here?

Go back to verse 20. Unless your righteousness exceeds you will never enter. You see it really doesn't matter. In the end it really doesn't matter. What matters is this. Anger against your brother is murder.

Anger against your brother is murder in Jesus' eyes. So much of the cultural historical context exactly where the sayings are coming from. Who's teaching what? Don't worry about it. Those are good questions.

Let's study them out. Just not here this afternoon. Now. For now unless you exceed you will not enter. And to be angry with your brother some Bibles say without a cause. Your ESV does not. I think our ESV gets it right.

Just whoever's angry with his brother we're speaking of a heart condition. Are we not? That's sub-par righteousness. That's pharisaical righteousness. That's self-justifying righteousness. That's righteousness which you have invented and has little to do with the righteousness that Christ says will bring you to the kingdom of heaven.

Cain was angry with his brother and killed him. History's first murder. Absalom was angry with his brother Amnon and murdered him and then he sought to murder after his father David. It just doesn't end once we let it grab hold of us.

Paul tells us in Colossians 3 .8, Ephesians 4 .31 both of those he says to put away our wrath or our anger. In Colossians 3 .4 he says when Christ who is your life appears then you will also appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, what's earthly in us. Was Jesus first example of the righteousness that he demands? The righteousness that is underneath the standard of Christianity? Anger with your brother.

In Ephesians is in the context of having learned from Christ and having put on the new man created by God in true righteousness and holiness. Several books later James says that our quarreling comes from our earthly passions and by the words we use what do we do to each other?

Do you remember that? It says you murder. With your words you're murdering your brother or your sister. Paul speaks in Romans 1 and 1st Corinthians of destroying each other by our words that come from unseemly pride that comes from unrepented anger leaving behind such sub kingdom questions about whether I can get by if only I don't say fool that sort of thing.

Let's just look at how important Jesus makes this out to be. How important is this to our Lord? Never mind us. To Jesus. If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your gift before the altar and go.

First be reconciled. First what? First before you worship. First before you come to God in accordance with his written law. Before that stop. Go be reconciled. Come to terms quickly with your accuser.

He goes on with this metaphor of being accused and convicted and thrown in prison. You will never get out until you have paid the last penny. This is how important it is to Jesus that we not have unholy unrighteous self-made anger towards another.

And remembering that if our brother has something against us not you against him. He against you notice. Stop. Be reconciled. Leave your gift at the altar and go. Don't dare come to God while murderous anger resides in your heart.

The point our Lord makes when we discover that anger in our hearts towards a brother or a sister say go right now. Go right now and be reconciled. You know as I prepared for this I thought to myself I'm not gonna do it so don't get nervous but I thought to myself you know be perfectly appropriate for me to stop right here tell us all to pray individually for a few minutes a few moments and find the anger the undue unholy unjustified anger that we're holding towards someone else in this room it's got to exist it's got to be there at least one or two of us.

I thought it would be perfectly appropriate perfectly within this text to stop right now say let's pray let's take five minutes after we've prayed and go be reconciled. Why? Because it would bring us to a high emotional pitch and we'd leave here feeling like we'd really been taught something.

No because that's what Jesus says to do. Jesus says stop everything. I don't even want you to worship God my father while this is your heart. That's how important that this is. I have to tell you these other five examples that follow after this.

Lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation and so forth. I'm probably not going to preach those each one at a time. I'm gonna bundle them up. I'm preaching this one first because it came first. I think in a way it's really the most important.

Stop worshiping. Don't come to God with this heart. The Lord makes no reference to what might have caused the anger. The onus is on the one who did the offending. When we've been offended we have Matthew 18 15 and all that but here we are the offender.

So how do we deal with this? Well if a Pharisee then we say within our soul I have not broken God's law my brother yet lives. I can maintain my anger so long as I don't follow Cain and call him a fool or anything like that or call him a fool.

Perhaps I'll ratchet my way up to Raqqa. Though our ESV translates this as just insulting him. But so long as they're alive I'm okay. I've obeyed the law. If we're a Pharisee that's what we do. That's sub-christian righteousness.

Better to ask why did I become angry? What welled this up within me? Normally often I would say our answer has to be our pride, our need to be right. We get more and more angry because we don't want to admit our faults.

We entrench ourselves and we get madder and madder and madder at that person who is that convicting presence. Who without saying a word reminds us of the ugliness is raising up in our heart towards the other.

You hear what our Lord is warning us of here? It's God to Cain. We said sin is crouching at your door. We're about to take the Lord's Supper. We're about to obey the Lord in a memorial of his death, his burial, his resurrection.

I have to ask can this, I'm pointing to the elements now, can this carry any meaning, any real meaning if it is engaged with anger towards a brother or sister, one for whom Christ also died? Based upon what Jesus says here in Matthew 5 17 and following.

Now is a good time to examine our hearts. As the Apostle Paul says, before you take this up, let a man examine himself and then let him partake. It's just not a good topic of self-examination even now in the quietness of where you're sitting.

Jesus here in Matthew 5 19 to 26, do you know how he's telling us to behave? Do you know what he's saying when he's speaking of this righteousness? He's saying actually be like God. Be like God. No one is justified in his anger than God.

No one's anger is more emanating from a holy and perfect nature than God's. No one's anger comes from actually having been offended as has God. But how does Jesus end this entire sermon? He says, therefore you shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Can we say, connecting that last verse of this sermon to what he says on anger, you shall be perfect and forgiving as your Heavenly Father is perfect and forgiving. The standard is that high. This is the righteousness Jesus is speaking of.

Think of his wrath at your sin. His anger is altogether different from ours because his is justified. His comes from perfection. Ours comes from pride, from pettiness, from our need to be right. This is why we have to stop worshiping.

Go to our brother and then return to the Lord. We often say something like this. We say, well I'm just saying. You ever start a sentence that way? I'm just saying. Saying what? When it leads or ends with that, more often than not it's something that doesn't need to be said at all.

Something that shouldn't be said. Something that shows anger. How often we mask anger with smooth words. How easily we justify it by claiming rigid compliance with the law. How effortlessly we become Pharisees with their subpar righteousness.

How quickly heaven's doors shut. Jesus speaks to us as those who have offended and so we are diametrically different from God who is never, who simply cannot ever be offensive. But we're to be like God in this, that we are willing to set aside our anger in favor of a right relationship with others.

So dear ones, this is the kingdom perspective. This is the righteousness, the golden righteousness, the standard that Jesus would have. This is the realm of transformed hearts. Of those who by seeing themselves in the light of God are poor in spirit, willing to confess and repent.

They are mournful over their sin and they're meek and they're gentle with others because God is that with them. This is for those who crave God's righteousness, which is exactly what Jesus is describing here.

And they want that more than anything else. This is for the merciful who cannot bear for others to suffer under their glare, even if they're the only one who could detect it. The pure in heart, whole and undivided in their dedication to God, to peacemakers who bring peace to their own relations because God made peace with them through the blood of his Son.

So determined in all this that even persecution is a small price to pay. It's for those for whom the gospel is everything, and everything is the gospel. They're the Lord's first example of this kingdom righteousness.

To not play footloose and fancy-free with our anger, with our stubbornness, with our pride. To go and be reconciled. Behold how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity, says the Lord in Psalm 133.

This is for those that Jesus described in the Beatitudes. This is for those whose hearts have been renewed by the Spirit of God. This is Lord willing for us this afternoon as we partake of the Lord's Supper in just a few moments.

Amen.