I. Introduction
A. A woman was taking her time browsing through everything at a friend's yard sale, and said to her, "My husband is going to be very angry I stopped at a yard sale." "I'm sure he'll understand when you tell him about all the bargains you found," her friend replied. "Normally, yes," she said. "But he just broke his leg, and he's waiting for me to take him to the hospital to have it set."
B. This passage is a very important passage
1. Remember that Jesus is teaching His disciples
2. Lets turn to Matthew 5:21
Matthew 5:21 KJV)
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'
a. Jesus begins to explain the real meaning of God’s Law
(1) He uses the phrase, “You have heard that it was said to those of old” 5 time in the chapter to underline the error of the Pharisees’s rules and to point out the real meaning of God’s Law
(2) You have been taught that murder is wrong, murder has always been wrong
(a) This comes from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:13
(b) The Old King James says
Exodus 20:13 (KJV)
Thou shalt not kill
(c) The New King James says
Exodus 20:13 (NKJV)
You shall not murder.
b. The Hebrew word means murder
3. Lets define murder
a. Murder is the deliberate taking of another human beings life
(1) It could be in a momentary fit of anger
(2) It could be in a cold calculated deliberate manner
(3) Or it could be for pay
(a) Such as hiring a hitman
(4) There are other ways of taking another’s life
(a) Say by accident with a car
(b) This is not termed murder
b. Jesus used the word that means murder, the deliberate taking of another’s life
(1) Keep this in mind as we continue
(a) Now we shall turn to Matthew 5:21 - 22
II. Body
A. Anger
Matthew 5:21-22 (NKJV)
(Matthew 5:21-22 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' {22} "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.
1. The very first thing we need to know is just who our brother is
a. The first thought is a male sibling
(1) John Thomas Vary is my brother, he is the son of my mother and my father
(2) Marc Franklin Brown is my brother, he is the son of my mother, but not the son of my father, he is my half brother
b. The second thought is my Christian brother
(1) Larry is my brother
c. The third thought is some one who belongs to the same fraternity
(1) Dean is my brother because we both served in the US Army
(2) And we both served in a combat zone
(a) Lets turn to Matthew 18:21
d. Jesus in using the words “brother” and "whosoever" is saying that every human being is a brother under God's creation.
(1) Therefore, His words applies universally to every human being.
Matthew 18:21 (NKJV)
Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
(a) Peter was not necessarily referring to Andrew
(b) He probably meant any Jew, any peer
2. Now lets define anger
a. Lets turn to Ephesians 4:26
b. Anger is a violent emotion
c. But as we see in Ephesians 4:26 anger is not sin
Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV)
"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
(1) Anger is an emotion
(2) A God given emotion
(3) It is not anger that is sin
(4) It is what we do with it, do about it
3. There is another word we need to understand, Raca
a. Raca can be interpreted to mean empty head
b. How is it that you have the stupid audacity to disagree with me, you Raca, you empty head
4. Jesus uses the words in danger of
a. There is still the concept of reconciliation to consider, we will consider reconciliation in a while
b. He uses this phrase four times
(1) In danger of judgment in verse 21
(2) In danger of the council, judgment, and hell fire in verse 22
(3) This comes from Patsy Clairmont in Under His Wings Hurling humor like hand grenades is a popular sport. We think it's acceptable to pull the pin on our anger as long as we toss it in a casing of humor. The problem is it's still explosive, and someone ends up hurt. How many times have you heard or said, "I was only kidding?" If we have to defend our humor regularly, chances are we're not as funny as we think. A good humor rule is, if it hurts someone it isn't funny. Just because people are laughing doesn't mean what we said was appropriate. Don't use humor as a hideout from tender, honest relationships. A healthy sense of humor is a precious gift intended to promote good news, good health and goodwill.
(4) This is actually an illustration of anger not under control
5. Anger not kept under control is a dangerous thing
a. The anger that holds contempt shown in the term Raca despises; it ridicules; it arrogantly exalts self and calls another person empty head and useless.
(1) Lets go back to Matthew 5:21 - 22
(2) This is an anger that is full of malice
(3) It despises and scorns this arises from pride
(4) This is the anger that curses
(5) It seeks to destroy a man and his reputation morally, intellectually, and spiritually
Matthew 5:21-22 (NKJV)
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' {22} "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.
(6) "Thou fool," is a spiteful word, and comes from hatred
(7) This comes from Men of Integrity, “Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one makes you even with him; forgiving it sets you above him.”
b. To be angry with some one, Jesus equates to murder
(1) Of all the crimes in the world, the most hated is murder
(2) Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:26
(3) We read this earlier, anger in itself is not a sin
Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV)
"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
(a) But unless we have mastered it, it will master us
6. For just a moment I want to go back to something I said earlier
a. Jesus uses this phrase four times
(1) In danger of judgment in verse 21
(2) In danger of the council, judgment, and hell fire in verse 22
(3) If we seek reconciliation we will be forgiven
(a) God will forgive us even if our brother won’t
i) Lets turn to Romans 12:19
b. But if we are the offended party we must remember what Romans 12:19 says
Romans 12:19 (NKJV)
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
(1) Lets turn to Matthew 5:23 - 24
B. The law of reconciliation
Matthew 5:23-24 (NKJV)
"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, {24} "leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
1. This begins by talking about worship
a. When Jesus talks about bringing a gift to the altar He is talking about worship
(1) Worship good
(2) However, unless your heart is right your worship will not be accepted
(a) Turn to 1 John 3:15
b. Jesus says if while you are on your way to worship and you remember that there is problem between you and some one else, you cannot worship properly
(1) Why, because you are a murderer
1 John 3:15(NKJV)
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
(2) One of the early church elders wrote, "God does not receive the sacrifice of a person who is in disagreement, but commands him to go back from the altar and first be reconciled to his brother, so that God also may be appeased by the prayers of the peace-maker. Our peace and brotherly agreement is a greater sacrifice to God and a people united in one in the unity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
2. Do not even try to worship if you have not properly forgiven another a. There are two steps to forgiveness
a. The first is easy and simple, I make up my mind to forgive someone.
(1) Its just that easy, just that simple
(2) But, the second step is the killer, reconciliation
(a) What pray tell, is reconciliation
(b) Reconciliation is the process in which a congenial relationship is restored
(c) Charles Williams in Leadership magazine wrote, "In matters of forgiveness, as in all other virtues, the first step (forgiving) is comparatively simple compared to the second (reconciling). Hell is always waiting for the rebound. The only prevention of the rebound is perseverance. The first moment of forgiveness is nearly always confused with other thingsùaffection, delight, honor, pride, love of power; some good, some bad, all distracting. ... But then directly afterwards, the good elements withdraw and leave the reconciliation to its own serious energy; and if that energy is too weak, it will break. ... Nothing is achieved at once.
(d) Nothing is achieved at once, but we can begin the process
(e) Whether we are the offended or the offender we can initiate reconciliation
(f) The Holman Bible Dictionary defines reconciliation this way, "the establishment of friendly relations between parties who are at variance with each other, making peace In 1525 William Tyndale, in his translation of the New Testament from the Greek text, attempted to discover an English word that would express the true meaning of the Greek ... as well as the Latin reconciliation. Unable to find the word, he coined one. The word he coined was atonement (at-one-ment)
(g) Jesus said, in Matthew 5:23-24
Matthew 5:23-24 (NKJV)
"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, {24} "leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
(h) Leave your gift there before the alter, because after you have initiated the reconciliation you should return and now worship properly
(i) First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
3. This is all one lesson
a. To harbor anger is murder
b. To attempt to worship while you harbor anger is not just useless, it is
(1) Hypocrisy
(2) In reality it is also blasphemy
(3) Praise and thanksgiving, which are the very heart of worship, will not be acceptable to God from a heart that is the heart of a murderer
c. Do we have some one to which we must be reconciled?
(1) Today is the day of reconciliation
