The Inward Life of the Kingdom | Matthew 5:21-26 | Pastor Neil McClendon

I just want to say this, okay?

Hell is real.

It's not just a threat, it's an experience, all right?

And we act like hell is not real.

And the reason we act like hell's not real is because nobody goes there.

Have you noticed that?

If you die in America, you automatically go to heaven.

Have you been to a funeral ever in your life where someone stood up and said, Yeah, John was not a believer.

John was a cantankerous, greedy, selfish man, and John we should mourn today because John's not going to be in heaven.

John's going to be in hell.

And you should be warned by John's life to not be like this man.

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parquet Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we uh when we acknowledge and understand who you are, uh, this is how we respond.

Because you're holy, we offer our lives down before you.

We say, What else can we give?

We say with Isaiah, here am I, send me.

And so, Lord, give us a deeper, fuller, more biblical understanding of who you are and what you taught so that we can respond accordingly.

Otherwise, we're just gonna formulate an opinion, and we've got enough opinions in America.

We need some understanding because understanding leads to action.

Opinions lead to inactivity and inaction.

So we need understanding that sets our life in motion and on a trajectory that is in keeping with the king and the kingdom.

Holy Spirit, do that today.

From your word and by your spirit, we pray.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

And everyone said Amen.

Amen.

You can have a see.

If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And if you're our guest, let me say, welcome.

I'm glad you took the opportunity to explore a new church.

We're teaching you the book of Matthew, and we are in a section that's known uh all over the world as the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

If you have a red letter edition of the Bible, there's a lot of red right here.

That means Jesus is talking, okay?

And not only is Jesus talking, but he's talking to a people who later he would describe as like this.

He says, These people worship me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

He's talking, and so he's talking to these people, and he's talking about a new way of life that's not about keeping the rules, but letting the relationship with God permeate to the very deepest parts of your being.

Let me say that again.

He's not talking about keeping the rules.

They're experts on keeping the rules.

In other words, they're experts on the truth and dropouts on the way.

And Jesus is here to talk about the way.

Do you realize that you can agree with a lot of things that don't change some parts of you deep on the inside?

If you realize that, say amen.

Like you can sit in this room right now and say, I'm down with everything the Bible says.

For the most part, except this area here, it usually comes to our money or our morality.

Those are the two areas that we hold on to.

Like, well, you don't understand.

My situation is really different, okay?

And Jesus is coming and he's talking about, hey, letting this relationship, letting the Spirit of God, the truth of who God is and what he teaches, get to the deepest parts of you.

It's why David said in his great Psalm of Confession to God, he said, You desire truth in my innermost parts.

And here Jesus is teaching us how to get to that place, okay?

Now last week Jesus said, Hey, I didn't come to, don't think I've come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

And now he this is the first of what's called sixth antithesis.

He starts it six times, Jesus is gonna say on different topics.

Um today it's about anger, next week it's lust, be sure and be here.

Um, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and loving your enemies.

And every time in these little sections, Jesus starts with this.

You have heard it was said of old, blah, blah, blah.

But I say unto you, that's why it's called an antithesis.

It's, hey, you've heard this, but now let me let me kind of draw out the implications of what this means for you.

And so I want to give you four things that kind of just put on like a pair of sunglasses before we jump into the text today.

That I want us to look at the rest of this chapter through this these lenses, okay?

Uh, here they are, four of them very quickly.

Number one, Jesus is more concerned with motive than checking the box.

Jesus is more concerned with motive than checking the box.

If you want a uh a modern-day example, it's like ladies, you say to your husband, I love you, and he's the oh, I love you too.

And you're like, that didn't feel very connected.

Yes, yeah.

It's a Jesus, basically you can keep the rules and still break the law.

Number two, Christians are held to a higher ethical standard.

Christians are held to a higher ethical standard.

Matter of fact, you're not allowed to stay angry, hate anybody, or live in unforgiveness.

Yes, let me say that again.

You're like, that's not on the screen.

Uh yeah, but but I just want to give uh what I mean when I say Christians are held to a higher ethical standard.

You are not allowed to stay angry.

You can get angry, but you can't stay angry.

That's why the Bible says to Christians, don't let the sun go down on your on your on your wrath, your anger.

You're not allowed to hate anybody.

Matter of fact, the Bible says in John, first John chapter 3 about verse 15, if anyone hates his brother, he's a murderer.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

And you know that no murderer inherits the kingdom of God.

You don't live in the kingdom, you live in your own little kingdom.

You're not allowed to stay angry, hate anybody, or live in unforgiveness.

Here's the third thing: the gospel always invites us to think deeper.

The gospel, the gospel just means gospel means good news.

The good news of Christianity always invites us to think deeper.

And every time Jesus talked, people were like, not like, oh man, it's like a pop quiz in chemistry, and I forgot to study.

No, it's like, this is so simple.

I understand every word he said.

I'm just kind of recoiling at the repercussions this is gonna have on me.

And here's the last one truth turns radishes into carrots.

Yes, some of you are like, oh, well, what?

We're having like a salad here?

A radish.

If I ask you what color is a radish, you would say red.

But you cut it open and it's got a red skin and it's white on the inside.

A carrot is integrated, it looks orange, you cut it open, it's orange all the way through.

Truth turns radishes into carrots.

Some of you have a skin-deep version of Christianity.

It hasn't gotten to those uncomfortable places in you where your money and your morality reside.

And the truth, and this is what Jesus does.

He just calls, hey, let's get down to the get down here.

So I want to talk to you this morning about the inward life of the kingdom.

The inward life.

In here, okay?

Matthew chapter 5, verse 21, the Bible says this you have heard that it was said of old, you shall not murder, but whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

Matthew 5:21

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 counsel, and whoever whoever says you fool will be liar of the hell of fire, but will be liable to the hell of fire.

So, if you're offering your gift at the altar and there you remember 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 he puts you in prison.

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

I'm not saying the inward life of the kingdom.

I mean Jesus is not just come to make you seem more socially acceptable on the outside, uh, where everyone just kind of assumes.

He comes to change you on the inside.

And Christianity is best to live from the inside out, not from the outside in.

Matter of fact, I would say to you, if you're trying to approach Christianity from the outside in, you are a radish today.

You look like one thing on the outside, but you are really something different on the inside when push comes to shove.

And so the inward life of the kingdom means three things.

Number one, life in the kingdom calls for integration.

Life in the kingdom calls for integration.

This verses 21 and 22.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder.

Whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, here's where Jesus draws out the deeper meaning of the law.

I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to counsel, to the counsel, and whoever says, You fool will be liar to the hell of fire.

Now I say life in the kingdom calls for integration.

It's easy to read this and think, well, I've never murdered anybody, so I'm good on this one.

And I would just say, really?

Look very closely at verse 22.

Because Jesus says, hey, it's not enough to say I hadn't murdered anybody.

Uh he says, Whoever is angry, whoever insults somebody or calls people names.

Did you call anybody names this weekend?

Did you go to HEB on a Saturday?

You're gonna call people names.

Yes, yeah, you're gonna get angry.

You're gonna insult people because they don't drive like you.

Yes, yeah.

See, Jesus kind of pushes it in on us because on the outside we go, oh man, murder, check, I'm good.

And he just kind of sharpens the focus and said, Hey, if you're angry, you insult or call people names, you're in trouble here.

And here's why.

In the kingdom, anger is murder in the mind.

Again, in the kingdom, in the kingdom, this this realm within what Jesus comes to say, hey, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In this realm of living, anger, to be angry at somebody is to murder them in your mind.

It's easier to grasp what's being said if you take verse 22 in reverse, okay?

It reads anger, insults, and then name-calling.

But if you take them in reverse, you can see how they build on each other.

And so we'll just take them in reverse number one, name-calling.

He says, anyone that says to someone, you fool.

Now, whatever you put after you had better be in keeping with what God says to be true of that person.

Let me say that again.

Here it says you fool, which is uh uh literally in the Greek, it means you empty-headed person.

It was a raha, raha is is the phrase, and it's the way they insulted people.

Like, like we get our English word moron from the derivative of this.

What a moron! Can you believe this guy?

Now, now you say, Well, what's the big deal about this?

Again, whatever you put after you when you address somebody, it better be in keeping with what God says to be true of that person.

Otherwise, look at me, you are putting your judgment above God's judgment of this person.

And so it's hard to call people names when you start with what God says is true about somebody, because then to call them a name is to disagree uh with what God says and demar what God has tried to establish in this person.

Uh, it would sound like this.

If you and I say it's hard to call people names when you start with how God feels about them and what God says, it would sound like this you beautiful soul for whom Christ died, you were created by God in the image of God for a relationship with God.

You were created to be responsible, so I will act responsibly towards you.

You've been crowned with glory and honor and have been given dominion over everything God created.

So I'm not gonna let anything have dominion over me in relation to you.

Now, here's the question: if you were to start like that in your mind when you think about somebody, when you go, you, and then you interject it all that, what could you say after that?

Yes.

You you you couldn't say things you don't normally say.

You just couldn't.

You'd just be like, like I'm I sound all noble.

I was driving on 99 this weekend, and somebody comes flying, uh, and I see them in my rear view mirror, and I'm like, dude, there's nowhere to go.

There's about 10 feet between me and the car in front of me, because this guy's going too slow on the fast lane, and I'm already thinking insulting thoughts about him.

And all of a sudden, this guy, it's some little sports car comes and he got gets right beside me and he shifts, woo-hoo, and he just shoots in there.

And I was like, Oh no, you didn't.

And then I thought about the text this morning.

And he's like, Oh now, what can you say when you say, oh no, you didn't?

What are you gonna what's gonna come after you now?

You beautiful creation of God.

Clearly, you're in more of a hurry than I am, and your urgency exceeds mine, even though I was trapped behind somebody that was doing 53 miles an hour in the fast lane.

And this guy in the little BMW, and then he starts flashing his lights.

Yes, to the guy in front of him, and I thought, see, God, I'm so much more patient than him.

I didn't flash my lights.

Yes, yeah.

Again, here's all I'm trying to say.

When you when you take the Bible and you and you cut it down into bite-sized pieces, there's nowhere to hide.

Whatever comes after you, here the name call, it starts with name calling.

You fool.

Whatever comes after you better be in keeping with who God, what God says to be true about this person.

Otherwise, you are putting your judgment of this person above God's judgment of this person.

After name calling becomes insults.

Once you begin to call people names, you no longer bestow dignity upon that person, and so what follows is a series of insults because it's so easy.

They've been degraded in your eyes, and so you're free to say whatever you want because nothing about them restrains you.

When you insult them, you're not sinning against anything, they don't even count.

And then it goes from name-calling to insults to this place where you were angry.

This is a posture towards that person that you now maintain, and it's a place of emotional vagueness.

You could only, what do you mean emotional vagueness?

You you just kind of shrugging.

I don't know.

He just gets on my nerves.

I just don't like that person.

Frustrates me.

I'm mad at them.

I don't know, I don't care.

As if this explains or justifies whatever you want to do.

And I would just say this you you need to, we we need to understand some things about anger.

Uh, and so let me give you some things this morning that you should think about anger, because I got a lot of emails last week about and one person, and you were right by the way, said, I think all embarrassment is a is a form of self-righteousness.

Yes, you're not wrong about that.

But anger, and this is what Jesus starts with.

He says, Hey, you've heard from old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment.

Whoa, why?

Because anger is murder in the mind.

Okay, it's a posture towards a person that you think you're entitled to maintain.

Uh uh, but you gotta understand some things about anger, or you'll never understand how anger works and how anger, what anger does is anger traps you.

It doesn't trap the other person.

Here's four or five things about anger you should remember.

Number one, anger manifests when your illusion of control is exposed.

I was I was frustrated driving two days ago because the person in front of me was going too slow, not paying attention.

And here's what made it worse.

I kind of sharpened my vision and looked to their back window, and and they were doing this while they were driving.

And I just thought, if I had a rifle with a scope, I could shoot that phone right now and just send a soft message.

I know you never think things like this.

See, this is how quickly anger just crouches at my door and says, let's just let them have it.

Here's another fantasizing thought because when people make me angry, I have fantasizing thoughts, okay?

And they don't go down the the the unhealthy pornography, whatever fantasy.

Here's my fantasizing thoughts.

You know, God, if I'd have won the Powerball when it was$1.9 billion, I'd have really good insurance.

I could just ram this person and not care.

And that thought went through my mind with little to no effort.

I didn't have to think about it.

I wasn't like, well, what would I?

I was just like, you know what?

If I'd have won Powerball, I think I would just rear in this person.

Just for the per just for the satisfaction to have to pull over and go, yeah, I just rammed you because you're a moron, you're not paying attention.

That's name calling.

And you say, Well, what'd you do?

I just was like, man, I got a long way to go here, Jesus.

Uh uh and so, and then the the BMW came along.

That didn't make it any better.

I was just like, yeah, rich people always show off.

I'm just standing in judgment of everybody.

While I'm stuck at 53 miles an hour in the fast lane.

Did I tell you it was a fast lane?

Did I tell you I was in a hurry?

I need to be somewhere because I'm important.

I know you never have thoughts like that.

Anger manifests when your illusion of control is exposed.

Secondly, anger justifies your response to people and things with which you do not agree.

Anger justifies your response to people and things with which you do not agree.

You don't know how to disagree or refute what they're saying or what's happening, so you just get angry.

Anger requires something of others, but never you.

This is why you're always angry.

It's so easy because it requires something of everybody else.

Everybody starts appeasing you, like, oh, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.

When somebody gets angry with you, look at me.

You shouldn't back up.

You should lean in and just ask this question hey, what are you afraid is happening right now?

What are you afraid is not gonna happen?

Especially if it's a man.

You ever notice when something happens, like somebody gets injured and there's blood, men just get angry.

Oh my god, no, no, and your kids are like, why is dad freaking out?

Yes.

Anger requires something of others, but never you.

Here's the fourth one.

Anger happens when you don't know what to feel.

Anger happens when you don't know what to feel.

Anger is like the little soldier that we send out, especially as men.

It's a soldier we send out to protect the little boy and us.

Don't make people said this to me in council.

Hey, you're making me angry, and you don't want to make me angry.

No, actually, I'm I'm not put off by your anger.

Anger's a secondary emotion, so if you're angry, let's get behind your anger to what's really going on.

Don't don't go off Freud on me.

My last name's not Freud, it's McClendon.

And I asked a man not long ago, I said, How has anger worked for you your whole life?

And he said, What do you mean?

And we started down this rabbit trail.

And about 15 minutes later, he begins to get emotional.

And I said, What's going on?

He said, Well, I come from a big family, and my dad would always send us to our rooms, and he'd come to your room and whip you one by one.

And he said, I was like the third or fourth stop on the whipping train.

And I was so afraid, I would get so angry, my stomach would be a notch, and I was so mad, but I was so powerless to do anything about it.

I said, So when I pursue you on something in your life, do you feel like I'm coming to whip you?

He said, That's exactly what it feels like.

I said, First of all, I commend you on your self-awareness, okay?

Secondly, I I don't whip people in counseling.

He said, Well, that's what it feels like.

And I said, unpack that for me, because I want to learn from you.

Maybe, maybe you're here to counsel me.

He said, That's just what it feels like.

And I said, Your feelings aren't big enough for both of us to live in, so can you come out of there and talk to me?

And he said, Well, I just, I mean, I mean, I mean, what good can come of this?

I said, You could build a different response structure?

Well, what does that mean?

It's kind of like you have the you say the same thing all the time, and it says, Oh, I'm angry, you're making me angry.

Watch it, preacher.

I think that's worked for you your whole life, but when somebody's not afraid because you're angry, what do you don't know what to do?

If you build a different response structure, you could have a different response, and the conversation, you can have different conversations, and then you actually make progress.

His wife was over there just bawling her eyes out, going, We haven't made progress since we said I do.

He's like, Wow.

See, this is the unhealthy side of anger.

If everyone moves away from you and you get angry and says, Oh, oh, oh, they're not loving you, they're hating you.

Here's why.

Here's the last thing.

Anger is typically typically connected to fear.

And because you don't never face your fears, you never change.

Now, I want you to notice the progression of consequences in the text.

He says right there, he says, Hey, uh, but I say to you, verse 22, that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

That's that's the first consequence.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel, and whoever says you're fool will be liable to the hell of fire.

I love the word the hell of fire, like there's a hell of water, and you get a choice.

There's not, okay?

But here's the progression of the consequences, okay?

The sins, actually, the sins sound less offensive.

Starts off with anger, and then you have this contempt, you this kind of like, hey, I'm insulting this person, and then name-calling, but please notice the progression of the consequence.

It goes from it says judgment.

This is the local magistrate.

Like, you gotta go see the judge, okay?

You got a ticket, you gotta go see the judge.

And then it says the council.

This is a reference to the Sanhedrin, which was 23 religious weasels that you had to go stand before, and they decided your innocence or guilt.

It's like you go to court and you're judged by 23 preachers.

Yeah, who wants that, right?

But then notice the last one.

He says this it goes from judgment to counsel to the hell of fire.

And I just want to say this, okay?

Hell is real.

It's not just a threat, it's an experience, all right?

And we act like hell is not real.

And the reason we act like hell's not real is because nobody goes there.

Have you noticed that?

If you die in America, you automatically go to heaven.

Have you been to a funeral ever in your life where someone stood up and said, Yeah, John was not a believer.

John was a cantankerous, greedy, selfish man, and John uh we should mourn today because John's not gonna be in heaven.

John's gonna be in hell.

And you should be warned by John's life to not be like this man.

So all your friends of his, all your beer drinking, hunting, fishing buddies, you better repent or you're gonna go to hell just like John did.

Can you imagine?

Some of y'all looking at me like breathe, people.

Are you serious?

Yes, yes, I mean, we forfeit the right to even mention hell in our country.

But if I mean somebody dies in a tragedy, well, we all know they're in a better place.

No, they're not unless they knew Jesus.

Just because you died.

In a tragedy, and you don't get a get out of hell free card and get to go to heaven.

You got to stop being so sentimental and be more theological.

You say, What do you mean?

What you'll see is that you get further into the Sermon on the Mount, like next week, we'll see that Jesus uses hell a lot and he says crazy things like, if your hand offends you, cut it off.

Because it's better to go to heaven with one hand than go to hell with two.

If your eye offends you, tear it out and throw it a throw it away.

Why?

Because it's better to go to heaven with one eye than to go to hell with two.

So when I say hell is real and heaven is so glorious that you'd rather get there with one hand and one eye than to go to hell with both, who talks like that?

This is why when I say that it's easier to talk about, oh, you know, the kingdom life, the inward life of the kingdom.

You're like, what are you talking about?

These people are like, hey, we don't murder.

Come on, dude.

And Jesus is like, hey, if your hand offends you, what does that mean?

If you steal or you keep doing things with your hands that violate the law, Jesus says, hey, you might as well just cut your hand off.

To stop this, what you can't stop.

Now, listen to me.

Am I advocating?

Don't go home and get the table saw.

What I'm advocating for is the reality of hell.

And we've lost a sense of that in our country.

Again, hell is real and heaven is so glorious that Jesus says, not the preacher, Jesus says, hey, heaven is so glorious, you'd rather get there with one eye and one hand than go to hell with both.

And nobody talks like that.

But herein lies the problem.

Nobody talks like that.

Nobody fears hell, and everybody assumes heaven.

And when you read the Bible, it strips you and I of this illusion that, yeah, I'm good.

This is what Jesus meant when he said last week, I didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

Translation, I came to draw out all the implications of the law so you don't erode into this moralistic therapeutic deist who thinks, you know what, God just set the world in motion, he backed up, and we're just all on our own on this big dirt ball here.

It's every man for himself.

And so I'm gonna do my best, and my best is gonna be enough.

No, it's not.

This is why Jesus comes along in the gospel and contends for this inward life of the kingdom.

This is why Jesus calls his disciples to himself, his followers, and says, Hey, let me tell you how this is gonna shake down.

Before you people all sign up and say, I want to be a Christian, this is the way Christians live.

This is the ethos and the ethic of the kingdom.

Here's the second thing I want you to see in the text today.

Reconciliation is inconvenient.

Reconciliation is inconvenient.

Look at verse 23.

He says this.

After he says all his stuff, he says, so, if you remember your brother has something against you, so see, because this is true, okay?

So, because hey, it's not enough to say I don't murder if you're angry with somebody, if you insult people, if you call people names, okay, you're in danger of the hell of fire.

Because of that, or so, if you remember 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.

Uh uh, reconciliation is inconvenient.

Instead of reconciliation, though, we practice assumption.

It sounds like this.

Well, I mean, you know what she's like.

You can't really talk to her.

Or he sounds like this.

Well, I mean, he didn't go to law school, but he's like talking to an attorney.

You can't win an argument with him.

This is not obedient reconciliation.

This is you justifying your preferences based on an assumption.

But let me just say this: if you're one of those people here today, you may even be visiting and just think, man, okay, I'll go to church once because all churches want is money.

That's all Christianity is.

Like I said to me one time, Christianity is just a religious pyramid scheme where those at the top walk away with all the money.

I was like, wow, we got some strong opinions about that.

But if you're one of those people, I want you to listen real closely to what the Bible says here, okay?

Because Jesus teaches, demonstrates, and the church should demonstrate we value reconciliation over all things.

You say, What do you mean?

Look at the look at the verse.

He says, if you're offering your gift at the altar, what does that mean?

The backdrop is that they would go to Jerusalem and they would take an animal.

The gift wasn't money.

The gift back then was an animal.

They would take an animal to the temple, and there was an altar there in the middle of the temple, and they would sacrifice, they'd give to the priest, they would sacrifice this animal to cover their sins.

They went twice, maybe three times a year.

It was a big deal, okay?

And so he says, if you're at the offering your gift at the altar, now think just for a minute.

You're smart people, okay?

Everybody is under this Old Testament law.

And the law says, without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins, and the way they did, they sacrificed animals.

And so they're there, the line is out the door.

It's worse than Chick-fil-A on a Saturday at 11:30, okay?

It's around the building, double drive-through.

I mean, they're just packed.

And this is what Jesus says.

If you're offering your gift at the altar, and here's the second phrase, and there you remember your brothers has something against you.

Hello.

Notice he didn't say, uh, hey, if you've got something against somebody, because we will lie to ourselves and justify anything.

He says, if you remember your brother has something against you, it's not about how you feel about others, it's about how others feel about you.

So let me ask you this question: Does anybody have something against you as you sit here in this room this morning?

Because Jesus says, I know it was a trek, and you guys brought your little animal to sacrifice for your sins.

But if you remember that someone has something against you, this is what he goes on to say: leave your gift there before the altar and go.

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

Here's the inconvenient part.

Here's where the inconvenient part comes in, okay?

Uh, Jesus is talking to people who are from Galilee.

Galilee is 80 miles from Jerusalem.

And here's what Jesus says.

Because Jesus so values reconciliation over all things, right relationship with your fellow man.

You cannot say, I'm good vertically and I'm not good horizontally.

That's not possible.

Oh, me and God are good and you're at odds with multiple people in your life.

That's not biblical Christianity.

He says, hey, you leave your animal there before the altar and you go and be reconciled.

Translation, you give out a line, just tie your little goat up to the side over here, and you walk 80 miles back home, and you reconcile with the person who has something against you.

And then you walk 80 miles back and you make your offering.

Reconciliation is inconvenient, beloved.

Some of you right now, the Holy Spirit is pinging you and going, you know what, you and that person are not okay.

You know it, and I know it.

You know, yeah, but you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

You're telling Jesus, but it's 80 miles.

You know what Jesus is saying?

It's hell.

It ain't 80 miles.

It's not the distance, it's the destiny.

We are a distance measuring people.

Are you kidding me?

I mean, you want me to go, you want me to call her, you want me to call him?

I didn't do anything, he.

Yeah.

It's not the distance, it's the destiny.

By the way, we no longer offer animal sacrifices for our sin because Jesus sacrificed himself once for all.

And the once for all sacrifice for Jesus was enough.

Here's the good news.

Here's the gospel for you.

If you're here and you're like, man, I'm not into this.

I don't understand much of this, but here's what I want you to understand today.

The reason we don't still offer animals to cover our sin is because Jesus offered himself on the cross, and his offering of himself was enough, not just to cover your sin, but to take sin away.

And so there's nothing you've any of you done in this room that is so big and so bad that God cannot forgive it, okay?

So don't live in that lie any longer.

That's the good news for you.

Now, here I want to bring us down to where we live.

We we bring a different gift today.

We don't bring animals because Jesus has sacrificed.

And so we bring a tithe and an offering, and we just say to God, not out of duty or obligation, but out of understanding, hey, everything, the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof.

I give back.

I'm so glad.

This is why the Bible says I love a cheerful giver.

But see, here's the problem in America.

We have rich churches and unreconciled people.

And the kingdom says, Hell, we'd rather have reconciled people.

So as your pastor, listen very carefully.

I'm fixing to blow the curve for some of you that think, oh, all churches want is money.

If you're sitting in this room today, if you're in the back back there in the theater seats or down here on the floor, and you know somebody's got something, it's again, it's not about you.

The Bible doesn't allow you to be so damningly self-centered.

It says, hey, does anybody have something against you?

You leave your gift.

So I'm telling you, don't give an offering today.

Keep it.

And some of you are like, Amen.

Go be reconciled.

We're not a rich church.

But there's too many rich churches.

When I say rich, you know what I mean?

Say amen.

There's too many rich churches and unreconciled Christians.

And biblical Christianity is, hey, God says, I'd rather my people be reconciled.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity and harmony and love.

I'd rather my people be reconciled than the church be rich.

And I'm on that page today.

I'd rather you be reconciled.

So before you leave here today, ask yourself, hey, is there anybody that I know has something against me?

Maybe I've insulted them, maybe I've called them names, maybe I've been angry, I've harbored bitterness in my heart towards them.

Here's the third thing the Bible teaches us about this inward life of the kingdom.

Integrated people can agree quickly.

It's verse 25 and 26.

Look at it.

He says, come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, to the judge, to the guard, and you be put in prison.

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

When I say integrated people, they can agree quickly.

Here's why.

Because it's not about winning or losing, it's about the ability to acknowledge the truth.

This is now, this is earlier talking about between believers, Christian to Christian, this is now somebody not in the community of faith.

Nowadays it would be like if you were involved in a lawsuit because of your business or at work.

And you're guilty, by the way.

That's why he says, come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court.

All the way to court.

You don't want this to get to court.

You want to agree with them quickly, okay?

Now, I often ask people in marriage counseling, their spouse will, I say, why you here?

And their spouse will say something, and I'll turn to that person and say, Of all that your wife just said, what can you agree with?

And they look at me like, what do you mean what can I agree with?

And I get it from you.

The Bible says, agree with your accuser quickly.

Now, if we can't just agree that the things are the truth, you're not going to make progress.

And sometimes I go as far as to say, hey, uh here's your homework.

I want you to go home individually.

Wife, husband, I want you to write down all the ways, sir, that you have contributed to the state of your marriage.

Make a list.

Here's all the things I've done to get my marriage to where it is.

And then when you make that list, I want you to hand it to your wife and say, here's all the things I'm aware of.

Is there anything you'd add to the list?

Yes.

Yes.

Why?

Because you're not going to make progress.

You're not going to experience relational momentum unless you can agree with your adversary quickly.

You come to terms quickly with your accuser.

The next time, if you got somebody that you're on the outs with, make a list before you go to them.

And then call them, ask them to lunch and say, Hey, by the way, how many email you a list of things I think I've done wrong in this relationship?

If there's anything that I forgot, would you please add it and bring this list to lunch?

I wish y'all could see your faces right now.

Y'all look like you walked out of Walmart and forgot where you park.

You're like, it's a green minivan.

No, we trade that in.

It's a white Honda.

Okay, white Honda.

Yes.

Yeah.

This is what it means to agree with your accuser quickly.

You're not defensive.

You know why?

Because you're not self-righteous.

You don't keep score.

You celebrate when you're wrong, like, oh, you know what?

I forgot that one.

Thank you so much.

Would you like to be sitting next to somebody in a restaurant at a table where they're having this reconciliation lunch?

And two men, and one of them says, Oh my gosh, Bill, I so forgot.

I've done that so long, I just don't even think it's sin anymore.

Thank you for pointing that out.

Wouldn't you be like Harry Matt Sally?

Like, I'll have whatever they're having.

I'm tired of being defensive, lying person.

Integrated people can agree quickly.

People that are not integrated, if you're compartmentalized, you know, my Jesus box is over here, and I open that on Sunday, and then I close it.

11 30.

I'm out the door.

But if you're integrated, you can agree quickly.

Okay?

And now again, this is referring to a relationship with the unbeliever.

It's like a business, they'll gone bad, they're headed to court.

Hear this.

Jesus says, you better work this out before you end up in jail, and you can't work to make money to pay the person back.

Hear verse 26, and we're done.

You still with me?

Jesus doesn't let us up all the way to the end.

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

What Jesus is saying is that you can do something about this right now, but if you wait, there will come a time you cannot do anything about your situation.

If you wait, some of you are in situations right now.

If you just keep dragging your feet and waiting, you're being disobedient, there will come a time.

This is not a threat, it's a promise.

There will come a time where you can't do anything about it.

Why?

Because you've been put in prison.

You can't earn a living to make money to pay back.

Here's why.

Because you couldn't agree with your accuser quickly.

You couldn't acknowledge the truth.

You had to win.

You're lawyered up.

I tell you what, by God, I'm gonna drag this out in court.

I'm gonna bankrupt you.

Why?

Because you couldn't be wrong.

Are you that self-righteous?

You couldn't go to a reconciliation lunch and say, Oh man, here's all the things.

Here's my list.

And thank you for adding 12 more.

By the way, I asked a couple recently, and the woman said, I got 27 things on my list.

And I said, I'm so proud of you.

I am so proud of you and your self-awareness.

Integrated people can agree quickly.

Here's why, we're done.

It's not about winning and losing, it's about acknowledgement, understanding, and integration.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We'd like to teach the Bible, then we give you some space to think about it.

Some questions come on the screen.

Those are for our consideration.

Our community groups meet tonight.

We'll talk about these in homes, over finger sandwiches, just like Jesus intended.

Don't try to write them down.

You can take a picture.

Let's just take a minute right now, just to be still and ask the Lord, hey, what have my name on it?

Because the Bible makes you think.

When it's properly taught, it's not it doesn't give you a gushy feeling you try to maintain all the way to the parking lot.

It so provokes you you can't stop thinking about it on Thursday.

Let's give ourselves the opportunity to be provoked by the Holy Spirit right now.

Jesus, the comforting thing about you today is that you're merciful.

You don't rub our nose in it, you don't hold us under the water till the bubbles stop.

You just say, hey, psst.

And if the psst doesn't get our attention, then you'll you'll turn the volume up.

But you're not gonna leave us alone because we are your people and you are our God.

And because of that, we're required to live out this kingdom ethic of reconciliation.

It's not going through life going, Oh, I'm good, I'm good.

I like being angry because it makes me feel like I'm in control.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

That's why you said, Hey, if you if you're there, you remember somebody has something against you.

So, Lord, I pray for phone calls to be made this week, emails to be sent, lunches to be scheduled, breakfasts to be scheduled, reconciliation, dinners to be planned.

Because we just want to be kingdom people, that's why.

We're not a bunch of filchy, moralizing legalists.

We just we just want to live in the kingdom, and we don't want to go to hell when we die.

We don't want to be a radish our whole life on the outside looking one way, but on the inside being totally different, and we know it.

So, Holy Spirit, thank you for the gift of the word today.

We're humbled and grateful, so we say thank you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen, amen, amen.

Thank you for listening to this message.

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