The Sermon on the Mount - Redefining Anger Matthew 5:21-26 Pastor Daniel Reese

Good morning. You have your Bibles. Matthew 5 is where we'll be. We are in week four of

our series on going through the Sermon on the Mount. By the time we are done with this

series we will have looked at every one of Jesus's words to his disciples in the Sermon.

This is the first time that we know of that he is spending some quality time with those

who have chosen to follow him by teaching them why he came. Now this message would have

been offensive to them. I want you to imagine being a young Jewish boy and you have been

taught your whole life how to live your life in a way that honors God. You've been to temple

many times. You've celebrated Passover. You've observed the Sabbath. You've been told what

to expect when the Messiah comes. You've been told he's going to overthrow the government.

He's going to wipe out all of your enemies. The Jewish state will be elevated above all

others once again. Your entire life, this is what you know to be true. This is what

has been indoctrinated into you. Then Jesus shows up and there's some hope that this might

be the Messiah but they didn't know yet for sure. He begins telling them that their rabbi

and their parents have been teaching the things of God incorrectly. Their entire identity

as good Jewish boys is about to be rocked. In this chapter Jesus begins by telling those

who are listening that God will bless those who do certain things and have certain attitudes.

For example, he says that God will bless those who are gentle and merciful. God will bless

those whose hearts are pure and he will bless those who are persecuted for how they live

for God. He goes on to tell them that they are the salt of the earth, that they are the

light of the world. He's not speaking to large crowds of curious people here. He is teaching

his disciples the ones that have chosen to follow him. While his rules appear to be a

little different from those who were commonly practiced or understood, Jesus assured his

disciples that he'd not come to abolish the law but he came to fulfill the law. As we

see here in a minute, God holds his followers to a higher standard. When we begin a relationship

with him, when we become a part of his family, he raises the bar of how we are supposed to

act and he raises the bar of how we are to behave. So that's our text this morning. I'm

going to invite Tabitha up here to read our text out of Matthew 5 this morning. She's

going to read verses 21 through 26. Now, today's a special day. Tabitha is nine years old today.

And a couple weeks ago, now you have to know Tabitha to appreciate this, but a couple weeks

ago she came up to me and told me that February 9th is her birthday. She's reading the passage.

February 2nd is her birthday and she is reading the passage on her birthday. She didn't ask

if she could. She said, I'm reading the passage on my birthday. And so she's going to read

our passage this morning. Am I supposed to remind them what I said earlier? Okay. She's

accepting gifts for her birthday. If you feel so inclined, one dollar bills, five dollar

bills, like if you feel so inclined, this is this girl's birthday. Let's make her day

special. Can we do that? If you're able, we'd love for you to stand and honor the Lord's

word as she starts in verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall

not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone

who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will

be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and they 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 the gift. Come to terms quickly and the accuser will

while you are going with him to the court. Let's your accuser hand you over to the judge

and the judge to the guard and you will and you put in prison. Truly I say to you, you

will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Amen. Good job. That's pretty

father. We thank you for Tabitha. We thank you for her life and another year and we pray

God that you just bless her abundantly. You walk with her all the days of her life. We

thank you for your word. I pray father that as we look at this text that you will soften

our hearts to it, that you will open our eyes to the intention of it and I pray father that

you will change us. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. She's going to make

a fortune today. So Jesus begins verse 21 by quoting Exodus chapter 20 verse 13 that

Exodus 20:13

says, do not murder, which we know of as part of the Ten Commandments. The Lord had given

the instructions to Moses and he had passed them on to the people. But there are a lot

of people who do everything possible to live within the letter of the law while the whole

time they are really living against the very principle behind the law itself. So Jesus

is acknowledging the law which is good but now he's about to tell the disciples that

everything they had heard in temple wasn't complete. He's going to show that all the

righteousness of the Pharisees and all the righteousness of the scribes isn't enough.

So he gets to verse 22 and he says, but I say. What he is telling the disciples in that

moment is that the religious leaders had a wrong interpretation of the law. We must keep

in mind that Jesus was not setting his teaching against the Old Testament. Instead he was

referring to the faulty interpretation that the scribes and Pharisees had given to it.

Had Jesus been contradicting the Old Testament, he would have been contradicting the very

text and words that he had authored. In ancient times people did not have multiple copies

of the Bible like we do today. They weren't able to pull it up on their phones. They didn't

have a variety of them with different Bible covers and colors and things like that laying

around the house. Their understanding of the Scripture, it was primarily gleaned from what

they had heard the scribes and the Pharisees teach and what they saw in their lives and

how they practiced it. They relied heavily upon these men to read and interpret the law

of God. The problem with this system was that the religious leaders did not always expound

the exact meaning of the text. And as we said last week, when Jesus is referring to the

law, he's referring to the entire Old Testament. When the Jews refer to the law, they're referring

to the Old Testament, but they're also including the Mishnah and the Talmud, which were commentary

on what the law meant to them. And they filled in the places where they felt like the law

wasn't sufficiently explained. The Jewish leaders only observed the law outwardly. They

had deduced the Sixth Commandment of do not murder to the mere act of one person taking

another person's life. So in their mind, as long as they didn't kill anybody, they were

good. They were obeying the law. They had no trouble sleeping at night because even

though they might have wanted to, they made it another day without taking a life, something

to be celebrated. Have you ever struggled with the rules before? The disciples knew

the law itself, and they knew how to live by the letter of the law. The same is true

for us. We know that killing someone is wrong, and most of us, hopefully all of us, would

never do that. But sometimes when it comes to rules, we tend to push the limits and see

just how much we can get away with. Just how much we can push the boundaries without actually

breaking the law. But the reality is that while others may judge us for our outward actions,

God will judge what's in our heart. The Bible is clear that while man looks at the outward

appearance, God looks at our heart. Jesus is explaining to the disciples here in Matthew

chapter five that there's really more behind the heart of the law besides just not killing

someone. While that might be the law that the world must follow, as followers of Christ,

we are again held to a higher standard, a different standard. Jesus says that this goes

way beyond murder. The intention behind this law goes way beyond murder. He texted a step

further and says that if you were angry with someone, you were subject to judgment also.

You don't even have to kill someone, but you're just as guilty. I want you to stop for a minute

and consider something when it comes to murder. Hardly anyone kills another person who wasn't

angry first. I don't think you're just having a great day and everything's good and you

decide to go kill somebody. Sometimes people get killed over some stupid stuff. Some of

you might remember several years ago, a pastor in Tennessee, he was killed by his wife with

a shotgun over an argument about money. I have this list in my office and I keep track

of every time I read about a pastor that's killed by a family member just so I can keep

an eye on him. You never know what's going to happen. A few years ago, a man in New

Zealand was killed over a game of scrabble. Two of his friends disagreed with him over

how a word was to be spelled, so they beat him with a bat and stabbed him in the back.

Anyone that's ever played a game of scrabble or any types of games with a family member,

like you understand how they got there. Uno can destroy a family pretty quickly, but we

look back and we're like, that's a stupid reason to kill somebody. According to the

law, you can't kill someone, but according to the standards of Jesus, you can't be angry

with someone. The Pharisees didn't murder anyone, but in their heart there was anger,

and we can for sure see this in the life of Jesus. They did not like him. They were always

trying to come up with schemes to try and trap him in something. This eventually led

them to pleading with the Romans to have him crucified. The Romans didn't want anything

to do with it, but the Jews were angry. So they only observed the law outwardly, but

they also neglected the law inwardly. In essence, Jesus is saying, I know what you've

heard and I know how you've been taught, but I'm telling you that the command not to

kill goes further than the physical act of murdering somebody. It deals with the matter

of hearts as well. In a 1994 article that was titled, Wars Lethal Leftovers Threaten

Europeans, the author wrote, the bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe.

They turn up and sometimes blow up at construction sites in fishing nets or on beaches 50 years

after the guns fell silent. Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France

alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing 12 people and wounding

11. Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time. With the corrosion inside the weapons

become more unstable and the detonator can be exposed. May I suggest to you, when it

comes to anger, that what is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. If

you bury anger, it will explode when you least expect it. What Jesus says in verse 22 is

that to be unjustly angry at someone is as evil as actually murdering that person. That

is the heart of the law that God gave to Moses. It wasn't because Cain killed Abel and God

was trying to correct something. It wasn't because Moses had killed an Egyptian and God

all of a sudden was like, we're going to see an epidemic here, we've got to get this under

control. It was because inward obedience to him is just as important as outward obedience.

So what Jesus is giving the disciples is a full and complete explanation of the law and

the heart of the law. In no uncertain terms, Jesus clearly states that to feel enmity in

our hearts towards our brother unjustly is to be as guilty of murder as if we actually

took his life. Now the Bible has a lot to say about anger, which is important because

we all feel anger at times, do we not? But what do we do with it? Again, Jesus didn't

come to abolish the law so that we know anything that was written up and to that point about

anger or any other topic was still relevant then. It's just as relevant today. David says

in Psalm 37, refrain from anger and turn from wrath. It only leads to evil. Solomon says

in Proverbs 14, a quick tempered person does foolish things. He also says in Ecclesiastes

17, anger resides in the lap of fools. Now there's many more examples in the Bible describing

anger as a trait that we shouldn't desire unless you want to be foolish. You should desire

anger if you want to do evil. But on top of all that, Jesus says that those who hold anger

in their heart will be subject to judgment. But he also addresses expressing anger. One

cannot feel anger very long without expressing it. That phrase in your Bible that says insults

his brother is the term raka, which means empty or worthless one. The phrase you fool means

to be dull or stupid. Now there are ways in which people can be destroyed short of the

physical act of murder. How many of us have had our character assassinated because of

words that were said to us or words that were said about us? We might not use the term raka,

but we use words that are just as destructive. Proverbs 18, 21 says that the tongue has the

power of life and death. When you express your anger, do you do it in a way that destroys

someone's character? Does it harm their reputation with others? Now we might not call that person

a fool. We might not call that person worthless, but we have our own little phrases that communicate

our feelings towards others. In Texas, sweet little old ladies would never call somebody

an idiot, but they will say bless your heart. If you've been around people from the south,

you know exactly what that means. There was this lady at our former church that was a

little old school which was not a problem for me, but it was a problem for her because

at times she did not like some of the things that I said, and she did not like some of

the things I did. And she's really sweet, so she's not going to come up to me and look

me in the face and tell me what an idiotic thing I just said or what an idiotic thing

I just did. Instead, she would just walk up to me and say bless your heart, pastor. Now

I know what she meant. She knows what she meant. She just put a little sugar on top

of it. Southerners have perfected the insult. So let's look at some different types of anger

because I think they fall into some basic categories. The first one is our tempers.

Some of us have them and others don't, at least externally. Now I have a temper that

the Lord has done a number on over the years. When I think about my temper in the past,

I think of uncontrolled rage that violates the principle of self-control that we read

about in Galatians chapter 5. A temper is generally displayed when something happens

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

that we don't like, and all of a sudden we erupt like a volcano spewing out all kinds

of destruction in our path, whether it be verbal or physical. When I think about my

life 15 years ago or so, I understand what it means to say that anger leads to foolish

things. How foolish is it that there was a period of time where I lacked such self-control

that I couldn't keep my hand from going through drywall, that I couldn't get myself to calm

down and not feel the need to throw things? It is foolish when my temper flared up. I couldn't

even process things reasonably. I could never once consider an alternative idea to fix the

situation. Now I might not have ever killed someone, but I have sure felt the rage in

my heart that did not honor the Lord one bit. Rage is never acceptable. Regardless of the

situation or circumstance, it is a result of being in the flesh, and when we are living

in our flesh, we are sinning against God. If you struggle with a temper like I did, pray

that God would give you self-control. Pray that He would fill you. I got pretty good

at patching holes in the wall, and that's not a skill that I'm proud of. Anger can also

be seen in resentment. Now, resentment has been called the frozen rage. Resentment says

I'm angry, but I'm not going to tell you or let you see that I'm angry. It leads to bitterness.

It leads to broken relationships. When a person harbors resentment and hatred in their hearts,

they are always going to be poisoning themselves more than they're hurting the other person.

The enemy wants you to walk around with a spirit of resentment towards others, but he

especially wants you to walk around with a spirit of resentment towards those that are

part of the household of faith. He wants to use every tool that he can to divide you and

keep you from experiencing abundant life. Do not let him win. I think sometimes we wait

until the end of the service. We've got to get through the sermon, and then we're going

to make a decision after all this hoopla is done. But there's no need to wait. You can

resolve in your heart right now to let go of resentment. If the Lord is speaking to you

right now, will you decide in your heart to let it go and move forward? Maybe you need

to send a text to someone, schedule a time where you can get together to make things

right, but don't ignore the Lord if he's speaking to you regarding your resentment.

The final category of anger is a righteous anger. We know that Jesus had a righteous

anger. He walked into the temple and he saw how people were making a mockery of it. They

were making money from the things of God. I've heard people use that text as an excuse

to explode in anger. I've heard them say, if Jesus can turn over tables in the temple,

then I can throw things around my house. If Jesus can make a big scene, then I can make

a big scene when my family doesn't do as I expect, that is a complete misunderstanding

of this text. Righteous indignation does not allow for apathy or indifference on the part

of God's people. Sin should make us angry, not necessarily at a person, but at the evil

that is happening around us. There is a way to love the sinner, but hate the sin. I hate

what pornography is doing to our culture. I hate how it's affecting our children. I

hate that it's so easily accessible. I hate that abortion has become a political issue.

I hate that homosexuality and transgenderism is so prevalent in our culture right now,

that our children are having to deal with it. Our children are having to ask the questions,

how do we handle this situation? But we shouldn't hate the people that are struggling with it

because there's sin that I struggle with. Jesus didn't hate the people that were collecting

money in the temple. He hated what they were doing. They were exploiting the worship of

God for their own personal benefit. We need to be angry about the things that anger the

Lord, to righteous anger. Now, once Jesus is done with explaining the heart of the law,

once he is done giving the complete interpretation and reminding the disciples that caring around

anger in their hearts is destructive, he gives them the remedy. He gives them the remedy

in order for their worship to not be hindered. And in verses 23 through 24, he talks about

reconciliation. He shows us that reconciliation should be a priority. Jesus told the disciples

that if they were standing before the altar in the temple, if they were offering a sacrifice

to God, and suddenly they remembered that someone has something against them, that they

were holding anger against them, that there was something wrong against them, he tells

them to leave there immediately and go be reconciled to that person. It's probably going

to be inconvenient, but go reconcile to that person to try and worship God while harboring

anger, while harboring bitterness against one another is futile. God will not accept

such hypocritical worship. Such was the worship of the scribes and the Pharisees. Any outward

service to God, though it looks good to man, though it makes him look like good people,

is an abomination to God if it's done with harboring unconfessed sin in our hearts. The

Lord's instructions are very clear as to what we are to do if we realize that we have offended

a fellow believer. We are to leave what we're doing and make an effort of reconciliation

a priority. We cannot be right with God until we are right with one another. Notice that

we as believers are to take the initiative. We don't wait on them to come to us. We take

the initiative. Maybe God has not put it on their hearts for reconciliation because he

is wanting to do a work in you. We take the initiative. Then in verses 25-26, Jesus says

that there should be an urgency to our reconciliation. No time should be wasted on our part when

it comes to making things right. Every day that's spent at odds with another brother

is a day spent at odds with God. Every day you continue to walk in unforgiveness or bitterness

or anger or resentment. You give the enemy more time to work on you. It gives him more

time for that root of bitterness to grow and blossom inside of you. It would be best for

a man, he says, to settle out of court. Settle on your way to court. Don't wait until you

get before the judge. Settle out of court on your way there. By doing so, he says you're

going to spare yourself a lot of grief. As Jesus is talking about the temple and offering

sacrifices on the altar, what he's really talking about is worship. Now we worship a

little bit differently today. We're not slaughtering animals on the stage. We're not lighting

fires and burning incense that we hope makes it to heaven, but the same principle still

applies. If we come into worship and we show up here on a Sunday morning and there is something

wrong between us and another person, we can't worship God. The songs that we sing, the prayers

that we pray, the offering that we put in the box will not be honoring to God because our

relationship with others isn't right. And therefore our relationship with God is affected.

If we are angry or if it caused someone else to be angry at us, we can clearly not worship

God as he intended. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4, he says, get rid of all bitterness,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

rage, anger, harsh words and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead,

be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has

forgiven you. Forgiveness is not possible by our own strength. Forgiveness was made

possible through the cross of Christ. That's why we're supposed to forgive others. That's

how we're supposed to give others because Christ has forgiven us. It's clear that Jesus

wants our hearts to be pure. It's clear that He wants our actions to be pure. He deserves

our worship, not just an outward religion. He deserves to be worshiped. And sometimes

we tend to look at things and react to things on the surface. But over the next several

weeks we're going to continue dealing with some other issues that Jesus goes a little

deeper on. If you have chosen to be a follower of Christ, you have chosen to give up your

life and follow Christ. It's like a life swap. You are not free to act and behave and think

as you choose anymore because you've chosen to let Christ be the Lord of your life. You've

chosen to let Him be in control. So I want to say just take a few minutes now. Let's

reflect on how things in your life are in regards to anger and resentment and bitterness.

As you reflect on those things, it's possible that you'll find that you're not giving the

Lord control that you're still in control of a lot more than you should be. Why not give

Christ control today? Why not surrender everything to Him and live the life that He intended for

you to live today? We're about to take communion. We're about to take communion and remember

and celebrate the forgiveness that we've been given in Christ. I don't know how you walked

in here this morning. I don't know if you're maybe in a season where you feel spiritually

dry. I feel the Lord is distant. I feel like He's not speaking to you. My assumption would

be that you are walking in some unconfessed sin, that you are harboring some sort of anger

in your heart toward somebody else and your worship has been hindered. So my encouragement

to you this morning is let's deal with it. Let's handle it. If you need to leave right

now to go make peace with somebody, I'd encourage you to just get up and leave. But worship,

we come into worship God, we need to be in right relationship with one another. Because

when our worship is hindered, we tend to make it all about us and not about Him. We tend

to really be focused on our preferences and what we want and how we want to worship instead

of just realizing it's not about us at all. We get a worship to God that saved us and

forgave us and redeemed us. So we're going to take communion together. I'm going to

invite Matthew and David up here. Matthew is going to sing a song over us as we take communion.

I'm going to invite the elders and the deacons to come forward and get ready to pass these.