Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
Holiness and a more joyful Walk With Jesus Christ so let’s pray as we prepare to hear God’s word speak to the first of these topics particularly relevant considering our current events let’s pray God I pray that you would speak to us now Lord that you’d open my mouth that you’d open our eyes to this word and Lord that we would be appropriately confronted where evil still exists in our own hearts and Lord that we would be moved to Humble Contrition true repentance and turning and a commitment Lord to regard others the way that you would have us do be pleased to work and build up your church today Lord God amen amen something that never ceases to amaze me is the constant presence in our media of murder truly if there’s one crime that continues to outrage terrify yet Fascinate all of mankind it is murder murder regularly makes our news headlines whether it’s simple murder mass murder or self- murder suicide of course the big news this weekend is that someone attempted to murder our former president but it’s not just the news murder is also the frequent subject of our literature and entertainment though fictional murder stories like who done it Mysteries they have been possible or they have been popular for centuries I was just reading yesterday that the true crime genre so books podcasts TV shows telling the stories of real crimes especially murder they have exploded in popularity in the last 15 years people are interested people want to hear about True Crimes even true murders why is this why is it that murder or what is it about murder that so easily grabs our attention and stirs up our horror I’m sure there’s more than one answer to that but surely a main part of the answer is that it just comes down to how God made us according to Genesis 1 God created man in God’s image therefore no matter whether we believe in God or not no matter whether we believe the Bible or not something in US cannot help but cry out against murder as such a heinous wrong to unlawfully end the life of a fellow human being to destroy a person who is fundamentally like us who thinks who feels who desires who worships to snatch from someone not merely his possessions or his dignity but his very life breath this is obviously a Despicable evil worthy of the greatest condemnation and Punishment now since murder is so terrible how is it that anyone can bring himself to actually commit murder Society asks this question every time there is a new murder and I’m sure they’re asking it about this shooter what drove the person to do this horrible Act was it money was it drugs was it romance was it some cause did this come from his genetics was this a result of his upbringing or maybe it’s the inevitable result of living in an oppressive system we might conclude about murderers that they are just especially depraved people we may even spiritually compare ourselves to murders murderers and thus feel a little bit reassured I may struggle with some different sins yeah I don’t get along with people but I don’t commit murder I’ve never committed murder we may shudder at the thought of murder or thank God that we are not murderers and don’t know any murderers but are we in fact free from the sin of murder can we accurately say that we have kept God’s command God’s famous command you shall not murder the shocking answer from God’s word is no we we are not free from the sin of murder for if you have ever been angry if you’ve ever spoken an irritated word to someone or even just harbored ill will against another person just for a moment then you have not perfectly kept God’s command not to murder and you stand just as guilty and condemned before God as an actual murderer does how can this be and if mere anger really is tantamount to murder what hope is there for any of us let’s let our God himself explain and answer please take take your Bibles and open to the gospel of Matthew first book of the New Testament we’re going to be looking at Matthew Chapter 5 today verses 21- 26 the title of my message is anger a capital crime anger a capital crime as I said Matthew 5: 21-26 but before we look at that passage let me tell you a little bit about the context in Matthew chapters 5-7 the Lord Jesus Christ is giving his great Sermon on the Mount in the sermon Jesus contrasts true righteousness and false righteousness that is the kind of living that is characteristic of those who will enter the kingdom of God and the kind of living of those who only think they will enter the kingdom of God the contrast that Jesus presents is fundamentally accomplished by analyzing the teaching and behavior of a certain group of Jews known at that time as the scribes and Pharisees notice what Jesus says in Matthew 5:20 we heard this earlier in our scripture reading Matthew 5:20 Jesus says for I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven most Jews at this time would have considered the scribes and Pharisees to be true experts on the law of God and the holiest of people but starting at verse 21 Jesus presents a series of contrasts between what the scribes and Pharisees taught on different topics and what God actually requires of his people and the first topic that Jesus addresses in this way is murder which is our text so let’s now read Jesus words regarding true righteousness and murder in Matthew 5: 21-26 you have heard that the Ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court and now whoever says to his brother you good for nothing will be guilty before shall be guilty before The Supreme Court and whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering there before the Altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer and you be thrown into prison truly I say to you you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last scent we’re going to organize our approach to this passage under one central question and that is how does the truly righteous person act in regard to murder this is the question Jesus wants us to think about how does the truly righteous person act in regard to murder Jesus prompts this question but Jesus also answers this question in two parts uh we’re going to look at each one of those the first part of Jesus answer appears in verses 21 to 22 and that is number one when it comes to murder the truly righteous person recoils even from damning anger he recoils even from damning anger let’s see this look at verse 21 again you have heard that the Ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court Jesus begins by reminding his listeners of the teaching that they had received from the scribes and Pharisees when it comes to murder the scribes and Pharisees had taught the Jews about how the ancient Israelites were given two Rules by the great prophet Moses they are you shall not commit murder which comes straight from the Ten Commandments Exodus 2013 and murderers are liable to judgment via human courts that is execution it will be put to death by a court now this latter rule is a summary of Old Testament commands rather than a quotation but the concept of capital punishment by human Courts for murder it first appears in Genesis 9:6 this is right after the flood When God says to Noah whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed for in the image of God he made man it’s Genesis 9:6 several other Old Testament texts similarly prescribe death for murderers through human courts Exodus 2112-1 14 Leviticus 24:17 Numbers 35 30-31 so now if the scribes and Pharisees are only teaching what the Bible says about murder what’s the problem why did Jesus bring this up well the problem is what the scribes and Pharisees have left out they thought like many people still do today that merely refraining from outright killing is keeping God’s command about murder but Jesus clarifies that God’s standard is much holier than that look now at verse 22 but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court and whoever says to his brother you good for nothing shall be guilty before The Supreme Court and whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell this is an extremely startling statement from Jesus and for several reasons first there’s the strong assertion of Jesus own authority he says but I say to you I myself Jesus as the Son of God he asserts plainly it doesn’t matter what others have said I have the authoritative interpretation of God’s law and I’m declaring it to you now second there’s the universal nature of Jesus statement notice that Jesus refers to everyone without qualification or exception not some people people in a certain situation everyone and then the anger too is unqualified everyone who is angry the text says this means that what Jesus is about to say regarding anger applies to anger in general whether it’s concealed anger or expressed anger whether it’s violent or nonviolent whether it’s cold or it’s hot everyone who is angry Jesus says but someone might ask at this point oh is Jesus condeming condemning all anger without exception well the Bible reveals that there is such a concept as righteous anger this is anger on God’s behalf anger that is concerned with God’s glory and with others not the self concerned with God’s glory and others being treated rightly as God commands this is righteous anger God displays this kind of anger all throughout the Bible Jesus also displays this type of anger at times but this is not typical human anger typical human anger is unrighteous anger so typical that James can say in james: 120 James 1 120 the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God now no qualification there it just says this is human anger the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God you see man’s anger that is that active whole person response of judgment against perceived evil man’s anger is usually born from pride and selfishness it’s an expression of the following I’m not getting what I want I’m not getting what I need I’m not getting what I deserve therefore I’m angry you see God created man with a sense of justice and God created man with the the capacity for anger our anger was meant to assist us in recognizing Injustice and motivating us to set those situations right for God’s sake anger is meant to be a good thing for us but the corruption of man’s heart by sin is such that both man’s sense of justice and his anger is Twisted to serve the self we forget as people we forget that a Psalm 103 says God actually treats us better than we deserve even when we’re facing troubles we also forget that for those in Christ God works all difficulties and even the mistreatment of others for our good and for his glory forgetting these things we instead find fault with others and even find fault with God and feel justified in being angry this is the kind of anger that Jesus is referring to in Matthew 5:22 continuing on notice Jesus says to whom the anger is directed anyone who is angry or everyone who is angry with his brother now brother is a common term in the New Testament referring first to fellow Disciples of Jesus but this term extends ultimately to the entire Brotherhood of mankind this isn’t just a fellow Christian this can be anyone so then in verse 22 Jesus is indeed talking about Universal anger that typical selfish anger that all people feel towards others and we have felt that kind of anger too haven’t we we have participated in it so Jesus statement thus far it startles in his asserted Authority it startles in a universal application about what he’s saying but also thirdly and most importantly Jesus statement is startling because of Jesus equation of anger with murder in verse 22 Jesus presents three seemingly slight offenses and then announces their penalties on the offenses side we have merely being angry we have calling someone a good for nothing which is from the Aramaic raaka roughly equivalent to Modern expressions like dummy stupid fool says you call somebody something like that or then there’s the third one there’s calling someone a fool you say I thought that’s the same thing as raqa no this is the Greek term now this is the Greek moras from which we get [ __ ] so if you’re merely angry you call someone a dummy you call someone a [ __ ] this is what Jesus is talking about now these don’t seem like great offenses in fact they’re all pretty equivalent to each other it’s not like oh man calling someone a [ __ ] that’s so much worse than calling them a dummy they’re kind of all about the same yet notice what Jesus says the appropriate penalties are of each of these sighted defenses for getting angry at someone judgment by the court that is Judgment that is the same in the court as for murder which is what execution for calling someone a raqa judgment by the Supreme Court that probably refers to Capital Punishment administered by the Sanhedrin itself the governing body of Juda and for calling someone a moros Jesus says the appropriate penalty is eternal death and Hell Fire in other words it doesn’t matter which court you show up in for the slightest bit of sinful anger for the smallest word spoken in Anger Jesus says the penalty is the same as for murder death even Everlasting torment by the way the word for hell here is the common one used in the New Testament it’s gehenna gehenna is a reference to the valley of hen which is just Southwest of Jerusalem the valley was once used as a site of human sacrifice to a false god but the righteous king of Judah Josiah he ended that practice during his Reign and desecrated and cursed the site according to 2 Kings 23:10 now reportedly the valley of hinam also could be called gehenna it later became a garbage dump for Jerusalem where Refuge was continually dropped off and burned now whether that tradition is true or not gehenna certainly became a common metaphor for the place of Eternal judgment all that is detestable before God will one day be thrown into the fire of gehenna or Hell to be forever burned but not totally consumed and who does Jesus say has earned a spot in this Hell Fire the one who’s merely angry with his brother or calls him a name at this point you might say but wait the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime I mean why should anger or mere words be judged as murder besides isn’t Jesus pulling a fast one here the Old Testament law never said anything about anger being equal to murder didn’t it or did it actually we can see the connection between anger and murder without too much trouble it’s made very explicit in another passage of the New Testament 1 John 3:15 1 John 315 John writes everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him but it’s not just the New Testament the connection between anger and murder is right there even in the Ten Commandments for what is the tenth commandment according to Exodus 2017 you shall not covet and where does coveting or sinful Desiring take place in the heart it’s secet nobody sees it so then are the Ten Commandments were they originally meant by God to be only external or both internal and external it’s both isn’t it see the great mistake of the scribes and Pharisees and this is the mistake that all self-righteous people make today is that they think that God’s commands are only to be obeyed on the outside but the 10th commandment reveals that all of God’s Commandments have a heart element as well and they always have Jesus is not changing the rules he’s not adding to the Old Testament he’s just explaining what was already there but what was hidden and ignored by those are trying trying to justify themselves before God consider these two other Old Testament verses 1st Samuel 16:7 second part of it 1st Samuel 16:7 for God sees not as a man sees for man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord that is Yahweh looks at the heart and then Leviticus 19 Leviticus 19 17- 18 God commands you shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart you may surely reprove your neighbor but shall not inurse sin because of him you shall not take Vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself I am am Yahweh why is anger equivalent to murder in God’s eyes and therefore worthy of murder’s penalty as these texts reveal because anger is murder in the heart anger is murder in the heart everything that murder is on the outside begins with an angry heart the angry heart hypocritically judges another to be Unworthy of life or kindness or love the angry heart thus seeks to harm and even kill another person out of some Twisted sense of self- justice and the only reason that an angry heart does not result in actual murder committed on the outside is due to God’s grace due to God’s restraint on that person’s heart internally or due to the restraints that God puts externally around that person even in the fear of consequences now my friends and Brethren do you see how devastating this truth about anger is for all of us because we have all been angry have we and according to God what does that mean that we are all murderers at heart worthy of the death penalty and even the unceasing fires of God’s Eternal judgment think for yourselves even in recent experiences of anger you saw a person do something that you didn’t want him to do and you felt this angry passion arise in your heart according to God what really happened in your heart in that moment you killed that person you struck that person down in your heart you wished for that person to hurt to suffer even to die in God’s eyes you murdered that person worse you probably let some of that murder from your heart escape this is the thing about the heart does not like to be contained wants to manifest what’s inside and so when you felt that anger when you participated in that anger when you yielded to that anger you spoke an angry word maybe it was a slight insult maybe something so terrible it couldn’t be repeated here in the church maybe you were subtle about it it said something and then you pass it off as a joke maybe you were overt about it you were bold in venomous words maybe you gossiped about a person from afar in secret seeking to afflict inflict wounds without that person knowing or maybe you said that angry word straight to a a person’s face he tried to actually humiliate him in front of everyone there are many ways that we express anger in words but you know what these kinds of words are really are what these kinds of words really are before God they are the knife stabs of a murderer they are the angry bullets of a murderer fired at Point Blank Range sniper rounds fired from afar they are an attempted execution with speech and a holy and righteous God takes note of each one of them of course up to this point I’ve only discussed angry thoughts and angry words but do I need to say anything about actual violence committed towards another person or their property if God is ready to judge with hell one who is merely angry in his heart at another person how do you think God feels about one who raises his hand to harm another my friends we plainly have not kept God’s command to refrain from murder in fact we have committed murder again and again with our hearts and with our words spiritually we are serial killers Mass murderers total villains therefore we have no place in God’s kingdom only a just Place reserved in Hell forever but here’s where the good news comes in according to the Bible there is hope even for murderers like us this is because Jesus Christ the son of God he came to live to suffer and to die in the place of murderers though he was perfectly righteous and innocent he was executed on the cross as a criminal bearing the full penalty of Hell on behalf of all his people for those in him Jesus drank the last drop of the cup of God’s Wrath so that there is no condemnation left and Jesus gave his own people his perfect righteousness so that they become totally acceptable to God pleasing to God and we know that the father accepted Jesus substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of Sinners because after Jesus died what happened he rose from the dead 3 days later and he later ascended to his father’s right hand what does all that mean for us who are hearing this word today it means that there is pardon available for all those who will come to Jesus as Jesus commands and what does Jesus command Mark 1:15 the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand therefore repent and believe in the gospel though the Bible Judges you a murderer you can be saved from hell and you can enter God’s kingdom as a precious citizen if you will humble your heart before God you must on the one hand repent you must turn you must change your mind about God your sin and your life you must give up your sin you must give up yourself in your own way you must give up any attempt to make yourself acceptable to God based on your own good works that’s never going to happen your good works are useless and your record is totally corrupt you must turn from your sin yourself your own righteousness and you must instead believe the gospel believe the good news that Jesus really is the Son of God and he’s the only Savior for Sinners believe that his life death and Resurrection are sufficient to cover all of your sins yes even all of your murderers murders and bring you forever into God’s kingdom and believe that Jesus not only has Grace powerful enough to forgive your sins but Grace powerful enough to transform you by his holy spirit to walk in a new way of righteous obedience as you trust in him this is the good news this is the the good news that the bad news drives us toward right Jesus words in Matthew 5: 21-22 they show you they show me that we cannot satisfy God’s standard on our own we’re already so guilty we need God’s mercy and Grace that’s the only way we can be saved and God is so good that he extends that Mercy to all to all who come to him in Humble faith and Trust in his son Jesus Ephesians 2:8 says Ephesians 2:8 for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God by grace through faith in Jesus but Jesus words here are not only meant to drive us to the gospel so that we may be saved these words also show us the kind of life that results from embracing the gospel though no one will ever be perfect even after coming to know Jesus Christ in a saving way it is nonetheless true they’re biblical Christians true Kingdom citizens they will be characterized by exactly what Jesus implies in these words true Christians fundamentally are not murderers anymore not just physically but practically behaviorally verbally and inwardly they are not murderers yes Christians will still fail from time to time you fail I fail but sinful anger is to no longer to characterize Our Lives if you claim to know Jesus Christ yet continue to walk in a pattern of sinful anger a habit of sinful anger something that people can notice around you then God’s spirit is is calling you today to repent you need to repent again not be saved again but repent repent of the pride and the selfishness that malign God and Mur murders others because you don’t think you’re getting what you need or deserve repent of the heart idolatry which worships something else instead of God something that you feel you need more than God or just as much as God repent of the excuses that that you give justifying your anger or you blame others or you blame your difficult circumstances turn from all those things humble yourself again by realizing God gives you far better than you deserve and take hold by faith that God himself is always enough for you he always perfectly provides for you according to his love and wisdom in each situation including those in which you are being mistreated that was no acent that you encountered that God intends to glorify himself in that situation as he refines you and then testifies of his Supernatural Grace to others when you respond by suffering righteously instead of self-centered anger now these are already wondrous and very practical truths that we’ve heard from Jesus but there there’s more we’ve seen number one that the truly righteous person he recoils even from damning anger and say it’s not good enough that I’m merely not killing on the outside I want to make sure before the Lord with his help I’m not killing on the inside but something else the righteous person does when it comes to murder we see in verses 23 to 26 and that’s this number two the truly righteous person hurries to reconcile with anyone he has offended he hurries to reconcile with anyone he has offended now this happens in two ways Jesus presents the first is 2A before worship he hurries to reconcile with anyone he’s offended before he goes to worship God and this is what we see in verses 23 and 24 therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar and they remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering there before the Altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering Jesus now presents an illustration of what walking according to the previously expressed principle about anger and murder looks like in the truly righteous person notice the phrase here your brother has something against you what does this mean in Context this phrase refers primarily to a hurt that you have inflicted on someone else by your anger but the language can include instances where your brother is offended and you’re pretty sure you did nothing wrong Jesus says if that’s the situation and a truly righteous person goes to worship god with a sacrifice and he suddenly remembers that he has an offended brother what does that truly righteous person do he halts his sacrifice he goes to make reconciliation with his brother brother and then he comes back to worship god with a clear conscience I don’t know about you that might seem over the top but Jesus is making a point notice how radical a commitment to reconciliation Jesus expects of his Kingdom citizens Jesus says even if you’re right there at the alar what altar now no specific context is given here regarding this worship offering situation but Jesus is at this point speaking to crowds in Galilee crowds of Jews who are quite familiar with traveling to Jerusalem to worship by sacrifice now normally that Journey was about 80 miles south and it took three days even after one arrived in Jerusalem one probably had to wait in a long line of worshippers at the temple to be able to present an offering you may have had to wait all day but Jesus says it doesn’t matter how far you’ve traveled how long you’ve waited to worship if you remember that you have a broken or strained relationship that you have not tried to reconcile stop everything and go seek peace even if it means traveling all the way back to Galilee but someone will say come on I’m right at the altar can’t I just finish and then go seek reconciliation Jesus says seeking reconciliation immediately is more important why because otherwise the worship is hypocritical after all consider if God has equated anger with murder then will God accept the offerings of a murderer when his crimes still have not been dealt with will God approve the heart that still is treating his brother with contempt God says Unfaithful Israel in Isaiah 115 Isaiah 115 so when you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide my eyes from you yes even though you multiply prayers I will not listen your hands are covered with blood how many of us us have vainly sung prayed or partook in communion while our hands were similarly covered in the blood of murderous anger God has no interest in our prayers or our worship in such cases it is offensive to him so what must we do instead if we find ourselves in that kind of situation exactly as Jesus says here pause your worship go seek reconciliation with your brother worship through obedience must come before worship through liturgy now remember you can’t force reconciliation with a person but you can confess your faults you can repent of your sins you can seek to make things right with the one you have offended As Romans 12:18 says if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men so then when it comes to murder the truly P the truly righteous person hurries to reconcile with anyone he’s offended before worship but there’s something else this is 2b the truly righteous person also hurries to reconcile before judgment before judgment look at how Jesus continues in verses 25 to 26 make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you’re with him on the way so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer and you be thrown into prison truly I say to you you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last scent the situation presented in these final two verses is of a civil lawsuit where someone is looking to collect a debt or monetary damages Jesus commends making friends quickly that is settling out of court that is while you and your opponent are on your way to the courthouse so that you are not inadvertently found guilty in court and thrown into debtor’s prison where you will pay the penalty for every sent that you owe now is this just practical advice or is this something more certainly the Practical element is there and is true Christians should be people who do not need to be taken to court but rather who gladly make things right without painful and costly judicial proceedings this is part of what Paul’s getting at in 1 Corinthians 61 to 7 but these words in verses 25 and 26 they must be about something more than practical legal advice after all the entire context up to this point has been about how God himself will not accept one who holds on the anger and who refuses to reconcile with a brother additionally this same lawsuit analogy is used by Jesus in another place Luke 12 58-59 to urge Israel to reconcile with their God before it is too late therefore I take these final two verses as referring not to human judgment but to Divine judgment Jesus is saying we should make reconciliation quickly with those we have hurt and offended because if we don’t the person we hurt may bring the case against us so to speak before the ultimate judge who is God and God has already established that we are guilty according to verses 21- 22 so if the case gets to him what will be the outcome he will have no choice but to have his attendance throw us into his eternal prison where we will pay the full penalty of our crime and will we be able to work off the debt in God’s prison verse 26 might make you think so if you don’t know how debtor’s prisons work there is virtually no chance of escaping an ancient debtor’s prison that is because your debt only grew while you’re in the prison trying to work it off thus being thrown in a debtor’s prison was like receiving a forever life sentence there was no way out so it will be Jesus says with Those who commit the crimes of murder in their heart and in their words and then refuse to repent showing that they refus ref to repent because they don’t quickly pursue relationships with those that they have hurt they don’t quickly pursue reconciliation such murderers will eventually be brought to trial they will then be condemned and they will be thrown into the prison of hell they will pay there for every monocom of anger they ever felt every biting word they ever spoke but there will be no end to the torturous payment for the dead has no limit the dead has no limit so we can appreciate the counsel of Jesus in verses 25 and 26 can’t we is it not plainly wise to make peace quickly now with God and with others before you are indicted for murder before God is it not better to settle out of court and avoid the great judge’s pronouncement now don’t misunderstand Jesus is not saying by this illustration that if you ever fail to pursue reconciliation in a relationship that you’re automatically damned or that you’ve already lost your salvation but Jesus is making quite clear what is characteristic of the truly righteous of the truly saved true Kingdom citizens are marked by Readiness to pursue do humble reconciliation with whomever they have harmed by anger or even by misunderstanding the truly righteous hurry to do this before God’s judgment or God’s discipline comes they do not say h repent later God’s forgiving God’s understanding that’s not the way the truly righteous thinks so then we’ve heard today a sobering but I hope you also see a liberating word from God when it comes to our anger we started with the question how does the truly righteous person act in regard to murder and we’ve seen the answer from Jesus the truly righteous person does not merely refrain from outward murder he also number one recoils even from damning anger and number two he hurries to reconcile with anyone he has offended before worship and before judgment let us not therefore remain mistaken before God anger is a capital crime and you are guilty of it so then what will you do now how will you proceed God has clarified what the verdict and punishment will be for you if you let the case go too far but there is a way of Escape only one way repentance and faith in Jesus Christ so I urge you I urge you by the kind love and mercies of God to repent and believe today make peace with God and make peace with your fellow man while you have the opportunity Ephesians 4:26 says Ephesians 4:26 do not let the sun go down on your anger now that has practical application in our relationships but start doing that with God first don’t Dole anymore make friends with God now quickly seek reconciliation with God and then show that by seeking reconciliation with your fellow man for then you will not need to fear the Judgment you will not be like what the Proverbs say a murderer is a fugitive until the day of his death you will not have to be a spiritual fugitive before God you won’t have to have the burden of your murders hanging over you you won’t need to fear the Judgment but you instead have peace and you can look forward as one made righteous by God alone and displaying the fruit of God’s work in your heart and a changed life you can look forward to your Everlasting lasting inheritance in God’s coming Kingdom it’s not for murderers but God has changed you from being a murderer so you can be confident I’m going into God’s kingdom you can taste that good inheritance today if you will repent and believe so will you do that will you do that fundamentally if you’ve never done it before and will you do it again if anger has become again a practice in your life a habit in your life this of course is something that we all need to do individually but it’s something we need to help one another do as well that’s why God gave us the church right you may say Pastor Dave if I hear you I totally believe what you’re saying but I struggle with anger and I don’t know how to put it to death I don’t know how to overcome it guess what God has given you an extremely important resource called the church and wants you to take advantage you need your brothers and sisters you need their counsel you need their encouragement you need their account ability if you really want to put anger to death in your life are you taking advantage of that resource because if you’re not how serious are you let us be committed to not only putting to death this murderous sin in our own lives but helping one another and protecting them from it are you willing to say Amen to that follow through on your Amen to the glory of God let’s pray God we are so amazed at the extent of your forgiveness sometimes God we lose sight of what our sin really represents before you but we see it aresh from this simple word from the Lord here in Matthew 5 all our anger all our Angry Words all our bitterness all our outrage all our grudges all our unforgiveness they are murder before you we are countless times showing ourselves condemned as murderers and we just deserve fire but God you have covered all of that you have forgiven all of that you have chosen not to remember a single instance of those things for us for those of us who are in Christ why how could you do such a kind thing well it goes back to your heart but it also goes back to the work of Jesus he suffered in the place of murderers like us so that we will never suffer oh Jesus all our murderers were set on you you bore them you suffered for them you paid for them and it’s all done so there’s no condemnation for us who are in the Lord Jesus amazing amazing God when we think of how many crimes we’ve committed and you have paid them all but God how should we now live how have we how can we who have died to sin with Christ on the cross go back and live in it Lord we say to our shame that even as Believers we have sometimes walk in murderous anger you’ve gone back to the slavery that you freed us from and didn’t benefit us at all it only brought more damage in our lives and dishonor to you so God today I Believe by your word you’re calling us again to repent to get down to the roots of the anger and to uproot it so God I pray that you do that I pray that you do that for this congregation for this set of brothers and sisters not just the older ones Among Us Lord but going down even to the children God I pray that we would repent of the anger and repent of the pride selfishness and commitment to our own ways that is fueling the anger Lord you yourself and whatever you’ve chosen for our lives is all we need we don’t need anything else it’s not worth getting angry over because you you love us and you’ve always purposed to perfectly take care of us and you will never fail so God we will submit ourselves to you and when we are mistreated we will give that over to you as well and say I’m not seeking my own Vengeance God knows he’s promised to take care of it I don’t have to get angry God I pray that that would be true of this entire congregation that anger would not be the sin that characterizes us but rather we would put this sin to death by the power of your spirit and by the promises of your word for those that don’t know you God and still remain condemned as murderers I pray God that you would cause them to repent today this is not something you want to risk the case getting to God while you think about whether you want to believe in Jesus oh no the case is too serious the punishment is too overwhelming it’s time to settle out of court it’s time to repent and believe I pray God any who are dawling that they would Dole no more they’d give everything over to you that they’d repent of their anger believe in Jesus and experience your eternal life in Jesus name amen sing song