WEBVTT 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:14.880 I'm gonna aim for Matthew 5, 21 through 26, Lord willing today. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.039 Matthew 5, 21. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:24.239 You have heard that it was said of to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:35.520 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. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:44.079 So if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.920 First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:56.799 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you're going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge should the guard, and then you be put in prison. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:03.200 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:12.560 Perhaps no sin is used to justify self-righteousness more than the sin of murder. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:22.239 It's very common, at least in my own personal experience in evangelism, for somebody to reject the gospel, to say, hey, that might be true for you, but it's not true for me. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:25.280 You know, I'm not saying Jesus isn't true or the Bible's not true. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:28.319 I'm just saying I don't need a savior like that. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.120 And, you know, often in evangelism I might ask the person, well, what's going to happen to you when you die? 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:40.799 And the person says, you know, if there is a heaven, God will let me in, you know, and I'm thinking the God that you kind of believe in might kind of let you into heaven. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:41.359 Okay. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.040 Why? 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.120 On what basis should God let you into heaven? 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:49.760 And people will often say, especially Americans, will often say, Because I'm a good person. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:57.760 And I can't help but follow up to that kind of statement with a question, what makes you a good person? 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:00.159 It's a very hard question to answer. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.319 Because oftentimes if people answer it, they will put themselves under the authority of the Bible. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:08.240 They'll say, I'm a good person because I don't do these kind of sins that the Bible teaches. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:13.039 But notice, even in that answer, you're recognizing the authority of the Bible and submitting to it. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:14.639 So that's a problematic answer. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.120 I mean, I don't think most people are that thoughtful about it. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:21.360 Most people don't really think about what's going to happen to them when they die, strangely enough. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:28.560 So an answer that's very, very common is people will say, I'm a good person, because it's not like I'm, you know, one of those evil wicked people. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.039 After all, I've never killed anyone. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.080 I'm not a murderer. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:41.280 So murder is kind of recognized as like the out their sin, like the extreme, the worst of the worst. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:48.400 And then people justify their own conduct in life because they haven't done that. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:55.919 They haven't reached so high to depravity to actually kill someone, therefore they are okay with God. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.439 Jesus is exposing that kind of self-righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.319 He's going after the heart of self-righteousness. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.680 And he is going to unpack and show how self-righteousness has no standing before God. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.400 So that's really how the Sermon on the Mount is functioning. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:18.319 If you're going to pursue justification, righteousness with God by your own righteousness. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:29.599 If you think that you are going to get to heaven when you die because of how you live, the Sermon on the Mount is meant to combat that and tear you down and expose to you that you, if you live like that, you're not going to heaven. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.879 If you live like that, you stand condemned by God as a sinner. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:42.479 The only hope for going to heaven is a justification, a righteousness that's outside of you, that depends on somebody else's life, not your own. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:48.879 And again, people close their hearts to that, very frequently close their hearts to that and say, I don't need an alien righteousness. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.680 I don't need a righteousness from outside of me because I've got my own thank you very much. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:54.960 I don't kill people. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.000 I'm like one of those wicked people on death row. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.479 No, I'm I'm okay, and God knows that there are people worse than me. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:11.039 So Jesus uses the Sermon on the Mount to tear down the self-righteous and point people to the forgiveness that comes through Christ in the gospel. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:27.279 That's how the Sermon on the Mount functions, to tear down the self-righteous, rule-keeping, Sabbath-keeping Jews, and build up instead a people that recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy and receive the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:33.759 So the introduction to this sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, was the Beatitudes, where Jesus basically explains that. 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:44.800 That's his introduction that you have to be spiritually bankrupt, spiritually poor, recognize your own depravity, receive a righteousness from outside of you, your hunger and thirst for righteousness, God rescues you. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:47.199 You now share that with others and receive persecution. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:48.560 That's the introduction. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.639 Then, like any sermon, he has his thesis statement or his proposition. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:56.959 He doesn't have it rhyming with the same three letters, but he's working on it. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.839 And his proposition is that he fulfills the law, so you let your light shine. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.319 Jesus fulfills the law in your place. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:06.879 You receive that light through faith in him. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:08.959 Now you have a light that shines out of you. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.279 You do not let your life shine your light shine by doing better and trying harder. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:14.399 You don't let your light shine. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.519 You're not the salt of the earth by, you know, trying to do better in life. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.040 That doesn't make you the salt of the earth. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.319 That doesn't shine your light. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:22.319 Your effort isn't your light. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:26.879 The light that you have is the light of Christ who fulfilled the law in your place. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:32.959 So Jesus led the perfect life, fulfills the law, gives you his righteousness, his life. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:36.560 You now have a light that can shine through your faith in Christ. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:38.720 So that's the point of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.800 He now moves into the body of the sermon. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.480 He's got a six-point outline because he didn't have a time constraint. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.240 Here's a six-point outline. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:52.240 His six points are six ways that you think you're righteous, but you're actually self-righteous. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:54.720 And that's what comes next in chapter five. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.800 The six ways, by the way, he's working through the second table of the law. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:05.439 The second table, if you're not familiar with that expression, the second table of the law is the second half of the Ten Commandments. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.360 The first group of the Ten Commandments is how you relate to God. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:10.480 That's the first table. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.680 You know, there's only one God, don't take his name in vain, don't have idols, etc. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:14.720 Honor the Sabbath. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.439 The second table of the law is how you relate to others. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:22.560 So the first table of the law is the greatest command: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:28.319 The second table of the law is love your neighbor as yourself, and that's the second group of the Ten Commandments. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:33.519 Jesus works through the second table of the law to expose self-righteousness. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.920 Now there's a brilliance in his approach. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.199 Only he can fulfill the first table of the law because he's God. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:46.240 So he fulfills it not just by his own obedience, although he does that, but he fulfills the first table of the law because he is God. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:48.319 He's the object of that table. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.319 He is the one true God. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:51.920 You know, he doesn't make idols. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:53.120 He is God. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.279 The second table of the law is how you love your neighbor. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:02.160 He drills in there to show the folly of self-righteousness. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.439 The self-righteousness does not understand the heart of the law. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.519 So here's his six points. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:12.480 You know, you think you're self-right, you think you're righteous because you don't murder, but then he goes to the heart. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:14.079 What about anger? 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:16.399 That's the sixth commandment. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:17.920 Then he does adultery. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:19.120 It's the seventh commandment. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:21.360 You think you're righteous because you don't commit adultery. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:22.319 What about lust? 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:23.360 That's the seventh commandment. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:24.480 Then he does divorce. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.000 You think you're righteous because you don't divorce for unbiblical reasons. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.480 But you're coveting your neighbor's wife. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.160 That's the tenth commandment. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.839 Or you swear falsely. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.319 You think I'm godly because I don't swear falsely. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.560 And Jesus says, but you keep swearing. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:40.160 That's the ninth commandment. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:41.519 Or an eye for an eye. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:47.040 You think you're godly because you only exact revenge, but you're not resisting the evildoer. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:49.839 Or the final one, hate your enemy. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:52.240 He says, you guys teach each other to hate your enemy. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.879 But I tell you, pray for your enemy. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.800 Love those who are persecuting you. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.959 That's the whole second greatest commandment, right there. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.399 The whole second table of the law. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.839 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:22.319 I want to look at the first of Jesus' points this morning on murder to show how often we use self-righteousness, we feed our self-righteousness by saying we are a good person because we don't murder, and we ignore the heart of the law, the heart of the gospel, the heart of sanctification. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.439 All that is discarded when a person thinks they're righteous because they don't actually kill somebody. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.079 I want to give you an outline this morning. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:35.120 Uprooting anger, because anger, Jesus says, is going to be the heart of murder. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.679 Peel back the layers of sin involved in murder, and what you're going to find at the heart of it is anger. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:46.559 So Jesus' goal here, remember what he's doing, for this to make the most sense, remember what he's doing. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:54.399 He is exposing the self-righteousness of people that think that they are righteous before God because of something they don't do. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.679 And again, it is just worth mentioning what a shallow view of righteousness that is. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.039 Oh, I'm a good person because I don't do this. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.879 I'm a good person because I don't do that. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.960 Your goodness becomes defined on negativity, things you don't do. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:12.559 No positive virtue in that. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.519 So Jesus is exposing that with his list. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:19.679 You think you're good because you don't murder, but I've got news from you. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.960 The heart of the law is not about murder. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.879 Jesus is going after the heart. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:26.559 And he does that in all six of these points. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.000 He does that with a very interesting expression. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.759 I want you to see it in verse 21. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:34.080 You've heard it was said to those of old. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.200 That's an interesting turn of phrase. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:38.480 To those of old. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.519 You've heard it was said to those of old, don't murder. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:47.600 He's quoting the sixth commandment, verbatim, from Exodus and Deuteronomy, do not, thou shalt not murder. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.039 That's what he's quoting. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:54.320 And he says, that was spoken to people a long time ago. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:59.279 That phrase to those of old, it could be ancestors, could be translated that way. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:07.679 But it's a phrase that creates a distance between you and the people to whom it was spoken. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:13.279 And I said it's an odd phrase because why would Jesus do that? 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:21.519 Why would Jesus speak in a way that creates a distance between his disciples and those who received the Ten Commandments? 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.960 We're not even talking about the dietary laws in the Old Testament here or anything like that. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:35.279 We're talking about the Ten Commandments, and Jesus is going to talk about them in a way that speaks of them as if they're from a time, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, so to speak. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.320 Why would he do that? 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:41.759 Aren't these disciples under the Ten Commandments? 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.519 Don't they come to them? 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.120 But Jesus is using this phrase. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.960 These Ten Commandments are spoken to a different generation. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:57.440 Because that's the phrase that's used in Jeremiah 31 that we read for our scripture reading earlier. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:02.720 That's the phrase that Jeremiah uses to identify the era of the new covenant. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:14.720 Not like the covenant God gave to those people in the wilderness a long time ago, but he will come again in the flesh and bring a new covenant through his spirit to the world to a different generation. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.759 So all through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is going to use that phrase. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.519 What he's saying is that this is the new covenant. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.679 I'm getting behind the law. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.279 The law exposed sin. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.879 I'm drilling behind that and showing you where true righteousness comes from. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:42.240 It does not come from yourself, but it comes from the Spirit of God who goes inside of you, who forgives you of your sin and writes God's law right in your heart. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.960 That's what Jesus is doing here. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.159 You think you keep the sixth commandment by not murdering people. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:49.519 I got news for you. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:55.279 God is concerned in this new covenant era about your heart. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.080 And so to expose that, he starts with murder. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.159 And I'm going to call it the weed of murder. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.759 That's the poisonous weed that's growing up in front of you. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.320 The nice grassy field here with a big weed right in the middle of it. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:11.360 That's murder. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.840 Murder is prohibited by the old covenant law. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.919 It is against the sixth commandment. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:23.600 There are six different passages in the Torah that command the death penalty for murder. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:27.759 Murder is wrong for at least two reasons. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.919 One reason is external because it goes against God's command and you'll be punished for it. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:38.559 One reason is internal because you're supposed to love people, not murder them. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:42.000 The external reason is significant, by the way. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:46.240 God established government to reign in murder. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:51.440 When God invents government in Genesis 8 and 9, God gives government four jobs. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:58.720 I'm not going to review all four of them now, but I will tell you this: one of the most important of those four jobs is stopping murder. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:03.120 God designs government to execute people who murder. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:07.679 Whoever sheds man's blood, by man's hand shall his blood be shed. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:09.440 This is new in Genesis 9. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:11.600 It did not exist before then. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.120 You know what did exist before then is a lot of murder. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.480 When sin entered the world, murder came with it. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.759 Right after Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:30.000 God comes and makes a sacrifice for them, covers their sin, curses the serpent, curses the earth. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:38.080 The very next chapter, the very first sin described in the Bible, is the sin of murder. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:45.360 Murder might strike us as uncommon today, but it was not uncommon before the flood. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:50.960 It was the first sin committed in the fallen world where Cain murdered Abel. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.360 Remember, Abel shows up with his sacrifice to offer it? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.399 And Cain comes along and murders Abel. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.080 God does not execute Cain. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:06.480 God tells Cain to run and live his life. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.039 Which Cain does, and populates the earth. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:10.639 And the earth was marred by murder. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:12.559 The next chapter is Lemech. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.519 Remember Lemmech celebrating how many people he can murder? 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.799 Cain murdered one, ha, rookie league. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.279 Lemmech says, I'll murder all kinds of people. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.200 And then bloodshed reigned on the earth for however long it was. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.639 I think it was probably a longer time than we might imagine. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.840 However long it was between the fall and the flood, murder reigned on the earth. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.080 It was the age of violence. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:42.320 God destroys the earth, repopulates the earth with Noah and his family. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.879 Only this time he establishes government to stop murder. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.960 So the main things government's supposed to do. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.480 Now let me mention this briefly because it's implied in this passage. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.559 People ask about capital punishment. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:58.879 You know, is capital punishment still standing? 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:00.159 And I would say it is. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:01.840 It's not given to Israel. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.879 Capital punishment does not enter the world through Israel, as if it was bound to the old covenant. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:12.720 Capital punishment enters the world through common grace given to the nations after the flood. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:17.200 It's a function of every government to put to death those who murder. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.360 Now that doesn't mean that every government doesn't write. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:27.120 It doesn't mean that there's not, you know, a two-tiered system of justice in some countries where wealthy people get away with it and poor people get executed for murder. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.799 I'm not saying that's that doesn't happen. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:30.080 Of course that happens. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:36.559 But I am saying the Bible teaches that the right punishment for murdering someone is that person to lose their life. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:46.559 And there's an argument against capital punishment that, oh, that doesn't make sense because if man's life is so precious, why would you kill somebody who takes a human's life? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.480 Doesn't that show, doesn't that diminish human life by killing the murderer? 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.000 I think that's a very misguided argument. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:59.440 Um, and I say misguided, I've heard people say, I don't spank my kid for hitting his brother. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.919 I wouldn't spank my son for hitting his brother because then he would learn that hitting's okay because I spanked him. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:05.679 Do you follow that logic? 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:07.120 It doesn't work. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.840 It's very superficial logic. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.559 No, you punish the son for punching the brother so that he stops punching his brother. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.279 It's an act of love towards the offended party. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.360 I'm not getting any amens from the brothers in the audience. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.799 The same thing is true with the murder. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.399 You don't say, oh, you wouldn't put to death the murderer because then that shows how easy it is to take human life. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.440 No, you put to death the murderer to protect all human life. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:35.360 It demonstrates the value of it. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:41.279 That is a very important reason why murder is wrong, is that you will be punished. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.639 Even in our society that has sort of stepped away from the death penalty. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:49.840 You know, murder now might get you 20 years in prison, parole after eight or something like that. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.480 Yet the fact that there is a consequence for it restrains evil. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.399 If you don't believe me, look at our society when Roe v. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:06.720 Wade was the law of the land, where abortion proliferated, absent the government restriction on it, it ran wild. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:15.440 Having the restriction is a deterrent, not a perfect deterrent, not a hundred percent effective deterrent, but a deterrent to murder. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:16.799 That's true. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.920 I belabor that point because I want to ask you a question. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:26.240 To the person who says, I'm a good person because I've never murdered anybody, here's my question. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.680 Why not? 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.559 Why haven't you murdered someone? 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.240 Certainly you've been angry enough at somebody to do it. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.880 Is it just a crime of opportunity? 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.759 Or is what has restrained you external to yourself? 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.920 Where you think, I don't want to do that because that's like serious. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.640 I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to lose my life. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:54.079 Notice that if that's what restrains you, it says nothing about you. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.640 Nothing good about you. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.119 But I do think that is a deterrent to murder. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.079 That people don't want the punishment of it. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:14.160 So again, lack of murdering, you don't murder someone, does not make you a good person, especially if it's the external component that's restraining you. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.640 Your heart is every wicked, every bit as wicked as the murderer. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.319 You just don't act on it. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:22.319 You don't act on it. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:28.640 Well, that's the first reason murder is wrong, because you know, it goes, you know, cost you, it goes against God's command. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:33.279 But the second reason murder is wrong is because people are made in the image of God and you're supposed to love them. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:34.960 So this gets to an internal reason. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:39.279 You're supposed to love the people around you, not kill them. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:47.359 Your lack of murdering them says nothing about the presence of love in your heart. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:55.440 So you can keep the external part of the command and not murder someone and still be breaking the heart of the law if you don't love your neighbor. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:58.880 So again, you don't murder, great. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.720 But that doesn't make you a good person. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.559 It certainly does not fulfill the law. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:04.799 The language we're using here is fulfilling the law. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.759 Not murdering does not fulfill the law. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.960 Fulfilling the law looks like loving your neighbor as yourself. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:14.720 That's how you fulfill the law. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:15.680 And you can't do that. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.759 That was the point where we ended our sermon last week. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:24.079 You can't, you better be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees if you want to get if you want to get to heaven that way. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:25.920 That's impossible. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.599 You can't love your neighbor as yourself all the time in every way. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.119 You can't do it. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.759 That makes you guilty of it. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:38.079 Guilty here of the very sin that leads to murder. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:42.720 So if murder is the weed, get it underground for a second, and let's look at the root of it. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.880 The root of murder is anger. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:47.519 The root of murder is anger. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:50.480 And that's where Jesus goes next. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.920 I say to you, and notice the contrast that Jesus uses here. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.240 You heard that the sixth commandment says this, but I say something different to you. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.799 Nobody can say that unless they're God. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.200 You can't rewrite the sixth commandment. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:04.480 Are you kidding me? 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.000 But that's what Jesus does. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:11.279 He says, You've heard the sixth, he's not representing like a thing the Pharisees spun in a wrong direction. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:18.559 He's quoting the sixth commandment and saying, you know, the Torah says this, but I got something more important to tell you. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:27.839 Imagine saying that to a field full of Jewish people who are raised in Judaism, including a handful of Pharisees there, I'm sure. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.200 Imagine saying that I have authority that's over the sixth commandment. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.640 That's bonkers. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.400 But that's what Jesus says. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.160 He puts himself as the lawmaker. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.079 Now he's not contradicting the Sixth Commandment. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.519 Contradicting the Sixth Commandment would look like saying, You've heard it said, don't murder. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:42.799 But I say, go for it. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.079 No, he says, You've heard it said, don't murder. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:49.119 But I say something deeper than even that. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:57.200 Everyone who's angry with his brother is liable to judgment. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.519 The phrase liable to judgment, does it sound familiar? 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.240 Because he used it at the end of verse 21. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:14.799 The punishment in the Jewish world for murder was you were turned over to the little district court there, a little council of elders in your town, every town had them, and they passed judgment on you. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:16.880 Jesus says, You know who deserves that? 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:21.359 The person who's angry at his brother deserves the punishment for murder. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.480 It's the same punishment he just said fit murder. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:30.000 And he's saying, I'm telling you, everyone who's angry with their brother, that's what they deserve. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:32.960 Anger is the sin. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:37.599 I mean, murder is the most flagrant sin that ends a human life, but anger is the sin that destroys families. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:42.079 It burns like wildfire through your through your family, through your home. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:55.920 It incinerates marriages, disintegrates relationships, energizes gossip, guns down classmates, divides churches, makes estrangement of your parents or your kids or your brothers and sisters. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.839 Anger just wrecks the life. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.920 I wreck any organization, any church, any body, any club, any team that it's allowed on. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:11.039 Sometimes that kind of anger can be mild, like frustrations, complaining, irritation. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.720 Maybe just being passive aggressive. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.799 You're angry at someone, so you're kind of passively aggressively sniping at them. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:24.400 But often the anger bubbles over into outbursts, yelling, cussing, name-calling. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:25.920 Often it's intense. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:35.200 Sometimes it's just internal bitterness, but it often breaks forward into hostility, turning your friends into enemies, turning your neighbors into strangers. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:36.799 That's what anger does. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:40.880 David Pallison defines, well, this describes anger this way. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:44.720 He said, Anger is irritability with a hair trigger. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:46.799 I love that expression. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.599 Anger is irritability with a hair trigger. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:53.119 Anger isn't something that happens to you. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.079 Anger is something that you do. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.559 And you hear people excuse us saying, oh, I'm just an angry person. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:05.200 You would be angry too if you've been through what I've been through, as if anger happens to you. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.160 But anger doesn't just happen to you. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.039 Anger is something that you do. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:13.920 Let me tell you what I mean by that. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:25.839 You see something that you perceive as wrong, you take it personally, and then you act out against it. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:26.960 That's anger. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.599 You're acting out as the consummation of it. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:32.880 You acting out as the exposure of the anger that's in your heart. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:41.119 The transaction happens in your heart when you see something outside of yourself and you're like, that's bad, and I'm offended by it, now I lash out in anger. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.440 Now, not all anger is sinful, of course. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:44.559 Let me be very clear about that. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:45.920 Not all anger is sinful. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.960 God is angry at sinners. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.559 God is angry at sin. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.000 Jesus is angry at sin. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:59.440 Jesus cleanses the temple, and when everybody sees it, they remember the prophecy that zeal for his father's house will consume him. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:03.200 But notice the difference. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:08.079 God is angry when people sin. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:13.519 God is angry at the sin because sin is against God's character and against God's nature. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.680 God is what is best for the world. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:19.279 Sin is against God, so sin is against what is best for the world. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:22.319 And so God has a righteous anger towards sin. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:24.559 When you are angry, you can have a righteous anger. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:29.839 If you see something that offends God and you're angry at God being offended, that's righteous anger. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:35.200 That's a powerful tool to be used for justice in the world and to be used to right wrongs in the world. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:36.640 I mean, great. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.799 But if we're being honest, that's not 99% of our anger. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.880 99% of our anger is not seeing God being wronged and being offended at that. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.359 99% of our anger is seeing us being wronged and being offended by that. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:25:00.960 So there's something that's not right, and it's to you, and you see it, and you get bothered by it and offended by it, and then you act on it. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:14.319 You lash out at it, you complain about it, you slander about it, you talk about it, you strike the person, or you want to strike the person, or you just yell, and nobody's you're in their car, they're not around, and you yell at the person. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.720 That's all the overflowing of anger. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.200 That is the root that produces murder. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.720 But great, you're not murdering the person because you're restrained. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.880 It's the same sin. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:42.960 David Pallison, in his book, Good and Angry, which I stole the title for the sermon, challenges you to ask, in that moment, you perceive the wrong, since there's a wrong in the world, you perceive it, you're offended by it. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:46.559 At that moment, what is it you want from the situation? 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:54.960 The person who is angry, the person who's the victim here, the person who's wronged and they're getting angry about it, what is it that that person wants at that moment? 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.240 It's a very clarifying question. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:03.440 And he he writes in this book, Good and Angry, to he warns you, don't allow a negative answer to that question. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:07.759 You know, so the wife who says, uh, you know, is getting angry at her husband, she thinks, what do I want? 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:09.839 I just don't want to be treated this way. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:11.279 That's a negative answer. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:15.440 Or the husband who's who's getting angry at his wife, and you think, What do you want? 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:21.200 And it's I just don't, I just don't want to be ignored this way, or I just don't want to be neglected this way. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:24.160 It's all negative answers, not helpful. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:26.000 Give a positive answer. 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:27.920 What is it you want when you're being angry? 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.839 And this moment, I want to be treated like I deserve. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:34.480 I want to be recognized for who I am. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.119 I want to be given what I want. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.079 Like, say it in your head. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:47.440 And no sooner than you say it do you realize that you're taking the position of God, right? 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:52.400 I want to be treated the way I want to be treated. 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:53.920 I deserve that. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.920 I just want my way right now. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:26:59.839 That's all I want. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:01.519 I want what I want. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.839 And I'm angry, I'm not getting it. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.480 I want my life to be like this. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.759 And it's not like this, so I'm angry. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.039 That's putting your that's a violation of the first commandment. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:15.519 We're back on the first table of the law now. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:25.759 You recognize that anger, it may be a violation of the sixth commandment, hating your brother, murdering your brother in your heart, but it's a real problem because the first commandment. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:38.799 You're putting yourself in the first table of the law, you're acting as if you need to be worshipped, as if you are the one who defines how your life gets to go, as if you have certain expectations, and if they're not met, it deserves righteous wrath. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:42.160