Until that day, once again today, let's turn to the Word of God, to Matthew chapter 5, as we continue our consideration of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. Many of you recall last week that we considered the section from verses 17 to 47, kind of in general, pointing out that the King of the Kingdom speaks, claiming authority. It is His law that He has given, but also correcting those who claimed authority, the misinterpretation, the misapplication of the law of God by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. This morning we take up the first portion then, the first illustration or example, application that our Lord gives, reading together verses 20-26 with our focus being on verses 21-26 where our Lord deals with the Sixth Commandment, murder. Beginning at verse 20, as we hear now the Word of God. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not murder. And anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raka is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, You fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you, Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. May God add His blessing this morning to the preaching and consideration of His Word. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, as you may know, before every worship service, the elders and deacons and pastors gather together and they pray. They pray right before coming in here praying for the service, praying for God's people, praying for a variety of things, and on occasion, the one offering the prayer will pray specifically that the preacher will have received the first blessing of his study. And I can say and I trust those preachers here among us and the students who study to prepare the Word of God can say with confidence that indeed that is the case, that we find that to be true by the grace of God as we study that God blesses us with an understanding and an application of that Word, of that text to our lives. Yet sometimes I must confess that that blessing comes only after traveling down the difficult path of conviction. I study a text, for example, and find God's finger. And this happens all the time, but I'm talking now more in a very uncomfortable way. and find God's finger, as it were, pointed right in my face, poking me, as it were, in the chest, convicting. And it's at those times that I want to say, and maybe others here too would agree with that, Lord, really? Are you serious? Do I really have to preach that? Because those who know me well will know that this describes me. Do I have to? And it's those times that I'm tempted to look for some sort of a way around it. Yet, if God were to speak audibly, I know that He says to my heart, yep, you need to hear this. And so do those to whom I call you to preach. And this text is one of those difficult texts. Yet, I suspect that many of us became a little bit uncomfortable if we were really listening as we read it, as we began to read it, we began to squirm a little bit in our seats as we read this together because the truth is we are all guilty of murder. Even you boys and girls here this morning, even you young people, you say, but I've never shed blood. I've never ended someone's life. You are guilty. If you have ever been angry with another, if you have ever hit another, if you have ever called another a name, you are guilty. And possibly every single one of us is guilty of not seeking to resolve conflict as Jesus commands us to. Now, we need to be reminded again this morning that Jesus is not teaching here that only those who do not ever commit murder are able to be kingdom citizens. That's not what Jesus is teaching. If that was the case, the kingdom would be quite empty except for God and His holy angels. Of course, with God's presence, it would be full enough, wouldn't it? He's not teaching that, but Jesus is telling the truth about murder and He is telling how the redeemed kingdom citizen, the one, those who have been brought in because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which exceeds that of the Pharisees and the scribes. He is teaching how the redeemed kingdom citizen then strives to exercise that righteousness in practice that also exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, striving to do so in fighting against murder. Jesus tells the truth about murder, first of all, with its heart-searching interpretation. And as He does so, He does so exposing the distortion of the law, Condemning murder, a distortion of the sixth commandment. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. Now again, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, according to their long-standing tradition that had been handed down generation after generation by the rabbis, especially again since the Babylonian captivity, they had reduced the meaning of murder. Very simply, they had done that. Now, on the surface, what they said was true. We cannot argue with that. Exodus 20, verse 13 says, You shall not murder. And Jesus gives what they also heard was said, the addition that the one who did would be subject to judgment. Most likely, talking about the courts, the judges who had been appointed, according to Deuteronomy 16, in every single tribe with the authority to punish capital offenses. And being subject to the judgment also was not untrue because as Numbers 35 says, the one who kills based on the testimony of two witnesses would be put to death as a murderer. So the one who murdered would be subject to that judgment. But they had reduced the meaning to only the outward act. To only wrongfully ending another's life. And therefore they had also reduced the penalty of murder to the judgment of the earthly court. They had made this law only and simply a negative thing. Don't murder or you will suffer the punishment of the court. As if that was the worst thing that they could ever have to suffer. You see, they completely ignored the spirit of the law according to Leviticus 19, which says, love your neighbor as yourself. They completely ignored God's intention, God's meaning of this command. They ignored the motive from which the act of murder arises. Now indeed, for the civil life of the nation, including our nation, only the outward act could really be punished. So that became what was important. That became what was forbidden. do not murder, do not end someone's life. But Jesus teaches, would have us remember that believers are not only citizens of this earth, of our countries, states, cities, but believers are citizens of the kingdom of heaven and submit to a higher kingdom standard even while we are citizens of this earthly society. Jesus tells the truth about murder with its heart-searching interpretation, first of all, exposing the distortion of the Sixth Commandment, but then also expressing the danger of heart murder. Notice verse 22, But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raka, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, You fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell. Notice, Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter. He points out the matter of the heart. He who is angry. Now, we need to understand that He's not talking about all anger. He's not talking about what we might call righteous anger that He expressed at times. He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. He called the Pharisees, He called them foolish. Paul says, you foolish Galatians. Parents have a righteous anger toward their children at times when their children disobey. sometimes that anger is not a righteous anger, but it can be a righteous anger. But the anger that Jesus is talking about is a sinful anger accompanied by hate for the object of that anger. John says in 1 John 3, verse 15, anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. You see, God does not hide how he feels about and how he judges hatred and bitterness and unkind feelings of resentment towards others. He says, plain and simple, it is murder towards anyone, especially against those who profess a common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, sometimes those who profess to be 100% in agreement on the same page, biblically and theologically, treat each other the worst. Someone has said the anger prompting the act is as wrong as plunging the knife. Or we might add, pulling the trigger. And we too must confess, beloved, that sometimes we are quick to condemn mass murderers, suicide bombers, abortion rights advocates or doctors who perform them or simply anyone who violates the life of another in some sort of a hurtful way. We are so quick to condemn them. Yet at the same time, we rarely give thought to the times that we have despised others with our thoughts. When we have said angry words to another. When we have called someone else a terrible name. You see, even if others don't hear it or don't see our anger or our hatred. You see, we say that only God sees and knows the heart, but remember, He sees it. And He knows it. Yet, Jesus not only condemns that which could be simply hidden in our heart, but He also condemns the hateful expressions of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, the Bible says. He gives two examples here. Raka and you fool. The word raka has the idea of calling, saying someone is empty-headed, meaning that they're calling someone stupid or that they're lacking understanding. In other words, worthless or good for nothing. It's an insult to another's intelligence. To call someone a fool is to insult one's heart, one's very character. It is to defame them, to attack their reputation, to attack their confidence by continually putting them down. To deliberately find fault with another. It's character assassination. And these expressions arise from sinful anger, beloved, and we know that they are shot so quickly, they are shot so easily before we can even stop ourselves, and often they are multiplied like machine gun fire. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law would say, well, how can these be murder? You can't judge them. You can't convict them in a court of law. These things can't be as nearly as bad as the physical act. No one is really getting hurt by them. These are insignificant. And again, I trust that we have to confess that we don't treat anger and we don't treat hateful words as really being too bad. Sometimes we can forget them as quick as we said them. I think Dr. Sinclair Ferguson helps us to understand why that's the case when he says we treat the damage we do with our lips very lightly because we do not see the corpse we leave behind. How many corpses have I left behind? How many corpses have you left behind? How may God by His Spirit open our eyes to see those corpses and to so work in us in a most powerful way that we might fight against murder from the heart. Jesus says these are murder. And He points out just how serious as He explains the judgment of the heart. Listen again to verse 22. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raka, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, you fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell. The judgment, the Sanhedrin, the fire of hell. You know the saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Number one, we know it's a lie. The truth is, not only do those words and names hurt the object of them, the one to whom they are spoken, but you see, those words and names are dangerous and deadly for the speaker, Jesus teaches. Do you ever think about that? I don't. You see, murder with the hand, according to the law and rightly interpreted by the rabbis, was punishable by death, indeed. But Jesus teaches that murder from the heart and the expressions that flow from it, He teaches, also deserve death. Ultimately, eternal death. It's interesting, I think, that Jesus uses What seemed to be the accepted judicial system of that day, the lower tribal court again, the one I spoke about a moment ago, and then moving on to the highest court, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, and he uses these to point to the truth that murder from the heart, as we have described, is every bit as serious in the sight of God, maybe not in their sight, but in the sight of God as the sins that they consider to be most terrible. They deserve death. Yet he goes a step further because man can only convict one to physical death, but ultimately, these things are punishable by hell. The fire of hell, Gehenna. Translated as the Valley of Hinnom, which is an actual valley south of Jerusalem. It's a valley where at one time, in the midst of her idolatry, Israel would sacrifice children to the idol god Molech. Good King Josiah comes in, reforms, gets rid of that wicked practice. The valley then became a dump where continual burning took place and where it is recorded that bodies of criminals and carcasses of animals and all kinds of garbage and filth were thrown and burned continually. They had an example right before their eyes right there of what Jesus was talking about. That's what those who murder with a heart deserve, Jesus says. That's a picture of the eternal suffering in hell deserved by those who murder with their heart. And Jesus teaches that even though society does not think that these things are so bad, we see that, don't we, in our political structure. All kinds of hate and mudsling and name-calling. Our society really doesn't think these things are so bad. But the ultimate punishment to be feared is divine punishment. Beloved, Jesus says, Your neighbor is injured. Very simply, your neighbor is injured when you act toward him or her in any way other than a friend. Of course, we must examine our own hearts, right? Do you see yourself here? Ask yourself sincerely, does this fit me? Sadly, I see myself. Anger, hatred, nasty words or comments. And Jesus, understand, is not limiting to simply what He says, what has been recorded for us, but this is all-inclusive. Anything of the sort. We think of resentment or dislike for another. And the excuse, well, they made me so mad, I just couldn't help myself, simply will not do. And some might even say, well, I don't say I hate you to anyone. I know that that's wrong. I don't call somebody a fool. I don't call them names. And that may be true. But there are many ways in which hatred in this way is displayed short of plunging the knife or pulling the trigger. Ask yourself, have you ever turned your back on someone? Have you ever ignored someone because you didn't want to be bothered with them or by them? Have you ever not chosen someone to be on your team or to be a friend with because you just knew that they wouldn't be to your advantage or they wouldn't help your reputation and in fact they might instead hurt your reputation a little bit? Have you treated others as lower than yourself? As not as important as yourself? Not as good as yourself? Have you ever treated another as worthless or simply not worth your time? Have you ever harbored bad feelings toward another because you didn't like what they were doing or because they didn't live up to your expectation or because they didn't act like you thought they ought to? You see, any bad treatment of others from a sinful, selfish motive fits here. And this is where it gets difficult, doesn't it? You see, it's easy to see. Jesus is only dealing with one commandment here. Just one, the sixth. There's more to follow indeed. But all of this for illustrative purposes, it's easy to see that we all deserve the fire of hell. And that's frightening, isn't it? Yet God's people can be comforted. Are to be comforted. For those who are in Christ Jesus, because we have been delivered from the fire of hell, He has taken it on for us. He has suffered every last lick of the flame. And because of that, we, who have been murderous people, we have been reconciled to God. And as you and I consider all that we have been given that we completely do not deserve, we deserve none of it, what an amazing thing that He has made us to be kingdom citizens. The righteousness of Jesus Christ that exceeds that of the Pharisees and the teachers has brought you and me as His people into His kingdom. And Jesus now teaches that kingdom righteousness, exercised in that kingdom by His people, fights against murder, promotes the very opposite of murder. As Jesus tells the truth of murder in the second place with heart-convicting illustrations. Notice beginning of verse 23, two illustrations He gives. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift. In the second illustration, settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way. Or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you over to the officer and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. You know, what we have a picture of here, beloved, is a peacemaker. We talked about that before. Kingdom conduct. Kingdom character includes being a peacemaker. Jesus not only teaches that God's people are called to heed the negative command of the law to not commit murder, but He lays before you and I the positive application of the Sixth Commandment, seeking and promoting right relationships with others. Living in peace with one another. With the first illustration pointing out the responsibility to reconcile when there is division. And the point there is that there is something offending the brother. It's not just made up in the one's mind. And Jesus does not say whether the brother has a legitimate complaint or not, but whether they have something against you or as Matthew 18 teaches, or whether you have something against them. Stop your worship. He uses an illustration of that day of bringing your offering of thanksgiving. He says, don't leave it. Go take care of matters first. Stop your worship. Go fix it. Stop the murder in progress and prevent further murder. Because it is impossible to be sincere with God while being insincere with another. It is simply impossible. And for you and me, this is more than simply coming together on Sunday morning and Sunday evening for worship. Our whole life is to be a living sacrifice of praise to God, thanksgiving to God at any time. When the Holy Spirit brings it to your mind, to your conscience. Stop. Go. How important is this? You see, John says in 1 John 4, verse 20, if anyone says, I love God yet hates his brother, He is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Now you may say, well, I don't agree with that. I would have to say too bad. It's true. That's hard for us to swallow. You say, well, I love God, but I'm struggling with this person over here. He says you can't. You can't love God and hate your brother at the same time. The psalmist says in Psalm 66, verse 18, if I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Samuel says to King Saul, to obey is better than sacrifice. You see, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law thought that their outward show of religiousness would compensate for what they consider to be minor sin. Think of the Pharisee in the temple. I thank You, Lord, that I'm not like other men. I'm not like this tax collector. I do this and this and this and this. But beloved, may we not be deceived to think that our service in God's kingdom, whatever it might be, whether it be gathering together for worship with God's people or being actively involved in one or two or three Bible studies or having personal devotions on a daily basis or simply the good deeds that we strive to color our life with. May we not be deceived to think that these things cause God to overlook any division or resentment or anger that might be in your heart or mine or in our lives in any way. The truth is the very opposite. Division or resentment or anger covers up the other things in God's sight. And therefore, again, as we examine ourselves, how much worship, how much daily prayer, How many of our Christian efforts have been offered stained with murder from the heart? Jesus calls us, gives us a responsibility to seek reconciliation. We might not always achieve it. But we are to try. And the truth is, our love for God will flow to love for our neighbor. And along with the responsibility for reconciliation, the second illustration points to the urgency of reconciliation. Just briefly, on the way, Jesus says. Now, again, in his day, he's using an example of one who may have defrauded another one and is being taken to court and ran the risk of being thrown into debtor's prison. And he would never be able to get out. He would never be able to pay off the debt. He couldn't get out until he paid off the debt, and he wouldn't be able to pay off the debt as long as he was there, so you know what happens. He's not going to get out. He's not going to pay off the debt. The urgency. Take care of it quickly. In all of life. Public, private, business, personal. Take care of it quickly. Don't let it fester. Don't wait. You see, by the grace of God, the kingdom's citizen promotes peace and exercises kindness. and treat another as I would like to be treated. That's the way of kingdom life. That's kingdom conduct. Now we all know that all sin, even the sin of murder apart from Jesus Christ, will be punished in the fire of hell forever. This passage does not teach as the Romans would have us believe. The Roman church is not teaching about purgatory. Indeed, the truth that we see here is that by those apart from Christ Jesus, a debt will never be paid off. But again, for those who rest in Jesus Christ alone by the grace of God, we can rejoice because we have been rescued from the torment of hell, as we said, reconciled with the Father and this forever. Forever. And therefore we are called and the call is to go forth sincerely and urgently seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. If you have not done so, today is that day of salvation. God says, call upon Me in truth. I'm going to hear you. I'm going to answer you. Even though you've been a murderer, I will save you. And as we all again more and more understand how much this is undeserved. Therefore, God's people do strive for peace with others whether we think they deserve it or not. And again, as we consider the context here, remember Jesus is not saying, well, do this and that is righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and the teachers and then you'll be okay. That's not what Jesus is teaching. Even their righteousness was not enough. They thought it was. But Jesus is saying that kingdom righteousness is greater than that. Those in Him. He's giving a correct interpretation of the law regarding murder. He gives examples of the righteousness of kingdom citizens in applying, in living it. Examples of Christian conduct and love applied in preserving the lives of others, even as He has preserved our lives. It's a hard conviction because I trust we quickly see ourselves in these illustrations. Maybe not on the positive side. We need this admonition. We need this rebuke. The Pharisees and the teachers would not be reconciled. They would not be concerned about what they said or thought. They thought it was unimportant. But those who by the saving grace of God have been given the righteousness of Christ. By the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, they will seek to be reconciled because they hate in a righteous way. They hate being unreconciled. They hate friction. They hate having others angry with them. They seek reconciliation quickly. Because I believe what our Lord would also remind us here is that when you and I let it go for a time, when we let it fester, we do live with the consequences of our sin. We live with anguish and hurt and pain and a lack of trust and a lack of dependability. We live with stress and fear. We live with ongoing murder when that peace that He says will be there is so sweet. Jesus is not teaching that kingdom citizens do this perfectly. We know that. But when there is division, He says, go after it. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Strive to get rid of it. God's people desire to flee from sin in situations that could cause me or my brother or my neighbor to be tempted to sin, especially murder from the heart. By the influence of the Holy Spirit, God's people heed what Paul says if it is possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Jesus Christ is our Savior. But also our example. While we were still sinners, He died for us. While He was on that path of accomplishing that, He never returned evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, He forgave. as he was accomplishing peace and reconciliation for you and me with God. It was all a part of his work to make that reconciliation. Dear people of God, this is a truth that we need to hear again and again. It's a lesson that we need to learn and never forget. Indeed, we are in the church militant, guaranteed in Christ Jesus to one day be brought into the church triumphant. Yet while we live here on this earth, while we are in that church militant, we are not to fight against man and certainly not against each other, fellow believers. But we are called to fight against the devil and sin. And to do so having been blessed by our God through Jesus Christ. To do so by living a life of love in Christ Jesus and expressing that love to our neighbor. for the sake of His life. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, as we bow before You at the close of this service together, once again, You have reminded us in a most powerful way of things that we may struggle with day by day over and over again. And we struggle with these things because at times we are as well too cowardly to reconcile, to seek peace. Father, we thank You humbly for Your blessing of Your forgiving grace and the reconciliation and peace that You have given to us through Your Son with Yourself. We pray, too, that You would continue to work in our hearts and lives and motivate us, Lord, to respond to such a great salvation by desiring that peace and reconciliation with others cause us to grow more and more in faithfulness to Your most holy Word. May our love grow day by day and be expressed more and more to those around us, to those with whom we have contact, that indeed the love of God in us might be demonstrated and shared readily and freely and cheerfully with those with whom we have contact. Oh, Father, indeed, Your blessing is so great. And we praise You for it. Even though You convict us day by day, we praise Your name for lifting us up again in the joy of Your forgiving grace and blessing in Christ Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen. Thank you.