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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 as we continue 
going through this gospel according to Matthew. I'll just pick up reading at 
verse 17 to remind us of some general principles. And then 
we'll look at the specific examples. First, the sixth commandment 
in verses twenty one to twenty six. That will take up our attention 
this morning. We're beginning in Matthew five 
at verse seventeen. Do not think that I came to destroy 
the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but 
to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, 
till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will by 
no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever, therefore, 
breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men 
so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever 
does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom 
of heaven. For I say to you that unless 
your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not 
murder. And whoever murders will be in 
danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever 
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of 
the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 
Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, you 
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring 
your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has 
something against you, Leave your gift there before the altar 
and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother 
and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary 
quickly while you are on the way with him. Lest your adversary 
deliver you to the judge. The judge hand you over to the 
officer and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, 
you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the 
last penny. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Scripture. We thank you for the fact that 
the Spirit has given it to us for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray 
to you that you would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work. 
We pray to you, God, forgive us now for all of our sins and 
all of our transgressions. We confess our iniquity. We confess 
the fact that we have not done what Your law says, and that 
we have transgressed against what it commands. And we pray 
for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we 
pray that Your Spirit would be at work in our hearts and in 
our minds, guiding us and leading us into all truth. We just pray 
now for Your exaltation and for Your glory to be had. And we 
ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, just by way 
of a review, we remember that Jesus has described kingdom citizens 
in the Beatitudes. He describes their attitudes 
and their actions. He shows that the Christian must, 
in fact, be distinct in the way that he thinks and lives. And 
then Jesus shows that not only must he be distinct, he must 
be involved. Verses thirteen to sixteen. You 
are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. 
Your distinctiveness should not cause you to withdraw from society, 
but rather your distinctiveness should function in society as 
salt and as light. And now Jesus is going to get 
into some specific examples concerning the application and proper interpretation 
of God's holy law. He gives, as we saw, principles 
in verses 17 to 20, or hermeneutics. how we are to handle the law 
of God accurately. And then he gives these six concrete 
examples beginning, as I've said, with the sixth commandment in 
verses 21 to 26. So that's where we will direct 
our attention currently. And I want to consider the sixth 
commandment here as Jesus sets it forth under three observations. We want to notice first the contrast. Jesus uses this Convention six 
times in this section. You have heard that it was said, 
but I say to you, we need to spend a little time on looking 
at that particular contrast. Secondly, we'll note the problem. 
The Pharisees, the scribes, came up short. Certainly they would 
agree that murder brought judgment in the civil court, but they 
neglected the fact they did not appreciate what the psalmist 
had declared, that the commandment of God is exceedingly broad, 
that it's not simply concerned with external acts of murder, 
but it also focuses upon the heart and the disposition. In 
other words, anger and slander and malice and all those things 
that affect our hearts is the very foundation from whence the 
external act of murder flows. So Jesus deals with the problem. 
And then thirdly, he sets forth the correct interpretation in 
verses 22 to 26. So that's a bit of a road map 
for where we hope to go this morning. The contrast, that statement, 
or that convention that Christ uses. You have heard that it 
was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever 
murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you 
that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be 
in danger of the judgment. The contrast is not between Moses' 
law and Christ's teaching. The contrast is not between the 
moral and the biting law of God and what Christ is setting forth 
here. Many interpreters come to this 
section and they say that Jesus is elevating the law. Jesus is 
adding a spiritual dimension to the law. Jesus is making the 
law more powerful. No, Jesus is clearing away the 
misinterpretation and the misapplication so that men would see correctly 
the intent of God's holy law. We know that is true, because 
of the principles he's already established. Christ has asserted 
his intention in verse 17. I did not come to destroy the 
law or the prophets. I didn't come to nullify. I didn't 
come to abrogate. I did not come to do away with 
the law or the prophets. Christ declares the abiding validity 
of God's law in verse 18. He speaks to its duration until 
heaven and earth pass away. He speaks to its extent, the 
jots and tittles of God's holy law. Christ then warns against 
tampering with the law in verses 19 and 20. He condemns antinomianism 
in verse 19, where he says, whoever therefore breaks one of the least 
of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least 
in the kingdom of heaven. And then he condemns legalism 
in verse 20. For I say to you that unless 
your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees. And there in verse 20, again, 
he sets up the contrast. It's not your righteousness needs 
to exceed the law of Moses. No, your righteousness is defined 
by the law of Moses. It must exceed the scribes and 
the Pharisees. The contrast is between misinterpretation 
and misapplication of the law versus Jesus' correct interpretation 
and application of the law. The language of Martin Lloyd-Jones, 
he says, the contrast, therefore, is not between the law given 
through Moses and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. It 
is a contrast, rather, between the false interpretation of the 
law of Moses and the true presentation of the law given by the Lord 
himself. That hits the nail right on the 
head, and you need to keep that in your mind as we work through 
these six examples. Jesus here is setting forth the 
true interpretation of the law of God. Calvin says we must not 
imagine Christ to be a new legislator who has anything to the eternal 
righteousness of his father. We must listen to him as a faithful 
expounder, that we may know what is the nature of the law, what 
is its object, and what is its extent. That's how we ought to 
approach. This section in the Sermon on 
the Mount, this formula is used in verses 21. It's used in verse 
27, 31, 33, 38, and 43. Again, with a little bit of a 
difference in the exact wording, but the meaning is the same. 
The contrast is between scribal and pharisaic misinterpretation 
versus Jesus' proper interpretation of the law. Notice, secondly, 
the problem. The problem, the Lord quotes 
from Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, the sixth commandment. You 
have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder 
and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. That's 
correct. As far as it goes, the scribes 
and Pharisees got that right. Not only the specific commandments 
of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, but the penal application 
or the penal sanction. When you murder, you're in danger 
of judgment. The Old Testament highly, or 
oftentimes, set forth the punishment for the violation of the Sixth 
Commandment. Sometimes it makes Christians 
blush. Sometimes, unfortunately, it 
brings a bit of embarrassment, but it ought not to. Whoever 
sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed, for in the 
image of God he made man. The Lord gave the magistrate 
the sword with the prerogative of carrying out the death penalty 
upon those who murder. So this is right as far as it 
goes, and murder is a preferred translation. You sometimes hear 
the King James Version. It says, you shall not kill. Well, that's not correct. There 
are three instances of lawful killing in the Old Testament 
and in the New Testament. Self-defense. If in the midst 
of defending yourself, the person who is the aggressor dies, biblical 
law does not find you guilty. The second is legitimate war. 
When a constituted government exercises war, it is not a sin 
or a violation to serve in the military and to engage in that 
particular activity. Again, sometimes people really 
miss this, and they get a little bit freaked out when we start 
talking like this. The exegesis sustains this assertion. And then thirdly, of course, 
execution by the civil state. The government, the magistrate, 
again, a duly constituted body of government has the right to 
carry out capital punishment. Those are not instances of murder. Those are instances of lawful 
killing. But here, Jesus highlights the 
fact that the sixth word says, You shall not murder. Again, 
the scribes and Pharisees, insofar as the externals were concerned, 
as long as we don't stop a man's heart, then we've complied with 
the commandment. Jesus says no. The law is not 
only concerned with the external manifestation of outward compliance, 
but it goes to the heart. This is not something unique 
to Jesus' teaching. This is not an elevation in the 
Sermon on the Mount. This isn't a gradation in God's 
redemptive plan. The law of Moses always condemned 
the hatred of a brother in your heart. This is not new. It is the correct interpretation. They highlighted the externality. They neglected the heart. They 
didn't understand Leviticus 19 verses 17 to 18. Remember, we 
saw that legalists don't love God's law. Legalists despise 
God's law. Leviticus 19, 17 and 18, you 
shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely 
rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him. You 
shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the children 
of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
I am Jehovah. So you see, the law of God never 
stipulated that in so far as you didn't stop someone from 
taking breath, you were doing well. It always penetrated to 
the heart. It always regulated the conduct 
of the mind. It always sought out men and 
called them to conformity to the perfect revealed will of 
God Most High. The Prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 
7, 9 and 10, says, execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, 
everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the 
fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil 
in his heart against his brother. What's the supposition there? 
The sixth word, the sixth commandment, you shall not murder affects 
how men ought to think concerning other people. Zechariah 817, 
let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor 
and do not love a false oath. For all these are things that 
I hate, says the Lord. The law of God in the old covenant 
was never exhausted by a merely external compliance. The law 
of God has always caught to the very heart of man. Again, the 
psalmist said, I have seen the consummation of all perfection, 
but your commandments are exceedingly broad. You see, the scribes and 
the Pharisees put this commandment into a little box, and they delighted 
themselves that they were compliant. It didn't matter if they hated 
men. It didn't matter if they despised men. It didn't matter 
if they were angry with men without cause. As long as they didn't 
stop the breath of man, they satisfied themselves and contented 
themselves that they were, in fact, compliant with the law 
of God. Jesus says, no, you have heard 
that it was said that as long as you don't stop someone's heart, 
you have fulfilled the commandment. But I say to you, the commandment 
is exceedingly broad. It has a much deeper significance. It cuts to the very heart of 
mankind. One man says the law demanded 
inner sanctification and its outward expression. The scribes 
and Pharisees disregarded the former inner sanctification and 
they perverted the latter. And I wonder how many times we 
do the very same thing. Well, I don't kill anybody. I've 
never actually committed adultery. Our respect to the law only goes 
so far as our members are concerned. Well, if you're deluding yourself 
here this morning, listen to the language of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The law cuts deep. It defines 
not just the external circumstance or the external conduct, but 
it goes to the heart. If you harbor murder in your 
heart, if you engage in adultery in your heart, if you are a lustful 
man in your heart, the commandment finds you out. That's the emphasis 
that our Lord is driving at here. That's the effect that he wants 
to bring to his hearers. The righteousness and the scribes 
have this so-called appearance of being good. You got to remember 
the context. When Jesus says, unless your 
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you 
will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. I would imagine certain 
persons scratched their heads and said, what's he driving at? 
What's he getting at? Because the scribes and the Pharisees, 
they represent the religious ilk. They represent the really 
godly caste in society. Jesus says they're not godly. 
They're ungodly. They have only looked at the 
externals. They have neglected the very heart of the matter. 
That's why there's a contrast in this section. We've seen the 
contrast. We've seen the problem. Let's 
look thirdly at the correct interpretation. Jesus says that it goes deeper 
than the external act. First, he says there is a prohibition 
against unwarranted anger. Verse 22. But I say to you that 
whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger 
of the judgment. Some of your Bibles might get 
rid of without a cause. The concept is present, though. The language is in the New King 
James. The concept is certainly evident. 
Jesus himself was angry with the scribes and the Pharisees. 
It would be hard for us not to get angry when we read certain 
things going on in the news. It would be very difficult for 
us not to be angry when a severe injustice was done to either 
ourselves or someone that we love. He's talking about unwarranted, 
talking about an addictive spirit. He's talking about an ax to grind 
over nothing in particular, but everything in general. The Old 
Testament set this forth as well. We think Paul was was quoting 
in Ephesians 4 when he says, Be angry and do not sin. Do not 
let the sun go down on your wrath. He's quoting from Psalm 4. He's 
quoting from Psalm 37. The Proverbs are filled with 
a condemnation of the angry man. Why is that? Because he's a violator 
of the Sixth Commandment. He's got murder in his heart. 
He's got malice in his heart. He's an unrighteous man. Do not 
go with him. You see, the Scriptures set this 
forth clearly in the old covenant. But these men had misrepresented 
and misapplied it. As long as you have the external, 
it really doesn't matter what your heart looks like. That's 
not new. That's not elevated. Search me, 
O God. The man of God prays in the psalmist. 
Try me, test me. You only call upon God to search 
you out in the inner man. Of course, God sees everything. Of course, man sees everything. But he's crying out to God to 
search him in the inner man. The godly men of old always laid 
themselves bare before the internal nature of God's searching word. So prohibition against unwarranted 
anger, it is a violation of the Sixth Commandment. That puts 
some of us into a category that we need to take heed to. Anger, 
furiousness. The Proverbs says a furious man 
commits tons or lots of transgressions. We need to get a handle on that. 
We need to get a grip on that. We need by the Spirit to execute 
that particular deed of the body so that we might live. Why do 
we get so angry? What is it about this world that 
makes us so angry? Again, there are legitimate things. 
Somebody does a severe dishonor to you or disjustice or injustice 
or to you or your family. You know, there's an angry there. 
The psalmist said, indignation has taken hold of me because 
men do not keep your law. Again, Jesus coming into the 
temple and he saw them prostituting it, making it a place of money 
changing rather than a house of prayer. What did he do? Well, 
you know, guys, I think you should go out of here. You know, I just 
don't like what you're doing here. No, he drove them out. 
He flipped over the tables. There is a spot for righteous 
anger. When Phineas saw that Israelite, 
the Midianite woman, he didn't say, you know, you might want 
to take that somewhere else. He takes the javelin and he drives 
it through them both. And God commends him because 
he, Phineas, was zealous with God's zeal. For many of us, it's 
not righteous anger. For many of us, it is a rejection 
of the sovereignty of God. We get angry because we don't 
think God is doing His job. We get angry because we are not 
covering, we're not seeking to put to death that particular 
deed. And we're treating men as if 
they are just out of line to ever mess with someone like me. Isn't that what anger is? It's a rejection of the sovereignty 
of God. It's a bad estimation of oneself in this world. Think about it. Think about that. Why do you get angry? Because 
they dare to cross me. Quit taking yourself so seriously. 
You're a sinner. What do you deserve? Be thankful 
you're not in hell. Be thankful you're not suffering 
the effects, the sins that you've committed against God. This happens 
in the church, too. This led Paul to write in Ephesians 
and Colossians, forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave 
you. Forgive! The angry man holds 
sin. The angry man brings sin out. The angry man has a list of other 
people's offenses against him or her. He's not willing to let 
things go. He's not willing to let love 
cover it. He's not willing because he is 
more important than everybody else. Listen to the language 
of Jesus. I say to you that whoever is 
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of 
the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 
Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says you 
fool shall be in danger of hellfire. That brings us to a second application, 
a second piece of interpretation that the scribes and the Pharisees 
neglected. We'll call this the sin of character 
assassination. Again, Jesus at times referred 
to his enemies as fools. You might say to your son or 
your daughter, that was a foolish activity. Does that mean God 
is going to usher you right into hellfire? No, I think what Jesus 
is getting at here is a character assassination, a slander, an 
assault on his reputation, an assault on his character, an 
assault on who he is under God. That's what's going on, and I 
don't think there's a gradation here in terms of, if you're angry 
without a cause, danger of judgment. If you say to your brother, Rocca, 
then you'll be in danger of the council. But if you say you fool, 
you'll be in danger of hellfire. I don't think that's what's going 
on here. I think what Jesus is saying is the violation of God's 
law doesn't just usher us into the human court. The violation 
of God's law, even in its jots and in its kittles, in calling 
a man raka, or calling a man fool, ushers us into the very 
tribunal of God. Jesus will make this clear later 
in Matthew's Gospel. He says, on that day, men will 
give an account for every idle word. How much more character 
assassination. Raka means empty head. Namskol, 
we might say. Airhead. That one went around 
several years ago. Oh, you're a real airhead. You 
got nothing in there. Or we might use the long-lasting. 
These are all very specific translations of raka. It's from an Aramaic 
word meaning empty. We might use the long-lasting 
knucklehead. It's an attack upon a person's 
intellect. It's an attack with a view to 
hurt them. Your son might do something, 
you say, that was a knuckle-headed thing. I don't think that's what 
Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about character 
assassination of a brother. Fool. Again, you can't read the 
Proverbs without seeing that. You can't read Paul in Romans 
chapter 1 without reading that. You can't continue on in the 
sermon or in the Gospel of Matthew and not see Jesus call his opponents, 
you fools. There's times when that word 
is appropriate and fitting, but not to attack a man's reputation, 
not to assassinate him, not to tear him down. Spurgeon says 
to call a man rocker or worthless fellow is to kill them in his 
reputation. The Old Testament forbade this 
also. It wasn't OK under the Sixth 
Commandment. As long as you didn't execute 
or you didn't put to death your brother, you could call him names. 
You could ruin his reputation. You could bring a dispersion 
upon him. That was not legit. In describing 
the godly man of Psalm 15, we see just the opposite. He doesn't 
do that. He doesn't slander. He doesn't 
destroy. In the book of Proverbs, we see 
that reputation matters. So we sometimes tell young people 
and young women, your reputation matters. What people think concerning 
you matters. You don't just say, well, I don't 
care what anybody thinks. That's not what God says. You 
ought to care what people think. You ought to give consideration 
to your own reputation. But as well, the Christian church 
ought to respect the reputation of others. What was a principle 
embedded in God's holy law? It's two or three witnesses when 
you receive an accusation in a criminal matter. Why is that? Because a man's reputation is 
at stake. Why not bear false witness? Because 
a man's reputation is at stake. Why does Solomon in Proverbs 
18 says, he who answers a matter before he hears it, it is a shame 
and folly to him. Why is that? because you don't 
have enough information to make a calculated response. You may 
think you know it all. You may think you're omniscient. 
You may think that you are comprehensive in your ability to rightly cut 
through a particular trial or turmoil in someone's life. But 
Solomon says, if you answer a matter before you hear it, it's folly 
and shame. What's another principle Solomon 
sets forth, again, in this area of character and reputation? The first one to plead his cause 
seems right, doesn't he? Might happen in the church. Oh, 
did you know that so-and-so does this? Did you know that so-and-so 
goes there? Did you know that so-and-so has 
engaged in such-and-such an activity? And you've condemned that person. 
They're raka and fool in your mind. Solomon doesn't stop there. The first one to plead his cause 
seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. There's 
two sides. What do you think undergirds 
these specific applications that the moral principle do not murder? You're murdering the man. You're 
destroying the man. You're committing atrocities 
against the man. And Jesus says, you must not 
do that. The sixth word has always penetrated 
into these matters. And just because the scribes 
and the Pharisees walk around with their big noses looking 
down on everybody else and say, well, we're law keepers, he says, 
don't you believe it? Don't you believe it? Unless 
your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Spurgeon 
again says, thus our Lord and King restores the law of God 
to its true force and warns us that it denounces not only the 
overactive killing, but every thought, feeling and word which 
would tend to injure a brother or annihilate him by content. Certainly, this is what John 
has in mind in 1 John 3 15. He says whoever hates his brother 
is a murderer. And you know that no murderer 
has eternal life abiding in him. So the scribes and Pharisees 
said, as long as you don't stop someone's heart or as long as 
you don't do that, you won't be in danger of the judgment. 
Jesus says, no. Not only don't stop people's 
hearts. I mean, it certainly does mean 
that, too. Don't ruin their lives. Don't jeopardize their reputation. 
Don't call them Raqqa. Don't call them fool. Don't assassinate 
their character. And you need to know something 
else that these scribes and Pharisees haven't told you. The prohibition 
against murder, yes, calls you into criminal court, the violation 
of it. But you need to be concerned 
about hellfire. Jesus mentions this several times in Matthew's 
Gospel. It's a reference to Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom. The 
Valley of Hinnom was a place in the Old Testament where the 
faithless went to worship Molech. They would engage in the barbaric 
atrocities of human sacrifice, giving their children in the 
arms of Molech, and they would drop down into the flames and 
die. It was a place of human sacrifice, 
a place of abomination. It became, over time, a garbage 
dump. It became, over time, a place, 
even with smoldering fires, where they would take the rubbish and 
throw it into the Valley of Hinnom. By the time of the first century, 
it became symbolic of eschatological judgment. So that Jesus says, 
when you do this, when you say raka, or you say ful, and you 
disregard or set apart the very sixth commandment, you are in 
danger not just of a human tribunal, but of God's tribunal, and your 
punishment is going to be like unto Gehenna itself. Hell is 
the final portion of the law. of those who engage in these 
sorts of things. Murray says the effect, in summary, 
of what Jesus says is that if a contemptuous word is worthy 
of hellfire, how much more must the actual murder be? And the 
total effect of Jesus' emphasis is that murder has its fountain 
in the malice of the heart and has its judicial issue in the 
blackness of darkness forever. That's what Jesus is saying. 
He's not elevating the law. He's not heightening the law. 
He's not saying I'm a new covenant theologian and I'm going to do 
something heretofore never seen before in redemptive history. 
He's not saying I'm a dispensationalist and everything I say applies 
to the millennial kingdom. That's not what Jesus is doing. 
Jesus is clearing away the muck. Jesus is clearing away the fog. 
that through scribal and pharisaic misinterpreted interpretation 
had attached itself to the Sixth Commandment. You've heard that 
it was said, but I say to you, listen to Christ, listen to the 
Lord Jesus, listen to him as Calvin says, as a faithful expounder. Don't think that as long as you 
don't kill your neighbor, murder your neighbor, you're OK. Certainly, 
this was behind the rich young ruler as well. He misunderstood 
this also. All these I have kept from my 
youth." Not murdering? You were never angry with anybody? 
Never unwarranted anger? You've never called anyone rocker? 
You've never called anyone fool? You've never violated this precept? 
Really? Seriously? How many of us right 
now can say, oh yeah, I'm guiltless? Really? Never unwarranted anger? Never character assassination? 
Never in your mind figured someone as raka and fool because they 
dare cross you, or because you got half a story, or a quarter 
percent of a story. You've written them off as godless, 
heathen, savage, wretched, barbaric. Really? Are you guiltless? We'll 
see a quote from Ryle when we conclude today. Ryle said, who 
can plead not guilty to breaking this commandment? You see, if 
all you have to think about is the external, if all you have 
to do with is the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, 
then you don't worry about it. But if you listen to the faithful 
expounder, the one who does not cease from presenting the jots 
and the tittles until heaven and earth pass away, then you 
ought to be afraid. You ought to be very afraid. 
Because this commandment cuts to the heart each and every one 
of us. And then notice, not only is 
there a prohibition against unwarranted anger, there is a prohibition 
against character assassination. Jesus now gives two illustrations 
on the necessity of reconciliation. I think it's masterful what Christ 
does, not that he needs me to think it's masterful. Reconciliation 
is the antidote to anger, isn't it? Isn't it? I'm angry with that 
person. Go to him. I'm angry with these circumstances. Embrace them, confront them, 
and deal with them. I think that's the thrust in 
Leviticus 19. You shall not hate your brother 
in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your 
neighbor and not bear sin because of him. What's the flaw? Don't 
hate him in your heart. Deal with him. Go to him. Be faithful. Don't avoid him. 
Don't change churches. Don't change jobs. Don't change 
families. Man up and deal with him. It's 
the thrust of God's holy law. So, Jesus shows that reconciliation 
is the antidote to anger. He gives two concrete illustrations. First, in dealing with a brother, 
and then dealing with an adversary, probably a legal adversary. By 
virtue of the way that he describes the situation, it has to do with 
money. And I think these illustrations 
are brilliant for this particular point. Most of us as Christians, 
Don't struggle with actually wanting to end people's lives. 
Now, maybe you've got that in your heart. Pray about it. Take 
it to the Lord in prayer. But for most rank and file, garden 
variety Christians, though there might be outbursts of anger, 
though there is remaining corruption, we don't generally plot the demise 
and the end of people's lives. You're all looking puzzled. I 
hope you're with me here, OK? If I find out you're really plotting 
the death of people, that's not good. Please. But for the garden variety, we 
don't. You probably don't have someone's 
picture on your back door, and you're marking it up, and you're 
counting the days. You've got hash marks until you 
take them out. But you know what we're all guilty 
of? It's a failure. to deal with issues. A failure to resolve and reconcile 
problems. It's brilliant. Christ understands 
most kingdom citizens. I'd like to say all, but I'm 
not on mission. Most kingdom citizens don't struggle 
with wanting to end people's lives. Most Pharisees didn't struggle 
with wanting to end people's lives. But a common variety and 
a common thread in all of our hearts, which is a violation 
of the sixth word, is not reconciling when we're at odds with someone 
else. That's the flow. That's what 
he's doing. He's illustrating. He's giving 
concrete expression to the sixth commandment as it affects us. as it deals with us, as it is 
those who are described in the Beatitudes, those who are light 
and those who are salt, those who are seeking by the grace 
of God that inner sanctification in its outward expression. That's 
who he's saying, that's who he's remedying, or this is who he's 
applying this to. Notice first illustration, verse 
23. Therefore, if you bring your 
gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something 
against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go 
your way. First be reconciled to your brother 
and then come and offer your gift. We need to remember where 
Jesus is for us to feel the import of his words here. He's in Galilee. Where do you lay a gift before 
the altar at this time? You do that in Jerusalem. A couple 
times a year, the faithful Israelites would go to Jerusalem with their 
sacrifices in tow to lay them before the altar. You see what 
Jesus envisages here. He says, you brought your animal 
to the altar. You're in Jerusalem. And there 
you remember, not that you have a problem with your brother, 
but that your brother may possibly have a problem with you. Notice 
it's not confirmed one way or the other. Could be the case 
that this guy offering the sacrifice go back and the brother said, 
no, I don't have a problem with you. Now, the geography is important 
for this very reason. Galilee is 80 miles from Jerusalem. So, roughly the distance between 
here and Vancouver. So, if you come in the morning 
to present your altar or gift at the altar here in Chilliwack, 
and dare you remember that someone in Vancouver has a problem with 
you, first go and be reconciled to him. Now, notice, not take 
your SUV. Turn on the AC, put on sermon 
whatever, and enjoy your ride. What's Jesus saying? Reconciliation 
is that important. You get the point? You feel him? You understand what he's saying? Do not think that the worship 
of the triune God is a small thing. And do not think that 
your horizontal relationships have no bearing on your worship 
of the triune God. In other words, you can't bring 
glory to God, you can't bring honor to God, you can't exalt 
God, and He will not be pleased with your sacrifice if you knowingly 
have a problem with a brother and you don't go reconcile. Deal 
with it. Fix it. The language is conspicuous. There, if you bring your gift 
to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something 
against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go 
your way. First be reconciled to your brother 
and then come and offer your gift. You see, God wants us to 
walk humbly before him, but he also wants us to do justly and 
mercifully with people. You see, the way that we live 
horizontally affects the way that we worship vertically. And if we come into this place 
with grudges, we come into this place with a hand grasped around 
a particular issue that we're unwilling to deal with, we're 
unwilling to part with, not only is God not accepting that and 
our worship will be in vain, but it is a violation of the 
sixth commandment. You shall not murder. You see, if you were the scribes 
and Pharisees, as long as you didn't run someone over with 
your car on the way to church, you were fine. God knows us better. God understands 
us. God realizes that a failure to 
reconcile with a brother is a breach of that sixth word spoken at 
Sinai. You shall not murder. You shall 
not hate your brother in your heart. You deal with it. You go first. You walk from Chilliwack 
to Vancouver. You find that brother and you 
say, brother, please forgive me. I have sinned against you. I have violated God's law. I 
have done what is evil in your sight. Please forgive me. He's 
a brother. He will forgive you. And then 
you walk the 80 miles back. and you present your sacrifice 
or your gift at the altar. So, the necessity of reconciliation 
is seen first with brethren and secondly with adversaries. There 
are some particulars of verses 25 and 26 that are a bit difficult. 
Some get from 25 and 26 the doctrine of purgatory. Some get from 25 
and 26 the only method for dealing with civil disputes. I don't 
think either one of those touched the mark. I think Jesus says, 
with your brothers be reconciled, with your adversaries be reconciled. That's the point of 25 and 26. 
Do it quickly. On the way to the courtroom. 
Saddle. Reconcile. Be at peace with all 
men, as far as it depends on you. Paul will say in Romans 
12. Hebrews 12, same thing, be at peace with all men or pursue 
peace with all men and the holiness without which no one will see 
the Lord. Not just your brothers whom you need to be concerned 
about, it's your adversaries, the enemies. This does not exhaust practical 
advice given for legal disputes, nor does it teach the doctrine 
of purgatory. Rather, I believe the message 
is simple and the message is clear. Do not let bad relationships 
remain unresolved. Because if we take that bad relationship 
and we unravel through all the circumstances and we follow it 
down to your heart, the problem is the sixth word. Calvin describes 
it this way. I think he's bang on. He says, 
for whence come all injuries but from this. that each person 
is too tenacious of his own rights. That is, each is too much disposed 
to consult his own convenience to the disadvantage of others. 
Almost all are so blinded by a wicked love of themselves that, 
even in the worst causes, they flatter themselves that they 
are in the right. I've said it before, and I've 
probably done it to a fault. But brethren, there's something 
more virtuous about falling on your sword than poking everybody 
else with it. Bear with one another. Forbear 
with one another. What's the pressure? What's the 
thrust of the Scripture? It is do not insist on your own 
rights. Give preference to others. For whence come all injuries? 
It really bothers me when people put down John Calvin. It makes 
me angry. You can smile. It makes me fight 
mad. He's seen as this theology machine 
that only waxed eloquent on predestination and reprobation and things that 
most Christians hate. They fail to see Pastor John 
Calvin say these gems that pierce to the heart. Whence come all 
injuries but from this, that each person is too tenacious 
of his own rights. Now again, this is general. If 
somebody does you a severe injustice, the Bible speaks to ways to deal 
with it in this context. He says that is each is too much 
disposed to consult his own convenience to the disadvantage of others. 
Almost all are so blinded by a wicked love of themselves that 
even in the worst causes, they flatter themselves that they 
are in the right. Now, I didn't come saying, oh, 
you've got this problem. When I read Calvin there, I see 
Jim Butler. I hope if that shoe fits, you see yourself. Of course, 
you can see Jim Butler in there, too. That's fine. You're welcome 
to do that. But please take to heed what 
our good brother says. So you see what Christ does, 
the contrast. You've heard that it was said. 
And this was rabbinic. This was technique. The Talmud 
is full of this, quoting rabbis and rabbis and rabbis. You have 
heard that it was said, Rabbi this said this, Rabbi this said 
this, Rabbi this said this. It was a convention that was 
well used at the time of Christ. You've heard that it was said. 
It's a rabbi, he's a teacher, he's an instructor, he's using 
the convention. But I say to you, clearing away 
that misinterpretation, clearing away that misapplication. He 
highlights the problem. As long as you think you have 
not murdered somebody physically, you'll not stand in the judgment. 
It's good as far as it goes, but I say to you, you're angry 
without cause. You call your brother, Raqqa, 
a fool. You assassinate his character. 
These things are true of you. You are as guilty of the Sixth 
Commandment or violating the Sixth Commandment as Charles 
Manson is. And you will not just be ushered 
into the human tribunal. You will stand before God Most 
High, and He will send you into a hell of fire for your crimes 
against Him in terms of the Sixth Commandment. That's what Christ 
is doing here. Two illustrations to close it. 
Two illustrations to give concrete expression with your brethren. 
You go to worship, go deal with Him first. With your adversary, 
settle on the way to the courtroom. Don't get up there and tie up 
the taxpayers' money. Don't get up there and tie up 
everything because you insist on your rights. Let it go. Pay what you owe and go. We learn from this study. First, 
the comprehensive nature of the law of God. If you're not a Christian, 
you ought to be shivering at this point. Not because it's 
cold in here, but because you're terrified. You ought to be terrified 
that God not only looks on your external conduct, but He looks 
at the motivation of your heart. He looks and sees if there's 
unwarranted anger. He looks and sees if you assassinate 
people's characters. He looks and sees if you hold 
tenaciously to your own rights without ever giving preference 
to anyone else. You ought to be afraid that the psalmist was 
able to say, I have seen the consummation of all perfection, 
but your commandment is exceedingly Secondly, not only do we learn 
the comprehensive nature of the law of God, we learn something 
about God Himself. Remember when Isaiah is given 
that view of the throne room. What does he see? He sees the 
Lord high and lifted up. He sees the train of His robe 
filling that place. And he hears the cry of the angels, 
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is 
filled with His glory. E.J. Young says it is continual. 
It is antiphonal praise, back and forth, from angel to angel, 
singing the holiness of God Most High. That's the God of the Sixth 
Commandment. That's the God with whom we have 
to do. The scribes and Pharisees were content with a little God. 
Their only concern with policing the outward, conduct. The God 
of heaven and earth is huge. He's massive. He's glorious. 
He's wondrous. And His commandment is exceedingly 
broad because it typifies, it exemplifies, it illustrates and 
demonstrates the very character of God. He's holy. He's glorious. He's wondrous. Thirdly, we learn the sinfulness 
of man. The sinfulness of man. The fact 
that Jesus has to speak to these things indicates presence, right? No superfluous commands in the 
Bible. I heard a man once preach on 
sexual sin. He said it ought to make us hang 
our head in shame that God has to speak against bestiality. 
It ought to make us hang our head in shame that God has to 
legislate against that particular crime. Does it indicate that God speaks 
to it? It indicates its presence. And when Jesus here begins to 
correctly interpret the law and apply it, he goes for the spiritual 
juggler. He goes for those areas that 
we struggle in. He goes for those areas that 
we are guilty of unwarranted anger, rock a fool, not reconciling 
with a brother. not reconciling with an adversary, 
not dealing faithfully and openly and honestly. This demonstrates 
to us the sinfulness of man. Fourthly, it should then demonstrate 
the necessity of the Redeemer. Remember the threefold use of 
God's law. Political or civil, it restrains 
wickedness. Pedagogical, it drives us to 
Christ. It defines for us how we are 
to live according to the rule of life, which is God's law. 
Look at the pedagogy of this. As I said, Ryle comments, says 
this, it teaches us our exceeding need of the Lord Jesus Christ's 
atoning blood to save us. What man or woman upon earth 
can ever stand before God such as this and plead not guilty? Without a mighty mediator, we 
should everyone be condemned in the judgment. Ignorance of 
the real meaning of the law is one plain reason why so many 
do not value the gospel and content themselves with a little formal 
Christianity. They do not see the strictness 
and holiness of God's Ten Commandments. If they did, they would never 
rest till they were saved in Christ. I say amen to the Bishop 
of Liverpool. I say amen to the pressure of 
Holy Scripture. That law of God exposes you for 
what you are. That sixth word correctly interpreted 
and correctly applied finds you out. It is, as it were, God's 
flamethrower to blast you out of your haunts. Penetrate to 
the very core of your being. You cannot sit here this morning 
in good conscience before a holy God and say, I've never violated 
at any of those points. You're guilty, vile, helpless. Take Ryle's counsel. Find safety in Christ. There's one who came into this 
world who never said fool Raphael with the intent of destroying 
man's character. There's one who came into this 
world who never engaged in unwarranted anger. There's only one who came 
into this world who never committed murder externally or in his heart. And that one is the mighty mediator 
of whom Ryle speaks here. It is Jesus. He is the one to 
whom we must flee. He is the one to whom we must 
find refuge. It is Christ and His gospel that 
bids sinners, guilty of breaking the sixth commandment, come unto 
me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. The law ought to show us our 
need for Christ. The law ought to drive us into 
the very lap of sovereign mercy. It ought to drive us to the Lord 
Jesus. And when, by God's grace, we've 
come, Jesus sends us back to Sinai, sends us back to this 
sixth word and says, go out and live this way. Don't be a vindictive, 
tenacious little wretch that always demands his own rights 
and prerogatives are met. But rather, rather, take the 
sixth word and make it your delight in the inner man. Because that 
is pleasing in God's sight. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you for the Sixth 
Commandment. We confess our sins in transgressing 
it. We confess collectively, Lord, 
that we have insisted upon things that are not righteous. We have 
been angry in our hearts without warrants. We have said raka. 
We have said fool. We have not reconciled with brethren 
or adversaries. We cast that upon the blood of 
the Lord Jesus, and pray that you would wash us and cleanse 
us. And we pray, God in heaven, that we would be like David, 
who delighted in the law of God, to be like Paul, who delights 
in the law and the inner man. Father, we just praise you for 
that word, that exceedingly broad commandment, and we pray that 
you would give us wisdom in our studies and grace and the Spirit 
to apply these things. For those who do not know you, 
God, we pray that the law would have its killing effect that 
the law would come as great thunder and lightning from Sinai and 
show men and women and boys and girls their need for the refuge, 
their need for the Lord Jesus, that crucified and risen Savior 
that is able to bring pardon and able to give righteousness. 
And we pray in Christ's holy name. Amen.