Matthew 5 – Part 17 – WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH SWEARING? EVERYONE DOES IT!
Why is the F*** word and and the Sh** word used so freely today? Jesus doesn’t directly include this in what He says about oaths in Matthew 5 but it is there by way of application and other passages enlarge on this area of sin, so I am taking a detour. The spirit of what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:33-37 is “watch how you speak. Don’t use God’s name as a swearword because God says there are consequences to doing that. It is unnecessary and it is so dishonouring to God. In fact speak and act with integrity.”
My mother speaks of times when her mother would wash her mouth out with soap in an effort to get across the filthiness of the way her children cursed or used their words to lie about things. Imagine the fuss if we were to bring that back into practice! Sometimes when I hear young people speak to eachother I’d love to give it a try.
Listen to what Romans 3:10-18 (NLT) says,
“As the Scriptures say,…“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” … “They have no fear of God at all.””
People who constantly say “Oh my God” still make me cringe as they bring God into the conversation in the most unGodly ways, and “Christ” is just a swearword or curse or slangword. I so find that so difficult to listen to.
Christians can be just as crass as unbelievers at times. I am surprised by young people who see nothing wrong with using language that speaks about the privacy of the sexual act in a such a common way and with such disregard. I am equally surprised at so called mature Christians who speak about excrement in the foulest of ways. How gross is such language and why would we want it to be so common by using it in everyday speech?
Sometimes, if you took away the swearwords, I wonder what kind of vocabulary would be left. Some people would find it difficult to talk at all.
Let me say this to Christians who don’t get it about swearing, and don’t dismiss this as the ravings of an old man - apart from showing no consideration to others, your cursing shows that you have a real problem with what you think is acceptable to God. It shows how thoughtless, insensitive and selfish you are to others. It shows you are unwilling to stand up and be counted when you are called to live as Salt and Light (See my previous blog about what it means to be Salt). You just want to be part of the crowd and blend in with a culture of crude talk. Crass language also shows how hard your heart is towards God and how much disregard you have for what He has to say. It is foolishness and a sure indication of depraved thinking that has no place in your life. You are worth more than this! Cursing certainly doesn’t have it’s basis in anything that is Godly! It is an indication of salt mixed with dirt that has lost all usefulness to God.
There, I’ve said it! And don’t pass it off too quickly! Please. I really care enough about you to say the tough things as well. Look at what God has to say about it in the Bible.
James 3:8-9 (NLT) says “but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.”
I am surprised constantly by the way in which we speak to eachother, husbands and wives particularly. James is right, “Who can tame the tongue?” The answer to that is that only Jesus can tame the tongue, if we respect what He says and live our lives in tune with Him.
God bless you Church as you “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6 (NIV))
Pastor Ross
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Matthew 5 - Part 16 - GOD WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY, SO LET'S GET A DIVORCE!
Matthew 5 - Part 16 - GOD WANTS US TO BE HAPPY, SO WHY DON'T WE GET DIVORCED?
Years ago, Julie and I began to have difficulty in our marriage. I was spending all my time pastoring a small Church and our relationship was being neglected. It suffered to the point where I needed to take time out of ministry and we needed to do some repair work. That was a major decision and we know what it's like to go through the difficult process, the road less travelled, of restoring that which has been lost, and for me, of learning what it means to be a better husband. It's horrible at first, but when we made that choice, at the end of the day we are still married and I have an even better relationship with Julie than I had before. God is so good!
I am always disturbed when Christians take the dreadful step of divorce. If Christians can't make their marriages work, who can? My heart breaks for them because they have usually left it too late before they come for counselling. Christians like to hide the fact that their marriages aren't working, especially at Church. By the time they do come, they simply want to justify their decision. They tell me things like "God would not want me to live the rest of my life with someone I don't love, would He?" or "God wouldn't want me to be so unhappy?" I tell them as best I can that there is more to a marriage than an emotion of self centred well-being, but that doesn't always go down that well!
Now I know it's not simply a matter of, as one person put it, "being married but not engaged". That's worse still! But when a couple divorces, it is heartbreaking to see the aftermath of hurt and devastation which touches the lives of their children for years to come, and the legal and emotional battles that are fought to break that covenant. By the time you are divorced, you have had to violate a number of very binding promises you have made before God and eachother. That alone has devastating and lasting consequences for us emotionally, socially and spiritually - in every way. It is no wonder that God says "For I hate divorce!" says the Lord, ... "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,...so guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife." (Malachi 2:16 (NLT))
In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching His disciples some leadership principles on the mountain, preparing them for ministry and all of a sudden He comes up with radical new ways of interpreting the topic of DIVORCE. It is so radical that even many Christians today ignore it! Jesus makes the outrageous claim that "a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery." (Matthew 5:32).
Are we to take Him literally? YES!!!
Now notice that Jesus has just finished speaking about ADULTERY and now he speaks about DIVORCE. The two things are so often related. He says Adultery is more than the actual sexual act. He is more concerned about the thought life that gives rise to Adultery and says that lust is already an act of adultery. Then He speaks about the real meaning of divorce.
The horrible thing about adultery is that it breaks the connection between husband and wife. The covenant relationship along with faithfulness, hopes for the future, love for eachother, and trust are all broken. If you are Christians, then the physical, emotional, AND SPIRITUAL connections are broken (Matthew 19:5-6).
So what do we get from all this? First of all God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) Divorce is permitted when Adultery has taken place, but the reason it is permitted is for the protection of the innocent party due to the sin of the other party. Sin always gets in the way of enjoying what God wants for us. Divorce is only permitted because of sin and is not a part of God's original plan for our marriages.
Jesus said in Matthew 19:8, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended"
Unless there is unfaithfulness in the marriage, as a Christian, God expects that you will have the same attitude toward divorce as He does, and you will see it as a violation of His expressed purpose for your marriage.
Divorce in the case of adultery means that the innocent party no longer has to remain trapped in a hopeless and intolerable situation. Remarriage is permitted for the innocent person, and I use the term "innocent" as referring to the one who has not committed adultery. Jesus may permit divorce in these limited circumstances but never commands divorce. God shows clearly in Hosea 1-3 that a wife who has committed adultery can be forgiven and restored. I presume this applies to a husband as well.
Where a divorce is not because of adultery or because an unbeliever initiates the divorce, the Bible says there can be, and we are to seek, reconciliation, or else remain unmarried. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 says, "A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife." When you get a divorce where no adultery took place, then in God's eyes you are still married. Marrying someone else means that you place yourself in a position of committing adultery, because God doesn't recognise the validity of the divorce unless adultery took place. That's how specific the Bible is about marriage and divorce.
Now, let's get rid of the legal side and speak about hope for marriages.
When someone receives Christ as their Lord and Saviour, it means you begin a new life. According to John 3 you are born again and in 2 Corinthians 5:17, a genuine Christian has become a "new creature". It means that it is not only possible but necessary to live out what God has revealed about marriage and divorce from the point of his or her relationship with Christ. Marriage, after all is a beautiful picture of the relationship of Christ and His Church.
"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
Someone said "This does not mean that Christ immediately erases painful memories, bad habits or the underlying causes for past marital problems, but that He begins a process of transformation through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. A sign of becoming a Christian will be a willingness to obey what Christ has revealed about marriage and divorce through the Word of God."
What am I saying in all this?
Seek to honour Christ in your life and in all your relationships and mostly in your marriage. I read somewhere that we need to be careful what you let into our senses--what we see, what we hear, and where we go. Whatever we allow in our minds is going to have a great impact on us. Pray for purity. Avoid potentially tempting situations, like travelling alone, or going to places alone where you will be vulnerable. Stay accountable to your spouse and build your marriage.
God bless you Church as you treasure the marriages you have and as you take the road less travelled to find the answers you need to have a great marriage.
Years ago, Julie and I began to have difficulty in our marriage. I was spending all my time pastoring a small Church and our relationship was being neglected. It suffered to the point where I needed to take time out of ministry and we needed to do some repair work. That was a major decision and we know what it's like to go through the difficult process, the road less travelled, of restoring that which has been lost, and for me, of learning what it means to be a better husband. It's horrible at first, but when we made that choice, at the end of the day we are still married and I have an even better relationship with Julie than I had before. God is so good!
I am always disturbed when Christians take the dreadful step of divorce. If Christians can't make their marriages work, who can? My heart breaks for them because they have usually left it too late before they come for counselling. Christians like to hide the fact that their marriages aren't working, especially at Church. By the time they do come, they simply want to justify their decision. They tell me things like "God would not want me to live the rest of my life with someone I don't love, would He?" or "God wouldn't want me to be so unhappy?" I tell them as best I can that there is more to a marriage than an emotion of self centred well-being, but that doesn't always go down that well!
Now I know it's not simply a matter of, as one person put it, "being married but not engaged". That's worse still! But when a couple divorces, it is heartbreaking to see the aftermath of hurt and devastation which touches the lives of their children for years to come, and the legal and emotional battles that are fought to break that covenant. By the time you are divorced, you have had to violate a number of very binding promises you have made before God and eachother. That alone has devastating and lasting consequences for us emotionally, socially and spiritually - in every way. It is no wonder that God says "For I hate divorce!" says the Lord, ... "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,...so guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife." (Malachi 2:16 (NLT))
In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching His disciples some leadership principles on the mountain, preparing them for ministry and all of a sudden He comes up with radical new ways of interpreting the topic of DIVORCE. It is so radical that even many Christians today ignore it! Jesus makes the outrageous claim that "a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery." (Matthew 5:32).
Are we to take Him literally? YES!!!
Now notice that Jesus has just finished speaking about ADULTERY and now he speaks about DIVORCE. The two things are so often related. He says Adultery is more than the actual sexual act. He is more concerned about the thought life that gives rise to Adultery and says that lust is already an act of adultery. Then He speaks about the real meaning of divorce.
The horrible thing about adultery is that it breaks the connection between husband and wife. The covenant relationship along with faithfulness, hopes for the future, love for eachother, and trust are all broken. If you are Christians, then the physical, emotional, AND SPIRITUAL connections are broken (Matthew 19:5-6).
So what do we get from all this? First of all God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) Divorce is permitted when Adultery has taken place, but the reason it is permitted is for the protection of the innocent party due to the sin of the other party. Sin always gets in the way of enjoying what God wants for us. Divorce is only permitted because of sin and is not a part of God's original plan for our marriages.
Jesus said in Matthew 19:8, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended"
Unless there is unfaithfulness in the marriage, as a Christian, God expects that you will have the same attitude toward divorce as He does, and you will see it as a violation of His expressed purpose for your marriage.
Divorce in the case of adultery means that the innocent party no longer has to remain trapped in a hopeless and intolerable situation. Remarriage is permitted for the innocent person, and I use the term "innocent" as referring to the one who has not committed adultery. Jesus may permit divorce in these limited circumstances but never commands divorce. God shows clearly in Hosea 1-3 that a wife who has committed adultery can be forgiven and restored. I presume this applies to a husband as well.
Where a divorce is not because of adultery or because an unbeliever initiates the divorce, the Bible says there can be, and we are to seek, reconciliation, or else remain unmarried. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 says, "A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife." When you get a divorce where no adultery took place, then in God's eyes you are still married. Marrying someone else means that you place yourself in a position of committing adultery, because God doesn't recognise the validity of the divorce unless adultery took place. That's how specific the Bible is about marriage and divorce.
Now, let's get rid of the legal side and speak about hope for marriages.
When someone receives Christ as their Lord and Saviour, it means you begin a new life. According to John 3 you are born again and in 2 Corinthians 5:17, a genuine Christian has become a "new creature". It means that it is not only possible but necessary to live out what God has revealed about marriage and divorce from the point of his or her relationship with Christ. Marriage, after all is a beautiful picture of the relationship of Christ and His Church.
"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
Someone said "This does not mean that Christ immediately erases painful memories, bad habits or the underlying causes for past marital problems, but that He begins a process of transformation through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. A sign of becoming a Christian will be a willingness to obey what Christ has revealed about marriage and divorce through the Word of God."
What am I saying in all this?
Seek to honour Christ in your life and in all your relationships and mostly in your marriage. I read somewhere that we need to be careful what you let into our senses--what we see, what we hear, and where we go. Whatever we allow in our minds is going to have a great impact on us. Pray for purity. Avoid potentially tempting situations, like travelling alone, or going to places alone where you will be vulnerable. Stay accountable to your spouse and build your marriage.
God bless you Church as you treasure the marriages you have and as you take the road less travelled to find the answers you need to have a great marriage.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Matthew 5 - Part 15 - SEX, ADULTERY, LUST AND GOUGIN YOUR EYE OUT!
Matthew 5 - Part 15 - SEX, ADULTERY, LUST AND GOUGING YOUR EYE OUT!
Too often when Julie and I watch a movie, I am forced to turn it off or over because of the coarse nature of the movie, particularly relating to the sex scenes. It is taken for granted that sex is a necessary part of most movies. I disagree! I don’t need to watch simulated sex between two people in my living room! I notice that although I make an active choice to turn the channel over or turn the movie off, that there is something inside me that would like to entertain watching a little bit longer. I know it would be wrong, but the desire is there. Jesus is not afraid to confront the big issues of men’s lives, like sex and our thought lives. He verbalizes what we know to be true...
"You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28 (NASB))
I notice when Jesus confronts me, He goes for the heart. He addresses the core issues that I face in my thought life.
All around me I see that adultery causes such devastation and hurt in a marriage, and so often leads to the end of a marriage, and as a Christian man I agree that I don’t want to be involved in adultery, yet I am amazed at what I am capable of tolerating in my life unless I actively choose to deal with it. I need to be vigilant in this important area.
Jesus tells His disciples at the outset of ministry that purity is essential. He uses language that is forceful and exaggerated to get his point across to a group of fishermen who may well have been used to coarse jokes and lack of boundaries concerning women. He says in Matthew 5:29-30 (NASB) "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
OK, so how gross is this picture? Sure, He’s not being literal but don’t water this down! This is important! Decide ahead of time not to feed lust! Jesus is saying that what we focus on determines our actions. Jokes, movies, and magazines can give our senses permission to feed lust.
Jesus is using what we call graphic hyperbole (obvious and intentional exaggeration) to get His point across. Obviously, Jesus is not advocating self mutilation to deal with lust. That would not actually solve the problem of a man’s thoughts anyway. So what is He saying to me and you? He is saying "Deal with the cause! Focus your attention on other things that don’t feed lust. Take whatever action is necessary so that you don’t stumble in this area. Don’t indulge sinful patterns of thinking." Such thinking inevitably chooses inappropriate behaviour which can lead to the devastating consequences of adultery.
So does this mean if I think of a woman in the wrong way, then I’ll go to hell? Jesus is associating such behaviour and thinking as sin and all sin is deserving of hell and continuing to feed lust is behaviour that belongs to someone who does not have a personal relationship with Christ in the first place.
Jesus isn’t saying sex is sinful or wrong. The Bible speaks about marriage from the beginning and encourages Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply" so God invites them to have sex. How do I commit adultery? I mean I know how, but what I’m getting at is that our definition is too restricted. According to Jesus it happens as I look at a woman with lust in my heart, not just the act having sex with someone elses wife. Sex outside marriage is obviously wrong and lustful thoughts, according to Jesus, are already tainted by the sin of adultery!
James 1:14-15 (NASB) says "... each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."
So how do I win the battle over lust? I do whatever is necessary! It might mean staying away from certain places, or certain people. It might mean refusing certain social functions where I know the conversations will be suggestive. It might mean excusing myself and showing others by example that I don’t approve of suggestive jokes and conversations that lead to lust.
It will be determined by what I focus on. Philippians 4:8 (NASB) says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
2 Cor. 10:5 says "we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"
Jesus says what the heart focuses on determines how I will live.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 (NASB) makes God’s perspective crystal clear.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you."
One final thing - I need to admit to God what happens in my heart when I go wrong, and repent when I find myself drawn into the area of lust.
God bless you Church as you put Galatians 5:16 (NIV) into practise and as you "... live by the Spirit, ... you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Too often when Julie and I watch a movie, I am forced to turn it off or over because of the coarse nature of the movie, particularly relating to the sex scenes. It is taken for granted that sex is a necessary part of most movies. I disagree! I don’t need to watch simulated sex between two people in my living room! I notice that although I make an active choice to turn the channel over or turn the movie off, that there is something inside me that would like to entertain watching a little bit longer. I know it would be wrong, but the desire is there. Jesus is not afraid to confront the big issues of men’s lives, like sex and our thought lives. He verbalizes what we know to be true...
"You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28 (NASB))
I notice when Jesus confronts me, He goes for the heart. He addresses the core issues that I face in my thought life.
All around me I see that adultery causes such devastation and hurt in a marriage, and so often leads to the end of a marriage, and as a Christian man I agree that I don’t want to be involved in adultery, yet I am amazed at what I am capable of tolerating in my life unless I actively choose to deal with it. I need to be vigilant in this important area.
Jesus tells His disciples at the outset of ministry that purity is essential. He uses language that is forceful and exaggerated to get his point across to a group of fishermen who may well have been used to coarse jokes and lack of boundaries concerning women. He says in Matthew 5:29-30 (NASB) "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
OK, so how gross is this picture? Sure, He’s not being literal but don’t water this down! This is important! Decide ahead of time not to feed lust! Jesus is saying that what we focus on determines our actions. Jokes, movies, and magazines can give our senses permission to feed lust.
Jesus is using what we call graphic hyperbole (obvious and intentional exaggeration) to get His point across. Obviously, Jesus is not advocating self mutilation to deal with lust. That would not actually solve the problem of a man’s thoughts anyway. So what is He saying to me and you? He is saying "Deal with the cause! Focus your attention on other things that don’t feed lust. Take whatever action is necessary so that you don’t stumble in this area. Don’t indulge sinful patterns of thinking." Such thinking inevitably chooses inappropriate behaviour which can lead to the devastating consequences of adultery.
So does this mean if I think of a woman in the wrong way, then I’ll go to hell? Jesus is associating such behaviour and thinking as sin and all sin is deserving of hell and continuing to feed lust is behaviour that belongs to someone who does not have a personal relationship with Christ in the first place.
Jesus isn’t saying sex is sinful or wrong. The Bible speaks about marriage from the beginning and encourages Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply" so God invites them to have sex. How do I commit adultery? I mean I know how, but what I’m getting at is that our definition is too restricted. According to Jesus it happens as I look at a woman with lust in my heart, not just the act having sex with someone elses wife. Sex outside marriage is obviously wrong and lustful thoughts, according to Jesus, are already tainted by the sin of adultery!
James 1:14-15 (NASB) says "... each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."
So how do I win the battle over lust? I do whatever is necessary! It might mean staying away from certain places, or certain people. It might mean refusing certain social functions where I know the conversations will be suggestive. It might mean excusing myself and showing others by example that I don’t approve of suggestive jokes and conversations that lead to lust.
It will be determined by what I focus on. Philippians 4:8 (NASB) says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
2 Cor. 10:5 says "we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"
Jesus says what the heart focuses on determines how I will live.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 (NASB) makes God’s perspective crystal clear.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you."
One final thing - I need to admit to God what happens in my heart when I go wrong, and repent when I find myself drawn into the area of lust.
God bless you Church as you put Galatians 5:16 (NIV) into practise and as you "... live by the Spirit, ... you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Matthew 5 - Part 14 - WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE HATES YOU?
Matthew 5 - Part 14 - WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE HATES YOU?
I remember years ago that a man wrote a nasty letter to me and included in it a curse and all kinds of false accusations. To this day, I don't know why he wrote it. It was so vicious and untrue, but he had built up a case against me and it all bubbled out in this letter. It included distorted views of what I had said in messages, and I had no idea he felt this way against me. I went to see him but when he saw me coming he slammed the door in my face and refused to speak with me. When eventually I got some of his friends to speak with him, he agreed to see me and I did all I could to get the relationship right again. It was hard work, and my first desire was to defend myself against the curse and false accusations. But Jesus suggests in Matthew 5 that the relationship is even more important than the case.
Matthew 5:23-26 gets to me every time. It's one of those passages you just can't escape.
"So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. "When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny."
Jesus teaches the Disciples on the mountain some leadership principles. He even get's into the law and how it's important it is for a Disciple of Christ to settle legal matters quickly and out of court. He says it's not so much about the legal matters as it is about the relationship you have with the person. The principle of settling disputes quickly has to do with being reconciled with your brother (I think "a brother" here is not referring to just anyone and everyone, but specifically to the people with whom we have some kind of relationship, even if it's just a legal one as in this case).
Jesus goes beyond the legal matters again. The CASE you have against someone is not as important as the RELATIONSHIP you have with them. Jesus emphasizes that the RELATIONSHIP IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT. Sometimes we don't want it to be more important. We would rather just avoid a person who has something against us, especially if it's legal, but God says that reconciliation is important. We are to do our part in keeping the peace with others where possible. It may not always work out, like with Jesus Himself, but we are to do our part in seeking reconciliation. That's the way of the Cross.
This passage says settling disputes out of court is more desirable than taking it through court and having to pay all kinds of costs and destroying the relationship with the person altogether.
Most of the time I don't have a lot of trouble doing this. I have had people threatening to take legal action against me because of some of the decisions I have made in the past, but so far I have been able to talk things through and find a resolution and maintain the relationship without taking it through the courts. Lord, help me to do this, especially when I can find a thousand and one reasons not to.
God's answer to anger is always reconciliation. If someone has something against you, act quickly. If there's a problem with a brother, especially a Christian brother or sister, and you find that they are building up an emotional bad attitude towards you, do something about it. Notice that it is them that has something against you and yet it is YOU who are to take the initiative in getting things right with them.
Sometimes I think it is so petty, it is not worth dealing with, but Jesus says it is important you help someone who has a bad attitude towards you. It may affect their ability to worship God and no-one would want to do that.
1 John 4:20-21 (NLT) really outlines the principle.
"If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters."
RECONCILIATION IS THE PREREQUISITE OF WORSHIP. At the very heart of worship is reconciliation.
Some people think it's actually better not to go to Church so they don't have to see the person they feel so angry with. The idea is not to stay away from Church if you have a bad relationship with your brother or sister! The idea is to get right with your brother or sister quickly because worship is so important. WORSHIP IS A PRIORITY. RECONCILIATION IS A PREREQUISITE, and that involves helping eachother to get things right.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) says, "Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."
God bless you Church as you do always seek reconciliation no matter how right you may think you are. Let relationships be more important than forming a case against your brothers and sisters. Let WORSHIP BE A PRIORITY and because of this, let RECONCILIATION BE A PREREQUISITE.
I remember years ago that a man wrote a nasty letter to me and included in it a curse and all kinds of false accusations. To this day, I don't know why he wrote it. It was so vicious and untrue, but he had built up a case against me and it all bubbled out in this letter. It included distorted views of what I had said in messages, and I had no idea he felt this way against me. I went to see him but when he saw me coming he slammed the door in my face and refused to speak with me. When eventually I got some of his friends to speak with him, he agreed to see me and I did all I could to get the relationship right again. It was hard work, and my first desire was to defend myself against the curse and false accusations. But Jesus suggests in Matthew 5 that the relationship is even more important than the case.
Matthew 5:23-26 gets to me every time. It's one of those passages you just can't escape.
"So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. "When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny."
Jesus teaches the Disciples on the mountain some leadership principles. He even get's into the law and how it's important it is for a Disciple of Christ to settle legal matters quickly and out of court. He says it's not so much about the legal matters as it is about the relationship you have with the person. The principle of settling disputes quickly has to do with being reconciled with your brother (I think "a brother" here is not referring to just anyone and everyone, but specifically to the people with whom we have some kind of relationship, even if it's just a legal one as in this case).
Jesus goes beyond the legal matters again. The CASE you have against someone is not as important as the RELATIONSHIP you have with them. Jesus emphasizes that the RELATIONSHIP IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT. Sometimes we don't want it to be more important. We would rather just avoid a person who has something against us, especially if it's legal, but God says that reconciliation is important. We are to do our part in keeping the peace with others where possible. It may not always work out, like with Jesus Himself, but we are to do our part in seeking reconciliation. That's the way of the Cross.
This passage says settling disputes out of court is more desirable than taking it through court and having to pay all kinds of costs and destroying the relationship with the person altogether.
Most of the time I don't have a lot of trouble doing this. I have had people threatening to take legal action against me because of some of the decisions I have made in the past, but so far I have been able to talk things through and find a resolution and maintain the relationship without taking it through the courts. Lord, help me to do this, especially when I can find a thousand and one reasons not to.
God's answer to anger is always reconciliation. If someone has something against you, act quickly. If there's a problem with a brother, especially a Christian brother or sister, and you find that they are building up an emotional bad attitude towards you, do something about it. Notice that it is them that has something against you and yet it is YOU who are to take the initiative in getting things right with them.
Sometimes I think it is so petty, it is not worth dealing with, but Jesus says it is important you help someone who has a bad attitude towards you. It may affect their ability to worship God and no-one would want to do that.
1 John 4:20-21 (NLT) really outlines the principle.
"If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters."
RECONCILIATION IS THE PREREQUISITE OF WORSHIP. At the very heart of worship is reconciliation.
Some people think it's actually better not to go to Church so they don't have to see the person they feel so angry with. The idea is not to stay away from Church if you have a bad relationship with your brother or sister! The idea is to get right with your brother or sister quickly because worship is so important. WORSHIP IS A PRIORITY. RECONCILIATION IS A PREREQUISITE, and that involves helping eachother to get things right.
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) says, "Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."
God bless you Church as you do always seek reconciliation no matter how right you may think you are. Let relationships be more important than forming a case against your brothers and sisters. Let WORSHIP BE A PRIORITY and because of this, let RECONCILIATION BE A PREREQUISITE.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Matthew 5 – Part 13 – AM I GOING TO HELL FOR CALLING SOMEONE A FOOL?
Matthew 5 – Part 13 – AM I GOING TO HELL FOR CALLING SOMEONE A FOOL?
I’ve been thinking about “Murder”. Not committing murder but the subject of “murder”. Jesus uses “murder” as a teaching unit on the mountain for His disciples. But He takes the view that it’s what happens on the inside that matters. He says something really interesting in Matthew 5:21-22 (NASB).
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty (enough to go) into the fiery hell.”
Notice the progression, from “the court” to “the supreme court” to “the fiery hell” – human court, human high court, to hell - Strange progression. “Hell” doesn’t seem to fit. You would think that He would have said “human court, human high court, GOD’S COURT,” and then spoken about judgment. But instead it’s “curse your brother and go straight to hell, do not pass go”.
It seems strange that getting angry and calling your brother a fool would make you guilty of hell. Is this what Jesus means? The NASB softens it down by adding the words “guilty ENOUGH TO GO into the fiery hell.” but literally it says “whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell.”
Am I going to hell for calling someone a fool? If I am then chances are you will join me. I don’t know of anyone who has not shot out an angry statement against someone like this. So let’s see if there’s more here than meets the eye. If I’m going to hell for cursing someone then it’s worth examining!
First of all let’s look at the accusation.
Calling a man a “fool” in those days was to call him an unbeliever. Psalm 14:1-3 spells it out by saying
“Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; He looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!”
So call someone “a fool” and you were casting doubt on his moral character and his spiritual standing before God. Tiger Woods has recently had his character and reputation destroyed by his foolish actions – his affairs.
To call someone “a fool” was to destroy his reputation. So Jesus is saying “If you destroy a brothers name and reputation, you are liable to the most severe judgment of all – “hell””.
Now the word for “hell” is interesting. According to William Barclay, it literally referred to the Valley of Hinnom, to the South West of Jerusalem. William Barclay says “It was notorious as the place where Ahaz had introduced into Israel the fire worship of the heathen God Molech, to whom little children were burned in the fire. ... (2 Chronicles 28:3). Josiah, the reforming king, had stamped out that worship, and had ordered that the valley should be forever after an accursed place. ...(2 Kings 23:10). In consequence of this, the Valley of Hinnom became the place where the refuse of the Jesusalem was cast out and destroyed. I was a kind of public incinerator. Always the fire smouldered in it, and a pall of thick smoke lay over it, ... So Gehennah, the Valley of Hinnom, became identified in people’s minds with all that was accursed and filthy , the place where useless and evil things were destroyed. That is why it became a synonym for the place of God’s destroying power, for hell.”
So this is what I think Jesus is saying,
“Murder is always wrong and it will always be condemned and brought before a human court. But you need to realise that I’m more concerned with the root cause, the inward infestation of sin in a person’s heart, the anger that get’s a foothold because it is allowed uncontrolled and free reign to rule over a persons heart. This careless and vengeful anger can destroy the character and reputation of others and is just as worthy of the highest judgment as murder. In fact it comes from the pit of hell and deserves the same kind of judgment. It’s your inward heart that gives way to sin and sin condemns you. I’m not only talking about the big sins but all sin is worthy of God’s severest judgment.”
To me, Jesus has already spelled out those who will find salvation, those who recognise that they are spiritually poor and who has no place to go but to trust in God. He’s already spoken of the heart attitude needed - someone who mourns over their sin, not one who allows it to rule their lives. He’s talked about the meek, that inward controlled strength that only Christ can give. He’s spoken of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and those who obtain the mercy of God, the pure in heart, the peacemakers who lead others to have peace with God.
Then to give real contrast to these, He now speaks of those who allow sin to rule in their hearts. Such sin is to be condemned, no matter how small.
What about you? Do you have a relationship with Christ? You may not be guilty of murder but Jesus is saying that even getting angry can be a sin and is worthy of hell. Christ came to die for us and pay the penalty for the largest and smallest of such sins. Have you received the forgiveness that He offers?
It’s what happens on the inside that Jesus is concerned about.
God bless you Church as you look towards what is happening on the inside rather than the externals. It is how you respond in the heart to Christ internally that determines what how God responds to you eternally. Submit your life to Him today.
Pastor Ross
I’ve been thinking about “Murder”. Not committing murder but the subject of “murder”. Jesus uses “murder” as a teaching unit on the mountain for His disciples. But He takes the view that it’s what happens on the inside that matters. He says something really interesting in Matthew 5:21-22 (NASB).
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty (enough to go) into the fiery hell.”
Notice the progression, from “the court” to “the supreme court” to “the fiery hell” – human court, human high court, to hell - Strange progression. “Hell” doesn’t seem to fit. You would think that He would have said “human court, human high court, GOD’S COURT,” and then spoken about judgment. But instead it’s “curse your brother and go straight to hell, do not pass go”.
It seems strange that getting angry and calling your brother a fool would make you guilty of hell. Is this what Jesus means? The NASB softens it down by adding the words “guilty ENOUGH TO GO into the fiery hell.” but literally it says “whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell.”
Am I going to hell for calling someone a fool? If I am then chances are you will join me. I don’t know of anyone who has not shot out an angry statement against someone like this. So let’s see if there’s more here than meets the eye. If I’m going to hell for cursing someone then it’s worth examining!
First of all let’s look at the accusation.
Calling a man a “fool” in those days was to call him an unbeliever. Psalm 14:1-3 spells it out by saying
“Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; He looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!”
So call someone “a fool” and you were casting doubt on his moral character and his spiritual standing before God. Tiger Woods has recently had his character and reputation destroyed by his foolish actions – his affairs.
To call someone “a fool” was to destroy his reputation. So Jesus is saying “If you destroy a brothers name and reputation, you are liable to the most severe judgment of all – “hell””.
Now the word for “hell” is interesting. According to William Barclay, it literally referred to the Valley of Hinnom, to the South West of Jerusalem. William Barclay says “It was notorious as the place where Ahaz had introduced into Israel the fire worship of the heathen God Molech, to whom little children were burned in the fire. ... (2 Chronicles 28:3). Josiah, the reforming king, had stamped out that worship, and had ordered that the valley should be forever after an accursed place. ...(2 Kings 23:10). In consequence of this, the Valley of Hinnom became the place where the refuse of the Jesusalem was cast out and destroyed. I was a kind of public incinerator. Always the fire smouldered in it, and a pall of thick smoke lay over it, ... So Gehennah, the Valley of Hinnom, became identified in people’s minds with all that was accursed and filthy , the place where useless and evil things were destroyed. That is why it became a synonym for the place of God’s destroying power, for hell.”
So this is what I think Jesus is saying,
“Murder is always wrong and it will always be condemned and brought before a human court. But you need to realise that I’m more concerned with the root cause, the inward infestation of sin in a person’s heart, the anger that get’s a foothold because it is allowed uncontrolled and free reign to rule over a persons heart. This careless and vengeful anger can destroy the character and reputation of others and is just as worthy of the highest judgment as murder. In fact it comes from the pit of hell and deserves the same kind of judgment. It’s your inward heart that gives way to sin and sin condemns you. I’m not only talking about the big sins but all sin is worthy of God’s severest judgment.”
To me, Jesus has already spelled out those who will find salvation, those who recognise that they are spiritually poor and who has no place to go but to trust in God. He’s already spoken of the heart attitude needed - someone who mourns over their sin, not one who allows it to rule their lives. He’s talked about the meek, that inward controlled strength that only Christ can give. He’s spoken of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and those who obtain the mercy of God, the pure in heart, the peacemakers who lead others to have peace with God.
Then to give real contrast to these, He now speaks of those who allow sin to rule in their hearts. Such sin is to be condemned, no matter how small.
What about you? Do you have a relationship with Christ? You may not be guilty of murder but Jesus is saying that even getting angry can be a sin and is worthy of hell. Christ came to die for us and pay the penalty for the largest and smallest of such sins. Have you received the forgiveness that He offers?
It’s what happens on the inside that Jesus is concerned about.
God bless you Church as you look towards what is happening on the inside rather than the externals. It is how you respond in the heart to Christ internally that determines what how God responds to you eternally. Submit your life to Him today.
Pastor Ross
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Matthew 4 - HOW TO TEST YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS
Matthew 4 - How to TEST YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS
Well it’s a NEW YEAR - 2010!
The new year is always a good opportunity to EVALUATE your spiritual life, to reflect on whether you’re being CARELESS or COMMITTED in YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Everyone has the opportunity to think about the DIRECTION you are going.
The beginning of a new year is an IDEAL TIME to stop, LOOK UP and get our bearings and not just formulate some RESOLUTIONS for the new year but also to TEST THE VALUE OF YOUR RESOLUTIONS.
HAGGAI 1:5 says "Consider your ways!"
Don Whitney came up with 10 QUESTIONS to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.
I’d like to share them with you
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
Great questions!
It is great to evaluate our lives, to make PLANS AND GOALS.
MAKING RESOLUTIONS is not the real problem. After all Proverbs 21:5 (NASB77) says "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, ..."
It is TESTING THOSE RESOLUTIONS AGAINST THE YARDSTICK OF THE BIBLE that is often neglected.
At the beginning of Jesus ministry He had made A RESOLUTION TO HEAD TOWARDS THE CROSS.
He had been BAPTISED and God was WELL PLEASED WITH HIM but in the very next chapter He is TESTED AND TEMPTED in the wilderness.
Your SPIRITUAL RESOLUTIONS this year will be TESTED. They always are when you determine to live for God
HOW CAN I TEST MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS AND MY COMMITMENT TO CHRIST.
In Matthew 4, Jesus is LED BY THE SPIRIT to be tempted by Satan. Why would Jesus go into the wilderness to be tempted? Not only that but did you notice that it is THE SPIRIT who LEADS Jesus into the wilderness to be TEMPTED by the devil! You’d think the Holy Spirit would want Him to be LED AWAY from anything to do with temptation and the devil but no, Jesus is led to CONFRONT SATAN head on!
How strange that God would do this, and why?
And if that can happen to Jesus, WHAT ABOUT ME? Am I going to be LED INTO TEMPTATION like Jesus was? Is God going to PUT ME IN HARM’S WAY deliberately? It doesn’t make any sense.
The Lord’s prayer says "Lead us NOT into temptation". Why then is Jesus LED INTO THE WILDERNESS to be TEMPTED by Satan? It doesn’t seem to add up. How are we to understand this? I want to start this new year well. Does that mean God will put me in THE FIRING LINE.
Now those questions are IMPORTANT if we are going to start the new year well.
But let’s be clear, it’s always good to ask God to KEEP YOU FROM EVIL, nevertheless God DOES choose to PLACE US IN POSITIONS that will TEST OUR FAITH, NOT so that we will FAIL THE TEST, but so that we will WIN OVER TEMPTATION and be stronger in our faith.
That shouldn’t stop me from asking to be kept from evil. The good thing about it is that I know when God ALLOWS ME TO BE TESTED it will never be beyond what I am able to endure.
Now let’s get a handle on this passage.
Firstly I want to look at the word TEMPT. When we use that word it always has a BAD MEANING. It means TO ENTICE someone to do THE WRONG THING, to PERSUADE SOMEONE TO SIN. And that’s exactly what the devil has in mind.
But in the Greek language "to tempt" actually has A GOOD MEANING. It means to TEST SOMEONE, NOT SO THAT THEY’LL FAIL, BUT SO THEY WILL SUCCEED. And from God’s point of view that why Jesus was led by the Spirit of God to be tempted. In Genesis 22 God TEMPTED ABRAHAM. God didn’t tempt him to sin! He tempted him in the sense of TESTING HIM. TEMPTATION is always an opportunity TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO JESUS in MATTHEW 4. HE DOES THE RIGHT THING.
Hebrews 2:17-18 (NLT) says "Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, ...Since He himself has gone through suffering and TESTING, HE IS ABLE TO HELP US WHEN WE ARE BEING TESTED."
So you can expect your new years resolutions to be tested. If they are not tested they’re not worth much!
But you ask "How do Jesus’ temptations relate to me?" Just because He got through HIS TEST doesn’t automatically mean I will.
By the way, what about those temptations? They don’t seem such A BIG DEAL! THE DEVIL attacks with a 3 pronged fork, but when I first read them I thought that they WEREN’T ALL THAT TEMPTING -
turn stones into bread,
throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple,
and worship Satan.
As if Jesus is going to say, "Sure, I’ll throw Myself off the temple and worship Satan!". It didn’t seem to me like these would tempt me if I were Jesus. I can think of BETTER TEMPTATIONS! I mean what about some kind of SEXUAL TEMPTATION! Jesus was 30 and not married. What better way to get at Him than by tempting Him with ILLICIT SEX. Or how about a GET RICH QUICK SCHEME, say by FINDING COINS IN EVERY FISH you catch. Jesus did this for tax purposes. Why not for a MAJOR INCOME SOURCE? Who would not want to go FISHING with Jesus and earn a FORTUNE on the side as well? Catch huge catches of fish on the other side of the boat and then get a coin in each one. Then sell the fish! Huge profit!
But somehow the temptations with which Satan challenges Jesus were the ones that Jesus found the MOST DIFFICULT of all. They may not seem much to me, but to Jesus they were huge! Now the question I’ve got to ask is why? And the only answer I seem to get is that somehow these temptations ENCAPSULATE the kinds of temptations WE ALL EXPERIENCE!
HOW DO THEY DO THIS? Let’s try to find out.
Satan wanted Jesus to turn stones into bread. In Matthew 4:3-4 (NLT) it says,
"During that time the devil came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."
The word for "IF" in Greek has the idea "IF AND IT IS TRUE". A better translation would probably be "SINCE You are the Son of God..." Satan knew who Jesus was! God the father had just said, "This is my beloved Son" in verse 17. He also knows Jesus is HUNGRY. He hasn’t eaten for 40 DAYS. It wasn’t sinful to be hungry and He could have turned these STONES TO BREAD easily.
The test GOD ALLOWS Jesus to experience is the SAME TEST He will take you through, as you seek to put your NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS into practice.
Here’s the test in summary. I call it...
1. THE PROVISION TEST or "the who am I trusting in?" test.
(Show Powerpoint with someone who is crosseyed). This guy has INGROWN EYEBALLS because he continually FOCUSES ON HIMSELF.
The question is "Will you USE YOUR GIFTS and ABILITIES for your OWN SELFISH PURPOSES? OR WILL YOU USE THEM FOR GOD AND OTHERS?
Will you TRUST IN YOUR OWN SELF SUFFICIENCY TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEEDS THIS YEAR? OR WILL YOU TRUST IN GOD TO PROVIDE FOR YOU? The moment Satan gets your eyes looking inward then you will never be fit for service.
Matthew 6:31-33 (NLT) goes on to say
"So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
So the first thing satan tries to do with Jesus is to get Him looking at HIS OWN NEEDS rather than looking at what God wants. He says in effect, "Use your miraculous powers to serve Your own purposes and forget about using them to serve God?"
He says to us "Use your strengths TO SERVE YOURSELF. Don’t worry about anybody else. Just serve your OWN APPETITES"
The first temptation is directed at PHYSICAL APPETITIES.
Now remember Jesus FED 5000 PEOPLE with BREAD AND FISH. That’s using His gifts for God.
God is saying to you this morning, "WILL YOU USE YOUR GIFTS YOUR ABILITIES, YOUR MOTIVATIONS, YOUR PERSONALITY AND YOUR EXPERIENCES TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN SELFISH PURPOSES, OR WILL YOU USE THEM IN SUBMISSION TO ME AND MY PURPOSES FOR YOUR LIFE? THIS YEAR WILL YOU SEEK FIRST MY KINGDOM PURPOSES?"
Jesus made a clear choice. Hear what He says in MATTHEW 4:4-11 (NLT)
Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
Right answer!
Jesus used THE WORD OF GOD to focus on what God wanted for Him, rather than meeting His immediate physical appetites. What about you this year?
This year your new years resolutions will mean nothing unless you are READING GOD’S WORD and applying it to your life to get His perspective on things and giving you control over your physical appetites and selfish desires.
Getting God’s perspective from His Word will be one of the most UNSELFISH things you will do!
Jesus was tempted in 3 areas
1. THE PROVISION TEST
"Am I being selfish or am I submitting to God?"
2. THEN CAME THE PRESUMPTION TEST
"Am I testing God or taking a step of faith?"
You see Satan tries to get Jesus to BUNGY JUMP from the pinnacle of the temple WITHOUT A ROPE, 140 METRES UP, 45 STORIES ABOVE the base of the Kidron valley.
He says in Matthew 4:6 (NLT)
Since "you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order His angels to protect You. And they will hold You up with their hands so You won’t even hurt Your foot on a stone.’"
If Satan can’t tempt you with the APPETITES OF THE BODY, he will attempt to tempt you with APPETITES OF THE SOUL!
So firstly THE PROVISION TEST, "Am I being selfish or am I submitting to God?" and then the next TEST IS
2. THE PRESUMPTION TEST
"Am I testing God or taking a step of faith"
It wouldn’t tempt me to jump off a temple, but Jesus knew that HE WOULD BE PROTECTED. What harm would it have done? Nevertheless, Jesus sees right through this and Jesus simply says in Matthew 4:7 (NLT) "The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’" In other words "Don’t live on the EDGE OF PRESUMPTION with God!" What some of us pastors like to call the "CUTTING EDGE MINISTRY" is sometimes more appropriately called "THE CRUMBLING EDGE OF PRESUMPTION WITH GOD."
Don’t get me wrong, we are called to take the RISK OF FAITH, but NOT the RISK OF PRESUMPTION.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? THE RISK OF FAITH is daring to act on GOD’S WORD in GOD’S WAY. The RISK OF PRESUMPTION is often no more than trying to IMPRESS SOMEONE by THE SPECTACULAR use of my gifts. And GOD TESTS US not the other way round.
Ask "am I testing God or taking a step of faith"
1. So the test of PROVISION
2. The test of PRESUMPTION
3. And thirdly the test of POWER
Satan is persistent if nothing else. In MATTHEW 4:8-9 (NLT) it says,
"Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and all their glory. "I will give it all to You," he said, "if You will kneel down and worship me.""
Satan appeals to Jesus by offering Him a shortcut to POWER. I’ll GIVE IT ALL to You, he says, and You won’t even have to GO TO THE CROSS. JUST WORSHIP ME!
So this temptation is directed TO THE APPETITIES OF THE SPIRIT.
JUST COMPROMISE AND YOU’LL GET WHAT YOU WANT. But the AUTHORITY OF RULE doesn’t come with a CROWN OF POWER from the enemy. It comes with a CROSS OF SUFFERING and humility.
Satan says "I’ll give you POWER WITHOUT THE PAIN, A CROWN WITHOUT THE CROSS"
Satan will always get you to COMPROMISE for SHORT TERM POWER, SUCCESS and APPLAUSE. So ask yourself this year "Am I compromising my faith for short term power or am I committed to God for His eternal purposes?"
Jesus once again chooses the right thing. In MATTHEW 4:10 (NLT) He says,
"Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’"
Here’s how to test your new years resolutions
1. THE PROVISION TEST
Who am I trusting in?
2. THE PRESUMPTION TEST?
Am I testing God or taking a step of faith?
3. THE POWER TEST
Am I compromising or am I committed?
Ask yourself
Am I being led by the Spirit
Will my faith in God be strengthened
Am I hearing from God as I read His Word.
Will I refuse to be intimidated and disheartened
Will it involve me having to compromise
And with those things in mind lets also
1. RECOGNISE YOUR AREAS OF WEAKNESS
Jesus was hungry but remained resolute
2. REALISE THAT YOU ARE VULNERABLE
Jesus was facing a test but He came through
3. BE EMPOWERED BY GOD
4. DREAM BIG DREAMS
5. EXPECT GOD TO PROVIDE FOR YOU
6. EXPECT GOD TO PROTECT YOU
7. EXPECT GOD TO INTERVENE INTO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
8. DON’T PUT LIMITS ON WHAT GOD CAN DO
9. EXPECT MIRACLES
10. ACCEPT OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE THAT STRETCH YOUR FAITH
11. AND HAVE A WONDERFULLY BLESSED NEW YEAR
Well it’s a NEW YEAR - 2010!
The new year is always a good opportunity to EVALUATE your spiritual life, to reflect on whether you’re being CARELESS or COMMITTED in YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Everyone has the opportunity to think about the DIRECTION you are going.
The beginning of a new year is an IDEAL TIME to stop, LOOK UP and get our bearings and not just formulate some RESOLUTIONS for the new year but also to TEST THE VALUE OF YOUR RESOLUTIONS.
HAGGAI 1:5 says "Consider your ways!"
Don Whitney came up with 10 QUESTIONS to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.
I’d like to share them with you
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
Great questions!
It is great to evaluate our lives, to make PLANS AND GOALS.
MAKING RESOLUTIONS is not the real problem. After all Proverbs 21:5 (NASB77) says "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, ..."
It is TESTING THOSE RESOLUTIONS AGAINST THE YARDSTICK OF THE BIBLE that is often neglected.
At the beginning of Jesus ministry He had made A RESOLUTION TO HEAD TOWARDS THE CROSS.
He had been BAPTISED and God was WELL PLEASED WITH HIM but in the very next chapter He is TESTED AND TEMPTED in the wilderness.
Your SPIRITUAL RESOLUTIONS this year will be TESTED. They always are when you determine to live for God
HOW CAN I TEST MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS AND MY COMMITMENT TO CHRIST.
In Matthew 4, Jesus is LED BY THE SPIRIT to be tempted by Satan. Why would Jesus go into the wilderness to be tempted? Not only that but did you notice that it is THE SPIRIT who LEADS Jesus into the wilderness to be TEMPTED by the devil! You’d think the Holy Spirit would want Him to be LED AWAY from anything to do with temptation and the devil but no, Jesus is led to CONFRONT SATAN head on!
How strange that God would do this, and why?
And if that can happen to Jesus, WHAT ABOUT ME? Am I going to be LED INTO TEMPTATION like Jesus was? Is God going to PUT ME IN HARM’S WAY deliberately? It doesn’t make any sense.
The Lord’s prayer says "Lead us NOT into temptation". Why then is Jesus LED INTO THE WILDERNESS to be TEMPTED by Satan? It doesn’t seem to add up. How are we to understand this? I want to start this new year well. Does that mean God will put me in THE FIRING LINE.
Now those questions are IMPORTANT if we are going to start the new year well.
But let’s be clear, it’s always good to ask God to KEEP YOU FROM EVIL, nevertheless God DOES choose to PLACE US IN POSITIONS that will TEST OUR FAITH, NOT so that we will FAIL THE TEST, but so that we will WIN OVER TEMPTATION and be stronger in our faith.
That shouldn’t stop me from asking to be kept from evil. The good thing about it is that I know when God ALLOWS ME TO BE TESTED it will never be beyond what I am able to endure.
Now let’s get a handle on this passage.
Firstly I want to look at the word TEMPT. When we use that word it always has a BAD MEANING. It means TO ENTICE someone to do THE WRONG THING, to PERSUADE SOMEONE TO SIN. And that’s exactly what the devil has in mind.
But in the Greek language "to tempt" actually has A GOOD MEANING. It means to TEST SOMEONE, NOT SO THAT THEY’LL FAIL, BUT SO THEY WILL SUCCEED. And from God’s point of view that why Jesus was led by the Spirit of God to be tempted. In Genesis 22 God TEMPTED ABRAHAM. God didn’t tempt him to sin! He tempted him in the sense of TESTING HIM. TEMPTATION is always an opportunity TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO JESUS in MATTHEW 4. HE DOES THE RIGHT THING.
Hebrews 2:17-18 (NLT) says "Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, ...Since He himself has gone through suffering and TESTING, HE IS ABLE TO HELP US WHEN WE ARE BEING TESTED."
So you can expect your new years resolutions to be tested. If they are not tested they’re not worth much!
But you ask "How do Jesus’ temptations relate to me?" Just because He got through HIS TEST doesn’t automatically mean I will.
By the way, what about those temptations? They don’t seem such A BIG DEAL! THE DEVIL attacks with a 3 pronged fork, but when I first read them I thought that they WEREN’T ALL THAT TEMPTING -
turn stones into bread,
throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple,
and worship Satan.
As if Jesus is going to say, "Sure, I’ll throw Myself off the temple and worship Satan!". It didn’t seem to me like these would tempt me if I were Jesus. I can think of BETTER TEMPTATIONS! I mean what about some kind of SEXUAL TEMPTATION! Jesus was 30 and not married. What better way to get at Him than by tempting Him with ILLICIT SEX. Or how about a GET RICH QUICK SCHEME, say by FINDING COINS IN EVERY FISH you catch. Jesus did this for tax purposes. Why not for a MAJOR INCOME SOURCE? Who would not want to go FISHING with Jesus and earn a FORTUNE on the side as well? Catch huge catches of fish on the other side of the boat and then get a coin in each one. Then sell the fish! Huge profit!
But somehow the temptations with which Satan challenges Jesus were the ones that Jesus found the MOST DIFFICULT of all. They may not seem much to me, but to Jesus they were huge! Now the question I’ve got to ask is why? And the only answer I seem to get is that somehow these temptations ENCAPSULATE the kinds of temptations WE ALL EXPERIENCE!
HOW DO THEY DO THIS? Let’s try to find out.
Satan wanted Jesus to turn stones into bread. In Matthew 4:3-4 (NLT) it says,
"During that time the devil came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."
The word for "IF" in Greek has the idea "IF AND IT IS TRUE". A better translation would probably be "SINCE You are the Son of God..." Satan knew who Jesus was! God the father had just said, "This is my beloved Son" in verse 17. He also knows Jesus is HUNGRY. He hasn’t eaten for 40 DAYS. It wasn’t sinful to be hungry and He could have turned these STONES TO BREAD easily.
The test GOD ALLOWS Jesus to experience is the SAME TEST He will take you through, as you seek to put your NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS into practice.
Here’s the test in summary. I call it...
1. THE PROVISION TEST or "the who am I trusting in?" test.
(Show Powerpoint with someone who is crosseyed). This guy has INGROWN EYEBALLS because he continually FOCUSES ON HIMSELF.
The question is "Will you USE YOUR GIFTS and ABILITIES for your OWN SELFISH PURPOSES? OR WILL YOU USE THEM FOR GOD AND OTHERS?
Will you TRUST IN YOUR OWN SELF SUFFICIENCY TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEEDS THIS YEAR? OR WILL YOU TRUST IN GOD TO PROVIDE FOR YOU? The moment Satan gets your eyes looking inward then you will never be fit for service.
Matthew 6:31-33 (NLT) goes on to say
"So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
So the first thing satan tries to do with Jesus is to get Him looking at HIS OWN NEEDS rather than looking at what God wants. He says in effect, "Use your miraculous powers to serve Your own purposes and forget about using them to serve God?"
He says to us "Use your strengths TO SERVE YOURSELF. Don’t worry about anybody else. Just serve your OWN APPETITES"
The first temptation is directed at PHYSICAL APPETITIES.
Now remember Jesus FED 5000 PEOPLE with BREAD AND FISH. That’s using His gifts for God.
God is saying to you this morning, "WILL YOU USE YOUR GIFTS YOUR ABILITIES, YOUR MOTIVATIONS, YOUR PERSONALITY AND YOUR EXPERIENCES TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN SELFISH PURPOSES, OR WILL YOU USE THEM IN SUBMISSION TO ME AND MY PURPOSES FOR YOUR LIFE? THIS YEAR WILL YOU SEEK FIRST MY KINGDOM PURPOSES?"
Jesus made a clear choice. Hear what He says in MATTHEW 4:4-11 (NLT)
Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
Right answer!
Jesus used THE WORD OF GOD to focus on what God wanted for Him, rather than meeting His immediate physical appetites. What about you this year?
This year your new years resolutions will mean nothing unless you are READING GOD’S WORD and applying it to your life to get His perspective on things and giving you control over your physical appetites and selfish desires.
Getting God’s perspective from His Word will be one of the most UNSELFISH things you will do!
Jesus was tempted in 3 areas
1. THE PROVISION TEST
"Am I being selfish or am I submitting to God?"
2. THEN CAME THE PRESUMPTION TEST
"Am I testing God or taking a step of faith?"
You see Satan tries to get Jesus to BUNGY JUMP from the pinnacle of the temple WITHOUT A ROPE, 140 METRES UP, 45 STORIES ABOVE the base of the Kidron valley.
He says in Matthew 4:6 (NLT)
Since "you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order His angels to protect You. And they will hold You up with their hands so You won’t even hurt Your foot on a stone.’"
If Satan can’t tempt you with the APPETITES OF THE BODY, he will attempt to tempt you with APPETITES OF THE SOUL!
So firstly THE PROVISION TEST, "Am I being selfish or am I submitting to God?" and then the next TEST IS
2. THE PRESUMPTION TEST
"Am I testing God or taking a step of faith"
It wouldn’t tempt me to jump off a temple, but Jesus knew that HE WOULD BE PROTECTED. What harm would it have done? Nevertheless, Jesus sees right through this and Jesus simply says in Matthew 4:7 (NLT) "The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’" In other words "Don’t live on the EDGE OF PRESUMPTION with God!" What some of us pastors like to call the "CUTTING EDGE MINISTRY" is sometimes more appropriately called "THE CRUMBLING EDGE OF PRESUMPTION WITH GOD."
Don’t get me wrong, we are called to take the RISK OF FAITH, but NOT the RISK OF PRESUMPTION.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? THE RISK OF FAITH is daring to act on GOD’S WORD in GOD’S WAY. The RISK OF PRESUMPTION is often no more than trying to IMPRESS SOMEONE by THE SPECTACULAR use of my gifts. And GOD TESTS US not the other way round.
Ask "am I testing God or taking a step of faith"
1. So the test of PROVISION
2. The test of PRESUMPTION
3. And thirdly the test of POWER
Satan is persistent if nothing else. In MATTHEW 4:8-9 (NLT) it says,
"Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and all their glory. "I will give it all to You," he said, "if You will kneel down and worship me.""
Satan appeals to Jesus by offering Him a shortcut to POWER. I’ll GIVE IT ALL to You, he says, and You won’t even have to GO TO THE CROSS. JUST WORSHIP ME!
So this temptation is directed TO THE APPETITIES OF THE SPIRIT.
JUST COMPROMISE AND YOU’LL GET WHAT YOU WANT. But the AUTHORITY OF RULE doesn’t come with a CROWN OF POWER from the enemy. It comes with a CROSS OF SUFFERING and humility.
Satan says "I’ll give you POWER WITHOUT THE PAIN, A CROWN WITHOUT THE CROSS"
Satan will always get you to COMPROMISE for SHORT TERM POWER, SUCCESS and APPLAUSE. So ask yourself this year "Am I compromising my faith for short term power or am I committed to God for His eternal purposes?"
Jesus once again chooses the right thing. In MATTHEW 4:10 (NLT) He says,
"Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’"
Here’s how to test your new years resolutions
1. THE PROVISION TEST
Who am I trusting in?
2. THE PRESUMPTION TEST?
Am I testing God or taking a step of faith?
3. THE POWER TEST
Am I compromising or am I committed?
Ask yourself
Am I being led by the Spirit
Will my faith in God be strengthened
Am I hearing from God as I read His Word.
Will I refuse to be intimidated and disheartened
Will it involve me having to compromise
And with those things in mind lets also
1. RECOGNISE YOUR AREAS OF WEAKNESS
Jesus was hungry but remained resolute
2. REALISE THAT YOU ARE VULNERABLE
Jesus was facing a test but He came through
3. BE EMPOWERED BY GOD
4. DREAM BIG DREAMS
5. EXPECT GOD TO PROVIDE FOR YOU
6. EXPECT GOD TO PROTECT YOU
7. EXPECT GOD TO INTERVENE INTO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
8. DON’T PUT LIMITS ON WHAT GOD CAN DO
9. EXPECT MIRACLES
10. ACCEPT OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE THAT STRETCH YOUR FAITH
11. AND HAVE A WONDERFULLY BLESSED NEW YEAR
Friday, January 1, 2010
Matthew 5 - Part 12 - AM I GOING TO HELL JUST FOR BEING ANGRY?
Matthew 5 - Part 12 - AM I GOING TO HELL JUST FOR BEING ANGRY?
I have always wondered about the statement Jesus makes in Matthew 5:21-26. There are some pretty strong statements made like...
Murder someone and you'll go to court but "if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!" (ie before a judge in court) If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matthew 5:21)
That's pretty heavy stuff. Curse someone and go to hell! Anyone with a bad temper hasn't got a chance! Murder someone and I expect to go to court but curse someone and go to hell seems to me to be a bit harsh, especially coming from the mouth of Jesus!
Jesus is talking to His disciples on the mountain and this is the leadership lesson! Get mad at someone and curse him and you go to hell! Wooh! How do you feel with this encouraging word so far?
The key words in this passage are Murder, Anger, Cursing. Murder I have no difficulty with and this all has to do with Jesus definition of murder. Jesus says anger is worse! Cursing someone is worse! What is he trying to say here, because if what He means in English is the same as what He's trying to get across in the original language, then I'm in serious trouble, and so are you, no doubt. We in this together!
Some manuscripts (not the oldest and most reliable) add the words "angry with his brother WITHOUT A CAUSE", but that doesn't help much either, if you still go to hell! Man, sometimes I'm just angy without a reason and anyone who gets in the road becomes a target! Sometimes they don't even know it but other times they become, lets say....aware!
Maybe there is an out if you don't have brothers. I don't have any brothers so that lets me off the hook. Still, I get the sneaky suspicion that "brother" refers to someone close, not the literal one. In fact that's how the term is used here. Anybody I am in relationship with can be a brother, so that doesn't help me much.
So the overall topic is to do with MURDER. At least I don't have a problem with this. Even the 10 Commandments says "you must not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Life is important to God. It is not to be taken, but considered to be a precious gift of God.
Jesus goes deeper. He says the problem is not just the outward act of murder, but the inward cause - anger. Jesus says we interpret this law on a superficial level, but we need to get the spirit of what God is really saying. Jesus always goes to the heart, and He's more concerned with the inward causes such as anger, and other emotions that, at times, we allow to rule our lives. He's saying that the real problem is living life according to an uncontrolled inner life. Anger expresses itself in all kinds of ways. In hatred and in slandering someone, road rage, jealousy, and stepping on someone elses happiness.
So murder is obviously wrong but so are bad feelings against another person. Jesus says it's not just small scale bad, it's a serious sin.
I think Jesus is speaking about the kind of anger that lingers, and broods and refuses to forget, the kind of anger that hungers for revenge and sometimes actively seeks it. This is the kind of anger that is selfish and lasting, and has malice towards others. It's a scary kind of emotion. It is the anger that carries with it a curse from hell.
JUSTIFIED ANGER
The bible says "Be angry and sin not", but this is speaking of a justified anger, that is angry with sin, and it is never selfish and it is always disciplined and controlled. Jesus dealt with the money changers in the temple with this kind of anger (John 2:13-16).
So I think that the kind of anger here in this passage that Jesus speaks of is something that a Christian must not tolerate in his or her life. We are to deal with our anger quickly, otherwise it has consequences.
Ephesians 4:26-27 (NASB)
"BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."
Colossians 3:8 (NLT) says that once you become a Christian...
"... now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behaviour, slander, and dirty language."
1 John 3:15 (NLT) carries the association with murder to say that if you have this kind of malicious lasting, unrepentant anger then you are not a Christian in the first place.
"Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them."
Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NASB and NLT) says anger is associated with fools. A fool in the OT refers to someone who does not know God.
"Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger labels you as a fool."
BUT WHAT ABOUT HELL? If I get angry with the kind of anger that is spoken of here, then am I a fool who is already bound for hell, because I do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Is that what He means?
Well there's more to say about this but it will have to wait until next time.
ARE YOU GOING TO BE THROWN INTO HELL FOR HAVING THIS KIND OF ANGER? Is there something more to what Jesus is saying. I think there is, but you'll have to wait until next time.
God bless you Church as you refuse to hold on to that cold hearted, long lasting, callous and vicious, lingering and brooding, malicious and selfish, slandering and jealous, curse filled kind of anger that finds it's source in hell. That kind of anger has no place in our lives.
Pastor Ross
I have always wondered about the statement Jesus makes in Matthew 5:21-26. There are some pretty strong statements made like...
Murder someone and you'll go to court but "if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!" (ie before a judge in court) If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matthew 5:21)
That's pretty heavy stuff. Curse someone and go to hell! Anyone with a bad temper hasn't got a chance! Murder someone and I expect to go to court but curse someone and go to hell seems to me to be a bit harsh, especially coming from the mouth of Jesus!
Jesus is talking to His disciples on the mountain and this is the leadership lesson! Get mad at someone and curse him and you go to hell! Wooh! How do you feel with this encouraging word so far?
The key words in this passage are Murder, Anger, Cursing. Murder I have no difficulty with and this all has to do with Jesus definition of murder. Jesus says anger is worse! Cursing someone is worse! What is he trying to say here, because if what He means in English is the same as what He's trying to get across in the original language, then I'm in serious trouble, and so are you, no doubt. We in this together!
Some manuscripts (not the oldest and most reliable) add the words "angry with his brother WITHOUT A CAUSE", but that doesn't help much either, if you still go to hell! Man, sometimes I'm just angy without a reason and anyone who gets in the road becomes a target! Sometimes they don't even know it but other times they become, lets say....aware!
Maybe there is an out if you don't have brothers. I don't have any brothers so that lets me off the hook. Still, I get the sneaky suspicion that "brother" refers to someone close, not the literal one. In fact that's how the term is used here. Anybody I am in relationship with can be a brother, so that doesn't help me much.
So the overall topic is to do with MURDER. At least I don't have a problem with this. Even the 10 Commandments says "you must not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Life is important to God. It is not to be taken, but considered to be a precious gift of God.
Jesus goes deeper. He says the problem is not just the outward act of murder, but the inward cause - anger. Jesus says we interpret this law on a superficial level, but we need to get the spirit of what God is really saying. Jesus always goes to the heart, and He's more concerned with the inward causes such as anger, and other emotions that, at times, we allow to rule our lives. He's saying that the real problem is living life according to an uncontrolled inner life. Anger expresses itself in all kinds of ways. In hatred and in slandering someone, road rage, jealousy, and stepping on someone elses happiness.
So murder is obviously wrong but so are bad feelings against another person. Jesus says it's not just small scale bad, it's a serious sin.
I think Jesus is speaking about the kind of anger that lingers, and broods and refuses to forget, the kind of anger that hungers for revenge and sometimes actively seeks it. This is the kind of anger that is selfish and lasting, and has malice towards others. It's a scary kind of emotion. It is the anger that carries with it a curse from hell.
JUSTIFIED ANGER
The bible says "Be angry and sin not", but this is speaking of a justified anger, that is angry with sin, and it is never selfish and it is always disciplined and controlled. Jesus dealt with the money changers in the temple with this kind of anger (John 2:13-16).
So I think that the kind of anger here in this passage that Jesus speaks of is something that a Christian must not tolerate in his or her life. We are to deal with our anger quickly, otherwise it has consequences.
Ephesians 4:26-27 (NASB)
"BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."
Colossians 3:8 (NLT) says that once you become a Christian...
"... now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behaviour, slander, and dirty language."
1 John 3:15 (NLT) carries the association with murder to say that if you have this kind of malicious lasting, unrepentant anger then you are not a Christian in the first place.
"Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them."
Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NASB and NLT) says anger is associated with fools. A fool in the OT refers to someone who does not know God.
"Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger labels you as a fool."
BUT WHAT ABOUT HELL? If I get angry with the kind of anger that is spoken of here, then am I a fool who is already bound for hell, because I do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Is that what He means?
Well there's more to say about this but it will have to wait until next time.
ARE YOU GOING TO BE THROWN INTO HELL FOR HAVING THIS KIND OF ANGER? Is there something more to what Jesus is saying. I think there is, but you'll have to wait until next time.
God bless you Church as you refuse to hold on to that cold hearted, long lasting, callous and vicious, lingering and brooding, malicious and selfish, slandering and jealous, curse filled kind of anger that finds it's source in hell. That kind of anger has no place in our lives.
Pastor Ross
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