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• Danger of Hellfire Matthew 5:21-26
• We all know people we think should go to Hell. The problem is that we don’t think we should
• Have you ever been angry with someone? I have. Many times. In my heart and in my actions
• Wife, kids, church people, neighbors, politicians, famous people, random people on the road, in the store etc etc.  I hope that this morning I am not alone- Who else gets angry?
• It aint right, but its true. I am far from perfect in this area. Even if its not manifest externally
• Jesus is setting a very high bar for all of us this morning in regards to our angry hearts and actions

1. Anger with someone is akin to murder – Hellfire

• 21 “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.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment
• What Jesus is doing here in great Jesus fashion is setting an unbelievably high bar for righteousness- its not just not murdering- its not getting angry- its whats in your heart
• This is what Jesus does- all throughout Matthew and the NT- takes the OT principle and sets the bar even higher- its not enough that you don’t murder someone- don’t be angry with anyone
• Now I will say this- it is possible to be angry and not sin- and there is biblical anger
• Ephesians 4:26-27 ⁶ “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷ nor give ^[a]place to the devil.
• Jesus got angry- Mark 3:5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts
• There is such a thing as righteous indignation and emotional frustration- different types of anger- angry at electrical, traffic, poor leadership, politics-  but In this scrip. Its relational emotional anger that affects you and personal relationships. It affects YOU and others. 
• 1 John 4:20-21 ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[a]how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
• This is the standard- this is how we must live. We must not hate- we must love

• Most especially those who are in the Faith- those who are in the Faith
• 1 John 3:14-15 ⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
• And it starts in the HEART- Jesus says- not in the actions- even inside thoughts are damnable
• What does it mean to you – Hellfire
• You better check yourself before you wreck yourself. Don’t lie to yourself and pretend you don’t have it in your heart. 
• 1 John 2:9 ⁹ He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
• And here’s the scary thing about anger and hatred- you can hide it so very well- well most people can- a lot of people are so loose lipped with it that I know who many people hate
• I don’t care who has wronged you and what has been done to you- Jesus says- no anger
• There are a host of people you can find to be angry at and frustrated with- and Jesus says no
• For me- my relationship with my father- lots of reasons- is what it is- gonna go see him
• Now that’s almost easier because I can file that and think about it- but the flippant social media comment, cut off in traffic, disobedient child, accusing person doesn’t always get the same treatment- ALL emotional anger internal or external is murderous and Jesus says stop it
• Pr 4:19 ¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.

• Do you know what makes us stumble? Anger- do you know what the remedy is? Love
• 1 cor 13:1-3
• The way to combat anger is to love people. Deeply. Spend time thinking about how you can love people more- not in action- in your heart- truly love someone from the heart
• Actions are easy- hearts are hard to change- you have to work at it
• Start with thinking about why people shouldn’t love you and if you can’t think of any reason- find someone who will be truthful with you so you’ll know how unlovable you truly are
• Guy from HS who picked on me– always dreamed about retribution- facebook friends. Done. 
• Then you can see other peoples brokenness and love them in spite of it
• Quickly forgive. Quickly repent. Look for something to love. Look past brokenness. love

2.Watch what you say – Hellfire

• And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
• So in addition to watching your heart and thoughts- Jesus says watch your mouth
• See anger isn’t just anger of the heart its anger with your mouth- we think we can say and do what we want- and that it doesn’t matter- but to Jesus it does- especially angry words
• James 3:6 ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
• If you think about a lot of them start in your heart but they come to fruition with your mouth
• I feel like this sermon is for me cause my mouth gets me in trouble all the time
• I can’ t help myself to say something- my wife be like “you know you didn’t need to say it”
• Matthew 15:11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
• Jesus makes it clear- words that you say against or to people will not be dealt with well
• “in the danger of Hell Fire” Man- that sounds serious doesn’t it?
• Jesus sets a very high bar for those who are going to be his followers- shut your mouth and watch your mouth. 
• Matthew 12:36 ⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
• Do you want everything you’ve ever said brought back to you in front of Jesus on judgment day? Hopefully the answer is no- but it should be yes if we watch our mouth

• What does it mean to you – Hellfire
• Clean up your angry mouth. Quit flippantly saying things to and about people. Just shut up
• It’s the snide comments, the directed statements, the hidden words, the verbal slights
• And you know what we’re talking about- or at least you should
• Titus 3:2 ² to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
• I have a friend who is a very rigid person. They got into it with this other person who is equally rigid. They told a third party how much they hate the other person and that person told me
• So now- because of this persons disagreement that I wasn’t privy to, they’ve poisoned my one friend, and then indirectly poisoned me because of their issue that I had no issue with. 
• Proverbs 11:9  The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
• BECAUSE OF THEIR TONGUE- 
• Psalm 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
• Wow-you weren’t invited to the party-they forgot your birthday- you got in a fight on SM- get over it. You lost some money- move on. You were wronged- ok- clearly the only person that can’t move on is you because the other person has gone on to hurting other people. 
• Proverbs 14:29 ²⁹ He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
• When you get angry in your heart, slow down, stop it at the heart level before it goes to mouth level. Don’t get caught in the double trap of heart and mouth
• Jesus says “danger of hell fire” can there be a more definitive statement?
• Matt 18:21-35 Just forgive people- you’ve been forgiven much. Forgive other people. Be free. Shut your mouth

3. Reconcile 

• Now we come to the hardest part of this scripture- reconcile. We talk about this verse every single Sunday- here it is- 
• Two things from that scripture- 1. If you remember that your brother has something against you 2. Agree with your adversary quickly or it could get worse
• Who is your brother? Those in the church- those are your brothers- Matthew 12:49- read
• Who is your adversary? Your enemy- the people who do you wrong
• There’s a principle here- make it right with your brother- agree with you adversary
• Now, some would say- does that mean that I have to be in relationship with everyone? Obviously no- you can’t. some relationships just don’t continue. You don’t have any heart issues about it- you don’t have any raca or murderous thoughts about it- you just move on-
• Its like dating in Jr High- you did it- it didn’t work you moved on. 
• Its like this- I had a couple serious girlfriends in college- I wouldn’t want them to be in my church, and im not friends with them in life. Just weird- doesn’t make sense- and those were loving relationships- no heart stuff- just meh- not gonna do this- God bless you move on
• Sometimes relationships go through turmoil and you deal with it- move on and its done
• It doesn’t mean you’re bad or not forgiven- it just means you moved on and that’s ok. 

• Henry- those who have wronged us, we must forgive; and those whom we have wronged, we must make satisfaction to, or at least make a tender of it, and desire a renewal of the friendship, so that if reconciliation be not made, it may not be our fault;
• 2 Corinthians 5:18  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
• And that’s true- and we should reconcile if we can- but not all relationships are reconcilable but all hearts are- and if you tried- and you forgave- and they want to hold it against you- its on them. 
• Romans 12:18  If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
• Do what you can to make it right, and if they wont, or cant, its ok. You did your part. 
• Also- make peace with your adversary- this is not about agreeing to fault, or admitting to something that isn’t your fault- its about making peace. We talked about this a few weeks ago- just let yourself be wronged- its ok- you don’t have to fight every fight. 
• Heb 12:14  Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
• Proverbs 19:11  The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
• Here’s the ethos of the scripture- if you have the means to make it right- make it right. Don’t prolong it- don’t let the sun go down on your anger- make it right
• Jesus said other things like- if someone want your coat, give me your tunic, and if they ask to go one mile go two- its this idea that Jesus living is doing what you have to do to live peaceably.
• And that means if you have the means- just make peace- make it right or it will get worse

• What does it mean to you
• Is there someone you need to reconcile with that you haven’t tried? Not an abuser that you need to go back to- sociopathic individuals cannot be reasoned with- they only want to hurt you
• Is there an adversary you need to make peace with before it gets out of hand?
• I’m talking about someone you are in relationship with, that you are holidng something against- or you know they are holding something against you and you need to make it right. 
• Colossians 3:12-13  Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do
• We are the elect of God and we should do what we need to do to make it right with people
• You cant fix all of it- but you can at least not avoid people in church that you know you have a problem with. Find a way to love them- force yourself into relationship and find a way. 

• Ephesians 4:31-32  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, ^[a]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
• We can’t really separate ourselves from people in the church- we just can’t we need each other
• How does reconciliation work?
• You admit fault. You start with what you did wrong. You don’t go to someone and attack them
• You don’t make excuses for what you did. You ask for forgivness and promise to change
• You do everything you can to make restitution if possible, and don’t do it again. 
• You quit with your horrible attitude of self righteousness. Look at your self with sober judgement
• James 1:20  for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God
• Being an angry person is a horrible life- don’t do it. 
• Ecclesiastes 7:9  Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
• Don’t get angry- stay away from the Hell fire

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