Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Crema Church podcast.
[00:00:06] Great, thanks.
[00:00:08] Take a seat.
[00:00:11] You know, whenever we.
[00:00:13] We say the Apostles Creed, which is what you just said, I always. I always think that when we get to on the third day he rose from the dead, there should be an enormous cheer.
[00:00:28] Okay. Because I know we're concentrating on the money bit. All right? And we're going to give our offerings and we're doing all that. But that. That point where history, eternity was changed when Jesus was raised from the dead. So remember, next time, a shout. And if you're the only one that does it, everyone else will follow. Okay? Deal. Okay.
[00:00:52] So we're looking at the ways of God, if we want. You know, we often in church talk about the blessings of God, and we. He loves to bless us, but we must learn his ways and walk in his ways if we want to walk continually in the blessings of God. So the blessings of God are not determined of what we do. He loves to bless, but if we want to live in blessing, we need to walk in his ways. So today we're going to look at Exodus 20:13. You shall not murder.
[00:01:27] And many of you are going, phew. That's the one I haven't broken. Okay, so you're going to be okay.
[00:01:36] You know, there was a man, and he appears before St. Peter at the pearly gates.
[00:01:47] And Peter asks him, he says, is there. You know, is there anything you've done in your life of any merit that would get you into heaven?
[00:01:59] And the guy thinks. And he says, there is.
[00:02:03] He says, I was traveling to Birmingham, and as I was traveling, I came across this big gang of hell's angels.
[00:02:13] And they were tormenting and threatening a young woman.
[00:02:20] So I stopped and I said, hey, you, leave her alone.
[00:02:26] And they wouldn't listen to me. So I looked for the one, the biggest guy with the most tattoos, and I smacked him in the face.
[00:02:34] I kicked his bike over. I ripped his nose ring out. I. And I said, and just so the rest of you know, you're next.
[00:02:45] And St. Peter goes, that's amazing.
[00:02:48] When did you do this? He said, about two minutes ago.
[00:02:53] We better read the Bible.
[00:02:55] The little things make me laugh.
[00:02:58] Where are we? If you've got a Bible, find phones count.
[00:03:03] Find Matthew, chapter five.
[00:03:06] And we're going to read from verse 21. Why don't you all stand? Whenever we read the Bible, we stand. Some of you may think, Carl, you guys stand more than the Church of England does.
[00:03:16] It's getting that way, isn't it? It's a really good thing. It's a really good thing.
[00:03:22] What did I say? Matthew, chapter 5, verse 21. You have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
[00:03:38] And whoever says to his brother, raca shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says you fall shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.
[00:04:02] Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hands you over to the officer and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
[00:04:21] Okay. Take a seat.
[00:04:25] The first thing I want you to notice, Jesus often moves the goalposts.
[00:04:31] I don't know if you've ever known that when you read the teachings of Jesus, he moves the goalposts. Where the law deals with the action of sin, Jesus now deals with its conception. Where does sin start? Where does murder come from? Well, Jesus says, murder comes from holding anger in your heart.
[00:04:53] So Jesus says, if you hold anger in your. In your heart, in my kingdom, your heart will stop working.
[00:05:06] Why? Why? Because he's given us brand new hearts and our new heart. So when we give our lives to Jesus, we become a new creation. Our new hearts are not designed to hold anger. If they do, if you keep anger in your life, it just makes your heart sick. It becomes hard and it stops working.
[00:05:28] Forgiveness heals your heart and it keeps it working well. So Jesus is not saying, don't ever be angry.
[00:05:37] He's saying, don't hold anger in your heart. Has anyone here ever been angry? Yeah, it's all of us. Right. Okay, just so we're on the same page, there are three things in this passage Jesus tells the believer not to do. He says, do not hold anger in your heart. To a brother, another brother or sister.
[00:06:00] Your brother or sister is never your enemy, even when they look like it.
[00:06:09] So sometimes things happen in life and people offend us or they hurt us. And what Jesus is saying, your brother or sister is never actually the enemy.
[00:06:18] The enemy is the enemy. And you go, no. But you don't understand what they've done. No. Jesus says, no, you don't understand.
[00:06:25] Look beyond the Anger, look beyond what is happening and see the enemy, the devil that is behind the person's action.
[00:06:37] The second thing he says is, do not demean or insult a fellow believer.
[00:06:42] And again, where would we do that? You know, and often I'm talking to people to say, oh, you know your church, you're one of those happy clappy churches, aren't you? You know, looking down and we go, well, we never do the turn. And often, you know, I, you know, I'll often return, oh, you're a bells and smells church.
[00:07:00] But what we do is we sometimes look down on people that worship differently to us, that believe different things from us. And they're brothers and sisters in Christ.
[00:07:10] They've given their life to Jesus. They believe in the risen Jesus. And what Jesus. Jesus is saying is, don't look down.
[00:07:19] You know, the beautiful thing about the church is it is a diamond, not a pane of glass.
[00:07:26] You see, if we were all exactly the same, we'd be a pane of glass, just a bit of glass that you can't see.
[00:07:34] But actually, the church is way more like a diamond with all its facets, so that when the light hits it, you get this beautiful reflection, refraction of light and all of the color. You know, one of the things we said, we want to be the God colors. We talk about it here in this church, that all the different facets would come together that would display some of the beauty of God. So Jesus says, don't demean or insult a fellow believer. And then he says, don't curse a brother.
[00:08:10] You know, sometimes I hear people too, and they go, well, that can't be God.
[00:08:16] You know, something happens, well, that's just not God. How do you know it's not God?
[00:08:21] You don't know it's not, you know it's not God. Be careful. The Pharisees didn't recognize Jesus.
[00:08:28] And you know, sometimes in the church, we don't recognize the activity of the Holy Spirit.
[00:08:33] Instead, what Jesus says is, look for the fruit.
[00:08:37] How will you know if it's God? There'll be good fruit. How will you know if it's not God? There won't be good fruit.
[00:08:42] You know, when Joseph is reunited with his brothers, do you remember, you think you've got family problems, Joseph's brothers, well, first they're going to kill him, and then they sell him as a slave into Egypt. And later on in the story, you can read it in Genesis, they're reunited, and this is what Joseph says to them. But as for you speaking to his brothers, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[00:09:17] You see? What's he saying?
[00:09:20] He's saying, yes, when you sold me into slavery, you meant it for bad.
[00:09:26] But God had a much bigger plan for my life.
[00:09:30] It was so much bigger that he meant that I would not only rescue Egypt, the whole of Egypt, and the Israelites, because God's ways are bigger than our ways. And what Jesus is saying is get God's perspective.
[00:09:48] You see, so many Christians miss God's purposes because they allow bitter and anger to dwell in their hearts.
[00:10:01] And so they miss the purposes of God because they're caught down here. They cannot see the hand of God Heaven. Just like Rachel was saying about the feeding of the 5,000.
[00:10:12] And the question this morning is, can you give your anger to God and trust in his purposes for your life?
[00:10:23] Now, I know that Jesus often uses exaggeration to get effect. You know when he says, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. We're not going to do that this morning. You're okay. But what he's. He's trying to make.
[00:10:35] He's using exaggeration to make his point.
[00:10:40] But what if he's serious about our words? That my words can release life to people. That was the few verses before the Beatitudes.
[00:10:50] And that my words also can release hell's fire on people in anger and murder.
[00:10:58] So the second thing I want to say, Jesus frees us from murder.
[00:11:07] Paul writes this to Timothy. He says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy.
[00:11:25] Let me just. Paul says, even though I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy.
[00:11:35] Paul had murder in his heart.
[00:11:39] He hated the church.
[00:11:42] He approved the murder of Stephen, remember, right at the beginning of Acts, and he ends up persecuting Jesus Christ. You wouldn't think he would be a good candidate to follow God, but actually he was just the kind of person God was looking for.
[00:12:03] Because Jesus took all his anger, the murder, the frustration in his life, and he redeemed it. And he gives him a new heart, a new life and a new purpose. And that's what he wants to do with each of us.
[00:12:18] A new heart, a new life, and a brand new purpose. You see, God often sees differently to what we see. So Paul sees I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. This is what God sees in him. When God sends Ananias, if you remember the story of it, was he was Saul at that time, and his name changes to Paul, he has an encounter with Jesus. He's thrown to the floor, he gets up and he's blind. And God sends the Holy Spirit, sends Ananias to pray for him. And this is how God describes him to Ananias. Go.
[00:12:58] For he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles, Kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. There are two words in this verse that are difficult to translate.
[00:13:14] The first one is vessel, and the second one is suffer.
[00:13:18] Vessel can be translated a man of quality.
[00:13:23] Do you see?
[00:13:24] So when God talks about Saul, who becomes Paul, who is a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man, he sees a man of quality.
[00:13:34] That's what he sees because that is what he can become.
[00:13:38] And. And he says he's going to suffer, can be translated, endure unpleasant experiences.
[00:13:46] This man who was a blasphemer, persecutor and a violent person is going to have an encounter with Jesus. He's going to be transformed, but he is also going to have the makeup and the build to endure unpleasant circumstances.
[00:14:05] There are men and women in here who carry anger, violence, and even murder. And you think you're not the kind of person Jesus is looking for.
[00:14:16] You know, inside you there's often a rage and you have to keep it under control. And you just go, I'm just not that. I'm not. I'm just not a good Christian. I'm not the kind of person that Jesus is looking for. But Jesus says, if you will surrender the anger to me, I will give you a new heart, a new life and a new purpose.
[00:14:38] You know, ladies, you don't want to marry a violent man, but you do want to marry a man of passion and purpose.
[00:14:48] And those men often come from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in their life.
[00:14:54] You know, church, you probably don't want to a murderer leading you, but you do want a man who's a vessel of quality, who can endure all the attack of the devil, not give up because he has a new heart and he's full of the Holy Spirit.
[00:15:10] That's what you're looking for.
[00:15:12] You know, it's not wrong to be angry as long as it is surrendered to Jesus.
[00:15:19] You know, Moses took it upon himself to murder an Egyptian because he was persecuting an Israelite.
[00:15:30] But God had a plan to use Moses to free all of the Israelites.
[00:15:36] You see, if we will give over our anger and frustration to God, he will release a plan in our life that is way more bigger than we could even hope or believe.
[00:15:49] Does that make sense?
[00:15:51] Good. I always love it when the five people get it.
[00:15:56] The third thing I want to say to you today is that Jesus gives five things that help us deal with anger in this package, which is, you know, let me just check again. Anyone here ever get angry?
[00:16:09] Yeah, I'm just checking you're awake. All right? I do. I mean, for a start, you live in Leicester.
[00:16:14] Okay. And I'm not you. Not that you're angry at Lester. I'm just gonna move on. And just driving here is enough to get you angry? I'm angry. Within 30 seconds of driving on the road, somebody's cut me up or put there.
[00:16:30] You know, when they put their parking lights on because they want to nip into a shop, Those are called hazard lights. It is not a hazard to go into the newsagents, all right? You're meant to find a normal parking space. You. You're not allowed to stop in the middle of the road. It always gets me angry. Anyway. What was I talking about? Worship.
[00:16:50] So Jesus gives. So when somebody just puts their hazard lights on in front of me so they can nip into the shop, Jesus says, the first thing you do is worship when you come to the altar. It is in the presence of God that we come to the altar and we find perspective.
[00:17:09] It's in his presence when we pour our hearts out to Jesus in gratitude for all he's done for us.
[00:17:16] You know, when we're in the presence of God, we see life so much more clearly.
[00:17:22] We see the amazing forgiveness that has been given us, the mercy Jesus has shown, how he's transforming our lives. His holiness is around us. And it's only through Jesus that we can experience this holy presence without burning up, because he has redeemed us our life.
[00:17:44] And I really believe you can tell the state of a person's heart by how they worship.
[00:17:48] And you know what? Sometimes through pain or disappointment, we're tempted to pull back in our worship and close up.
[00:17:58] But Jesus says, come into my presence with open hearts. Bring your offerings and your praise and see what I can do.
[00:18:08] But he also says, as you're worshiping, as you're in my presence, something might come to mind.
[00:18:14] You might remember a situation. You might remember that someone has something against you.
[00:18:20] And what he's doing is, that's the Holy Spirit, and it's not judgment. He's not judging you. He's putting the light on and says, if you will go and deal with that situation, my blessings will be released on you. This is the next step in your walk with me.
[00:18:39] He says, I want you to take the initiative. But that initiative starts in the presence of God. That's number one. Number two, reconciliation. I think the most shocking thing about this story is that Jesus says reconciliation transcends worship.
[00:18:55] We always talk about our highest call is worship, and it is. But if you're going to worship for Jesus, reconciliation with a brother comes higher than worship and singing songs. It's more important to Jesus that we don't tear down another brother or sister than we sing songs to him.
[00:19:15] We are called to worship, but our worship to be meaningful must. We must live out the Christ life, the life that Jesus has for us.
[00:19:29] So has anyone got anything against you?
[00:19:32] Isn't it interesting? He says, has anyone got anything against you? Not have you got anything against them? Has anyone got anything against you? Go put it right.
[00:19:42] Part of coming to Jesus is putting things right, the things we've done wrong. You know, I told, you know, when I was 13 years old, I gave my life to Jesus and I'd been stealing from a farm, and he sent me off to go and confess to the farmer.
[00:19:55] But, you know, way more often now, that was a long while ago, but it's a life of doing that. I remember someone really ticked me off and I was right and they were wrong. Definite, no doubt about it.
[00:20:12] And I remember, I can't remember if it was Juliet or the Holy Spirit. And often they can be one and the same.
[00:20:19] And, you know, I was going to meet and I, you know, we. Because we needed to reconcile somehow.
[00:20:27] And I think it might have been her, it might have been the Holy Spirit that said, take a bottle of wine, and I've got a rack of wine, and the cheap stuff is on the bottom and the really expensive stuff is on the top that you kind of never want to drink.
[00:20:44] And I remember just reaching down to the bottom shelf, picking up a bottle of wine to give it to this person as a gift. And the Holy Spirit's going, uh.
[00:20:53] And I'm like, going there? And you go, top shelf.
[00:20:59] And I'm like, they probably don't even know if it's a good bottle. It'll be wasted on them.
[00:21:04] But you See, the funny thing is, anger was still in my heart.
[00:21:09] And the Lord's going, no, we're going to deal with this. We're going to sort it out.
[00:21:13] You know, that was the heaviest bottle. Taking it to this meeting, you know, keep it.
[00:21:20] But the altar. Go and bless.
[00:21:24] Before you give your gift at the altar, be reconciled to your brother.
[00:21:29] Okay, Number three. Don't let things escalate. Settle matters quickly. Don't let the sun go down in your anger. The longer you leave it, the harder it is.
[00:21:38] Settle matters quickly.
[00:21:41] Are your words sharp?
[00:21:43] Quickly apologize. Do you lose it at work?
[00:21:48] Quickly put things right.
[00:21:51] You know, we've. We've been married 30 years now, and the. The words I speak to Juliet either lighter up or shut her down. And, you know, we have so many weddings at the moment. You know, it's like, it's a good thing, you know, you're meeting people, you're getting engaged. I think something's in the tea.
[00:22:10] All right, but. And we've still got two more this year to do next couple of weeks.
[00:22:15] And so. Which is why I'm on these. I'm using a lot of marriage illustrations. Paul says this. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church and he is the Savior of the body.
[00:22:32] Do you know, I was really shocked by this verse.
[00:22:37] Do you know what that word submit means?
[00:22:40] It means submit.
[00:22:43] It means obey. It means, yes, sir.
[00:22:50] Some of you are going, I'm not getting married now.
[00:22:53] Some of you are going. If I'd have known that.
[00:22:56] But that's what it means.
[00:22:59] Why does Paul only give one line to wives but much more to husbands?
[00:23:06] I think the reason being is because often the wives are not the problem.
[00:23:10] He says to husbands, he says this, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church.
[00:23:19] Because Christ died for the Church. Remember? A love marked by giving, not getting.
[00:23:24] Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her truth, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives.
[00:23:43] Yeah, all the women go, definitely pay attention to him. Write that verse down.
[00:23:54] You see, husbands on the whole, not always, but men struggle with anger more than women. Not always. I know there are exceptions to that. Jesus wants to take the anger and give you a brand new heart.
[00:24:11] Your words evoke your wife's beauty.
[00:24:15] How you speak to each other will determine how Your marriage thrives.
[00:24:23] If you put each other down, you will die inside. Or you can choose to evoke beauty by your words.
[00:24:31] But if the sun sets on harsh words, words unsaid, your love will wane. And one day you will look at your spouse and you will be strangers.
[00:24:44] And I just want to say, today, if you're married, determine to speak words of life to each other and make it a rule in your marriage. We're not going to let the sun set on our anger. Now, some of you newly married people go, you're so in love, we would never argue.
[00:25:11] You know, we've had one argument in 30 years, haven't we?
[00:25:15] Or two, three.
[00:25:17] Few.
[00:25:19] And no one can make me more angry than Juliet or the Lord.
[00:25:29] The Lord puts my sin in front of me, and she knows every button to press.
[00:25:35] So we have to determine to put things right. And sometimes it's nearly getting to sunrise.
[00:25:44] But it's so important, if you don't get anything else today, don't let the sun set on your anger. Or at least the sun rise if it's already set.
[00:25:59] Oh, oh. Number four, stay together. While you were still together on the journey. Settle matters, keep talking. And if you've stopped talking, reopen dialogue. It's okay to disagree. It's not okay to stop talking. Once the talking stops, reconciliation can't happen.
[00:26:14] I value people who disagree with me. They keep me sharp. I love to hear alternative points of view. There are even people in this church that disagree with me politically. I mean, obviously they're wrong and they just don't get it. Okay, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. Why? Because Jesus Christ is Lord.
[00:26:32] He is the one we look to. Not an ideology, not a government, not a political party. We look to. To Jesus Christ.
[00:26:43] You know, when people have disagreements, what should those of us caught up in it do? Should we take sides or should we just stay out of it? Neither.
[00:26:54] Keep them talking. Keep the conversation going.
[00:26:59] You know, because often that's the. That's the challenge, isn't it? We got a friends and they fall out. So what do we do? Well, I'm just staying right out of this. How does it work out? Normally, not very well, or I'm going to take sides. You know, she's right or he's right and you fall out. No, keep them talking. That's what the Bible says.
[00:27:17] Keep the conversation going. Because in the conversation, the miracle that the Holy Spirit has can happen.
[00:27:28] You see, peacemakers insist on the ways of Jesus. Keep talking.
[00:27:34] And then, you know, we've got Matthew 18.
[00:27:37] You know, if someone really does sin against you, go and tell them. Tell it to you. Just you say, you sinned against me.
[00:27:45] If they don't listen, Jesus says, well, take someone with you, just the two of you. Go to them. You sinned against me, and they still don't listen. He says, then, you know, if they still don't listen, take the church.
[00:27:58] And what if they don't listen to the church? He says, treat them as a tax collector.
[00:28:04] How does Jesus treat tax collectors?
[00:28:06] He has dinner with them.
[00:28:10] He has dinner with them.
[00:28:12] That's what he was criticized about.
[00:28:15] You see? Reconciliation.
[00:28:20] Before I finish, I want to say one more thing.
[00:28:23] We need some more Moses and Pauls in the church.
[00:28:27] We really do. The church has become so sanitized it barely stands for anything. We need men and women who will endure unpleasant circumstances that can stand under the judgment of people for the purposes of God.
[00:28:42] You know, people may not like them, but they are God's chosen vessels. They may not fit the mold, they may offend, but God has chosen them and called them.
[00:28:55] And we must be very careful not to curse them because we don't like how they do it, because God's hand might be on them. And I want to encourage you, if you are ever in doubt, choose to think the best of someone.
[00:29:13] Show mercy.
[00:29:15] Do not judge.
[00:29:17] Why don't you stand up?
[00:29:23] Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship, and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
