Steering Clear of Murder, Part 3

Today, a convicting message from Chuck Swindoll about controlling our speech. If you wonder the condition of your heart, listen to your tongue. Your tongue is like a bucket, and your heart is like a well.

And it goes down into the well, and it brings up what's there. That's what is a concern to our Savior. If you know the Lord, and you live like this without concern for that, you grieve the Holy Spirit. According to the Bible, the human tongue and the spiritual heart are inseparably linked. And tragically, the unsavory words that occasionally spill from our mouths reveal the ugly condition of our soul. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll completes a three-day study on this sobering topic. And at the outset, be warned that the message ahead is very convicting. None of us likes to revisit the deceitful things we've said. And yet Jesus taught us that when we lie, it's equivalent to manslaughter.

Chuck titled today's message, Steering Clear of Murder. All of these who are listening to Jesus teach in his Sermon on the Mount have been reared under rabbis who learned their lessons from the Pharisees and the scribes. They read them. They listened to them. They were tutored and mentored by them. So they parroted what they had been taught and seen before their eyes.

Everything was about the act. So when they address murder, they address the act of murder, not the motive behind it, not the thoughts that lead to it, not the anger that stems from the heart and leads to assaulting others. They weren't taught about that. They were taught the act of murder because that's what the law teaches. You shall not kill, meaning you shall not murder. And along comes Jesus and says, But I say to you, you are to be different from that.

It isn't simply the act I want to address behind the scenes, the hidden motive of the heart. You see, the Pharisees dealt with the letter of the law. Jesus came and taught about the spirit of the law. In this sermon, Jesus tells them what they've been hearing, and then he corrects that teaching with his words that are introduced by what I call a literary clue.

There are six of these clues that go together. Look at your Bible. Chapter 5 verses 21 and 22 would be the first, where we learn how to steer clear of murder.

The outward act is in verse 21. All your growing up years, all those times in the synagogue, all those days in church, we would say, the ancients were told you shall not commit murder. Murder is obviously the taking of the life of another.

Don't do that. Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. Let me go further.

Now it gets very convicting. Everyone who is angry with his brother, so let's keep this among the family. Your brother would be your fellow Christian. Your sister would be your fellow Christian. Everyone who is angry with his brother or sister in the family of God shall be guilty before the court.

He even goes into detail. Whoever says, you good for nothing, that's an insulting statement. We would call it airhead. It means an empty headed individual. That's an insulting statement. Shall be guilty. Whoever says, you fool. Fool isn't someone that just does something mischievous. A fool says in his heart there's no God.

You godless so and so. So it's a pronouncement of condemnation of another person. It's what we do in a burst of temper.

You see it. It's an inner attitude. It has to do with an anger which broods.

Let me go further. An anger that won't forget. Some of you could name book chapter and verse of an event that happened where it made you angry and you have carried that anger to this day.

You even know the words that were said. Anger that won't forget. Or it's an anger that refuses to forgive and be pacified. Or it's an anger worst of all that seeks revenge. We're talking about those times that fire could have been coming out of your mouth like a dragon. We're talking about those moments when you seethed deep within and you cultivated a hatred for another person. This is what we're talking about. We're dealing with murder in the heart. You see when you're a Christian you learn not to shrug sins.

You don't do that. Mature Christians don't shrug off sins and even though you're a strong believer in grace, and there's no one right now on this planet stronger in grace than I am, but I will tell you as a grace-loving believer you don't dare shrug off sins. That cheapens grace. That's why Jesus says what he does and uses words like this that strike the heart. Let it say what it says. Now in perfect Jesus Christ fashion he flips the story around when he gets to verse 23 and he no longer looks at you. In your anger he now looks at the person you've offended, the person you said those things to.

Look at 23. It's a conditional sentence. If, and you're in church. In those days you had a gift that you brought, an offering to the altar.

That's what it's saying. If you are presenting your offering at the altar and there, remember, look at that. While you're engaged in worship, amazing about the mind, you're suddenly stung with memory. You blink your eyes and you see another face on your eyelids. You begin to be pierced in your heart when you're in the middle of a song or a time of silence or in a sermon.

You're about to present your offering at the altar and what happens? You remember your brother has something against you. You are the offender and you remember that. Oh, I've had that happen and I know you have.

What do you do? Do you sort of shrug and pray and ask the Lord to help him understand that it was just a bad moment? No, doesn't say that. The responsibility is not the other person's. Please observe the verse and let the verse say what it says.

Look at the verbs. Believe your offering and go. First, be reconciled.

Look at that, order of importance. First, be reconciled and then come and now present your offering. Full circle. You're in the middle of worship and you realize, oh, oh, and you're convicted. It's come from the Spirit of God. You've said or done something that was cutting and you know you were wrong and you know the other person was hurt, was offended.

Your mind has the ability to picture all of that. You go, what does it say? It says you go first and be reconciled. You turn enmity into amity.

You turn the offense into a resolution. You reconcile with this brother or sister you have hurt. May I add, you don't try to justify what you did and let me say this, you don't blame him or her for something they had done that caused you to do that. What caused you to do it is your own anger unrestrained.

That's what you're dealing with. I want you to know that I've come to realize that what I did was absolutely wrong. I have no excuse and I want you to know that I care very much that we rebuild a relationship that I have destroyed. I don't want that.

I don't want that to happen. And I'd like you to forgive me please. I'd like to seek your forgiveness. I'd like to make that right. And then what do you do?

You come and present your offering back at worship. I'm going to pause here and let you think that through. My words are saying one thing to one person and something altogether different to someone else. It may be something between you and one of your children, now grown. It may be with an in-law. It may be with your parents. It may be with a former friend who's no longer a friend. It may have been a roommate in college or classmate school.

Maybe a fellow soldier when you were serving in the military. The possibilities are endless but you don't leave it there. You make it right. Please observe this is one of the few times in all the scriptures you stop your worship to take care of a higher priority. You see it's a tendency of the hypocrite to stay in church and just to go to more church services rather than you know what more important than my attending a church service is attending to this offense that I've caused. And if I may be so bold as to say it some of you have left a trail of offenses. You're the serial killer.

And you justify for whatever reason how they ought to grow up or well they you know you should have seen what they did. Stop all that. Until you come to terms with this you will not fulfill what Jesus is commanding. It goes further. Look at the next two verses. Now you're no longer a church now you're going to court. And now it's not another brother. This is an opponent.

I take this individual to be a person who is without Christ. May not be but I'm suggesting that. Make friends quickly with your opponent. Look at the quickly. There's urgency written all over this instruction. Urgency. Urgency.

Urgency. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you're with him on the way so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge. These are all picturesque words to describe what happens. And the judge turns you over to the officer and then you'll be thrown into prison. Truly I'll say to you you won't come out of there until you've paid the last cent. What does that mean? What's the prison?

What's the prison? Look at Matthew 18. Hold your place here.

Right quick now. Turn to Matthew 18. This is the section where Peter says to Jesus how many times do I forgive my brother seven times. Jesus says seventy times seven meaning an infinite number of times. And what if I don't?

What if I don't forgive? This is the other side of the coin. Look at it.

Look at what he says. Chapter 18 verse 34. Toward the end of the passage. His Lord moved with anger handed him over to the torturers till he should repay that which was owed him. It's a story of a debt. Now he adds my Heavenly Father will do also to you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

It's about forgiveness. And you see the words in verse 34 handed over to the torturers. That's the prison. That's the prison where some of you live. You're eaten up with an acid.

Maybe an acid of resentment or bitterness or grudge holding or blame. And it's all you can do to smile through a day because this is this is just your lifestyle. You become that kind of individual. You've been turned over the torturers. It's a horrible way to live.

I know. I've been there. And I've come to realize that that is not the way I want to live my life.

That is certainly not the way I want to die. As a pastor you're with people when they're dying often. And you hear things that you wish you could share with everyone. Words of regret. It's remarkable how death will bring all of that to the surface. Listen to me today.

This is for you right now to prepare for the rest of your life. I encourage your cultivating reconciliation with others. Is it humiliating?

Yes it can be. It's certainly humbling. You begin with I come today to acknowledge I said this and I had no right to say it. You weren't even there. But you heard about it.

And I'd heard you'd heard about it. I never made that right. Or it may be I remember that day when we had that terrible argument and I made some statements that were condemning how wrong I was. I want to make it right.

Please forgive me. I don't want to spend the rest of my days churning as he would put it in the prison of torturing. Now as I close this message on a serious note I want to offer three principles that I think will help us respond correctly to Jesus' command.

Here's the first. The principles of kingdom living go deeper than the external. The principles of kingdom living go deeper than the externals.

You can always count on this. Jesus does not deal with externals. Man looks on the outward appearance. The Lord what? Looks on the heart.

You can be sure of this. Your acts, A-C-T-S, are not the first focus of our Savior. It's the hidden person of the heart. It's the things you think.

It's the attitude you cultivate. It's the deep resentment. It's the revenge. It's the grudge. It's the blame.

The principles of kingdom living go deeper than the external. Here's the second. The potential of anger is far greater than mere words. The potential of anger is far greater than words.

You're going to try to justify yourself by saying, just a throwaway comment. No, wait, wait. That's not what Jesus calls it. And if you wonder the condition of your heart, listen to your tongue. Your tongue is like a bucket and your heart is like a well.

And it goes down into the well and it brings up what's there. That's what is a concern to our Savior. And if you know the Lord and you live like this without concern for that, you grieve the Holy Spirit. That's not legalism. That's biblical truth. You grieve the Lord who wants to give you, take full control of your whole life. Believe me, it's a great way to live.

There's nothing like it. The potential of anger is far greater than mere words. Here's the third. The power of reconciliation is stronger than revenge.

The power of reconciliation is stronger than revenge. St. Patrick was a fifth century British Christian missionary and a bishop of Ireland. He came to be known as the apostle of Ireland. We only know him at the holiday or at the day we acknowledge and we're green.

We call it St. Patrick's Day. You owe it to yourself to study the life of Patrick. Tradition has it that he had this prayer inscribed on his breastplate. Listen to this magnificent prayer. Each line begins with God. God be in my head and in my understanding. God be in my eyes and in my looking. God be in my mouth and in my speaking. God be in my heart and in my thinking. God be at my departing. Fast forward to your day of departing.

I know it's difficult for you who are strong and healthy and younger, but rush ahead. There will be a day you depart. How great to know that there were no skeletons left. How great to know that your sleet, by the grace of God, was marked by forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.

What a way to die. Bow with me will you please. Sit very still for a few moments. I understand that I have spoken strong words today and I've done so only for your good. Had I not, you probably would not have given me the attention that you have given, not to me, but to God's Word. It's time for you to rein in your tongue. It's time for you to come to terms with your anger, your envy, your bitterness, your blame.

It's time. As we read in Romans 3, we discovered that we can't do this on our own. James even says you can't tame your own tongue. So you need help from within. The presence of Jesus Christ can fill your life and give you the power you need to address the things that you know deserve your attention.

If I may speak on behalf of those that you have offended, please do what is right. Please deal with this. If first you must come to Christ, then come to Christ. Trust Him. He will forgive you. He will set your feet on the rock and will give you a confidence and refreshment that you've never known before as you clear your conscience. If you know the Lord, then it's a great moment for you to confess this to Him and then begin the process of urgently dealing with it. If we can help you with that, that's why we're here.

Just call on us. Our Father, we end on this sober note because this has been a serious message. Can't imagine how Jesus must have spoken these words and how they must have been heard by those who discovered what they had never been taught before and what they must have done about it.

Help us to know kingdom living in a world that's lost its way. Give us the ability to live in such a different way that the very works of our lives, motives of our hearts, words from our mouths strike curiosity in the lives of those who don't know you, who seek to find out how there can be such a difference in what they are witnessing and what they live with. I pray that good will come from these words of counsel and that these who hear these words will be faithful to follow through for your greater glory as Christ instructed.

In His name we pray, every one say, Amen. A deeply convicting lesson coming directly from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Chuck Swindoll titled today's message, Steering Clear of Murder.

You're listening to Insight for Living. Our series is called The King's Arrival and it's founded on Matthew's Gospel, chapters 1 through 7. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry or these messages, please visit us online at insightworld.org. If you're looking for a practical way to take your next steps, let me point you to a book Chuck's written called Simple Faith. In this classic, Chuck focuses entirely on the sermon Jesus delivered, which is found in Matthew 5 through 7. Chuck calls it the sermon of all sermons. We tend to complicate what it means to follow Jesus, but Jesus spoke in simple and direct terms so that anyone could understand Him. To purchase a copy of Chuck's book, again called Simple Faith, go to insight.org slash store or give us a phone call.

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And it's the voluntary donations of friends like you that keep this outreach going. To give a gift today, call us. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888, or go online to insight.org. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll poses the question, Whatever Happened to Fidelity and Honesty? Listen Tuesday to Insight for Living. The preceding message, Steering Clear of Murder, was copyrighted in 2015 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.