Matthew, Chapter 5. Mostly what we think is righteous anger, isn't at all, but here, read this. Verse 21, you've heard what it was said of those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders is in danger of judgment. So you've heard the commandment, thou shalt not murder. So do we have any murderers here? Now don't all shout.[Laughter] Do we have any murderers here? I think we have heaps of them. See, He said in the - see the Old Testament, the law dealt with the behaviour, the external. Murder is the behaviour expression of unresolved anger and hate, so Jesus is saying yes, I know the law, and you've heard it said, don't murder people. There's very practical reasons not to do that. There's real punishments if you do do it. He said I'm telling you this; that the nature of God who set the law up, His intent was we would love people, and if you love people, don't harbour anger in your heart against them. He says you know if you murder someone, you're in danger of judgment. He said I'm telling you differently. I'm telling you if you get anger in your heart against someone, and don't deal with it, you are in danger of judgment, because anger is the seed that gives rise to murder. That's pretty strong talk from Jesus isn't it, but He says it there.
I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to your brother is an idiot, shall be in danger of the council. Whoever says you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Now I won't go into all that's there, and all that it means, but very simply this; anger is the root from which murder flows, and God is calling us to live a different life. He's calling us to have a spirit empowered life. See the spirit empowered life, we go far beyond not killing people. We go to a level where we deal with our heart attitude, we learn how to love people, and not hold anger, and express anger and murder at them, see? That's why He said concerning adultery, He said you know it said, don't commit adultery, but I'm telling you what God is wanting is, He's wanting a heart that's pure, that doesn't actually lust after other women, because that's what leads to adultery. Can you see? So He's saying what I'm telling you is, what we're looking for here, is far higher than just a little set of rules to keep. What we're looking for here is spirit filled people, who've got a pure heart, and know how to actually express the life of God, because that's what you're all on about. That is what I put you in the earth to do, to express the love and the life of God. So He said you need to deal with this issue that's inside you. We getting the hang on that now?
Jesus was pretty straight about that, wasn't He? Oh, you've all got very quiet about it now - so [Laughs] and remember that anger will always lead to some form of verbal or physical retaliation, with a desire to hurt. You've got to realise that. The intent when someone explodes is to vent what's in them, and usually to hurt someone else with it, and if they don't intend to hurt them, it still makes no difference, they do. Now we've all been through that. How many have been through an experience where you've had someone really nut off and lose it, and it was directed at you? How many have had that experience, and found it really unpleasant? See, everyone here, everyone here. How many - well I won't ask how many have done it themselves. The tendency is to just do, because you don't know what to do.
Let me just give you quickly now the root of it, and then a couple of practical keys how to deal with this, because God wants us to deal with it, and you don't deal with it by sitting on it. So the root of it is very simple, simple as this. Anger arises when we believe our personal rights have been violated. Anger has to do with your rights, what you believe you're entitled to. See, notice this. You see a kid doing a hissy fit on the ground. They're fussing to get what they want, and they're doing everything they can to make you do what they want, because they believe what they want, they're entitled to, see? Isn't that right? The core at the root of anger, is my belief that I'm entitled to have life go right for me. It's actually a consequence of the fall, and you'll see at the core of dealing with anger, the issue of personal rights has to be addressed, because as soon as a person believes their personal rights have been violated in some way, whether it's real or just they imagine it, they get angry. Every time they get angry, so it could be simply a blocked goal. You know, you're just trying to get to work, and then there's some silly slow car with some old person sitting there, and they're blocking the blimmin road! You just are wound up and you do something hasty. Then you're pulled over by the cops, then you really have regret, measured in how much it's going to cost you, see?