You have no right to be angry
Matthew 5:17-26
Let us pray.
Lord God of power and might, Author and Giver of all good things, grant into our hearts, the love of Your Name. Increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy, keep us in Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen.
St. Matthew, chapter 5 starting from verse 17 through 26.
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.
Reconciliation
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” This is the Gospel of our Lord.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Friends: are you like Akwasi who get angry at injustice, especially when it is done to you or to someone you love?.
It is an undeniable fact that our conscience feels the unfairness in this world. Though people hurt us, we certainly do not have the right to punish the evil doers.
No right! Any attempt will only lead to mob justice which may cause unnecessary bloody-warfare, which will eventually destroy the godly gift of a peaceful society.
Friends: Every command has a letter and the spirit.
Spend some time with children and you will surely come across a child who obeys every word you say.
Ironically it will however interest you to discover that; this same obedient child, will be looking for some sort of loop-hole, in order to do the very things you have commanded him or her not to do!,
Murder
To block any such loop-hole Jesus equates the action of murder with the action of uttering; abusive words at someone….By the principles of Jesus; calling some them a fool is equivalent to murdering the person…. Psalm 53:1 says “For the fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”
To call someone a fool in the Bible is just as calling them an unbeliever.
It is a condemnation to say someone is a fool…you will be implying they don’t merit salvation.
My dear listeners: Kindly note that; by Jesus’ atonement for sin, sin is no longer what sends someone to hell. I repeat; sin is not what sends someone to hell.
Let’s go back to the cross… Jesus hanged there with 2 criminals; we have head that Jesus took one of them to paradise the very night…. Why? Because of faith! That thief believed in Jesus so Jesus took him home to heaven whilst the other unbelieving thief went to hell.
(Mark 3:29) clearly states that: all sins are forgivable, except the sin against the Holy Spirit:
Our unbelief causes us to reject Jesus and by so doing, we make the Holy Spirit a liar. Akwasi and Adjo: the sin against the Holy Spirit is unbelief!
Unbelief causes us: Not to believe in what God the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit has done to reconcile sinful mankind to Himself. Unbelief this is what sends someone to hell.
To call someone a fool in Bible times meant you were wishing them to be outside salvation. It meant You were wishing them everlasting death.
Friends you may not have physically killed like others; for such murders only destroyed the body.
But you have destroyed souls with your unkind words.
Don’t Judge
Repent! My friends Repent: why are you putting yourself in the place of God… it is high time you Repent!
If you are not a judge or police officer or part of the judicial system, what right do you have to mete out your own personal feelings of justice on anyone?
Akwasi You have no such right …. Hear me very well, that the right to be angry and pass justice belongs to God and Him only.
God hates evil and injustice; so He gives His right of justice through the power of the sword of justice to governments and rulers to administer… according to procedures in Romans chapter 13.
For that reason: every state or country has peace-officers, armies, rules and regulations, and law courts. These are good systems because they are given by God Himself in order to maintain peace.
By God’s standards; human courts of law are blindfolded. I say the courts are blindfolded because the Judge is not supposed to judge means of the eyes, neither with the heart, nor with the bias of anger or love…No!
The Judge simply weighs the facts presented and information available in the scales of justice; and then dispassionately metes out what is right according to the laws of the state… which are given by God Himself.
Learn that Jesus did not come to lighten our loads by lessening the Law, by abolishing any of the commands.
Jesus came to complete the Law by living it to the fullest.., every jot, every title, every dot and iota, every stroke of the pen, Jesus certainly fulfilled them all… praise God!
Jesus Fulfilled the Law
Jesus fulfilled both the letter and the spirit of Law, on behalf of humanity,
He did all that for you and for me.
For that matter, within our powers, without dear nor favor, we should act to protect the innocent and the helpless, as well as stop evil people from destroys others.
Please in administering justice, we should not act in anger: remember, you have no right to be angry; rather we are mandated to act in love towards our neighbor, we are to act in love for what is good and right.
Always remember that anger is not ours; it belongs to God, and God alone is the true judge… Hallelujah.
Though we might never lead a rebellion against lawful order, yet we have the tendency to commit higher crimes by knocking God off His throne when we reject His Word.
In our weak state and anger we have wishfully condemned people whom Jesus our Lord shed His blood on the cross to save.
Jesus knows our very weakness and by the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus suffered due to God the Father’s anger against such sins.
Akwasi: Admit your sin because Jesus has died for you…
All have sinned
Don’t be stubborn by clinging to your own goodness,
With such an attitude, Jesus’ righteousness won’t do you any good…and eventually you will be handed over to God the righteous judge Himself.
Friends in that case it will be too late: in despite of what Jesus has done, you will be sent to the everlasting prison to pay for all the debt of your sins.
(Deut. 32:35; Ezek 25:14) has it that “‘Vengeance is mine,’ saith the Lord.”
Please; I repeat, do hear me well, Anger belongs to no human being but to God.
The ultimate anger against sin, which sends sinners to hell, belongs to God Almighty.
God is the Creator of all things and all humanity. He is the perfect Father who out of His fatherly love, designed and made all things we see and those we do not see.
God is the One Adam sinned against by eating what he was told not to eat.
God is the ultimate One we sin against every time we break rules and regulations. Yes in our disobedience, it is God’s Laws that we break.
Akwasi Adjo and my dear listeners: It is God we are despising and dishonoring.
It is God’s world, God’s people: His beloved children we damage when we sin.
We sin against God and man
You have no right to be angry: Don’t mistakenly think that your sin is only against yourselves and affects no one else, you are indeed hurting God, your Father. Know that you are not of your own, you are God’s…. God saved us and with His Son’s innocent suffering and death, He saved us from the judgment and punishment that we deserve because of our sins.
Between the letter and the spirit of the Law: It is the spirit of the Law which must be kept in order to fulfill God’s Law… thanks be to God! That is exactly what Jesus did through His life and death for us.
Jesus kept and completed the Old Testament fully in order that a New Covenant was needed to replace it:
A New Testament built on Jesus’ innocent and precious blood which He shed on the cross of Calvary through suffering and death for all humanity.
Trust it; Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit… is a gift from God the Father to the world.
My dear friends, I trust you now believe that anger is God’s and not yours. If you still doubt; then hear this: God’s anger has been totally poured out against Jesus! Should I repeat? I said ,…by so doing the Law and its eternal penalties are ended..Halleluiah.
So Jesus was justified on the cross when He said All is finished! ,
All is done! And for that matter,
In anger remember
When we feel angry, our anger should prompt us to pray:
We should pray for justice to be done; … for God’s justice is more that any punishment meted out by a human court.
We should pray for the poor and helpless to be saved and protected;
Remember to pray for healing for those who are hurt by sin; and those whose sins destroys others.
Friends Jesus for worn us that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and the Scribes we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven…. Do not let your hearts be troubled … don’t doubt but believe in Jesus… and by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith, the righteousness of Jesus is for all believers and Jesus the righteous judge shall judge all mankind on the last day…. They righteous shall be granted eternal glory… Amen
May the name of Jesus be praised now and forever more.
Amen.