Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from Matthew chapter 5. I've entitled this message,
Are You a Murderer? Now that may seem like an unusual
title, but think with me. Are you a murderer? In Matthew chapter 5, we read
in verse 21, this is what is known as the Sermon on the Mount,
The Lord says, you've heard that it was said by them of old time,
and he quotes from the scripture, Exodus chapter 20 and Numbers
chapter 35. You've heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you,
Now, this is one of six times in this chapter the Lord makes
this statement, you've heard it said, but I say. You see, He was giving the true
meaning of God's holy law. Men see the law in the letter,
but they don't understand the spirit of the law, what it actually
means, not just what it says, but what it actually means. And
our Lord spake with authority. You see, he gives the true meaning. You've heard it said by them
of old time, and he's actually quoting scriptures, but I say
unto you, he's speaking with the authority of God. You've heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,
shall be in danger of judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Rakeh, vain fellow, shall be in danger of the council.
But whosoever shall say, thou fool, you morally worthless fellow,
shall be in danger of hell fire." Now, if you would ask the average
person, if you would take a poll, And ask the average person, what
is the worst thing you could do? I would say the majority
of people would say, well, to murder someone, to kill someone,
to take their life. And what a horrible thing that
is, to kill somebody. Look at all the people that are
affected by it, the parents, the spouse, the children. Oh,
what a horrible thing to take a man's life. greatly wicked. Now, if you ask those same people,
what is the sin that you probably have not committed, most would
say, well, I've never killed anybody. I may have cheated.
I may have lied. I might have been disobedient
to my parents. I may have committed sexual sin. I may have done many
things, but at least I've never killed anybody. Well, what does
the Lord say about that? Because he gives us the spirit
of the law. Men understand the letter of
the law. We ought not take someone's life. But murder means more than
taking someone's life. In 1 John 3, verse 15, we read
this. Whosoever hateth his brother
without a cause, whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. That's what the scripture says.
Whosoever hateth his brother, 1 John 3.15, is a murderer. Now, all you have to do is hate
your brother and you are a murderer. Now, what does hate mean? Well,
hate is malicious and unjustified feelings toward others. But you
know, it means more than that. It's not just that feeling of
hatred where you're angry and you feel like you've been wrong
and you hate him. Listen to this scripture. The
Lord said, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate
the one and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and
despise the other. You can't serve God and mammon.
Now, here the word hate means preferring one above another.
And then we have this scripture in Luke chapter 14 verse 26,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple. Now here the Savior is not telling
us that we need to have feelings of hatred, and spite, and wrong
toward our parents. He's saying if we love them more
than Him. Hate is just loving one more
than another. So, if I hate my brother in the
sense of just not giving him the preference that he ought
to have, in God's sight, I'm guilty of murder. Now, that's
what the Son of God says. So, we see that this thing of
murder, killing people, isn't simply taking their life. I can kill someone by simply
hating them, treating them with disregard. not giving them what
they deserve. Now, the Lord says in our text
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,
without a just reason, is in danger of the judgment, just
like that one who kills is in danger of the judgment. To be
envious, to be jealous, to be resentful of your brother, because
he has what you do not have, and you wish it was yours. You
wish you had his situation, and you're jealous. You're angry
without a cause. This is murder in God's sight. Now, that's what God's Word says.
Remember, the Word of God is authoritative. What the Word
of God says is what is. And He says to simply be angry
at your brother without a cause is murder. And he takes it even
further. He says, and whosoever shall
say to his brother, Rakeh, that means vain fellow. And this isn't
so much a judgment of the man's character, but of the man's intellect. You're a shallow, empty person. You're an idiot. You're worthless.
I mean, you're a vain fellow. That person who makes that accusation
against someone That's murder. That's just as much murder. And
he goes on to say, whosoever says, say thou fool. Now there,
when you call someone a fool, you're calling him a morally
worthless person, someone utterly void of character. Now, when
I make that judgment about somebody, here's what I do. In Romans chapter
1, Paul is giving this big, long catalog of the sins of the Gentiles. He says in verse 28, And even
as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are
not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God that
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only
do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Now, what
would you say about someone described like this? Why, they're evil. They're worthy of the judgment
of God. They're morally worthless people. But let's go on reading. Therefore,
Romans chapter 2, verse 1, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art that judgest. You make this judgment of these
people, for wherein thou judgest another, you condemn yourself,
for you that judge do the same things." If you don't do them
physically, you do them in your heart, and that is the same thing
in God's sight. The Lord went on to say in expanding
the law, all you have to do is look at a woman to lust after
her in your heart, and you're guilty of committing adultery
before God. Now, murder. There's a whole
lot more than what we say it is. Now, verse 23, the Lord goes
on to say, first He says, if you're angry without a cause,
that's murder. If you call your brother Rakeh, vain fellow, that's
murder. If you call your brother a fool,
standing in judgment at him, He says you're in danger of hellfire.
Now, let's go on reading. He says in verse 23, Therefore,
if thou bring thy gift to the altar, And this is talking about
one of the free will offerings of the Old Testament. You gave
something freely because you wanted to do it. It was a gift
you wanted to give to the Lord. Therefore, if thou bring thy
gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against
thee. You're bringing your gift and
you remember your brother has ought against you. You've done
him wrong. You've murdered him. by gossip,
by innuendo, by silence, by an expression of your face before
others, you failed him. You've promoted yourself at his
expense. You failed him as a friend. Don't
think God will accept your gift. He will not. Leave it there and
go and first be reconciled to your brother, that one of whom
you've been a Murderer. Be reconciled to your brother. You desire to be reconciled.
You're sorry for what you've done to him and against him.
You apologize. You desire forgiveness. And you
want the reason for anger to be taken away. You want reconciliation. You want to be reconciled to
your brother. You're sorry that you've murdered him. You're sorry
that you've done him wrong in that sense. You want to do unto
him as You would have him do to you. That's what you want.
You first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then you
come and offer your gift upon the altar. Now remember, it's
our works that prove the reality of our faith. If I've experienced
mercy, I'll be merciful. If I've experienced forgiveness,
I'll be forgiving. If I've experienced reconciliation
where God has reconciled to me for Christ's sake, I'm going
to seek to be reconciled to my brother. Now, remember, the Lord
said, if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. Don't offer
your gift until that is taken care of. Now, is there any doubt
that you and I have been guilty of murder? If murder is what
the Lord calls it, and it is, you and I have been guilty of
murdering many people. Many people. Many people have
died at our hands. I may have never physically killed
someone, and I haven't, but I've murdered many. And here's the
chief murder that you and I are guilty of. The murder of the
Son of God. Now listen real carefully. The
one time Men were allowed to do what they wanted to do, and
God removed the restraints and left men to themselves, left
men to their own will to do what they wanted to do. What did they
do? They murdered the Son of God. Now, somebody says, I didn't
do that. But you would have, and I would
have. I might not have been there,
but in my intention, and remember, God looks at the heart. Man looks
on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. You would
have. Now, you say, no, I wouldn't have. Now, you might not have
murdered the Christ of your imagination, the Christ that you can control,
the Christ that you can manipulate, the Christ that's there to help
you whenever you need Him. He's kind of like a genie to
you. Whenever you're in trouble, you call on Him. But I'm talking
about the sovereign Son of God, the one who's in absolute control,
the Lord Jesus Christ of the Scriptures. Him, the natural
man, hates. And when God left us alone to
ourselves, we murdered the Son of God. We said, we'll not have
this man to reign over us. So every one of us are guilty
of murder. Guilty as charged. Now let's go on reading. Verse
25, the thought isn't over. The Lord says, after expounding
to us what murder is, He says, agree with thine adversary quickly
whilst thou art in the way with him. Now, the adversary is the
opponent at law. It's not just talking about an
enemy, somebody who's out to get you. It's talking about the one
who's got something on you and is bringing you to court. And
in the context, he's talking about murder. Agree with your
adversary, the one who brings this charge of murder against
you quickly. Agree quickly with him while thou are in the way
with him. lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou
shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing." And you know what the Lord is saying? He's saying
you better settle out of court. Regarding this thing of murder,
if you go before God just on this one sin, let's don't even
think about the other sins right now, just this one sin. If you
stand before God in judgment, you will be condemned. You will
be found guilty. You'll be cast into prison. Settle
out of court. Agree with thine adversary quickly. Right now. Don't wait. If God judges you on your own,
if He judges me on my own, I must be condemned. Oh, the law of
God. Let me say this about the law
of God. I can say this about every other commandment. I can remember when
I was a boy, I would look at the Ten Commandments and try
to figure out which ones I've kept and which ones I've broken.
Now understand this. If I understand what God's law
really means, I'll know that I haven't kept one commandment
one time. Now let me repeat that. I have
not kept one commandment one time. And if you think you have,
It's because you don't understand God's holy law as the Lord Jesus
is expanding it to us. If you think you can keep it,
you bring the law down to your level. You know, even when I
tell the truth, I'm telling the truth in such a way as to promote
myself or give myself some kind of positive slant. Sin is with
everything we do, and that's what the law... Law doesn't save
anybody. All God's holy law does is expose
sin. It exposes my need of Christ. Now, agree with your adversary
quickly. When he says you're a murderer,
say, guilty as charged. Agree. Be at complete agreement. Romans 3.19 says, Now we know
that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. and all the world
become guilty before God, guilty as a lawbreaker, guilty as a
murderer, guilty as a liar, guilty as a covetous person, guilty
as an adulterer, every breath I take guilty as charged. And if I ever see something of
the holiness of God, who He really is, and the exceeding broadness
of his law, I'll know guilty as charged. Agree with your adversary
quickly. But it doesn't only mean to agree
in the sense of guilt, but it also means agree with the way
that a murderer or a lawbreaker can be saved. Now, I want to
take you back to another murderer. His name was David. David was
a man after God's own heart, and you can read about this in
2 Samuel chapter 11, when kings should be out fighting, he was
at home. And he spied a woman by the name
of Bathsheba, and with a terrible abuse of power, because David
had power. If he wanted somebody, they had
to come to him. He sent for this woman, who was the wife of somebody
else, and he committed adultery with her. Evil. Can a believer
do that? You shouldn't ask a question
like that. If you know yourself, you know there's no sin you're
not capable of, unless the Lord restrains you from it. And you
ask for restraining grace. You say, Lord, lead me not into
temptation. Deliver me from it, because I know I'll fall if I...
So just hedge me about. But David, with a horrible abuse
of his power, had this woman come and he committed sexual
sin with her, and she became with child. Now, David now tries
to cover it up. And you know what he does? He
has her husband, a very faithful man by the name of Uriah, who
was out fighting David's battle. He had him murdered like this.
He said, you go up to the wall, have Uriah in the front of the
wall, and then pull back and let him kill him. And Joab did
it. And he committed cold-blooded
premeditated murder, and he seemingly stayed unrepentant for many months. The child was born before he
confessed his sin. He stayed unrepentant and hard-hearted. And then God sent his prophet,
Nathan. And Nathan came to David, and
he told them the story of a man who had a little lamb. that he
loved so dearly. He treated it as a child. It
actually ate at his table. He loved this land. And there
was a man who had many flocks, had a great number of sheep,
a very wealthy man. And a stranger came through.
And this wealthy man didn't want to give up his sheep, so he had
this man's little lamb confiscated and killed it and fed it to the
guest. And when David heard that, he
became furious. He said, get him and kill him. And Nathan, God's prophet, said
to David, thou art the man. Thou art the man, and all of
David's sin was brought home to him. His sin with Bathsheba,
his sin, his horrible sin, and what he did to Uriah, that faithful
man. And he cried out for the first
time, I've sinned. And Nathan said, and the Lord
hath put away thy sin. And at that time, David went
and composed this psalm, Psalm 32. And this is one of my favorite
psalms. And in this psalm, David tells
how a murderer's sin can be forgiven, covered, and put away. And he
says in Psalm 32, blessed is he whose transgression, breaking
of God's law, murder, is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile, no deceit. They are honest before God. Now,
first, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Now, the only one
who can forgive is God himself. If you commit a murder, only
God can forgive you. Justice will demand your death.
If you commit a murder, the judge can't get up and say, well, let's
just forgive him. Let's let it slide. No. Only
God can actually forgive. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. God does forgive sin. And let me tell you this about
His forgiveness. His forgiveness is not like my forgiveness and
your forgiveness. When He forgives sin, He forgets
it. Their sins and their iniquities,
I'll remember no more. Now, God has a very perfect memory,
and yet He says, I don't remember them. How could that be? Because
there's nothing there to remember. You see, He did something about
that sin. So let's go on reading. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered, covered by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the reason God can forgive
sin is because that sin has been paid for. It's been covered. God said the soul that sins shall
surely die. My sin became the sin of the
Lord Jesus Christ. My murders became the murders
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God killed him. Yes, men
murdered him, but it's because God allowed it. It was the justice
of God, God's claims against sin that killed his son, the
soul that sinneth shall surely die, who his own self bear our
sins in his own body on the tree. My sin became his sin. His blood
covered my sins, covered them so they're gone. Look what he
says next. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Now all those things David did,
he really did commit adultery. He really did in premeditated
cold blood murder Uriah the Hittite. with a terrible abuse of his
power and his privileges. He really did do those things,
but God did not impute those things to him. Now that's an
amazing thought. If He did them, how can that
be? Well, God took the sin of David. And God took the sin of
Todd, and God took the sin of all who believe, and He lifted
it off of them and placed it upon His Son. It was imputed
to Him so that He became guilty of those very sins. Oh, He bore
the shame and the disgrace and the vileness of those sins, who
His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree. God
imputed our sins to Him. They became His, and He became
guilty of them. But let me also say this. Not
only did God take my sin and impute it to the Lord Jesus Christ
so that it actually became His. He died because those were His
sins. He was guilty of them. But He took the righteousness
of His Son. The perfect law-keeping of His
Son. The One who never murdered. No,
not in His heart. The one who loved God with all
of his heart and all of his soul and all of his strength. The
one who never sinned. He took his righteousness and
charged it to me so that it becomes mine. So that I stand before
God without guilt. Now this is a murderer's only
hope. That his murder, that his sin is not charged to him. But it was charged, it was imputed,
it was counted to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the very righteousness
of Christ is counted to Him. Oh, blessed is He whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. Now, if after hearing this message
you think, well, I'm not a murderer, what that means is you've got
a spirit that's filled with guile. You're not being honest before
God. You're being deceitful. You're
not confessing your sin before God. You've got a guileful spirit,
the guileless spirit. He's not deceitful with God.
It's honest before God. I'm guilty of murder. I'm guilty
of murdering the Son of God. I'm guilty of every crime that
I'm charged with, guilty as charged, oh, that I might be found in
Christ, that I might be among those blessed ones whose sin
is forgiven, whose iniquity is covered. Transgression is covered
where my iniquity is not imputed to me. Oh that that might be
me. Lord have mercy upon me for Christ's
sake. God be merciful to me the sinner. May I be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. May his precious blood wash away
all my guilt and all my sin so that I stand before you without
guilt. Oh Lord remember me. That's the plea of the one who
confesses his murder and his sin. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. And we'd like to invite you to
services at Todd's Road Grace Church. Our morning worship begins
at 1030, Bible study at 945, and this evening at 6. This is
Todd Kniper, praying that God will be pleased to make Himself
known to you. That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.