Ye have 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 the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and 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. (Matthew 5:21-26)
An angry person always thinks he has a cause to be angry with his brother. But the angry person has traded in thinking for feeling; substituted gray matter for adrenaline, and adrenaline is a very poor judge indeed. By being angry with someone, we have chosen to be that person’s prosecutor and judge, and quite often even the officer carrying him away to be punished. Yet, Jesus said: “Judge not that ye may not be judged”. Now, look at the wonderful consistency in the teachings of our Lord; he said: “Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause is in danger of the judgment”. Compare that statement to: “For with the same judgment with which ye judge – ye shall also be judged”. It’s quite clear that the doctrine was absolutely solid to him. He could teach it from any angle. An angry person does not ever judge with a judgment with which he himself wants to be judged, in other words, he is in danger of the judgment! How much better of we would be if we would chose to be reconciled with our brother!
Giving insult to someone might end up in court, but even worse, if not repented of, will end up in hell. That’s a bit harsher than “sticks and stones”, but this is the exact principle taught by these words: “whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council (court): but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire”. The fact that it says:”shall be in danger of hell-fire” means that there is a chance to escape that miserable ending. That’s what Jesus meant when he told the saints to reconcile with their brother before attempting to approach the Lord at the altar.
Agree with your enemy in this lifetime, if you don’t, Satan will deliver you up to be judged and condemned. In the scripture it is clear that Satan will have the right to accuse the unrepentant sinner. Isaiah asks if the justly imprisoned shall be delivered:
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered:
In other words, Lucifer has the right to capture and deliver the unrepentant to judgment and punishment. Agree with your adversary quickly, while he is alive, before The Adversary delivers the to be judged!
25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. (Isa 49:24-25)
This promise of the Lord is only extended unto those whose hearts are contrite concerning their wrongdoings towards their fellowman and who repent while “they are still in the way with” them. This is the spirit of wanting to be reconciled with our fellow man.
