"Put Them Away"

According to a new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, nearly 80 percent of U.S. drivers expressed significant anger, aggression, or road rage behind the wheel at least once in the past year. The most alarming findings suggest that approximately eight million U.S. drivers engaged in extreme examples of road rage, including purposefully ramming another vehicle or getting out of the car to confront another driver. Many drivers reported engaging in the following types of road rage:

Purposefully tailgating: 51 percentYelling at another driver: 47 percentHonking to show annoyance or anger: 45 percentMaking angry gestures: 33 percentTrying to block another vehicle from changing lanes: 24 percent

One of the study's researchers concluded, "Inconsiderate driving, bad traffic and the daily stresses of life can transform minor frustrations into dangerous road rage. Far too many drivers are losing themselves in the heat of the moment and lashing out in ways that could turn deadly."

But family not only do we see that anger is not only hazardous to us on the road but it is hazardous to even our health.

Angry cynical people die young. Men who score high for hostility on standard tests are four times more likely to die prematurely than men whose scores are low. -Homemade Magazine

And there is so much that comes with it. So much that comes with anger. So much that happens because of anger. The wake of anger is destructive. The smoke of anger is smoldering and lingering.

A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it's all over."

"So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!"

There are so many stories. So many proverbs. So many quips. So many commentaries. So many pictures and paintings. And yet anger remains in our culture.

According to a new USA Today study, the share of Americans who report feeling angry or irritable has surged from 50 percent just two years ago to 60 percent today. A Harvard Medical School study from 2012 found that nearly two-thirds of American teens admit to having anger attacks involving the destruction of property, threats of violence, or engaging in violence.

"Some are describing this as 'America's anger epidemic,' " says one New York news website. It cites unemployment, the economy, and for those who have work, overworking, as contributing factors.

But we're not only angry. We're also afraid … of one another. "For four decades," reports the Associated Press, "a gut-level ingredient of democracy—trust in the other fellow—has been quietly draining away. These days, only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted. Half felt that way in 1972." The AP article concludes, "Forty years later, a record high of nearly two-thirds say 'you can't be too careful' in dealing with people."

Either we do not take it serious or we believe that this has nothing to do with us. Most issues I have to deal with as a pastor is having to deal with the destruction of anger. And in the church what is an epidemic is the lack of dealing with people that have outburst of anger. It is never dealt with because we do not follow the scriptures. The scriptures make it very clear that we are never never to rescue an angry person because they will never learn and we will have to do it again. The Bible makes it very clear.

Proverbs 19:19 NLT

Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

We are not to bail them out and we do. And I know why we do… do you know what will happen to you if you don’t rescue the angry person? They get angry at you. So much comes with this and it is all condemned in the scriptures. We are not to have this in our lives. We are to put these things away. We are dead to this world and we are not to display these characteristics. Can we do it? Some will say that they cannot help it when they get angry. But somehow they can control it at work or in front of people. So you can control it, you just choose not to. We need to. The scriptures declare it.

Colossians 3:8–9 NLT

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.

Get Rid of It

Do Not Lie

Sin Nature

The first thing we will look at today is the need for us to rid ourselves of anger and its effects. The second thing is making sure we do not lie to each other. And Finally, we will see the reality of the sin nature and how we can be saved from it.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose control in anger and its effects, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will cause us to live in peace that transcends all understanding and victory over sin.

I. Get Rid of It

- The trifecta of malice and its consequences.

A. Just a bit of context… Paul underscores how vital it is for Christians to deal with sin in their lives by reminding us (1) that sinful behavior is a hallmark of our past life that we have left behind; and (2) that God’s wrath falls on people who engage in such behavior.

B. So important is understanding the effects of sin, that Paul uses the strong word. To stop yourself from being in a state or condition and to do it just like you were taking a garment off. And what are we supposed to stop? Anger, rage and malice. The trifecta… anger, the continuous state of smouldering or seething hatred; rage, when this state breaks out in actual angry deeds or words; malice, a word which in the Greek can simply mean ‘evil’, but which here probably has the overtone of ‘evil intended to cause hurt. This is not good and must be avoided…

One commentator writes, “When a tide of passion or a surge of anger is felt, it must be dealt with as the alien intruder it really is, and turned out of the house as having no right to be there at all, let alone to be giving orders.”

C. And why? Because of what it can and probably will cause, the destructive forces of slander and filthy language. These things are bad. A lot worse than we might think. Jesus shows us how serious slander and filthy language really is.

Matthew 15:18 NLT

But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.

D. Slander - hurtful speech which defames one’s character. This is awful and one of the worst things you can do to someone. A pastor was candidating for a church and a woman who he had counseled her and her husband came forward to the church and said that he is not a good choice for a pastor and you have no idea what he put me through. The people at the church asked what he did and she said that she cannot say. So the church did not go with him. It was found out later that he did nothing as confirmed by the husband and it was also found out that she was angry at the pastor because she felt like he always sided with her husband and not her. The church is still pastor less today 3 years later and still cannot find someone and missed out on a really good pastor. She also was upset that it was taking the church too long to find a pastor and she left the church.

E. Filthy language - cussing in anger. Saying bad things filthy things about a person and to a person in malice and rage. In Hawaii we say you are talking stink about a person or cussing someone out. Vulgar language to cause hurt and damage to the person you are talking to. And it is damaging. Remember the quote sticks and stone may break my bones but names will never hurt me is not in the Bible. No, names do hurt peoples feelings. Abusive language that is intended to hurt someone who you are angry with.

F. According to an AP poll, the use of profanity in American culture is increasing. Nearly 75 percent of people questioned said they encounter profanity in public either frequently or occasionally. Two-thirds said they think people swear more often than they did 20 years ago.

Not surprisingly, the respondents were more than "hearers of the words." Sixty-four percent said they use the F-word—ranging from several times a day (8 percent) to a few times a year (15 percent). In addition, younger people admit to using bad language more often than older people. They also encounter it more frequently and are less offended by it. The poll showed that 62 percent of people age 18–34 acknowledge swearing in conversation at least a few times a week, compared to 39 percent of those 35 and older. Swearing is also more pronounced among men: 54 percent of men swear at least a few times a week, compared to 39 percent of women.

II. Do Not Lie

- As inappropriate as they come.

A. Now Paul and Timothy want to point out the most inappropriate of all speech. Lying. Lying is a great sin. It is one of the 7 detestable sins. It is one of the 10 commandments and lying in the church setting is so bad that you could lose your life over it. God struck down Ananias and Sapphira for doing just that. Paul even warned the church in Ephesus about it.

Ephesians 4:25 NLT

So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

B. But here in the book of Colossians Paul with refer to the gospel and the faith of Christ as the truth. Dr. Moo suggests that we should see this more specifically… stop lying to each other with things about the faith and the gospel

Moo - the “lying” he prohibits is the kind of speaking against the true faith that the false teachers were engaged in.

C. This is why it is important to know what you believe and why you believe it. Because anything contrary to the true faith is lying and it is condemned in the scriptures. So not only do we need to tell the truth to each other in general, we need to speak the truth in the faith we need to speak the truth of the gospel. Anything else is lying to each other.

III. Sin Nature

- The Gospel is the answer.

A. But man is it hard. Overcoming anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying is really hard to do. The problem is that it comes natural to us. It is in our nature. I never had to teach my kids how to have anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying in their heart. And for many of us as we have grown have found these things to be difficult to overcome.

B. Many will even say that it is impossible to overcome this. We fail in our own strength and maybe even worse when we try in our own strength. This is why we are warned time and time again about the law and trying to be sanctified by our own efforts.

C. I worked for a company once where the head boss became a Christian and the rest of us were at least confessing christians. But everyone was in construction and for the most part had really bad potty mouth. He started a profanity jar. Every-time someone cussed they had to put $1 in the jar and when it got full we would all go out to lunch and use it to pay for it. It filled up several times. And after a while it took longer and longer. But even though it worked a little and people more and more stopped swearing in the office, the consensus was that God was happy with us. But here is the problem… He would not have been happy with us, he would have been very offended… oh so very offended.

D. Number one … God is not impressed with us trying to keep the law in sanctification on our own strength. The work began in the spirit the work should continue with the spirit.

Galatians 3:3 NLT

How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

E. Number two… How do you think God feels when the loss of money is more of a motivator for us then just obedience to His word. God who loves us and gave His Son for us tells us to get rid ourselves of filthy language, but we don’t listen. It is the loss of money that causes us to listen instead. We don’t fear the consequences of God word, but fear the loss of money more. Can’t obey God’s word, but take away our money and we go from sailor mouth to angel mouth.

F. Our motivation is not the gospel but loss of possessions. The loss of our real god… money. This is why we have got to hear the gospel every single week. Our motivation and freedom from the sin nature is the gospel and the gospel alone. I do not care how pure our behavior is… if it is done with the wrong motive with our hearts in the wrong place… God said even our prayer is an abomination. He will reject our sacrifices. He will reject our works.

Isaiah 64:6 NLT

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

G. The reality of sin displays the reality of the gospel. The gospel is everything. The words and works of Christ is the hope we have for our lives and our hope is in Christ alone. And our hope in Christ is all we need and all we will ever need. It is all we have and all we will have forever. We can be free today because of what Christ has done.

H. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried

I. The promises continue

J. Putting off the flesh or the sin nature is done by the work of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures. And the power of the wonderful ordinances of christ.