Handling Anger
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· 26 viewsHuman anger arises for a number of reasons, some of which are acceptable and others which are not. Scripture stresses the potentially destructive aspects of human anger and urges moderation.
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We have spoken many times of the way that emotionalism rules the hearts of most people on this planet. But what do we do with the emotions that we feel? We certainly haven’t become unthinking and unfeeling robots, have we?
I have seen some stoic Christians in my time as a servant of the Lord that would have you believe that they are untouchable and nothing ever phases them. But that is just not reality.
My aim here this morning is to hopefully give you something to think about for those times that you come into moments of anger where you feel like you could chew through a brick you’re so mad. You know what I’m talking about, that feeling you get when you hear the latest insane thing that is going on in the world. I want to tell you this morning that there are people that have a vested interest in your anger because it will increase their bottom line corporately or politically.
What they fail to realize, is that their strings are being pulled by none other than Satan himself.
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
nor give place to the devil.
What I DO NOT want to do here is make it sound as if you never have a right to be angry. This verse we just read clearly delineates that there is a line between anger and sinning because of that anger.
The following will not be an exhaustive list, but should produce a spark in us that helps us recognize there are a lot of reasons people get offended in this world, and they are making up new reasons daily it seems.
Reasons for human anger
Reasons for human anger
The reason I want to limit this today to human anger is because invariably someone will want to come to me later and say, “Well pastor, Don’t you think you should have said something about when God gets angry?”
Yes, there will be a time for that but let’s deal with what we experience personally first in light of Scripture.
There are, as I said, innumerable reasons that people get mad at each other.
I don’t really waste my time getting too upset with people, but I get outrageously angry with things that don’t work.
You know exactly what I’m talking about if you have a cell phone you are paying exorbitant amounts of money for and the stupid thing doesn’t work half the time.
Jealousy
Jealousy
There are lots of reasons people get jealous of each other; relationships, money, social status, religion (as stupid as that sounds), God’s blessings on others...
I grew up poor, we couldn’t afford the name brand clothes that everyone else had. I remember being so jealous that I couldn’t have what I considered to be “cool” back then. Additionally, the other kids delighted in reminding me how poor and disgusting I was on a daily basis. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but in retrospect I had clothes to wear, food to eat, and a roof over my head.
But when jealousy gets out of hand, it can result in all types of sin. The Bible tells us that the first murder happened as a result of Cain’s jealousy towards Abel.
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,
but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
See also 1 Sa 17:28; 1 Sa 18:8; 1 Ki 21:4; Lk 15:28
“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
Here we are referring to the brother of the prodigal son that refused to celebrate the homecoming of his wayward brother.
Listen up, beloved! We can very easily fall into this snare of the enemy because of God’s blessings on others when we have been “more faithful” than others that seem to be more blessed than we are!
There will ALWAYS be some in the Church that are wholehearted servants of the Lord and show up when nobody else will, give more of their time, talents, and resources and money to the work of God. It is imperative that they do not become angry and jealous that God still blesses people that are half hearted in an effort to draw them nearer to Himself.
Once we cross that line, we become entrenched in the next reason for anger; PRIDE
Pride
Pride
Of course we all know the famous verse in the Bible that states
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Yet sometimes we still find ourselves getting angry for prideful reasons if we were to really look at the situation in a godly perspective.
The Prophet Jonah was one of the most openly defiant prophets I can think of in the Word of God, and yet he still has a whole story devoted to how God used him even in his insolence.
I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sure that I would not want to be known for all of eternity as the prophet that tried to punk out on God.
After trying to run directly away from the place God wanted him to go, Jonah is carried in the belly of some great fish for three days and vomited out on the shores of Nineveh. He goes and spreads the message of God to repent. I kind of have this image in my mind of Jonah saying to the people of Nineveh, “God really wants you to repent so He doesn’t have to pour out His wrath on you, but I’m hoping you don’t. I’ll be right over on the hill outside town to watch what happens.”
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
The whole of the population repented in sackcloth and ashes, true revival breaks out and Jonah is seething...
He assumed that he was superior to the Ninevites because of his standing with God and the fact that they were responsible for killing people he loved.
See also 2 Sa 3:8; 2 Sa 6:8; 2 Ki 5:11; 2 Ch 26:19
Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
King Uzziah had been pretty prosperous during his reign as king of Judah. It seemed that everything that he did only added fame to his reputation and he is recorded as one of the few kings that did right in the sight of the Lord.
Yet Uzziah wanted more, he wanted to go and burn incense in the Temple. Guy wanted to express himself in worship. Doesn’t sound like a bad thing right? Wrong!!!
Azariah the priest goes after Uzziah and says;
And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”
Verse 21 records the unfortunate result of that day, Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death...
The truth
The truth
Have you ever heard truth spoken that makes you angry?
Maybe it’s something about yourself that you haven’t thought about until you hear someone else’s perspective, or even God’s perspective.
Asa was a king of Judah that was also recorded as doing right in the sight of the Lord; yet he had several missteps that cost him and the kingdom of Judah dearly.
2 Ch 16:10 Hanani had prophesied against the king.
Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
Hanani was sent to Asa to confront him about his foolish reliance on neighboring kings instead of remaining loyal to God alone as he had done in the past.
Instead of taking the correction he knew was coming from the Lord, he chose to get angry about it.
When we hear a truth that brings us up short, how do we react?
We would love to be able to say that we are teachable. But the reality is that sometimes we are not ready to receive a corrective word from the Lord.
I have literally had people tell me in the Church that they didn’t think I should be preaching any messages other than happy happy joy joy messages.
Even other pastors have said they never preached corrective messages because they figured people had gone through enough hell during the week and they wanted them to feel good about coming to Church.
To be sure, there are times for both. But we cannot bristle against the Lord’s truth when we find ourselves on the wrong side of it.
See also Nu 24:10 Balak angry at Balaam for not cursing the children of Israel;
Je 37:15 the princes angry at Jeremiah for telling them the truth and place him in prison
The advice from God’s Word?
A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.
He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
Human anger is sometimes justified
Human anger is sometimes justified
There are times that your anger is 100% justified and even God Himself will understand that you are angry. The idea that was pushed for years in the Church that Christians aren’t allowed to get angry was just wrong. That idea even made it into the outside world and people will heckle and harass Christians in effort to mock them when they get angry.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
An example from the Bible
So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
See also Ex 11:8; Ex 16:20; Nu 16:15; Le 10:16; 1 Sa 11:6; 1 Sa 20:34; 2 Sa 12:5; Ne 5:6; Mk 3:5; Lk 14:21
Results of human anger
Results of human anger
We already know that anger that isn’t handled correctly creates problems, but what kind?
Strife
Strife
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
See also 1 Sa 20:30; Ps 124:2–3; Pr 29:22; Pr 30:33
God’s judgment
God’s judgment
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
See also Ge 49:5–7
Sin
Sin
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
See also Ps 4:4; Pr 14:17; 2 Co 12:20; Eph 4:26
Dealing with anger
Dealing with anger
So we need to end today with what the Bible says to do with our anger.
In a world that is pushing against us as believers more and more, it would be to your advantage to gain mastery of what the Bible says to do when anger arises. Or as the old timers used to call it, getting hot in the nose
Becoming slow to anger
Becoming slow to anger
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
See also Ec 7:9
Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Not taking revenge
Not taking revenge
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Renouncing anger
Renouncing anger
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
Conclusion
On a final note, I find that reading through the Psalms and reflecting on the goodness of God throughout my life has always served to heal the fires of anger or hurt in my spirit.
Restraining ourselves until the time we can come before our Heavenly Father to pour ourselves out to Him in prayer will never be a wrong move.
Some may choose to think of you as weak, but it takes exceptional strength to hold yourself back in word and deed so that God will be honored and glorified in any given situation.
And if you’ve blown it recently, it is NOT the end of the world! As always, Jesus lives to make intercession for His people!
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Let us pray!
