Untitled Sermon (4)

Put Anger Down

Biblical Text: Ephesians 4:31-32

Read Ephesians 4:31-32; Colossians 3:5-8

Big Idea: Give up your right to be angry because God gave up His.

The Bible is pretty clear… we are told in Ephesians and Colossians to “put away anger” and Colossians adds “to put it to death”…

Q: But, why don’t we do that? You know what we do instead?

We Justify Our Anger Instead

1. We look at verses like Ephesians 4:26 and we say, look it says, “Be angry!”

- Completely ignoring the context! “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (don’t keep your anger) and just a few verses later where it says, “let all… anger… be put away from you”

2. Another thing we do is call our anger “righteous anger”

- Have you ever read James 1:20? “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

- Disclaimer: I think there could be times where our anger lines up with God’s, but generally speaking our anger is unrighteous.

3. We excuse our anger as a disease instead of a sin.

- When the bible calls us “to put away or put to death anger” it is revealing to us that it is a choice, and it lists it with sins like sexual immorality and idolatry (in Colossians)…

- Disclaimer: Though I know there are exceptions to the rule related to mental health… still generally speaking anger is choice and it is sinful.

Q: But, if generally speaking anger is a choice, we must ask ourselves, will I choose to give up my right to be angry?

T: Well, before we answer that question, what if we take a look at what God has decided to do with his anger…

Read Colossians 3:5-6

Romans 5:9 – Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

The Him here is Jesus Christ… Jesus Christ lived two thousand years ago, He was God in the flesh, but also God’s Son, and He endured the anger of God to save sinners that deserved it.

He drank the full cup of God’s wrath so that if we repent of our sins (like anger – if we decide to give up our right to be angry) God will give up His right to be angry.

But, if we cling to our anger and refuse to repent of it, on judgment day, we will experience the fullness of the wrath of God.

My Last Challenge to You

“There’s a story in Luke, where an apparently “good”, religious, and rich young man approached Jesus, wondering what he must do to inherit eternal life. Ultimately, Jesus placed a demand on him – sell everything and give to the poor – and we’re told the young man heard that and walked away, sad.

I think for many of us who live in this society that is so riven with anger, even addicted to it, Jesus is giving us a similar demand: ‘Give up your anger. Because of what I’ve done for you, give it up, and forgive.’ Sadly, our response is, ‘That’s not fair.’ And we walk away too.” – From the book unoffendable by Brant Hansen

So, I believe God is calling out to you today, saying, “I’m willing to give up my right to be angry and endure the weight of my wrath on myself (in Christ). If you want to be forgiven come to me, BUT you must be willing to leave your anger behind. You must be willing to put your anger down.”