Introduction to Anger

ANGER—the emotion of instant displeasure on account of something evil that presents itself to our view. In itself it is an original susceptibility of our nature, just as love is, and is not necessarily sinful. It may, however, become sinful when causeless, or excessive, or protracted (Matt. 5:22; Eph. 4:26; Col. 3:8). As ascribed to God, it merely denotes his displeasure with sin and with sinners (Ps. 7:11).

The 6 stages of Anger

Irritation - a discomforting feeling

Indignation - a feeling that something is wrong and must be dealt with or corrected

Wrath - the desire for revenge

Fury - loss of emotional control. In other words a “blow up”

Rage - loss of emotional control resulting in aggression or an act of violence

Hostility - a persistent form of anger that permeates one’s personality and has an extreme affect on their entire outlook on the world and life.

Both God and humans can express anger. When God is expressing anger it is in absolute opposition to sin. When used by humans, it is an evil that should be avoided.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius once said “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”

I think this will always ring true. We tend to overreact as human beings because we are unstable and we are inherently sinful. We will always self-preserve.

Today we are going to take a look at some stories from Gods word that deal with anger that affected peoples relationships with God and with the ones that were closest to them. I believe that this issue of anger is a worldwide pandemic that has but only one cure. I hope and pray that those of you who struggle with anger would soften your hearts to hear the words being spoken today. I hope and pray that this will be an encouragement to those who have overcome anger, through Christ and that it would help equip you and help you better understand the problem that persists to this day if not more than it did before. We are the minority in this world and we, through love and grace are to be examples of Christ in the lives of those around us. This is a high calling that all Christians are called to. A call to live holy lives that are God-honoring and God-glorifying.

We begin our study of anger in the book of Genesis, or the book of beginnings. I do find it interesting that after the fall of man the sinful desires and lusts we feel today are the same they felt immediately after the fall. There was never a gradual growth into sin, it was an instant submersion in sin, it was an instant void between God and man. It was spiritual death taking place within us. It is a horrifying event if you think about it. The moment we thought we knew better than God.

Genesis 4:3–8 NASB95

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

- The reason that Cain became angry was purely out of jealousy of his brother Abels offering to the Lord.

- If it wasn’t out of jealousy, he would probably not have killed Abel. But since his anger was directed at Abel and not God, this would almost definitely be the cause of the hostile anger. In Gen 4:7 God even gives Cain some wisdom, but he does not heed to it. He says even when you don’t do well, sin is at the door waiting for you, and that you must rule over it, or make sin a slave to you and not the other way around. Get control over your impulse to do the natural thing, sin. It’s interesting to think about how quickly sin permeated humans after the fall. It was as if we had been sinning from the beginning. It puts on display the power that sin has over us. I think if Cain had a humble spirit and repentant heart things would not have played out the way they did.

- As we can see in the beginning of the Bible, the firstborn humans of the world are already killing each other. Anger was not the only reason for Cain murdering Abel, Cain was also full of pride which is a reason why God rejected his offering. Cains anger was a direct reflection of his hearts intentions and attitude.

- There are a few schools of thought on why God rejected Cains offering, but we can cover that another time.

Cains anger was unjustified because his heart had pride.

Cains anger was a sign of his heart attitude towards God and others.

Next we can look at

1 Samuel 18:10–15 NASB95

Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand. Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from his presence twice. Now Saul was afraid of David, for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him.

The Lord had left Saul and given him a harmful spirit. A spirit of anger possibly depression. This was not thought to be an unclean spirit in the manner of possession by a demon.

Because of his jealousy fueled anger Saul threw a spear at David trying to pin him to the wall and kill him

David avoids the spear and escapes from his presence.

There were many things that led up to this moment of attempted murder.

David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel and this did not sit well with Saul.

Saul was told by house would essentially be swept clean out of the kingdom

Saul disobeyed the Lord and Samuel informed him that he would be stripped of his kingship and the honor would be given to someone else.

David would play his harp for Saul when the evil spirit from God came upon him and it would soothe him and calm him down

Sauls anger was unjustified because his motive was self-serving and murderous

Sauls anger turned him to murder as a solution to his heart problem.

I hope you are beginning to get the picture of the cycle of anger. It all begins with pride and self. This is a spirit that God hates. He puts sinful anger up there with murder in

Matthew 5:21–22 NASB95

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

If you would please turn to the New Testament to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, starting in verse 11

Luke 15:11–32 NASB95

And He said, “A man had two sons. “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’ “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

Synopsis:

The son demanded that his inheritance be given to him

He squandered it on booze, women and God knows what else.

His brother stayed with their father and continued to work and obey him.

For all this father knew his son was dead in a ditch somewhere

The father was elated to see his son even after all those horrible things had taken place, the father never stopped loving his son

The jealousy swelled up in the brother who “played by the rules”, did everything right yet his estranged brother received a glorious welcome home party.

The fact that the other son stayed and didn’t do dishonor to his father is not the point of this parable. The point is that when you do the right thing and expect praise for it you’ve now just done the wrong thing by letting your pride swell up.

The prodigal son came back in repentance and humility, knowing full and well what he had done. He knew he didn’t deserve anything, but the decision was up to the father to forgive the son.

The father reassures the son that stayed that all he had was always there for the sons taking, he had only but to ask. We don’t hear of any sort of reconciliation between the brothers but maybe it happened. It is all about the heart attitude. The son that stayed thought that he should have been loved more for staying and helping his father, but he felt that he was being pushed out of the way. This would make most humans in that position very angry, because we are weak minded and we seek to serve ourselves over others.

Look at verse 10

Luke 15:10 NASB95

“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The other sons anger was not justified because he was more worried about himself and what he did rather than celebrating the repentance and return of his brother.

In other words there was nothing done to him that would have justified anger other than the feeling of jealousy.

Luke 5:29–32 NASB95

And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

God knows our hearts. The appearance of doing the right thing on the outside fools others but it does not fool God. Those who know that they are imperfect and flawed, but with that knowledge remain humble, God honors that man. With that being said, the Lord requires repentance, or a turning away from that sin.

The Lord does not give ear to the prideful and arrogant, but He does to the humble in spirit, those who fear Him.

As I wrap this up we see a common theme across these three stories, and that is jealousy. Jealous behavior does not belong to us. It belongs to God, who is the Creator of all things and rules over them all. Jealousy is something that we cannot handle because it causes anger to swell up within us and once the grip of anger has sunk its claws in, it is very difficult to fight the feeling and the urge to escalate. Albeit some people deal with anger differently than others or may not show it as much as another, this is an issue that plagues human beings.

We are told by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:5-9 that we are to consider these things dead. We are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:5–9 NASB95

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Put to death those old habits you once walked in before coming to Christ. Put them down repress them, squash them, and kill them!

I can speak from experience that when I got back from Afghanistan I was full of rage and anger. I had an attitude that sought revenge on the people that took the lives of my friends. I dwelled on those thoughts and they became more evil and plunged their roots deeper into my heart than I could have ever imagined. I liked the feeling of anger because it gave me a sense of power. It was purely sinful and carnal. It affected my relationship with others in such a way that I closed myself off from society and became a serious introvert. I looked for answers within instead of going to book of Truth, God’s Word. In God’s word is where I found Christ. It’s where I found freedom from sin and anger. Since you and I are in Christ, we no longer HAVE to sin to seek fulfillment. Our fulness and joy and hope comes from a different source, an eternal source of life, Jesus Christ.