Anger
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Good morning
Thank you all for coming
So some of you know my father has been a pastor for nearly 40 years
Its amazing he boils down life success
general happiness
life satisfaction
to the control of five things
Pay attention
Cause I want you to ask yourself
How many times has one if not all of these five
Have destroyed your life!
Sex
Money
Alcohol
Drugs
Anger
Well today we are going to talk about anger
So if you would please turn to Matthew 5:21-26
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
“When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.
So as you look
At Matthew 5-7
You begin to notice something different
There appears to be a standard
Look at the verse just prior to what we read
“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus is comparing the holiest men in the world
to the standard to get into heaven
you have to be better than them
Pause hold that thought
Last week I gave you the no BS Gospel
Meaning I broke it down for you
I explained how
That the very definition of Messiah
Is the idea that we need to be saved
But saved from what?
Saved from sin
Saved from failure
Saved from the inability
to live up to the standards of God
The inability to make our way to heaven on our own
The inability to be in the presence of God almighty on good terms
Christ died on that cross as the Messiah
Saving us from our sins
In order that we could be with God in eternity
Thats the Gospel
That the Good news
Through faith in Christ you can live in eternity with God
On the good side of love
But then we open up in Matthew
We begin to find a standard
A standard far superior to anything we could do
Just look at the contrast
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
Let me ask, have you ever been angry at someone?
How many of you have ever cussed someone out?
You have just proven your need for Jesus. Am I right
Not only does Jesus take it to the physical level of sinning
Jesus takes it to the emotional level
To our thoughts
To our motives
Jesus is setting a standard
A standard that far exceeds anything
You or I could ever accomplish
A standard that shows us the character of God
A standard that forces us to look at the cross
A standard that requires you to take a daily inventory of your life
ask the hard question
Am I living as an enemy of the cross
or am I trying as best I can
And thats what these three chapters
Are truly all about.
As matter of fact
my seminary professor used to say
If you want to know how to live right
If you want to know the theology of correct living
Look at the teachings of Jesus
On the sermon on the mount
I mean look with me real quick at Mat 5:3-10
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Whats unique about this sermon
whats unique about the words of Jesus
is that each statement
each line
requires you to devote yourself
to the character of God
In other words
what follows this teaching that go on for three chapters
The moral guidance
The standard we are required to live by
all require a devotion to God himself
It’s as if we cannot do it alone
Whats even more unique
is that here lies one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible
Think about it
If God gave us standards
that are impossible to live by
Impossible to uphold
then whats the point?
Why even put us through such torture?
Heres lies the secret.
Its like a parent watching their child attempt things in life
The parent knows they will fail
The parent knows that at some point
the child will need their help
But the struggle eventually forces the relationship
The struggle forces the child to ask for help
To admit their frustration
And to depend on the parent
Just as we depend on Christ
So there was and always will be
a tool used by God to build that relationship
A tool used by God to get us to look at the cross
To look at Jesus
To develop that relationship
To become something new, something fill with
love
hope
peace
And here’s where things begin to hit home
Because if we are going to lean on God
Then our behavior ought to reflect that of our savior
Anger is one of those areas where I would argue
Each and everyone of us have failed
I mean how many of us have blown our top
How many article 15s have been handed out cause of anger
How many counseling statements
how many divorces
and on and on
However is all anger bad.
Is there such a thing as good anger or righteous anger?
I like how the NKJV puts it
Vs 22 says whoever is angry with his brother without cause…
What is this getting at
Let me ask you
Have you ever met that person
That is just angry all the time
Appears to have an issue with everything in life
How happy does that person appear?
How much enjoyment do they appear to get out of life?
I don’t know about you
To me they look miserable
I know the excuses
I’ve heard them all
People don’t get me
I hate people
I’m not a people person
I don’t need anyone
But then at the end of life
When they are struggling on their death bed
They are desperately seeking anyone that will show compassion
Anyone that will have a conversation
Anyone that will share a meal with them
Great example of this
I used do a nursing home ministry
I remember this guy named Eddy
No one visited this man
Saddest thing i’ve ever seen
His whole life dedicated to himself
Dedicated to his anger
Dedicated to an emotion
that he used as his safe space
But then failed him when he was in need
No one was there
I remember his family literally shunned him
No one would come visit
He was literally all alone
Waiting to die
Same goes with my Uncle
Man was mean as sin
But then cancer hits him
Surprise surprise now he’s nice to everyone
Proverbs 14:29 tell us
People with understanding control their anger;
a hot temper shows great foolishness.
Anger makes us looks like fools
If you’re that angry person
Many people will shun you
I hear it all the time
I don’t want to talk to them,
They’re always angry
Ive even heard stuff like
they’re crazy
No way I’m going near them
Look
Eventually everyone abandons you
Even your own family
As a pastor it
Breaks my heart
Watching a person
Seemingly so strong
fall to their knees emotionally
Because their entire life they refused love
Accepted anger
and then when they need love the most
its the furthest thing from them
Proverbs 29:11 tells us
Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.
And Proverbs 16:32
Better to be patient than powerful;
better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
Anger can literally destroy our life?
Am I right?
You know how many divorces I have seen?
How many children refuse to see their parents because of this
How many lives been utterly destroyed because of this.
It’s like a nuclear bomb guys.
But i can hear it now
but chap not all anger is bad
and
youd be right
there is such a thing called righteous anger
a time where it’s appropriate to get angry
It is a human emotion
A powerful emotion.
One that is very hard to control
How many have heard the story of Jesus turning the table over in the temple
I don’t know if many of you understand the context
So real quick
As a Jew you’re required to pay 10% of your income
Towards a vacation you take once a year
A vacation to the passover
As the man of the house you would take a lamb with you
You would offer the lamb during this feast
so you would drag this lamb 100-200 miles
To offer this lamb as a sacrifice to God
So what was happening is as they enter the temple to offer their lamb
The priest would inspect the lamb
Would tell the man the lamb isn’t good enough
Then offer another pre-approved lamb
At a marked up price
The priests where cheating their own people
So was the anger felt by Jesus correct?
Absolutely!
What about the Nazi’s
Is it ok to be angry at the horrific human rights violations they committed
absolutely!
What about what the communist did to the Christians in countries like
Romania
Bulgaria
Macedonia
Just a few years ago
Should we be angry at that
Absolutely!
This is what we call righteous anger
Anger that is there for a valid reason
But we can’t just simply hold on to this
It’s like poison
And this is where it gets hard
Has anyone in here seen the movie Tortured for Christ?
Christian men and women tortured for being Christians
Yet forgave the Russians for their brutality.
Did you hear that?
They forgave them
for torturing
killing
raping
etc.
So whats the difference here?
Whats the point that we draw the line?
Ephesians 4:26-27 tells us
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Anger requires forgiveness
A relationship with God Requires forgiveness
All this anger
All this frustration
requires forgiveness
But forgiveness requires something supernatural
It requires you to trust
It requires you to see yourself differently
Requires you to put your trust in God
This is what this passage is directly confronting
Look with me at
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
Forgiveness is key to everything.
Look with me at
“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
Our anger
Do you let it control you
Are you living as one with God?
You simply cannot mix love and hate
You cannot claim to be a follower of Christ and hate within your heart
Oil and water don’t mix
Just as love and hate do not mix
The emphasis is so deep on this
God literally tells us
Literally commands us
If you are filled with hate
Then you’re never going to hear the voice of God
You need to resolve that issue
look at what one commentary said
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:21–26
Such wrongful attitudes should be dealt with and made right. Reconciliation between brothers must be accomplished whether the “innocent” (5:23–24) or the “offending” (vv. 25–26) brother takes the first step. Without such reconciliation, gifts presented at the altar mean nothing:
In another commentary
Which I really like it says this
But first let me read
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
This other commentary states that...
Opening Up Matthew Plea for Righteousness (5:17–48)
The commandment was clear: ‘You shall not murder.’ The Pharisees and scribes understood this in its narrowest sense, believing that if they had never shed innocent blood, they had kept the commandment. But Jesus says that the commandment extends to ‘emotional murder’, to a sense of resentment and anger against someone. Such anger is itself a violation on man made in the image of God. God cannot accept our offering if we are angry with our brother (vv. 23–24).
The point is very clear
Anger
Used incorrectly
and dwelt on incorrectly
is a violation of the Christian
heart
devotion
ethics
morality
and does not bear the image of God
in which you are created.
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
I know we work in a very
hostile environment
I know we work in a very
angry profession
However Jesus is telling us here
If we claim to be Christian
If we claim to be children of God
If we are to be the salt and light of the world
Then anger cannot and must be allowed to control you.
If you’re struggling today
If you’re frustrated today i urge you to pray
Get right with God
let go of the anger
let go of the hate
Its like a poison within you.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The very character of God is displayed here.
With that I will close in prayer.