Introduction.

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:26-32

Two of our neighbors had a falling-out over the boundary line fence between their farms. Feelings became so intense that each built his own fence. These fences were built about four feet apart. Not only were they added expenses, but neither of the neighbors had the use of the four-foot strip of land—it rightfully belonged to neither of them. For lack of a better name, this four-foot strip was called “The Devil’s Lane.” I guess it was rightly named because Old Beelzebub did take control of it. At least he controlled the men involved.  —Carl C. Williams

I.    It’s Not a Sin to be Angry.

Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." 11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." 13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." 14 Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall

 speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."Exodus 4:10-17

Jesus Experienced Anger

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Mk 3:1-6

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”   John 2:13-17

  But, my objective today . . .

encourage you    Find     healthy     means   to   Deal  with ANGER

II.   We Can’t Necessarily Control Feelings of Anger.

Sometimes, it just occurs: because of an

        an event

        a situation; or

        difficult circumstances.

We Can    , however        , always control how we respond. . .  

The Speech Research Unit of Kenyon College proved through tests that when a person is shouted at, he simply cannot help but shout back. … You can use this scientific knowledge to keep another person from becoming angry: control the other person’s tone of voice by your own voice.

III.  We Can Think − Before We Act.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry . . .  James 1:19, NIV

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Colossians 3:8, NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29, NIV

1. Lengthen The Fuse.                2. Trust in God’s determination.

3. Keep The Mouth Shut.                4. Keep a Mirror Handy.

          5. If You Can, Let Go — If You Can’t, Deal with It Now.

It is said of Julius Caesar that, when provoked, he used to repeat the whole Roman alphabet before he allowed himself to speak.

When the darkest clouds of the Civil War were hovering over the capital, many things done by the generals were not approved by either Lincoln or Secretary Stanton. Lincoln would take a long time to ponder over those situations, but Stanton would, at times, lose his temper and explode.

One day Stanton came to see Lincoln about the doings of a certain general. Listening quietly, Lincoln let Stanton show his anger, and when the latter exclaimed, “I would like to write him a letter and tell him what I think of him!” Lincoln remarked quietly, “Well, why not do so? Sit down and write him a letter, saying all you have said to me.”

Stanton was surprised for he thought that President Lincoln would object to this. He declared that he would take the President at his word.

Two days later he brought Lincoln the letter he had written, and read it to him. When Stanton had finished, Lincoln smiled and remarked, “That is all right. You have said all you told me you would. Now, what are you going to do with this letter?”

“Why, I am going to give it to him, of course.”

“I wouldn’t,” replied the President quietly. “Throw it in the waste basket.”

“What, after spending two days on it,” exclaimed Stanton.

“Yes. It took you two days to write it, and it did you a lot of good. You feel a great deal better now, and that is all that is necessary.”

An Englishman, on a tour of the Western United States, came to a desert filling station. Above the door was a sign: “Joe Bevins, 200% American.”

After the scowling and surly proprietor had filled the gas tank, the visitor ventured a question: “Would you mind, Mr. Bevins,” he said, “telling me just what is a 200% American?”

“Well,” said the filling-station man belligerently, “You heard o’ 100% Americans, I reckon—they hate all other nationalities. Me—well, I’m 200%—I hate everybody!

—Maxwell Droke

Conclusion.

FOR WOMEN

A Philadelphia woman in her will instructed her executor to take one dollar from her estate, invest it and pay the interest on this investment to her husband, “as evidence of my estimate of his worth.”

FOR MEN

Banks have long printed checks in a wide spectrum of colors, some have offered checks with floral or scenic backgrounds. The modest-sized Bank of Marin in Marin Country, Calif., has gone one step further. Its customers can simply bring in their own photograph or drawing and have them printed onto a standard check form.

Undeterred by the higher cost, more than 500 customers signed up for the illustrated checks. But perhaps the most imaginative—and vindictive—customer is the one who ordered special checks to be used solely for making his alimony payments. They show him beautifully kissing his new wife.

INVITATON

STAND

SONG OF INVITATION     

        Soon and Very Soon       #551       v1, 2, 3, and 4

Seeking Out and Rooting Out Our Short Fuses

Many of us who hear Scriptures or sermons about anger find it easy to think of other hot-heads we know and justify ourselves, but everyone has particular fuses that are too short. It’s not really my personality to get easily or quickly angered. When my children were little, there was one child in particular that really could push my buttons. My wife and I would be sitting in the same room, see the same rebellious behavior and I would react much more abrasively than she. I finally realized that I was so concerned with my child growing up to be godly, that I was too harsh when I saw any form of rebellion. I went to my child and said “next time daddy yells, you have the right to say ‘time out’.” Sure enough, a couple weeks later that child did something that really upset me. The reaction to my discipline wasn’t “yes dad, you’re right,” but it was argumentative. I automatically began to yell louder. My child said, “time out!” I almost wept. It never happened again. Even for people who aren’t usually angered, it is imperative that we recognize and do something about our short fuses! —Dr. Larry Osborne

Losing Logic to Anger

I remember a classic example of how sinful anger makes you lose your logical thinking. My wife and I were eating at a restaurant in Florida, when all of the sudden a fight broke out over at the bar area of the restaurant. We found out that someone just got angry and punched another man in his rage without good reason and his buddy even joined in to make things worse. The men were chased out of the restaurant and almost detained by restaurant staff, but got away at the last minute. As my wife and I walked out to get our car, I said to the woman running the valet booth, “It’s too bad they got away.” She said, “Oh, no, we got them.” I asked her how and, with a smile, she said, “They valet parked their car.” —Dr. Larry Osborne

Anger

By Dr. Larry Osborne

Scripture: Ephesians 4:26–27

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Introduction: Ephesians 4:26–27 is a very simple and straightforward passage, but presents an incredible challenge to us. Today we will look at what Scripture says of anger, so that we might learn to deal with anger in a way in which we do not sin. We must first understand two things about anger if we are to take a Scriptural and healthy lifestyle of dealing with it:

1. It’s Not a Sin to Be Angry. A misconception exists even in Christian circles about anger which holds that a true Christian doesn’t get angry about anything. Nothing could be further from the truth! Anger is often attributed to God Himself. For example: God gave Moses the assignment to be His representative to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, but Moses objected despite God’s promises. The Lord’s anger burned against Moses (Ex. 4:14). The Spirit of God came upon Saul in power and made him angry (1 Sam. 11:6). Jesus was often angry at the Pharisees or other religious leaders (Mark 3:1–6; cf. Matt. 23:13, Luke 11:46, John 2:14–17). So, we have God the Father who gets angry, God the Spirit who can produce anger in God’s servants, and God the Son who also gets angry. Anger is often appropriate in our lives as Christians.

2. We Can’t Control Feelings of Anger—We Can Control How We Respond (Eph. 4:26). The truth about anger is that it just shows up. We don’t often consider whether or not we should get angry. It’s useless to tell an angry person not to be angry, but it’s not useless to help them know what to do as a result. While we don’t have control of that emotion, we have full control of our actions. We often justify our actions, saying “I was so angry, I couldn’t help it.” This simply isn’t ever the case.

Application:

1. Lengthen Your Fuse. Even if we can’t control the feelings of anger in a particular moment, we can learn from it so that next time it takes longer to get there. There’s one thing about God’s anger we must not forget. Exodus 34:6 tells us that the Lord “passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (niv). Aren’t you thankful God’s fuse is long? We are commanded to be the same way (James 1:19–20). This means we must change the way we think. It also means we might need to change our friends and environment (Prov. 22:24–25). We also have to get rid of our excuses and self-justification (Prov. 28:13).

2. Let God Even the Score. Scripture teaches us to overcome evil with good and never to repay evil with more evil (Rom. 12:17–21). When we take things into our own hands this way, we do several things: we usurp God’s authority, we do evil just like the person that made us mad, and our witness is hurt.

3. Keep Your Mouth Shut. Angry words are seldom appropriate words. Often when we’re angry, we use more words to get our point across, making us more likely to sin (Prov. 10:19). Our words are powerful and can easily be hurtful, which doesn’t give us the right to “mouth off” but the responsibility to keep quiet (see Prov. 15:28; 29:11; Col. 3:8; Rev. 12:10; Eph. 4:29).

4. If You Can, Let Go—If You Can’t, Deal with It Now. It’s a sign of maturity to be able to look over things that could make us angry (Prov. 12:16; 19:11; 20:3). When anger turns to bitterness, it kills us spiritually, physically, and relationally. This is why Scripture tells us not to sin in our anger and not to let the sun go down on our anger (Eph. 4:26, 31–32).

5. Keep a Good Mirror Handy and Use It. When we look at our own faults, we begin to realize that we have no right to be angry in many cases. At the very least it helps to lengthen our fuse (see Matt. 7:1–2; Rom. 2:1).

Conclusion: Does the devil have a “guest room?” Are we leaving space for the enemy in our hearts with our bitterness (Eph. 4:27; 2 Cor. 2:10–11)? This week, look over these five applications and find which ones most apply to you. Ask the Lord to teach you to treat anger appropriately.

****************************************************

STATS, STORIES AND MORE

Seeking Out and Rooting Out Our Short Fuses

Many of us who hear Scriptures or sermons about anger find it easy to think of other hot-heads we know and justify ourselves, but everyone has particular fuses that are too short. It’s not really my personality to get easily or quickly angered. When my children were little, there was one child in particular that really could push my buttons. My wife and I would be sitting in the same room, see the same rebellious behavior and I would react much more abrasively than she. I finally realized that I was so concerned with my child growing up to be godly, that I was too harsh when I saw any form of rebellion. I went to my child and said “next time daddy yells, you have the right to say ‘time out’.” Sure enough, a couple weeks later that child did something that really upset me. The reaction to my discipline wasn’t “yes dad, you’re right,” but it was argumentative. I automatically began to yell louder. My child said, “time out!” I almost wept. It never happened again. Even for people who aren’t usually angered, it is imperative that we recognize and do something about our short fuses! —Dr. Larry Osborne

Losing Logic to Anger

I remember a classic example of how sinful anger makes you lose your logical thinking. My wife and I were eating at a restaurant in Florida, when all of the sudden a fight broke out over at the bar area of the restaurant. We found out that someone just got angry and punched another man in his rage without good reason and his buddy even joined in to make things worse. The men were chased out of the restaurant and almost detained by restaurant staff, but got away at the last minute. As my wife and I walked out to get our car, I said to the woman running the valet booth, “It’s too bad they got away.” She said, “Oh, no, we got them.” I asked her how and, with a smile, she said, “They valet parked their car.” —Dr. Larry Osborne

APPROPRIATE HYMNS AND SONGS

“Choose to Forgive,” Rick Riso/Mark Levang, 1994 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music (c/o Integrity Music Inc.).

“Deeper and Deeper,” Morris Chapman/Claire Cloninger, 1990 Maranatha Music (Word Music Inc.).

“Lay It Down,” Cheri Keaggy, 1996 SparrowSong (div. of EMI Music Publishing).

“Search Me, O God,” J. Edwin Orr/“Maori” melody, 1936.

“Spirit of the Living God,” Daniel Iverson, 1935. Renewed 1963 Birdwing Music (div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing).

FOR THE BULLETIN

In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII insisted that he, not secular kings, had the right to appoint church leaders in the various nations of Europe. Germany’s Emperor Henry IV resisted and tried to replace Gregory. The Pope excommunicated Henry, and after much intrigue, the king finally realized the only way to save his crown was by seeking Gregory’s forgiveness. He traveled to the palace housing the pope in Canossa, Italy, on January 21, 1077, and stood for three days in the snow. Gregory finally forgave him. ● On January 21, 1189, Philip II, Henry II, and Richard the Lion-Hearted launched the Third Crusade. ● The Anabaptist Movement was launched in church history on January 21, 1525, in Zurich, when Conrad Grebel (re-)baptized George Blaurock, a former monk. ● On January 21, 1549, the English Parliament passed the first of four British Acts of Uniformity, this first requiring the exclusive use of the Book of Common Prayer in all public services of the Anglican Church. ● On January 21, 1672, John Bunyan was elected pastor of the Bedford Baptist Church. Bunyan was a mender of pots and pans who, following his conversion, had been imprisoned for preaching without receiving permission from the Established Church. He remained in jail for over twelve years, but the Act of Pardon freed him in 1672, and he was immediately installed as the pastor of the church in Bedford, a position he maintained the rest of his life. ● Today is the birthday, in 1797, of Edward Mote, a British cabinetmaker who wrote the hymn, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” also known as “The Solid Rock.” Julia Johnston was born on this day in 1849. She wrote the hymn, “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord.”

Quote for the Pastor’s Wall

Let me relate it as my deliberate conviction that, unless the Church of God returns to the preaching of the gospel as that is set forth in the New Testament, her power to bless the world is gone.

—W. Graham Scroggie, in Facets of the Faith

WORSHIP HELPS

Call to Worship

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth (Ex. 34:6).

Pastoral Prayer

Father, speak to our hearts as to when, where, and why today’s scriptural principles apply to our hearts as individuals. Speak to us about ourselves and not others, that our fuses might be lengthened and that our anger would be handled appropriately according to Your agenda, for Your glory, Amen.

Related Proverbs

• 14:16–17; 18:6–8, 13, 20–23

• 19:1

• 20:15

• 21:23

• 22:11

• 22:17–18

• 23:9

• 24:7, 26

• 25:1–5

• 27:2

• 28:23

• 29:20

Benediction

Part in peace: is day before us?

Praise His Name for life and light;

Are the shadows lengthening o’er us?

Bless His care Who guards the night.

Morgan, R. J. Vols. for <2002- > have accompanying CD-ROMs. Nelson's annual preacher's sourcebook.;  2007 Edition (16). Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.