WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:03.879 Some people think that they have dynamic personalities 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:07.320 because they're always exploding, but that isn't 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:12.640 the case. But anger is a powerful emotion which 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:17.000 consumes tremendous energy. Some of the most 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.739 exhausted people you'll ever meet are those who 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:24.300 are repressing or suppressing deep -seated anger 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:28.440 that they have held in check for a long time. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.759 It requires so much of their personal energy 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:39.060 that they live life exhausted. Anger can be destructive 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:43.359 and they know that and so they hold it in check. 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:48.299 Someone has said anger is an acid that can do 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:51.240 more harm to the vessel in which it is stored 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:58.439 than do anything on which it is poured. Because 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:04.280 we have trouble handling our anger, it's likely 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.379 that most of us at one time or another, or perhaps 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:12.859 regularly, have prayed for patience. Maybe that 00:01:12.859 --> 00:01:15.760 was your New Year's resolution, to be more patient 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.980 in 1993. How's it going? Patience is a wonderful 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:25.140 thing because the more you use of it, the more 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:29.989 you have. Patience is a virtue that requires 00:01:29.989 --> 00:01:36.349 a lot of weight, w -a -i -t. Developing patience 00:01:36.349 --> 00:01:42.030 may be difficult and is difficult, but understanding 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:46.409 the effects of anger makes it desirable despite 00:01:46.409 --> 00:01:50.549 its difficulty. Proverbs has something to tell 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:55.890 us regarding patience and anger. First, let's 00:01:55.890 --> 00:01:59.090 note from Proverbs some observations about an 00:01:59.090 --> 00:02:02.109 angry person. There are five of them, as you 00:02:02.109 --> 00:02:06.010 will note on your outline. The first one is that 00:02:06.010 --> 00:02:11.349 the angry person behaves foolishly. Proverbs 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:17.889 14 and verse 17 says, a quick -tempered man does 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:23.610 foolish things, and a crafty man is hated. Verse 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:28.509 29, says, a patient man has great understanding, 00:02:28.789 --> 00:02:34.729 but a quick -tempered man displays folly. The 00:02:34.729 --> 00:02:38.530 angry person behaves foolishly. That's the first 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:42.090 observation. Now we see that in life. We don't 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:45.150 have to go to Proverbs to see this, but God's 00:02:45.150 --> 00:02:48.530 Word underscores the truthfulness of it. And 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:52.069 all of us have not only seen it, we've seen it 00:02:52.069 --> 00:02:58.449 up real close. because we've done it. You will 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:01.009 notice that there is a contrast in the last verse 00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:04.909 I read between the quick -tempered man and the 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:10.650 patient man. Literally, the Hebrew says here, 00:03:11.330 --> 00:03:16.770 the short -nosed and the long -nosed man. There's 00:03:16.770 --> 00:03:19.930 a play on words because the word nose and the 00:03:19.930 --> 00:03:22.669 word anger in the Hebrew come from the same word. 00:03:23.220 --> 00:03:27.460 Same route. The link between them seems to be 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:33.460 that the angry person snorts. He is seen as snorting 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:35.500 in anger. Now have you ever heard a person snort 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:40.699 in anger? Now I would perhaps try to do that 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:44.080 if I didn't have a cold. Could be dangerous. 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:51.870 There is a contrast between the one who is short 00:03:51.870 --> 00:03:55.409 -nosed and who snorts real quick, and the one 00:03:55.409 --> 00:03:57.849 who is long -nosed, who is patient, and he says 00:03:57.849 --> 00:04:01.969 here the short -nosed, snorting man is one who 00:04:01.969 --> 00:04:06.069 behaves foolishly. In chapter 12 and verse 16, 00:04:06.270 --> 00:04:11.750 we see that anger is a hallmark of a fool. A 00:04:11.750 --> 00:04:15.370 fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent 00:04:15.370 --> 00:04:20.860 man overlooks and insults. The prudent man knows 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:23.879 how to field insults that come his direction. 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:28.199 He's able to take them in stride, but not the 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:31.980 fool. He immediately shows his annoyance and 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:35.779 becomes angry. On the other hand, in chapter 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:39.180 29 and verse 11, we see that the calm anger is 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:44.120 a mark of wisdom. If the fool displays his anger 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.300 immediately, the wise man is one who is able 00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:52.139 to calm his anger. 29, 11 says, a fool gives 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:56.560 full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:02.620 himself under control. So that his behavior, 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:08.399 his reactions to insults and offenses are tempered. 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:16.060 Under control. and not explosive. The first observation 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:20.160 about an angry person is that he behaves foolishly. 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:23.779 The second observation is that the angry person 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:27.680 stirs up trouble. We're in chapter 29, look at 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:33.680 verse 22. An angry man stirs up dissension and 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:39.300 a hot -tempered one commits many sins. A person 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:42.660 who is angry is one who stirs up trouble wherever 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:48.100 he goes. There may be coals that are lying almost 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:51.620 out in dormant in a situation, and before he's 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:54.139 done he has stirred up those coals and fanned 00:05:54.139 --> 00:05:59.560 new flames into the problem. Chapter 30 verse 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.899 32 says, if you have played the fool and exalted 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:06.899 yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.750 hand over your mouth. Now don't do that please. 00:06:10.250 --> 00:06:14.269 This is just saying that. For as churning the 00:06:14.269 --> 00:06:18.790 milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:23.509 produces blood, so stirring up anger produces 00:06:23.509 --> 00:06:28.990 strife. An angry person likes to stir up anger. 00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:33.000 He gets his jollies from that. Whether it be 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.480 his own anger or the anger of other people, he 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:38.540 likes to get others involved in it. He stirs 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:43.540 up trouble wherever he goes. The word hot head 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:47.199 or hot tempered, however yours may be translated, 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:51.339 means venomous. It's the very same Hebrew word, 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:55.339 venomous. It's used that way in Psalm 58 and 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:59.319 verse 4. The idea is that when this person is 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:04.379 enraged he is threatening he is venomous He causes 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:08.540 trouble Heard a story one time about a man who 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:13.399 was talking with an atheist friend of his and 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:15.959 The atheist friend was denying the Bible is true 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:17.959 He said there's not a word in the Bible is true 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.600 and went back and forth and finally this this 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:24.990 fellow got a little Angry about it And he reached 00:07:24.990 --> 00:07:29.350 up to his atheist friend's nose and gave it a 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:32.750 hard twist and it began to bleed. And he said, 00:07:32.769 --> 00:07:34.810 I want you to know that proves the Bible is true 00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:37.310 because it says the twisting of the nose produces 00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:43.269 blood. As well as that is true, so does stirring 00:07:43.269 --> 00:07:48.069 up anger produce strife. The second observation 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:53.500 is that the angry person stirs up trouble. To 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.720 strive for peace on the other hand is a mark 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.800 of wisdom Rt. Archibald said blessed are the 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.379 peacemakers that is those who carry about with 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:09.300 them an atmosphere in which quarrels die a natural 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:15.579 death Is that the atmosphere that you carry through 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:20.620 your week Where quarrels die a natural death 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:25.199 Just as when you put a flame into a vacuum it 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:28.740 goes out. There's nothing there you see for it 00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:31.839 to continue to burn on. There's no combustion 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.179 that can take place. God help us to be those 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:38.000 kinds of peacemakers that enter into a room where 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.379 there's tension or who touch a relationship where 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:48.919 there is combat and we bring there the end of 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:56.210 the anger. The third observation we see of the 00:08:56.210 --> 00:09:00.129 angry man in Proverbs is that he learns the hard 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:06.750 way. Chapter 19 and verse 19. A hot tempered 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:11.049 man must pay the penalty. If you rescue him, 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:17.570 you will have to do it again. The hot tempered 00:09:17.570 --> 00:09:21.149 person, the angry man, will not listen to counsel. 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.299 He knows better. You can't tell him anything. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:31.799 He will not listen. So therefore when he gets 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.419 into trouble, says Proverbs, let him pay the 00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:40.720 penalty. Let him suffer the consequences of his 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:44.500 anger. Because if you go in and try to rescue 00:09:44.500 --> 00:09:48.480 him, you will simply short circuit the process. 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:52.740 and you'll have to rescue him again and again 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:57.460 and again. He'll never learn his lesson. It's 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.980 counterproductive to bail out of his problems 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:05.919 an angry man because his ungoverned temper will 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:11.779 land him in fresh trouble over and over. The 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:17.840 mark of wisdom is to listen to counsel. and to 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.379 learn from it and not to have to learn the hard 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:27.340 way. I suppose that all of us have gone through 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:31.000 periods in our lives when we have been like this 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.100 angry person who will not listen to somebody 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:36.220 else and I am sure that we could have scores 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:39.799 of testimonies of people here who could say here 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.460 are the consequences in my life because I would 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:52.000 not listen in my anger. Avoid that. The fourth 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.519 lesson is that the, or observation rather, is 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.639 that the angry person endangers his own well 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:06.299 -being. Chapter 14 of Proverbs and verse 30. 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:14.100 A heart at peace gives life to the body but envy 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:19.610 rots the bones. Now the word envy here is translated 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:22.070 a number of different ways. Some translations 00:11:22.070 --> 00:11:27.690 put it passion. What it's really talking about 00:11:27.690 --> 00:11:30.789 is getting worked up about something. It's allowing 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:35.629 that type A personality behavior to be common 00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:42.289 in your life. He says passion, getting worked 00:11:42.289 --> 00:11:47.179 up about things easily, in danger is your own 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:52.600 well -being. It is self -destructive. Some people 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:56.519 get worked up about things and they scheme and 00:11:56.519 --> 00:11:59.139 they plot how they're going to get back and get 00:11:59.139 --> 00:12:04.519 revenge. They run the danger of a submarine in 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:13.090 World War II by the name of the U .S. Tang. It 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:15.269 surfaced under the cover of darkness to fire 00:12:15.269 --> 00:12:21.669 in a large Japanese convoy, and it only had eight 00:12:21.669 --> 00:12:24.429 of its torpedoes left because it had been involved 00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:28.049 in warfare already. So the accuracy of every 00:12:28.049 --> 00:12:31.850 shot was very important. The first seven of the 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.370 torpedoes, it is said, were right on target, 00:12:34.389 --> 00:12:38.309 but when the eighth torpedo was launched, for 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:41.149 some reason it deviated from its path and headed 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:46.360 right back. at the submarine. Before the crew 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:48.980 could submerge and get out of its way, the torpedo 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:52.500 struck and within seconds the submarine sank, 00:12:52.620 --> 00:12:56.700 taking all aboard to the bottom. That's the way 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:01.399 anger and revenge work. They are self -destructive. 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:07.740 The mental and emotional state that anger brings 00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:14.960 adversely affects our health. To release the 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:19.960 negative emotions of anger in a healthy way, 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:24.980 however, brings vitality to the body. As it says 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:28.679 here, a heart at peace gives life to the body. 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:34.220 Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:38.179 and shun evil. This will bring health or medicine 00:13:38.179 --> 00:13:45.840 to your body and nourishment to your bones. When 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:49.340 you and I harbor anger and resentment inside, 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:54.039 when we allow the lava of anger to boil inside 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:57.799 of us like we are a volcano that's kept, it will 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.940 eat away at the inside of us and destroy us physically. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.580 The angry person endangers his own well -being. 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.000 Then there's a fifth observation that we make, 00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:15.779 it is this, that the angry person leaves himself 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:22.480 vulnerable. Chapter 16 verse 32 says, being a 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:27.179 patient man, better a patient man than a warrior, 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.960 a man who controls his temper than one who takes 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:37.100 a city. Compare that with what is said in chapter 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:43.279 25 and verse 28. Like a city whose walls are 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.879 broken down is a man who lacks self -control. 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:51.759 The angry person leaves himself vulnerable just 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.059 like a city that has no walls to protect it. 00:14:56.139 --> 00:14:59.620 He refuses the walls that self -restraint and 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:05.700 self -discipline raise up. He sees these as restrictions 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:10.429 to what he wants and how he feels. And so he 00:15:10.429 --> 00:15:13.330 refuses to discipline his own emotions and then 00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:18.269 the enemy comes and easily defeats him. The angry 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:21.970 person leaves himself vulnerable to perpetual 00:15:21.970 --> 00:15:29.830 defeat. He has no defense. But to build the walls 00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:35.210 of self -discipline and patience is to be a wise 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:41.690 person. When we do that the surges of angry emotions 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:47.429 are deflected They are channeled then into some 00:15:47.429 --> 00:15:52.049 healthy direction and release and our lives are 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:57.730 protected From these observations we see the 00:15:57.730 --> 00:16:05.149 dangers of being an angry person An angry person 00:16:05.149 --> 00:16:10.340 is unbecoming disruptive, stubborn, injurious, 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.080 and vulnerable. Do you want to be that kind of 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:19.899 person? Well who could want to be? And yet some 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:25.100 of us are. Therefore let's move ahead and talk 00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:28.919 about advice for one seeking to develop patience. 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:33.019 Because even if we are not angry people this 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:37.480 morning, all of us face the emotion of anger 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:43.080 from time to time in our lives. How do we develop 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:48.500 patience? Well, Proverbs gives us advice for 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:52.379 one who seeks to develop this godly quality in 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:58.059 his life. The first advice is, number one, avoid 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:03.299 relationships with angry persons. That seems 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:09.309 strange to you? It shouldn't. If you want to 00:17:09.309 --> 00:17:13.210 develop patience in your life, avoid relationships 00:17:13.210 --> 00:17:26.250 with angry persons. Chapter 22, verse 24. Do 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:29.650 not make friends with a hot -tempered man. Do 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:33.730 not associate with one easily angered or you 00:17:33.730 --> 00:17:41.049 may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared." 00:17:41.049 --> 00:17:44.690 So the first piece of advice is to avoid relationships 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:48.730 with people who are angry. It mentions directly 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:53.269 friendships. It's not that you're to be rude. 00:17:55.309 --> 00:17:58.690 It's not that you can't work with them when you're 00:17:58.690 --> 00:18:04.680 required to. But avoid becoming intimately associated 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.900 with someone who is angry, lest you pick up on 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:11.660 those habits. If you want to be patient, avoid 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:19.279 that trap. What about roommates? Sometimes you 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.859 have no choice about roommates, especially in 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:28.880 college. What about marriage? Once you're married, 00:18:29.800 --> 00:18:33.500 It's too late. So what do you do when you are 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:37.259 already associated in a situation with someone 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:40.259 who's angry? When it's unavoidable, what do you 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:45.119 do then? I believe the Proverbs gives us a strong 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.579 word of advice, chapter 15, verse 1. A soft answer 00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:52.299 turns away wrath. Grievous words stir up anger. 00:18:53.769 --> 00:18:57.630 The counsel to someone who's already in a relationship 00:18:57.630 --> 00:19:01.690 with an angry person is this Be gentle in your 00:19:01.690 --> 00:19:07.609 responses to that person Don't unnecessarily 00:19:07.609 --> 00:19:13.769 arouse the anger in him or in her Secondly, and 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:17.990 this is very important establish boundaries of 00:19:17.990 --> 00:19:22.569 what's acceptable So that you don't become a 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:28.849 victim of the person's anger. There is never 00:19:28.849 --> 00:19:33.150 a reason that a wife has to be abused by an angry 00:19:33.150 --> 00:19:39.269 husband, physically abused. That is beyond any 00:19:39.269 --> 00:19:42.569 kind of boundary the Word of God establishes. 00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:46.710 There are other kinds of boundaries that need 00:19:46.710 --> 00:19:49.470 to be set up and you need to set those up when 00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:52.640 you are in an unavoidable relationship with an 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.619 angry person. If you don't, you will become a 00:19:56.619 --> 00:19:58.480 victim. And if you're already a victim, seek 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:03.160 help. Go to someone who can help you, who can 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:06.319 backtrack with you as far as possible to lay 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.880 down some guidelines that will prevent you from 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:17.079 being victimized by an angry person. And then 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:19.019 thirdly, if you're in this kind of a relationship, 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.970 ask God to intervene. and to bring freedom to 00:20:22.970 --> 00:20:27.029 your friend. Because you see there are few slaveries 00:20:27.029 --> 00:20:35.250 worse than that of anger. Few slaveries destroy 00:20:35.250 --> 00:20:40.710 like anger. So the best thing you can do for 00:20:40.710 --> 00:20:44.009 your friend or your spouse is to pray for freedom 00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:49.470 from that anger. And we'll talk a little bit 00:20:49.470 --> 00:20:53.880 about that in a moment. But ask God to intervene, 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:56.720 not just for your sake, but for your friend's 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:01.599 sake because that life is in slavery and in bondage 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.900 until that anger is dealt with. So the first 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:09.839 piece of advice is, as much as you can, avoid 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:14.339 relationships with angry persons. Secondly, understand 00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:22.539 the dynamics of sinful anger. Anger itself is 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:27.380 a God -given human emotion. It is not sinful. 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:35.759 It is not sinful in itself. But it can be expressed 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:42.960 wrongly. The flesh, you see, in us will arise 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:48.650 and use this emotion to express itself. Say, 00:21:48.730 --> 00:21:52.210 what is the flesh? I understand the flesh in 00:21:52.210 --> 00:21:55.890 a biblical sense, as we're using it now, to be 00:21:55.890 --> 00:22:01.609 that pattern of behavior, attitudes, and responses 00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:06.309 left over in us from who we were before we were 00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:11.569 saved. It's a pattern of behavior, attitudes, 00:22:11.690 --> 00:22:15.410 and responses left over in us from our old man. 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:19.680 who we were before our salvation. We're no longer 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.819 who we were. We're new creatures in Christ. But 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.380 our personalities are still stamped with some 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:28.180 of those same patterns that we learned and had 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:34.720 before. And sin still is a powerful force within 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:38.140 the believer. We're not obligated to obey it, 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:42.200 but it's still present. And it energizes the 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.940 flesh, this old pattern. So that when we come 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:49.160 into a situation where we have angry feelings, 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.539 that flesh seeks to rise up and say, channel 00:22:53.539 --> 00:22:59.359 that anger this way. We have to understand the 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:03.039 dynamics of that. That's why we were told in 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.660 the New Testament to put away anger. It's talking 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:11.480 about that kind of anger, fleshly anger. Colossians 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.000 3 .8, for example, says, you must rid yourselves 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.619 of all such things as these, anger and rage. 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.359 And it goes on with the list. But notice it begins 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:30.200 with anger. Anger and rage. Ephesians 4 .31 says, 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:34.599 get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger. Get 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:39.440 rid of it. Be kind and compassionate to one another, 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:43.599 forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.799 you. I want to come back to that in a moment. 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:50.599 But let me refer you to Galatians 5 19 which 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:55.220 says, the acts of the flesh are obvious. Hatred, 00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:00.759 discord, jealousy, fits of rage. That's the flesh. 00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:04.319 That's that pattern that belonged to the old 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:08.940 man that we were. that still seeks to find expression 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:12.259 in our lives though we are new creatures. That's 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:17.460 the flesh. Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:22.579 rage, and it goes on. But it says those who are 00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:26.140 Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:32.019 passions and desires. So we have to understand 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:38.480 the dynamic of sinful anger. Anger is a God -given 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.940 emotion, but the flesh is that in us which seeks 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:46.420 to usurp that energy and channel it in the wrong 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:50.680 way. And we are to get rid of that. We're to 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.000 put it off. We're to have nothing to do with 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:56.440 that because it does not represent any longer 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:02.740 who we are. The third piece of advice we see 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:06.359 in the Word of God is We're to walk in the spirits 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:11.160 liberating power to experience victory This is 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:13.400 not only with anger, but other things, but it 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:17.119 certainly is true of anger Walk in the spirits 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:21.859 liberating power to experience victory Since 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:24.960 anger is so powerful and emotion the flesh can 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:29.220 easily hijack it and use its energy for sinful 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:33.539 purposes so When we sense being angry we need 00:25:33.539 --> 00:25:36.000 to be sure at that moment that we are under the 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:39.579 Holy Spirit's control We need to give him access 00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:45.400 to our angry feelings and not cut him out When 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:47.660 we are angry at that moment that we're aware 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:50.480 of it we need to say Holy Spirit you take charge 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:55.960 of this anger And ask him then to release that 00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:59.940 anger under his control He'll show you how to 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:05.670 do it It is not good to hold anger in, but it 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:09.829 has to be released in a godly way. And so in 00:26:09.829 --> 00:26:14.430 Galatians 5 -16 it says this, walk in or walk 00:26:14.430 --> 00:26:18.569 by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires 00:26:18.569 --> 00:26:20.930 of the flesh. Does the flesh want to use anger 00:26:20.930 --> 00:26:26.369 for its sinful purpose? Don't listen to it. Walk 00:26:26.369 --> 00:26:29.769 by the power of the Spirit. and let the Spirit 00:26:29.769 --> 00:26:34.430 channel that anger in a healthy way. Galatians 00:26:34.430 --> 00:26:38.470 5 22 reminds us the fruit of the Spirit is love, 00:26:38.509 --> 00:26:43.670 joy, peace, patience. Patience isn't something 00:26:43.670 --> 00:26:48.029 that we just merely manufacture on our own. So 00:26:48.029 --> 00:26:50.589 when we seek to develop it, we need to understand 00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:53.829 that truly it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's 00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:56.789 work in us. Now we have to cooperate with Him. 00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:02.079 He needs our willingness. He needs our surrender. 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:05.960 But if we give that to Him, He will develop patience 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:12.059 in us as His blessed fruit. So we're exhorted 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:15.880 in Galatians 5 .25, since we live by the Spirit, 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:20.359 let us keep in step with the Spirit. When we 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:23.359 allow the flesh to usurp our anger and channel 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:25.319 it in the wrong direction, we're out of step 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:29.809 with the Spirit of God. And so he says, just 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:32.990 stay in step. Keep yourselves in rank with the 00:27:32.990 --> 00:27:36.430 Holy Spirit. And thus when you have any kind 00:27:36.430 --> 00:27:39.430 of emotion, including that of anger, he will 00:27:39.430 --> 00:27:43.109 be able to control that and use it for good. 00:27:44.769 --> 00:27:46.789 So that brings me to the final question I've 00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:49.210 jotted down on the outline. And I suppose the 00:27:49.210 --> 00:27:53.049 answer should be obvious to you now. Is anger 00:27:53.049 --> 00:27:58.029 ever justified? The answer is absolutely yes. 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:08.599 You can tell a lot about a person by seeing what 00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:13.640 makes him laugh, by seeing what makes him cry, 00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:20.819 and seeing what makes him angry. If you're dating 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:27.420 someone, look for those three things. If we do 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:30.380 not become angry about some things, there is 00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:36.150 something wrong with us. Anger can be justified. 00:28:37.789 --> 00:28:42.049 There is such a thing as righteous anger. In 00:28:42.049 --> 00:28:45.630 Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul recognizes that 00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:49.269 truth and writes it this way, in your anger, 00:28:49.569 --> 00:28:54.750 do not sin. There will be anger that all of us 00:28:54.750 --> 00:28:56.869 will experience from time to time. We're human 00:28:56.869 --> 00:29:00.970 beings. God has created us with emotions. And 00:29:00.970 --> 00:29:03.730 as we pass through life, we go through circumstances 00:29:03.730 --> 00:29:10.809 and situations where anger arises. But in your 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:14.609 anger, do not sin. That is a quote, by the way, 00:29:14.710 --> 00:29:17.569 from Psalm 4 verse 4. Go back and take a look 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:19.470 at the context of that sometime. It will give 00:29:19.470 --> 00:29:24.210 you some insight to what it means. Anger is attributed 00:29:24.210 --> 00:29:29.390 to God and to Jesus Christ, isn't it? It is justified. 00:29:30.910 --> 00:29:34.710 God is angry with the wicked every day. It's 00:29:34.710 --> 00:29:39.549 a holy anger, a righteous anger. The Lord Jesus 00:29:39.549 --> 00:29:42.609 Christ was angry with what he saw in the temple 00:29:42.609 --> 00:29:46.089 in the way that the worship of God had been abused 00:29:46.089 --> 00:29:49.529 and misused and twisted and perverted. He was 00:29:49.529 --> 00:29:59.339 angry about it. But we want to avoid becoming 00:29:59.339 --> 00:30:05.180 angry people. It's okay to have angry feelings 00:30:05.180 --> 00:30:09.299 and to allow the Spirit of God to use those angry 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:13.599 feelings for some good purpose, to channel that 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:19.200 energy of anger in a right way. But we must avoid 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.160 becoming angry people who go to bed in their 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:25.660 anger, who let the sun go down in their wrath. 00:30:25.950 --> 00:30:28.309 Get up in the morning with it and the next day 00:30:28.309 --> 00:30:30.450 experience it in the next night They go to bed 00:30:30.450 --> 00:30:33.970 with it and on and on it goes that makes an angry 00:30:33.970 --> 00:30:40.130 person When we do that we become dominated by 00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:45.210 anger and we make ourselves unhappy There is 00:30:45.210 --> 00:30:53.589 no such thing as a happy angry person Anger dissipates 00:30:53.589 --> 00:30:58.089 our energy It destroys our relationships with 00:30:58.089 --> 00:31:03.069 others and our own health and it denies the lordship 00:31:03.069 --> 00:31:10.170 of Jesus Christ in our lives. Maybe you are an 00:31:10.170 --> 00:31:17.130 angry person and that anger comes from years 00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:22.089 back in your life because you were victimized. 00:31:23.190 --> 00:31:28.339 It was nothing that you did. Perhaps you were 00:31:28.339 --> 00:31:37.279 abused or misused or taken advantage of. And 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:39.319 you've grown up with those feelings and there's 00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:42.099 anger that lies submerged and deep within you 00:31:42.099 --> 00:31:46.180 there is this volcano and it is so powerful that 00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:50.319 you hold it tightly lest it escape. Because you 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:52.700 just have the feeling that if it begins to vent 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:55.660 itself it'll be like Mount St. Helens all over 00:31:55.660 --> 00:32:03.430 again. What do you do when you have that kind 00:32:03.430 --> 00:32:07.410 of anger? First of all you have to choose to 00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:12.930 relinquish your anger to Christ Somebody says 00:32:12.930 --> 00:32:15.309 you don't know the cause of my anger. You don't 00:32:15.309 --> 00:32:21.670 know how I've been wronged That's true, but I 00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:24.730 know somebody who does know all of those details 00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:30.059 That's the Lord And it is He who has commanded 00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:34.859 you to forgive others just as you have been forgiven 00:32:34.859 --> 00:32:42.960 by God for Christ's sake. If you couldn't forgive, 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:46.859 God wouldn't have commanded you to forgive. You 00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:53.700 can forgive and thus be free of your anger. Dr. 00:32:53.779 --> 00:32:55.900 Neil Anderson has written in his very helpful 00:32:55.900 --> 00:33:00.200 book called to freedom in Christ, these sentences 00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:04.240 about forgiveness. Forgiveness is not forgetting. 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:08.140 Forgetting may be the result of forgiveness, 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:13.099 but it is never the means of forgiveness. When 00:33:13.099 --> 00:33:15.819 we bring up the past against others, we haven't 00:33:15.819 --> 00:33:20.579 forgiven them. Forgiveness is a choice, a crisis 00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:24.380 of the will. Since God requires us to forgive, 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.339 it is something we can do. But forgiveness is 00:33:27.339 --> 00:33:30.559 difficult for us because it pulls against our 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:34.660 concept of justice. We want revenge for offenses 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:39.859 suffered, but we are told never to take our own 00:33:39.859 --> 00:33:43.819 revenge. Why should I let them off the hook, 00:33:43.900 --> 00:33:49.400 we protest. You let them off your hook, writes 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:54.130 Anderson. But they are never off God's hook He 00:33:54.130 --> 00:33:56.710 will deal with them fairly something that we 00:33:56.710 --> 00:34:00.829 cannot do If you don't let offenders off your 00:34:00.829 --> 00:34:06.250 hook you are hooked to them and the past and 00:34:06.250 --> 00:34:09.989 That just means continued pain for you So stop 00:34:09.989 --> 00:34:15.329 the pain Let it go You don't forgive someone 00:34:15.329 --> 00:34:18.469 merely for their sake you do it for your sake 00:34:18.469 --> 00:34:23.219 so that you can be free Your need to forgive 00:34:23.219 --> 00:34:25.480 isn't an issue between you and the offender. 00:34:25.619 --> 00:34:29.780 It's between you and God. Forgiveness is agreeing 00:34:29.780 --> 00:34:33.639 to live with the consequences of another person's 00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:39.079 sin. Forgiveness is costly. We pay the price 00:34:39.079 --> 00:34:42.719 of the evil we forgive. Yet you're going to live 00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:44.960 with those consequences whether you want to or 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:48.920 not. Your only choice is whether you will do 00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:52.639 so in the bitterness, of unforgiveness or the 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:57.019 freedom of forgiveness. Why then do we forgive? 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:06.659 Because Christ forgave us. The unforgiveness 00:35:06.659 --> 00:35:12.000 that may be present in your life today can be 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:18.900 a source of tremendous anger. That anger that 00:35:18.900 --> 00:35:24.190 you harbor That anger that you hang on to becomes 00:35:24.190 --> 00:35:28.409 a block to any spiritual growth in your life. 00:35:29.510 --> 00:35:34.510 You cannot mature as a believer. You really can't 00:35:34.510 --> 00:35:38.469 mature even as a person until you have dealt 00:35:38.469 --> 00:35:42.449 with that anger. You must deal with it. You must. 00:35:44.469 --> 00:35:49.800 And the sooner you do it, the better. The sooner 00:35:49.800 --> 00:36:00.539 you do it, the better. Let's pray. Our heads 00:36:00.539 --> 00:36:05.119 are bowed and our eyes are closed and the Spirit 00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:10.800 of God is bringing pressure and the point of 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:20.329 conviction to hearts right here. Aren't you tired 00:36:20.329 --> 00:36:24.750 of hanging on? Aren't you tired of trying to 00:36:24.750 --> 00:36:29.210 control and keep limits on that anger, that rage 00:36:29.210 --> 00:36:35.949 within you? Surely you must be. Will you today 00:36:35.949 --> 00:36:40.030 forgive? Will you choose, at the crisis of this 00:36:40.030 --> 00:36:45.929 moment, to use your will and say, I will forgive? 00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:54.280 Do it for Jesus' sake. Let them off your hook. 00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:57.719 They're not off God's hook. Let God deal with 00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:03.579 them. Let God deal with them. But let them off 00:37:03.579 --> 00:37:08.619 your hook so that you can unhook from them and 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:15.019 get on with your walk with God. Oh, may God help 00:37:15.019 --> 00:37:21.050 us this morning to develop patience. A man's 00:37:21.050 --> 00:37:26.269 wisdom gives him patience. Father, I pray that 00:37:26.269 --> 00:37:30.750 we will today yield to the work of the Holy Spirit 00:37:30.750 --> 00:37:34.489 in our lives. May there not be one of us who 00:37:34.489 --> 00:37:38.030 would go out desiring anything less than the 00:37:38.030 --> 00:37:44.289 fruit of the Spirit, which is patience. And wherein 00:37:44.289 --> 00:37:49.070 there are issues that are deep, I pray that you 00:37:49.070 --> 00:37:54.050 will cause those hurting and exhausted children 00:37:54.050 --> 00:37:59.409 of yours to seek out counsel and help so that 00:37:59.409 --> 00:38:08.409 they can be freed from anger. And Father, I pray 00:38:08.409 --> 00:38:13.170 that as we experience the emotion of anger through 00:38:13.170 --> 00:38:18.190 our daily lives, we will learn to yield that 00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:22.329 feeling to the Holy Spirit so that it can be 00:38:22.329 --> 00:38:26.929 expressed in a healthy, beneficial way and not 00:38:26.929 --> 00:38:34.289 turn around like a torpedo and destroy us. In 00:38:34.289 --> 00:38:38.909 Jesus' name I pray, amen. I'm going to ask you 00:38:38.909 --> 00:38:41.210 to take your hymnal and turn with me to just 00:38:41.210 --> 00:38:43.909 a chorus of 343.