Put Away Your Anger, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

You have to continue to live the way you did before you came to Christ and then justify it before God. He said, that's not what Christ has taught you. He said, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him just as the truth is in Jesus. See, when Jesus said, you need to love your enemies and you need to pray for those who persecute you, He wasn't stating an opinion. He was telling you the truth.

That's what this is. This is not His. Why am I opinion?

He has His opinion. No, He said, this is truth. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. This past week, I read an article of a 27-year-old man who pleaded guilty to assault as he assaulted a 59-year-old woman in St. Paul, Minnesota. They were waiting for a bus and he began yelling at her and saying, why don't you show me some respect? Well, the woman became very nervous then and she took out her phone and decided to call the police. So he punched her in the face and a 63-year-old man tried to intervene and the young man began hitting him with a folder that he had in his hand. And then he, which fell to the ground and he ran off. But in his folder was his name so the police were able to find him and arrest him. And after they tracked him down, they found out that in his folder he was also doing his homework for his anger management class.

Well, at least he's working on it, I guess. Anger is a huge problem all over the world, but certainly in our country. And it's just amazing how angry people are and words have come into our culture now that I don't think we ever had before. Road rage. Just unbelievable.

When I grew up, I never think I'd ever thought about something like that. A young woman from the area of Pennsylvania where my wife and I are from, she was in Nashville, Tennessee and she was murdered. And it turned out what ended up happening, they found the suspects and what ended up happening was the suspect who was accused of the shooting said she cut me off. She pulled out in front of me so I shot her.

And it's like, wow. Then you start thinking, other stories I find, a father beat to death another father at a youth hockey game. A father also clubbed to death a high school softball coach who would not let his daughter play because of team rules were violated.

So he killed her. But it's in every level, having coached for many years in Pennsylvania, Little League Baseball, just listening to the parents verbal abuse of their children or someone else's children. It's just unbelievable. Anger has split. So many churches have been split because of anger in the name of Jesus anger. So that's why I decided to do a short series on anger. And this will be the final sermon in that short series because I really don't want to make you mad about hearing about this anger thing over and over again.

The first week we looked at Proverbs. The wisdom basis of anger and said that what Solomon tells us is anger can be extremely destructive to us and to others. He also said it can be at times a good thing if used in the right way, a kind word turns away wrath type of thing. But most importantly, in Proverbs, he said, what you have to do is you have to be able to look at life the way God looks at life.

And that's probably one of the great keys of anger that exist. You have to see life the way God does. And if you're honest with yourself, none of us do very good at this. We just don't see life that way. That's why when Jesus says something like you need to love your enemies. And you need to pray for those who actually persecute you. We usually just scratch our head and say, I don't get it.

Why would I do that? Because we don't see life the way God does. Then last week, we dealt with showing how anger is tied so directly to our selfishness. And so we used examples of Cain with Abel or Jonah of this anger that they had and that they carried around. And then we went to the New Testament and James said, look, if there's one thing you have to be is you have to be slow to anger.

You have to be slow about your anger. So today, in this final one, I want to have the Apostle Paul talk to us about anger and I invite you to open your Bibles to Ephesians four and verse 17. Ephesians four, verse 17.

The Book of Ephesians breaks into two halves. The first three chapters of the Book of Ephesians is who are you and I in Christ? What does it mean for us to be saved? What are the things that God has done for us, not just to save us, but who we are in Christ? The second half of the book, four, five and six, he said, then how should we live?

How should we act? What should our lives look like because of who we are in Christ? So in verse 17, he says, So this I say and I affirm it together with the Lord. So Paul said, it's not just my opinion, it's the Lord and I getting together on this. He said that you walk no longer, just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their minds.

Gentiles are unbelievers in the New Testament. And he says, and the word walk is a metaphor for live. So he says, don't live like unbelievers or let me paraphrase, don't live like you used to live. If you're a born again Christian, you have new life in Christ, the Spirit of God indwells you. Don't you live the way you used to live? He said, that's what I'm telling you.

That's the way this ought to be. He said, when I speak of the unbeliever, he says, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of the heart. They refuse to accept Christ in his finished work on the cross. He said, they're excluded from God.

They don't see life like God sees life at all. Then he goes on and says, and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Now, look at that last phrase, every kind of impurity with greediness. That's a portrait of America.

That's America. Every kind, there is nothing off the table from an impurity or essential point of view in America. Everything's on the table. It's not only on the table, but they champion it on the table. And we wrap it all up in our American greediness. He said, yeah, that's the way an unbeliever lives their lives.

That's how low they can go. And he says, but you did not learn Christ in this way. There's nothing Christian about that kind of life. What's important about that in the context here is there's not necessarily being Christian about the way you were.

There's just not. You can't continue to live the way you did before you came to Christ and then justify it before God. He said, that's not what Christ has taught you. He said, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. See, when Jesus said.

You need to love your enemies and you need to pray for those who persecute you. He wasn't stating an opinion. He was telling you the truth. That's what this is.

This is this is not here. Why am I opinion? He has his opinion. You know, he said, this is truth. That's what I'm telling you.

You have to do. Now, you know, with that statement, we're not inclined that way. We just don't see life like that. It's very hard for us to do that. We're at the beginning stages. And have been for some time of real persecution for the first time coming to the church in America. We're just beginning. It's going to get exponentially much worse in the future. And when you say we need to pray for this, you need to pray for those people.

See what your natural inclination is? No. No. In fact, we view those people as an enemy. They're there.

There are enemies. I would never pray for those people. No, you wouldn't. But Christ would. And he told you to.

You see, that's the difference, our natural inclinations don't help us here at all. He goes on, he says, if indeed you have heard and have been taught in him just as truth is in Jesus. He said that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit. There's a lot in this verse. One of the most important things is, he says, in reference to the way you used to be, you have to lay it aside.

Now this is important. You'll never change if you don't lay it aside. You'll never change. And God will never lay it aside for you. That's your decision. You have to lay it aside. You have to choose to lay it aside before you get any benefit from this at all.

He says you have to lay it aside. And he says the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit. See, one of the things that you and I are continually victims of, even as Christians, is self-deception.

And it really happens in the area of anger. For example, Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 17, the heart of a man is desperately wicked. It's deceitful above all things. So my heart and yours in our flesh is deceitful above all things. And we deceive ourselves. And never in an area any greater than we deceive ourselves about our anger. The overwhelming majority of all the things that make us angry are born out of our own selfishness. I want my way.

I want it done. I'm disappointed. All those kind of things. And we deceive ourselves. Angry people always justify their anger. Always. You see, and they say things like this, you made me mad.

No, they didn't. You made yourself mad. You see, you made yourself mad. Anger is an inside job, you see. And he says, look, you're going to have to make the decision to put it away.

And you're going to have to worry about the deceit of why you haven't pulled it away. Hold your place here and go with me to Romans 12. Romans chapter 12. The first two verses. Again, in Romans 12, in this case, Paul spends up to 11 chapters talking about theology. And now in chapter 12 to the end of the book, he says, now how do you live?

This is Paul's pattern. Ephesians, Romans, it won't matter. Who you are in Christ, now how should you be living as a Christian? And he says in verse 1, he said, therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

There it is again. Here he says, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. He said in Ephesians, put aside the old, put on the new. But here he says, you have to present your life as a sacrifice to God. Now notice again, you have to do this.

You have to do it. If you don't do it, you'll never be the kind of Christian you ought to be. You never will be. Oh, you'll go to heaven. It'll be wonderful for you that way. But you're not going to take advantage of the Christian life at all. Remember, the Holy Spirit was given to us not to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us.

That's the point of it. He said, I have to present my body, give it to God. God, you did everything for me. You saved me.

It's a wonderful thing. I'll live for you. I'll do whatever you want me to do.

I'll go anywhere you want me to go at any cost to me. That's just, I present it. Now notice what Paul calls it, which is your spiritual service of worship. Notice how we dumb down worship. I thought worship was we get together and sing a couple of songs. That's a very small aspect of worship.

That's not what worship is. See, why would I worship God? Because he saved me. He loved me in spite of myself.

He did everything for me. Why wouldn't I worship him? In fact, Jesus tells the woman at the well, God is seeking worshipers. That's his point. He said, that's what real worship is.

I give my life to him. He said, and do not be conformed to this world. J.B. Phillips says in his paraphrase, don't let this world squeeze you into its mold. Well, think about this one subject we're talking about. How does the world look at anger? You ever see anyone angry ever on television or on the streets or anyone ever angry? We champion anger. We champion anger. And we certainly don't champion love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you.

It's hate your enemy and show them your anger. He said, yeah, that's the way the world works. Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. My problem is in my flesh, I buy the deceit and I think that way. He said, but be transformed.

Metamorphosis is the word from a caterpillar to a butterfly. You can be transformed as a Christian from the way you were to the way you ought to be. How? He says, by the renewing of your mind. So that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

How do I do this? I have to think differently. About what?

Almost everything. He said, you have to renew your mind. I have to know what has God said, desire the pure milk of the word, and I have to change my thinking. And what ends up happening is we do this pretty easily in some areas of life, but not easily at all in others, and anger is one area where we're entrenched in our flesh. I don't want to hear what God says about anger. You see, I want to justify my anger and understand something. It's easy to live on a cursed planet among sinful people and justify your anger. You want to be angry, you can be angry 24-7 in America or in this community. People do terrible things and they can make you angry. And if you want to be angry, you can be angry 24-7. You see, that's one of the problems. If you think you're going to marry someone in this wonderful bliss of holy wedlock, and you know what, you'll never be angry again. Wow, that didn't work that way, did it? No. And boy, when you have children, those sweet little darlings, you never got angry, have you?

And if you were lucky enough to say no, well, then you had teenagers and we know you're lying. You know, I mean, that's the point. Anger is, see, that's anger for us.

We're angry. And he says, no, you have to present yourself. He said that God has a sacrifice.

You've got to prove what the will of God is. You've got to renew your mind and think differently. Now, back to Ephesians, he says something very, very similar. He says that in reference to your former man or life, you lay aside the old self, there it is, being corrupted in accordance with lust of the seed, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Same thing. I have to think differently, and I put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness and truth. So I have to put off the old self, put on the new self. Now, notice, am I a new self? Yes. Are you a new self? Yes. The Bible says you and I are new creatures in Christ.

But for this to be an advantage in our life, I have to lay aside the old me and I have to put on the new me. I have to decide to do this, and if I don't, let me put it this way. If you struggle with anger, and you have struggled with anger your whole Christian life, I'll say it. You never did this. You never did it. You never presented yourself a living and holy sacrifice to God.

You never renewed your mind on this at all. You lived in self-deception. And so you find yourself angry all the time.

It goes on. Then he says, therefore, laying aside falsehood, if I do this thing, put on the new self, what's the first characteristic to show up in my life? Lay aside falsehood, speak truth to each one of you with this neighbor, for we are members of one another. The first thing that will happen to me if you've done this, you'll be a truth teller. You'll actually tell people the truth. And by the way, that seems wonderful, but is it?

You ever find yourself struggling to tell someone the truth? Right? It's the truth. See, one of the great things that amazes me about Jesus is that's all he ever did. He spoke the truth.

He says some of the most comforting, peaceful, wonderful, hopeful words ever written. He all said things that made people as angry and mad as possible. Because he lied to them, now he told them the truth. And they hated him for it. He told the Pharisees the truth and they crucified him for it. A lot of times we don't like the truth.

We want to live in self-deception. But he said, you'll speak the truth. Now, you don't do it in the context of hate. You speak the word of God or truth and love. That's what he says in Ephesians, speak the truth and love.

I don't do it with an attitude, but I tell people the truth. Then he goes on and he says, be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down in your anger. OK. This verse is very misunderstood a lot.

All right. First of all, he says, be angry. Some people want to interpret this as saying God commands me to be angry. And that's why I'm angry. It's like, no, that's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is there are some things that you and I should be angry about.

I mean, there's some things that are pretty obviously. You see a child abused. Should be angry. You see babies murdered. You should be angry.

You have a friend who commits adultery, has a girlfriend, has ruined this marriage and his family. You should be angry. You should be angry at the things that make God angry.

Now, if you said, oh, that's what I do, you're not telling the truth. I would guess 95 percent of your anger is about what you don't like. You see, you've got to be angry.

Go ahead. But he said, don't sin. Goes right with last week with James. James said, you be slow to anger.

Why? It can go right into sin before you know it. You better be very, very slow to anger.

I mean, think of this. You should be angry only at what God is angry. You should be angry at sin. Is God slow to anger?

Yes, in almost every case. I mean, starting Genesis on. Hey, did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah out of his anger? Because they made him mad for 15 minutes and he destroyed him.

No. In fact, he should go through the whole Old Testament. I mean, how about the days of Noah? He destroyed everybody but Noah and his family because one day he had a bad day and he wiped them out.

Decades went by. Noah's building an ark for over 100 years. How slow is God to anger? He's infinitely slow to anger. He takes Israel, puts them in the Assyrian captivity. He takes Judah and puts them in the Babylonian captivity because he just got mad at them one day.

No. He was very slow to anger. He sent them prophets to warn them and try to turn them back.

God by nature is slow to anger. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called OnePlace.com. That's OnePlace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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