Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. The Word of God addresses our human emotions. And the Savior, who wants to be the Lord of your life, wants to enable you, empower you to master this volatile emotion. On today's PowerPoint. Dr.
Graham brings a message about how you can find freedom from anger.
Now here's Doctor Graham with his message. ruling your spirit. We feel and we see so much anger. And angst. anxiety and fear.
And in the midst of all of this conflict that we see around us, We often feel personal. Emotion. and deep-seated fears and angers that rise to the surface. in times like these. And you will be glad to know that The Word of God addresses our human emotions.
And the Savior, who wants to be the Lord of your life, wants to enable you, empower you to master this volatile emotion. You see, the Sermon on the Mount and all of God's Word is not only good theology, it is good psychology as well. Because God is interested in all of us, body, soul. and spirit and what affects the spirit obviously affects the soul. and the body.
And when Jesus is Lord of our lives and masters our emotions, He rules our spirits, we behave differently, our attitudes are transformed, and our relationships are restored. Isaac Watts The great hymn writer said, May I govern my passions. with absolute sway. and grow wiser and better as life Where's Away. Richard E.
Burton said. Conquer thyself. Until thou hast done this, Thou art but a slave. We don't want to be slaves to our appetites. Slaves to our passions, to our emotions, to our angers.
We only want to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in the fifth chapter of the book of Matthew. Jesus deals with this subject. And I want to speak to you on the topic ruling. Your spirit.
The Bible says, He who rules his spirit is greater than he who takes a city. And so Jesus talks to us about ruling our spirits as He reigns in our hearts. Beginning in chapter 5. Verse 21, you have heard. that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder.
And whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you.
Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First. Be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly. While you're on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hands you over to the officer, and you're thrown into prison.
Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the very last penny. Indeed, there is a price to pay. For unresolved anger. and conflict. When there is war in the spirit.
Anger, which can be described in so many different ways, is the subject that our Lord gives us here. And Jesus, you Refers here in this passage to the sixth commandment for his first illustration. You shall not Kill. This is not a prohibition against war. Nor is it a commandment which prohibits capital punishment.
The Bible teaches. Capital punishment.
So when the Bible says you shall not kill, It means you shall not Murder. The reverse, always the positive side of each of the Ten Commandments. The positive effect of that is you shall honor and respect and sanctify life. You shall not murder.
So, when Jesus makes this statement, you shall not murder, everyone in his congregation that day on the mount. And perhaps today we take a deep breath and go, Okay, well at least I haven't committed murder. But then Jesus takes it another step. And he deals not with the act but the attitude in the heart. He deals not only with the letter of the law, but the spirit of this law, and says, I say to you, If you have a murderous heart.
If there is Hatred. murderous intention in your life. If you are full of anger and hostility and you react. and retaliate. And live with this kind of hostility in your heart if your heart is headquarters for hate.
Then you will suffer and you will suffer greatly. The Lord says murder is wrong. He also says anger. is wrong. Because he looks in to the heart.
Now, it's important to make the distinction between sinful anger. and what you might call sanctified anger. We know that not all anger is sinful. The Bible speaks of the wrath Of God. The scripture says that God is angry with the wicked.
every day. And of course, we know that God's anger... is holy. And pure. and righteous.
We also know that the scripture says in Ephesians chapter 4. that we are to be angry. And sin not.
So it's possible to be angry. And not sin, that a kind of righteous anger is. possible and when it is possible it is positive. Folks, there are some things we ought to be angry about. We ought to be angry about sin.
and yet at the same time love people. Who sinned? We ought to be angry enough To take responsibility to do something about the abuse. And the abomination that we see all around us. When we do that, the anger is not destructive, but it is reconstructive.
It builds up rather than tears down. We know this is true because Jesus. was angry and So important was the anger of Jesus when it was reported by John in the second chapter that he put it right up front in his book. It was that occasion when Jesus saw the abuse, the racketeering that was going on in the temple, the court of the Gentiles. The Gentiles, the unbelievers, couldn't even get into the temple because that temple was just so full of phoniness.
Yeah. The charlatans that were presiding over this little business game that they had going on in the temple became the object of Jesus' righteous anger. He formed a whip and he took the whip to those tables and he overturned the tables and there was quite a commotion that day. Kind of does away with the idea of gentle Jesus, meek and mild, doesn't it? Jesus was a man's man.
And he was God in the flesh. And when he took the whip, and overturn those tables. His anger was sanctified and justified. It was not... personal venting.
This wasn't God having a temper tantrum. He did not do this for selfish reasons, but rather for the glory of God and for the love of the people. His action was corrective and redemptive, not destructive. Yes, there are times that we should get angry for a righteous cause. and not selfish causes.
When Jesus was on the cross and he was personally being abused. When Jesus was being accused and harassed, Not one time. Did he respond in a personal way with anger? Quite the contrary. He responded in love and grace.
And though he could have responded even on the cross with anger and called the militia of heaven to come down and to pour out wrath upon. Those who crucified him, Jesus lived and he loved and he died in grace. for you and for me.
So, Jesus never took his anger, his personal anger, out as a vendetta or as a vengeance to protect himself or his own turf, but rather. For the glory of God, he at times responded. It was the philosopher Aristotle who said, A man who is angry. on the right grounds against the right persons in the right manner at the right moment and for the right length of time deserves great praise. But in contrast to that, Sinful anger is full of venom and vengeance.
And that's what Jesus describes here in verses 21 and 22. An anger that is first repressed, a kind of silent anger that is a silent killer, by the way, and then ultimately an anger that is expressed with. Angry speech. It's possible to have a kind of silent anger that's internal, that burns like coals in a furnace. But then ultimately The furnace explodes, it blows up, and what it does, it's like a bomb.
It does a great deal of damage. And that's why some of us who are dealing With this internal anger, this internal combustion that's going on all the time is silently destroying our spirit. It ultimately can kill the spirit. Jesus said warning, this is dangerous. A person who burns with anger is on his way to personal destruction.
How much destruction and damage has been done by anger? Look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 31. Let all bitterness. Wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all. malice, bitterness, that's resentment.
That's the seething rage. of resentment. That is on the inside. He uses the word wrath, which is the word for rage, explosive. Anger.
He uses the word clamor. which speaks of rudeness, temper tantrums. And then evil speaking. which is the rottenness of the tongue. When the tongue spews forth anger, and then he uses the word malice, which means retribution.
Getting even. Taking vengeance. And he said, put this away. All of this resentment, all of this rage, all of this rudeness, all of this rottenness and retribution.
So we will either rule our spirits By getting rid of this sinful anger, Or we will be ruled. in our spirits. by this anger. The Bible says very clearly, That we are to cease from anger. and that we are to live through the Spirit of Christ.
Which is the spirit of love. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. Ruling your spirit. We are excited to share that we have a new way to connect. We've just launched a brand new texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here at PowerPoint.
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Now, let's get back to today's message. ruling your spirit. How Do we rule? our spirits. As Jesus taught us.
Number one. Face it off. Face it off. By that I mean you have to be willing to attack anger. Psalm 37 and verse 8 says, Cease from anger and forsake.
wrath, it only causes harm. We can refuse anger. We can resist anger in our lives. We can disarm the explosiveness of our hearts. And it comes when we face it.
And rather than saying, well, that's just my genetics, you know, that's just my Irish temper, that's just, you know, that's just the way I am. People have to take it or leave it, just that's me, and so on. We get before God and we say, God, I know this is destructive. And this is a part of my life that doesn't please you and that is killing me and killing my spirit and is destroying those around me, my family and my friends. And so we come to that perhaps big defining moment when we face it off.
And we say, God, I repent of my anger. God, I ask you to remove it from my life and give me the grace day by day. as you rule in my heart. Because you see anger is a choice. Number two.
After you face it off, let it go. If you don't let the anger go, if you allow anger, to live in you, then it turns to bitterness. Darkness, depression. Resentment. Cynicism.
And if you carry this kind of dark mood around you, You know what's going to happen to you when you get old? You're going to be an angry old person. And there's nothing or unattractive. than angry people. Keeping anger alive is no way to live.
Circumstances Irritations. People Can't make us angry. We get angry when we choose to be angry, when someone bumps into us and then it all spills out. Anger is often a lack of self-respect. I asked my friend Dr.
Neil Clark Warren. Who is a wonderful Christian psychologist and writer and. I was on the phone with Dr. Warren, I said Uh Neil. What do you think is the real source of anger?
people's lives. And Dr. Warren said, I believe the real source is a lack of self-esteem. that even Christians don't understand who they are in Christ. and do not recognize and respect themselves.
And therefore, because of this lack of self-respect and this lack of understanding of who we are in Christ, listen, Jesus lives in us. We are children of the king. We are citizens of the kingdom. We don't have to be ruled by our spirits or by our passions. We can be ruled by Jesus.
And therefore When we learn who we are in Christ, we don't have to react. and live. I was reading that a recent survey indicated that in the business world, 50% of people in the workforce are angry, and one out of six. are angry enough that they want to punch somebody. That's a lot of anger.
And that's a lot of people who have never discovered the abundant life in Christ.
So let it go. After you face it off, after you ask God to forgive you and to deal with it, begin letting go of the anger rather than holding it on. You know, in one sense, anger is a tasty morsel, isn't it?
Someone said of the seven deadly sins that anger is the tastiest. Because sometimes it feels good, doesn't it? to let it go and to spew out the anger. It feels good to pound our fists. While it may feel good, it's not good.
You need to let it go. Thirdly, shut it up. And the reason I say that is because Jesus told us here, don't speak your anger. Don't speak anger. He said, if you say, thou fool, if you say, Raka.
which is a word that is not translatable in the English language. Raka is a word which means you, you worthless person. What Jesus was saying there about this name-calling was when you view people as valueless, When you spew out your anger towards people, whether it's because of their race or because of their behavior or because of whatever it may be, when you just, you say, you idiot, you fool, you worthless somebody. That says far more about you than it says about them. And Jesus says, don't speak it.
Again, back in Ephesians 4.29, this passage is so appropriate and comparable to the passage that Jesus gave us. In Ephesians 4.29, it says, Let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth. And the word corrupt there, corrupt communication. means cutting communication. We live in a generation With With people who love to cut people down.
and cut people up.
So we've got We got cynics and we got Smart mouse. And we've got Uh cutting, sarcastic. humor and so on. I mean, if you don't believe me, just listen. to talk radio.
Some of us are listening to political talk radio, and we're just getting all worked up by the. angry cutting cynicism that we hear on the radio. Even if they happen to share our viewpoint, it's not right. And our teenagers. It's often in their music.
Angry young musicians singing angry words to angry crowds. It's corrupt. Communication. And we live in a world like that. We should never be a part of angry epithets.
Sarcastic, slanderous speech does not become the child of God nor our vocabularies. unwholesome speech. Angry speech, rancorous speech, contemptible speech indicates a contemptible heart without character.
So Jesus said, don't do it. Shut it up. Words are too powerful to be used carelessly. You ever notice that if you hang out with an angry, bitter, sarcastic, negative, angry crowd, that before long it'll saturate your own soul and spirit? Look at Proverbs 22, verses 24 and 25.
You're going to want to mark these verses. Make no friendship. with an angry man. And with a furious man, Do not go. Why?
Verse 25: Lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. And then look in Proverbs. 19 in verse 11. Most of us have heard or read, if we've done much reading, that one of the ways we're supposed to deal with anger is to get it out. I mean, you know, just vent.
Well, number one, the Word of God says that's wrong, and now there's no responsible psychotherapist will tell you that's the right way to deal with anger. Because just getting it out and exploding that only intensifies. The root of bitterness in a person's life. But be that as it may, look at the Word of God, chapter 19, verse 11. The discretion of a man makes him what?
Slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression. Proverbs 29 verse 11 says, A fool vents his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.
Well, it's clear, isn't it? You know, a child, a little child, will throw tempered tantrums. Why? Because they're children. But there are a lot of adults that act like children.
So First face it off. Let it go, give it up. And then Shut it up. Don't speak it. Fourthly, and this is very briefly.
I just want to mention it because it's important. Talk it out. If you've got a problem with anger, go to a Christian pastor. Pastor, go to a Christian friend who can help you. Share, pray with them about it.
Talk it out. That's important. But finally, Work it out. If you've got a problem with anger, specifically with another person. Then work it out.
That's why Jesus said: look, if you come to worship, if you come to give your gift, there in Matthew chapter 5. And you remember that there's a conflict going on between you and other person. Leave your gift, leave the worship altar, and go make it ripe. Work it out with the person who is angry or with whom you are angry. Either way.
Do your best to resolve the conflict. You say, well, I've done that and they don't respond. It's not, their response is not your or my responsibility. It is our responsibility to seek peace and the end of conflict. And that's what a Christian does.
And Romans 12 verse 21 says, overcome evil. With good. When there is evil, when there is rage, when there is anger, we overcome it by doing good. We return forgiveness instead of fiery retorts. We face evil.
and persecution and suffering and we respond with grace and dignity. and compassion. You say, well, it's very hard. No, it's impossible. in your own strength.
The way I rule my spirit, the way your spirit is ruled, is by allowing Jesus. to place on the throne of your heart, the rightful place of ruling and reigning in you. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and The Message. Ruling your spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, God empowers you to love when it's hard.
Forgive when it hurts and persevere when you're worn out. He equips you to live with joy, peace, and boldness no matter what circumstances you face. in his insightful book Powering Up, Pastor Jack Graham shares how you can live the life God intends for you. We want to send you a copy of Powering Up as a thanks for your gift of $10 or more. To request your copy of Powering Up, just text Power to 59789.
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It is so very important that we rule our spirits, our emotions. In following Jesus Christ, one thing we must learn to do is controlling our anger. One day a young man was beaten, blasphemed, tortured, beaten until he was almost dead, mocked and verbally abused, and then nailed and hung on a cross. and rather than reacting with anger. He responded in love.
and with a prayer he cried out, Father, Forgive them. for they know not what they do. And the dear and precious Son of God died on the cross in love because he was able to overcome the anger of others. And he conquered sin. And there on the cross, the greatest miracle of all took place when redemption, salvation was offered to everyone on the face of the earth.
And now, God has called us in the name of Jesus and in the power of His cross to live with that same love and grace towards others. the people that are nearest to us, the people that are dearest to us. I remember that old song, You Always Hurt. the one you love. The one you wouldn't hurt at all.
and so often in our families we hurt one another with angry words and angry reactions, emotions that are out of control. When we live for Christ and His kingdom, Our lives are different, and He enables us to live in control rather than out of control.
Some of you, the world sees your best side in all the happy smiles. But your wife, your kids, or your husband, they see your angry heart. You need to deal with it and you need to deal with it right now and do it in God's way. by asking Jesus Christ to take control of your life. The one who control anger and rage can control anger and rage in your life.
You can overcome evil with good. It is the good life of Christ living in us. It is the God life of Christ. of the Savior working in us. It's my prayer that you will begin living this kingdom life.
And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Powering Up as Our Thanks. Just text the word power to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr.
Graham brings a message about the importance of accepting Jesus on his terms. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
