Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program in today's interview, the go. Along with all malice and do what? Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. Be angry and do not sin, that's a strange verse isn't it? You see it's possible to be angry and not sin. There is certainly sinful and selfish anger that we're going to be talking about today that we need to let go. But there is also what you could call a sanctified, Spirit-directed anger that leads to righteousness.
Do not be angry and do not sin and be angry and do not sin. God expresses Himself righteous anger. In fact did you know that in the Old Testament the anger of God, the wrath of God is mentioned over 600 times.
That God pours out His wrath and judgment upon sin and sinners. The scripture says God is angry with the wicked every day. So anger is a God-given emotion and passion. We all have the image of God and that includes holy anger from time to time. In fact, if you see sin and injustice and immorality or abuse or death, terrorism, you name it.
If you can look at that and see that and it not make you angry, then there's something wrong with you. Anger can be an ally when we control it. We ought to be passionate about some things in life. Our blood, our hearts ought to burn, our spirits should burn with passion for truth.
We should fight for those things which matter, which matter to God. So anger, holy anger, righteous anger is a good thing, it's a powerful force for good when it is disciplined and directed by God. But we know that so much of our anger today is not disciplined or directed by God but it is misdirected and often undisciplined by self. There's all kinds of anger. In fact, in the passage that we looked at earlier, Ephesians 4 and verse 31, there are some categories for anger that are mentioned here because we know everything from a slow burn to a seething rage to from irritation and frustration to bitterness and wrath. Whether our anger is shouted out or silently suppressed, we all have to deal with issues of anger in our lives and that's why Paul mentioned here in Ephesians 4 these different kinds of anger. He mentions, look at it, he mentions bitterness, which is anger turned inward.
You could choose the word resentment, you know, it's just kind of walking away with that acid attitude in your life. Then there's the word wrath, which is a powerful expression of judgment. There is anger, which is a generalized anger within, then he uses the word clamor. That's not a word you're probably using in your vocabulary but it's a word that describes something that we see almost every day, clamor, outburst of anger.
And then there's slander, using our tongues to poison others or try to fight others with the weapon of our tongues. And then there's malice, which that's hatred, that's the actual desire to hurt somebody because you have malice and hatred in your heart. So all of these categories here are outlined to show us that we all deal with different levels and different kinds of anger. Now in my reading this week I thought a lot about what causes so much anger and I discovered that there are reasons for anger and increasing anger in our generation there's fear. People are angry because they are afraid.
There is injustice, whether it's on a public and national level or a very personal level, injustice. There is hurt, injury, someone injures you. Someone wants to fight you, threaten you, betray you. There's just irritation and frustration, depression. Another problem, of course, the cause of anger is alcohol and drugs, whether it be illegal drugs or legal drugs, the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Another reason people are angry, there's a lot of unrealistic expectations. And so I'm pointing out that we all have different reasons for our anger.
There's different kinds of anger but whatever it is, an uncontrolled and ungoverned anger can embitter you and enslave you. Yes, God cares about our temperaments. God cares about our personalities. When Christ comes to live in our lives He wants to transform the way we think and therefore the way we act. And so we need to let go of any addiction we have to anger.
How do you do that? We confront it, we confess it, we control it, and we conquer it. And I want to show you how. First, we must confront our anger. You can't keep saying, it's just the way I am if you're a follower of Jesus. You have to see it and say it for what it is, own it. Confront it for not just a weakness but a real, and not just a simple emotional problem, but a real problem for your life because in losing it, you can lose everything. If you are embittered or enslaved, you can lose your health, you can lose your wealth, you can lose your family, you can lose your friends, you can lose your job, you'll certainly lose your joy, you'll lose respect, you want your children to honor you as a mom, as a dad, and yet you're running around in a rage, blowing it, losing it. You can lose your testimony because of anger at the office, in the neighborhood. Ask yourself, why am I angry? Stop. The Bible says, be slow to anger.
You know, a wise person doesn't say everything they think. We are slow to anger. We put it off. We pray, we wait. Why am I upset?
Show me why I'm angry because again, if you don't, it can destroy everything. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the freedom to let go. So many people are crushed by the stress of life and are searching for help and hope. That's why we're excited to share that a generous friend has offered to double your gift of up to $150,000 to help us reach our hurting world with the perfect peace Jesus offers. As a thanks for your gift, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight message series help.
This resource will help you walk in the quiet trust that comes with knowing your security in Christ, even in uncertain times. This is the last day to have your gift doubled by the matching grant. So call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. That's PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.
Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, the freedom to let go. I was doing some reading regarding what it takes away, hostility. Kids talk about the medical world talks about hostility and how it affects particularly the heart and the cardiovascular system. Unresolved anger, silent rage, outburst of anger put you at risk for heart attacks. So when someone says his blood was boiling, that's real.
Someone begins to shoot through your system, your arteries constrict, and an angry spirit, a hostile heart can be fatal. In fact, research at Duke University has shown that quote, anger is a more accurate predictor of dying young than smoking. Again you can lose friends and family and Proverbs 11 29, the fool who provokes his family to anger and resentment will finally have nothing worthwhile left.
I could keep going, talking to you about the danger of this stuff, what it does to you physically, emotionally, and certainly spiritually. Did you know for example that the Bible tells us that we're not even to associate with angry people? Proverbs 22 24, look at it, make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man. Some people are angry with God. You've got your finger pointed right at God because something happened, you were injured, you were hurt, there was some injustice, some betrayal, some tragedy, and you're blaming God.
That's like blaming the fire chief for the fire. You know the devil is a bully, he likes to pick fights and walk away and have you blame somebody else. The world is on fire for sure, there's suffering and there is evil, but it is the result of rebellion and sin, not by the hand of God and when you are in trouble, when you are in tragedy in your life, don't blame God, he's the one you need.
You need his help. I promise you, God is loving, God is good, God is just. He's going to bring out even of tragedies, ultimately triumph, you need to hang on in hope and trust in God even when you're having a hard time doing it and say like Job, Lord even though you slay me, I will trust in you. Anger. And what anger can do to you is ultimately sink in and one of the words that we haven't used a lot in this series is a stronghold. A stronghold is when a certain sin or a kind of behavior becomes addictive or it grips you and will not let you go, that's a satanic stronghold, it can be an emotional bondage in your life and these strongholds must be torn down and they can be and they will be in Christ, but you have to be willing to confront it, this anger, and confess it. God commands us not to be angry and if God commands us not to do something, He enables us to keep that commandment.
God would never ask you to do something that you couldn't do. So yes you can confront your anger, yes you can confess it, yes you can by God's grace control it, lest you hang on to your hate and you become caustic and bitter and an angry old person. So there's nothing more disturbing than to see a miserable, angry, older adult who just held on through the years to all the stuff, an unforgiving, unrelenting, judgmental, caustic attitude that makes everybody around them miserable. But hey, teenagers can have that same attitude.
You don't want to be that kind of person. In fact, Ephesians 4 26 says, if you want to control your anger, don't let the sun go down on your wrath, lest you give place or opportunity to the devil. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. So before you go to bed, before you go to sleep, if you're angry, you need to settle that with whoever you are angry, if at all possible, but certainly settle it in your own heart because if you don't, husbands, wives, you go to bed angry, bitterness starts to grow and you give place, the Scripture says there, to the devil.
That means you invite the devil in. And so, when you get angry and you don't settle it, bitterness can begin to grow. That's why the Bible says, don't let any root of bitterness, this is Hebrews 12, 15 and 16, but where lest any root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble that it may defile your soul. Bitterness. What is bitterness? It's repressed anger. It's ongoing anger. You begin to see that ultimately, if you don't deal with it, it can even turn to malice or hate.
Oh, you wouldn't call it hate because you're blinded by the bitterness, you're blinded by the tears and it begins to impact you every day because now you're in bondage, it impacts your identity and your mentality, your personality and even your spirituality and you just keep fanning the flames of this fire. You become profane. Romans 3.14 says their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. You get bitter, you start profaning. Profanity is a clear sign of anger in the heart. Immorality. Anger causes immorality, sure it does. Hebrews 12, 15 says, beware lest you have this root of bitterness that it may defile your soul and then it speaks of immorality. So confront it, confess it and control it and conquer it how?
The gospel. The answer for anger is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is forgiveness, forgiving, undeserving but repentant people. Forgiveness is the key to breaking this chain.
When Jesus died on the cross, he spoke with bloody lips these words, to the very men who were crucifying, Father forgive them for they do not know what they did. And so Ephesians 4.32 says that we are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. To forgive means that you release your right to dwell on the offense. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me. For some of you anger and bitterness is the chain hanging around your neck.
And with that chain, you are dragging around for your life the person who offended you. But when you get free in Jesus, when you let go, you break the chain. You cut it loose along with the offender. Now forgiveness is often misunderstood. Letting and letting go does not mean you give up on justice. In fact, you can seek justice while at the same time seeking forgiveness. You can seek legal action under the law while at the same time forgiving.
Letting go does not mean giving up your rights to justice. But it does mean you leave justice to God. Verse 19 of Romans 12 says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. God will do a much better job of repaying an unrepentant offender than you possibly could. Rise above the revenge because revenge only brings you down.
So give up on getting even because if you're just getting even, you're bringing yourself down to the level of the person who offended you. You can trust God to make things right. You can. He will. Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting.
Forgetting the offense, that's impossible. God would never ask you to do something impossible, would He? No. You say, well what about that verse that says when God forgives, He forgets. Well that doesn't mean that God has some kind of holy amnesia and totally forgets about it.
Of course not. When it says God forgets, it means He chooses not to remember it. He chooses not to hold it against us. And so, to forgive is not the same as forgetting. It doesn't mean you enable sin, forgiveness is not enabling sin or in any way endorsing the sinner, you must always be truthful in confronting sin.
That's what God does. Forgiveness is letting go. And it's like one person said, I let the prisoner go free and when I did, I realized the prisoner was me. You set yourself free when you forgive. Forgiveness, you see, is leaving justice in God's hands. It's letting go and moving on in your life in the power of Jesus.
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, The Freedom to Let Go. Where do you turn when the stress of life feels overwhelming? Many people look to the latest self-help fad, but true rest only comes in returning to the Lord and trusting in Him.
Because the truth is, you simply can't carry life's burdens on your own. In Dr. Graham's eight message series help, he'll show you how to turn your stress into strength through the certainty of God's promises, so you can face any challenges that come your way. Help is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. And thanks to a generous $150,000 matching grant, whatever you give today will be doubled to impact even more lives for Jesus Christ. This is the last day to have your gift doubled by the matching grant, so call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.
Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? I would say first and foremost that God wants to show you how you can control your emotions, those emotions of anger and agitation and irritation, just negativity that so often grips people's lives. I would say that don't allow any excuse to keep you from avoiding the issue in your life. If you are habitually angry and if your emotions are out of control, you need to first own the problem, confess the problem. The old excuses of, well, it's just in my blood or that's what I want to do, that's just in my blood or that's what my mother or father used to do or someone hurt me.
None of these excuses will do. Followers of Jesus live at a different level. We live by a higher standard. James 1 19-20 says, Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. I want to honor God with my life. I want to please Him in all things. And certainly my emotions, the way I express myself, the way I control my temper, that is a way that I can honor God and please Him. Whether you struggle with anger or worry or overspending or lust, whatever your chain, you need to confront it, confess it and ask by the power of God's Spirit that He will help you to control it.
It may sound impossible, but it is possible by the power of Jesus working in you. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's eight message series, Help as Our Thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.
That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can persevere in the Christian life when you walk in the Spirit. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
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