Today on the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Shouting, slamming doors, getting very, very defensive when anyone ever criticizes you, lying awake at night, mulling over in your mind some hurt, real or imagined. These are signs of the burning fuse of anger. Do not ignore the danger signs. Check your anger quickly, or it will get out of control.
Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Today, anger and rage are at a boiling point. Bitterness, division, harsh rhetoric, and even violence. How do we respond? How do we deal with our own frustration and the anger of others?
Well, today on the Verdict, we're learning how to deal with the burning fumes of anger. To continue our series called "With Wings Like Eagles," here's Pastor John Monroe. We saw last time that in our culture it seems that anger and rage are becoming more and more common. We see it in our families, in road rage, in violence in the workplace, and in our schools, and in the vitriolic remarks and politics. This anger is a powerful emotion, but it must be dealt with, or it will consume us, and destroy our relationships, and hurt others around us.
It's very easy to shout or swear, or insult or be unkind when we're angry, but the Bible tells us that we're not to sin in our anger. We are to be slow to anger. I'm so appreciative of you listening today, as we continue to think of the burning fuse of anger and look for the solution found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians four, verse twenty-six. We want to see.
First of all, don't sin in your anger. Don't sin in your anger. That's what Paul says here. Ephesians four twenty-six. Be angry and do not sin.
As I say, anger is a very common human emotion. All of us know what it is to be angry. We've all experienced it. And this verse, verse 26, is best seen not as a command to be angry, but rather as an injunction not to sin when you are angry. The NIV translates it, "In your anger, do not sin." Yes, there are things, there are situations which do make us angry, and we must understand that anger, in and of itself, is not necessarily sinful.
There is such a thing as righteous indignation. Our Lord, the perfect man, God incarnate, was angry when He cleansed the temple in the Gospels. Remember, He threw out the money changers, and His righteous indignation was was against those who broke the law of God and who exploited others in the name of their faith in God. Righteous indignation.
Now, here is the second one. Again, in verse twenty-six, resolve your anger quickly. Verse twenty-six: Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. You're angry.
Resolve the situation quickly before you go to bed. You see, when we don't resolve our anger, what happens? Bitterness and resentment quickly spring up. Brooding on your anger, brooding on that slight, that hurt, that insult, that disrespect, whatever it is that makes you angry, that just builds up more anger, doesn't it? You see, allowed to fester, anger and unresolved conflict produces havoc in our lives, in our homes, and our relationships.
And the Spirit of God is saying, "Don't do that." Don't let the sun go down on your wrath, which is a nice way of saying, before the sun sets, get the matter resolved. Number one, don't sin in your anger. Number two, resolve your anger quickly. Number three, don't give the devil an opportunity. I find this intriguing.
Notice what Paul says in the very next verse, verse twenty-seven. He says, "Be angry and don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. The devil loves angry people." Look back at the beginning of Ephesians chapter four for the work of the Spirit. Ephesians four verse one.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
Now, here it is: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Wouldn't it be wonderful in our homes and our relationships and the church if we followed this advice, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace?
Now that's what the work of the Holy Spirit does. For those of us who are following Jesus Christ, as we become more and more like Him, we follow the instruction with the power of the Spirit that we. Walk with humility and gentleness and patience and forbear one another. What about the devil? He produces disunity.
He loves strife. He loves conflict. He loves accusations. He's the great slanderer. Jesus said he's the father of lies.
He's the accuser of the brothers. He's the deceiver. And when we Leave ourselves with unresolved anger. We are vulnerable to the devil. When we're angry, isn't it the case that we often do the devil's work?
When we sin in our anger, what does that produce? Strife, hurt. Think of children who come from homes. Where there was terrible anger, where their father or their mother, or perhaps both, were angry and shouted at each other, and sometimes fought in front of them.
Some of you come from homes like that, don't you? What an impact it has on someone. That's the devil's work, isn't it? When we sin in our anger, this is what it produces. Don't excuse your anger.
Don't just say, "Well, that's just how I am. I'm a fairly hot-tempered person." As we'll see in a minute, that is not acceptable. Think of the problems in homes, in the workplace, in relationships, in the local church, when anger is not handled in a biblical way. Anger destroys the unity of the spirit, and it grieves the Holy Spirit. Verse thirty: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.
Do not say, John, I can't help it. Yes, you can. You're not a robot. You're not a machine. Your anger can be controlled under the power of the Holy Spirit.
And as a follower of Jesus, this I know. That you can soar high with wings like eagles over that destructive anger.
Sometimes people even choose to be angry or pretend to be angry, pretend to be passionate in order to intimidate people or manipulate people. When we don't resolve our anger, when you allow that anger to continue in your home. It's like opening the front door and inviting the devil in. The diabolos, the accuser, the devil. It's like saying, "Come in, devil!
Come in and sit at the supper table. Come in and sit in the family area. Do not give an opportunity to the devil." Number one, don't sin in your anger. Number two, resolve your anger quickly. Number three, don't give the devil an opportunity.
Number four, put away your anger and don't be vengeful. Verse thirty-one and thirty-two again. Let all bitterness. My, there's a lot of bitter people, aren't they? You say, John, if you knew how I was mistreated, you'd be bitter as well.
Possibly, I would. But here is the word of God to you and to me: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind. Think of the contrast. Is anyone here not like kind people?
We all love it when people are kind to us, don't we?
Something very winsome about that act of kindness, particularly if it's unexpected. Be kind to one another. Parents, be kind to your children. Children, students, be kind to your parents. Be kind to your brother and sister.
I know he's a pain in the neck, but be kind to him. Be kind to one another. Tender-hearted. For giving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Notice verse thirty-one: anger is to be put away from you.
Earlier in the passage, Paul instructs us to put off verse twenty-two to put off the old self, or the old man, as some translations have. Put it off and put on verse twenty-four: the new self. You see, now you're a follower of Jesus Christ. And in your old life, before you knew Christ and before you began to follow Christ, you were angry and you were bitter, and you had a dirty, dirty tongue. Ah, but now, here is the transformation of the grace of God.
Things are different. You put away these things. These are destructive. They will destroy you. They'll destroy your relationships.
And they will rob you of the joy that following Jesus produces. Put it away. Get rid of it. It's like some dirty old jacket you've been hanging on, and it's smelly, and it's old, and it's full of holes. Put it away, and put on Jesus Christ.
Instead of anger, put on kindness. Instead of malicious slandering people. Put on patience, and to that person who has offended you, forgive them, just as God in Christ forgave you. Notice verse twenty-nine. This is so practical in terms of our anger.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths. How about it? Again, particularly men, corrupting talk, cursing, swearing, blasphemy, vulgarity—any of that going on? That's really bad, isn't it? When our son was a little boy, one of the boys from the The neighbourhood would come to her house and play, and my this little boy, of about six or seven, had a very very dirty tongue.
I'm way to tell the little boy we don't talk like that in this house, but the tragedy was he just heard it from the home he was raised. And he had no doubt his mum and dad talk like this, and the little boy didn't know how wrong it was to use such corrupting language. It's rotten. Put on edifying and gracious speech. Verse twenty-nine, but only such as good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may that it may give grace to those who hear.
Be gracious in your speech. That was the characteristic of the Lord Jesus, wasn't it? They marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His lips. I know many, many people who, when they speak, they communicate grace just by the very way they express themselves. You see, sinful anger—it is an emotion, but it's more than an emotion.
It includes the exercise of the will. With the Lord's strength and in the power of the Spirit, put it away. You say, John, how do I do that? Number five, come to the cross of Christ. Your anger is dealt with at the cross of Christ.
Do you realize that we see the anger of God at the cross? You say, Is God angry? Yes. The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day. When we studied.
Romans, right at the beginning of Paul's magnificent exposition of the gospel in Romans, Romans one verse eighteen, Paul writes that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. What does God think about sin? There is a wrath of God against it. Ephesians five, verse six. Just look down in your Bible.
Ephesians five, verse six. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, these things in verse verses three through five. You can look at them over, including filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking, all to do with the mouth, often in anger. For because of these things, verse six, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. We say, "Well, there's there's no hope for me because I've I've really blown it.
I've been my my language is terrible, and I've committed many many sins." I'm glad to hear you say that because that shows some humility. That shows some acknowledgement of your wrongdoing. Do you realize that at the cross of Christ, our sinless Christ, our sinless Savior, experienced the wrath of God not for His own sins, but for your sins, including the sins of anger? In the past, God judged the world. Think of the time of the flood.
When people were so evil, and God provided an ark, and those who were in the ark were safe.
So now the judgment of God is coming. You say, "Well, I don't experience it now." God's judgment is coming on all sin. But the wonderful good news of the gospel is that if you come to the cross of Christ, those sins, whatever they are, including your sin of anger. Of wrath, of rage. Of violence, abuse, whatever it is, whatever form it takes, all of that can be forgiven because our sinless Christ, and we're singing about this, died on the cross for our sins.
He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. How is it possible that He can take away the sin of the world?
Well, He is the sinless sacrifice, and the judgment of God and the wrath of God which we deserved fell on Him. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. The Apostle Peter writes: not only dying for our sins and being buried, but rising again from the dead. And he calls on all of us. To turn from our sin, to acknowledge our sin, to repent of our sin, and to cry out to Him for salvation.
Why do we have this magnificent cross? Just because it looks good? No, it is a constant reminder that there is under the cross, at the foot of the cross, there is salvation, there is forgiveness, there is transformation for each one of us as we come humbly to the cross of Christ. Repent of our sin. Cry out to Christ, and He will save us.
And all of these sins, including, my dear friend, those sins of anger, those sins of violence, those sins which are just despicable, the worst of sins, sins of murder. Because Jesus says, "The one who is angry, it's as if you are murdering your brother." All of these sins can be forgiven at the foot of the cross. Have you been there? Have you been to the cross, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you? Forgiveness is one of the sweetest words of the gospel, isn't it?
Forgiven, you can walk out here totally forgiven. You may have been carrying anger and bitterness for many, many years. Put it away. Follower of Christ, I realize some of you have been abused, exploited as children.
Some of you have had a husband or wife who's been unfaithful to you and walked out.
Some of you have had a very close friend who's betrayed you.
Some of you have been defrauded of a lot of money.
Some of you have struggled for years with debilitating health situations.
Some of you have been let down very, very badly by people, and you're really ticked off. And there's these burning fuses of anger about to explode. And some of you have nursed these for years—bitterness, resentment, and anger. And you say, "John, I've—I've been treated absolutely abominably. That is true.
It's true for many of you. I'm not denying the hurt, the pain." The violence, the manipulation, the intimidation that has been inflicted on you. But do you think that because you've been so wounded and so hurt, that you have the right to continue to be angry? You're holding on to this burden of anger and unforgiveness. Isn't it time?
Surely it is to lay that anger down, down at the cross. If you don't put it away, as the Spirit of God is telling us, if you don't put away that anger, bitterness, resentment will grow and grow and can completely dominate you. I've known such people that paralyzed over their bitterness and their anger. And yes, we sympathize with the wrong that was inflicted on them, but in the wonderful transformation of the gospel. Rather than your life being destroyed, and your relationships being destroyed, and rather than being robbed of the joy of life, and to continue in that downward spiral because it is a downward spiral, why don't you, in God's name today, come and put it all away at the foot of the cross to lay it down at the cross?
You say that's difficult. I know it's difficult. But God will help you when life doesn't go the way we think. We get angry. I understand that, but part of it is that you have an expectation of life, an expectation of life that there will be no hurts.
That you think you're in control of your life. Haven't we been understanding in this study that God is in control? That God is sovereign. That He is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, and that anger of yours, that anger which is destroying you, you don't want to go on living like that, do you? I want you to behold your God.
I want you to put away that anger. I want you to repent at the foot of the cross.
Some of you may not yet be saved, and I ask you to come to Christ. Those of you who are saved, will you do as the Spirit of God is in joining you to do? Is to put that anger away, to accept the challenge of total commitment to Jesus Christ, to surrender these hurts, that bitterness, that anger, which has paralyzed you for far too long, is to put it away. To be kind to one another, tender-hearted, just as God in Christ forgave you. This is the transformation of grace laid down, down at the cross.
You say, "I don't have the strength to do it." You say, "The pain is too deep. The injury is so severe." Behold your God. Behold your Christ. Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall faint, and young men shall fall exhausted.
But they who wait for the Lord Shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You're listening to the verdict with the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
John will be right back with more on today's message.
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Well, what's your verdict? I realize you may have been wronged by a family member, or by a boss, or a colleague, or a friend. Don't seek vengeance. Leave that to the Lord. Love your enemies, and come to the cross of Christ.
See the Lord Jesus dying for your sins, including this sin of that anger or that pain or hurt you've been carrying for far too long. Lay it down at the cross. Lay it down today.
Next time we'll continue our series and look at situations when life turns upside down. Thanks for joining us today on the Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
