Have you been angry this week?
Some people would say it's a normal week, wasn't it?
Why were you angry?
Was it justified?
Was it righteous anger?
Or, would you have to say, mine was not justified?
Or even if it was the way I expressed it.
Was not right.
Now, all anger is not sinful.
There's some things we should be angry about.
There's things that makes God angry.
As you can read in the scripture.
Jesus expressed righteous anger on more than one occasion.
One of the most well known is when he cleansed the temple.
Because people had failed to honor it as the house of God.
And the place of prayer that it was supposed to be.
So, Jesus sets an example.
Anger is a normal human emotion.
It can be good.
It can be justified.
But we've got to be very careful the way that we express it.
But I know that most of us in this room, if we're honest,
most of our anger is not righteous anger.
Most anger that we see,
most anger that we express,
is sinful anger.
And we really can't, before God, justify it.
Jerry Bridges says that the three top causes of sinful anger
are pride, selfishness, and the desire to control.
Now, those are broad headings.
A lot of things could fall under that.
But pride, selfishness, and a desire to control.
Doesn't that describe a lot of the reasons why
you lose it, blow up?
Bridges goes on to describe sinful anger
as a universal problem.
Look at it.
No one is isolated from its presence
or immune from its poison.
It permeates each person
and spoils our most intimate relationships.
Anger is a given part of our fallen human fabric.
Sadly, it is true even in our Christian homes and churches.
Anger is often directed toward those
we should love most.
Our spouse, children, parents,
or siblings in our human families,
and those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ
in our church families.
What he says there at the top of that paragraph,
that's painfully true, isn't it?
Our anger is most often directed
toward those we should love the most.
And we're going to see in Jonah chapter 4 this morning,
Jonah's anger was directed at the one
he should have loved more than anyone or anything.
God.
Today, we're going to focus on the danger of anger
as seen in Jonah's anger toward God.
Read with me if you would.
We're going to be in Jonah chapter 4,
beginning in verse 1.
Just look at four verses today.
If you weren't here last week
and you aren't familiar with the story,
what happens leading up to chapter 4, verse 1,
Jonah preached a message of judgment,
condemnation to the people of Israel
and warned them in 40 days,
God's judgment's going to fall.
Well, they believed it.
They believed God.
And they truly repented of their sin
and God relented.
God said, no, I'm not going to destroy them
because they've turned from their sin.
Here's how Jonah responds.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly.
And he was angry.
And he prayed to the Lord and said,
O Lord, is not this what I said
when I was yet in my country?
That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish.
For I knew that you are a gracious God
and merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love
and relenting from disaster.
Therefore now, O Lord,
please take my life from me.
For it is better for me to die than to live.
And the Lord said,
do you do well to be angry?
The danger of anger.
Why is anger dangerous?
We see in verse 1,
anger sometimes leads us to find fault with God.
That's what's happening here.
Look at that verse again.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,
and he was angry.
NIV says, but to Jonah,
this seemed very wrong.
He became angry.
That word anger there is talking about burning with anger,
seething with anger.
Old Testament commentator Joyce Baldwin
explains the intensity of Jonah's displeasure and anger.
Look at it.
The very strong expression indicates
that Jonah's anger welled up from the depths of his being,
like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
Such anger is totally irrational,
and yet it must have an explanation.
Jonah's anger does have an explanation.
He is angry because God was gracious and merciful
to the people of Nineveh
and decided to not destroy them
after they had demonstrated repentance.
That's what we looked at last week in chapter 3.
Now in chapter 4,
I want you to think about it.
Jonah is angry because God did not destroy,
wipe out an entire city of people,
men, women, and children.
Now why did Jonah think like this?
Why did he want all these people to die?
Why did he want God's judgment to fall?
Well, the book of Jonah does not give us one specific reason,
but we can identify a few things
based on what we've already seen in Jonah,
based on what we know about Israel,
where he is from,
and Assyria.
Nineveh is located.
It's a major city in Assyria.
I want to use Jerry Bridges' causes of anger
to see how Jonah's anger,
what caused it, what it was.
Number one, Jonah's anger was prideful.
Jonah had the wrong kind of national pride.
You see, Jonah had the idea,
God's grace, God's mercy,
it's for the people of Israel.
It's for his chosen people only.
He thought because he was a Jew,
one of God's chosen ones,
part of that nation,
that made him special in God's eyes.
And it was people like Jonah
who could expect God to be merciful and gracious,
not those other people.
It wasn't that Jonah thought he was perfect,
it's that Jonah just thought,
I'm not like these pagan people.
I'm a sinner, but not that kind of sinner.
He was prideful.
He had the wrong kind of national pride.
We can do that as well.
Jonah was also selfish.
If you know the story,
Jonah had experienced God's grace and mercy
after he had intentionally disobeyed God,
tried to get away from God,
refused to answer God's call
to go and preach to this people.
Well, God pursued Jonah,
didn't kill him,
but saved him from death,
saved him from death by drowning.
And in Jonah chapter two,
he writes a psalm of thanks,
praising God.
So Jonah, he understands God's mercy.
He has received God's mercy,
but he didn't want these people.
He didn't want them to have anything like it.
Jonah was like the man in Jesus' parable
in Matthew 18.
I want to encourage you to read that sometime.
A lot of times it's called the parable
of the unmerciful servant.
There was a guy, a servant,
who owed a tremendous debt to a king.
It was like a multimillion dollar debt,
something he would never be able to pay.
Well, the king in the story,
just out of mercy,
chose to forgive the debt.
Just wipe the slate clean.
You can imagine how thankful he was.
What if tomorrow you got a call from the bank
and they say your house,
what you owe in your house,
has been wiped clean.
That'd be something to be excited about, wouldn't it?
Just forgiven.
Well, this guy took God's forgiveness,
the king's forgiveness,
went out and found someone
who just owed him a little bit.
Something that the man could have repaid,
but this man was such a selfish,
whatever he was.
I can't imagine the mentality.
He demanded he get paid those few dollars now,
or he was going to have the man put in prison
for not paying his debts.
The man couldn't pay,
and so he had him put in prison.
So heartless,
so just a short memory, didn't he?
Jesus tells the parable
to let us see
what it's like for us,
what it looks like to God
for us to be selfish
when he forgives us such a great debt.
We ought to be willing to forgive others.
When we experience God's mercy,
we ought to be willing to show mercy to others.
But there's another thing
that Jonah demonstrates
that I want to spend a little time on.
This is the real focus.
Jonah's problem was
he had a desire to control,
and what he wanted to control was God.
Jonah wanted to control
when God was gracious
and when God demanded justice.
Now, let's be fair to Jonah
and look at it from his perspective.
Jonah's thinking is really not irrational.
Jonah knew that the people of Nineveh,
Assyrians,
they were notoriously brutal, cruel.
They were truly,
from all historical accounts,
they were evil people
that if anybody deserved to be annihilated,
they did.
Plus,
they were the enemy of Israel.
They were not only such ruthless people,
but in time,
the way things were headed,
they were going to destroy
God's chosen people,
the northern kingdom of Israel.
And so,
from Jonah's perspective,
because of who they were
and how evil they were,
and the fact that they were
the enemies of God's chosen people,
he thought God ought to kill them.
Every one of them.
They deserved it.
That would be justice.
Jonah could not just,
he just kind of,
could not imagine
how God could allow such
evil and violence
to go unpunished.
Now, think about it.
Jonah was angry
because God had not met
his expectations
of justice.
Jonah had these certain expectations
about justice.
He shouldn't receive justice.
He ran from God.
He disobeyed God.
He shook his fist in God's face
in effect in chapter one,
but God was merciful to him.
That was okay.
But these other people,
they better get justice.
And when they didn't,
when they got grace instead,
Jonah is angry.
Now, I want you to think,
isn't that a part of our
sinful anger?
God doesn't meet
our expectations
of justice
or fairness.
Do you ever think
that God has not been
just or fair
by not giving you
a better job,
a better house,
a better spouse?
You ever think
God has not been
fair to you
because you know
people who are
more talented than you?
You know people
who are better
at music than you.
You know people
who are better athletes
than you.
They don't work
as hard as you.
They're just better.
They have more.
They can do it
better than you.
Sometimes,
don't we think
that God has just
been totally unfair
unfair
in giving this
better thing,
this
better situation
to someone
that,
at least from our
perspective,
they don't deserve it.
They don't deserve it,
but we do.
Whenever we think
like this,
we need to understand
that we're angry
at God
for being God,
for being in control,
for choosing
to do what He does.
When we think
like this,
we're really being
angry at God
because we don't
like the way
He's running
the world.
We don't like
the way He's running
our lives.
We think
we could do it
better.
Sometimes,
we're angry
because we can't
control God.
We can't control
what God's
will is
for us
and maybe
some people
around us.
The question
I want us
to think about
is this.
Do you really
want to live
life this way?
None of us
would say this,
but there may be
some anger
and frustration
in you right now
because you feel
like you've not
been treated
fairly by
this person
or that group
or in that
situation
and you look
around and you
see people
who have gotten
more than they
should
and the truth
is they've been
treated
graciously.
Bottom line,
you're angry
at God
at His sovereignty,
at the fact
that He's in
control
and He's doing
that.
He's allowing
that.
I don't want
to go through
life that way
and just become
more angry
and bitter
and I certainly
don't want to
stand before God
on Judgment
Day with that
attitude.
You really
and truly want
to go through
life being
angry and
displeased
like Jonah,
being frustrated
because you
can't control
God.
life will be
just much
better,
much more
relaxed
if we'll
accept the
fact that
God is not
only in
control but
He is working
everything out
according to
His good
plan because
He is a
good God.
That doesn't
just include the
world around
about us,
that includes
our individual
lives.
You know,
all of us
could benefit
from beginning
each day with
a prayer like
this,
Lord,
help me to
know and do
Your will
and trust
that You're
always the
best way
for me and
my family.
Think about it.
What would
life be like
if we could
begin each day
and just think
about it all
through the day?
Talking to
God,
Lord,
help me to
truly desire
to know Your
will,
to do it,
and trust that
it is the
best possible
way for me
in my job,
on my team,
in my home,
because Your
will is always,
as the Scripture
says,
good and
acceptable and
perfect.
Well,
Jonah shows us
another way or
another reason
why we should
understand that
anger is
dangerous.
Anger often
leads us to
justify our
sinful behavior.
Look at
verse 2 again.
Jonah is
really now
telling God
not only why
he's angry,
but why he
did what he
did at the
beginning of
the story.
And he
prayed to the
Lord and
said,
verse 2,
O Lord,
is not this
what I said
when I was
yet in my
country?
That is why
I made haste
to flee to
Tarshish.
For I knew
that You are
a gracious God
and merciful,
slow to anger,
abounding in
steadfast love,
and relenting
from disaster.
This is the
reason Jonah
ran to
start with
from God's
call to go
and preach
to Nineveh.
He knew
that if he
went and
preached,
God would
graciously respond
to those people
by not destroying
them if they
repented.
And Jonah
didn't want to
have any part
in that.
Understand
here,
Jonah is
trying to
justify his
original sin
of running
from God
by saying,
God,
I knew
You were
going to
be gracious
and merciful
and loving
and relent
if I went.
It's hard
to believe
somebody could
think like
that.
It's hard
to believe
that a
believer
like Jonah,
a prophet
like Jonah
could believe
like that,
could think
that way.
But he
not only
thought that,
he said
that.
And he
complained to
God about
that.
Jonah.
Now I want
you to
understand,
and we've
talked about
this,
as we go
through Jonah,
Jonah's us.
We're
Jonah.
We have
some of the
same thoughts
and attitudes
and do some
of the things,
same things
he did.
What we see
in Jonah
just shows us
how dangerous
our anger
can be.
And you
think about
it.
How often
do you try
to justify
your anger
by blaming
someone or
something?
You lose
your temper
at home
and you
try to
justify it
by blaming
your spouse,
blaming your
child,
blaming your
parent,
blame your
cat.
You'd never
blame a dog,
but you would
blame a cat.
You get angry
at work,
but it's never
your fault.
It's the people
you have to
work with.
It's the boss.
It's the
unrealistic
expectations of
your company.
You get
mad at
school,
lose your
temper,
blame your
teacher,
blame another
student,
blame the
excessive
schoolwork.
One of the
hard truths
about anger
is that no
one can
truly make
us angry.
Your spouse
does not
make you
angry.
Your boss
does not
make you
angry.
Your parent
doesn't make
you angry.
Anger
cannot be
forced upon
us.
Now,
people and
things can
create
circumstances
where our
anger is
aroused.
It's part of
who we are.
It's part of
our emotional
makeup.
Anger is
an emotion
that originates
from within.
Anger is
really an
internal
reaction to
outside
events.
Jesus
described
really the
fact that
whatever comes
out of us,
attitude,
words,
actions,
whatever comes
out in our
emotions like
anger,
it originates
from within.
Look at what he
said in Luke
6.
The good man
brings good
things out of
the good stored
up in his
heart.
And the evil
man brings
evil things out
of the evil
stored up in
his heart.
For out of
the overflow
of his heart
his mouth
speaks.
Out of the
overflow of
his prideful,
selfish,
wanting to be
in control
heart,
his anger
comes.
Jonah was
angry because
of the hatred
within him
toward the
people of
Nineveh.
The
displeasure,
the anger
that came out
of Jonah,
it originated
in his own
heart.
And we need
to understand
that and
accept that.
The displeasure
and anger
that comes
out in our
attitudes,
in our
words,
and in our
actions,
it comes from
within.
So we need
to quit blaming
other people.
We need to quit
trying to justify
ourselves,
our sinful,
angry behavior
as if
we're not
responsible.
He,
she made
me do it.
They didn't.
Let's look at
one more example
of the danger
of anger
seen in Jonah.
Anger sometimes
leads us to feel
sorry for ourselves.
Look at verse 3.
Therefore now,
O Lord,
please take my
life from me
for it is better
for me to die
than to live.
Jonah's anger
over God's
not doing
what he wanted
him to
results in
now he's
feeling sorry
for himself.
He's having
a pity party.
He's saying
he wants to
give up on
life.
Now it's doubtful
that he really
truly wants to
die because he's
talked like that
before.
He's acted that
way before as
we've seen.
And when it
came time to
die, drown in
the ocean, he
didn't want to.
He's just
feeling sorry
for himself
here and
he's whining.
Next week
we're going to
see that gets
worse.
We'll continue
on in chapter
four next week.
But right now,
Pastor Eric
Redmond describes
how Jonah's
feeling sorry
for himself
escalated and
it drove him
to the point
of talking
about ending
his life.
Look at what
Redmond says.
When things
do not turn
out as we
desire them
to, we
then find
ourselves in
truth angry
with the will
of God for
our lives.
It is then
that we, like
Jonah, run
the gamut of
feelings from a
simple pity party,
woe is me,
to depression,
where we don't
even feel like
getting up most
days.
From there we
slide to
despondency,
where we check
out mentally
and emotionally
from a
relationship.
And then to
despair, where
we can't see
anything good
at all.
Finally, if we
do not realize
the downward
emotional cycle,
we can land
at Jonah's
death wish
because we can
see no way
to make life
fair.
And so we
say, God,
it would be
better if I
were dead.
Now, Redmond
is not saying
that anger
is the only
source of
depression and
despair.
Emotional
struggles are
complicated.
It could be
traced to many
sources, some
hard to identify.
But anger
can be one
source,
especially
unresolved
anger.
What Redmond
is saying and
what Jonah
demonstrates is
that sinful
anger does
not just
hurt our
relationship
with God
and our
relationship
with other
people.
Sinful anger
hurts us.
Unresolved
sinful anger
can have a
harmful effect
on many
aspects of
our lives.
Some people
can't sleep.
Some people
have no
appetite because
of their
unresolved
anger.
Some people,
it affects
the way they
feel,
the way they
think,
the way they
look at
life.
That's why we
need to learn
to deal with
anger quickly
and decisively.
As soon as it
rears up its
ugly head,
we need to
deal with it.
Now, one
final thing.
Is your
anger
dangerous?
Is your
anger
dangerous?
I want you
to look at
what the
Lord asked
Jonah in
verse 4.
And the
Lord said,
Do you do
well to be
angry?
New American
Standard says,
the Lord said,
Do you have
good reason to
be angry?
Then IV says,
But the Lord
replied,
Is it right
for you to
be angry?
The point is,
Jonah needed
to think.
And so,
it lets us.
Do you have
a reason to
be angry if
you're angry
this morning?
Did you have
a reason to
be angry this
past week?
Think about
what usually
triggers your
anger.
Think about how
you are usually
angry.
Is it
justified?
Is the way
you express
it right,
correct,
helpful?
All anger is
not wrong,
as we said
earlier.
We've got to
be careful,
even when our
anger is
right,
it is
justified that
we express
it in an
appropriate and
right way.
But if you
know your
anger is wrong,
you know your
anger is sinful
anger, I want
to encourage you
right now to
do three things.
Number one,
confess it and
repent of it as
the sin that it
is against God.
God, and one of
the favorite
verses for all of
us should be a
promise that if we
confess our sins,
He is faithful and
just to forgive us
and to cleanse us of
all unrighteousness.
You can be
forgiven of that
attitude, of those
words, of those
actions before God.
But if it involves
another person, once
you confess it to
God, you need to go
to that person and
confess it to them.
That's sometimes
all, that's always
a lot harder than
talking to God about
it.
But you need to do
that.
You need to seek
reconciliation with
those you have
wronged through your
unjust anger.
Number two, trust
that God is
sovereign.
Stop blaming
people and
circumstances for
your anger.
Trust that God is
working everything
out in this world
according to His
good purpose.
in people's lives
around you and in
your life.
You be responsible.
You make wise
decisions, but trust
that God is truly in
control.
As Paul tells us in
Romans 8, 28, a lot
of people in this room
would say, this is my
favorite verse, most
helpful verse in all
of the Bible.
And we know that in
all things, God works
for the good of those
who love Him, who've
been called according
to His purpose.
Number three, ask God
to help you to grow in
love for other people.
A lot of our anger
issues involve other
people.
Well, love will help
us.
Look at this.
Love will help us not
be as easily offended.
First Corinthians 13,
love is not easily
angered.
You know, we live in a
world where everybody's
offended.
Everybody's offended.
That irritates you,
doesn't it?
It irritates me.
Are you one who's
easily offended?
Do you walk around
with a chip on your
shoulder?
The least little word,
the least little look,
it offends you.
And you let people know
by what you say back to
them, by what you say
behind their back,
maybe.
Love will help us to
not be so easily
offended.
Number two, love will
help us to overlook a
lot of things.
We need to learn to
overlook a lot of
things.
I don't want to hurt
anybody's feelings here.
I don't want this to
sound too smart-alecky,
but if it is, it is.
Sometimes when we are
offended, think we're
being offended,
the person really
didn't mean it.
The person doesn't care
enough about us to hurt
us, to offend us.
Sometimes, I really do
think sometimes we as
individuals, a lot of us
have some paranoia.
Most people don't notice
us.
Most people don't care.
Most people are just
living their life.
And along the way, some
people might accidentally
say or do something that
you take offense to.
A lot of that stuff,
overlook it.
Forget it.
Don't let it bother you.
It doesn't bother me.
Don't let it bother you.
Look at it.
Above all, love each other
deeply because love covers
over a multitude of sins.
If you love somebody, you
don't have a chip on your
shoulder around them.
If you love somebody, you'll
give them the benefit of
the doubt.
If you love somebody, you'll
let it go when it's just
some kind of something that
doesn't matter.
One other.
Love will help us to forgive
and forget.
When I say forget, it means
not recall it, not bring it
back up.
Love keeps no record of
wrongs.
Anger is a normal human
emotion and we all have it.
Some express it more than
others, but we all have to
deal with it.
Until the day we die, we're
going to have to deal with
our anger.
What I want us to do as we
close here, we need to
pray that God will help us.
Help us to control our
anger and not let our
anger control us.
Let's pray.
Dear God,
help us all to see how we
need to respond to this
message.
Because we all know to
some degree of the danger
of anger.
Lord, you are, you are able
to make it clear to every
person.
Help every person in this
room to, to want to hear you,
to want to deal properly with
their anger, to not be like
Jonah in any way like this.
So show everyone what they
need to do.
Confess sin, trust you,
grow in their love.
And you just do that as we
have an attitude of prayer.
And if I could pray with you
during this time, I'd be happy
to do right here at the front
during the next few minutes.
OK.
There we go.
Okay.