What one word would you use to describe the current climate in this country?
Just think about it a moment.
One word that you think accurately describes the overall climate in this country.
How about the word angry?
I think the word angry or anger describes the current climate of our country at this moment in time.
According to some headlines of major newspapers, other people think the same thing.
For an example, from the Wall Street Journal at the 1st of June, anger and unrest sweep across the U.S.
From the Washington Post near the end of June, Americans are living in a big anger incubator.
That article describes how anger is a common response to three major problems that Americans have been forced to deal with this year.
Note this quote.
According to psychiatrist Joshua Morgenstein, the country is now dealing with three disasters superimposed on top of one another.
The pandemic, the economic fallout, and civil unrest.
Certainly one way of responding and a common way of responding is anger, said Morgenstein.
Now, anger is not only a common way of responding to major disasters in our country.
It's also a common way of responding to minor disappointments in our personal lives.
For example, do you ever go to Walmart and you notice there are eight checkout lanes closed?
Two open and a long line in each one of those.
Does that ever make you angry?
Think about this past week.
Did your spouse, your child, your parent, your friend, your co-worker,
that they say or do something that just didn't set well with you?
And you unleashed your anger on them?
Anger is a common response to many of life's major and minor injustices,
irritations, and disappointments.
Jerry Bridges points out that it's a common response,
too common a response maybe, in our lives as Christians.
Look at what he says.
Anger is a universal problem.
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.
Now you think about it.
Sinful anger.
Sinfully expressed anger causes all kinds of divisions and destruction in our country,
in our homes, and in our personal relationships.
Therefore, I think it will be helpful for us this morning to think biblically
about the problem of anger and how God will help us to deal with it
and control it if we want to.
See, that's the key.
He's not going to make us.
We've got to see it as the problem it is.
Look to Him for help and then use His help.
Take it.
Now, before we begin, I want to make it real clear.
Anger is a complex issue.
There's no way that it could be dealt with adequately in a single sermon
or even a series of sermons.
Let me say this.
A person with frequent and intense anger
that often leads to physically or emotionally abusive behavior
needs the help of a real Christian counselor
or maybe even, and maybe even a medical doctor.
So hear that clearly.
If you have a real problem with frequent and intense anger
that results in physically or emotionally abusive behavior,
do something about it.
Seek help.
And I would encourage you to seek a good Christian counselor first.
Now, the focus of this message
is to deal with some of the more common aspects of anger
that we as Christians struggle with.
Some of us struggle more than others.
Let's think about it.
Two questions.
Number one, why do we struggle with anger at times?
Why do we as Christians struggle with sinful anger and angry outbursts?
Well, if you do a study of anger using Christian or secular sources,
you're going to find that many people describe a list
of what they call causes of anger.
Some of them are very helpful.
Jerry Bridges summarizes the cause of anger.
It's a simple approach, what he's trying to do.
He's not trying to be a Christian counselor.
But he summarizes the causes of anger under three categories.
Pride.
Personal pride.
Selfishness.
And a desire to control.
A desire to control the people and the situations
that we find ourselves in.
Now, that can be a helpful list.
It may be that you can look at that
and you can identify a source or sources
of your sinful anger just by that little list.
And if so, good.
That's the first step to properly deal with it.
But I want us to look at something James White does
in helping us to identify anger.
He takes another approach by helping us identify
the sources of our anger in terms of things we believe
that are wrong.
In his book, Long Night's Journey Into Day,
White says that most of our anger arises
because of three myths or false assumptions,
or you can't use the word illusions,
or even lies, three myths we believe about life.
That's how I want us to begin looking at anger.
Number one, we get angry because we believe the myth
that the world and everyone in it
should be dedicated to doing what is in my best interest.
Now, look at that statement.
Here's the myth in that.
We think life is all about me.
We think the world should revolve around me.
Now, we would never say it that way.
We would never admit it.
But how often do we act like everyone around us,
everything around us should be focused on me,
should be centered on me?
I'll be honest.
Sometimes I get behind somebody going slow in the fast lane,
or I'm just down a two-lane road,
like going to Anderson on 178,
somebody's going 35 miles an hour.
I truly believe that person ought to pull over and stop
and let me get around.
I'll be honest with you.
Sometimes I get angry when they don't.
Now, don't anybody look at me like that's never happened to you.
Lying is a sin we can look at next week if necessary.
Now, just the Walmart situation.
When you go in there and it's crowded,
long line to check out,
you see all these empty lanes,
all these unstaffed cash registers,
you think to yourself,
they should open another checkout lane for me.
And when things like that do not happen,
we get angry.
The myth,
the world should revolve around me.
Everyone should sit up and take notice of me.
The truth is,
things don't always go our way.
In fact,
life rarely works the way we want it to.
Most people don't make us the center of their world.
You know,
some people struggle with paranoia.
I hope you don't,
because most people don't think about you.
They don't talk about you.
They don't care about you.
Don't be paranoid.
If you're sitting in that pew,
and you see somebody sitting over here,
and you stay there whispering,
some people think they're whispering about me.
No,
they're not thinking about you.
They're thinking about where they're going to eat,
and the service is over.
They're not thinking about you.
Life does not revolve around you or me.
There are very few people
who will ever even have the thought
of making life better for you
or making you the center of their world.
Jesus helps us to understand
that we live in a fallen, sinful world
that is not for us,
especially as Christians,
or as Christians,
is what He's talking about.
Look in John 16, 33.
Jesus said this,
talking to His disciples,
preparing them for the persecution
that was to come in the near future,
but also as they took the gospel
to the ends of the world,
He's preparing them.
He says,
I have said these things to you
that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation,
but take heart.
I have overcome the world.
What we need to understand as Christians
is the world's not our friend.
The world rejects our king.
The Lord Jesus.
The world rejects our source of truth.
The Bible.
If you desire to live a faithful Christian life
in this world,
I mean to really follow Christ,
seek God's will,
do things His way,
that's not going to make your life easy.
When Jesus said what we saw on the board there,
we should expect opposition.
We should expect opposition to the world.
We should expect even real persecution,
even as Christians living in this country today.
Now, on a more general level,
we need to accept the fact
that life in this world is not fair.
Surely, if you are in your 40s,
absolutely if you're in your 50s or older,
you have learned that life's not fair.
If you haven't, where have you been?
If you haven't, how have you missed it?
A lot of people,
children, teenagers, young adults,
sometimes have this idealistic view of life
and for some reason think life is fair.
Life is fair for me.
It's not.
As I said a few weeks ago,
fair is where you go to ride rides
and eat cotton candy.
Fair is not what you're going to experience
in this world.
So, we need to reject the myth
that life is all about me.
Myth number two,
we get angry because we believe the myth
that our anger is caused by external circumstances.
Here's the myth.
We think that other people
or our circumstances
make us angry.
Haven't you said things like,
he makes me so mad.
She infuriates me.
That makes me livid.
We say things like that.
We believe things like that.
But that's a myth.
The truth is,
no one makes us angry.
Our anger comes from within.
Within us,
our heart,
our mind.
Anger is an internal reaction
to some kind of external event.
You know,
we have looked over the last several weeks
at several things Jesus talked about
that helps us understand
that what comes out of us,
what comes out of our mouth,
our,
these kind of things like anger,
it originates from what's within us.
Here's a good example.
Jesus said,
the good person
out of the good treasure
of his heart
produces good.
And the evil person
out of his evil treasure
produces evil.
For out of the abundance
of the heart
his mouth
speaks.
What comes out
is an indication
of what is inside us.
Anger is an emotion.
It originates from within us.
Now,
here's something
that I know some people
have been,
you know,
you're thinking to yourself,
you're arguing with me.
Here's where we're going
to agree on this.
Some people know
how to push our anger buttons.
Don't they?
Some people know
what to say,
what to do.
is going to spark
that angry
feeling,
emotion,
and probably outburst.
Some people know
how to push
your anger button
to make you lose control,
to put them
in control,
to give them
more power.
Some children
know how to push
the anger button
of their parents.
They get mad,
they blow up,
they lose control.
That is a fact.
Some people know
how to push
our anger buttons,
but
we control
how we respond.
We really can't
blame other people
or other things
when we erupt
in anger.
They may have made
the situation
more difficult
for us.
Bottom line,
though,
we're responsible
for how we respond.
We're responsible
for the words
that come out
of our mouths.
We're responsible
for the way
we express
our emotions,
including our anger.
So,
reject the myth
that your anger
is caused
by external
circumstances.
Myth number three,
we get angry
because we believe
the myth
that anger
is a force
beyond our control.
Here's the myth.
We think
we can't help it
when we lose
our temper.
We make excuses
for why we lose
our temper,
for why we
get angry
and say
and do things.
I was tired.
It had been
a long day.
I'm under
a lot of stress.
You just
would not believe
the stress
that I experience
at my job.
Or,
I'm just
a hot-tempered
person.
That's just
how I was
made.
As if God
is at fault
for your anger.
The truth is,
we can control
our angry
reactions.
The Bible
teaches us
repeatedly
that we are
responsible
for our actions,
including
controlling our
anger.
And I want you
to note
what James
says,
and he's
writing a letter
to Christians
and telling
them what to
control.
Look at this.
Know this,
my beloved
brothers,
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.
Now,
for James
to write that
to Christians
means we
can control
our anger.
It also
means,
let me back up
a moment,
anger can be
a problem
for Christians.
James is
writing in the
first century.
Every New
Testament letter
deals with
problems in the
life of the
church.
and the
life of
individual
Christians.
So,
when you
read that,
James was
aware that
some people
in the
church,
they're
quick-tempered.
And so,
he tells them
to be slow
to anger.
And he
tries to
give them
a reason,
for the
anger of
man does
not produce
the righteousness
of God.
The reason
he can tell
us that as
Christians is
because we
are indwelled
with the
Spirit of
God.
We can
successfully
control our
emotions like
anger and
prevent emotions
like anger from
controlling us.
Reject the
myth that
anger is a
force beyond
your control.
Now, if you
often deal with
sinful anger,
anger, and
the sinful
expressions of
that anger, I
want to
encourage you to
be open and
honest with God
about that.
And first of
all here, ask
God to help
you to identify
the source of
your anger.
Think about
it.
Spend some time
today.
Pray about it.
In light of what
we've said, is it
your pride, your
selfishness, your
desire to
control everyone
and everything in
your life?
Is that what
causes the anger
that you have to
deal with so
much?
Or is the
source of your
anger coming from
the fact that you
believe you have
false assumptions
about how life
works that we
just looked at?
Once we start
identifying the
source of our
anger and accept
our responsibility
for dealing with
it, expressing
that emotion
appropriately, then
we'll be ready to
start working on
controlling it.
And that's the
next question.
How do we
control our
anger?
Well, I'm going
to say this to
begin with.
Just as the
causes of anger
are complex, so
is the solution.
There is no easy
solution.
There is no one
prayer that you
can pray and all
of a sudden your
anger is gone.
I would have
prayed that a long
time ago.
if that was
true.
There is no
secret formula,
no biblical
formula that you
do this, this,
this, and it will
eliminate all your
sinful expressions of
anger.
That does not
exist.
But with God's
help, there are
things we can do
to help us better
control our
anger and control
how we express
it.
So let's look.
First, accept the
fact that most of
our anger is sinful
anger.
How do we control
our anger?
First of all, accept
most of our anger is
sinful anger.
Now I say that
because some anger is
good, healthy,
appropriate.
All anger is not
sinful.
I want you to look at
this verse, verses
from Ephesians 4.
Be angry and do
not sin.
Do not let the sun
go down on your
anger and give no
opportunity to the
devil.
It's right to be
angry sometimes.
It's right to be
angry because sometimes
God's angry.
Jesus did some
things and showed
his anger like when
he cleansed the
temple, like when he
dealt with some of
the hypocritical
Pharisees.
Jesus was angry and
it was good that he
was angry.
There's some things in
life that should move
us to the right kind
of anger.
Things that violate
God's moral will.
When I say that,
that's what the Bible
reveals in terms of
how God wants us to
live.
That's God's moral
will.
He wants us to be
people who speak the
truth.
He wants us to love
one another.
He wants us to forgive
one another.
He wants us to have
the right kind of
relationships in our
home between husbands
and wives and parents
and children.
But we've got to be
very careful that when
we express our
righteous anger, we
do it in an
inappropriate way.
We are never
justified to express
righteous anger in an
unrighteous way.
James Robbins in a
USA Today article
points out how the
justified anger that
peaceful protesters
express following
George Floyd's
killing has been
overshadowed by the
unjustified angry
response of violence
and destruction.
I want you to note
what he says.
Peaceful protests
over George Floyd's
killing have been
overshadowed by images
of rage-fueled violence
and destruction.
Resorting to rioting is
strange because there is
little disagreement that
Floyd's death in custody
was senseless and
criminal.
Few defend the police who
were responsible.
They were quickly fired.
One has been charged with
murder.
And the Justice Department
has opened an investigation
into the tragedy.
Everyone is on the same
side of this issue.
Yet, rioting sparked and
spread.
There is no rational purpose
behind people burning
buildings, torching cars,
breaking windows, spray
painting obscenities, and the
other actions that have left
city blocks looking like war
zones.
Some say these are
expressions of anger and
frustration and maybe so.
But they are also unjustified,
foolish, and counterproductive.
Now, I want you to think of
your anger issues.
Think personally.
There may be occasions when
you are justifiably angry.
But if we're honest, that's
rarely true.
It's possible.
And sometimes we may be
justifiably angry.
But if I'm honest, most of my
anger is not justifiable.
More often than not, our
expressions of anger are
unjustified, foolish.
That is, they're irrational.
And they are counterproductive.
Similar to the anger of
rioters and looters.
But our anger is more on a
personal level.
Or on a family level.
On a much, much smaller scale
level.
But it's just as sinful.
Just as wrong.
Therefore, the first thing we
need to do is to get control
of, the first thing we need to
do in order to get control of
our anger is to stop justifying
it.
Just admit, most of our anger is
sinful anger.
So instead of trying to justify
it, confess it as the sin that it
is against God.
And after you do that, confess it as
the sin that it is against the
person you exploded on.
A lot of times that's a whole lot
more difficult.
But that's necessary.
Yes, we confess our sin to God
because ultimately all sin is
against God.
But we need to also learn to
confess our sin to those we
wrong and be humble about it and
seek their forgiveness.
We not only need to confess it, agree
with God, we need to repent of it.
We need to change our mind about
the way we're acting.
About unleashing our anger just
because we want to.
It helps us to get it out or
whatever.
We need to change our mind and
turn from our sinful pride or
selfishness or controlling
desires in order to overcome
anger.
We've got to stop believing lies
that everything's supposed to go
our way.
That someone else is responsible
for my anger.
Or that I can't help it when I
explode in rage.
Then we need to draw near to God.
We need to ask Him to fill us
afresh with His Spirit.
I'm talking about if we want to
overcome our anger.
Everybody doesn't.
But if you as a Christian want to
be right with God, right with other
people when it comes to how you deal
with these kind of emotions, if you
want to overcome your anger issues,
learn to live each day in dependence
upon God.
Trusting Him.
Let's look at three things.
Number one, trust that God's in
control of this world and your life.
Sometimes I've said it like this,
trust that God is sovereign.
Stop blaming other people and
circumstances for your anger.
You know, God does not cause other
people to sin against you, but He
certainly allows it.
God does not intervene and keep
everyone from doing things that
push your button.
God does not intervene in every life
situation and prevent people from
driving slow in the fast lane so that
you won't get angry.
The life of Joseph is in Genesis 35
through 50, those chapters.
It illustrates this, the best, probably
the best in the Bible.
Joseph was truly a man of God, but he
was betrayed by his brothers and sold
into slavery.
He was taken to a foreign land.
He became a slave in the household of an
Egyptian leader.
He was mistreated there, thrown in prison,
forgotten there even.
Life was hard for Joseph from between
the ages of 16, 17 and 30.
Everything but fair.
Many people would have just been an
angry, bitter human being if what
happened to Joseph happened to them.
But Joseph didn't respond that way.
If you read the story in every one of
these situations, he remained faithful
to the Lord.
And at the end, God placed him in a place
of power and authority over all of
Egypt, just under Pharaoh.
And in that position of power and
authority, he got an opportunity to deal
with his brothers.
But I want you to look how he responded.
Classic statement, Genesis 50, 20.
As for you, he told those brothers, you
meant evil against me.
But God meant it for good to bring it
about that many people should be kept
alive as they are today.
God didn't make those brothers do what
they did or anyone else in the story.
But God worked through their sinful
actions, their jealousy.
And even though Joseph suffered, God so
worked to put him in a position to save
his family, literally, which meant to
preserve what was going to become the
nation of Israel.
This is the way God works in all of his
people's lives.
Romans 8, 28, a verse that many of you
claim very often.
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.
If we want to learn to deal with anger the
right way, we need to learn God's in
control.
We can trust him.
He is in control.
Number two, ask God to help you to grow
in your love for other people.
Love really is the key to developing
healthy relationships which will help us
to guard against unleashing our anger.
It won't prevent it, but it will help us
to be more cautious, on guard.
I want you to look at something Peter said
that a lot of us need to take to heart.
Above all, love each other deeply because
love covers over a multitude of sins.
A lot of us are too easily offended.
A lot of us too easily get our feelings
hurt.
Part of that probably where I'm on our
sleeve.
We're easily offended, easily hurt.
And so a lot of times we take things too
seriously.
We take things as they were not intended
and we get angry.
We get bitter.
We say and do things that just shouldn't
be said and done.
If we love people, we'll just learn to
let a lot of things go.
Give people the benefit of the doubt.
That is what love does.
It covers over a multitude of sins.
But look at this.
You know this in 1 Corinthians 13.
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
It is not rude.
It is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered.
The love that God will give us for one
another will motivate us to be more
self-controlled.
Including controlling our anger.
Number three.
Learn to be more sensitive to the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Learn to be more sensitive to His presence
and obedient to His leading.
In Galatians 5, Paul gives us some
very helpful statements about how the
Holy Spirit works in our lives.
I want you to look at one.
So I say, live by the Spirit.
Be obedient to the Spirit.
Be sensitive to His presence.
Be obedient to His leadership.
Live by the Spirit and you will not
gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
And then he says a little bit later in
that chapter, he points out some of the
acts of the sinful nature.
And look at this one.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.
Fits of rage.
When we get angry, we lose it.
We explode.
Fits of rage.
That is all of the sinful nature having its way in us.
It's us living like an unbeliever.
But when we live under the power of the Holy Spirit,
look at this.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
is patience, is kindness,
gentleness, and self-control.
Self-control.
Let's wind it up now.
The worst thing that any of us can do this morning
is to ignore, deny, or try to justify our sinful anger.
The very worst thing is just ignore it.
Pretend this hour never existed.
Or deny it.
Or justify it.
If you have a problem with anger,
admit it.
And ask God to help you to start dealing with it
the right way by trusting Him,
loving people,
and living in dependence on
the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.
Anger does not, should not, control a Christian.
By the grace and power of God that we have as Christians,
we can control our anger.
Let's seek God's help and do it.
Would you pray with me?
Father, show us now
how each one of us as individuals
need to respond to you,
to this message.
How each one of us needs to deal with our anger.
Father, help people here who are struggling
to identify the source.
Help them, Father, to confess the sin,
to repent,
to seek your forgiveness,
to reconcile with those
that they're not close to now because of anger.
Help us all, dear God,
to learn to truly trust you.
Help us to seek your help to grow in our love for other people.
And Father,
help us to desire to live
a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled life.
Help us to seek to consciously be aware
of the Holy Spirit's presence in our life
and obedient to His leadership.
Let's just, in an attitude of prayer,
respond to the Lord
as He wants you to.
Let's use these next few minutes to do that.