MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
ILL: In his communion meditations, Hank often mentions church signs & what they say. Well, here is another one that I think is worth mentioning: "Anger is just one letter short of being danger."
A. Anger can be dangerous, can't it? I don't know if you have a bad temper, but I'm convinced that most of us experience times when we lose our tempers, because anger is one of the hardest emotions to control.
Psychologists tell us that anger develops in 5 stages: Irritation, Indignation, Wrath, Fury, & Rage. Now let me explain each of these stages.
1. The first stage is Irritation This is not too bad. Someone irritates us, & we are a little upset, but not enough to take any kind of action.
2. The 2nd stage is Indignation Now we are really irritated by someone or something, & we fume a bit inwardly. We may even tell others how we feel about it.
3. The 3rd stage is Wrath Now we are boiling inside! We think about what we can do to get even or get back at someone, & begin to take action to do it.
4. The 4th stage is Fury Fury is a burning point & we are willing to hurt the other person in any way that we can.
5. The final stage is Rage Now we lose control. We lash out without considering the results either to ourself or to others.
B. Do you realize how bombarded we are today with pictures of rage? Beatings, shootings, chase scenes where people are running each other down, & all kinds of violence are common on our TV screens.
ILL. The old TV program, "The Incredible Hulk," featured a mild-mannered guy who does okay until somebody makes him angry. Then he quickly goes thru all the stages of irritation, indignation, wrath, fury & rage.
When he reaches "rage" his muscles began to bulge he turns green from head to foot his shirt rips off & in the TV program it always turns out for good! Now what is that telling us?
It is suggesting that "rage is all right because it can have good results." And we are constantly being bombarded with that kind of teaching. In fact, some of the most popular "law & order" programs glorify the idea that it is all right for the "good guys" to be mean & violent, too.
C. In the light of all this, let's look at Ephesians 4:26-27 where the Apostle Paul says, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."
I don't know if you have really thought about this passage before. But the first time we read it, it often causes us to have a double take, because it says, "In your anger do not sin." So evidently, there is an anger that is not sin, that is acceptable, & perfectly within the will of God.
For example, God tells us to love our neighbor & even to love our enemies. But at the same time He also says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world." (1 John 2:15)
God is saying that there is love that is good, & that there is love that is not good. And in the same way He also says that there is anger that is acceptable, & anger that is not acceptable.
I. ANGER THAT IS ACCEPTABLE
So let's look at some anger that God calls acceptable. In the Bible there are at least 2 types of anger that are always presented as acceptable.
A. It is acceptable to be angry when God's Word & God's Will are being violated.
ILL. Moses went to the top of Mt. Sinai & God gave him the 10 Commandments on tablets of stone. Then Moses came down from the mountain, & discovered that the people of Israel had made a golden calf & were engaged in an orgy as part of their worship of the golden calf.
Do you remember how Moses reacted? He was angry because God's will & God's word were being violated!
ILL. How about Solomon? Solomon had so much. He had 700 wives & possessed more wealth than possibly any man who has ever lived. But do you remember what happened to Solomon?
He allowed his pagan wives to pull him away from God towards idolatry. 1 Kings 11:9 says that the result was that "The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord...."
APPL. The Bible warns us that there is a time when God draws a line, & His judgment will come. In Romans 2:5 the apostle Paul warns those who are in violation of the word & will of God:
"Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5)
B. Secondly, whenever the rights of God's people are taken from them, anger is justified.
ILL. King Saul had just been crowned the King of Israel when he received word that an enemy was besieging the city of Jabesh Gilead, & had bragged that even if the city surrendered they would gouge out the right eye of every man in the city.
1 Samuel 11:6 says, "When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger."
I want to be careful here because I don't want to be branded a warmonger. But when God's people are violated, that's a time for us to get angry.
When terrorists are attacking & killing people in one village after another, it's time for God's people to get angry. When godless people are robbing God's people of their rights, God's people ought to get angry.
There are times when we ought to say, "Enough!" There are times when we need to stand up for what is right, & express our anger. We are not commanded to sit passively by & let evil rule supreme. We must become angry at the unjust things that are happening in our world.
SUM: So the Bible shows us that there are at least 2 types of anger that are justified: #1. When God's Word & God's Will are being violated; & #2. When the rights of God's people are being taken from them.
II. ANGER THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE
Now, let's look at some unacceptable anger. Unacceptable anger often arises out of wrong motives.
A. Anger is unacceptable when you become angry because you are jealous of someone else.
ILL. Look at the story of the prodigal son. We talk about the prodigal who went into the far country, but we often ignore the brother who stayed home. When the prodigal son came back, the elder brother would not participate in the celebration, & the scripture says that he was angry.
Why was he angry? Because he was jealous. He went to his father, & said, "Look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
"But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him." (Luke 15:29-30) He was jealous, & jealousy of others is not an acceptable motive for anger.
B. Secondly, anger is unacceptable when you become angry because things just don't go the way you want them to go. Has this ever happened to you?
ILL. The prophet Jonah is a prime example of this. God told him to go to Nineveh & preach. But Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He didn't want to see Nineveh repent. So he rebelled against God's command.
But as you know, Jonah finally ended up in Nineveh, & the people repented. Then he became very angry when God decided to forgive the people of Nineveh. He pouted, & sat down & said he wasn't going to do anything more for God. Have you ever acted that way?
C. A third reason for unacceptable anger is when we get angry because we don't know all the facts.
ILL. A Preacher friend of mine made a reservation at a nice restaurant for a party of 8. But when they got to the restaurant the maitre'd couldn't find the reservation.
My friend told him that he had called & made reservations for 7:00, & that he had been assured that there would be no problem & that they would be served promptly. What's more, his parents were from out of town & this was a special occasion. But the maitre'd could find no reservation.
The restaurant was crowded, & my friend was told that they would have to wait 30 to 45 minutes just to be seated. It was too late to go anywhere else. So they waited.
When they were finally seated, their table was near the kitchen & the waiters were constantly rushing past them. It was a very noisy spot, & he was infuriated. Nothing had gone the way he had planned.
When he got home, he was so angry that he decided to call the restaurant manager & complain. So he got out his phone book & looked up the number that he had circled, only to find that he hadn't called that restaurant at all. He had called another one by the same name a part of the same restaurant chain - on the other side of town. It wasn't their mistake, it was his!
D. Sometimes we get angry because of our hectic schedules. We're so busy & we always seem to be rushing about. We're tired - so when something happens we react angrily & often fail to think things thru.
III. HOW CAN WE CONTROL OUR ANGER?
So with all this in mind, how can we control our anger? Let's look again at the 2 warnings the apostle Paul gives in our scripture text this morning.
#1. "Don't let the sun go down on your anger." I believe that this Scripture means exactly what it says.
ILL. Maybe we preachers should suggest to the young couples who come to get married that they need to put this Scripture up in a prominent place in their home.
"Don't let the sun go down on your anger" is good advice because if you go to bed & you are still angry inside, the anger can fester & grow within us. And that can bring about what Paul warned us about next.
#2. "Don't give the devil an opportunity." You see, when the Holy Spirit comes into our life, He wants to make us like Jesus, so He begins to refine the rough edges & make us more like Jesus.
But when we give the devil an opportunity, He does the opposite. He tries to make us more & more like himself. So, if we go to bed & our anger is still present here comes Satan & he has an opportunity to work on us.
So, Paul says, "There is anger that is acceptable, but be sure that these two guidelines are always applied. 'Don't let the sun go down on your anger, & make sure that you don't give the devil an opportunity.'"
Now may I offer 3 more suggestions?
#3. Don't let minor irritations become fury & rage.
ILL: Thomas Jefferson said: "If you are angry count to 10 before you speak. If you are very angry count to 100."
Mark Twain revised those words 75 years later & said: "If you are angry count to 4. If you are very angry swear." Now I am not recommending that.
But the idea is that we need to make sure that we have thought things through before we allow someone to knock a chip off of our shoulder. Many people are waiting for something to be angry about & they will find it! There are plenty of things to make us angry if we are looking for them.
But if we are walking around with the peace of Christ within us we are not looking for things to make us angry but for things to increase our joy.
#4. Be careful about the kind of people with whom you associate.
Proverbs 22:24-25 warns us, "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared."
If we spend time with people who are negative thinkers - we tend to become negative thinkers. If we spend time with people who are anger prone the first thing we know we are becoming angry too.
#5. Be careful also what you say. The Bible warns us not to use our tongue until we think about what we are going to speak.
ILL. An American journalist, Ambrose Bierce once said, "Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
An angry tongue gets sharper with use. The more we use it the sharper it gets & it can cut into the lives of others. Think before you speak!
The Bible says, "Bridle your tongue." If it is not bridled, it may run wild.
SUM. We need to commit our life so much to Jesus that He controls our temperament, & that self control becomes a part of our life, rather than fury or rage.
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." (Galatians 5:22)
God will grant us that power if we will commit ourselves to Him. If we will commit our tongue, our mind, & our emotions to Him God will help us to have a healthy anger at the right things, & not to have the kind of anger that would cause others to stumble & fall.
CLOSING: This morning there may be people here who are even angry with God, because God hasn't always done things the way we want Him to.
Maybe you are angry with others. Maybe you're angry with yourself. I pray that God will take that anger & change it and change you to His glory.
I pray most of all that if you are outside of Christ that you will become angry with evil. That you will become angry with Satan that you will give your heart to Jesus Christ, who wants to save us to wash us clean & forgive us & grant us eternal life.
INVITATION
