ANGER IS A THREAT TO SELF-CONTROL
Text: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Ephesians 4:25-32 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. (26) Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, (27) and do not make room for the devil. (28) Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. (29) Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. (30) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. (31) Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, (32) and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 5:1 - 2: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (NRSV).
All throughout Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, we are told about election and election interference. No, I’m not talking about political election, I mean those chosen--elected by God to be saved and Satan’s election interference! God has chosen for us to be saved and united with Him. Our adversary has chosen to separate people from God by deceptive illusions that cause them not to see the light of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4) to get them lost in the hopes that they would be lost for eternity.
Currently, there is an obvious war going on between good and evil in both the unseen realm and the fruits of it that we can physically see in real time.
Satan’s biggest weapons in his arsenal that come from the flesh which as Paul said are Galatians 5:19-21 sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, (21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Are these not the areas where Satan has strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4)?
One of those weapons that Satan has used very well through all generations is “fits of anger”.
I once read a sentence sermon that went like this: "He who angers you controls you". Anger can make us lose control. Anger is dangerous is because it can hinder the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22 -23) if it is left unchecked.
Paul warns us not to let the sun go down our anger in Ephesians 4:26. Paul's reasoning for not letting the sun go down on anger makes sense and Ephesians 4:27 explains why, letting the sun go down on our anger could give the devil the advantage of a foothold (NIV).
NEW MANAGEMENT
Was there ever a time in your life when you were a mess?
1) Satan’s Strongholds: A spiritual stronghold is a fortified position. When a lost person argues against the Gospel, they do it from the fortified position (2 Corinthians 10:4- 5)---arguments of the devil who has “blinded them”. God uses Christians to tear down those “strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4) that Satan uses to keep others captive. How did God use Christians to tear down these stongholds in your life? How is God using you to tear down these “stongholds” in the lives of others?
2) Anger is a stronghold: Two of the most common arguments made by Atheists are “First, there is no God; Second, I hate him”. (James M. Hamilton, Jr. Revelation; The Spirit Speaks to the Churches. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2012, p. 315). Satan uses anger to stir people up and cause divisions when people disagree!
3) Salvation is a stronghold: God’s unbreakable and eternal stronghold is salvation. If an atheist could claim that there is no salvation, no Heaven, no Hell, then there would be no consequences which would mean that according to scripture you are lost. In John 10:29 Jesus tells us that those whom God has given Him can never be snatched out of His hand (John 10:29).
4) Keeping the lie going: Satan wants to keep people blinded from the light of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4) that would set them free. In John 3:5, Jesus said to Nicodemus "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (NRSV). That is why Jesus said, “know the truth and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32). How many people get mad when you tell them that Satan has lied to them and deceived them?
5) Reaping and sowing: Paul lays it out plainly in Galatians 6:8: “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (NIV). If you are born again, then you belong to Jesus (John 3:5-6).
6) Restlessness: If Satan’s sin-captivated prisoners are so happy, then why are they restless? As former playboy Saint Augustine found out in his restlessness, his immoral sinful lifestyle was fun but it always left him empty and restless because it could not save him! He found that he was trying to fill a God-shaped hole in his life with cheap substitutes only left him restless. Heb_4:1 ” … while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it (Hebrews 4:1). The only promise of Hell is the second death (Revelation 21:14; 21:8)----eternal restlessness---emptiness apart from God where the torturing flames will never quit burning (Matthew 9:48).
Are you under new management?
1) Before and after: Someone made a significant observation about a motor home campers. He said that they take the comforts of home with them and go to places that they do not explore even though they have new surroundings. He then related that to the spiritual life for new believers while he seemed to be making the point that the salt has to leave the shaker (Matthew 5:13 - 16). . Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).. We simply cannot be transformed without God’s Grace!
2) Mobilized: As Christians transformed by His grace, God sends us as the “light of the world, and the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13 -16) into the comfort zones of the lost to tear down Satan’s strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4)! The Gospel is a wrecking ball to Satan’s strongholds! Again, how many people get mad when you tell them that Satan has lied to them and deceived them?
3) Grace defined: GRACE IS EVERYTHING FOR NOTHING
TO THOSE WHO DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING. (Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). [Source of Origin: Our Daily Bread, Sept.-Nov. 1997, page for October 3] . As Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (9) not by works, so that no one can boast”.
4) Cheap Grace: Listen to how Dietrich Bonheoffer described cheap grace: ”Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.
> Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance,
> baptism without church discipline,
> communion without confession.
> Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace...is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him”.
(Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). [ Source of origion: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship, Christianity Today, February 7, 1994, p. 39].
FOOTHOLD PREVENTION
How well are preventing the Devil from getting a foothold?
1) Foothold advantage: A foothold is synonymous with a beachhead. A “beachhead” gives an army a strategic advantage to not only gain territory but also to expand that territory and gain more and more territory. Satan uses our own conflicts as a “foothold” or “beachhead” against us to divide us. In other words, it is a “divide and conquer strategy! How has Satan succeeded in doing that in our life time? How many have been “blinded” by subtle Paganistic advances in our modern day culture?
2) Procrastination: Kicking the can never works because it gives the devil time and opportunity. What if tomorrow never comes? If you are a Christian, then you cannot “kick the can” or “pass the buck” when God placed you here “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). If not those of us who are Christians here and now, then who, who will tell the truth?
Are we not on the battle ground right now?
1) Denial: Telling the truth will make some who are in denial angry. Is it because when we tell someone the truth of the Gospel that they get mad because they deny the truth that would set them free (John 8:32)? Why? The reason why is because Jesus who lives in you provokes those who have been deceived and held captive by the devil!
2) Our self -control : After hearing the Gospel truth, some might slander us, boycot us, block us on social media, or even disown us or even ridicule us. How we react matters. Proverbs 4:23 says “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life”. We have to pray for God to give us strength through the Holy Spirit to help us “guard our hearts”, watch what we say, and maitain self-control.
3) When anger is dangerous: There was a story about a bus driver in China who got angry at the driver for missing her stop. The driver refused to stop and let her off before the next stop. Then the angry passenger physically attacked the driver who lost control of the bus as it went off the bridge and killed fifteen people. The only survivors were the angry passenger and the driver who later faced criminal charges. https://youtu.be/Buy__ythKZ0 If only we could foresee the potential that losing our temper could cause, then we would think twice wouldn’t we? People could be lost if we are wreckless and careless to those who oppose us. That is why we must be prayerfully cautious.
4) Biblical warnings about anger: Billy Graham once wrote "Doctors tell us that when any human emotion is over stimulated, excessive amounts of adrenal are supplied by nature to replenish the emotional drain on our systems. The person with a violent temper uses up this extra supply of energy to feed the flame of his passion rather than to put out the fire". (Billy Graham. The 7 Deadly Sins. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1955, p. 29). When we use our anger to feed our passion rather than put out the fire, do we not run the risk of harming our health?
The Bible cautions us about how anger can alienate our spirit of godliness. There are numerous verses in the Bible that remind us of the harm that anger can do to those who harbor it in their hearts.
> Ephesians 4:26 and 27 remind us that anger must be handled appropriately and why: "Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity [NIV] to the devil. " (Ephesians 4:26 RSV).
> Ecclesiastes 7:9: Anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
> Proverbs 14:29 says: "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly" (RSV).
> Proverbs 29:22: An angry man stirreth up strife.
> James 1:19-20: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God" (RSV). When we have allowed anger to consume us, it is then that we have allowed anger to cloud our judgment so that our "wrath will not work the righteousness of God".
The way we handle anger says a lot about our meekness or its lack.
"A monk who had a quick temper was known to "pass the buck" for his fits of anger----always blaming his fellow monastery residents. So he decided to move to a place of absolute solitude in the desert, thinking that if he got away from others he could be victorious. One morning he accidentally knocked over a pitcher of water. A few minutes later he bumped it again, and once more it fell on its side and spilled its contents. Losing his temper, the monk picked up the pitcher and hurled it to the ground. As it broke into smithereens, the truth hit him: he couldn't blame others for his flareups. The real trouble was within him". (Roy B. Zuck. The Speaker's Quote Book. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1997, p. 14). The monk in this story epitomizes how we can be our own worst enemies because . That is why the Bible says, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32 RSV). With God's help we either learn to master anger or find that it will master us.
5) Spiritual warfare: The enemy uses spiritual warfare to decieve, discourage, divide, kill and destroy” (See John 8:44 and John 10:10). Paul tells us about the spiritual battleground in the unseen world and how we need our Gospel armor on a daily basis in Ephesians 6:10 -20.
6) Truth: Paul tells us that we must speak the truth [meaning Gospel true doctrine] and do so in love (Ephesians 4:25; & 4:15). The 2024 Summer Olympics ceremony was not of God. Some say it was mocking the Last Supper. Others say it was a celebration of the Greek god Dionsus. The USA Today Newspaper said and I quote “… the performance is a nod to a pagan celebration featuring Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, wine and revelry”. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/29/paris-last-supper-olympics-dionysus/74586328007/ They just told you everything that you need to know with the description “…Pagan celebration”. It is not of God and therefor mocks God and Christians around the world does it not? We must speak the truth! If not those of us who are Christians here and now, then who, who will tell the truth?
7) Mind Games: The enemy will use anything that will get in our minds and distract us within. Muhammad Ali was a master at this. One of his most famous quotes was “Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee”.
8) Dispatched: Romans 10:14 - 15 says “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
9) Forward through the ages: Forward through the ages is not just words from a hymn we know as “Onward Christian Soldiers”. For we are not just marching to war we are currently in one and we can see the fallout all around us because of the lost! “Forward through the ages” is the battle cry of every generation of Christians!
Again, the urgency about not letting the sun go down on our anger reminds us that people are important, time is short and that life is not a dress rehearsal. We must remember that we are called to forgive and love one another as God has forgiven and loves us. The temptation to sin because of our anger loses its power when we surrender our anger to Jesus who gives us the strength we need to overcome it.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
