Today on The Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Because anger is such a strong emotion, it can very easily and very quickly get out of hand.
So be very careful when you're angry. Don't allow your anger to control you. Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Today, doesn't it seem like anger and rage are all around us? From political division to hateful posts on social media to violence in the news, so many are frustrated and on edge.
Is anger impacting your life? Today on The Verdict, we're learning what the Bible has to say about handling the burning fuse of anger. Here's Pastor John Monroe. In recent years, I'm sure you've noticed the rise of anger.
So many people are angry about something, and they can't seem to let it go. We have road rage, rage on airplanes, rage in families and rage in politics. That anger often expresses itself in harsh and unkind words and even sometimes in violence. When we go on social media, it seems that some people can't be exposed to a view they don't like without a vitriolic and angry response. There's no doubt about it that the pressures and strains of life and the problems which we all face can make us more irritable and less tolerant.
And social media certainly doesn't help. Perhaps you are an angry person or you live with an angry person. Listen to what God says about anger. Frederick Buechner writes, Anger is fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontation still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you're giving back.
In many ways, it's a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you're wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you, the burning fuse of anger. We live in an angry world, don't we? Anger and rage are at boiling point.
We see this in family disputes. We see that at work. We certainly see it in the political field. We think of the arguments and the downright bad temper on social media. We think of road rage.
A couple of months ago, as I drove here to church one Sunday, a driver cut me off and then made a gesture which did not spell hallelujah. I thought, how is it someone can be so angry over… it was his own fault, obviously. My driving is impeccable. But even if I was wrong, how could that bring out such uncontrolled rage in this young man? The fact is, a real or imagined slight often causes anger.
We think of angry young men who are so angry that they take a gun into a school, into a theater, into a mall, or randomly shoot innocent people, including children. it. We think of men, possibly some sitting here, men who repeatedly abuse, assault their wives and their children. Yes, even in professing Christian homes. That anger sometimes is physical, often it manifests itself with vicious words, with cursing, with swearing, with blasphemy.
The fact is that anger is a major issue with many men. I'm sure if we took a poll here of all of the wives and the women, many of you would say that you live with an angry man, that your father is angry, or you grew up in a home where there was from time to time uncontrollable anger and rage. Anger is a very, very powerful emotion, isn't it? And it's devastating in homes, in relationships at work, yes, and even in the church. That burning fuse of anger sometimes explodes, and then boom, there's rage.
There's shouting, there's cursing. There are men who punch the walls of their homes and punch their wives or their children. At other times, the anger is suppressed. It's hidden, or at least partially hidden, coming out in bitterness, sarcasm, insults, gossip, sullenness, self-pity, or passive-aggressive behavior. It's very interesting that anger appears in the Bible very early on.
If you know your Bible, in the fourth chapter of Genesis, God asks a man, Cain, why are you angry? He's going to end up killing his own brother. That's anger. That's rage. That is hatred against another human being.
Any danger signs in your life? Not just men, those angry women, getting irritable, snapping at others, shouting, scowling, slamming doors, ignoring people, getting very, very defensive when anyone ever criticizes you, focus too much on the faults of others rather than your own, 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 In this series with the wings of eagles we thinking of some challenges and struggles in life and this challenge of anger is a very real one And we want to stand and read what God's Word has to say on this subject.
Will you stand and read with me Ephesians 4, verses 26 through 32. Let's read it. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Thank you.
You may be seated. Isn't that a wonderful last verse? Many of you know it. Ephesians 4, 32. Be kind to one another.
As I meet with couples who are about to get married, I often say to them, be kind to one another. Kindness is a wonderful virtue, isn't it? I hope you're a kind person, kind to your family, kind to everyone, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
Now, if you have your Bible, do turn to the passage that we just read, Ephesians chapter 4. I bought a new Bible a couple of months ago, and I'm really loving this new Bible.
Well, Ephesians 4, verse 26, 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 4, 26, 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 against those who broke the law of God and who exploited others in the name of their faith in God. Righteous indignation. If you saw a man with a big stick beating a two-year-old little girl, you would be angry.
at least I hope you would. If you were not angry, there'd be something seriously wrong with you. Fact is, sometimes our anger is justifiable. And so we must differentiate between sinful anger and righteous indignation. But here's the point.
Because anger is such a strong emotion, it can very easily and very quickly get out of hand.
So be very careful when you're angry. Don't allow your anger to control you. That's what happens, isn't it? When the anger becomes rage, it becomes uncontrollable, and we've allowed the anger to control us. What does James say?
James 1, verse 19. Know this, my beloved brother, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, two ears, one mouth, quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Don't get angry too quickly. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. The fact is, when you're angry, there is a very real possibility that in your anger you're going to sin.
It may be verbally, it may be physically.
So the command is not to sin when you're angry.
Some psychologists encourage people, angry people to vent their rage. I think we need to be careful about that because that kind of anger may just breed more anger. Paul, when he describes the works of the flesh in Galatians chapter 5, as he contrasts them with the fruit of the spirits, one of the things he says that the flesh does, it produces fits of anger.
Now, this is not to say that we ignore this emotion, that we ignore our anger or bury it. If we do that, it can act like a toxic, profoundly impacting us inwardly and denied or suppressed, that fuse of anger may continue to burn and become explosive. No, what the Scripture is saying, and you know this is true, when you're provoked to anger, when you experience that emotion, be very, very careful. This is a time when you should commit the whole situation to the Lord. when you lean on the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God produces not outbursts of rage and violence and mean words but peace and harmony Proverbs 15 verse 1 a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Be careful of the harsh word. This summer I read the book called The Second Mountain by David Brooks, who writes in the New York Times. Very interesting book because he's brought up Jewish, very much influenced by the Christian faith, and he traces some of his own personal struggles and spiritual journey and writes some very interesting things. I don't necessarily agree with all of his perspective, but it's very interesting.
And David Brooks tells the story of Abraham Lincoln, and I'm sure many of you know more about Abraham Lincoln than I do. But this is what David Brooks says. He says, as a young man, Lincoln had a ferocious hunger for fame and power, but preserving the Union was a summon so great that considerations of self no longer mattered. On November 18, 1861, he paid a call to General George McClellan, hoping to press him to take the fight to the Confederacy more aggressively. When Lincoln arrived, McClellan was not at home.
So Lincoln told the butler that he, Secretary of State William Seward, and an aide, interesting name, John Hay, not John Hay Monroe, but just John Hay, the aide to Lincoln was called John Hay, that they would wait in the parlor. When McClellan arrived home an hour later, he walked past the room where the president was waiting, and Lincoln waited another 30 minutes. The butler returned to say that McClellan had decided to retire for the night and would see Lincoln some other time. McClellan was playing power games with Lincoln. John Hay was incensed.
I would be, wouldn't you? Who has the gall to treat the president of the United States with such disrespect? Lincoln, however, I find this quite amazing. Lincoln, however, was unruffled. Better at this time, he told Seward and Hay, not to be making points of etiquette and personal dignity.
This wasn't about him. His pride was not at stake. He would be willing to wait forever if he could find a general who would fight for the Union. The cause was the center of Lincoln's life at this point. In a situation where most of us would have been very angry, Lincoln kept his eyes on the goal.
Isn't that an interesting story? Treating the president of the United States with disrespect. Ah, but Lincoln obviously was a man who was in control of his emotion, unlike his aide and others around him. That's a sign of greatness, isn't it? Examine your experiences of anger over the last month.
Examine the times over the last month month or months when you feel you've not been treated well, perhaps by a family member, perhaps by a colleague at work, perhaps by someone at church, someone in your life, and you felt that they've not treated you the way that you deserve. How have you reacted? Have you sinned in your anger? Have you allowed your emotions to take over? Proverbs 14 verse 29, Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
If you've got a hasty temper, you are a foolish person, according to Proverbs. Proverbs 15, verse 18, a hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. You know people like that, don't you? People who are slow to anger. And when everyone else is fussing, they are able to bring a calm and a perspective.
And I read from James 1, 19 through 20, 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 here's the second one. Again in verse 26, resolve your anger quickly. Verse 26, 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. Don't stay angry. When you're angry, don't sit on it. Don't let time go by. 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, brooding on that, going over in your mind with the hurt over and over again. 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. You get the point. Don't allow it to fester. Don't allow yourself to brood and brood on this hurt, whether it's real or imagined. And can I say to all of us myself included in our humanity in our selfishness and self all of us are capable of making big issues out of minor issues.
Making mountains out of molehills or storms in a teacup, aren't we? Because sometimes when we're really ticked off and we talk to someone else about it, they look at us as if, what's the big deal? Why are you getting so worked up over this matter? You see, the fact is you are not a perfect person. And those around you are not perfect.
Do you expect everyone always to treat you the way that you feel you should be treated? That's nonsense. You're living in cloud cuckoo land. I mean, if you think everyone is always going to act towards you and do as you think you're in for tremendous disillusionment. Isn't it interesting that when Paul writes about love in 1 Corinthians 13, the first two things he says about love is this, love is kind.
Kind. That's Ephesians 4.32, be kind to one another, tender-hearted. Be kind. Love is kind. And then love is patient, patient.
Be patient with others, and don't be so sensitive. You know, there are those people who say, well, I'm a very sensitive individual. Let me tell you, all of us are very sensitive individuals. And when someone says, well, you know, I'm offended, and you need to know I'm very sensitive, I always feel like saying, you know, this is an evidence of your pride. This is an evidence of your immaturity.
This is an evidence that you want us to treat you differently from everyone else. Why don't you just grow up and stop focusing on your sensitivities? All the insensitive people are clapping, right? The sensitive ones think, oh, Monroe's a little tough today.
Okay, I don't claim to be the most sensitive person other than being a very, very sensitive husband, as my wife would say. But my point is, being, quote, sensitive is no excuse for your anger and your bad temper. Proverbs 19 verse 11, a man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression. There's the example of President Lincoln. I don't know enough about the man to know whether he was sensitive or insensitive, but I do know that in that situation that David Brooks writes about was that he showed great discretion and he was able to overlook a transgression and an insult because of the goal that he had in mind.
Overlook that slight. Peter, in 1 Peter 4 verse 8 It says love covers a multitude of sins. And in your home, in your relationship with your parents, your brothers, your sister, your husband, your wife, your grandmother, or whoever it is, your friends at work, and so on, you will from time to time be offended. Most of the time, the person who offends you or who you feel has insulted you doesn't realize they have even done it. But when you love someone, you overlook these things.
The Bible is full of showing forbearance, showing patience. 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, so don't go anywhere. If God exists, why is there such evil in the world? Isn't it bigoted to say that Jesus is the only way to heaven?
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Well, what's your verdict? Are you excusing your anger? You may have been raised in a very angry home. You may be in an angry situation at work or in your relationships. But be slow to anger.
Will you today ask God to help you with this problem of anger? To forgive you where your anger has resulted in harsh wars or even in violence. Receive the love of God in Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved.
Next time we'll continue with this subject of the burning fuse of anger. 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.
