Sermons

DEALING WITH ANGER
(Ephesians 4; 26-27)
By: Rev. Greg Tupas, Jr.

“BE YE ANGRY, AND SIN NOT: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4: 26-27)

I am reminded of a crime which happened last June 2006 here in Canada. A crime committed by a pastor’s wife a certain Mary, who voluntarily submitted herself to the police after shooting and killing her own husband. When asked why she killed her husband, she said that all she remembered was the constant nagging and criticism made by her husband about how she managed their finances and blaming her for their financial problems, which she wanted to end. Before she knew it, she had already killed him.

Uncontrolled anger is very dangerous. Perhaps it had occurred one time in your life when you were so angry you thought of hurting or “killing“ somebody; or perhaps you were so mad with one of your children, you wanted him/her to be out of your house; etc.
Is it wrong to be angry? Is it possible to be angry and yet not sin?

There are four (4) types of anger found in the Bible. Perhaps there are more, but we will only discuss 4 of them:
1. Sudden anger – this refers to the sudden outburst of anger of a quick-tempered man. Proverbs 14:17 says: “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly:… “

If you are one of this kind, don’t make an excuse that you are quick-tempered because you inherited that character from your father or grandfather, so that is your very nature.

“A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment:…” (Prov. 19:19)
There are many cases wherein due to great anger, people die of heart attack; anger may also cause the loss of one’s family and friends.
*If you have this kind of temper, firstly, you have to recognize that you have a problem and then, confess your sin and this problem to God. Ask God to control your emotions. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is in you and one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is SELF-CONTROL, remember?

2. Sinful anger – some anger are sinful, but not all. In Matthew 5:22., the Lord Jesus Himself said: “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:…”

When does one’s anger become sinful?
a) When we are angry with our brother without a cause. Brother here refers to either our brother in the flesh and our brother in the faith, or both. Sometimes we are angry with someone for no reason at all, sometimes we are just prejudiced with the way they talk or with their face.
b) When we focus our anger on the person and not on the sin. In fact, we are commanded by the Lord to love our enemies. (Matthew 5: 44) “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
c) When our anger seeks revenge. (Romans 12:19) “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, VENGEANCE IS MINE; I WILL REPAY, saith the Lord.”

3. Stubborn anger. This is the kind of anger that stays day after day. There are people who want to be angry even for years. If we hold on to our anger, the devil will have a foothold in our lives. How long then should we be angry? The Bible is clear, and as our text say, we can be angry but it should last before the sun goes down. (Eph. 4: 26-27)
Among husbands and wives, for instance, after a heated argument, if you don’t settle things before the sun goes down, and you sleep angry with each other, anger will turn to bitterness – this when we start to recall all the bitter things that happened in the past between the two of you, the offenses committed by your partner maybe 5 or ten years ago; bitterness will turn into rage – this is the point when anger turns to a boiling point, when you start kicking the dogs and cats and saying all kinds of hurting words, shouting at each other with insults and slander; after which, rage turns into malice – this is the point when one wishes and plans to hurt someone.
*If we don’t want to forget, anger is nurtured and we develop an unforgiving spirit.
· We should forgive others of what they have done to us. It is a pre-requisite for us to forgive others before God will forgive us our sins. (Matthew 6: 14-15) “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

5 TESTS IF AN ANGER IS SINFUL:
1. Is the anger directed to a person, rather than to the sin?
2. Is the anger without a justifiable cause?
3. Does the anger seek vengeance?
4. Is it nurtured anger?
5. Is it unforgiving?

If all the answers are “yes” , then the anger is sinful.

4. Sanctified anger. The Lord JESUS Himself became angry when He saw that the temple was made a market place for sheep and oxen and money changers, He drove them all out of the temple and overthrew the tables. (John 2:14-16)
The Lord JESUS was also angry with the scribes and Pharisees who were finding faults in Him when he healed a man with wrinkled hand on a Sabbath day. (Luke 6-10)
*If you are angry with the corruption committed by officials in the government, angry with the increasing cases of abortion, increase in crimes like rape, drug abuse; if you are angry because thousands of people are dying without Christ in their lives, these are examples of sanctified anger.
RESULT OF SANCTIFIED ANGER:
1. We become more patient and develop self control with the help of the Holy Spirit;
2. We are motivated to support more missionaries and mission work;
3. We are alarmed of the conditions of our unsaved relatives, friends and neighbors and we reach out for them and tell them about the GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.