The Church of Eleven22 - Week 3: Anger

Episode Date: June 25, 2023

Outbursts of anger reveal a serious heart condition. Does the peace of Christ rule your heart? Or is your anger ruling your life?

Amen and amen. Hey, church, how about a big shout out to our campus at Union Correctional? Can we say, hey to the guys, love you fellas. Amen. Just in case you're new here, man, the Church of 1122 is one church and a whole bunch of locations. I think it's 11, but I've lost count right now. We're about to launch another one in North Jacks in August, but three of our campuses are in prisons or correctional facilities. So we've got one in union.

That's where that was filmed. And so it's not just like an outreach of 1122. these campuses are 1122 as much as we are 1122, amen. And then there's another one in Columbia, Columbia Correctional, and then we also have a women's facility right here in Duval. And so when we say that we're a movement for all people, all means all. And so we love you guys. We're so glad that you are a part of us and what we are doing.

Grab your Bibles. We're in the book of James. We're in the third week, so it takes us three weeks to get through almost a chapter. And our time together, what we're going to be talking about is anger. So don't worry, this doesn't apply to you, but you probably know a guy. That video started out with these words. Anger is like the pin on a grenade being pulled. And what we're going to do in our time together through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit

is we're going to ask him to help us put the pen back in. Anger's a really big deal. The Bible specifically mentions anger over 200 times. Anger is a really, really big deal. Extended periods of anger raise your heart rate, raise your blood pressure. Adrenaline enters the bloodstream can lead to cardiac arrest. Anger will shorten your life. It clouds brain function.

It lowers your immune system. It increases your risk of stroke by over 50%. According to a Gallup poll, right now, the world is sadder, angrier, more worried, and more stressed than in the history of Gallup polls. Anger is considered the primary cause of roadside accidents with aggressive driving constituting 66% of traffic fatalities. Anybody struggle with anger? I know what you're thinking right now. You're thinking, I need to send this to my father-in-law.

I mean, that dude. Because that's what's the crazy thing about anger. Here's the thing about Christian. Christians don't get angry. We get frustrated. You know what I mean? We get aggravated. So maybe, maybe if you're not sure this is you, maybe I've come up with a couple of tests here.

You might have anger issues if every time you call your kid's names, they flinch. You might have anger issues because you would never judge people. You just constantly think, how could they be so dumb? You might have anger issues if you would never yell, but your exhale sounds like a city bus letting out its air brakes. You may have anger issues if you were undefeated. in both the past events that you replay in your mind to constitute that you knew that you were right and the imaginary conversations that you wish you would have,

you might have anger issues if people often ask you, what's wrong? And your answer is, it's just my face. You might have anger issues if they know you by name at Home Depot for your frequent visits to buy drywall and spackle. You might have anger issues if you regularly use your husband's toothbrush to clean the toilet.

Gretchen gave me that one. That scares me. You might have anger issues, if you're afraid to put an 1122 sticker on your car because of your lack of highway hospitality. And you may have anger issues if Little League umpires cower at the field every time you show up as they should.

Now the reason I bring that up is because that is me, man. That is me. I can tell you, man, me and me and one of my best buddies, two of my best buddies. Sean Maxwell and Scott Batch, we coached our boys and a whole bunch of stuff, baseball and football, flag football team, and we were winners, man, we were winners.

We didn't, like, play for fun. We played a win. You know what I'm saying? And so that's what, and we would tell our kids, hey, listen, if your dad says, you're just playing for fun, your dad's a loser. And so you probably shouldn't be on our team. We played to win. And every other year in flag football, we would have a shot at the championship. My son was the quarterback. One of his best buddies was the receiver. He was the best receiver in our little

group, in our league. They set the record for a number of touchdown scored and all this kind of stuff. And we're in the championship game at UNF, all right? which means you got two referees and I was a coach, Sean was a coach, Scott was a coach, I was on the sideline, J.P. was the quarterback. He drops back and it's not real football, it's flag football, it's different, it's kind of communist.

You can't really touch each other, you know what I understand? And this like big-boned kid, straight trucks JP. He drives back to throw, he gets the ball off and then, boom, he gets knocked down. I'm like, what are you doing? That's rough in the quarterback. What are you doing? And this poor little, probably 19-year-old UNF kid making eight bucks a game, looks at me, and I mean, I am just like angry.

And he says to me, these words, he says to me, I didn't see it. To which I scream, you have one job. Then on the other side of the field, I hear, hey, Pastor Joby, so, all right, let's talk about anger, all right. James chapter one, we're going to begin in verse 19. It starts out this way. It says, know this. This is an imperative. James wants you to know something.

You should pay attention to what James says. You've heard it a couple times just in case you're new to Bible study. James is the half-brother of Jesus. Think about that. And James puts his faith in his brother as God, as the Lord and Savior. Let me ask it to you this way. How many of you have a brother? If you have a brother, raise your hand, I have a brother.

Okay. What would it take for you? you to be convinced that your brother was the savior of the world. I mean, you know, James was not convinced until the resurrection of Jesus. That's what it would take. Listen, I got a brother. He's a decent enough guy. But if he came up to me and said, behold, I'm the son of God.

I'm like, you're the son of something, buddy, but it ain't the Lord. You understand? Okay, so. But James, post-resurrection, believes that his older brother is the Messiah. And then he writes this letter. It's the oldest letter in the New Testament. He says this, know this. It's a transition verse.

And what he wants us to know is it connects back to verse 18. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruit of his creatures. He goes, that's what I need you in and up. I need you to know this. Know the word of truth, and I need you to know that you are a kind of first fruit. In other words, when you get saved, when you put your faith in Jesus, faith as a give from God, but that faith will always produce fruit.

There's been this seed planted inside of you, and then what all of the book of James is about is James is going to talk about what are the symptoms of the gospel-infected life. And if you don't have any symptoms, you may not have been infected with the gospel. That's where he's going. It's not that you work, you do these works, and then you earn your salvation. It's because of your salvation, you will be driven by grace to get to work. So he says, know this. And then he's going to address who he's talking to.

And again, he's going to get to anger here in a minute. But he says this. Before he gets there, he goes, know this, my beloved brothers. So before he gets to activity, he wants to start with identity. He's like, listen, before I tell you what to do, I need to make sure you know who you are. My beloved brothers, let me ask you this, do you know who you are? And if you don't, that's probably why you're so angry. Because anger can oftentimes be this response when we're confused or when we're lost

or when we think we're the center of the universe and all of the cosmos is supposed to revolve around us. So he's going to start with who we are, A.W. Tozer, this brilliant pastor and scholar and theologian, he says this. He says, the most important thing about you is what you think when you think about God. Now, there's another brilliant pastor and theologian, me, and I think the second thing, the second most important thing is what do you think God thinks when he thinks about you? The first, the most important thing about you is what do you think when you think about God? If you think he's always angry at you, then you're always going to try to perform so that he won't be mad at you. If you think he is distant, then you will be distant. If you think that God loves you, then you can respond in love.

The first most important thing is this. What do you think when you think about God? The second most important thing is this. What do you think God thinks when he thinks about you? James answers the question. and here's what he thinks when he thinks about you. You are my beloved. That's a powerful word to be called.

We don't use that word a lot around here. But God inspires James and also John to call his children beloved. If you break down the etymology of that word in English, it's be loved. B is the covenant name of God. In Exodus chapter 3 when Moses talks to God at the burning bush.

And he says, what's your name? God gives him his covenant name. In English we translated, I am that I am. Yahweh is the Hebrew. It's supposed to sound like breath, to breathe in, to breathe out. Yahweh, that God would be as close as your very next breath.

And the English translation, we translated, I am that I am, or it means to be that I be. That God's name is to be. And when he says, beloved, What he's saying is that be loved you fully and finally at the cross. That God demonstrated his love for us in this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for you. That's how he demonstrated his love.

Not in our circumstances, but at the cross. 1 John chapter 4 says this, and this is love. Not that we love God, but God loved us and sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. And propitiation means a payment that satisfies. which means if you are in Christ, he cannot be dissatisfied in you. Think about that. He's not disappointing in you.

He's not dissatisfied in you. He knew exactly what he was getting when he purchased you with the blood of his own son, Jesus Christ, and when he looks at you, he does not see the filth of your life that we bring to him. He sees the righteousness of his son

wrapped around you like the father wraps the rose around his son. So, not only is it a time, title, beloved, it's also a verb. Be loved. Be loved. If we had any concept at all of how much God loves us, then that's how we would treat people. You see, some of you are angry, some of us are angry because we just don't know how loved we are.

Because we just think it's based on our performance. And the reality is that loved people, love people. Safe people, make people feel safe, hurt people, hurt people. So before he gets into how, what to do with your anger and how to handle your anger, the first thing you need to know is who you are and you are a beloved. Then he says, brother, not beloved random individual who has asked Jesus Christ into your heart all by yourself. No, no, no, no, no. you're not saved by the church but you realize you are saved into a faith family

that we are brothers and sisters and the way that we interact with God and one another impacts one another that the Bible says that we are to love one another so not only you're beloved by God but you are also placed into a family now now that we know who we are he's going to get on to some action he says this so 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. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word

which is able to save your soul. He says, be slow to speak, be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. All right, can I just be real? Listen, if you need your pastor to have it all buttoned up and tied up, just ain't your church, okay? Just go back, because let me just confession.

time. I suck at this. I don't even like to say the word suck a lot in church. I get in trouble with her, but I can't think of a better word. I read this and I go, uh-oh, because I'm telling you, if you've got to have a black belt in order to teach the topic, I'm not allowed to teach on this one. Now, there's some I feel pretty good about. Evangelism, when I taught about the woman who busted open the alabaster jar to worship extravagantly. Come on, follow me as I follow Jesus. I'm good on that one. And this one, there's a big, fat, uh-oh. In fact, one time I was taking this personality exam, we were, I'm taking about a thousand personality exams.

We love some personality exams around here, right? So the elders having to take this personality exam, this new one, you know, what everybody's into and whatever. And so I'm sitting in my living room and I'm, you know, answering all the questions. And they ask them, they, I don't know how to, they're like, would you rather kick a baby or stab a puppy? and I'm like, what? Okay, rank that one to five. You know what I mean? Don't make any sense.

Whatever. But they all come back to the same every time I take it. So I'm taking this personality exam. Gratzie walks in. She's like, hey, what are you doing? And I go, I'm taking a personality exam. And she just goes, huh? Like, huh? Whoa, time out. What do you? What? What? And she says, get ready. I need a lot of grace here. She goes, all they're going to do is give you a new word for a-hole. That's what she said. I know. I would never talk that way. All right? I don't use that kind of language. Pray for. It's a hard issue. But it's true.

You ever take them? I'm a D. I'm red. I'm dominant. I'm a driver. I'm a whatever. It's just all these. That's every word. All right. Strength finders, remember strength finders? My number one was competition. C.S. Lewis says that's the greatest sin. That's a greatest example of pride. Got it. That's my best strength. I'm winning at the sinning one. Okay. So here's why I bring it up. Because Jane says, let every person. And especially these days, man, we think some of us get an excuse. No, you don't understand.

I'm a D. I'm an eight. Like we pull out our personality exam to excuse what the Bible would call sin. Like, no, no, I don't think you know. My Myers-Brigg is J-E-R-K. Like, I can't help it. Well, according to the Bible, nobody gets an excuse, man. Nobody.

So he says, let every person, and here's what he says, be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to tweet, slow to comment, slow to repost. I may have added a couple, okay? He's saying, slow down, and all of that leads to this one, and slow to anger. More confession time. This is about you. I've been in ministry for 30 years, on staff for 30 years. In the last two or three years, I've been.

or three years, I've never seen people more angry than I have experienced in the last two or three years. Not slow to speak, not quick to listen, but very quick to email, very quick to tweet, very quick. And I'm talking about nasty emails from brothers and sisters, like covenant member type things. Let me just give you a warning. If you send me a nasty email, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to call you and make you read it to me. because I can't read tone. I just call you and be like, hey, and guess what I did it? I probably called, I don't know, probably too many people to count, but I called people.

And what was crazy, man, I'd get a nasty email. I'm leaving this church because of masks. The next one, I'm not coming to that church because you don't make everybody wear masks. I mean, you two people could get together and cancel each other out. What are we doing here? Then I would call us. I just need you to read it to me because, you know, just read this. Like, I know you.

And I think a part of it could be, especially as disrupted as our world has been over the last three years, with riots and political craziness and pandemics, and everybody's argued about everything. And if you sit at home and every time you turn the news on, another city is burning down, you just sit down, like, I'm going to burn some stuff down too. And James is like, mm-mm, mm-mm.

That ain't going to work good. So let me ask you this. Are you quick to listen and slow to speak, or are you quick to defend and slow to understand? Yeah. Because oftentimes the root of anger is just defense and control. That's what it is, man. And so he says, four, so he's going to tell you why.

The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James go, you can get angry. You're going to get angry. It just isn't going to work. Now, he specifies, I'm so glad he does this. He specifies a type of anger. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. I mean, anger is a dominating emotion.

There are no bad emotions. Emotions are a gift from God so that we can navigate this thing called life. And so emotions are a tool to be used by God's people to navigate life. And they make terrible decision makers. And anger can have a tendency to take over all of the other emotions and particularly this anger of man. You see, anger typically rises up when you have unmet expectations.

One of the ways to look at this, this anger of man according to James, would be like what we would call unrighteous anger. There can be such a thing as righteous anger. And there's also this unrighteous type of anger of man. And oftentimes what happens, if you really dig down into it, the reason that you're angry is because people are not worshiping at the idol of me.

So the reality is not, do I get angry? The real reality is, the real question is, how do I respond when I get angry? And I've just got some news for you. One of the things that we love to do is we love to excuse ourself for our actions because we put the blame on somebody else and go, this isn't my fault,

my words aren't my fault, my actions aren't my fault because you made me angry. You ever say that? Well, I got some terrible news for you. The only thing that can come out of you is what is in you. I've used this before, okay? This is a water bottle. What's inside of here?

Somebody said Jesus, I knew it, okay? Last week we heard all the answers for Jesus. No, no, no, no, it's not Jesus, it's just water. And if I take the lid off, if I shake it, if I squeeze it, if I cause trauma, the only thing that can spew out of there is what is in here. And so, if anger comes spewing out of view, it is because, there is anger deep down in here, and unrighteous anger is like smoke to a fire. It is a warning signal.

It is not good. Your check engine light is flashing, flashing, flashing. That does not mean that you, like, cover it up with a peek of the tape. If you don't deal with that, it will deal with you and not in a positive way. And the dangerous thing about anger is that oftentimes we convince ourselves that all of the problem is out there somewhere. It's your fault. It's not my fault. You made me angry. And then the gospel demands that we first look in the mirror and say, what's wrong with me? You see, unrighteous anger is rooted in fear and control. I don't trust. I'm afraid. I feel unbalanced. And so I'm going to take over. Now, the Bible says that we are to be slow to anger. This is important. It doesn't say no anger. And it doesn't say no anger. And it doesn't say, they blow up anger. It says be slow to anger.

I think what James is doing here when he says be slow to anger, he's actually referencing what God said about himself in Exodus chapter 34 when he revealed himself to Moses. Moses said, show me your glory. And God said, I am the God of mercy. I am the God of, I am the God that is slow to anger. And I am the God of love. Hesed is the word.

Do you know what the word slow to anger literally is translated in Hebrew? long nose. Long nose. God's like, I got a huge nose for you. Like, what the heck is that all about? Because the Hebrew people would believe that the anger started deep down here

and what we would say, the gut, they would say the bowels. That's where like real anger would start there. And it would work its way up, make your heartbeat fast. Then it would get to your neck and make your veins pop out like this. And then eventually, what would it do, man?

When it got to your face, your nostrils get like that big. You would snort like a horse. And then God says, but when it comes to you, I make sure my nose gets longer and longer and longer, so that anger's got a long way to go before it ever makes it out to you. It's a word picture.

And James is saying, so we need to be like the Lord, slow to anger. So not no anger and not blow up anger, but slow to anger. Like there is a way to be assertive and even aggressive without sinning in anger. Ephesians 426 says it this way.

It says this, be angry. And you might think, well, I'm nailing that part. It's the command of God to be angry. That's what it says. Be angry and do not sin. So is anger a sin? Apparently not. Be angry and do not sin.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Now, here's what this means. If you've got some anger building up in you, you better resolve it very, very quickly. Because what begins to happen is unresolved anger, it'll begin to ferment in your life. And fermented unforgiveness is what bitterness is caused by.

And he says, because when you do it, what you do is you give a foothold. That's what the NIV calls it a foothold. Here it says, and give no opportunity. Literally that word is topo in Greek, and it means like a room. When you've got some unresolved anger in you, you were inviting the devil himself

to come and be a tenant in your life. I mean, do you want the devil in your house? Do you want him in your heart? Do you want him in your relationships? Do you want him with your children? Well, when we don't deal with our anger quickly, then that's what happens. And when I read this, give him a foothold,

it reminds me when I was growing up, my younger brother, man, he was such an aggravating guy. I love him so much now, but boy, it was tough. And he would do these things like, I'd be minding my business, probably just like sitting at the table, reading the Bible and praying, do things like that. And he would come up and smack me in a head or something, and then run to his room, and I would go tearing after him. And I wouldn't want to fight him now.

He's a police officer, and he's got weapons and, you know, all that. He's got radio, so whatever. But back in the day, dude, I would beat the tar out of him, and I would try to chase him down. And here's the thing. He knew if he could get into his room and get that door shut. If he could just get the door shut, there's nothing I could do to get into his room. but you know what I knew man I knew even if I was running after him when that door went to shut and if I just just get one little toe just get that toe any big brother's in the house on him

talking about if you could just get that one little toe man it didn't matter it definitely was not enough for me to get my whole self into his room but if I could wedge that one little toe it was only a matter of time that I could work my way into his room and stomp a mud hole that's what the enemy wants to do with you he don't care what you're mad about he didn't care at all what you're mad about That's the problem. He don't care. He just needs that little sliver. He wants you to be angry and sin.

And he wants you to make sure you hold on to it for a long time and let the sun go down over and over and over so that he can take up residence in your mind and in your heart and in your house and in your relationships. That's what he wants to do. Paul goes on to say a couple of verses later, he says let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for the building up

as it fits the occasion that it's, may give grace to those who hear. And then he goes on to say a couple verses later, 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. So he says, be angry and don't sin. Now when you get angry for no real cause, that's a sin.

But when you don't get angry and there's cause, that's a sin. I mean, Jesus got angry. Jesus walks into the temple. This is like in John 2 and in Matthew chapter 21. He walks into the temple and there are money changers in the temple. Now let me tell you what's happening because sometimes people get confused about what's happening. Back in Deuteronomy chapter 14, I think, God says, all right, here are the sacrifices required on these certain days. But I get it.

Some of you live like way out there, long way, like Palacca or some, and you can't get a goat all the way from Palacca to the temple. So here's what you do. Sell your goat there, and then when you get to the temple, we'll have some goats for sale. And so that's what they would do. But when they would show up, they'd be charging 10 times as much for the goat at the temple. It wasn't that they were selling stuff in the temple. Deuteronomy 14 says, no problem.

It was that they were using God's name, using God's command to take advantage. of God's people. And the priest's job was never that the people served them. The priest's job is they were put on the planet to serve the people. You realize this, man, that the pastors and the staff of this church, we don't exist for you to serve us. It's the exact opposite. We exist to serve you.

It would be like if the New Testament said, thou must purchase a copy of the lead pastor's book whenever he bought it. Let's just pretend. And the Bible said it. And instead of us offering it to our church at a discount, we charge like $1,000 a book. So it's not our fault. The Bible says, that's what's going on.

And so then Jesus comes in, and he sees this, and he's angry. And the Bible says he makes a whip, which means what? He's slow to anger. He did not react to the situation. He's going to respond appropriately. And one of the terms that a lot of people use that I'm okay with is that it was a righteous anger. And I can imagine, he's over here fashioning a whip. You ever made a whip?

I've ever made a whip. I've been whipped a lot, but it was a belt. It was never, my dad never made one. He just had this one Indiana like Jones, and he could go, and make whipping noise with it. And, you know, I just still triggered by it, all right? And so, so Jesus is going, and he makes a whip. And I imagine the disciples are like, hey boss, what are you doing?

He's like, I'm about to show you what I'm doing. And then he comes in there, and he clears out the temple. That's what he does. Righteous anger always results in righteous action. He didn't just feel a thing. He did something about it. So are there things that you should get angry about? Yeah, you should get angry about the things that anger God.

Like the mutilation of children these days in the name of health care. You should get angry about that. You should get angry about the taking of innocent human life in the womb and calling it a right. You should get angry about that. You should get angry about the trafficking of boys and girls and the most vulnerable people around the world. You should get angry about that. You should get angry about corrupt governments while their people starved to death. You should get angry about that.

You should get angry about any injustice against any image bearer of God. You should get angry about that. Yeah, roll up in my house and try to threaten my family. You're going to see somebody get righteously angry and do more in a whip, all right? So, now, so that happens, John 2 and Matthew 21. But here's a couple things about this. It's not the norm. in all of Jesus' life,

it happened. Some theologians think it was one time, talked about in two different places, and some think it was two different times. So at most, it was two times in all 33 of his years. This is not like every other Tuesday Jesus made a whip and went around whipping people. And what's crazy,

if this is like your go-to Bible story, you have lost the narrative of God's redemptive plan for all of human history. This is not the norm. And what Jesus was doing is he was defending the glory of God in a very violent way. So look, the Bible says from today is the John of Babes until today the kingdom of heaven is forcefully or violently advancing

and violent men take hold of it. So sometimes it requires violence. In fact, if you're an 1122 and you bring your ties and offerings here, part of what your ties and offerings do in regards to fighting against human trafficking is we employ a group of people with a very special, special skill set and they go around the world to find the most vulnerable people that are being trafficked and they are the tip of the spear and they do some things that would make you very uncomfortable. We don't talk about it a lot.

Those things happen in Jesus' name. Now, Tim Keller, God rest of soul, said this. He says, anger is love in motion to protect what you love the most. Anger is love in motion to protect what you love the most. So he says the question you should ask yourself when you're angry is, what am I protecting or what am I defending? And what Jesus was protecting and defending here was the name of God, the glory of God, the people of God.

The reality is, is if you ask that question, if that anger, if those emotions that begin to fire up in you and you begin to say, okay, okay, why am I angry? What am I protecting? What am I defending? If anger is love in motion to protect what I love most, what do I love? And the answer most often is not the glory of God.

The answer most often is what I'm trying to do. to protect is me, my comfort, my reputation, my ego. I mean, let's be for real. What are you really doing when you scream at your kids? What are we doing when we yell in the car? Right? Here's how crazy it is. Here's how psycho some people that I know can be.

You ever get, it's crazy what we do in a car, isn't it? It's easy to hate somebody that you can't really see. You can just see their dumb car. and you get in the left lane and do these people not realize you're the most important person on the planet and you have somewhere to go and you'll just pull up on them

and do the, what are you doing? And then minutes later, once they move over or you pass them, somebody pulls up on you and you're like, what are you doing? How dare you better get up over there you're hitting your brakes and stuff? Like you can get mad in both instances

just like that. Why? Because actually what happens is the whole world is not bowing down to me. Like what are you doing when you lose your mind online? What are you doing when you give your spouse that silent treatment? Here's what you're doing.

The fundamental question is this, do you trust God? And when we lose it, when we have that unrighteous anger, your answer, I know you could say the right thing, but what we're living out is your answer is, nope, I don't trust that he's got this thing in control. You see, the key is this, do you trust that he will either cover it with his grace or he'll confront it with his justice? because that's what he'll do. Now again, man, confession time. Man, if living was as easy as preaching, I would be a rock star Christian. I'm telling you.

As I was studying this and getting ready for this and just, I mean, you ever read the Bible and it just won't quit reading you? You know? I mean, I've sent out text all week. I'm sorry. To employees, formal employees, people that, some of my roommates

that I have right now, just saying, I'm sorry, because here's the thing, man, here's the question that I'm wrestling with. I'm like, all right, Lord, I'm a believer, I'm a Christian. I have the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the helper planted deep within me. I do the stuff, I do the Christian stuff, man. I read my Bible more than, I mean, I'm a pro at it. I do it all the time.

I pray hard, sing hands up, come to church, I'm surrounded by godly people. I'm doing all the things. And the spirit of God in me is producing fruit, love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. All of those are like anti-anger fruits. And yet, and yet, and yet, I mean just right there, one breath away, is this anger. What is wrong with me? Let me tell you one thing is that I worry about.

How in the world are our children ever going to believe that their Heavenly Father loves them if their earthly father is mad at them all the time. And here's the thing, man. So how do you do that? How do you? Paul wrestle with the same thing. He didn't speak specifically about anger, but in Romans chapter 7,

Paul goes, he asks his question, what is wrong with me? What is wrong with me? And he says, after he is unpacked the gospel for six and a half chapters, Paul's like, I don't understand what is going on in here. I want to do the right thing and the wrong thing is right around the corner.

There's a whole bunch of things I promised I would never do again. I'd never raise my voice again. I'd never yell again. I'd never say those words again. I promise I would never do those things again. And it seems like the more I promise, the more they come out of my mouth, what is wrong with me? His conclusion, what a wretched man I am. Who could save a wretch like me?

Which then leads him to this. Praise God for Jesus Christ. Praise God for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which leads to the greatest chapter in all of the Bible, and Romans 8-1 says, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You see, there's this ancient Native American proverb story

that says this chief, this wise man is sitting with this reporter, and he's asking, like, how did you get so wise? How did you get so honorable? How do you have such great character and morality? And the guy says, oh, I don't. Inside of me are two dogs fighting every single day. There's a good dog and there's an evil dog and they are at war fighting every single day.

And the journalist asks, well, which one wins? And he simply says, the one that I feed. Inside of me, man, I'm really into the Jesus thing. I'm all in on it. And inside of me, on a daily basis, there is a war. There is a war. And even though I know, theologically, Jesus has already won the war.

I get it, man, I know. I've read to the end of the book. Good news. Spoiler alert. We win. And yet, if I don't feed the good dog, if I don't feed the paraclete, the spirit of God, if I don't make sure that I take every thought captive,

if I don't pay attention to my emotions and know that even my emotions are submitted and subjected to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then in one second I can be acting in the flesh and acting a fool. So you say, all right, well, Paul, so what do we do? James answers it this way.

He's like, all right, here's what you're going to do. When it comes to anger, you're going to have to take off some stuff and put on some stuff. That's what you're going to do. He says, therefore, so since the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God, that's whether the therefore is therefore. So therefore, since our anger doesn't accomplish what we hope to accomplish, unrighteous anger doesn't accomplish it, he says, put away all filthiness, and rampant wickedness.

You see, when you're angry and you're ruled by your emotions and it's the anger of man, like you're not protecting the glory of God, you're not protecting the people of God, you're not protecting your family, you're not protecting vulnerable people, you're protecting your ego

and you're protecting your reputation and you're protecting your comfort. You know what you can do? You can do some filthy wicked things, can't you? That's what he's saying. That's where unrighteous anger lives, man, it will lead you to say it's the filthiest things to the people that you're supposed to love the most,

and it'll cause you to do some of the most wicked things that you didn't even believe you had in you. So he says, you better put away all of that and receive. Receive. You need to take off those things. This is kind of like Lazarus coming out of the grave, and Jesus says, take off those grave clothes.

Because that kind of anger and malice and filth and wickedness, Now, those are dead people's clothes. They don't belong on you anymore. You've got to take those things off. And instead, what you do is you put on, you receive this gift of grace with meekness. I think this is very, very important. Man, the brilliance of the biblical writers are supernatural for sure.

If you've been a long time 1122, or you know what the word meek is. Meek, we don't like the word meek because it rhymes with weak, and we think it means weak. It doesn't. In Greek, it means bit bridled horse. You see, anger is not a thing that is just going to disappear. It's not a problem to be solved.

It is an emotional power where you need to hand the reins over to another master because your flesh can't handle it. That's what it is. That what it means to be meek is for you to confess, Lord, I need help. I ain't got this. I get these emotions. I get these things.

that happen, maybe it's partly the way I wired, I'm sure no, it's the sinfulness of my flesh because I want the world to bow down to me. And when these things happen, what am I going to do? I need to receive, by grace, this gift, and I need to be meek. I need to hand the reins to you and say, Lord, would you please help me direct this anger in the right place? So we receive, with meekness, the implanted Word of God. We've got to make sure that the Word of God, the voice of God through his inspired word is always louder than the voice of me in my head. Do you realize you're the most influential person in your life? You know why? Because nobody talks to you more than you. You ever talk to yourself? All the time. You ever somebody

catch you talking to yourself? Who you talking to? Just us? Let me know. And you say all kind of crazy stuff to yourself. Do you realize that? Do you realize if I talk to you the way you talk to you, you wouldn't allow me to be your friend. Nobody's broken more promises to you. Nobody's lied to you more than you. I'm telling you, man. And so what he's saying is, okay, okay, you struggle with anger? All right, everybody, welcome to earth.

And what you need to do is you've got to put off the filthiness. You've got to put off the wickedness. Let's try to slow this train down, all right? And then you're going to receive, by grace, with weakness, hand me the reins to your life. The implanted word of God. Man, what a great word. planted Word of God.

The Word of God is not just an external record of God's work on the planet. It's also a thing that's like a seed that gets planted inside of you and it begins to do some stuff that a talk from me can't do, man. That's what it does. And we've got to allow the Word of God

to be louder than the crazy things that we tell ourselves or the crazy things that we hear from this world. That you've got to believe God's word even more than you believe your own feelings. Again, there's no such thing is bad feelings, but your feelings will lie to you. Come on, you know this. One more piece of chocolate won't hurt. What a lie. So you receive the implanted word. Here's a couple of verses on anger.

Over 200 times in the Bible, the Bible talks about anger. Here's Proverbs 1417. A man of quick temper acts foolishly. You ever had anger lead to dumb decisions? You know what the Bible means in the Old Testament when it caused you a fool? It means you know better and you do it anyway. Simple is the person that just don't know. Fool is a person that knows and does it anyway. A fool, here's the modern day example. Okay, I love picking on this one. A fool is the modern day cigarette smoker.

That's it. If you smoke cigarettes right now, I'm not saying you go to hell, you smell like it, but I'm not saying you go to hell, okay? You're just a fool. Because don't you see you buy it and there's like a dead person on the thing? And it's like, that's going to be you.

And I know, that's foolish. That's all that is, okay? And I know, every time I do it, somebody's like, I heard you smoke cigars. It's totally different. That's cool. It's fine. Okay, it doesn't count.

Proverbs 151. It says, a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. How many of you know, man, it ain't what you say is how you say it? If you find yourself saying, what's wrong? All I said was, you should memorize Proverbs 151.

It's not just the verse, it's the tone that you're singing it in. That a harsh word stirs up anger, a soft answer turns away wrath. Proverbs 1429. Says, whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Have you ever once you calm down,

you think, gosh, I wish I could take that back. He's saying, pump the break, slow down. A hot temper, this is, Proverbs 15, 18. A hot tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger, quiets contention. You can't be responsible for anybody else, man, but you are responsible for your responsibility.

And when we slow that thing down, we can slow down even the rage in somebody else. Proverbs 1632, whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Parvverbs 1911, good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook an offense. What most people do is overreact to an offense. Please know this. Anger can lead to overreaction. And we are addicted to being offended today. Offense is a choice.

It's a choice. You get to decide if you're offended or not. Now listen, man, being offended is inevitable. Everybody's going to say something. You're like, I can't believe you say that to me, okay? What you do with that is up to you. And our culture is addicted to being offended. I mean, I think people just walk around like with a notebook,

just waiting to write down all the offensive things. that they feel. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, that love keeps no record of wrong, and love is not easily offended. So the mature person who is slow to anger overlooks an offense. Ecclesiastity 7, 8.9 says this,

better is the end of a thing than it's beginning? And I love that, right? It ain't how you start that matters, that's how you end. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry. grief for anger lodges in the heart of fools. Anger is not an event.

And what happens when you don't deal with anger, this is what Paul is talking about in Ephesians chapter 4, when you don't deal with anger and you don't deal with unforgiveness, then it begins to ferment and it creates a bitterness in your heart, man. And it is impossible to simultaneously have bitterness in your heart and the peace of Jesus in your life. They just don't coexist. And what happens with something fernments, man,

you get that fermenting, here's what happens. It's going to stink and I get you drunk. And you'll be drunk on emotion instead of having the peace of Christ that transcends understanding and the spirit of God guarding your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Matthew 522 says this,

but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. Jesus, he says, you've heard it says you shouldn't murder, but if you even hate in your heart, you're as good as a murder.

This is a really big deal. Ephesus 431 says this. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Colossians 3-8s, it's a very similar thing. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. 1. Peter 2-1, very similar.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. So what do we do? Here's what you do. You've got to put away that. You've got to slow pump the brakes on the anger. You've got to put away those things and put on the grace of God.

This is why he says in Ephesians. He says, so be kind to one another and tenderhearted forgiving one another. How in the world am I going to do that, God? Here's how. as God in Christ forgave you. In Matthew chapter 18, man,

there's this beautiful parable that Jesus shares. It's all about forgiveness, but the long and short of it is, there is a servant that gets forgiven of a debt that he can never have paid in 20 lifetimes.

He gets forgiven of this huge debt. And then he walks out, and another servant owes him a little bit of money. It'd be like a week's wage. And he goes UFC on him. The Bible says, he's trying to choke him out.

And everybody says, like, what's wrong with you? How in the world could you be forgiven so much and then not forgive this guy that owes you so little? This is what James is saying. You know why? You know why we are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger?

Because that's how God treats you. That's why. And says, with that in mind, therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and with meekness, receive the implanted word which is able to save your soul. Anger is a really big deal. I mean, think about it in the Bible, man.

Because of anger, Cain killed Abel. Because of anger, Moses was banned from the promised land. Because of anger, Pharaoh lost his army. Saul lost his throne. Balam beat his donkey. That sounds way cooler in King James. Look it up. Nabokinazer lost his mind.

Peter caught off a dude's ear. Because of anger, Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Because of anger, the Jewish leaders had Jesus arrested and flogged. Because of anger, Lucifer tried to over. overthrow the throne room of God. We're talking about a really, really, really big deal. So the reason, the way that we deal with this, try harder ain't gonna work.

Trust me, man. I have tried in my flesh over and over and over to be a kinder, gentler version of me. That's not what we're going for. We need to be at a place where we say, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't need to be a kinder, gentler version of me I need the me that is me to be crucified,

that I am crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. I need to be meek. I need to hand over the reins of my life because, Lord, I ain't got this on my own. I need you. I need you to help me take captives' these thoughts

to submit not only my thoughts, but my emotions to your lordship, and I need your help. And the reason that I've got to be quick to listen and slow to anger and slow to speak is because that's exactly how you treated us. Did you know that God is quick to listen to you? You know why we make such a big deal about prayer at the end?

It's because God is so quick to hear your prayer. He wants to listen to it right now. And God is so slow to anger. The only solution for unrighteous anger is the gospel. It's the only solution. because you know who you have angered? God Almighty. I mean, if you think you're offended

because somebody broke a promise to you, how offended is the almighty, perfect, righteous God and every single sin that we have ever committed is a slap in the face of the almighty righteous king of the universe. And what is his response? His response is he invites anybody and everybody that would put their faith in Jesus Christ that he would be slow to anger.

I mean, what if God was quick to anger? Be lightly attended service today, would it not? Because none of us would be here. We would all have been smote. But instead, because of his mercy, he overlooks sin. Because of his justice, he pays for it. He pays for it. That Jesus Christ stands up from his throne

next to his father in heaven where he has been sitting since eternity past. He wraps himself in flesh. The word becomes flesh and shows up. He lives a perfect life that none of us could live. He goes to the cross and he allows himself to be made our sin so that we who believe could be made his righteousness. And the first thing that he says on that cross is he does not push up on his nail-pierced feet and look at the people that have offended him and say,

get them, God, it's not what he does. The first thing he says is, His Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He pours out every ounce of his blood because without blood there is no remission of sin, and then on the third day, because he was sinless.

The Bible says the wages of sin is death so the grave couldn't hold him. He puts death to death, and he comes out of that grave and then ascends to the right hand of God, the Father, for the last 2,000 years. He's been sitting at the right hand of God, and you know what he said he was going to be doing while he's awaiting coming back to get us,

he's going to talk to the Father on behalf of you and me. So be quick to listen, because God is quick to listen to you and be slow to anger. Why? Because that's exactly how God treats you and me. And because of what Christ has done at the cross, this is love. Not that we love him, not that we're trying to earn it, not that we're trying to perform, but this is love. Not that we love God, but God loved us

and said his son as the propitiation for our sin. And what God thinks about, when he thinks about you, if you were in Christ, he said, my beloved son, my beloved daughter. Now may we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, treat other people, regardless of the offense, may we treat other people the way he has treated us. So we're going to close in a couple different ways.

What's crazy is most oftentimes, the very thing that displays our anger the most is our mouth. In a few weeks, James is going to talk about words, we'll just spend the whole time talking about the power of our words. And what's crazy about the way God has created us as human beings, the most offensive thing that we have, our mouth can also be the very tool that God uses to begin that reconciliation. And so if you're here, any of our campuses, and you're a believer in Jesus, that I want you to be slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to anger. And maybe the first thing that you need to say is look at the people that you've hurt the most because of your anger and use your mouth and you say words like, I am really sorry.

And I would be specific. This isn't like to just blanket, you know, we all sin. So no, no, no, no. I am really sorry I will you forgive me I need grace and I need help and the good news is if you have Christ

you got grace and he sent you a helper but we should confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we might be healed there's some relationships right now at all of our campuses and the healing is going to be in right now in our prayer time you're going to come down dads some of you might need to get your kids husband, some of you might need to say, hey, babe, can we go down here?

I need to confess to you. I am so sorry. Will you forgive me? And then if you don't know, Jesus, I got some other great news. The Bible says that there's a couple things that happen when you get saved. He says, if you believe in your heart that when Jesus died on the cross it counted for you, if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you confess with your mouth. Again, the same thing that the filthiness and the wickedness have come out of,

God uses that very same thing to be the tool that he uses to express your salvation. The Bible says, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And maybe the reason you got all this anger in here and all this anger's been spewing out of you is because you don't know how loved you are. And maybe today, for the very first time you were ready to be loved, to receive the love of Jesus poured out for you at the cross. Well, I'm not saying it's easy to be a Christian, but it is pretty simple to become one. You admit it, I ain't got this, I need help.

You believe that when Jesus died on the cross, it counted for you, and you confess Jesus Christ, you are my Lord and Savior. If you've never done that, I want to give you the opportunity to do it right now. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say, you know, that's me, Pastor, that's me. For the very first time, I am ready to confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Not by anything that I have said, but God is calling out to you. at the deep soul level, and you know that he is calling you to life.

And if you're ready to admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. If you believe that when Christ died on the cross, it counted for you. And if you were ready for the very first time to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, would you signify that by raising your hand as high as you can? Say, Father, I am. Save me. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. Lord, I pray that by the help of the Spirit of God in us,

and under the authority of the Word of God, God, that we would put away filth and wickedness, God, that we would be meek, we would turn over the reins of our life to you. God, that we would be so slow to speak, God, we would be so quick to listen and that, God, you would help us pump the brakes on our anger. God, that we would ask the question,

what am I defending, what am I protecting? and if it is not you, your name, your people, then God immediately we would come to you and say, Lord, we need your help. Would you help us treat others the way you have treated us? And then, God, for those of us that fall regularly, that struggle consistently, God, we thank you that when we fall,

we fall upon the same grace that brought us to you to begin with. So God, would you help us because we need it so much? and God, I thank you that therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And may that lack of condemnation and may that warm invitation of conviction of the Spirit of God lead us to that abundant life in the way we handle our anger. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. So, church, if you would stand as we respond. Again, I want to invite you to come and pray because he is quick to listen.

And maybe tonight, maybe what you need to do right now is, maybe today you need to go to some person and say, hey, we need to go pray together. And before you pray to God, you're going to look at that person and say, I'm sorry for, will you please forgive me? I need grace and I need help. And I promise you, he is quick to listen to that prayer. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray, let's respond.