WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.000 Well, we've been in Proverbs since the beginning of June. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:10.960 So I just wanted to give you a quick recap of where it is that we've been to kind of even orient us to where we are this morning. 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:26.079 If you were with us and you can think back to the beginning of June, we started with a sermon in Proverbs 1, the introduction to the book of Proverbs that was really focused on what wisdom is, defining it, and where to find it. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.839 So we wanted to define it to understand what it is that we're seeking after, but also where to go and look for it. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:38.719 So if you can think back, there was a definition that I gave from one of the professors that I had when I was at Cedarville that I thought was really helpful. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:44.960 The definition of wisdom that we've been kind of operating under is skilled living in God's created order. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:50.000 I think about the way that the world is designed, the way that God created the world. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:17.840 And that's what wisdom is: skilled living in God's created order. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.000 And of course, where do you go to find wisdom? 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:24.879 Well, Proverbs 1:7 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.560 Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:32.239 So the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:33.680 That's kind of where we started. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:52.159 And then week two was what I affectionately termed Tour de Fool, where we basically went through all the Proverbs and tried to show you, hopefully, very maybe impactfully, maybe aggressively, that a lack of wisdom will ruin your life in a thousand different ways. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:02:00.879 Financial ruin, relational strain, all kinds of things that can happen as a result of a lack of wisdom. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.480 But really, from there, I mean, week three was about trusting the Lord from Proverbs chapter three, verses five and six. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:13.439 Specifically, trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.319 But from there, we've been focusing on the heart. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.120 Biblically speaking, what is the heart? 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.560 Of course, we used Proverbs 421 as a launch pad for that. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.439 Keep your heart, guard it, for from it flow the springs of life. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:33.199 We talked about how your heart, biblically speaking, is the control center of who you are. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:35.360 And there's three main aspects of your heart. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:48.159 There's a cognitive aspect, thinking, there's uh an affective or affectional aspect, as in your feelings, your emotions, uh, your desires, and then there's a volitional aspect, your will, the decisions that you make. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:52.719 All that's bound up in biblically, your heart is the control center of who you are. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:02.400 And that brought us to last week, where we talked about a satisfied heart, where our hearts are like little Pac-Man running around, uh just trying to consume and consume, consume. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:08.400 If they're not governed, if we don't have the governor or the leash, if you remember the story about my dog, I won't repeat that here. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:15.120 Uh, but the story of my dog that needed to be on a leash in order for everyone to be safe, including us, uh, is a good picture. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:20.719 It's a good analogy of your heart, putting your heart on a leash and directing your heart in the way. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.919 Now, today I want to talk about um anger. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:41.520 Anger specifically, as we see it in the Proverbs, but really all over the scripture, because last week we talked about, if you remember, point two uh was watch out for ungoverned appetites, watch out for things that go ungoverned, that are insatiable hungers in your heart, uh, that need to be checked by God's word. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:46.319 One of them was drunkenness, one of them was gluttony, those types of things that we saw in Proverbs 23. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:52.080 Now, something else that can govern your heart from a sinful perspective is anger. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:01.039 Anger can easily take root in your heart, and it can govern the way that you speak, the way that you think, and the way that you treat other people. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:07.759 And so today I want us to be free, biblically speaking, from a heart that is governed by anger. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:16.800 I want a heart that's not governed by anger, but rather that is leashed by God's word, prayer, and God's people, as we talked about last week. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:21.040 So that gets us to where we are today, talking biblically about anger. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.040 And I'll say this on the outset. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:30.639 Sinful anger, I say sinful, because there is a category of righteous anger, and we always want to go there when we're angry. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:36.639 We want to define everything that we do in anger as righteousness, oftentimes, but that's rarely the case. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:43.680 So sinful anger, I'm talking about, has no place in the hearts of godly individuals. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.879 Sinful anger has no place in the heart of godly individuals. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:55.759 Now, here's even we're we're gonna be starting in Proverbs 16, 32, but here's another proverb for us to kind of think about this together. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:06.399 Proverbs 25, 28 says, a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.759 And you can, of course, you can think of if you lack self-control. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.600 And then one of the things that's gonna happen is you're gonna be given over to your appetites. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:20.319 You're gonna be given over to your impulses, your desires, even your sinful responses, perhaps one of them being anger. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:25.759 So a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:27.199 Do you see the imagery there? 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.600 There's destruction, there's ruin. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:35.279 For whatever reason, perhaps there was no one watching at the wall, there was no battle plan, there was no defense strategy. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.120 Whatever took place, this city is ruined and is in disarray. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:40.800 And that's what Proverbs 25, 28 says. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.959 That's what a man without self-control is. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:43.920 That's what they're like. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.800 They're like a city broken into and left without walls. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.600 And the same is true for us and for you this morning. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:06:05.920 If you're given into anger and there's no self-control, the Bible would say you're like a city broken into and left without walls, because there's no place for sin in the hearts or for sinful anger, I should say, in the hearts of godly individuals. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:20.959 Of course, that brings us to Proverbs 16, 32, the main text that we're kind of launching from this morning, and it says this whoever is slow to anger, now notice the comparison here, is better than the mighty. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:35.120 And he who rules his spirit has a leash, you could say, over his spirit and his anger and his heart, directing his heart in the way, is is better than he who takes a city. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:40.240 And he who rules his spirit is greater than he who takes a city. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:41.839 So look at the comparison here. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:51.519 We can think about people who are mighty, people who are strong, even from the context of battle, which is what this proverb, Proverbs 16, is kind of alluding to. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:59.040 So in a battle, you've got mighty warriors, people who have been training their whole lives, that are very skilled with their weapon of choice. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:03.279 They're strong, they're victorious, they they can conquer. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:13.839 And it says that whoever is slow to anger, whoever can put a leash on their heart, and perhaps their response of anger is better than that kind of person. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.399 The mighty, the strong soldier is better. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.240 And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:32.160 If you can rule your spirit, if you can temper your anger biblically by the spirit's help, you are greater than the mighty, and you are uh better than those the one who takes a city by a force. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:32.959 Do you see that? 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:44.639 There's a kind of strength that is required to rule over your heart, specifically to rule over perhaps the anger that might be rooted in your heart. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:50.959 And even in Proverbs 19, verse 11, it says, good sense makes one slow to anger. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.480 So it's going to require good sense. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:53.519 It's going to require wisdom. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.399 It's going to require wisdom that's rooted in the fear of the Lord. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:02.480 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:12.639 So here in these few Proverbs, we've got this very clear picture of the kind of strength that is required to subdue sinful anger in our hearts if it's taken root. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.480 And even the commendation of scripture for that kind of person. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.079 That person has good sense. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:28.000 That person who is slow to anger, who has self-control, who can rule over his spirit, is greater than the mighty, is one who makes good sense, has wisdom, and it is his glory. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.440 It is his good, his favor, his recognition to overlook an offense. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:44.480 Now, if we're going to think about anger biblically, I think it's helpful for us to kind of start with a definition, a working definition of what anger is, so that we can kind of tackle it together. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:47.519 So this is the definition that I have found helpful over the years. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:50.720 It comes from a book called Uprooting Anger. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:54.639 I think it's actually recommended as one of the resources on the back of your note sheet. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.720 But uprooting anger was written by a professor of mine from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.320 His name is Robert Jones. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.000 And in this book, here's how he defines anger. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:02.799 I think it's helpful. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.679 There's a lot of parts to this, but let's just think through it. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.600 Anger is a whole person, so not a part. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:14.960 A whole personed, remember, if we think about the heart being the control center of who you are, that would make sense. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:27.759 Anger is a whole personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil, most especially perceived evil committed against you. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:29.360 So that's what anger is. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:34.399 It's a whole person active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:35.919 Now I want to show you this in scripture. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.080 I don't want you to just take Robert Jones' word for this. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.320 I want you to see that this is actually what the scripture says. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.320 But he goes on to say, and I thought this was helpful. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.919 He says, Our anger is an active response. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:47.440 Now that's so important. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:52.879 Because a lot of times when we're angry, we talk as if it's something that happens to us. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.679 It's as if something takes over control. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:08.080 Like there's a little seat, there's a little uh driver's side uh seat and steering wheel that something can hop into in our hearts and take control and drive us somewhere. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.799 Before we know it, we open our eyes and we don't even know what happened. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.600 I mean, that's sometimes how we think about anger and talk about it. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.600 Our anger, in fact, is not that. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.000 It's an active response, it is an action, an activity. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.799 Anger is something we do, it is not something we have. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.480 It is not a thing, a fluid or a force. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.799 It's not a substance that gets imposed upon you by someone else or something else. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.159 The Bible pictures people who do anger not have anger. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:39.120 Think about that. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:48.639 It's a whole person active response to perceived moral judgment or moral judgment, negative moral judgment to perceived injustice. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.159 That's what anger is. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.360 And it's an active response. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:57.120 Again, it's not something that takes control, it's not something that we can say, well, and this happened, or that happened, they did this, or they did that. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:58.639 It's something that we do. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:02.000 The Bible pictures people who do anger. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:10.559 Now, for us to have any sort of progress in understanding what's going on in our hearts, perhaps that's leading us to anger. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:16.159 One of the things that we need to start with is identifying the roots of anger in our hearts. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:17.039 That's point number one. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:22.000 Thoughtfully identify the roots of anger in your life. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.159 I say life, because I just think holistically. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:30.480 Of course, that's rooted in your heart, but holistically, your circumstances, the things that you uh experience, the ways that you think. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:35.279 I mean, thoughtfully identify the roots of anger in your life. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:49.120 Now, to help you with this, I want to give you seven different things that could potentially be a root of anger, or at least could be uh not helping the cause of anger being produced in your heart. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:49.679 Seven things. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:54.639 Now, none of these are on the screen, uh, but I'll give them to you and hopefully uh we can make sense of this. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.919 So here's the first root of anger, harboring bitterness. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.879 As you think about, okay, why am I angry? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:06.080 Why am I, you could even phrase it this way, why am I an angry person? 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:11.759 Why do I tend to respond in certain situations or with some sort of frequency or regularity with anger? 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:17.600 I mean, one of the things that the Bible's gonna say is that you're harboring potentially bitterness. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:25.360 And you can see already, hopefully, when you think about that, you could see how bitterness uh would lend its sort itself towards anger. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:26.399 I mean, what is bitterness? 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:28.879 It's a it's a refusal to forgive, right? 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:36.320 It's holding on to a hurt, it's clinging to some sort of injustice, perhaps maybe even a real uh injustice. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.759 I mean, that's what bitterness is. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:39.519 It's an unwillingness to let go. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:47.360 Or I could even put it this way: bitterness is an unwillingness to trust the Lord in the circumstance that you find yourself hurting in. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.879 I mean, that's what bitterness is. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.639 It's an unwillingness to open your hands and say, Lord, would you take this? 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.000 Lord, would you help me? 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.639 Lord, would you uh would you provide justice? 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.519 Would you vindicate me, or whatever the case may be? 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.360 And so, bitterness, of course, is you holding on to that hurt. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:11.279 And what do we want to do to others when we hold on to hurt perhaps that they've inflicted against us? 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.120 We want to hurt them back. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.639 And typically we do that through our words or through our actions, through our relationship or lack thereof. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:23.120 Perhaps we withdraw the relationship from them, but we can be very punitive. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.159 Do you get what I'm saying? 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.720 Very punitive in the way that we treat other people, in the way that we want them to hurt because they've hurt us. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:38.080 And that bitterness, that unwillingness to forgive leads to anger, leads to an angry response. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:40.960 Now, that's of course, we can see that pattern. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.080 Maybe perhaps that's something that you could even trace in your own life. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.039 But here's what should mark the Christian. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:52.799 Ephesians 4.32 says, be kind to one another, tender hearted. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:54.000 I mean, think about that. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:55.200 Tender-hearted. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:14:00.399 What is bitterness if not a hard heart towards someone else? 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:08.639 Towards something else, perhaps even sometimes people can get bitter at just the world or the circumstance or the the interest rates on mortgages. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:09.360 I mean, whatever. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.679 We can get bitter about those things, right? 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:12.879 The political climate. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:14.799 It's a hardness of heart. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:24.720 But Ephesians 432 says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:34.960 So the expectation in scriptures, in the scriptures, is that if you've been forgiven much in Christ, and of course you have, if you're in Christ, then you must forgive much as well. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.399 I mean, how many times? 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.039 70 times seven. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.480 And the point is, keep going, keep forgiving. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:47.519 Because when you forgive others, you are modeling the forgiveness that you yourself have received. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.240 And of course, bitterness is an unwillingness to do that. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:56.000 It's an unwillingness to extend the very same forgiveness that you were offered. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:57.759 Now, there's a parable about this. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:59.360 Have you heard this parable before? 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.720 The the guy that owed a substantial debt. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:03.600 You heard this? 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.480 Or he goes to the king and the king says, You're forgiven. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:07.519 And then what does he do? 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:14.080 He turns around and he goes to some other guy that owes him such a small debt in comparison and he holds it against him. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:15.679 And that's part of the forgiveness teaching. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:16.399 Hey, what are you doing? 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.759 You've been forgiven much. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:19.120 You must forgive. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:26.559 But when we harbor bitterness, when we reject forgiveness, it inevitably will lead to anger. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.320 I don't feel like I have to paint this picture. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:29.279 I mean, you know. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:37.519 You know, in your family relationships, and perhaps hurt that you've experienced, maybe someone's bitter against you, maybe you're bitter against someone else. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:42.639 You know that one of the things that so easily accompanies that is anger. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:43.919 I'm bitter. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.039 I don't want to forgive them because I want them to feel what I feel. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.279 I want them to experience what I experience. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:56.879 And so we lack forgiveness, we harbor bitterness, and as a result, anger is lying in wait. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.799 Here's the next root potentially of bitterness: pride. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.799 Now, of course, pride is sort of like uh, I don't know, it's like water in a sense when it comes to sin. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:07.919 It's the universal solvent. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:09.200 It's like it's everywhere, right? 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:13.360 I mean, it's it's uh we could connect pride to anything that we do, of course. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:15.440 Pride is such a chief sin. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:22.480 In fact, next week, uh that's how we're gonna wrap up our proverb series by talking about pride uh at greater length. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:27.759 But think about this from the perspective of even the definition of anger. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:36.720 It's a whole person active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil or in injustice. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:48.000 All right, so our pride oftentimes when when we have this perception of we have been wronged, we've been disrespected, we've been belittled. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:58.639 Oftentimes it's so easy for us to make that excuse or to perhaps respond to that situation or circumstance with anger. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:09.200 Here's what Proverbs 21, 24 says a scoffer is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.000 Pride is one of the roots that fuels anger. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:15.599 I mean, think about it. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:22.000 When when things are not going your way, I mean, of course, we're gonna talk about another route, which is selfishness. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:22.640 We'll get to that. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:33.440 When things are not going your way, or people are not treating you as you feel like you ought to be treated, or they don't speak of you as you think they should speak of you, or they don't think of you as you think they should think of you. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:34.400 I mean, whatever. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:43.440 Our our pride, uh, we we perceive people to think lowly of us or disrespect us or whatever, whatever, whatever, and we're gonna be angry about it. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:43.680 Why? 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:44.480 Because we feel deep. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:45.759 We feel we feel owed. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:46.720 No, no, no, no. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.160 You don't you don't speak that way to me. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:53.599 You don't talk that way about me, you don't think that about me, you you don't have any right, whatever we want to say, right? 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.880 That's our pride that often is accompanied by anger. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:02.880 Anger uh is propelled and fueled by pride. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:09.599 Scoffer is the name of the arrogant, a haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.279 Here's another root of bitterness: selfishness, right? 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:30.079 Not getting what you want, or in a sense, not being able to control the circumstances of your life, not being able to control your spouse, not being able to control what's going on, not getting things how you want, when you want, where you want. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:41.279 Here's what James 3:16 says for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be, do you hear the definitiveness in that? 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:52.880 There will be disorder and every vile practice, where jealousy and selfish ambition exist. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.440 There will be disorder in every vile practice. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:00.559 And what is anger, if not disorder, in a vile practice? 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.240 I mean sinful anger. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:03.440 What is anger? 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.680 If we're not going to define it that way, how would we define it? 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:06.799 That's what anger is. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.200 It's disorder, it's it's a heart gone awry. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:14.960 And oftentimes our selfishness can lead us towards anger. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.680 Let's think about something even silly. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:18.000 Right? 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:23.359 A silly example, kind of low barrier to entry that maybe some of you might relate to. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.160 Let's talk, let's think about the thermostat in your house. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:27.839 Do you have an opinion about that? 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:32.720 Uh count of three. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:35.039 Everyone shout the perfect temperature on your thermostat. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:35.680 One, two, three. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.240 Okay, the right answer. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.680 I'm at the right church. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.000 68 was what I heard. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:42.799 That is. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:44.559 Let's pray. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:45.680 No, I'm just kidding. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:55.920 You have you ever we don't you don't need to raise your hands, but have you ever gotten angry because the thermostat was not at 68 degrees? 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.960 Isn't that selfishness, right? 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:07.599 Um can I confess, I I I really I don't like being hot for no reason. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.000 So if I'm outside mowing the lawn and I'm hot and I'm sweaty, no big deal. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.119 If I'm playing pickleball, sweating, not not a care in the world. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:19.599 If I'm in my house sitting on the couch and I'm hot, I am honestly angry. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.519 The Lord's sanctifying me through that. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:30.559 And so I've had opinions before about the thermostat on the wall, and even selfishly perhaps have imposed it in the past. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.839 I mean, that's a silly example, one that perhaps you relate to. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.359 But think about it your selfishness, getting what you want, how you want it. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:42.319 And when you don't, when something gets taken away from you that you feel like you are due, what's the response? 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:43.200 Anger. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:49.759 We get angry, and our selfishness can certainly be a root of anger. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:52.079 Here's the here's the next root envy. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:58.640 Now, envy, let me define it this way: it's when someone else gets what you feel like you rightfully deserve. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:04.640 Envy is not just wanting what other people have, and a sense that might be jealousy. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:06.799 It's not just wanting what other people have. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.240 Oh, they've got a nice house, they've got a nice boat, they've got this, they've got that. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.160 Envy takes it a step further. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:19.680 Envy is thinking that the person who has something shouldn't have it, and that you should. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.119 You deserve it, you are owed it. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:28.640 It's wanting what someone else has and feel like you rightfully deserve it as your own. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.480 I mean, that's what envy is. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:36.720 And envy, of course, could lead towards angriness or anger, angry, anger. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:38.960 Still thinking about the thermostat. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.039 Anger, envy, right? 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:49.200 First Peter chapter 2, verse 1 says this So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:57.119 Put it away because envy, looking at someone else, what they have, not just wanting it, but feeling like you are the one that rightfully deserves it. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.119 Hey, I deserve the house. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.839 I deserve it. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:06.000 The the lifestyle, I deserve the the comfort, I deserve the recognition, I deserve whatever. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:11.759 And to be honest, a lot of times our envy, it may not be stuff, materially speaking. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:12.559 Sometimes it is. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.839 I find more often, it's not necessarily stuff things, material things. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:26.079 I find most frequently envy is about achievements, what other people can do or what other people have been recognized for. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:32.480 I think about even in your work environment, other people get the promotion before you do, and you feel like you deserved it. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:39.519 And then you start cataloging in your head who the other person is that got it, who you are, and why you are better in every way, right? 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.079 How you deserved it and they didn't. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.119 That that you were more qualified, you were more experienced, you've been on the job longer. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:48.559 I mean, whatever the case may be. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.839 You're envious that they got something that you feel like you deserve. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.640 Ever happened to you before in that kind of environment? 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.960 That's that's when I find envy coming out. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.519 Why do people speak so well of this person? 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:01.359 They don't say those things about me. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.519 Or why do people think so highly of that person and not think so highly of me? 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:06.640 Well, what about what I do? 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:08.160 What about my strengths? 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:09.359 What about my accomplishments? 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:10.240 What about me? 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:10.559 Right? 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:14.079 I mean, which is of course is selfishness welded to envy. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.000 We want what other people have. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:20.160 And oftentimes, again, it's not necessarily material possessions, though it can be that. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:27.519 I find it's often achievement-based, it's recognition, it's people feeling like they are due the honor that someone else has. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.279 And that's what envy does. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:39.440 And of course, uh, when you think about, you know, that that example of the the coworker who got the promotion that you were passed up for, what are you feeling in your heart towards that person? 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:45.839 If you're in a sinful place, you're not going, man, I'm so happy for them. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.640 You're often feeling angry. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:53.119 And you're you're often even angry at the person that that didn't make the decision. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:57.039 It's not like he promoted himself or she promoted herself, right? 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:02.079 Someone else promoted them, and you're often angry at the person who got the thing that you feel like you deserve. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:06.960 That's what envy is, and that can certainly lead towards anger. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:08.319 We need to put put it away. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:13.039 Put away all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, and envy and all slander. 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:17.039 Put it away because it's going to lead to anger. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:18.240 You know that. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.480 You felt that perhaps. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.599 Can we be honest? 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:32.960 Have you ever been in an environment, maybe a small group where someone commends someone else's, let's just say spirituality, their maturity, their wisdom. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:39.359 Someone else says, I really admire this person for their walk with the Lord. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:46.240 And instead of just immediately rejoicing, that's such a great thing, you you in your heart you go, well, wait a minute, what about me? 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.799 That's envy. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:56.079 That's envy that can find itself and root itself in so many different ways in our relationships that can lead us towards anger. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:02.319 And you can see how envy, of course, is fueled by pride, fueled by selfishness, but also envy crystallized. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.279 You know what it is? 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:10.319 It can be bitterness towards someone, which of course is another route of anger. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.319 Here's another one entitlements. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:18.079 Of course, these are overlapping, uh, but I mean entitlement in a very specific sense. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:24.720 An entitlement that often you feel uh for justice that you think you deserve. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:28.640 And maybe, can I just qualify, maybe you do deserve the justice. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.359 Maybe you have legitimately been wronged. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:37.599 But entitlement, as in you're gonna get it at your timetable in your way. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:49.440 Uh, and if it doesn't happen on your timetable, in your way, then you're gonna dole it out, usually with your words, with your actions, or again, a withdrawing of the relationship. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.759 So we we can feel entitled. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.359 I've been hurt, I've been wronged, I need justice now. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:56.799 This needs to be right. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:59.839 This this wrong needs to be righted now. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:05.440 And that sense of urgent entitlement can lead towards anger. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:12.559 Here's what Paul says in Romans 12, 19: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:20.240 For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:26.400 When we feel this unchecked sense of entitlement, it can lead us towards anger. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:29.759 Here's another route: foolishness and immaturity. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:37.119 Of course, this is kind of what we're talking about in Proverbs as a whole, that when you act like a fool, foolish things happen, foolish results follow. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:56.400 So Proverbs 14, 29 says, Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, has great wisdom, has a great ability to skillfully navigate even hurt that they might feel, or uh situations that might tend towards anger, or leading them that way, provoking them in that direction. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:02.880 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:05.599 Can we just let the Proverbs speak today? 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:14.559 If you have a hasty temper, if you're easily given over to anger, the the Proverbs tell you the Bible says you exalt folly. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:22.240 That you're a fool, that you act in foolish ways, you're exalting, you're making much of foolishness. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.880 He who has a hasty temper exalts folly. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:34.480 So, of course, our our our our lack of understanding, our lack of wisdom, our lack of fear of the Lord is going to lead to anger. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:37.119 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:39.759 Of course, if you're quick to anger, you don't have great understanding. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:42.160 But he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:47.599 So your foolishness can be directly connected to your anger. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:59.519 Even I thought of Ecclesiastes 7 9, where it says, Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:03.920 Anger lodges in the heart of fools. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:13.039 Now let that just sit in your heart for a second, that if you're prone to anger, the Bible says that anger lodges in a specific kind of person. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:15.519 What is that person? 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:17.119 A fool. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:21.119 Anger lodges in the heart of fools. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:26.880 Because we're exalting folly in our foolishness and in our immaturity. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:30.880 Here's the last root potentially of anger idolatry. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:36.559 Of course, you can see idolatry in our pride, idolatry in our selfishness, idolatry even in our bitterness. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:43.200 I mean, all of these things kind of can be can be summarized in some form or fashion in idolatry, but it's worth putting. 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:56.720 When we have a wrong love, a wrong affection, when we worship the wrong things, the wrong God, a God of our own making, the God of our own desires, that leads to anger. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:03.680 First John 2, 15 through 17 says, Do not love the world or things in the world. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.200 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:15.440 For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.880 And the world is passing away along with its desires. 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:22.319 But whoever does the will of God abides forever. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:29.200 Our love of the things of this world, our love of our own selfish desires, is idolatry that can lead to anger. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:39.680 And idolatry is something, of course, that we need to confess, turn from, and trust in God, seek forgiveness and walk forward in grace. 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:42.559 So the summary of all this, where does anger come from? 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:50.160 Anger comes from a heart that lacks trust in God and desires to be God. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:52.799 That's where anger comes from. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:58.079 It comes from a heart that desires to be God and lacks trust in God. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:03.680 We want what we want when we want it, and we think we are due. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:08.480 And so we take it into our own hands, often in our anger, to try to get it. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:09.839 We don't trust God. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.960 We don't trust that vengeance belongs to him, he will repay. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:18.880 We don't trust him, and we want to be him, if we want to be able to control the outcome in the circumstance. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.400 That's where anger comes from. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:36.000 Now, if anger is something that you struggle with, or if anger is something that you give yourself over to, you need to recognize how destructive anger is in your life. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:42.880 Point number two, open your eyes to the destructive wildfire anger ignites. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.000 And it is a destructive wildfire. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.279 I mean, think about it. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:51.599 Who likes being around angry people? 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:53.359 No one. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:56.160 It's highly unpleasant. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.200 It's a destructive wildfire. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:30:59.680 Why? 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:06.559 Well, first I would say because anger is almost always a work of the flesh. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.079 Galatians 5, 19 and 20. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:11.599 Here's what Paul says. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.400 Now the works of the flesh are evident. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:31.359 Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:36.640 Anger is almost always a work of the flesh. 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:41.920 Now the works of the flesh are evident, and one of them is fits of anger. 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:46.799 So that brings us to the part of the sermon where we we want to talk briefly about righteous anger. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:48.240 Because I know that's what you're all thinking. 00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:49.519 Well, what about righteous anger? 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:52.480