Well, hello. Good to see you.

Pastor Dave Fry of Riverview Church and it’s good to be back with you here again today.

I understand that in some of the.

Recent chapters we’ve been talking about emotions. We’ve got emotions.

If you don’t have emotions, you’re dead. We’ve all got emotions, don’t we? And sometimes our emotions surprise us.

And I think perhaps I want to talk about one of those that surprises us and others around us more than any others.

Let me ask you just a couple questions.

Have you ever snapped at somebody unexpectedly and then regretted it? You ever said something to a friend or perhaps a sibling and you realize you could never take those words back? Or maybe you’ve slammed a door or you have thrown something, or you’ve given someone the sign of truth?

And maybe you have felt anger rising.

In your being when somebody said something that was embarrassing to you, or they disrespected you, or they treated you unfairly. Obviously, you don’t have to raise your hand in answer to any of those questions. I think it is true. Every person in this room knows what anger feels like, right? My grandfather used to say, I am so mad I could spit. And you understand what that’s like, spitting mad.

Some of us explode outwardly. Others, we kind of stuff it.

I call it clam up and then blow up. You hide it inside until you can’t hide it anymore and it just erupts. And isn’t it interesting how sometimes it’s the little things that cause you to explode? It’s like that last grain of rice on the scale that tips it all and it all spills out. Here’s what Jesus says about anger in Matthew, chapter five. Don’t turn there. I’m going to have you turn to some other passages here in a little bit. But Matthew, chapter 5, verse 22, he’s talking about anger and hatred in your heart. He says, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable or accountable to judgment. What do we take from a passage like that? We take simply this anger is serious in God’s eyes. Anger is an emotion that we all experience.

But anger is an emotion that God takes very seriously. But here’s some good news, and we’re going to end with this. There is good news for the angry person. Jesus offers real help for angry hearts.

I want to do just three simple.

Things here this morning. I want to try to define what anger is in a simple way that you can take home with you. I want to try to uncover a little bit about what anger reveals about our hearts. And not the organ that’s beating and pumping blood in your chest, but the.

Internal person, your thoughts, your desires. What does your anger tell you about what’s going on inside of us?

You.

And then finally, I want to just talk about how Jesus came to deal with what’s on the inside. Jesus came to transform us so that what comes out of us is full of joy and full of peace.

What is anger? Let me give you a little definition. You may want to write this down. Anger is a response of your heart when something you care about is threatened or denied. Let me say it again. Anger is a response of your heart when something you care about is threatened or denied. Or you could even say or taken away. For example, anger says, I like this. I don’t like it one bit. Anger says, that’s not what.

Fair.

It’s not fair. Or anger can say, when something happens to us, I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve that look from you. I don’t deserve that tone from you. I don’t deserve those words from you. I don’t deserve that attitude from you. Anger says, well, I should be treated differently.

I don’t deserve it. I deserve something else.

Anger rises in us when what we.

Desire, what we want, gets blocked. Sometimes we want people to. To respect us. And what do we get instead? Well, they mock us. Sometimes we want control. My life should look exactly like this. My day should look exactly like this.

My classroom should look exactly like this.

And things don’t go our way. Anger arises when we want comfort, but someone or something gets in the way. Anger arises when our desires are threatened. And this means here it is.

Anger reveals at any given moment what.

Is most important to you. That’s what your anger is communicating. Anger is like a window into your heart. It tells us what’s going on the inside.

Now, anger can be simple. In fact, I would say that most of the time, our anger is displeasing to God. It violates his commands and his desires for us. But not always. In the Bible, in Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 26. It says, Be angry, but do not anybody know sin?

Yeah, right. Be angry and do not sin. Anger is not always sinful. Even Jesus experienced anger. So how do we know?

How do we know if our anger.

Is sinful or not?

I’m going to give you three criteria.

It’s like a test.

You can run it on your heart. You can make your heart take this test when you are angry, or maybe you have completely exploded and you’ve been sent to your room and you are sitting there and you’re having to think about it, right? Parents tell us, go to your room and think about it until I get there, right? Well, what are you going to think about? You can check your anger according to this test. Number one, righteous anger.

Righteous anger reacts to things that are actually sin. Is that how our anger? Is that why our anger is expressed most of the time? No.

Most of the time.

We are triggered by things that are inconvenient or irritating or when our personal preferences are violated.

But righteous anger is directed at things that are truly evil.

It is righteous to be angry at murder.

It is righteous to be angry toward theft.

Or abuse. Ask yourself, am I reacting to something that is actually sin? Or am I reacting to the fact that my desires weren’t met and somebody got in the way? Second part of the test is righteous anger focuses more on God and less on us. What do I mean? Righteous anger is motivated by concern for God and his glory.

Am I really offended that God was.

Disposing, dishonored, or am I angry that somebody made me look silly? Righteous anger focuses on God and his kingdom. But here is a third part of the test, and this is perhaps where you’ll feel it more. And it’s simply this. Righteous anger is expressed in righteous ways. And this is often where we stumble.

We may be angry at something that really is sin, and we may be really concerned about God and his glory,

But we let our anger out of our mouth and we curse and we yell and we scream and we’re disrespectful and we slam doors and we punch things or people. We break stuff.

Or maybe it’s not even that.

We get really quiet and we lie and somebody says, are you okay?

I’m fine.

What’s wrong?

Nothing.

We’re not expressing our anger in ways that. That please God. Righteous anger reacts against things that are actually sin. Righteous anger is more concerned about God than ourselves. And righteous anger is always expressed in righteous ways.

Okay, you want to do a case study?

I got two of them for you turn now in your Bibles to Mark. The Gospel of Mark, chapter three.

Mark, chapter three. We’re going to do this fast,

But.

This is a story about Jesus healing.

A man who had a withered hand. Okay?

And just follow along as I read. Are you there?

Raise your hand if you get there.

Mark, chapter three.

Got there, Got there. You’re not raising your hand, you’re just coming there.

Okay, follow along.

Verse one again. He that is Jesus entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus. And who’s they? That is the religious leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes. They watched him to see whether he would heal somebody on a Sabbath. Why? So that they might accuse him.

And he said to the man with a withered hand, come here. And he said to him, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? But they, that is the scribes and.

Pharisees, they were silent. And he looked, get this.

He looked around them with what sin? Anger. Jesus, the man who never sinned, looked around with anger,

Grieved at their hardness of heart. So he said to the nail, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out and his hand was restored.

And the Pharisees went out and immediately.

Held counsel with the Herodians, that is those Jewish leaders that were deeply influenced by Greek philosophy and they conspired against him on how to destroy him.

Okay, let’s put Jesus respectfully to the test, okay? Remember those three things. Is Jesus reacting? He was angry. Is he reacting against something that’s actually sin? Yeah, he’s angry because the Pharisees hold hearts were hardened against this man who needed to be shown mercy because he was suffering, but because they didn’t want to violate their religious traditions about the Sabbath. Was what? Which wasn’t just honoring the commandment that.

God gave under the Old Covenant in the Old Testament. It was all their extra little laws that they added to it. And their hearts were hard. They were unwilling to do good and show mercy on the Sabbath.

Their sin was real. They were neglecting love.

For preference to their own laws. So Jesus is reacting in sexual sin. What about the second test?

Whose kingdom was Jesus focused on? His Father’s or his own?

He wasn’t angry for his own sake. His concern was that God’s law had been twisted into this lifeless legalistic system.

That hurt people and dishonored God. So he put his foot down and he brought fire down from heaven upon them.

No, he didn’t. Now he expressed his anger how? In Godly ways. He actually expressed his anger by saying, that man stretched out your hand, he was going to prove who he was and that he had authority over the.

Sabbath.

And he showed mercy. Next time you’re angry, look at me. Next time you’re angry, ask the Lord. How can I show him mercy instead of wrath? That’s what Jesus did. Jesus had all authority to show wrath, but he displayed mercy. His anger, look at what it produced. It produced the restoration of this man’s withered hand. But our anger, what does it often produce? Destruction. Jesus always got aim for the right things, for the right reasons, and he expressed it in the right ways. Now how about a counter example? Let’s do another case study. Turn all the way back to the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, chapter four. Genesis, chapter four. Raise your hand when you get there.

Well done.

Okay, ready?

Follow along.

Adam and Eve, they had children. They had two sons. And their names were Cain and his younger brother Abel.

And look at verse two.

Abel was a keeper of sheep, and.

Cain was a worker of the ground. She had a shepherd and he had a farmer. Verse 3. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.

And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock.

And they’re fat portions. Just make sure you understand what’s going on.

Cain is raising crops and brings those.

Crops to the Lord.

Abel has sheep and he brings the.

Sheep to the Lord. And now look at what happened. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. Why ask your Bible teacher. Because that’s not the point of me reading this story. I don’t want to get sidetracked by asking why. What I want you to see is how Cain responded. And Cain was very angry and his face fell. And the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your face fallen?

Please hear this. Look at me. You think you can hide your anger? You can’t. I can’t. People know.

God knows when we’re angry. It’s shown in our face. But look what the Lord said. If you do well, you will you not be accepted. See, God is looking not at Cain’s offering. God is looking at Cain’s heart. And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It’s like a lion that is waiting there to pounce. And its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. Well, what happened? We know verse 8. Cain spoke to Abel, his Brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Let’s put Cain to the test. Let’s put Cain to the test. Is Cain reacting in something that’s actually sin? No. Abel had done nothing wrong.

Cain was angry because God accepted his brother’s offering instead of his. And his anger was rooted in jealousy. He got something that I wanted. I wanted it my way. And God said no.

And now I’m mad about it.

Whose kingdom was Cain focused on? God’s kingdom?

No, his own kingdom. Cain’s anger was so focused, he was asking in his heart. This is the question, why him and not me?

Why his offering and not mine? Why does he get blessing and I don’t?

That’s what Cain was asking in his heart. How did he express his anger? Was it in a righteous way? No, not at all. You ever been so mad you thought you could murder someone? You see it on the meters all the time, don’t we? When you are angry. Please listen to me. All of you, listen to me. Especially over here. When you are angry, sin is crouching at the door and its desires for you. But you must rule over it. You must rule over it. How do we rule over it when we put ourselves to the test and then we begin to submit our hearts to the Lord and we ask him to reveal what’s really going on the inside of our hearts? You see, anger reveals what’s going on. I want you to turn to another passage.

I’m going to walk through this really quickly with you. James, chapter four. James, chapter four. It’s toward the end of the Bible because James lays out what’s happening in our hearts when we become angry. James chapter four asks this question, what.

Causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Why do you fight with your sister? Why do you quarrel with your brother? Why do you murmur in your heart towards your mom and your dad? Why do you complain about your teachers? Is it not this? James, chapter 4, verses 1 through 3? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you? You desire and you don’t have, so you what?

Murder,

James, is tying back what’s going on in the heart of every man, woman and child, all the way back to what went on in the heart of Cain at the beginning. And here it is. You have desires that you can’t get. You can’t get them. Your passions are at war within you.

And instead of just being.

Okay with, well, I want something, but I’m not getting it, you say, no, I’m Going to demand it. You stomp your foot, you cry, you.

Complain and grumble, you manipulate others,

You fight and you quarrel. And so ultimately, you murder. Now, you may not murder physically, but you may murder somebody with a look.

You may murder them with your words. I hate you. You make me puke.

I can’t stand you. Or you say, I’m not even going to give you the dignity of saying anything to you. And I’m just going to ignore you because I want you to know that you don’t matter me. And I’m gonna punish you with my silence. Have you ever been there, oh, God, have mercy on us that we would murder without our words or our looks or even with our silence. Here’s what happens in our hearts, friends. We desire something, but we don’t get it. And so we begin to demand it. And when we don’t get what we demand, you know what happens? We punish. We punish.

You can write these words down.

Desire, demand, punish. When you’re angry, say, lord, reveal in my heart what I’m desiring, what I’m demanding and what I’m doing. How am I punishing others because I’m not getting what I want. I want you to know something about me. I’ve been angry man. I’ve been angry man. About 20 years ago, I put a.

Hole in a wall and.

I left it there. It was in the stairwell of our basement.

And I was so angry with my.

Children, I put a hole in the.

Wall and I left it there because I needed a daily reminder. Every time I walked past that hole, I needed a reminder that sin breaks things.

It causes destruction.

You still go to that house. It’s actually on the church property. And a contractor tried to fix it, but you could still see it.

And it’s there.

And it’s a reminder to me, even to this day, that sin breaks things.

But I’m also reminded as I look at my wife and my children and our church and the people who love me in spite of the my sin. God saves sinners. When we cry all my sins, my sins. We look and we have a magnificent savior. Jesus saves angry people. Jesus saves angry pastors. Jesus saves angels, angry moms and dads. Jesus hates angry teachers and principals and administrators and janitors. Jesus saves angry young people who often don’t know how to express their anger. They don’t know how to think about it. What do you do with your anger? How do you respond? Well, I gave you a test. Let me give you some steps. First, admit that you’re angry.

Stop saying I’m not angry.

Because everybody knows that you’re lying. Everyone knows that you’re angry. Confess your anger. And when I say confess, I also mean to responsibility for it. Yes, I’m angry. I’m angry. But secondly, confess.

Run that test.

Run yourself through that test. Confess my anger. God is. It’s not actually a sin.

My anger is because your name has.

Been run through the mud. It’s because I didn’t get what I want. And my anger is really more about me than it is about you. I confess that.

Confess that you are expressing your anger in sinful ways.

Ask God forgiveness. Confess it. Ask forgiveness and then do this. Remember God’s grace. Jesus has forgiven us in Christ. In fact, his Word says if you confess your sins, he’s faithful and just. You just sang about God’s justice in that song, about his love. He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, some of you right now, look at me. Some of you are angry. Some of you are angry some of the time. But some of you right here are angry all the time and you don’t know what to do about it. Here’s where you start. You start by confessing it to the Lord. And I want you to know there’s help for angry hearts. There’s help from your pastors. There’s help from your teachers, from your principal and administrators.

And I would be glad to help you. Because sometimes we all have angry hearts, don’t we? But there’s hope and there’s help for that angry heart. Let me close this in prayer. Father God, we thank you that your word speaks to emotions like anger. And we thank you that it teaches us that anger is more than just an emotion. Anger is a window into our hearts. Anger tells us about our desires and our affections and our wants and our likes and our dislikes. And God, because we’re sinners, we want. And like many things that you say are forbidden and we dislike many things that you say are good. Help us to rule over anger through the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working inside of us.

And I pray that you would change the heart of each soul here, that they would learn what it means to be a new creature, a new creation in Christ. One who still gets angry sometimes, but knows what to do with it. And I pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.

God bless you.