Be angry and do not sin!

Blessed to have you if your guests with us this morning, we're so glad you're here. I also let me just

play welcome to Pastor James and his wife welcome Jamie. I'm sorry. Welcome to Maranatha this morning. We're so glad you you came.

And as soon as I find those notes, there you go. Okay. Alright. So for those of you who are you this morning? Just explain what's going on? We meet every Sunday morning and we want to worship God and we worship God through our singing for our prayer to our recitation of the word and then we study the scripture systematically book by book verse by verse cuz we really want to know what God has to say for this sort of like or spiritual reading a few will where we exhale our worship to God and we take in his Ward. So this morning right now, we're going to spend a little bit of time in God's words and and we started early February are starting the book of Ephesians and we're just nailing along where we barely made it to the end of close to the end of chapter 4 this morning, so, Where in this book of Ephesians and if you haven't been here before I let me just kind of briefly tell you what is all about Ephesians is a letter. Well, actually the letter that Paul sent to a church that was established in Ephesus, which is about 10 or 15 miles off the shore. Of the Aegean Sea in what modern day Turkey he writes to this church that just got to stablish to encourage it and instructed this book. If you read it is you can pretty much divided down into sections the theological section in the Practical section. The first half is where you learn who you are in Christ. The second part is where you learn what you need to do because of it. We can you can in title if you will the first part saved by grace and the second part. You can probably type title it leaving bike race. Or what do you have to do because of that Grace and and right now we are in the second half of chapter 4 and when does section we've been spending a little bit of time in the section from verse 17 through the end of the chapter verse 32 and this whole kind of large section we can probably best Expresses in in the words of the Apostle Paul to says put off the old self and put on the new self put on the old self and be renewed polish talking about now that you're a born again Christian. Now, you're a God you are priced. You have to be different your life cannot look the same way that it looked before. It has to be different and so Christ is slowly now that you are a new creation in Christ. He is slowly replacing you. Things that worth the world of the old self a few will that is called sanctification and Paul gives us five examples in the scripture of ours. He talks about five exchanges that needs to take place and it's it's beautiful how jesus takes away stuff and he doesn't just going to leave the painting but he replaces them with something else and they're fighting changes here that need to take place its first exchange line for speaking the truth exchange secondly anger for righteousness thirdly exchange stealing forgiving and working Fort Lee exchange a corrupted for one that is uplifting and number five is exchanged sinful reactions for Godly ones. And that's in the context of relationships this morning. We're going to be Spend our time in the second one, which is exchanging anger for righteousness before we dive into our scripture. I just want to briefly make it as close as possible. You know that we we spent a little more time last week and the week before but I just want to restate and make it as as clear as possible that this is not a to-do list to be saved pause not giving us a to-do list. So if you do the stuff you going to be safe know you are saved by grace you are saved by the grace of God is what he did before the beginning of the world that he brought about in your life at the right time and he saved you by faith. This is not a to-do list so that you know how to be saved. This is not a to-do list so that you will remain saved. This is not something that you know, you have to do to kind of hang on to that Grayson be saved know you are saved by grace and you live by grace and you we need to understand this morning that being able to do this stuff do the stream. I've got a testimony of God's grace you would not have been able to even recognize the need to change and let alone make those changes if it wasn't for God's grace. We are born we are born again received by grace and we leaving Grace and part of his grace is Christ renewing us and changing things in our so that being said something about scriptures this morning to our first two verses that were going to be starting this morning and that's a diffusions 4 verses 26 and 27. And we're just going to go to those two verses this morning where the Bible says be angry. And do not sing. Let not the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Amen. We got to meet this morning that it's a bit of a peculiar text, right? It's it's kind of interesting. So help me out. What what is the scripture about? What what do you think is the main topic of this verse couple verses? Any help me out anger good. What about it? What is the scripture telling us to do?

Help me out.

Kenneth off, right cuz you expect her to say hey, don't be angry cuz you'll send. Do not be angry so that you won't send or if you're angry or when you're angry. Stay away from sin. But actually what this picture is saying. It's saying be angry in the affirmative and it's kind of a you know, something that what you would not expect scripture to say be angry. Right and then on top of that it says while you're angry be angry and do not sin. How's that even possible? I thought anger was a sin. When will we we we believe in think and then on top of that do not let the sun go down on your anger as if to say that there is a sort of like a 1D limit to your anger in the Bible. Is it? Well, don't be angry. But if you're angry just got to take that one day. So if you got to be angry just kind of make sure you're angry in the morning to have more time to work it out or later at night is that it's getting tougher and then at the end of it the Bible says and give no opportunity to the devil. So depending on how you handle this anger Satan may or may not have opportunity in your life. So it's it's it's pretty confusing at this point and wait It's Gettin It's Gettin isn't worse cuz of cure just a few verses down verse 31. Paul says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you along with all malice support. Which one is it? Should I be angry or should I put it away not be angry. What should I do here be angry and do nothing, but then he says, Languor should be put away. Which one is it? Can a Christian get angry Christian get angry and not sin? Only jelly sent to say Noah Christian cannot get angry a Christian should always be nice. Well, I mean maybe a little bit of passive aggressiveness. We not in church. You know, but Christian should be nice. That's what we tend to say, you know, we can get where the confusion is cuz I'm one hand you have scriptures like this one. We're friends or the verse 31 with Paul says don't be angry or Colossians 3:8 where the Bible says You must put them all away. Anger rap. Malice Lander obscene talk from your money. You got to put them all the way you've got scriptures like this and then 11 to scriptures and Starting the Old Testament goldway to the New Testament than you realize that there is such a thing called the wrath of God. God is angry sometimes God is angry Sunday. Remember a famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards called sinners. In the hands of an Angry God God expresses anger. What would Jesus? What Jesus cannot express anger right? He's Jesus but then you kind of look into scripture. For instance. I'll give you a couple example Mark 3:5 Jesus says Mark looked around at them with anger. grieved at their Hardness of Heart When when the disciples in the different situations have prevented the two children to come to Jesus the Bible says that he got angry. He got angry to let him come to me. Or if you go all the way back in the Book of Revelation 6:16, do you see people that are calling for the mountains in the Rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of who's King who is Seated on the throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb? So Jesus expresses anger scriptures you find man of God. that at what point in their life day Express anger? Some like some some of the judges were Samuel or Elijah or Elisha or David or profits you find instances in their lives when they were angered.

so Which one is it? Should a Christian be angry or no?

Who's this movie that came out maybe 1999 or so cold? They can Librium the whole theme of the movie. Was that somewhere into a distant future. They realize that feelings are the ones that caused all the wars and troubles in the world. So they invented this drug that would Nom you off and then you know, you would not be able to feel anything and you just function and feelings war and anything that would those associated with any feeling was illegal. So in in in in our Christian Life is anger one of those things that is absolutely legal. It's it's a place where we never ever need to go. What is it? Which one is it? Well so that we can understand this. I think we need to First. Understand what anger is and why we have it. And goody surprising to some of us that to understand that anger. Like Joy like hope like love like all the other feelings that God gave us where a gift by creation by Design in the creation. God equipped us with these feelings. Joy hope love anger even all of them were built into us from creation. That's an interesting fact to think about You know, what? Would that give us a list of reasons one Wonder sternguard? Tool to be able to reflect God understand God because God build us build love into our so we can begin to understand what it is. When we read in the Bible that God is love God loves us. We have our families and God placed love into our hearts and you know, we love our kids and then God reveals to us as a loving father and we start to make the connections. Okay. I think I can understand what it is to some degree or take joy, for example, you know, we have join our hearts and and now we can understand what God feels in his heart when you know, the Sinner repents and he rejoices over there. So, you know, He built into was anger so that we can begin to understand what God feels. when this is the scene in our heart. So God gave us this feeling so that we may start to understand God, but secondly that gave this feelings to a so, we may reflect God's we have been created in God's likeness and we're reflecting God. Even using or selling prices when we love somebody God is love we're showing something of God and you mean stop me right here as if we wait a second not all love is reflective is reflecting God and you going to be right on the money. You're right not all of not everything that we call love is is a reflection of God and you know why that is because not only that our feelings were building through creation. Our feelings were perverted in the fall. when seeing got into the world got into our inner core and perverted that image of God and distorted and Arley transformed the meaning of everything that we feel so love that we feel today is so foreign from what God is That's why when we read scriptures like 1st Corinthians 13, we talks about love that scripture seem so foreign to us. We can begin to comprehend because love corrupted by scene changed and nothing less than self desire selfish desire. You know Joy was lost and has been replaced with the constant need for entertainment. Peace is not defined as truth. lack of War has been corrupted into hatred and uncontrollable Fury driven by selfishness or Pride or Vengeance or by a desire and evil desire to hurt. No wonder at Paul tells us put it off. Put it off. Yet our scripture this morning says be angry. and do not seem so we've seen that God gave us this thing called anger along with all of the other ones. We seen that at their we find them and got hard in the pure form. We still experiencing today now in our sinful nature distorted. And it is no wonder that when we hear something like be angry and blessing just doesn't make any sense to us because anger is deeply associated with sin or mine cannot stay apart. How can you be angry and nothing at the same time?

so

can a Christian be angry? Can anger be redeemed? James boice a theologian fed it is as wrong not to be angry in the situation demanding anger such as a gross Injustice as it is to be angry at the wrong time for the wrong reasons friendly. There is a right place Wrangler. There is a right context where anger should be expressed friendly that is not asking us to suppress all feelings of anger and just kind of put them away and be always smiling and there is a right place for anger in our lives and it's kind of hard to understand but there is one. Which one is it? What's the wrong place? And what's the right place? Will it get back to our scripture be angry and do not sin. If you're even expression of Sinbad is wrong of anger is a expression of your sinful desires of anger is an expression of your sinful selfishness and everything that comes with it. And it's least we've in the Morrison that there is that is not what angle should be in your life. But if we could go back to the same scripture be angry and do nothing the anger that could experience is a Google let's put it this way anger or a righteous anger a sort of an anger that is separated from sin. Shut up anger that maybe God himself would feel so if we we want to learn what real actual anger is we got to look at the thing is an Angry God, don't we? What angers God what anger is God's hard? Will it look at the scripture here Romans, 1:18? There's so many verses that could I could have picked I just picked this one Romans 1:18 for the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who buy their unrighteousness represses the truth. What angers God? Can you help me what angers con? send God is angered by the scene in our lives. Send angers God we seen it. We see it over and over in scripture. We see that in the Old Testament and the New Testament. This has never changed solution to that. You know, we find the Old Testament is it's pointing towards it but God has never changed. Because he's a righteous God. He's a holy God and unrighteousness cannot be in front of him. He hates sin. So if you're to be angry encourage you to be angry over the sin in your own life. Look at your own your own life and your own self and sinfulness. If you'd be angry about something be angry about that, but the sin in your own life. Don't hide it. Don't hold onto it.

Bring it to to the Blessed Light of Christ and be sanctified. He did as much as you'd be able to get rid of it and bring it to Christ and weep over right then repent to see hangovers. Your own thing leads you to repentance or or is this the kind of makes you do something about it? And the right anger is this anger over sin that leads you to repentance going to be angry about something. Why not be angry about the sin in your life and repent over it. but then there's another thing that angers God when you know what that is.

God not being worshipped as he should anger Scott. Why because he is God he is the only one worthy to be worshipped. He's the only one that needs to receive all worship and nothing anything short than that. Angers God because he is the only one that needs to receive worship, so You going to be angry?

Is your heart worshipping God fully?

Is God being worshipped in your home? We're in the middle of this. City neighborhood where God is not being worshipped even today as we sit in here people are minding their own business not worshipping God. Worst slandering the name of your precious savior. How does that make you feel safe? That is God's wrath upon them.

Richest anger if you will in your heart will have fewer righteously angry about God not being worshipped in your neighborhood. What should you do about it? What did God do? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life his solution to our sinfulness was salvation through Jesus Christ. What should you do about your neighborhood? That is not worshipping God. Spread the gospel angeleyes. Share the gospel. Christ seat the wrong reaction here is the kind of thing on your high chair and look at the world and kind of shake your head and discontent like a sinful people, you know, that's not the right time.

The right type of anger is the one that Grieves your heart for what we've got heart. And makes you want to go out there and share the gospel. so

There is a a justifiable. police for anger What about our relationships?

Are scripture this morning says be angry and do not sin do not let the sun go down on your own anger and and I'm not sure I'm not going to bore you with the Greek and all that. But this is a it's kind of changing the words there in the Greek First Ward Franklin the second word for angry. The second one is more in the context of relationships. And what what it says here. The first one is one that kind of determines you to act. The other one is is more in a sense of somebody angering you being in the conflict and the Bible says don't let the song go go down on your anger. Meaning basically the day of your anger should be the day of your reconciliation. This is this is a metaphor. This is not a timely thing is like wait for the sun to go down and then I know it's basically what it says be swift about it take action. Don't let it sit there. Did the day of your anger should be the Day of Reconciliation, why verse 27 and give not give no opportunity to the devil? Because unresolved conflict give Satan leeway opportunity access to attack the church or your relationships. And just deteriorated and break them away.

That's when Paul talks about relationship talk about it. Probably two Sundays from now, but we're going to talk about relationships. And that's exactly where in that context of relationships. Paul says chapter 4 verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger. Ann clemmer and slander be put away from you along with all malice in those relationships just send them Swift end that conflicts with Lee. Alright, let's bring in together. In Christ, we are a new creation. You're a new person in Christ. Your all life should stay in the past crisis making all things you he placed in us a new nature that is growing within us and it is growing when you instincts in the with a new way of life. And Christ is slowly and they lie renewing in us our life including our perception of Love including or definition of jointly or definition and perception of peace. And yes, including arc definition of anger. So there are things that angers God's heart and a proper anger in the life of a Christian should be that anger. Or those things that anger God.

Show me ask you this morning. What angers you?

What are the things that makes you? angry When have you been when have you last to be angered by The Sting in your own life?

Probably we should.

Set back and pray to God if they got give me the right type of anger. I've been angry for so many selfish things. What's in my life? Never anger anybody dying or your heart? Give me a heart of repentance Lord.

Are you grieved than by the world around you that lived in sin and blasphemy blasphemy in the precious name of your savior? What does that cause in your heart? Does it cause you to get up and share the gospel? wanting to Share the Light of Christ over the people that are now lost in the world that spray your God we come before you and we thank you for your word and Lord. I'm praying that every day to your word. You would sanctify us some changes warning the resemblance of you and build back into our heart that image that which we have been created Lord. I'm praying that you would take away all anger that is a that comes from our sinful nature. And if there's anything that we should be angry about maybe send and lack of worship and made drive us to repentance and sharing the word. We pray in the name of Jesus Amen.