Welcome. Today we’re going to finish out our seven deadly sins series with the sin of anger, also known as wrath. This is a bit more complicated of a subject that the prior sins, so we must be careful when dealing with angry feelings.

First our fun little facts. Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath. Anger is associated with the color red as one might presume, and is symbolized by the bear.

Mars is supposedly the ruling sign of anger. Anger is the sin most likely to harm others, as is obvious. Anger when mixed with other sins can produce a horrible crime, such as anger + envy can equal armed robbery, and things like that. The punishment for anger is to be dismembered alive for all time.

Now let’s get serious. There is a balance with anger and wrath. One must make sure that their anger is justifiable. Now how can anger be justified? God gives us some examples of anger that were justified by righteousness.

(Psa 7:11)  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. God wants the wicked to turn from their ways, and when they don’t, He is upset by this. It is like having a child who refuses to obey your rules. Most parents get angry in that situation because the rules are for the safety of the child and not arbitrarily set. This anger would be the desire to protect which is flowing out of love, and not some wrathful spurning.

(Mar 3:5)  And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Jesus was angry here because the Pharisees were trying to trap Him into doing something that they could use against Him. He was grieved and mad about the fact that they did nothing more continually scheme and plot to bring about His downfall.

It would surely drive me mad if I was sent to help someone and all they did was try to get me in trouble. I would be angry with them, and likely would no longer help them. Jesus did not do this, He was angry but He still went to the cross to die for the sins of mankind, even those that angered him. (Joh 3:16)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever, that is anyone.

It gets better. We are actually commanded as believers to be angry! (Eph 4:26)  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. So we see here that we should be angry against sin, which is not a sin in itself. But we are to be kind to the sinner, for if we harbor anger for the sinner, that is sinful, and quickly becomes hatred, a deeper and more perverse form of anger, at least I believe hatred to be so.

The very next verse tells us to give no place to the Devil, and as long as we are vigilant and are angry at sin, we should have no problems rebuking the Devil and his demons when they try to attack us with sin. This is because our anger and wrath should lead us to an angry resistance to sinful behavior.

But anger is not always constructive and righteous. The majority of the ‘angry feelings’ in the world are negative, and not positive like our prior examples. Again, the negative form of anger and wrath are self centered and self serving, opting away from love and correction for hate and vengeance.

(Jas 1:20)  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. The wrathful man is not able to think clearly and thereby would not be effective to God. This is not a contradiction to the previous verses since it is speaking in a broader sense: the wrath of man as a whole. Now having anger towards sin and misdeeds is fine, but that is a more specific state whereas this passage is talking about man in a general sense.

The point is a mind cluttered with wrath or other intense emotions is not going to be able to work the righteousness of God.

(Rom 3:13)  Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (Rom 3:14)  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. We are told to speak the truth in love, but those that are full of sins like wrath are like we read here, they are like poisonous snakes and full of bitterness.

(Pro 29:11)  A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. This tells us that a fool runs off his mouth and makes the situation even worse possibly by hurting other’s feelings and maybe even causing a fight to break out.

A wise man keeps his mouth shut until such a time as he can safely air out his thoughts and come to a resolution with them. He may come to his wife after the situation and discuss it with her and try to move on from it and let it be, or he might partake in some activity to release any feelings he is struggling with. Here’s some modern examples that I’m not sure if they did or didn’t have: jogging, woodworking, writing a journal or some form of diary, maybe helping take care of children like a modern Big Brothers and Sisters type deal. Point is, he would find a way to hold his tongue until such a time as it was appropriate to deal with his emotions. This way, no one else’s feelings get hurt and you can calm down before you attempt any kind of action to resolve the problem. A cool head would keep you from trouble, and would go a long way towards peace. Whereas the fool starts a blowup because he can’t keep his mouth shut and he cannot control his anger.

We must learn to deal with our anger. (Pro 28:13)  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. If you make excuses to cover for your sins, to excuse your anger, you shall not prosper. This is why so many angry people end up in jail and prison. If you are angry and jealous and commit domestic abuse, off to the can you go. If you hurt someone, the same. Anger seems to always have the payoff of not prospering.

If you are angry at work, you’re not going to get far and likely will get fired. No matter what, selfish, worldly anger never seems to work out.

But we are told that if we forsake our sins and confess them to the Lord, we shall have mercy. To forsake we must turn away from our sins and not commit them any longer. In other words, calm down and stay calm. (1Jn 1:9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is also a good idea to seek forgiveness from the ones that have been hurt by your anger. And don’t justify it by minimizing it, be upright enough to say ‘hey, I was angry and I was horribly wrong and I want to say I’m sorry.’

(Jas 1:2)  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (Jas 1:3)  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (Jas 1:4)  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

This is telling us that we should realize that temptations can be a situation where our faith is being tried. This is why you should have patience, so that if you are facing a trial or tribulation that you can be wanting of nothing.

(Rom 8:28)  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. So the trial of someone angering you, or testing your patience at least has a purpose because all things work for good to us that love the Lord. Don’t fail the test, keep your wits and your patience about you.

Now you might say ‘but Joe, this isn’t a good thing that is happening to make me so angry! Surely God doesn’t have bad things happen, right?’ No, the things that happen are for our own good, or the good of others. This means they are not bad things, no matter how they seem because God is a good God, and would not just lay down tribulations on us that have no meaning for either ourselves or someone else.

(Psa 145:8)  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. (Psa 145:9)  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psa 145:17)  The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

So again, as we see here, God is a great, loving, merciful God, so therefore the things that provoke us must have reason and we must keep this in mind as we go about our lives.

We also need to leave room for God’s wrath. This is especially applicable when you see or hear of ‘evil’ people doing horrible things to innocent people. It is easy to rage, to get angry and to hate the perpetrators of crimes, but that should really be left to God. (Gen 50:19)  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? (Rom 12:19)  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Remember this is hate and anger for the person that committed the crime, not outrage at the sin itself, which we were told earlier to have. We should not desire to see revenge on the guilty party, because that’s God’s department, and He is just in all His judgments. He will take care of it as it should be handled. (Gen 18:25)  That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Yes He will.

Do not give evil for good, for this is folly and well, dumb and hateful. (Rom 12:21)  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Goodness is a powerful device, able to banish evil easily. Give yourself over to the good and you will find that anger and hate will lose their grip on your soul.

There are four steps to overcome anger:

(Eph 4:15)  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: be honest with people. They won’t know what you are going through unless you tell them. And this doesn’t mean a screaming match over the turkey at Thanksgiving either. Tell them with love in your heart, so that love comes from your mouth. (Mat 12:34)  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Jesus tells us here that what is in your heart and mind is what will come out of your mouth. If you are full of hate, you will say hateful things that will hurt others and likely worsen the problems you are dealing with. Therefore it is important to speak from a calm head and a heart of love so that you are able to effectively communicate.

Stay current if you have grievances. There is no reason to hang on to what someone did twenty years ago. You should let those things go, the statute of limitations, so to speak, has expired. Don’t be like a dam that bursts and floods the area. This will lead to nothing more than people reacting badly to you.

(Eph 4:31)  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (Eph 4:32)  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. You owe it to not only the person, but to the Lord Himself to be forgiving and not given over to wrath or anger. If you are saved, then He forgave you, as you should forgive others. These verses will also put anger in its place. You can talk about the problems you are having but be kind, and don’t attack the person. That will just complicate things.

Be willing to make the move of taking care of things yourself. Don’t let yourself have a knee-jerk reaction. Overcoming anger is not something that happens overnight, it is something that takes practice and prayer. But if you stick to it, remember these Bible verses and pray earnestly you should be alright.

Here are some Proverbs relating to anger:

(Pro 14:17)  He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated. Angry people, at the level of what we would call wrath do stupid things in their anger. A man that does these things is usually hated greatly by those around him. Think about a man that abuses his wife. Usually anyone that knows despises the man.

(Pro 14:29)  He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

(Pro 15:1)  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. This is what I was talking about. If you speak harshly when you’re talking to someone about your anger, odds are you’re just going to make them angry too, and then you’re both in a bad spot.

(Pro 15:18)  A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

(Pro 16:32)  He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

(Pro 19:19)  A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

(Pro 22:24)  Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: (Pro 22:25)  Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

(Pro 24:17)  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: (Pro 24:18)  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

(Pro 27:4)  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

(Pro 29:8)  Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.

(Pro 29:22)  An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.

(Pro 30:33)  Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Be calm and peaceful my friends, and until next time, God bless.

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