Sunday, June 10, 2018

They Must Be Giants – Part 4: The Giant Named Anger

They Must Be Giants – Part 4:
The Giant Named Anger
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org



This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org, or Truth Digest on facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook at House of Faith Church

SERMON INTRODUCTION
Most of us are all familiar with the story of David & Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.

Remember these points from David & Goliath over the next few sermons;

I.       The battle between the Palestinians and the Israelites was a spiritual one.  

II.    David had the Holy Spirit just as all of those who belong to God have access to.

III. David recognized the battle was spiritual even though everyone around him could not.  He was walking in the spirit, not by sight, but by faith.

IV.  When David faced the giant, he knew the battle was not a man against a giant, but a giant against the power of God.

V.     The battle was the Lord’s!  David had the right perspective.

We must remember these points in our lives as well when we face things.

1.      It’s a spiritual battle
2.      We have the Holy Spirit if we belong to God
3.      Recognize the battles we face in our lives are spiritual
4.      Those battles are the Lord’s

Today we are talking about Anger.

PREVIOUSLY
Part 1 - David and Goliath
Part 2 - The Giant Named Unforgiveness
Part 3 - The Giant Named Fear

TODAY’S SERMON
Part 4 - The Giant Named Anger

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Ephesians 4:26 – 27 
 In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.”

The overall message of this series to the church is;
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, the battle is Spiritual and the battle is the Lords.

        ANGER IS;
        There are two types of anger, righteous anger, and unrighteous or sinful anger. The Giant we are speaking on today is obviously unrighteous or sinful anger.


        Anger is NOT an emotion. Anger IS a behavior. And behaviors can be changed.
        We cannot control our emotions, but we can control our behaviors.

        Science has shown through extensive case studies over the years that there are only 2 root emotions, and everything else we experience is a behavior that will arise from one of these two emotions.

        The two emotions are LOVE and FEAR.
        All of our behavior will arise from one of these two emotions.

        Unrighteous or sinful anger is a behavior that arises from the emotion of fear.

        In fact, all negative behavior arises from an unconscious, fear based state of stress.

        When God has righteous anger, that behavior comes from what emotion?  The answer is love.

EXAMPLE
Psalm 7:11
God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.

Wrath is another word for extreme anger.

God is a righteous judge, and expresses His extreme anger every day. His anger towards what?

Well if He is righteous, then His anger is toward – unrighteousness. And this behavior of extreme anger towards unrighteousness arises from what emotion? Love.

Why, because we know it is God’s will that ALL are saved and come to a knowledge of the truth which is Jesus Christ. (I Timothy 2:4)

That is the beginning of our righteousness.  Not that we are righteous, but because we submit to our Lord and belong to Him who is righteous.

So there are only two emotions, love and fear. All behaviors such as anger will come from one of these emotions.

Unrighteous or sinful anger arises from fear,

and righteous anger arises from love.


1.      Unrighteous or sinful anger is one of the bigger giants many face today.
1.      Anger, like most of the giants we face, wants to make us its slave.
1.      It wants to control us and our lives.

2.      When we have unrighteous anger, it keeps us in a state of unrighteousness, thus we are sinning.

3.      And this is where the devil wants us to live. In sin. As we read, this unrighteous, sinful anger gives the devil a foothold in our lives.


2.      As long as we are living in sin, we are cut off from the Lord, and all of His blessings, protection and benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven.
1.      If we have unrighteous anger, we are sinning.

2.      We ourselves become unrighteous.


3.      We read in 1 Peter 3:12, God does not hear the prayers of those who do evil.
1.      When we sin, we close the door of communication to the Lord because of our unrighteousness.
2.      Our sinful anger causes us to live in our sin, thus cutting us off from our inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Galatians 5:19 – 21
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and dishonesty; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, rebellion, division 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

III.      The act of our sinful nature cuts us off from the Kingdom of God.
1.We are told we will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
1.      What is the Kingdom of God? It’s not just talking about the Kingdom of Heaven.

2.      What did Jesus say to the disciples before the Cross?
1.      Remember when they asked Jesus how to pray, and He gave them the Lords prayer as a template?

2.      That took place BEFORE Jesus died for our sins, before we were allowed to do anything in His name.

3.      After the cross however, we’re told to do everything in the name of Jesus, His might not ours.

4.      That’s why we pray in the name of Jesus now, because of what He accomplished at the cross, but they could not do that then, because He had not become the sacrifice yet.

5.      So Jesus told them THEN to pray, “Our Father, who is in heaven.  Holy be your name.  Until your kingdom comes (Kingdom of God on earth), your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Kingdom of heaven).”

6.      The kingdom of God had not yet come to earth, but the kingdom of heaven already existed!

3.      They were praying for God’s will on earth, as it is in heaven.
1.      They knew when the Kingdom of God came, (which was after the cross), that the Lord would reign on Earth as the Father does in heaven.

2.      This is why they prayed for God’s will on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, because before Jesus paid the price for the sin of Adam, the earth was under the authority of Satan’s kingdom.
3.      After Christ paid the price and purchased us with His blood, He made right the wrong, and gained authority over ALL. And Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…”

4.      And the Kingdom of God, the ultimate rule of Jesus Christ as the King of Kings began.  And the kingdom of God is here, now, on earth.
1.      So, if you are living in sin, as Galatians 5:19 – 21 speaks of; you cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

2.      How do you inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?
1.      Through the adoption into the Body of Christ.

2.      If you are living in sin, you cannot be part of the Body of Christ.

3.      Here on earth, right now. When you live in sin, you are stepping out of the Kingdom of God and into darkness. And if you die outside of the Kingdom of God on earth, you cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven when you die and face Judgment.


IV.UNRIGHTEOUS ANGER
1.      not only causes us to live in sin, cut off our relationship with the Lord, break our communication with the Lord through prayer, and boot us out of the Kingdom of God here on earth and the Kingdom of Heaven after we die, but it does far more to us.
When you have anger;
I.       You may feel anxious or anxiety
II.    You may perspire or heat up (getting hot under the collar)
III. Your heart may pound
IV. You may feel overwhelmed
V.    You can't think straight or maybe can't remember things.
VI. You may have a knot in your stomach
VII.    You may fear that something bad is about to happen
VIII.    You may use drugs, alcohol or other addictive behaviors, so you can escape, if even temporarily, from stressful feelings.
IX.  You may feel depressed, guilty or shameful as a result of your anger.
It Doesn't Have to Be This Way!
Anger is not an emotion, it is a behavior, and behaviors can be changed!

ILLUSTRATION

Think of the last time you were angry with someone. First you say, “This was righteous because…”

Immediately you try to justify your behavior of anger.

Step outside of the situation for a moment. Look at the situation and say, “Why did I act in anger?” Was it out of love?  Or more than likely, was I afraid of something?

I remember specific instances in my life where I was acting out in anger.

As a child I acted out in anger constantly against my parents and siblings.

I could take a situation and say, “I was angry with them because…”

But the truth was, I was afraid. My anger was arising from my fear. In my family as a child there was no security.

My parents were drug users and dealers. My father was left when I was 12. My environment was not a safe one where I lived and I was in many fights in school, mostly defending myself.

I was afraid. And from my fear arose my anger. From my emotion of fear, my behavior of anger came forth. My anger was not righteous anger, because it did not arise from love, but fear.

How many of us today are behaving in anger because of our fear?

We fight with our spouses, not because we are angry AT THEM, but because we are afraid of something.

Afraid of a situation that MAY happen. Afraid that something that has hurt us in the past MAY hurt us again. Afraid because we are controlling and feel we do not have complete control.

Afraid that we may lose them. Afraid they may want to leave us. Afraid of failure. Afraid of rejection.

And from our fear, arises anger. Anger we cannot explain. We don’t know why we are angry, we just know we are.

It’s time for us to stop, Examine the situation, and ask ourselves, “Is this anger coming from love, or is it because I am afraid?”

“Is this righteous anger, or am I sinning?”


EXAMPLE
Genesis 4:3 – 7
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Cain, did not obey what God had commanded about offerings. And when the Lord did not look with favor upon his offering the scripture says Cain became angry.

Was Cain’s anger righteous or unrighteous and sinful? Was his anger arising from love or fear?

The Lord said to Cain, “If you do what is right, you will be accepted.  But if you don’t do what is right, sin is waiting at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it!”

Cain’s anger was unrighteous and sinful because it arose from the emotion of fear. Cain was afraid of not being accepted by God.

This anger, which was unrighteous and sinful, which unrepented lead Cain to sin further by killing his brother.

Remember last week when we talked about fear, and how fear causes us make irrational decisions?

Cain did not recognize he was afraid, and what he was afraid of, not having God’s approval.

And that emotion of fear turned to a behavior of sinful anger. Anger that was sinful and unrighteous and misplaced.

His fear caused him to think and act irrationally, and led to the murder of his brother.

Do not forget God’s warning to Cain, “Sin waits outside your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Ephesians 4:26; 31- 32
26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

EXAMPLE
Mark 3:5
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.”

Is this wrath righteous anger? Is this anger arising from love?

Yes, because the Lord loves us so much and wants our hearts to turn to Him, but their hearts were stubborn and resisted the Lord’s love for them.

We too must do everything in love.


CONCLUSION

If you have anger, ask yourself “What am I afraid of?  What is my fear?”

Do not let that fear turn to anger.

Do not let your anger cause you to sin.

Examine yourself and your heart to ensure that you are doing everything in love.

If you have unrighteous anger, come forward for prayer.

If you know that you are fearful, and that fear is causing you to sin, come forward and let me pray for you.

Do not allow yourself to live in a state of unrighteousness.

A state of sin, which will cause you nothing but heartache.

Anger is a behavior and behaviors can be changed.

Fear is an emotion, and emotions can be healed.

Come forward for healing if you are fearful.

Let the Lord, who has been given all authority in both Kingdoms...of heaven and earth, heal you and be Lord of your life.

 Next week we will look at the giant named Hate.

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