[0:00] If you are able, remain standing as I read once more from the Word of God. This is James 1, verses 19-25.
[0:13] ! Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.
[0:41] But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
[0:54] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
[1:18] God has made us with a wide array of emotions. I expect that if we reflect back on this week, we've experienced many, if not all, of those emotions that God has made us to have.
[1:33] Joy and delight. Sadness and sorrow. Compassion and pity. And the emotion that we'll focus on this morning together. Anger.
[1:45] Were you angry this last week? Were you sinfully angry? Did someone or something stoke the embers of that strong emotion?
[1:56] Maybe you're embarrassed. Maybe you're embarrassed. Another emotion. When you think about your anger. Embarrassed about who you are angry with. Your spouse.
[2:07] Your children. Your grandchildren. A co-worker. A neighbor. Your brother or sister in Christ, perhaps. Or maybe you're embarrassed about why you are angry with those people.
[2:22] A cup of milk knocked over at the dinner table. A needed item on the shopping list that was overlooked. An interruption while you were deep in thought at work.
[2:34] Maybe even you got mad because someone in your family was running a little late this morning. And those two precious minutes felt so important in the moment.
[2:46] So often in those moments, the cause of a sinful, angry outburst seems justified. It feels right. But when we reflect on it later, like maybe now, that spilled milk doesn't seem like such a big deal.
[3:03] And we are embarrassed at how angry we were. There are lots of opportunities in life for what's in our hearts to come out. Like, for example, sinful anger.
[3:15] Now, right up front, let me say also, there is a good kind of anger that we need to talk about as well. Anger isn't always sinful.
[3:27] We see this when we consider the character of God Himself. God is good, and God gets angry. There are many passages of Scripture that teach us about God's righteous anger.
[3:39] Isaiah, He promises this future day of judgment in Isaiah 66. And verse 15 reads, For behold, the Lord will come in fire, in His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger in fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
[4:03] Isaiah doesn't paint a picture from us of God getting slightly upset. No, He says God will render His anger in fury. There's a great intensity to God's righteous anger as it accompanies His righteous judgment.
[4:20] And so, God's character described for us in His Word teaches us that there is a good anger. But also, God's character put on display for us in His Word.
[4:31] And the person of Jesus Christ also teaches us that there is a good kind of anger. We see God's character on display as God Himself took on flesh.
[4:42] God became a man, Jesus Christ, a perfect, sinless man, who only ever perfectly obeyed every word, every law, instruction that we find in God's Word.
[4:55] And this perfect, sinless man got angry. He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. They had desecrated this sacred place where God's presence came to dwell, and Jesus was angry about it.
[5:11] He made a very public scene in His righteous anger. Also, let's not forget when the disciples tried to keep the children from coming to Jesus.
[5:24] Mark 10, 14 tells us, But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, Let the children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
[5:38] Now, that word there in Mark 10, 14, indignant, that word could just as well be translated that He was vexed, that He was upset that He was even, you could say, angry.
[5:49] A righteous anger because His disciples were hindering the children from coming to Him. So, our Savior, He models for us this good kind of anger.
[6:01] And not only this, but we have clear instruction in God's Word as it relates to us, to be angry. Ephesians 4, 26 tells us that.
[6:11] And there, Paul is quoting from Psalm 4. Be angry and do not sin. So, yes, there is an anger that is good. There is anger that is not sinful, or we wouldn't be given the command to be angry, while also given the command to not sin.
[6:26] But we do need to be very careful in our anger, because righteous anger and fallen humans like us can slip into sinful anger so very easily.
[6:38] So, Paul says, be angry and do not sin. Even commanding that we would not go to bed with our sin or with our anger still. So, we need to exercise caution.
[6:51] But still, there are times that we even should be angry. There is good anger. There is righteous anger. We should be angry about evil. There is an anger that should be directed towards sin.
[7:06] There is an anger that should be kindled by jealousy for God and His glory. That is a good anger. Maybe that is an anger that you and I need more of.
[7:18] A zeal for the Lord. A zeal for His righteousness. The kind of zeal that Moses had. When he came down from Mount Sinai and he found the people had crafted the golden calf and they were worshiping it and they were indulging in all manner of sin.
[7:33] Moses was angry and rightly so. He was like Phineas in Numbers 25. Remember Phineas? God said of him that he was jealous for his God.
[7:47] We should be jealous for our God. And righteous anger ought to accompany that. Satan would love nothing more than for professing Christians to be total cowards and compromisers.
[8:01] Unmoved by sin and the suffering that accompanies it. Satan would love for us to be perfectly okay with evil in our world. To be perfectly okay with anything that would offend our God or bring dishonor to His name.
[8:19] May that not be us. So yes, we should be angry about what is evil and how that evil brings pain and suffering into our world. We should be angry about what offends a good, holy, righteous God.
[8:34] Our God. The God who has loved us and who we now love in return. Psalm 97.10 exhorts us saying, Oh you who love the Lord, hate evil.
[8:47] So there should be a righteous indignation that rises up in us when we see evil because we are jealous for our God. And that comes from our love for our God.
[8:58] It's our love for God that produces a certain kind of anger. That might seem counterintuitive on the surface. How can love and anger go together? But they do.
[9:09] Because there is a good anger. There is a commendable anger. A righteous anger. But there is also another kind of anger. A sinful anger. And that kind is to be put to death in our lives.
[9:23] This is the kind that is listed alongside many other vices in God's Word. We find these listings of sin that almost always include anger.
[9:34] Galatians 5. Beginning in verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality. Impurity. Sensuality.
[9:45] Idolatry. Sorcery. Enmity. Strife. Jealousy. Fits of anger. Rivalries. Dissensions. Divisions.
[9:55] Or Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. 31. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice.
[10:09] It's interesting. Paul in Colossians 3. He gives us yet another list of sins, and anger is one of them. But then he says, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming. And so he's bringing here something of righteous anger meeting sinful anger. If anger is God's attitude toward sin, then his wrath is his acting upon that anger. And Paul says here, God's wrath is coming, his righteous anger to be poured out upon that man who is sinfully angry and unrepentant.
[10:52] So because of man's sinful anger, God's righteous anger will be revealed as his wrath is poured out. So this morning, we're going to focus in on that sinful anger, the kind of anger that we're to be putting off in our lives. That's what we're going to focus on this morning, the kind that we're to be putting to death in our lives. That we need to deal biblically with our anger. We need to think biblically about our anger because we can be tempted so very easily to downplay it in our lives, to justify it, to rationalize it, to think, well, that angry outburst against my spouse or my children or that employee or anyone else in my life. That wasn't all that big of a deal. We might be tempted to think, so what if I raised my voice a bit? If I got a little angry with that person, is it really all that important? So important that we need a whole sermon given to it this morning? Well, let's not forget what Jesus himself said about anger in the Sermon on the Mount. He didn't downplay it at all in
[12:01] Matthew chapter 5. He said, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. The first John picks up on those words as well. He speaks of hating our brother as murdering our brother in our hearts. And so you see that angry outburst that we're tempted to perhaps make light of is in reality like committing murder in your heart.
[12:35] Sinful anger is no small matter to God. So we do need to deal with our anger. And the book of Proverbs helps us to this end. You might recall we were in Proverbs a few months back and we saw how Proverbs calls us to seek wisdom. And indeed, this book of the Bible, it gives us wisdom. Wisdom for everyday life. Wisdom that we need for all of the little moments that make up every day. So back in March, we considered the topic of the tongue and how we use our words. We also considered the topic of wealth and how we steward it well. Well, this morning we return to Proverbs again, and this time to consider this topic of anger. What does Proverbs teach us about anger, and particularly sinful anger? So we need the truth of Proverbs to show us what it looks like and to impress upon us wisdom that we might refrain from it. So we're going to consider together this morning four characteristics from Proverbs.
[13:45] And as we do, may we see the folly of anger. And may we see that God would give us wisdom to keep us from indulging in it. So the first characteristic that Proverbs highlights for us is this. Sinful anger is quickly kindled. Now there are many Proverbs that speak to this. If you want to turn from James over to Proverbs, if you have your Bibles open to James, you can go to Proverbs. We're going to look at several together this morning. Many Proverbs speak to us of how quickly sinful anger is aroused. In fact, it's the most common theme in Proverbs about anger, the speed with which it is kindled. The foolish are quick to anger. The wise, the wise are slow to anger. We see this in Proverbs 19.11.
[14:44] Proverbs 19.11 says, Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Now if you have the NIV, you don't actually have the word anger translated in this verse. It simply says, a man's wisdom gives him patience. But if we were to define, well, what is patience? We would say that patience is slowness to anger. Patience is the virtue, and anger is the vice. The patient person then is not easily upset or quickly upset. We see something very similar not far away in Proverbs 12.16.
[15:30] The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. The vexation of a fool is known at once, right away, quickly revealed. Now notice that both of these Proverbs speak of some kind of underlying catalyst for this anger. We don't get angry just because most often. No, there's something that stirs up that anger in us. We are offended. We are insulted. Or if we can remember all the way back to Proverbs' wisdom on the tongue, we can use the words of another Proverbs.
[16:10] Someone speaks rash words to us like sword thrusts, and they've pierced us. We've been stabbed by someone's words. And for the fool, that brings forth this angry response, this impatient, rash reaction.
[16:25] How could that person say that? How could they treat me that way? And we are ready to stab back with our own words. Our swords are unsheathed immediately to stab them in return. We actually see an example of this vexation of a fool in the life of Saul. Now, we can point to many times in his life when his vexation was known at once. If he had a spear in hand, watch out. But let's consider just one moment together. When David didn't show up at Saul's table for a couple of meals in a row, Saul grew suspicious. What's going on here? Where is David? Was this the behavior of a traitor?
[17:07] Was David off plotting against him? And so Saul asks Jonathan where David is. And Jonathan answers him, saying that David is away offering a sacrifice. Now, that actually isn't true. But what is true that we need to focus on is that David is not plotting against Saul. And Jonathan is seeking to reassure Saul of that. Now, what's Saul's reaction? Well, he doesn't ask any follow-up questions to get more details. He doesn't assume the best of David and of his very own son, Jonathan. Saul immediately flies into a rage, assuming that, yes, David is plotting against me, and that Jonathan is in on that plot.
[17:55] But 1 Samuel 20 verse 30 says, then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan. And he said to him, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? There's the vexation of a fool known at once, immediately accusing his own son of rebellion, of being a traitor, of being loyal to David and not to him. Saul is an example to us of Proverbs 12, 16. The truth of that, the vexation of a fool is known at once. Anger is quickly kindled in the heart of the fool. You could say that Saul was slow to hear, quick to speak, quick to anger, which is just the opposite of what the godly person should be according to James 1, 19 that we heard read. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. The fool, though, reacts rashly without thinking. He is lacking in that good sense of Proverbs 19, 11. Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
[19:22] Well, the fool can't overlook the offense. The fool has been offended, and all he can think about is his own pride. My pride has been hurt. I've been personally offended. I've been threatened in some way.
[19:36] I've been disrespected. This person has wronged me, and I'm going to let them have it. I'm going to set them straight. The fool is quick to anger. How quickly is your anger kindled? Is your vexation known at once if someone presses the right button on you? Do you see how quick, how being quick to anger really demonstrates in us a lack of self-control? Listen to Proverbs 29, 11. Proverbs 29, 11 says, a fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. Now, when we give full vent to our spirit, we let it all out. We are holding nothing back. We are no longer seeking to control our emotions in any way, and particularly that emotion of anger. The NIV even translates that verse to emphasize anger, saying, a fool gives full vent to his anger. We have an idiom in our own culture that I think captures this idea well when we say someone flies off the handle. Now, that saying comes from when you're chopping wood with an axe, and you're one moment thinking everything is just fine, and the next moment that wooden handle feels rather light as the axe head is flying off in a dangerous, out-of-control manner. Well, so too. One moment a person is seemingly self-controlled, and the next moment they aren't. That is a fool, one who gives full vent to his spirit. The axe head of his anger is flying through the air dangerously out of control. So, how are you known to others? Are you known by your patient response, or are you known by your impassioned response? Even more pointedly, are you known to be like your God or not like your God? Because God is slow to anger. That is one of the characteristics of God that is most often repeated throughout his word. Take Exodus 33, for example.
[22:02] In Exodus 33, Moses made this very significant request of God. It was no small thing that he asked. He said, please show me your glory. And God did. Now, with some restrictions in place for Moses' own protection, but God did. He passed before Moses that Moses might see a glimpse of his glory. Now, what's interesting about this passage is that when God actually does what he says he will do in Exodus 34, you would expect that the narrative would tell us and focus in on what Moses saw with his eyes.
[22:40] You would expect that it would speak of how Moses saw God's glory, that there would be this glorious, brilliant presence of God passing before him that would be written down for us. But that's not what Exodus 34 emphasizes. In fact, it doesn't speak of what Moses saw, but what Moses heard with his ears.
[23:03] It tells us what God said. And what he told Moses was a description of who he is. In other words, Moses, yes, Moses, I'll let you see a visible glimpse of my glory, that brilliant light, and that will make you marvel. But let me also tell you what I'm like, because that should make you marvel equally as well.
[23:27] And so what is this glorious God like? How does he describe himself to Moses and to us in his word? He said, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
[23:44] That is who God is. He is slow to anger. The prophet Jonah, famously swallowed by the fish, understood this well.
[23:55] In fact, it is because Jonah understood God's character so well that Jonah fled from him to Tarshish. Jonah didn't run from God because he was confused about God. He didn't run from God because God was mysterious to him or because he misunderstood who God is. Jonah ran from God because he knew exactly who God is. He knew God's character well. He knew how God would treat even wicked Nineveh if its people repented. And so Jonah said, That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster.
[24:43] God's anger is not like man's sinful anger. God's anger is perfectly righteous. God's anger is perfectly just. It is always proportional. God never flies off the handle. God never gives full vent to his spirit in this uncontrolled passion of rage. And even when God's anger is absolutely justified, he isn't quick to become angry and to pour out his wrath. He is not known for his quickness to anger. He is known for his slowness to anger. Or to put that more positively, he is known for his patience. He's known for his forbearance. He's known for his putting up with us. And isn't that such a kindness to you? It is indeed his slowness to anger that has afforded us opportunity to repent and to be forgiven and to be reconciled to him. Have you done that this morning? Have you personally turned from your sins and trusted in Christ to save you from the wrath of God for your sins, from the wrath of God that is to come? As Colossians 3 says, do you see that you are a sinner who deserves death for your sin? And yet, do you see how patient God has been toward you? Do you see how slow to anger he is? Your sin deserves death, and yet you have not yet been punished. But one day you will stand before God, will you be found trusting in Christ? Only those who trust in Christ, believing that he died on the cross for my sins, that I might be reconciled to God, that I might be forgiven, that I might be cleansed, only those trusting in Christ will be saved. So turn to him this morning. God has been so slow to anger with you. Don't be slow to run to Jesus for forgiveness. God is quick to forgive.
[26:55] God does not hold back his forgiveness from all who come to him. So turn to him this morning. See that God is slow to anger. So sinful anger, that is nothing like the character of God. Sinful anger is quickly kindled. That's the first characteristic from Proverbs. Let's turn our attention now to the second characteristic, and that is sinful anger drives conflict. Proverbs 15, 18. Proverbs 15, 18 teaches us that sinful anger drives conflict. This is what it says, A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.
[27:45] So this proverb is rather blunt. You could even say it's rather pragmatic. What does an outburst of anger get for you? What do we get? What's the payoff? Well, God's Word tells us it only stirs up trouble for us. It begets conflict. It produces strife. In the long run, can't we also just say from experience, the Proverbs lived out in our lives, that in the long run, anger makes things worse for us.
[28:16] It is how bridges get burned down in our lives. I knew a man who would take in his vehicle to a mechanic, and he wasn't always satisfied with the job that was done, and he would let the mechanic know, and sometimes he would get rather agitated, maybe not fully venting himself, but he'd get agitated with the man to the point where the man said, you can't bring your vehicle here anymore.
[28:43] And that happened on a number of occasions to where he struggled to have a mechanic to take his vehicle to because his anger produced strife, and they said, I won't deal with you. When we get angry, it may feel good in the moment. Giving full vent to your spirit, that may bring some fleeting satisfaction. Oh, I put that person in his place. I showed him. But what's the long-term effect?
[29:10] It's a broken relationship. Now there's strife and contention. Like any other sin, there may be this immediate short-term payoff. But have you considered the long-term consequences? You've only brought hurt and brokenness and conflict into your life. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife.
[29:34] And positively speaking, Proverbs 15, 18 speaks again of the one slow to anger. The one who is slow to anger quiets contention. So instead of stirring up conflict, the patient person brings about peace. The patient person is able to come to a resolution where there is disagreement. He's able to think clearly and to offer up possible solutions. He's able to work through a problem rather than creating more of a problem with his anger. So Proverbs is teaching us that strife is produced if we ourselves become angry. But Proverbs also teaches us that strife is produced if we stir up anger in others. So if we are provoked to anger or if we provoke others, well, the result is never good. Listen to Proverbs 30, 33. For pressing milk produces curds. Pressing the nose produces blood.
[30:39] And pressing anger produces strife. So you see, we shouldn't allow ourselves to be provoked to anger, but we also should avoid stirring up others to anger. If you go and punch someone in the nose, you'll get blood. You'll also get strife when you punch that person in the nose. Because if you go and provoke someone to be angry, Proverbs says, conflict will follow. And Proverbs 29, 22 echoes this same truth.
[31:10] A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression. Now we've been talking a lot about strife. Kids, do you know what strife is? It's when you and say your brother and sister, or maybe you and a neighborhood friend argue over whose turn it is in a game. Or it's when you and the neighborhood friend fight over who gets to ride the scooter next. It's when your anger makes your friend into your enemy in that moment. Someone that you were with together, someone that you were for is now someone that you are against. That's strife. Our anger does us no good. We may think that it will produce something good. We may think that it may even produce something godly. We may deceive ourselves and think, my anger is going to somehow help this person. But don't forget the reality of James 1, 20.
[32:16] The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Don't be deceived into thinking your sinful behavior is somehow going to produce sanctification in another. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. It only drives a wedge between you and that other person. So that's the second characteristic of anger from Proverbs. Sinful anger drives conflict. Now let's consider the third characteristic, and it's this. Sinful anger is self-focused. Sinful anger is self-focused. Now, there is no specific proverb that spells this out, but all sin is selfish. And that's certainly true of anger. Self is at the center of sinful anger. It's all about me and my way. And I get angry when someone or something gets in the way of me and my way. If we are consumed with ourselves, it should not surprise us that we are quickly consumed with anger. Love of self leads to being easily angered. Now, there may not be a specific proverb for this, but we see this truth in God's Word. Otherwise, we wouldn't have included it this morning. 1 Corinthians 13, this passage that Paul famously teaches us of love. He gives us this listing of what love is and what love isn't. And beginning in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 13,
[33:54] Paul says, love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. The NIV translates that verse to say, love is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It's very clear that those who are self-seeking are also those who are easily angered. We are angry when we don't get our way. We are angry when we don't get what we want. A sinful anger is wrapped up in love of self. And we see this as well in James chapter 4.
[34:36] There, James is addressing the problem of quarreling and fighting among the Christians that he's writing to. Now, James doesn't use the word anger, but it is hard to imagine a fight where anger isn't involved.
[34:50] Angry hearts warring against each other. And what does James say? It's at the very root of those fights. It's their passions. It's their selfish desires. He says, you desire and do not have, so you murder.
[35:08] You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James is showing us that self is at the root of these angry outbursts. The outburst of anger is just unmet selfish desires in the heart working their way to the surface. When your sinful desire is blocked, anger is the natural response. You see, that's one way in which sinful anger is so different from righteous anger. A sinful anger is rooted in love of self.
[35:42] A righteous anger is rooted in love of God. Sinful anger is selfish. Righteous anger is selfless, selfish anger is selfish. Righteous anger is selfish. Righteous anger is selfish. Righteous anger is that God's name would be honored, that He would be esteemed, that He would be revered. So you could say, the more that we are consumed with selfless love for God, the less that we are consumed by selfish, sinful anger. And that leads us into the last characteristic this morning. Sinful anger, sinful anger ultimately opposes God. Sinful anger ultimately opposes God. Listen to Proverbs 19.3.
[36:31] This is a sobering proverb. When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.
[36:43] We just saw in James 4 that sinful, selfish desires lead to sinful, angry outbursts with others. In our lives. The angry fighting, quarreling with one another because we aren't getting what we want.
[36:58] Well, this proverb is teaching us that the ultimate enemy of sinful anger is not other people in our lives. The ultimate enemy of that sinful anger is directed at God Himself.
[37:11] When the fool suffers because of his own sinful desires, and he gets angry because things haven't gone as he wanted, yes, he may lash out at his boss at work. He may get into a shouting match with his wife at home.
[37:25] He may say angry words to his children. But the fool's anger is ultimately directed against God. His heart rages against the Lord.
[37:36] Have you considered your own anger? When it's quickly kindled? When it's uncontrolled? When it's short-sighted and driving conflict?
[37:47] When it's rooted in selfish desire? Your heart is angry with God. Like the fool raging against the Lord. The thought of that should grieve us.
[37:59] Lord, keep me from sinning in anger against my family. Yes, keep me from sinning in anger against my fellow Christians, against my neighbor. But more than anyone, should we not be saying, Lord, keep me from sinning against You?
[38:15] That angry outburst when the milk gets spilled, when the work gets interrupted, when you're kept on hold for half an hour on the phone, that anger is against God.
[38:29] Nothing comes to us apart from Him. That spilled milk was according to His good plan. So too is that work interrupted, that insanely long hold on the phone.
[38:41] So when we get angry at another person or another situation in life, we are really saying, God, why have You done this? God, why have You brought my way to ruin?
[38:53] It is ultimately against God and His righteousness. As Proverbs 19.3 says, The fool's heart rages against God. So we've considered four characteristics of sinful anger from Proverbs this morning.
[39:10] And identifying those characteristics is good. It's needed to be able to combat sinful anger in us. And we need to hear the wisdom of God, and we need to heed the wisdom of God.
[39:23] How do the wise live? How should we live as it relates to anger? Well, the wise are slow to anger and self-controlled. The wise recognize that anger only makes matters worse.
[39:37] The wise recognize that anger is self-focused and therefore opposed to God. This is good practical instruction for us from Proverbs. We need to remember this instruction.
[39:51] And let's also remember this reality. That we deserved God's righteous anger. We deserved God's wrath.
[40:03] That fury that Isaiah 66.15 describes. We read it earlier. For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind to render His anger in fury and to rebuke with flames of fire.
[40:20] We deserved God's wrath. We deserved God to render His anger in fury against us. Our sinful anger was opposed to God.
[40:32] And God's righteous anger was opposed to us. But that righteous anger fell, not on us, but on Christ instead. As He hung there on the cross, what happened in that hour?
[40:47] The sky turned dark. It was noon. The sun should have been shining bright, but instead there was darkness. As Pastor John said when he preached on that passage in Mark, it was a strange darkness.
[41:02] Now sometimes we'll get clouds that are passing through during the day and perhaps those clouds are especially thick and they darkened the sun momentarily. But that's not what Luke is talking about.
[41:14] No, Luke says in chapter 23 verse 15 that the sun's light failed. That's a different kind of darkness. That's a darkness that can't be explained away by any kind of natural phenomenon.
[41:29] Because the darkness of that day was symbolic of the spiritual realities that no one could have seen. As Jesus hung on that cross, God poured out His righteous anger upon His beloved Son.
[41:44] His anger for our sin. His wrath. Jesus received. The perfect, sinless One. The One who had never once sinned in His anger.
[41:57] The One who had never once snapped at His friends. He never once lost control of Himself. He never once harbored anger against another person for weeks and weeks.
[42:09] He had never once lashed out in a blind rage. Though He had never once sinned in His anger. He had the righteous anger of God poured out on Him.
[42:20] God's righteous anger against Him for our sinful anger against God. He was pierced because we were quick to anger. Because we were uncontrolled in our anger.
[42:31] We gave full vent to our anger because our foolish hearts once raged against God. So how do we deal with our anger? Well, we evaluate it against what God says in His Word.
[42:45] We listen to the practical advice of Proverbs. We ask God for help to live according to it because we can't kill our anger and our own strength. We need God to teach us as we've been instructed from Psalm 119.
[43:01] To take His Word and to implant it in our hearts. To transform us by the renewal of our minds. We need God to work His truth into our inner parts. We need Him to change us by His Spirit.
[43:13] So we need to consider the wisdom of Proverbs. And we need to remember the good news of the Gospel. That Christ died in our place for our sins. Including our sinful anger.
[43:24] And now by His grace and through the power of His Spirit we put anger to death in our lives. Indeed, now God's righteous anger is not directed towards us.
[43:36] But we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. We've been reconciled to Him. How much more then should we seek to live at peace with others? Let's ask God for His help.
[43:48] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come to You with thankful hearts that Your wrath has been turned away.
[44:00] That all of us here this morning in Christ now are blameless in Your sight. We've been made right with You. We have peace with You. We pray, Father, that You would help us now in growth, that we would grow in grace, that we would continue to put on the new self and put off the old because You have made us to be new creations through Jesus Christ.
[44:24] We need Your help by Your Spirit. Give us help in this week even that we would be peaceable, that we would be slow to anger, that we would be known to be like our God because You are conforming us more and more into the image of Your Son, the One who went to the cross, bore our sins in our place.
[44:45] We thank You for Him. We ask for Your help by Your Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.