Introduction
Anger is a descent into hell. It is a descent into hell for those who live around the angry person. Explosions and World War 3 happen everyday for you. The angry person leaves a path of destruction in your life. And you feel like at times that hell might be more pleasant than living around this person.
Anger is also a descent into hell for the angry person. He often feels trapped in his habitual pattern of responding in anger. Often angry people have been angry for so long that they don't know how not to relate in anger. It is a hellish existence. Angry people often crave for heaven with a craving that it is at times painful because they want to be free from anger.
I. The Seriousness of Sin – Anger = Murder, 21-22
A. In saying, "You have heard it said," Jesus is not referring to the Law of God revealed in the OT; rather, he is referring to the Pharisaical (rabbinical) interpretation of the Law, 21.
B. In essence, Jesus is saying, "Those who claim to be teachers of the law have taught you that you shouldn't kill somebody and if you do, you might get in trouble. Today I want to tell you what I the lawgiver actually meant by the 6th commandment when I gave it to you." 22a
B. In essence, Jesus is saying, "Those who claim to be teachers of the law have taught you that you shouldn't kill somebody and if you do, you might get in trouble. Today I want to tell you what I the lawgiver actually meant by the 6th commandment when I gave it to you." 22a
1. Notice the contrast between you have heard it said, but I say to you.
2. Right here, right now, we have to decide to whom we are going to listen in the subject of anger: "they" or Jesus?
C. Murder doesn't only happen when we take somebody's life; rather, it happens when we get angry with somebody, 22a.
1. This statement in no way lessens the heinousness of taking someone's life; it does, however, explain that the pulling of the trigger is actually the culmination of a process that started in the heart.
2. The very first murder in history was the result of murderous anger.
Gen. 4:5b-8 – And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
3. The book of Proverbs again and again warns us about the angry man and woman.
Pro. 22:24-25 – Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.
Pro. 21:19 – Better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman.
4. Our Lord Jesus elsewhere tells us that murder is a heart-issue instead of a gun-issue.
Mt. 15:18-19 – But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
D. What about the without a causeclause?
1. If you are reading the ESV, NIV, or NASB, you noticed that the phrase without a cause is not included in verse 22.
2. The reason for that is that the manuscript evidence is somewhat divided.
a. In his infinite wisdom, our Lord preserved his Word perfectly for us.
b. But instead of preserving it in one manuscript, he preserved it in over 5,000 unique manuscripts.
c. Sometimes these manuscripts don't all agree on how a particular verse should read, so trained scholars examine the evidence and are able to, most of the time, figure out what the exact wording of a particular verse should be.
d. I agree with the principles used in this process called textual criticism, and I usually agree on how these principles are applied by these scholars.
e. I do not agree with their application here for the following reasons:
1) The manuscript evidence for having this phrase in here is numerous, early, and widespread.
2) Jesus found cause to be angry – Mt. 21:12; 23:17
3) Paul instruct us to be angry and not sin – Eph. 4:26
f. Thus, given the manuscript evidence and the consistent internal evidence of the Scriptures themselves, we must deal with the phrase without a cause.
3. What are causes that we can be angry with our brother about?
a. According to D.A. Carson, Jesus's "anger erupts not out of personal pique but out of outrage at injustice, sin, unbelief, and exploitation of others."
b. But it is hard to come up with list of righteous reasons for anger because the general tone of the Scriptures is that anger is to be avoided.
c. Wayne Mack, in his book Anger and Stress Management God's Way, suggests eight categories of sinful anger and if we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that the overwhelming, vast majority of the times we are angry with somebody, our anger will fall under one of these sinful categories.
1) Our anger is sinful when we become angry because of selfishness on our part.
Jam. 4:1 – Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2) Our anger is sinful when we allow our anger to control us.
Proverbs 16:32 – He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 25:28 – A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
3) Our anger is sinful when it becomes the dominant feature of our life.
Proverbs 19:19 – A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; for if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.
Proverbs 22:24-25 – Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.
4) Our anger is sinful when it involves brooding or fretting.
5) Our anger is sinful when we keep a running record of how we have been mistreated.
6) Our anger is sinful when we pretend that we are not angry.
Ephesians 4:25 – Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
7) Our anger is sinful when we return evil for evil or attack the person with whom we are angry.
Proverbs 29:11 – A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.
Proverbs 29:22 – An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.
Proverbs 12:16 – A fool's wrath is known at once, but a prudent man covers shame.
8) Our anger is sinful when we attack or hurt a substitute
II. The Consequence of Anger – Death and Hellfire, 22.
II. The Consequence of Anger – Death and Hellfire, 22.
A. I wonder if we really understand the seriousness of anger.
1. Jesus is saying that life is destroyed not only when we take a rock and bash someone in the head and cause them to fall to the ground dead; life is also destroyed when we relate to another human being in anger.
2. Life is destroyed when we mock or humiliate another person.
3. There's not a person who is not guilty of these violations.
a. Everyone of us, including the youngest of our children, has indulged in anger toward another person—maybe our husband, our wife, our brother or sister, a friend or someone.
b. And everyone of us has, at some point and in some way, belittled another human being—if not to their face, then behind their back.
c. Jesus says we are guilty of destroying life.
B. And the punishment for that is judgment and hellfire forever.
1. Jesus uses a word for hell that would bring to his audience the most despicable place and images to their minds – The Valley of Hinnon.
a. That's where Israel burnt their children in the arms of Moloch.
b. That's where the city dump was, filthy and with a fire that could not be quenched, always burning.
2. That's the place for angry people.
3. So what do we do?
a. We cling to Jesus Christ who came to deliver us from all our sins including our anger.
b. On the cross the punishment for our anger was paid for.
c. All the accusations and the bondage to anger were destroyed on the cross.
d. If you are trusting in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul, he has freed you from your anger and you do not have to be an angry person.
e. Anger does not have dominion over you and God promises you to give you the grace and the strength to resist being angry.
1 Cor. 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God isfaithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
III. Examples of angry behavior, 22b.
A. The two examples that Jesus gives of acting angrily toward a brother have to do with the use of words.
B. These are not exhaustive examples that exclude any other words or expressions.
1. First, He says if you declare to your brother "you good-for-nothing," you are guilty.
a. Raca is a way of expressing contempt for another human being.
b. It means "empty-headed."
c. It is a comment belittling the mental proficiency of another.
2. Second, Jesus states that if you say to someone "you fool," you are guilty.
a. In this case, the word (moros) means "dull" or "foolish" and is meant to be a comment on a man's character, not his intelligence.
b. So, both terms are strong statements against another human being; they both imply severe weakness of mind and character.
C. When we relate to another human being in anger, we are violating the kind of relationship God wants us to have with one another.
1. Our anger hurts and it wounds and it has a profoundly negative impact on the lives of others.
2. When people cringe when we speak or feel as if they must endure another stormy blast from our mouth, then we are in sin.
3. If we have a habit of making fun of others or picking on others because we don't like something about them, we are in sin.
4. If we mock the person who is not as intelligent as we or not as clean as we or not as confident as we, 23 are in sin.
5. If we belittle another human being, we are declaring ourselves to be superior to them and we are in sin because they too are made in the image of God.
IV. The Whirlwind of Dealing with Angry People in Your Lives
A. You are most likely worn out, confused and looking for answers to questions like:
1. How can I restore sanity to this chaos?
2. How can I prevent these anger storms?
3. Why does this rage seem to explode out of nowhere?
4. Will there ever be real peace in our home, or are bickering, quarreling, and fighting going to be the norm?
B. The Bible's emphasis on the inward origin of anger tells us that helping angry people involves more than mere anger management techniques.
C. Knowing that anger comes from the heart should fill you with hope.
1. Your loved one is not emotionally damaged and incapable of change.
2. Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that all kinds of people – including people with very angry hearts - could be changed into people who love God and others.
D. Pray for them.
Ps. 51:10-11 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
E. Look at your own life and see how you may have been an unnecessary trigger to anger – eye surgery of the beam and speck kind.
Conclusion
Dealing with anger is hard. It is hard for the angry person and it is extremely hard for those who live with the angry person. Anger can be one of those besetting sins that are always ready, in a moment's notice, to rear its ugly head. But anger is sin and that is the exciting part. Our God is an expert in dealing with sin. And he has the power to overcome it!
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