|
HIS
SERVANTS' MINISTRY
www.judgmentcoming.org
Welcome to our web site
WHAT Does GOD Have To Say?
Anger, Wrath, Chapter 2
Indignation; rage. A feeling that may come as a result of injury, mistreatment, opposition, anguish or distress. Normal human reaction is the desire to hit out at something or someone.
Psalm 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Anger and wrath will hurt only YOU in the end. It’s like a cancer of the heart.
Proverbs 14:17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.
A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a sneaky man is hated.
Proverbs 15:1A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
It is next to impossible to argue with someone who speaks softly, with gentle words.
Proverbs 15:18A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.
A quick tempered man starts fights; while one slow to anger avoids them.
Proverbs 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.
It is better (in God’s eyes) to have patience and self-control, than to control an army.
Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
A man of ‘discretion’ is one who is careful about what he says and does. He uses judgment, and thinks ahead. He restrains his anger. Wonderful qualities!
Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
If you sow evil and wickedness, you will reap nothing but trouble and heartache.
Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
Don’t make friends with a hot-tempered man; stay away from those easily angered. WHY? God does not want you to become like that.
Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
An angry man stirs up troubleand dissension; and a hot-tempered one commits a multitude of sins. God does not want this for His children.
Eccles. 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
Anger and being quickly provoked never comes from a wise man; only fools.
Matthew 5:21-22 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
These are Jesus’ words; and again He states: “But I say unto you . . . ”. Taking a life is a terrible sin, a terrible wrong. But Jesus states that ‘anger’ also is a sin; a terrible sin. Why? Because it violates God’s command to us, to ‘love’. We are to love God first, then too, we are to love others.
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Anger (to me) is a form of hate. When we are angry at someone, we are not ‘loving that person as ourselves.’ We are disobeying God!
Romans 12:19-20 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
This is one of the greatest doctrines found in God’s Word, but on the other hand; it is also one of the most difficult teachings for God’s children to follow. Forgiveness involves both attitude and action! When someone hurts us by something they have said or done; our FIRST thought is to get even with them. This is human nature. But for God’s children, we are NOT to avenge them, but instead, let God handle it. If someone does something ugly to you, try doing something NICE for them! It will throw them completely off guard, for they are expecting something mean and ugly in return from you. Try it. It works!
Col. 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
‘Anger’ . . . there are times that anger is justified; when someone blasphemes God, when someone oppresses the poor, when you see suffering brought upon someone, etc. Even Jesus got angry when He saw the Jews selling animals and doves and exchanging money in the Temple (Jn.2:13-16). But all too often we become angry over the wrong things. ‘Wrath’ . . . anger becomes wrath when we develop an unforgiving spirit. ‘Malice’ . . . comes from anger that we nurture. We become bitter and dream up ways to ‘get even’, get revenge. ‘Blasphemy’ . . . there is SO much of this today! Blasphemy is taking God’s Name in vain; defaming God; dirty jokes about God; misrepresenting God; hating God. But we can also ‘blaspheme’ each other. Any time we say something false or untrue about a Christian, we are guilty of blasphemy. ‘Filthy communication’ . . . is lies, filthy jokes, curse words, gossip, slander, abusive language, etc. Paul says we are to “Put off all these” as we would take off dirty clothes. And remember, these things are so bad we do not want to try to launder them but instead, throw them in the trash! They’re garbage! Get rid of them!
Ephes. 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.
God does not tell us we are not to get angry, but He does tell us we should handle anger properly. Let me give you an example. Several years ago in a senior Bible class (who should have known better), a Czech lady started to cry. When I asked her what was wrong, she said a number of people in the facility had scorned and ridiculed her because she used a Czech language Bible, telling her it was NOT God’s Word because it was Czech. This lady could read very little English, and she was trying to learn more about the Lord, from her Bible. I saw red! That was my only time in all my 20 years of teaching that I ever lost my temper, and was filled with anger because these people had desperately hurt this wonderful woman. I reprimanded and rebuked that class, right then! I told them that those who were guilty should be utterly ashamed of themselves. God is not partial to any person. He made us all, and He loves us all! It does not matter what color we are, or from what country! I am not saying that I am always right; for I would be a liar! But, I do say that I was right to get angry in that particular incident. And I do say that I was right to bring that anger into the open, and get rid of it by telling those people that in God’s eyes they had done wrongly. I think I had a right to be angry, and I think I did handle it properly. But there are times when I get angry for the wrong reasons, and I do not handle it properly. Wrong anger can hurt others; destroy relationships; make us bitter and hateful; destroy us from within (as I said before, it is like a cancer). Any time we nurse or nurture our anger, we are giving Satan an open invitation to get a foothold in our lives, setting us against God and each other. If you are angry with someone, please do all you can to make things right again, and resolve your differences as soon as possible. We should not go to bed at night nursing anger. Get rid of it! If you do not, you are assuredly ‘giving place to the devil’ and he will certainly jump in!
Ephes. 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
We’ve discussed anger, wrath, evil speaking, and malice. ‘Bitterness’ is a state of mind which is easily annoyed or provoked; impatience; a state of mind producing harsh opinions of those around us. Someone who is bitter is disagreeable, sharp tongued, severe, causing pain, sorrow and discomfort to others. ‘Clamour’ is a bold, noisy outcry, uproar, demand or complaint. It is like a rebellious child stomping his feet and demanding his own way. Paul says all of these above things should be “Put away from you”. They have NO place in a Christian’s life.
James 1:19-20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James, is speaking to God’s children. “Swift to hear” what? God’s Word is number one on the list! “Slow to speak” . . . God gave us TWO ears, but only ONE mouth. Do you think there might be a reason for that? According to this verse, yes. When we talk too much and listen too little, we are in effect saying “My ideas are more important than yours.” James states that God’s children should do just the opposite. “Slow to wrath” . . . Do NOT get angry over nothing. If you lose an argument, so what! Selfish anger never helps anyone, nor does it settle any argument (but makes it worse) and it keeps us away from the life God wants for us. Anger does not help us achieve God’s righteous purposes, but drives us away from God; because to God, it is sin!
Luke 6:11And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
Man’s anger and wrath can actually ‘fill them with madness’. The Pharisees (who knew what God’s Word said) were angry because Jesus had healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath day (the Jewish day of worship, Saturday). The Mosiac Law stated that no one should work on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were trying to find something of which to accuse Jesus.
Luke 6:6-10And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.7And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. 9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? 10And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Their anger, wrathand madness was completely unfounded, as is ours most of the time.
Their anger came from hatred of Jesus. The Pharisees were the religious rulers of that day.
Their interpretation of God’s Word was quite different than Jesus; and it ended in a bitter
conflict with Him. From this moment on the Pharisees began to plot just how they would kill Jesus.
Matthew 12:14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
God tells us very plainly that unrighteous anger is wrong, because it leads to bitterness, wrath, hatred, malice, madness and even murder. God will NEVER steer you onto a wrong path. Only the devil does that when you give him a toe-hold. God will ALWAYS guide you in RIGHT ways, IF you allow Him to do so! Please consider what our wondrous Creator has to say!
Romans 1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Does anyone have an excuse for not believing in God or His Son? These verses say NO!
I don’t know about you, but I do NOT want the “Wrath of God” to come down on me!
Every time an unbeliever sins, every time he rejects Jesus; he adds to his pile of sins, and is
storing up God’s wrath against him; because of his stubbornness and unrepentant heart.
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
God’s anger, God’s wrath, is always just and right!It is NOT like our anger and wrath that is most often unjustified. One day we ALL will stand before Him in judgment. This will be a One to one judgment; there will be NO ONE to help you in any way. God will open the books (yes, He keeps records, perfect records). God KNOWS everything you do or say or THINK! If you do not know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, you will receive penalty for EVERY sin you ever committed. God’s verdict: “Guilty, eternity in Hell”. Why not turn to Jesus, now? Only He can declare you “Not guilty in the courts of Heaven”. Accept the ‘gift’ (FREE) of eternal life that God holds out to you (Ep.2:8-9; Rom.6:23). God loves you, very much! He does NOT want eternal agony for you. Do you?
What Does GOD Have to Say?
Ch.1 . . . Ch.2 . . . Ch.3 . . . Ch.4 . . . Ch.5 . . . Ch.6 . . . Ch.7 . . . Ch.8 . . . Ch.9 . . . Ch.10 . . . Ch.11 . . . Ch.12 . . . Ch.13 . . . Ch.14 . . . Ch.15 . . . Ch.16 . . . Warning . . . Home Page
Books You Should Read
Living With Eternity In Mind
Judgment in the Great Tribulation
Judgment IS Coming
What Does GOD Have to Say?
The Wrath of God
Home Page
|