ANGER IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN

Jonah 4:9

Morning Meditation 8/19/2013

"God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?"

"Anger is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has such a tendency to run wild that whenever it displays itself, we should be quick to question its character, with this enquiry, "Doest thou well to be angry?" It may be that we can answer, "YES." Very frequently anger is the madman's firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah's fire from heaven.. We do well when we are angry with sin, because of the wrong which it commits against our good and gracious God; or with ourselves because we remain so foolish after so much divine instruction; or with others when the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in His Word, "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Far more frequently it is to be feared that our anger in not commendable or even justifiable, and then we must answer, "NO." Why should we be fretful with children, passionate with servants, and wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable to our Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old evil heart seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with all the might of our newborn nature. Many professors give way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resistance; but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control our tempers, what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted on a crab-stump. "Yes," said he, "but the fruit will not be crabs." We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must fly to the cross and pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness and meekness after His own image." --C. H. Spurgeon

Spurgeon in his Morning and Evening devotional for this morning had some tremendous things to say about anger. So I decided to share them with you.

THERE ARE TIMES THAT ONE IS NOT SAFE AROUND A PERSON WITH ANGER

Genesis 27:45, "Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?" These are Rebekah's words. She knew Esau her other son well enough to know that he will kill Jacob the first chance he gets after the death of his father Isaac. So these are sad but parting words recorded in Genesis 27:41-45, "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?" (The emphasis mine).

That day when Rebekah sent Jacob away, she didn't know it but it would be the last time either would see the other alive. Jacob got the blessing by trickery but in spite of that, it was God's will for him to have the blessing. Here is a case where God makes a wrong right. But it does not mean that God endorses the wrong. There is a price to pay when one does wrong even though in Jacob's case God let the blessing of Isaac stand.

The love of Rebekah for Jacob was great. I'm sure in my own mind that she never realized that she would never get to see him again. I also believe that the love of Jacob toward Rebekah his mother was great. I do not believe that he had any idea that he would never see him mother alive again. There was a price to pay for Jacob's lie. The amazing things is this. It was God's will for him to have the blessing and he would have gotten it anyhow if he had trusted the Lord and waited.

There is a good lesson for us in this. This is a lesson for God's people. Many times there is a period of time between the time of a promise and the reception of that promise. Hebrews 10:36-37, "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." This promise has to do with the return of Christ. Many fail to wait in faith, and when they do, they dishonor the God of the promise. It is not wrong for God to make a promise and wait until He knows the time is right to fulfill it. True faith is willing to trust God to fulfill a promise no matter how long one has to wait for its fulfillment.

I must confess, my greatest weakness is to wait with patience between the time I get assurance of the promise and its fulfillment.

Jacob would not have been safe to remain at home with Esau boiling on the inside over the stolen promise. Anger out of control is dangerous.. It causes men to do things that they would not have otherwise done.

When Moses went on the mount to receive the law, and came down from the mount with the stones on which God had written the law with His own hand, we are told in Exodus 32:19, "And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." What great disrespect Moses exercised toward the stones written by the very finger of God, all caused because in a moment of anger he cast the stones down and broke them.

SLOW TO ANGER

Proverbs 16:32 says, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Think about what the Lord says here about the man who ruleth his spirit. An angry man is controlled by anger. He is what we call out of control. God puts a high price on ruling one's spirit. God says he is better than the one who takes a city (in battle). In the context of this verse, we will either rule our spirit or our spirit will rule us.

PUT OFF ANGER

Proverbs 19:11 says, "The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression."

The word "discretion" means, "prudence, insight, understanding, good sense." Noah Webster's Dictionary, 1828 addition defines prudence, "that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper, united with caution; nice discernment and judgment, directed by circumspection, and primarily regarding ones own conduct." This is what the wise man meant when he used the word "discretion." A man with a little sense will defer anger.

TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK

Someone might say, "Well, I am justified in being angry with a person.. He has done me wrong." Let's look again at this text, "and it is his glory to pass over a transgression." This means to overlook an offense. The words "and it is his glory to pass over a transgression," means, "beauty, splendor, glory." It is beautiful in the sight of the Lord to overlook a transgression. It is beautiful and glorious for one to overlook a transgression. This means when someone transgresses against you, when you could rightfully hold them accountable, or punish them for the transgression, it is beautiful and glorious in the sight of the Lord for you to turn and walk away from a confrontation. It is turning the other cheek.

FLYING OFF THE HANDLE

Ecclesiastes 7:9, "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools."

I know you have heard the expression, "that man has a short fuse." That expression came from blasting stumps or rocks with dynamite. If you do not make the fuse long enough, you might get hurt in the explosion. This is what God is saying to the man with a short fuse. The words "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry," means, "Don't get in a hurry to get angry." I have met some people in my ministry that it seemed that they were looking for something over which to get angry. Then Solomon's conclusion is, "for anger resteth in the bosom of fools." The word "resteth" means that it is lying dormant ready to go. Then he tells us the character of one who allows this to happen. He says he is a fool. Fools are the ones who make a place in their lives to retaliate against anyone who crosses their path.

JESUS' ANGER

Mark 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."

Mark 3:1-5, "And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 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."

It was the Sabbath day in a synagogue. A man with a withered hand came to Jesus for help. Those that were there watched Jesus to see if He would heal on the sabbath day. Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand and it was restored as whole as the other.

This is the only case of anger attributed to Christ in the four gospels. I have heard people justify their anger by saying, "Well, even Jesus got angry." Don't make the mistake of justifying your lack of self control by making such a statement as that. That is bringing Jesus down to your level. Jesus knew what to be angry over. The man who uses Christ as an example to justify his anger probably doesn't even know what to get angry over. When we get angry, we take judgment into our own hands. This is forbidden.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White