Walk Worthy / Week 5 / Be Angry

Be Angry But Do Not Sin

Ephesians 4 February 14, 2021

Introduction:

A. Is there anybody here who has never been angry? I have been angry and I

personally know that anger is very deceptive and very destructive to ourselves and

those around us!

1. Yes, there is a righteous anger but very few of us deal with that. Most of us

deal with an outburst of anger now and then. But some deal with anger as

one of their repeated and natural responses to things or people. Still others

you can just classify as angry people because anger has sat in their hearts so

long that it has become deeply rooted in them!

B. So let’s jump right into our text this morning. Turn to Ephesians 4:26-27.

• This morning we are going to deal with anger, I want to deal with the deceptive side

of anger and the destructive part of anger. Let’s start with

I. The deceptive side of anger

A. Read v26a.

1. Anger can often be deceptive for two reasons: first, sometimes we think that

all anger is sin, but it is not – there is a righteous anger. Jesus displayed as he

cleansed the temple!

a) Righteous anger is directed at sin, things like child abuse, pornography,

racism, abortion or even like Jesus, religious people misrepresenting

God. It is primarily an offense against God and His Word.

b) Even anger can be righteous when someone deeply sinned against you or

betrayed you or was unfaithful to you. Anger is the normal human

response to that.

B. The other way anger can be deceptive is what I call self-righteous anger where

you hang onto your anger because you feel you have a right to be angry. You are

justified in your anger because someone really did hurt/wrong you.

1. We saw that with Jonah when God asked him if he has a right to be angry and

he said I sure do! God went on to show Jonah that he really does not have a

right to be angry.

2. The problem with self-righteous anger is that we never deal with it because of

the feeling that I have a right to be angry. We defend our right rather than

confront our anger!

3. Here is the reality of these kind of people, other people around them can see

it and have to deal with the effects of it, but often they are blinded to it by

their own justifications or by Satan himself!

C. I think the rest of this verse balances out this whole topic of anger. Read v26b

1. Yes, we do have a right to be angry when someone hurts us but we do not

have the right to hang onto it. Righteous anger is short lived.

2. Now this is not saying that if you find out at 5 pm that someone has deeply

hurt or betrayed you, and the sun goes down at 7pm that you have to have it

all resolved by then.

3. The point is that righteous anger is short lived and the sooner we deal with it

the better for others and us!

• The second thing we see in this verse is that anger can be very …

II. Destructive.

A. We need to understand that the thought of v27 is connected with verse 26 and

completes the thought for us. Read v27

1. This specifically applies to those who have a habitual response of anger and

those who have had anger so long that they are now just an angry person!

Satan especially uses the tool of self-righteous anger to get us here.

2. Satan wants us to get this anger thing wrong so he can work his destruction

through us and in us.

B. The word opportunity literally means place.

1. In this verse that means anger becomes a place where Satan can work from in

my life. It gives him an opportunity to work; it is a base of operation where

he can work his destruction through us and in us!

2. Let me try to illustrate this with the war in Kuwait many years ago.

a) Iraq invaded Kuwait City and took the whole world by surprise.

b) They came in and looted stores, raped women and worked all kinds of

destruction.

c) Then over the next number of months they brought in more troops, more

ammunition and built bunkers to fight from. Kuwait became the base of

operation for Iraq to work from as they took more and more control and

worked more and more destruction.

3. That is what Satan does with us when we hang onto and defend our anger, he

finds a place in our lives, his base of operation he can work his destruction

through us and in us!

C. Some people with this kind of anger normally have two problems! Yes, they have

a problem with the sin of anger but they also have a demonic problem as Satan

has been deceiving them and working destruction through them.

D. So often people like this do not find deliverance until they both resist the Satan

and confess their sin.

1. Some have been working on it and counseling about it for years but have

seen no progress.

2. The reason is you must first bind the strong man – Satan then you can go in

and take back to parts of your life he has stolen from you!

E. There was a person at Moraine that dealt with this kind of anger and God

impressed upon me to pray daily for one year resisting the Devil’s work in their

life in the area of anger.

• I will let them tell you their own story …

III.Testimony

IV.Closing

A. Maybe you are here today and you recognize that Satan has deceived you about

your anger and has used it to destroy both you and others around you.

1. Can I encourage you to not put it off one more hour!

2. Go to God – confess your sin and resist the Devil and keep resisting him day

in and day out while you trust Jesus to breathe a fresh breath of His Spirit

into your life!