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Sinful Anger

“Make no friendship with an angry man; And with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.” (Proverbs 22:24–25)

This is obviously a very serious thing. We are called to not keep close company with people who are of quick temper and who are peevish and soon wroth, so that we do not become like them. Sinful anger is a dangerous and contagious thing.

            First of all, we must understand that sinful anger is dangerous simply because it does us no good, thus being harmful. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20) There are probably numerous ways in which man’s sinful anger and wrath fail to accomplish God’s righteousness, but sinful anger certainly fails to be righteous in two important ways.

The first of these ways is that sinful anger is a usurpation of God’s authority. We are warned that we should yield to God’s wrath, as it is His prerogative (See Romans 12:19.). God is the one lawgiver who has the right of judgment (James 4:10-12), and He judges righteously (1Peter 2:24).

            The second important manner in which sinful anger fails to accomplish that which is right is that it is a failure of faith in God. We are told that Jesus Himself did not exercise wrath, when He was mistreated, but trusted in God. “Qho did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:22–24) It is our sacred duty to walk in the footsteps of our holy Savior, and trust God to judge, rather than trying to do so in our own wrath.

In Genesis 4:1-6 we see Cain’s anger toward his brother, Abel, which led to him murdering Abel. Cain was first angry with God before he was angry with his brother. Stop and think of that, because we must see that sinful anger is first about our relationship with God. We must take our attitudes seriously, as they are reflective of our relationship with God. The person who is angered quickly and often is often out of sorts with God. Let us examine ourselves.

Not only did James warn us that our sinful anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness, he also warned us that angry words are inflammatory. “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (James 3:6) Sinful anger is contagious. It is transmitted especially by the words which we speak, so we must be very careful both how and what we say.

      Remember, sinful anger is catching. This is why our text warns us about keeping company with wrathful people. The Geneva Bible of 1560 renders our text thus: “Make no friẽdship with an angrie mã, nether go with the furious man, Lest thou learne his wayes, and receive destruction to thy soule.” (Proverbs 22:24–25) The Puritan preacher, Matthew Henry said, “Though we must be civil to all, yet we must be careful whom we lay in our bosoms and contract a familiarity with. And, among others, a man who is easily provoked, touchy, and apt to resent affronts, who, when he is in a passion, cares not what he says or does, but grows outrageous, such a one is not fit to be made a friend or companion, for he will be ever and anon angry with us and that will be our trouble, and he will expect that we should, like him, be angry with others, and that will be our sin.^[1]”  We must be careful of the company we keep, lest we become people of sinful anger and wreck our own lives.

Finally, we need to consider what the Scriptures tell us about the character of the person who habitually indulges in sinful anger and wrath. He or she:

1. Acts like a fool. “A fool’s wrath is presently known: But a prudent man covereth shame.” (Proverbs 12:16) “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

2. Exalts folly, rather than understanding. “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: But he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” (Proverbs 14:29)

3. Must suffer punishment, and needs to learn his lesson. “A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: For if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.” (Proverbs 19:19)

4. Is arrogant and scornful. “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, Who dealeth in proud wrath.” (Proverbs 21:24)

5. Sins much and stirs up trouble. “An angry man stirreth up strife, And a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” (Proverbs 29:22)

I honestly know of none of God’s people who would want to wear labels such as these.

            All of the above things being true, let us make it a priority to grow out of sinful anger and into godly attitudes and actions.

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^[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1005.

Righteous Anger

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:” (Ephesians 4:26)

           

            For the next few weeks we will be studying the subject of anger and wrath. The first thing that we will consider is righteous anger. There are those who consider all anger to be sinful; but that cannot be so, because God is spoken of as being angry and exercising wrath, and we know that God cannot sin.

            It is necessary that we be very careful to distinguish between that which is right and that which is wrong, however. God has called us to holiness, and we must pursue holiness in every area of our lives.

            Holiness should especially be pursued in our thought lives, because thoughts lead to deeds. This is why we are told to guard our hearts: our hearts dictate our actions (See Proverbs 4:23.). This is also why Jesus warned against unrighteous anger saying, “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: 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.” (Matthew 5:21–22) Sinful anger is what leads to murder, so we should beware of our sinful hearts thinking murderous thoughts.

            Nahum spoke of God’s righteous anger: “The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; The Lord revengeth, and is furious; The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, And he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked: The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of his feet.” (Nahum 1:1–3) God is Creator and King of all things, and all sin is rebellion against His righteous government. This is why we read of God’s wrath and great displeasure in Psalm two.

            Sin, too, is a rejection of God’s worthiness and ability to give us joy. When we sin we show that we are convinced that lesser things are of greater worth than God, and that they have the capacity to satisfy us where God cannot. This is one reason why the fall of man in the Garden of Eden was sinful. We also find that David’s sin is spoken of as despising God, or counting Him to be of less value than a few moments of sensual pleasure with a beautiful woman (See 2Samuel 12:7-10.).

            God is right to be angry when we rebel against His righteous rule and act as if His creatures can give us more joy than He can give us.

            Our text commands us to not sin when we are angry. We can exhibit righteous anger, but we must not allow our anger to become sinful.

            We can be angry and act righteously. Jesus did so when He cleansed the temple in John chapter two. I once heard a sermon in which a man said that we could not know from the text whether Jesus was angry or not. The text, however, tells us that Jesus had a zeal, or an indignation, for God’s house that He expressed that day.

            Paul told us of a righteous anger that is the result of repentance. When we repent of our sins, we have the ability to become angry about the sin that is present in our lives and, through that anger, expel that sin from our hearts and lives. (See 2Corinthians 7:8-11.).

            Righteous anger shows itself in the fact that, while we are angry, we do not seek vengeance. Righteous anger leaves vengeance to God. Paul tells us, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) We are not to seek vengeance, but to yield to the wrath of God, who will judge righteously. While our wrath will not work God’s righteousness, God will rightly deal with sin. We must step aside and trust Him to do what He does perfectly: rule as King of the universe.

            Beware, however, the tendency to think that we are justified in most, or all, of our anger. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20) We need to be very careful that we do not deceive ourselves and think that the things which may rightly anger us give us the right to express our anger in any fashion that we please. Simply because we have become angered for righteous reasons does not mean that we are free to express righteous anger in a sinful fashion. Man’s wrath does not express God’s righteousness. We must step aside and yield to God’s wrath. We must commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously (See 1Peter 2:21-24.), and trust Him to take care of those persons and things which anger us. Our wrath will show itself in very sinful passions and in the mistreatment of those with whom we are angry. God will judge rightly.

            As we look around us today, we see an angry world. It is as if many people have joined the society of the perpetually peeved. They are angry about everything and angry at everyone. It seems that many are on the lookout for any and every opportunity to express their outrage. God’s children must be among those who are peacemakers. We must seek peace and pursue it (See 1Peter 3:8-10.). We must beware lest our anger swiftly transition from righteous anger to unrighteous wrath.

Of Christian Fruitfulness

Christian fruitfulness is something that we must consider. It is imperative that we think of this.

Jesus stated the every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is chopped down and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10). He also told us that the branches within the vine that do not bear fruit are pruned off and burned (John 15:1-11).

These are sobering words.

Let us not protest that we have security in Christ. Security if for the believer, and not simply for the one who professes to believe.

Let that sink in a bit.

Let us ask ourselves if we are bearing fruit.

Are these attributes present in our lives: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity? (2Peter 1:1-10)

What about love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance? (Galatians 5:22-23)

We find that, where fruit is not present, but thorns are present, the end is burning (Hebrews 6:1-9).

Am I bearing fruit? Are you?

These things cannot be neglected simply because we believe in the security of the believer. It is too fearful a thing to fall into the hands of the living God to not give serious consideration to this.

The Necessity Of The Trinity

The Necessity of The Trinity

The cornerstone of Biblical doctrine and Christianity is the doctrine of God.  Who is God?  What is His nature?  How does He manifest Himself to us, and how does He work?  While this writer shall make no attempt to answer all of these questions, it is imperative that we learn the fundamental truth of the Trinity.  The doctrine of the Trinity is not arrived at by philosophical searching; it is a doctrine that is known only by revelation.  While the eternal power and deity of God is manifest in creation, the Trinity is only shown to us in the revealed Word of God,  the Scriptures. 

One thing that is necessary to state is the fact that the Trinity does not teach that there are three gods.  On the contrary, the term Trinity speaks of three in unity, or tri-unity.  When we speak of the Trinity, we mean three in one.  The Scriptures bear witness of this fact saying, 1 John 5:7  there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  (KJV)  When the Scriptures tell us that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost are one they are telling us that they exist as one.  The very being of God is one.  The three who are in God exist as one.  There is only one existence in God, but three persons.  God’s Word attests to the fact of the solitary existence of God in a plurality of persons.  1 Cor 8:6  To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.  (KJV)  Paul is telling us that there is only one God, as opposed to the belief in many gods that idolaters hold.  He states that there is only one God, and names two of the persons who are God: the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  While he names two persons, he calls the two persons the one God!

As we consider this subject, the question should be asked, “why speak of the necessity of the Trinity?”  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines necessity thusly: “That which must be and cannot be otherwise.”   When we speak of the Trinity being necessary we mean that God’s nature is such that He must be a plurality of persons who are of one essence.  The Bible reveals to us that this God is a Tri-unity of persons, hence the Trinity.

The Glory of God Makes The Trinity Necessary

God is eternally glorious.  God’s glory is His nature and character.  He shines forth in splendor, beauty, and might.  This glorious nature of God makes the Trinity a necessity. 

The first attribute of God’s glory we shall consider is the name of God.  When we speak of God’s name, we speak of the reputation and fame of God as well as the appellation by which He is called.  God told Moses that His name was an eternal name/fame.  Ex 3:13-15  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.   And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (KJV)  If God’s fame and glory are eternal there must have been a plurality of persons present to see and enjoy this fame.  True fame does not rest in one’s mind alone.  The fame and glory of God were expressed and enjoyed in eternity before even the angels were created.  God enjoyed His glory as He beheld His Son (See Prov 8:30;John 17:5,24).

God’s glory is seen in His mercy and truth.  Ps 115:1  Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. (KJV)  God is eternally merciful and true.  He has always been this way.  These are personal attributes.  In other words, mercy and truth are shared with other persons.  For God to be eternally merciful and true means that there have always been other persons to whom He expressed mercy and truth.  (Note: Mercy here does not primarily speak of God’s compassion on those who face hardship and judgment, it is the loving-kindness of God which He expresses to other persons and has expressed forever to the other persons of the Godhead.)  From this we see that God is a plurality of persons.

Love Makes The Trinity Necessary

The Bible tells us that God is love (See 1 Jn 4:8).  The love of God is such that, should God cease to love at all He would no longer be God.  God does not only love, but is love.  When we consider the fact that God is eternal (Ps 90:1,2;Rom 1:20), God has always been love and has always loved.  For God to have always loved, there must be one who was there to be loved before the world was made.  That one who was present and loved before the world was created must also be eternal.  That being so, this one must would be equal to God.  That would mean there would be more than one in the essence of God.

As we read the Bible we find that this one who is loved is none other than the Son of God, who is also called the Word.  John 1:1-3,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.   And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (KJV)  The reader will recall that the Word is spoken of as being one with the Father and the Holy Ghost.  Now we find that the Word was present in the creation, and is God.  How is this so?   Perhaps it would be well to try to describe it in this manner:  As person looks at life they will find themselves thinking about particular moments in life.  As these moments are contemplated, one finds that many emotions come to them as though they are reliving the moment.  Should one be able to have a perfect thought of every moment of his life, that thought would then become a complete replica of that person.  When God is considered as contemplating His eternal greatness and having a perfect thought of Himself, that thought is spoken of as the Word (logos),  because it would be both a perfect representation of His thought and (words being expressions of thoughts) would be an eternal person equal to the Father and of the same essence.  We know that Jesus is the Word of God who is the expression of the nature, heart, character and will of God in eternity and in this world  (See John 1:1-4;Heb 1:1-3).  The Word is also the Son of God, because God is spoken of as the Father of whom are all things.  He would also be the Son because He is of the same nature as the Father.  He is not created, but is eternally generated and eternally co-equal with the Father.  He has no beginning nor end, because God has always had the perfect thought of Himself. 

Jesus spoke of this great love that existed between Him and the Father.   John 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.  (KJV)  In fact, this love between the Father and the Son is so intense that that love in itself is another person.  That person is the Holy Spirit.  Have you ever been around a group of people where, although there are many individual persons, there is a group spirit?  We call it esprit de corps.  The spirit of the body.  It seems the group of people has a personality in itself.  So it is in the Godhead.  The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.  This eternal love is so great that it has a personality and is a person.  Jesus’ own words bear witness to this fact.  John 17:26 I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.  (KJV)  Note that Jesus spoke of the love of the Father and Himself dwelling in us.  Who is it that dwells in us?  Paul says it is Christ (Col 1:27)  We find also that Rom 5:5  the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  (KJV)  The Spirit of God dwells within us spreading God’s love in our hearts.  In fact, Rom 8:9 if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

(KJV)  I think it is evident that the love which exists in the Godhead is the one we call the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.

This, I believe, is the Biblical doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  This doctrine is a revealed doctrine.  We do not by searching find God out.  This is not seen in Creation, nor inherently understood.  It is not understood at all.  We simply embrace this truth, because God has revealed it to us.  This truth demonstrates to us that our God is truly transcendent.  Let us, therefore, worship Him in all His Tri-une glory.  Isa 6:3  Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (KJV)

Introducing A Country Parson

A Country Parson is being established for the purpose of publishing the thoughts and musings that I, a pastor of two rural churches, believe are needful among the people to whom I seek to minister.

These thoughts tend to be theological, practical, and are permeated with a desire to glorify God by rejoicing in Him.

It is my prayer that the posts here will be graceful, instructive, encouraging, and helpful.

Check back often, as I hope to begin posting in earnest soon.