(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, we're in Ecclesiastes chapter number 7, look down at your Bibles in verse number 9. It says, Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Each week we've been studying the various proverbial personalities that are written in the book of Proverbs, and a couple weeks ago we studied the simple, we looked at the fool, and we spent a couple weeks on the strange woman this morning. We're going to cover the angry man, okay, the angry man. Now what is an angry man? Well, if I were to simply describe who the angry man is, I would say that it's an individual who lacks self-control over his or her inflamed emotions. They easily express feelings of resentment, hatred, which can lead to contention and or violence. That would be the way I would describe someone who's an angry person. Now let me start off by saying that anger in and of itself is not sinful, okay. And there are times in the Bible where God expects us to be angry and also to voice our anger, okay. It's important for us to be able to express that. In fact, the Bible tells us, Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. So the Bible is specifically telling us here that we are to be angry, but we can be angry and still not commit sin. We can be right with God, even though we are angry according to the Bible, okay. And you say, why do you say that? Well, because of the fact that today there's churches and pastors and Christians out there who when a man of God stands up and begins to yell and scream and get mad about sin and wickedness and the evil people of this world, they think that's sinful somehow. They think that, well, that's just an angry spirit. You have a bad spirit because you're so angry behind the pulpit. The reality is that most people who say they're just a bunch of limp-wristed pastors who are even nicer than God sometimes. They're more meek than Moses. They're more meek than God himself. They feel like it's wrong for you to get behind the pulpit and yell and scream about reprobates or about false doctrine, whereas when you look at the examples in the Bible of the prophets of the Old Testament and even the New Testament, we constantly see this example of people lifted up their voice like a trumpet, crying out loud and sparing not, showing God's people their transgression. So God expects for God's man to get up and scream and yell about sin. And even as he told Isaiah and Ezekiel to slap the thigh and stomp the foot and get angry about evil, about that which is sinful, about reprobates and wickedness, God expects us to get angry about those things. And you know what? The fact is that we need more men to get mad about these things. We need more Christians to actually get upset about wickedness and false doctrine and wicked people. The churches of today have been castrated, spiritually speaking, where they're so docile, they're so nice about everything that they can't put up a fight when it comes to the spiritual battles. And obviously, we need to have self-control, and we're going to get into that this morning, but the reality is this, is that men need to start getting angry. Christians need to start getting angry about the things that make God angry, you understand? We need to get upset, we need to get angry, we need to cry and yell and scream about these things and be zealous about the things that God is zealous about. We don't need less people getting angry, we need more people to get angry and get upset about these things. Anger is an emotion that we all have, and it shouldn't be doused or denied, it just needs to be controlled. And anger becomes sinful, as I mentioned, when it evolves into hatred for a brother in Christ. Now, we see plenty of times in the Bible where it's justified to hate those who hate the Lord, but obviously, it's never justifiable to hate a brother in Christ, or even just a sinner who's not necessarily a reprobate, just a person who's lost, it's never right to hate that individual. The dominating emotion that we should feel for those people is love, obviously. Let hatred, of course, and anger have its place, but it becomes sinful when it evolves into hatred towards a brother in Christ, or when it manifests itself into what's known as wrath, which ultimately leads to violence. What is wrath? Wrath is strong indignation where a person desires vengeance upon someone. And so we need to be able to separate the two and recognize that anger is not wrath. Anger is not violence. Anger is not necessarily vengeance, or it's not us taking vengeance upon ourselves, or trying to vindicate ourselves. It's an emotion that God expects us to have, and in fact, He gave it to us. Now you're in Ecclesiastes chapter seven, we're going to come back there, go to James chapter number one, if you would, excuse me, James chapter number one. I'm going to read to you from Galatians chapter five, verse 19, it says, now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like of the witch I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now I want you to notice that one of the works of the flesh that's not mentioned on here is anger, right, because it's not a work of the flesh. We see wrath being mentioned. We see hatred being mentioned, but we don't necessarily see anger being mentioned. So just because you get angry doesn't mean that you're sinning or there's something wrong with you, it's a natural emotion to feel this thing of anger. Look at James one verse 19, it says, wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, not wrathful at all, not angry at all, no it says slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So in order to accomplish something, in order to resolve conflict, you need to be slow to wrath. You need to be able to be slow to anger and be a person of temperance and self-control. It says wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Go to Proverbs chapter 14 where we're going to spend the majority of the sermon. Proverbs chapter 14, I'm going to read you some random verses on the angry man here. It says in Proverbs 21 verse 23, whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. What does it mean to keep your mouth? It means whoever shuts up, whoever doesn't run his mouth, whoever is not just kind of flapping his gums and just talking about beating people up and violating people. They can keep their soul from trouble. Proud and haughty scorners his name who dealeth in proud wrath. Chapter 21 verse 19 says it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with the contentious and an angry woman. So by the way, this is not only subject for men because we think of anger, we automatically associate it with men because men have a tendency to be more readily angry, right? But here it tells us that there's such thing as a contentious and an angry woman. And the Bible's giving us a location where it's better to be than in the presence of that person. It says it's better to dwell in the wilderness. And the wilderness is not like, you know, a ritzy hotel or something like that. It's the desert where nothing is. There's no water, there's no food, it's dry, it's hot. God says it's better to be there than to dwell with the contentious and an angry woman. What is he doing? He's emphasizing how bad it is to have a person like that in your life. Contentious means they just want to fight, they're angry, they're mouthing off, they're constantly wanting to bicker and they're nagging. That's what the Bible's talking about here. This matter of anger is not only something that was only subject to men, this is obviously something that women are susceptible to as well. And in fact, in Proverbs 27 verse 15 says, a continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. So a continual dropping, you think of the faucet that doesn't stop dripping and it just echoes. What is it? It's annoying. Kind of irritating, right? A contentious woman is not, you know, no one's afraid of a contentious woman. A man is not afraid of a contentious woman like, oh man, she's going to beat me up or something. Oh man, this lady's going to mop the floor with me. Really what it is, is just annoying. I want to be around someone like that. And so the point that I'm trying to make is the fact that anger is not only something that men struggle with, it's actually something that women can struggle with as well. So let me give you some characteristics of the angry man and obviously the purpose of the sermon is to help you to avoid becoming this person and recognize the difference between being angry and because of some justifiable reason and just being angry at the job of a hat because of whatever. Number one, characteristics of the angry man. Number one, the angry man has a short fuse. The angry man has a short fuse. So again, if you see someone getting angry and it's a justifiable reason, you know, don't get upset at them, it's when they have a short fuse. In other words, they're easily provoked. Doesn't take much to get them mad. Doesn't take much to get them angry. Doesn't take much to get them swinging and fighting and striving and being contentious. Look at Proverbs 14 verse 16, it says, a wise man feareth and departed from evil. So a wise man will get into a contentious altercation with someone and what will they do? They'll just depart from it. They'd rather not be involved in it. It says, but the fool rages and is confident. Now I went to a public high school and I saw a lot of this, where fools would rage and they're really confident and what happens? They get their butts whooped really bad because remember that number that we were talking about a couple of days ago or a couple of weeks ago, that number that, you know, they call for strokes, their mouth calls for strokes. I've known a lot of people whose mouth calls for strokes. Why? Because they rage and they mouth off and they're confident and they're rage, but then they end up getting beat up. Look at verse 17, he that is soon angry dealeth foolishly and a man of wicked devices is hated, the Bible says. Go to Proverbs chapter 12, if you would, Proverbs chapter 12. So here it says, he that is soon angry dealeth foolishly, this is referring to a person who has a short fuse. It doesn't take much to provoke them to anger, to get them upset quickly, whether it's an insult that gets them going, it's, you know, some, I mean, I've known people that even if you look at them crooked eyed, they get upset quick. You go to that part of the city, you know, where you're walking down the street, there's people that are like, would you look at that fool? I mean, you have to like look down or something because they can't even stand you looking at them. We have eyes to look at people, to behold individuals. And there's people out there and look, it's funny, but that's actually a reality. That happens like more often than not. And you make eye contact with someone and all of a sudden, man, he's like, I like that fool. I don't like him. What you looking at? I don't know. Maybe it's because you're looking at him. Have you ever thought about that? And then all of a sudden that person becomes like an enemy. What is that person? He's a fool. He's a, he's a fool. He's an idiot who thinks that the whole world's his enemy. He's listening to too much Tupac. An angry person according to the Bible is easily provoked and angered. People feel like they have to walk on eggshells around them. That's a person who has a short fuse. Soon anger means that it doesn't take much to upset them. So it's like you got to be really, you got to be real docile, real sensitive with them. You got to be careful what you say, how you look at them, what you do around them because they have a short fuse and they can just blow up at any moment. You say, well, that's, that's me. That's how I am. Well, that means you're weak according to the Bible means you have no self control. Okay. Look at Proverbs 12 verse 15, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. A fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth the chain. What does that mean? It means that when a person who is soon angry is angry, everyone knows about it. He rages openly about it. He mouths off openly about it. His wrath is presently known. Whereas the person who really you have to be careful with is the person who you just keep pushing that button, keep pushing that button. And they just are as calm as the day is long. That's the person you really have to worry about. You know, the person who doesn't make his wrath presently known, you know, who has a longer fuse, but the, the damage of the bomb is far greater than this guy right here. Okay. Go to Daniel chapter two, if you will, Daniel chapter number two. So a fool's wrath is presently known, this is referring to the short fuse of the angry man. Let me ask you a question. Do you have a short fuse? Are you easily provoked and upset when someone tells you something? Maybe they insult you. Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, I blow up as soon as people insult me. Why do you think so highly of yourself? What if there's some truth to that insult? I'm just saying, don't get mad. I'm just saying, isn't it true? Like every insult has a little bit of truth to it. I just, I just made a video this, this week. It's called mean comments. Pastor Mahita reads mean comments. There's some truth to that stuff and, and, and Ulysses and I were reading that we're busting up. We're laughing because it's true. Some of it is true. Now my comebacks are better. My responses are way better. I'm funnier than they are, but there's some truth to what they say. But you know, the problem would be if they made those comments, I'm just like, who did they think they are? Don't they know I'm Pastor Mahita? My hairlines are not that bad. These people are so wicked. That's a person who just takes themselves too serious. Don't take yourself so serious. The people who take themselves so serious are the ones who have a short fuse. It doesn't take much to get them going, to get them upset, to get them angry, to get them offended. You know, you should work as a Christian to lengthen that fuse as much as you possibly can. And I mean, wouldn't you say this, doesn't God have a long fuse with us? Isn't his mercy great towards us? As far as, you know, the Bible tells us that his, his mercies endure forever. You know, they're, they're, they're long. He, he, we experienced the mercies of God every day. There's times when you can really take God off and he does not smite you or destroy you or destroy your crops or your finances or whatever it may be. He's kind to you. He's gracious to you. He's merciful to you. He has a long fuse with you. And I think all of us have lit that fuse at least one or three or four, five times in our life. And you know what? God didn't blow up on us as he would be justified to do so. And so let's learn from the Lord himself who has a long fuse with us. Therefore we should be long suffering towards others and not have a short fuse. Look what it says in Daniel chapter two, verse five, it says, the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the thing is gone for me. If you will not make known unto me the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made of dunghill. So he has this dream and he wants all these guys to interpret the dream. And they're like, we can't do it. Okay, then I'll just cut you into pieces and make your house a dunghill. How about that? What is that called? That's called a short fuse. Or it's just like, you don't fulfill my wishes, my desires, therefore I'm just going to give you the worst punishment possible. I'm going to cut you into pieces and make your houses a dunghill. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 16, verse 14, the wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a wise man will pacify it. That could be describing King Nebuchadnezzar right here. I think, for example, by the way, when people who have short fuses often don't realize how ridiculous they look when they actually blow their fuse, blow their bomb. Let me give you an example. You have Balaam, who obviously is a false prophet, but Balaam, the son of Bozor, he's riding on this donkey. Please understand this. He's riding on a donkey, an animal. God opens the mouth of the ass, right? He opens the mouth and he begins to speak to him. Now, I don't know about you, but if that was me, I'd get off and be like, did this thing just talk? And then I started thinking, you know what, let's travel and make some money because I got a talking donkey. I would have forgotten where I was going. Think about that. No one's ever heard an animal talk other than Eve, Balaam, who else? Is there anybody else? They saw an animal speak? No. Who? That's it. So, he's the only man in history, other than Eve, who's actually able to listen to an animal talk. What does he do? He begins to smite it, argue with it. And the donkey's pleading with him. I've taken you wherever you wanted to go. I've never been rebellious towards you. And he's like, shut up. And he's hitting it. But you know what? That's what anger does to a person. Because you read that and you're like, what an idiot. I would have gone off and said, you know what, you're special. I'm feeding you. I'm keeping you alive as long as possible. Just make sure you do this around other people so people don't think I'm crazy. So how did you learn how to talk? You just kind of conversate with that thing. It's a pretty amazing miracle. No. Instead, what does he do? He gets mad and he smites the donkey, smites the ass, and he's arguing with an animal. He's arguing with the beast. Well, that's how stupid people look when they get angry and just let their wrath be presently known. They just kind of forget about everything else. They have a short fuse. Being slow to anger is actually a virtue, folks. Now look, let me just say this is that I don't always have this 100% down pat. Okay? I'm a man and I get upset and there's times that I can blow up or I can maybe even have a short fuse, especially in times past in my younger years. There's been times when I wasn't slow to wrath. And this is something that I think every man, every Christian needs to learn how to do. It's a work in progress, obviously, but we should get better at it the longer we're saved, the longer we're Christians, the longer we read the Bible, we should become better at being slow to wrath. Did I have you turn somewhere? Go to Proverbs. Let me see here. Go to Proverbs 19, if you would, Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 14 verse 29 says, he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. Why do they have great understanding? I'll tell you why, because they understand that actions have consequences. So because they don't just act upon their passions, their anger, their frustrations, they understand, you know, these things that I say, these things that I do can have some pretty devastating consequences. They understand the importance of being slow to anger. It says, but he that is hasty of spirit exalted folly. Proverbs 29, 20 says, seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 29 verse eight says, scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise men, listen to this, turn away wrath. So the strong person is actually the person who's able to diffuse the situation. That's what it says. Wise men can turn away wrath. A soft answer can turn away wrath, can it not? Can pacify the anger of another individual. So God actually sees an individual who's able to appease wrath or slow someone's anger or turn away their anger and their wrath. They see, God sees that individual as a strong person, as a wise person. Better to talk your way out of a contention than to give into it, okay? Look at Proverbs 19 verse 11. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger. What does defer mean? It means to delay it. And it is his glory to pass over a transgression. A wise man sees it as an accomplishment to be able to avoid confrontation. Think about that. Like, no, I think the glory is knock him out. If you're able to just lay him out, that's glorious. No, not according to the Bible. The glory is if you're able to pass over a transgression, and it doesn't mean you knock him out and you just walk over the guy who like offended you or something. Pass over transgression is referring to the fact that you're able to avoid conflict. You can avoid wrath. You can avoid anger. You can defer your own anger. And again, I want to make myself very clear that I'm not saying don't get angry. The point is to be slow to anger. And I'll give you this example, you know, at the beginning of the year when we had those protests, I was infuriated. There's a lot of wrath in me during that time, especially when I would actually show up to church as a bunch of reprobates outside and considering all the things they were saying about my wife and my children. There's a lot of anger that was built up in me. There's a lot of wrath that I had inside of my soul. And there's a lot of temptation. I'll just be honest with you. You know, stepping out that door and seeing that one, you guys know who I'm talking about? That one. You guys remember that one? I don't think anybody could ever forget that one that met you at the door. You know, there's a temptation, I'll be honest with you. There was anger, there was wrath that was built up. But you know what? We have to be slow to anger. And so what I did was I just refrained myself, I deferred the anger, and I let it all out when I preached. The Bible tells us for a bishop, Titus chapter 1 verse 7, for a bishop must be blameless as the stewards of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre. The pastors of today say, well, no, you can't be angry at all. No, the Bible actually says not soon angry. So that means the pastor should be long suffering, he should be patient, even when he's falsely accused sometimes and people confront him. We had a situation about a month ago where people were doing that, and I was literally giving that person the benefit of the doubt. I said, that's fine, you can believe that, I have no problem with it. Let's move on. I saw smiles and everything, and he just kept at it and kept at it and kept at it until finally he called me a heretic, and at that point, the light switch goes on. And there's no more fuse. And what did you do? You turned on him and threw him out of the church. The Bible is steams the man who is able to defer his anger, not suppress it, not deny it, but be slow to anger. Go with me, if you would, to Proverbs 22, Proverbs chapter 22. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse three, it is an honor for a man to cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling. So we need to keep in mind that in church, we're going to deal with this a lot, because there's different personalities in the church, there's going to be different conflicts in the church, and we need to make sure that we esteem ceasing from strife as an honorable thing. And look, don't turn a blind eye to these things either. You see two men going at it, you make sure you get involved. If I'm not around, or someone else, you get involved and say, hey, you guys need to cease from strife, this is church, you guys need to talk this out, you guys need to cool down, you guys need to stop. I say, I'm not going to get involved in that, I'd rather just not even get, no, don't have bystander apathy, oh, the pastor would do something about that. I would if I was around, but if I'm not around, then the responsibility falls on you, you're deputized by the pastor to intervene and defuse the situation if it ever comes up. So what is an angry man, someone who has a short fuse? Don't have a short fuse, be long suffering, be patient, don't be easily provoked, don't think too highly of yourself. It's those who think highly of themselves that are easily offended, because they think themselves to be just this great bag of chips, and all that in a bag of chips, and you just, you're wonderful, you're godly, there's nothing wrong with you, no, you know what, maybe there is something wrong with you. Maybe you do have a flaw, so what? Be humble. Now I'm not saying someone insults you if you've got a better insult, and dish it out, but I'm saying don't get upset, not only that, but a wrathful spirit, number two, is contagious. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 24, make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man, thou shalt not go, why? Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul. It's commonly reported that when you are around certain people, you will be like them. You will take on their characteristics, you will take on their attributes, you will take on their flaws, you could even take on their strengths, obviously. And the Bible tells us here that if you make friendships with an angry individual, with a furious person, you yourself will become angry, furious, upset, easily offended, etc. Go to Proverbs 27, a couple years ago I went to, when we got married, we went to San Diego Wild Animal Park, how many have been to San Diego Wild Animal Park? Kinds of animals, what kinds of animals? And they have this one exhibition where it's a cheetah, did you guys go to the cheetah exhibition? No one went there? There's this cheetah exhibition where you can see how fast it runs, and you go there and it's like an open field, and the gate is like this high. And we walked in and we were like, they're bringing the cheetah out right now? Like how does this work, you know? And I'm like what if this thing is hungry, you know what I mean? But they bring it out with the dog. And they actually have something called the buddy system. And the way the buddy system works is that they have this docile, very calm dog, and because the dog was basically raised with that cheetah, the cheetah takes on the attributes or the temperament of that dog. So as long as the dog's around, the cheetah's cool. He's just chilling out, you know, he's a cheetah, you know? But he's really calm and as long as that dog's around though, they call it the buddy system. Some of you need a buddy system. I mean, that applies to different areas of the Christian life obviously, right? I mean, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, right? But a companion of fools shall be destroyed. So if you want to become godly, you know, become friends with someone who is godly. You want to be a person of character and discipline, you know, get around people who are of character and discipline. Okay? You know, a couple months ago, there was hardly anybody in our church who would do Brazilian jujitsu until Vitor came around and then the buddy system was created. Now you got all kinds of guys doing Brazilian jujitsu, I don't know if they're good at it. The cheetah has gotten around the, you know, the Vitor. And so it takes on the characteristics, right? And that's how it works. In church, we exhort one another, we esteem one another, we help one another and you end up becoming like the person that you're around, okay? And well, the same goes with a person who is angry all the time. If you're around a person who's constantly angry, constantly bickering, constantly contentious, constantly wrathful, that's how you're going to be. That's exactly how you're going to be. That's why husbands of nagging wives are just very bitter, angry, upset people. Just throw that in there. Number three, an angry man allows his resentment to fester, okay? Anger should not be, excuse me, anger should be dealt with if needed. Don't let it boil up inside. We read this in Ecclesiastes 7 verse 9, it says, be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger resteth, listen to that, resteth in the bosom of fools. You say, what do I do if I'm angry, I can't do anything about it? Go kick a bag or something. Go do jujitsu. Go lift weights. Go punch a wall. No, I'm just kidding. Do like I did when I was a kid, just punch the pillow. Scream into a pillow. No, I'm just kidding. But don't let it fester in you. Sometimes angry people are angry because they just dwell, dwell on something for a long time. They're not able to let something go. So it festers, it rests in the bosom of a fool. You say, well, I don't know what to do about that. Well, number one, obviously just give it to the Lord. But number two, you need to find an outlet where you can release that frustration. Because if you're just sitting thinking about those things, and you're just kind of thinking about it, and you're not occupying your body, you're not occupying your mind, then it's going to fester and you're going to blow up on someone who doesn't deserve it. Okay. The Bible says, be angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Someone who lets the sun go down upon their wrath is someone who is allowing anger to fester up inside of them, and they can't control it later on. Men should have an outlet to release their aggression and their anger. Whether it's going to the gym, whether it's picking up, I was going to say karate, but don't do karate, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, doing MMA, wrestling, not in church though. Not in church. Wrestling or doing something to release that anger and aggression, there's nothing wrong with that. I think that's normal. Okay. Look at Proverbs 27 verse three says, a stone is heavy and sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. And any man who's ever been angry knows that's true. It's heavy on us. It can be heavy. So if you're carrying around this burden of anger and wrath upon you, it's going to weigh you down. It's going to cause you to be ineffective as a Christian. It's going to cause you to walk in the flesh. It's better to just relieve that weight of anger and wrath upon something, not someone. Okay. Go to Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16. Number four, an angry man lacks self-control. He's incapable of tempering his emotions. In other words, he's led by his emotions. Where do I have you turn, Proverbs 16? Look at verse 32. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth the spirit than he that taketh a city. So the Bible says this, is that a person who is slow to anger is a mighty individual. He's better than the mighty, actually. Someone who's able to rule his spirit is not talking about your inner man. Spirit is referring to your attitude in this context. If you're able to rule your attitude, rule your emotions, control yourself, the Bible says you're like a person who's able to take over a city, you're strong. You are a very fortified individual because this is an important virtue for you to have. A lot of people today are just led by their emotions. However they feel, they'll let you know. They wear their emotions on their sleeves. Everyone knows how that person is doing. Why? Because they wear their emotions on their sleeves. And the Bible tells us that we need to be able to rule our spirit. And look folks, stuff like this doesn't go away, especially when you come to church. This is a good way to practice ruling your spirit. So you pull into the driveway in the parking lot, you wipe away all your tears, put some eye drops in, get a little cup of coffee, smile a little bit, and you come in. That's fake. No it's not. It's you ruling your spirit. Because aren't we supposed to have the joy of the Lord? Aren't we supposed to have a good attitude and a good spirit? I'm not saying all the time, go home and cry yourself to sleep if that's what you have to do, but at least you're controlling your spirit. Your spirit's not telling you, I don't feel good right now. I'm just going to be in church. I'm just going to have bad attitude, and whoever talks to me, I'm just going to go off on them, and I don't want no one to talk to me. That's a person with no self-control whatsoever. I'm not going to let my emotions tell me what to do. My emotions, folks, work for me, not the other way around. I employ my emotions, folks. They work for me. I'm their boss. The inmates don't run the asylum. You understand? Don't be a person where it's just like, well, I feel like this, therefore this is what I'm going to do. Folks, if all we did was what we felt like doing, you'd be a complete mess. We would be a complete mess. We'd be involved in all kinds of sin. We would not be successful. We would fail miserably. Why? Because we don't always feel like doing the right thing. So control your emotions, and don't mistake this and say, oh, you're saying I should be fake. No, I'm not saying to be fake. Because you know what? I've talked to people in this church where I've said, how are you doing? And they said, I'm not doing too well, but you know what? I'm thankful I'm here, and I'm glad for church. I'm struggling a little bit, but I'm just glad to be your pastor. That's a great attitude. That's a person who has control over their emotions, because they're being honest. So I'm not telling you to be some sort of like robot, I'm great. Anything else? It's OK to be honest and say, you know what? I'm struggling a little bit, but you know I'm so thankful I'm here. I'm thankful to see the brethren. I'm having a hard time. It's been a hard week. It's been a difficult week. I went through some hard times or whatever, but I'm just glad to be here, and I'm glad to see the hymns. I'm glad to see the brethren. I'm excited to be in church. That's just being a sincere, honest person, because I think anybody would be able to say something like that, even if they're going through a hard time. And if you're going through such a hard time, if you're so upset, you're so angry that it's just going to, your wrath is just going to be presently known, then stay home. Stay home. Why be a party pooper? Be angry at home. Punch your pillow and watch the sermon at home. Amen? He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. Proverbs 25 verse 15 says, he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls. There's so much depth to that one verse there. Think about this. A person who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city where there's a breach. And the Bible often talks about a breach in the spirit. Now when you have a city and it has a breach, what happens? The enemy can come in. Right? If there's a breach, there's a hole. If there's some sort of opening that shouldn't be there, that means the enemy can come in there and mess with the inhabitants and take over. Well, you know what? This applies spiritually speaking as well because of the fact that when you don't have rule over your own spirit, you have a breach in your spirit. That means Satan can come in. I'm not saying he will indwell you, but he can influence your life. He can influence your life to become fleshly, to become upset, to become wrathful, to make decisions that are not biblically based. Okay? I want to make sure my city is fortified, that before I go to sleep at night, I check all the locks, make sure everything is shut, don't let the sun go down upon my wrath. You know, if I'm angry at my wife, I make sure that she apologizes to me before I go to sleep. You know what I mean? Like don't you have something you want to tell me? Don't you have something to say to me? You know, make sure that I'm right with God, make sure that I'm right with my kids, make sure that I'm right with my wife, I'm checking all the doors, checking all the locks, making sure there's no breach. Go to Proverbs 15, Proverbs 15. So an angry man lacks self-control, he's incapable of controlling himself, she's incapable of controlling herself. I will say this, you know, women I think have a little more liberty with this, because they're more emotional than men. The people I don't really have, I don't give any slack to are men, because you should learn how to control yourself, men, you should learn how to have self-control. And I know we live in a society where, you know, the culture is just pushing being effeminate and being all emotional and all this nonsense, but that's not biblical. You're supposed to be a man, control yourself. You say well I'm a person that can't control myself, okay then get around people who can't control themselves, obey this sermon, listen to this sermon, and don't be an emotional wreck. Hey this is good this morning, amen? Number five, an angry man is acquainted with strife. He's often the subject of much contention, strife, and disputes. I knew someone like this in high school, guy was getting in fights every week, every week, mouthing off, every week, fighting every week, there's always something going on with that person, why? Because he's constantly angry. Look at Proverbs 15 verse 18, a wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife. Proverbs 26 verse 20, where no wood is, there the fire goeth out, so where there is no tailbearer, the strife ceaseth, as coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. So you get an angry man in a dispute, you know what they'll do? They're like wood to that fire. You get two guys going at it, they're arguing about something, you get a man who's constantly angry, if he gets involved in that conversation, he's like wood to that fire. He'll add to it, he won't appease the strife, he won't cease it from continuing burning out of control, no he'll actually add to it, it's like gasoline to the fire. Proverbs 29, 22 says, an angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression. A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. So what do we see with the angry man? What is the main factor that causes him to be this way? Pride. Pride. He's angry because he's insulted, what? Pride. He's angry because things didn't go his way, why? Because of pride? He's angry because whatever, why? Because of pride. Humility recognizes, I don't deserve any of this. I don't deserve salvation, I don't deserve a church, I don't deserve the Bible, I don't deserve life, I deserve hell, and therefore, anything that I get above that, you know what, it's like cherry on top. They don't think highly of themselves, they don't think they're all that in a bag of chips, and so therefore, great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them. And it's good to get criticized every once in a while, folks. Criticism is good every once in a while. Being told that you're wrong is good every once in a while, because don't you want to become a better Christian? Why be this Christian where you just think you have all your ducks in order when you really don't? Don't you want to get better? Don't you want to be told that you're wrong so you can improve upon that, or do you want everyone to just lie to you? Right? Vitor, at your gym, don't you have to tell people they did the move wrong? Don't you have to tell John? Don't you have to tell Michael, hey, that's wrong, the way you did that, that's not the way you do it. And I'm sure you get people who are like, they're kind of stubborn, right, just like with anything else, but be humble. Accept correction, accept criticism, it's good for us, develop some thick skin, and don't have a short fuse. Go to Matthew chapter five if you would, Matthew chapter five. Well, you don't know my past, went through a lot of things in my past, I think everyone's gone through a lot of things in their past. I think there's a lot of people who have been through abusive relationships, experienced traumatic experiences, there's always someone out there who's had it worse than you, way worse than you, and you know what, they're turning out just fine, and these principles still apply. So the principle applies to someone who has not gone through something very traumatic and someone who has, and God expects both to change, okay. Look at Matthew five verse 21, ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, thou shall 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 Rocka shall be in danger of the counsel, but whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Now go to James chapter three if you would, James chapter three. So here it says whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause. So it doesn't say you can't be angry with your brother, it just says don't be angry with them without a cause, just for like no reason. Even in the church like we have here throughout the years there's going to be brothers and sisters who will be angry one toward another, that's how it is because it's like a family. I mean didn't you fight with your brothers and sisters growing up? I fist fought with my brother. He threw me through an aquarium one time, yeah, I mean we would fight. So I'm assuming that, no one's going to throw me through an aquarium here, but I'm assuming that there's going to be contentions here as well because it's just how life is. The important thing is that you're able to resolve it. But he says thou fool, or excuse me, whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. This isn't saying like if you call your brother or someone a fool that you're going to go to hell. Okay, I'm sure there's plenty of Christians who are essays out there who are saved and they say fool like every single day. Look at verse 5 of chapter 3 says, what is it talking about? It says, even so the tongue is a little member and boasts its great things, behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and seteth on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire of hell. So in Matthew chapter 5 when it says you're in danger of hell fire, it's not referring to literal damnation, it's referring to the fact that you're in danger of some huge confrontation or contention between you and another person. So I've been getting on the angry man who is highly sensitive, but you know what, there's other angry people who just mouth off too much. Who just kind of let it fly, they just insult people, they don't think about what they say before they say it and just kind of mouth off not understanding that there's ramifications to saying stuff. You're in danger of hell fire my friend. And it's not like hell you're in danger of, you're in danger of getting punched in the mouth or something. And I'm not saying it's right if someone does that. It's wrong. And let me just say this, there should be no physical confrontation here at our church other than between us and some reprobate who tries to infiltrate or whatever. I'm saying between brothers and sisters in Christ there should be no physical confrontation like that and if that ever happens you guys are getting thrown out. Or you're just suspended from church for like a week or so until you guys get that right. What I'm saying is you know some people provoke others not taking into account the ramifications of their words. Some people just, they got a really good insult, they got a really good thing to say and just mouth off not understanding that there's consequences to their actions. They're setting on fire the course of hell. Okay. The Bible says a soft answer turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger. You want to go around just angering people, you want to go around just pissing people off? Is that what you want to do? No. You should be able to turn away someone's wrath. Be an individual who's able to appease a situation that's going to get out of hand. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright the Bible says but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. And you know what, growing up I've always learned this, people used to tell me this, you're going to say that to the wrong person one day. I've heard that so many times in my life, not to me, but I've heard people tell other people this like hey you're going to say that, you can say that to this person but one day you're going to say it to the wrong person and that person is not going to take it the way this person says it. And you know what, in a situation like that could even cost you your life, it could even cost you your life. So it's better to just be a humble spirit, a humble person and obviously I understand that you know there's relationships in the church that some people are closer to other people so they have more liberty to say certain things, right? You know I could say things to Marcos and he's not going to kill me. I've known Marcos for many years, he's like a spiritual son and I can say a lot of things to him and just mock the fire out of him and just put him down and just insult him, no I'm just kidding. I can say all kinds of stuff and he's never going to do it. I can do the same thing with Albert. Albert I've known Albert since, actually I've known Albert before I got saved. He's the first person to meet me before I got saved. I walked into the church as an unsaved person and he was the person that I first met. He's in our church with his family and you know what I can mock him too and he's never going to like flip out on me or something but there's obviously some people that I won't do that with just because we don't have a relationship like that and you also have experiences like that with people in our church. What I'm saying is you should know who that person is though. Don't just mouth off to every Tom, Dick and Harry in our church because they may not take it like a Marcos takes it or like an Albert takes it, you understand? You say well I want them to take it because I have a really funny thing to say. Well then he that hath friends must show himself friendly because here's the thing after I insult Marcos or something he's never thinking like man pastor doesn't love me, he just hates me. There's never a question, I'm sure there's never a question in his mind that he thinks that I just really just hate him to pieces or something. I'm probably pretty sure he just thinks that was pretty funny, there's never a question because we have that type of relationship but you got to make sure you know who you have that relationship with. Go to Proverbs chapter 19 and we're done, actually go to Ephesians 4, go to Ephesians 4. The point is this, the anger of an angry man shall be his demise. Proverbs 19 19 says a man of great wrath shall suffer punishment for if thou deliver him yet thou must do it again. Don't be a person who we constantly have to deliver because of your anger issues and eventually what's going to happen is that you're going to suffer punishment, it's going to be your demise. You're going to meet someone who won't take it the way others have, you're going to meet someone who's not, who also has a short fuse and you're going to suffer the punishment because of it. Hear counsel the Bible says and receive instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end and folks just know this, this sermon is not for your entertainment, this sermon is to instruct you. Take this sermon as an instruction and apply it. Don't walk away and say that one point was really funny. I mean it's okay for you to say that, please do, but more than that take it to heart and recognize you know I need to apply this particular part. That part rubbed me the wrong way and it's because I know that I'm guilty of that. I need to fix that. Proverbs 22 8 says he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity and the rod of his anger shall fail. So what is the answer look at Ephesians 4 verse 29 it says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace into the hearers and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. There's even a song that goes with that. Easier said than done but it's said and therefore it should be done. You know not everything in the Bible is easy to do but it should be done right. Oh that's it yeah it's easy to just read it and say yeah you know what and if everything was easy in the Bible to do everyone would be doing it. But just because you can't just because it's difficult just because it's hard doesn't excuse you from doing it. Oh it's hard therefore I can't do it and wrong answer the answer is well it's hard that means it's worth doing because anything that is hard to do means that it's worth doing it. If it's easy to do everyone does it but when it's hard to do that means the results of it are far greater. And so let's work on this amen. Anger in and of itself is not sinful it's not bad don't listen to these limp-wristed soy boy pastors out there who try to make it sound as though you know being angry and raising your voice. These sissy pastors will listen to something like this I don't agree with that type of a spirit. I know you don't because you don't have the Holy Spirit that's why because this Spirit is holy they think the Holy Spirit is like a just like Casper or something. His name is holy. Holy means sanctified separated righteous just right not the friendly ghost he proves the world of sin. So it's not bad to get angry. What's bad is if you can't control yourself because we should not be led by our emotions we should be what? Spirit-led. Spirit-led. Amen. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for the proverbs Lord and the individuals that we see they're in help us to learn from them Lord and we all fall short in these areas I pray that you'd help us to give heed to instruction and apply it to our lives help us to be doers of the word not hearers only and Lord help us to recognize that we are going to get angry there's something wrong with that it's the aspect of temperance and self-control that you're concerned with and I pray that Lord you'd help us to to be spirit-led and not led by our emotions in Jesus name amen song number 161 our great savior as our last song