In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of obeying God with all of our heart and soul. He explains that God's commandments are not too difficult or out of reach for us to follow. The preacher highlights the significance of having God's word in both our mouth and our heart, emphasizing the importance of genuine confession. He also addresses the issue of anger, warning that it can lead to sin and destruction, and encourages listeners to develop a rooted and grounded character in their walk with the Lord.

The following material was produced for the national radio series Come Up Higher featuring pastor and teacher Bob Phillips This special 12 cassette album is titled Developing the Roots of Christian Character. This is part 4 Dealing with Anger Well today we're continuing our teaching series on Developing the Roots of Christian Character And Bob, today's topic I think is really going to hit home for many of us. Michele, I think you're right. We're going to talk today about how to deal with the roots of anger, and anger is such a big problem. You know why I think anger is such a problem? Because it mixes so well with the mud. Now what I mean by that is that it brings up so many other things in our life. Anger will open the door to so many areas that are also called sin. And you know many people try to excuse their anger by calling it a righteous anger. I think we've really got to nail this subject down, because if your anger is self-centered in any way, it's not righteous at all, it's sin. And we're going to deal today with what causes that anger. We're going to find that there's a sinful root in the heart that has to be exposed. Well, as always, Bob, I'm looking forward to hearing your insights on this subject. Again, this is part four of the series titled Developing the Roots of Christian Character. Today's presentation is called Dealing with the Roots of Anger. Let's join those gathered at Times Square Church in New York City as we listen to our host and teacher, Pastor Bob Phillips. The power and the strength of being a Christian is not the fact that they never get angry. The strength of it is that when you notice its anger, that you take it to the Lord and you allow Him to work a deep repentance over that. Now, by the same token, you can't just keep practicing anger and practicing anger and say, oh well, God forgive me. No, we're talking about a deep repentance that roots it out. See, a Christian is someone that's being transformed. He's not perfect, but he's not excusing his imperfections either. He's going through a transform transforming process. All right. So what I'm saying to you is that when we talk about character, for example, if you can handle if you can handle difficulties most of the time, but part of the time you don't, that's still not all right. You see, it's the whole of the life God's looking at. He literally wants to make us unoffendable. Doesn't mean it won't hurt, but he wants to make us as being unoffendable people. And we can be. We can literally be unoffendable. Now, the one thing that bothers God. Well, there's a lot of things that bother God. But I know one area he speaks consistently about. Is this faithfulness that just it just passes away like the dew. And turn with me, Hosea, Hosea. And as we go through this, I want you to think about this. See, because many of you may be able to sit and think, well, you know. I get angry every once in a while. But I want to tell you something. If you are capable of saying that you have a problem with anger. Are you hearing me? And when we go through these scriptures to see the result of anger, you're going to see just how big that problem is. You see, the Christian doesn't say, well, I get angry occasionally. But the Christian says anger is a sin and it's an abomination to God. It's got to go in my life. It doesn't excuse it. All right. Now, notice this description of Ephraim in Hosea chapter six, verse four. What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty, the King James says, goodness is like the morning cloud, like the dew which goes away early. Now, what is your walk with the Lord? Does your walk represent a tree rooted and grounded, planted by streams of water that does not cease to yield its fruit even when the heat comes? Or is your character like the morning dew? What happens to the morning dew when the heat comes? It evaporates. Now, God is making a comparison. Are you like a tree, firmly planted? Or are you like, do you resemble the morning dew or, as he says, the morning clouds? You know, that are blown away. As the day goes on, as the heat comes, they change. Now, the real test of you being a Christian is not so much if you are free from anger most of the time. The real test is, are you free when the heat comes? Not are you in a good disposition almost all the time, but when the heat's turned up, when you face a particular circumstance, does your loyalty and your faithfulness go like the morning cloud? When the heat comes, is it like the dew that immediately evaporates? Or is it rooted and grounded firmly like a tree whose roots are extended deep into the ground and when the heat comes, it still yields its fruit? Now, that's the question we're faced with. Now, turn with me to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5. Now, I want to give you a definition of meekness. I want to give you a definition of meekness and humility. I'm going to read several scriptures to you tonight that deal with meekness and the New American Standard will translate it, humility. And I think it's errored there in many of the cases, not all, but in many of them. And the King James translated it as meekness. There obviously is a difference, I believe, between humility and meekness. Now, a lot of people say it's the same. But humility, and I'm trying to give you as simplistic a definition as I can give you, but humility is a character in a person that regards the word of another as more important and more valuable than his own. Now, for the Christian, humility, you know, the world can have a humility about it, too. You know, there is a worldly humility. All right. But for the Christian, humility, then, is to value the word of God higher than any other authority. That's humility. See, because you're coming under the authority of another. And it's not a person you're coming under the authority of. It's the word you're coming under authority of. So, real humility, real Christian humility, is to value the word of God as the highest authority possible. Now, you know what that means? That means even when you don't understand why. It means that when God demands something and you say, but God. With humility, there's no but God. God's word takes the final authority, whether you understand it or you don't understand it. All right? Now, meekness. Meekness is built upon humility. You can't have meekness without humility. But meekness is trusting God to take care of my life, my desires, my possessions, and my rights. Now, we'll see that as we go along. True meekness is trusting God to take care of my life, my desires, my possessions, and my rights. Now, in Matthew 5, he makes this statement. Verse 5, blessed are the... Now, the New American Standard says gentle, but the word here is meek. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now, we're going to look at the inheritance before we're through. That's a pretty big statement. God says, you're blessed if you're meek. Now, anger. Now, I want you to think of the difference between anger and meekness. Anger is a response or reaction. Anger is a reaction. Meekness is a response. Now, are you hearing me? Anger is a reaction. Meekness is a response. Anger is a reaction to an external event when a right that you think you have, and you may actually have it, has been challenged or questioned. Meekness, then, is taking those rights, whatever they may be, trusting God to take care of my life, my desires, my possessions, and my rights. Now, are you following me so far? Now, the basic problem with anger. Anger is the very opposite of meekness. Anger is a reaction. When something about my life is threatened, something about my desires are threatened, my possessions, or my rights. Now, how many of you can see that in anger? A man's driving down the street. A taxicab cuts in front of him. He's got a right to that lane, and the taxicab doesn't. Anger rises up on the inside. You see? Or a man comes home. His wife doesn't have supper ready. He's angry. Why is he angry? Because I have a right to have my supper ready. Are you hearing what I'm saying? See, anger is always a reaction. Now, there is a godly anger. For example, if there's a fear that rises up into somebody. Somebody said, all anger is wrong. And, you know, but if I... I mean, all anger is wrong. All fear is wrong. Some people say, if I walk across the street, and I suddenly look up, and here's a big truck barreling down on me, I'm gonna have some fear, first of all. And I hope that fear will motivate me to get out of the way. And then when I watch the truck go by, I might feel a little bit of anger. You see? But then, what I'm talking about is, what a Christian does, is he doesn't react to that thing. He gathers himself, you know, and he responds to God. Are you hearing what I'm... Am I making some sense? Responding versus reacting. All right. Now, we're gonna see how this works itself out. Remember what I said, though, as we go through these lessons. Anger is a what? Reaction. Meekness is a response. All right. Now, that's gonna be important. Now, anger is a reaction to an external event when a right is challenged or threatened. Meekness is a response to God or to His Word when an opportunity to trust God presents itself. And in other words, I'm trusting God to take care of my life, my desires, my possessions, my rights. For example, if I don't get a promotion, I have a desire for a promotion in a job, and I don't get that promotion, and you allow anger to come in there, not only you tell me, does it affect you? Absolutely. And what are you holding on to? You're holding on to the absolute right that you should have been promoted. But where's God in all of this? Are you trusting God while you're angry? You're not getting the promotion. Are you really putting your trust in the Lord? No. No, it's not in the Lord. You're saying, God, why didn't I get it? God, why didn't this happen? Why didn't that happen? Instead of responding to God's grace, and as you respond to God's grace, you say, well, Lord, I didn't get it. You're in control of my life. My sole desire is to walk with you and to bless you and to give you glory in all that I do. If I didn't get it, and you're overseeing my life, then, Lord, I'm trusting you with the response to it. Maybe there's something better or something worse, but it doesn't matter, God. Whatever it is, you're in control of my life, and I want to walk with you. Now, that's meekness. Meekness is not just that gentle spirit that gets whipped all over the place. Are you hearing me? Meekness is an active, not a passive, but an active trust in God's ability and desire to take care of your life, desires, possessions, and rights, whatever they may be. Now, Jesus illustrated that. Some people say, well, did Jesus lose his meekness when he went into the temple and built the scourge of whip, of a whip, of cords, and begin to drive out the money changers? Well, if meekness means just walking around and just kind of, oh, just, you know, getting tossed here and there, yes, but if meekness means trusting Almighty God with his life and with his possessions, and with his rights, and his desires, it wasn't Jesus who was doing the turning of the tables over, it was God the Father. See, he was in control. He didn't lose his meekness then, because meekness had, there's nothing to do with just being gentle all the time. Are you following what I'm saying? So when the Bible translates as gentleness, sometimes we misunderstand what it's really saying. Now, turn with me to James chapter 1. I'll show you how important this meekness really is. Now, listen to me carefully. This meekness is so important that it will affect every area of your spiritual life if you neglect it. First thing we started with was humility. The opposite of humility is pride. Now, we're not necessarily talking about people walking around trying to look pretty all the time or saying that they're the most important people in the world. We dealt with what the roots of pride really are. See, because you can't have humility and pride. With pride, God will resist you. With humility, He'll give His grace to you. And His grace is the will and the ability to do whatever He's calling you to do with whatever the Word says. Alright, now, building on that pyramid, you cannot have meekness without being humble. But did you know why meekness affects all the rest of your spiritual life? Because you can't receive the Word of God implanted on the inside of you unless you have a meek spirit. Now, that's what James 1.21 says. See, if you sometimes wonder, why is it I'm able to read the Word of God and it not penetrate like it ought to? Or why is it some areas don't penetrate? Well, then you look to your rights and your possessions and your desires and your goals that you're hanging on to and saying, God, I'm going to control these areas. And you're really holding on to them, not trusting God with them. Because if that's the case, anger is in there. In some form or another, there's anger in there because any time you're holding on to your rights, there's an anger that's going to be on the inside. You may not be having outbursts of anger, but there's an anger on the inside. It's going to be the opposite of meekness. And meekness is the ability to trust God, the willingness to trust Him with those things. And without meekness, you can hear the Word and hear the Word and hear the Word, but it'll never become implanted. And it's only when the Word becomes implanted that it's able to affect your character. All right, now notice this. James 1, verse 19 and 20. This you know, my beloved brethren, but let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to what? Anger. Why didn't he say lust? Why didn't he say something else? Because he knows this anger will affect your ability to get the Word implanted on the inside of you. And notice what he places right along beside it. The next verse. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Now, the King James says wrath, but the best word there is the anger of man. The anger of man. You can't have God's righteousness and have anger controlling and dominating you. Is that clear? I say, is that clear? Let's say it again. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. You see the Pharisees fasted twice a week, said their prayers many times. As to the law, they had all the outward observances there. And Jesus looks at them and says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And the next thing he talks about is anger. Are you hearing what I'm saying? It was affecting their righteousness. Here's why it affects your righteousness, because you can't receive the Word. Now look at verse 21. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, New American Standard says in humility. King James says in what? Meekness. In meekness, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. So meekness, meekness, the loss of it or the absence of it will directly affect how the word of God penetrates your heart. Now that makes it important, doesn't it? Now, you can read those scriptures for yourself. In fact, I want to read one of them. Turn to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 11, verse 26. See, I am setting before you today. I want to wait just a minute till everybody gets there. Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 26. See, I am setting before you today a what? A blessing and a curse. Now here's what the blessing is contingent upon. The blessing. If you listen to the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I'm commanding you today and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord, your God, but turn aside from the way which I'm commanding you today by following after other gods which you've not known. A blessing and a curse. Go ahead and turn with me to Deuteronomy 30, verse 1. So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I've set before you, and you call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord, your God has banished you and returned to the Lord, your God, and a what? Obey Him with how much of your heart? All of your heart and soul according to all that I command you today. Now look with me at verse 11. For this commandment, which I command you today, now this is very important, is not too difficult for you nor is it out of reach. God says, I'm placing a commandment before you. Now I don't care how much you and I say it's too hard, God. God says, I'm sorry, but it's not too difficult because it's not out of reach. Now how am I going to reach it? Well, He tells us in verse 14 and 15. But the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart. Now that says a lot to the confession message. It's not enough to have it in your mouth. It must be in your mouth and in your heart. In your mouth and in your heart that you may observe it. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. Now here's what I want you to see. Which one is anger? A blessing or a curse? All right, then with it, it's going to carry death and adversity. Isn't it? All right, which one is a blessing? Meekness. Now is meekness a blessing? Then it's going to carry with it life and what? Prosperity. Now not material prosperity, but that means good. It's going to carry with it good. So if meekness is in our life, it's going to produce what? Goodness and character. If anger is in our life, it's going to produce adversity and destruction. Now let's see that through the word of God and see, I'm going to take you through several scriptures. And these are so important that you understand. Now meekness, we're going to see how, some people are going to be saying as we go through this, how am I going to get more meekness? Well, we're going to talk about that. But before we talk about it, I want you to be hungry for it. Okay? And you say, how am I going to get rid of anger? Well, we're going to mention that. But before we mention that, I want you to hate it. All right? Now meekness. What is the blessing of meekness? Remember what meekness is? Trusting God to take care of my life, my desires, my possessions, and my rights. Meekness. You want more guidance? How many of you would like to have more guidance from the Lord? You'd like to have more instruction from the Lord. You'd like to know more clearly the Lord's movement and guidance. You'd like to know His word and which way to go, which way to turn, how to handle difficult situations. Now I've watched people work on guidance until they're blue in the face. I mean, they read every book you can find on guidance, but never one time. And you know, I've watched this happen. I'm thinking of one particular person. It's not in this church, but in a church that I pastored once. And they wanted guidance, guidance, that's all. Constantly guidance, be led by the Lord, instruction from the Lord. Wasn't anything wrong with that? But if there was any one thing that I could say was honestly missing from that person, that this particular person had a husband who was an alcoholic. And he wasn't as bad as some alcoholics, but alcoholism is bad. But what I'm saying is he wasn't beating her, he wasn't doing those things. She wanted him to change so much. So much. And there's nothing wrong with wanting that change, but it dominated her life. And she would get so mad at him, so angry. Every time, and you know, when she finally dealt with the outward anger, she finally got to the place when she was reprimanded enough where she was no longer angry outwardly. But you know what she'd do? First chance she got, she'd tell her friend over here at the prayer meeting, would you pray for me and my husband? You see, he did such and such today. Would you? And that prayer wasn't enough though. Because as soon as she got through with that prayer, there's somebody else over here at the prayer meeting. By the way, I just wonder if you would pray with me. And let's present this to God. And it was so sweet. And it looked so kind. And if you looked at the outside, you would think, poor woman. I mean, she's got this over of a husband and she's going through this and she's going through that. And look at her. There's so much there that's so sweet and so kind. All she wants is prayer. And that's exactly what everybody thought. Until one day, I had the two of them in my office. And we were talking. And he brought out one thing. He said, I know I'm an alcoholic. And he said, I know I'm this and I know I'm that. And he says, as a matter of fact, I don't think I'm worth much. And I don't even know why she'd want to even be married to me. But because she is married to me, there's something I expect. And he mentioned that very area. Boy, there went the meekness. I mean, she came up out of that chair. If I didn't stand with her, I believe she'd have flogged him. And the whole idea was what right do you have to expect that of me when you're not fulfilling my rights? Now what I'm telling you is all of that meekness and humility flew away like the morning cloud and like the dew when the heat came. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And underneath all the kindness was a seething anger on the inside. But she wasn't showing the anger because she knew if she showed the anger, she's going to get rebuked for it among righteous people. So she didn't show the anger, but it still was in there. Am I making sense? Alright. Now, she wanted guidance. But look what the scripture says. Psalm 25, verse 8 and 9, good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, He instructs sinners in the way. And He leads the whom? The humble or now when this says humble, the scriptures I want to read to you that say humble, sometimes afflicted, are meek. Say that with me. The meek. He leads the meek in justice and He teaches the meek His way. See, if you want to be led by the Lord, one of the blessings of meekness is God promises you I'll lead you in the way. I'll guide you. I'll teach you. Well, let's go on to another one. Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. I mentioned it earlier. I said you can't really receive the Word of God. And I want to show you clearly you can't receive the Word of God without meekness. You may receive parts of it, but you're not going to be able to get the fruit of the Word. Isaiah 61, verse 1. Again, the new American standard is a little different. Isaiah 61. 1 says the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. The King James says to preach good tidings to whom? Who did He bring His Word to? The meek. He's not going to bring His Word to the angry. Are you hearing me? And see, the rest of that goes with it. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Are you brokenhearted? But are you allowing angry to stay there? He's not going to bring His Word to you. He's not commissioned to bring His Word to the angry. He's commissioned to bring His Word to the meek. You see, does that mean a person with anger is never going to have the Word preached to them? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. But as long as that person wants to hang on to their anger, the Word is not going to penetrate them. But the minute the angry person becomes a helpless person who needs help and cries out to God, then His Word can penetrate. Are you hearing me? But the wall of anger, if it stays up there and it's not dealt with, the Word can't penetrate it. Of all the curses that could possibly be, that has to be one of the greatest. In fact, I wrote it down, but I'm not going to have you turn there. But in Matthew 13, He gives the parable of the sower sowing the Word. Also in Luke 8 and Mark 4. But in Matthew 13, verse 23, He talks about the fact that the soil, if there's good soil, then that person will bring forth fruit. Some 30, some 60, some 104. Good soil is a meek heart. A meek heart is the planting for good soil. See, are you seeing that? The Word is preached to whom? The meek. If you're going to receive the Word implanted into the soil, James 1 says that you have to receive it in meekness. This meekness is important for receiving the Word. A lot of times, there are people who have all kinds of problems, fears and doubts and all of these other things, and yet, they're saying, well, here's the problem. There's no meekness. You say, well, trusting God, that's a pretty big order. How do I trust God? I want to trust God. Well, again, we're going to get to it. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. But I'll tell you something. You can't trust God and hold on to your rights. Are you hearing me? You can't hold on to your rights and trust God. You can't hold on to your possessions and your desires and ambitions and trust God because holding on to those things will destroy trusting God. We'll get to more than that. We'll get to that in more. But anyway, Matthew 13, 23 says, there's a good song. Matthew 13, 19, and these are in your notes, but it says that if there's not good soil, but there's a hardness, then Satan comes how soon? Immediately. And he steals whatever word's been thrown at you. Whatever word's been placed in the heart. So meekness is a characteristic necessary for the receiving of the word of God. And it's not just going around being gentle. Are you hearing me? Now let's look at some other promises. This is a good one. Isaiah 29. Isaiah chapter 29. This is the blessing of meekness. Isaiah chapter 29. This is a promise. These are the blessings. We're going to look at the curses in a moment. But these are the blessings. Isaiah chapter 29 verse 18. And on that day the deaf shall hear words of a book and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The afflicted and the word is meek the meek also shall increase their gladness in the Lord. Well if you're wondering if you're going through something and you're wondering you go through a period where you're just you're not feeling you're not feeling like you enjoy God anymore. Don't act as if that never happens to a Christian. Well according to this one of the places you look is for have I violated the spirit of meekness somewhere? Am I holding on to something? Listen, it can be in your marriage it can be on your job it can be in your relationships but you're holding on tenaciously to some right somewhere. And maybe you have a right to it. That's not the issue. The issue is whether or not you're going to trust God with it. A lot of times you don't even have a right to it. But it's not a matter of whether you do or you don't. It's whether or not you're going to trust God with it. But if you start losing your enjoyment of God are you hanging on to a right somewhere? It can be something like for example a friend that you feel has offended you. They ought to love you. I mean that's my friend. As a matter of fact jealousy starts happening when they start being friends with somebody else. And you start feeling neglected and you start feeling oh well you know but they've got a right to do that but you're still feeling it on the inside. And then before long you're coming and you're saying I don't understand why I don't enjoy God as much. Or it just seems distant from God. Well see if meekness is there it's going to increase your gladness in the Lord. It's going to increase your joy in the Lord but you take meekness out. See you feel like you have a right to that relationship. And you trust Him. And God says trust me with it. Hand me the right. Put it right here in my hands. And you follow me and you trust me with it. And then He starts bringing the gladness and increasing the joy in the Lord. That's the blessing of meekness. You see this affects all of our lives. Psalm 37 Now please listen to me carefully because the Lord's really burning this inside that there are some of you for example who are angry because you don't have certain friends. Are you hearing me? I mean the Lord's just really it must be here. I mean He's just zeroing in on that. That an anger is there because that you're not going around mad all the time you're not exploding all the time but you're angry because somebody has a relationship with somebody that you don't have. You're hanging onto a right and one of the characteristics of it is that you go up and down when you get refreshed in the Lord you quickly lose your gladness in the Lord. Psalm 37 Psalm 37 verse 11 The humble or the meek and this is a direct this is what Matthew 5 5 is quoted from the humble or the meek will inherit the what the land abundant and they will delight themselves in what abundant what prosperity or peace how many of you it says peace well that's what it should be you see the peace will be there if you're going through a period of time where you're having circumstances that are really controlling you and dominating and you're not having any peace one of the things you might look at is is there a right that I'm holding onto myself and not trusting God with am I making sense could be with a relationship a circumstance well I'm gonna get to some others in a minute 1st Peter 3 suppose you're one who struggles with timidity embarrassment and you're easily intimidated how do you get rid of it what do you look at you check out your meekness see because you can try your best to overcome timidity and embarrassment and intimidation and yet be holding onto a right somewhere and that's what's holding you back are you hearing me now look at it it's right here in the word we don't often read it this way but it's right here verse 9 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult but by giving a blessing instead now that's meekness you see it's not holding onto any right is it I say is it see instead of see someone gives you evil well you don't return evil but instead you don't hold onto that right to defend yourself what you do is you hang onto the word alright someone insults you you don't return insult for insult but you hang onto the word you see you're planting it deep inside instead you not only hang onto the word but you give a blessing instead for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a what a blessing for let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile and let him turn away from evil and do good let him seek peace and pursue it for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil and who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what's good but even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness you're blessed do not fear their what their terror or intimidation and do not be troubled how sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asked you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with meekness and fear not in the new American sentence as gentleness and reverence but it's meekness and fear so how are we going to do that meekness controls if you're looking if you're finding a real struggle with intimidation is there some right you're hanging on to and I tell you sometimes it's the right to be accepted are you hearing me see you're saying well I can be bold if they'll accept what I've got to say so can anybody else so can the world but you're a Christian you're not a mere mortal person yes you are a person and you're flesh and blood but you're you are you are a person indwelt by a supernatural God and if you're holding on to a right to be accepted it's going to make you intimidated are you hearing what I'm saying now that's the opposite of meekness because meekness says God I'm going to trust you with my life my desires my possessions and my rights the only thing I want is your will done are you seeing the relationship all right now let's go on this is a big one if you're really having trouble saying God I know you say you love me but I don't know if you really love me God I understand I understand that you said you would be with me in times of trouble but I just I don't know God will you be or you listen to a message that's a hard message and you say I can't stand that because listen surely God is more than just wrath listen what you want is another message the whole basis of all of those circumstances is that you're not seeing the true nature and character of Jesus himself are you hearing me it's not just a problem with lack of trust it's an inability to see what he's really like see because if you could see what he's really like you'd say God I know you can trust me I can trust you through this if you could see what he's really like other than just reading about him on a page but see what he's really like you'd be able to say God I have no question you love me I don't feel loved right now but I know your character I know you I can see what you're like but if it's a problem with meekness turn with me to Matthew 11 it's a familiar scripture but I want you to read it in the light of what we just thought about Matthew 11 verse 28 come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I'm going to do what I'll give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart New American Standard says gentle and humble in heart and I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my load is light you say but God I don't think it's too easy I don't think it's too light then start looking for an area of your rights that you're hanging on to if you're demanding something from your husband or something from your wife something from your employer something from your friends it's going to block your ability to see Jesus as he really is you can't receive that word implanted on the inside meekness is missing and if you're not careful before long anger will start to develop now am I telling you the truth because if you start thinking that long enough you start getting right angry at God and you say God why aren't you coming through in this circumstance then after you get so guilty about being angry with God you say well I better not be angry with God I've been to the altar and repented five times so now the only one I'm angry is my circumstance but then when the circumstance doesn't change and you've repented over being angry over the circumstance there's only one person left to get mad at and that's yourself and then you say well that's alright it's just me the whole problem was you had a right you were hanging on to and you wouldn't let go wouldn't trust him with it now you're hating yourself are you hearing me it can happen if you were abused as a child see God understands you had a right to have a father or a mother who loved you who cared for you who nurtured you and protected you and loved you as a human being you had a right but the world's not fair God came to take you out of the effects of the world but if you hold on to that right it will haunt you throughout your Christian life and it will keep you from seeing the character of God and the tragedy about it is you can't go back and change it and so the devil just keeps you in his grip all of the time because you can't change it you've got the right and you're hanging on to it I've got a right to that have a right to that you can deal with bitterness and anger everything else you can think of but you're dealing with a right you're hanging on to and meekness is being destroyed and you come to God and you can't say God see you've already passed the point where you're not saying God how could you have allowed this to happen to me that used to be the question but as you grew as a Christian you had to get rid of that question because you thought well I can't question God but down deep inside is buried see this lack of meekness now let me tell you you'll also see it in your relationships with other people it may just be with you but I want there's a characteristic there's a principle the scripture says how can God forgive you if you don't forgive those who trespass against you matter of fact I quoted it wrong he says it a lot stronger than that he says neither will God forgive you if you don't forgive those who transgress against you now listen that's speaking about you can't be angry at God and cover it up and expect to walk in the blessings of forgiveness yourself you can't be angry at others and expect to walk in forgiveness yourself but let me take it a step further if you're not going to forgive yourself how's God going to forgive you are you hearing me if you're not willing to deal with the anger directed towards yourself now does that mean God doesn't forgive you doesn't want to no, he wants to desires to but you'll never receive it God wants everybody to be saved but there's a lot of people out there that'll never receive it I mean it's there for them he died for them but they'll never receive it because they'll never accept it because they'll never let go and there's a lot of people that are holding on to an anger and mad at themselves they don't like the way they look they don't like the way they talk they don't like the way they act they don't like the way their social status they don't like this they don't like that they don't like this and they go over and over and over and over and consider it acceptable it's not acceptable to God it's a sin it's the opposite of meekness because it's saying I don't trust you with me God you made me and you bungled this whole thing up it's the truth down deep inside you're saying God I'm so mad at you I can hardly stand it you could have made me like so and so you may never utter that you may never say it but it gets buried down deep on the inside are you hearing what I'm saying? well let's look at some of the the curses Job chapter 5 I thought we'd already covered some of those well it gets worse you know things that are bad can always get worse how many of you have learned that? well it gets worse we'll take you through these quickly so we can move on Job chapter 5 here's what's promised to the person with anger verse 1 call now is there anyone who will answer you and to which of the holy ones will you turn? for vexation slays the foolish man and anger kills the simple now do you remember I read to you Deuteronomy 30 a blessing and a curse is laid before you vexation you know what that means just constantly vexed constantly upset constantly in turmoil constantly check it out are you angry at your heritage? are you angry you see are you angry because somebody's got more friends are you angry because something didn't work out are you angry because you're the way you are if you are that you are experiencing vexation and turmoil all through your life and it will destroy you it's a curse Proverbs chapter 14 verse 17 Proverbs 14 verse 17 a quick tempered man acts foolishly and a man of evil devices is hated you know what that means that means throughout your life there will be a continual loss of respect and loss of friendship now listen carefully to me I'm not just talking about the person who blows up all the time this is something that follows the person that even covers up their anger but if you're a person that has anger and you cover it up nobody knows that that anger is seeding down on the inside of you there's one thing that you can count on characterizing your life you have very very few friends it's difficult to make friends and the friends that you have often seem to turn against you now it wasn't because you blew up at them are you hearing what I'm saying but if you're carrying anger on the inside it carries the curse of the loss of friendship with you and you may sit back and wonder why, why, why because there's a curse that follows that am I making sense to you well let's go on Ecclesiastes 7.9 here's the problem with anger it says in Ecclesiastes 7.9 do not be eager in your heart to be angry for anger resides and the word is more properly translated deeply embeds itself for anger deeply embeds itself in the bosom of fools now you know it does because anger is the one thing you can think about when you get offended and you get angry and even after you've walked away from the circumstance you can feel that thing trying to work itself down inside you isn't that the truth I say isn't that the truth you can feel it working on you it stays with you and it'll come back up again and you know it's embedded on the inside because all you have to do is see that circumstance again or that person again or have that thought again and here it comes I mean it just rises up it's why because it's deeply embedded on the inside of you and the danger of anger is it's not something you practice once or twice and walk away from no when you practice it it works itself deep deep deeply embeds itself in your heart that's why it's so serious see even when you act righteous and you turn around and don't react outwardly but on the inside you turn around and you got that thing boiling on the inside of you like I said last week you know boy when you're walking away here come all those things you should have said boy if I'd have said that I'd have leveled them right then why didn't I think of that at that time just give anything to replay it I'm telling you it's working it's way down on the inside it's digging itself in it's hanging on to you and even if you never face that same issue again it's still embedded on the inside and it's gonna come out in another issue cause it embeds itself Proverbs 19.19 another very serious one now listen to me carefully cause I don't want you to misunderstand me I don't want you to hear me there is a deliverance for anger but not all anger requires deliverance of a demon and I wanna tell you one of the tragic things that I've seen in deliverance ministries is when that anger is identified as being demonic and the sin is never thoroughly dealt with and here it is Proverbs 19.19 a man of great anger shall suffer punishment for if you deliver him you will only have to do it again the new american standard says a man of great anger shall bear the penalty for if you rescue him you'll only have to do it again there is absolutely no freedom over anger that's lasting until you are deeply convicted of the enormous curse that comes with the anger are you hearing me? and oh what a tragedy to have somebody delivered of anger only to have to have it happen again and the problem was there was no deep conviction over the sin of anger oh it's so hard for you and I to accept but Galatians 5.19 says that outbursts of anger disqualify us from heaven are you hearing me? now that's not the only one that says it there are plenty more but what this is saying is if anger is allowed to be in your heart you will experience an unstable life of continually falling into sin I can tell you case after case after case of people who have a problem at home with their wife they have two problems one is an anger problem toward their wife the other one is a lust problem of infidelity or even pornography let's say there's not even any infidelity just pornography and they do everything they can to get rid of the pornography but they go home maybe not all the time but frequently and from time to time let that anger come out and express it or hold it toward that wife they'll never get free you can set them free you can do everything you can you can walk with them you can live with them but you'll never see a life of stability they're dealing over here and all they can talk about is immorality but the problem is anger and they won't deal with it see because we've been trained religiously that that sin of pornography looks a whole lot bigger than that sin of outburst of anger you see we don't have any trouble in our religious world of saying that a drunkard and a drug addict is going to go to hell but we have a whole lot of problem believing that the little nice man over here that's angry with his wife in the confines of his home and teaches Sunday school and reads his bible and quotes scripture and is always on the outreach but blows up at his wife over and over and over again surely the word of God means something different for him but the drug addict is going to hell and I want to tell you something it's because of religious bondage not the word of God are you hearing what I'm saying? you see but until we really get convicted that these things are sins there'll be no real freedom oh God's so serious about it can you imagine the shock on some people when they stand before a living God having gotten rid of pornography they've come out of drugs they've come out of all of these things and they stand before God and they never dealt with that and everybody in the whole church thought they were righteous and they stand before Jesus and Jesus looks at them right in the eye and the minute he sees them he sees Jesus he shrinks back because he knows this anger starts coming up inside and he hears the words depart from me I never knew you you see because if you're full of anger James 4 1-2 says you'll have a life of conflict and war and you know what else happens? I'm not going to have you turn there because you read it you have real trouble getting through with your prayers brass heavens Deuteronomy 28 says that there'll be a curse of brass heavens over you James 4 3 says you ask but you do not receive why? because in verse 1 and 2 there's a source of wars and conflicts you're living a life of anger are you hearing that? well I'm taking you back and forth to let you see the difference between meekness and anger what are some of the benefits then to not giving in to anger? Proverbs 14 see if you'll resist the anger see here's the problem you know why we don't resist the anger? because it's alright to have outbursts of anger at the taxi cab nobody knows and a lot of people are doing a lot worse than we are but the problem is it doesn't stop at being angry with the taxi cab because anger doesn't stop in one place it embeds itself deep into the heart until it starts working its way out in other areas and it may just be a period of time but after a while it's going to come out are you hearing what I'm saying? but here's here's the reward of instead of reacting responding and I tell you it hurts to respond listen to me I'll say it again it hurts to respond reacting pleases the flesh a whole lot more it's easier to react because there's an immediate release oh but you can't compare what that gives you with what God gives you look at me I mean look at it Proverbs 14.29 he who is slow to anger has great understanding oh God says I'll unfold myself to you you'll understand me if you'll resist the anger if you'll put it off and not only that Proverbs 15.1 a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up what? anger can I say to you a harsh word spoken inside and not outside also stirs up anger and meekness saying God I have a right here at least I feel like I do but you're in charge of my life I submit that right to you I submit that desire to you I submit my life to you God even though I may get hurt in this thing you know what the number one trick of the devil is listen he says to you but if you give in here it's only gonna mean more injury now it may not come directly as a thought like that but that's why you're reacting oh you know if I don't it's gonna be deeper injury I'm gonna get hurt worse if I yield to this well it hurts then God says I'll give you great understanding if you respond to me and not only would God give you great understanding but I'm gonna turn away the wrath if it's in your marriage I'm gonna turn it away I'm gonna give you great understanding of what I'm doing and it may take a while but I'm gonna turn it away I'm gonna turn it away I'm gonna bring victory and then he promises now I like this one Proverbs 16 he says you're better than a mighty warrior Proverbs 16 verse 32 he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who captures the city he says you're a greater warrior than a person who goes out and single-handedly captures the whole city are you hearing me? you know why I believe that is see because with the help of God it's easy to capture a city I mean David was talking about or Don one of them was talking about an angel of the Lord went through the camp and slew 185,000 people in one night it doesn't take many angels to get rid of all the wickedness in New York City if that's the way God would wanna do it you see but that's not the way God chose to do it the way he chose to do it was to rule the spirit and that's difficult the person who rules the spirit is greater than a mighty warrior are you hearing me? that speaks of great victory victory is gonna be there but the tragedy of giving into it turn with me to Psalm 37 here's the tragedy verse 8 cease from anger and forsake wrath do not fret it only leads to evil doing now the literal word there means to further evil doing it doesn't mean that just anger alone is evil the idea here in the original language is this if you yield to anger anger won't be your only problem are you hearing me? it will yield to further ungodliness and unrighteousness Proverbs 22 verse 24 do not associate with a man given to anger or go with a hot tempered man lest you learn his ways and find a snare for yourself see the tragedy of anger is say between a husband and a wife now he's not urging a wife to leave her husband if he's angry but it means don't go along with his ways don't fight anger for anger you know what will happen? you can take one party in the marriage that starts out with anger and before long they've afflicted the other one the other one has learned one's ways are you hearing me? meekness toward God I gave you a definition of it in point 5 it's submission to God's will and it's responding to His word do you see what I'm talking about? you see? here's what it's all about I'll say it again yielding my rights to God my rights my way my will and my possessions and you know turn with me to Galatians 5 verse 22 and you know he lists this right after he gets through listing in verse 19 or verse 20 that outbursts of anger disputes factions and dissensions will not inherit the kingdom of God then he comes right behind it and he says but listen to me the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness and what? gentleness or meekness meekness and the next one is self-control or temperance turn with me if you would to Ezekiel 46 because meekness is a grace now do you remember what I said grace is? it's not only the will to do but what? the ability to do isn't it? it's not only the the will to do but it's the ability to do and is there a throne of grace? you see we have an opportunity to come to what's called a throne of grace and we can respond to that because see a meek man he trusts in the power of God to provide protect help and change circumstances are you hearing me? that's what a meek man does he trusts in the power of God not in his own power not in his own abilities he trusts in the power of God to protect to care for you to provide for you to help you and to change the circumstance and if God doesn't change the circumstance he trusts him anyway he then trusts in the wisdom of God and the meek man has a divine perspective on life he's not looking through his own eyes if God doesn't change it the way he expects it to change he's looking at it through God's eyes and he says ok Lord you're doing a work in me and you're doing a work in this circumstance or this person or whatever but Lord I understand and he's submitted to the will and the purpose of God and he's yielded all of his rights to God see meekness is a grace and when you've really submitted see listen if you don't submit and I'm not talking about just mechanically going through the process of getting up in the morning say ok God this day's yours no I'm not talking about that I'm talking about with a genuine spirit of heart of meekness saying God I trust you today and Lord here's what I don't trust you in I have trouble trusting you but I'm gonna try to trust you with what I don't trust you with you say well that's not possible yes it is man came to Jesus and said Lord I believe but you're gonna have to help me with all this unbelief that's crowding in and God won't leave you out there he'll come to you and I'm gonna give you the best definition of meekness I've ever found in the Bible turn with me to 1 Samuel 3 18 the Bible says blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth but you know the interesting thing about that God's not gonna give you the earth you know that's not even what he means the whole ministry of Jesus was characterized by humility and meekness meekness and lowliness of heart characterized the whole ministry of Jesus and yet he never took claim of the earth as such when he walked did he? didn't even have a place to lay his head now what that means when it says shall inherit the earth see cause the earth's not really what he wants to give to us now what that means is that you will inherit the reign of almighty God over all the earth you will inherit the reign of almighty God over that circumstance over that condition over that thing about yourself that you don't like you will literally inherit the reign of God just as he is lord of the whole earth he will be able to deal with your circumstance with your character with that person with that relationship with that marriage with that job he'll be able to deal with it as he reigns over all the earth and he will rise you above the earthly are you with me? now look and see look and see 1st Samuel 3 verse 17 verse 16 then Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son and he said here am I here I am and he said what is the word that he spoke to you that is that God spoke please do not hide it from me may God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all the words that he spoke to you you see here is a man here is a man who is saying God just tell me your word God just tell me your word are you hearing what I am saying? I say are you hearing what I am saying? whatever it is God I don't care if it's good if it's bad you tell me your word if it goes against my rights that's not the issue what is your word? verse 18 so Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him and he said it is the Lord let him do to what seems good to him are you hearing me? that's meekness it is the Lord let him do what seems good to him then you know what happened? verse 19 the Samuel what? grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground if God can find a man who is willing to say Lord do what seems good to you but I am going to trust you I am going to trust you I may not understand it I may not like it but God if it seems good to you I didn't say you don't resist the devil I didn't say you don't fight spiritual warfare that's involved I didn't say you just lay down let everything run over you that's not meekness but I said you come to the word of God you submit and when it's a circumstance that you can't change righteously you say God whatever seems good to you you're in control of my life I'll trust you with it God whatever right it seems like I have violated I'm going to trust you with it whatever seems good to you and you know what happens? you begin to grow and the Lord walks with you and you speak with an authority that your words don't fall to the ground that God hears your prayers if you look at the scriptures Ecclesiastes 4.12 says that a threefold cord is not easily broken how many of you ever heard that? a threefold cord is not easily broken here's the first thing you're willing to bear the injury you're willing to bear it turn with me to Psalm 38 if you're injured and you're willing to bear the injury see that means that if you have trouble with people thinking thinking people are talking about you all the time and you have trouble with rejection see how do I overcome rejection? well the first thing you do you allow you're willing to bear the injury if you lay your rights in the hands of God and say I'll trust you you say well that means I'm going to get injured more no that's what the devil says what God says is that you will inherit the earth if you'll be meek toward me and toward them you'll inherit my reign over that circumstance in Psalm 38 verse 12 and 13 those who seek my life lay snares for me and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction and they devise treachery all day long but I like a deaf man do not hear I am like a dumb man who does not open his mouth yes I'm like a man who does not hear and in his mouth are no arguments for I hope in thee oh Lord and thou will answer oh Lord my God that's the first strand of the cord the second strand Matthew 6 you not only bear the injury but Matthew 6 I quoted it earlier 14 and 15 for if you forgive men their transgressions your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive men then your father will not and don't try to cut that out you know I had a friend who used to say all the time well if you don't like that verse just take your scissors at home and cut it out that's what a lot of people do but if you do not forgive men then your father will not forgive your transgressions see that's the second part of the cord you're willing to bear the injury just like the dumb man you become a dumb and deaf man because your trust and hope is in whom God you've laid your rights into his hands and then secondly you forgive you forgive and then thirdly and this is a real key we read it in 1 Peter 3 9 so I'm not going to turn there you can find it here in Matthew 5 verse 44 but I say that you love your enemies pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your father who's in heaven you know a lot of people miss that do you hear what he says? in order that are you hearing me? that means to hold the anger means Galatians 5 20 that the outbursts of anger will not attain to the righteousness of God that's what it says in James 1 20 in 21 but what it says in Galatians 5 20 is that those who practice outbursts of anger shall not inherit the kingdom of God they say well I don't want to hear that well if we become convinced of that really convinced of that we'll deal with anger in a new and fresh way and you know what will happen? the grace of God will move right in and if we'll begin to say ok Lord I hate rejection but I'm going to bear the injury and then I'm going to forgive them say well I've tried to forgive how do I know I've forgiven you just keep letting the grace of God come and then you make a response of good for evil whatever their response in evil was you make a response back that's where a lot of people fall short and they don't understand why they're not able to forgive you see they don't make a response back of good are you hearing what I'm saying? there's a threefold chord and if you'll practice the intertwining of those three chords you'll not find anger able to root itself back up and God says verse 45 in order that you may be sons of your father who's in heaven for he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous for if you love those who love you what reward have you? do not even the tax gatherers do the same and if you greet your brothers only what do you do more than others? do not even the gentiles do the same and you know sometimes some of your brothers and sisters are hard to greet sometimes some of your brothers and sisters are harder to greet than the gentiles now I'm gonna close with this but what are the characteristics of anger then? number one I'm just gonna mention some of them some of them are obvious some of them are not so obvious temper tantrums temper tantrums outbursts you've got an anger problem when you get angry when you have an angry reaction to unfairness even as it relates to others you've got an anger problem I know a whole lot of people that don't seem to get angry except when somebody else gets injured when somebody else gets injured instead of trying to bring a reconciliation they're right in there with the anger are you hearing what I'm saying? but they think it's alright because it's not them you've got an anger problem and it's gonna get embedded in the bosom of your heart it's already been it's already there when you express frustration over unchangeable circumstances expressed frustration when you get into circumstances you absolutely cannot change an inability to trust not only God but others is a sign of deeply rooted anger and you can pass it off to saying well but everybody lets me down they say well I don't wanna hear that well if we become convinced of that really convinced of that we'll deal with anger in a new and fresh way and you know what'll happen? the grace of God will move right in and if we'll begin to say ok Lord I hate rejection but I'm gonna bear the injury and then I'm gonna forgive them say well I've tried to forgive how do I know I've forgiven? you just keep letting the grace of God come and then you make a response of good for evil whatever their response in evil was you make a response back that's where a lot of people fall short and they don't understand why they're not able to forgive you see they don't make a response back of good are you hearing what I'm saying? there's a threefold chord and if you'll practice the intertwining of those three chords you'll not find anger able to root itself back up and God says verse 45 in order that you may be sons of your father who's in heaven for he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous for if you love those who love you what reward have you? do not even the tax gatherers do the same and if you greet your brothers only what do you do more than others? do not even the Gentiles do the same and you know sometimes some of your brothers and sisters are hard to greet sometimes some of your brothers and sisters are harder to greet than the Gentiles now I'm gonna close with this but what are the characteristics of anger then? number one I'm just gonna mention some of them some of them are obvious some of them are not so obvious temper tantrums temper tantrums outbursts you've got an anger problem when you get angry when you have an angry reaction to unfairness even as it relates to others you've got an anger problem I know a whole lot of people that don't seem to get angry except when somebody else gets injured when somebody else gets injured instead of trying to bring a reconciliation they're right in there with the anger are you hearing what I'm saying? but they think it's alright because it's not them you've got an anger problem and it's gonna get embedded in the bosom of your heart it's already been it's already there when you express frustration over unchangeable circumstances expressed frustration when you get into circumstances you absolutely cannot change an inability to trust not only God but others is a sign of deeply rooted anger and you can pass it off to saying well, but everybody lets me down you remember what we read? Proverbs that that man has few friends or that woman has few friends it's a curse that follows this anger an inability to trust now there's some people I don't trust but I'm talking about a continual practice you find it hard to trust people I know some people that have said well, I left the church and I got hurt I've been in five churches and I got hurt by all five pastors and I'm looking at you with a close eye well, it's alright to examine the pastor with a close eye but when you cross the thin line of not trusting anything you've got an anger problem you've not dealt with here's another one extreme sensitivity and touchiness easy irritability anger has embedded itself grumbling, murmuring, complaining or being open to receive gossip and slander is identification of an anger problem you may not be blowing up to other people but that's what's happening if you find yourself frequently saying cutting remarks you have an anger problem if you find a frequent blaming of others for example, when someone says well, you did this and you say well but so and so was part of it too or somehow the blame has to say well, I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't have done such and such you have an anger problem it's eating away at you when you have to defend your right to control anything and I want to tell you, here's a big one because we just talk about this irritability and we think we have a right but when you have to defend your time and you regard your time now, there is a stewardship of time we'll talk about that in one of the lessons as we go on but when you have to defend your time an anger has rooted itself down on the inside and it happens so often in marriages the wife has been with the kids all day and the husband thinks, well, this is my time the husband comes home and the wife thinks, well, it's my time are you hearing what I'm saying? that's just one example but you have to defend your time you're working on the job you get a 30 minute break but your employer comes up at 25 minutes and says now I need you to do something all of a sudden you've got no right to do that I've got 5 more minutes and you're thinking about that 5 minutes the rest of the day men, it's weekend, it's time for softball and basketball nothing wrong with those things but when it's at the exclusion of the rest of your family or even to God but it's your time it's your time you're holding on to a right there's a lack of meekness and somewhere along the line it may not seem to be related but you've developed an anger at something that one time controlled your time and you couldn't handle the circumstance and you're mad at it and angry with it and now you're expressing it by guarding it the danger is it will embed itself it'll come out somewhere else what you've been listening to are highlights of a message presented by Pastor Bob Phillips as he spoke a number of years ago at Times Square Church in New York City this was part 4 of a 12-part series we've titled Developing the Roots of Christian Character Practical Advice on Developing Righteousness and Christlike Character in Your Life today's presentation was on the subject of dealing with anger here at the end of our program for those who are experiencing anger in their life perhaps it's directed at a boss or a close friend or between husband and wife give us some practical advice on how to overcome anger I want to speak to those of you who have this problem you know I can identify with you because this was a major problem in my life before I became a Christian and after I became a Christian I still had battles with this so first of all I want to encourage you you can overcome anger first of all you have to come to grips with it you have to recognize that you've got a problem because if you don't do that then you will use it as an excuse as a defense mechanism or whatever in your life and then reject it make a conscious choice to reject it and tell God you're ready to loose its hold on your life listen, He will hear you and I want to remind you I'm speaking from personal experience and then resolve to hold on to God say, God I will not allow this thing to stay in my life until you deliver me completely and here's another key whenever you can reconcile with anyone that you were angry with before sunset because God says don't let the sun go down on your anger Michelle, one of the things that we talk about is the key to overcoming anger is meekness I want to tell a little story that I think is a powerful story about how God worked in a man's life his name was Roland Hayes the son of a black minister and he could remember a time when his father gave this presentation on Pilate and the dramatic part when Pilate faces Jesus and says why don't you answer me and he makes this statement don't you know that I have power over you and then at that point his father said he never mumbled a word not a word now, how did that help Roland Hayes? well, he saw the meekness of Jesus now Roland Hayes had an opportunity to sing he was an incredible tenor he had an opportunity to sing before a Nazi audience in Berlin's Beethoven Hall and that audience was hostile and ugly and scornful mainly because he was a black man daring to sing at the center of Aryan culture now, what happened? he was greeted with hisses and curses that grew louder and louder and louder for 15 whole minutes he stood right there and his anger was seething within him and then he remembered the meekness of Jesus Christ and you know something? it kept rolling through his mind he mumbled not a word and a power came to him his courage began to build and he knew that if he stood there in silence and then sang when they stopped no matter how long it would take that ultimately the power of God was on his side and he remembered this scripture from Proverbs he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his own spirit is better than he who takes a city it was meekness and seeing the meekness of Jesus that gave him the strength and the courage to have the power to overcome his anger and friend you can take that same meekness and draw from that same source of strength to overcome the anger in your own life come up higher come up higher oh come up higher where the trees come up higher this is the end of this cassette from Come Up Higher for information on additional cassette and booklet resources from Pastor Bob Phillips please write Come Up Higher at Post Office Box 1700 Sheridan, Wyoming 82801 or call 1-800-313-2202 Come Up Higher is a listener supported outreach and is made possible by the continued prayers and financial support of people like you where the trees where the trees come