Anger and Patience
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 31st May 2009
Passage: Genesis 4:1-16
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Gracious God, as we come to your word tonight,
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 we ask that you would challenge again
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 a sin which we hold so deep within us.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 Father, we pray that you would expose it,
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 that we would deal with it by taking it to you for confession,
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 and that you would help us to rise to new life,
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 empowered by your spirit through your word,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 and in step with the Lord Jesus,
00:00:26 --> 00:00:27 and we ask it for your sake.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:28 Amen.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 Tuesday the 15th of May, 1894,
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 the Baltimore Orioles baseball team went to Boston
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 to play a routine game of baseball,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 but it ended up being anything but routine.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:47 In the third innings, a fierce fight broke out
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 between Baltimore's John McGraw
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 and Boston's third baseman Tommy Tucker.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 Within minutes, as you notice on most TV baseball fights,
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 both benches were cleared
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 as the players and the officials from both sides
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 ended up in an all-in rumble.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:07 The rumble then moved to the grandstands,
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 and it spread like wildfire.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 Literally, it spread like wildfire
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 because someone decided to start a fire
00:01:13 --> 00:01:14 in amongst all the mayhem.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 The fire destroyed the ballpark
00:01:17 --> 00:01:22 and $70 worth of equipment in 1894.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 And then it spread from the ballpark
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 to other Boston buildings,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 and by the time it was brought under control,
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 the building had, the fire, sorry,
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 had destroyed and severely damaged 170 buildings.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:41 Basically, one half of Boston was wiped out.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:45 A simple altercation on third base
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 resulted in half of Boston being wiped out.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 And I say simple because when it was over,
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 John McGraw, the guy who lost his temper in the first base,
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 said, for the life of me,
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 I don't know what it was about.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 Proverbs 29 verse 8,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 mockers stir up a city,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 but wise men turn away anger.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 God knows the destructive power of our anger,
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 and his word warns us against it consistently.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:18 Proverbs 29,
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 a fool gives full vent to his anger,
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 but a wise man keeps himself under control.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 If only John McGraw had kept his anger under control,
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 destruction would have been prevented.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 If only he didn't unleash his anger.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:39 If only I didn't unleash my anger,
00:02:39 --> 00:02:43 and you unleash your anger on friends and colleagues,
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 people you go to school with,
00:02:45 --> 00:02:46 or uni or work.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 If only we could control our anger.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 But anger makes us feel so good, doesn't it?
00:02:54 --> 00:02:55 I mean, come on.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 You know, when you really get to blow that valve,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 don't you feel kind of moved afterwards?
00:03:04 --> 00:03:05 It sort of gets the blood rushing.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 I remember one day,
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 my younger brother was particularly being annoying,
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 and he was trying to pick a fight with me,
00:03:14 --> 00:03:15 and I was thinking,
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 I'm not going to retaliate.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 Wise man keeps his anger under control.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 I drew a line in the sand in my mind.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:22 You know,
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 I can put up with this,
00:03:25 --> 00:03:26 I can put up with this,
00:03:26 --> 00:03:26 and I decided,
00:03:27 --> 00:03:28 when he was coming back,
00:03:28 --> 00:03:29 every couple of minutes annoying me,
00:03:29 --> 00:03:30 I said,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 if he does it one more time,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:33 that's going to be it.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:35 And do you know what?
00:03:35 --> 00:03:36 He didn't.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 And I wasn't going to let him get away with it.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:44 And so as he was walking by,
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 and not annoying me,
00:03:46 --> 00:03:46 I decided,
00:03:46 --> 00:03:46 well,
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 I will retaliate based on all the things you've done to me so far.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 And so I drew the line back one step.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:53 I grabbed him.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 My parents were away at this particular time,
00:03:56 --> 00:03:56 on this weekend.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 I grabbed him,
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 and I went bang with his head
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 through the plaster wall of the house.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 Fortunately,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:05 in between two sort of,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:05 you know,
00:04:06 --> 00:04:07 but it just went straight through.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 It was quite impressive at the time.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 And then I had to fix the house
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 before mum and dad got home.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 If only we treated seriously
00:04:15 --> 00:04:16 the command from God's word,
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 everyone should be quick to listen,
00:04:19 --> 00:04:20 slow to speak,
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 and slow to become angry.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:23 For man's anger does not bring
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 about the righteous life that God desires.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:27 You see,
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 our ways are not God's ways.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 And we need to change from being slaves to sin,
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 to being serviced to Christ.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:34 We need to die to anger.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 We need to rise to patience.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:37 Patience.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 And can I say that anger is everyone's issue?
00:04:41 --> 00:04:42 Because sin's everyone's issue.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:43 Anger's everyone's issue.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 We all express it in different kinds of ways.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 There are those who blow the valve,
00:04:48 --> 00:04:49 go off their nut,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:50 and you can clearly say,
00:04:50 --> 00:04:51 oh, there's an angry person.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 And there are those who quietly simmer away
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 with unresolved anger,
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 quietly simmer away,
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 and then maybe blow,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:02 but maybe not.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 There was a married couple
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 who a friend of mine was talking about recently.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:08 They spent four months
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 not speaking to each other.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 Four months of anger.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 Four months of anger.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 So it's not just those who blow the valve
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 and go off their nut
00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 and their face turns red.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 It's those who use the silent treatment,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 those who we draw from the relationship.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 So how do we die to anger?
00:05:34 --> 00:05:35 Do we count to ten?
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 Hold our breath?
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 Bite our tongue?
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 Well, that might help a little bit,
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 but we actually need to go deeper than that.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 We need to let God's word do radical surgery
00:05:46 --> 00:05:47 in our lives
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 as we seek to live new lives
00:05:49 --> 00:05:50 with Jesus the boss.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 So where does it come from?
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 We looked at last week
00:05:53 --> 00:05:54 at Genesis chapter three.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 And so where does it come from?
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 We see the birth of anger in Genesis four.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:00 So if you've got Bibles there,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 you need to be up.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:02 This is pretty simple.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 I think it's page four in your Bibles,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:04 roughly.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 But if it's not,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:06 you'll find it around there.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:09 Genesis chapter four.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 Sin is born,
00:06:11 --> 00:06:12 as we saw last week
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 in Genesis chapter three,
00:06:13 --> 00:06:14 where Adam and Eve
00:06:14 --> 00:06:15 decide to reject God.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 They decide to put themselves
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 at the center of the world.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 They decide to grab God's crown
00:06:19 --> 00:06:20 for themselves.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:22 They want to become their own bosses.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 And now we see that anger
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 was being born in chapter four.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 If pride comes before a fall,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 then anger is right hot on its heels.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 As surely as Eve gives birth to Cain,
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 pride gives birth to anger.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:39 But in some ways,
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 this is kind of a surprise.
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 Because in Genesis chapter three,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 it ends with the promise
00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 of a good birth.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 With the birth of sin
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 came a promise of a wonderful birth.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 And it's there in chapter three,
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 verse 15,
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 that somewhere that Eve will give birth
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 to a son who will crush the serpent.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 It's a promise of reversal.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Eve's offspring will defeat Satan
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 and put right everything
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 that has gone wrong in this world.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 And so as we move into Genesis chapter four,
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 what do you think's in the back of your mind?
00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 In the back of your mind
00:07:15 --> 00:07:16 is the question,
00:07:17 --> 00:07:18 is this son that Eve
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 has just given birth to,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:21 is this the one?
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 Is this the one that's going to crush
00:07:24 --> 00:07:25 the head of the serpent?
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 Could he be the one
00:07:28 --> 00:07:29 who will defeat Satan
00:07:29 --> 00:07:30 and make it all right
00:07:30 --> 00:07:31 and reverse everything
00:07:31 --> 00:07:32 that's gone wrong?
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 But if our hope rises
00:07:34 --> 00:07:35 with the birth of Cain,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 they are soon dashed.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 Instead, Cain crushing the serpent,
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 he is taken captive
00:07:41 --> 00:07:42 by sin himself.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 God favours Abel's offering
00:07:45 --> 00:07:46 over Cain's.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 We actually don't know why,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:48 but I actually think
00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 that's the point of it.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 We don't need to know why.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 God is God.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:52 We're not.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:53 He's got all the answers.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:54 We don't.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 Cain's anger towards Abel
00:07:58 --> 00:07:59 stems from his defiance
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 against God.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:02 He wants to be at the centre.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 He wants things to go his way.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 He wants to be the one
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 who calls the shots.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 He wants to be the judge.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:10 He wants to play God.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:11 And in Cain,
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 we see the sinful,
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 angry heart inside all of us.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 Eve was visited by Satan
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 to talk her into sin
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 and now not even a visit from God
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 will actually talk Cain out of sin.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 Have a look at verse 6.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 Then the Lord said to Cain,
00:08:28 --> 00:08:29 why are you angry?
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 Why is your face downcast?
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 If you do what is right,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 will you not be accepted?
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 But if you do not do what is right,
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 sin is crouching at your door.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 It desires to have you,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 but you must master it.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 Eve actually had to be coaxed into sin,
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 but Cain won't be turned away from it.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 Adam and Eve tremble with a fear
00:08:52 --> 00:08:53 after their sin,
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 but there is no hiding in the bushes
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 or trembling for Cain.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 Confronted by God,
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 God with his brother's blood on his hands,
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 he literally fobs God off.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 He rejected God's way,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 he rejected God's word,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 and now he even rejects God's reason
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 or God's right to even question him on it.
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 But the contrast between Cain and his parents
00:09:16 --> 00:09:17 goes even deeper.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 Adam and Eve didn't question the judgment
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 that God handed down to them,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:25 but Cain grumbles that God's judgment is not fair.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Not only does he reject God's way,
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 but when God calls him to account
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 and passes judgment on him
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 because of his sin,
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 he sort of turns around
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 and files for unfair dismissal.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 Who do you think you are, God?
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 So self-centered,
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 so convinced that he was right.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:49 This is the person who was a slave to sin.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:52 And friends, without Jesus,
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 that's us.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:55 That's us.
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 Consumed by sinful pride,
00:09:59 --> 00:10:03 convinced that we are the center of the universe,
00:10:03 --> 00:10:08 that I am the most important person in the world,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 and the world revolves around me,
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 and with me at the top of the pile,
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 I will unleash destruction on anyone
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 who gets in my way
00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 or challenges my right to the top of the pile.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 I used to see this in goats.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:32 We used to have this on our farm,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 a bulldozer,
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 and the goats have an amazing ability
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 to climb most things.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 You put a wheelbarrow in the paddock,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 and they'll be sitting in it
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 for too much longer.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 But this bulldozer in the paddock,
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 and we used to have goats sitting
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 all over the tracks and on the engine bay,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 and the prized position
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 was the top of the canopy,
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 right up there, the top.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 And naturally,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 the big guy is up on the top.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 And whenever a little guy
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 wanted to try and get on the top
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 with the big guy,
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 because there's plenty of room up there
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 for us all to sit and play,
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 he would be there standing on the top,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 and as a little goat would jump
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 from the engine bay
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 to try and get up on top of the canopy,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 he'd be there with his big horns
00:11:19 --> 00:11:19 and go,
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 whack!
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 With his horns,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 and this thing would go,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 tumble, tumble, tumble, tumble, tumble.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 And then come back
00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 and try and do it again.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 It wanted to be on top of the pile.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 And friends,
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 we are exactly the same.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 We've got to be up there.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:39 So where is this son
00:11:39 --> 00:11:40 who will crush the serpent?
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 Where's the offspring
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 who will reverse evil
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 and fix this world?
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 Who reverses pride?
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 Who reverses self-righteous anger?
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 It clearly is not Cain.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:55 And Abel's dead.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 So who will it be?
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 Well, the answer, of course, is Jesus.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 And the reversal is illustrated perfectly
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 in Luke chapter 23.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 This great reversal that Jesus brings,
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 they plied him with questions.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 They hammer nails into his hands.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 But Jesus doesn't answer.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:18 He doesn't take matters into his own hands.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:22 Even Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 And so in Luke 23, verse 14,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 this is Pilate speaking.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:26 He says,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 You brought me this man
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 I've examined him in your presence
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 and have found no basis
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 for your charges against him.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 Neither is Herod,
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 for he sent him back to us.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 As you can see,
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 he has done nothing to deserve death.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 Therefore, I will punish him
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 and I will release him.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 Pilate can see that Jesus is innocent.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 But they hated this innocent one.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 And so what did the crowd cry out?
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 Away with this man.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 Release to us Barabbas instead,
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 but crucify him, crucify him.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 It's the hatred and anger of Cain
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 that leads the crowd to want to crucify Jesus.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 But Jesus still doesn't take matters
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 into his own hands.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 You would think he had every right to be angry.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 But Jesus isn't like us.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 Unlike us,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 Jesus didn't push himself
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 to the centre of the universe,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 even though it was his right to be there.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 Instead of taking matters into his own hands,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 Jesus allows his hands
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 to be nailed to planks of wood.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 He submits to his heavenly Father's will,
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 even to death on the cross.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 As we often sing,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 hands that flung stars into space
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 to cruel nails surrendered.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 Not grasping, but giving.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 Not angry, but forgiving.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 Not murdering, but murdered.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 Jesus is the total opposite of Cain
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 and friends of us too.
00:13:55 --> 00:14:02 And Jesus' prayer in verse 34 of chapter 23 of Luke
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 is the reversal in its totality.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 Father, forgive them,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 for they don't know what they're doing.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 Father, forgive them.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 Forgive them.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 Instead of anger,
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 there is the most extraordinary patience.
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 Even though he has the right to be the centre,
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 he doesn't put himself there.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:25 He turns to his Father
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 and trusts in his Father
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 and prays to his Father.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 He cops our anger towards him
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 and he does not retaliate.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 And yet,
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 he would be well within his rights too.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 He could have in fact demonstrated
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 a righteous anger towards us.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:46 He could have so easily have crushed
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 Cain and Pilate
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 and the chief priests
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 and the soldiers
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 and the mockers
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 and us.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 The Son of God being nailed up by
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 little pipsqueaks.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 He could so easily have crushed them
00:15:05 --> 00:15:10 and it would have been his right.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 But he wasn't there to crush us.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 He was there to crush Satan.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 Jesus is the son of Eve
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 that the world has been waiting for
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 to defeat Satan in his work.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 He came to reverse sin,
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 the sin of Adam and Eve
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 and Cain and our sin as well.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 And so he doesn't pray down
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 the fire of God's wrath
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 but that of his forgiveness instead.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:37 In fact,
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 this is the irony of your all.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 The fire of God's wrath
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 gets rained down on him
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 so that his prayer for us
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 might be fulfilled.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 Father, forgive them
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 for they don't know
00:15:49 --> 00:15:49 what they're doing.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 Jesus, the son of Eve
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 who conquers sin,
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 who masters sin
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 when Cain couldn't do it,
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 who at the cross
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 paid for our sin,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:02 who at the cross
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 was bitten by the serpent
00:16:04 --> 00:16:04 and died
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 but who became the antidote
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 for the serpent's bite
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 and crushed him
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 so that the end sin's power
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 is no more.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 Jesus is the one
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 who doesn't take things
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 into his own hands
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 but puts them into God's hands.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 Even Jesus didn't consider himself
00:16:23 --> 00:16:23 to be at the centre
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 but his heavenly father instead.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 1 Peter chapter 2.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:27 Have a look at it.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 It was read out to us
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 a moment ago.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:30 Verse 21.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 To this you were called
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 because Christ suffered for you
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 leaving you an example
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 that you should follow
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 in his steps.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 He committed no sin
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 and no deceit
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 was found in his mouth.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 When they hurled insults at him
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 he did not retaliate.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:44 When he suffered
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 he made no threats.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 Instead he entrusted himself
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 to him who judges justly.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 That's the example for us.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 To turn away from all anger and sin.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 But Jesus is much more
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 than just a role model.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 He didn't just show us
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 how to turn away from sin
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 but he turned God's anger
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 away from our sin as well.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:08 Verse 24.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 He himself bore our sins
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 in his body on the tree
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 so that we might die to sin
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 and live for righteousness.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 By his wounds
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 you have been healed.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 He bore your sin.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 He paid the penalty
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 for your sin.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:24 And so yes,
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 marvel at his example
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 but be grateful
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 he paid the price
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 for your sin
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 and for your anger.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:34 It's important you understand
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 what happened for you
00:17:35 --> 00:17:35 at the cross.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 Jesus died
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 for you
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 at the cross.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 he died for your anger.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 He died for the way
00:17:47 --> 00:17:47 that you have run
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 other people down.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 He died for those
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 little snappy
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 bitey comments.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 He died for the manipulation.
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 He died for the gossip.
00:17:58 --> 00:17:58 The way that you have
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 plotted revenge
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 against people
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 in your heart.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 For all the ways
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 that you put yourself
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 at the centre of the universe
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 and played it being God
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 Jesus died for it.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 They're the very things
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 that murdered Jesus.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 They're the very things
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 that shed innocent blood.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 He died for your pride,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 for your anger,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 for your lust,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:20 for your impurity,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 for your greed.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 That's what drove
00:18:23 --> 00:18:23 those nails
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 into his hands.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:29 But now he's fixed it all.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 And now that God
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 has fixed it for us,
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 we can fix it
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 with each other as well.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 We can fix it
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 with each other as well.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 We don't need to relate
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 in pride.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 We don't need to
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 fester with anger.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 But we love
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 one another deeply.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 That's what we're to do.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 Love one another deeply.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 Now I can say this
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 because I'm a newcomer here.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 But I've actually noticed
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 at various ports of call
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 as I've been moving
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 around St Paul's,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:05 it's not unsurprised,
00:19:06 --> 00:19:06 I'm not surprised by it
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 because it happens
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 in every church
00:19:08 --> 00:19:08 because people are here.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 There's unresolved anger
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 in this place.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 There's unresolved anger
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 from things in the past.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 There's unresolved anger
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 in relationships here.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 Simmering away,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 never brought to the surface.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 It's only brought
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 to the surface
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 when there's just
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 little bites that happen,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 little snarly comments
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 that happen between people
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 whenever my position
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 at the top of the pile
00:19:34 --> 00:19:34 is challenged.
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 God wants to deal with that.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:39 He wants to deal with it
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 in your heart.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:41 And I want to say,
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 friends,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 if there is someone here tonight
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 that you've got anger issues with,
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 you've got unresolved anger,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 unresolved tension with,
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 then please,
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 in the name of Christ,
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 go and deal with it.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 Deal with it.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 Now that you have purified yourselves
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 by obeying the truth
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 so that you have sincere love
00:20:04 --> 00:20:04 for your brothers,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 love one another deeply
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 from the heart.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 Purified hearts
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 are loving hearts,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 hearts willing to forgive
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 as they have been forgiven.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 Now that Jesus
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 is your saviour,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 make him your character.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 Make him your character.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 He's forgiven your sin.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 Now he wants to kill it.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 He died for your anger
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 so that you can rise in patience.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:35 And so deal with the anger.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 Too often,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 we just want to be back there
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 with Cain.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 When you're doing,
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 when there's that person
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 driving 40 kilometres an hour
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 in the 60k zone,
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 that's when,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 for me,
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 Cain starts to whirl up within me.
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 Holding me up
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 when I don't have anywhere
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 important to go
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 but I need to get there quickly.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 What's that?
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 That's me putting myself
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 at the centre of the universe.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 Anger comes up
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 when I put myself
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 at the centre,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 when I haven't been served,
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 when I've been gossiped about
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 and I want justice.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 But if friends,
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 if I stay at the centre,
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 if I stay at the centre
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 of the universe,
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 I die with Cain.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 I die with Cain
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 and not only die with Cain,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:32 but I murder
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 other people around me.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 Do you know what Jesus says?
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 If you have anger
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 towards your brother,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 you have murdered them.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 You have murdered them.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 You've killed them.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 You've killed something
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 within them.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 Whenever I stay
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 at the centre of the universe,
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 I am killing people
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 around me all the time.
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 I'm taking something
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 of their life
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 and robbing them of it.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 And so I need to put
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 Jesus at the centre
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 and I need to rise with him.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:05 Friends,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 we need to die to anger
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 and rise to patience.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 Anger
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 kills
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 relationships.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 It kills
00:22:14 --> 00:22:14 relationships.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 It kills
00:22:16 --> 00:22:16 our fellowship
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 with each other.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 So how different
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 are we prepared to be?
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 Amen.