Rage is on the Rise
Sermon Series – Overcoming the Ten Major Threats to God’s People
(Deception, Fear, Hopelessness, Restlessness, Lack of Compassion, Rage, Wickedness, Idolatry, Perversion, Selfishness)
1. But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3. Without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good.
4. Treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
5. Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5What Drives People to Rage?The opportunity to resort to rage can come at anytime and it can impact anyone if you are not on your guard. I recall an incident when I was a young kid. I recall sitting in my grandmother’s yard and watching the traffic go up and down the road. An older gentleman by the name of Mr. Crews drove slowly down the road and while I thought he was waving at me; he was really throwing a wad of tobacco out of his window. At the same time something hit my face. I was not injured, but the thought of his discarded chewing tobacco on my face was more than I could take. “How dare him!” I thought. (That’s not what I said at that time, but you get the idea.) Then, I proceeded to wipe the mess from my face and discovered that it was not Mr. Crews’ chewing tobacco on my face, but rather bird droppings. I instantly looked up and there was the villain that had messed on my face. After cleaning up the mess, I spent the next couple of hours chasing that bird in a rage. I was determined to get even for this disgusting act. Needless to say, I wasted much of my afternoon all worked up over something that there was no way I could change. The bird was out of my reach and there was nothing I could do about it. It would have been much easier if I had just learned to let it go. I think of the countless number of people who don’t know how to let stuff go but who will resort to rage to catch that someone or something that messed on them. The mass shootings, the needless violence, and even wars and rumors of wars could well have been avoided if people would learn to let things go. We cannot change what happens in life, but we can adjust our response to those things. We cannot change the misfortunes that are bound to come at one time or another, but we can avoid going to the extreme of rage.
The end times will be filled with people who are angry and will look for ways to vent their aggression. Jesus predicted that in the end times, there will be people who will persecute believers simply because of their faith. Part of the reason for this, is due to the fact that the Devil will stir up the hearts of people. The rage that fills people will be coming from a demonic source. Revelation 12:12 states that the devil has but a short time and thus he will attack everything that is godly. The Apostle Paul describes this behavior as abusive, brutal, treacherous, and rash. What will this mean for the Christian and more importantly, what can we do as we witness these evils on the rise?
In this second letter to Timothy, Paul advises believers to separate themselves from those given to rage. Such people will sway others to practice their violent behavior. To take it a step further, believers will need to search their own heart to see if there is any root of bitterness that is festering inside. In searching our own heart, we will discover that rage does not simply appear without something fueling it. The Apostle James asks a critical question that relates to this rage. Where do wars come from and fightings among you … don’t they come from your desires and lusts that battle within you? James 4:1. James goes further to say that the “lust to have and failure to get” is a result of not turning to God for help. Then, when people do turn to God, they approach Him with wrong motives. So the rage goes on and is unchecked. This is nothing new; it has been happening since the beginning, but now is intensified in the end times. The anger that people have and the lust to have their own way has caused the “war within” to burn like a volcano that spews out the by products of abuse, treachery, brutality, and ungodliness.
God Warned Two People in the Bible About their AngerAnger is a topic that the Bible warns about. Several Proverb speak of anger and wrath as evils that should be avoided at all costs. Proverbs 14:17, One that becomes angry quickly deals foolishly. Prov. 22:24 Have nothing to do with an angry person lest you learn their ways. The Bible does not tell us that we should never become angry, but it definitely warns us from allowing the anger to control our lives. That is the tragic result of people who allow the rage inside to drive them to launch out against others. As a matter of fact, Ephesians 4:26, tells us to be angry but do not sin. Clearly to be angry is not the problem. It is how we respond to the anger that leads to sin. There are some things that should cause anger, but where do you take the anger from that point. Without turning to God and asking for His guidance, you will fall into the trap of sin that leads to rage.
Two people in the Bible were warned by God regarding their anger. The Lord God warned them that their anger would only bring about even greater problems. The first person that God confronted was Cain, the eldest son of Adam. Cain was upset that his sacrificial offering was not accepted. Genesis 4:6-7, Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?” “Why is your face downcast?” “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Should Cain be angry? Yes. But the question arises, “who should be the object of his anger?” He should be angry at himself and that should lead him to make some changes in his sacrificial offering. God was warning Cain that if he did not get control of his anger, it would lead to some terrible consequences. Once the rage was released, there would be no turning back. The opportunity for sin was at the door, but guess what, there was also an opportunity to turn and do the right thing. Cain could have admitted to God at that point that his offering needed correction.
In these end times, people are quick to not only place their wrongs on others, but they will go to extremes of persecuting others to make themselves feel better. Their internal conflict quickly escalates into an external expression of their frustration. Their own self hatred becomes hatred of everything that is good. Isn’t that what the Bible said would happen? If I could use the play on words, I would say that Cain is set to destroy Abel unless there is a correction. Don’t allow your Cain to destroy your Abel. Don’t allow your bad you destroy the person you could be. You must learn to switch your thinking. Rather than destroy your potential for doing good, destroy the things that are keeping you from becoming your best self. Cain represents “pride.” Cain represents self-will. Cain represents disregard for the things of others. Cain represents finding short-cuts. Worst of all, Cain represents just doing enough to get by. God warned Cain of how sin was crouching down and would devour him. Rather than him changing his course, he decided to destroy the one who represented good. His life was cursed as a result of that poor decision to allow rage to dominate his life. In his anger, he slew his brother Abel. He would carry that tragedy with him for the rest of his life.
There is a better way. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and cleansing for anyone who will turn to Him. If rage is on the rise in your life, there is a Savior who can put an end to the madness and put your life back together. By the way, the word “rage” is from an old English rendering of being out of your mind. Today we would call it “going postal.” That state of mind is driven by the need to prove you are right and that you are determined to have things your own way.
The other person that God spoke with regarding anger was Jonah. We all know the story of Jonah being swallowed by the big fish. But did you realize that much of Jonah’s hardship could have been avoided if he would have simply turned his anger over to the Lord? While we have focused on the outward violence of temper, we must not ignore the internal conflict caused by uncontrolled anger. Jonah lived with that internal rage against people that he did not think were worthy of God’s forgiveness. Jonah hated the people of Ninevah so much that even after his episode of being swallowed by the fish, he still could not accept that God would offer forgiveness to people that he despised. His internal war was fueled by the fact that God would use the people of Ninevah and the Assyrian kingdom to bring punishment on Israel. He felt like the people of Assyria and the capital of Ninevah was much worse than Israel. So how could the Lord use the wicked people of Ninevah to punish Israel? All that would change if God forgave them of their sin. That is exactly what happened. Jonah preached that unless they repented of their sin, Ninevah would be destroyed in forty days. The Ninevites repented in sackcloth and ashes. Did Jonah turn from his anger? Absolutely not! He became even more angry. The Lord then asked the Prophet if his anger was justified. Jonah 4:4, But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” What was the source of Jonah’s anger. Clearly, he failed to see things God’s way. As in the case of Cain, whenever we focus on having our way over God’s way, anger will turn into something deadly. It will become rage. In Jonah’s case, the internal rage kept him from enjoying one of the greatest movements of God that he would ever witness. God used him to turn an entire city from destruction, but Jonah enjoyed none of it. His mind and heart was focused on something else.
Turning Anger into a Blessing
If God said “be angry” then there must be a blessing in it somewhere. Anger is your response to the things that are not right. But rather than venting your rage, instead turn to the Lord and ask for His guidance. Remember, He leads you in the path of righteousness for His Name sake. If you are angry because you have done what is right and you were persecuted as a result of your actions. Turn from your anger and rejoice because you are counted worthy to suffer for Christ sake. It would certainly benefit us all to ask the question when we become angry, “why do I feel this way?” Secondly, we should be willing to ask if our thoughts line up with God’s Will. Becoming so filled with rage that the response is more damaging than the wrong committed against us is certainly not God’s Will for your life. Here is a simple key to everything. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. That will squelch the rage and still allow you to vent your anger in a good and godly way. You can never go wrong when you offer praise to God.
The Bible also commands us to do something else that would be a positive response to anger. Do good to those who mistreat you. Yes, love your enemy and do good to those who despitefully use you. Not only is it in the Bible, but it actually works. When you do good to people who have done you wrong, you are allowing God to take over the situation and He will cause your enemy to become your footstool. Even for those intense times where it will take a while for you to recover from harm, allow the Holy Spirit of God to talk to you in the recovery. As God restores your soul, the wounds you suffered from the faults of others will heal properly and will become scars of victory rather than sores of vengeance. Then you can continue to praise God that He allowed you to go through that ordeal in order to experience His peace in the midst of a storm.
God bless and keep you.