The second sermon in Dr. S. M. Davis’ Anger Series is Freedom From the Spirit of Anger. In it he responds to the statements most often used to justify anger. So that I don’t make this post too long I have divided the sermon into two posts. The Part 2 will address the statements: Jesus got angry or Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin…”  Click Freedom From the Spirit of Anger-Part 2 for the second installment and my personal comments on this sermon. (The outline and information here are my notes from the sermon. A lot of it is directly quoted.)

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” Luke 9:51-56 (KJV)

“Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” means you don’t realize the spirit coming from you; the spirit that your spirit is putting off, emitting, or revealing.

1. The Bible mentions both personal and impersonal spirits.

• Spirit “pneuma”=Holy Spirit, Evil spirits, or Other spirits. There is a difference between:
  1. Your spirit
  2. Good & bad spirits (whether personal or impersonal) that affect your spirit
  3. The spirit that others sense coming from your spirit.

2. We must “try” the spirits coming from our and other people’s spirits to make sure they are of God.

• “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

3. There is a great possibility that we may not realize it when our spirit is putting off the wrong spirit.

• “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.” Proverbs 16:2 (KJV)

• “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3
  • It is easy to see our wife’s (husband’s) lack of respect; yet not see the beam of our own anger.
  • It is easy to see our children’s disobedience or stubbornness; yet not see the beam of our own wrath.

• Do your parent’s or grandparents have a problem with anger? Anger is often like a family curse that is passed from generation to generation.

• An angry spirit manifests itself in a harshness that keeps those around us on edge. It cuts back on a person’s life potential. An angry spirit causes people to be afraid to be around you. Not the fearful respect that accompanies any strong leader. Instead this is a wrong sense of fear that is caused by the unpredictability of a man or woman with an angry spirit.

• The spirit of anger is the very opposite of the spirit of Christ; which is the spirit of meekness and gentleness.

4. Victory in the area of the spirit others sense coming from you is more important than victory in the area of actions others see you doing.

• It is easy to be deceived in this area and feel that you are fine; because you obey the letter of the law but disobey the spirit of the law.
  • “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” Galatians 5:18
  • “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23

• It is more important to have victory over the spirit of anger than the outward manifestations of anger. Where there is victory in the spirit; there is far more likely to be victory in the outward manifestations. Deal with the attitude toward anger and the action won’t be as likely to be a problem.

• Step away; not just from anger but from getting angry.
  • “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” James 1:19

5. There is no Biblical justification for either anger or a spirit of anger.

• A typical Christian’s attitude toward anger is that there is a place for anger, it can be a useful tool in the right setting or circumstance, it releases tension, there is always a need for righteous indignation. All that matters is what the Bible says.
  • “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.” Psalm 37:8
  • “A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty; if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.” Proverbs 19:19
  • “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” Proverbs 27:4
  • “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 (KJV)

• There are some things in life that you get victory over because you know you just can’t do them. The consequences for those things are far too great. There are some things that you just don’t do at your house: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,” Galatians 5:19-20 (KJV)
  • You don’t bring X-rated movies to your house and watch them as a family.
  • You don’t bring and idol into your living room and bow down before it.
  • You don’t bring have a witch come into your house and hold a séance.
  • And you don’t get angry in your house. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger…be put away from you…” Ephesians 4:31
  • “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:8

• “Righteous Indignation” is not found in scripture. Indignation is found 4 times and is described as “great” or “fiery.” Twice it is God’s indignation and twice it is man’s indignation. The indignation of God was righteous and the indignation of man was sin.
  • Could God give his wrath to someone? If he did; he would violate his own command to let all wrath be put away from you (Ephesians 4:31).
    • There are illustrations in the Bible where it appears that someone is receiving or assuming God’s wrath. But when you see the result; you realize that man cannot handle wrath at all…even God’s wrath. (Moses, Sampson, King Saul, etc.)
    • If God gave “righteous indignation” to man; man would turn it into unrighteous indignation.

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Freedom From The Spirit Of Anger by: Dr. S. M. Davis

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I would love to hear your thoughts and stories if you have ever dealt with anger in your life!

Please feel free to comment on my posts and/or e-mail me at: hearttreasurescontact@yahoo.com

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You can find links to all posts in this series on the Anger Series Index page.

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