Ephesians 4 and verse 25. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor where we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you're still angry and don't give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must still no longer but must work doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ. God forgave you. I believe it was in February. Remember when Ben Martin stood up here and made a ministry highlight about the upcoming men's shotgun event, the shotgun at the Wiseheart Corral. And these were among his words. He talked about 45 revolver. And he said in some, in case some of you don't know what a 45 revolver looks like and then took out a pistol case and unzipped it and everybody was on pins and needles. Oh no, Ben didn't. He wouldn't. He's not crazy enough, is he? I'll leave that to you to answer that question. However, he did not bring a 45 revolver to church. But suppose I say today that seated around you are people who are carrying deadly concealed weapons. How does that make you feel? No, we didn't check anybody's purse or pockets at the door to find that out. But we know it's true because of what the Bible says both here and elsewhere. You see the concealed weapons around you in the pew are the tongues of your neighbors. Why is the tongue so dangerous? It's because, biblically speaking, the tongue is like a telescope into the human heart. It shows what's in the heart of a man, what's in the heart of a woman. Paul last week was talking about the theme of purity. But overall in the book of Ephesians it's the book of unity and oneness. And he weaves purity and oneness together in this passage. Therefore, he says each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor for we are all members of one body. So there is purity and unity that are coming together. And then he gives examples of the put off and put on instructions that we talked about last week. Put off lying, speak truth, put off stealing, work for what you acquire, put off unwholesome talk, speak in a way that edifies others, put off bitterness and rage and show an exemplify love. Now what we said last week is that in order to do that, you and I have to throw away the hall pass that we've been carrying around. The pass that says, well, you know this part of the Christian life is really not all that crucial. It's not all that bilateral after all my relationship with God is one of grace. We have to throw away our hall pass because the gospel calls us not simply to deal with behavior but to deal with our hearts. Paul when he talks about put off and put on is not simply saying change your behavior. He's really talking about heart change and the theme here that he's talking about is a theme of anger. Have you considered that so many of the visible sins that you and I struggle with start invisibly in the heart with anger? I want to repeat that. So many of the visible sins that you and I struggle with start invisibly in our hearts in this thing called anger. Just this week I read the story of a man a doctor named Roger Guinman 75. He hasn't practiced medicine since 1991 but he was a retired surgeon. He did well enough in the medical field that he purchased a $1.2 million home on Lake Michigan and a $400,000 home next to a private golf course in Florida. And his home in Florida was especially well furnished. There's an antique wood desk valued at about $25 or $3,500. There's some original paintings at about $1,000 each. There's a painting of a horse and carriage that's worth about $1,500. There are three small paintings of ships that are valued at about $500 each. This is all original art. There are two wood chairs, very expensive chairs with elaborate embroidered pineapple designs on them. They were worth $1,000 or $2,000 each. What's the problem? Just one small problem with his home and all those things. They were all stolen from a hotel in Naples, Florida. They got him on surveillance cameras on video, Dr. Guinman carrying these things out from a room that he had rented for a couple of nights and loading them into the back of his Toyota forerunner. And when they tracked him down and arrested him, he confessed and said, yes, I did it, but it wasn't a crime of greed. He said it was a crime of anger because I've been wronged. Evidently, in his medical practice and so forth, there were those who he felt like had wronged him. And so stealing those things made him feel like he was getting even with the injustices that he had received in life. Was it just a stealing problem? No, it wasn't just a stealing problem. It was anger that ate at him and ate it his heart for years. Now think about it. It's not just true, Dr. Guinman. Everybody here has seen a three-year-old or four-year-old who has a behavior problem because there's a new baby in the house. There's a new sibling and this arouses a lot of feelings of jealousy and resentment and anger and mommy and daddy are not there for me. And children at the age of three and four frequently act out when there's a new baby in the house. And what about you? What sins in your life are the result of deep, unresolved anger? That's what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 4. And as he talks about applying the gospel to life, he's applying the gospel to this thing called anger, 0.1. Think about what we see at ground level. Think about what we see at ground level when we consider this subject of anger. There was a newspaper cartoon and a national syndicated newspaper. There was a teenage boy who was sitting in front of the TV and his sister was sitting at the kitchen table. And he says to her, um, sis, about that argument we had yesterday, you know, sometimes we all just have to swallow our pride and apologize. And sister was delighted and she said, I'm so glad to hear you say that. So swallow your pride and apologize already. Both of them were thinking the same thing but both of them were not dealing with what was going on in their heart. Paul's point here in Ephesians 4 is that words are powerful. Words are powerful because the Bible makes it clear that the danger of the tongue. Once words are said, they cannot be retrieved. A man went to his rabbi to confess the sin of gossip. And when he asked the rabbi what he could do about this particular sin, the rabbi took him up on top of a mountain with a feather pillow. And when they got to the top, the rabbi tore open the feather pillow and just let the feathers fly. He said, that's what you can do about anger. You can go and retrieve every feather and put it back in the pillow. That's what you can do about anger and that's what you can do about gossip. And the point was that just like those feathers, your words can't be retrieved. Once they're spoken, the power of them can last a lifetime. The Greek text here in Ephesians 4, Paul uses the word sapros. It's translated the word as the word unwholesome, brawling and slander. Don't use unwholesome words. That word sapros is actually a word picture in Greek that was used to describe rotten fish that were left in the sun too long. Now all of us have been to the beach or you've been around fish. What happens when fish are left out in the bottom of a boat and the sun too long? Well, they begin to smell. There's a stench. And so when Paul talks about no unwholesome talk, he's speaking about speech that is decayed, disease, filthy, it's disgusting, it's rotten. It's speech that has no redeeming value to bless anyone. And tragically he says it's this misuse of the tongue that we're all prone to. Paul agrees with Jesus who said in Luke 6, no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People don't pick figs from thorn bushes or grapes from briars. The good man brings the good things out of the good stored up in his heart and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. And so we not only have to consider what comes out of our mouths and the anger that's at the conflict that that produces, but the anger that produces it all. And so second, not simply what do we see at ground level, but what is revealed below the surface? Jesus makes it clear in that Luke 6 passage that the problem with the tongue is that it speaks and reveals what's in the heart. Let me tell you how humbling that is. On Friday while trimming bushes in the backyard with a hedge, electric hedge clipper, I was stung by several hornets. Once on the face, once on the leg, it was incredibly painful. I've been stung by insects and so forth before, but man, it felt like fire. What do you suppose were the things that came out of this preacher's mouth? I'm not going to repeat them this morning. They would not edify you. Why is that so humbling? Because all it takes is a couple of hornets to reveal not only what comes out of my mouth, but the the gravity is in my heart. That's what I mean by going below the surface. If you ever use sarcasm with somebody else and then they get their feelings hurt and they say, I can't believe you said that and you said, I was just teasing. I was just kidding, but it stings because in those words they get a peak of your attitude toward them in your heart. You know the old phrase, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. It's not true. It's a lot of bluster. It's wishful thinking. Words do hurt because words show what's in your heart. It's like a potent drug. Anger makes you feel powerful and makes you feel justified in the things that you say. You get angry, you feel powerful, you feel righteous. There is very little to restrain you. They did an exposé on 2020 some time ago, a prison at inmates who were angry and were filing lawsuits against one another, or they were filing lawsuits against the warden or lawsuits against the prison. They were full of anger and in that anger it made them feel perfectly justified even though they were serving time for a first-degree murder or for armed robbery and so forth. They felt perfectly justified in filing lawsuits about things like this. One prisoner filed a federal lawsuit because he was upset at being served chunky peanut butter instead of smooth. So he filed a lawsuit. Another filed a federal lawsuit because the ice cream that they were served in prison was often soft and half melted. Still another filed a lawsuit because the male deliveries in that prison interrupted his afternoon nap. Still others filed a lawsuit because they were being forced to listen to country and western music that came from another man's cell. That might seem frivolous to you and me but not to them. They were indignant and why? Because their anger made them feel righteous. Social commentators say or refer to the time in which we live as the age of rage. Now before you dismiss that, think about some of the political protests that you've seen and what motivates those. But be honest. Aren't some of the things that really get under your skin just as ridiculous as some of those lawsuits that were filed by prisoners at a federal prison? Let me give you some examples. You're on your way to church, you get cut off in traffic and you miss the green light and so you arrive at church some two or three whole minutes later or you're at a four-way stop. And you clearly get to the four-way stop before the other drivers but two of them zoom away before you ignore the obvious or just before you leave the house for church. Your son calls down from upstairs and he can't find the belt that you told him to put away and hang up in his closet yesterday. I mean after all somebody might see him without a belt and think that you're a irresponsible parent. And so everybody's fuming and they arrive for worship. Anger just illustrates and exemplifies the kind of things that are in our hearts. Remember King David when he sat on his throne and Nathan the prophet came and told him this little story about somebody who had lots of sheep and the man who had one little you lamb and he stole his neighbor's single lamb and remember David's anger was just furious. And it showed what was going on in his own heart. It showed his self righteousness. It showed his hypocrisy. It showed the murderous heart that was still inside of it. And then the driver's 14 says an angry person does foolish things. Proverbs 29, a hot tempered man commits many sins. Proverbs 28, he that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls. We go beneath the surface and look at anger. We have to say this. Anger is a legitimate emotion. Anger is a God given legitimate emotion. It is very useful at times. Anger gets your adrenaline pumping at times when it needs to be, when you need to take action. Jesus got angry at the money changes in the temple and he overturned their marble tables and he drove them out with a with a whip. Jesus was angry too. But notice this. Godly anger is Godlike anger. Godly anger is Godlike anger. Aristotle who wasn't even a Christian said this. Anyone can become angry. That's easy. But to be angry with the right person at the right time and in the right way is not easy. It's not as obvious when we look at the NIV but he says here in your anger do not sin. Now that's a helpful translation because it assumes that we're all going to be angry at times and Paul says in that anger do not sin but actually in the Greek text it's a command. The emphasis in the Greek text is be angry. Not just when you're angry but be angry. Listen, all of us should be angry when a little child is physically or sexually abused. Man, we should be angry. When there's a hit and run driver who drives away gets away and is never caught that should make us angry. When any kind of injustice seems to triumph that should make us angry. When we see people who are starving in the world either physically or spiritually that should make us angry. When you turn on the TV or you listen to on the radio to some sort of religious, religious programming and you hear somebody say something that was just decidedly unbiblical and anti-Christian. It should make us rightfully angry or when you see some of the atrocities that have happened in the Middle East or in Somalia. It should make us angry. Jesus got angry. He was angry when the Pharisees objected to his healing the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day. He was angry with the people who came up and said, now who's in? This man or his parents that he was born blind. He got angry but biblically righteous anger is consistent with the holy righteous character of God. By that I mean it is slowly provoked and legally expressed. Biblically righteous anger is consistent not with just what we like but with the holy righteous character of God. It is slowly provoked and legally expressed. Now why do I mention that it's slowly provoked? It's because God's anger is like that. God's anger is slowly provoked according to 2 Peter 3. The Lord is not slowing keeping His promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but for everyone to come to repentance. And God's anger is not only slowly provoked it's always under control, Psalm 78. Their hearts weren't loyal to Him. They were not faithful to His covenant yet. God was merciful. He forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time He restrained His anger and did not stir up His full wrath. Do you hear that? Righteous anger is always under control. Time after time God restrained His anger and did not stir up His full wrath. Can you see why Paul says here in Ephesians 4 that the righteous anger doesn't give the devil a foothold. You stick your foot in the door and once you've got a foothold you can kind of worm your way or wedge your way into the doorway, into the space and into the room. Paul says righteous anger doesn't give the devil a foothold and so He says therefore let bitterness and rage and anger and brawling and slander and every form of malice be put away. So that's what we see on the surface and that's what we see when we go underneath the surface but third what are all of us need on a heart level. What do all of us need on a heart level? Look at what he says in verse 31 and 32. Get rid of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ. God forgave you. Obviously we need to get rid of unrighteous anger. We need to handle righteous anger in a righteous way but let's say you're at Kroger or Publix and you're standing in line and there's an elderly woman there she's taking a lot of time she's struggling with her groceries she's struggling with her with her change with her coupons and she's clearly holding up the line. People are irritated a woman like that and that kind of shape physically she shouldn't be there by herself. So what you really want to say to her or to the cashier is can we move this along? Can we speed this up in some way? It's clear that she needs help but you're irritated, you're angry because you're having to wait longer than you wanted to. What does the gospel call for? You said well the gospel calls for me to help her. Yes that's true but it's deeper than that. You know what the gospel calls for? You develop a heart for that woman. Not simply that you just do something nice. Not simply well it can help you with your groceries to the car. Not just to act nice so that you feel better the gospel calls for you to develop a heart for her. So what does that take? You know what it takes? It takes repentance. Lord forgive me that I get so busy that I get so consumed about my world. I don't even identify with a woman like this who struggles. It takes repentance, it takes faith. Now we're a long way from Christmas but most every Christmas when Stacy and I go out Christmas shopping she says something like I hate Christmas shopping with you worse than anything else. Stacy is invigorated shopping picking out presents decorations she's invigorated by Christmas and I am Scrooge. Now what do you think goes on in my head or what goes on in my heart as I look for a non-existent parking spot at the mall? You know what goes on in my heart? I think things like this. I wonder how many of these people out shopping and celebrating like this are even Christians. Look at all these people. Spending all this money on people they don't have on people they don't like for gifts that they don't need. Look at the line in the store. Why can't management have the foresight to hire a few extra cashiers? All right, surface level, level one is irritation, sarcasm, anger, what's beneath the surface? You know what's beneath the surface? Pride, impatience. The reality is that in my heart I'm think you know I'm really too important and my time is too valuable to wait in line or to look for a parking spot or to walk an extra 50 or 100 yards into the mall but level three. On a deeper level, what do I need? You know what I need? I need the gospel. I need Jesus. At that moment I have forgotten what a sinner I am and I feed on my own anger, my own irritation, my own self righteousness rather than on the righteousness of Jesus. Do you see what Paul is saying here? Christianity is not simply a code of conduct. It's not a list of rules that we follow. It's not simply, well we stop doing this and we start doing this. Christianity is not pietism. Pietism will not help us. It's only Jesus. Go with me sometimes to the grocery store. I challenge you. Stacey gives me a list of four things. You should write it down. I got it baby. I got it. I go to the store. I have four things to get at the store. It might be bread, it might be pepper, it might be something else. I don't need to write this down. I got it. I'm an adult. I got a good memory. I got a master's degree. The moment I walk in the store, that mental list is gone. I have truthfully found myself walking up and down the aisles because I'm too ashamed to call my wife and say okay can you get me two, three and four that were on the list. I'm hoping that walking up and down the aisle will jog my memory and I'll be able to get what she needs. I don't want to admit defeat because I'm too proud. It shows folks that I even need Jesus in order to go to the grocery store. It's true. I even need Jesus to go to the grocery store. If that's true for me and for you, we not only need Jesus for everyday activities, buying gas, going to the grocery store. How much more do we need Jesus in the areas of anger, self-righteousness, forgiveness? Maybe you've heard the story of Simon Weisenthal. Jewish prisoner, he was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp in Poland and while he was in the Nazi concentration camp, a German nurse came and got him and took him into the room of a dying 21-year-old Nazi SS trooper whose face was a mass of bandages and pus soaked rags. She took him in to meet this SS trooper because he had told the nurse that he couldn't die until he had confessed his sins, the sins that he had committed against the Jews to another Jew. He felt the need to be forgiven by a Jew before he died. As he took Simon Weisenthal's hand, Weisenthal listened. He heard about the killing of innocent women and children who had in particular had run from a burning house and were shot on the spot and other terrible stories. After the man went on for about 10 or 15 minutes, Weisenthal jerked his hand away and walked out of the room. There was no forgiveness given. Weisenthal could not forgive. And why is that? Because forgiveness is supernatural. My friends, you and I are the SS trooper. You need to confess to and be forgiven by a Jew. His name is Jesus Christ. What did God do with his anger? Seriously, God had a right to be angry about sin. What did God do with his anger? I'll tell you what God did. He sent Jesus to the cross. That's where the sermon title comes in. Good and angry. We said, I'm good and angry. Listen, only God is good and angry at the same time. And so on the cross, we see the God of the Bible, who is indescribably good, pouring out his anger on his own son. Now, God handled his anger like that. How much more do you and I need to go to Jesus with ours? That's Paul's point here. There is no tenderheartedness apart from Christ. It's not something you're going to be able to produce. It's only something that you can receive by grace. What does Paul point us to? Our own anger? No. He points us to verse 32 to the tenderhearted forgiveness of God himself. And the only way that you and I can be tenderhearted toward others is to have our hearts broken as we recognize their hardness. Church in Africa had an unusual custom. People in this African tribe would stand and they would confess some particular sin. And as they confessed a sin, the other people in the tribe, rather than straining to hear the sin, they would sing even louder of the love and grace of God. They would sing amazing grace or Jesus loves me or something like that. As someone would confess his sin, they would sing louder of the love and grace of God. They could forgive each other because they were more conscious of their own sins and their own need of grace than anything else. Now last week, and I even made reference to it this week, I spoke of the past that you and I make out for ourselves. In some area or aspect of the Christian life, I'm betting this is one of yours. I can tell you it's one of mine. I want to write myself a pass. I'm right just laying angry about this. The sins listed here that Paul lists all have something in common. They stem from a lack of peace in the human heart. What some people would say is a lack of serenity. Where do we get this piece? How do we become serene? I'll tell you. We get this piece from the Jesus who shows us his hands, his feet, his side, and he reminds us of his promises that he will pour out his Holy Spirit. What we need in regard to our anger isn't legalism. It's not making a list. It's not moralism, it's not waiting ten minutes and taking a few deep breaths. What Paul is talking about is life in power. Life in your anger do not sin. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you. And when that happens in you, you begin to understand what it means to be both good and angry. Father, thank you that the gospel addresses all of life and addresses the things that we don't want to see and don't want others to see about ourselves. We thank you for our atomic tongues that show us what's really in our hearts. We don't want to admit it. Whether it's with a hornet sting or someone cutting us off in traffic. We don't want to admit the truth that shouts at us, you need Jesus. But we do. We need Jesus as we stand before your throne, Lord God, and we need Jesus in order to live the Christian life. And so Jesus, will you pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we run to you in faith and repentance? Father, I want to pray for the person or persons who have come to mind as we've looked at this passage this morning. As you have given people a mental picture of a name or a face from the past, will you make faith real and will you apply the healing bomb of the gospel to our hearts? That we might be both good and angry in Jesus' name. Amen.