said we are up to the end of the book of Jonah, John chapter 4 there, and if you have a look at,
where are my notes? There they are. Sorry guys. If you have a look at verse number,
verse number 4, verse number 4, John chapter 4 verse number 4, it says,
Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? Now this is a question that God asked
Jonah twice. Doest thou well to be angry? So the title for the sermon tonight brethren is,
Doest thou well to be angry? Have you ever been angry? Have you ever gotten really upset about
something and full of wrath and full of anger? I'm sure we've all experienced that feeling,
being angry. And one of the things that you might want to ask yourself when you do get angry
is, doest thou well to be angry? You know, is this serving me well? Is this good for me
to be angry? Well let's understand what's going on here in this story. Let's start with verse
number 1, John chapter 4 verse number 1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very
angry. All right. So what displeased Jonah? What could possibly displease Jonah? Well let's just
go back to chapter number 3, just remind ourselves what took place here. John chapter 3
verse number 10. John chapter 3 verse number 10, And God saw their works, that's the works of
Nineveh, that they turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil that he had
said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. So we get to chapter number 4 verse number 1,
but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry. What was Jonah angry about?
That God repented. That God repented from the evil, from the destruction that God had
promised upon Nineveh. I mean it's amazing. It's amazing. And so I've got six points for
you tonight brethren, about what anger can do to your life. Point number one brethren,
is that anger blinds you from pleasure. Anger blinds you from pleasure. Because it's said there,
but it displeased Jonah. Instead of being pleased that Nineveh got right with God,
he was displeased. Displeased by his preaching. It's amazing. You know we go out soul winning,
right? We have our soul winning Saturdays or whatever it is, or you might go out on Sunday
or other times in the week. You know we come back, it's like brother how'd you go? Oh I
didn't have any salvations this time, but I was able to get the gospel out a couple of times,
I was able to see it, amen. Someone comes back, I was able to present the plan of salvation to
one person, but they just weren't ready to call upon them. The Lord will praise God.
Someone else comes back, I was able to see one person saved. Someone else comes back,
I was able to see two people saved. Praise God, we're excited, aren't we? Hey we talk about
these things because we're pleased, aren't we? We go out, we do the work of God,
and we're pleased. But what if the soul winner comes back? What if someone's soul
winner comes back and how'd you go brother? Well you know the whole city of Sydney listened
to my preaching and got right with God. And you're like how good is that? Like no,
it's the worst news, I'm so angry, I'm so upset that my preaching was effective.
That's Jonah. The whole of Nineveh gets right with God. The king gets right with God.
And Jonah's displeased. Why is he displeased brethren? Because he's angry.
Brethren, if you get yourself angry, you're constantly frustrated,
every little thing bothers you, you're not going to find pleasure in the things that
you need to find pleasure in. Preaching the Bible, getting people right with God,
you know, like I said, we all kind of just, we get excited, it's hard to,
it's hard to put ourselves in the picture of Jonah. It's so extreme. But brethren, okay,
you may not have these extremes of Jonah, but if you are someone that's just constantly
frustrated and angry, you're not going to find pleasure even in the good things.
Even in the good things that you accomplish for God, it's not going to satisfy you.
So point number one, brethren, is anger blinds you from pleasure. Now keep your place there,
please go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Please go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 9.
2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 9. As I said to you, brethren, do us that
well to be angry. When you start to get angry and stubborn and bolded and, you know,
hot on the collar, ask yourself this question, is it doing me well? And if it's causing you to
not be pleased in good things, successful things, happy things, you know, talk to people that are
angry and they're angry about this and that and this and that, but they've got so many
good things going for them. It's like they completely forget the good things that are going
for them and they're just so focused on the one little issue that they're upset about
and they lose sight of the greater things. That's what anger does, brethren. Look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 12 verse number 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse number 9. So instead of being people
that get fired up and angry all the time, we need to be like this instead. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 12 verse number 9, it says, and he said unto me, this is what God said to Paul,
my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Now look at this, most gladly, so we often think about the opposite of anger would be
someone that's glad, someone that's rejoicing. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory
in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. But look at verse number 10,
therefore I take pleasure. What was the problem with Jonah? He was displeased.
He lost the pleasure. Paul says, therefore I take pleasure, look at this, in infirmities.
Brethren, when you're sick, when you've got the COVID for the third time or whatever it is,
the flu, you know what, do you take pleasure? I'm sick again. Pastor Kevin,
I can't make it to church because my whole family's sick. Hey, you know what, we need to
get to the point like Paul where he says, therefore I take pleasure, infirmities. In
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak,
then am I strong. But you know what, brethren, if we're honest, when we're going through
infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses, you're probably
going to get angry, you're probably going to get upset, you're probably going to get frustrated.
But when that happens, brethren, you need to bring yourself back to what we read in Saint
Corinthians and say, no, I need to get to the point where I take pleasure,
even when my life is falling apart. Take pleasure even when everything's falling apart
and I just don't see a way out. You say, well, I know when I'm weak, then Christ is strong.
And here the problem we have with Jonah is he was weak, but he would not accept the strength
of the Lord. He's in the flesh, he's angry in the flesh, he's frustrated that Nineveh got
right with God, he'd rather see God destroy this place. But brethren, we need to learn to
take pleasure. And you know what, if you're someone that's just quick to anger, always upset,
you're not going to enjoy the things that you ought to enjoy. You're going to stop enjoying
soul winning. You're going to stop enjoying going to church. You're not going to find
pleasure in the things that God wants you to find pleasure in. If you're married and you
have a family, you've got kids, you're going to stop having pleasure for your family. You're
going to look at your wife and you're going to get angry when you argue. Instead of being thankful
and pleased that God has failed you a partner for the rest of your life, instead of being
thankful that God has given your family and children that you can enjoy, you're going to be
upset and angry and frustrated. Look who God gave me. When so many other people are looking
for a partner, they're looking for a spouse that they can love, and you lose sight of the
things that you ought to be pleased in. Okay, so the first problem with being angry, brethren,
it blinds you from pleasure, the things that you ought to enjoy.
Please go back to Jonah chapter four and verse number two. Jonah chapter four and verse number two.
So we learn, he's very angry, verse number two. And he prayed unto the Lord and said,
this is what he prays to God. Could you, I couldn't imagine saying this to God. But anyway,
Jonah, he's in such a bad place. He prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord,
sorry, was not this my saying? He goes, is this not what I said, God, when I was yet in my country?
So we know that God called Jonah when he was in his own country. So basically what he's saying
is when you first called me God to go and preach to the Ninevites, didn't I already tell
you this, God? Tell you what? He goes, therefore, I fled before unto Tarshish,
for I knew that thou had a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and repent as thee of the evil. It's amazing. Because, you know, if we're praying to God,
and we want to say, God, you're a gracious God, you're merciful, we're going to have a positive
spin to that. Like, you know, these are positive words, you're a gracious God, you're
full of grace. You know, not only are you gracious toward the Ninevites, but you're gracious
toward me. You know, the fact that you didn't destroy me the moment I, you know, sinned against
you. You know, merciful, slow to anger, great kindness, repent as thee of the evil. How
many times, you know, was God ready to judge us and bring some evil upon us for doing wrong,
but then we got right with God, he's forgiven us, and then he's repented from that evil.
And by the way, evil does not mean sin. Okay, God cannot sin. Evil means harm. God can cause
harm. God can judge. I mean, God cast in an unsafe sinner who's rejected Jesus into hellfire
is evil. It's harmful, but it's not sinful because God's judgment is righteous. God does not sin.
Okay, something you just need to understand when you read for the Bible, evil is not always
sinful. Okay, the word evil means harm. Okay, so if you're going to put a pedophile to death
for their crime, hey, you're doing evil to the pedophile, but it's not a sin. It's righteous.
It's righteous judgment. I just want you to understand when the Bible uses the evil,
do not in your mind substitute sin. Okay, otherwise you're going to get confused when
you read the Bible. But what do we learn? Jonah's angry at God for who he is,
for all the great qualities of God. He goes, you know, it's wonderful when we think about
God being gracious toward us, merciful, slow to anger toward us, kind toward us,
you know, repenting of the evil against us. Hey, we like that, but if you get to a point
where you say, you know, these people, I just want to see God judge them and destroy them,
and then say, I don't know if I should preach them because maybe God will be gentle toward
them. Maybe God be merciful toward them. And this is the heart of Jonah. You know,
he doesn't enjoy, again, you know, he's displeased. The things he ought to be pleased
about, pleased about the great God that he serves. He loses sight of it. He's displeased.
All right. And so, you know, what I want to show you a few things here. Well, actually,
let's go back to verse number two. One quality that we learn about God there,
for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger. Slow to anger.
What's the problem with Jonah? He's very angry right now. So we learn something. Is anger a sin?
Is anger a sin? If God is slow to anger, does God get angry? The Bible says God is angry
with the wicked every day. Every day. Okay. Righteous anger. Amen. So we see a difference
between the anger of Jonah and the anger of the Lord. There is a difference. Anger is an emotion.
You know, the fact that we were created and we were able to experience these things,
of course, is a right place to put your anger and there's a wrong place. And what we
learn through this chapter is the wrong type of anger that we see coming out of Jonah,
but the right kind of anger, the Godly anger, the righteous anger, is one that is slow to
anger. Slow to anger. Okay. Should I get angry at sin? Should I get angry when I
displease my Lord? Should I get angry at the wickedness and the filth of this world? Of course.
As long as you get angry about the things that God gets angry about. Okay. But slow to anger.
You don't want to be summoned that just as soon as something inconveniences you,
you're just there giving your two cents. You're there getting fired up. Brethren,
you've got to learn how to be slow to anger. You know, one thing that you can, you start to learn
if your anger is righteous, is Godly, or if your anger is just coming from the carnal flesh,
is how quickly you get angry. If you find yourself able to hold yourself, be temperate,
hold back, assess the situation, be slow, and put all the facts together, put the situation
together, and then get angry, then you're starting to show yourself being someone that is
holy and following after the steps of our Lord God. Okay. Now, I want to show you this
in the New Testament. Please go to Ephesians chapter 4. Please go to Ephesians chapter 4
and verse number 26. So anger in of itself is not a sin. Okay. Anger in of itself is not a sin.
All right. So let's go to Ephesians chapter 4 verse number 26.
Now, I actually want to show you a commandment,
a commandment that we are commanded to be angry. I'll show you this in a moment. Okay.
Ephesians chapter 4 verse number 26. Ephesians chapter 4 verse number 26.
The Bible reads, be ye angry. There you go, brethren. If you say, you know what, pastor,
my goal in my life is to never be angry, then you're breaking this commandment.
It says, be ye angry. There's a time to get angry, brethren. Look at this.
Be ye angry and sin not. You see, it is possible to get angry but not to sin.
You see that? So when we get angry, we need to consider what kind of anger
are we experiencing? Is it the righteous anger of the Lord or is it a carnal, fleshly,
sinful anger? You need to assess that situation about yourself. Okay. You know,
if you get angry and that anger causes you to sin, then you definitely know it's some carnal,
you know, problem that you have in your flesh. Okay. You know, it's possible to get
angry and not sin. Let's keep going there. It says, let not the sun go down upon your
wrath. Okay. So something else. Not only should we be slow to anger,
but before the day is over, we should have gotten past that anger. Okay. We should not be
people that hold grudges till the next morning. You know, if you're married, don't hold grudges
overnight. Get right with your spouse before the day is over. All right. You get angry for
a while. Something's upset you. You know, she's done something or he's done something to upset
you. You know, and, you know, that stubbornness gets into you, that, you know, the pride,
right? The, like, what did I say? The grudge, you hold that grudge, you know, you just got
to make a decision that I need to get right with my spouse before the day is over. You know,
I want to go to bed being happy, you know, forgiving, right, and loving my wife the way
I ought to, love my husband the way I ought to, and, you know, make sure your anger does not
continue to the next day. Because look at this, if you allow it to continue, what does it say
in verse number 27? Neither give place to the devil. If you're holding grudges, holding grudges,
day after day, oh this person, day after day, brethren, you're giving place to the devil.
Not only is it an anger coming from your flesh, but you're actually allowing the devil
to come in and mess up your life, destroy relationships, destroy your testimony,
destroy your love for the things of God. It's so important that we are careful about our anger.
Anger is good. Be angry and sin not. So we learn a few things that will occur in this.
Slow to anger, don't let the day go down, don't let the sun go down, and still be in
wrath, okay? Learn to forgive, you know, learn to be able to put things behind you. Don't
hold grudges. Don't become all bitter because it only destroys you. It only destroys your testimony.
Now what I want to show you in this passage, so we have a commandment, be angry, see, okay,
yeah, there's a time to get angry. Now look at verse, drop down to verse number 31,
just a few verses down. Look at this, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and
evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Interesting. So just a few verses apart,
you got one verse saying put away all anger and wrath and then you have other verses just before
that. Be angry. Again, highlighting the facts that anger in of itself is not wrong, but you
want to make sure that what you're experiencing is godly righteous anger. There are two types,
there are two forms. You know, it's the same thing like love. You know, is love good? Yes.
But if you love the things that God hates, is that righteous love? No, it's wrong. Hey,
if you hate the things that God loves, is that sinful? Of course it is. But if you hate the
things that God hates, is that righteous? Of course it is. If you get angry about the things
that God gets angry about, is that righteous? Of course it is. Okay, again, emotions, feelings,
these aren't wrong. Fear is not wrong. Fear in the Lord, we have commandments over and over
again about fear in our Lord God, but we should not fear man. We should not fear man.
If you fear man, that's a sin, but if you fear the Lord, that's righteous.
But it's still fear. It's about putting that emotion and that feeling in the right place,
in the right category. When you experience these things, you need to assess,
is this righteous or is this carnal? Okay, so again, just a reminder, emotions,
they're not wrong. God's created us to experience these things. Okay, God wants us, when we see
wickedness and filth, God wants a response from us. He doesn't want us, oh, that's just
fine, that's lovely. Let's put up with all manner of sin and filthiness and wickedness. No, God
wants to be repelled a little bit. You know, get angry, get frustrated. I can't believe that
that wickedness is taking place. And I can't believe abortion is still going on in Australia
every single day. Hundreds of babies being put to death in the mother's womb. Hey, that's
righteous anger. But do you see me going every day? I just, oh, I can't believe abortion
every day. I can't believe you're born every day, abortion doctors, no. Slow to anger. Okay,
just put it in its right place. Okay, put it in its right place. We don't want any people
that are just constantly angry, just knowing that there's been this angry man. In fact,
I'm jumping ahead in my sermon notes. Can you please go to James chapter one,
go to James chapter one, verse number 19.
James chapter one, verse number 19. James chapter one, verse number 19. I just want to show
you again, the differences between the anger and wrath that comes from that is righteous and
Godly versus wrath that is carnal. Okay, James chapter one, verse number 19. The Bible says,
wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Okay, so not only is our God slow to anger, what's wrath? Wrath is just an extreme form of
anger. Okay, not only is God slow to anger, but we're instructed to be slow to anger,
slow to wrath. Okay, now if you need some help around this, if you want to be slow to
anger and you're strong in this, you need to apply the other two parts there. All right,
swift to hear. Okay, so sometimes we get upset about things that we've misunderstood,
miscommunication. I see this a lot with text messages. You text someone and go,
I can't believe you sent that message. Yeah, but you've lost the tone. You've lost the
purpose of that text. You know, if he interprets it as something harmful, you know, the guy,
someone's going to try to attack you, you know, he didn't mean that by it, you know,
swift to hear, you know, paying attention, listening to what other people are saying,
slow to speak. That's going to help you, right? Instead of just saying something,
because the problem with saying things out of your mouth, we know the tongue can kindle a fire,
a great fire, right? And we say things and then it's hard to take things back because of
the pride of man. So before you open your mouth and get frustrated, get all the information
that's going to help you to be slow to wrath. Okay, so are we allowed to become wrathful?
Of course, as long as you're slow to wrath. Okay, now drop down to verse number 20.
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So it's good to be slow to wrath,
but the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Okay, this is why
we have to be so careful about the kind of anger we're experiencing. Okay, is because if
you are experiencing the wrath of man, carnal anger coming from this flesh, you're not going
to work the righteousness of God. Okay, you're going to actually pull away from God's
righteousness and you'll probably start doing things that you regret.
Have you ever been so angry that you've taken some action, you've done something,
you've said some words, maybe you've lashed out and then you look back and you go,
I can't believe I did that. I've done that. I've been so angry. I look back and say,
I can't believe I said those words. I can't believe I behaved in that way.
You know, it's like you get hot-headed, you get frustrated. You know what, that wasn't
the righteousness of God. And then you're kind of embarrassed. I can't believe I behaved that way.
Okay, no, we want to be slow to wrath. Okay, it's fine to get angry, but be slow to anger
because the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Okay, so we're talking
about God's anger, that's fine. Okay, but the wrath of man, talking about the carnal man,
the fleshly man, you're not going to do the righteousness of God. Okay, you're not going
to be able to be godly and walk a path that pleases the Lord if you are hot-tempered.
Can you please now go to the book of Proverbs? Please go to Proverbs 15.
Let's learn a few things from the book of Proverbs now. Proverbs chapter 15, verse 18.
We are coming back to Jonah. As you saw, John chapter 4 was in a very long chapter.
But anyway, all of this is introduction, so we can see the differences
between righteous anger and carnal, or the wrath of man, if you want to put it that way.
But Proverbs chapter 15, verse number 18. Proverbs chapter 15, verse number 18.
The Bible reads, a wrathful man stirreth up strife. Now, you say, well, how do I know if
my wrath and my anger is good or righteous or not? Well, if your anger is causing more
problems, more strife, more conflicts, brethren, that's a problem, because then it says this,
but he that is slow to anger, appeased of strife. You see, both these guys get angry.
Just one gets hot-tempered immediately, causes more problems, the other one does get angry,
but he's slow to get angry, but he appeased of strife. He calms the situation down.
Instead of causing more problems, he fixes the problems, because that's what anger is
supposed to do. There's a problem, you get angry about that, hey, you know what,
if I tell my kids to go clean their room and they don't clean the room, you know what,
I should get angry when they don't obey mum and dad, okay, but I should be slow to anger.
There's a problem, okay, guys, we need to fix this, whether it's chastisement, whether it's
making them fix to clean up their room twice or three times as neat, whatever it is, okay,
but that's what you need. That kind of anger, being slow to anger, fixes problems,
but being hot-tempered, the wrath of man causes problems, makes things even worse than they
ought to be. That's Proverbs chapter 15, let's go to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 verse 24.
Proverbs 22 and verse number 24.
Do you have angry friends? Friends, they get angry very easily, constantly angry,
constantly frustrated. Well, there's a warning for you here. In Proverbs 22 verse 24,
it says, make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man, thou shalt not go.
If you've got friends, you just know they're just always angry, they're never happy,
they're always upset about this, always upset about, there's no joy in them,
right, they're just constantly just negative, they're just always negative, always negative,
always angry. Reverend, you've got to pull away from those kind of people. They're not good for
you, okay, because look what it says in verse number 25, lest thou learn his ways and get a
snare to thy soul. You see, it's going to affect you. Being around someone like, oh,
he's my friend though. Yeah, but if he's just constantly angry, it's going to affect you.
You're going to be constantly angry, you're going to be constantly upset, you're going to be
constantly negative. You know, these things, what's the word I'm looking for? They're not addictive,
you catch them, like a virus, what do you call it? Contagious, that's the word. It's contagious.
Someone that's angry, and I'm saying, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah. You know, usually when someone's
angry, you're kind of like, what are they upset about? You go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
and you get angry, oh, yeah, yeah, then they get angry, and it's contagious for everyone.
You've got to be careful about the people. You know what, if you have someone and they're just
angry about church, you know what, they're going to affect their brother or sister in the Lord,
and they're going to get angry, and then someone else is going to hear that, they're
going to get angry, and before you know it, the whole church is angry, and they don't even
know why, because you're just sitting with that one bad person, constantly frustrated,
constantly upset, constantly angry. You have to be careful about the friends you make.
Okay, now some people think, oh, but you know, if I'm a good friend, if I just hang around
everybody that, you know, that I've met and I've been acquainted with, you know, there are some
bad people, the Bible instructs us many times to remove ourselves from the presence of people
that are going to lead us down a bad path. Okay, and I'm not saying that every
Christian person in our church, sometimes Christians can lead you down a bad path.
Okay, Christians can be a bad example. Some Christians can be constantly angry.
Jonah was angry. You know, Jonah, right at this point in his life,
would not be a good friend. You'd be like, Jonah, you need to sort this out with the
Lord. I'm walking away, man. Okay, because, you know, you're going to affect me. You could
cause me to be angry at God. You could cause me to be upset when a whole city turns to the Lord
God and makes me made right with God. So we have to be careful. Let's go to another proverb.
Proverbs 16 verse 32. Proverbs 16 and verse number 32. I love this proverb. Proverbs 16
verse number 32. Sometimes people get angry because they think it shows strength. Look at me. I'm
getting upset about an issue. You know, look, I'm a strong man. I'm upset about this. You know,
look at me. Look at my frown. You know, but look at this. Look at this. I love this.
Proverbs 16 verse 32. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
Look, I'm telling you, some people just get angry because they want to be seen as the
angry man. I'm a mighty man. Look at me getting angry. Being slow to anger is better than the
mighty. And here, you know, when we talk about the mighty, really it's talking about people like
soldiers, hardened soldiers. You're better if you can control your emotions. Because look at this.
And he that ruleth his spirit, you're in control of your body. You control your spirit,
okay? You're temperate. You're self-controlled. He that ruleth his spirit,
then he that taker for city. If you have self-control about your emotions,
you're better than a soldier or a general that goes and captures the city.
Someone that wins a war, you go, look at that mighty man. But what's mightier than that?
Being slow to anger. Being in control of your emotions. That's mightier than going to
war and capturing a city. I love that, okay? So look, I'll probably never join the army. I don't
know. Who knows what the future holds. You know, unlikely. But all right, man, I want to be mighty
in the eyes of God. Just control your emotions, okay? When you get upset, be slow to get upset.
You know, slow to speak, swift to hear before you get fired up in your emotions.
So let's go back to Jonah, chapter four, please. So I hope those passages, you know,
from Proverbs to Ephesians and James have shown you that, you know, anger in and of itself
is not wrong, okay? But there is godly anger and there is the wrath of man, okay? Or
carnal anger. Whatever you want to call it, okay? Righteous anger. Whatever you want to call it,
there are differences, okay? It's the same emotion. You feel the same way, but obviously
it's coming from a different place. And we know as Christians that we have the dual nature.
We know we have the flesh. The flesh that sins. And we have the new man, the spirit. The spirit
that remains clean, okay? And when we walk in the new man, you will be slow to anger.
When you walk in the new man, you will get angry at the things that God gets angry at.
But when you walk in the old man, when you walk in the flesh, you're going to be quick to anger,
okay? Short-tempered, not in control of your emotions, always blowing up about every
little thing and not finding pleasure, you know, when God wants you to find pleasure in
areas of your life. So anyway, back to point one. Anger blinds you from pleasure and we've
seen the differences between these two types of anger. All right, we're up to verse number three.
Let's keep going there. Verse number three. Therefore now, so these are the words of Jonah.
He's praying to the Lord, remember? Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah says, I'd rather die. Just, God,
can you kill me? He starts getting suicidal thoughts. Point number two, brethren, and look,
when I talk about anger in the points of my sermon, I'm not talking about righteous anger
here. I'm talking about the wrath of man, okay? I hope you understand the differences here, okay?
But point number two is anger can lead to suicidal thoughts, okay? Anger can lead to suicidal
thoughts. We see this happening in the life of Jonah here. Now, often when you think about
someone being suicidal, we think about someone who is depressed, cast down, okay? They're just
too burdened, too saddened with life and they'd just rather end it. Well, I just thought,
you know what, let's just see if, you know, I went to just Google and I usually like to
look up research and things to do with people and personalities and emotions and it didn't
take me long and I found a study by Florida State University, okay? And I'll just read
a portion of this study to you. It says, it says, it is well known that suicide is
closely linked to depression and feelings of hopelessness, but research has found links
between suicide and various other emotions as well. For instance, studies have found
that feelings of anger are an important risk factor for suicide as are hostility and aggression.
I guess these things are similar to anger, right? Which are closely linked with anger.
Sorry, there it is in the article, okay? Anyway, research into the connection between
anger and suicide suggests that people who are angry much of the time tend to isolate
themselves from others and that they are much more likely than people who are,
sorry, and they are much more likely than people who are not anger prone to feel that they are a
burden to others and that they do not belong. Interesting. Again, we think of suicide, the person
just depressed, is given up on life, okay, but you can see that anger also plays an important
part in someone having those suicidal thoughts or feelings. In fact, the title for this study
was using anger reduction treatment to reduce suicide risk. So that's what they discovered
in the study. That if someone can control their anger, they're less likely to think of
suicide or to carry out, you know, those kinds of actions. And so it's, you know, not only is
it in the scriptures, but it's confirmed from us, from a study, all right, that anger can lead to
suicidal thoughts. So we want to make sure we obviously have this part of our life under
control, okay? So that's point number two. Obviously, you know, I'm not going to spend too much
time on this. Obviously, we don't, you know, God's given us life. We don't want to end our
life early, okay? Every day that God has given us is for purpose, for a reason, to serve him,
to do what we must do in accordance to his word, you know, to be productive. You know,
one day God's going to judge us for the works that we do. So let's use every day,
every breath that God has given us to do something for the Lord, okay? We give ourselves
the anger. You may end up going, you know, I just hate life. I hate the world. It'd just
be better if I die. You might even be praying to God in this way that God will kill you.
Okay? So obviously, that's not going to give you joy in life, okay, having these feelings. And
you know what? If you have this wrong type of anger, this carnal anger, the wrath of man,
it's going to lead you to these kinds of thoughts. Verse number four,
then said the Lord, doest thou well to be angry? That's the title for the sermon. Doest
thou well to be angry? Is it good for you, Jonah, that you're angry? That's the question,
right? And Jonah doesn't answer it, right? He's displaced. He doesn't find joy in the fact that
his preaching was effectual. He's having suicidal thoughts. God says, is it doing you
well, Jonah, to be angry? He doesn't answer. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number five.
So Jonah went out of the city, so obviously he was in Nineveh at this point in time,
and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth or like a tent or something
like that, okay? And sat, look, why did he do this? Why does he remove himself from the
city and make himself a little tent? Look at this. And there made him a booth and sat
under it in the shadow, okay, yeah, so he's getting a bit of relief from the sun,
okay, but look at this, till he might see what would become of the city. So Jonah's like,
I still think God's going to destroy this place. So he comes out there, makes a tent,
and goes, all right, let's see what God's going to do to the city.
Look, what's happened? He's not accepted the fact that God repented. He's not accepted the fact
that God said that he's not going to destroy them. He still goes out there and says,
I want to see the city destroyed. What's going to happen to the city of Nineveh?
This brings me to point number three, brethren. Anger can cause resentment against God's word.
Jonah did not accept it, all right? God says, no, I repent from the evil that I'm going
to do. Jonah did not accept the word of God. Anger can cause resentment against God's word.
Jonah did not accept it. And brethren, I'll just quickly read to you from Jeremiah 23 29.
We've gone through the book of Jeremiah as a church before, but Jeremiah 23 29 says,
is not my word, this is the word of God, this is God speaking, is not my word like as a fire
saved the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. God's word is being described
as fire and a hammer. You know, we need to be in a church where God's word is preached
like it's a fire, like it burns, like it breaks the rocks. You know what that means?
It causes offense. There's going to be times that you hear God's word and you're not going to
like it. There are going to be times that I preach and you're not going to enjoy it.
But brethren, you know, and yeah, amen, you know, you know, we like hard preaching many of times,
right? We like it when we hear God's word and we hear, you know, a sin being ripped upon and,
you know, but here's the thing that I found anyway. People, Christians generally like it
when people are preaching against the sins of others. But when the preacher touches upon
your sins, oh, I can't believe the pastor said that. I can't believe the preacher said that.
I want to be in a church that's preaching hard, hard preaching, but when it's about you,
I didn't like that. I'm offended. You know, I don't like God. In fact, I don't like the
preacher. The preacher's just a messenger. You know, if it's coming from God's word,
it's going to offend you sometimes. And Jonah's offended, right? He goes,
no, I don't accept the fact that God has repented from the evil that he will do to the
city. And he goes, I'm going to see what God does to the city anyway. That's strange. You know,
he doesn't accept it. And Brevin, you know, sometimes I'm going to preach something and
you will get angry at me. You should get angry sometimes. You know, if God's word is a fire,
if God's word is a hammer, it's going to make you uncomfortable. I mean, if I come and
bring a match and I light it under your hand, it's going to burn a little bit. If I bring a
hammer and smash a little finger, you know, it's going to break a bone, right? That's what God's
word does, but doesn't do it to the physical body. It does it to the inner man. You know,
it really wakes us up. It really slaps our face many times when we hear God's word,
but that's how it ought to be. And Brevin, if you don't have your emotions under control,
then you're going to start resenting God's word. You're going to say, well, that, you know,
no. And, you know, no, I'd just rather find the preacher that preaches nice,
sweet things all the time, that always makes me feel positive, you know, that always pats my back
regardless of what I do. You know, one of the things that, just to be honest with you guys,
one of the things I don't like about being a pastor, okay, this is what I don't like about
being a pastor, is people coming up to me and trying to get me to justify their sin.
Oh, but pastor, I'm in this situation. This has happened to me. You know, I know God's
word says this, but, you know, don't you think, in my case, whatever it is,
and I'm like, this is between you and God. Like, don't come to me to pat you on the back
when you're wrong with the Lord, when you're far from the Lord, you know, you're trying to,
just, I didn't like that what you just preached there, pastor, but I'm in this situation.
You know, it's not my job to preach about your situation. It's my job to preach God's word
and let it offend you if it does, and be thankful when it does, and be thankful when you hear the
truth of God's word, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Okay, don't be like Jonah that
rejects the word of God. No, I still want to see Nineveh destroyed. I don't care what God
said. I like the, it's kind of the opposite. Most people like the sweet things, and when
they hear the bad things, oh, let's go back to the sweet things. Actually, it's funny,
Jonah's the opposite, right? He rather, I want the destruction. I want Nineveh destroyed the so
wicked Lord. How can you be merciful with him? But you know, God was slow to anger with him.
He was merciful. God showed these wonderful qualities about himself, and just Jonah did not
like it, okay? And again, sometimes you read the Bible, you're not going to like it. You're
going to make excuses. Oh, but that's the Old Testament, pastor. You know, murderers shouldn't
be put to death. That's the Old Testament. Yeah, but God wrote the Old Testament.
That's what God said is righteous judgment on such crimes. God's word does not change.
Amen. Jesus Christ is same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is the word of God, okay?
You know, Jesus is the author of the Old Testament, all right? Men moved by the Holy
Ghost. Old Testament, New Testament, we have to enjoy it all. You want to be a well-rounded
Christian? Like the sweet things, amen. We all like the sweet things, but also like
the things that make you a little bitter. What is it, the word of God? Tastes sweet in
the mouth, but then it becomes bitter in the belly? That's how it is many times.
That's how it is many times. You hear a sermon about something, that's awesome,
but when it's about you, didn't like that one. It's a bit bitter that time.
Pastor, can't you be like the other preachers, like the Joel Olsteins? I'm always smiling, guys.
One of the criticism I get is because I smile too much. I don't know. I don't know why I smile
so much. I guess I love preaching. I love doing God's business. I love preaching God's
word. Maybe that's why I smile. I don't know, okay? Or maybe I'm just a happy man. Maybe
I'm slow to anger, amen? I don't know. I get angry sometimes. I must admit that, okay?
But again, point number three, brethren, is anger can cause resentment against God's word.
And again, I say this over and over again because I expect sometimes someone's going to get offended.
I expect sometimes someone's going to go, I don't want to go back to church because I
don't like what Pastor said, okay? But I hope you understand when I preach something,
I don't know about your sins. Like, I'm not creating a sermon, oh man, I know what Brother
Tim got up to this week, so I better write a sermon about Brother Tim here. That's not
what I'm doing, okay? If it touches you, if it makes you uncomfortable, accept that it's
the Holy Spirit convicting you of such things. It's the work of the Lord, okay? I don't know
about all your life. It's coming from the Lord, all right? And then, hey, you should appreciate
that. Say, Lord, you're showing me something. Instead of getting offended, instead of getting
angry, instead of me not accepting your word, Lord, help me to accept it. Help me to make
the changes in my life, in my heart, in my mind, so I can be more aligned with you, Lord.
That's the right approach, okay? All right, let's go back to Jonah. Jonah 4, verse number 6.
Jonah 4, verse number 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd. Now, a gourd, if you don't know,
is like, it's kind of like a pumpkin or a cucumber, these kinds of, I was going to say
vegetables, but they're fruits, aren't they? Does anyone know? I should know.
Well, yeah, you should know, Tim. I'm pretty sure it's a fruit. Pumpkin's a fruit. Cucumber.
Anyway, that's what a gourd is. It's these types of fruits, okay? They're kind of hard
on the outside. So he prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah. So many times
they got vines, all right? So growing out, let's say it's a pumpkin, all right? Jonah's
pitched his tent and near his tent there's some type of pumpkin type thing, okay? And the
vine starts to grow over Jonah that it might be a shadow over his head to protect him from
the heat, okay? To deliver him from his grief. So God's trying to provide comfort to Jonah,
okay, from the grief of the hot weather. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd,
all right? So yeah, he's thankful. Great, this gourd has protected me from the harsh
sunlight. Verse number seven. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day
that it smelt the gourd that it withered. So this worm's probably some type of caterpillar
or something, right? It eats the gourd. It destroys the shadow, the comfort that was
given to Jonah. Verse number eight. And it came to pass when the sun did arise
that God prepared a vehement east wind. So you can see it's all the work of God. The gourd,
the worm, this wind, that God prepared a vehement east wind and the sun beat upon the head of
Jonah that he fainted. So he's getting like heat. What do you call it? Heat stroke, yeah?
And wished in himself to die and said, it is better for me to die than to live.
Now he's already expressed a desire to commit suicide or to die, right?
But as I keep going through this, the reason he's saying this now, again,
is the fact that the gourd, the shadow that was given him, that had withered away. He's
like so upset that this thing that gave him comfort and shadow for a period of time has
now been withered away by the worm, okay? That's what's upsetting him, okay? And the
next point that I have for you, brethren, point number four, is that anger creates whiners.
What a thing to whine about. That this gourd, this vine that was given him some shadow,
okay? Some comfort from the sun. That it's withered and he dies. And he's whining about,
I'd rather die. Whiners. That's what it does, brethren, anger, okay? And again,
this is similar to my point number one. Point number one was that anger
causes you to find no pleasure. This is like the other side of the coin, okay? The other
side of the coin is basically you become a whiner, a more, you know, you, that's what
I'm looking for. Man, I'm not doing too well tonight, huh? Murmuring, that's the
word I'm looking for. Murmuring, right? You start to, and you become critical,
right? So one side of the coin is you don't find pleasure in nice things,
but the other side of the coin is you just start to complain and murmur and whine about
every little thing. I mean, this is such a minor issue. And he goes, I'd rather just
die. If I can't get shade from the sun, then just kill me already. That's Jonah.
He's in a bad place, okay? And look, I love Jonah. It sounds like I'm attacking Jonah,
but I love him. He sounds like a great preacher. In fact, he is a great preacher
to get a whole city turned against the Lord, okay? Back to the Lord God. But you see the
weakness. I love it when you see weaknesses of man. Because if every man in the Bible is just
great and amazing, I feel like, man, how horrible am I? You know, but when we see
their weaknesses, we can then relate to them. We know, hey, we've been like this sometimes.
We've been whining. We've been mourners. Just go find shadow somewhere else. Go find shade
somewhere else, Jonah. Or get up and go back. You know, God's not going to destroy Nineveh.
There's nothing to see here, okay? But he's whining, okay? Please turn to Philippians
chapter 2. People that are critical of everything. Critical of everything.
Philippians chapter 2 verse number 14. Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 14.
Sorry for that phone sound. I got a new phone. You know, it doesn't have funny
sounds. I'm not sure how to use it just yet. But Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 14.
Philippians 2, 14 reads, do all things without murmurings and disputings.
Reverend, do all things without murmurings. Your boss says go and clean the toilet.
Don't murmur. Just go and do it. Don't complain. Oh, pastor, these chairs in the
church are just a bit uncomfortable. Oh, man, you got chairs. You know what's interesting about
one thing I've just learned in business, in church, just anything that you do.
You know, like, you make improvements. You get to from one place. Like, and if people are all in
the same place, they all kind of experience it. They go, oh, man, you know, we have these
plastic chairs past that, you know, if someone was too heavy, they crack and they break and
people fall. And then we get these better chairs and we're like, oh, man, these chairs are
so much better. But if someone walks into our church and see these chairs, they go,
what kind of, what gray chairs? You know, it's like, you know, is that all they could
do? But, you know, you don't appreciate where we came from. You know, when we started New Life
Baptist Church in Queensland, oh, man, it's so hot there. It takes a while to get used to the
summer and the humidity. But, you know, the first place that we met was a literal shed.
So not only was it hot, but, you know, I can't even preach with a jacket. I'd take my
tie off. You know, my shirts were wet. It looked like I'd just done baptisms because I'm just,
you know, just perspiring. And, you know, we went from that and we went into then a hall,
like a sports hall thing. Okay. So now we had air conditioning and we had proper chairs.
But the problem is, because it was like a rugby union thing, sometimes they would have
these rugby union gala days. And so there I'm preaching on Sunday, but then just out the
window you see like all these sporting events going on, right? And not only that, you see
girls playing football and they're in their short little things. It's just, it's not nice.
It's kind of immodest. And then at the back, because it's a place that served alcohol as well,
sometimes they had little, they could smell the alcohol. You know, not that, you know,
obviously we didn't have it in church, but back in the hall, there was a place where they
had some alcohol and they would serve alcohol for their football things, you know. And,
you know, if you went to the hall though, and then look, if you go from the shed,
where it's so hot and so uncomfortable, you can go to the hall and go, man, this is wonderful.
What an improvement. But if you just turn up to church and you're in the hall, you'd be like,
this place stinks like alcohol. And look how the girls are just immodest when they're playing
sports. And you murmur and you complain. Yeah, but you don't see where we came from.
And then you go from there and we've got our own building. It's a warehouse place. Yes,
it gets a bit dusty, but it's our own place. We don't have to look at immodestly dressed
people. We don't have to, you know, you know, smell alcohol, you know, but what is this,
like a warehouse? You know, we're meeting God's house in a warehouse. I had someone say that to
me. I'd love to go to your church, but you don't even meet in a church. That's what it's
like. What's the warehouse place? Don't you guys honor and respect God's place?
It's like, that's all we can afford. And we've gone from the hall, we've gone from the
shed. This is awesome. But people whine, complain and murmur, just not happy. It's the other
side. Critical about everything. Reverend, anger creates whiners. Jonah's whining.
We're going to say again, Philippians 2, 14, do all things without murmurings and disputings.
Why? That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God. Hey, are we children of God
or not? If we're sons of God, then we ought to do all things without murmurings,
without disputings. It says the sons of God without rebuke.
Look, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the
world. You want to shine as lights? You want to have a good Christian reputation?
Stop murmuring. Stop complaining. You got to work, bosses, clean the toilets, say yes, sir.
How clean do you want them? You know what? And you do that, you're going to shine like lights.
You're going to be different to this perverse and crooked world that we live in.
If you just stop murmuring, stop complaining, and start appreciating just everything that God
has given you. But anger removes all that. Anger just causes you to be, just everything's
bad. Oh, this, this, that. Oh, pastor, look, the paint's coming off the wall there.
It's like, well, did you come to this place before it was painted?
This carpet, you got half carpet and half like four boards? Yeah. Wish you came here
when it's just concrete and dusty and disgusting and filthy.
That's what God gives us one thing at a time.
Brethren, anger creates whiners. Let's go back to Jonah. Jonah chapter four,
please, verse number nine. Jonah to the four in verse number nine.
So I'm going to show you that. The reason Jonah is whining, or again,
wanting to die is because of the God. Because then God says in verse number nine,
and God said unto Jonah, doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?
That's what he's upset about. The fact that the shade got destroyed.
Again, and God asked the question once again, doest thou well to be angry?
Is this serving you well, Jonah? And look, before we keep reading the rest of the verse,
we would say, no, Jonah, this is not serving you well. You're not in a good place. You
got to get over this anger. You would think that, but how does Jonah respond? And he said,
I do well to be angry, even unto death. God says, are you sure, Jonah, this is doing you well?
Jonah goes, yeah, it is. It's doing me really well to be angry, God.
Point number five, Brethren, point number five is anger results in stubbornness.
Jonah's stubborn. Of course it's not doing you well, Jonah. You're just there in the middle
watching a city, hoping a city to be destroyed, wanting to die, being critical,
not finding pleasure, okay, in having great success in your preaching.
Jonah is stubborn. And Brethren, anger results in stubbornness. Okay. And look,
everybody knows when you read the book of Jonah, everyone knows that no, Jonah,
it's not doing you well. Jonah says, yes, it is doing me well. I want to be angry.
He's stubborn. He's stubborn. And Brethren, when you get angry,
again, it's the pride of man. Everyone knows you're foolish. You know that? Like you think,
I'm just showing my strength. Ah, you know, I'm just going to, I'm going to harden. I don't
care. I'm going to take a stand on this issue. I don't care what anybody else does.
Man, look how foolish he is. It's not doing him well. It's not doing her well.
It's tearing them apart. But they just stand their ground anyway,
because they just lose sight. Anger results in stubbornness. I won't get you to read,
to turn there, but 1 Samuel 15, 23 says, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. So, stubbornness is compared to idolatry.
You say, I'll never worship an idol. Okay, but do you get stubborn? You know what? That's what
stubbornness is being compared to. Idolatry, because you just don't have vision. You just
can't see clearly. You're so full of pride. I'm just going to be angry. I don't care.
They've done me wrong. You know, I deserve to be angry right now. Hey, you know what? The Bible
says, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. Okay, but yes, God, I'm going to hold
it till tomorrow. It does me well to be angry. I'm not going to get right with my spouse
tonight. You know, no. Okay, stubbornness, stubbornness. You know, many times in the
Bible, as you read for the Old Testament, the Bible says that Israel, the Jews were
stiff-necked people. That's another way of saying stubborn. Okay, stiff-necked. I don't care what
God says. We're stuck in our ways. We're going to do what we do. And brethren, when you're
confronted with God's word, you know what? When you come to church, if you make the effort
to come to church, you know, and listen to the preaching of God, and I've said this in your
life, I'll say this to you as well. Obviously, we can't apply the whole sermon.
You know, by next week, you're going to forget a lot of the sermon.
Okay, but what you want to do, every sermon you listen to, regardless of who's preaching,
you want to take one truth. What is one thing that I can take out of that sermon?
I can't do it all because I'm not a perfect person. What is just the one thing that I can
take to apply my life? Okay, that'll help you not to be stubborn. You'd say, I need to make
a change. You know, instead of thinking, I'm already right, I'm just, I've made it,
Pastor Kevin. It doesn't matter what gets preached. I've made it. I'm fine. I'm happy
where I'm at. No, don't be happy where you're at. Seek to improve. We're following the steps
of Jesus Christ. Are you Jesus Christ? Are you as good as Jesus? If you're not as good as
Jesus, brethren, then you still have areas to change and work on in your life. If you say,
no, I've got it. I've made it. Oh, pastor, I'm comfortable with my sins. You know,
I'm happy with what I've achieved here. And that's it. This is as far as I go.
You're being stubborn. We all need to make changes. You know, I prepare a sermon. I just,
I just always see myself in the sermon. You know, and it's not like preachers have to
get, sometimes preachers do this. They go, look, I'm preaching to you, but I'm really
preaching to me. Preachers are always preachers themselves. Okay, because this is why,
you know, you bring certain topics or certain ideas or thoughts because it's been on your mind.
Okay, it's affected you to some extent. And so you've learned something, you know, you've,
you realize there's an area in your life that you need to change. And then you want to tell
other people about it as well. Things that you've discovered. But anger results in stubbornness.
Someone that is stubborn cannot be reasoned with. Doesn't matter how much you show them.
Okay. They just, I'm going to stand my ground. Okay. They can't be reasoned with.
Jonah cannot be reasoned with. Okay. But everyone knows that Jonah is a fool.
And when you're stubborn, everyone else knows you're a fool.
You're trying to show yourself to be someone great. Oh, I'm standing by my convictions.
Everyone knows you're a fool. Okay. Foolish, stubborn, rebellious, stiff-necked.
Let's keep going there. Verse number 10. Alright, so I'm going to explain to you
this whole thing, this whole gourd, the shadow thing, the worm destroyant.
It all serves a purpose. It's there to serve as a story for Jonah.
So this is what God wants Jonah to learn about. Verse number 10.
Then said the Lord, thou hast had pity on the gourd. Alright, so Jonah had pity. In other
words, when he got destroyed, he was like, oh man, he got destroyed. He felt bad about it
because he gave him some comfort. Alright. Thou hast had pity on the gourd
for the which thou hast not laboured, neither mayest it grow, which came up in a night
and perished in a night. You feel sorry for this vine. You didn't even labour for it.
God allowed it to come up. God allowed it to be destroyed. Okay. And you feel sorry
for the vine, for the gourd. Okay. So then God takes this story, this lesson.
And look at verse number 11. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more
than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand
and also much cattle? It's always the same. Jonah, you care for the gourd and the vine,
but don't you know this city had six score? What's six score? Score's 20, 20 times six.
What is 120? 120,000 persons. You can't feel sorry for the 120,000 people that live in Nineveh.
You feel sorry for the gourd and you didn't even labour for the gourd, but you actually
laboured toward these people. You went and preached to them and they got things right
and you don't even feel sorry for them. You feel sorry for the gourd. Okay. So what
did we learn here? Point number six, brethren, is that anger makes you short-sighted. Anger
makes you short-sighted. You can't see the big picture. You can't see the work of God. You're
so focused on the minor little detail on the gourd. Oh, the gourds perish. What about all
the people in this world that are perishing? Anger makes you short-sighted. You know,
anger is going to stop you from being a soul winner. There are people perishing in Sydney
every day, not just perishing, but their souls are going to hell. You know what, brethren,
it's so important that we are used by God to preach the gospel, to see people being made
right with God. Anger makes you short-sighted. Oh, well Sydney can just perish and go to hell.
You know what? You take that attitude, you're not going to be a soul winner. You're not
going to get out there and preach the gospel to the lost. You also have pitiful people.
They die. Look, God says about these people, they cannot discern between their right hand and their
left hand. They've not had great preachers like Israel. You know, Ninevites, Gentile City,
they've not had great prophets coming through and teaching them great things. These people
don't even know the difference between right and wrong. But Jonah's come in, he's preached
about the Lord, they've been made right with God. You know what? Jonah should be more
concerned for people than he hears about the vine. Okay? You know, you're saved, brethren.
So sometimes life, you're going to have problems, you're going to have a gourd that
rises and perishes, and you're going to get upset about that. But brethren, you're saved.
Your soul is going to heaven. There are people dying today and going to hell today.
There are people burning to hell this very moment, crossing from life to death. And we
just worry about the little problems that we have, the little issues that come up in life.
Okay? Oh, my husband forgot the toilet seat, he left it up again.
Oh, the toilet paper's on, you know, I want it this way, it's that way, you know?
You know, just the tiny little things, you know, that we get upset about. And people are dying
and going to hell. Anger makes you short-sighted. Jonah was short-sighted, he's concerned
about this pumpkin. When there are 120,000 people that needed to hear the Word of God
to be made right with God. Okay, so let's go to one more passage in conclusion.
Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 5.
2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 5. Oh, pastor, my boss, he said something bad to me today.
I'm so upset with my boss. You know, you're going to heaven. Your boss is probably going
to hell if he dies tonight. We get upset about the tiny little things, I can't believe it.
2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 5. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 5.
Now, this is going to help you, okay, with your anger problems, if you have that. I don't
know if you do. This is going to help you. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 5.
And beside this, giving all diligence. So diligence, you know, you've got to put the
effort in. You've got to be diligent about this. You need to want this. Add to your faith.
So I know you already got faith. I know you're saved, praise God, you've added your faith to
the gospel, you've got that, but now you need to add to your faith. What do you need to add?
Add to your faith, virtue. And to virtue, knowledge. And to knowledge, temperance.
Temperance means control your emotions. Don't be quick to anger, basically, okay?
We say someone's lost their temper, don't we? When someone loses control, gets too angry.
Yeah, you need to add temperance. You need to learn how to control yourself.
And to temperance, patience. And to patience, godliness.
And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, charity.
You know what brotherly kindness looks like? When your brother does something wrong,
when your brother has faults and problems, you're still kind toward them.
You still love them. You still support them. You still encourage them.
Instead of kicking your brother down when he's, you know, kicking him while he's down.
No, we need to add these things to our faith, brethren, okay?
Why do we want to add this? Look at verse 8.
For if these things be in you and abound, okay, they make you that you shall neither be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at this. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off
and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
What's it saying? It says they're short-sighted.
You don't add these qualities, these attributes, these characteristics in your life.
Then you're going to be short-sighted, okay? You cannot see afar off.
That's Jonah. He's short-sighted. He's so angry, okay? He's so concerned with the good.
And he forgets that Nineveh just got saved. They've just been made right with God.
People, souls. This is what matters.
Brethren, houses are going to burn. Cities are going to burn.
One day everything's going to be destroyed on this earth.
The only thing that is going to survive eternity is a human soul.
Heaven or hell, okay? Anger makes you short-sighted.
You're just focused on the here and now. Me and my feelings, okay?
There are people dying and going to hell, okay?
But, brethren, you can see there are so many things that we need to work on.
You've got the faith. Praise God.
Have you got the virtue? Have you got the knowledge?
Have you got the temperance? Have you got the patience?
Have you got the Godness? Have you got the brotherly kindness?
Have you got the charity? And not only these things being you and abound.
Lots of these things. These things are going to help you
be able to see afar off. It's going to help you see the big picture, okay?
When someone doesn't greet you in church or whatever little thing happened,
you're not going to be bothered by the little things
because you're going to be thankful that there's a house of God,
there's a body of Christ that you can be part of
to serve the Lord and learn great things of his word.
So, brethren, anger makes you short-sighted.
Okay, so in summary, let me just conclude on those six things.
Also just concludes the Book of Jonah.
Number one, anger blinds you from pleasure.
Number two, anger can lead to suicidal thoughts.
Number three, anger can cause resentment against God's word.
Number four, anger creates whiners.
Number five, anger results in stubbornness.
And number six, anger makes you short-sighted.
Okay, let's pray.