Should you be angry according to 4:26?; or should you not be angry according to 4:31?
Is it My Ambition to Keep From grieving the Holy Spirit? part B
Ephesians 4:25-32 b
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to Ephesians 4:22-32. Ephesians 4:22-32. As you turn there, I want to remind you of the fact that the body of Christ is a beautiful creation. It was created in the image of God because it is created in the image of Christ. In other words, when each of us is born again, we are individually recreated into the image of Christ. To God, we are beautiful, but we really need to see the same picture that God sees. To God, we are living manifestations of His grace and love. As such, God desires that each of us reflect that same grace and love, that He has, in our daily Christian walk. This is the other part of the beautiful picture that God wants us to see. It is the texture, and color, that Paul, the master teacher (led by the Spirit of God) has precisely applied in painting on the canvas, for God's glory, in respect to His will for us. It is both the paint and canvas that Paul is painting in our context under study this morning. Paul is slowly and specifically bringing to light the details of the mystery worked out in our daily actions in chapter 4. Since the beginning of the epistle, Paul has blocked in, and outlined the fact that we have been made into the body. Each of us here, are individually the body, as the body, for the body, from the body, to the body. And so, as such, Paul applies the brush to bring out the vivid images for clarity. So we look at the beautiful picture so far, and we see some important doing things that God expects from us. We see that we are to be showing tolerance for one another in love, 4:2. God loves the colors of love and grace, so Paul uses a lot of this pigment to paint a truly balanced, and complete picture. We are that great creation called the body of Christ, and so God has gifted, and equipped us to be building up the body of Christ, 4:13. How do we do this? How do you do this? Looking at the painting so far, we notice that we do it in speaking the truth in 4:15, but we also notice something else. It is something that is so easy to see as the dominant color. What we see is that God has designed the body to be the body in helping the body mature by speaking the truth to one another, but we also see something filling our view. It is that huge element, where you and I are to be speaking the truth but we speak it in love 4:15. When it comes to the ways of God in Christ, love, mixed with grace, is definitely the dominant hue. Building-up is the opposite of tearing down. So, in the same color and texture used to paint the picture of what we are as the body, and that all of us here really are supposed to be united as a body, in love, Christ Himself is the image that Paul is working with, because Christ is our all in all in salvation, and Christ is our all in all in respect to what we are trying to mature into looking more like. So, we are to speak the truth to one another in love, knowing that Christ, the Head, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love 4:16. It's love, love, love, filling everything as how we manifest Christ's nature, and as Christ's great commandment for you and I to do in the New Covenant. The image is vibrant, bold, and beautiful. In stark contrast, we are not to walk in the ugly dark muddied mess of the futile Gentile mind, 4:17, We are to walk according to the light of Christ, in the way we have learned Christ, 4:20. We have been created in righteousness and truth, so we need to walk in righteousness and truth, 4:22. It is a beautiful picture so far, and Paul goes on putting more details on it in the flow of thought. Let us read now, where Paul says,
"... in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and do not sin; [the NASB has supplied the word "yet," by saying be angry yet do not sin, but yet is not there, and that is why other translations don't put it there. For accuracy and clarity, I am leaving "yet" out of the text too. So, Paul says be angry and do not sin] do not let the sun go down on the cause {"the cause" is another clarifier, which I will go into later in the sermon. The New English Translation puts "the cause" here, and for good reason. So, do not let the sun go down on the cause} of your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome [corrupt, rotten] word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:25-32
Amazing passage. It is an amazing picture of God's heart in respect to what He wants from us--His church. Please prepare your hearts for the sacred preaching of God's word, in this sermon titled,
"Is it My Ambition to Keep From grieving the Holy Spirit? part B"
[prayer]
This morning, our primary concern is one of the things that you and I need to do as part of our ambition to keep from grieving the Holy Spirit. Yes, we need to do things. God has designed us to do things. Knowing this, we consider our command to,
"26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity."
If you are like me, when reading this, you are immediately struck with the unusual language that Paul is using by telling us to do these things. If you read various commentaries, and footnotes on this passage, you will see that numerous interpretations are applied to it. The reason why there are so many interpretations is because the statement is so striking. Think about it. The language is indeed striking, isn't it?
"Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause your anger,"
If this doesn't strike you yet, then let me remind you of something else Paul says in the context of this very same sentence. Remember the words we just read that come only five verses after this one verse. In verse, 31, Paul says, that we are to put all anger away from us. And we don't just find it here. We also find it in the parallel epistle of Colossians. It is there that we also see that Paul says that anger is a sin of the sons of disobedience. He explains that now that you are saved, you need to lay aside anger. In Galatians, Paul explains outbursts of anger as being sinful deeds of the flesh. So, what is striking is that anger is often times described as sin. But here, in our text under study, Paul actually tells us to be angry. And further, Paul says to be angry, and then immediately says not to sin. At this point, we could ask whether Paul has suddenly lost his mind? But, we know that such is not the case. There is another question we can ask ourselves at this point. It is the right question to ask; and that is whether there is another reason for what Paul is saying here. This question leads us to the right answer. Part of the answer is found in the fact that there is a righteous anger recorded for us in the Scriptures. It is anger against sin. In fact, our righteous-God gets angry with sin, as we read all through the Old Testament. We read it in the New Testament too-- in Hebrews 3:10, when God was angry with the apostate Israelites who rejected the Messiah. We read it in Revelation 14:10 concerning God's anger in the New Covenant in respect to people worshipping the beast. God gets angry. Jesus was angry too. Jesus was angry with the Pharisees as He was about to heal a man's withered hand. They were watching Jesus to see if Jesus was going to heal someone on the Sabbath, cf. Mark 3:5. Because of this, Jesus was angry with them. So we see that God, the Father, gets angry, and we also see that God, the Son, gets angry. And so with that we see that there is a type of anger that does not grieve God, the Holy Spirit. We can not let these facts just pass us by. The reason is because this is our connection, as the body of Christ, to what Paul is saying. Paul has just explained that the church,
"... is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Ephesians 1:23
and so keeping these things in mind, we start to open the door to what Paul means. Look at our text. Right before Paul says to be angry, what does he say concerning speaking truth with your neighbor? He says to do it,
"... because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity." Ephesians 4-25-27
This is the context, and this is a major reason why this makes sense. We, as the body of Christ, who are growing into the full stature of His image, are to be about unity in the bond of love, and the way you do that is by not being angry according to carnal reactions of the flesh, but, rather we are to be angry in another way, and in another respect. We are to be angry in Holy Spirit led, righteous indignation. What does this mean? It means to be angry at sin in all the manifestations of the futile Gentile mind (verse 17)--all those worldly things that seek to taint us personally, and it means we are to be angry at sin in all the manifestations of the futile Gentile mind that seek to taint the rest of the members of the body. Further, in a somewhat related way of thinking, when we recognize that there are things that grieve the Holy Spirit, there is a sense of rightness, and goodness, when we grieve over those things too. It is the righteous grief and anger of the body of Christ connection to our Holy Spirit Who seals us. So, Paul says,
"26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger,"
Now, for us to really understand this well, it is important to recognize that Paul is quoting David from an Old Testament Psalm. Actually, we need to know that Paul quotes the Old Testament prophets in just about every chapter of every epistle that he writes. Most people don't know this. In fact, some people, who are opposed to the clear fact that the Old Testament informs our understanding of the New, don't really care much about this fact. But it is true.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, ..." 2 Timothy 3:16,
which means both Old Testament scripture, and New Testament Scripture. And God has given us the people-gifts of apostles and prophets to give us the revelations, and to explain those same revelations to us through the written word of God. Our task is to go to our New Covenant apostles, who are our teachers inspired by God to write New Covenant scripture, and then have them give us the revelations of how to understand the Scripture's applications to our lives. Further, it is my task as a Pastor who is a teacher, to relate these things to you for your knowledge and edification. So, to make his point here, Paul, who is called the apostle of the mystery to the Gentiles, quotes David in Psalm 4:4. That's what Paul is doing. He is quoting David in Psalm 4:4. Looking at that Psalm now, starting in Psalm 4:2, let's read the text for more details,
"2 O you sons of men, how long will you be slow to hear? Why do you love futility, and seek falsehood? Selah.
[OK, notice this right here. David is talking to his sinful enemies, and notice that they love futility and falsehood. David is urging them to consider their sin by turning from their slowness to hear what he has to say. Next David says,]
3 But know that the Lord has done wondrous things for His holy one: the Lord will hear me when I cry to Him.
[In other words, the sinners need to recognize the wonderful things that God has done for David, who is God's anointed. They also need to recognize that Jehovah listens to David. This is reason to repent of their old ways. Then David says what we will quickly recognize from Paul's instruction,]
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
[David is wanting them to be angry at their own selves, and their sins, and in that anger at their sinfulness, repentance should come. What David says next pushes his point, where he says]
be vexed upon your beds for what you say in your hearts. Selah.
[He wants them to be so convicted that while they are laying in their beds, they need to be vexed, bothered, disturbed, and agitated for all the sinful things that they say in their hearts toward David their king. Next, David continues with urgings toward what to do in their repentance, saying,]
5 Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and trust in the Lord. 6 Many say, 'Who will show us good things?' The light of Your countenance, O Lord, has been manifested towards us.
[In other words, they have now been touched by the light of God. They have been convicted of their sin. God has shone on them. David is glad about this, and so he says to God,]
7 You have put gladness into my heart: they have been satisfied with the fruit of their grain and wine and oil. 8 I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, have caused me to dwell securely." Psalm 4:2-7 LXX
[David is rejoicing in their repentance, and their recognition that God has blessed them, and David attributes it to God's sovereignty]
So, what we see is that the context of what David was originally singing about is concerning sinful people who love futility, and seek falsehood. Remember, these are the things that Paul is talking to the body of Christ about in respect to the Old man that needs to be thrown off back in the Ephesians context. Paul is talking about hating futility and falsehood by repenting from them. Notice the parallel again, where Paul is urging
"17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, [It's David's language] ... 22 ... in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, [More of David's language] 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore laying aside falsehood, [There is another word in Psalm 4:2] speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger." Ephesians 4:17-26
Whereas David was speaking to his sinful enemies, Paul is speaking to the body of Christ. You see it is the connection that the Holy Spirit is making to us in the body of Christ to throw off the dirty clothes of the old man which was once unsaved. We are to throw off all these things that grieve the Holy Spirit. So, David in the Old Testament originally told those people who were grieving the Holy Spirit, to be angry, and do not sin, and what he means is that they are to be angry with the sins that they are all practicing, or others are practicing in their midst, and because they are angry with the sins, then they are to repent of them, or confront those who are not repenting from them. In other words,
A) get angry with sin,
and then
B) don't sin.
In doing both, you take away the devil's opportunity for sowing seeds of ungodliness. In fact, while they are all in bed, directly before going to sleep, David says they need to be vexed with their sin. You see folks, Paul means the same thing, but he's applying it to the whole body of Christ, which is the one new man of Ephesians 2:15., where when one hurts, we all hurt, cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26. Paul is saying that we, as the body, are to be angry with sin, both in ourselves and in other members of the body that are in our midst. This sense is so strong that Dr. Wallace, (the Greek scholar and editor of the New English Translation), puts in a footnote in the NET, saying,
"When other believers sin, such people should be gently and quickly confronted ... this text seems to be a shorthand expression of church discipline, suggesting there is a biblical warrant for righteous indignation."
OK, the question is, what does this mean for us?; How do we properly apply this to ourselves? Looking at Paul's wording,
"26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger,"
We see that:
First of all there is a proper anger.
Secondly, there is a proper time to be angry at sin in our midst.
Thirdly, there is a proper duration of time to be angry at sin in our midst.
In respect to there being a proper anger, we recognize that it has to do with sin in our midst, either in ourselves, or in the body. This is the motivation for proper anger. The base of our anger is God's word, and Holy Spirit conviction. In other words, to be properly angry, our anger must be based upon God's revelation, and as the great Reformed Baptist theologian, John Piper, states so well, it should be mingled with grief. When we look at God's revelation of that one recorded time that Christ is described as being "angry"--which I mentioned earlier from Mark 3:5, we see that Jesus was in the Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath day. There, in Himself, He demonstrates godly righteous anger accompanied by grief. Let me tell you what happened: Jesus was there, and He was about to heal a man's withered hand, and He recognized that the Pharisees were there simply to watch Him to see if He was going to heal someone on the Sabbath day, as if that was a bad thing to do. We read of Messiah's immediate reaction to their sinful hardness of heart,
"5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart ..." Mark 3:5
Notice the reaction. It was righteous anger, and it was accompanied with grief. OK, you and I know that spiritual maturity means that Jesus is the full stature of the mature man that we look to as our role model according to 4:13. And so we see that anger accompanied by grief is the divine attribute of Christ. I think of so many situations where this has been applicable in my own life. Years ago, I was called on the phone with an urgent prayer request. Apparently a leader in a church who was previously thought to be pro-life, had a situation occur in his family that either changed his position in a stark case of situational-ethics-sin, or it revealed what he truly believed all along. What I was told to pray for was that his daughter would not go through with an abortion. Apparently, his daughter, who was a young teenager, had fornicated, and had become pregnant as a result. Unwilling to deal with the public humiliation, the so called church leader advised the daughter to kill the baby. The daughter did not want to have the baby murdered. The daughter, in tears, told someone in the congregation, and now the word was out, and thus the phone call for me to pray. My first reaction was righteous anger, and then it was accompanied by grief. I was angry with how one sin after another was compounding and destroying the image of Christ within that aspect of His body, and I grieved at the hardness of the church leader's heart. But, I do not always react that way. Sometimes I react with anger that is not righteous. Sometimes I react with anger that is not with grief. It is so easy to do. This is why James warns us, saying,
"... everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; [why is that? Well he goes on;] 20 because the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20
God wants us to be slow to anger, so that we can analyze why we are angry, and check it with scripture. It's just like anything we do. Even our romantic, or sexual inclinations. We must check them with scripture, because in so doing, we know that there is a wrong place for romance and sexual manifestations, and according to scripture, we also know that there is a right place for such things. Likewise, when we are slow to anger, and slow to speak, we can correct any wrong motivations and reactions that we may be having. We can identify the anger as being either the anger of God, or the anger of man. Notice that James makes the clear distinction. He says the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Of course, the anger of God is righteous, and so Godly anger always achieves God's righteousness. The anger of man is the anger that God wants us to put away. It is the sinful rage, and hard headed anger of the world. It is anger with people about things that have to do with personal offenses, rather than being angry with people who are offending the body of Christ with their sinfulness. In godly anger, we gently correct those who contradict God's truth, in love, 2 Timothy 2:25. In anger according to man, we selfishly react according to domination, defensiveness, and self protective disrespect for the other person. OK, this leads me now to bring up grief again. Since the various sins that Paul is talking about grieve the Holy Spirit, and Christ gives us an example of how he was angry mixed with grief, Then we recognize that God, in Himself, has a good standard for us to seek to achieve. We also notice one way to recognize righteous, Christlike anger. Anger that is by the Spirit, according to God's word, is made evident as being righteous anger when we grieve concerning what we are angry with--along with the anger itself. It is not the only way, but it is a good addition for checking ourselves to know that we have Christlike righteous anger with sin. In other words, when you are angry with someone's sinful actions in your midst, ask yourself if you are also grieving for the individuals who are in the sin. It could be yourself you are angry with. You get angry at your sin, and you grieve over it--you grieve concerning yourself. This is godly conviction. Paul said,
"8 ... even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it--though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, ..." 2 Corinthians 7:7-9
But, in Paul's context here in Ephesians, it is also the combined body of the one new man that is being spoken of. It is the of body of Christ, which in this fellowship directed teaching, is your church community that God has sovereignly made you a part of. I want us to do something that will demonstrate an important principle about ourselves. Ask yourself if you are angry at a particular brother or sister in Christ right now about something you think they are doing wrong. Think about it. Who are you angry about who has sinned. Now, ask yourself if you grieve for them. If not, then ask yourself why. You very well could be acting like a hypocrite. Are you manifesting a pharisaic self righteous anger that is absent of the love of Christ? Instead of righteous anger, are you condemning others by not seeking to build them up, and by not seeking the unity of the body, in the body, for the body? Are you acting like a self righteous judge who has forgotten that you are saved by the same grace for your mistakes as the person you are angry over? These are seriously important questions folks. Remember what is at stake here. Is it your ambition to keep from grieving the Holy Spirit? Always recognize that the anger that Paul is talking about here in our passage, is ministry. It is not meant to be anything else but to serve the purpose of God in building up the body of Christ. Okay, that is the first thing: there is a proper anger; it is godly anger that feels the sorrow over sin and its consequences in people's lives.
The second thing is that there is a proper time to be angry at sin in our midst. The proper time to be angry at sin is immediately. In other words, don't put up with sin like it is okay. Be angry with sin right when it raises its ugly head and you are confronted with it. This cuts off the devil's opportunity quickly. I think in our day of conditioned tolerance, this has become a particular problem. What I mean is that because sin is so rampant, there are many instances in the body where the sin is almost kind of ignored. Paul lists sexual sins in his context. Sexual sins are things like adultery, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage; trying to stimulate someone to erotic desire who is not your spouse. They are all sexual sins, and they all have tainted the body, and can taint the body of Christ. Paul speaks of lying. Any kind of deceit is lying. He speaks of not stealing. Ripping people off (even as Christians), is something that can happen in so many ways. It can happen in sales. It can happen in keeping back information from people. Bending the truth is lying. Paul speaks of corrupt speech here. Christians say things that are not things that should be said. Paul speaks of bitterness and wrath, carnal anger, clamor, slandering people, and malice toward people. Most of these sins can be identified in the church by the members of the body as being sins that other members of the body are doing with seemingly no conviction to repent at all. Brothers and sisters, we need to be so aware of the fact that in our culture today, the devil has taken the opportunity to taint everything with his bloody fingerprints. Sometimes, even though these kinds of sins are seen, instead of being immediately angry, people turn their heads the other way. They allow it. They are not immediately angry with the anger of God. They are not immediately grieving along with the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit grieves over these things. And so consequently, the body is wounded and it is collapsing. The body is hurting, rather than experiencing the stages of healing for edification that would occur if the sins were confronted. Before we will do anything about sin, we must recognize how bad sin is. Before we will be angry about sin, and grieve about sin, we must recognize sin as the emergency that it is in assaulting the body of Christ in our midst. So, this is why there is such an urgency to being angry at sin immediately. If we act casual with sin, then sin will merely be a casual act with us. Let me say that again;
If we act casual with sin, then sin will merely be a casual act with us.
If we have a delayed reaction of righteous anger with sin, then those who are affected by it will give into allowing it to stick around and spread its cancer. I think this is why divorce among Christians in our society has passed the national average of non Christians, and the national average is that over half of people who get married will end up divorcing. In our country, the devil has taken the opportunity to destroy God's great institution, by using God's people to do it, and so now, over half of married Christians get divorced. Among the general population of the church today, immediate anger over this horrible practice has waned to almost a kind of passive acceptance as the modern way to do things. Many Christians will even now say that if divorce makes those who want divorce, happier then they should probably get divorced. How dare the church say such things. It is the lie of the futility of the Gentile mind; it is sin, and it grieves the Holy Spirit. I know of Pastors who have advised people to get divorced, because they have said the couple was incompatible. It used to be that a pastor did everything to keep a marriage together. Now, they are counseling people to get divorced. It's sick, and there needs to be swift anger at such things--and it needs to be mixed with deep, deep grief. People having sex before marriage is the same way. When we hear of a brother and sister in Christ who are having sex outside of marriage, we need to immediately be angry with righteous anger. We need to be angry, and we need to immediately grieve. If we do not, then we are acting like God is not angry with it, and we are acting like the Holy Spirit is not grieving. Make no mistake about it folks, if we are not doing it, then we are living a lie by living in our lazy, casual attitudes toward sin. So, we see that there is a time to be angry, and God says it is now.
Thirdly, there is a proper duration to the time to be angry and grieve at sin in our midst. Paul says,
"26 Be angry, and do not sin;
[and then Paul gives a duration]
do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger,"
This duration part is about actually doing something with the godly anger concerning the sin that is making you angry so that it comes to completion. This word that Paul is talking about which is translated in most versions as "angry" is pararogismo. This word is used in virtually all Greek writings as referring to the source of anger, rather than the results. In other words, it refers to some other external cause that provokes the anger, rather than an internal reaction that is anger itself. So, according to this fact, the statement is very accurately rendered as the New English Translation does, as the cause of your anger. When Paul says to not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger, which is righteous anger at the sin, Paul is talking about a time frame where you do something about the cause of the sin so that the anger, and grieving, and ministry process comes, and then finally comes to completion. In other words, do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger is an idiomatic phrase for "do something about it as soon as humanly possible so that it is taken care of." If you were living in Alaska, like I did when I was younger, you would not look at this verse, and then at the fact that there are days when the sun does not go down, and think, I can be angry for days, and no big deal. This is not the kind of thing Paul means at all. In much the same way that David's enemies needed to be angry at their own sin, and be vexed in their beds before sleeping, so that they will take care of their sin problem, Paul is saying for you and me to get with it too, and take care of the sin problem as soon as possible. How many of you have tried to sleep while being vexed? The point is that you can't. So, the sense of duration, is that you need to do all you can to take care of it before the day is over, and before you go to bed. The expression is a phrase of a matter of urgency. To recognize this, we need to understand that when we are faced with sin issues such as those listed by Paul, and others recorded in the New Covenant scriptures, then we need to do something about it. If you let it go, then what happens? What happens is that it may never get dealt with, and the devil has been given a vast opportunity to reek more havoc to Christians. In fact, the longer you wait, the easier it is to quit being angry at the sin. Your grieving starts to dissipate. Your heart becomes tolerant of sin, and you end up being someone who grieves the Holy Spirit yourself. On the other hand, we need to take care of the sin while God is exposing it, moving us, and convicting us about it, and we need to quickly be about the task of bringing it to completion. Jesus says,
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault," in Matthew 18:15
The sense is that you go and get it done. You don't wait around and put it on the shelf. Go to the source and deal with it before the sun goes down. 1 Corinthians 5 gives us an amazing illustration of both the seriousness, and the ease of putting this off. The Corinthians situation is that Paul has gotten information that sin exists among the members of the body of Christ who are gathering in Corinth. They did not get angry. They did not grieve. And they did not take care of the situation. Listen to how Paul rebukes them swiftly by saying,
"1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. 2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst." 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
Notice all the difference in what should have been done.
They were arrogant instead of angry.
They have not mourned, when they should have grieved.
And finally, they never let the sun go down on the cause of their anger because their anger never existed in the first place.
This is what grieves the Holy Spirit, because they have let the light go out on all that should have been proper in the way they were supposed to have responded to this situation in the first place. Now listen to how Paul decides to handle the situation.
"3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present."
OK, this is our model for action. In other words, Paul has discerned the situation. He has righteous, godly anger, and has made a judgment to act against the sin. Next Paul says,
"4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Corinthians 5:4-5
In other words, Paul is taking care of the situation as quickly as is humanly possible. He is not letting the sun go down on the cause of his anger. In fact, Paul is doing it faster than the time it would take him to get there himself. Paul sends this letter by courier, and through it, is going to have them deal with the cause of Paul's righteous anger and Holy grieving the next time they all assemble together. Paul is taking care of the situation because Paul knows that what he is dealing with is sin in the body of Christ. To grow in maturity to the fullness of the stature of Christ, they need to throw off the old man of the ways of thinking of the lost world, and they need to do it now. Paul goes on expressing godly anger, and at the same time teaching godly anger, saying,
"6 Your boasting is not good Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
[In other words, "do you not know that when you give the devil an opportunity, he takes it--and he takes it to the fullest. Paul goes on,]
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump [of dough], just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any one named as a brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves." 1 Corinthians 5
What we have just read is how Paul in godly anger, teaches us to act in godly anger. Whereas Paul says to take care of the cause in Ephesians by not letting the sun go down on the cause of anger, He reminds the church of Corinthians of their duty to judge those within the church, and then what does Paul do? He says to eliminate the cause. He says to do it now. He says to remove the wicked man from among yourselves. Folks, I strongly urge you to take heed to Paul's command here as you ask yourself,
"Is it My Ambition to Keep From grieving the Holy Spirit?"
Be angry at sin, no matter how small others make the sin out to be. Grieve over sin. If you are no longer grieving over sin, then pray that God will give you the same sense of grief that the Holy Spirit has with sin. Pray that God will rekindle that fire, in you, of hatred toward sin--that hatred that has become a little spark (that is barely burning) because of the sopping wet tolerance for sin that is drowning God's children in our wicked age. In your grief concerning the horribleness of sin, make every effort to repent from sinning. When unrepented sin is found in others in your midst, be angry at that sin too. And finally, go to the source. If your brother sins against you, as we read in Matthew 18, go to him. If he does not repent, then go to your elders, and have them go to the person. Make it your ambition to keep from grieving the Holy Spirit, and do not be known as a someone who lets the sun go down on the cause of their anger.
