The Danger of a Moralistic Moses: When Anger Management Replaces the Gospel

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:08:12] Christ's sake. Putting others around. Also, newer Watermark people, welcome. And if you're looking to dive deeper into Watermark and see what Watermark is truly about and what we stand for, our ministry, and who we are, please come to this luncheon. It's a great class. It will be Sunday, March 22nd. Food and childcare is provided. Now let me get off of this stage and let's get back to worship.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:09:22] When brokenness and pain is all I know Won't be shaken, won't be shaken

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:09:34] And a chance, and a chance Who has never failed us

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:18:33] And we know that you never will For even though the seasons change Your character doesn't And the more and more we learn about you We just see how much better it gets With you, there is a reason for living
[00:18:53] A reason to worship a reason to be encouraged, a hope.
[00:18:59] God, we are so thankful for every sacrifice, for every gift.
[00:19:04] We thank you even for our voices to lift up praise and our hands that you've given us to work but to also praise you.
[00:19:15] Thank you, God, for carrying us each in the palm of your hand so that we don't have to worry about tomorrow.
[00:19:22] For if you care for the birds, how much more do you care for us?
[00:19:26] Father God, you are good, and we thank you for this morning.
[00:19:31] We thank you for the ability to gather together here.
[00:19:34] And today, in the name, we praise you and we thank you.
[00:19:37] Amen.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:20:02] Well, good morning.
[00:20:04] Wow, it's great to see you here this morning.
[00:20:07] I'm so glad you're here.
[00:20:09] We've got light.
[00:20:10] Well, I don't know if you noticed, I missed last week.
[00:20:13] I appreciate Dan standing in.
[00:20:15] He's incredible, and I appreciate his friendship and his willingness to do that.
[00:20:19] But, wow, we had an amazing trip in the Dominican Republic last week.
[00:20:24] Your Watermark Mission team did an outstanding job.
[00:20:28] You should be very proud of all the people who went.
[00:20:31] It was, yeah, it was incredible.
[00:20:33] It was wonderful.
[00:20:34] And we appreciate your support, your encouragement in every way, your prayers, because it was awesome.
[00:20:40] We did everything we set out to do.
[00:20:42] It was one of the best trips ever.
[00:20:44] Great rhythm down there in terms of pacing.
[00:20:47] And we did good ministry.
[00:20:48] Last Sunday morning, we were in a couple of, well, we were in the Mountain Church in the morning.
[00:20:53] Later that evening at Light and Grace Throughout the week we did workshops And Bible studies with the small children And the teenagers And we did that project, right?
[00:21:02] The chicken coop, the chicken house We were able to get that done We've got some video You can take a look at it behind me And see a little This is our team And then we'll show you a little
[00:21:11] This video can just run As I'm talking about it a little bit Do you have it?
[00:21:16] If you hit go, I think it's on there Is there anything there?
[00:21:19] Is it running?
[00:21:20] Okay, perfect I was looking at this one all right so you can see a little bit so we built this thing which was amazing one of our team members had the plan in his head and so we went to the lumber
[00:21:33] yard bought the materials came back and then constructed that thing and he had to direct every step of the way and he did an amazing job we got the kids involved to some of the teenage boys so they had some hands-on and then we
[00:21:45] finished on time and on budget and then the last day on Thursday afternoon we put those chickens in. We put 14 chickens in a rooster. And yesterday morning, 36 hours after they were in there, we had our first egg. So that was exciting. And our hope is that that little
[00:22:02] chicken house will provide eggs for that center every day. Because those kids eat a lot of rice and mixed with eggs. So they get, you know, some carbs and protein in that. So it's really cool.
[00:22:13] And it's a sustainable project. I love things like that. Errol and Agraima Zimmerman, our missionaries on the ground. Loved it. They're thrilled about it. And so we're looking forward to another project coming up this summer. But the big plan for that trip, if you're interested, it'll be July 18th
[00:22:31] and following. So if you want to go, you can reach out to Lori about that. Lori at My Watermark. You can see her out here. My wife, she's putting that trip together. That one will be VBS, Vacation
[00:22:41] Bible School focused. So if you're into kids and ministry to children, that will be a good one for you. And it'll be busy and it will be hot. So you got to be ready for that. I'll say the weather
[00:22:54] this week was spectacular. It will be hot in the summer. I can promise you that. But it'll be a good trip. If you want to go, see Lori about that. So today we're continuing a series that we started
[00:23:05] a number of weeks ago. It's called Moses. We've been studying the life of Moses throughout this series. We're in part 17 now. It's a 20-part series. Some of you are wondering, when's this going to be over, right? It won't be much longer, but it's been an awesome series. So today, as we
[00:23:21] continue to navigate life's challenges and follow God's will, we're going to take a look at this little thing called anger. Did you know that Moses had an anger management problem? Did you? Yeah, he did. He sure did. He struggled with anger. Does anger ever get the best of you? It's kind of an
[00:23:42] oxymoron to ask that question because it never gets the best of us, but it often brings out the worst in us, right? The truth is anger can cause us to do and say things that we seriously regret.
[00:23:53] Has that ever happened to you? Yeah? Maybe? I think it's happened to all of us. So what causes your temper to flare, your blood to boil, your anger to peak? You know, some say that anger comes
[00:24:07] down to about three main culprits. Fear, pain, and frustration. The last one we can relate to, right? Frustration sounds about right. When do you find yourself most frustrated? Some people would say when I get behind the wheel of a car, right? You know, just other people. They drive
[00:24:27] crazy and it drives us nuts, right? You ever gotten angry at another driver? You know, be honest about that. So the Bible has a lot to teach us about anger, and the truth is anger itself, it's
[00:24:39] not a sin. It's what we do with that anger that's a sin, and many of you know that. In fact, in Ephesians 5, 26 and following, we're told, in your anger, do not sin. Don't let the sun go down while
[00:24:53] you're still angry. Don't give the devil a foothold. Anger will be an opportunity for the devil to do his thing. You see, anger in and of itself is not a sin. Anger is a sign, a sign that something
[00:25:07] in right, it's like an engine warning light on a car, something not right under the hood. It needs to be addressed. Maybe it's fear, maybe it's pain, maybe it's frustration. Here's the truth. It's okay to be angry, but it's never okay to sin in your anger. That's what gets us in trouble.
[00:25:27] So there's a type of anger that the Bible approves of.
[00:25:30] It's often called righteous indignation.
[00:25:33] Now even God experiences righteous indignation.
[00:25:38] There are two Greek words in the New Testament that are translated as anger.
[00:25:43] One means passion and energy.
[00:25:45] The other means agitated and boiling.
[00:25:49] Anger is God-given and it's intended to help us to solve problems.
[00:25:54] But the problem with anger is when it is not righteous, when it results in sinful behavior.
[00:26:02] So Moses, again, whose life we've been studying for the last several weeks, actually had a problem with expressing anger in an unhealthy, in a sinful way.
[00:26:14] The truth is, some of you struggle with anger too.
[00:26:18] You have a short fuse and it's gotten you in some hot water in life, and maybe more than once.
[00:26:23] Some of you have let your anger bring out the worst in you.
[00:26:26] It's caused some serious conflicts and meaningful relationships at home and at work.
[00:26:33] Some of you have some regrets that have resulted from a lack of self-control related to anger.
[00:26:40] Others of you, you're ashamed of the things that you've done, the things that you've said in anger.
[00:26:45] Many of you, you could use some help, some guidance, some biblical insight today about how to get control of your anger instead of letting it control you.
[00:26:56] Maybe you have a friend or family member who needs some help with that too.
[00:26:59] Look, no matter where you are in life's journey, no matter where you are in your faith journey, I don't think you're here today by accident.
[00:27:06] I think the Lord has led you here on purpose and for a purpose.
[00:27:10] I think He has you here in this place today to learn how to control your anger before it takes control of you.
[00:27:17] But before we dig into His Word, let's pray.
[00:27:21] Our Father, we're so grateful for this chance to be in your house, to be able to worship you.
[00:27:26] God, to be able to give you the glory, the honor, the worship that you are due.
[00:27:34] And so, Father, now as we open your word to continue our worship, we pray, God, that you would speak to our hearts, that you would teach us something fresh and new about anger today.
[00:27:45] God, we know that anger can, when out of control, cause lots of problems in our lives.
[00:27:50] So we pray, Lord, that you will inspire us today, challenge us today, convict us today in any way that you would.
[00:27:57] Have our ears, our hearts, our minds open to receive your word to us today.
[00:28:02] We pray it in Jesus' holy and precious name. Amen.
[00:28:06] So in my study last week, I learned that psychologists define anger along five steps with increasing intensity at each step.
[00:28:16] And if you want to take some notes, maybe this is a chance for you to start doing that.
[00:28:20] The first step in anger is kind of mild irritation.
[00:28:23] This is an uneasiness that's kind of brought on by some unpleasant disturbance or experience.
[00:28:29] Examples might include the irritation you feel when you get behind the wheel of a car and drive down 77 some days, right?
[00:28:37] And you hit that traffic, you know what I'm talking about.
[00:28:39] Maybe it's what you experience in a restaurant from a parent who's not taking control of their child nearby and it kind of causes some irritation.
[00:28:49] We've all experienced that.
[00:28:51] Step two in anger is indignation.
[00:28:54] This is a reaction to something that seems kind of unfair, seems unreasonable.
[00:28:59] It may be how you feel toward a referee who made a call that you didn't like in a game for your team, right?
[00:29:07] And especially if it cost your team the game, you might say it was righteous indignation.
[00:29:13] But that's where grace and mercy show up.
[00:29:15] step 3 in anger is wrath I'm told this form of anger is it's never constrained it's always expressed and when your anger reaches this level there's a strong desire to avenge to fight back to strike out it's never controlled and
[00:29:31] it's always ugly step 4 in anger is fury this form of anger always expresses violence and its result is a loss of control even sanity for a moment fury will cause someone to strike out against another. Sadly, this is often experienced
[00:29:50] in the home in the form of domestic violence, something we learned about recently in a workshop here at Watermark. Step five is rage. I'm told this one is the most intense, the most dangerous expression of anger. This one inspires
[00:30:06] brutal violence with little or no conscious awareness. It's almost to the point of a person blacking out for a moment. Now, most of us would admit that we've experienced anger at least at step one. Some of us would be honest enough to say we've done it at step two
[00:30:22] also, and I'm ashamed to admit that there was at least one or two times when my youngest son was playing basketball that a couple of referees got an earful from me, right? And I might argue that
[00:30:34] it was righteous indignation, but I'm sure the referee didn't see it that way. That's for sure.
[00:30:41] And I'd like to have some of that back, some of what I said. But you know, all of us have been there at some point with anger, though hopefully never approaching wrath or fury or even rage.
[00:30:54] But Moses actually did. And the truth is, and I encourage you to write this down, if Moses struggled to manage his anger, then we have that same vulnerability without the self-control that's yielded by the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need his help. Here's the truth. If you struggle with
[00:31:15] anger, and some of you do in a big way, the Lord wants to help you with that. Maybe you're ashamed about it. Maybe you're guilty about it. Maybe you're even in denial about it, and you just
[00:31:28] don't know what to do about it. I want to be clear. Jesus can help you with that. There's hope, but you got to take advantage of the help that he offers you. If not, then you will continue to
[00:31:40] struggle with it in the same way that Moses did. And there will always be consequences for mishandled, mismanaged, wrongly expressed anger, as we'll see in Moses' life. And it was pretty tragic in the end. You'll see that today. You know, my hope is, as we recount Moses' lifelong
[00:31:58] struggle with anger, that it will serve as a reminder of the dangers of uncontrolled anger, and it'll motivate all of us to allow the Holy Spirit to help us to get control of our anger
[00:32:10] before it gets control of us. So I'm going to outline for you four, I think, dangerous, devastating, notorious acts of anger in Moses' life. You might write these down, and this will be a review for some of you, especially if you missed the early parts of this series. The first
[00:32:29] act of anger that Moses had was pretty bad. It was Moses' murderous anger, and we see it in Exodus 2 verses 10 and following. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became
[00:32:43] her son. She named him Moses saying, I drew him out of the water. One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and he watched them at their hard labor. He saw an
[00:32:55] Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that, seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and he hit him in the sand. Now as we learned earlier in this series, Moses had been
[00:33:08] raised as an Egyptian, but he still was very much aware of his Hebrew heritage. He had spent enough time with his birth mother to have been taught some lifelong lessons about his people, about his
[00:33:20] faith. So when he saw this Hebrew slave who was being mistreated by the Egyptian, he was indignant, which in and of itself is not a bad thing. This was righteous indignation, right? The problem was
[00:33:33] where he went with that indignation. You see, fury began to boil up in Moses. And verse 12 tells us that Moses looked around to see if anybody was looking. He looked this way and that. And then
[00:33:46] in rage, he murdered that Egyptian. And then he tried to hide his body in a shallow, hastily dug grave in the sand. In fact, the book of Acts reminds us that anger is not just wrongly
[00:34:00] expressed by those who are foolish or ignorant or uneducated because look at this in verse 22 of Acts chapter 7 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians he was powerful in speech
[00:34:14] and action so you could easily argue he should have known better right but even the brightest folks in the world are susceptible to the sins of uncontrolled anger controlling anger requires much more than a than a good education. In the verses that follow in Acts we read the same story
[00:34:34] of Moses' murderous anger. Take a look at verses 23 and 24. When Moses was 40 years old he decided to visit his own people the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian so he went
[00:34:47] to his defense and note this he avenged him by killing the Egyptians. So according to that account in Acts, in a word, why did Moses murder that Egyptian? What was his motive? You see it?
[00:35:04] It was vengeance, right? He avenged him by killing the Egyptian. He took matters into his own hands.
[00:35:10] And shortly after that, you know, Moses ran away to Midian where he would spend the next 40 years cooling off. Moses learned some valuable lessons pushing those sheep around Midian as a shepherd, but he never learned how to control his anger take a look at this second act of anger in moses life
[00:35:31] i call it moses furious anger you remember the plagues during the period of the plagues when moses continued to demand the release of the israelite people from pharaoh it was between the ninth and tenth plagues that moses lost it in fact in his defense i'm sure his patience was
[00:35:52] razor thin, but in his final visit to Pharaoh to communicate exactly what was to come, that is the death of Egypt's firstborn children, Moses' anger burned white hot against their Pharaoh. Take a look at verse 8 in Exodus 11. Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh. So the word used to describe
[00:36:17] Moses' anger in the Hebrew language, the Old Testament, is very descriptive. It is furious.
[00:36:24] Moses was furious with Pharaoh. Some of you may say, well, I would have been too, right? I mean, I think Moses was really angry that Pharaoh would cause this to happen to his people, that he would be so foolish, so stubborn, so obtuse. No, I get it. The problem here is that
[00:36:44] The Lord had already told Moses that this was going to be Pharaoh's response.
[00:36:49] Look at verse 9.
[00:36:50] The Lord had said to Moses, Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you.
[00:36:56] So Moses should have been a little better prepared, a little more prepared to manage his anger here.
[00:37:03] Yet Moses lost it.
[00:37:05] He wasn't content to deliver God's message.
[00:37:08] He injected his own furious expression.
[00:37:12] This won't be the last time.
[00:37:13] I don't want to excuse this because, you know, we're talking about a pattern of behavior for Moses here, but I understand why Moses got angry, don't you? I mean, I get it. The problem here is
[00:37:24] that Moses struggled to control his anger. And this is another example of his unwillingness or his inability to control it. So there's a third act of anger for Moses. I call it Moses' destructive anger so months later Moses anger you know brings out the worst in him again so while the Israelites
[00:37:47] were camped at the base of Mount Sinai Moses went up for a long meeting with God to receive the tablets of the law and he was gone for for weeks so the people became impatient and they foolishly
[00:37:59] decided to craft this golden calf idol to worship you probably heard this story then the people began to prance around performing all manners of obscenities in front of their new golden idol it was about this time that Moses came down from that mountain in Exodus chapter 32 verses 15 and 16 we
[00:38:21] read Moses turned he went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands they were inscribed on both sides front and back the tablets were the work of God the writing was
[00:38:36] the writing of god engraved on the tablets can you imagine having those tablets in your hands inscribed by the very finger of our almighty god moses did now many of you know that laurie and i
[00:38:54] are into antiques antiquities we like to look for early um treasures we are always hunting for those it's a lot of fun but would there be any antique in the world that would be more valuable more
[00:39:10] precious than what Moses was carrying down that mountain that day if ever the term priceless was applicable it would have been with those God inscribed granite documents they were truly precious they were priceless but when Moses came off that mountain when he saw those people dancing
[00:39:29] around that idol like a bunch of fools, his notorious anger erupted again. Take a look at verse 19. When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned. Now I
[00:39:44] get it, don't you? And Moses' anger is white hot again. And for good reason. He's got to be beside himself with the foolishness, the obstinance, the ignorance and faithlessness of those people.
[00:39:56] how could they have dishonored God like this after all he had done for them and after agreeing to obey him in every way witnessing his power his magnificence his provision and now to do something
[00:40:10] so irreverent so dishonorable to dare to worship this ridiculous inanimate meaningless object yeah I can empathize with Moses here can't you if ever there was a place for righteous indignation And this was it, right?
[00:40:27] Maybe you've been there.
[00:40:29] Maybe you've been there in your life.
[00:40:30] You've been so hurt, so disappointed, so broken hearted towards someone that it caused your blood to boil.
[00:40:37] Maybe you were there this week or even this morning.
[00:40:40] We've all been there.
[00:40:42] And in those moments, no one would say that you don't have a right to be angry.
[00:40:47] No one would say that about Moses' anger either.
[00:40:50] The problem comes in how we express that anger.
[00:40:53] and what we do with it.
[00:40:56] So take a look at what Moses did with his anger.
[00:40:59] When Moses approached the camp, he saw the calf dancing, his anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
[00:41:12] You know, if I'd have been a fly on that mountain wall, I'd have been screaming, no!
[00:41:16] Right?
[00:41:17] Wouldn't you?
[00:41:18] Can you imagine seeing Moses in that moment of fury, slamming those precious, priceless tablets to the ground.
[00:41:27] And it was tragic.
[00:41:28] And of course, they shattered to pieces.
[00:41:31] But Moses wasn't done.
[00:41:32] Look at verse 20.
[00:41:33] He took the calf the people had made and he burned it in the fire.
[00:41:37] And then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water.
[00:41:40] And he made the Israelites drink it.
[00:41:43] It's pretty tough, right?
[00:41:44] And I'll be honest with you.
[00:41:46] I've read this story many times.
[00:41:47] It's an epic story.
[00:41:49] And when I've heard it, when I've studied it, I've always focused on the faithfulness, the foolishness of the Israelite people here.
[00:41:56] And there's no doubt that that's a primary truth.
[00:41:59] But there's also something going on here with Moses that deserves our attention.
[00:42:04] I've always given him a pass on his behavior here, given what the people had done.
[00:42:09] You know, I get it.
[00:42:11] Many people would have naturally reacted angrily if we had been in Moses' shoes too.
[00:42:16] And I don't want to read more into this story than is actually here.
[00:42:21] But God didn't give Moses a pass here.
[00:42:25] In fact, take a look at what God had Moses do after he shattered those original law documents.
[00:42:31] In verse 1 of chapter 34, the Lord said to Moses, Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I'll write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
[00:42:45] Right?
[00:42:47] In other words, since you broke the first ones, you chisel out the new ones punishment fits the crime right I like that our heavenly father is such a great example for us to follow as as a parent right and you broke it in your anger
[00:43:01] so you're responsible for replacing it makes sense God continues to show Moses grace and mercy as Moses continues to work through gaining control of his anger and now we come to what I call Moses' rebellious anger, the fourth act, and this one will really be the last one we'll cover.
[00:43:25] But we fast forward 39 years. The Israelites are poised to enter the promised land of Canaan again.
[00:43:32] They have been wandering around now in the wilderness for all these years, whining, grumbling, complaining, every step of the way. So when they made it to the border of Canaan all those years earlier, they had gotten there earlier, they wouldn't go in because they were afraid
[00:43:46] that they couldn't defeat their enemies there, not believing that the Lord would help them.
[00:43:51] So because of their disobedience, the Lord says to them in Numbers 14, 29, and 30, in this wilderness, your bodies will fall.
[00:43:58] Every one of you 20 years old or more was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me?
[00:44:05] Not one of you will enter the land, I swore, with uplifted hands to make your home except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.
[00:44:14] So for the next 39 years, they would bury in the wilderness many of the original 2 million people who marched out of Egypt and Pharaoh's grasp.
[00:44:27] And with all that grumbling that continued as the years dragged on, Moses' patience must have been growing thinner by the day.
[00:44:36] And by the time we get to Numbers 20, we might say his nerves were shot.
[00:44:42] have you ever been there he was at the end of his rope he was about to lose it again people circumstances the devil can really test our tempers so we read in numbers 20 verse 1 and 2
[00:44:56] in the first months the whole israelite community arrived at the desert of zin and they stayed at kadesh there miriam died and was buried now there was no water for the community and the people
[00:45:09] gathered in opposition to moses and to aaron this is the way it goes right in life when things aren't going their way people typically turn against their leaders so in verse 3 they quarreled with moses they said if only we had died with our brothers um and when when our brothers fell dead
[00:45:29] before the lord why did you bring the lord's community into this wilderness that we and our livestock should die here. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no
[00:45:41] grains or figs or grapefruits or pomegranates, and there's no water to drink. Now, can you imagine how many times Moses has heard this litany of complaints, right? How many times has he heard this? If he had heard it once, he had heard it a thousand times, and I'm sure he was burned up and
[00:46:01] fed up with these folks by now. They didn't realize that their leader was at his breaking point. And if they did, they didn't care. Look at verses six and following. Moses and Aaron went out
[00:46:13] from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell face down. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord said to Moses, take the staff and you and your brother Aaron,
[00:46:23] gather the assembly together. Note this, speak to the rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so that they and their livestock
[00:46:36] can drink. So the Lord's instructions to Moses are very clear, aren't they? You get your staff, you grab your brother, and together you go out there and you speak to that rock and you watch
[00:46:48] what I do. Water will flow. Simple enough? But remember, Moses is already angry with all those whiners with all those complainers he was nearing his breaking point he was like dad at the end of
[00:47:02] a 12-hour road trip on the car right he's fuming with anger and Moses does what the Lord says except for one vital deviation take a look at verse 9 so Moses took the staff from the Lord's
[00:47:16] presence just as he commanded him he and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them listen you rebels must we bring you water out of this rock now hold on a
[00:47:28] minute I know Moses is angry but when did God give him direction to deliver this scathing message right the truth is God didn't but Moses seizes this chance to set these rebels straight with an
[00:47:43] anger fueled message he also seemed to lean into a little blasphemy here too right when he says we will bring water out of this rock. So when did we perform any miracles? Miracles that Moses had been
[00:47:57] a part of never came from him. They always came from God. And this water that would come from this rock would be from God and from God alone. Not we, but Moses is at his bowling point. And
[00:48:11] when you get to that place, self-control is essential. Or you may say or do something that will have major consequences look at verse 11 then Moses raised his arm and he struck the rock twice with his staff to be clear the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock not to strike the rock
[00:48:34] but at this point Moses was so mad he was seeing stars he probably didn't care if water came out of that rock or not for these no good grumblers you want water fine here's your water then he
[00:48:47] took his staff and wham wham against that rock and guess what verse 11 tells us the water gushed out the community and the livestock drank God provided that water by his amazing grace but anger has bitter consequences sometimes mis-expressed anger and I want you to see
[00:49:10] these consequences. Do you think God was going to give Moses a pass this time? God couldn't overlook this temper tantrum any more than you would overlook a temper tantrum from your child, right? Look at verse 12. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust in
[00:49:26] me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land that I give them. Now, I know some of you look at that and you say, man, it seems kind of
[00:49:39] harsh. Moses put up with these people for 40 years. That seems like a harsh punishment for disobeying God's instructions for striking that rock instead of speaking to it. These people would have driven anybody crazy at this point. But I want you to understand this was not Moses' first
[00:49:58] bout with anger, lack of self-control. That's why I spent so much of this message trying to recount Moses' history with you. Anger got the best of him or brought out the worst in him more times than we can really care to imagine. Killing a man in vengeance, fury, burning white
[00:50:19] hide against Pharaoh, smashing those precious priceless granite tablets the Lord had handcrafted and now disobeying the Lord's specific instructions in anger, not to mention the fact that he was taking credit for what God was about to do so the Lord had shown Moses a lot of grace over the years
[00:50:36] he had exhibited plenty of patience and tolerance but this this this was a final straw God said no more now and according according to Deuteronomy Moses had asked God to relent multiple times but God didn't God had seen enough the consequences were real Moses would not enter the promised land
[00:50:59] with the israelite people now what can we learn from moses struggle to control his anger i think there are some important lessons for you and me here and i want you to write these down as we
[00:51:12] finish up one understand that unchecked explosive anger doesn't just go away eventually we may suffer devastating consequences all of us must learn to control our anger before it takes control of us. If you've been struggling with anger, let this be your wake-up call. You are not here
[00:51:34] by accident today. The Lord is ready to help you. So surrender to his lead. There's a powerful passage in James' letter that we would be wise to memorize, you and I. James chapter 1 verses 19
[00:51:48] and 20. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires here's the other truth God's word implores us to take control of our anger
[00:52:11] this slowness here that James speaks of is key you know most of us would agree that we have we've done our poorest job of controlling ourselves when we react too quickly in anger think about that a short fuse is what causes serious problems and some of you could testify
[00:52:32] to that there's something to be said about taking a deep breath about gathering yourself about uttering a prayer and submitting to the holy spirit's lead in your life in that moment instead of the flesh.
[00:52:49] So how many times have you spoken too quickly?
[00:52:52] How many times have you acted too swiftly in anger instead of reacting slowly and intentionally in a way that would honor God, letting His Holy Spirit drive you and motivate you instead of your own flawed, fleshly instincts?
[00:53:10] If you examine Moses' life carefully, there's no doubt that he was an amazing leader.
[00:53:16] You pick that up.
[00:53:17] He was a spectacular leader with many God-honoring characteristics, but there was no doubt that he wrestled with controlling his anger.
[00:53:27] And in the end, it had some devastating consequences for him.
[00:53:31] It hurt him, and it has hurt all of us too, some more than others.
[00:53:38] So here's what I want to do.
[00:53:40] I want to invite you to stand to your feet if you're able, and I want to pray with you, and I want to pray for you Because I know that some of you today are recognizing that this message was for you.
[00:53:54] That you've struggled to control your anger.
[00:53:58] That it's caused some issues.
[00:54:00] Some issues in your life with people you love and care about.
[00:54:04] People in your own home, people at work.
[00:54:06] It's cost you some relationships over the years.
[00:54:09] And you recognize that's not God's way.
[00:54:12] That's not what He wants for you.
[00:54:14] So I want to invite you right now, as I pray, to just surrender to His leadership.
[00:54:19] fully and completely in this area.
[00:54:23] Surrender to Christ if you have not yet done that.
[00:54:25] As your Lord, as your Savior, seek His forgiveness.
[00:54:30] Let's pray.
[00:54:32] Our Father, You are so worthy, so wonderful.
[00:54:37] God, we thank You for Your Word that it speaks to our hearts right where we are.
[00:54:43] God, there are some people in this room who would say to You right now, God, I have sinned in my anger.
[00:54:50] I'm ashamed of that.
[00:54:51] I'm embarrassed by it I feel guilty for it and God I pray for your forgiveness thank you God for forgiving me God thank you for giving me a second chance God I've suffered some consequences
[00:55:07] for those decisions in the past and I want to going forward so I pray that I can that I can handle my anger in a way that honors you that honors my Lord Jesus Christ
[00:55:19] I pray that your Holy Spirit would take control of me that in moments that I feel out of control that I'm moving toward fury or or rage God that that you would just overwhelm me with your spirit that you would invite me to take a deep breath that I would
[00:55:36] seek your will over mine in those moments seek your face God if there's anyone in this room today who has not yet said to you I'm a sinner in need of a savior I pray in this moment they would
[00:55:49] just say God I need you and I know I'm a sinful person the way I've expressed my anger is one example of that and so Lord I just confess those sins to you and I know that Jesus came that
[00:56:02] he died on Calvary's cross to pay my sins penalty of death I want to invite him by faith to be Lord to be leader of my life I want to surrender to his will every day in my life
[00:56:16] I want to honor his name in all that I do.
[00:56:21] Lord, thank you for saving me in the wonderful, the precious, the holy name of Jesus, we pray.
[00:56:29] Amen.

[00:56:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:56:30] The name of each time Jesus be the name of every time that I call There's just something about your name Makes me cry, Jesus, your word

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:57:58] When you find yourself struggling with anger, when you feel compelled or, you know, inclined

[01:02:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:02:48] to react in a way that is sinful, that would be the time to just step away and utter, Jesus, please help me.
[01:02:57] Please help me with this.
[01:02:59] And to you will be the glory for enabling me to get through this, right?
[01:03:03] And he will.
[01:03:04] He's willing to help you.
[01:03:05] and for many of you in this room today who struggle to manage your anger to control your anger and sometimes you feel like it's controlling you my challenge would be to just pray much more
[01:03:18] about that and to surrender completely to the control of the holy spirit in your life to help you to overcome that he will he's faithful to do that and i pray that he will in your life
[01:03:29] i wanted to share one other thing as i get ready to pray us out this morning we got not only did We have a great trip last week to the Dominican Republic.
[01:03:38] We've got a small team of watermarkers who are heading to Nicaragua this week.
[01:03:43] They're leaving on Tuesday.
[01:03:44] They'll be gone a week.
[01:03:45] The folks going on that trip are Marlena and Tyler back here, as well as Harriet and her brother Noah.
[01:03:53] So we want to pray for them as well.
[01:03:55] And we especially want to pray for not only Noah, who went on the trip last week and is tired, but Harriet, too, who's kind of tired.
[01:04:02] and there may be another reason why Harriet needs our prayer as well for just safety and wellness on this trip.
[01:04:09] She's got some news to share real quick.
[01:04:13] Oh, let's give her volume for this one.
[01:04:20] Yeah, I don't know if you knew that.
[01:04:22] So she and Tyler are expecting their very first and so we're excited for them.
[01:04:26] So be in prayer for her especially and the others who are going on this trip this week.
[01:04:30] It's exciting so you can congratulate them as well on that.
[01:04:34] So let's pray and we'll be on our way.
[01:04:37] Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to have been in your house today.
[01:04:42] God, again, just to be able to worship you, to be able to sing your praises today, God, has been fulfilling for us, and we pray that it's honored you.
[01:04:51] And God, we pray that as we leave this place today that you would go with us every step of the way, that you would be with this team, with Marlena, with Harriet, with Noah, with Tyler,
[01:05:00] as they go to Nicaragua in the name of Jesus.
[01:05:03] and we pray that you'll keep them safe and well on that trip God let their work be fruitful for Christ's sake be with us as we leave this place now let us honor Jesus in all that we do
[01:05:15] in all that we say that we might make an impression and leave a mark for Him we pray it in His glorious His redemptive His holy name and all God's children said Amen Blessings