Overcoming the Spirit of Anger

Hi, this is Pastor Daniel Bracken. You're listening to Kings Alaska podcast. I hope the Word encourages you and you get a touch from God that brings transformation and equips you to experience life with people, power and purpose. Thank you for joining us. Enjoy the Word.

Take your Bibles and turn to the Book of Matthew. We started the series, I think we're five messages in at this point and. And very thrilled about preaching this next text. Matthew, chapter five, 21 to 26. We'll read it in just a moment.

The Sermon on the Mount is as, like I said, the most influential sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount is the constitution of the Kingdom of God. It's, it's, it really is. It's the constitution of the kingdom of God.

Matthew, chapter five. And I'll read this to you. The Beatitudes. There's eight of them. How many?

Eight. It says Matthew, chapter five, verse three. Blessed are the poor. Let me stop and say blessed. We don't have an English word for that.

How many of you know you're reading a translation from the original language in the New Testament would be what's called Koine, Greek. In the Old Testament, it is Hebrew and a section, a couple sections of Aramaic, Book of Daniel and some other places. So when we're reading here, it's a translation no matter what version you have. I think there's 26 different translations of the Scriptures and there's some that are worthy to be burned because they've been altered. And a lot of people have, have a real desire for, for instance, the King James.

Somebody said, well, I just read the King James. The King James is the only authorized version. It is. It's not true, I mean, as you authorize King James, but actually it's got quite a few error in it. And because of archaeological finds.

I told you I'm tired. Right? Did I tell you that when I start rambling about translations and canonicity and all of that. Let me get right to the text. Blessed is a Greek word that I can't pronounce.

We. The. The English version of blessed, we call it blessed. We have. We have no word for what the Greek word is.

It means empowered. It means favored. It means being in the right place at the right time. It means being anointed. It means, I mean, there's so much meaning to it.

And we just read blessed and just move on. There's a way to release God's power. There's a way to release God's blessing. There's a way to release God's favor. And, and Jesus is teaching them here in this sermon, most influential sermon on the mount, about how to do that.

And so Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Come on, read with me. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, but they shall inherit the earth. Verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So we're in this series and we, we talked about the character of the kingdom, which is what that is. You're in the kingdom. You've received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You've repented of your sin.

You believe that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on him would not perish. There is a perishing, not perish, but to have everlasting life. Well, when you receive Jesus, you're instantaneously born again. When you repent and you receive his payment for your sin, you're born again. According to the Scriptures, you're made new.

He takes out the heart of stone, he puts in the heart of flesh. But understand this, in that taking place, what ought to come forth from your life at that point is character qualities that match what I just read. You say, well, I'm missing some of those. Precisely. It's the character of the kingdom.

And so. Well, I've said it this way in the. Just reviewing the litmus test of your maturity in Jesus is whether you're seeing these character qualities manifested in your life. So if you're not merciful and you're not meek, which is another word for humble, and, and, and you're not matching up with pure in heart, then you're missing out on the blessed, you're missing out on the power, you're missing out on the enablement, you're missing out on the favor. You're missing out on what God wants to release through you.

And it really is an evidence of you not having a walk with God that lines up with what His Word says. Somebody said, I love God. Well, if you love God, you'll obey His Word. And you cannot separate your love for God and obedience to the Word.

So we've been preaching along those lines and a few messages in now we Talked about the character of the kingdom, which is Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12. And we talked about kingdom influence. Be salty. Everybody say, be salty. Be salty and stay lit.

I just like that. So we talked about that. We talked about the influence of the kingdom. When you live to Beatitudes, when you see these character qualities expressed in your life, you said, well, Pastor, what if I don't see them? Then read it.

Repent and ask God to help you. Now, as I examined my life, the Holy Spirit put his finger on him. Specifically. Mercy. Said, you have a lack of mercy.

I thought, I do. Yeah, you have a lack of mercy. And then the Lord speaks to me through the Scripture. He talks to me like this. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

God can. God can be very strong with me. And that might be because I have a bit of a thick head. Thick head and a tender heart. He says, would you like mercy?

I said, yeah. He said, then be merciful. And I found myself that next week practicing being merciful. And, oh, the payoff of his mercy in my life was something I needed so profoundly, and it just caught me by surprise. And when it happened, he said, told you you'd be merciful.

You receive mercy. So you take a look at your life. Examine these. The influence that comes about the salt. Be salty.

Stay lit. Matthew 5, 13, 16. When we live this way, you'll have an impact in the kingdom. Salt is a preservative. Salt brings flavor.

Salt is. Is essential really for life and light. In him, there's no darkness at all. I am light. I'm the light of the world.

That when you live this way, you'll bring light into a dark place. And then we spoke about kingdom righteousness. Matthew 5, 17, 20. And so now we're going to read the next passage, which is rather intense. Bump your neighbor and say, brace yourself.

All right, stand up on your feet, if you're able. Matthew, chapter 5, verse 21. Let's read it. New King James. It's on the screen as well.

You've heard it was said of those of old, you shall not murder. Everybody say, you shall not murder. You shall not murder. It's the sixth commandment. And whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother Raqqa shall be in danger of the council. Whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of Hellf. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way first.

Be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly while you're on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer and you're thrown into prison. Verse 26, final verse. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you've paid the last penny. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. A lamp unto a feet, a light upon our path move with ever increasing power. This morning. The moments that remain. Pardon me.

This afternoon, 1204. The moments that remain in this service move with ever increasing power. May we never be the same. In Jesus name. Turn to three or four people and say, you're never going to be the same.

You may be seated.

So really what it's talking about here as we move on in the most influential sermon is the spirit of anger. Oh, the spirit of anger. You know, God's. He just does things in my life that are unusual. He's always confirming what I should preach.

And I live the messages that I preach. I live the whole week before and I live them after too. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? I had somebody text me from 4,000 miles away on some remote hunting trip. And they texted and said, I'm 4,000 miles away.

I'm not sure how I got a signal. I watched the whole first service and for the love of God, I cannot figure out how you're always preaching something that speaks right to my heart. Because he's a part of this congregation. Listen, when you go to a church. Church and you commit, and you should find a church to commit to.

This is a good one. If you don't have one. Scooter, the word, when it goes forth, it affects you and you'll live it. So I was on an airplane just on my return trip home and I was stretched out as best I could to get sleep. And the gouger eye out, red eye flight.

How many of you? We're famous for those here in Alaska. So I boarded and left 9:30pm in Hawaii. So you're flying the whole sleep cycle. You're flying in the air.

So I've got certain techniques that I've developed to sleep in a. In a. In a plane. And so I was. I deployed those techniques, but apparently something a little bit different about the seat in front of me.

I don't know what happened, but I guess my feet were kind of Coming through the under part of the guy's chair.

I woke up to this guy having a rage fest. I mean, like, he lost his ever loving mind. He's kicking my feet. So my feet are. You all understand, I'm sitting like this.

My feet are forward. All right? He's kicking my feet, like, gnashing his teeth. Like, I thought he was gonna chip his teeth. He had a mask on, which sort of seemed appropriate.

He pulled. Pulled. I'm so sorry. He pulled the mask down.

As he's kicking me now, I wake up out of a dead knockout stupor. I'm like, oh, God, I'm so sorry. He's like, yeah. And I reel my feet back in. I'm like, man, that guy's angry.

I had to overcome anger in my life. Anybody else, I'm long over it. Somebody said, well, I have righteous indignation. I heard one preacher say, and I've said it many times before. If you have righteous indignation, this is what this preacher said.

If you have righteous indignation, being a human, you'll probably screw it up right after you have it.

Anger. The spirit of anger. Jesus is not in this text. He's not raising the moral standard of the Old Testament. I mean, there's a Messianic authority in different places in Scripture, where he raises his word above the law, which is profound.

What he's doing here specifically, he's not raising his hand above the Old Testament moral law, but he's explaining about God's original intention. See, because the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the couldn't sees and wouldn't sees, all the people were like, well, we're not murderers. He's saying, no, no, no, no. The intent is your anger. They're saying they didn't do the actual deed of murdering, but they were filled with anger.

And he's saying, it's the issue of the heart. It's not just the act. It's the issue of the what? It's the issue of the heart.

In John 3 and verse 15, it says this. Are you ready? Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. Whoa. Whoever hates.

Whoever harbors bitterness. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. Because he understood, really, that anger is dangerous. God is revealing how dangerous anger is. Anger.

Anger is dangerous. Not feeling the love down the center. Going to go over here. Anger is dangerous. Anger, anger.

You've got to deal with anger. Paul says, don't let the sun go down on your wrath and give the devil a foothold. What does that mean, a foothold? Topos in the Greek top, all of the hunters and those that know. Topographical.

Topographical map shows elevations, correct? So if you give the devil a foothold or a topos, it's a picture of him scaling the mountain of your life and he's going to make a base camp in your head and he's going to mess you up. You can't allow for anger to exist. You have to deal with it, you have to confront it. Because if you don't, it becomes not a spirit of anger, it becomes a spirit of murder.

So there's four principles on how to deal with your anger. Right from this text. You know, prisons are filled with people that are angry.

Say, lord, help me. Come on, raise your hand to heaven and say, lord, help me. Four principles of overcoming anger. Four principles of overcoming anger. Principle one, whoever is angry.

Right from verse 22A. Whoever is angry is in danger. The judgment in the courts of God and man. Why? Because it's the nature of anger to grow powerfully in us.

I was thinking, why did Jesus pick the six commandments? The sixth commandment. So the first thing you got, the Beatitudes, you have influence and salt and light. And then these start now, six temptations. Because there's a temptation to get angry.

And the first one he deals with is six temptations. The first one he deals with is the sixth commandment. Why? So I thought about that. I thought it's hard for, you know, little children don't lust.

One year old doesn't lust. But does it be fair to say, okay, one year olds can get angry though? Anybody ever see an angry 2 year old? Anger is one of the things that comes in our life earliest. Somebody said, oh, man is perfect.

No, man's not perfect. Man's jacked up. We need a savior. And we need a rule book too. I was having fellowship with my number one granddaughter.

My number two granddaughter is born about an hour and a half ago, for which we're very grateful. Her name is scarlet. She's almost 2. And she's just a remarkable young girl, just beautiful child. But she has strong opinions about things.

And so she wanted me to sit in a particular seat. But I misunderstood. Granddad, that's what they call me. Somebody said they're not going to remember that name. You have yourself called whatever you want.

Somebody said, your grandchildren can pick your name. Your grandchildren can pick your name. I picked mine. That's how I did that. Amen.

I am granddad. Grandfather. I didn't prick grandfather. Pick granddad. And that's because my mother's dad was granddad.

And he had a huge impact in my life. And I wanted to carry that on to the next generation. So I'm, I'm granddad, which she can't really say, even though I've taught her. I said, say grand. She goes, grand.

I say, dad. Dad. Okay, what's my name? Daniel. I'm like, okay, I love that.

Just makes me, fills me with joy. So she tells me, sit here. You know, in her two year old language that sometimes needs interpretation from her mother, Hannah. I don't know how her mother, Hannah, understands everything. She says.

I only get a fraction of it. So sit here. I, I, I sit in the wrong seat. Whoa. Sit in the wrong seat.

And she just furred her brow. She said, no, here I was like, okay, I just move myself over. And then when I sat, she said, there was like this authority. You're irritated there. It was almost a little bit of anger there.

Like you didn't listen right?

Now you gotta be careful not to cave in and coddle that. But some of you been coddling your anger problem for years.

You've been coddling your anger problem for years. Like a little warlock or a little witch controlling people with anger. Some of you are bound by anger even, really, not just a spirit of anger, but a spirit of anger that comes, a spirit of murder. Aren't you glad you came to church? Come on, bump your neighbor and say, oh, I'm so glad we're here today.

Four principles. Number one, whoever's angry is in danger of judgment. If you don't deal with your anger, you're going to end up in court. Now this is literally talking about courts. How many court cases there are down there in Palmer that are filled with people that are angry.

You know how many prisons are filled? If you don't deal with it, you're going to end up in jail. It's kind of, it's kind of what it's saying. So you got everybody say, God help me. Okay, James, chapter four, verse one and two, says, where do wars and fights come from among you?

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war against your members? New King James, you lust and do not have, you murder and covet, cannot obtain.

So he's, he's saying where anger comes from?

Anger's influences. Anger's influence is determined by the access. We allow it.

Let me say it again. Anger's influence is determined. Anger, the influence of anger is determined by how much access you give it. So of course, I think you've gotten angry before as Have I? But when that happens, you must get a hold of that.

You must reel it in and deal with it. If you don't and you give full vent to your wrath, as it says in proverbs. Like a city without walls is a man who gives full vent to his wrath. So you can't just let yourself be angry. You can't just let yourself off the hook and just.

Just lose your self composure. Because what it'll really do is it'll. It'll bring entrance for the enemy in your life. I got like two Amens from the pastures on the front row. If you want the devil to operate in your life, then just don't control yourself.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, do you know it? But power, love and sound mind or self discipline. Sound mind, self discipline. You cannot just allow yourself to blow your stack. Somebody said, well, I'm.

I'm. I'm Italian, I'm Irish, I'm Finnish, I'm German.

Yeah, it's interesting. You name all the nationalities wherever you come from. I got news for you. Your anger problem has nothing to do with you being finished. Has nothing to do with you being Italian.

Has nothing to do. You can blame your culture all you want. It has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with you being a fallen human being. Having a fallen human nature.

You must control it. You must deal with it. You got to deal with your anger problem. Oh my goodness.

Some of you, some of you. I just have a short fuse. My father had a short fuse. I know that's a lame. Excuse me.

No, it's just the way I am. It's where I was raised. Will change. It's like the father who said, wow, we weren't very affectionate in my family. And we never said I love you.

So I don't say I love you. I can't. I said, well, you're dumb.

Change. Everybody say change. I never heard from my father. I was. He was proud of me.

So I don't say that to my kid. Well, change. Change your kids. Your son needs to know that you think he hung the moon and that he can do it. Little boys become healthy men when their fathers pour into them.

And their mothers too, of course. We were in service in Maui and Pastor Karen, she was. We were in the altar of power. God was being poured out and she.

She was weeping. She says to me, I am grieving. I said, from what? She goes, I do not know. I said, okay.

And so we went on. And then I realized, dude, pray for your Wife. So then I was. Sometimes we're a little slow. Anybody.

So I turned and I laid hands on her, and I prayed my heart out. God, show us the source of what this is. What's. What's going on. We've got nothing to grieve over that we know of God, what is happening right now.

And I prayed in the spirit, laid hands on her, prayed. And then she. She says, oh, oh, God, I know what it is. I said, what? She says, hannah's going to give birth in the same hospital that she was born in.

And that was very difficult. And it's also the same hospital that we lost our son in. And I am scared. I said, oh, come on, let's pray. We began to pray.

God's power came on her. There was a fear, there was a. There was a ptsd, if you would, from losing a child and from. I mean, Hannah. Hannah almost died in that hospital.

That was kind of like the Flintstones in the 1950s. She flatlined, her heart stopped. And I'm the one that told everybody.

Screaming, you should have seen. It was. It was. They said, Pat, Mr. Bracken, you need to calm down. I said, you need to do your job.

How many of you know, sometimes you got to hold the standard? So I. That might have been an indignation. I didn't hold on it too long. So I think it was righteous in the end.

So she's weeping, and we prayed, and. And she was able to step over and just trust God for healing and all that. And it was great. Do you know what anger Anger is? Anger.

Many times as a cover for hurt. Deep hurt. Some of you been so deeply wounded that the second anybody puts their little finger on that thing, you just get angry. It's called being triggered. How many of you were triggered this week?

Crystal. Oh, come on. Give me a hug. It's good to see you and your boy. Welcome back.

Crystal was our first employee here, and she's just moved back to Alaska. We love you. Would you put your hands together for the Rappi family?

So anger. Anger. Anger is a cover for hurt. And anger's influence is determined by the access that. That we allow it.

So if you start getting angry and maybe if you're blow, you're fused, why don't you just take a pause for a second and say, what is that about? I mean, I lay hands on myself, it's a good thing. I talk to myself. All healthy Christians talk to themselves. David, the psalmist, he's going through this depression and this heaviness, and he says, why so downcast all my soul?

I don't know. Put your hope in God. Put your hope in God. Okay, you gotta talk to yourself. And if you find yourself erupting with this, this anger, and you find it like this volcanic explosion of anger, take a look at what the source of that is.

Because many times it's not your little boy, your little girl that didn't obey you for the third time, or your wife or your husband. Many times is rooted in something else. And you have to diffuse that. You gotta lay the ax to the root of whatever your anger issue is. I've known people that are angry at God.

I've been angry at God. It's not good to get angry at God. It's a bad. It's a bad plan. It's.

If you're angry at God, it's a. You have a theological.

You need some discipleship, because God is good. So he. He doesn't do. He doesn't destroy. He loves you.

He cares for you. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. So when you get angry, ask if it's, if it's. What's the root of that? Ask what is the root of this anger right here?

Then you ask God to heal you, set you free. And unrepentant anger will always escalate. It'll always escalate. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Is that conviction I smell in here this morning.

It's conviction. Unrepentant anger will always escalate, and so will its consequences. So what do you do? You've got to. You've.

You've got to deal with it. You've got it. You got to cut it off. You've got to aggressively deal with it, because if you don't, it's going to destroy your life. It really is.

When we speak and act with anger, insults, we open the door for anger to grow in us. Well, have you ever noticed that, that the more you yield to something, it seems to grow in deliverance ministry, which.

Is something that happens here every time we gather together. There's always people being free. It is just an aspect of the kingdom. I had somebody say, do you guys flow in deliverance ministry? I thought, like, every real church ought to have deliverance taking place whenever necessary.

Are there real devils? Oh, there's real devils, yeah. Do, do they get cast out and stuff like that? Absolutely. Well, sure, but I didn't see anything crazy.

No, I know. Maybe not, but you don't have to. It's just real. There is spiritual warfare. There is Darkness, there is God, there is devil, there are demons.

And demons do try to afflict people. So you gotta, you gotta work at that. If you, if you, you gotta understand that. And if you yield to anger, it opens the door. When we speak and act with anger, insults, we open the door.

You, you open the door for anger to grow in you. But it's not just that. I mean, that's like I was putting that point together and I rephrased it a number of times and was thinking, man, I wanted to say it more aggressively. So I'm just trying to say it sweet. But I'm changing my mind right now because some of you don't get it.

Some of you think, well, you can just blow your stack. That's the way I am. Well, you know, and you don't realize you're throwing open the door to the devil to come into your home. You're so stupid. You're just like your mother's side of the family.

You just like your father's side of it, whatever you might say, hurling insults, you know, it's a voice activated kingdom. And when you speak truth and life, it releases truth. Sticks and stones will never, you know, names will never hurt me. How does that go?

Sticks and stones break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Wrong. There's word curses you can speak over your kids. There's word curses you can speak over your life. Line your mouth up with what God's word says.

The only way the devil can speak in this church is by using your mouth. The only way the devil can speak in your home is by borrowing your mouth using your mouth. Ma', am, sir, brother, sister, we don't allow, we didn't allow for that in our home. Bracket home, we didn't allow for that. I've told you, one of our kids decided to try I hate you last time she said it.

Why? Because we don't want her cursed or him or whoever that may be. So you don't allow for a child to say I hate you. Why is that? Because if they don't learn to honor you and learn to, to keep the, the commandments and to, to speak life, your kids, kids need to be corrected.

They need to be shaped. And there's adult children here that have never been corrected and they've never heard a message about controlling your anger. And you just think you just can do whatever. Now, I know it's not applying to seven eighths of the congress congregation, but maybe There is 1/8th here that you were struggling with anger. Come on, lift a Hand to heaven one more time and say, oh, God, help me.

You gotta urgently confront anger by choosing reconciliation over retaliation. It's the third principle urgently confronted. Therefore, bring your gift. Verse 23. Therefore bring your gift to the altar.

And if you remember there your brother has something against you, leave your gift. Something against you, something against you. Of course it applies you having something against somebody else, but it's a picture of. It's really operating in the opposite spirit. It's doing the opposite.

If you know somebody has something against you, go talk to them. That imagine that and resolve it.

I had numerous times over the years, people come and say, pastor, are you mad at me? I'm like, no, because I. I just thought you were mad at me. Well, what I found is many people are working out their father issues with me. And I'm okay with that because that's what I did to my pastor. And I'm sure I'm reaping what I sowed.

And that's. I'm. I'm here to help you. I am. That's why we're here.

That's why we're doing what we're doing for 20 years here, celebrating our 20th anniversary in October. And I'm so grateful to do that, so grateful to help in any way. But let me just say what I've say to all those folks that come after we work that out and we realize everything's good, then I tell them this. You will never know, you will never have to wonder where you stand with me. Why is that?

Because I will always tell you, I don't keep a list. I'm confronting everything all the time. I don't have a list of someone being angry now. Sometimes I need to wait three days before I talk to someone. Amen.

And so it's important to not have a list of people you're angry with and just confront things, deal with things. Therefore, leave your gift. See, you can't press on in God when you have a divided heart.

You can't press on in God and experience his presence. If you have a divided heart, you have to deal with it. You must deal with your anger. Leave your gift. My.

Think about this as I'm just about to close. Bringing. Coming in for approach. On approach.

It's impossible to be God's child.

Being a brother or sister in Christ and hating God's children. So you're God's child. Would you have someone you hate? How does that work? It doesn't work.

So what do you do? Say, but Pastor, you don't know what they did. You don't know what they did. I love God, but people, people I know, you have to forgive them and forgive again and forgive again. Now, if somebody went off and did something horrible to me, I'm going to forgive them.

I might stay at arm's distance next time.

So I got punched in the face. Let's say you're not exactly a safe person. So I forgive you, but you'll be outside of my reach. Forgive you, love you.

And some people listen. I don't have everybody close. Somebody needs to hear this. Not everybody's super close. You have different levels of relationship and closeness.

Closest one in my life, Lord, oh, I love him way more than my wife. And she's not offended by me saying it. After that, it's my wife. After that, it's my children. And then I've got.

I've got brothers and sisters, people. I've been walking with the Lord for 30 years. I mean, close.

God brings people in your life like that. Some of you have. Some people you need to, like, step away from. If you keep getting angry with them, they're not safe. They just.

You lovingly distance yourself. Well, what if it's my husband? Well, come for counseling. Let's help you out. Answer an altar call, get prayer.

All right.

Cain, who. I just preached a message on Cain not long ago called canceling Cain's Way. I'm going to read this to you, and we'll move to the conclusion. In Genesis, chapter 4 and verse 6 and 7, it says this. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?

So he asked, what's wrong with your face? Nothing. Exactly the same.

Why is your countenance fallen? That's what that means. What's wrong with your face? Why does your face look like that? I could have said that to the guy with the mask in front of me on the airplane, but I did.

He was so angry and his face was so twisted that he had to wear a mask like, lord, forgive me. That wasn't very nice. God, why is your countenance fallen? So he's asking him. He's asking Cain, what, What.

What. Why? What's. What's wrong? What are you angry about?

He's helping him. He's. He's pastoring him, the Lord. And it goes on to say, if you do well, will you not be accepted? Something right there.

What does that tell you? What can we conclude or deduce from that? If you do well, will you not be accepted? We can conclude from that that he did not do well, number one and number Two, he was not accepted. And his lack of acceptance, his rejection, he got angry.

But the Lord says to him, cain, Kate, if you do the right thing, you're gonna get the blessing. But if you do. I thought that was funny. God coming down to talk to Kate. Anyway, I made my kids memorize the scripture.

So he's. This is before the first murder. He warns him and he says, hey, you'll be accepted if you do the right thing. And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Another version says, crouches at the door like a wild beast and its desires for you, but you should rule over it.

See, but he did. He didn't take the warning from God. And what ended up happening is he's out in the field and he kills his brother. It's the first murder. Anger, a spirit of anger becomes a spirit of murder.

And you have to deal with it. And if you don't, Jesus says in the most influential sermon that if you don't deal with your anger, your unrepentant anger will always come with a price. It always comes with a price, and it's a price you don't want to pay. And it can literally mean a separation from God. See, you can get so angry and so bent, and before you know it, you're not serving God and you hate people.

And before you know it, you've drifted away and you're isolated and you can literally miss heaven, get offended at God.

And I, I started to say that, but I, I was offended at God. I was angry at God. He did not do what I thought he said he would do.

I had a timestamp on what he was going to do in this restoration process. And he. When it didn't happen the way that I thought it was supposed to happen, I just said, oh yeah, I'll never serve you, ever.

He forgave me. I turned from him. I'm an 8 months into deep darkness without details, deep darkness. At the end of eight months, I came, I came to. Like a prodigal son.

I came to, you know, what God did many, many years later, some 20 something years after that 20, 22 years, something like that, I was able to go back to the exact place where I cursed God. Stood in the exact same place in front of a house where I had signed divorce papers and where I lost a whole family that he didn't restore.

Stood in the same place that I cursed him and gave him the finger. You don't want to do that. It's bad. I got to stand there and repent in the same place. I mean, I had already repented, but it was a great moment of closure.

I was weeping because of what God had done in my life some 20 something years later and how he snatched me out of that life of anger, resentment, bitterness. I stood there and I go, oh, God. And I looked at my old house, which, of course, it's not my house now, somebody else is living in. And I thought, oh, what a moment. Whoever's in that house, they're getting saved right now.

I just went straight up to the house. I knocked on the door. This guy opened the door. I said, hey. He said, hey.

I had tears running down my face. I said, God brought me to your property. He says, okay. I said, man, Jesus loves you. He goes, I know.

I said, you need to give your life to. I'm not living for him. I said, okay, well, you're going to give your life back to him, right? I was like, all right, you want to come in? I mean, it was like this crazy thing.

And I did. I. I went into his house. I led him in the center prayer. Pastor Alex was with me. Let him in the sinner's prayer.

And I went back, I took a look, surveyed the room. Different furniture every. Different paint, different everything. And I realized the table was right about here. I stood there while I signed the divorce papers.

And I said, never again will a Bracken be divorced. Never. That's my last name, Bracken. Never again I break that curse off my family. Never again will that happen.

Never. Just repented and God did a great thing. Where. Where are you at today? Unrepentant anger always comes with a price.

That's way more than you want, and you need to get. Get rid of it. Come on. Somebody say get rid of it. Lift your hands to Jesus.

I pray for those who are struggling with anger today. Yeah. Their fathers abandoned them. Yes. Their mothers, perhaps, abandoned them.

Yes. Their employer, their former pastor, their. Their brother, their sister. The deal that went south and people got robbed and ripped off.

Lord, we refuse to be angry and bitter anger and bitterness is rooted in the belief that you deserve something different in the end. As I've been preaching on the seven churches of the Book of Revelation, by the grace of God, we'll do the same thing on Wednesday. We'll go the next section on Wednesday. He's the alpha and omega. He's the beginning and the end.

He's the first and the last. You know who has the last say? It's not your dead father. I. May.

May rest in peace. You know, has the last say it's not whoever said. Whoever said whatever they said to you, it's gone. And if you'll live to please him all of your life and you'll set. Come on.

I got some things I want set straight. And I've just said Lord, you know, and you've got the last word. Come on, somebody say he's got the last. You got the last word and I trust you. And so I'm not going to get angry.

I'm not going to get bitter. I'm not going to twist myself on a knot, Lord of. Of and open the door for the enemy. I'm going to speak life over my my life, my children, my family, my church. I'm going to speak life over my nation.

I'm going to operate in the opposite spirit. I'm going to walk in the peace and the love and the grace of God. I'm not going to be angry. I will not be angry. I will not give the devil a foothold to have a base camp in my life.

I will not have. Come on. If you agree with this, just agree in your spirit. I will not have a stronghold of. Of anger anymore.

I cast it down. I refuse to be angry. Holy Spirit, show me places in my heart, in my life where I need to forgive those who hurt me. Show me places in my life where I've got a mindset, a set way of thinking about people or business or money. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, come right now and bring living on understanding to your bride, your church, your people.

Set them free from angry, from anger. Set them free from anger right now. In Jesus name, put your hands together for Jesus.

Every head bowed, every eye closed.

Now if this message ministered to you. It's on YouTube. I just felt let of the Lord be not to bring people up and pray specifically this morning. Many times we do that and the reason we do is that these signs follow then that believe these. The signs follow the preaching of the Word.

Pardon me. So when you preach on overcoming anger, guess what is available for you? The power to overcome anger. So you take authority over that thing and like Pastor Karen did, who was weeping and and somewhat fearful because it was reminded of decades ago. Examine why you're angry and ask God to heal you and forgive those who hurt you and forgive yourself and live a lifestyle of that live that way.

It's a temptation to just get angry. There's five more. We'll get into them in the coming weeks. I hope you got something from God. I did too.

Praise the Lord. Every head bowed Every eye closed. If you're not right with God, don't leave this place in that condition. Give your life to Jesus for the first time, perhaps. Or recommit your life to the Lord if you need to recommit.

You gave your life to Christ prior different times, a year ago, two years ago, 10 years ago, I don't know, whatever the case may be. But you know, you're living in compromise to him and his Word. So repent and give your life to to Jesus afresh and anew. Give your life to Jesus for the first time. Or number two, repent and give your life back to him.

Come home with every head bowed, every eye closed. Those online, the closing moments of this service. You say, pastor, that's me. If that's you, lift your hand on the count of three. One, two, three.

Lift your hand high. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. I see that hand.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Over on the right hand side. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Wonderful. Would you stand with us all across the place as we pray and then we'll pray a closing blessing over you. Repeat with me right out loud.

If you're giving your heart to Jesus first time, or recommitting or if you're living for God, just affirm your faith. Come on, pray right out loud. Say, dear Heavenly Father. Come on, right out loud. Say, dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son Jesus to die on a cross for my sin.

I believe he rose again from the grave. And I ask you today to come into my life to forgive me, to wash me, to cleanse me, and to make me new. Thank you for loving me and thank you for hearing my prayer. Set me free from every bondage, from anger, from resentment, from bitterness, and use my life for the purpose for which I was created. Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for hearing my prayer. Amen.

Well, I hope you were encouraged by God's word. Thank you again for listening to Kings Alaska podcast. God bless you. For more great content, go to kcalaska.com and may God's face shine upon you and give you p.