Bible Study Notes:

We're on weapon #10 out of 20 or so. These weapons are often used together, and have offensive and defensive uses. We've covered a LOT of material so far, so please make use of it.

God made our minds to be active and not passive. The passive mind is the devil's playground. One of the deceptions in this area is "New Age" meditation, in which the mind is emptied in some fashion in an attempt to find peace. In reality, the passive mind is fertile ground for the devil to work, because if we aren't ACTIVELY resisting the devil, he is sneaking in and corrupting our minds.

In addition to emptying your mind, "New Age" meditation often employs the repetition of a sound called a mantra, which is a direct invitation to demonic possession as these sounds are often demonic names or commands. Doesn't this make you angry with satan? That and all the other tricks he plays to keep you from being victorious ought to really "tick you off"!

eternally secure - because the flesh gets upset.
prodigal son - Because we get offended about something
MzG - because we live in flesh
Panteth - Because it's part of our nature

Athie - One of our emotions is anger. So we use this emotion when we need it or think we need it
eternally secure - "put away contention and strife shall cease"
eternally secure - almost but not always.
iamclay - Isn't there what is called righteous anger ?
prodigal son - NO OT. Jesus was angry with the moneychangers in the temple.
Panteth - No, we can be angry at sin and satan and the tricks he tries against us and the consequences sin brings
MzG - not if it is righteous anger OT--but what is that?
Athie - Be angry and sin not

So when we become angry, we need to pause and reflect on the cause of our anger. If it is an unholy anger, we need to trust the Lord to change us, and keep us from allowing the devil a foothold in our life. It means we all become angry, the first thing we should do is BE SILENT - whoa now that's a toughie! Then search our hearts for the cause.

OK, so how do you know whether your anger is holy or not?

prodigal son - Even a fool is considered wise when he is silent
Panteth - giving the devil a foothold doesn't mean you are no longer a Christian but rather for that moment you chose not to walk in the Spirit but in the flesh
iamclay - I get angry about all the injustices in the world, not mad-angry, just upset angry.

Well, get angry at what angers God and control the anger, or better still, refuse to take offense when the enemy sends someone to offend you. A GREAT book on the subject of offense is "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. We're talking about holy anger here and not specifically about how to handle offenses. But it is an important topic and you need to read that book!

Know that the MAJOR cause of disagreements, discord and conflict in the church is caused by Christians taking offense, real or imagined, against other Christians. Does that ever make satan happy!

Panteth - Unholy anger is directed against a person whereas holy anger is directed against the devil or against ungodly actions

Quarreling , jealousy, outbursts of anger, division, gossip, etc. are all signs that somebody is not walking in love and forgiveness, they have given into selfish and unholy anger.

k - The only way revival will come to America is when the church gets united and stands solidly on the Bible and lets the Bible say what it says not theology or philosophy of men
isle - Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Sometimes instead of taking offense I try to look at things that might upset me as a blessing and a sharpening.
iamclay - K - you are so right. As long as Satan can keep us divided, we have little power.

Good point isle - often the conflicts that occur point out flaws IN US that need to be worked on! And if we react in anger to an offense, we will miss the lesson that God is trying to teach US.

Here we see: be STILL before the Lord and Wait patiently for Him - both wonderful controls for anger. And twice in this passage we are told not to fret. What more readily brings on anger than being in a state of anxiety?

In fact, that whole psalm 37 is a beautiful picture of resting and peace in the Lord in the face of provocation. If you have problems with anger, take some time and meditate on it.

k - Love covers a multitude of sins; also be slow to speak and confront directly with love 1 on 1
ThunderQueen - James 3:6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your whole life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire, by hell itself

Right, the tongue is an unruly member and HARD to control. We have to submit it to God's Spirit to keep from getting ourselves in trouble.

ThunderQueen - An uncontrolled tongue can do terrible damage. we dare not be careless in what we say, thinking we can apologize later, for the damage is done, the scars remain.

Meditate in a Biblical sense is to actively consider a passage of scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to give us light on it's meaning and asking God how to put it into effect in our lives.

OlePappy - meditate means to put aside all things and think about whatever

It's not blanking out our minds, as the newagers, yogis, etc. do. It is ACTIVELY contemplating, or "chewing the cud" - ruminating upon it. A cow eats twice, once when she bites the grass, and later when she is resting, she rechews it so it can be digested. Meditating is "chewing upon" something mentally until you digest it.

k - Gal 5:23-24 fruit of the Spirit is self-control and 24 says we crucify the sinful nature and its passions and desires
MzG - usually with meditation on scripture--you can get wonderful revelation from God

And OP is right, meditation involves concentration on the scripture and filtering out everything else. So if you have a problem with anger, meditating upon, considering, reflecting, "chewing" upon Psalm 37 until you digest it, among other passages, like the one in James 3, will help you with anger control.

So what is holy anger then? It is NOT showering our wrath on people, because the Bible says that does not bring about the kind of right living that God desires.

k - Anger is a very strong passion that has to be crucified

What we need to get angry about is the deceiver BEHIND the unrighteous behavior in ourselves and others. Because until we get really "ticked off" at the devil, we will be passive and not resist him. We will become angry at people, or even God, spend our time blaming and yelling at others, and all the while, the devil is secretly building a root of bitterness within us to cause us to fall. This is what I mean by the "weapon" of Holy Anger - getting angry at the SOURCE of our conflicts - the devil - and not those he's trying to manipulate.

ThunderQueen - Romans 2:1 What terrible things you have been talking about! But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do those very same things.

That's so true, TQ, usually what bothers us the most in other people are character flaws, bad judgement calls or "blind spots" in ourselves!

ThunderQueen - When we feel justifiably angry, we need to be careful. We need to speak out against the sin, but we must do so in the spirit of humility. Often the sins we notice in others are the sin's that have taken root in us.
isle - The scripture constantly speaks of the Lord being slow to anger and of great kindness. I am so thankful that he is like that, and I pray that he will cause the same thing to abound in my life.
k - Ephesians 6:12 says we battle not against flesh and blood

TQ, one pointer here is to remember the "golden rule" - how would you want someone to approach you if YOU were committing that sin, or whatever. NOT in a spirit of condemnation, name-calling, criticism, but in a spirit of LOVE.

ThunderQueen - If we look closely at ourselves we may find we are committing the same sin but in a more socially acceptable way. Example gossip: a person who gossips may be very critical of someone who gossips about them
k - Also the Word says God is slow to anger and his anger lasts only a moment but his mercy lasts forever

Now, some of what I'm going to be sharing will be considered "high level" spiritual warfare. Seek the Lord before trying to put these things into practice to be sure you're ready for it. By "ready" I mean first you MUST be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. You MUST know the Word and be walking in right doctrine and obedience to Christ.

Then you must cleanse yourself of all physical, mental and spiritual filthiness or demonic infestations. And you must be in right fellowship with other believers and have at least one prayer partner who will stand with you.

The reason you must "be ready", is that when you engage in "high level" warfare, you are more open to satanic attack, and you need to be prepared for it, not leaving any doorways or footholds that satan can use to oppress you. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, you're not ready for this level of conflict, so file it away for future reference, OK?

Jesus is our example. Did He ever get angry? And if He did, what did He get angry about?

isle - He got angry at the moneychangers
k - Turning his Father's house into a market place
Little Piglet - He got mad at foolishness OT
MzG - sin
isle - "my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." He cleansed the temple. Drove out the evil. He overturned their tables.

One thing that angered Jesus was the Scribes and Pharisees that resisted His work and spoke against the Holy Spirit. He called them "brood of vipers" in Matthew 12:34. Do you think He was angry when He said this?

prodigal son - He was angry about the defiling of his Father's house
Savior's Servant - got mad at selfish gain
OlePappy - Jesus got angry at Peter when he said get the behind me satan
Spidey - Jesus got hacked at a lot of stuff

I mean, how else could He have said it BUT in anger. "Excuse me you guys, you're just a wee bit on the snaky side"? LOL

k - Jesus also got mad at the Pharisee who were leading the people astray
Little Piglet - Jesus got mad at sin; things that were not of him.

The Scribes and Pharisees were not only missing salvation themselves, but also keeping others from entering into the kingdom. In fact, in this same chapter, they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the prince of demons. Jesus said that they had committed the unforgivable sin. Why? Jesus is the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Him. If you deny this, how can you then be saved?

He also called them fools, blind guides, and serpents in this chapter. Now I'm not saying we should go around calling people names. But we must first recognize that not everyone who claims to be a Christian IS, and that we must be on the lookout for those who promote false doctrine and come against the enemy BEHIND them who has blinded them.

ThunderQueen - The overpowering theme of the NT is the love of God, not his anger. The OT deals more with the anger of God. The main reason of Jesus was to take the anger of God upon himself. Salvation for us

TQ, good point, we need to keep all this in the perspective of God's love... never forget that! But we're talking about holy anger as a weapon against SATAN not people, and seeing what Jesus became angry at.

We must NEVER forget when someone comes in the chat room, cursing God, or being obnoxious, or whatever, that they can NOT see the glorious truth that we see because satan has BLINDED them. If we want to win them to Christ, we've got to pray the blinding spirits off - and you don't have to type it in for them to see, just do it out loud at your keyboard. Because all our love and witnessing will do NO good if they are BLIND to it.

MzG - So where do we draw the line with them?

mzg, that's a VERY good question, and apparently a bone of contention right now! It's a VERY hard call to make, and you have no idea how badly it hurts to make that call.

So we do need to become indignant with "religious" people who are turning people away from God. Just remember to come against the "religious spirit" that is blinding them, not the people who are being manipulated by this spirit.

isle - we wrestle not with flesh and blood. Amen

The sellers and buyers had turned a holy place into a place of commerce. They were merchandizing and making a profit of salvation. This is what led the great reformer Martin Luther to initiate the Protestant Movement of the Church.

He posted his complaints on the door of the church at Wittenburg Germany on Oct 21, 1517, a lot of which had to do with literally selling indulgences, pardons for sin, or selling salvation.

ThunderQueen - verse 12 lends me to believe that any practice that interferes with worship should be stopped

Should we become angry with the "sellers of salvation", those who are perverting and merchandizing the gospel for their personal gain? Should we speak out against it? The problem is to speak out against the sin and not get caught up in condemning our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Remember we are talking about holy anger, not the wrath of man. It is a powerful weapon against SATAN, not our brothers and sisters. Let me make this VERY clear: You are NEVER justified in raging against people - use that anger to do spiritual warfare on their behalf.

isle - How could people that sell salvation know Christ OT, that would be a false gospel.
ThunderQueen - There are sellers of salvation today
isle - Galatians Chapter 1, Paul says that if anyone preaches another gospel let him be eternally condemned.
ThunderQueen - Look at some of these cults.. give everything you own... get salvation... Can't remember the cults name mush brained

Right TQ, when someone makes you believe you have to send them $$$ to be saved or blessed, they are selling salvation, and that's wrong. Yes, there are cults that do it too, too many to mention.

To review so far: We began by talking about the dangers of a passive mind - a lot of believers want to float on flowery beds of ease and not get into conflict with the devil. But if you don't keep your mind active by study, prayer and reflecting on the Word, then the devil can get a foothold in your life.

By the same token, spiritual warfare is not a passive activity. Some think "if I don't bother the devil, he won't bother me", but according to the Bible that's not true. The devil walks about like a roaring lion SEEKING whom he may devour. He's always busy about his business, we can't afford not to be busy about the Lord's business.

Anger is an emotion given by God that can be used correctly or misused. It is misused when we use it against people, and take offense at things they do or say, or things we THINK they do or say. But it is a powerful aid in our warfare against satan if we use it to actively resist the devil who is working behind the scenes.

isle - We have to resist the evil one standing firm in the faith. Our Lord resisted by quoting from Deuteronomy.

My point is NOT to get angry in the first place, not to take offense. You can and should discern the spirits behind the actions, and do spiritual warfare against those spirits in Jesus Name. And we're talking about warfare against evil spirits - "good spirits" or angels don't cause bad behavior, only evil spirits, demons, devils, fallen angels, whatever terminology you prefer...

ThunderQueen - Paul told Timothy to stay away from those who just want to make money from preaching and from those who strayed from the teachings of the Good News into quarrel that cause strife in the church. A person's understanding of the finer points of theology should not become a basis of lording it over others or making money. Stay away from people who just want to argue.
k - Remember that the people are only clay pots who are blinded

OK, let me give an example. Suppose my teen-age son came home and started 'smart mouthing' me, "telling it like it is", you know the drill.. Does it do a bit of good to get mad at him? No! I come against the spirit of rebellion that has attached itself to him, and then we can talk calmly about what's bothering him.

Mark 1:23-25 (KJV) And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus REBUKED him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

Luke 9:1-2 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Luke 10:18-20 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Mark 16: 17-18 [Jesus speaking] "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

So we see Jesus getting angry about religious hypocrisy and demonic infestation. What else moved Him to anger? We are told in the next passage the began to upbraid, reproach, censure, denounce, or fuss at the cities that He had done mighty miracles in because they did not repent.

Matthew 11:20-24 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent [and their hearts did not change]. "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths [hades]. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

satan has his forces organized in ranks, and some of these principalities and powers or princes control the demonic activities in cities. Some intercessors are called to high level warfare against these forces. So we do not wage war against the PEOPLE in these cities, but against the powers that CAUSE people to do sinful things, and the powers that hinder our prayers.

prodigal son - No its OK to be angry. We just need to direct our anger in the right direction. i.e. satan and his demons

Here Daniel sees an angel that had been sent 21 days earlier in response to his prayer to God, but was resisted by a demonic "prince" from Persia. And it was only when the archangel Michael came to assist him could he deliver the answer to Daniel's prayer.

Then the angel that spoke to Daniel revealed that he had to return and fight against the demonic prince of Persia and then had an assignment against the demonic prince of Greece.

The point is: there is an unseen world of conflict between good and evil and the way that we control and channel our anger, in this case, either hinders or expedites victory.

Keep in mind that the things in this lesson may be things you aren't read for YET. If so, just file them away ... sooner or later you WILL need to know them. This is a prayer that I copied from prayer chat with the author's permission, which reveals someone understanding this level of warfare:

So this brings us back to the topic of Holy Anger or Righteous Indignation. When you get a glimpse "behind the scenes" of the spiritual warfare going on in heavenly places, it can not only set you free from strife with your brothers and sisters in Christ, because you understand what is behind it, but can be your motivation to wage war against your TRUE enemy, satan and his demons.