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The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
And the violent take it by force Mt11:12 But I say unto you, that whosoever is Angry with his brother without a cause Shall be in danger of the judgment… Mt5:22 The violence that the kingdom of God suffers is the violence of sickness, poverty, tormenting spirits, and the like which the believer may face in his life. When faced with these attacks the violent take it by force. In other words holy anger arises to come against the attack of the evil one. There are times where we are not to passively allow the devil to throw his stuff on us but we are to resist the devil and he shall flee. We may have to shout to the mountain and stand strong against being assailed by sickness, disease, lack, and spiritual torment and not allow the afflictions of satan to gain a foothold in our lives. This is holy anger. When praying for the sick or oppressed we may be very strongly led to have a warrior mentality, to fight and command the evil forces to depart. Whispers and gentleness may just not gain the victory. Only a violent response will turn back the enemy. With respect to our brother to be angry without a cause is inappropriate and puts us at risk at the judgment. But if our brother has fallen into serious sin it may well be the case that holy anger is appropriate. St. Paul talks about turning a sinner over to satan for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. When one sees a brother yielding to sin and knowing full well that if he continues to yield he will become a servant of sin may require holy anger to change the course of the brother’s behavior. There are times when force is appropriate and passivity inappropriate. We need the discernment of spirits to know when to be violent and aggressive or when to be gentle and submissive. The second letter of Timothy tells us to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Two Corinthians tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Ephesians tells us to put on the full armor of God. It is clear from such references that holy anger, a warrior mentality, is the appropriate response to the attacks of satan. Without it we will be at the mercy of the devil and reap a bunch of stuff that is not God’s perfect will for us. So be strong and courageous. Fight the good fight of faith. Battle the forces of evil and stand as more than a conqueror through Christ. Then you will not be susceptible to the forces of evil that wish to steal, kill, and destroy. Holy anger will cease the day and you will live in victory and not defeat. Amen |