THE SHAPE OF ANGER: Part IV

IV: THE WRONG GIFT
If I were to ask a million of my fellow Christians, at one time, "Who wants to be a blessing to the devil?", or "How should we best set an atmosphere for him to work?", I am certain that I would not be received well--at all! In fact, I'd probably receive a fairly severe response. Such questions would be considered extremely offensive and likely require my speedy removal from the area. Those listening would emphatically declare those questions to be absurd, ridiculous, and simply stupid! No Christian would ever in their wildest imaginations; or in their worst state of sin, consider doing such things for Satan. Moreover, it would be easily concluded that since the devil is the great enemy of God and man, he doesn't deserve anything positive- ever! For only the God of salvation and posterity is due such honour.

Sadly, the next verse in our discussion shows that we do sometimes freely give to the devil. It is in our flesh (e.g. old man, sin nature) that we are much like our first parent- Adam, who freely gave his authority over to the devil. Adam put up no fight nor resistance. Unfortunately, sometimes neither do we. Remember, Satan is the great deceiver and he wants from you only what God deserves and he'll stop at nothing to get it!

Let's take a deeper look at this...

The very next verse in our discussion is Ephesians 4:27 - Neither give place to the devil. It's actually a continuation of verse 26; connected in English Bibles by a colon. Moreover, in the original Greek text these two verses disclose one complete thought about anger. Therefore, the entire thought may read like this: "When you get angry, do not sin. Don't allow the sun (literal or figurative) to set while still fuming with anger. Doing this will give the devil opportunity to do as he pleases." Two of the first things that jumps out in this verse is the word "give" then "to the devil". Why would the great Apostle Paul be talking to believers about giving anything to the devil other than a rebuke! In fact, this is the only place in the Bible where it specifically states that we give something to the devil. Now don't go overboard, we should know that all sin is a treat for Satan, because he's the father of sin. As such, it's apparent that he gets pleasure out of all sin. Nonetheless, in this verse it is clear who's giving, what the gift is, and who's receiving the gift. Moreover, by further study of this verse along with other scriptures on anger we can clearly see what the devil's plan is for using the gift. Let's go even deeper into this...

What does it mean to 'give place to the devil'?
(1) The original Greek word for 'give' means: to offer, to bestow, to deliver, to allow, to place, or to grant.
(2) The original Greek word for 'place' means: an opportunity, a room, a seat, a region, a spot, a license, a location, an occasion, a condition, or a plain. It is the word topos' where we derive the English word topography or landscape.

Therefore, the message of the verse is this: Unjust anger and the retaining of it is a gift or an offering for the devil. It sets a stage or atmosphere for him to propose ideas against someone or yourself even. Think about how easy it is to think negatively about someone when you're angry with them. Depending on how angry you are it wouldn't take much for you to act out on those ideas.

Consider this, Satan is a thief by deception and deception is always a trick. Deception causes you to believe a lie in the presence of truth. Remember Eve? Think about it. When angry, you know what you're doing. The problem is that the sin of unjust anger deceives you into thinking that your response is fitting for the offense against you. In an instant, you actually believe that the offender deserves your response in whatever form it comes. You know you're retaliating. All the while, God is softly whispering to you His will for handling the offense. This is a hard saying, but true: In that instant, you're actually demonstrating more faith in Satan's advice than God's.

With our first parents, Adam and Eve, the scriptures record that Eve was deceived, but not Adam. This is one of the reasons why Adam was ultimately held responsible for the fall of man - he knew that he was sinning against God at the time of the sin. Since we're discussing the sin of unjust anger, ask yourself, how many times have you held on to anger; knowing that God wanted you to release it? How many times has God spoken to you about forgiveness through some avenue and you still held on to the offense? This is willful sin, like according to Adam. But don't be so quick to let Eve off the hook either. Her sin also required punishment on her. If she did not sin, then she wouldn't have received an individual punishment. It would've been Adam alone. She had allowed herself to be deceived when she had the truth in the first place. So when you know you should release anger and allow yourself to be deceived into justification of it, it is sin like unto Eve.

Now, back to this gift that unjust anger provides to Satan. Let's do some contrasting. With God, any gift from us provided to Him is considered worship. In the general assemby of the church, monetary tithes and offerings are worship acts toward God. Moreover, with our praise, we set an atmosphere for Him to inhabit so we can worship. For the scripture declares that He inhabits the praises of His people. In essence, we establish a spot or environment for Him to abide and be comfortable. Within this atmosphere God can bless and prosper His people accordingly. He appreciates this invitation to fellowship with His people. god has always desired to dwell among His people.

Unfortunately, according to this verse, unjust anger also establishes a spot or creates an atmosphere for the devil. As with God it is an open invitation for Satan to press his claim on you and through you on someone else. He desires to attack from within. Did you get that? As God has blessed you within your human spirit. Satan also desires to attack you and others from within. Of course, believers can't be demon possessed but they can be demonically influenced. Satan cannot create, but you can. Satan uses human agents to do his bidding just as God. The difference is, Satan doesn't ask, he undermines your understanding and pressures you to do evil. God, on the other hand, desires that you serve Him because of your love for Him--no pressure applied. Have you ever noticed that anger produces pressure? It is good initially for self-defensive purposes. As a matter of fact God gifted man with the ability to get angry (See Part I). To get release. To defend a right cause. However, it is just like the devil to take something God made good and pervert it. The point is clear here: Unjust anger is Satan's environment or atmospheres to produce evil. He needs you to be angry without just cause, to an evil extent, and for a prolonged period. This is his stage. In this atmosphere, Satan can suggests the most evil ideas, of which you never would've thought if your anger was held in check.

Final part - Part V coming next week...