Elijah #25 When God is Provoked to Anger

"Be ye angry, and sin not" is a command from the Lord found in Ephesians 4:26. A Christian who is angry and yet does not sin is a Christian who hates what God hates and loves what God loves. The holy anger of a Christian is a disapproval and disgust with sin and rebellion against the Lord and His commandments (beginning with the sin and rebellion in this Christian). A holy anger is not a proud or vindictive anger. It is not an anger that is out of control. It is under the control of the Holy Spirit.
You see, dear ones, a Christian cannot be neutral about sin and its temptation. Apathy toward sin is itself a sin, for the Lord is not indifferent and apathetic to sin. He hates and loathes sin. And though we who are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ are forever loved and forgiven by our gracious and merciful Father, let us not for one moment think that God, therefore, loves our transgression of His holy commandments, condones, or excuses it. He doesn't excuse it, but He does mercifully forgive your sin through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
In our text this Lord's Day, we shall see how wicked King Ahaziah of Israel provoked God to anger by his unrepentant sin and rebellion against the holy commandments of the Lord. Yes, God was angry with a holy anger (Psalm 7:11). The main points from our text are the following: (1) When God Is Provoked to Anger, the Enemy Gains Territory (2 Kings 1:1); (2) When God Is Provoked to Anger, Health and Life Are Taken Away (2 Kings 1:2a); (3) When God Is Provoked to Anger, Deception Blinds One to the Truth (2 Kings 1:2b-8).