Griping, Complaining, & Murmuring (part 1)

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Turn in your Bibles.

We're going through the book of Philippians.

Boy, it's been good.

You know, I was enjoying this book unbelievably till this section.

I have, this is the hardest.

I really didn't want to preach this message this morning.

And not only did I not really want to preach it, I really didn't want to preach part one and part two.

It's a two-part message.

When I was going through, I preached, when I preached through expositionally a book, I do it in paragraphs.

In fact, what you don't realize, when they originally wrote the Word of God, they wrote it in paragraphs.

And if you have a Bible, most of your good study Bibles are broken up in paragraphs because they have a little topic over each little paragraph.

Well, that's a paragraph.

So if you're an expositional preacher, then you preach through paragraphs.

And sometimes you can preach more than one paragraph, but if you really want to get the meat, you usually do.

And now one paragraph's, you know, anywhere from six to eight, ten more verses, twelve verses, something like that.

So anyway, I in this next section, chapter two in the book of Philippians, verses 12 through basically 18 was the next paragraph.

I'd already kind of worked on the outline, already had it ready.

And I will just go with you and I'll show how God showed me some things that are unbelievable.

And I'm going to tell you, folks, there's not one of us in here that's not guilty of what you're going to hear today and next week.

We're all guilty.

And the sad thing about it is we're all guilty three and four and five times a day.

Multiple offenses.

So, and I all I can do is I hope this keeps us from let's put it, maybe we can cut that griping and complaining down a little bit.

A lot.

Amen?

Because there's not a griper and complainer that's not sitting in here.

On count of three, we'll say, Oh me together.

One, two, three.

Oh me.

Okay?

So in this passage, Paul is writing, and he says in verse 12, Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only.

In other words, you're living out your salvation, not just because I'm there and helping you and discipling you, but I'm in jail hundreds of miles away, hey, from Philippi, and yet I still hear how dynamically you are living your Christian life.

So he's excited.

And then he goes on.

But now much more is my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

That doesn't mean you work for your salvation.

What that means is the salvation that's in you is working outwardly.

It's evidences of your salvation, because we know not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy, he has saved us, Titus 2.5.

Okay?

So, and then he goes on and he says, For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

So we see he's talking about the first works.

He's talking about six different types of works here.

That's what I was really going to preach on.

And the first work was to work out our own salvation, that deliverance with fear and crimping.

In other words, to be a dynamic, passionate, visible illustration and example of what's in you.

That's what it means.

Then the second work is to work at obedience, to work out the stirrings of God within the heart.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good place.

In other words, you're excited about God's Holy Spirit dwelling in you and showing you new truths that you live, and hey, and giving you promises and giving you, hey, not just promises, but giving you direction and firing you up to be an influencer wherever God's placed you.

You're being obedient and working out that salvation in you by being obedient.

Then verse 14 pops up.

Do all things, the third work, without mummering and disputing.

And I just jumped it real quick.

I say, good, yeah, we, yeah, well, yeah, yeah, we do that, but okay.

Verse 15.

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine his lights in the world.

The fourth work was to be pure, blameless, sincere, without fault.

In other words, people look at you and they see Christ's likeness.

And then he goes on and he says, verse 16, holding forth the word of life that I may.

In fact, the fifth work here is to work at witnessing, holding forth the word of life, rejoicing in the day of Christ that I've not run in vain, neither labored.

In other words, you've been that light that's set on a hill that cannot be hid.

And then the sixth work was to follow the example of sacrificial labor.

Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with all you.

For the same cause also did ye joy and rejoice with me.

In other words, it's just sacrificially giving of your time, your talents, and your treasures.

You're just passionately in love with Christ and laboring for Christ.

I said, man, this is gonna be a great message.

And the Holy Spirit says, go back to verse 14.

I said, Do I have to?

He said, I want you to do a word study on the word murmuring and disputing.

I said, I really don't want to do that, Lord.

Save that for another time.

He said, No.

Literally, I could not move.

So the title of the message this morning, part one, is The Cause the Causes of Murmuring, Griping, and Complaining.

And then part two next week will be the consequences.

This is tough.

We might ought to have an invitation before I start.

I'm not joking.

Why do people gripe, complain, and mummer?

By the way, does everyone have an outline?

Anyone that does not have an outline, I want you to walk out of here with this outline so you can study it.

Put it in your Bible.

It will help us immensely.

Anyone that does not have one.

Okay, right here, Amy up front.

Bob.

That's the way to put you on the puff spot.

Why do people gripe, complain, and mumber?

Well, the Bible gives us a number of answers.

Number one, because of distressful, overwhelming circumstances, danger, sickness, setbacks, shortages, inconveniences, and death can overwhelm us, leading to griping, complaining.

And here's the first thing we say Why me, Lord?

What have I ever done?

I mean, and I'm talking about for good people, not just lost people.

In fact, I'm convinced this is probably the number one sin of Christians.

The more I've studied this, this is the number one sin, griping and complaining.

And the sad thing about it, sometimes we don't even know we're doing it.

Exodus chapter 16, verses 2 and 3, and verses 7 and 8.

Exodus 16:2

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And the children of Israel said unto them, Why would God, oh, he said, Would to God have died, we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread to the full?

For ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hungry.

In other words, they literally said, It'd been better off if we'd stayed in Egypt, where at least we were full, we had plenty of bread to eat, than you to bring us out here and kill us by starving us to death.

Two million grumblers.

Wow.

But now notice what Moses says in verse 7.

He said, Okay, you want bread.

You want a lot of bread.

Well, in the morning, then you shall see the glory of the Lord, for that he heareth your mumming.

Underline that.

Or put that down.

When you murmur, guess who hears it?

Hello.

Against the Lord.

Uh-oh, and this murmuring, they thought it was against Moses and Aaron.

They were upset with Moses because he's the leader.

But notice what he says.

He says, You're really not upset about me.

You're not complaining about me.

You're complaining about the Lord.

And what are we that ye murmur against us?

And then look at what he said in verse 8.

And Moses said, This shall be what the Lord shall give you in the evening, flesh to eat, which he did.

He sent quail, and in the morning bread to the full.

In other words, you're going to have all the bread you can eat and be full of.

You'll be so full of it, you're tired of it.

For that the Lord heareth, uh-oh, your murmuring, which ye mummer against who?

Him.

And what are we?

Your murmurings are not against us.

He says, it's not me.

I'm just following what God says me to do.

You are complaining and murmuring and griping against God.

And oh, he's gonna hear you, all right.

He's gonna hear you.

He's gonna give you sweet pastries in the morning.

I don't understand when I get to heaven, I want to talk to the Israelites.

Bakery, sweet pastries every day.

Woo! I'm in.

I'm in.

And and white quail meat at night, I'm in.

But yet they complained and grumbled.

Same oh, same oh.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, listen to what Psalm 77, 3 says.

I remember God and was troubled.

I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.

The word trouble there comes from the Hebrew word Hama, which means to mumber, to cry out loud, to be at rage, to make noise, to be in an uproar, the feelings of being overwhelmed or covered or surrounded by trouble.

It has a tendency to make us start mummering and griping because we don't know what to do.

And we see this here.

Listen to what Job said.

My soul is weary of my life.

I will leave my complaint upon myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Distress can knock the wind out of every one of us.

And we start complaining and griping.

God wants us to counter these feelings, watch, of discouragement by focusing on his power and his promises.

How do we overcome that?

How do we keep from complaining and griping and mourning and disputing?

In fact, those words we'll look at in a minute are powerful words.

The word for mourning is the Greek word gugumas.

And it means displeasure.

It means to have that discontentment in your heart.

And then the other word, disputing, is the Greek word dialogamas.

And it means it means to have such a discontentment and argumentative spirit against something.

But we overcome that through what?

His power and promise.

Listen to what he says in Hebrews 13.5.

Let your conversation, your behavior, be without covetousness.

And be content.

There's the key opposite word, with such things as ye have.

For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

God says, I will not fail thee, I will not let go of you, I will not leave you helpless.

Can I get an amen?

That's what God says.

Psalms 55, 22 says, casting all your burdens upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.

He shall never, watch, he will never suffer the righteous to be moved.

He will not let you go under for the last count.

You may go under for nine, but he'll not let you go under for ten.

Can I get an amen?

It may seem that way, but that's Satan casting all your cares upon him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5, 7.

Notice the second thing.

Discontentment leads to murmuring.

Remember, Judas?

Discontentment.

When you're discontented, that means you're not satisfied with who you are or what you have.

That's what discontentment means.

You're not satisfied with who you are and what you have.

Hey, Judas was never content as long as he was with the disciples and the Lord.

In fact, Judas was selfish, and it was all about Judas and not Christ and his mission.

How do you know that?

Look at what he says in Mark 14, 10.

And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priest to betray him unto them.

Judas wanted power, wealth, and prestige.

As I studied and as I was going through and looking at Judas when I was working on this message, there was nothing spiritual about Judas.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Remember when the lady came and started, hey, pouring the perfume and washing Jesus' feet with her hair.

Remember that?

Judas had a tyrant, unbelievable, upsetting, mummering, disputing example.

He just started mummering and disputing.

Let me show it to you.

Look at John 12, verses 4 through 6.

John 12:4–6

Then saith one of his disciples, Judas the scarab, Simon's son, which should betray him.

Why was not this ointment, this ointment, sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?

This he said, not that he cared for the poor.

That's important you understand that.

But because he was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein.

How?

He was trying to be spiritual.

Oh, now we're not talking about a day's wages.

We're talking about a year's wages was poured on Jesus' feet.

A year's wages.

That's a lot of money.

And hey, Judas said, wait a minute, why are you doing that?

Why are we allowing that to happen?

We need that money for the poor.

Baloney, he wanted the money in the purse so he could be stealing from the purse.

Which we know he did.

It's all about him.

All about his pocketbook.

But he made it sound spiritual.

He made his griping and complaining sound spiritual.

Anybody like that?

Hello.

I'm guilty.

Made it sound spiritual.

God's solution to our discontent is to be content with what he has given us and our present situation in life.

Ali Hafed was a man who owned a beautiful farm in Africa.

He met his buddy, and his buddy said, Have you heard about these discovering of these diamond mines?

Now he he was a very wealthy man at this time.

Very wealthy.

But because he had heard that the people that were discovering these mines, they were ten times more wealthy than he was.

He decided to sell his farm and go try to strike it rich and buy a gold mine.

So he did.

A diamond, I'm sorry, diamond mine.

And he did.

The only problem was after 15 to 20 years, he got so depressed because he had sold everything he had and basically had come down to nothing and not found any diamonds or struck any mines that had diamonds in it.

He killed himself.

And right after he killed himself, the guy that had bought Hafed's farm was watering his camel there in a brook on the farm, and he saw this brilliant, look like a shiny rock and rainbow, and he reached down and picked it up, and it ended up being one of the largest diamonds ever discovered.

He had one of the largest diamond mines on his own property, but yet he sold it to go find something he thought bigger and better and more important.

He lost what he had because he wanted more, not realizing he had all the wealth he could have ever asked for in his own property.

Ladies and gentlemen, a lot of times we have all the wealth we need if we would just learn to be content with who we are and what we have.

Amen?

Amen.

So we see again.

The third thing that brings this griping and mummering.

Dread of fear leads to griping.

When people panic and they drastically change.

Fear has a great power in changing the personality of a person.

Fear will test the faith and beliefs of individuals like no other thing.

I want to show you again, nation Israel.

Look at Numbers 14, verses 1 through 4.

Numbers 14:1–4

They're out in the wilderness.

And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.

And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt?

Or would God we had died in the wilderness?

And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be prayed, taken captive.

Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.

Mm-hmm.

They were afraid.

The armies, the big giants, they're there.

They're gonna, Pharaoh's army's pressing down on them from the backside.

They got the Red Sea in front of them.

They don't know what to do.

And now they're griping, they're complaining.

They said, we just need to get rid of Moses and get us another leader.

God's solution for us is not to be afraid and trust Him.

If you remember, Moses stands up in Numbers 14, verses 13 and 14, and he says, if in his exact words, it really translates in the Hebrew, if you will stand still and quit griping and complaining, you'll see the salvation of God.

Numbers 14:13

And he raised the rod and parted the sea.

Wow.

Wow.

What an unbelievable insight.

Listen to what Isaiah said.

Isaiah 41, verse 10.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear thou not, for I am with thee.

Be not dismayed.

That word means be discouraged.

For I am thy God, I will strengthen thee.

Yea, I will help thee.

I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Hallelujah.

For God's not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1 7.

For the righteous are bold as a lion.

We don't have to cowerly down.

Amen.

We don't have to gripe and complain.

Because God's with us.

God's with us.

Number four, a divisive argumentative attitude leads to complaining and strife.

Oh, oh, oh.

Guilty.

Susan and I sometimes have this part.

We like not argumentative.

We just discuss.

No, it's argumentative.

Because we both think we're right.

And we don't give in sometimes.

Anybody else like that?

I just put my dirty laundry out there.

Could somebody help me?

Huh?

Anybody else like that?

Granny, thank you.

Where is David?

He slipped out.

He knew what we were preaching, didn't he?

He's in the overflow, probably.

Can y'all say, oh, me in the overflow, please?

Anybody, let's let me ask that question one more time.

Anyone in here argumentative?

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Yes.

This kind of attitude.

And by the way, this kind of attitude destroys homes.

Hey, it destroys churches.

It destroys relationships.

It destroys.

That's what it does.

That's what Satan uses to destroy us.

God forbid.

Amen?

It's pride.

We want what we want.

We don't care what anybody else wants.

It destroys relationships between parents and children and pastors and church members.

It's horrible.

It's horrible.

It is said of when the British and the French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s.

There's a great British Admiral, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet at the time.

He was ordered to go into Quebec off the shores of Quebec and wait on the foot soldiers to get in.

And when the foot soldiers got to Quebec, he would start supplementing and protecting them and helping them by firing the cannonballs into the city.

So it would be an easier for the uh infantry to walk into the city.

Well, he got there early for about four or five days early, and something annoyed him.

He saw this beautiful cathedral with all these saint statues all around the cathedral.

And he was, you know, he was atheist and antagonistic of anything of God.

So what he started to do, he said, hey, let's start bombarding the cathedral.

Let's shoot those saints.

And for hours he bombarded the cathedral to the point that when the army, the British Army, got to Quebec ready to enter in, hey, he couldn't support them because he had fired all these cannonballs at the saints.

I thought to myself, is that not typical that a lot of us Christians, we spend more time shooting at each other than the enemy.

Husband and wise, we spend more time shooting at each other than coming together and building our homes.

God forgive us.

Amen.

God forgive us for that.

God help us not to do that.

Unbelievable.

Proverbs 26, verse 20 and 21.

Proverbs 26:20

Watch this.

Where no wood is, uh-oh, there the fire goes out.

So where there is no tail bearer, the strife ceases.

The problem is we can't we just keep the wood right out of that mouth.

There goes a big log.

It goes.

Kindling.

Yeah.

No, it's more than kindling.

As coals are to burning coals and wood to fire.

So is a contentious man.

Ladies, he said a contentious man.

By the way, there's another passage in there that says contentious woman.

So we're both guilty.

Can I get an amen?

To kindle strife.

Wow.

Wow.

Look at what scripture teaches.

The person with a divisive spirit has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words.

In other words, they love it.

They love to argue.

They love to prove their point.

Arguing gets you and me nowhere.

Can I get an amen?

Nowhere.

Nowhere.

So what you win the argument, but you lose your family.

So what you win the argument, but you lose your job.

Hello?

So what?

You win the argument, but you destroy your church.

And lose your friends.

And lose your friends.

That's right.

What?

What is it worth it?

It's not worth it.

God's solution to a divisive spirit, here it is, is control of your tongue.

Hello.

I want us to all say this together.

Lord, here's what I want to say.

Lord, help me control my tongue.

Can we say that together?

Lord, help me.

Psalms 39, verse 1.

Psalms 39:1

Here it is.

The psalmist said, I said, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue.

Mmm.

I have memorized that verse this week.

I have memorized that verse.

Lord, I take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue.

Mmm.

I will keep my mouth with a bridle.

Anybody notice what a bridle does?

You horse riders?

While the wicked is before me.

In other words, I will take that bridle, and when I'm thinking about saying something that I shouldn't say, or being argumentative, or being complaining, I go.

I've been doing that all week.

Granny, I'm not getting any shaking this morning.

Really?

Right?

It's terrible.

I mean, I have, I hadn't, I've been the quietest all week I've been a long time.

Proverbs 17, 14, the beginning of strife is as when one lets out water.

Therefore, leave off contention before it meddled, hey, meddles with, before it meddles with.

Now let me tell you what that word contention there means.

Controversy and disputes.

Now here's what that means.

The smallest break in a dam sets loose an uncontrollable flood force.

What he's saying is when that little tongue starts disputing and arguing and gossiping and backbiting, it can start something that cannot be controlled.

Now that's destructive.

Wow.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

I like the soft answer of Charles Spurgeon.

Greatest evangelist ever lived.

One day a man met Spurgeon on the street, took off his hat, bowed, and said to the Reverend, Mr.

Spurgeon.

He took his hat off and he said, Oh, great humbog.

Spurgeon stopped for a minute.

Didn't say a word and then he said, Thank you, sir.

I'm glad to know that I'm great at something.

He didn't retaliate.

He didn't retaliate.

Winston Churchill, one of my favorite leaders.

He was sitting at a big banquet and two men behind him said, Hey, hey, that's Winston Churchill up there.

You know, the rumor's out he's gone senile.

The rumor is he ought to step aside and let some more younger leaders take over and lead Great Britain.

After the ceremony, Winston Churchill, the man of character that he was, that saved the West.

Germany could not invade England because of Winston Churchill.

He turned to those men and he said in a loving way, oh, by the way, they say that Mr.

Churchill is deaf.

What an answer.

What a soft answer.

Amen.

Amen.

Sometimes it just has to come in one ear and out the other.

Amen.

And even though you're sitting there and you're ready, huh?

Bridal.

Bridal.

I think I'm going to get us all a bridle.

Amen.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.

Proverbs 15, 1.

Wow.

Number five, dirtiness, carnality, lust, sensuality, which we are filled with it in America today, leads to griping.

1 Corinthians 3, 3.

For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?

James 4, 1 and 2, from whence come wars and fightings among you.

Come they not hence, even of your lust that war in your members, ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain.

Ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Carnality breeds criticalness and complaining.

You know what I've learned?

A carnal ministry will attract carnal people.

Hello.

Our carnal ministry will attract carnal people.

Praise God.

We want to be a spirit-filled ministry.

When somebody starts to say something negative and complaining and dispute, bridal! Boom.

No, I don't want to hear it.

By the way, it takes two to continue a conversation.

Amen.

You can stop it.

You can stop it.

You can walk away.

You can stop it.

Or let me tell you what I do.

When somebody starts, gets ready to talk about somebody else in front of me.

You know what I do?

I say, for example, Melvin's gonna talk about Ty.

I say, Melvin, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Have you talked to Ty first?

Well, no.

Okay.

Let's call him.

Let's call him.

Let's talk.

Let's go have lunch with him.

Let's work this out together so Satan can't get the victory.

Can I get an Amen?

So Satan can't start a fire or or start a leak that ends up with a force that cannot be controlled.

Amen.

That's the way you do it.

That's the way you do it.

You start to talk about the pastor, say, wait a minute, let me call Pastor Danny.

I'll show up, I'll guarantee you I'll come.

Or we can put me on speakerphone.

I won't call the names, but I had a pastor tell me that he called me in another city and said, I heard you were saying this about our church.

I thought to myself, now why would I want to do that?

I'm two and a half hours away from him.

What what good would I do that?

He's a younger pastor.

I said, first of all, I called him by name.

I said, you're really out of order here.

Because if you're going to bring an acquisition against your pastor, 1 Timothy 5, you need a couple of witnesses.

I said, but let me ask you one question.

You said this, did when who did you say this to?

He said, Well, I told it to my deacons.

I said, How many deacons you got?

He said, 25.

I said, Do you realize before you got home that night everybody in the town knew it?

Not me.

I said, but I'll tell you what I did.

I'll do.

Those two deacons that said they heard that I said, I'll come to Chattanooga right now.

We'll have lunch.

I'll look them face to face.

Or get them on the phone.

We'll do a conference call right now.

No, no, no, I can't do that.

I can't do that.

I said, Well, this conversation's over.

He said, Well, then he started back.

But Dr.

Love it, I maybe I jumped too quick.

I said, Maybe you did.

Maybe you did.

I said, I love you, son.

But hey, you better learn a lesson early in your ministry.

Because it will come back to bite you.

Amen.

Amen.

And it is so, so true.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things should be added unto you.

The late 19th century, John Wanamaker, one of the largest stores, uh dry goods stores in the world back in 1916 in Philadelphia.

Listen to this.

You've got to remember the name if you study history.

John Wanamaker.

He was also postmaster general of the United States.

At the same time, he served as superintendent for what was the largest Sunday school in the world at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

When someone asked him how he could hold all these positions at once, he explained.

Early in my life, my godly parents taught me, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto me.

He said, The Sunday school is my business.

These other things, the other things are other things.

But the Sunday school's my business.

Wow.

Wow.

It was evident he had built a safe room in his store in Philadelphia there on Broad Street.

Where he would go soundproof every day for 30 minutes and just pray.

Every day.

What a man.

John Wanamaker.

Number six.

By the way, praying to keep us from mummering.

Can I get an amen?

Let me let me tell what I've asked the Lord to help me do this week.

It's working.

It's working.

Okay, this is what I've learned this week.

Because even after studying these scriptures, the temptation is so overbearing sometimes and overwhelming.

When I start to think about mummering about somebody, the Lord's taught me, I start, instead of mummering about Sam, which I haven't, maybe a little bit.

For me to pray about Sam.

Pray for Sam.

Pray for Ty.

Pray for Melvin.

Amen.

Pray for my wife.

You know when your wife gets aggravated aggravates you sometimes and you just want to bridle.

Or if you can't bridle, say, Lord, I love my wife.

Thank you for giving me my wife.

She is so sweet, so pretty.

She helps me so much.

And I am so self-seeking, so prideful that sometimes I don't even see what I have.

Amen.

Amen.

Can I tell you something?

Grass is not always greener on the other side.

Amen.

Next point.

Which where what shall where am I?

Am I in number six?

Okay.

Number six.

Disdain, hatred, bitterness, scorn, anger leads to mummering, conflict.

I mean hatred and bitterness.

And by the way, let me tell you what happens.

If you keep mummering, it builds up into bitterness.

If you don't deal with it.

Amen?

And listen to what the scripture says.

Proverbs 10 12.

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.

Proverbs 22, 10, powerful verse.

Most people don't even know it's in there.

Cast out the scorner and contention shall go out.

That's why you can't allow in a church, in a home, in a business, a negative person to keep on and on and on, griping, complaining, gossiping, spreading slander.

It has to be dealt with.

It has to be dealt with.

Hopefully dealt with in a loving way so that they repent, come back into the fellowship.

But if not, then they have to go.

Hello.

They have to.

Because if not, you're going to blow up the whole thing.

So that's why it's so important.

So important.

Proverbs 29, 22, an angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgressions.

God's solution is to forgive your offenders.

It's to come to the point and forgive them.

But hey, but and listen, you ask for forgiveness.

Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

Ephesians 4, 31 and 32.

Number seven, pride or self-seeking leads to complaining.

When people have to be number one in thirst for prestige and power and the limelight, which Judas and Scarit's a great example of that, they tend to be very difficult to be around.

Critical people.

Listen, by the way, let me tell you how bad this is and how we're dealing with serious.

Look at Luke 22.

It was even among the disciples.

I'm talking about not, hey, I'm talking about the other 11.

It was even among the disciples.

Look at what it says in Luke 22, 24.

And there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest.

So if it's among the leaven, I meant we're talking about the chosen eleven.

How will it not be among us?

Oh, it's so true, isn't it?

Isn't it?

And you know what I've learned?

The older I get, sometimes that doesn't get better.

Sometimes we we get older, we get set in our ways, and it's harder for us to change.

Hello?

Hello?

We kind of get, it's all about me.

Don't care about you.

What I deserve.

The me syndrome.

It's all about me.

Well, no, it's not.

It's not about me.

It's about him.

Amen.

And what he wants.

God's solution for people who have a problem with selfishness is to deny themselves and glorify Christ.

What did John say?

Remember John and Paul, both of them, two of the greatest patriarchs in the New Testament.

What did John say?

I must decrease so that he may increase.

What did Paul say?

1 Corinthians 1.31, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Not me.

Not me.

It's not about me.

Proverbs 13.10, you got to see this.

Only pride breeds contention.

What causes this argumentation, what causes this mummering, this griping, this complaining is one word.

Say it with me.

Pride.

Only pride, only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised wisdom.

In other words, they know how to bridle the tongue to well-advise.

Number eight, desires for things of the world lead to murmuring and grief.

Let's go back to the Israelites.

Verse Numbers 11, 4 through 6, and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting.

And the children of Israel also wept again and said, We shall give, hey, who shall give us flesh to eat?

We remember the fish, hey, which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.

Woo! I'm hungry.

But now our soul is dried away.

There is nothing at all besides the manna before my eyes.

Now remember, they were complaining about no bread.

They have all the bread they can eat now, and now they're complaining about the bread.

Wow.

Israel became ungrateful for what God had given them.

Now watch.

Because they were focused on what they did not have.

They became ungrateful because they were focusing on what they did not have.

This is going to help us.

We get in a complaining, murmuring attitude because we look at what other people have and we start saying that's not fair.

So we start focusing on what we don't have instead of being grateful for what we do have.

Thankfulness cures mummering and disputing.

Can I get an amen?

Thankfulness definitely cures murmuring and disputing.

How do you do that?

Colossians 3 1 and 2.

If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are birth, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your mind, your affections on things above and not on things of the earth.

Number nine, dissatisfaction and ingratitude lead to complaining.

Hmm.

Let's go back to the Israelites again, Numbers 21, verses 5 and 6.

Numbers 21:5

And the people spake against God.

There it is, and against Moses.

Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?

For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loathed us.

In other words, it's just warning, warning.

This light bread, and in verse 6, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.

Let me tell you something.

You can complain to a point where God gets fed up, you better look out.

Amen.

He finally had enough.

And he will get our attention.

He will get your attention.

He'll get my attention.

Amen.

Because he's been so gracious and so loving and so kind.

And all you do is gripe and complain.

Enough's enough.

Man, it kind of got my attention here.

Because he says, when you stop counting your blessings, you forget about them.

Let me repeat that.

When you quit counting your blessings, you forget about them.

You become dissatisfied with what you got.

Mm-mm.

Psalm 68, verse 19.

Psalms 68:19

Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.

You need to memorize that verse, folks.

That's one of my favorites.

Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits.

Even the God of our salvation.

Can we just say thank you, Jesus, for our benefits?

Come on.

Thank you, Jesus, for our benefits.

Let's say this.

Thank you for blessing me, Lord.

Thank you for blessing me, Lord.

We're all sitting here.

We're healthy.

We're fixing to get here up in a few minutes and go eat some of the best meatloaf you'll ever put in your mouth.

Can I say thank you, Jesus?

Amen.

You're listening to me, folks.

We are blessed.

Don't worry about what you don't have.

Be thankful for what you do have.

Amen.

And I've got news for you.

You use it for his blessings and you be given the hospitality.

Be a giver.

And just use it.

Nothing I by the way, let me just go to say something right here about me and Susan.

Everything we have, we do not own it.

We are just stewards.

God owns it all.

Guess what?

If you don't own it, if you lose it, it's not too bad.

Amen.

You're just a steward.

What is tough?

I love you.

I love you so much.

This is tough.

He gives you something to be a steward of, and you're not being a good steward, you may not keep it.

He may give it to someone else that's a better steward.

You say, now wait a minute, is that biblical?

Absolutely.

The parable of the talents.

You better believe it.

Amen.

And you know what?

I just don't want him to take something from me and give it to Darren.

I want to use everything God's given me to pay for his honor and his glory.

Now let me put it on the other hand.

If you're being a good steward and you're using everything for his glory, guess what?

He may take some from somebody that's not and give it to you.

It works both ways.

Hey.

If he's gonna give it to you.

Faith has to be trust.

Hey, faith has to be tested before it can be trusted.

Wow.

Wow.

Somebody say that's good, preacher.

That's good, preacher.

That's hurting, isn't it?

I understand.

Lamentations 3.

Oh, you're gonna have a spell on this one.

22 and 25.

It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because of his compassions fell not.

Can I get an amen?

We don't get what we deserved.

If we got what we deserve, and you're gonna see this in a minute, we ought to go to hell.

Thank God for his compassion.

Say this with me.

Thank you, Lord, for your compassions.

They are new every morning.

Great is our faithfulness.

Say this with me, church.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

New every morning.

Great is our faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul.

Therefore, will I hope in him?

Say this with me.

Lord, I hope in you.

Lord, I hope in you.

That's it.

It's not your things.

It's not your materialism.

It's not your job.

It's him.

He provided that job.

I'm convinced I've lived my life this way.

Everywhere we've gone.

We were talking about this last night.

We were talking to Josh, David's nephew's here.

Possibly looking at him as a pardon?

His nephew's friend.

Why did I say his nephew?

Thank you.

But anyway, possibly looking at him coming on as an intern.

But but we were talking about this last night.

What is it?

What is it?

We've got to be faithful.

We've got to understand what God is doing in our hearts.

And we were talking about, um, we were talking about he's this close to getting engaged.

And it's a secret.

It was.

Well, she doesn't know who we are.

She's in a whole nother state, and I won't call the state.

Okay.

But anyway, the key to the key I was talking to y'all.

Telephone.

Telephone, telegraph, teledanny.

Okay.

That's all right.

All right.

Y'all are making me lose my point.

Please hang with me.

All right.

Listen, listen.

But I was saying, we've moved, what, three times in our life?

I mean, just boom.

And every time I've turned to Susan, I've said, God, I know, honey, I prayed through this.

And we've talked.

I said, it's time to go.

We just got to go.

And not one time has she said, well, I don't want to go.

I don't think that's for the Lord.

Well, she did about the SURPRO.

Me buying a SURPRO.

That she did.

But but I didn't buy a SERPRO.

But she just said, Let's go.

Let's go.

My hope is in God.

My hope's in Christ.

I'd rather be obedient, hey, serving him out in nowhere than disobedient with everything the world has to offer.

Because you're miserable and you're disquieted, you're dissatisfied, and you're mummering, grumbling, and you are living a terrible life.

And you're living in fear, discontentment, and discouragement.

People who complain don't get all that they deserve, should be thankful that we don't get what we deserve.

And that's hell.

As I ended up, I gotta, I was reading, man, this has been so good.

Well, it hadn't been good, but it's been enlightening.

Let me show you where our expectation could come from.

This is powerful.

Here's another great verse.

Psalm 62, 5, Jeremy.

My expectation is not in Susan.

My expectation is not in you as much as I love you and I do anything for you.

Okay?

But my expectation is in him.

My soul waiteth out only upon God for my expectation is from him.

If you'll put your expectations in him and not man, when that preacher lets you down, or that person lets you down, that hey, your mate lets you down, your brother lets you down, your sister, your children, your boss.

When your expectation is in him and not them, you won't fall to the point that you can't get back up.

Does that make sense, folks?

As much as it hurts you, you can get back up.

Because your expectation's not in man.

We're gonna mess up every time.

Every one of us will disappoint each other.

But he never disappoints us.

Can I get an amen?

Can I get an amen?

He's my hope.

He's my blessedness.

He's my security.

He's my salvation.

He's my deliverance.

About this time of Sylvester's here, he would be on, he's on call today.

He'd be saying, Teach, teach.

That's it.

My soul, my expectations in him.

All right.

I was reading about the journey of the Oregon Trail.

I'd like to do that.

I'd like to do it though on a motorcycle convertible.

I'd like to do the way they went.

I really would like to do that.

It's just unbelievable.

A party of pioneers, listen this, uh, that were traveling from the east to the west, big wagon train.

They had uh stopped, they had had wagon problems, they were lacking of water, grass for all the animals.

There was a feeling of fretfulness and futility prevailed, optimism and cheer was gone, courage was limited, and then so they called for a meeting.

We want to have a meeting tonight to complain.

That's basically what they did.

They said to air their grievances.

Let me tell you what that means.

That's a complaining-griping session.

Okay?

I'm not going to those.

No, no, not gonna go.

But when they gathered, everybody's around, one man stood up and said, Before we commence our grief session, don't you think we should at least first thank God that he has brought us this far with no loss of life, with no serious trouble from the Indians, and that we have enough strength left to finish our journey.

There was a total silence.

You could hear some sniffing, crying, saying, thank you, Lord.

We're sorry.

Thank you, Lord.

We're sorry, thank you, Lord.

We're sorry.

When they realized what they did have, no loss of life, no Indian attacks, they had food to eat, they said, Thank you, Lord.

Guess what?

When the moderator got up and said, now, let's begin the session, not one person said a word.

They all went back to their wagons.

I thought about that.

They suddenly realized if they couldn't be satisfied with what they had received, they could at least, at least be thankful for what they had escaped.

Wow.

That's powerful.

Last thing, and I'm through.

Disbelief or lack of faith and confidence in God's way, will, and wisdom leads to mummering.

Numbers 11:1, and when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

Numbers 11:1

Grumbling, complaining, griping displeases the Lord.

Did you get that, church?

That'll help us.

That'll help us.

It's not about who's right, because he's always right.

Amen.

Amen.

And we see that right here.

God's solution for unbelief is to put your life in the Lord's hands.

Darren quoted a while ago.

Trust, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, you know it.

Quote it with me.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.

Lean not on thy own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Wow.

Amen.

So the question is, let's turn our complaining and griping into blessings.

Amen.

Praise.

Ridle the tongue.

Ask the Lord to watch our tongue, control our tongue.

It is so easy to be negative than to be positive.

We live in a negative world, not a positive world.

I've quit watching the news.

I've just quit.

I can't watch it anymore.

In fact, let me tell you something.

I want to end with this.

In fact, I can't remember his name.

I I've had such a good time.

His name?

Let me see.

He was a pepperdine.

He went to Pepperdine.

Here we go.

Mike Blakely was attending graduate school in the early 1980s.

He stopped for coffee in the Malibu, California restaurant.

Coming from non-political family, he knew nothing of the political activists.

But he met one that day in the restaurant.

The activist told everyone what a mess the United States had become.

This is where God just, I had to literally ask him to forgive me.

Because I had become this about America.

And here's what he said.

He ridiculed our government and our educational, industrial, and banking systems.

He was on such a roll that he had everyone on his side except two people.

An old man and Mike.

The activists shield away from Mike, seeing his pepperdine hat, his Ronald Reagan t-shirt, and his Wall Street Journal.

So he went after the old man.

And he approached the old man, and as he approached, the old man kept slurping his soup with his spoon.

And the old man turned his back toward him.

The activist sat down at the old man's table and said, Mister, if you can tell me just one thing the United States has ever done for you, just one measly thing, I will leave you alone.

Finally, the old man looked up.

He licked his spoon clean.

And he set it down on the table.

His face, red, indicated years of laboring in the sun, with a heavy Russian accent.

He replied.

That all men are created equal.

Life.

Liberty.

In pursuit of happiness.

And he went back to his soup.

Didn't say another word.

Didn't have to say another word.

I want to apologize for saying our country's in a mess.

We are.

But I want to not criticize our country because we still live in the best country in the world.

Because we have life, liberty, and freedom.

And we need to be praying for our president and our country, not griping and complaining about it.

And I stand and ask for apology.

Let's pray.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.