Part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning there in verse number 15 of
Proverbs 15 where the Bible reads, All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that
is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.
And then jump back if you would to verse number 13.
The Bible says, A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the
spirit is broken.
And this morning I want to preach on the subject of murmuring and complaining.
Now complaining is something that can have its place in certain situations.
There could be times when a complaint would be appropriate.
But the type of complaining that I'm preaching about this morning is the whining and sniveling
and feeling sorry for yourself, getting angry about every little thing.
This is an attitude that God warns us against.
Now if you would turn to Numbers chapter number 11.
And what we just read there said, All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that
is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
You see if we have a good attitude in our lives, if we have a merry heart, if we stay
joyful and have a cheerful countenance as the Bible says, our life is like a feast
even if we're not necessarily eating the finest foods.
He said here it's better to have a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox
and hatred therewith.
You see people who have a good attitude, who the joy of the Lord is their strength
and they don't spend a lot of time murmuring and complaining, even just a vegetarian meal
is more enjoyable to them than someone who's having a filet mignon with a bad attitude.
That's what the Bible is teaching here.
Now you're turning to Numbers 11 but I'm going to read for you from 1 Corinthians
10 which is a New Testament scripture referring back to Numbers 11.
It says in the New Testament, Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were
destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them for in samples and they are written for our admonition
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
So the Bible is clearly teaching us that this story that we're about to look at in
Numbers 11 is specifically intended for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world
are come.
Paul is telling the New Testament church at Corinth, don't murmur like they murmured.
In fact that story was written for you to teach you not to murmur.
Now you may not know what the word murmur means because it's not a word that we use
in our modern vernacular but it's a word that's derived from what's known as onomatopoeia.
Did you ever learn that in school in English class?
Put up your hand if you know what onomatopoeia is.
It's words that are basically derived from the way that they sound.
So they're trying to mimic the sound that's actually made.
So murmur is kind of like a murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur.
That's where the word murmur comes from, from the sound that you make when you're
sort of grumbling, complaining.
And a lot of this happens under your breath.
Somebody tells you to do something at your job or maybe your parents tell you to do
something, kids, and you go to do it and they're like murmur, murmur, murmur.
That's murmuring.
It's a complaining and sort of talking behind people's backs and saying negative things
or maybe just to where they can hear you because you kind of want them to hear
you a little bit as you talk about how you're not happy about the situation.
So God says don't murmur.
Don't complain.
Now let's go back to some of these stories starting with Numbers chapter 11 verse 1.
And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord.
And this is something that we should ingrain into our memories.
I quote that to myself all the time.
I don't know if there's a week that goes by that that phrase doesn't come into
my mind.
When the people complained, it displeased the Lord.
I mean that just needs to be drilled into your mind.
That God is not pleased with us when we're whining and complaining about the provision
that we have.
When the people complained, it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it.
And his anger was kindled.
And the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost
parts of the camp.
Sounds like a pretty serious sin to me if God's wrath is burning amongst people and
he's angry about them murmuring and complaining.
Look at verse 2.
And the people cried unto Moses.
And when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.
And he called the name of the place Tabirah because the fire of the Lord burnt among
them.
And the mixed multitude that was among them fell alusting.
And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat?
We remember the fish that we treated in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons
and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.
But now our soul is dried away.
There's nothing at all.
Oh, besides this free food that we get every day, angel's food, the Bible calls
it.
Oh, except this manna, you know, yeah, I guess we have that before our eyes.
And the manna was as coriander seed and the color thereof as the color of delium.
And the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar
and baked it in pans and made cakes of it.
And the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil and when the dew fell upon the camp in
the night, the manna fell upon it.
So here we see that the children of Israel are being fed with manna from heaven and they're
trying to find all these different ways to make it.
They're grinding it in mills.
They're grinding it in a mortar.
They're baking it in a pan.
They're making cakes out of it, trying to get some variety in their lives.
So the reason that they're complaining about the food, it's not that there was something
wrong with the food.
It's just that it wasn't giving them the party in their mouth that they were looking for.
So they're trying to make it more exciting and spruce it up, which I don't blame them.
But they ought not be complaining about the fact that they're getting free food
from the Lord out of heaven, miraculous provision.
They're actually a part of history, eating manna from heaven.
What an amazing miracle to see every single day.
But instead of appreciating that, they just complain that they don't get to eat spicy
or food.
Here's the thing about this.
God was not expecting them to eat this way for the rest of their lives.
This is just a phase that they had to go through.
You see, this was only supposed to be a process that would take a few months.
And then they'd be in the promised land.
And then they'd have all the land flowing with milk and honey and the grapes and all
the meat and everything that they would desire.
This was only supposed to be a short process.
You know, a maximum of six months would they have had to eat this austere diet of
just eating the manna.
But they whine and complain about it and snivel about it instead of just being thankful
for what they have.
In fact, God had said that he could have brought them to the promised land in only
eleven days, according to Deuteronomy.
But that he didn't take them through the land of the Philistines because he knew that
when they saw war they would repent, meaning that they would turn backward and not make
it to the promised land.
So already, because of the hardness of their heart, he had to stretch this thing out over
a few months, which should have been an eleven day process.
So okay, it's lasting a few months and now they're just complaining that they
have to eat the same food for a few months.
And the Bible says in verse ten, when Moses, chapter eleven verse ten, then Moses
heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent, and
the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly.
Watch this, Moses also was displeased.
So we need to understand that when we complain and murmur and fuss and moan, not only are
we angering the Lord, but we're also angering the people around us.
We're also angering the boss at work or angering our parents or angering our spouse
when we're constantly complaining.
We're a pain in the neck to everyone around us, not just unto the Lord.
Moses also was displeased.
Verse eleven, and Moses said to the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant,
and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of
all this people upon me?
Have I conceived all this people?
Have I begotten them?
Thou shouldest say unto me, carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father bareth the
sucking child unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers.
When should I have flesh to give unto all this people?
For they weep unto me, saying, give us flesh that we may eat.
I'm not able to bear all this people alone because it's too heavy for me.
And what we see here is Moses angry and, I mean, you see the ranting here.
You can sense his spirit here, just how frustrated and how angry and how upset he
is.
And in a few moments he's going to say, God, if you're going to deal with me thus,
just kill me out of hand.
Now if you want to make the people around you that miserable and that frustrated and
that angry to where they're just at a breaking point, then be a complainer.
Be a murmurer.
This is what you're doing to the people at your job.
This is what you're doing to the people in your family when you go around complaining
and whining all the time about everything.
Go back to Exodus chapter 16.
Second book in the Bible is Exodus, Exodus chapter number 16.
God's up in heaven, angry, displeased.
People around you are angry and displeased and then they treat you bad because you're
making them angry and displeased and then you complain even more.
And it's this vicious cycle where you're complaining makes the people around you miserable
and then they treat you bad and then you get even more miserable and it just tears
everyone down.
And the problem would be solved if we would have a merry heart, a cheerful countenance,
and if we would rejoice in the Lord and be thankful for what we have and look on
the positive side of things instead of just always dwelling on what we don't have.
Why aren't they just happy that they got out of Egypt?
That they're no longer a slave?
That they no longer have the taskmaster's whip beating at them?
That they actually have a future now?
Even if they're going through a difficult time, they know that the promised land awaits
them and that things are going to get better and that this is only temporary.
What about all the good things?
There's no focus on that.
It's just all on, oh man, the same boring food again.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
Look at Exodus chapter 16 verse 7, in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the
Lord, for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord, and what are we that ye
murmur against us?
And Moses said, this shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh
to eat and in the morning bread to the full, for that the Lord heareth your murmurings
which ye murmur against him.
And what are we?
Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.
So the next thing I want to show you is that when we complain and whine to our parents
or to our job or to our spouse or whoever the case may be, when we're constantly complaining
and whining, actually our problem is with God, not with man.
And we may think to ourselves, oh, I wouldn't be complaining if it weren't for so and
so that's making my life miserable or it's my parents' fault or it's my husband's
fault or it's my boss' fault, it's somebody else's fault.
Well, no, because Moses is correctly pointing out that when you murmur and complain, it's
not really the authority figure that's the problem, it's actually God that you have
a problem with.
Because who's the one who's providing the manna?
Was it Moses?
Whose idea was it to lead them out of Egypt into the wilderness?
Was that Moses' idea?
No, Moses didn't even want to do it.
God had to keep telling him to do it and finally force him to do it.
So it's easy for us sometimes to be unthankful and ungrateful to the Lord who has blessed
us so much and given us so many things, but then we'll just direct that anger at
someone else because if we were to direct it straight to God, then we'd look like
a complete idiot, wouldn't we?
If we went outside and started shaking our fists at God and yelling at God, people
would think that we were a complete fool to be yelling at God and rebuking God and
So then you just turn around and instead just yell at your parents or yell at your
husband or yell at your boss at work and point to some other authority figure and
basically shake your fist at him when in reality your problem is a spiritual problem
with the Lord himself.
You know, what are we that you murmur against us, Moses says.
It's not me that's the problem, it's God that you have a problem with.
Look at Numbers chapter 14, Numbers chapter 14.
You say, well, why does it reflect on a problem with us spiritually or a problem with us
with the Lord?
Well, because of the simple fact that God has blessed us more than anyone else.
God has lifted us out of the dung hill and saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.
We've been blessed with an unspeakable gift of salvation.
He feeds us, he clothes us, he gives us our health, he gives us any blessings or riches
or whatever we have or don't have, but he gives us all a good life and when we complain
about dumb little things it just shows that we're not thankful to him because every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above and he's given us so much and we're
not focusing on that and instead we just complain about what we don't have.
Well then that shows ingratitude to God more than anyone else.
Look at Numbers chapter 14 verse 26.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, how long shall I bear with this evil
congregation which murmur against me?
I've heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me.
Say unto them, as truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears,
so will I do to you.
Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and all that were numbered of you according
to your whole number from 20 years old and upward which have murmured against me.
Now this again should show us how serious this sin is and we think it's not a big deal
to complain and snivel and gripe and whine.
We think it's no big deal, it's just my personality, I'm just kind of like that.
You know I'm like that cat that always makes a frowning face and is just real negative.
That's just kind of my style.
Well you know what, it's a style that God hates.
The Bible said in Mary Hart, make it the cheerful countenance.
And this complaining, murmuring attitude angers the Lord, angers the people around you,
makes your family and your home life have a poisonous atmosphere, makes the office have
a poisonous atmosphere, makes the church have a poisonous atmosphere because it's wicked,
it's evil the Bible says, it's sin.
These are major sins that made God so angry that he dooms people to spend 40 years.
He says I'll do what you've said that I would do.
See God's plan, and let me just break this down for you, God's plan was just a
few short months in the wilderness, suffer a little bit and then the rest of your life
in a land that flows with milk and honey.
That's God's plan.
But they keep saying, oh we're going to die in the wilderness, we're never going to
make it to the promised land, we're just going to be stuck out here.
And basically God says okay, if that's what you're going to say about me, then
that's what I'll do to you.
You're saying it anyway, I might as well just do that to you, so you will die in
the wilderness.
I'm going to make you wander in it for 40 years.
Now think about that, what if God hears you complaining about something, whining
about something and being ungrateful?
And then what if he says, oh you don't like that?
Well how about if I make that be your situation for the next 40 years?
When in reality, deliverance was just around the corner.
When in reality, things were about to get better.
But now that you're whining and complaining about it, I'm just going to make your
bad situation continue longer to teach you a lesson.
This is serious.
Go to Numbers chapter 16, verse 11.
Now Numbers chapter 16 is the famous story about Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
And the reason I bring that up is because this story is referred to in the book of
Jude.
And he talks about the gainsaying of Korah being something that would characterize modern
false prophets.
And he says in Numbers 16, 11, for which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered
together against the Lord, and what is Aaron that ye murmur against him?
So Korah, Dathan and Abiram are murmuring against Aaron, and Moses is saying, no you've
actually gathered yourselves together against the Lord.
In Jude, when it's referring back to these type of people, same type of people, Korah
is actually mentioned by name, this chapter is specifically referenced, it says in Jude
verse 16, these are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their
mouth speaketh great swelling words having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
So I point that out to say that when you are a murmuring and complaining person,
you're in some really bad company with people like Korah, the archetypical evil false prophet.
We don't want to be anything like him.
Look at Numbers chapter 17, Numbers chapter 17 verse 5, and it shall come to pass that
the rod, that the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom and I will make
to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel whereby they murmur against
you.
Now flip over to Proverbs chapter 22, Proverbs chapter 22, so the first thing I wanted
to show you was just all these different examples from the children of Israel in the
wilderness whining, complaining, and murmuring against Moses, which is really against God
because that was the one who was really controlling their destiny, and then we saw
in 1 Corinthians 10 how God told us that that was written for us so that we would
not murmur as they murmured.
He wanted us to learn a lesson from that, and we saw all the different examples of
that.
Now a lot of people would look at that story and say, well I can see why they murmured
because if I had to eat the same thing every day, I'd be complaining too.
But the thing is, there are people in this world who murmur and complain no matter what
situation they're in, and they're always going to find something wrong with their
situation.
There are two types of people in this world, people who go through life complaining
all the time, and then other people who look on the bright side and are thankful
and cheerful with what they have.
And that's why the Apostle Paul said, I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith
to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Every word and all things I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
So he says that in any situation, whether he's free, whether he's in prison, whether
he eats a good meal, whether he eats junk, he says I've learned in whatsoever state
I am, therewith to be content.
And that's what we need to learn if we're going to be a person who doesn't complain
and murmur.
We need to learn in whatsoever state we're in to be content.
Now let me explain this to you.
God is not going to give you everything that you want in order to teach you to be
content.
Well, you know, I just need more practice at being content.
So if my parents or God or whoever would just kind of give me everything I want for
a while, then I'd be content and I could kind of get used to that for a while,
kind of practice.
I spent about six months practicing, you know, having everything I want.
And what would I complain about?
I got everything I want, right?
So it'll be like six months of no complaining because everything goes perfect.
What's there to complain about?
Well, then at the end of that, when bad times come, I'll be so used to just
not complaining that I'll never eat.
No, that's not how it works.
That's exactly the opposite of how it works.
It's going through bad times that teaches us not to complain, that teaches us to find
the good in our situation, that teaches us not to murmur.
So the more you complain, the more bad times God has to put you through to teach you
how to be content.
And the less you complain, the more God can bless you with good times knowing
that it's not going to turn you into a spoiled, sniveling brat.
That's what the true story is.
Now, another thing that kind of goes hand in hand with complaining is people
who are angry all the time, right?
Because when people are complaining, what is the spirit behind the complaining?
What is the emotion that they're feeling as they complain?
Anger.
You know, you put the food in front of the child that they don't want.
Anger.
When you see spoiled little kids, what emotion characterizes them more than any other?
Anger.
You see the little kid in the grocery store, I mean, when he's throwing himself
on the ground and beating his fists and feet on the floor, he's not going like,
woo!
He's not like a charismatic or something, you know, rolling in the aisle.
He's actually beating on the floor in anger.
And today, more than ever, you see children that literally hit their parents.
I mean, I was just out soloing a few weeks ago and this kid just,
I'm talking to his mom, and he's just beating on his mom,
just meh, meh, meh.
You know, and thank God he's only four or five years old so he couldn't
really do a lot of damage.
But this same kid, when he's 20 years old and starts throwing those same punches,
it's going to really hurt somebody.
I mean, there are people out there who are growing up and they're spoiled
and they're not suffering as God wants them to suffer when they do wrong.
They're supposed to be chastened and chastised, disciplined, spanked,
punished, but yet they don't get that.
So they grow up and they're these spoiled, complaining, whining,
sniveling brats.
Anger is closely associated with this.
Now, again, anger is not always wrong.
There is a righteous anger.
There is a righteous indignation.
But when we look at the anger in our lives and in the lives of the people around us,
you know, 90% of it is sinful.
So we don't want to just get this idea that because anger is not always sinful,
that that just gives us a carte blanche to just go through life just angry and mad
and furious all the time.
When in reality there is a sinful anger and it's most anger.
Now if you're angry at the fact that, you know, some innocent person is killed
or you're angry at false religion or you're angry at false doctrine,
you're angry that things are being sold in the house of God,
you know, that's a righteous indignation.
That's the type of anger that Jesus had
where he's angry with the hardness of the heart of the Pharisees
or he's angry that they've turned his house into a house of merchandise,
you know, or people get angry.
For example, King Saul was filled with the spirit
and he was filled with anger at the same time.
But it was anger about a foreign country coming in
and wanting to oppress the children of Israel
and they were going to make them all have one eye punched out.
Now look, if some foreign troops came and surrounded the city of Phoenix
and said, well, everybody in Phoenix has to have one of their eyes poked out
as a punishment and you're going to be our servants,
well then, you know, that'd be a good reason to get angry, right?
But is that the kind of stuff you're getting angry about in your daily life?
Is that the kind of stuff that most of the people around you get angry about?
Or are they just getting angry because their food wasn't cooked right?
Or they're getting angry because of this, that or the other little things
or things that aren't spiritual.
The Bible teaches that we're to be slow to anger.
That means if you are quickly angered, you are in sin.
You are not right with God.
The Bible says that we're to be slow to anger.
So if you just ignore that and just fly off the handle at the moment's notice
and just at the drop of anger, then you're in sin.
You're violating scripture.
And when you get angry with your brother without a cause
and when you're constantly angry and have anger in your bosom day to day, you're in sin.
That's why the Bible says, be ye angry and sin not,
let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
The sin of anger is when you let the sun go down on your wrath.
When you're still angry today about what happened yesterday, that is sin.
When you're angry at a moment's notice, that's sin.
When you're angry because things aren't going your way,
because bad things happen to you and you get angry, you know what?
That's the wrong kind of anger.
We should be angry about other people being harmed or being angry about false doctrine.
We shouldn't just be angry because things aren't going our way.
Now I had you turn to Proverbs chapter 22, right?
Verse 24, it says, make no friendship with an angry man
and with a furious man, thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul.
So this complaining and anger is actually infecting other people around you.
So if you're an angry person, and again, this isn't saying that it's wrong to ever be angry,
but you should not be an angry man.
You shouldn't be known as he is an angry man.
I'm talking about people who are with you on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
just thinking, wow, he's a really angry person.
The Bible says don't even be friends with a person like that.
I mean, what does it say?
It says make no friendship with an angry man.
You're going to learn his way.
If you get around people like that, you're going to become an angry person,
and that's not the type of person that you want to be.
Now you say, well Pastor Anderson, you seem like a really angry person.
But here's the thing, anybody who knows me knows that I'm rarely angry outside of the pulpit.
You know, yeah, I get up behind the pulpit and foam at the mouth about sin because that's my job.
All right, I'm paid to do this.
No, I'm just kidding.
But anyway, I get up and I rail on sin.
Yeah, obviously if I'm dealing with sin and dealing with false doctrine
and preaching hard against the wickedness of our society,
you know what, but I'm going to go to bed tonight with a big smile on my face.
And I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and the birds are going to be chirping
and I'm going to be a happy person all day, you know, until something goes wrong.
I'm saying that you don't want to be an angry person that just drags people down all the time
because you're always just so mad about everything.
And complaining is a big indicator of this.
So what does it mean to be an angry, you know, somebody who's just, oh great.
You know, every Monday morning they walk in, oh great, we got to do this job again.
Oh, it's this customer again.
Yeah, wouldn't you know?
Oh, the coffee maker's broken again, you know.
Chipotle's closing for three hours.
That's when I needed to go there, you know.
I didn't lose my temper about that.
I just waited till the next day when they closed out for one day.
Wasn't a big deal.
Look at chapter 29.
And let me just, while you're turning to chapter 29, let me just read that scripture
from Proverbs 22 again.
Sometimes we need repetition to let things kind of sink in.
Make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest
thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul.
I mean, the Bible is telling us to avoid people who are just so negative all the
time where they're just so angry and complaining and whining.
We don't want to become that type of person.
The Bible says in chapter 29 verse 22, an angry man stirreth up strife and a
furious man aboundeth in transgression.
So this shows us that anger can lead us into other sins because a furious man,
he abounds in transgression in general.
Now go to chapter 21 because some people might be thinking, yeah, these angry men,
I tell you.
Well, how about the angry woman, all right?
It's not just men that get angry.
You say, yeah, you know, angry, don't make friends with that angry man.
Okay, what about this?
Proverbs 21, 19, it's better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious
and an angry woman.
And if you wonder why your husband goes camping so much, you know, it's because
he read this verse.
You know, so he'd rather, he'll skip the running water, he'll skip the indoor
plumbing, he'll skip the home-cooked meals because he'd rather go dwell in the
wilderness than with an angry and contentious woman.
So if you're, you know, beware of the husband that wants to go camping a lot.
And I'm not saying go home and start, you know, and then some woman's going
to go home and start screaming at her husband, why don't you spend time with me?
You're always looking for excuses to go camping with your buddies and hang out
with everybody else.
Why don't you want to spend time with me?
Stay late and work at the office every day.
I want you here spending time with me.
It's like, hmm, I wonder why, I wonder why your husband doesn't want to spend
time with you.
You know, instead of wives complaining that their husband doesn't want to spend, here's
an idea, be someone that your husband wants to spend time with.
Sorry I'm making so much sense this morning.
But, you know, when you're an angry, bitter person, people are just going to try to
get away from you.
Why?
Because, you know, when you get around people that are real angry and bitter and
complaining, you'll start acting the same.
When I get around people like that, then I'll find myself feeling that way.
And I don't like to feel that way.
I'd like to enjoy my life, thank you very much.
And if you have to go out in the wilderness to do it, no, I'm just kidding.
Just for the record, I don't go camping very much, all right?
So this isn't a self testimony here about my family.
I go camping very rarely.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 9, be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry,
for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
So there are two things that we can get from this passage.
Number one, we should not be quick to be angry.
We shouldn't be hasty in our spirit to be angry.
And another thing we notice is that anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
What does that mean?
That the fool hangs on to anger from day to day and it just rests in his bosom.
Not just he gets mad about something that's wicked.
I mean, certain things ought to make us mad.
When we see things that are just wicked and ungodly, we ought to get mad about it.
Sometimes I get irritated with people who never get mad about anything.
It's like, get mad about something.
Because there is a time and a place for anger.
But when anger just rests in you, when you just become characterized by fury and anger,
and when your anger is a complaining type anger, which, look, 90% of the anger that
I think comes up in our lives and in the lives of people around us is usually like
a complaining anger, a murmuring anger.
It's an anger that's accompanied by whining.
And you know that's true.
It's not an anger of, oh man, you know, these wicked sinners that are destroying
our world and it's more of just, argh, so-and-so at church.
Didn't smile at me and wore the same outfit and wouldn't shake my hand and is
avoiding me and, you know, just whatever the complaint.
Or complaining that your husband doesn't make enough money or complaining about
your wife or complaining about your parents or whatever the complaint is.
And by the way, it's not just wives that complain about their husband or make him
want to go on an extended camping trip, but also there are so many husbands who
complain about their wives and it's really pathetic.
When you as a man go to another man and complain about your wife, it's pathetic.
It's embarrassing.
You know, you ought never say negative things about your wife to other men.
It's not right.
And it's a very unloving thing to do when you criticize your wife to other
people and when you use your wife as an excuse.
I've heard people, well, I'd be serving God but, you know, my wife.
Or I'd be a great wife but, you know, my husband if I just had a godly
husband.
Or it's sometimes in the form of a prayer request.
Yeah, I pray for my husband.
He smokes pot.
He's a drunk.
He watches porno.
It's like, what in the world?
Why are you just announcing all that to everybody?
Yeah, I pray for my wife that she'll not have a rebellious spirit, you know, that
she'll be more submissive.
Oh, okay, yeah, let's pray for you.
But the point is that when you complain about your spouse, it's hurtful and
unloving.
But especially it's even worse, it's worse when a husband complains about his wife
and here's why it's worse.
Because the husband's the leader.
And so there's a real big chance that there's something wrong with you as a leader
that you're not fixing the problem, you know, if your wife is so out of line
all the time.
I mean, if your wife is just that out of line, maybe that says something about
you as the leader.
So it's even more pathetic when men whine and complain about their wives and
call her, you know, the old ball and chain or whatever they call her.
It's not right.
But the Bible says, if you would flip over to Proverbs 19, the Bible says in
Proverbs 16 32, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh the city.
Look at chapter 19 verse 11.
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger and it is his glory to pass over a
transgression.
So anger deferred would be something happens that would maybe cause you to just
snap into anger at the drop of a hat.
But because you have discretion, you control yourself, self-control.
See, some people feel anger as a knee-jerk reaction to something, but then
they get it under control.
They stay calm, they stay cool.
And they don't start complaining and murmuring and angering the Lord and
angering everyone around them.
They just kind of just take a deep breath and chill out and keep it inside.
And watch this, it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
What's this saying?
When the people around us do something wrong, not to just jump down their
throat every time they do something wrong, but rather to defer that anger.
You know, people at the job are going to make mistakes.
And we shouldn't just be like, oh, you idiot.
We have to redo the whole thing.
I don't know why I don't just do it myself.
Who has worked with someone like that?
I mean, think of a name in your mind and then put up your hand.
If you have a name in your mind, somebody, yeah, I've worked.
I'm thinking of names.
I'm thinking of faces.
I remember this one guy that I worked with was the most negative, bitter,
angry person, and this guy was really good at his job.
That's the only way he kept the job.
I mean, he probably would have been fired a million times because he had
the worst attitude, the worst spirit, just angry, bitter.
If you made a mistake, it was just you stupid blankity blank idiot.
And he was really good at the job, so he looked way down his nose
at everybody else, and that's the only way that he probably even kept the job.
But nobody liked him.
Nobody wanted to be around him.
He was a very, he was the person that you'd avoid.
You'd sign up to work with all the other technicians and be like,
yeah, let's send him over here by himself where he can, you know,
do his amazing work somewhere far, far away where we don't have to be around him.
Because it's, you know, and have you ever heard the saying,
there's no use crying over spilled milk?
You know, there's also no use screaming over spilled milk.
You know, it's not just like, it's more like crying like biblical crying,
like yelling over spilled milk.
You know, learn to pass over a transgression.
You know, there's a time, you know, if your kids do something
that's really bad, then anger may be appropriate.
But when they just commit an everyday run-of-the-mill infraction
that they commit, I mean, look, foolishness is bound
in the heart of a child, the Bible says.
But the rod of correction will drive it far from it.
So if your children are just making everyday type of mistakes
or everyday type of disobedience where it's just a little thing,
they do this or do that that's wrong, there's no reason to get mad about it.
Stay cool, defer anger, apply the rod of correction
to the seed of learning and move on.
You know, just discipline your child, not angry,
but just calmly just administer discipline and just be a happy person.
And don't let it just ruin your whole day.
And here's the thing.
You know, you can be strict without being angry, did you know that?
You can be firm without losing your temper.
And like I said, anger could have a place for extreme infractions.
But reserve that.
You know, don't just set off that nuclear bomb of anger every day
over every little thing.
Because then when your kid does something that's really bad,
you're not going to have anywhere else to go.
Because you are, it's like, they're going to get,
what if they really do something bad,
you can't even show them what extreme anger looks like
because it's, literally, kids will just start to zone it out.
If you're just angry and screaming at your kid every day,
they're just going to start, it's going to become like Charlie Brown's parents.
It was like, wah wah, wah wah, and they're just going to tune it out.
Uh-huh, yeah, yeah, just waiting for the lecture to be over.
But if you reserve that for when they actually do something serious,
then you can really make an impression.
Wow, mom and dad have never yelled at me like that.
I must have really messed up.
Whereas it just becomes meaningless when that's just all it is,
just always anger.
Let's go to Colossians, or let's go to Ephesians, chapter 4.
Ephesians, chapter 4.
Ephesians, chapter 4, then we're going to go over to Philippians, chapter 3.
You know, so what is the answer to this problem of complaining,
murmuring, anger about not getting our way,
not getting the things that we want?
Well, the answer to this would be to rejoice.
Rejoicing.
And this is something that the Bible brings up over and over again,
is that we're to rejoice in the Lord.
And this is what's going to give us a cheerful countenance,
even when we're going through bad times,
is when we learn to rejoice in the Lord.
That's what Paul meant when he said,
I've learned in whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be content.
What was keeping him happy when he was in the prison cell?
He's rejoicing in the Lord.
The Bible records the fact that he's in prison at midnight,
and what's he doing?
He's singing hymns unto God.
He's singing praises to the Lord.
That's what kept his spirits up.
That's how he learned to be happy.
The joy of the Lord was his strength.
Now look at Ephesians 4 verse 26.
Be ye angry and sin not,
let not the sun go down upon your wrath,
neither give place to the devil.
Look at verse 31.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice,
and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Flip over to Philippians chapter 3.
It's a few pages to the right, Philippians 3.
So he says, get rid of the bitterness, the wrath, the anger.
Be kind, be tenderhearted, forgive one another.
We know when people make mistakes,
don't jump down their throat, just forgive them.
Just let it go.
He says in Philippians 3 verse 1,
finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
And then he says this,
to write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous,
but for you it is safe.
So he tells them to rejoice in the Lord,
and he tells them, you know,
and I don't mind writing that to you again,
even if you think that you already know that.
It's safer for me to repeat it
than that you don't get that instruction.
And then what's funny is that if you just
flip over one chapter to chapter 4, verse 4,
he says, rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say, rejoice.
Why is he saying it again?
He already told us in chapter 3,
rejoice in the Lord.
By the way, I like to repeat that.
And then one chapter later,
oh, rejoice in the Lord.
Oh, let me say it again, rejoice!
I mean, he's just saying it
over and over and over and over again.
It must be pretty important.
If he wants to repeat it and repeat it
and repeat it and repeat it,
God wants us to have joy in the Lord.
And if we go through our life
gloomy, down in the mouth,
complaining, just we wake up in the morning,
we talk about everything that's going bad.
We go to bed at night
thinking about all the bad things
throughout the day.
So, how you doing?
You know, when somebody asks you how you're doing,
you're supposed to just say fine.
I'm doing good.
It's just a figure of speech,
a way of saying hi.
It's not like, well, you know,
sit down, let me tell you about it.
It's like, whoa, buddy,
I was just trying to say hi.
1 Thessalonians 5 16,
one of the shortest verses in the whole Bible.
Rejoice evermore.
Two words.
Gets its own verse.
Rejoice evermore.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 1.
1 Peter chapter 1.
And while you're turning there
to 1 Peter chapter 1,
I'm going to read for you
from 2 Corinthians 6.
This is where the apostle Paul is talking about
some of the hard things that he's been through.
He said, but in all things,
approving ourselves as the ministers of God
in much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, in stripes.
And he's not saying in stripes,
like, man, I went to prison
and they made me wear
that black and white striped outfit.
When he says in stripes,
he means that they're whipping him
to where he has bloody stripes on his back.
In stripes, in imprisonments,
in tumults, in labors,
in watchings, in fastings,
by pureness, by knowledge,
by longsuffering, by kindness,
by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God,
by the armor of righteousness
on the right hand and on the left,
by honor and dishonor,
by evil report and good report,
as deceivers and yet true,
as unknown and yet well-known,
as dying and behold we live,
as chastened and not killed.
Watch this.
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,
as poor, yet making many rich,
as having nothing,
and yet possessing all things.
So what's he saying?
You can look on the negative
or you can look on the bright side.
Yeah, we're poor.
Okay, we're poor.
But he says, but we possess all things
because the meek shall inherit the earth,
because we have an inheritance in heaven.
As sorrowful.
Yeah, you can focus on that
or you can focus on the fact
that we're always rejoicing.
As poor, yet making many rich,
as having nothing.
Man, we have nothing.
He says, but yet we possess all things.
See, there's two ways of looking at it.
He says, oh ye Corinthians,
after this big long spiel,
oh ye Corinthians,
our mouth is open unto you,
our heart is enlarged.
You're not straightened in us,
but you're straightened in your own bowels.
You know, you need to decide
that you are going to be a rejoicing person
and not a complaining,
displeasing to the Lord type person.
Look at 1 Peter 1 verse 6.
It says, wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations,
that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious
than that of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,
whom having not seen ye love,
in whom, though now ye see him not,
yet believing ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.
Even if you're in temptations,
even if you're going through testings and trials
and tribulations and hard times,
he's saying you can still rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Go to Psalm 16, last place we'll turn,
Psalm 16.
While you're turning there,
the Bible says in Hebrews 12, 15,
looking diligently lest any man fail
of the grace of God,
lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled.
See, when you get bitter,
you defile the people around you.
When you're angry all the time,
you teach other people to be angry all the time.
When you complain,
you get everybody in a bad mood.
But when you rejoice,
that can also spread to the people around you as well.
You know, when you're joyful and cheerful and rejoicing,
you can brighten the days of those around you.
Look at Psalm 16, verse 8.
It says, I have set the Lord always before me,
because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.
Therefore, my heart is glad.
You know, what is it that's making his heart glad?
Is it because everything's going perfect?
Or is it because the Lord is at his right hand?
That's what's making him glad.
He said, I have set the Lord always before me,
because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.
Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth.
My flesh also shall rest in hope,
for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life.
In thy presence is fullness of joy.
At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
And so we need to learn to walk in the Spirit,
to get in the Word of God,
to sing praises to God,
to keep the Lord always before us,
and that's going to help us to rejoice and be glad.
And to be glad for the right reason,
and to be glad in a gladness that's real,
not where the world has joy,
but it's kind of an emptiness inside.
And it's not a lasting joy,
it's the pleasures of sin for a season.
The Bible says at God's right hand,
there are pleasures forevermore.
And so if we walk in the Spirit,
if we'll spend time in the Word,
and if we just learn to pass over transgressions,
not focus so much on the things that we don't have
and on the bad things,
but to focus on that which is good in our lives,
and be thankful and content and to count our blessings.
Because honestly, it's all about your attitude,
it's all about what you focus on.
I mean, if I wanted to right now make a list
of everything that I don't like about my life,
you know, I could come up with a really negative list
and I could probably write an essay
and make my life sound horrible.
You know what I mean?
If somebody said write a one-page paper
where everything's truthful,
but you make your life sound as miserable
and horrible as you can, I could do it.
You could do it.
In fact, let's all take out a piece of paper.
Okay, the ushers will pass out the pens.
And, you know, I mean, think about it,
you could just, you could really spin it, couldn't you,
and just make it sound like you're the most miserable wretch
that this world has ever seen.
Or if I said take out a piece of paper
and take a pen and describe your life without,
you know, everything has to be truthful,
just like the other paper.
No lying or exaggerating.
Just truthfully only talk about all the positive things
in your life and make your life sound just amazing
to where anyone would envy your life.
You could do that too.
You could make it sound great.
You could, and it's the same life, right?
So this shows how it depends on what we're focusing on.
You know, and look, this isn't just my opinion up here.
God commanded you to rejoice.
He didn't say rejoice is optional.
He said rejoice evermore.
Again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, finally my brother, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you is not grievous.
For you it is safe.
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.
How many times does he say in Psalms,
praise the Lord for his goodness.
In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Over and over again,
over and over again.
I'll bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall be continually in my mouth.
It's not optional.
It's a commandment.
Make your life happier and everyone around you happier
by not complaining and not murmuring.
And when you catch yourself murmuring and complaining,
just quote that scripture to yourself,
or another scripture.
When the people complained, it displeased the Lord.
And if that's not enough for you,
then quote the part about how the fire of the Lord burnt among them.
All right, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we thank you so much for all the blessings
and all the things that if we were to stop and think about,
really have made our lives so happy and so blessed,
far more than we could ever deserve.
And Lord, I know it must make you very angry
when we who've been blessed above measure
and live in the lap of luxury
and have so many wonderful things here,
living in a free country and having all these blessings
and having salvation and having the Bible at our fingertips, Lord.
I know it must make you very angry
to hear us complain about breaking a nail
or about, you know, not getting our favorite food today, Lord.
Please just help us to take these things to heart
and to rejoice in you and in your word
and to be thankful, contented people,
not grumbling, murmuring complainers.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.