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's 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's 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, you know, that's murmur.
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 Tabura 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 which we did eat 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 spicier
food.
Now, 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.
God had said that he could have brought them to the Promised Land in only 11 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 11-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 10, when Moses, chapter 11 verse 10, 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 11, and Moses said to the Lord, wherefore has 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 these people?
Have I begotten them?
Thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father beareth a sucking
child unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers.
When should I have flesh to give unto all these people?
For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.
I'm not able to bear all these 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 murmur.
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 your 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 thanks, 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 reproaching God.
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.
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 an 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 twenty 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.
But you know what, it's a style that God hates.
The Bible said, And merry heart, make of 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 forty 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 forty 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 forty 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.
In Jude, 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.
Then 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 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 strengtheneth 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.
It's been 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, 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, yeah, anger.
When you see spoiled little kids, what emotion characterizes them more than any other?
Anger.
When you see a little kid in the grocery store, I mean, when he's throwing himself on the
ground and beating his fist 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.
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 ways.
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.
The enemy 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.
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 until the next day when they closed
out for one day.
It 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.
They 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.
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 way.
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, alright?
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.
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.
He gets mad about something that's wicked.
You know, 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, get mad about
something.
You know, 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 everything.
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, you know.
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 not only, 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.
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.
Oh, I have to redo the whole thing.
I don't know why I don't just do it myself.
But you've worked, who has worked with someone like that?
I mean, think of a name in your mind and then put up your head.
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, you know.
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.
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.
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.
It's like, 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's like wah wah wah wah, and they're
just going to tune it out, uh huh, yep, yep, 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.
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, just 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.
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.
First Thessalonians 5 16, one of the shortest verses in the whole Bible, rejoice evermore,
two words, gets its own verse, rejoice evermore.
Go to First Peter chapter 1, First Peter chapter 1.
And while you're turning there to First Peter chapter 1, I'm going to read for you from
Second 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 and much patience
in afflictions and necessities and 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 long suffering, 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 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 and 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 chapter 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.
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've 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've set the Lord always before me because he's 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'll 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.
If somebody 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, 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 up 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, 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.
Alright, 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.