Well, I'd like to thank Pastor Anderson once again for allowing me to preach here and all
the hospitality from everybody and everybody's just been real nice, but nice seeing some
old friends and people I've known for quite a long time and also all the new faces.
So I appreciate you.
And I just want to say this also that I really appreciate this church and what
this church has meant to me and my family.
And I wouldn't even be a pastor today if it wasn't for this church.
I remember visiting here for the first time and it seems like just yesterday, but a lot of things have changed.
And so I wasn't even a pastor.
I was just a regular listener at the time.
And so, but God just kind of opened things up and here we are.
I mean, I'm a pastor now, so I was kind of like Moses.
I was like, you know, I can't speak.
I don't have a good tongue.
And he's like, I wasn't like necessarily just like, yeah, I want to be the pastor.
It's like, will you be the pastor?
I was like, yeah, let me think about that.
But I'm excited that I'm a pastor.
I'm happy to be a pastor and I have a great church up there, but really appreciate that.
Some of the greatest sermons I've listened to in my life have been at this pulpit and in this church.
So you guys really have something special here.
So I hope you realize that.
And so tonight I want to focus on verses one through three to start with.
Let's just look down at our Bible at Numbers chapter number 11.
It says, And 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.
And the people cried unto Moses.
And when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.
And he called the name of that place Tabara, because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.
The title of my sermon tonight is Complaining and Murmuring Christians, Complaining and Murmuring Christians.
And I wasn't told to preach this.
I just it is what it is.
All right. Sometimes we need to hear it.
All right. So and we don't want to be those types of people that are complaining.
And if you were paying attention during the Bible reading, there's a lot of this chapter is a great chapter, first of all.
And there's a lot of action in it.
I'm definitely not going to cover all thirty five verses tonight, but I'm going to try to cover just some a few points here tonight.
And, you know, it's Christians can sometimes get into an attitude where they're complaining about things.
And we're used to having things as Americans our own way.
Right. We turn to Burger King Baptist and we're just like want to have everything our own way.
And when traffic's bad, we're complaining.
When things are going wrong in our life, we're complaining.
When, you know, these people are camping permanently for like 40 years.
And so you would think, well, they got something to complain about.
But you know what? God was going out before them.
He was putting a cloud over them during the day.
He was putting a pillar of fire by night.
He went out before them and came in before them and he was protecting them.
He was providing for them everything that they needed.
And it seems like a lot of times the children of Israel, if they would have just instead of complaining, if they would have just said, hey, God, will you help us out with some meat?
You know, we're kind of, you know, maybe some flesh, maybe some water.
You know, you know, God's very beneficial to us and he knows what we need before we even ask for it.
So sometimes we get this complaining attitude, you know, it's just it's toxic.
It really is.
And we don't as Christians, we should try to be positive and live our lives in a positive manner and be happy.
Hey, we're the saved of the Lord.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Hey, you know, act like, you know, you're excited about being saved.
You know, we're not Presbyterians here.
We're Baptists and we're not Pentecostals, so don't go that far, but we're Baptists.
We should be excited about the fact that we're saved.
And we should be thankful for the things that God provides in our lives, you know, and sometimes we're our own worst enemy.
And the Bible is very clear that God does not like a complaining and whining and murmuring spirit within his people.
So the title of the sermon is complaining and murmuring Christians.
And point number one tonight is complaining and murmuring Christians displease God and make him angry.
What does murmuring mean?
Well, I looked it up in the dictionary.
It says express one's discontent about someone or something in a subdued manner.
So it's like you're not really being super loud about it, but you're kind of just like, you know, you're you're murmuring, you're mumbling, you're you're complaining about something under your breath.
You're doing something, you might be doing something, but it's not willingly.
And you're just kind of complaining under your breath.
But complaining is to express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something.
So they're just express, you know, sometimes they'd be murmuring the children of Israel, but then sometimes they're just flat out complaining and fighting with Moses and Aaron,
fighting with the leadership who are really just trying to be their benevolent leaders, you know, who God is commanding to lead this people.
And they have a great responsibility and and pastors and leaders, they have a great responsibility.
And we shouldn't give them a bunch of grief, but that's what these guys are doing.
But I wanted to kind of show you some verses that have the word displeased in it and just show, you know, you say displeased doesn't seem like a very like hard word, something we probably don't use.
Well, I'm very displeased in you, brother.
We don't really talk like that.
But when the Bible says displeased, it really is serious about how upset God really is.
So let's look at a couple of verses together.
Let's look at Genesis chapter 38, verse 10, Genesis chapter 38, verse 10.
So in Numbers chapter 11, verse number one, it says that the people complained it displeased the Lord and like his anger was kindled.
The fire of the Lord burnt among them.
So he's torching people.
It's not like he's just like, I'm just a little bit displeased.
No, he's mad enough to start catching people on fire.
And notice it says in the uttermost parts of the camp.
So it's the people that are kind of like on their way out or maybe just not really close with the Lord.
You know, they say, and don't take this the wrong way for you people sitting in the back rows, but sometimes in some churches, they'll say like that's the backslid row if you're all the way in the back.
But I don't believe that's true.
But like in this situation, you know, why is God smoking the people on the outside of the camp?
Because they're probably, you know, they're not real close with what's going on.
And, you know, obviously the bad people were in the back part of the camp.
But anyway, Genesis chapter 38, verse 10, where I had you turn, it says, and the thing which he did displeased the Lord, wherefore he slew him also.
So when God gets displeased, people get caught on fire.
People are being killed.
This is Judah's son.
You know, the thing that he did with where he, you know, spilled it on the ground or whatever, it displeased God.
God killed him.
God killed two of his sons because they were wicked.
And the Bible says that he slew him also because he was displeased by what he did.
Now turn to 2 Samuel chapter number 11, 2 Samuel chapter number 11.
The Bible says, and when the morning was past, sorry, I'll let you turn there.
2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 27, the Bible says that when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife and bare him a son.
This is talking about Bathsheba, of course.
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
And we know that God was, you know, really just hot on David and punished him very mightily for the things he did.
Obviously, David repented of what he had done and God did not kill him.
But he did really make things difficult for King David and his own children turned against him.
So you don't want to displease God.
Look at 1 Chronicles chapter 21, verse seven, 1 Chronicles chapter 21, verse number seven.
I'm just taking you through a few of these.
I'm not going to go through every single instance, but I just want to show you kind of when it says God's displeased, we should pay attention.
It says, and God was displeased with this thing, therefore he smote Israel.
So every time you see the term displeased, God's smoking someone, he's beating up on them, he's killing them, he's catching them on fire.
Look at Psalm chapter 60, verse number one, Psalm chapter 60, verse number one.
Then we'll look at 1 New Testament passage, Psalm 60, verse number one.
The Bible says in Psalm 60, verse number one, O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased.
O turn thyself to us again.
So this is David pleading with God, you know, talking about how, you know, he's displeased and has cast his people off.
And hey, please turn to us again.
When God's displeased, he might just turn his face away from blessing you and your life.
Look at Mark chapter 10, verse 13, that's the last one I'll show you here on that word displeased.
But Mark chapter 10, verse 13 says in the New Testament there, it says, and they brought young children to him that he should touch them.
And his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.
So, you know, these little children are being brought in, of course, there's lots of little children in here and lots of, you know, children are a blessing and the heritage of the Lord.
And when the disciples were like, hey, get these kids out of here, what did Jesus do?
Well, he was much displeased.
And so obviously he didn't smoke them or anything like that, but he let them know just how upset he was.
And so we don't want to displease God.
And we've seen some examples here where God is just, you know, raining fire and brimstone, not fire and brimstone,
but he's he's catching people on fire.
You know, that doesn't sound like very much fun, does it?
So God does not like when Christians murmur and complain and whine about things and he gets upset and he does something about it.
So let me ask you this. What are you complaining about?
Do you have something that that have you gotten a hold of the spirit of complaining?
Have you started to complain about things in your life?
And obviously not everything's perfect and rosy all the time.
I understand that sometimes we kind of get into this mode where we're just like being negative.
But hey, if that's you today, you know, why don't you just say, you know what, I'm going to turn it around.
I'm going to, you know, set my face like a flint.
I'm going to just not do this anymore and just try to be positive, try to actually be a positive.
You know, we're supposed to overcome evil with good.
Right. And so is it good to complain?
No, it's not good to complain. So that's you're not going to overcome anything by just complaining and whining about things all the time.
So let's look at another point.
Our point number two is complaining and murmuring show God that we are not content with his providence.
Complaining and murmuring show God that we are not content with his providence.
And so God is the one that provides for us. He takes care of us.
He loves us. We're his children. We're his sons and daughters.
And let's look back in our text at Numbers Chapter 11.
Let's look at verse number four.
So God's mad. You know, he's upset. He's displeased already.
And then, you know, just it just seems like a chain reaction.
They can't get it through their head that God is angry when they're when they're complaining and murmuring against him.
And so here here we go again. Numbers 11, verse four says in the mixed multitude was that was among them fell a lusting and the children of Israel 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.
And hey, that's starting to get me hungry right now. But it's good, you know, I get it.
But, you know, instead of whining and complaining about it, why didn't they just ask God to get him some some onions?
I mean, is it really that if you think God couldn't give them onions?
I mean, of course he could. So they're whining about things that they did.
And so just remember this, that Egypt always pictures the world in scripture.
I mean, a lot of times it pictures the world.
And so where did God take them out, the children of Israel?
He took them out of bondage, which represents the bondage of sin.
He took them out of Egypt and he said, I'm going to take care of you.
He took them out with a mighty hand.
And then they start whining about the food.
They start whining about everything.
They're saying, Moses, you took us out here to kill us.
And they're just always complaining.
I'm going to show you a lot of times where they complain, but I'll get to that later.
But what are these mixed multitude people doing?
They're remembering their life back in the world.
And so we, you know, sometimes as Christians, we kind of live in this bubble where we think,
you know, where we start thinking everything should just work out for us every time, no matter what happens.
You know, but God will provide for you.
Just ask, you know, ask and you shall receive, the Bible says.
So we shouldn't be upset about what we've been dealt in life, because you know what?
We can have it a lot worse.
You know, we live in the most prosperous nation in the world.
And, you know, I know gas prices are getting bad, but you know what?
God's still going to take care of you with the bad gas prices.
Has he ever failed you yet?
Has he ever just left you stranded out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Phoenix
sun, like I don't have any gas.
I just can't get to work.
No, he's always going to take care of you.
He's always going to provide for you.
But you know what?
Don't have a complaining spirit about it.
Don't have a complaining spirit about what you have to eat.
You know, and really the point is, I think that really angers God right here.
It's not necessarily about the food, but it's about wanting to go back to Egypt.
And so as Christians, we should never want to go back to our old life,
because what are you doing at that point?
You're not being content with what God has provided for you.
You're not being content with the things that you have.
You're wanting to go back to that stinky cesspool world that you used to be part of.
You know what?
God's called us out of that darkness into his marvelous light.
And don't sit there and be discontent with the things that he's provided for you.
Let's turn to first Timothy chapter six, first Timothy chapter number six.
See, and I think that that's part of the main problem.
And this is what they complain about a lot.
They'll always say, well, maybe we should go back to Egypt.
You know, and so they're always just constantly turning back and wanting to go back to the world,
wanting to go back to the things that they enjoyed.
You know, all the little luxuries of life.
But I mean, who's had cucumbers in here before?
Anybody?
Okay.
How about melons?
Yep.
Had one this morning.
Leeks?
Yep.
Onions?
Yep.
Garlic?
Yep.
I mean, are you guys lacking?
Have you had all that stuff?
We don't need to go back to the world to get the things that fulfill us and satisfy us in our life.
Look at first Timothy chapter six, verse six.
It says, but godliness with contentment is great gain.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Hey, God wants you to be godly, but he also wants you to be content in that godliness.
And the Bible says that's great gain for we brought nothing into this world.
And it is certain we can carry nothing out.
You can't take anything with you, folks.
All your trinkets, all the things, all the video games, or whatever it is that you love.
I bring up video games.
I don't know why.
But anyway, just whatever it is, your grandmother's doilies or whatever.
You can't take any of that with you.
You can't take the hutch.
You can't take the furniture.
You can't take your bed.
Nothing.
You're going to leave this world with absolutely zero zilch.
Nothing.
You can't take it with you.
So there's no reason to be a hoarder, okay?
Look at verse nine.
It says, and they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Look, the Bible says, let's be content.
Don't try to strive to be rich.
Don't try to work for yourself to be rich.
Just work for yourself to have what you need.
You know, don't give us all these great riches.
I mean, if you're rich than whatever, cool.
But be content with what you have.
That's what the Bible is trying to say here.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 13 verse five.
Look, we don't want to get trapped in this thing where we're just like,
we got to have money.
We got to make money.
Look, money isn't everything.
You know, when I was raising a family and my wife was staying home,
we had four kids at home and we were just, you know, just scraping by.
I remember scraping by and not having a lot of money.
But you know what?
We were happy.
That's what's more important.
We were happy.
We were in church.
We were doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
And that's when God's going to truly bless your life.
Look, money is not everything.
Working overtime.
Look, I didn't even start working overtime until I was older.
I want to spend my time, and I'm not saying don't work overtime, guys.
What I'm saying is that, you know, working overtime versus being there
and spending time with your children, there's, you know, I'd rather be poor.
I'd rather be poor than not spend any time with my children ever,
because I'm working so much.
That's just me.
I don't know.
You do you, I'll do me.
But Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5, the Bible says,
Let your conversation, that means your lifestyle,
be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.
For he has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
That's a promise from God.
He says, be content with such things as you have.
Are you content tonight?
Are you content with the things you have,
or are you just whining and complaining about what you don't have?
I need a new gun.
I need this.
I need, look, you don't need that stuff.
You need food and raiment.
You need water.
OK, that's what you really need.
And here, apparently, air conditioning.
But thank God for air conditioning.
Amen.
All right.
But look, we've got to be content with what we have.
And God's not going to leave us.
He's not going to forsake us.
He's going to take care of us.
He's going to provide for us.
And he always provides more than we need, doesn't he?
He always provides more than we need.
Turn to Philippians chapter 4, verse number 11.
Philippians chapter 4, verse number 11.
The Bible says in Philippians 4, verse number 11, it says,
Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned,
this is the Apostle Paul speaking, in whatsoever state
I am, therewith to be, what's it say?
Content.
OK, so when you start murmuring and complaining
about the things that you don't have or the things
that are not going your way or whatever it is that
your situation is, you're not being content.
Does that, do you see that?
You see that you're not being content.
And why would that make God angry?
Because you're not trusting in his providence
to take care of you, right?
Look at Luke chapter 3, verse 14.
Luke chapter 3, verse 14.
The Bible says in Luke 3, verse 14, it says,
And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying,
And what shall we do?
And he said unto them, Do violence to no man,
neither accuse any falsely.
And what does it say there?
And be content with your wages.
He's talking, this is John the Baptist talking
to a Roman soldier that obviously is getting
plugged in here.
But he's saying, be content with your wages.
Obviously, if you're making $2 an hour,
you might want to just better yourself
and get some education, get some experience under your belt.
What I've noticed a lot of times is that young people
just want to shoot right to the top
and get paid top dollar.
It's like, hey, you better learn a trade.
You better learn and get some knowledge
and have some skills or you're never going to be
what you're at where you want.
If you just are flipping burgers at McDonald's,
well, you can get like 20 bucks an hour
flipping burgers at McDonald's.
That's crazy.
But anyway, that's a different subject.
But look at what it says back in Numbers chapter 11 verse 6.
This is what really, I think, got God really angry here.
He's already mad.
He's already burnt some people up.
Here's what really, I think, was the crux of everything.
Because when they were provided with manna,
that manna was representing what?
Was representing the Lord coming down from heaven, right?
And providing that daily bread for them that they needed.
It's something that God provided
out of the kindness of his heart.
He didn't have to do that.
But look what it says in Numbers 11 verse 6.
It says, but now our soul is dried away.
There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes.
What a slap in God's face that is.
What a spit in the face that is that they're just like,
they're not satisfied with the bread of life.
They're not satisfied with the bread that came down from heaven.
They want to go back to Egypt.
You see how wicked that is?
And God, it really made God angry.
And we know from scripture in the New Testament
that he is that bread of life.
He said, I am the bread of life.
I'm the bread, I came down from heaven.
You know, I mean, Jesus is saying in this chapter right here,
basically that they're upset and they're dissatisfied
with Christ himself, if you think about it.
So the manna again represents Christ.
But we should be satisfied with Christ.
Isn't Christ enough for you?
Isn't Christ enough?
He saved your soul.
He gave you the gift of everlasting life
if you're saved in here tonight.
And we should be satisfied with what God says,
what God gives us to eat every single day.
And I'm not talking about just food wise.
I'm talking about spiritual, the spiritual bread
that you can just open up a Bible.
We're free in this country where we have a King James Bible.
This is outlawed in many different places
where you can't even have it.
And a lot of people won't even give it to you
even if they do have it.
They'd rather take some modern perversion
and teach you some kind of garbage out of that.
But we have the bread that came down from heaven
right here, all the words of God in a book for us.
It's perfect.
It's translated perfectly.
And every day you can get your spiritual sustenance
from this book.
And it's like Jesus came down and just gave us this book.
That's great.
We should be content with those things.
Look at Psalm chapter 22 verse 26.
Psalm chapter 22 verse 26.
The Bible says in Psalm chapter 22 verse 26,
it says the meek shall eat.
And what does it say?
Be satisfied.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise the Lord that seek Him.
Your heart shall live forever.
So the meek people in this world
are going to eat what they get
and they're going to be satisfied.
You know what?
If you eat this book every day, so to speak, spiritually,
you're going to be satisfied.
God's going to give you the things
and the desires of your heart,
but he's going to take care of you.
And so we shouldn't be, we should be content
with the things that we have because God provides them
and we should, you know, a lot of times,
you know, people get a welfare type of mentality,
you know, and it can happen in churches like ours
where everything is given away for free, right?
Everything's given away for free.
So we can get complaint, you know,
have a complaining spirit about things.
It's like, well, didn't you just get free hotel rooms?
You got, you know, food provided for you
for a whole missions trip.
I mean, you basically get, you know,
free time to do stuff on the missions trips,
but yet, you know, and I'm not saying people are complaining,
but if you complain after you get like a,
basically a free vacation, I mean, obviously you're working.
It's a working vacation, right?
That's what they call it in the business or whatever.
A working vacation, because most of the time
on these soloing trips are some fun event planned, right?
And so we don't want to get that mentality
where we're just like whining about everything
that we don't get just because we get everything for free
and provided for us.
I mean, what were they whining about?
Free food.
They're whining about free food.
They're like, we don't want this free food.
We want this other food that we used to eat over in Egypt.
That, I mean, that's a wicked way to think about things.
Look at Psalm chapter 36, verse number eight.
See, we should be satisfied with what God gives us.
We should be content with the things that we have.
Look at Psalm chapter 36, verse number eight.
It says, they that shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house
and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasure.
See, you know, when we're satisfied with what God provides for us out of his house,
then God is going to make us drink this river of pleasure.
You know, he's going to take care of us.
He's going to provide for us.
And you know what?
It's great that you have a church where everything's provided for you pretty much, right?
It's a blessing.
Look, I don't know, who's been to an old IFB church here before?
Okay, lots of people.
Did you ever get all the free stuff that you get here, there?
I mean, they're usually saying, hey, we're going to have camp.
And if you put all your kids in camp, then we'll give you a discount.
But it's only $240 a person.
So for you to just ship your kid off to this camp and hey, we're going to have
to do a couple fundraisers for that.
We'll have a taco feast and we're going to sell some cakes or something like that.
It's just like, you know, that is so annoying.
You already give 10% to the Lord.
And then they're just like, you know, paying this huge building payment or whatever.
And all the money is going towards other stuff besides, you know,
the things that actually should be going towards like soul winning and things like that.
And these people, they're content.
They're content with the things that they have there.
And it's like, then we'll have a church like this or like my church or whatever.
And it's like, hey, we're just going to provide some free food.
And it's like, well, I didn't really like that kind of pizza.
It's like, why are you complaining about stuff like that?
Hey, don't eat it then.
Just eat the top off of it.
Go keto, bro.
You know, don't complain about the things that are given to you for free.
And like, well, I didn't really like the room or the, you know, look,
stop complaining.
You're, you got a free trip.
I mean, I've never, I've never been a part of a church until we started our church
that we would do these types of things.
And it's like, and I'm not saying that people are complaining.
I'm just, I'm just trying to warn you.
Don't get to that position where you're at, where some people have gotten to.
I'm sure, I'm sure people complain.
You know, we're human beings.
We have a sinful nature and sometimes we just can't help but be whiners, right?
You know, just we're, I was talking with somebody before the first service,
and we're talking about how, you know, we can be beat up and battered and stuff like that.
And then we won't complain about that.
But if we get sick, we're just like, little babies, you know, complaining.
It's kind of true.
I mean, I can have some war wounds and be all right.
But, you know, get me sick.
And I'm, I'm asking for my mommy.
So God wants us to be content with the things that we have.
God is angry when we are whining and complaining
and murmuring about things that he's provided for us.
So not only is God displeased by complaining,
number two, he sees complaints as us not being content.
But number three, complaining and murmuring cause,
causes the pastor to be displeased and discouraged.
Complaining and murmuring causes the pastor to be displeased and discouraged.
Look at Numbers chapter 11, verse 10.
And Moses, you know, he, first of all, he reluctantly took the job.
All right.
He's like, no, send somebody else.
The God's like, nope, I'm sending you.
I made the tongue.
I'll help you speak.
Your brother or Aaron can help you speak.
And he's like, okay.
So then from the very get go, they're just whining constantly through the whole time.
It's just like, you know, I kind of feel bad for Moses sometimes,
but look at Numbers chapter 11, verse 10.
It says, then Moses heard the people weep through their families,
every man in the door of his tent and the anger of the Lord was greatly kindled.
So he's already mad before, but now he's even more mad.
He's, it was greatly kindled.
And Moses also was displeased.
So Moses is getting angry here.
Moses is getting upset.
And it's just like, you know, God takes care of them.
And then Moses is just like, here they go again, you know?
And then, so he starts to get mad.
Remember the Bible says that Moses is the meekest man
on the face of the earth at this time.
And he's displeased.
He's, you know, most did kind of have an anger issue from time to time.
He would blow up.
He threw, he destroyed the 10 commandments.
You know what I mean?
He killed this Egyptian earlier on, you know, every once in a while,
he just kind of just, he just snaps and goes.
So he wasn't, he wasn't easily angered.
But once you got him there, it's just like the hand,
the hands turned into the fist, you know, or whatever.
Right?
So Numbers, chapter 11, verse 11 says,
And Moses said unto the Lord,
Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?
And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight?
And thou layest the burden of all this people upon me.
Have I conceived all this people?
Have I begotten them that thou shouldst say unto me,
Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father bareth the suckling child,
and unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers?
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?
For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.
I am not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me.
So Moses, he's displeased, but then he's discouraged here.
He's like, hey, I didn't, none of this was my idea.
And all these people are whining, they're crying, they're weeping.
Give us flesh, Moses, give us flesh.
I mean, it's just like always boils down to food, doesn't it?
It boils down to, you know, the leeks and the garlic.
Now they want flesh to eat.
They're upset about that.
And Moses is like, I've had enough, I'm done.
You know, I'm not able to do this by myself anymore.
It's too much.
And it's too heavy for me.
And he says, And if thou deal thus with me, kill me,
I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight,
and let me not see my wretchedness.
So Moses, he's so distraught here.
He's so discouraged that he's just like, just kill me.
Just take me out, Lord.
I'm done.
I mean, and when you're under the pressure of leadership,
sometimes all it takes is just like one person to complain about
how they're not being taken care, or nobody wants to help them,
or nobody wants to do this or that.
And like, especially after you just, you know,
you live your life for other people.
You know, as a pastor, you're not just living your own life.
You know, a lot of times family gets put on the back burner.
You know, dates with your wife get put on the back burner.
Just like all kinds of stuff get put on the back burner
and you're just sitting there trying to be a shepherd to the sheep.
And then when someone complains about something,
when you're just working your guts out trying to just do your best,
that can be really discouraging.
And that's where Moses is at right here.
And I'm not saying that's happening to me right now.
It's not.
I'm just saying that it can happen
and you need to be aware of it because you don't want to burn.
And I'm not saying you are.
I'm just saying that you don't want to get to that point
where your pastor is discouraged
or the man of God in your life is discouraged.
So, you know, was Moses a bad leader?
Do you think Moses was a bad leader?
I think he was a good leader.
I think he was a great leader.
He just had bad followers.
He had some really bad followers.
So, and that's not because he wasn't a good leader.
It was just because they were just wicked.
So, look at Exodus chapter 15 verse 24.
So, I just want to show you some other things
of where Moses is at because, you know,
throughout the Bible, you'll see multiple times
when this kind of stuff takes place.
So, this isn't just an isolated incident.
Okay.
It's not like Moses is just ready to die
over this one thing.
So, look at Exodus 15, 24, it says,
and the people murmured against Moses and Aaron
saying, what shall we drink?
So, they're thirsty.
They pull up into a spot.
There's nothing to drink.
And so, they start complaining and whining about it
to the leadership.
So, but again, what could they have done differently?
Well, how about you just say, Moses,
will you entreat the Lord for us to have some water?
I mean, why is that so difficult?
Why is it so difficult instead of just automatically
going to complaint mode to just go to the leader
and say, hey, maybe ask God for some water, Moses?
You know, but that's just not their attitude.
Let's look at Exodus 16, two.
So, we have food, food, water that they're complaining about.
And it says in the whole congregation
of the children of Israel, verse number two,
what did they do?
They murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
And the children of Israel said unto them,
would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the land of what?
Egypt.
So, they always want to go back to Egypt, don't they?
When we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread
to the full, for he had brought us forth
unto this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger.
I mean, what a slap, another slap in the face to Moses,
like just, oh man, I don't even understand
how he could put up with them for as long as he did.
But it's not like he's able to just provide
all this stuff on his own.
He's not.
They have to depend on God.
And we have to depend on God also.
But this is a terrible attitude right here.
And they're just like, again, what are they talking
about again?
Food.
We had the flesh pots.
We ate bread to the full in Egypt.
Turn to Exodus 17, one, Exodus 17, one.
There's another complaint.
Exodus 17, one.
And all the congregation of the children of Israel
journeying from the wilderness of sin after their
journeyings, according to the commandment of the Lord,
and pitched in Rephidim, and there was no water
for the people to drink.
So again, what's it about?
Water.
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said,
give us water that we may drink.
And Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me?
Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
So again, they're complaining.
But what's Moses recognize it as?
You're tempting the Lord.
You're upsetting the Lord.
You're getting him irritated.
Verse three.
And the people thirsted there for water.
And the people murmured against Moses and said,
wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of
Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle
with thirst?
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, what shall I do
unto this people?
They almost be ready to stone me.
I mean, they're ready to kill Moses and Aaron over food
and water.
I mean, obviously we need food and water to live.
So it's just like they're just right there, just ready
to just throw it all away every single time instead
of just, you know, you think that they just learned
their lesson, but they don't.
Turn to Numbers chapter 14, verse one.
Numbers chapter 14, verse one.
And, you know, honestly, we can see parallels to this
as to modern day Christians.
You know, modern day Christians sometimes, you know,
they just are ready to give it all up and go back
to the world.
They are.
They're ready to just give it up one time.
One thing happens bad.
Somebody just says, oh, you're a Jesus freak.
And then they're just like, okay, I'm done.
I'm out of here.
You know, it's just like you haven't even begun to be
persecuted, my friend.
But the Bible actually says that in the parable of the
seeds, right?
Where, you know, just affliction comes, tribulation
affliction comes and by and by they're offended
and they leave.
They're done.
And so we got to have roots deep as Christians.
We need to understand what God wants from us.
We need to understand what the Bible says.
We need to read the Bible and understand what the
will of the Lord is for us.
I have you turn in Numbers 14 one.
It says, and all the congregation lifted up their
voice and cried and the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel murmured against
Moses and against Aaron.
And the whole congregation said unto them, would God
that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God
we had died in the wilderness.
Wherefore has the Lord brought us into this land
to fall by the sword that our wives and our
children should be a prey.
Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?
And they said one to another, let us make a captain
and let us return into Egypt.
So again, they're in a bad situation or whatever,
and they're ready to just say, hey, I'm going to
follow this person right back into Egypt.
And, you know, it's just, it's just, you know, I mean,
I've showed you several verses here.
Let's look at another one.
Let's look at Numbers chapter 16.
And this is where pastors can get pretty discouraged
when you're fighting a battle and your own people
are questioning you on what's going on.
So Moses is minding his own business, you know,
just doing what he does.
He's being the leader of the children of Israel.
And number 16, one says, now Korah, the son of Ishar,
the son of Kohath, the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram
and the sons of Eliab and On and son of Peleth,
the sons of Reuben took men and they rose up
before Moses with certain of the children of Israel,
250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation,
men of renown.
Now I know the faithful word has had battles in the past
where people rise up from among the congregation
and they try to tear people out of the church
and they try to start crap at the pastor
and you know, we've seen it happen
and it hasn't happened in a long time.
So amen, praise God to that.
And, but here we have this guy, he rises up
and he's not satisfied.
He's not content with the job that God has given him.
And what's he want to do?
He wants to overthrow the leadership.
And this is what happens a lot of times.
This is like the false prophet playbook.
You know, they dig themselves into a church
and then they start turning people aside
and then next thing you know,
you have a church split going on.
So what happens?
Let's look at verse number three.
It says,
and they gathered themselves together against Moses
and against Aaron and said unto them,
you take too much upon you,
seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them and the Lord is among them.
Wherefore then lift ye up yourself
above the congregation of the Lord.
And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
See, he's the meekest man on the face of the earth.
He falls on his face.
Now skip down to verse number 30.
So what do we have here?
We have a rebellion of multiple men
and they're famous in the congregation.
And I noticed that a lot of times
when there's some kind of bad guy,
you know, it ends up being someone
that's already famous in the congregation.
Like people looked up to that person or whatever.
I'm not saying, look,
I'm not trying to pick anybody out.
Okay.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm just saying that, you know,
we've seen in the past,
people that seem to be somewhat or pillars
in the church have rose up against the leadership
and tried to destroy this church
or churches like, you know, our church too.
So look at verse 30, it says,
but if the Lord make a new thing
and the earth open her mouth
and swallow them up with all that appertain,
excuse me, appertain unto them,
and they go down quick into the pit,
then you shall understand that these men
have provoked the Lord.
And it came to pass as he had made it
end of speaking all these words
that the ground clave asunder that was under them.
So basically what we have here is Moses is like,
Hey, if they die a regular death,
then God didn't call me.
And as he's done speaking,
you know, then the ground clave asunder
that was under them and the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed them up and their houses
and all the men that appertain
unto Korah and all their goods
and all that appertain unto them
went down alive into the pit
and the earth closed up upon them
and they perished from among the congregation.
So one minute they're standing there,
next minute the pit of hell opens up
and these people that have gone against the leadership
and gone against Moses,
they go alive with everything that they have.
You know, these uncontent people
ride into the pit of hell and it swallows them up.
And it says in verse 34,
and all Israel that were round about them
fled at the cry of them for they said,
lest the earth swallow us up also.
And there came out a fire from the Lord
and consumed the 250 men that offered incense.
So what happens?
Moses has his battle with these people that are saying,
Moses, you're not really the leader,
we're going to take over everything.
And then he goes to God and God just takes care of business.
They split hell wide open.
This is where you get the term split hell wide open.
Well, that's what happens right here.
Hell gets split open and they fall into the pit.
And next thing you know, everybody's just like freaking out.
But what ends up happening?
We'll skip down to verse 41.
Skip down to verse 41 says,
but on the morrow, all the congregation
of the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and against Aaron saying,
you've killed the people of the Lord.
So they just can't quit complaining about anything.
I mean, Moses fights his big battle.
You know, I'm sure he's weary from all this.
And the first thing that happens the next day,
everybody gets up and says,
you killed the people of the Lord.
Well, last time I checked people of the Lord
don't drop into hell for all eternity.
So look, when a pastor's going through a battle,
you better back them up and not just say,
oh, these guys were people of the Lord.
They're saved.
They say they believe in one saved, always saved.
I saw them go soul winning.
You ever think that people could be faking it?
They do.
People fake it.
People act like they're saved.
People preach the same way.
They will look the same way.
Why does the Bible say to look out
for wolves in sheep's clothing?
Because they don't, they don't just come in looking
that the wolf doesn't just run in here
looking like a wolf.
They look, they want to look like you.
And they want to get a gather,
a group of people to go,
excuse me, and go against the church.
They want to go against the pastor.
They want to take as many people out as they can.
This is just, I mean, we've seen,
how many times have you seen this happen?
Lots of times, but these people see it happen.
They literally see people drop into hell.
And what do they do?
You kill the people of the Lord.
What are you talking about?
They're not the people of the Lord.
They, they got, they got beat.
They lost.
They lost and lost in bad fashion.
I mean, those people didn't even get to finish
out the rest of their lives.
They just died right there with everything
that, everything that they had.
You know, all this stuff that they whine about,
you know, they had all their Jew gold
and everything with them
and they just freaking went down into hell, right?
So what's the moral of the story?
Hey, back up the man of God.
And you know, if somebody gets kicked out,
then maybe it was for a reason.
So sometimes leadership sees things that you don't see.
Sometimes the red flags have been building
up for a while and you don't see
what the man of God sees.
You don't see it happen, you know?
Cause his job, pastor Anderson's job is to watch
the sheep and, and, and, and take care
of his flock and his fold.
And he sees things that you don't see.
But sometimes we don't see things
that other people see, you know,
it's kind of weird like that.
Sometimes we don't see it coming
because these people just are very good at blending in.
So let's look down further here.
It says, and it came to pass in verse 42,
when the congregation was gathered
against Moses and against Aaron,
it's like they turned the whole congregation against them.
That they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation,
behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle,
the congregation and the Lord spake unto Moses saying,
get you up from among this congregation
that I may consume them in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces.
So God was making it real clear whose side he was still on.
He's like, Hey, I'm going to,
I'm going to smoke all these people.
I'm ready to make a new nation out of Moses.
You know, I mean, he's ready to smoke these people.
So we got to understand that this is,
this, this passage is teaching us here
that, you know, don't, don't just take everything at face value.
You got to, you got to understand
that there are things that are going on
that you aren't privy to necessarily, you know,
and people are very good at flattering people
and getting them to be on their side.
That's why it seems like every time there's like a big fight
in the new IFB that people,
and I'm sure that there are safe people
that bounce that they leave.
And it's like, because they believe that person so much,
they think that guy was a good guy.
You know, he was a good friend or whatever.
But if they're being kicked out for like some kind
of the crazy heresy or just, you know,
going against the leadership when there's no reason to do that,
then, you know, you should just stop
and take notice of what's really going on
because they're good at fooling you.
And we got to watch out for,
we got to watch out for these wolves in sheep's clothing.
So let's see where,
let's turn over to Hebrews chapter 13.
We'll finish up here.
Hebrews chapter number 13.
Well, we're not going to finish up.
Nevermind, I got one more page, sorry.
Sorry, not sorry.
Hebrews chapter 13.
So I know this is a long point, but it's an important one.
So Hebrews chapter number 13 says,
obey them that have the rule over you
and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls.
Isn't that what I was just saying?
They watch for your souls.
Obey them.
Now, if they say, if a pastor says like,
hey, you need to get a red car, not a green car.
I mean, that's going too far.
Okay.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about in the house of God
and the things over the Lord,
you know, your pastor is the boss
and you should obey them that have the rule over you.
And it says, and submit yourselves.
See that word, submit yourselves
for they watch for your souls
as they must give account
that they may do it with joy and not with grief
for that is unprofitable for you.
Hey, you don't want to have your pastor
just regret being a pastor.
You want to have your pastor, you know,
where he loves, you know, certain, you know,
and obviously battles happen, fights happen.
And sometimes being a pastor isn't all,
isn't all the fun that people would think it would be.
Sometimes, you know, you're not there counseling
with the people that have ruined their lives.
You're not there in some of the things
that we have to go through as pastors.
And look, I'm not saying, I'm not trying to whine either.
I'm not trying to complain.
Okay.
Am I complaining?
I'm just saying that there's things that we do
that you got that aren't the fun part of the job.
The fun part is preaching.
The fun part is going soul winning.
The fun part is, you know, doing all the great things,
but there's, you know, you know,
what's not fun when someone's marriage is being destroyed.
You know what else is not fun?
You know, dealing with someone
that has really bad sins in their past
and they're having a hard time getting through it.
It's bad.
You know, what's hard is when someone has a
grew up in a rough life
and you're trying to disciple that person
and help them to get better.
Those things are hard.
But, you know, again, I'm not complaining.
I'm just saying that you don't want to make
it hard on your pastor to be, you know,
to enjoy being a pastor.
You want him to do it with joy.
And again, I'm not saying you're not doing that.
I'm just, you know, this is like a maintenance sermon.
Okay.
So verse 24 says,
Salute all them that have the rule over you
and all the saints, they of Italy salute you.
So I think I skipped.
What verse did I have you do first?
Let's see.
Oh, okay.
17.
So I got to go back up to seven.
Sorry, I missed that one.
But anyway, so salute them that have the rule over you.
So this chapter three times says that
talking about someone that has the rule over you,
it's talking about a pastor.
Okay.
So we're supposed to obey them to have the rule,
submit ourselves,
and make sure that they're doing it with joy.
And then salute all them that have the rule over you
and all the saints, they of Italy salute you.
So what does it mean to salute somebody?
Well, it means a gesture of respect.
So, you know, sometimes I notice that people will go,
you know, they'll call pastors like Steve or Aaron or,
and I know that people don't mean anything by it.
Sometimes they just don't know.
But like when, like what does a pastor teach you to do?
Say brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so, right?
So that's a gesture of respect, right?
It's saluting someone and kind of acknowledging
a polite recognition of somebody.
And we should salute the saints also, right?
But when it's talking about saluting them
that have the rule over you,
I think it's talking about salute, you know,
saying hello to them, first of all,
and recognizing them and acknowledging them.
And it says, especially one made to or by a person
when arriving or departing.
How you doing, pastor?
See you later, pastor.
And I'm not, don't get weird with it, all right?
Hey, pastor, you know, I'm just saying that like,
sometimes it's nice to be acknowledged.
And obviously pastor Anderson, I know he says,
just call him brother Anderson.
He's fine with that too.
But we should still be respectful to people,
especially when it's saying those
that have the rule over you, you know,
do you call your, maybe some people have bosses
where you can call them by their first name,
but that's not always the case, is it?
Your teacher in school, if you went to a public school,
they usually had like a little name tag on there
and it said Mrs. So-and-so or Mr. So-and-so.
And you were supposed to call them that.
You didn't call them, hey, Carol, what's up?
Hey, Carl, how's it going?
You know, he saluted them and out of respect
because they had the rule over you
in your school room, but like,
why would you not do that with your pastor
or with a deacon or whatever?
It's not Steve, it's Pastor Anderson or brother Anderson.
It's not Corbin, it's deacon Russell
or brother Corbin, right?
So, you know, and when we're talking to each other,
it's brother So-and-so or sister So-and-so.
And I'm sure that, you know, sometimes we, you know,
we lax, we get lax with stuff like that,
but what am I saying?
Well, we should salute them.
What's the Bible say?
Salute all them that have the rule over you, right?
And that could go past and beyond pastors, right?
They could just be anybody in your regular life.
But look back up at verse number seven, it says,
remember them which have the rule over you.
Remember them which have the rule over you.
How would you do that?
Well, why don't you remember them in prayer?
You know, when your pastor's going through a major battle
or, you know, just on a normal basis,
do you ever pray for your pastor?
You should.
You should remember them.
It says who have spoken unto you the word of God.
You've definitely been spoken to by the word of God
by Pastor Anderson, I'm sure.
And it says whose faith follow considering their,
the end of their conversation, their lifestyle.
So, you know, these are just things to think about
as someone that has a rule over you.
We don't want to, you know, take these things for granted.
You know, when you have a great pastor like you do,
when you have a great church like you do,
we have the tendency to take things for granted
because it's our new normal, right?
Because the old IFB or some other crappy church
that used to go to,
I'm not saying all old IFB churches are crappy,
I'm just saying that you've been to churches
that are not as good as this one, right?
Can I get an amen on that one?
So you've been to churches that are way worse than this church,
but see, I still see the same problems happen
that I saw at old IFB churches.
I still see the same people
that don't want to come to Sunday night church.
I still see that, you know, eventually you get comfortable
after the newness wears off,
after all the shininess wears off,
you start to see the moles,
you start to see the dirt,
you start to see the dust,
and it's just like,
it just becomes like some regular old church.
But you know what?
You ought not to have that attitude
because you're in a great church here
and you should be thankful for that.
And so that goes into what I'm talking about,
being a complaining person, being a murmur.
Hey, be thankful for what you have here
because it's great.
And just remember that when, you know,
or just maybe every once in a while,
go to a different service somewhere.
And I'm not, I mean,
I'm not telling you to sin or anything like that,
but maybe you're out of town,
you have a chance to go to another church,
go to another church and see what they're like.
Because sometimes we forget, don't we?
We forget how great of a church we're in.
And again, it can be the new normal for you.
And people are still people.
People are still sinful.
People are still lazy.
People are still discontent
and they will not come to church.
But you know, I mean,
cause there was more people in church this morning
than there is now, right?
Why aren't they in church?
I don't know.
Call you out right now.
No, I'm just kidding.
Maybe they're sick.
I don't know.
But just saying that,
why is it that Sunday morning service
is always the biggest service at any church?
And then Wednesday is like,
it's still people come,
but and same thing with Sunday night.
It's like, what do you have to do
that's more important than being in God's house?
You know, what is preached?
Three to thrive, right?
So now let me finish up.
I will finish up this time.
First Thessalonians chapter five.
Let's turn over there.
So listen, let's just not get a complaining,
murmuring, negative attitude.
Let's be positive.
Let's be, you know,
we're supposed to think on things that are good, right?
And you know, I showed you that it angers God.
It shows God you're discontent with your provision
and it angers God,
your God given leader in your life
when you are complaining,
when you are murmuring,
and you know, and it discourages the pastor.
And you can see that, you know,
obviously Moses was the leader
and kind of like the pastor
of the church in the wilderness.
And you know, why would you want to discourage
a great man of God like that?
I mean, Moses was a great man, wasn't he?
He's one of the greatest men in the whole Bible.
And yet his church was kind of crappy.
You know, they were, they just were discontent.
They were complaining and whining
and really it was over food.
The free food that they were getting,
they were whining about.
So look, we can't have that kind of attitude.
It's just bad.
You know, and think about this.
Does the church have to do extra stuff?
Does it have to?
I mean, is there some kind of part in the Bible
where it says,
and thou shalt have so many marathons
where you're giving free top of the line
Angus beef food and all this other stuff.
It's like, it's not in there.
But yet it's just the way
that churches like ours operate.
You know, we want to be generous with people,
but you know,
when we see people that are complaining
when they're in the best church
they could possibly be in,
that's just, you know,
it's something we got to get in check
if that's our attitude.
So 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 16,
the Bible says this,
Rejoice evermore,
pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
So what's God wants to be like?
He wants us to be thankful
for some things.
No, it says for everything, right?
In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the spirit,
despise not prophesying,
prove all things,
hold fast to that which is good,
abstain from all appearance of evil.
These are great things
that the Apostle Paul put in here
for us to kind of just,
hey, sometimes we just,
we get a bad attitude,
we need to put ourselves in check, right?
So be thankful for your leaders,
be thankful for their service,
be thankful for the free benefits
of this church.
Don't have a welfare mentality
where you're like,
hey, I got all this stuff for free,
but I want something better.
I want to go back to Egypt.
It's like, hey,
Egypt didn't give anything to them for free.
They were working for everything they had.
As a matter of fact,
I think, didn't the Pharaoh like,
like double everything
they were supposed to do or something?
Didn't he say,
hey, you're going to have to go
get your straw now too?
And then they're sitting there like,
I remember when I was in bondage
and I was like getting whipped
in the back and I was like,
buy this flesh pot.
It's like, people are just weird.
It's so funny.
But be thankful for your brothers
and sisters in Christ
and treat them right.
Look, this is your family here.
You know, and sometimes family
doesn't get along.
I understand that.
But, you know, be good to each other.
You know, that's what
one of the things that Jesus said
that we're supposed to be,
love one another.
And it says, you know,
and be thankful for your church.
Not everyone has a good one.
Remember the state
that you used to be in.
Remember the church
that you used to be in.
And it's like three to thrive.
I'm not even getting one Bible verse
out of the whole sermon.
I've been in churches
where one verse is preached
for like an hour.
And you're just like,
you know, at least
if you're going to preach,
preach the Bible, right?
So, you know,
you're in a great church.
Be thankful and content
for the things you have
and resist the fleshly lust
and desires to complain and murmur
and go back to the world.
Because look, there's nothing
in Egypt worth having.
There's nothing in there.
You might think,
oh, I'm going to really like
going back to do this.
I really want to go back
and do this activity.
Whatever it may be.
Whatever it is your soul
is lusting after to go back to.
But it's not going to be
like it was before.
Because if you're saved now,
then those things are going to vex you.
And if it doesn't vex you,
you know, it's going to end up vexing you
and then it's going to end up
where you just like get hardened.
And you're just like okay with being
some kind of washout burnout.
We don't want to be there.
What'd you get saved for?
So you could just go back to the world?
I mean, it's ridiculous.
Stupid.
I mean, when we start,
but we can get on train the thoughts.
Well, nobody likes me in church.
Well, God likes you.
Maybe nobody.
Maybe the dog won't even play with you.
I don't know.
But you know what?
God loves you.
And he wants you to be in the church.
He wants you to be here.
He wants you to work for him.
He wants you to serve him.
He wants you to love your brethren.
He wants you to be thankful
for the things that you have
and not to sit there
and complain about everything.
Be positive, not negative all the time.
Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord,
so much for the Bible.
And Lord, I pray that you'd help us
to never have a complaining
and murmuring spirit, Lord.
When we catch ourselves doing it, Lord,
I just pray that these scriptures
would come back to our mind.
Numbers chapter 11.
And I pray that you just help us, Lord,
as we go our separate ways
and keep us safe as we go home.
So thankful for this church here, Lord.
It's done great benefits in my life
and in my family's life.
And I'm just so thankful for that.
And I just pray that you'd bless
Pastor Anderson as he travels
and take care of him, keep him safe.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.