Untitled Sermon

to philippians chapter 2 philippians chapter 2 book of philippians chapter 2 and we're going to read again the verses verses 12 through 18 we'll be in these verses for another week at least probably two and so getting familiar with these verses not just uh reading them occasionally but over and over that they might be set in our hearts so we might do the things written here philippians chapter 2 verse 12 therefore my dear friends if you as as you have always obeyed not only in my presence but now much more in my absence continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is god who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure

children of god without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life in order that i may boast on the day of christ that i did not run or labor for nothing but even if i am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service you may be able to do the same thing coming from your faith i am glad and rejoice with all of you so you too should be glad and rejoice with me i don't know about you but these past several weeks as we have been in this study of philippians and i i myself have purposed to do the things they're in and not just find these little things and share them with you but to do them to to as chapter one verse one says to know who i am

in christ to know that i am a bond slave his bond slave that i have no rights i've surrendered my life to him when i asked him to come in and save me i gave him my life and i am a bond slave just as paul and timothy are servants or bond slaves of christ jesus and that i am also not only his bond slave but i am hoggias i am a saint just as he called the saints in christ jesus at philippi that i am set apart unto him now for special service for a special function i'm his agent to be used for his glory as i remember that and i remember that i am in christ verse one of chapter one and i remember that i am in christ verse one of chapter one and i remember that i am in

as i've been remembering those things and trying to then walk in the in the ways the love that christ has to be praying continually uh to keep trying to realize that for me to live as christ and to die as gain to realize that it's been granted unto me to suffer for christ to realize that i'm to have the mind of christ and what that means it's a it's a surrender of my not only my rights now but but my heart to the lord so that i am other centered and in any situation even when i want that i can be centered on others and seeking to meet others needs as i've been doing that over these last couple weeks i am finding last several weeks i am finding that there is a transformation process going on in my own heart and i am more able to more quickly

respond with an attitude of rejoicing in the different situations that the lord is leading me into and i pray that that's true with each one of you i pray that these are more than just informational meeting i pray that these are more than just some kind of a function and understanding where we come and hear and go and forget but i pray that you're really seeking to apply the truths that we've seen in the word up to this point because that's what it's all about that's what we've been called to do and as we begin to do this last week we came to verse 12 and and i asked the question because if we're doing this if we are purposing to do this then there should be a difference in our lives there should be a

difference in our lives our lives should be being different from the lives of those around us who don't know jesus who don't know his word and so i asked the question last week and we've been looking at it with verse 12 is there any difference in my life and i wanted each of us here to ask that question of our own life is there any as i look at my life as i consider my life in my daily walk is there any difference in my life is there anything different about me from the people in the world or am i just like them am i acting just like them are my goals like their goals are my attitudes like their attitudes and my responses like their responses if there's not a difference the number one we need to we need to examine our own commitment

to christ to make sure that it was genuine and not just some spur of the moment emotional response at some meeting make sure that we are really saved if we know that beyond the shadow of a doubt there was a time when we said yes lord come into my heart save me from my sins based on the shed blood of your son on a cross take away that and fill me with your spirit if we know there's a time that we did that then number two we need to check and see if there's no difference that i can see in my life am i doing something lord that's hindering that fellowship with you that's hindering that process of change because i am to be being transformed daily into the likeness of christ so is there

any difference and we looked at verse 12 last time and we saw that part of this difference is going to be realized as verse 12 we begin to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and we examined the meaning of that that it it has nothing to do with with working to be saved or to maintain salvation but it has everything to do with working out what god put in that when you received christ as your savior he put the holy spirit in you as word affirms ephesians 1 13 you were sealed with the holy spirit the moment you believed he gave you the down payment of the spirit which is a promise of eternal life which is a promise of the life to come the moment you accepted christ so the moment you were saved he put the spirit

of god within who is the gift giver so we are called now to work out of our own lives the gift that he's put there in other words letting the spirit have reign of our lives submitting our our lives under the lordship of christ having the mind of christ that we might learn to rejoice that's the subject of philippians learning to rejoice in the lord in all circumstances if we're doing that if we're having the mind of christ and we'll have a desire to work out that that god has put in to mine out the nuggets of his spirit that he has placed in our lives and it says in the in the end of verse 12 with fear and trembling and we mentioned last time that that denotes

an understanding that we're accountable to god for that that we don't just get saved and have a good time happy go lucky do what i want to do time we have been saved for a purpose bond slaves set apart hagios saints for a purpose that he has chosen for us to do and that's to be number one ministering to one another in the body of christ and we're accountable to him for that that's the word fear and trembling phobos and thromas where we get our word phobia and tremble tremors that we are realizing an accountability that it's not going to determine whether or not we're saved and what we do with the gifts that god has given us or after after salvation but it's going to be based on standing before the beam of

seed of christ first corinthians chapter three and receiving whatever rewards for whatever we've done in this flesh since we received christ and there should be an awe in that because you and i are building on the foundation of our salvation even if we're not doing anything that we think you know we're just trying to go through life and not cause any waves we are building according to first corinthians chapter three and we're either building with wood hay and stubble or with gold and silver and precious stones so realizing that god i want to work out now the gift or gifts that you've given me to minister to those in my life and i want to work out now the gifts that you've

given me in the body of christ to encourage them to build them up to to just be an example to them lord and this in my daily walk i want to do that and i realize that i'm accountable to you in that and then verse 13 we saw last time for it is god who works in you both to will and to act according to his good pleasure that as we realize this need to do this we need to realize that god's already doing that in us he's already begun the work he just wants us to say yes lord and come along with him and literally follow him as he does the work as he speaks through us and then that should reduce any fear you know one of the the main fears in the when you mention

evangelism that part of the work that all of us are to do is to the work of an evangelist everybody freaks on that one because i don't know i i'm no evangelist i ain't good with words well fine it's god who's working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure all he wants you to do is is be the mouthpiece just open it he'll fill it just begin to share wherever you are you're a bond slave i have no rights i'll go where you want me to go lord i'm set apart to you for special service you're not going to be able to do it you're not going to be able to do it you're not going to do the work okay lord i want to work out of my life that that you put in and all i'm going to do

is begin to speak and trust that you're going to speak through me and he does and he will in a marvelous way beyond what you can imagine beyond what you could ever ask or think but we have to do that realizing that we're accountable to god to begin to do it now as we come to verse 14 i want you to notice and this will take us up through verse 18 in our study three things that will be noticeable differences in our lives as a result of our doing that as you and i purpose okay i want to have the mind of christ a surrendered heart to seek the lord in ministering to others first let you exalt me lord i'll let you lift me up i'm not going to seek to be notable before

anybody i just want to be your servant and i want to work out in my life that gift that you've given me to minister to others knowing that you're going to do the work i just want to be yielded to you as we do that there will be three noticeable differences in our lives and that's verses 14 through 18 we're going to look at one of them today and that's in verse 14 the first noticeable difference in your life is that you're going to be a servant of god and you're going to be a servant of god verse 14 is you will notice that the way you are doing things will be different the first noticeable difference as you're purposing to have the mind of christ worked out in your life is that

you will be doing things differently the way that you do them will be different verse 14 verse 14 in niv says do everything without complaining or arguing in the new american standard it says do all things without grumbling or disputing now this verse stopped me as i was reading over it the other day i mean i've read over it i've i've read through i've taught philippians before but as i was reading through it this time it just you know it's like the spirit grabbed my heart because i you know when you read the word read to understand what the words are saying and i read that i mean verse 14 is very small verse do everything without grumbling or complaining and then it goes on to

verse 15 and it's easy to read over that and and i understand the words but when i stopped to consider what god was asking me to do i stood in awe before a minute do everything without grumbling or disputing or do everything without complaining or arguing that's overwhelming that's overwhelming let me share a story with you an article that's out of a pilot magazine pilot airplane pilot magazine i have no idea what uh what the magazine is but i appreciate the article and i want you to use this as a hook in your own memory in your own thinking to remember what we're going to talk about in this area of the way that i'm doing things now will be noticeably different

the arizona highway patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded into the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve now picture in your mind above about 125 feet above the roadway there was this smashed metal thing into the side of a cliff a highway patrol came upon this the wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash but it was a car the type of car was unidentifiable at the scene the lab finally figured out what it was and what had happened it seems that a guy had somehow gotten a hold of the car and he was able to get it out of the field of a jato unit a jet assisted takeoff actually a solid fuel rocket that's used to give heavy military transport planes an extra push for taking off from short airfields you're way

ahead of me he had driven his chevy impala out into the desert and found a long straight stretch of road then he attached the jato unit to his car jumped in and got up some speed and fired off the jatos the facts as best could be determined are these the operator of the 67 impala hit jato ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash side this was established by the prominent scorched and melted asphalt at that location the jato if operating properly would have reached maximum thrust within five seconds causing the chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 miles an hour and continuing at full power for an additional 20 to 25 seconds the driver soon to be pilot most likely would have been able to reach the jato unit

experienced g-forces usually reserved for dog fighting f-14 jocks under full afterburners basically causing him to become insignificant for the remainder of the event hang with me now however the automobile remained on the straight highway for about two and a half miles about 15 to 20 seconds before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet leaving a blackened crater three feet deep in the rock now that is funny when you ponder it i mean but we realize the seriousness of it because the life was lost but i mean immediately when i read that i was going how

stupid you know how stupid could somebody be to put a couple of miles on the road surface and then become airborne for an additional 1.4 miles these jet engines on the side of your car just to see how fast how stupid that is i mean doesn't he realize he's setting himself up for destruction and yet the lord really showed me that that's exactly what we're doing in our own lives if we allow grumbling and complaining to be a part of our lives it's like strapping on a couple of those jato engines and that's him see paul didn't just write these words after he said this after work out your own after bring out the things that god has put in your life and realize that god's doing it must be important if god's

doing it too if god's doing the work and he wants me to bring it out of my life it must be important and then the very thing he says next is do everything without complaining or arguing it must be important it must be really significant more than just words to fill up the page on this just sheet of the book or god wouldn't have said it and the more i looked into what scripture had to say on grumbling and complaining or complaining and arguing the more i realized that as we allow ourselves to do that in our daily lives we are no different than the guy who strapped those engines to his impala and we are definitely not going to be able to do that in our daily lives we are no

for destruction and we're going to end up smashed in a cliff down the roadways if we don't take an effort at stopping that paul says do everything without complaining or arguing let's look at those words just for a minute first of all let me emphasize it as i read it do all things he says that's a command it's it's in the imperative it's an imperative in the greek in the present tense indicating it's a to be a continual habit of life so in other words do constantly or continually all things okay now let me read it a little differently do all things now what are the all things here that we're to do well being good bible readers as we are we realize that one of the rules

of interpretation is to read everything in context so we go back in context and realize he's dealing with these two verses that have just come before that verses 12 and 13 working out our own salvation with fear and trembling for it's god who's working in us to will and to do of his good pleasure so in other words that could the emphasis on that is in all of our christian living in all that we do by way of obeying god in all that god is working in us to will and to act for his good pleasure we are to be sure to continue to do all of this without complaining or arguing or without grumbling and disputing if i am being transformed then one of the things i'll notice and the first thing according to paul here

my attitude is going to be becoming one more of contentment in life because i realize god's in control more and more and an attitude of obedience now unto him without complaining we're not to complain about what god has called us to do because we're bond slaves i'm yours lord whatever you want to do with my life that's initially what we affirm when we come to christ and so we shouldn't complain about what god calls us to do and we shouldn't complain about the circumstances in which we're in control of our lives and we shouldn't complain about what god calls us to do in which he has us in which he asks us to do whatever he's wanting us to do and what is it that he's wanting us to do i always say i don't know what god wants me to i don't know the will

of god yes you do go and make disciples go out and teach him about about jesus that's what he wants us to do period every one of us in this room nobody's exempt from that and so he puts us in circumstances where we do that where we live out what we believe if we really believe it if it's really something that we've taken in then we'll begin to live it out so he puts us in those circumstances to do it so we shouldn't complain about that and we shouldn't complain about the circumstances nor should we be complaining about what he's asked us to do in the midst of that because he's already there working it if we'll just let him to will and to do of his good

pleasure of his good purpose he's already working that so we should begin to be seeing more and more contentment in our lives now is that going to happen overnight absolutely not is there anybody in this room that's got that down to where there's they go through a day without complaining if you raise your hand you're a liar we don't have that down but we're not to excuse ourselves that's concerned you see one of the problems we have when we talk when we we have an emphasis in calvary chapel emphasis emphasizes god's love and god's grace but one problem we have when we do that is we can do that at this at the forsaking of god's discipline god's judgment god's justice

god's holiness god did not excuse your sin he forgave it based on the shed blood of his son and he now calls us unto him to live after him as bonds slaves of jesus christ so we don't excuse our sin ourselves matter of fact jesus tells us to deal radically with it if your eye offends you pluck it out if your hand offends you cut it off radically deal with that sin in our lives and so by the same token do i grumble and complain naturally do i do i am i a complainer and i an argumentative i am but i'm not to excuse myself where that's concerned you see if i am having the mind of christ if i am understanding who i am and what i am and where i am and what i am and what i am and what i am and what i am and what i am and

i'm surrendering myself to lord and i'm really working and letting him work out in my life then i will be being transformed and it's going to be noticeable because grumbling and complaining will be becoming less and less and less in my life have you ever noticed that you see you keep seemingly going through the same situations over and over the same problems the same why don't i have a different trial you know it seems like in your family relationships husbands and wives or children and parents do we seem to go through the same arguments and the same arguments and the same way over and over i know what things in with ann and i that come to the point where i know we've

been there before and i know if i do something or say something what's gonna what's gonna transpire i know that but i seem to find myself always coming back to that now i'm trying to do it less and less but i still do it you see well it's the same way with everything that you're going through because why because god wants us to come to that point we've talked about this before where you cry out to him first remember instead of trying to fix it yourself you cry out to him first and you don't complain and you don't complain and you don't complain and you don't complain and you don't grumble no matter what but you have the mind of christ that's other centered that seeks to

minister to others even if they're hanging you on a cross that's what jesus did and as i begin to do that my grumbling and complaining should begin to be diminishing and it should be noticeable i should be noticing it others around me should be noticing it now we tend to focus too much on sexual sin in the body of christ not that we shouldn't focus on sexual sin and talk about it and seek to refrain from it and when a brother or sister is involved in in fornication or whatever that we go and lovingly confront but it seems as if that seems to be the only thing that we do that with you know what i mean it's the only thing that we hear about at least so and so is

taken in sexual sin so and so's you know and confronted with sexual sin but i want to i want to point out that grumbling and complaining is mentioned as much as if not more than sexual sin in scripture that we need to be aware of and deal with because if we don't god will and not down the road somewhere but now right now hold your finger here in philippians 2 go to your left to first corinthians chapter 10 you go back through galatians and you'll go back through second corinthians and then you'll come into first corinthians first corinthians chapter 10 first corinthians chapter 10 i'll begin reading at verse 1 so as you're turning just listen first corinthians 10 1 for i do not want you to be

ignorant of the fact brothers paul's writing that our forefathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea he's talking about the time when moses was leading the children in the wilderness away from egypt towards the promised land and you remember that the fire of god led them at night but it was the cloud or the smoke that went in front of them during the day and literally this pillar of smoke came back over the top of them and formed the canopy over them so that they were under the smoke that's what he's talking about they were under the canopy of the smoke and then when they went through the red sea you remember the water was on both sides of

them they went through the midst of the sea and did not get wet and those are marks of identification and paul mentioned that here they passed through the the cloud and they they were under the past through the our forefathers were under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea verse 2 they were all baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea in other words by following moses in those different events they were associating themselves with moses and as such were baptized even though none of them got wet that's what baptism is literally is an identification with and when we are baptized into christ that's what we're doing is identifying ourselves with jesus and we do that following the example that jesus gave us in water

baptism where we actually get wet where we go into the water and we'll talk about that more at the baptism this afternoon but this is a mark of identification they identified themselves with moses under the cloud and as they went through the sea baptized into moses verse 3 they all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was christ verse 5 nevertheless god was not pleased with most of them and their bodies were scattered over the desert now these things occurred as examples notice that these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as

they did verse 7 do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry we should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did and in one day 23 000 of them died we should not test the lord as some of them did and were killed by snakes verse 10 and do not grow and were killed by the destroying angel so there was idolatry and all idolatry is is turning away from the lord and seeking to gratify your life and find pleasure in your life and purpose in your life and direction in your life from something else that's idolatry it does not mean that you can't enjoy the things here that god has given us but it means that

you seek fulfillment in life from those things rather than from your relationship with the lord that's idolatry do we have idolatry today absolutely most of the nation of america is involved in idolatry sexual sin is mentioned do we have sexual immorality absolutely and notice that that's in order usually sexual immorality follows after an establishment of idolatry and once we started kicking god out of everything separation of of church and state no god in school no god in in governmental activities the only place god should be is at home and in your private life and in your church and keep it there anywhere else you're stepping out of bounds once we did that that opened the door for america to move into idolatry to seek to seek to find guidance and

purpose from something other than god and following that is sexual immorality and we've opened the doors to that why and then thirdly it says um the people uh after that uh tested the lord as some of them did now how did they test the lord well if you go back and you look at moses with israel in the wilderness they tested the lord because they complained about the way that he was providing for them i mean they just they just went through the red sea they just got on the other side see you now i mean even the movie doesn't do justice to what that must have been like and they just get on the other side of it and they're three days away from it and they come up and they start

complaining to moses moses we don't have no water and they tested god and he called the name of the place mirabah because they tested him they were complaining we have complaining today evidently or paul wouldn't be writing about it and then it says then he emphasizes it even more and do not grumble as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel now verse 11 these things happened to them as examples and were written down as what warnings for who for us that's what says as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come that's christ the lord has come messiah has come he's been revealed we know who he is his name is jesus and so on us we we

still have the same temptations the same ones as the children of israel did and how god dealt with them as an example of how listen how he is dealing with us not how he will deal with us where these are concerned but how he is dealing with us and that's why we should stand before god with fear and trembling seeking to work out that salvation that he has worked into us because if we continue on in these things we are going to receive the chastening hand of god in our lives not down the road not before the judgment seat of christ but right now that you look at your life and some of the circumstances yes do i believe that god allows and moves in and and and prevails in every single

circumstance of life absolutely i don't read the word of god and find god estranged from life i don't see i don't buy the theory that god created the world and then let us go and just standing off to the side watching and seeing what we're doing with it i don't believe that everything i see is that god is is intermingled with his creation he is moving this and moving that the the the writers of the psalms as well as well as the apostles talk about him setting the boundaries of the sea he raises up and he puts down nations and the leaders of the nations he's involved in every single daily activity there's not a sparrow that falls that he doesn't realize that there's not a hair that goes out of our heads that he doesn't count it he keeps our

tears in a bottle he knows the the effects of of our heart in this world and he doesn't realize that we're living in this life blessed in the eyes of the lord is the death of one of his saints he is very much intermingled with every single function in life does that mean that the bad stuff that's happening isn't necessarily something that god's bringing as a chastening upon my life very possibly don't discredit it it's something that we should sit before god and say god have i done something stupid and foolish like hooking these jet engines on my car have i been grumbling and complaining lord is that why my situations are going this way god have i done that god help me i'm going to see that and to begin to forsake that in my life because if i don't

it's going to bring about your chastening hand in my life why because you see when we're doubting and when we're complaining and when we're arguing with god or disputing with about anything initially we're not talking to god are we there are some times we'll talk about that in a minute there are some times when we do that but but initially we're complaining you may just be by yourself and i don't want to have to go fix that i don't want to have to go do that i don't want to do that you're complaining but in essence what are you saying you're complaining about the circumstances you're in you're complaining about the way god is taking care of you about the way that he's moving in your life about how much he loves you and what he's doing

to demonstrate that love when we complain we're saying to god initially you don't know what's going on you don't understand my life you really don't love me you really have put me in some circumstances that i just can't handle just like israel did and we're no different from israel now why is our generation really experiencing that right now i'll tell you why and i mentioned it just a minute ago it's because we as a society have lost sight of the fear of god we have lost sight of the fear of god when we threw god out of of our daily functions we lost sight of god and there is no not an abundance of the fear of god which leads to respect of god because there's no respect in

this society for any authority and let me give you a clue as to where the heart of that lies it lies in the family unit this whole election is focusing on the family even though a lot of candidates don't want to do that but it's focusing on the family because the family unit is the heart of our society and the family unit you see used to be the place where kids learned about god and one of the biggest hindrances to society one of the biggest doors that opens the floodgate of sin to come into the society is the breaking up of the family unit broken families have now diminished the ability for the family members to be able to do what they want to do and that's the heart of our society

to see the loving hand of god to see the mercy of god to see the the care of god to see the discipline of god broken families have lost that now follow me on this i don't mean to step on toes but i want you to think this through not only the breaking up of families but we have moved in our society to what's called a child-centered family from a parent-centered family in genesis god created adam out of the dust of the ground and he noticed that adam was alone and so he fashioned from adam's rib and he created adam out of the dust of the ground and he created adam out of the a woman and he brought her to her and adam called her eve and he said she is now bone of my bone and

flesh of my flesh and god instituted marriage at that point and it says in genesis and he looked and he saw and behold it was good not oh there's something missing here we need kids we gotta get kids into the scene no he saw the husband and wife and he said it is good listen listen a marriage relationship is a family you don't get married and then start a family and you don't get married and when you get married you are a family and the husband and wife relationship is the beginning stages of where the family unit should see god moving and working there should be this agape love going on between husband and wife there should be restoration and reconciliation forgiveness

accountability exhortation admonition all going on in this husband-wife relationship but we've abdicated that fathers have abdicated that that's why promise keepers is catching on is because men they're not going to get married they're going to get married they're going to get no they should be doing that but they've not been doing it they've abdicated it and run off to play in their games or in their jobs and leave the family running to the wife and that's not how god intended it now consequently the focus has moved from the parents then to the kids that's been the the focus of the family lately is in the last 30 years is on the kids the kids are the family the kids run the family whatever the kids want they get and we need to really do these things

for the children in the family rather than the children in the family we need to really do these things but then before that 30 years ago the kids were blessed to be a part of the family i mean they get to be a part they get to do things i remember when i was growing up we had dinners and we had the moms and dads table and the kids table you know and it was well you know it's okay but i can't wait to get to that table you know because then you've grown up you know then you've really accomplished something was to get to the parents table to become a part of what the parents are doing but that focus has shifted and we're doing everything that we can to get to the parents table

in the name of goodness for the kids and what that's doing is pumping everything into the kids to make more and more and more self-centeredness more and more selfishness to where kids are growing up today and if they don't get something the way that they want it they complain i see kids and parents at the store and everywhere all the time and a parent says come on it's time to go and they go no and they just go on like they don't even see it who's running that family it's the kid and that little kid is just like israel in the wilderness and what did god do to israel in the wilderness well they killed him but that's not what we're supposed to do with the kid there's a rule in the law if you read back in leviticus where

if a child is disobedient the parents to take him to the gate of the city and before the elders and says this kid didn't mind me and they stone him i don't to be honest with you i don't think that ever ever happened in the old testament you know why because i think as the kids were growing up the parents said there's a law in the books would scare me to death but there was discipline and the kids were brought along as part of what the parents were doing and they got to see as mom and dad went out and came in and as they laid down and as they got up the name of the lord was to be praised and we don't see that today and so we've got a society growing up that's me centered and that's complaining and arguing and grumbling just like the children of

israel and we're not right for judgment that's going to happen down there judgment is already falling here now around us because of that and so paul says if you're really going to have the mind of christ then you can't grumble and complain has to be one of the things that is working itself out of your life complaining let's look at these words here complaining and i think if you're reading new american standard is the word grumbling the word in the greek is gagusman and i'm probably slaughtering the pronunciation of that but it's it's an onomatopoeic word for those of you that are english majors onomatopoeia is a word that sounds exactly like it its meaning whatever the word

says it sounds just exactly like that buzzing of a bee is an onomatopoeic word this word gagusman sounds terrible it is it means complaining it means literally to say something in a low tone under your breath it's an expression of discontent and dissatisfaction one who continually finds fault someone who's a complainer someone with a critical spirit just like israel was to moses moses i'm tired of manna i want some meat

the disciples with jesus remember james and john's mom came to jesus and said hey when you come to your kingdom can my boys sit on your right and left and jesus said hey are you guys willing to drink of the cup that i'm willing to drink of and they said sure and he said well surely you will drink of that cup but as for who sits on my right and left that's up to the father it's not up to me and the other ten guys were it says enraged and complained that these disciples had done that so the disciples complained and we complained critical spirit finding fault with them it is also another reason that we are keeping this thing alive in the christian faith because we have that mission all the time that's right

because according to chapter one verse one of philippians where as believers in christ so yes he's around his creation all the time but he's in us and we are in him he's around us around us all the time. So when should we be realizing the joy of the Lord and rejoicing in the Lord? All the time. Basic math. But when we complain, it takes the focus off of Christ and

puts it on the circumstances and it results in no joy. Now complaining or grumbling is an emotional rejection. Follow me with this one. It's an emotional rejection of the circumstances that God has chosen for your life. When we complain, it's an emotional rejection. You feel it when you complain. You're disgusted with something and you feel that disgust and you're complaining

about the circumstances, literally, that God has chosen for your life and what he wants you to do in the midst of that, which remember is to share Christ. Chapter one of Philippians, rejoicing in the opportunities to serve Christ. So when we complain, we're in essence saying, I don't like the circumstances. I mean, I want to pick my circumstance. Now the word arguing in

NIV or disputing, the second word there, is the word dialogismon. In the second word, it's the word dialogismon. In the second word, it's the word dialogismon. In the second word, it's the word dialogismon. in the Greek, which means, we get our transliterated word in English, dialogue. It means to question or to criticize with a critical eye. And whereas the complaining, the word complaining, is mostly

dealing with an emotional rejection of what God's doing, arguing here or disputing is mostly intellectual, an intellectual rejection or an intellectual argument or an intellectual debate with God. In other words, you're in some circumstances right now and you find yourself going, why is this happening to me? Or you're in some situation in your marriage or in your job or in a relationship with your kids or in a relationship with somebody in the fellowship, in the church fellowship, and we argue with God about those circumstances. The one that gets me the most is if I'm late going somewhere, if I'm on my way to an appointment and I get in traffic or whatever and I'm running late and it's like I have a conversation with God. God, you know I'm

supposed to be here at a certain time. And you've allowed this situation to happen. You've blocked this street off. There's a wreck up here, whatever. And you begin to argue with God about your circumstances. That's this word for disputing or arguing. And in essence, we're saying, God, you have no idea in the world what's going on. You don't know my time schedule. You don't know my needs. I have a better idea. And

we find ourselves complaining and really pointing a finger at God in all of this when really it's we who need to realize that he's in control. He slowed us down for a reason. He stopped us stopping us. He's detouring us for a reason. It's not going the way we wanted it to go because for a reason he knows what he's doing. The guy that just was appointed chief of police in Winfield, Larry

Dobbs, he and I are best of friends. He and I started on the police department at the same time. We tested for sergeant at the same time. And when he got sergeant, I mean, that was hard for me. God, wait a minute, you know. I had known God was leading me into ministry. But we came back here and it didn't seem to open up to go into ministry. And I was like, I'm going to go into ministry.

I'm going to go into any kind of pastoral ministry. So I got involved in the police department. It was like God had opened some wonderful doors. And I thought, okay, this is where you want me to be, Lord. So I'm going to give my heart to you here. And you're going to lead me where you want me to go. And then that happened. And I just cried out to God, what are

you doing? Don't you understand? I've given my heart to you for this. It was within another year that I took the pastorate here at the church. He knew what he was doing. And he was raising Larry up to be the chief. He's a wonderful God. He's got great plans and great ideas. But at the time, we go, what are you doing? Don't you understand what I'm going through?

Now, back to Philippians, God wants us to do all things without complaining and arguing, without complaining and arguing. And initially, I've been talking about it as our attitude towards God, because ultimately, that's where it is, right? When they came and complained to Moses, when Miriam and Aaron came and said to Moses, who appointed you leader over us? Who were they complaining about? Moses? No, God. God didn't know what he was doing when he picked you to be

the leader over us, Moses. God doesn't know what he's doing. He's not provided water. God doesn't know what he's doing. We just eat manna all the time. God doesn't know what he's doing. He wants us to go in there and take that land, and all that's in there is giants. So initially, we're complaining against God. But in the context here in Philippians, we're to do all things as

we're working out this salvation in us in the context of no grumbling and complaining with our attitudes towards one another, because that's who we usually grumble and complain to and about. So we're to do all of these things without complaining or arguing. Why? Let me give you some things real quick, and then we'll close. Because we live in a fallen world. We live in

a fallen world. There will always be bad circumstances, okay? You will not move someplace, or take a job somewhere, or go to a school somewhere, or find a church somewhere that's all perfect. You will never get out of bad circumstances. Now, that's not a negative confession. That's a fact. That's a fact of life. We live in a fallen world. We are seeking to redeem people, to be ambassadors for

Christ, to bring people to the redemptive understanding of what Christ has done for them. But we're not going to change the world. That's not our call. He did not say, there's no place in here where he said, go out and save the world and redeem it and turn it all around. He didn't say that. We're not to go out and change the society. That's not our primary call. If we can get people into elected positions

in the government, that's great. They really love the Lord. That's wonderful. But that's not the call. The call is to go and make disciples, to tell people about Jesus. It's only when he comes back that the thing's going to be transformed completely. That's not our call to go out and turn it around. So we live in a fallen world. There's always going to be bad circumstances.

Secondly, we live in our flesh, and we will, always battle with it. As long as you are alive, you will battle with your flesh. We've been going through Ephesians on Wednesday nights. We're in chapter four. We're talking about the gifts. And some of the gifts mentioned in Ephesians chapter four are apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastor teachers that are given for the work of the ministry, to equip the saints, to encourage

believers and help mature them. And I pointed out that when you go to Ephesians chapter six and you look at the armor of God, that's what the armor is given for. A lot of times we think that we're to armor up because the armor is given for us. But we're not. We're not. We're not. We're not. We're already in horrifying times. Elijah says, You're going to have problems with your flesh. You're going to have problems with your flesh around

you. And so sometimes we have to order things by others going in, these things that you thought in very passive ways. But sometimes those friends are close and there's a strong bond the perspective system has Và to speak to. And God says, Em pumposскanaitos guaranteed, whoever you're having a wonderful relationship right now with won't be for long. If you're having the most perfect relationship with your boss, if you're having the most perfect

relationship at school, if you're having the most perfect relationship with this guy or this girl that you're really going with, give it time. It'll screw up. It really will because we live in his flesh and we're not always going to like the people around us. We're called back in chapter one of Philippians. It's been graced to us to suffer for Christ's sake. So expect it, anticipate

it, and know that in the midst of that, God's going to pour out his mercy and his grace so much that it's going to even supersede the suffering itself. Don't focus on the suffering, but expect it, anticipate it. That way we don't have to grumble and complain what happens. It's part of his plan. It's part of what he's got laid out for us. We're just going to follow him through it.

He'll bring us through the other side. And fourthly, though, the reason we need to not grumble and complain is because God hates it. God absolutely hates it. We see that in the Old Testament, how he's given us the examples that he judges those who do. And just so you don't think it's just an Old Testament kind of thing, in James chapter five, verse nine, James says, don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be

judged for the judges standing at the door. John MacArthur suggested as Christians, we should try to do two things in our lives every day regarding complaining. And I will, I will, I promise I'll close with this, these two things. And I want to challenge you this week. I challenge first service to this and pray for each other in this because I'm really, I'm really going to try to do that.

But he says, number one, the first thing we should do every day regarding complaining is we should purpose in our heart not to complain at all for just one day. So I would like for you to pick a day this week. I don't care what, maybe it's tomorrow and just purpose to make it all the way through that day without complaining or arguing once at all. Purpose to do that. MacArthur writes, we'll soon discover just how hard it is not to do. He

says, we'll soon discover it's a very dominant characteristic in our lives that we battle, that we fight against. Secondly, he says, we should remember that we really deserve hell and death. We really deserve hell and death. You know, we, we complain because we're not getting what we want or what we think we deserve. That's what a child does. When a child throws a tantrum and when we complain, it's because we're not getting what

we really think we deserve. And what we deserve is to be a grease spot on the floor and roasting in hell for all of eternity. That's what we deserve. We really want to get what we deserve. That's what we deserve. God in his grace and through his mercy has looked down on you and I and said, I'm going to reach out my hand so you don't have to go there. And we should be thankful

for that every waking minute. And so as you purpose to go through this week and pick a day where you're going to seek to not complain at all, just keep trying to bring to your remembrance the fact that what you deserve is really death and hell. And the minute you start to complain, I pray that God will use the hook of those jet engines. And that as you find yourself in the midst of complaining about something, you'll just hear, take off, you know, whoa, mountain ahead. Let's

stand together. The way you do things should be being different. That's the first noticeable difference in the next two we'll talk about next time. Father, help us, Lord. It is, as we think about that story, it is comical. It is funny to think that somebody would do that. And yet, as we look at our own lives, it's, it's funny to think that we would destroy ourselves with grumbling and complaining. And yet that's, that is a hallmark of the world. In every

sphere of our existence, we will hear people grumbling and complaining. And the hardest thing to do will be to not join in with them. But when we don't join in, it's one of the most brilliant forms of the light of Christ. And so, Father, we purpose to do that, to work that out in our lives. You've given us the ability to do that. You've given us the strength to do that. You've given us

the power to do that in the person of the Holy Spirit resident within each one of us. Help us to do it. We deserve death and hell, but you've graced us with mercy and life. We want to follow Jesus. Help us to do that, Lord, I pray in his precious name. Amen.