WEBVTT 00:00:07.690 --> 00:00:10.169 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:36.149 Lifehouse Church. And ushers who take care of 00:00:36.149 --> 00:00:37.950 that every week. But you might have got in the 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:40.549 door and got past them in some way. And we want 00:00:40.549 --> 00:00:43.009 to make sure that somebody says hello to you 00:00:43.009 --> 00:00:44.890 this morning and recognizes that you're here. 00:00:45.030 --> 00:00:47.289 Because we're glad that you've came. We do not 00:00:47.289 --> 00:00:49.789 take for granted that you come to worship here 00:00:49.789 --> 00:00:51.229 at LifeHouse. There's a lot of places you could 00:00:51.229 --> 00:00:54.030 go. We know that. And we just appreciate everybody 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:56.450 that comes together as a family, as a body of 00:00:56.450 --> 00:00:59.689 Christ in the big church seat. And come together 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:02.270 and really just worship God. So good to have 00:01:02.270 --> 00:01:05.159 you here. Love the worship, love the kids this 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:08.239 morning, just all that's taking place. I do want 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.540 to read you something that I came across, a little 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:13.299 article, and I kind of keep these things or read 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:16.120 up on some of this stuff sometimes, but the magazine 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:21.439 Inc. ran an article titled, Listening to Complainers 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:25.459 is Bad for Your Brain. All right, let me say 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:28.719 that article title again. Listening to Complainers 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.280 is Bad for Your Brain. Anybody say amen to that 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:34.549 yet? Yes, okay. Apparently, neuroscientists have 00:01:34.549 --> 00:01:37.150 learned to measure brain activity when faced 00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:40.349 with various stimuli, including a long complaint 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:42.989 session. And the news isn't good. The article 00:01:42.989 --> 00:01:46.090 summarizes the research, being exposed to too 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:49.629 much complaining can actually make us dumb. That's 00:01:49.629 --> 00:01:52.430 what the article says. It's true, right? Research 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:56.150 shows that if you are exposed to 30 minutes or 00:01:56.150 --> 00:02:00.530 more of negativity, including viewing TV, material 00:02:00.530 --> 00:02:04.390 on TV, actually peels away neurons in the brain's 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:06.750 hippocampus. Basically, it turns part of your 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:09.610 brain into mush, is what it says, right? Too 00:02:09.610 --> 00:02:12.689 much complaining, either listening or dishing 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:14.770 it out yourself, can actually begin to break 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:18.560 down this part of the brain's function. Now, 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:21.360 listen, I am no medical expert, but it is no 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.580 revelation to any of us that none of us like 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:27.800 to be around somebody who complains incessantly. 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:32.280 Amen? Come on. And now we really know why we 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:34.159 don't like it, because it's peeling away the 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.580 neurons in your brain, apparently. We hide from 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:39.520 people like this, right? If somebody's a constant 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.139 chronic complainer, we hide from them. You know 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:45.060 how it is. If you see them in the grocery store, 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:47.800 what do you do? Move very quickly to the next 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.099 aisle, hoping they didn't see you, right? And 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:52.139 if they did see you from the other end of the 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:54.460 grocery store, you wave, turn around and move 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:56.599 the other direction and head away. We do this, 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.680 right? Don't do that to me in the store because 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:00.259 I'll know what's going on now if that happens. 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:05.159 But really, we don't like listening to complainers. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.520 Here's the thing. We hate it when other people 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.740 complain. Most of us, though, if we're honest 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:13.139 and we're looking to be honest, especially since 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:16.590 we're in church this morning, all of us, complain 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:19.969 sometimes. True. Thank you. I got one truth. 00:03:20.150 --> 00:03:22.889 All right. Let's be honest inside the house and 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:24.530 outside the house. If you're listening online, 00:03:24.729 --> 00:03:26.129 I want you to just go ahead and type it in the 00:03:26.129 --> 00:03:28.729 chat. How many of you complained at some point 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:33.469 this week? Raise your hand. All right. 70, 80 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:35.669 % of you are honest. The rest of you are lying. 00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:40.199 Okay. It's just truth, speaking truth. How many 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:41.580 of you, no, never mind. I was gonna say, how 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:43.219 many of you complained this morning on your way 00:03:43.219 --> 00:03:44.599 to church? I won't make you raise your hands. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:51.840 But it's true. While we don't like it, it grates 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.659 us when somebody expresses dissatisfaction and 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:56.560 their frustration and their annoyance or their 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.379 grievance about a person, place, or a thing, 00:03:59.500 --> 00:04:02.219 a circumstance of some kind. While that drives 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:04.680 us crazy, how many know that a lot of times we 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:07.840 complain ourselves? And we catch ourselves complaining 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.099 and sometimes even justifying our complaint. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:16.040 And we complain, we protest. Anybody ever protest 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.199 in the middle of your complaint? We grumble, 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.060 we whine. And I came across another synonym while 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:23.620 I was looking at this, bleating. All right, how 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:26.040 many of you have ever bleated? All right. That's 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:27.959 what goats and sheep do. You ever hear goat or 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:30.259 sheep bleat? All right. I know it's one of the 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.360 synonyms. I live about a quarter of a mile from 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.360 a goat farm and we hear them sometimes. I swear 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.259 they're in my backyard and they're out there 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:39.740 bleeding. And I guess that's what it sounds like 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:42.680 when we complain, when we gripe, when we grumble, 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:44.600 when we just kind of start killing off those 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:49.149 neurons in our hippocampus. Right. But. You know, 00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:52.730 all this is interesting stuff to read. It's interesting 00:04:52.730 --> 00:04:55.449 stuff to take a look at. But the bigger problem 00:04:55.449 --> 00:05:00.170 is when you look into Scripture, God is not cool 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:03.050 with complaining. He really isn't. As a matter 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.370 of fact, the Word of God says that it displeases 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:07.610 Him. And it's not just a mild displeasure that 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:09.230 God gets from this. So if you've got your Bibles, 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:10.970 I want you to go ahead and turn to Philippians. 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:13.990 Philippians, I want you to flip to Philippians 00:05:13.990 --> 00:05:16.610 2 .12. I've waited all week to say that. All 00:05:16.610 --> 00:05:19.449 right? Truly. But I want you to flip over to 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:22.810 Philippians 2, verse 12. And as you turn, I'm 00:05:22.810 --> 00:05:24.350 going to pray. Lord, thank you for this time 00:05:24.350 --> 00:05:26.290 together. Thank you for the opportunity to come 00:05:26.290 --> 00:05:27.769 into the house. I thank you for your word, God, 00:05:27.810 --> 00:05:30.670 that is truth and is life. And God, it truly, 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:34.629 God discerns our hearts. God opens us up. And 00:05:34.629 --> 00:05:36.329 Lord, I just pray this morning that we're bare 00:05:36.329 --> 00:05:38.970 and honest before you. And God, that, Lord, your 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:41.209 word begins to shift and change our hearts in 00:05:41.209 --> 00:05:42.970 so many ways. And we just give you glory and 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:45.089 honor in Jesus' name. Everybody say it together. 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.759 Amen. All right. Philippians 2, verse 12. If 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:49.860 you don't have your Bibles, you can look up on 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:51.899 the screens. But it says this, Therefore, my 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:54.699 beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:57.480 as in my presence, but much more in my absence. 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:00.920 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:04.420 For it is God who works in you both to will and 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:07.360 to work for his good pleasure. Do all things. 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.879 Say all things. without grumbling. All right, 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:12.759 grumbling is complaining. You could replace the 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:15.040 word with complaining there. Do all things without 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.100 grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:20.819 and innocent, children of God without blemish 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:23.139 in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.920 among whom you shine as lights in the world, 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.019 holding fast to the word of life so that in the 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:33.160 day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:37.079 run in vain or labor in vain. The Apostle Paul, 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:39.500 writing to the Philippians, makes it clear in 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:41.860 this portion of Scripture that I never really 00:06:41.860 --> 00:06:47.060 function as light in the darkness while I am 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:51.360 complaining. I never function as light in a dark 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.480 world while I'm complaining. It just doesn't 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.339 happen. There are few things that negate or discredit 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:02.120 my testimony more than when I'm complaining to 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.920 somebody else. The mind -numbing activity, right, 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:07.639 of grumbling or whining or griping or complaining 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:10.639 will snuff out the light of Christ every single 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.720 time in our lives. It'll snuff out his light 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.000 as we're trying to disseminate it and complaining 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.420 at the same time. Complaining never really seems 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.560 to carry the love of Jesus with it, does it? 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.339 You know, when we hear somebody complaining, 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.060 we're not thinking, oh man, there it is, the 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.279 love of Jesus, when somebody's complaining, right? 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:31.860 No one, we never see a deep reflection of Christ 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:34.490 or of God. God when somebody's complaining. It 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:37.509 never lights up a room when you come in and you 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:40.850 start to complain. It doesn't light up a room. 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:42.410 It doesn't light up a house. It doesn't light 00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:44.170 up a community. It doesn't light up anything. 00:07:45.330 --> 00:07:47.750 Complaining actually is typically selfish and 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:49.870 annoying. And I'm going to be completely honest 00:07:49.870 --> 00:07:52.350 right here. I got convicted so many times when 00:07:52.350 --> 00:07:54.410 I started prepping this message. It took me three 00:07:54.410 --> 00:07:56.089 times as long because I had to just stop and 00:07:56.089 --> 00:07:58.269 confess and repent the whole time I was doing 00:07:58.269 --> 00:08:00.569 it. So trust me, I'm not pointing a finger at 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:04.649 you. But the second I begin to complain, I blemish 00:08:04.649 --> 00:08:08.129 my testimony of Christ. I null and void it a 00:08:08.129 --> 00:08:10.550 lot of times in my generation. And the second 00:08:10.550 --> 00:08:13.930 I begin to complain, I begin to pull in a dark 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:17.329 cloud versus the light of God in somebody's life. 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:19.769 And you might think, well, that's extreme. You 00:08:19.769 --> 00:08:22.170 know, maybe you're overstating it just a bit. 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:25.870 You know, listen to what the apostle Paul instructs 00:08:25.870 --> 00:08:28.370 here. He says, do all things. Say all things 00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:32.970 again. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:35.429 Now, listen, you don't need to get to the Greek 00:08:35.429 --> 00:08:37.690 or the Hebrew in this. How many know what all 00:08:37.690 --> 00:08:43.409 means? All, yeah, right? It's everything. You 00:08:43.409 --> 00:08:45.350 don't have to pull out the Greek or you don't 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:46.970 got to take this back to the original language. 00:08:47.230 --> 00:08:50.690 In all things, the word of God instructs us that 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:53.309 no matter what we're engaged in, don't do it. 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:56.009 Don't complain. Whether you're working at your 00:08:56.009 --> 00:08:59.850 job, right? Don't complain. When you think your 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:03.409 family has lost their ever -loving mind, don't 00:09:03.409 --> 00:09:05.529 complain. All right? How many of you ever have 00:09:05.529 --> 00:09:07.549 family that loses their ever -loving mind? Amen. 00:09:07.629 --> 00:09:10.789 Come on. Right? You're about to start school, 00:09:10.870 --> 00:09:13.250 some of you students, in a week or two. Don't 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:15.730 complain that summer's almost over. When you're 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:18.049 doing something that you like and when you're 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:21.029 doing something that you don't like, don't do 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:26.070 it. Don't complain. Why? Because we live in the 00:09:26.070 --> 00:09:28.200 midst of a crooked... and twisted generation. 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:31.480 That's what the Word of God says. Be light. Because 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:34.019 the Word of God says, be blameless and innocent 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.299 children without blemishing your generation. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.759 Because the same scripture says, to shine as 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:43.039 lights in the world, not to snuff out, right, 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:46.700 our testimony with bleeding, with complaining. 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:50.360 Because we cannot light it up for Jesus and be 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:52.779 complaining at the same time. We can't do it. 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.960 So this morning, I want you to see complaining. 00:09:56.669 --> 00:09:59.850 for kind of the horrible, destructive thing that 00:09:59.850 --> 00:10:03.649 it really is in our lives, truly. Don't minimize 00:10:03.649 --> 00:10:07.370 it. Don't kind of blow it off. Don't think, man, 00:10:07.509 --> 00:10:10.250 pastor's just exaggerating today, right? He just 00:10:10.250 --> 00:10:12.950 wants to fire it all up. I know you're tempted 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:15.370 to think like me, right? It's not that big a 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:19.870 deal to complain. Everyone does it. How many 00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:21.830 know as soon as you say that, you're into something 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:24.529 you shouldn't be doing, right? Everybody's doing 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:28.389 it. Everybody complains. But here's the thing 00:10:28.389 --> 00:10:33.629 about complaining. And as we go into this, I 00:10:33.629 --> 00:10:37.029 want to show you how much God hates complaining. 00:10:37.529 --> 00:10:40.120 Hates it. Now, I don't use that word lightly. 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:42.519 When my kids were growing up, we didn't allow 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:44.639 our kids to say they hated each other. Matter 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.559 of fact, if they said something like that, they 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:48.539 got in trouble, and we probably wouldn't make 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:50.340 them do something weird like hug it out, right? 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:52.700 You got to tell each other you love each other. 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:55.159 You know how they do. I love you, you know. And 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:56.840 you'd make them do that for like five, just to 00:10:56.840 --> 00:10:58.879 torture them a little until they get the point. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:01.159 But we didn't allow that word. We didn't throw 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:02.480 that word around. You weren't allowed to say, 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:05.019 I hate this or I hate that. You could say, I 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:08.250 really don't like that very much, you know. our 00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:09.870 kids grew, they learned not to use that word. 00:11:09.950 --> 00:11:12.929 But God really does hate complaining. And Paul 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:15.710 begins to levy the seriousness of this as you 00:11:15.710 --> 00:11:17.350 look at the scripture in Philippians, right? 00:11:17.509 --> 00:11:19.730 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:22.230 so now, not only in my presence, but much more 00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:25.129 in my absence, work out your own salvation with 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:27.769 fear and trembling. That's what he says. Work 00:11:27.769 --> 00:11:31.409 out your salvation with fear and trembling. Live 00:11:31.409 --> 00:11:35.210 out your salvation with fear and trembling. Fearing 00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:40.889 who? We fear God. Healthy fear of God is what 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:43.669 he's talking about in this same scripture. I 00:11:43.669 --> 00:11:48.149 have a healthy fear of fire. I really do. I understand 00:11:48.149 --> 00:11:51.029 the destructive nature of fire can be, but I 00:11:51.029 --> 00:11:54.379 love fire. All right? I am the first one at a 00:11:54.379 --> 00:11:57.039 campsite to get a stick and light the fire and 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.059 see what else I can light. It's just going to 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:01.360 be like, I'm like a kid with fire. All the men 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.179 in the house said amen. I don't know what it 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:04.740 is. You're born with it. It's genetic, right? 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.460 We like to blow things up. We like to light things 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:10.080 up, right? And the bigger the fire, the better 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:13.200 we like it. It's just true. We were burning brush. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.840 And my grandson's man, I piled up a bunch of 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.080 brush. We had flames 15, 20 feet in the air. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.759 I thought they were going to do a happy dance. 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:21.440 Like, they just thought it was the greatest thing 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.059 in the world. But we've got to have the fear. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:27.679 I have a healthy fear of fire. It's the same 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.620 kind of fear of God. I've got to understand that 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:32.279 God loves me more than anybody on the face of 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.980 the planet. I will never experience more love 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:38.860 from somebody than the love of God. But I also 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:42.480 understand that he is judge, right? I understand 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.320 that he will judge all hearts, the word of God. 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:49.500 And it should scare me, almost scare me. Maybe, 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:52.919 yes, it'd scare me. to complain. And I'm going 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:55.860 to show you why. Because God seriously hates 00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:58.840 complaining, especially when I complain about 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:02.519 him, when I complain about godly leadership that's 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.980 over me, that God's placed over my life, and 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:06.980 I have godly leadership, people who are over 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:09.399 me. When I complain about his provision, when 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.080 I complain about his hand, when I, you know, 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.179 the directives that he gives, his plans that 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:19.019 he gives, I can make the Lord angry with my complaint. 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:21.750 I really can. And before I tell you this next 00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:25.389 biblical story of complaining, before I tell 00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:27.830 that, I want to give you a little context to 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:30.490 the complainers in this portion of Scripture. 00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:33.629 The Israelites. Say the Israelites. You've got 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.049 to know who we're talking about. The Israelites, 00:13:36.269 --> 00:13:38.710 God's chosen people, that's what the word God 00:13:38.710 --> 00:13:42.179 calls them, were complainers. And you got to 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:43.940 understand the background a little bit to get 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:46.679 the seriousness of all this. Because God's people 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:50.440 were enslaved for 400 years in the land of Egypt. 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:54.120 And God miraculously delivers them from slavery. 00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:56.860 He sends a man named Moses to go and lead them 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:00.080 out. And God uses Moses in incredible ways. He 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.139 sends Moses to Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt. 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:04.360 And he tells him, he gives him the authority 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:08.750 to call down 10 plagues on Egypt. He calls down 00:14:08.750 --> 00:14:11.730 all these different plagues to plague Egypt because 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:14.750 they wouldn't release the Israelites from... 00:14:15.690 --> 00:14:19.029 slavery. They won't let him go. And Moses, one 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:22.549 by one, he calls it out and it rains down fire 00:14:22.549 --> 00:14:26.070 on them and lice and frogs and all kinds of crazy 00:14:26.070 --> 00:14:29.129 things. God literally puts his thumb on the neck 00:14:29.129 --> 00:14:32.570 of Egypt because they were oppressing God's people. 00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:35.950 And when the enemy finally, finally concedes 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:40.169 and releases them from slavery, they leave Egypt 00:14:40.169 --> 00:14:43.980 loaded with wealth. The Egyptians wanted to get 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:46.860 rid of Israel so badly because of all the plagues 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:49.700 that God sent that they were throwing money at 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:50.960 them. They were throwing their stuff at them 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:53.659 and saying, just get out of here. Just leave. 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:58.179 Take our stuff and leave. Now, Pharaoh, who's 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:01.340 the leader, releases them from slavery, but then 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:04.120 he has release regret. I don't know if you've 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:06.879 ever had release regret, but he did. He lets 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.600 them go. They leave. He regrets it. He gathers 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.919 his armies together. He begins to pursue them. 00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:14.179 He pursues them to the place called the Red Sea. 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.840 And God splits the Red Sea, opens it up. The 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:20.980 Israelites walk across on dry ground. The Egyptian 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:23.820 army follows them in, just like it was this isle, 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.480 follows them into the sea. And when the Egyptian 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.960 army comes in, God swallows them up in the sea, 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.840 and they are gone in a heartbeat. God promises 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.159 the Israelites, I'm going to take you to a land 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.620 that's flowing with milk and honey. That's the 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:39.379 same way of telling them that they were going 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:41.519 to go to a prosperous land. It was God's way 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:44.580 of saying that. He guides them by day with a 00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:47.539 cloud and by night with a pillar of fire. He 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.159 gives them supernatural food. It's called manna. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.539 It's like a super vitamin food. Every morning 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:54.139 it was laying out on the grass floor and they 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:55.960 could just eat it up. Every time they needed 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:58.139 water, he supplied it. Every time the waters 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:01.039 were bitter, he made them sweet. Every step of 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.559 the journey, they're seeing God show off for 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:06.419 them, show up and show off for them, and all 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:12.120 they do is complain. They whine. They gripe. 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:16.600 They grumble. They murmur. They bleat all along 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:20.159 the way. And I was super tempted when I'm reading 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:22.279 about Israel to point a finger at them and say, 00:16:22.340 --> 00:16:24.759 you know, you guys are just messed up. You're 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.220 whacked after everything that God did for you. 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:29.600 But how many know that Jesus delivered all of 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.100 us from the grip of sin, right? He took us out 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:35.059 of the slavery of sin. How many know that he 00:16:35.059 --> 00:16:37.639 gave us power over our enemy? He gave us the 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:39.980 Holy Spirit to guide us and consult us and direct 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:42.700 us and empower us. He supplies our every need 00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:45.120 according to his riches and glory. Truly, he 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.220 does all these things. When I get up in the mornings, 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:49.419 what do I do sometimes? Instead of giving him 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:53.220 praise, I whine about what's going on. I gripe. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:57.600 And it's dangerous. Numbers 21 .4 says this. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.480 From Mount Horeb, they set out, this is the Israelites, 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:03.679 by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.819 of Edom, and the people became impatient. How 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:11.400 many know that impatience usually precedes complaining? 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.660 Amen. How many were impatient in the car on the 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:16.940 way to church, right? And a complaint followed 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:19.960 as soon as thereafter. All the drivers, it's 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.500 true, right? They became impatient on the way, 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:26.559 and the people spoke against God and against 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.119 Moses. They start complaining about God. They 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:32.200 start complaining about Moses. Why have you brought 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.880 us out to Egypt to die in the wilderness? For 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:38.079 there's no food and no water, and we loathe this 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.720 worthless food, this super vitamin God that you 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:44.240 gave us. We hate it. Look what the next verse 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.099 says. Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among 00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:50.160 the people, and they bit the people. So that 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.779 many of the Israel died. And the people came 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:55.160 to Moses and said, we've sinned. For we've all 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.119 spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:00.980 to the Lord that he take away the serpents from 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.839 us. So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.519 said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.039 on a pole. And everyone who is bitten, when he 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.900 sees it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:16.079 and he set it on a pole. And if the serpent bit 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.680 anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.900 and he would live. This scripture, as I was reading 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:26.640 this, reminded me of something from my childhood, 00:18:26.740 --> 00:18:29.460 not snakes, by the way, all right? But I remember 00:18:29.460 --> 00:18:32.119 when my kid, when I was a kid, I remember my 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:35.380 parents, I have two sisters, we'd start complaining 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:38.220 and whining about something. My parents would 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:40.559 stop and say, listen, if you don't stop complaining, 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:43.339 I'm gonna give you something what? To complain 00:18:43.339 --> 00:18:47.910 about, right? That basically meant if you think 00:18:47.910 --> 00:18:50.089 your circumstance is bad right now, I'm about 00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:51.950 to change your circumstance and make it worse. 00:18:52.349 --> 00:18:54.589 So you can find out what complaining is all about. 00:18:54.849 --> 00:18:57.569 That's exactly what God is saying to Israel here. 00:18:57.690 --> 00:18:59.650 This is exactly what he said. You want to complain 00:18:59.650 --> 00:19:01.589 about my provision? You want to complain about 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:03.490 my hand? You want to complain about everything 00:19:03.490 --> 00:19:06.309 that I provide you? Let me release something 00:19:06.309 --> 00:19:08.910 into your life that's going to change your complaining. 00:19:09.470 --> 00:19:12.150 Right? Let me leave you with something that you're 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:14.569 going to understand what a complaint is really 00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:16.869 about. Let me leave you with something that has 00:19:16.869 --> 00:19:20.190 taken men out from the beginning, the serpent. 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:23.170 Isn't it interesting? It's a serpent here. God 00:19:23.170 --> 00:19:26.670 allows Satan to lose serpents among the people. 00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:29.210 How many know that would freak you out and me 00:19:29.210 --> 00:19:31.410 out right now? Amen? You've seen those movies 00:19:31.410 --> 00:19:33.250 right now. If a bunch of snakes started slithering 00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:35.190 through the pews right now, I would see you all 00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:37.250 hopping and get very excited in a big hurry, 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:40.170 right? We would. I can't even imagine being in 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:42.769 this community and what was taking place. But 00:19:42.769 --> 00:19:46.190 God allows these snakes, allows them, sends them 00:19:46.190 --> 00:19:48.509 in amongst the people. And you might be saying, 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:50.630 well, does God always have someone complain? 00:19:50.750 --> 00:19:52.970 No. Actually, I've only ever read it one time 00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:55.829 in history. Thank God, right? God doesn't do 00:19:55.829 --> 00:19:58.569 that on the regular. But what's the message here? 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:02.609 God hates complaining. He really does. Look and 00:20:02.609 --> 00:20:04.650 listen from the Israelites. This is a cautionary 00:20:04.650 --> 00:20:07.630 tale. And what is crazy is that God chooses an 00:20:07.630 --> 00:20:10.470 interesting way to heal the people from the snake 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:14.170 bites that take place. God has Moses make a pole, 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:17.509 a bronze pole, and he has him wrap a fiery serpent 00:20:17.509 --> 00:20:21.230 and place it on the bronze pole. And if the people 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:23.650 looked at it, when they got bit, they would be 00:20:23.650 --> 00:20:28.170 healed. And by the way, that pole with the serpent, 00:20:28.349 --> 00:20:31.279 you ever seen that before? Yeah, come on, that's 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:33.859 a medical symbol. This is where they got it from, 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.700 from Scripture. But why a fiery serpent on a 00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:41.940 pole? A serpent in Scripture always represents 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:44.940 Satan. And Satan came from the beginning. He 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:47.619 initially came into the garden in the form of 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:50.740 a serpent, and he comes to Eve, and he deceives 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:53.259 her, right? He says, did God really say you couldn't 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:56.319 eat from the one tree, one tree in the whole 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.740 garden? And he begins, he gets Eve thinking, 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:01.940 well, I don't know if I really believe God. And 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:04.819 God, we weren't there, but Eve might even complain 00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:07.839 about what God said. You know, I should be allowed 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:10.420 to eat from this one tree. Satan's been doing 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:13.259 this from the beginning. himself around you, 00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:15.579 just like that pole. He'll begin to wrap you 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:17.700 out. He'll choke out the word of God. He'll choke 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:20.019 out the power of God. He'll choke out your faith 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:22.420 in God. He'll do all those things, and you will 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:26.799 begin to complain about God himself. I think 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:29.180 God wanted to, I don't know, but I think God, 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:31.559 when this took place in Israel, I think God wanted 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:33.500 the people, when they got bitten, I wanted them 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:36.140 to come and take a look at what's actually going 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:38.500 to take you out, right? The enemy that's going 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:41.019 to take you out. And come and acknowledge, listen, 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:43.660 this is something to complain about. The enemy 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:46.019 is something to complain about. But not me. I 00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:47.779 am your provision. I am your healing. Because 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:50.240 when they looked on it, God healed them immediately 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:53.200 from the snake bites, from the poison. Every 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:55.680 time they looked at the pool. We have to understand. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.579 an underlying problem that goes along with complaining. 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:03.500 Because when I complain, I'm actually verbalizing 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.579 my lack of faith in God. Man, I know this is 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:09.259 tough. I'm not getting many amens this morning. 00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:13.059 Right? Thank you. I got a pity amen. That's awesome. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:18.119 All right. When I verbalize my lack, when I verbalize 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:21.619 a complaint, I'm verbalizing my lack of faith 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:25.660 in God. My lack of faith in the situation, right? 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:32.160 I'm making a bold declaration of how bad I have 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.880 it. How awful it is. How God cannot possibly 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.740 have me covered in this area of life. You know, 00:22:40.740 --> 00:22:44.839 I don't have enough money for the month. God 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.720 can't supply your need according to his riches 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:51.420 and glory. I don't like what someone said about 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:54.950 me. Right? They're talking about me. So I believe 00:22:54.950 --> 00:22:57.009 what they said about me instead of what God says 00:22:57.009 --> 00:23:01.269 about me. It's too cold. It's too hot. It's too 00:23:01.269 --> 00:23:05.130 sunny. It's too cloudy. So my environment now 00:23:05.130 --> 00:23:08.089 determines my joy and not the God of the universe 00:23:08.089 --> 00:23:11.269 who loves me more than I can know heart and soul. 00:23:12.049 --> 00:23:16.950 Any complaint, whine, murmur is laced with my 00:23:16.950 --> 00:23:22.000 lack of faith in God. I know, ouch, right? I 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.579 did a lot of repenting right here, by the way. 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:28.640 I did a lot of confessing right here. Moses told 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.579 the children of Israel that once the serpent 00:23:31.579 --> 00:23:35.279 has bitten you and the light of life begins to 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:39.940 drain from you, look at it and realize who your 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:43.759 strength is, right? Who your provision is, who 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:48.440 your healing is. See complaining for the awful 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:51.500 thing that it is in my life. See it that way. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.779 Repent and be healed. That's what God told them. 00:23:56.819 --> 00:24:01.599 Numbers 21 is that cautionary tale of not to 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:03.960 complain. And listen to what Scripture says. 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:07.980 1 ,500 years later, Paul writes this in Corinth 00:24:07.980 --> 00:24:14.819 to the Corinthians. He says, all under the cloud 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:17.759 and all passed through the sea and all were baptized 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:20.859 into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all 00:24:20.859 --> 00:24:23.079 ate the same spiritual food and drank the same 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:25.440 spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:27.960 rock. This is Paul talking 1 ,500 years later 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.559 about the children of Israel from the same spiritual 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.000 rock that followed them. And the rock was Christ. 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:36.380 Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not 00:24:36.380 --> 00:24:38.779 pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:42.440 Now these things took place as examples for us, 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:45.880 that we might not desire evil as they did. Do 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:48.500 not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:51.119 is written, that people sat down to eat and to 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.440 drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.119 in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.940 23 ,000 fell in a single day. We must not put 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:05.019 to the test, right? We must not put Christ to 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:07.859 the test, as some of them did and were destroyed 00:25:07.859 --> 00:25:11.019 by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.759 as they were destroyed by the destroyer. Now, 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:15.900 these things happened to them as an example, 00:25:16.740 --> 00:25:19.240 a cautionary tale, but they were written down 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:22.339 for our instruction on whom the end of the ages, 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.119 has come. Paul tells Corinth, learn from the 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.440 Israelites. Learn from them. They angered God. 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:34.180 They angered God for three reasons. Idol worship 00:25:34.180 --> 00:25:37.339 was one of them. Sexual immorality was the second 00:25:37.339 --> 00:25:41.180 one. And the third one is they tested God by 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:43.859 complaining. That was the three things that gets 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:50.119 named. Right? Do you know what? happened to this 00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:52.480 generation of Israelites that complained against 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.640 God, they never made it to the promised land. 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:58.460 They verbalized their doubt in God all along 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:00.819 the way. And if you go to Numbers chapter 14, 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:04.079 and I think it's verse 28, you go from between 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:07.039 eight and... 35, you'll find out that God gets 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:09.259 so tired of their complaining that after a while 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:11.779 he says, you know what? Anybody 20 and older 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:14.359 in this group is not, we're talking a million 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:16.279 plus people. They're not going to the promised 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:17.599 land. Matter of fact, the only two that are going 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.740 to the promised land is Caleb and Joshua because 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:21.839 they did not complain. They came back and said, 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.240 we can make it into the promised land. And everybody 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:26.380 else listened to eight other spies and said, 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:28.299 we're never going to be able to do it. We can't 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:30.519 do it. God's not big enough. The giants are too 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:33.920 big, right? And an entire generation dies in 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:35.680 the wilderness. And do you know who went in the 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:38.619 promised land? The children of those who are 00:26:38.619 --> 00:26:41.559 the complainers. The children and Joshua and 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:43.680 Caleb went into the promised land. That's who 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:48.240 God took in. Don't do it. Don't complain. Don't 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:50.440 complain when it's too hard because he never 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:53.019 leaves you or forsakes you. Don't complain when 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.380 there's a giant in front of you because he will 00:26:55.380 --> 00:26:57.339 always supercharge anything that you have in 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:59.680 your hand, like a sling and a stone, to take 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.059 down the giant. Don't complain in little or much 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:04.359 because he will always supply our needs, right? 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:07.380 Don't complain when people use us, despitefully 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:10.279 use us, because he is our reward and not people. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.799 Don't complain when you have a hand that's difficult, 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:16.619 something that was dealt to you in life that's 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:19.200 very difficult. Because he has the power to overcome 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:24.059 anything that is before us. Don't complain because 00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:28.619 Jesus will never, ever, ever let you ultimately 00:27:28.619 --> 00:27:32.960 lose. He'll never let it happen. Rejoice. Amen? 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:39.000 Praise him. Give him glory. As the worship team 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:42.299 comes. Can I give you just a little qualifier 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:46.619 in all this? Speak faith in him. Speak truth. 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:51.720 to speak his word, but also correct someone if 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:56.640 necessary. But do it without complaining. Address 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:59.980 the issues of life, but do it without complaining. 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:03.099 Be real about the difficult thing in front of 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:06.500 you, but do it without complaining. Stand up 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:10.259 against injustice around you, but do it without 00:28:10.259 --> 00:28:13.200 complaining. Make it about him and not about 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:17.170 you. Don't complain. Thread faith of God in everything 00:28:17.170 --> 00:28:21.569 that we speak and in everything we do by not 00:28:21.569 --> 00:28:25.369 complaining. And I'm going to finally close with 00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:27.609 something that's super positive because I know 00:28:27.609 --> 00:28:30.109 I've hit you really hard on the front end of 00:28:30.109 --> 00:28:33.309 all this with Scripture, right? But not complaining, 00:28:33.549 --> 00:28:37.569 understand this about this, not complaining makes 00:28:37.569 --> 00:28:41.329 me blameless, harmless, and a light automatically 00:28:41.329 --> 00:28:44.259 in the world around me. Let's take a peek back 00:28:44.259 --> 00:28:47.099 at Philippians 2 .14. It says, Do all things 00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:48.859 without grumbling or disputing that you may be 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:51.440 blameless and innocent children of God without 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:53.400 blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:57.759 generation among whom you shine as lights in 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.380 the world. Have you ever looked good just because 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:04.779 you didn't do the wrong thing? Anybody know what 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:08.029 I'm talking about? You didn't do anything particularly 00:29:08.029 --> 00:29:12.009 special in any kind of way, but you just simply 00:29:12.009 --> 00:29:14.309 looked good because you didn't do something the 00:29:14.309 --> 00:29:17.289 wrong way. You just looked good because you didn't 00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:20.190 do the wrong thing. I mentioned a little earlier, 00:29:20.250 --> 00:29:21.849 I have two sisters. I have a twin sister and 00:29:21.849 --> 00:29:25.849 a younger sister. And I remember growing up, 00:29:25.930 --> 00:29:29.049 all I had to do to look good to my dad and mom 00:29:29.049 --> 00:29:32.250 was not complain or fight with my sisters in 00:29:32.250 --> 00:29:34.400 front of me. That was it. I just didn't have 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:36.619 to do that. I didn't have to do anything special. 00:29:36.980 --> 00:29:40.819 I didn't have to go out of my way and get them 00:29:40.819 --> 00:29:43.299 a special card. I didn't have to get my mom flowers. 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:45.640 I didn't have to do that. All I had to do was 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.460 not complain and not fight with my sisters in 00:29:48.460 --> 00:29:51.039 front of them, and I was the golden child. All 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.609 right? And kids, I'm giving you some good advice 00:29:54.609 --> 00:29:56.009 right here. You need to be taking notes right 00:29:56.009 --> 00:29:58.049 now, all right? You want to be the golden child? 00:29:58.369 --> 00:30:01.289 You want your halo to light up? Just don't do 00:30:01.289 --> 00:30:04.289 it in front of them, right? Just don't do that. 00:30:04.470 --> 00:30:07.829 I didn't do anything special. I just didn't complain 00:30:07.829 --> 00:30:10.529 and fight, you know? And honestly, kids, if you 00:30:10.529 --> 00:30:12.250 really want to add a little bit to it, you know, 00:30:12.269 --> 00:30:14.190 when there's siblings, if you got siblings and 00:30:14.190 --> 00:30:16.430 they are fighting, you can just walk up and tell 00:30:16.430 --> 00:30:18.390 your mom and dad, mom and dad, I'm really sorry 00:30:18.390 --> 00:30:21.089 that you have to put up with all this, you know? 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:23.960 You don't deserve this. I'll pray for you and 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:28.359 walk away. That's all you got to do. Right? By 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:31.519 virtue of not complaining and speaking faith 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:36.259 in Jesus, we automatically appear as light in 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:39.759 the world around us. Nothing special. Just don't 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:44.099 do it. Right? Just don't complain. Just don't 00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:47.420 whine. Don't, you know, don't bleat wherever 00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:50.220 you're at. Not complaining according to the word 00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:52.980 of God keeps me innocent before God. It keeps 00:30:52.980 --> 00:30:56.640 me blameless. It keeps me in his light. And it 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:02.380 shows my faith in him automatically. It happens 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:07.900 automatically if you just don't do it. One day. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.119 And as you stand now, maybe a good example is 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:14.059 one day, if you would stand please with me, all 00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:16.500 of us are going to stand before the King of Kings 00:31:16.500 --> 00:31:19.819 and the Lord of Lords. One day when I get before 00:31:19.819 --> 00:31:21.599 him, I want to hear, well done, that good and 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:23.720 faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:25.660 That's the words I'm looking for. One day when 00:31:25.660 --> 00:31:29.180 I stand before God, I do not want to hear the 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:34.240 words, man, I gave you everything and all you 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:46.130 did was complain. In the house and outside of 00:31:46.130 --> 00:31:51.950 the house. I want us to do something this morning. 00:31:52.549 --> 00:31:58.309 I want us to set a self -imposed policy that 00:31:58.309 --> 00:32:01.009 I'm not going to complain. I'm going to do my 00:32:01.009 --> 00:32:04.609 level best not to complain. I'll speak the truth 00:32:04.609 --> 00:32:07.450 in love, but I'm going to leave out the complaining. 00:32:10.470 --> 00:32:13.920 Today I confess. Today I repent. And I'm only 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:15.740 asking you to do that because I did it so many 00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:21.579 times this week as I looked. And I'm going to 00:32:21.579 --> 00:32:24.180 be honest with you. I had enough here. I could 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:26.160 have preached for another half an hour, 45 minutes, 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:29.480 and not even blinked as I began to look into 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:33.380 God's Word. There is so much there. So what I 00:32:33.380 --> 00:32:35.059 want you to do today, I want you to close your 00:32:35.059 --> 00:32:36.339 eyes, and I want you to take responsibility. 00:32:37.259 --> 00:32:40.160 Only you and you alone know. the complaining 00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:42.380 that's taking place out of your mouth and maybe 00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:45.279 even in your heart. And today I want you to put 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.079 together an action plan. And first, that starts 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:50.039 with confession. You can't, God won't fix and 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:53.000 you can't fix what you won't name. So if you're 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:54.680 complaining, you got to speak it to him. You 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:56.700 just got to let him know, Lord, I've been whining, 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:00.619 I'm complaining, I've been bleeding, right? I've 00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:04.019 been griping about things and I want you to forgive 00:33:04.019 --> 00:33:06.680 me. I'm asking for forgiveness in my life. I 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:09.539 want you. Forgive me of my, this is this sin 00:33:09.539 --> 00:33:12.539 that I have against you that I am complained 00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:17.259 and complained and complained. Lord, I ask you 00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:21.240 right now, wash me clean of complaint. Lord, 00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:24.640 help me to recognize and see, just like when 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.920 they looked at the pole with the serpent, that 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:29.900 you are my healer, that you are the provider. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:32.279 God, that you're the one who will never leave 00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:34.759 me or never forsake me. Lord, you're the one 00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:38.000 who will walk me through, and I cannot lose in 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.559 you. I might have a battle. I might have many 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:43.680 battles in a row, but I might lose. I've got 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:45.279 some battles here and some battles there, but 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:48.099 I will never lose the war in you, and I know 00:33:48.099 --> 00:33:51.819 that. So, Lord, I look to you. God, help me to 00:33:51.819 --> 00:33:55.359 remember this every time I go to complain. Lord, 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:59.160 I ask this in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, amen. 00:34:00.600 --> 00:34:06.900 Amen? Now here's what I'm going to do. I wanted 00:34:06.900 --> 00:34:09.139 to come up with a plan church -wide for this. 00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:11.820 Because I can't monitor it, you've got to monitor 00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:14.199 it yourself. Here's what we're going to do to 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:17.420 the end of August. There's 22 days left in the 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:18.719 month of August. I'm going to ask you to do this 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.900 for 21 days, and then hopefully the last day 00:34:20.900 --> 00:34:22.480 of August will be a launching point for you. 00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:24.559 But here's what I'm going to ask you to do, and 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:26.840 you can talk about it within your family. But 00:34:26.840 --> 00:34:29.800 I want you to commit. To give money to missions 00:34:29.800 --> 00:34:33.800 every time you complain. All right? This is like 00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:35.920 a complaint jar. I did this once a long time 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:39.219 ago. And you can trap it. I want you to habit 00:34:39.219 --> 00:34:41.199 track this. The Word of God calls it actually 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:42.920 renewing your mind because that's how you change 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.000 your mind about something. You begin to track 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:47.940 your habit. And I want you to decide. And maybe, 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:50.539 now listen, don't make it a penny for crying 00:34:50.539 --> 00:34:52.800 out loud, okay? Like, I'm going to give Jesus 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:56.179 a penny every time I complain. Come on. Make 00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:59.610 it hurt a little bit. I'm going to give the missions. 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:02.230 And every time I complain in the next 21 days, 00:35:02.429 --> 00:35:04.409 I'm going to mark it down on my phone. I'm going 00:35:04.409 --> 00:35:06.329 to write down on a tablet, whatever. Going to 00:35:06.329 --> 00:35:08.630 make a check mark, right? And I owe God a buck. 00:35:08.730 --> 00:35:10.670 I owe God 10 bucks. Whatever you want to make 00:35:10.670 --> 00:35:13.230 it, you determine that for your family. But I'm 00:35:13.230 --> 00:35:15.489 going to help you stop complaining. Amen? How 00:35:15.489 --> 00:35:17.590 many know if it hurts, you stop complaining? 00:35:18.349 --> 00:35:21.150 If I pinched you every time you complained in 00:35:21.150 --> 00:35:23.309 the arm, if I was right by your side and I pinched 00:35:23.309 --> 00:35:24.949 you and you pinched me every time I complained, 00:35:25.210 --> 00:35:26.510 how many know it wouldn't take long? We'd quit 00:35:26.510 --> 00:35:29.659 complaining. Now the money's going to go to a 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:31.860 great thing, missions. We'll give you the different 00:35:31.860 --> 00:35:35.079 missions projects you can give to. And this is 00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:37.440 self -imposed. You can decide to do this or not 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:42.119 decide. But I don't want to complain. I really 00:35:42.119 --> 00:35:45.800 don't. I've done enough confessing and repenting 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:47.380 this week. I really don't want to repeat that. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:50.679 So I want you just to decide your heart. We're 00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:53.110 going to pray one more time. in this part of 00:35:53.110 --> 00:35:54.909 the service. And I want you to just bow your 00:35:54.909 --> 00:35:56.429 heads because you've got to make a commitment. 00:35:56.650 --> 00:35:58.269 You're not committing to me. You're committing 00:35:58.269 --> 00:36:01.150 to God. So I want you to make a commitment. You 00:36:01.150 --> 00:36:03.230 might have to discuss the amount with your spouse. 00:36:04.650 --> 00:36:06.369 But how much are you going to give every time 00:36:06.369 --> 00:36:08.269 you complain? Because we're going to renew our 00:36:08.269 --> 00:36:10.730 minds with this. We're going to change our habit 00:36:10.730 --> 00:36:13.190 with this. We're going to be a people of God 00:36:13.190 --> 00:36:15.510 who will speak truth and love, but we're not 00:36:15.510 --> 00:36:17.929 going to complain. Because I don't want God's 00:36:17.929 --> 00:36:19.889 judgment on this house. I don't want God's judgment 00:36:19.889 --> 00:36:22.769 in my life. I don't want God. calling me out 00:36:22.769 --> 00:36:26.110 on this again. Father, I thank you for this opportunity. 00:36:26.230 --> 00:36:28.030 I thank you for this time to come together. God, 00:36:28.050 --> 00:36:29.489 for each person in the house right now, give 00:36:29.489 --> 00:36:31.530 them a number. God, I pray, Lord, that you speak 00:36:31.530 --> 00:36:33.670 to them. Holy Spirit, I know that you can speak 00:36:33.670 --> 00:36:35.170 into their lives. And Lord God, we're going to 00:36:35.170 --> 00:36:37.190 stop complaining. Together, God, we're going 00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:39.210 to be people of God who praise you. We're going 00:36:39.210 --> 00:36:41.250 to be people of God who lift up your name. We're 00:36:41.250 --> 00:36:43.420 going to be people of God who speak truth. But 00:36:43.420 --> 00:36:45.219 Lord God, we're going to do it without complaining, 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:47.900 without grumbling. And Lord, we thank you. God, 00:36:47.980 --> 00:36:50.000 we give you glory. We give you honor. We make 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.619 this simple commitment right now. If you're listening 00:36:52.619 --> 00:36:54.519 online, you can do the same thing. You can type 00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:57.659 it in the chat. Take responsibility. Lord, we 00:36:57.659 --> 00:37:00.840 give you praise and glory in Jesus' name. And 00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:05.019 amen and amen. Amen. Can I read one last scripture 00:37:05.019 --> 00:37:08.719 to you? One last scripture. James 5, 7 says this. 00:37:09.019 --> 00:37:12.329 This one shook me to the core. Be patient, therefore, 00:37:12.349 --> 00:37:14.789 brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how 00:37:14.789 --> 00:37:16.809 the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the 00:37:16.809 --> 00:37:20.409 earth, being patient about it until it receives 00:37:20.409 --> 00:37:24.969 the early and the late rains. You also be patient, 00:37:25.230 --> 00:37:28.230 patient. Establish your hearts for the coming 00:37:28.230 --> 00:37:30.889 of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against 00:37:30.889 --> 00:37:34.989 one another, brothers, so that you may not be 00:37:34.989 --> 00:37:40.070 judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the 00:37:40.070 --> 00:37:44.829 door. The judge is right on the other side of 00:37:44.829 --> 00:37:48.570 the door of complaint. Right on the other side. 00:37:49.750 --> 00:37:54.010 Man. Understand why I was repentant? I have more. 00:37:54.130 --> 00:37:57.909 I'm not going to give them to you. God's so good. 00:37:58.230 --> 00:38:02.929 He's so good. Commit to this. The blessing of 00:38:02.929 --> 00:38:06.829 God is in this. The children of the complainers 00:38:06.829 --> 00:38:10.320 went into the promised land. They reaped. Their 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:13.940 parents promise. Because they simply didn't complain. 00:38:14.579 --> 00:38:17.320 And God walked them in to the promised land. 00:38:24.699 --> 00:38:27.699 Thank you for tuning in to this message from 00:38:27.699 --> 00:38:30.900 Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were impacted 00:38:30.900 --> 00:38:33.960 powerfully by this message. If you have been 00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:36.659 personally affected by our ministry and you would 00:38:36.659 --> 00:38:39.380 like to partner with us as we love God, love 00:38:39.380 --> 00:38:45.480 people every day, visit our website at www .lifehousecog 00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:46.440 .com.