This sermon was preached on Sunday
morning, July 15, 1984, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville,
New Jersey. Now, in the normal course of
our Lord's Day morning ministry in the Word of God, I would be
asking you to turn with me to the Gospel according to Mark
as we work through our consecutive expositions of that portion of
the Word of God. However, as your elders, charged
with taking heed to the flock of God, redeemed it both wise
and necessary to depart from our normal pattern of ministry
this morning. Many hours of concentrated pastoral
interaction in the recent weeks with some of the members of the
flock have convinced us that there is another word from God
that is indeed the Lord's word to our hearts as we meet this
morning. That word is not found in the
Gospel of Mark, but in 1 Corinthians 10. Therefore, I both urge and
invite you to turn to that passage with me and follow as I read
the first paragraph. 1 Corinthians 10. verses 1-13. The Apostle Paul, writing to the
church at Corinth, says, For I would not, brethren, have you
ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all
passed through the sea? And were all baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea? And did all eat the same spiritual
food? And did all drink the same spiritual
drink? For they drank of a spiritual
rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Howbeit,
with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples,
to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as
they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were
some of them. As it is written, the people
sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Neither let
us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in
one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us make trial of
the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of
them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things
happened unto them by way of example, and they were written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. let him that thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall. There has no temptation taken
you but such as man can bear, but God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but
will with the temptation make also the way of escape that ye
may be able to bear it. Now let us once more seek the
face of God, that this word which we as your elders are convinced
in a unique sense is the word of God to us in this hour, may
be a word which in the language of the previous hour we may not
confront with hardness of heart, but today, today, if we hear
His voice, we may be obedient to that word. Our Father, our hearts were made
very solemn in the previous hour as we thought of that entire
wilderness generation with their carcasses rotting under the burning
sun of the Palestinian desert because of hardness of heart. Oh God, we fear a hard heart. Therefore, we cry to you that
this word that will be expounded and applied in our hearing may
be heard with the ears of the heart. O God, we cry to you,
give us ears to hear and hearts to obey what the Spirit will
say to us through the word. For Jesus' sake and for the good
of our individual souls, and for the good of our corporate
life. Hear us, O God, hear us and answer
our cry. Amen. Now the focus of our concentration
this morning will be upon verse 10. Verse 10, which says, Neither
murmur ye as some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer. But a responsible handling of
that individual text demands that I pause on the threshold
of our study to give you at least a feel for the overall context,
structure, and content of the passage in which verse 10 comes
to us. And so, please, gird up the loins
of your mind as in about five to seven minutes I tried to set
this verse in the setting in which it comes to us by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. The general context is Paul's
treatment of the whole subject of meat offered to idols. He took up that subject in the
beginning of chapter eight and it led very naturally into what
we generally describe as the doctrine of Christian liberty.
The subject of whether or not a believer in Corinth should
eat meat that had been offered unto idols led very naturally
into the whole question of the believer's relationship to things
that are not sin in themselves, but which may either occasion
sin in him or in another. And so the doctrine of Christian
liberty has been treated in chapter 8. Well, then the apostle balances
that doctrine in chapter 9 by underscoring from his own experience
that as a Christian he is prepared, first of all, to relinquish lawful
liberties for the sake of the gospel, verses 1 to 22. And he
also is prepared to restrain his own bodily appetites for
the safety of his own soul. Verses 23 to the end. And I heartily
concur with the interpretation Professor Martin gave you in
the previous hour. I had no knowledge he was going
to touch upon this passage. And he is right when he asserted,
when Paul says, I do all things for the gospel's sake that I
may be a joint partaker, What follows indicates he means a
partaker of its saving benefits, and he says, I will only be certain
of that if I keep a strict reign upon my bodily appetites. So he has opened up the doctrine
of the believer's liberty. He has balanced the doctrine
by saying that for the sake of the spread of the gospel, One
must be prepared to forego the exercise of lawful liberties
and also one must be prepared to restrain one's bodily appetites
in the safety or in pursuit of the safety of his own soul. Now
then he anticipates an objection. It's as though he anticipates
this objection. Well, Paul, you write in very
strong language about the necessity of foregoing lawful liberties
for the sake of the gospel, and you've concluded your statement
by saying that you buffet your own body and bring it into bondage,
lest, having preached to others, you should be abdachanos, that
is, reprobated, lost, damned, Surely, Paul, in the light of
all of the privileges which you've already described believers as
possessing in Christ, you've told us in chapter 1 that of
God we are in Christ, who is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. You've gone on to describe the
believer as one indwelt by the Spirit, the purchased property
of Christ. Surely, Paul, Self-denial and
rigid self-control are not matters of such strict concern in the
light of all of our gospel privileges. At the end of the day, we're
really safe regardless of what we do, aren't we? And Paul, anticipating
that objection, moves in chapter 10, first of all, to demonstrate
that the wilderness generation, the generation that came out
of the Egypt in the Exodus and wandered in the wilderness had
tremendous and gracious privileges. And so in chapter 10 verses 1
to 4, five times he says of that whole generation, all of them
had all of these privileges. And so he underscores by way
of description the great and gracious privileges of the nation
of Israel at the exodus and in the time of the wilderness journey.
Then in verse 5 he makes an astounding declaration. He says, how be
it with most of them God was not well pleased for they were
overthrown in the wilderness. Though they had great privileges,
they incurred the displeasure and the ultimate judgment of
God in spite of their privileges. Then in verse 6, he gives a statement
of the divine purpose for permitting those very events. Why did God
permit those events in the wilderness? And he tells us, Now these things
were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted. God permitted that history to
unfold that it might be a negative beacon to us. Do you see it?
These things happened to the intent that we should not lust. That's the general statement.
Then he picks out four of the cardinal sins which caused the
overthrow of that particular generation. He picks out the
sin, first of all, verse 7, of idolatry. Then verse 8, fornication. Verse 9, tempting God. Verse 10, murmuring. Then in
verse 11, he repeats what he asserted in verse 6. Notice,
these things happened unto them by way of example, almost a word
for word repetition of verse 6, but then he adds another thought.
And he says they have been embodied in scripture that we might be
admonished, we upon whom the ends of the ages are come. God
not only permitted that history to be a negative beacon, He directed
that it should be inscripturated so that the church in this age
until the consummation when Christ comes might ever and again be
admonished and warned by that history recorded in Scripture. Having then given that repetition
and expansion of verse 6, he gives a sobering warning in verse
12. Someone says, well, I'm not at
all tempted to those things. He says, wherefore, let him that
thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. And then he gives a
word of encouragement to the person who says, alas, I've fallen
before those things. There's no hope for me. He says,
yes, there is no temptation taken you, but such as man can bear,
God is faithful. Now, that's the overall structure
of the passage. That's the essential content
of the passage, that's the general context, and I've stuck within
my six minutes. Now then, the specific focus
of our study this morning, a divine prohibition of the sin of murmuring,
and that's the Word of God to us this morning. A divine prohibition
of the sin of murmuring, verse 10. Amidst enumerating the specific
sins which caused the overthrow of that generation, Paul says,
neither murmur ye as some of them murmured and perished by
the destroyer. Now, Paul is assuming that these
Corinthians would have some acquaintance with the Old Testament description
and record of that murmuring generation. And when we turn
to the Old Testament, we find that again and again, the sin
of murmuring characterized that generation. Beginning in Exodus
15 and verse 24, and I'll not read all of the references now.
We'll have occasion to look back at them, God willing, as the
message unfolds. But beginning with Exodus 15,
24, where we read, murmured against Moses, saying,
What shall we drink? We find this repeated activity
of murmuring. Chapter 16, 7 and 8. Chapter
17 and verse 3. On into the book of Numbers.
Chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. Chapter 14, verse 2. Chapter
16, verses 3 and 4. And chapter 16 and verse 41. It is said again and again, that the people in general, and
listen carefully, and certain groups in particular murmured
against Moses, against Aaron, and against the Lord. Now it
was that acquaintance with this biblical data assumed in the
mind of the apostle as he writes to the Corinthians that he is
able to say Do not indulge in the sin of murmuring, and notice
the language of the text. It's very precise. Not as all
of them did, but as some of them murmured and perished by the
destroyer. In other words, Paul's prohibition
by the Spirit of God of the sin of murmuring does not point to
that sin as a general characteristic and activity of the entire nation,
though it was, but it has reference to a specific instance of murmuring
by certain ones of them. And this is very precise in the
original. Do not murmur as certain of them
murmured and perished by the destroyer. Now what is the specific
historical illusion that is uppermost in Paul's mind? Well, some commentators
have said it could be. It's the allusion in Numbers
14, verses 36 and 37, in which the entire nation murmured when
the spies came back with their report and said, it's a goodly
land, but we can't go up there. There are giants in the land
and they're well entrenched. There's no way. And God brought
judgment upon those murmuring, unbelieving spies who became
the occasion of the murmuring of the entire nation. But it's
rather stretching the language of this passage to point to that
incident. It is most likely that it is
the number 16 incident that Paul has in mind. Turn, please, to
Numbers 16. The opening verses record the
activity of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and
Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. These three rose up before
Moses and certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty
princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of
renown, and they assembled themselves together against Moses and Aaron
and said unto them, You take too much upon you. Seeing all
the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is
among them, wherefore then do you lift up yourselves above
the assembly of the Lord? You see what their complaint
is? God is in our midst. We are all under spiritual privilege. Therefore, we are all equally
competent to run the show. Get down off your high horse,
Moses and Aaron. You take too much upon you. You
say, I don't see the word murmuring. All right, skeptic. Look at verse
11. Therefore thou and all thy company
are gathered together against the Lord and Aaron. What is he
that you murmur against him? God calls this murmuring. And the chapter ends with this
account, verse 49. Now they that died by the plague,
these murmurers, beginning with the 250, and then when God judged
these three, and they and their households were consumed in the
Lord's anger, others rose up and complained and said, Moses
and Aaron, you're too harsh. God took the situation in hand,
and what did He do that day? He killed 14,700 of them. Verse
49, Now they that died by the plague were 14,700 besides them
that died about the matter of Korah. And it is most likely
this very incident which Paul had in mind when he says to the
Corinthians, in the midst of this general prohibition of following
the pattern of the wilderness generation, do not murmur as
certain of them murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer."
Now, so much for the historical incident. Now we ask the question,
what precisely does it mean to murmur? What precisely is the
sin of murmuring that is prohibited in this text? Well, the word
as it is used in the New Testament means to speak in a complaining
and discontented manner and sometimes to do so secretly or with a whisper. That is the two-fold significance
given in the Arndt and Gingrich dictionary, which is standard
for usage in our own day as a relatively accurate dictionary of the meaning
of Greek words. But we do not need the dictionaries,
since the meaning of Scripture is Scripture. Let's look at several
references where this same verb is used or the noun form is used
in the New Testament. Turn to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter
20. All we're trying to do now is to come to grips with what
does it mean to murmur. If I'm told, don't murmur, stop
murmuring, and continue to stop it, I must know what murmuring
is. And now we're seeking to ascertain,
not from lexicons, but from the Bible, the meaning of the words. In the 20th chapter of Matthew's
Gospel, you have the parable of the householder who went out,
and you remember he hired certain men early in the day, and they
worked all day, and he hired some at the end of the day, and
then it came time to give them their wages. And he gave them
all equal wages, and we read in verse 11, And when they had
received it, those who had worked all day, and they saw that they
got the same amount as others, when they had received it, they
murmured, against the householder saying, these have spent but
one hour and you've made them equal to us who have borne the
burden of the day and the scorching heat. You see what the murmuring
was? It was speaking in a complaining
and discontented manner. They murmured saying, this is
not fair, this is not right. That's what murmuring was in
this context, Luke chapter 5. And here the element of secrecy
and whispering And a little, we might call, a little cadre
of discontent is manifested. Luke chapter 5. The incident,
which in the parallel passage we studied a few weeks ago in
Mark's Gospel, Jesus is in the house of Levi. He's in the house
with the Palestinian mafia, the riffraff are around him, and
the scribes and Pharisees see it, and what do they do? Notice
now verse 30 of Luke 5. And the Pharisees and their scribes
murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink
with publicans and sinners? You see the flavor of the word
murmuring? Exactly the same verb. It means
to speak in a complaining and discontented manner, sometimes
with the element of secrecy. It's the word used in Acts 6.1
where you had the Grecian widows murmuring because they felt they
were being treated unfairly. It's used again in John 6.41-43
of those who oppose Christ and who murmur and Jesus responds
to their murmuring. So to murmur in the sense of
this word in Holy Scripture, to quote one commentator, is
to give audible expression to unwarranted dissatisfaction. When a man, a woman, boy or girl
gives audible expression to unwarranted dissatisfaction, that's murmuring. Or, we could put it this way,
to complain and grumble in a rebellious spirit. to complain or grumble
in a rebellious spirit, to indulge in unwarranted dissatisfaction. Now, if this murmuring of certain
ones in the nation of Israel is made the specific focus of
the warning, then surely the more general descriptions of
the whole nation murmuring stands under divine censure. You see
my reasoning? If God brings fierce judgment
upon a few for murmuring, then His reaction to murmuring is
not lessened when it's indulged in by the many. And I say that
as the justification for turning to all of the murmuring passages
in order to answer our next question. Having established the historical
incident to which Paul refers, having given to you a working
definition of murmuring, now then, thirdly, what are the leading
characteristics of this sinful murmuring? What are the leading
characteristics of this sinful murmuring, and if ever you pray,
Search me, O God, and know my heart, I pray that every member
of Trinity Church will cry to God in that language. What are
the leading characteristics of this murmuring? Well, the first
thing we learn from a study of the passages in the Old Testament
is this. We learn something about the
context in which the old covenant community or individuals within
the community murmured. And you know what that context
was? It was a context of the manifested goodness, power, and
love of God. First Corinthians chapter 10
begins with underscoring that fact. I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud. And what
was the cloud? It was the visible symbol of
the special presence of God with His people. Of all the nations
of the earth, only Israel had God with them in the cloud and
in the pillar of fire. They were a privileged people.
All passed through the sea. What does that tell us? They
were delivered from Egyptian bondage. No longer could the
taskmasters crack the whip over their backs and draw blood. They
were through the sea, delivered from Egyptian bondage. The very
sea which was their passageway to liberty became the grave of
the entire army of the Egyptians. It was a context of the manifested
goodness, power, and love of God. They were all baptized unto
Moses. That is, through the cloud and
the sea, they were incorporated unto the leadership of Moses.
God didn't leave them to be a motley crowd of 600,000 adults simply
to fight it out and to be leaderless. He prepared a man for 80 years. that they might have a competent
leader. What a privilege! Not a motley,
leaderless crowd wandering around, squabbling and tearing at one
another. They were baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea, the man who was given the oracles
of God by which to direct the life of the community of God's
people. What a privilege! Furthermore,
it says, they did all eat the same spiritual food, the manna,
and they drank the same spiritual drink. They drank of a spiritual
rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. God met
their every need physically, and for those who had God-given
eyes to see, the manner in which their physical needs were met
were symbolic of how their spiritual needs were to be met in Messiah.
The bread of heaven, you remember John chapter 6, is the true significance
of the manna. And that rock from which water
flowed is symbolic of him who said, If any man thirst, let
him come to me and drink. What was the context in which
the old covenant community or individuals murmured? It was
a context of the manifested goodness, power, and love of God. Mark that well. Secondly, who
were the objects of their murmuring? We're looking at the leading
characteristics of their murmuring. Context, we've covered. The objects
of their murmurings were three. Number one, the God-appointed
leaders in Israel. From the first incident recorded
of their murmuring in Exodus 15, 24, and almost without exception,
They do not murmur directly against God, but they murmur against
God's appointed leadership. It's very significant. Exodus 15, 24, the people murmured
against Moses. Now, notice it doesn't say they
murmured to Moses about God. But they murmured against Moses. Chapter 16 and verse 2, And the
whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and against Aaron in the wilderness. Chapter 17 and verse 3, And the
people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against
Moses and said, And you see again and again that the objects of
their murmuring were, first of all, the God-appointed leaders
in Israel. Secondly, the God-ordained providences
towards Israel. Exodus 15, 24 again. What are
they complaining about? They are murmuring against Moses
because of a God-ordained providence. And what was that present providence?
There was no water to drink that was suitable for human consumption
at that point. Moses didn't create that situation. God did. And instead of reasoning,
if God opens a sea, if God breaks the back of the Egyptian power,
surely that God will not leave us to have nothing to drink and
to die of thirst. And instead of accepting that
providence as an occasion for the God who had already shown
His love, His power, and His grace to show it again, they
used it as the occasion to murmur against God's providence. And
we find that motif all the way through right to the last incident
in Numbers 16 and verse 41. Notice how the Object of their
murmuring is not only the God-appointed leaders, but God-ordained providences
toward His people. Number 1641, But on the morrow
all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. Well,
what could be further from the truth? Because it tells us that
when this judgment of God fell upon these rebels, that God did
something He had never done before. He opened up the earth. He split
the earth. And these rebellious murmurers
and their households went down alive into the grave. Now, who
in his right mind is going to say Moses could do that? Only
God can do that. And so they complain against
God-ordained providences towards Israel. And you see it all the
way through. But then the third thing that
is the object of their murmuring is this, the God-given provisions
for Israel. Not only God-appointed leaders
over Israel, God-ordained providences towards Israel, but God-given
provisions for Israel. Numbers chapter 11. What happens? Well, there's a general account
of an incident of murmuring in the first three verses that is
very indistinct and indefinite. It simply says, the people were
as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of the Lord. And when
the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled and a fire from God
devoured in the camp. No specifics are given. But now
verse four does give us a specific incident of murmuring. And the
mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly." Probably
the very language you see Paul had in mind when he said, do
not lust after evil things as they did. And the children of
Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we
did eat in Egypt for nothing. The cucumbers and the melons
and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. And now our soul
is dried away. There is nothing at all save
this manna to look upon. And the manna was like coriander
seed, and the appearance thereof is the appearance of bedellum.
And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in
mills, and beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made
cakes of it. And the taste of it was as the
taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the
camp in the night, the manna fell upon it." Do you see what
they are doing? They are murmuring against God. provisions for them
as a nation. Here was this strange food from
heaven that could be prepared in many different ways. that
was by the act of God's constant miraculous provision endowed
with all the necessary nutrients to sustain life in that wilderness
journey. It was the perpetual miracle
saying to them from heaven, my heart is open to you. My heart
is moved to you in love and concern and compassion and I provide
your daily bread by this mean. But they got so accustomed to
that perpetual miracle that they began to grumble at their God-given
provisions. Now, I haven't read a thing into
the passage, dear people. I've just turned you to the various
passages and let them speak, and I haven't made a word of
application. I want you to see the whole picture and feel the
full horror of this sin before we make application. The context
in which the old covenant community or individuals murmured, the
manifested goodness, power, and love of God. The objects of their
murmurings, God-appointed leaders over Israel, God-ordained providences
towards Israel, God-given provisions for Israel. Now, what were the
roots of their murmuring? What were the roots of their
murmuring? Well, let me show you what the
roots were, and the root system is ugly. But when we, as it were,
pull back and pry away the crusty dirt and try to look into what
it is that can sustain so noxious a plant as that of murmuring
and all of its ugly poisonous fruits. You see that there are
at least four roots embedded in the earth by which that plant
is sustained. Number one, forgetfulness of
the past mercies and power of God. forgetfulness of the past
mercies and power of God. I don't have time to show you.
You can read it at your leisure. But again and again they murmured
when they faced a crisis that demanded a present manifestation
of the power of God. And rather than think back to
what God had done in the past and reason from the past to the
present, they acted as though God were dead. And they said,
you brought us out to kill us? The Egyptians behind us? Walls
of mountains either side. Red sea in front of us. We've
had it. And then they get to a situation with no water. You
brought us out here to kill us at first. Then there's no food.
You brought us out here to kill us. They always took the negative
perspective. They forgot the past mercies
and power of God. The second root was this. Unbelief
in the present love, goodness, and care of God. Unbelief in
the present love, goodness and care of God. That's why they
dare to say in Exodus chapter 16 and verse 1, the congregation
murmurs, would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the
land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, when we ate bread
to the full. You see, they said, back there
we had it good, but right now there's no goodness and love
in God's heart. There was forgetfulness of the
past, mercies and power of God. The second root was unbelief
in the present love, goodness and care of God. Thirdly, the
third noxious root was this rebellion, rebellion against appointed administrators
of the will and word of God. Number 16. Moses and Aaron, you
have taken too much on yourselves. God says, I hear your murmuring.
They've not taken one thing upon themselves that I have not laid
upon them. When my servant Moses was in
the backside of a desert and I appeared to him in a burning
bush, I, Jehovah God, prepared him and appointed him leader
in Israel. He did not one day get drunk
with the heady wine of a notion that he'd like to be leader of
this motley crowd. Any man in his right mind would
never have wanted that. And he was appointed by God,
and then God said to him, you remember when he complained that
he was not eloquent and had a speech problem? He said, I'll make air
in your mouthpiece. Moses and Aaron stood where they
stood by the divine appointment of the living God. And all chafing
at that appointment was a fist clenched in the face of Jehovah. That's why the fire of His anger
came and burned up the whole multitude. And then fourthly, the fourth
root was a spirit of worldliness and attachment to the world,
an attachment to sin, I'm sorry. A spirit of worldliness. Remember
what they said in Numbers 11? Oh, it was so much better back
in Egypt. When the mind began to think
of Egypt, symbol of the world, bondage and sin, when they began
to have a hankering for the world, for Egypt, that's when they grumbled. That's why this sin of murmuring
in 1 Corinthians 10 is nestled in the context of a warning against
idolatry, immorality, fornication, idolatry, sins of
the world, sins of the flesh embedded in that context and
tempting God, presuming upon God's grace. And that's the fourfold
root of the sin of murmuring as it unfolds. And then, fourthly,
what were the results of this murmuring? Well, you just go
through all the Old Testament references and there's one word,
judgment. Judgment. Judgment. In a couple of instances, God
accommodated Himself in their murmuring. He accommodated Himself
and gave their request. But the overall pattern is precisely
what Paul emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 10. Judgment. He opens up the
earth to swallow up the murmurers. He sends fire. Numbers 11, 1
to 3, he sends fire to consume the murmurers. 14,600 destroyed by the destroyer. The results of murmuring in the
Old Covenant community were judgment, judgment, judgment, and judgment. Now then, having established
from the Word of God a biblical definition of murmuring, the
leading characteristics of murmuring, Now I want to apply the whole
to us. And I want to say, with Judgment Day sobriety, our pastoral involvement in recent
weeks has convinced us that the sin of murmuring is present in
this congregation. Thank God, not the whole Covenant
community. It is not that as the whole multitude
caught the infectious spirit of the murmuring of the spies,
and God would say to this entire community, I'll overthrow you
in your unbelief and ingratitude. But there is a sufficient spirit
amongst some to warrant the preaching of this morning. And I pray God
again that you will realize you're not dealing with Albert M. Martin
or his fellow elders. But with the God who found out
the murmuring and said again and again, your murmuring is
not against my servant, but against me. First of all, what's the
context of your murmuring here in Trinity Church? It is the
context of the manifested goodness, power, and love of God. The goodness, power, and love
of God to some of you as individuals I cannot conceive how some of
you could ever become murmurers. What were you when God in grace
laid hold of you? A pot-smoking hippie, a lecherous,
unclean, filthy adulterer, a proud, self-righteous Pharisee. And God in grace reached down
gave you a new heart and washed you in the blood of your Son
and clothed you in His righteousness. And then what did He do? Did
He put you in a church where the prayers you could predict
every prayer because the pastors and elders were not praying in
secret and therefore there was no freshness in their prayers?
Where there was just the mouthing and the mumbling of rote phrases? No! He put you in a church For
those who lead you in prayer seek to have their own hearts
inflamed with combs from off the altar, and where God draws
near, not in a pillar of cloud and fire, but in His felt presence. Did He put you in a place where
there's a three-ring circus? Where special numbers and special
music and special films and special everything crowded out? the worship
of God and the preaching of his word. No, he did no such thing.
He put you in a place where with whatever its faults are, there
has been a dogged determination that this book would be preached
and would be obeyed. And where nothing would stain
the glory of God in public worship, where there would not be entertainment
to attract attention to men, but where psalms and hymns of
scriptural content would focus all the eyes upon the living
God. And what has God done for many
of you in this place? He's given you your husband,
your wife, One who shares the same perspectives, the same goals,
the same insights to the Word of God. It is a context of the
manifested goodness, power and love of God. And what are you
doing? Murmuring! In the name of the God of heaven,
do you see the horror of it? Murmuring! Murmuring! Murmuring! Murmuring! In a context where you ought
to be on your face blessing God for every token of His goodness
that He's showered upon you. What about the objects of your
murmuring, just like the Israelites? Have you got more sense than
to go out here in the parking lot And at the end of the service,
wait till everyone comes out, say, everyone gather round, I
have a word to say. And while everyone gathers round,
you look up to heaven and clench your fist and say, God, I've
got a complaint with you. God. Now, you don't direct your
murmurings to God. You direct them to God's appointed
leaders. The scripture says that Christ,
the exalted head of the church, gives to his church pastors and
teachers. He doesn't give sinless men,
but he gives men who meet the biblical qualification, who undergo
the scrutiny of scripture and are set apart to that task. And
in this church, stand continually under the discipline of their
fellow elders and every four years are scrutinized as to their
fitness to function as a gift of Christ. And some of you have
been murmuring against your God-appointed leaders, just like the Israelites. You've got enough fear of God
that you wouldn't dare clench your fist and complain against
God. But you spend your time in whispering
and niggling in subtle little ways, chafing against God-appointed
leadership that has absolutely no shred of personal ambition,
but only seeks to lead you for your good in God's glory. Then
you murmur against the God-ordained providences. He has led us as
a congregation through our Red Seas, through our deserts. There are times when it was impossible
for us. As we knew four years ago, five
years ago, it was impossible to erect this building. It was
proven in a computer readout that we still have in our church
records. A computer readout proved we
could not build this church. It's built and paid for. The
computer readout says you can't build phase two. And it's going
up before our eyes. And instead of saying, oh God,
by whose hand we have been led. Some of you do what? You murmur! You murmur! These irresponsible
elders getting us in over our head from Angelium, taking on
this burden, taking on that burden. My friend, you are like a cursed,
murmuring Israelite. When God shows you your heart,
it will break and melt in the presence of Almighty God. Murmur
against God-ordained providence. You murmur against God-given
provisions for your sustenance. I get tired of this business
turned to the context, the meaning of words. I tell you I could
weep when I sit as I sat this morning at the back of the congregation
in the Sunday school hour and heard as I hear every week some
of the most pure accurate opening up of the Bible I've ever heard.
And I don't say that to butter up Professor Martin. He needs
no buttering up from me. And to see people looking around,
wandering eyes, it breaks my heart because I know places all
over this world where people don't get in a whole year what
you and I get in 50 minutes when that dear man of God teaches
us from the Bible. And you've grown disgusted with
manna, just old manna, just old Bible, giving the structure of
the passage, giving the meaning of the words. We want something
a little more pizzazz in it. Well, my friend, if you want
leeks and onions and garlic, this place is not going to become
Egypt for you or no one else. You want leeks and onions? Go
to Egypt and eat them until you vomit them. But as long as this
man has breath, and my fellow elders have breath, manna and
manna alone from this pulpit. To complain against God's provision.
The food that He's ordained to feed you. These prayer meetings. Pray about this, pray about that.
I want a prayer meeting where we can do a little navel watching.
And Jesus said, the great burden of our prayers is to be thy name
be hallowed, thy kingdom come. Those prayers which have in the
blessing of God brought his blessing down upon us to the point where
some of us at times feel, Lord, depart from me. I'm an unclean
man. The very things that prostrate
us in humiliation and brokenness are the things that make you
and murmur and criticize. And God says, neither murmur
ye. The objects of your murmuring, exactly like the Israelites.
And what's the roots of your murmuring? The same as theirs.
You've forgotten past mercies. You need to read Ezekiel 16,
my friend. God says, what were you, Israel,
when I found you? You were like a baby just born,
unwashed and wallowing in its blood. You say, that's indelicate.
My friend, I don't care about your sense of indelicacy. That's
Bible. That's Bible. Maybe your sense of indelicacy
is you don't want to see yourself that way. God says your mother
and father were pagans and you were like an unwashed baby wallowing
in its birth blood when I found you. What could be more ugly
or disgusting? God says, that's what you were
and that's what I was. And as long as you remember it,
you never murmur. As you say, whatever I get, as
long as I'm not roasting in hell, it's all of mercy. It's been
a long time since some of you ever said that and meant it.
That's your trouble. That's your trouble. Sure, you
can murmur against God's Moses and Aaron's when you're not looking
at your own heart. If you begin to have holy complaints
about your own heart, you won't have time to complain about godly
leadership that is not violating the Word of God, but simply violating
your own notions of what should be done. Arrogant, proud notionalism
that has nothing to do with obedience to the Bible. And sit around
in your little groups in diners and in homes and carp and criticize. God hears every word of it and
I tell you it's a stench in His nostrils and He hates it. Neither murmur ye. You've forgotten
His past mercies. Secondly, unbelief in His present
love, goodness, and power. That's why you murmur, you complain,
because you're not part of an assembly that with all of its
heart is believing God for great things. that looks back upon
anything we've known in the past, and as we stand on the threshold
of this new sphere of usefulness, we are convinced that God has
only begun to do what He longs to do in us and through us. And
while many pray with expectation, and our prayer meetings have
never been more attended than they have been in the past month,
and more attended with the sense of God's presence. What are you
doing? Instead of standing, as it were, on your tiptoes full
of holy excitement to see what Jehovah God will do, you're sitting
stewing in the acrid juice of your own carping criticism and
murmuring. You say, Pastor, you really have
a way with words, don't you? My friend, I can't find words
strong enough to describe that ugly witchery that is going on
in some of your hearts and in your minds. Thirdly, it's rebellion
against your God-appointed leaders and the God who gave them. Jesus
said, Whosoever receiveth whomsoever I send receives me. That's serious business. And
unless you're prepared to prove that any one of your five elders
is totally incompetent and biblically unqualified, Jesus Christ has
sent them. When you refuse to receive them
into that place of honor and submission which God commands,
Hebrews 13, 17, you are rejecting Christ in your rejection of them.
I didn't say it, Jesus said it. Whosoever receives, whomsoever
I send receives me. Don't you talk about submission
to Christ. while you don't submit to those he's put over to you.
If you say you love God whom you have not seen and don't love
your brother whom you have seen, you see the parallel? You say
you're submissive to Christ whom you can't see. How can you be
when you're not submissive to those whom he's placed over you
whom you can see? But I'm convinced with perhaps
the majority of those guilty of this sin, it's this fourth
root that is feeding it more than anything else. worldliness
and attachment to sin. You know why you're murmuring?
Because there's some idolatry in your heart. God calls covetousness
idolatry. And you see, this is a climate
in which idolatry is not comfortable, in which the human heart is probed
with the word of God. You know why some of you are
murmuring? Because you have a heart going after idolatry. You've
made an idol of your business. You've made an idol of your family.
You've made an idol of your plans, your career, your body, your
face, whatever it is. Notice how they were all joined
together in 1 Corinthians 10, idolatry and murmuring. For some
of you, it's uncleanness. That's why you murmur, because
this is the place where we don't tolerate uncleanness. You've
never had to be shamed that any one of your leaders over all
these years has ever been publicly scandalized by immorality. I
get calls every month from pastors and churches and people saying,
Pastor Martin, can you help us? We don't know what to do. Our
pastor's been discovered having an affair. One of our deacons
been discovered and the church is shattered and shamed in front
of the whole community. You've never gone through that
pain by the grace of God. We have walked in uprightness
before God and man, yet you kick against the pricks and murmur,
why? Because you see the intolerance
to immorality in us, and it shows up your own tendency to cut corners
on purity. That's why you murmur. You've
got a hankering for fornication, and it's time you owned up to
it and said, I am the man. It's that hankering for Egypt.
It's that attachment, that subtle subterranean umbilical cord that
still ties you to Egypt. That's what's pumping in those
foul juices into your heart that cause you to murmur, and murmur,
and murmur, and murmur, and murmur, and murmur, and murmur. It's
very interesting that in the book of Jude, and I want you
to turn to the passage in the book of Jude in verse 16, where
Jude is describing those who will come under the judgment
of God. Notice what he puts together. These are murmurers. Same basic root word. What comes
after murmurers? Complainers. And what is joined
to murmuring and complaining? Walking after their own lusts. Now notice this. And their words. speaking great, their mouths
speaking great swelling words. Oh, how wise they appear when
they're murmuring, when they sidle up and say, you know, have
you been thinking about this particular thing the elders have
been doing or this particular direction of the church? Don't
you think that and all such swelling words of wisdom come out of your
mouth? But they're overlaid upon a condition
described by Jude as one who's walking after your own lust. That's why you're a murmur and
a complainer, because the vast majority in this community of
God's people are walking after holiness, and it's showing you
up. Whether your lust is after bodies,
or whether it's after bucks, or after position, it's the lustful
heart. It pumps in the horrible juices
that cause your spirit to spew out your constant grumbling and
murmuring. Well, what are going to be the
results? Judgment. Isn't that what Paul says in
1 Corinthians 10? These things are written. Why? That we might
look at this ancient history and be captivated? No. but that
we might be admonished, that we might be warned, that we might
be checked. Verse 5 says, God was not well
pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness. Some of you are already feeling
the judgment of God. You know where you feel it? If
you're honest with me, you'll say, Pastor, Pastor, Pastor,
thank you for loving me enough to show me my heart. You know
where some of you are already feeling the judgment of God?
Precisely where the Israelites fell. Did you remember what God
did one time when he got so disgusted with him? And he said, I'll take
my presence from you. That's where it's shown. Been
a long time since any of some of you have known the realized
communion of God in the secret place. Oh, you've got all kinds
of excuses as to why you don't pray. But the bottom line is
this. The last few efforts you made at prayer were so futile
and dry and empty that you said, no use going back there. Do you
know why God's presence was not known in the secret place? Because
of your sin of memory that has grieved and quenched the Holy
Spirit who alone is the spirit of prayer and of supplication.
And you will never have the spirit of prayer upon your heart again
until you stop this cursed murmuring, confess it to God, confess it
to every person in this congregation with whom you've indulged it,
and come clean before God and man, and stop this murmuring
that is a stench in the nostrils of God. For some of you, I fear,
the internal spiritual judgments, they don't seem to have done
your work. God may have to begin to touch your body, for this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. That's
not my word, that's God's word. God may bring affliction. I'm
not saying all affliction is judgment for murmuring, but there
are times when it is. God may touch members of your
family. God may touch your possessions. Worse yet, God may let you go
like those in Psalm 73, and let you go on prospering materially
while your soul shrivels up inwardly. And I can think of no greater
judgment from God than that. Read it in Psalm 73. No greater
judgment from God than to go on unchecked by external providences
while the soul shrivels and dries under the withering blast of
the judgment of God. Well, I close by pointing you
briefly to verses 12 and 13. Some of you say, Pastor, Pastor,
by the grace of God, though I may occasionally indulge that sin,
and when I do, I seek to be cleansed and washed. By the grace of God,
I can say with a clear conscience in His presence, I'm not guilty
of the pattern of murmuring. By the grace of God, that's not
a description of me. What do I say to you? Verse 12,
Wherefore, let him that thinks he stand take heed lest he fall.
Oh dear, precious, fellow believer and fellow soldier and comrade
in arms in Trinity Church, listen. If you're not given over to this,
be watchful. There are some who are given
over to it this morning, who if they were told a year ago
that they would spend much of their spare time with a mind
seething with discontent, giving birth to verbal murmuring, they'd
say, you're crazy. Not me. My love and commitment
to Trinity Church and its ministry and its leadership is such. Never,
never, never! And yet, there you sit this morning,
a murmurer. Oh, let him that thinks he stands
take heed, lest he fall. Be watchful of anything, anything
that begins to produce a murmuring spirit. Go look for any one of
those roots beginning to go down and ask God to tear them out.
Ask God to expose them, and by the cross and blood of Christ
to see them withered. But what about those who say,
Pastor, the game's over. God's found
me out. God's found me out this morning.
I'm the man. I'm the woman. I feel so powerless. I've gotten into such a pattern.
It's a way of life with me. What do I do? There's no hope.
Ah, look at verse 13. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as man can bear. And how can he bear it? Because
God is faithful. He does not bear it in his own
strength, but there is a faithful God. Listen to me, all my murmuring
brother or sister. Did God take you out of Egypt?
Did He break the chains of Egyptian bondage? Did He take you out
from under the lash of the devil who led you captive at His will?
Well, if God can break the chains of Egyptian bondage, He can break
that cursed murmuring spirit, and by the blood of His cross
and the withering power of His Spirit, He can free you from
it! No, you don't need to sit back
and fatalistically say, there's no hope for me, I'm so held in
the grip of it! My temperament, the way my mind
works! My friend, your mind and temperament
are not greater than Almighty God! God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. And the way of escape is open
to you. You know what that way is? You've got to start this
morning by humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God.
God resists the proud. And as long as you stand back,
oh, not outwardly, but inwardly defiant in saying, I know, pastor's
going after me. But somebody get me. I won't
let him get to my friend. What in God's name am I doing
this for? What do I have to gain? I appeal
to your conscience. What do I have to gain? Will my salary be increased if
you stop your murmuring? Will my workload be decreased? No! It's nothing to do with my
salary. And if this murmuring is dealt
with and God comes with greater power, my workload will be increased. It is the honor of my blessed
Savior and the good of His precious people in this place that has
caused me to go after your conscience. I'm your friend. When Nathan
came to David and hurled into his conscience the accusing word,
he was the best friend David had on the face of the earth.
And my dear member of Trinity Church, I'm your friend in coming
after your conscience this morning. There is a way of escape, but
it starts with humbling yourself, owning your sin, no excuses. Not, oh God, I've been guilty
of murmuring, but no, no, no! Oh God, I've been guilty of murmuring
because, and then you take all the causes upon yourself. And you say, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. God, have pity upon me. I am
ashamed and blushed and cannot look up. And then you determine
to go to every single person into whose ears you put your
murmuring words and sowed seeds. But you say, Pastor, I don't
know how many there were, and maybe they in turn have told
others. All right, then you may have to ask permission to stand
and face the whole congregation and say, I'm one of them. God
found me out. God found me out. God found me
to think that I could have been a tool of the devil, so to grieve
the spirit that the blessing of God would be removed. What
an ingrate person I've been. God, have mercy. My fellow believers,
have mercy. That's the way of escape, my
friend. Do you want it bad enough? Humble yourself in true confession
to God, to man. And then humble yourself by going
to Christ and saying, Lord Jesus, this thing's bigger than I am.
I'm helpless. Lord, I'm helpless. Have mercy
upon me, Son of David. Have mercy upon me, Son of David. That's the way of escape. True
confession with its roots in true repentance. Then faith that
looks to Christ for cleansing, for pardon, for the grace to
desist. from this horrible sin of murmuring. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and
were destroyed by the Destroyer. I fear to let you go, but I must,
because, alas, I know the human heart too well, and some of you,
I fear, will calculate your activities this afternoon Try to drown your
conscience rather than go to the cross and drown your sins
in the blood of Jesus. Float them to the cross in your
own tears of penitence. Your tears can never cleanse
them, but in a sense your tears will float these sins to the
cross where Christ's blood will wash them. Oh, go to the cross? God help you to go to the cross.
before the judgment of God falls upon you. Let us pray. Oh God, our Father, how we plead
to break proud, hard and stubborn hearts that have so long withstood
the pressure of your words Oh God, have mercy upon those
men and women whom you found out this morning. Lord, what can we do but pray,
have mercy. And for those precious souls
whose consciences are so tender, don't let the enemy bury them
with false guilt. Lord Jesus, take the bruised
reeds and the smoking flax, gently nourish, gently minister to them. We pray, O God, we pray, that
this sin will be purged from us by the spirit of judgment
and burning, and that those who have not indulged in it, and
we thank you for the many who have not, O, that we would ever
be watchful, knowing that we too may fall. Seal the word to
our hearts for the sake of your beloved son.