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Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach This is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. One-line donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15. We often say that, you know, smiles and joy is contagious. Enthusiasm is contagious, but also complaining is contagious. Did you know that? Did you know that you can influence somebody by complaining? You sure can. And you ought to see what God has to say about it. Now I know nobody hears guilty of this, but we need to cover it so that you’ll be able to help those other people that do these things.

So Romans in chapter 15, look there in verse 1, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves, that every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification, for even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written, a for time, were written for our learning.” Now, I want you to think about that just for a second.

If it was a reference to the Old Testament that was written before, the Lord here in the New Testament is putting his stamp of approval upon the Old Testament and saying that the things that were written and before are things that you and I are supposed to learn. And if it was written for our learning, then evidently we’re supposed to read it. Right? So that means that we ought to read the Old Testament to learn from it the lessons that God has for us.

And then he says here that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope, comfort and patience. Did you know that most of our complaining is because we don’t have patience or comfort? And we complain. Something’s not on schedule. Something’s not causing me to be comforted. So here in the Bible it says, the things in the Old Testament were written for our admonition. So if it was written it must be true, and if it’s for our learning, it must be read.

So we’re going to look at a few of those things. But look there in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 18, to save a little time, don’t have to look there. Just look at the last part of the verse that I have out there. And everything do what? Give thanks. Some things are not as easy as others. I can handle those big monumental things. It’s It’s these little things that kind of gets in my way, you know, as we walk along.

But I want you to read what I have written under here. Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. The Bible commands us to be thankful. First, because God deserves our gratitude. Second, gratitude is the only way for us to be happy. Gratitude is a choice, an act of the will to obey God. It is an impossibility for an ungrateful, complaining person to be happy. It is just as impossible for a thankful, praising Christian to be miserable. So I think we have to work on our consistency, a consistent, praising Christian.

Look at number one, all complaining is sin. In regards of what we call it, it’s still wrong. Complaining is simple. Looking Philippians in chapter 2, the book of Philippians in chapter 2, and looking in verse 14. You ought to underline this verse in your Bible. Do all things by murmuring and disputing. Do all things without, without. Well, what about just a little bit? Without murmuring and disputing. And which actually is just complaining and arguing we’re supposed to. Did you know that when you read the Bible, especially when you have to teach it, especially if you’re the preacher?

Because you know you’re supposed to practice what you preach. You know, that might be why some preachers never preach on certain subjects because they don’t want to have to apply it. But what I try to do is whatever I’m facing, I figured that you’re not much different than I am. whatever I need, I think you need that. You need that. So that’s why whenever I’m preaching to you, I’m preaching to myself also because I know it’s things that I need and it’s the closest thing to my heart.

There are lessons that we all have to learn and some are easier than others but we still have to learn them. And so I want you to take now your Bible and go with me back to the Old Testament and go to the book of Exodus chapter 14, Exodus chapter 14. And you may wanna hold your place in the book of Exodus, but it causes a few places that we’ll be looking at here. But you remember not long ago, I preached a sermon from Exodus chapter 13, 14 and 15 about the dead end, the dry holes and the detours.

detours. Anybody remember this sermon? Oh, that’s great. Not a soul in here, remember the sermon. I want to preach it again. But anyway, here in the book of Exodus and chapter 14, look there in verse 10. Exodus 14 and verse 10. We know that the children of Israel had been complaining to God because of the taskmasters because they were slaves. And you’ll be surprised how quickly their attitude can change. And they wanted God to deliver them, so God sent Moses.

So he says in verse 10, and when Pharaoh drew nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore, afraid, and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord, and they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken this away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Why did you do this? Look what you’ve done to us.

Do they not remember how bad it was? And now they complained when they were in Egypt, and now that they’re out of Egypt, What are they still doing? Still complaining. Did you know if you’re complaining about a few things, you just love it and complain about a lot of things. It can become part of your character. And so he said in verse 12, is not this the word that we did tell the in Egypt sin, let us alone, oh they did, that we may serve the Egyptians for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.

Now you think that you have problems. How would you like to be a man like Moses with 200 wine and Israelites in the desert? I’d have just left him one night and kept on a walkin’ there. But they complained. Nothing was right on because they were afraid. See, they were afraid. They couldn’t see how God was gonna do it. So they didn’t have the patience that they needed. didn’t have the patience. They didn’t have comfort because you’ll find that they had one complaint after another.

Look in Exodus in chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. And look in verse 23. In Exodus chapter 15 and verse 23. And when they came to Marat, they could not drink of the waters of Marat. For they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Mara. And the people, and here’s that word you ought to underline it in your Bible, murmured against Moses. Saying, what shall we drink? This is one of those dry holes that I was telling you about.

When they came to the Red Sea, that was one of their detours in a dead end. But the Lord is the one that led them to these things, and He was testing them over and over and over again. And every time God tests them, they would complain about it. So remember, complaining is contagious. And it only takes two bull frogs and a lake to sound like a hundred of them. Have you ever heard somebody say, well, everybody in the church hates me?

There’s probably only two of them. And when I’m gerellative, it’s not everybody, but it sounds like everybody. Have you ever walked into a place that feels like everybody’s staring at me? The world everybody’s staring at me. me. No, everybody isn’t staring at you. Everybody don’t care what goes on in your life, believe it or not. Everybody’s not against you. Maybe if you, not everybody. But it’s when you get in a bad attitude, you don’t see the things that you ought to see.

And so you don’t say the things that you ought to say. But look what he says in verse 24. And the people murmured against Moses and what shall we drink?” And then what, look what he says. In verse 25, and he cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree and when he had cast into the waters the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statuette and an ordinance and there he proved them. See it was a testing to see what does it take to cause you to lose your cool?

What does it cause you to blow your temper, you know, to say and do think, what is that test? Now God doesn’t tempt you to sin, but God does test His children. Look here in chapter 16, look in verse 1, and they took their journey from Elaman, all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of sin, which is between Elaman Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month after their departed out of the land of Egypt and the whole congregation of the children of Israel and there’s that word you ought to underline that word.

Now this is written for a reason and God says you go back and you read because it’s true for our learning. So there’s things you’re supposed to learn from the Old Testament scriptures and he says they murmured against Moses and Aaron in the the wilderness and the children of Israel said unto them, would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full, for we have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

You see, they were complaining about the water right before that. Now they’re complaining about the food. Did you know that once you start complaining, it becomes a habit in your life and you just keep on complaining. And that’s why nobody can make you happy and you’ll never be satisfied because, see, it becomes part of your character and because you’re not grateful to the Lord and you’re not thankful to the Lord and you’re not praising the Lord. And so you focus upon anything that goes against your comfort and causes you to be impatient.

Romans chapter 15 verse one and two. So these things are written to us to learn a little bit from them, but now they were hungry. And so of course the Lord took care of that and gave them something to eat. But look in verse 7, and in the morning then you shall see the glory of the Lord forth that he hear it, he hear it your murmuring against the Lord. So there’s a God in heaven that sees and hears all of our complaining, our arguing with God or of God’s because we’re not satisfied, we’re not content with that which we have.

And so therefore, these complaining things is a dead giveaway that somewhere along the line you’re not walking with the Lord as close as you ought to. You’re worried about something. You’re afraid of something. Something is stopping you short-circuiting what you want or your pleasure or your peace of mind, your comfort, and you don’t like it. So we complain about that. And so a lot of people live in a constant state of complaining and murmuring and whining. Ooh, this hurts tonight.

Now look there at number two, to understand that all complaining is against God because as it says in verse 7, for he that heareth your murmurs against the Lord, and what are we that we murmur against us? Or that you murmur against us? And Moses! Ah, man. What a person and what he had to put it with. Do you know because of all their murmuring complaining and they were never satisfied? The day came when he struck the rock twice and because of that, he lost his cool and he wasn’t able to go into the promised land.

God let him see it from a top mountaineble, but he wouldn’t let him enter it because he lost it. He lost it. And he just got fed up. Well, I’m glad that doesn’t happen to any of us. And you say and do things that you should not do. So that was the fourth complaint. See, Israel lacked water the second time. He says, strike the rock, and that was a type of Christ, but he was a strike the rock only one time because that’s a picture of Christ’s crucifixion.

The next time he was just to speak to the rock, but he struck it again. And that was wrong because it broke the type. That was not to be done. Look at number five, I guess you could say Israel’s fifth complaint. Exodus chapter 32. Look over there. Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 32 and look in verse one. Moses had gone up on a mountain. while it was up there, him and God, he was talking to the Lord, you know. But the people thought he’d been gone a long time.

So what do you do when you get tired of waiting? You take matters into your own hand. I remember somebody like that with Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. Didn’t they wind up regretting that? Didn’t they cause trouble? We’re still having trouble because of that today. Just look at the trouble in the world today because of Sarah’s suggestion.

But we’re supposed to have respect for that woman. That’s all I will. Now here in chapter 32, when the people saw that Moses delayed, he didn’t delay, God wasn’t finished with him yet. When he came down the mountain, did you know he came down right on schedule?Accent. He came down at the right time. But you know why he came down when he did? Because God said, Moses, he says, you know what the people are doing down there? They’re partying.

In other words, he’s putting it on there with the 10 commandments and they didn’t broke all of them. They were in the midst of it. So when he got down there, he said, I’ll break him too. And God had to go make another set for him. But it says, the people gathered themselves together under Aaron and setting him up. Make us gods which shall go before us, for as for this Moses the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt.

We don’t know what in the world become of him and Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives and of your sons and of your daughters and don’t forget to get the rings out of your nose. Well I just stood that in Aaron’s hand. Burt verse three and all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them under Aaron and He received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graven tomb after he had made it a mold and calf Remember now later on he says the people made me do this and he’s when it told him say you tell him get off Go get all the golds of okay Aaron told him to do that But of course we’ll just move right along Verse 4, and he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a

graven tomb. After he had made it a golden calf, a golden calf, and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. When Aaron sought he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and says, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord, and they rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings, and peace offerings, and the people Sit down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.”

Well, I think you’ll find out that that’s probably more than just rising up to play. In the New Testament, it was because of sex. Cuz a lot of trouble. They were wicked. They did wickedly. In verse seven, and the Lord said in the Moses, “‘Go get thee down for thy people, which thou brought us out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. Look at this again. I want you to see this. And the Lord said unto Moses, go get thee down for thy people, which thy brought us out of the land.

Wait a minute now, it was God’s. Now it’s Moses. Now I don’t know about you, but I would have had a problem with this. Lord, you sent me, you told me, and God’s a first hand. Look at your people. Look what they’re doing I think even God was upset and he was upset and God Brought judgment. God took care of the situation that he did. Look at number three. All complaining is addictive. It’s addictive. Look at Numbers chapter 11.

Numbers and chapter 11. I want you to know and understand that it’s not a light thing to be a complainer, a person who murmurs and argues all the time. I don’t think it’s wise for the wife to argue with her husband or for the husband to always arguing with the wife I don’t think it’s always wise for the children to argue with their parents or to be arguing with your boss and always arguing arguing Or always complaining about everything.

Why not about everything? Nothing’s ever right It’s not wise In lots of if we don’t see it that bad or we don’t believe well, you know, it’s as me and And surely he’s not going to look at me the same way he does everybody else. If it’s wrong for Moses to do it, wrong for the children of Israel to do it, would it be wrong for you how to do it? I think he said, do all things without murmuring and complaining.

Why would he have to say something like that? Because it could be possible that a lot of God’s children do a lot of murmuring and complaining. is it possible? Sure I’m glad there’s nobody like that here. But in the book of Numbers in chapter 11, I want you to look here in verse 1, in verse 1, it says, and when the people did what? You ought to underline that. It displeased the Lord. So if it displeased Lord because they did it was shouldn’t it displease the Lord if you and I do it.

And he says and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them which were in the uttermost part of the camp. And the people cried in the Moses and when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire was quenched. So yes that was a problem. Now and also in the scripture You see that all complaining is contagious. Look here in your notes. All complaining is contagious. It means it affects other people.

It’s just not something that you do, and it’s just you, it affects other people’s lives. Doesn’t the Bible say something about edify one another, exhorting one another, encouraging one another, praying for one another? Complaining does not do any of those things. It doesn’t do any of those things that God tells us to do for one another. It’s just the opposite. It is destructive. It is destructive. Did you know you can complain about something and somebody else who had no problem with it can begin to complain?

It’s because you complain. And more you complain, the more people complain. And next thing you know, you could have a whole army. And you know you’re right because look how many people agree with my complaining. But is that what God wants? Is there a better way to handle a problem? See, the best way to handle a problem is to tell only those that are part of the solution to the problem, and it’ll help you. In verse 4, And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting, 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 really, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onion and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside this manner before I see God even gave them angel food. I guess they thought it was devil food. He gave them angel food. And now they’re complaining about that. But you know, whatever that angel food was made out of, it must have had everything, it must have been a health bar.

It had everything in it that they needed to sustain themselves and they complained about it. And it’s like there’s no end to this and they just went, but you know, all this complaint, do you know where they were when they were doing all this complaining in the the wilderness. And most Christians, that’s where they live in the wilderness. See, the land of Canaan is not a tight-related of heaven. It’s a place of victory in the Christian life are supposed to be.

So we are God’s children. And to go from childhood to adulthood, we have to go sometimes through the wilderness. And so… Most people never get out of the wilderness. They stay there their whole lives and wander, accomplish nothing, get nowhere, just going in circles, and just whining and complaining all the days of their life. And one day you’re going to get old and you’re going to look back and says, what have I done for the Lord? What have I actually done for the Lord?

Could God use me? Oh, he can. But look there in verse 12. Have I conceived all this people? Have I been gotten them that thou should have said to me, carried them in thy bosom as a nursing father, bear the second child unto the land which thou swears unto their fathers? In verse 14, I am not able to bear all this people alone. It’s too heavy for me. But if thou dill thus with me, I’d rather you just go ahead and take my life right now.

I’d rather die. In other words, it seemed like Moses just about had enough. Did you know that you can discourage a lot of people? Let me tell you this, and this is just the truth. I get a chance to, and I’ve done it a lot of it, traveling around the country, sitting down with a lot of preachers and having a cup of coffee. And you know, a lot of preachers have become very discouraged and very depressed. And a lot of them have just quit the ministry.

You know why? Because the people in their church complained all the time. Never happy, never satisfied. All they did was whine. It didn’t matter what the preacher preached. It was never the right thing. They found fault with everything that he’s saying does. And so most of them just get discouraged. They get depressed. Did you know that you can do that to the preacher, as well as the preacher can do it to you? But every one of us need encouragement.

Did you know just by a view of you saying, preacher, I enjoyed that sermon last week or today or whenever, do you know that? That makes me feel a little bit good. Let’s me think, you know, maybe you got something out of it because we wanna be a blessing. No preachers wanna be a blessing to people. They wanna help people. They wanna encourage people. I think we want that, but also y’all need that. Y’all need a little, you know, praise her in there.

They said, you know, flattery will get you nowhere. It will too. But it ought to be honest and genuine compliments and not just made up flattery for, you know, trying to make somebody feel good when they know that you’re not really sincere. It ought to be genuine. But it says here, I would rather you let me die than to see my wretchedness in that birth. We’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible Line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Life broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.