The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E88 - Complaining and Arguing

Episode Date: September 22, 2020

Hey, church family, it is Devo Time. If you got your Bibles, we're going to pick it up in Philippians chapter 2. As you know, we're just walking word by word through the book of Philippians. And we're going to pick it up where we left off in verse 12. He says, therefore, now again, anytime you get a conjunction like that, it helps you study the Bible if you see what the therefore is therefore. And so basically what he's saying is, all right, therefore, since now, we have all agreed because of what Christ has done for us,

because Christ set us the example that he treated us as very, very valuable, even though he is the most valuable. Even he set us an example by emptying himself, so we're not going to be full of ourselves, we're going to empty ourselves. We're going to be unified around the gospel because we're going to treat each other as if they're more significant than us. and because at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father,

since all of that is true, therefore, my beloved, don't pass by this word too fast. First of all, remember last week, remember Paul's heart towards the Philippians. He calls them the beloved, which is a very important word. in fact, it's God's title for us in 1 John. We're called the beloved. And you know what it means to be beloved? That means that we have, that it means that we are to be loved, that everything that he is going to instruct us in

is not to try to attain the love of God, but it's an out of an overflow of the fact that God has already loved us. Do you see the difference? Therefore, since Jesus is high and lifted up, my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling now that doesn't mean that we work for our salvation when he uses this phrase work out your salvation it means take what's on the inside and work it out to get it on the outside you ever like work out of

a knot or another way to think about it is if you put a little bit of yeast in some dough and then you work it through, that what God has done when you surrendered your life through the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he gave you the gift of salvation. But it didn't change all of your body. He didn't change your mind, but he changed your heart and he changed your eternal destiny. And a way to think about it, it's like he put the seed of salvation in your here, in your heart. And so you're saved forever. And now, by our activity, we work that thing out. We try to flesh out our salvation so that the way that we live on the outside matches the God that we believe in on the inside.

The way he said it earlier in chapter one is only let your manner of living be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ or walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, so he says, so work out your own salvation. with fear and trembling. In other words, that your relationship with God, though it is personal, it is not private. That's not just the thing that stays between you and him, but the way that we live with one another changes because of who lives in us. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So again, this isn't, to work out your salvation doesn't mean you just need to try harder in unity. What it means is you abide closer to Christ because as we abide in Christ, he produces fruit in us, and it is the fruit of the spirit

that is the outward evidence of our inward salvation, because it's not us that is, it's not us that works these things into reality, but it is God who works in you both to will and work for his good pleasure. Verse 14. Do all things without disputing or grumbling. Do all things without disputing or grumbling. Now, I mentioned this in the sermon a couple weeks ago. I memorized this verse in the New International Version,

do everything without complaining or arguing. Think about that. Do everything without complaining or arguing. A part of the way that you work out your salvation and a part of the way God works in you to bring about the will and work for his good pleasure, it will be revealed by what comes out of your mouth. Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So be honest with yourself. Do you complain and do you argue? Do you grumble and do you dispute? Now, one of the ways, if you want to know whether you do or not, just check your text. I mean, you have a transcript of the things that come out of your mouth, or at least through your thumbs. And look at the way you talk to the people that you love most. And is it a lot of complaining? is it a lot of arguing? Or check your social media feeds. If I were to read your social media feeds,

do I see this, do I see that you have learned the secret of being content in all situations through the person and work of Jesus? Or do I see a ton of complaining about social issues and arguing about political issues and complaining about the way the world is? And you may say, yeah, yeah, but this is really important, okay? Well, okay, no problem. But Jesus, or Paul says, says here to do all things without complaining or arguing. So if the thing that you want to complain and argue about falls under the all things category, then we're not supposed to do that. Why? Because, again, what comes out of our mouth will either bring unity or division in complaining and arguing bring division. What comes out of our mouth is evidence of what is actually in our

heart. And when complaining or arguing come out of our mouth, first and foremost, what we are saying is what I want is more important than when anybody else wants. It brings division. When complaining and arguing comes out of our mouth, it just lets the whole world know that what God is doing is not enough and my idea is better. It's an indictment against God. When we complain and argue, then it is evident to this world that we are living in a place not of gratitude, but we are living in a place of entitlement. Therefore, we're going to complain and argue. And so he says, Do everything, everything without complaining or arguing. And then look at the result,

that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. You want to change the world? You want to change your world. You want to change the temperature of your home. You want to be a witness to the people that you work with. then what Paul would say is, is a good first step is this.

When everybody else is complaining and arguing about Zoom meetings and the boss and the new policy that came out, when everybody's complaining and arguing about whatever the thing is, then Paul says when you don't do that, you begin to demonstrate that you believe that God loves you, that God works in all situations, that God is for you, and you will begin to shine like a star in a crooked and depraved generation. And I talked about this in church a couple weeks ago, and this will lead people to come up to you and say, what is up with you? I mean, you just seem to have something that we don't have, because as we're spewing

complaints and arguments and grumbling out of our mouth, you tend to be talking peace and contentment, and we want what you have. Do everything without complaining or arguing that you may be blameless and innocent choice. of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast to the Word of Life. Do you know what that is? This is called, this is the Word of Life right here. So instead of clinging to what everybody else is complaining about, what this kind of person does with the spirit working in them, what the believer does is holds fast to the Word of Life so that in the

day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. What Paul is saying is, I have poured myself out for your discipleship. Come on, church, make me proud and watch your mouth. He goes on to say, verse 17, even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. What Paul is saying is this, hey, listen, you think you have something to complain about? You think you have something to argue about?

You think you have something to grumble about or you think you have a dispute? Okay, me too. I am in prison right now because I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And because I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and it landed me here in prison, you are able to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

and you have been disciples under me. And even if it costs me my life, even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the altar, being sacrificed for your sake so that you can know the Lord better, he says, I am glad and rejoice with you all. He's saying it's worth it. And so I'm sure when the Philippians got this letter, and apparently they must have been complaining and arguing or Paul doesn't bring it up.

And Paul says, hey, listen, don't you remember your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus? He didn't complain to argue. And he went to the cross for our sake. Then what are we complaining or arguing about? You see, church, ultimately when we complain and when we argue, ultimately what we're saying is, I didn't get what I wanted. I didn't get my way. And it is really, really easy for us to look at our circumstances and somehow be able to

offended that things are not going our way. And that is the opposite of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul is saying, if the gospel has been planted into you, then you know what should come out of you? Grace, grace. So when God looked down at us, just imagine, what if he treated us the way we treat him? What if he just complained and argued? What if the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit got into an argument about us? And what if they just complained about us, then guess what? Every single one of us would be lost, dead, and dying. But instead of doing that, what the Godhead did is God the Father's sins, God, the Son, on a rescue mission for you and me.

So let me just ask you, what do you complain about? What do you complain about? You see, one of the things that I've made it a habit to do is I want to live with an attitude of gratitude. And there are times in my life where I feel very, very grateful for everything that I have. This church, my family, my salvation. And then, man, I don't know about you, but sometimes I get like blessing amnesia. You ever get that? You ever just get easily irritated and aggravated by every little thing and begin to feel sorry for yourself?

Well, this is very practical. I would challenge you to create a gratitude list. I would challenge you to do it on your phone, so it'll be in your pocket all the time. And for every year that you have been alive, so I'm 47 years old, so my gratitude list, I have 47 things written down on it. Every year that you have been alive, you should write down a thing that you are grateful to God for. And when you find yourself in that moment, when you're having a pity party for yourself, and nothing's going your way, and look, it may even be legit.

I mean, you might be just legitimately some really, really tough circumstances. Let me remind you, so was Paul. He wrote this from prison. But he believed that God was at work in all things, even the things that maybe he was tempted to complain and argue about, but God was at work in all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. And so he was grateful even if it cost him his life

for the sake of his brothers and sisters in Philippa. So I dare you. Create the gratitude list. You should be in a hurry to write it. You should think and pray deeply to God about each one of these things, and then any time and every time the enemy tempts you to complain or argue, then why don't you use his own schemes against you as a way to fight back against him? So when I'm tempted to complain and argue, I take out my gratitude list,

I open it up, and I just start reading. and I thank God for my salvation and my family, this church, the elders, my mom and dad. I thank God for South Georgia Woods. I thank God for Matthews Bowes. I thank God for my truck and my friends and my neighbors and on and on and then what begins to happen is when the enemy stirs me up to try to start complaining and arguing. I use his tactics against him and I use that as a trigger for me to go to my gratitude. list and remind myself of the blessings of God in my life. Church of 1122, I challenge you to do everything

without complaining or arguing so that you might shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation and hold on to the word of life because people are watching. Let's pray. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for the gift. that you give us. God, we thank you more that those gifts should lead us to praise the giver of the gifts. God, would you continuously transform our hearts? Would you continuously transform us from little babies that are so entitled and so addicted to our own comfort? And would you transform us to Jesus followers who are willing to pour our lives out for your glory and for the sake of others to know you? God help us to be grateful people.

You pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.