Divine Prohibition of the Sin of Murmurring

Introduction: A Departure from Mark to Address a Present Need

0:03 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, we deemed 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 and chapter 10. And therefore, I both urge and invite you to turn to that passage with me

1:22 and follow as I read the first paragraph, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 1 through 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. How be it? 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.

2:30 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.

3:01 Now these things happened unto them by way of example, and they were written for, for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore 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.

3:41 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. Let us pray. 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. O 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,

5:07 for Jesus sake, and for the good of our individual souls, and for the good of the nations. good of our corporate life. Hear us, O God, hear us, and answer our cry. Amen.

Context and Structure of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

5:30 Now the focus of our concentration this morning will be upon verse 10. Verse 10, which says, Neither murmur he, 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 try 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 8, 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 Bible.

6:49 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 lawfulness. 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.

8:10 He has balanced the doctrine by saying that for the sake of the spread of the gospel, one must be prepared to, forgo 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.

8:48 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 abdachamos, 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 one that of God we are in Christ, who is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctity, justification, 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,

10:13 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, howbeit 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. And so, in chapter 10, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so, he says, all of them had all of these privileges. And so,

11:18 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 cause 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.

11:50 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

12:51 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. 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

The Specific Prohibition: 'Neither Murmur Ye'

13:37 specific sins which cause 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, And the people 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,

14:53 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...

15:07 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.

15:37 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. And it is said that the people in general murmured against Moses, 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 allusion 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...

16:37 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 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 said, Do not indulge in the sin of murmuring. And it is said that the people in general murmured and perished by the destroyer. Now, what is the specific historical allusion that Paul has in mind? Turn, please, to Numbers 16.

17:16 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, 250 princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown, and they assembled themselves to the assembly. And they said, 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 in 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

18:07 equally competent to run the show. Get down off your high horse, Moses and Aaron. And they said to them, 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 murmuring, these murmuring, these murmuring, these murmuring, 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. And 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

19:14 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?

Defining the Sin of Murmuring Biblically

19:45 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 twofold significance given in the aren't and didn't.

20:16 Now, let's look at the Greek 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.

20:42 All we're trying to do now is to come... ...to grips with what does it mean to murmur.

20:49 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 word. 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.

21:19 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.

21:54 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.

22:11 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?

22:43 You see the flavor of the word murmuring exactly the same. 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.

23:05 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. To murmur in the sense of this word in Holy Scripture, to quote one commentator, is to give audible expression to unwarranted dissatisfaction.

23:29 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? 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.

Characteristics of Sinful Murmuring: Context, Objects, Roots

24:31 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 word, 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?

25:39 It was a context of the manifested goodness, power, and love of God. 1 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?

26:00 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.

26:19 What does that tell us? They were delivered from Egyptian bonds. No longer could the taskmasters pack the whip over their backs and draw blood. They were through the sea, delivered from Egyptian bondage.

26:34 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.

26:53 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!

27:15 Not a motley, leaderless crowd, wandering around, squabbling and tearing at one another. They were baptized, 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!

27:36 And 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's presence, God gave them 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.

28:09 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.

28:33 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.

28:44 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.

29:14 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.

29:56 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?

30:09 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.

30:51 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 towards His people. Numbers 16, 41. 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.

31:20 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.

31:38 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.

31:51 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.

32:08 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.

32:35 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 4 does give us a specific incident of murmuring.

32:52 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.

33:13 The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. And now our soul is dried away. There's 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.

33:29 And the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or 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. You see what they're doing?

33:45 They are murmuring against God's 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.

34:19 And I provide your daily bread by this means. 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.

34:37 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?

35:13 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, we 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.

35:49 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.

36:03 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.

36:22 You brought us out here to kill us of thirst. Then there's no food. You brought us out here to kill us. They always took the negative perspective.

36:30 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.

36:46 That's why they dare to say in Exodus chapter 16, in 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.

37:13 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.

37:28 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.

37:46 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.

38:13 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 Aaron your mouthpiece. Moses and Aaron stood where they stood. By the divine appointment of the living God.

38:28 And all chafing at that appointment was a fist clenched in the face of Jehovah. And 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.

39:02 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.

39:20 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?

The Results of Murmuring: Divine Judgment

40:03 Well, you just go through all the Old Testament references and there's one word. Judgment. Judgment. Judgment.

40:12 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.

40:30 Judgment. He opens up the earth to swallow up the murmurers. He sends fire. Numbers 11, 1 to 3.

40:38 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.

Application to Trinity Baptist Church: The Presence of Murmuring

41:08 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. Thank God. 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.

41:51 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 N. 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 will, my servant, but against me. First of all, what's the context of your murmuring here in Trinity Church?

42:21 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?

42:43 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.

43:11 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!

43:31 He put you in a church where those who lead you in prayer seek to have their own hearts inflamed with coals 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?

44:03 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.

44:35 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?

44:58 Murmuring! In the name of the God of heaven, do you see the horror of it? Murmuring! Murmuring!

45:11 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. The objects of your murmuring, just like the Israelites.

45:39 You've 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!

45:58 God! No, 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.

46:16 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.

47:32 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.

47:49 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!

48:01 These irresponsible elders getting us in over our head financially and taking on this burden. Taking on this burden! Taking on that burden! My friend, you're like a cursed, murmuring Israelite!

48:14 When God shows you your heart, it'll break and melt in the presence of Almighty God. You murmur against God-ordained providences. You murmur against God-given provisions for your sustenance. I get tired of this business.

48:32 Turn 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.

48:58 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 fifty minutes when that dear man of God teaches us from the Bible.

49:19 And you've grown disgusted with manna. Just old manna. Just old Bible. Giving the structure of the passage.

49:30 Giving the meaning of words. We want something a little more pizazz in it. Oh my friend, if you want leeks and onions and garlic, this place is not going to become Egypt. For you or no one else.

49:43 You want leeks and onions? Go to Egypt! And eat them till you vomit them. But as long as this man has breath, and my fellow elders have breath, manna and manna alone from this pulpit.

50:01 Playing against God's provision. The food that he's ordained to feed you. These prayer meetings. Pray about this, pray about that.

50:18 I want a prayer meeting where we can do a little navel watching. When 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.

50:45 The very things that prostrate us in humiliation and brokenness are the things that make you carp and murmur and criticize.

50:56 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.

51:06 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.

51:20 You say, that's indelicate. My friend, I don't care about your sense of indelicacy. That's Bible. That's Bible!

51:28 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.

51:48 And as long as you remember it, you never murmur. But 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.

52:05 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.

52:30 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.

52:49 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're convinced that God has only begun to do what he longs to do in us and through us.

53:17 And while many pray with expectation, in our prayer meetings have never been more attended as 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?

53:46 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 mouths. 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.

54:10 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. And you refuse to receive them into that place of honor and submission which God commands. Hebrews 13, 17, you're rejecting Christ in your rejection of them. I didn't say it, Jesus said it.

54:34 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? If 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?

55:03 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.

55:22 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?

55:39 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.

55:51 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.

56:00 Because this is a 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. And publicly scandalized by immorality. I get calls every month from pastors and churches and people saying, Pastor Martin can you help us?

56:18 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.

56:29 You've never gone through that pain. By the grace of God we have walked in uprightness before God and man. And yet you kick against the pricks and murmur. Why?

56:43 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.

57:00 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 you.

57:11 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.

57:42 Same basic root word. What comes after murmurers? Complainers. And what is joined to murmuring and complaining?

57:53 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.

58:10 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 in 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 lusts. That's why you're a murmurer and a complainer.

58:39 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 that 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?

The Judgment of God on Murmuring Today

59:11 Judgment. But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 these things are written. Why? That we might look at this ancient history and be captivated.

59:24 No. But that we might be admonished. That we might be warned. That we might be checked.

59:32 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.

59:43 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 felt it. Do you remember what God did one time when he got so disgusted with him?

60:00 And he said I'll take my presence from you. That's where it's shown. It's 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.

60:15 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. You know why God's presence was not known in the secret place? Because of your sin of murmuring.

60:31 That has grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit who alone is the spirit of prayer and 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.

60:45 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. Done their work.

61:06 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.

61:17 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.

61:25 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.

Warning to the Watchful and Way of Escape for the Guilty

61:59 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 am 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?

62:26 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.

62:41 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.

63:09 Oh let him that thinks he stand 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.

63:34 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.

63:47 I'm the woman. I feel so powerless. I've gotten into such a pattern. It's a way of life with me.

63:53 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.

64:02 And how can he bear it? Because God is faithful. He does not bear it in his own strength. But there's a faithful God.

64:10 Listen to me. Oh my murmuring brother or sister. Did God take you out of Egypt? Did he break the chains of Egyptian bondage?

64:18 Did he take you out from under the lash of the devil who led you captive in Egypt? Did he take you out 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.

64:43 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.

64:54 God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. And the way of escape is open to you.

65:00 Do 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.

65:13 The pastor's going after me. He wants to get me. I won't let him get to my friend. What in God's name am I doing this for?

65:23 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?

65:42 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.

65:58 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.

66:27 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!

66:38 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.

66:52 God, have pity upon me. I am ashamed and blushed and cannot look up. And 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.

67:08 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.

67:19 God found me. And 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.

67:31 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.

67:42 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.

67:54 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.

68:05 For cleansing, for pardon, for the grace to desist from this horrible sin of murmuring. Neither murmured 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.

68:49 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.

69:12 Let us pray. Oh God, our Father, how we plead with you to break proud the hard and stubborn hearts that have so long withstood the pressure of your word. Oh God, have mercy upon those men and women whom you found out this morning. Lord, what can we do but pray?

69:48 Have mercy. And for those precious souls whose consciences are so tender, don't let the enemy bury them with false guilt. Amen. Lord Jesus, take the bruised reeds and the smoking flax.

70:04 Gently nourish. Gently minister to them. We pray, oh 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. Oh, that we would ever be watchful knowing that we too may fall.

70:31 Seal the word to our hearts for the sake of your beloved Son. Amen.