GRUMBLERS
INTRODUCTION
A. (Jas.5:7-12) The subject under consideration in these passages is patience. In the 1st half of James chapter 5 he tells us to be patient in – our work, with each other, in suffering, & in our speech.
B. The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word patient as “bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance with calmness.”
a. Greek - makrothumeoô (mak-roth-oo-meh'-o)-"to be long spirited”
b. “the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.”
c. most folks are deficient in patience (Heb.10:36)
C. One of the things that go along with a patient deficiency is grumbling & such is stated in verse 9 – “Do not grumble against one another, lest you be condemned.”
a. American Heritage Dict. defines grumbling as “to complain in a surly (sullenly ill-humored) manner; mutter discontentedly; to rumble or growl”
b. Greek stenazo (sten-ad'-zo) – “to make in straits, i.e. to sigh, murmur, pray inaudibly”
c. in today’s vernacular to grumble is to gripe
d. grumble is a verb so it denotes action, but it is an action not needed among saints
I. THE COMMONALITY OF GRUMBLING
A. How many of you have never grumbled? We all have – some more frequently than others. It is a common problem. We gripe when things don’t go our way; we gripe when people don’t meet our expectations. (I found myself grumbling at the computer & printer while I was preparing this lesson.)
B. In the Bible we find many grumblers.
a. Cain grumbled about his punishment – “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Gen.4:13)
b. the Israelites grumbled about water (Ex.15:24); about food (Ex.16:2); about what they thought was an impossible taste – possessing the Promised land (Num.14:2)
c. Job grumbled in the bitterness of his soul (Job 7:11)
d. Jonah grumbled when his shade withered away (Jonah 4:8)
e. the scribes & the Pharisees grumbled when the apostles didn’t ceremonially wash their hands before eating (Lu.5:30); they complained when Jesus received sinners & ate with them (Lu.15:2)
f. the Jews in Jericho grumbled when Jesus went home with Zacchaeus (Lu.19:8)
g. the Jews grumbled about Jesus calling Himself “the bread of life”(Joh.6:41)
h. some of Jesus’ disciples grumbled about His hard teaching (Joh.6:61)
i. the Greek speaking Jews grumbled against the Hebrew speaking Jews when their widows were being neglected
C. Things we complain about:
a. weather
b. job
c. about church (time of services, length of services, temperature in the building, etc.)
d. grumbling - an epidemic in America because we have a patient deficiency
e. “I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, "It is all barren."
II. REASONS WHY WE SHOULD NOT GRUMBLE
A. There are several good reasons why we should not grumble, such as:
a. God said don’t do it
“Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1Pet.4:9)
“Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil.2:14)
“nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1Cor.10:10)
b. it is a sin against God (Ex.16:8)
c. it is an act of unbelief (Psa.78:17-22)
B. Since there are good reasons not to grumble, now let us consider how we can keep ourselves from being a grumbler.
a. allow the hard times to produce patience & grumbling will cease (Rom.5:3,4; Jas.1:2-4)
b. remember situations may vary, but God will help you (Phil.4:11-13)
c. remember God’s love is constant (Rom.8:38,39)
d. illustration
C. (Psa.106:24,25) “Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His word, but
complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the LORD.”
a. 4 sins kept the Israelites from reaching the Promised Land – “despised” what God offered them; “did not believe His word”(didn’t think God would take care of them); “did not heed” God’s voice, & they “complained”
b. grumbling can keep you from Heaven!
CONCLUSION
(Jas.5:9) The next time you grumble you need to remind yourself that grumbling is
not a benign human characteristic, but a serious symptom that indicates a deeper
problem – lack of patience.
When things go wrong, I would not be a grumbler,
Complaining, seeing everything as grim;
For when I think of how the Lord has blessed me,
I cannot help but give my praise to Him. —Hess