“From Mount Hor [Israel] set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’” [1]
Incredible! That’s about all you can say as you read the biblical account of actions that were recorded concerning the people of Israel as they were trekking through the desert and toward the land which God promised to give them. Despite whatever astonishment you may feel, you’re forced to admit that they acted just about like we act when God blesses us.
Nothing much has changed about human nature in the centuries since God delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery. God blesses us so richly, and we take what He gives only to grouse about His generosity. Our attitude fairly appears to shout at God, “What has the Lord done for me lately?” Our memories are faulty and our gratitude gene appears to be defective. God is gracious, and we are yet prone to complain, to grouse because God hasn’t done things according to our desires.
Like a child who didn’t get quite what she wanted at Christmas, even we who profess to know the Lord God complain about what we do receive. The child receives a Galaxy S22 Ultra, but she complains that she didn’t receive an iPhone 13 Pro Max. It is of no importance to the child that this was a gift; the child wants what the child wants. So it is that many of the professed people of God are blessed so richly and still complain that unlike Burger King, they can’t have it their way! We can be positively infantile in our response to God’s goodness.
My intent in bringing this message is to caution God’s people against expressing such pettiness against God and against His goodness. I’m reminding all who hear me to recall Jesus’ words that teach us, “[God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” [MATTHEW 5:45b]. I urge the people of God, and all who now hear what I am saying, that God has done good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness [see ACTS 14:17].
GOD’S GRACIOUS PROVISION FOR HIS NEEDY PEOPLE — God delivered the people whom He had chosen so that they would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. He led them away from Egypt toward a land He promised to give them. The path led through a desert, which meant that God would need to provide for them if they were to survive. Sure enough, when the people began to think about how they were to survive now that they were no longer slaves, they complained. We read, “The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” [EXODUS 16:2-3].
The LORD heard their complaint, and He answered in marvellous fashion. God sent quail into the camp. Thus, we read, “In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp” [EXODUS 16:13]. What a blessing! However, the blessing would turn to disaster, as we read elsewhere in the Word of God. In the Book of Numbers, the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey was wont to say, is given. “A wind from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving” [NUMBERS 11:31-34].
This event made such an impression on Israel that it was spoken of centuries later. The Psalmist Asaph recalled God’s judgement on the cravings of the people, writing.
“[The LORD] caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
He rained meat on them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
And they ate and were well filled,
for He gave them what they craved.
But before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
the anger of God rose against them,
and He killed the strongest of them
and laid low the young men of Israel.”
[PSALM 78:26-31]
The grumbling people had it coming! God’s wrath was administered swiftly, but even in the midst of judgement He didn’t forget His mercy. The people still needed to eat. So, we read in Exodus that God’s mercy was showered on the people. “When the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: “Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.”’ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, ‘Let no one leave any of it over till the morning’” [EXODUS 16:14-19].
Moreover, this event was not forgotten in later years, for Asaph also wrote,
“[The people] sinned still more against Him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can He also give bread
or provide meat for His people?’
“Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
and did not trust His saving power.
Yet He commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
and He rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.
Man ate of the bread of the angels;
He sent them food in abundance.”
[PSALM 78:17-25]
Quail and Manna! The Lord had provided a veritable feast for the people. God had blessed the people whom He had delivered from slavery while judging the most egregious sinners travelling with them at the same time. He revealed His ability to provide for His people and He was demonstrating that His provision was not merely happenstance. God was giving the people confidence that He not only could provide but that He would continue providing all that was necessary for His people as He led them toward the land He had promised. I suspect that the diet God was providing was complete; I doubt that there would be need for any special dietary adjustment. The people would not even need to take a multi-vitamin in order to ensure their continued good health! God was providing, and His provision was good! Nevertheless, and despite His continuing provision, the complaining began almost as soon as God began to provide.
Again, we read in the divine account, “The rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’
“Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in hand mills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it” [NUMBERS 11:4-9].
The food the LORD provided was tasty in addition to being nutritious. The manna could be prepared in a variety of ways. It could be fried, boiled, broiled, roasted, fricasseed… Okay, according to what is written, the manna could be ground or beaten and before being prepared the same as if it was a grain. The point of emphasising this is that multiple means of preparing the manna were available, ensuring that meals prepared with the manna would not become repetitious. Presentation could be attractive, which would enhance the quality of the food. The flavour was reminiscent of a favourite food already available to the people. God was revealing consideration for His people, ensuring that what was provided was good. During their trek through the wilderness, God would care for them, providing all that they needed.
Elsewhere, the Psalmist recalled God’s provision as the people travelled.
“The [LORD] brought out Israel with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
“He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by night.
They asked, and he brought quail,
and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.”
[PSALM 105:37-41]
The LORD cared for His people, even to the point of providing shade and light in addition to the food He provided. And when water was in short supply, the LORD opened a rock so that water gushed out. It was as though a river flowed through the desert.
It seems important to note that just as the LORD provided for Israel during the wilderness wanderings, so we who are His people, we who are twice-born, can anticipate that the Father will provide for us. We were taught to pray,
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
[MATTHEW 6:9-13]
We are taught to ask for daily bread, which God is pledged to provide!
At last, I have arrived at our text. Again, the people were complaining against God. At the heart of their charge against Lord’s goodness is the very food He had provided. The people, stirred to express their discontent by the rabble who had attached themselves to Israel, complained that the food God had provided was worthless! Worthless? No one was forced to wait for the food they ate—it simply appeared morning-by-morning. No one knew how it came—it was just there! What God had provided was sufficient for them, and it nourished them so that nothing more was needed. What God provided cost them nothing; they merely had to go out of their tents and gather the food. It is true that they weren’t going to amass a fortune by accumulating and selling the manna. There was no possibility that someone would be able to corner the market, forcing everyone else to buy from them at inflated prices.
Everyone was on an equal footing when it came to the food God gave His people. And perhaps that was the real complaint! God had provided. Therefore, these ungrateful wretches began to complain about the LORD’s provision—“this worthless food.” God’s food cost the people nothing, and it was both nourishing and tasty. And yet the people complained. They wanted variety, they wanted something that would give them halitosis, they wanted something that was neither nutritious nor healthy. Grumblers!
UNBELIEVING ADHERENTS WILL INFECT GOD’S PEOPLE — People easily forget the kindnesses that bless them. Someone blesses us by performing some thoughtful deed, and we say “Thank you;” but all too quickly we tend to forget the kindness that we received. It is the same in our response to the kindnesses of the Lord. We preachers urge those who hear us to thank God for what He has given, forgetting to encourage our listeners to thank Him for what they have not received. The necessity of urging people to be thankful is learned from even a casual reading of the Word of God. Throughout Scripture we will note frequent admonitions to show gratitude to the Lord.
In a similar way, we who have been blessed often forget what God has done. “What has God done for me lately?” becomes the mantra that we mutter; or if we don’t mutter such wicked thoughts, it seems inevitable that we at least unconsciously harbour such an attitude as though it was somehow valid. We fail to reflect on what has gone before because we are focused on our immediate gratification. A frequent admonition heard in my earlier days of service was that we must avoid sacrificing the permanent on the altar of the temporary. It is a gracious way of saying that we must always keep our focus on where we are headed rather than merely living for the immediate.
If we associate with people that are cultivating a heart filled with gratitude, it will be easier for us to be grateful. On the other hand, a little bit of grumbling spreads more rapidly than we might ever imagine. People who live only for this moment and for this present life find it difficult to be thankful; and to be thankful for God’s mercy is foreign to the heart of a lost person. Such an individual in the midst of God’s holy people tends to contaminate the assembly. Their complaints must not be tolerated.
Unsaved people will inevitably be found sharing in the life of the congregation of the faithful. I cannot tell you who the lost are among us—God alone knows the heart, but it does seem inevitable that lost people will attach themselves to the assembly of the righteous. Harry Ironsides used to say that the brightest lights attracted the most moths. If even among the Twelve, one of the men was exposed as a demon, then we should never imagine that we will ever be free of lost people seeking to associate with us.
At one point, the vast crowds that had followed Jesus began to turn away. Jesus did not tolerate sunshine Christians who were willing to follow only when all things were going swimmingly. Jesus’ teaching grew more demanding, and some of His disciples(?) complained, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it” [JOHN 6:60 CSB]? Who, indeed?
Jesus’ response was swift and pointed. The Word informs us, “Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’
“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.’ He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him” [JOHN 6:61-71].
Imagine! Among the disciples whom Jesus chose, He identified one as “a devil.” One of the Twelve was not merely susceptible to demonic influence, from the start of his walk with Jesus he did the work of the wicked one. One must ask whether Judas realised the deception he practised while walking with the other disciples. Did he recognise the darkness that filled his heart? The other disciples never suspected that Judas was a spiritual fraud. They trusted him enough to accept him as the one who held the funds to defray the expenses of the disciple band [see JOHN 13:29]. When the Master announced that one of them would shortly betray him, no one suspected Judas. The response of each of the disciples was to ask whether he might be the one who would betray the Master; they each appear to have thought that Jesus’ betrayal would be accidental. No one thought it could be deliberate [see MARK 14:19]. Did Judas know what he was?
I would like to imagine that I would never betray the Master, that I would never deny Him. Yet, Jesus cautioned Peter when the Big Fisherman boasted of his commitment to the Master. Jesus had specifically warned Peter that he was the object of Satan’s personal attention. The biblical text reads, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” [LUKE 22:31-32]. When Jesus had delivered this warning to Peter, you remember that the foolish disciple blustered, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death” [LUKE 22:33]. You are no doubt equally well aware that Jesus then cautioned Peter, warning, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know Me” [LUKE 22:34]. And we know how that worked out.
Reading this account, I am humbled at what is revealed. The revelation of Peter’s failure suggests that I must be cautious about my own commitment—do I truly know my own heart. I am disquieted at the thought that I’m capable of betraying the Master. In fact, it is quite possible that I am powerless to avoid such a dreadful, dastardly deed. If I will stand firm, I am utterly cast upon the grace and mercy of Christ the Lord to be true to Him. I am fortunate, as is each follower of the Master, to have His Spirit living in me.
I’ve brought up this issue in order to caution all who hear what I am saying that the difference between the person who is twice-born and a mere pretender is the fact that Christ stands before the Father praying for His own beloved child. Those who are mere pretenders, regardless of how sincere they may appear and regardless of how much they may want to be accepted in the Beloved Son, have no resource beyond their own puny strength when the evil time comes. Worse still, because they have no resource, they will become a source of stumbling to others who are unwary. The pretender will turn others away from the Faith when they argue that the faithful should return to Egypt.
You will recall that preparing His disciples for His exodus, Jesus taught them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me’” [JOHN 13:16-18].
There seem always to be some who imagine that they are appointed by God to rid the congregation of false saints. Such a view comes dangerously close to the grave sin of presumption Don’t ever imagine that you are appointed by God to do such a thing. It is enough to know that if you hold fast to the Word of God, and if you live a godly life, you will expose error as others witness the contrast between the true and the false. Your godliness will be a contrast to thr ungodly. You are taught quite clearly in a parable not to attempt to rid the Lord’s fields of those who would dishonour the Master.
The Master provided a parable in order to teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable Jesus taught informs all who will listen, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn”’” [MATTHEW 13:24-30].
After He had delivered this parable, together with other parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven, the disciples came to Jesus seeking clarification. They didn’t fully understand what He was saying, so they asked Him to explain this particular parable. Matthew has recorded the exchange. Jesus taught His disciples, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” [MATTHEW 13:38-43]. It is not the responsibility of the disciples of our Lord to rid the field of weeds. This doesn’t mean that we are to ignore false doctrine, but it is enough to expose such without imagining that we are to gather and burn that weeds.
As members of Christ’s Body, we grieve whenever error is exposed; and error will always be exposed as the evil it is so long as the people of God compare every teaching that is delivered to them against what has been written in the Word of the Lord. Our responsibility as followers of Christ the Lord is to hold fast to the Word that God has given, insisting that those who would teach us and those who wish to exercise control over the assembly are bringing us into alignment with the Word that God has given. The faithful are not merely an exclusive organisation among other organisations in this fallen world—we are the Body of Christ. We reveal Christ to the watching world as He demonstrates His presence through us, for we are the Body of Christ.
There will undoubtedly be flaws visibly evident in the Body of the Master, but we rely on the Great Physician to excise those flaws and to purify His Body. We are charged to seek the Risen Lord and to permit Him to work in us and through us as He draws the lost to faith. He performs this excellent work through broken people who have been made new through the work of His Spirit drawing us to Him. Did not the Master testify, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” [JOHN 12:32]?
To the true people of God, those men and women who love Christ and who are loved by God, I admonish you, lift up your Saviour! Accept His command instructing, “Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them” [1 PETER 2:12 ISV]. I encourage the people of God to be righteous and holy, encouraging one another to continue in the Faith and always seeking to honour the Lord.
GOD’S JUDGEMENT ON GRUMBLERS — Shortly after the people began to complain, God acted, and His response was swift and terrible. We read in the verse following our text, “Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” [NUMBERS 21:6]. The LORD was deeply offended at the grumbling, and He acted to put an end to the grumbling. The people of God suddenly had a problem that was far more serious than a mere dietary matter. Snakes were a far more serious issue than whether the people could find leeks and garlic for their meals.
The term, “fiery serpents,” is a reference to the effect of the bite—the bite of the serpents caused intense pain and swelling. Within that region of the world are found in this day puff adders, cobras, horned vipers, and other venomous snakes. It would perhaps be easy to dismiss the event by stating that the people stumbled into a location where many such poisonous snakes were denned, but the text says the LORD sent the serpents. It is God’s way of reminding us that He controls all that comes into our lives.
I don’t want anyone to imagine that God micro-manipulates events in our world, or that God is the source of all evil; however we must recognise that God is sovereign. He does permit events to occur in our lives, though we don’t always understand the reason for Him permitting matters to happen to us. Since we cannot see the end from the beginning, we will need to be cautious not to pretend that we can explain what happens. God warns mankind,
“I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.”
[ISAIAH 45:7]
We must never fall into the trap of imagining that the Lord does not hold His people to account. God disciplines us, and that discipline may be severe, even to the point of death. Do you not recall the Apostle of Love cautioning all who read his words, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death” [1 JOHN 5:16-17].
The warning that John delivers echoes the warning the James had given at an earlier time. Remember how James instructed his readers, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” [JAMES 5:19-20].
The purpose for mentioning God’s discipline is to remind us that God is holy, and He will not tolerate sin in His people. Because He loves His children, He will hold each of them to account, just as we read in the Letter to Hebrew Christians. “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.’
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” [HEBREWS 12:3-13].
The lesson in the text before us is that despite the thoughtless conclusion of many people that grumbling is a trivial issue, some minor foible, a trifling matter of no particular significance, complaining is actually a grievous sin against the Living God. This is especially true when the complaining is levelled against the Faith, or when grumbling is against the teaching of the Word as that teaching is applied, or whenever complaining reveals an undercurrent of discontent against those appointed by God to lead His people. We must never permit grumbling to go unchecked in the assembly of the Lord. If the complaint concerns a matter that can be corrected, then let us act quickly to make the matter right. If the complaint cannot be corrected to the satisfaction of the one who is grousing, then let’s work together to settle the issue once and forever.
Giving ear to one who is complaining about the assembly of the Lord, about the work of the Kingdom, or about those whom God has appointed to lead His people is tantamount to participating in the evil work that one is performing. When an individual begins to complain, the people of God must act in such a way that God is honoured through them. In the first place, refuse to lend your ear to receive the complaint without acting to resolve the complaint. I don’t mean that you are responsible to adjudicate every matter that arises within the congregation, but inform those who can resolve the matter. None of us are capable of adjudicating every issue, especially when we attempt to adjudicate the matter with our own wisdom. We need the wisdom of the Lord and the unity of the Spirit to resolve issues.
Then, refuse to spread the complaint any farther lest it becomes a form of gossip. One of the worst things we can do when we have become aware of the complaints someone is lifting is to participate in spreading those complaints. All we do in that case is advance the cause of evil. The only person that should hear of the complaint when we become aware of it are the elders who are appointed to address such matters. It is not tatting for us to inform them; it is allowing them opportunity to act in the Name of the Lord to resolve a potentially dangerous issue that can contaminate the congregation.
It is human nature for us to tend to categorise sin according to our perception rather than recognising sin for the grave offence to God that it is in reality. There are no “little sins” in the eyes of the Lord. Some sins are mere foibles in our estimate. Despite staining our lives, we imagine that these sins can be easily excused. According to popular sentiment, other sins are obviously heinous, though even these can be excused if they inconvenience us or impinge on our personal lives. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that all sin is against the Living God. And because God is infinitely holy, each sin—however minor we may adjudge that sin to be—is infinitely egregious, infinitely offensive, infinitely blameworthy because it is against Holy God.
We readily acknowledge that the Lord will judge sinners, never pausing to remember that He disciplines His children. Our sins are not excused, though they have been forgiven. In the little missive he has written, Jude cited an ancient writing that warns, “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage” [JUDE 14-16].
Unbelievers who masquerade as redeemed people, shall be judged in that awful assize when all the damned stand before the Judge of all. John writes in the Apocalypse, “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” [REVELATION 20:11-15].
I brought us to this point to challenge us to remember that God will ultimately judge the wicked. They shall be excluded from the hallowed precincts of Heaven, eternally banned from the presence of the Lord and His holy people. Let no one exalt himself as though he deserves God’s mercy. Each of us who are redeemed stand in this state of grace by the mercy and kindness of God. Because this is the case, do not allow yourself to be counted among the lost because you have chosen to be a grumbler or a malcontent, following your own sinful desires. Humbly accept that God has shown you great mercy by forgiving your sin and adopting into His family on the merits of Christ Jesus our Lord. Rejoice in the love with which the Lord has showered your life.
You will no doubt recall that the Apostle challenged the congregation in Corinth, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” [2 CORINTHIANS 13:5]. In a similar vein, I urge each one who hears me this day, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith! Test yourselves! Or do you not realise this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test.” And if you are indeed in the Faith, put an end to any complaining about what once was or about what might have been. Rather, let each one determine that he will honour the Lord. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
