Sighing And Groaning About People

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. No Compromise Radio ministry.

Personal Update and the Call to Contentment

My name is Mike Abendroth. I think I have a better attitude than I did a couple of weeks ago. Was that just last week? It is interesting in life, the ebb and flow of emotions, mood, feelings, thoughts, relationships.

Henno. Mike at info at henno .com. No, we don�t have a henno .com, but we probably should. I just wish I had some big news to announce today. Some earth-shattering news. They don�t have any of those things.

You can write us, info at nocompromiseradio .com. If you�ve got questions, concerns, comments, if you�d like to know the link for the donate button, those are all found right there. For years, we never had a donate button.

There�s a donate button now, so if you insist. Bandwidth, price is going up. I still need a new chair. Joey broke it. I was talking a few weeks ago about contentment, and it is my joy and responsibility to speak at the men�s retreat that�s coming up.

It�s tonight. It will be in the past by the time you read this, hear this. I was assigned to speak on contentment. One of the signs that we�re not content is we grumble and murmur and complain. A few weeks ago, I was talking about Philippians 2, and that was one of the passages that was very convicting for me and to me because I complain, I sigh, I groan, I murmur, and I don�t like that about me.

There are lots of things about me I don�t like, and I look forward to the day of glorification. I look forward to the days in the future where I will be inevitably, because of the work of the Spirit, more sanctified, saying no to murmuring more often and saying yes to contentment in Christ and learning that.

It is a learning process. We are in the school of contentment. That�s what we�re after. That�s a good title, the school of contentment. Now, there is a Jeremiah Burroughs book on contentment. I think it�s called The Art of Contentment, Puritan Classic.

There are newer books on contentment, even summarizing that, but that�s kind of the gold standard, the one on contentment. When I think of contentment, I typically think of signs that I�m not content.

That�s why I went to the murmur and complain and sigh and groan deal. That was in Philippians 2. Well, today on No Compromise Radio, we�re going to look at James 5, another passage that deals with this, because when I get convicted, I like to convict you.

That�s the way it works around here. When I have to suffer, I want you to suffer. By the way, if you�ve been encouraged by No Compromise Radio, why don�t you email us and just tell us your story or something like that.

We�ll do a show on some of those things. It is an encouraging time in my life, a fairly discouraging time in my No Compromise Radio world. Come on, man. Otherwise, I�m going to complain. James 5 says, verse 7, �Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.

The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord�s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

James 5, 7 -11. Now, at a high level, you can remember that when you have imperatives for daily conduct, moral imperatives, you are going to see around those imperatives in the New Testament, you are going to see indicatives.

You will see both statements of fact and the commands. Now, sometimes there�s an indicative, then an imperative. Sometimes there�s an indicative, indicative, indicative, then imperative, imperative, imperatives.

Sometimes there are imperatives first, then some indicatives. Sometimes it�s a circular, a cyclical rather thing. Even Titus, we�ve got the ethical commands for Titus at Crete, bolstered with kind of a spiritual rebar of the indicatives in chapter 1, 2, and 3.

So, my point is, there�s not a formula per se, but it is the way the world works to think of law and gospel. I think that�s the best way to think about it. There are some nuances. What�s the difference between law and gospel paradigm and indicative imperative paradigm?

For noco�s sake, those are going to be pretty similar. Why does it matter? Well, it matters because if we just give people exhortations the whole time, why should they obey? What kind of power do they have to obey?

What�s the foundation for their obedience? What would be the purpose for their obedience? How can they have the ability to obey? If you think about the gospel, you have the indicatives of the gospel. Jesus lived.

Jesus didn�t sin. Jesus died as a substitute. Jesus was buried. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus ascended, and Jesus is going to return. In light of that, now we have imperatives. Repent. Believe.

Trust. There�s a variety of those things. The number one response is faith, right? Faith to believe what Jesus said and believe in Jesus, believe who he is, et cetera. In our life, it�s the same thing.

Walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. Remember Jesus Christ. Those are two verses, very different verses, but both encapsulating this idea. We�ve got imperatives and indicatives. Well, here in James 5, it�s the same thing.

You�ve got who Jesus is, then what�s the response? Who God is, what�s the response? The coming of the Lord is near, what�s the response? The coming of the Lord is near, that�s your indicative, and in light of that, what�s your response?

Imperative. So, Jesus is coming again soon. The imminent return of Christ Jesus. He promised that he would come back. He�s going to come back. It�s one day sooner than it was yesterday. So how do I live knowing that Jesus is going to return?

And therefore, it now says in James 5, first of all, be patient. This is tied directly into complaining and murmuring, especially when you deal with difficult, sinful people. And this is how people should deal with you, the difficult and sinful one.

This is how they should deal with me, the difficult and sinful one. How to deal with other Christians in a local church. And the first attitude here in James, now remember, they�re getting persecuted, and they�re on the run, and they�re dispersed.

And this is not a good time for them. There�s not a moral majority. There�s not a working-class hero kind of mentality. How does John Lennon come into this? Well, there are other influences with that working-class hero thing, aren�t there?

Here, be patient with others. This is be continually, unwaveringly, long-tempered. Be patient, being patient, and be patient. There�s all kinds of be patient here. Three in these two verses, in verses 7 and 8, and it is a present tense.

Keep on being patient. Keep your spirit in check. And then there�s a little illustration, very natural illustration for those that lived in Israel. The farmer has to be patient. The farmer doesn�t control the weather.

He has to wait, right? He doesn�t do anything when it comes to the weather. I mean, he can clear the land. He can prepare the soil. He can sow the seeds. He can weed. He can water. If he�s got some storage of water or something, harvest things, but the growth is from God, right?

Because the rains come from God, and so he has to be patient. And so we want to be patient, and our hearts should be strengthened because Jesus is going to come back to be established, to be stable, James 5, verse 8 talks about that.

Iron-hearted, stout-hearted, resolutely waiting for Jesus to come back. And in light of that, we have to be patient, have our hearts strengthened. Why? Because we�re weak. Then it says, don�t complain.

ESV in James 5, 9, do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Even learning contentment with other people, okay? Contentment with other people, I�m writing that down.

These people had external struggles and strife, and now it�s pushing itself internally. You see how that works? Here�s a present imperative, do not complain. This is the word that doesn�t mean murmur.

This is the word that means, that makes good radio, doesn�t it? That makes excellent radio. This is not an open letter. This is not criticism laid out. But this is, okay, so let�s think about a car. A car has an engine, engines make noise, you�ve got the exhaust, and there�s something between the tailpipe and the engine.

What�s that called? What would that thing be called? What would we call that? Answer? A muffler. There�s a thing that you put on your face when it�s cold here in New England. Boy, it�s getting cold now.

Sitting here with my jacket on, doing no-co radio. It�s sunny today, but still probably 42. I have a goal for my mileage bicycling per year. Sometimes I meet it, sometimes I don�t. Most of the times I do meet it, thankfully.

And it�s taking me longer to meet that goal because I pedal slower now, getting older. I saw a picture of myself the other day and I thought, yow, not even Jill can fix that. So, I think I have 84 miles.

So, this is December 2nd in real time. No-co time, it�s probably around the middle of December. I have 84 miles, so I could do that in two or three, I could do it in one ride if I had to, I don�t have the time.

Gets dark at 3 .30. I could do it in two rides, or I could do it in three. I could do it in ten. Ten eight-mile rides. You just ghost, just ghost for a while. Oh, wow. So, anyway, it�s cold. Back to mufflers.

The sound of the engine exhaust coming out is muffled. And that�s what this word here is talking about, a muffled kind of complaint. I disapprove someone or something that they did, but I don�t say, I disapprove of you for these three reasons, one, two, and three.

It�s just more. So the pressure in the world, persecution here for those that James is writing to, turns into grumbling, sighing, groaning, inner distress. And James says, don�t do that. Don�t do that.

I like what Wiersbe said. If we start using the sickles on each other, we will miss the harvest. So when we think about contentment, we have to be content knowing that God is working on other people. God is sanctifying them.

God is growing them. God is conforming them to the image of his son. I mean, what does this sighing and groaning do even within a local church? I think it feeds into Satan�s strategy of divide and conquer.

I don�t want to do that. I mean, think about all the one-anothers in the New Testament. And none of them say complain against one another. This type of sighing, it just feeds on itself. The focus is all wrong too, isn�t it?

So instead of the focus being on who the Lord is and the spiritual blessings found in Christ Jesus, he�s blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Instead of the focus being on union with Christ and what he�s done, the focus is on people.

And people are going to let you down. That�s the thing. Here at the church, I try to tell people, I�m going to tell you about the one that will never let you down. I�m certainly going to fail, fumble, have foibles, forsake, be fickle, foist my opinions on others, fragment my sentences.

Now see, some of the joy of NOCO Radio is now coming back. I just sat here last Saturday night doing shows, thinking I�m just doing these shows to do these shows. Who listens? Who cares? We�re down to two downloads a show.

But I�m doing it for the two of you. Yes, you. See, I could do the whole kind of Benny Hinn thing. Yes, you. For you, grandmother, sitting there looking out the window today and drinking her second cup of tea.

For you, mom, who is listening at 1 .5 speed, doing chores around the house. For you, dad, who�s on the road, you�re a trucker. Yes, you. Yes, yes. You, the trucker. You, the rich trucker. But anyway, I�m feeling better and it�s all about my feelings now, isn�t it?

Because there were days. There are days where I just think, all right, 1600 shows later, brother, brother, here we go again. I�m not sighing against anybody like the context of James, but just sighing in general.

But anyway, we�re feeling better. James gives two reasons not to do this sighing and this grumbling. You don�t want to be judged and the judge is at the door, right? All groaning is really going to be against God when he says don�t groan, right?

Okay, let�s think about it. Groaning, God says, don�t do. If you do something God says not to do, it�s called sin. All sin is ultimately against God. Groaning is a sin against God. And we�re thankful that it�s a forgivable sin.

I mean, where would we be? I know where I would be. James is saying there�s a Supreme Court, the Supreme Court personified, Jesus Christ. He�s standing at the door. And it doesn�t really mean, okay, he�s really close, although that is true.

It means there�s going to be judgment soon. It�s like he�s at the door. He�s coming in to judge. Remember, what�s the context? The soon return of Christ. It�s about time for Jesus to walk through those court doors, sit down on the judgment seat, and judge, convene the court.

Jesus is coming back any minute. Oh, it�s a wonderful comfort, but it�s also a warning, right? Jesus is going to come back. Comfort, warning, both. He steps in suddenly and unexpectedly as he said he will and finds us being impatient, groaning at each other in dissatisfaction instead of being patient and firm, said Lenski.

See, that�s not what we want. When we�re impatient with others, it�s a sin against God. And basically, it�s a sin against the sovereignty of God. God, you�re not really I�m not pleased with the way you�re running the world and sanctifying or not sanctifying this friend of mine fast enough, our wife fast enough.

And when you think of the Lord Jesus, I guess if anybody could have groaned, it would have been the Lord. He�s got a sinful mother. Yes, that�s right, Mary�s sinner. He�s got a sinful stepdad, Joseph.

Sinful brothers, half-brothers. Sinful boss, dad. And he could have complained about Roman occupation, all kinds of other things. But he never did. Can you imagine? Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For all our groaning, of course every other sin as well, but the sign, complaining, groaning, Jesus dies on the cross. I�m thankful for that. Let�s think about our lives and what we complain about. What are some of the things we complain about?

I know, bad. I mean, what don�t we complain about? Maybe that�s a better question. What don�t we complain about and sigh about? Are you a complainer? Everybody knows you�re dissatisfied. All the sighing, annoyed about the state of people and affairs of the world and what�s going on.

Remember, the passage here is not talking about things. The passage is talking about people. Let�s just think closely. For those of you who are married, is that your attitude to your spouse? It�s a sin.

That�s a sin. That�s a sinful attitude. For the Christian, we are to be rejoicing. We are to be thankful. We are to be having one eye to please the Lord. Both eyes set, of course, to please the Lord. We�re not to complain.

Jesus is coming back soon and we�re going to be complaining about the spouse that he gave us. I don�t want to complain about my wife and sigh and groan and grumble and murmur and everything else. It�s awful.

It�s wicked. By the way, I do that in private, sadly, to my shame. But at least I�ve got enough sense not to do it in public, at least most of the time. I really am concerned when I see people saying things and acting that way in public because then I think, you know what, it�s only ratcheted up in private.

It�s only more in private. It�s the only more awful behind closed doors. Now, there�s forgiveness found for people like that, but we don�t want to do it in person or in private. I�m not going to try to do that in front of my wife, in front of people.

Brother. All right, so let�s think about spouses. Now, let�s think about children. Children are children and, of course, when they grow older, they�re still your children, of course, your child. But they�re older and they do things and, you know what, they probably do sinful things sometimes, and they�re immature and they cause trouble and pain.

When you think about your kids, that�s sin. It�s just sinful. Sin against God. Do not complain. Well, Jesus is coming back. Yeah, these kids you gave me. Well, let�s keep going. This is not fun, but let�s keep going.

Children, if you�re listening, at 1 .5 speed. What about your parents? My dad. It�s called sin. God says don�t do that. What about your sister, if you�re a brother? What about your sister? Sister, if you�re a brother.

Same thing. Now, let�s think in the church sphere. Those other people at church, those crazy homeschoolers, those awful public schoolers, those people that let their kids trick-or-treat. Those kids that don�t let their kids trick-or-treat or even dress up for the harvest festival like a pilgrim.

Those pastors and elders. I�d never pick that color of carpet if I was leader of the church. See how this goes? What about your boss? Now, here�s the thing. It�s easy to do this because we can find fault everywhere, right?

Because the world is broken. In Adam�s fall, we sinned all. It�s so true. But Jesus is coming back, friends, enemies. Jesus is coming back and he says don�t complain. That�s part of learning contentment.

If you�d like to learn contentment, first thing you�ve got to do, well, not the first thing, but what needs to happen in my mind is we got to get rid of complaining and just say, you know what? What I have and what I deserve are two separate things.

And I got a lot. I have a lot. I have received much. That�s the key. That is the key. My name is Mike Abenroth. This is No Compromise Radio, another show. I�ve sighed more on this show than I�ve ever sighed in my life.

It�s a sigh of the times. If you want to go to Germany with us, May 20th through 30th, you can go to No Compromise Radio�s website and find the living passages there. Make sure when you talk to living passages, you tell them it�s Via NoCo Radio.

Lots of YouTubes, NoCo Radio, and even NoCo TV on World View Weekend.

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