Jude 16-19, "These are grumblers, complainers, walking
according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to
gain advantage.
17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ:
18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according
to their own ungodly lusts.
19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit."
Phil 2:14, 15, "Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst
of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world"
In this portion of Scripture we read that we shouldn't be
grumblers and complainers, disputing, blaming people, blaming God. God says the people who
do that don't have the Spirit of God. They are carnal people. It has got nothing to do
with spirituality.
- Blame never restores, but wounds people.
- Blame never affirms, but assaults and attacks people. How easily do
we point a finger at somebody. How easily do we blame people for this and that. Some even
blame God. They come into a situation and they blame God for the situation.
- Blame never solves but it complicates; it complicates matters if we
blame somebody.
- Blame separates; it doesn't unite. Cry to God to show you whether
there is blame in your life. What is your relationship to others like?
- Blame never smiles, it frowns.
- Blame never forgives, it rejects. If you blame somebody, then you
are rejecting a person and you don't forgive. How easily do we blame people, circumstances
and God, and don't realize that we reject people by that. If there is blame in my heart I
don't forgive wholeheartedly.
- Blame never builds, it destroys.
May these words be written indelibly into my heart and yours.
If I blame people, I start grumbling; I am discontent with myself
and with others. God's Word says we should not grumble. God says that those people that
grumble, are sensual, carnal people.
A grumbler murmurs. He is not satisfied. He is unhappy, finds
fault with others, whimpers. From far away you can see him: O, this person doesn't have
peace in his heart. You can see there is something lacking in his heart because he
constantly grumbles.
Such a person will eventually go into his bedroom and cry and feel
sorry for himself, because he is a grumbler. Whatever he sees and needs, he grumbles and
isn't fully satisfied. Such a person always complains, even about the weather: then it is
too hot, then too cold. He is never satisfied, but always grumbling. Then he complains
that it rains too much. Or it doesn't rain enough. He will always find something to
complain about. Instead of living above it, he is under this carnal deception and under
this carnal load.
Eventually the person is known by it.
19. "These are sensual people who cause divisions."
Those that grumble and complain cause divisions. Those that find fault with others and
talk about their shortcomings, cause divisions amongst the Christians.
May I never be found to cause divisions amongst Christians; may I
never be a person who grumbles and complains.
But if there is something like that in my heart, may I run to confess it, for prayer that
I can be set free from that.
I would like to close with what is written in Phil 2:14-15 -
"Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
Do you see what God has prepared for us, what our life should be
like to everyone? These words are as sweet as honey.
We must be blameless: We have heard what blame does and how it
separates and divides people. But my life must be such that I am blameless. That is my
prayer for each and everyone of us. We can't be satisfied with anything less. May we be a
light that shines in this dark world in this generation in which we live.