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Home , Envy, Selfishness

Sermon Delivered….August 16

SEVEN DEADLY “What is /” (Proverbs 14:30)

OPENING A. ILLUSTRATION 1. Feed off of the bumper video: It hungers for what others have, it’s associated with sickness in the bones, it is called the eye; In Othello, Shakespeare called it the Eyed Monster. Answer: Envy/Jealousy 2. You’ve heard the term—green with envy? Ever why it’s associated with green? • Because of this verse—green is the color of sickness. • When someone is sick, often they are described as green or in tint. • This particular so affects our emotional roots and physical well-being that it can actually make us sick. • The ancient Greeks are probably the source of the color attachment—they thought envy was caused by an over production of bile which turned human skin slightly green. B. SERMON IDEA 1. Envy is defined as a of discontented or a resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. • Envy and jealousy are related—they are two sides of the same coin and often used interchangeably • Envy is the angry to have something someone else has; jealousy is the angry desire to keep what we possess and are afraid someone else wants. • We will use them interchangeably in our study today. 2. The Bible condemns envy and most forms of jealousy • The slightly difficult part is recognizing that jealously is not always sinful o Jealousy is not wrong when it involves an exclusive relationship. o God is jealous for His people and their worship of Him. o A husband or wife can be jealous for their relationship when it is threatened. § Husbands and wives make major mistakes when one or the other is concerned about another person getting too close to their spouse and when they bring it up are condemned as ridiculous or foolish. • But desiring what God has given someone else is a violation of the 10th commandment. o The tenth commandment condemns envy and jealousy outside exclusive relationships. Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” ESV 3. Envy is a social sin—it destroys relationships. • Envy weighs and ranks and compares--making our neighbors into competitors, and our own blessings a prize to be boasted, rather than a gift to be shared. • Envy was the cause of ’s rebellion against God; Envy led Eve to take the fruit from the garden, envy led Cain to kill his brother, envy led to take another man’s wife, envy led the Pharisees to order ’ crucifixion. C. BACKGROUND 1. We begin a new category in our sermon series from the Book of Proverbs • We’ve been studying Lessons for Life. o Originally, most of these lessons were written by Solomon to his son on how to follow the Lord’s plan for his life. o He told his son to and follow the Lord in all his ways—that means in everything in life. o The essence of what it means to follow Jesus as Lord of our life. o Remember Jesus is —the very essence of wisdom o Jesus and the Word are inseparable. • We’ve looked at a few different categories of life and today we begin a new one 2. They are commonly called the • They are called that because they are the seven categories that almost all sins fall into. The wages of sin is death and these sins bring death and destruction to our lives. • Originally different founding fathers of the church began classifying sins under these seven different headings. o Our first one is envy and its companion jealously

I. ENVY DESTROYS YOU A. ILLUSTRATION 1. A merchant was walking along the beach one day and found a bottle. As he opened the bottle out came a genie. The genie said, "your wish is my command," but wait, whatever you wish for will be given double to the one that you envy the most. He said “Ok, I wish to be blind in only one eye!” B. EXPLANATION 1. Envy is the green monster that seeks to inject it’s poisonous fangs into everyone it can. • A new friend enters the group and envy says you are going to be replaced • A peer closes a business deal and receives a promotion and envy says it should have been you • A gorgeous woman walks in the room and envy says she should be yours • A team-mate has a great game and envy says you are going to lose the spotlight 2. We get jealous or envious over all kinds of things • We want what others have or we want to have things others don’t • We envy their clothes, their car, their house, their popularity, their friends, and their marriage. • We wish we had someone else’s looks, their hair, their muscles, or their smarts. 3. We get jealous in church too. • Church members get worried if the church grows they will lose their preferences or their influence • Members envy other members attention, ministries, and relationships • Envy targets musicians, teachers, and deacons • Pastors deal with this too—Why is that that church bigger? Why do they have so much money for ministry? Why can’t we do what they are doing? • Social media takes this to another level—we are constantly in a game of who can promote themselves over someone else. Social media is all about me—so we are flooded with the constant desire for what others have or the pursuit of getting other’s attention. o After surveying teenagers, The United Kingdom’s Royal Society for Public Health named Instagram the most stress-inducing social media platform leading to sleep loss, body-image issues, , and of mission out. 4. Solomon says envy rots your bones—envy destroys the one who carries it. • When you see that person promoted, does it irritate you? What does that do to your , to your spirit? • When you are jealous all the time, you are consumed with and it results in physical decay. o Some people struggle with hives, some with eating disorders, some with uncontrolled anger, avoidance, , or making illogical decisions. 5. Envy and jealously allow others to gain power over you. Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? ESV • Often those we envy have no idea that you are enslaved by them, but envy comes at you relentlessly, stealing your focus from what you freely have and punishing you to desire what God has allowed another. o Envy is worse than anger because it is the root of anger—jealously leads not only to anger, but to wrath and bitterness. o It begins to control your behavior—demanding you satisfy it’s cravings. § You don’t follow God’s plan or find peace in what you have—you begin to make decisions and take actions that compete with others. § Its’ a constant game of comparison—it is anti-Christ because it is .

II. ENVY DESTROYS OTHERS A. ILLUSTRATION 1. Julius Caesar was a Roman General during the 60’s BC. His military and political strategy was astounding. He defeated the Gauls, built a bridge across the Rhine and sailed across the English channel to invade Britian. Under his leadership most of Europe fell under control of Rome. When he was ordered home to face a corrupt Senate, he brought his army and took control of the government. He immediately began reforms to unify the country and put down corruption.. He gave citizenship to many residents of far regions of the Roman Empire. He initiated land reform and support for veterans. He centralized the bureaucracy of the . His popular reforms for the common citizens angered elites. He was assassinated and the Roman Empire made a major shift. Who knows what it might have been had he lived. But he didn’t and the world changed, why? Because Cassius and Brutus were envious of Caesar and killed him. 2. That’s not the first time: King David had one of his soldiers killed—why? Because he was envious of the soldier’s wife—he was jealous of what Bathsheba gave Uriah. 3. That’s not the first time: Cain killed his own brother Abel—Why? Because he was envious of what God gave Abel. B. EXPLANATION 1. Look again at Proverbs 27:4 Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? ESV • When you bear a jealous spirit, no one wants to be around you. They stay guarded all the time around you. • Because jealousy is not open to reason and leads to badmouthing, bitterness, violence, , theft, and murder. 2. Look with me at Genesis 4:3-13 • Here’s the basic pattern of destruction of envy: o Someone else has something you want or desire o You become dissatisfied with what you have. o The root of this sin is the belief that what God has given you isn’t enough—that he’s holding out on you. o To make things fair and just in your eyes, you lash out in anger, gossip, backbiting, theft, violence, or stupid decision making. • God honored Abel—Cain envied his brother’s success o So he became angry (sickness inside that God called out), confronted his brother and then killed him. o That led to judgment

III. ENVY LEADS TO JUDGMENT A. EXPLANATION 1. God judged Cain because of his envy and murder of his brother. • Cain was jealous of what God gave someone else—Abel didn’t do anything wrong. 2. Sometimes we are envious of people and things we shouldn’t be. Proverbs 3:31-32 Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways; for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but He is a friend to the upright. HCSB

Proverbs 24:19-20 Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked. For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out. HCSB • No matter how successful someone else may be or how attractive what they have may appear, God says in the end it is the righteous that are rewarded • Christ is going to judge everyone rightly—what might appear attractive here, will be vulgar in the judgment. • And those who were faithful with what God gave them will be rewarded in ways we can’t even imagine. • We might no have what another has now—but when we trust God and are faithful with what He gives us—this gets His attention—this gets His eternal rewards. B. ILLUSTRATION 1. The Lord of the Rings featured a character enveloped with envy—Gollum had to have the ring all to himself. It made him physically sick—it rotted his bones—it consumed his mind. Do you remember what happened to him when he finally got it? o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQVX6FCb1Us § Play entire clip—Gollum’s Death. o That’s what envy does to us. It consumes our mind, leads to terrible decisions and in the end, we reap what we sow and it’s fruit is deadly. C. APPLICATION/CONCLUSION 1. When we are green with envy, we are sick, and we need an antidote. Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. ESV

Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. ESV 2. What’s the antidote for the sickness of envy—What’s the good news that heals my bones? What is it that puts in my heart? Proverbs 23:17-18 Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the Lord. For then you will have a future, and your will never fade. HCSB • See that—instead of envying others—fear the Lord. o We’ve addressed that phrase several times in this study—it means to trust Jesus in every area of your life and with all things. Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. Don’t consider yourself to be wise; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones. HCSB • When we are envious, we are leaning on our own understanding—we are thinking God isn’t being fair, that somehow God must hate you and in your anger you blame Him for holding out on you and making your life so hard. o But really we are projecting our sickness onto Him—He doesn’t hate us, we hate Him. We hate Him because we have sinned against Him. It’s not His fault we feel this way—it’s ours. o We have lost sight of the Gospel—the good news. o God doesn’t hate you; He you. Jesus loves you with a real —not the cheap flattery this world offers. o He loved you enough to die for you—Jesus took nails in his hands and feet for the envy you produced in your heart. Romans 8:32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? NLT 3. Envy is a matter of what we believe—do we trust the Lord’s plan for our life? Do we trust that His eternal reward is worth the wait? • If I can acknowledge my trust in the Lord in all my ways then I don’t’ have to be jealous. • Because if I have the Lord I have all I need—the antidote for envy is —contentment in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:11-13 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me. HCSB • Do I believe that Jesus is enough for me? Am I satisfied with Jesus? Can anything compare with the one who loves me enough to die for me and call me His own?