Two weekends ago was the most exciting weekend of my life thus far.
Kay and I woke up one morning on Saturday morning
and we went to a rock at Freshwater Beach
and I proposed to her and she said yes.
It was a wonderful Saturday morning.
Thank you.
Now, I didn't necessarily put a lot of effort into the proposal itself.
It was pretty easy.
I had it all planned out pretty much the night before.
But something I did put a lot of effort into
and did a lot of work for
was trying to find the right engagement ring for Katie.
You know, I wanted her to have the best ring I could afford.
And so I did so much research into the different rings,
into the different diamonds you could have,
into the colour, the clarity, the cut of the diamond
and how each worked in its favour
to produce a very wonderful sparkle and such.
And so I worked out how I could get the best diamond
for the best value for my wonderful-to-be fiance.
But something I noticed myself doing on the day itself
after I proposed, after I gave Katie the ring,
was when we went back to celebrate with friends and family,
I began to compare the ring I had given her
to the rings that my other friends had given
to their fiancés and their wives.
And I began to get a little bit envious
as I looked at some of their rings
and saw that perhaps their ring, their diamond,
was perhaps a little bit bigger than what I gave Katie.
Katie, it was a bit shinier, a bit brighter,
seemed to be a better cut than what I had given Katie.
And it made me really envious in the moment.
I got really bitter and resentful to my own friends
in that moment because they had given something
far better than what I had given Katie.
It made me think,
I should have gone out and gone all out,
got the biggest rock I could have afforded,
got the best diamond I could have gotten.
In that moment, envy had consumed me.
Now, Katie and I are very happy with the ring
and we're very excited to get married,
so just to clarify that.
But the temptation of envy can be all too easy
to fall into straight away.
It was only for a moment that I felt that temptation.
But in that moment, envy pretty much had consumed me.
It's so easy and it's so dangerous.
It's something that we are all at risk of every single day
at every single moment of our life,
which is why this evening we are continuing our series
looking at wisdom in the book of Proverbs
and particularly looking at the evil of envy.
And so to begin, I want to unpack why evil is,
so why envy is so evil.
And there are two conditions that envy thrives on
in our life in this world.
Firstly, we envy those we identify with.
And secondly, we envy these people
in the area we value the most.
Now, these effects can have minor or major consequences
for us in our life.
So, for example, I struggled with envy
when I saw the engagement rings my mates had bought
for their girlfriends and fiancés,
so people I identified with.
And it made me bitter in the moment
because it made me feel less or less of a person
because they had outdone me and such.
Now, that's a minor consequence, right?
It was a moment and then it passed and I got over it.
However, in the Bible, there are instances
where someone's envy has had major consequences
for themselves and for other people in their life.
We already know the story of Joseph
and his brothers that Steve mentioned last week.
Joseph's brothers envied the attention
that he received from their father
and the gifts he would get, such as his wonderful coat.
For them, the coat symbolized and expressed
Jacob's favoritism towards his son, Joseph,
that he was held in elevated status before them,
a status that the rest of the brothers really wanted
and valued themselves.
So their envy turned into bitterness, resentment and hate,
which expressed itself through a plot
trying to kill Joseph, their own brother.
Or take Cain and Abel, for example,
brothers who, as far as we knew,
had no tension between each other
until God chose to accept Abel's gift over Cain's gift.
And again, Cain's envy sprouted out of nowhere,
but it sprouted because from God's action to him
symbolized that God had favored him over Abel.
And whereas Cain, he wanted and valued God's favor.
And so he envied his own brother for being favored over him.
And whilst he had the opportunity to not give in to his envy,
that God had warned him,
don't give in to your sin,
eventually in the end,
envy had consumed him so much that he did give in.
He turned bitter, hateful,
he resented the fact that his younger brother
was favored over him.
And so he ended up killing him.
And he tried to cover it up.
Funny enough, just the same way
Joseph's brothers tried to cover it up as well.
Whether minor or major,
envy targets the internal qualities of another person,
and it makes you play the comparison game.
And these internal qualities are generally symbolized externally.
So for example,
Joseph's coat symbolized the favoritism he received from his father.
His brothers didn't want Joseph's coat per se.
They wanted the favoritism from his father that the coat had symbolized.
They compared themselves to Joseph and saw they didn't match up to him,
which led them to envy him.
This is the comparison game envy makes us play.
Envy takes everything that we have in our life
and it uses it to make us play this game of comparison,
where we look down on people who are not as good as us,
who don't have enough as us,
or we look up at people in bitterness and resentment for what they have
and therefore what that says about us.
When we see someone wearing a nicer suit,
who has a better job than us,
who has a better body or nicer clothes than us,
who drives a nicer car,
owns a bigger house than us,
it's easy to let these things,
to let envy use these things
to make us feel bitter and resentful towards them.
For they have something that says something about them
and when you compare yourself to them,
it says something about yourself
and when we seem not to measure up to them.
The envious person is consumed
by how they stack up against other people
and the consequences,
whether seemingly minor or obviously major,
are damaging either way.
See, from these examples,
I think we can see two main things
in the way that envy distorts and corrupts our humanity.
Firstly, it distorts and compromises our character,
leading us to do things we may have never have done,
to bring other people down to our level
or worse, below our level,
like in the example of Cain and Abel.
And secondly, it distorts
and attempts to destroy our relationships
as it pits us against those we identify with
and share similar values,
like the way I struggled with the engagement rings.
In the moment,
my bitterness and my resentment
was towards my own friends.
And this, for me,
is why envy is most evil
and particularly dangerous in a church context.
Indeed,
if any of us here harbour any envy towards each other
here in this place,
we are indeed under serious threat.
Our unity,
our fellowship,
is seriously at threat.
Envy is truly evil.
And what makes it so dangerous
and even more evil
is that it works insidiously.
That is,
it works without us even knowing it.
And it always works
with evil intent behind it
to make us fall into sin
and to destroy our relationships.
And this is why Proverbs is very,
very strong.
If you look at 23 again,
verse 1 and 2,
when you sit to die of a ruler,
note well what is before you
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to gluttony.
The sage urges his son or his pupil here
to restrain himself from envy
as if there were a sword hanging over his head
or a knife being put to his throat,
threatening him that if he gives in to envy,
he will cut his neck
or cut off his head.
That's how strong the Proverbs are
about giving in to envy.
It's serious,
not only because it distorts
our relationships with each other
and the things we value,
but it also distorts
and corrupts our relationship with God.
As the psalmist notes in Psalm 73,
verse 1,
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me,
my feet had almost slipped.
I had nearly lost my foothold,
for I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
The psalmist knew that God was good,
but because he envied the wicked
who were prospering when he wasn't,
see there he's playing the comparison game already,
he nearly forsook what was right and true.
He was tempted to think that God was unjust,
unjust to allow him to suffer.
His envy began to distort his relationship with God,
how he saw who God was
and what his true qualities were.
When he compared himself to the wicked
and saw that he wasn't as blessed as they were,
he nearly lost God altogether.
Envy is so evil and so dangerous
because it calls us to question God's goodness
on the basis of our own experience,
to compare that of the wicked
and decide upon that experience
whether he is good enough or not.
It's a dangerous, dangerous thing to do,
to question the Lord of all creation,
to question his own goodness
as his creatures.
So how does one not fall into temptation of envy?
How does one heed the sage
in Proverbs 23, 17 that says,
let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
The biggest problem with envy
is that it can distort anything we value
into a standard by which we play the comparison game.
Whether it's your job, your wealth,
your car, your wife, your husband,
your boyfriend or your girlfriend,
your phone, your skills,
or your gadgets and possessions,
your passions and your values,
envy can take all these things,
anything in your life,
and distort it into a standard
by which you play the comparison game,
by which you play the game,
which you compare yourself with other people
and determine where do you sit.
Are you up here or are you down here?
How high on the ladder are you?
Up there or down there?
Therefore, thinking through this logically,
the only way to deal with envy
is to value something
that can't be distorted.
To value something that envy can't distort
and use to cause us to look down on people
and to judge them and to think we're better,
or to look up to people in bitterness and resentment
for what that says about us.
But does such a thing in this world exist?
And what on earth could it be?
When David realized his sin
of committing adultery against Bathsheba
and his sin of murdering Uriah,
he came before God in repentance,
in deep, sorrowful repentance.
And he penned the psalm, Psalm 51.
And in this psalm,
he acknowledges the root cause of his sin,
why he gave in to this sin
and envy.
In verse 12, he says this,
Restore to me the joy of salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
The reason why David fell into this sin quickly
was because his greed had blinded him
to the joy he already had in God,
the one who saves,
the one who gives life.
David's joy had turned from being in God's salvation
to being whatever his eye had seen
that pleased him.
Even if what he had seen was not his.
But now David realizes that his covetous pursuits
led him into shame and sin.
And he asked God,
Please, God,
restore to me the joy of salvation.
Restore to me what it is to be known by you
and to know you.
Having his eyes fixed on the wonderful salvation
that comes from God
is how David reorients his heart
to not give sin a foothold.
And closely related to coveting,
envy as well has the same ability
to blind us to the wonderful joy
in salvation.
And it's only when we fix our eyes
and remember the wonderful salvation
that comes from God in Christ
that envy is left powerless
to corrupt and to distort.
Why is that?
Because the salvation
that comes from God
through the gospel
is the great equalizer
of all men.
The salvation
that comes through the gospel
is the great equalizer
among all men.
Whilst envy
perpetuates on playing the comparison game,
playing the game that says
you've got to work out
where you are
on the status level.
The gospel says no.
Salvation
through the gospel
is the great equalizer
of all men.
There is no place
in the gospel
to look down at anyone
for we are all sinful.
We are all
in the same predicament.
There is no place
in the gospel
for envy of any kind
for no matter
how prosperous
you might be,
no matter how well off
you might be,
no matter how high up
the ladder
you might think you are,
we are all called.
to repent of our sin
and to turn back
to Christ in faith.
And such opportunity,
no matter how high you are,
no matter how low you are,
is given to all people
freely,
without distinction,
the grace of God
in Christ.
Galatians 3.26
makes this really clear for us.
So in Christ Jesus
you are all children
of God through faith.
For all of you
were baptized into Christ
and have clothed yourselves
with Christ,
there is neither Jew
nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there male
and female,
for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ
then you are Abraham's
seed
and heirs
according to the promise.
The playing field
has been leveled
completely.
There is no room
for the comparison game
at all
to be played.
You can't compare
each other's salvation
at all.
And Romans 3.23
further clarifies this.
For all have sinned
and fall short
of the glory of God
and all are justified
freely by his grace
to the redemption
that came
by Christ Jesus.
Salvation
in God
is the great
equalizer
to which envy
is rendered
powerless against.
Envy can't use
this salvation
as a means
of distorting
your relationship
because everyone
who knows
this salvation,
who trusts
in Jesus
that comes
to know Christ
knows they are sinful
and deserving
of death
and along with
everyone else
and they know
they are only made
right with God
through faith
alone
along with
everyone else.
Envy
thrives in this world
because it's built
on a social hierarchy.
we are constantly
told to climb
some sort of ladder
whether it's to build
our wealth
our skills
our possessions
our friends
our fame
we are told to climb
this endless ladder
and the only way
to measure
our success
to see where
we are going
in this ladder
is to play
the comparison game
and therefore
to let envy
take its hold
on us
to influence
us
but the gospel
comes in
and decimates
that entirely
and declares
that all people
no matter who
you are
have access
through faith
and repentance
to the wonderful
salvation
that is on offer.
Indeed
we don't climb
any ladder
anymore
the world
wants you to
try and keep
climbing this ladder
to get higher
and higher
but it's endless
but on the contrary
in Ephesians 1
we're reminded
that for those
who trust in Jesus
you are already
ascended to the very top
you are seated
with Christ
in the heavenly realms
and in him
being at the very top
in him
we enjoy peace
with God
satisfaction
and contentment
we enjoy unity
and fellowship
together
we enjoy
our significance
and worth
being found
in him
he is supremely
valuable
whose blood
is more precious
than gold
nothing can compare
to him
having him
and therefore
envy cannot
take its stand
against him
it is rendered
powerless
so when the thing
that captures
your attention
the most
the thing that
stirs the affection
of your heart
the most
is the salvation
that comes
through Jesus
envy will lose
its grip
on your life
because not only
do you have
the best thing
but you have
the very thing
that levels
the playing field
the great equaliser
of all men
but this is easier
said than done
although we have
this knowledge
of salvation
we often fail
to keep
our eyes
fixated
on Jesus
we are so easily
distracted by
what surrounds us
by the world's message
to sell the good
life to us
telling us
what we ought
to value
the most
in our life
and because
we are sinful
and foolish
we buy into it
and take our
eyes off of
Jesus
every now and then
even David
prays in the same
verse
grant me
a willing spirit
to sustain me
and the proverb
says as well
let not your heart
envy sinners
but continue
in the fear
of the Lord
all the day
there is still
a need
to persevere
in our struggle
against envy
it's a daily
fight
a daily
battle
one which we
need to let
Christ
through the power
of the Holy Spirit
help us
in the fight
but instead of
just leaving it
there
we are in a series
on wisdom
and I want to
provide I think
what's best practice
from my research
in the last week
or so
so on the screen
it's going to come up
a summary of where
we've just gone
and then where
we're going to next
which I'll read
for us as well
to fight envy
we need to realise
that envy affects
the way we interact
with everything
that is of this world
drawing us to see
everything we value
as a means
for comparison
and therefore
we need to
counter envy
by choosing
to value that
which is not
of this world
the gospel
of salvation
the way we do this
is by training
and cultivating
the heart
to value
and love
the gospel
above all else
through daily
and weekly
practice
reorienting
our hearts
from loving
and valuing
the things
of this world
to loving
and valuing
the gospel
we so often
struggle to fight
against envy
and all sin
for that matter
because we think
transformation
has to do
with this thing
up here
thinking
deciding
that as long
as we can
mentally assent
to the truth
we'll be able
to change
our habits
but that's not
how we work
as human beings
don't hear me
say that thinking
is not important
it is
that's not entirely
the way we work
we're not just
thinkers
we don't change
our habits
by simply
knowing the truth
about something
and interesting enough
the world doesn't
work at that either
the world doesn't
convince us
through mental
assent
to live the way
it wants
the world
convinces us
through shaping
our hearts
to love
what it has to say
is the good life
through repetitive
exposure
pulling our
heart strings
the world
is able to
shape
what it is
we ought to
value
the most
it's a
it's a thing
that happens
without us
even knowing
at times
for example
the tech giant
Apple is a great
example of this
they don't
they're a company
that advertises
their products
not through
trying to get you
to mentally
just agree with them
about how good
their products are
but they're a company
that advertises
their products
by repetitively
drawing upon
your desires
and wants
constantly exposing
their product
to you
all the time
and this
repetitive
exposure
eventually
takes
its effects
in eventually
forming
our hearts
to love
their products
to want
them
and desire
them
to which I
have fallen
completely
for
to put it
simply
we are not
simply thinkers
first
we are lovers
first
we are lovers
first
and the reason
why we struggle
with changing
our habits
and therefore
removing envy
is because we
approach the fight
as thinkers
and not as lovers
therefore we must
approach this fight
not through mental
assent
but as lovers
but how we do
that
I have already
kind of given
you a clue
the only way
in which we can
grow in our love
for something
is by repetitively
being exposed
to it
and allowing it
to train
and cultivate
our heart
to be something
we love
you see
you grow
in love
for your wife
for your husband
your girlfriend
or boyfriend
for your family
and for your friends
or for anything
for that matter
when you choose
to actively
expose yourself
daily to it
when you choose
to engage
with it
when you continue
to practice
relationship
with that person
you are
in regard
you might not
put it this way
but you are
training yourself
to love this person
you're training
your heart
to love them
by daily
choosing to do so
and then growing
in that love
in the same way
of the gospel
the way in which
we train our hearts
to love the salvation
that comes from Jesus
is to repetitively
expose ourselves
to the message
of the gospel
to practice it daily
and allow for our hearts
to be trained
and to grow
in the love
of the gospel
and to do this
in a counter
formative way
that is
as we grow
in our love
for the gospel
to then allow
the gospel itself
to root out
any place
in our heart
which might
give in to envy
so that when we
are tempted
to envy
our hearts
natural reaction
ought to be
to turn to the gospel
and let the gospel
shape the way
we proceed
from there
to not give in
to envy
and the question
is now
where do we begin
with this
the practice
I've suggested
is something
that should be used
in fighting
all sin
in general
but what about envy
in particular
when we
where in our daily
repetitive practice
of the gospel
do we begin
in regards
to envy
well I believe
in general use
but I think
particularly for envy
Psalm 73
is one that provides
a helpful pattern
that helps us
to acknowledge
our own struggle
with envy
and gives us
a voice
to tell God
our struggle
but then helpfully
provides a corrective
for us
that will lead us
away from envy
and finding joy
in God's salvation
the first three verses
the psalmist acknowledges
he struggled with envy
and says he almost
fell away from God
because of it
and then he provides
why in verses 4 to 15
explain that the wicked
were prospering
but they were mocking God
at the same time
the psalmist though
who was obedient
and righteous
he was suffering
so whilst they were
prospering
he was suffering
he was struggling
to put the two
or two together
eventually
till we get to
verse 16
he admits
it's too much
for him to handle
he can't understand
why he is suffering
in this way
and why they are prospering
so what does he do
what's his response
he goes to God
in verse 17
to the temple
he brings this
confusing state
before God
and gives it to him
and being in the
presence of God
he realizes
the true fate
of the wicked
in verses 18
to 22
he realizes
what's going to
happen to those
even if they're
prospering
what does
eventually happen
to the wicked
and he talks
about that
in those next
few verses
and then in verse 23
again
after being with God
he realizes
his own state
and what's going
to happen to him
he says in verse 23
nevertheless
I am continually
with you
you hold
my right hand
you guide me
with your counsel
and afterward
you receive me
to glory
whom have I
in heaven
but you
and there is
nothing on earth
I desire
besides you
my flesh
and my heart
may fail
but God
is the strength
in my heart
and my portion
forever
for behold
those who are
far from you
shall perish
you put an end
to everyone
who is unfaithful
to you
but for me
it is good
to be near God
I have made
the Lord God
my refuge
that I may tell
of your works
do you see
how the psalmist
recounts
his emotions
and thoughts
as he goes along
he doesn't just
simply tell us
don't envy
trust God
he recounts
his own journey
and progression
towards understanding
and seeing the truth
and it's through
that journey
he was able
to write
the reality
that God
is his joy
and strength
that he need
not to envy
because he enjoyed
God's presence
and God's salvation
and so since
we have this psalm
written down
for us
when we are tempted
to feel envious
when we are tempted
to play
the comparison game
we can turn
to this psalm
to help us
fight envy
to use
as a guide
for the way
we should struggle
with it
you notice that
the psalmist
doesn't just conclude
okay I'm going to
trust God now
he actually voices
his opinion to God
he tells God
I'm struggling
the wicked are
prospering
and me the righteous
I'm suffering
what's going on
but then he provides
that helpful
corrective
in verse 17
he turns to God
that's the difference
between him
and us sometimes
do you turn
to God
after voicing
your opinion
to him
after telling him
you're struggling
do you turn
to God
to try and
understand
what's going on
when we
repeatedly
practice
this helpful
pattern
in psalm 73
but also
help we practice
on a broader
level
the gospel
through the reading
the speaking
aloud
as well
as in our mind
and the singing
of scripture
and the psalms
when we allow it
to sink
into our hearts
that's
when our joy
will begin
to turn
to be fixated
on the salvation
of God
and then
only then
we'll be able
to counter
the message
of this world
that is to
climb the social
ladder
to play the
comparison game
that envy
wants us to play
envy
is truly
evil
and like
all sin
it requires
us to fight
daily
but brothers
and sisters
when we
respond to
envy by
encountering
the gospel
each and
every day
envy
we rendered
powerless
when we work
through the
scriptures
and the psalms
in our response
practicing
and training
our hearts
to love
the gospel
to see it
as the thing
we value
the most
envy
will be
stopped
in its
tracks
and the
gospel
the great
equalizer
will take
its seed
and flourish
and grow
in our hearts
giving us
the freedom
to enjoy
to worship
God
without fear
of measuring
up to each
other
but then also
giving us
the power
to love
each other
to serve
each other
to be with
each other
and not fear
that we don't
measure up
to each other
because we
all here
enjoy the
wonderful
salvation
of God
as in
Christ Jesus
let me pray
for us
heavenly father
we thank you
so much
that we
enjoy peace
with you
through your
son
we thank you
that through
your word
you've given
us life
and we pray
father
that you
would help
us to
always have
our eyes
fixated
on your
son
for him
to be
the thing
we value
the most
in our
life
for the
salvation
that comes
through him
to be the
thing
that gives
us confidence
in this
world
would we
not envy
each other
or envy
sinners
but father
would we
know that
we enjoy
the great
salvation
that comes
from you
that puts
all of us
on the
leveling
playing field
that stirs
all of us
to love
each other
and to serve
each other
help us
father
to go out
now
into the
world
to show
forth your
love
and your
light
to those
around us
to so many
people who
are trying
to play
this comparison
game
thinking it's
going to
fulfill them
thinking it's
going to
help them
progress
but father
only leaves
them feeling
bitter
and resentful
and hated
hateful
father we
offer them
the peace
that comes
from you
only through
the salvation
that comes
also from
you
we pray
this in
your son's
name
amen