WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.519 As we've looked at before in our study of themes and Proverbs, we find the themes scattered 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:09.519 throughout the book. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.839 We're not going to read a long passage, but I'm going to read three short passages, which 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:21.640 will come up, I think, on the screen, but also will be in your Bibles. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:30.320 The first is from Proverbs chapter 3 and from verse 28 through to verse 32. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:38.679 Do not say to your neighbour, Go and come again, tomorrow I will give it when you have 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:39.679 it with you. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:44.400 Do not plan evil against your neighbour who dwells trustingly beside you. 00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:48.560 Do not contend with a man for no reason when he is done, you know harm. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.080 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways, for the devious person is 00:00:55.080 --> 00:01:01.640 an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:09.159 And then from Proverbs chapter 14 and verses 20, 9 to 31, whoever is slow to anger has 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:15.560 great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:22.120 A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, tranquil or peaceful heart gives life to the 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:26.359 flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:31.800 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours 00:01:31.800 --> 00:01:33.439 him. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:43.599 And then lastly in Proverbs chapter 23 verses 15 to 18, my son, if your heart is wise, my 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:50.519 heart too will be glad, my inmost being will exalt when your lips speak what is right. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:56.439 Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day, surely 00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:03.199 there is a future and your hope will not be cut off. 00:02:03.199 --> 00:02:09.639 And I think maybe particularly that middle section where we read in Proverbs chapter 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:20.799 14 and verses 29 to 31, maybe especially these words, a tranquil or a peaceful heart gives 00:02:20.799 --> 00:02:32.159 life to the flesh and the bones of the body, but envy makes the bones rot. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:41.159 I want to be as bright as she is, I want to be as good looking and gifted as him. 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:45.599 I want that job that that other person got, I deserved it for sure. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:52.759 I love the close friendships that they have, or that wealth, or the fun, or the house, 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.639 the kudos, or the popularity or the power or the influence. 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:01.079 I want the success that they have, the life they have. 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:07.960 I envy my brother, I envy my sister, my father, my mother, my colleague, my Christian friend, 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:11.320 my hero, whoever it is, I envy them. 00:03:11.320 --> 00:03:17.560 I want what they have and I'm dissatisfied with what I have. 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:19.880 We all know about envy, don't we? 00:03:19.880 --> 00:03:24.760 Nobody here doesn't struggle or battle with the sin of envy. 00:03:24.760 --> 00:03:28.439 We all do to a greater or lesser degree. 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:32.719 And so we're going to look at that theme for a little while from the Bible, from Proverbs 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:39.039 this morning, particularly from Proverbs this morning, and recognize, as we read in our 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:44.400 New Testament reading that Jesus picks it out as one of the sins also, that we are to 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.319 deal with in our lives and hearts. 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:53.960 Because envy is the expression, the outward expression of something deeper. 00:03:53.960 --> 00:04:02.319 It's deeper malaise within our hearts and souls, and it has deep spiritual roots, because 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:11.080 envy is linked very much in the Bible with the Father of all sins, which is pride, and 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.000 it's closely related to that. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:22.240 If you read Ezekiel 28 or Isaiah 14, which gives us a picture of Satan falling from heaven, 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:30.199 this beautiful, glorious angel, pride was at the very root of his sin. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:31.400 Envy was at the root of his sin. 00:04:31.400 --> 00:04:35.079 He wanted what God had. 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:37.240 He wanted to usurp God. 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:43.960 He was discontented with his position in the cosmos, wanted the throne, wanted the worship 00:04:43.960 --> 00:04:44.960 of God. 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:49.120 That's what we see, don't we, even in the temptation of Jesus, that he said to Jesus, 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:56.879 if you just fall down and worship me, he wanted that place that was God's rightful place alone, 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.680 the power and the glory. 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:06.079 And so envy has these deep spiritual roots of pride that we battle with in our lives. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:14.199 And each of us can look at that this morning as we're listening to what Scripture is saying. 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.160 Don't wander too far into your own thoughts or you'll not listen to what's being said 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:18.160 from the Word. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:24.600 But do let it seep into your thinking as we think through this passage. 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:31.480 Because clearly envy is uncovered in the Bible and it's uncovered as a heart issue. 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:36.120 Jesus makes that clear, as with many other sins, but we're looking at envy today. 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:38.240 It's not what we eat. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:43.320 It's not the black pudding and the haggis and these things that we eat that defile us. 00:05:43.320 --> 00:05:47.560 It's what comes out of us from our hearts spiritually. 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:49.879 Envy comes from deep within. 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:56.439 So there's this great focus, scripturally always not on the outward circumstances and 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:01.399 the outward behavior of other people that we can use to judge ourselves by, but rather 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:03.600 look at our own hearts. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:11.319 Because envy comes from a deep-seated dissatisfaction within our own hearts about our life and about 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:14.319 our lot that God has given us. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:23.639 They could be described as, or could be defined as a resentful, dissatisfied longing for another 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:32.600 person's possessions, positions, fortune, achievements, success or personality. 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:40.120 And we often find that envy is one of the sins that are listed in the many lists of 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:42.039 sins in the New Testament. 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:45.040 We read it in Mark's Gospel when Jesus spoke about it. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:53.760 It's in Galatians and it's in other places where it's just elucidated as one of the practically 00:06:53.760 --> 00:06:59.960 made clear to us what sin is, so that we know it and we can deal with it and we can root 00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:02.160 it out from our lives. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.360 It's very similar to covetousness. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:11.000 The commandment are also jealousy, but it's, there are slight differences. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:18.199 Envy is really a reaction, a negative reaction to something we don't have. 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:24.319 Whereas jealousy may be, the emphasis is a little bit more is a, not always a negative 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:30.920 reaction, but usually a negative reaction to the threat of losing something we do have. 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:36.160 Envy however is never described positively in the Bible, whereas jealousy can be, you 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.519 can be jealous, you can have a good jealousy, a protective jealousy. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.359 What is spoken of as being jealous for these people in a protective loving way, we don't 00:07:44.359 --> 00:07:45.719 want anything bad to happen. 00:07:45.719 --> 00:07:51.079 So there is an element of jealousy that's good, although it can also be very negative. 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:56.199 Whereas envy doesn't have any kind of positive element to it at all. 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:06.079 Is that invisible, deadly sin that we all struggle with in our lives and will ship wreck us 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.279 if it goes unchecked? 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:12.159 So the challenge of scripture, the challenge of worship always, the challenge of the word 00:08:12.159 --> 00:08:17.319 of God with it is always to allow the light of God's word, not into the person beside 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:30.959 his heart, but into our heart to allow God himself to just work on our heart and to unleash 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:42.480 some of the darkness that we allow to reside there by not dealing with it, by not challenging 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.480 ourselves. 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:49.600 And obviously what we'll do is we'll finish very positively, which is very important so 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:50.600 to do. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:55.439 But where does envy leave us in our lives? 00:08:55.439 --> 00:08:59.879 Because envy is such a negative thing. 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:04.399 Now we recognize that it leaves us dissatisfied with God. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.279 Proverbs 14.30 says, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:17.360 And we know that there's so much in the New Testament and in the Bible about peace, only 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:22.600 being possible with us in our deepest hearts when we are right with God, when we have dealt 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:30.080 with our dissociation with God because of sin and we've come to Him for salvation. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.720 But we recognize that envy leaves us dissatisfied with God. 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:37.560 It's the opposite of tranquility and a healthy heart. 00:09:37.560 --> 00:09:42.540 The word tranquil there can mean peace or health that comes from knowing and fearing 00:09:42.540 --> 00:09:43.540 and loving God. 00:09:43.540 --> 00:09:48.100 It's envy is rotten and it's destructive and it separates us from God. 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:53.480 So it leaves us dissatisfied with God so that we may spend our time blaming God for 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.320 how badly our life is turning out. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.120 It may be unspoken, but it's at the root of some of what we think. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:08.040 Yeah, a deep unhappiness with our lot in life, an unhappiness with who you are, an unhappiness 00:10:08.040 --> 00:10:13.840 with the gifts or the lack of gifts you feel you have or the way your life has turned out 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.240 or where your life has turned out. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:19.399 You want to be someone different. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:24.080 You're dissatisfied with the opportunities, with the dead end job, with the poverty, with 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:30.360 the ill health, with the character that you have, with the missed opportunities, the circumstances, 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:32.659 the unfairness, the inequality. 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:35.299 You would do a better job than God. 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:40.240 You would change things because you're envious of everyone else and what they have and you're 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:45.279 even envious of God's position of control and sovereignty and power. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:51.639 In fact, that one level envy is not only dissatisfaction with God, it's wanting to be God. 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:57.959 It's wanting to have that position of power and authority and control so that we can receive 00:10:57.959 --> 00:11:03.639 all that we want, that we don't have, that we think we need from God in our lives. 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:10.199 And as such, it not only leaves us dissatisfied with God, but therefore dissatisfied with 00:11:10.199 --> 00:11:11.199 the gospel. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:16.600 So I speak first of all to Christians here because it's easy for us, I think, as Christians 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:22.560 to theoretically or theologically accept the gospel and accept what Jesus has done for 00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:27.440 us and accept that we are sinners saved by grace and that we are going to heaven and 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:32.400 all these things, but still let envy rule in our hearts. 00:11:32.400 --> 00:11:37.640 We can still be those who are ultimately blaming God with a sense of dissatisfaction 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:44.799 in our lives, we don't trust what He says about our identity as His child, our unique 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:45.799 identity. 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:50.840 We don't trust the wisdom of the gifts He has given you or the promises that He's made 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:55.000 to you to provide everything that we need. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:56.000 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.240 We sung that in the song and the Psalm that we sung. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:06.279 We don't think about and consider the future that He has promised us and the gospel doesn't 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:08.799 seem that significant, so we still are... 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:13.639 It's not really the answer that's providing all our needs and all our desires. 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.519 And it's not Him that we desire alone. 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:21.399 We are envious and desiring things we don't have and we feel God is to blame. 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:28.500 The salvation of a crucified Jew a long time ago doesn't seem so significant on my Monday 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:30.519 morning walk. 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:37.480 It may seem fairly relevant on the Lord's day when we're in church, but it doesn't seem 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:45.319 to be something that moves and directs and channels and changes and transforms my heart 00:12:45.319 --> 00:12:47.559 from Monday to Saturday. 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:55.720 The cost, the love, the resurrection, the promises seem very distant as we envy and 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.799 consider what we don't have. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:04.559 Because the gospel sometimes practically isn't what we are putting into practice in our lives. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:08.719 And maybe you're not a Christian here today, maybe you're agnostic, maybe you're an atheist, 00:13:08.719 --> 00:13:11.039 maybe you've just stumbled into church. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:17.839 And you've never even considered the thought of envy or the gospel even, maybe. 00:13:17.839 --> 00:13:22.439 But you do recognize that you're chasing something that you don't have and you think other people 00:13:22.439 --> 00:13:24.959 do, other people do have. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.560 Your circumstances, good breaks, natural gifting and you're envious. 00:13:29.560 --> 00:13:33.759 But you don't recognize or consider that the fundamental problem is one that is within 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.440 you, that's within your own heart. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.440 And you've never considered the relevance of the gospel to that. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.200 You can't think how it will satisfy your deepest longings. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.280 And maybe you're there today and I would ask and encourage you to consider the gospel 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:57.079 of Jesus and the power of Jesus, the resurrected power of Jesus to transform your heart and 00:13:57.079 --> 00:13:58.279 to change it from within. 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.639 And indeed for all of us, every one of us. 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:07.240 So envy is that problem is that it makes us dissatisfied with God and very unhappy with 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:14.039 other people because their lives seem so much better than ours. 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:19.319 Do not envy Proverbs 3.31, the violent or choose any of their ways. 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:24.360 And you know, Sam 73 as we mentioned and Sam 37, they really deal with that issue. 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:32.760 They really deal with that heart condition where we're looking at other people and saying, 00:14:32.760 --> 00:14:35.920 especially those who are not, if we're Christians, especially those who are not Christians, we're 00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:38.960 saying, they seem have so much fun. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.040 Life is so good. 00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:43.240 You know, they want to give it a temptation. 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:45.840 They don't have any barriers or parameters around them spiritually. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.840 They're so successful. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:47.840 They're so powerful. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.280 They're such a great company. 00:14:50.280 --> 00:14:52.160 They have such good lives. 00:14:52.160 --> 00:14:56.560 They don't have the weight of fearing the Lord or the commands of God or the ethical 00:14:56.560 --> 00:15:04.200 dilemmas or the persecution and the mockery that we go and know as believers. 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:06.240 And we envy them. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:07.920 We envy those who don't believe. 00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:14.800 And we also envy some, whether they believe or whether they don't. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:20.359 And that comes very much under the commandment, doesn't it, which looks at anyone. 00:15:20.359 --> 00:15:23.479 It doesn't necessarily need to be an unbeliever for a Christian. 00:15:23.479 --> 00:15:25.279 It can be anyone. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:30.719 The last commandment, you, Jude 1 and 5, you shall not covet your neighbour's wife. 00:15:30.719 --> 00:15:36.039 You shall not set your desire on your neighbour's house or land as male or female servant, as 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.599 ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbour. 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:44.720 Now we might not be troubled so much with envy about a donkey or about, you know, as 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:49.560 ox or as servants, maybe not the immediate things that we envy in people. 00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:54.240 But you know, the principle is behind what is being said there. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.080 The covetousness, the envious, that we might want our fellow Christian or some other person's 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:06.680 husband or wife or life or possessions or sense of humour, whatever we don't have and 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:09.199 they have, we want. 00:16:09.199 --> 00:16:14.439 So covetousness makes us unhappy with others also. 00:16:14.439 --> 00:16:21.719 And so we come to the problem of envy, which we've unpacked there and to a little degree, 00:16:21.719 --> 00:16:25.000 is its total destructiveness. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.120 Envy rots the bones. 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:28.039 Such a great picture. 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:33.759 Such a clear picture from Proverbs 14.30, a heart of peace gives life to the body. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.559 Envy rots the bones. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.079 Just like a heart cancer. 00:16:38.079 --> 00:16:46.039 It's that entirely negative emotion or sin within us. 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:54.879 Proverbs 27.34, his anger is cruel, fury overwhelming, but who can stand before envy or who can 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:56.679 stand before jealousy? 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:04.720 So you've got it comparatively worse than anger and fury because it has such destructive 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:05.720 powers. 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:09.799 There's nothing pleasurable in the sin of envy. 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:11.960 Nothing enjoyable about it. 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:18.279 It's mean because it comes from a heart of entitlement and thanklessness. 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.000 It's entirely negative. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:27.640 Unlike as we mentioned, jealousy, which at least can have a protective element that is 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:28.839 positive. 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:31.759 Envy rots the bones. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.200 It brings death to us. 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:35.200 Not life. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:41.000 It's like trying to drink salt water to slake our thirst. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:47.840 It feeds our heart with desires that will not satisfy us even if we receive them. 00:17:47.840 --> 00:17:53.120 It leaves us with that nagging dissatisfaction in our ongoing life. 00:17:53.120 --> 00:17:56.759 And it spills into every relationship. 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:01.080 And I want to stress that and I'm going to come back to that at the end. 00:18:01.080 --> 00:18:03.360 It affects our relationships. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:10.240 It affects our relationship with God and also our day-to-day relationships within the church. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:17.799 Galatians 5, New Testament epistles, often dealing with heart sins that affect the church 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:19.519 and affect our relationships. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:25.679 So Galatians 5, 25, since we live by the Spirit, the Spirit of God, let's keep in step with 00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:26.679 the Spirit. 00:18:26.679 --> 00:18:32.759 Let's not become conceited, proud, provoking and envying one another. 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:37.440 So you've got that practical outworking within the New Testament. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:47.039 Or also, I think in Titus 3, verse 3, it says, At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:51.960 deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. 00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:56.839 We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:03.679 You see the parallels and the connections between envy and hatred and division and discord. 00:19:03.679 --> 00:19:08.599 And isn't that such a powerful reality that the church of Jesus, the believers in Christ 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:16.559 as part of a community, are to reflect an opposite spirit and an opposite way of thinking 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:24.159 about one another and about God, which causes us to look into our own heart and to deal 00:19:24.159 --> 00:19:25.439 with that. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:30.360 Just what we find is if we're living with an envious spirit, an envious heart, it spreads 00:19:30.360 --> 00:19:34.559 unhappiness and cynicism. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:39.120 And it has a lack of enthusiasm for all things God. 00:19:39.120 --> 00:19:44.440 So while it may seem to be an invisible sin, you say, no one can see how envious I am. 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:45.440 That's okay. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.519 It's good. 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:52.120 But it isn't really because it's like what Jesus says in the passage we read, whatever's 00:19:52.120 --> 00:19:53.759 within us comes out. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:20:00.920 It comes out in various ways and at different times in our lives when maybe our circumstances 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.879 dictate that that to be the case. 00:20:04.879 --> 00:20:08.879 Its pale reflection, complexion can't be hidden. 00:20:08.879 --> 00:20:14.359 It's unhealthy pallor casts a shadow wherever it's found. 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:15.839 You know how it is, don't you? 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:21.400 How much a misery guts can affect the temperature in a room. 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:28.880 Now someone who is uncharitable and quick to find fault and quick to expose somebody 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:35.519 else's failings from an envious heart potentially, someone has nothing good to say. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:36.519 It may be a heart. 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:44.280 It is undoubtedly a heart issue, but it spreads misery and we need to recognize our responsibility 00:20:44.280 --> 00:20:47.640 as part of the body of Christ to deal with our heart. 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:53.200 So as we come to a conclusion, it's been all very negative, sorry. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:54.200 Let's try to rejoice. 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:58.200 It's time to rejoice in God's amazing grace. 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:09.800 We recognize in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 17, do not let your heart envy sinners, but 00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:12.160 always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:18.400 And we've seen that that is a theme throughout Proverbs is this recognition of a relationship 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.960 with God as Savior and Lord. 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:29.920 And again, going back to 1430 of Proverbs, a heart of peace, a tranquil heart, a healthy 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.880 heart gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:38.120 So we recognize that the redemption that we receive in Jesus Christ coming to Him for 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:42.959 our Savior, saying to Him, I recognize that this is an issue in my life, I recognize I'm 00:21:42.959 --> 00:21:50.319 dissatisfied and envious and sometimes very unhappy with you God and with other people 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:55.639 recognizing that sin and coming to Him for in confessing that and seeking His forgiveness 00:21:55.639 --> 00:22:01.039 brings tranquility and peace of health to our souls and also to our bodies at that. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.679 A wholeness, you know, the New Testament speaks about that, doesn't it? 00:22:04.679 --> 00:22:05.679 Life to the full. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:10.279 It's a wholeness that we receive from God in our lives. 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:16.400 His work is regenerating hearts, broken hearts with eternal life. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.560 And He has done that because He, what did He do? 00:22:19.560 --> 00:22:21.720 He emptied Himself. 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:28.720 He emptied Himself and took what nobody else wanted, you know, none of you wanted the cross. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.200 None of us wanted the cross. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:32.039 None of us want the wrath of God. 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:34.000 We're not envious for that. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:40.279 We're not envious for the judgment of God, for the light of God's judgment to, the bright 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:46.119 light of God's judgment to look into our heart and say, guilty. 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:48.519 But He took that in His selfless love. 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.400 He took that wrath, He took that judgment. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.960 He took what nobody else wants and what nobody else could deal with and nobody else could 00:22:54.960 --> 00:23:00.359 stand in front of and He took it on the cross, the Father's wrath, emptying Himself of all 00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:08.399 His glory, showing Himself to not care at that level about His glory to the degree that 00:23:08.399 --> 00:23:16.079 He became the Son of Man, the one who died in the cross. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:25.199 And that therefore, as we come to Him in humility and in grace, enables us to deal with that 00:23:25.199 --> 00:23:30.000 lifelong challenge that we have, which is to remove envy from the very core of our heart 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.000 and replace it with God's love and God's grace. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.640 Because God's love is what transforms us. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:40.599 So you've got the passage that's often read at weddings, don't you? 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:42.759 And we're very well known to us. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:48.240 1 Corinthians 13, and it's nice and it's beautiful and everyone loves it and it gives different 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.279 characteristics of love. 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:53.839 But it reminds us that there's also negative sides to that love because it says love is 00:23:53.839 --> 00:24:00.799 pain, the love of God in our lives is love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:02.079 it does not boast, it is not proud. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:09.319 Again, pride is linked together with envy and it is the opposite, and the hatred and 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:11.519 the opposite of His love. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:17.879 And so we find that Christ enables us to love God as our Creator, as our judge and our Savior 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:27.760 and to stop blaming Him and to stop asking Him for things that we don't need, even though 00:24:27.760 --> 00:24:36.600 we may want them, and believe that He knows better and we trust Him and that takes faith 00:24:36.600 --> 00:24:42.000 and that takes that gift of faith which He promises in the hardest and most difficult 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:43.000 circumstances. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.440 That is a real challenge for us. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:52.759 I'm not saying this is easy, I'm not saying it's cheap and I'm not speaking in a trite 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:53.759 way. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:25:00.640 It's an impossible battle that we need the Holy Spirit for to love God, but also it enables 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:08.680 us not only to love God but to love ourselves because God brings that tranquility, that peace, 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:15.200 and that life to our body envy rots the bones. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:21.200 And peace comes when we not only love God, but we actually love ourselves because that 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:29.480 is absolutely right because we see ourselves as God sees us, valuable and precious. 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:35.080 We come to Him by faith, we become His children, and we are enabled to love ourselves because 00:25:35.080 --> 00:25:41.480 what envy is, is envy is wanting to not be yourself, it's wanting to be someone else. 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:49.120 It's envy is, it's root is not self-love, it's root is self-hatred. 00:25:49.120 --> 00:25:57.140 We don't love ourselves, we don't love ourselves as God loves us, we hate ourselves and we 00:25:57.140 --> 00:25:58.960 hate what we are. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:02.299 And so it's root is not self-love, it's self-hatred. 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:09.920 But to know Christ's love and to know His salvation is to recognize that we are His children, 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:15.400 to recognize that we are adopted into His family and recognize He has made us unique. 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:21.360 There's no other person in the universe like you, you're uniquely you, He's chosen that. 00:26:21.360 --> 00:26:23.240 And we're all different. 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:28.200 And so it enables us to love ourselves and it also enables us to love others. 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:30.960 And that's a great thing. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.080 Envy stops us from loving others. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.839 It really makes us hate other people because we want what they have, but love and being 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:46.799 transformed in our hearts and dealing with envy enables us to give thanks for the gifts 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:48.480 of other people. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.039 And to, it drives us back to the gospel. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:54.359 Maybe today we didn't think, I didn't really think I needed to pray today, there's nothing 00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:57.720 to pray about, I can't think of anything to pray about. 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:01.559 When we recognize what we are naturally in ourselves, we're always driven back to the 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:07.440 cross, but how hard it is for us to give thanks for others who are much more gifted and have 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.399 a much better life than we think that they have. 00:27:10.399 --> 00:27:14.039 And the reality is maybe they don't anyway, because we don't know their hearts and we 00:27:14.039 --> 00:27:15.839 don't really know their circumstances. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:20.159 All we see is what they are presenting on the outside, and of course Instagram and Twitter 00:27:20.159 --> 00:27:27.119 and all these things makes that all the more surface and drives in many ways envy in our 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:29.159 lives. 00:27:29.159 --> 00:27:31.079 But we don't need what they have. 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:36.720 Rather we give thanks for what we've been given and we rejoice in what they have. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:42.000 It lays pride and the need to have more and more and more that we think we need at the 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:50.720 foot of the cross and live a life of gratitude and thankfulness and prayerfulness and joy 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:55.159 in the privileges and the giftings of others. 00:27:55.159 --> 00:27:57.679 Now that will change our DNA. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:04.240 It changes our own personal DNA, but it will also change the DNA of our church all the 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:05.519 time. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:10.640 And what the world needs to see is a community of people who reflect Jesus. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.120 And that's where we reflect Jesus. 00:28:12.120 --> 00:28:14.799 It's not in the slapstick smile. 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.039 It's not in the quality of our praise. 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:20.120 It's not even in the numbers that we have in church. 00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:24.920 It's in the way that our hearts are being transformed and that we are brothers and sisters 00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:29.960 and dealing with all the sins that would separate us from one another. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:36.039 So as we close, the focus might be that all of us would examine our hearts and examine 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:39.960 our interactions with one another and our thoughts about one another. 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:43.960 And we would be the people who become the champions of change. 00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:48.440 You and me, that we become the champions of change. 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:52.920 You and I are the ones who put envy to death. 00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:59.720 And as you walk from here, see transformation in your office, in your neighborhood, in the 00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:05.160 church life, in the family, online, on Zoom. 00:29:05.160 --> 00:29:11.680 That it's changed because of your heart attitude being changed and my heart attitude being changed. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:13.600 Let's be the ones who are... 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:23.240 Let's be the ones who are those who enable change to happen rather than being the ones 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:28.359 who reflect a heart that's closed to the light of Jesus Christ. 00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:31.879 Let's be those who spread grace and not misery. 00:29:31.879 --> 00:29:35.079 And that's a great challenge for us this morning, I think. 00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:38.399 And I close with the words of a good friend of mine. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:43.800 The friend of ours, he's preached here and he does a daily Bible reading, some of our 00:29:43.800 --> 00:29:49.240 American friends may or may not know him, Scotty Smith, but he writing on this subject 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:53.480 said, if I had everything, I covet and want. 00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:55.720 It would never be enough. 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:59.560 In gratitude is a soul cancer. 00:29:59.560 --> 00:30:02.040 Comparison is heart disease. 00:30:02.040 --> 00:30:06.080 An envy is a relentless idol factory. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:14.399 Indeed, only Jesus, the riches of grace and the provision of heaven are enough. 00:30:14.399 --> 00:30:16.679 Let's bow our heads and pray and give thanks. 00:30:16.679 --> 00:30:19.639 Father God, we thank You for who You are. 00:30:19.639 --> 00:30:27.679 We thank You for the searing honesty of Scripture that may leave us today uncomfortable. 00:30:27.679 --> 00:30:34.679 Sometimes when we look at the mirror physically, we look and we think, oh, I'm so ugly. 00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:38.000 And we walk away and we forget. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:42.920 And spiritually, it's easy for us to do the same, to look in the mirror of Scripture and 00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:49.720 see the reality, but just quash it or forget it or fail to deal with it. 00:30:49.720 --> 00:30:52.600 And yet, You're the great surgeon. 00:30:52.600 --> 00:30:53.880 You're the great healer. 00:30:53.880 --> 00:31:00.759 You're the great physician who seeks to use the scalpel of Scripture to root out the cancer 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:13.879 and the sin that does make us, has that root of hatred and dissatisfaction and unhappiness. 00:31:13.879 --> 00:31:17.680 And You want that to be removed so that we may know that tranquility and that peace and 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:19.599 that life that You bring. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:22.920 And we know it's a battle and we know we can't deal with it on our own. 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.879 And we know we can't change our hearts without Your grace and without Your help. 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:35.480 So help us today, we pray, and enable us to be thankful and rejoicing in Jesus' willingness 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:40.360 to change us and to renew us and to transform us. 00:31:40.360 --> 00:31:46.920 We know it takes a lifetime, Lord, but give us the patience within that also to know that 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:51.400 even though we die, yet we will live and that the best is still to come. 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:52.400 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:59.400 Amen.