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Amen, all right James chapter 4 great chapter in the Bible. We're going to go through some Verses in detail on James chapter 4 as we continue our sins of the heart series So we had our first sermon in the sins of the heart series last week And what we learned was, you know sins of the heart they seem they seem like they're harmless They seem like they're internal to ourselves But we saw last week that you know sins of the heart will eventually come out Of us they'll come out in our actions in our words and they'll hurt the people around us. So tonight We're gonna talk about the sin of the heart that maybe has caused the most Destruction in the history of the world. That's a pretty bold statement, right? That you know this sin of the heart starting in someone's heart has caused so much destruction in the history of the world it might seem invisible to others at first but Something that must be dealt with as we learned about last week. So today tonight this evening We are going to talk about envy the sin of envy. So what is envy? Let's look at the just the standard You know dictionary definition of envy and then we'll look at the Bible and see what the Bible has to say turn to Proverbs 14 But the dictionary definition of the word envy is this the Bible says or not the Bible The dictionary says a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions Qualities or luck now that that's the key to envy is it's about someone else's possessions someone else's Qualities, okay turn to Proverbs chapter 14. Let's see what the Bible says because The world has some definitions wrong We're gonna look at what the Bible defines Some things about tonight and and just kind of break it down into great detail so we can figure out When we're reading the Bible what God is trying to tell us if you look at verse 30 of Proverbs 14 The Bible says a sound heart is the life of the flesh But envy the rottenness of the bones now Proverbs one thing I like about Proverbs is you'll read many verses in Proverbs And they give you opposites. They give you you know this is this but The opposite is this so what basically he's it's Proverbs I mean it gives you much more information in a single verse when you think about it because basically Proverbs 14 30 is saying envy is the rottenness of the bones But it is also the opposite of a sound heart you see what I'm saying you see how Proverbs is So I mean the writing of the Bible is so brilliant in that way where it just not only says something But it tells you what you know a sound heart is this But you know envy is the rottenness of the bone so the envy envy having envy is not having a sound Heart the Bible says all right, so it's implying that this is a heart issue And that's why we're talking about it in this sermon series turn to James chapter 3 James chapter 3 and then keep your place in James chapter 4 that's going to be our main Text for this evening so look at James chapter 3 and look at verse number 16 And the Bible says this it says for where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work So there it is There's there's envy something that starts in your heart your heart not being right coming out in Actions right coming out in evil work So it starts with your heart not being sound you having envy and then it comes out as an evil work You see and we'll see the evil works this evening We'll talk about some of the evil works that come from envy all right now first of all before we get into envy I want to talk about the difference between envy and jealousy in the Bible Okay, look go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 keep your place in James chapter 4 just bookmark that we're gonna go back to it 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 There's a difference in the Bible quite a big difference between envy and jealousy So we need to know that when we're reading the Bible because you know when we grew up And we talk in the English language in America. You know jealousy and envy are interchanged They're used the same that they're the same word But that's not the case at all in the Bible the Bible says that Paul was jealous Okay look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 and verse number 2 Paul says for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ so Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 is he's warning the church about people that would come in and that they would they would corrupt the simplicity of the gospel these false teachers that would come in and he's telling them he's telling the people that he's jealous of them that he's he is he's Upset that somebody else would try to take them away to a different gospel or teach them false things is what he's talking about And he says that he's jealous over that turn to Exodus chapter 20 So we see that the Apostle Paul may be the greatest evangelist probably the greatest evangelist that ever lived was jealous He was jealous over, you know, the Corinthians in that case Look at Exodus chapter 20 in verse number 4, we're gonna see that God is jealous God is jealous The Bible says in Exodus 20 in verse number 4 thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything That is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water unto the earth Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them for I the Lord am a gel or the Lord God am a jealous God Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. So look God tells us in Exodus 20 that he is a jealous God. So you say oh, that's Old Testament God look if God was jealous he is jealous Because for I am the Lord I change not it says in Malachi God is the same God as he has always been so God we serve a jealous God so Jealousy can't be a sin. It can't be bad. It must be something that is righteous if God has it Okay. So what is he jealous over in Exodus chapter 20? Well, he's jealous over your attention. He's jealous over you is what he's jealous over just as Paul Was jealous over the people in in the Corinthian Church God is jealous over you. Look it matches God's character that we see even in the gospel itself You know, how many times do we say out soul winning? Hey, it can't be 90% Jesus in 10% you because God wants all the credit. He wants it all So that's what believing on is is that it's it's all of it. It's total trust. God wants it all So God is jealous. God is jealous for us Okay, so jealousy is a good thing God wants your full attention look this also applies to marriage This applies to marriage in Numbers chapter 5. It talks about a husband being jealous over his wife. That's okay look a husband deserves the full attention of his wife a wife Deserves the full attention of her husband It's it's righteous jealousy Look, so, I mean this is a reminder to keep things appropriate in church to keep things appropriate in your life that you know There's really no reason for any man Married or single to be talking to a married woman. I Mean, I mean look we're not talking about being crazy paranoid jealous But I mean look it's okay for a man to be jealous over his wife All right, so we see that jealousy in the Bible is a good thing it's protecting what is yours basically, and that is the difference between envy and Jealousy the difference between envy and jealousy can be broken down to this Who owns the who owns the possession basically? Jealousy is you know protecting what is yours? Envy is wanting something that somebody else has That's the difference So being covetous over something that is not yours is envy its rottenness of the bones Evil work will come from it and it is not Someone with a sound heart that has that issue the Bible says but jealousy is just simply Knowing what's yours and being protective of what's yours? That's it. God is jealous of us Thank I thank God for that that God is jealous for us. All right now Now that we know what we're talking about Let's look at the roots of envy go back to James 4 now James 4 the first few verses of James 4 Could just be like an entire sermon series in itself It's just such a great bunch of verses in the Bible it explains So Much of the world to us in these first few verses of James chapter 4 Let's read the first five verses of James chapter 4 together from whence come wars and fighting's among you come They not hence even of the lusts that war in your members Ye lust and have not Ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet Ye have not because ye ask not Ye ask and receive not because you ask amiss that they may consume it upon your lusts Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God Do you think that the scripture saith in vain the spirit that dwelleth dwelleth in us lusteth to what to envy? This is such an important scripture especially for us today Envy is born in covetousness That's where envy comes out look at verse number two of James chapter 4 So you see in James chapter 4 in verse number 2 it says you you want something right? You want something? Oh, there's nothing wrong with wanting something you want something but then You try to get it from the world and not from God Even to the point where you would kill for it think of that I Mean imagine I mean imagine what God is saying here. God is saying here. Look if you want something just ask me That's what God is saying here. He says just ask me and instead you're gonna go kill people for it That's what that's what he says and you say, okay, you know, that's an extreme example, you know Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Well, here's the big deal. I'm gonna give you two macro level Examples of where envy has caused massive destruction in our world Okay. The first one is is very simple. It's in the first verse war Envy, you know and covetousness the Bible tells us is the cause for war It's it's wanting wars are caused by people that want what other people have. It's really that simple It's that simple either, you know, this could be resources. This could be land. This could be people I'm just I'm just I'm just repatriating all my people right Hitler That's how that all started land people control The big war throughout my whole entire almost entire adult life was the Iraq war starting in the 90s You know I've had friends that have gone to the Iraq war in the 90s and in 2003 and after that that was the big war that has just gone on forever in my life and that I mean look if you Think that that war was all about to give freedom to the Iraqi people. You're crazy That war was about control It was you know, we don't need to get into all the politics of it and all the theories of it But it was simply about control that's what it was about and look Here's another one every single war can be can be broken down to that Somebody wanting something that somebody else has somebody doesn't want to give it to them. So they have a war that's the bottom line Alright, here's another one Socialism socialism Is rooted in covetousness and Envy, that is the source of socialism you say, you know, what's the big deal? Look at verse number two again People want something So they get it through Government force and not what the how the Bible says that they should get it. Remember what we talked about this morning methods matter methods matter in life Wanting something is not a bad thing But how you get it how you go about it how you go about prosecuting? You know this life of yours and these plans and all these things that you're doing it matters The methods are in the Bible and if you steer from those methods, you're gonna end up in trouble socialism look Few things demonstrate the real dangers of not having a biblical worldview like socialism. I Mean real dangers, I mean, you know everyone here thinks ever not everyone here I'm sorry, but everybody in this country today thinks that hey, you know going home and playing video games for two months That sounds like a pretty good idea. That sounds pretty good on its face to a lot of people Unfortunately, but the problem with socialism is that in order to take from others to give to other people There is usually an inordinate amount of violence involved It's very very dangerous dangerous. I mean, it's it's the it's the second leading Aside from abortion in the world. No, what nothing could even touch abortion. It's the second leading cause of violence in the last hundred years hands down is this idea of socialism a Hundred million people in the last hundred years have been killed through socialism rooted in covetousness and envy So you say what's the big deal a hundred million people some people will say it's 80 million people Some people will say it's 70 minute. Look when you're estimating deaths by the tens of millions of people That means it's really really bad That means it was so bad that there wasn't even there wasn't even people left to live to record things That's that's how bad it is. Just think of millions of people this entire city is 1 million people a hundred million people Because look I mean you say why why is it so violent because Typically if I came up to somebody and I said hey I want you to give me your car right now so I can give it to somebody else Typically people are going to resist that Now let's I mean take it a step further you say it's just a car How about if I came to your house and I said I'm gonna take all the food out of your house right now I'm gonna take all the food out of your house, and there's nowhere to get more food people are really gonna resist that I Mean there was times in you know Bolshevik Russia in the Ukraine in the 30s where? They starved millions of people to death There were people their stories of people going out to wheat fields And they would cut every tenth head or every fiftieth head of wheat and try to hide it for their family So they wouldn't starve to death, and then they were killed for that So they were starved to death, and they were killed for trying to you know keep some of that Resource so they could feed their families. That's why it's so dangerous It's extremely extremely Dangerous force needs to be employed to get people to go down these roads. That's the problem It's been very costly to human life Look back at verse number five First number five do you think that the scripture saith in vain that the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? By the time envy is produced by the time that covetousness has produced envy In your life you had better deal with it ASAP you better recognize it you better look at you know that you better understand that that that's being that's that's Forming in your heart and stop it because it's extremely dangerous Okay, it's been proven to be extremely extremely dangerous Well, I mean the socialism thing the ultimate end of socialism is you know after everyone has been killed by the way is You know basically you eventually run out of other people's money Socialism dies under its own weight. We know this so why would we go down this road again? I don't understand it as the productive people are robbed and killed and imprisoned I mean the money and resources it all dries up Every time yet people we keep going down this road because nobody has a biblical worldview That's why number one Governments and you know leaders that are pushing this the first thing that they will do is they will find every Bible They will find every preacher. They will find every person that is preaching any kind of religion Especially the religion of the Bible and they would just kill them. That's first step in Socialist communist societies get rid of you know because look this says something different than that philosophy This talks about rooting out your covetousness this talks about going to work yourself this talks about the plan for yourself So let's talk about that plan. Let's look at you know dealing dealing with envy Dealing with envy the first thing is this You need to root out any Covetousness that you have in your life. You say what is covered covetousness is wanting something somebody else has You need to root that out go to Psalm 128 Realize what the Bible says about the fruit of your labor Not somebody else's labor Psalm 128 look at verse number one The Bible says this it says blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord that walketh in his ways For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands Happy shall thou be and it shall be well with thee you are to live off the labor of your hands Not someone else's look you are owed nothing Contrary to what you know, whoever has taught you Nobody owes you a thing Too many kids too many Cultures in our country today are raising people to believe that they are owed something You are owed nothing And look that's terrible for them because it sows this seed of Covetousness in their heart and that covetous don't we see this by the way think of the cultures that think that they're owed something Whatever I'm I'm not talking about races I'm talking about cultures I'm talking about this welfare culture that I'm owed something that is sowing a seed of Covetousness in people's hearts and that doesn't that turn to envy Don't you see? Nasty evil works coming out of that That's what you will see and you do see it. You do see it It plants covetousness in it and it grows into envy and ultimately it will produce violence Every time well, I mean, why can't we learn this it's in the Bible. I mean, why can't we figure this out? You need to say well, you know, I just I just don't make enough money Well, here's the thing You're paid what you're worth You're paid what you're worth if you were worth more you would be paid more So focus on yourself. That's what the Bible says to focus on yourself focus inward gain more value Gain more skill get better at what you're doing. You will be paid more Period it's very simple The second thing is this root out your coveted covetousness is the first thing focus inward on yourself That's what the Bible says that's it says thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands your hands Happy shall thou be happy shall you be and it shall be well with you it says Alright, the second one is this use others as an example Look, I said when this whole thing started that we're gonna see I don't know what's gonna happen But I told a few of you that we're gonna see some we're gonna see some things out of this. That's that's amazing We're gonna see some of because it look it's a crazy Unprecedented Thing that happened right so out of that if we keep doing what we're supposed to do We will see great things. We will see wonderful things happen. I'm gonna I'm gonna show you I'm just gonna give you I mean, I know it's not over yet. But let me just give you a testimony of the things that I've seen happen All right, just from my perspective my small tiny Perspective in case you haven't been paying attention. Here's what I've seen we've seen people Protected through trying times. That's what we've seen Does anything happen to anybody in this church are we okay, we're okay We're okay. I was just talking to a couple friends of mine from Sacramento Who I was really concerned about them when this whole thing came down. They they're business owners. They work very hard You know, they don't deserve to have you know, the government take their business away from them and I said I said to these guys I said I was talking to him and they're just like, you know For some reason things have really slowed down. But for some reason, you know, I Just still have work And for some reason, you know, we've just gotten this big job and all these types of things look God's looking out for those men We've seen people given opportunity through these trying times we've seen you know people in this church take advantage of opportunity and Go down a different path and and get different Career paths and choices and and different work. We've seen that men here have gotten jobs out of this and We've also seen I said the second point was we learn from others. Here's one thing we've seen examples put forth on how to deal with trying times We have seen you know, look men That have hard times, you know how you fix those hard times you go out and you work harder and You find something different and you keep going and you keep going through those hard times and we've seen that here We've seen people persevere through those hard times, you know change is a difficult thing for people You know change is like one of the most stressful things for people in their life Just changing even church times and making you know times different You know for church and all these different things that can be a very stressful thing Imagine, you know not having a job and having to go to get a different job But you know what when times get tough you just do what it takes. We've seen that here And look that's edifying That's edifying to watch that It's edifying for me you just go and you work turn to Hebrews chapter 10 Seeing people succeed through difficulty is edifying Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. We're gonna focus on a different part of this than we usually do but this is about not forsaking the assembly and in Hebrews 10 25 the Bible says not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is but And it says we're not gonna forsake the assembly, but we're gonna do this thing instead and it says but exhorting one another You know what exhorting means? exhorting means to incite To encourage And let me tell you let me tell you something. I've been encouraged by some of you When I've seen you know the the stressful the change and all this stuff happen to everybody and some of you just went out and just like what I mean You exhorted me you exhorted me We exhort that's why we have to get together Like this especially in stressful times especially Because we need to be exhorted look you don't think this was stressful for me You don't think this was stressful. I mean we're going through the same stuff. You guys aren't right. We're no different So, I mean, thank you. You incited me you encouraged me But that's what we're here for To do that. That's why that's why we can't just you know, never see each other ever. I Mean it's it's a wonderful plan. I'm glad God has it for us Right, I mean look This learn it. So learn from others be exhorted by others Instead of you know, envying or coveting what others have it's the opposite, right? I mean so it's the difference between Man, I don't think that guy deserves that house or whatever, you know the success he's having in his life it's the difference between that and Man I wonder if that guy could I could learn some things from that guy I wonder if I could figure out you know, how same thing with kids Yeah, he doesn't deserve he just got lucky, you know with his kids or whatever. Maybe maybe instead We could learn from each other and you could look at somebody who's raised successful children and you could say, you know what? How did you how do you handle this situation that's what they're to do to exhort each other That's we're here for we're tools to use to exhort each other look these thoughts of Somebody look especially in a church If somebody does well in a church and you have any kind of thought where you like That's a problem. You need to get rid of that problem You need that you need to find out what's wrong with your heart and you need to fix that because that's that that's that Covetousness being planted in you. Well, look if there's if there's enmity between you and that brother be over something else fix it Fix it because it'll turn into something else turns into covetousness turns into envy pretty soon. We're gonna have problems So recognize where that's coming from find out what's in is just fix it make it right Remember last week forgiveness doesn't have to be a two-way street Just make it right Or it can turn into something really bad as we saw in the earlier so look You say I'm just not being successful just find somebody around you who is and just follow that lead It's it's it's it's a perfect plan for you turn to Proverbs chapter 27 Proverbs chapter 27 look at verse number 17 Proverbs 27 17 the Bible says iron sharpened with iron. So a man sharpened at the countenance of his friend The Bible says you're here. We're here to sharpen each other We're here to make each other better and if you're like, you know, and and if you just and if you're led You're really easy to form Especially if you're working with iron So look we're here to Edify each other not covet things from each other not envy each other. We're here to edify each other to exhort One another it's a it's a great model for a church and it's mentioned as the first thing For you know assembling together. I mean, that's something that that's the first thing that's mentioned Alright, so look in conclusion Envy is a little bit different than last week's bitterness sermon in In the way that envy is is very very dangerous Like physically dangerous to the world it can lead to extremely wicked philosophies and feelings Unfortunately, our country is infected with it So don't let it affect you. All right root it out If you're in a good church, you have all kinds of tools available to you to turn envy into edification All right, take the James 4 approach go back to James chapter 4 James chapter 4 let's break down verse 2 and 3 James chapter 4 Look at verses 2 and 3 of James chapter 4 it says look it says you have not Because ye ask not and then it says in the next verse that you ask amiss So amiss amiss means Inappropriate it means you ask for something that's not appropriate So it says you don't ask we have two problems here right in James chapter 4. You're not asking God Instead you're just lusting after what everybody else has you're coveting what everybody else has you're not asking God And then number two, you're not asking for the right things. There's two issues in James chapter 4 So what's the solution? The solution to James chapter 4. I mean, isn't it? Isn't it simple when you break it down to those two verses It's just you're not God's like you're imagine God. He's like they're down there and they're not asking me for anything Instead they're just murdering everybody to get all these inappropriate things that they shouldn't be asking for first place You see what I'm saying? Imagine God got it. You think God is not long-suffering how he hasn't destroyed this place long ago. It is is unbelievable to me unbelievable So the solution is the solution for us following the Bible blueprint is simply to ask for what you need That that's the solution ask God for what you need ask God to bless your efforts in Executing the plan he has for you. I Mean, you know what his plan is. I mean you're in church. You're reading the Bible. You know what God's plan is You know what you're supposed to do. Just go start doing it and then just ask God to bless your efforts and I mean use the model of his word use the people around you and Just ask God look he will answer those prayers. It's it's that simple Cuz cuz look you're not asking a miss You're I mean he literally did he not literally tell you to ask him in James 4 He's like the problem is you're not asking me. You're killing everybody You're not asking me Ask him for the appropriate thing follow the model of his word And and he will answer those prayers. It's it's that simple But envy is always born from covetousness so watch yourself and Covetousness is desiring what belongs to others. So recognize it and take care of it Immediately when it happens, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father We thank you for this day. We thank you for Just a great day of church and soul winning. We ask that you bless You bless the rest of our evening Lord We ask that you bless the coming weeks and we I just asked once again Lord that you just continue To keep your hand on the people in this church and just take care of these families and take care of everyone That's just here doing What you want us to do no matter what we love you Jesus name we pray You