Envy Destroys Contentment, Part 1

Today on the Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ that is because woven money from that point of view becomes a perfect I it becomes a most important thing in our life and we think about all the time. That's what we get up in the morning thinking about how can I make it all day long. How can I make more that evening. How can I keep it Up others and having it next morning cycle again and when you get enough of it. When you are joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill got for now is once again he shows us how God's word meets you years ago. The U.S. News & World Report ran an article that they titled man versus rat. The man was from Southern India. His name was Jenna paying Chris nine.

He was a rat exterminator. He came from a lineage of rat exterminators. You see he was part of the untouchable caste in India. The rulers, if you understand any at all. Their work cast sort of embedded into Hinduism that certain cash.

The untouchable is the lowest of the low due to karma and sort of sins of the past and up. In this most difficult situation.

They are usually left out of almost every kind of social service possible and so Jenna paying had a system for catching rats. He would block the exits except for one take a clay pot light a fire in it and blow the smoke into the hole and when he did. Eventually the rat would become stunned and then he would reach in and grab the rat and then pull it out. Another method that he used how he was able to get about five rats a day. That way he was paid five cents rat and so his income for he and his family was $0.25 a day and then someone introduced him to a new device.

It wears a closed metal container that had fire embers and it smoke and had an air pump with it and by it he could flush the holes a lot better with the smoke test on the rats and so he was able to harvest. On average, then 20 rats a day.

So he quadrupled his daily income from $0.25 to one dollar. But not only this, he now was in position he said to support his family. He had nine children and his wife. They lived in a single room mud wall dirt floored strong roof hot and he was able to not only bring the rats home for his family to eat.

He was also able to bring grain that sometimes a rats would carry into the lair and he would take the grain out and take it home to his family and so he said in this article, a quote from him how grateful and happy. He was for that invention. He said my children don't go hungry these days. They feast and it was a picture in the picture in the article was a small man with a worn out T-shirt and a white pair shorts on and then holding by the tail, a relatively large rat with the biggest smile on his face.

You could have when I look at that picture I thought that's a man whose content and I thought of so many of you, and I thought how could this man be more content than we are back asking the question, don't you envy him, but the answer would be emphatically and completely no, we would never envy a man who has nine children and feed some rats and lives in a one room for mud walled, strong-willed, hot know we envy different people. Open your Bibles to Psalm 73 we introduce the subject last week called contentment and I said that Jesus Christ was a content individual. He virtually needed nothing, but he was content every day of his life and he wanted us to be content and we look at the 23rd Psalm as the Lord our shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I should be content. And I said last week that God's provision should be enough to meet on material and our physical needs that God's presence should be enough to meet our emotional and our spiritual needs and that God's providence is enough to meet our future needs and last week I said that Jesus Christ in the sermon amount said watch out worry. He said steals contentment for this week were going to run into another great man of the word of God about a thousand years earlier than Christ and he's going to tell us in his name is a soft, that envy destroys contentment.

A soft is an impressive guy you see a Psalm of a soft 12 Psalms he wrote €73-€83 a road Psalm 50. He is a unique individual is a Levite is a priest. He leads one of the temple choirs, but is even more than that is a prophet or seer.

In fact, back in second Chronicles King Hezekiah said this, King Hezekiah and officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David in a soft, the seer, and so they sing praises with joy and bowed down and worshiped a soft is extremely spiritual man and the reason that so important is he envied others he envied people that we should never envy.

In fact, the first thing is going to say enough about the first half of the Psalm is it envy destroys contentment and it threatens our faith. He starts on in verse one.

Typical of a Psalm with the conclusion and he says shortly and that word in Hebrew is really yet shortly God is good to Israel, and of those who are pure in heart shortly. God is good again that God is God is good, that's his conclusion.

In other words, when it comes to envy what verse one tells us, is this. We should know better. That's what he saw for saying I should know better, but it was. I still have the prom, but I should know better. Shortly God is good Israel. God is God is good and God is good to me. That would mean I should not envy, and then he goes diverse to that.

As for me, my feet came close to stumbling in my steps almost slipped.

You see, I almost wrecked my faith almost no I think everybody who knew him was a not you a soft you you one of our leaders know me to use. I almost but I didn't shipwreck my faith is a reason for I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He said you know when I looked on my world. I saw people who didn't want anything to do with God. I saw people who were wicked and the way they treated others, but I saw people who were incredibly successful in man. They seem to have a life that I didn't have. They seem to have a life that most the people of God don't have. They seem to have this great life know we would never fall for that. Would we, I mean think of how much is paraded in front of us and how how long it ran but for years the lifestyle of the rich and the famous. You know, probably you TiVoed it you know, I just want to see. I want to see someone's crib. I want to see someone's yacht and I when I went to sleep. Look at the stop they have by the way, he's not talking about people who love the Lord, who have much see that's not the case and by the way, you don't have to have little to be envious. In fact, I believe people with more even more envious than people with little. I was envious of the year again. I saw the prosperity of the wicked prosperity is not a real good word in this sentence the word shalom the great Hebrew word impregnated with meaning doesn't mean the PC sort of does it's the well-being it. Shalom carries a whole bunch of fertile meanings in it and it sort of like they had it made in the shade they had this great life when I saw there.

Great life. He said I was envious of it. He said there are no pains in their death. In verse four.

They died peaceably.

The NIV struggled with this and said they don't have struggles in life. That's not really what is talking about. He said you know, even when they die they seem to die better off than we do.

Just what I watch them probably have the best care and I love this member's cultural in their body as fat.

See that's big in their culture and their culture.

When you saw somebody fat you said that person has to be prosperous. That's different than our culture. But in their culture.

When you see it, because almost everybody was just trying that make a living. People were just trying to get enough food to sustain themselves, but they these arrogant, wicked, rich people who want nothing to do with God. He says the body as fat. He said they are not in trouble as other men, nor are they playing like mankind. They have very few apparent problems. They seem to always be able to get by and seems to be always the case.

They always have connections. There always networked. There always in a position to make her life easier than yours. By the way, that can store all the way in high school, it just seems that they haven't made an everybody also struggling.

He said you know I saw that I envied it and then he goes on, and he says therefore pride is there necklace. They were right out front. He says the garment of violence covers them they can do what they want when they want they can get away with everything.

By the way have we seen in America. You see, you really wonder in America.

But when you want talk about justice in America. You tell me how many millionaires and billionaires of ever come under capital offense and been tried and found guilty. They seem to find a way to get around that dumb thing. It's just the way it is now for us and even for those poorhouses not quite like that. He said then he says in verse seven. This is pretty there I bulges from fatness so so fat that their eyes were bulging and he means that in as a complement okay.

He doesn't mean it in a sense he's not slandering hymns look at them that fat. He says the imaginations of the Hartline riot or that's a big lore for us. They can do whatever they want thing go anywhere in the world they want. They can go by private jet. They can go by God they can do anything they want. They can have a home and East Coast in a home in the West Coast in a home in the mountains peaceably can have all this when I see it all. He said I was envious of this.

He said they mock and wickedly speak of oppression they speak from on high. In other words that's a euphemism the speaker so they sit on the throne. In other words, they are the kind of people to tell people like us what to do. They are the power brokers you see they are the people of influence there. The people that shape their society and then in verse nine he reveals this particular group. He says they have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth. In other words, he says they have no fear of God in all none.

Hey, why should I believe in your god look at my life. Look at your life, why what I believe in God. You see there's no fear of God at all. And then verse 10 again a difficult it interpret verse because of the word. His I don't think he speaking about God and I like the new markets translators of even a small wage. Therefore, here's one of these wicked ones.

Therefore, his people return to this place in the waters of abundance are drunk by them. In other words, even their family and their friends. Everybody benefits from everybody even in their day. They had hangers on the ever see that somebody was really rich and famous.

They always have a whole entourage of hangers on, people are all around them.

Everybody's benefiting everybody's get a piece of the pie. Everybody has something apparently a thousand years before Christ. It was about the same and Azoff said pie. I envy that notice he goes their spiritual condition.

He said they say.

How does God know and is there knowledge with the most high. See how does God know and is there knowledge with the most high.

He said, behold these of the wicked and always have these and they have increased in wealth sees that I saw that they had even in a soft day, money talks. He said they have it hold to place her in a look at a couple passages. First, when I want to look at is is is fine. At first Timothy six first Timothy six. The apostle Paul speaking over thousand years later, it will probably visit this passage in depth later in this study, but notice what verse eight says Paul talking about contentment. He says this.

If we have food and covering with these we shall be content but then he's goes the next verse of notice what he says but those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs pulses. You know what your faith can go shipwrecked if you live with envy in your heart and you will Azoff said I almost did I just about went there we are all capable of this, you see what ends up happening is we don't realize it, but when Jesus Christ said you can't serve Mammon or money in God.

You either love the one and the other love the other one hate the one that's a ladle be the reason Jesus said that is because woven money from that point of view becomes our perfect title, it becomes the most important thing in our life and we think about all the time. That's what we get up in the morning thinking about how can I make it all day long. How can I make more at evening. How can I keep it how can I stop others and having it next morning cycle again and when you get enough of it people when you with what you have. You see, even for the believer who has this Timothy's going to say, look, this is a real test for you. I've said in the past and I believe it from a spiritual point of view.

Wealth is a more difficult test in poverty. Poverty makes you depend on God. Wealth makes you work can lead you into the temptation of being dependent on yourself. Also, when you look at Malachi chapter 3 the last book of the Old Testament right before Matthew will go back to Psalm 73. In a moment. Malachi chapter 3. This is about 600 years after Azoff wrote beginning in verse 13 God speaking. He says your words have been arrogant against me, says the Lord, and yet you say what was spoken against you.

He says you have said it is vain to serve the Lord and what profit is it that we have This charge and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of host. So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only are the doers of wickedness build up but they also test God and escape.

In other words, it works for them. People said look I have serve the Lord. I have stayed on the straight and narrow. I have lived my life with a conscience. I have been what I think God wants me to be and I see people have total disregard for God and are doing great so I envied him. Now back to Psalm 73. You see when you envy others you always feel sorry for yourself in order to justify envy in others you have to victimize yourself and that's exactly what Azoff's going to do in verse 13. Azoff says this surely in vain. I have kept my heart pure and wash my hands in innocence, he says, for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning paraphrase those two verses. My life stinks. That's what he said their life looks so wonderful. My life stinks so I ended up it looks like they have something that I simply don't have. We fall into the pit of envy better looking and feeling sorry for ourselves.

Verse 15 if I had said I will speak thus behold, I would betray the generation of your children. This is great saying is I am a soft everybody knows I am one of the most fertile men in all the land I mean I write songs you see on that kind a guy if I told people how I really feel all my goodness you see is just like us. We often keep our envy to ourselves because you know what, if you talk to other believers about your envy of the lost rich and famous. It doesn't sound spiritual. That doesn't sound spiritual. You see, you can walk up the believers and Sam just so envious of such and such, they have so much more than I am. I really want with a gap you want to say that I mean all thing.

You may think that in your heart when you talk to Christians, we were great at this. I'll never tell anybody how I really feel.

I'll just tell them up, but I think they want to hear. And so a subset I wouldn't tell anybody.

He said I probably taken down a whole bunch of people with me in the way that I felt.

You see, envy destroys contentment. That's one thing I can tell you what Azoff at this stage of the Psalm.

He has no contentment and is like that in his cancer. You know it's it's just like unforgiving spirit. It's just like jealousy.

It's just certain things in us. Once we have it in our heart. It just eats us up and we spend our whole life ending other people what other people have envy destroys contentment and it threatens our faith.

Notice his conclusion in verse 16 he says when I pondered to understand this. It was troublesome in my site. I think you spent a lot of nights thing a softy should know better. And yet this is how I feel. You see the one hand we want to say I think well on kind of the same way.

Be careful. If you want identify with them because what you gonna find something out about him that you might not like finding out about you in ways offer so envious.

He walked with God he was going through the motions.

He was a hypocrite. Stay close and by the way, when you don't stay close to God. You have a default in your mind and your heart in your default is your flesh, and by the way don't Conning good coming out of your flesh, so here he is victimizing himself and envying the press prospers wicked and so envy destroys contentment and threatens your faith and knowledge. Most of the second part a complete change in the Psalm. If you stay close to God, your envy will be replaced with content. That's what he says if you stay close to God, your envy bathroom never on the radio ministry or fellowship floor if you ever missed one of our broadcast or maybe you just like to listen to the message one more time. Remember the good a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online at that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as that Fellowship in the Word.

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