Jealousy

We ought to rejoice when others asked the reason to celebrate. Unless of course you find yourself wanting what they have today on Truth for Life.

Alister Beck identifies the distinct characteristics and destructive consequences of jealousy. We continue our series in Proverbs called wise words text this evening is Proverbs chapter 27 in verse four. Anger escrow and feuding overwhelming. But who can stand before jealousy can decimate a friendship can destroy a marriage can shoot tensioning all the way through the ranks of a business organization. It can foster bitterness and ugliness around the dining room table and a family. It can create total havoc in a university dorm.

In fact, there is virtually no place in which jealousy is unable to do its dreadful work in the Bible speaks very clearly concerning this on a number of occasions, not only here in Proverbs.

But, again, is this morning.

Throughout the pages of Scripture.

The Bible is very clear in warning against allowing jealousy to gain any foothold in our lives.

Now obviously that is a positive kind of jealousy because the Bible describes God is a jealous God, and what does that mean what it means that God has a zeal for the preservation or the well-being of that over which he has loving concerns so that he exercises a jealous love for those who are his people. We understand that because we would exercise the same kind of jealous care over our children, or in the context of our marriages, but when we refer to jealousy as here in verse four of chapter 27, were thinking of it not in positive terms, but in the negative way in which it is routinely addressed in Scripture. I can give you all of the definition of jealousy. It runs to a significant number of words but here is sufficient jealousy is defined in the OED as zeal or vehemence of feeling against some person or thing anger or indignation definition number four is the state of mind arising from the suspicion apprehension or knowledge of rivalry fear of being supplanted in the affection or distrust of the fidelity of a beloved person. Even the definitions honestly defined on the there so good resentment or ill will towards another on account of advantage or superiority imagined or real it is that which expresses itself in NV or in the garage NV to NV is to feel ill will and displeasure at the superiority of another person in happiness, success, reputation, or the possession of anything desirable to regard with discontent another's possession of some superior advantage. Which one would like to have for oneself.

While most of us would be hard-pressed to come up with those kind of definitions. None of us I think would be able to say that we do not understand the emotion, the feeling and while we may not be able to articulate it verbally.

We know what it is to have it rise within us is possible for is actually to be so consumed with the jealous that it that we find it very very difficult just to look straight ahead as we live our lives were constantly wondering about the person behind us in front of us. To the left into the right. What I like to do in the time that we have is simply to tackle the issue.

First of all by noticing the characteristics of jealousy. How does it express itself.

How will I be able to detected in my own heart. Well, let me say first of all, that jealousy cannot stand it when others are doing better. Jealousy just is unable to cope with getting a C.

Unable to cope with a B-. If there are those with visa days jealous heart just can content itself people are jealous of people and do not even know simply because it is possible for them to detect the fact that they have some form of superior advantage.

Secondly, jealousy is sad at the happiness of others when that happiness is a result of the success of another, or as a result of the reputation of another being heralded abroad. You see it in families brothers separated over the years because one is prospered and the other hasn't one has married well and the other is not a poorly once children are all doctors and lawyers and the others are all pumping gas and and looking for pop cans in the back of building sites. Thirdly, jealousy makes as hostile towards those who have never harmed us.

We don't have time to go to all of these references I just mentioned them to you. You can do them for homework and follow-up study.

If you choose, but in the story of Joseph. You will remember that when the brothers saw how their father loved their younger brother Joseph. They hated him and could not speak a kind word to suddenly at the breakfast table. There was no direct communication between these brothers and a younger boy.

Of course there are extenuating circumstances involved in the process are not addressing that this evening, but the point is clear. And it's obvious, namely that Joseph by his own design had done nothing to harm or hinder his brothers but they hated him and the reason they hated him was because the seeds of jealousy were deep in their hearts. Fourthly, jealousy is as cruel as the grave and may seek to bring about ruin of the one whom we NV if we need to go anywhere. We need only to go to Genesis chapter 4 the story of Cain and Abel. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering on Canada's offer you did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast and the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry was your face downcast. If you do what's right when you be accepted, but if you don't do what is right, sin is crouching at your door desires to have you but you must master it. Now Cain said to his brother Abel.

Let's go out to the field and while they were in the field. He attacked his brother Abel and he killed and the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother Abel. I don't know. He said my supposed to look after my brother what was the root of the murder, jealousy, jealous, and within the Christian church, it is possible that we kill one another without actually physically ending their as a result of allowing jealousy, a place within our hearts physically. Jealousy fails to recognize that God knows what he's doing in apportioning gifts when I'm jealous of the success of another, what I'm seeing is God you don't understand I'm supposed to have that I'm supposed to be there. I'm supposed to be as tall as that. Why am I this science I'm supposed to look like that.

Why do I look like this. Shall the posture have to endure from the play, such questions shall the clay, then say to the potter.

Why have you made me like this unit first Corinthians form what is it say who makes you different from one another what you have that you didn't receive. And if you receive it. Why do you boast as though you did not receive it. The regular karate of that of course is simply this, that if somebody received it as a gift. Why are we jealous and envious of them because after all, God knows what he's doing in apportioning gifts he made you exactly as he desired for you. To me fashion you intricately in your mother's will. Well, we could go on and cite characteristics brothers will do it can stand it when others are doing better and sadder the happiness of others and makes us hostile to those who never harmed us as cruel as the grave and make seek to bring about the ruin of those whom we are jealous of fails to recognize that God knows what he's doing in apportioning gifts. What are the consequences of jealousy can you be jealous and is just a I'm just jealous. Nothing to worry about, no jealousy will rot your bones new and in one of his books entitled reaching out tells a story of an actor who engaging him in conversation shared with him what was going on behind the stage, especially when additions were taking place, or what was going on behind the stage when the plane was being performed and when the actors and actresses knew that the media was there to conduct the review and to write it up in the press and wrote as follows. Recently, an actor told me stories about his professional world, which seemed symbolic of much of our contemporary situation.

While rehearsing the most moving scenes of love and tenderness in intimate relationships. The actors were sold jealous of each other and so full of apprehension about their chances to make it the backstage scene was one of hatred harshness and mutual suspicion.

Those who kissed each other on the stage were tempted to hit each other behind it and those who portray the most profound human emotions of love in the footlights displayed the most trivial and hostile rivalries as soon as the footlights had been why jealousy because there be jealous of his success. I don't want him to be successful. I want to be successful, that's trivial. That's again but if I allowed to become a pattern in my life probably wishing that every time I see anybody making any progress. Hoping for the worst when I should be hoping for the best.

What it will rot our bones and also it will give birth to unwarranted suspicion and anger jealous heart is a suspicious card and is inevitably and ultimately an angry heart, you'll find yourself driving your car or putting down the phone or seeing a person in the mall and beginning to process information in your mind unwarranted suspicious material you trace it to its roots.

It's often because I cannot simply rejoice and how lovely they look and how well they're doing and how happy they are. As a family in the success of his business or whatever else… Much easier to explain it away. I was his father.

You know he's a bit of a loser. You never have done that by himself called his way out.

So thirdly, consequentially it breeds and this is really a bedfellow of the former, it breeds a destructively critical spirit when I develop in my heart a kind of reflex action that is almost immediately, and always critical than it is usually because of jealousy. Fourthly, consequentially jealousy will ruin our spiritual appetite. If you've been wondering why it is that you are not benefiting from the Bible that is grown stale to you is like eating old toast three-day-old toast you find that your hunger for God's word is diminished, that your interest in studying it on a personal level.

Joining with others in the searching out of the Bible and so on is just not there. You come to worship been coming here these past months and somehow or another. Your heart is heavy and cold will listen to Peter's word get rid of malice and deceit and hypocrisy NV slander of every kind and like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual nerve so that you may grow up in your salvation. Now that you've tasted that the Lord is good. One of the things that will affect as an inherent deterrence to the benefit of growing to maturity is a Christian is a jealous, envious, part of the last concert was I want to point out is that jealousy is the forerunner to all kinds of chaos when we tolerate jealousy not only to be filled to mature as a Christian and failed to benefit by the word of God but also we discover that all kinds of chaos erupts when we fail to take this seriously and James as James is talking about the wisdom that comes from heaven, as opposed to the wisdom that is earthly and unspiritual comes from the devil and he says in 16 of James three where you have envy or jealousy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice where you have an all in an office in a team in a dorm in a church and unwillingness to be completely radically committed to dealing with the issue of jealous where there is a toleration of selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every evil practice that is the word of God for the characteristics are clear. The consequences are dreadful and the cure is straightforward. How are we to deal then with jealousy while as with every sin we need to recognize it for what it is, namely sin is not some kind of the psychological malady is not something that can be cured by going to see a psychiatrist. It is sin, and it needs to be rooted out when Paul writes about the divisions in the church in Corinth.

He says I gave you milk, not solid food. The reason I was having to do that was because you were still worldly and then he says because there is still jealousy and quarrels quarreling among you and are you not worldly, are you not acting like mere men, psychiatrists distinguish between separation and reproduction suppression involves saying no to the opportunity to do something. I suppress a desire to do something it is something that I want to do that is wrong or unhelpful. I suppress it as a Christian by God's enabling and help that's normal and healthy reproduction means denying that I even want to do it. That is unhelpful. That is untrue and that leads to all manner of disorder, so another words, as with all sin.

I think what we have to do is just bring it out in the open and the privacy of our own home certainly in the quietness of our own hearts.

Jealousy is so often a secret sin is not immune is not normal for people to come up and say you know I was 20 or not I am horribly jealous of you may see other things to us, but it is not normal is a secret sin and where sin is secret.

It's a secret between ourselves and God. Therefore, how you deal with it. You deal with between yourself and God.

You guard regarding using God you put your finger on something today as I read the Bible. I didn't want to finish this but you brought me face to face with that I can see in the consequential behavior that some of that is already become a pattern of my life. So I'm coming to you tonight and I'm asking you to help me deal with it.

I'm bringing it in.

This is the second aspect of it acknowledge that it is sin, and then bring it into the light of God's presence. I find that it is helpful for me when I'm really confronted by some and I this takes on they did take a card or a piece of paper and write down the actual stuff that I'm dealing with not only found a few vague general feelings of jealousy sometime in the last 12 months.

Lord help me good night and thank you for a great day.

Bless all the people around the world.

Amen. No is going to be something far more brutal and that is going to be something far more painful than that were going in here for tumors where hope and other benign nonmalignant were going and very carefully were going very purposefully were going and ruthlessly when I'm coming back until it dealt with bring it into the light of God's presence and then put the rejection of it. That is the rising tendency within our hearts to foster and tolerate jealousy put the rejection of it into practice, moment by moment how in the awareness that I have been united with Christ that all of his power has been available to me and is available to me since then you have been raised with Christ. Remember Colossians 3. Since then, you've been raised with Christ, seek these things which are above, where Christ is seated and then in on the basis of your union with Christ put off all these things. One of them being jealousy and instead of that, put on the garments of humility put on the garments of praise put on the garments of encouragement and on a daily basis.

60 seconds or minutes, 60 minutes an hour. That is the only way to deal with. United with Christ and as an expression of the fruit of the Spirit, determined by God's grace to leave behind all the dismal gaseous subterranean pipelines of jealousy refuse to breathe its fumes refuse to obey its promptings.

Guard McDonald in his book restoring your spiritual passion with SI conclude was honest enough to acknowledge this himself.

I'm glad he did. It makes me feel better. This is what he says. I discovered a brutal truth about myself rather frightening personal flaw some years ago, when I suddenly realized that I really delighted in another person's success in my insecurity as a young pastor, I felt somehow that anyone else's success was a threat to my own rather than delighting in the success and effectiveness of others, I automatically began to explain it away. He has connections I might save one. He received a lucky break. He didn't deserve it was possible to observe another daylight is preaching only because he had a few well-placed jokes in the sermon. The list of possible rationalizations goes along.

We pray for the church to grow. I found and then we proceed to explain away the church that grows if it's not ours. Rarely, I painfully discovered. Did I ever say to myself that man deserves praise for that article because it is indeed an excellent piece of writing and is a lot better than I could've never done scarcely did it ever occur to me in my natural state to be thrilled over the fact that my brother had achieved something marvelous for the community of believers, how can I see in my heart that I was committed to the expansion of Christ's kingdom.

Since I failed to rejoice when I had of others. In concert with God's spirit making it happen. I discovered a brutal truth about myself when I suddenly realized that I rarely delighted in another person's success. Jealousy and overwrought our bones destroy our church care friendships apart marginalize marriages and make the best of friends lie in their bedrooms at night and think rotten thoughts about those for whom they are to be pray to God deal with this gently, purposefully, profitably, the destructive nature of jealousy is something that demands our immediate attention. This is Truth for Life with Alistair Begg in her series from the book of Proverbs is called wise word were finding out that there is a great deal of wisdom in the Proverbs, and if you'd like to learn more as a supplement to this series from Alister you want to request a new book will recommending today.

It's titled living will.

God's wisdom from the book of Proverbs. This book will help guide you through many of the practical life lessons given directly from God through his word. Each chapter explores God's wisdom for everyday life. The book covers dozens of topics, including how to communicate effectively manage your money work request your copy of living well when you donate to support the mission here recruit like, please visit our website Truth for Life.org/donate or click on the image in our mobile app can also call us at 888588788 and Bob Lapine sure to join us tomorrow as Alister teachers what the book of Proverbs has to say about the words that we speak Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life learning is prolific