ENVY

ENVY

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:3

Topic: Envy

“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”

                                                                                                                                           1 Corinthians 3:3

 

The scripture makes us to understand that wherever there is carnality there is envy. Envy therefore is the product of carnality. Carnality is the birthplace of envy. 

 

“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying…”

                                                                                                                                           1 Corinthians 3:3

 

The presence of envy in the church is one of the most evil presence one can ever experience. The danger is in the fact that envy will sooner or later lead to murder. Christians who are plagued by envy will soon commit murder. Watch against the fountain of envy springing inside of you.The Jews had this greatest weakness, ENVY! Many scriptures attest to this fact. In fact, envy was the root cause of their delivering Jesus to be crucified. Dear Christian, anything that can cause Jesus Christ to be delivered up for execution must be a very dangerous thing.

 

“For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.”

                                                                                                                                              Matthew 27:18

 

I am going to show you one of the dangers of being envious, may God heal you of any envy in your heart. Look at how dangerous envy is,

 

“For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.”

                                                                                                                                                       Job 5:2

 

Envy will eventually slay the simple. The presence of envy in the church has slayed the faith of many Christians and today they are no more in the church. They were chased out by envy.

 

“Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?”

                                                                                                                                                 Proverbs 27:4

 

Who is able to stand before envy? What a question! Not even Jesus could stand before envy!

 

The Jews had a chronic problem with envy. They could not stomach God using someone else besides themselves. They just could not. Their atrocious acts against Jesus, against the apostles, stemmed from this singular disease of envy!

 

“But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.”

                                                                                                                                                       Acts 13:45

I can go on and on about the envy of the Jews, take a look at another encounter:

 

“But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”

                                                                                                                                                          Acts 17:5

 

Jesus was not the only one they envied. They envied another great leader God had sent to them. They troubled him, rebelled against him and frustrated his leadership to the degree that he missed the promise of entering the Promised Land. I am talking about Moses.

 

“They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord.”

                                                                                                                                                  Psalm 106:16

 

Envy caused the brothers of Joseph to become human traffickers, brothers who sold their own kin into slavery. It was envy that drove them to this dastardly act. How many Christians have not sold out their brethren out of envy? Beware of the disease of envy.

 

“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him”

                                                                                                                                                           Acts 7:9

 

You may be envying and selling out someone God is with. Envy is dangerous and all who have contracted this disease have had to live to regret it. Do you find yourself envying others? Do you find yourself secretly loathing another out of envy? Kill it! Kill it!! Kill it!!!