“Dirt”
Part 2 – Lust & Envy
I. Introduction
How did your homework go? I have heard some say that it was painful. Just shows us that the dirt is there and that it doesn’t want to go away easily.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons predicts:
• 17% of Americans will have had cosmetic surgery by 2015
Those are big numbers. But to truly grasp the incredible rate at which cosmetic surgery is growing, look at the cosmetic procedure trends of the past 8 years.
Number of Cosmetic Procedures in America
• 2000 = 7,401,495
• 2006 = 10,984,003
• 2007 = 11,795,065
• 2015 = 55,000,000+ (predicted)
Proof positive that we obsess over concealing blemishes and flaws. We will endure pain and pay a high price just to cover our dirt. If we can’t afford plastic surgery we just put on a fake smile.
We don’t like to be exposed, but it is essential for us to learn what Adam and Eve learned in Genesis . . . that is that what we hide he cannot heal and what we cover he will not clean. God will not let us hide!
Hebrews 4:12-13
“12God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. 13Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.”
We can’t get away from it so we might as well talk about our dirt. We talked about pride and greed last week. This week I want to examine 2 more of areas of dirt. Again these two sins are often connected. The perfect example is found in 2 Samuel 11.
1And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. 2And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house. 5And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
This account out of David’s life proves that he dealt with two powerful sins – lust & envy. We too have to face and deal with these dirty areas.
II. Lust
Movie stars and musicians alike are consumed by lust. One of the members of Arrowsmith said, quote, "Lust is what I live for. It’s what I got into the band for. . . Little girls in the front row."
To say it bluntly we have a lust problem in our society. Our society is saturated and built on lust. You know you are in a lust filled society when:
Age of 1st porno exposure is 11.
2.5 billion porno emails sent daily
42.7% of all internet users view porn
90% of all 8-16 years olds have viewed porn online
20% of men access porn at work
AND SO YOU WON’T THINK IT IS JUST A MAN’S PROBLEM:
Twice as many women visit sexual chat room as men
9.4 million women access adult websites each month
1 of 3 visitors to all adult websites are women.
We have a lust problem in our churches.
47% of all Christians say that porn is a problem at home
53% of promise keeper men viewed porn last week
34% of church going women intentionally visited porn websites
50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography.
60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
Lust is out of control.
Lust is defined as an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
David’s problem was that not only did he face lust, but that he fell to lust. Why did he fall? Why do we fall to lust?
1. He was where he wasn’t supposed to be.
He was supposed to be a war. It was the time kings were supposed to go out to battle. Instead he was flipping channels, he was surfing the internet when no one was around. He was watching movies he shouldn’t have been watching. When you are in the wrong place you will often do the wrong thing. There are three rules in real estate . . . location, location, location. There are three rules in remaining pure . . . location, location, location. When you are in the wrong place the devil will make sure you are in the wrong place at the right time.
2. He didn’t turn away.
He didn’t turn the channel. He didn’t hit close window. He made a decision to keep looking. He could have turned and walked off the balcony. You only have a very few moments to make the right choice or you will fall. That is why Paul wrote, "Flee (escape) the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Tim. 2:22)
David could have followed Joseph’s example and fled.
He needed to hear Jesus’ teaching on lust. Jesus dealt specifically with lust.
Matthew 5:1, 27-30
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, "You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
The word Jesus uses for look is a present participle which means it keeps going, and going and going. (Keep looking, looking and looking.)
Going around the block. Not turning away.
*When you undress someone with your eyes (beach, office, store, restaurant, porn.)
Adultery is in the look! It isn’t just the physical activity. Turn away.
3. He had no accountability. He sent someone to get her. Why didn’t that person refuse? I know he was the king, but Nathan rebuked him. He needed someone who wasn’t a yes man in his life to say you shouldn’t do this. It is necessary to have someone who will point out your sin after the fact, but it is better to have someone who will say something before you sin. Offer some very practical help on this in homework.
I want this to sink in. How strong are you? David was a man after God’s own heart and yet because of the power of lust he actually committed adultery. Are you a man/woman after God’s own heart? Are you stronger than the man who wrote the powerful Psalms? And yet we don’t think it can happen to us. I beg to differ.
Not only can it happen . . . it will happen if you don’t build safeguards to keep it from happening.
Paul addressed lust and tells us how we are to live in I Thessalonians 4:3-8.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
A wealthy couple desired to employ a chauffeur. The wife advertised, the applicants were screened, and (4) candidates were brought to her for the final selection. She called the prospective men to her balcony and pointed out a brick wall alongside the driveway. She asked the men, "How close do you think you could come to that wall w/out scratching my car?"
The 1st man felt he could drive w/in a foot of the wall w/out damaging the car. The 2nd felt sure he could come w/in (6) inches. The 3rd believed he could get w/in (3) inches. The 4th candidate said, "I do not know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car. Instead, I would try to stay as far away from that wall as I could."
This candidate had a different focus. He understood that true skill in driving is not based so much on the ability to steer the car to a narrow miss as on the ability to keep a wide margin of safety.
I want you to keep a wide margin of safety. Stay as far away as possible! Do tempt God or yourself. You aren’t strong enough so stay away.
III. Envy
A man was driving his Yugo when he pulled up next to a Rolls-Royce at a stoplight. The driver of the Yugo rolled down his window and shouted to the driver of the Rolls, “Hey, that’s a nice car. Do you have a phone in your Rolls? I’ve got a phone in my Yugo!” The driver of Rolls looks over and says simply, “Yes, I have a phone.”
The driver of the Yugo says, “Wonderful! Say, do you have a refrigerator in there too? I’ve got a fridge in the back seat of my Yugo!” The driver of the Rolls, looking annoyed, says, “Yes, I have a refrigerator.”
The driver of the Yugo says, “That’s wonderful! Say, do you have a television in there, too? You know, I have a TV in the back seat of my Yugo!” The driver of the Rolls, looking very annoyed by now, says, “Of course I have a television. A Rolls-Royce is the finest luxury car in the world!”
The driver of the Yugo says, “It’s a very cool car! Say, do you have a bed in there, too? I have a bed in the back of my Yugo!”
Upset that he did not have a bed, the driver of the Rolls-Royce sped away, and went straight to the dealership, where he promptly ordered that a bed be installed in the back of the Rolls. The next morning, the driver of the Rolls picked up the car, and the bed looked superb, complete with silk sheets and brass trim. It was clearly a bed fit for a Rolls Royce.
So the driver of the Rolls begins searching for the owner of the Yugo. After searching all day, late at night, he finally found the Yugo parked, with all the windows fogged up from the inside. The driver of the Rolls-Royce got out of his magnificent vehicle and knocked on the door of the Yugo. When there wasn’t any answer, he knocked and knocked, and eventually the owner of the Yugo stuck his head out, soaking wet. “I now have a bed in the back of my Rolls-Royce,” the driver of the Rolls stated condescendingly.
The driver of the Yugo looked at him in disbelief and said, “You got me out of the shower for that?”
Envy is defined as the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation. Envy grieves over a neighbor’s good.
Envy has been called the meanest of the sins.
Why are we driven by envy? We try to keep up with the Smiths and Jones’ even if we don’t like them. We are envious of what others have, own, and are blessed with. Greed wants more – envy wants theirs!
David not only battled lust, he battled envy. A king who had everything that he wanted, including at least 8 wives and countless concubines, wanted what someone else had he and he allowed envy to drive him to adultery and then to murder.
That was then. That doesn’t happen anymore. Envy doesn’t lead to murder. Really? Then why have young people been killed for their tennis shoes? Then why have lives been taken for a TV or a car? Why have babies been stolen from hospitals? Oh, most of us wouldn’t pull a trigger, but it is envy that causes us to assassinate and murder other people’s character and reputation. It is usually envy that causes pastors to talk negatively about the large church down the road. That is why we bad mouth others because they have what we want.
We normally don’t think anything about envy and yet, we are clearly commanded not to be overtaken by envy for other’s material items.
Exodus 20:17 “Do not want anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkey or anything else.”
But it isn’t just material items, we are also clearly commanded shown not to be overtaken by envy for power or the spiritual.
We see this in the Old Testament, Miriam and Aaron are envious of their brother Moses. Numbers 12:2-3 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn’t he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.
You will remember in Acts 8 that Simon the Sorcerer was envious of the power of Peter and John. He offered them money for power to lay hands on people and cause them to be filled with Spirit. He was openly rebuked for his envy.
James 3:16 teaches us what happens when we are envious.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Miriam and Aaron found this out. Envy caused Miriam to become a leper. Envy causes us to have a life of disorder and every evil practice.
Could it be the doorway to other sins?
So how do we avoid envy?
1. Break envy by becoming content.
Proverbs 14:30, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”
We like to quote Philippians 4:13. But we fail to quote the passages around it. Philippians 4:11-13 - 11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. 12I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. 13I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.
The strength of Christ is allocated so that we can become content.
We receive another powerful promise in Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Even when you don’t have everything you want, you have everything you need. You have Him.
2. Understand that favor ain’t fair. I can’t explain why they got the thing I wanted. That isn’t my job. My job is to be thankful for what I have. Every good gift comes from heaven above. There is no explanation as to where those good gifts fall. Instead of being envious over their cars, their houses, and their fame what we need to do is to recognize the blessings that we have. Take stock and realize we have been blessed beyond measure.
3. Celebrate the prosperity of others.
Romans 12:15 – “Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down.” Reveals how our attitude should be.
I want us to become like Jonathan. Do you remember his story? He is the next in line. He is the prince, heir to the throne.
2 Samuel 20:30-31 – 30Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
Jonathan is told by his own father that David will become the next king and that Jonathan will lose the throne. Jonathan could have been envious. He could have plotted against the favored one. He could have wallowed in self pity and talked about it not being fair. He could have held a grudge and tried to kill David.
Instead, in just 11 verses Jonathan said to David, 42 Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
When was last time you celebrated someone’s prosperity even when it meant you missed out? When was the last time you celebrated someone’s promotion when it meant you were passed over? When was the last time you rejoiced over someone else’s raise when it meant you had to wait another year?
We must learn to celebrate God’s goodness even when that goodness is given to someone else! Or we risk being miserable, wasting years of our lives, and losing ourselves and any chance of having friends.
IV. Close
Remember I want to make this practical. So here is my challenge this morning and our homework.
1. Lust
a. Show your spouse/acct. partner your internet history.
b. Sign up for
Safeeyes.com
x3watch.com
Covenanteyes.com
xxxchurch.com
c. Use computer only when others are in room.
2. Envy
a. As a family sit down and name your blessings.
b. Send note of congrats to someone who got something you wanted – promotion, house, car, etc. or buy someone something you wanted. Celebrate their blessing!
Have prayer for couples, men, women for relationships.
