Taking Out The Trash Part 6

(This is the final sermon of this series)

“Today’s stinky, rotting trash: Jealousy”

Introducion

Matthew 23:25-28.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

So Far…

-         Letting go of hurt

-         Getting rid of an unforgiving heart

-         Overcoming anger in your life

-         Curing a greedy heart

Why have we looked at these two things and why do we continue to look within ourselves?

-         We must focus on the inside if the outside is to become clean

-         We must take what is hidden inside us, in the dark part of us, lurking in the shadows and we must bring these things out into the light

Today: Jealousy

Genesis 4.  Cain killed able because he was jealous that God accepted his brother’s offering and not his own.

Genesis 37.  Joseph’s brothers were jealous over the favoritism shown him by their father and so they sold him into slavery.

Revelation 20:1-16.  The workers in the vineyard getting the same wages

Song; “Some guys have all the luck, some guys get nothing but the breaks”

How does the Bible describe Jealousy?

1. Jealousy is nobody’s problem but your own.

James 4:1.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

Desires battle within you

Fighting (at home or in the church) always come from yourself.  If you are fighting with someone, you are the problem. 

Someone nudged you the wrong way and out spilled jealousy which lead to fighting.

among you

“It takes two to fight.” 

Your jealousy only becomes a problem when you let it spill out onto other people

2. Jealousy is wanting something and not getting it

James 4:1.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

These desires (of verse 1) that battle within are a desire to get something but you don’t get it. 

o       If you had it you would not be jealous

James 4:2.

You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

To want: to lust for, to strongly desire

EXAMPLE: Kids wanting the front seat and fighting over it

                   Have some people com forward but only give one of them money. 

(How did that make you feel?)

                   American idol losers

Jealousy is when two people want their way and one of them is not going to get what you want.

A jealous person wants what they did not get and then, once they get it, they want more of it.

In return, the endless desire to satisfy our inner wants keep people fighting with each other. 

Note: The difference between an addict and the rest of us is that an addict attempts to keep his inner desires always satisfied.  The rest of us walk around hungry most of the time.   It is a lie to think that we can ever fully satisfy our earthly desires.  The bible says when we become a Christian, our old self and his desires go to war with our new self and His desires.

Some people will kill and covet… quarrel and fight in an attempt to get what they want

Some people are willing to go to extremes…

…to covet is to hotly pursue as an addict would pursue his next fix         (Cigarettes)

Sometimes we are in hot pursuit and we don’t know it because our addictions, whether they be selfish desires or physical desires

3. Ultimately, Jealousy is when we want life a certain way and God wants it another way. 

If God is in control of the universe, why doesn’t he make things work to my benefit?

We often have the nerve to tell God how to run our life and when we don’t get what we want, we get upset.

Jealousy is treating God as if He works for us. 

It is as if He is our magic wand for life.

When the wand doesn’t work, we check the batteries, bang it on the ground, etc. to try and get it working.

The cure for Jealousy:

A.  Instead of trying to get what you want from others, try to get it from God alone

James 4:2

You do not have, because you do not ask God.

-         Take your deepest desires and unmet needs to God. 

o       Pour out your desires to him and let him work. 

1 Peter 5:7.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

-         There is no point in getting mad at people because they have something you don’t have. 

o       All the good that they have came from God above. 

James 1:17.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…

o       If you are going to get mad at someone, get made at God. 

§        He is the one in control of the universe,

·        This is including our lives and the lives of those around us.

B. When you tell God what you want, be ready for him to put you in your place.

James 4:3.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

-         If you ask with wrong motives, you wont get your way,

o       God may say no

Rolling Stones… You cant always get what you want

§        The truth is that God says no a lot

·        He says no because we are human beings corrupted by our earthly desires

·        and

·        He is God, uncorrupted, pure and able to give us what is best for us in our lives even if that is not what we think is best.

We will continue to fight with others until we are willing to let go of our own wants and follow the wants of God. 

What does God want to do and let’s do it.

How do you know what God wants to do?

At a minimum, after you surrendered it to Him in prayer…

                   …what does the bible say?

                   …learn to hear His voice

                   …learn to trust those God has put in leadership above you

If you can’t hear from God, then all you are doing is voicing your own wants and desires as if they were God given.

In a church, people want things done a certain way but we can never get to the point where we agree on anything or everything.

That is why business meetings usually don’t work.  Democracy does not work in a selfish society. 

The church has to agree on the overall vision of where we are going and let go of the details.  If you have not been called to lead the church, then follow those who have been given direction from above.

Those in leadership better know that they know that what they are doing and where they are leading is directly from God and not from their own desires that battle within.

The flip side of all the negatives is…

-         If you ask with right motives (Lord your will be done), He is a big enough God to make things happen. 

-         You don’t have to do the work.  Just sit back and watch it unravel. 

C. Do something that supports your decision to follow God’s will

Try celebrating with those that get their way

If they got their way and it is God’s will than we should be celebrating that what was best for us is what actually happened

Thank God that you did not get second best.

What you wanted was second best.

Sometimes what you want is second best and sometimes what you want is the best thing for you

Either way, we can celebrate God’s will being done instead of only celebrating when we get our way.

Celebrating all the time will help cure a jealous heart.

Closing

What are you jealous about?

-         Take some time now to surrender it to his will.

-         Search the scriptures for answers

-         Listen for his voice

-         Trust that He knows what He is doing

-         If someone else got their way, choose to outwardly celebrate it with them.

-         Do you need Jesus?  Choose Jesus today.  He is the only choice!