Envy the Wicked?
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According to a survey, 37% of Americans think billionaires are terrible role models, and 49% said they have overall negative feelings towards them. And the heat is felt most prominently by the big-name tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos.
But despite the negative feelings, people still admire and look up to some of these individual figures. And it’s not because of just their financial success; a 2021 study found that people who stand against a class of extremely wealthy people still tend to admire individual billionaires like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.
Margaret O’Mara, a professor of history at the University of Washington, says “The secret of Silicon Valley has been the storytelling.” She describes intense admiration of tech billionaires as kind of “a religion of entrepreneurship.” With the lack of presence of other role models and declining faith in other institutions like the government or churches or even science, people want to find a myth to believe in that will give them comfort.
When you have these really exciting stories of the startup company in your dorm room or garage that then becomes this trillion-dollar company, this exciting rags to riches story really fits into an American narrative that predates Silicon Valley. Those stories are exceptional, to be clear, but I think the fault is presuming that anyone can do this.
Another story within the tech billionaire narrative that appeals to masses is that of disruption. O’Mara said, “This is a nation founded on revolution, so being a rebel, not bowing to authority and being your own boss is kind of cool.”
Richard R. John, professor of business history and journalism at Columbia University calls the hype surrounding tech billionaires a cult of personality. He says:
A cult of personality is the deliberate glorification of a specific public figure. Throughout history, cult of personality hype of billionaire figures has usually been propagated through journalists and news media. But with the founding of social media, it grew massively through its unprecedented reach. It’s no longer regional, it’s now national and even international.
But in the end what good is it to gain the whole world but lose your own soul? And yet we still want what they have? What is this excessive need for us in the church, who are the priesthood of the living God, who are the co-heirs with Christ Jesus, who are kings and queens of the kingdom of God, who are partakers of the divine nature, who has the Creator of heaven and earth in our corner, to have and or be like the wicked in this world. We continue to see the influential churches in in the world who continue to used the means methods and motions of the world and what it is and what it does. The ideology is how much like the world can we be like and still be considered a church.
Its almost like the more like the world you can be the kooler you are. I mean think about it… why is it that in order for you to be considered a modern relative and progressive you have to implement the worldly in our services. Worldly psychotherapy and success principles of successful entrepenures are flying off the surface of pulpits all across the world. We try to look like um, act like um, talk like um.
But even since school days it was set. I went to a Christian school and the most popular people were the ones who just came from public school and was still naughty and worldly. The more worldly you were the cooler you were. The Godliest kids were the losers and the outcast. What is this infatuation with the world. We live in light of 2 very different worldviews, why in the world do we want the same things the people in the world want?
Even those who have real “success” in the church cant be content with that. A popular pastor who was successful in ever way was not ok with that and needed accolades from the world as well… got in trouble trying to manipulate the system to have his book on the new york times best sellers list. There are Christian female tik tokers who quote scriptures and preach with makeup filters and showing cleavage posing with expensive attire forgetting…
A beautiful woman who lacks discretion
is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.
Why do we want what the world wants? Why doe we desire what people who do not desire the Word desires? Why do we envy the lifestyle of those who are perishing. Why do we desire the life of those who will face the wrath of the living God? Why do we envy the wicked? Why do we envy those who are far away from rescue? Lets take a close look.
The wicked are far from rescue,
for they do not bother with your decrees.
The grass withers the flower fades but the world of our God stands forever.
Far from Rescue
The Rescue
The first thing we will look at today is the true folly of the wicked. Second, we will see how the Lord did provide a rescue for the righteous.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to envy those who are far from rescue, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will cause us to see the light of who we are in Christ and in Christ alone.
I. Far From Rescue
- Do we envy those who are perishing?
A. First of all, the scriptures tell us that we should not envy the wicked.
Don’t envy evil people
or desire their company.
For their hearts plot violence,
and their words always stir up trouble.
Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
and be not envious of the wicked,
B. But our psalmist tells us a very important reason why we should not envy the wicked, why we should not be jealous of evil doers. Another way to understand the wicked is far from rescue is … means that they have little if any chance at all of being rescued from their troubles by Yahweh. Maybe I would say … They have put themselves beyond all hope. They are far from rescue.
Spurgeon colorfully writes, “Every step they have taken on the path of evil has removed them further from the kingdom of grace. They go from one degree of hardness to another until their hearts become like stone. When they fall into trouble it will be impossible to fix. Yet they talk big, as if they don’t need salvation or could save themselves whenever they have the notion to do so. They are so far from salvation that they don’t even know what it means.”
C. This does not sound like people we want to be like nor people we want to be around? Right? No… in reality, we do envy the wicked but do we know why that is? It is because we love sin. We by nature love sin. Sin cause us to envy those who are far from rescue.
- One of the things we envy is the freedom they have to sin. They get to do what they want to do and they do not fear consequences. Their authority is themselves and even governments in our world are afraid to do anything. They are autonomous and no one tells them what to do. I remember as a young Christian, we would say that we are missing out. Missing out on life, missing out on fun, missing out on cool experiences, missing out on pleasure, missing out on sin… sure we may be missing out on these things, but in the end were also missing out on hell. Do not envy the wicked. They are far from rescue.
- We love entertainment. And we envy the fact that they can listen to whatever music they want. What whatever tv shows they want. Whatever movies they want. We are in desperate need today about killing boredom. Just not fair… my parents wont let me listen to stuff, they wont let me watch stuff. And just in case you don’t know… there are music we should not be listening to. There are definite tv shows we should not be watching. There are even movies that we should not be watching. Do not envy or be like the wicked. They are far from rescue.
- We envy their prosperity. So many of them have so much and they have no restraint or limits with it. They have no struggle, no suffering, they can afford all the comforts in life, they are strong, healthy, great skin, can afford the best healthcare.
For I envied the proud
when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
They seem to live such painless lives;
their bodies are so healthy and strong.
And what makes me even more upset is that God seems to be giving them the best lives and lots of freedom and prosperity. God lets them have the best stuff.
Lord, you always give me justice
when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why are evil people so happy?
From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’ ”
They get away with what they want and desire. They step on me to get more in life and God seems to be helping them. We don’t dare to do what they do but they do it, they test God, they disrespect him, they blaspheme him, they have no fear of Him and God does nothing to them. They get away with murder. I get disciplined for every little thing I do. And they prosper. We envy this? But why?
Though the wicked sprout like weeds
and evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
-We envy their lives on earth. They do not struggle like we do. They live for the here and now and get the best of the here and now. We are living for the life to come. Our treasure we store up is in heaven not here. We get difficulty now cause we choose to invest in the future. They choose the best life now. We want our comforts now, we want ease now, we want the benefits now, we want our bowl of stew now. Are we willing to give away our future for a moment of pleasure? The problem we face today … is yes we are. Why do we envy the wicked, they will be destroyed and they are far from rescue.
- The bottom line… We envy their depravity. We envy their sin. When I ask some what they would say is the kind of life that they want to live… the best life. The perfect life. It is always full of sin and self-centeredness. Oh yeah… they try to sanctify it, but in the end it always looks like a gold ring in a pigs snout. No suffering, no discipleship, no learning the Bible, no desire to endure suffering, no desire to deny self and take up cross. Got all the money in the world and no desire to give it all away. I want the stuff they get. I want purses that cost 10,000 dollars, I want a big boat and yatch, big house on the ocean, 100K cars that ya cant drive in the snow. Like the people in the world do. We are still by nature sinful … we love what sinful man has, we love what sinful man does, we want what they say we deserve. We are not to envy them. They are far from rescue.
II. The Rescue
- The good news…We can be rescued today.
A. Here is the clear and shameful thing. We envy the depravity of unbelievers, the very acts and deeds that will assure their everlasting destruction.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
For evil people have no future;
the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.
B. And because of all the prosperity in their lives, the pleasure, the depravity, they do not even realize their need to be rescued.
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
C. Their seared conscience, their wealth, their lives of pleasure and comforts. All continue to ensure that they wont see the light. This is why Agur prayed to give him not riches.
First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.
But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
D. And the more and more they go the further away from rescue they become. We do not envy the wicked. And once again I say… Here is the clear and shameful thing. We envy the depravity of unbelievers, the very acts and deeds that will assure their everlasting destruction. But today in your hearing I can tell you that you can be rescued. There is a rescue for you. For you who are broken and eyes now wide open…there is salvation.
E. The Lord brought you to Central Baptist today so that you could hear. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. By His wounds you are healed.
F. And the promises continue … all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and you will have life in His name.
G. Christ provided the rescue. We were not far from rescue. The grace of Christ brought us near to His rescue. He gave us a new heart. He opened our eyes. He set us free to see. He caused us to be born again. There is so much to be thankful for the gift given to the righteous, his people, his church. Rejoice and be glad…
The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.