An Envy for Evil

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Transcript:

Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 24, if you would, please. Proverbs chapter 24. We’re just going to look at a few verses tonight.

Our country has sort of a history, has sort of a tradition of romanticizing the outlaw. That’s why we have such a fascination, I think, with the Old West. And we’ve heard, you know, even going back to this country’s roots in England, We’ve heard the stories of Robin Hood, how he’d go and rob from the rich and give to the poor, which is probably better than robbing from the rich and keeping it for yourself, but you’re still robbing somebody. So, you know, let’s not wrap ourselves too much in Robin Hood.

Or the stories of Jesse James, Bell Star, some of the outlaws here in Oklahoma. I grew up hearing stories from my grandmother about her two bachelor uncles growing up in the Shawnee, Prague area during the Great Depression. And one of them was, they lived together, evidently, and one of them was a lawman, and another one ran around with Pretty Boy Floyd’s gang.

And I don’t know how that worked, unless you just don’t talk about work at home. And she would tell me these stories about, yeah, he ran around with so-and-so, and then they hit him out, and there was gold. And, of course, none of us have ever seen this gold.

But there was the fascination with the outlaw stories, and we have that as part of our country’s traditions. I think back to, not that I was alive then, but back during the Prohibition era, how many people got involved in, as young men, how many people got involved in organized crime because they looked at people like Al Capone, and I’ve lost some of the other names. I’m doing it again.

I couldn’t remember this morning what a wave was called, and now I’ve lost some of the names that I was thinking of. But Al Capone and others like that who were involved in bootlegging and running of weapons and things, and they would amass so much power and so much wealth and really fame within their communities. Even more recently, there was a man named Pablo Escobar who was the drug kingpin of Colombia.

And the people loved him. And they adored him because even though he was running drugs and running guns and killing people and assassinations and bombings, he was taking large quantities of money and building schools and soccer arenas and hospitals and things in Colombia. And the world seems to tend to root for guys are up to no good as long as we get something out of it.

And the reason I bring that up, I’ve thought to myself how many people have gotten involved, say in the Prohibition era or in the Old West or even more recently with the cartels and things like that, how many people have gotten involved in lives of crime and lives of wickedness because they looked at it and said, you know, look at the money, look at the wealth, look at the power, the fame that that guy has, I want some of that. And they see the wealth and the fame and the power and the prestige and all of this, but they don’t see the dark side of it. This is nothing new and it’s nothing unique to America to say, you know, we kind of like these outlaw stories.

We kind of like these guys. I sure wish I could be like them. It was going on in ancient Israel as well, and so much so that God had to speak to the people through his word and say, resist the temptation here.

Don’t cast your lot with these people. And so we look at Proverbs chapter 24 tonight, and it won’t be a long passage we’re going to look at because quite honestly, it’s hard to get a whole lot of context from the book of Proverbs. I love the book of Proverbs, but in one verse you’re talking about something, and the next verse you’re on to something completely different.

It’s a list of sayings that’s been strung together. Brother Shank, you ask for special music, you may just get it from the back row. But he says in verse 1, Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

For their hearts studyeth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. So he tells us, and he tells Solomon, tells the people of Israel, tells us by extension, to not envy evil men, not to desire to be with them. And then he gives the reason why and says, for their hearts study destruction and their lips talk of mischief.

And then in contrast, in the next few verses, he said, through wisdom is a house builded. We kind of hit on that this morning, didn’t we? Through wisdom is a house builded, and by understanding it is established.

And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, yea, a man of knowledge, increase of strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

So he tells the people of Israel, and again us by extension, don’t cast your lot with these wicked men. I know that it looks so great, the life that they’ve set out for themselves. But he said, ultimately, this is the way you want to build your life.

This is the way you want to get ahead in the world, if we want to use that phrase. He says through wisdom, and he’s talking about the building of a house. and Brother Dacus, I’ve heard you talk about building your house.

I don’t know how many years it took. How many years did it take you? I’m not done yet.

You’re not done yet. I’m still waiting to get started. So it’s taken him years to build his house.

I’ve known most people who say, yeah, we’re building a house or we’re having a house built. It takes years. It would be nice if we had unlimited resources and could hire 5,000 men and come in and have it done in a week.

But it usually doesn’t work that way. The life, the things that we want to build are not amassed overnight, usually. And he’s talking here about the building of the house and by wisdom and perseverance, really.

Keeping on and being faithful in the things that God has called us to do every day until we get to the point where we need to be, as opposed to those who cast their lot with the evil and deceitful men that he talks about in the first two verses, who are looking for a quick payout. And so he says, don’t be that way. Instead, pursue wisdom, because wisdom is the way a house is built, and by understanding, it’s established.

And quite honestly, furnished that way, too, as he talks about chambers being filled with precious and pleasant riches. As King Solomon was writing this, he was probably, for himself, speaking literally, here. I’m sure for us it’s figurative because, you know, most of us work our entire lives and never have chambers filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

I don’t, do any of you have a ruby-studded room in your home, and if so, can I borrow it? Most of us don’t have that, but I think he’s speaking here for most of us figuratively, that we get where we need to be in life by this sort of everyday pressing on, persevering, doing the right thing. And so he tells us not to cast our lot with these evil men.

Now an important thing to note here in verse 1 where he starts out and says, be not thou envious against evil men. When he says evil men, he’s not just, I don’t believe he’s just talking about the scoundrels. He’s not just talking about the Hitlers and the Mussolini’s and the Stalins and the Al Capone’s of the world who amassed great riches and great power.

I believe he’s talking about in every one of our lives. We know people who, you know, the world wouldn’t look at them and say they’re evil. They’re not on par with Hitler or Stalin.

But according to God’s standards, yes, they have amassed great wealth. They’ve amassed great power by cheating the system, if we can say it that way, by not doing what God has called us to do. Because sometimes to obey God, Sometimes to do the right thing, it’s going to cost us something.

A lot of times, it’s going to cost us something to follow God and to do the right thing. And you know as well as I do, many people have gotten ahead in business by not always telling the whole truth. You know, God expects us to tell the whole truth even if it costs us the sale, even if it costs us a little more on the thing we’re buying, even if we make a little less on the thing we’re selling.

God expects us to be honest. And I’m sad to say, and you all know this just as well as I do, if not better, not everybody is that honest. And so that, I think, is also the kind of thing that he’s talking about here. We’re not just talking about the men that the world would look at and say they’re evil, they’re wicked. We’re talking about the people who don’t do the things that God has told them to do.

There are people who get ahead in life, not just financially, but get what they want in life and get ahead in life by lies, by deceit, by manipulation. We see this in the media. We see it in politics.

We see it with the, you know, the person down the street who’s always telling stories on other people to make themselves look better, that kind of thing. And it’s tempting at times to say, you know, if this is the way the world works, if this really is the way the world works, and all too often it is, you know, if you can’t beat them, join them. You know, if we’re just going to be left here in the dust because this is the way the world works, sometimes there’s a temptation to throw up our hands and say, okay, when in Rome, I’m going to do as they do.

Because that’s the only way we’re going to get ahead in life. And yet God says, don’t be envious of the things that the evil man has. Don’t be envious of the things that are attained by those who have ignored God, who disobeyed God in order to get them.

You know, the Israelites ask this question all the time because it seemed like the countries around them were prospering even though they had rejected God. Now, there’s an important point that sometimes the Israelites forgot to ask about when they had rejected God too. I love, I believe it’s in the book of Habakkuk, where God through Habakkuk tells the people of Israel, the vision is not yet, the time is not appointed, wait for it.

And what he’s talking there, I’ve heard people teach it as, you know, all your dreams will come true if you’ll just wait, God’s vision is not necessarily yet. That’s talking about. You got to go back to the historical context and say what was going on.

The Israelites were in bondage to the Babylonian people. They had been taken over. They had been carried off into captivity.

The best and brightest of Israel had been carried away from everything they knew back to Babylon and were made to serve there. And the people who were left were still under the yoke of the Babylonians in their own homeland. And the Israelites were asking the very real question, God, if this was punishment for us, because the years of captivity to Babylon were God’s punishment, and even more so God’s wake-up call to the Israelites that said, you need to get right with me and knock it off with these stinking idols.

And the Israelites had the very real and I think very reasonable question, God, if this is your punishment, if this is your dealing with us for our wickedness, are not the Babylonians ten times worse? Aren’t they worse? Why are they the swift sword of justice here against us?

Why are you letting them get by with it? And that’s when God, through Habakkuk, answers the people and says, the vision is not yet. And I’m paraphrasing here, but basically the time has not arrived, and they will get their reward as well.

They will get what’s coming to them. David asked, why does the heathen rage? We can look around us and see where people who are defying all of the rules, who are spitting in God’s face with everything they do, Get ahead in life and it seems so unfair.

And you know what? It is. It is unfair.

But it’s going to be dealt with. And so God reminds us. Folks, God takes a longer view of history.

I don’t know if you realize that or not. We’re in the middle of our circumstances. Boy, I need to hear this as much as y’all do.

Probably more. When we’re in the middle of circumstances, we look around us and that’s all we can see is that moment. And it seems like that moment, that circumstance we’re in, is the only thing that matters.

It’s the biggest struggle in the world. And how will we ever get through it? And yet God looks at all of human history.

And from God’s perspective, all of human history is like that. God takes the long view of history. And so for God, he reminds us, this will be dealt with.

You know, you look at it now and you say, these problems are insurmountable. What’s going on now is unfair. What’s going on now is leaving me behind.

What’s going on now is causing me trouble. What’s going on now is causing me pain. And God says that’s not the whole story.

God takes a longer view of history. And because God is a God of justice and says these things will all be sorted out in the end. Guys, make no mistake.

God will sort all of this out in the end. However, let me warn you in that. God will set things to right and God will be fair, but we need to be very careful in our dealings with other people about praying for God’s justice.

Folks, God is a just God and he’ll take care of that, but none of us really want justice. We want mercy because if we start praying for God to give other people what they deserve, I know I don’t want what I deserve. God will sort this out though, according to his justice and according to his mercy, And so he warns us, this is not the whole story.

What we see going on now that’s so unfair, that’s so wrong at times, is not the end of the story. And so he warns us not to cast our lot with them. And he gives us two reasons why.

You know, sometimes God does give us reasons why. Sometimes God tells us to do something just because he said it. And some other times God also gives us a reason why.

I don’t know how he picks which one it’s going to be. I know he doesn’t owe us a reason, but I also know I’m grateful when he gives us a reason. It’s like with my children.

Sometimes I will sit down and explain to you in meticulous detail why you cannot run through a car-filled parking lot. Other times you just need to stay next to the car because I stink and told you to. And that’s sort of the way God deals with us, too.

Sometimes he gives us the reason and says, I have told you to do this because. And sometimes he says, I have told you to do this, period. Now this is one of those times where God says, I’ve told you to do this because.

And so he gives us two reasons why we’re not to cast our lot with the evil. And again, let’s not let ourselves too off the hook and say, well, when he talks about evil, he’s talking about the Hitlers of the world. No, he’s talking about those even in mundane things who reject God’s plans.

He says, be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. He says, for their heart studieth destruction. Their heart studieth destruction.

And on first glance at this, it appears to mean to me that he’s saying their hearts are going to lead them to destruction. Their hearts are going to lead them to judgment. And I certainly believe that that’s the case.

I certainly believe that the wiles and the whims of the human heart lead us to God’s judgment. Because God’s judgment is inescapable, other than the mercy that he offers through Jesus Christ. And so certainly that’s true. But what he’s saying here is not exactly that.

Because when I went and looked a little deeper at the Hebrew words, what he’s telling us here, that word destruction means violence. The word destruction means violence. The destruction of other people.

And incidentally, the Bible does teach that those who live by the sword will perish by the sword. And so when they’re out there committing acts of violence, you know, we shouldn’t assume from that that they’re going to escape. So it leads to their destruction as well.

But what this verse means when it says, their hearts study of destruction, the evil, the wicked of the world, those who, who ignore God’s commands, those who ignore God’s principles and flaunt it and think they’re getting away with something and seem to profit by it. He says that while they seem outwardly to profit, their hearts study destruction, their hearts sit around and devise new ways, new ways to do violence to other people, to hurt other people. And one of the, you know, I mentioned at the beginning of this, our country’s love affair with the outlaw story.

And I don’t remember what program it was. It may have been the Brady Bunch. I don’t know.

I’m not the expert on that generation of television. So I have to ask dad after the message. But I seem to remember a show, and again, it may have been the Brady Bunch, where one of the kids was just enamored of the story of Jesse James, wanted to be just like Jesse James when he grew up.

And it got to be such a, I mean, he wanted to be an outlaw, and it got to be such a big deal. They ended up, I don’t know if they ran into the man by chance, or if the parents orchestrated or what, but I remember at the end of the episode, this child sitting down with an older gentleman who said, who was telling him the stories of the way things really were, and said, Jesse James killed my grandfather. I remember it being sort of a turning point in that show, you know, in the sitcom world where everything’s resolved in 30 minutes or less. When we look at people who seem to prosper, who seem to get ahead, and we want to be envious because they seem to get ahead by breaking all the rules, and we think, man, I’d like to be like that.

We need to be reminded that there’s something in this as people are breaking these rules. They’re not victimless crimes. Those who tend to break God’s law tend to get ahead by harming other people.

And we can think, well, nobody’s going to know if I make an extra thousand on this business deal by not telling the truth. Nobody’s going to know. Who’s it going to hurt?

It hurts someone, whether they know it or not. And certainly I would hope that no one in this room would relish the idea of hurting someone, of stepping over someone as a means to an end to get what we want. I’ve told you before, I’m trying, I’m trying desperately to drill it into my children’s heads.

It will probably end up on my headstone one day. Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff. I’m telling you what, that’s biblical, it’s good politics, it’s a good way to live your life.

Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff. As God’s people, as God’s people, we should recoil from the idea of injuring somebody. Especially unnecessary, and I don’t mean just physical violence, but I mean of injuring somebody, especially unnecessary, just to get what we want.

And he says, though, of these people, he says their hearts study destruction. There’s something in that word study that bothers me, that gnaws at me when I read it. I sit there and I noticed Benjamin doing it Friday morning at breakfast. He had a map of the zoo, and he was sitting there planning out his next trip to the zoo.

Well, that just made my heart awful because I study maps too, and I guess he’s picked that up from me. But I will sit there just in a quiet moment, in a moment with nothing else to do, and I’ll pour over the state highway map. I can find my way just about anywhere in Oklahoma without a map now because it’s right here.

But I’m planning. Oh, I’d like to go there. I’d like to see what’s around there.

I’m planning and studying the map with an intent to do something with it. And so there’s something about this word study that gnaws at me when I read this because I get that picture of people who are studying to destruction. They are sitting, and maybe they don’t spread out papers and make plans on the kitchen table to this end.

But the heart sits there and studies and devises and plans and schemes. How can I step over someone today? How can I hurt someone?

How can I use someone as a means to an end? and to do so with the same relish that I get from studying the state highway map. Please don’t think I’m crazy for doing that.

It’s come in handy on more than one occasion. That word studying and devising, their hearts study destruction, there’s an enjoyment that comes from it for them. And God says that is not what we are supposed to be.

So their hearts lead them to violence. Their plans lead them to trouble. It says their lips talk of mischief.

Well, we know what mischief is, don’t we? We know very well what mischief is, and I have to tell you, even though the connotation may be there, the first thing I think of is Dennis the Menace. That is not what God’s talking about here.

It’s nothing, you know, accidentally setting Mr. Wilson’s lawn on fire. We’re talking here about purposeful causing of trouble for other people.

Purposely doing things that are going to injure other people. Purposely bringing chaos and calamity into other people’s lives. Their lips talk of mischief.

Have you ever known those people that you sit down with them and everything they talk about, you know this is not a good idea and this is going to lead to trouble. I better get out of this situation. That’s exactly what he’s talking about here.

The people that tend to be envied because of their ill-gotten gains. And we tend to have the inclination to sometimes envy them and say, man, things sure would be easier if I could just be like them. All of the talk is about things that will lead to trouble.

Their mouths, their plans will lead to trouble. For the other people, yes, but for them as well. For us as well.

I’m inclined to believe that if I’m in a group of people who are all doing something, and it’s always been this way, that if I’m with a group of people who are doing something they’re not supposed to, even if I’m not participating, I’m going to be the one who’s going to get caught and take the blame for it. I learned that lesson very, very early on. It kept me out of trouble as a teenager, by the way.

I asked my mom several months ago, what’s the most rebellious thing I ever did growing up? We couldn’t come up with anything. That’s not to say I was perfect, but I lived a very boring, sheltered life because I realized early on there’s trouble.

There is plenty of trouble in this world to be had if you just want to go out and find it, and it’s not that hard to find. And God warns us, don’t be envious against these evil men or desire to be with them because their hearts study destruction and their lips talk of mischief. Their plans, their schemes to get and to gain will lead us to trouble.

And usually we’ll be the ones that will fall into that trouble. And so because of these things, he says their plans lead to trouble, their hearts lead them to violence, God forbids us either to envy them or to join with them. God says don’t join them in their pursuits.

Don’t desire to be like them, don’t be like them. And guys, this is not a message tonight of how we need to look down at the world outside. By human standards, there are good people outside these four walls.

I will not stand here and tell you that everybody outside these four walls is a heathen to the extent that they could be. That’s one thing about the depravity of man that I’ve heard it said, that it doesn’t mean that man is as, that every man is as bad as he could be, but that we’re all badder than we need to be, worse than we need to be as far as God’s concern. There are some moral people who do not belong to God, but by and large, the world system we live in is set up to reward the kind of behavior that God says, no, you’re not to do that.

So as I’ve said already, there’s a tendency, there’s a desire. As we go through our lives on a weekly basis, there’s a desire to cut corners and think nobody will notice, and maybe I can get away with this here. God says, don’t join them.

Don’t participate in that with them. And it’s not that we do that or we refrain from that in order that we can look down on them, but we refrain from that kind of behavior in order to keep a clear conscience before God and stay out of the trouble that God is trying to prevent us to preserve us from. So he says, be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

Don’t desire to cast your lawn in with them. When you see the old gotten gains, don’t desire them. Things are just a whole lot better off if we’re content with what we have.

What is the verse that says contentment with godliness is great gain? Boy, I want my son to learn that every time we go to the store. Contentment with what you have.

Contentment with godliness is great gain, but you know, just as much, I want to learn that. I want to learn that. And God says there is trouble here to be avoided.

I see it coming, and I’m going to warn you against it because it will only hurt you and hurt other people. And so I bring this to you tonight, not because I think anybody in this room necessarily is involved in anything they shouldn’t be. So if you are, I’m not preaching to you because I don’t know about it.

But there is this warning from God’s Word because I know we all have the temptation at times to say, well, it sure would be easier if I didn’t have to do it God’s way. And look at how people get ahead when they don’t.

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