Always Abounding - Spring 2021
“For the LORD thy God is aconsuming fire, even a jealous God”(Deuteronomy 4:24).“And Joshua said unto thepeople, Ye cannot serve theLORD: for he is an holy God; he isa jealous God; he will not forgiveyour transgressions nor your sins”(Joshua 24:19).“Therefore thus saith the LordGOD; Now will I bring again thecaptivity of Jacob, and have mercyupon the whole house of Israel, andwill be jealous for my holy name”(Ezekiel 39:25).“For I am jealous over you withgodly jealousy: for I have espousedyou to one husband, that I maypresent you as a chaste virgin toChrist” (II Corinthians 11:2).Envy“For wrath killeth the foolishman, and envy slayeth the silly one”(Job 5:2).“Envy thou not the oppressor,and choose none of his ways”(Proverbs 3:31).“A sound heart is the life of theflesh: but envy the rottenness of thebones” (Proverbs 14:30).“Let not thine heart envy sinners:but be thou in the fear of the LORDall the day long” (Proverbs 23:17).“Wrath is cruel, and anger isoutrageous; but who is able to standbefore envy?”(Proverbs 27:4).“And the patriarchs, moved withenvy, sold Joseph into Egypt: butGod was with him” (Acts 7:9).“But when the Jews saw themultitudes, they were filled withenvy, and spake against thosethings which were spoken by Paul,contradicting and blaspheming”(Acts 13:45).“He is proud, knowing nothing,but doting about questions andstrifes of words, whereof comethenvy, strife, railings, evil surmisings”(I Timothy 6:4).“Do ye think that the scripturesaith in vain, The spirit that dwellethin us lusteth to envy?” (James 4:5).As you can see, the Biblehas much to say on this subject.Biblically, you will not find theword “jealousy” used much in abad light. Over time in our culture,we have intertwined the idea ofjealousy and envy. The definitionsare almost identical when we areconsidering the modern idea ofjealousy and that of envy. Here isan explanation that may help indifferentiating between the two.They differ in the fact thatjealousy consists of an excessivelove of one’s own goodaccompanied by the fear of beingdeprived of it by others. A toprankedstudent, for example, uponnoticing the progress of anotherstudent, may become jealous ofhim because he fears the latter willtake away his rank. Jealousy oftenabounds among professionals,among writers, and even amongpriests. The essential differencebetween envy and jealousy is this:we are envious of another’s good,and jealous of our own.Many would consider this tobe a study of jealousy; but as I10 | ALWAYS ABOUNDING
have analyzed the Scripture, mostinstances that we would label asjealousy are simply selfishness ora non-giving spirit. The Bible dealswith this many times but does notnecessarily call it jealousy.PRINCIPLES DRAWNThe book of Proverbs dealsheavily with wisdom for youth.Repeatedly, there is an emphasis toa young person not to be enviousof the wicked. We also see Davidmentioning this plight for therighteous in Psalm 37 and 73.“Fret not thyself because ofevildoers, neither be thou enviousagainst the workers of iniquity”(Psalm 37:1).“For I was envious at the foolish,when I saw the prosperity of thewicked” (Psalm 73:3).“Envy thou not the oppressor, andchoose none of his ways” (Proverbs3:31).“Let not thine heart envy sinners:but be thou in the fear of the LORDall the day long” (Proverbs 23:17).The plea is simple. There will bea longing in the soul of the believerto see the prosperity and successthat seems to come from livingwickedly in this temporal world;however, true peace and blessingonly come from fearing the Lord.Fear the Lord—not man’s praise.(Steve Damron is the pastor of Fairhaven BaptistChurch and president of Fairhaven BaptistCollege.)www.fairhavenbaptist.org | 11
- Page 1 and 2: FUNDAMENTALISTAlwaysAbounding
- Page 3 and 4: to witness to them or inviting them
- Page 5 and 6: which is in you, which ye have ofGo
- Page 7 and 8: saved—I went to church and knewth
- Page 9: Eve, who then tempted Adam, whobrou
- Page 13 and 14: learn what to do with your cares.Th
- Page 15 and 16: ©Published by Fairhaven Baptist Ch
“For the LORD thy God is a
consuming fire, even a jealous God”
(Deuteronomy 4:24).
“And Joshua said unto the
people, Ye cannot serve the
LORD: for he is an holy God; he is
a jealous God; he will not forgive
your transgressions nor your sins”
(Joshua 24:19).
“Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD; Now will I bring again the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy
upon the whole house of Israel, and
will be jealous for my holy name”
(Ezekiel 39:25).
“For I am jealous over you with
godly jealousy: for I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ” (II Corinthians 11:2).
Envy
“For wrath killeth the foolish
man, and envy slayeth the silly one”
(Job 5:2).
“Envy thou not the oppressor,
and choose none of his ways”
(Proverbs 3:31).
“A sound heart is the life of the
flesh: but envy the rottenness of the
bones” (Proverbs 14:30).
“Let not thine heart envy sinners:
but be thou in the fear of the LORD
all the day long” (Proverbs 23:17).
“Wrath is cruel, and anger is
outrageous; but who is able to stand
before envy?”
(Proverbs 27:4).
“And the patriarchs, moved with
envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but
God was with him” (Acts 7:9).
“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).
“He is proud, knowing nothing,
but doting about questions and
strifes of words, whereof cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings”
(I Timothy 6:4).
“Do ye think that the scripture
saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth
in us lusteth to envy?” (James 4:5).
As you can see, the Bible
has much to say on this subject.
Biblically, you will not find the
word “jealousy” used much in a
bad light. Over time in our culture,
we have intertwined the idea of
jealousy and envy. The definitions
are almost identical when we are
considering the modern idea of
jealousy and that of envy. Here is
an explanation that may help in
differentiating between the two.
They differ in the fact that
jealousy consists of an excessive
love of one’s own good
accompanied by the fear of being
deprived of it by others. A topranked
student, for example, upon
noticing the progress of another
student, may become jealous of
him because he fears the latter will
take away his rank. Jealousy often
abounds among professionals,
among writers, and even among
priests. The essential difference
between envy and jealousy is this:
we are envious of another’s good,
and jealous of our own.
Many would consider this to
be a study of jealousy; but as I
10 | ALWAYS ABOUNDING
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