The Fire of Envy
The sermon 'The Fire of Envy' teaches that envy is a deadly poison that can only be quenched by the mighty power of God, who transforms it into goodwill and brings order out of chaos.
John Henry Jowett delivers a powerful message on the destructive nature of envy, comparing it to a deadly potion that distorts our moral and spiritual senses, leading to confusion and chaos. Envy blinds us to truth, making us see disorder as order and misinterpreting everything around us. Only God has the power to extinguish the destructive fire of envy, transforming it into goodwill and replacing confusion with order and beauty.
Text
"_Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work!_"
--JAMES iii. 13-18.
In Milton's "Comus" we read of a certain potion which has the power to
pervert all the senses of everyone who drinks it. Nothing is apprehended
truly. Sight and hearing and taste are all disordered, and the victim is
all unconscious of the confusion. The deadly draught is the minister of
deceptive chaos.
And envy is like that potion when it is drunk by the spirit. It perverts
every moral and spiritual sense. The envious is more fatally stricken than
the blind. He gazes upon untruth and thinks it true. He looks upon
confusion and thinks it order. Envy is colour-blind. It is like jealousy,
of which it is a blood-relation. It never sees anything in its natural
hues. It misinterprets everything.
No one can quench the unholy fire of envy but the mighty God Himself. It
is like a prairie fire: once kindled it is beyond our power to stamp it
out. But God's coolness is more than a match for all our feverish heat.
His quenchings are transformations. He converts the perverted and changes
envy into goodwill. The bitter pool is made sweet. For confusion He gives
order, for ashes He gives beauty, and in the face of an old enemy we see
the countenance of a friend.
Sermon Outline
- The Nature of Envy
- The Effects of Envy
- The Power of God to Quench Envy
- God's coolness is a match for our heat
- God transforms envy into goodwill
Key Quotes
“Envy is colour-blind. It is like jealousy, of which it is a blood-relation. It never sees anything in its natural hues. It misinterprets everything.” — John Henry Jowett
“No one can quench the unholy fire of envy but the mighty God Himself.” — John Henry Jowett
“For confusion He gives order, for ashes He gives beauty, and in the face of an old enemy we see the countenance of a friend.” — John Henry Jowett
Application Points
- We must recognize the destructive nature of envy and its ability to blind us to truth.
- We cannot quench the fire of envy on our own, but must rely on God's power to transform it.
- God's power can take even the most bitter and confused situations and bring order and beauty out of them.