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A Habitation of the Lord (Christ Church)
Christ Church on March 11, 2026
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Old Testament

Envy and Rivalry (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

This morning, we’re going to talk about envy. This is one of the most subtle and unrecognized sins that we face as Christians. Envy gets into everything, and it’s like a cancer of the soul. Proverbs 14:30 says “Envy makes the bones rot.” And when it takes root, it overpowers us. “Who can stand before envy?”

1 SAMUEL 18

6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

“Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”

8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.

DEFINITIONS

Envy is a feeling of unhappiness at the blessing and fortune of others. Jealousy is oriented toward what we possess; envy is oriented toward the possessions of others. Covetousness is an overweening desire for that which is not yours. It’s wanting something so much it makes you fussy. Envy is similar to pride in that they’re both rooted in the same self-will and selfish ambition. Pride looks down on those below with smug and satisfied arrogance. Envy looks at those above with chafing hatred. Rivalry is competition that is rooted in a proud and envious assessment of your own abilities and the abilities of others. Resentment is a simmering bitterness at some perceived injustice. Malice is the suppressed hatred that plots and takes pleasure in the downfall of another.

DAVID AND SAUL

We pick up the story immediately after David has killed Goliath. When the army returns to Jerusalem, the women come out of the city “to meet King Saul” (18:8). However, their song celebrates the accomplishments of both Saul and David. What’s more, their song elevates the young warrior over the great king: “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.” These accolades provoke the king to envy. Saul fixates on the comparison between himself and David. This is Saul’s party, and he is being overshadowed by David.

Saul’s envy begets rivalry in his heart. In v. 9, we’re told that Saul “eyed David from that day on.” He gives David the sidelong glance and begins to try to elbow him out. This rivalry is rooted in resentment, as Saul grows bitter at the perceived injustice of the comparison. Envy, rivalry, and resentment open the door to greater demonic influence, as a harmful spirit rushes upon Saul and he begins to maliciously hope for David’s downfall.

These are the many faces of envy. When Saul first sees David’s success, he takes him into his home (18:2), and sets him over the men of war (18:5). Then when envy is awakened, he grows erratic and tries to pin David to the wall with a spear. When David evades him, he grows fearful of him and sends him out of his house (18:13). When God continues to bless David, Saul stands in fearful awe of him (18:15). Then he begins to flatter David, offering him his daughter, while secretly plotting in his mind (18:17).

When David shows his humility (18:18), Saul withdraws the offer, but continues to plot. Saul brings others into the mix, using them to flatter David with lies about the king’s delight. When David again displays his humility (18:23), Saul’s plots escalate and he offers to accept 100 Philistine foreskins instead of a bride-price, in order to get rid of David (18:25). When David succeeds, Saul brings his hatred and malice into the open, telling his son and his servants that they should kill David (19:1).

HOW ENVY WORKS

First, envy follows success. What provokes envy in Saul is God’s hand of blessing on David. Envy follows success with a hungry eye, incessantly asking questions like “What about me?” or “Why not me?”

Second, envy operates close to home. It attacks our closest relationships first. We tend to envy those who are close at hand, who are like us, and who care about the same things that we do. As one author put it, “There is no disappointment so numbing…as someone no better than you achieving more.”

Saul’s envy is awakened when he brings David into his own house (18:2). For us, envy rears its ugly head when a friend or peer makes better grades, has more friends, is more likeable, receives a promotion, is given more opportunities, is given better opportunities, is better-looking, a better parent, more educated, more gifted, more popular, more intelligent, more esteemed, or more successful.

Third, envy involves mimetic desire. It’s a corrupted form of imitation. Imagine a room full of toy animals and a small child in the middle happily playing with a black horse. A second child walks into the room. Which toy does the second child want?

Now, before the second child came in, the first child could have happily put the black horse down in order to play with the brown cow. But now, he won’t. Why? The second child has also become a model leading to the tug-of-war experienced by every parent in the history of the world.

And this triangular desire is not just a feature of toddlers. It explains why two roommates will wreck a long friendship competing for the attention of the same girl. It explains why two co-workers will destroy a long partnership over a big client. It explains advertising, branding, and the willingness of people to pretend to enjoy things that they hate because someone that they admire enjoys it. It explains why a king who craves the esteem of his people would try to pin a young hero to the wall because he heard some women sing a song.

TESTING FOR ENVY

So how do we test for envy? We compare ourselves to Saul and Jonathan. Jonathan had every reason to fear and envy and compete with David. But Jonathan doesn’t resent David’s success. Jonathan recognizes the blessing of God on David, and Jonathan simply wants to be near him. He receives God’s blessing to David as a blessing to himself. In fact, later in 23:17, Jonathan says to David, “You shall be king over Israel and I shall be next to you.”

This is the test: How do you respond to the blessing and success of others? Do you murmur and gossip about it, or do you celebrate with them? Are you filled with gratitude, or carping rivalry? When it comes to the success and fruitfulness of others, are you their biggest fan or their biggest critic?

Husbands and wives, is there any resentment in your heart because you’re comparing the difficulty of your calling to the difficulty of your spouse’s? “I have the pressures of the home and the pressures of my job; she just has to worry about the house.” “My husband has done ten dishes, but I have done a thousand dishes.”

Unmarried folks, when your friend gets a girlfriend or boyfriend, or gets engaged, or gets married, are you genuinely happy for them? Young people, how do you respond when your friends and siblings are blessed by God? When they make the team or get an award or have lots of friends, do you rejoice for them? Or do you eye them with resentment and displeasure?

Moms, what is your reaction when someone else’s child succeeds? Are you constantly eyeing other moms like Saul eyed David, feeling anger and displeasure when God blesses their parenting efforts?

Men, how do you react when someone else gets a promotion at work? If you were the general in Saul’s army who was replaced by the young shepherd kid from Bethlehem, what would your reaction be? Would you throw your whole weight behind him? Or would you undermine his authority and leadership every chance you got?

THE CROSS OF CHRIST, THE GRACE OF GOD, AND GRATITUDE

The only way to destroy envy is through the cross of Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ alone cleanses us from the sins of envy and rivalry and resentment and malice. Jesus died to set us free from these chains of envy. You must trust in him alone for forgiveness and to meet all your needs.

Paul says “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). Grace is what defines us. Grace is what makes us who and what we are. And God knows how to distribute his grace; he’s good and wise and wants nothing but good for you.

Because we are defined by the grace of God, we can give thanks always and for everything. Because we know that God has given us his Son Jesus and will one day give us all things, even now we can be filled with gratitude for all of his good gifts to us. Grateful people do not envy. Thank God for specific things that he has given to you, and then thank him for what he gives to other people. This is a true sign of a new heart: when you look at what God gives to other people (and not to you) and say “Thank you Lord, because you have been so kind to them and so kind to me.”

This is what the cross of Jesus does. This is what the grace of God does. May he do it for all of us.

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A Star Out of Jacob (Advent 2025) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the most familiar elements of the Christmas story is the star of Bethlehem. But at the same time, it remains one of the most unknown features of the story—because unlike the wise men, we don’t really look straight at it.

THE TEXT

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num. 24:17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As you know, the prophet Balaam was a covetous and sinful man (Jude 11; 2 Pet. 2:15). But at the same time, even though he was not of the nation of Israel, he was a true prophet. The Spirit of the Lord really did come upon him (e.g. Num. 24:2). Balak, king of Moab, had Balaam summoned in order to put a curse on Israel. In spite of everything, the Spirit of the Lord refused to let Balaam prophesy disaster for Israel—it kept coming out as blessing (Micah 6:5). Three times this happened. Balak was understandably peeved with Balaam (Num. 24:10), but Balaam calmed him down by giving him some very practical and carnal advice . . . for a fee (Rev. 2:14). The women of Moab adopted the honeypot strategy and enticed the Israelite men into idolatry and fornication, and God dealt with them very severely (Num. 25:1-3). Balaam was eventually killed by the Israelites when they invaded the land (Josh. 13:22). Judging from the number of times it is referred to explicitly, both in the Old Testament and the New, this is a very important story. And in the Christmas story, we most likely have an implicit reference to it.

At the end of his exchanges with Balak, Balaam gave the words of our text above, and as a prophecy of blessing for Israel, we should be careful to ask what it means. The first fulfillment of these words came with the reign of King David four hundred years later. He was the one who struck Moab (v. 17), not to mention Edom (v. 18). David was the king who was a type of the great king, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus—so Jesus is the antitype, the final and complete fulfillment of this word. A star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel, and He will establish his reign. The scepter would stay with Judah until Shiloh came, and He would be the one who would gather all the people to Himself (Gen. 49:10).

THE WISE MEN

Balaam was a prophet, but he was not a prophet of Israel. He was from the east, and was of the heathen nations there. The wise men who came to search for Jesus because of the star were also from the east. It is likely that Balaam’s words had been preserved outside of the Hebrew Scriptures—and note how the wise men speak of this (Matt. 2:2). They appear to have much more information than could be gleaned from just looking at a star in the sky, even if they were serious astrologers. Balaam had prophesied of a king, one with a scepter. The wise men asked about a king. Balaam had specified that this king would be from Jacob, and the wise men asked about a king of the Jews. Herod, the man they asked about it, was an Edomite (Idumean), one of the peoples that this prophecy described as being conquered by the coming king. And, most noticeably, Balaam spoke of a star, and the wise men came in response to a star. Incidentally, we don’t know for certain that there were three wise men—that is simply an inference from the three types of gifts they brought (Matt. 2:11).

LED BY A STAR

One of the reasons we don’t look too closely at what the text says about our star is that it might mess with our modernist cosmology too much. The text says that the star, the same one which they had seen in the east, led them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, a distance of about six miles, and that the star then stood still over the house where Mary and Jesus were (Matt. 2:9, 11). And the text tells us explicitly which one it was—“it came and stood over where the young child was.” Picture a star leading you to Pullman, and then pointing out a particular house.

Either the wise men were being “led by” the star in some astrological sense, meaning that they were doing some serious math on the back of their camels (also unmentioned in the text, by the way), or a star actually came down into our atmosphere and did some very un-starlike things. But why should this be a surprise? A whole host of stars did the same thing for the shepherds (Luke 2:13).

NOT WHAT WE WERE EXPECTING

Now if we don’t accept the astrological math option, then that means the star came down into our sky, and stood over a particular house—fifty feet up, say. Does faithfulness to Scripture require us to accept absurdities? That a flaming ball of gas, many times larger than our entire earth, came down into Palestine in order to provide first century GPS services? And that it did so without incinerating the globe?

So we need to take a lesson here from our medieval fathers in the faith, brought to us via Narnia. “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.” If we can leave our bodies behind when we go to heaven, why cannot a star leave its body behind to come to earth? So any way you take it, the Christian faith flat contradicts the truncated cosmology of moderns. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

REMEMBER WHAT THE STAR MEANT

Balaam is talking about what will happen to all the tinpot monarchies when the real kingdom arrives, when the true scepter is established. In the book of Revelation, Jesus identifies Himself with His ancestor and subject, King David. He is the root and offspring of David, and He is the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16). Balaam was talking about what was going to happen in “the latter days” (v. 14), and he is very clear about the rise and fall of nations before the Messiah would come. First, the Amalekites would perish forever (v. 20). After them, the Kenites would go down (v. 22). They would be followed by invaders from Kittim (the Greeks, under Alexander), which is what verse 24 is talking about. But then the power of the Greeks would fade away (v. 24), which is what happened with Rome in the ascendancy. And thus it was that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed (Luke 2:1).

So Caesar gave the command in order to tax the whole world (v. Luke 2:1). The star gave the command that magi from the east would voluntarily come, bearing gifts (Matt. 2:11). Augustus won his throne through a great deal of killing at the battle of Actium. The Lord Jesus won His throne at the battle of Golgotha, where He conquered and crushed the devil by dying. The star in the east, the one the wise men followed, was a star that declared a coming kingdom, a kingdom that will never end. This is the kingdom of the true king, before whom the most magnificent kings in the history of the world were but flickering types and shadows.

The star of Bethlehem is therefore the regal emblem of a scepter, a scepter of never-ending glory.

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The Zeal of the Lord (Advent 2025) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

On a number of different occasions, we have considered the importance of having our times and seasons defined in relation to Jesus Christ. The only alternative to this is to have them defined in reference to someone or something else, and this is obviously an unacceptable alternative to all faithful Christians. You will either be oriented to Christmas, or to Labor Day.

So Jesus Christ really has been established as the king of all heaven and earth. The federal building downtown has a stone embedded in the wall that tells us the building was put up in the administration of Richard Nixon, 1973. The dating of Christmas 2025 tells us the same kind of thing, which is that the new heavens and the new earth are under construction, and have been for just over 2,000 years.

THE TEXT

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this (Is. 9: 6-7).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

There are many things to note in this glorious text, and it is right that we are reminded of this on many Christmas cards. The message of Christmas is politically incendiary, when you come to think about it, and it is not for nothing that secularists are trying to get us to forget Jesus with their C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before Common Era), and seasonal conifers instead of Christmas trees. Nice try, but we aren’t buying any.

To us a child is born, a son is given (v. 6). Taken in context this is clearly the same child typified by Immanuel, two chapters earlier. This one to come will be a ruler, and the government will be on his shoulder (v. 6). We learned earlier that His name is Immanuel, and Jesus, but there is more (v. 6). Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace (v. 6). In order to be worthy of all these names, He must indeed be Immanuel—fully God, confessed a thousand years before Nicea. The growth of His government and peace will be inexorable. It will never cease growing (v. 7). This will be a Davidic throne, which is Nicea again—He will be fully man, a son of David. Over time, He will establish His kingdom and set it in order. This will be done in accordance with the zeal of the Lord (v. 7).

NOT A DIVINE ATTEMPT

We were not given a son who aspired to have the government be on His shoulder. The result of His coming is promised just as surely as His coming was, and that result was that the “government shall be upon his shoulder.” This government will be established in fact (as it was 2,000 years ago), and the growth and increase of that government will necessarily be inexorable. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” His government will not be manifested all at once because the prophecy describes it as needing to be ordered and established with judgment and justice. But this will happen, and we have the assurance that God is zealous to accomplish this. And so this is Christmas—a cornerstone in the building of a new humanity, a new heaven and a new earth.

“INSIGNIFICANT” FAITHFULNESS

A moment’s reflection should reveal that the new calendar system was not instituted by Herod the Great just after the wise men got away, or by Caesar Augustus. When did this thing happen? And who did it? Anyone who has read Herodotus knows that the Scythians were a rough bunch, a reputation that may be reflected in the New Testament (Col. 3:11). But by the 5th century, there was a thriving Christian church in Scythia, and at that time there was a Scythian monk named Dennis. The ancient form of that name would have been Dionysus. Because that name was so common back then, he took the nickname of Exiguus. And so you are now introduced to Dennis the Insignificant, who, as the providence of God would have it, was one of the most significant figures of church history. He moved to Rome around 500 A.D. and he was the one who proposed that the calendar system be changed to date from the birth of Jesus Christ.

In his calendar, the New Year was the 25th of March (the Feast of the Annunciation), ninth months before Christmas. After all, that is when the Incarnation happened. So for a thousand years, the Christian new year was March 25, and it was not moved to January 1 until Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar once more in 1582. And of course, we now know that Jesus was likely born in 4 B.C. and not four years later. But the issue is symbol, not simple reenactment, and Dennis did a good job with the materials he had.

SYMBOLS AND FAILED SYMBOLS

Several centuries before Dionysus, the emperor Diocletian revealed himself as a serious megalomaniac by trying to change the dating system to count from the year he became emperor. The Jewish false Messiah, Simeon Bar-Kochba, did the same thing. The devotees of the French Revolution attempted the same trick, dating the events of the whole world from 1792. But of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. But these clowns at least knew how important this issue is, which is more than we can say of many Christians. The Anti-Christian Liberties Union (ACLU) knows that getting Christmas trees off public property is well worth fighting for.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS” AS INSURRECTION

How do we define our lives within the flow of history? More than this, how do we define our lives as a people? Far from retreating into a minimalist celebration, or no celebration at all, we as Christians must take far greater advantage of the opportunity we have in all of this. Now the Lord Jesus is on His throne. And His government will continue to increase. But He works through instruments, and one of His central instruments for establishing His kingdom on earth is the faith of His people.

Celebrating Christmas is celebrating a holiday, but it is not a holiday away from kingdom building. Rather, the kingdom is being built on this holiday.

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Immanuel (Advent 2025) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

We are now in Advent, and so we naturally look forward to celebrating the birth of the Messiah. But we must do so as biblically based Christians—always building on the bedrock of the Word.

THE TEXT

“Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings” (Is. 7:10-16).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Through the prophet Isaiah, God invited King Ahaz to request a sign that he would in fact be delivered (vv. 10-11). But Ahaz shook his head, and adopted a posture of faux humility. He said that he would not tempt the Lord (v. 12). But refusing a gracious invitation is certainly tempting the Lord. Isaiah responded by pointing out that Ahaz was doing more than wearying men, but he was being tedious with God also (v. 13). So God decided to give the sign that Ahaz refused to ask for. A young woman will conceive, and bring forth a son named Immanuel (v. 14). He will be nourished on butter and honey, which will teach him discernment (v. 15). And before he comes to an age of ethical discernment, the kings that so worried Ahaz would both be out of the picture (v. 16).

BACKGROUND

King Ahaz of Judah was distressed over threats of a confederacy of Syria and Israel (vv. 1-2). Isaiah the prophet was sent to him with a message of encouragement. But before he gave his second oracle, he invited Ahaz to set some terms for it—to specify a sign. A prophet of God invited Ahaz to stipulate a sign, and Ahaz refused to do so because he said that this would be tempting God. Isaiah responded that his refusal, if it was not tempting God, was certainly wearying Him. And so then Isaiah gave the sign, which was that a virgin would conceive, have a son, be called Immanuel, and that before this boy grew to years of ethical discernment, the kings that Ahaz was so worried about would both be gone.

TYPOLOGY

Clearly the sign that Isaiah gave to Ahaz was a sign that was intended to be helpful to him. If this prophecy were about the birth of the Messiah only, this sign being a help would be difficult to see. The Messiah was to be born about 700 years later. What good did it do Ahaz to be told that by a particular point, many centuries later, the two threatening kings would be dead? So would Ahaz, and Isaiah, and lots of other people. So it is obvious that Isaiah was prophesying that a woman at that time would conceive, would name her son Immanuel, and that by the time this boy was weaned, the kings would no longer be a threat.

But this means that the situation back then was a type of the Christ who was to come. Isaiah prophesied then, the fulfillment happened then, and that fulfillment was itself a typological prophecy.

ON THE AUTHORITY OF MATTHEW

What does Isaiah mean? How are we to take this prophecy? We should consider the words of Matthew (1:18ff). Matthew will tell us what it means.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS” (Matt. 1:18-25).

What are we to learn from this?

First, the prophecy is applied by Matthew, unambiguously, to Mary and Jesus. Whatever the initial fulfillment centuries before, the primary fulfillment is here.

Second, the name Immanuel is equated with Jesus, and we are told the meaning of both. Immanuel means “God with us,” and Jesus means “saving the people from their sins.” These two names must be understood together. The kings of the earth who trouble us will be no more—because God-with-us will save us from our sins.

Third, the Greek word for virgin here is parthenos, which means virgin, and nothing but virgin. The Hebrew word is almah, which is less specific. But in the LXX, a translation of Isaiah uses the word parthenos. The Bible plainly teaches the virgin birth of Christ, and the Jews prior to Bethlehem were expecting a virgin birth.

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST

The virgin birth is an important handmaiden, pointing to the central miracle itself, which is the Incarnation. The thing that should stagger us is “God with us” part, and not the virgin birth. The virgin birth points to this great miracle. And because God is with us, thus we are saved. There is no other salvation, no other way.

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