WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 Let's take our Bibles now and open up to the 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:10.660 Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:14.679 chapter 5. This is the fifth book of the Bible, 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:18.960 the fifth book of the Torah, and what we're doing 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.660 this evening is continuing through these evening 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:24.460 services looking at what I've been calling our 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:28.480 shepherding sermons, shepherding us through difficulties 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.260 that we may have in our lives, temptations that 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:34.060 we face, sins that we are trying with the Holy 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:38.159 Spirit to overcome. And so tonight, how fitting 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.020 we look at, we're going to look kind of hyper 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:46.079 -focus on one commandment, but we're going to 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.100 see it in context and therefore see all of the 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.859 Ten Commandments. Now as you're turning to Deuteronomy 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:55.000 5, And you see the Ten Commandments listed there. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:56.640 You might say, well, I thought those were in 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.619 Exodus chapter 20. It's true, they are. But you 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:03.500 can also see the Ten Commandments here in Deuteronomy 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:07.459 5. But I do want us to see it all in context. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.939 And so I'm going to read this chapter for us. 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:15.959 For indeed, God's Word is good for us and we 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:19.120 need to read it. here in the worship service 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:21.920 and at homes and with our families and so would 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.400 you now give attention to the reading of God's 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:31.840 holy inspired word Deuteronomy 5 and Moses summoned 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.980 all Israel and said to them hero Israel the statutes 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:38.060 and the rules that I speak and you're hearing 00:01:38.060 --> 00:01:41.420 today and you shall learn them and be careful 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:44.739 to do them the Lord your God made a coven with 00:01:44.739 --> 00:01:48.090 us in Horeb Not with the fathers did the Lord 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:51.810 make this covenant, but with us who are all of 00:01:51.810 --> 00:01:56.209 us here alive today The Lord spoke with you face 00:01:56.209 --> 00:01:59.290 to face at the mountain Out of the midst of the 00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:02.069 fire while I stood between the Lord and you at 00:02:02.069 --> 00:02:04.969 the time to declare to you the word of the Lord 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:09.689 for you were afraid because of the fire and You 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:13.389 did not go up into the mountain. He said I am 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:16.590 the Lord your God who brought you out of the 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:20.930 land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You 00:02:20.930 --> 00:02:25.090 shall have no other gods before me. You shall 00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:28.150 not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness 00:02:28.150 --> 00:02:30.990 of anything that is in heaven above, or that 00:02:30.990 --> 00:02:34.090 is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water 00:02:34.090 --> 00:02:36.789 under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 00:02:36.789 --> 00:02:40.270 or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a 00:02:40.270 --> 00:02:44.039 jealous God. visiting the iniquity of the fathers 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:46.699 on the children to the third and the fourth generation 00:02:46.699 --> 00:02:50.479 of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:54.560 to thousands of those who love me and keep my 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:58.060 commandments. You shall not take the name of 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:01.039 the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.139 not hold him guiltless who takes his name in 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:07.900 vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:11.469 the Lord your God commanded you six days you 00:03:11.469 --> 00:03:14.969 shall labor and do all your work but the seventh 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:18.590 day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:22.389 shall do no work you or your son or your daughter 00:03:22.389 --> 00:03:25.810 or your male servant or your female servant or 00:03:25.810 --> 00:03:29.270 your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:33.250 or the sojourner who is within your gates that 00:03:33.250 --> 00:03:35.610 your male servant and your female servant may 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:39.590 rest as well as you You shall remember that you 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:43.689 were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.289 your God brought you out from there with a mighty 00:03:46.289 --> 00:03:49.610 hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:53.310 your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.569 Honor your father and your mother as the Lord 00:03:57.569 --> 00:04:00.870 your God commanded you that your days may be 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:03.509 long and that it may go well with you in the 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:06.150 land that the Lord your God is giving you. You 00:04:06.150 --> 00:04:09.919 shall not murder. and you shall not commit adultery, 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.360 and you shall not steal, and you shall not bear 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.339 false witness against your neighbor, and you 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:19.740 shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you 00:04:19.740 --> 00:04:22.899 shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:26.079 or his male servant, or his female servant, his 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:31.060 ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.259 These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly 00:04:34.259 --> 00:04:36.720 at the mountain. out of the midst of the fire, 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.220 the cloud and thick darkness with a loud voice 00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:43.579 and he added no more. And he wrote them on two 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:46.680 tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:48.800 soon as you heard the voice out of the midst 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:50.779 of the darkness while the mountain was burning 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:54.420 with fire, you came near to me, all the heads 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:57.079 of your tribes and your elders. And you said, 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:00.079 behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.240 and greatness. And we have heard his voice. out 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:06.199 of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:10.139 God speak with man and man still live. Now therefore, 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:13.920 why should we die? For this great fire will consume 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.019 us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God 00:05:17.019 --> 00:05:20.019 anymore, we shall die. For who is there of all 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:22.699 the flesh that has heard the voice of the living 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:25.800 God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:30.120 and is still lived? Go near and hear. all that 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.040 the Lord our God will say and speak to us all 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.319 that the Lord our God will speak to you and we 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:40.600 will hear and do it and the Lord heard your words 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.160 when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.980 I have heard the words of this people which they 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:49.500 have spoken to you they are right in all that 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:52.720 they have spoken oh that they had such a heart 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.639 as this always to fear me and to keep all my 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:57.720 commandments that it might go well with them 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:01.420 their descendants forever go and say to them 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:05.680 return to your tents but you stand here by me 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.680 and I will tell you the whole commandment and 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:10.939 the statutes and the rules that you shall teach 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:14.319 them they may do to them in the land that I am 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:18.319 giving them to possess you shall be careful therefore 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:21.279 to do as the Lord your God has commanded you 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.639 you shall not turn aside to the right hand or 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:28.720 to the left You shall walk in all the way that 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.079 the Lord your God has commanded you, that you 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.920 may live and that it may go well with you and 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.579 that you may live long in the land that you shall 00:06:39.579 --> 00:06:44.720 possess. This friends is God's holy word. Let's 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:49.660 pray together. Our Lord and our God, we thank 00:06:49.660 --> 00:06:52.740 you for the entirety of your word and specifically 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:56.670 for these 10 commandments. but Lord so many of 00:06:56.670 --> 00:07:00.949 us throughout our many years decades even we 00:07:00.949 --> 00:07:04.910 have heard these commandments hundreds of times 00:07:04.910 --> 00:07:07.910 maybe thousands we have meditated on them before 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:10.709 we've heard them taught and sometimes we approach 00:07:10.709 --> 00:07:12.850 these commandments Lord and we think that we 00:07:12.850 --> 00:07:15.790 know it all and we may even think that we keep 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:19.250 these perfectly Lord let it not be so let us 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:22.329 instead give ourselves to the study of this tonight 00:07:22.730 --> 00:07:26.769 and see what Christ has done for us. Lord, make 00:07:26.769 --> 00:07:30.430 us obedient, Lord, and help us to be good listeners, 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:40.089 we pray in Christ's name, amen. One second for 00:07:40.089 --> 00:07:50.790 some water. Why don't I have her house? Why don't 00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:54.939 I have his car? Why aren't my children more like 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:59.879 their children? Why can't I have a job like that? 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.420 Why, we ask, why can't things for me be like 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:12.879 they are for them? At first glance, maybe these 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:19.180 sorts of questions seem whiny, but perhaps benign. 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:22.970 Of the Ten Commandments, God could have commanded, 00:08:23.089 --> 00:08:28.050 why is coveting in here? Surely coveting is not 00:08:28.050 --> 00:08:33.110 on the level with idolatry or murder or adultery, 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:38.210 right? It can't be that bad. Did God just have 00:08:38.210 --> 00:08:40.990 some extra room on those tablets and so he gave 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:44.490 us a bonus commandment? What's going on with 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:48.370 coveting? Really? What's so bad about wanting 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:53.929 somebody else's donkey? Friends, what I want 00:08:53.929 --> 00:08:59.250 you to see tonight is that coveting is an egregious 00:08:59.250 --> 00:09:05.190 sin. And yes, it is fitting where it is in the 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:09.009 Ten Commandments. And yes, according to the Scriptures, 00:09:09.289 --> 00:09:13.909 sin produces all kinds of covetousness within 00:09:13.909 --> 00:09:18.139 us, but there is a solution to coveting. And 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:20.580 so tonight what I want us to see is the problem 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:24.519 of coveting. I want to see the place of coveting. 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:28.379 And yes, I want to see the solution to coveting. 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:34.519 There was once a king and a queen who seemed, 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.120 seemed being an important word, to have all authority 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.620 and all the power. They could do whatever they 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:45.220 wanted. But one day, the queen found the king 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:49.779 to be upset, to be downcast. And she asked him, 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:55.639 what's the matter? And he said, well, Naboth, 00:09:56.100 --> 00:09:58.220 you know, he's got this vineyard and I really 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:00.940 want it, but he won't give it to me. He won't 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:04.259 sell it to me. And so the queen reminded the 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:07.980 king, hey, you're the king and you could do whatever 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:10.639 you want. And she said, actually, I'll take care 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.879 of it. and take care of it, she did. Jezebel 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:17.720 had the owner, Naboth, the owner of the vineyard. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.000 She had him stoned. And then the king just went 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:26.179 and took possession of the vineyard. The story 00:10:26.179 --> 00:10:29.600 of Naboth's vineyard from 1 Kings 21 illustrates 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.240 what we're talking about tonight. That coveting 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:37.370 isn't simply about desires. I want to make sure 00:10:37.370 --> 00:10:40.330 we have that distinction down. There are good 00:10:40.330 --> 00:10:43.190 desires that are out there. And so it's not wrong 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:46.909 to desire those things. But coveting is the desire 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:51.330 to have what is not ours and the desire to obtain 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:58.809 it through ungodly means. Consider what the book 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:03.149 of James says here. What causes quarrels and 00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:07.460 what causes fights among you? Is it not this 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:11.419 that your passions are at war within you? You 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.580 desire and you do not have, so you murder. You 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:19.159 covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.820 Now, getting back to Ahab and Jezebel, that had 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:28.919 very serious, long -lasting ramifications even 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:34.019 though Ahab does feel remorse over his sin. But 00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:36.860 it's a significant moment in Israel's history. 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:42.620 The damage is this punishment for covetousness, 00:11:42.820 --> 00:11:45.679 punishment for murder, punishment for idolatry 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:49.100 and the death of the entirety of Ahab's family 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:58.720 because of coveting. Hear this, behold, God's 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.899 word says, I will bring disaster upon you. I 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:05.830 will utterly burn you up. and cut off from Ahab 00:12:05.830 --> 00:12:09.990 every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:12.529 make your house like the house of Jeroboam the 00:12:12.529 --> 00:12:15.990 son of Nebat, and like the house of Bashah the 00:12:15.990 --> 00:12:19.570 son of Ahaziah, for the anger to which you have 00:12:19.570 --> 00:12:23.309 provoked me, because you have made Israel to 00:12:23.309 --> 00:12:30.509 sin." You see, that happens because of this egregious 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:35.419 sin of coveting. And actually, when we jump ahead 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:37.799 into the New Testament to consider coveting, 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:42.620 we see that coveting is directly the opposite 00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:46.200 of what Jesus tells us to do. When Jesus boils 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.480 down these 10 commandments into two, what does 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:52.200 he say? Love the Lord your God and love your 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.379 neighbor as yourself. Well, friends, you cannot 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:56.820 love your neighbor as yourself if you're just 00:12:56.820 --> 00:13:00.879 wanting their stuff. That's not loving our neighbor. 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:06.309 Not at all Not at all and as you look at this 00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:10.350 commandment here specifically You can see the 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:14.769 things that are mentioned You can see why an 00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:19.509 ancient Israelite would want this right? Again 00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:22.710 you shall not covet your neighbor's wife You 00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:26.529 shall not desire your neighbor's house his field 00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:30.029 or his male servant or his female servant, his 00:13:30.029 --> 00:13:32.889 ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors. 00:13:33.309 --> 00:13:36.909 If you compare the commandment that is here in 00:13:36.909 --> 00:13:40.470 Deuteronomy five with Exodus 20, you'll notice 00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:43.370 that there is an extra word, an extra kind of 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:47.850 phrase that is in here. Really, the word field 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:51.850 is located in Deuteronomy five, 21, and it's 00:13:51.850 --> 00:13:54.730 not there in the commandment in Exodus 20. Well, 00:13:54.730 --> 00:13:58.370 why would that be? Commentators have different 00:13:58.370 --> 00:14:00.169 thoughts on this, but most of them would say, 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:02.190 well, we got to remember what's happening in 00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:05.690 Deuteronomy. What's Moses doing in Deuteronomy? 00:14:05.710 --> 00:14:08.289 He's kind of retelling all of this in preparation 00:14:08.289 --> 00:14:11.990 for what? For the promised land in which prayerfully 00:14:11.990 --> 00:14:17.389 the Israelites would have their own fields. They 00:14:17.389 --> 00:14:20.950 may have desired these things and they may have 00:14:20.950 --> 00:14:25.909 ended up becoming like Naboth. Dead over these 00:14:25.909 --> 00:14:29.370 things or Ahab killing over these things and 00:14:29.370 --> 00:14:33.490 so what we have here is a very strong commandment 00:14:33.490 --> 00:14:40.549 not to covet anything that is our neighbors and 00:14:40.549 --> 00:14:42.970 So that's the problem of coveting in a nutshell. 00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:44.809 There's a lot more we could say but what about 00:14:44.809 --> 00:14:48.429 the place of coveting? Well after saying all 00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:51.750 these words here God puts down his pen or his 00:14:51.750 --> 00:14:57.070 chisel as it were It says that God spoke no more, 00:14:57.730 --> 00:15:01.190 but put these on the stone tablets, and coveting 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:05.169 is at the end. And so what I want us to see now 00:15:05.169 --> 00:15:09.470 is that coveting absolutely fits with these other 00:15:09.470 --> 00:15:12.129 commandments, and it does so in a special way. 00:15:12.610 --> 00:15:17.289 Consider Colossians 3 verse 5. It says, put to 00:15:17.289 --> 00:15:22.450 death, therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual 00:15:22.450 --> 00:15:28.600 immorality. impurity, passion, evil desire, and 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:32.080 covetousness. Some translations may have greed, 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:37.720 but it says then, which is idolatry. On account 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:41.139 of these, the wrath of God is coming. And so 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:46.340 covetousness and greed is linked then to the 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:49.940 first and the second commandment. You shall have 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:53.000 no other gods before me. You shall not make any 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.340 gods or bow down to them. And this is what I 00:15:56.340 --> 00:15:58.820 want us to see, that you can do this with all 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.460 of these commandments. You can see the correlation 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:05.860 between coveting and between all the other commandments. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:11.600 Think about what idolatry really is. It's being 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:16.830 terribly unsatisfied with who God is. as if to 00:16:16.830 --> 00:16:21.070 say, God, you are not enough for me. You can 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:24.429 study the Israelites and their history and you 00:16:24.429 --> 00:16:27.250 can see how they went after other gods. That 00:16:27.250 --> 00:16:30.250 is idolatry. And as they're looking at other 00:16:30.250 --> 00:16:33.389 nations and these other fake gods and these idols, 00:16:33.830 --> 00:16:36.470 they're wanting to leave the one true God for 00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:40.330 this fake God over here. They are coveting and 00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:43.889 they're committing idolatry. And so that's the 00:16:43.889 --> 00:16:46.169 link between the first and the second commandment 00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:49.269 and commandment 10. What about the third? You 00:16:49.269 --> 00:16:51.570 know the third commandment. You shall not take 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:56.690 the Lord's name in vain. When we do that, we 00:16:56.690 --> 00:17:00.509 are showing a lack of reverence and a heinous 00:17:00.509 --> 00:17:05.069 lack of reverence for God when we when we use 00:17:05.069 --> 00:17:08.250 his name in inappropriate ways. But you might 00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:11.750 say, well, how is this like coveting? Well, because 00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:15.329 maybe we're not coveting what somebody else wants 00:17:15.329 --> 00:17:20.589 or has or does. We're coveting what we want. 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:24.349 It's speaking of our desires that I recognize 00:17:24.349 --> 00:17:28.049 that God has told me how to speak and he's told 00:17:28.049 --> 00:17:31.109 me his name and I'm saying I don't care about 00:17:31.109 --> 00:17:35.609 your name. I'm going to speak however I desire. 00:17:35.750 --> 00:17:40.000 Friends, we really need to be careful. with our 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:47.680 speech. Commandment four, the Sabbath. This one 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:52.200 is one that is terribly neglected in our day. 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:57.920 That sometimes our desires for pleasure or for 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.940 entertainment or our desire to get things done 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:05.079 that we did not plan ahead for, these things 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.420 went out. over keeping and honoring the Lord's 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.119 day. It's like we're saying, I went to church 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:14.700 for an hour today, God, what more do you want 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:19.640 of me? I am free to do whatever I want. That 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:23.980 kind of mentality, though, is not keeping the 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:28.059 Christian Sabbath. Consider Isaiah 58, 13 and 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:32.380 14. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:36.640 from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.839 call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:43.819 of the Lord honorable. If you honor it, not going 00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:46.660 your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or 00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:50.240 talking idly, then you shall take delight in 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.480 the Lord. And I will make you ride on the heights 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:56.519 of the earth. I will feed you from the heritage 00:18:56.519 --> 00:19:00.140 of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:05.819 has spoken. Do you see, friends, The Christian 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:10.299 Sabbath it's to be a delight and I think I'm 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:13.480 preaching to the choir here for you are in this 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:16.880 place Worshipping and hearing God's word and 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:21.700 yet sometimes our coveting eyes Look over here 00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:26.019 What are they doing with this day? What are they 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:29.579 doing over here with this day? It's like we're 00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:34.279 saying to God. It's not delightful to me. I want 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:39.019 to do something else with my time. Now we could 00:19:39.019 --> 00:19:41.440 go through all of the Commandments like this, 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.480 but I just want to press home what I'm talking 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:50.759 about with a quote from R. Scott Clark, who wrote 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.700 a very good commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism. 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.859 He says, when the 10th Commandment says, you 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:00.519 shall not covet, it goes to the root of the 5th 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.250 Commandment. We desire to rule over authorities. 00:20:04.869 --> 00:20:08.630 To the sixth commandment, we desire to take life 00:20:08.630 --> 00:20:12.490 unjustly. To the seventh commandment, we desire 00:20:12.490 --> 00:20:16.490 to find sexual satisfaction outside the order 00:20:16.490 --> 00:20:20.029 that God has established. To the eighth, we desire 00:20:20.029 --> 00:20:23.349 what God has not given, so we steal it. And to 00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:26.730 the ninth, we desire people to think what we 00:20:26.730 --> 00:20:31.410 want, not what is. And so we lie. When we cover 00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:38.150 up, it's all rooted in covetousness. Furthermore, 00:20:38.589 --> 00:20:40.809 when the apostle Paul wants to talk about how 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:44.410 the law teaches the greatness of our sin, Paul 00:20:44.410 --> 00:20:47.849 goes to the 10th commandment from Romans 7 through 00:20:47.849 --> 00:20:52.750 8. What then shall we say that the law is sin? 00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:57.410 By no means. Yet, if it had not been for the 00:20:57.410 --> 00:21:01.670 law, I would not have known sin. For I would 00:21:01.670 --> 00:21:04.849 not have known what it is to covet if the law 00:21:04.849 --> 00:21:09.289 had not said you shall not covet But sin seizing 00:21:09.289 --> 00:21:12.089 an opportunity through the commandment produced 00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:18.430 in me all kinds of covetousness Friends the problems 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:26.009 not the law It's coveting you see God's commands 00:21:26.009 --> 00:21:29.009 don't fizzle out with the 10th commandment. It's 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:32.990 a very firm summary statement. It's a great conclusion. 00:21:33.269 --> 00:21:37.609 It puts a period at the end of the 10 commandments. 00:21:38.190 --> 00:21:41.049 But beyond the 10 commandments and their place 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:45.009 in the moral law, the real location of coveting 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:48.789 is right in here, isn't it? The real location 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:52.470 where coveting happens is in our hearts. Luke 00:21:52.470 --> 00:21:56.369 12, 15, Jesus says, take care and be on your 00:21:56.369 --> 00:22:00.470 guard against all covetousness for one's life 00:22:00.470 --> 00:22:03.769 does not consist in the abundance of riches. 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:07.750 James also says that all good gifts come from 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:12.349 above, but evil desires come from corrupt hearts. 00:22:14.750 --> 00:22:18.029 And so, yes, I want you to see that coveting 00:22:18.029 --> 00:22:22.079 is a problem. And the Bible does address it, 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:27.559 but the Bible doesn't leave you in despair. The 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:33.700 Bible does give you the solution for coveting. 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:37.059 But before we get there, I want to give you some 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:41.420 red flags of coveting. And then we'll talk about 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:44.039 that solution. These are just some red flags 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:47.819 that I thought of. I'm sure there are many more. 00:22:48.589 --> 00:22:52.410 And so I think I've got six of them, red flags 00:22:52.410 --> 00:22:55.190 to know if you're struggling with coveting. Do 00:22:55.190 --> 00:22:59.750 you mourn when things aren't going well for you, 00:22:59.809 --> 00:23:02.690 specifically when you hear the accomplishments 00:23:02.690 --> 00:23:06.210 of other people? In other words, do you celebrate 00:23:06.210 --> 00:23:09.690 people's accomplishments or do you get down on 00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:16.450 yourself? Two, do you recognize sin in your life 00:23:16.450 --> 00:23:20.240 and repent of it? Romans seven seven that I already 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.240 read shows what sin produces in us. It may be 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:27.660 covetousness. Therefore, we ought to be quick 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:32.599 to repent. Three, do you fail to guard your heart 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:36.940 against the love of money or possessions? Meaning 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:41.059 are those possessions is that is the paycheck 00:23:41.059 --> 00:23:44.700 is the accumulation of wealth and idle in your 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:50.220 heart? Four, Are you unwilling to share your 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:54.019 wealth even to the extent of hurting others to 00:23:54.019 --> 00:24:00.299 get what you want? Five. Are you honest with 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:03.920 God and with others? You can see throughout the 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:06.859 scriptures that there were times when people 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:10.299 coveted and they hid. They hid their stealing. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.059 They hid their covetousness. Do you hide it? 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:17.849 Or are you honest with God and with others? Six, 00:24:18.589 --> 00:24:21.809 and lastly, are you thankful for what you have, 00:24:22.490 --> 00:24:26.630 or do you find yourself grumbling about the lack 00:24:26.630 --> 00:24:33.609 thereof? Kevin Young says this. The antidote 00:24:33.609 --> 00:24:40.269 to the sin of coveting is 1 Timothy 6, 6. Godliness 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:44.349 with contentment is a great gain. Do you see 00:24:44.349 --> 00:24:47.630 what the Bible says or does here? He says, coveting 00:24:47.630 --> 00:24:50.869 is about gaining. And isn't that what you covet? 00:24:51.630 --> 00:24:54.170 I want to gain a possession, a friend or a house. 00:24:54.230 --> 00:24:56.970 And God says, good, you want gain? I want you 00:24:56.970 --> 00:25:00.029 to have gain. I want you to have joy. I want 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:04.450 to bless you. But you won't get it by coveting. 00:25:04.990 --> 00:25:10.650 You get it by contentment. Now you might say, 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:15.069 well, what is contentment? Jeremiah Burroughs, 00:25:15.130 --> 00:25:17.849 who wrote a very wonderful book called The Rare 00:25:17.849 --> 00:25:20.730 Jewel of Christian Contentment, defines it like 00:25:20.730 --> 00:25:26.829 this. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, 00:25:27.549 --> 00:25:31.849 quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely 00:25:31.849 --> 00:25:37.069 submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly 00:25:37.069 --> 00:25:42.450 disposal in every condition. I love that definition. 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:46.839 Right? Or if you're looking for somebody in scripture, 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.200 the apostle Paul speaks about contentment. He 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.839 says to the Philippian church, I have learned 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:57.660 and whatsoever state I am therefore to be content. 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:00.660 And these words from Paul, I think are especially 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:04.000 meaningful because Paul doesn't write about contentment 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.140 sitting in a mansion with the finest food, does 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:11.880 he? No, Paul actually writes this from prison 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:17.539 and therefore it has quite an impact. His contentment 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:20.859 is not tied to his possessions. His contentment 00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:23.940 is not tied to his wallet. His contentment is 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:26.700 not tied to the dinner table and his contentment 00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:29.579 is not tied to whether or not the Clemson Tigers 00:26:29.579 --> 00:26:38.079 play well. No. His contentment is in Christ. 00:26:39.630 --> 00:26:45.509 Now, maybe you say, how do I get this? How can 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:51.150 I have this contentment? Well, friends, it might 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:55.150 take time actually. When he says, I have learned 00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:59.009 these things, this shows that sanctification 00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:02.950 is part of the process. I have learned to be 00:27:02.950 --> 00:27:06.869 content. He didn't buy it in the store. It just 00:27:06.869 --> 00:27:10.190 might take some time. Burroughs again on this, 00:27:10.450 --> 00:27:13.609 contentment is every condition. Contentment in 00:27:13.609 --> 00:27:17.470 every condition is a great art, a spiritual mystery. 00:27:18.150 --> 00:27:21.589 He says, I did not have the art at first. I have 00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:25.430 attained it through with much ado. And now by 00:27:25.430 --> 00:27:29.809 the grace of God, I have become the master of 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:36.180 this art. And so, yes. friends, it may take some 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:42.859 time in our growth in Christ. And so four pointers 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:45.839 as I begin to conclude, four pointers on how 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:50.799 to have this contentment. One, remember who you 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:57.220 are in Christ. John chapter 1 verse 12 says that 00:27:57.220 --> 00:28:01.660 you become a child of God by being born again. 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:06.279 And what more could you really want than to be 00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:10.640 a child of God? Second, remember what you have 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:13.700 in Christ. Ephesians chapter one, verse three, 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:17.339 it mentions every spiritual blessing in the heavenly 00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:20.779 places that Christ, it's getting at, is our true 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:25.539 treasure. And those in him will be content forever. 00:28:26.420 --> 00:28:31.019 Three, remember the means of grace in Christ. 00:28:31.369 --> 00:28:35.009 I don't know about you. Seems to me the most 00:28:35.009 --> 00:28:38.630 content people are the ones who are in their 00:28:38.630 --> 00:28:43.730 Bibles, who are in prayer, who are in worship, 00:28:44.009 --> 00:28:48.309 who surround themselves with great fellowship, 00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:54.789 right? And so remember the means of grace. And 00:28:54.789 --> 00:28:57.369 just along those lines, remember your brothers 00:28:57.369 --> 00:29:01.119 and sisters in Christ. As iron sharpens iron, 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:04.500 we are sharpened in contentment when we surround 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:09.920 ourselves with like -minded people who absolutely 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:14.000 love the means of grace and who love God and 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:17.299 who are saved by Christ in pursuing Christ in 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:20.200 their lives. We ought to surround ourselves with 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:26.700 people who put off covetousness and who put on 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:30.420 contentment. And so friends, just in conclusion, 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.339 if you find the 10th commandment to be a struggle 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:39.099 for you, pray about it, pray for help with it, 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:42.559 and let Christ be your desire. Christ has come 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:46.140 to forgive us of our sins and to deliver us from 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:48.920 covetousness, and he has placed his spirit in 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:53.200 us that we would love him with all of our hearts 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:57.279 and our neighbor as ourselves. Let's pray together.