1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,760
Okay, thank you, Orchestra.

2
00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:14,160
Let's open our Bibles together, please, to Exodus 20, chapter and the 17th verse, as

3
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:23,540
today we come to the conclusion of this series on the Ten Commandments.

4
00:00:23,540 --> 00:00:28,920
And we think today about the sin that nobody admits.

5
00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:34,440
Jean Baptiste de La Salle was a Christian leader and educational reformer of the Middle

6
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,520
Ages.

7
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:42,520
He remarked at the end of his life, after counseling thousands of people about spiritual

8
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:49,400
matters, quote, of all those people, no one ever confessed to me that he was guilty of

9
00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:54,120
breaking the Tenth Commandment.

10
00:00:54,120 --> 00:01:01,240
The Tenth Commandment deals with a sin that nobody cares to admit, and yet it is one that

11
00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,360
perhaps is the most common sins of all people.

12
00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:11,640
It is the one that tripped up, for example, the rich young ruler with whom Jesus spoke

13
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,420
in Luke chapter 18.

14
00:01:14,420 --> 00:01:21,040
You may recall that in reply to his question to Jesus about eternal life, our Lord reminded

15
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:33,560
him of five of the six commandments, those that deal, that is, with human relationships.

16
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,080
He left out one of the six.

17
00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:42,840
The self-righteous young man responded to Jesus indicating that he had no sense of guilt

18
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:48,220
over those commandments that Jesus had brought to his attention.

19
00:01:48,220 --> 00:01:55,760
And then it says that Jesus, when he heard this, said to him, one thing you still lack,

20
00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:01,600
sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in

21
00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,400
heaven, and come, follow me.

22
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,920
Jesus did not quote to him the Tenth Commandment.

23
00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:12,960
He applied it to his life.

24
00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:25,840
And it says, when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

25
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,360
Greed is the sin not only of the rich, however, it is also the sin of the poor and of all

26
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,280
people.

27
00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:40,320
It is a sin that reaches all of us, whatever our socioeconomic status might be.

28
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:49,760
Even the secular philosopher Seneca said, not he who has little, but he who wishes more

29
00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,440
is poor.

30
00:02:52,440 --> 00:03:00,400
In other words, one's real status of rich or poor depends upon the attitude of one's

31
00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:01,960
heart.

32
00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:12,640
Covetousness, referred to here in this verse, is a malignant sin of the spirit.

33
00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,960
It says in verse 17, you shall not covet your neighbor's house.

34
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:22,200
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant

35
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:28,960
or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

36
00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:36,920
God's tenth word is this, you shall not covet.

37
00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:43,640
There is a legend that a saint in days of old was traveling down a road when he was

38
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,580
met by two fellow journeyers.

39
00:03:47,580 --> 00:03:53,520
One of the journeyers was named Greed, the other was named Envy.

40
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,020
They came to a parting in the path.

41
00:03:56,020 --> 00:04:00,880
The two men were to go another direction, and so the saint said to them, before you

42
00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,820
go let me give you a blessing.

43
00:04:03,820 --> 00:04:13,240
I will fulfill the wish of the one who makes the wish first, but of the one who waits to

44
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:22,680
be second, I will give him a double portion of what the first one wished for.

45
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:29,240
Greed and Envy both considered what the saint had said, and neither of them wanted to go

46
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:34,160
first because it would mean the other one would get a double portion of what he had

47
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,200
asked for.

48
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,380
And so they began to struggle.

49
00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:44,280
And finally Greed grabbed Envy around the throat and began to choke him to force him

50
00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:47,200
to make his wish first.

51
00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,880
At last Envy said, all right, I give up.

52
00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,720
I will make my wish first.

53
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,680
I wish that I were blind in one eye.

54
00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:05,520
And with that he was struck blind in one eye, and Greed was struck blind in both eyes.

55
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:13,040
Thus is the malignant and malicious nature of covetousness.

56
00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,640
Covetousness is a universal sin.

57
00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,920
This commandment that deals with that sin is also universal.

58
00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,360
It is universal to every age group.

59
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:32,440
It may be the first of the commandments broken by every toddler who early on learns the meaning

60
00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,120
of the word mine.

61
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:42,980
But it applies as well to the child who wants the biggest donut or to the senior who demands

62
00:05:42,980 --> 00:05:50,120
more from Social Security than he has invested in it, even if it enslaves another generation

63
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,140
with debt.

64
00:05:52,140 --> 00:05:59,560
It applies to corporations who exploit the world's resources and third world populations,

65
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:07,000
just as it applies to unions whose demands drain the financial viability of companies.

66
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:14,160
It applies to those who satisfy their latest wants with foolishly used credit cards, as

67
00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:21,100
well as to the impoverished person who blames society for his circumstances and enviously

68
00:06:21,100 --> 00:06:28,040
demands a redistribution of the wealth of others into his idle hands.

69
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:34,320
This is a universal commandment that cuts across the board to all of us.

70
00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:40,140
What does God mean when he says, you shall not covet?

71
00:06:40,140 --> 00:06:48,120
The word covet comes from the Hebrew, of course, and that Hebrew word means to delight or to

72
00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:55,480
desire something earnestly, to delight in something or to desire it earnestly.

73
00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:05,120
And in a negative context, it means to wrongfully delight, so as to desire for oneself what

74
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,020
belongs to another.

75
00:07:08,020 --> 00:07:14,720
In the parallel passage to this, in Deuteronomy 5 verse 21, another Hebrew word is chosen

76
00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:16,520
by Moses.

77
00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:21,360
There it means to set one's desire on something.

78
00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:26,440
Although there are two words used in the Hebrew, the meaning is essentially the same.

79
00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:33,520
To covet means to fix one's desire on something and to long after it.

80
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:38,420
LBJ summed it up pretty well in a statement that he made.

81
00:07:38,420 --> 00:07:45,640
For those of you who are born after the 1960s, he was a president of the United States.

82
00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:52,440
LBJ said, all I want is all there is.

83
00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:57,040
And isn't that truly the attitude of the human heart?

84
00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:03,560
It is important to understand that God is not here forbidding the possession of things,

85
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:08,600
or for that matter being ambitious or industrious.

86
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:13,200
God is not here commanding a vow of poverty to His people.

87
00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:19,640
Indeed, the theology of possessions that we find in the Bible indicates these things among

88
00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:26,720
others, that we should view our possessions as gifts from God, that we should view them

89
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:33,600
as a means for doing good, and that we are to use them for the glory of God and not merely

90
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,200
for the glory of oneself.

91
00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:43,880
The Bible does not say we should not have possessions, but what God is forbidding here

92
00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:54,880
is the wrongful desire of what does not belong to us, or what cannot belong to us righteously.

93
00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,280
That is what God is forbidding.

94
00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:05,760
And what God states here is a transcendent, objective, unchanging standard of behavior.

95
00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:13,840
Our world does not like to hear that, because our world has rejected any notion of transcendent

96
00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:21,960
commandments from God of objective standards, and yet that's what this is.

97
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,760
How would obedience to this standard change the world, do you suppose?

98
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,880
Just imagine.

99
00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:34,400
Just imagine that if the political leaders of nations would obey this commandment, you

100
00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,960
shall not covet.

101
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:44,200
Whether it be you shall not covet the natural resources of that other nation, or you shall

102
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:50,800
not covet the population that is there for yourself, just imagine if political leaders

103
00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,640
would not covet.

104
00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,160
Would that make a difference in the decisions that they make?

105
00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:03,600
Imagine what a difference it would make in relationships if people would obey this commandment,

106
00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:10,080
or for that matter in business, or in public safety.

107
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:17,540
Think how it would affect insurance rates, living standards, social justice.

108
00:10:17,540 --> 00:10:24,560
If man would simply obey this commandment of God, you shall not covet.

109
00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:31,180
You shall not wrongfully desire what belongs to another.

110
00:10:31,180 --> 00:10:40,440
But because of the sin that is in our hearts, the sin that is defined, the sin that is exposed

111
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:45,600
by this commandment, we live in the kind of a world that we live in.

112
00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:51,080
Now why does God say this to us?

113
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,580
You shall not covet.

114
00:10:53,580 --> 00:10:55,720
There are several reasons why God says this.

115
00:10:55,720 --> 00:11:05,520
In the first place, He says it because He is unalterably opposed to what breaks us,

116
00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,600
which is covetousness.

117
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:13,080
He is unalterably opposed to what breaks us.

118
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,880
As we have studied the Ten Commandments, I have tried to point out to you week by week

119
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:23,080
that the commandments that God gives us are good.

120
00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,160
They are holy, they are righteous.

121
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:31,560
And if man would, indeed if man could obey them, it would be a better world.

122
00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:34,260
We would be happier people.

123
00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:36,320
These commandments are not bad.

124
00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:44,040
God gives them to us because He is always unalterably opposed to what breaks us, and

125
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,560
covetousness breaks us.

126
00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:54,360
The great preacher of the fifth century, Chrysostom, who was bishop of Constantinople stated,

127
00:11:54,360 --> 00:12:05,800
"'As a moth gnaws a garment, so does envy consume a man.'"

128
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,760
That's the result of sin.

129
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,020
It consumes us.

130
00:12:12,020 --> 00:12:16,260
It eats us away from the inside.

131
00:12:16,260 --> 00:12:23,840
You see what God commands us is not capricious, it is benevolent because He only wants the

132
00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,000
very best for us, His creatures.

133
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,920
But let's look further at what God says in His Word about covetousness.

134
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:42,960
In the first place, God makes it clear that covetousness is the moral equivalent of idolatry.

135
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:49,520
Already we have seen that God has commanded against the making or the worship of an idol

136
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:56,760
any image that is intended to represent Him to us, anything that is supposed to be a so-called

137
00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,080
aid to worship of God.

138
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:01,800
We're not to make any idol.

139
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:08,920
But here, here we have an attitude which in the New Testament, God tells us is the moral

140
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,000
equivalent of idolatry.

141
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:17,200
It is putting something before us that takes the place of God.

142
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:26,280
Colossians 3.5 says, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to greed, which

143
00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,440
amounts to idolatry.

144
00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:37,600
Ephesians 5.5 says, "'For you know this with certainty, that no covetous man who is an

145
00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:44,920
idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.'"

146
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:52,120
You say, why does God draw the line here between idolatry and covetousness?

147
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,960
I'll tell you why.

148
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,960
I go back to a statement that we made when we talked about idolatry.

149
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:04,880
It is this, that we become like what we worship.

150
00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:17,600
What we worship twists and distorts the image of God in us to be ugly and hateful and selfish.

151
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:24,520
God wants us to see that there's an equivalence between idolatry and covetousness.

152
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:33,140
Secondly, in His Word, God says regarding covetousness that it is the root of all sorts

153
00:14:33,140 --> 00:14:34,880
of evil.

154
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,520
I refer to 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10.

155
00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:40,920
Listen to the words.

156
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:52,280
"'But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and

157
00:14:52,280 --> 00:15:01,160
harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

158
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:09,760
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and by longing for it, some have

159
00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:18,400
wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang.'"

160
00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:24,960
It has been pointed out that this commandment, dealing with covetousness, perhaps is put

161
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:35,120
last on the list because covetousness really becomes a major motive for breaking the other

162
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,400
commandments, Numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9.

163
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,840
Why do people murder?

164
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,520
Why is there adultery, stealing, and lying?

165
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:55,560
So often it is because of the breaking of the tenth commandment, covetousness.

166
00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:01,720
You see, the love and the desire, the wrongful desire of something that belongs to somebody

167
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:08,680
else is a root of all sorts of evil.

168
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,720
It produces spiritual straying, says Paul.

169
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,320
People wander away from the faith because of it.

170
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,720
And it produces self-induced pain.

171
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:30,420
He says, those who do this pierce themselves with many a pang.

172
00:16:30,420 --> 00:16:37,120
They are plunged, he says, into ruin and destruction.

173
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:45,040
Covetousness leads to multiplied sins which bring destruction to our lives.

174
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:51,080
It breaks us, and God is opposed to anything that breaks us.

175
00:16:51,080 --> 00:17:00,480
But God also says in his word regarding covetousness that it is a characteristic of false teaching.

176
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:07,660
From Balaam to Judas to the Judaizers who opposed the apostle Paul and who were the

177
00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:10,400
enemies of the cross of Christ.

178
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:19,880
We observe the power of greed, its influence upon the conscience of false teachers.

179
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:27,440
The apostle Paul once again in 1 Timothy chapter 6 makes this statement, if anyone advocates

180
00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:36,440
a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words those of our Lord Jesus Christ

181
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:42,120
and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceded.

182
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:51,200
And he goes on to say, he supposes that godliness is a means of gain.

183
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:56,440
You see the prosperity gospel was not created within the last 20 years.

184
00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:07,800
It has been around for 2,000 years equating godliness with material gain and prosperity.

185
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:14,320
The prosperity gospel here in Minneapolis recently made this statement, if you aren't

186
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:20,120
wearing expensive shoes and an expensive suit this morning, something is wrong with your

187
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,880
faith.

188
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:29,640
That my friend is false teaching of the kind that Paul was pointing to in 1 Timothy chapter

189
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,760
6.

190
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:38,120
Last August 21st the Wall Street Journal had an article on the front page as I recall about

191
00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:39,120
T.D.

192
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,120
Jakes.

193
00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:47,140
It says in part in the article, seated in the dining room of the Ritz Carlton Hotel

194
00:18:47,140 --> 00:18:53,640
in Cleveland wearing a custom made suit and a diamond ring the size of a nickel, T.D.

195
00:18:53,640 --> 00:19:03,520
Jakes looks every inch the celebrity and he is as impressed with himself as anyone else.

196
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:09,080
If you go to Hollywood or to Beverly Hills, he says proudly, billion dollar actresses

197
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,520
will know me.

198
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:18,800
Mr. Jakes is not a rock star or a politician but a country preacher from West Virginia

199
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:25,320
who at 41 years old is running a multi-million dollar religious media empire.

200
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:31,120
His message has struck a vein so rich that mainstream companies are courting him with

201
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:33,360
big deals.

202
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:40,960
Blending characteristic charm and grandiosity, Mr. Jakes beholds all of this with satisfaction.

203
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:49,480
In these ventures he says, quote, I am the power and the kingdom and the glory and I

204
00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,040
think I kind of like it that way.

205
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:59,000
Friend, that is exactly what God is warning about.

206
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:05,420
It is that greed and covetousness leads away from the faith.

207
00:20:05,420 --> 00:20:12,960
It is a major characteristic so often of false teaching.

208
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:17,200
God is unalterably committed to what breaks us.

209
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:23,680
But I'll tell you something else that explains why God gives this commandment.

210
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:29,960
He is also unalterably committed to what will make us.

211
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:35,880
And what will make us, what will build us is contentment.

212
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:44,800
True gain, true gain is defined by God as godliness with contentment.

213
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:51,360
First Timothy chapter 6 again, godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied

214
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,160
by contentment.

215
00:20:53,160 --> 00:21:00,800
If we have food and covering, says Paul, with these we shall be content.

216
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,840
Contentment doesn't come naturally to our hearts.

217
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:06,460
We have to learn contentment.

218
00:21:06,460 --> 00:21:07,960
Even Paul learned contentment.

219
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:16,200
He says in Philippians 4, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am.

220
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:21,600
I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity.

221
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:28,000
In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,

222
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,160
both of having abundance and suffering need.

223
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,760
He says I have learned the secret and then he gives it.

224
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:42,840
He says I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

225
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,680
That's the secret.

226
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:54,080
The indwelling Christ who strengthens us and we can learn from him and of him the power

227
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,820
of contentment in our lives.

228
00:21:57,820 --> 00:22:05,280
The writer of Hebrews says, let your character be free from the love of money, being content

229
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,560
with what you have.

230
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:17,520
For he himself has said, I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.

231
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:24,000
You see contentment is not found in having everything you want, but in being satisfied

232
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,100
with everything you have.

233
00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:35,900
To live contentedly is to live with thanksgiving in our hearts.

234
00:22:35,900 --> 00:22:42,840
For one who is discontent and greedy is never truly thankful.

235
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:49,000
It is the contented heart that can truly celebrate thanksgiving.

236
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:55,960
How can you and I learn to be content?

237
00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:01,680
A bishop of the early church was remarkable in the example of contentment that he himself

238
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,380
said.

239
00:23:04,380 --> 00:23:10,680
He was asked about his secret of learning contentment and this is what he said, it consists

240
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:18,380
in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes.

241
00:23:18,380 --> 00:23:25,840
In whatever state I am, I first look up to heaven and remember that my principal business

242
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,280
here is to get there.

243
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:35,320
Then I look down upon the earth and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy when

244
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,960
I die and am buried.

245
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:46,040
I then look around in the world and observe what multitudes there are who are in many

246
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,960
respects more unhappy than myself.

247
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:57,440
Thus I learn where true happiness is placed and where all cares must end and what little

248
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:02,640
reason I have to complain.

249
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,160
How do we learn contentment?

250
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,500
Let me draw upon that phrase that that old bishop used.

251
00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:17,160
It comes from making right use of our eyes by controlling our eyes.

252
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,520
Just think how the world might be different if Eve had done so.

253
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:28,960
You say, well what do you mean by controlling our eyes?

254
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:34,440
Let me suggest putting it this way very bluntly.

255
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:42,840
Look at what you have and become a godly manager of that.

256
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,540
Don't look at what you don't have.

257
00:24:46,540 --> 00:24:49,680
Don't look at what your neighbor has.

258
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:57,200
But look at what you have as a gift from God and then determine in your heart whether that

259
00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:11,400
is much or it is little to become a godly manager of that which God has given you.

260
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,160
What are your eyes focused on this morning?

261
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,200
Are your eyes focused on what you don't have?

262
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:25,080
Or are they focused upon what you do have by God's providence?

263
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,080
I close with the parable of a kite.

264
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,960
A kite that wanted to be free.

265
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:38,960
One day his owner took him out to the park and let the kite out on the string and the

266
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:45,040
kite rose higher and higher and higher and was elated with the experience.

267
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:52,480
He looked down upon the trees and the houses and the park where the children were playing.

268
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:58,020
But he realized soon that he couldn't go any further than that and he wanted to.

269
00:25:58,020 --> 00:26:01,440
And he tried hard to go further than that.

270
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,560
But his owner had quit letting out the string.

271
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,120
And so he griped and he complained and he said, what's holding me back like this?

272
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:16,920
Oh, I could go so much higher if only he would let me.

273
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,760
If only he would let go of that stupid string.

274
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,720
I could really fly high.

275
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:30,960
And each time they went to the park the owner brought the kite back in.

276
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,520
Then one day he went to the park and again let the kite out.

277
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,280
And the kite returned to his former manner of thinking.

278
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,160
Oh, if only I could be free.

279
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,400
If only I could have more.

280
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,500
I could soar to the sky.

281
00:26:47,500 --> 00:26:53,900
And with that a gust of wind came along and snapped the string.

282
00:26:53,900 --> 00:27:01,540
And the kite thought for a moment, oh, finally I may rise and be free and have the more.

283
00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:09,080
And with that he began to pitch from side to side and he fluttered to the ground.

284
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:16,680
You see, what he wanted was his ruin.

285
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:21,080
And so it can be with you and me.

286
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:30,000
Do not be covetous, but be content with what God has given you with a grateful heart.

287
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,200
Let's pray.

288
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:45,840
Father, this morning there is not one of us, probably, if we are honest, who does not in

289
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:55,240
some arena of life struggle with want.

290
00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:01,640
Thank you for the gifts of energy and vision, of ambition and industriousness.

291
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:15,980
Help us to apply those in life without crossing the line into wrongful desire.

292
00:28:15,980 --> 00:28:26,760
Expose within us any tendency toward covetousness that we may confess that and avoid the ruin

293
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,480
that it may bring to our lives.

294
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:41,400
Give us when we gripe and complain that if only we had more we could do this or that.

295
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:51,560
Teach us to be content and to manage well what you have put within our hands.

296
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,680
Now with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, will you allow the Spirit of God just to bring

297
00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:02,360
this to your own heart, to your own life, to your own home, to the business where you

298
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:07,300
work?

299
00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:14,420
And remember that God is unalterably opposed to what breaks you, but he is unalterably

300
00:29:14,420 --> 00:29:17,800
in favor of anything that will make you.

301
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:25,920
And what will make you is learning to be content.

302
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:31,080
Write that lesson upon our hearts, Lord, in Jesus' name I pray.

303
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:32,080
Amen.

304
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,560
Would you stand together with me, please?

305
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:39,440
I read these lines before we go.

306
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,840
Is your place a small place?

307
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:43,400
Tend it with care.

308
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,880
He set you there.

309
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,840
Is your place a large place?

310
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:53,680
Guard it with care, because he set you there.

311
00:29:53,680 --> 00:30:01,560
Whatever your place, it is not yours alone, but his who set you there.

312
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:02,560
God bless you.

313
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:22,800
We're dismissed.