Commandment 10: Thou Shalt Not Covet

[0:00] Okay, so if you have your Bible, then please find Exodus chapter 20. And if you don't have a copy with you, we can get you one. You're going to want one, because this is what we study from.

[0:13] And your opinion and my opinion matters nothing. But what does the Word of God say? That's what we care about. And we're in Exodus chapter 20. We've been working our way through the book of Exodus, and we've really kind of got parked here, because while we've been moving and moving and following all of the change and the deliverance from Egypt, we brought them all the way to this mount, the Mount Sinai, to where God gives His commands.

[0:40] And so these last months, we've been studying the Ten Commandments. And today will be the final, the Tenth Commandment. But before we hit that, let's just do a brief review of last Sunday where we were looking at the Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

[0:58] And we saw that that wasn't simply saying, don't tell lies, but really it goes a lot deeper than that. And I found it to be oddly specific about bearing false witness against your neighbor.

[1:11] And we studied it in three ways, showing you that that command was given to be protective, that no one's going to be able to take advantage of the poor and of the widows and of the vulnerable. And it was also preventative to keep the powerful and the successful people from taking over the society, which is pretty much inevitable.

[1:29] And it does happen. And it is happening here. And so this command had connections to that stuff, and even more so. And then it was purgative, meaning it was there to purge or to discourage and punish this behavior and keep the corruption out of a society.

[1:45] Because these people were to be a holy nation unto God, and they were to love their neighbor as themselves, not seek to take advantage of their neighbor and come up with some scheme where they'd falsely lie and come up with a way to steal or to obtain their property and their inheritance and so forth.

[2:01] So let's get into verse 17, the tenth and final commandment. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

[2:23] So thou shalt not covet. It's not a complicated concept by any means, but for the sake of clarification, I want to let the Bible speak for itself.

[2:35] I want to let the Bible define its terminology, and so we can clearly know what it's referring to when it says covet. Now you may think, yeah, I know what that is, and that's great, but let's let the book tell its tale and speak to us.

[2:49] So let's go to a few places. First, Deuteronomy 5. Deuteronomy 5. And then after that, we're going to run back to Romans chapter 7.

[3:00] And I have to just warn you, if it's a warning, I don't know, or maybe it's an encouragement to you. We're going to be turning through the Scriptures quite a bit this morning, so I hope you're able to keep up.

[3:12] And this sermon here just lends itself to letting the Bible identify everything we need to know. And so not such an expository message out of verse 17 where all my points are telling you what not to covet, but we want to look at this a little bit deeper.

[3:30] So Deuteronomy 5, and we're learning something about the Word. And verse 21, this is the second time that Moses gives these commands to a different generation.

[3:41] The Exodus 20 generation has passed away, and now this generation is about to go into the land. In verse 21, he says, Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, his manservant, maidservant, ox-ass, anything.

[4:01] So you saw a word added here that wasn't in Exodus 20, and it's the word desire. And the word covet, the Bible's teaching us that the same word is to desire something that's not yours.

[4:14] That's what covening is. Now let's take a look at Romans chapter 7, and we'll see another word that the Word of God uses to help define these terms. This is how you study your Bible.

[4:28] Scripture with Scripture. Alright, Romans chapter 7. And this is the Apostle Paul referring back to the command that we're studying in verse 7.

[4:40] 7.7, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. And here's the example.

[4:50] For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. So he's telling us that when he understood, when the command said, Thou shalt not covet, he understood that that's lust.

[5:05] And I didn't know it until the command told me I can't do that, and that it's wrong. So the next word is lust. So we have desire, and we have lust, as terms that is declaring what coveting is, a reference to, Thou shalt not covet.

[5:22] Now we have to also consider a few things here. There's no stores in this society. There's no advertisements. There's no watch this ad on this cell phone to proceed, you know, to your video or to your game.

[5:35] That stuff's not even a concept. What there is, is looking at what your neighbor has and realizing you don't have it and desiring it and lusting after it and dwelling on it and coveting it in your heart.

[5:50] And so it's going to be a little tricky for us in our society and what this world has become around us to really associate ourselves and put ourselves in the shoes of these people where the command's coming.

[6:02] But it's not going to be hard to apply this command to us today at all. Come back to Exodus 20 and I'll just give you a quick little outline of the past, of the verse we're reading.

[6:13] In verse 17, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. So categorizing it, his property. Coveting his property. And then he adds his neighbor's wife, manservant, and maidservant.

[6:25] I'll add to that his persons that he owns or possesses or that are in his house. Or his ox, ass, or anything. And we'll call that his possessions. And so the covetousness is embodied in those three things in verse 17.

[6:40] His property, his persons, or his possessions. And thou shalt not covet thy neighbors. Now the house and wife, you know, it's pretty understandable to today because we live in houses and we have spouses and people like that.

[6:53] But the other three, the servants, the ox, the ass, you know, that's probably a little more unrelatable to you in the life that you live. And I'm not going to try to relate it to say, well, that's like having a pickup truck or that's like their computer.

[7:07] I don't want to try to make it like everything touch each other. But I think what you can realize is that in these times and especially in that economy, to have servants and to have an ox and to have an ass, those are tremendously valuable assets.

[7:24] You can, the Bible says, much increase is by the strength of the ox. You can get a lot done having a beast to be helping plow these fields. Can you imagine one man in his field just by hand working that field and working that field only to look across at his neighbor and to see that the ox is going down the whole row out of sight and then coming back and then going again and the servants are coming behind and thinking, this guy is going to produce so much more than me and as a result he's going to have all that he needs for his family and I'm barely going to feed my family but then he's going to be able to sell all the extra and get more and buy another ox and do, you see how it can just get out of hand, maybe not get out of hand but how one can grow so much more than the other when he has these assets.

[8:13] Much work is accomplished and much more profit and much more revenue. The ass is an animal that would bear burdens and would even be used for transportation. You could get a whole lot farther.

[8:25] You could take a whole lot more on your journey than you could just walking with your feet and putting it all on your shoulders or on your head. Can you imagine without the ass everything that you take and everywhere you go you're doing it with your own two feet or you're dragging it behind you with a rope or something but it's not very pleasant.

[8:48] These assets are tremendously valuable. So, of all the items that are mentioned these are ones that are commonly coveted in this time. There were no cars.

[9:00] There's no four-wheelers. There's no guns. There's no appliances. There's no designer clothes. Those aren't even in the minds of these people but what there is is what they would covet after.

[9:12] Now, before we get into the message really I think we're all you know, you might look at this and be like, well, you know, I don't covet my neighbor's possessions and things but I bet you every one of us has had the unfiltered thought in some department store of, oh, if I could just have ten minutes in here.

[9:31] If I could just have that cart in ten minutes and get another cart. Like, you've thought that. You can't go into these big box mega stores with all the inventory and not think I'd like that, I'd like that, I'd like that.

[9:42] Maybe I'm the only low life here, okay? You're just staring at me like, we don't know that feeling, Pastor. But, you know, I think you do because I've had it more than once and I've heard my wife say it.

[9:55] Oh, if I could just have ten minutes in here. I'm like, woman. And so I'm throwing her under the bus now that she's not in here. But I'm guilty of it. I'm guilty of seeing things and lusting after them and desiring them.

[10:07] And so let's consider this command here. I want to give you three thoughts here from this. First is the cause for covetousness. I want to show you what's, I think it's worth knowing this. It's going to help you. And then secondly, the characteristics of covetousness and that is, it's a lot worse than you think according to this Bible.

[10:26] And then the third thing is the cure. Lord willing, we'll see some things that can help us to cure this and keep us from violating this command. So before we get into those, let's pray and then we'll get back into the text.

[10:38] Father, as we bow, Lord, please still our hearts and our minds and let them be completely focused upon the word of God and upon this command of covetousness.

[10:50] Help us to see ourselves and not see others. Help us to make application into our own hearts and lives. Please rebuke us where necessary.

[11:00] Please strengthen us to not commit this sin and to be holy and righteous before you. Help us, Lord, to just to have open hearts to receive the word of God and to be in agreement with it in a hundred percent manner.

[11:14] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right. So the cause of covetousness. What's the cause? You might say, well, you just, you just fool of lust. And I'd say, yeah, it really, it comes to your heart.

[11:27] Within the heart is lust. But let's consider this. The neighbor has something that you don't have and you see it. It's in view.

[11:39] You wouldn't desire or lust after it or covet it if you weren't seeing them have it and use it and realize I don't have it. And so, so put that on the table.

[11:49] It's the eyes. The lust dwells inside of the heart and now it's time to start turning. Come to Mark chapter 7 and we are going to start covering some Bible now.

[12:02] Mark chapter 7, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John in the New Testament. The lust or the desire or the covetousness is a sin that dwells inside of your heart.

[12:18] You think, well, I'm not a bad person. Well, that sins inside of you and I'm going to show you how it can be grown and how it can come out. Mark 7, and this is the parallel passage to the Matthew 15 that we've been looking at with some of the other commandments, but this one has covetousness added.

[12:38] And I want to be in verse 20 through 23. And he said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man, for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, and there it is, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.

[13:03] All these evil things come from within and defile the man. So the covetousness dwells inside of the heart. Now come back to an example of this, something I want to make a point, very clear.

[13:17] Joshua, going back to the Old Testament, to Joshua, chapter number 7. The eyes are what feeds the lust that dwells inside of the heart.

[13:35] The book of James in chapter number 1 says that every man is drawn away when he, or he's drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. He's drawn away.

[13:48] He should be here. He should be resisting. But he's drawn away of his own lusts. So what is it that's drawing him away, though? It's what his eyes have fixed themselves upon.

[14:00] He's not just drawn away randomly some area, but you know, when his eyes are fixed upon something, the desire is already inside him, the lust is inside him. Now he's got, your eyes are constantly scanning, scanning, scanning, scanning.

[14:14] From when you wake up till you go to bed, your eyes are scanning. And along the way, they get fixed. And sometimes you know what it is, but then you look back. And you look away, but you look back.

[14:26] Something has grabbed a hold of your attention, and it's up to you to resist that and to not fall into a sin. But what can happen is those eyes make a connection. It can, by that looking upon it, will grow that lust inside of you to where it can overtake you.

[14:45] Joshua chapter 7, and look at verse number 1. So the children of Israel, they've just conquered Jericho, the walls have fallen down, then they go to fight with this little town of Ai, and they fall.

[15:00] They fall before their enemies. Verse 1, But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing.

[15:14] And the anger of the Lord was kindled. So what is the trespass in verse 1? Achan took. That was the trespass. He took of the accursed thing. And so there is the trespass, but let me show you the process.

[15:27] Look later in verse 20 and 21. Achan gives testimony of how this transpired, the process. Verse 20, And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.

[15:43] When I saw, there's his eyes, when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them.

[15:59] And then here's the trespass, and took them. And behold, they're hid in the earth. Do you see how the eyes connect with the lust in his heart to cause him then to act upon it?

[16:14] Then it grows, and it overtakes, and then he commits the trespass. The cause of covetousness resides in the twofold thing, the sin in your heart, the lust in your heart, and letting those eyes fixate upon something, and letting that lust begin to grow.

[16:32] He saw, he coveted, and then he took. I'll show you another example. Look at 2 Samuel, chapter number eleven. Just to the right, a few books, 2 Samuel, chapter eleven.

[16:45] Remember King David? Remember when he was supposed to go out to battle like the kings do? Instead he stayed home, and he saw something. In verse two, chapter eleven, in verse number two, and it came to pass in an evening tide that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

[17:19] So the sight, you can't stop that, right? You see it, you scan, you scan, you're walking on your roof, you're looking all over. He wasn't just staring at that one rooftop when he saw that woman. Do you think he looked away right away?

[17:31] Or do you think he just looked and then began to fixate, and to focus upon this beautiful woman, because now he's looking upon her. And what's that? That's the lust is growing that's already inside of him.

[17:45] And so, in verse number three, David sent and inquired after the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her.

[17:58] took her. We saw earlier that Achan saw, coveted, and took. David saw, you can pretty much fill in the blank there, that the lust grew inside of him, that he himself took her.

[18:14] What was that? His neighbor's wife. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. When you covet your neighbor's wife, it leads to some things, some wicked things, and that's what took place in David's life.

[18:28] Speaking of him coveting, Matthew 5, verse 28, Christ said, Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her. Don't tell me David wasn't lusting after her, or else he wouldn't have had her come.

[18:41] So the cause is a wicked heart of lust, and it's the eyes that feed that lust and allow it to grow, and allow it to get to the point of committing a trespass or a sin.

[18:53] The proverbs say that the eyes of man are never satisfied. They're always scanning, always looking for something to fixate upon. I don't know, I suppose you're like me.

[19:05] It's not happening as much anymore, but big companies send out flyers. And every so often I'll come in the door, and there'll be flyers, just a few of them sitting on the table.

[19:16] And for the most part, certain ones just don't even bother. They don't do anything to me. But when I see one from Bass Pro Shops, then it does, it gets my attention. Sometimes Costco, when I'm bored, it gets my attention.

[19:29] And so these flyers, they arrive and they show up into my home, and consider that these companies spend thousands and thousands of dollars to just send out these multi-paged, colorful flyers into all these homes, and most of them just get thrown in the garbage.

[19:45] Some of them never even make it in the home. But why do they keep throwing them out there? You know why. We'll cover it pretty soon here. But those flyers come in, and I don't wake up in this particular morning and get out of bed and think, man, I need a new gun.

[20:03] I wonder where they're on sale. Or, you know, like a new boat, a bass boat. I want one that's just going to rip. Just get up on plane and fly.

[20:14] I mean, I'd like to shred up here on Pyramid or Castaic if I could just have that new boat. I don't wake up thinking about new gear for outdoor life or new binoculars or scopes.

[20:26] And I just, that's not in my heart. It's not in my mind. I don't think about getting a new cell phone or a bigger TV or a new computer or a new furniture for the house or any of these things.

[20:38] But when my eyes hit that flyer and I flipped the page, all of a sudden, I've always wanted this. I've always wanted a lever-action rifle, a .30-30.

[20:51] I've always wanted one. And I had an opportunity to buy one when I was younger and I didn't have the money at the time and I regret that. But I've always had that in me. I want a lever-action, just open sights, no scope, just that'd be really cool.

[21:04] Riding on my horse, side saddle. So that's my vision. And there it is. In the Bass Pro or the Cabela's catalog or whatever it is, there it is.

[21:16] I didn't wake up thinking about it, but as soon as my eyes saw it, something inside of me just starts stirring. That is a good price. That's not bad at all.

[21:30] As a matter of fact, look across the page. That one's a little more, but whoa. And then there's the side-by-side, four-wheel drive, everything.

[21:41] It's just, man. I don't think about these things getting up and going about my day, but when I look at that flyer, my eyes fix upon something. Lust starts to turn inside of me and grow.

[21:54] And it causes me to covet. It causes me to justify in my mind needing that. And finding a way, should I or shouldn't I?

[22:08] I didn't wake up needing it, but right now I'm having a little moment where I'm trying to think of a way that I need that. What is that? That's inside of here, and that's these things.

[22:21] Scanning and finding something to fix on. When that connection is made, it starts to grow. And the lust inside of me starts to grow, and I'm You can't go to a store without them placing products in little places where you're on your way out, but ooh, when your eyes see it, ooh, let's just get as much product in front of their eyes, because they're going to buy it.

[22:44] Because we know this little tricky thing called lust. They don't put it in the back of the store, you don't give a rip about that item, but you end up walking out the store with it.

[22:54] It's hard to walk out of a store with nothing in your hand, it's just, it's hard. Now the cause is the lust in your heart, your carnal eyes, connecting that lust to an object to fix on.

[23:05] That's the cause of covetousness. I hope that'll help you realize something about being careful. The Sunday school song says, be careful little eyes what you see. Now, secondly, let's study the characteristics of covetousness, because there's a few things strongly associated with covetousness, or it's actually identified as covetousness, and it's far worse than you think sitting here this morning when you walked in the door and thought, yeah, thou shalt not covet.

[23:29] Yep, don't want to do that, but this thing is big. It's far bigger than you realize. Let's take a look at some things in the Bible. Look at Ephesians chapter 5, New Testament, Ephesians chapter 5.

[23:43] We've already noted that the words desire and the word lust is helping us to define what coveting is, but here's a much stronger and a much more abominable word that no one in this room would have placed alongside covetousness.

[24:01] You wouldn't even think they're the same thing, and yet God says they are the same thing, and we need to be aware of this, very, very, very aware of this. There's a concept connected with covetousness, and it's called idolatry.

[24:16] Ephesians chapter 5, and I want to start in verse 3, a little list of sins here. Fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking or jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.

[24:37] For this ye know, that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

[24:48] The covetous man is identified as an idolater. idolater. Now turn to Colossians 5, just a few books to your right. Colossians 3, sorry.

[25:00] Colossians 3, verse 5, the man is called an idolater and the sin is called idolatry. Colossians 3, verse 5. Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.

[25:19] Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. That's what covetousness is.

[25:34] If I got up here and just said, oh man, I'm coveting that rifle, I'm such an idol worshiper. You wouldn't even have made the connection. Just, that's, what are you talking about?

[25:44] You're too hard on yourself. That's just kind of a little bit overboard. But no, the Bible says that the covetor, a covetous man, is an idolater. And the sin of covetousness is idolatry.

[25:58] Idolatry is something dealing with idols. The worshipping of idols, ultimately you could say it's replacing the worship of God with the worship of an image. That's idolatry.

[26:10] And the object that one covets then is identified as that idol. So, that image that you're now worshipping, it could be the house, the neighbor's wife, or anything that is thy neighbor's.

[26:24] In Ezekiel chapter 14, the men are accused of setting up idols in their hearts. Not in their homes. Not on the mantle. Not bowing down. But no, setting up idols inside of their hearts.

[26:38] This is covetousness. He says that they go after their covetousness. So, it's a different form of idolatry. A covetous heart desires things.

[26:49] We mentioned property and persons and possessions. When one's affections and one's desires are placed upon what they don't have, they are not loving God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might.

[27:04] And they've replaced their love for God with their lust for their neighbor's wife, their neighbor's property, anything that is thy neighbor's.

[27:14] So, let's understand this and I'll try to make a point a little bit stronger in a minute, that idolatry and covetousness are considered one and the same. That is not the way you would have imagined it.

[27:27] But this is why we go to this book. This is why we open up the Bible and say, let me behold wondrous things. Teach me. And the Word of God will tell you some things that you would not consider.

[27:41] Here's something else. This is another one. You would never take it this far in your mind. But go to James chapter 4. Told you we had some verses to cover. We're not even...

[27:51] We might be halfway through that, maybe. James chapter 4. And the first two verses.

[28:12] From whence come wars and fighting among you? Where do they come from? Why are you guys fighting all the time? Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members?

[28:28] Ye lust and have not. Ye kill and desire. There's the other word. Desire. Lust. Desire. Those are the two Bible words with covet. Ye desire to have and cannot obtain.

[28:41] Ye fight and war. Yet ye have not because ye ask not. What's the point here? The point here is James showing us there's violence.

[28:52] It's not just idolatry that is coupled with or even identified as covetousness but violence comes of covetousness as well.

[29:03] There's another place. There's another two places but you don't have to get this one. It'll take you a minute maybe. But I'm going to go quickly to Micah. If you want to get there find Micah back in the the minor prophets.

[29:16] Micah chapter 2. And I'm also going to read a verse from Jeremiah chapter 22. So if you want to find Micah go ahead otherwise I'm going to read from Jeremiah and then come back to Micah.

[29:32] Jeremiah 22 17 The Bible says but thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness.

[29:45] so there's the eyes and the heart just like I already taught you. Thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness and for to shed innocent blood and for oppression and for violence to do it.

[30:01] Now the earlier he's telling him I want you to do justice and judgment but you're not. Your covetousness is controlling you and the outcome of that is violence and bloodshed and oppression.

[30:12] Micah chapter 2 verse 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds when the morning is light they practice it because it's in the power of their hand they covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppress a man and his house even a man and his heritage.

[30:37] So you're going to have to realize this because the book's telling us and teaching us this that violence that I didn't read the verse back in James it says the spirit that lust or lust the spirit that dwelleth within us lusteth to envy and envy is akin to covetousness and envy is what who can stand before envy envy is what Joseph's brothers caused them to put him in the pit and sell him off and they wanted to kill him but the oldest brother wouldn't let him envy is why they delivered Jesus Christ up to Pilate to have him murdered and crucified these things are they're working together they're hand in hand David coveted his neighbor's wife it ended in a conspiracy to commit murder and blood was on his hands remember last Sunday when we looked at King Ahab in 1 Kings 21 where he coveted Naboth's vineyard he desired to have it and Naboth said

[31:37] I can't give you my inheritance and so he did exactly through his wife Jezebel did exactly what Micah talked about coveting fields and taking them by violence an innocent man was put to death because another man coveted his neighbor's field so this is a sin that brings out the worst in man and it's viewed by God as idolatry an abomination to him but it's also a sin that brings out the wickedness and the violent nature of man now this is a point I want to make this is a case that shows us we don't think the way God thinks we think so much better of ourselves you think in your heart I'm not going to hurt anybody I'm not going to do anything just because I want some things you don't see this sin as something that would ever lead to something far worse and greater man has coined this phrase you can look but you can't touch that is not Bible God says you got to be careful what you look upon let thine eyes look right on and thine eyelids straight before thee ponder the path of thy feet look well to your going man says oh no looking around is nothing wrong with that it's harmless but the word of God if you'll study it if you'll believe it will show you no there's great harm in letting your eyes fixate upon something because it'll get inside of your heart and grow and grow and grow to where it'll overtake you and you'll find yourself in a worse place than you've ever imagined because you didn't control your lust

[33:10] God knows what the look incites inside of a man he knows it incites lust and he knows that man cannot handle lust and desire and covetousness it burns inside until he gets what he wants and so God steers us away from it and he cautions us and he puts it in big bold letters this is an abominable thing this is idolatry this is spiritual adultery don't let it be once named among you and yet you yourself think it's not a big deal and you're wrong this book is right God knows that it leads to adultery covetous leads to stealing covetous leads to murder and idolatry and so he commands thou shalt not covet so there's some of the characteristics of covetousness it is far worse than you imagined until you put some Bible on it and see that the word of God is really cautioning us about this now thirdly the cure the cure for covetousness a couple places here would you find the gospel of Luke chapter 12

[34:20] Luke 12 and I believe there is a cure the command says thou shalt not and so like the apostle Paul said I did not know lust but that the command said thou shalt not covet so he needed the word of God to tell him this is wrong don't do it so he needed to have his conscience awakened to it or his mind aware of what's going on inside of him and so now Luke chapter 12 and here's the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 15 start in verse 13 one of the companies said unto him master speak to my brother that he may divide the inheritance with me and he said unto him man who made me a judge or divider over you and now he turns to the crowd he said unto them take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth nobody told him to beware you better beware beware of covetousness we've already seen it's an ugly sin it can lead to some horrible horrible things the examples are in the book the warnings are in the book the cure for covetousness number one is to be aware to be alert to understand it

[35:43] Paul needed to be aware of it the command made him aware that he's doing it Jesus Christ said watch out beware of it the Bible informs us of things that we otherwise would not be on the lookout for this book is such an invaluable resource you can't live a Christian life without it you can't live clean and right before God without this book you can't have peace and joy without it either what you'll have is a sin nature convincing you that you're okay and you're fine and justify your sins and make them not as bad as someone else's so you can keep on doing it but back in Exodus God wanted a holy people a holy nation and to do this he proactively installed a safeguard several of them but this one in particular to prevent this society from becoming pretty much like the one that we live in pretty much to where everybody's greedy and discontent and filled with lust and it's just you cannot live in this land without being bombarded with you need more you deserve more you need an upgrade you just can't live a day without coming across somebody trying to get your money and somebody trying to put something in front of your eyes so be aware of this when you're aware of it when Paul got the understanding that he had lust that helped him that helped him know how to fight it to know how to resist it so be aware of it then secondly be content let me put two verses on this as well

[37:19] I'm going to start in Hebrews 13 and then I'm going to come back to 1st Timothy chapter 6 so would you find Hebrews 13 and watch how this is the cure the cure for covetousness I know this is a lot of turning this morning hopefully you can handle it it's a lot of Bible this morning to put on this the book has a lot to say about it and I'd be doing injustice to you if I just stayed back there in Exodus 20 and said oh don't covet your neighbor and gave you those three Ps and that was your message it's not enough this is too big Hebrews chapter 13 and look at verse 5 the word conversation is a reference to the way you live your life your manner of life let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have Christ said it's not about the possessions that you can obtain be content with what you have don't let your life be about covetousness so be content 1st Timothy chapter 6 is the next place I want to go contentment this is another case the Bible is informing us of things that we otherwise would not be on the lookout for how much of a invaluable resource this book is 1st Timothy 6 and start in verse number 6 you'll see the word contentment in verse 6 but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out so let the Bible just say that part what is the point of surrounding yourself with all the possessions that your eyes lust after is it just to enjoy them in this life because Solomon teaches us that it doesn't satisfy you it can't he said it's all vanity and vexation of spirit messes me up chasing after everything and getting more and getting more and getting more and if we could believe that you could do yourself some heartache or save yourself some heartache and do yourself a favor to learn to be content verse number 8 and having food and raiment let us be there with content now why is it food and raiment is that all that you're allowed in this life is just a bite and something on your back well the context in verse 1 is servants that are under the yoke with their masters what did their master have to give them food and raiment he had to provide their needs their substance so that they could serve him and the likening then is that you and I are servants of God and he will provide your needs he knows what you have need of that's

[40:16] Matthew chapter 6 Christ said your father in heaven know what you have need of and he'll provide your food and raiment you just be content with what God provides you so that you can do what keep serving him keep serving him you start getting this and getting that if I got that boat would I be serving him as much I'd probably be finding time for that boat and I still do want a boat just saying but and if I had one I'd use it I'd had one in the past and but you get the idea that if I'm content with what I have I can just continue being a servant of Jesus Christ and not let the other things take place in my heart so be content the I want to keep reading here there's more verse 9 says but they that will be rich that will there's the desire the lust they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition they're not getting out they're not getting out because they lust and covet and it's destroying them for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they've erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows this thing's dangerous and this thing's deadly and so the fight the cure is to be aware of it existing in you and in your surroundings and then be content with what your heavenly father gives and then one more thought here to cure is to despise it that is to hate covetousness where do you get that I get that from the bible because when

[41:54] Moses was setting up judges in exodus 18 his father-in-law said make sure you get men that hate covetousness men that will not take gifts they will not take bribes they will not be impressed with anybody they're just going to be righteous and judge rightly and later on it talks about in proverbs I think it is about a prince that's going to reign and he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days there's something to that hating covetousness start to despise that sin that dwells inside of you I think that will help you cure yourself of it despise that the lust is in you and how it turns your heart away from God and from loving God and causes you to look on the things that you don't have and to desire the things that you don't it causes you also to look on the things that you do have as if it's not enough and Christian it is enough it is enough you don't need the next upgrade probably your phone is fine it's probably fine even if it glitches a little bit mine's been doing that for a while

[42:58] I'll upgrade when I have to and you know when you have to is when the stupid thing stops working it's like now I have to do something about it okay food for thought hate covetousness the way God hates all sin hate it you know what the fear of the Lord is it's loving what God loves and hating what God hates and if he hates covetousness and he warns us against it and he tells us what it's going to do to us I think that should be enough in our hearts and minds to say I want to please God I want to live for God I need to start hating this thing and when that lust starts growing to me I need to start hating it the way he hates it and so the cure recognize it refuse to allow it to draw you away from trusting God and resting content in his provision and furthermore learn to hate it learn to despise it when it shows up I think this is going to be a big help to you turn back to Deuteronomy 6 this is our last verse

[44:01] Deuteronomy chapter 6 I think a big help to you is going to be to believe what the Bible says about covetousness and to let it not be once named among you learn from others greed and from others lusts and from others erring from the faith and piercing themselves through and don't let it be you fear God believe what he says and why he warns against this sin and why he commands we abstain from it the thought is that you're going to get from this next verse is that God is not trying to keep something from you he's not trying to keep you from having something that you'd enjoy look at chapter 6 and all the way to the end and verse 24 and consider this in the context of the commands that God gave his people verse 24 the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the

[45:02] Lord our God next four words for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day the commands of God are not trying to just keep you from joy and happiness and pleasantries he's the commands are for your good now if you'll believe that then you'll be able to walk with God and enjoy the things he has given you and be at peace with God and you'll be able to understand how this stuff works if you won't believe that text and you think why can't I have more I got the money I should have it look I'm not gonna tell you how to spend your money that's not my business ever you just make sure you're right with God with your money and what you do you you take it before him that's between you and him but what his command is is not to covet things that you don't have and the command is for your good always we've seen already if you've assembled these thoughts how dangerous and how deadly and how violent and the idolatry and just the curse of this sin it's a horrible sin and so God inserts these things into this book and into your life for your good to keep you from chasing after things and piercing yourself through with many sorrows keep you from lusting after something that's not for you from breaking up your family and destroying someone else's or from finding yourself out of fellowship with God's people because all you can do is chase after getting another job and working more overtime and you're losing contact with the people

[46:38] God put inside of your heart and life to help you grow and to stay right with him and it's covetousness just your eyes are scanning and they connect and it might be money it might be a position it might be a vehicle it might be a home it might be something and once it connects and it starts to warm up that lust inside of you it grows it grows and God says no get it out right now get it out get your eyes on me get them back on me because if they don't stay on him it's going to grow and it's going to grow and it's going to overtake you and you'll be the one that's suffering the repercussions of your lusts so the Bible says thou shalt not covet that's for your good believe that this morning let's bow our heads we're going to dismiss this morning thank you for being here I hope that the word of God here this morning is helpful to you but as you bow your head and just want to take a minute here to let let the

[47:44] Lord scan your heart the eyes of the Lord are in every place and let them run across your heart right now this morning does he see lust inside of your heart I know he does I know he does it's in there in the flesh dwelleth no good thing and it's not going to just disappear until we can get rid of this till we're delivered from the body of the sins of this flesh but are you letting your eyes fixate upon some things that is not the Lord's leading it is not the will of God it is your own fleshly carnal lusts if that's happening in your life if it's happening now then the Lord's already reminded you and he's already exposed it during this time I'm sure of it it's the way he works that's him and he's doing it for your good he's telling you get your eyes back on me get them off that person get them off that thing get them off whatever it is that's taking your eyes away from me

[48:46] I want them back on me would you consider that you might be violating this command and it's going to end up bad for you father this morning I pray that you'll use your word to teach us and to help us to see our condition help us to see how quickly we can be drawn away of our own lusts help us to fight it to despise it and to be understanding of this as it happens in our daily lives we want to be right with you and we want to be pure and clean and so Lord I pray that you'll help us to grow in this way help us to resist the devil that he'd flee from us give us power in the new man to take a stand against unrighteousness and Lord if others are guilty may it not be once named among us help us to care about what you care about to hate what you hate and to love what you love I want to thank you for this Sunday morning and for the opportunity to preach your word to these people and I pray that it would bear fruit in their lives and that we could grow together that we could grow closer to you that you'd get something some fruit from our lives that would be a pleasure to you I love you this morning please keep us safe as we go and please help us to be faithful to you we pray this in

[49:58] Jesus name amen