“THOU SHALL NOT COVET” (EX.
I. THIS TRUE STORY IS NOT SURPRISING. HUMAN BEINGS FREQUENTLY FIND THEMSELVES DESIRING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE.
A. In recent weeks I have said some things about car dealerships.
B. Tonight, I want to add one more fact about automobile sales.
C. Dealers frequently get customers because of covetousness.
D. If one person buys a new car,
E. Friends of the buyer often think, “That’s a nice vehicle.
F. I want one of those”. Thus, a 2nd vehicle is sold.
G. The same is true of used vehicles.
H. When someone trades, and people become aware of the trade,
I. At least some begin to think, “I can trade too”.
J. Many times people earnestly desire the things that others have.
K. I have seen plenty of examples and you certainly have too.
L. Perhaps you have lived in a housing edition.
1) One family put in a shed.
2) Neighbors saw this and said to themselves, “We want one, too”.
3)
This has happened all across
4) If sheds are not what people have desired,
5) Then it was a swimming pool, sprinkling system,
6) Alarm system, or something else.
M. People often desire what others possess.
N. This desire begins very early in life.
1) A young child may go to a neighbor’s house for the day.
2) If the child is able to play Nintendo for a few hours,
3) And the child does not have Nintendo at home,
4) The young person will likely want what the neighbors have.
O. Since God made us, He knows how we think.
P. God is fully aware of the desire that I am describing.
Q. Thus, when God communicated with man, this desire was discussed.
R. In the OT this was covered in the 10 commandments.
S. The reference for the 10th commandment is Ex. 20:17.
T. READ.
1) In the previous commandments, various “acts” were covered.
2) God condemned work on the Sabbath; murder; theft; lying;
3) In the 10th commandment, God focused on attitude.
4) Instead of dealing with deeds, this commandment deals with the heart.
5) God said that our heart (mind) is not to “covet”.
6) Here the word covet means to “enthusiastically desire”.
U. If someone said to me, “Suppose that the 10 commandments were laws for us to follow.
1) Which one of the ten would be the most applicable?
2) Which one would most frequently condemn men?”
V. I would answer, “This one. #10. Ex. 20:17.”
1) We have problems with murder, adultery, lying,
2) Theft, taking God’s name in vain, disobedient children, etc.
3) We have an even bigger problem with covetousness.
W. Think for a few moments about how people talk.
1) Have we not heard, when people go into a house,
2) “I would like a place like this someday”?
3) Have we not heard people say concerning possessions,
4) “I want one of those”?
5) Unless these comments are idle words or statements,
6) These comments indicate that people are guilty of covetousness.
7) Look at Ex. 20:17—Thou shall not covet thy…
8) I have known of many who have coveted another’s house.
9) God said that this is wrong.
X. Instead of earnestly desiring what others have, the right approach is
Y. In Rom. 12:15—QUOTE.
Z. If someone has a great house, people are to be happy for the owners.
A. Instead of thinking, “I wish I was him”, Rom. 12:15 teaches us to say:
B. I am glad that this person has prospered.
1) Some will say to this, “I cannot do that”.
2) I see what others have and I am jealous.
3) I find it very difficult to be happy for others.
4) Some can and do find obedience to Rom. 12:15 difficult.
5) Obedience to what Paul wrote is possible.
6) When Teresa and I got married we were poor.
7) I pulled out our tax return for 1982;
8) I made less that $7,000 for the entire year.
9) Shortly after we were married, I was told about a transfer.
10) We needed money for the move, and we had none saved.
11) To come up with the money, we decided to change residences.
12) I found a different home that saved us $125 a month.
13) The new residence was a lot less for a lot of reasons.
14) The kitchen floor had settled to an angle of about 30 degrees.
15) After we moved in, we found out about the roach problem.
16) This house was so infested that the only way to solve the problem would have been to burn the house down.
17) Since we were in MT, we had a block heater in our truck.
18) The only way to get power to the heater was to leave the bedroom window open.
19) Teresa fixed up this residence as well as it could have been fixed.
20) Though she did the best anyone could have done,
21) I think everyone in town had it better than we did.
22) At the risk of sounding like I am bragging, and I am not,
23) We did not covet some of the wonderful houses we were in.
24) We did hope that we would be able to better ourselves.
25) At the very least we wanted a house that was not roach infested.
26) As time has progressed, we have been very blessed.
27) From this I want to establish that:
28) It is possible to live in almost any circumstance
29) And not covet another’s house or possessions.
30) We have had this experience first hand.
31) God did not give a law that was impossible to follow.
C. Going back to Ex. 20:17, we find another aspect of coveting.
D. The 10th commandment prohibited interest in another man’s wife.
E. This part of the commandment is interesting.
1) God specifically focused on men.
2) God could have said, “Thou shall not covet another’s mate”.
3) When God gave this commandment, He aimed it towards men.
4) I have a couple of ideas as to why God did this,
5) But this is not the time for those.
6) We need to see how important this aspect of the commandment was/is.
7) In OT times husbands coveted (earnestly desired) other women.
8) King David stands out as a prime example.
9) Solomon is a second example.
10) Job 31:1 says that Job made a covenant to not look upon a maid.
11) Job did not want to covet a woman that was not his wife.
12) In later OT times we come to the period of Jeremiah.
13) Jeremiah was around people who were violating the 10th commandment.
14) This is made clear in Jer. 5:8—READ.
15) In NT times things did not get much better according to Peter.
16) 2 Peter 2:14 says, READ.
17) In our day and time this is still a problem.
18) There are married men who earnestly desire other women.
a) This desire may result from: another woman’s
b) Behavior, appearance, wealth, personality,
c) Or something else.
F. As I look at the words in Ex. 20:17 I am reminded of my Boy Scout days.
G. I used to help a Scout Leader who was a very pleasant man.
H. This man said something that has stayed with me over the years.
I. One of his fond sayings involved women (he was married).
J. He said, “I can look, but I cannot touch”.
K. This statement is at odds with Ex. 20:17.
L. God said, “thou shall not covet”; this man did.
M. Shortly after I became detached from Scouts, this man got a divorce.
N. I have always wondered if his divorce was tied to what he said.
O. I believe that it was.
P. Going back to Ex. 20:17 we come to the third example.
Q. God said that servants were not to be coveted.
R. This illustration may be hard for us to appreciate.
S. Whether we appreciate this statement or not, the words are understandable.
1) If we were living in this day and time,
2) And we visited a neighbor who had 1,000 servants,
3) And we didn’t have any,
4) Covetousness would be a temptation.
5) We could sit on the neighbor’s porch and think,
6) “I sure wish I had this man’s money.
7) I wish that I could buy this many servants, or even half.
8) Why, I would like to have twice as many as he has.”
T. If we sat on our neighbor’s porch we could see out into the pasture.
U. There, were this man’s animals.
V. His donkey herds and his many oxen made our one ox and donkey seem pitiful.
W. Instead of rejoicing with the owner, feelings of anger and hate…
X. God knew that this could and would be a problem.
Y. Thus He said: READ v. 17b.
Z. God made this commandment a long one.
A. He wanted His people to understand it and apply it in many ways.
B. In fact, at the end of verse 17 we have a general summary—
C. READ 17c.
D. This is the law that the Jews were under.
E. In the NT, covetous behavior is just as bad.
F. Think about the times that Jesus addressed this subject:
1) Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth…
2) No man can serve two masters….You cannot serve God and man.
3) The seed was choked out by the cares and riches of this world.
4) What will a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose
5) “Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness….
6) John 6:27—QUOTE.
7) Jesus said a lot about being covetous.
8) So did the apostles.
G. Paul lists this sin in Rom. 1; one of the things that made God angry.
H. Paul said not to fellowship covetous people, 1 Cor. 5:11.
I. Fornication is as bad as covetousness, Eph. 5:3.
J. Covetousness is idolatry, Col. 3:5.
K. Covetous men are barred from the eldership, 1 Tim. 3:3.
L. The love of God is not in covetous people, 1 John 2:15.
CONCLUSION:
1. Coveting (earnestly desiring) what others have is wrong.
2. Yet, this sin has always had a prominent place in the world.
3. There are times when it creeps into the lives of God’s people.
4. This sin needs to be recognized and stopped.
5. Covetous people will not go to heaven.