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“The Ten By Dr. Frank J. Cuozzo |
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10th Commandment: “Thou Shalt Not Covet”
Exodus
20:1-17,
“And God spake all these words, saying,
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for
the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in
six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon
the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor
his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing
that is thy neighbour's.”
We’ve been studying the Ten Commandments for the last
several weeks and we are coming to the last one today. Just as a review, we’ve
looked at:
#1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
#2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
#3) Thou shalt no take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain.
#4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
#5) Honour thy father and thy mother.
#6) Thou shalt not kill.
#7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
#8) Thou shalt not steal.
#9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor.
And today we are going to look at #10 which is found
in verse 17 which says, “Thou shalt not covet.”
Let’s look at the word “covet” and see what it means.
Webster’s dictionary defines it in two ways,
1. To desire or wish for, with eagerness; to desire
earnestly to obtain or possess; in a good sense. Covet earnestly the
best gifts. 1 Corinthians 12.
2. To desire inordinately; to desire that which it is
unlawful to obtain or possess; in a bad sense.
Covetousness is the sin of selfishness or the sin of
not being content with what you have.
Dr. Lee Roberson calls this, “An ancient sin dogging
the steps of modern man.”
Story:
A story is told of a peasant who murmured to a giant
landholder of the unfairness of it all. How could his landholder own so much
and he not have anything? Knowing the nature of men, the landholder promised to
give the peasant all the land he could walk around in a whole day. The
peasant, greedily trying to take in all the area possible, overexerted himself
and fell over with a heart attack and died. He ended up with nothing.
Dr. Peter Master’s says that “Covetousness is the act of focusing the mind on
such things as property, possessions, success, esteem, status, fame,
popularity, position, and personal appearance, or on expressly forbidden things
such as thy neighbor’s wife.”
The tenth commandment covers both the determined
pursuit of a desired object, and also the underdog form of coveting namely envy
and jealousy of others who have greater possessions and advantages in life.
When we covet something or someone, we are doing
something that is deeply offensive to God Who gave us the power to know Him. In
covetousness, God sees us groveling for satisfaction in the material realm;
hungering and thirsting only for things that have to do with the flesh. God
sees Himself put in second place as our source of satisfaction and provision.
We have the audacity to say that we love the Lord, but yet not enough to be
fulfilled and satisfied by Him.
I would like for us to notice three things about the
sin of covetousness:
#1) What is the sin of covetousness.
Romans 1:18 says,
“For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
Paul then goes on in verses 29-31 to name a list of
sins, 23 in all, with covetousness near the top!
Remember the Old Testament story in Joshua, how the
nation of
God told Joshua to destroy the city of
“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, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the
earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”
Sure enough when they went to Achan’s tent they found
the items that he took. But listen to result of his sin. Joshua 7:24 & 25
says,
“And Joshua,
and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the
garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen,
and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they
brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled
us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all
Achan’s entire family and all that he owned were
totally destroyed off the face of the earth!
How sad!
In Luke chapter twelve that is a story of two men who
were fighting over their inheritance and one of them came to Jesus to ask him a
question about it. In Luke 12:13 the man said to Jesus,
“Master,
speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.”
Listen to Jesus’ response in verse 14 & 15,
“And he said
unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And 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.”
Just to make sure that they understood the importance of not coveting, Jesus
tells them a parable about a certain rich man. You know the story. He was
boasting about how he was doing so well that he would tear down his barns and
build bigger barns to store all his earthly goods. He said he could just coast
through life and eat, drink and be merry. Then Jesus concluded the parable in
verses 20 & 21 with these words, “But
God said unto him, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be,
which thou hast provided? So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus was trying to teach them that true happiness and
satisfaction will never happen until this sin of covetousness is put to death.
Covetousness causes all kinds of unhappiness and misery. Covetousness also
causes people to steal from God.
Achan is not the first person to steal God’s gold and
silver. Every week thousands of so-called Christians receive blessings and
earnings from God’s hand and then, when He asks for ten percent back, they
ignore His command and turn a deaf ear. The Bible calls it robbing God!
Covetousness causes people to pass up opportunities to
do great things for God. Those who could sponsor missionaries, buy buses, help
build buildings and a thousand other things that are needed in the ministry. Because
of the covetousness of many, opportunities are lost, ministries are suppressed,
missionaries must come home from the field and souls will die without Christ.
The tenth commandment says, “Thou shalt not covet.”
We’ve looked a little bit at what covetousness is,
next
#2) The
Source of Covetousness. Where does it come from?
In Mark chapter seven the Scribes and Pharisees were
getting on Jesus and His disciples because they ate without going through the
ceremonial hand washings that the Jews had contrived. Jesus rebuked them for
making the law of God of none effect by their many man made traditions and then
He says in verses 21-23,
“For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness: All these evil things come
from within, and defile the man.”
Where does covetousness come from? It comes from a
wicked heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says,
“The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
The prophet Ezekiel cried
out in Ezekiel 33:31, “And they come unto
thee as thy people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear
thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love,
but their heart goeth after their
covetousness.”
The Bible says that we are living in the days of
extreme covetousness, even among God’s people. In II Timothy chapter three,
Paul is warning young Timothy about what will happen in the last days. He says
in II Timothy 3:1 & 2,
“This know
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous,” He goes on to list many more perils and ends with this
statement in verse 5, “From such turn
away.”
Out of 13 characteristics of an apostate society
listed by Paul, the second listed is the sin of covetousness. I believe that we
are living in the last days and many who claim to be Bible believers are
throwing aside the time tested standards and doctrines of the faith and
compromising with the world and error. We are seeing this in many of our
so-called Christian leaders who have sold out to the world in their music and
methods in their churches for packed houses and popularity. Once leaders begin
to be concerned about their job security, acceptance, advancement, and
possessions they cease to stand firm on such things as the preaching and
teaching of the doctrines of the Word of God and stress diplomacy above
faithfulness, peace in preference to purity, and diversity over God’s narrow
road.
You see again the truth of God’s word when it says
that if we are unfaithful in the material things of life and covetous, we shall
certainly prove disloyal with the true spiritual riches.
Jesus said,
“If therefore
ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your
trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11)
Story:
In 1923, a very important meeting was held at the
Edgewater Beach Hotel in
Twenty-five years later let's see where these men are:
-The president of the largest independent steel
company -- Charles Schwab -- died bankrupt and lived on borrowed money for five
years before his death.
-The president of the largest utility company --
Samuel Insull -- died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land.
-The president of the largest gas company -- Howard
Hospson – in an insane asylum.
-The greatest wheat speculator -- Arthur Cutten --
died abroad –insolvent.
-The president of the New York Stock Exchange -Richard
Whitney -- was put away at Sing Sing Penitentiary.
-The member of the president's cabinet -- Albert Fall –
committed suicide.
-The president of the Bank of International
Settlements -- Leon Fraser – also committed
suicide."
It was said of these men that, "All of these men
learned well the art of making money but not one of them learned how to
live."
Covetousness is a sin of the heart. We all have to
deal with it and learn to put it to death.
We’ve already looked at what Covetousness is and where
it comes from, finally,
#3) The
Sorrow of Covetousness or where does it lead?
The stories of Achan, and
the rich man all end in sorrow as do the lives of all who are trapped by the
sin of covetousness. The Apostle Paul warned in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.”
Story:
A successful businessman and his friends were talking
and laughing together and enjoying their successes. The businessman told of his
childhood of poverty. He mentioned that someone had given him a very large coin.
To have a coin like that was rare for children back then, and his little sister
begged to hold it.
He laughed over the memory of all the chores he could
get her to do for him just to get to hold that large coin. He told of a day
when she minded the cows all day for the privilege of holding that coin, only
to have to give it up at the end of the day. All of the men laughed again at
the childishness of the sister.
Just then one man, not laughing, reminded the
businessman that all he was doing now in labor and service was for the
privilege of holding onto a few possessions and few large coins.
“The end of the day is coming, and you will have to
give them up like your little sister did.” The room was silent.
That’s exactly how it is
with all of us. We are not to covet, rather we are to be content with the
things that God has given us or allowed us to be stewards over.
Jesus warned in Matthew 6:19-21,
“Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also.”
How many there are today who
are destroying their very life through the sin of covetousness. How many more
are destroying even their soul for the very same reason. Thousands more are
ruining the lives of their family and friends as they grasp for more.
The Bible says, “Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth . . .covetousness” (Col. 3:5).
Again we read, “Let your conversation be without
covetousness . . .” (Heb. 13:5).
“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or
covetousness, let it not be once named among you” (Eph. 5:3).
“Beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which
he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).
The cure for covetousness is
contentment with what God has given us and finding the “true rewards” in life
by serving the Lord. Jesus said that if we “seek
ye first the
God will supply all our
needs through His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)
One verse in the Bible tells
us that it is okay to covet. In I Corinthians 12:31 Paul admonishes the
Corinthian Christians to, “Covet the best
gifts.” Paul told the believers in
We are to look around us and
see faithfulness, loyalty, dependability, love and other good things in the
lives of Christians and covet those things.
We should also grasp, desire,
and seek after the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance and not after the earthly
possessions that belong to our neighbor.
The question for us today
is, are we guilty of being covetous? If so, we must confess and forsake it and
be content with what the Lord has so richly blessed us with.
Maybe you’re here today and
you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. If you were to die today, you’re
not sure that Heaven would be your home. You can come forward in just a moment
and we’ll have someone take God’s word and show you how you can know for sure.
Whatever your need this
morning, you come.
Let’s pray.