LIKE YOUR OWN THINGS

Exodus 20:17- You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

[General References: Pulpit Commentary, True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer, MacArthur Study Bible, The Wesley Study Bible]

One of the deepest kinds of sins that sums up every command as well as fills in any loopholes that you might have figured out is highlighted by the Tenth Commandment: You shall not covet.

This one sin encompasses every other sin very simply because to covet is to desire something that is not yours and that God does not want you to have.

To covet means for a person to desire or to take pleasure in. (Expository Dictionary of Bible Words p. 200) That's the generic definition and there's nothing wrong with that on the surface. But now apply the definition to the Commandment:

"You shall not take desire or take pleasure in your neighbor's house. You shall not desire or take pleasure in your neighbor's wife or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

The objective is for you to like and appreciate what you have and not be looking over your neighbor's fence and wishing you had what he or she has.

It may sound harsh and it may sound snotty but it is the reality. And when you don't face reality you face all sorts of problems with your relationship with God.

Notice Ezekiel 33:31- "My people come to you as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain."

God was pointing out the hypocrisy of his people- they act as though they are hearing and want to do the Lord's will but in their hearts- in the very core of who they are- they are selfish and greedy. God has a problem with people are always on the take and looking to get every kind of edge.

This tenth commandment is aimed right at the heart of who you are and who you claim to be. So many have failed in this tenth command. And so my goal today is to help you understand what it is to covet and how you can overcome.

Ephesians 5:3 emphasizes to all Christians the kind of holy lives we are to live. Notice what the Apostle Paul writes:

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

When people see your life they should not think of you as a greedy or jealous person who thinks of themselves first. They should see you as the way the Bible describes Jesus. Furthermore, since we can be pretty good at tricking other people by covering up our tracks, God should be able to look at your life and see someone who is not full of greed and jealousy.

Remember, that the ten commandments are about more than just some cosmic killjoy God out there trying to make your life miserable and to deny yourself of those so-called things that make you human.

PRECEPT = PRINCIPLE = THE PERSON OF GOD. "Do not covet" points us to the principle that God wants us to be content with what we have; and this points us to the very character of God who provides to his children.

Whassup with this command?

• Gets to the thoughts of the individual.
  
• Reveals the heart of a person.
  
• Slavery to sinful desires.
  
• Psalm 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
  

Since God desires truth in my inward life then it calls on me to be truthful to myself, truthful to God and thereby truthful to every one else around me. This means that I will do whatever I need to do to force myself to be obedient to this command of not coveting what isn't mine.

I three thoughts about this command with a closing challenge that I pray will draw us closer to our Lord this morning.

The Delusion of Need.

I am amazed at how television works. I can be sitting there minding my own business during a Kentucky basketball game and suddenly realize that the home cooked dinner I am eating isn't cutting it- I need Jimmy Johns or Golden Corral. I also come to the conclusion that my van isn't good enough for a rich guy like me so I need to get a new Chrysler or Ford. And I need a pair of Wrangler Jeans like Brett Favre wears.

Constantly and at every turn we have a societal media that is shouting at us that we have needs that need to be fulfilled. The fact is that most of the commercials we witness through television and other media are not needs at all. Yes, I need to eat in order to live but I don't have to go to Red Robin (YUM!).

• Turning wants into needs. The devil is good at this if we let him. Habakkuk 2:9- Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!
  
• Blurring the lines from what is necessary. There are times I need new things- or at least replace the old thing. I've learned to find the best value for the best price. I don't always get this right but I hope my heart is always in the right place.
  
• Don't look at your neighbor's successes. The temptation to covet can be a very subtle temptation. "I wish my wife could be the kind of wife he has." Or vice versa. "I wish my children behaved like their children." "I wish I had a car like they have." On and on we could go.
  
• Beware of Ecclesiastical Coveting! Churches are very guilty of breaking this command. We wish our church was like such and such church. We wish our pastor was like so and so's pastor. We wish our congregation was like that congregation over there. We wish we had a church building like theirs; a church ministry like theirs; money like they have; leaders like they have; and on and on the jealousy creeps in.
  
• Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
  

We need to guard our hearts against coveting which is really just plain old greed. Don't be looking over at your neighbor's successful life! Or the neighboring churches.

The Selfishness of Wants.

Micah 2:2- They covet fields and seize them, and houses and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman his inheritance.

This verse really tells the story of so much of humanity: see something you want so you go get it by any means possible regardless of who it hurts.

• Allowing the world to define us. Our friends who don't know God and who are not there to help us live godly lives are going to strive to tell us what we really need. "You just have to do what's best for you." What a statement from the pit of hell!
  
• Allowing our self to be undisciplined. When we don't allow the Bible to define us and give us direction we find ourselves undisciplined in the ways of God. Our minds begin to eyeball things that don't belong to us. Our prideful hearts begin to puff up and we strive to gain something that perhaps God does not intend for us to have.
  
• We should love others enough not to envy. I love my wife too much to wonder about other women. I love my friends and brothers in Christ too much to wonder about their wives. This is what Jesus was getting at when he said that a man who looks on a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery with her. (Matthew 5:28)
  
• Do we harbor secret satisfaction at another's loss? (Francis Schaeffer) Am I happy when my enemy's demise knocks on his door? Or do I grieve for him?
  
• 1 Corinthians 10:23-24- ²³ "I have the right to do anything," you say—but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"—but not everything is constructive. ²⁴ No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
  

Let's see those verses from the Message Bible: ^23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.

If I am going to truly overcome this issue of coveting in my life and if you are going to truly overcome this issue in your life then it requires us to not only be vigilant and guard our hearts but also to seek the good of others and to help others live well.

So how should we live?

The Secret of Contentment.

Everybody wants to be content in life. Everybody wants to be happy, fat and free- so to speak. What is the secret to overcoming covetousness? It is discovering the secret of contentment.

Socrates- "Contentment is natural wealth and luxury is artificial poverty."

• Contentment is the positive outcome of obedience to the 10^th Command. When you learn to like what you already have then you are on your way to overcoming coveting and being content in whatever state you are in.
  
• Contentment wants what God wants for me. I really have nothing else to add to this.
  
• Contentment is satisfaction within all relationships:
  
  • Relationship with Jesus Christ.
    
  • Sexual purity among God's people.
    
  • Husband-Wife marital relationship.
    
  • Family structures are honored.
    
  • Churches are respected.
    
  • Friendships are valued.
    

Francis Schaeffer:

If contentment goes and the giving of thanks goes, we are not loving God as we should, and proper desire has become coveting against God. This inward area is the first place of loss of true spirituality. The outward is always the result of it. (True Spirituality p. 13)

Conclusion: Getting Serious for Victory!

• Seeking forgiveness for the sin of coveting.
  
• Giving thanks in all things.
  
• Living by faith for everything.
  
• Putting to death the sin of coveting.
  

Colossians 3:5- Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

PRAYER OF CONTENTMENT:

Father, I know that contentment with godliness is of great benefit.  It brings about a lasting peace and grateful heart that only You can give.  Help me not to covet the relationships and material goods that belong to others. Help me by the Counsel of the Holy Spirit to surrender all of myself and all I have into your care.
May the character of who I am and the fruit of my actions be the result of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, living in and through me. May I look to You for proper balance in the people and things You have blessed me with and give me a righteous attitude that all things are gifts from your gracious hands. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.