The Sin Nobody will Admit to
Exodus 20:17
Introduction
Today, we come to the last of the 10 Commandments. In these Laws of God governing our daily living here on earth, we have seen that God has a high standard that He expects His people to strive for in life. I trust that as we have moved along through these verses, that you have seen some area in your life maybe where you recognized the need for some correction and have made the efforts necessary to change, in order to come in line with God’s Word.
As we look at this 10th Commandment, which reads, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” The first characteristic I notice is that this Commandment represents a move away from actions and goes into the realm of attitude. You see all the previous Commandments have their origins in the heart and mind of man, they all find their ultimate expression in some type of physical activity. This Commandment though is different! While there is evidence of lying, stealing, adultery, murder, disobedience to parents, taking God’s Name in vain, making graven images and having other gods before God, there is usually little or no evidence of covetousness. As a result, this is a sin that is rarely, if ever confessed and owned up to. IN truth, we are all guilty, we just won’t admit it to ourselves, others or the Lord. Of all the Commandments listed, this is probably the one most often broken and the one that will most readily cause you to break the other nine. In our time together today, we will see that covetousness is a serious sin and that it needs to be confessed and forsaken by every child of God.
There are many, who if they were honest, would have to admit that they possessed a covetous heart! One cannot read the Bible without finding incident after incident where men wanted that which wasn’t theirs. In the Garden of Eden, Eve coveted the forbidden fruit and brought sin and death into the world. At Ai, Achen coveted some gold, silver and expensive garments and brought defeat to a nation and death to himself and his family. Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard and committed murder in his attempt to grab what belonged to another. David coveted Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and as a result brought the sword of God into his household for generations to come. The list goes on and on. Today, let’s look at little more closely at this Commandment as we consider this though, “the Sin Nobody Will Admit to.”
I. Covetousness Diseases all of Life
a. It Makes us Greedy of Gain
• When we are possessed of a covetous heart, we are never satisfied with that which we have!
o There will always be a powerful urge for more.
o It is interesting to note that the word “covet” means “to desire greatly.”
o It usually has reference to an object.
o When we are guilty of covetousness, we are guilty of having a heart for things instead of a heart for the Lord.
o When we come to the place where we are never satisfied with God’s blessings and we are always looking for a way to increase our possessions, then we should face the fact that we are just plain greedy!
• Many are like the man who was tired of his friends owning nicer homes than his. He always felt inferior to them and decided to even things out a bit. He went to see a realtor and put his home on the market and began to search for anew one. One day as he was reading the paper, he came across a listing for a home that seemed to be just what he was looking for. So, he called the realtor and said that he would like to see this home, that he was interested in purchasing. The realtor replied, “Sir, that is your house!”
• Sounds like us doesn’t it? We always think the grass is a little greener just down the road.
o If I can get this thing, or that job, or this much money in the bank, then I will be happy.
o It will never happen!
o The more we have, the more we want!
o Humans by nature are greedy and self-centered, always trying to grab more than they can hold.
o This attitude poisons life and creates a sourness of heart and a bitterness of disposition.
o The covetous person is never content, but they are always reaching out for more.
b. It Makes us Grab Another’s Wealth
• According to this verse, a covetous heart may cause you to go after things that are not your to go after.
• This verse says that men can covet property, people, and possessions.
• When we come to the place where we are willing to do anything to have that which belongs to another, then we have crossed the line and are guilty of sin before the Lord.
• It is wrong to covet:
1. Property
• This verse refers to a neighbor’s house.
• In oriental cultures, it is not considered wrong to take things that are found to be abandoned.
• However, if we know that something belongs to another person, we are to leave it alone.
• In fact, we are to protect their interest in it as if it were ours.
• It isn’t wrong for me to like my neighbor’s home and to use legal means to purchase it form him, but when I resort to illegal, unethical tactics to obtain his property than I guilty of covetousness and theft.
2. People
• This verse also mentions your neighbor’s wife.
• To desire another man’s wife, our another woman’s husband, is sinful in many ways.
• If I think another man’s wife is pretty, I have committed no sin, but when I begin to have lustful desires to possess her, then I am guilty of adultery and of covetousness.
• David resorted to lying and murder to possess Bathsheba.
3. Possessions
• Among the items here are servants, animals and anything that belongs to my neighbor.
• When you possess something that I am determined to possess at any cost, then I am guilty of covetousness.
• It is alright to like the same things, to possess the same things, but when we want that which is the property of another, then we have crossed the line and are guilty of a covetous heart before the Lord.
c. When we are possessed of a covetous heart, we have ceased to trust the Lord to meet our needs and instead are looking to acquire that which belongs to another.
• This kind of attitude will ruin your life.
• When archeologist were unearthing the ancient city of Pompeii, where 20,000 died during the eruption of Volcano near by, they uncovered the bodies of many of the dead. Among them, they found the well preserved bodies of people who were caught totally off guard by the explosion of this powerful volcano. People were found sitting at their dinner tables, their food still on their plates. Others were found in their beds sleeping. One woman, however, stands out from among all the victims of Pompeii. When the scientists uncovered her body, they found clutched in her hands 10’s of thousands of dollars worth of precious stones. It seems that as death rained own form the mountain above, she risked her life trying to save a couple of handfuls of her wealth. Now 2,000 years later, those things she tried so vainly to hold onto, are the property of another!
• So it is with covetous person in our day!
• In the end, those things we deemed so valuable, will be absolutely worthless.
• Don’t allow a covetous spirit to dominate your life.
II. Covetousness Disregards God’s Law
a. Covetousness may be the greatest among the sins listed here in these verses.
• Covetousness has the power to lead men to break the other Commandments.
b. Let’s just stroll through the first 9 Commandments and see how a covetous heart can lead us to break them.
1. v.3 - how many have placed money and possessions ahead of God?
2. vv. 4-6 - how many have bowed at the altars of materialism and greed while refusing to bow at the altar of the Lord?
3. v. 7 - many have blasphemed the Lord’s name in their efforts to acquire things. You do not have to speak to blaspheme the Lord! A life that is lived in a manner inconsistent with the clear teachings of Scripture is blasphemy.
4. vv. 9-11 - many have desecrated the Lord’s day in an effort to make money! Many who work on the Lord’s Day do not out of necessity, but out of greed for gain.
5. v. 12 – many parents are treated poorly and cast aside because they are too great a financial burden on their children. The children feel that he/she may have to give up something they think they need. As a result, they neglect their parents. What if mom and dad had done that to them when they were growing up and helpless?
6. v. 13 – Many are dead today because someone wanted that which belonged to another.
7. v. 14 – many marriages are in shambles because people have been so caught up in earning heir salt, that they have neglected their sugar! Others have had their head turned by another man or woman and they have allowed a covetous heart to destroy their home.
8. v. 15 – it goes without saying that stealing is the end result of a covetous spirit that has gone too far.
9. v. 16 – often, people will lie about another and spread gossip that can destroy their lives because they are envious and covetous of that person’s life, lifestyle, position or walk with the Lord. Many people have had their lives totally ruined by the covetous heart of another.
c. It seems plain to me that a covetous spirit is wicked and sinful before the Lord!
• Perhaps this is why the Lord gave such clear warnings against it and its influence in our lives.
III. Covetousness Denies the Lord
a. It Demonstrates a Lack of Faith
• When we are constantly going after that which we do not have, we are simply saying that the Lord cannot be trusted to take care of His children.
• He has promised us in His Word that He will give us those things that we are in need of – Phil. 4:19.
• However, when we refuse to be content with that which we already have, then we are guilty in the eyes of the Lord.
• We are saying that He hasn’t done enough and that we can’t trust God to meet our need!
• God help us to always look to the Lord for the things we have need of and to always remember that we are to practice contentment with what we already possess.
• God’s plan for us in regard to obtaining things is found in Matthew 6;25-34.
• When we forget that he is the provider and begin to think that getting relies on us, then we have passed from faith into covetousness and we are guilty of sin!
b. It Demonstrates a Lack of Faithfulness
• When we allow a covetous heart to dominate our lives, we will become slaves to that things we want.
• When this happens, we will be guilty of placing the Lord in second place in our lives.
• There is nothing wrong in possessing things, but we fall into sin when things begin to possess us!
• When we allow things to supersede God in our lives, then we are guilty of idolatry!
• An article from the Reader’s Digest tells of a zoologist who designed an experiment in which an ape was introduced to the profit motive. To accomplish this, the specialist first taught the ape to draw and paint, and he found him to be capable to some rather admirable accomplishments. Then he started rewarding the ape by giving him peanuts for his work. Soon the ape was doing “any old thing” just to get the peanuts. The experimenter wryly observed, “I had introduced commercialism into the ape’s world and ruined him as an artist.”
• We too forfeit something worthwhile whenever we become preoccupied with material returns.
• This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek enjoyment out of life.
• The Scriptures do not say that the profit motive is wrong in itself.
• But the problem is obvious.
• Living only for a bigger and better salary, home, car, or vacation doesn’t satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.
• It may seem as if happiness and satisfaction will increase as we gain more and more possessions, but it doesn’t work that way. When we are guilty of possessing a covetous heart, we can be sure that the level of our devotion to Jesus Christ will suffer.
c. We can never be faithful to the Lord as long as we are consumed by other things in life.
• Jesus must fill our vision!
• Until He does, everything else in life will be out of balance!
Closing
Our problem is not that we have too little, nor is it that we possess too much. Our problem is that we want more than we need. Someone once said, “If you want to make a man happy, add not to his possessions, but take away from his desires.” How true! We need to search our hearts this today and see what motivates us. Are we always talking about money? Are we always feeling jealous because someone has something we think we need? Are we guilty of going after things instead of the Lord? Do you need to come to this altar and confess to the Lord that you are guilty of the sin nobody will admit to? If you have a covetous heart, it will be your downfall, unless you make it right with God. Will you come to Him and allow Him to get real big in your vision while other things are allowed to shrink? Let’s just be honest with Jesus today.
