Today I want to talk to you about a problem both the rich and the poor have – the problem of coveting.
Remember we have divided the Ten Commandments into two categories: The first four are commandments directly related to God Himself –
You Shall No Other gods Before Me…
You Shall Not Make Any Carved Image…
You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord You God in Vain…
You Shall Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy
And the second group is the last six:
Honor Your Mother and Father
You Shall Not Murder
You Shall Not Commit Adultery
You Shall Not Steal
You Shall Not Lie
And today’s focus is, You Shall Not Covet.
You can think of these two sections as the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Tablet One has the four commandments pertaining to God Himself. And Tablet Two has the six commandments pertaining to people.
Today’s Scripture
“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:16).
“And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's” (Deuteronomy 5:21).
Coveting doesn’t get a lot of publicity. Does your moral vocabulary include the word covet? In the process of raising our children, do parents use this word? When I mentioned this word to my oldest son in the car this week, he asked what is coveting. Unless you are studying and memorizing the Ten Commandments, you’re unlikely to think of the concept. You may not have heard of coveting but you have heard of some of its first cousins:
…Envy…
…Jealousy…
…Greed…
…Lust.
To covet is to crave, to yearn for something that belongs to another. It’s not simply wanting something we don’t have; it’s wanting something that someone else has. The Puritan Thomas Watson defined it as “an insatiable desire of getting the world.” And while the word “covet” is relatively unknown, the attitude is deadly.
Jesus said: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
Today I want you to see three things when it comes to coveting…
1. Not All Coveting is Bad;
2. It’s the Virus Within;
3. Covet Christ
1. Not All Coveting is Bad
“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:16).
“And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's” (Deuteronomy 5:21).
The Tenth Commandment could also be translated: “You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house; you shall not set your desire on your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:16).
You can hear that I have substituted the word “desire” where the word “covet” is in your Bibles. There is no difference in the Hebrew word for desire and the word for covet. To covet is to desire. Again, coveting is not what we do but it is what we desire to do.
Coveting is about our dreams. Yet, God has created us with healthy desires. He doesn’t outlaw all of our coveting. He doesn’t eliminate all of our desires. The commandment is not just “do not covet” or “do not desire.” Unlike Buddhism, the Bible does not tell us to renounce all desire for people and things. Unlike the Mennonites, Christianity does not teach us to reject the conveniences of our day. Instead, Christianity calls for a cautious approach to stuff. Instead, the Bible asks us to limit our desires.
Our desires are limited by this command in two directions:
1. It’s against the sort of coveting that desires what is already in the possession of someone else;
2. It’s against the kind of desires that overflow their boundaries and lead you away from God rather than closer to Him.
If your desires for things or people lead you away from God rather than closer to Him, your desires are sin. It is concentrating on what we do not own rather than being thankful for what God has given us. Again, many desires are healthy and commendable. There are many things in Scripture the Bible commends us to covet. If you have a desire to be a godly leader in a church, then is godly and good ambition (1 Timothy 3:1).
There are numerous godly ambitions you should covet. The commandment is “do not covet” is therefore limited.
Don’t think you’ll successfully navigate this command by eliminating your desires. Godliness does not exist in a vacuum. You are a cup and you’ll be filled with the liquid of some desires. You cannot empty the liquid of coveting without filling it with another desire. All of our lives are lived with one desire after another. Your cup cannot be simply emptied of its evil as if pouring water out of a cup. On the way down to youth camp earlier this summer, the teenagers passed through an underwater in Mobile, AL, called the Bankhead Tunnel. Construction of such tunnels is done by the cut and cover method. This is where a tube is immersed in a trench and covered. Scuba divers and engineers dredge a trench in the riverbed. Long, prefabricated tube sections are sealed to keep the water out. They are floated to the site and sunk in the prepared trench. Divers connect the sections and remove the seals. Tunnels that pass trains and cars are not naturally occurring things. They are marvels of human intelligence.
A desire-free mind is an impossibility that makes an underwater tunnel look like the pinewood derby, You must replace your evil impulses for coveting with godly desires.
The question for you is: Will you be filled with holy impulses or evil ones?
1. Not all Coveting is Bad
2. It’s the Virus Within
“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:16).
In the tenth commandment, God’s searchlight moves from actions to attitudes. The commandment is not against an outward act but it is aimed at a person’s intentions. This commandment uniquely addresses a person’s thoughts and desires. So the interior is this command that NO ONE ELSE WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BROKEN THIS COMMANDMENT. Only God sees the breaking of this command. So this last command is aimed at our inward desire.
You can see this inner desire on display in the nursery. Nothing arouses a child’s interest in a toy like seeing it in the hands of another child. The transition from coveting to stealing is almost instantaneous. Conflicts begin long before the first shot is fired or the first punch is thrown. Conflicts begin with coveting, greedy people contemplate their desires. Again, it’s about yearning.
Remember the story of the first sin. Watch carefully how the Scriptures says sin began: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). The same Hebrew word is used in Genesis 3:6 to describe Eve’s desire that is seen in today’s command. Eve’s unholy desires erupted into a volcanic explosion of sin for the world.
Before someone murders, he desires that someone get out of his way. Before someone has sexual relations with another person, he desires that person’s wife. Before I steal your property, I have a desire to acquire your property. Coveting is the starting point of stealing. Coveting is the starting point of adultery.
Scripture itself defines these stages for us.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). First, every human, save Jesus, has ungodly desires (James 1:14). Some may be caught off guard by an immoral desire. Second, some nurse these unholy desires (James 1:15). But you can refuse to nurse this desire. You can refuse to nurture your evil desires. Third, many entertain your desires and you put a plan in action. “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). Fourth, others go farther by not only planning their sinful desire but also placing their plan into action. This is what James calls “death.” This commandment is here because desires do not stay in your heart.
This commandment is last in the Ten but it aims at the desires as they first appear in our minds & hearts. Our evil desires erupt from us like a great volume of water bursting through a tiny hole in a dike. It’s the virus inside of us.
Yet, your desires find a way to get outside of you. The Tenth Commandment logically precedes the other commandments. A greedy man develops plans to carry out his desires for thieft. And lustful woman develops a plan to carry out her desires for adultery. Desire is the root from which every sin springs.
If the eighth commandment places God’s handcuffs on our wrists so as not to steal then the Tenth commandment is God’s handcuffs on our hearts and minds so we would not desire to steal. This commandment shows God at work as our librarian to rid pornography from our libraries. This commandment shows God at work as our IT person to rid pornography from our computers. This commandment shows God as the CPA who goes over the books of our personal finances. He knows our stealing desires to keep up with the Jones.
Jesus said this kind of unholy desire will deceive us: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15)
What do we do when we get a new car? We have to show it to someone, almost like there is no fun to be had if nobody is around to covet it. God commands at the level of our minds, hearts, and imagination. Notice God’s rationale for wiping out all of humanity in Noah’s flood.
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:5-8).
Note carefully that it was not humanity’s actions that condemned them before God – it was their imaginations. This commandment makes it clear… God commands at the level of our minds, hearts, and imagination. This is missed by most of us and this one command makes this so very clear.
The virus within us is greed: “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:6- 10).
More than one in four Protestants give nothing to the work of the Church. Median annual giving for professing Christians is just 2.6% While most feel that the commands such as “Do not murder” and “Do not steal” were spoken to nefarious vagabonds, this command was written for the upright, honest, and virtuous.
It was this command that convinced the Apostle Paul he was a sinner. Through all of the other commands in the list of ten, he felt he could check them off… “No adultery, check…” “No stealing, check…” “No lying, check…” But this last one convinced him he was guilty (Romans 7:7-12).
The same thing for a man known throughout history as the rich young ruler. He too thought he had kept all the commandments. Listen carefully to his story.
“And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:18-23).
Jesus shows him just how far short he falls of the commands of God. Jesus gave him a diagnostic test, like a CAT scan or an MRI of the soul. This test revealed that although he claimed to be good, he was actually a man with a virus inside. He was a volcano of desires that erupted like a great volume of water bursting through a tiny hole in a dike.
Luke concludes: “But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23).
This virus called coveting is not limited to a particular tax bracket.
It was spring, but it was summer I wanted,
The warm days, and the great outdoors.
It was summer, but it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air.
It was fall, but it was winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season.
It was winter, but it was spring I wanted,
The warmth and the blossoming of nature.
I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom and respect.
I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted,
To be mature, and sophisticated.
I was middle-aged, but it was 20 I wanted,
The youth and the free spirit.
I was retired, but it was middle age I wanted,
The presence of mind without limitations.
My life was over, and I never got what I wanted.
1. Not all Coveting is Bad…
2. It’s the Virus Within
3. Covet Christ
Again, we’re not talking about renouncing all desire. Instead, we are talking about exchanging our desire – the lesser for the greater, the lower for the higher, and the temporal for the eternal.
Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf summed up his life in one simple statement: “I have one (1) passion: it is He, He alone.” There was a time when he was disappointed in God. He saw wicked men prosper and he had nothing to show for his clean living. This is what he wrote in his journal: “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.?3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3). It was later that he reflected on his bitterness that he realized his error. He discovered a secret that I want you to discover: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25)
You are a cup and you’ll be filled with the liquid of some desires. You cannot empty the liquid of coveting without filling it with another desire.
All of our lives are lived with one desire after another. Your cup cannot be simply emptied of its evil. You must delight in Christ. You can only do this by the grace of God. Desire the beauty and majesty of Christ to fill your cup.
