Tenth Commandment 12 Of 12

The Lord, in the previous nine commandments, has told us, "Thou shalt not...”. The tenth commandment deals with the thing what will CAUSE US TO VIOLATE ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THE OTHER COMMANDMENTS, THE SIN OF COVETING.

Illus: Joseph Exell said, "The history of the world is stained and darkened by the crimes to which nations have been driven by the spirit of covetousness,"

This is a sin that can be committed by an individual or a nation. Covetousness is one of the oldest sins around.

It was covetousness, if you remember, that brought about the first sin.

Look at Genesis 3:6 We read, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

We see one of the best examples of covetousness in the book of Joshua.

Illus: Scripture tells us that Joshua gave specific orders. The soldiers were not to take any of the Babylonian possessions in this particular invasion. However, we read in Joshua that a man, by the name Achan, did just that. As a result, when they went to battle against the small nation of Ai, a lesser foe, they were beaten, all because of the sin of covetousness.

Israel began to seek the Lord to find out why they lost this battle that they should have easily won. God revealed to them it was because of sin in the camp and God revealed that Achan was the guilty party.

He confessed in Joshua 7:20-21, We read, And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21 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.

Because Achan coveted and sinned by taking that which he had been told not to take, many men lost their lives in the battle of Ai and Israel lost the blessings of God upon them.

Proverb 21:26 shows us how each day evil men and women violate this commandment, He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

The devil sees to it every day that the billboards, newspapers, magazines, television, etc., give us plenty of things to desire (covet).

He knows if we are busy seeing and seeking things, we will not have time to seek the Lord.

This is why, if you talk to the average person about the church, he will tell you how busy he is and that he does not have time to attend church.

I. WHAT IS THE SIN OF COVETOUSNFSS?

A. Covetousness is a sin of selfishness.

The Lord came to save us from ourselves. One of the biggest problems we humans have is the problem of always wanting to do WHAT SELF WANTS TO DO.

Illus: Someone said, "The selfish man, like a ball of twine, he is wrapped up in himself."

God said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self.”

When a person covets something that someone else has, the only thing he is trying to do is PLEASE HIMSELF!

Illus: When we think of selfishness. We can not help to think of the mother who said, “Why son, you ate all that cake without thinking of your little sister.” The little boy said to his mother, “I can assure you I was thinking of her. I was afraid she would come before I finished it.”

Someone said, “The greatest difficulty with the world is not its inability to produce, but is unwillingness to share.”

I can assure you this applies to the covetous person, he lives only for himself. The covetous person is a person who is saying, "My will be done, not thy will be done!"

Illus: Years ago there was a ship called the “Kent” It was sailing from England to East Indies. We are told that it was a large ship that had many passengers. On her voyage she caught fire and the flames could not be put out. While she was burning another vessel came in sight and offered to take off her crew and passengers. The sea was very rough, and the only way to get the people off the burning ship was to let them down by ropes from the end of a boom into the little boats that were tossed about like corks by the rough sea. One of the sailors, who knew that the ship captain had a large quantity of gold in his possession, determined to get it and take it with him. He broke into the Captain’s office, forced open his desk, took a large pile of gold pieces, put them in a belt, and fastened it round his waist. His turn came to leave the burning ship. He got out to the end of the boom, slipped down the rope, and let go, expecting to drop right into the boat that was beneath him. But a sudden movement of the waves carried the boat out of his reach, and he plunged into the sea. He was an excellent swimmer and had it not been for the gold that he coveted he would have been able to save himself but the gold that he had coveted pulled him deeper and deeper into the sea and he perished.