The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors excited to get to study the word with y'all this morning go to grab a Bible and go to Exodus chapter 20. if you don't have a Bible with you there should be one stuck under the chair in front of you if you don't own a Bible take one of these blue ones home with you that's our gift to you we want you to own a Bible but we are working our way as a Church through the book of Exodus and we have slowed down over the past 10 weeks to walk through the Ten Commandments and we are on the 10th commandment.
And so we are studying the Ten Commandments together and learning one of the things that we've discussed throughout is that we are predisposed As Americans to have a certain type of morality that makes sense to us primarily we think of things as being wrong or right based off of does it hurt someone so even say things like do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone we also consider things right or wrong based off of fairness but there are other categories that we disregard.
But we need to God's approach to morality is broader than ours it's greater than ours and that we need to adjust and learn and one of the things we've seen is we've studied the Ten Commandments is that God uh promotes human flourishing through these Ten Commandments that if we learned to practice these and follow these life would be better our culture would be better society would be better and that in the Ten Commandments we see God's General design and we'll see the rest of the law kind of grows out of these.
First ten but we're on the tenth one and it's Exodus chapters 20 verse 17. and so it says this 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 neighbors now in order for this to be understandable at all we need to know what the word covet means because if you have no definition for that it's like what what did I do to my neighbor's donkey what is coveting coveting is desire wanting.
But it's a specific type of desire a specific type of want craving that is by its very nature sinful there are some desires that are not sinful and so we're going to take our time this morning to try to understand where does desire where does this want become sinful so we're going to pray for our time and then we'll pick right back up there Louie asks that as we study your word together that your Holy Spirit would be at work as we study covetousness which is primarily something that happens inside of us that your Holy Spirit would help us to.
See it so that we might turn from it and turn to you and we ask for your grace and your presence and we ask that all this will be done for your glory in Jesus name amen so there are some desires that are not by their very nature sinful Jesus got hungry Jesus in the garden prays that this cup would pass from him that he wouldn't have to go through with what was about to go through but he submits himself to the Lord's will.
So just wanting a thing isn't necessarily bad there are certain things that we're told in the Bible that are good to want like it's good to want to be a pastor it's good to want a spouse it's fine to want children like there's things that are good things that we should work towards but coveting is a desire that is in its own on its own sinful and and we're going to give a definition to it but let's read this you shall not desire your neighbor's house you shall not want your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors it's this desire.
Of this wanting that is sinful and I think there's two ways that we'll see that it's sinful one is is a desire for something or someone that is not yours to desire your neighbor's spouse is not yours to desire so by having any desire for your neighbor's spouse you are Desiring something that is not yours to desire and therefore it's out of bounds but I think also as we study this together see that it is Desiring something that is good or.
Okay to desire but Desiring it inordinately Desiring it too much and that is where we suddenly have a lot of questions because this commandment is distinct from the other ten the other or the other nine this is the tenth one there's not another ten you can watch someone commit the other ones you can testify to it you can see it happen you can if you practice one of the other ones no yes I stole that you might have some questions about whether or not this was slander or gossip or whatever.
But you you there's something that's physically taking place you're speaking you're there's words being exchanged when you lie about somebody when you steal something when there's a murder the tenth commandment happens inside of you and it changes our understanding of the Ten Commandments drastically God is giving the law to the people of Israel and he's telling them things like You're Going To Worship me you're not going to have Idols there's going to be a day of worship set aside you're going to be you're going to honor your mother.
Father just helping you all out since the kids are in here this morning they're going to honor your mother and father you don't murder don't steal don't commit adultery he's given all these commands we're going right right right and then he says and don't covet and suddenly it's like wait that hmm that happens just in here that's something I do here and here like if we were talking about laws for South Carolina and we were like and this is a law about property and this is all about driving oh and you're not allowed to sink this you'd immediately be like not allowed to think a thing.
First thought might be how they going to catch me I think whatever I want problem when God gives a law like this is that he knows what's going on inside of you this is some ways terrifying he's talking about what's happening in your heart what's happening in your mind and he cares about it and he's prohibiting things that can't take place inside of us not just things that happen outside of us and so this one's different and suddenly I think rightfully we should have a lot of questions how do I know.
If I've done this how do I see this in myself one of the things I said when we were introducing the Ten Commandments was that much of American consumerism is based off of covetousness we see something we want it we go get it and immediately we had a lot of questions and I think good questions I'm going to give you some examples of the type of questions that I was Fielding after that week and I know some of you all have been looking forward to this week to try to.
See how do I discern this someone said Okay I want shoes I need shoes and I just want them I need them mine have worn out I have a certain type of shoe that I want so I do a little research I then see a person I know wearing the kind of shoe I'm looking for I asked them where they got that shoe I go buy that shoe was that covetousness I think that's a good question I'm at my friend's house and he has an air fryer and I learned new information to me that air fryers can reheat fried chicken which is a problem I've had my entire life on the off chance that Fried.
Chicken escapes the first plate I'd like for it to show up on a second but for anyone who's ever microwaved Fried Chicken you know how utterly disappointing that is so I go buy an air fryer I don't wait till my friend's not looking hit him over the head with a vase and take his air fryer I just go get my own have I coveted I think we have questions like nobody asked me this one I've added this one just to try to help us continue to think.
But I think we have questions like okay leaving consumerism leaving how we approach that and how we know about things if I see an advertisement or whatever we're going to talk more about that but I don't want my neighbor's wife I don't want my neighbor's husband I just want my husband to be more like that is that covetousness so what we're going to do is I have eight tests eight questions for us to ask ourselves to try to identify covetousness in our hearts some of them are similar to other ones some of them are different it's just trying to come at this from different angles to try to say hey.
If this matters to God and if it's something that happens internally and I won't always have external evidence of it how do I know if I'm coveting first test are you Desiring something that is not yours to desire this one's pretty straightforward but wherever there is scarcity meaning some limited resources you could actually say no I don't just want my husband to be like that I want Carl I want Tina that's coveting it's clear straightforward I actually don't just want a house like that I want that house and I'm longing.
For that house and I'm trying to work my situation such that I could eventually have that house I want that job so I want to get this person out of the job so I can have that job that's coveting that's specifically what he is talking about very clearly here this happens when on a small scale when one of my children is holding a popsicle and the other kid immediately wants a popsicle as you do and then the one with the popsicle says oh this is the last popsicle.
And so now I I went from new watch a child go from wanting a popsicle to wanting that popsicle and so when that is happening that's covetousness and so it's one of the first questions to ask do I want that specific one that I would take it that I would get it from that person that I'm going to Crave it desire it second test are you willing to sin to obtain your desire I think if you would consider this for a moment you'll.
See that covetousness is actually behind much of the Ten Commandments then it happens first when you commit adultery you have first desired your neighbor's spouse we see in Joshua 7 21 and Micah 2 2 and in the story of Adam and Eve that they first desired a thing and then took it so they coveted something that was not theirs to covet they belonged to someone else and then they took it so that covetousness is behind theft and other types of Disobedience to.
God James 4 2 says you desire and do not have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel so that covetousness shows up in our actions so let's say if we spent this past week realizing that there are things that you lie about you slander people and you need to work on this one of the things you need to do is not just go I shouldn't lie I shouldn't lie about people but actually go why am I doing that in the.
First place and go a level deeper and begin to repent of your covetousness that you wanted this thing so bad you were willing to sin to have it one of the things they look for in a lot of crimes is motive and I honestly think if you're watching those kind of shows one of the things you could replace that with is just what type of covetousness was present prior to this crime being committed was it Financial was it relational was there adultery.
And then murder that sort of thing so are you willing to sin to obtain it and I think it's worth understanding that even in the small ways that we sin maybe you haven't committed murder but in the ways that you walk around angry at your neighbor that you might understand there's something underneath that third do you believe stuff equals The Good Life if you don't welcome to the United States we'll catch you up Luke 12 15. Jesus teaching and someone in Middle from the crowd says.
Jesus tell my brother to share the inheritance with me Jesus responds to the whole crowd he responds to that guy but then he responds to the whole crowd and he said to them take care and be on your guard against all covetousness four which when you're studying your Bible pay attention to words like four and therefore or because it helps you understand four lot one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions I think this one is very helpful.
For our air fryer question is it wrong to own an air fryer I hope not I own one is it wrong for me to buy into the LIE that life is made better by stuff and that life is made up of stuff yes and I should be on guard against that but if we're honest that's what we're trained in if you could just have this new Gadget if you could just have this type of clothes if you could just have this thing life would be better life would be more full.
If you consider how we think about things when we hear that someone wins the lottery we're like ah take it to the good life you hear that someone got a a big promotion they're going to make a lot more money that's the life when you dream about your future is it just you with more stuff what are you what are you working towards it's like well in 10 years I'm on a boat well there's a good chance that you've believed a lie that stuff equals The Good Life that life consists in the abundance of possessions this is what advertising does what it tries to convince you of a lot of products.
If you'll pay attention to the advertising it's not just saying some some of it does some of them says here's the problem and here's how our product fixes that problem but a lot of times the product just sells you on being a type of person or living a type of life this type of man wears this watch if you like skateboards you'll like Mountain Dew or whatever or if you like Mountain Dew you'll be cool enough to like skateboards their professionals are kind of confusing.
But they're selling you on some sort of like car commercials where it's just cool people riding around in the car I don't tell you anything about the car you just know cool people drive that car one of my favorite examples of this that has stuck with me forever I used to work at Sears selling appliances and so I'd be in the mall a good bed and I would take my lunch breaks he had like 20 minutes to walk down get some food go back and I would.
See people carrying Abercrombie and Fitch shopping bags like they went there and they bought stuff now I don't know if Abercrombie and Fitch is still cool but it was when I worked at Sears it's a clothing company that sold expensive cool clothing on their bag was a guy with no clothes on the top half of a naked guy and this is a clothing company if you buy their clothes you will be cool enough to not wear clothes I don't but it proves the point that what we're being sold on is this is a piece of the good life this is a piece of identity this is a piece of who you want to be this.
Is a piece of fulfillment and Jesus says be on guard against that and for us that means 24 7 being on guard against that because we are bombarded with that message so Maybe when you buy an air fryer it was absolutely covetousness maybe when you buy those shoes it was absolutely Covetous maybe when you hear the words come out of your mouth hey where'd you get that shirt it's a hundred percent covetousness and it's worth investigating and trying to figure out what's going on in your heart and what's happening in your belief system as far as where is life found four the next three come from Kevin Dion's book on the Ten Commandments I thought.
He worded them well I thought they were helpful tests and so the next three are from from Kevin to Young and the way he approached us in his book on the Ten Commandments number four are you preoccupied with accumulating more how do you spend your time how do you spend your downtime how do you spend the majority of your time what do you daydream about I think we'll find that there are times when we say I'd love to help I'd love to be able to hang out with our community group I'd love to be there on Sundays.
But too busy I think it's always worth asking too busy with what what does your life look like what are you preoccupied with in the parable of the sower Jesus says there's a sower that goes out and sows the word and there's one where it believes the word and it begins to grow and then it says the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of richers choke the word out so that it is unfruitful and some of you maybe are Christians and you've believed in.
Jesus but you've bought into the lie you're preoccupied with accumulating more and that's what your time goes to it's what your energy goes to what do you what do you spend your time doing what gets the bulk of your energy I understand Bible says that work is good and that we're to pay our own way and that we're to be busy all those things are fine but is that all you care about is that all you work on I think asking the question what do you daydream about is a good question is it just you and the future with more stuff sometimes it gets real specific you just daydream about how cool it would be.
To own a motorcycle and yeah we daydream about some stupid stuff sometimes I have sat around thinking about how great it would be to own a shed and you're like that's a sad little wife yeah that sounds pretty sad just to be like pumped about owning a shed but there are certain things that we'll sit and think man it wouldn't be great if I had this one if I did this if I could and so are we preoccupied with um accumulating more can you not rest can't Sabbath can't take a day off you got.
So much to do because your whole life is built around getting more fifth test do you lack generosity are you unwilling to give up what you already have this is an indication that you may be struggling with covetousness that you believe that life is made up in the abundance of possessions and so therefore anything that takes anything away from you robs you of the point of life robs you of life and therefore any amount of generosity is hard hurtful frustrating you guard your money.
Because your money equates to fullness life Delight Joy I think sometimes we say things like I would I would I'd love to give to that I'd love to get in a place where I could be generous but my budget's just too tight and so I think if that's you take a look at your budget because it'll tell you what you care about we make room for stuff I in general we're taught to make this much money and make your budget here often we make our budget here.
Therefore we actually spend up here but as Christians we should make this much money and make our budget here and if we start making more money our budget can go up some maybe but maybe what we give also grows exponentially that we get to be generous and so if you can't be generous there's a good chance that you believe and I'm not saying if you make very little money and you're fine but I everybody can find ways to be generous in some form or fashion.
And so if that doesn't ever happen for you and you've said this for years if I could just get to there but you've actually gotten a promotion you've actually begun to make a little more money you've actually both of y'all are working now or whatever and it still hasn't happened there's a good chance you struggle with covetousness number six do you Grumble and complain about life do you say must be nice a lot I must be nice this is where I think I don't actually want to marry that guy I just want my guy to be more like that guy I think that shows up here I just wish that my wife cooked like that.
Or would go get a job like that I wish that my husband would treat the kids like that or would fix things instead of breaking things or whatever what we often do when we're doing that is we compare somebody else's best qualities with somebody else's worst qualities but do you find that you complain a lot you Grumble a lot I wish I had that car everybody else gets to have this kind of thing everybody else gets to do one of these like you spend time on Facebook.
And then you're just frustrated everybody else gets to go on vacation everybody else gets to smile in pictures everybody else smile looks good in pictures I wish I had those parents I wish I had that hair as if life not lamenting sin not lamenting the Brokenness in the world but lamenting your lot in life as if you're owed more and that everybody else is succeeding around you and you're the only one as if if you had those things that would fix what what's going on in your heart.
So do you Grumble and complain I think this is where the TV show HGTV comes in or the channel I think you can watch that you can learn things it can be just whatever so I'm but I also think that you can watch HGTV and then hate your own house go to someone else's house ever been to someone else's house and it's nice and you walk around and go this is nice wow and then you go back to your house and you go what a dump have you ever been mad at the amount of bathrooms your house had like more people need to go to the bathroom in my house at one time or your.
Functional perfectly functional bathroom now doesn't have the things that it should have to make it feel like a special fancy like this that's this is this I I now have created a desire a want a frustration and I'm grumbling and complaining and no longer content this next one goes with it number seven does the joy of others make you discontent you ever been just having like a normal day and then someone else comes and has a happy day next to you.
So your day is now worse you ever been enjoying a meal eating with some people but there's that table that won't stop laughing and having more fun than you and so now your meal is worse I my sons showed me this stuff periodically and I can see it clearly in them but it helps me see it more in myself but I know there have been times where one of my sons has to go to school wakes up normal day rocking along going to school.
Then suddenly discovers that his brother does not have to go to school whoa whoa his day is now worse he's going to do the exact same stuff but somewhere out there his brother is not suffering also and now things are worse but we do that something that actually has no effect on our life whatsoever but they have a new car they got to go on a vacation they got a promotion you're hanging out with your community group someone announces something you're like oh that's.
So good you but then you get in your car and you're like why God why is it always them never me and so someone else's Joy rather than you getting to be included in the joy makes life worse that's covetousness that someone else is getting married someone else is having kids someone else got a job someone else gets a vacation and therefore your life is worse but that's not actually how it works and the truth is if we can learn to do what Paul says which is to Rejoice with those who Rejoice you can actually increase your joy by getting to share in the joy of others.
So to tell my sons if you'll learn how to have all your own victories and then share in your brothers you'll get double the victories if you learn how to rejoice when he rejoices in your community group if you learn how to genuinely rejoice when other people rejoice but so often it happens the other way because of covetousness number eight test does what you desire make God-sized promises to you okay there are certain claims promises that only God can deliver on hope true Delight satisfaction salvation fixing what's wrong with you.
But then there are things that promise to do that for us this is idolatry this is this is Paul talking about this he does it in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 Ephesians 5 for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is Covetous that is an idolater has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God for Colossians 3 5 put to death therefore what is Earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry.
So in the Ten Commandments the first one was you will have no other gods before me and the second was you will make no Idols you have no graven images you'll have nothing that you look to and worship and long for and then Paul is saying that's exactly what covetousness is and that makes a lot of sense that's why we'd sin to get it if I if you're willing to sin to get something it's actually because you believe that it will satisfy you in a way that Christ can't.
So it's worth disobeying him it's worth running from him it's worth doing something that you know he says is out of bounds because you really want this thing that's idolatry it'll bring me more joy it'll bring me more hope it will fill me up I'll be satisfied so what in your life do you say if I could just have blank everything would be fixed if I could just get this job I could just make this much money one of the scariest ones.
If I could just get married oh Lord help your future spouse because you need them to be Jesus and they are not if I could just have kids oh Lord help your kids you need them to fix what's wrong with you you need them to satisfy bring you hope and this isn't just struggling in life and saying Lord help provide I'd love to get another job and trusting in Him in the midst of it that's what Jesus prays in the garden he says.
If if this can happen but I trust you but idolatry is I just need this I don't need you and if you won't let me have this then I'll get rid of you so I can have it I'll sin to get it I'll chase after it no matter what you're you're the one who's disposable if you'll serve my real God I'll follow you but if you won't serve my real God I'm out this is why you'll sleep with your boyfriend it's where your real.
God is this is why you'll embezzle or steal or lie or whatever is because this is the real thing I want and as long as God's lined up and helping me have the kids I want to have then great but if God won't give them to me then I'm over here this is why often when we get the thing we don't need God anymore we've got the thing we wanted it's idolatry and it can be seen easily at times sometimes we have little ones actually I love this tweet.
Because it just resonates with me so well this is a tweet in 1998 I begged my mom to buy Me jinko jeans she agreed but only on the condition we do a photo shoot to prove to My Future Self how stupid I looked Look Who's laughing now Mom I love this I'm gonna move out of y'all's way so y'all can appreciate jinkos now some of you are like what on Earth is a jinko gene it could be bell bottoms it could be a perm it could be a type of car it could be a type of jacket we've all done this.
If I could have this thing y'all when I was in Middle School I died just the top of my head White why not your whole head you ask I don't know I was in Middle School and it was awesome for like a week I was like nailed it and then I had to keep looking at myself and I was like this is stupid but your hair doesn't grow that fast you just have to deal with it you know eventually I had those little frosted tips you know this is a clear example of.
If I could have this thing be all we hadn't stopped since middle school some of us have just picked a bigger one if you'd actually think back through your life there's 10 things you've already gotten and they just didn't do it so you quit daydreaming about them you quit putting your hope in them and you just picked a new thing to put your hope in and that's covetousness and that's idolatry those are our eight tests and I think if you take the time to consider them they will help you figure out what is going on what it is that you truly are chasing after and whether or not you were walking in covetousness.
But here's the wonderful thing this commandment I said at the beginning it's kind of terrifying because God's looking inside of you and saying this is a problem too but y'all that's wonderful if the Ten Commandments were all only things that we did rules about things that you're not supposed to do that mess up society that would be good and helpful but when he puts this one in here he does something in the tenth and in the first that tie together and the.
First he says you'll have no other gods before me and when he talks about idolatry in the second one he says he's a jealous God meaning that he desires our affection and when he gets to this one he says I care about your heart you should look at the Ten Commandments tenth commandment and no that Jesus loves you that God loves you you that he cares about what is happening inside of you you know I care about my children's Behavior that they don't make my house a terrible place to live.
But yeah I care about what's going on inside of them I care about their heart I care about their relating to me to their mom to each other and when God puts this in here the Ten Commandments go from don't mess up the nation I'm building to oh no no no no no it's so much more than that because we would look at this as Americans and go okay I understand why covetousness is bad down the line I understand how it can tear things up later.
If I steal or I murder or whatever but just what's going on inside of me is my own business this is a victimless crime and God says no you're the victim of your own sin and your own Brokenness and you're robbing yourself of joy and delight and you're robbing yourself of me and I won't have it and we know he won't have it we know he cares this much about our hearts not just because he gives us the tenth commandment.
Because Jesus comes to Earth to die to claim us pay for our sins certainly but because he loves us and wants us to belong to him forever he doesn't just come and say I'm going to pay for your sin so that you won't be sinful and you'll quit annoying me and you'll quit messing things up he comes and says I'm going to pay for your sins so that you can belong to me forever so you can be adopted in so you can be my cherished possession.
So that as Paul says who loved me and gave himself up for me this is wonderful and in Christ we have hope that he redeems sinful broken Wicked Ten Commandment breaking Rebels and he does it because he loves us and cherishes us and is unwilling that we would love something else but that we would know fully who he is and how wonderful he is so the hope of finding out are we Covetous is not so that we'll quit being bad.
So that we might Delight in Jesus who is the only one in whom we will ever find satisfaction salvation and Delight that we might clear out the Clutter so we can have more of Christ it's worth it because he's worth it and because he loves us enough to take our hearts and claim them let's pray Lord we pray that we would not covet they would help us to see it in ourselves that we would repent of it that we would cherish you above all else that you would be our highest affection.
Because only in you what we find satisfaction and Delight we ask that your Holy Spirit would be at work in us right now to help us to begin to see this that you'd help us to grow and fight against be on guard against all covetousness so that we might know that life is found in you in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up in a moment we're going to sing and we're going to take communion communion is a celebration a practice of the Church to.
Remember physically remind ourselves and physically Proclaim that Jesus died to save Sinners to Proclaim his death until he comes and so if you are a Christian communion is for you to partake in in Repentance and faith so that you would take a moment to consider what Christ has done for you the cost of your faith and that you might repent that you might come to him once again saying I need you I need you to work in my heart I need you to claim my heart I need you to keep me you.
But I have you but I get to par take in your salvation so we partake and it's a physical thing that reminds you that you feel the reality of what he's accomplished for us if you are not a Christian communion is not for you but Christ is Christians to celebrate what Christ has done just as baptism is and we would invite you to come to him and say I need you to save me I need you to change my heart because I'm on I want you could follow all the Ten Commandments to the best of your ability you would still fall short and you would still not fix what is going on in you.
You would still miss the point which is that Christ is good and he redeems sinners so may you come to him and ask for forgiveness and ask for Grace and trust in him today so take a moment where you are to consider ask the Lord to help you see where you are Covetous repent and then Delight in the sacrifice made on your behalf.