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The Tenth Commandment as a Summary of the Whole Moral Law: How Sin Produces All Kinds of Covetousness (Deuteronomy 5:1-33)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  Let's take our Bibles now and open up to the
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  Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
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  chapter 5. This is the fifth book of the Bible,
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  the fifth book of the Torah, and what we're doing
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  this evening is continuing through these evening
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  services looking at what I've been calling our
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  shepherding sermons, shepherding us through difficulties
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  that we may have in our lives, temptations that
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  we face, sins that we are trying with the Holy
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  Spirit to overcome. And so tonight, how fitting
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  we look at, we're going to look kind of hyper
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  -focus on one commandment, but we're going to
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  see it in context and therefore see all of the
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  Ten Commandments. Now as you're turning to Deuteronomy
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  5, And you see the Ten Commandments listed there.
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  You might say, well, I thought those were in
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  Exodus chapter 20. It's true, they are. But you
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  can also see the Ten Commandments here in Deuteronomy
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  5. But I do want us to see it all in context.
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  And so I'm going to read this chapter for us.
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  For indeed, God's Word is good for us and we
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  need to read it. here in the worship service
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  and at homes and with our families and so would
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  you now give attention to the reading of God's
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  holy inspired word Deuteronomy 5 and Moses summoned
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  all Israel and said to them hero Israel the statutes
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  and the rules that I speak and you're hearing
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  today and you shall learn them and be careful
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  to do them the Lord your God made a coven with
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  us in Horeb Not with the fathers did the Lord
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  make this covenant, but with us who are all of
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  us here alive today The Lord spoke with you face
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  to face at the mountain Out of the midst of the
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  fire while I stood between the Lord and you at
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  the time to declare to you the word of the Lord
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  for you were afraid because of the fire and You
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  did not go up into the mountain. He said I am
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  the Lord your God who brought you out of the
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  land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You
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  shall have no other gods before me. You shall
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  not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness
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  of anything that is in heaven above, or that
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  is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water
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  under the earth. You shall not bow down to them
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  or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a
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  jealous God. visiting the iniquity of the fathers
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  on the children to the third and the fourth generation
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  of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love
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  to thousands of those who love me and keep my
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  commandments. You shall not take the name of
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  the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will
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  not hold him guiltless who takes his name in
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  vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
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  the Lord your God commanded you six days you
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  shall labor and do all your work but the seventh
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  day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you
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  shall do no work you or your son or your daughter
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  or your male servant or your female servant or
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  your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock
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  or the sojourner who is within your gates that
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  your male servant and your female servant may
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  rest as well as you You shall remember that you
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  were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord
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  your God brought you out from there with a mighty
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  hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord
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  your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
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  Honor your father and your mother as the Lord
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  your God commanded you that your days may be
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  long and that it may go well with you in the
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  land that the Lord your God is giving you. You
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  shall not murder. and you shall not commit adultery,
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  and you shall not steal, and you shall not bear
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  false witness against your neighbor, and you
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  shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you
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  shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field,
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  or his male servant, or his female servant, his
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  ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.
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  These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly
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  at the mountain. out of the midst of the fire,
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  the cloud and thick darkness with a loud voice
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  and he added no more. And he wrote them on two
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  tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as
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  soon as you heard the voice out of the midst
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  of the darkness while the mountain was burning
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  with fire, you came near to me, all the heads
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  of your tribes and your elders. And you said,
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  behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory
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  and greatness. And we have heard his voice. out
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  of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen
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  God speak with man and man still live. Now therefore,
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  why should we die? For this great fire will consume
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  us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God
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  anymore, we shall die. For who is there of all
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  the flesh that has heard the voice of the living
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  God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have
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  and is still lived? Go near and hear. all that
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  the Lord our God will say and speak to us all
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  that the Lord our God will speak to you and we
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  will hear and do it and the Lord heard your words
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  when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me
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  I have heard the words of this people which they
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  have spoken to you they are right in all that
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  they have spoken oh that they had such a heart
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  as this always to fear me and to keep all my
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  commandments that it might go well with them
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  their descendants forever go and say to them
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  return to your tents but you stand here by me
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  and I will tell you the whole commandment and
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  the statutes and the rules that you shall teach
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  them they may do to them in the land that I am
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  giving them to possess you shall be careful therefore
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  to do as the Lord your God has commanded you
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  you shall not turn aside to the right hand or
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  to the left You shall walk in all the way that
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  the Lord your God has commanded you, that you
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  may live and that it may go well with you and
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  that you may live long in the land that you shall
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  possess. This friends is God's holy word. Let's
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  pray together. Our Lord and our God, we thank
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  you for the entirety of your word and specifically
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  for these 10 commandments. but Lord so many of
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  us throughout our many years decades even we
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  have heard these commandments hundreds of times
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  maybe thousands we have meditated on them before
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  we've heard them taught and sometimes we approach
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  these commandments Lord and we think that we
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  know it all and we may even think that we keep
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  these perfectly Lord let it not be so let us
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  instead give ourselves to the study of this tonight
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  and see what Christ has done for us. Lord, make
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  us obedient, Lord, and help us to be good listeners,
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  we pray in Christ's name, amen. One second for
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  some water. Why don't I have her house? Why don't
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  I have his car? Why aren't my children more like
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  their children? Why can't I have a job like that?
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  Why, we ask, why can't things for me be like
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  they are for them? At first glance, maybe these
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  sorts of questions seem whiny, but perhaps benign.
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  Of the Ten Commandments, God could have commanded,
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  why is coveting in here? Surely coveting is not
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  on the level with idolatry or murder or adultery,
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  right? It can't be that bad. Did God just have
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  some extra room on those tablets and so he gave
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  us a bonus commandment? What's going on with
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  coveting? Really? What's so bad about wanting
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  somebody else's donkey? Friends, what I want
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  you to see tonight is that coveting is an egregious
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  sin. And yes, it is fitting where it is in the
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  Ten Commandments. And yes, according to the Scriptures,
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  sin produces all kinds of covetousness within
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  us, but there is a solution to coveting. And
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  so tonight what I want us to see is the problem
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  of coveting. I want to see the place of coveting.
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  And yes, I want to see the solution to coveting.
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  There was once a king and a queen who seemed,
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  seemed being an important word, to have all authority
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  and all the power. They could do whatever they
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  wanted. But one day, the queen found the king
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  to be upset, to be downcast. And she asked him,
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  what's the matter? And he said, well, Naboth,
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  you know, he's got this vineyard and I really
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  want it, but he won't give it to me. He won't
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  sell it to me. And so the queen reminded the
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  king, hey, you're the king and you could do whatever
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  you want. And she said, actually, I'll take care
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  of it. and take care of it, she did. Jezebel
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  had the owner, Naboth, the owner of the vineyard.
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  She had him stoned. And then the king just went
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  and took possession of the vineyard. The story
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  of Naboth's vineyard from 1 Kings 21 illustrates
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  what we're talking about tonight. That coveting
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  isn't simply about desires. I want to make sure
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  we have that distinction down. There are good
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  desires that are out there. And so it's not wrong
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  to desire those things. But coveting is the desire
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  to have what is not ours and the desire to obtain
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  it through ungodly means. Consider what the book
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  of James says here. What causes quarrels and
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  what causes fights among you? Is it not this
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  that your passions are at war within you? You
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  desire and you do not have, so you murder. You
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  covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.
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  Now, getting back to Ahab and Jezebel, that had
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  very serious, long -lasting ramifications even
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  though Ahab does feel remorse over his sin. But
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  it's a significant moment in Israel's history.
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  The damage is this punishment for covetousness,
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  punishment for murder, punishment for idolatry
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  and the death of the entirety of Ahab's family
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  because of coveting. Hear this, behold, God's
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  word says, I will bring disaster upon you. I
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  will utterly burn you up. and cut off from Ahab
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  every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will
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  make your house like the house of Jeroboam the
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  son of Nebat, and like the house of Bashah the
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  son of Ahaziah, for the anger to which you have
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  provoked me, because you have made Israel to
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  sin." You see, that happens because of this egregious
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  sin of coveting. And actually, when we jump ahead
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  into the New Testament to consider coveting,
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  we see that coveting is directly the opposite
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  of what Jesus tells us to do. When Jesus boils
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  down these 10 commandments into two, what does
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  he say? Love the Lord your God and love your
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  neighbor as yourself. Well, friends, you cannot
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  love your neighbor as yourself if you're just
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  wanting their stuff. That's not loving our neighbor.
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  Not at all Not at all and as you look at this
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  commandment here specifically You can see the
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  things that are mentioned You can see why an
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  ancient Israelite would want this right? Again
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  you shall not covet your neighbor's wife You
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  shall not desire your neighbor's house his field
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  or his male servant or his female servant, his
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  ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors.
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  If you compare the commandment that is here in
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  Deuteronomy five with Exodus 20, you'll notice
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  that there is an extra word, an extra kind of
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  phrase that is in here. Really, the word field
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  is located in Deuteronomy five, 21, and it's
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  not there in the commandment in Exodus 20. Well,
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  why would that be? Commentators have different
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  thoughts on this, but most of them would say,
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  well, we got to remember what's happening in
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  Deuteronomy. What's Moses doing in Deuteronomy?
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  He's kind of retelling all of this in preparation
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  for what? For the promised land in which prayerfully
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  the Israelites would have their own fields. They
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  may have desired these things and they may have
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  ended up becoming like Naboth. Dead over these
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  things or Ahab killing over these things and
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  so what we have here is a very strong commandment
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  not to covet anything that is our neighbors and
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  So that's the problem of coveting in a nutshell.
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  There's a lot more we could say but what about
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  the place of coveting? Well after saying all
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  these words here God puts down his pen or his
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  chisel as it were It says that God spoke no more,
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  but put these on the stone tablets, and coveting
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  is at the end. And so what I want us to see now
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  is that coveting absolutely fits with these other
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  commandments, and it does so in a special way.
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  Consider Colossians 3 verse 5. It says, put to
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  death, therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual
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  immorality. impurity, passion, evil desire, and
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  covetousness. Some translations may have greed,
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  but it says then, which is idolatry. On account
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  of these, the wrath of God is coming. And so
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  covetousness and greed is linked then to the
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  first and the second commandment. You shall have
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  no other gods before me. You shall not make any
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  gods or bow down to them. And this is what I
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  want us to see, that you can do this with all
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  of these commandments. You can see the correlation
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  between coveting and between all the other commandments.
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  Think about what idolatry really is. It's being
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  terribly unsatisfied with who God is. as if to
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  say, God, you are not enough for me. You can
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  study the Israelites and their history and you
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  can see how they went after other gods. That
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  is idolatry. And as they're looking at other
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  nations and these other fake gods and these idols,
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  they're wanting to leave the one true God for
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  this fake God over here. They are coveting and
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  they're committing idolatry. And so that's the
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  link between the first and the second commandment
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  and commandment 10. What about the third? You
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  know the third commandment. You shall not take
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  the Lord's name in vain. When we do that, we
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  are showing a lack of reverence and a heinous
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  lack of reverence for God when we when we use
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  his name in inappropriate ways. But you might
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  say, well, how is this like coveting? Well, because
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  maybe we're not coveting what somebody else wants
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  or has or does. We're coveting what we want.
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  It's speaking of our desires that I recognize
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  that God has told me how to speak and he's told
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  me his name and I'm saying I don't care about
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  your name. I'm going to speak however I desire.
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  Friends, we really need to be careful. with our
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  speech. Commandment four, the Sabbath. This one
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  is one that is terribly neglected in our day.
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  That sometimes our desires for pleasure or for
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  entertainment or our desire to get things done
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  that we did not plan ahead for, these things
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  went out. over keeping and honoring the Lord's
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  day. It's like we're saying, I went to church
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  for an hour today, God, what more do you want
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  of me? I am free to do whatever I want. That
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  kind of mentality, though, is not keeping the
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  Christian Sabbath. Consider Isaiah 58, 13 and
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  14. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
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  from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and
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  call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day
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  of the Lord honorable. If you honor it, not going
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  your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or
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  talking idly, then you shall take delight in
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  the Lord. And I will make you ride on the heights
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  of the earth. I will feed you from the heritage
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  of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord
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  has spoken. Do you see, friends, The Christian
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  Sabbath it's to be a delight and I think I'm
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  preaching to the choir here for you are in this
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  place Worshipping and hearing God's word and
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  yet sometimes our coveting eyes Look over here
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  What are they doing with this day? What are they
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  doing over here with this day? It's like we're
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  saying to God. It's not delightful to me. I want
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  to do something else with my time. Now we could
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  go through all of the Commandments like this,
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  but I just want to press home what I'm talking
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  about with a quote from R. Scott Clark, who wrote
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  a very good commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism.
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  He says, when the 10th Commandment says, you
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  shall not covet, it goes to the root of the 5th
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  Commandment. We desire to rule over authorities.
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  To the sixth commandment, we desire to take life
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  unjustly. To the seventh commandment, we desire
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  to find sexual satisfaction outside the order
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  that God has established. To the eighth, we desire
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  what God has not given, so we steal it. And to
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  the ninth, we desire people to think what we
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  want, not what is. And so we lie. When we cover
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  up, it's all rooted in covetousness. Furthermore,
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  when the apostle Paul wants to talk about how
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  the law teaches the greatness of our sin, Paul
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  goes to the 10th commandment from Romans 7 through
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  8. What then shall we say that the law is sin?
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  By no means. Yet, if it had not been for the
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  law, I would not have known sin. For I would
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  not have known what it is to covet if the law
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  had not said you shall not covet But sin seizing
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  an opportunity through the commandment produced
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  in me all kinds of covetousness Friends the problems
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  not the law It's coveting you see God's commands
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  don't fizzle out with the 10th commandment. It's
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  a very firm summary statement. It's a great conclusion.
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  It puts a period at the end of the 10 commandments.
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  But beyond the 10 commandments and their place
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  in the moral law, the real location of coveting
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  is right in here, isn't it? The real location
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  where coveting happens is in our hearts. Luke
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  12, 15, Jesus says, take care and be on your
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  guard against all covetousness for one's life
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  does not consist in the abundance of riches.
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  James also says that all good gifts come from
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  above, but evil desires come from corrupt hearts.
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  And so, yes, I want you to see that coveting
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  is a problem. And the Bible does address it,
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  but the Bible doesn't leave you in despair. The
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  Bible does give you the solution for coveting.
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  But before we get there, I want to give you some
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  red flags of coveting. And then we'll talk about
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  that solution. These are just some red flags
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  that I thought of. I'm sure there are many more.
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  And so I think I've got six of them, red flags
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  to know if you're struggling with coveting. Do
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  you mourn when things aren't going well for you,
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  specifically when you hear the accomplishments
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  of other people? In other words, do you celebrate
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  people's accomplishments or do you get down on
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  yourself? Two, do you recognize sin in your life
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  and repent of it? Romans seven seven that I already
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  read shows what sin produces in us. It may be
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  covetousness. Therefore, we ought to be quick
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  to repent. Three, do you fail to guard your heart
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  against the love of money or possessions? Meaning
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  are those possessions is that is the paycheck
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  is the accumulation of wealth and idle in your
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  heart? Four, Are you unwilling to share your
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  wealth even to the extent of hurting others to
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  get what you want? Five. Are you honest with
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  God and with others? You can see throughout the
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  scriptures that there were times when people
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  coveted and they hid. They hid their stealing.
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  They hid their covetousness. Do you hide it?
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  Or are you honest with God and with others? Six,
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  and lastly, are you thankful for what you have,
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  or do you find yourself grumbling about the lack
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  thereof? Kevin Young says this. The antidote
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  to the sin of coveting is 1 Timothy 6, 6. Godliness
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  with contentment is a great gain. Do you see
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  what the Bible says or does here? He says, coveting
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  is about gaining. And isn't that what you covet?
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  I want to gain a possession, a friend or a house.
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  And God says, good, you want gain? I want you
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  to have gain. I want you to have joy. I want
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  to bless you. But you won't get it by coveting.
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  You get it by contentment. Now you might say,
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  well, what is contentment? Jeremiah Burroughs,
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  who wrote a very wonderful book called The Rare
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  Jewel of Christian Contentment, defines it like
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  this. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward,
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  quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely
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  submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly
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  disposal in every condition. I love that definition.
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  Right? Or if you're looking for somebody in scripture,
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  the apostle Paul speaks about contentment. He
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  says to the Philippian church, I have learned
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  and whatsoever state I am therefore to be content.
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  And these words from Paul, I think are especially
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  meaningful because Paul doesn't write about contentment
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  sitting in a mansion with the finest food, does
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  he? No, Paul actually writes this from prison
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  and therefore it has quite an impact. His contentment
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  is not tied to his possessions. His contentment
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  is not tied to his wallet. His contentment is
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  not tied to the dinner table and his contentment
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  is not tied to whether or not the Clemson Tigers
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  play well. No. His contentment is in Christ.
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  Now, maybe you say, how do I get this? How can
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  I have this contentment? Well, friends, it might
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  take time actually. When he says, I have learned
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  these things, this shows that sanctification
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  is part of the process. I have learned to be
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  content. He didn't buy it in the store. It just
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  might take some time. Burroughs again on this,
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  contentment is every condition. Contentment in
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  every condition is a great art, a spiritual mystery.
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  He says, I did not have the art at first. I have
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  attained it through with much ado. And now by
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  the grace of God, I have become the master of
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  this art. And so, yes. friends, it may take some
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  time in our growth in Christ. And so four pointers
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  as I begin to conclude, four pointers on how
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  to have this contentment. One, remember who you
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  are in Christ. John chapter 1 verse 12 says that
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  you become a child of God by being born again.
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  And what more could you really want than to be
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  a child of God? Second, remember what you have
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  in Christ. Ephesians chapter one, verse three,
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  it mentions every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
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  places that Christ, it's getting at, is our true
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  treasure. And those in him will be content forever.
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  Three, remember the means of grace in Christ.
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  I don't know about you. Seems to me the most
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  content people are the ones who are in their
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  Bibles, who are in prayer, who are in worship,
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  who surround themselves with great fellowship,
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  right? And so remember the means of grace. And
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  just along those lines, remember your brothers
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  and sisters in Christ. As iron sharpens iron,
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  we are sharpened in contentment when we surround
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  ourselves with like -minded people who absolutely
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  love the means of grace and who love God and
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  who are saved by Christ in pursuing Christ in
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  their lives. We ought to surround ourselves with
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  people who put off covetousness and who put on
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  contentment. And so friends, just in conclusion,
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  if you find the 10th commandment to be a struggle
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  for you, pray about it, pray for help with it,
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  and let Christ be your desire. Christ has come
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  to forgive us of our sins and to deliver us from
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  covetousness, and he has placed his spirit in
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  us that we would love him with all of our hearts
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  and our neighbor as ourselves. Let's pray together.