Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good Morning.

John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest men in modern history; Forbes magazine estimates that at the pinnacle of his career the oil man controlled assets that if translated to the present day would total approximately $340 billion USD.

To give that some perspective, the GDP of New Zealand is roughly half that amount, and Bill Gates regarded as the wealthiest man alive is worth less than one quarter Rockefeller’s projected total.

A reporter once asked John Rockefeller, “How much money is enough?” his response was, “Just a little bit more.”

was once asked when ‘enough money was enough?’

After a break of some length, we will resume our study through the Ten Commandments this morning.

After a break of some length, we will resume our study through the Ten Commandments this morning.

This response summarized the feelings of many in Rockefeller’s time, and we may be inclined to think that if it was true at the turn of the twentieth century then it is even more relevant in our own day.

Granted, there does seem to be a unique dissatisfaction of one’s position in life, combined with a pursuit of wealth today which was previously unseen, but as we will see through an examination of the tenth commandment, it is not a modern issue only.

This response summarized the feelings of many in Rockefeller’s time, and we may be inclined to think that if it was true at the turn of the twentieth century then it is even more relevant in our own day.

Granted, there does seem to be a unique but as we will see through an examination of the tenth commandment this is not a modern issue only.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to .

It has been some time since our last study in the series on the Ten Commandments and I will conclude the series with a sermon on the seventh commandment sometime in term 1 of the upcoming school year.

Exodus chapter 20, and I will begin reading in verse 1.

2 b“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

And God spoke all these words, saying,

3 c“You shall have no other gods before1 me.

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 d“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 eYou shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am fa jealous God, gvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands2 of those who love me and keep my commandments.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 h“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 i“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 jSix days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the kseventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the lsojourner who is within your gates.

11 For min six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 n“Honor your father and your mother, othat your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

12 “Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 p“You shall not murder.3

13 “You shall not murder.

14 q“You shall not commit adultery.

15 r“You shall not steal.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 s“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

17 t“You shall not covet uyour neighbor’s house; vyou 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.”

17 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”

z For ver. 1–17, see

a

Let us turn to the author of these words to ask his guidance in our study this morning.

b ; ;

Prayer

The Commandment Explained

c ; ;

Defining the word covet

Before going any further it is necessary to understand what is meant by the word covet.

The Hebrew word, repeated twice is similar to our own english word in that in and of itself it is a morally neutral word.

The commandment does not say, ‘You shall not covet,’ the object of the coveting is what makes something a sin or not.

Our English definition of covet matches the Hebrew root word extremely closely, the idea of earnest desire, craving or hanker after something.

1 Or besides

Some of you when asking for prayer may utilize the phrase ‘I covet your prayers.’

In the Apostle Paul exhorts the believers to ‘earnestly desire the spiritual gifts’ earlier translations have used the word covet instead.

Some of you when asking for prayer may utilize the phrase ‘I covet your prayers.’

In the Apostle Paul exhorts the believers to ‘earnestly desire the spiritual gifts’ earlier translations have used the word covet instead.

d ; ; ; []

Some of you when asking for prayer may utilize the phrase ‘I covet your prayers.’

More significantly, Paul in 1 Corinthians

e ch.

23:24;

f ch.

34:14; ; ; ;

Desire is the core idea communicated here, and again it is not as though we are commanded to rid ourselves of all desire, that would be pseudo-Buddhist and thoroughly unChristian.

Rather, improper desire is forbidden by the tenth commandment.

g ch.

34:7; ; [; ; , ; ]

Augustine explains what is prohibited as: ‘desire more than enough.’

Thomas Watson defines the word as an ‘insatiable desire of getting the world.’

Another commentator said that coveting is ‘an inordinate, ungoverned, selfish desire for something that belongs to someone else.’

Unique in its form

Unlike the other commandments, this one appears in a unique form compared with the others.

It is the only command to have a dual prohibition: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.”

This has led some to split the commandment in two, a position which does not hold up upon examination.

records the repitition of the commanment and there the order is reversed, and coveting of another’s wife i forbiddne first.

Surely if these were actually separate commandments the order would not be altered, as the order of the commandments is maintained without the slightest change from to .

The repetition demonstrates that the commandment against coveting is one and comprehensive.

Unique in its Internal nature

Second, the tenth commandment is unique in that it forbids something internal rather than external.

Lying, stealing, adultery, murder these are all things that can be seen and witnessed.

Coveting, however, can be done in secret unlike any other sin.

Due to its nature it is the only one of the Ten Commandments without a punishment attached elsewhere in the law of God.

2 Or to the thousandth generation

h ; [, ; ]

Now you may be saying to yourself, ‘Wait a minute, I thought that throughout this series you have preached that each of the commandments has an internal aspect?’

This is true, but each of the other commandments begin externally and then penetrate to our core, the tenth commandment begins with our affections.

It is the tenth commandment that is the basis for the extended application of the other nine commandments; it assures us that God is not merely concerned with our behaviour but that he demands holiness that springs forth from the heart, something we cannot produce or manufacture by ourselves.

Unlike the other commandments, this one appears in a unique form compared with the others.

It is the only command to have a dual prohibition: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.”

This has led some to split the commandment in two, a position which does not hold up upon examination.

records the repetition of the commandment and there the order is reversed, and coveting of another’s wife is forbidden first.

Surely if these were actually separate commandments the order would not be altered, as the order of the commandments is maintained without the slightest change from to .

The repetition demonstrates that the commandment against coveting is one and comprehensive.

The Extent of the Commandment