Your Desires Show Whether Your Life will Sink or Float
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We have covered a lot of ground in 10 Words: and whether because of tiring or more likely misunderstanding of importance. Often quickly dismissed as any strong desire is wrong. But that’s not right; God’s made us a people that have affections that drive our lives. JE affections most basic thing about life -need rightly ordered affection; God doesn’t find our affections to strong but to weak. Kid making mud pies… Don’t know what a holiday at the beach is. So this commandment isn’t about strong desires that are gifts from God like desire for good food, remind us to eat. Intimacy that drives us to community and friendship, like sexual drive that may drive us to marry. So no, not just saying keep those desires down in your life. A godly believer is a sour-puss stoic, who doesn’t desire to strongly. NO, this commandment isn’t about banning all strong desire!
But then others will say, correctly say, that it’s forbidding original sin - wrong desiring root of every sin, so this is just talking about original sin. And it is true that the disordered desire of the sinful nature, is what starts and kindles every actual sin. But there is no single command that forbids original sin and that’s not what this specific command is talking about.
It has occurred to me that whoever approved the final order of these commandments didn't have much of a sense of suspense or climax. He put all of those dramatic, intriguing sins like stealing, adultery, and murder, first. Then he ended with coveting. It would have seemed more logical to begin with the bland, throw-away sin like coveting, and then work up to the big stuff.”
Whenever we are tempted to minimize the evil of coveting, however, we need to remember that God included it in the Ten Commandments.
Still others approach this command as if its a minor one. Practically after covering all big and outward sins like lust adultery, lying and stealing, use of Lord’s Day, idolatry -we hear do not covet and like one commentator, we may think: It has occurred to me that whoever approved the final order of these commandments didn't have much of a sense of suspense or climax. He put all of those dramatic, intriguing sins like stealing, adultery, and murder, first. Then he ended with coveting. It would have seemed more logical to begin with the bland, throw-away sin like coveting, and then work up to the big stuff.”
But it is actually the order that should draw our attention. Just like the 1st commandment is the general one that the whole first table of the law - our relationship with God flows out of. You break any of the specifics - it started by breaking this one first. So too with the second table of the law, you sin at all against your neighbour, it started with you sinfully breaking the tenth commandment. When God has given you a new heart in your relationship with Him, the fruit of that is a new love for your neighbour and that has everything to do with coveting. So important is this command that the NT says:
But it is actually the order that should draw our attention. Just like the first commandment is the general one that the whole first table of the law - our relationship with God flows out of. You break any of the specifics - it started by breaking this one first. So too with the second table of the law, you sin at all against your neighbour, it started with you sinfully breaking the tenth commandment. When God has given you a new heart in your relationship with Him, the fruit of that is a new love for your neighbour and that has everything to do with coveting. So important is this command that the NT says:
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.
Our goal tonight cannot just be in defining coveting and seeking to avoid it. That’s really easy enough: coveting is an inordinate appetite for our neighbours things. It’s that consuming desire to possess in a wrong way something that belongs to my neighbour. Even though you may not let more sin flower from it, give consent, it’s that inital inward desire that you entertain in your soul before deciding to act n it in outward sin, or reign it in and avoid outward sin. It’s that perverse desire and secret delight that says I must have my neighbour doesn’t really deserve, I get more!
Our goal tonight cannot just be in defining coveting and seeking to avoid it. That’s really easy enough: coveting is an inordinate appetite for our neighbours things. It’s that consuming desire to possess in a wrong way something that belongs to my neighbour. Even though you may not let more sin flower from it, give consent, it’s that inital inward desire that you entertain in your soul before deciding to act n it in outward sin, or reign it in and avoid outward sin. It’s that perverse desire and secret delight that says I must have my neighbour doesn’t really deserve, I get more!
But the sin is there first and it is against God and your neighbour and it will wreck your own life! Easy enough to define, but our goal must be to seee how this operates in our life, why its so devestating, and indeed how waling with Jesus, being remade by Spirit more andm ore we can relfect God in our desires, and really live a content life of love!
Let’s first see how devestating Coveting is in our Relationship with God.
A. Coveting Wrecks the Image of God in You
There is a gross incompatibility with a heart that is coveting, and a heart that is truly loving God and neighbour! Though God possess everything, the things He possesses do not take over His life, nor His desire for them. He is master of them, and uses them appropriately for love. As image bearer’s of God, we are to desire love and the things of God and His Kingdom above all. To covet is to say, You know what I don’t really want that, I want the things this world has to offer - and in an inordinate ungoverned selfish way, my heart is going to use all my energy and time to get that no matter what. When Ralph Walso Emereson looked at America he said of his people: Things are in the saddle and ride mankind. Some call this chasing the American Dream. Afflueneza - consumption becomes our way of life. Listen to one pastor confess he was part of a cult, maybe the biggest one in NA:
I belong to the Cult of the Next Thing. It's dangerously easy to get enlisted. It happens by default — not by choosing the cult, but by failing to resist it. The Cult of the Next Thing is consumerism cast in religious terms. It has its own litany of sacred words: more, you deserve it, new, faster, cleaner, brighter. It has its own deep-rooted liturgy: charge it, instant credit, no down-payment, deferred payment, no interest for three months. It has its own preachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles: ad men, pitchmen, and celebrity sponsors. It has, of course, its own shrines, chapels, temples, meccas: malls, superstores, club warehouses. It has its own sacraments: credit and debit cards. It has its own ecstatic experience: the spending spree. The Cult of the Next Thing's central message proclaims, “Crave and spend, for the Kingdom of Stuff is here.”
And its not says the commandment just stuff,
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
also neighbours house, standard of living, their holidays, it’s your neighbour spouse. How might that work in our age, not their ox or their ass; but when a coworker gets the promotion, when our roommate finds romance and we are still single, or when a friend goes where we can only dream of going for vacation. We covet other peoples looks, brains taletns, situation in life married, single, yougn old, working, retired. It all this coveting erodes the image of God in us!
What happens when that desire takes root? It pollutes our mind and renders them distracted and useless for loving and serving God, and loving and serving our neighbour. That’s the big deal with coveting, its when because we are living with the “grass is greener on the otherside” approach to life - as our desire goes up for someone else’s grass; our contentment and desire for God and the things of God are going down! I have felt this when doing all the necessary comparison of products on the internet - useless to loving family member, itching to get and to be done with that desire that I am missing out, until got that product in my hand. Buying into the marketing, advertising “I can’t be complete until I have the next thing, the greatest model.” Instead of using my talents humbly gladly for others, always wondering about why I don’t have those talents, why if I did get recognition. Reckless heart!
Why one of the most important passages on coveting comes from
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
That’s challenging, but here is the beauty that is to govern our hearts instead of inordinate desires:
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
Coveting disorganizes and disintegrates your heart. Listen to how Paul describes the Mastery, the way coveting Rides your heart, instead of you indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus riding your desires:
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Jesus said to Martha, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needful.” Jesus says, You seek after hat one needful thing - seek first Kingdom of God and his righteousness - and all these other things will be added to you as well. You have that passion of love for God at the core it will unite your heart. God will satisfy and fill and fuel our lives, bring good order to all our desires!
B. Coveting Destroys Your Own Life by Eroding Your Contentment
Alex Nutal studied opioid Crisis. So called safe-injection sites. Now the buzz of a high may have some appeal at first, but do you think any drug addict enslaved to chasing their next high would say they are really happy, content. But like a dog returning to its vomit. And you know what without security, without contentment - peace of soul and happiness in life is impossible. We were designed to rest in God’s providence and provision. Both the portion of stuff and the station of life are things that God determines and provides for us, And when we are not content with the stuff been able to desire, pursue, own and enjoy , we show that our heart is captured by the world, excessive love of the world. And most of the activity of our life is exercising - avarice and ambition for selfish use.
This is the root of all others sins, you desire-life goes haywire and you become unclean. Listen to Jesus
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Jesus says:
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
But as you come to Jesus as Saviour and Lord, His Spirit remakes the image of God in you! You are set free from enslavement to living by inordinate desires of what God has granted and your neighbour rightfully has. Always amazed at my Slovak Christian friends. Communism fell and everyone want to be the West. Some good things, but some bad. Never forget in poor cement apartment - those Xn teachers kept teaching even though could make more else where. They gave their time and heart also to Bible Study - Mrs. Budcovichova read It’s not money that’s the problem, or looks, or good home, job - it’s a distort love for these - and it will pierce us .
How differnt from the answer Norman Rockefeller gave to the reporter who asked him: How much money does it take to be happy. Just a little bit more.”
You have a new heart in your conversion that is wonderful. You have the mind of Christ - but it is only as you put to death all this sinful desire, that you learn the secret to contentment. Instead of daily exercise your greed and ambition, you exercise contentment and love!
Listen to Paul:
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
Nothing wrong with having plenty or being in want. Nothing even wrong in pursuing one and avoiding the other. But if either condition gets you putting possessions and conditions at the centre of your life -it will rob you of fuller life and peace and joy in Christ and power to serve. We are to live holding our possessions and the condition, the circumstances of our lives lightly!
But this brings us to the heart of the commandment and the way it is to work in our lives.
C. Coveting Destroys your Relationship with Your Neighbour
Notice that this commandment isn’t about the strong desires we have to build and store up. Squirrels have this desire too and nothing is wrong with that. But how do you know when it is out of control?
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Negatively this means that you are to leave your neighbour to his own things, and even in your thought and emotional life not desire to take them for yourself. I’ve told you before that jealousy, envy is involved in all coveting, and I illustrated that with the story of two shopkeepers. Bitter rivals with stores right across from each other. Always keeping track of each other’s business. If a customer came into their store an bought something, triumphant smile at his rival. One night an angel appeared to one, I will give you anything you ask; but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. You can be very rick, but will be twice as wealth. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life , you can but his will be longer and healthier. What is your desire. The man frowned. and thought awhile. Here is my request: strike me blind in one eye!
Do you see it? Desire gone-wild. Envy is actually a sorrow in your heart said Aquinas, You see your neighbour good and it makes you sad because you want to have and you don’t want him to have it. It is a sorrow that replaces love. Remember Jesus’ parable of the worker who come in at 9am and at lunch, and 5pm. Paying time comes, at the end of the day. They are looking over each other shoulders, like kids getting a test back. Comparing what the other gets. And there heart sinks. Like Aquinas was saying its is us seeing our neighbours goods and we grieve it. All paid well, in fact exactly the same. And the Master, our Lord says, that’s how my kingdom works - all grace and he says:
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
Are you envious because I am generous? Even from the first sin we can see this how covetousness works. The first occurence of the word is not Eve saying, I really can’t wait to sink my teeth into that fruit because it looks so good and satisfying, I really want the fruit itself. Do you remember how it happened: No, remember how it happens, because this happens in us every time we covet:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
From Eve to the toddler in the nursery, with a hundred and one toys, but which is the one he really wants - its the one the other kid has. Do you see it? Coveting is arises from the temptation to gain something we were not intended to have!
This is why Luther thinks this one is placed last. It is not a commandment directed on those the world considers wicked rouges, but precisely to the upright religious people the world thinks are honest virtuous people. This coveting command shows more than all the others the sinful condition of our heart to others and our need for a new heat our need for grace and to live by grace.
Did you understand it when our inordinate desires flare up , rising up being ,offended by others, anger defensiveness, jealous,greed, really showing what we value more than God and what he provides. And the solution is to be so near Jesus that His love will become your love! Those secular humanist naturalist, say no God also tell us evolved a selfishness gene - and the most basic motivating force is the drive of self-interest. It’s not true: Neither the individual and nor our ind needs/rights are the most basic thing in life.
As Luther has said, “For the Lord requires for us to love our brothers with a marvelous affection which burns intensely like a flame.”
That’s why coveting is a sin you should pay attention too. It is the root of all the others sins against our neighbours and the Lord wants this affection, this love to God and to others to be untroubled by the slightest evil desire. The coveting desire towards others is like a lower level street drug - it is a gateway drug, that leads to harder worse drugs. A sin that when full blown will destroy the relationships with others in your life.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Just think of Ahab and his desire for vineyard like Nabboth’s, God had forbidden selling of the family farm for one generation's financial gain and loss to the next. And his heart gets so disordered, and his emotions, and he bring false witnesses and wicked Jezebel into a scheme to steal that land, to lie, to murder. All this from not stopping coveting-desire, which is freezes his love for neighbour!
And that is the positive side to this commandment. In the same way you understand that you are to be happy and thankful and hnour God for the things He gives you in life. Equally so, you are to be happy and thankful and honour God for the things he gives our neighbours instead of coveting them. This is part of the preciousness-of-others in the Christian ethic. With our kids I think we can often attain this, they work hard, they buy something - and we are happy for them to have that possession without thinking to ourselves, “I really should be the on with that.” We just delight in them having it. Now it is natural to wish-well for ourselves but this command positively teaches us that it is more divine! It is more the image of Jesus in us, It is more perfect to wish-well for our neighbors in external things.
Can you recall someone giving you something dear to them, and delighting that you would have instead? I remember in seminary - sold house used that all up. Learning Greek and Hebrew vocab, .Korean student - said I want you to have my PalmPilot - actually asked for it back later . Do you have that delight in benefiting others. That delight should happen every time we have been blessed to give in proportion to what earned. Delight to benefit others, not out of custom. This is a reminder that that man just looks at the outside of good works, but God looks int he heart. As He regenerates our soul, by His Spirit makes us more and more live out the image of the New Adam, of Jesus Christ, we don’t just do a bunch of right things according to the law out of grudging duty. But God, who cares about the motivation of our hearts - enables us to do the right thing out of true love of God and love of our neighbour. That’s what becomes big in our hearts, not inordinate desires for more and more and more at the expense of our neighbours and out of a motivation of just needing more and more as if our security was there.
Reminds me of a book I was reading at the same time I got that PalmPilot: Jeremiah Burroughs book: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. Anytime we are tempted to sigh in discontentment and let our hearts get all disordered: We are to say often to ourselves;
“I find a sufficiency of satisfaction in my own heart, through the grace of Christ that is in me. Though I have not outward comforts and worldly conveniences to supply my necessities, yet I have a sufficient portion between Christ and my soul abundantly to satisfy me in every condition.”
And that is another really big positive of living out this command. When you see that motivation in your heart to really delight in what your neighbour has and their welfare; You have a window into the perfect life of what heaven will be. Heaven is not going to be sameness - God has rich variety, even in the reward - but we will delight in the perfect gift suited to each of us, perfect talents, perfect stations. And this command says already now we are to live with that delight and love for our neighbor.
If your life is a ferry boat, a raft a barge from one shore to the next, what is it right now what is the one thing I need more and more of that you are living for? Just adding a bit more stuff, bit more fame, a few more friendships to make you feel good? That’s not necessarily a covetous person. Its the person who loads up his boat with so much stuff and then refusing to see it just gets and more and more until his boat sinks! Christ has set us free from this and says, now spend your life here, yes you’ll have some stuff and give some a way, you will have friends, but don’t let that sink your boat, Spend your life in service to God and your neighbour … Here is another boat - Anastasis -
friend Sold Filter Queen door to door - good product, good business, used so much - to get on this ship - Mercy Ship - evangelism, - medical floating hospital. Our lives from port to port. Comfortable - No Enoch Yeboa - grew up - great life - but big deal was the service to God and to neighbours. Anastasis - your boat, your home - focused on resurrection life of jesus Christ, both now and the world to come! That is what will follow you, not your stuff. And the stuff God blesses you - use for this kind of loving.
209 Seek Ye First