Thou Shalt Not Covet Deuteronomy 5 21

Written With the Hand of God

Thou Shalt Not Covet

Deuteronomy 5:21

1.      This is the last commandment.

2.      We have gone from laying the foundation in worshipping God and God alone to building the house of faith as we looked at the four commands that taught us how to relate to God.

3.      We tossed aside the idols we easily pick up.  We have set up boundaries that will honor the name of God and set aside one day in the week to give over to God.

4.      We built upon the first floor of this house with sturdy floor joists of honor toward our parents.

5.      The house is almost complete as we avoid the physical sins of theft, murder, and adultery and the mental sin of dishonesty.

6.      Now, we come to finish the detail work of this building.  Let’s read the Ten Commandments together.  Come with me to Deuteronomy 5:6.

7.      –Passage—

8.      I wish I had…

9.      ILL: Dyson arrived by Fed-Ex.

10.  I had a moment of envy and covetousness.

11.  Maybe we can think of this command in light of a New Testament thought.

12.  1 Timothy 6:6-8 (KJV) 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

13.  There’s always a better toy, a better job, a better situation, but the point is that you are where you are on purpose.  God hasn’t made a mistake and He’ll move you when He’s good and ready to do it.

14.  Relax and enjoy being where God wants you.

15.            Seek Satisfaction Where God Puts You.

I.                   Don’t Envy Your Neighbor’s Family.

1.      Deuteronomy 5:21 (KJV) 21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife,…

2.      The worst thing that any of us could ever say to our families is, “Why can’t you be more like…”

3.      Why can’t you be more like your brother?

4.      Why can’t you cook more like my mother?

5.      Why can’t you clean like Mrs. Jones?

6.      Why can’t you act more respectful like Earl’s kids?

7.      Why can’t you make more money like Ray?

8.      Don’t those words just sound painful?

9.      Colossians 3:21 (KJV) 21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

10.  How discouraging is it to be compared with other people?

11.  Let me help you with something, no one needs our help to be discouraged.  It’s easy enough to do to ourselves.

12.  You look around and this neighbor’s wife cleans better than yours does and that neighbor’s wife maybe dresses nicer and you wonder why can’t see be more like...

13.  At this point, take whatever happens to be in your hand and slap yourself in the face with it.  Hopefully, it’s heavy enough to wake you up.

14.  How many people destroy their lives by hoping to have a better home situation in giving up the wives of their youth?

15.  Please turn to Proverbs 5

16.  Proverbs 5:18-20 (KJV) 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Now, read verse 19 to yourself… 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

17.  1 Peter 3:7 (KJV) 7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

18.  If we will obey these verses, we’ll never look around at other women.  Remember that if you really know your family, you won’t look at other families with envy.  You’ll realize that they have their issues too and they’re probably worse than the issues that you have now.

19.  Don’t ever envy your neighbor’s family.

II.                Don’t Envy Your Neighbor’s Stuff.

1.      Let’s look back at our verse.

2.      Deuteronomy 5:21 (KJV) 21 …neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field…or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

3.      Everyone has stuff.  That’s why we need bigger houses.

4.      ILL: Our first apartment to our current house

5.      When we bought the house, the attic was full of stuff at least waist deep.  I have stuff that I haven’t opened since I left the Army in 2000.

6.      ILL: On the night of November 16, 1930, Mrs. Henrietta Garrett, a lonely 81-year-old widow, died in her home in Philadelphia and, unwillingly, started the most fantastic case of inheritance litigation in history.  She had failed to leave a will, or no will was found, to her $17,000,000 estate; a mystery left unsolved. She had expertly handled her financial affairs since the death of her husband in 1895 and, therefore, she must have realized that, without a will, her fortune would become involved in many legal battles. Although Mrs. Garret had, at the time of her death, only one known relative, a second cousin, and less than a dozen friends, attempts to prove relationship to her and to claim a part or all her estate have since been made by more than 26,000 persons from 47 states and 29 foreign countries, represented by more than 3,000 lawyers. In their frantic efforts, these alleged relatives have committed perjury, faked family records, changed their own names, altered data in church Bibles and concocted absurd tales of illegitimacy. As a result, twelve were fined, ten received jail sentences, two committed suicide and three were murdered. The estate has, in the meantime, increased to $30,000,000 and is not expected to be settled for some time.

7.      People will go to great lengths to get someone else’s stuff, especially when some wealthy relative dies.

8.      In this verse, God uses very specific language in describing the things that we shouldn’t covet.

9.      Rather than simply saying, “Don’t covet,” let’s look at what God broke out here.

10.  We shouldn’t be jealous over someone’s home.

11.  Each of us has a different home.  Some have one bedroom; others have more.  Some are apartments; others are houses.

12.  No matter the home that we have, God has given it to us and it is meant for His service and His glory.

13.  We tend to forget that every house has its issues.  A friend of mine built a house last summer.  It cost him over $300K.  That didn’t include having a driveway put in, or getting the back deck on the house.  Once the house was built, they started to think about things that they wanted to change in it.

14.  When we rent, we complain that our money is going into someone else’s pockets, but we forget that we aren’t paying taxes.

15.  Many of us don’t own fields.  We rent or own houses in town.

16.  This can go along with the last part of the verse.  Don’t be jealous over anything that someone else has.

17.  When you envy other persons’ things, you are saying that you don’t believe that God is interested in giving you the best.

18.  Matthew 7:11 (KJV) 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

19.  James 1:17 (KJV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

20.  Remember that God gives us the things that He knows will be used for His honor and glory.  He also withholds those things that will be used to dishonor Him.

21.  God gives us what we can handle and what we can use to bless others with.  Therefore, don’t envy your neighbor’s stuff.

III.             Don’t Envy Your Neighbor’s Job.

1.      Deuteronomy 5:21 (KJV) 21 …neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

2.      ILL: According to a 2005 survey, only half of us that are employed are satisfied with that job.  Only 14% said that they were very satisfied.  With that many people unhappy at work, there’s no wonder why Coffee Mania if busy Monday morning and the bars are all lit up at night.  Christopher asked me the other day what Happy Hour was…

3.      Every one of us has looked at someone else and thought, “Man, I’d like to have his job even for one day…”

4.      Christie and I have said so much to each other.

5.      When you look at this verse in Deuteronomy, the man has land, cattle, and servants.  He’s doing something to provide a decent living for his household.

6.      Part of the curse of sin is that work would be hard.

7.      Genesis 3:17-19 (KJV) 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

8.      How many of us can honestly say that we are in our dream jobs?  Maybe more to the point, how many people don’t work in the field of their college major?

9.      When we look at people who look like they have it made, we don’t see the things that they sacrificed to be where they are.  We don’t see the places where they’ve had to compromise their integrity to succeed.  We don’t see the number of lies and bad deals they made.

10.  Whether we are in the perfect job, or are looking for the perfect job, here’s the Bible principle.

11.  Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV) 10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

12.  Colossians 3:23 (KJV) 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

13.  Sure, your neighbor has a big screen TV and a new porch on the front of his house.

14.  So what?  You just keep doing the job that God has put you in.  You have a chance to impact a life for God right there.

15.  Remember that God doesn’t make mistakes.  If you want out of a job, the first question to ask yourself is, “Am I where God can use me?”  Second, ask this, “Who can I touch for God today?”  The last question is for God, “Lord, please open doors for me to walk through and give me the courage to walk through them.”

16.  When you put your job back into the Celestial Employment Agency, you realize that God will move you when He’s ready for you to be moved.

17.  Don’t envy your neighbor’s job.

1. I hope that you caught the themes of this message.
2. The proposition came right out of the verse, “thou shalt not covet.”
3. The other theme was that things aren’t always as good as they look on the outside.
4. That neighbor’s wife is not the catch that you think.
5. Your neighbor’s house is a bigger headache than you could realize.
6. Your neighbor’s job that pays for his lifestyle is full of sacrifice and compromise.
7. As the kids’ song says, “Never covet, be above it.  Coveting will get the best of you.  Never covet, be above.  Remember all that God has given you.”