Sermon Tone Analysis

When is Enough, Enough?

Rev. Thomas A. West, Sr

October 24, 2021

Exodus 20:17

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Over the last few weeks God has been leading me to teach on the Ten Commandments …

We taught on Exodus 20:13, You Shall Not Kill (How Precious is Life)

Then we taught on Exodus 20:15, You Shall Not Steal, (What’s Mine is God’s )

And a message from August 2020, we taught on Exodus 20:16, You Shall Not Bear false witness (Truth the American Way)

As I was preparing this message the Holy Spirit reminded me of something from my teenage years.

A friend of mine’s mother had a portable AM/FM Police Band radio.

And I wanted it.

Now it wasn’t that I couldn’t afford to buy one just like it, because I could, as a teen, I worked and always had a stash of cash.

But I wanted that radio.

I had to have that radio.

So over the next few weeks, I planned on how to get my hands on that radio.

I stole my friend door key and waited until I knew that no one would be home and I waited.

I was it think a month or so when I finally got my chance.

I knew the entire family would be attending a funeral that day, so in I went and the radio was mine.

Never did get to enjoy that thing, my conscience wouldn’t let me, so I returned it one night, a week later.

Need I reminded you this was a long time before camera’s were everywhere.

Today, I want to talk to you about covetousness.

Our Title for today is When Is Enough, Enough?

Let’s review The Commandments as they were written by God in Exodus 20:1-17

{{ PLAY Recording }}

Our Scripture for today is taken for

Exodus 20:17 and it reads:

The story of David and Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11:1-27

How many of the commandments did they break?

· Covetousness

o David should have been out with his troops not on his roof top.

Then his attention would not have been drawn to Bathsheba

· Adultery

o Bathsheba was married to Uriah.

She should have kept her vows, even if it was the king trying to spend some special moments with her.

· Lying

o David lied to Uriah as to why he should go home and spend the night with his wife, and when that failed he got him drunk in an attempt to get him to go home to his wife, but that failed also.

Uriah was a true warrior and didn’t not want special treatment.

· Murder

o David then sent word to the front lines of the war instruction the leaders to place Uriah on the front lines of the ferrous battle so that he would surely die, and he was killed.

And it cost David dearly

Then there is ...

The Sins of Achan

Joshua 7:10-26

Joshua 6:16 ----

16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it.

Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

Joshua 7:1 Achan took the accursed things, which angered the Lord

Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.

7:3-5 The children of Israel were defeat by the army of King Ai because of the Lord’s anger

7:13-26 Joshua questions the entire camp of the Children of Israel until, he reaches Achan, he admits to his greed, to his Covetousness and Joshua then ordered that he and his family be put to death by stoning because he angered the Lord when he removed the forbidden items from Jericho.

I’ve just given you the highlight, might I suggest that you go read the entire story.

· Covetousness

· Greed

· Disobedience

Grapes of Wrath

1 Kings 21

That reminds me of the tragic story of Ahab in 1 Kings 21.

Ahab saw Naboth’s vineyard and decided he wanted it.

When Naboth refused to give or sell it to Ahab, Ahab went home pouting to his wife, Jezebel.

Jezebel hatched a plan to get it, resulting in Naboth’s death.

Finally, Ahab had what he wanted, but the joy of it was short-lived, because Elijah showed up to pour cold water on his party.

When you dig deep into the story, you see how covetousness led to the violation of almost all of the Ten Commandments.

• Ahab put the land ahead of God (first commandment).

• Ahab worshipped the land (second commandment).

• Jezebel misused the name of the Lord by proclaiming a fast (third commandment).

• Ahab dishonored Naboth’s family by taking the family inheritance (fifth commandment).

• Jezebel murdered Naboth (sixth commandment).

• Ahab stole the vineyard (eighth commandment).

• Jezebel arranged false testimony (ninth commandment).

• All because Ahab coveted (tenth commandment).

A Daily Tragic Story

What a tragic story!

But no more tragic than what goes on every day in our own country and in most of our lives.

It is called coveting, and it is the desire to have something or someone that belongs to another person.

It is life in twenty-first-century America.

“Man is always wanting things that do not belong to him, that makes him a covetous man.

He wants things he can’t have.”

My point here is that this sentence of pure spiritual truth:

“We covet what we see every day.

Let mem remind you that coveting is the original sin.

The first couple coveted the forbidden fruit and sinned against God.

God Speaks

Once again God speaks to our covetous society in Exodus 20:17.

The commandments were given by God at the time of Israel’s founding.

God was giving the Israelites their constitution.

He did it personally from Mount Sinai.

It was the ten commandments, written by His own hand and delivered by His servant Moses to His people.

The truth is that No society can thrive when it is eaten up with covetousness.

Just look around you!

Here are a few ……

Biblical Truths

• Covetousness is never satisfied (Eccl.

5:10–12).

• Covetousness engrosses the heart (Ezek.

33:31; 2 Pet.

2:14) and even comes from the heart (Mark 7:22, 23).

• What we covet becomes an idol (Eph.

5:5; Col. 3:5).

• Covetousness leads to: