Today, we’re looking at the tenth commandment, Exodus 20:17: "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Johnny was looking through the chain-link fence at the beautiful apple tree next door, and the next-door neighbor came out in the yard and saw this.
He said, "Johnny, are you trying to steal one of my apples?"
Johnny said, "No, sir. I’m trying not to."
In this tenth commandment, do you wonder if the Lord is overstating what He’s already said? Is He stretching this? Is He adding seemingly repetitive words to what He’s already said just to round it out to ten? Wouldn’t "The Nine Commandments" sound just as good?
He’s already said, “You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14).
Why would He say, “...You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife..."?
He’s already said, “You shall not steal" (Ex. 20:15).
Why would He say, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s property"?
It’s What’s Inside That Counts
The fact is it all begins in our heads, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what He’s saying to us, and that’s exactly what Jesus said to us. We sometimes think when we read the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is saying something new when He said, “You’ve heard it said, ’You shall not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, ’Do not think adultery.’" He’s not saying anything new. He’s repeating the tenth commandment. The Lord is saying, “Watch what gets into your head. Watch what happens to your heart. It is what is inside that counts."
The reason God loved David so much was David understood it’s not acting religious and doing religious things that God seeks so much as people who love Him with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God understood what that was going to do as those sins multiplied in their lives, and our Lord put a guard by the tree of life.
He said, "It’s not right. It would be unmerciful for people to live forever as sinners, to live forever in a world where they keep hiding from God when they’ve done wrong, to live forever in a world where brothers kill brothers. It wouldn’t be right for people to live forever in a world like that." So, in His grace, He mercifully kept them away from that source of everlasting and non-ending life.
Our Lord is saying to you and me, “You need to put a guard on the entrances to your mind. Post a sentry, some heavenly, angelic guard to watch what gets into your ears, your mind, and your eyes because it all begins in your head." Success or failure depends upon what you let get into your head. Character or lack of character depends upon what you let get into your head. Doing well or doing bad always begins with a thought. So the Lord is saying, “Watch what gets into your head."
He was a wonderful young man who came from a very modest family, but he had something that set him apart from all others. He had a deep love for God, and this made him one of the most respected and powerful people in the land.
He faced adversity and success, knowing each of these was an impostor, and he lived well. He was made the leader of his country.
We’re not told about his personal wealth except that it was vast, but we’re told about the legacy he left to his son ... twenty million dollars a year, tax-free, in gold. He had parks and zoos, and his home looked like a museum instead of a place to live. He had resorts all over the place and fantastic riding stables.
But one day, from his penthouse, this man saw a woman, and he coveted her. He coveted his neighbor’s wife, and the avalanche that came from that brought such agony to his soul. He lost the respect of his armies and his nation.
He learned what it’s like to be out of fellowship with God. We’re never out of our relationship with God if we’re Christians, but we can be out of fellowship.
That’s a terrible thing. His children did weird things, saying, “If our dad doesn’t do any better, why should we?"
He died a wonderful, old man, having done many great things and having restored his fellowship with God and much of his nation. However, he was always terribly scarred in his witness, in his life, and in his joy because one day he coveted his neighbor’s wife.
They were a wonderful couple, members of our church. He was a hard-working man.
She was a beautiful woman. They had two lovely daughters. He was innocently out visiting with one of the other ladies in the church, another teacher in the Sunday School class where he taught. He was chairman of deacons. She was the minister of education’s wife. One thing led to another and finally they quit going visiting and started to going to a motel. When it all ended, several families in the church had suffered a divorces. It was like a row of dominoes.
One deacon after another fell by the wayside because of one man and one woman who were supposed to be Christian examples in the church. The rationale: if they can do it ... I can do it.
King David was probably the best king Israel ever had. King Ahab was probably the worst king Israel ever had. R. G. Lee, in talking about him, said King Ahab was "a vile toad that squatted on the throne of Israel."
He wore lavish, impressive clothes, even some marked with the symbols of God, but he wore them over a dark and wicked heart. He fed his body the very best food, but he fed his soul absolutely nothing, and it shriveled and died. He was in charge of armies and the wealth of his nation, but he was not in charge of his own appetites, desires, and lusts.
He was a hen-pecked monarch. He lived under the thumb of Queen Jezebel. Jezebel was a daughter of the king of Egypt and the wife of the king of Israel.
She was both a king’s daughter and a king’s wife, and she was a brilliant, wicked woman.
One day, Ahab went to a fellow named Naboth who owned a little piece of land that joined his property, and Ahab wanted that property to extend his own gardens. Naboth said, “I inherited this land from my father, and he inherited it from his father. We believe this is a trust from God, and we’re just taking care of what God has let us have for awhile." Naboth wouldn’t sell him the land.
Ahab had not been turned down very much. He couldn’t handle that. It crushed him. Like a pouting, petulant child, he went back to his lavish castle and went to bed in the middle of the day, and he sobbed and whined like a sick hound.
Jezebel came in and said, “What’s bugging you, Big Boy?" He sobbed out, “Naboth won’t sell me his vineyard." In 1 Kings 21, you read how she dressed him down, using language that would make a Marine drill sergeant look like Miss Manners.
She said, “I’ll show you how to handle a subject who won’t do what you want them to do."
She did her wild and wicked plotting. She set up a trial for Naboth and paid people to lie about him. Before the day was over, he was taken out and stoned to death for the sin of blasphemy of which he was falsely accused. And when the deed was done, Ahab went to take possession of the vineyard. There, he confronted Elijah, the prophet of God, and Elijah said, “Ahab, God has said, ’Enough is enough.’ You and your queen are going to die dishonorable deaths, and the dogs of the street will lick your blood." And it wasn’t long until that just and grotesque thing happened to them, and it all happened because a man coveted his neighbor’s property.
Isn’t it amazing how quickly dominant people pass out of the scene? Howard Hughes was one of those Americans who believed that the answer to life was more, that the way to happiness and satisfaction was more.
He wanted more money, so he took his inherited fortune and made it into a pile of billions of dollars. He wanted more fame, so he bought Hollywood production companies and made movies. He became a famous man through the Hollywood industry. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and flew the fastest airplane of his day. He wanted more sensual thrills, so he paid enormous amounts of money for all kinds of sexual fantasies. He wanted more power, so he secretly made deals behind the scenes and soon became the man in charge with two presidents in his palm. He believed in more of everything. He believed this was where satisfaction was found.
But do you remember how Howard Hughes died? He was emaciated, colorless, and paranoid. His chest was sunken and his fingernails and toenails were grotesque because he would not allow anyone to touch them. He had rotted, black teeth and needle marks all over his body from drug addiction. He was a billionaire junkie who lived his life under the false pretense that all you need for satisfaction is more, more, more.
Be very careful about what you want, and what you are willing to do to get it.
I’m convinced the best prayer a Christian can pray is: “Lord, help me want what You want me to want." I seriously believe that people would be happier if that were their approach to life.
How Do We Get The Best?
What do we do? The Bible says you shall not covet, but what do we do?
I hope you’ll let faith get into your head instead of the wrong things, that you’ll say, "I believe in God and will follow Him." Why don’t you read the Bible? I think if there’s one area where Christians are failing today, it’s in reading and heeding the Word of God. We don’t read it.
The psalmist says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word...I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you" (Psalm 119:9, 11).
Think. What we should do? Think. Look around you. What’s happened to others?
Has their life been fulfilled as they followed and sought these things? Think.
How long are you going to live? I’ll tell you how long you’re going to live.
You’re going to live forever somewhere. Think. Where do you want to spend your eternity? Where do you want to spend the vast part of the time that you shall be existing? Think.
A man stood up one day while Jesus was preaching and interrupted Him because there was one thing on his mind. He said, “Lord, would You make my brother divide the inheritance with me?"
And Jesus said something very strange. “Don’t bother Me about such things.
Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things possessed."
Do you believe that man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things possessed? That’s the American Dream. That’s what we’re all about. That’s how we keep score. We say, “Man’s life does consist in the abundance of things possessed," and God says, “No!" He told a story about a small barn and a big fool, and the man was a fool not because he was a success in this life but because he was a failure in the next. The Lord said, “Think. What good is it to do well in this life if you’re dirt poor in the next?"
Do you remember this story? He told about this good farmer. One day, he looked at his fields, and he saw how they were flowing with grain. He knew the number of acres he had and could estimate the number of bushels of wheat per acre. He knew what the price of every bushel was, and he said, “I’ve hit the jackpot. I have it made. I’m rich." And God tapped him on the shoulder and said, “You fool, you have riches in this world, but nothing in the next. Tonight, you’re going there."
Notice how the farmer said, “My barns..., my crops..., my land..., my goods...,
my soul...," and God said, “You fool." Think. For heaven’s sake and yours, think.
Desire the right things. The word covet means "to earnestly desire," to really want something. Now understand, it is not wrong to covet. It is wrong to covet the wrong things. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, the apostle says covet sincerely spiritual gifts. It’s not wrong to desire. It’s wrong to desire the wrong things. So think about desiring the right things.
Think about letting into your head only thoughts that make you want the right things. In the Sermon on the Mount in the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed, spiritually prosperous, to be congratulated are those who hunger and thirst after God for they will be fed."
There is a translation, a paraphrase of the New Testament called The Message by a man named Peterson. Listen to some of the Beatitudes as he has paraphrased them.
You are blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.
With less of you, there is more of God and his rule.
You are blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.
Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You are blessed when you’re content with just who you are .... no more, no less.
That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that cannot be bought.
You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God.
He’s food and drink and the best meal you’ll ever eat.
You’re blessed when you care.
At the moment of being care-full [full of care],
you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world, your mind and heart, put right.
Then you can see God in the outside world.
It’s what’s inside that counts. Be careful what you think. Watch it.
And pray. Invite faith in Christ, faith in God, faith in God’s Word into your heart. Decide that is what will get into your head. Think; desire the right things; and pray.
Jesus said, “You fathers in this world who are not perfect by any means will never want to give to your child a bad gift. Don’t you know that your Father in heaven wants to give His Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
He wants to give you the greatest gift of all. He wants you to have Him inside of you ... walking with you, facing everything with you, giving His power to your life, infusing His love and grace through you. He wants you to have
peace that passes understanding, joy unspeakable, enduement of power from on high, and life. That’s what comes when God lives and rules in you. It’s what’s inside that counts for all you do only shows what you are, and God says, “I’m very interested in who you are." Think and pray and desire the best things.
Covet the right things. Watch what gets into your head.
