Commandment #10: Sanctity of Contentment
Exodus 20:17
I. Introduction
-Ill. Saturday AM cartoons.
1. Early on Saturday morn sneaking into the tv room.
2. Cartoons!
3. Commercials of toys!
4. They always seemed so appealing.
5. You remember those toy commercials when going to Wal-Mart!
6. Throwing a fit as you walk by the candy aisle?
-But we're adults... we don't do that do we?
-Ill. Man finds a genie's lamp at the beach.
1. Genie comes out & says you get three wishes, but your worst enemy gets twice what you get!
2. "One million dollars."
3. His enemy got two million.
4. "I want the biggest diamond in the world."
5. He got it but his enemy got two!
6. Genie: "What is your final wish?"
7. "Scare me ½ to death!"
-We are driven by stuff!
1. We bow at the idol of materialism.
2. But no matter how much we have, we want more.
-Ill. Someone asked Rockefeller "How much does the average person need to survive?"
1. "Just a little bit more!"
2. What do you need?
II. Scripture
III. Background
-Catholics combine the first two commandments and divide this one into two.
1. Coveting your neighbor's wife.
2. Coveting their stuff.
-Coveting is based on greed.
-Our society is so prevalent with this that it takes a careful eye to spot it.
-Defined: To ‘covet' is to strongly desire something (person, place, thing, or idea) that belongs to someone else.
-With the exception of the first commandment this is the only commandment that deals with the heart.
1. Not dealing w/ outward, visible things.
2. Motive, heart issue.
-So why does God use this time to deal with something that seems so harmless?
IV. Coveting vs. Contentment
-Ever seen a TV commercial?
-Most of them are tempting you w/ coveting.
-Their desire is to convince you life isn't complete w/out their product!
-That's the fundamental problem w/ coveting!
-Coveting is more than a passing temptation.
1. In a store: "Oh, I'd like to have that."
2. It is a nurtured desire for something that does not belong to you.
-Today, Rene Descartes: "I shop therefore I am."
-The modern Latin conquered might say: "I came...I saw... I shopped."
-Consumerism has become our new religion!
-People in our society today have a negative net value b/c of debt.
1. Home, car, credit card, etc.
2. More, more, more...
-We view luxuries as necessities b/c coveting has twisted our values.
-As rich as our nation is we live in the discontent capitol of the world.
-No one is content with life anymore.
V. Coveting & Idolatry
-Coveting is worshiping someone else's stuff.
-It displaces the Lordship of Christ.
-It is idolatry.
-It is consuming.
-It is destructive.
VI. Thinking Temporary
-Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."
-Coveting brings our thoughts to go no higher than our selves.
-Don't store up treasures here on earth.
VII. Infiltrated the Church
-Coveting says your "wants/needs" are more important than others.
-It has infected the church.
-Prosperity Gospel!
-Name & Claim!
-Healing demands (What is the greatest healing?)
-Self-centeredness driven by greed.
-Also can covet talents, spiritual gifts, and skills other Christians have.
-You do what God wants you to do & stop coveting what He wants them to do.
VIII. What Do You Need?
-Ill. Curly haired ppl want straight hair and straight haired ppl want curly hair.
1. Singer wants to preach.
2. Preacher wants to teach.
3. Teacher wants to sing.
-And no one accomplishes anything good for the Kingdom.
-Do you need anything more than what you have right now?
-Is God enough for you?
-Ephesians 5:5 "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."
IX. Conclusion
-1 Timothy 6:6 "For Godliness with contentment is great gain."
-Ill. Businessman telling about receiving a gold coin as a child.
1. It was rare in those days and his sister would do anything to hold it for a few moment.
2. She would do his chores, serve him, etc.
3. The man was telling another group of men who were laughing at it.
4. One man said: "Sounds like laugh all we work for and toil for is only to be able to hold onto a gold coin for a just a few moments."
-This life will eventually pass away, what will you be left holding?
Response
