11/30/17
– Eph 6:2-3
The 10 Commandments, Pt 32
The 10th Commandments, Pt. 2
Lesson #17-129
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Grace Fellowship Church
Before we
begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, (If You have - Trusted
in Him for Eternal Life), it is important to prepare yourself to: Take-in God’s
Word and/or Participate in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite,
or acknowledge your sins privately, directly to God the Father. This will
assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father & the Holy Spirit’s
convicting ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the
real teacher.
1 John 1:9 says— “If we confess [simply
name, cite, or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
[all unknown & forgotten sins].”
For those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior, please see: The Salvation Message @ the
end of this document.
2 Pet 3:9, “The Lord is
not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
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The Doctrine of the Ten Commandments Related to the Church Age,
Part XXXII.
1Chron 28:9; 1Sam 16:7; Mat 15:19; 1John 2:16; 1 Tim 6:10 Gal 5:16
The
10th Commandment.
Ex
20:17, “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 belongs to your neighbor.”
Deut 5:21, “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his
male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that
belongs to your neighbor.”
Desire, coupled with the Old Sin Nature, (OSN), creates a pattern
for sinning called the “lust pattern” of the sin nature.
See the doctrine and slides on the OSN, with its “Lust Patterns”
of asceticism and lasciviousness and its trends of human good or sin and evil. http://gracedoctrine.org/diagrams-and-maps/
Mat
15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
To covet is to feed inward desires for anything that God says is
sinful, and this commandment highlights the twisted desires of mankind along
with the sin of discontentment.
All crimes and sin can be described generally in terms of the
desire that triggered the chain of events. Whatever action it spawns, this
illegitimate desire for something that belongs to someone else is the core of
the problem and a threat to the community. Any action taken to fulfil such a
desire is sin.
As I heard a homicide detective once say, “all crimes are motivated by one of three things, money, sex /
relationships, or power.” Coveting is behind them all, as noted in 1 John 2:16; 2 Peter 2:10; 1 Tim 6:10; Heb
13:5, cf. Gal 5:16.
1 John 2:16, “For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world”
2 Peter 2:10, “And especially those who indulge the flesh in its
corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, …”
1 Tim 6:10 “For
the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Heb 13:5, “Make
sure that
your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you
have…”
Gal 5:16, “But
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
This law / commandment goes deeper into the attitude or outlook of
the offender than is found in any normal legislation of any nation, whether ancient
or modern. In the ancient Near East, the concept of coveting occurs in
expressions such as “to lift the eyes,” cf. Prov 6:17; 21:4; 30:13, but it is a crime that can only be detected
and punished when the desire is translated into action.
All legal codes drawn up by secular governments do not attempt to
probe the mind of one tempted to envy or begrudge the good of one’s neighbor.
Neither does the code of Hammurabi, the Hittite code, nor the specific offenses
referred to in the Egyptian Book of the Dead presume to condemn the secret
desire to have what someone else has. It is only when the lustful desire has
been carried out in unjust action that the culprit can be brought before a
court of law.
But we have a God Who knows and reads our mind and probes our
heart, 1 Chron 28:9; 1 Sam 16:7; Psa 7:9; 26:2; 139:1, 23; Prov 17:3; Jer
11:20a; Luke 16:15; Acts 1:24; Rom 8:27; 1 Thes 2:4; Rev 2:23, and He
forbids even the secret desire of the one who is tempted.
1
Chron 28:9, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve
Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts,
and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you
find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”
1 Sam 16:7, “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his
appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for
God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but
the LORD looks at the heart.”
Therefore, the final commandment goes beyond all comparable law
codes, and implies protection of the individual from himself! The prohibition
against coveting strikes at the root of what motivates us to violate the rights
of others. It warns us to look within, and deal immediately with the stirring
motives which might lead us to sin.
As the Westminster Catechism puts it, “The tenth commandment requires full contentment with our own estate,
not envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions
and affections to anything that is his.”
The plain lesson of history is that there will never be enough.
There will always be someone with more. Even if you stuffed yourself to
satiation and beyond with every good you could think of, it would not be enough.
As some have said, “Such a person is
trying to fill a God-shaped void with what is not God.”
To be ruled by the desire to possess and to direct your life
toward that desire is to make this world the ultimate end, and to have other
gods instead of YHWH. It is to put you and your supposed needs at the center of
the universe with all else circling around you. And anyone who has the
misfortune to fall into your gravitational pull of covetousness, can only
expect to be swallowed up by it. As such, covetousness involves breaking the
first commandment.
Unfortunately, instead of having a thankful heart, the coveter
desires what others have. It may or may not lead to an act, but even if there
is no act, it is still wrong because our desire should be on the God who made
us and redeemed us.
Heb
13:5, tells us to live free from the love of money. Do not trust in
your wealth. Do not have excessive anxiety about wealth. Do not be devoted to
wealth, and instead, be content because God will never “leave you or forsake you.”
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A
PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU
John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.”
Notice again
what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have;” it says,
“has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of
everlasting life, you have it, and it can never be lost or taken away from you [John 10:28-29]. Furthermore, the gift
of everlasting life [also called eternal life in Scripture] is available to
every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but
he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any
man should boast.”
If
you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell
you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you.
God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son
for you by sending Him to the Cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place.
Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our
sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore, our sins will never be held
against us.
Right
where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in
your life. To accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life by truly
believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day
as the proof of the promise of eternal life. So right now, you can pause and
reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:
"Yes
Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ,
died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."
If you have done that, I Welcome You to the Eternal
Family of God !!!
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Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher: James H. Rickard
23 Messenger Street, Unit 3
Plainville, MA 02762
Copyright © 2001 - 2017.
Property of: James H Rickard Bible Ministries
All Rights Reserved.
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