A God who Speaks: The Tenth Commandment

Some of you who know me know that my wife and children know this far too much, but I turned 50 just a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason, this birthday really got me thinking, like almost for a whole year prior to turning 50, I'd think about it a lot and talk about it.

And it's odd because turning 20 was nothing, 30, nothing, 40, nothing, like not even a blip, but for some reason, turning 50 really got me thinking a lot about myself and everything.

And I'm sharing this, it's not really a proper introduction to the sermon, I just wanted to share with you how cool it is the way God works sometimes in our lives.

And the day after I turned 50, I was reading a manuscript of a friend of mine who's writing a book, and in the manuscript, this is the day after I turned 50, he shared the story of a man who on his 50th birthday said to God,

God, may you, by your mercy, may the 50s, may my 50s be the most productive and fruitful decade of my entire life.

And that man also prayed that when he turned 60 and when he turned 70 and when he turned 80.

And I thought to myself, that's exactly God's word for me today on my first day, so to speak, in a new chapter of my life.

And it's really changed the whole way I view my future.

That this is to be, if Christ does not come, and if God spares me for 10 more years, that by God's grace, my plan and my hope is that this will be my most fruitful decade of my life.

And I plan to pray that again at 60, if Christ doesn't come.

And I share this because, you know, today we're going to be talking about sin again.

And one of the things which is really important for us to understand is that in Christ, change is always possible.

Like, no matter what the story of our life has been up until now, failure or sin is not the final word about us.

And that repentance and amendment of life is always possible.

Whether we are 20 years old, 50 years old, 80 years old, or 100 years old, repentance and amendment of life is always possible.

And the devil might try to tell us that something, whether until we're going to have a greed and envy,

and the devil might want to tell us that those are things about us that are the story of our lives and the final word about us.

But it is never the case.

A repentance, a new word from God, and a new way of living is always an option and a possibility.

So, today we talk about the last of the Ten Commandments.

And that Ten Commandment is about coveting.

And I thought today that what we would do is both I would try to open up the text

and at the same time try to triangulate around the text so that we would have a bit of a sense as to what this commandment means.

And in particular, that we might have a sense as to whether or not we are guilty of breaking this sin.

Because the Bible teaches us time and time and time again that sin darkens the intellect.

One of the most important, I mean, Jesus' words about how we are far more ready to see the speck in somebody else's eyes

before we see the log in our own eyes.

That is just so completely and utterly true about every one of you.

And it's spectacularly true about me.

And often we can hear maybe even a very, very powerful message or read a very wonderful devotional book on sin.

And inwardly we are saying, I so wish my brother could hear that.

Or I so wish my neighbor or my boss could hear that.

And we rarely say, Lord, have mercy upon me.

You know, we rarely see ourselves pinned to the wall by the word of God.

And I have to confess that for quite a few years I had spoken on envy.

For quite a few years I was the chaplain at Augustine College.

And one of the things I did every first term with the students, I spent the first five weeks teaching them how to pray.

And I spent the last seven weeks going through each of the seven deadly sins.

And those of you who don't know what that old, very ancient Christian sort of examination of conscience guide,

going from most deadly to least deadly, they're all deadly.

Okay, don't go home and say, whoa, I just, you know, I only have lust.

That's not the most deadly sin.

They're all deadly.

But some are more deadly than others.

And going from deadliest to least deadly,

I mean, this is like going from a snake whose bite will kill you in one second to a snake whose bite will kill you in ten minutes.

I mean, they're all deadly.

Okay.

So pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust.

And so every year I would teach the students these different sins.

And then one day, to my horror, I realized that I was guilty of the sin of envy.

And that the sin of envy had, in fact, a significant role in my life.

I was horrified to realize that I had taught about it for quite a few years,

completely and utterly blind to the fact that I had the sin of envy,

that it had a role in how I lived my life.

And one of the reasons that sins can be so, sins, or certain families of sins can be so powerful in our lives,

is that the more spiritual the sin, the more interior it is, and often the most dangerous it is.

That's why, in fact, pride begins at the top and lust goes to the bottom.

Just because the sins, in a sense, are going from the most spiritual sins to the least spiritual sins.

And the more spiritual and interior the sin, the harder it is to recognize that we are guilty of it.

And, in fact, if you think about it, how many people have ever asked you, have ever come up to you and said,

you know, I know that you're a prayer warrior.

Please pray for me because I'm struggling with envy.

Like, very few of us ever hear that type of prayer request.

You know, it might be that I'm dealing with anger, or I'm, you know, I'm dealing with lust,

or I'm, you know, dealing with this or that, but rarely do we ever hear somebody say,

you know, George, please pray for me because envy has such a hold in my life.

And because we're so completely and utterly blind for it, to it, we don't see it.

And here's how I recognized about myself.

I realized one day as I was walking along that I was thinking about some clergy that I knew.

And as I was thinking about the clergy that I knew, I resented their success.

I resented the good churches they seemed to have, the fact that they didn't have problems that I had,

the attendance, their abilities.

And I realized that as I was walking, my entire moment of walking,

that entire time of walking was filled with different types of resentment about the success,

the gospel success of these other ministers.

And envy is the sin of being sad or sorrowful at another's good.

Envy is the sin of learning of another person's good or success, and that makes us unhappy.

That's what the sin of envy is.

There's one famous verse in the Bible which really helps to emphasize just how deadly

and how important a sin this is for us to try to get a handle on.

And if you turn in your pew Bibles to page 862,

and all of you, because some of you I know bring your own Bibles, which is always a good thing,

Matthew 27, verse 18, just one simple verse.

Matthew 27:18

One of those verses you could read hundreds and hundreds of times and never really quite get it.

But Matthew 27, verse 18, if you're using your pew Bibles, it's page 862.

Matthew 27:18

And here, Jesus is before Pilate, and this is what the Word of God says in verse 18.

For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him.

Why was it that the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders,

why is it that they were so angry at Jesus?

Why is it that they hated him?

Why is it that they actually wanted the God, the Son of God, to die?

Why is it that they wanted the promised Messiah of God,

the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises?

Why did they want that fulfillment to be put to death?

Why is it that they wanted the Lord to die?

who has been to some friend that you haven't seen for a while?

And as your friend, as she starts to tell you about how her job is going

and the house that they're living in and what their children have accomplished,

and if as you hear about this, you feel sad or resentful or angry,

you have envy.

if

on Tuesday

you discover

that somebody else got that

promotion and it just fills you

with great sadness, you know what, you probably have envy

I

felt

envy because other people were

better at preaching the gospel than me

isn't that sinful?

just as soon as

we hear about that, we should

automatically know that that's sinful

the other thing which often goes along

with this and

maybe I just, because it's familiar with me

I can say this and it's just sort of

you can't even imagine this, but not only

can it be that maybe it's our sister

or an old friend or a co-worker

or something and we hear of some great good

or great blessing that's happened to them

and inwardly our reaction

is resentment or sadness or

anger or questioning God

or something other than rejoicing

and often the very

next thing that goes through our mind

in our internal conversation is

like, I'm better than that person

like, I did better in school

like, you know

I was better going through this and this

I'm better at this and this and this

and like, how on earth is it that

I'm better than this person

and yet these things are happening to that person

once again

we probably have envy in our lives

and it is disfiguring

how we relate to other people

friends

God made us

to aspire

to the greater

aspire

A-S-P-I-R-E

and to rejoice in it

think about it for a second

there is one person

who is always greater than us

and that is God

how can we

let habits grow

in our lives

where that habit is

that we feel sorrow

at another person's

experiencing blessing

and how is it

that we can develop

within ourselves

an attitude

that we are

better than that other person

and how dare that other person

have that good

when we don't

how can we have that

grow in our lives

and then rejoice

in God's presence

when God is always greater

you see the danger?

not only is the danger

that it disfigures our lives

that it can lead to

things like hatred

and murder

I mean even murdering

God the Son of God

but that it in fact

can quench the Holy Spirit

in our lives

make it impossible

for us to come to Christ

because it's impossible

if we have a deeply

ingrained habit

of resenting

the excellency in another

to come to God

who is the most excellent

and rejoice

you know

God wants us

to have heroes

God wants us

to aspire

to be better

God wants us

to rejoice

in success

I mean God's hope

and desire for us

is that if we hear

if I hear about

some other minister

and I'm just speaking

personally folks

I hear about

some other minister

and that person's

church is growing

and people are coming

to Christ

and I should say

way to go

praise God

you know

way to go

praise God

God wants us

to have heroes

you know

that's a separate thing

some of you have heard

David Short preach

and you know

every time I hear

David Short preach

I say to myself

Father help me to preach

even half as good as him

or a quarter as good

God wants us to have

to see people

who's

you know

whether it's their ability

to make a home

or to paint a painting

or to deal with conflict

or you know

to have this type of success

or academic ability

or just

loveliness of character

or ability to share

the gospel

and God wants us

to look out at the world

not seeing the world

from the perspective

and the lens

of lack

or scarcity

or

resentment

but to look out

at the world

and say

look at these

fantastic people

worthy of aspiration

heroes

Father help me

to be somewhat

even vaguely

like them

a prayer like that

praises God

I realized

in my own case

of envy

that one of the things

that I had to do

was to pray daily

for the success

of every one

of the clergy

that I felt envious of

that that's what

I had to do

to have some type

of healing

from that

is to everyday

pray

Father may their church

their ministry

their ability

to preach

their ability

to evangelize

their ability

to whatever

may it just get

better and better

and better

and Father

do with me

as you will

Lord have mercy

upon us

and incline our hearts

to keep this law

that we shall not

covet

the second aspect

of coveting

is the sin

of greed

or avarice

greed

is the inordinate

desire

for possessions

and the archetype

of this sin

of the inordinate

desire for possessions

is the inordinate

desire for money

and why is it money

and it's because

of this

let's say I have

inordinate desire

for expensive

sunglasses

you know at some

point in time

sanity will intervene

you know maybe

it's ten pairs

of sunglasses

maybe it's fifty

maybe it's a hundred

but at some point

in time even a vague

sense of shame

will stop you

from buying the

hundred and first

but you can have

a constant desire

for more money

I might have a huge

desire for cream

puffs

but at some

point in time

my desire for

cream puffs

will come to an

end

but there is an

infinite

almost infinite

desire for more

and more money

and so the desire

for more and more

money

the inordinate

desire for money

is taken as the

archetype of this

type of sin

and that is the

sin of greed

the problem here

is not that we

can recognize greed

as a sin

but that we can

rarely recognize it

as a sin in us

many of us

might say to

our wife

or our friend

gosh that person

is greedy

isn't it

like didn't it

just offend you

to go to that

restaurant

and just see

how greedy

they were

or doesn't it

just offend you

to go to their

house and see

how greedy

it is

but it's very

very easy

sometimes for us

to see greed

in other people

it's very

very very hard

for us to see

greed in ourselves

once again

when was the last

time somebody

said to you

please pray for me

I'm struggling

with greed

it's rarely

something

that we will

ask another

person to pray

for in us

we rarely

see it

in ourselves

it's

it's just

something that

can have this

and the other

thing about greed

is it has

nothing to do

with money

when I was in

Africa a couple

of years ago

I mean I was

visiting with people

who had

virtually nothing

and their

generosity

was unbelievably

humbling

and I have

because I

speak sometimes

across the country

and I have

been with people

blessed with

spectacular financial

resources

and I have been

with them

and I have been

embarrassed by their

greed

but at the same

time the other

thing has happened

as well

I've been with

people who have

virtually no

financial resources

and I've been

struck with their

greed

and I have been

with people with

great financial

resources

and I've just

praised God

for how

unbelievably

generous they are

like the amount

of money that we

have is

not an indicator

of our greed

greed is a

disposition of

the soul

and as such

we can be

generous with

little

generous with

much

greedy with

little

greedy with

much

but greedy

is still

being greedy

having this

greed is still

a sin

just turn to

one passage

in the Bible

there's many

passages in the

Bible

I just wanted

to turn to

one

once again

in Matthew

it's in the

Sermon on the

Mount

and it's

Matthew chapter

Matthew 6:21

6

verses 21

24

if you're

using your

pew Bibles

actually we'll

begin at

verse 19

which is on

page 837

page 837

Matthew chapter

Matthew 6:19

6

verse 19

and this is

part of the

Sermon on the

Mount

it's Jesus'

sermon

and here's

what he

teaches

do not

lay up

for yourselves

treasures

on earth

where moth

and rust

destroy

and where

thieves

break in

and steal

but lay

up for

yourselves

treasures

in heaven

where neither

moth

nor rust

destroys

and where

thieves

do not

break in

and steal

for where

your treasure

is

there your

heart

will be

also

the lamp

of the

body

is the

eye

if therefore

your eye

is good

your whole

body

will be

full of

light

but if

your eye

is bad

your whole

body

will be

full of

darkness

if therefore

the light

that is in

you is

darkness

how great

is that

darkness

no one

can serve

two masters

for either

he will

hate the

one

and love

the other

or else

he will

be loyal

to the

one

and despise

the other

you cannot

serve

God

and mammon

and that

intervening

there's lots

of stuff

you can get

out of that

intervening text

about the

light within

you being

darkness

partially

what Jesus

is saying

is that

idle

when

a sin

such as

money

a desire

for more

and more

money

takes a

hold

of you

when

money

in effect

becomes

an idol

by which

you serve

money

rather than

having money

serve you

or even

more importantly

to have

money

serve

God's

purposes

in the

world

when money

or possessions

becomes something

that you

and I

serve

it starts

to twist

how we

see things

how we

evaluate

things

how we

understand

things

what we're

sad about

what we're

happy about

and it

starts to

inwardly

change us

and if that

which

and so that

even as

things are

happening in

the world

the way we

react to

them is not

reacting from

God's

perspective

but from

the perspective

of idolatry

and sin

and we can

become unaware

of this

then the light

within us

is darkness

and we can't

even see to

realize that

it's dark

we can

serve

money

we can

serve

the desire

for possessions

but we

were meant

to serve

God

and others

in obedience

to God

I have met

people

who

have allowed

marriages

to end

and

relationships

with children

to end

because they

pursue the

next deal

or the next

promotion

ahead of

their wife

or their

children

or their

friends

we

trust

money

but we

are meant

to trust

God

we believe

that money

will satisfy

us

without realizing

that only

God can

satisfy us

you know

it's not

the case

that in a

poor area

everybody is

unhappy

and in a

rich area

everybody is

happy

it's not

the case

at all

I'm not

romanticized

the poor

at all

by the way

it's never

God's

will

it's

very

in very

few

cases

is it

God's

will

for us

to be

poor

I mean

God

calls

some

small

number

of people

to a

life

of

voluntary

poverty

it is

a very

small

number

of

people

but God

does

call

some

people

to

voluntary

poverty

it's

not

God's

will

to be

poor

and I'm

not

romanticizing

them

but it

is definitely

the case

that having

more money

does not

necessarily

satisfy us

only God

satisfies us

we believe

that money

will care

for us

ultimately

only God

cares for us

we come

to believe

that money

is our

greatest need

more and more

money is our

greatest need

it blinds us

to the fact

that our

greatest need

is intimacy

with God

and our

second and

third greatest

need flow

from that

intimacy

with others

I tell my

children

you know

dads have

lectures

and bad

jokes

and I

tell my

children

that my

hope for

them is

you know

I mean

my fundamental

hope

I'll tell you

what I pray

I pray five

things for my

children every

day

first of all

I pray that

they will come

to saving

faith in

Jesus Christ

secondly

I pray that

they will

grow into

confident

joyful

disciples

of Jesus

Christ

thirdly

I pray

that God

will protect

them from

spiritual

and from

physical

harm

fourthly

I pray

that they

will know

what God's

purpose is

for their

life

and fifthly

I pray

that God

will grant

them a

godly

spouse

and I

actually do

a sixth

thing

I learned

this from

that man's

dad

actually

I pray

for that

future

spouse

some of

you were

at the

wedding of

Sean and

Victoria last

summer and I

shared how I

had been

praying for

Sean before

I ever met

him

because like

even now I

pray for

Tommy's wife

and Tommy

is only

seven

it means

possible Tommy's

wife hasn't

been born yet

but God can

sort all that

out

but I

you know

and I

tell my

kids that

it's far

better to

be in

God's

will and

be a

janitor and

have a

godly

wife and

family than

it is to

be very

very rich

not wrong

to be rich

I'm going to

say more about

that in a

second

but we

believe that

we can come

to believe that

money is our

greatest need

but ultimately

intimacy with

God is our

greatest need

and intimacy

with others

through God

is our

second greatest

need

money can

lead us to

believe that

we can approach

God as an

equal

we can only

approach God

as God

we become

less and

less like

God by

grasping

anything

we become

more and

more like

God in his

character by

giving

man by

the name

of John

Maxwell

once said

something which

has always

stuck with

me

one of the

highest forms

of living

is giving

because God

is the great

giver

you can't

out give

God

just as I'm

bringing this

to an end

John Wesley

gave very wise

advice to some

of the business

people who came

to him after

they had come

to faith

and he said

to them that

there's nothing

wrong with

praying for

success in

their business

okay if you

folks out there

you're in sales

you own a

business

pray for

help

I mean you

have to go

and you have

to make a

sale

pray for

help with

that

you're doing

a business

pray for

help in

running your

business

pray for

the prosperity

of your

business

nothing wrong

with that

at all

Christianity

is not a

creation

denying

religion

the person

who has

renounced all

for Christ

and is living

in voluntary

poverty

is no more

spiritual

than the

person who

has a

husband and

children and

a nice house

in the suburbs

it's no more

spiritual to be

one rather

than the other

it's not that

at all

and so John

Wesley's advice

to the business

people was

pray for your

business

pray that it

will prosper

but at the

same time

pray that you

will become

more and more

generous

at the same

time

you know

ministry costs

money

spreading the

gospel costs

money

and if God

has blessed

you with

generous

with great

financial resources

he has blessed

you with the

great privilege

of being

generous

in gospel

ministry

pray for your

business to

prosper

and also

pray that you

will become

more and more

generous

if we are not

generous with

what we have

now we will

not be generous

when we are

richer

it's one of the

reasons why it's

important for

students to

tithe

because one of

the lies that

greed tells us

is well when I

make an extra

five thousand dollars

a year that

will be

generous

and we

always want

to make that

extra five

thousand or

ten or

hundred or

whatever the

number is

where when we

have all our

RSPs and

we are well

established

if we are not

generous with

the very little

that we have

we won't be

generous when

we have lots

in fact it

can be a lot

harder to be

generous when

you have lots

it can be a lot

easier to give

five bucks than

it is to give

fifty thousand

dollars

it can be a

really hard thing

to sign a check

like that

I've never had

that experience

by the way

I'm going on

what other

people have

told me

but if we're

not generous

with what we

have now we

won't be

generous when

we are

richer

generosity is

a habit of

the soul

a disposition

and a

worldview

pray for

generosity

pray for the

ability to

tithe

Lord have

mercy upon us

and incline our

hearts to keep

this law

just want to

look very

very briefly

at the final

triangulation

of this

commandment

and just

turn in your

Bibles to the

book of

Deuteronomy

just so you

can notice

something about

the commandment

and it's on

page 161

page 161

it's Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 5:21

chapter 5

verse 21

is this the

last commandment

just want you to

notice something

in particular

about this

page 161

you shall not

covet your

neighbor's wife

and you shall

not desire

your neighbor's

house his

field his

manservant his

maidservant his

ox his donkey

or anything

that is your

neighbor's

now notice the

first thing that

we're not to

covet I'm not

to covet my

neighbor's wife

the third if

the first way

the first sort

of aspect of

coveting is the

sin of envy

if the second

aspect to try to

understand it is

the sin of greed

the third thing

is to understand

that we can have

a desire for

what can never

be ours

and by that

I don't mean

like 50

billion dollars

like Bill

Gates

okay

I mean

something more

fundamental

and this is

what I mean

by that

Louise and I

will be

celebrating our

25th wedding

anniversary

thanks be to

God

in the 24th

of October

and you know

25 years ago

I don't know

maybe there were

4 billion people

on the planet

and in a sense

what I said

when I stood

at the front

of the church

and turned to

Louise and

exchanged vows

with her

and the two

of us entered

into the estate

of holy matrimony

I in a sense

was saying

to Louise

Louise

there are 2

billion other

women in the

face of the

planet

and I am

turning my

back on all

of them

and I will

only be with

you for the

rest of my

life

and she in a

sense was

saying George

there's 2

billion other

men in the

planet

and I'm

turning my

back on all

of them

and for the

rest of my

life I will

only be with

you

and I am

to say that

and it is

to be a

good thing

that's a

good thing

it's something

that I am

to rejoice

in

and so you

see when I

covet my

neighbor's

wife I am

coveting something

that I can

never have

if I am

coveting something

that by the

very very

structure of

creation it's a

whole other

sermon about

how the very

very nature

of the created

order is that

I am desiring

something that

I can never

have in

theory Bill

Gates could

listen to this

sermon say I'm

going to leave

my entire 50

billion fortune

to George and

I would get

it and I

would be

flabbergasted

you know but

that could

conceivably

happen I'm

not going to

bet my life

on it but I

can never have

my neighbor's

wife if I

am a person

who is same

sex attracted

if I was a

person like

that I can

never have I

can never

sexually know

that man

it is something

that I can

never have

and never

desire

there's other

examples as

well

Lord have

mercy upon

us and

incline our

hearts to

keep this

law let us

bow our

heads in

prayer

father thank

you so much

for loving

us

thank you

father so

much that

you see each

one of us as

we really are

that you you

know the dreams

we have at

night that we

don't remember

you know the

faces and the

fronts that we

have you know

the things we're

ashamed of and

the things we

delight in you

father we give

you thanks and

praise that you

know us better

than we know

ourselves and

still you love

us and sent

your son Jesus

to die upon the

cross for us we

thank and praise

you father that

when your son died

for each of us

that he knew

every single thing

about us and

still he willingly

died for us

thank you father

that as we come

to know you

through Jesus

that we will

never discover

something about

ourselves that

you didn't know

already and

still you loved

us loving father

may your holy

spirit move and

work in our

lives may your

holy word move

and work in our

lives so that we

might see ourselves

as you see us

and father as we

see the things in

our lives that we

need to repent of

in your mercy may

your holy spirit

lead us to

repent and to

amend our lives

may we have the

joy and comfort

of your holy

spirit that new

life in you is

possible that

goodness is good

for us and that

you can use us

no matter what

our disposition or

state of life or

prevailing sins

father thank you so

much that no matter

what those are you

can bring a blessing

to the world through

us when we trust in

your son Jesus

Christ father thank

you for your mercy

in Jesus's name we

pray amen

because of

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