The Tenth Commandment as a Summary of the Whole Moral Law: How Sin Produces All Kinds of Covetousness (Deuteronomy 5:1-33)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Let's take our Bibles now and open up to the

Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. This is the fifth book of the Bible,

the fifth book of the Torah, and what we're doing

this evening is continuing through these evening

services looking at what I've been calling our

shepherding sermons, shepherding us through difficulties

that we may have in our lives, temptations that

we face, sins that we are trying with the Holy

Spirit to overcome. And so tonight, how fitting

we look at, we're going to look kind of hyper

-focus on one commandment, but we're going to

see it in context and therefore see all of the

Ten Commandments. Now as you're turning to Deuteronomy

5, And you see the Ten Commandments listed there.

You might say, well, I thought those were in

Exodus chapter 20. It's true, they are. But you

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

can also see the Ten Commandments here in Deuteronomy

5. But I do want us to see it all in context.

And so I'm going to read this chapter for us.

For indeed, God's Word is good for us and we

need to read it. here in the worship service

and at homes and with our families and so would

you now give attention to the reading of God's

holy inspired word Deuteronomy 5 and Moses summoned

all Israel and said to them hero Israel the statutes

and the rules that I speak and you're hearing

today and you shall learn them and be careful

to do them the Lord your God made a coven with

us in Horeb Not with the fathers did the Lord

make this covenant, but with us who are all of

us here alive today The Lord spoke with you face

to face at the mountain Out of the midst of the

fire while I stood between the Lord and you at

the time to declare to you the word of the Lord

for you were afraid because of the fire and You

did not go up into the mountain. He said I am

the Lord your God who brought you out of the

land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You

shall have no other gods before me. You shall

not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness

of anything that is in heaven above, or that

is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water

under the earth. You shall not bow down to them

or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a

jealous God. visiting the iniquity of the fathers

on the children to the third and the fourth generation

of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love

to thousands of those who love me and keep my

commandments. You shall not take the name of

the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will

not hold him guiltless who takes his name in

vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

the Lord your God commanded you six days you

shall labor and do all your work but the seventh

day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you

shall do no work you or your son or your daughter

or your male servant or your female servant or

your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock

or the sojourner who is within your gates that

your male servant and your female servant may

rest as well as you You shall remember that you

were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord

your God brought you out from there with a mighty

hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord

your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother as the Lord

your God commanded you that your days may be

long and that it may go well with you in the

land that the Lord your God is giving you. You

shall not murder. and you shall not commit adultery,

and you shall not steal, and you shall not bear

false witness against your neighbor, and 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 is your neighbor's.

These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly

at the mountain. out of the midst of the fire,

the cloud and thick darkness with a loud voice

and he added no more. And he wrote them on two

tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as

soon as you heard the voice out of the midst

of the darkness while the mountain was burning

with fire, you came near to me, all the heads

of your tribes and your elders. And you said,

behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory

and greatness. And we have heard his voice. out

of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen

God speak with man and man still live. Now therefore,

why should we die? For this great fire will consume

us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God

anymore, we shall die. For who is there of all

the flesh that has heard the voice of the living

God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have

and is still lived? Go near and hear. all that

the Lord our God will say and speak to us all

that the Lord our God will speak to you and we

will hear and do it and the Lord heard your words

when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me

I have heard the words of this people which they

have spoken to you they are right in all that

they have spoken oh that they had such a heart

as this always to fear me and to keep all my

commandments that it might go well with them

their descendants forever go and say to them

return to your tents but you stand here by me

and I will tell you the whole commandment and

the statutes and the rules that you shall teach

them they may do to them in the land that I am

giving them to possess you shall be careful therefore

to do as the Lord your God has commanded you

you shall not turn aside to the right hand or

to the left You shall walk in all the way that

the Lord your God has commanded you, that you

may live and that it may go well with you and

that you may live long in the land that you shall

possess. This friends is God's holy word. Let's

pray together. Our Lord and our God, we thank

you for the entirety of your word and specifically

for these 10 commandments. but Lord so many of

us throughout our many years decades even we

have heard these commandments hundreds of times

maybe thousands we have meditated on them before

we've heard them taught and sometimes we approach

these commandments Lord and we think that we

know it all and we may even think that we keep

these perfectly Lord let it not be so let us

instead give ourselves to the study of this tonight

and see what Christ has done for us. Lord, make

us obedient, Lord, and help us to be good listeners,

we pray in Christ's name, amen. One second for

some water. Why don't I have her house? Why don't

I have his car? Why aren't my children more like

their children? Why can't I have a job like that?

Why, we ask, why can't things for me be like

they are for them? At first glance, maybe these

sorts of questions seem whiny, but perhaps benign.

Of the Ten Commandments, God could have commanded,

why is coveting in here? Surely coveting is not

on the level with idolatry or murder or adultery,

right? It can't be that bad. Did God just have

some extra room on those tablets and so he gave

us a bonus commandment? What's going on with

coveting? Really? What's so bad about wanting

somebody else's donkey? Friends, what I want

you to see tonight is that coveting is an egregious

sin. And yes, it is fitting where it is in the

Ten Commandments. And yes, according to the Scriptures,

sin produces all kinds of covetousness within

us, but there is a solution to coveting. And

so tonight what I want us to see is the problem

of coveting. I want to see the place of coveting.

And yes, I want to see the solution to coveting.

There was once a king and a queen who seemed,

seemed being an important word, to have all authority

and all the power. They could do whatever they

wanted. But one day, the queen found the king

to be upset, to be downcast. And she asked him,

what's the matter? And he said, well, Naboth,

you know, he's got this vineyard and I really

want it, but he won't give it to me. He won't

sell it to me. And so the queen reminded the

king, hey, you're the king and you could do whatever

you want. And she said, actually, I'll take care

of it. and take care of it, she did. Jezebel

had the owner, Naboth, the owner of the vineyard.

She had him stoned. And then the king just went

and took possession of the vineyard. The story

of Naboth's vineyard from 1 Kings 21 illustrates

what we're talking about tonight. That coveting

isn't simply about desires. I want to make sure

we have that distinction down. There are good

desires that are out there. And so it's not wrong

to desire those things. But coveting is the desire

to have what is not ours and the desire to obtain

it through ungodly means. Consider what the book

of James says here. What causes quarrels and

what causes fights among you? Is it not this

that your passions are at war within you? You

desire and you do not have, so you murder. You

covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

Now, getting back to Ahab and Jezebel, that had

very serious, long -lasting ramifications even

though Ahab does feel remorse over his sin. But

it's a significant moment in Israel's history.

The damage is this punishment for covetousness,

punishment for murder, punishment for idolatry

and the death of the entirety of Ahab's family

because of coveting. Hear this, behold, God's

word says, I will bring disaster upon you. I

will utterly burn you up. and cut off from Ahab

every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will

make your house like the house of Jeroboam the

son of Nebat, and like the house of Bashah the

son of Ahaziah, for the anger to which you have

provoked me, because you have made Israel to

sin." You see, that happens because of this egregious

sin of coveting. And actually, when we jump ahead

into the New Testament to consider coveting,

we see that coveting is directly the opposite

of what Jesus tells us to do. When Jesus boils

down these 10 commandments into two, what does

he say? Love the Lord your God and love your

neighbor as yourself. Well, friends, you cannot

love your neighbor as yourself if you're just

wanting their stuff. That's not loving our neighbor.

Not at all Not at all and as you look at this

commandment here specifically You can see the

things that are mentioned You can see why an

ancient Israelite would want this right? Again

you shall not covet your neighbor's wife 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 is your neighbors.

If you compare the commandment that is here in

Deuteronomy five with Exodus 20, you'll notice

that there is an extra word, an extra kind of

phrase that is in here. Really, the word field

is located in Deuteronomy five, 21, and it's

not there in the commandment in Exodus 20. Well,

why would that be? Commentators have different

thoughts on this, but most of them would say,

well, we got to remember what's happening in

Deuteronomy. What's Moses doing in Deuteronomy?

He's kind of retelling all of this in preparation

for what? For the promised land in which prayerfully

the Israelites would have their own fields. They

may have desired these things and they may have

ended up becoming like Naboth. Dead over these

things or Ahab killing over these things and

so what we have here is a very strong commandment

not to covet anything that is our neighbors and

So that's the problem of coveting in a nutshell.

There's a lot more we could say but what about

the place of coveting? Well after saying all

these words here God puts down his pen or his

chisel as it were It says that God spoke no more,

but put these on the stone tablets, and coveting

is at the end. And so what I want us to see now

is that coveting absolutely fits with these other

commandments, and it does so in a special way.

Consider Colossians 3 verse 5. It says, put to

Colossians 3:5

death, therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual

immorality. impurity, passion, evil desire, and

covetousness. Some translations may have greed,

but it says then, which is idolatry. On account

of these, the wrath of God is coming. And so

covetousness and greed is linked then to the

first and the second commandment. You shall have

no other gods before me. You shall not make any

gods or bow down to them. And this is what I

want us to see, that you can do this with all

of these commandments. You can see the correlation

between coveting and between all the other commandments.

Think about what idolatry really is. It's being

terribly unsatisfied with who God is. as if to

say, God, you are not enough for me. You can

study the Israelites and their history and you

can see how they went after other gods. That

is idolatry. And as they're looking at other

nations and these other fake gods and these idols,

they're wanting to leave the one true God for

this fake God over here. They are coveting and

they're committing idolatry. And so that's the

link between the first and the second commandment

and commandment 10. What about the third? You

know the third commandment. You shall not take

the Lord's name in vain. When we do that, we

are showing a lack of reverence and a heinous

lack of reverence for God when we when we use

his name in inappropriate ways. But you might

say, well, how is this like coveting? Well, because

maybe we're not coveting what somebody else wants

or has or does. We're coveting what we want.

It's speaking of our desires that I recognize

that God has told me how to speak and he's told

me his name and I'm saying I don't care about

your name. I'm going to speak however I desire.

Friends, we really need to be careful. with our

speech. Commandment four, the Sabbath. This one

is one that is terribly neglected in our day.

That sometimes our desires for pleasure or for

entertainment or our desire to get things done

that we did not plan ahead for, these things

went out. over keeping and honoring the Lord's

day. It's like we're saying, I went to church

for an hour today, God, what more do you want

of me? I am free to do whatever I want. That

kind of mentality, though, is not keeping the

Christian Sabbath. Consider Isaiah 58, 13 and

14. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and

call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day

of the Lord honorable. If you honor it, not going

your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or

talking idly, then you shall take delight in

the Lord. And I will make you ride on the heights

of the earth. I will feed you from the heritage

of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord

has spoken. Do you see, friends, The Christian

Sabbath it's to be a delight and I think I'm

preaching to the choir here for you are in this

place Worshipping and hearing God's word and

yet sometimes our coveting eyes Look over here

What are they doing with this day? What are they

doing over here with this day? It's like we're

saying to God. It's not delightful to me. I want

to do something else with my time. Now we could

go through all of the Commandments like this,

but I just want to press home what I'm talking

about with a quote from R. Scott Clark, who wrote

a very good commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism.

He says, when the 10th Commandment says, you

shall not covet, it goes to the root of the 5th

Commandment. We desire to rule over authorities.

To the sixth commandment, we desire to take life

unjustly. To the seventh commandment, we desire

to find sexual satisfaction outside the order

that God has established. To the eighth, we desire

what God has not given, so we steal it. And to

the ninth, we desire people to think what we

want, not what is. And so we lie. When we cover

up, it's all rooted in covetousness. Furthermore,

when the apostle Paul wants to talk about how

the law teaches the greatness of our sin, Paul

goes to the 10th commandment from Romans 7 through

8. What then shall we say that the law is sin?

By no means. Yet, if it had not been for the

law, I would not have known sin. For I would

not have known what it is to covet if the law

had not said you shall not covet But sin seizing

an opportunity through the commandment produced

in me all kinds of covetousness Friends the problems

not the law It's coveting you see God's commands

don't fizzle out with the 10th commandment. It's

a very firm summary statement. It's a great conclusion.

It puts a period at the end of the 10 commandments.

But beyond the 10 commandments and their place

in the moral law, the real location of coveting

is right in here, isn't it? The real location

where coveting happens is in our hearts. Luke

12, 15, Jesus says, take care and be on your

guard against all covetousness for one's life

does not consist in the abundance of riches.

James also says that all good gifts come from

above, but evil desires come from corrupt hearts.

And so, yes, I want you to see that coveting

is a problem. And the Bible does address it,

but the Bible doesn't leave you in despair. The

Bible does give you the solution for coveting.

But before we get there, I want to give you some

red flags of coveting. And then we'll talk about

that solution. These are just some red flags

that I thought of. I'm sure there are many more.

And so I think I've got six of them, red flags

to know if you're struggling with coveting. Do

you mourn when things aren't going well for you,

specifically when you hear the accomplishments

of other people? In other words, do you celebrate

people's accomplishments or do you get down on

yourself? Two, do you recognize sin in your life

and repent of it? Romans seven seven that I already

read shows what sin produces in us. It may be

covetousness. Therefore, we ought to be quick

to repent. Three, do you fail to guard your heart

against the love of money or possessions? Meaning

are those possessions is that is the paycheck

is the accumulation of wealth and idle in your

heart? Four, Are you unwilling to share your

wealth even to the extent of hurting others to

get what you want? Five. Are you honest with

God and with others? You can see throughout the

scriptures that there were times when people

coveted and they hid. They hid their stealing.

They hid their covetousness. Do you hide it?

Or are you honest with God and with others? Six,

and lastly, are you thankful for what you have,

or do you find yourself grumbling about the lack

thereof? Kevin Young says this. The antidote

to the sin of coveting is 1 Timothy 6, 6. Godliness

with contentment is a great gain. Do you see

what the Bible says or does here? He says, coveting

is about gaining. And isn't that what you covet?

I want to gain a possession, a friend or a house.

And God says, good, you want gain? I want you

to have gain. I want you to have joy. I want

to bless you. But you won't get it by coveting.

You get it by contentment. Now you might say,

well, what is contentment? Jeremiah Burroughs,

who wrote a very wonderful book called The Rare

Jewel of Christian Contentment, defines it like

this. Christian contentment is that sweet, inward,

quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely

submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly

disposal in every condition. I love that definition.

Right? Or if you're looking for somebody in scripture,

the apostle Paul speaks about contentment. He

says to the Philippian church, I have learned

and whatsoever state I am therefore to be content.

And these words from Paul, I think are especially

meaningful because Paul doesn't write about contentment

sitting in a mansion with the finest food, does

he? No, Paul actually writes this from prison

and therefore it has quite an impact. His contentment

is not tied to his possessions. His contentment

is not tied to his wallet. His contentment is

not tied to the dinner table and his contentment

is not tied to whether or not the Clemson Tigers

play well. No. His contentment is in Christ.

Now, maybe you say, how do I get this? How can

I have this contentment? Well, friends, it might

take time actually. When he says, I have learned

these things, this shows that sanctification

is part of the process. I have learned to be

content. He didn't buy it in the store. It just

might take some time. Burroughs again on this,

contentment is every condition. Contentment in

every condition is a great art, a spiritual mystery.

He says, I did not have the art at first. I have

attained it through with much ado. And now by

the grace of God, I have become the master of

this art. And so, yes. friends, it may take some

time in our growth in Christ. And so four pointers

as I begin to conclude, four pointers on how

to have this contentment. One, remember who you

are in Christ. John chapter 1 verse 12 says that

John 1:12

you become a child of God by being born again.

And what more could you really want than to be

a child of God? Second, remember what you have

in Christ. Ephesians chapter one, verse three,

it mentions every spiritual blessing in the heavenly

places that Christ, it's getting at, is our true

treasure. And those in him will be content forever.

Three, remember the means of grace in Christ.

I don't know about you. Seems to me the most

content people are the ones who are in their

Bibles, who are in prayer, who are in worship,

who surround themselves with great fellowship,

right? And so remember the means of grace. And

just along those lines, remember your brothers

and sisters in Christ. As iron sharpens iron,

we are sharpened in contentment when we surround

ourselves with like -minded people who absolutely

love the means of grace and who love God and

who are saved by Christ in pursuing Christ in

their lives. We ought to surround ourselves with

people who put off covetousness and who put on

contentment. And so friends, just in conclusion,

if you find the 10th commandment to be a struggle

for you, pray about it, pray for help with it,

and let Christ be your desire. Christ has come

to forgive us of our sins and to deliver us from

covetousness, and he has placed his spirit in

us that we would love him with all of our hearts

and our neighbor as ourselves. Let's pray together.