Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet

Psalm 25:1-11

Deuteronomy 25:5-26:19

Romans 6:15-7:12

Paul says that the command: "do not covet" showed him how sinful he was.

Because the Law provoked him to sin.

Well, you've all seen that at work!

What happens when you tell a two-year old not to touch the glass vase?

Well, the next time you look at the vase,

there will be greasy little finger print there, right?

When God says "do not covet"--do not desire that which not yours--

what do you do?

You start thinking about it.

And then you start thinking, "wouldn't it be nice if I had such a nice car"

"oh, wouldn't it be nice to have a husband like him?"

And before you know it,

you are coveting;

you are desiring that which is not yours.

Now, we all want things, right?

What is the difference between wanting something in the right way,

and coveting--wanting it in the wrong way.

First I'd like to point out that we live in a coveteous culture.

The constant bombardment of advertising that you see on TV,

is built on the principle that people covet;

And so the best way to sell something is to get them to covet it.

This is a problem faced by a lot of Christians in sales.

I had a friend who was told that he should always try to get people to buy

the most expensive product.

But, he asked, what if they don't need it!?

Get them to think that they need it!--was the reply.

In other words,

make them discontent with what they already have.

You need to be content with what God has given you.

If you are NOT content with what God has given you,

then you ARE coveting.

BUT, if you are content with what God has given you,

then your desires will hopefully be in the right place.

Proverbs 30:8-9 says:

"Give me neither poverty nor riches--

feed me with the food allotted to me;

lest I be full and deny You,

and say "Who is the Lord?"

or lest I be poor and steal,

and profane the name of my God."

Jesus says in Matthew 6:31

"Therefore do not worry, saying

"what shall we eat?"

or "what shall we drink?"

or "what shall we wear?"

For after all these thiings the Gentiles seek.

For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

and all these things shall be added to you.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

And Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13

"I have learned in whatever state I am to be content:

I know how to be abased,

and I know how to abound.

Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry,

both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

What is the key to Contentment?

What is the way to escape Coveteousness?

The obvious answer--and the right one--is to be in Christ.

If you are not in Christ, then you will never be content--and you will always covet.

But Jesus and Paul point us to something more specific:

Jesus says that the way to avoid coveteousness is to SEEK the kingdom of God.

Paul says that the secret of his contentment is that he does all things through Christ,

and relies upon HIS strength.

By now it should not surprise you that the next thing I say,

is that this is precisely what Moses had said back in Deuteronomy!

God was about to give his people the Promised Land.

They were to go in and take possession of the good land,

where God had promised to bless them.

But one of the great dangers was that the people would grow complacent.

As they received God's blessings of fruit and grain,

it would be easy for them to become greedy and grasping for more.

What did God give them as the way in which they should remember

what God had done for them?

We see this in Deuteronomy 26:

You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor;

rather you shall give the first of your own harvest to God,

to his priests and levites, and to the poor and needy.

Because if you are giving to others,

then it will be very difficult for you to be grasping and greedy for more.

In coveting, you desire to get;

In contentment, you desire to give.

So let's look at Deuteronomy 26

and what it tells us about the tithe as God's solution to coveteousness.

1. The tithe as an act of worship (1-11)

It must be taken to the temple

It must be given to the priest

Note that the worshiper is to dialogue with the priest:

Starts with the worshiper declaring his trust in God's promises to Abraham

Then the priest receives the tithe

Then the worshiper proclaims God's acts of redemption

Then the worshiper offers the firstfruits back to God in gratitude

The order of worship concludes with a prayer for blessing:

I have obeyed your commandments,

now please bless your people as you promised.

How often do you think about tithing as an act of worship?

The reason why I decided to put the offering after the sermon

is because I'd like to use this--just for today--

just to remind us of what our tithe and offerings are all about.

You'll notice on your sermon outline sheet,

that I have rewritten this order of worship in the light of Christ.

We'll just use this today when we bring our tithes and offerings to God,

after all, the Israelites only brought the firstfruits once a year!

so we'll just use this for today.

But it's the sort of thing that you should think of

when we bring our tithes and offerings to God each week.

Which raises another question:

should you tithe every week?

What if you only get paid once a month? or every two weeks?

In biblical times a laborer was to get paid every day--

Moses has hard words for the employer who does not pay his workers daily.

But the firstfruits was offered once a year.

Paul says in I Corinthians 16 that we should collect the offering on Sunday

--and that each should "lay something aside" as God should prosper him.

So if you didn't make any money that week, then you couldn't contribute.

But if you find it easier to simply give a set amount each week,

that's fine too.

In other words, the point is the giving--not the timing!

2. The tithe as an act of mercy (12)

Every third year the tithe was to be given to the Levites and to the poor

--the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow--

those who had no inheritance.

The Israelites were to provide for their daily needs in other ways

--this isn't just welfare;

This was so that they might feast and rejoice in the goodness of God

with the rest of the people of God.

We might want to consider this.

It is right and good and necessary to take care of the basic needs of the poor.

But we must also consider how to help them feast and rejoice!

This can be abused.

I've seen mud huts with satellite dishes in Africa.

The basic needs are NOT met,

but they have plenty of trinkets!

But as we put together our budget,

let us not forget the poor.

It is easy to neglect the missions that Christ has given us in our own church,

and in our community.

Are we taking care of the needy?

are we caring for widows and orphans?

James told us: "pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,

and to keep oneself unspotted from the world"

3. The tithe as a prayer for blessing (13-15)

Notice that the worshiper does not demand a blessing.

Moses understood that the Law did not provide blessing.

Besides, Moses recognized that the Israelites were sinners!

Remember that Moses is the one who kept telling them

how rebellious and stiff-necked they were!

The worshiper does not say,

"God, here's my 10%,

now give me my blessing!"

No, the worshiper says,

"I have done what you commanded,

now, please remember your promises!

Remember what you promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I have brought my tithes to your temple;

I have cared for widows and orphans;

I have done what you commanded--not perfectly--but where I have failed,

I have repented and offered the proper sacrifices,

so please, O God, remember your promises.

vv16-19 show this clearly:

Why should the people obey God?

Is it SO THAT God will bless them?

No. God has promised that he will bless them.

Therefore they must obey him.

You see, the covenant has two parts.

God's promises, and our obligations.

Every time the Israelites brought their tithes to the temple,

the covenant would be renewed.

And notice again in these last four verses,

the emphasis on the word TODAY.

v16--"this day"

v17--"today"

v18--"today"

each sentence begins with the word "today"

This day is the day of salvation.

What does that mean?

This day of covenant renewal,

this day of worship,

is the day of salvation.

This is the day where God proclaims his promises to you;

and you respond with love and obedience.

Of course,

Israel was not always faithful to God's promises.

They often disobeyed and rebelled against God.

Malachi 3:8-12

Malachi declares that because the Israelites failed to bring their tithes and offerings to God,

they now received his curse.

And he promises that if they are faithful in their tithes,

then He will pour forth the blessings of heaven.

I Cor 15:20-23

Christ is the firstfruits who offered himself to God as the tithe of humanity.

He offered himself

as an act of worship

Christ entered the holy of holies and presented himself to the Father

He presented himself as the firstfruits of the harvest,

offering himself to God.

as an act of mercy

He gave himself for the poor, the fatherless, and the stranger

as a prayer for blessing

Christ presented himself before the throne of God,

and said, I have done all that you commanded me, Father,

I have suffered and died on the cross for my people.

I have offered the full and perfect sacrifice for their sins.

Now, Father, Jesus said,

Now, bless your people, look down from heaven,

and bless your people with all the promises that you have made to me!

Jesus Christ IS the firstfruits--

and we who are in Christ,

are the rest of the harvest.

And so now we who are in Christ still offer the first of all our time, money, and energy:

as an act of worship

as an act of mercy

and as a prayer for blessing.

Because you see,

this is the best way to avoid coveteousness.

We are not to be grasping and greedy to get what we want.

We are to be thankful for what God has given us,

and then we are to give it to others.

Jesus Christ received all of God's blessings,

and poured them out upon us.

Therefore, we too are receive all of God's blessings in our own life,

and give them to others.

What blessings has God given you?

Perhaps you have the blessing of staying home with your children:

how can you use that blessing to serve others?

You may have the flexibility to get together with other women in the church

and encourage them.

God has blessed you with the knowledge of His Word:

how can you use that in your workplace--or in your school?

I'm not talking about beating people over the head with the Bible,

I'm talking about serving others by speaking the Word of God to them.

What can you say to your friends that will point them to Christ?

If you don't know, talk to someone.

Talk to me--or another elder--or a godly friend.

Perhaps God has blessed you with the opportunity to be single:

how can you use all your free time to serve others?

Paul tells us that those who are single have the opportunity

to devote their whole time to the service of God.

Are there ways that you can serve others?

Perhaps by helping families with their kids,

perhaps by helping them with projects that never seem to get done.

What blessings has God given you?

And for each blessing,

how are you giving the firstfruits to God?

how are you worshiping him in your daily life?

All that we have is God's.

We do not OWN anything

--we are stewards who are to take care of the things that God has given us.

Your children are not your own,

Your house is not your own,

Your money is not your own.

All that you have is loaned to you by God.

You are to use it for his glory and for the salvation of his people.

This is what it means to seek first HIS kingdom.

This is what it means to be content in all things.

This is what it means to not covet.

You must give the firstfruits back to God.

You must give the very best of all that you have to Christ.

Because he gave you the very best of all that he had--himself!

He gave his own life for you; now he commands that you give yourself for him.

May God grant us the grace to seek his kingdom and find contentment in Christ alone.