All I can say is, oh my, it is crazy out there. I cannot believe what I'm seeing. Every week it gets worse and worse and worse. And this week I wanted to make note, before we get into our sermon today, I wanted to make note for our health care workers and nurses. They're facing a deadline now, especially in Memorial, Mercy, anything dignity, health, I think, anything that's controlled by the Catholics, that you have to be vaccinated or you're gonna lose your job. Okay, there's no ifs, ands, or buts. And the weird thing about it is they're accepting some religious exemptions, but not all. And I mentioned this, and you'll see in the video, in an interview we did with Channel 17, is that we had a couple in our church or somebody in our church knew them, used our vaccines. They took the husband's vaccine, or sorry, religious exemption, but they didn't take the wife's. And it was the same one. You think, what's going on here? This doesn't make sense. They have a quota? What's happening here? It's random? What's going on? It's not consistent. And anyway, we did this interview with Channel 17, and Channel 17 just cut everything out. Anything I had to say, anything the other pastor had to say, they just totally cut it out. So I knew when you deal with the media, I brought my own media with me. And so I brought Ty with me, who's our editor and our film guy. And I said, Ty, come with me and let's get some footage and possibly have the real footage that won't get cut. So anyway, I wanted you to see this video because it's impacting nurses right now. They're losing their job. They're getting ready to lose their job. So if you guys want to roll that video, this is what the real news was that wasn't cut out. OK? This is our own news channel now. We have to make our own now. Hi, my name is Trang, T-R-A-N-G, and my last name is T-R-A-N. I'm a healthcare worker with Memorial Hospital for 25 years, and I did not get the vaccine. I only got COVID last year, and now my employer is mandating the vaccine, and if I don't get it, I will be terminated in two weeks. I applied for the religious exemption. I filled out an application on my best knowledge, and it was denied yesterday. So we were told that in the next two weeks, if I don't have any intention to get the vaccine, I'll be terminated and we'll do it on a 90-day suspension, and I will lose my job by January 2022. If I have to get it, I just, you know, it's going to be against my will. So what we're here today is to support our health care workers here locally because a lot of them now have this draconian mandate that's been forced on them to either be vaccinated or lose your job. And so we're trying to raise awareness of that because of these mandates that don't even give any options, any alternatives. It's either this or you're out. And we also know about all the facts and evidence about all these things that are going on with the vaccines themselves. We also know the facts and evidence about the virus itself. And when you weigh all the facts and evidence, it doesn't match what they're doing as far as the mandates are concerned. They shouldn't be mandating anything based on the facts and evidence. Is there room to be cautious? Of course, but it doesn't mean that you lose your job if you're not vaccinated. Because what we have seen from the CDC numbers, VAERS, the reactions to the vaccines, and the fact that the COVID-19 virus has a death rate that's on the level of 1.6. The common flu is at 1.0 to 2.0 on a given year. So we have the COVID-19 that's 1.6. That doesn't warrant a vaccine mandate. That is on the level of the common flu. So we're trying to figure out why would they put these people's lives on the line to lose their jobs over something that's on the level of a flu. Yes, is it deadly for those who have comorbidities or elderly? Of course it is. That's not what we're saying. We're saying this doesn't warrant people losing their jobs. And so we're trying to stand for the health care workers here in Kern County and in the hospitals here and hopefully through getting the word out and getting this information out of seeing real lives being affected by these crazy mandates. that it will bring enough awareness to people that they will maybe stop this or halt this or give alternatives to these health care workers. Because what happens when all these people lose their jobs? What are the hospitals going to do? They're going to lack health care workers. So that means on the ground, you and I will get less health care because there's less workers. And so this affects all of us. So when you see this happen, understand that eventually if this goes through, It's going to affect you and I. So when you go to the hospital, you go to a health care facility, you're just not going to get the care that you got before because there's going to be less workers, less help. And so it brings ramifications through all of Kern County. So this is why we're concerned. We want to lift these people up in prayer, obviously, because they are claiming religious exemption. And according to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 12 through 20, the body is the Holy Spirit's temple. And therefore we are not to pollute our body, put anything in our body that would harm it, or anything on our bodies that would harm it. And so because of that, that passage right there, they have every legitimate right to claim a religious exemption. But yet what we find out is these hospitals are doing like a quota, because they'll take a religious exemption from somebody, and then over here they won't take a religious exemption. We heard of a story where a couple, a married couple, gave their religious exemption. They accepted one from one spouse and they didn't accept the exemption from another spouse. So what does that tell you? It appears that there might be quotas or the person taking that in doesn't even care. It's just random. And so when we see that, that should cause a red flag to all of us to realize something's not right here. Something's going on here. And whether it's a quota or whatever, we also know that these, these religious exemptions are going to eventually, uh, try to eliminate those as well down the line until we can see, we can see the healthcare community saying eventually, Oh, we're not going to allow religious exemptions anymore. We're not even gonna allow medical exemptions anymore. So either you get vaccinated or you don't work. And that's where this is going. Guys, when you see that, that is authoritarianism. That is totalitarianism. That is what you see in communist China or Russia or Cuba. And that's right here in America. So that should concern us all. So when you see these poor healthcare workers getting impact like that, eventually you're going to get impacted as well. So we want to support them. We want to lift them up in prayer and do everything we can to stop these forced mandates. Well, there you go. So obviously, that didn't make it to the news. They wouldn't want that on the news, because we wanted to raise awareness of what these stupid hospitals are doing. Well, they cut that completely out. So all right, well, then fine. Then we'll post our own thing on YouTube and let everybody see what you cut out. But anyway, it's a rigged game. Anyway, pray for our nurses, pray for our health care workers and doctors. They have a tough thing that they're facing this month. And the next group that's coming is the teachers and the students, which I'm going to talk about later on in the sermon. But if it's already affecting your work, I'm sure you're being hit by that. Hopefully our religious exemptions will work. And we'll see what happens, but it's a crazy time. This is an absolute war, guys. This is an absolute war that's happening right now. And so we can't ignore it. We can't pretend it's not happening. It's going to affect all of us. So we'll keep you afloat on all those things that develop. Anyway, this segues into what we're going to study today. The last of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, verse 17, is you shall not covet. We're going to be looking at the law against coveting. And really the basis of coveting has to do with contentment. The issue is contentment. And so contentment is sacred. And if it gets perverted, then it turns into coveting. And that's what the commandment is focusing in on. The commandment also focuses in on what you have a right to and what you don't have a right to. And so we're gonna lay out the basis, we're gonna look at the implications, and I wanna show you real-world examples of how this gets messed up, right? So the first thing I wanna note, let's look at the passage in Exodus 20, verse 17. It says, you shall not covet. Well, the Hebrew word is hamad, which means to pant after, like a dog panting after something. It's been running, and the dog is panting. It's the idea that you're panting after something. Right? So like a thirsty dog is panting after water or something like that. It's a Hebrew mindset. It's that person has an illicit desire that wants something so bad. And then it goes on to explain examples. of what is off limits. You should not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Notice how God defines it in the sense that anything that belongs to someone else is off limits to you. is basically what it's stating. Now, the idea is this, your neighbor could buy a brand new car, and it could give you the desire, hey, I like that style of car, next time I get a car, I might get the same type of model. That's not coveting. That might be greed, but that's not coveting. Coveting is, I want his car, not just a car, I want their car. I want their money. I want their things, their boat, their house, their spouse, their kids, whatever it might be. It's wanting something that belongs to someone else. That's the essence of coveting. Okay. So let me give you a real world example. The real world example is the government wants your money. Okay, so instead of just going into your house and holding you at gunpoint and taking your money, they do it through legalized stealing. And the way they legalize stealing is just to raise your taxes and get all kinds of regulations going that you have to pay now. And so eventually, here's what you're going to do in your insurance. If you won't get vaccinated, they're going to charge your insurance. 50, 100 bucks, 200 bucks extra per month because you are unvaccinated. That's how they'll take money from you. And so they'll steal money from you by taking it through legalized stealing. Or just another way to take your money is to cause inflation, which they're doing right now. And if we go into a hyperinflated state, you're going to lose your money. How so? Your buying power goes down. That's what's happening to groceries right now. That's happening to food. Your food prices are going high. Why? They're doing that on purpose to destroy our economy. But that's a form of stealing because they covet what you and I have. What do they want? They want control, they want power, and they want money. It's real simple. And in order to do that, they'll just simply take from you and I. Because the government doesn't produce anything. They don't make widgets. They don't do anything, right? They have to get the money from somewhere else in order to spend how they want to spend. Think about the nonsense of having $3.5 trillion spending bill on infrastructure. And there's all kinds of pork spending in that whole thing, right? It's not going to bridges and roads and stuff like that. It's crazy stuff. But what is the essence? Where are you going to get your money? Government. Because you don't make anything. Oh, we'll get it from the American people. We'll steal it from them and take it. That's called coveting. But coveting eventually spills out into the street and it actually becomes physical. Now the basis of all the commands as far as the horizontal commands, you should not commit adultery, you should not lie, you should not steal, you should not murder, okay? The basis of where all those start starts with coveting. So committing adultery is I'm coveting someone's spouse. Thou shalt not steal starts with I want what they have. Thou shalt not lie means I want to take the truth from them and give them a false narrative. It's all doing with stealing. Murder, I'm going to covet that person's life and take their life. which doesn't belong to you. That's the basis. Now, when the Jews saw this, they should, and I'm sure they did early on, saw that, okay, the command is a thought command, and it's a heart command, and it's the basis of all the horizontal commands, which meant that this was internal. This was an internal command. By the time they get to Jesus' day, the Pharisees had completely taken this away and said that the law is just external. So the idea of the 10th commandment undergirding the other commandments was completely gone. And that's why the Pharisees said they thought they were righteous, because they did the outwardly, but Jesus came in and says, no, the problem with you is internal, is that you covet these things. They were practicing serial monogamy. They were divorcing, divorcing, divorcing, as an example, serially, because they wanted other people's wives, and other people's things. And so they would commit divorce to do this, and then divorce here, and do that, and they had a loophole they were using, but nothing internally. They ignored the internal idea of coveting. Anyway, there's some implications we need to look at. And first implication is this, coveting is desiring something that belongs exclusively to someone else. Simple, okay? Two, the command does not forbid desiring something that is proper. It's not forbidding you wanting stuff, okay? It's forbidding something else that someone owns. So you can want things. There's proper things you should want. You should want to become like Christ. You should want to become more godly. You should want to grow. You should want to mature. You should want Jesus, right? Those are proper things. If you're single, it's proper to have a desire to be married and have kids and have a family and have a good job. That's all proper desires. It's when you cross the line and want someone else's stuff is when you get into problems. A person has a right to personal possessions, inalienable rights, liberty, personal relationships, i.e. a spouse or children. And so the idea is it's a thought, the thought. It's the thought in the heart that I want someone else's stuff that's forbidden. It's a thought sin. It's a heart sin. Now, let me give you an example of a real-world coveting that's going on right now around the world. And Canada has flipped their wigs, man. They're crazy, man. And anyway, they've been after this pastor, Artur Pawlowski. He's a Polish pastor that's been under communism and went to Canada, has his church there. And he's been dealing with the Canadian officials, the Mountie police and whatnot. coming to his church, trying to arrest him for having services, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Because when the pandemic went on, Canada shut everything down. But here's the thing about Canada. Canada did not shut the Islamic mosques down. So Canada made the churches shut down, but not the mosques. Go figure on that one. It's the red-green axis, by the way. Anyway, so this guy kept meeting. God bless him. Kept having services. God bless him. He got all kinds of heat. They took him to jail and whatnot. And so now, he just landed this last week in Canada, and the minute he lands, they arrest him again. But what is the issue here? They covet his freedom. They covet his right. They covet his religious right, and they want to take it away so they can have more power. So that's at the basis of this. So watch this. This is crazy. This is a pastor who simply is getting arrested for having his church open. Nuts! Please get off. Get off. Please get off. out of this property immediately until you come back with a warrant out Intimidating people in a church during the Passover. You Gestapo Nazi Communists. Amen. He's right. They are Gestapo Nazi Communists because that's what they're doing in Canada. But at the end, what is it? The Canadian government wants his rights. His religious freedom. And so it's not just even dealing with material possessions, it comes down to even taking away inalienable rights from human beings, which God affords those rights to. And so they are arresting him and taking away his religious freedom. So that's an example of this. And that's what they're doing in Canada. But here's the deal. It's gonna come to America. They're gonna start this again. And they're going to start telling us, if you're not vaccinated, you can't come to church. And these churches can't have more than 25 people in the service. It's going to be crazy stuff like that. And this is what the future looks like for America. Because nothing's stopping it, by the way. When you look at the implications, another implication for society is that when a culture promotes covetousness, it destroys the culture, it destroys the society, it shapes the society. So the positive, obviously, desiring proper moral things creates a healthy society, which our children are not taught. Which our universities don't teach. They don't teach kids in public school to be moral. They teach them to be immoral. So as you saw on the Prophecy Update, they're teaching kids now to role play being gay and transgender. You see what they're doing? They're shaping our kids to be evil. To want things that are off limits. For instance, it is off-limits for a female to want to be a male. It is off-limits for a male to want to be a female. It's off-limits. You know why? Because you're wanting something that's illicit, that God made you this way and you need to accept how He made you. But that's not happening, because they're being told in the schools, no, you can be a girl, you can be a boy, whatever you feel like today. That's disastrous for our society. So that leads into desiring bad or improper things, destroys your culture, destroys your society. So now we have kids that are coveting immoral things. And it messes them up emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Now, here's another example of this, of what happens to your society when you teach covetousness, that you can have what you want unrestrained, no rules and wanting illicit things. What ends up happening is you get a society like what's happened in Australia. They have completely devolved. They have went back to being a penal colony, which is how Australia was founded. They're back in it, by the way. A dog returns to its vomit. Because you know why? Australians kicked God out of their government and their society a long, long time ago. And now it's been taken over by the ungodly, the atheists, the Babylonians. Well, anyway, here's what happens. You teach a society to be immoral and to covet things that don't belong to you, like rights. Eventually, you end up with a police state. Eventually, you end up like Nazi Germany. Right? So here's what I want. A couple out of Australia sent me an email that corresponded with me every once in a while. And they said, Brandon, you've got to see this. This is what's going on in our country. Please pray for us. This is crazy. We cannot believe our country has devolved into this. Now, you can find the same video on YouTube. So they pointed me to the YouTube. So it's on there. It hasn't been taken down. But brace yourself about what you're going to see. You're going to see a society want to take away people's rights. And what are we talking about? They want them to not peacefully protest against the vaccine mandate. They want them to socially distance and they want them to wear masks. So all the footage is about this. They're not, we're not talking about druggies, murderers, gang members, nothing. This has to do with people not wearing masks, not being vaccinated and not social distancing. Watch the brutality. Not social distancing. That's what they're doing. Not wearing a mask. Watch this. Peaceful protest is breaking up by the paramilitary police. No masks. Protesting over vaccine mandates. Peaceful protests. No mask. No mask. Police will record a warning. You have previously been directed to leave. Leave now or force may be used. No further warnings will be given. Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! Get over here! But each and every one of us has got a part to play. We're all in this together, and we'll all pay a price, all of us, one way or another, if we don't play that part. So following the rules, and I know the rules are not fun, but they're there to keep us open. They're there to keep us safe. They're there to keep us safe. They're completely out of control. That's Nazism, that's Gestapo, that's brown shirts, that's SS troops in Australia. And you get that way by purging your police force of good people. You get that way by purging your military of good people. And oh, how are they doing that? Through morality issues or immorality issues. And now they're doing it in America by, well, if you don't get vaccinated, then you have to leave the military. They're doing it here. Do not think for a moment that this may come to America. And all these people were being done this way, mistreated police brutality on not wearing masks, not social distancing, peaceful protests. That's all the crime was. Does that tell you how, what the agenda is behind this? How big it is, how evil it is? Yeah, it's way bigger than you thought. But what is at the heart of this? When you boil everything down, it's simple. They covet, they covet freedom. because they want power. They covet rights because they want power. And so how do they do it? Well just mandate it and take what's theirs from them. The Australians have no freedom now. It's Nazi Germany basically. That's why these Australians are writing to us saying you Christians in America please pray for us because it's coming your way. It's crazy isn't it? Let's go back to more implications. In regards to covetousness, arresting the desire to have what belongs to others creates a person who can bring a blessing to a society, and obviously if the person can't arrest their coveting, it brings a curse to society. So the idea that even in your own family, if you have someone that covets and wants and wants and wants, they will divide your family up, because what they want is insatiable. And it could be like not even wanting money. They just want attention. Or whatever. They want favored status. They want to be noticed. They want a pat on their back. Whatever it might be, they covet that. And that becomes a dominant factor in their life. Well, they'll tear up Jack in the family. They'll tear up a society. And so it has a negative impact on families and people and society. So look what happens with Gavin Newsom now. Because he doesn't like your rights and your freedoms, he's now removing your freedoms and rights by mandates. And so now with the public schools, your kids will have to be vexed in order to attend by January. This goes in line with what I'm telling the teachers, look, you might get the religious exemption that works now, but eventually they're going to eliminate it completely. Because they're going to say, basically, you can't be here unless you're vaxxed. Now, that might not come in six months or may come a year from now. I don't know. But you know where this is all heading, right? So the religious exemptions are buying us some time. But I will say this. Health care workers, teachers, you need to start a plan B idea. If I will not be vaccinated and they're going to fire me, I better have a fallback. You need to get ahead of this. Because it's happening. These nurses in our church are losing their jobs this month over it. Their education, everything they did is being flushed down the tubes because some idiot wants control. Some pencil neck in Sacramento wants their rights taken away from them. Think about this. The right to work and make a living is a fundamental right to a person. Not just inalienable, but according to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They don't care. You will do what we say to do. It's scary. It's scary the mentality. Notice how the police in Australia have the mentality of the government. Did you see that? We're just gonna take away your right. These police are not even thinking about police brutality. They're not even thinking. They're just saying, this is what I'm told to do and this is what I will do. Remember Nuremberg trials? We were just doing what we were told to do because you have no conscience, that's why. They don't either. And the people who continue to push this have no conscience. They covet. At the heart of it is they covet. Think about this. Remember what I said. A person who covets destroys a family, destroys a society. This is what we're seeing all through America. And now look at the recent poll. 40% of Biden voters and half of Trump voters agree it's time to split the country. I get that. I totally get this. This is how coveting destroys a nation. Well, what do you mean? Well, for all these years, they've allowed people just to want things that are illicit, that are immoral. And what ends up happening is, you have people that are insatiable about killing babies. Or gay marriage. Or being a transgender. Or whatever it is. Think about how that destroys the country. Think about what's going on in our border. Okay? Think about the covetousness in the border reality. In order to secure a nation, you have to have borders. It doesn't mean you're against immigration. We're against coming here illegally, because at the heart of illegal immigration is covetousness. They want what we have. And that's fine if you do it legally. But if you're not going to do it legally, and then your covetousness actually causes you to illegally come into this country and then steal from our country with free health care, free education, free this, free that, free whatever. You're a thief. And that's immoral. We're all for immigration. Just do it legally. I used to talk to a kid that worked at River Lakes Golf Course, and he was running the pro shop. He was a kid from India. Good kid, man. And we were talking, because he played at BC and stuff like that. And we got to talking, and he talked about coming over to America. And I said, really? When did you come? And he said, I was about seven or eight, or whenever my parents came over. And I said, really? I said, was it hard? Because I obviously know when you try to do it legally, it's very difficult. He says, yeah, it was hard. My dad had to spend over $400,000 in order to become an American citizen, to get us out of India and into America. And actually, when he came here, he had a life-saving surgery that only America could offer. I think he had a heart transplant or something like that. But I want you to think about it. The family spent $400,000 to become an American citizen and then have a lifesaving operation only America could provide. God bless him. I said, man, that's awesome. But you know what? I'm sure it makes you mad when people cross the border and don't pay a dime and do it illegally. He goes, yeah, it does make me mad because we did it the right way and it cost us. And when you compare that, that's the kind of people you want that play by the rules. You don't want people in your country that are immoral, that are willing to steal, willing to go against the law. That's wrong, that will destroy your country. And so now we understand why the split is happening. How in the world are you supposed to have anything in common with someone who wants to kill babies? How are you to have anything in common with someone that supports transgenderism? What's the commonality here? What do you have in common with someone who wants to push communism or Marxism or socialism? You don't! We are divided on big ticket items, stuff that you don't recover from. It's what the Apostle Paul said. What does light have to do with darkness? What does Jesus have to do with Belial or Satan? Nothing. And in effect, what they have done is split America, divide and conquer, and have weakened our country because we have a whole set of people that have completely satanic values. And that's the reality of it. And you can't connect with those types of people. I'm not saying not reaching for evangelism. I'm just saying they hate our country. We have people that absolutely hate our country. That's what coveting does. The command contains no penalty because it's a sin of the heart. It's a thought sin. And only God knows the extent of it in the person. But what'll happen is, why God wants us arrested is because eventually it spills out into the real world. It comes out physically in the person doing things and going after things that they shouldn't be going after. And they go into stealing and stealing other people's mates and whatnot. So it eventually spills out. So God wants us arrested at the heart level. Seven, the covetousness distorts our thinking. So this is what happens. When someone wants something that doesn't belong to them, and they say, I'm going after that, I want that, it actually starts a distortion in their thinking. They actually slip out of reality, right? And here's what happens. The first thing is, they will distort reality in defining what their needs are. And what happens is, It's a mental gymnastic thing that Satan plays on them, is they turn wants into needs. And the idea is, man, if I could get that, I would be happy. So this is the problem with social media. Instagram, Facebook, all these things that people see on there, It actually creates covetousness in the person because they see, oh, this is a perfect life here. Oh, this is a perfect couple. Look at the exotic vacation they took. Man, they're having fun, and I'm bored, and I'm tired, and I don't have any money, but look at them. Actually, the social media was meant to cause that in people. And so what ends up happening? You see all the things you don't have, and that causes depression. A low level of depression sets in on the person. They become angry and bitter. And that's what's happening a lot with our teenagers and young adults, is they see all these fabulous things on Instagram or whatever, and they're like, I'm not living that life. And so they end up surrendering to it, giving in to depression, giving in to hopelessness. It is satanic, man. So they end up saying, well, I need that. And so now a want turns into a need. Distortion starts happening. Second thing that happens in the head, they figure out, well, how, if I need that, how am I going to fulfill that need? How am I going to go after this? How am I going to do this? Well, again, because if it's, if it's illicit, they're going to have to go after it illicitly. They're going to have to either steal, rob, murder, whatever to get it because it's not, it's an illicit thing. It's not something that's allowable. And so all of a sudden they start planning how they do this. This is what we call the plandemic and all this other stuff. Yeah, they've been planning this stuff for a long time. And then they go into the situation of distorting the thinking of who is going to provide my need. Now, early on, as a child, this probably happened to them, probably, maybe, is that they turned a want into a need. Or they combined wants and needs so it was very cloudy for them. And then they thought, well, God will provide my need. And then God didn't deliver because God's not going to deliver on wants. He only delivers on needs. And so they think that God didn't deliver to them at that time. And so now they have a distortion about God all of a sudden. They're not thinking straight about God. And then Satan plays in that mindset and says, see, how come God didn't provide for you? He provided for all these other people out here. He's not providing for you, even though it's a want instead of a need. And he's saying, look, man, you're not going to be able to go after God anymore. He really doesn't care about you. He's not providing what you need. You are going to have to go out and get it yourself. Oh, so then the person gets turned off to God, and then all of a sudden, they are the ones who provide for their own needs. And they start manipulating the situation, taking control, working through the ladder of success, and playing the manipulated game in their job, in their work. I mean, you think about it. Think about the people you work with. You can probably figure out the manipulators, can't you? You can see them, right? They play games. They stab people in the back. They're always, uh, kissing up to the boss, whatever it might be. But what are they doing? They're trying to climb the ladder of success because they think they have to provide for their own needs and their own needs. I need to make more money. I need to make more money. I need to make more money. And so they will manipulate the whole situation to get to the top. Or I need more power, I need more power, I need more say so, I need more say, I don't like people telling me what to do. Okay, I'll work my way through manipulation, because I covet power. And that's the distortion that starts happening. And then once it's unbridled, it's insatiable. The person can't stop. This is what causes workaholism. This is what causes the pursuit of the almighty dollar. They're off track. Anyway, so what it ends up turning into is idolatry, flat out idolatry. Because all the person's life is geared towards this one thing, it's all they think about, about money, about things, whatever, and it becomes They're God, an idol, and it is insatiable, and it's difficult to control at that point in time. Now, when it gets to that level where it's insatiable, it's kind of like when Rockefeller was asked, you know, how much money you need. You have millions and millions of dollars. What do you need anymore? And he says, no, I need another million. Because the millions wasn't enough. He needed one more million and on. It's insatiable. So what happens is the person becomes animal-like. Yeah, they become animal-like. Have you ever figured out with dogs that you can never feed them enough? If you keep putting food in front of them, they constantly eat and eat. I think their belly's gonna pop and they just keep eating and eating and eating. But it's like an animal, right? Like a lion, it just keeps eating and eating and eating, it won't stop. It's like an alligator, it just keeps eating and eating and eating, it won't stop. And what happens is, when that person's out of control, you have to figure a way to curb it, you have to figure a way to restrain them, because if they're unrestrained, they will continue to take more and more. That's why Gavin Newsom and Biden are on power trips. That's why the globalists are on power trips, because no one is stopping them. and they become like this alligator that needs to be trapped. Let me know when they ain't going inside. Let me know. Somebody let me know when they ain't going inside. Go, go, go, go! He did it, man. God bless him. He did it. I don't know how he thought about that. That was pretty smart. But that's what, when I see Gavin Newsom, I'm thinking he's the alligator, and we have the trash can. We need to put him in the trash can. Right? They're insatiable. They're like an alligator. But God bless that guy. I don't know how he figured that one out. That was pretty ingenious of him. Anyway, what's the solution to this whole coveting thing? Well, the solution is contentment. Oh, okay. So Paul will tell Timothy, look, godliness with contentment is a great game. Now, the way it probably should be translated, it's not translating very good in the English, It should really say godliness produces contentment and is great gain. Oh, so now we have the key here. How do I avoid covetousness? Will I become content? But how do I become content? Your godliness will lend itself to it. So the more godly, the more spiritually mature you are, the more you grow, the more you have faith. The more that you grow to be like Christ, the more content you will be with what God gives you. So if you struggle with a lack of contentment, it means you're struggling in your growth. That's where it's hitting you. And then he quotes from Job chapter one, and he says this, for we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it. Well, that comes to Job one. You probably know the famous passage, naked I came into this world and naked I shall return. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. It's a famous passage. But what was Job saying? What was Paul saying? He says, look, man, the second thing you need to figure out, you ain't taking it with you, man. You're not taking any of the junk that you pile up in your garage with you. So you can keep a bunch of stuff in your house, the knick-knacks, all that stuff, but at the end of the day, when you get called home in the rapture or in death, you're leaving it behind. I've said this always. I've never seen a hearse with a U-Haul attached to it on the way. Until I saw this picture. And so finally, I have seen it. I have seen it, and someone tried to take their stuff with them to the funeral home. It didn't get past being buried with them, but that was about it, you know? Crazy, isn't it? But you're not taking it with you. So if you're not taking it with you, what are you doing to keep storing it up? Why do you keep building up this collection, whatever it might be? Why are we doing that? Look what the Lord said. Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Now, everyone has heard that passage, but notice the last part. This is the key to the passage. This is where the principle's at. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Oh, so if I'm saying, okay, I don't wanna store treasure on earth, Brandon, I wanna store treasure in heaven. Okay, well guess what? You better put your heart where your treasure is. If you want to control where you spend your life, spend your money, all these things, you gotta find out where your heart is. Because you will find that your heart will be what you value. Your heart will be there. And if you value heavenly treasure, then that's where you will store your treasure. So it all comes down to your heart. Where is your heart? If it's caught up in this world, then you'll build treasure here. So that's what the Lord was trying to say. And so the principle is pursuing spiritual treasure keeps us from coveting and pursuing the things of the world. Okay, it's easy enough, but not really because here's what has to happen. In order to change your heart from loving this world to loving the things of God, you must value spiritual treasure. Because if you don't value the things of heaven, and don't value the rewards that we get, then you won't live that way. So let me give you an example. The Bible says that one of the rewards that he will give you is that you will eat from the tree of life in the New Jerusalem. So the tree of life that was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve has now made its way into the New Jerusalem. It's there right now. And then the reward is if you are faithful and obedient to him, you will get to partake of that tree. So not all believers get access to the tree. Only rewarded believers get access to the tree of life. And you can eat the fruit. It has fruit that comes from it once a month. There's this time element in heaven. And you can partake of it. What does it do? Well, the Greek word is therapy. And it has a ministering effect to your life there. It actually enhances your abundant life while you're in heaven. Now, what all that means, I'm not sure. I'm not sure, and it's not intended for God to give a detail to you. Here's what God is saying. When you're over here on this side in the New Jerusalem, these kinds of things are important. I'm telling you what they are, but I'm not explaining what they are. Like, for instance, you'll be a pillar of God in his temple. You will shine. You think, well, the currency in earth, shining has nothing to do with it. But over there, the greater you shine, the more authority and the more rewards you have in that life. So it's important over there. But you say like, I'm not getting the shining thing, I'm not getting eating from the tree of life, I'm not getting being a pillar of God and all these other rewards, Brandon, it just don't make sense. Good, they're not supposed to make sense. They're intentionally hidden from you. Because number one, in this space-time continuum, it doesn't make sense to us. Over there, it does. But so how am I supposed to love something and want something that I don't understand? Ah, good question. God says, I'm gonna tell you this, but it's gonna be vague, and I'm telling you it's important, and I need you to trust me. That's why I don't tell you. Because if I told you all, number one, you probably wouldn't understand. But number two, it would eliminate your faith. So I'm going to tell you something. And so you trust me on that. This is important. And then I will tell you how to get the reward. And the reward will be overcoming a particular thing. It will be, obviously, a life of obedience, a life of trust, a life of faithfulness, a life that's conducive to getting rewards, right? That's all I'm asking you, he says. I'm not asking you to understand this. I'm asking you to do what it takes to get it. Because when you're there, it's important. Oh, so that's a matter of faith and obedience. Bingo! You have to trust me on what I say is valuable. Don't believe your eyes here in the world. Believe what I say. Oh, gotcha. That's a hard one. Now, if anyone asks you, well, Brandon, what does it mean to be content? What is the baseline that I need to have to be content with my life? Is it just having a house? Is it a car? What is it? Oh, well, Paul baselined it for us all. and having food and clothing with these we shall be content. What? That's it? Yeah, if you have food and clothing, you're good. Go ahead, you can go home now. No more complaining. So when any of us complain about not having this or having that, Paul comes back to us and smacks us right in the face and says, do you have food and do you have clothing? Yeah, okay then, case closed. Oh! He just attacked the American dream. Didn't he? He attacked the American dream. He attacked any notion that anything beyond food and clothing, and you're putting it in the category, well, I'll be content when I have a bigger house. I'll be content when I have a better car. I'll be content when I have a better job. Uh-uh, you can't go there, because he says if you have food and clothing, that's where it stops. That's where contentment is, if I'm satisfied with that. Notice he didn't even say shelter. He didn't even say shelter. Paul, what are you thinking, man? I need a roof over my head. Well, history will recount that most Christians have been extremely dirt poor and didn't even have a shelter. A lot of them lived in caves. A lot of them, believe it or not, in the Roman times, lived in tombs. They lived in the catacombs. That's where their home was, in a tomb. So most Christians for the last 2,000 years have been extremely poor and had a hard time finding shelter, whether it was a tree or whatever. And so we gotta remember, we're in America, we're in the most affluent nation on the planet and in history, where the average person is affluent. And so you've got to be careful about this because it's a temptation. It's not to condemn us for having things. It's to tell you, be careful. Be careful because you're living with the temptation all around you. And look what Paul says. Paul is saying, look, I'm not telling you this, I've lived it. He says, for I learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased. I know how to be abound everywhere in all things. I have learned both to be full and hungry, both to abound and to suffer needs. So it's like, look, dude, I've been there. I've been without and I've had plenty. But notice the promise that's attached to contentment. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now that's probably the most misused passage in Christianity. Because what people do is pull that promise out and isolate it, and it's like, well, you know, I'm going to go to the gym, and I'm going to do a heavy day today. And so I'm going to read my passage, and it says, I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. So I'll be able to bench press and squat pretty high today, because I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. That's wrong. You don't use that passage for stuff like that, or whatever you might be facing. The passage is strictly within the confines that you and I can do all things and the things he's talking about is being content in whatever situation I'm in because through Christ, I will draw the strength in order to deal with my circumstances and not go into coveting. That's what Paul is really saying. So you have a promise from the Lord. that if you want to be content, great, then he will give you the strength to be content, but you have to cooperate with him. So the principle is God's provision, faith in God's provision to meet our needs allows us to live above circumstances with contentment. Now think about this, the circumstances you're in. There's a lot of people looking to lose their jobs. It's chaotic, man. It's crazy. They don't know what's gonna happen. And it's hitting everybody. I know, like, Brandon, I think I'm going to lose my job. I'm not going to be vaccinated. OK. So how do you live above that? How do you not get caught up in that and fear? Because fear is the big item, big ticket item. When you you see a lack of provision coming your way. Well, again, it comes back to do you believe that God can provide? That's where it's going to that's where the rubber meets the road. And this will show you whether or not you really do. Now, if you do, Believe that yeah, you know what Brandon? I'm not afraid I can lose my job and I know God will provide look at the freedom you have now Because you believe that God will meet that need and that allows you to live above your circumstances You don't get caught in your circumstances. You're above it. You're like, hey if I lose my job, I know God will provide Perfect. You're now above your circumstances. You're free from the enslavement of circumstances now, here's the thing on God's provision you have to understand this and God doesn't give you the provision before it goes down. Okay? He gives you the provision when it is going down. Okay, so for instance, he's not gonna have a shaft of light appear in your room and say, hey, look, buddy, here's what you're gonna have to do. You're gonna need to take a stand against your employer, because they're wanting the mandate, and here's what's gonna happen, man. Say no, and be willing to lose your job, because you know what, dude, I got your back. I'm gonna provide this job at XYZ company, and so like the day after, you're gonna receive a phone call, and you're gonna get this job, and we're all gonna take care of it. So go ahead and take your stand. He would never do that to you. Never. Because why? If he told you how his provision will come, it would eliminate your faith. Totally. So he says this, are you convicted about that? Then take your stand. Well, Lord, I'm afraid to lose my job. So what you're saying is you're afraid that I can't provide. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, I don't really want to say that, but yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying. God is saying, look, trust me, I'm the God who can provide. So go and take your stand and pay whatever cost needs to happen, because in the end, I will always provide for you. So can you accept Him saying, I'll provide for you, even though He doesn't tell you the details? Think about this, when they were marching out of Egypt with Moses, and God's freeing them, leading them into the Shekinah glory. He didn't say, hey, wait a guys, before we go into the desert, we're gonna get to the end of the desert, and by the way, you're gonna end up on a beach, and the north will be blocked, the south will be blocked, and the sea will be blocked, and Pharaoh's gonna come bearing down on us to kill all of you. So here's what's gonna happen. When we get to the Red Sea, I'm gonna part it, okay? You guys ready? Let's go. He doesn't do that. He makes you wait on Him to trust Him to the very point in the last minute, then He delivers. And that's how it will be in your provision. It will be at the last minute. You're like, okay, I lost my job, you're going home, and you might have to sit a couple days without a job, and you have to sit there and say, okay, I need to wait, I need to get my resume out, whatever it needs to do, He will eventually provide. And you wait on Him to do that, and He will. The righteous, it's said in scripture, will not go begging for bread. That's the promise we have from scripture. The righteous will not go begging for bread. He's not going to abandon you because he's the God of provision, isn't he? You don't have to worry about it. First Timothy continues, says this, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Do you know anybody who got rich and actually became a better person? I don't. I don't know anybody who got rich and now they're a better person. We went to high school with people, maybe you did too. I saw them grow up, some of them became wealthy, some of them didn't. The wealthy people are miserable. They're absolutely miserable. The wealth has become a curse to them because of the temptation, the snare, the foolishness, the harmful lust, the destruction, all that stuff happened to them, and they're destroyed. And what does Paul say? For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. That's what their problem was. I think I've told you this before. We had people in high school that I remember growing up with and everything. And then they got into their adult life and they went on a money tour. And what I mean by that is they went on a dating money tour. And what they did is they started dating only people who had money. And they would go from person to person finding who has the most money. And then when they found the golden calf, they married the golden calf. And we saw a lot of people marry for money. They're my age and they're miserable. I know they put on Instagram how wonderful their life is, but they're miserable. They absolutely are. Their relationships stink, but they try to gloss it over with the money. And money can't make a better relationship. You married a toad, but the toad had money. There you go. You happy with the toad? Because that's what you got. Well, I'll make myself happy with the money. I guess so. Good luck with that. Because they fall into all kinds of roots of evil. They don't get better. They get worse. Look at these guys. Wealthiest guys on the planet. Want to control the planet. And they're the worst despicable men on the planet. They're evil. They want control. They want not just another million, they want another billion from all of us. They want to control us. They want power. These are evil people, but look at the money did to them. It destroyed them, right? Everybody can attest to this. These are the richest guys on the planet in history. And then notice what he says about this, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves with many sorrows. Guess who he's talking about? Believers. He's talking about believers. Some have strayed from the faith. So what happens is, believers who become wealthy usually can't handle it. And the wealth takes them away from Jesus, takes their families away from Jesus. Hey, man, at some point on a practical level, you got all this money, you can do anything you want. And so they're taking a vacation every weekend for 52 weeks. Are you ever in church? Well, we go to church on Christmas and Easter. But we're usually out of town, Brandon, because, you know, we live stressful lives and we got to get out of town every once in a while. 52 weeks is getting out of town? 52 weeks? Because affluence allows you to do that, allows you to go different places, doesn't it? So let me ask you, that money that they have, is it a blessing or a curse? It's a curse. So they stray from the faith. People with money that always have to be doing something because they have this money, they never serve, they never attend church, and they claim to be believers. How so? Well, Paul's just said it. The money has made them stray from the faith. Because of what? They're greedy, worldly Christians. That's the problem. Hmm. One guy did it to Paul. Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world and has departed for Thessalonica. So one of Paul's ministry companions, Demas, who is right there with Paul, said, hey, I'm done, man. I love the world. And he didn't really say that, but his actions showed it. He departed Paul's ministry and just went after whatever the world offered him. Can you imagine abandoning the Apostle Paul? Can you imagine working with the Apostle Paul and getting all the churches planted and everything he was doing? This guy was the main guy of the New Testament. And Demas says, I like what the world offers to me better. Huh, it's like Esau selling his birthright for stew. They didn't consider it valuable, the spiritual elements. What they valued was what the world offered. And it happens. But you old man of God is talking to Timothy. Flee these things. Flee what? Flee covetousness. Flee greed. Right? And then replace it by pursuing something. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience. Patience means endurance or being tough, spiritually tough. Gentleness means meekness, power under control. So he's saying, look, instead of going after the things of the world, go after the things of God. And fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. The idea is understand that you're in a fight and in a battle, and then Try to live the abundant life that Christ offers through righteousness, godliness, and faith. Because once you get into the abundant life, here's what you'll experience in the abundant life. You will experience freedom! Freedom from money. Freedom from money controlling you. Freedom from greed. Freedom from covetousness. That's what the abundant life gives you. It gives you freedom. Freedom from being controlled by my circumstances. Freedom from worry about my circumstances. Freedom from these dictators who think they can tell me what to do. That's what the abundant life gives. Freedom. That's what you want. So the principle is that fighting covetousness is a spiritual battle. It's got to be fought through the facets of spiritual warfare. That's what it is. You can't fight this flesh and blood. You have to do it spiritually. Bottom line is, Brandon, you need to grow. We need to become more like Christ. We all do. And the more we become like Christ, the more content we will be. Look at this guy. Nicolas Cage. At the top of his game, he was making $28 million a movie. Okay? $28 million a movie. I can't even grasp that. But he ended up having about $150 million altogether. And he blew it all. He blew it all. Because his greed and his covetousness, it destroyed him. He couldn't handle it. So I read an article about him, and now he's owing the IRS millions of dollars or whatnot in back taxes, because he didn't pay the government, obviously. But he lost his fortune. And I want you to think about the covetousness and the greed that he had from having all that money. He bought an island in the Bahamas, number one. Then he buys two castles. Then he bought 15 residencies, opulent residencies. One he bought in New Orleans, which is like the most haunted mansion in New Orleans or whatever. It has all kinds of demons through it. He bought that. Wanted to set shop up in that. Then he bought an octopus for $150,000. Would you guys want to pet octopus? Oh, I think that would be great, right? You're gonna pay $150,000 for an octopus? I don't think so. Then he bought a dinosaur head that was stolen out of Mongolia. He bought it for $450,000 or something like that. Well, then Mongolia found out he had it, so he had to return it and lost all his money. But he bought exotic cars, he bought all these crazy, crazy things, and blew through $150 million. So now, his acting career, he still acts, but he's acting to pay back the IRS. He's got nothing. Nothing. He's like a lottery winner. After three years, nothing. They have nothing to show for it. Oh, by the way, remember what Paul said that when you practice covetousness and greed, it causes all kinds of problems with you interpersonally? Yeah, he's been through five wives. Five of them. Can't keep one of them. You'd think the money would keep them attached to him, but he's so crazy, no one wants to live with him. He's this eccentric idiot. He got busted because they thought he was a homeless guy in a restaurant because he was dressing like a homeless. And he got busted and thrown out of some type of cafe or whatever in LA, I think, because he has degenerated into looking like a bum. He doesn't look like this anymore. It's weird. But again, it points to what it does. I'll leave you with this. The last words of the Messiah said this. And he said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Let's pray.