to turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. And as we work our way through the book of Exodus, we are finishing the section that is a summary of God's moral law in the Ten Commandments. We are actually on the Tenth Commandment this evening. I'll read all of the commandments as we've been doing as we've worked our way down. We've read up to the one that we're addressing in each evening service. Children, here are your questions for this evening. First, what is coveting? Two, the things mentioned in the 10th commandment may not be things that you might covet, but what things might your friends have that might cause you to break this command? Three, if there is something that makes you stumble, what should you do about it? And then there's a checklist here. Check off the things that will help you from coveting, keep you from coveting. Being thankful to God for what you have. Complaining to God or your parents that you don't have what other kids have. Being happy that your friend has something really cool. Figuring out a clever way to get the thing your friend or sibling has that you want. Always reminding yourself how much the Lord has blessed you. Remembering all the stuff of this world will pass away. and remembering that nothing in this world is as great or glorious as heaven will be. What things will help you to keep you from coveting? Check them off. There's more than one right answer in the list. Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse one, this is the word of God. And God spoke all these words saying, 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 in 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 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. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 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 not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant, or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. There ends the reading of God's word. Let's pray together. Almighty God, we do thank you for your word. We thank you for these commands that reveal to us your holiness, reveal to us our sin, show to us the things that are right to live by your moral commands. Lord, we thank you that you teach us through your word and we recognize that we would never be able to keep all your commands. So we begin by praying that you would forgive us But we also pray that it would be the desire of our hearts to not do the things that you tell us not to do, and to do the things that you command us to do. And we ask now that you administer to us through the preaching of your word, send your spirit in a special way, help the preacher, help all of us who will hear as we come to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, for those familiar with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, At least the movie version, I found out very soon that the written version is way over my head. But in the movie version, you will recognize, I wants it, in the raspy and gurgly voice of Smeagol, who was so obsessed with the ring that he was driven to the point of murder. And he becomes a very ugly creature named Gollum. And he's obsessed with getting this ring and he wants it, he wants it, I wants it. I realized that that little phrase and that scene in that book and in the movie really stuck with me because seven years ago, almost to the month, I was preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism on the question of coveting. about covening and I realized that I use the very same illustration. So I'm not going to elaborate on it tonight as I did that time, but we need to understand that covening is an ugly mindset. And it's too often something that we see as almost an acceptable sin. We kind of live with it. And while none of us would gurgle or speak like Gollum and hopefully not turn into an ugly, horrible creature who's driven by his lusts for the ring. And while we would probably correct our grammar and say, I want it instead of I wants it, we have to recognize that we can all relate to the issue of covening. We can all relate to some degree, at least to the issue of covening. In fact, if you don't relate to that at all, praise the Lord, You have gained the secret, you have learned the secret of contentment. In fact, if that's true with you, we covet that mystery that you've attained, the secret, the mystery of contentment. Coveting is that mindset where we desire something super strongly. And that word coveting could be used positively, Some people use it to say, I covet your prayers or I covet this. Paul, at least in a King James version says, you should covet prophesying. The problem is in scripture, almost always it's used in a negative sense, desiring something so strongly that someone else's or someone else, desiring so strongly lustfully that it turns your heart in an inordinate desire for those things. It's actually a different word if it's ever used positively as it is in the King James Version. It's a different word than the word in the commandments and the way it's used in the New Testament, referring to the commandments. Well, I would suggest that this commandment is at the heart of breaking all the other commandments, at least to some level. If you go back through the Ten Commandments and you ask yourself, why would I break any of these? What in my nature causes me to break any of these commandments? It's going to go back to some degree to covenanting. You want another God. You want a God that you can see and a God that you can touch. A God whose name is not so holy that you have to be careful every time you utter it. A God who's not going to require you to spend a day of rest and refreshment and worship rather than doing your own pleasure all the time. A God who is going to allow you to do all kinds of things. Maybe that's at the heart of your covening. Maybe that's at the heart of your breaking all these other commandments. The Heidelberg Catechism actually hints at that when it asks the question about coveting, what's required of us that not even the slightest thought or desire contrary to any of God's commandments should ever arise in our heart. Rather, we should always hate all sin with all of our heart and delight in all righteousness. Notice it says contrary to any of God's commandments. And so we need to be very careful as we look at the commandments to make sure that we're not lusting after something that God doesn't desire for us, that doesn't provide for us. It always comes down to a matter of the heart. Dissatisfied, discontented hearts. Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting something and working hard to attain it, but there is something wrong with making our driving passion of life things. are driving force in our hearts' envy of either what other people have or what we think we need that we don't have. And so when we come to this commandment, just like every other commandment, we need to examine our hearts. And if we're lusting after anything in our hearts, after something or someone, another has, or something is in our eye, caught our eye, that's driving us to try to get that with all that we are, we need to repent. If you have something in your eye, and obviously I'm talking about what's in our heart, what's behind our eye, we need to get it out. Think of it literally. If you ever had anything in your eye, you want it out as soon as possible. I will never forget as a child, I was on an old rickety swing, and I was looking up for some dumb reason, and I got a piece of metal in my eye. And I was absolutely panicked. As a little child, I thought I was going to lose my eye. I thought I was never going to see again. And it was aggravating me. And my dad and mom took me to the eye doctor. I couldn't wait for it to get out. It was the longest ride ever. You know how that goes. Finally get to the doctor. And almost magically, the doctor became my savior when he took a magnet and held it up to my eye and it pulled the metal right out. But if we have something in our eye, we want it out as soon as possible. If we have lust in our hearts, if we have eyes that long and lust after things that don't belong to us or that we don't need, According to God's will, then we need to get it out as soon as possible. Repent. See, envy is a driving force behind covetousness, and covetousness is idolatry. It's idolatry. And idolatry is somehow or another putting something in place of our affection for God and for what he's provided for us. And things become objects of our lust, and we have to ask ourselves, what are they for us? Maybe, again, maybe you are content. In the commandment, it's a very real list of real temptations for the people of God. God anticipating that His people, right among His covenant people, that some would have more things than others. Some would have better things than others. Some would have relationships, maybe even spouses, that were more desirable than the ones that they had, at least in their thinking. You look at the list. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbors. The first ones make perfect sense to us. Perhaps you have coveted somebody's house. Perhaps you have coveted somebody's spouse. But remember that it's not always just the physical thing. We can covet a relationship that somebody has that we don't have. But we can take this command and see this very real list of objects. And certainly, I don't know any of you who really desire a donkey or an ox. None of us, as far as I know, have servants, but you can translate this into your life. Who knows? I don't know what it is that might drive you. Again, maybe it's not an issue for you. But there may be things that are driving you, that you just have to have. I want it. I want it. I want it is the voice that echoes in your mind and in your heart. Call them materialistic magnets, but it's not always material. It's anything that's of this world. Not only items, but gratification, relationships. You have this whole thing of all these things listed and the list just expands and expands. Whatever it is, if you're consumed by it, it never really goes well, even when you get it. These might be extreme examples. But each one of these examples not only cause terrible things to happen in their lives, but also for their families. I just give you four Old Testament examples. Think of Achan, who lusted for goods, and he hid things under his tent. And then he's called out because it's wreaking havoc for the whole people of Israel. And he's finally found out, and he confesses, actually, his sin, but his whole family is stoned to death and burned. There's David, lusted after another man's wife, drove him to murder. And bloodshed never left his household after that. And his life was burdened and sorrowful because he gave into his coveting, into his lust. There's Ahab, lusted for another man's land. It didn't end well for Ahab or his wife, Jezebel. And then you had Haman who lusted for power and position. Power and position. And down to this day, when Jewish people celebrate Purim and the very name is mentioned, you boo. But his end was ended on the gallows. And so some lessons, some practical lessons about the end of covening. Now, it's unlikely that we're going to enter into literal idolatry. We're probably not going to be driven to murder because of our covening, but we have to keep it in check. And if we're stuck in a mindset of covenant, coveting, stuck in a mindset, living in this material world and being driven by getting and wanting things all the time, not only will it leave us empty, but if that's what our life is all about, our eternity, our eternity will be miserable as well. Because if we are driven by coveting, and if we are driven by lust, then it probably betrays a lack of love for God, and a lack of love for neighbor. It may not mean If we deal with this, if we struggle with this, if it's one of those sins that is a recurring sin for us, it doesn't necessarily mean we're not Christians. It may, if that is what our life is all about, if our God is get. But if we struggle with it, it may not mean that we're not Christians, but it surely indicates discontentment and ungratefulness, and further, a lack of grasping the riches that we have in Christ. And so any indicating and any indication, residual coveting has to be dealt with. Paul writes, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3.5. And so we look at this, recognizing that we'll never be done with our sin fully until eternity, but we do have to deal with our sin. And so there has to be a remedy. There has to be something to help us. We know we need the grace of God. We know we need the work of the Spirit in our lives to help us to take our eyes off of the things of this world and the things we lust after and the things we covet and put our eyes on things far more glorious and lasting, things that remain. To the point where we get to that thing Paul describes as godliness with contentment, which is great gain. To be satisfied. To be satisfied. What a wonderful feeling it is to be satisfied. Such peace, such calm of soul. Satisfied. Do you have a satisfied mind? Do you have a satisfied heart? Do you have a satisfied soul? It might sound a little bit trite, but if you stay focused on all that you have in Christ, it should help you quite a bit to find that satisfaction, that peace. You have the riches of heaven in Christ. The riches of heaven surpass the best things the world can provide. And so if we get hung up on discontent, and if we get hung up on covening, we can try to look in different directions, can't we? We can always try to heal that by looking at people who have less than we do. I'm not going to say that that doesn't help. It may make you more grateful. I would suggest that we can look in another direction, and that's to look up and remember the gift of God and the riches of heaven. that are ours now. I'd like you to turn to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1. And the first part of what I'm going to read, Paul is reminding the believers in the area of Ephesus that they have wonderful riches in heaven. And the second part, that I'll read is his prayer that they would see the fullness of what they have. The first part, Ephesians 1, and this is 3 to 14. Now, I know it's a little bit long, but if you were reading the original, this just flows in praise from the pen of Paul. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I'm gonna pause after each blessing. Blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. To the praise of his glorious grace, with whom he has blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him, We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. If you were to stop and extract out of that the blessings that we have in Christ alone, that should be very satisfying for our souls. But we don't quite always grasp that, do we? And so we need to pray that we would, and that's how Paul prays the next part, is this prayer that they would see more clearly what they have. Verse 15, for this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the work of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And so consider the riches that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Riches in this life, riches for the next. Immeasurable, immeasurable. Well, God's great provision, what he's provided for you now, even what he's provided for us now, doesn't compare to the riches of glory that's in store for those who believe. It's for those who are in Christ. Well, it would be an amazing point to mentally get to the point where we, in expression of our love to God, would always be thankful, always be satisfied with our relationship with Him, with what He's done for us in Christ, with the fact that we have life in Him through the Holy Spirit, that He's provided all that we need. It would be an amazing point to get where we just are so thankful. for what we have in Christ. And even further, if we're sticking with the summary of the commands, that we would actually get to the point that we can look at our neighbor and see what they have and see the blessings that they have. And instead of saying, I want it, I want it, I want it, say, I'm so thankful that the Lord has provided that for you. That's a hard thing. That's a hard thing. But that's a level of sanctification. Well, we might find ourselves in this situation where we say, I want it. If we find ourselves there, we need to go to our provider. We need help. I want it. I want it. I want it. I need help to put things in perspective, to set my eyes on things that last. Perhaps a good prayer for us every day, and especially in those situations, is to use that name of God, Jehovah Jireh. my provider, Jehovah Jireh, my provider. Let's pray. O Lord, our God, each one of us here in Christ can truly say that you are Yahweh, Jireh, Jehovah Jireh, our provider, and your grace is sufficient for us. And so our first thanks to you is for the grace you've shown us in saving our souls through our Savior Jesus. There's not one saint in this room who would think that we had anything were it not for your love for us in Christ. We recognize that everything in this world would be nothing Nothing to us, all fading, all passing. But Lord, you have given us your love. You've given us the riches of heaven. You've given us life now and you've given us life eternal. And so we thank you for the great salvation that we have that is the most precious, the most precious thing, the most precious thing that we have. All of your grace and all of your goodness. But Lord, as we journey through this life, we live in this world where there's so much material things, there are so many things that we desire wrongly, many things we lust after, so many things we covet, whether they're things or whether they're people. Lord, we repent of that, we confess that before you. We pray that you would forgive us. Teach us the secret of contentment, that we would be fully satisfied with your love for us and your care for us and your abundant provision for us in every way. Lord, as we go into a new week, we will undoubtedly, we'll undoubtedly see things that will attract us, that will pull us like a magnet, that we will want badly. We pray that we would turn from those things that you have not provided for us, that we have no right to, and that we would turn to you, who have given us, beyond our imagination, the right to heaven, the inheritance that we have in the Lord Jesus. And may that satisfy our souls. And we come to you in the name of our Savior Jesus, who forsook the riches of heaven to become poor so that we might be rich. And we come to you with the help of the Holy Spirit. Amen.