Coveting: In your mind and heart

Coveting

For the past two Sundays, we have been looking at the Ten Commandments given to Moses and the Hebrews on the mountain; written by God with His own finger into tablets of stone. And then re-written by the finger of God and stone tablets that Moses had to make.

The first one we looked at was concerning the Sabbath. Jesus taught very plainly that the Sabbath rest was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Sabbath is resting in what God has done; what God made for man’ in God’s provision. Every seventh day we should set aside to remember and rely entirely upon God. The Sabbath is less of a religious act than a simple act of trust in God.

The second "Ten" we looked at was the one with a promise of a long life. It had to do with mom and dad. And interestingly enough with training of our children -- both result in the promise of a long life in the land.

Today we look at "Thou shalt not covet." This is the last of the Ten, but not the last one we will cover.

Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

This "shalt not" is in your mind. It is a sin that is hidden from view of all others. It is in your heart. The other nine have hard evidence that is observable by others. Witnesses can be brought against you.

No other gods? People can see who or what you worship. If nothing else, your absence from the worship of God tells everyone that you have different priorities.
No idols? There is the fact of the idol.
Misusing the name of the Lord? You were heard by someone or it was not done.
The Sabbath? Anyone can see what you are doing and how you act.
Honor mom and dad? Mom and dad can see it.
Murder? There’s a dead body..
Adultery? There is the other man or other woman.
Theft? There is the victim and the property in the wrong "ownership".
Lying? You have the neighbor with the truth.

But coveting? Nothing has been done, yet. It is in the mind and in the heart. If you look at it, this law really only repeats adultery and theft -- if the thought is actually followed through with action. Jesus explains a version of it.

Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart .

This works two ways. The man who has the eyes and is looking. And the woman who may be dressed or acting or posing so that she is looked at. With David and Bathsheba, there were two things going on. First of all, Bathsheba was bathing in potential view of the king. She was fishing. Secondly, David, instead of doing his job as king out making war, was relaxing up on the roof. He looked and saw and then looked again. The hook was set. The sin was realized after the thought was in the mind and heart. Coveting is when it is still in the mind.

COVETING WAS THE FIRST SIN.

Genesis 3:6-7 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

What was the rule? Don’t eat it.

Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

But Eve, saw the fruit as being good, saw that it was pleasing to the eye, and DESIRABLE. She coveted that fruit -- and the "wisdom" it offered. What was Adam doing? Standing right there with her with a stupid look on his face. She coveted. He ate. Typical.

NOT IN THE MOUTH, BUT OUT OF THE MOUTH

Jesus continues -- but not about that fruit in the garden. It is about the heart.

Matthew 15:16-20 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery , sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

The church and religion have made all sorts of rules -- about eating. To be identified as a Hebrew or a Jew, do not eat pig and shellfish. These were God’s directions. And then man kicked them up a level. Today we have some who forbid coffee and coke. Some forbid any meat. Some forbid meat on certain days. Many forbid wine, the stuff with alcohol in it. It has become a performance issue. Your "holiness" is based upon what you don’t do. But Jesus was talking about coveting -- the desires of the heart and mind.

THANKSGIVING

I remember a particular pastor who got bent out of shape if you referred to Thanksgiving as Turkey Day. (Later, we discovered where his heart was. He missed the point of Thanksgiving.) On Thursday, we will again celebrate that very American holiday that is identified by massive feasting. The original purpose and history is repeatedly being re-written by God-haters with an agenda. And the "thanksgiving" is to God -- the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus, not the god of government or the god of the native Americans. Nor is it Allah who expects the sacrifice of children or the god of Atheism that expects the sacrifice of the unborn.

[Someone should call the ACLU on Thursday to see if they are working on the day dedicated by Lincoln to give thanks to God.]

Out of the heart of the Pilgrims and as a result of the abundance given them by God, they had a harvest festival and invited the local Indians who were struggling for food to share in their feast and abundance -- the blessings of God. You see–God provides our needs. And thanks is given to God who provides our needs. When we have Thanksgiving in our heart, how can we covet? When we rest in the provision of God -- a Sabbath if you will -- then there is nothing else that we can covet. However, when our heart and mind compare and compete and we feel that we can do something on our own efforts, covetousness can rise.

Paul explains.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

This seems to be the opposite of coveting. If your mind is doing what Paul says, you will not be comparing your wife to the pretend seductress on television. You will not compare your husband to the millionaire provider who could obviously make you more happy. Thanksgiving counteracts covetousness.

GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE

Covetousness is related to a lack of thanksgiving and both are in the mind. The church is usually fairly good at handling the Ten when violated by people in the church. After all, isn’t that what church discipline is for? We will let the murderer go to jail or be executed as he should. And the thief needs to be confronted by the pastoral baseball bat. Jim Bakker was "forgivable" until it was discovered he somehow messed up finances. And the adulterer -- also seen as divorce and remarriage in church -- is even more unpardonable than the unpardonable sin. The church can handle these transgressions and shoot them while they are down. But covetousness, the original source of the sin, remains hidden to the church and from the church.

When we get together, we are to help equip one another–help encourage each other.

Hebrews 3:13-14 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Since the church may have already "excluded" all obvious sinners -- murderers, thieves, adulterers, atheists, idolaters, pagans, unbelievers -- what is the writer talking about? It has to be the hidden sins. The stuff that does not yet have evidence: Like Eve before the fruit is eaten; Like Bathsheba before she takes a bath. This is stuff yet in the mind. There is no evidence. And most Christians are very poor mind readers. But, we seem to be sort of responsible.

1 Corinthians 14:22-25 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

THE SECRETS OF HIS HEART WILL BE LAID BARE. This sounds like the same stuff that coveting is made of. It is through the Gifts of the Spirit that we, the church, will know what is in the mind and heart of each other so that we can encourage each other to not sin. When the church shuts down those Gifts, sin is free to develop. When the church denies the need for apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, then the church will not be equipped to cope with the tenth commandment.

How is it specifically done?

1 Corinthians 12:9b ... to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,

This is one of the nine Gifts of the Spirit listed by Paul in Corinthians 12. On May 27, 2001, we taught that the Gift of the Word of Knowledge is "strength for waging war". That was based upon Paul’s teaching.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When we have the supernatural Word of Knowledge,
we can speak those WORDS into existence--in spiritual warfare.

We can know each other’s potential for sin before the sin can happen. Then we can encourage each other to stay away from that which deceives each of us. This is ultimate spiritual warfare. This is fighting covetousness. This is what the Apostle Paul was talking about.

Really now, of what value is it to be sympathetic and loving after the murderer has murdered. Sure, salvation and repentance might be involved. But what if the sin could be prevented in the first place? In order to do that, one needs to know the future and be able to read people’s minds and intentions. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT CHRISTIANITY OFFERS. We are a body and the body of Christ carries each other’s burdens. Jimmy and Jimmy did not have to commit adultery, but the church that was surrounding them did not apply the scriptures listed above. They did not use the Word of Knowledge.

This is not pop psychology stuff. This is supernatural. This knowledge must come from Holy Spirit, or it is wrong. Even if our actions are partially correct, it is wrong because we have not relied on God. "The secrets of his heart will be laid bare" must be from Holy Spirit or there is great potential for error. Not clairvoyance or mind-reading parlor tricks, but the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Not "reading his body language" but revealed supernaturally by God.

For all of the rest of the TEN, the sin is seen, eventually. But covetousness remains in the mind and in the heart. This corrupting sin can grow like cancer in the body of Christ undetectably for decades. It is hidden. It is secret. It destroys. It makes a body unholy. It gives a place for the satan to work. It alienates God.

Psalms 90:8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

The law is plain. Sin is more than just the evidence of getting caught. It is in the mind ahead of time. Scripture is also plain on how we are to deal with this sin.

Personally: what do you dwell on?; what do you think about?; are you thankful to God?.

Church body: the Holy Spirit Gift of Knowledge reveals information that leads to repentance; strength for spiritual warfare.

Is there hope? Of course. And the church when in spiritual warfare is right in the middle of it.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.