Deuteronomy 5:20
The Tenth Commandment

I. What Do You Want?
1. Do you want to get a brief, emotionally touching, entertaining speech with humor?
2. Few Christians think about what is really wrong with materialism. The real problem is covetousness.
II. Do Not Covet
A. The Meaning of Covetousness
1. Covetousness: Nelson Rockefeller defined as “enough money”: “Just a little bit more.”
2. When we covet we want a universe, including the church, that revolves around us.
3. In authoritarianism you have to do what you’re told; in totalitarianism you have to like it.
4. Simply wanting is not wrong (like in Buddhism). Our problem wanting the wrong things.
5. We keep drinking the sea water and wondering why our thirst is never quenched.
6. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
7. We look around and compare. Others have something nicer. We crave it. We’re dissatisfied.
8. We resent the respect others get. So we try to sabotage it through our sarcasm and cynicism.
9. The commandment doesn’t let us think that we can get by with God by just obeying outward rules.
10. It shows us that our heart is full of all the things we scrupulously tried not to do.
B. Covetousness Burns Down the Church (James 4:1-2)
1. Our covetousness destroys our Christian community. Covetousness is inherently hostile.
2. The covetous see the neighbor with the better things and wants the neighbor to not have them.
3. Instead of rejoicing with those who rejoice, we envy their success. We resent them.
4. The grateful are not covetous; they do not think they deserve the kindnesses done to them.
5. If you to be a disciple, then you have to douse the flames of covetousness.
6. Love the teaching of God’s Word. Like Jesus, desire the Word of God more than bread.
III. What Do You Want?
A. Things
1. We think, if we can get what we want, we’ll be happy. But often we do not know what we want.
2. A child with a birthday or Christmas wish list shows how naturally covetous we are.
3. We teach, by practice, that getting things is what makes the day happy. We train kids to be covetous.
4. We think, if only I could need, so I could buy, so I could – just for a moment – be happy.
5. You show that in your heart you aren’t satisfied with God, that He’s not providing contentment.
B. A Romantic Relationship
1. Someone to adore and to adore you back, to finally cure loneliness. We become desperate.
2. As desperate, we’re vulnerable when faced with crucial decisions, between the Lord and anyone.
3. A phantom marriage makes us covet and be dissatisfied with the one we have. It’s a mirage.
C. The Ideal Family
1. You want a model family, living harmoniously; everyone dutifully doing their best.
2. God becomes a small piece in your puzzle of a life. But you still wonder why you want more.
D. Assurance, Righteousness
1. You want the feeling of security that you’ll go to heaven because you kept the 10 commandments,
2. You want to feel righteous, to feel that your life has been good; a sense of eternal safety.
3. Legalism is a way of desiring righteousness without righteousness being a gift from God.
4. You don’t want to admit, ‘Just as I am without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me.’
E. To Be Wanted, To Be God
1. Our problem is that we want to be the object of desire so we worship a god who serves us.
2. We want to be the one for whom everything else exists. We want to be God.
3. Covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). We covet control, being in charge, having the last word.
4. Covetous religion is rebellious; it doesn’t like someone else telling us what we should do.
5. We desire what we desire, like Eve in the garden; what looks good to us; what will boost us.
6. We wanting to satisfy ourselves, because we just can’t believe that God Himself is satisfying.
IV. We Have This Law to See Therein
2. The Law is meant as a mirror to reveal our true desires, to show that we desire the wrong thing.
3. It shows us that we might not know what we want but left to ourselves, we don’t want the Lord.
4. We don’t want a totalitarian Lord who tells us to bring every thought captive to obey Him.
5. In Romans 7 we’re told,“We have this law to see therein that we have not been free from sin.”
6. We cannot please God without desire, without our desperately desiring Him.
7. To obey this commandment, our worship must be passionate, our prayers intense, our service a joy.
V. Invitation: We love Him because He first loved us. The commandment has come to show us how dead we really are. But Jesus Christ did not covet His own pleasure but gave Himself up for us. So we can be saved, have a new heart that likes God’s ways and loves Him. So, cry out, at the end of the Ten Commandments, “have mercy Lord.”