1 00:00:05,542 --> 00:00:07,625 Howdy, Pastor Mark here, all sweaty 2 00:00:07,667 --> 00:00:09,125 got done just yelling, 3 00:00:09,167 --> 00:00:11,000 got to start the Ten Commandments series, 4 00:00:11,083 --> 00:00:12,417 really excited. 5 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:13,875 We got, of course, 10 weeks together 6 00:00:13,958 --> 00:00:15,500 going through the Ten Commandments 7 00:00:15,583 --> 00:00:18,333 and I wanted to thank you; you are part 8 00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:20,708 of our extended family of Mars Hill Global. 9 00:00:20,792 --> 00:00:23,208 Many of you pray for us, many of you podcast, 10 00:00:23,292 --> 00:00:25,708 many of you give generously and faithfully 11 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:27,333 thank you, thank you, thank you 12 00:00:27,375 --> 00:00:29,708 you're helping us introduce people to Jesus, 13 00:00:29,792 --> 00:00:32,625 get solid Bible teaching out, see lives change. 14 00:00:32,667 --> 00:00:34,833 The band is playing behind me right now, 15 00:00:34,875 --> 00:00:36,625 people are giving their lives to Jesus. 16 00:00:36,667 --> 00:00:38,000 If you hear some cheering 17 00:00:38,042 --> 00:00:40,292 it's 'cause they're getting baptized right now. 18 00:00:40,333 --> 00:00:43,500 And our extended family goes really all around the world. 19 00:00:43,542 --> 00:00:45,875 At 4 o' clock today, at our last service 20 00:00:45,958 --> 00:00:48,333 at the Bellevue location where I'm preaching live 21 00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:50,417 we've got a guy in from China. 22 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:51,917 And apparently he can't get baptized 23 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,583 where he's at in China because the legalities 24 00:00:54,667 --> 00:00:56,333 and for some reason he's in the U.S., 25 00:00:56,375 --> 00:00:58,125 he's part of our extended family 26 00:00:58,167 --> 00:01:01,417 and we're gonna baptize him here from China at 4 o' clock. 27 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:04,375 We love the opportunity that technology affords us 28 00:01:04,458 --> 00:01:07,625 to get the Bible teaching about Jesus out to the world. 29 00:01:07,667 --> 00:01:09,125 Somebody else getting baptized right there; 30 00:01:09,167 --> 00:01:10,625 I hope you can hear the shouts. 31 00:01:10,667 --> 00:01:13,125 Sincerely thank you, thank you, thank you. 32 00:01:13,167 --> 00:01:16,000 If you're not already part of the extended family 33 00:01:16,042 --> 00:01:18,500 or if you wanna invite others to join us 34 00:01:18,583 --> 00:01:21,083 and know what's going on and be kept up to speed, 35 00:01:21,167 --> 00:01:23,083 marshill.com/global 36 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:25,208 is the easiest way to sign up for an account. 37 00:01:25,292 --> 00:01:27,208 And for those of you who want to follow along 38 00:01:27,292 --> 00:01:28,583 in the Ten Commandments, 39 00:01:28,667 --> 00:01:30,000 we did put together a study guide. 40 00:01:30,083 --> 00:01:31,333 You could do this individually, 41 00:01:31,375 --> 00:01:32,833 you could do this with your family 42 00:01:32,875 --> 00:01:34,500 you could do this with a small group. 43 00:01:34,583 --> 00:01:36,125 All the proceeds go back to the church 44 00:01:36,167 --> 00:01:37,708 I'm not putting my hand on the till 45 00:01:37,792 --> 00:01:39,708 and it was all written by people in the church 46 00:01:39,792 --> 00:01:43,583 who love Jesus; men, women, single, married, 47 00:01:43,667 --> 00:01:47,333 serving and using their gifts to help serve our church 48 00:01:47,375 --> 00:01:48,667 and I want to thank you 49 00:01:48,750 --> 00:01:50,792 for being an extended member of Mars Hill. 50 00:01:50,833 --> 00:01:52,708 So thanks a bunch and be praying. 51 00:01:52,792 --> 00:01:54,792 I'm pretty fired up to be in the Ten Commandments. 52 00:02:05,833 --> 00:02:08,875 The people of God were stuck. 53 00:02:08,958 --> 00:02:11,458 For centuries, they lived as slaves 54 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:13,333 to terrifying task masters 55 00:02:13,417 --> 00:02:18,458 whose cruelty was only exceeded by their power. 56 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:20,375 In these dark days, 57 00:02:20,458 --> 00:02:22,250 God's people gave birth to children 58 00:02:22,333 --> 00:02:25,833 who would inherit nothing more than misery. 59 00:02:25,875 --> 00:02:29,167 Their strongest ally was a God, 60 00:02:29,208 --> 00:02:33,875 who they had assumed had forgotten them. 61 00:02:35,250 --> 00:02:37,250 Far from forgotten, the people of God 62 00:02:37,333 --> 00:02:41,375 were rescued by the might of his hand. 63 00:02:41,458 --> 00:02:44,375 He put their masters to open shame 64 00:02:44,458 --> 00:02:47,875 and led them into the wilderness. 65 00:02:47,958 --> 00:02:51,708 Though they were set free, they weren't yet living free. 66 00:02:51,792 --> 00:02:55,833 They started to live as slaves to their own sin. 67 00:02:55,875 --> 00:02:57,417 What happened next 68 00:02:57,500 --> 00:03:01,000 reverberates for over 3,000 years of history 69 00:03:01,042 --> 00:03:03,250 to this current day. 70 00:03:03,333 --> 00:03:05,167 Like a loving and patient Father, 71 00:03:05,250 --> 00:03:09,333 God instructed his children, 72 00:03:09,375 --> 00:03:14,208 giving them the Ten Commandments. 73 00:03:19,792 --> 00:03:21,333 Well, today's a big day. 74 00:03:21,417 --> 00:03:22,958 We finish up the Ten Commandments. 75 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,042 We've been in it for 2 1/2 months. 76 00:03:25,125 --> 00:03:26,333 I hope you've enjoyed it. 77 00:03:26,417 --> 00:03:30,333 And the last commandment is perhaps the most fascinating 78 00:03:30,417 --> 00:03:32,958 of all, so here's what I want you to do: 79 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,208 Imagine that a genie showed up to you. 80 00:03:35,292 --> 00:03:36,833 Yes, this is a true story. 81 00:03:36,917 --> 00:03:41,000 Imagine a genie showed up to you and granted you seven wishes. 82 00:03:41,083 --> 00:03:44,167 OK, close your eyes and I'll ask you the questions, 83 00:03:44,250 --> 00:03:47,333 and you can decide what your answer would be. 84 00:03:47,417 --> 00:03:49,000 You ready? 85 00:03:49,083 --> 00:03:50,458 OK, you're both ready, good. 86 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:52,708 All right, here we go. Ready, close your eyes. 87 00:03:52,792 --> 00:03:55,167 Close your eyes, and whatever comes to mind, 88 00:03:55,250 --> 00:03:59,917 whatever you see with your mind's eye, that's your answer. 89 00:04:00,042 --> 00:04:04,042 Number one, if you could have the car of anyone, 90 00:04:04,125 --> 00:04:08,083 what would you drive? 91 00:04:08,167 --> 00:04:14,417 If you could have the home of anyone, where would you live? 92 00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:20,000 If you could have anyone's abilities--mental, physical, 93 00:04:20,083 --> 00:04:25,667 spiritual, emotional-- what would you want? 94 00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:33,333 Number four, if you could have anyone's physical appearance, 95 00:04:33,417 --> 00:04:37,667 who would you look like? 96 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:44,375 Number five, if you could have anyone's possessions, 97 00:04:44,458 --> 00:04:49,542 what things would you want? 98 00:04:49,625 --> 00:04:54,667 Number six, if you could have anyone's spouse, 99 00:04:56,958 --> 00:05:02,833 who would you be married to? 100 00:05:02,875 --> 00:05:08,708 Number seven, if you could trade lives with anyone, 101 00:05:08,792 --> 00:05:12,583 who would you trade with? 102 00:05:12,667 --> 00:05:15,167 You can open your eyes. 103 00:05:15,250 --> 00:05:20,333 What we just awakened in you is called coveting. 104 00:05:20,375 --> 00:05:22,333 Did you feel it? 105 00:05:22,417 --> 00:05:27,167 If you answered any of those questions, you're a coveter, 106 00:05:27,250 --> 00:05:29,375 and if you didn't, you're a liar. 107 00:05:29,458 --> 00:05:32,250 So either way, God's got a problem with you. 108 00:05:32,333 --> 00:05:34,083 What we awakened in you is coveting. 109 00:05:34,167 --> 00:05:37,458 And coveting is when you look at what you don't have, 110 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:42,167 but what you would like to have, and then it awakens in you 111 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:46,500 a discontent with what you have and a desire for something else. 112 00:05:46,583 --> 00:05:49,667 Paul explains this very phenomena in Romans 7 113 00:05:49,708 --> 00:05:53,000 where he says, "I went back and read the law"-- 114 00:05:53,083 --> 00:05:55,333 so he's talking in particular about the Ten Commandments, 115 00:05:55,417 --> 00:05:56,917 where we'll be today-- 116 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,250 and he says, "I didn't even know what coveting was until I heard 117 00:06:00,333 --> 00:06:03,000 "about coveting, and then it awakened in me this desire 118 00:06:03,083 --> 00:06:05,042 to start coveting." 119 00:06:05,125 --> 00:06:07,333 And then Paul asks the question, 120 00:06:07,417 --> 00:06:11,167 "Well, does that mean that God's Word, God's law, is bad?" 121 00:06:11,250 --> 00:06:13,708 And he says, "No, the answer is that I'm bad, 122 00:06:13,792 --> 00:06:15,917 "that God's law is good and I'm bad. 123 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,833 "And so when there are sins that I haven't even thought of 124 00:06:18,917 --> 00:06:22,250 "or considered, as soon as I hear about them, 125 00:06:22,333 --> 00:06:25,958 "I all of a sudden am attracted to them and desirous of them. 126 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,667 "The law is good, but I am bad, and without a new nature, 127 00:06:29,750 --> 00:06:33,375 the law awakens in me old desires." 128 00:06:33,458 --> 00:06:36,958 You just experienced that, didn't you? 129 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,958 As soon as I started asking you questions about coveting, 130 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,333 all of a sudden you have new categories or formalized 131 00:06:42,375 --> 00:06:44,500 categories for coveting. 132 00:06:44,583 --> 00:06:46,083 That's our subject today. 133 00:06:46,167 --> 00:06:47,458 As we're in the Ten Commandments, 134 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:49,458 we're dealing with the tenth and final commandment 135 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:51,708 in Exodus 20:17. 136 00:06:51,792 --> 00:06:54,167 Here is the definition of coveting. 137 00:06:54,208 --> 00:06:55,375 Let us begin there. 138 00:06:55,458 --> 00:06:57,208 Let me define coveting for you. 139 00:06:57,292 --> 00:06:58,750 First, there's a long definition, 140 00:06:58,833 --> 00:07:01,833 then I'll give you a real short, Tweetable one. 141 00:07:01,917 --> 00:07:05,958 Coveting is ungodly, discontented desire. 142 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,750 How many of you just felt that? 143 00:07:08,833 --> 00:07:13,583 Passion, envy, craving, greed, jealousy, obsession, longing, 144 00:07:13,667 --> 00:07:16,500 or lust for someone or something 145 00:07:16,583 --> 00:07:20,208 that is not supposed to be yours. 146 00:07:20,292 --> 00:07:22,917 Here's a shorter version: 147 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,042 in short, coveting is when you don't want 148 00:07:26,125 --> 00:07:28,333 what God wants for you. 149 00:07:28,417 --> 00:07:30,958 The simplest definition I can give you of coveting is, 150 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,958 God says, "This is what I want for you," and you say, 151 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,875 "That's not what I want for me," 152 00:07:35,958 --> 00:07:38,958 and then there's conflict between what God desires for you 153 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,458 and what you desire. 154 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:42,917 That's where coveting finds its inception. 155 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,375 That's where coveting starts to give birth to death. 156 00:07:46,458 --> 00:07:51,333 So, in light of that, can you consider with me what a massive 157 00:07:51,375 --> 00:07:54,667 problem coveting is in the world in which we live? 158 00:07:54,750 --> 00:07:56,375 It's all-pervasive. 159 00:07:56,458 --> 00:07:59,833 It's almost overwhelming, and constant, and continual. 160 00:07:59,917 --> 00:08:02,917 It actually undergirds--our entire economy is dependent 161 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,917 on coveting. 162 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,917 So, in light of that, we'll hear what God has to say 163 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,542 in Exodus 20:17. 164 00:08:09,625 --> 00:08:12,167 This is the tenth and final commandment. 165 00:08:12,208 --> 00:08:14,167 God says this: "You shall not"--what? 166 00:08:14,250 --> 00:08:15,708 What's the word? 167 00:08:15,792 --> 00:08:20,583 "Covet"--that's what it says--"your neighbor's house; 168 00:08:20,667 --> 00:08:24,750 "you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, 169 00:08:24,833 --> 00:08:29,083 "or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, 170 00:08:29,167 --> 00:08:32,458 or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." 171 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:35,875 This is not an exhaustive list because it says, 172 00:08:35,958 --> 00:08:37,750 "Anything that is your neighbor's." 173 00:08:37,833 --> 00:08:41,000 You can't say, "Well, my neighbor doesn't have an ox." 174 00:08:41,083 --> 00:08:43,000 Well, if you like their BMW, 175 00:08:43,083 --> 00:08:45,875 then that's your version of the ox. 176 00:08:45,958 --> 00:08:49,208 What we're talking about here is a list of things that are not 177 00:08:49,292 --> 00:08:53,542 all-inclusive, but are examples for us to examine our own life. 178 00:08:53,625 --> 00:08:56,000 And when he uses the language here of "house," 179 00:08:56,083 --> 00:08:58,333 what he's really talking about is their household. 180 00:08:58,417 --> 00:09:00,708 So, your household includes all of your possessions. 181 00:09:00,792 --> 00:09:03,333 Maybe it includes your business, the home in which you live, 182 00:09:03,417 --> 00:09:05,583 your vacation property, your boat. 183 00:09:05,667 --> 00:09:08,208 It includes your country club membership, if you have one. 184 00:09:08,292 --> 00:09:10,750 If you're an artist, it includes all of your gear, 185 00:09:10,833 --> 00:09:12,542 all of your instruments. 186 00:09:12,625 --> 00:09:14,333 If you're someone who is a parent, 187 00:09:14,417 --> 00:09:15,833 it includes your children. 188 00:09:15,917 --> 00:09:17,667 If you're married, it includes your spouse. 189 00:09:17,750 --> 00:09:20,833 This includes the car you drive, the clothes you wear, 190 00:09:20,917 --> 00:09:25,333 the style you have, all right, the possessions you own, 191 00:09:25,375 --> 00:09:28,833 the entertainment and the technology that is 192 00:09:28,917 --> 00:09:30,833 at your discretion and disposal. 193 00:09:30,875 --> 00:09:33,250 This might include employees who work for you. 194 00:09:33,333 --> 00:09:36,208 This might include the company that is under you. 195 00:09:36,292 --> 00:09:40,042 Everything that is connected to you is part of your household. 196 00:09:40,125 --> 00:09:46,958 So everything is a possibility for coveting. 197 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,042 For coveting. 198 00:09:50,125 --> 00:09:53,667 Including your own appearance, the appearance of 199 00:09:53,708 --> 00:09:57,833 your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife, 200 00:09:57,917 --> 00:10:02,792 the behavior and conduct of your own children, can all be 201 00:10:02,833 --> 00:10:06,167 something that you are discontented with and you start 202 00:10:06,208 --> 00:10:09,458 to covet someone else, that you wish that you had, 203 00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:12,292 if not their life, things from their life, 204 00:10:12,333 --> 00:10:14,333 people from their life, abilities from their life, 205 00:10:14,375 --> 00:10:17,875 and experiences from their life. 206 00:10:17,958 --> 00:10:21,000 Now, the tenth commandment is very unique. 207 00:10:21,083 --> 00:10:23,750 I'll give you four ways that it is unique. 208 00:10:23,833 --> 00:10:28,083 Number one, it is internal and not external. 209 00:10:28,167 --> 00:10:30,167 Up until this point, the Ten Commandments have dealt 210 00:10:30,250 --> 00:10:32,167 primarily with the external. 211 00:10:32,250 --> 00:10:34,792 There's one God; he's out there. 212 00:10:34,833 --> 00:10:37,250 Don't steal things out there. 213 00:10:37,333 --> 00:10:39,667 Don't murder anyone out there. 214 00:10:39,708 --> 00:10:42,000 Don't commit adultery out there. 215 00:10:42,042 --> 00:10:45,167 This commandment is entirely in here. 216 00:10:45,250 --> 00:10:49,833 It's not just external; it's primarily internal. 217 00:10:49,875 --> 00:10:54,500 You can be coveting and no one else would know except for you. 218 00:10:54,542 --> 00:10:57,125 If you're murdering, stealing, lying, 219 00:10:57,167 --> 00:10:59,250 other people can bear witness to that, 220 00:10:59,333 --> 00:11:01,625 but coveting is something that is a private sin, 221 00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:03,833 it's a personal sin, it's an internal sin. 222 00:11:03,875 --> 00:11:06,750 It's something that only you know. 223 00:11:06,833 --> 00:11:09,958 That makes it very, very, very unique. 224 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,583 And what it reveals to us is that God not only sees our works 225 00:11:13,667 --> 00:11:17,125 and hears our words, he knows our hearts. 226 00:11:17,167 --> 00:11:19,583 He knows the thoughts of our minds, 227 00:11:19,667 --> 00:11:22,583 he knows the desires and longings of our hearts, 228 00:11:22,667 --> 00:11:25,000 and God judges all of that. 229 00:11:25,042 --> 00:11:27,167 And so sometimes what you'll hear people say is, 230 00:11:27,250 --> 00:11:28,833 "I'm a pretty good person." 231 00:11:28,875 --> 00:11:30,333 What they're saying is, "Externally, 232 00:11:30,417 --> 00:11:33,292 I haven't disobeyed a lot of laws," but the truth is, 233 00:11:33,333 --> 00:11:36,125 God knows their heart and he knows internally they've broken 234 00:11:36,167 --> 00:11:40,000 all of his laws in principle, if not in practice. 235 00:11:40,083 --> 00:11:43,833 Number two, this is also unique because it's unprecedented 236 00:11:43,917 --> 00:11:45,458 in other moral codes. 237 00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:47,667 Some people will sometimes say that Christianity has 238 00:11:47,708 --> 00:11:49,167 the Ten Commandments, 239 00:11:49,208 --> 00:11:51,167 and this is the basis for morality and law, 240 00:11:51,208 --> 00:11:53,167 and that other cultures basically have the same 241 00:11:53,208 --> 00:11:54,667 moral framework and structure. 242 00:11:54,708 --> 00:11:58,292 This is untrue because this is a particular exception. 243 00:11:58,333 --> 00:12:02,167 You won't find other moral codes that are trying to govern 244 00:12:02,208 --> 00:12:04,875 the inward desires of people. 245 00:12:04,958 --> 00:12:08,167 In fact, laws are, by definition, trying to oversee, 246 00:12:08,250 --> 00:12:11,333 to regulate, to limit their external conduct, 247 00:12:11,375 --> 00:12:14,167 not their internal desires and motivations. 248 00:12:14,208 --> 00:12:19,583 So, it's almost unprecedented to find a law like this. 249 00:12:19,667 --> 00:12:22,375 Number three, it shows us that there is a difference between 250 00:12:22,458 --> 00:12:25,167 sins and crimes. 251 00:12:25,208 --> 00:12:28,250 Murder is a crime and a sin, all right? 252 00:12:28,333 --> 00:12:31,333 You can get arrested for it and go to hell. 253 00:12:31,375 --> 00:12:34,458 Coveting is a sin, but it's not a crime. 254 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:38,167 No government could pass a law that they would start enforcing 255 00:12:38,208 --> 00:12:41,167 anti-coveting laws, right? 256 00:12:41,208 --> 00:12:43,083 You couldn't enforce that. 257 00:12:43,167 --> 00:12:45,167 You couldn't say, "Well, you're guilty of coveting. 258 00:12:45,250 --> 00:12:47,208 Thirty days in jail." 259 00:12:47,292 --> 00:12:50,708 Coveting is something that is solely judged by God, 260 00:12:50,792 --> 00:12:53,375 and God invites us to judge ourselves. 261 00:12:53,458 --> 00:12:55,333 And sometimes people will say things like, 262 00:12:55,417 --> 00:12:58,333 "You can't judge me," and here, the point would be, 263 00:12:58,417 --> 00:13:01,167 then judge yourself. 264 00:13:01,250 --> 00:13:03,167 You know your heart, you know your desires, 265 00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:05,208 you know your longings, you know your passions, 266 00:13:05,292 --> 00:13:07,708 you know your pleasures, you know your motives. 267 00:13:07,792 --> 00:13:12,333 God the Holy Spirit will help you to judge yourself. 268 00:13:12,375 --> 00:13:15,250 It's true, a government can't come along and judge your heart 269 00:13:15,333 --> 00:13:16,500 for coveting. 270 00:13:16,583 --> 00:13:18,500 In fact, a fellow believer cannot come along 271 00:13:18,583 --> 00:13:20,208 and necessarily judge your heart for coveting. 272 00:13:20,292 --> 00:13:22,458 That's something that you know and the Holy Spirit 273 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:26,417 reveals to you. 274 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:31,000 Number four, coveting is the root of other sins. 275 00:13:31,083 --> 00:13:34,250 God here is not just concerned about behavior 276 00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:36,833 but also desire, because they go together. 277 00:13:36,917 --> 00:13:39,417 Jesus says it this way: "A good tree bears good fruit 278 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:41,333 and a bad tree bears bad fruit." 279 00:13:41,417 --> 00:13:44,333 And the point is that good desires lead to good actions, 280 00:13:44,417 --> 00:13:46,333 and bad desires lead to bad actions, 281 00:13:46,417 --> 00:13:48,917 and if all you're ever dealing with are the actions, 282 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,375 you're not really helping people 283 00:13:50,458 --> 00:13:53,000 and you're not seeing them change. 284 00:13:53,083 --> 00:13:55,833 What you're dealing with then is behavior modification 285 00:13:55,875 --> 00:13:58,042 instead of salvation. 286 00:13:58,125 --> 00:14:02,417 You're trying to get people to be moral instead of born-again. 287 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:06,333 And what happens is that our sins begin in our heart. 288 00:14:06,417 --> 00:14:08,458 That's where Proverbs says, "Guard your heart, 289 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:10,417 it's the wellspring of your life." 290 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,708 Just as water flows out of a spring, 291 00:14:12,792 --> 00:14:15,417 so life flows out of our heart. 292 00:14:15,500 --> 00:14:19,958 Jesus says that out of our heart come the desires we have, 293 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,875 the words we speak, that it all comes out of our heart. 294 00:14:23,958 --> 00:14:27,500 And some of you have really been trying to get certain behaviors 295 00:14:27,583 --> 00:14:31,208 under control, certain addictions, certain compulsions, 296 00:14:31,292 --> 00:14:34,250 certain longings, certain failures. 297 00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:39,042 You'll try and manage them, and it really is that God 298 00:14:39,125 --> 00:14:41,833 needs to do some work at the seat, sum, center 299 00:14:41,917 --> 00:14:43,375 of who you are. 300 00:14:43,458 --> 00:14:45,333 When the Bible talks about the heart, 301 00:14:45,375 --> 00:14:46,958 it's not talking about the physical organ, 302 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,667 but about the center of the person. 303 00:14:48,708 --> 00:14:50,875 We use this language when we say something like, 304 00:14:50,958 --> 00:14:53,250 "It's time to get to the heart of the matter," 305 00:14:53,333 --> 00:14:55,000 talking about getting to the essence, 306 00:14:55,083 --> 00:14:56,542 getting to the source. 307 00:14:56,625 --> 00:14:59,250 The Bible uses the word "heart" some 900 times 308 00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:01,708 in the Old and New Testaments. 309 00:15:01,792 --> 00:15:03,167 And here, this issue of coveting, 310 00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:05,167 it's really a heart desire. 311 00:15:05,250 --> 00:15:11,042 It's an internal issue that leads to external action. 312 00:15:11,125 --> 00:15:12,333 I'll give you some examples. 313 00:15:12,375 --> 00:15:14,333 If you deal with the--here's the big idea: 314 00:15:14,375 --> 00:15:16,208 If you deal with the heart problems, 315 00:15:16,292 --> 00:15:17,583 you deal with the behavior problems. 316 00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:19,417 If you deal with a coveting problem, 317 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,500 you end up resolving lots of other problems. 318 00:15:22,583 --> 00:15:25,333 So, the first commandment--let's do a short revisitation 319 00:15:25,417 --> 00:15:26,833 of the series. 320 00:15:26,917 --> 00:15:30,333 The first commandment is there's only one God, OK? 321 00:15:30,417 --> 00:15:35,167 So, God is in authority, but if you covet God's authority, 322 00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:40,333 then you will sin by seeking to be sovereign, the Lord, 323 00:15:40,375 --> 00:15:43,208 the highest authority in your own life. 324 00:15:43,292 --> 00:15:46,667 People who have fights with God over his will, and his Word, 325 00:15:46,708 --> 00:15:50,958 and his way, they're really coveting his position, 326 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,583 and that leads to violating the first commandment. 327 00:15:53,667 --> 00:15:57,208 Second commandment is that we only should worship that God. 328 00:15:57,292 --> 00:16:00,500 What that means is that all the glory is supposed to go to God. 329 00:16:00,583 --> 00:16:03,333 Now, what happens is we can also reach a point where 330 00:16:03,417 --> 00:16:07,208 in our hearts, we covet glory. 331 00:16:07,292 --> 00:16:09,167 We want our name to be great. 332 00:16:09,250 --> 00:16:11,333 We want people to know who we are. 333 00:16:11,417 --> 00:16:13,708 We want people to be thankful for what we do. 334 00:16:13,792 --> 00:16:16,583 We want people to fear us, or honor us, or repay us, 335 00:16:16,667 --> 00:16:20,375 or thank us, or rejoice in us, or welcome us, 336 00:16:20,458 --> 00:16:24,917 or at least respect and honor us. 337 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,583 And when we do, we're guilty of violating the second commandment, 338 00:16:27,667 --> 00:16:29,375 because all of a sudden we're saying, 339 00:16:29,458 --> 00:16:31,833 "My primary goal is not to glorify God 340 00:16:31,875 --> 00:16:33,250 "and make his name great. 341 00:16:33,333 --> 00:16:35,917 "My primary goal is that my name would be glorified 342 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,333 and that I would be made great." 343 00:16:38,417 --> 00:16:41,083 And that begins with coveting the glory that is solely due 344 00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:42,667 to the Lord. 345 00:16:42,750 --> 00:16:44,333 I'll give you another example 346 00:16:44,375 --> 00:16:46,542 from another one of the commandments. 347 00:16:46,625 --> 00:16:51,667 So, the seventh commandment is, "Do not commit adultery." 348 00:16:51,708 --> 00:16:57,208 Before adultery exists out there, it exists in here. 349 00:16:57,292 --> 00:17:00,500 So, if you don't covet someone you're not supposed to sleep 350 00:17:00,583 --> 00:17:04,333 with, you won't commit adultery with that person. 351 00:17:04,417 --> 00:17:06,958 Do you see the correlation? 352 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,542 The way you end up committing adultery is first by coveting. 353 00:17:10,625 --> 00:17:12,750 See, you covet in your heart, 354 00:17:12,833 --> 00:17:15,167 and then you adulterate with your hands. 355 00:17:15,250 --> 00:17:17,833 And if you deal with the coveting problem in your heart, 356 00:17:17,917 --> 00:17:19,833 then that will resolve the adulterating problem 357 00:17:19,875 --> 00:17:21,708 with your hands. 358 00:17:21,792 --> 00:17:26,167 Many of our sins start with our coveting. 359 00:17:26,208 --> 00:17:27,833 I'll give you another example. 360 00:17:27,917 --> 00:17:31,833 So, in the eighth commandment, it says, "You shouldn't steal." 361 00:17:31,917 --> 00:17:33,750 Well, where does stealing begin? 362 00:17:33,833 --> 00:17:36,208 Stealing begins with coveting. 363 00:17:36,292 --> 00:17:42,167 You say, "I really want that so I'm going to go take it." 364 00:17:42,250 --> 00:17:45,375 It begins with coveting, longing for, 365 00:17:45,458 --> 00:17:48,000 desiring, someone or something 366 00:17:48,083 --> 00:17:50,917 that you're not supposed to have, 367 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,167 but you become obsessed about it to the point 368 00:17:53,208 --> 00:17:56,333 where you'll do almost anything to obtain it. 369 00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:58,250 So, it's cause and effect. 370 00:17:58,333 --> 00:18:01,000 And some would ask, "Why would God put the coveting commandment 371 00:18:01,042 --> 00:18:02,250 as the last commandment?" 372 00:18:02,333 --> 00:18:05,208 Because ultimately, it truly gets to the heart of the matter. 373 00:18:05,292 --> 00:18:08,250 And if we are aware of our proclivity toward coveting, 374 00:18:08,333 --> 00:18:10,958 what it does is it reorganizes our heart, 375 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,750 which then reorients our life, and it allows us to avoid 376 00:18:15,833 --> 00:18:18,708 the violation of the first nine commandments 377 00:18:18,792 --> 00:18:20,500 through obedience to the tenth commandment. 378 00:18:20,583 --> 00:18:22,042 Do you see that? 379 00:18:22,125 --> 00:18:23,417 I want you to see that. 380 00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:26,000 Practically, what this means is when you're parenting a kid, 381 00:18:26,083 --> 00:18:28,958 you're not just looking for moral behavior 382 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,708 but new desires through Jesus. 383 00:18:31,792 --> 00:18:34,333 If you're dealing with someone who's got life issues, 384 00:18:34,417 --> 00:18:37,333 you don't just try and encourage them to get better habits 385 00:18:37,375 --> 00:18:39,000 for new behaviors. 386 00:18:39,083 --> 00:18:41,583 What they first need are new desires. 387 00:18:41,667 --> 00:18:44,333 Only Jesus gives new desires. 388 00:18:44,375 --> 00:18:47,250 That's coveting in a nutshell. 389 00:18:47,333 --> 00:18:49,667 Now, let me say this to you. 390 00:18:49,708 --> 00:18:52,333 When God tells us to not covet, 391 00:18:52,375 --> 00:18:55,000 I want you to understand who God is. 392 00:18:55,083 --> 00:18:57,333 I've stressed this throughout the course of 393 00:18:57,375 --> 00:18:59,333 the Ten Commandments, but I want to revisit it, 394 00:18:59,375 --> 00:19:05,333 that God is a loving, perfect, gracious, concerned Father. 395 00:19:05,375 --> 00:19:08,375 And if all you receive are the laws and you don't know 396 00:19:08,458 --> 00:19:13,333 the law giver, then the laws make no sense whatsoever. 397 00:19:13,417 --> 00:19:15,667 This is why--this'll be controversial, 398 00:19:15,708 --> 00:19:19,375 but I'm not sure that presenting the Ten Commandments 399 00:19:19,458 --> 00:19:21,708 to all the non-Christians 400 00:19:21,792 --> 00:19:25,500 is all that helpful unless we also tell them about Jesus, 401 00:19:25,583 --> 00:19:28,333 because there's no way that the Ten Commandments 402 00:19:28,375 --> 00:19:32,167 make any sense unless you know who God is and what he does. 403 00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:34,250 It just ends up in morality, 404 00:19:34,333 --> 00:19:37,083 and there's moral people that are going to hell 405 00:19:37,167 --> 00:19:40,000 because we're not saved by our good works, 406 00:19:40,083 --> 00:19:41,667 we're saved by Jesus' good works. 407 00:19:41,750 --> 00:19:43,417 We're not saved by keeping the law, 408 00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:46,167 we're saved by Jesus keeping the law. 409 00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:48,333 That being said, I'll give you an example. 410 00:19:48,417 --> 00:19:51,000 I've got five kids as you know: three boys, two girls. 411 00:19:51,083 --> 00:19:55,333 Let's say that I had some things that I wanted the kids to do, 412 00:19:55,375 --> 00:19:57,875 so I put a little, let's say, a chore list together, 413 00:19:57,958 --> 00:20:00,833 and I stuck it on the refrigerator. 414 00:20:00,917 --> 00:20:04,333 If I said, "Kids, this is from Dad. 415 00:20:04,417 --> 00:20:08,583 Here's what I need you to do," my kids would read it like this: 416 00:20:08,667 --> 00:20:11,250 "My dad loves me. I know he cares for me. 417 00:20:11,333 --> 00:20:13,167 "He's got a relationship with me. 418 00:20:13,250 --> 00:20:15,375 "And when my dad asks me to do something, 419 00:20:15,458 --> 00:20:18,167 "it's something that's important for me, for the family. 420 00:20:18,208 --> 00:20:21,500 It's important to my dad, therefore I should do it." 421 00:20:21,583 --> 00:20:24,750 That's very different than if an anonymous letter showed up 422 00:20:24,833 --> 00:20:27,833 in the mail from somebody they'd never met with a list 423 00:20:27,917 --> 00:20:29,458 of the same chores. 424 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:31,250 You know what my kids would do? 425 00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:33,000 Anything but the list. 426 00:20:33,083 --> 00:20:34,625 That's what my kids would do. 427 00:20:34,667 --> 00:20:36,167 They'd say, "There's no relationship here. 428 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:39,083 "There's no parental authority. There's no affection. 429 00:20:39,167 --> 00:20:42,125 "Why in the world would I obey a list of rules from somebody 430 00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:44,625 I don't even know?" 431 00:20:44,667 --> 00:20:46,833 But it's different when it's your father, 432 00:20:46,917 --> 00:20:50,333 and it's different when that father really loves you, 433 00:20:50,417 --> 00:20:52,625 and when he's already invested in you, 434 00:20:52,667 --> 00:20:55,167 and he's demonstrated his affection toward you. 435 00:20:55,250 --> 00:20:57,292 When your father gives you a list of, 436 00:20:57,333 --> 00:20:58,792 "Do this, don't do that," 437 00:20:58,833 --> 00:21:00,833 you receive it as loving, wise instruction. 438 00:21:00,875 --> 00:21:02,500 At least, you should 439 00:21:02,583 --> 00:21:06,125 if you're a child that is walking in wisdom. 440 00:21:06,167 --> 00:21:08,083 So, when it comes to the Ten Commandments, 441 00:21:08,167 --> 00:21:11,750 when he says that these are laws and that's the category that 442 00:21:11,833 --> 00:21:15,875 it's in, it's the same language in Proverbs where the Father 443 00:21:15,958 --> 00:21:20,792 says to his children, "Heed your father's instruction. 444 00:21:20,833 --> 00:21:23,167 "Listen to your father's warning. 445 00:21:23,208 --> 00:21:25,875 Embrace your father's wisdom." 446 00:21:25,958 --> 00:21:27,250 It's like that. 447 00:21:27,333 --> 00:21:29,250 It's like that. 448 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:32,750 Some of you will bristle because you don't like laws. 449 00:21:32,833 --> 00:21:37,583 It's easier to understand the real grace that laws are 450 00:21:37,667 --> 00:21:41,167 when you understand the heart of the Father who gives them. 451 00:21:41,250 --> 00:21:43,167 And so when the Father gives us laws, 452 00:21:43,208 --> 00:21:46,625 they are for our good and they are for our flourishing, 453 00:21:46,667 --> 00:21:48,750 and if we believe that, 454 00:21:48,833 --> 00:21:51,292 then our lives will be better because of it. 455 00:21:51,333 --> 00:21:54,250 So, another way to say it is, when the Father says, 456 00:21:54,333 --> 00:21:56,750 "Do this and don't do that," what he's saying is, 457 00:21:56,833 --> 00:21:59,625 "Don't hurt yourself." 458 00:21:59,667 --> 00:22:01,333 Don't hurt yourself. 459 00:22:01,375 --> 00:22:03,667 I've got five kids, and I'll give them--I don't have 460 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:06,458 a lot of rules, but my rules are primarily around, 461 00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:10,250 "Don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt others." 462 00:22:10,333 --> 00:22:14,250 This is about life flourishing. 463 00:22:14,333 --> 00:22:17,542 This is about your life being better and the lives of those 464 00:22:17,625 --> 00:22:21,000 who are close to you being better. 465 00:22:21,083 --> 00:22:24,167 So, what the Bible does, then, is it picks up this concept of 466 00:22:24,250 --> 00:22:27,250 God as Father and him giving laws and rules 467 00:22:27,333 --> 00:22:29,042 that are for all of his children 468 00:22:29,125 --> 00:22:32,250 and love, and then it talks about the commandments, 469 00:22:32,333 --> 00:22:34,167 and it concludes with the tenth commandment 470 00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:35,542 of not coveting. 471 00:22:35,625 --> 00:22:37,167 And then from that point forward, 472 00:22:37,250 --> 00:22:40,833 the Bible revisits this idea of coveting and it teaches us 473 00:22:40,917 --> 00:22:43,542 the ways in which we hurt ourselves 474 00:22:43,625 --> 00:22:47,167 and we hurt others when we violate this commandment. 475 00:22:47,250 --> 00:22:50,333 So, I want to walk through some of those with you. 476 00:22:50,375 --> 00:22:53,833 The first is that coveting hurts God. 477 00:22:53,917 --> 00:22:57,542 See, when we break laws, we're not just breaking 478 00:22:57,625 --> 00:23:01,208 the Father's laws, we're breaking the Father's heart. 479 00:23:01,292 --> 00:23:03,667 Let's say I tell my kids, "Don't do that. 480 00:23:03,708 --> 00:23:06,250 "You're going to hurt yourself, or you're going to hurt 481 00:23:06,333 --> 00:23:07,917 someone else," and then they do it. 482 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,917 They've just not violated a law, they've grieved me 483 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,542 because I'm their dad. 484 00:23:14,625 --> 00:23:19,333 And so the laws are an extension of the Father. 485 00:23:19,417 --> 00:23:22,167 They're an expression of the Father, 486 00:23:22,208 --> 00:23:25,042 so to violate the laws is also to grieve the Father. 487 00:23:25,125 --> 00:23:27,250 How many of you parents, you know exactly what 488 00:23:27,333 --> 00:23:28,500 I'm talking about? 489 00:23:28,583 --> 00:23:32,167 You give your kids a rule, a law for their good, to protect them, 490 00:23:32,208 --> 00:23:35,250 they violate it, and it hurts you emotionally 491 00:23:35,333 --> 00:23:36,958 because it's a personal issue 492 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,208 because of your affection for them and the violation 493 00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:43,042 of the law is actually a disrespect toward you. 494 00:23:43,125 --> 00:23:46,583 1 Timothy 6:17, Paul says this: "As for the rich in this 495 00:23:46,667 --> 00:23:51,750 "present age, charge them not to be haughty, 496 00:23:51,833 --> 00:23:54,750 "nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, 497 00:23:54,833 --> 00:23:58,167 but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." 498 00:23:58,208 --> 00:24:00,500 I can't get into all of this. 499 00:24:00,583 --> 00:24:03,167 Some are rich, some are poor. 500 00:24:03,208 --> 00:24:07,333 The Bible never commends one over the other necessarily. 501 00:24:07,375 --> 00:24:10,167 It says that those who are rich and love the Lord 502 00:24:10,208 --> 00:24:12,167 should be generous toward those who are poor, 503 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:14,833 particularly the poor who love the Lord. 504 00:24:14,917 --> 00:24:19,083 The Bible does not in any way indicate that riches are a sign 505 00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:22,750 of blessing or that poverty is a sign of blessing. 506 00:24:22,833 --> 00:24:25,333 There are rich people who love the Lord in the Bible; 507 00:24:25,417 --> 00:24:28,167 there are poor people who love the Lord in the Bible. 508 00:24:28,250 --> 00:24:31,333 But the warning here to those who are rich is, don't be 509 00:24:31,375 --> 00:24:37,083 arrogant and proud, and don't set your hopes on your wealth, 510 00:24:37,167 --> 00:24:38,417 and your riches, 511 00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:41,333 and the possessions and comforts that they provide; 512 00:24:41,375 --> 00:24:43,333 that you could lose them all tomorrow, 513 00:24:43,417 --> 00:24:45,583 and if nothing else, on the day you die, 514 00:24:45,667 --> 00:24:48,667 you will not take them with you; that ultimately, 515 00:24:48,750 --> 00:24:53,167 the things that matter most are not things but people. 516 00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:56,250 That's why he says, "God richly provides us with 517 00:24:56,333 --> 00:24:58,333 everything to enjoy." 518 00:24:58,375 --> 00:24:59,667 I want you to get that. 519 00:24:59,750 --> 00:25:03,417 Many of you don't have that fatherly view of God. 520 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:05,917 OK, how many of you are parents, 521 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,167 and when you give a gift to your child, 522 00:25:08,250 --> 00:25:12,833 you find great joy in them enjoying what you gave them, 523 00:25:12,917 --> 00:25:14,167 right? 524 00:25:14,208 --> 00:25:17,250 Don't you love it when it's their birthday or it's Christmas 525 00:25:17,333 --> 00:25:19,750 and you planned a great gift? 526 00:25:19,833 --> 00:25:21,708 And you're excited to give it to them, 527 00:25:21,792 --> 00:25:23,958 and then you want to see them open it, 528 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,208 and you want to see their face, and you want to see them enjoy 529 00:25:27,292 --> 00:25:30,167 it, and it brings joy to your heart because you're helping 530 00:25:30,208 --> 00:25:33,667 them to have joy by giving them something to enjoy. 531 00:25:33,708 --> 00:25:36,583 God's a Father like that. 532 00:25:36,667 --> 00:25:38,458 God's a Father who's generous. 533 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:40,750 God's a Father who likes to give good gifts. 534 00:25:40,833 --> 00:25:45,333 God's a Father who gives good gifts, not just for our survival 535 00:25:45,375 --> 00:25:48,833 but for our enjoyment, which means sometimes God 536 00:25:48,875 --> 00:25:50,375 will spoil his kids. 537 00:25:50,458 --> 00:25:53,375 I tell my kids all the time, "I'm going to spoil you, 538 00:25:53,458 --> 00:25:56,208 just don't act spoiled." 539 00:25:56,292 --> 00:25:57,833 You know the difference? 540 00:25:57,917 --> 00:25:59,208 Sometimes parents will tell--you know, 541 00:25:59,292 --> 00:26:01,333 "I'm not going to spoil my kids." 542 00:26:01,375 --> 00:26:03,208 Why not, right? 543 00:26:03,292 --> 00:26:05,542 I'm worshiping a God who richly provides us 544 00:26:05,625 --> 00:26:07,875 with everything to enjoy. 545 00:26:07,958 --> 00:26:11,333 It seems like God's a Father who occasionally spoils his kids. 546 00:26:11,417 --> 00:26:14,667 The key is that the kids shouldn't act spoiled. 547 00:26:14,750 --> 00:26:16,833 Here, if they're haughty, bratty, 548 00:26:16,917 --> 00:26:20,375 snotty kids--and these can be 50-year-old men, 549 00:26:20,458 --> 00:26:25,583 OK--and setting their hopes on it, like, 550 00:26:25,667 --> 00:26:28,667 "Well, this is going to make my life better," and, 551 00:26:28,708 --> 00:26:32,083 "This is--you know, this is the center of my life now," or, 552 00:26:32,167 --> 00:26:35,542 "This can replace my Father." 553 00:26:35,625 --> 00:26:38,167 No, there's no gift like that. 554 00:26:38,208 --> 00:26:40,917 So, God's a Father who likes to spoil his kids. 555 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:47,042 He just doesn't want his kids to act spoiled and he wants them 556 00:26:47,125 --> 00:26:51,208 to enjoy what he richly provides. 557 00:26:51,292 --> 00:26:53,583 So, how many of you who are parents, 558 00:26:53,667 --> 00:26:58,375 or maybe you did this when you were a kid--somebody loved you. 559 00:26:58,458 --> 00:27:01,375 Let's say it was your father or your mother. 560 00:27:01,458 --> 00:27:03,417 For your birthday, for Christmas, for a holiday, 561 00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:07,917 whatever the case was, they got you something, and it was 562 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,875 something that was an expression of their love for you, 563 00:27:11,958 --> 00:27:14,167 their devotion to you, their affection for you. 564 00:27:14,250 --> 00:27:16,500 They gave it to you, you opened it 565 00:27:16,583 --> 00:27:20,667 and had that look on your face. 566 00:27:20,750 --> 00:27:22,958 "Yeah, that's not really what I wanted." 567 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,417 Have you ever been to that birthday party with that kid? 568 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:28,083 Have you ever seen that kid? 569 00:27:28,167 --> 00:27:30,458 They're like, "Yeah," and they grab another present. 570 00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:33,750 They're hoping that that one will be better. 571 00:27:33,833 --> 00:27:36,958 It breaks the Father's heart when he gives us something 572 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,958 to enjoy, and we're like the bratty kid who says, 573 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,458 "Well, that's not what I wanted," 574 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:46,250 and that's exactly what coveting causes. 575 00:27:46,333 --> 00:27:49,958 Coveting causes us to desire something other than 576 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,542 what the Father has chosen to be our gift. 577 00:27:53,625 --> 00:27:55,042 That's all that it is. 578 00:27:55,125 --> 00:27:56,333 That's the heart of coveting. 579 00:27:56,375 --> 00:27:58,250 That's where it comes from. 580 00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:04,333 Let me say this as well, back to this example of children, 581 00:28:04,417 --> 00:28:07,667 because this really begins when we're little. 582 00:28:07,708 --> 00:28:13,333 How many of you have seen kids, they're playing together, 583 00:28:13,375 --> 00:28:16,750 let's say in a playroom at somebody's house? 584 00:28:16,833 --> 00:28:20,167 Two little kids, one kid has got a red truck, 585 00:28:20,208 --> 00:28:23,667 the room is filled with 1,000 other toys. 586 00:28:23,708 --> 00:28:25,708 What does the other kid want? 587 00:28:25,792 --> 00:28:29,167 The red truck, OK? 588 00:28:29,208 --> 00:28:31,250 The red truck. 589 00:28:31,333 --> 00:28:33,542 So now, the parent's got a really important decision 590 00:28:33,625 --> 00:28:35,708 to make. 591 00:28:35,792 --> 00:28:39,667 Am I going to nurture their coveting? 592 00:28:39,708 --> 00:28:42,042 And parents will nurture the coveting by saying things 593 00:28:42,125 --> 00:28:44,958 like, "Well, wait your turn, and then you'll get the red truck," 594 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,667 which is, "Coveting is fine, but you just need to add 595 00:28:47,708 --> 00:28:51,042 patience to coveting," which isn't really a virtue, right? 596 00:28:51,125 --> 00:28:54,667 Sometimes it is, "I'll go get you a red truck. 597 00:28:54,708 --> 00:28:59,667 I'll feed your coveting." 598 00:28:59,708 --> 00:29:01,208 "I'll get you a blue truck. 599 00:29:01,292 --> 00:29:03,042 The blue truck's even better," which is, 600 00:29:03,125 --> 00:29:08,958 "You should covet bigger." 601 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:10,958 It's nurturing a greater coveting. 602 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,333 "Oh, you think the red truck--I've got a bigger truck. 603 00:29:13,417 --> 00:29:15,333 "The red truck's little; the blue truck's big. 604 00:29:15,417 --> 00:29:17,458 "You know, here, take the blue truck. 605 00:29:17,500 --> 00:29:19,250 It's better." 606 00:29:19,333 --> 00:29:21,250 You haven't even dealt with the coveting problem. 607 00:29:21,333 --> 00:29:25,333 You've fed it, you've nurtured it, you've increased it. 608 00:29:25,417 --> 00:29:27,833 What if you say, "Well, I'll look around here. 609 00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:29,458 I'll bet you there's a red truck." 610 00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:33,333 These are ways that we just 611 00:29:33,417 --> 00:29:37,167 train children to covet, 612 00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:39,833 which is a hard cycle to break when they grow up 613 00:29:39,917 --> 00:29:42,375 and get their own debit card. 614 00:29:42,458 --> 00:29:44,167 They've been nurtured right? 615 00:29:44,208 --> 00:29:47,167 "Train a child in the way they should go and when they grow 616 00:29:47,208 --> 00:29:49,042 old, they will not depart from it." 617 00:29:49,125 --> 00:29:50,708 The same is true for bad parenting. 618 00:29:50,792 --> 00:29:52,333 You're setting them on a trajectory, 619 00:29:52,417 --> 00:29:53,583 on a life course, 620 00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:55,833 on a direction, of what they think is normative. 621 00:29:55,917 --> 00:29:57,500 How many of you have tried this? 622 00:29:57,583 --> 00:30:00,167 How many of you have actually gone over and taken 623 00:30:00,208 --> 00:30:02,167 the red truck and given it to your kid? 624 00:30:02,208 --> 00:30:04,167 What do they do with the red truck? 625 00:30:04,208 --> 00:30:06,167 They don't want to play with it anymore. 626 00:30:06,208 --> 00:30:07,667 Why? 627 00:30:07,708 --> 00:30:09,667 Because the issue wasn't the truck. 628 00:30:09,708 --> 00:30:11,625 The issue was their desires in their heart. 629 00:30:11,667 --> 00:30:14,667 Good parenting looks at the child and says, 630 00:30:14,750 --> 00:30:18,833 "Why can't you be glad that they are enjoying? 631 00:30:18,917 --> 00:30:21,875 "Why is it not enough for you to be satisfied with 632 00:30:21,958 --> 00:30:24,792 what you have?" 633 00:30:24,833 --> 00:30:30,375 See, that's biblical parenting. 634 00:30:30,458 --> 00:30:33,875 And some of us, this continues for the rest of our life. 635 00:30:33,958 --> 00:30:35,958 All of sudden, it's not the red truck, 636 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,625 it's the red car, 637 00:30:37,667 --> 00:30:39,500 or it's the woman driving the red car, 638 00:30:39,583 --> 00:30:41,750 or it's the man driving the red car, 639 00:30:41,833 --> 00:30:44,167 or it's the house with the red furniture, 640 00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:47,667 and it just becomes more expensive and more complicated 641 00:30:47,708 --> 00:30:50,500 for the rest of our life, and we really just act 642 00:30:50,583 --> 00:30:52,625 like spoiled little kids. 643 00:30:52,667 --> 00:30:57,083 Another practical thing I'd like to say to the parents is, 644 00:30:57,167 --> 00:31:00,500 don't play favorites. 645 00:31:00,583 --> 00:31:02,667 Bad things happen when we play favorites. 646 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:04,125 Genesis has examples-- 647 00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,000 the previous book of the Bible-- 648 00:31:06,083 --> 00:31:08,375 where bad things happen when parents play favorites. 649 00:31:08,458 --> 00:31:11,250 So, as a general rule, if you're going to go out 650 00:31:11,333 --> 00:31:12,875 and get ice cream for one kid-- 651 00:31:12,958 --> 00:31:15,167 I've got five kids--it'd be really bad if I 652 00:31:15,208 --> 00:31:16,833 brought home one ice cream cone, amen? 653 00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:18,625 You're like, "Yeah, that's not very good." 654 00:31:18,667 --> 00:31:21,167 Like, "Hey, I got ice cream! For one of you. 655 00:31:21,208 --> 00:31:23,500 And the other four can watch." 656 00:31:23,542 --> 00:31:28,167 Right, like, I am setting up a coveting situation, right? 657 00:31:28,250 --> 00:31:30,000 So, as a general rule as parents, 658 00:31:30,083 --> 00:31:32,000 we should be generous toward all our children, 659 00:31:32,083 --> 00:31:35,000 but there are times when you get a gift for one child 660 00:31:35,083 --> 00:31:38,792 and not every child, and those are opportunities for 661 00:31:38,833 --> 00:31:42,750 the other children to deal with their coveting. 662 00:31:42,833 --> 00:31:44,125 I'll give you an example. 663 00:31:44,167 --> 00:31:46,500 I was in Nashville teaching not too long ago. 664 00:31:46,542 --> 00:31:48,292 I'm leaving after teaching an event, 665 00:31:48,333 --> 00:31:50,667 going through the airport, and I notice there's this store 666 00:31:50,708 --> 00:31:53,292 I've never seen in the airport, and it has, like, 667 00:31:53,333 --> 00:31:54,500 military gear for little kids. 668 00:31:54,583 --> 00:31:57,792 And I've got a son who's 7 and he's kind of obsessed with 669 00:31:57,833 --> 00:31:59,292 military gear right now. 670 00:31:59,333 --> 00:32:00,708 Ever since he--I shouldn't say this, 671 00:32:00,792 --> 00:32:02,708 but he learned how to shoot a .22. 672 00:32:02,792 --> 00:32:04,333 He's actually a really good shot, 673 00:32:04,417 --> 00:32:05,708 and now he's collecting military gear. 674 00:32:05,792 --> 00:32:07,375 He's got little military hats and packs, 675 00:32:07,458 --> 00:32:09,667 and he's kind of fired up about the military. 676 00:32:09,708 --> 00:32:13,833 And so I'm walking along, and I see these military jackets for 677 00:32:13,875 --> 00:32:17,167 little kids made by the exact same company that is actually 678 00:32:17,208 --> 00:32:21,750 contracted to make the military their real jackets. 679 00:32:21,833 --> 00:32:24,750 And it has the real patches, so like, the Black Hawk, 680 00:32:24,833 --> 00:32:27,167 and the SEALs, and the real patches that go on 681 00:32:27,208 --> 00:32:28,667 the real jackets. 682 00:32:28,708 --> 00:32:30,250 And I thought, "Well, of course." 683 00:32:30,333 --> 00:32:32,208 It's actually got dog tags on it, OK? 684 00:32:32,292 --> 00:32:35,208 So, I prayed about it and felt like the Holy Spirit said, 685 00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:37,833 "You definitely need to get one of those for your kid." 686 00:32:37,875 --> 00:32:41,042 So I walked in to buy one, but then it dawned on me, 687 00:32:41,125 --> 00:32:44,542 "Well, I don't have a present for all five of my kids." 688 00:32:44,625 --> 00:32:46,667 And I'm looking around the mall and thinking, 689 00:32:46,708 --> 00:32:49,250 "There's not even anything else here that's really that cool. 690 00:32:49,333 --> 00:32:52,167 "It would just be a waste of money and nothing would really 691 00:32:52,250 --> 00:32:58,250 "equal this amazing, green, winter warrior coat that my son 692 00:32:58,333 --> 00:33:01,667 will probably sleep with." 693 00:33:01,708 --> 00:33:03,208 So, I decided, "You know what? 694 00:33:03,292 --> 00:33:06,458 "I'm just going to take the coat home, and I don't have gifts 695 00:33:06,500 --> 00:33:07,958 for the other five kids." 696 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,958 And it was really interesting because I thought, 697 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,667 "This will be a little case study to see what happens." 698 00:33:12,708 --> 00:33:15,250 So, I walk in the door and I said, "Gideon!" 699 00:33:15,333 --> 00:33:17,250 All the kids run up, give me a hug. 700 00:33:17,333 --> 00:33:18,875 Grace always gets the first kiss. 701 00:33:18,958 --> 00:33:20,167 And Gideon is there. 702 00:33:20,208 --> 00:33:22,167 I said, "Gideon, Daddy found something for you 703 00:33:22,208 --> 00:33:23,667 at the airport." 704 00:33:23,708 --> 00:33:25,167 He's like, "Really?" 705 00:33:25,208 --> 00:33:28,167 And I showed him the coat, and let's just say he approved. 706 00:33:28,208 --> 00:33:30,167 We'll just say he approved, OK? 707 00:33:30,250 --> 00:33:32,833 And I looked at the faces of the other kids. 708 00:33:32,917 --> 00:33:36,500 I literally took a step back, and they were all smiling, 709 00:33:36,583 --> 00:33:39,542 and they said, "Gideon, that's an awesome coat!" 710 00:33:39,625 --> 00:33:43,583 And not one child asked, "What did you get me?" 711 00:33:43,667 --> 00:33:46,333 Now, this is the one occasion that they didn't sin, 712 00:33:46,417 --> 00:33:52,333 so I'm using it as an illustration, OK? 713 00:33:52,417 --> 00:33:54,167 But they were able, in that moment, 714 00:33:54,208 --> 00:33:56,333 to see that this was something that Gideon really 715 00:33:56,417 --> 00:34:02,167 was going to enjoy, and their joy was in his joy. 716 00:34:02,208 --> 00:34:06,958 Coveting doesn't allow that, 717 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,167 and it breaks the Father's heart. 718 00:34:10,250 --> 00:34:13,417 The Father says, "Man, can't I give a gift to one of my kids 719 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:16,458 "without my other kids being angry? 720 00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:20,333 Can't my other kids share in my joy?" 721 00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:22,708 That's the Father heart of God, and when we covet, 722 00:34:22,792 --> 00:34:28,333 we not only break his laws, we hurt his heart. 723 00:34:28,375 --> 00:34:30,083 And I'll say this as well. 724 00:34:30,167 --> 00:34:32,042 When God doesn't give you something, 725 00:34:32,125 --> 00:34:38,083 it's not to punish you but to protect you. 726 00:34:38,167 --> 00:34:39,833 "God, I want that!" 727 00:34:39,917 --> 00:34:42,708 He says, "I know, that's why I can't give it to you. 728 00:34:42,792 --> 00:34:46,167 "You're not ready for it. 729 00:34:46,208 --> 00:34:51,458 It's not that I'm unwilling, it's that you're unready." 730 00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:53,958 My 16-year-old daughter is driving. 731 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,042 So, then we start looking for cars for her. 732 00:34:58,125 --> 00:35:02,333 My 7-year-old son, who also likes cars, 733 00:35:02,375 --> 00:35:05,750 as does my 11-year-old son and my 14-year-old son--I've learned 734 00:35:05,833 --> 00:35:07,833 a lot about Bugatti Veyrons. 735 00:35:07,917 --> 00:35:10,583 My sons watch Top Gear all the time. 736 00:35:10,667 --> 00:35:13,333 "It's the fastest car ever made!" 737 00:35:13,417 --> 00:35:15,083 Well, you'll need to get a job. 738 00:35:15,167 --> 00:35:17,500 You know, so we have those conversations. 739 00:35:17,583 --> 00:35:23,042 And my 7-year-old son says, "Can I get a car?" 740 00:35:23,125 --> 00:35:26,208 The answer is, "Not right now, and it's not 741 00:35:26,292 --> 00:35:28,250 "because I don't love you. 742 00:35:28,333 --> 00:35:31,583 "It's actually because I do. You're not ready. 743 00:35:31,667 --> 00:35:35,167 "Maybe one day, when you are ready, 744 00:35:35,208 --> 00:35:38,167 we'll talk about getting that for you." 745 00:35:38,208 --> 00:35:42,250 We don't think of ourselves as children, but God does. 746 00:35:42,333 --> 00:35:43,917 We think of ourselves as grown adults. 747 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,750 I mean, I've got a great beard. 748 00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:47,250 I'm a grown man. 749 00:35:47,333 --> 00:35:48,833 God says, "Actually, I'm eternal. 750 00:35:48,875 --> 00:35:50,375 "You're just a pup. 751 00:35:50,458 --> 00:35:53,333 "You know, and you think you're ready for certain things, 752 00:35:53,375 --> 00:35:56,042 "and I know you're not, and because I say no, 753 00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:58,417 it's not to punish you but to protect you." 754 00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:01,500 How many of you, if you look in hindsight in your life, 755 00:36:01,583 --> 00:36:03,500 there were things that you coveted, you really, 756 00:36:03,583 --> 00:36:05,250 really wanted--people, experiences, possessions, 757 00:36:05,333 --> 00:36:08,375 opportunities--they never came, and now in hindsight you're 758 00:36:08,458 --> 00:36:11,250 like, "It's actually a good thing I didn't get that. 759 00:36:11,333 --> 00:36:12,500 "I wasn't ready for that. 760 00:36:12,583 --> 00:36:15,333 That would have destroyed me"? 761 00:36:15,375 --> 00:36:19,583 The Father knows what's best. 762 00:36:19,667 --> 00:36:22,333 And sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is 763 00:36:22,375 --> 00:36:26,375 later, and he's waiting for you to reach a point in maturity 764 00:36:26,458 --> 00:36:28,333 where he can give that particular gift, 765 00:36:28,417 --> 00:36:30,458 whatever it may be, to you. 766 00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:32,333 So, coveting hurts God. 767 00:36:32,375 --> 00:36:36,375 Number two, coveting hurts you. 768 00:36:36,458 --> 00:36:40,167 Luke 12:15, "Jesus said to them, 769 00:36:40,250 --> 00:36:43,167 'Take care, and be on your guard against all,'"-- 770 00:36:43,208 --> 00:36:44,708 what's the word? 771 00:36:44,792 --> 00:36:46,208 "Covetousness." 772 00:36:46,292 --> 00:36:47,875 He's going back to the tenth commandment. 773 00:36:47,958 --> 00:36:49,167 He says, "You know what? 774 00:36:49,208 --> 00:36:51,167 You've got to keep an eye on this." 775 00:36:51,208 --> 00:36:53,375 You know what it means to be on guard? 776 00:36:53,458 --> 00:36:56,458 Whenever there's security detail, 777 00:36:56,500 --> 00:36:58,750 it's around the clock, right? 778 00:36:58,833 --> 00:37:01,250 There's no such thing as 9 to 5 security, 779 00:37:01,333 --> 00:37:05,042 because criminals come at 5:05. 780 00:37:05,125 --> 00:37:08,583 Right, if you really want to guard something that's valuable, 781 00:37:08,667 --> 00:37:11,333 you're going to need continual security to guard it. 782 00:37:11,375 --> 00:37:13,083 That's what Jesus is saying. 783 00:37:13,167 --> 00:37:17,583 Your desires, your longings, your heart, your coveting, 784 00:37:17,667 --> 00:37:22,750 you're going to need to be on guard 24 hours a day, 785 00:37:22,833 --> 00:37:27,167 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 786 00:37:27,250 --> 00:37:31,500 "For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his"--what? 787 00:37:31,583 --> 00:37:33,333 "Possessions." 788 00:37:33,375 --> 00:37:34,833 We don't even believe that. 789 00:37:34,875 --> 00:37:38,250 We believe Jesus here is just talking Zen, weird, 790 00:37:38,333 --> 00:37:42,333 fortune cookie peculiarity, right? 791 00:37:42,417 --> 00:37:45,417 "One's life does not consist of one's possessions. 792 00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:47,417 Oh grasshopper, very insightful." 793 00:37:47,500 --> 00:37:50,042 You know, I mean, can I eat the cookie now? 794 00:37:50,125 --> 00:37:52,667 You know, it's an interesting little statement they put in it. 795 00:37:52,708 --> 00:37:56,458 We tend to see it that way, like that's crazy talk. 796 00:37:56,500 --> 00:38:00,792 No, Jesus knows exactly what he's talking about and what he 797 00:38:00,833 --> 00:38:03,667 connects is the desires of the heart with 798 00:38:03,708 --> 00:38:06,167 the possessions of the life. 799 00:38:06,250 --> 00:38:08,542 It's not only out of the overflow of the heart 800 00:38:08,625 --> 00:38:10,042 the mouth speaks, 801 00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:15,333 it's also out of the overflow of the heart the wallet spends. 802 00:38:15,375 --> 00:38:19,833 He says, "Your whole life is not about what you own. 803 00:38:19,917 --> 00:38:22,917 "One's life does not consist in the abundance 804 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,833 of his or her possessions." 805 00:38:26,917 --> 00:38:29,208 Well, Jesus here was anticipating something that 806 00:38:29,292 --> 00:38:33,167 the sociologists today will call consumerism. 807 00:38:33,250 --> 00:38:36,583 Consumerism is its own religion. 808 00:38:36,667 --> 00:38:40,333 Consumerism is that your identity is based upon 809 00:38:40,417 --> 00:38:42,333 your possessions. 810 00:38:42,375 --> 00:38:43,833 You are what you drive. 811 00:38:43,917 --> 00:38:45,333 You are what you wear. 812 00:38:45,417 --> 00:38:46,583 You are what you eat. 813 00:38:46,667 --> 00:38:48,167 You are what you drink. 814 00:38:48,208 --> 00:38:49,375 You are where you live. 815 00:38:49,458 --> 00:38:51,250 You are who you date. 816 00:38:51,333 --> 00:38:53,167 You are who you marry. 817 00:38:53,250 --> 00:38:55,500 Those things are to glorify you. 818 00:38:55,583 --> 00:38:57,333 It's a worship issue. 819 00:38:57,375 --> 00:39:00,833 They're supposed to show how great you are, 820 00:39:00,875 --> 00:39:02,833 and all the things that you've accomplished, 821 00:39:02,917 --> 00:39:07,042 and the innate value that you possess. 822 00:39:07,125 --> 00:39:09,917 Sociologists will also talk about something called 823 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:11,833 conspicuous consumption. 824 00:39:11,917 --> 00:39:15,167 This is where we spend money not for anything that we need 825 00:39:15,250 --> 00:39:19,333 but simply to make a statement about who we are. 826 00:39:19,417 --> 00:39:22,000 That's why sometimes people will spend large amounts of money 827 00:39:22,083 --> 00:39:24,167 on things they don't even need, don't even use. 828 00:39:24,250 --> 00:39:27,167 You say, "What a waste of money. Why do they do that?" 829 00:39:27,250 --> 00:39:30,167 To tell you how rich they are, that they can waste money 830 00:39:30,250 --> 00:39:32,875 on things that they don't even need or use. 831 00:39:32,958 --> 00:39:37,875 That's how successful they are. 832 00:39:37,958 --> 00:39:41,542 So, this leads to what? 833 00:39:41,625 --> 00:39:43,208 Advertising and marketing. 834 00:39:43,292 --> 00:39:45,542 And this is--my degree in college was communication. 835 00:39:45,625 --> 00:39:47,667 I don't think that all advertising and marketing 836 00:39:47,708 --> 00:39:50,583 is bad, but our hearts are bad. 837 00:39:50,667 --> 00:39:53,333 But what advertising and marketing exists to do-- 838 00:39:53,417 --> 00:39:55,208 it exists to create coveting. 839 00:39:55,292 --> 00:39:58,042 It exists to create a desire in us that did not 840 00:39:58,125 --> 00:39:59,333 previously exist. 841 00:39:59,375 --> 00:40:02,583 True or false: if you watch a pizza or burger commercial, 842 00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:06,083 immediately the only thing you are thinking about until you eat 843 00:40:06,167 --> 00:40:08,750 a pizza or a burger is a pizza or a burger? 844 00:40:08,833 --> 00:40:10,333 True or false? 845 00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:13,250 You're like, "I did not think about a burger all day. 846 00:40:13,333 --> 00:40:15,250 "Now I cannot think about anything but a burger. 847 00:40:15,333 --> 00:40:17,167 "I have to go get a burger. 848 00:40:17,208 --> 00:40:18,500 "If I don't get a burger, 849 00:40:18,583 --> 00:40:20,500 I'm going to keep thinking about the burger." 850 00:40:20,583 --> 00:40:22,750 All of a sudden, it becomes an insatiable desire. 851 00:40:22,833 --> 00:40:25,667 This is why burger joints are open how many hours a day? 852 00:40:25,750 --> 00:40:27,667 Twenty-four hours a day, 853 00:40:27,750 --> 00:40:30,083 which is kind of crazy if you think about it. 854 00:40:30,167 --> 00:40:31,833 It's like, 3:17, burger time! 855 00:40:31,917 --> 00:40:34,250 A.M., really? 856 00:40:34,333 --> 00:40:37,083 See, the world in which we live, people are coveting all 857 00:40:37,167 --> 00:40:40,083 the time, so now we need to be available to meet that demand 858 00:40:40,167 --> 00:40:41,583 instantaneously all the time. 859 00:40:41,667 --> 00:40:44,833 That's the economy we live in. 860 00:40:44,875 --> 00:40:47,875 Here's a crazy illustration. 861 00:40:47,958 --> 00:40:49,958 You've probably never been to Woolworth's, 862 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,167 but it was one of the first department stores. 863 00:40:52,250 --> 00:40:54,167 Prior to that--any of you grow up watching 864 00:40:54,250 --> 00:40:55,667 "Little House on the Prairie"? 865 00:40:55,750 --> 00:40:59,292 OK, all right, OK. 866 00:40:59,333 --> 00:41:01,333 The Holy Spirit said not to say that, 867 00:41:01,417 --> 00:41:03,333 but it was going to be hilarious. 868 00:41:03,417 --> 00:41:08,375 So OK, anyways, do you remember the store in town? 869 00:41:08,458 --> 00:41:10,625 Who was the evil, blonde girl? 870 00:41:10,667 --> 00:41:13,125 Nellie, yeah, evil, blonde girl. 871 00:41:13,167 --> 00:41:15,375 So, Nellie's the Greek word for demon. 872 00:41:15,458 --> 00:41:19,000 So, remember Nellie's family had a store? 873 00:41:19,042 --> 00:41:20,458 Her mom was horrible too, 874 00:41:20,500 --> 00:41:22,667 and her dad was a codependent enabler. 875 00:41:22,708 --> 00:41:24,875 He needed my sermons on headship. 876 00:41:24,958 --> 00:41:27,333 Anyways, remember that family that owned the store in town? 877 00:41:27,417 --> 00:41:31,500 OK, if--let's say the Ingalls would go in to buy something 878 00:41:31,542 --> 00:41:35,958 and Nellie's dad was working the counter. 879 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,458 And if they wanted something, they would tell him, 880 00:41:38,500 --> 00:41:40,500 and then where would he get it? 881 00:41:40,583 --> 00:41:43,833 He'd go back in the storeroom, right? 882 00:41:43,875 --> 00:41:46,000 Because most of the products were not displayed 883 00:41:46,083 --> 00:41:49,000 out on the floor, they were in the storeroom. 884 00:41:49,083 --> 00:41:51,000 So, you needed to know what you wanted. 885 00:41:51,083 --> 00:41:54,292 You went to the store to get that, and you'd tell the clerk, 886 00:41:54,333 --> 00:41:56,292 and then the clerk would go in the storeroom. 887 00:41:56,333 --> 00:41:57,875 Well, here's what happened with Woolworth's: 888 00:41:57,958 --> 00:41:59,292 they put everything out on display. 889 00:41:59,333 --> 00:42:01,875 Glass cases, lighting. 890 00:42:01,958 --> 00:42:06,250 All of a sudden, you get to see what you could buy. 891 00:42:06,333 --> 00:42:08,250 Well, what this awakens in you is coveting. 892 00:42:08,333 --> 00:42:09,875 All of a sudden you're like, 893 00:42:09,958 --> 00:42:12,167 "I never even saw one-- what is that? 894 00:42:12,208 --> 00:42:13,833 "I have to have one of those. 895 00:42:13,875 --> 00:42:16,542 "Oh, I never thought--boy, that's a--I should definitely 896 00:42:16,625 --> 00:42:18,333 get one of those." 897 00:42:18,417 --> 00:42:21,333 How many of you, to kill time, go to the mall? 898 00:42:21,375 --> 00:42:23,333 You walk around window coveting all day. 899 00:42:23,375 --> 00:42:24,833 You're like, "Wow, look at that. 900 00:42:24,917 --> 00:42:26,500 "I didn't even know they made that. 901 00:42:26,583 --> 00:42:28,333 "Now I can't live without it. 902 00:42:28,417 --> 00:42:31,000 I need to get two in case the first one breaks." 903 00:42:31,083 --> 00:42:34,167 And it--how many of you really, it becomes hard to go to even 904 00:42:34,208 --> 00:42:36,333 one of the big box mega stores? 905 00:42:36,417 --> 00:42:39,833 All right, they give you a cart that's about the size of a truck 906 00:42:39,917 --> 00:42:41,333 in most countries. 907 00:42:41,417 --> 00:42:43,167 You're pushing it around, right? 908 00:42:43,208 --> 00:42:45,542 You're like, "Huh, it'll fit, it'll fit, it'll fit. 909 00:42:45,625 --> 00:42:47,833 "Oh, look at that. I never thought of that. 910 00:42:47,875 --> 00:42:49,333 "I never even considered that. 911 00:42:49,375 --> 00:42:50,958 "I never even knew they had that. 912 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:52,208 "Oh, that is good. 913 00:42:52,292 --> 00:42:54,458 "I've got one of those, but that one's better. 914 00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:57,458 Mine still works, but I'll throw mine away and get that one." 915 00:42:57,500 --> 00:42:59,708 Next thing you know, you push your cart out 916 00:42:59,792 --> 00:43:02,458 and you're like... What have you done? 917 00:43:02,500 --> 00:43:05,458 You've coveted all day and they gave you a cart big enough, 918 00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:07,458 but it's OK because you get a discount. 919 00:43:07,500 --> 00:43:10,500 And see, that's always the lie: it's on sale. 920 00:43:10,583 --> 00:43:12,750 It's on sale. 921 00:43:12,833 --> 00:43:14,167 So, we don't think about it, 922 00:43:14,208 --> 00:43:16,750 but this is the whole world that we live in. 923 00:43:16,833 --> 00:43:18,750 We think, "Actually, no Jesus, you're wrong. 924 00:43:18,833 --> 00:43:23,333 Life does consist in the abundance of possessions." 925 00:43:23,417 --> 00:43:25,583 Is it a sin to have a storage locker? 926 00:43:25,667 --> 00:43:27,667 No, but do most people need one? 927 00:43:27,750 --> 00:43:33,333 No, but house is full, garage is full--talking about my 928 00:43:33,417 --> 00:43:37,083 house--closets are full, and then all of a sudden 929 00:43:37,167 --> 00:43:40,458 you're like, "We need to get a storage locker"--why? 930 00:43:40,500 --> 00:43:44,167 Because life consists in the abundance of our possessions. 931 00:43:44,208 --> 00:43:49,458 Jesus says, "Guard your heart 24/7." 932 00:43:49,500 --> 00:43:51,833 You've got to get this soldier on duty, 933 00:43:51,917 --> 00:43:55,958 otherwise you're going to destroy yourself. 934 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,458 It leads to hoarding, it leads to stealing, 935 00:43:58,500 --> 00:44:04,167 it leads to bad stewardship, it leads to--true or false--debt? 936 00:44:04,208 --> 00:44:06,167 Debt. 937 00:44:06,208 --> 00:44:09,042 Some of you say, "I have a debt problem." 938 00:44:09,125 --> 00:44:12,167 No, you actually have a coveting problem in your heart 939 00:44:12,208 --> 00:44:15,875 that leads to a debt problem with your account. 940 00:44:15,958 --> 00:44:19,875 It's a coveting problem that's getting you into that position. 941 00:44:19,958 --> 00:44:23,500 Because if the Father has given you resources 942 00:44:23,583 --> 00:44:26,333 and you're spending beyond them, 943 00:44:26,417 --> 00:44:28,167 that means you're wanting for yourself 944 00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:30,250 things that the Father doesn't want for you. 945 00:44:30,333 --> 00:44:32,917 That's coveting. 946 00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:39,250 And so then, we elect officials who just increase our debt limit 947 00:44:39,333 --> 00:44:42,167 while we increase our debt limit, 948 00:44:42,208 --> 00:44:48,333 and everyone just sort of pushes the inevitable off to someday. 949 00:44:48,375 --> 00:44:52,667 And Jesus says, "Man, if you guys would guard your heart, 950 00:44:52,708 --> 00:44:56,875 "if you would believe that your life does not consist 951 00:44:56,958 --> 00:45:00,500 "in the abundance of your possessions, 952 00:45:00,583 --> 00:45:04,333 you would stop hurting yourself." 953 00:45:04,375 --> 00:45:07,208 You'd stop hurting yourself. 954 00:45:07,292 --> 00:45:09,458 I'll show you a few quick ads. 955 00:45:09,500 --> 00:45:11,542 Just look at it. 956 00:45:11,625 --> 00:45:16,208 "The key to an extraordinary life is quite literally a key." 957 00:45:16,292 --> 00:45:19,042 All of a sudden, you're thinking, "Man, I've got a car, 958 00:45:19,125 --> 00:45:20,708 "but look at that car. 959 00:45:20,792 --> 00:45:23,667 "I'll bet you the heaters in the seats are so hot, 960 00:45:23,708 --> 00:45:28,833 I could toast a muffin." 961 00:45:28,917 --> 00:45:31,583 How many just look at that and you realize, 962 00:45:31,667 --> 00:45:37,167 "Yeah, maybe I need a new car." 963 00:45:37,250 --> 00:45:40,667 "Before you say, 'I do,' show everyone he did," right, ladies? 964 00:45:40,750 --> 00:45:46,667 Get a ring to show everyone that they should covet what you have 965 00:45:46,708 --> 00:45:49,917 and the man that you have. 966 00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:52,417 See, that's conspicuous consumption. 967 00:45:52,500 --> 00:45:54,208 How about this one? 968 00:45:54,292 --> 00:45:58,583 "Bold knows no one dreams of having a mediocre kitchen." 969 00:45:58,667 --> 00:46:00,708 Right, so all of a sudden, you're like, 970 00:46:00,792 --> 00:46:03,333 "Do I have a mediocre kitchen?" 971 00:46:03,417 --> 00:46:06,333 All you single guys, the answer is yes, you do, OK? 972 00:46:06,375 --> 00:46:11,208 So, you're like, "What is a mediocre kitchen? 973 00:46:11,292 --> 00:46:15,167 Well, how big is my range, and what are my countertops?" 974 00:46:15,250 --> 00:46:18,208 And is it a sin to have nice things? 975 00:46:18,292 --> 00:46:21,333 No, it's not, but it is a sin to covet. 976 00:46:21,375 --> 00:46:24,667 It is a--and you're like, "Yeah, I never had a--is that a sink? 977 00:46:24,708 --> 00:46:27,417 "Is that a robot? Is that an alien? 978 00:46:27,500 --> 00:46:29,250 What is--that's amazing." 979 00:46:29,333 --> 00:46:31,667 You know what it--OK, let me just show you this. 980 00:46:31,708 --> 00:46:33,333 You know what this sink does? 981 00:46:33,375 --> 00:46:35,333 Do you know what it does? 982 00:46:35,417 --> 00:46:38,250 It pours water. 983 00:46:38,333 --> 00:46:41,167 You know what a cheaper sink does? 984 00:46:41,250 --> 00:46:43,708 I'll give you a couple guesses. 985 00:46:43,792 --> 00:46:48,375 It also pours water. 986 00:46:48,458 --> 00:46:51,083 So, this--if you look at this faucet, 987 00:46:51,167 --> 00:46:53,083 it technically doesn't do anything different. 988 00:46:53,167 --> 00:46:55,667 It just does it cooler, so when your friends come over, 989 00:46:55,750 --> 00:46:57,333 you're like, "Do you want water?" 990 00:46:57,375 --> 00:46:58,542 "I do." 991 00:46:58,625 --> 00:47:00,875 "Wow, that's amazing. 992 00:47:00,958 --> 00:47:02,250 "That's different than my water. 993 00:47:02,333 --> 00:47:05,083 "My water goes like this, but your water goes like this. 994 00:47:05,167 --> 00:47:06,750 "That's amazing. 995 00:47:06,833 --> 00:47:08,750 "I've got to get a sink like that. 996 00:47:08,833 --> 00:47:11,333 I now know what a mediocre kitchen is." 997 00:47:11,375 --> 00:47:13,250 OK? 998 00:47:13,333 --> 00:47:15,208 How about this one: 999 00:47:15,292 --> 00:47:17,083 "Your turn." 1000 00:47:17,167 --> 00:47:20,250 Nice, big boat. It's a nice boat, right? 1001 00:47:20,333 --> 00:47:22,042 Some of you say, "What's the point?" 1002 00:47:22,125 --> 00:47:24,417 The point is, if you have a boat like that, 1003 00:47:24,500 --> 00:47:26,333 you should donate it to Mars Hill 1004 00:47:26,417 --> 00:47:28,167 to free yourself from the love of possessions. 1005 00:47:28,208 --> 00:47:31,167 We'll plant Mars Hill Bahamas. 1006 00:47:31,208 --> 00:47:35,167 So--but really, how many of you never thought about having 1007 00:47:35,208 --> 00:47:37,333 a boat until you see that boat? 1008 00:47:37,375 --> 00:47:39,333 And all of a sudden, you're like, "A boat, 1009 00:47:39,375 --> 00:47:41,333 I've got to start thinking about a boat." 1010 00:47:41,375 --> 00:47:43,458 There's nothing wrong with having nice possessions, 1011 00:47:43,500 --> 00:47:46,375 but like Jesus says, it's when your hope rests in them, 1012 00:47:46,458 --> 00:47:49,375 or when Jesus says that your identity rests in them. 1013 00:47:49,458 --> 00:47:51,250 And all of a sudden, you're like, 1014 00:47:51,333 --> 00:47:53,167 "I don't have the money for that, 1015 00:47:53,250 --> 00:47:55,542 "but I'm going to find a way to get it, 1016 00:47:55,625 --> 00:47:58,167 "and get myself into debt, and maybe reorganize my life, 1017 00:47:58,250 --> 00:48:00,250 "and not be generous, and not tithe toward God, 1018 00:48:00,333 --> 00:48:02,875 and not have a heart for the poor"--so that what? 1019 00:48:02,958 --> 00:48:04,875 "So that I can get what I covet." 1020 00:48:04,958 --> 00:48:06,167 But true or false? 1021 00:48:06,208 --> 00:48:08,958 As soon as you get, pretty soon you're bored with it. 1022 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,208 You're just like the kid with the red truck. 1023 00:48:11,292 --> 00:48:13,208 You're like, "I wanted it until I got it." 1024 00:48:13,292 --> 00:48:16,250 Coveting hurts people you love. 1025 00:48:16,333 --> 00:48:18,833 You ready? 1026 00:48:18,875 --> 00:48:21,000 Deep breath. 1027 00:48:21,083 --> 00:48:23,333 Jesus' brother James. 1028 00:48:23,417 --> 00:48:26,167 James 4:1-2, "What causes quarrels and fights among you?" 1029 00:48:26,250 --> 00:48:29,667 You ever had a strained relationship, a quarrel, 1030 00:48:29,750 --> 00:48:32,333 a conflict with somebody? 1031 00:48:32,417 --> 00:48:34,167 You say, "What causes it?" 1032 00:48:34,250 --> 00:48:37,833 Usually our answer is, "Obviously, they did. 1033 00:48:37,917 --> 00:48:44,083 Yeah, I have a problem and they are the source." 1034 00:48:44,167 --> 00:48:46,250 James says something very interesting. 1035 00:48:46,333 --> 00:48:48,208 "What causes quarrels and fights among you? 1036 00:48:48,292 --> 00:48:52,167 Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" 1037 00:48:52,250 --> 00:48:54,000 It's the heart. 1038 00:48:54,083 --> 00:48:59,333 "You desire and do not have." 1039 00:48:59,375 --> 00:49:03,042 You want it and God said no. 1040 00:49:03,125 --> 00:49:04,375 "So you murder." 1041 00:49:04,458 --> 00:49:06,958 You kill somebody, you get violent, you get angry. 1042 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:09,167 "You"--what's the word? 1043 00:49:09,208 --> 00:49:10,500 "Covet." 1044 00:49:10,583 --> 00:49:12,250 We're back to the tenth commandment. 1045 00:49:12,333 --> 00:49:16,000 "And you cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. 1046 00:49:16,083 --> 00:49:19,167 You do not have, because you do not ask." 1047 00:49:19,208 --> 00:49:23,333 Coveting hurts the people you love. 1048 00:49:23,375 --> 00:49:27,667 Oftentimes, we covet the people we know. 1049 00:49:27,750 --> 00:49:31,167 Now, we do live in a day when you get to see the lives 1050 00:49:31,208 --> 00:49:33,833 of celebrities, and celebrity gossip, and tabloids. 1051 00:49:33,875 --> 00:49:36,167 The whole point is to get us to covet. 1052 00:49:36,208 --> 00:49:37,583 "Oh, they lost weight. 1053 00:49:37,667 --> 00:49:40,250 "Oh, they look beautiful after they had the baby. 1054 00:49:40,333 --> 00:49:41,917 "Oh, they moved into a new house. 1055 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:43,167 "Oh, they got these clothes. 1056 00:49:43,250 --> 00:49:44,833 "Oh, that's the car they drive. 1057 00:49:44,875 --> 00:49:46,458 "Oh, that's the house they live in. 1058 00:49:46,500 --> 00:49:48,167 Oh, that's the place they vacation at." 1059 00:49:48,208 --> 00:49:50,250 So, they show us the lives of celebrities 1060 00:49:50,333 --> 00:49:52,958 to illicit coveting in us. 1061 00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,083 And sometimes, oftentimes, 1062 00:49:55,167 --> 00:49:57,375 the coveting is not far away with people 1063 00:49:57,458 --> 00:50:00,375 we don't know, but it's close by with people we do know. 1064 00:50:00,458 --> 00:50:02,667 "Did you hear that they got a raise?" 1065 00:50:02,708 --> 00:50:04,167 "What?" 1066 00:50:04,208 --> 00:50:05,375 "They got a promotion." 1067 00:50:05,458 --> 00:50:06,875 "Really?" 1068 00:50:06,958 --> 00:50:08,167 "They got married." 1069 00:50:08,208 --> 00:50:10,083 "To who? To them? 1070 00:50:10,167 --> 00:50:14,625 "They're way too good for that person, who's my friend. 1071 00:50:14,667 --> 00:50:17,167 "What do you mean they bought a house? 1072 00:50:17,208 --> 00:50:20,875 What do you mean they send their kids to private school?" 1073 00:50:20,958 --> 00:50:23,292 All of a sudden, someone we know, 1074 00:50:23,333 --> 00:50:26,500 we get a peek into their life and we become very jealous 1075 00:50:26,583 --> 00:50:29,625 of it, right? 1076 00:50:29,667 --> 00:50:32,750 And then we want what they want. 1077 00:50:32,833 --> 00:50:35,458 We want what they have. 1078 00:50:35,500 --> 00:50:39,167 We don't get it, so then we fight with them. 1079 00:50:39,208 --> 00:50:40,667 We're angry at them. 1080 00:50:40,708 --> 00:50:43,458 We make it personal against them. 1081 00:50:46,667 --> 00:50:50,083 Here's my question: 1082 00:50:50,167 --> 00:50:55,125 Who are you jealous of? 1083 00:50:55,167 --> 00:50:58,167 Be honest. 1084 00:50:58,208 --> 00:51:03,000 Not just what do you covet, but who are you jealous of? 1085 00:51:03,042 --> 00:51:05,333 Who are you jealous of? 1086 00:51:05,375 --> 00:51:11,833 Number two, how's your relationship with them going? 1087 00:51:11,917 --> 00:51:14,792 Can you have a good, loving friendship with someone 1088 00:51:14,833 --> 00:51:18,125 that you are jealous of and covetous of? 1089 00:51:18,167 --> 00:51:19,750 Yes or no? 1090 00:51:19,833 --> 00:51:25,250 No, because if something goes good for them, you're upset. 1091 00:51:25,333 --> 00:51:28,250 And sometimes we do this publicly. 1092 00:51:28,333 --> 00:51:30,333 We just tell them what we think. 1093 00:51:30,375 --> 00:51:32,333 Sometimes we do this privately. 1094 00:51:32,375 --> 00:51:36,958 It includes criticism, gossip, lying, judging. 1095 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,500 Sometimes it's even judging motive. 1096 00:51:39,583 --> 00:51:41,500 "Well, I know they got a new house, 1097 00:51:41,583 --> 00:51:43,792 "but you know why they got a new house? 1098 00:51:43,833 --> 00:51:45,167 They got a new house because--" 1099 00:51:45,208 --> 00:51:47,375 and then we start to impugn motive and character. 1100 00:51:47,458 --> 00:51:50,833 The Bible says, "We're to rejoice with those who"--what? 1101 00:51:50,875 --> 00:51:54,167 "Rejoice,” and “Weep with those who weep." 1102 00:51:54,208 --> 00:51:57,375 Coveting does not allow us to rejoice with those who rejoice. 1103 00:51:57,458 --> 00:51:59,000 "We're pregnant!" 1104 00:51:59,042 --> 00:52:01,417 "Really? We're still infertile. 1105 00:52:01,500 --> 00:52:03,833 "Yeah, nice for you to tell me that. 1106 00:52:03,917 --> 00:52:05,708 Don't you know how that hurts me?" 1107 00:52:05,792 --> 00:52:09,083 "Wow, OK, you can't be happy for me." 1108 00:52:09,167 --> 00:52:10,542 "We're engaged!" 1109 00:52:10,625 --> 00:52:12,375 "Really? 1110 00:52:12,458 --> 00:52:17,083 "Well, I'm still single, so I'm glad that's working out for you, 1111 00:52:17,167 --> 00:52:19,917 but some of us have it really hard." 1112 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:21,833 "My husband got a raise! 1113 00:52:21,917 --> 00:52:23,333 My wife got a promotion!" 1114 00:52:23,375 --> 00:52:26,333 "Really? We just got laid off." 1115 00:52:26,417 --> 00:52:30,167 How many of you, you can't even share good news with 1116 00:52:30,208 --> 00:52:34,333 certain friends because good news goes bad. 1117 00:52:34,417 --> 00:52:37,417 You can't tell them. 1118 00:52:37,500 --> 00:52:40,583 The last thing you want to tell them is, you know, "Praise God, 1119 00:52:40,667 --> 00:52:42,542 we got an inheritance," or, "You know what? 1120 00:52:42,625 --> 00:52:44,208 God provided a new car." 1121 00:52:44,292 --> 00:52:46,667 The last thing you want is them to know. 1122 00:52:46,708 --> 00:52:48,875 You're driving up in the car and you're like, 1123 00:52:48,958 --> 00:52:50,708 "I just hope they don't say anything." 1124 00:52:50,792 --> 00:52:53,333 "Oh, where did that come from? How much did that cost? 1125 00:52:53,417 --> 00:52:55,375 How did you do that?" 1126 00:52:55,458 --> 00:52:59,833 Wow, rejoice with those who rejoice. 1127 00:52:59,875 --> 00:53:02,208 It's a big problem, right? 1128 00:53:02,292 --> 00:53:05,708 It hurts the people we love. 1129 00:53:05,792 --> 00:53:09,333 It hurts the people we love. And here's the point: 1130 00:53:09,417 --> 00:53:12,708 if you're jealous, covetous of someone else, 1131 00:53:12,792 --> 00:53:14,917 the problem is not between you and them, 1132 00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:17,417 the problem is between you and God. 1133 00:53:17,500 --> 00:53:19,042 That's what he says. 1134 00:53:19,125 --> 00:53:21,667 "You do not have, because you do not ask." 1135 00:53:21,708 --> 00:53:24,042 It's like the dad gives something to one kid, 1136 00:53:24,125 --> 00:53:25,833 and the other kid hates that kid 1137 00:53:25,875 --> 00:53:27,958 because they want something too. 1138 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:32,417 And the dad says, "Don't walk over and hit your sister, 1139 00:53:32,500 --> 00:53:36,208 ask your father," 1140 00:53:36,292 --> 00:53:41,333 because the father's the one who's doling out the gifts. 1141 00:53:41,375 --> 00:53:45,958 And maybe the reason the father hasn't given you that gift 1142 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,167 is because of your attitude. 1143 00:53:49,250 --> 00:53:53,375 I don't know about you, I am not inclined as a father 1144 00:53:53,458 --> 00:53:59,417 to lavishly bless spoiled, ungrateful children. 1145 00:53:59,500 --> 00:54:02,542 I tend not to reward that behavior. 1146 00:54:02,625 --> 00:54:05,250 Now, this is not prosperity theology. 1147 00:54:05,333 --> 00:54:09,333 This is generosity theology that God is a good Father 1148 00:54:09,375 --> 00:54:11,833 who lives to give good gifts to his children. 1149 00:54:11,875 --> 00:54:15,000 That's exactly what Jesus says. 1150 00:54:15,083 --> 00:54:17,333 But if you're saying, "Man, how come I don't get 1151 00:54:17,417 --> 00:54:18,833 what they have?" 1152 00:54:18,917 --> 00:54:22,208 Well, maybe because your attitude. 1153 00:54:22,292 --> 00:54:26,833 Maybe your attitude, and maybe you're not asking. 1154 00:54:26,875 --> 00:54:29,750 "Father, I rejoice in the gift that you've given them 1155 00:54:29,833 --> 00:54:31,958 "and I'm asking for this gift for me. 1156 00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:35,208 "And if you don't give it to me, I know you're a good Father, 1157 00:54:35,292 --> 00:54:38,708 "maybe I'm not ready for it, or it's not a good thing for me, 1158 00:54:38,792 --> 00:54:41,333 "or maybe it's in the future, or maybe it's never. 1159 00:54:41,417 --> 00:54:42,583 "But Dad, I trust you, 1160 00:54:42,667 --> 00:54:45,250 "but I am going to tell you what I would like, 1161 00:54:45,333 --> 00:54:48,167 and of course, you're free to decide what the answer is." 1162 00:54:48,250 --> 00:54:52,208 This is all very parental. 1163 00:54:52,292 --> 00:54:55,333 Coveting hurts people you could love. 1164 00:54:55,417 --> 00:54:58,208 Acts 20:35, "In all things I have shown you 1165 00:54:58,292 --> 00:55:00,250 "that by working hard in this way 1166 00:55:00,333 --> 00:55:02,250 "we must help the weak and remember the words 1167 00:55:02,333 --> 00:55:04,250 "of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 1168 00:55:04,333 --> 00:55:06,583 'It is more'"--what? 1169 00:55:06,667 --> 00:55:12,042 "It's more blessed to give than receive." 1170 00:55:12,125 --> 00:55:15,833 The problem with coveting is it thinks that the blessing is in 1171 00:55:15,875 --> 00:55:18,250 the receiving, not the giving. 1172 00:55:18,333 --> 00:55:21,833 This is where I really do oppose prosperity theology. 1173 00:55:21,917 --> 00:55:24,167 Blessing equals getting! 1174 00:55:24,208 --> 00:55:28,250 No, actually Jesus says, "Blessing equals giving." 1175 00:55:28,333 --> 00:55:33,167 So, it's not just what we amass, but what we share. 1176 00:55:33,250 --> 00:55:34,750 Do you get that? 1177 00:55:34,833 --> 00:55:37,667 True or false: the happiest moments in your life came not 1178 00:55:37,750 --> 00:55:40,542 in getting, but in giving? 1179 00:55:40,625 --> 00:55:43,917 In giving. 1180 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:47,875 This is why people who won't receive a gift, 1181 00:55:47,958 --> 00:55:52,750 they're robbing us of a blessing. 1182 00:55:52,833 --> 00:55:58,333 Coveting says, "I need this or that person, or thing, 1183 00:55:58,417 --> 00:56:01,333 "or experience, or ability, and if I get it, 1184 00:56:01,375 --> 00:56:04,042 then I'll be blessed," and Jesus says, "No, no, no, no. 1185 00:56:04,125 --> 00:56:06,667 The blessing is in the giving." 1186 00:56:06,708 --> 00:56:10,250 So, "God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son," 1187 00:56:10,333 --> 00:56:12,167 that God loves a cheerful giver because God 1188 00:56:12,250 --> 00:56:14,250 is a cheerful giver. 1189 00:56:14,333 --> 00:56:17,667 Giving is an opportunity to love people. 1190 00:56:17,708 --> 00:56:22,333 Generosity is an opportunity to bless people, and in so doing, 1191 00:56:22,375 --> 00:56:24,583 we are the ones who are blessed. 1192 00:56:24,667 --> 00:56:27,375 How many of you have generously given someone something, 1193 00:56:27,458 --> 00:56:30,875 you really loved them, and it was a big, generous gift, 1194 00:56:30,958 --> 00:56:34,667 and they said, "Thank you," and you said something like this, 1195 00:56:34,750 --> 00:56:38,167 "Actually, it was a gift to me too, 1196 00:56:38,208 --> 00:56:41,875 because I was sharing the Father heart of God." 1197 00:56:41,958 --> 00:56:43,333 I saw this the other day. 1198 00:56:43,417 --> 00:56:45,250 I was out with my son Calvin. 1199 00:56:45,333 --> 00:56:48,208 We were running errands, and I wanted to go get a big stack 1200 00:56:48,292 --> 00:56:49,708 of balloons for Alexi's birthday. 1201 00:56:49,792 --> 00:56:54,250 She's turning 10, and we were there, 1202 00:56:54,333 --> 00:56:55,500 and Calvin was looking around. 1203 00:56:55,583 --> 00:56:58,083 He said, "I want to buy this for Gideon," 1204 00:56:58,167 --> 00:57:01,500 and it was like a ninja warrior dress up suit, OK? 1205 00:57:01,583 --> 00:57:04,208 Gideon's 7. 1206 00:57:04,292 --> 00:57:06,250 I said, "OK." 1207 00:57:06,333 --> 00:57:08,542 I said, "Calvin, do you want anything?" 1208 00:57:08,625 --> 00:57:12,542 Calvin said, "I want to really get that for Gideon." 1209 00:57:12,625 --> 00:57:15,167 He didn't want to get anything, he wanted to get something 1210 00:57:15,250 --> 00:57:18,667 that he could bring home to his brother. 1211 00:57:18,708 --> 00:57:21,708 We walked in the door, first thing he yells, "Gideon!" 1212 00:57:21,792 --> 00:57:23,333 Gideon comes running, "Yeah, what?" 1213 00:57:23,375 --> 00:57:26,333 He's like, "I found something for you," pulls it out. 1214 00:57:26,375 --> 00:57:27,958 Gideon's jumping up and down. 1215 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:30,542 Now he can wear the ninja outfit and the warrior coat. 1216 00:57:30,625 --> 00:57:33,417 I mean, we got a--he could kill any kind of soldier 1217 00:57:33,500 --> 00:57:35,167 from any nation. 1218 00:57:35,208 --> 00:57:38,333 He's fully outfitted for all kinds of combat. 1219 00:57:38,417 --> 00:57:40,542 And I looked at Calvin, and Calvin said, 1220 00:57:40,625 --> 00:57:42,500 "That was really fun." 1221 00:57:42,583 --> 00:57:48,167 Sometimes, better than getting a gift is giving a gift, amen, 1222 00:57:48,208 --> 00:57:50,333 and coveting doesn't allow that. 1223 00:57:50,375 --> 00:57:54,333 So, how many of you are now convinced that coveting is bad? 1224 00:57:54,417 --> 00:57:59,167 OK, my big idea at this point is coveting is bad. 1225 00:57:59,250 --> 00:58:01,167 So, what do you do with it? 1226 00:58:01,208 --> 00:58:03,458 Well, here's what Paul says: 1227 00:58:03,500 --> 00:58:05,375 it's crushing coveting with contentment. 1228 00:58:05,458 --> 00:58:08,583 Philippians 4:11-13, "I have learned in whatever situation 1229 00:58:08,667 --> 00:58:11,458 I am in to be content." 1230 00:58:11,500 --> 00:58:15,500 So, the answer, the anecdote for coveting is contentment. 1231 00:58:15,583 --> 00:58:17,333 Do you see that? 1232 00:58:17,417 --> 00:58:19,500 You say, "Well, I don't want to be coveting." 1233 00:58:19,583 --> 00:58:23,500 OK, then ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in contentment. 1234 00:58:23,583 --> 00:58:25,208 The Bible says elsewhere, 1235 00:58:25,292 --> 00:58:28,208 "Godliness with contentment is of great gain." 1236 00:58:28,292 --> 00:58:29,875 "I know how to be brought low." 1237 00:58:29,958 --> 00:58:34,208 He says, "I know how to be flat broke, and I know how to abound. 1238 00:58:34,292 --> 00:58:37,500 "I know how to have extra. 1239 00:58:37,583 --> 00:58:40,500 In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret." 1240 00:58:40,583 --> 00:58:42,000 Here's the secret. 1241 00:58:42,083 --> 00:58:44,375 Most people don't know the secret. 1242 00:58:44,458 --> 00:58:47,000 "The secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 1243 00:58:47,083 --> 00:58:50,917 I can do all things through him who strengthens me." 1244 00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:55,333 Let me say a few things about contentment, OK? 1245 00:58:55,417 --> 00:58:59,167 Coveting is the problem, contentment is the solution. 1246 00:58:59,250 --> 00:59:02,917 Number one, contentment is not wanting what we want, 1247 00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:06,333 but wanting what the Father wants for us. 1248 00:59:06,375 --> 00:59:10,167 See, coveting is when we want what we want. 1249 00:59:10,208 --> 00:59:13,083 Contentment is I want what he wants. 1250 00:59:13,167 --> 00:59:15,083 Do you see the difference? 1251 00:59:15,167 --> 00:59:17,583 You say, "My Dad must know some stuff I don't, 1252 00:59:17,667 --> 00:59:20,583 "so if he tells me no, that must be best, 1253 00:59:20,667 --> 00:59:23,500 because I know my Dad loves me." 1254 00:59:23,583 --> 00:59:26,167 That's contentment. 1255 00:59:26,208 --> 00:59:28,917 Number two, contentment is not nurtured 1256 00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:32,833 by poverty or prosperity. 1257 00:59:32,917 --> 00:59:36,333 Paul says, "I was content when I had nothing. 1258 00:59:36,417 --> 00:59:39,167 I was content when I had everything." 1259 00:59:39,250 --> 00:59:41,042 People don't believe this. 1260 00:59:41,125 --> 00:59:44,667 People who are poor think, "I'll be content when I'm rich." 1261 00:59:44,708 --> 00:59:47,542 Rich people think, "I need to get rid of all my stuff 1262 00:59:47,625 --> 00:59:50,083 and be poor so that I can be content." 1263 00:59:50,167 --> 00:59:53,958 Contentment has nothing to do with what's in your hands. 1264 00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:56,958 It has everything to do with what's in your heart. 1265 00:59:57,000 --> 00:59:59,958 And some people think, "If I get more stuff in my hands, 1266 01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:01,667 I'll have more contentment in my heart." 1267 01:00:01,708 --> 01:00:03,167 No, you won't. 1268 01:00:03,208 --> 01:00:05,500 "Well, if I get less stuff out of my hands, 1269 01:00:05,583 --> 01:00:07,500 then I'll have more contentment in my heart." 1270 01:00:07,583 --> 01:00:09,000 No, you won't. 1271 01:00:09,083 --> 01:00:10,667 Maybe God wants you to have more, 1272 01:00:10,750 --> 01:00:12,375 maybe God wants you to have less, 1273 01:00:12,458 --> 01:00:15,000 but until you deal with the contentment issue, 1274 01:00:15,042 --> 01:00:20,625 you've not really dealt with the issue. 1275 01:00:20,667 --> 01:00:24,792 Jesus was rich in heaven, he was poor on earth, 1276 01:00:24,833 --> 01:00:28,125 and he was content under both circumstances. 1277 01:00:28,167 --> 01:00:30,167 He's back in heaven today and he's rich. 1278 01:00:30,208 --> 01:00:33,000 He's not poor. 1279 01:00:33,042 --> 01:00:36,167 He was content when he was poor; he's content when he's rich. 1280 01:00:36,208 --> 01:00:38,083 Paul was content when he was poor; 1281 01:00:38,167 --> 01:00:40,750 he was content when he was rich. 1282 01:00:40,833 --> 01:00:44,333 And we live in a world that has made it about the poor 1283 01:00:44,375 --> 01:00:47,167 and the rich, and the Bible says it's actually about 1284 01:00:47,208 --> 01:00:51,125 the covetous and the content. 1285 01:00:51,167 --> 01:00:53,458 It's not an economic issue; it's a heart issue with 1286 01:00:53,500 --> 01:00:57,292 economic implications. 1287 01:00:57,333 --> 01:01:01,292 Number three, contentment is not crushed by seeking 1288 01:01:01,333 --> 01:01:03,500 to cease your desires. 1289 01:01:03,583 --> 01:01:05,167 Let me say it another way. 1290 01:01:05,208 --> 01:01:07,167 Contentment is not crushed by ceasing desire. 1291 01:01:07,208 --> 01:01:09,167 Some of you will hear this and you'll say, 1292 01:01:09,208 --> 01:01:11,292 "Covetousness is strong desire. 1293 01:01:11,333 --> 01:01:13,875 I need to get rid of desire." 1294 01:01:13,958 --> 01:01:16,125 That's Buddhism. 1295 01:01:16,167 --> 01:01:18,500 That's not Christianity. 1296 01:01:18,542 --> 01:01:23,333 Christianity is actually about passion, and longing, 1297 01:01:23,375 --> 01:01:28,833 and appetites, and desires for God and for good. 1298 01:01:28,917 --> 01:01:30,833 And it can become very motivating. 1299 01:01:30,917 --> 01:01:34,000 You're like, "I want to know the Bible." 1300 01:01:34,042 --> 01:01:36,000 Good desire, nurture it. 1301 01:01:36,083 --> 01:01:38,083 "I want to learn about Jesus." 1302 01:01:38,167 --> 01:01:40,125 Good desire, nurture it. 1303 01:01:40,167 --> 01:01:41,833 "I want to serve other people." 1304 01:01:41,917 --> 01:01:43,458 Good desire, nurture it. 1305 01:01:43,500 --> 01:01:46,958 "I want to be a good steward of my resources so I can be 1306 01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:49,167 generous as God is generous toward me in Christ." 1307 01:01:49,208 --> 01:01:50,667 Good desire, nurture it. 1308 01:01:50,750 --> 01:01:53,625 "I want to know my spouse and love them very well." 1309 01:01:53,667 --> 01:01:55,292 Good desire, nurture it. 1310 01:01:55,333 --> 01:01:58,292 "I want to invest in my kids and raise them to love 1311 01:01:58,333 --> 01:01:59,792 and serve the Lord." 1312 01:01:59,833 --> 01:02:01,333 Good desire, nurture it. 1313 01:02:01,417 --> 01:02:03,333 "I want to make a difference with my life 1314 01:02:03,417 --> 01:02:04,833 and do ministry that counts." 1315 01:02:04,917 --> 01:02:06,667 Good desire, nurture it. 1316 01:02:06,750 --> 01:02:09,250 The problem is not desire, it's unholy desire. 1317 01:02:09,333 --> 01:02:12,375 That's the problem, and so the answer is not no desire, 1318 01:02:12,458 --> 01:02:17,000 but God's desires. 1319 01:02:20,792 --> 01:02:23,750 I've got a lot more in my notes; I'll leave it there. 1320 01:02:23,833 --> 01:02:26,000 We're at the end of the Ten Commandments. 1321 01:02:26,083 --> 01:02:30,250 Every sermon that I've driven home from this series 1322 01:02:30,333 --> 01:02:32,750 with my kids in the car, the Driscoll kids, 1323 01:02:32,833 --> 01:02:35,542 the Fab Five will tell you, here's my question. 1324 01:02:35,625 --> 01:02:37,542 We're driving away, "So, what's your takeaway? 1325 01:02:37,625 --> 01:02:39,083 "What did you learn today? 1326 01:02:39,167 --> 01:02:41,083 "What's the big idea that the Holy Spirit 1327 01:02:41,167 --> 01:02:42,333 highlighted for you?" 1328 01:02:42,417 --> 01:02:43,833 I ask something like that. 1329 01:02:43,917 --> 01:02:45,208 Anybody on my team knows that. 1330 01:02:45,292 --> 01:02:46,833 I ask this all the time. 1331 01:02:46,917 --> 01:02:48,833 If you're traveling with me, this is it. 1332 01:02:48,917 --> 01:02:52,083 I mean, I treat everybody like one of my kids in the Suburban. 1333 01:02:52,167 --> 01:02:53,333 "What'd you learn today?" 1334 01:02:53,417 --> 01:02:56,333 Right, so. And then I don't ask them to rehash the whole sermon, 1335 01:02:56,417 --> 01:02:59,667 but I ask them to take the big idea that the Holy Spirit 1336 01:02:59,708 --> 01:03:01,708 has given them, 1337 01:03:01,792 --> 01:03:05,208 and to share it with us, and then we pray for them. 1338 01:03:05,292 --> 01:03:08,167 Here are my three takeaways at the end of the series, 1339 01:03:08,250 --> 01:03:10,875 and I want you to think about yours as well. 1340 01:03:10,958 --> 01:03:13,958 That God is an amazing Father. 1341 01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:15,542 That God is an amazing Father. 1342 01:03:15,625 --> 01:03:17,542 I mean, the commands that he gives us, 1343 01:03:17,625 --> 01:03:20,083 thousands of years later still could not be improved upon. 1344 01:03:20,167 --> 01:03:21,750 They deal with every area of life, 1345 01:03:21,833 --> 01:03:24,167 not just the external behavior, but the internal motivation. 1346 01:03:24,250 --> 01:03:26,333 We have a great Father. 1347 01:03:26,417 --> 01:03:29,333 And that he's willing to speak to us about the very practical 1348 01:03:29,417 --> 01:03:32,167 matters of life and the heart, that just reveals to us 1349 01:03:32,250 --> 01:03:35,417 what a wise, loving, great Dad we have, amen? 1350 01:03:35,500 --> 01:03:38,833 Number two, that Jesus is incredible, 1351 01:03:38,875 --> 01:03:42,208 that God would come down into human history and that he 1352 01:03:42,292 --> 01:03:46,208 would not break any of the laws, externally or internally. 1353 01:03:46,292 --> 01:03:48,250 Not only did Jesus never commit adultery, 1354 01:03:48,333 --> 01:03:50,000 he never lusted after a woman. 1355 01:03:50,083 --> 01:03:53,250 Not only did Jesus never steal anything, 1356 01:03:53,333 --> 01:03:55,833 but he gave his life as a gift. 1357 01:03:55,875 --> 01:04:00,500 Not only did Jesus not have a lot of possessions, 1358 01:04:00,542 --> 01:04:04,917 he also never coveted anyone else's possessions. 1359 01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:08,250 Not only did Jesus never marry, he also never lusted after 1360 01:04:08,333 --> 01:04:10,500 another man's wife. 1361 01:04:10,583 --> 01:04:13,167 I mean, when we put Jesus in a category of, 1362 01:04:13,208 --> 01:04:14,917 "He's a good man," 1363 01:04:15,000 --> 01:04:18,042 that's an inadequate category. 1364 01:04:18,125 --> 01:04:19,958 Jesus is God. 1365 01:04:20,000 --> 01:04:21,250 Jesus is perfect. 1366 01:04:21,333 --> 01:04:23,250 Jesus is amazing. 1367 01:04:23,333 --> 01:04:26,250 Jesus didn't even just avoid the outward sins, 1368 01:04:26,333 --> 01:04:29,500 but the inward inclinations of the heart. 1369 01:04:29,583 --> 01:04:32,208 I mean, he is pure of heart. 1370 01:04:32,292 --> 01:04:35,167 And as we examine God's law and we examine our life, 1371 01:04:35,250 --> 01:04:40,167 I hope you realize with me how unlike Jesus we are 1372 01:04:40,208 --> 01:04:44,167 and how much we need him to forgive us of sin, 1373 01:04:44,250 --> 01:04:45,833 to cleanse us from unrighteousness. 1374 01:04:45,917 --> 01:04:48,167 And then number three, to send us the Holy Spirit. 1375 01:04:48,208 --> 01:04:50,333 My take away is that the Holy Spirit, 1376 01:04:50,375 --> 01:04:51,667 who inspired the writing of Scripture, 1377 01:04:51,750 --> 01:04:54,708 who also convicts us of sin through the law, 1378 01:04:54,792 --> 01:04:58,000 it's amazing that he would bring to us the righteousness, 1379 01:04:58,083 --> 01:05:01,417 the sinlessness, the standing of Jesus Christ; 1380 01:05:01,500 --> 01:05:04,375 that he would cause us, through faith in Jesus' death, burial, 1381 01:05:04,458 --> 01:05:08,917 and resurrection, to have a new heart, a new nature, 1382 01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:10,708 that has new what? 1383 01:05:10,792 --> 01:05:12,375 Desires. 1384 01:05:12,458 --> 01:05:14,333 If you go up to a non-Christian 1385 01:05:14,375 --> 01:05:16,208 and you read them the Ten Commandments, 1386 01:05:16,292 --> 01:05:18,167 they're like, "I don't even want to do that." 1387 01:05:18,250 --> 01:05:20,833 If you have the Holy Spirit in you, you're like, 1388 01:05:20,875 --> 01:05:23,167 "That's what I want to do, because God is changing 1389 01:05:23,208 --> 01:05:24,958 my desires." 1390 01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:27,958 And that the Holy Spirit would work at the level of desire 1391 01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:31,208 is amazing to me, because that means that God loves us so much 1392 01:05:31,292 --> 01:05:33,750 that he wants us not to just obey his laws, 1393 01:05:33,833 --> 01:05:36,667 but he wants us to have his heart, 1394 01:05:36,750 --> 01:05:39,333 that we would desire what he desires for us. 1395 01:05:39,375 --> 01:05:41,167 And as we yield to those desires, 1396 01:05:41,250 --> 01:05:46,250 we become more like Jesus and we have greater joy, amen? 1397 01:05:46,333 --> 01:05:48,250 Father God, thanks for an opportunity to study 1398 01:05:48,333 --> 01:05:50,333 the Ten Commandments together. 1399 01:05:50,375 --> 01:05:53,250 And Lord, thank you that the tenth commandment, 1400 01:05:53,333 --> 01:05:55,000 it's about the internal. 1401 01:05:55,083 --> 01:05:57,667 It's about the heart's inclinations and motivations, 1402 01:05:57,750 --> 01:06:00,958 about its appetites, and longings, and desires. 1403 01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:04,667 And Lord Jesus, we confess that unless you give us a new heart, 1404 01:06:04,708 --> 01:06:07,333 we cannot have new desires. 1405 01:06:07,375 --> 01:06:09,708 But because you give us a new heart, 1406 01:06:09,792 --> 01:06:13,250 the Holy Spirit can help us to nurture those desires. 1407 01:06:13,333 --> 01:06:17,333 God, I pray for us as a people, that we would see that coveting 1408 01:06:17,375 --> 01:06:20,167 is the beginning of much sinning; 1409 01:06:20,250 --> 01:06:23,250 and that we can't just work on our outward actions, 1410 01:06:23,333 --> 01:06:26,708 but we have to guard our heart continually; 1411 01:06:26,792 --> 01:06:31,958 that that soldier needs to be standing watch all the time; 1412 01:06:32,000 --> 01:06:35,333 that our hearts wouldn't drift toward setting our identity, 1413 01:06:35,375 --> 01:06:37,500 and our hope, and our joy, and our comfort, 1414 01:06:37,583 --> 01:06:40,917 and our future on someone or something other than Jesus, 1415 01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:43,208 in whose name we pray, amen. 1416 01:06:44,500 --> 01:06:47,458 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1417 01:06:47,500 --> 01:06:50,542 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1418 01:06:50,625 --> 01:06:53,167 This ministry is generously supported 1419 01:06:53,208 --> 01:06:55,792 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1420 01:06:55,833 --> 01:06:59,333 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1421 01:06:59,417 --> 01:07:02,417 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1422 01:07:02,500 --> 01:07:05,333 by visiting marshill.com/give.