7/26/2009 The Ten Commandments 10 - Tape Worm:  DO NOT COVET

Sermon Scripture References:
  The 9th Commandment: Deuteronomy 5:21

Key Scripture - The story of the Rich Young Ruler  LUKE 18:18-30

 OTHER HELPFUL SCRIPTURES:  Colossians 3:1-2,  Luke 12:14-15, 1 Timothy 6:10
   
   


   POSSIBLE QUESTIONS:  (Not in any particular order !  Choose and Arrange to make a flow that makes sense to you!)
 1.  Was there anything in our time together this Sunday - a song we sang, a point from the sermon, a prayer, a station activity - that really stuck out to you?  If so, why?

2. How is the contentment prescribed in the tenth commandment a safeguard against temptations to break the first nine?

3. Do you agree that philosophies that aim at the extinction of desire are misguided?  Why or why not?

4.  How does the tenth commandment differ from the other nine ?

5.  How does modern advertising stimulate envy?

6.  What exactly is the treasure that the Christian is called to desire

7.  How would you summarize the way Jesus transformed the law?

8.  What is your reaction to the three modes of the heart (see the picture below) - was this way of seeing things helpful to you ?    Which of the three modes would you say is where you are most of the time at this point in your life?

9.   Have you ever had the experience of feeling lacking or losing out and then re-directed your attention to praising God and thinking about your relationship with you?  Has it ever helped ?  If so,  why?

10.  Why do so many people seem to be discontent ?  Do you think it is possible to be content in this life ?

11.  On the list of things people tend to covet (see picture below of "ENVY ME"), which ones pull the most at you ?

12.  Tell about a time when you were a kid when you ended up envying someone who had something you wanted.

 

 

QUOTES:
 

HORTON QUOTE 2
Are we never disappointed when we hear that a fellow worker received a raise, even though h we have been employed there longer?  Is there never a twinge of spite when we see friends we grew up with or with whom we went to school achieve success and prosperity while we have not been able to get our career going?  Can we really say that we never even secretly desired our neighbor’s new Porsche, that we never scan catalogs or shops wishing we could own the latest fashions even if we cannot really afford them ?

 

LUTHER
“This last commandment then is addressed not to those whom the world considers wicked rogues, but precisely to the most upright – to people who wish to be commended as honest and virtuous because they have not offended against the preceding commandments…Such is nature that we all begrudge another’s having as much as we have.  Everyone acquires all he can and lets others look out for themselves.  Yet we all pretend to be upright.  We know how to put up a fine front to conceal our rascality.  We think up artful dodges and sly tricks can call it shrewdness and business savvy.

 

EPICURIUS - "If you want to make a man happy add not to his possessions but take away his desires".

AUGUSTINE - "God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you ...”
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Wilbur Williams   -  Your heart can be in one of 3 modes
PROUD

= Unrepentant

Might Believe in God but these are their top 3 Priorities

            Cafeteria plan – Life is self-serve – you pick and choose

                        Not necessarily bad people, it’s just that God is now where in the picture

                                    Would act the same way whether or not God existed

CONVERTED
Someone who knows they are lost without God

Luther said the 10th Commandment  was meant to deal a final blow to anyone who thought they were still standing after the facing the 9 previous commandments

            James 2:10 “Whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in just one point is g        guilty of breaking all of it”

                        Now, let’s go back to our scripture about the rich young ruler.

                        Jesus knows this is the commandment where the rich man stumbles

                        Jesus does not do away with the 10 Commandments – he illustrates them

                        till we see who pathetically we screw each one up.  In verse 26 his disciples cry out “Then who can be saved ?”  Why?  Because the finally get that the bar that Jesus himself is setting is so high that they cant possibly measure up.  And what does Jesus say in verse 27:

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

What's Impossible?   To live out the 10 commandments, to inherit eternal

Life

            So the person who thinks they get eternal life because they have been a good person all their life – Jesus says “No.”

To the person who thinks being a Christian is primarily about helping others and being a good person – Jesus says “No.”  Those are good, important things but they cant save you.  Things cant save you.  Only I can save you.

When I ask Jesus into my life, when I bow in repentance before him as the king of my life, then I am banking on the fact that Jesus has fulfilled all of the laws demands on my behalf – he has done it for me.

 

Now in our second heart, God is now part of life, God is in the picture.  I am converted.  But I am still feeling restless.  I have trusted Jesus but I am still living a compartmentalized life.  God is in one cubby hole, and my attention is constantly shifting from one cubby hole to the next.  First I think about money, then success, then God – God is in the mix

 

SANCTIFIED
But in the third mode, we see a sanctified Heart

God central, pervades and colors all. 

Self seeks to express itself not for self's sake but for God. 

What I have become tools for his service.

Life revolves around him. 

 

CONCLUSION
Knowledge of my Saviors love diverts me from the barren ways of covetous self-service, to put God first, others second and self-gratification last in my concerns. 

Paul says "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty" - not sentimental romantic view of poverty or repeated business failures.  Rather a life of seeking the King and his Kingdom.  John Wesley "Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal.  But when my work for Christ is done... I go to be with Jesus."

Generates the 3 things that lead to contentment: self respect, love for others, and love of God which makes us want to obey God.  If my life has these 3 things I will covet nothing, for there will be nothing to desire that I do not already possess