In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Just a heads up: Tonight, we will not consider these Commandments in order. I’ll start with the 9th and 10th Commandments since they go together and are only slightly different (I’ll explain why they are different later). Then, we’ll close with the 8th Commandment.
Though it has been corrupted by sin, your conscience is an important gift from God. Imagine your conscience like a radar that picks up all sorts of sins. Blip, there’s anger violating the 5th Commandment. Blip, there’s laziness violating the 7th. Blip, there’s lust violating the 6th. Blip, there’s disrespecting authority violating the 4th. But your conscience probably doesn’t even register sins against the 9th and 10th Commandments about coveting. Coveting is, in a sense, the stealth bomber of sin. Paul mentions this in Romans 7[:7-8] where he says, “I wouldn’t even have known what it was to covet if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’”
I preached on training and softening your conscience a couple of weeks ago, and if you missed that sermon, I would encourage you to go back and read or listen to it (March 24th on Luke 11:14-28 titled “The Last State”). Tonight’s sermon will, hopefully, help to soften your conscience when it comes to the 9th and 10th Commandments. And softening your conscience to violations of the 9th and 10th Commandments will, I promise you, help you battle against your sins with regard to all the other Commandments.
Now, as we have gone through this series, I have tried to show you how God is giving and protecting His good gifts to you in each of the Commandments. If is helpful for you to see the whole Commandment, turn to p. 23 of the hymnal for the whole list.
In the 1st Command, “Have no other gods,” God gives you the gift of Himself. In the 2nd, “Don’t misuse God’s name,” God gives you the gift of prayer. In the 3rd, “Keep the Sabbath holy,” God gives you the gift of His Word. In the 4th, “Honor your parents,” God gives you the gift of order. In the 5th, “Don’t kill,” God gives you the gift of life. In the 6th, “Don’t commit adultery,” God gives you the gift of marriage. In the 7th, “Don’t steal,” God gives you the gift of stuff. In the 8th, “Don’t lie,” God gives you the gift of truth and a good name. You get the idea.
So, in the 9th and 10th Commandments about coveting, what gift is God giving you? Any guesses? I’ll give you a clue, it isn’t something that we usually recognize or rest in. Contentment. God is giving you and protecting His gift of contentment.
Everything around us screams at us that we shouldn’t be content. Open a paper, see a billboard, scroll through social media, surf the internet, turn on the radio or television and everything there will tempt you to break these Commandments of coveting. All marketing campaigns and advertisements are built around getting us to break these last two Commandments. Now, we can’t blame advertisers for our sins of coveting. And even if you cut out all media from your life, you would still break these Commands.
Now, I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. You never break only one Commandment. We’ve already seen how breaking the 6th Commandment about adultery is often followed by breaking the 5th Commandment about murder. But you never break Commandments 2-8 without first breaking the 9th or 10th Commandment. Sin, all sin, starts down in the 9th or 10th Commandment with coveting or, another way to put it, false desire. Scripture teaches this. James 1:13-15 says that God tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, referring 9th and 10th Commandments. “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
In tonight’s Old Testament lesson (1 Kings 21:1-29), we heard how King Ahab broke the 9th Commandment and then broke the 5th, 4th, 8th, and 7thCommandments.
Now, this is why the 9th and 10th Commandments are so important. In these Commands, God gives us the gift of contentment and protects us from false desire. Colossians 3:5 says that coveting is idolatry. Hear that again: Coveting is idolatry. At its core, coveting is idolizing yourself and making yourself a (little ‘g’) god by saying, “God, You messed up. That thing my neighbor has over there should be mine over here.”
So, when you are struggling with sin, notice where it starts – coveting. If you are full of lust (which is adultery [Mt. 5:28]), you have the false desire to have a spouse that is attractive in a different way than your spouse. If you are angry (which is the same as murder [Mt. 5:21-22], you have a false desire for someone to act differently than they act. If you are lazy (which is thievery), you have a false desire there too.
Repent. Recognize that false desire and cut it off at the roots. Fight against the sin of coveting. Now, listen to these Commandments and see if you can tell the difference between the two…
The 9th Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not seek by craftiness to gain possession of our neighbor’s inheritance or home, nor obtain them under pretense of a legal right, but assist and serve him in keeping the same.
The 10th Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not estrange or entice away our neighbor’s wife, servants, or cattle, but seek to have them remain and fulfill their duty to him.
Did you catch the difference? It’s so simple, it’s silly. It has to do with whether the thing you covet has legs or not. The spouse, servants, and animals outlined in the 10th Commandment could conceivably end up in your possession in a way that would appear to be righteous. You could make your neighbor’s dog love you more than your neighbor by giving it treats or something and steal it. Don’t covet it and steal it. Don’t falsely desire what your neighbor has that can’t move, and don’t falsely desire what your neighbor has that can move.
Finally,
The 8th Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not deceitfully lie about, betray, backbite, nor slander our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all that he does.
I’ll be brief here because I know I’ve gone long on the 9th and 10th Commandments.
We break this Commandment when we desire the truth to be different and lie. But we also break this Commandment when we desire the truth to make our neighbor look bad and spread gossip. I remember when I was in Confirmation and memorized this Commandment and meaning. That last phrase, “put the most charitable construction on all that he does,” that phrase cut me down.
Yes, lying is bad, and we often have our conscience pricked when we lie. But gossip and tearing others down is just as bad. Even when you are telling the truth about someone else’s sin, you are violating this Commandment. Don’t tell someone else about another’s sin if the person you are speaking to doesn’t need to know about it. You don’t like it when it happens to you. Repent. In this Commandment, God protects His gift of the truth.
And recognize that this is the truth. Christ has come. He has kept the Law, all of the Law, perfectly on your behalf. He never fell short of perfectly loving God or loving His neighbor. He perfectly loved you by laying down His life for you. And because of what He has done on the cross, He takes all of your sin against God’s Law and in exchange gives you His perfect obedience. Christ has removed your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. Yes, fight against your sin, but live in Christ’s grace now and forever. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Pastorsamwise 