The Secret Sin

Exodus chapter 20, verse number 17 is the tenth commandment. It reads as follows. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant. or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. You shall not covet, the Bible says.

It's a secret sin. It's a sin that, if you have not been convicted through the first nine, this will be the one that will zap you really good.

It deals not necessarily with the deeds that you do, as much as it is the desire of your heart. It was that great Catholic theologian Francis Xavier who said, I have listened to multiplied thousands. Of confessions. I have yet to have one person ever confess sin of covetousness. And it was this command that got the Apostle Paul. For he said in Romans chapter 7, verse number 7, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law.

For I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, You shall not covet. The Apostle Paul kind of went down the Ten Commandments and said, Well, yeah, you know, I don't have any other gods but the God, and I don't necessarily take that God's name in vain, and I'm not an adulterer, I'm not a murderer, I'm not a Stealer. I'm not a liar. I don't do those things. But when he got to the sin of covetousness, it was that sin. It was that commandment that convicted him of his sin. So, covetousness is that deceitful sin.

It is a secret sin. And so, tonight, very briefly, hopefully. We'll look at the source of covetousness.

Then we'll look at the sin itself. And then the seriousness of covetousness. And lastly, the solution. What do I do? If I'm a person that covets something that's not rightfully mine, the source of covet falls into three areas, maybe more. I just give you three this evening. The first one is, of course, the devil himself.

That's pretty obvious. Over in Isaiah 14, 13 to 14. Satan said, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the Most High. God. Satan is the covetous being. He coveted the throne of God. And he became the devil by wanting the things that were not his. Turn with me to the book of Second Corinthians.

Chapter 2. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul is writing to the church of Corinth the second letter. And in this letter, he is writing to them and telling them about a situation that had happened when he wrote the first letter.

Back in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, evidently there was a young man who had committed incest with his stepmother. And the Corinthians were sort of gloating about what was going on in their church. And Paul wrote them and said, Look, this is not something. To gloat about. This is something to get serious about, and therefore you need to deal with this man and deliver him unto Satan because he's unrepentant. And we've talked about that, and hopefully, you understand what that means. And so they did that.

And evidently the hammer came down pretty good on this guy. And he all of a sudden became repentant. He realized that he needed to get right with God. He did. And yet the Corinthian church was not willing to accept this man back into the fold after they had delivered him unto Satan. So Paul in 2 Corinthians 2, verse number 6 says, Sufficient for such a one is this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority. So, that on the contrary, you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

He says, You've got to forgive this guy. But I want to show you something. While you fear being taken advantage of and you withhold forgiveness, Satan takes advantage of you. Follow along with me as you read. Verse number 9. For to this end also I wrote that I might put you to the test whether you are obedient in all things, but whom you forgive anything, I forgive also. For indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven, Anything I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

The word take advantage is from the same form or the same root of the Greek word covetousness. And Paul is saying, Look, if you don't forgive this brother, Satan is going to have an inroad and he is going to take advantage of you. He's going to take advantage of the situation. He wants more and more of you and he wants more and more of this brother. So if you don't forgive this brother, he is going to be put in the pits of despair and sorrow is going to be exceedingly great upon this brother. And Satan's going to have more of him.

And if you don't forgive him, it's going to well up within you an unforgiven, bitter spirit, and Satan's going to have more of you as well. Why? Because Satan wants you, he wants more of you, he'll do all he can to grab you. And so, if he can get you to have an unforgiving spirit, because you're fearful of that person taking advantage of you. Paul says, Satan has taken greater advantage of you. Number two is the depravity of man.

We've read this verse throughout our study of the Ten Commandments, Mark chapter 7. Verses 20 to 23, that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of man proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting. and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness, all these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. That's the verse that is God's verse that he uses to x-r your life.

Unless the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses that from you, the depravity of man is the source of coveting. And it's got to be dealt with. And number three, James chapter four.

Turn there with me, if you would, please. James chapter four. Not only the devil himself, the depravity of man, but the desire for pleasure and satisfaction. James chapter 4, verse 1. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? James asks a question. And before a person can say, well, he did this or she did that, James comes back and answers the question with the question. Is it not the source? Or is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder.

And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, you do not know that friendship Or do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James asks, answers the question. It's those inner desires of wanting more and more and more is what produces the quarrels and conflicts among you.

It was Plato who said this. wars and factions and fightings have no other source than the body and its lusts. For it is for the getting of wealth that all our wars arise, and we are compelled to get wealth because of our bodies. to whose services we are sl. That's the source of covetousness. So let's talk just a few minutes about the sin of covetousness. Let's describe it for you. Turn with me over to Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 19.

And the first thing I want you to notice is that covetousness is associated with immorality and impurity.

Ephesians 4, verse number 19, or we'll start with verse number 17. This I say, therefore, and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles. also walk in the futility of their mind being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, and they having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality. For the practice of every kind of imp with greediness. Covetousness is associated with immorality.

Greediness is that unbounded covetousness, uninhibited lust for that which is wanted. In the person given over to godlessness and immorality, Greedily takes from people whatever he can get from them. Every form of sexual immorality is an expression of self-will and self-gratification and self-centeredness. The second thing I want you to see is that it is identified as idolatry.

We saw that in Colossians 3, verse number 5. When Paul says, Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which abounds to idolatry. And so, covetousness is associated with immorality. It's identified as idolatry and it's connected with dishonesty. Over in Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 6, Paul says this. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Now he says that right after verse 5 when he says, This you know with certainty: that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now, folks, I don't think I can say that any clearer than Paul said it in chapter 5. He says, if you're an immoral person, if you are an idolater, An id is one who covets, you have no part in God's kingdom. You have no place being with God. And then he says, This: let no one deceive you with empty words.

Now, how many times have you heard people say, well, that's not what it really means? It doesn't really mean that. I know that's what it says, but that's not what it really means. Trying to excuse the sinfulness of man. Paul says, let no one deceive you. Why? Because a covetous person who wants more and more and more of his sin is going to use empty, vain, deceitful words to get you to think that you can do those things and still go to heaven. I got your attention yet. There are people all over the world who teach that.

Oh, yeah, you can live in sin all you want. That's okay. Sure, man. You got your fire escape. You're all right. You're going to miss hell. Just live as you want to live. That's a predominant theology in evangelicalism today. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 3: False prophets in their greed they would exploit you with false Words. In their greed, in their desire for more and more and more, they will exploit you with their false words. And sadly to say, the church is full of those kind of people. And lastly, the thing I want you to see about the sin of covetousness is that it's related to money.

You thought we'd get around this sooner or later, and sure enough. It is related to money. Over in Luke 12, verse number 15, Jesus says what?

Beware of covetousness. Beware of any kind of greed. Why? Because one's life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses. You can be sure that covetousness is related to money to some degree because The more you have, the more you want. And the more you get, the more you aspire to get more and more and more. You got to be careful. Which leads me to our third point: the seriousness of covetousness.

And follow this through very carefully with me because I really want you to understand what we're saying here. The first thing I want you to notice is that the sin of covetousness will cripple your unity in the church.

1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse number 9. It's a follow-up of what we talked about earlier, about this young man who was involved in sin. And Paul said, you've got to deliver this one into Satan. He says in verse number 9, I wrote you in my letter, do not associate with immoral people. I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world or with the covetous. And the swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. Paul says, Look, when I said don't associate with the immoral person, I didn't mean the immoral people in the world.

Those people are immoral. Those people are covetous. Those people are adulterers and adulteresses. And if you don't associate with them, this will take yourself out of the world. We are here to be salt and light in the world. Then he goes on to say this. I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

But those who are outside God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves, Paul says. He says it's that brother in the church that's unrepentant, that continues in his immoral way, that continues with his sin of covetousness. Paul says, don't associate with that individual. Why? Because what it does is it cripples the unity of the body. All sin destroys the unity of the body. The second thing I want you to notice about covetousness is not only does it cripple the unity of the body, but also it confines your ministry in the body.

This is very important. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 6. Jesus said in verse number 19, a very familiar verse: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth. Where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in. Or steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And then, of course, verse number 33: but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

The sin of covetousness is going to confine your ministry. The sin of covetousness is going to be that sin that silences the missionary call. The sin of covetousness is going to be the sin that's going to make Christian living impossible. Christ says in verse number 24, Matthew 6, you can't serve two masters.

You can't do that. Coveting things that aren't yours to begin with. Our kids aren't ours to begin with, are they? They're God's. Our home is not ours to begin with, it's God's. My job is not mine to begin with, it's God's. It's all his. And yet, somehow I want it for myself. And so I go after more, and I protect this little pocket here, and I protect this little pocket here, and say, God, you can't have this, but you can have this. And that is a sin of covetousness, and it can. Fines ministry. It keeps it from spreading.

It keeps it from making an impact for the sake of God's eternal kingdom. And God says, don't let that happen.

I want to use you in a great way. Free it up. Let me have it. It's mine anyway. And let me do the work, and you will see things you've never seen before.

But you've got to give it to me. You've got to let me do the work. You've got to let go. And people who covet, they can find their ministry. Number three.

Not only does covetousness cripple our unity and confine our ministry, but it conceals your identity. It conceals your identity. I had fun putting these together. Turn me over to Ephesians chapter 5. It conceals your identity. Paul says, For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater. Has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God. If you do those things, You conceal your identity as a believer, and people therefore cannot see Jesus because of your sin.

Fourthly. What I want you to see is that it corrupts your morality. That's Ephesians 5:5. For this, you know that With certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater shall inherit the kingdom of God. And when you get caught up in improving your lot in life, in making your self-interest dominate your life. Then your life will be corrupted. And God says, Don't let that happen.

And lastly, If not repented of, will confirm your destiny. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul says this: Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous. Shall inherit the kingdom of God. The Bible is very clear. About the list of the people that are outside the kingdom of God. And Paul says, if this is your lifestyle. If this is your mod oper, if this is the way you live, then you got to check out whether or not you got the real thing because you are confirming your destiny.

Judas confirmed his destiny because he was a covetous man. And he was the son of perdition. And he perished in his sin. Because he wanted more and more and more and would not keep himself with Jesus Christ. And we've got to ask: has God changed us? He wants to. That's his reason for coming to save you from your sin. That's our Lord Jesus Christ. So, what's the solution to covetousness? That's our last point. Very briefly. Hebrews chapter 13, verse number 5. Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have.

For he himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. So that we confidently say, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me? The solution to a life that's been given to covetousness Is contentment. That is, learning to trust in God's provision. The antidote for covetousness is the life of contentment. It comes from trusting God, and the basis of that trust is our knowledge of Him and His purpose for His people, as they are related to us in Scripture.

What did the Lord say in John chapter 4? Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Isn't that good? And second of all, turn with me to Luke chapter 12.

And we'll close here. Not only does there need to be contentment, The idea of trusting God for all things, but there needs to be commitment. A commitment to a life of obedience. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus is preaching a sermon and somebody interrupts his sermon. Can you imagine somebody interrupting Jesus' sermon? Here's the Lord God of the universe preaching as he does, as eloquently as he does, and somebody pokes up and says in verse number 13. Teacher, tell me, my brother, or tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.

And you want to, Well, hey, aren you listening? Aren't you listening? And Jesus says, Man, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?

And he said to them, Beware, be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. And then he goes on and gives a parable. The land of a certain rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself, saying, What shall I do since I have no place to store my crops? And he said, This is what I will do. I will tell down my barns and build bigger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have.

Many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this very night. Your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God. And of course, he went on to say, For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, nor for your body as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body than clothing.

He speaks some more, and then down in verse number 33, he says, Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves purses which do not wear out. An unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor maws destroyed. For where your treasure is. There will your heart be also. It was Saint Augustine who said these words. Greed and covetousness comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition. And try desperately to fulfill it without God. Is that not true? A legitimate desire.

A longing to be loved, a longing to be accepted, a longing to be a somebody, a perfectly legitimate desire because we're created in the image of God. And the fulfillment was something other than God. That's it. Because God says, I'll be your friend.

And I will accept you. And I will love you with a love that's uncond. And I will do for you what no one else can do. But the issue is, will you commit your life to me? Will you obey my word? And that, my friend, is the simple solution to a covetous lifestyle.