["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Song number 473. Shipahoy, I'll give you a minute to find those songs.
Song number 473. On that first. I was drifting away on life's pitiless sea
When the angry blinks threatened my rowing to be
When away at my side there I did lead his climb
Lost in the old vessel and loudly I cried
Shipahoy, Shipahoy! In love with a cry, Shipahoy!
T'was the old shipwrecks eye of the sailing alone
All adores in joyous hearts
And the captain's kind ear ever ready to hear
Caught the wail of distress as I cried out in fear
Shipahoy, Shipahoy! As I cried out in fear, Shipahoy!
The good captain commanded a boat to be lowered
And with tender compassion he took me on board
And I'm happy today all my sins washed away
In the blood of my Savior and now I can say
Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord!
From the soul I can say, Bless the Lord!
Oh soul, sinking down is his merciless wave
The stroke of my mover captain is fighting to save
Then trust him today, no longer delay
For the old shipwrecks eye out and shout on your wave
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Shout and sing, come and pray, Jesus saves!
Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, heavenly Father, I thank you for this day.
I thank you for this time that we can come here unto your house, Lord, and sing
these hymns unto your name. And I thank you, Lord, for the souls that
were saved today. I ask that you would please just bless this service
and bless the preaching most of all, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Go ahead and turn your songs to song number 245.
Song number 245, the old account was settled.
Song number 245, on that first.
There was a time on earth when in the good old land
An old account was set free. Oh, since yet I'll forgive
My name was at the top and the many things below
I went unto the river and settled long ago, long ago, long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago
And the records cleared today for to wash my sins away
When the old account was settled long ago
The old account was large and growing every day
For I was always singing and never trying to play
But when I looked ahead and saw such rain and woe
I said that I would settle, I settled long ago, long ago, long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago
And the records cleared today for to wash my sins away
When the old account was settled long ago
When in the happy home my Savior's home above
I'll sing redemption's story and praise Him for His love
I'll not forget that book with pages wide as snow
Because I came to settle and settled long ago, long ago, long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago
And the records cleared today for to wash my sins away
When the old account was settled long ago
Oh, sinners, trust the Lord, because of all your sin
For thus He hath provided for you to enter in
And then if you should live about your years below
I'll dare you not regret, you settled long ago, long ago, long ago, long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago
And the records cleared today for to wash my sins away
When the old account was settled long ago
Alright, great singing, thank you for being here this evening
Just a few announcements before we sing our next song
Which will be 215, if you want to get that ready in your songbooks
215, heaven came down and glory filled my soul
These services are as follow Sunday mornings at 10 30 Sunday evening is at 5 p.m
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock
And we will be in Acts chapter 8 this coming Thursday
So don't miss out on that
As a reminder, we are a family integrated church
And so children are always welcome to stay in the service with their parents
But if they get a little fussy, if they start crying, get a little out of hand
You can take them into the mother baby rooms located in the hallways
And we do have changing tables available for them as well
And then you can bring them back in at your discretion
And then you see the so many times and teams there
The list of expecting mothers, please continue to pray for them
And the upcoming church events, Friday, August 28
We have the men's prayer meeting resuming at 7 o'clock
So men, we encourage you to be there for that
And bring your sons to pray with you
And we have a lot to pray about, amen
And so please be there for that
Sunday, August 30th, we have a baby shower for Miss Rhea
And then Friday, September 4th, the ladies prayer meeting also resumes
You can see Miss Janelle Gonzalez for more details about that
Sunday, September 6th, we're going to be celebrating the September birthdays
And then on Tuesday, September 15th, we have the homeschool field trip nature walk
And we'll give you more details as far as where it's going to be
We don't really have a location as of yet because of the whole COVID-19 thing
We've got to look for a place
But we do want to have a homeschool field trip on that date
So just keep that in mind
And then on our Samaria mission trips coming up on Monday, September 21st
And we'll have a sign up sheet in the coming weeks
So you can sign up for that if you'd like to make it for that, all right
And that's pretty much it
Now I do want to announce something here
Something we're going to do a little different next Sunday, okay
We're actually going to have something called silent hour at our church, all right
Now let me explain to you what I mean by that
So on Sunday morning, you know, you're preaching
And then you fellowship a little bit
Then you go soul winning, right
And what happens is sometimes after you're done soul winning
You come back to the church, you eat, you fellowship, you laugh, you cry
You have all these emotional things that's going on
And then church starts
And you know what happens when church starts?
Well, because you've been expending your energy
Throughout, you know, being in the service in the morning
Going soul winning
We have a lot of head notters, okay
Not a lot, but sometimes people are tired
That's because you've just been expending all this energy
You know, fellowshipping and doing all these things
And so to combat that, our church is going to have silent hour, okay
Now what does that mean?
It means everyone's going to take a nap
No, I'm just kidding
What it is, is that at our church from 3 to 4.15 pm
You're welcome to come into the church
And I know some of you drive from afar
And so obviously you're welcome to stay here
But there's no fellowshipping in here, okay
No talking
It's only going to be for resting during that time
We're going to turn off the lights
We'll have the AC on
And actually, if you are a parent with kids
Miss Angela is going to be setting out some children's mats
How many of you remember those blue mats back in the day?
Used to take a nap on those
We're going to set those up in the back with the AC on there
So you can, if they need to take a nap, you can put them back there
Make sure you just watch them
And, you know, for them to take a nap
But I encourage everyone to rest during that time
So you say, well, I don't want to do that
I want a fellowship
Okay, then go to like some other, go to some restaurant, okay
Because we don't want any disturbance during that time, all right
And I think this is important because of the fact that
I think it's important to be alive, alert, awake, and enthusiastic during church, okay
Now I know there's some other things, elements, factors that play into you being tired
Like, you know, eating really bad food
Or, you know, going to sleep really late at night, you know
And then, you know, just not having a good schedule for yourself throughout the week
You know, you're going to have to take care of that on your own, all right
Having too many Red Bulls and energy drinks actually removes energy from your life
But, you know, we want to treat church, you know
We want to be ready to hear, okay
And I've always learned, especially my old church, you know
When you come to church, you should be ready to hear the word of God
And, you know, if you're combating staying awake, you know
You're not going to get much from the preaching of God's word, okay
You're just like, oh, I got to make sure that I look awake
So the pastor, when he sees me, he's not thinking it might fall asleep or something
You know, you need to be energetic
And look, I'm not against drinking coffee
I'm not against, you know, taking a vitamin B14 or whatever, B12 vitamin
In order to boost your energy a little bit
But I think a large part of that has to do with
You're just go, go, go, go, go, go, go
And then once we start church, it's like now you start to calm down
Because you're sitting there, not talking
You're here preaching for an entire hour
Now, I don't believe I'm a boring preacher, right
And if you think that, then oh well, you know, sorry
I'll try better next time
I honestly believe that this is the issue at hand
And I've observed this over the last three years
And I'm like, man, these people are just tired
And by the way, you know, New IFB churches
That's just the thing we do
We go sowing, right, on Sundays
And every church that I visited that say the same thing is just like
We're just tired on Sunday night
And I honestly think that the solution to that is
There needs to be a silent hour where you guys take advantage of that
And come here and say, you know, I'm going to knock out for about 45 minutes
I'm going to take a quick power nap or whatever
I'm just going to rest
I'm going to put my kids to go rest for a little bit
So that we can be energetic
We're like, well, I want a fellowship
Then why don't you do it after church, you know
Get all that fellowship in after church, right
I know you love each other
I know you want to exhort each other daily
I know, you know, you look forward to seeing your brethren in Christ on a weekly basis
But save it, right, for after church
I'm telling you it's going to be of help
So next week, silent hour from 3 to 4.15 PM
The lights will be off
At 4.15, brother Ulysses Hernandez will be here
And he'll be here to turn on all the lights
Put on music to kind of get you transitioning into waking up, okay
So just keep that in mind
If you have any questions about it, you can see me after the service
But another thing is this
So at 4.15, once we start, you know, ramping things up
And getting ready for service
I do request this, okay
Actually, I request this for any service
But especially on Sundays, don't move the chairs, all right
We want to make sure that like when people start coming to church
We have an organized church, you know what I mean
When you're coming in and you guys got your little huddle going on
You know, the little powwow going on
Where all the chairs are turned and all this
You know, that's not necessarily conducive to being orderly before church, okay
Now I have no problem with moving the chairs out of the way
And, you know, for fellowship after service
But before service, let's keep it orderly, you understand
So just keep that in mind
And this is something to just help us
Become more orderly, more organized, and more energetic before church, all right
Sound good?
All the men said?
Amen, all right, great
Now let's take some so many numbers from Friday to Sunday afternoon
Any salvations from Friday and Saturday?
Friday and Saturday
Two, okay, great
Anybody else?
Yes, sir
One, Brother Paul, two, okay
Anybody else?
Okay, how about this afternoon?
This afternoon, Brother Jacob, one
All right, two
Brother Maury, one, okay
And then Brother Glenn, two
Are you counting the gentlemen who got saved in the service?
Okay, great
His name is Abraham, right?
Abraham believed God and was counted unto him for righteousness
All right, Brother Marcos, one
Okay, am I missing anybody?
Yes, sir, four
All right, great
Anybody else?
Okay, keep up the great work on soul winning
Let's go ahead and sing our next song
215, Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul
Great song here
Sing it together on that first verse
Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day
A day I will never forget
After I wandered in darkness, obeying
Jesus, my Savior, our God
Oh, what a tender, compassionate friend
He met the need of my heart
Shadows discovered with joy and talent
He made all the darkness depart
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
When at the cross the Savior made me whole
Our sins were washed away
And my life was turned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
On that second
Born of the Spirit with life from above
Into God's family behind
Justified only through Calvary's law
All was standing in time
And the transaction so quickly was paid
Then as the sinner I came
Turned from the offer of mercy
And offered his Savior praise as he prayed
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
When at the cross the Savior made me whole
My sins were washed away
And my life was turned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
Now the hope that will soon endure
After the passing of time
I will future and end for sure
There in those mountains I'll climb
And it's because of that wonderful pain
When at the cross I will be
Rich is eternal
Blessings supernal
From his precious hand I receive
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
When at the cross the Savior made me whole
My sins were washed away
And my life was turned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
Great singing!
At this time the ushers are going to take the offering.
Turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13 the Bible reads,
Let brotherly love continue.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them,
and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body.
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled,
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Let your conversation be without covetousness,
and be content with such things as ye have,
for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines,
for it is a good thing that the hearts be established with grace,
not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
By him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.
But to do good, and to communicate, forget not,
for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves,
for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief,
for that is unprofitable for you.
Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience,
and all things willing to live honestly.
But I beseech you, the rabbit to do this,
that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation,
for I have written a letter unto you in few words,
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty,
with whom, if ye come shortly, I will see you.
Salute all them that have the rule over you,
and all the saints, they of Italy salute you.
Grace be with you all. Amen.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your wonderful word, Lord.
Lord, I pray that you bless Pastor Mihir with your spirit, Lord,
and preach clearly and boldly, Lord,
and give us ears to hear, and understand the preaching,
and keep us awake, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, we're in Hebrews chapter 13.
Look down at your Bibles at verse number one.
Excuse me.
It says, let your conversation, excuse me, verse five,
let your conversation be without covetousness,
and be content with such things as you have.
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,
so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
And what I want to preach on this evening
is the destructive nature of covetousness,
the destructive nature of covetousness.
And really, it's just a sermon on the sin of covetousness.
Now, verse number five, the latter end of verse number five,
we often quote this when we're giving someone the assurance of salvation, right?
We often talk about, we tell people, hey,
nothing can separate us from the love of God.
The Bible says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
And it's definitely applicable when it comes to salvation,
but this is also applicable to all areas of life for the Christian.
You know, and this is the main reason why we should be content in our lives.
Why?
Because at the end of the day, Jesus Christ really is all that matters to us.
And if he doesn't leave us and he'll never forsake us,
we know that we have everything that we need to be, to live in this life,
to serve him, to feed our families, to feed ourselves,
to have what we need in this world.
Why?
Because Jesus will never leave us, nor forsake us.
He will always provide for us.
He will deliver us.
He will always be there for us as long as we keep serving him.
Amen.
Now, obviously, when it comes to salvation, he'll never leave us, nor forsake us,
because God is our heavenly father.
And there are stipulations to God's blessing.
But here's the thing.
At the end of the day, let's say we just completely violate those commands.
We don't do right.
We become a castaway.
At that point, God might even just take our lives, but even then we go to heaven.
Amen.
But he begins the verse there in verse five by saying,
let your conversation referring to your conduct, your behavior, be without covetousness.
And we'll get back to defining what specifically that means in just a bit.
Now, the topic of covetousness is pretty extensive in the Bible,
and it merits quite a bit of attention.
And let me just start off by saying that, you know, God is not against his people
having possessions, wealth, or even health, right?
He's not against Christians enjoying life or even the things of life.
The problem is, is that when your possessions possess you, right?
Is when you begin to determine God's will based upon what kind of possession will I receive from
it?
What kind of house?
What kind of money?
What kind of things will I receive if I do X, Y, and Z?
And God doesn't want us to be led by those things.
He wants us to be led by spiritual means.
He wants us to make decisions based upon spiritual matters, not upon the possessions
of this world, not upon the carnal things of this world.
You know, we need to recognize that having food and food and raiment, let us therewith
be content.
You know, let God worry about how he's going to provide for us.
We need to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things shall
be added unto us.
But God wants us to enjoy the fruit of our labor.
The Bible tells us that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor.
It is the gift of God.
You know what?
It's God's gift to a man when he works and he labors that he enjoys the fruit of his
labor.
That is part of the enjoyment of working.
When you labor, you work, you put in the effort, you're paying the bills.
God says, enjoy some of that, right?
That is the reward that we receive for laboring.
Ecclesiastes 3 22 says, Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better.
And then a man should rejoice in his own works for that is his portion for who shall bring
him to see what shall be after him.
So there's nothing wrong with enjoying possessions, enjoying a little bit of wealth.
And when I say wealth, I'm not referring to these great riches in the millions and billions
of dollars.
You understand?
When I refer to wealth, it's basically having enough to provide for your needs, the needs
of your family, and even have a little bit extra to just enjoy life.
There's nothing wrong with those things.
Now, here's the thing.
First Corinthians 7 30 says this, And they that weep as though they wept not, and they
that rejoice as though they rejoice not, and they that buy as though they possess not.
So what's the Bible telling us?
Hey, when you buy something, you should act like as if you'd never really had it in the
first place.
Why?
Because you got to be ready to kiss that thing goodbye.
We live in a temporal world where things vanish, they're stolen, they're wasted, you know,
various other things can happen to them.
So when we purchase a possession, it's almost as if we got to be ready to just kiss that
thing goodbye, because it's a temporal thing.
So when we buy something as though they possess not, the Bible says, and they that use this
world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passeth away.
Now, I remember one preacher tried to say that the fashion of this world passeth away.
It was like referring to like the fashion, you know, the kind of clothes you wear.
It's like, buddy, fashion means that the world, right, the way the world is fashioned, you
know, this world will be destroyed.
It will be completely changed.
The fashion thereof will be transformed into something else.
But previous to its transformation, it's going to be burned.
And everything in this world will suffer that same fire and judgment from God.
So knowing these things, we should be ready to kiss these things goodbye and not be so
attached to possessions, not be so attached to wealth.
Because eventually they're going to go away.
We're not going to have them forever.
And this is why the Bible tells us, Jesus said this, take heed and beware of covetousness
for a man's life consisted not in the things which he possesses.
But you know what?
There's a lot of Christians out there where that's not true in their personal lives.
You know, their life consists of what they have.
They got to keep up with the Joneses.
They got to make sure that they have the best of all things.
The best vehicle, the best house, the best type of clothing, the most money in the bank,
just everything needs to be in order when it comes to these things.
Whereas God says, hey, don't find your identity in the things that you have.
You know, our identity is in Christ.
We identify, we find our value based upon the labor that we do for the Lord, right?
You know, we're serving God.
That's why the Bible says, let every man prove his own work.
You know, we should find contentment and satisfaction and serving God because at the
end of the day, that's where the real rewards come from, right?
What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
And Bible also says, or be a castaway.
You know, unfortunately, a lot of Christians will become a castaway not because they're
wicked people, but simply because they've determined the decisions in their life based
upon the possessions they'll receive, the wealth that they get, so on and so forth.
We don't want to do that.
Now, obviously, you know, the man of God should not live lavishly, right?
We should not live lavishly, you know, expensive, a luxurious lifestyle.
This is wicked, okay?
And, you know, today in 2020, you have a lot of pastors that do that.
And I'm not just talking about the prosperity gospel type preachers.
That's an obvious one.
Like Benny Hinn, the preachers, the wicked preachers of LA, you know, Joel Osteen.
These guys are prime examples of these types of people who make merchandise off of people,
right?
But you know what?
This is even creeping into independent fundamental Baptist churches where you have pastors who
are literally making millions of dollars, own tons of houses, tons of possessions, you
know, and they live a luxurious lifestyle.
Why?
Because they're covetous people, okay?
You say, well, you know, don't you think that's just God's blessing?
Well, not necessarily because here's the thing.
If that man were to preach right doctrine and preach hard, you know what?
He probably wouldn't have that many people in his church.
The reason he probably has so much money is because of the fact that he's preaching lies.
He's preaching deceit.
He's behaving himself like a politician trying to please all sides, right?
You know, a pastor should just live a normal, humble life where he doesn't have anything
luxurious, not to say he can't enjoy life, but you know what?
He shouldn't have a yacht.
He shouldn't have a personal jet.
He shouldn't have, you know, what kind of vehicles are there?
Real Ferrari, is that even popular anymore?
He shouldn't have those type of vehicles.
Why?
Because the things that we use in this world, like for example, as a pastor, I'm just using
it to get done what I need to get done for the Lord, okay?
You know, but even in the Old Testament, the men who were ordained by Moses to care for
the people, one of the qualifications was what?
They had to hate covetousness.
They had to hate it because if not, people can seek to pervert their judgment by giving
them gifts.
They had to hate covetousness, be men of God who fear the Lord, able men.
The Bible even says in 1 Timothy 3, not given to wine, referring to the qualifications of
a pastor, no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous.
So in context, we see that the pastor who is covetous will seek to get money, right,
by unjust means.
That's what the Bible calls it, filthy lucre, okay?
And we'll get into that just a bit.
But the Bible warns every Christian to be aware of covetousness.
This is a dangerous sin.
And look, I'll be honest with you, you know, throughout my life, I didn't really hear a
whole lot of preaching against the sin of covetousness.
And more often than not, it's because a lot of people in the church were just guilty of
it, okay?
You know, they're guilty of being covetous.
They're guilty of just living this luxurious lifestyle, so on and so forth.
But why is covetousness so dangerous?
Well, letter A, because it damages the tranquility of life.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number five, if you would.
Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
God warns the pastor against covetousness, but he also warns the church member against
it.
And look, to show you the severity of this sin, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5 that
someone who is guilty of covetousness merits excommunication from the church.
Think about that.
You know, we often go to 1 Corinthians 5 to prove that drunkards and fornicators are
not allowed to be in the church, right?
But yay, the Bible even says that those who are covetous are not allowed to be in the
church as well.
And that's going to be one of my later points that we're going to explain why.
But why is it so dangerous?
Well, because it damages the tranquility of life, folks.
Look what it says in Ecclesiastes 5, verse number 11.
It says, when goods increase, they are increased that eat them.
It's pretty interesting.
You know, the more possessions you have, the more you're going to worry about what's
going to happen to those possessions.
You know, the nicer vehicle you have, the more worried you're going to be when you
go to sleep at night as to who's going to be going around trying to steal your vehicle.
Look, folks, sometimes I forget to lock my vehicle.
And, you know, I think to myself, well, I mean, if I leave it unlocked and they open
my car, you know, they're probably just going to feel bad for me and just fix my car.
They're like, just throw like a $100 bill in there.
This poor guy, you know what I mean?
Car, the vehicle's not even worth stealing.
You know, but I sleep great at night.
I sleep, thank you for that testimony back there.
It says, when goods increase, they are increased that eat them.
And what good is there to the owners thereof saving the behold of them with their eyes?
I mean, think about people who own yachts, right?
And they have it, you know, in their garage or in front of their garage.
And it's just like, they ride it around like once a year.
But, you know, 300 days out of the year, what are they doing?
Just looking at it.
They just stare at it.
You know, they're just beholding it with their eyes.
Hey, folks, I want to have things that I can use, right?
He says saving the beholding of them with their eyes.
The sleep of the laboring man is sweet.
Oh, man, if I just could have these things, I just would be a lot, you know, I could rest
at night, I could sleep at night.
No, the Bible actually says when you work, you can sleep.
You know, when you actually labor and you work a job, the Bible says at that point,
you can have great sleep.
Why?
Because you're so tired, you just hit the sack like a ton of bricks and you just sleep.
But look what it goes on to say, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the
rich will not suffer him to sleep.
When people are rich, they have all of this great wealth, you know, in the millions, that
doesn't help them to sleep.
Because they're worried, well, man, what's going to happen to it?
Oh, man, my kids are such brats, I can't leave my money to my kids when I die, what's going
to happen?
You know, this happens, folks.
The abundance doesn't give us sleep.
The abundance of riches will actually not allow us to sleep.
We were worried about money.
Oh, man, what's going to happen to all this money that's in the bank?
Who's going to steal it?
You know, who's going to take all these things?
My yacht, my vehicle, it's not going to let you sleep.
Better to just be broke, you know, paying the bills, just kind of make it by, and you
know what, you sleep well because you labor, and your wife loves you, your kids respect
you, you eat beans and rice, you know.
Oh, man, but I want steak every night.
Yeah, but if you have steak every night, first of all, you're not going to appreciate the
finer things in life when it's actually gifted to you, you know what I mean?
But second of all, that kind of life, those things should be treats, should they not?
You know, when you eat lavishly, what happens?
You really don't appreciate it as much.
Whereas you give someone a gift, or someone gifts you something that's a lavish restaurant
or something like that, you know, you're thankful for those things.
And folks, you know, thankfulness and gratitude is the antidote to being covetous.
You got to be thankful for the things that you have, but you can't be thankful for your
always having the lavish lifestyle, right?
It says there, verse 13, there is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches
kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Isn't that interesting?
You know, people think, well, if I can just have this much money, I won't have these problems.
Okay, but look, there's an old song back in the day, and it goes like this, Mo Money, Mo
Problems.
And it's true.
More money you have, the more problems you will see, okay?
You know, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt, but those riches perish by
evil travail, and he begateth the sun, and there is nothing in his hand.
As he came forth out of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and
shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
He's basically saying, look, you're not going to take any of this with you.
You know, why worry about all these finances?
Why try to gain all these riches if you can't even take it with you?
And look, I'm not saying don't be rich.
Don't have money.
What I'm saying is this, don't let money have you.
Make sure you invest it.
Make sure you use it, because at the end of the day, don't be like Tutankhamen, who was
buried with millions and millions of dollars worth of gold and jewels and all these riches,
and guess what?
He didn't take any of it to hell with him.
Now it's in some museum somewhere, just getting old, and people are just beholding it with
their eyes.
See what I'm saying?
Tutankhamen is like, you know, all these pharaoh Egyptians, these wicked people, they're like,
bury me with all these riches, and it's just like, well, you're not going to take it to
hell with you.
You know, and even if you could take it to hell with you, that's the least of your worries.
Okay.
They'll perish.
They'll burn.
Verse 16 says, And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go.
And what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
What is he saying?
You know, the wind basically just blows things away, right?
Just blows money away, blows possessions away.
That's why it's important that, like, you know, when we get riches or wealth or possessions,
that we use it in such a way that we can see it again.
And I don't mean that literal possession you're going to see again, but the investment of
that resource, if you invest in it or if you invested it in spiritual matters, the Bible
says you're going to see that again.
Those things shall lay hold, the Bible says, on eternal life.
You can save your money, right?
And I'm not talking about saving it in a bank account.
I'm talking about, you know, using it in such a way that it could be translated into the
kingdom of God.
It can lay hold on eternal life.
You could be rewarded for the things that you invest in with your resources here in
this world, okay?
But if not, what's going to happen?
Well, you're just laboring for the wind, okay?
Go to Colossians chapter 3.
Colossians chapter 3, if you would.
So, covetousness is dangerous because it damages the tranquility of life.
You know, how many people have you heard of that won the lottery?
And how many happily ever after endings do we hear with those people?
Not one.
There's literally a book written about all the tragedies that come with people who win
the lottery.
They just destroy their lives, okay?
You know, and you put that much money in the hand of a person, oh man, you begin to see
the contents of their heart.
You know, I remember this illustration that I heard years ago where this, I think it was
this wife, this guy's wife, she's playing a prank on her husband.
And she basically got like a fake lottery ticket, you know, and she got it for her husband
and he like scratched it off or whatever and said, you know, you won whatever, like a million
dollars or something.
And he was in the car with her and I think his friend or something, and then he's like,
I won!
He's like, I never liked you in the first place.
He's like, I hate you, I want a divorce, I never liked you, you've always been a jerk
to me.
I mean, all these contents started coming out of his mouth of how he really felt about
these people.
And then his wife is like, it's actually a fake lottery ticket, you know, how stupid
does that guy feel?
But really, you know, trials or an abundance of riches is just like hot water.
I think I shared this with someone the other day.
It's like hot water, is it not?
You know, and a person is like a teabag, okay?
Because once you put that teabag into the hot water, all the hot water does is reveal
the contents of that bag.
So when you go through a trial, you go through a difficulty, don't blame the trial, all it
does is reveal who you really are.
Okay?
And in like manner, the hot water can be compared to riches.
If you gain riches, you know, all that hot water does is reveal who you really are.
The contents of the bag, okay?
But it removes your tranquility.
But not only that, covetousness is dangerous because it removes your focus from off the
eternal.
You know, when you're covetous, you're greedy, you begin to lust after things, it removes
your focus from that which is most important from the eternal.
Look what it says in Colossians 3 verse 1.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, for you're dead and your
life is hidden with Christ and God.
When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
So he's saying, look, there's two things you have to do when you become a Christian.
One, you got to set your affections on things which are above, right, where Christ sitteth
in heaven.
And by doing that, you also have to mortify the deeds of the body, and one of them is
covetousness.
You know, once you get rid of covetousness, you need to reset that affection from the
temporal, the possessions, the wealth of this world, to the eternal.
But when you become covetousness, you're not really focusing on the eternal, okay?
You're focusing on the temporal.
Go to Ephesians chapter 5.
I'm gonna read to you from Psalm 119 verse 36.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
You know, if you have a problem with covetousness, what you need to do is go read the testimonies
of the Lord.
And what are the testimonies of the Lord?
It's the stories that God puts in the Bible that testifies of the lives of those who were
affected by the principles that we see.
So in this regard, you know, look at the lives of the people who were covetous in the Bible
and learn from them.
Incline our hearts unto your testimonies and not to covetousness.
Let her see the reason why covetousness is so dangerous is because it minimizes your
gratitude.
And look, there's nothing worse than an ungrateful person, right?
You know, it's just like, good night.
You're a spoiled little brat.
You know, there's been times, and let's just get real here, okay?
I've had times when literally like, you know, I've invited people to eat.
Not here.
So you're safe.
I've invited people to eat, and we'll go out to eat.
It was like some sort of event.
We'll go out to eat for lunch, and then, you know, we somehow gathered together at dinner.
I said, hey, you're welcome to come with us at dinner.
And we go to this restaurant, and they're like, oh, man, didn't we already eat something
like that earlier?
You know, what in the world?
And I just told the person, well, you don't have to eat.
Oh, no, no, no, that's okay.
That's okay.
Good night.
My mom would have smacked me right in the mouth.
That's ungrateful, especially if someone's treating you how to eat, right?
You know, if someone's treating you, you're like, well, thanks.
I'll take whatever I can get.
If someone's treating, you know what I mean?
Now, if someone invites me to eat, but I'm the one treating, how many of you ever had
something like that happen to you, you know?
Then at that point, I'd be like, nah, that's not what I want to eat, you know what I mean?
But here's the thing is like, that's a lack of gratitude, okay?
And it comes from covetousness.
Ephesians 5, look at verse 1, it says, be therefore followers of God as dear children,
and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us,
and offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour,
but fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you as becometh saints,
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.
So how do you combat covetousness?
Be thankful.
Just be thankful for the things that you have, okay?
So by the way, let me just say this is that not all covetousness in the Bible is wrong,
because often covetousness and like lust, for example, they're used interchangeably,
and their definitions have interchangeable meanings, you know?
When the Bible talks about, you know, whatever thy soul lusteth after,
in that point, it's not talking about some wicked desire, it just says whatever you desire, okay?
You know, you think about what the Bible says,
covet earnestly the best gifts.
That's not a bad covetousness, you know?
It's okay to covet godly character and say,
man, I want this, I want wisdom, I want knowledge, I want, you know, contentment,
I want peace in my life, I want to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord.
That's basically you coveting those things, right?
You know, I remember when missionaries would come to the church, our old church,
they would often say this, we covet your prayers.
It's not a bad thing, you know?
It's basically saying we desire for you to pray for us, right?
So it's a word that has interchangeable definitions based upon the context,
but let's talk about the sinful aspect of covetousness.
Go to 2 Samuel chapter 11, I'm going to give you three examples,
because again, if we want to know what the Bible says about this,
we need to make sure we go to the testimonies of the Lord, the stories.
Obviously, the clear teachings, the clear statements is what we base our doctrine off of,
but these stories basically reinforce those things, right?
We're going to look at three stories tonight in regard to covetousness.
Covetousness is wrong, number one, when you are not supposed to have it at all, okay?
That's when it becomes wrong, when you're just not supposed to have it.
God says no, and you're like, well, that's what I want.
That's what I want, that's what I want, that's what I want,
and God says you're not even supposed to have it at all.
Let me give you an example of the 2 Samuel chapter 11, verse number one.
The story of David here, it says,
In other words, he's saying, hey, David, she's married.
You know, isn't this wrong?
She's married, you desire her, you're inquiring about her.
Verse four, and David sent messengers.
So he just completely ignores this warning, and he's just like,
well, I'm sending messengers over there.
And took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her,
for she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned into her house,
and the woman conceived, and sent, and told David, and said, I am with child.
So this is the famous story of David's adultery with Bathsheba.
Now, how did it start?
He saw, right?
Verse two says he saw a woman washing herself.
Verse three says he inquired after the woman.
Verse four says he sent messengers, and he took her.
And this is the steps that people take into, you know,
allowing the covetousness of their heart manifest itself in their life.
They see, they inquire, they send, and they take, okay?
When you're tempted with some form of covetousness, don't inquire about it.
Don't entertain the pop.
Now, I wonder what it's like to have X, Y, and Z.
Or how can I get it?
You see how you begin to inquire about those things?
And that's the same thing as entertaining those thoughts,
which eventually will manifest itself in your actions and cause you to sin.
Now, here's the thing is that David was already married.
He already had a wife.
This is not something that God was, well, you know, you can have another one.
No, this is sinful, right?
He wasn't supposed to have it at all.
It wasn't right at all.
You know, the Bible says,
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
This isn't a desire that's okay to have.
You know, when you begin to desire another man's wife,
or a wife begins to desire another woman's husband.
Sorry about that.
You know, this is wicked.
At that point, be content with such things as you have.
Well, you know, he looks a little younger.
Yeah, but you know, you're probably as old as he is, your husband, okay?
You've already had that life.
It's time to mature in your love.
It's time to appreciate your husband.
It's time to appreciate your wife and accentuate the good qualities of your spouse.
Not be discontent with how they look or how much weight they've gained
or how ugly they are or whatever.
You know, look, you married them.
So obviously there's a time when you thought they were good looking.
Right?
It's getting kind of quiet in here, man.
I'm gonna preach the Bible.
Hugh obviously was discontent, you know?
He sees a woman, he inquires, he sends, and he takes.
And he sins because of it.
And man, did not David just suffer a lot of consequences because of this whole thing?
I mean, death in the family, just, this is a blotch on his record.
You know, David has a great reputation with the whole world, right?
I mean, every Christian has a great reputation except for this one thing.
Everyone knows about the adultery of Bathsheba.
You know, everyone knows that he killed Uriah, the Hittite.
I mean, he could have easily just bypassed this if he would have just,
if he looked upon her, and we don't know why, how he was able to do that,
or if he did it on purpose, or if it came in an accident.
Regardless of the matter, he should have just said no wicked thing before my nights.
I hate the work of them to turn aside.
It shall not cleave them to me.
You know?
And look, there's stories prior to this.
There were testimonies prior to his life that he could have looked to
to admonish him not to go down this path, okay?
It was something that he should not have had.
Now, how do we apply this to us, you know?
You need to make sure that whatever your desires are,
they're within the confines of God's will, okay?
Like, man, if I could just win the lottery, that's not God's will.
That's not something that God wants you to have.
You know, well, you know, if I could just divorce my spouse,
you know, I want this wife, that's not God's will.
That's not something that God wants you to have.
Okay?
And sometimes people just deceive themselves, you know?
And this happens all the time when it comes to divorce, does it not?
Well, God told me.
I feel like God told me in a dream, you know?
By the way, don't bring that nonsense around me.
I've heard that way too many times.
It's garbage.
Well, you know, guys saw in a dream and a rock hit me in the face
and like it was in the shape of a heart and all this nonsense.
That's garbage.
Use the Bible.
Use reasonable things that take place, but don't use,
well, you know, I dreamt about it and I feel like Jesus was telling me
I need to divorce my spouse.
That is stupid, folks.
You're either on LSD or some other mind-altering drug, you know?
You're on opium or something, where you're hallucinating, seeing these things.
That's not God's will.
And God doesn't make an exception for you.
Covetousness is desiring something that God just does not want you to have at all.
And stop trying to convince yourself and manipulate the Bible's teaching to fit your agenda.
Okay?
You know, we need to make sure that we check this.
Because look, all of us are susceptible even to this sin right here.
When we covet someone else's spouse, you say, well, what can I do to combat this?
Well, what can I do to combat this?
Appreciate that which you have.
Appreciate your spouse.
And stop thinking you're all that and a bag of chips.
You know?
And look, I don't have a whole lot of experience in this, but you know what?
I've been around men who have tons of experience and I'm gleaning wisdom from their life.
What they've specifically said, you know, I remember my father-in-law telling me,
sometimes, Bruce, people, husbands, you know, they have a lot of children with their wife.
And then, you know, the wife begins to gain a little bit of weight.
They get a little chubby and it's just like, you know,
oh, they don't look like the way they used to.
Yeah, because they had like five kids.
You know?
And, you know, you're not the one bearing children.
You're not the one who's laboring and holding that child for nine months.
And all of a sudden you expect perfection from your spouse
even though they're bearing your children, right?
It's wicked.
It's nonsensical.
You need to appreciate that what you have.
And don't, and I'm not saying like appreciate it drudgingly or grudgingly.
It's just like, ah, thank you for being my wife.
You know, thanks for being my husband or whatever.
Hey, this is what you do, okay?
Get a jar, and you're right.
You spend 30 minutes writing down all the things that you appreciate about your spouse, right?
Just sit down and think for a while.
You know, that thing better be, it better not be like two things.
Just like, I spent 30 minutes.
I mean, it's just like, this is all I can come up with here.
Spend 30 minutes or however long thinking about all the things you appreciate about your spouse.
Okay, and look, one good way to have gratitude towards your spouse is just picture life without them, right?
Like, what if tomorrow you just no longer had your spouse?
I hope no one in here is just like, yeah, that's like, that's a dream come true or something.
That's wicked.
Hey, it would be heartbreaking, right?
You know, to just not have your spouse there tomorrow, you know, they're just gone.
That would devastate you.
That would devastate me.
I'd be devastated if I no longer had my wife tomorrow.
And you know what?
I'd probably think, man, I should have appreciated her more.
Okay, so that will help you to kind of come back to reality and not live in this fantasy world
where you covet another person's spouse because you're, you know, you're just entertaining this thought in your heart, okay?
It's not something that God wants for you.
Don't covet it because it's not what God wants for your life.
So we see that with David.
He saw, he inquired, he sent, and he took, and he suffered the consequences because of it.
He suffered harsh consequences because of his covetousness.
So go to Joshua chapter 7.
Talk about types of covetousness here and the destructive nature of covetous.
You know, David experienced that destructive nature when he took Bathsheba.
I mean, his firstborn, Solomon, died, born with Bathsheba.
You know, she died, and then his other two sons died, and he just had this blotch in his record because of this one pet sin that he had of covetousness.
So number one, covetousness is wrong when you are not supposed to have it at all.
But number two, covetousness is wrong when you are not supposed to have it right now, okay?
When you're not supposed to have it right now.
Look at Joshua chapter 7 verse number 19.
This is the story of the children of Israel going into the promised land.
And of course, God commissions his people and says, hey, you need to take over these cities.
This is the promised land.
This is your land, but you have to make sure that you put in the effort to conquer these cities, destroy these people,
and you can basically inherit houses that you did not build, vineyards that you did not plant, you know, wells that you did not dig.
But he said this, the first city, though, everything that you find in this city belongs to me.
Don't touch the spoils.
You know, that belongs to me.
You know, they go to Jericho, and look, there's all types of riches.
There's Nike outfits.
There's, you know, Air Force Ones.
Do they even have those anymore?
You know, Air Force Ones.
There's all kinds of expensive clothing, and they're instructed and said, hey, don't touch anything.
All this is for the Lord, and anybody who touches it will be a curse, okay?
Joshua 7 20 says, in Joshua 19, excuse me, Joshua said unto Achan, my son, give I pray the glory to the Lord of God of Israel,
and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done, hiding out from me.
Now, what is he talking about?
Well, Achan, he goes into Jericho, and, you know, they're taking care of business, and he sees this Babylonianish garment.
There's silver.
There's all kinds of riches, and he's like, he looks left.
He looks right, but he forgot to look up, and he takes it.
Now, here's the funny thing about this, okay?
The funny thing is he takes it to his tent and hides it under the earth.
So it's just like, oh, man, this is a great, you know, clothing and all, but he's not even using it.
It's like he's only, he doesn't even get to behold it with his eyes.
He takes it, and then he hides it.
You know, clothes is for wearing.
Silver and gold is for purchasing, right?
So he hides it, and what happens?
God begins to judge Israel because of that sin, and, you know, they go fight at Ai.
They're completely just demolished.
You know, Joshua's beside himself, and he's just like, why, God, have you allowed this?
And God just tells him, get up.
There's an accursed thing in the camp.
Israel has sinned against me.
Go take care of it.
So he goes, and through divine revelation, he finds out it's Achan.
He's the one who brought the accursed thing into the camp, and this is where we find ourselves.
Verse 20 says,
And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel,
and thus and thus have I done.
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge
of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them.
And behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it.
So what do we see here?
Verse 21.
I saw, I coveted, I took.
It all begins with the eyes, does it not?
He beheld it, he wanted it, and he took it.
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran out unto the tent to behold.
It was hid in his tent and the silver under it.
And he took them out out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and
unto all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord.
And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver in the garments
and the wedge of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his
sheep and his tent and all that he had.
And they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us?
The Lord shall trouble thee this day.
And all Israel stoned them with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned
them with stones.
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day.
So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger, wherefore the name of that place
was called the valley of Achor unto this day.
Man, what a sad story.
Because it's not only him who suffers the consequences, his family suffered as well.
And you know what?
The biblical application for the New Testament is this.
When you covet something and you take it, it affects your family as well.
They suffer the consequences of your actions, just like Achan did.
Okay, go to 1 Timothy chapter six, if you would.
1 Timothy chapter six.
You say, Well, what does it have to do with the point, though?
You said, you know, covetous is wrong here when God doesn't want you to have it now.
Well, because of the fact that a couple of chapters after when they overcome a city,
God tells them, All right, take all you want.
Now it's time to take the spoils.
Get your Babylonian garment, get the gold, get the silvers, get the oxen and the sheep,
get whatever you want.
These are your spoils.
So if Achan would have just waited just for a little bit,
his desire would have been fulfilled appropriately.
You understand?
And you know what?
God sanctioned it.
He would have been like, Go for it.
You know, he could do it guilt-free, right?
Whereas initially he had to take it.
He coveted.
He had to hide it.
Didn't even get to enjoy it.
He suffered the consequences, and so did his family.
So God wasn't saying they couldn't have it at all.
He was just saying, You just can't have it now.
You have to wait.
Now, this is very applicable for young single men, is it not?
Because young single men, if you are normal, okay,
you know, most of them want to get married.
Now, I understand there's some that maybe don't want
to get married or they don't have the desire,
and that's obviously a different category of people.
They feel like, you know, they're not burning.
They don't have the desire to really marry right now,
or they want to wait, and they can control themselves.
But the vast majority of young men are not like that.
They want to get married.
Amen?
All right, a little queers are on here, right?
You know, they want to get married.
They want to have a wife.
They want to have children, okay?
And that is completely normal.
That is sanctioned by God, okay?
They want a physical relationship with a woman,
and that's okay within the confines of marriage.
That's something that God sanctions, right?
But you know what?
Some people, some young men like Aiken,
they can't hold it very long, and what happens?
They basically carry out what he did in Jericho.
They commit fornication.
They go around, and they go sleep around,
and just defile their bodies because they just need it now.
Whereas if they just would have waited a little bit,
you know, gained some godliness, served the Lord,
God could have brought someone their way.
They could have gotten married,
and they could have enjoyed that physical relationship
with their spouse in a manner that God is pleased with.
Guilt-free, right?
Because that's something that God sanctions,
and in fact, in Hebrews chapter 13, it says,
the bed is undefiled, it's honorable.
Marriage is honorable in all things,
and the bed undefiled.
God's basically saying it's okay within the confines of marriage,
but some people, some young men,
they're like Aiken and was like,
why I want it now?
Okay then, it becomes covetousness, and that's wrong.
Because eventually, look, they lust in their heart,
or they're covetous in their heart,
but because they don't check it,
it manifests itself in finding a girlfriend,
or finding a relationship, fornicating,
and just really destroying their lives, okay?
It's a sad thing.
Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6.
Verse 6, it says,
but godliness with contentment is great gain,
for we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.
It says in verse 9,
but they that will be rich fall into temptation,
and a snare into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Can't that be said of Aiken?
He was drowned in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil,
which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
What a sad story for Aiken.
You know, and young men, hey, do it right.
And look, I know the vast,
probably the vast majority of the church
doesn't agree with me on this point,
but I don't care.
You know, if you're dating,
I recommend that you don't kiss.
I recommend that you don't even hold hands.
Oh man, is this like an old IFP thing or something?
It's just like old IFP?
Well, I thought the Bible says it's good for a man
not to touch a woman.
Well, that's referring to like fornication and stuff.
It's good for, no, it just says to touch a woman.
Kissing is touching, holding hands is touching.
And look, if you're married
and you've already done those things,
prior to marriage, I'm not talking about you.
Because hey, now you have the chance
to teach that to your kids, amen.
That's great, okay.
You say, why do you have such a strict standard?
Well, because those things ultimately lead
to fornication at one point or another.
And look, men respect the women in our church too.
Don't try to coerce them into kissing you
and holding your hands and necking and petting.
You know, and if they're like,
well, I don't find anything wrong with that.
You know, I think it's just completely normal.
Well, then you know what, then be like Aiken then.
Be like Aiken.
Obviously, you're ignoring the testimonies of the Lord, okay.
And look, this is something you find pretty commonly
in churches sometimes, okay.
And again, I'm not talking to those of you
who maybe have been involved in it
and suffer the consequences of that.
I'm talking to the men who have not been married yet.
I'm talking to the young ladies
who have not been married yet, okay.
You know, why not go to the altar
with a clear conscience?
I wanna touch her now.
Well, maybe God doesn't want you to touch her now.
And by the way, you know, it's okay for you
to want to touch her, right?
Because you're a man.
You know, I think there'd be a problem
if you did not want to.
You know, that's a major problem, okay.
You know, I think it was my father-in-law who said like,
you know, if you wanna touch her,
you know, gotta get married.
If you don't wanna touch her,
then you got bigger problems.
So you need to get out, you know what I mean?
He's like, you little queer.
But it's true, okay, it's normal.
That's not unusual.
This is normal, right?
The problem is when you can't restrain yourself, okay.
And look, I'm telling you, once the next city comes
and God says it's okay, you're very thankful
that you never took the spoils in Jericho.
I promise you.
You'd be like, man, I'm glad I didn't go
for some hoochie mama out there,
some loose, you know, whore, some slut out there
who would have probably just destroyed my life, okay.
Do it the way God wants you to do it.
So covetousness is wrong
when you're not supposed to have it at all.
Number two, when you're not supposed to have it now, okay.
And then lastly, number three,
covetousness is wrong when you obtain it by sinful means, okay.
Go to Genesis chapter three, Genesis chapter three.
So do you notice a pattern with all these people,
these testimonies, they saw, they coveted,
they inquire, and ultimately they took.
So it kind of shows you, hey, you got to be careful
what you put through your eye gate
and through your ear gate, right?
You got to be careful what you look upon
because once you look upon it,
your brain will always remember it.
And if it's already there, okay, then the next step,
biblically speaking, is to cast down imaginations
and every high thing that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God.
Now put that away and ask God to help you
to just think right, think on those things
which are lovely, amen.
Now here's the last point here,
is that when you obtain it by sinful means,
covetousness is wicked.
What do I mean by that?
Well, look at verse number one of Genesis three,
it says, now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, yea hath God said,
ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
but of the fruit of the tree,
which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall you touch it, lest ye die.
Obviously she's exaggerating, right?
She's adding to the word of God.
And the serpent said unto the woman,
ye shall not surely die, for God doth know
that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened,
and he shall be as God's, knowing good and evil.
Now at this point, Eve should have been like,
forget you, man, Adam!
You know, just like, come help me,
this freaking snake is talking to me.
Why, why, I ate some of those mushrooms over there.
No, I'm just kidding.
She's going back and forth with Satan.
And he's the most subtle beast of the field, okay?
Verse five is where it should have ended.
I mean, we could be living like kings, actually,
right now, you know?
But then verse six.
So he tells her this, verse six says,
and when the woman, what does it say?
Saw that the tree was good for food.
It's like, hmm, what was the fruit
that I was talking about?
Brother Abra, what's the fruit called?
Durang, yeah, durang.
How many know what durang is?
How many of you like durang?
Okay, only for the Chevy.
Durang is the stinkiest fruit you'll ever find in your,
it smells like garbage, okay?
And supposedly it tastes good.
I think it tastes pretty good,
through like a shake version of it.
But it stinks to high heaven, okay?
It has a horrible stench.
So think about this, this is like durang, okay?
We'll just make sure, we'll make believe
that this is like durang.
You know, originally, probably she'd never even thought
about eating that, but because she looked upon it,
and because he appealed to her desire,
she looks upon it, and what does it say?
And when the woman saw the tree that was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
that doesn't look that bad.
And a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took the fruit thereof.
So what do we see?
She saw, it was pleasant, she desired it, and she took it.
Now here's the worst part,
because Eve has actually worse than Aiken and David.
Why is that?
Thank you, Adam.
Of course, Adam has to say it.
Now why is she worse than the other two?
Look what it goes on to say.
Because the other ones is like,
well, they saw the desire they took,
and they suffered the consequences, right?
But here it says she took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her,
and he did eat.
So she actually willingly took that fruit and say,
eat this too.
I'm not gonna be the only one who's damned here.
You gotta come with me kind of thing, right?
But we see the same pattern taking place here, do we not?
They see the desire they take,
and here we see that she actually gives.
And here's the thing.
Obviously, it probably wasn't the actual fruit
that was appealing.
It was the thought that if she eats of the fruit,
she'll have knowledge.
And let me ask you something.
Is knowledge bad?
No.
She chose the fruit over God, though,
because God is actually the source of all knowledge.
Far greater knowledge than whatever fruit gave,
this tree of knowledge of good and evil.
She could have had just perfect knowledge.
Look, folks.
This is when God would walk in the midst of the garden
in the cool of the day.
You would come that can fellowship with him,
ask him questions,
just get to the source of all knowledge.
It wasn't the knowledge that was bad.
It's the fact that she got it by unrighteous means.
Through sinful means, okay?
That's when it became wicked.
You don't have to turn there.
Michael 2 2 says,
And they coveted fields, and take them by violence,
and houses, and take them away,
so they oppress a man and his house,
even a man and his heritage.
I'm going to skip some verses here.
Habakkuk 2 9 says,
Woe to him that coveteth in evil covetousness to his house,
that he may set his nest on high,
that he may be delivered from the power of evil.
Now go to 1 Corinthians 5.
1 Corinthians 5.
This will be one of the last verses we go to.
So this is pretty bad.
You know, when it's not bad to get knowledge,
it's bad when you get it by unrighteous means.
It's not bad to desire something,
but it's bad when you want to get it by unrighteous means.
It's not bad to make money.
It's bad when you get it by unrighteous means.
Right?
You know, it's not bad to have possessions,
but it is bad when you get it by unrighteous means.
Okay?
Now I want to talk about this briefly.
We're not doing church discipline tonight,
so don't worry about it.
But I want to talk about,
when does someone merit excommunication
when it comes to covetousness?
Let's read 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 9.
It says,
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators,
yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world,
or with the covetous,
or with extortioners or idolaters,
for then must he needs go out of the world.
But now I've written unto you not to keep company
if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator,
or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard,
or an extortioner,
was such in one know not to eat.
So we see here that if someone is covetous in the church,
according to the Bible, we shouldn't even eat with them.
We should withdraw ourselves from them.
And in fact, we withdraw them from the local assembly, right?
But here's the thing.
All of us, to a certain extent,
are guilty of covetousness in our hearts.
We sometimes desire things that we should not.
So when does someone merit excommunication from the church
when they covet?
Oh, how do we know that?
Well, it goes back to the original verse
that we went to in Hebrews chapter 13.
Let your conversation be without covetousness.
See, the conversation is the behavior.
And when you begin to exert behavior
within the local assembly,
where you're trying to make money by unrighteous means,
at that point, you're under investigation
to be thrown out of the church.
You know, when you seek to come in here
and make merchandise, right, off of people,
or turn the house of God into a house of merchandise,
at that point, you merit excommunication.
It's the same thing with fornication, right?
Sexual sins, you know, you're not thrown out of a church
for lusting in your heart,
but you are thrown out of a church
if you're involved in physical relationship
with another individual, you know,
whether it's fornication or adultery, okay?
It's the actual act itself.
So it's not necessarily the sin of the heart.
It's when the sin of the heart actually manifests itself
outwardly within our church, okay?
When your conversation begins to exert covetousness
and greed, I start hearing that you're passing around
a pyramid scheme kind of thing.
When you see the church as an opportunity to make money
by getting someone involved in a specific scheme of yours,
at that point, you qualify for excommunication.
Now, obviously, if you're involved in that,
I give everyone the benefit of the doubt
and I confront the person, I say,
hey, were you doing X, Y, and Z?
And if they say yes, and I say, okay,
you actually may have been thrown out of the church,
you have an option.
Either you go to every individual
and you just say, we're not doing this anymore,
and you just repent of it,
or if you choose not to do it,
then you've got to leave the assembly of God.
You can't be here anymore
because we don't tolerate covetousness in this house, okay?
And unfortunately, you know, a lot of churches,
and I'm referring a lot to just independent
fundamental Baptist churches,
this happens all the time in church,
where people are selling stuff in church,
they're making merchandise off of people,
Avon or whatever, you know,
all these different pyramid schemes are going on,
you know, the rainbow vacuum,
how many of you guys remember the rainbow vacuum?
Who knows what the rainbow vacuum is?
Okay, how many of you bought a rainbow vacuum?
How many of you still pay for that rainbow vacuum?
What's that knife?
You guys remember that knife, those knives?
Cutco, were you a Cutco person?
All right, he was guilty of that.
Somehow, these pyramid schemes have a tendency
to like infiltrate churches,
but I remember hearing about, you know,
the whole rainbow vacuum,
and people making money off of other individuals in the church,
and then these people would go into debt,
and they're stuck with this stupid vacuum,
this magical vacuum,
I mean, the name alone should just cause you to be like,
you know, aware and say,
man, it's called a freaking rainbow vacuum.
It's a queer vacuum.
But you see it, back in the day, back in the day,
it was Avon, okay?
It was, I can't remember that one company
that went out of business.
What is it?
Amway.
Herbalife.
No, that's for the Spanish ministries.
Herbalife for the Spanish ministries, okay?
Back in those days, but within recent decades,
within the last decade, it was the rainbow vacuum.
It was Cutco, you know, where people were like,
can I invite you over to my house?
So I can show you how I can cut, you know,
the house with this knife here, you know?
And then it's just like, you know,
buy this rainbow vacuum, you know,
and if you can get seven other people
to show them the demonstration,
you can pay for it, you can pay it off like that.
And then they're like, oh great,
and then they get involved in it,
but they're not good salesmen,
and so they're stuck with this stupid vacuum, you know?
And they get bitter, they get angry,
they get upset with the people.
It's a spirit, it's an atmosphere of covetousness, okay?
And this isn't right, folks.
You know, this house shall be called a house of prayer.
Now look, I'm not saying that if you're like
a business owner, and you want to give a person
in our church an opportunity to work for you,
and you say, hey, you can work for me if you'd like.
You know, obviously, if there's other events
that take place within that relationship,
where you're not paying your employer or whatever,
at that point, yeah, there is a merit there
for excommunication, because the Bible actually forbids that.
But, you know, trying to sell things in the church,
do these pyramid schemes, that's covetousness.
Your conversation is not without covetousness, okay?
You obviously have covetousness.
You're not content with such things as you have.
And look, this happens all the time.
People often see church as an opportunity, you know?
You know, I've heard of churches, literally,
where the pastor allows an insurance guy to come up
to sell insurance behind the pulpit.
It happens all the time.
I've seen that.
And look, we get on the English churches a lot,
but this is, like, doubly for Spanish ministries.
And I know, because I was in that Spanish ministry world.
I hear it's back there.
You know, that's brother Ulysses,
who used to be in the Spanish ministry as well.
Hey, you just told me a story the other day
that I'm actually going to talk about here.
I'll finish with this, okay?
You guys, who remembers Jack?
Raise your hand if you remember Jack.
You know, yeah, you remember Jack, right?
You know, Jack was Ulysses' old pastor.
How many remember him?
And he had, like, these secret meetings about me
at his church and told his people,
don't listen to him, don't go to his church,
and I can't believe you guys went.
He just blew up on his church members.
Well, years ago, when we used to be friends,
he actually told my pastor, my father-in-law,
and my brother-in-law, you know,
because we wondered, like, why aren't you full time?
You know, church is fairly big,
why don't you go full time?
And he says, well, all the money that comes into the church,
I actually, you know, just use it to support
the missionaries that we have.
And if you look on the board,
it's just like a slew of missionaries.
It's a lot of missionaries, okay?
And we're like, well, you know, my father-in-law,
so I don't agree with that.
You know, I think the pastor should be getting paid
before any missionary gets paid,
but you know, that's your prerogative,
and that's what you want to do.
Then this whole controversy happened
where he kind of turned against us and said,
if you don't believe the Jews are God's chosen people,
you lost your salvation.
Saying all manner of wickedness,
he hates my guts or whatever.
And then, you know, your brother, Ulysses,
was telling me about a missionary who came
and he kind of made a comment about,
hey, can you guys support me?
But he was one of the missionaries on the board.
Come to find out, he wasn't supporting
many of those missionaries on that board.
He said, what was he doing with the money?
What do you think?
He's aching it.
That's what he's doing.
He's grabbing that money and sticking it
right into his pocket.
All those shekels of gold and shekels of silver,
the guy's wicked.
You know, he's covetous, he's wicked, he's greedy,
and he's a liar.
And all these people are like,
so old, this guy's so honorable.
He's not even willing to pay himself
because he's paying off the missionaries.
Missionaries is like, man, they haven't given us a cent.
Liar, wicked, evil person.
So what's the solution to covetousness?
The solution is that we just got to learn contentment
and be thankful for the things that we have.
Okay.
And if you find yourself having a disposition
of covetousness, then check yourself.
And say, man, I just need to appreciate my spouse.
I need to appreciate the home that we live in.
You know, I need to appreciate the state that I'm in.
You know, I need to appreciate the things that I have,
the possessions that I own,
the things that God has given to me.
I just need to appreciate what I have.
And that gratitude and that appreciation
will help to dissipate the covetous, greedy attitude
that can take over and destroy your life.
Amen.
Inspire your heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Lord, help us, Lord, me included, to make sure we check ourselves
when our heart begins to grow covetous over the things of this world.
Help us to be content in whatsoever state we're in.
To learn contentment, whether we're abased or whether we abound.
Help us to always just be grateful for what we have.
And Lord, I pray, Father God, that you'd help us as a church
to steer clear of this matter of covetousness.
Help me to have a pulse on the church for when things take place
or maybe someone's trying to make merchandise in the church,
that they're quickly exposed and we can remove that leaven from the church.
And thank you so much for all that you've given to us, Lord.
All the gifts, every good gift and every perfect gift
comes from above from the Father of lights.
And we're so thankful for all that you do.
We love you so much and we thank you.
Pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Song number 465, the 90th night.
This may be a new song for some of you,
but I think you guys will be able to get the hang of it.
Song number 465, on that first.
There were nines and nines that safely lay in the shelter of the fold.
But what was out on the hills away, far off from the gates of gold?
Away on the mountains wild and bare, away from the tender shepherd's care.
Away from the tender shepherd's care.
For thou hast here thy mighty mind, a thing I love for thee.
But the shepherd may answer, this of mine has wandered away from me.
And although the road be rutted and steep, I go to the desert to find my sheep.
I go to the desert to find my sheep.
But none of the ransomed ever knew how deep the waters crossed.
For how dark was the night that the Lord passed through,
e'er he found his sheep that was lost.
The desert who heard its cry, twas sick and helpless and ready to die.
The winds of those blood drops on the way, that mark up the mountain's track.
In the shed for one who had gone astray, in the shed for bring him back.
The winds of a hand so rent and torn, and pierced to night by many a thorn,
were pierced to night by many a thorn.
But all through the mountain's thunder, riven, and up from the rocky steve,
there arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven, Rejoice, I have found my sheep.
And the angels that go around the throne, Rejoice, the Lord brings back his own.
Rejoice, the Lord brings back his own.
Amen. Wonderful scene. You are dismissed.