Alright, who would turn your Bibles to Hebrews 13?
Hebrews 13, if you don't have a Bible, it should be one that's sitting in front of you.
Hebrews 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.
The church is honorable 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 divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the
heart 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 sacrifices of the praise to God continually, that this
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, for 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 in all things willing to live honestly, but
I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now to God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the 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-preleasing in His sight, though through
Jesus Christ, Whom be the glory forever and ever, Amen.
And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter
unto you in a few words.
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty with whom, if ye come shortly, I will
see you.
Salute all of them that have the rule over you, and all the saints, they of Italy, salute
you.
Grace be with you all, Amen.
Brother Bill, please pray for us.
Amen.
We're in Hebrews chapter 13, let's look down at verse number 5, the Bible says, "Let your
conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have, for
He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
The title of my sermon tonight is A Lifestyle Without Covetousness, A Lifestyle Without
Covetousness, and where I get that title is, is the first line there where it says let
your conversation be without covetousness, and conversation means lifestyle or the way
or manner in which you live your life, and so this is what the apostle Paul is saying
that this is how we should be, "For He said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
And to me, that's kind of a puzzling thing to say, and I'll explain that later as we
get through the sermon here, but to me, when you just take that at face value, it's like,
well, what would that have to do with us being covetous, you know, because who's the he there?
It's talking about God, right?
God will never leave us nor forsake us, Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, so what
does that have to do with us being covetous?
Well, just kind of think about that, you know, just kind of shelf that for now, and we'll
move on with the sermon.
So, but look what it says in verse number four though, it says, marriage is honorable
in all and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
Then he says, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things
as you have for he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
So what he's springboarding off that passage right there about marriage being honorable
and all things and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers or adulterers, God will judge.
Because that is what being covetous is, is if you're married and you're committing adultery,
that means you're coveting somebody else's wife.
And if you're a whoremonger, then you are unmarried and you're fornicating with a bunch
of women that are whores, right?
Or you're married and you're going after a bunch of women that are whores, and so you're
a whoremonger.
So why mention this?
Well, because someone that's a whoremonger is not satisfied with just waiting for the
one woman that they should be waiting for if you're not married, men, and you're not
waiting for a woman that lawfully belongs to you, because what coveting is, is wanting
something that belongs to somebody else.
So if you're not married, then you're wanting something that doesn't belong to you, or lawfully
does not belong to you.
Because if you're wanting a woman that you're not married to, does that woman belong to
you?
No, they don't.
So that means that you, if you're a whoremonger, then you're actually taking something that
doesn't belong to you, right?
And so a whoremonger or a monger, just the word monger, you know, it has a negative connotation
in our current language.
But in reality, here's what it means.
In slang today, monger is used as a suffix to describe someone who promotes or spreads
something, often something petty, disreputable, or undesirable.
It is used in combinations like gossip monger or rumor monger, I'm sure you've heard rumor
monger, to denote someone who spreads gossip or rumors, or war monger, I'm sure you've
heard that before.
There are real, you know, the president's a real war monger, you know, for someone who
promotes war, while its original meaning referred to a trader or dealer, like a fish monger,
someone that is just, you know, deals in selling fish at a market as a fish monger.
So it's modern slang, though, is mostly or almost always derogatory.
So but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's just someone that, you know, if you're a fish
monger, that's basically what you're dealing is in fish, right?
But a whoremonger is dealing in whores, right?
I mean, they're just heaping whores of themselves.
And so that's why they're called a whoremonger.
And obviously, this is talking about men, because a man is a whoremonger, and women
are the whores, right?
And whore has become a very, you know, bad word in our society, apparently.
And I noticed that I was actually I was chatting in some kind of a chat the other day.
And I typed that word in, and when I pushed enter, it said you're in danger of being banned
from this site forever, because I typed that, because I think I was just using biblical
words like these biblical words, and I said whore, piss, damn, bastard, hell, or something
like that.
But I'm pretty sure that the one that really got me was saying whore.
Because if you say whore or harlot, like people flip out today.
It is kind of like using the N-word or something, but with women.
And you know, women are allowed to just be loose and whatever in society, and that used
to be not a good thing.
Like an unmarried woman that just went around sleeping with a whole bunch of men, it was
just very frowned upon.
But today, I mean today it is frowned upon, it's frowned upon for men to do it too.
But let's talk about context though.
It's not talking about women in this passage, is it?
It's talking about men, but in order for a man to be a whoremonger, there must be whores
in order for them to be the whoremonger, right?
But whores and whoremongers are equally bad, aren't they?
So look at verse 5 again, it says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as you have."
So if you're single, be content being single until you've actually lawfully married a wife.
If you're single you should remain a virgin until you get married and marry the right
one and then get married and then partake in that relationship.
And it says, "For he has said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.'"
If you're married, you are supposed to stay with your spouse and only, you've made vows
to cleave only unto them so long as you both shall live and that's the vow that you made.
And you're supposed to stick to that vow and be content with the spouse that you have.
We make thumbnails for our videos and this morning there was a little mix up, it was
my fault actually, I sent the wrong passage to be read in the wrong order.
And so I just flipped what sermon I was going to preach just because the context matters.
But I said you should use that meme where the guy and the girl are walking down the
street, you know what I'm talking about?
And then the guy is looking back at the girl that's walking past him and you can use that
meme for a lot of different things.
But it's perfect for this sermon, right?
Because that's the context that you should be content with such things as you have and
he's like rubbernecking with this girl walking down the street, do you know what meme I'm
talking about?
If you speak meme, you understand the language which I'm speaking.
But this is one of the Ten Commandments and coveting is something that sometimes can't
be openly seen.
It's sometimes just the sin of the heart and it's a sin that can take place that leads
to other worse sins.
It can lead to really horrific sins because coveting in itself is a lot of times a sin
of the heart.
Again, that people cannot see, let's turn to Exodus Chapter 20 where God puts forth
the Ten Commandments and it's actually the last of the Ten Commandments because half
the Ten Commandments relate to how you deal with God and the other half of the Ten Commandments
relate to how you deal with your fellow man.
So you love God above all things and you love your neighbor as yourself.
So the second half of the Ten Commandments are about loving your neighbor and how you
treat your neighbor and the first half are about how you deal with God.
Of course God is number one so he puts the first five that you deal with with God and
then of course, but they are all of course commandments that are the top ten.
You know they are the top ten commandments.
Look at verse 17, the Bible says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house."
So it just starts off right off the bat, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, not his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor."
So notice what it's telling us though.
When you're coveting, it's something that belongs to somebody else.
See how it's saying it's somebody else's something?
It's something that belongs to somebody else.
It's not, it's, you know, and people really get weird about certain things.
They're like, they're not, they're not content with the things that they have.
They want what somebody else has.
It's a very weird sin and, but it's something that people do get wrapped up with.
It's something that people do get caught up with.
You know, they have that saying, you know, they want to keep up with the Joneses, you
know, where certain neighbors start seeing what other neighbors do.
They'll copy the kind of car they get, or they'll copy the kind of yard that they have,
or they'll paint their house the same color.
And they just want to keep up with all the little gadgets and all the little, you know,
they get a boat.
They get jet skis.
I'm going to get jet skis.
And it's called keeping up with the Joneses, but really it's just being covetous.
It's like, Hey, how come we don't have those things?
And you know, it can get weird where, um, you know, you're trying to keep up with other
people and thinking about what other people have, like if you're thinking about what other
people have all the time, you're kind of on a wrong track in your mind.
Your heart's not in a right place because you're thinking about all these other things
that other people have and your mind's not on what you're doing with your spouse and
your family or your life and your situation, you're thinking about your neighbor.
You're thinking about what they have and this is what the sin is.
It's coveting something that belongs to somebody else.
And so being covetous is a specific sin that we are helped to understand by Hebrews 13
by it's saying be content with, which is saying be satisfied with that which belongs to you.
And it is a major sin because it's one of the Ten Commandments.
It's something that would get you kicked out of church if you have this overly covetous
attitude or you desire or covet property or people that belong to someone else.
So notice in Exodus 2017 it says that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
So it belongs to them.
And covet thy neighbor's wife.
And look, the Bible teaches even in 1 Corinthians 7 that you belong to each other when it comes
to your bodies.
You have to have special permission to just give up your bedroom life for a time or for
a season or whatever it is, but your bodies belong to each other is what the Bible teaches
in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
That your wife belongs to you, so somebody else shouldn't be trying to get with your
wife.
So, I would just say this, because you think about how could you really kick somebody out
for being covetous?
What would something be done?
How would you kick somebody out for that?
Well, how about somebody sending love letters to somebody else's wife in church?
I mean, that kind of stuff happens or someone's trying to make the moves on somebody else's
spouse and it's found out and it's proven.
See ya.
I would throw somebody out for that because you're trying to make, you're trying to covet
somebody else's wife.
That's what, I mean, that's what coveting is.
You know, obviously if they didn't repent and they didn't get it right, then they'd
be gone because that's a really wicked sin to do.
So just, that's just one specific example.
Now let's turn over to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12 verse 13.
This is a, I always preach this type of a sermon before we really hit the holidays because
this is the time when all the ads start coming in your mailbox, you know, of all the Chinese
junk and all the stuff that you don't need that starts coming into your mailbox and you
know, the Chinese electronics that you already have, you know, the newest thing of, and they
just want to, you know, get the newest cell phone.
It's like, well, you know, can you go without getting a new cell phone for like two or
three years, or do you have to get the newest model every single year and then put yourself
back into debt, you know, trying to get the newest one?
Well, this one has even more AI technology.
Well, is that what you really need?
Because, I mean, they're selling AI toys now and they're trying to sell AI Barbies about
to come out here pretty soon, but they just, they just put one on the shelf.
They just took one off the shelf, excuse me, where it's some teddy bear or something they're
selling to little children.
And that teddy bear was telling them how to do BDSM and all kinds of stuff and where to
get the knife in the house.
Okay.
Is that what you want to buy for your kids for Christmas?
AI, where they can just, that AI doll can tell your kids and interact with them by themselves
and tell them where the kitchen knives are at?
I don't want that being told to my kids or grandkids, do you?
No.
I mean, the last thing we need is to have that kind of technology in our children's
hands.
They've already failed the AI test multiple times.
I think there was a kid, I don't know if he killed himself or that he was being told
to kill himself.
I think he might've actually killed himself and he's suing.
Did he kill himself?
Yeah, he's suing, I'm not sure which company it is.
Yeah, his parents are suing because he killed himself because the AI told him to kill himself
and talked him into it.
It's like, why would you give your children unfettered access to AI devices?
And you know, AI is just, it'll tell you anything you want to hear.
Really?
It told him how to make a...
O'Shaunt said it told him how to make a better news so that he could do it, kill himself
better or whatever, or un-alive himself, is that what I'm supposed to say?
Anyway, I mean, look, this is the time of year when they're trying to sell everything.
And look, as parents, we need to be smart about what we get our children.
I remember when I worked at Walmart, when I first started working at Walmart, I started
as a temp and I worked someplace else at the same time, but I just started as a seasonal
toys employee, just part-time while I was working at a different job at the same time.
And so my job was to put toys away, but the ones that were broken or ones that got recalled,
I had to take to the back and take them to the claims department.
And I saw this article where one of the Chinese, it was a Chinese made toy, which most of the
stuff that Walmart gets is made in China.
And it was like a nursery toy that you hang in a crib, right?
And when you listen to it closely, you could hear it said very clearly, "I hate you."
But you had to like listen really closely.
So it's playing music and I was like, "This isn't real."
And it was one of the recalled ones and I took it to the back and I listened.
I put it right up to my ear and it really did say it.
I was just like, "Wow, that's wild."
So somebody, I mean, how does that happen on accident really?
So I mean, that was before AI was even, I mean, this is a long time ago.
This was like, I don't know, 25 years ago or something, 24 years ago.
So if they're already trying to tell kids that they hate them through their little toys
then, I mean, what do you think that AI is trying to do to your kids now?
So yeah, they were going to come out with the Barbies this year.
I don't know if they still are planning on doing it or not, but is that what you want
your kids playing with, interactive AI Barbie dolls?
So I'm just saying that they're trying to sell us a bunch of stuff that we don't need.
And look, I'm not saying don't buy Christmas presents.
Obviously, I buy Christmas presents, but it can just get out of control.
You know, you can max up all your cards and then just because you feel bad because I want
to get all this stuff for everybody.
And that's kind of the, the hook, you know, buy all this stuff, buy all this stuff.
And it's just like, we're bombarded with all these ads and your phone is listening
to you and you're talking about something.
Sometimes you're just thinking about something, all of a sudden an ad pops up on your phone.
How's that work?
And it kind of seems like it happens sometimes.
I'm just saying, anyway, yeah, whatever.
But I had to turn to Luke chapter 12, I'll move on in the sermon.
Luke chapter 12 verse 13 says, "And one of the company said unto him, Master speak to
my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?
And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
So why does Jesus say this?
Well, he says it because the guy's being covetous, obviously.
He doesn't just fly out and say, Hey, you covetous wretch.
But he says, Take heed and beware of covetousness.
Why does he say that though?
Because look what the guy said, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance
with me.
Well, it wasn't his inheritance, obviously.
His brother probably inherited a higher amount because that's how things worked, or maybe
his dad just cut him out of the inheritance or whatever, but however it worked out, he
didn't get part of the inheritance and so he's like, "Tell my brother to give me part
of it."
So what's he doing?
He's being covetous, or you know, I don't know exactly what it is, but Jesus perceived
what it was, that this guy is being covetous.
And he said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness."
And like, look, family and people dying in your family is when people will be the weirdest.
They will, I just already put this away from my mind, I don't care what I get, I'm probably
not getting anything anyway when any family member dies, and I don't care if I do at all.
Because I don't want to fight with any family member over anything, it's just stuff.
I don't care about stuff like that because, you know, I've just seen too many families
get all pissy with each other, and then the claws come out, you know, they'll be saying
like, "Yeah, I don't want anything," and then like when everything's all said and done,
then they're fighting with people over the stuff that they left behind or whatever.
And it's a shame.
And families get, they'll have been dead as forever after that.
Like I know that they took this certain thing from grandma's drawer or whatever, and she
had that for all these years, and that was supposed to go to me, and, you know, beware
and take heed and beware of covetousness because, you know, man's life consists not in the abundance
of the things which he possesses.
So does it really matter that much to fight with your brother or sister or family member
for the rest of your life over something like that?
No, it doesn't.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought
forth plentifully."
And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, because I have no room where to
bestow my fruits?"
And he said, "This will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and
my goods."
So the guy's already mega rich, and he's just got so much that he just is like, "Hey,
I'll just tear down everything else and build bigger so that I can store everything that
I have."
And I will say to my soul, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry," which is a weird thing to say to yourself.
But anyway, "But God said unto him, 'Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee.
Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?"
Which is interesting because this guy doesn't sound like he saved me, but even if he was,
it's like God pays attention to the small thoughts and details of the things that we
even think in our hearts like that.
Isn't that crazy?
He's like, because he's not saying this stuff out loud.
He's not telling this to anybody else.
He's saying it to himself, oh soul, soul that has many goods and laid up for many years
and it's like he drink and be merry.
Like God doesn't like that attitude, does he?
He doesn't like the I'm just going to coast for the rest of my life attitude because I've
got all this stuff laid up.
He doesn't like that.
He says, hey fool, guess what?
You're going to die tonight and then who's all that stuff going to?
It's going to nobody.
It's not going to who you think it is.
It's not going to you.
And you're not going to just eat, drink and be merry for the rest of your life because
tonight you're going to die.
You're going to make sure of it because I'm God.
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich for God.
This is the problem is that when people have this really covetous attitude and all they
care about is money and all they care about is wealth and all they care about is laying
up treasure for them to be able to retire and all this other stuff, is that they're
generally not very rich toward God because you can't serve God and mammon at the same
time.
You've got to pick one or the other because one is going to overtake the other.
Look at 1st Corinthians 5, 1st Corinthians 5.
I already kind of touched on this a little bit but 1st Corinthians 5 tells us that there
are certain people that we need to throw out of the church and I can't think that I've
ever thrown someone out for being covetous before but I mean it's out there but it says
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators verse 9 verse 10 yet not
altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters
for then must your needs go out of the world but now I've written unto you not to keep
company of any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater
or a raeler or a drunkard or an extortioner with such the one know not to eat for what
have I to do with them also that are without do not you judge them that are within but
then that are without God judge it therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked
person so if someone is covetous to the point where it's very glaring it's very obvious
or they're caught doing something that would show that they are well then you know they
need to go they need to be out of the congregation because a little leaven leaven at the whole
lump look at first Corinthians chapter six verse number eight first Corinthians chapter
six verse number eight so the Bible is talking about here about suing other church members
taking them to law over fraud and basically you know you owing somebody some money or
maybe you hit somebody's car in the parking lots a good example something like that but
it says in verse eight nay you do wrong and defraud and that your brother so it's wrong
to defraud your brother that there's no question about that but it says no you not that the
unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor
covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God of course
if you're saved that you know is taken out of the way of course if you're a saved drunkard
then you're going to heaven if you're a saved covetous person of course you're going to
heaven but what is he saying though that we should not be defrauding people and to defraud
someone just shows your covetous and you just want money or if you turn if someone in this
church sued another person my policy is that that person is thrown out of the church because
you're not to defraud somebody but you're also not to take them to the magistrates or
take them to the judge over some kind of money type situation that should be something that
can be judged within the church so I mean obviously in sometimes the Bible says that
we should suffer ourselves to be defrauded so obviously if you're talking about millions
of dollars or something you know that might be a little bit different of a story but as
far as like well I mean first of all you shouldn't just lend somebody millions of dollars if you
have it but if you unless you just don't want you know if you if you're not willing to lose
it that don't lend it is basically what the policy is that you should have. If you lend
somebody something and it gets broken or it gets you know they don't give it back just be prepared
that you're just going to lose it so if you don't want to lend it if you don't want to lose it don't
lend it is probably a good policy to have but if you're not worried about your car getting crashed
then go ahead and lend it out if you're not worried about getting money back that you lend
to someone then don't you know to go ahead and lend it. Ephesians chapter five Ephesians chapter
five. Ephesians chapter five. Bible says but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness
let it not be once named among you as becometh saints. So again it's like it's mentioning these
bad sins and then covetousness is in there. It shouldn't be named among us. Neither filthiness
nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks. For this
you know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. So and of course again the caveat to that is
if you're saved that you do but we still should not be it still should not be named among God's
people these things. So but it says the rather the giving of thanks. So you know there's a lot of
verses that I've that I've captured here that are talking about giving thanks because we should not
be we should be content with such things we have and be thankful for the things we have and not
just always be wanting something that doesn't belong to us which is the covetous attitude
that God's rebuking here. Colossians chapter three, Colossians chapter number three and really we
should have this attitude that we're our affection should be the on the not on the things of this
earth and sometimes that's hard you know look I'm not saying that doing all this stuff is easy
and because sometimes we go through you know seasons in our life where you know we're a little
more worldly or we're you know we we've lost track of of of things and you know we're not doing as
well spiritually as we we should be I get that we go through seasons in our life where we're not
being super christian or whatever I get that but that's why we need Bible preaching that's why we
need to be in our Bible that's why we need to be in church that's why we need to just we need to be
able to diagnose ourselves and realize when we're slipping you know there's a there's a saying from
the 90s that was popular amongst people I used to hang around with don't get caught slipping right
and usually that meant like you know don't get caught or someone could do some kind of a drive-by
shooting or beat you up when you're not paying attention okay so but don't get caught slipping
because you know and look we don't want to get caught slipping in our life slipping away and not
be able to see what's going on we need to be able to self-diagnose and when people are warning us
and when God is warning us and the preaching is warning us to pay attention to what's going on
and get ourselves figured out and tuck your shirts in get yourself straightened out and
get back on track the way that the Bible says to do because look I'm not just here saying hey
just don't do this just don't do this I want to try to give solutions too because look we all
go through times and seasons where we're not doing as good as we should be. But look, that's the
reason why we need preaching. That's the reason why we need the Bible is because God needs to correct
us a lot. Why? Because we just tend toward disorder. Everything that we, you know, we're just that way.
We're sinful. God knows that we're but dust. That's why he uses the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. That's why he uses the foolishness of preaching to perfect the saints.
That's why he gives us preachers. That's why he gives us the Bible, you know, because he didn't
just save us and leave us without a book to tell us what to do. You know, people use manuals and
books for all types of things. And sometimes people would rather read anything else with
this book. But you know, this is the book that's going to, that's going to write the ship. This is
the book that you need to pay attention to when you're in church. This is the book that you need
to actually read when you're at home and actually get something out of not just check it off the
list that you did something that day, but actually pay attention to what you're reading and soak it
in and not just be a doer or a hearer and not a doer also. Colossians chapter three verse two says
set your affection on things above not on things on the earth for you're dead for you are dead and
your life is hid 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 God compares
this uh covetousness and says which is idolatry you're like well I thought those were two different
sins well how how is it idolatry well I'll tell you how it's idolatry covetousness is considered
idolatry because it places desire for possessions wealth or another person above a relationship
with God you can get so wrapped up in something else that you're doing or something else that
you're interested in and it takes the place of God in your life and it can happen really easily
and you're essentially making those things into idols whether you're putting all your investment
and time into your children only or into your spouse only into your work only into your hobbies
only or whatever it is you're you're basically making the things that you covet into an idol
and that's how covetousness can be an idol and not how it can be idolatry because you're
essentially worshiping that thing by devoting yourself to it. Does that make sense? So by
elevating worldly things to a position of ultimate importance it's everything else is way more
important than God and a person who covets is violating that first commandment. What is the
first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. That's the first commandment which you
know God forbids. He says you're not supposed to have any other gods before me and that includes
anything else that you're totally devoted to over him and it's seeking satisfaction from something
other than God in your life. You're seeking this feeling, this yearning because look covetousness
is a desire. You can put the word desire and covetousness. They mean the same thing
and desire isn't always wrong but if it's wanting something that belongs that you shouldn't want,
that you shouldn't desire, then that's when it is sinful. And it can be seen as a form of worship
when the heart's focus and desire is directed towards material or earthly things instead of
God and his divinity, right? So violating the first commandment is putting other things before God,
replacing God with the sort of satisfaction that you're going after, whatever that might be.
It elevates the temporal. What is temporal? Well, things that are temporary, things that are
earthy, things that are earthly minded, and it leads to a lack of faith by not trusting in God's
provision. So that's how, so like remember at the first of the sermon when I said that how does it
make sense that, let's see, go back to, well you don't have to go back there, I'm just going to go
back there myself. I'm just going to find the page here. "Let your conversation be without covetousness
and be content with such things as you have, for he said, 'I will not ever leave thee nor forsake thee.'"
So I guess to really explain that is that you're seeking that satisfaction and you're
replacing God as the source of satisfaction and that leads to a lack of faith by not trusting
God's wisdom for the things that you need, for the things that you want. And so instead you're
getting satisfaction out of something else, you're getting your desire and you're not trusting in God
for all the needs in your life and you're trusting in something else and basically you're, you know,
and that's why it says that he'll never leave thee nor forsake thee but yet you're trusting in
something else now. You're focused so much on something else that it's become a God to you
and so when you get to that point then you're basically saying that God isn't, you know,
he's not providing what I want and what I need, right? You're kind of just disconnected from God
at that point and it's a foundation for other sins and the Bible identifies covetousness as
the root attitude that can lead to sins like theft because Achan wanted those things and was it
because it was the spoils of war that he took. He saw the Babylonian garment, he saw the wedge of
gold and he coveted it and then he took it. But who did it belong to? It belonged to the Lord
didn't it? So it belonged to the Lord and then he took it and he hid it and then because he did that
it was such a bad sin that he was killed and his whole family was killed with him because of what
he did. It leads to adultery. It leads to you pursuing somebody else's wife when you're already
married. It leads to someone that's unmarried pursuing a bunch of women that he shouldn't
be pursuing or women pursuing a bunch of men that they shouldn't be pursuing. Vice versa. It leads to
dishonesty and it leads to idolatry where you're just like casting God aside for things that are
temporal things that are going to be gone because look everything's going to burn up in the end
anyway. When God destroys the earth again it's going to be gone by fire. So nothing that you
have is going to make it through that fire. It's all wood, hay, and stubble. It's all going to go
through the fire. The only thing that's going to make it through that fire is the eternal things
that you've done for God and this earth. So all the little collections that you have and look I
have my own collections okay. Everybody has things that they like to collect. Bill all your coins
are going to melt away. Sorry they're gone. But hey there's nothing wrong with like having stuff.
I don't think there's a I don't think I don't I don't think that covetousness is having collections
or or or liking to have stuff. I don't I'm not saying that. I'm not saying don't okay just no
fun. Pastor says no fun. Okay that's not what I'm saying but I think you understand what I'm saying.
Did I tell you to turn to Colossians 3 or were you already there? Yes you're already there. All
right verse six. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. I
already went over this passage the other night but I like it so much that it fit perfectly with my
sermon. So my wife says you repeat yourself sometimes. Well I'm doing it on purpose all right.
So she's like you're like Joe Biden you're just constantly... no no she didn't say that. All right
so for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience in the which you
also walked some time when you lived in them but now you also put off all these all these anger
wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that
you have put off the old man with his deeds so he's talking about us as saved people these things
are things we used to do these things are things we've already put off you know we put these things
away from us and have put on the new man talking about being saved right which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him where there is neither greek nor jew
circumcision nor uncircumcision barbarian sithian bond or free but christ is all and in all put on
therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering." So he's just saying like, "Hey,
here's something that's gonna help fix your problems. You know, you've already,
you know, you have the new man, you used to have the, you know, you put off the old
man with his deeds, you know, you put all that stuff away from you, you have the
new man, and then you're saying, 'Put on therefore, as the elect of God, all these
things,' right? So you have to put, so it's, so when it's saying that, what, what's he
mean by that? I thought he said, 'We already put on the new man,' but I believe
that it's something that you can continuously do. It's just like you're not
always filled with the Spirit, and that's why you have to be asked to be filled
with the Spirit. So what does that mean? That you're not always filled with the
Spirit. You have to be asked, you have to asked to be filled with the Spirit. You
have to be filled with the Spirit. Not everybody's always filled with the
Spirit, so it's something that you have to continuously do. And every day when you
wake up, you know every day is a new day, right? And at work we make fun of
people like that. Every day is a new day for that guy, you know. It's just like he
forgot everything that he learned the day before or whatever. But in the sense
of biblical Christianity, every day is a new day as in it's a new clean slate for
you. You know, God forgot about, you know, he's forgetting about the things you did
yesterday and now it's time to just have a new day to take up your cross daily
and follow after him. And just, you know, say or apologize for what you did
yesterday. Wake up and say, "Hey, you know what? I'm gonna try harder today to to do
my best for God." And put on, therefore, as the elect of God. And, you know, it says
holy, it says, "As the elect of God, holy and beloved." So what does that mean? Well,
we're holy and beloved of God. You know, we're already set apart in Christ and He
already loves us. That's not gonna change. And it says, "Bows of mercies." You know,
how merciful are you to other people? It says, "Kindness." How kind are you to other
people? "Humbleness of mind." How humble are you? "Meekness." Are you meek? "Long
suffering." I mean, do you have a bad temper and you just fly off the handle
about everything or do you actually, you know, have a long-suffering mentality? And
why is it saying this? Well, because this is the type of attitude that we should
have as opposed to the other attitude that is mentioned before with the anger,
the wrath, the malice, the blasphemy, the filthy communication. That's how
we used to be, but these are what we need to put on. This is how we should
operate on a daily basis. And obviously we have our bad days, you know, I'm not
saying we don't, but how does this help us? Well, you know, doing good to people
and having good in your heart and mind, it's kind of tough to covet and think
evil towards people and to do evil when you're all constantly just trying to do
good to people, you know, when you're not, if you're not thinking about somebody
else, you know, if you're doing good to somebody, your friend, you're not
thinking, you know, you're not like, hey, I really wish I could run off with his
wife, you know, nobody thinks that way. That's bizarre, but if you're constantly
just a jerk all the time, you have the wrath and the anger and the malice of
like, you know, it's easy to do wicked things when you always have constant
wickedness going on in your mind and your heart, so that's why I say put on
there for us the elect of God, you know, you're holy, you're beloved, you know, put
these bowels of mercies in your kindness and your humbleness and of mind and
meekness, if you're humble in your mind, you know, you're a little easy to
entreat, you know, you're not always just, you know, cutting people's head off
for, for, you know, crossing you and, you know, I mean, and this is talking
about how do we treat each other as Christians, you know, we should be
treating each other well and talking about each other in a good way and not
just thinking of evil and doing evil towards each other and other people and
even strangers. Look at verse 13, forbearing one another. What does that mean? Letting
stuff go. Whether it's some kind of a debt or just something that somebody did
to you, forbearing means, hey, hey, they owe you something, maybe they owe you an
apology, maybe they owe you, you know, the price of a coffee, maybe they owe you,
well, whatever it is, you know, it says forbearing one another. You know, God
forbear a lot of our, you know, all of our sins, and he didn't have to do that,
but he did. Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a
quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. You know,
forgiving people is a lot easier than holding a grudge. Holding a grudge causes
bitterness, it causes a root of bitterness in you, and look, who wants to
just go around feeling just mean and angry and nasty all the time and you just
always have a bad attitude. You know, it's a lot easier to go through life and in
this world as a Christian with a positive attitude and not just always with
a with a bad nasty point of view in disposition. It says, "And above all these
things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Which is an interesting
saying. To me, perfectness doesn't sound like a real word, but it is because Paul
speaks better English than I do. I know that. But it says, "Above all these things,
put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." So Christian love is a very
powerful thing. If you have it, but do you have it? If you haven't let your heart
grow cold as a Christian, then you should have it. But again, notice how it's
something that you put on. You put on this stuff. It's not put on as in you're
pretending. It's put on like this is who you are. And it's called having character.
It's called having Christian character. It's called being a good human
being. It's called, you know, I mean this is what God wants from us. This is how he
expects us to treat each other. This is how he expects us to treat. Look, again,
if you're walking in the new man, you will not fulfill the lust of the
flesh. So how are you gonna go and run off with somebody else's wife when
you're being a good person? When you're being a good man? You know, I
mean, why did David run off with Bathsheba? Well, he wasn't doing what he
was supposed to be doing. He was out at dark looking across, you know, looking in
people's windows or whatever he was doing, looking across, you know, he should
have been at war with his troops. With the time when kings go out to battle,
where's David? He's at home. He's not out to battle and he's looking across and
sees some woman taking a bath and, you know, that's not what he was supposed to
be doing. So and then he does a bunch of evil to somebody, some other man who is
actually one of his mighty men and he totally screwed him over and it really
cost him dearly. It cost him some of his son's lives. It cost him, you know, his
child's life. I mean it cost him a lot. It cost him his reputation in a lot of ways.
But it's something that we have to purpose to do. To be like this, to be
like what Paul's seen here. It's something, you know, when we put on
there for these things, it's something that we have to purpose in our hearts to
be like. Look, we have to try hard to be good people. It's just a fact. Nobody's
just a good person all the time just because they are. Because in reality,
there's none good, no not one. That's what the Bible says. We're all sinners. So
this is something that we have to work at. And yes, we have the new man, but
we're not always filled with the new man. And when we wake up every morning, you
know, sometimes we don't feel like reading our Bible. Sometimes, you know, all
we want is a cup of coffee and to zone out in front of our phone for an hour. I
mean, that's the way it is. But what does it cause when we, when we, you know, put
on charity in our lives? Well, it says it causes the bonds of perfectness. When we
put on charity with one another and the bonds of perfectness don't commit
adultery. The bonds of perfectness don't defraud each other. The bonds of
perfectness don't do these wicked things to each other. They don't covet. And so
it's just like when you're at church. I mean, do you think you send more outside
of church or in church? Let's be honest. You send outside of church a lot more,
I'm sure. I'm sure sin does exist in church sometimes, but you know, it's just like,
nobody just goes and guess what? I'm going to go to church and sin. I mean, nobody thinks that
way. And people are like, well, how often do we really need to go to church? Pastor Thompson,
like, you know, what's the magic number on that? Well, I mean, there isn't a magic number,
but I feel like that we probably do better as human beings when we're in church. I feel,
I feel like we probably are better people when we're at church and we're probably going to
have a lot more charity when we're at church. I don't know. We're probably going to do better
works in our life when we're at church. And maybe we'll take that home with us when we leave this
place. And maybe it'll, it'll, you know, like Moses, when he came down from the mountain,
you know, his face glowed or whatever it shined for what 40 days after that or something. And
people couldn't even look at him. He had to put a veil on his face. Well, maybe after we've been at
church for a while, maybe you'll have a little bit of glow for maybe, you know, 40 minutes or so,
and maybe you'll be a good person for 40 minutes or so. But at least it's something, right?
I'm kidding, but look at, let's look at Colossians, or we're already in Colossians. Okay,
I'm not going to have you turn anywhere else. Maybe, let me see, almost done here. Okay,
so Colossians 3.15 says, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you're called
in one body, and be ye thankful." Good verse for this week, right? Let the peace of God rule in
your hearts. See, if we let God rule in our hearts, then it's hard to do all these other things, all
these other wicked sins, and it's hard to be covetous and have this covetous attitude when
God is ruling in our hearts, to which also you're called in one body and be you thankful. Look,
we're one body right now. I'm not talking about the one flesh of husband and wife. I'm talking
about one body as in we're one body. We're one in Christ. We're all here together. And it says,
be you thankful. And that's something that seriously lacks in a lot of people's lives.
We forget to tell God, thank you. I think that we all are guilty of it. You know, maybe you're,
maybe you're not, maybe you're the most thankful Christian in the world. And I'm just wrong. But
I think that sometimes we, you know, we'll pray and things like that. But like, I mean, I think
that we could probably all stand to thank God more than we actually do. Because it's talked about a
lot and it's reminded to us a lot in scripture, especially in the New Testament, I feel like.
It's always like, you know, but even in the Old Testament, give thanks unto the Lord for he is
good. His mercy endures forever. You know, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures
forever. I mean, David says it constantly. He's always thanking God. And that's, you know, David
was a man after God's own heart. He made some big, you know, he made a big mistake, but he was a man
after God's own heart. So it says, "Let the word," verse 16, "let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly in all wisdom." But you know what? How can it deal on you richly or dwell on you richly if
it's not, if you're not even reading your Bible? See, it has to be in your heart by you reading it,
you know, being immersed in it to a certain degree. And I realize, you know, you're working,
you have a busy day. But I mean, if it's gonna dwell on you richly, you think about like certain
kinds of like, who likes fudge in here? Anybody like fudge? See, I like it in doses, like just
microbytes. And like, well, that was good. But it's really rich, you know, I don't really like
rich desserts, because they're just are too strong. Like sometimes even cheesecake is just
too much for me. But I like cheesecake. So anyway, we're not talking about cheesecake right now.
But you know, like, you know, I mean, there's some, some desserts are just too rich for me.
But like, that's what I kind of was thinking about when I was thinking about this verse. It's like,
let the, let the word of God dwell in you, dwell in you richly in all wisdom. It's like, you know,
God wants it to be immersed into us. Or maybe you think about like, you know, filling up a piggy bank
or something, but with like silver dollars bill bills all over this, you know, what kind of silver
dollars though. I don't know the ones that make you rich. I don't know. But when you're filled up
with God's word, then wouldn't the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So if you're just kind of
immersing yourself in God's word, then the word of Christ will dwell richly in you in all wisdom,
you know, but you know, in order to have wisdom, you have to apply what you learn and, and, and,
you know, meditate upon these things. So, I mean, the first question is, are you even reading your
Bible? You know, and if you're not, then start again. You know, and look, I'm not trying to beat you
up or anything if you are not reading your Bible, but you know, how much are you reading your Bible?
Can you do better? Can you read it more? And how do you expect the word of Christ to dwell in you
richly if you never read it? Because it's just not possible. You know, you're like, well, I did read
it one time. I read it cover to cover one year. Well, yeah, but are you reading it now? Are you
reading it on a daily basis? So, and it says in the latter half of that, teaching and admonishing
one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. So notice how it says Psalms and hymns, right? So we're supposed to sing Psalms in our
church. And I just, I'm not trying to call brother Bill out, but anybody that's the song leader here,
I'm implementing a new rule starting right now. I want a Psalm of the week saying at church,
and this is not, this is mandatory. This is no longer optional. So when we do our,
our what, our, when do you want to do it brother Bill? I will give that option
when you want to do it. So like just adding a song with another song, huh? Yeah. Well,
I was just thinking like sing it twice on Sunday morning, twice like sing it once on Sunday morning,
once on Sunday evening, like to sing it. So we're just, so we get used to it. Cause I think that
what happens is that we go so long without doing one and then, you know, it just forget how to
sing it or something. I don't know. But if we just do a Psalm a week, then you know, it forces us to
learn them. Cause some of them are kind of tricky to do too. So, but I mean, I want the, the guys
that are also learning to do song leading to, to actually learn to do these Psalms too. So it's not
just you doing them. So unless there's ones that you just don't, you know, you don't think you can
hit the high notes or whatever, I don't know, whatever. Anyway, I'm not just, I'm preaching
right now, but I do want the Psalms to be sung in church because the Bible commands us to do this.
And so, I guess I probably could have picked a different time to enact this rule, but I just
want the whole church to be witnesses to this. That it is a command, being, you know, obey those
that have the rule over you. Don't be a pain in the neck. No, I'm just kidding. But I mean, I do
want to implement it because it's, you know, so let it be written, so let it be done. You know,
that's what the Bible says that we should do, so we should be doing it. So, and we have all the
song books and stuff, and they just kind of sit there and collect us, so I want to start using them.
I want to start singing the Psalms because they're good, you know. There's a lot of good ones that
are put to music, and if we need to get them updated, because I know that there's new ones out,
but why though? Because it says, "Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." You know, I mean, if God
wants us to, you know, if we're missing one of those components, then I feel like we're not doing
our best to, you know, to sing to the Lord like He wants us to. And it says, "Sing with heart, with
grace in your hearts to the Lord." So, and verse 17, last verse, I think, yeah, last verse. And it
says, "And whatsoever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by Him." And I mean, it kind of just wraps the whole thing up, you know, when
we're thanking and being thankful towards God. It's kind of hard to be covetous and have a covetous
attitude when we put all these New Testament things into, incorporate into our lives. That's
just, that's what I wanted to give you tonight is, you know, obviously it's a tough time of year.
You're getting bombarded with ads. You know, I just, I go check my mail and I just get this,
all these buy Mart ads and, you know, sportsman's warehouse, you know, go buy a new gun. Yeah,
you know, you need one. It's like, no, I don't. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. No, I don't. But I mean,
again, that's, that's not necessarily being covetous. Obviously we can buy stuff. Okay. Boy,
you know, but we, we, they want us, they want to go in the black, you know, which means they want
to make a profit this year. And so they're just bombarding us with everything that they got.
They're going full double cannon. Who's gotten a bunch of ads this week? Yeah. Everything's on
all your social media that you're on like 19 hours a day and just, no, I'm just joking, but it's just
kind of, this is the week we get bombarded. So this is the week I like to preach about covetousness
just to kind of help us, you know, be even keeled and, you know, get some, get some teachings from
the new Testament about this. So, so this is, you know, this is key and this teaching I think will
help us not to be covetous. It'll help us, you know, get some character in Christian effort and
charity. And yes, work. It's, we have to work at this. It's not something that just comes naturally
to us. Sin comes naturally to us. Be thankful, you know. It's not really that hard to just put
a little bit of effort into our Christian walk. And so the commandment is, you know, that we do
walk in the Spirit and all we have to do is ask because God will do and perform things that we
ask Him. And you know, that's the other thing. Maybe we should pray a little bit more too. So
anyway, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for our church and for the people,
the faithfulness of our people here. And we ask that Lord you'd help us as we deal with all the
bombardment of all the ads and, you know, the temptation to buy a bunch of stuff that we don't
need. And help us Lord to just be thankful for our families and our church and our salvation and
for you Lord. And I pray that we would bless you Lord by working for you and obeying your
commandments. And thank you for just all the blessings that you have in store for us this
coming year. I pray that you just bless us and keep us safe and all those that are sick and
weren't able to be here today. I pray that you bless them and bring them back as soon as possible.
Jesus and we pray, Amen. All right, closing song is Dare to Be a Daniel 309. 309 in the red.
We're the Greek first. Standing by a purpose true. Heeding God's command. Honorable fuel held to
Daniel's men. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Have a purpose for and dare to make it known.
Mighty men are lost. Daring not to stand. Who forgot and been a host by joining Daniel's men.
Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Have a purpose for and dare to make it known.
Many giants, great and tall, stalking through the land. Headlong to the eastward farm, met by Daniel's men.
Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Have a purpose for and dare to make it known.
Hold the gospel banner high, on to victory grin. Say it as host if I shout for Daniel's men.
Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose for and dare to make it known.