Episodes
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Commandment Ten Enough is enough
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Covetousness may seem like a bit of a yawn compared to the gravity of most of the other commandments.
Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's.
Colossians 3:5… covetousness is idolatry… (and God's judgment upon idolatry is the destruction of idols).
The Empty Life
The covetous heart desires to have the life or possessions of other people and sees them as the source of his or her life fulfilment. This is idolatry (Commandment Two) which reflects a failure of obedience to Commandment One regarding the honouring of God as the source and fulfillment of our lives. That is why Commandment One sits between Commandment Ten and Commandment Two.
How can the Holy Spirit bear witness to the truth of our lives if we want to live though what other people have rather than what we have? We first have to be who we really are in God so that we can do what we should really do in God, knowing that we have all we really need in God.
Lucifer was the first person to covet. He coveted not only God's place of power and glory but he felt that he deserved to have the inheritance due to us through God's son Jesus, an inheritance which we share with Jesus through faith (Which is why Satan hates us so much). The following scripture from Isaiah demonstrates the determination of Lucifer to follow through with his plan of revolution, in which he seems to have persuaded other fallen angels who went with him (Revelation 12:4, Luke 10:18, Jude 6 etc.), that they would get their fair share of the new order of things. What he got in fact, was destruction and a final judgment of being cast down to Hell. Emotional and spiritual destruction comes upon the covetous person.
Isaiah 14:12-45 How you are fallen from Heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13. For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14. 1 will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like The Most High.' 15. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit.
Marxism and Neo Marxism/Socialism - You Owe Me
Marxism presents itself as being based on an unselfish motive of the just and equal redistribution of wealth, with the state being the sovereign benefactor and custodian of all property, so that there is no personal inheritance or full personal freedom to acquire wealth. This is aimed at removing the greed motive and the misuse of birthright, status, or special ability that would advantage oneself thereby depriving and oppressing others. The power base that is built is totally atheistic, and in fact is taking for itself the place of God as the 'possessor of Heaven and earth'. It is patently obvious that this experiment with God's property has failed, because the real motive is not unselfish at all but a covetous reaction to what the wealthy have, even though the wealthy may be misusing God's property to their advantage. The answer however, is not Marxism/socialism/communism, but a biblical response to the eighth commandment, which turns the taker into a giver, releasing productivity and liberality for the blessing of others and honouring God.
Socialism seeks to redistribute wealth, but actually distributes poverty. It does away with true inheritance as a Godly principle (Proverbs 13:22) and seeks to enforce its own form of social and material justice and equality. The 'you owe me' mentality puts this ideology in the category of taking and not giving, and denies that God owns everything. Then comes the social engineering and abuse of power in the hands of a State bureaucracy that manages the property and opportunity of the people.
Philippians 4:11 ‘…I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be plenty to eat or nothing to eat, a full purse or an empty pocket; 13 for I can do all these things with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Paul turns his attention to one of the main reasons for writing this letter—to thank the Philippian church for their generosity to him, and to bring a revelation of contentment.
Paul had to learn this and model this and then teach this, because contentment is not a natural human response. Paul was content because he could see life from God’s point of view. He focused on what he was supposed to do, and who he was supposed to be, not on what he felt he should have. Paul had his priorities straight, and he was grateful for everything God had given him. He was ‘initiated’ into being content - the word denotes this in verse 12. This was a powerful concept to the Greeks, and it is the life changing theme of baptism, death to an old life and birth into a new life.
In doing this he extols God’s great generosity in providing all that we need, and he extols the virtue of those who give in partnership with God’s goodness and assures them of an earthly and an eternal reward.
1 Timothy 6:6-7 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
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