THE SIN NOBODY WILL ADMIT TO - Sermon Outlines. Org



“THE CANCER OF COVETOUSNES”

Exodus 20:17

* Once, Abraham Lincoln was seen walking with his 2 sons and both the boys were crying. As passerby asked the President what was wrong with his boys. "Exactly what's wrong with the whole world," said Lincoln, "I have three walnuts and each boy wants two."

FOR MEN the Bumper Stickers say “HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS”

FOR WOMEN they say “BORN TO SHOP”

* TV shows “Hoarders” > The Charismatic movement is BUILT on covetousness! <

* Henrietta Garret, a lonely 81 year-old widow died in her home in Philadelphia on the night of November 16, 1930. Her death ignited the most fantastic case of inheritance litigation in American history. She did not leave a will, or no will was ever found, to her $17 million dollar estate. At the time of her death she had only one known relative, a second cousin. She had few friends. However, more than 26,000 persons from 47 states and 29 foreign countries, made attempts to prove relationship to her and claim a part of her estate.

In their efforts to obtain her estate, there were those who committed perjury, faked family records, changed their own names, altered data in Family Bibles, and even concocted tales of illegitimacy.

As result, 12 were confined, 10 received jail sentences, 2 committed suicide, and 3 were murdered.

(Luke 12:15)

Context---man who insisted his brother share his inheritance—followed by he parable of the “Rich Young Fool”

Will Rogers was the one who famously said, "We spend money we don't have, to buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like." Why?

*The constant excessive envious DESIRE to ACQUIRE*—their primary purpose is to pursue the accumulation of things—constantly craving!

* We are like the maid of a certain wealthy men. One day as he descended the stairs, he overheard the girl say, "Oh if I just had 10 dollars, I would be so contented." Wondering what would happen, he pulled a 5 from his wallet and as he passed by he handed it to her. She stammered a thank you and the man walked out of the room. Just before he passed our of earshot he heard her mutter in disgust, "Oh, why didn't I ask for 20?"

Over the next two months, we are going to be bombarded with Christmas advertising -

Though you won't hear the word "covet" used even one time, you will see plenty of examples of it!

We pay a high price, both socially and economically, for that desire!

SOCIETY has become ENSLAVED by covetousness!

Many marriages are based on this sin. “Till debt do us part”

Madison Avenue specializes in creating WANTS. We’re told we deserve it, earned it, it will make us happy.

Psalm 10:3 “The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.”

God foresaw all of this which is why He gave this commandment.

I. COVETOUSNESS EXPLAINED

The Hebrew word for covet means "to pant after."

We often use the word “GREEDY” today.

There are a few cases in the Bible in which the word is used positively, such as coveting earnestly the best gifts in 1 Cor. 12:31 and coveting to prophesy in 1 Cor. 14:39

In nearly all other cases, coveting is sinful!

A. IT IS A HEART PROBLEM

(Mark 7:20-23) “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

The problem with coveting, is when you become dissatisfied with what you have and you want what they have whether God wants you to have it or not.

B. IT IS A HIDDEN PROBLEM

A poisonous plant with deep reaching roots.

(1Th 2:5) For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

It is the "stealth sin." The a sin that flies under the radar.

It doesn't' leave any fingerprints. It doesn't trigger any alarms.

Somebody has called the 10th commandment "the unenforceable commandment."

Think about it. You could be breaking this commandment right now and nobody would ever know it.

The other nine commandments deal with actions. This one deals with attitude. The others deal with a deed. This deals with a desire. You can see the sins of the other commandment on the outside. This sin can only be seen on the inside.

C. IT IS A HORRIBLE PROBLEM

I used the word CANCER b/c it is such a horrible word—and one that really parallels.

Ephesians 5:5 For this ye 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.

(Rom 1:28-29) “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers”

Eve --- Achan “I coveted them”

–Ahab---- David – broke the 7th before the 10th --Judas

Kept the RYR out of heaven. ……. Jesus left the 10th out on purpose

II. COVETOUSNESS EXAMINED

* Old farmer went to the mall “Never seen so many things I can do without”

- stroll through the first 9 Commandments and see how covetousness can lead to break EACH & EVERY one!

A. It Demonstrates A LACK Of FAITH

Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

God gives us daily bread and we complain because we don't have daily steak.

---when much of the world today doesn't' have any bread.

Mat. 6:25-34. When we forget that He is the provider and begin to think that getting relies on us, then we have passed from faith into covetousness and we are guilty of sin!

1 Tim 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith”

B. It Demonstrates A LUST FOR FLESHLY Things

Rom 7:7 “ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

When we allow a covetous heart to dominate our lives, we will become slaves to the things we want.

When this happens, we will be guilty of placing the Lord in 2nd place in our lives.

* According to zookeepers, two reptiles will sometimes grab different ends of the same piece of food. Sooner or later their struggle for that last bite brings them nose to nose. But then comes the surprise. The snake with the widest bite will keep right on going and actually swallow the other.

Man may think that he can control his covetous urges, but he will quickly find that they will swallow him alive and will destroy his usefulness for the Lord.

We can never be faithful to the Lord as long as we are consumed by other things in life.

Jesus must fill our vision! Until He does, everything else in life will be out of balance!

Ecc 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

If you are a coveter, it means you love things, but you don't love people.

If you love them you would be glad for what they have.

1. Property - This verse refers to a neighbor's house.

* I read a story one time about a man who was a good man, but he owned a very valuable piece of property. All of his neighbors were very envious of his property and they wanted it. Because they coveted it so much and couldn't have it, they grew to dislike this man intensely even though he had done nothing to them. He decided to teach them a lesson. He put up a sign on this beautiful piece of property that he owned that gave an amazing message. It said this, "I will give my property to anyone in my neighborhood who is totally satisfied."

One of his wealthy neighbors, who lived up the street, went up to this man's door and knocked on it. The man opened the door and said, " Is this a social visit?" The man said, "No. I've come to claim your property." The man said, "Wait a minute. Are you really satisfied?" The man said, "I am absolutely satisfied. I've got plenty of money. I've got all that I need and I am totally satisfied." The man said, "Are you telling me that you are absolutely, completely, truthfully and totally satisfied?" The man said, "Totally and completely."

The man said, "Let me ask you a question. If you are truly and totally satisfied with what you have, then what do you want with my property?" The man was dumbfounded. Then this man said, "Mr. Smith, I am so glad that you have what you have. Why can't you be glad that I have what I have?"

2. People - This verse mentions my neighbor's wife.

* A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."

To desire another man's wife, our another woman's husband, is sinful in many ways. Sometimes it’s children.

3. Possessions - anything that belongs to my neighbor.

A modern day translation would be, "Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's house or wife, neither shalt thou covet his job, his business, nor his Mercedes or Mustang, John Deere Tractor or swimming pool, or Video game system or 4 wheeler."

* When archeologists were unearthing the ancient city of Pompeii, where 20,000 died during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, they uncovered the bodies of many of the dead. One woman, stands out from among all the victims of Pompeii. When the scientists uncovered her body, they found clutched in her hands 10's of thousands of dollars worth of precious stones. She risked her life trying to save a couple of handfuls of her wealth. Now, 2,000 years later, those things she tried so vainly to hold onto, are the property of another!) So it is with the covetous person in our day! In the end, those things we deemed so valuable, will be absolutely worthless.

One of the things we ought to be teaching our children is that somebody else's blessing is not our loss.

III. COVETOUSNESS EXPELLED

Covetousness CAN be CURED and CONQUERED!

REALIZE it RESIST it & REPLACE it--(Psa 119:35-36) “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.”

Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

(Ecc 5:19) Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

A. CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT

* I read an amazing story recently about a man named Danny Simpson. In 1990, in Ottawa, Canada, twenty-four year old, Danny Simpson, robbed a bank of $6,000. After getting caught and going to trail, he received a 6 year prison sentence for his crime.

What is fascinating about the crime is to rob the bank, Simpson used a .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic pistol made by the Ross Rifle Company in Quebec, Canada in 1918. That gun, an antique, was worth at the time $100,000, over 16 times more than what Simpson stole when he used it. Think about it. If he had just paid attention to what he already had, he would have never wanted what belonged to somebody else.

1Tim 6:6-8 “Godliness with contentment is great gain For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

(Philip 4:11-12) Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

(Heb 13:5-6) 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.

Our problem is not that we have too little, nor is it that we possess too much.

Our problem is that we want more than we need!

Discontentment makes rich men poor; contentment makes poor men rich:

B. CONTRIBUTE CAREFULLY

Helping others by giving to them our precious TIME, TALENT and TREASURE helps us as well!

CONTEXT of contentment-next verses

1 Timothy 6:10 “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men 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.”

C. CONSIDER THE CROSS

Jesus gave all for us. He had no where to lay His head. He suffered so we might have.

We owe GOD our GRATITUDE! He is WORTHY!

Do you want what God wants for you and ONLY what God wants for you?

When we truly become satisfied with God, then we can not only praise Him for what He has given us , we can rejoice in what He has given others!

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