“What is it You Want?”

Exodus, 20:14, 17, Matthew 19:4-6

Series on the Ten Commandments

Introduction: Illustration: “Stages of a Cold,” 1001 Humorous Illustrations, p. 24, #37.

A husbands reaction to his wife having a cold changes the longer

they have been married: First year, “Sugar dumpling, I’m really

worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad sniffle and there’s

no telling about these things with all the strep going around. I’m

putting you in the hospital. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll bring

you some meals from Rozzini’s.” Second year, “Listen darling, I don’t

like the sound of that cough and I’ve called a doctor to rush over here.

Now you go to bed like a good girl.” Third year, “Maybe you’d better

lie down, honey. Nothing like a little rest when you feel lousy. I’ll bring

you something. Have we got any canned soup?” Fourth year, “Now look,

dear, be sensible. After you feed the kids, do the dishes and mop the

floor, you’d better rest.” Fifth year, “”Why don’t you take a couple

of aspirin?” Sixth year, “If you’d just gargle or something instead of

sitting around barking like a seal all evening…” Seventh year, “For Pete’s

sake, stop that sneezing. What are you trying to do, give me pneumonia?”

God knows that we can lose interest in what we have in our lives. This morning we finish our series in the 10 commandments with the seventh and tenth commands: “You shall not commit adultery.” And, “You shall not covet…” God knows our nature, our tendency to not be satisfied with what we have, satisfied with the status quo. God knows that we can stray away from our commitments. And even more, God knows that we need boundaries to help guide us in the decisions of life; to give us added wisdom when we might be challenged by the sinful desires of our heart. So God gives to us the seventh and tenth commands!

I. Wanting Another- (Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:28, 19:4-6; Psalm 37:4;

Philippians 4:8)

a. The Marriage Relationship- The purpose of the seventh

commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” is to show the importance of the marriage relationship. Jesus helps us to understand this further when He tells us in Matt. 19, vss. 4-6, "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

Adultery is usually thought to be when a man or a woman have sexual relations with someone who is not their spouse. But it can also be when a man or a woman give their heart and/or their mind to another. This command shows the desire of God to see a harmonious marital relationship, and for neither spouse to do anything to undermine this. MARRIAGE is to be a sacred duty; it was not designed to be entered into carelessly or lightly. The Jewish laws of marriage and of purity aimed very high. Even in our day and age where the divorce rate is well over 50%, one of the most hurtful things one spouse can do to another is to be unfaithful.

When God was establishing the covenant of marriage, he gave us the image of 2 people becoming one. Sexual relations is the most intimate of actions where two people are united together. But being emotionally bound together is very intimate as well. When adultery is committed, this act of uniting has been damaged; the commitment of oneness is broken, torn apart. God knows that this is a hurtful, harmful thing, and therefore sets it as a command to all.

Now, if you are hearing this, and you are not married, for whatever reason, it is still important to understand this commandment. Maybe there will come a time when you will be married. Or maybe you have friends who are married. When I do weddings, one of the aspects of the ceremony is called the “Affirmation of the Congregation.” What this is, is an opportunity for those who have come to the wedding, to remember that they are not just there as observers, but as participants. They have been invited because they are friends and family who care for the two people who are getting married. And so I ask them to make a pledge to help support and encourage the married couple in all their days together.

b. The lustful heart- But Jesus, like all other commands, comes along

and takes it a step further. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:28, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus tells us that adultery is not just in the flesh, in a physical act, but it is in the mind as well. Illustration: “The Amish father and his son.” There is a story of an Amish father and son who were visiting the local mall. They had never been to the mall before, and were amazed by all that they saw; especially the 2 shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again. The boy asked his father: “What is this, father?” The father, never having seen an elevator, responded: “Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I don’t know what it is.” While the father and son were watching the elevator, an older lady rolled up in her wheel chair and pressed the button. When the doors opened she wheeled herself into the elevator, and then the doors closed. The father and son continued to stare at the elevator for a couple of minutes, when all of a sudden the doors opened again. To their surprise, a beautiful, young woman came walking out. The father, not taking his eyes off of the young woman, said quietly to his son, “Son, go get your mother.”

When we lust in our mind, we let an unclean desire enter our heart as well. This is indeed a challenge, because Jesus tells us that it is not enough just to not commit adultery, but we must not even wish to commit adultery. Jesus taught us that our thoughts are as important as our deeds. The commitments we make are to not just be kept physically, but in our mind and heart as well.

Jesus was teaching that it was not just in our deeds that we would be judged, but we will be judged by our wrong desires. This teaching may send us reeling and lead us to ask the question: “How can we ever be obedient to this?”

Listen to Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we seek God, we desire the things of God, not the things of the world or the selfish desires of our heart. Philippians 4:8 tells us, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”/ The point is to dwell on the things of God.

II. Wanting Other Things- (Exodus 20:17; Philippians 4:12)

Like the seventh commandment, the tenth commandment deals with our inner thoughts and desires: “You shall not covet…”

a. Wanting what you don’t have- This command strikes at the root of

desiring what we don’t have. It deals with inner thoughts of envy and greed. It deals with the feelings of always wanting more.

Illus. “The Perfect Dog,” Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul, 1998, via the internet.

There is a story of a dog named Minnie, who was brought to the vet to be put to sleep because her owners didn’t want her anymore. Minnie had thin curly hair that barely covered her body. Her eyes bugged out as if she was always surprised. Her tail looked like a rat’s tail. But the vet kept her, spade her, gave her the shots she needed, and put out an advertisement. The ad said this: “Funny-looking dog, well behaved, needs a loving family.” Not long after, a boy called saying that his grandfather’s 16-year-old dog had just died and they wanted Minnie no matter what. A little time passed and then a car pulled up. Two kids raced to the door and scooped Minnie up into their arms and rushed her out to their grandfather in the car so he could see. Minnie licked his face and seemed so happy. “She’s perfect,” said the grandfather. As the vet walked up to the car, he could see that the old man’s eyes were a milky white color—he was blind!

More often than not, we should not judge what we want by what we see, but by where our heart leads us. Our world is full of things that we don’t have. We are bombarded by advertisers telling us how we need all these things we don’t have. We are led to believe that we have to have all these new items. Maybe we see our neighbor, or a family member, or a friend who has something that we don’t, and we desire it for ourselves. THIS IS THE ATTITUDE OF COVETING!

b. The secret of being content- Here is a challenge for us by the

apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:11-12, “Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

Paul knew what it meant to have a lot, or to not have anything at all. What was it that made him able to be content and not covet?

Well, earlier in the book of Philippians, Paul says in chapter 3, verse 8: “More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” For Paul, there was nothing greater than knowing Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. What Paul is saying here is that the key to not coveting is to satisfy ourselves in Christ.

Coveting is an attitude of not being satisfied. And this can only be overcome by having a personal relationship with God through Christ. This attitude can only be overcome when we abandon our sinful desires, and seek what God has for us.

Illustration- “Self Inventory, “ Illustrations Unlimited, p. 123. There is a story of a farmer who had lived on the same farm all of his life. It was a good farm, but had become worn down in many ways over the years. Every day he found a new excuse of why he didn’t want to live there anymore. Finally, he decided to sell the farm. So he contacted a real estate agent and listed the farm. The agent quickly put together an advertisement for the farm, and called the farmer to run it by him before she sent it out. Here is what the ad said: “Farm for sale. Ideal location; modern equipment; healthy stock, acres of fertile ground, and on and on the ad went.” When the farmer heard this, he stopped the agent and said to her: “Hold everything! I’ve changed my mind. I am not going to sell. I’ve been looking for a place like that all of my life.”

It is easy to look past what we have. It is easy to lose our attitude of being content because we turn our focus to that which we don’t have. God knows that not being content can entrap us into even greater sin. We see this happen when Eve coveted the forbidden fruit. But if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, then He can continually remind us of whom He made us to be, and all that we have. He can help us to be satisfied in our lives.

Conclusion: Over the last 5 weeks we have looked at the 10 commandments two at a time. We have seen how the first 4 remind us of how we can love God with “all of our heart and soul and mind and strength.” We have seen how the last six remind us how we can “love our neighbor as ourself.” These commands express to us God’s presence and love. They tell us how we are expected to live. They are there to help lead us out of bondage and into freedom of life with God. They are the way to preserve our faith. As Paul tells us in Romans 3:28- “For we maintain that a man is

justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

The 10 Commandments are not the final word; Jesus Christ is. But the commands are there to guide us and help us to live more in line with how God calls us to live. Let us faithfully seek to follow these 10 commandments each day we have to live. Amen.