The Tenth Commandment- Coveting VS Contentment

I had the opportunity to visit Trinity Reformed Baptist Church this past Sunday and it was great! I LOVE it when you hear a sermon or read something and it's what the Lord has already been working on in my heart. That is providence for sure! Well, this sermon was great and I was really encouraged to evaluate where I am in regards to this area of my heart. Typing out my sermon notes was a really fun thing to do and it was cool because I feel like I learned even more! I hope that this could become a routine discipline for me to start because it really is sweet. We'll see!!!

"But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Heb 3:13

The Tenth Commandment

Coveting VS Contentment (Ex 20:17)

• This text does not forbid coveting but it forbids illegitimate desires (illegitimate desires: promotes harm of self, neighbor or going against God).
• Desiring or even coveting something good (godliness etc) isn’t sin but this verse is warning against the strong wants/desires of something that rightfully belongs to someone else or something that we cannot have.
• The thing that makes this commandment stand out from the other 9 is that it deals with my HEART, not an outward guideline/rule
• COVETING=IDOLATRY (idolatry is the worship of a physical object as a god/excessive devotion)
• Col 3:5 “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you; sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
• Eph 5:5 “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (THIS SHOULD TERRIFY ME AND BE CAUSE FOR ME TO CHECK THE POSITION OF MY HEART AND CONTENTMENT DAILY!!!)
• This commandment requires/demands contentment. Also, a charitable/loving attitude toward our neighbor as opposed to one that is envious. (envy: painful or resentful awareness of another’s advantages.)
• Coveting starts with discontentment (thinking and saying to the Lord that what I already have is not enough) Phil 4:11-13 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• CONTENTMENT= SATISFACTION (contentment: ease of mind; satisfied)
• Christian Contentment DEFINED- Not stoical, not self sufficient but a complete reliance upon the Lord in the following ways:
• Frame of mind and disposition
• Understanding and Recognition of the Sovereignty, Wisdom and Love of God to His people
• Submission- not just a belief of the truth but a LOVE and HEART for the truth.
• Stable, balanced position (not wavering to and fro)
• Contentment is an evidence of a mature Christian
• Contentment is a Desirable Grace (we need to ask God to allow this in our lives and seek after it!)
• Quote from a book by Jeremiah Burrows, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (note to self- GET THIS!)
• Christian Contentment DESCRIBED-
• Not dictated by circumstances (Don’t be tricked into thinking, “I’ll be content when…”, “If/when I get this ________ I’ll be content”, etc)
• Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Paul’s talking about all the things he’s previously listed in this part of the passage. It’s an admission of need of the Lord and because of that he now can conquer tribulation.
• Contentment does not come natural it’s supernatural. Believers must earnestly seek it.
• Contentment doesn’t come easily (vs. 12 “I know how…”) it’s learned through experience
• Contentment is not occasional, it’s a settled disposition
• 5 Things to Consider:
• God’s Precept and our Duty
• God’s Provision and our Deservedness
• God’s Providence in our Discipline
• God’s Presence and our Delight
• Psalm 73 “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”
• God’s Promise and our Destiny (we get to worship God for eternity in HEAVEN! Nothing compares to that!)
• I can’t understand the depths of my ingratitude and what my lack of contentment says to God.

Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”