So again I like to say that I’m glad to see you here and glad again to see I say new faces appearing each Lord’s Day. We see the Ng family this coming week. Now someone asked me whether the word ‘welcome’ is appropriate to put on the screen to welcome you, and I think that it is most appropriate because we do welcome you alright to come together. In fact, we welcome each other. We are thinking who welcomes who? I think we welcome each other here to worship the Lord.

Now it has been a stressful week for me, and the reason is because whenever we come to the end of a series, now I have to think of a new series. So I do request for your prayer. I am not settled yet as to what I’m going to preach on or what series I’m going to begin. So we have just ended our series on Hebrews 11. Now it is not exactly accurate to say the series is called Hebrews 11 because we have covered also chapter 12 and the first four verses, which rightly belonged to Hebrews chapter 11. Otherwise, there is no conclusion.

Remember Hebrews 12:1 begins with “therefore”. And so that was the conclusion. So before we begin a new series, I thought maybe this week and maybe next week I will try to cover something else. And I thought this morning is most appropriate we try to finish a series that we were doing before the MCO. If you still remember what we were studying, we were doing the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, and we have not finished yet. One more commandment to go alright, we have done all the other nine. And so today we shall look at the last of the Ten Commandments.

Now let me perhaps recap a little, just in case you have forgotten, and also for those who perhaps didn’t join us in that series to know what the series is about or to know what the Ten Commandments are about. You see, the Ten Commandments, they are a summary of God’s moral law. Now we know that in the Old Testament there are three kinds of laws.

We have the ceremonial laws of the people of God regarding to the dietary laws and things like that. And then we have the civil law that governs them as a nation, and then we have the moral law. Now the ceremonial and the civil law belong to that era alright, and so they are no longer concern us. But the moral laws of God are forever in a sense they are God’s holy standard for His creation. And so that concerns us, and that’s why we are studying the Ten Commandments. Now the Ten Commandments, they are also divided into two groups or two categories (or we called two tables of the Ten Commandments).

So the first table concerns or is about our duty towards God, now that is commandment one to four. And the other table concerns our duty towards our fellow men, and that is commandment five to ten. And Jesus sums up alright- sum this up into two great commandments if you might remember alright, and the first is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and all your mind alright. And the second great commandment is you shall love your neighbour as yourself. So you see all this kind of sum up the Ten Commandments.

Alright, so that is in general what the Ten Commandments are about. So we have covered the first nine; today we look at the tenth. So what is the tenth commandment? Let us again look at what the Bible says in Exodus 20:17. So we have the tenth commandment recorded here in verse 17. So I shall read that again. It says: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.”. So that is the tenth commandment.

So what is the tenth commandment about? I’m sure we are all familiar with the Ten Commandments alright. So what is the tenth commandment about? I think we see that very clearly when we look at what is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 5 alright- Deuteronomy chapter 5. Now, remember Deuteronomy 5 is when Moses was giving the Law again, what we call the second reading of the Law.

And here again, repeating the tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments, now look at the way the tenth commandment is being mentioned here alright in verse 21 of Deuteronomy chapter 5. So look at the wordings, the same commandment: “Now you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbour’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”. Now there is a word alright that seems kind of different from the one in Exodus 20:17, and that word is ‘desire’ alright. So you see there in verse 21: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife”.

And then Moses said: “And you shall not desire”. You shall not desire. And so that is what the tenth commandment is about. It is about desire. And so you shall not covet means you shall not desire. You shall not desire your neighbour’s house or wife or donkey or servants. Now we have desires. We love things. I have desires. In fact, I love Uncle Yap’s house alright- nice setting alright in his house. I love his farm alright. I love Uncle Tat Heng’s car alright. I have a desire alright. So you think about desire, that’s what we are talking about- desires. You love this thing, you love that house, you love that car and things like that.

Now coveting is about desires. Coveting is what I would call here this morning “a sin of desire”. And so these two words in a sense is used here interchangeably by Moses. “You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.” And then he says: “you shall not desire your neighbour’s house”. I hope I’m not coveting alright when I mention those houses and cars alright. And so we need to study this commandment here and so that we do not sin this sin. So coveting is about desire, and there are three important truths about this desire that I want to show you alright- that I want to show you about this commandment. So number one, coveting is a sinful desire.

Yes, coveting is about desire. It’s not just any desire, but coveting is a sinful desire. Because coveting is a sinful desire, we must avoid coveting. We must avoid this kind of desire. And so we say it is a sin of desire. Now put another way, coveting is not a sin of action. It’s not a sin of doing, it’s a sin of desiring. Now for example we see in the other commandments that those are sins of doing. When you kill somebody, this acting is doing. Or when you steal somebody’s thing alright or you commit adultery, now that is action alright. But coveting is not a sin of doing but a sin of wanting. A sin of wanting to have things alright- wanting to have things.

So do you have desires? As we study this commandment, we ask ourselves: Do we have desires? Desires to eat alright. We’re going to eat afterwards. Do you have desire to eat? Okay, we put down the list there. What do you desire to eat? Big Big Wantan alright or you want fried laksa. You want fish head noodles or you want musang king as a dessert alright. Desire. Do you have desire? Do you have desire for handphones? Maybe some of you might say: Oh, I have no desire for handphones, only iPhones alright. Do you have desires for handbags? Do you have desire for holidays or sports or K-pop?

Now as we mention one by one all these things, we know that this is something that we all struggle with because we all have desires alright for this or for that thing. But I’d like to at least point this out that not to worry because desires are not necessarily wrong of themselves alright. Now for example alright when you read Proverbs chapter 18- Proverbs chapter 18 and you read verse 22, and this is what Solomon says. Now, what does he say?

Well in Proverbs 18:22 he says that “he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the LORD”. So if you desire a wife, now the Bible says that that is a good desire alright. That is a good thing. And so not all desires are wrong alright. So we have to at least clarify that at the outset. But desires can become wrong. Now desires in and of themselves are not necessarily wrong, but they can become wrong. Desires become sinful when you desire more than you should. Desire becomes wrong when you know it overtakes you, it controls you. And that is what we call coveting alright. That’s what we call coveting when you desire more than you should.

And so we might therefore say coveting is an insatiable desire. In fact, that is how Thomas Watson puts it. He says it is an insatiable desire of getting the world. Now that is so much, very much our tendency as humans in this world, that insatiable desire to get the whole world. And therefore Jesus remember once warned the people and He said and “what do you gain if you gain the whole world?”. And so He knows that that’s what people have this tendency to do alright. We want to gain the whole world and get as much as possible- as much as possible.

So coveting is that kind of this desire, or some say it is what I call an inordinate desire or ungoverned desire, uncontrollable desire. Now that is what converting is about, and the Bible has so much to say about this sin, this tendency of people. And listen to Jesus for example in Luke chapter 12 where He warns people of this sin, of this danger in their lives. Now in Luke chapter 12 and here in verse 13, we have someone coming to Jesus talking about money.

It says here: “Then one from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me (or to share that inheritance with me)”. But Jesus said to him in verse 14: “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”. And then He said to them, now not just to this person but to all the others and say look, this is a great danger when people talk about money; when people talk about inheritance. It’s really a great danger. He said to them take heed, be careful. “Take heed and beware of” what? Covetousness.

You see immediately Jesus understands the problem of these people- the problem of inordinate desires for possession. He said: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”. Why is that people are covetous? Why is that people want so much? Because they think that that is what their life is all about. Life is about possession. If I have no money, I’ve got no meaning in life. That’s why people are prepared to take their life when they lose money. They lose an investment, they will jump fifteen floors down and they say there’s no more purpose to live on if they don’t get what they want. 

You see, they get depressed. Jesus says you know what? You got it all wrong. You think that is what life is all about. And that is covetousness and Jesus warns against that. And so that is the first thing we need to understand about this desire alright. It is not just desire but it is a sinful desire, inordinate desire, ungoverned desire, insatiable desire where a desire controls you. A desire controls you. So that is the first thing.

The second thing alright- the second thing about this desire called covetousness is that covetousness is not only a sinful desire, it is also a deadly desire. It is a deadly desire. In other words, now do not think that covetousness is a small harmless sin. Now people can see why the other sin is big alright- why the other sins are big sins. For example, they know that oh you must not murder. You must not kill. That is huge alright. We really have to punish people if you kill somebody else, and that’s why you have capital punishment.

And if you rob other people, we feel that oh, that is bad. Or you commit adultery, oh that is bad. But coveting? You see, we don’t really care a lot about covetousness. People who are greedy, people who really want a lot of things, allow their desire to control them, we don’t think a lot about this. Should we punish these people for being covetous? What kind of punishment? Well, maybe the lawyers can think about when you know a punishment that meets the crime or what kind of punishment? Slaughter them, kill them, execute them?

Now you see, I say the tendency is that we don’t think much about covetousness. The thinking that is perhaps some small, little harmless sin. But let me point out here that the tenth commandment is not an anti-climax. In other words, you know as you know we read or study this commandment one by one, we are seeing all these big commandments alright a big sin. And then we come to the last one, it’s like ending climax. Oh, Moses just mentioned a small sin here. No, it is not. Rather, coveting or covetousness is in the same league as those big sins.

Now I think we need to get that into our mind that covetousness belongs to that same league alright. It’s like all the other sin. And we see that is the way the Bible puts it. When you read your Bible, don’t you get a sense that covetousness belongs to that league? Oh, you don’t? Now maybe let us find out alright from the Scripture. Let’s perhaps listen to Jesus and how Jesus understands covetousness in Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, and look at verses 21 and 22. Mark 7:21-22, now Jesus said: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed” what? “Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.”

So you see in Jesus’ mind, covetousness is included in this list of sins that include other things like murders and adulteries and so on. And so He didn’t miss this out. He didn’t miss mentioning covetousness. To Him, He says this is huge. This is a big thing. This is a deadly sin alright. This is a big sin. Or when you read Paul when he writes to the Corinthians in First Corinthians chapter 6, and again we see how he understands covetousness. First Corinthians chapter 6, and here in verses 9 and 10. Verses 9 and 10, now he says to the Corinthians. They were no strangers to sin alright. They were familiar with sins just like we alright.

When we say the Corinthians: Oh Corinthians, sinful city of Corinthians. You know the word ‘Corinthians’ means sin and adultery and fornication and things like that as if we are not the same. We are familiar with sin and Paul tells them you’re familiar with sin? Let me tell you about sin and the danger. Now it’s not sufficient. It’s not sufficient just to be familiar with sin. Oh, we all know sin, but are you aware?

Do you know the danger so that you don’t play with sin? No, we don’t. We dare to sin. We dare to sin. Listen to Paul, verse 9: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor” what? “Nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”.

Now listen very carefully to what Paul is saying here. First, he includes covetousness into this group of sins that includes things like homosexuals and adulterers and so on. See, it belongs to this same league. It is a big sin. That is one. And second, just as we understand why this big sin will prevent us from entering heaven and why this big sin will send us to hell, so also. And that is what he’s saying. Do not be deceived, neither the covetous will enter into the kingdom of God. Now sometimes you think: Oh, I’m not a murderer or I don’t rob banks. And therefore, I’m safe. 

Are you covetous? Do you have this sinful desire? You know what? This sin can send you to hell. That’s what he’s telling the Corinthians here alright. And so from what Jesus said and from the words of the Apostle Paul, now we see that the tenth commandment, this is not an anti-climax. It is a big sin. It belonged to the big league as it were, and we see that in the teaching of the Bible alright. So that is the first thing that it is not a small thing.

In fact, now let me add here that it’s not just a big sin but it is a deadly sin. Now you see, we need to kind of think more carefully about, more deeply about this sin called covetousness that it is deadly, not harmless. Not small sin and not harmless sin. It is a very harmful sin. How so? How so? Well, it is a sin that will lead to many other sins alright. It is deadly because it is a sin that will lead to many other sins. In fact, we might call it is the mother of all sins. It is the mother of all sins.

Look at two examples alright, first in First Kings. First Kings chapter 21. First Kings chapter 21, some of you are familiar with this story, some perhaps not so. But let me just begin with verse 14, and I’ll tell you the context alright. So First Kings 21:14, and here we read that they sent to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab alright saying Naboth has been stoned and is dead. Now, so what happens here is that they killed Naboth. Now question is: Why? They did something, they killed somebody. Question is: Why? Why is Naboth dead or being killed?

Well, the reason is this because we read in the context in verse 1 that “it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.”. And so that is the context here that Naboth has a piece of land. And like some might say: Ah, bad luck alright, just happened that his land is next to Ahab’s land or Ahab’s palace. And Ahab the king wanted that piece of land.

In other words, Ahab had this covetous heart. He wants his neighbour’s land. Now you know what the tenth commandment said? Thou shall not covet your neighbour’s things like donkey or ox and land. And so here is the sin of covetousness. He wanted that land, and he wanted that neighbour’s land so badly, and he ends up killing Naboth. Now you can see why covetousness is a deadly sin. It can lead to murder. It’s not his intention to kill Naboth, so you see it is not a sin of doing, it’s a sin of desiring. But it leads to doing. It leads to killing here.

Another example in Second Samuel alright- Second Samuel chapter 11. Now here of course is probably a more well-known example here. Now Second Samuel chapter 11, again let me just read verses 14 and 15. Verses 14 and 15. Second Samuel 11:14 says: “In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.””. So here is a scheme, a plan by David to have Uriah killed. Question is: Why? David, why do you want to kill this innocent man?

Covetousness, because we are told in the context alright in the beginning of the chapter that he saw Uriah’s wife and he wants his neighbour’s wife. He wants his neighbour’s wife. That is what the tenth commandment is about: thou shalt not. You shall not desire or covet your neighbour’s wife, your neighbour’s land, your neighbour’s house, your neighbour’s car because when you have that evil desire or the sinful desire in you, it is a deadly desire because that desire so overwhelms you, so controls you. You become ungoverned by these people and leads to heinous sin. It leads to heinous sin.

And that’s why this is a big thing alright this is a big sin. Now we know this begins with the sinful heart alright, sinful desire. It begins inside. And thus we saw earlier on alright Jesus said: “For out of the heart”. It begins inside, and that is constantly emphasised in the Scripture. And James says the same thing alright in James chapter 1, which he kind of put it in a pictorial form alright in James 1:14-15. And listen to what he says. He says in verse 14, James 1: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”. Now that is covetousness. He is drawn away by his own desire. 

Then in verse 15: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”. So it’s like one thing leading on to another. So beware of covetousness, it will lead to heinous sin. It leads to all kinds of troubles. Or in James chapter 4. James 4:1-2, where James asked the question: “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and you war.”. Why all this fight? Why all this conflict? Desires. The heart, the covetous heart alright. So it leads to all kinds of troubles, and therefore Paul warns.

Now you see, there are plenty of warnings of covetousness, of this sinful desire that can be a deadly desire in the Bible. Listen to Paul in First Timothy. First Timothy chapter 6. First Timothy 6:9 alright- and verse 9, and Paul again warns here. His warning is this: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.”. Can you hear the warning here? Desire, those who desire to be rich fall into all kinds of temptations. Harmful lust draws men into prediction and destruction. It is destructive. It is deadly. And so covetousness alright is no small sin alright. It is a deadly sin.

Now that leads us to the third thing we should know about this desire. The third thing we should know about this desire and that is the root. The root of this desire. What is it all about? The root of it is discontentment with God. The root of this desire is discontentment with God. So in other words, at the heart of this sin is the unwillingness to be satisfied with God and with what He has given to us. Now, this is a great danger. I’m not talking about outside, I’m talking about us that we are not satisfied with God Himself and with what He is giving to us every day.

In fact, we should be counting our blessings. We should be praising God as we come together in worship. That should be the spirit. That should be the attitude. We come feeling, having this sense of unworthiness, feeling so blessed because we have God and we have so much of His blessing alright. And so that is the root of this desire- discontentment with God. Now let me ask: What really is contentment? What is contentment? Now Paul tells us. Paul knows contentment, and he tells us what true contentment is in Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians chapter 4, and let me here read from verse 10 onwards. Philippians 4:10, Paul says: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.”. And so Paul is very happy. He rejoiced again that the Philippi Christians were sharing with him their blessing. They were giving him gifts alright. And then he says: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”. Now that is contentment. Whatever state I am in, I am happy. I’m satisfied, I’m contented.

Verse 12: “For I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Now sometimes people think verse 13 means that when we have Jesus Christ on our side or with us, we can carry heavy bags. I can do all things. That’s not what he’s talking about. He’s talking about contentment. He’s talking about contentment that I can be happy in any state because I have learned how to be content. Now that is true contentment.

Now, what is the secret of contentment? What is the secret of it? Well, Hebrews chapter 13 tells us alright. Hebrews 13:5, now here’s the secret of contentment. Hebrews 13:5 says: “Let your conduct be without covetousness”. Without covetousness, now that is what the Hebrew writer tells us. Be content with such thing as you have. Now as we study the Ten Commandments, that is what we need to learn, to learn what the writer is saying. “Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have.”. But what is the secret of it?

Well, he continues: “For God Himself has said”. Said what? Now, this is a secret that we know that God has said something, but said what? Oh, is it because He has given this and that to you and He will give more? Therefore, be content. Don’t worry. God will give more to you. No, that is not the secret. The secret of contentment is not to know that God will give me more because He has given me so much. Now here’s the secret. He says: “For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

That is the secret of contentment. God is saying that you have Me. You have Me. Is that enough? For a lot of Christians, that is not enough. Yeah, God, I have You, but I don’t have Yours. I want things, I don’t want You. God says I will never leave you. Listen to mommy telling a child: I will never leave you. For the child, that is enough. Mommy, don’t leave me. Are we like this? That is the secret of true contentment.

Or in the words of the psalmist- in the words of the psalmist in Psalm 73. Psalm 73, the secret of true contentment is this. Psalm 73:25-26, the psalmist says: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”. God is the source of my strength. He is my portion forever. Whom have I in heaven but You?

God, it is You. If I have You, I have everything. That is enough. Again. Again listen to Paul. Now Paul is a person who really knows contentment and he knows the secret. Listen to his words here: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”.

You know, a problem about covetousness with us, wanting this thing and that thing, never happy in our life because we have not found the treasure, have not understood what Jesus really means. For Paul, he knows when he found Christ, he’s like the man who found that priceless pearl. He’s like the man who found the treasure hidden in the ground, found Christ. That is more than enough that I’m prepared to give out anything, everything else that I may have Him.

Now that is the secret of true contentment, and therefore we might say the root of covetousness is discontentment with God alright- is discontentment with God where God is not enough, where God is not our treasure. We want to replace Him with something else. Something else has become more important. Something else has become more precious. Something else has become more desirable and more satisfying to you. That’s why you are covetous.

And now we understand what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5:5. Ephesians 5:5. Now listen to what he says. Ephesians 5:5, Paul says: “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man”. What is a covetous man? Now listen to what he says: “Nor covetous man who is an idolater”. You are an idol worshipper if you are a covetous person. Listen again, he says. None of these people “has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God”.

You see, he never fails to try to impress that upon the people that he was writing to that if you are covetous, you do not belong to the kingdom of God. There’s no place in heaven for a covetous person. Why? Because God is not your treasure. Because Jesus is not first place in your life. Listen to him again, Paul in Colossians- Colossians 3:5. Colossians 3:5- “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and” what? “Covetousness”. Which is what? “Which is idolatry”.

A covetous person is an idol worshipper. He is not worshipping the true and living God. He is worshipping something else. He’s worshipping cash, he’s worshiping career, he’s worshiping his wife, his children. He’s worshipping his status, he’s worshiping his education, he’s worshipping something else. Something else is number one in his life, that’s why he is pursuing this other thing and not satisfied with God.

And so at the end of the second reading of the law in Deuteronomy 5, which I turned to your attention earlier on in Deuteronomy 5 where there is the second reading of the law, Moses quoted God as saying this in verse 29. Deuteronomy 5:29- “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”.

I want you to take note of what he says here. Verse 29, he said: “Oh, that they had such a heart”. Such a heart. This commandment is about the heart. This commandment is asking the question: Where is your heart or what is in your heart? Well, that depends. That depends because Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So where is your heart? That depends on what is a treasure. Is it God or mammon? Is it God or mammon? And that’s the challenge that Jesus put his disciples. Where is your heart? Depends on what your treasure is.

So I want to ask you this morning as we think about this commandment: Where is your heart, and what is your treasure? Just as God’s interest is in Israel’s heart, His interest is in our heart. You must have no other gods before Me. Remember that is how the Decalogue starts. It seems like that is how it ends- it’s back to commandment number one. Commandment number one: Do you have other gods beside Him? You must love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind. Otherwise, you will be covetous. You’ll go for other gods. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we thank You again for this opportunity to re-gather and to come back to this series to complete it, to look at Your holy laws and Your demands of us and how we ought to live our lives as Your creatures to love You with all our hearts and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Help us. We know that by ourselves it’s impossible for us to keep these laws. Help us that we might glorify You and honour You by the way we live our lives, for we pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.