In the sermon 'Covetousness is Idolatry' by Mike Davenport, the speaker examines the Tenth Commandment, 'You shall not covet,' emphasizing its spiritual significance and its role in revealing the condition of the human heart. Covetousness is likened to idolatry because it places undue affection and priority on worldly possessions and desires over God. The sermon uses biblical examples, such as the rich young ruler and Judas Iscariot, to illustrate how covetousness can lead individuals away from God. The speaker stresses that covetousness challenges God's goodness, faithfulness, and worthiness, ultimately robbing Him of the glory due to Him. The sermon also discusses covetousness as a deeply rooted sin that requires a zealous love for God to overcome. It concludes with a call to find satisfaction in God alone, encouraging believers to glorify Him and enjoy His presence forever.

Exodus chapter 20, we'll be looking at verse 17 and do remember the context that here the Lord's own voice is speaking to these people that he has brought out of Egypt the mountain is a blaze it's with smoke and the sound of trumpets and the people were afraid and the Lord says this in Exodus 2017 you shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbors Let us look to the Lord in prayer. O gracious God, Your Word tells us in Isaiah that you dwell with Him who is of a contrite spirit and who trembles at your Word. Oh Lord, this is your living Word. Lord, you spoke this to a people you had redeemed to yourself. They may know what you are like, and Lord, to know and understand your righteousness.

And Father, we thank you that that righteousness is ours in Jesus Christ. For Lord, we cannot keep this law in and of ourselves, but we thank you that he did. And so as we study this today and as our sin is exposed, oh may we run to Christ afresh and find our righteousness in him. We pray these things in Christ's holy name. Amen.

You may be seated. Well James Durham in his commentary on the Ten Commandments has well said that unto all the other commands, the Lord has added this tenth command for man's humbling and deep abasement in his sight, and it reaches farther in than all of them, being not about any new object or subject, for it is concerning wife, house, etc., which has already been addressed, but about a new way of acting in reference to that object and condemning directly a sin not so condemned in any other of the foregoing five commandments, and so it seems to be added to the others as a full and more clear explanation or commentary of that suitable obedience that is required in all the rest of the commandments already given. You see, having gone after what's on the surface, the outward manifestations of sin in our flesh, in the other commandments here in this second table of the law, here God goes after our hearts specifically, specifically. Or it may be stated like this, if we think that the other commandments deal merely with outward actions, this commandment shows the nature of those other commandments. Nature of those other commandments.

There's more to the story that God doesn't simply see as man sees, but God looks on our hearts. And if the other commandments have failed to move the needle of our conscience, this one will not fail. It will not leave our conscience untouched. And it's just been in the forefront of my thinking even sitting in my seat those awesome words of the Apostle Paul that he brings his own body under subjection lest after he has preached to others that he himself should prove a castaway. Well in Mark 10 we read about a rich young ruler who came running I mean running and he knelt before Jesus and he asked him good teacher what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life Jesus answered that young man in the following manner you know the commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud, honor your father and your mother.

And for the record, He's not teaching him that if he just did this he would be okay what he's trying to draw the attention to is You can't do this. You haven't done this. But what was the answer of that young man? He answered and said to Jesus teacher all these I have kept from my youth. But did you notice which commandments that Jesus gave this young man?

The fifth, the sixth, the seventh, the eighth, and the ninth. One was held back by Jesus, this commandment, the one that goes straight to the condition or state of the heart. And note that Jesus does not simply quote this commandment. Oh, one more, do not covet. No, he actually applies the doctrine specifically and directly to the man's heart.

So Jesus, looking at this man loved him and said to him one thing you lack one thing you lack go your way sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me." Was Jesus making a declaration that all of his disciples any who were going to follow him We must all go and sell everything that we have and give it to the poor No, that's not specifically what he is saying but But what he is declaring to this young man and is declaring to us is exactly what the apostle Paul declares to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5.5 when he says, for this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God. The covetous man has no treasure in heaven. The covetous man has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God. It is not that the treasure and inheritance is small. There is no treasure.

There is no inheritance. And could it be that that you, my dear friend, when it comes to having Christ, when it comes to having heaven, that you, like that rich young man, yet lack one thing? Could it be, could it be, that you have a covetous heart? Could it be that in your current state that there is no prospect of eternal treasure, there is no prospect of eternal inheritance. Well in the time before us I would like for us to consider this commandment under the following three headings.

First, what covetousness is, what covetousness is. Second, what covetousness says about our God, what it says about our God. And then thirdly, what covetousness says about our own hearts what it says about us so first what covetousness is you see the first thing we need to do is define it. We need to understand what it actually is. What is it that the commandment is requiring us to refrain from?

In future sermons I hope to unpack what this commandment requires us to do, but what does it require us to refrain from? That will be our focus. So let us consider some definitions that have been given by some faithful guides. Commenting on Colossians 3, which is a sister, a twin passage of Ephesians 5 in calling covetousness idolatry, there Matthew Henry defines covetousness like this, "... Covetousness is an inordinate love of present good and outward enjoyments which first of all proceeds from too high of value placed upon those things in the mind and second which puts our hearts upon too eager a pursuit of those enjoyments and which three hinders the proper use and enjoyment of these good things, and fourth, creates anxious fear and immoderate sorrow for the loss of them.

Peter Masters has described covetousness like this. It is a craving for personal and earthly benefits at the expense of the Lord's interests and the needs of others. Coveting is the act of focusing the mind on such things as property, possessions, success, esteem, status, fame, popularity, position, and personal appearance, or on expressly forbidden goals such as thy neighbor's wife. The former things, he says, are not morally forbidden. In other words, it's not that we can't have property, can't have possessions, can't have success or some measure of fame.

It's not that we can't have those things, but covetousness dedicates the heart to dreaming and scheming for the things that belong down here in this life, in this present world, and depending on them for some degree of happiness and fulfillment. And then Thomas Watson wrote this, water, water is useful for the sailing of the ship. Gotta have water. All the danger is when the water gets into the ship. So the fear is when the world gets into the heart.

He may be said to be covetous, not only who gets the world unrighteously. Oh, we're quick to condemn that. Those who grab after and get it in unrighteous ways But covetousness is also the one who loves it Inordinately And then Watson goes on to describe what it is to love the world inordinately. It's first when our thoughts are wholly taken up with this world. Or second when we take more pains forgetting earth than forgetting heaven.

Third when all our discourse, everything that we talk about is about the things of this world. It permeates our thoughts and our words. And then fourth, when we set our hearts upon worldly things that for the love of these worldly things we will part with heavenly things. So ponder each of those defining characteristics slowly as you consider your own heart. First an inordinate love for this world, an inordinate love for this world.

You remember Demas, right? At the end of his letter to his friend and brother Philemon, the Apostle Paul sends the greetings of his fellow laborers Mark, Aristarchus, Luke, and Demas. But at the end of Paul's second letter to his son in the faith Timothy, We read these sad and sobering words concerning Paul's fellow traveler, his fellow gospel laborer. Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica The abrupt departure The forsaking of Paul the forsaking of the ministry and the Forsaking of the gospel of Christ came down to one thing his inordinate love for this world How about the assigning of too high a value on passing things? Assigning too high of value on passing things.

You remember Esau who for one morsel of food sold his birthright and the value system of his heart Dictated the response to his brother look I'm about to die Ie I'm starving I'm about to die. What is this birthright to me? Spurgeon issues a warning here quote, beware of growing covetousness for of all sins this is one of the most insidious. It is like the silting up of a river. As the stream comes down from the land, it brings with it sand and earth and deposits all of these at its mouth so that by degrees unless the conservators watch it carefully it will block itself up and and and no channel for ships of great burden by daily deposit just just daily deposit a little bit here and a little bit there, it imperceptibly creates a bar which is dangerous to navigation.

Many a man when he begins to accumulate wealth commences at the same moment to ruin his soul, and the more he acquires, the more closely he blocks up his liberality, which is, so to speak, the very mouth of spiritual life. Instead of doing more for God he does less. The more he saves the more he wants and the more he wants of this world the less he cares for the world to come. So beware of assigning too high a value on passing things. Third, the unregulated or unbridled pursuit of earthly things and enjoyments.

An unregulated or unbridled pursuit of earthly things and enjoyments. We've considered already Christ's interaction with this rich young ruler. You see, this was a man professing not only an interest and a knowledge of eternal life, but great concerns. He wanted to be sure. He seemed an earnest seeker.

But as we have seen already, he was controlled by an unregulated or unbridled pursuit of earthly things and enjoyments. And thus we read that this young man, when instructed by Jesus to go and to sell all that he had and to give it to the poor and just come and follow Christ. This young man was sad. He was sad at this word and went away sorrowful. Why?

For he had great possessions. He had great possessions, all that he had given his life to pursue. And Christ said, give it up, give it up. There was an improper or imbalanced use and enjoyment of these things that he had, or unregulated unbridled pursuit. The fourth is the one I just named then the improper or imbalanced use and enjoyment of these things.

You see we can not only just have an unbridled and unregulated pursuit of them but once we have them we can have the improper or imbalanced use of the enjoyment of them and do not we see this in the text that was read earlier Luke 12 Luke 12 there Christ reveals this this parable about this rich fool that the ground of a certain rich man yielded plenty and he thought what shall I do oh I know what I shall do I shall tear down the barns that I have build bigger barns and fill them and then I'll be able to take my ease then I'll be able to just simply give myself to the enjoyment of everything that I have salt everything that I have stored up. Eat, drink, and simply be merry. But what did God say? God said, you fool, you fool. This night your soul will be required of you.

Then whose will those things be which you have provided? Who's going to enjoy them? But so is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." You see, there can be an improper imbalanced enjoyment of these things of life, But there also can be the anxious fear of losing these things or immoderate sorrow for actual loss of these things. You may recall the scene in the house of Simon the leper there in Bethany where Jesus was gathered there with his disciples reclining at the table and we read that Mary came and that she brought with her this this pound of very very costly oil of spikenard and she pours it out lavishly on the feet of Jesus and then lets down her hair and begins to wipe the feet of Jesus. Well, we read then of the seemingly righteous response of Judas Iscariot, and it strikes a chord in the hearts of the rest of the disciples.

You see, there was indignation in this criticism of Judas toward Mary. Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? He seemed to have an eye for the poor He was going to do evidently what that rich young ruler didn't want to do. Let's sell it Let's let's give it to the poor such as my heart for the poor but scripture reveals the reason that Judas issued this rebuke it wasn't for the poor And scripture tells us that This Judas said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and Had the money box and he used to take what was put in it He saw his chance at getting his hands on that and he was already sorrowing the loss of it before he even had it in his possession. And I believe this also to be the issue with Lot's wife having built up such a livelihood in that prosperous city of Sodom and the angels having to grab her hand along with the families and lead them out and say, run, run for your lives.

Do not look back. Don't look back. Don't turn back and do not stop in the plains, but make it to the mountains. What did she do? She looked back longingly for those things that she was losing and we know what happened to her.

Remember those words of Jesus, those sobering words to his disciples, remember Lot's wife, remember Lot's wife. Will you hear the admonition of Jesus today in Luke 12-15? Jesus said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness. Take heed and beware of covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. You see it is something that deserves our attention.

We are to spare no efforts, spare none, in taking heed to ourselves. We must beware, and I believe the exhortations here are applicable to the taking stock of our own hearts that's the taking heed taking stock of our own hearts but also beware beware of the outward influences the threats from without the allure of property possessions success esteem status fame popularity position and personal appearance Well having considered what covetousness is Consider secondly in regard to this commandment What covetousness says about our God what covetousness says about our God? Is God good? Is he good? I'm not merely asking you if God has been good to you.

I'm asking you is he good in his nature? Is he good? Because yes, Asaph declares in Psalm 73, 1, Truly God is good to Israel. But there are other texts that point to his goodness as well that tie this goodness to his very nature. In Psalm 106, 1, 107, 118, 1 and 29 and Psalm 136, 1 and all of those texts this phrase is found the psalmist declares oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good for he is good so do you believe that God is good we often do we not use that phrase when God does something favorable toward us, when he gives us something that we have desired, we get a new job.

God provides a job. God is good. A new baby is born into our family a healthy living child God is so good A loved one recovers from sickness. God is good. A great need, a great need is met by God's provision in some form or fashion, oh God you are so good!

And indeed he is good. And indeed in every one of those seasons we should give him thanks and declare his goodness. But what about those circumstances that go against our desires? We lose our job. A loved one passes.

Hopes for a child are dashed. We go on in great need of health or some physical relief God doesn't seem to answer. My friend, is God still good? Is he still good? The same words, God is good, do not roll off of our tongues so quickly or so easily in those circumstances.

But has our immutable God changed? No, He hasn't. He hasn't forgotten to be gracious. You see, we too easily find the response of Job to be a strange thing to us. It's something so distant from our own heartfelt experience.

Job said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." He is essentially declaring that God is good whether he has been active in giving us something or if he's been active in taking it away. God is good. Covetousness declares that God is not good, either that or he has withheld the expression of that goodness to us, And when we do that We create a false God a False image we we set up this created image an idol something we are stating God is not when God said he is.

You know, it's the exact thing that the devil sought to do in the Garden of Eden when he first came to Eve. Has God indeed said, has He said, has he said that he is good? You will not surely die, for God knows something. He hasn't let you in on it. God knows something.

You see, the devil tempted Eve toward covetousness, wanting something that was not hers, that was out of bounds. He tempted her towards that by calling into question the goodness of God. And then once she doubted the goodness of her Creator, she turned to the creation in a pursuit of what she deemed as good. That's how it all went downhill. That's the start of it.

God's not good. You know what good is. You can see for yourself. And she looked for herself. And she said, I think I see something good here.

Not only does it call into question the goodness of God, it calls into question his faithfulness and truthfulness. It calls into question his faithfulness and truthfulness. Has God not promised that no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly? Are we not promised that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose? Have our hearts not been put at ease by the words of our Savior?

Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, even basic necessities such as food and drink and clothing, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things. They'll be added to you. They'll be added to you. You see, covetousness declares that that God has forgotten his promises or is unable to fulfill them. Oh, he had good intentions, but he's just, He can't do what he promised.

That's what covetousness says. It declares that we must pursue our own interests, that we must place our needs and wants above all other endeavors because the one that we declare has taken care of our greatest need we've we've given him our soul for all eternity and yet we're willing to declare by our covetousness that we can't trust him with our physical beings. This physical, we've entrusted our souls to him. Can we not entrust our very lives to him? And in so doing, in so doing when we covet, we declare God to be someone other than the one who brings water from the rock, who scatters manna on the ground daily, who sends ravens to feed his prophet, who daily provides fresh oil in the jar.

When we covet, We declare him to be someone other than the one who can orchestrate the finding of a coin in the mouth of a fish, who can cause there to be 12 baskets, fragments, leftovers from feeding thousands with a mere five loaves and two fish. The one who can place a detached ear that had been cut off by a sword and put it back in its place. We declare him to be someone other than the one who quenches the tyrant's flame, who shuts the mouths of lions, and who parts the waters so that his people can pass by on dry ground. Covetousness says our God is not faithful, that our God is unable and not truthful. But thirdly, covetousness questions not only the goodness of God, the truthfulness and faithfulness of God, it also questions the worthiness of God and his all-surpassing glory.

It questions his worthiness and his all-surpassing glory. And so it is not surprising that the Apostle Paul refers to covetousness as idolatry. You see, covetousness robs God of the love, of the affection, of the attention, and the glory that he and he alone is due. It's casting all of that upon someone else or something else because we deem him not worthy of all of that. We considered the text already, Ephesians 5.5, for this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God and Paul states that same thing in Colossians 3, 5, therefore put to death your members which are on the earth fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil, desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

And so this consideration of it being idolatry, of it robbing God of his glory and his worthiness it leads us right into the third and final point and that's what covetousness says about our own hearts what it says about our own hearts You see, covetousness strikes a blow at the two greatest commandments that were summarized by Jesus Christ. It's a failure to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, as well as a failure to love our neighbor as our self. The apostle John made it very clear in first John chapter 2 anyone who loves the world are the things of the world the love of the Father is not in him The love of the Father is not in him. The love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, whether it be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the pride of life, all of these things are not of the Father but they are part and parcel of attachment to this world.

Dear greater. We were made for something greater. We were made to glorify God and to enjoy Him. To enjoy Him. And these two things, He's given us this duty to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

It's not limited to this world, it's forever. The man who grasps his duty, the man who understands the chief end for which he was created that man and that one alone is the one who can say with the psalmist in psalm 16 five oh lord you you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup my inheritance and my cup or again in Psalm 73 25 and 26 whom have I in heaven but you and there is none or nothing on this earth that I desire besides you you God are my portion forever can you say that Can you say that as you're sitting there in your seat, can you say that God is your portion? And I can't help it just crossed my mind I can't help but go back to back to 1st Peter that we've listened to recently we are a royal priesthood we're a royal priesthood do you remember when Canaan was divided do you remember the lot that fell to the priesthood God said I'm your portion I'm your portion and we're a royal priesthood brethren. We don't need the things of this world. We have God.

God's our portion. God's our portion. Are you satisfied in Him alone? Can you say that there is nothing here upon earth that you desire more than you desire God. Nothing.

Covetousness, writes Peter Masters, is deeply offensive to the Lord who made us to be the highest of his creatures and who gave us the power to know him. In covetousness, he sees us groveling for satisfaction in the material realm, hungering and thirsting only for things to do with the body, money, clothing, superior home, fancy car, prestigious job, expensive objects, and so many other things beside. As for the Lord, he is effectively put in second place as a source of satisfaction and succor. We say we love him, but not enough to be fulfilled and satisfied by him." End quote. And that's why dear ones, as we had dealt with the command of do not commit adultery, And we had a whole message given over to spiritual adultery.

It's to say, God, I'm not finding satisfaction in you. I'm going to find it elsewhere. And that's what Ezekiel 16 is an indictment against Israel for doing that very thing After all that God had done Jesus warns us that wherever our treasure is That's where we'll find our hearts That's where we'll find our hearts Our hearts are not with Christ if our hearts are treasuring something else. You see, our hearts are deceitful. They're deceitful enough to persuade us that we can pursue both God and the world, that we can have our right hand upon Christ and our left hand upon the world.

That there's no need to declare ourselves dead to the world as long as we keep Christ safely ahead of this world in our passions and our desires and our priorities. Yet Christ would have us to know that no man, no man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can't have God and a Covich's heart.

You can't. I remember somewhere and I don't remember where and I don't remember if this was given as a story of something that was passed on as something that really happened or not but the story has stuck in my mind for a long time and it's a story of a man in Scotland in the early days he was a he He was a man that coveted much. He kept everything. He was a miser. He watched his money and all of his bank notes and all of his money and bills he kept locked away in this chest.

But he always was in church every Sunday and he went to church this one Sunday. And the preacher was preaching about an inordinate love for the things of this world. And the man, the preacher was preaching about the thing that that in Proverbs our money can take wings and fly away that God can take away from us the very thing we love and the man began to be agitated. He began to be nervous and the preacher went on to talk about how thieves break in and steal and he got nervous thinking about all that he had back there stowed away in that chest and when the sermon ended he could not make his way fast enough home and he burst through the door he slammed the door he locked it and he went as quick as he could fumbling around to find candles because now darkness had come and he lit the candle and put it on the candle stick and with trembling hands he went and he opened up and unlocked and opened up the chest and leaned inside to see and the candle fell into the midst of those banknotes and money and it all in that dry condition went up in a flame.

No different than that fool that Christ described who had set all of his desire. Everything he loved was there and it was gone in an instant. You see, Christ will have no rivals. Christ will have no rivals. No rival in regard to our desires, no rival in regard to our priorities, in terms of our affections, in terms of how we spend our energy.

Christ will have first place, or have no place at all. No rivals. My dear friend, do not foolishly think for one moment that you will be able to keep your heart in check in regard to these things. As Peter Masters so accurately points out, any Christian who thinks that the desire for possessions, fame, popularity, admiration, worldly success, or comfort, and excessive earthly pleasures can be kept in bounds. That you can keep that desire in bounds has not learned the most basic lesson of human nature.

Maman always takes over. It always does. And you know that by your own experience, don't you? If you really stop and think back over your life, you know that by experience. Paul knew it.

Paul knew it by his own experience. He wrote to the Galatians in 517 for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another. Your want her can't want two different separate things. It can't. The spirit and the flesh war.

And Paul is not writing out of some mystical experience that the Spirit said, write these words. No, Paul is writing here to the church in Galatians and he's thinking about what he wrote to the Romans in Romans 7. He says, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not.

On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. But sin taking opportunity by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law But when the commandment came sin revived and I died Oh Wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death. See it was his experience.

It was his experience But you know what else he experienced? He experienced the very thing that he ends that section with in Romans 7. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's how he was delivered. That's how.

You see, darren, this is a difficult sin. It's a difficult sin partly due to the fact that it so goes against our flesh, partly because We love ourselves far too much, but thirdly it's due to the fact that it it turns, this sin turns on the hinges of such words as inordinate, improper, immoderate, and so we can deceive ourselves very easily. But not only is it a difficult sin, it's a serious sin. It is a serious sin. You see, we would tend to think this as a respectable sin.

It's a sin that for long periods of time can be kept down inside that no one else can necessarily see. And we may think that because of that it's not too serious it's not too egregious but dear ones just like the deadly fumes of carbon monoxide This sin of covetousness can bring loss of life, eternal life, and it can do so without raising the first alarm in our soul. One commentator notes that, you know, when it comes to the other commandments, this second table of the law, we can find saints all throughout the Scripture who broke those other commandments and sometimes did so in astonishing fashion. But this commentator points out that there is no instance in all the Scripture of any good man charged with covetousness. Worthy of our thoughts that no good man was charged.

Not that he didn't wrestle with it. We know from Romans 7 that Paul wrestled with it. But could you charge it to his account that he was a covetous man? I don't think so. Not the way he lived.

Not the one who stated for me to live as Christ. And to die, I would not be like that rich man. To die would be gain. It would be gain." And he said, I suffer the loss of all things that I may know Christ and be found in him. The one thing and the only thing that can cure us of covetousness is the what some writers have called the expulsive power of a new affection.

The expulsive power of a new affection. John states once again if anyone loves the world or the things of the world the love of the Father is not in him. That expulsive power is not at work because of no affection for God. So what we need in order to expel the love of this world from our heart is a zealous and pure love for our God. That's what will do it.

And dear ones, God, our God, the Triune God is one. He's one. And that point is fully declared by God to Moses When he demands that we give him an unbroken and undivided love Our love for him must be with all of our heart with all of it It must be with all of our heart, with all of it. It must be with all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength. This new affection will expel all other affections and then and only then will we be able with a clear conscience to say with the psalmist whom have I in heaven but you and there is none or nothing upon earth that I desire beside you.

God is my portion forever. In closing, I just want to read something from John Newton that John Newton wrote and I pray it'll be a blessing for us as we consider it. He said, I consider covetousness as the most generally prevailing and ensnaring sin by which professors of the gospel, what we heard about as those temporary believers, are hindered in their spiritual progress. A disposition deeply rooted in our fallen nature, strengthened by the habits of business, the immense circulation of cash, the power of custom, and the fascinating charm of a balance sheet is not easily counteracted. If we are indeed, if we are indeed believers in Christ and partakers of the power of his resurrection, we are bound by obligation and required by our rule to set our affection on the things that are above, not on things on the earth.

He has called us out of the world and cautioned us against conformity to its spirit. While we are in the world, it is our duty, our privilege and honor to manifest that grace which has delivered us from the love of it. Christians must indeed eat and drink and may buy and sell as other people do, but the principles, the motives, and the ends of their conduct are entirely different. They are to adorn the doctrine of God their Savior and to do all for his glory. By his wisdom and providence he places them in different situations that the power and sufficiency of his grace may appear under a great variety of outward circumstances.

Covetousness or the love of the world is one great cause of the many trials we meet with in life. Consider this as you consider trials in your life. The principle of this evil, covetousness, is so strong in us and so powerfully nourished by almost everything around us that it is seldom suppressed but by a course of sharp discipline. Many persons have now reason to be thankful for those dispensations of providence which once seemed most severe. If the Lord had not seasonably defeated their plans of life, withered their gourds, broken their cisterns, and wounded them where they were most keenly sensible, they might.

Yea, they would have gone on from bad to worse. But losses are gains and the heaviest trials are mercies. When sanctified to bring us to our right minds and to guide our feet into the paths of peace. If therefore, my dear reader, you wish to avoid trouble and to pass through life as smooth as possible, take heed and beware of covetousness. If the Lord loves you, He will not lose you, and therefore He will beat you as it were in a mortar, if necessary, rather than permit that to remain in you which his soul abhors and which if it were to remain would exclude you from his kingdom.

He has said in daily experience and observation confirm his aphorism a man's life the real comforts of this life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Gold, Gold cannot communicate peace of mind nor compensate for the want of it. Surely they who are satisfied with a little of this world's goods must be more happy than they who are not satisfied with a great deal. Remember likewise that where much is given much will be required and seriously consider what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul. Oh may God give us grace.

May we look to Christ and may our hearts be drawn out in love to him. Let us pray. Oh Lord we thank you for your word. We thank you that it finds us where we are and it declares to us who you are. And Lord, we ask that you would be gracious to us.

Lord, that you would not give to us what our sins deserve, but look with mercy and grace upon us that we might find forgiveness by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and Him alone. And Lord may we also find our greatest delight in glorifying you and enjoying you forever. Oh may we all be drawn to that righteousness of Christ and be clothed in it alone Lord even as we now have this time of remembrance of what he has done for sinners like us. We thank you and praise you in his great name. Amen.

Great night. Amen.