The Tenth Commandments 09/3/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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If you have your Bibles with you, please turn to Exodus chapter 20 Exodus chapter 20

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By way of reminder verse 1 and God spoke all these words saying

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I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery?

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Commandment number one you shall have no other gods before me Commandment number two you shall not make for yourself a carved image

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Or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth

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You shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous

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God Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me

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But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments

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Commandment number three you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain For the

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Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain Commandment number four remember the

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Sabbath day to keep it. Holy Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

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But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God On it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter

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Your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates?

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For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day

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Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy Commandment number five honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the

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Lord your God is giving you Commandment number six. You shall not murder

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Commandment number seven. You shall not commit adultery Commandment number eight.

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You shall not steal Commandment number nine. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor and This morning we conclude our study of the

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Ten Commandments by examining the tenth and final command Exodus 20 verse 17

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You shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or Anything that is your neighbors

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What does it mean to covet The term covet means to desire or to desire strongly

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This term does not refer to a good and healthy desire but a sinful and ungoverned desire

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The term refers to an excessive inordinate and selfish desire for some thing or some one the term refers to To lust after to set an unhealthy desire upon something or someone

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You see sin twists and corrupts healthy desires which then turn into unhealthy and sinful desires the covetous man

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Contemplates and ruminates on these distorted and illicit desires which then often result in action sinful action

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Covetousness is a root sin Covetousness is a root sin that produces all sorts of rotten fruits

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Micah 2 verses 1 and 2 woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds

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When morning dawns they perform it because it is in the power of their hand

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They covet fields and seize them and houses and take them away

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They oppress a man in his house a man and his inheritance The Tenth Commandment addresses

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Not what we do But what we want to do The Tenth Commandment differs from the from the preceding commandments in that this commandment is not forbidding an action but a thought a covetous thought this commandment forbids a certain state of mind a covetous state of mind

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This commandment deals directly with the heart which is where covetousness greed envy and jealousy reside

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Mark 7 verse 20 and he said what comes out of a person is what defiles him

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For from within out of the heart of man come evil thoughts sexual immorality theft murder adultery coveting

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Wickedness deceit sensuality envy slander pride and foolishness

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All these evil things come from within and they defile a person

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The Tenth Commandment along with the other along with the other nine Demands inward integrity as well as outward conformity

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Otherwise stated the law of God is spiritual It deals with our souls as well as our bodies it reaches the

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Understanding the will the affections and all the other powers of the soul as well as our words and our works

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The law of God affects the inside as well as the outside as is clearly demonstrated in the

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Tenth Commandment Beloved in your hearts Do not covet in your thinking do not covet

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Do not devise wickedness and evil on your beds Do not lust do not desire do not set your desire upon your neighbor's house spouse

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Servant ox donkey or anything else that belongs to your neighbor

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Covetousness begins with a very small and subtle thought as We contemplate our own circumstances

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We then think about our neighbors and their houses their spouses and the appearance of their spouses and their lucrative careers and their lavish family

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Vacations their beautiful cars and gardens their charming personalities their education

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Their position their accomplishments their status their comfortable and easy lives and we think to ourselves

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I wish I Wish I lived in that house. I Wish I was married to that person.

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I Wish I looked like them. I wish I was more like them I wish I had their job and their paycheck.

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I wish my family was more like their family If only I had married differently

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If only I had made other choices if only I had their opportunities and their advantages

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Then things would be different Beloved these thoughts can quickly turn into covetous thoughts

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If we dwell too long on what we do not have if we set our desire upon something that we do not have

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Then our sinful flesh will quickly twist and distort these thoughts into covetousness and envy ungratefulness discontent anger jealousy and wrath

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These sins creep in quietly J. Dahmer in his book the

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Ten Commandments writes this the starting point for the Tenth Commandment is very simply this

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Your own house is the best one for you Your own spouse is the most pretty or handsome for you in Your own job lies the most fruitful development of your abilities

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Even though your house may be smaller than your neighbors though Your wife may be less attractive than other women though Your job may rank lower on the scale of values than those of your friends and acquaintances and so on in other words the starting point for the

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Tenth Commandment is contentment a Covetous heart lacks contentment a covetous heart lacks

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Satisfaction a covetous heart spurns and rejects the lot that the Lord God has provided Covetousness is a rejection of the good and providential hand of the

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Lord God Which is why in our lives Covetousness must be mortified in our lives

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Covetousness must be put to death. It is a weed that must be pulled

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Colossians 3 5 through 10 put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness

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Which is idolatry on Account of these things the wrath of God is coming in these you two once walked when you were living in them

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But now you must put them all away Anger wrath malice slander and obscene talk from your mouth

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Do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self

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Which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator The Westminster shorter catechism asks in question 80 what is required in the

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Tenth Commandment the answer the Tenth Commandment requires full contentment with our own condition with a right and charitable frame of mind towards our neighbor and all that is his

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The Tenth Commandment requires contentment Well, what does this mean?

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What does it mean to be content? It means that we consider our lives to be ideal

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It means that we consider our best life to be the life that we are currently and presently living

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Contentment is the perfect condition of life in which nothing else is needed nor desired

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Contentment means that in your life in your current situation in your current circumstances and current affairs

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You are fully satisfied You are fully pleased and you are at peace with your lot in life.

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This was the attitude of the Apostle Paul Philippians 4 11 not that I am speaking of being in need

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For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low

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And I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger

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Abundance and need I can do all things through him who strengthens me in this passage the

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Greek word translated content means to be possessed with unfailing strength

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It means to be strong. It means to suffice it means to be enough in Paul circumstances

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He had enough He was content no matter how drastic or dire things may be

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Paul was happy Jeremiah Burroughs in his book the rare jewel of Christian contentment defined contentment as that sweet inward quiet gracious frame of mind which freely submits to and Delights in God's wise and fatherly disposition in every condition in the book of 1st

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Timothy Paul was writing to help Timothy establish and set in order the church at Ephesus If you have your

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Bibles turn with me to 1st Timothy chapter 6 We're going to spend the rest of the morning in this passage in 1st

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Timothy 6 Paul addressed false teachers And he addresses the motivation of false teachers at Ephesus Timothy would experience false teaching and false teachers, but their teaching would be easily identified

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By their different doctrine and the character of the false teachers first Timothy 6 3 through 5 if anyone teaches a different doctrine and Does not agree with the sound words of our

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Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing

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He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy dissension slander evil suspicions and Constant friction among people who are depraved of mind and deprived of the truth

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Imagining that godliness is a means of gain Now at the time of this letter the false teachers in Ephesus had sought to financially profit from their spiritual position within the church the false teachers viewed their position in the church as a means of financial profit

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Paul wrote in 1st Timothy 6 6 but godliness with contentment is great gain

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In 1st Timothy 6 6 the same terminology as 1st Timothy 6 5 is used but Paul cleverly reverses the meaning of the terms

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He contrasts the false teachers erroneous view that their godliness is a means of gain

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With the truth that godliness is a means of great gain when it is accompanied with contentment

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True godliness is profitable, but not as the false teachers has thought

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Godliness is not always a means to financial gain But godliness is great gain when it is accompanied by contentment

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Genuine contentment is not found in self -sufficiency. It's not found in money. It's not found in possessions

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Genuine contentment is found only in the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ Those who have a relationship with the

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Lord Jesus Christ have everything that is needed Genuine contentment will never come from coveting

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It will never come from attaining your neighbor's things or from the love of money It will only come from trusting in the

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Lord God and the provision of the Lord God Covetousness and the love of money

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Deprive us of the sufficiency that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, which ignores the true gain of godliness

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Covetousness is a rejection of true contentment The love of money is a rejection of true contentment

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But covetousness and the love of money is also a rejection of the eternal

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Covetousness chains and constricts us to the temporal rather than the eternal look at verse 6

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But godliness with contentment is great gain For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world

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But if we have food and clothing with these we will be content Here we see two undeniable and unchangeable truths about material wealth and earthly possessions

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At birth, you do not bring anything into this world and at death.

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You do not take anything out of it as Job declared naked I came from my mother's womb and naked

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I shall return Psalm 49 16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich when the glory of his house increases for when he dies

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He will carry nothing away His glory will not go down after him

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Ecclesiastes 5 15 and he came from his mother's womb He shall go again make it as he came and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand

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This also is a grievous evil Just as he came so shall he go and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?

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to love money and to pursue material wealth is to pursue that which is temporal and Defeating it is to pursue that which has absolutely no eternal value

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The Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly spoke against these empty pursuits Matthew 6 19 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth

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Where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal? But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal

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For where your treasure is There your heart will be also in this passage

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The Lord Jesus Christ tells us not to store up earthly treasures, but rather store up heavenly treasures

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Store up treasures that will last beyond this temporal life But what

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I find interesting in this passage is the connection between our treasure and our hearts

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Look again at verse 21 where your treasure is there your heart will be also

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Think about the implications of what this verse is saying For where your treasure is there your heart will be also

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It's not the treasure that follows the heart. It's the heart that follows the treasure

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Matthew Henry remarked We are therefore concerned to be right and wise in the choice of our treasure because the temper of our minds and Consequently the tenor of our lives will be accordingly either carnal or spiritual earthly or heavenly the heart follows the treasure as the needle follows the lodestone or the magnet or the sunflower the

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Sun Where your treasure is There is your love and affection

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Where your treasure is there is your value and esteem? Where your treasure is there are your desires and your pursuits your hopes and your trust your joy

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And your delight beloved the heart belongs to the

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Lord God The heart is the Lord God's do our treasures must be laid up with him

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For where your treasure is there your heart will be also The love of money the pursuit of money is to focus on the temporal and to reject the eternal

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To expend your time your energy in your resources to amass more and more wealth

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Is a complete waste of your time mark 836 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world?

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And yet forfeit its soul It would not matter if you somehow acquired every last earthly scent

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Every last treasure that this world affords if you are not prepared for eternity

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Then it is all for naught so rather than pursuing the temporal rather than pursuing the accumulation of wealth and possessions rather than Coveting your neighbor's house wife servants ox donkey or anything else that is your neighbors

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You must seek the eternal and recognize that what you have is sufficient first Timothy 6 7 through 8 for we brought nothing into the world and We cannot take anything out of the world.

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But if we have food and clothing with these We will be content

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This verse is the clearest Biblical definition of contentment found anywhere in the

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Bible if we have food and clothing with these We will be content Now, is there anything wrong with owning a lot of possessions?

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No Will those possessions bring you contentment? No Why?

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It is because contentment is rooted in the heart Beloved contentment is rooted in what a man is

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Not in what he does not in what he has a man with a discontent heart will always want something more a

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Man with a discontent heart will always want something else His heart will always linger and ruminate on what it lacks

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Not on what it has It may surprise you to hear that Contentment is completely unrelated to how much wealth you possess

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It is completely unrelated to how many possessions you own it is completely unrelated to your earthly Circumstances wealth and possessions are like salt water the more you drink the more you thirst

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Enough is never enough Ecclesiastes 5 10 he who loves money

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Will not be satisfied with money nor he who loves wealth with his income

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This also is vanity when goods increase They increase who eat them and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes at birth

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We arrive with nothing at death We depart with nothing in between if we have food and clothing with these

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We shall be content Godliness that is of great value

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Godliness that is of great gain is accompanied by Contentment and this means being satisfied with food and clothing be satisfied with what the

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Lord God has given you covetousness an unhealthy love of money an

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Unhealthy desire for possessions will bring great complication into your life

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Because these things obscure the simplicity of life the more you covet The more money and the more possessions that you seek to acquire the more complex and difficult your life will become

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Randy Alcorn the author of the book money possessions and eternity wrote this the greater the mass the greater the hold that mass exerts

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The more things we own the greater their total mass the more they grip us

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Setting us in orbit around them Finally like a black hole they suck us in We think we own our possessions, but too often they own us

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Every item we buy is one more thing to think about to talk about clean repair

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Rearrange fret over and replace when it goes bad Instead of being able to enjoy

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God instead of being able to enjoy fellowship with each other instead of being eternally minded our possessions take hold of us and we redirect and refocus our attention from the creator to the creation

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Beloved let me ask you this if the Lord God were to strip everything in your life away everything but food and clothing

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Would you be content if the Lord God were to strip away everything in your life, but food and covering would you be satisfied?

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Would you like Asaph and Psalm 73 be able to generally cry out whom have

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I in heaven? But you and Beside you I desire nothing on earth if we have food and clothing with these we shall be content

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To covet and love money will bring misery into your life.

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In fact, it will result in entrapment sinful desires and destruction

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Look at verse 9 but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation into a snare into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction

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Now notice that it's not those who are rich who fall into temptation snares and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction

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But those who desire to be rich This refers to anyone who is not content with their current lot and who covets and desires more money more wealth more possessions

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This passage could refer to someone who is financially destitute It could refer to someone who is financially stable and it can even refer to someone who is

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Financially abundant the issue is not the amount of wealth But the desire for it

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This verse is aimed at those who are not content with their current riches their current financial state or their current

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Circumstances this verse is aimed at those who desire to get rich and at those who desire to get more rich The Greek word translated want means to will deliberately

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It means to have a purpose to be minded and it refers to a settled determination a settled desire those who want to get rich have consciously determined and chosen to pursue wealth and Riches they desperately want it.

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They will desperately pursue it above all else and In their pursuit of wealth and riches they lead themselves straight into temptation they lead themselves straight into a snare driven by covetousness and Greedy hearts they fall headlong into an entrapment

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To acquire more and more wealth Perhaps you will be tempted to be dishonest

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Perhaps you'll be tempted to lie and deceive maybe you'll be tempted to steal and cheat

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Make no mistake soon enough Your covetousness will become so strong that you will not be able to deliver yourself from your desires

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And they will ensnare you the unhealthy pursuit of riches and wealth can be so compulsive and irresistible

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That it ends up controlling your lives You're consuming greed for more and more

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Imprisons you in an unending cycle of discontent and dissatisfaction

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Enough is never enough The scriptures are so clear on this point

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Do not covet Do not covet gold do not covet silver.

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Do not covet money Beloved covetousness will trap you In your pursuits, you will reach out for the bait

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You'll take the bait and then you are hooked you are caught fast

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Because covetousness is a trap it imprisons it enslaves and it ruins

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The love of money will lead you in temptation The love of money will lead you into a snare

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The love of money will lead you into many other foolish and harmful desires that will plunge you into Ruin and destruction

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The love of money will breed in your life other destructive desires, which will eventually overwhelm and overtake you

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The term plunge means to sink Submerge it means drag to the bottom

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The love of money along with these other harmful desires will sink you they will submerge you

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They will drag you to the bottom and drown you in a sea of destruction And the picture portrayed here in this verse is not of partial devastation

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But of total devastation those who covet and set their hearts on financial gain will end in total loss

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Those who covet and set their hearts on financial gain will end in ruin and destruction ruin in this life destruction in the next

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One thing necessarily leads to another and another and another

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There is a progression that begins this sequence of spiritual downfall Those who covet and want to get rich think

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They scheme they plan Those who covet and want to get rich then fall into temptation

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They are caught fast and ensnared unable to free themselves Then they fall into many other foolish and harmful desires which then plunge them into ruin and destruction and this spiritual downfall begins with a covetous thought a covetous and greedy thought

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Remember the saying so a thought reap an action So an action and you reap a habit

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So a habit and you reap a character so a character and you reap a destiny

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Beloved be careful What you think about? Be on guard against covetous and greedy thoughts in the gospel of Luke the

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Lord Jesus Christ warned a young man about the dangers of covetousness Luke chapter 12.

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He said to them take care and be on your guard against all covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and Then he told them a parable

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The land of the rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself What shall

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I do for I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I'll do this

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I'll tear down my barns and I'll build larger ones and there I will store up all my grain and my goods

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And I will say to my soul soul. You have ample goods laid up for many years

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Relax eat drink be merry But God said to him fool

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This night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared.

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Whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God Beloved covetousness is great folly

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It destroys individuals it destroys marriages it destroys families churches and Societies it is not the way to true contentment.

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It is not the way to true happiness Covetousness and the love of money will not fulfill or satisfy any of your longings

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Rather these are the path to temptation. These are the path to many deadly snares

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These are the path to bondage entrapment ruin and destruction

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Take care and be on guard against all covetousness Now let me illustrate further

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First Timothy 6 10 for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil

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It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs

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It's hard to imagine a sin that has not been committed without covetousness

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Covetousness and the love of money often lead to selfishness cheating fraud perjury robbery

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Envy quarreling deceit hatred violence and even murder

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Covetousness often lies behind marital difficulties It lies behind the perversion of justice the exploitation of women the exploitation of children pornography drugs political corruption adultery abuse and a host of other evils the

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Puritan Thomas Watson wrote He who has an earthly itch a greedy desire for getting the world has in him the root of all sin

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Covetousness is a mother sin. It is a breach of all the Ten Commandments He's right covetousness is a breach of every single command

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Every imaginable category of sin flows from the covetous heart because when you covet something

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It becomes the driving force in your life and you do just about anything to get it

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For example at the conquest of Jericho the Lord God gave Israel a very clear in very

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Detailed instructions on how to handle the spoils of war Joshua 618

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But you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction Lest when you have devoted them

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You take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it

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But all silver and gold and every vessel of bronze and iron are holy to the

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Lord They shall go into the treasury of the Lord Akin from the tribe of Judah the great troubler of Israel Rejected the

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Lord God's command and he stole a beautiful cloak 200 shekels of silver and a gold bar 50 shekels and weight

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Akin sin resulted in the defeat of Israel before the town of Ai and 36 men were killed

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Being found out Akin and his family were stoned by all of Israel and they were buried under a large pile of rocks in longing for riches

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Akin wandered away from the Lord God and he pierced himself and his family with great grief

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King Ahab is another example of someone who was covetous King Ahab was one of the most wicked kings of Israel and in the book of first Kings we learned that he wanted to plant a vegetable garden close to his house

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That's not a bad desire So he tried to purchase the piece of land from a man named

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Naboth, but Naboth refused to sell it to him The scripture said that Ahab returned to his house

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Sullen and vexed because he wanted that vineyard so badly Following the counsel of his wicked wife

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Ahab then killed Naboth and he took possession of the vineyard first Kings 21 19

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Thus says the Lord have you killed and also taken possession and you shall say to him

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Thus says the Lord in the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood

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How about the story of Gehazi? Gehazi was a servant of Elisha the prophet the man of God and it was through the prophet

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Elisha that God healed Naaman the captain of the army of the king of Aram from his leprosy and in thanks

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Nahum offered a gift to Elijah, but Elisha refused to receive it

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So Nahum departs and without Elisha's knowledge Gehazi goes after him and he asks for the gift

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Elijah responds to Gehazi in second Kings 5 He said to him did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you

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Was it a time to accept money and garments all of orchards and vineyards sheep and oxen male servants and female servants?

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Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever

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So he went out from his presence a leper white as snow the account of Gehazi is

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Textbook result of a covetous heart and the love of money He's the textbook result of first Timothy 6 9 and 10.

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He was covetous of riches He fell into temptation. He fell into a snare

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He fell into other foolish and harmful desires and he was plunged into ruin he and his descendants all for the love of money

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Another example is Judas Iscariot Judas having loved money more than the Lord God betrayed the

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Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver For three years. He had walked alongside the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He had heard his teaching He had seen his miracles.

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He had witnessed his love and yet for 30 pieces of silver He betrayed the

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Lord of Glory And in the ends pierced with grief he took his own life

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Ananias and Sapphira, they sold a piece of property. They kept back some of the proceeds then they

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Exaggerated how much they were putting in the offering plate? And as a result they were struck down dead at the doors of the church

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All of these examples all of these deaths all of these wounds each and every one was self -inflicted and These are just a few of the biblical examples of those who have put the covetous love of money before their love for the

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Lord God as You can see by covetousness and longing for your neighbor's goods many have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs

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Like an animal placed on a skewer. They have pierced their own souls and brought upon themselves agonizing grief covetous leads to no end of evil and Covetousness will ultimately lead you to death.

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How then should we live? What is the application? What is the take home?

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Well rather than covetousness We must cultivate in our lives contentment

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Our lives should be characterized by contentment and the pursuit of God not the pursuit of money and material possessions

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Matthew 2237 and he said to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind

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This is the great and first commandment beloved our delight our

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Satisfaction our contentment must come from the Lord God But if you do not have a clear view of the greatness the glory and the majesty of the

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Lord God Then the things of this world will be very enticing Do not exchange the truth about God for a lie

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Do not worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator Do not covet but rather be content the

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Puritan Richard Greenham wrote We must not envy them that have greater gifts

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For if we have any it is more than our due or that we have deserved and this will teach us to be contented

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With that which we have had Let us then look on what we have and give

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God Thanks for it and know that if we should have more he would give more

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Yay, if we consider that they that have much Must make the greater account and that we are unfit to do so We will thank

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God that we have no more than we have Beloved do not covet

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Do not lust after do not set your desire upon something or someone

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But be fully content in your own condition Be fully content with what your father

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God who is infinite infinite in his goodness infinite in his wisdom infinite in his power and justice and goodness and truth

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Be content with what he has given you Be satisfied in his provision and be grateful

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Hebrews 13 5 keep your life free from the love of money and Be content with what you have for he has said

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I will never leave you or forsake You so we can confidently say the

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Lord is my helper. I will not fear What can man do to me?

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Beloved the Lord Jesus Christ is enough His presence is enough

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So look to him for your contentment Look to him for your satisfaction and if you do

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You'll find it Let's pray our father this is a difficult command do not covet

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Lord our hearts seem to be coveting machines We want things we want things to be different.

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We want more and more and Lord, we foolishly think that in achieving those things that will be happy But we know that covetousness is a sin and sin is a liar

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With sin you never get what you think you're gonna get and so Lord help us to look to the end

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Help us to remember that if we set our hearts on something Something that is earthly Something that we covet it will end in disaster.

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It will end in ruin and Lord, I pray that we would look to you and that in our hearts

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We would see you as greater than all of the things that are on earth The praise of man riches beauty

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Wisdom we pray Lord that we would see that you are better than all of these things and So Lord help us to truly believe that increase our faith

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Increase our view of your greatness and your majesty and your glory And we pray

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Lord that we would live every day in light of who you are We pray that as we make you everything that this world will seem like nothing

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Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ Who never coveted? He kept the law of God completely

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And so Lord, let us look to him as our example We love you Lord, and we thank you for your word.

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We thank you for your law. We thank you for our Savior Jesus Christ In Jesus name.