Theological term
Covetousness
18 sermons · All terms
The Qualifications for Elders, Part 2
Paul's qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3:2–3 are not suggestions but binding divine requirements: a bishop 'must be' these things. This exposition works through eleven marks of personal holiness demanded of elder candidates, treating sexual fidelity, temperance, sober-mindedness, good behavior, hospitality, moderation in alcohol, avoidance of violence, financial contentment, gentleness, freedom from quarrelsomeness, and freedom from covetousness. The unifying thread running beneath every qualification is self-control — the disciplined governance of appetite, temper, and desire — which Solomon illustrates across Proverbs and which Paul sets before the whole congregation, not elders alone, as the mark of a genuine Christian.
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment's prohibition against coveting addresses not the external act but the internal disposition of the heart, making it the capstone over all the other commandments. Covetousness — the inordinate desire for anything belonging to one's neighbor — is at root an act of discontentedness with God's sovereign allotment and a form of idolatry, placing the creature above the Creator. The sermon works through the threefold use of the moral law: its civil function, its pedagogical role in driving sinners to the cross, and its normative function in calling the redeemed to diligent watchfulness over heart and soul.
8th Commandment: Part 2; Deuteronomy 5:19
The eighth commandment — 'You shall not steal' — carries not only a prohibition but a positive demand: diligent labor, charitable love toward others, and biblical contentment. Drawing from Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and the New Testament epistles, this exposition moves from the reasons grounding the command (God's sovereignty, man's image-bearing dignity, and the indirect assault on human life that theft represents) to its constructive obligations. The sermon closes with an application of the law's three uses — civil, pedagogical, and normative — including a pointed treatment of government taxation in light of 1 Samuel 8, where God warned that unchecked rulers will 'take, take, take.'
The Eighth Commandment (Part 1)
The Eighth Commandment — 'You shall not steal' (Deuteronomy 5:19) — forbids far more than simple theft. This study works through the range of sins prohibited by the command, including burglary, robbery, kidnapping, fraud in its several forms, extortion, destruction of property, and religious theft. The internal dispositions that generate these external acts — covetousness, discontentment, and the idolatry of wealth — are examined through texts in Proverbs, 1 Timothy 6, and Matthew 6. The study closes by grounding the positive duty of honest labor and cheerful giving in the grace of the gospel, through which believers are freed from the dominion of covetousness and equipped to honor God with what He has entrusted to them.
The Tenth Commandment
The tenth commandment's prohibition of covetousness exposes the spirituality of God's law: external compliance is insufficient, for the law reaches the desires and affections of the heart. Covetousness is defined as inordinate desire for what belongs to a neighbor — whether his wife, his goods, or anything that is his — and its connection to the first commandment reveals that misplaced desire is a form of idolatry. The sermon traces covetousness through envy and discontentment, showing how inward sin often becomes the prelude to overt transgression. The positive counterpart calls believers to contentment grounded in God's sovereign ownership, his covenant promise of provision, the surpassing weight of eternal glory, and the cultivation of a genuinely charitable spirit toward others.
The 8th Commandment, Part 2 & Economic Theory
The Eighth Commandment's prohibition against theft carries positive moral obligations — diligent labor, charitable giving, and biblical contentment — and provides the scriptural framework for evaluating economic and political systems. Drawing on the Mosaic law, the apostolic letters, and historical narrative, the sermon argues that socialism and communism are founded upon institutionalised theft and therefore stand under divine condemnation, while capitalism, for all its imperfections, respects the God-given right to private property. Israel's demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8 and Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21 are presented as biblical case studies in governmental confiscation. Hearers are exhorted to cultivate contentment, labor faithfully, give charitably, and judge all economic theory by the standard of Exodus 20:15.
The 8th Command - You Shall Not Steal
Exodus 20:15 — 'You shall not steal' — encompasses far more than common burglary. This study works through the range of sins prohibited by the Eighth Commandment, from robbery and kidnapping to fraud, extortion, the destruction of property, and the robbing of God through withheld tithes, before examining the inner dispositions — covetousness, discontentment, and idolatry — that drive those external violations. The theological grounding for the command rests on three pillars: God's sovereignty as owner of all things, the position of man as steward and vice-regent, and the recognition that an attack on another's property is an indirect attack on the life that property sustains. The study closes with a direct application to civil government, arguing that unjust taxation, inflation, and redistributive economic systems are themselves violations of 'you shall not steal.'
The Third Missionary Journey, Part 7
Acts 20:32–38 concludes Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, functioning as a pastoral charge that moves from doctrinal grounding to ethical example to affectionate departure. The sermon treats three movements: Paul's commendation of the elders to God and the Word of His grace as the only sufficient resource for long-term ministry, Paul's example of non-covetousness and manual labor as a rebuke against ministerial greed, and the tearful parting as a model of godly gratitude for the instruments of grace. A sustained excursus defends the biblical warrant for paying pastors from 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Timothy 5, and 2 Timothy 2, establishing that Paul's voluntary self-support was the exercise of a right, not the abolition of one. The sermon closes with a call to pray for faithful ministers and to value the means God ordains for the salvation of sinners.
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment's prohibition against covetousness exposes the internal nature of God's law in a way no other commandment does: it is a sin but not a crime, reaching the desires and affections rather than merely outward conduct. Covetousness is shown to be inextricably linked to idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5), rooted in discontentment with God's providential allotment, and often the seed from which violations of every other commandment spring. Positively, the commandment calls believers to acknowledge God's sovereign ownership of all things, rest in his promise of temporal provision (Hebrews 13:5), cultivate contentment (1 Timothy 6:6), and displace covetousness with a charitable, generous spirit. The sermon also treats the three classical uses of the law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — showing that the Tenth Commandment functions as a searching pedagogue that drove the Apostle Paul and the rich young ruler alike to confront their need for Christ.
The Eighth Commandment
The eighth commandment — 'You shall not steal' — prohibits not only acts of theft such as burglary, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud, but also the inner dispositions of covetousness, discontentedness, and the idolatry of mammon. The sermon works through the prohibition, its theological rationale in God's sovereignty over property and the dignity of image-bearers, and the positive duties the commandment requires: diligent labor, charitable giving, and biblical contentment. Three uses of the law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — frame the concluding application, pointing sinners to justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and directing the justified toward a life of honest industry and generosity.
The Betrayal of Christ by Judas
Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Christ for thirty pieces of silver exposes the deadly convergence of unrepented sin, satanic opportunism, and the utter insufficiency of religious privilege as a ground of salvation. Working through Matthew 26:14–16 in its narrative context, this sermon examines both the identity of the betrayer — his position, character, and the devil's capitalizing on his covetousness — and the mechanics of his conspiracy with the chief priests. The central application is that unconverted hearts, however outwardly privileged, will be seized upon by Satan through their ruling sin; the only remedy is sovereign grace received through faith in Christ alone.
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment forbids not merely external acts of acquisition but the inward disposition of covetousness itself — the inordinate desire for what belongs to a neighbor. The sermon traces three aspects of the commandment: its prohibition (covering a neighbor's spouse, goods, discontentedness, and envy), the reasons underlying it (the spirituality of the moral law and the duty of love for neighbor), and its positive demands (contentment, appreciation for others' blessings, and a charitable spirit). The three classic uses of the law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — are then applied, with the pedagogical use directed especially toward those who, like the rich young ruler or Paul before his conversion, suppose they have kept the commandments outwardly while remaining guilty of covetousness within.
The Eighth Commandment
The eighth commandment, 'You shall not steal,' addresses far more than petty theft — it encompasses burglary, robbery, kidnapping, fraud, extortion, property destruction, and even religious theft in the withholding of tithes. This exposition of Deuteronomy 5:19 works through three structural movements: the prohibition and its associated sins (including sins of the heart such as covetousness and idolatry), the theological reasons grounding the commandment in God's sovereign ownership of all things, and the positive duties it implies — diligent labor, charitable giving, and biblical contentment. The civil implications extend to currency manipulation, unjust taxation, and ideological systems such as socialism and communism, all of which violate the same moral principle. The sermon closes with Christ as the fulfillment of Psalm 15, the one who perfectly honored every obligation the commandment demands, and through whose righteousness covetous sinners are justified.
The Danger of Covetousness
Covetousness is condemned throughout Scripture not because possessions are evil but because the love of money and the pursuit of riches displace God as the supreme object of the heart's devotion. Expounding 1 Timothy 6:6–10, this sermon distinguishes between the lawful possession of wealth (which Paul nowhere forbids) and the idolatrous craving for it (which Paul calls a root of all kinds of evil and warns leads to destruction and perdition). Godliness with contentment is set forth as the great gain that exposes the false teachers' mercenary religion as a counterfeit, while the positive commands to labor diligently, give generously, and seek God's kingdom first are offered as the practical antidotes to a covetous spirit.
The Governing Principle of Kingdom Life
Matthew 6:31–34 sets out the governing principle of kingdom life: the disciple of Christ is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and not to be paralyzed by the carnal anxiety that marks Gentile existence. The sermon draws a sharp contrast between those who have no doctrine of a sovereign Father and those who confess one, arguing that a Reformed understanding of God's sovereignty must extend beyond soteriology into the daily trials of earthly life. To worry about food, drink, and clothing is to live as a Gentile; to rest in the Father's knowledge of our needs, pray as Christ taught, and pursue the kingdom first is to live as a loyal subject of God's reign.
The Pursuit of Heavenly Treasure
Matthew 6:19–21 sets before the believer a stark choice: lay up treasure on earth, where moth, rust, and thieves destroy, or lay up treasure in heaven, where nothing can diminish what is stored. The sermon expounds three movements in the text — a prohibition against covetousness and materialism, a positive command to pursue heavenly treasure through kingdom-shaped living, and an implication that wherever a man's treasure lies, his heart inevitably follows. The application presses hearers toward honest self-examination, gratitude for Christ's perfect loyalty to the Father, and the call to believe on him as the only one who perfectly laid up treasures in heaven on behalf of his people.
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment — 'You shall not covet' — reaches past external conduct to regulate the intentions and desires of the heart, exposing sins that civil law cannot punish and that no amount of outward morality can conceal. This exposition of Deuteronomy 5:21 identifies three things the commandment prohibits — inordinate desire, discontentedness, and envy — and then establishes the theological reason for the prohibition: covetousness is idolatry, bringing the Decalogue full circle from the First Commandment back to itself. Nine positive helps for mortifying covetousness are set forth, culminating in the active obedience of Christ imputed to believers — the only ground of hope for those whom this commandment finds out.
The 4th Petition: Provision
Matthew 6:11 — 'Give us this day our daily bread' — sits at the hinge of the Lord's Prayer, transitioning from God-centred petitions to man-oriented ones, yet it remains entirely theocentric in its logic. This sermon works through what the fourth petition does and does not mean, establishing that it is a daily confession of creaturely dependence upon God as the first cause behind every second cause, a repudiation of covetousness, and an acknowledgment of God's comprehensive sovereignty over provision. The theological weight of the petition is drawn out through the Westminster Larger Catechism's teaching that in Adam humanity forfeited all right to temporal blessing, and through Psalm 104, Psalm 136, Ecclesiastes, and Hebrews 13. The sermon closes by turning the physical petition toward its spiritual analogue: Christ as the bread from heaven upon whom the soul feeds and never hungers again.