Would you turn with me to Luke
chapter 12, verse 15. And he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of things which he possesseth." Now look back
up at verse 13. And one of the company said unto
him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance
with me." This man felt like he was being treated unfairly. I wonder how many feuds there
have been over inheritances. Verse 14, and he said unto him,
Who made me a judge or a divider over you? Now he's rebuking this
man for presenting this problem to him. And then he says to everybody
listening, and he said unto them, take heed, see clearly and beware,
be on your guard of covetousness. I've entitled this message, Covetousness. What a danger. Perhaps the sin
which is least thought of and most practiced. Covetousness. It means a desire. A lust. A longing. As the Old Testament writer said,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. It's a longing. It's a lust. It's a craving. It's a desire.
And remember, what we desire is what we really are. Now, if you want to know what
you are, what do you desire? Covetousness is the last of the
Ten Commandments. And there is an element of covetousness
involved in breaking any of the others. It's what Paul called
the root, the root of all evil. It is the mother sin. It is the
sin from which all other sins come. It was the sin of Lucifer. He coveted God's position and
God's throne. He said, I'll ascend and make
my throne above the Most High. It was the sin of our first parents.
You shall be as gods. They coveted that position. And probably all the conflicts,
all the troubles that there are in this life come from covetousness. I want what you have. Wars, quarrels, fights, strife,
Envies and jealousies have this behind them. I desire for myself
what is yours. Coveting goes much further than
material things. Men covet power and influence. Men covet pleasure. Men covet
praise. Men covet prestige and position. Paul says in Colossians 3, verse
5, covetousness is idolatry. Now that's a strong statement,
but I want you to think about what he says. Covetousness is
idolatry. Now covetousness is the main
idea behind the thorn-choked hearer. who bore no fruit. And this is the here that scares
me more than about myself. This thorn choked here. Now he
was someone who heard the gospel. He heard the truth. He received
the gospel. But the scripture says he became
entangled with the cares of this world, with the deceitfulness
of riches. with the lusts of other things. And he brought forth no fruit."
Now, I don't think he ever left the church like the stony ground
here. He was a bang. He was a flash
in the pan and he was gone. The thorn choked here is still
here. But he bears no fruit. He's been eaten up by coveting
the things of this world. Now this is the sin, covetousness,
that showed Paul that he was a lawbreaker. Now he thought
he was a good man. He said, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, I was blameless. The only other person to make
that claim was the rich young ruler, and he was eaten up with
covetousness. Do you remember how he said,
good master, what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And the Lord said, You know the commandments and he
named every single one of them in the second table except for
covetousness. He said, you know the commandments,
keep them. He said, all these have I kept from my youth up,
what yet lack I? And the Lord said, one thing
you lack, go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor
and you'll have treasure in heaven and you come and follow me. Now
what this fella's problem was, is he was eaten up with covetousness. And he went away grieved because
he had great possessions. Now turn to Romans chapter 7
for just a moment. Look what Paul has to say about
this. You know, I don't know how to say this
right, but if you want to find out a little bit about yourself,
look at the covetousness that's in you. Look at the jealousy
that's in you. Look at the envy that's in you. You'll find out you're not near
as high as you think you are when you see that. And look in
Romans chapter 7, Paul says in verse 7, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Is the law a
bad thing because it condemns me? God forbid. Nay, I had not
known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, using the commandment as a base of operations,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, covetousness, desire, lust. As soon as the law said, don't
covet, that's what I did. Verse eight, Without the law, sin was dead,
for I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which
is good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good,
that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. Now
Paul is saying, when the law came in power to me and said,
thou shalt not covet, that's all I did. I couldn't hold it
down. That's all I did. And like I
said, covetousness, the last of the commandments, there's
an element of covetousness in breaking every single one of
God's commandments. Now, covetousness strangles a
man from obedience. Turn to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. And this is the end of this parable.
The Lord makes this observation, this true statement. He that's
faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the
least is unjust also in much. If therefore you've not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, Talking about money, who will
commit to your trust the true riches? And if you've not been
faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that
which is your own? No man can serve two masters. He either
will hate the one and love the other, or else he'll hold to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were
covetous, heard all these things and they derided him. Covetousness is stupidity, isn't
it? What would it profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his soul? What will a man
give in exchange for his soul? And the loss of the soul refers
to hell. And let's look at the parable
the Lord gave to these covetous men. Let's go on reading. Verse
15 of Luke chapter 16. And he said unto them, you are,
they was justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. And go look down in verse 19.
There was a certain rich man. This is the same that he's speaking
at the same time. He says, there was a certain
rich man, which was clothed in purple. and fine linen. And he fared sumptuously every
day. He saw things, he coveted them,
he got them. And he fared sumptuously. This man, he had a great life. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. This man
was at the gate. Lazarus was at the gate of this
rich man. He just passed him by. He was having a good time.
He fared sumptuously. And it came to pass that the
bagger died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, he lift
up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and
Lazarus in his bosom. Now here was the end of the covetous
man in hell. He lived up his eyes. Our Lord said, take heed and
beware of covetousness. Turn to first Timothy chapter
six, verse six, first Timothy chapter
six, verse six. But godliness with contentment
is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having
food and raiment, let us be there with content." Now, what do you
need more than food or clothing? plenty. But I think what this
is mainly referring to is Christ my food, Christ my clothing. Knowing I'm in Him, I am content. I'm satisfied. I'm not looking
for anything else. Verse 9, but they that will be
rich, that's their desire. That's their lust. They fall
into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of
money. Covetousness is the root of all
evil, which some coveted after. They've erred from the faith
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Now turn back
to our text in Luke chapter 12. Verse 15, and he said unto them,
take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life, I love this,
consists not in the abundance of things which he possesses. A couple of things. Materialism is overrated. You know that, don't you? It's just overrated. Now, I don't want poverty. I want to be able to pay my bills.
I want to be content. But I also fear wealth. I fear
it. You know, the Lord said, how
hardly shall a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. David
said, incline my heart under thy testimonies and not under
covetousness. David said in Psalm 62, 10, if
riches increase, set not your heart upon them. And let's go
on reading in Luke 12, verse 16. And he spake a parable unto
them, saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. You know it happens all the time.
This man is prospered. What he's doing is working. He's
making plenty of money. He's doing well. He's on a downhill
slide. His ground brought forth plentifully. Verse 17, And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits. Now, where was God in his thoughts? Nowhere. He wasn't thinking of
God in this, no thankfulness or acknowledgement of God's blessing,
no desire to give, which means no love. And did you notice his
phrase, my fruits? He thought with himself, what
shall I do? Because I have nowhere to bestow my fruits. And he said,
this will I do. I'll pull down my barns. I'll
build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. My fruits. Doesn't everything
belong to the Lord? Aren't we just stewards regarding
what he has given? Heaven. Not earth is my home. God prospers us not to raise
our standard of living, but our standard of giving. Obviously,
God was not in this man's thoughts. He just thought about my barns
and my fruits. Verse 18. He said, this will
I do. I'll pull down my barns and I'll
build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. Now that makes sense, doesn't
it? We pat this guy on the back and say, this guy, we ought to
make him the head of some kind of corporation. I mean, he's successful. Verse
19. And I will say to my soul, soul, Thou hast much goods laid up
for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. Turn to James chapter four for
a moment. James chapter four. Beginning
in verse 13, this guy talks about what he plans on doing. I'll
pull down my barns, I'll build bigger, and I'll say to my soul,
soul, take that ease. You have much goods laid up for
many years. You've got it made. You've got
security. Verse 13, go to now you that say today or tomorrow
we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy
and sell and get gain, whereas you know not what shall be on
tomorrow. For what is your life? It's even a vapor that appears
for a little time and then vanish at the way for the yacht to say,
if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now
you rejoice in your boastings and all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore, to him that knows
to do good and do it, that not to him, it is sin. This fellow says in verse 19,
I will say to my soul, soul, thou has much goods laid up for
many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. What presumption. Boast not thyself of tomorrow. For thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. living today. You don't have
tomorrow. Verse 20. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee Then who shall those things be which thou hast
provided? A man that lives like this is
a fool. The life of covetousness is contrary
to faith. It can't trust God and his good
providence. Here's what I will do. And God
says, you fool, you're going to die tonight. And then whose
things are those going to be that you're saving up for? You
know, when you die and you're going to die, if the Lord doesn't
come back, I mean, you're going to die. It's not, maybe it's
for sure. It's for sure. Now, when you
die, there's only two things you can take with you and you
can't take both. You can't take any material things.
You can't take any accomplishments. There's only two things you can
take with you. Either your sins or His grace. That's it. Either you're going to stand
before God in your sins or you're going to stand before God in
His grace. Verse 21, so is He This fool that God speaks of,
so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward
God. He's not rich in faith. He's
not rich in grace. He's not rich in love. How poverty
stricken the man is that is rich, but is not rich toward God. He's
the greatest fool in the world. Now the Lord applies all this.
Verse 22. And he said unto his disciples,
therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat. Neither for
the body, what you shall put on. Don't be anxious. Don't be
scheming about these things. Be care free. Be care free. Verse 23. The life is more than
meat. And the body is more than raiment. You know, Paul said to me, to
live is Christ. And to die is what? Gain. Best thing that can ever happen
to you is the day of your death if you're a believer. Verse 24. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap,
which have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. You reckon they're ever worrying?
How much more are you better than the fowls? Verse 25, And which of you with
taking thought worrying can add to his stature one cubit and
that was a saying which of you by worrying can add one moment
to your life do you know the time of your death is already
fixed it's already been determined by God the exact second of your
death has already been determined you can't hasten it and you can't
add to it Now, if, verse 26, I love this question, if you
then be able, not be able to do that which is least, why do
you take thought for the rest? If you're not able even to add
one second to your life, you're not able to do that which is
least. You know what that tells me? That means I have absolutely
no control over anything. And He has complete control. That's a good place to be, isn't
it? Now, if you not be able to do that, why take ye thought
for the rest? Verse 27. Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not,
they spin not. And yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." How did these
lilies grow? By the power of God. And Solomon
in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these lilies. And
I don't have any doubt when it's talking about those lilies and
how they grow and how they're clothed. It's talking about how
the believer is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Now,
how do you grow? If you grow, how do you grow?
I can say that every believer knows, if I grow, it's by the
power of God. That's the only way it is. I
know that. And consider your clothing. What
is your clothing? Oh, it's better than Solomon's
clothing. I'm clothed with the very righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's my clothing before God.
And his clothing, is unlike any other clothing. You see, we put
clothing to cover up things and dirt still there, but when He
clothes you, you're clean on the inside through His Spirit.
You still got the old man, but his clothing actually makes you
clean. Now, He says, don't take any
anxious care about your life. Consider the lilies, how they
grow. They toil not, they spin not. And yet I say in you that
Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Now if then God, verse 28, so clothe the grass, which is today
in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much
more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? You know, little faith's better
than no faith. Little faith saves just as surely
as great faith does. Did you know that? You know,
that one with just a speck of faith is just as saved as that
one who has great faith. Lot was just as saved as Abraham,
just as accepted as Abraham. How's that? Because it's not
so much the faith that saves, it's the object of the faith
that saves. If you have little faith, thank
God for that. But, you know, little faith dishonors
the Lord. It dishonors Him. Is He not worthy
of complete trust and great faith to just simply rest in Him? Verse 29, And seek not ye what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind. And this is speaking to every
believer. Don't be of a doubtful mind.
Now what is this thing all about of a doubtful mind? Because I
know something about a doubtful mind. I never, anything I ever
do, I'm not very sure of it. I mean, you know, is this what
I, well, I'll try. I mean, I always feel like I've
got a doubtful mind. I hear people say, well, I know
this is the Lord's will. Well, I don't. I hope it is. I've never
felt totally sure about anything in my life. Now I find out after
the fact whether the Lord was in it, but what is this thing
of having a doubtful mind that he warns us about? Well, this
word is where we get the word meteor from. meteor. Now don't be unstable,
never resting, a worrywart. That's what a doubtful mind is.
Don't be high-minded. Don't be ambitious. Be content
to be saved by Christ. Be satisfied to be saved by Christ. Don't be like a meteor without
a fixed place. And don't lack assurance. Have
full assurance in Christ. Believe that you need nothing
else. Verse 30. He says, for all these things
do the nations of the world seek after. And your father knoweth that
you have need of these things. Now listen to me. Let me listen
to the word of God. Your father, he's your father. As a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knoweth our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
He remembers that. And He knows, your Father knows
everything you need. And Romans chapter 8 verse 32
says, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up
for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? He's already given you that which
is greatest. He spared not His own Son. Now what would prevent
Him from freely giving you all that you need? Your Heavenly
Father knows exactly what you need. Isn't that a blessing?
Verse 31, But rather, seek ye the kingdom of God. rather than
worrying about all this other stuff we worry about. And when
Matthew's account, it says, seek ye the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, His righteousness. And look at the promise. And
all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock,
for it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have, and give
alms, and provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure
in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches, neither
moth corrupteth." You know what word came to me? Downsize. Downsize. Verse 34, for where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. Where's your treasure?
Where is your treasure? Now I'll tell you where my treasure
is. My treasure, what is my treasure, is seated at the right hand of
the Father. And where my treasure is, that's where my heart is
too. This is that pearl of great price
that when a man's found, he sells everything he has to have this
one pearl. This is that treasure hid in
the field that when a man is found with joy, he goes and sells
all that he has to have this one treasure. Turn to Colossians
chapter 3 for a moment. Colossians chapter 3. Verse 1, if you then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, set your affection. your mind, not your affections,
your affection, your mind on things above, not on things on
the earth, for you're dead. You're dead. Now, if you go out
in a graveyard and talk to some grave, somebody under there,
and you say, what do you think about the economy? What do you think
about the direction this country's going? What would they say? Nothing. They're dead. They're
dead. They've got no concern. You see,
this world is not our home. We're dead. What about all the
good things that are happening? Ask him about something good.
What do you think about this good thing that's happening?
What's his reply? Nothing. He's dead. He's oblivious to the bad. He's
oblivious to the good. He's dead. You're dead. And your life is hid with Christ. You reckon he's able to take
care of that? Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
him in glory. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 5, let your conversation be without
covetousness. Now, how is that possible? Tell
me not to covet and I'll start coveting. What? How is that possible? I mean, what can you do to control
this thing of covetousness? Well, he says, this is a command.
Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with
such things as you have. What do you have? Well, I ought to be content in
the house I have. That's not what he's talking
about. I mean, you ought to be content in the house you have,
and you shouldn't be always, and I shouldn't always be lusting
for something else. I realize, but that's not what he's talking
about. What do I have? I have justification before God. I'm sanctified fully. All my
sins are paid for. I've got God the Holy Spirit.
I've got the promise of His grace. He says, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. I've got this, in Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and I am complete, lacking
nothing in Him. Now that's what I have. Now the only way it's possible
for me to not covet is if there's nothing for me to covet. And
there's nothing for me to covet because in Christ I have all. The Scripture says I'm an heir
of the world. An heir of the world. An heir
of the world. I've already got everything.
We sang that song, This is my father's world. It's mine too.
Nothing to covet. Let your conversation be without
covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. For he has said, I'll never leave
thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord's
my helper. And I'll not fear what man shall
do unto me. One other scriptures, turn to
Psalm 23. I love it when it's like this. You know, when you hear the gospel, you believe. I really believe
that I have everything and there's nothing to covet. My only problem
is if I walk out the door, you know, but, uh, right now, at
any rate, David said in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want." Won't want anything. Because my shepherd
is the Lord. Now beware of covetousness. Take
heed and beware of covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. And that's everything in Christ
Jesus. That's really not talking about
material things. It's talking about what we have
in Christ. My God shall supply all your
need, not needs, need. according to his riches in glory
in Christ Jesus. That's the promise of the gospel. We don't have a reason to be
covetous, do we? Let your conversation be without
covetousness. Let's pray together.