The Tenth Commandment, Sermon by Dr. Patrick Ramsey

SERMON TITLE:    ‘DESIRE’

Sermon highlights:

  • In both the Old and New Testaments, God is concerned with the condition of our hearts and our minds
  • His 10 Words, commandments, aim at heart/mind reformation; therein, He regulates our desires, affections, cravings and appetites
  • He is concerned with what we think about, cherish, desire
  • We are told in Deuteronomy 6, to love the LORD, our God with all our hearts, soul and might, with the whole of ourselves
  • To desire is human
  • Humans are MOVED to action, by what they desire
  • Satan enticed Eve [caused her to want/desire] to eat of the forbidden fruit; her desire caused her to act; God called her motives: lusts of the eyes; lusts of the flesh and pride of life
  • Satan’s words were an appeal to Eve’s lusts; that is, he stirred up her desire and she subsequently moved/acted
  • James, states in his epistle, that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his desires
  • Eliminating desire is not the solution, we are not Buddhists
  • God’s word is full of statements aimed at moving us to channel our desires in right ways [righteousness]
  • Examples that cite God’s commandments were given
  • Jesus calls us, for example, to [Matthew 6:19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  • The gospel offer blesses those who trust in Jesus with eternal life and those who reject the gospel with eternal torment
  • The Hebrew word used in the 10th commandment is not the same as the English word, covet; the Hebrew signifies ‘desire’
  • God’s word directs our desires towards things that God deems right; that is, there are forbidden and wrong desires; we must channel ‘desire’ so that it acts as God has deemed righteous
  • Examples that explain correct desire, in terms of the 10th commandment, as opposed to illicit desire
  • For example: the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil did not belong to Eve, every other tree in the Garden of Eden was accessible to her however
  • WHAT THE 10TH COMMANDMENT IS NOT DESCRIBING OR FORBIDDING
  • Not saying that it is forbidden to DESIRE a spouse, house, car…and working hard to get such things (things that are deemed good, not illicit, by God) – several examples cited
  • Many think that the opposite of coveting is contentment; they also think that being contented is equal to being satisfied with what one presently has
  • Such thinking leads one to believe that wanting something one does not have is discontent, violating the 10th command
  • Not so; as that would prohibit one from pursuing a spouse and other things noted above that are ‘good’ desires
  • What about the desires we have that are left unfulfilled? Is it wrong to be sad or disappointed about dreams we have been unable to fulfill? No
  • God created us to have hopes, desires, dreams; consider Hannah of 1 Samuel prayed to God, in her barrenness, for a child; she vowed to give him to the Lord, later Samuel was born
  • Hannah’s desire for a child was not bigger in her heart than God, she took the matter to God for disposal and He gave her a son; that is, her dream/desire was not an idol
  • All of God’s commands establish boundaries for our minds and desires; when we break through those boundaries via our thoughts and actions, we transgress His commands; and in the case of command 10, we are then guilty of coveting
  • Sin begins in the heart/mind; we have been set free from the dominion of sin; we are called to put this sin to death by the Spirit
  • How so? Not by suppressing desire
  • We need to work on renewing our minds/hearts which will lead us to develop new (good) desires
  • We must resist evil desires and reorient them
  • Scriptural examples cited from Ephesians
  • In Proverbs 9 we are shown Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly; each of them calls out to us, entices us, to come and eat at their tables, to partake of their treasures
  • Both present themselves as beautiful, attractive, desirable; however, only one leads to life
  • Lady Folly’s pleasant words are lies because they cannot deliver the promised goods; as her promised pleasures are fleeting; they are sinful; when you stay a while you will discover that the dead are there, and the path to death
  • Next time you are enticed to partake of Lady Folly’s empty promises, pay attention to the harm her guests experience
  • A concrete example is given for help in observation, assessment and application in temptation
  • Coveting is put to death by redirecting desire to right (good) objects
  • The command/law itself cannot do that, only the Spirit of Christ can; He will sanctify us via the law
  • He writes His law upon our hearts that we might be sufficiently careful to keep His commands
  • We are free to pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

28 minute mp3 sermon, Desire:

 

 

The following link is to Dr. Ramsey’s SermonAudio home page; he preached a great sermon this evening about Running the Christian race, titled ‘Run Together,’ also, his past two sermons on the commands were very edifying:

https://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?sourceOnly=true&currSection=sermonssource&keyword=nashuaopc&subsetcat=speaker&subsetitem=Patrick+Ramsey