Short Sermons on the Ten Commandments by W. A. MC CUTCHEN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 20, 1907

Short Sermons on the Ten Commandments

By W. A. MC CUTCHEN

The Tenth Commandment

W. A. MC CUTCHEN

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Ex. 20: 17.

Webster defines covet: “1. To wish for with eagerness; to desire possession of;—used in a good sense. 2. To wish for inordinately or unlawfully; to lust after.” This is undoubtedly the bad sense of its use, since the first definition was in its good sense; and this is confirmed by the second definition of covetousness—“A strong or inordinate desire of obtaining and possessing some supposed good;—usually in a bad sense.”

From the above we see that the term is used in both its good and its bad senses. There is a sense, then, in which it is all right to covet—provided it is a right thing, and coveted in a right way. “Covet earnestly the best gifts.” 1 Cor. 12: 31. “Covet to prophesy.” 1 Cor. 14: 39.

It is plain that to simply desire a thing that is proper for us to have is not coveting in the bad sense; to desire even that which some one else may have is not coveting in the bad sense when we are willing to give value received for it, or to be content without it if not procurable legitimately, or within our means to purchase. If so, we could never want nor supply the common necessities of life without breaking this commandment. The laws of supply and demand, of exchange of commodities among individuals and nations, and all commercial relations would have to cease in order to conform to this idea of the commandment. No, it is the wishing for inordinately or unlawfully that constitutes coveting in the bad sense. It is the inordinate (irregular, not regular or ordinary) desire that just sets the heart upon a thing and makes it determined to have it; or if impossible to obtain it, continues to desire it inordinately, and will not be happy or contented without it, this desire being so great, in fact, that it often leads the possessor of it to resort to almost any means of obtaining the object of his desire, even to unlawful methods. It is not strange that the wishing for “unlawfully” leads to acting unlawfully in carrying out the wish. Instances of the practical workings of this covetousness are not wanting in the Bible. Micah 2: 2 gives one: “And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.”

Covetousness is one of the most blighting, corroding influences upon the human heart conceivable; and it grows rapidly upon one, with little cultivation. A grasping, covetous disposition will so pervert men’s ideas of justice and close their eyes to the interests of their fellow men, that the man upon whom it fastens its poisonous fangs will soon override his neighbor’s rights roughshod with seeming complacency, and the suggestions of friends or foes will have little weight in causing him to see his wrong or to change his course. For this reason the Pharisees could listen to the most scathing denunciations of their wicked course, and the most deserving rebuke of the money changers, and yet defend their course and condemn Christ. “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” Luke 16: 14.

Worst of all, covetousness causes its victim to lose sight of spiritual things, and become sordid and self-centered. The claims of God’s cause appeal to him lightly; calls for means for its furtherance are responded to, if at all, meagerly; his thoughts are of the material and not the spiritual; and the springs of the soul are dried up in money getting or the attempt at it. The Bible points out that the last days, upon which we have entered, are to be characterized by selfishness (2 Tim. 3: 1, 2), and this is a sin to be especially guarded against in these days.

Notwithstanding all this, I do not believe it is a sin to have earthly possessions if acquired properly and used aright. There is certainly neither virtue nor convenience in poverty. Neither does it increase one’s opportunities to do good. I have no sympathy with the idea that abject poverty is a mark of piety. That same passage of scripture which tells us to be “fervent in spirit; serving the Lord,” also says, “not slothful in business.” Rom. 12: 11. It is not the possession of property that is sinful; it is the manner of amassing it, and the use it is put to. Rightly acquired and properly used, wealth can be made a great blessing in helping the less fortunate, relieving distress, blessing mankind in general, and furthering God’s cause in the earth in spreading the gospel. And there are men to whom God has given the talent to acquire means in a perfectly proper way, by good business judgment and diligence in business; who are stewards of God, and serve him in making returns in this way, just as truly as the man who preaches the gospel in person, sustained by means paid in by another. To him this business sagacity may be the “one talent” that God has given him, and he can honor God with it. True, the man of wealth meets greater temptation and danger, possibly, of going into excesses and wrong, and for that reason on the one hand, and the great discomforts and restrictions of opportunities of poverty on the other, the most of us would better be in about the condition that Solomon prayed for when he said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” Prov. 30: 8. Let it be between the two unless it be God’s will for it to be otherwise, and then if it be, he will give us grace to stand it.

We are not to despise riches nor their possessors, but “if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” Ps. 62: 10. That is the attitude to occupy. Many of God’s most eminent servants of old were rich in herds and flocks. It is the “love of money” that is the “root of all evil,” not that the money itself is the root of the evil. As already indicated, money can be made a great blessing.

“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Tim. 6: 9. This expresses the covetous idea. “They that will be rich”—that are determined on it, and have their minds made up to this end at all hazards—will of course fall into temptations. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Tim. 6: 10.

And covetousness is idolatry, because it is worshiping at the shrine of gold. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Col. 3: 5. “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Eph. 5: 5.

From these scriptures we see not only that a covetous person is an idolater, but, as would inevitably follow, he has no part in the kingdom, and will be shut out of it. He is classed along with the fornicator, the unclean and vile—about which the same company as a liar is associated with. Covetousness is no light thing. Let it be burned into the consciences of all that though not frowned down upon by the world, it is sufficiently sinful to shut one out of the kingdom; for it is a violation of one of God’s commands. And if this consideration of it and the commandment relating to it shall cause the awakening in us that it did in Paul when he said, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet,” then this effort will not have been in vain.

Keene, Texas.