We come then to the 10th commandment, which is question 79, the Shorter Catechism. Which is the 10th commandment? The 10th commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. The tenth commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. A good upbringing, the fear of consequences, may be sufficient to keep you from theft at one level. The 8th commandment is, thou shalt not steal. And perhaps you might be kept from putting forth your hand and actually taking something that is not yours because you've been well brought up or because you're scared that you will be found out. But this 10th commandment addresses the underlying issue which so often results in theft. and that's coveting, desiring what then might be taken. And so while it is appropriate not to steal, simply not following through upon the desire to have it is not enough. You might not steal and yet, you're coveting after what you would have taken. There's a sense in which questions one to nine, or commandments rather, one to nine of the Ten Commandments, all have very outward components. It's not all outward and the Catechism helps make that clear by asking what is required and what is forbidden in each commandment. But there is an outward component so that Paul himself in his days as a Pharisee considered that he was able to keep nine out of the ten commandments. He talks about it in Romans chapter seven. And he tells us there that it is this 10th commandment that snared him. It's this 10th commandment which God used to show him that his heart was wicked, that he could not keep the law of God perfectly. Now it wasn't that he kept the other nine perfectly, but he kept the other nine to some degree, at some level, which seemed to satisfy him. But what showed him his sin was the fact that regardless of his outward conformity, his heart was a covetous heart. He found himself coveting, wanting what others had. You see, you may be able to moderate your behavior You're well brought up and so you learn what to do. You're scared of being found out, being ashamed. You're trying to establish your own righteousness like the Pharisee was. You may be able to moderate your own behaviour, but the truth is you cannot moderate your own heart. This question in the Catechism, this commandment is comprehensive, isn't it? The 10th commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. The manservant, the maidservant, the ox and the ass, that was all the technology, the industrial equipment as it were, wasn't it? And working the land. It's comprehensive, it's really addressing every aspect of life. There's nothing that's not implied in that. Not to covet the health that someone else has while you yourself are struck down and struggling with infirmity or pain. You know, to covet that easy personality that someone else has, which enables them to speak in public or to get on so easily with strangers, who you yourself stumble or are shy and fearful. You know, the grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it? But it's not only that we see the grass greener, the reality is we want that greener grass. It's not wrong to notice the grass is greener. It's not wrong to delight that the grass is greener on the other side. But it's when you want that greener grass for yourself. This is a perpetual, inescapable problem, is it not? I think if you were to say it wasn't a perpetual, inescapable problem, then you are deceiving yourself. And it's a problem which is aggravated at this time of year because all the power of commerce and of advertising is turned suggestively upon you. So you are encouraged to imagine how much better things might be if only you could get or have this or that. And whilst that seed of thought has been planted in your mind, it is almost impossible to escape it, isn't it? We've all delighted in our new whatever it was. until we saw somebody else with a better whatever-it-was or a newer whatever-it-was. And so the whatever-it-was that had so pleased us now no longer pleases us. It's spoiled. It no longer satisfies. It's not good enough. We want. We covet. what someone else has. And it may be something which in and of itself is very legitimate and appropriate to have. Charlie wouldn't be wrong, would it, to have a better home? It's not wrong to have the best working animal to have diligent servants. And every day we are confronted with so much of what we see that our neighbour has. Or we see aspects of what our neighbours have and the eye almost inevitably settles upon where we detect a deficit with what we ourselves have. So when you see what your neighbour has, your eye settles upon what they have more than you. The reality is, no one in this life has perfect fullness. And everyone has their own element of trial and trouble. But often these trials and these troubles are unseen. And if they're not our trials and our troubles, we don't really understand the extent of the trial or the trouble. And so we gloss over that. And the eye settles upon where we see a deficit and we wish that we had it and we find ourself coveting. It's certainly aggravated at this time of year. But also, in our own nation today, there are all sorts of political strifes as well, aren't there? How many different industries are on strike? people are being encouraged to think about how much more they are worth and how much more they are entitled to and how they need to take strong action in order to get what they deserve because others have it. And there's always comparisons used isn't there? This industry deserves a better pay because that industry has it. And we all have a sense of being undervalued. And it's so easy to resent when an unequal share is given and others have more. I'm not saying that there's never grounds to ask for an increase in wages. I'm not saying there's never injustice. I'm not saying there's not a time when workers have to take action. The scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the labourer is worthy of his hire. It's a clear scriptural principle. But how often in societies there's been great unrest which has been stirred up by appealing to the covetous aspect of people's nature. Often for unspoken reasons that certain individuals have. There's someone with an objective, political objective, trying to make a name for themselves, trying to get themselves into power. You need the wisdom of Solomon in comparing the different professions and working out a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. You will find at the heart of much of the strife today there is a covetousness. The 10th commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. What is required in the 10th commandment? The 10th commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition. with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour and all that is his. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with their own condition with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour and all that is his. You know, it's important that we recognise that the world is not equal. The world is not equal and the world will not be equal because God has not made it that way. We're all made with different capacities and we're all made with different capabilities and this idea of total equity is a false dream. and yet it is used to sell discontentment, to agitate and to disturb and to manipulate. You are not called to strive for equality, which sounds like a blasphemous statement because equality seems to be one of the new religious tenets of society. But that's the fact of the matter. Your calling in life is not to strive for equality, but rather, your calling in life under God is to strive first and foremost for contentment. The 10th commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with the right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all that is his. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6, godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it's certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. People speak about striving for equality but what they mean by that is striving for a larger share themselves and we're told there that godliness with contentment is great gain and those who will be rich and who devote themselves to their own riches will be destroyed. There are many legitimate appetites and ambitions that you may have. For instance, if you need a bigger home, it's okay to seek a bigger home. It's okay to build a bigger home or to work to find a bigger home. But what is absolute fundamental is that meanwhile you remain content with whatever home you have, regardless of how inadequate it might seem. If you need more, it's okay to seek more. It's appropriate to seek more. But in your seeking for more, you're not to despise what you have. The 10th commandment requires a full contentment with our own condition. How many blessings are not enjoyed because they're not recognized as blessings? you may not have much of a home, and your need for a bigger, better home may be very clear to everyone. But if the Lord has shown you any grace, if the Lord has bestowed mercy upon you in any measure, if the Lord has provided for you, and he has, then you're to be thankful for that, and you're to strive to be content With that, even while you use the resources that he's placed at your disposal, in terms of your abilities or your finance, whatever it might be, as you look for something that might be more appropriate. Even if your wages are unfair, And even if you must stand up to protest about unfair wages, you must still seek to be content with the unfair wages that you are receiving. Paul says in Philippians chapter 4, I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things, he said, through Christ which strengtheneth me. And that's how he has learned to abound and to be abased, because it is Christ that strengthens him. He has Christ. And that's what you're called to recognize, friends. And that's why you are not to covet. Because if you have Christ, you have Christ. And all the promises of God in the gospel. And you're to submit to his providence. And you're to submit to his wisdom. and it may be His providence and it may be His wisdom to give you insufficient today. And I can't explain all why that might be, but if that is the case, you are not to take issue and complain against Him, because if you are coveting something that is not yours, you are showing your dissatisfaction with what the Lord has given you. Hebrews 13 verse 5, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he has said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we can boldly say the Lord is my helper and he will help me even in all the insufficiency of what I have in this present life. in my small, inadequate home, in my undervalued and underpaid employment. Because ultimately, you won't find your satisfaction in however big a house you may build. And you won't find satisfaction in however large a wage you may command. It says in Ecclesiastes, he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. If you give in to covetousness, you set yourself up to fail because you're striving against God. and you're neglecting what God has already given to you in his mercy. What is required in the 10th commandment? The 10th commandment requires full contentment with their own condition, with a right and charitable frame of mind, of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. It is a duty to also rejoice in your neighbor's prosperity. And hard as it might be to find contentment in your own condition, isn't it true that it's harder to be satisfied with your neighbor's condition, particularly when it seems to be more favorable than yours? Remember someone saying one of the hardest things in the ministry is when you see another man's ministry prosper, particularly if you consider that you've been more faithful than he has. Now part of the problem may be how we judge faithfulness, but yet it was a true observation. It is hard to rejoice in another man's success. History tells of a Roman who was renowned as a very bitter man. And if he was ever found in a foul mood, it was said one of two things had happened. If he was in a foul mood, it was because either someone had wronged him or because someone he knew had prospered. Isn't that ugly? Isn't that tragic? To have that name, to be a person whose day would be spoiled because someone else had prospered. And yet, I suspect that we all know something of that. Because the Tenth Commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with the right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. And the Tenth Commandment is beyond us in our own strength to fulfill, isn't it? Let's move on to question 81. What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment? The Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment? The Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. Inordinate just means out of order. Any out of order thinking or affections about anything which belongs to our neighbour. I've heard it said, and I think there's a lot in it, that vandalism is one of the worst crimes. It's worse than theft. It's now working of resentment and envy, isn't it? Because theft is not based so much upon a contempt for the person it has as it is a desire simply to have it for yourself. So when somebody steals, generally speaking, It's not a hatred of the person I've stolen from, but rather just a love for the thing I've taken. Whereas vandalism is an act where you spoil simply to deprive. It's not yours. And you're not going to have it, nor is anyone else. And that's why people vandalise. and it's the outworking of resentment and it's the outworking of envy and it's ugly. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving the good of our neighbour and all inordinate motions and affections toward anything that is his. It says in James chapter 3, if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. If you will envy and strive, sorry, it was strife. you will destroy your own soul. It is polluting. It is consuming. It is spoiling. The tenth commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. The Tenth Commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all that is his. And the Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. How are we to address this commandment? Surely, contentment is found through recognizing God's goodness in the gospel. You know the beginning of Psalm 23, the Lord's my shepherd, I will not want. And if we have that awareness that the Lord is our shepherd, it gives us a confidence so that we might say, I shall not want. And to also, it's not simply a confidence regarding what shall come, but is also a satisfaction in the experiences of the day. I shall not want, I do not want, for the Lord is my shepherd. Surely we want to address this commandment and to live faithfully before him. We must ask the Lord to open our eyes that we might see him and see what he has graciously given to us. That we might be delivered from a sense of entitlement and filled rather with a sense of thankfulness and gratitude. Thankfulness and gratitude for what we have and not a resentfulness about what we do not have. Amen.