God's Way of Life Is Characterized By Freedom

You know, when a pastor is figuring out what he wants to speak on, you go through your checklist. Is there anything happening on God's Holy Days, or is one of God's Holy Days nearby? Or is there something happening on man's calendar? Or what does the congregation need? As I was thinking about that here a number of weeks ago, we were approaching the Fourth of July. And of course, here in this country, we as Americans, we associate the freedoms we have with that date. And I thought it would be good for us to discuss some of the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans, but more importantly, as Christians. And so I began a series looking at the Ten Commandments, and I've gone through the first six of those ten. And the theme I've been going through, the first two sermons I've given you, is that God's way of life is characterized by freedom. With each of the commandments, we've taken a look at the various freedoms that that commandment affords us as Christians. Let's begin our journey in this last section, and we will conclude today by going through commandments 7 through 10. But let's begin our journey by going to Luke 4. Luke 4, we see Christ's mission here. One of the things He was wanting to accomplish. Luke 4, starting in verse 16. So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. When He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, and has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who were oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Now, in recent past I've gone through and demonstrated, documented with you, we can preach the gospel, not just through the Old Testament, but all we take is the book of Isaiah, that we can preach the gospel and do so very effectively. But here we see in the book, in Isaiah's writings, that Christ came to proclaim liberty. Now, there are plenty of people in the world who say that God's law is a law of bondage. Nothing can be further from the truth. And certainly one of the things that was in my mind, as I was thinking about this set of sermons I wanted to present to you, is just how fortunate we are to understand that truth, that God's way of life is characterized by freedom. Each of the Ten Commandments is a guide to the good life, a very good life. That's why the Bible refers to the Ten Commandments as the royal law, or the law of liberty. It's a beautiful law. David meditated upon it all the time. It's a practical law. And today, as with the other commandments, we took a look at the various freedoms. We're going to see the practical value that each of these commandments has for us today. So let's begin with Commandment number seven. Let's go to Exodus chapter 20 and verse 14.

Exodus chapter 20 and verse 14. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not commit adultery. The freedom that I want to highlight today with this particular commandment, and there are so many different ways you can approach this commandment scripturally, the freedom I want to discuss is the freedom that comes from experiencing God-ordained marriage, the freedom that comes from experiencing God-ordained marriage. Now today, what marriage is is a topic of debate in a lot of different quarters. It's not a topic of debate in terms of what God says in His Word.

Now, I do want to add a little bit of a qualifier to this particular commandment. If I was giving this material on the seventh commandment to an adult Bible study, I would approach it a certain way.

But here, because we've got a number of young ears in the room, I'm going to take a different approach, and I think you can appreciate that and why I'm doing that. And again, there are so many different approaches you can use that are scriptural. I think it would be good for us to think on what I'm going to give you today.

What I want to do in just a moment is to begin reading excerpts from our marriage ceremony. Because it's a very short ceremony. I know when I've talked with other elders who've never performed a wedding in the church, I said, you know, don't get so nervous you rush through it. If you get so nervous you rush through it, you'll be done in five minutes. People won't think they're getting their money worth. You know, take your time. Use some emphasis. But as you take a look at our wedding ceremony, it is a very beautiful ceremony.

Brethren, one of the greatest gifts that God has given to mankind is the gift of marriage. The gift of marriage. Marriage is God has intended it, as God has ordained it. Marriage was established at creation. I'd like to read you this sentence or so from our Ten Commandments booklet on the Seventh Commandment. I quote, his laws, in particular the Seventh Commandment, authorize the marriage relationship and establish it as the foundation of the family, which in turn stands as the foundation and most important building block of society. So, as you and I understand the concept, the beautiful concept behind marriage, there is so much in a way of freedom so far as the way we live our lives, where we think about things, what we are going to be doing with our bodies and our minds.

Now, getting into the wedding ceremony, there are some introductory comments. I'm going to skip that and get right to the heart of what we begin to talk about in the ceremony. And I quote, Surely there can be no greater human joy than to have a happy marriage, filled with giving and sharing. There is no deeper relationship among human beings than that achieved by a husband and wife in marriage.

Very, very profound statements. Think about the meaning there. The liberty we have, the freedom, no greater human joy, a happy marriage, a deep relationship. These things, when you look at this from the contrary point of view, when you don't have the joy, when you don't have a happy marriage, when you don't have a proper relationship, that causes all sorts of bondage. But God gives us these principles to help us. Now, in the course of the marriage ceremony, it quotes Ephesians 5 and verse 21.

Let's take a look at that. Go over to Ephesians 5. Here in Ephesians chapter 5, we see a very weighty, very meaty section dealing with marriage. And verse 21 is cited in our marriage ceremony, Ephesians 5, chapter 5, verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Now, some of you ladies over the course of time probably have heard some sermons that kind of grated your teeth about the subject of submission. Now, the Bible does say, ladies, you need to submit. The Bible says that the men should be loving as Jesus Christ.

Not going to get around that, but the Bible also says here in chapter 5, verse 21, we are to submit A to one another. There are times we men are submissive in the marriage relationship. And we submit in the fear of God. Now, how do we men submit? Well, you know, our lives are multifaceted. When we were given the word that we were going to be coming to Chicago, we had to put our house up for sale there in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

And there were things we needed to do to get ready for the sale of the house. The house looked pretty good, but when you're getting your house ready for sale, you want the house to look really spectacular. So it sells very quickly. And so I submitted to my wife and said, Mary, you know, you know how to really decorate. You know how these things should look. And I just gave her a card blanche to, you know, stage our house. Stage our house. And so she staged the house to the degree that when the realtors came for a look-see to have a preview of the home so they can discuss it with their clients, several of the realtors said, is your wife an interior decorator?

And I said, no, she's just very good at this. See, for me, if I had done it, if I had felt I had to do it, the house would have looked more like a barracks. You know, there probably been a lot of black, a lot of gray, a lot of brown. Probably would have been very organized, very mechanical looking. But Mary made it look very appetizing. It was a very-it was just a real warm, friendly feeling when you walked into the home. So the house went up for sale on, I think it was 4 o'clock on one day, I think it was 4 o'clock on a Monday, and by 10 o'clock the next morning it was sold.

Less than 24 hours. Mary knew her stuff. I submitted to her. Now, quoting from our marriage ceremony about this principle, Ephesians 5, verse 21, I quote, So again, when you look at all the things that are listed here, in terms of what God wants for that seventh commandment, to protect marriage, the idea of yielding ourselves to hold each other in high esteem, again, think of the contrary values that the world has, where people don't hold each other in high esteem, but we hold each other in high esteem. We give honor and respect to one another to protect the marriage covenant with love and devotion.

It talked about always giving preference to the welfare of the other. In your notes, I'll read this for you, but in your notes you might want to jot down Philippians, chapter 2, verses 3 through 5. This is a wonderful marriage principle. I don't know that we refer to it often that way, but it certainly is. It's referred that way in this section on Ephesians 5, 21. It refers to giving preference to the welfare of the other. But look at, I'll read Ephesians chapter 2, verses 3 through 5, verse 3. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And again, if we're properly keeping this seventh commandment, if we are honoring marriage and protecting marriage, and we're thinking like Jesus Christ, then it's not going to be hard for the men to lead, and it's not going to be hard for the ladies to submit.

Going on with the ceremony, it says, Marriage is a natural union, but a divine institution ordained of God. It was established by the Creator God at creation and derives its authority from the divine laws of God, immutable and unchangeable. Those laws are in burdensome. Those laws aren't awful. Those laws should not be done away. Maybe that's one of the reasons why people today have such issues with relationships, because they are walking away from the laws of God that govern relationships. Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 13. The Love Chapter, because this is quoted in our wedding ceremony as well. 1 Corinthians 13.

And again, when we put this into the context of a happy marriage, 1 Corinthians 13, verse 4. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. It's not puffed up. It does not behave rudely. It does not seek its own. It is not provoked. It thinks no evil. It does not rejoice in the nikli, but it rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. These are essential qualities of a happy and successful marriage. And they come right from the law of love, and they come right from God's commandments. As our wedding ceremony, well, actually our booklet on the Ten Commandments states, it is in our submission to God's love that marriage will be strengthened and protected. It is our submission to God's love. Ten Commandments. Commandment number seven, that marriage will be strengthened and protected. Continuing to quote from our marriage ceremony, When God created life upon the earth, He made human beings the pinnacle of His physical creation, fashioned them in His own image. He gave men and women creative minds with the ability to make choices, to develop plans and build their lives on those plans. Men and women were created with the marvelous potential of eternal life in the family of God. And as a loving Father, God gave us the institution of marriage and the blessing of a family that we might learn to love one another as He loves us. As He loves us. Think of the freedoms God intends here, regarding the Seventh Commandment. Freedom from thoughts and actions that would hurt our relationship with God. Freedom from thoughts and actions that would hurt our marriage. Freedom from thoughts and actions that would hurt our family relationships. Freedom from thoughts and actions that would even hurt society.

Lastly, in our marriage ceremony, well not lastly, but one of the last things I want to quote from our marriage ceremony, is this, And so the institution of marriage and the cycle of human life began with God's personal blessing. As the Seventh Commandment is properly obeyed, both in the letter of the law and in the spirit of the law, we are blessed. We are freed from hurtful consequences of breaking this law. Our minds aren't going to suffer, our bodies aren't going to suffer, our emotions aren't going to suffer, our families aren't going to suffer. Our society won't suffer if the whole society were to suffer. Our lives aren't going to suffer. Our emotions aren't going to suffer. Our families aren't going to suffer. Our society won't suffer if the whole society were keeping the law. Our character won't suffer. Our relationship with God won't suffer. So, Commandment number seven, freedom that comes from experiencing God-ordained marriage. Breezes out to Commandment number eight. Let's take a look at this over in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 15.

Exodus 20 verse 15, you shall not steal. You shall not steal.

The freedom here, at least the one I'm choosing to highlight and articulate, the freedom here is the freedom that comes from honoring and respecting the fruits of your labors. The freedom that comes from honoring and respecting the fruits of your labors. The eighth commandment safeguards everyone's right to legitimately acquire and own property. God wants that right honored, respected, and protected. Quoting again from our Ten Commandments booklet. Let's go over to John chapter 10.

John chapter 10.

Again, notice the contrast. So many times we can learn so many wonderful things, beautiful truths, by contrasting concepts and ideas. We see that here in John 10 verse 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Christ said, I have come that they might have life, and that he might have it more abundantly. So here we see that Satan's way, theft, the way of get. Theft is the ultimate assertion of the greedy, lustful way of life. One that epitomizes acquiring material and intangible things with no regard for the rights of others. This is going to go take it. You've worked hard for it, but somebody else is going to come and take it. That's the epitome of selfishness. But God's way, as we see here in chapter 10 verse 10 of John, God's way is to give us life with all the beauties that God can give us in life that we might have life abundantly.

Turn over to Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew chapter 7 and verse 12. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 12.

One of the great principles of Scripture.

Matthew chapter 7 and verse 12. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets, what we would call the golden rule.

We need to understand and apply this value to our lives. And we would be so blessed with the freedoms that come with this. You know, God's approach to our having material wealth is balanced. As it says in 3 John chapter 1 verse 2, God wants us to be in health and to prosper, but He wants us to have a certain perspective on that. He doesn't want our possessions to be our primary pursuit in life. Our primary pursuit in life should be God's kingdom, not the pursuit of things. You know, the old statement, whoever has the most toys at the end of their life wins. Well, that's not where you and I want to be coming from, right? We want to have the freedom that comes from honoring, respecting the fruits of our labor, real labor, good labor. Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians chapter 4.

Verse 28.

Ephesians 4, 28. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he might have something to give him who has need. Now, there's principle upon principle being spoken of here. We don't want to break the Eighth Commandment, don't steal. But if we are still a thief at heart, and our heart hasn't changed, just because we haven't stolen anything recently, all that means is we're a thief that is kind of unemployed. You know? We want to have a change of heart here. It says, don't steal, but rather let him labor, godly labor. On the six days God tells us we can labor. Working with his hands what is good, that he might have something to give to him who has need. So we labor to be able to give. We labor to have a foundation to be able to give. We don't labor to just get or to take from somebody else.

This commandment, commandment number eight, frees us from a number of things. Again, we're looking at what would happen if society at large were keeping this commandment. Any of the commandments, I mean, we would have such a tremendous change in our society. Commandment number eight, if it were kept properly, con artists using sophisticated scams wouldn't be able to swindle people. Deceptive advertising by manufacturers misleading their product would come to an end. I mean, have any of you ever bought some of these products on TV? I've bought too many. You say, oh, wow, this will do that. And you buy it, and you use it as directed on the commercial, and total failure, it doesn't work. It's supposed to do this, well, it didn't do that. Well, after a couple of times of doing that, you'll learn, right? Let somebody else buy those things. Laborers who bill for more hours than they work, or charge more than their services, are worth our stealing from those who hire them.

Now, here's something we can think about ourselves. All right, we're putting in a solid day's labor for what we're getting paid. When I hear from various ones, and they tell me about what's happening where they work, when I talk to my son, and he tells me about the places he's worked, you know, he's got a tremendous work ethic, and he's done real well for himself as a young man. But so many of his peers, they show up, and we've got a number of people in Mary's family who own their own businesses, have a number of employees. And remember last Thanksgiving, I was talking to two of the men who've got their own companies and their own employees, and they were saying the same exact thing. People come to work today, and not everybody, but some people come to work today, and they feel like as though when they do what they're required to do, that they should be given a raise right there and then. Like, as though, I'm a hero! I've done what's required of me! And they kind of look at you like, as though, where's my bonus check? Well, you know, we as laborers need to make sure we're giving an honest day's work for what we're being paid.

People who delight in consuming what others produce, while refusing to carry their share of the labor and responsibility of their part of the production goods and services, engage in another form of stealing. People who can work but won't work. Now, we've got some people running for our highest office in the country who are talking about how people should be given a set amount of money, whether they want to work or not. Just give it to them! Is that a godly principle? Does that free us from something, or does that cause other things we could be getting bondage to?

There's a matter here of personal responsibility as well. Last scripture regarding this particular commandment. Let's go to Matthew 25.

Matthew 25.

Verse 24. Matthew 25, verse 24. Matthew 25, verse 24.

So what we see here is people who refuse to assume personal responsibility.

Well, they are going to be people who are shackled to different things, but if you and I properly obey this eighth commandment regarding stealing, regarding working, then we have the freedom that comes from honoring and respecting the fruits of our own labors. Commandment number 9.

Let's read that here in Exodus 20, verse 16.

Exodus 20, verse 16.

The freedom here, and there are so many with each of these commandments, but the one I'm going to highlight. The freedom here is the freedom that comes from having truth as a way of life. Having truth as a way of life.

You know, I guess I hadn't really thought of it until I was doing my research on these commandments.

I didn't ever quite think of it the way I'm about to express it to you, but two of other commandments deal with the tongue. Commandment number 3 deals with the tongue, and so does commandment number 9. Commandment number 3, we talked about, you know, taking God's name in vain. The freedom there was having a proper respect for the only true God, in how we use our mouth, in how we use our language, and what comes out of our heart, and through our mouth, regarding commandment number 3. But the same, there are many similarities to commandment number 9. The freedom that comes from having truth as a way of life, and having respect for your fellow man. Commandment number 3 talks about having respect for God. Commandment number 9 talks about having respect for your fellow man, the way you use your tongue when you're talking about your fellow man. Commandment number 3 focuses on our respect to God.

Commandment number 9 focuses on our respect to one another. Look at James chapter 3. James chapter 3.

Verse 8. But don't man contain the tongue? It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in this similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

True restatement was never made. The ninth commandment focuses on showing respect to our fellow man. It encompasses our attitudes, it encompasses our speech, it encompasses our behavior. And when we properly obey this commandment, we have freedom.

We also give freedom to those around us. Because when we're not saying things that are truthful, we can be assassinating somebody's character. We can be hurting people. And we don't want to do that. Respect is the cornerstone of good relationships. That's why commandment number 3 is so important, our respect for God in that relationship, and also commandment number 9 in a relationship we have with our fellow man.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 12. I quote this a lot, but let's take a look at the Scripture.

Matthew chapter 12 verse 34, all in red letters in my Bible, Matthew 12, 34, Brute of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. For on each of God's Ten Commandments, we're given that we might protect the things that are valuable.

We honor the things that are valuable, honoring God, honoring parents, honoring life, honoring marriage, honoring the ability to have our own property that we earn through proper labor.

To fully appreciate this Ninth Commandment, probably be good for us to realize how important truth is to our Father. We are His kids. He wants us to honor what He honors. I'm not going to turn to these Scriptures, but I'm just going to quote them for you. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 5. Proverbs 30 verse 5 says, Every word of God is pure. Every word of God is pure. Is every one of our words pure? Where do our words lead? What are the consequences of our words? Well, we want to make sure that we're doing the proper things, because we want freedom for ourselves. We want freedom for those around us. We want to speak truth. We want to speak truth in love. Daniel chapter 10 and verse 21. I'll quote this for you. Daniel chapter 10 and verse 21. Basically, Daniel refers to God's Word as the Scripture of truth. The Scripture of truth.

Of course, you know John 1717. Your Word is truth. John 1717. Your Word is truth.

I do want to read, and this is going to be from the New International Version, from Psalm 15. If you'd like to turn there, I'm going to read this. I'm going to read it, though, from the New International. I've done my share of bashing the NIV when it comes to the New Testament, but in the Old Testament, it's really quite a good translation.

Psalm 15, verse 1 through 4. Verse 1. Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless, and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart?

Again, in parentheses, Matthew 12, 34. And has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong, nor cast no slur on his fellow man.

Now, we guard the gates of our lips. We understand that. God expects that truth permeates every facet of his life. He wants to permeate every facet of our life.

When the ninth commandment is lived as a way of life, we are free from it. And I'm going to give you a list of things here. I'm sure you can add other things. And as I go through my little list here, you might ask yourself, have you been a victim of some of this? People have used the tongue in a wrong way. Have they misrepresented you? Have they lied about you? Have they said things about you that were only partially true misleading people that were hearing about you? Has any of that happened in your life? Certainly happened in my life.

When commandment number nine is kept, we are freed from intentional misrepresentation. We are freed from those who would gain unjust advantage of us.

We're freed from false advertising. We're freed from flattery. We're freed from unjust criticism and insinuation.

You know, over the years, I've been associated with Spokesman's Club and Graduate Club and Women's Club since I got out of... Well, since I was in Ambassador College in 1970. And ever since then, most years, I've been in some kind of a club, either as a member of the club or as a director of the club or whatever. And one of the things I've seen over the years is, you know, we have a man or a lady, if it's a lady's club, and they give her a speech, and, you know, they are really trying their hardest to impart some information to those who are listening there in the club. Sometimes people use flattery when they are evaluating. Now, back in the olden days, we used to have people who did that a whitewash brush. You know, we would laugh. Well, you know, that was just nothing but flattery. Well, flattery hurts. Because after you go home, you're driving home, you're thinking, did I really mess up? I mean, was it that bad? And so people really get that into the dumps. I've seen, you know, or the same thing here with unjust criticism.

You know, some of you fellas in the Spokesman's Club are smiling. I think maybe some of you may feel you've had some unjust criticism, and maybe I've been the one who's done it. I don't know. But, you know, when you feel you've been unjustly criticized, and there's the insinuation that you weren't all that you could have been, that hurts. Now, as a listener, we also have to say, now, wait a minute. Are they speaking truth? Are they speaking truth from the heart? Maybe there's something I really need to hear. I think I made mention when I was a freshman in Ambassador College. That took a freshman psych class, and one of the assignments was to go back to the dorm, have somebody respect, give you a personal evaluation. Now, at that point, I had been there on the campus for the better part of the year, and I went to one of the seniors, and he and I had a pretty good relationship, and I said, Hey, here's the assignment. Would you take some time? Think about it, and you and I can sit together some day, and you can evaluate me. He says, you really want that to happen. After he said that, I thought, well, actually, no, I don't, but I've got to fulfill the assignment for psych class.

So we met, and he gave me my personal evaluation, and it hurt, but it was true. And he gave it in a way that I felt was unvarnished. It was the truth. He hit the points. He hit the buttons. It hurt, but hopefully I used a lot of that to grow, because I feel he was speaking truth from the heart.

So he wasn't giving unjust criticism. So again, we've got to be careful as we are evaluating what's coming our way. When we are properly obeying the ninth commandment, hypocrisy can go out the door. Gossip! Gossip and slander and half-truths. How many of you, how many of us, have been hurt by that? Too many of us.

Now, when people say this law is done away, who would do away with a law that talks about living by truth as a way of life? Why? Now, of course, we fully appreciate when people say the law is done away. They want to do away with commandment number four. They like all the rest of them. At least they say they like the rest of them, but they don't want that fourth one in there. But we want them all in there, because God instructs us to have them all and to live by each and every one of them. Last verse with this particular commandment, commandment number nine is Ephesians 4 and verse 15. Ephesians 4 and verse 15. I'm going to read this to you in the New Living Translation. You know, I believe we would say our official translation of the United Church of God is the New King James. We use it predominantly in most of our publications and from our preaching. But there are plenty of other good translations out there. The New Living, I find to be a very fine translation. To me, it gives a lot of the color sometimes the New King James doesn't have. But here in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 15 from New Living, I quote, Instead, we shall speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the body, the church. Speak the truth in love. So commandment number nine, we have the freedom that comes from having truth as a way of life. Lastly, commandment number ten. And it's fitting that this is the last commandment. Now, we'll get into that as we work our way through the material. Let's read this in Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 17.

Exodus chapter 20 verse 17. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, and or anything that is your neighbor's. Commandment number ten is aimed directly at the heart and mind of every human being.

It prohibits coveting. It defines not so much what we must do, but how we should think. And I think this is a one...you know, God put these in order with His own reasoning. And I think having this commandment in a number ten spot, really says a lot about how God wants us to use our hearts and our minds. To look deep within ourselves, and what would we see on the inside? Let's go to Mark chapter 7.

Mark chapter 7.

Verse 21.

Directed toward relationships, directed toward the way we should be thinking, thinking the way God would have us to think. I think, therefore, it's fitting that in the listing of these ten commandments, God's ten commandments, which define the love of God, should end by focusing our hearts on the wellspring of our relationships. Our hearts, and what our hearts should be doing, how our hearts should be thinking, analyzing. Now, what is covetousness? To covet means to crave our desires, especially in excessive or improper ways. The tenth commandment does not tell us that all of our desires are immoral. It tells us that some things are wrong. Some things are immoral. Some things are sin.

Coveting is an immoral longing for something that is not rightfully ours, that is usually because the object of our desire already belongs to someone else. The coveting can also include wanting far more than we could legitimately deserve, or we should rightfully have.

Now, it's interesting. I wonder, let's go over to Deuteronomy chapter 5, the other giving of the ten commandments, because we see something as we look at this section here in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 5.

I want to read this in the new international version as well. Deuteronomy 5.21. From the new international, it says, I think that's an important aspect of things here. When we have an excessive longing, excessive desires that exclude God, or that put those desires in place of God, then our coveting could be idolatry. Our coveting could be idolatry. We certainly don't want any part of that, do we? Freedoms, as I was thinking about this commandment that I put on my paper, I'm sure you would have other things that you would say. As we obey the tenth commandment, we are freed from a love of materialism. A love of materialism. As I've talked to our young adults at different feast sites around the areas I've gone to the feast, for years I used to, before I ran a feast site, I would coordinate singles. Generally, that would have been the younger group, younger singles. And so many would come to me and say, you know, Mr. D'Alessandro, the thing I see among our young adults that really concerns me is this idea, this lifestyle of materialism. It's very concerning to so many, the greed for more. As we obey and honor this tenth commandment, we are freed from envying others. We're freed from envying their accomplishments. We're freed from envying their position at work, or maybe even in a church. We're freed from envying their appearance. We are freed from entering their personality. Covening can show selfishness, which could be at the expense of others. Covening could be a sign of our dissatisfaction with life, and God tells us to be content with all things. Covening, breaking that tenth commandment, can hinder our generosity, because we want to hold on to everything we get.

Covening can have self-destructive tendencies and certainly idolatry. We are freed from all of those things as you and I keep that tenth commandment. I just have two more scriptures for you, then we'll end the sermon. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 13.

Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5. How do we combat covetousness? Hebrews 13 verse 5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? To combat covetousness, we must have faith that God will provide.

He will satisfy our needs. He'll be there for us.

You know, I am in the process of counseling a couple of people for baptism. And, you know, as I'm going through, you know, the scriptures, we're talking about honoring God. We're talking about the kind of faith one needs for baptism. Now, faith is a multi-faceted subject. You know, you can have faith that God will protect you, but maybe not faith that God will heal you. You can have faith that God will protect you and heal you, but maybe God won't provide for you. So there's different levels of faith in different areas of life. One of those areas is faith for God to do what it says here. That God will be there for you, He will be your helper, He will be your protector, He will be your provider. So we don't need to covet.

And lastly, last scripture for the sermon, the series, Matthew 6.

Matthew 6, verse 33. I think it's a fitting scripture to end these three sermons, this particular series. As we looked at the Ten Commandments of God and the freedoms that each one affords us, keeping your eye on that. Matthew 6, verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All your commands are righteous, are righteousness. So, brethren, God's way of life is characterized by freedom. We talked about the Fourth of July celebrations in this country, but we as Christians are truly blessed, and that God has opened up our hearts and minds with a laser-like focus to the true freedoms that come from God's law. So, people in the future want to come to you and talk about the bondage and all that sort of reasoning. Think on the things we've covered in these last three sermons, the various types of freedoms that we have. They truly, each of these commandments, truly are ten keys to a successful and happy life, a life of true freedom.