The Parables of Christ no. 35
Covetousness
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Prayer…
LUKE
Notice that Jesus is
actually giving them a warning about something and He tells them that they
should pay close attention to this warning and that they should never allow
this thing to over take them. And that thing which He is telling them that they
must be aware of not allow it to over come them is covetousness.
Now, what is so bad about
covetousness that Jesus would warn us about it? well, first we must know what
it is in order to understand how it is such a danger to us. And we must
understand what covetousness is so we can know how to deal with it. For not only did Jesus warn us about it, but
we are also forbidden By God to be of a covetous nature.
EXODUS
Now to put this is 21st
century terms, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, that’s hasn’t
changed any and is self explanatory, and
thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, that speaks of adultery or even
fornication, because fornication is adultery potentially, because it is the
same act but done before marriage, and if you do not matty that person, you are
violating someone elses future spouse. The God adds, nor his
manservant, That measn to take advantage of someone elses hired
help, nor his maidservant, that means alo to take advantage of the hired
help, nor his
ox, The ox was used to plow the fields, and to haul great loads
to market, and it was a beast of burden. In todays terms, it would be his
equipment, his means of providing work, his lawn mower, or tractor, or other
such equipment that is needed to do his work. nor his
ass, Now, the ass was his means of transportation. Therefore
today it would be his car, or van, or motorcycle, bicycle, or boat, or
airp-lane. And finally God summarizes all that is your neighbors, by
saying, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
So you see, God hates covetousness, and set a law to control any desire
we would have to be covetous. Because covetousness leads to other crime such as
extortion, jalousy, and even murder. We have in our major cities today, young
men even killing others for a pair of tennis shoes. How low civilization has
become. It’s just a sign of the
end-time.
II
TIMOTHY 3:1 ¶ This
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady,
highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this
sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with
sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth.
The word
cov·et·ous is an adj. and it means: 1.
Excessively and culpably desirous of the possessions of another. 2. Marked
by extreme desire to acquire or possess: A desire to acquire more than one
needs or deserves:
Now, it is not just a matter of conscience, nor is it a matter of
simply saying, you will be happier if
you are not covetous. But the word
covetous speaks of more than just a mere desire to have something that you
don’t have, For covetousness leads to attitudes that become crippling, and
destructive in nature. Other words that
describe covetousness are: greed, avarice, insatiability and rapacity. And
covetous behavior is manifested in a resentful desire for another's advantages:
Therefore other words that are associated with covetousness are: envy,
jealousy, begrudging, resentment, grudging, and spite. All of which are evil
attributes and characteristics, and God not only hates covetousness, but He
abhors it.
PSALMS 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's
desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. God totally rejects
covetousness. It is an abomination to Him.
LUKE
16:13 No servant can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things:
and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify
yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
No wonder Jesus clashed so
much with the Pharisees. They not only had their noses in the air as a self
righteous people, but they were also covetous which God abhoreth. That means
they were a greedy bunch, looking out for number one all the time. And number
one to them of course was self. God not only abhors the covetous, but He
actually places them in the same category as the adulterer, the fornicator, the
exttortioner, and the idolator, because after all, that is what extortion is,
using deceit to gain what is someone elses, and that is what adultery is,
taking what belongs to someone else, and that is what fornication is, using in
a sexual way, someone who belongs to someone else.
I CORINTHIANS 5:9 ¶ I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company
with fornicators: 10 Yet not
altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners,
or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But
now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a
brother be a fornicator (that means that he has sex outside of marriage, and as you know we had
to ask a young man to leave this congregation that would not repent of his fornication
a few years ago),
or covetous (and we know those are those people that just
have to have the latest in everything, and if the neighbor get’s something,
they have to have it also. Those are week peoplle in the flesh, and in fact
they are fleshly minded people, and wrongly motivated people), or an idolater (and
these are people who worship others like
movie stars, and athletes, and just about any person or even things, such as
they worship a certain style of clothing, or certain cars, or a certain image.
The world is full of these people because they have made gods out of many
things, and in so ding they have turned away from the One and only True God.), or a railer
(a reailer is someone who expresses objections or is critical in a biter and
often harsh way and that uses obusive language in doing so. They don’t have to use curse words, but they can use
words that are just very demeaning, and words that just put down others.
, or a drunkard (we all know what the drunard
is, that is a person who has no control over their own life, but they persist
in abusing their flesh with alchohol. ), or an extortioner (An extortioner is someone who
uses an illegal use of one’s offical position or powers to obtain property,
funds, or patronage.
And I would like to add
that the ministry has proven to be full of these kind of men. Just look at the
televangelists, and the great schemes they have used to builk the weak minded
people out of their fortunes, promising them that God will bless them if they
give it all to them. And then Paul tells us); with such an one no not to eat.
The Apostle Paul tells us here that we are not even to
associate with those that are wicked and he includes in that wickedness thjose
that are covetous. And they are not considered any less a sin that the worst of
sins that he mentioned here such as extortion, fornication, and idolators.
I CORINTHIANS 6:9 ¶ Know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
EPHESIANS 5:1 ¶ Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear
children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling
savour. 3 ¶ But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you,
as becometh saints;(he mentions covetousness, and says may it not even once be named among
you. That is how bad it is considered by God, and yet there are many who have
used the pulpit to acquire great wealth as I mentioned earlier.) 4 Neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but
rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in
the
I TIMOTHY 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to
teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker,
not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
The sad thing is, is that
it used to be if a minister got a divorce it would take them out of the pulpit,
but not so any more. Now, they commit adultery and call it polygamy, and try to
explain it away using the old testament. It used to be that the ministry worked
with their own hands to make a living so they would not be pulled to play
favorites to the wealthier tithe paying members of the church, but not today.
Men of corrupt minds, think if I can get me a big church I can sit back and
reap the labor of the people, and if I can get me a big missionary program,
then I can skim off the top. I can buy me a $150,000 camera or a fleet of
cadillac’s and instead of being servant of all, they become ponificators in a
kingdom of their own, with men to seve them, and watch out for them, and set
their appointments, and do all the things, that a true minister of God has to
do for themselves. And what they do is create a kingdom around themselves, and
all it becomes is a big business, pulling in millions of dollars, and it is a
stench in God’s nose.
If you look at the Life of
William Branham, he avoided all such as that. His office was as small as my
office, and his furniture was not stylish by any means. He had one type writer,
and did not place an emphasis of material things, but rather he firmly affirmed Matthew 7:7 Seek ye first the
Look, I work for a living,
to pay my bills and make a home for my family. I do not say these things out of
jealousy. I could have been a millionaire. I signed three one year contracts to
play football. If that is what was in my heart, I could have found some
Scripture or quote to justify my continuing in that. But My heart is too honest
and open before God to do so. I could have used my reputation as having once
played professional football to enhance and build upon that to build a
ministry, and I could have said the things people wanted to hear to keep the
people that have left this church. If I would have done like the others out
their with their big churches, and compromised my position on this word, this
church would be in the hundreds today instead of a couple dozen. But then I
would have been walking down the wrong path, and not walking with God.
I know marketing. My job
for the hospital and the pediatric offices that I serve is as the Director of
Marketing. I have taught marketing at the University level, and I know how to
attract people to an organization. I’ve doubled the membership to the River
Valley Pediatricians since I took over the marketing, but when it comes to the
Word of God, I have lost almost 90 percent of the people that have come to this
place. My family and I are the only family left over from the original group.
And we have only two other families from the first few years of the church.
Why? Because I disdain sin.
I abhor sin. I abhor using the Gospel for filthy lucre sake. And I will not compromise the truth for a
pay check, nor for a larger congregation. But God has honored my stand, and he
has given me a congregation that encompasses the entitre world. He has taken
this ministry into 127 countries, and we haven’t sold one tape to do that.
People write and request to me that they would like to buy my sermons. I write
back, that we do not sell them. If they would like a certain series, just let
me know and I will send it to them free of charge. That is not a way to get
rich my brother and sister. But the Scripture says that we should buy the truth and
sell it not.
II PETER 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be
taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and
shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the reward
of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time.
Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings
while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot
cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with
covetous practices; cursed children: 15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the
way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
Now, in getting back to our
parable…for a
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because
I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I
will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. 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. 20 But God
said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then
whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 ¶ And
he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The
life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24 Consider the
ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn;
and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25 And which
of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26 If ye then be
not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? 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. 28
If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is
cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of
doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after:
and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 But rather seek
ye the