So, did you have a pet growing up? Did you have a pet? Did, did you have a name for your pet? You remember your pet's name? I saw a story where a dad bought his little boys, a puppy and the boys were fighting over what to name the puppy. One of them wanted to call the puppy Scrappy. The other one wanted to call him Fez. And so there was this argument, they were fighting back and forth. They didn't really know what to do. And, and after a while the, the, the tom foolery stirred up the puppy and the puppy started nipping and biting at the little boys. After a while, the dad just had enough. He, he was tired of, of all of the fighting. He was tired of all of the biting and he finally said, look, I'm going to name the dog and we're going to name the dog well enough. Now leave well enough alone. You knew that was going somewhere. Come on when it comes to life, most of us really struggle with leaving well enough alone. Why? Because if we're honest, well enough is not enough. We want more. We want more we want more money. We want more vacation, we want more sleep. We want more clothes. We want more time at the golf course. We want more time at the outlets. We want more time at the restaurant. We want more tropical smoothies. We want more smoked applewood bacon. We, we just want more. It's, it's part of who we are. We struggle with wanting more well enough is never enough. So, is there any help for that? Any help for this struggle of always wanting more when we finish up our series, uh 10 ways to change the world. And what we've been doing in this series is looking at the ultimate laws of the universe, the 10 commandments. And the question that we've been asking throughout the series is this, how would the world change at your house, at the place you work in this church and this community if we really obeyed the 10 commandments, we've arrived today at the 10th commandment and it is in the 10th commandment that we find a help, a help for when well enough is not enough. And what is that? Help? Well, we're going to find out the title of today's message is more than enough, more than enough. And we'll be looking at Exodus 20 verse 17, God is giving a message through Moses to the people. And this is the, the last part of this section of His message. And this is what God says in verse 17, you shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male slave, or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. For the moments when well enough is not enough, the help that God gives for this moment when we have an unhealthy desire, not just for more but for someone else's stuff. The help for that moment, the message that God has given us is this. You shall not covet, you shall not covet. What does it mean to covet? Well, there was a man, he was a, a very decorated military commander and he struggled with a very serious disease and he heard about this holy man and he was told that the holy man might be able to cure him. So Namon, the military commander went to Elisha, the holy man and, and asked him if he could heal him. And by the power of God working through Elisha, Namon was healed and, and he was so overjoyed that he offered to give a gift to Elisha. Elisha said, no, no, no, you just, you just go on your way and Namon did, he, he just went on his way. And at this point in the story, Elisha's servant Ghazi comes in and, and Ghazi sounds just like most of us. He's thinking what's wrong with this old man? That guy was getting ready to give us a lot of money we could use that for supplies. Well, what is he thinking? Why did, why did he say? No, we, we don't want it. And Ghazi begins to think his mind begins to stir. And the second kings 520 this is what he comes up with a plan. I will run after him and take something from him. So Elisha graciously refused the gift. And Ghazi came up with another plan, a plan to actually override his boss and get a little something, something for himself. And that was his plan. I'm going to go get more. I it's interesting though. It wasn't even his gift to ask for. He didn't do anything. It was Elisha's gift. It wasn't his gift to ask for. It wasn't his gift to receive, but he didn't care. Can't you just hear that? The, the wheels spinning? And as if this, this guy's loaded, he, he just wanted to give us some money. Why would we not take it? Well, look, Elisha may be stupid but I'm not, I'm going to go get something for me. We, we think like that we may not want to admit it, but we think like that a man had been miraculously healed by God. But Ghazi, the, the servant of the holy man of God didn't stop and say, gosh, look what God did. No, he was only thinking of himself. Look, we, we all have these moments. But remember when, when someone is sharing something with you in particular, that's not your moment to one of them when someone's life is hard and, and they're, they're sharing some, some hurt, some Brokenness. That's not your opportunity to go. Oh, well, you think that's bad. Let me tell you about what happened to me. You know, sometimes we just need to, to listen, we just need to pay attention. But our, our hearts are, are so drawn in different direction. And Ghazi, his, his heart was hatching a plan. He wasn't praising God. He wasn't thank God. He, he wasn't listening. He was hatching a plan. And where was that plan being hatched in his heart first? See, we're tempted to say, oh he was thinking it, but whatever was in his mind, Jesus says, starts in the heart. So his heart was hatching a plan in the New Testament. James says this in James 115. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death, Ghazi wanted something and his desire for it stirred his heart and his mind to come up with a plan to hatch a plan to carry out a plan of deception so that he could get something for him. He desired what was not his. And there's a word for that coveting cove is when we want to possess, not just casually man, we want it. We want to possess something that's not ours. We want to possess something that we actually don't even have a right to now. All wanting and all possessing is not bad. We know that right. There are good wants and there are bad wants. It is a good thing to desire a spouse. It is, it's a bad thing to desire someone else's spouse. See, there's a fine line between pure desire and, and impure desire and, and that line we can cross it in a blink of an eye. It, it happens so quickly. Coveting has been described as a silent killer, silent in the sense that it makes us blind to what's actually going on. We, we don't even see what's happening. We're all wrapped up in the moment and, and we can't even see what's happening even to our own hearts and we know how to do it. We know how to keep up a good appearance in front of family and friends and people at church and in the community. We, we know how to do that. In fact, we can even convince ourselves. Well, as long as I'm not coveting on the outside, then, then it's no big deal. Nothing's really happening as long as, as long as I'm having those Ghazi longings in my mind, but I don't run after the guy and put it into practice and then it's ok if I'm hatching a plan, but I don't carry out a plan. No big deal. Unfortunately, that's not how the math works in God's economy. Hebrews chapter four verse 13 says this and there is no creature hidden from God's sight. But all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him, to whom we must answer. Look, we can fight against it. We can argue it, we can debate it, we can deny it. But every single human being has been created with this innate understanding that not only does God exist, but God sees us and we will have to answer to God. We, we, we act like it's not there, but we know it's there. Even if we don't believe in God, there is this innate understanding that we're going to have to answer to somebody or something somewhere. God sees all. He knows all. And ultimately, we will have to answer to him. But we live in a culture, convincing us the exact opposite is true. We live in a culture that's, that's training us to believe that coveting is, is not a sin that wanting what is not ours is really not that big a deal and it, it won't really have any impact on life. It's the kind of thinking that says, hey, greed isn't bad. Greed. Greed is what helps you succeed in life. And it's ok if you're greedy and your business is ok. If you're greedy at your job, as long as you support a little league team, no big deal, you know, there's this notion that it's ok for us to, to be greedy in that way, to be selfish it can be overlooked as long as we work hard at our jobs, even something as, as bad as adultery. We're like, well, you know, it's terrible what they did but, you know, they're really good at their job. See, we've convinced ourselves that the sin is not actually sin and our culture continues to communicate that to us or, or maybe thinking in a completely different way, most people in the world, they don't mind being a good Samaritan. That, hey, that's good. That, that sounds like a good thing. I'll be a good Samaritan until the Samaritan has something we want. You know, we'll be a good Samaritan to someone else until we realize women, that person has something I really want in God's economy. Good deeds do not outweigh bad deeds. Volunteering for charity doesn't mean that our sin doesn't exist being good at business or work or sports or, or just making a good cobbler. It does not cancel out our sin in God's economy. Good deeds do not outweigh bad deeds, especially when it comes to the 10th commandment. You shall not covet you shall not. There are two brothers. We don't know the reasons why, but for some reason, one of the brothers got all the inheritance and the other brother kind of got nothing. And that brother one day came up to Jesus and he said, look, I, I don't understand but, but do something about this. Jesus tell my brother to divide the inheritance of me. He's not even sharing with me. He's, he's keeping everything for himself. And Jesus turned to him and said, you know what? You're right. You, you, you deserve more. Look, I want you to stand up and fight for your rights. And Jesus called his brother over there and said, look, but you give him what he deserves. Th th this is fair, you need to be fair with him. Divide it up, give him. What's his? That's not what Jesus said. This is what Jesus said to him. Luke 1215, beware and be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one is affluent. Does his life consist of his possessions? E even if you have everything, if you're the brother that got all the inheritance, that's not actually his life. So other brother, be careful, be careful that you're looking at all he has as if that defines his life. It does not define his life. In essence, both brothers were being greedy. The one brother was refusing to share, the other brother was refusing to be ignored. I will not be ignored. He was greedy for attention while the other one was greedy for possessions. And notice Jesus said, beware for every form of greed. See, that's just inheritance right there. You know, and I mean, most of us have been involved in some kind of family situation where there was some argument over inheritance. If you haven't there will be, but it's not just the inheritance. See, we can covet things like money or time. We can covet things like talents or, or people or possessions, even personalities. The very nature of what it means to covet is it can take on any form and any of those forms can sneak up a sneak up on us in a moment. And that, that's kind of how coveting works. Right. I mean, most of us don't wake up in the morning going, you know what? I want somebody else's spouse. I want somebody else's car. I want somebody else's house. I want somebody else's job. We, we don't really wake up with this passion. Just have everybody else's stuff. It sneaks up on us. Barry Cooper was in Starbucks one day and, and he talked about how this sneaking up came on him. He said during a recent Starbucks visit, I stood behind a customer who ordered a decaf grande sugar free vanilla nonfat latte with extra foam and the milk heated to 100 and 40 degrees. Yeah. You ever been behind that person in line? As I stood in line? I actually started to think, hm, maybe I want 100 and 40 degree coffee too. Maybe I thought to myself, my choice of milk temperature up to this point has been catastrophically naive. Suddenly his choices made me unhappier about my own. I began to covet, I wasn't sure what I wanted anymore. I became anxious and indecisive. I wasn't sure I was ready to commit either to my kind of coffee or to his kind of coffee. Was this really freedom of choice or slavery to it? See, we, we scream, we want choice but we don't, we don't because the more choice we have, the greater the anxiety is to covet because whatever it is that we want it, it won't be enough. Well enough is, is not enough. And we've all been there. Ok? It may have been Starbucks may have been alta may have been harbor freight tools. You may have been over at the poultry festival. The Chitlin strut. It doesn't matter where you are. We've all had moments where we've stood there and said, mm gosh, I wish I had that. Iii I want that and, and it's, it's not evil in and of itself, but the warning can cross the line really quick. And that's why Jesus said, hey, beware. And, and again, just to remind ourselves of that moment, hey, Jesus, I didn't give my, I didn't get my inheritance because I'm going to tell you you may be there one day. Hey, this isn't fair. I, I didn't get what was mine. And Jesus said, watch out. He didn't say don't go get your inheritance. He said, watch out beware, run away from anything that creates this selfish coveting in your heart because it will eat you alive. And how do we do that? How do we run away from a sinful desire to have what's not ours. How do we run away from a sinful desire to possess something that we don't even have the right to. Well, one really helpful way is to really learn what it means to live in the real world. Now, as parents, all of us have been tempted to say that to our kids at one time or another. Maybe you heard it, buddy. Welcome to the Real world. Hey, this is how the real world works that modern way. Uh Now what I say to my kids is, hey man, this is din, this is how this works. You know, we understand this concept of the real world. We don't know for sure. But sometime maybe between Noah and Moses, there was a man named Job and seemingly according to how the Bible tells the story in a, in a, in a matter of hours, even like in a day job lost everything that he had everything that was valuable to him and he fell on the ground and he cried out and this is what he cried out naked. I came from my mother's womb. Now that is the real world, whatever you think the definition of real world, that's the real world. Look, I was there in the room at the moment that all four of my Children came into this world. None of them came in with carry on luggage, ok? They didn't come in with toys. They didn't come in with a little piggy bank under their arm. They came in with absolutely nothing dear friend. In case you have forgotten this, you did not come into this world with a 401. Ok. You didn't come into this world with a retirement account. You didn't come into this world with a savings account. You didn't come into this world with a job, you didn't come into this world with an ability to play sports or to do math or anything else in the world. You came into this world with absolutely nothing. And what about when we leave this world? That's what job says next naked. I came from my mother's womb and naked. I shall return there. And he's not talking about going back in his mother's womb. Ok? He's saying, look, when I arrived, I had nothing and when I leave, I'll have nothing. Can I just say we really need to hurt our feelings with that. Ok. Maybe more so as Westerners than other people in the world. We're obsessed with our stuff. We're obsessed with keeping our stuff and owning our stuff. And most of us have, have been through a moment where we moved from a house and we realized, gosh, I can't take all this stuff with me. Maybe you downsized or maybe you've been involved in, in the, the death of your parent and you've, you've had to clean out the, how we, we understand what it means that we go with nothing. We just forget it. We do, we just forget it. So, even though we have the 10 Allen Rich Sets, we just go get two more because they were on sale. Right. I mean, this, this is how we are, whatever it is in our life, we, we kind of just always well enough is not enough. So we need a little more and I need to get a little more. But the Real World tells us that when we leave, there's no house, there's no car, there's no frame degree, there's no accounts with money in them. We, we leave with nothing, nothing. And, and that begs a great question if we arrive with nothing and we leave with nothing. Why are we so obsessed with things we will not leave with. Why are we so obsessed to possess things that ultimately will never be ours? They want. I'm shared with y'all a few weeks ago. Our, our family is in that process of, of cleaning out mom and dad's house. And, and I, I told mom the other day, I said, mom, I said, I know it's hard. I said, but that was y'all stuff, you know, y'all bought stuff that y'all used and that y'all had and, and it's not always going to come down to us, you know, sometimes we, we don't have room for it and we don't have use for it and that's ok. Y'all had use for it, it, it was used well, but we can't take these things with us. So if we can't take them with us and we didn't show up with them, why are we so obsessed with making sure not only we have them but we get more of them. It's not wrong to have stuff. It's not. But Jesus said, look, we need to watch out and run when well enough is not enough. We need to watch out and run when we are coveting because here's the thing. Coveting is actually a lie. It's a lie. Look, it's not wrong for us to have stuff and by no means it's not wrong. It's not wrong to have wealth. It's not wrong to have property. It's not wrong to have beauty. It's not wrong to have talents or ability. None of that is wrong. It is gloriously ok to have all of it. But when those things are presented to us with the sound bites of the world, that's where the danger comes in. The danger comes in because the things of this world carry with them, a promise of security. They do, they, they carry on a promise of security. I've told y'all before. The best advice I've ever been given was by my realtor friend many years ago. He said, if you're looking at a house during the day and you go, man, this is fantastic. This is the one we want. He said before you sign anything, go drive through the neighborhood at night. He goes because that's when everybody's home, that's, that's the neighborhood. You're really living in the neighborhood in the middle of the day, everybody's at work. You know, there's no loud cars or loud music or loud kids, you know, whatever it is. So you need to go look at that house at night to make sure, hey, this is, this is where I need to be, see everything that we possess in this world. It comes with this promise. This will make you secure. Hey, get married and you'll feel secure, have kids and you'll feel secure, take the promotion and you'll feel secure, save that money and you'll feel secure, get this insurance and you'll feel secure and there's nothing wrong with any of those things except when we're convinced that the promise of security is true because it's not, it's not. And in fact, the more things we possess and the more we long to possess more things or very specifically, when we long to possess what someone else has, you know what it creates, it doesn't create security. It creates anxiety, time and time and time again. It creates anxiety, they promote security, they promote freedom. But why is it that we feel more shackled in the midst of them? That's why Paul gave this advice to Timothy first Timothy 66. But Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. See, there's no real great gain in coveting. Although coveting says, hey, man, if you'll stick with me, man, you're, you're going to get it. Iii I heard the radio last night, the, the lottery powerball or whatever. It's, you know, some, some crazy number and you know, I, I've never bought a lottery ticket but I was sitting there going, oh, man, I got college love, man. This sounds good. Just the commercyal will make you think. Oh, here's some security, here's some freedom. That's what coveting will do to you. But contentment in God is actually great game. Godliness actually creates more contentment than coveting. So what does it mean to be content? Well, Paul's got an answer to that question too. Philippians four verse 11 for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little and also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance I've learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Now again, that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. You know, look, I'd love to win the masters golf tournament. It ain't never going to happen. All right, doing all things through Christ doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. It just means if you have Christ, you have what you need. Contentment by definition is found in the Son of God. That that's not a small statement. Every single one of us, we're frustrated with something or someone right now. We are, we're frustrated with spouses or kids or parents or grandparents or, or the president or the senator or the representative or our boss or the people we work with or whoever. We're, we're frustrated. We're frustrated with our health. We're frustrated with our, our finances. We're frustrated with something. But when Paul says I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. He is saying I have found that the key, the secret to commitment is contentment is I have Jesus that the Son of God that seeing Jesus savoring Jesus believing in and relying on trusting Him, clinging to Jesus as our ultimate source of hope and salvation. It is in that, that's the secret to breaking free from coveting and finding joy and contentment. The very nature of the character of Jesus. The story of Jesus, the, the person of Jesus. Jesus himself who he is. He is the secret. He's the key to breaking free from coveting when well enough is not enough. What we need the most is Jesus. You know, we've stumbled in a way of thinking in our culture that says, hey, if it's to be, it's up to me, but that's, that's never true. See, being content is not about coveting. We, we think it is, we're convinced it is, I will be content. If I have a little more money, I will be content if I can get this car, I'll be content if, if, if, if, if, if, but it's a lie because we won't be, we will only be content, not in what we do, but in what has been done for us, see being content instead of being covetousness or be our coveting. It's not determined by your circumstances. It's not determined by your education. It's not determined by what side of the tracks you were born on or, or anything else in life to be content instead of coveting is completely and totally wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ. It's why we're not promoting religion. We're not even promoting being Baptist. We are promoting Jesus Christ. He is the only answer. You will not be content, find ultimate contentment at least. And a sermon series you won't find contentment and a bunch of TED talks. You won't find contentment in, in a 12 step program. All those can have their place, but ultimate contentment will not be found in a nicer house or a nicer salary or, or anything else in life. And, and, and in our mind right now, we kind of jokingly go, yeah, but it wouldn't hurt. Yeah, I would, it would because if we're coveting to the degree that God knew we would, that's why you put this law in here. We are always in danger. We are endangering our very souls because we will all be, always be choosing something more than choosing God, you see, coveting will trick your soul into thinking that you need something more than you need Jesus. That's what happened on Palm Sunday. That's, that's exactly what happened on Palm Sunday. On Sunday. About 1991 years ago, there was a group of Galilean pilgrims and they were standing in town and they were shouting Hosanna to Jesus because they had this longing for a leader for, for that politician that was going to come and, and get the government right again and, and, and protect their families and protect their freedoms and, and all those things and, and they were convinced that Jesus was their man. Their hearts were tricked into thinking that Jesus was going to give them what they coveted, that Jesus was going to do what they wanted him to do. And then five days later, it was a completely different group of people, bunch of Jerusalem church going votes and they were shouting, not Hosanna. They were shouting crucify because they also had this longing to not lose their religious and their social and their political and their financial status. They were coveting something and they were convinced that it was in the person of Jesus that what they coveted was at risk. They believed that Jesus was going to mess up what they were coveting and see both crowds were wrong. Both crowds completely missed who Jesus actually is and who is Jesus? He is the only begotten Son of God. But maybe in a very specific way, he is the ultimate treasure of the universe. If we were going to covet something, we should only covet Jesus because he is the only ultimate treasure. He's the only ultimate joy in the universe. CS Lewis defined joy like this, an unsatisfied desire. This is great joy is something that doesn't even get satisfied. See, that's, that's contrary to our minds, right? Because our minds would say, well, I'm, I'm joyful because I got that triple Jesusburger with extra bacon. I'm joyful right now. I, I have received Lewis's joy is an unsatisfied desire, which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. So the desire for joy, even if you don't get it, the desire is more desirable and I'll say more valuable than any other satisfaction in the universe. He just defined Jesus, even if you deny the existence of God, even if you think everything about Jesus is just a fairy tale. The one thing that can't be changed in the universe is actually what you and I desire the most can only be found in Jesus. He is the most desirable desire in the universe. Only Jesus. He's the only real lasting escape from coveting. He's the only real lasting way to be content. The only way years ago, I was, I was reading an article and it, and it quoted a woman didn't use her name and this is what she said years ago I stopped looking to anyone but God to satisfy me. There is no man that can love me enough. No child that can need me enough. No job that can pay me enough and no experience that can satisfy me enough. Only Jesus, only Jesus. There is no church building. There is no style of church music. There is no pastor. There is no medicine. There is no house, there is no job. There is no team that helps your bracket or breaks your bracket. There is no restaurant. There is no meal. There is no spouse. There is no child. There is no retirement. There is no politician. There is no thing in this universe that will satisfy you the way you want to be satisfied and the way you need to be satisfied except Jesus only Jesus. We live in the FOMO culture. The fear of missing out. Oh, this guy doesn't get elected. Oh, if I don't get into this school, oh, if I don't marry this person. Oh, if I don't go on that vacation, oh, we, we're just convinced that we, if we miss out on something that we're missing out, dear friend, we came naked, we leave naked. So what we need the most and what will satisfy us is all found? Not in a fairy tale, not in a religious legend or myth, but in the very person of Jesus Christ. When well enough is not enough. Jesus is enough when the world comes crashing down in your heart or your mind. Jesus is enough when you don't know which way to turn, Jesus is enough. I can't convince you of that, but I pray God will because He is enough. Only Jesus.