Coveting: The Demonic Power of Wealth.Thursday August 7, 2025
Intro: We are warned time and again about greed and told by God to be exceedingly gracious.
Luk 12:15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
Col 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
Lack of graciousness is covetousness (commandment #10) (2Co 9)
Mat 19:16 And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do [future] that I may obtain [have] eternal life?”
Review points: Man’s preoccupation is with having, but no one who has eternal life could claim to own it. It is a gift from the Lord.
Mat 19:17 And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
Review points:
To keep the commandments will show inadequacy. What do we do with what the law says to us?
The plan is to let the commandments do one of the major things they were designed to do – lead the inadequate person to appeal to the Lord for grace (Rom 3:20-21).
Mat 19:18-19 He said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself. "
Perhaps Jesus is leaving out “You shall not covet” and substituting it with “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Review points:
He honors all the commandments as one (you break one part of the law, you break it all, Jam 2:10).
Mat 19:20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"
Kept the law but no assurance:
He has observed the laws but has he kept them perfectly? This question is brought out by the command “love your neighbor …”
Even those who do well at keeping the commandments of God know that they are not perfect.
Phi 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
He does not have assurance (Rom 8:16-17).
Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
The god of wealth
Go, sell, give (all commandments) are particular, especially to him.
This shows that the execution of some commandments are going to look different for different people.
He is to sell all.
Mar 10:21 "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Luk 18:22 "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
No others were told to do this. Zaccheus gave half and salvation came to his house. There are several wealthy people who are believers in the Gospels.
The man thought there was something he could do that was outside of the commandments.
But because he violates commandment 1, he refuses commandment 10.
Be complete:
“Complete” is used in the OT sense of wholeness of consecration to God, maturity. It is Shalom.
Same word used by Christ in Mat 5:48 (Luk 6:36 parallel)
A good image for Shalom is Day 7 with God in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus is telling this man that he can enter into a whole, complete relationship with God.
It is not difficult to imagine that God made us complete in Christ and He wants us to, over years of learning wisdom and power through the Holy Spirit’s ministry, to mature our thinking, understanding, and behavior to where it comes into harmony with who He has graciously made us to be.
Themes of this passage:
Self-sufficient people must see themselves as sinners.
Not all come to Christ on the same path.
Wealth can be a demonic trap (unbeliever and believer).
Be gracious, not covetous.
“Give to the poor” the Lord is also teaching us to be gracious.
Gal 2:7 They only asked us to remember the poor — the very thing I also was eager to do.
There is not a lot of mention of the poor in the NT epistles, but a lot about giving (2Co 9; 1Ti 6:17-19).
“Then you will have treasure in heaven.”
The pain of the demand to sell is not a loss but the man is going to make a killing.
Pro 19:17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed.
“Follow Me”
“Follow Me” tells us that sacrifice is not unaccompanied. The One who sacrificed all is alongside you all the way.
Jesus asks this man to bear a heavy burden by sell off his god but with the result that he would gain a lifetime with the Son of God.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
Money is powerful enough to resist Jesus’ word. Let that sink in. The power of money is demonic.
The final tragedy of this young man who wants to have everything, even religion, is that he is not a free man. He does not have money, it has him.
We are stewards of the things in this world that are under our control. We are to use them under the will of God.
Jesus knew that this man’s possessions stood in the way of his faith. For each of us He knows that bars us from faith and the Trinity works in every life, using the church as a tool, to show their need of Christ.
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