Question 81: What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment?

Answer: The Tenth Commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to any thing that is his.

Dear Neighbor,

Are you content with all that you have, or do you look at your neighbor and envy what your neighbor has, grieving, even angry that your neighbor has such and such but you do not? The kingdom of God is not in our possessions, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17) To envy and grieve what your neighbor has causes one to bite and devour ones neighbor. (Gal. 5:15) It is from covetousness that murders, adulteries, theft and lying against ones neighbor occurs.

This world is a very difficult place to live in and a great deal of bad things happen in it. Some people have a great deal and others have very little. Some people work hard and have little, and others work little and have a lot. However, do not think that this is necessarily the case with your neighbor, because it may appear that someone does not work hard but truly worked very hard to be in the place that they are now in, and their lives may not actually be what it appears to be. 

Each of us is to be concerned for the good of our neighbor, to our neighbors edification. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we must follow Christ’s example. Christ did not please himself but was reproached for the name of God and our sakes. (Rom. 15:2-3) Therefore, we are not to seek our good only, but the good of our neighbor. (1 Cor. 10:24) This means not being envious or grieving the good of our neighbor but being glad for them.

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Question 80: What is required in the Tenth Commandment?

Answer: The Tenth Commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all this is his.

Dear Neighbor,

Are you content with what you have and are you glad for your neighbor? The Westminster Puritans understood that the tenth commandment requires our full contentment with our own condition and a right spirit towards our neighbor, being glad for him in all that he has.

When we are unsatisfied with what God has given to us, this is sinning against God. When we do not have a charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, this is sinning against our neighbor. 

The great commandment is to love the Lord your God with your whole self and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and the prophets depend on these two commandments; (Mt. 22:37-40) therefore, being dissatisfied is not loving God who is the giver of all things and being jealous of your neighbor’s positions is not loving your neighbor as yourself.

Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind by being content. Love your neighbor as yourself by having a right and charitable spirit toward your neighbor with regards to all that your neighbor has.

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Question 79: Which is the Tenth Commandment?

Answer: 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 any thing that is thy neighbour's."

Dear Neighbor,

The following two question ask what is required and what is forbidden in the tenth commandment but what is the tenth commandment? The tenth commandment is very often shortened, “You shall not covet.” What does it mean to covet?

The Oxford American Dictionary says that the word covet is a verb, which means to “yearn to possess or have something.” Therefore, shortening the commandment can be misleading. To covet, crave, set your heart on, want, wish for, long for, dream of, aspire to, hanker for, hunger for, thirst for, ache for, etc. is not in itself the commandment. The commandment specifies that which belongs to ones neighbor.

Jesus said, (Matthew 5:6) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” To hunger and thirst for righteousness is good.

This commandment regards the heart because it is in the heart (not blood pumping organ) that a person covets. Jesus spoke about this commandment and connected it to the previous four commandments. I look forward to thinking about what the tenth commandment requires and forbids.

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Lord’s Day: July 4, 2021

Dear Neighbor,

Since the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, to his disciples, on the first day of the week, (the day in which he rose from the dead) the disciples have been gathering together on the first day of the week, to break bread, to talk with one another and hear a message. (cf. Acts 20:7) Many churches in the East Texas area are caught up in Americanism and 4th of July celebrations on this Lord’s day. Let us not forget that “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” (Rom. 13:1) A Christian should be in subjection to the governing authorities, pay taxes and respect the countries leaders. (Rom. 13:7) However, we should not forget that our citizenship is not in this world but in the kingdom of God. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Cor. 15:50) All authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth; therefore, we are to make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the triune God and teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded, to the end of the age. (Mt. 28:16-20) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58) The kingdom of God is for every nation and tribe and tongue and people. (Rev. 14:6) Every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, will stand together and worship God and the Lamb as one voice. (Rev. 7:9-12)

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Question 78: What is forbidden in the Ninth Commandment?

Answer: The Ninth Commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness-bearing.

Dear Neighbor,

A citizen of the Kingdom of God walks among men with integrity. All that he does on the earth is right. He speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander his neighbor or do any wrong to his neighbor. The citizen of the Kingdom thinks rightly, speaks rightly and does rightly by his neighbor. (cf. Ps. 15:1-5) 

However, in Romans 3:10-18, the apostle Paul wrote of all men:

THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,

WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”

“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

“WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”

“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Have you ever told a lie? What do you call someone who tells lies? The answer is a liar. Most people do not want to think of themselves as a liar but even if you tell one lie, you are a liar. The bad news is that all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Rev. 21:8) However, there is good news for all who have lied. 

Even though what liars have earned for telling lies is death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23) The grace of God is a free gift, you cannot earn it and you cannot pay the price for your past lies but God is offering eternal life to all who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we cannot earn eternal life, should we continue to tell lies? The answer is an emphatic NO! We must have repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21) This means as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, you are to tell the truth in all matters!

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Question 77: What is required in the Ninth Commandment?

Answer: The Ninth Commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness-bearing.

Dear Neighbor,

Proverbs 14:5, 25 says,

A trustworthy witness will not lie,

But a false witness utters lies.

A truthful witness saves lives,

But he who utters lies is treacherous.

This morning, in my daily recitation of John’s gospel, I recited John 19:35, “And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.”

The children of God speak truth because God’s nature is truth and the children of the devil speak lies because it is the devil’s nature to lie. Whenever a person lies, he makes himself a son of the devil, but when he tells the truth, he is a son of God. (Jn. 8:43-44) 

Above all else, the Christian must be truthful in all matters, because our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth of God. (Jn. 14:7) How can one represent our Lord in the world if he is a liar? People lie for many reasons but ultimately it is for selfish reasons that people lie.

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake

Question 76: What is the Ninth Commandment?

Answer: The Ninth Commandment is, "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

Dear Neighbor,

Pilot directly asked Jesus: “Are you the the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered but after asking Pilot how he came to this knowledge. Jesus revealed to Pilot that he is in fact a king but his kingdom is not of this world. When Pilot understood that Jesus believed himself to be a king, he asked a clarifying question: “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate then said to Jesus, “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:33-38)

What is truth? In Prov 12:17, 19, truth is that which is opposed to falsehood. (EBD) Therefore, conversely, one could say, falsehood is that which is opposed to the truth. Psalm 116:11 says, “All men are liars.” and that is a terrorfying reality because Revelation 21:9 says, “all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The good news is that there is forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ. Psalms 32:1-2, says:

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered!

How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

Michael Peek

Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake