Coveting - The Secret Sin.

"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 (Exodus 20:17).

Covetousness, according to apostle Paul in Colossians 3:5, is idolatry. This is one of the great sins of the present hour.

God condemns killing, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and covetousness. 

Our Lord Jesus who knows every heart, prefaced His parable of the rich fool in Luke with this warning:

"And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15).

Knowing there would be some question about the meaning of coveting, our Lord was explicit. They were not to covet their neighbor’s house, his wife, his property or anything that belonged to him.

The command against covetousness shows that it is a sin just to feel an excessive desire for what belongs to another. In our New Testament the word covet  is usually translated by the words lust or desire and in some places by concupiscence. 

The basic meaning of covet is "to set the heart on," literally "to pant after."

The Word of God gives many examples of men who were overcome by this secret sin - Laban, Balaam, Achan, Saul, Ahab, Gehazi, Judas, Ananias, Felix, etc.

Let us look at 

Achan.

Achan was a member of the army of Israel in their conquest of the Promised Land. 

It happened when the people of Israel were in the flush of victory. They had overcome Jericho! Although it was God’s victory, in a short time Israel thought of it as their victory. 

And then came the defeat at Ai.

God gave an explicit command as relayed by Joshua was that nothing was to be salvaged in the city but the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, which were to be placed in the treasury of the Lord. No soldier was to take anything for himself:

Joshua 6:18   "And ye, in every way keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it."

So after the humiliating and costly defeat at Ai, God told Joshua that Israel had sinned, and it was up to him to find the guilty party.

By process of elimination, Achan was found to be the guilty one, and he confessed it.

Notice the steps of Achan’s sin. 

He saw, he coveted, he took.

These are the steps of the sin of the flesh. Gossip, envy, and jealousy are all sins of the flesh. 

They cause strife and trouble.

The sin of the flesh sees, covets, and takes.

What did Achan do when he was confronted? 

He confessed. He laid it right out.

For believers today, how are we going to overcome the flesh?

We have to deal with sin in our lives.

We have to acknowledge, truthfully what we did.

John’s first epistle makes clear what we cannot do:

If we say that we are having fellowship with God and yet we are  living in sin, bearing false witness and telling lies about a child of God, we are not fooling anyone but ourselves.

We are not having fellowship with God, and we know it even though we are deceiving others.

Suppose we deny that we have sinned.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Christ Jesus is the Truth and He is not in us when we tell lies to cover our sin. 

To be in Christ means to walk in truth for He is Truth and in Him there is no lie.

1 John 1:9   "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

That’s strong language is it not.

God says that if we say we have no sin we are lying. 

We are to confess our sins.

True confession does not deal in generalities. 

We are to spell out our sin just as Achan did:

"I saw them; I coveted them; I took them."

Tell God everything that is in your heart  -  just open it up to Him. You might as well tell Him anyway because He already knows all of the truth about the matter.

It is amazing the way we beat around the bush even in our praying. We are to tell Him exactly what our sin is. That is what true confession is. Then we are to turn from it.

We cannot get up off our knees and go straight back into bearing false witness and telling lies about that sin. That is mainly the trouble with those who sexually abuse, or physically abuse, children. They use their evil power to lure the child into sin because of their own covetousness. Most of them have their own wives, but they want innocent virgin children to be able to fulfill their own lust. 

God hates it and He says in His Word  

" ..   it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

That is what God says in His Word,  

not me. These pedophiles want the child dead, and they wish the child to die. Some of them murder the children they have abused and that way they believe they have gotten rid of anyone ever finding out the truth. Pedophiles are deceivers and they are sly just like their father the devil is sly for when the child eventually gains enough courage to speak out, the child is usually disbelieved.

But God, 

and today dear reader, I want to encourage all those who are living in that place. I can say this with absolute confidence in my Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ because I know that God knows everything and I have seen, been a witness to the fact that God always deals with sin.

Our Gracious Lord Jesus Christ, the only Great Shepherd of His sheep, brought me to the place where I cried out to Him to take the whip from off the back of the one who abused me. His wife and children have suffered greatly and sadly they believe that it is for the cause of Christ that they have suffered when in fact it is because of the sin of this man. Sadly even through all the suffering they refuse to believe the truth. They choose not to believe it.

The Inspired Word of God tells us plainly that when we suffer we are to make sure that  

1 Peter 4:15   "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"

When we suffer we are to examine ourselves according to the Word of God.

Today we are to be very careful and we are told to examine the fruit that comes from the lives of those who claim to belong to Christ. Our Lord Jesus told us clearly that by their fruits we would know them. Dr. James McGinley put it in a rather unique fashion, he said,  "I am no judge, but I am a fruit inspector." Many, many today, claim that they live by the Bible when in fact they hate one of Gods dear children. They claim to love God, they love the Head of the body, Christ Jesus, but not a part of His body. How is this possible?

The Inspired Word of God teaches us plainly that when the Holy Spirit dwells in us He will lead and guide us into all truth (see John 16:13) and also that "insomuch  that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the elect" (Matthew 24:24).

Dear reader it is not possible to deceive the elect of God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says in His Inspired Word 

"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (see John 8:31).

We who belong to Christ are His witnesses in this present world and we are to give our testimony so that through us the Spirit of God will warn folk before they get involved in sin and sadly, I say this very sadly, the liberal section of the organized church does not teach this. They teach people to try to live a good life, do good deeds, and that we need not worry about our sin, it is just a mistake and everyone makes mistakes, and that their sin has been dealt with. It is all forgiven so there is no need for confession because everyone must forgive us anyway. Man today has no sorrow for sin. He boasts of it and that at he is forgiven anyway, so what he did does, does not matter at all.

But our Lord Jesus died for that sin.

We need to see our sin in the Light of the Cross.

We are His witnesses and there can be no joy in our lives; there can be no power in our lives; there can be no victory in our lives until there is confession of our sin.

We are first to go to God in confession then we are to go to the one we have wronged and say we are sorry for what we did. Our fellowship is entirely restored. 

There are many Christians who are not living.

Dwight L. Moody put it in this quaint way:

"Some people have just enough religion to make them miserable."

There are many miserable saints because they do not deal with the sin in their lives. 

Matthew 5:21-26   "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."

The believer today is to confess his sin to God privately but he is to make restitution to the injured party.

Many folk shed tears in profusion, but there is no turning from sin, they continue telling lies and bearing false witness, there is no real turning to God, no restitution to the one they have injured. For this reason there is no progress in their Christian lives.

The apostle Paul said:

1 Corinthians 11:31   "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."

This is talking about believers. We can judge ourselves when we are wrong. If we do not, He will judge us. When we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened so that we will not be condemned with the world. 

God is going to judge the whole world in the future. 

And He deals with His own according to His Word.

Ahab’s Vineyard.

Another of the best-known cases of covetousness is that of Ahab wanting the vineyard of Naboth. 

1 Kings 21:1–3   "And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee."

Naboth had a vineyard in a beautiful area. Ahab had a palace near there and one would think he would be satisfied. But no, Ahab wanted that vineyard.

Naboth did not want to sell it for the very simple reason that the vineyard was his patrimony. It was what God had given his ancestors, and it had been passed down from father to son. But now here is a king who wants it.

It takes a brave man to turn Naboth down.

1 Kings 21:4   "And Ahab came into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food."

Ahab didn’t have any ideas about how to get Naboth’s vineyard, but his wife Jezebel sure did. She was a domineering woman and she was determined to work out something out that would enable her husband to get Naboth's vineyard.

Notice what happened next.

When he told her why he was pouting she said to him:

1 Kings 1:27   "…Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat food, and let thine heart be merry. I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite."

She devised a wicked plan, she told two lawless men to bear false witness against Naboth.

They said that he blasphemed God and the king.

Naboth was carried out of the city and stoned to death. 

Can we think of anything more unjust than this? 

Sadly it has happened many times in the history of the world.

Did Ahab get by with it?

No, certainly not.

No one ever gets by with sin. 

The day will come when it will have to be settled.

And that day came for Ahab.

1 Kings 21:15-19-23   "And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. And the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked Me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spoke the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."

When Jezebel came in and announced to Ahab that Naboth was dead and that his vineyard was now Ahab's it looked like they had gotten by with this wickedness. But God saw every detail and He has said,

"Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

If we could speak with men from the past - whether they were God’s men or Satan’s - they would tell us that this is an immutable law of God; it cannot be changed. 

Both of these judgments were fulfilled to the letter.

Micah’s Lament.

God sent the prophet Micah to denounce the covetousness of Israel. 

Micha 2:2   "And they covet fields, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away; so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage."

The wealthy began to seize the fields that they coveted because they had the money and the power to do it.

The small  businessman doesn’t stand much of a chance for survival in the culture we have produced. 

The big operators are in control, and they frankly admit that they are in business for the profits. 

But sometimes the word profit is a synonym for covetousness. 

This was the great sin of Israel. 

Even though God had made laws to protect the poor, the rich always found ways to get around them.

All through Scripture we see that God is on the side of the poor. 

Our Lord Jesus Himself experienced the poverty of this world. And He frequently warned against coveting.

Luke 12:15  "And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

And in Hebrews 13:5 the Inspired Word of God says:

"Let your manner of life be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

These are certainly good verses for many Christians in this age of crass materialism, when it seems that "things" are so important and occupy so much of our time. Covetousness is one of the outstanding sins of this hour. This is not a sin that others can see us commit, and at times we ourselves may not even be aware that we are committing it. 

St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Men have confessed to me every known sin except the sin of covetousness."

The Rich Fool.

Luke 12:16–19   "And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no place to bestow my crops? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my crops and my goods. 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."

Notice this man’s emphasis is on himself.

"What shall I do, because I have no place to bestow my crops?" 

Notice what he decided to do.

Luke 12:18–20   "And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my crops and my goods. 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. 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?"

This man had gathered all of his treasure on earth but had stored none in heaven. 

The same idea is expressed in this epitaph:

Here lies John Racket

In his wooden jacket.

He kept neither horses nor mules.

He lived like a hog.

He died like a dog.

And left all his money to fools.

Our Lord called the man in this parable a fool, but notice what kind of man he probably was. All outward appearances indicate that he was a good man by the world’s standards, a law-abiding citizen, a good neighbor, a fine, family man. He was above suspicion, living the good life in suburbia in the best residential area of the city. He was not a wicked man or a member of the Mafia. He was not in crooked politics. He was not an alcoholic or keeping a mistress. This man seems to be all right. Yet our Lord called him a fool. 

Why?

This man was covetous.

This is the way many people live.

The parable of the rich fool is one of the most pungent paragraphs in the Word of God.

The philosophy of the world today is,

"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." 

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, 

"That is the problem, that is what makes a man a fool."

Any person who lives just for themselves as though this life is all there is, and as though there is nothing beyond death, is a fool.

Luke 12:22–24   "And He said unto His disciples, Therefore, I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body is more than raiment. 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?"

The problem with the rich fool was covetousness. 

He was trying to get more and more and more.

That is the curse of godless capitalism. 

Have you noticed the strong judgment that is pronounced upon the rich in the last days? 

James 5:1 "Come now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." 

Riches have become a curse.

Notice what the Scripture says in 1 Timothy 6:6, 8 and 9:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain…. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."

We should ought to search our own hearts and ask ourselves, 

Am I living for this life only?

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, 

"Look at the birds, and learn something from them."

Mark 7:20–23   "And He said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

If we buy the morning news paper wherever we live and we read it through, we will find that this is what came out during the last twenty-four hours. These all come out of the heart of man, and that is why our Lord Jesus Christ says,

"Ye must be born again."

A Ruler once came to Jesus by night,

To ask Him the way of salvation and light;

The Master made answer in Words true and plain,

"Ye must be born again!"

Chorus.

Ye must be born again,  

Ye must be born again,

I verily,  verily,  say unto thee,  

Ye must be born again.

Ye children of men attend to the Word

So solemnly uttered by Jesus the Lord;

And let not this message to you be in vain:

"Ye must be born again!"

O ye who would enter that glorious rest,

And sing with the ransomed the song of the blest,

The life everlasting if ye would obtain,

"Ye must be born again!"

A dear one in heaven thy heart yearns to see,

At the beautiful gate may be watching for thee;

Then list to the note of this solemn refrain:

"Ye must be born again!"

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Amen!

Apostle Paul says, Inspired by our Lord,

"Thou shalt not covet" 

This the one commandment that gave apostle Paul a lot of trouble. Notice what he says

Romans 7:7-8   "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of coveting. For apart from the law sin is dead."

Paul could go down through nine of those commandments and say, "I keep those commandments."

Can we say that today? 

I cannot.

I cannot say that I have kept all of the Ten Commandments.

What apostle Paul’s saying is, 

"Though I can take the first nine and say that I keep those, when I come to the tenth commandment, it’s the one that slays me."

In this portion of Romans 7, apostle Paul becomes very personal.

He uses the pronoun 

"I" over thirty times from verse 7 through verse 25. 

Paul speaks of "I …I …I." 

Sometimes it becomes boring when a person just talks about themselves, but most times a testimony is a very good thing, it brings conviction through by the indwelling Holy Spirit and that is the reason why most of the folk who don't like testimonies say they are extremely boring and this one right here by apostle Paul is a testimony of defeat, not a testimony of victory. However, it does lead to victory, as we shall see.

Apostle Paul faces up to his failure.

Instead of going to a psychiatrist, he got up on God’s couch and laid his soul bare. 

I believe God permitted it so that you and I might learn a great lesson from apostle Paul's experience.

There is No Victory in the Law.

Paul thought that when he was saved he would live the Christian life by the Law, but he found that the Mosaic Law did not give him victory. 

The fact is that apostle Paul put the Law down as almost tantamount to sin, because he said what the Law did for him was lead him to sin. So he answered the question, 

Is the Law sin? 

And he answers it for us in 

Romans 7:7-8 (Dr J. Vernon McGee Translation)  "What shall we say then, is the law sin? Away with the thought! On the contrary, I should not have known or have been conscious of sin except through the law, for I had not known illicit desire (that is, coveting), but sin, getting a start through the commandment, produced (or wrought out) in me all manner of illicit desire, for apart from the law, sin is dead."

The picture here is this:

Apostle Paul says that he took the Ten Commandments out of the Law and put them down on his life, and when he did he found soon out he could get through nine of those commandments unscathed and be able to say, "Well, I kept these." 

Before Paul knew it was wrong to covet, there was no conviction of sin. 

But now the Law reveals what is sin. 

Sin, you see, was dormant until the Law was given. 

Now apostle Paul says, 

"But the tenth commandment slew me,"

because it says, 

"Thou shalt not covet," 

and apostle Paul says,

"I coveted." 

Coveting Is The Secret Sin.

Coveting is a sin that cannot be discerned very easily. A person can covet and not be discovered. If one steals one will surely be found out. One is going to leave fingerprints, or one could be caught with the goods in ones hands -  a thief will be found out, eventually.

If one murders, if one commits adultery, there’s one thing for sure, somebody else knows about it! 

So that we do not  always get by with the sin in breaking these other commandments.

"Thou shalt not covet"  -  dear reader, one can sit in church pew and covet and nobody will be the wiser. One can even stand in the pulpit and covet. 

The Law reveals that this is wrong.

That was the only way that apostle Paul had of finding out it was wrong. 

The Law says,

"Thou shalt not covet." 

The Law really shows us up.

Our contemporary society also says that sort of thing, that when one breaks a civil law, ignorance will not help us at all. God has put up laws, and apostle Paul says, 

"Before I knew about that commandment of coveting, why, I could covet without feeling guilty."

But then Paul says,

"When that law came to me and I found out that God says, ‘Thou shalt not covet,’ it wrought in me all manner of illicit desire, for apart from the law, sin is dead."

This sin of covetousness does not stand out as transgression. It is quite interesting that our human nature - when we find out a thing is wrong - wants to do it all the more, especially when   

God says we are not to do it.

Why is it that a great many people take particular delight in defying God? 

Well, it is quite natural. 

We have a sinful nature that is in rebellion against God. 

We have a nature that hates God.

It is in rebellion against Him, it will not be obedient unto Him. 

That is our human nature. 

It is constantly pulling us down, this is the nature that God gave the Law to curb.

The purpose of the Law is to try to control the old nature.

I’ve heard several men mention this. One man was telling me some time ago, "Before I was converted, I thought I lived a fairly good life, but now that I’ve become a Christian I sometimes want to do some of the meanest things!" Do you know what it is? It’s that old nature he has—just like the one you and I have. 

It is in rebellion against God, and will be until we are willing to do what apostle Paul did.

Now for us today it may not be coveting, it may be some other sin. But it is the weakness of our flesh, where the old nature wants to assert itself and until we are willing to acknowledge it, there will not be any deliverance for us - not as long as we are willing to gloss over it - that is, place a cover on it, cover it up with lies and deception.

Dear reader we had better recognize it.  We are to nail that thing down and we are  to deal with it specifically before Holy, Righteous and Just God.  

1 John 1:9   "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And that does not mean that we are to go to God and say in a wholesale sort of way, 

"Lord, I have sinned," and then let it go at that.

We are to call it by name - spell it out. 

When we go to God in confession, we tell God what it is -  for  

He has given these commandments. 

And we are to tell Him all that is in our hearts and lives.

I believe with all my heart that if we we will first of all deal with the sinful things in our lives and clean out the old closet and get rid of the old skeletons, then our feet on Solid Ground.

We will begin to live for God.

We will begin to bear much fruit.

Thou sweet beloved will of God,
My anchor ground, my fortress hill,
My spirit's silent, fair abode,
In Thee I hide me, and am still.

O Will that willest good alone,
Lead Thou the way, Thou guidest best;
A little child, I follow on,
And trusting, lean upon Thy breast.

O lightest burden, sweetest yoke!
It lifts, it bears my happy soul;
It giveth wings to this poor heart;
My freedom is Thy grand control.

Upon God's will I lay me down,
As child upon its mother's breast;
No silken couch, nor softest bed,
Could ever give me such deep rest.

Thou wonderful, grand will, my God,
With triumph now I make it mine;
And faith shall cry a joyous "Yes!"
To ev'ry dear command of Thine.

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Amen!

The Law is what revealed to apostle Paul the exceeding sinfulness of sin. 

The Law was an X ray, that was put down on his heart and on his life. It laid bare his thoughts and his intents. 

It uncovered the weakness and the ugliness of the sin that was there.

So apostle Paul cried out;

Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24).

This is not an unsaved man who is crying, "Oh, wretched man that I am!" 

This is a saved man. 

The word wretched carries with it the note of exhaustion because of the struggle. 

"Who will deliver me?" 

Apostle Paul sounds entirely helpless. 

His shoulders were pinned to the floor - he had been wrestled down. Like Jacob, he had been crippled - we all have lame feet - all of us are actually cripples before God. 

David wrote,

Psalm 56:13   "For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not Thou deliver my feet from failing, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" 

Psalm 73:2  "But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped." 

David knew what it was to have lame feet!

Psalm 116:8  "For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." 

Dear reader, all of us are cripples before God.

Modern philosophy and humanism present another picture of man.

But God says,

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). 

Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, it is a mess of bad things. 

We cannot expect any good from human nature. 

Apostle Paul could say, 

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Romans 7:18). 

Paul had no confidence in the flesh. 

The Law is condemnation. 

John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." 

We can only come to God the Father that way. Christ is that way. 

Apostle Paul called for help from the outside.

"I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin" (Romans 7:25)

"I thank God (who gives deliverance) through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 

This is the answer to Paul’s SOS. 

God has provided deliverance. 

Both salvation and sanctification come through Christ;

He has provided everything we need.

It bids me fly and gives me wings

I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining ev'ry day;
Still praying as I'm onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Refrain:
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith on heaven's table-land;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Tho' some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Tho' Satan's darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height,
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I'll pray till heav'n I've found,
Lord, lead me on to higher ground.

Amen!

I am not skilled to understand,

What God has willed what God has planned;

I only know at His right hand,

Is One who is my Saviour.

I take Him at His Word indeed;

"Christ died for sinners"  -   this I read.

For in my heart I find a need,

Of Him to be my Saviour.

That He should leave His place on high,

And come for sinful man to die.

You count it strange?  -  so once did I,

Before I knew my Saviour.

And Oh that He fulfilled might see,

The travail of His soul in me,

And with His work contented be,

As I with my dear Saviour!

Yea,  living,  dying,  let me bring,

My strength, my solace from this spring,

That He who lives to be my King,

Once died to be my Saviour.

Amen!