WEBVTT 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.239 We begin with readings from portions of Genesis chapter 37. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:33.119 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.719 Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 00:00:37.839 --> 00:00:48.640 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:59.359 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more, and his brothers envied him. 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:03.920 Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.799 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? 00:01:09.039 --> 00:01:11.359 Come, I will send you to them. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.560 So he said to him, Here I am. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:23.599 Then Israel said to Joseph, Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:28.400 So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:36.480 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near, they conspi against him to kill him. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:41.599 Then they said to one another, Look, this dreamer is coming. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:52.239 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit, and we shall say, Some wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:00.400 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:08.479 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him. 00:02:09.359 --> 00:02:14.079 He said this that he might deliver him out of their hands and bring him back to his father. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:23.759 So it came to pass when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.680 Then they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.360 And they sat down to eat a meal. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:44.000 Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:49.759 So Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:57.759 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for ye is our brother and our flesh. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.240 And his brothers listened. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:13.039 Then Midianite traders passed by, so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:21.840 And reading further from New Church teachings, first from Secrets of Heaven. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:29.360 It is important to know, though, that the evil that enters our thoughts does not hurt us at all. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:37.199 Spirits from hell are constantly pouring evil in, and angels constantly repel it. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:47.439 But when evil enters our will, it does harm us, because it then issues in action whenever outward restraints do not hold us back. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:56.080 Evil enters our will when we keep it in our thoughts, when we agree to it, and especially when we commit it and then enjoy it. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.039 And further from the work Divine Love and Wisdom, number 47. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:08.159 Divine love and wisdom cannot but be and have expression in others it creates. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:14.879 The essence of love is not to love self, but to love others, and through love to be conjoined with them. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:19.279 It is also the essence of love to be loved by others. 00:04:19.919 --> 00:04:22.639 For thus is conjunction achieved. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:28.079 The essential ingredient in all love consists in conjunction. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:37.599 Indeed, in it consists its life with which we call pleasure, gratification, delight, sweetness, bliss, happiness, and felicity. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:47.119 Love consists in willing what one has to be another's, and in feeling the other's delight as delight within oneself. 00:04:47.599 --> 00:04:49.519 That is what it is to love. 00:04:50.239 --> 00:05:00.799 In contrast, to feel one's own delight in another, and not the other's delight within oneself, is not to love, for this is loving self, whereas the first is loving the neighbor. 00:05:02.239 --> 00:05:06.319 And finally, from the work Doctrine of Life, number seventy and seventy-one. 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:22.799 Now, since what is evil and what is good are two opposite things, it follows that if we turn our backs on something evil as a sin, we come into something good that is the opposite of that evil. 00:05:23.119 --> 00:05:28.399 For example, the goodness that is opposite to the evil meant by killing is loving our neighbor. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:35.439 Since this goodness and that evil are opposites, it follows that the evil thing is repelled by the good thing. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.559 Two opposites cannot be one, as heaven and hell cannot be one. 00:05:41.119 --> 00:05:41.759 Amen. 00:05:42.239 --> 00:05:43.519 Here end our readings. 00:05:43.679 --> 00:05:46.639 Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:47.599 Amen. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:56.079 Today we are covering the last of the commandments in our series that we started back in September. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:01.039 The last commandments that we're covering today are you shall not covet. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.839 We'll talk about some of the details in a second. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.319 What does it mean to covet? 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.039 Does it just mean to want something? 00:06:09.919 --> 00:06:14.319 Well, it's not just wanting, because we want some we could want some nice things. 00:06:14.479 --> 00:06:18.079 We can even want a nice toy because it looks fun to play with. 00:06:18.239 --> 00:06:21.679 We can want a car that works and doesn't break down. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.039 That's not coveting, just wanting something something. 00:06:25.359 --> 00:06:37.199 But when we want something, and then when we don't get it, and it makes us sad or angry, that might be an indication that we're creeping towards coveting. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:40.559 So just wanting, not really an issue. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:45.439 Wanting something so that someone else doesn't have it, so that we have it because we're the best. 00:06:45.599 --> 00:06:48.239 We become sad or angry because we don't have it. 00:06:48.479 --> 00:06:50.479 It's time to start watching out. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.359 In our story today, Joseph was a favorite. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.399 Now, parents don't have favorite children, right? 00:06:58.559 --> 00:07:00.399 They don't love one more than the other. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.639 That wasn't true in this situation. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.199 Israel loved Joseph the most. 00:07:05.359 --> 00:07:06.479 And he showed it. 00:07:06.719 --> 00:07:08.479 He bought Joseph a nice gift. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.359 That probably wasn't the only one, but that's the one that we know about. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:13.919 He bought him a nice coat of many colors. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:20.479 Well, his brothers envied him, not just because of the coat, but because of the love. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.039 They wanted that love. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.639 How is it bad to want to be loved by your parents? 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:28.399 Absolutely not. 00:07:28.719 --> 00:07:33.839 Of course it's great to be want to be great to want to be loved by your parents. 00:07:34.159 --> 00:07:43.039 But when we see others getting loved, and then that makes us angry and that they don't deserve to be loved, that well again we start creeping towards covetousness. 00:07:43.919 --> 00:07:45.679 So, his brothers. 00:07:45.919 --> 00:07:47.279 They hated him. 00:07:47.679 --> 00:07:51.839 They were angry at him, and then they were ready to murder him. 00:07:52.559 --> 00:07:56.319 But it ended up that they instead sold him into slavery. 00:07:56.559 --> 00:08:02.319 So that thing that started as just coveting, wanting that thing, it led to something else. 00:08:03.359 --> 00:08:07.839 Now, coveting itself, it doesn't seem so bad, right? 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.439 I mean, we're not hurting anyone. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:18.159 If I'm just sitting here coveting your coat or your shirt, it's not hurting you for me to just stand here and covet. 00:08:19.599 --> 00:08:20.559 But it is. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:26.639 It is hurtful and it is harmful, even if it's not hurting necessarily the person out there right away. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:33.600 And in fact, it's so important that it has two of the ten slots of the Ten Commandments. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:35.120 It is that important. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:42.240 So, number nine is you shall you shall not covet your neighbor's house. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.679 That's number nine. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:53.439 And then number ten is you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:59.199 So that's how it's split up, and it's split up that way in that recitation that we read as well in the liturgy. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.679 So it covered those two slots. 00:09:01.839 --> 00:09:02.799 It's that important. 00:09:03.199 --> 00:09:05.919 And it is that hurtful. 00:09:06.319 --> 00:09:08.720 It is hurtful when we covet. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:15.679 You see, first of all, even if it's not hurting the others, it is hurting us a lot. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:22.000 And this commandment against coveting is kind of a gateway in some ways to a lot of the other commandments. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:29.519 If we are allow ourselves to start coveting, it opens us up to some of these other things that are very hurtful to people. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:35.039 In our reading from Secrets of Heaven, we read about thoughts. 00:09:35.439 --> 00:09:39.839 Now, we always have thoughts coming into our mind, and we're they're a mix. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.720 Some of them are good and some of them are evil. 00:09:42.959 --> 00:09:48.559 The good ones, of course, come from angels, and the evil ones come from evil spirits around us. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:10:02.319 Now, just having a thought like, I want that toy, and even having the thought, I deserve it more, just having that thought doesn't make me or you or anybody a bad person. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:08.000 We have thoughts coming into our mind all the time, and a lot of them are quite distasteful. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:20.079 The problem is when we start to think about that thought more and more, and then we start to feel that thought in our heart, and we start to enjoy it, and we start to think about, ooh, what could I do to that person? 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:28.559 Because I want that toy and I deserve it more, and they don't deserve it because they I'm a better person than they, it can blow up very quickly. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:35.279 And we when we start to get to that point, it gets to covetousness and it starts to enter our hearts. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:42.319 Now, when these thoughts become feelings and they start to enter our hearts, that's when we run into trouble. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:48.480 Because it keeps us from loving our neighbor, and also it keeps us away from the Lord. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:52.480 So it is a very hurtful commandment to be breaking. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:58.000 As I mentioned, coveting can lead to breaking other commandments as well. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:12.959 In our story today, Joseph's brothers, it started with coveting, just wanting the love that he had from their father, and then it turned into hatred, and then it turned into them, they nearly killed their own brother because they wanted what he had. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.879 But that's not the only one that it can lead us to. 00:11:16.959 --> 00:11:19.679 It can lead us to break other commandments as well. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:29.839 For example, the thing that we covet can become so important that it's almost like a god in our lives, determining what we do and how we think and what we think about. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:34.879 So then we start to break the commandment, you shall have no other gods before me. 00:11:35.439 --> 00:11:41.919 Or it can lead to other sad situations in life, like stealing, murdering, and committing adultery. 00:11:42.079 --> 00:11:44.720 And that's why we need to keep a check on it. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:52.240 Now, another thing about coveting is it just generally takes away from our enjoyment of life. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:58.480 See, the thing is, if you're always wishing for something else, then you're not going to be happy with what you have. 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:04.959 Now, I don't want my enjoyment of life taken away, do you? 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:08.480 I mean, I want to be happy with what I have. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:10.559 I want to be happy. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:12.480 Here's the thing. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.639 Now, please keep this in mind. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:21.600 If you are not happy with what you have, you will not be happy with what you want. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:28.879 If you're not happy with what you have, you will not ever be happy with what you want. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.000 The Lord gives us so many gifts. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:36.799 Even people in situations having less than us, the Lord gives us what we need. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.679 He gives us people around us that care about us. 00:12:40.079 --> 00:12:47.120 And if we're not happy with that, having that toy or that fancy car, that it's not going to make us happy. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.319 So, what can we do? 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:56.000 Because I do want to be happy in my life, and not only that, I want my happiness to help make other people happy. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:58.319 That's the Lord wants what the Lord wants us to do. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:12:59.360 He wants us to share it. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.000 But if I don't have it, I can't share it. 00:13:02.319 --> 00:13:03.759 So what can I do? 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.919 What can I do to have that contentment with what the Lord has given me? 00:13:08.319 --> 00:13:14.720 Well, in our reading from the Doctrine of Life, it says, if you want goodness, you need to shun evil. 00:13:14.959 --> 00:13:26.879 So if you want to have that good feeling and the good things in your life, if you want to notice the good things in your life, you need to push away andor run away from the evil things that come into our mind. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:28.240 It's those thoughts. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.439 Keep away from those thoughts and keep them away from you. 00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:42.319 But then also, that number went on to say, that reading from The Doctrine of Life went on to say, if you don't want evil in your life, then practice goodness. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.439 If you don't want evil, then practice goodness. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:46.959 Because good and evil are opposites. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:48.799 They can't be together in the same place. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:52.959 They literally can't be together up here or in here. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.199 And so when we practice one, the other goes away. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:00.879 Now, the opposites of coveting. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:02.159 I thought of a couple. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:05.039 The first one that I thought of is gratitude. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:17.360 Because if you look around yourself and you can be thankful for something, anything, the things around you that the Lord has given you, then covetous desire, coveting, can't exist in that same space. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.679 It can't be there together. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:30.000 The Apostle Paul said this: He said, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything, give thanks. 00:14:30.959 --> 00:14:35.199 Can you imagine what it would be like to give thanks no matter what your situation? 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:47.279 If you're having a hard day, if you get stuck in traffic and you're late for something, and you find a way to give thanks, it pushes away some of those other negative thoughts that can come in. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:49.519 And that goes for coveting as well. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:15:02.159 If we can be thankful for what we have, notice what we have, be thankful to the Lord for it, then we have no reason to desire those other things that other people have, and those things won't make us sad. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:04.159 So, gratitude. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:05.759 Gratitude is number one. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.679 Another one that came up in our readings today was generosity. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:19.120 In Divine Love and Wisdom number 47, we read that wishing another what one has to be another's, that is loving. 00:15:19.439 --> 00:15:30.159 Now, this isn't just talking about money or things, and I wish my things to be another person's things, but even wishing our happiness and our contentment and our relationship with the Lord. 00:15:30.319 --> 00:15:32.559 I wish you could have that too. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.079 That's also loving. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:37.199 Wishing what I have to be another's. 00:15:37.439 --> 00:15:43.600 And another part of that is experiencing another person's delight as delight in ourselves. 00:15:43.839 --> 00:15:52.480 So when we see that someone else has a bigger piece of cake than we do, or a toy that makes them happy, we can think, look, that toy makes them so happy. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:54.639 And I'm glad that they are. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.559 We get to take their joy and actually experience it in ourselves. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:15:59.679 That is love. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:06.000 Gratitude, generosity, wanting to share those things with people. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:12.799 I want to end with one more sort of antidote to coveting, and it is quotes from the Lord's Word. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:21.839 See, when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and he was being tempted by the devil, he fought against those temptations with quotes from his own word. 00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:24.319 And that was an example for us. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:30.000 So I'm just going to share four quotes for you to take with, and that will be the end of it. 00:16:31.439 --> 00:16:36.480 One's life does not consist in the abundance of things. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.360 Seek first the kingdom of God. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.319 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:17:00.879 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:05.200 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:06.559 Amen.