THE OBJECT of these two commandments is to emphasize the necessity of a right state of heart. [I Sam. 16:7+, Matt. 5:5] All the commandments must, indeed, be kept in thought as well as in word and deed. But by adding these two special commandments against coveting, God desires to impress upon us most strongly that wrong thoughts and desires make us guilty before Him. We are not keeping God's commandments unless we are free from the _desire_ to transgress them. As a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." [Prov. 23:7] THE HEART BY NATURE SINFUL. We are born with a sinful nature and a natural inclination to evil (Original sin), which we have inherited from our ancestors as a result of the fall into sin. [John 3:6+, Jer. 17:9] This natural inclination to evil manifests itself in wrong thoughts and desires which arise in the heart. [Rom. 7:18, 19+] These wrong desires or lusts are in themselves sinful: and if they are not subdued, they lead to sins of words and deeds. [Jas. 1:14, 15+] These commandments _forbid_ us to covet anything that is our neighbor's. They _command_ us to assist and serve him in retaining his own. I. WHAT IS FORBIDDEN. COVETING, To covet means to desire what we have no right to have. To wish to obtain something in a lawful way is not coveting. But we must not have 1. _An Unlawful Desire_ [Gal. 5:24+] for our neighbor's possessions, whether it be his property, wife, servants, cattle, or anything that is his. We must not envy him on account of them, nor begrudge them to him, nor wish that we had them in his stead. We must not make 2. _Any Attempt to Gratify such Unlawful Desires_ and TO GAIN POSSESSION OF OUR NEIGHBOR'S INHERITANCE OR HOME BY CRAFTINESS, shrewdness, cunning, deceit and the like. [Prov. 15:6] Nor dare we seek TO OBTAIN IT UNDER THE PRETEXT OF A LEGAL RIGHT; that is, by ways which human laws allow and appear to sanction, but which are not right before God. [Matt. 23:14+] Nor dare we attempt to ALIENATE (estrange), ENTICE or drive away from him his wife, servants, or cattle, by persuasion, flattery, falsehood, promises, threats, or force. II. WHAT is COMMANDED. ASSISTANCE AND SERVICE. We should 1. ASSIST AND SERVE HIM IN THE PRESERVATION OF HIS OWN. [Phil. 2:4+, Gal. 5:12] Instead of wishing to get his property away from him, we should most heartily wish that he may be able to keep it, and should help him to retain it. We should 2. USE OUR ENDEAVORS THAT THEY who belong to him MAY REMAIN AND DISCHARGE THEIR DUTY TO HIM. We should help him to retain their affection and faithfulness. We should heartily wish them to remain, and persuade them to do so.