Let me invite you to turn to the book of Exodus and to the 20th chapter, Exodus 20 and verse 15, this short verse that puts before us what we know as the eighth commandment. And so I invite you to turn there to Exodus 20 and verse 15, and let's stand in honor of the reading and of the hearing of God's word. Exodus 20 and verse 15, Moses faithfully records, thou shalt not steal. May God bless today, the reading and the hearing of his word, and let us join in prayer. Gracious Almighty God, we do give thee thanks for thy moral law, for the revelation of thy self and thy goodness and thy law, which is for our good. And we pray as we meditate upon this particular command today, that we would understand not only the letter of the law, but most importantly, the spirit of it. as it would be applied not as merely a wooden principle that is only kept in one way, but as it is indeed a general principle of life that has deep roots and it grows up and it produces for the one who holds to it a fruitful life. And so help us as we meditate upon this today and help us to give glory to Christ in our reasoning over this. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. And you may be seated. So we are returning in this afternoon message to this series of teachings that we've been looking at following the classic discipleship materials that are provided in the Heidelberg Catechism. And we're learning by looking at the Heidelberg Catechism how to live a life of gratitude before God in light of the salvation that has come to us by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. and which has wiped away our guilt. And so we've gone from guilt to grace to gratitude. One way our catechism teachers tell us that we can live a life of gratitude is by giving heed to the moral law of God as it is epitomized in the Ten Commandments. And we've been on this journey, pilgrimage, looking through the Ten Commandments, commandment by commandment. Today, we're looking at the Eighth Commandment. This commandment falls within what we usually call the second table of the law. The first table of the law, the first four commandments tell us what our duties are toward God, to have no gods before God, to make no graven images, to not take God's name in vain, to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. That's the first table. Then the second table of the law addresses man's duties to his fellow men. And it addresses the horizontal aspects of living. How are we to relate to one another? How are we relate to our neighbors? The eighth commandment is foundationally articulated in Exodus 20, 15. Thou shalt not steal. And if we think about the second table of the law, in the fifth commandment, God puts a wall of protection around parents. Honor your father and mother. And really, the principle that flows out of that is we are to have respect for persons who stand in authority. It begins with children obeying parents. It extends to a right view towards the officers of the church. It extends towards a right view of the civil magistrate. It appeals to respect for teachers and police officers and anyone who holds a position of authority. The sixth commandment builds a wall of protection around human life. You shall not kill, you shall not murder. You shall not take the life of another person unjustly. And this is a bedrock for the moral law of God, that human life is precious. We are made in the image of God. The seventh commandment builds a wall of protection around the sanctity of marriage. You shall not commit adultery. recognizes marriage, the union of one man, one woman, and a one flesh union that lasts a lifetime as essential for the flourishing of human life in this world, even this fallen world. And so there is a wall of protection that is built around marriage in the seventh commandment. The eighth commandment protects the sanctity of property. You shall not steal. It establishes a, it's a biblical principle that it is a good thing to own property. Not all property is held in common, and it is wrong to unjustly take the property of someone else. You shall not steal. This commandment forbids the taking of another man's property. We are not to be thieves and robbers. We are to respect the property of others. Over the years I've had a number of people from other countries come visit us in the U.S. and visited lots of other places myself and one of the things that is sometimes observed by people who come and visit our country is sometimes surprised that our houses are out in the open. and that there aren't walls built around them. And you've been to some of these places where every house is sort of like a compound and there are walls and they'll even put shards of glass or barbed wire over the walls. And we had this conversation actually just recently with a guest who noticed that this was something unusual about it. And I said, well, I think I think it probably reflects two things. One, it reflects the Christian principles of respect for property, and actually sort of related to it is the Second Amendment that allows people to defend their property. And so some of those are based on moral principles that even if our nation has abandoned them or rejects them, it still was foundationally there, sort of a respect for property. and the denunciation of taking someone else's property and the right to defend one's own property. As with all of the commandments, our teachers are keen to teach us, disciple us, in the deeper and wider principles lodged even within these very brief commandments. What are the basic principles that are there behind the idea thou shalt not steal? And this is what the teachers of the catechism unfold for us in the two questions that are printed there on the back of your bulletin, question 110 and question 111 here on Lord's Day 42. The first of these questions, question 110, addresses the negative. What things are forbidden by the eighth commandment? And then question 111 addresses the positive things that are promoted by this commandment. So what are the negative things it forbids? What are the positive things that it encourages? So we start off looking at question 110. What doth God forbid in the eighth commandment? The answer given by our instructors is this. God forbids not only those thefts and robberies which are punishable by the magistrate, but he comprehends under the name of theft all wicked tricks and devices whereby we design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which belong to our neighbor. Whether it be by force, or under the appearance of right, as by unjust weight, else, and I added a little explanation there, I had to look it up myself. An else is an archaic word, it means a measure of length. measures, fraudulent merchandise, false coins, usury, or by any other way forbidden by God, as also all covetousness, all abuse and waste of His gifts." Notice the capital H, all abuse and waste of His gifts, meaning God's gifts. Our teachers begin with the bare prohibition against theft and robbery. That's the basic understanding of Eighth Commandment. Don't steal. So it forbids theft and it forbids robbery. The Apostle Paul in his letters often gave lists of sins. Sometimes scholars call these vice lists. And Paul would often give a list of things, and he would say, if you do these things, it bars you from the kingdom of God. And very often included in those lists were things related to violations of the eighth commandment. Let me give you one example of this. It's in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 and 10. Paul starts in verse nine. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived. And here he starts the list. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Verse 10, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And there, when he mentions thieves, and he mentions those who are overcome by covetousness, so they would take the property of others, and extortioners, those are all ways of violating the eighth commandment. Such persons who persist in that are not fit for the kingdom of God. The Catechism proceeds after that bare prohibition against theft and robbery to also comprehend many other things that could fall under the name of theft. These include what the Catechism calls all wicked tricks and devices whereby we design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which belong to our neighbor. It adds that that's true whether these things are done by force or by fraud, including the use of fraudulent practices to deceive using false coins, usury, which means charging exorbitant interest, especially to the poor and needy. So on a practical basis, what does this mean? The eighth commandment means the following. The Christian car salesman will not knowingly sell a so-called lemon to an unsuspecting customer. The Christian butcher will not put his thumb on the scale to deceive the buyer. The Christian doctor will not fraudulently overcharge Medicare or Medicaid or order tests that are unnecessary in order to line his pockets. The Christian mechanic will not overcharge his clients by doing work that was unneeded or by billing for service hours that were not done. The Christian student will not engage in plagiarism, taking the work of others and appropriating it as his own. The Christian businessman will not promote payday lending schemes that abuse the poor and the naive. The Christian lawyer will not overbill clients for hours he has not worked. The Christian merchant will not engage in price gouging during a time of crisis or scarcity. In Proverbs 11, Solomon said, A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. As Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians 4, 6, that no man go beyond and defraud his neighbor in any manner, matter. Now I gave you a list of things, Christian lawyers, mechanics, servicemen, tradesmen, but this is really where we begin to apply this to ourselves. How would you continue to fill out the list? How would you apply this to yourself, to the work that you do and the way that you treat others? What does the eighth commandment mean? That we will avoid stealing, taking things fraudulently away from someone else. Question 110 ends with the following, as also all covetousness, all abuse and waste of his, capital H, gifts. This ties the 8th commandment with the 10th commandment. Of course, there are overlaps often with these commandments. It also introduces the dimension of stewardship We break the eighth commandment when we abuse and waste the gifts that God has given to us. We steal from God when we do not remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. We steal from God when we neglect faithful support of the ministry. We steal from God when we do not acknowledge that all we have is from him and is committed to him. We are not our own. We were bought with a price. In Malachi 3.8, the prophet asked, will a man rob God? We turn now from what is negatively prohibited in question 110 in the Eighth Commandment to look at question 111, which describes what is positively approved in the Eighth Commandment. The question posed is this, but what does God require in this commandment? What is the positive action that is required in it? Not just the prohibition, but the positive, what are we to do? The answer given is this, that I promote the advantage of my neighbor in every instance I can or may, and deal with him as I desire to be dealt with by others. Further also that I faithfully labor so that I may be able to relieve the needy. Rather than be one who tried to take from his neighbor in order to feather his own nest, the Christian is the one who seeks the good of his neighbor in all things. Of course, our teachers are rooting this in what we call the golden rule. And we sometimes simplify it as do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The wording actually from Christ in the Sermon on the Mount is a little different from that. In Matthew 7, 12, it says, therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you Do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. And that golden rule of our Lord is really such an important ethical rule. It really does differentiate the Christian from the non-Christian. It really differentiates Christianity, I think, from all other religions. It's unique to Christianity, the idea that I would treat others the way I want to be treated. And I would not mistreat them because I do not want to be mistreated. So in my business dealings, in my neighborly activities, I'm going to treat them the way I would desire to be treated. We can consider that an unregenerate man before he becomes a disciple, lives a life of taking. But now, having been converted, he puts off the old man, puts on the new man, and lives a life of giving. Consider the Apostle Paul's note to the church at Ephesus. Really interesting little verse in Ephesians 4, chapter 4, verse 28, that throws light on what those early churches were like and what the people in those early churches were like. In Ephesians 4, 28, it says, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth. Now, there are a lot of interesting things in that. One of the things it tells us is there were Christians in the church of Ephesus who before they were converted were thieves and robbers. And the basic discipleship that Paul is giving is, hey, if you used to be a thief, when you become Christian, you don't steal anymore. You stop stealing. But then positively, he says, you work with your hands, doing that which is good. You do that which is lawful and good and right. and you earn a living in an upright manner and an honest manner, and you do this so that you might take the gains that you make through honest labor and use that to be a blessing to others, helping the person in need. What an incredible testimony to the power of the gospel. There were those in the church who had been thieves and robbers, but now they did honest work with their hands especially so that they might give to brothers and sisters in need. We were talking about this, I think, in the youth conference this summer. We were talking to the kids about, is it wrong for a person to be wealthy? Is it wrong for a person to seek excellence in their career, vocation, and to be very successful? And we were saying, of course it's not wrong. For the Christian though, it's an opportunity to take what you've gained and use it to be a blessing to others. That's whether you earn a lot or only a little. You can use what God has given you to be a blessing to others. Think about the conversion of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. Zacchaeus is described in Luke 19.1 as chief among the publicans or the tax collectors. It says, and he was rich. But he had gotten those riches through fraudulent practices. When he met the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ came by, and as all the children know, he was up in the sycamore tree, and the Lord was passing by, and then he calls Zacchaeus down and goes into his house. And after Zacchaeus meets with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was called to a life of discipleship, his life was changed. The evidence of that is given in Luke 19 verse 8, which records, And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Upon this, Christ declared in Luke 19 9, This day is salvation. Come to this house. So a man who had been a thief became a man who was a generous steward. Think also of the thief on the cross, who in his dying moments trusted in the Lord Jesus and heard Christ say to him in Luke 23, 43, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. While we have breath, it is never too late for a thief to become a saint. It is never too late while we breathe for a thief to become a saint. Amen? Let me invite you to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks for this basic teaching. Sometimes we are simple-minded and we just need the simple things told to us. And we are not to be thieves and robbers. We're not to cheat people. We are to be upfront. We are to be honest and forthright. We're not to try to take advantage of people, whether it's selling a used car or whether it's filling out our taxes. or whether it's what we do with the property of the company for which we work. Help us, Father, by thy grace to live as upright and honorable men and help us to live a life of gratitude toward Christ. We ask this in his name, amen.