We can turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter five. Deuteronomy chapter five, as we continue to work our way through the 10 commandments, we're in the eighth commandment tonight. So Deuteronomy 5.19, but I'll read beginning in verse six. Deuteronomy 5.6, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, You, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me." Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, again we thank you for the written Word of the living God. We thank you that you've not left us alone in the world, but you've given us Scripture and you've given us the Holy Spirit. And what a blessed promise and gift that this is. And we pray tonight that the Spirit guide us and lead us and help us as we consider this passage in Deuteronomy 5, as we look to the rest of Scripture to see your condemnation of this act of thievery. God, help us to be honest, help us to be men and women of integrity, help us to be men and women of hard work and industry, and to bring glory and honor and praise to You, knowing that we're not saved by our ability to keep the law, but we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And having come to the Savior, He points us now to this blessed law as a pattern for our sanctification. As the Lord Christ prayed, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth, and may such things occur even tonight as we consider this your word. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we consider this particular section of Scripture, remember that we are in fact a Reformed Church, and as a result, we believe that the Ten Commandments have perpetuity in New Covenant setting. The Ten Commandments reveal who God is. And whatever covenant you happen to be under, whether it's the old or the new, the Ten Commandments are abiding. We know, as Paul says, that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. That's what he says in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 8. So we don't preach these as commandments in this way. You need to go out and not steal in order to be saved. We will never be saved by the works of the law. We are sinners in Adam. And the only way of escape, the only way of deliverance is through the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. But as we understand, when Christ saves us, when Christ gives us His Holy Spirit, He points us to the law as a pattern for our sanctification. In other words, Christians should live in a manner that is consistent with God's law. Jesus says in the Upper Room Discourse, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. The Apostle John in 1 John says the commandments of God are not grievous. As well, we see the Apostle Paul specifically in Ephesians 4 cautioning the people in Ephesus against stealing or theft and encouraging them to diligent hard work and to charitable giving. So we'll draw out some of those things as we move through this commandment tonight. I want to look first at the prohibition of the command, secondly, the reason for the command, and then thirdly, the positive aspect of the command. Typically, in the last few commandments, I've only read the Westminster Larger Catechism with reference to the positive, but tonight I do want to draw out some positives from this particular commandment. But in terms of the prohibition, this obviously is extensive, or it's applied extensively throughout Scripture. There's a whole host of things that fall under the purview, rather, of the Eighth Commandment. It's a very simple statement. You shall not steal. And essentially, at its root, basic definition, that means the unlawful taking of another's property either by force or fraud. We're not supposed to do that. That's God's Word. We're not supposed to take something that does not belong to us. And in terms of a sample of the sins forbidden, in the first place, you have the act of burglary. We looked at that briefly last time, or two times ago, when we looked at the Sixth Commandment, and saw that it was legitimate to engage in self-defense. Well, the particular passage in Exodus 22, verses 2 and 3, deals with the crime of burglary, or the sin of burglary. And that simply means entering a dwelling with the intent to steal something. Also, under this commandment, a sin prohibited is the act of robbery. Now, we oftentimes confuse robbery and burglary, but there is a distinction, and the scripture makes that. Robbery is taking something from someone by the use of violence or intimidation. So burglary, hopefully, with reference to a burglar, he doesn't want to encounter anybody along the way of burglary. He simply wants to get in and steal. With reference to robbery, there is an intent on the part of the person to do violence to the other as they deprive them of their You see this in Proverbs chapter 1 verses 10 to 19 by way of an example of what robbing men or wicked men look like in terms of robbery. And then as well in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, it was certainly bad for these robbers to fall upon this man and inflict him with violence and take everything away from him. A third sin condemned in this prohibition is the act of kidnapping. Now, there are three passages that deal with kidnapping, that I'm aware of, that specifically speak to kidnapping. The first is in Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21 at verse 16. He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death. And that is repeated again in Deuteronomy chapter 24 at verse 7. Now typically we think of kidnapping as a rich man's son or daughter being taken and then held for ransom. That's certainly condemned by God in the scripture, but most likely what's in view here is slavery. The act of taking a man from one place to another and then making a slave out of him. And this is the only instance in terms of theft where there is a capital sanctioned, pronounced upon the criminal. In other words, with reference to theft in the Bible, it wasn't executionable. It wasn't a capital offense. It was rather, there were other means by which burglars and thieves and robbers and those sorts of people were dealt with. But with reference to man stealing, Scripture says that that is in fact a capital offense. Now Paul repeats man-stealing in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 10. One man says, it is today regarded as certain that the prohibition of stealing referred originally to the kidnapping of a free person. It was intended to steal a man's freedom to enslave him and to indeed inflict upon him that gross injustice. So we've got burglary, robbery, kidnapping, and then the act of fraud. And essentially, fraud is deception deliberately practiced to secure unfair or unlawful gain. Intriguingly, we just read of an instance of fraud. We have that man Laban. who at the one hand, or on the one hand, you know, fawns all over his nephew, and then on the other hand engages in fraud against him, and ends up having another seven years of basically slave service wrought out by Jacob. So fraud is an act of sin against God, and there are various ways of engaging in fraud. Scripture speaks about moving a landmark. You're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to defraud another person by moving the landmark and extending your own property. As well, the use of unjust weights. And I want to just not focus on this for a long time, but just show you where God's law is with reference to these violations. Look at Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19, the use of unjust weights is a method of engaging in fraud. And in Leviticus chapter 19 at verse 35, you shall do no injustice in judgment and measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hen. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now this is repeated several times in the Bible, so it's obvious that it's something that God condemns. I'm not saying it's the worst of all of the sins, but it's certainly something that comes under fire very often. Under Solomon, or in Solomon's Proverbs, he says it in Proverbs 11. Proverbs 16.11, Proverbs 20.10, Proverbs 20.23, Proverbs 22.22 and 23. So this is again an act of fraud that is wicked, the use of unjust weights. And I would suspect that this includes counterfeiting and what's called fractional reserve banking and inflation on the part of the government. It's always intrigued me that whenever Christians bring up economics with reference to the government, there's a certain pietistic strand in the church that says we shouldn't be concerned about such things. The Eighth Commandment calls us to be concerned about such things. There's also a type of Christianity that suspects the Bible does not pronounce a positive affirmation of any one sort of economic theory. But it certainly condemns socialism and communism by the Eighth Commandment. That is condemned. You shall not steal. It is unlawful on the part of private individuals or on the part of governments to deprive things from their people. Again, fractional reserve banking. That simply means that banks only have to have a little bit of money backing the currency that is in play. That means this is what's called fiat money. It only has value because a group of men say it has value. That's problematic. That leads to economic collapse. And again, against the pietistic reaction that says, well, we shouldn't be concerned about economic collapse. Absolutely, positively, we should. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And he will hold governments accountable for the way that they have exploited and for the way that they have stolen from their body politic. If you look at Isaiah the prophet, you see a direct condemnation by God to these particular sins in Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1, verse 22 specifically. Well, we'll pick up in verse 21. Prophet Isaiah, The prophet of God who's come to denounce the sins specifically of Judah. And in verse 21, how the faithful city has become a harlot. It was full of justice, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them. That reference in verse 22, your silver has become dross and your wine mixed with water. The reference is to false weights. Silver replaced by some cheap alloy. As well, a quart of wine made into a gallon by adding water to it. God condemns that. Thievery is condemned at the level of the individual. It's also condemned at the level of the government authorities. And that's precisely what Isaiah is doing in this particular instance. And then another means of engaging in fraud is the exploitation of hired workers. The exploitation of hired workers. Deuteronomy 24, 14 and James 5, 4. James sounds like one of the prophets of the Old Testament when he comes to deal with the sin of the New Covenant Church. He doesn't say, well, we shouldn't be concerned about such things. We should just pray and just sing and just engage in acts of piety. Again, we should pray, we should sing, we should engage in acts of piety. But acts of piety include obedience to the Eighth Commandment. You shall not sin. Steal, it is a reprehensible sin and a crime against Almighty God. As well, the act of extortion, the acquiring of property by undue legal power or undue influence. Proverbs 22, 22 and 23. Matthew chapter 23, 14 and Matthew 23, 25. Remember when he talks about the Pharisees and the religious leaders who basically exploit widows. Well, what do you think he means by that? A widow would come to these religious authorities, a widow would come to seek counsel in terms of planning for her future now that her beloved husband is gone, and these monsters, these pariahs, would victimize them and extort money from them. Christ condemns that and pronounces a woe upon them. Again, he doesn't say, well, you know, it's money, and I have no truck with anything that has to do with money whatsoever. That is simply untrue, brethren. The scriptures tell us that God is angry with the wicked every day with reference to every sin. When it comes to the 10 commandments, certainly we ought to lift up our voices for the unborn. We ought to lift up our voices with reference to the elderly and the infirm. We ought to be a people that propound the sixth commandment in this generation, but we also ought to remember the seventh vis-a-vis sexual sin and the eighth commandment vis-a-vis theft. the unjust deprivation of property from others by individuals or by governments. And then you've got the destruction of property. It's always wrong to destroy somebody else's property. There is the negligent one, the man who can't control his animal, and it goes out and destroys another animal. That's a crime. We had an instance of that where my dog was viciously and savagely attacked. And when I called the RCMP, they said, well, that's not our business. That is a property crime. That dog is my property, and somebody else's dog tried to eat it. That is a crime, and it should be handled as such. And that's unacceptable to say, well, we don't look into such things. Call this number and play phone tag with the city. It is negligence, and persons guilty of negligence are guilty, and they should be punished, as well through wickedness. The reality is, is that there's some vile, wretched people in this world that destroy things for no good reason. There are people that have utter disregard for the property of other people, and they engage in this unlawful practice and think that there is no problem whatsoever. God the Lord sees. God the Lord is as against this sort of thing as he is against the various other transgressions of his holy law. Now, before we move on, we ought to consider, in a religious context, the act of religious theft. Gary North has famously said, men want their religion, but they want it cheap. God the Lord commands His people to give, to give from the benefits that they have received. Again, this isn't a health, wealth, prosperity time. I'm not going to put on the big hairdo and say, you know, you give to get or whatever, none of that. But God Almighty has prospered us. That's why I read Psalm 65. You know when Psalm 65 was sang? It was at the time of harvest. They didn't look to their government and praise their government for the rain, for the sun, and for the abundance of the earth. They praised God Almighty as a result of the blessings they had received. So God says, bring back Psalm and give it to me in terms of sacrifice, in terms of an expression or an act of worship. Turn over to the prophet Malachi. Malachi deals with this particular sin in a religious context. Malachi chapter 3, verse 8. Will a man rob God? yet you have robbed me. But you say, this is the pattern in Malachi, he condemns them for a particular sin, and then they essentially say, who, us? What are you talking about, Lord, us? We would never do such a thing, as vile as that, what do you mean? And then he gives the specific or concrete example. Will a man rob God, yet you have robbed me? But you say, in what way have we robbed you? in tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." And then turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 23. Matthew chapter 23. Condemnation of the scribes and the Pharisees. Verse 23, specifically, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. Now there's a sermon right there all on its own, but it's the next phrase or clause that we ought to pay attention to. These you ought to have done, justice, mercy, and faith, without leaving the others undone. Their problem wasn't that they tithe. Their problem was that they neglected justice, mercy, and faith. He says, practice justice, mercy, and faith, and don't leave the other things vis-a-vis tithing on God. In other words, don't rob from God. Do not be a thief and violate the Eighth Commandment relative to persons around you or relative to God Almighty. It is a sin against Him. So those are some external expressions of the sin, but in terms of the inner inner disposition. We saw that with the commandment last week. It's not just the condemnation of the external act of adultery that Jesus condemns in the Sermon on the Mount, but also the inner heart disposition of lust. And the same thing obtains with reference to the sin of thievery. In the first place, it expresses covetousness. Now we'll deal with covetousness in more detail in a few weeks from now, as that's the last commandment or the 10th commandment. But as well, the sin of discontentedness. Turn over to 1 Timothy chapter six for just a moment. 1 Timothy chapter six. Specifically at verse six. Now, godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The emphasis of the apostle is to be content with what you have. It isn't to be craven about what you're what you don't have, or what your neighbor has, or lusting or coveting after that. And then the reason, we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And then that principle in verse 8, having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. Now we'd like, you know, I don't know what a famous suit is, a $6,000 Italian suit, or, you know, steak and lobster, but that's not what God's promise is. That's not necessarily the case. Beans and rice do the same thing in the digestive system, and perhaps more so than lobster at times. So it's not the case that, well, we have to have this type of food or we have to have this type of clothing. I mentioned this morning in Philippians chapter 3, I referred to it, Paul said, I know how to abound and I know how to be abased. He understood what it was to have plenty, but as well to have not plenty. And so he learned contentedness. He learned how to appreciate what God gave. Verse 9 says, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. Interesting turn of phrase. The scripture enjoins upon men hard work. Do you see a man who excels in his work? He shall stand before kings, Solomon says. There's nothing wrong with hard work. In fact, it's commanded that we work hard. And in the working hard, God oftentimes prospers and blesses his people. And later on, we're gonna consider what he says later concerning money in 1 Timothy 6, but suffice to say right now, it's this desire to be rich. It's this desire to have. It's this desire like the horse leech that says, give, give, again, according to Solomon. It's not that hard work, blessed by God, producing a bounty is necessarily condemned by the Lord. It is this craven desire for something that is, not right, and Paul condemns it. And then he says in verse 10, and something we all need to get our minds wrapped around, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It's not money. We all need money in order to live. As my brother often says, and I have not been shy in repeating it, we don't live on love and fresh air. You cannot go to Walmart and say, well, I don't love money, so I don't have money, but I want this stuff. They're going to say, get out. You have to have money in order to buy this. It's the love of money. It's not money. We all need money. There's nothing wrong with money. Money isn't sinful in and of itself. Money doesn't go out and rob banks. Money is money. It's a tool that we need, that we are stewards over. It's the love of it. It is when it becomes an idol. It is when mammon gains our affections and our attention and our time. It is when mammon has displaced the true and living God. That's what Jesus condemns in Matthew chapter 6, and that's what the apostle is condemning here in 1 Timothy 6. Because look at verse 17. He says, command those who are rich in this present age to get rid of all their money. That's not what he says. He does not say, if you have money, you're a wicked, terrible specimen of a human being, and you need to divest yourself of all that money so that you can be holy, righteous, and virtuous. No, that's not what he says. There's certain rules governing those who possess a lot of money, and that's what Paul deals with in 1 Timothy 6. not get rid of it and everything will be hunky-dory. Brethren, if you are rich and you are deprived of your money, you can still be as sinful. If you're poor, you're still sinful. It's not that only the rich have this sin. It's poor people have sin. Everybody has sin. It's how we deal with what God has given us or not given us that makes the difference. So the sin of covetousness, the sin of discontentedness, and then as well the sin of idolatry. I already mentioned Jesus in Matthew 6, 24, but turn to Ephesians 5. This idea of idolatry connected to money, material possessions. Ephesians 5, 6. Well, let me just back up here. Verse three, fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, now notice, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them." And the same is essentially repeated in Colossians 3 at verse 5. Colossians 3 verse 5, Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So you've got the external sins that we consider, but you have this internal disposition, this covetous heart, this idolatrous heart. this lack of contentedness with reference to God. That is the internal disposition that is equally condemned by God in the prohibition of the Eighth Commandment. You shall not steal. Now, secondly, by way of a major observation, the reason for the command. Why does God give this command? Because God's holy, because God is good, because God is righteous. And thievery is unholy, thievery is bad, and thievery is unrighteous. It is a wicked expression of contempt against our neighbor. The earth belongs to God. Psalm 24, we sang it at the outset of worship. And in the providence of God, he gives certain things to certain people. Why does he give great wealth to one and he doesn't give it to the other? I don't know. In the eternal decree of God, wherein He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, He has purpose, that some men, some women, some people will be well off and others won't. Remember the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 26. He says, the poor you will always have. That is a settled principle. Not that we shouldn't try to help poor people, not that we shouldn't try to ameliorate the downtrodden and the poor, not that we should close our hearts to the cries of those in need and say, well, you know, Jesus taught there's always gonna be poor, so we'll just step over them as we walk into our offices. No, we ought to be kind, we ought to be gracious, we ought to express that benevolence and that generosity. But in the final analysis, God puts people where they're at. Now, that doesn't mean you're stuck in a particular position, you can't get up and go get a better job or things like that. Don't be fatalistic with this. But in terms of wealth and prosperity, and then conversely poverty, it's ultimately God doling out according to his purposes, who has and who hasn't. Now, Deuteronomy 8.18 highlights that reality, that God gives wealth. You can turn there, Deuteronomy 8.18. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day." So everything belongs to God. God gives power to some to get wealth. And then, as I said, Matthew 26, verse 11, the poor you will have always. It is God's providence. Now again, please, if you're struggling, don't just say, well, you know, God wants me to always struggle. You can try to get a better job. You can achieve more skills. You can use the means that God has ordained. And you can try to claw your way out from that pit that you happen to be in. So don't become a fatalist with reference to this doctrine. But in terms of the reality, God is over all. God gives the power to get wealth. And God, in fact, has it to be the way or the case that the poor you shall always have. Now, in terms of God, we then have man, the position of man. We're not supposed to steal from one another because we're image bearers of the living and true God. We're to respect one another. We're to be kind-hearted toward one another. We're not to let those sort of innate desires for stuff overrule goodness and decency to the point where we are takers from others instead of those who are charitable and kind and gracious. We need to be stewards of God's good gifts. And then as well, it is an attack upon man. It is an attack upon man. Verne Poythress in his book, The Shadow of Christ and the Law of Moses, says the destruction of or expropriation of property is an indirect attack on the human life supported by it. You may not be cutting the throat of a particular individual, but if you take his wealth, if you take his stuff, if you take his goods, if you take his things, then eventually it will affect him in a manner that is detrimental to his well-being. So the act of theft is an indirect attack upon man himself in terms of his life and his ability to sustain life. And then obviously the law of God. God says, you shall not steal. So we've seen the prohibition, we see the reason, let's look thirdly and finally at the positive aspect of the command. And there are three things that I wanna consider here. First of all, the necessity of diligent labor. Now, I guess I should repeat the qualification from the sermon on depression. Working yourself into the pit isn't necessarily a good thing. Working yourself into the position where your wife and children don't recognize you isn't a good thing. So, let me just get that out of the way, okay? You can't work so much that everything else falls apart around you. You know, that's, again, it's worn like a badge today. Well, I'm so busy, I'm so busy, I'm so busy. And we are. Everybody's so busy. You almost want to just go to Hawaii, where I've at least heard nobody lives by clocks there. I know a Reformed Baptist pastor that wanted to plant a church. I shared this, I think, at the Confession Study. And he says, they're a great group of people, but man, you can't plant a church there. I mean, you don't want to start at 11? Everybody comes at 11.30 if the waves are big. It's just the way it is. They come running with their surfboards, lean them up against the wall, and then run into worship with their, you know, their sandals and their shorts on. He's, again, lovely, wonderful people, but clocks don't seem to matter in Hawaii. There's other cultures like that. That's not true of us. We have clocks everywhere. So we need to probably have that sort of qualification made clear that we don't want to work ourselves to the point where our wives and our children don't recognize us. There's no dignity in that. Try to work on a good work-life balance. That's a helpful thing. I think that's what they're calling it now in the sort of business world. But in terms of diligent labor, we not only get that from the Fourth Commandment, Right? Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the eighth commandment, you shall not steal. Turn to the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians, where we'll see these principles drawn out from scripture. The mandate to reap the benefits from your labor, not through theft. Notice in Ephesians 4 at verse 28, "...let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." As well, you see it in the epistles to the Thessalonians. It's in the second letter to the Thessalonians where you have that famous statement, if a man does not work, neither shall he eat. Well, why is that? Well, the Thessalonians thought that Jesus was going to return at any moment. They probably sat on their roofs looking up at the sky, waiting for the return of Jesus. Guess where they weren't when they were on their roofs? They weren't in the shop. They weren't at the forge. They weren't at the surgery. They weren't at wherever they were supposed to be. They were waiting. And Paul lays down that mandate. If a man does not work, neither shall he eat. So you have this situation where you have a potluck and you have all these people that aren't working because they're waiting for Jesus. And Paul would stand at the table and say, no, unless you're working, you're not eating. That's just the way it goes. Well, that sounds so harsh. That sounds so vicious. That sounds so unkind. No, it isn't harsh. And no, it isn't vicious. And no, it isn't unkind. You need to work. That's the simple statement that the Bible everywhere upholds. But as well, this statement by Paul, it's very obviously a situation that he's addressing among Christians. Let him who stole, the language or the tense that is used seems to indicate it was still possibly going on among some of these professing believers. And so Paul wants to stop it. He wants to correct that. He wants to bear down upon them with Christian ethics to tell them that this is in fact No way to live. The Westminster Larger Catechism says, what are the duties required in the Eighth Commandment? And one part says, and an endeavor by all just and lawful means to procure, preserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others as well as our own. We have manifold, repetitious statements in the book of Proverbs in joining upon the people of God hard work. Listen to Thomas Watson. He says, the bread that tastes most sweet is obtained with most sweat. Isn't that beautiful? I remember years and years ago, Brother Steve Lawson and I would go to that, if anybody's listening on the internet, they'll go, Steve Lawson goes to that church in Chilliwack? There's a famous preacher named Steve Lawson. But we used to go to Union Gospel Mission. I remember talking to this one guy and he really seemed legit. He wanted to work. And one of the things that he indicated was the lack of dignity that he underwent, this feeling. He didn't use the language that articulated it this way, but you could just see the agony involved. I just want a job. I just want to work. I'm trying to find something, trying to be able to support my family, trying to do something that's good and right and lawful. That is absolutely positively the case. There is blessedness in work. The bread that tastes most sweet is obtained with most sweat. He says, a godly man would rather fast than eat the bread of idleness. Vain professing Christians talk of living by faith, but do not live in a calling. They are like the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin. An idle person is the devil's tennis ball, which he bandies up and down with temptation, till at last the ball goes out of play. So there is this necessity for diligent labor that Paul says here in verse 28. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good. And that brings us to a second positive aspect, the necessity of charitable love toward others. See what Paul goes on to say. He goes on to say, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. That's why I don't get this condemnation of rich people in our society. I get it. There's a lot of problems with rich people in our society. But rich people, for the most part, are people that are pouring money into the economy. They're people that are hiring other people. They're people that are in a position to be a blessing toward others. Let's not condemn them. Let's encourage them to utilize their resources in a manner that is consistent with God's holy law. Not just say, oh, you're bad and terrible because you've worked hard and God's blessed you and you're successful. Do we really wanna be those people? Do we really wanna condemn somebody that's worked hard, that's experienced the blessing of God and that has prospered? I mean, if that's really who we wanna be, we ought to move down South and vote for Bernie because that's what they are preaching and promulgating there. Brethren, it is wrong. There is sin. There is abuse, there is wickedness associated with riches, but there is sin and wickedness and evil associated with non-riches. And as the people of God, there is the impetus upon us to not only work hard for ourselves and for our wives and our children, but for others that are in our context that could use assistance. I've said it before, people don't go to Timbuktu, which is in, what is it, where is it at? Burkina Faso. Yeah, I mentioned Timbuktu this morning. My brother says that's a real place. I've just always heard it as a kid. I think I've known it's a real place, but didn't realize it was in Burkina Faso. But the bottom line is, with reference, now I lost my point of thought and I apologize for that. But the bottom line is, with reference to this whole idea, is yeah, these people don't go to China. These people don't go to Myanmar. These people don't go to Burkina Faso. Missionaries don't get sent out on love and fresh air. It takes dough. It takes money. How do we get Bibles printed in other languages? Oh, we'll just expect that the Lord will drop them down out. No! God has put brains in men's head. He's put money in other men's pockets. He brings them together. They love Jesus. They operate together. And they get Bibles into the hands of people that need them. I have not yet met a publisher that's just going to do this for free. They're not going to just say, oh yeah, we just love everybody and we want to print Bibles and good Christian books. No! That's just not the reality. As the people of God, making a little bit of money so that we can look out for the others around us is to obey God's law. Don't think that it's somehow wicked, bad, or evil to work hard, experience the blessing of God, and to know a degree of prosperity or blessedness. And then finally, the necessity of biblical contentment. Now you can turn back to 1 Timothy 6, where we can see what Paul says. I'm sorry, necessity of biblical contentment. It is enjoined upon us there in verses six to 10, but I want to look at that other passage in verses 17 to 19. Command those who are rich in this present age, not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. See, there's a tendency or a temptation involved with a man who has a great deal of money. He says, command those who are rich in this present age, not to be haughty. Pride is often associated with a lot of money. But even before that, just think about this command. Think about this. Paul tells Timothy, I want you to gather up the rich people in Ephesus, and I want you to bring them into the study, and I want you to have a Bible study with that. I want you to tell them how they're supposed to deal with their money. Timothy doesn't say, well, I don't know about that sort of thing, because I'm not a man of means. It doesn't matter. You're a man of God. And God speaks to all men everywhere. And rich men have particular propensities to particular sins, and they need to be addressed, Timothy. And you command them. You don't suggest it. You don't try and encourage them. You command them what God says to do with the money that God's given them. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. You don't parade your money around. You don't drop big bucks all over the place and sort of exalt yourself, nor to trust in uncertain riches. Again, a man who has $70 billion could possibly be tempted to not trust God. In fact, that's what Solomon says in Proverbs 30, or I think it's ascribed to Edgar there. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Why? Because if I'm poor, I'll go out and steal and dishonor God. But if I'm rich, I'll forget Him. He understands the tendency of the human heart. Give me neither poverty on the one hand, because there's sins associated with that. Give me neither riches on the other hand, because there's sins associated with that. Let me just live or fly under the radar. Let me be nondescript. Give me enough to eat and enough to wear. That is what my desire is. And here we have the propensity of the rich to be haughty, to trust in riches, and then he goes on, well look at it, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. Do we actually think what he says in the next clause, who gives us richly all things to enjoy? Now maybe it's just me having been brought up Roman Catholic. I live by guilt very often. I know we're supposed to walk by faith. A lot of guilt in this heart, still trying to dispossess it to Canaanite that remains in the land, want to get it out of there. But it's almost like my wife will affirm this, if anything good happens to me, I almost feel guilty. It just shouldn't happen that way. That's not the way God has designed it. I showed you from probably many, many times, Deuteronomy 28, one of the problems with Israel is that they would go into the land, a land of abundance, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land filled with goodness and blessedness, and their hearts wouldn't be thankful to God. They would grumble, they would whine, they would complain. They wouldn't receive it and say, thank you, Lord, for your goodness. That's the consistent response when someone gives you a gift. If I were to give you a gift and you say, but I'm so unworthy and it makes me feel guilty and I feel terrible. Take the gift and have fun. God Most High gives us good things. If you're not convinced of that, look back for just a moment. We'll return here. 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1. Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. Boy, these are bad men! They are doctrines of demons that they're espousing. What must this be? It must be some unholy cabal, where people go out into the woods, and they offer child sacrifice, and they engage in the most vile and reprehensible things. I mean, that's how he's setting it up, isn't he? It's a terrible thing that's in view. Well, look at the particular identification of the sins in view in verse 3. Forbidding to marry, asceticism, this idea that the physical is somehow bad, that it's wrong for a man and a woman to enjoy one another. Contra Proverbs chapter five, rejoice with the wife of your youth. There have always been those people that think it's somehow holy to be miserable, that think it's somehow holy to just be unhappy, to just look like you've always sucked on a lemon and to have the most miserable expression, and that's somehow godly Christianity. What happened to rejoice in the Lord always? Again, I say rejoice. Brethren, that ought to be the trajectory in the Christian life, not this miserable disposition where it looks like our dogs just died, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. So back to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Notice what God does with some people in terms of conveying upon them great riches. So you don't have to put ashes in your soup. You can just enjoy it, because God is good. Now here's specific instruction. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. You see, that's the kind of instruction we ought to be giving to rich people rather than suggesting they're somehow the enemy of the world because they've worked hard, they've been blessed, and they have prospered. That is simply an unbiblical concept that for whatever reason has gained a lot of traction in recent years in North America. Well, in conclusion, In the first place, we ought to know what the penalties involved in violating the command are. With reference to the act of man-stealing or kidnapping or enslaving others, that was in fact a capital offense. The scripture is clear that the person that would enslave or steal another human being is guilty and should be punished by death. The other violations of the Eighth Commandment were not punished by death. Now, I would suspect that in the case of robbery, when violence was inflicted upon a particular person, that act of violence would in fact be punished more severely or harshly, up to and including death, if in fact the robber actually killed the person that he was robbing from. But in terms of property crimes as a whole, it wasn't the case that there were punitive amputations. You didn't get your hand chopped off if you stole in Old Covenant Israel. There's one instance of punitive amputation in the Old Testament law, Deuteronomy chapter 25. If a woman seized upon the genitals of a man and squeezed them, it was called for that she would have her hand cut off. And probably the issue wasn't a property crime, but it had to do with seed. It had to do with children. It had to do with an inability on the part of the one who was victimized to be able to produce children. But the proper penalties involved in the first place was restitution. The penalty involved restitution. In other words, the criminal had to pay back the victim. It's so contrary to today. Today, if somebody steals from you, they go to jail so they can pay their debt to society. They didn't steal from society, they stole from you. And now the government's going to steal from you again, because you have to pay for them while they're in jail so that they can eat three hots and have a cot. It really isn't right. And for whatever reason, it is the way it is, and it doesn't look like it's going to change. And wow, Butler, you sound pessimistic and fatalistic. Well, I'm a realist. Restitution. I think I've mentioned before, the Bible is pro-victim. Not pro-criminal, not pro-society in a vague reference, but pro-victim. Somebody steals from you and they're caught, they pay you back. Exodus chapter 22. If they are unable to pay you back, now hold on to your pews, but this is what scripture says, indentured servitude. they become your indentured servant to work for you until such time as they have paid back what they stole from you." Again, pro-victa, not pro-society, not pay your debt to the state. No, you robbed or stole or thieved from someone, you pay that someone back. So that's what's involved with reference to the penalty. Now, in terms of the use of the Eighth Commandment, as we have considered, the law is good if one uses it lawfully. The Reformed have rightfully and helpfully identified three uses of the law. The first use is the civil use, the second use is the pedagogical use, and the third use is the normative. And I'll explain as we go along. In the first place, with reference to the civil use, the law of God functions, hopefully, to restrain men. There is the sense where God's law is written on man's heart by virtue of creation. We're not talking about Jeremiah 31, redemptive writing of the law on the heart, but Romans 2.15, the reality that we are made in the image of God, and as a result, we have the vestiges of God's law written on our hearts. And the law of God is function, and one of the functions is to restrain man so that they don't become. as evil as they could potentially be. The second use, as I said, is the pedagogical. A pedagogue is a child tutor. When we hear this teaching on the law of God, hopefully it causes us to reflect upon our own conduct. Hopefully it causes us to perhaps identify, wow, I shouldn't have stolen that Snickers bar from Walmart the other day. I shouldn't steal time from my employer. I shouldn't be a discontent wretch. I shouldn't be a craven wretch that covets my neighbor's goods. Wow, the law of God has found me out. What's the answer? The child tutor or the pedagogue points us to Jesus. How do you know you're sin? The law of God tells me so. So if that has occurred tonight, I want to encourage you, you will not go to heaven by reforming your work habits. You will not go to heaven because you work harder or longer and give more to the poor. The only way to go to heaven is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. In other words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. When we come to Christ, there's a blessed thing that happens. We receive both the forgiveness of sins and a righteousness that enables us to stand in the presence of God. It's imputed to us, and it's received by faith alone. The law cannot save you. You cannot go from this place, purposing in your mind and head to never thieve again, and to never deprive anyone again, and to only ever do good and promote the welfare of others. That's not going to work. you need grace, you need faith, you need Jesus to save you from your sins. And then the third use is the normative use. In other words, how do Christians, or how should Christians, normally use God's law in their day-to-day lives? Well, the scripture provides some answers. In the first place, we are called upon to pay our taxes. Now, I realize there is such a thing as unjust taxation. That's perhaps another sermon. In fact, I might extend this Eighth Commandment to consider some of the particular abuses of this commandment at the higher levels of government, so pray for me on that. But in terms of taxation, the very basic requirement, according to Romans 13, 7, is that we pay our taxes. That's the reality. Now again, we can get into the idea of unjust taxation, we can deal with all the ins and outs and the particulars involved, but the basic bottom line principle, according to Paul in Romans 13, relative to the civil government, is that we pay our taxes. Secondly, the payment of our debts. The payment of our debts. You have to pay your debt. It's just, you know, maybe it's just me, but it's always amazed me when these persons say, well, you know, these credit card companies, they charge like, what, 19%? You signed it. There's a perfect instance as to when you should have read the fine print. You dug this hole, you put yourself in it, and now you're going to say, I'm not going to pay? Now, how about don't sign such things if you don't want to pay 19% interest? You certainly have that prerogative. Nobody puts guns to your head, at least as far as I know, and says, you must get this Visa card, or you must have this MasterCard, and we're going to tax you to death. Well, if that happened, gone to your head, I might be entertaining the thought, okay, you can try and finagle your way out of that. But for the most part, it's people that willingly enter into such arrangements and agreements, and then they default. And then they say, well, I'm not going to pay. But you knew what was involved. In fact, there is this, well, I don't want to go down that road. Thirdly, the honoring of our contracts. The honoring of our contracts. What does the psalmist say about the righteous man in Psalm 15.4? He swears to his own hurt and does not change. He swears to his own hurt and does not change. He doesn't say, well, I now see that this is going to hurt me, so I reject the terms of the contract. No. You have to be smart on the front end, OK? Let me just encourage you that. Before you spend or you engage in whatever it is that you want to do, you have to use the brain God gave you prior to entering into an arrangement to make sure that you can follow through. Because if you default or you don't pay back, that is an act of theft. But their big credit, it doesn't matter. But it doesn't matter. Paul says, pay your taxes. Paul says, honor your debts. God says, the man who swears to his own hurt and doesn't change is the righteous man who dwells at the mountain of the Lord. Actually, I think Psalm 15 is a description of the Savior, but certainly as the Savior, so we ought to be as well. The returning of lost or erroneously credited money or property. I've got text for all these. I just, we don't have time for all these. The returning of lost or erroneously credited money or property. If you find your neighbor's ox, you don't hide it in your backyard. You return it to him. It's his ox. Well, no, I haven't seen it. Do you hear the bleeding of the ox or whatever they do? They moo or whatever. But you hear that, well, wait a minute, I didn't think you knew. Well, no, no, it's not here. You can't do that. God says, no, it's wrong. It's that. The making of restitution for wrongly acquired property, and I would suggest as well, damaged property, the practice of diligent labor, the practice of charitable giving, and the cultivation of contentment as we see in 1 Timothy chapter 6. One final text and then we close. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. This connected back to the pedagogical use of the law, the child-tutor function. When we are alerted by God to our sinfulness before God, the Scripture calls upon us to go to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Well, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, look at verse 10, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified. in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Praise God that when we study these commandments and when the Lord provokes or demonstrates or shows us our own sin, He shows us the glory of the Savior who forgives us of our sins. And we ought to be mindful that the things condemned in the commandments aren't necessarily the unpardonable sin. there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared." That was David's blessed statement in Psalm 130 at verse 4. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for its clarity concerning these sins, these crimes, against you, against men. We ask God that you would help us to take seriously what Paul says in Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy 6. Help us, God, to be content with the blessings that you have showered upon us. Lord, as we consider our lot in life here in North America based on what we have in terms of what others don't, we have been blessed so richly, we have been prospered so much, and we give praise and glory and honor to you. Help us not to be haughty, help us not to trust in these things, but in the living God. And help us to engage in good, help us to be charitable, help us to be loving and kind with the blessed resources that you've given to us. Go with us now, protect us in this week, help us to glorify you, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.