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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.