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welcome to everyone for our call to worship this evening will read from psalm 15 psalm 15 psalm 15 beginning in verse 1 a psalm of david lord who may abide in your Tabernacle who may dwell in your holy hill he who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart he who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised but he honors those who fear the Lord he who swears to his own hurt and does not change he who does not put out his money at usury nor does he take a bribe against the innocent he who does these things shall never be moved amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to him number one hymn number one will stand together as we sing let us pray a blessing and holy God we gather again on the Sabbath day to sing your praises to call upon you in prayer and to look to Holy Scripture and our hearts desire is that you would rend the heavens and come down and be found among your people here may it be the case that Jesus Christ would be in the midst of this lamp stand may it be the case that the Holy Spirit would flood our minds and hearts so that we may indeed worship you in spirit and in truth may it be the case that in all that we do this evening God Most High would be glorified honored and praised we're certainly you alone are worthy you are the God who made this world and all things in it you were the God who governs all this creatures and all their actions and you are the God who has undertaken to save his people through the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for Christ we thank you for his life his death and his resurrection we thank you and praise you for the current session at the right hand we look forward to that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living in the Dead our desire is that everyone here tonight those whom we love our friends and our families would be ready to meet their maker on that day we ask God that the gospel would go forth throughout the earth we pray that more and more sinners would be called out of darkness into marvelous light we pray that more and more people would come to know the Lord God Almighty through the mediation of Jesus Christ the Savior we pray our Father that you would look with pity and look with mercy upon the nations of the earth and we pray that you would bless the gospel as it is proclaimed as the Word of God is red we pray the Holy Spirit would attend to these things and that you would bring conviction for sin and the realization that Christ alone is the savior for sinners we asked tonight that you would forgive us for our transgressions against your holy law certainly as we move our way through the Ten Commandments we are found out on every hand on every front we pray that you would cleanse us in the blood of Lord Jesus that you would help us to take these things to heart help us to reflect upon them in our own lives and God help us by your grace to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight how we thank you for the shed blood of Christ we thank you that there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness we pray that now you would plunge us and beneath that flood we ask that you would look with favor upon this church we pray that you would grant us the peace of God most high we pray that you would grant us unity that you would cause us to pursue these things for they are indeed precious commodities in the lives of God's people we asked you would look with favor upon those in our congregation with ongoing physical concerns we know father that you know them intimately we know that everything that befall them is from the hand of a good god and we just pray that they would be reminded of these things on a daily basis that you would be pleased to give reprieve she would be pleased to give seasons of health and strength that they may indeed glorify your most holy name for all of us God we pray that you would deal with us on a spiritual level we all come with many trials and difficulties we all come facing many temptations and salts against our faith we pray that you would increase our faith increase our appreciation for the means that you've ordained for our well-being thank you that you've given us the Word of God thank you for giving us prayer as a means by which we can communicate with you we thank you for the local church and the ordinances and all these things Lord God you have given for the good of your your people help us not to neglect help us not to resist but god help us to to use these things for your glory sake and our own spiritual well-being we pray father for the persecuted Church we know that there are a great multitude that are displaced from homes and dispossessed from lands and various persons suffering under various wicked and godless regimes we pray that you watch over your believers in every place that you would surround that psalmist says the Lord God surrounds us people the way that the mountains around Jerusalem and mayor people find great joy and great grace and great strength knowing the strong refuge that you provide we pray for these nations that are steeped in false religion we pray that the gospel would go forth in these lands we pray that these false religions we pray that they would fall before the living and true God the way that Dagon the idol fell before the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh we ask for our own nation we know that this is a wicked generation so many things that that are that would have been unthinkable a generation ago are so practiced and so engaged in now sexual immorality and murder and theft and violations again against the first table of the law men certainly call wickedness good and they call good wicked we pray that you in your wrath would remember mercy we pray that you would revive your people your churches so that we may be prayerful and about the main things and our religion and we pray that you'd awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins that you would put the fear of God into the hearts of men and women and boys and girls that you would turn people from their idols to the true and living God and that you would be well pleased Lord to bless for your glory sake and for the good of this nation we ask our father that you would just continue with us now we pray again that the Holy Spirit would be here among us helping us and directing us and encouraging us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal again to number 309 number 309 will stand as we sing together you may turn to the Prophet Jeremiah chapter 50 quite a lengthy chapter we'll split up and the two halves will read the first 28 verses tonight so Jeremiah chapter 50 judgment on Babylon and Babylonia remember the exile lasted for 70 years the Lord God had told the people of Israel that because of their sins specifically Judah because of their sins they would go into captivity and around 586 587 Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians captured is captured Jerusalem they destroyed the temple they took a whole host of Israelites or Judah Heights back to Babylon as well it was prophesied that the people of Israel would return to their land after this Babylonian captivity the Lord God does bring judgment to bear upon Babylon similarly with the Assyrians according to the prophet Isaiah and Isaiah chapter 10 God raised up at Syria to use them as a means of chasing against the northern tribes of Israel and then they got proud and arrogant and boasted so God brought judgment upon them same sort of thing happening here with Babylon beginning in chapter 50 at verse 1 the word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the Prophet declare among the nations proclaim and set up a standard proclaim do not conceal it say Babylon is taken Bell a bell is shamed mera doc is broken in pieces her idols are humility humiliated her images are broken in pieces for out of the North a nation comes up against her which shall make her land desolate and no one shall dwell therein they shall move they shall depart both man and beast in those days and in that time says the Lord the children of Israel shall come they and the children of Judah together with continual weeping they shall come and seek the lord their god they shall ask the way to zion with their faces toward it saying come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten my people have been lost sheep their Shepherds have led them astray they have turned them away on the mountains they have gone from Mountain to Hill they have forgotten their resting place all who found them have devoured them and their adversary said we have not offended because they have sinned against the Lord the habitation of justice the Lord the hope of their fathers move from the myths to Babylon go out of the land of the Chaldeans and be like the rams before the flaws for behold I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country and they shall array themselves against her from there she shall be captured their warriors shall be like those of an expert warrior I'm sorry their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior none shall return in vain and chaldea shall become plunder all who plunder her shall be satisfied says the Lord because you were glad because you rejoiced you destroyers of my heritage because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing rain and you bellow like bulls your mother shall be deeply ashamed she who bore you shall be ashamed behold the least of the nation shall be a wilderness a dry land in a desert because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but she shall be holy desolate everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss and all her plagues but yourselves an array against Babylon all around all you who bend the bow shoot at her spare no arrows for she has sinned against the Lord shout against her all around she has given her hand her foundations had fallen her walls are thrown down for it is the Vengeance of the Lord take vengeance on her as she is done so do to her cut off the sower from Babylon and him who handles the sickle at harvest time for fear of the oppressing sword every one shall turn to his own people and everyone shall flee to his own land Israel is like scattered sheep the Lions have driven him away first the king of Assyria devoured him now at last this Nebu kid Nezzer king of Babylon has broken his bones therefore thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel behold I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of Assyria but I will bring back Israel to his home and he shall feed on Carmel and Batian his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gillian in those days and in that time says the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall be sought but there shall be none and the sins of Judah but they shall not be found for I will pardon those who might preserve go up against the land of Mara thames against it and against the inhabitants of be a pecan waste and utterly destroy them says the Lord and do according to all that I have commanded you a sound of battle is in the land and of great destruction how the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken how Babylon has become a desolation among the nations I have laid a snare for you you have indeed been trapped o Babylon and you were not aware you have been found and also caught because you have contended against the Lord the Lord has opened his armory and has brought out the weapons of his indignation where this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans come against her from the farthest border opener storehouses cast her up as heaps of ruins and destroy her utterly let nothing of her be left slay all her bolts let them go down to the slaughter woe to them for their day has come the time of their punishment the voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon declares in zion the Vengeance of the Lord our God the Vengeance of his temple amen will let us pray glorious God and our Father we know that vengeance does belong to you and you will repay you did with Babylon of old you do the end of time with all those who resist and reject the Lord Jesus Christ we pray our Father that you again would have mercy on this place she would cause us to be found in Christ not having our own righteousness which is from the law but that which is from you through faith in Jesus Christ we thank you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared we thank you that you are God who pardons all our iniquities to our God it casts the sins of his people into the depths of the sea the Prophet asked who is like you o Lord God certainly we praise you we love you we adore you we ask that you would continue to preserve us and keep us and watch over us and as well we pray for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as a whole we know there are many threats against her we know there are many who would seek to destroy her we have the great promise of the builder of the church that the gates of Hades itself shall not prevail against it in this we greatly rejoice God and we thank you that you have promised to stabilize to secure to watch over your church till the end of the age we pray that it would continue to march on we pray that in the church your name would be glorified that your kingdom of grace would come and that your will would be done that you would continue to provide for your people in terms of temporal benefit and spiritual blessing we ask these things for your glory say God we ask these things so that the church may indeed function as it's meant to to bring glory and honor to you to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen well for our final him before we look at the eighth commandment you can turn to hymn number 54 in your Trinity hymnal him number 54 will stand as we sing together please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter five our focus tonight is the eighth word specifically verse 19 I do want to begin reading in verse 6 it's good to see the commandments in their context and their interrelatedness one to another beginning in chapter 5 of Deuteronomy at verse 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 father's upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but 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 or 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 you shall not desire neighbor's house his field is male servant his female servant his ox his donkey or anything that is your neighbors 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 we'll let us pray father thank you for the word thank you that it speaks to every area of our life thank you as well that it has a specific commandment relative to the protection of the person's property we ask that you would give us clarity of thought concerning these things he looks grace to appreciate this word among the others and we pray that you would help us to put these things into practice as we just say and as the psalter everywhere promotes may we indeed as your people love your law may it be our meditation day and night may it be the case that we would say with the apostle that the commandments of God are not Grievous they're not burdensome they are not something that should cause us any any trouble whatsoever God we pray now that you would forgive us for our sin that you would fill us with your spirit and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as we have seen the two tables of the law the first four Commandments deal with our duty toward God and these last six deal with our duty toward man and certainly the prohibition against theft is absolutely necessary like it or not we are dependent on stuff we cannot continue long in this world without food without water without shelter without clothing and God the Lord obviously knows that God the Lord owns all things and out of his sovereignty he gives us things to sustain life so when somebody takes from us those things that support life it is in effect an indirect attack upon man's life and so it is good for us to understand this commandment how it applies in our current situation and how we ought to find instruction there in so we'll want to look similarly as we have in the past at first the prohibition of the command secondly the reason for the command and then thirdly the positive aspect of the command so while it is negative you shall not steal positively we infer or imply or learn certain things from this particular commandment but in the first place the prohibition of the command the basic thrust of the eighth commandment has to do with the unlawful taking of another person's of another person's property either by force or by fraud and there are various crimes various sins associated with this eight word I want to just give you a sample of those particular things that are found in the old testament and in the new testament as well in the first place we have the act of burglary that is what transpires in Exodus 22 verses 2 and 3 Exodus 22 verses 2 and 3 when someone unlawfully enters the dwelling place of another person to deprive them of their property entering a dwelling with the intent to steal notice in Exodus 22 verse 2 if the thief is found breaking in and he instructs so that he dies there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed if the Sun has risen on end there shall be guilt for his bloodshed he should make full restitution if he has nothing then he shall be sold for his theft so burglary is the unlawful entering into the dwelling of another person to deprive that person of their property in the second place robbery robbery is similar in terms of the desire to deprive another human being of their stuff but robbery uses violence robbery uses intimidation robbery means that you're not only seeking to deprive them but you're going to hurt them should they get in the way of that particular activity it was robbers upon that man that that man that the Good Samaritan ultimately tended to in Luke's Gospel the Lord Jesus identifies them as such they rendered bodily harm to the man and they deprived him of his goods robbers or robbery is seen in proverbs chapter one in verses 10 to 19 in the third place a prohibition of the prohibition against theft includes kidnapping or what we might call man stealing to seize a human being and detain them unlawfully and usually for ransom now the specific prohibitions that we find in Exodus and Deuteronomy particularly are probably not you know a wealthy couple has a son or a daughter and some bandits our bad guys take them and then hold him for ransom certainly that is included the idea is probably kidnapping in order to sell them into slavery now in terms of the commandment the prohibition in the eighth word the the typical remedy or the typical sanction of the typical penalty for violating the eighth word is restitution and we'll see that more as we proceed but when it comes to man stealing when it comes to kidnapping that was in fact a capital offense it was indeed a capital offense Exodus 21 verse 16 Deuteronomy 24 verse 7 fact you can turn to Deuteronomy 24 and verse 7 it's good to be familiar with where these things are in your Bibles it's good to have an understanding of this old covenant law and to see the affirmations and the confirmations and the repetitions in the New Covenant as well notice in Deuteronomy 24 7 if a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel and mistreat sim or sells him then that kidnapper shall die and you shall put away the evil from among you this is repeated not with the Penal sanction but the prohibition against kidnapping is repeated in first Timothy chapter 1 and verse 10 so this is an application certainly of the eighth commandment kidnapping we might file hijacking an aircraft under such a category as well there is a threat there to deprive persons up their lives of their freedom of their liberty and that's that sort of thing in the fourth place a violation of the eighth commandment is seen in the act of fraud fraud this is probably something that's a bit closer to home I doubt we're all going to go out and steal people I doubt we're going to you know fall upon men on the way to chilliwack or downtown chilliwack and beat them up and deliver blows and steal from them I doubt that we're going to sneak into our neighbor's house under the cover of darkness and put a ski mask on and go through his stuff and try to find what we want but fraud is something that's probably closer to home in the in our particular situation and there's various ways that we can engage in fraud it is simply a deception deliberately practice to secure unfair or unlawful gain there's several illustrations of fraud in the scriptures in the first place moving of a landmark Deuteronomy 1914 2717 proverbs 20 to 28 in Proverbs 23 10 moving a landmark trying to benefit ourselves by hurting someone else that is fraud in the second place another application of the sin of fraud or the crime of fraud is the use of unjust weights now this is something that comes up several times in the book of proverbs and unjust weight is an abomination to the Lord several times in the book of Proverbs it truly is amazing I count one two three four five instances in 31 chapters against this act of an unjust weight the idea being is that we are cheating somebody by fraud and we are benefiting ourselves it's also contained in Leviticus 19 verses 35 to 37 there is an illustration of it in Isaiah the prophets day specifically in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 22 the Prophet condemns the nation by saying your silver has become dross now that's not an unjust weight per se but it is a fraudulent at tivity nevertheless your silver has become a drawers what does that mean we add certain things to silver to make it go further the profit goes on to say your wine mixed with water why would they mix water with wine to make it go further rushton he says the reference in Isaiah 122 is to false weights silver replaced with baser metals or heavily alloyed with them and to false measures a quart of wine made into a gallon by mixture with water you see fraud is something that can happen and probably does if we are not careful remember this morning there is in us in that disposition of heart where we have an ambition we have a desire we want privilege we want position well as well we want what's best for us and if we have to shave off some rough edges if we have to hurt somebody it may not be as bad as falling upon them and dealing out blows and going through their wallets but nevertheless brethren we have to walk carefully before our God and not defraud others another example is the exploitation of hired workers Deuteronomy 24 14 the book of James James speaks very condemning language to his audience because they hold back the wages from those to whom it is due this is unrighteous behavior if a man works for you he is sweat for you he has labored under the heat of the day then you pay him what you agreed upon at the end of that day so that he doesn't go away hungry or cold by virtue of the fact that you are a cheapskate in the fifth place the activist extortion acquiring property by undue legal power or undue influence proverbs 22 22 and 23 but as well Matthew 23 can turn to Matthew 23 to see an example of extortion acquiring property by undue legal power or undo influence Matthew 23 verse 14 this is Jesus pronouncement of woes against the relief religious leaders of his day the scribes and the Pharisees these hypocrites this brood of vipers notice what he says in 2314 woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers therefore you will receive greater condemnation now we oftentimes condemn the Pharisee practice of the long prayer a man who prays and he prattles on and he continues on and on and on and on and on to the point where people are just about wanting to go bats or go batty but what we oftentimes fail to neglect is you devour widows houses what does Jesus mean by that well these religious leaders were respected in the community and when a woman's husband died she would seek counsel she would seek guidance she would see construction she would want to know how she can secure her assets how she can make sure that she's able to live and able to breathe and able to drink water and function in society I believe what our Lord is speaking to is the illicit practice of these religious leaders capitalizing upon these women at a time of grief and misery it is a form of extortion it is a form of exercising undue legal power or undue influence upon somebody that is in a position of disadvantage in the next place a violation of this commandment is seen in the destruction of property the destruction of property Exodus 20 26 Exodus 22 verse 6 if fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that stack grain standing grain or the field is consumed he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution this is the destruction of property this is as bad as theft if you take it from me or you destroy it the end result is the same I can't use it if you deprive it deprived me of it or you destroy it and I am no longer able to use that good or resource the end game is the same you have committed thievery and that is prohibited Vern Poythress says the destruction or expropriation of property is an indirect attack on the human life supported by it perhaps if you've been following the news over the last little while to the south of us expropriation has been spoken about it's called eminent domain but it's the same idea the eminent domain means that the government can seize a person's property and for the benefit of everyone they can engage in this sort of particular activity well that's expropriation that is not legit that is not right that is wrong and we should not allow or want to see such things take place and then as well as we consider this particular commandment we ought to at least include as a violation of the eighth commandment though it is more properly a violation of the first four Commandments what we might call religious theft religious theft I don't mean walking into a church and stealing the piano or walking into a church and stealing the hen books I've wondered at times when we used to get break-ins here what are they going to take what do they want here there's not like gold and it's not bedazzled up here like it might be in a papist church I mean well that's not what I mean though Malachi chapter 3 the Lord God through the Prophet speaks to this whole issue of religious theft Gary North has said once men want religion but they want it cheap and I think that's what was going on in Malachi the prophets day notice in 38 will a man robbed 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 I mean talk about deprivation if you are going to deprive or it's a sin to deprive another human being of that which is their due God the Lord uses the language of robbery when the people of Israel engage in religious worship and they do not bring their tithes and offerings to Zion the Lord God says in verse 10 bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and try me now in this as 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 another passage is found in Matthew 22 21 when Jesus is asked is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar we all know Jesus answer don't we give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God now if Caesar has a right to our money via taxation it would only naturally and reasonably follow that God as well as a right to our money via tie they offerings contributions to the church of the living and true God I am NOT speaking about these things or preaching about these things so we see a boost in the giving I really don't do those sorts of things this is a moral spiritual ethical issue it may be the case that you don't steal candy bars from walmart it may be the case that you don't cheat Revenue Canada it may be the case that you pay your debts on time it may be the case that you don't operate a fraudulent or negligent manner all those things I say praise God for but if you are robbing God brethren that is as much a moral spiritual ethical issue as is a violation of the others we need to understand if it's lawful to pay to Caesar what is Caesar's the text does not stop there we typically spiritualize give to God what is God's yes we'll pray eight yes we'll go to church Jess will read our Bibles yes but in the context it's talking about taking coins out of your pocket in handing them over to Caesar why can't the connection be seen that if God has called upon his people to tie they draw dig down deep and they give to God brethren religious theft is here in condemned by the Lord Most High through the Prophet Malachi now in the second place we ought to consider the inner disposition we're still dealing dealing with the prohibition of the command but it's not just the external app there are sins of the heart that are connected to this eighth commandment the first of course being the sin of covetousness now we're going to deal more with this when we get to the tenth commandment so I'll simply mention it here the suit of covetousness eighth and tenth go hand to hand and end in a whole host of ways as well the sin of discontentment discontentment you may not be a thief you may not engage in one of these particular practices which by the way is just a sampling of sins or crimes related to the eighth commandment you may not engage in the external act but you can have the disposition of a thief when your disc and dad when you're murmuring and raging against God most I for the things that he has or more specifically has not given to you and as well related to this eighth commandment at least in terms of a sin of the heart is idolatry Matthew 6 24 when we see stuff as something that is so captivated when we see goods as something so captivating we make man in our God and God will brook no rivals the Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 6 24 you cannot serve God and man it the Apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians and in the book of Colossians links covetousness with idolatry idolatry it is sin now second in terms of our broader outline what is the reason for the commandment well in the first place the sovereignty of God the earth is Yahweh's and the fullness thereof turn to Psalm 1 15 16 for instance the earth is Yahweh's and the fullness thereof is Psalm 24 1 but in psalm 115 at verse 16 we ought to appreciate what we find concerning the ownership of God and the stewardship of man verse 16 the heaven even the heavens are the Lord's but the earth is given to the children of men now the Lord God is sovereign over all things he has comprehensive ownership the Lord God in His goodness as we read here in verse 16 the earth he has given to the children of men now when he has given the earth to the children of men he does so according to his sovereignty he does so according to his good pleasure according to the gracious landowner parable he is not beholden to man he does not own man there is nothing that we have that can constrain him to do one thing or the other now press Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 18 says that God makes men wealthy it is the Lord God who gives wealth in the gospel record the Lord Jesus Christ says the poor you shall always have with you so what's the point God the Lord is sovereign God the Lord owns everything and God the Lord in His infinite wisdom has made men some men to be wealthy some men to be poor or if you are in North America probably in the middle class this is God's sovereign purpose and plan the property that he gives to us so that we may steward it you realize that it's not the case that we own the things we have I'm not talking about the Canadian government I think ultimately they own your property but I'm talking about in terms of the macrocosmic picture God owns everything we are stewards we are stewards one of the things you as parents ought to jump on when your children are starting to formulate words one of the first words and most of their vocabulary is what mine maybe your kids are different but I remember that at least being in the top five list and Mike in my home my mind mine there's a couple of different ways I think we ought to approach that we ought to say you know everything is ultimately God's the Lord God owns all things he gives you that now bring this down to their level to be sure he gives you that little baby doll so that you may use it you are a steward of it but on the other hand brethren we ought to teach our children something about the eighth commandment there are property rights and when a child has a certain special thing maybe they don't have to share everything they have unless we're cultivating citizens for the body politic now I think kids should share that ought to be in them we ought to instill that in them but if they have something extra special it's not community property we ought to be able to set down some parameters and some guidelines to show that there are such things that aren't community property a man has a right to own a particular thing the Lord God made it this way because why he sovereign over all things and he has given us possession of these things to steward for his glory and for our life sustaining capacity the position of man we are image bearers of the Living God and then as as we've seen as I've already quoted Poythress it is an attack upon man and this is a reason for the prohibition if I steal your stuff I am indirectly attacking your very life that is the reality of it and of course the law of God specifies throughout as we've just seen a sampling of tax that the eighth commandment is to be taken seriously and it is in place for a particular reason so the prohibition the reason now thirdly and finally the positive aspect of the command the first place the necessity of diligent labor the necessity of diligent labor what's the opposite to thievery industry it's the opposite to theft go to go get a job Paul makes that connection in eight feeds for 28 which we'll see in a few minutes but in the first place the fourth commandment speaks directly to the issue of work in at six days you shall labor yes it is the Sabbath command of the Lord our God that we rest on Sunday we seized from our normal activities the Lord is good the Sabbath was made for the man it's not a drudgery it's not a hardship it's not a bad thing God in His infinite mercy and grace gave this gift to his children so that we can rest so that we can find blessing so that we can call the day holy as well the fourth commandment contains a necessary word on work six days you shall labor the eighth commandment as well speaks to the necessity of work the mandate to labor the mandate to avoid being in the position wherein you might steal the wise man in proverbs 30 says give me neither poverty nor riches why because if I am if I am poor I will be tempted to go out and steal well what's the pathway to neither poverty well too what's the pathway to not engaged in poverty it is through diligent labor but some specific passages 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 on this necessity for diligent labor first Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 9 to 12 Moulton thought that if persons did a study of what Paul tells Christians they're supposed to look like it would look a whole lot different than what we think Christians should look like look at 1st Thessalonians 4 9 but concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are all are in all Macedonia but we urge you brethren that you increase more and more that you also aspire to lead a quiet life you know not everybody is going to be an activist not everybody's going to be out there protesting not everybody is going to be out there doing those you know supra extra things in order to to revolt against the moral order and the society know the most of us ought to be aspiring to lead a quiet life I love this next clause to mind your own business I think Christians have difficulty with that don't we we like to mind business but we like to mine other people's business what Solomon say in the book of Proverbs keep what keep your brother's heart with all diligence for out of its bring the issues of life keep your wise heart because out of its spring the issues of life keep your pastor's heart because out of its bring the issues and will keep your own heart with all diligence in other words mind your own business and to work with your hands as we commanded you that you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that you may lack nothing turn to 2nd Thessalonians 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 familiar passage to any who have children and have tried to get them to eat their peas or 2 i'm sorry to pick up their room before they eat their P's you don't pick up your room you don't get to eat peas I have a proof text for this don't I you don't work you don't eat you don't clean your room you don't get peace knowing kids they probably so how are peas anyway that's when you just want to say forget it go sit out in the garage you till you're 21 just kidding note at 2nd Thessalonians 36 I should set the context here what's going on in these'll and I got what is happening in thessalonica why does Paul speak a lot about eschatology in the Thessalonian correspondence eschatology the doctrine of or study of last things essentially this the Thessalonians thought that Jesus was going to return at any moment the Thessalonians thought that Jesus was going to return at any moment now having that mindset what do you think the Thessalonians likely did they likely quit their jobs sat on their roofs prayed and sang hymns until Jesus came to collect that make sense doesn't it if you knew Jesus was coming at you know six o'clock you might not be here you might be at home holding hands with your family ready to roll the point is the Thessalonians thought that Jesus returned was imminent at any moment he will be here so why go to work tomorrow good way to get out of a difficult work situation isn't it I don't want to go and deal with this nasty business at work thankfully Jesus is going to come this is why Paul is emphasizing this point with these people he wants them to work he wants them to lead a quiet life he doesn't want them sitting on their roof chanting hymns until Jesus returns go out get a job now notice in second Thessalonians 2 a 36 but we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we were not disorderly among you nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge but worked with labor and toil night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you not because we do not have authority but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us for even when we were with you we commanded you this if anyone will not work neither show neither shall we eat it's the point brethren if you don't have a job and you show up at the churches love feast and you keep eating their food they're nice they're kind their gracious and they'll keep feeding you their food but if you are able bodied and able to work at some point that becomes thievery and the Apostle condemns this verse 10 for even when we were with you we commanded you this if anyone will not work neither shall we eat for we hear that there are some a walk among you in a disorderly manner not working at all but are busybodies now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread we ask Paul what do you want from the rank-and-file of God's people I want them to work I want them to mind their own business I want them to aspire to quiet life I want them to show up on Sunday and worship the Lord by participating in the word and sacrament that's what Paul wants for his people in this current age the Westminster larger catechism asks what are the duties required in the eighth commandment and an endeavor by all just and lawful means to procure preserve and further the wealth and outward a state of our of others as well as our own the proverbs are filled with an emphasis on diligent labor proverbs 10 12 13 14 15 16 21 22 27 28 there's simply too many to rehearse here if you're interested in them give me an email i'll send you the specifics thomas watson said this concerning diligent labor he said the bread that tastes most sweet is obtained with most sweat it's not beautiful the bread that tastes most sweet is that which is obtained through most sweat see brethren there is virtue in hard work when a man has no job it's not only that his pockets are empty but there is something lacking in him he is an image bearer of the Living God he has a drive he has initiative he has this Dominion instinct or principle and so it is a double penalty to not only have no money but to have no job Watson continues a godly man would rather fast and eat the bread of idleness vain professing Christians talk of living by faith but do not live in a calling they're like the lilies of the field they toil not neither do they spin he says an idle person is the devil's tennis ball which he banned he's up and down with temptation till at last the ball goes out of play I didn't even know they had tennis back then but Watson's using it as an illustration listen to this they are like the lilies of the field they toil not neither do they spin brethren diligently joined upon us by the fourth and the eighth commandment in the second place a positive aspect of the command is the necessity of charitable love toward others notice in Paul in Ephesians 4 28 let him who stole steal no longer it's a good rule as a new Christian if you used to steal don't steal anymore some suggest that the verbal tense used implies that this was still happening Paul says let him who stole steal no longer the context is the the conduct of the new man in the Lord Jesus he says let him who stole steal no longer but rather let him labor we could include this with the previous point but I include it here because of what he goes on to say working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has a need you see so positively we are not only not to deprive others of their substance of their resources of their wealth but we are to try and contribute to and to help them and to promote that and especially if we have poor brethren in our match we come alongside of them and we engage in what Paul says here that we may have something to give him who has a need see there's something more noble about a new car there's something more noble about a new lake house there's something more noble about a nice packaged holiday at wherever you might go there's something more noble than those things and it's working hard for the glory of God so that you may help others I think the church getting their minds wrapped around that collectively would be a helpful and beneficial thing and I don't mean that here specifically I am blessed beyond measure knowing dear brethren like you guys and then in the third place the necessity of biblical contentment first Timothy 66 210 speaks to this very clearly first Timothy six versus six to ten 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 from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows notice 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 who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they be rich and 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 so those are some positive aspects well as we conclude I want to look at two things in conclusion the second just has a few sub point so just bear with me another couple of minutes in the first place the penalties involved in violating the command have already mentioned the capital of the capital offense was a capital punishment was applied to kidnapping but for the rest of it you have to notice a stark contrast between the old testament law and other ancient near-eastern law codes what is something that other ancient near-eastern law codes stipulated for thieves will at times punitive amputation and that means cutting off hands cutting off feet cutting off things so that persons will be discouraged from ever stealing again sure that it works but that's not what's in the scripture there's one instance of punitive amputation in the Old Testament that I'm aware of and that is found specifically in Deuteronomy 25 11 and 12 and the issue there is not theft and the issue there is probably not modesty the issue there is probably seed when the woman seizes another man's genitals in the midst of a fight it is the specification that she has her hand cut off and again probably what involved is the reality that the woman could permanently damage the man and ruin his ability to produce children again that's the only instance of punitive and amputation that I'm aware of so when we come to Old Testament law it is not Shariah it is not the same thing it is not the case that the Bible demands if you walk into Walmart you steal the Snickers or you embezzle funds are you you do what not that you are to lose hands no the primary objective with reference to thievery is restitution in other words when the thief is found he pays back the victim and this is absolutely lost on us today because if I go out and commit an act of thievery they put me in prison to pay back my debt to society to see my crime wasn't again society my crime was against a particular person that particular person is now out twice because I've stolen from him and now I'm on his dime as I'm sitting in prison he's writing checks via Revenue Canada to sustain this process if you read old testament and use and you look at israel guess what is conspicuously absent a prison system why is that because when a man was found out guilty of a crime if it was a capital offense he was executed if it was a property offense he paid back he made restitution he made it the case that the person he deprived now was no longer deprived and in the second place it's not only restitution now don't go out and blog or Facebook about what a wacko pastor Butler eze but the next item is called indentured servitude Exodus 20 26 if the man cannot provide rest to if the man cannot pay back then he is to engage in indentured servitude I'm sorry 20 23 if you go back there you'll see 20 26 was the man who burned down other people's crops indentured servitude what does that mean again he doesn't go sit in the prison system where he's the victim of gang violence but he would sell himself into slavery to this particular family and work off his debt it's a win-win situation the family gets back what they have been deprived and this guy gets to be you know catechized and instructed and live in a context of a decent family rather than being in prison only to be victimized by gangs you see it's not as outlandish as it may appear it's not as barbaric as person suggests concerning the Old Testament law I submit that what we have currently in terms of prison systems where men go in and they are sodomized give me the opportunity to serve a family in the context where I'm not having that and i will take indentured servitude every single time you see the Bible God is pro victim not pro state not pro criminal but he's Pro victim if i deprive you of something I am to make restitution if I do not have that by which to make restitution then I will be your indentured servant until I pay it back and then I get to go on my merry little way and in the second place how do we use this commandment with reference to the Civil years we're doing this with each one remember the threefold use of the law civil pedagogical normative civil is that use where and the law exercises a restraint over all persons certainly as individual believers as Christians as those in Christ all of the things we've seen pro head don't do that don't be a burglar don't rob people don't extort people don't undertake fraud do not be negligent do not destroy other people's stuff be responsible in terms of property terms of the application to the larger context as I mentioned this morning we would all everyone whether Christian or not churchgoer or not every single one to a man would conclude that if a truck backed up to walmart and loaded up a whole bunch of tvs that would be thievery and yet in terms of the macrocosmic picture of governmentally theft is a regular occurrence the manipulation of currency through inflation or fractional reserve banking maybe not all have heard a fractional reserve banking look into it sometimes it's a form of if the government engaged and inflating currency or an engaged in credit expansion or engaged in in fractional reserve banking if you or I did that we would be called counterfeiters counterfeiting is a theft it's a theft when we go down to our basement and we print our own funny money but it is counterfeiting when the government does it as well unjust taxation I'm not saying don't pay your taxes in fact you're me I am NOT saying that absolutely positively Romans 13 7 pay your taxes but at some point you have to consider the person's you vote for and their view of Taxation remember when Israel cried out for a king they wanted to be like all the other nations around them God said since annual to tell them what manner of King they will have he says that they will he will take a tithe of all your stuff I mean ties from from various aspects of their personal property he's not saying this as Boone he's not saying this is an encouragement he's not saying that this is a good thing he's not saying that a monarch who taxes you to death is somehow a blessing no the Lord God is seeking by Samuel to tell the people what the legitimacy is you see brethren whether it's theft on an individual level or theft on a corporate level it is still a violation of the eighth commandment why is communism wrong because it's a violation of the eighth commandment why is socialism wrong because it's a violation of the eighth commandment you shall not steal from one to give to another that might work if you're Robin Hood you're doing a cute little kid story or some old folklore but when the government does this with coercive power and Christians be weavers professors of the of the true religion who should know something about these things at least enough to vote intelligently as I said when you go into the voting booth you take the commandment you shall not murder you may have it between you and god there's no way I cast my vote for a man who authorizes the slaughter of innocent children you might take that into the voting booth with reference to the seventh word there's no way I can cast my lot from men that will engage or that will say that same-sex marriage is okay brethren consider the eighth commandment fiscal responsibility when there's you know 18 trillion dollars of debt I mean you're killing the next generation this is irresponsible it is sin it is crying it is against the eighth commandment that's something we could just spend time on the pedagogical use brethren you all know your hearts maybe you're not colleges and that's great when we get to the tenth commandment should be in two weeks you can stay home that night actually still come because the means of grace are necessary either whether you've got the master the specific tax mastered or not but we all have a degree of covetousness in our hearts we all have a degree of a lack of contentedness we always want something else don't we this is never enough it's never right I wish I had this you know some people you get the idea that if you handed them a twenty-dollar bill they they'd whine because it wasn't too tans I mean come on you know that's twenty bucks twenty bucks there's just a discontented pneus about the human heart there is a failure as well to reckon with God's absolute sovereignty over all property he gives wealth and he makes men poor as i said in north america at least in canada at least in chilliwack at least attenders of this church are probably going to fall right in between in the middle class sometimes we don't like that sometimes we want more we want more more like the horse leech has two daughters give give it's never enough well thank God the Lord for His Son Jesus Christ who I think psalm 15 is all about I read that at the outset of worship I think it is a description of what the people of God are to pursue but I think it is a description of what Jesus Christ has indeed accomplished for his people he swears to his own hurt and does not change he who does not put out his money at usury nor does he take a bribe against the innocent the Lord Christ is the most blessed person for us covetous lack of content people because it is through his blood and through his righteousness we have everlasting life well in terms of the normative use I'm just going to run down the list because it's getting late pay your taxes did I say that make sure you understand and I want to preach a sermon like this and somebody says well I'm going to invoke my whatever rights and I'm not going to pay my taxes and I'm going to stand against the the civil government you know what they call people who do that they call them prisoners you will not win you will not win pay your taxes pay your debts Romans 13 8 it's all in 37-21 honor contract what's described here concerning this godly man he swears to his own hurt and does not change he swears to his own hurt and does not change honor your contracts you sometimes hear people say well I sign on the dotted line I didn't know it was going to be so bad well you should have researched it better right happens with cell phones I didn't know I was going to be a slave to the cell phone company Yeshua researched it before you wrote your name the use of just weights and measures now this applies to those who own delis and those who do not the just use of weights and measures do not ship people do not rip people off the returning of lost or erroneously credited money or property yes God's Word speaks to that next it is 23 for Deuteronomy 22 if an ox wanders into your yard you don't say thank the lord i have a new ox NHO you return the ox to its owner that's what you're supposed to do the honoring of just claims and liabilities Exodus 21 35 to 36 22 10 to 13 the making of restitution for wrongly acquired property then as we have seen the practice of diligent labor charitable giving and the cultivation of Christian contentment praise God first Corinthians 6 10 and 11 are in our Bibles 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 let us pray thank you Father that your word speaks to all these issues in our lives and we have really just scratched the surface give us wisdom God as we approach Holy Scripture give us wisdom as we have approach things like voting as we approach things like responsible citizenship help us in our prayer lives help us in our daily lives to put these things into practice to not engage in thievery or depriving others of what is lawfully theirs and help us genuinely to be diligent in our labor to be charitable and are giving and to be those who are content under the good Providence of God most high we ask that you would go with us now we pray that you'd watch over us bless tomorrow at so many persons will get together with family and friends certainly every day ought to be Thanksgiving for us as the people of God Lord as we meet together tomorrow I pray that you just bless each and every one in this church may the time be well spent and may God be glorified for his bounty for his goodness and his gifts to us and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen close with the brief time of meditation you