In the sermon titled 'Eighth Commandment – A Commandment for Satisfaction with the Sovereignty of God,' Scott Brown explores the profound implications of the commandment 'You shall not steal,' found in Deuteronomy 5:19. He emphasizes that this commandment is not just about refraining from stealing physical items but encompasses a broader principle of contentment with God's provision and sovereignty. Brown reflects on how Jesus frequently quoted Deuteronomy, highlighting its significance. He discusses how theft in various forms—from minor deceptions to systemic issues like taxation and economic policies—contradicts God's law and affects societal well-being. The sermon delves into biblical examples of theft, illustrating the consequences and the necessity of repentance and restitution. Brown underscores the interconnectedness of the commandments with love, urging believers to reflect on their actions and align with God's will, promoting a community characterized by love and understanding. He concludes by pointing to Jesus as the embodiment of perfect obedience to this commandment, offering hope through His sacrifice and fulfillment of the law.

Please open your Bibles to Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verse 19. You're turning to the book that Jesus loved. We know He loved it because he quoted from this book more than any other book that he quoted from. When he wanted to speak about the Sabbath, he quoted Deuteronomy. When Jesus spoke about keeping promises, he quoted the book of Deuteronomy.

When he talked about family life and honoring your father and mother in divorce, he quoted Deuteronomy. When he spoke of murder, he quoted Deuteronomy. So you've just turned to the book that Jesus loved and The commandment in verse 19. And I pray that God would pierce our hearts with these words, you shall not steal. Now we live in a land that has been mightily blessed by this commandment.

And I believe that our original prosperity in our nation was secured partly by the obedience to this command. Many of the problems in our current economy can be traced to violating this command because economies always stand and they rest upon morals. They're either theological or they're atheological or atheistic. That theology makes for bad economy, and that will always be true. We're experiencing some of that today.

This commandment does so much for us, as we'll see. But it leads us to love our neighbors and to give our whole hearts to the work that God has called us to do. The Hebrew word, to steal, genolf, means to take away by stealth, lift and carry, reminds you of the term the five finger discount. The New Testament word that the Apostle Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11 is the word klepto, where we get our word kleptomaniac. He says that the thieves or the kleptos will not inherit the kingdom of God.

He says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, neither fornicators or idolaters, and among a great list, thieves will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. But he says to this church in Corinth, but, but, but you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God. We have the household of thieves here this morning. All of us have stolen, perhaps even this morning. You may not have gone into a store and taken your physical five-finger discount.

But we'll find that this commandment has much, much more to do than shoplifting. And yet, We find ourselves like the great Church in Corinth as people who have violated the law of God. And we stand condemned. Our only hope is that we would be washed, that we would be sanctified, and that we would be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God. I pray that this would be our experience this morning, that God would pierce us to the heart and that He would wash us and sanctify us to these sins that have come upon us.

These acceptable, these things perhaps that have become acceptable to us as we've redefined theft to fit our own conscience. And so Jesus actually uses the same word that the apostle Paul uses in John 10, where he says that the hireling comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and it's the same term, kleptase or klepto, that he uses here. I really appreciate the way the Heidelberg Catechism speaks of this command. Question 111. What does God require in this commandment?

Answer. That I promote the advantage of my neighbor in every instance I can or may, and deal with him as I desire to be dealt with by others. Further, also, that I faithfully labor so that I may be able to relieve the needy. Therefore, all things whatsoever ye do to men, ye would that men do to you, Do ye even to them, for this is the law and the prophets." So this commandment applies to dozens of situations. And we need to know right off the bat though, before we unfold the different layers of thought that need to be engaged in here, is that God forbids all theft.

Even though we might find different ways to justify it, all forms of theft are forbidden by a holy God. Now I'd like for us to step back here and try to find how the place that this commandment is setting in and so I'd like to talk about the context of the Eighth Commandment. We're in the Pentateuch. We're in the five books of Moses. One book, five sections.

Genesis, the theme is beginnings. The message is, I created you. Exodus, the theme is deliverance. The message is, I delivered you. Leviticus, the theme is sanctification.

The message is, I forgave you. Numbers, the theme is wilderness wanderings and the theme is, I carried you. Deuteronomy, the theme is the restatement of the law. And the message is, I governed you with wondrous laws. So we're in the Pentateuch, but we're also in the book of Deuteronomy.

And the book of Deuteronomy is a collection of three speeches, each given by Moses at age 120 at the east side of the Jordan River during the last month of his life. And Moses is speaking to the people, and he is giving them laws that would make them, as he says, a wise and understanding people. God desires to make a wise and understanding people. Not a people that is just like all the other people in this world, but a people who are different. They are wise, and they are understanding, and they are distinct from the rest of the world.

Psalm 144 verse 15, I believe, sums up the message of the book of Deuteronomy. Happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Happy is that people who love his laws. Happy is that people who have submitted to him and not their own passions. And so we're beginning here with this commandment, the second speech of Moses.

So if you look at chapter 5 verse 1 you'll see how we know that this is the second speech the ten commandments are in this second speech and It says in verse one of Moses called all Israel and said to them here Oh Israel the statutes and judgments that I speak in your hearing today that you may learn them and be careful to observe them." So this is the second time he's gathered all the people of Israel together, and now he's giving them the Ten Commandments, and a lot more than that. And so now we're in the Ten Commandments, And the Ten Commandments are divided into two sections. There's what is often called the first table of the law and the second table of the law. The first table shows how that we might love God, and the second table shows how that we might show love to mankind. And so the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me, is a commandment for the loyalties of the heart.

The second commandment, you shall not make for yourself a carved image, is a commandment for the gazing of the eyes and the relationship that we have to images. The third commandment, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, is a commandment for the use of the tongue. The fourth commandment, you shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, is a commandment for the governing of time. The fifth commandment, honor your father and mother, is a commandment for the transgenerational blessing of the family, that it might be well with you and your children for many generations. The sixth commandment, you shall not murder, is a commandment for the sanctity of life.

The seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, is a commandment for the purity of heart and home and the blessings of marriage. The eighth commandment you shall not steal is a commandment for satisfaction with the sovereignty of God for what He's given to you. The ninth commandment you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, is a commandment for the blessing of friends and neighbors. The tenth commandment, you shall not covet, is a commandment for contentment in all things. And So when you read all these, doesn't it bless you to see the kindness of the Lord in all these commandments?

How He comes to sinful mankind and He raises them up into things they never could do on their own. By His commands, He draws them up. He draws them into every beautiful thing. It's so easy for me to relate to David in Psalm 119 when he says, Oh, how I love thy law. It is wonderful.

And so here We've seen the context of this. I'd like for us now to speak of the blessedness of this commandment, because when you recite the commandments, you can just see the beauty of them and the helpfulness of them, how they soothe raging souls, how they help us deal with our sins, how they comfort us in our afflictions. But I would like to speak of the blessedness of this commandment before we begin to deal with the responsibilities of it. And I just want to suggest this one thing here, as sort of a beginning to help us think through this blessedness of this commandment. We see in this commandment, what we see in every one of the commandments, is the picture of the kindness of God and His love preserving nature.

And even this morning, there are many signs of blessing that come from this commandment. Let me just give you a few. We are meeting this morning on private property, and the right to private property is upheld by this commandment. You are blessed at this very moment by this commandment without even perhaps even thinking it through very clearly. We have no bars on the windows of this house because there's a restraining influence of this commandment in the world today.

You can move to other countries. Some of you have come from some of those countries where There are bars and guards everywhere. It's not so here, at least not in this region. It is in different parts of the country and different areas and in the big cities of our nation. But we right now, at this very second, are being blessed.

God is showering his blessing upon us by the fact that we're not in a place where bars are necessary. No one in our congregation has been kidnapped this week or this month or this year or this decade. That's the blessing of this commandment upon society. Since this church began, as far as I know, no one has had their car stolen. Now that may be more of a reflection on our cars than the society.

The family here that lives in this house, married for 27 years, has never had their home broken into anywhere they've ever lived. That's a blessing of this commandment, thou shalt not steal. My cars in the driveway are never locked, and they're certainly not locked on Sunday. The resources that purchased this property were not reduced by unpaid receivables from the company that I used to own. Everybody paid their bills year after year.

I never had any bad receivables. I did have one company go belly up that they gave me all their furniture. They did the best they could. But I've never been stolen from in business, as far as I know. So you can see how much this commandment accomplishes in basic, everyday life that you might just take for granted.

You're driving down the road. You're just going about your business. Every day you're blessed by this commandment. When it's violated, you're cursed. And so we see that this commandment accomplishes much.

And so through this commandment, we have laws that protect our property. Through this commandment, we derive principles that restrain the burning, terrible effects of covetousness in our hearts. Through this commandment, we are delivered from our fears of lack of provision and infused with comforts of His sovereign provision. Through this commandment, God promotes our focus and faithfulness and productivity at work for the blessing of those who have hired us to labor. Through this commandment, God keeps churches from robbing their pastors and tells them to financially provide for ministers that are set aside to labor in the Word of God.

This is a blessing to churches to have someone or a number of people laboring in the Word of God. Through this commandment, God multiplies eternal investment for His people, keeping us from robbing God of tithes and offerings, putting a drain plug on our greed. This commandment accomplishes that. Through this commandment, He fosters behavior with our fellow human beings that preserves the gifts of God that He has given to them. Through this commandment He makes us a blessing to our brothers and sisters with our punctuality and our reliability and our sensitivity about stealing their time.

Through this commandment, he makes men more secure by building protections around their private property. They can plan better. They can know how to spend their time for the enhancement of their property without fear of confiscation. So again we see, like we see in all the other commandments, how beautiful they are, how life-giving they are, how they are such a blessing to mankind. God has given all of his commandments to us so that he would soothe us, that he would care for us.

And so we can say with David, oh how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day. So that's the blessedness of the commandment. Should we go on? I think I could finish the hour on this one point here. But I think we should move on, because there's actually more to say.

What examples are there of people in scripture who are thieves? I'm going to give you 10 examples. There are more, but here are ten examples of thieves in Scripture. We can speak about Jezebel and Ahab, who took the property of Naboth. Ahab wanted his vineyard for a garden, and so he had him killed.

We could speak about Rachel, whose affections and hopes for prosperity from the gods of this world caused her to steal the idols of her father and put them under her saddle. We could speak about Israel and their selfish use of resources, neglecting godly use. That's when Micah the prophet cried out, would you rob God and anyone who does not give of his resources and perhaps even tithe as robbing God. We could speak about Achan, who is greedy after booty from the battle. And he secretly made himself rich from war.

And tragic consequences came upon the children of Israel as a result of that. Achan says, indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. This is what I have done. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels. I coveted them and took them, and there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent with the silver under it.

He looked, He saw, he coveted, and he stole. We could speak of Levi, Matthew, the author of the gospel, the tax collector who used the public system to get the goods of this world. We could speak of Eli's sons who stole from the church. They took more than what they were authorized. We could speak of David and the theft of another man's wife.

Nathan, the prophet who confronted him, likens David's sin to Bathsheba to theft. And Nathan tells a story of theft. And when David hears it, he quotes the commandment regarding punishments for those who would steal. We can speak of Zacchaeus, an example of an unjust government employee, who he stood up after Christ, cared for him and spoke to him. He said, look Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I've taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.

And Jesus said to him, Salvation has come to this house, because he is also a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost. Like Zacchaeus, we are all thieves in one way or another. And the Lord Jesus stands ready for our repentance, that we would cry out to him and pour it out as it really is, instead of hiding behind the way that we've reinterpreted this idea of theft. We can speak about Judas.

Here's a ninth example of one who was a thief. He was pilfering. He was exposed as a thief in John chapter 12, verses 1 through 8. He was in the home of Lazarus after Lazarus had died and Mary poured out valuable oil of spikenard and anointed the feet of Jesus. About a year's salary worth of this ointment.

It was very, very expensive. And Judas Iscariot was indignant. He said, why are you wasting this money? And John makes it clear that he said that for one reason. He didn't say it because he cared for the poor.

He said it because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take from it when money was put into it. And he said, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? We could speak of Satan, number 10, our tenth example of thievery. Jesus says, the thief does not come in except to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly.

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. And Jesus says, But I'm the good shepherd, I know my sheep, and am known by my own.

So Satan is the great thief. He is the great klepto. He is the source of all thievery of every kind. And we would find ourselves tempted to steal. We would be finding ourselves in the devil's territory.

So these are examples, ten examples of thieves in the Bible. Now, let's go to the next point. What broad principles are there that scripture teaches on this subject? I'm going to give you seven principles. And five of them are terrifying, and two of them are encouraging.

So first, the terrifying five. And then we'll go to those that are perhaps more encouraging to our souls. In Proverbs chapter 1, verses 10 through 19, We learn that theft takes away life, that it takes away your life. Young men get a short course in Proverbs 1 where we learn that theft sets its own traps and takes away the life of those who do it. And the analysis is this, but they lie in wait for their own blood.

They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners. It takes away your life. My father-in-law was a missionary in South America, where there were monkeys in jungles and Amazon rivers and all kinds of things like that.

And he tells a story of the natives in their attempts to catch monkeys, that they would set out a bottle with either food or an object with the neck of the bottle just the right size for the monkey's hand to get in. And they would be entrapped because the monkey would set his hand inside the bottle and grab it and he wanted it so badly he would not let it go and he was trapped and he would be killed and that's that's the trap that we find here for thievery it takes away the life of its owners it may look glittery, it may look like a benefit, but it's not at all. It traps, it destroys. Here's a second principle, second terrifying principle. It argues against accumulation.

Matthew 6.19, we learn that the reality of theft should teach us something about possessions. That we do not lay them up and that we should not have affection for them and that we should be content and not worry about either having them or losing them. Jesus says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Here we are, we're back to thieves again here. Thieves show up when you multiply possessions He says no, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys And where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is There will your heart be also then Jesus in this in this passage he ties the whole matter of stealing to contentment.

And it's all tied to the laying up of treasures on this earth. And he says in Matthew 6.25, therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body for what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? And Jesus is comforting his disciples. At the same time, he's reminding them, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth because they might get stolen.

And then the third principle is that the consequences are disastrous. Proverbs 6, 30-31. Solomon tells us that when a starving person steals, that perhaps we should have compassion on him but there still needs to be punishment. He says in Proverbs 30 verse 30, people do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found he must restore sevenfold.

He may have to give up all the substance of his house. To deal lawfully with theft is to engage in returning those goods, in this case, sevenfold. Now there are a number of places where we see the laws regarding making restitution, But theft is devastating because the payback is far greater than any of the gain that we might get from it. There is a lawful payback for what we have stolen. Next we see that there's a hindrance in prayer.

This is a terrifying result as well. In Proverbs 28, 8, one who increases his possessions by usury and extortion gathers it from him who will pity the poor. One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Here he's saying that if you turn your ear away from the law regarding theft, then God will not hear your prayers. That's a terrifying situation. And then fifth, it's futile.

Proverbs 20 17 speaks really of the stupidity of it because of its lousy effect, that it does no good. Bread gained by deceit is sweet to man. But afterward, his mouth will be filled with gravel. How do you like the taste of that? Was that theft really satisfying, or do you have gravel?

I'm confident that there's gravel grinding here this morning, and what will we do with that? And then the sixth principle is not a terrifying principle but it's so reflective of the mercy of God. In Proverbs, I mean in Ephesians 4, 28, we learn that we can escape it. 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. This is a command that one can make progress toward.

Let him who steal, steal no longer. And then the seventh principle that is encouraging is that it is connected to love. The Eighth Commandment is quoted by Paul when he says that the command is fulfilled by love your neighbor. In Romans 13, 7 through 10, he says, therefore render all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs are due, fear to fear. And he speaks of the various commandments.

You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal. And he says, if there's any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Whenever anyone repents, turns away from theft, he finds himself in that blessed world of love.

He transports himself to the place that God has made for his people, the place of love. So these are particular principles, seven of them, five terrifying and six more heartwarming and encouraging. And then the next section that I would like for us to enter into are specific examples of this sin, specific examples of this sin. Now broadly let me just say two things. Theft is expressed in two expressions.

One is Taking something that someone else has earned or received. Got that? Taking something someone else has earned or received. And secondly, it is withholding what you owe. Now, I'm going to give now 38 examples of the violation of this commandment.

Are you ready? Imperialism, stealing a country from the inhabitants. Number two, communism, destroying private ownership and private property is prohibited. You know, this principle is expressed in different ways. With communism, the government owns all property.

In feudalism, the property is owned by a small group. In tribalism, property is owned by the tribe instead of individuals. I would just like to suggest that there's a biblical view of property, and it's neither of those. Number three, wealth confiscated by high taxation or other means of taking wealth from individuals. We are absolutely obligated to pay taxes.

Would that we all lived in 1900 where the highest tax rate was 1%. Would that we lived in the days of Samuel, 1 Samuel 8.15, when Samuel warned the people of this terrible thing that was going to happen, that the king was going to take 10%. Don't get a king. They'll take 10% of your income. Would that we live in the days of Joseph, who imposed a 20% tax on those to save the world.

The modern tax rates are interesting in comparison to this. We can wax eloquently about the sins of our administration and the theft of our government toward the citizens of the United States. But the truth is this, that those sins are really our own sins just made more public. And the sins of individuals show up nationally. So there is wealth confiscated by high taxation.

Number four, insurance fraud, claiming damages that were never made or exaggerating the value of a loss. Number five, lawsuits that go too far. You know, a friend of mine was helping a trash collector one day, and the bucket went up and he was helping him get stuff together. The bucket went up and the operator brought it down and it smashed him in the head. He was there bleeding on the ground and he had many friends saying, you can own the city of Raleigh now, you know.

And of course, of course he knew that and he called up the head of the trash collecting company. And he said, are you aware that this accident took place, that I was in the hospital, and that I'm having problems? Yes, we did know that. Do you know the name of the operator who hurt me? Yes, we know the name of the operator who hurt you.

He said, and then he said this, if you fire that man, I will sue the city of Raleigh. It was an accident. It was my fault. I walked under that thing. You know, we often, you know, we wrongfully see an opportunity and perhaps take it farther than we ought to and we bend the truth for our own gain.

Number six, computer theft unlawfully downloading software, music or videos. Number seven, employer theft, Taking more time from an employee than agreed upon, and thereby defrauding him by reducing his agreed upon wage. Number eight, employee theft through laziness, wastefulness, dishonesty, unfaithfulness, with commitments. Gaining the system and not taking one's responsibilities at work seriously. Number nine, Plagiarism, communicating something without giving its source.

Number 10. Time theft, late people often steal the time of others. Credit theft, credit card charges we never intend to pay. Number 12. Failure to report income or purchases.

Number 13. Government theft. Did you see the article in Newsweek Magazine? We're all socialists now. That is probably true, but it speaks of how governments steal.

They take from one person by force and they give it to another. Our welfare system is based on this. Think of the whole problem of eminent domain, the government thief who steals private property from its citizens. Ezekiel 46, 18 speaks to this. Moreover, the prince shall not take away of the people's inheritance by evicting them from their property.

Is that clear enough? That's the heart of God on the matter. Civil magistrates who don't understand that are breaking the law of God when they when they take property for their own gain. Number 14, let's talk about Keynesian economics, big discussion, where you have massive government spending to bail out an economy out of a recession or depression. The government borrows money from nowhere to pay for services that will never be paid back.

That's Keynesian economics. We could speak of egalitarianism. Everyone should have the same. We could talk about workplace sloth wasting time. We could talk about workplace distraction, internet surfing.

Somebody was telling me there's a game that has a button called the boss button. You're playing a game at work, and if you hit the boss button really quickly, a spreadsheet shows up on the screen, and it looks like you're working. Looking at internet sites that have nothing to do with what God has given resources to pay you to do. That's theft. That's employee theft.

I read somewhere the other day that about 30% of people's time today is spent in the workplace looking at internet sites that have nothing to do with the job that they've been charged to do. I don't know what the real number is, but it's astonishing what people are doing with their little boss buttons. We could talk about churches stealing from ministers. In Deuteronomy chapter 25-4 we read, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads on the grain. And then the Apostle Paul quotes this as the proof for why ministers should be paid who are laboring in the Word of God.

In 1 Corinthians 9, 3 through 14 he does it, and then he speaks to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, 17 about it as well. And the principle that Paul is getting at is those who labor deserve wages. And he quotes the words of Jesus from Luke 10, the labor deserves as wages, and jumps back to Deuteronomy and this principle of theft. Martin Luther, when he quoted this verse, he said, does God care for oxen? What does God care for oxen?

He says, Luther says this, oxen can't read. This must not be for oxen. This is for people. And that's exactly the truth. The principle of the oxen really had to do with how you treat people, specifically ministers.

Number 19, robbing God, Malachi 3, 8-12. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me in tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me. Even this whole nation.

Is it well? Is it well with us? Is it not well because we've been robbing God, thinking that we can get our way in the world better by not giving of our resources? Number 20, the church thief who robs the church of resources. You can read about this in Haggai 1 verse 2.

Number 21, robbing the government, Romans 13, 6 through 7. You might not like the way that the government uses your funds, but God commands you to pay your taxes in Romans 13. Therefore, to render all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs are due. Doesn't that just grate at you? Well, it really should cause a different reaction, because God has called us to pay what is due of our taxes.

We could speak of the deception of customers, number 22. Number 23, robbing the widow, Isaiah 1, 17. We could talk about the business thief in Amos Chapter 8, verse 5, who falsifies the scales by deceit. Or in Hosea 12.7, a cunning Canaanite. Deceitful scales are in his hands.

He loves to oppress. Number 25, the borrower who never intends to pay back. Psalm 37, 21. 2 Thessalonians 312. The receiver of stolen goods.

That's another category of theft. The unhappy penny pincher. Unhappy with God's provision. Provision, he takes what he can to get just a little bit more ahead, a paperclip, a piece of food, just something that he thinks will sustain him. We could talk about the attorney who desires to get more than his fair share.

We could talk about the fiat money taker, currency that the government has declared to be legal tender, despite the fact it has no intrinsic value. It's not backed by anything. By the way, the dollars that are in your bank accounts and in your pockets are this kind. They're not backed by anything. Historically, currencies were based on physical commodities like gold and silver, But fiat money is based on nothing.

It's based on printing. And we have that party going on quite strongly here in our own nation. In contrast, fiduciary money, You have fiat money and you have fiduciary money. Fiduciary money is backed by something real, and it can be redeemed. The problem with fiat money is that the truth is you hit times where It can't be redeemed.

You go in to get something for it, and it's not good for anything. That can be through hyperinflation, or the collapse of a bank, or whatever. But this is a form of theft. Genuine value is a delight to the Lord. And there are a number of passages of scripture that speak of just balances and just weights and just ephahs and just hymn Leviticus 19 35 to 36.

You can read about it there. You can go to Deuteronomy 25, 13 to 16, and speak of those who have a bag of diverse weights, great and small, and how people cheat one another. You're familiar with Norman Rockwell? We have a Norman Rockwell book in this house somewhere. And it's a big giant book.

And in it is a picture of a woman and a storekeeper. And there's a scale in the middle and something is being weighed that will be purchased. And the shop owner has his finger on one side pushing it down and the woman is pushing it up on the other side. Those are diverse weights and measures to try to get a good deal. Let me read you what Thomas Jefferson warned.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. This issuing power should be taken from banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation. Then the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of the money corporations which already dare to challenge our government to a trial of strength to bid defiance to the laws of our country." That was Thomas Jefferson. Well let's get back to our list. There are various forms of theft listed in Exodus 22. Exodus 22 is a corneacopia of situations where theft might be engaged. There's night theft.

There's theft of natural resources when your animal grazes on someone else's property. What are you going to do to restore him what was stolen by your hungry animal? There's the destruction of property by fire. And there are rules and regulations about what happens when your property gets burned in somebody else's place, storing someone else's goods and they are stolen or destroyed. We come to a general rule in Exodus 22.

You pay double. That's the general rule. You can read it more carefully if you'd like. We can speak about lending an animal, and if it dies or is lost, no restitution is required. Number 35, borrowing in certain cases can end up as theft.

Number 36, enticing a single woman or a betrothed woman is likened to theft. Number 37, lending to a poor brother with interest. Number 38, borrowing your neighbor's garment. All these are different ways that theft can be incited. Perhaps not all in themselves, but they can end up that way, depending on the way that people behave.

So those are 38 different ways. I'm sure there are many more. Oh, the heart can invent them so many different ways. We should also talk about the worldviews that challenge this commandment. There is a Christian worldview regarding resources and theft.

There's a Marxist view of possessions that overthrows it. And there are many forms of this at work in world philosophies. We have environmentalists who make property under the ownership of animals and even plants. But there is a biblical view of property, and it includes the doctrine of theft. And then, what are the punishments and remedies for stealing?

Generally, repentance and restitution. Proportions of restitution are noted in a number of places in Scripture. A man-stealer, a kidnapper, is to be put to death in Numbers chapter 21 verse 16, or I'm sorry in Exodus 21 16. And so here we find a tremendous amount of detail as we scan across scripture about this sin of stealing. And God has it for us that we would turn away from all theft.

Every form of theft contradicts the law of God and the love of God. And so what should we do here this morning? We should allow the piercing, scanning work of the Holy Spirit to see if we've stolen anything that needs to be restored to the person we've stolen it from. I pray that we would be a people who have clear consciences in this regard. There are perhaps known thefts here even among us, And what would we do about that?

We would go and repent, and we would restore. Now, there are so many thefts, I believe, that are a part of our thinking, our time use, our work life, everything that we do. There are ones that we might call little thefts, And none of us escape the condemnation of this commandment. I'm confident of that. And what do we do in a situation like this?

There are really two things that I would just want to recommend. One, let's let God do a perfect work in us here this morning. We would allow this time to help us to see any ways that we have been thieves to our employers, to our spouses, to our neighbors, to our friends, anyways, and that God would help us, that he would raise all of us up into a faithful people, not a thieving people at all, but that we would seek the Lord here. You may not have shoplifted today, but the Lord Jesus Christ has much more to say in these commandments than whether you stab someone or palm something physically. He brings it to the heart, and he asks us to examine our hearts that we might see if there's any wicked way in us.

Because God does desire to build up for himself a wise and understanding people. He desires to place a people on the earth who live differently, who act differently. But what is their difference characterized by? Love, because all of the commandments are summed up by love. Here's our only comfort in this world with this subject before us.

And please, this is perhaps the most important aspect of all of these principles, and that is, even though it is true that none of us have kept this commandment. Even though all of us stand guilty of rejecting the commandments of God, we've raged against His sovereignty and wanted more than He has given us and we've stolen it. We thought that we could make our way through theft when in fact he loved us and promised never to leave us or forsake us. In the midst of that, we know this, that Christ kept this commandment perfectly. None of us have ever kept this commandment perfectly.

But the Lord Jesus Christ has received all of our punishment because He did keep this commandment perfectly. And so all of us, when we read this commandment, have to short circuit all of our thinking to the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for all of our sins because He did keep this commandment and we could not keep it for ourselves in our own hearts or in our own lives. And so he rose up and he kept it for us, so that the punishments for this sin would be laid upon him, And that he would set us free so that there would be another day that we could live and move and experience the blessings of his great commandments. And that we would say like David, oh how I love thy law, how it rescues me, how it blesses me. And back to the principle that we've been communicating so many times in this study, that God would have for us to gather here in this place and to become the fulfillment of what is said in Deuteronomy 529.

Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they might fear me and always keep all my commandments that it might be well with them and with their children forever. Let's pray. Oh Lord we thank you for the for the piercing quality of your Word how you you will not let us wallow in our sins but you call us up higher and higher. Lord, please don't leave us where we were when we walked in, but rise in us of faithfulness toward you and toward one another that would declare your love from one generation to the next. In Jesus' name, Amen.