Tonight, for our Scripture reading, I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 4, and we will read through chapter 5, verse 2, with our particular focus on chapter 4, verse 28. We, at times, read this portion of Scripture in our consideration of the law in our morning service, the law from the New Testament. We know that Paul is talking to the Ephesian believers there about what their life is to be like in Christ Jesus. And we read this tonight in connection with our consideration of the Heidelberg Catechism, specifically the Ten Commandments, the Eighth Commandment, Lord's Day 42, if you would also turn to page 54. And I think it does us well also to remember that we find the Catechism's consideration of the law of God in the third section. A section of gratitude that we are to live out our gratitude to God for what he has done for us in Christ Jesus through obedience to his law. Indeed, keeping from that which God forbids, but also as the Catechism beautifully points out to us with each of the commandments, showing us what God requires with regard to each of the commandments. So, we'll begin with the Catechism, Lord's Day 42, the bottom of page 54, top of page 55 as we give testimony to what we believe concerning these things. Question 110 asks, what does God forbid in the Eighth Commandment? He forbids not only outright theft and robbery punishable by law, but in God's sight, theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume, fraudulent merchandising, counterfeit money, excessive interest, or any other means forbidden by God. In addition, He forbids all greed and pointless squandering of His gifts. What does God require of you in this commandment? That I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good, that I treat him as I would like others to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need. Ephesians 4, beginning at verse 17. Hear now the Word of God. So I tell you this and insist on it into the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires and to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor for we are all members of one body. In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And there ends the reading of God's Word. May He add His blessing to it. Again, verse 28, He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, experience an amazing transformation. we talked about that a little bit this morning but an amazing transformation of heart that's what Paul says in Ephesians 2 verses 4 and 5 but because of his great love for us God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions an amazing transformation from death to life and then Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. And we need to understand that that does not contradict what Paul says in Ephesians 4 when he says, to put off your old self and to put on the new self. Indeed, the old has gone. That old heart of stone is gone by the grace of God and that new heart of flesh has been given to God's people. But we also understand that regeneration, that new birth that God's people experience. Regeneration does not magically then make one perfect all of a sudden. But indeed, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He sets one's life through regeneration. He sets one's life in a new direction. Our salvation is in Christ, as Paul makes clear to the Ephesian believers. No one and nothing can change that. No one and nothing can take that away. But in Him, our Christian life, as Paul makes clear, is to be constantly changing. Constantly put off the old. Constantly put on the new. You see, by new birth, we stand in a new relationship with God and to His law. We no longer stand under the curse of God's law. Jesus Christ has taken the entire curse upon Himself. And therefore, the law of God becomes the believer's desire. It is His delight. It is how He shows forth His gratitude. But the believer also then stands in a new relationship with his neighbor. And the second table of the law, we know, teaches how we are to live with each other. And that second table, you know, covers the totality of my neighbor. It covers his honor. It covers his life. It covers his body. It covers his reputation. And as Paul makes clear, as believers, we are called to put off that which would be disobedient to the law of God, and we are called to put on that which promotes obedience and love. And as the believer grows in grace, he comes to understand more and more that old self which is to be put off more and more. He comes to understand as he goes through this life that that former life, which he thought was maybe okay, that he thought was just fine, that before God it really isn't. And that life too is to be transformed. And that transformation includes the believer's perspective not only with regard to his neighbor's life and honor and body and reputation, but also it includes the believer's perspective on the possessions of others. As we see here, along with a number of other commandments, Paul addresses the Eighth Commandment, stealing in our text. For the Ephesian believers, their old life, and many of them, boys and girls, were slaves, and they were still slaves after they had been converted. Some were not. But even with regard to the culture of that day, and especially those who were slaves, stealing was a common practice. They were brought up in it. It was a way of life. In a sense, it was all they knew. It was normal. A habit, a custom. And after their conversion, many of them still did not realize that there was anything wrong with stealing. In fact, those who were slaves, they probably thought that in some respect that if they stole from their masters, it was okay because it was really owed to them because their masters didn't always treat them so well. They didn't really pay them a fair wage. And therefore, it was owed to them. It was okay. But Paul teaches here that stealing is sin. Stealing is a violation of God's requirement of the believer with regard to his neighbor. And instead, God commands promoting my neighbor's good. Now, this is the positive side of the Eighth Commandment, as the Catechism makes clear. And Paul points that out as he points out the way of the old self, not only with stealing, with stealing, as we're focusing on tonight, with the other things too. He points out the old way of the old self, in this sense, stealing, contrasted with the way of the new self, which is working and giving. And he highlights the hands. With your hands. Because the hands are included in all three, aren't they? And therefore, we are called to promote our neighbor's good, or we might say to promote our neighbor's goods, through hands closed to stealing, through hands filled with work, and also through hands open for giving. Paul begins the text again, He who has been stealing must steal no longer. And his command here is really to stop an action in progress. This is how dangerous it was for the Ephesian believers. Some were still prone to steal. Some faced a real threat of falling back into it. But instead, as Paul says to Titus in Titus 2, verses 9 and 10, teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them not to talk back to them and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. Christian slaves were not to steal from their masters, but instead they were to promote their masters' good and their goods. They were to take care of them. They were to seek the best for their master and thereby to point them to Jesus Christ. But with regard to stealing, notice its corruption and its deceitful desires are seen in its definition, the description of stealing. Very simply, boys and girls, you know what stealing is. I know that you know. We all know. Stealing, very simply, is taking something that belongs to someone else, not to me, but taking it and making it my own. And think of those hands again. It's a picture of the hands reaching out and taking and in greed, pulling back towards myself. That's the picture of the hands with stealing. Not reaching out with hands open, trusting God to fill them. But we must also notice the broad scope of stealing because it's more than what we would normally think of. Answer 110 begins, He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law. He forbids not only that which is reported on the evening news. I suspect that not any of us, at least I hope not any of us, are into that hardcore kind of stealing anyway. And that's why, in a sense, that's the kind that we normally think of. But there's also subtle stealing. There is subtle stealing that is never seen by man. It flies under the radar, we might say. Yet it is clearly seen by God, whom, as the psalmist in Psalm 139 says, knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. And He is familiar with all of our ways, as the psalmist says. The catechism goes on in answer 110, but in God's sight, theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume, fraudulent merchandising, counterfeit money, excessive interest, or any other means forbidden by God. In addition, He forbids all greed and pointless squandering of His gifts. There's all kinds of subtle stealing, including of possessions. Again, some of the possessions that are stolen are people like to steal money. People like to steal cars. Boys and girls, sometimes boys and girls steal each other's toys. Anything that you can physically grab onto and hold onto. But also, again, the subtle stuff, cheating and fraud. We think of investment schemes like the Ponzi scheme. Or if you sell a car to someone and you tell the buyer, this car is in great shape, when you know that it's not in great shape. Or overcharging for products that are more than the value. or charging for work that has not been done, or tax evasion, or employers not paying your employers a livable wage or an honest day's wage for an honest day's work, or employees not doing the honest day's work for the day's pay that you are receiving, or even stealing from, even little things from the office or from the job site. After all, they won't miss it. And of course, you and I know that we could sit here lists countless things and ways in which stealing takes place. But the Catechism is showing us also that the stealing takes place from others, from another, not only in material ways, but in non-material ways. And really, the other commandments in the second table of the law address this. You can steal one's reputation through gossip. You can steal one's spouse through adultery. You can steal one's innocence through rape. You can steal one's life through murder or as we're used to hearing today, through identity theft. And all of these types of theft still are in some way meant to benefit the thief. And probably even worse, in ways that we don't even think about, it is stealing from God. The catechism points that out. The abuse and the squandering of His gifts, including the material goods that He gives, the food that we have, time, talents, and all that He gives to us, simply wasting these things or not using them in a way that is pleasing to Him, but instead using them for sin. The description of stealing very simply is taking something that belongs to someone else, not me, and making it my own. And the motivation of stealing then includes selfishness, a desire to have, a desire to possess what I want, And then to fulfill my desires in whatever way is necessary and that too is motivated by laziness. Stealing is a desire to have without the effort. Without the work. Without the labor. To have the maximum, but to do the minimum. And that's demonstrated so clearly in our society today through get-rich-quick schemes. We think of the lottery. Why do people want to win big in the lottery? If you ask them, what is the first thing that you're going to do if you win the lottery, it's not go to Disneyland usually. It's usually I'm going to quit my job. And we see this laziness demonstrated also in those taking advantage of welfare, which is meant for legitimate needs. But so many don't want to work. So they take advantage of welfare or government bailouts or simply the attitude that if you suffer some sort of a loss, maybe from a natural disaster like a hurricane, that somebody ought to replace what you have lost because it's owed to me, you see. This all then points to a lack of contentment. Not being satisfied with God's intent for man, which is work. And not being content with what God has seen fit to give to me. And therefore, the ultimate motivation behind stealing is indeed wickedness, beloved. Stealing does not honor all things as belonging to God, nor does it recognize God as the giver of every good and perfect gift. Stealing is a violation against God who gives. It is characteristic of wickedness and not of the holiness with which man was created. The older version of the Catechism says it a little bit more strongly. It speaks of wicked schemes and devices. And Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6, he includes thieves, along with the adulterers, as we considered a couple of weeks ago, and homosexuals and others. He includes thieves, unrepentant thieves, among the wicked who will not inherit the kingdom of God. And stealing, then, causes destruction. Stealing shows a complete lack of respect for others and their possessions, not to mention it demonstrates a complete lack of trust in God to provide for you and me. It destroys trust and unity and fellowship among men. We know that because we have to lock our houses and our cars up tight and our lockers as school students. Stealing promotes skepticism and fear and a lack of trust, not to mention anarchy, every man for himself. Stealing violates love for God and for our neighbor that believers are called to have and it violates the order with which God created all things. And Paul says, stop. He says, don't even think about it. Why? Simply because what God gives to others does not belong to you. Because God has not seen fit to give it to you and if God has not seen fit to give it to you, it is not for your good. and stealing does not fit the portrait of the Christian. The one who experiences that amazing transformation in Christ Jesus and therefore one whose relationship with his neighbor includes promoting his good in the second place through hands filled with work. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with his own hands. The catechism says work faithfully. And I think we can consider this in four ways. Hands filled with work providentially, habitually, satisfactorily, and meaningfully. First of all, hands filled with work providentially. Work is the God-ordained means by which He ordinarily provides for man's physical needs. God provides. And He ordinarily provides through meaningful labor. In 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, Paul, in the context of giving a warning against idleness, says, If a man will not work, he shall not eat. And in Proverbs 20, verse 4, we read, A slugger does not plant in season, so at harvest time he looks, but finds nothing. And in Proverbs 21, verse 25, The slugger's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. Pointing out the danger of laziness. But faithful labor is the way opened by God, beloved, through which He provides for you and me in this life. And that labor is to be done habitually. you see god gave man his work assignment before the fall and that work was good it did not have the connotation that our work has today that work was good and that work was to be a rule of life something that was to be a habit of life continually like the ant of proverb six go to the ant you sluggard consider its ways and be wise it stores its provisions in the summer and gathers its food at harvest. Promoting our neighbor's good through hands filled with work providentially and habitually and also satisfactorily. What I don't mean by that is that simply a little bit above average. Just good enough. What I mean is this, even though affected by sin, work is still dignifying. And work still satisfies. It satisfies with a good tired. You see, the word for work here that Paul uses means to work with effort to the point of being tired. The kind of tired then which gives satisfaction. You know what that's all about. When you've done a good day's work, when you have produced something, there is satisfaction then of going to bed tired from hard work. Not going to bed as a sluggard or a parasite living off of others. But with that good tired that satisfies. But there is also satisfaction of living off of our labors as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2. The hard-working farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. And then the fourth description is that hands filled with work meaningfully. Paul says doing something useful. It's also translated doing something good. But there are two ideas that I believe have merit how we ought to consider this. First of all, doing what is good, meaning doing labor that is good. Honest labor. Without harm to anyone. And that honest labor then, providing what is good. Not meaningless work with no value for mankind. And therefore, work that is not harmful, that is not illegal, that does not promote sin. It does not lead to immorality. See, beloved, very simply there are some occupations that are not fitting for Christians. But instead, meaningful work. Work that benefits mankind and benefits this life but ultimately glorifies God and work that we are able to do before Him as unto Him and doing it without any embarrassment before Him. Promoting our neighbor's good through hands filled with work. And again, we ordinarily think of our daily jobs that God has given to us But this also means, I believe, that we are to get to work respecting others. With regard to this commandment, respecting their lives, respecting their possessions, and also honoring God through His provision of work. And then finally, promoting our neighbor's good through hands open, forgiving. The text again says, He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. And question 11 asks, What does God require of you in this commandment? That I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good. That I treat him as I would like others to treat me. And that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need. Notice that phrase there, that I treat him as I would like others to treat me. I suspect that often in our dealings with people, we don't often think about that. especially when we are treating them in a way that we ought not to treat them. And indeed, we are to remember that as we deal with others, that we are to treat them as we would like them to treat us. But notice, too, that the Eighth Commandment is not just a moral teaching that stops at not stealing. There are plenty of unbelievers who do not steal, and also plenty of unbelievers who work and share. but in a specific way, true Christianity. And there's a motive for it, but true Christianity not only stops stealing, but it starts working. It starts sharing. There is a generosity unknown to the world among true Christianity. And we are to notice here a principle of stewardship. Why do I possess things? Not like a thief. Simply for myself. but I hold them for the giver. And I use them as He desires. I understand that my very life is from Him. My inheritance is in Him, and all that I have comes from Him for this life and the life to come. I am a guardian, a custodian, a steward of God's gifts and resources which He enables and allows me to earn. You see, beloved, work generates income and wealth. And you know, God has a use for that too. And I suspect for the boys and girls and the young people, this is where it gets a little bit difficult when you get your allowance possibly, or you do some work for mom and dad and they pay you for it. Or young people, if you get a job and you get your first paycheck, ha, it's mine. Oh, it's all mine. No. well, God has a use for that too. My provision, to be sure, and also my enjoyment, but not for my overindulgence. Not to squander simply as I see fit, but to share, to give away. You know, we live in a day of economic woes. in a way that many of us here have never experienced ever before. But those economic woes, beloved, are not to cause us to stop giving and sharing, first of all. Sadly, that's what happens. The giving in the churches goes down. And you've probably read in the newspapers, too, or heard on the news, so many charitable organizations are struggling because the giving is down. For some reason, even as believers, we think that in times of tightness, we are to stop giving and sharing first of all. But that's not what we are to do first of all. But instead, to cut the fat out of our lives. To cut the luxuries out, the things that we don't need. And the reason is that because even in times of economic woes, the number of the needy increases. And therefore, the giving ought to increase out of concern for others. Now, this is not income redistribution that Paul is talking about. He says those in need, and what is not included in that word need is one who is lazy, one who is a sluggard, one who is a freeloader, who doesn't want to work. We are to encourage them and maybe even help them to find work if possible. But they are not included in what Paul is talking about here. That word need, he is talking about those who can't work because of age or because of sickness or because of handicap or because they have temporarily lost their work. Paul says that we are to continue to work in order to continue to have in order to continue to give to those in need. He doesn't say only when the economy is good, only when your checkbook is nice and fat. But especially when the economy is difficult and there are many out there who are suffering from needs. Continue to work that you might continue to have by the blessing of God, that you might continue to be ready to share with those who have need. Indeed, there are limitations, as the Catechism points out, whatever I can do, and so that I may share. Sometimes you may not have the resources, but yet we have to be careful because we always seem to be able to find the resources when we really want something. But sometimes we might not have the resources, but then we can help in other ways as we talked about with mercy, maybe with a meal or a ride or child care or doing somebody's yard, they're mowing, whatever the case might be. Sometimes you might not have the resources and sometimes we must refuse if what is being asked for would not benefit the one who is asking or if it is not lawful. There are limitations. Yet, beloved, promoting our neighbor's good through hands open and forgiving is the rule of the Christian's life. The believer is willing, like the early church, to help each other out even if the believer has to sell something in order to do it, like the early church. Why? Because of the pattern and because of the gift of Jesus Christ. Again, going back to Paul's whole motive here, because of who you are in Christ, because of what you have in Christ, and for us too, our gratitude. Because of all that God has unselfishly given to us. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul talks about this very thing with regard to Christ. He says, have the mind that is in Christ Jesus. Our interests are not to be our own selfish interests. Christ's interests, he makes clear, were for others, for you and for me. And not only did He not steal, but He also did not hold on to what was His in a greedy, selfish way. Meaning, the glory of heaven. He gave up the glory of heaven. He came down. He took on our human nature. He gave Himself all the way to death. And Paul says in another place, for our sakes He became poor. You see, beloved, Jesus' greatest work was for our greatest need to promote and secure our good. And He continues even now. Through His Son, God demonstrated His generosity and he had proven that he alone gives all that we need for this life and the next. Paul quotes Jesus as saying, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And indeed, beloved, his gift of himself resulted in our eternal blessing, including the forgiveness of all of our sin, even stealing. In Christ Jesus, we are called, as Paul says in chapter 5, the beginning of it, Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. As imitators of Jesus Christ, we are called to promote our neighbor's good, expressing the love of Jesus Christ and through my meager gifts and my meager help, giving them a glimpse of and pointing them to the eternal life giver. Dear people of God, what an amazing transformation from death to life. And therefore, may we look forward to that day in the glory of heaven when we will be in the glory of heaven, when we will also no longer steal from God's glory through sin, but as new creatures in Christ, we will then give to Him forever perfect love and obedience and praise. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we do pray that You would continue to drive from us, far from us, the things that continue to stick to us from our old nature, from the old man of sin. Empower us by Your Holy Spirit to put these things off more and more. Indeed, Father, You have given to us so generously, so bountifully. We have no reason to steal. And Father, may we not steal from others, not in open, bold ways, not in subtle ways, but instead to have generous hearts even as You have been generous with us and You have given to us life itself forever. Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. We thank You for that which You have to teach us day by day as we grow in faith. And through these things, we pray that You will continue to draw us as Your people closer to Yourself. Hear us, we ask for Jesus' sake, and in His name alone, Amen.