I invite you to turn with me this morning to 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6 as we read verses 3 through the end of the chapter. We read this in connection with our consideration this morning of the 8th commandment as summarized by the Heidelberg Catechism. 1 Timothy 6 beginning at verse 3 as we give our attention to the Word of God. If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and the godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of corrupt mind who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God who gives life to everything and of Christ Jesus who, while testifying before Pontius Pilate, made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time. God, the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to Him be honor and might forever. Amen. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant or to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you. And please turn also in the back of the Psalter hymnal to Lord's Day 42, page 54. Page 54, the bottom and the top of page 55 as we confess together what we believe concerning questions and answers 110 and 111. Lord's Day 42, page 54. 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 the 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. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you know, we have been dealing with the commandments of God that have a direct bearing on loving our neighbor as ourselves, the second table of the law. And I trust that as we have considered these commandments, that you have recognized that these commandments stress what each of us owes our neighbor and not what we can expect from them. They deal with what we are to give and not to worry about what we can get. And this, of course, is true with all of the commandments in the second table, but this is probably seen most clearly when we talk about stealing. See, each of us has so much. We are rich. Of course, some more than others. Yet according to the world's standards, even the poorest among us here is wealthy. And for that reason, the commandment you shall not steal might be applied somewhat differently to you and me than it might be applied to Christians in third world countries who can barely put bread on the table. It might be applied to us who have so much applied to our possessions in one way, whereas it's applied differently to those who don't have much of anything. Yet one thing is the same, and that is as Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourself, also in his possessions. And since this commandment deals with material things, therefore, in a sense, daily life with labor and work and cares are taken into the church and placed and brought before the face of God. And beloved, we are challenged to examine ourselves to see if indeed we serve God more than we serve mammon. More than we serve money, possessions, or things. Once again, as with the other commandments, this commandment too is for a redeemed people. Those whose hearts have been graciously transformed from only being able to steal to giving in the name of Jesus. I preach to you this Word of God. Grateful living. We've been considering the commandments under this theme. Grateful living. And in this case, grateful living demonstrated through the proper attitude toward possessions. And we are called, beloved, to recognize the true owner of all things. And we are called to keep away from the forbidden fruit and we are called to work for the benefit of others. But we must begin by taking our stand on the truth that God is the ultimate owner and possessor of all things. This is the clear teaching of Scripture. Paul says this in 1 Timothy 6.17, that God richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. As well as the psalmist says in Psalm 24, The earth is the Lord's in all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. And in Psalm 50, the Lord says, For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. Of course, this is just a small sample of text, But we are called to recognize that God is the true owner of all things. Everything belongs to Him because He is the maker of heaven and earth. But then we also know that God has given the earth to man to care for and to manage for him on his behalf. In Genesis 2, man, Adam was to tend and keep the Garden of Eden. He was given dominion over creation. God gives us possessions which we call our own in relation to other people. My clothes are my clothes and your clothes are your clothes. We could go on down the list. But in truth, all that we have belongs to God and we are called upon to care for all that He gives us and to use all that He gives us, not according to our own wishes and our own desires, but according to God's will. Boys and girls, God has given you your toys to call your own. Yet these toys belong to Him and you are to use them properly. It means that you are to share them. You are to take care of them. You don't purposely destroy them. And congregation, God has given to us, for example, that possession that we call time. And we are to be stewardly users of that time. Of course, we can't even begin in a few short minutes to list all of the gifts and all of the different kinds of gifts that God has given to us. There are physical, tangible gifts that we hold in our hands as well. There are intangible gifts, again, like time or the gift of encouragement or the gift of hospitality, or we can talk about talents and abilities, wisdom, personality, gentleness, and many things like that. But the point is, these all come from God. They all belong to Him. And they are given to us as a trust. They are entrusted to us to manage and to use for God's glory and honor. The catechism makes us clear when it forbids all greed and pointless squandering of His gifts. The older version speaks of abuse and waste of His gifts. You see, being a steward for God is an exalted, but at the same time a responsible position because one day He will call all of us to give an account of our stewardship for Him. The parable of the talents where different servants were giving different quantities of talents to see what they would do with them reminds us of that. God spreads His possessions over mankind and indeed some receive in thicker and greater measure than others, but we are all called to be content with that which God gives us to manage. To be content. Contentment deals with the things that we have and the desire of our hearts with regard to these things. And contentment means to be satisfied and contented with our present possessions which have been acquired, brought into our possession honestly. And it means to patiently as well, to patiently and quietly endure poverty and other inconveniences and not to desire what does not belong to us or that which is unnecessary for us. That's contentment. Paul calls us to this in Philippians 4. For I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Can we say that we are truly content? That we are truly content in every situation? Sickness or health? Riches or in poverty? At this point, congregation, we need to make it clear that the stewardship and contentment are only possible when we understand that God is the true owner of all things. If you don't believe that and understand that, then you cannot be content. And you will not be a faithful steward. We are called to serve and glorify God with our possessions and use them as well for the well-being of our neighbor and not to use them for our own selfish ends. So often someone, especially boys and girls, will say, it's mine. Young people will say, it's mine. I can do with it what I want. No. Again, not true. that's our calling though to use them to glorify God the well-being of our neighbor and not for our selfish ends and when we fail at that when we do not see it that way then we are thieves first of all against God sin has made all of mankind thieves against God in sin man no longer sees God as the owner of all things but instead tries to make man himself the owner and in sin then enough is never enough And therefore, man begins to look at his neighbor, his fellow man, and his possessions. And because the love of money, which Paul says is a root of all kinds of evil, because that love of money grows inside of him, he is not content with what he has, but he wants more. Coveting what his neighbor has. Even to the point of wishing that his neighbor would be deprived of his possessions so that he can have more. In sin, man stores up temporary treasures on earth and possessions are the end goal instead of the means to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In sin, man continues to devise different ways to get his hands on his neighbor's goods. Ways that could be added to the catechism's list. In sin, man is not the master over his possessions, but is mastered by his possessions. Beloved, whether we want to admit it or not, sin has made us all thieves against God and our neighbor. Stewardship and contentment can only be exercised by those who have been delivered from the bondage of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. And by grace, the believer is restored to fellowship with God and the Christian then confesses that not only are His possessions God's possessions, but He Himself is God's possession. And that's our confession, isn't it? That we with body and soul and life and death belong. We are the possession of our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, the believer consecrates himself and his possessions to God, confessing to be only a steward, a caretaker of what God has given. And filled with the grace of contentment, the believer is satisfied to receive earthly things only in God's way, and therefore we avoid stealing in any form. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6 says, But godliness with contentment is great gain. You see, it is to be the Christian's desire not to have anything in his possession, in his ownership, which he has not lawfully acquired, and which he cannot confess has been given to him by God. If it doesn't fit those criteria, we shouldn't want it. By God's grace, the believer is to have the proper attitude toward possessions, which then includes, in the second place, keeping away from the forbidden fruits. Now, we must confess that believers, upon regeneration, being born again, are converted with new desires, and we praise God for that. We are given new desires. However, as Paul clearly states so often, the good that I want to do, that I don't do. But the evil that I don't want to do, that I practice. We continue to struggle with the sin of greed and the temptation to unlawfully take that which doesn't belong to us. And therefore, we too, as confessing Christians, must be warned about keeping away from the forbidden fruit. What are we talking about? What is the forbidden fruit in this case? Well, anything that must be acquired or gotten in an unlawful manner, that is by stealing, is forbidden fruit. As well, let's be reminded of what stealing includes. Anything not given to you, yet which you have taken without possession, even in your own home, is stealing. Forbidden fruit. The catechism talks about different ways this forbidden fruit can be acquired. Again, number 110. 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. Now notice the catechism makes a distinction between that open, blatant theft and robbery which we normally associate with stealing, which is definitely included under this commandment, that which is punishable by the laws of the land, and that which we without hesitation would say is sin. It distinguishes between that and the stealing which might escape the attention of others, which is so secret and sometimes so subtle that those who commit these crimes still appear to be honest people. Boys and girls, it might include taking a few dollars out of your mom's purse. It might include taking a few office supplies home without permission from your boss. The catechism identifies stealing in three different ways. Wrongful acquiring, that is, wrongful getting into my possession, But also wrongful possessing, wrongful ownership. And then also wrongful using or spending. And with regard to wrongful acquiring, the catechism first attacks sinful business practices when it says, 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. What does the God-given means for acquiring wealth and possessions? Answer 1.11 says to work faithfully. Work. Work. Ephesians 4.28 says, Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good. 2 Thessalonians 3.10 says, If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. Laziness has no place in the believer's diet of life. We're not talking about necessary rest, but laziness. If one is able to work, he or she must work, and that one must then also be paid a fair wage for their work. See, the Bible not only speaks to employees to work faithfully, but the Bible says to employers that the worker deserves his wages. And therefore, employers must not steal from their employees by paying them less than a fair and livable wage. The terms the catechism uses, inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume, are dealing with ripping off your customers, for example, by advertising one thing but delivering another. Or by giving less than what was paid for. Or by charging for a certain quality of materials but finishing the job with a lesser quality. Or by charging more for something than it's really worth. Or by taking advantage of the customer because supplies are limited. We can jack up the price. You know, supply and demand. In private life, we might be tempted to do this, for example, when we sell an automobile to someone that we don't know. We like to praise the car in order to get top dollar. You know, I really don't want to sell it. I really like it. I'd like to keep it, but I just can't. But it's been a good car. It's served me well. It's got a lot of miles left on it. I'm sure of that. knowing very well that it might break down a mile down the road. You see, beloved, just because society follows and lives according to the slogan, let the buyer beware, does not mean that God allows Christians to operate that way. There are certain laws of the land that we may not participate in. We simply may not. The question for believers, as Dr. Horton says in his book, Law of Perfect Freedom, is not how much can I get for this item, but how much should I charge for this item? How much is it worth? And as well, Dr. Horton brings up a good point when he says a Christian in business ought to ask, am I attempting to create a desire for something that is unnecessary or even harmful to the consumer? Definitely something worth thinking about. The Catechism also talks about counterfeiting an excessive interest that makes it impossible for one to live. These are also forms of stealing. But it also covers any other means forbidden by God. And that means, beloved, this commandment is violated, for example, when we fail to pay our debts, when we fail to do what we have promised to do, when we fail to be faithful to our agreements, simply when we fail to keep our word. We steal time from others when we are chronically late or when we use our employer's time for our own benefit. As parents, we steal from our children when we don't give them the nurture time they need. And as children, we steal from our parents when we do not honor them as God commands. We steal from another's reputation when we tell a lie or spread gospel about them, especially in order to boost our own reputation. And you can fill in the blanks on the many other multitude of ways of wrongful acquiring. But there's also wrongful possessing, wrongful owning. And this may take us a little bit by surprise. The Catechism speaks of greed. In the older version, it speaks of covetousness. And in this case of wrongful possessing, coveting your own goods so much that you hoard your possessions like a miser, never letting your possessions out of your sight, and never using them for God's intended purpose. This includes one not even providing sufficiently for his own life with the gifts that God has given. And this too fits under, as the Catechism says, a pointless squandering of gifts. One who fits this robs his neighbor by not feeding the hungry or clothing the naked. He robs God by using what God has given to him only for himself. And see, God's possessions are to be used, first of all, in his service. For the maintenance of the church. And to help the poor. The Lord is not to get the crumbs from our tables, but the first fruits. And he will see to it that we are able to survive, to live on the leftovers. If you don't believe that, read Malachi 3, verse 10. Malachi 3, verse 10. Where he says, bring the offering. Bring it in. Test me, he says. You be faithful and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven. And you will have more than you could ever want or even imagine. We steal from God by only giving Him the leftovers of our time and our possessions instead of the first fruits. But then there's also wrongful using or spending, which the catechism again calls pointless squandering of His gifts. Again, this may be with regard to tangible or intangible gifts from God. For example, talents and abilities in time, we know, are often abused and wasted. As well, money is spent simply buying what you don't need or buying what you won't use. We all have things in the closet that we thought we had to have. Still brand new. The original package. We really didn't need it. Won't use it. As well, not taking care of the possessions that God has given you fits here. Boys and girls, a simple illustration that you may have never thought of, but when you don't eat all the food on your plate, but instead throw it away, is stealing from God. simply put, everything that is not used to the glory of God or for the well-being of our neighbor is a waste in God's eyes. Beloved, the Eighth Commandment is for the protection of and guides toward the proper use of God's possessions given to us. Stealing is a sign of selfishness and greed and a lack of contentment, a sign that one is more concerned about laying up treasures on earth than in heaven. And what is the outcome of this? Notice verses 9 and 10 of 1 Timothy 6. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. As believers saved by grace through faith, we are to humble ourselves before the sight of God that daily we might more and more die to selfishness and live in contentment as His stewards. And it is to be our prayer that our attitude toward possessions includes then, in the last place, working for the benefit of others. Question and answer 111. 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. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6 to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. And in verses 17 and 18, command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. The world's idea, we know, is survival of the fittest. each man for himself, finders, keepers, losers, weepers. But the catechism reflecting the teaching of Scripture says that I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good. Notice it doesn't say when I feel like it or when it's convenient for me, but that I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good. Again, the examples are endless and our neighbor includes our competitors. It includes our employers and our employees and even our enemy. And our goal and our interest is to be our neighbor's good. And ultimately, well, first of all, you know, we've been considering this somewhat in our evening series on 1 John. Love. Demonstrating love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. But this includes, even more broadly speaking, our neighbor. Even those who are not believers. And ultimately, this means sharing the Gospel. with them. This is done in deed when we obey this commandment, but it must also be done in word, sharing the Scriptures, the very Word of God with them. That would be for their greatest good, should they believe by the grace of God. Beloved, God's Word commands us to put our faith into practice in daily living. Do we do that? And the Bible also gives us a reasonable standard to follow in working for our neighbors good. The catechism says, treat him as I would like others to treat me. Simple. Simple. That comes from Matthew 7-12 where Jesus says, therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Ask yourselves always, how would I like to be treated in this situation? And then you've got your answer. on how you are to treat others. You see, this doesn't promote self, but instead it assures the best possible treatment that you can give to another. And finally, our faithful labor is also to be used to benefit others that we may share with those in need. As we said a little bit earlier, work is expected for those who are able, but it is also a blessing. Work is a blessing. Sanctified by God. If you don't agree with that, just ask someone who is no longer able to work, but would very much like to work. Work is a blessing. We are image bearers of God who always works. He never stops working and on our behalf. And when Paul commands us to labor, working with our hands what is good, he adds that he may have something to give him who has need. You see, working is not, contrary to popular opinion, a necessary evil, but it came with creation. Again, have dominion over the earth. And in Ecclesiastes 5, it says that man has to find satisfaction in his labor, whatever that labor may be, whether it's a kind of labor that is held high in society and looked upon with high esteem, or whether you're cleaning toilets somewhere, whether you're making a million dollars doing it, or whether you're making a few thousand dollars doing it. Find satisfaction. Why? Because as Paul says in Colossians 3.23, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to man. The purpose of our work is not to get to the weekend. And it's not to be for the goal of retirement, but for the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbor. I said in the earlier service that I've talked to a number of folks my age over the years that their goal is to retire by age 52 or 55. We're called to work. I'm not so sure that that's the right thing to do. But if you are able to retire by the age of 55, maybe you ought to keep working and then give your earnings from that point on to those who have need. You see, through our work, God provides us with the good things that we need in His life. But all that we have, All of our possessions are to serve a greater end and that is the service of God as we look forward to eternity. Once again, we must all be convicted of our sin of stealing. And if you think you're not so bad, remember that stealing one penny or one little piece of candy is just as serious as stealing a million dollars or stealing a car. Yet our comfort, once again, can only be found in the righteousness and in the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He who was sacrificed between two thieves never stole anything. Never stole anything with his thoughts, his words, his actions. He never took anything that didn't belong to him, yet he paid the debts that were not his as he paid for all the stolen goods that his people have taken. Beloved, we are not to serve our possessions, but we are to use our possessions to serve God. And those who travel the path of sin with stolen possessions apart from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, those who cling only to the treasures that will be destroyed by moth and rust and will be stolen by thieves, these will leave these treasures behind as they suffer for their selfishness empty-handed in the eternal flame. Remember this, if the possessions of this life hinder you from storing up treasures in heaven, then God never meant for you to have them. He never meant for you to have them. But those who are stewards of God's possessions and by His grace store up treasures in heaven, they will enjoy the fullness of the heavenly treasures of God's grace and salvation for eternity. Beloved, redemption means that Jesus Christ has liberated us from slavery to possessions and from trying to take God's place of ownership. He loosens us from the chains of materialism so that we no longer desire to gain the whole world and lose our soul. Instead, our desire is for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor. God's grace has changed our thirst from gold to God. That's the way it is for God's people. The way it is for the true believer. It's not perfect yet, we know that. But that thirst for God over gold grows daily. And we are called to live gratefully by putting possessions in their proper place. Only then can you truly glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You shall not steal. What are you thirsty for? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we come before You humbled once again. As we are reminded and must confess that so often we try to acquire possessions in a way that is not pleasing to You, or even to acquire those things that You never intended for us to have. We thank You and praise You for the greatest possession that we could ever have, and that is true faith and the assurance of salvation, full and free in Jesus Christ our Lord. And Father, knowing that and having that assurance, may we use the gifts You've given to us in a way that pleases You, that You would be glorified and honored and praised that our neighbor's good may be advanced. Father, keep our minds ever on the greatest good, eternal life in Your presence. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.