He is taken from Exodus, chapter 20, verse 15. The Eighth Commandment. Thou shalt not steal. Today, you're about to hear a sermon on the Eighth Commandment. And I'm always concerned to make clear to a congregation that when they hear the law of God preached, that they use God's law rightly as God himself intended it to be used. And in order to do so, that means that you as God's people must avoid two sinful extremes as you hear the law of God preached today. First of all, you must avoid the extreme, the sinful extreme of legalism. Legalism, dear ones, is attempting to use the law of God or to keep the law of God in order to be righteous, in order to be acceptable before God. It is the vain and futile attempt and effort on our part of believing that there is something that I can do to make myself acceptable before a holy God. And it is indeed a very vain effort and attempt, because as the Word of God so clearly teaches, there is nothing There is absolutely nothing that we can do that will make us righteous before God, for we, in every way, in every act, in every word, in every deed, in some way, we fall short of God's absolute perfect righteousness. As the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 64.6, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. All of our righteousnesses, not some, not 90%, all of them. The Apostle Paul makes it very clear in Galatians 2.16 that by the deeds of the flesh, by the works of the law, no man shall be justified or declared righteous. Thus the law, dear ones, was not given Listen closely. Even if you've heard this a hundred times before, listen closely. Let the Spirit of God minister anew and afresh the grace of God to your life and rejoice in this word that continually flows to us from the mercy seat of Christ. The law of God was not given to reveal to us that we could save ourselves by keeping it. To the contrary, it was given to reveal to us that we cannot save ourselves, that we are sinners, that we are lost, desperate and hopeless apart from the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. You see, again, the Apostle Paul says we must have a righteousness that comes by means of faith in Jesus Christ, not a righteousness which we produce. In other words, again, it is the law of God, dear ones, that reveals our sin to us. It is not the law of God that saves us. The law of God drives us to the place The law of God drives us outside of ourselves to see that it is only our Savior as revealed in the gospel that can save us. And if you are here today, whether a child or whether an adult, and you have not trusted, if you have not received that promise, And trust it in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Do it today. Don't wait. Don't delay. Today is the day of salvation, dear ones. And if you have, rejoice this day in the glorious salvation in which you stand. For you see, I would simply make this last comment before we look at the next sinful extreme to avoid. It is the law which our Reformed forefathers in which the word of God tells us. It is the law which sends us to Christ. And then it is the Lord Jesus Christ that sends us back to the law by which we are sanctified through his spirit. It is the law that sends us to Christ in order to be justified. Is that of antinomianism? Direct our attention back from the speaker, the mic I should say, to the one who is presenting the gospel this day. The second sinful extreme is that of antinomianism, or another word would be lawlessness. Those who are antinomian, those who are lawless, would say that there is really, for the Christian, no use of the law. Now, dear ones, because we are not righteous before God on the basis of our law-keeping, is no reason to conclude or to discard the law of God altogether in our Christian life. We don't simply throw out the law of God because it's not the basis of our justification. We use the law of God in the way God has ordained, to drive us to Jesus Christ, to be justified through His righteousness, and also, in addition, to use the law of God as a means by which we are sanctified. The law-keeping is not even in our sanctification, the basis of our sanctification. It is not the grounds of our sanctification, but it is a standard according to which we are sanctified. It is the law of God. And it is the Spirit of God who makes the law of God understandable to us, illuminates our mind, and helps us to follow God's law. We might ask for those who believe that the law of God has no use for the Christian, All of the Scriptures which speak of the fact that we are growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ, that we are being conformed unto His image. What does the image of Christ look like? The image of Christ is that which is reflected in the law of God. Jesus Christ kept the law of God perfectly. And it is according to that image which is reflected in the law that we are growing into ever greater conformity. In fact, in 1 John 5.3, we find the Apostle John saying that we know the love of God by keeping his commandments. How do we know God's law? Where is the love of God demonstrated in the life of the Christian? By keeping the commandments of God. Some of the commandments? Or all of His commandments? Certainly, we cannot pick and choose which commandments that we should obey. We should obey all God's moral commandments. Those which bind not only us, but bind all beings. As we begin to look at our text today, as it's found in Exodus chapter 20. Let me make, first of all, first major point, let me make some preliminary remarks about our text. In verse one, Exodus 20, verse one, first of all, We find these words in God spake all these words. You see, it's significant that as we approach the law of God that we realize God has not given us liberty to discard, to disobey, to obey certain laws and to refrain from obeying other laws. God spake all these words. Whether we view a particular commandment as significant and another commandment as insignificant, because of how many times it's mentioned in the scripture, or for any other reason, we classify certain commandments, moral commandments, as being more important than others. And therefore, we strive to keep the so-called important commandments, but neglect and ignore the so-called unimportant commandments We have undermined the very authority of God which underlies and supports each one of God's commandments. There is no greater authority of God that supports, that is the ground of the so-called important commandments, but not that same authority that does not underlie the so-called unimportant commandments or less significant commandments. It is the sinful tendency of man to break God's commandments, God's moral commandments, into these kinds of categories. And it's wrong. And God keep us from doing so. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5 that those who teach others to keep the least commandments will be great in the kingdom of heaven. who do not teach others to keep even the least of God's commandments will be the least in the kingdom of God. Let us ask God to keep us from this kind of neglect. The second preliminary remark that I would make about this text is that the Ten Commandments, dear ones, summarize our entire duty to God and man. The first four commandments summarize our duty to the Lord God. The Lord Jesus said there are two great commandments. The first is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. And the second categorization of commandments and duty pertain to man. Those are commandments five through ten. Those are summarized by the Lord. That we are to love our neighbor as ourself. The third preliminary remark would be this, that each commandment does not simply address one specific sin and no other sin. but rather each commandment that we find addresses many other sins that either lead to that sin that is specified in God's moral law, or other sins that are in essence the same sin manifested in inward desires or manifested in outward actions. And where there is a prohibition, of something that we are not to do. The opposite duty is incumbent upon us to do. If we are forbidden to kill, then we are also commanded to protect not only our life, but the life of our neighbor. And then finally, as we consider preliminary remarks. To break one of these commandments is to be guilty of breaking all. According to the Word of God, James chapter 2, verse 10, For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point He is guilty of all. Now, this is very graphically, I believe, illustrated in the commandment we're looking at today. Thou shalt not steal. How does stealing break every other of these commandments, the other nine? How does stealing break each of the other nine commandments? Well, consider for just a moment that we violate each of the first four commandments in the Decalogue, when we rob God of the duty that we owe him. We said that the first four commandments pertain to our duty to God. Well, we rob God when we violate those first commandments, those first four commandments. We rob him of the duty that is due him. For example, in the first commandment, when we take away, we violate this commandment when we rob God, when we take away true doctrine and believe what is false. In the second commandment, we rob God when we take away pure worship and institute worship that is not authorized by God. And in the third case, the third commandment, we rob God when we take away lawful covenants and vows and violate those lawful covenants and vows that we have made unto God, or that our faithful forefathers have made on our behalf, whether national covenants made on our behalf, whether ecclesiastical covenants, whether it be baptismal covenants. These covenants continue to bind us, and we rob God when we break these covenants. And in the fourth commandment, we rob God when we take away pure Sabbath-keeping and use the Sabbath for our own pleasure rather than using it for God's pleasure. We rob the Lord our God. But how do we rob our neighbor in the last six commandments? We violate the last six commandments and we rob our neighbor. Consider this, we rob our fellow man of the duty that we owe to him in the following ways. In the fifth commandment, when we take the honor that belongs to all lawful authority, and we do not give that to those who are in authority, but rather use it and place it on those who do not have lawful authority, or revile those who are in authority lawfully. Sixth commandment, we rob our neighbor when we take the life of others unlawfully. Seventh commandment, we rob our neighbor when we take the wife of another. Number nine, we rob our neighbor when we take away the good name of our neighbor. We rob as well when we take away what belongs to others, even in our desires, even in our attitude, thou shalt not covet. I hope you see, just from that brief summary, the all-comprehensiveness of the law of God, and how it speaks to every area of life, and how we tend so often to simplify the law of God, the law of God, dear ones, if we are using it lawfully. And I pray through this sermon that you will use the law of God today to your benefit. to drive you to Christ if you feel ashamed as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit today in your life and you see very clearly how you have robbed God and how you have robbed your neighbor. That's nothing to be grieving over. We should rejoice that God has revealed to us that particular sin. But you see, you have not understood how to use the law of God. If you simply remain at that point, the law of God should drive you to Christ. It doesn't, and it should not simply leave you mourning and grieving. It should drive you to enjoy the grace that is found in Jesus Christ. So don't stop there. Use the law of God as God intended it. The second main point is that we need a definition, a working definition for what it is to steal. And I've defined it as follows. Theft is the unjust taking or the unjust keeping to ourselves what is lawfully another's. Let's look at that definition very briefly so that we understand all that it implies. First of all, he is a thief who takes his neighbor's property from him. As in the case of Ahab and Naboth, you remember in First Kings chapter 21, Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard. And he tried to get Naboth to sell it to him, but Naboth said, no, I can't sell this vineyard to you because it belonged to my forefathers. It is my inheritance that has been passed on to me from my forefathers and I cannot squander it. I cannot remove the ancient boundaries, the landmarks of the forefathers. I cannot compromise nor sell it to you. And Ahab went and moped upon his bed. And Jezebel came and said, Why are you in such a gloomy mood? And he hath said to his wicked wife, Because Naboth won't sell me the vineyard that I want. And she said, Don't worry about it. I will get it for you. And she went out and falsely accused this just and righteous man of treason and blasphemy. And as a result, the vineyard was left to Ahab. That is the unjust taking of what belongs to another. But secondly, this definition also implies and states that a thief is one who selfishly claims to and withholds what ought to be given to his neighbor by way of duty owed or by way of a mercy bestowed. You see, we are to not selfishly cling to what God has blessed us with if there is a legitimate need, a mercy to be bestowed, a duty that we owe with what God has given to us, to others. It says in 1 John 3.17, but whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God abide in him? That's stealing from a brother, even though it may be your possession legitimately to not bestow mercy upon another. You have robbed your brother when you do not bestow the mercy that God calls us to upon others. And the third way that I would mention that this definition we have given, one other application, one other implication. He is a thief who robs God, not only his neighbor, but he is a thief who robs God of the glory, of the honor, of the obedience that is due to God. Whatever we owe to the Lord and whatever we withhold from the Lord, either by commission, committing actual sin against Him, or by omission, whether intentionally or whether unintentionally, it is robbing God. And we will see in a few moments more clearly, because we'll have more specific applications to make with regard to how we do rob our neighbor and how we rob the Lord God. Dear ones, before we move on from the second point concerning the definition, let me simply state that the seriousness of this commandment, thou shalt not steal, is witnessed in the fact that the very first sin committed by a human being involved the breaking of this commandment. Adam and Eve took of the fruit from a tree that did not belong to them, which God said, you are not to eat of. It was, dear ones, not how much fruit they stole. It was not how much or to what degree they stole. It was the fact that they stole that which God said they were prohibited from enjoying and taking. It was simply a mere piece of fruit that they took. Consider that, children. That one sin. Stealing a piece of fruit was enough to condemn the whole human race to sin and misery in this life and for all eternity. Violating that commandment, thou shalt not steal. This is not a commandment to be taken lightly. Now, we may not like to hear what I'm about to say, but the truth of the matter is that we are all thieves. We are all guilty of thievery. You are a thief and I am a thief, for we have robbed the Lord our God, and we have robbed one another. And we not only do so, but we do so daily. And until we come face to face with this particular truth, we will not fall upon our face before the living God to enjoy His mercy, to receive the bounty of His grace, until we see the desperate condition in which we are in, that we are guilty of this sin daily. Now, as we move on, dear ones, to the third main point, I'd like to give to you various applications of the Eighth Commandment. Applications of the Eighth Commandment to various areas of life. And first of all, the very first application I would like to make is to that of the civil government. Dear ones, the civil government robs its citizens and robs God of his glory, and even legalizes this thievery and robbery by putting it into so-called laws. Whenever a civil government takes away biblical justice from its subjects, And whenever a civil government assumes a God-like power and authority, usurping the place of God and His law within a nation, it robs the Lord God, who alone bestows lawful authority to rule. It has usurped all lawful authority. In fact, we find In Proverbs 16, verse 12, God's Word says, It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness. It is an abomination, God says. In Romans 13, verse 4, And actually, in that entire passage, we are commanded to submit, subject ourselves for conscience sake, to the ordinance of God. What is the ordinance of God? Well, the Apostle Paul tells us what the ordinance of God is. Romans chapter 13. Listen closely. This is the ordinance of God. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. What is good? Good is defined by what God's word and God's moral law says is good. Evil is that which is contrary to the moral law of God. Verse 5, Romans 13, 5, Wherefore, ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. And so this is the ordinance of God to which we are to submit for conscience sake, he who brings wrath upon that which is evil and wicked, rather than rewarding those who are evil and wicked, as is the case in our society, the ordinance of God brings the wrath of God upon the wicked and rewards the righteous. We find throughout the Word of God that such a civil government that usurps the power of God, the authority of God, is not a pro-Christ government, but rather is an anti-Christ government. For you see, there is no neutrality in this area. And we find particularly that such a form of government in the scripture is called The beast. It is a bestial government. It is a government who receives its authority. It does not receive its moral authority to rule from God, but from the dragon. But from the dragon. And we see time and time again, dear ones, how Civil governments, whether here in Canada, whether the United States or other civil governments, how civil governments tolerate, for example, the murder of unborn children every single day by the hundreds and thousands and millions. Those who are legally innocent before the civil and moral, as far as the civil law, have not violated any particular law within the land, and yet are put to death. Certainly all children, before the moral law of God, stand accountable. From the very point of conception, they are guilty before God, but they have not violated any particular civil laws, and yet are put to death. They've not been tried in a court of law, and yet they are put to death. There is no due process, and yet they are put to death. And it is encouraged and it is paid for by and endorsed by nations and civil governments. The promoting and tolerating of false religion of every kind. The promotion and toleration of blasphemy and pornography, sexual immorality through every form of media. The bearing of lawful national covenants like the Solemn League and Covenant. All of these and many, many other ways. This nation and other nations have robbed their citizens and robbed the Lord God and continue to do so. Moving on to another application. What about the church? Dear ones, ministers and elders in a church rob their people, rob the flock, the sheep, when they withhold from them the Word of God, the whole counsel of God, the pure Word of God, and rather entertain them, or rather lead them astray by the mere words of men. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 And two, the apostle Paul makes very clear how ministers are to handle the word of God. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry as we have received ministry, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking and craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully. But by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, handling the Word of God honestly, not deceitfully, being faithful. You see, dear ones, this is a matter, when it comes to ministers and elders, this is a matter of starving the flock of Jesus Christ. How does a minister feed the flock? He feeds the flock by presenting and proclaiming the Word of God, nourishing the flock with the truth of God's Word, rather than folding, bowing before the interests of men, rather than seeking to be a man-pleaser, speaking of the sins and the errors of the age in which we live, seeking to draw people out of error, rather than making truth so innocuous Making truth to appear, it doesn't matter what you believe. This, dear ones, is in fact a form of tyranny, for we have taken that which alone can bind the consciences of man. That is the Word of God. And we have taken that and we have imposed rather our own man-made standards. Tyranny. We have in so doing, dear ones, robbed our fellow man. We have robbed those that we are to love and care for as elders and ministers. And we have moved the biblical landmarks of our forefathers. We are commanded not to do so. Another application, a third application is in the area of business. There was an employer robs his employees and his clients when he withholds what is lawfully due to them. An employer is to be faithful to those who work for him. He is to pay his employees a just wage. He is to pay his employees at the right time. Leviticus 19.13 says, You shall not defraud your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. That which you have agreed upon in contract, be faithful to that contract. to pay those who are under you, those for whom you work. You rob them if you do not do so, the Word of God says. But on the other hand, employees as well rob their employers and they do so when they waste time. when they did not use their time in the employment of their employer, when they're gabbing around the water dispenser, when they are proclaiming the truth, when they should be working for their employer and in using their time as they have contracted to do. We also rob our employers, dear ones, when we as well take things from the office that do not belong to us. Or from the shop. When we fail to honor that contract which we have established with our employer. Again, dear, these are various ways in which we have broken the Eighth Commandment in the area of business. The fourth area. What about the area of family? Dear ones, we as parents rob our children by not giving them a distinctly Christian and reformed and covenanted education. We robbed them. For we deprive them of that which is given to them, that which was purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and was purchased and brought down to them, bestowed upon them through the shedding of the blood of faithful martyrs. We deprive them of that inheritance when we do not instruct them in all of these things. We rob them. when we do not have regular, consistent family worship with our children, when we do not disciple our wives' husbands, we rob them, when we do not administer faithful discipline in the home, when our children can throw temper tantrums, And there be no consequences for that. When they can talk back to us as parents, when they can show disrespect to other adults or to parents, we rob them of that which is their heritage, which belongs to them, which is loving, faithful correction and discipline in the Lord. and which you as Christian parents have bound yourselves to when you brought your children to be baptized. Children, you rob your parents as well when you do not give them all the just obedience, when you talk back to them, when you do not obey them quickly, When you walk off and ignore and neglect what your parents have told you to do, you rob your parents of that obedience which is due them. Husbands, we as well rob our wives when we do not love them as Christ loved the Church. When we do not love them as our own bodies, And wives, you as well rob your husbands when you do not submit in the Lord to all their lawful commands. You defraud them. And husbands and wives rob one another when they treat their vows, their marriage vows, as if they are or were expendable, as if they can be broken. We rob one another. The second main application, not only do we apply this commandment to the way in which we rob our fellow man, but we also must make application to the ways in which we rob God very quickly. First of all, we rob the Lord, our God, of His glory. Dear ones, whenever we take glory for something that He has given, something that he has done, whether by way of material or by way of spiritual benefit, when we do not return thanks to him for his manifold blessings, like the nine lepers who continue to run. After having been healed, after seeing that they had been healed by the Lord Jesus Christ, they continued running. They did not return to give glory to Jesus Christ, but one lone Samaritan returned and with a loud voice praised the Lord God. The other nine robbed the Lord God of the thanks, of the public thanksgiving that was due to Him. Or as in the case, of Herod in Acts chapter 12, verse 20. In this particular situation, various delegates from another nation appeared and were bestowing all kinds of accolades upon Herod, puffing Herod up, saying that he spoke as a god. And Herod simply took these particular words to himself. He did not give glory to God. This text says, as a result that he did not give glory to God in that circumstance and situation, God struck him down dead on the spot. Pretty serious sin, not to give glory to God. And so our heart of unthankfulness, dear ones, our moaning and complaining, wallowing in our self-pity, Murmuring against the lot which God has placed us in, in His good providence, are all ways in which we rob God of the glory that is due Him. A second application with regard to God, we rob the Lord our God of what belongs to Him when we do not give of our time, of our material resources, our offerings, And when we do not give of our talents as we are commanded to do, when we hold back selfishly that which we should be giving to God, we rob the Lord our God at that particular point. You remember in Haggai chapter 1 and verses 3 through 11, Israel had returned back into the land, but they were not enjoying the blessings of God. And they were becoming frustrated, and God sends His prophet. And he tells the people of God, the reason you're not enjoying the blessings of God is that you have taken an interest in establishing and building your own houses, rather than building the house of God. Rather than seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, You have rather sought your own kingdom. You have rather sought your own ways and your own pleasures to the expense of God's kingdom. You have not placed God's kingdom in its rightful place. It's not that we cannot enjoy the blessings which God bestows upon us in this life, but we cannot put those things at any time ahead of the kingdom of God. And so, God says, I blessed you with money. I blessed you with many things, but it's as though you have holes in your pockets because you have not blessed me. You have not thought of me. You have not given what belongs to me. You have robbed me. And in that regard, dear ones, we again rob God when we do not give the whole Sabbath in worship and praise, when we do not sanctify it as holy, when we do not carefully watch our conversation, but allow our conversation to lead us into all kinds of things that are appropriate on the other six days of the week, but should not be mentioned, dealing with business or other types of affairs on the Lord's Day. When we engage in unlawful recreations, or even when we engage in lawful recreations, that is lawful on any other day, but ought not to be engaged in on the Lord's Day. When we frequent places of business that are employing, that are making money on the Lord's Day, rather than preparing in advance for the Lord's Day, so that we do not have to frequent those places, whether to fill our cars up with gas, or whether to buy groceries. Those things which are lawful are those deeds of necessity, mercy, and those deeds pertaining to worship. Those are lawful categories. And if we can fit them into those categories, then we have sanctified the Lord's day, as God calls us to. And dear ones, what are the inward sins that actually lead us to break this commandment? Thou shall not steal. What are the inward attitudes and sins that lead us to this place very quickly, too, in nature? First of all, unbelief. We do not believe, first of all, when we break this commandment, We do not believe that God is Jehovah Jireh, that He is the Lord who provides, who provides for all of our needs. You see, we talk many times like unbelieving Israel in the wilderness. You remember in Psalm 78, 19, Israel said concerning God, can God furnish a table for us in the wilderness? Can God provide for our needs? They questioned. They doubted the promise of God. And so, we do the same thing when we say, can God spread a table for me? Can God, if I am faithful to Him, can He provide for my family? Will He promote the ministry of this church if we are faithful to Him, though we be few in number? Will God provide? Well, unbelief says no. It doubts that He either cannot or He will not. And so, those who disbelieve rather resolve to spread the table for themselves, even if it means robbing God or one's neighbor to do so. And dear ones, such unbelief leads to worry, as to how we're going to pay the bills, and ends up again robbing God of His glory and putting confidence and faith in man rather than in the living God. And the second attitude or inward sin that leads to the breaking of this commandment is that of discontentment. Dear ones, we are not content and thankful for what God has given to us And because we are not, we envy, we covet, and we scheme as to how we might obtain what we desire. Now, let me be real clear, it is not discontentment, it is not sinful discontentment to desire to grow in one's spiritual life, it is not discontentment to desire and to improve one's lot in life if one can. It is not discontentment to work diligently for a promotion in a lawful calling. It is not discontentment to desire to be free from trials and temptations to sin, to be set free from enemies of the gospel or enemies who oppress. It is not discontentment to long for and earnestly desire to live in all of the liberty which Christ has purchased for us. That's not discontentment. We should be rightly, lawfully discontent with sin in our life and sin in the life of others. We should have no joy and no peace, dear ones. We should have no true satisfaction when we are living in rebellion against God. We should not have contentment in that place. We should be absolutely miserable and discontent in such a state. There is no contentment in sin. There is only contentment in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. But as we look at this particular sin, Paul says in Philippians 4, 10-13, that he had learned contentment. He had learned in whatever state he was to be content. You see, dear ones, Paul was not riding from a luxurious hotel along a seaside with a glass of punch in his hand. with servants fanning him. No, he was riding from a prison cell. He was in shackles. But he says, I have learned to be content in whatever state I'm in. Whatever state God has placed me in, I've learned. It wasn't natural to Paul, and it won't be natural to you or myself. But we must learn, and that's what sanctification is all about, to be content. where we cannot alter or change that which God has given to us, and which is not lawful to change, than to learn contentment in that state. And so, dear ones, what would it take to make you this Lord's Day truly content. What would finally put an end to all of our murmuring, all of our complaining and our self-pity and envy? Would it be a good-paying job without any hassles from our employer? A beautiful house out in the country? No more taxes, the burden of taxes? A loving or caring wife? obedient children, parents who would, children, give you more liberty, good health, more money, what would it be that would make you truly content in this life? Well, dear ones, if you cannot find contentment right now where you are, in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, in being obedient to Him, in enjoying His grace and His mercy, in delighting in the Lord your God, you will never find contentment and peace if you cannot find it where you are right now, in Christ. For, listen closely, contentment is a choice. You can either choose to be discontent right now with your circumstances in a sinful way, or you can choose to be content. with what God has placed on your plate. It is a conscious act of faith and obedience on your part, right now. It is not the result, contentment is not the result of having all your wants satisfied. You will either believe that Jesus Christ is your life and you will choose to find your contentment in Him, or you will rather believe that the things of this world are your life. And then all you will find, dear ones, at that particular point in time, all you will find is discontentment and heartache and envy and misery. Jesus said it very clearly, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Life, Jesus said, is more than food and clothing. What is life to you, dear one, child of God? Is it Jesus Christ? Paul said, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Dear ones, in conclusion, the Lord has taught us to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. Are you really content with just the daily bread that Jesus gives to you. In other words, are you content with the bare necessities of life? God faithfully provides for you, dear ones, these. And He tells you not to worry about tomorrow. Trust Him for your daily bread today. That doesn't mean that if you have goals or you're making plans for the future that you have sinned, but realize that all of our plans and goals are simply ours, that God may have a different thing in mind. Are all of those goals and plans subject to God's stamp of approval? Or will you be devastated and discontent if they should not come to pass? Redeemed ones of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven to give you life. Don't you see that if we have the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have more than if God had given us the whole world? For God, dear ones, can make many worlds, but He has no more Christ to give. He has given us the bread of life. He has given us Him who was most precious to Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He has come in order to save us from hell. And if He came to save us from hell, dear ones, the Lord Jesus says as well, He will provide for our needs. He will give us what we need in this life. It's interesting, dear ones, that Christ was crucified between two thieves. And in a very strange sense, as Jesus Christ hung on the cross between two thieves, He became, in that sense, the greatest thief ever to live, because all of your stealing And all of your robbing God and your fellow man were imputed to Him. And He died in the place of all of us who are thieves, whom God had given to His Son to save. And He did so in order that we, dear ones, might be declared forever free from the guilt and the condemnation of all of our and robbing God and our fellow man. And so, dear ones, the answer to theft, the answer to theft and its various manifestations is giving instead of taking. It's serving instead of waiting for others to serve you. The way to overcome the sin of theft in our lives is to become a servant like Jesus Christ, concerning whom the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich." Please stand with me in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we have indeed been brought before Thee, we have been driven to thy throne of grace by thy law today. We have seen ourselves as we are. We have looked into the mirror of thy law, that perfect law of liberty. And Lord, today we confess that we are thieves. We have robbed thee and our fellow man, and we have done so daily. For we have not kept those commandments and duties which we owe Thee, O our fellow man. And Lord, we ask that Thou would forgive us of our many sins, that Thou would help us to see more clearly how we do rob Thee, how we do rob our family members, how we rob those that we work with. We ask, Lord God, that Thou would give to us a true sense of grief over this sin. And that, Father, thou would drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ now, and thou would give to us enjoyment as we freely drink of the water of life. As we freely enjoy the forgiveness of Thy grace, the forgiveness of our sins, as we freely enjoy the righteousness of Jesus Christ in all that He has purchased for us, we pray, Heavenly Father, that Thou would help us to look to the cross where Jesus Christ became a thief that He might forgive us of our theft. and that we would walk in that new liberty, that liberty granted to us by Christ. We ask, Lord, that Thou would fill us this day with joy and gratitude, that we do not need to walk in conscious rebellion against Thee, that, Father, we can offer our lives even now as living sacrifices to serve Thee, and we pray that we would do so that we would renew our covenant with thee in Jesus' name. Amen. It is likely that the sermon or book that you just listened to is also available on cassette or video, or as a printed book or booklet. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at SWRB at SWRB.com by phone at 780 450 3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Avenue Edmonton that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N Alberta abbreviated capital A capital B Canada T-6-L-3-T-5 you may also request a free printed catalog and remember that John Kelvin in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devise. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God, by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind. As though he had said, That men assume too much wisdom, When they devise what he never required, Nay, what he never knew.