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| − | ==The EIGHTH Commandment== | + | ==The NINTH Commandment== |
| − | You shall not steal." Exodus 20:15 | + | <p>"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour." Exodus 20:16<br><br> |
| | + | The tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise—has now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue—the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a <em>prohibitory </em>and a <em>mandatory </em>part: the first is set down in plain words, the other is clearly implied.<br><br> |
| | + | <strong>I. The prohibitory part of the commandment, or, what it forbids in general. </strong>It forbids anything which may tend to the disparagement or harm of our neighbour. More particularly, two things are forbidden in this commandment.<br><br> |
| | + | <strong>[1] SLANDER.</strong> This is a sin against the ninth commandment. The scorpion carries his poison in his tail; the slanderer carries his poison in his tongue. Slandering "is to report things of others unjustly." "Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of things I don't even know about." Psalm 35:11. Many a Christian is <em>beheaded of his good name</em>. They raised for a slander of Paul, that he preached "Men might do evil that good might come of it." "We be slanderously reported; and some affirm that we say, "Let us do evil, that good may come"." Rom 3:8. <em>Eminence </em>is commonly blasted by slander. <em>Holiness </em>itself is no shield from slander. The <em>lamb's </em>innocence will not preserve it from the wolf. <em>Christ</em>, the most innocent upon earth, was reported to be "A glutton and a drunkard." Matthew 11:19. John the Baptist was a man of a holy and austere life, and yet they said of him, "He has a devil." Matt 11:18.<br><br> |
| | + | The Scripture calls slandering, <em>smiting with the tongue</em>. "Come, and let us smite him with the tongue." Jer 18:18. You may smite another—and never touch him. "The tongue inflicts greater wounds than the sword." Augustine. No physician can heal the wounds of the tongue! To pretend friendship to a man, and slander him, is most odious.<br><br> |
| | + | As it is a sin against this commandment to <em>raise </em>a false report of another, so it is to <strong><em>receive </em></strong>a false report before we have examined it. "Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbours or speak evil of their friends." Psalm 15:1-3. We must not only not <em>raise </em>a false report—but refuse to hear it. He who raises a slander—carries the devil in his tongue! He who receives a slander—carries the devil in his ear!<br><br> |
| | + | <strong>[2] LYING.</strong> Here three sins are condemned:<br><br> |
| | + | (1) Speaking that which is false.<br><br> |
| | + | (2) Witnessing to that which is false.<br><br> |
| | + | (3) Swearing to that which is false.<br><br> |
| | + | <strong>(1) That which is condemned in the commandment is, SPEAKING that which is false.</strong><strong> </strong>"Lying lips are abomination to the Lord." Proverbs 12:22. To lie is to speak that which one knows to be an untruth. There is nothing more contrary to God—than a lie. The Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth." 1 John 4:6.<br><br> |
| | + | Lying is a sin which does not go alone; it ushers in other sins. Absalom told his father a lie, when he said that he was going to pay his vow at Hebron, and this was a preface to his treason. 2 Sam 15:7. Where there is a lie in the tongue, the devil is in the heart. "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie?" Acts 5:3. Lying is a sin which unfits men for civil society. How can you converse or bargain with a man, when you cannot trust a word he says? This sin highly provokes God. Ananias and Sapphire were struck dead for telling a lie. Acts 5:5. The furnace of hell is heated for liars. "Outside are sorcerers, and whoever loves and makes a lie." Rev 22:15. O abhor this sin! "Consider your every word an oath." Jerome. When you speak, let your word be as authentic as your oath. Imitate God, who is the pattern of truth. Pythagoras being asked what made men like God, answered, "when they speak the truth." The character of a man who shall go to heaven, is that "he speaks the truth in his heart." Psalm 15:2.<br><br> |
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| − | As the holiness of God sets him against immorality, in the command "You shall not commit adultery;" so the justice of God sets him against thievery and robbery, in the command, "You shall not steal." The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define stealth or theft to be "the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;" the invading another's right.
| + | '''To Continue [[(The NINTH Commandment) |Click Here]]''' |
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| − | I. The CAUSES of theft.
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| − | [1] The internal causes are:
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| − | (1) Unbelief. A man has a high distrust of God's providence. "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Psalm 78:19. "Can God spread a table for me?" says the unbeliever. "No, he cannot." Therefore he is resolved he will spread a table for himself—but it shall be at other men's cost, and both first and second course shall be served in with stolen goods.
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| − | (2) Covetousness. The Greek word for covetousness signifies "an immoderate desire of getting;" which is the root of theft. A man covets more than his own, and this itch of covetousness makes him scratch what he can from another. Achan's covetous heart made him steal the wedge of gold—a wedge which cleaved asunder his soul from God! Joshua 7:21.
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| − | [2] The external cause of theft is Satan's solicitation. Judas was a thief. John 12:6. How did he come to be a thief? "Satan entered into him". John 13:27. The devil is the great master-thief, he robbed us of our coat of innocence, and he persuades men to take up his trade; he tells men how bravely they shall live by thieving, and how they may catch an estate. As Eve listened to the serpent's voice, so do they. As birds of prey, they live upon spoil and plunder.
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| − | II. The KINDS of theft.
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| − | [1] There is stealing from God. They are thieves who rob God of any part of his day. "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day." Not a part of the day only—but the whole day must be dedicated to God. And, lest any should forget this, the Lord has prefixed a memento, "remember." Therefore, after morning sacrifice, to spend the other part of the Sabbath in vanity and pleasure, is spiritual theft. It robs God of his due, and the very heathen will rise up in judgment against such Christians; for the heathen, as Macrobius notes, dedicated a whole day to their false gods.
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| − | [2] There is stealing from others.
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| − | There is a stealing away souls, as heretics, by robbing men of the truth, rob them of their souls.
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| − | There is a stealing of money and goods.
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| − | (1) The highway thief, who takes a purse, contrary to the letter of the commandment. "You shall not rob your neighbour." Lev 19:13. "Do not steal." Mark 10:19.
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| − | (2) The house-thief, who purloins and filches out of his master's cash, or steals his wares. The apostle says, "Some have entertained angels unawares" (Heb 13:2)—but many masters have entertained thieves in their houses unawares. The house-thief is a hypocrite as well as a thief; for he has demure looks, and pretends to be helping his master, when he only helps himself.
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| − | (3) The legal-thief who shrouds himself under law—as the unjust attorney or lawyer, who prevaricates and deals falsely. By deceit and evasion, the lawyer robs another of his land, and may be the means of ruining his family, and is no better than a thief in God's account.
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| − | (4) The church-thief. He gets the golden fleece—but lets the flock starve. "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals—but you let your flocks starve! Ezekiel 34:2-3. They "fed themselves, and fed not my flock;" ver. 8. These ministers will be indicted for thieves at God's bar.
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| − | (5) The shop-thief, who steals in selling. He who uses false weights and measures, steals from others what is their due. "Making the ephah small." Amos 8:5. The ephah was a measure the Jews used in selling. Some made the ephah small, and gave scant measure, which was plainly stealing. "The balances of deceit are in his hand." Hos 12:7. By making their weights lighter, men make their accounts heavier. He steals in selling, who puts excessive prices on his commodities. He takes thrice as much for an article as it cost him, or as it is worth. To overreach others in selling, is to steal money from them. "You shall not defraud your neighbour, neither rob him." Lev 19:13. To defraud him is to rob him; to overreach others in selling, is a cunning way of stealing, and is against both law and gospel. It is against the law of God. "If you sell anything to your neighbor, you shall not take advantage of him." Lev 25:14. It is against the gospel. "That no man go beyond, and defraud his brother." 1 Thess 4:6.
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| − | (6) The usurer, who takes by extortion from others. He seems to help another by letting him have money in his necessity—but gets him into bonds, and sucks out his very blood and marrow. We read of a woman whom Satan had bound (Luke 13:16), and truly he is almost in as bad a condition whom the usurer has bound. The usurer is a robber. A usurer once asked a prodigal when he would leave off spending? The prodigal replied, "I will leave off spending what is my own, when you leave off stealing from others." Zacchaeus was an extortioner who, after his conversion, made restitution. Luke 19:8. He thought all he got by extortion, was theft.
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| − | '''To Continue [[(The EIGHTH Commandment) |Click Here]]''' | + | |
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 July's featured article
|
The NINTH Commandment
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour." Exodus 20:16
The tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise—has now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue—the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other is clearly implied.
I. The prohibitory part of the commandment, or, what it forbids in general. It forbids anything which may tend to the disparagement or harm of our neighbour. More particularly, two things are forbidden in this commandment.
[1] SLANDER. This is a sin against the ninth commandment. The scorpion carries his poison in his tail; the slanderer carries his poison in his tongue. Slandering "is to report things of others unjustly." "Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of things I don't even know about." Psalm 35:11. Many a Christian is beheaded of his good name. They raised for a slander of Paul, that he preached "Men might do evil that good might come of it." "We be slanderously reported; and some affirm that we say, "Let us do evil, that good may come"." Rom 3:8. Eminence is commonly blasted by slander. Holiness itself is no shield from slander. The lamb's innocence will not preserve it from the wolf. Christ, the most innocent upon earth, was reported to be "A glutton and a drunkard." Matthew 11:19. John the Baptist was a man of a holy and austere life, and yet they said of him, "He has a devil." Matt 11:18.
The Scripture calls slandering, smiting with the tongue. "Come, and let us smite him with the tongue." Jer 18:18. You may smite another—and never touch him. "The tongue inflicts greater wounds than the sword." Augustine. No physician can heal the wounds of the tongue! To pretend friendship to a man, and slander him, is most odious.
As it is a sin against this commandment to raise a false report of another, so it is to receive a false report before we have examined it. "Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbours or speak evil of their friends." Psalm 15:1-3. We must not only not raise a false report—but refuse to hear it. He who raises a slander—carries the devil in his tongue! He who receives a slander—carries the devil in his ear!
[2] LYING. Here three sins are condemned:
(1) Speaking that which is false.
(2) Witnessing to that which is false.
(3) Swearing to that which is false.
(1) That which is condemned in the commandment is, SPEAKING that which is false. "Lying lips are abomination to the Lord." Proverbs 12:22. To lie is to speak that which one knows to be an untruth. There is nothing more contrary to God—than a lie. The Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth." 1 John 4:6.
Lying is a sin which does not go alone; it ushers in other sins. Absalom told his father a lie, when he said that he was going to pay his vow at Hebron, and this was a preface to his treason. 2 Sam 15:7. Where there is a lie in the tongue, the devil is in the heart. "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie?" Acts 5:3. Lying is a sin which unfits men for civil society. How can you converse or bargain with a man, when you cannot trust a word he says? This sin highly provokes God. Ananias and Sapphire were struck dead for telling a lie. Acts 5:5. The furnace of hell is heated for liars. "Outside are sorcerers, and whoever loves and makes a lie." Rev 22:15. O abhor this sin! "Consider your every word an oath." Jerome. When you speak, let your word be as authentic as your oath. Imitate God, who is the pattern of truth. Pythagoras being asked what made men like God, answered, "when they speak the truth." The character of a man who shall go to heaven, is that "he speaks the truth in his heart." Psalm 15:2.
To Continue Click Here
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Do you have a called of God ministry where your whole purpose is to "feed the sheep", and God supplies your needs, or do you have books, tapes, videos, etc. that you SELL for a "donation", or just outright SELL, and your buyers supply your needs?
There is nothing wrong with being in business and selling things. However, if you are a church or any kind of "ministry", you may want to check your motive for how you are conducting the work of the Lord.
Remember the money changers in the temple where JESUS turned over the tables and threw them out. They were selling things in the "CHURCH". (God made it quite clear to us that we were not to charge for anything, that HE was our source.)
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What role if any did the teachings of the Qur'an play in the 9/11 attacks? What does Islam really teach? What about Jihad? Should Christians try to befriend our Muslim neighbors and share the gospel? If so, how? The title is Understanding Islam: A Christian Perspective. I would like you to watch it for free. Please forward this to all your friends!
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Free Video & Profile: Only six shopping days till Armageddon? The Mayan Calendar ends next Friday and the media is giving major coverage to a growing number of "doomsday preppers" getting ready for what they fear may be the "end of the world as we know it" next week on December 21, 2012.
I think they need to be getting ready for another end-times "false alarm." Apparently, the Mayan couldn't even predict the demise of their own civilization -- much less ours. Nevertheless, thousands around the world are holding their breath, waiting for next Friday. Even some on Christian Television, such as Jack Van Impe, cannot resist the temptation of date-setting. So what is a proper Christian approach to true Bible prophecies and end-times teachings in light of all the false prophets today?
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