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Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 5:19-21 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/20/2024 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Today we complete our miniseries through the Ten Commandments. We look at the eighth, ninth, and tenth commandments. These finish describing our duty toward our neighbor. They raise issues of property, truth, and desire, with many practical and relevant applications for today.
We begin with the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal.” In sum, we are not supposed to take what doesn’t belong to us. We may legitimately come to own something by work, gift, or inheritance, but otherwise, we are not take what belongs to someone else. This, of course, shows the Bible assumes that private property is a legitimate category and is not compatible with communism which rejects private property. Instead, the Bible recognizes the human right to be able to own private property.
Let us not steal from others in any form. Besides the literal act of stealing, there are other forms too. Don’t steal from your employer by playing on the internet when you are supposed to be working. Don’t steal from the government by cheating on your taxes. Don’t steal from the store by abusing their return policy. Don’t steal from your customers by misrepresenting your product. You get the idea.
Ephesians 4:28 tells us that the opposite of stealing is working hard so that you can provide for your needs and also so that you have something to share with others who are in need. So, that helps us see both sides of this command. While it calls us to respect the wealth and outward estate of others, it also calls us to look to advance our own wealth and outward estate. This is not only so we can meet our needs but so we can give to others. The prohibition against stealing implies a duty to work for wealth.
Ultimately, this becomes a matter of stewardship. While it is true the Bible presumes the concept of private property, the Bible also teaches that, “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it” (Ps 24:1). So then, whatever we come into possession of, we should acknowledge it is a blessing from God that he calls us to wisely steward.
There are so many practical and relevant applications that come to mind in light of common struggles people have today. One application is to live within your means. Too many people are enslaved from massive credit-card debt, and the Lord does not want you to be enslaved. Whether it be due to prodigal living or just poor stewardship, God would have you to get your finances in order. Another application is toward financial planning, including planning for retirement. Just as Joseph in Genesis wisely planned ahead for the years of famine, so faithful stewardship means we need to plan for the future too, and the sooner you get started the easier it will be.
When thinking of such financial matters, remember the temptation of falling in love with money. Be on guard against greed. But that is where another practical application can come in to help. That Ephesians 4 reference advocated giving, and being diligent to cultivate generosity can help combat the greed. A starting point for such is the giving of tithes and offerings to the church. Too often people put such giving on the bottom of their priority list and find they never have any money left at the end of the month to actually give back to the LORD. But that is surely the unbiblical order of how to manage your finances. Give to God first. Beyond giving to the church, then you should think about how to give to those in need. Though certainly not the only way, the church diaconal fund is a great way to do this. Another aspect of giving that will require planning is looking to leave an inheritance, which the Bible also commends.
I strongly encourage you to do learn financial stewardship from wise Christians who have shown that they manage their finances well. I also remind you that the Deacons have a standing invitation to anyone who’d like to take a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course, that they are willing to sponsor that for any member because we know how important this is to learn.
Let me end on this commandment with pointing us to how we can see Jesus bring a fulfillment to this. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called us to seek heavenly treasure over earthly treasure. Indeed, it is even through Jesus’ death and resurrection for us that we can come into such treasure. Let us look to be building up the wealth that will endure, even in how we look to steward our earthly funds here and now.
We turn now to the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness.” The most immediate reference here is to courtroom testimony. Justice demands that witnesses speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If a witness lies, it perverts justice at the expense of your neighbor’s good names. For how evil it would be to call an innocent neighbor guilty or a guilty neighbor innocent. This command calls us to uphold people’s good names in honor of truth.
By extension, this commandment calls us to put away all falsehoods and speak truth to one another in general. God is a God of truth, and he calls us to such truth. We should not mislead people or withhold truth from whom truth is due. We need to be people of integrity and honesty like our great God.
How many ways our world is failing in this. You can see it so clearly in the media, social or traditional. People can speak so nastily about other people. Now yes, there are times when public actions deserve to be publicly called out. For example, that is what you see Paul did to Peter in Galatians when he was being hypocritical regarding his eating with Gentile Christians. I’m not talking about such cases. I’m talking about things like when people on media slander or gossip about others. People can so easily be tempted into speaking evil about someone else when they aren’t there in front of them. That is why, in general, it is best when you can speak directly with the person you have a problem with. It gives them an opportunity to defend themselves. For example, often someone has misunderstood the view of the other person, and by having a charitable dialogue with them, the matter can get resolved. Otherwise, if you are going around and mischaracterizing their view to others, then you are breaking this commandment.
A specific example of this is the recent trend where people post on social media lamenting how they were abused by someone many years in the past. Often specific names are used. In most cases, the accused doesn’t have any opportunity to defend themselves. Yet, when I’ve repeatedly witnessed this, more often than not, I see their friends replying in the comments with their sympathy with the accuser, and their outrage at the accused. But do you see how that is a perversion of justice? What the accuser is saying may be completely true, but it did not afford the accused due process. Our system of justice is founded upon certain principles of justice like someone being innocent until proven guilty and the right to face your accuser and the ability to give a defense and to cross examine witnesses. But when people make public accusations against someone, and people assume it true just because it has a ring of credibility, then that is not justice. I understand why today people may feel the need to voice these concerns. Victims can sometimes be scared to speak up until much later, after statutes of limitations have long expired. Sadly, sometimes evil people do get away with crimes in that situation. But in concern to protect accusers, this command reminds us we must also still uphold the rights of accused.
Another specific example of this commandment broken on media is when someone “misconstrues the intentions, words, and actions” of another when describing them. I pulled that language from WLC 145 which comments on this command. This seems especially common in politics, but not exclusive to them. Such misrepresentation makes a straw man of your opponent that is easy to tear down. While this may be common, it is also a violation of this commandment. Charity says we should assume the best of people’s motives and paint people’s words and actions in the best possible light.
Another common failing related to media is when false information is promoted and then people are tricked into believing it. Some of this might fall under the contemporary label of “fake news”. Other times it can be some form of a conspiracy theory that isn’t actually true but convinces some. Such pseudo-information might be given by someone accidentally, that they thought they were giving accurate information but themselves were in error. Or it could be intentional disinformation given with intent to deceive. The ninth commandment would speak to both sides of the equation. If you are someone passing along the information, you need to make sure it is true before you share it. And if you are someone receiving such information, you need to do your best to discern if the information is true before believing it. This can be especially hard if you are the victim of what people are now calling gaslighting, which is basically when someone feeds you a lie so many times that you eventually begin to believe it.
More examples could be given, but for now let us remember in this commandment how Jesus declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. With so many lies out there, Jesus is the faithful witness to the most important truth you will ever need. That truth is the gospel that brings salvation from damnation through the glorious name of Jesus.
Let us lastly now turn to the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet.” Coveting is desiring something that belongs to someone else. Instead of desiring things that are not yours to have, we are supposed to have biblical contentment as well as be happy for others who have such good things. Interestingly, this commandment gives us a whole bunch of examples. Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife, his house, his property, his servants, his livestock, or anything that is his. So many examples serve to emphasize this commandment. And that emphasis is needed because you could imagine how people could be tempted to downplay this sin, since it is not about any outwardly observable action. It is only about what is in your heart.
And yet, what’s in your heart is so fundamental to true righteousness, according to God’s law. Too often, the world’s view of morality falls so very short because they stop at outward actions. But true righteousness is righteousness that flows from the heart. If you have an evil desire, and never act upon it, you are still a depraved person. That means I can confidently say we are all depraved persons. Thank you Lord for grace and forgiveness in Jesus!
Modern conversations expose how the world’s view of morality often doesn’t recognize how desire can be evil. Some say homosexuality can’t be wrong if that’s what their heart desires, because that is just how God made them. But the tenth commandment says that our desires can be sinful. A transgender person desires to be a biological sex that they are not. But that doesn’t make the desire right. This language can come across as unkind to people who struggle with these desires and are often ashamed that they have these desires. I would strongly urge us to be kind, chartable, patient, and tender in how you talk about this with such people. But the solution isn’t to just pretend such desires are good. That’s not good for them, because what is truly good for them is what God says is good, even if that’s not their natural desire. The Bible teaches how all mankind has fallen and has a natural desire for sin of various sorts. This becomes an opportunity to counsel people toward the gospel of salvation instead of just excusing wrong desires, or even worse, celebrating them.
The fact that the Ten Commandments concludes with this command about the heart, also emphasize its importance. It culminates all the commandments by pointing to the heart. Paul does something similar in Colossians 3:5 where he says that covetousness is idolatry, making a connection between our worship of God and our heart. Similarly, we can go back, for example, and consider each of the other commandments about our duty toward neighbor and think about how they are either first broken or kept in the heart. For the fifth commandment, do we honor in our heart the authority, or despise them? What’s your attitude toward your boss at work, for example? For the sixth commandment, do you have an evil hatred for an opponent, or a peacemaking and forgiving heart toward them? Blessed are the peacemakers. For the seventh commandment, do you lust for someone you can’t have or do you cultivate godly attraction toward a proper option? If you are single, pursue a godly spouse. If you are married, then that attraction should be just for your spouse alone. For the eighth commandment, are you envious of other’s wealth or privilege? Or are you happy for them and instead have godly ambition to improve your circumstances? For the ninth, do you think and speak ill of others in your heart and entertain lies about them, or are you always desiring to think the best of others and seek the truth? Indeed, the tenth commandment is a fitting conclusion to the Ten Commandments.
Jesus also shows us the way of the tenth commandment when he said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Everything else will come in its own time if you set your heart on the Lord and seek to keep his moral law. In Christ, we can find a contentment that transcends understanding, able to do all things through Christ who gives us strength, even when we don’t have much in this life.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, in conclusion, I hope you have been encouraged in godly living in our short miniseries through the Ten Commandments. These last three have an interesting way that they speak to wide scope of righteousness. We often speak of how we need to obey God in thought, word, and deed. The tenth commandment draws us to think about our thoughts, the ninth commandment our words, and the eight commandment our deeds. God would have us to pursue obedience in full, in thought, word, and deed. Let us pray for more grace and mercy from above as we look to live for Christ in this fallen world.
Amen.
Copyright © 2024 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
