Chapter 27. Of the Eighth Commandment.
A GOLDEN CHAIN
Chapter 27. Of the Eighth Commandment.
This commandment concerns the preservation of our neighbour's goods. The words are these:
You shall not steal.
The Resolution [Steal] To steal is, properly, to convey anything secretly from another. Gen 31.20, Jacob stole away the heart of Laban the Aramite. GNV In this place, it signifies generally, to wish that which is another man's, to get it by fraud, and in any way to impair his wealth.
The Negative Part You shall neither be failing to preserve, nor wanting a means to hinder or hurt your neighbour's goods.
In this place, these sins are forbidden:
I. Inordinate living, whether it is in having no set calling, or idly, in which, by neglecting their duties, such persons misspend their time, goods, and revenues.
2Th 3.11, We hear that there are some among you who walk inordinately, and do not work at all, but are busybodies. Gen 3.19, In the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread, till you return to the earth. 1Tim
5.8, If there is anyone who does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he denies the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
II. Unjust dealing, which is either in heart, or deed.
Unjust dealing in heart is called covetousness. Mat 15.19, Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, etc. Covetousness is idolatry. Col 3.5 Eph 5.5, We know that no covetous person, who is an idolater, shall enter into the kingdom of Christ and of God. Indeed, it is the very root of evil.
WILLIAM PERKINS
1Tim 6.10, The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some lusted after, they erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Unjust dealing, indeed, is in bargaining, or outside of bargaining.
Unjust dealing in bargaining has many branches.
1Th 4.6, Let no man oppress or deceive his neighbour in a bargain, for God is the avenger of such things.
To sell or bargain for that which is not saleable. Of this kind,
Is the gift of the Holy Ghost, which cannot be bought with money. Act 8.18-20, When Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostle's hands, the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. Then Peter said to him, Your money perish with you, because you think that the gift of God may be obtained with money.
Church goods are not saleable. Therefore, it is not to be allowed for men to sell or alienate them from the Church. Pro 20.25, It is destruction for a man to devour that which is sanctified, and to question it after the vows. Mal 3.8.
Church goods are the possession of the Lord.
Whatever is unprofitable either to the Church, or the commonweal, must not be sold.
All misleading forgery and deceit in bargaining. Luk 19.8, Zaccheus stepped forward and said to the Lord,
Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by forged accusation, I restore it fourfold. This deceit is used,
A GOLDEN CHAIN
When men sell what is counterfeit, as good; such as selling copper for gold, and mingling bad with good, showing only the good. Amos 8.4-6, Hear this, you who swallow up the poor, saying, When will the new moon be gone, etc., so that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?
When men falsify measures and weights. Deu 25.13, You shall not have in your bag two types of weights, a great and a small. 15 But you shall have a right and a just weight. A perfect and a just measure shall you have. Lev 19.36 You shall have just balances, true weights, a true Ephah, and a true Hin. Amos 8.5,
Hear this, you who say, When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may sell corn, and make the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsify the weights by deceit…
When in buying and selling, the people are oppressed. And this is,
When the just price of things is raised. For in bargaining, it is not lawful to pocket one penny, without giving a penny's worth;
Sale on a set day, which is when a day is given that the price may be enhanced. For what is this, I ask you, but to tell time, and take more of our neighbour than is right?
To engross [monopolize], which is to buy up all of one commodity into your own hands, so that when no other has any of it, you may sell it at your own price.
To become bankrupt, so that you may be enriched by the damages and goods of other men.
Not to restore what was lent to one, pledged to him, or found by him. Eze 18.7, Neither has he oppressed anyone, but has restored the pledge to his debtor; the one who has despoiled none by violence, etc.
WILLIAM PERKINS
To delay any kind of restitution, from one day to another. Pro 3.28, Do not say to your neighbour,
'Depart and come again; tomorrow I will pay you,' when you may do it then.
To practice usury [charge interest]. Psa 15.5, Who has not put his money to usury. Exo 22.25, If you lend money to my people, to the poor man who dwells with you, do not be a usurer to him; do not lay usury upon him.
Usury is a gain exacted by a covenant, above the principal, only in lieu and recompense for lending it.
Usury being considered as it is thus described, is quite contrary to God's word, and it may very fitly be termed biting lucre. Exo 22.14-15, If any man has borrowed anything from another, whatever is hurt or dies, if the owner of the thing is not present, let him be recompensed. If he is present, do not recompense him; it is hired for a price, it is sold for the same price. Eze
18.8, He has not given to usury, nor taken increase.
2Cor 8.13-14, Nor is it that other men should be eased, and you grieved, except upon like condition at this time; your abundance supplies their lack, so that also their abundance may be for your lack, that there may be equity. And positive laws not only restrain this usury, but disallow it.
Question: Is it not lawful to take at some time, above the principal?
Answer: Yes, surely, with these conditions:
I. If a man takes heed that he exacts nothing but that which his debtor can get by good and lawful means.
II. He may not take more than the gain, indeed not all the gain, nor that part of the gain which drinks up the living of the one who uses the money.
III. He must sometimes be so far from taking gain, that he must not require the principal, if his debtor is by inevitable and just casualties, brought behind [in arrears], and it is also plain that he could not make, not
A GOLDEN CHAIN
even by great diligence, any commodity of the money borrowed.
The reasons why a man may sometimes take above the principal are, I. That which the debtor may give, having himself an honest gain besides, and no man in any way damaged, that the creditor may safely receive.
II. It is convenient that the one who has money lent to him, and gains by it, should show all possible gratitude to the one by whose goods he is enriched.
III. It is often for the benefit of the creditor, to have the goods in his own hands, which he lent.
Objection: Money is not fruitful; therefore, it is unlawful to receive more than we lent out.
Answer: Even though money, in itself, is not fruitful, yet it is made very fruitful by the borrower's good use of it — just as ground is, which is not fruitful unless it is tilled.
Last of all, when a man detains the labourer's wages.
Jas 5.4, Behold, the wages of the labourers (who have reaped your fields, which you kept back by fraud) cry out, and the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
Unjust dealing outside of bargaining, is likewise manifold.
I. To pronounce false sentence or judgment for a reward, either professed or promised. Isa 1.23, Your
Princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards. They do not judge for the fatherless, nor does the widow's cause come before them. This is the Lawyer's and Judge's sin.
II. To feed or clothe stout and lusty rogues or beggars. 2Th 3.10, When we were with you, we enjoined you this: that if any would not labour, they should not eat. What then do you think those licensed rogues and beggars must have by their authority? — I mean, all those idle monks and Abby-lubbers? Socrates
WILLIAM PERKINS
says plainly, that Monk who does not labour with his hands, is no better than a thief. in the Tripartite History III. Gaming for money and gain. For you may not enrich yourself by impoverishing your brother. This gaming is far worse than usury, and it more enriches a man in a short while.
IV. To get money by unlawful arts. Such are Magic, Judicial Astrology, Stage-plays, and other like arts, Deu
18.11. Eph 4.28, Let him that has stolen, steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may give to him that has need. Eph 5.3; 1Th 5.22, Abstain from all appearance of evil.
V. To filch or pilfer the least pin or point from another. Mar 10.19, You shall not steal; you shall not hurt any man. Rom 3.8, And (as we are blamed, and as some claim we say) why not do evil, that good may come of it? Their damnation is just.
VI. To remove ancient boundaries. Pro 22.28, You shall not remove the ancient bounds which your father's have made. Hos 5.10, The Princes of Judah are like those who remove the bounds.
VII. To steal other men's servants, or children; to commit sacrilege, or robbery.
1Tim 1.10, To whoremongers, buggerers [sodomists], and men-stealers [kidnappers or slavers].
Josh 7.19, Achan's theft. 1Cor 6.10, Neither thieves, nor covetous persons, nor robbers, etc., shall merit the Kingdom of God. The sorts of men that are especially famous for robberies are these: thieves by the Queen's highways,
Pirates on the seas, Soldiers who are not content with their pay, and whoever they are that mainly by force take that which is none of their own. Luk 3.14, The soldiers asked him, What shall we do? He said, Do violence to no man, nor accuse any man falsely, and be content with your wages.
VIII. To conspire with a thief, whether by advising how he may compass his enterprise, or by concealing his act, so that he is not punished. Pro 29.24, He that
A GOLDEN CHAIN
partners with a thief, hates himself; and he that hears, swearing, does not reveal it.
The punishment for theft, at the discretion of the Judge, may sometimes be aggravated, as he sees what the quality of the offence is. Therefore, thieves are sometimes punished with death.
Now, if any man objects that the Judicial Law of God only requires the restitution of it fourfold for such an offense, I answer that the civil Magistrate, when he sees some single offence, or many offences, increase, then he may by his authority increase the civil punishment due to that sin. Now, it is manifest that the sin of theft is far more grievous in our commonweal than it was among the Jews.
For, first, the inhabitants of this commonweal are generally poorer by many degrees, than the Jews were.
Therefore, to steal a thing of but small value from someone poor in this country, does him more damage than a thing of great value would have damaged the Jews.
Again, the people of this country are of a more stirring and fierce disposition, which makes thieves more outrageous, joining violence with their robberies; and the disturbance of the public tranquility of the country ought to be more regarded, than of one private man's life.
The Affirmative Part You shall preserve and increase your neighbour's goods.
To this are required these things that follow:
I. A certain calling, in which every man, according to that gift which God has given him, must give himself honestly to his own and his neighbour's good. 1Cor
7.24, Let every man abide with God in what he was called to. Eph 4.28, [working with his hands the thing that is good]. 1Pet 4.10, As each man has received a gift, so let him administer it to another, that you may be
WILLIAM PERKINS
good dispensers of the manifold graces of God. Gal 5.13, In love, serve one another.
II. The true use of riches, and all the goods a man has. Two virtues belong to this: Contentment and Thriftiness.
Contentment is a virtue by which a man is well-pleased with that estate in which he is placed.
1Tim 6.6-8, Godliness is great gain, with a contented mind. For we brought nothing into the world, nor shall we carry away anything out of the world. But having food and clothing, let us be content. Phi 4.11-12, I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content with it. I can be abased, and I can abound — everywhere in all things I am instructed both to be full, and to be hungry, and to abound, and to have want. Mat 6.11, Give us this day our daily bread. Heb 13.5, Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with the things which you have. For he says, I will not forsake you, nor leave you.
Thriftiness, or frugality, is a virtue by which a man carefully keeps his goods which he has gotten, and employs them to such uses as are both necessary and profitable. Pro 5.15-17, Drink the water of your cistern, and of the rivers out of the middle of your own well. Let your fountains flow out, and the rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be your own — indeed, yours only, and not the stranger's with you. Pro 21.5, The thoughts of the diligent surely bring abundance. Verse 17, He that loves pastime, shall be a poor man; and he that loves wine and oil shall not be rich. Pro 12.27 The deceitful man does not roast what he has taken in hunting, but the riches of the diligent are precious. Joh
6.12.
III. To speak the truth from the heart, and to use a harmless simplicity in all affairs. Psa 15.2, He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness; he that speaks the truth in his heart. Gen 23.14-16, Ephron said to Abraham, The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between me and you?
A GOLDEN CHAIN
Therefore, bury your dead. So Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the Hittites, even four hundred shekels of money current among merchants, etc.
IV. Just dealing. 1Th 4.6. There are many kinds of this:
In buying and selling, in setting and hiring farms, tenements, lands, in merchandise, and all manner of commodities, men must inflate nothing, but keep a just price.
A just price is then observed, when the things prized, and the price given for them, are made as near equal as possible. For the observation of this equality, these four rules are to be considered:
There must be a proportion and equality in all contracts, which will be when the seller does not value the thing only according to his own pains and cost bestowed on it, but also sees what profit it may be to the buyer, and in what need he stands of it. 106
Lev 25.14-16, When you sell anything to your neighbour, or buy anything from his hands, you shall not oppress one another. But according to the number of the years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbour. Also, according to the number of years you shall increase the price of it; and according to the fewness of years, you shall abate the price of it, for he sells to you the number of fruits
[crops].
They must be squared according to the law of nature, the sum of which Christ propounds in these words: Whatever you would have men do to you, do the same to them. Mat 7.12
WILLIAM PERKINS
The bond of nature must be kept, which binds the one who receives a benefit, and makes a lawful gain from another man's goods, that once he is enriched, he shall make a proportionate and natural recompense, even above the principal.
Men must communicate and make use of their goods, with that caveat which Paul gives in 2Cor 8.13, not to bestow them in such a way that others may be eased, but they be grieved, or contrariwise.
II. Men must sell those things which are, in their kind, substantial and profitable.
III. They must use just weights and measures. Deu 25.13, You shall not have in your bag two types of weights, a great and a small. 15 But you shall have right and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall you have. Eze 45.10, You shall have just balances, a true
Ephah, and a true Bath. Mic 6.11, Shall I justify the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitful weights?
IV. He that hires anything, must not only pay the appointed hire, but make that which he hired good, if anything other than good comes to it by his fault. Exo
22.14, If a man borrows anything from his neighbour, and it is hurt, he shall surely make it good, etc.
V. The pledge or pawn should be redeemed; and if it is of important necessity, as that which preserves the life of our neighbour, it must be restored to him immediately.
Exo 22.26-27, If you take your neighbour's cloak as a pledge, you shall restore it again before the sun goes down; for that is his only covering.
Deu 24.6, No man shall take the nether or upper millstone in pledge; for this gage [what he pledged] is his living.
Neither may a man be his own carrier in a pledge, but he must take the one that is offered. Deu 24.10-13,
When you ask back from your neighbour for anything lent, you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
But you shall stand outside, and the man that borrowed it from you shall bring the pledge out of doors to you.
A GOLDEN CHAIN
Furthermore, if it is a poor body, you shall not keep his pledge overnight, but you shall restore to him the pledge, etc.
VI. To become a surety only for men who are honest and very well known; and do that warily, with much deliberation. Pro 11.15, He shall be vexed who is surety for a stranger. And He that hates suretyship is sure.
Pro 17.18, A man destitute of understanding shakes hands, and becomes surety for his neighbour. Pro
22.26.
But if is so, that a man has entangled himself by suretyship, the best way is to crave his creditors' favour by his own humble suit, and the insistent request of his friends. Pro 6.1-5, My son, if you are surety for your neighbour, and have struck hands with the stranger, you are snared with the words of your own mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, seeing that you have come into the hand of your neighbour; go and humble yourself and solicit your friends. Give no sleep to your yes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself as a doe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
VII. All just covenants and promises must be performed, even if they are to our hindrance. For a promise binds us to whom we make the promise, if it is lawful, so far as he wills. Psa 15.4, Who swears to his hurt, and does not change. Pro 25.14, A man who boasts and does not keep a promise, is like clouds and wind without rain. Jdg 1.24-25, The spies saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, show us, we pray you, the way into the city, and we will show you mercy. And when he had shown them the way into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his household depart.
Therefore, if after a promise is made, he either sees that he will be damaged by it, or hindered in the performance of his promise, he may crave release, and if it is granted, accept it.
VIII. If we lend, do it freely. Luk 6.35, Lend, looking for nothing back, and your reward shall be great. And
WILLIAM PERKINS
when we borrow, we must be careful to make restitution, even if we need to sell our own goods. 2Kng
4.2-7, Here, the wife of the sons of the Prophets sells her oil which God sent by the hand Elisha, to pay her creditor.
IX. Restore what is committed to custody, without delay. Mat 21.41, He will destroy the evil husbandmen, and lease his vineyard to others who will deliver to him the fruits in their season. Also, Pro 3.28. But if such a thing is lost, not by our fault, we are not urged to repay it. Exo 22.7-8, If a man delivers to his neighbor money, of stuff to keep, and it is stolen from his house, then if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought before the judges to swear whether he has put his hand to his neighbour's goods or not.
X. What a man finds, is to be kept in his own hand, if the true owner cannot be heard of; but if he is, he must restore it. Deu 22.1-3, You shall not see your brother's ox, nor his sheep go astray, and withdraw yourself from them, but shall bring them back to your brother. If he is not near to you, or you do not know him, you shall bring it into your house, and it will remain with you until your brother looks for it; then you shall deliver it back to him. So you shall do with all lost things.
XI. To get our own, we may — if we cannot do otherwise — sue our neighbour at law. But we must follow our suits in a holy manner, and with these circumstances:
In all lawsuits, we must not do anything that may prejudice the profession of Christian religion.
Therefore, all lawsuits offend when they trust more in a man than in God, and make their religion a joke to worldlings — partly by striving about things of small importance, and partly by not allowing for any conditions of reconciliation. 1Cor 6.1, Do any of you, having business against another, dare be judged under the unjust, and not under Saints?
A GOLDEN CHAIN
Law must be the last remedy, as a desperate medicine is the last remedy the Physician uses. We may assess all means possible before we use this, especially to a brother. 1Cor 6.7, There is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law with one another. Why would you not rather suffer wrong?
Why would you not rather sustain harm?
In all lawsuits, we must be mindful of the law of charity, and not so much endeavour to maintain our own right, such as to recall our brother who errs, into the right way.