Lessons 24 and 25. The Eighth through Tenth Commandments.

1. My Life With My Neighbor The Seventh and Eighth Commandments

2. INTRODUCTION How many of you get an allowance or have a job like babysitting or lawn mowing? What sort of things do you spend your money on? It’s nice to have some money to spend on some things that are your very own. That’s one of the things we want to talk about today. We want to answer the question: What does God teach us about his gift of possessions?

3. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not take our neighbors money or property, or get it by dishonest dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and means of income.

4. STUDYING GOD’S WORD Where do our possessions come from?

5. James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.

6. Job was blessed by God. Ten children, 11,000 sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys. (In those days wealth was measured by animals in the pen and not money in the bank. He also had many servants. In one day it was all taken away. What was Job’s response? “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” He knew everything he had was a gift from God.

7. OUR POSSESSION ARE A GIFT FROM OUR GRACIOUS GOD.

8. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Agree or disagree and why? The clothing in your closet is yours.

9. STUDYING GOD’S WORD How does God give these gifts to me?

10. Deuteronomy 8:17,18 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

11. God gives ability to work. Some people complain about work. But just talk to someone who can’t work—a blind person or a person in a wheelchair. The ability to work is a wonderful blessing.

13. Gifts from friends and relatives. We have lots of opportunities to give and receive gifts, like Christmas or birthdays. Can you think of some other times when we receive gifts from loved ones? This is one of the ways that God gives us possessions.

15. God gives us possessions through inheritance. Sometimes grandparents set up a college fund in their will for their grandchildren so they can go to college without going into debt too deeply.

16. God gives me possessions by enabling me to work for them, through gifts and through inheritances.

17. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Evaluate: Joe says, “I have the right to use my possessions however I want. After all, I earned them!”

18. STUDYING GOD’S WORD What does God always want me to remember about my possessions?

20. He still owns them. We are just caretakers of them. (stewardship). Many huge dairy farms these days, may be owned by one person who hires several managers to run it. A manager might point to the farm and say, “That’s my farm.” He wouldn’t be lying. It’s his in the sense that he’s responsible for caring for it. However, it really belongs to the owner. In the same way we are managers of our possessions, but they really belong to God.

21. God wants me to remember that my possessions really belong to him. I am just the caretaker. How does God want me to use the possessions he has given me?

23. To support the work of his church. Whatever is most important you do first. When you make a list you write down the most important item first. Our gifts to the Lord need to be at the top of our list.

25. For my family needs. Sometimes we hear a news story about parents who have neglected their children, leaving them alone and not feeding them for days. Even non-Christians are shocked by this. How much more will we Christians realize the need to care for our families.

26. 1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? To help the needy. God wants us to help out those who are in need: the sick and injured, those unable to work, or those who have lost their home in a disaster like a tornado. One way to do this is through the WELS Committee on Relief (explain).

28. To pay taxes. There is lots of complaining around April 15—TAX DAY! God wants us to avoid complaining and cheerfully pay our taxes, giving thanks to him for all the blessings he brings to us through our government. Can you name some of those blessings?

30. For personal enjoyment. This is last on the list, but God doesn’t want us to leave it off the list. He wants us to enjoy our possessions, which he has graciously given us.

31. God wants me to use my possessions to support the work of his church, to take care of my family, to help the needy, to pay taxes, and for my enjoyment.

32. HIS WORD IN MY LIFE Evaluate: Jenna said, “We tip the waitress 15%. It seems to me that any decent Christian would give at least that much of his income to thank God. Agree or disagree and why? Giving a needy person a handout is actually harming him because it teaches him to be lazy.

33. THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT - You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him or give him a bad name, but defend him, speak well of him, and take his words and actions in the kindest possible way.

34. STUDYING GOD’S WORD Why is God’s gift of a good name so important?

36. It determines whether a person will be respected and trusted or not. Name some things that you can’t do if no one respects or trusts you? (get/hold a job, hold office, find a spouse, have friends, etc.) A good name is very important. Without a good reputation it’s almost impossible to function in life.

37. How do people ruin the good name God gave to others? Psalm 109:2 for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

38. By telling lies about another person (slander). Potiphar’s wife told a terrible lie about Joseph and look at what happened to him as a result .

39. Proverbs 11:13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. By betraying another person’s secrets. Joan had a harmless rash on her arm under a long sleeve shirt. John, her brother, told the other kids that she had chicken pox. The other kids avoided her. The teacher looked at the rash and called her parents to come get her. John caused a lot of trouble by his lie!

41. By saying a bad thing about someone that is true (gossip). A pastor had a gossip in his congregation. He took him up in the bell tower, cut open a pillow, and watched the feathers spread over the whole town. He told the member to pick them all up. “I can’t,” he said. That’s what gossip is like. Once we’ve said it we can’t take it back.

42. People ruin the good name God has given to others by lying about them, betraying their secrets, or gossiping about them.

43. APPLYING GOD’S WORD Agree or disagree? It doesn’t matter what we say about someone. As long as it’s true, we’re not breaking this commandment .

44. STUDYING GOD’S WORD How does God want us to help others keep their good name?

45. 1 Samuel 20:30-32 30 Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!” 32 “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father.

46. God wants us to defend and speak well of others . Have you ever been in a group of people that was having a “rag session” about some person? If you stood in the group and remained silent (or joined in) you failed.

47. 1 Corinthians 13:5-7 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

48. God wants us to take other’s words and actions in the kindest possible way. Imagine you were taking a walk downtown and saw the pastor coming out of the county jail looking rather disheveled. Why? You might assume he spent the night in jail for doing something wrong, when actually he was counseling with a member who was in trouble.

51. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Agree or disagree and why ? It’s impossible to break the Eighth Commandment if you keep your mouth shut. Evaluate: John said to his pastor, “Pastor, Mrs. Jones is always saying bad things about others. Will you come with me to talk to her about it?” What does the pastor say?

52. Christian Vocabulary Stewardship - The careful management of the blessings our gracious God has given us. Gossip - Saying something bad about someone behind his back even though it’s true. Slander - Telling lies about someone to make him look bad and ruin his good name.

54. My Life With My Neighbor The Ninth & Tenth Commandments

55. INTRODUCTION What would happen if you went into a bank, pretended you had a gun, and demanded a million dollars? (alarm would ring, you’d be arrested) What if you went into the bank, thought about how nice it would be to have a million dollars, and even considered trying to steal it? (nothing—you wouldn’t be guilty of a crime in the eyes of the state, but in God’s eyes you would)

56. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not scheme to get our neighbors inheritance or house, or obtain it by a show of right, but do all we can to help him keep it.

57. THE TENTH COMMANDMENT You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, workers, animals, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not force or entice away our neighbor’s spouse, workers, or animals, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

58. STUDYING GOD’S WORD What is coveting?

59. Psalm 10:2,3 2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. James 4:2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

60. A sinful craving in your heart for something you shouldn’t want. It was okay for Ahab to want Naboth’s vineyard. It was okay for him to offer to purchase it, but when he kept on scheming for ways to get it after Naboth told him no, he was coveting.

61. James 1:14,15 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. A sinful thought that leads to sinful words and actions . What did the evil desire of Ahab’s heart lead him to do?

62. COVETING IS A CRAVING FOR SOMETHING A PERSON SHOULDN’T WANT WHICH MAY LEAD HIM TO SINFUL WORDS AND ACTIONS

63. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Agree or disagree and why? It’s wrong to want a stereo system like the one your friend has.

64. STUDYING GOD’S WORD Why is the coveting that goes on in my heart not something I should take lightly?

65. Psalm 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Gives evidence of my sinful nature. Adam and Eve created in image of God (review meaning). But then sinned and had children in their own image (sinful). We, their descendants, are sinful too.

67. 1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him We deserve the same punishment for our sinful thoughts and sinful actions: HELL . Imagine being put in prison for thinking about robbing the bank. May seem unfair, but not to God’s way of thinking. He demands that our thoughts be pure too.

68. I DESERVE NOTHING BUT DEATH AND HELL FOR THE REBELLIONS SINFUL NATURE I HAVE HAD SINCE BIRTH THAT FILLS MY HEART WITH SINFUL DESIRES.

69. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Evaluate : Because everyone is born with a sinful nature, even a Christian is capable of committing any sin.

70. STUDYING GOD’S WORD By God’s grace what other kinds of thoughts and desires do I have in my heart?

72. By bringing me to faith in Jesus, God placed holy desires in my heart. Sometimes people need a heart transplant because their old heart is worn out. In a sense, God has given us a new heart—a heart that desires what he desires.

74. By bringing me to faith, God enabled me to love his will. Zacchaeus is a good example of someone whose heart and life were changed by being brought to faith in Jesus. He no longer wanted to cheat people but to help them.

75. BY BRINGING ME TO FAITH GOD HAS GIVEN ME A NEW HEART THAT LOVES HIS WILL AND HAS HOLY DESIRES.

76. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE Agree or disagree and why? Because every Christian has a new man, a real Christian will think about and do more good things than bad.

77. STUDYING GOD’S WORD What’s the result of having both a sinful nature and a new heart?

79. Romans 7:23-25 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

80. By growing in faith, I can win these battles. A great player can come in and turned a game around. Jesus has come into our hearts and turned the game around so that we can fight the temptations of our flesh.

81. MY LIFE IS A BATTLEFIELD, BUT AS I GROW IN FAITH JESUS ENABLES ME TO WIN MORE ANE MORE OF THE BATTLES.

82. GODS’S WORD IN MY LIFE Evaluate: When one of the comic sections in the newspaper pictures a person with a devil on one shoulder urging him to do something bad, and an angel on the other shoulder telling him to do good this is a good picture of what goes on inside the Christian.