6. The usurer who takes of others even to extortion ; he seems to help another by letting him have money in his necessity, but gets him into bonds, and sucks out h very blood and marrow. I read of a wo- man whom Satan had bound, Luke xiii. 16. And truly he is almost in as bad a con- dition whom the usurer hath bound : the oppressing usurer is a robber. An usurer once asked a profligal, when he would leave spending? Saith the prodigal, " Tlion I will leave spending what is my own, when thou leavest off' stealing from others." Zac- cheus was an extortioner, and after his conversion he made restitution, Luke xix. 3. He thought all he got by extortion was theft.
7. The feoffe in trust, who hath the or- phan's estate committed to him ; he is de-*' j)uted to be his guardian, and manage his estate for him, and he curtails tlie estate.
OF THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.
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and gets a fleece out of it for liimself, and tiTongs the orplmn. This is a thief; this is worse than taking a purse, because lie betrays his trust, wliich is the higliest piece of treachery and injustice.
8. The borrower, wlio borrows money from others, with an intention never to pay them again, Ps. xxxvii. 21., " The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." What is it but thievery to take money and goods from others, and not restore them again ? The prophet Elisha bade the widow sell her oil, and pay her debts, and then live upon the rest, 2 Kings iv. 7.
9. The last sort of theft is the receiver of stolen goods. Tlie receiver, if he be not the principal, yet he is accessory to the theft, and the law makes him guilty. The thief steals the money, and the receiver holds the sack to put it in. The root would die if it were not watered, and thievery would cease if it were not encouraged by the receiver. I am apt to think he who doth not scruple to take stolen goods into his house would as little scruple to take a purse.
Quest. What are the aggratmtions of this sin of stealing ?
Ans. 1. To steal when one has no need. To be a rich thief.
A. 2. To steal sacreligiously. To devour things set apart to holy uses, Prov. xx. 25., " It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy." Such an one was Dionysius, who robbed the temple, and took away the silver vessels.
A. 3. To commit the sin of theft a- gainst checks of conscience, and examples of God's justice; this is like the dye to the wool, it doth dye the sin of a crimson co- lour.
A. 4. To rob the widow and orphan, Exod. xxii. 22., " Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child;" peccatam cla- tnoTis, — ' If they cry unto me, I will surely hear them.'
A. 5. To rob the poor. How did David disdain that the rich man should take away the poor man's lamb ! " As the Lord liv- eth, the man who hath done this thing shall surely die," 2 Sam. xii. 5. Wliat is the enclosing of commons, but robbing of the poor?
3d. There is a stealing from a man's self. A man may be a thief to himself.
Quest. How so ?
Ans. I. By niggardliness. The niggard is a thief; he steals from himself, in that he dotli not allow himself what is fitting ; he thinks tiiat lost which is bestowed upon himself; he robs himself of necessaries, Eccl. vi. 2., " A man to whom God hath given riches, yet God gives him not power to eat thereof." He gluts his chest, and starves his belly ; he is like the ass that is loaded with gold, but feeds upon thistles ; he robs himself of that which God allows him. This is indeed to be punished with riches, — to have an estate, and want an heart to take the comfort of it, — this man is a thief to himself.
A. 2. A man may be a thief to himself, and rob himself by prodigality, viz. wast- ing his estate. The prodigal lavisheth gold out of the bag; he is like Crates the philo- sopher who threw his gold into the sea. The prodigal boils a great estate to no- thing; this is to be a thief to a man's self, to spend away that estate from himself which might conduce to the comfort of life.
A. 3. He is a thief to himself, by idle- ness, when he mispends his time. To spend one's hours in pleasure and vanity, this is to rob himself of that precious time which (iod hath given him t(> work out salvation. Time is a rich commodity, because on the well-spending this present time an happy eternity (iei)en(ls. He that spends his time idlv and vainlv, is a thief to himself; he robs himself of his gol;!en seasons, and by consequence, of salvation.