A. 4. A man may be a thief to himself by suretiship, Prov. xxii. 26., " Be thou not one of them that are sureties for debt." The creditor comes upon the surety for debt, and so by paying another's debt he is a thief to himself, he undoes himself. Let not any man say, he should have been counted unkind if he had not entered into bonds for his friend: better thy friend count thee unkind, than all men count thee unwise. Lend another what you can spare, nay, give him if he needs, but never he a surety; it is no wisdom for a man so to help another as to undo himself This is to rob himself and his family.
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OF THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.
Use \st. It confutes the doctrine of com- munity lliat all things arc common, and one man hath a right to anotlier's estate. The scripture confutes it, Deut. xxiii. 25., " When thou comest into tlic standing corn of thy neighbour's, thou shalt not move a sickle into thy neighbour's corn." Proper- ty must be observed. God hath set this eighth commandment as a liedge about a man's estate, and this liedge cannot be broken without sin. If all things be com- mon, then there is no stealth, and so this commandment were in vain.
Ut<e 2d. It reproves such as live upon stealing. Instead of living by faith, they live by their shifts. The apostle exhorteth, that every man eat his own bread, 2 Thess. iii. 12. The thief doth not eat of his own bread, but of another's. If there be any who are guilty of this sin, let them labour to recover out of the snare of the devil by repentance, and let them show their repen- tance by restitution. Non remittitur pecco- catum 7iisi restituatar ablatum, Aug. ' With- out restitution, no remission,' Luke xix. 8., " If I have taken away any thing from any man unjustly, I restore him fourfold." It may suffice to restore ill-gotten goods by one's own hand, or by proxy. Better a thousand times restore goods unlawfully gotten, than to stuff one's pillow with thorns, and have guilt trouble one's con- science upon a death-bed.
Use Sd, Exhortation to all to take heed of this sin of thieving ; it is a sin against the light of nature. Some may go to excuse this sin ; hear the thief's plea; it is a coarse wool will take no dye, and a bad sin indeed tliat hath no excuse. " I am (saith one) grown low in the world, and trading is bad, and I have no other way to a liveli- hood."
Jns. 1. This shews a great distrust of God, as if he could not provide for thee without thy sin. — 2. This shows sin is got- ten to a great height, that, because a man is grown low in the world, therefore he will Acheronta wovere, go to the devil for a live- lihood. Abraham would not have it said, that ' the king of Sodom had made him rich,' Gen. xiv. 22. O let it never be said tliat the devil hath made thee rich ! — 3. Thou oughtesht not to undertake any action
which thou canst not pray fo:- a blessing upon ; but, if thou livest on thieving, thoi' canst not pray for a blessing upon stolen goods; therefore take heed of this sin,— - lucrum in arcu, damnum in conscientia, Aug. Take heed of getting the world with the loss of heaven. To dissuade all from this horrid sin, consider,
(I.) Thieves are the caterpillars of the earth, — enemies to civil society.
(2.) God hates them. In the law, the cormorant was unclean. Lev. xi. 17., be- cause a thievish, devouring creature, a bird of prey ; by which God showed his hatred oi this sin.
(3.) The thief is a terror to himself, he is always in fear, Ps. liii. 5., " There were they in great fear ;" true of the thief. Guilt breeds fear, if he hears but the shaking of a tree, his heart shakes. It is said of Cata- line, he was afraid of every noise. If a briar doth but take hold of a thief's ear- ment, he is afraid it is the officer to ap- prehend him; and " fear hath torment," 1 John iv, 18.
(4.) The judgments that follow this sin, ' Achan the thief was stoned to death,' Josh. vii. and Zech. v. 2., " What seest thou ? And I answered, a flying roll ;" v. 3., " This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth ; I will bring it forth, saith the Loi'd, and it shall enter into the house of the thief." Fabius, a Roman cen- sor, condemned his own son to die for theft. Thieves die with ignominy, the ladder is their preferment ; and there is a worse thing than death, — while they rob others of mo- ney, they rob themselves of salvation.
Quest. What is to be done to avoid steal- ing ?
Alls. 1. Live in a calling, Eph. iv. 28., " Let him that stole steal no more, but ra- ther let him labour, working with his hands," &c. Such as stand idle, the devil hires them, and puts them to the pilfering trade. An idle person tempts the devil to temj)t him.
yl. 2. Be content with the estate God hath given you : Heb. xiii. 5., " Be content with such things as ye have." Theft is the daughter of avarice; study contentment. Believe that condition best (jod hath carved out to you. God can bless that little meal
OF THE NINTH COMMANDMENT.
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