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Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 48

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT PART III

Another way in which we rob God is by an unfaithful discharge of our stewardship. That which God has entrusted to us may be just as really outraged by our mismanagement as if we interfered with another's trust or plundered our neighbor's goods. This commandment then requires from us that we administer our worldly estate, be it large or small, with such industry as to provide for ourselves and those dependent upon us. Idleness is a species of theft. It is playing the part of the drone and compelling the rest of the hive to support us. So prodigality is also a form of theft, since extravagance and wastefulness are a spending of that substance which God has divided to us in "riotous living." He who remains in secular employment that requires him to work on the Lord's Day is robbing God of the time which ought to be devoted to His worship. Before passing on it should be pointed out that one who obtrudes himself into the Gospel ministry without being called of God in order to obtain an easy and comfortable living is "a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).

God has ordained that men should earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, and with that portion which we thus honestly obtain, we must be satisfied. But some are slothful and refuse to labor, while others are covetous and crave a larger portion. Hence many are led to resort to the use of force or fraud in order to gain possession of that to which they have no right. Theft, in general, is an unjust taking or keeping to ourselves what is lawfully another's. He is a thief who withholds what ought to be in his neighbor's possession just as much as one who takes his neighbor's property from him. Hence this commandment is grossly violated both by management and labor. If in the past the poor have been wronged by inadequate wages, the scales have now turned in the opposite direction, when employees often demand a wage that industry cannot afford to pay them. If on the one hand it is right that a fair day's work should receive a fair day's pay, it holds equally true that a fair day's pay is entitled to a fair day's work. But where loafing obtains it does not receive it.

1) What forms of stewardship do you think Pink is referring to in the first sentence? Are you guilty or do you know cases where others have been guilty of such theft?

2) When a person is lazy who can they be said to stealing from and how? Think in terms of time, money, labour, effort, example and provision.

3) Reword this sentence in modern English and consider any possible examples you might know of: “Before passing on it should be pointed out that one who obtrudes himself into the Gospel ministry without being called of God in order to obtain an easy and comfortable living is "a thief and a robber" (John 10:1)”.

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 47

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT PART II

The solemn and striking fact deserves pointing out that the first sin committed by the human species entailed theft: Eve took of (stole) the forbidden fruit. So, too, the first recorded sin against Israel after they entered the land of Canaan was that of theft: Achan stole from among the spoils (Josh. 7:21). In like manner the first sin which defiled the primitive Christian church was theft: Ananias and Sapphira "kept back part of the price" (Acts 5:2). How often this is the first sin committed outwardly by children! And therefore this Divine precept should be taught to them from earliest infancy. Years ago we visited a home, and our hostess related how she had that day secretly observed her daughter (about four years old) enter a room in which was a large bunch of grapes. The little tot eyed them longingly, went up to the table and then said, "Get thee hence, Satan. It is written, 'Thou shalt not steal,' " and rushed out of the room.

"Thou shalt not steal." The highest form of this sin is where it is committed against God, which is sacrilege. Of old He charged Israel with this crime: "Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Mal. 3:8, 9) . But there are other ways in which this wickedness may be committed besides that of refusing to financially support the maintenance of God's cause on earth. God is robbed when we withhold from Him the glory which is His due, and we are spiritual thieves when we arrogate to ourselves the honor and praise which belong to Him alone. Arminians are great offenders here, by ascribing to free will what is produced by free grace. "Ye have not chosen Me," said Christ, "but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us" (1 John 4:10).

1) Interestingly the first sin I can remember comitting as a child was theft. I’m sure there was some dishonoring my parents or lying but I clearly remember taking something from a hardware store and knowing it was wrong to do so and still doing it – I was five years old. Is your recollection similar? Perhaps it is because theft is so obviously wrong and tangible and the reminder of the sin is a physical object that, while in your possessio, accuses you. I still have some marbles I stole from my school mates!

2) Though we no longer live in a theocracy like Israel where tithes were the tax of the nation and it is true that we do not have to give a tenth of our income to the church – are we not even more obliged to give what we can and even more so that it occasionally deprives us of luxury (to break the idol of wealth) and to do so because it is fitting to further the gospel and support the family of those who minister to us? When we favour holding onto money for our comfort rather than giving to the church are we robbing God not just of the said money but also of trust (trusting him for provision)?

3) Pink mentions how arminians rob God of the fullness of his mercy and grace by ascribing choosing God to freewill – consider as many other heretical ideas as you can and see if you can spot what each steals from the Lord?

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 46

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT PART I

"Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15). The root from which theft proceeds is discontent with the portion God has allotted, and therefrom a coveting of what He has withheld from us and bestowed upon others. With his usual accuracy Calvin hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "This law is ordained for our hearts as much as for our hands, in order that men may study both to protect the property and to promote the interests of others." Like the preceding one, this precept also respects the government of our affections, by the setting of due bounds to our desires after worldly things, that they may not exceed what the good providence of God has appointed us. Hence the suitability of that prayer, "Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain" (Prov. 30:8, 9).

"Thou shalt not steal." The positive duty here enjoined is this: thou shalt by all proper means preserve and further both thine own and thy neighbor's estate. This commandment requires proper diligence and industry so as to secure a competency for ourselves and families, that we may not through our own default expose ourselves and them to those straits which are the consequence of sloth and neglect. Thus we are to "provide things honest in the sight of all men" (Rom. 12:17). But even more, this commandment is the law of love with respect to our neighbor's estate. It requires honesty and uprightness in our dealings one with another, being founded upon that first practical principle of all human conduct: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt. 7:12). Thus this commandment places a sacred enclosure around property which none can lawfully enter without the proprietor's consent.

1) Show how resisting the impulse to steal is related to loving others.

2) How does your salvation prohibit your taking anything that is not yours in this world?

3) Elaborate and make specific to your own life the prayer of Proverbs 30:8-9.

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 45

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART VIII

Rules and Helps far Avoiding Such Sins

(1) Cultivate a habitual sense of the Divine presence, realizing that "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3). (2) Keep a strict watch over the senses, for these are the avenues which instead of letting in pleasant streams to refresh, only too often let in mud and mire to pollute the soul. Make a covenant with your eyes (Job 31:1). Stop your ears against all filthy conversation. Read nothing which defiles. Watch your thoughts, and labor promptly to expel evil ones. (3) Practice sobriety and temperance (1 Cor. 9:27). Those who indulge in gluttony and drunkenness generally find that their excesses froth and foam into lust. (4) Exercise yourself in honest and lawful employment; idleness proves as fatal to many as intemperance to others. Avoid the company of the wicked. (5) Be much in earnest prayer, begging God to cleanse your heart (Psa. 119:37).

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:4). This refers to the sin of spiritual adultery: it is love of the world estranging the heart from God, carnal lusts enticing the soul and drawing it away from Him. There is more than enough in God Himself to satisfy, but there is still that in the believer which desires to find his happiness in the creature. There are degrees of this sin, as of the natural. As there may be physical adultery in thought and longing that terminates not in the overt act, so the Christian may secretly hanker after the world though he become not an utter worldling. We must check such inclinations when our hearts are unduly drawn forth to material comforts and contentments. God is a jealous God, and nothing provokes Him more than that we should prefer base things before Himself, or give to others that affection or esteem which belongs alone to Him. Leave not your "first love" (Rev. 2:4), nor forsake Him to whom you are "espoused" (2 Cor. 11:2).

1) Look up and medeitate on the meaning of the phrase “Corem Deo”.

2) We cannot help the first glance but are certainly guilty of the lingering second glance. Practice keeping your eyes forward – what else can you do to keep a strict watch over your senses (in terms of TV, film, music, books, jokes, the internet and fnatasy)?

3) What qualities of gluttony and drunkeness might lead to the commission of adultery? Also consider leisure and boredom (idle hands are the …)?

4) Describe spiritual adultery (according to Pink)?

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 44

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART V

Although the sin of "adultery" is alone specifically mentioned in this precept, the rules by which these Commandments are to be interpreted (see earlier chapters) oblige us to understand that all other kinds of uncleanness are prohibited under that of this one gross sin. Everything that defiles the body is here forbidden; adultery is expressly mentioned because all other moral pollutions tend thereto. By the wickedness of that which all men know to be wrong, we are exhorted to abominate every unlawful passion. As all manner of chastity in our thoughts, speeches, and actions is enjoined by the perfect rule of God, so whatever is in the least contrary and prejudicial to spotless chastity and modesty is here prohibited. Every other sexual union save that of marriage is accursed in God's sight.

This commandment forbids all degrees or approaches to the sin prohibited, as looking in order to lust. Its force is, Thou shalt in no way injure thy neighbor's chastity or tempt to uncleanness. It requires that we abstain from immodest apparel, indelicate speech, intemperance in food and drink which excites the passions, and everything that has any tendency to induce unchastity in ourselves or others. Let young people especially fix it in mind that all unclean conduct before marriage on the part of man or woman is a wrong done against the marriage to be. Though this commandment is expressed in the form of a negative prohibition, yet positively it enjoins all the opposite duties, such as cleanliness of the body, filling the mind with holy objects, setting our affection on things above, and spending our time in profitable occupations.

1) What things can a person do to defile their body other than sexual activity outside the marriage?

2) How is premarital sex as much adultery committed against God and your spouse as extra-marital sex? What affects from premarital sex can come back to haunt and destroy a marriage long ofter its comission (think in medical and progeny terms)?

3) Once a person has had more than one sexual partner they have established a baseline for comparing the performance of all other partners and thus are more likely to commit the sin again or grow weary of their current partner. If you, like myself, have had multiple partners and are now happily married, how much would you give to never have had any other than your beloved?

4) Pray through the last sentence’s positive “enjoinings”.

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 43

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART IV

Though marriage is the Divinely appointed remedy for the sin of sexual uncleanness, that does not grant man the license to make a beast of himself. "Let it not be supposed by married persons that all things are lawful to them. Every man should observe sobriety towards his wife, and every wife, reciprocally, towards her husband; conducting themselves in such a manner as to do nothing unbecoming the decorum and temperance of marriage. For thus ought marriage contracted in the Lord to be regulated by moderation and modesty, and not to break out into the vilest lasciviousness. Such sensuality has been stigmatized by Ambrose with a severe but not unmerited censure, when he calls those who in their conjugal intercourse have no regard to modesty, the adulterers of their own wives" (Calvin).

Let no man flatter himself with the idea that he cannot be charged with unchastity because he has abstained from the actual deed while his heart is a cesspool of defiling imaginations and desires. Because God's Law is "spiritual" (Rom. 7:14), it not only forbids the gross outward acts of filthiness, but it prohibits and condemns unchastity of heart as well--all unlawful imaginations and contemplations. As there is such a thing as heart murder, so there is heart adultery, and he who commits speculative uncleanness and prostitutes his thoughts and imaginations to the impure embraces of lust is guilty of transgressing this commandment. "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). Therefore we find the Apostle did not content himself with saying that it is better for a man to marry than to pollute himself with a harlot, but "it is better to marry than to burn" (1 Cor. 7:9)--harbor consuming passion.

1) Since “moderation and modesty” are relative to culture and time (to at least some degree) – do you agree with Calvin? How do we judge what then is right between a married couple in the privacy of the bedroom? How do men avoid becoming “adulterers of their own wives”?

2) How does pornography constitute “heart adultery”? Should those who never seek pornogrpahy be complacent? Do you agree with this statement: pornography feeds a filthy thought life but is not essential to its development”.

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 42

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART III

How God regards sins of uncleanness has been made clear by many passages in His Word. This sin, even on the part of an unmarried man, is called "great wickedness against God" (Gen. 39:9). Then how much more inexcusable and intolerable is it on the part of a married person! The temporal punishment meted out to it under the civil law of Israel was no less than death, the same that was meted out to murder. Job calls it "a heinous crime, a fire that consumeth to destruction" (31:11, 12). Much of this wickedness is practiced in secret, but though its perpetrators may escape the judgment of man, they shall not escape the judgment of Heaven, for it is written, "whoremongers and adulterers God shall judge" (Heb. 13:4). "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers ... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9, I0).

"The sin of adultery is scarcely less enormous than that of murder. The latter destroys man's temporal existence, the former destroys all that makes existence a boon. Were all to take the licence of the adulterer men would in due time be reduced to the degradation of wild beasts" (R. L. Dabney). To prevent this sin, God has instituted the ordinance of marriage. "To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2) . The sin of adultery is therefore the violation of the marriage covenant and vow, and so adds perjury to infidelity. Immorality is a sin against the body (1 Cor. 6:18). God's displeasure against this sin is seen in the fact that He has so ordered things that nature itself visits the same with heavy penalties in every part of man's complex being. "Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. 6:7, 8).

1) Adultery can be considered the murder of a marriage and many abortions are the result of adultery. Adultery can even result in the infection of the non-offending spouse with a deadly disease. How would you explain to someone why God views adultery and murder both with similar revulsion - in what way are they the same?

2) Consider how AIDS and similar diseases are a direct reaping of corruption (Gal. 6:7, 8) – in what other ways does God chastise the adulterer in this life.

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Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 41

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART II

This commandment plainly intimates that God claims the body as well as the soul for His service. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.... if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom. 6:12; 8:13). "The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. . . . Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.... glorify God in your body, and in your spirit" (1 Cor. 6:13, 15, 20). For a Christian, this foul sin is sacrilege. "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy Spirit which is in you... ?" (1 Cor. 6:19). If Christ was indignant when He saw the house of God turned into a den of thieves, how much more heinous in His sight must be that wickedness which debases the temple of the Holy Spirit into a filthy sty!

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." This prohibition is designed to guard the sanctity of the home, for strictly speaking "adultery" is a crime which none but a married person can commit--"fornication" being the name of it when done by one who is single. As the One with whom we have to do is ineffably pure and holy, therefore does He require us to depart from all uncleanness. This commandment respects more especially the government of the affections and passions, the keeping of our minds and bodies in such a chaste frame that nothing impure or immodest may defile us. It requires the proper discipline of those inclinations which God has implanted for the increase of the human species. Therefore we are to avoid everything that may be an occasion of this sin, using all proper means and methods to prevent all temptations thereto.

1) Complete: “Biblically we must not commit adultery because …”

2) How does this last sentence relate to:

-         pornography

-         being alone with someone of the opposite sex

-         dressing inappropriately

-         flirting

-         getting drunk or drugged 

-         promiscuous posting online (sexting etc)

Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 40

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART I

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14). The virtues of purity are the basis of the domestic relations, and as the family is the foundation of human society, the class of duties here involved is second only to those which preserve man's existence. Hence it is that, immediately following the commandment which declares the sacredness of human life, there is that precept that is a hedge about the highest relationship of creaturehood, thus safeguarding the holy function of the procreation of life. Nothing is more essential for the social order than that the relationship upon which all others are subsequently based should be jealously protected against every form of attack. The commandment is a simple, unqualified, irrevocable negative: "thou shalt not." No argument is used, no reason is given, because none is required. This sin is so destructive and damning that the mere mention of its name is, in itself, sufficient cause for this stern forbidding.

1) In what two ways does God’s definition of what a marriage is and how he protects marriage in His law foster the flourishing of Human society.

2) How is the marriage and the family under attack by developments in society today?

3) Describe how adultery is destructive. Do you have personal experience with the negative effects of this sin (committed by yourself, your parents or others)?