What then should you remember? That if I allow any evil in my heart, or on my tongue, or in my life, I defile Christ's body, I pollute God's temple. And what should the remembrance of this make you do? It should make me keep myself pure in body and soul. "A TABLE OF KINDRED AND AFFINITY, Wherein whosoever are related are forbidden in Scripture and our laws to marry together" (English Prayer Book). A Man may not marry his 1. Grandmother; 2. Grandfather's Wife; 3. Wife's Grandmother. 4. Father's Sister; 5. Mother's Sister; 6. Father's Brother's Wife. 10. Mother; 11. Step-Mother; 12. Wife's Mother. 13. Daughter; 14. Wife's Daughter; 15. Son's Wife. 16. Sister; 17. Wife's Sister; 18. Brother's Wife. 22. Daughter's Son's Wife; 24. Wife's Daughter's Daughter. 27. Brother's Son's Wife. 28. Sister's Son's Wife; 29. Wife's Brother's Daughter; 30. Wife's Sister's Daughter. § 1. Dishonesty in Trade. What is the eighth commandment? "Thou shalt not steal." Can we break this commandment when we do not actually lay hands upon the goods of another? Yes; we break it by all manner of cheating and How do persons in trade break this commandment? What says the Scripture respecting this? Deut. xxv. 13-17; also Lev. xix. 35, 36. Mention another case. When we buy, or receive as a gift, that which we have reason to think has been stolen. Mention a third case. Taking advantage of the ignorance of a buyer and asking of him a higher price than the goods are worth. Mention a fourth case. Taking advantage of the ignorance of one who is selling us anything, and giving him a lower price than his goods are worth. Mention another form of fraud disgracefully common. Adulteration of goods, i.e., mixing them with worthless things to increase their weight or Mention another way of breaking this commandment. What does St. Paul say respecting getting into debt? Is it absolutely wrong to borrow? No; but it is always best to deny ourselves rather than to do so. When is it fraudulent to get into debt? When we borrow money, or order goods, and have reason to know that we shall not have means to pay for them when we are called upon to do so. What does the Psalmist call those who borrow and pay not? Wicked. "The wicked borroweth and payeth not again" (Psalm xxxvii. 21). § 3. Bribery, etc. In what other ways is this commandment broken? What evil practices are akin to the sin of dishonesty? Are idle people, or those who neglect their work, dishonest? Yes; when they are in the employment of another. Why? Because they are paid for their time and service. In what way can they be dishonest besides? By being wasteful; by not being careful about what is entrusted to them, or by giving away, even in charity, the goods of their employers without their consent. How do the poor too frequently offend against this command ment? By representing themselves to be worse off than they really are in order to obtain relief. If we find anything that is lost, what should we do? We should take pains to find the right owner and restore it to him. Is this a necessary duty? Yes: if we would do to others as we would that they should do to us. What is akin to stealing, and so joined with it in the duty towards our neighbor? Picking, as taking small portions from food which we are sent with, or plucking fruit or flowers in a garden without leave. § 4. Robbing Parents and Robbing God. May children take what belongs to their parents? No; "Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer" (Prov. xxviii. 24). Can the selfish, and those who give nothing to God's service or to the poor, be called honest? No; because they do not bear their due share of the common burdens. What does God say of those who refuse to give to Him the due share of the means which He has given them? "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. Is the breach of this commandment a deadly sin? nor ex tortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10). Terrible example of Judas Iscariot, who began by pilfering from the bag, and ended with selling his Divine Master to His enemies (John xii. 6). § 5. What we Must do. If in time past we have stolen anything, what must we do? We must restore it. Can we truly repent if we do not? No (example of Zacchæus, Luke xix. 8). How, with God's blessing, can we best avoid dishonesty? By learning and laboring truly to get our own living. What two things does the Apostle St. Paul connect with honesty? He connects honesty with industry, and industry Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. Scripture illustration Matt. xii. 22-38 2 Sam. xvi. 5-15 Text........ From Matt. xii. 36 Lev. xix. 16 PORTION OF CHURCH CATECHISM. 3 Acts v. 1-12 1 Pet. iii. 10 "What dost thou chiefly learn" to "please God to call me." |