The Eighth Commandment

There's an article, a newspaper article, that caught my eye. There's a number of articles that I could talk about, because as usual it seems, there's a lot of things going on in the world, and it seems over the last few weeks there's been just a lot of things that can catch our eye from what happened yesterday, to the drought that's going on in the Midwest, to the other things that are going on, and maybe next week we'll talk about some of those things in light of Bible prophecy and what the Bible says. But let me open with this other article that you may have heard on the evening news, or maybe escaped your attention. This comes out of Phoenix, and the date of the article is July 10th, so 11 days ago. It says authorities took three women into custody, raided three homes, and seized valuable property on Tuesday as part of what police are calling a first-of-its-kind case in the United States. According to investigators, more than 40 of the nation's largest manufacturers have fallen victim to a new kind of coupon forgery and counterfeiting. Approximately four years ago, extremely high-quality copies of manufacturers' coupons began to surface in the United States from an unknown source. The companies that were targeted in this apparent scam, in conjunction with the Coupon Information Corporation, hired private investigators to find out where these coupons were being sold in the United States.

Investigators found that many of the coupons were being sold through a website called SavvyShopper.com. Police today seized boxes of coupons worth about $25 million. Police say the scope of the investigation and the economic impact are massive, with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. We're talking anywhere from $400 to $600 million in loss to these retailers, said Holmes, who's the police chief there.

The three suspects in custody are facing multiple charges, including operating an illegal enterprise, forgery, money laundering, and counterfeiting.

And it happened there in Phoenix. And when you take a look at the three ladies that were arrested on that, they looked like everyday people that could live right next door to you and me. And somehow they got themselves caught up in a scam, and were selling coupons and reproducing coupons. And after a while, the manufacturers realized there's a lot more being redeemed than we ever intended to issue in theirs. And so they got themselves caught up. $25 million in their home alone. In an innocent little area in Phoenix, with probably, you know, these ladies were both the two of them were in their forties, and one was 62, if I remember. Scams go on around us all the time. It's just a matter of life in America. Probably, probably you've had emails come through where someone is looking to get something from you for nothing. Just earlier this week, I got an email from someone, well, from a church member in another area. And it wasn't really from them when I read the email. I knew what was going on. And the email said, you know, they've been over in London, they wanted to get home before the Olympics.

But, you know, all their money was stolen, their passport was stolen, their credit cards were stolen. And could we help out by getting back to them right away just by responding and wiring some money over to them? Well, I knew. I know the people. I thought, I know they're not in London, and I know what this is. I've heard of these things. But all of us, you know, living in this country, there's ways. People are very clever about ways to separate you from your money or you from your possessions.

If people would have spent half the time to do these things, putting their efforts into productive things other than this, you know, it would be quite a different world that we live in.

Let me give you some facts here. As best as you can glean the facts from the Internet and the sources on there of what some of the costs of these type scams are in America today.

First one I have here is identity theft. Identity theft, I don't even know if we knew what that was in the 1990s. But identity theft last year cost, in the United States, an approximate $50 billion. $50 billion. Now, a couple weeks ago, when we were talking about the Seventh Commandment, we talked about the pornography industry being $12 billion and how huge that was when you put it in perspective. Here's identity theft, $50 billion. That cost merchants in America last year. Anyone here ever been the victim of identity theft?

Yep. I know we had even minor things like someone gets a hold of your credit card number. That happened to us one time just by using the credit card of gas pump, and then all of a sudden the next day you get a call and there's hundreds and hundreds of dollars on your card, and the only place they got it was by someone who put some kind of scanner inside the gas pump. Identity theft, $50 billion. Copyright infringement, $58 billion. Now, you know what that is? That's where you go and download music, download movies off the Internet, which I know there used to be a lot of sites that you could do that for free and, you know, get the music, get the movies.

I don't know where those are, but I've heard about the song sites that you can get those. And software, but copyright infringement costs $58 billion in estimated. Workplace theft. This doesn't talk about time stolen, time taken from employers, but just things that are taken from a company. Pens and other equipment. $5 billion last year. Insurance fraud. I used to work in the insurance or the healthcare industry, and we knew, you know, it was not common, but it wouldn't be rare that you would find someone who would get arrested for Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, where they would just create business and send in.

$97 billion last year in insurance fraud. Not just in healthcare, but in home insurance and other insurance as well. Tax fraud, $100 billion. And shoplifting, the one you hear about a lot, $13 billion. You add to that all these other scams that we've talked about, the $400 to $600 million in coupons and everything, but what we have just in what I've talked about so far is $300 billion.

And this is innocent little, I shouldn't say innocent, secretive little deceptive theft, if you will. That doesn't include the theft that people are out there robbing convenience stores, robbing banks, stealing cars, or burglarizing homes. $300 billion. And you know, I couldn't find, maybe one of you would be able to find, what it costs in America, what all of theft costs. But I'll bet the number would be absolutely staggering. And then when you throw in the cost that we have of securing our homes and the other things we do to make sure no one comes in and takes what we've worked for, the number is astounding.

America, you know, is a relatively, when you look at the world, we might think, safe place to live in the scope of things. But when you look at numbers like this, you realize America is far, far, far from a good place to live. It has hit everyone. Theft is just part of our life. And you know, it's been like that in most cultures, or all cultures, from the beginning of time.

Theft is just one of those things that is out there that no culture has been able to perfectly control. And it costs every society a lot. Now, we've talked about these type behind-the-scenes, secretive, deceitful type theft. When the Bible talks about theft, in the Eighth Commandment, and it says, you shall not steal, the Greek, or the Hebrew word for steal in that commandment is ganab. G-A-N-A-B. And what it means, literally, is just what we've been talking about. It means carrying off by stealth what is not one's own.

Taking off by stealth, kind of secretively taking something a behind-the-scenes type thing. I talked about the ladies with the coupon scam. You would live right next door to them and never know what was happening. You talk about people with insurance fraud, you live right next door to them and never know what was happening. It's the type of things people can do in secret, and it's not until they've found out. And a lot of times, people are astounded when they see people and what they're up to.

Every culture has had to deal with it. Now, there's another word for stealing or robbing in the Bible, and that's the Hebrew word in the Old Testament, kaba, K-A-B-A. And that's the more violent or out-there type of stealing.

It would be the burglar we talk about, the car theft. It would be kidnapping, the Bible throws into that as well, where you steal another person to profit yourself. But the commandment, God talks about this deceptive-type stealing that goes on.

And you know, even when Jesus Christ was on earth among his own disciples, this sin is so prevalent that it was there among his own disciples.

Remember Judas? It says in Luke 12, he was a thief. And there he was, walking with Christ every day. He was handling the money box. And in Luke 12, I think it's verse 6, it says, specifically, Judas was a thief, right there among the disciples of Jesus Christ. It was so prevalent. And you know what? All the other people that walked with them didn't know that Judas did that. He was very good at what he had done. He was very deceptive. He was very secretive. He took what he needed to take. And no one knew. But Christ knew. Thieves are pretty good at what they do. And oftentimes in the Bible, it talks about a thief in the night.

Remember the references to that? The then time, it says, will come upon us as a thief in the night by stealth. Not being aware. Kind of taken by surprise. Well, let's look at a few examples here in the Bible. In the Old Testament, we'll begin. Of some of the things that are considered theft. Turn with me over to Deuteronomy 25. As we read through some of the Old Testament accounts after the Ten Commandments are given, there's chapters that go through. All the examples and incidences in life that the Israelites were going to encounter. And God tells them, be aware of this. Don't do this. Stay away from this. And He's educating them on how to keep these commandments, not only physically, but in the spirit of the law as well, as we'll go through here and see. Let's begin in Deuteronomy 25. And in verse 13, of course Deuteronomy is where Moses is reminding Israel of their covenant with God and their commitment to Him. In verse 13, He says, Notice how He says when He gives instruction and in a way of life, if you want to live long, if you want to stay in the nation that I'm giving you, in the land I'm giving you, do these things. Because when you do these things, your time in that location, in that land, your society will survive. When you don't do them, it won't. So here He talks about differing weights. And back in those days, and I'm sure through much of society and through much of history, you could find people who you would buy a pound of wheat, and their scale would be set that they're really giving you .9 pounds of wheat, or whatever it is. Today we have more regulations that control that, so that we can feel somewhat, somewhat, I guess, okay, that when we buy a gallon of something, we're getting a true gallon of something, or when we buy a pound of something, we're getting a true pound. Not so all through history. But today we have similar things to what He's talking about here. When you buy something, you want to buy what you're being told you're going to get. If I went back in middle time, middle age times, and I wanted to buy a pound of wheat, I wanted it to be a pound, not .9 pounds. Today, when I buy a product from anyone, I want it to be what they tell me it's going to be, and not misrepresent it. Now, the old joke here would be used cars, right? If you have a used car, people can tell you that it's a great, great car, mint condition when I look in the ads. And then you buy it, and it's kind of not in mint condition, not kind of what you expected it to be. It was a misrepresented product. God wants us to, when we sell something, He wants us to be honest about what it is. Not represent it just so that we can sell it.

Not too long ago, again on the news, you may have seen where one of the news stations did a story on fish. I don't know if you saw that, but they were talking about fish that was sold in market. And they would say it was, for instance, red snapper, and then when they were being sold at $12 or $13 a pound, but when they tested the fish and had someone analyze it, it wasn't red snapper. It was some much less expensive fish that would have sold for $2 or $3 a pound. And as they went through, and the story emanated from New York City, that in the fish markets they went to, I think the number, and I may be exaggerating this a little bit, but it was high, I think it was 80% that the fish that they looked at and analyzed was not what was being sold.

If it was being sold for much more, and you know, there's people with a lot more sense than I do on fish, but I couldn't tell you when I look at a fish that's already been filleted what fish it is. I have to rely on what they're telling me it is. But there in that city, they found 80% of the fish that was being sold wasn't what it was being sold.

And always it was being sold at a higher price than what the replacement fish was. So that's just one of those things we might say in today's then, as God is instructing us how to live, just be honest in what you're selling. Tell the truth about it was. Don't tell people one thing. Just to make money off of it and then have it turn out to be something else.

Back in Proverbs, Proverbs 20, this concept of having honest weights is mentioned two or three times in Proverbs as well. One of the times here is in verse 10, it says, diverse weights and diverse measures. They're both alike. An abomination to God. He wants an honest people. He wants someone not to be deceptive, not to be trying to get something for themselves and misrepresenting what they're selling.

Now, on the other hand, we've been talking about sellers selling something, but in verse 14 we see another concept that would go along with this same thing of weights and measures. It's good for nothing, cries the buyer, but when he's gone his way, he boasts. It's good for nothing. When I read that verse, I think about these garage sales. Every once in a while, remember, you'll hear someone who went to a garage sale, paid five bucks for a painting.

It turns out to be a Picasso or a Rembrandt worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. And you think, now, how did that happen? Was someone just so lucky that they were able to do that?

And maybe, maybe it was. Maybe they had no idea when they paid five dollars for that painting that it was going to turn out to be worth that much.

But so many times, and in cultures, if you've had the opportunity to travel other places in the world where you are forced into a bargaining situation with people. And I hate those situations where you don't know when you're buying something off of someone, you know, is it really worth what you're asking, but you're supposed to, you know, talk and talk and talk and get it for the lowest price you can and talk about how much you don't want it. And I say, I don't like to play those games and I don't want to even participate in it. But there's a lot of that that goes on.

When we buy something, we might go to someone's house and we might, you know, we might try to talk them into selling it for a lot less, you know, telling them it's not what it is. You know, not worth what they're asking for. God says, be honest in buying, too. You know, be willing to pay for what you want. Don't try to, don't try to talk someone out of something just to get the advantage for yourself.

Now, we get to the heart of what this commandment is when we look at some of these things and as we look through a few more examples. So on the selling end, be honest. On the buying end, when you're in control and you're buying something from someone, pay what it's worth. Don't try to get the advantage for yourself.

Let's go back to Leviticus 19. What he's talking about there is being honest in business. And business is anything but honest, in most cases, in our land today. It's just taken for granted that these things are going to go on.

Back in Leviticus 19, it talks about the way employers would treat employees.

Leviticus 19, verse 13, says, You shall not cheat your neighbor, and don't rob him.

The wages of him who was hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.

So he's saying of a practice that happened, you know, back in those times, where someone would hire someone to come in, and they would tell them they were going to pay, and they'd just keep the money for themselves. Now, again, in America today, we have laws that govern that. But I'm sure there are employer practices that go on just the same as it is today, where things are withheld from employees, promises made to employees that never come about, and ways to lure them into doing something.

God says if you're employing someone, simply be honest with them. If you say you're going to do it, do it. Back in Titus 2, verses 9 and 10, you can write that in your notes. There's a responsibility on employees as well. Don't pilfer from your employer. You know, we talked about the fact here that workplace stuff was $5 billion a year, where people just walk out the door with equipment, pens, paper, whatever it is.

Don't pilfer from them. Back in James, James 5, verse 1, he talks about those who have become rich from these deceptive practices, who have done these things to a new or to their own benefit. He says in verse 1, come now, you rich. Weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted. You got them through a wrong way.

There's a right way to get wealth. God doesn't say there's anything wrong with having things, with having wealth. He gives them. But in Proverbs, he tells us, hard labor or labor brings about it. Not by trying to go about and doing these things, you know, deceptively, through employment and business, to have the benefits and new or to yourself. Your riches are corrupted. Your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

Ill-gotten gains. Ill-gotten gains are not something that God is going to allow to go on uncontested. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out. And the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. All those things that you did, he says, over the course of your life, the mishandling of the responsibilities that you had, the way that you lived your life, and deceitfully took things in business or in any of these areas that we've talked about, you know, as we read through the list of what it costs in this country by the very deceptive things that people do just to get an advantage for themselves.

You've lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury. You've fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. What he's saying is, it will come back. It will come back, and those riches you've gotten will have their effect on you. People do a lot of things for a lot of reasons. And as we get into this commandment more, we learn a little bit about what it's telling or saying about us. Let's go back to Deuteronomy and look at another example here, back in Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 14. It says, You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, and your inheritance, which you will inherit in the land that God is giving you.

Now, today we still have this concept, and I can go out in my backyard, and there's a concrete thing there that marks my boundary lines. It would take a monumental effort for someone to move that, and I would know if it got moved. But back in those days, there were stones that were set on people's properties. Land, I look at land as, it's nice, it gives me some space between my neighbors and me, but I look at my land as something to mow.

Not something that I'm deriving my livelihood off of, like they were back in the old days. Back in those times, in a greater society, you had to have pasture. So your land was very valuable, and you wanted what you were given to be that way. So as people needed more land as their livestock grew, they would at night go out and move boundary stones, so that they would have more land for their animals to graze. God says that's stealing. Now today, we don't have that, per se, but we have people that try to take what others have and make it their own.

One of the numbers I didn't look up is, what is the cost of forgery a year? Where people forge other people's names to take out of their accounts. I think it happens a lot more than we may realize, probably happens in families a lot more than we realize. It isn't rare that we'll read something in the paper about embezzlement.

We live in a little town down there, and since we've lived there, there's been two or three big cases where employees have embezzled from the employers to the tunes of several thousand, in some cases, hundred thousand dollars, where they've taken the employer's name and called that their own, and were able to take things out of their account for that.

Anything we do to defraud someone else is covered under this commandment. Of course, robbing the convenience store is there. But I would dare say, none of us have robbed the convenience store. None of us have robbed the bank. But, every single one of us is guilty of breaking the eighth commandment somewhere in our lives.

We've done that. Back in Mark 10, verse 19, As Christ is talking to the young man about what he needs to do in order to inherit eternal life, as it says in verse 17, he says in verse 19, You know the commandments. Don't commit adultery. Don't murder. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Don't defraud. And honor your father and mother. He lists all those and he adds, don't defraud. Don't get an advantage for yourself by telling someone something different than is the truth.

Defrauding someone by any of those examples that we've looked at so far is breaking that commandment. Let's go back to Deuteronomy and look at another example here in Deuteronomy 23.

Deuteronomy 23, verse 24, It's written, When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but don't put any in your container. When you're walking through that vineyard, if you want to have some grapes, pick them off the vine and eat them. But don't take a container into your neighbor's vineyard and start taking those grapes and putting them in a container to take them home with you. See the difference of what God is getting at there? It's one thing to use the field and to be able to go through and eat what's there as you pass through. But if you go in there with a container for the purpose of taking it home, you've crossed the line. You're taking something from him, that's part of his livelihood, and taking it to yourself. He says in verse 25, When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but don't use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain. There's an example in the New Testament of Christ and his disciples walking through the corn fields on a Sabbath, and they pluck the ears of grain. I don't know if it was corn, it was some grain. But they weren't there filling up their baskets to take it home to feed their families. It's okay, God says, to take the land, but watch out for your neighbor. Do to him what you would have him do to you. Over in chapter 24, verse 19, we find, I guess, the reverse of this. In one place we have people walking through, and God says, don't take it out of there. In verse 19, he's talking to the people who have the fields. He says, when you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, don't go back and get it. It'll be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. So when you're harvesting, something falls off back there, don't go through. Don't go back over there and rush it and try to get every single sheaf that's on the ground or on the stalk there. Leave some of it behind so that as people are walking through the fields, they can have some. Verse 20, when you beat your olive trees, don't go over the boughs again. It'll be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Same concept. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterwards. It'll be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. The concept of gleaning, God gave the Israelites. Leave some for the less fortunate. Leave some so that the fatherless, the stranger, the widow can go through, and they can have some of that food. Don't pick it clean.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia, here's what it says about those verses. These provisions belong to the agricultural poor laws of the Bible, the transgression of which was punishable with stripes. If someone went back and gleaned their fields and made sure there was nothing left for him. If a man prevented the poor from coming in to glean, he was considered a robber of the poor.

He was taking something from them. He was considered a robber and punished for that, just if he didn't leave some things behind.

Do you see what God is getting at when he's talking about these provisions that we've read? When he tells us, you shall not steal. Yes, it means don't do the things that we would all call stealing. But there's a deeper concept involved in that commandment that he wants us all to have. Whether we live back in Old Testament times and we have fields to glean, or whether we live in the 21st century in a totally different environment, the concept is the same. Let's turn back over to Romans. Now let's turn back to Philippians 2.

Philippians 2 and verse 4 says, Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Be concerned with what's happening to them. Watch what's going on with them. We all naturally protect our own interests. If we own something, we're going to watch over it. We're going to know what's happening with it. We're going to secure it. But how intensive are we to what's going on with our neighbor? Back in Exodus 22, it talks about negligence and on the part of people that borrow things or see things that are going on. And God holds us accountable for that as well. He's teaching Israel and He's teaching us to look out for other people's property as well as our own. Verse 7 of Exodus 22 says, He delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it's stolen out of the man's house. If the thief is found, he shall pay double. But if the thief isn't found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he's put his hand into his neighbor's good. To see whether these goods that were lost, were they really lost? Or did he just say they were lost? For any kind of trespass, whether concerns an ox, a donkey, sheep, clothing, or any kind of lost thing which another claims to have to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges, and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. Verse 10, if a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one's seeing it, and oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor's goods. And the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall make it good. But if in fact it's stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. Responsibility for the things placed into our care. If my neighbor asks me to keep something for him, and on my watch it's stolen out of my garage because I leave the door open, it's not his fault. I wasn't paying attention to the responsibility I had to him. It's my responsibility to restore to him. I should have been paying a lot more attention to the things that were entrusted to my care and watching out for his things with the same interest that I watch out over my things. Philippians 2, verse 4. Don't only look at your interests, but watch out for the interests of others as well, God said.

Now imagine. Imagine a society where everyone does that. Where everyone of our neighbors, everyone living in the city, is concerned about the other's well-being and the property of others just as theirs. I mean, if we imagine it, it's a beautiful setting.

In today's life, we can't imagine that in the world we live in today. Or we can't live it, but there's a time coming. That's what the world will be like. The absence of any kind of theft. The absence of any kind of deception and fraud. It's a beautiful society. Beautiful way of life that God has given us if we just allow it to ruminate in our minds and to be planted there. Among all of us, that way of life should just be part of who we are. Watching out for each other, watching out for the things of people, watching out for each other's interests. Back in Romans. Romans 13.

Let's pick it up in verse 7 in Romans 13. We'll hit the tax thing again, since that was one of them we listed as part of the theft in America. Romans 13 verse 7. Where there therefore to all there do. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Customs to whom customs. Fear to whom fear. Honor to whom honor. Oh no man, oh no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has filled the law. For the commandments. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. And you shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. If we love God, we keep the commandments. If we love others, we keep the commandments that pertain on how we interact with each other, as they're listed here. Love does no harm to a neighbor. When people steal credit cards or credit card numbers off the gas bumps, they're doing some harm to a neighbor. When people steal out of a workplace, they're doing some harm to a neighbor. When people cheat on their tax return, they're doing some harm to a neighbor. When coupons are circulated that weren't distributed by the manufacturer, they're doing some harm to a neighbor. Love, perfect keeping of the commandments, does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love, Paul writes, is the fulfillment of the law. A couple things that this commandment reveals in us. And as we think about it and as we reflect on what this commandment means, it'll show us a bit of insight into ourselves. One of the things that it shows us is whether we're givers or takers. You know, the whole world, every single person can be divided as either a giver or a taker. There are some people who are just givers. Other people, they're always looking to see how they can get. Society owes them something. Families owe them something. Employers owe them something.

Two ways of life. Two types of people. Givers and takers. The people that commit all these crimes that cost $300 billion in America last year are takers. It's a matter of the heart. What's in our heart? You know, Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, was not a taker. God and Jesus Christ are givers. They have given and given and given and given.

What's in their heart, what's in their spirit that they make available to you and me is the law of give. Watch out for other people. Share what you have with others. Make sure that you're watching out for their interests as well as your own. If you read through 1 Corinthians 13, we won't take the time to do that this morning. You can do that this afternoon when you go home. And you look at what Paul is writing there when he says, Love doesn't envy. Love doesn't pop up.

Love doesn't seek its own. It's all the agape love of an outgoing concern for other people. And this commandment, this commandment that we could break without anyone ever knowing, any one of us, could do exactly what those ladies in Phoenix did. And we wouldn't have a clue until someone caught us. We could hide just like Judas hid among the twelve disciples of Christ, and none of them knew he was a thief.

God knew what was in his heart. He never overcame. God is looking for us to have the same spirit of give that he gave. And if this spirit is running through us, we will become givers. You know, I say all the time that every one of us has a weakness. Hebrews 12 verse 1 talks about the sin that does so easily beset. Every single one of us has something we have to overcome. What it is for me is different than what it is for you.

And not one of us can look at someone else and say, How can that be a problem with you? Just because it doesn't have to be one of our problems. Every single one of us has something to overcome, and many things that we need to overcome. And we're not going to be able to do it without God's Holy Spirit. So if I'm stepping on toes, you know, there's another sermon, and many things that I talk about step on my toes as I read them.

And I realize that's who I am when I read those words of the Bible. But I also realize that with God's Holy Spirit, hearts change. Lives change. David prayed, purge, or washed me with hyssop. Purge my mind. And that's what God's Holy Spirit does. As we go through these commandments, there's a law of love that's demonstrated.

God wants us to love one another. And the natural man, we don't do that. And the natural man, we're going to make all these mistakes. That these commands that touch every area of our lives make. But with God's Holy Spirit, we learn. We change. We let him lead us and help us think in a different way than we did before. The old creature gone, a new creature raised up. That isn't perfect overnight, but spends the rest of their lives overcoming. Let's turn to a few verses here in Proverbs to talk about the giving nature here.

Proverbs 11. Verse 25. You can see in verse 1 as you're turning there about this on the scales. But here in verse 25, it says, The giver, the one who emulates what God is, who allows his Holy Spirit, the generous soul will be made rich. And he who waters will be water himself. It's the law of God. Opposite of what the law of man would say, that you take everything for yourself and look out for yourself first, but God says, do it my way.

Verse 26 says, the people will curse him who withholds grain, who just kind of hoards it for himself. But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it, makes it available to other people. Over in Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. Verse 9. It says, He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor. Over in Hebrews 13. We move to the New Testament. Hebrews 13 and verse 16. The author here writes, Don't forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Be a giver. Don't forget. Don't overlook the needs of people. Look out for the interests of others and not only yourself. And over in Acts 20, you know this verse, Acts 20 verse 35, it says, It's more blessed to give than to receive.

More blessed to give than to receive. You know, as we go through these commandments, we talk about honoring your father and mother. Of course, the first four that we talked about where we honor God and we do the things that He asks us to do that show our love for Him. The last six show us how to love one another. As we've been talking about, and here we're on number eight with a couple to go. But I hope as we go through these, as you think about them, you think about what God is teaching us. Not just to memorize the words, but to really, to really feel and to really understand what He's trying to have us live like.

Because as we live this, you know, and as we feel the love and as we feel what He's teaching us in these commandments, we demonstrate love to one another. You know, John 13 verse 35, Christ said, That by this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. If you love one another.

And how we do that, we've been talking about. The other thing, the other thing that examining ourselves in the light of this commandment helps us to understand is do we really trust God? Do we really trust Him as our provider? You know, He makes a lot of promises where we're concerned, and again, we could turn back to Matthew 6, you know that chapter very well, where He says, Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.

And He talks about, don't worry about clothing, He'll provide. Don't worry about food, He'll provide. And we have example after example after example in the Bible where God did just that. Do we trust God? Because we live in a society today where things are pretty plentiful. You know, we can go out and buy our clothes, we can go out and buy our food, and we have the means to do that. But when things get a little tougher, when food isn't on every corner, when it's not in every public store, will we trust God? If we project down to a time, well, we can see it around us, we can even project down to the United States or around the world when things become scarce.

When we look at what happens in countries where things are tough, what's the first thing that people do? We see looting all around, right? Even in troubled areas, they go in, they break down windows, they take for themselves. It's kind of like a festival they have. Just take everything you can. When we have bad weather coming here, people go and they buy everything up in the stores. It's available there now, but if you go try to get a loaf of bread an hour before the hurricane hits, you're not going to find a whole lot out there.

Imagine what it will be like. Well, we can't run down to the corner supermarket and get what our daily bread is. What will life be then? People talk about sometimes on how they, you know, are going to store all this stuff up, so that when a famine comes, they've got all the goods in the basement or in whatever shelter it is.

And I think, well, is that... Well, if people know you have that, what is it going to be like if people know you have those things? And if we do that, if we take all that concern to store up for that, are we really trusting God? Do we really believe that He can provide for us, no matter what befalls us? People that break the second command or the safe commandment often don't trust God. They take matters into their own hands to try to get for themselves because they trust in the dollar and the goods more than they trust in God.

And He tells us something that we will continue learning every day, as long as we live, learn to trust Me, to rely on Me. Put your trust in Me. I'm faithful to provide whatever you need. Not every luxury does He promise, but all our needs will be met. Do we trust God? Let's turn back to Malachi. Let's look at one other thing here, and we're talking about stealing. I know we know we don't steal from each other, but in Malachi 3, there's another area we should touch on here. Malachi 3, let's begin in verse 6.

Verse 6 says, For I am the Lord, I don't change. In Hebrews 13, 8, it says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. What we find that God taught man to do in the Old Testament applies to the New Testament as well.

The laws we read back there, the Ten Commandments that many religions in the world want today to tell us are all done away with, we don't have to pay attention to, God doesn't change. The things that no longer apply in the Old Testament, He made clear in the New Testament what they weren't. Some of the rituals, some of the things that are there, the sacrifices, were all done away with at the time Jesus Christ came and became the ultimate sacrifice for us. But the other things that God gives, He doesn't change.

And if they're going to change, He's going to let His people know, I am the Lord, I don't change, therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, He says, you've gone away from my ordinances, and you haven't kept them. Return to Me, and I'll return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you said, in what way shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yes, He says, you've robbed Me. But you say, in what way shall we rob you? And He answers in tithes and offerings. You know, it's one thing for us, or for people, to rob.

God says here, you robbed Me. You haven't paid tithes and offerings that are well-defined for God's people to do. A way we worship Him, a way we honor Him, a way we show that we trust in Him. And there's a lot of people, you know, that will argue that in the New Testament, tithing isn't necessary. They're absolutely wrong. If you want to talk about it sometimes, I'll be more than happy to do that. Jesus Christ said that we honor God by our tithes, and He told the people then that we just... the things that they were doing, they shouldn't have left those undone, but they should have been honoring as well. And yet, the people at this time weren't honoring God with their substance.

And it is an act of worship to pay God and a privilege to pay Him in tithes and offerings. And God goes on to say, you're cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. And then He gives them a challenge, one that you've heard many times, I hope, in your life, and one that I hope brings again today as we read it. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And try Me now in this, says the Eternal of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there won't be room enough to receive it.

You can't outgive God. I know that you, those that have been in the church for years, you've heard the stories, where it just didn't make any sense at all to pay a tithe to God. You'll put your budget down, and you'll see what it costs for your mortgage, you'll see what it costs for your utility, you'll see what it costs for gas and the other, and food and other necessities of life, and it just doesn't make sense to give 10% to God.

You've heard the stories, and all of you, I hope, have experienced that, you know what? It doesn't make sense not to. If you don't believe that you're robbing from God, when you don't pay your tithes, you're wrong. And take God's challenge, take God's challenge, and make sure you're always paying to Him, that you're not robbing for Him. And you know what? You will see Him answer that promise. He will open up the windows of heaven, and your blessings will anore.

It's a law of God, and He promises it. Prove Him. And it may not be that you go in after you start tithing and you have this huge raise, but look at verse 11. "'I'll rebuke the devourer for your sakes.' The things that you have will last longer. You won't be replacing things over and over and over again. I'll rebuke the devourer for your sakes so that he won't destroy the fruit of your ground.

Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field. And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land." God says. Don't ever rob from God.

Let's go back to Luke 19. You know, we've all made mistakes. We've all done things. We've looked back in our lives, and we can see where we've, you know, even in this commandment, made mistakes. And God is faithful and just to forgive. When we repent and when we acknowledge before Him what we have done. Let's look at this example here in Luke 19, about a man named Zacchaeus.

Everyone knows Zacchaeus. Verse 1 of verse 19, it says, Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He's one of those people that James was talking about in James 5. And tax collectors in those days, they really were thieves. That's just what they did. And that's why they had such an awful reputation. If the government said your tax was $40, they would come and say, you owe $80.

And then they would give the government the $40 and keep the $80 for themselves. And so they all had tremendous wealth. They had big houses. They had the finer things of life, but everyone knew what they were doing, but there wasn't a thing they could do about it. Zacchaeus was one of these guys.

He was rich, and the wealth he had gotten was not by legitimate means. So here he was, and he sought in verse 3 to see who Jesus was. And he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but couldn't, because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. Now when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.

So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Well, when the people saw it, they thought, what? You're going to go to this tax collector's house? Don't you know what he does? Just by definition of his employment or his occupation, we know what he does.

Well, when they saw it, they all complained, saying, he's gone to be a guest with a man who's a sinner. But Christ knew what he was doing, and Zacchaeus stood and said to Christ, Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I've taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.

He realized what he was doing. He realized who he was, and he was acknowledging to God, I'm a thief. I've abused my privilege in my office. I've taken what wasn't mine, and he's ready to make restitution. I'll give half of what I have to the poor. From those that I've taken, I'll restore fourfold. I'm turning my life around.

I don't want to live this way any longer, and I want to make it right. You can see the change in Zacchaeus as he stands there before Christ, that the way of life he lived is a thing of the past. And in verse 9, Jesus said to him, today's salvation has come to this house.

Today's salvation has come to this house. He repented. He turned around. He made it right to the extent that he could, and God forgave him. And he lived his life from that time with salvation. When we repented, salvation came to us. When we acknowledge, when we look at ourselves and examine ourselves through the eyes of God and the principles of life that he's given us, and we see the things that we've done wrong, repent. Turn around. God is just to forgive. And forgive yourselves as well. When God forgives, I know it's hard sometimes when we face up to what we've done, who we are, but forgive yourself as well.

And trust that he's forgiven them, and walk in the light of his salvation. God is patient with all of us. God's will is that everyone repents and comes to the knowledge of the truth. God's will is that he will give everyone eternal life. He wants us to do that with this commandment and all the rest that we give. And he can change our heart. And this commandment, like the others, is about what's in our heart.

Ask God to give us the heart that pleases him. The heart that's generous, the heart that trusts him, the heart that lives by the spirit and the physical application of the command, you shall not steal.