I invite you to turn in the scriptures tonight to the book of Joshua chapter 7. Joshua chapter 7 as we're continuing in the book of Exodus, our study of the Ten Commandments. We come to the Eighth Commandment tonight. Thou shalt not steal. We'll read the entirety of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord, Joshua chapter 7. The people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-Avon, east of Bethel, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they returned to Joshua and said to him, Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there for they are few. So about 3,000 men went up there from the people and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai killed about 36 of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shabarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the lord until the evening he and the elders of israel and they put dust on their heads and joshua said alas oh lord god why have you brought this people over the jordan at all to give us into the hands of the amorites to destroy us would that we had been content to dwell beyond the jordan oh lord what can i say when israel has turned their backs before their enemies for the canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off your name from the earth and what will you do for your great name the lord said to joshua get up why have you fallen on your face israel's sin they've transgressed my covenant that i commanded them they have taken some of the devoted things they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings therefore the people of israel cannot stand before their enemies they turn their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted for destruction i will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you get up consecrate the people and say consecrate yourselves for tomorrow for thus says the lord god of israel there are devoted things in your midst oh israel you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you in the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes and the tribe that the lord takes by lot shall come near by clans and the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households and the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man and he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burned with fire he and all that he has because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel so Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe and the tribe of Judah was taken and he brought near the clans of Judah and the clan of the Zerahites was taken and he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man Zabdi was taken and he brought near his household man by man and Achan the son of Carmi the son of Zabdi son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah was taken then Joshua said to Achan my son give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him and tell me now what you've done do not hide it from me and naked answered joshua truly i've sinned against the lord god of israel and this is what i did when i saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from shinar and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold waiting weighing 50 shekels then i coveted them and took them and see they are hidden in the earth beside my tent with the silver underneath so joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent and behold it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath and they took them out of his tent and brought them to Joshua to all the people of Israel and they laid them down before the Lord and Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep in his tent and all that he had and they brought them up to the valley of Achor and Joshua said why did you bring trouble on us the Lord brings trouble on you today and all Israel stoned him with stones they burned them with fire and stoned them with the stones and they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day then the Lord turned from his burning anger therefore to this day the name of that place is called the valley of Achor may the Lord bless the hearing of his word tonight well as we press on in our study of the ten commandments tonight we consider the eighth commandment that you shall not steal and stealing of course is taking what is not yours that which god in his good gifts he has has gives to you you have not been content with those provisions in your life you've not been content with what he has supplied for you and you have not only decided to reject his provisions but then you harm your neighbor by taking from him or somebody else what god has given to them there are so many implications of this uh tonight when we consider the eighth commandment and in the final analysis we really do see how foolish uh stealing really is the lord told us of course that we came into this world with nothing and uh in a sense it's all borrowed capital you're all going out with nothing but stealing has become a way of life for so many. The Eighth Commandment is much more damaging than we realize in thinking about what it exposes about us as we see stealing and theft make its way into society and into our own lives. Of course, you know that when it comes to the Ten Commandments, this is not the first commandment we ever go to, is it? In fact, it sort of gets the end treatment. It's the one we probably think least about. Damage is really uncalculable when we think about how much is done because of the problem of theft. Do you realize how much this commandment is broken? Have you ever thought about it? How far reaching is the Eighth Commandment? Well, I think our Heidelberg does a wonderful job with this. What is God's will for us? And we'll look at this here tonight in the Eighth Commandment. He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law, but in God's sight, theft includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes that are made to appear legitimate, such as inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume, fraudulent merchandising, counterfeit money, excessive interest, or any other means forbidden by God. In addition, he forbids all greed and pointless squandering of his gifts. What does God require of you in this commandment? that I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good and that I treat him as I would like others to treat me and that I work faithfully so that I might share with those in me. Three sort of headings there the Heidelberg gave us to consider the eighth commandment. The first is that it is broken by outright theft and robbery. We know this. That's the immediate thing we think about when we think of the eighth. Somebody breaks into your home, somebody steals something, you feel violated. That's the Eighth Commandment. That's correct. In my time that I have, when I'm not doing anything important, I sometimes read the 27th Annual Retail Theft Survey. No, I'm just kidding. But I did read it this week. Did you know that in 2014, the 27th Annual Retail Theft Survey, I didn't even know they did this. Over 1.2 million shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended by just 25 large U.S. retailers. Participants, 25 large retail companies with 23,250 stores and over 700 billion in retail sales. Apprehensions, 1,272,560 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2014, up 7.1% from 2013. Recovery dollars, over 225 million was recovered and apprehended from apprehended shoplifters and dishonest employees, up 10% from 2013. Shoplifter apprehensions, 1,192,000 shoplifters were apprehended in 2014, up 7% from 13. Recovery dollars, over 159 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters. Employee apprehensions, 80,366 dishonest employees were apprehended in 2014. Dollars, over 66 million from employee apprehensions. One in every 38 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 14. I realized the problem years ago when my friend of mine had a mom who was very well-to-do in society and was very well-known, had everything she ever needed and was busted for shoplifting. And I couldn't believe it. I thought, what in the world is that? I guess I now understand what a kleptomaniac is. it was shocking to me i had a hard time processing that there was something about the thrill of stealing that overcame her it's interesting that maybe the eighth commandment doesn't get as much serious treatment today as it does as it did in the days of israel uh because the stealing of people was much more common in those days and maybe the eighth commandment had a lot more to do with that than we realize in biblical times and understanding in israel's days the eighth commandment of trafficking it's all over exodus he who kidnaps a man and sells him and we're looking to replying this slavery or if he's found in his hand shall surely be put to death and you have other verses that uh warn against kidnapping people we call that human trafficking it's interesting when the categories of law are mentioned in first timothy chapter one i want you to listen to this i'm going through some of the ways this is broken here up front to help you understand the commandment the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless and insubordinate for the ungodly and for sinners for the holy and profane for murders of fathers and murders of mothers for manslayers for fornicators for sodomites for kidnappers interesting isn't it kidnappers for liars for perjurers you know what the estimated number of human people trafficked around the world was is it's 21 million most of it sexually for sexual trafficking well that's the first kind of category the heidelberg gives the second it gives cheating or swindling our neighbor and you know all the forms that can come i doubt you ever think about stealing a heart, do you? Have you thought about stealing a heart? It's all over the scripture. When Jacob cheated Laban, you know what Laban said? What have you done? Why have you stolen my heart? You've stolen my heart, carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword. Who can forget Absalom standing by the gate stealing the hearts of the people and we do this all the time manipulation and craft to win to get people to our side could be for money it could be for support could be for our cause we have no real interest in them we use them and then once that that is accomplished we're done you've stolen their hearts it's theft it's going on the political process right now you have a bunch of candidates trying to steal hearts it's hard to judge a heart is it to know if it's honest cheating and swindling our neighbors for gain governments for the and rich the rich are no better you can go through the scriptures and and and read about all the ways that the scripture condemns the accumulation of wealth to squelch out the poor we're living that just read isaiah 5 woe to those who join house to house they just keep buying more and more houses they add field to field till there's no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land they squelched out all the poor it's theft God says Jesus cried out when he said the wagers withheld the wages withheld from workers cried out and their cry has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth think about all the wages that are withheld. And people are unfairly paid for their work. Cheating on taxes. Estimated number of people who cheat on their taxes? $1,625,000. Amount lost annually to the U.S. Treasury due to unreported income ready for this 270 billion amount annually paid by the irs to people who turn in tax cheaters over 5 million usury there's always a debate in history in the churches about usury could you do it could you charge at interest notice the heidelberg says excessive interest You know when you're taking your neighbor. I can keep going. Somebody sells something deceitfully by making the product to look a lot better than what it really is. It's not true. Tonight, the third category that's here seems to be the driving force behind the others that are listed, a breaking of command. It comes down to greed and squandering of God's good gifts. Notice that's emphasized here, greed. When you are greedy, You're constantly desiring more and more and more of something that you don't have. Storing up and laying up of treasures here where rods and moths and rust destroy. Serving, as Jesus said, mammon and God. How much of people's lives are driven this week by the doll? Driven by the doll. Money is life for people. So have I convinced you a little bit of the problem, I'm hoping? I could do a lot more, but I don't want to spend all the time going through statistics. This sin will lead to a bunch of other sins, covetousness. They're so intricately tied together, the 8th and the 10th commandment. Deceit, envy, hatred for your neighbor. I mean, you really do see how all the commandments are weaved together. They really do all flow together so that when James says you break one, you break them all. So I hope I've convinced you somewhat of the problem tonight. thief obviously has much more going on in his heart and we've we've looked at this with the commandments the commandments are really probing and getting to the root of the problems as the heidelberg talks about god hates the root of these problems and that's tonight what we're looking at especially when it comes to the issue uh here dealing with achan and his theft and covetousness i believe it's helpful tonight to see how serious the lord took the problem and feel the weight of the severity of it in the old covenant to see and you noticed the difference there in reading the implications and consequences in the old covenant of how the judgment was meted out to say that wouldn't have fared real well for any of us in the old covenant would it have had we wanted to pursue these things without coming to the lord and repentance and faith and i think what you're probably initially shocked with as you read the passage tonight was the severity of the judgment that was meted out that that at least really hits us when we and then we need that because of our insensitivity and the lack of taking sin seriously we read the psalms at times and it talks about god bringing judgment on the head of enemies and we kind of cringe back and we don't anymore really feel the weight of the offense of sin against god that's why we need to study these things and understand what it's exposing about the human heart when god put Israel under the law as we've been studying it was meant to be a teaching tool for the world to understand this to understand the severity the gravity the weight of sin and the problem and that's what we're considering tonight with regard to the eighth and somewhat the tenth commandment in light of the sins of Achan consider it with me for a moment we read in verse verse 1 of chapter 7 that the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things interesting for Achan the son of Carmi the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took some of the devoted things and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel just a few days ago they had entered the land by crossing over the Jordan and coming into the promised land they had their very first great victory we know here in looking back at jericho and we see jericho's fall uh the walls had come down finally after this 40 years they were now entering into after hard wilderness life they were entering into the land they had conquered jericho and now they set out for little ai should have been an easy victory they said no you don't need to send very many so joshua sends two or three thousand to destroy them we read that ai comes back and had driven back uh israel killing 36 of israel's men so frustrated and devastated was joshua and the elders an intense moment of fasting and sorrow begins i mean you heard joshua's cry where he reads, Oh Lord, what he says, praise, what can I say? What can I say when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies? Would that we have been content to dwell beyond the Jordan for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and surround us and cut us off our name from the earth and what will you do for your great name? You hear the pain in all of this. And the Lord comes along and says, stop it. Let me tell you what's happened. Let me tell you what's happened. Someone has stolen. Did you feel the weight of that? Somebody has stolen in the community. And you notice here that the Lord's here, the anger's fallen on Israel. You see this principle in the New Testament when the Lord said, once you'd exercise church discipline, this is on his mind because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. That's why you got to do it. Really important when looking at the sin of Achan. But this issue is directly here dealing with the eighth commandment. That's why I chose it tonight for somebody stole of the devoted things. It's an interesting thing, the accursed things to which we all should stand back and say, well, what is that? Why is that so bad? And the simple answer to that is, is that during the conquest of the land of Canaan, the Lord would designate a place or a people to be put under the ban and be devoted to Yahweh. It's what we call harem warfare, meaning to devote to destruction. So wherever or whoever the Lord directed them to go to at his instructions, they were to put them under the ban and devote them to destruction. And here Jericho and the surrounding cities received that ban. When God cleansed the land, wanted the land cleansed by Israel, nothing impure was to be left in there. Have you struggled with why? Have you understood why God gave such intense instructions about this? It foreshadowed the future. Think about it. In the new heavens and the new earth, you have a description of the land cleansed in the new heavens and new earth, and nothing anymore enters in that will ever defile. We'll get at the end in a minute here to Revelation 22. Israel was to cleanse it. Israel had broken the terms of the covenant. And what's important here is that one man's sin comes to the fore. One man's sin. God makes it known to Joshua that Israel had taken of the accursed things. and that to be purified and to stand before their enemies, they would need to remove the offender and the accursed things, lest this curse fall upon all of them. So the tribes were brought out before Joshua, and we saw the whole process by which he began to single it out by law. And sure enough, it happens in verse 20 that we get to the issue here. I'm not spending a lot of time on this, but Achan answered Joshua. Now listen to this. Truly, I've sinned against the Lord God of Israel. And this is what I did. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar or Babylon and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted and I took. And see, they're hidden in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath. Now, I believe this really helps us tonight with the Eighth Commandment. I want you to consider it for a moment with me. I saw a Babylonian garment. I saw it. And then I began to covet it, and I went and stole it. And when we think about Babylon for a moment, and we think of how the Scriptures present Babylon, Shinar, It's always been representative in the kings and kingdoms of the world belonging to Babylon and what it has to offer. It always represented this, the world, the things in the world. Babylon was teaching us things about the world. And you'll notice here in this particular section of Joshua chapter 7, how the heart and Achan's heart really comes out, that he says, I studied this and I began to desire this. And the sin started with coveting, again, the 8th and the 10th, so connected, and after he had coveted these things, he stole, he took what he should not have taken, directly forbidden by the Lord. And what we find is that Joshua has Achan, the things that he has stolen, his sons and his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, everything brought to the valley of Achor, meaning trouble, and everything is stoned and then burned with fire. Well, that may be hard to comprehend for a moment. to understand the severity of the judgment for this. But I think we need to understand it. I think we need to appreciate it. What was God teaching Israel? And what's God teaching us? Listen to Joshua's question. Alas, O Lord, why did you ever bring this people over the Jordan only to deliver us in the hands of the Amorites to destroy us, if only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan. Some translations say, if we had just stayed there, why'd you ever bring us out? Why'd you ever bring us out? This is going to happen. To which you say, well, what is the Lord teaching? The act of bringing us out was intended to bring out a lot more that Israel could not bring out What do I mean? They could not bring Egypt and the world out of their hearts. I want you to ponder this for a minute. God had delivered them, but the deliverance needed to be so much more than deliverance from the physical bondage, didn't it? You know the deliverance that the way the New Testament applies this. You know what they needed. You know what the law was intended to teach us about our need. You know why the law was given. We're feeling the weight of this right now. Oh, that the world had come out of them. But it didn't. Now the Eighth Commandment then was exposing something. The Eighth Commandment, as Paul said, I would have never known what it was to covet unless the law had said thou shall not covet. I would have never known what the real problem was with stealing unless the law shall said, I'm now applying this, to what the law had said, the law not said, I shall not, you shall not steal. What is it really exposing then? What do I understand about theft in light of that? I want to go back to something I quoted last week that I think really helps to understand because John Owen applied the sin of Achan in this way. And let me quote this one more time, a portion of this. Here's what happens in light of the Eighth Commandment. The lust of the eyes enters the soul, forcing the imagination to portray its intentions. John speaks of this as the lust of the eyes because it constantly represents these images to the mind and to the soul, just as our natural eyes present images of outward objects to the brain. Now think about this. Indeed, the actual sight of the eyes often occasions these imaginations. Achan declared how sin had prevailed over him and Joshua. First he saw the gold and the Babylonian garments. Then he coveted them, seeing them, he imagined their value to him. Then he fixed them in his desiring heart. the enticement of sin is heightened when the imagination dominates over the mind it implants vain thoughts within the mind when i want something when you want something what do you do consumes you you can't stop thinking about it you know how this goes something a visual has been put in your mind. You've seen something. Your eyes have gazed upon it. Now your mind imagines having it. It looks so beautiful to the mind. You can't get it out of your mind. You know this about your spending. Car, coat, Babylonian garment, the thing, and you're working every single angle to get the thing. You won't rest. Nothing's going to stop and get in your way until you've obtained it. There's a reason it's called consumerism. And who ultimately is squelched out of the heart? Well, if you were listening to Jesus, you would hear him say, well, those are two different loyalties here. That's what theft is. It's the outward action and exposure of that process going on on the inside. And you say, I wouldn't steal it. What would Akin do if he were living in 2016 in the United States? You'd charge it, right? Nothing wrong, I suppose, with charging if you can pay for it. The problem of loving, the world was there. The object of lust had overtaken and stolen the heart. And when the heart is stolen in love for mammon and then stealing of something from the world is really a display of what? Why is the Lord so angry about this sin? What's He teaching us? It's holding on to the past. It's holding on to the past. You say, what do you mean? It demonstrates no faith in what God has promised you. What has God promised you? Everything. everything what is before you in these circumstances the root of theft so that aching polluting in israel was demonstrating the hold that god is exposing on their past it's a reason they mulled around for 40 years so that if joshua said to the lord why didn't you just leave us there The Lord could have said, by this theft, you're showing you still want to be there. Do you see it? That's why I'm angry. And the Eighth Commandment has now done its work. The Eighth Commandment has done its work. You see how important this is for us? Isn't there a reason that the New Testament says, as believers, set your minds on things above? And not on the earth where, think about it, where Christ is above, not on the earth where moths and rust destroy things, Jesus said. So then the heart of the eighth commandment for Achan and for us comes down to what the New Testament teaches us about a certain sort of way we think and a certain sort of pursuit in our life as pilgrims. It is this, don't love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that's not from the Father, but it's of the world. And you see, here's the problem with that. That world that you're still holding on to, it's all passing away. Now think of Israel positioned right here. You want to go back to that? You're holding on to it. You're holding on too tight. And that helps us, I believe, with the Eighth Commandment. John said, if you love the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in you. Anyone who is caught stealing or robbing another man's property or cheating and holding on to their things is essentially loving the world and is being mastered by the things of the world and is not believed in the heavenly promises that awaits him. So that you have to say tonight that stealing is a strong expression of being in bondage still to the world. Think about it. God has freed us from that. And now as they're entering the promised land, what does He say I'm going to do? I'm going to give you everything. It's a land of milk and honey for you. And you see, that's the issue before us tonight. He's not left you in want on your pilgrim way, not only has supplied every need for you and cared for you, I mean, think of how the Psalms depict and describe all the blessings that we enjoy in the present from God's hand. Think about this. You make the springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them, the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the branches. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows it's time for setting. You make darkness and it's night when all the beasts of the forest creep about. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. The psalm's just saying, God's loaded you with all kinds of benefits and he's loaded the earth with blessings and benefits to enjoy. How much more, he's saying, is waiting you in glory. Theft says, not enough. Not enough. I want more. I want more now. Right now. Right now. Give it to me now. I don't really want what you have to offer. And it also says, I'll go get it myself. And boy, we have another whole problem with that because now we're understanding that entering the land is a gift of free grace. Now that's the law. I trust you feel it. I hope I was clear with it. I hope it had some kind of effect tonight. Stealing hearts, cheating, swindling. think about all these things tonight when it comes to theft. Isn't it interesting when Jesus was dying that when he was nailed to that cross, of all the offenses that could have been singled out the moment Jesus is dying, you have two thieves put next to him. Thieves. We call him the thief on the cross. The single great sin as Jesus was dying that was exposed was by this great thief who his whole life had been in theft, taken in theft, given in theft, given over to the love of the world and things. And his hands are pinned up so that he can no longer steal. He can't make right what's been wrong. and he looks at Jesus and he says would you remember me when you enter into your kingdom and glory and Jesus says to him don't miss it this night you will enter into what my land paradise He's talking about in anticipation of the fulfillment of it in glory. You're coming where I'm going. You're coming where I will be. So at that moment, He entered through Him. In Him. You see, if the law has done its work, the first confession that comes out of my mouth is that I'm an Achan. I am an Achan. We are thieves and robbers. And that punishment for your theft that happened to Achan happened to Jesus. So that when you think about the severity of the judgment that fell on Achan out in the valley of Achor, you should say that judgment fell in AD 30 on him for me because that's what I deserve. Both cases. And far worse when the wrath of God is poured out in body and soul. You see, there's only one way to have a place in Christ's heavenly land and it's to be found in him. any other way, any other approach, any other sin, you're part of the ban. You're part of the accursed thing. You're going to be taken outside the camp to the Valley Acre like Jesus was. But at the risk of tonight, running the risk of not giving you enough gospel, can I give you one more theft to think about then? The greatest theft in Scripture. If I asked you, what's the greatest theft in Scripture? How would you answer? How about this? Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, that same is a thief and a robber. The greatest theft is to try to do this and enter in the kingdom yourself apart from Jesus. That's the greatest thief that ever existed. To enter him. Fleeing to Christ is the way we enter into the land. So that on that day in Revelation 21, the gates, they shall not be shut by day or by night, and they shall bring in there the glory and honor of the nations into it, but there shall by no means enter. Now you understand what all that cleansing of the land meant. There shall by no means enter anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. we add a theft, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Any sin will not be there. It'll all be cleansed. Blessed are those, Revelation, who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices the lie. To enter the gate, to enter the heavenly inheritance, there can be no accursed thing found in us. And that's why we need the Savior. He who knew no Achan became the Achan so that we might become the inheritors of the land in him. That's the reality. And when that overtakes you and when you get that, your path's going to be a little different, isn't it? Boys and girls, who would you go to to say, what does the new life look like? That wee little man called Zacchaeus who was a thief and when more than the law ever required jesus came and dined with him and saved him and said today salvation has come to this house this is the son of abraham he goes into the land what did zacchaeus say i give it all back and fourfold enough of this enough and then we become stewards of his good gifts and grace stewards of what he's given to us content with what he supplied so that we can now take our goods and supply them, as the scriptures say, for our neighbor's good, so that we should share with those who are in need. Let him who steals, steal no longer, working with your hands, that you may have something to share with those in need. Sometimes I confess, we're holding way too tight to our thing. And we're not sharing with those in need, as is proper for those who've been redeemed and entered the land by grace. I guess this is an important truth to close with tonight. Remember, I heard it years ago. I know it's been used everywhere, but I just thought I'd use it. Remember the Monopoly game? You all remember the Monopoly game. You've played it all your life. Hate that game, by the way. Especially when my kids want to play it. It takes forever. With that Monopoly game, I can beat my kids and I can get a lot of money. And I love doing that and I can get Park Street and I can get the cars and I can get it all. But it all goes back in the box and that's the most discouraging part at the end, isn't it? That's what we should remember. It's all borrowed capital. You have everything awaiting you. So let him who stole steal no longer. And use your hands to bless your neighbor. And in that, you'll honor the intention of the eighth commandment. Heavenly Father, forgive us for being thieves. Forgive us for being selfish. Forgive us for wanting more and more, coveting more and more, and then taking. And help us, Lord, in the practice of our lives to be less worried about us and more about others. We confess tonight we're great sinners. And that struggle that we discussed in the canons is so real in our lives that this would be a total discouragement tonight if you had not encouraged us to tell us that through the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ, we're forgiven and that we enter solely because He is the law keeper and has kept the commandments of God for us. And so encouraging us tonight, thank you for the grace you've shown to us and help us, weak as we are and as many ways as we stumble and fall, to think less of ourselves and more of our neighbor's good and to not be divided between two opinions but to begin to taste in this life already what we will enjoy in full in the new heavens and the new earth, the love of the Lord our God without a divided heart but all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourself. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.