Yeah. StSq2 2.60 Yeah. and an and an Yeah. so Let's begin, Isaiah 53, that's where we're at. How many are with me today? Okay, Isaiah 53, one through eight. Now remember, gotta go a little bit slow, because my brain takes a little bit longer time to work than yours, okay? Okay, Isaiah 53, one through eight. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He shall grow up before him, tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. and we hid, as it were, our face from him, and we esteemed him. We have borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity, and the assessment of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. afflicted, yet not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, he opened not his mouth. Wait a minute. He was taken from prison and from judgment, Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land living, and he was... Remember I said, go slow. Okay, go slow, you young people. Okay, that's great. Isaiah 1, 53, 1 through 8, next week. Can you believe it? Nine and ten. Okay. You can join live stream next week. Okay. And Justin would be... I mean... The Bennetts will be in Kenya tomorrow. Can you believe that? Yeah. Oh, man. Okay. Great. All right, who has a soul-winning testimony today? I know we caught you all off-guard today with the snow and everything. Who has a testimony they want to share? Yes, Valerie. Well, I'm just really praising the Lord. The Lord has given me so many opportunities to meet new people. I've been working with folks in this one state, with the old owners and now with the new owners. The new owners have just been really kind and working on getting to know them a little bit as well. But this week, I had a guy come in named Lorenzo. And for circumstances, worried that he had to bring something back, so I got to talk to him two times, give him tracks two times. And I really challenged him about his soul. And he was so receptive and so just He was very right there with me and promised he would look up the book of John chapter 3 and read it. He's the father of five children. Hispanic, very, very kind, very nice guy. And because he brought something back, now there's a man who's an Indian man who I'm going to meet in the next couple days. And so I get to talk to somebody who's of Indian descent. So that is really exciting. I'm just really excited how the Lord is kind of like bringing the mission field to me and being able to talk to a lot of people over the last few months. But this week, even yesterday, I talked to two older gentlemen. But the thing is, is that the Lord has just kind of given me this opportunity to say to these mostly older people, you know, I'm, The age right now where the most important thing is we have to pay attention to our souls. And I'm just here to remind you that you need to think about that. And this is a gospel tract and you need to read it and take it to heart. Most everybody, except for one person so far, has been very responsive to that thought. And that's the truth. That's the truth. I've honestly been thinking about it. All of these people, you know, they just need to think about their souls. And they just get so busy, they don't even consider their souls. Amen. So that was exciting. Okay. The schoolhouse at Honey Creek. Okay. All right. All right. Who else has a testimony you want to share today? No one. Well, I'll tell you about Jabari. That sounds like an African name, right? Well, as a student from university, and there was a group of three guys, and I approached them, and one of them stopped, and a black young man from Milwaukee, The other two, I didn't see them out of the back of my eye, but Mrs. Bird tells me the other two were like saying, come on, come on, come on. And he just kept talking to me. And so his uncle, I think, is a pastor, and his family goes to church a lot. But he told me, until right now, I've just kind of ignored it completely. And but the Lord was working in his heart and he was very receptive. So pray. And his name is a Swahili name. What did I just say? Jabari. So that kind of just pray for Jabari. He's going to read those tracts and and should be praying about him. And I think maybe Zach will bring this one up tonight. But Mike and Lydia at the table, got to talk to two young men at the table, and one of them's name was Lucas, right? Okay. Well, yesterday, Zach was telling me he went out to the university on Thursday and was Solon-ing, and guess who he met? Lucas. And he had told Zach, he said, you know, I was praying, I was praying to God if I was on the right track or not. And so then, second occasion. Yeah, isn't that great? Lord answered that humble, humble prayer of that young man, put another man in his path. Okay. Anyone else? All right, we're ready to start. Pastor Jen. Father we just pray Lord that you would Just work continue to work in these lives. I think pray for all those that mrs. Kinney's has been able to have contact with These gospel tracks and their lives and just give her even good opportunities this coming week and just give her wisdom and your power and just the ability to speak with these and that you would just work in their hearts and lead them to Christ. We just thank you for the opportunities at the university ministry and just pray you continue to work in the heart of Lucas and Jabari and just pray for their salvation, pray that Lord they would just respond to the light that they have been given. And we pray that you would just allow many souls to come to you there on that campus for this semester. and we pray that you would just work in other Bible tracts, Lord, or witnesses that went out that weren't mentioned this morning, and just, Lord, help us to just be able to be your light in this dark world. Let's pray you would bless our time in your word to strengthen, Lord, all those that can't be with us this morning. Lord, pray for Mr. Guljinsky, just continue to strengthen his body, and Mrs. Tabor, and the treatments, and just, Lord, strengthen her, encourage her, and Mr. Gary Carlson as well, and just be with his liver, that it would, he would just get the medical intervention, Lord, that he needs, and also Mrs. Garcia, and just strengthen her, and just continue to strengthen Mr. Osborne, and we pray these things in Christ, Amen. Okay, so turn with me to the book of Exodus, okay? So next week is the chance for you to bring someone to Sunday school Bible class. Anybody got someone in mind that you can invite to come next week? Well, it looks like we'll have a big increase. How about you, Mr. Myers? He's a regular now. Right, Paul? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Yeah. Let's turn to Exodus 22. Now Exodus 22 is kind of an expansion, a whole chapter given over to the commandment, thou shalt not steal. So we have a whole chapter here that is an explanation of this situation, okay? Now what we want to emphasize today, maybe we can have a, let's see, how do we get on full screen here? I don't know how to get on full screen. Oh yeah, you want to put their screen on? I'm an un-tech, technical guy. Yeah? Oh, hey, thanks. Okay, so let's think about, now what do normally people think about if you steal something? Well, just pay them back. A lot of people don't even do that, right? But if you steal something, just pay them back. Well, we're going to look at the Bible and find out that that's not what the Bible says. Okay? So, let's start with verse 1 of chapter 22. If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. So here we have five times restitution. And that's an ox. And for a sheep, it's what? Four times. Wow. I think you'd be pretty... What if you were foolish enough... Well, you know, sometimes crooks aren't too smart. What if the guy was foolish enough to steal the worst ox the guy had? And he had to restore it fivefold. Wow. Now, today, what do they do to a thief? And do they make them pay back? Huh? They might put them in the clink, maybe. In San Francisco, you can steal $1,000 and can't even get prosecuted. I mean, would you like to be a business owner in San Francisco? Yeah. Okay, so, now, we talked about this a little bit, but, why 5-4? Well, one, that oxen represents his ability, yeah, his livelihood. Plow his field, pull his cart, do the work on the farm. And that oxen might be breeding stock. It might be one of the top oxen around. And it's just not just an oxen, it's a special oxen. And then what does he do when the oxen's not there? He's in big trouble, isn't he? He can't operate at all. And so livelihood, investment, you know, all those things. Pardon me? Transportation. So it's a pretty big thing. And so there is this value system. Now, verse 2 is interesting. If a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. Well, what does that say? Someone breaks into your house, you shoot them. Too bad. That's the price of stealing. Right? Now, verse 3. Let's see. Let's go to verse 4. If a thief... If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he will restore double. Okay? In the first case, he sold it or he killed it. Now, he gets caught. And it's in his hand, okay? So they get the... the sheep or the oxen, whatever, but he still has to do what? Provide another one, doesn't he? Not just enough that the guy gets it back. It's double that this thing takes place, okay? Verse 5 and 6, If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, or shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field, of the best of his own field, and the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution. Yeah, the best. Isn't that interesting? This is one time. It's the best, okay? And so, the, well, Pastor John will like this one, won't he? Because if you don't have your fence good and the cows get into your garden, oh boy, I'm in trouble. Okay. This is, okay, this is pretty significant. All right, let's talk about giving some money to someone else for safekeeping. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and if it be stolen out of the man's house, if the thief be found, let him pay double. That's interesting. Yeah. Well, you think the bank's going to pay back double? Yes. Well, I think we have issues of living things, ox, sheep, okay? That would be a category of living things, living animals, okay? You have other living things like crops, okay? Much easier to replace, okay? Now you have inanimate things. Now you have things, property, your favorite dining room table, or your money. Your neighbor's watching this over, obviously you're hiring him for it. And someone comes and steals it, that thief is going to pay double. He stole something that was being safeguarded by somebody else. If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges to see whether he hath put his hands into his neighbor's goods. Okay? All right? In other words, we'll find out if he has something to do with this. Okay? And... For all manner of trespass, whether it be for an ox, or ass, or sheep, or raiment, or any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judge, and the judge shall condemn. He shall pay double unto his neighbor. Okay? So the neighbor says, you know, that's mine. Okay, a couple grandkids were from different families were together, and grandma had bought them both the same coloring book. And so when one saw the coloring book, they says, that's mine. And the other one says, well, that's mine. Well, actually, It was the original one, but the other one thought, well, that was mine, because that's what theirs looked like. Well, there's a dispute. And the dispute, because the neighbor has taken advantage of the other neighbor, and what? They will pay double unto his neighbor. Well, all these are kind of interesting things. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 6. This is very interesting. So if you want to know about thievery, the judges should go to the book of Exodus and find out what God says about restitution and what you should do with thieves, okay? Now let's go to Proverbs 6. Verse 30, men did not despise a thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he's hungry. We understand that, right? But if he be found, he shall restore what? Sevenfold. Wow. Seven times. Now why would it be that under an excusable theft, It would have to be restored sevenfold. Any ideas? Could he ask for it? That's true. Kinda? That could be stealing from children. I mean, the man has children, that he did something against somebody. You used to feel that. I'm going to call it food on the table. It took a lot of work to get it. Food on the table. It wasn't a raw material. It was actually prepared food for the family. Right? And stealing, you know, food from somebody else. It's more than something you own. It's, you know, in the Bible it says, give us this day our daily bread. Most people live daily. Yeah, the very lifeblood of your being, okay? And you didn't steal an inanimate thing, you stole the very food off their table. Very much a violation of the deepest issue. But I just, it's kind of, well, it just kind of strikes you, doesn't it? That God has this system of a value system that is so, now it isn't totally foreign from the world, because in the court system, you can say, well, for instance, in the court system, or even in the insurance industry, you know what, you lose use of your hand, there's supposed to be a restitution for that, right? or you lose an eye, they take the value of how much that eye is worth for your livelihood or for your life. And so we see that there is certainly, that is the basis of all civilized society, and God helps man to think through this. What is the value of the thing? What is the degree of the offense, et cetera? What are the things that are being, what are the issues that are involved in this theft? Anybody steal something from you? Has that ever happened to you? Okay. How do you feel about that? I was burglarized three times. You were burglarized three times? We were living in Racine several days before Christmas. Our house got burglarized. Got burglarized a couple weeks after that. And then, one final time, as we already had everything packed and we were ready to move. It was what pushed us out of the city, helped with the home. Uh-huh. Well, that's part of your salvation. I was thankful that I wasn't home. Yeah. Yeah. So how do you feel about that? We slept in a hotel the first night that it happened. Yeah. Anybody else? How does it feel to get something stolen from you? I lost a guitar. Uh-huh. With my sisters and them pretty much in need. Because I had worn it out pretty much. And you know, it's tough to do that over a long time. But yeah, I felt pretty sad. Yeah, well, your person is violated. It isn't just the thing, it's your whole person is violated, isn't it? Yeah. We were ransacked in Malaysia. The guys came and turned all the doors upside down, pulled all the stuff out of the closets. We came home and it was pretty, it was terrifying and it was violating, it was terrible. You know, they say Christianity don't evangelize the tribes. Well, you read about Robert Moffatt of South Africa, one of the first interior missionaries. The natives would just come into their place, steal anything, anytime, anywhere, anyhow. No remorse, nothing, just continuous. A society without any laws, without any conscience. And how'd you like to live that way? I mean, everybody lives that way. Why? Because they didn't have God. They didn't have the law of God. Now, what's happening to our country? You know, in our country, in my opinion, they make sure that there's certain people they, in my opinion, now we've gotten a system of judgment that justice, that law-abiding people, they clamp on them if they do anything wrong. We're going to teach them a lesson, we're going to keep them under control, okay? But obviously, there's a whole group of people that are allowed to do anything, okay? But, you know, totalitarianism is all about, you know, not law, but order. We're going to keep the masses under control. But there really isn't a right and wrong. There's only a right and wrong for certain people. And when our country gets away from God, of course, in the Bible, You go to the book of Leviticus, if a ruler sins, that sin is far worse than the same sin done by a regular person. Did you know that? It's far worse. The penalty is far worse. Okay, so now let's talk about How do we get to the eraser here? I don't know. Oh, there we go. Good. All right, let's talk about remedy. Great verse about remedy of, now in the Old Testament, what was the remedy? You know what the remedy was? We'll put it this way. We'll put the remedy was, whoops. Pain. We steal an ox, have to pay back fivefold. That hurts, right? That hurts really bad. And you are not going to do it again. You're smart, right? All right? Now, the New Testament talks about the change inward. An inward change that produces a real remedy. Now, the old remedy is still in place. But that doesn't change the inside. It maybe, you know, keeps them in line. But what's the New Testament remedy, okay? Ephesians chapter 4, we looked at it before, there is a remedy. And of course Ephesians is written to Christians, and so The context, Ephesians 4, the Bible says, verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Okay, so there we go. There's, now in Christ you have a new heart, and now let's operate in this, with this new man. All right? Verse 28, this one deals with stealing. Let him that stole, steal no more. What's the first remedy? Stop stealing. Okay, that's pretty simple, right? Stop, stop stealing. Okay, stop. And then it says, but rather let him labor with his hands That which is good. I like what it says, let him labor with his hands. Well, that really costs you something when you labor with your hands. And then it says, labor with his hands that which is good. All right, not winning a lottery, not gambling, not working for the brewery, you know, doing something that is good. All right? Get a good job, a real job, a job that produces something, not, you know, a wrong kind of job. But let him work with his hands the thing which is good. Now, I think that's really important, because a thief would like to take his thievery and repay his debt with something crooked, right? Repay his debt with something crooked, quick money. It says that he may have, okay, so he has to labor, and then he has to earn wages, And then he asked to have something. Does everybody that earns wages have something? No. What do they say? 50% of America goes from paycheck to paycheck. Or more. They don't have anything. They lost their job. They don't have anything. No savings. No assets, nothing. Okay? So what do you do in order to have? That tells us you have to save. Okay? You have to save, you have to have in order to give. Oh, the opposite of taking is what? Giving. All right? "...that he may give to him that needeth." All right, so it's the opposite. He used to make people needy by taking what they had. Now he gives to the needy. There's a hundred percent change here, isn't there? Isn't it? We have everything here is like a hundred percent opposite. So, what he's saying is the remedy to any sin is what? 100% opposite. The 100% opposite. Whatever that 100% is. Okay? So, now, let's talk about, in our chart here, we have Bad character traits. Okay? Okay, we have bad character traits. I'm going to talk about them. What are the bad character traits of a thief? Number one, selfish. Do they care about the people they're stealing from? No. They're selfish. They don't care about that person they're stealing from. They don't even think about how it hurts. It's all about them. Selfish. Now, what's the opposite of selfish? Selfless. Instead of thinking only of yourself, a selfless person is always thinking about others. Now, a selfless person isn't always thinking about others only, but a selfless person recognizes that the value of life, the value of your life, is to use your life for the benefit of others and God. Didn't you know that's the purpose of life? The value of your life is to use what you are and what you have for others and for God. That's the purpose of life. You know, you could use all your abilities for you, and then when you die, you have nothing. Right? When you die, you have nothing. So, selfless. Okay, number two, the bad character trait is disrespect of people, things, and God. Disrespect. Okay? Would you agree with that? Disrespect. They have disrespect. That's a big character problem, isn't it? Disrespect. Yes, Mike. What's interesting is those same type of individuals in prison as small people like I find it interesting that they're disrespectful to others, but they want respect from you. Yeah. The opposite is the respect and sacredness of God, of life, of gifts, of people, of time, and things. It is a sense of the sacredness of life that has been given to us by God, our abilities, our time, our health, everything. It's God-given. Now, think about, the more you take God out of a society, the less respect you're gonna have. And it's gonna become more and more selfish. Why do you think we have such a bitter society? Because our society is Very selfish. Very selfish. Okay, number four, undisciplined. Well, talk about a revolution instead of a thief, you know, his git, git, git, git, git, and whatever. and now have to work. We're skipping ahead here, let's go to number five. Lazy. One of the main characteristics, two main characteristics of a thief, well there are so many of them. One is selfish, they're greedy, They're disrespectful, but they are lazy with capital letters. Not like that. All capital letters. Big ones. They're lazy. All right? And now, That's why they want everything quick, because they're lazy. And it goes with number three, they're undisciplined. They follow the urges of the, the blank is what? The flesh. It's all about their feelings, it's all about urges. They just have become addicted to following their urges. Now, we all know that. The flesh is wild, you know? It wants us to follow its urges, whether it is to sleep or whatever it is, to eat or whatever, right? It just wants us to, you know, without any interference, just follow the urges, all right? And that's the flesh. Now, the thief has a problem with urges, okay? They just... It's just like, whoa. You know, you say to a thief, don't take that. And guess what they're going to do? They're going to take it. They're going to take it. I mean, I've seen an illustration of this. I said, don't do that. Don't touch that. Don't take it. And before the words were out of my mouth, the young person took it right in front of me. The urge, the flesh was so strong. Okay? So, number three, disciplined in saving and in spending. All right, you know, I read about this bank, this person who worked at a bank in Dallas. And she said, you know, Americans come to the bank and they put $100 in minimum. Asians come to the bank and they put a dollar in. Why was she noticing that? Because if an American has a dollar, you know, they're going to spend it. They're not going to save it until they have $100. But the Asian isn't going to spend the dollar. The Asian is going to put the dollar in the bank. You know, it's a whole difference of discipline, okay? And I remember this, okay, I had this experience that, can't remember the whole story, but there's this Chinese lady, and she became a teacher at a Christian school, and she got a good job, and One of the trustees was complaining that this Asian lady was, her main diet was rice. And she wouldn't, you know, spend frivolously on food. And she would, I don't know if she sent the money back home or what, but you know, her character was so disciplined. that it was irritating to people who had a lot of money and could spend frivolously. You know what I'm saying? Very disciplined. All right? Now, we got to make this practical. We don't have much time. How does a parent teach? How does a, you know, there's the book, remember the book I told you about? Building boys is better than mending men. Okay? Try to mend this in a thief. That's going to be a lot of hard work. You know, it's hard for a thief to work hard. It's hard for a thief not to be lazy. It's hard for a thief to save. It's even harder for a thief to give. Do you know how much pain that is? Their whole psychological being revolts at saving or giving or... You know what I'm saying? Their whole being. And it's like their whole being is going to rebel at doing right. You know what I'm saying? It's going to rebel. It can't handle it. Because the flesh is so strong. Okay? Now that person, and all of us, when we're battling the flesh, you know what, you have, almost you have to pray all day long. You have to pray all day long. Whatever it is, you've got to pray all day long. Because you're battling you, you know, your whole being. And you talk about some kid that they've been twisted at early age, Man, you're talking about really a big problem, aren't you? You're talking about a really big problem. It's not nothing, you know, we say change. No, it doesn't come that way. Okay, so I thought a little bit about this. What about, we talked about disrespect of property and lack of value of things. I can just throw out some things. What about letting your child not eat what's put on their plate? No problem, just throw it away. Put it in the trash. What kind of, what value system is that? They aren't thinking about the work that it took to prepare it. They're not talking about the time of the parent. They're not thinking about, have no clue of the money that it cost to buy it or anything, right? Waste. What does the Bible say? I can't remember the first part of the verse, but the foolish man spanneth it up. In other words, it says that in a wise man there's things in their house, but the foolish man, his money burns a hole in his pocket. He's got to spend it, got to spend it, and waste, and so what about, okay, here's a good one. Okay, so we're going to let the kids, we're going to let them slide down the hill, you know, in the grass, We're just going to let them go ripping around out there, sliding down the hill, and rip their pants, you know, because they're, you know, being boys, just let them slide out there. Really? That pair of trousers didn't cost anything? Just let them rip roar out there? You know, that's waste, isn't it? You know, I think about these kids that go up and down this road here, and they got this dually truck, and they're seeing how long they can have a rubber mark on the road. You know, those guys are nuts. Just burning money. Just burning money. You know, it's as though it just grows on trees. It's waste. Okay, so I think we should allow children to waste. What does that teach them? It robs them of the value of things, of people's time. It robs them of the value of whatever it is, food or clothes. It robs the value of the parents' effort. Wow. What about spoiling your children? You know, what about, you know, I had some, we got to close here, but I had some friends. Their dad was a millionaire. He didn't know it. They didn't know it. They lived on a farm. Now, this goes back 50 years, okay? They would get five cents a week for doing their chores, which whatever they were in the farm, the girls had to wash all the dishes and this and that, and they would get five cents a week. And us people who knew that their parents were millionaires, we kind of laughed, you know. What a bunch of tightwads, you know. What a bunch of tightwads. Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that those kids grew up being wasteful? Do you think that those kids all grew up being very successful financially? Yeah, all of them did. They were all disciplined. They were all non-wasteful. They were all productive. They all knew how to save. Amazing. Now what about the parent who says, okay, you can take the trash out. Every day this week you get your allowance is $20 for taking the trash out. You think that's smart? I don't think it's smart. You know why? Number one, it's not worth 20 bucks, but that should be a part of living, right? Taking the trash out. They're living in that house. Maybe give them 50 cents or a buck, but maybe not 20 bucks. You understand what I'm saying? You can spoil your child. And they can lose their value system. And they can think things don't matter. You know? And wow. You know, people are quitting their jobs to work at Amazon. Amazon's you know, advertising, $20 an hour, whoa, 20 bucks an hour. Yeah, but what aren't they telling these people? For the average person at Amazon, they're moving this package from here to here, from here to here, from here to here, and what are they doing? They're ruining their body. Think of these ladies that go there, they're ruining their body. They aren't built to be lifting heavy packages and swerving on them and moving them. You know, how long are they going to last? You know what I'm saying? It appears like they're giving them up, but they're not really giving them up. They have a burnout. Okay, well, like always, one over time, but the character traits, change the character traits, get a child not to be lazy, not to be selfish, but to be generous, to be hardworking, to be disciplined, to be a giver, and they won't be a thief. If they like hard work, they won't be a thief. If they don't like hard work, they will be a thief. And if Mr. Tabor was here, you know what he'd be talking about? He'd be talking about people who steal from the boss by wasting time when they're supposed to be working. That's what he would be talking about, right? Okay, let's pray. Lord, thank you for the Word of God. And Lord, everything is clear by the Word of God. Help us to think that way. And Lord, help us not to even excuse ourselves like we seem to like to, but help us to apply these things to our own lives in Jesus' name. Amen. you