Shane Idleman concludes his series on the Ten Commandments by focusing on the last three: commandments against stealing, lying, and coveting. He emphasizes that these commandments reveal the condition of our hearts and our willingness to fully surrender to God. Idleman discusses how dishonesty in small matters can lead to larger issues, and he challenges the congregation to examine their priorities, especially regarding money and time. He encourages a deeper relationship with God, highlighting that true worship and giving should come from a place of sacrifice and trust. Ultimately, he calls for a healthy fear of God that leads to a life of obedience and closeness to Him.

Exodus chapter 20, we're talking about the Ten Commandments. This is our last message on the Ten Commandments. We're talking about Commandments 8, 9, and 10 tonight. The reason we are is, three weeks ago in Matthew, we found this dialogue that Jesus was having with a rich young ruler. And he told the rich young ruler, he said, what must I do to be saved? And Jesus said, well, obey the commandments. And we know that obeying the commandments does not save you. But what it did do was reveal the man's heart. Because Jesus said, well, okay, you said you've done everything, go and sell everything you have, then come back and follow me. He said, okay, wait a minute, I'm out of here at that one. So he basically showed him what was in his heart. And he wasn't willing to follow God unconditionally. And I've seen that in many lives, my own life, early on in my 20s. We're not willing to give up all to gain all. There's always something there, there's often something there that we're not willing to give up to follow God wholeheartedly. And when you carry your cross, you follow him, everything has to go to the wayside. A.W. Tozer said, if he's not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all. And I know that might seem, oh, Shane, that's crazy, there's no way that could happen. There is a way that could happen. When you begin to remove things, you say, Lord, these are no longer a priority. I'm not having anything stand between me and you. I'm removing those things. Your relationship with the Lord flourishes and it grows. And it can be a drug of choice. It can be a relationship. It can be entertainment. That's pulling many people away. There's something that's blocking you and God, and it's about removing that unconditionally and following him, fully surrendering your life. That's what I talk about often, full surrender. That's what I mean by that. So with that said, commandments number eight, nine, and ten. Number eight is not too hard. You shall not steal. Should we move on to number nine? I wish. It's not that easy. There's something here I wanted to talk about. Quite a few things, actually. You shall not steal. Basically, it's taking what is not yours. And before you think you don't do that, let's revisit a few things that involve stealing. But I want to read first Luke 16, 10. It's a paraphrase. Jesus said if you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in the greater things. But if you are dishonest in the little things, you will be dishonest with the greater things. And I found that God will not bless a person he cannot trust. And it's often in the little things. Because what happens in the little things will happen in the larger things. I have not met anybody that's very faithful in the big things that's also not faithful in the little things. And I've met a lot of people who are not faithful in very little things, but they say, oh, I'm real faithful in the big stuff. No, you're not. It's the little things that measure the heart. So Jesus said if you're dishonest in these little areas, you will be dishonest with the greater things. Why is that? Because compromise starts one step at a time. One wrong decision at a time. So when you open the door with little choices, deception here, dishonesty here, it leads to bigger things. So that's why you have to nip it in the bud in this area of lying and stealing. Well, I'm getting to lying in a minute. Stealing. Basically, stealing in the context is money or possession. When we think of possessions, this could be supplies at work, right? Just little things from work. Should we talk about taxes? Don't go there. No, don't go there. Don't go there. Because now we even have accountants. I won't tell you who mine is, but they say, are you sure? Shane, are you sure you can't write off more? We just need a couple thousand more to write. More mileage. I mean, can we tuck it under here? Can we move it here? Yeah, why not? Sure, everybody's doing it. Dishonest in the little things. Taxes was a very hard lesson for me to learn, being honest in those, because that's what people do. They move this and do this, and now there's a legitimate write-off, there's legitimate things. I don't mean to convict most people in this room, but if we're not being honest, that's a little thing. And the reason is we don't trust God. At least I didn't. I've got to hold back as much as I can. And we complain about taxes, I guess, and rightly so. But remember, what your tax is usually what the rest of the world makes in a whole year. We live in the most blessed place on the planet. We live in castles. We drive chariots with gold. I mean, we are very well off. And so when it comes to the issue of taxes, I think it's important to look at this and look at our heart and see am I going to qualify in this area of being dishonest in the little things? And money is one of the greatest gauges of the heart. Money is the greatest gauge of the heart than anything else because it will show you where your heart is. Where your heart is, there your treasure is also. That's why when this area is stealing, it's really a trust issue. If you were to ask me, when we take something or when we hold something back, we're not trusting God. Malachi 3.8, this is the Old Testament, Malachi 3.8. Will a man rob God, like stealing? Yet you are robbing me, God said. But you say, how have we robbed you? And God says, in tithes and offerings. Now if you've never been here before, this is your first time here, trust me, I don't talk about money very often, maybe twice a year. But it fits in perfectly with this area of stealing because will man rob God? Yet you are robbing God, he says here, by withholding tithes and offerings. And then people say, hold on, no, Shane, I know my Bible, that's Old Testament, we're not under the law, that's Old Testament, right, but it's old truth. It's very old truth. If we don't give anything to God, we're robbing him. The heart's just, the money's just a condition, it just shows where our heart's at. God says, you're robbing me by not giving to me. Now it's not a requirement anymore, but I think it's essential because where your heart is, right, there you're, well, I just quoted the scripture, you know what I'm saying. Where your money is really is where your heart is, your heart follows. And I know this is a hard, this is one of those sermons where you're like, uh-oh, here he comes. But it's true. If we're not giving to God, if our giving doesn't hurt, I feel we're robbing God in this area. Because giving has to hurt. If it doesn't hurt, it's not giving. Remember every, I told the first service, I told you I think last year, every time Christmas comes around, you know, you get some shirts and different things, we take out old shirts or old clothes, and we go and we give them to goodwill, and we think we're so spiritual. The only reason I did that is because the closet was full. That doesn't hurt. That doesn't hurt. Now you bring the brand new jacket from Kohl's, it was $100, and you bring that, that hurts. You see the difference? That's giving. Bringing a whole bunch of old shirts isn't giving. Or you put your old refrigerator out front and give it to the veterans. I just gave my refrigerator to the veterans. No, you got rid of the old one that's 15 years old, so you can get, that's not giving. So you can gauge, it hurts. Giving should hurt. And that's why I think a 10% tithe, that's what the tithe was, it was 10%, 10% hurts a little bit. You know, if a person makes $5,000 a month, giving $500 hurts a little bit. Some changes are gonna have to be made. Some adjustments are going to be made. And it's very healthy to put God first in the equation. Lord, I'm putting you first, I'm trusting you. Because the ironic thing is he doesn't need our money. I know everybody knows that, but it's good to repeat it. God doesn't need your money, the church doesn't need your money. What it really does, it releases you of that idol, releases me of that idol. I'm giving this idol up. You can't hold on me, I'm just gonna give some of you away. And that's how you deal with money being idolatry. And then people ask, well, how much should I give? How much should I give? And I say, well, how blessed do you want to be? I truly believe, I'm not a TBN preacher, right, bless, send me 300. But I truly believe that God can bless us according to how we give. Give of our time, give of our resources, give of our money. There should be something there in our priorities, in our finances, where it hurts a little bit. If it doesn't, I believe that there's an issue there going on with the heart. I mean, think about it, people make, there's a lot of people make $100,000 a year and they'll give $100. Or $25. And you say, well, Shane, you shouldn't talk about that. Well, no, I think I should, because I see how God has blessed our own family by giving and putting first things first. And I know that God loves a cheerful giver. That's written somewhere, I don't know, maybe I read it in the paper the other day. But God loves a cheerful giver. For those of you who don't know, Paul said it. Now we're in the New Testament, God loves a cheerful giver. And when you live below your means, okay, I don't need that big of a house, I don't need that expensive of a car, I'm gonna put God first, that's really the way to prioritize. I'm gonna put God first, give to Him, and then whatever else falls in place, that's how I live. But what do we do? We put everything else up here, and then what do I have left over? I think I have 20 left. No, we gotta go to Panda Express. Next week, next week. And that's how, whatever God, and it's not about Him receiving anything, but it's about the heart. It's a condition of the heart, so stealing. I believe we can steal from God. I've done it plenty of times. I can probably still run the risk of doing it. When God says, no, give to that family, I'm like, oh, no, no, no. It's tight this month, it's Christmas. So what am I not doing? I'm not trusting God. It's a trust issue. Now, on the flip side, people say, well, you can't just give everything away and live in the desert. Well, I've never met anybody who's ever done that. Except a couple people I've read about, KP O'Hannon on the radio, Gospel for Asia, sold a lot of things, retirement, 401K, and if God's asking you to do that, it's great. All I'm saying is giving has to hurt a little bit, or it's not biblical giving. David said, I will not give God something that costs me nothing. So if your giving or my giving doesn't hurt, it's like, eh, here's 100 bucks now and then, or 50 bucks, or, you know, I'm not trying to put numbers on it, but if it doesn't hurt, if it's not like, man, this is gonna, okay, here you go, then it's not giving. It's just pacifying, really. And sadly, the majority of the church in America, very few people actually even give 10%. And that's just a good number. I don't believe that we're under the tithe and a person has to tithe, but I think it's a very good number because it hurts. And you know, you're giving. And the funny thing is, I've talked to people, once they start giving, and then God just opens up tremendous doors for finances, or work, or their home life, because now they're filled with the Spirit. They have a giving heart, a giving Spirit, and they're just amazed at the change that takes place. I have yet to find somebody, maybe they'll email me, who actually gives a good portion to God, whatever that is, I don't know, and says, this isn't working. This is not working. I'm giving to God, and this is not working. Now we go through challenges, we go through difficulties, we lose our job, but God sees us through all of those things, as long as the heart's right. So this whole area of giving can be summed up in this. It's an issue of the heart. It's an issue of the heart. And the reason, I mean, sometimes we're even challenged. I don't want to give more. I got bills. And God will say, give a little bit more. Help this family in need. I'm like, okay. But it hurts. So I know, I'm not trying to minimize. I feel the pain. But to me, it's a trust issue. Now, don't want to belabor that point. Moving on. I think you got the point across. Now you're all waiting for the offering baskets to go by, right? Well, it's interesting. This topic of money, many of you know who know me well, is it's an embarrassment to the church many times. I saw a guy last night on TV. $300 seed. He had all the right words. You got to release it to receive it. And it was so tacky. Send that $300 seed. If you don't have $300, you send $100. God will bless you on that $100. And then you'll get back. You'll get back. Oh, I can feel the spirit now. There's anointing about ready to be released in this place. Oh my God. And like, that's not good. That's a charlatan. That's not good. That's manipulating. And that's why I've backed off a lot. Because people, oh, they just want their money. And we actually, to our detriment, I've had people come up and tell me, we don't talk about money enough. You're actually hurting people by not talking about it enough. And there's some truth to that. Because I know in my own life, we actually stagger. When we first got married, God comes first. Whatever that offering, whatever that tithe is, comes first. More than car payments. It comes first. And then we live underneath that. So that's a priority. And we even had, when we got a loan on our house, the lady said, oh, don't count tithes. The bank doesn't care about that. How much do you make? We're factoring in your bills. You can afford this, this house. But don't worry about that tithe. And I said, well, no, that's a bill. They said, the bank doesn't care about that. I said, well, I do. And we actually bought a house 100,000 less than we were qualified, just a little track home, so we could stay in that. Did it feel good? No. It did not feel good. Sometimes. Can we go see that? Oh, we can't go see that house. Can we live? No, we can't live over there. That gated community? No, we can't. But the blessing, I think we'd both agree, the blessings that God has brought from this little track house. I never said I'd live in a track with a tiny yard. I did. The blessings are enormous. The neighbors, the quietness, the calmness. It's like, I'll take that any day over trying to chase the Joneses and trying to keep up with them by putting God first. And it's interesting, once he's first and you prioritize everything else, there's not financial problems. We know people who make double what we make and they have tons of financial problems. Like, where does all that money go? Where does it go? Because there's something in that. And so when God blesses it, he multiplies in areas you never thought that he would multiply. And it's just amazing what happens when you put him first. Now, this isn't applied in, you shall not steal. But I wanted to talk about it since I'm on this area of stealing. There's another principle here, stealing time. And what I mean by that is this. I believe that God calls us to be stewards of our time. Not just our money, not just our resources, but our time. Time is a wonderful asset. But it's something you can never get back. You can't borrow it. You can't save it for later. You can't do anything with it other than invest in it. And I see so many people stealing time from their families, stealing time from God. It's an epidemic, especially in the church. So this area of stealing, I was working on this part of the sermon, and I looked over and I saw something my little six-year-old daughter gave me. I think for Father's Day on this issue of stealing time. I just wanted to read it real quick. It said this. Walk alongside me, Daddy, and hold my little hand. I have too many things to learn that I don't yet understand. Teach me things to keep me safe from dangers every day. Show me how to do my best at home, at school, at play. Every child needs a gentle hand to guide them as they grow. So walk alongside me, Daddy. We have a long way to go. And I just remembered investing in our children no matter how old they are sometimes and prioritizing our time because this is another area. If you don't do anything, by default, you will waste your time. That's why I hate the flesh. You don't have to do anything and it'll pull you down every area. I'm not gonna seek God. I'm just not doing anything. It'll pull you away from God. I'm not gonna prioritize my time. I'm just gonna see what happens each day. It'll pull time away. The flesh is hell-bent on getting us away from God and getting us away from those things that are most important. So I would encourage you, put first things first on your calendar. First things first. My God time is on my calendar. Ask my wife. If anything's gonna come in between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., there's gonna be a problem there. That's the time I like. Now, do I always get there? No, but it's a nice thought, right? But there's a space there that doesn't always work out. Sometimes late or emergencies. But that's His time. And then we have to have family time and time with the kids. You have to put that first because it will not happen on its own. Actually, on its own, it falls apart. And the parent looks back 20 years marrying off their daughter going, where did she go? What happened all the time? And we live in that state of regret. So I think it's important in this area of stealing is to not steal time. Give it to those who desperately need it. And a side note on this word steal, stealing. I'm interested often in what the culture says about something and what God's Word says about something. It's just funny to see the differences. And the culture calls stealing or the inability to stop stealing as a kleptomania. It says that. It is the inability to stop stealing. It's a mental disorder, they say. You were raised this way. You're just going to steal. We've got to get you on the right medication. But God's Word says something different. The culture says the heart is good. The Bible says the heart is deceitful. The culture says you just need to unlock your inner strength. Scripture says willpower is not enough. The culture says don't lay a guilt trip on me. Scripture says conviction is good. The culture says it's not really your fault. Scripture says confess your sins and repent so that change can take place. The culture says you're the answer. Scripture says Christ is the answer. And it's interesting, on lying, on stealing, all these things, they've got a disorder for everything. What the culture likes to do is blame shift. Take it away from me. I was raised this way. Now, also disclaimer, there are mental illnesses. There are challenges. I'm not minimizing any of that. But to say a person who steals all the time, they have this, and that way there's no help for them, I don't think helps the person whatsoever. Because you have to go to the heart issue. Also on this note, people say the devil made me do it. Have you ever heard that? I've talked about this last summer. The devil made me do it. The devil made me do it. Well, we have to remember, you don't cast out a spirit of division. You don't cast out a spirit of drunkenness. You don't cast out a spirit of lust. And you don't cast out a spirit of stealing. The devil doesn't make us do anything, he just presents the bait. The more you open the door, the more he comes in. But we have the ability to close that door and allow God to come in. Number nine, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. So he goes from stealing to lying. And the context of bearing false witness against your neighbor is in a court of law. Or before a judge, and you're bearing false witness. But also gossip falls underneath this. Casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people. Typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true. Proverbs 6.19 says, God hates a false witness who lies, and he hates a person who stirs up conflict. Wow, a lot of people are in trouble. Proverbs says, God hates a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, feet that are swift to running to evil, one who sows discord among the brethren. All these things. A haughty eye, prideful look. He hates these things. Can God hate something? Well, it says it. So the next time we want to stir up division or lie and bring somebody down, God hates that. And I often wonder how many people never grow spiritually because they're caught in that trap of gossiping and pulling people down. I mean, we all have to struggle through this. We all have to work through this issue. Here's an interesting side note on this too, on lying. Pathological lying is considered a mental illness. No wonder nobody gets help. If I steal too much, I'm a kleptomania. If I lie too much, I'm a pathological liar and I have a mental illness. Something's going on. There's no responsibility whatsoever. And I believe that mislabeling hurts, not helps. When we mislabel something, we are not helping somebody. We are hurting them. Who in their right mind would go to a doctor and say, yeah, you've got cancer right there in the liver, and he's... You have nothing. You have a liver infection. You need some antibiotics. I'd rather get you on some homeopathic stuff, but that's okay. It's a different subject. Antibiotics, they would get you on amoxicillin. But that's what you should do. But he says you have cancer. So you go through radiation. He mislabeled, misdiagnosed the whole thing. That doesn't help anything. Same thing in the spiritual realm. Misdiagnosing, mislabeling doesn't help. So this stuff was starting to irritate me because I also read on the links I was reading that they call addiction a disease. Like alcoholism, they'll call it disease. I said, okay, okay, wait a minute here. Where's this coming from? So I did a little research, and toward the end of the 19th century, that's about the late 1800s, addicts were often viewed as morally wrong and even shunned as being bad people or sinners. Not good, right? This type of thinking led many physicians of the time to fight to change the common perception and to change from addicts being responsible for their actions to now having a disease. So that's where that came in. Now another big disclaimer. I have a very addictive nature. I'll eat too much bubblegum. If I put a pack of bubblegum in here, it'll be gone when I get home. And at Thanksgiving, did I have one little piece of pumpkin pie? Or, right? Addictive nature. I know it's a battle, so I'm not minimizing this at all. But to say it's a disease doesn't, because the blame shifts again. See, I've got this disease. It's in my DNA. My dad, this, this. There's nothing I can do about it. It's a disease. I can't fight through that. I can't take responsibility. And here's why it's so important. When we take responsibility, when we confess, when we bring it to light, there's transparency, that openness, that sin can't grow anymore. I'm going to read something I read a couple years ago and I had a family leave over it. Obviously, they're mad that I said it's not a disease. This is from Greg Laurie, from one of his sermons. I think he's talking about alcohol here. If it is a disease, it's the only disease without germs or virus. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that is self-inflicted. If it's a disease, it's the only disease contracted by the act of the will. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that is bottled and sold over the counter for a profit. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that will cause a father to go home, grab his baby by the legs and shake him violently. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that will cause a mother to desert her children. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that will take clothes from their back and shoes from their feet and bread from their table. If it's a disease, it's the only disease that will keep one out of heaven and send that soul to hell. That, sir, is not a disease and it's addiction called sin. See, if you can rightly label something and you can say, hold on, yeah, yeah, this substance has caused some psychological damage. There's some brain chemistry that's happening and now you're dependent. Got it, but it's not a disease. Let's walk through the steps of recovery. Number one, admitting, I take responsibility. God, you need to change me. I can't change myself. I take full responsibility. I'm bringing this out in the open. I'm confessing. Very good for the heart. Blame shifting, very bad for the heart. That's why these things, we have to label them correctly and I like what the article said. They changed the view because people were made to feel bad or like sinners, but that's what it is and the Bible says neither thieves nor adulterers nor drunkards will enter the kingdom of heaven. So if a person chooses this lifestyle and they say, well, I'm trapped in a disease. This is how I was raised. I'm Italian. I got the DNA of this and I'm half German and my dad, my mom, all the way back five generations, it's a disease. There's no hope. I don't think that helps. I think pointing people to the truth helps. Will it be tough? Yes. Breaking any addiction is tough. Try going off sugar for a week. You who want to cast the first stone. Let's not even try a week. Let's try tomorrow. Those who want to cast the first stone, try this. Get up and have water instead of coffee just for one day and you'll realize how many addicts we have in our presence. People say, I have to have my coffee. I get moody and irritable. Well, that tells you it's a drug. That's why. That's why. So see, we're not casting the first stone. We're showing the addictive nature here. I got way off trail on that one, but my point was helping people and I wouldn't be mean and tell your sin or this and that. I'm saying, hey listen, here's the problem. You have to take responsibility for your actions and then confession can take place, transparency, humility. Oh, those are all biblical principles. Freedom is found in the truth. So when God says, thou shalt not, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. Thou shalt not have any carved images. Thou shalt honor the Sabbath. Thou shalt, thou shalt, all the ones who've been learning. There's power in following the truth. How do I know that? Well, let's see what Jesus said. You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. You shall know the truth has little to do with this because most people know what to do, but when you do it, that's where the power comes from. That's what sets you free. So when a person's walking into a challenging decision, whether it's caffeine, nicotine, whatever the addiction, and they're walking into it and they say, Lord, by your grace, I'm saying no, this is hell, this hurts, but I'm turning from that and I'm being set free because they obeyed the truth. It's putting the truth into application when you apply it. That's why, I don't know why young adults are so afraid of God's word. Oh, that Bible my mom and dad used to tell me, don't do that. Yeah, but there's freedom in there. You want to be bound for the rest of your life? You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And really what we need is a constant state of need. God, I need you. Todd, you prayed that, I think. That was a good prayer. God, I need you. The song we sang, who am I that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, who would care to feel my hurt? And see, when I can explain that to somebody, that changes everything. When you tell them, listen, you take responsibility, but there's a God who loves you, who cares for you, who wants to help you. You need to turn to him. See, it's a dependent need. Like a two year old. My two year old would die by next month if we didn't help her. It's the same thing. Lord, there's this dependent relationship I have with you. I'm dependent on you. All that shame, that's not very manly. I don't care if it's manly or not. That's biblical. Especially guys have a problem in this area of a constant. It's hard to say, Lord, I need you. Because what are we used to doing? Fixing it myself. I'll take care of this. Instead of, Lord, I need you. And making that transition. Then the last commandment, you shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not covet their male servant, nor their female servant, nor their ox, nor their donkey. That won't be hard. I don't know anybody with an ox or a donkey. Nor anything that is your neighbor's. But let's start the first one. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. But first, I better explain what covet means. To covet, I wanted to write it down because I want to explain it in the first service. I said, I've got to remember that. It's okay many times, oh, that's a nice house. Or that's a nice car. The coveting is beyond that. Coveting is when you crave something to the degree it affects you. And you want something so bad that you'll pull other people down or you'll keep up with the Joneses or you'll compromise at work or you'll go after something because the craving is affecting you. That's how adultery starts. Did you know that? You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Covet goes from, oh, she's attractive. I better never look at her again. To, uh-oh, mine's a craving, thinking about it all the time. And eventually, the thought's going to walk itself out and come into action if the opportunity presents itself. So that's what a coveting is. I mean, we see how, I mean, I watch, my wife told me about a TV show, I don't know, we watched it a while back, one of these nice houses. Unbelievable inside. Like, they've got rivers in their house and an Olympic-sized swimming pool and there's a little slide. Kids go down and then they have this guy that has a 4,000-square-foot study, library, couches. I'm like, oh my goodness, that I would want. That would be, you know, that would be something high up on my list. But we turned it off, okay, end of story. It didn't cause a coveting. And like, oh, let me watch that again. Who's the producer? I gotta get, I gotta, you know, and it affects. So that's what coveting is. When something starts to happen in your heart that's not good, you're coveting. You're wanting something. I mean, pastors struggle with this, right? I get to pass a big church every time I drive to Trader Joe's down Avenue P. I say, oh, look at that. Wow, that would be nice. But it doesn't affect. I don't pull down the pastor. I don't pull down the church. So that's nice. God bless them. Maybe someday. Who knows? But it doesn't change. But when it starts to affect me, and I, oh, let me just tell you about that church. You know, you pull them down, that coveting now is affecting you and it's not healthy. You should not covet their wife or their husband or anything or their servant or their female servant or their oxen or their donkey. Basically, don't covet their possessions. Don't covet their possessions. And it was hard recently. Somebody in my family got a new Corvette. Man, I just wanted to drive it one time and I haven't yet. But there's this, you know, he's like, oh, that is nice. Why don't, you know, I can never pull up in a Corvette. I know that. Trust me, I'm not going there. But when it begins to affect, and if I covet that, usually I have to compromise to get it. That's why coveting is so bad. What about now that the media, young girls growing up, coveting, looking at what other, you know, the Barbie doll and this look and this image and all this. You know, we've got now Miley Cyrus being our role model. And, you know, leave it at that. And they start to covet that. And when they covet it, then they start to make choices and they compromise their life to get what they're coveting. That's why it's a bad thing. People think it's like, well, that's a nice car. I'd like to live in a gated community. You know, I'd like to live here or there. You know, okay, well, end of story. But when it begins to affect how you live and it begins to affect your walk, you are coveting. And, you know, do you have good friends that they make more money than you, drive a nicer car than you, they take five vacations a year, and we're lucky to get one? That's why I don't like Facebook. The real name is Covetbook. It is, it's Covetbook. I mean, everybody's having so much fun. There's snow here and we're this. We're on vacation again. We're at Disneyland. We're at Catalina. You know, we got a babysitter for 14 days. You know, it's like this covetousness everywhere in that place. And then people are posting all the fights in Walmart getting over like a rice maker. It's sad. I mean, it's just sad what we've come to. That's coveting. So this last commandment is pretty powerful if you think about what it really is. It's desiring something so much that it becomes an idol. And you go after it more than you go after God. Anything that you pursue more than God becomes an idol. Well, Shane, I have to pursue my work and make money. Yeah, but you go to work saying, Lord, how can I be a good example? How can I be the best employee there? How can I glorify you while I'm there? Who can I pray for? How can I... And you go to work, God's still in the forefront. And the work comes second. So anything you put before that... We all struggle with this area, idolatry. We can put things before God. And then it goes on, verse...Exodus 20. After the Ten Commandments was given to Moses, you have to picture he's up on this huge mountain. God is writing the Ten Commandments on stone. Now, I would have... I'd love to be there. But... So the people now are down the mountain. Moses is coming down with the Ten Commandments. He doesn't drop them like the movie, right? He's got them. Except when the calves, you know, the golden calf and people were worshiping and threw them down and God had to redo them. He's coming down. He's down from this mountain now. And now the Bible says, now all the people witnessed thunderings and lightning flashes, the sound of a trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood far off. Then they said to Moses, You speak with us and we will hear. But do not let God speak with us lest we die. Let me stop there for a minute. This is the children of Israel. God just delivered them out of Egypt. If you saw what they saw, you would be... You would think you'd kiss God. Whatever... I mean, this is a holy... I mean, we saw God. We experienced Him. But now they're afraid of Him. They don't want to draw closer to Him. They're afraid of Him. And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you that you may fear Him and that your fear may be before you so that you may not sin. See, this is another element we miss often. The church... We're supposed to preach the fear of God. It's very healthy. I want my kids fearing God. Not believing in pixie dust. Fearing God. Acts... When the church was being built in Acts, it said that they went out in the fear of God. The church grew in the fear of God. The Old Testament prophets preached the fear of God. The New Testament writers would say the fear of God is not in you. That's why you're sinning. And here, the fear of God, this is a healthy respect for God, saying, Lord, I'm living before you. My life is an open book. I fear you. I tremble in your presence. It's not like he's going to throw down a lightning bolt. Not that kind of fear. It's a fear of walking, knowing this is a holy, righteous God, where even the angels cry, holy, holy, holy is our God. You walk in there and you give Him the respect and the honor due His name. You worship Him in the beauty of holiness. That's what this is. It's a respect and a reverence for God. And when you have a right understanding about God, you will sin less. Trust me. Because you recognize He died for you. You recognize He's wanting to bless you, wanting to watch your life. The choices will have ramifications. There are consequences. So you walk in the fear of God. So my choices, now if I wish to God the Supreme Court would fear God like they used to, the Supreme Court, if they would fear God, if the leaders of our land would fear God, their decisions would be much different. I remember reading a quote. I can't say it now or remember it now, but it was from John Jay. He was one of the first chief justices of the Supreme Court. He came out and he acknowledged the sovereign hand of God. The first Supreme Court justice. He acknowledged the sovereign hand of God, that our laws must be founded upon Him and His word. Actually, the whole judicial system was based on the word of God. If there's premeditated murder versus manslaughter versus rape, everything was laid out already in Deuteronomy. And they just followed the word of God. There was fear in the word of God. There was fear of God. That's why I believe our nation was blessed. You had leadership, not perfect, but you had leaders, you had the Supreme Court, you had the executive, the judicial, the legislation branches of government fearing God. You would never change the meaning of marriage if you feared God. You would never vote to abort children in the womb if you feared God. You just wouldn't do that. That's why there's a big moral divide. Some fear God and some don't. Well, Shane, I can tell what party you're with. No, you can't. I vote for God. 2016, I'm voting for God. I'm voting for principles. That's the way it should be. We shouldn't be scared. We can't talk about that from the pulpit. Oh, you better bet you can. Because this is where we're supposed to disseminate what God's word says and apply it to our lives. Do not fear. God has come to test you and that his fear may be for you so that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to God. So the people stood afar off. This is interesting. They lacked a real relationship. They said, you pray, not us. You worship, not us. We're just going to be bystanders. Do you think that happens in the church today? Does that happen at Westside Christian Fellowship? Oh, yeah. Because it's scary. I mean, there's a fear there of drawing closer to God. I don't want to become like Shane. I don't want to become like my aunt. No, you'll be who you are, how God has designed you. Draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. Yes, it's scary to some degree because the flesh is scared. And also our pride is scared. If I have to draw near to God, that means some of my pride's got to go and I've got to humble myself. And there's this drawing near. And I've told people, can you just sit and worship God for an hour? No, I start to get uncomfortable and I start to get up. There might be a demonic influence in that that's coming against you. I don't know what it is, but anytime we want to press towards God, people get agitated. And it's the same thing here. I will come and watch, but I won't get close. I will listen, but not turn from my sin. I will come when time allows. I will come to church when time allows, but I will not make it a priority. And I'll remind you that you cannot follow God at a distance and expect to know him. You cannot follow God at a distance and expect to know him. And there's people here tonight, probably been believers many years, you're following God at a very far distance. Like Peter who warmed himself by the fire. Do you know him? No, no, no, I don't know him. Your speech betrays you. No, I don't know him. The Bible says he followed Jesus at a distance. And many people do because they're scared of that fully surrendered life. But I would just encourage you that that is the spirit-filled life. When it's talking about a New Testament believer throughout the New Testament, that's what they're talking about. A lukewarm, carnal Christian is an oxymoron. It should be. When we're following Christ, it should not be that way. Following him at a distance. And also those, maybe you might hear this later, if you don't know him, and you've been following him at a distance, and you're afraid to come in, I would just encourage you, repent of your sin. You might have been in church most of your life, but you've never repented of your sin. I just prayed with a guy Friday in one of the hospital homes. He said, oh yeah, I know God. I pray to Him all the time when I want something. I said, well, have you ever repented of your sin and said, God, I need you. Lord, would you save me? No, I haven't. Would you like to do that now? Yes, I would. I mean, that's what it is. That's the truth. Pointing people to the truth. Because a lot of people think they have their conception of God, who He is. Go down to Hollywood, ask people. They'll tell you who God is. They've got about 100 different views. My inner self, my inner consciousness, my yang, my chi, my this, whatever. God's everywhere. No, that's not the God the Bible says. You are distant from me, and that's why repentance is so important. That bridges the gap back. Now I can have fellowship with God without repentance, without repenting and acknowledging my need for God, I can't have a relationship with Him. I can't. Who are you to say that Jesus said it? God's word is crystal clear on this issue. You have to draw near to Him, and then He will draw near to you. But I also love that scripture that says that, that if we draw near, and that word draw is interesting. It's a, you're drawing. It's kind of like you're pulling something. You're drawing near to God. You're fighting the flesh. The flesh doesn't like you. You're a little worried. You're scared, but you're saying, Lord, I trust in you. You know what's best for me. I mean, how can we go wrong being close to God? But somehow, for some reason, we're scared of worship. We're scared to get into the Bible for ourselves. And we're scared to pray. I don't even talk about fasting. Let's just talk about those things. We don't want, there's something there that's fighting against God. Something is fighting Him. But we need to be like Moses. We need to draw near to God. I don't feel like reading the Bible, but Lord, I'm going to because I trust you. I don't feel like putting on worship, but I'm going to because I trust you. I don't feel like spending an hour in prayer, but I'm going to because I trust you. And then the filling of the spirit comes later. It's a byproduct of walking out our life towards God. Drawing near to Him, He will draw near to you. But this is not a microwave Christianity. This is not drive-thru and you have your food in five minutes. This is travailing. This is seeking. And actually, the more you seek Him, the more you find Him. And the more you find Him, the more you seek Him. There's a worship song that says that. And it's a process. It's not easy and it's not quick. But it is beneficial. Let me just close with Psalm 96. I read the worship night. I want to read tonight as well to put the worship in context. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Bless His name. Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. You have this imagery here of people singing, whether you can sing or not, but just Lord, you're so good. I'm so thankful. You're changing your heart. That's what worship really does. It changes your heart. That's why people can get in here. They just came from fighting at home. And they walk into worship. And then what happens after a few songs? And then thankfully, it changes you. It changes you. You come and you sing of His salvation. You sing of His goodness. You declare His glory among the nations, His wonder among all the people. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made heavens and the earth. Honor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, oh families of the earth. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and tremble before Him all the earth. It's interesting. He says give to the Lord. We're not giving Him this or that. It's giving our heart. Give to the Lord the respect due His name. Holiness and coming before God and giving Him that worship. And I would tell you up front that many people don't like to worship. They'll get through a few songs, that's about it. But I would just encourage you to look past that and say, Lord, I do want to spend time with you. I want to seek you with all of my heart. I want to just stay here and be thankful because when you start retraining your mind to be thankful on what God has given us, the house, the heater, the car. We could sit here for the next two hours and just be thankful on everything. And that's what He's saying. Bring those praises to me. Bring those issues to me. Bring those problems. Bring your hard heart to me. Let me soften it. Let me mold it. Bring everything. Give Him everything due His name. Give Him the glory and the honor. And that's why it says, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Holiness is just being set apart for God. And there's a beauty in that, being holy and set apart for God, that He will not turn away.