UNEQUAL DIVISION. God, who is the absolute owner of all things, [I Cor. 10:26] divides to each as He will. [Jer. 27:5] He "maketh poor and maketh rich." [I Sam. 2:7, Prov. 22:2+] Much poverty, however, is due to men's own laziness, idleness, [II Thess. 3:10+] carelessness or extravagance; and much wealth has been wrongfully gained contrary to God's will as expressed in this commandment. _Communism_, or the equal division of property among all men, is not practicable. It failed in the apostolic Church. [Acts 5:1-10] If all things were equally divided, some would soon clamor for another division. POVERTY AND RICHES. The happiest person is he who is neither rich nor poor, but has sufficient for his needs. [Prov. 30:7-9+, Prov. 15:16-17+] Poverty may tempt a man to dishonesty; and riches may lead him to avarice, hardness of heart, worldliness and extravagance. [I Tim. 6:9, 10, I Tim. 6:17+] Riches make it hard for a man to enter into the kingdom of God. [Matt. 19:24+, Matt. 13:22] We should respect men for what they are, and not for what they have. We should not flatter the rich nor despise the poor. [Jas. 2:1-4] USE OF PROPERTY. God entrusts earthly property to us as His stewards. [Luke 19:12-27, Matt. 25:14-30, Luke 16:1-8] Whether we are rich or poor, we should so use our property as to be able to give an account to God. _For ourselves_ and those dependent on us [I Tim. 5:8+] we should use it for the supply of our bodily needs (food, clothing, shelter, a reasonable amount of pleasure) and of our spiritual needs [Luke 12:15+, Matt. 6:33, I Cor. 9:14] (the Church and the Gospel). _For our fellow-men_ we should, when necessary, use it according to our ability for their bodily needs (the poor) and their spiritual needs (Home and Foreign Missions). [Matt. 22:39] I. WHAT IS FORBIDDEN. 1. ROBBING OUR NEIGHBOR. The grossest forms of dishonesty are Robbery, Theft, Burglary, Embezzlement, and Forgery. These are recognized by all as wrong. But it is also wrong to bring our neighbor's property into our possession, by 2. UNFAIR DEALING AND FRAUDULENT MEANS, [Prov. 29:24, Lev. 6:2, 3, Ps. 37:21, Jer. 22:13, Lev. 19:35, 36, Hab. 2:6, Prov. 15:6, Deut. 24:14, Jas. 5:4, Prov. 11:1] such as Concealing stolen property, Withholding lost or borrowed property, Evading taxes, Refusing to pay debts, Wilful idleness and beggary, Betting and gambling, Lotteries and chancing, Bribery, Useless lawsuits, Negligent management of another's property, Stealing car-rides, Unfaithful labor, Insufficient wages, Cornering the market, Overcharging, Usury, Adulterating goods, Giving short weight or measure, and Cheating of any kind.