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THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS
The Ten Commandments was taught by Dr. James Modlish
The
Eighth Commandment
Thou
shalt not steal.
(Ex.
20:15)
INTRO:
A
thief can be described as someone takes something and
doesn't give an adequate return.
With this
definition in mind there are a lot of sophisticated
thieves in operation today, many churches not to be
excluded. Our considerations will be aimed principally at
the Christian. It may be concluded an, unsaved man is a
thief simply because he possesses a depraved unregenerate
nature. However, God's people don't have that convenient
of excuse to fall back on. Hopefully this message will
help us all to see why and how we steal and to do about
it.
I. THE
CAUSES OF THEFT
A.
Laziness - A lazy thief thinks that he is master of the
situation (Prov. 26:16) but shall end up with nothing
(Prov. 13:4).
B.
Excessive debt - (Rom. 13:8) Debt often brings poverty
which can drive a man to be a thief (Prov.
30:9).
C.
Unbelief - (Ps. 78:19) Many will simply not trust God to
provide their needs so they resort to stealing from God
and men.
II. THE
KINDS OF THEFT
One of the
most common methods of theft today is to steal from
employers. If we do not give them 8 hours of work for 8
hours of pay we rob them. Sometimes the reverse of the
dictum is true; the employer steals from the employee by
withholding proper pay (Lev. 19:11-13) and many Christian
business men rob people by charging I them too much for
goods or possessions. (Lev. 19:15).
B.
Borrowing and Forsaking Payment - (Ps. 37 :21) - God's
people should not have a bad reputation about paying
their bills. So sometimes Christians try to take
advantage of other Christians because they are Saved.
They consider themselves to be the rightful recipients of
favors.
C.
Time - Not only is time often robbed from employers but
also from our families, ourselves and God. (Ecc.
8:5-13).
D.
Hearts - "Absalom stole the hearts of the men of
Israel" (2 Sam. 15:6). Even as Absalom stole the hearts
from Israel's king and leader David, so do men today.
There are always those who instigate that the pastor and
leaders of the church should do things a different or
"better" way. The crowd that constantly questions the
leadership is the same bunch that wags their tongue to
anyone who will listen. The underlying subtilty of the
entire effort is to steal men's hearts. The judgment upon
Absalom should be noted (2 Sam. 18:9-15).
E.
Credit and Honour - (Acts 12:20-23) How many times do
God's people take credit for successes and victories that
God gave. I fear there is a tendency in Fundamentalism to
deify some Christian personalities. Loyalty is necessary
(as illustrated in the last point) but the glory belongs
to God.
F.
Tithes and Offerings - (Mal. 3:8-12) It sure would be a
nicer day if we could do a way with this one.
III. THE
RESULTS OF STEALING
A.
A thief puts himself in the position of being hated by
society. Very few have any real respect for a thief. If a
thief is respected the respect is stolen and it will be
short lived. (Zech. 5:3).
B. A
thief will always live in fear - (Ps. 53:5)
C.
Fear is a great tormentor - (1 Jn. 4:18)
D.
Judgment will come - (Josh. 7:25)
IV. HOW TO
AVOID STEALING
A. Live in a Calling - "Let him that stole steal no more:
but rather let him labour, working with his hands the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth." (Eph. 4:28)
B. Be
content with the estate that God has given you. "Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be content with
such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Heb. 13:5)
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