This story is for Pastor Ben. A Packers fan, a Bear’s fan, and a Vikings fan were robbing a supermarket when a police officer walked into the store. The three men decide to hide in three potato sacks.
- The cop kicks the first bag, and the Packers fan says, “meow”, the cop says, “oh, it’s only a cat.”
- He kicks the second bag, and the Bears fan says, “woof, woof”. The cop says, “it’s only a dog”.
- He kicks the third bag, and the Vikings fan says, “potato.”
A hooded robber burst into a Texas bank and forced the tellers to fill his sack with money. On his way out the door a brave customer grabbed the hood and pulled it off revealing the robber’s face. The robber shot the customer without a moment’s hesitation. He then looked around the bank and noticed one of the tellers looking straight at him. The robber instantly shot him too. Everyone else in the bank was by now very much afraid and were looking straight down at the floor in silence. The robber yelled, “Well, did anyone else see my face?” There were a few moments of utter silence then one old man tentatively raised his hand and said, “My wife got a pretty good look at you.”
This morning I want to return to my series of messages on the Ten Commandments. I am calling the series, The Ten. Today I want us to look at the Eighth Commandment — Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.”
HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN SOMETHING THAT DIDN’T BELONG TO YOU? Most of us have. Stealing is big business.
Someone has observed that there are three great temptations in life: the temptation to enjoy, the temptation to obtain and the temptation to do. Many yield to the temptation to obtain unlawfully.
- The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP)reports that every day more than $25 million worth of goods are stolen from retailers — an amount that adds up to over $13 billion each year. The NASP estimates that one in every 11 Americans is a shoplifter.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that 75 percent of all employees steal at least once, and that half of these steal repeatedly. The Chamber also reports that one of every three business failures is the direct result of employee theft.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, employee dishonesty costs American businesses as much as $110 million a day.
While here I want to point out that according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, taxpayers defraud the government out of $345 billion in unpaid taxes a year. That means 16.3% of all taxes go unpaid.
In addition, there is identity theft, burglary, larceny, looting, robbery, fraud, ponzi schemes, pick-pocketing, counterfeiting, auto theft, scams – the list of ways that people steal could literally go on and on.
Like I said, the list of ways that people steal could literally go on and on.
According to a CNN news report, shoplifting and other retail crimes now cost the average American family about $435 a year. Someone pointed out that every day is “theft day” in the United States. 3
NOTICE THESE PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE
Leviticus 19:11, “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.”
Leviticus 19:35-36 (New Living Translation) “Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate.”
Jesus added in Matthew 19:18, “Do not steal.”
And in Ephesians 4:28 the Apostle Paul warned, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”
Literally, from the writings of Moses on through the works of the Apostle Paul, we are told not to steal. Obviously, this is a matter of great importance to God.
WHY IS GOD SO OPPOSED TO STEALING?
GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOU AND YOURS
When I began this series, I spoke of how each of these commandments were given as a love gift from God to you and me. They are meant to help us, bless us, as well as protect us.
In this commandment God is saying, He doesn’t want anyone stealing your house, your spouse, your laptop, your car, your jewelry, your GPS, your CD collection – whatever. One of the literal meanings behind the Eighth Commandments is God prohibits kidnapping.
According to Scripture, if a thief steals another person’s cows, thereby depriving him not only of his property but also his livelihood, the thief must not only pay back what he stole, he must also give back four or five times the value of the farmer’s loss.
The Bible also covers such things as:
- when someone borrows an object and it is damaged
- when a person lets his animals eat in another’s field or
- when someone starts a fire that spreads to a neighbor’s property.
Moses taught that we are not to move the boundary posts that mark the borders of our property for fear that we might we end up taking a portion of our neighbor’s land.
Along this line, if we notice that our enemy’s animals have gotten loose, we are not to take them as our own; rather we are commanded to round them up and take them back to their owner.
Stealing is wrong. It is a sin. It is prohibited by none other than God Himself.
Kuiper in his book entitled Sermons on the Ten Commandments states: “Because we can say ‘I’ we can also say ‘my.’ There are two other pronouns which need to be remembered: ‘you’ and ‘yours.’ You and I possess something but our neighbors also have possessions. We want them to recognize our property; hence they insist that we recognize theirs. The thief ignores the rights of his fellows. He says, ‘What is yours is mine.’ Thieves selfishly disregard the rights of others and set aside the Law of God. He who steals thinks only of enriching himself even though it means the impoverishing of others.”
One of the strangest stories about property rights can be found in the book of First Kings. I dealt with this account when I covered the Ninth Commandment – “Do not lie.” I want to deal with it again, this time, though I will focus on the issue of property.
Ahab, the king of Israel, wanted a certain piece of real estate. It was near his palace in the city of Samaria. The property belonged to a fellow by the name of Naboth who was using it as a vineyard. Ahab wanted to purchase the land and convert it into a vegetable garden. Naboth though, simply refused to sell. He told the king that the land had been granted to him as an inheritance. As a result, Ahab went into a deep depression. He stayed in bed and would not eat.
As you may recall from the other message, Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel had Naboth falsely accuse of cursing both God and the king. Almost immediately, Naboth was executed by stoning and his body was left to the dogs.
Ever so quickly, Ahab’s depression lifted and his appetite returned. He promptly got out of bed and made his way to the field in order to claim it for himself. As he arrived, the king was surprised to find the Prophet Elijah waiting for him. Listen to what he told King Ahab: “’This is what the LORD says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’” “So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah. “Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the LORD’s sight. So now the LORD says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! … for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin’ 1 Kings 21:19-22 (New Living Translation).
The prophet told Ahab that his entire line of descendents would be wiped out –
perhaps the worst imaginable punishment for any king. Then too, as dogs ate the body of Naboth, so it was that dogs would also eat Ahab’s flesh.
What made this particular sin so disgusting to God and to the prophet? Surely, it was not just that Naboth was murdered. Kings use to put people to death all the time. It was the nature of the murder, the motive that set this one apart. Ahab didn’t have his neighbor put to death as a part of some military action. Nor did he do it to satisfy his lust for another woman. No. He was driven to madness by his desire for a vegetable garden. Elijah asked, “Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too?” It was no doubt the combination of the two sins (murder and taking another man’s property) that made this sin so heinous.
Property is a big deal; let me tell you why. A number of you have visited my office. Invariably whenever someone steps into my study for the first time, they mention my library. My library testifies to my love for books. Then too, they notice my collection of die-cast automobiles. I have collected die-cast cars for a number of years. Then too, my wife’s picture is on the wall. I have mementos from various missionaries as well as souvenirs from my travels. You see, my office is an extension of me. It defines me. It is a part of who and what I am.
The same holds true for our homes. The furniture, the pictures on the wall, the dishes left unwashed in the sink, the pair of pants tossed across the bed as well as the kind and color of car parked out in the driveway all goes together to say, “this is my place; my own tiny piece of the world. It is a part of me; who and what I am as a person. The place that is under my control in a world that is largely beyond my control.”
Even young children know what it means to own something. “Mine” means “me.”
David Hazony in his book The Ten Commandments shares a story of a famous rabbi. The rabbi had a purse full of silver stolen from him at a guesthouse. He saw that one of the students washed his hands and then wiped them on the clothing of his friend. He said: “That is the one, for he does not care about the property of his fellow.” They confounded the student, and he confessed.’
Hazony goes on to say, “There is obviously something outrageous about wiping your hands on a friend’s shirt. But what exactly is the problem? Surely it is not the cost to property—he neither stole nor damaged his friend’s clothing. Rather, it is the brazen dehumanization of his friend, who is suddenly reduced to a towel in his eyes, that sets off the rabbi’s alarm bells and leads him to his thief.”
Down through the years, thieves have broken into my house at least two times. They have also broken into at least two of my vehicles, as well as my church office. It is hard to describe one’s feelings after his or her place has been burglared. I know my wife and I felt violated. There were feelings of insecurity for a while. It is indeed an odd sensation.
I said all of that to say this, God doesn’t want that to happen. He set the Eighth Commandment in place in order to protect you and yours. Your house, your vehicle, your stuff may well be a blessing from Him. The things testify of His goodness and favor.
I want to give you a personal testimony here. During one of the two break-ins I just alluded to, the thief took the money from my daughter’s piggy bank. They also stole my wife’s jewelry. The church that we pastored at the time was small and we did not make much money. The loss was hard on us, but in truth the crooks didn’t get much.
A short time after this my family and I spent the day at a Six-Flags type amusement park. As we were climbing a set of stairs to board a ride, I looked off to my side and there on the roof of the building next to me as a beautiful opal ring — just my wife’s size. (She loved opals and had always wanted an opal ring. Later while at the post office, she stepped on something. She looked down only to find that she had stepped on a beautiful stick-pin type broach. It contained two fresh water pearls. It was really nice. I had it made into a ring for a birthday. (By the way, we were unable to find the rightful owners of either piece of jewelry.) Finally, a friend made Marilyn and me the set of wedding rings that we wear today. He made them, presented them as a gift, and then he broke the mold so there would never be another set made like them. Coincidences, you say? I don’t think so.
I really don’t know how much God is into our having jewelry – just to be honest with you. However, this much I do know, God did care about our loss and He restored that which the thieves had taken – and more! One of my favorite definitions of love is, “You know you love someone when his or her emotional need becomes an emotional need of your own.” God knew the pain that we suffered over the loss of our stuff and He responded to that pain with generosity.
I repeat — the Eighth Commandment lets us know that God does not want someone to come in and steal from you. God cares about you and yours.
THE LORD IS ALSO OPPOSED TO STEALING BECAUSE STEALING IS A SPECIFIC WORK OF THE DEVIL. Earlier in this series, when I dealt with lying, I noted that lying is the native language of the devil. He does not know the truth; the truth is not in him.
In a similar fashion, Satan is a thief. In fact, one of his names is “The thief.” According to John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
From the early days of his existence, he was set on laying claim to the glory that belonged to God. He wanted God place; he lusted after God’s throne.
Next, notice with me the Garden of Eden. As you recall, God gave to Adam and Eve the whole of the garden. Every animal. Every blade of grass. Every single thing – with only one exception. The Lord retained ownership of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil unto Himself. They were not to eat of it under penalty of death.
Almost on cue, Satan came and directed the couple’s attention to one thing and one thing only – the tree that belonged to God. He didn’t care about any of the other trees. Again, he wanted that which belonged to God and he was determined to get it. As you know, Eve gave in to the temptation. Or to put it another way, the devil convinced her to take that which didn’t belong to her. She in turn convinced Adam to likewise take that which did not belong to him. As they say, the rest is history.
STEALING FLOWS OUT OF AN EVIL HEART
Jesus warned in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”
The Apostle Paul weighed in on this topic as well. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 he wrote, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Again, thieves “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Why? Their hearts, their actions, their motives, their thoughts are evil. They have no regard for you or yours. They have no regard for God’s Word or His holy commandments.
The Greek word that the apostle used here for thieves is the word from which we get our word – kleptomaniac. The word does not mean just the professional thief who lives by stealing. It also speaks of the petty thief, the sneak thief, the shoplifter, the person who steals just to be stealing.
AS A RULE, THESE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TO STEAL. THEY STEAL BECAUSE:
THEY DO NOT TRUST GOD TO MEET THEIR NEEDS
The Lord has promised to be our source of supply; our provider. He said that he would “supply all of our needs.” As such, He does not want us to resort to scheming, manipu-lation, deception, and thievery in order to obtain things.
The truth is, every time we steal something—whether large or small—we are saying, “I will be my own provider. I do not trust that God will take care of this situation. I must take matters into my own hands.”
IMPATIENCE
Impatience cries NOW! Don’t wait! Go get it! If Eve’s sin was due to her lack of contentment, the Prodigal Son’s sin flowed out of his impatience. GIVE IT TO ME NOW!!!
BECAUSE WE WANT TO ATTRACT FRIENDS
Proverbs 19:4, “Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man’s friend deserts him.”
GREED — THEY WANT THAT WHICH THEY DO NOT POSSESS
A number of years ago I preached a message here on greed. In that message I went though each of the Ten Commandments and showed how greed violates each one of The Ten.
Is it therefore no wonder that Jesus warned, warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed…” Luke 12:15. The world says that greed is good. God says, greed is sin. Who are you going to believe?
DISCONTENT
Hear me, we live in a world of things. It is not so hard then to see how one’s love for things — even the things that belong to someone else — can take root in a person.
Hebrews 13:7 therefore commands, “Be content with such things as you have.” Paul adds in Philippians 4:11, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
THE DESIRE TO GET “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING”
Contrary to what many people believe, most people do not steal out of need, but rather out of greed. They simply want to get “something for nothing.”
NEXT, PEOPLE DO NOT SEE THEMSELVES AS STEALING
They convince themselves that they are merely borrowing something. If caught, they would only admit to taking something with the intension of returning it later. Sadly, though, they don’t return it unless caught.
NEED
Notice these verses from the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 6:30, “Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.”
Proverbs 30:7-9, “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
In America, though, hunger is not the primary reason people steal. I am not saying that there isn’t a need; there is. However studies have shown that people are not – as a rule – stealing food. People can get food in America. They can get food at New Life Assembly.
It is hard to imagine a true child of God who is at the same time a thief. The one simply contradicts the other. As a rule, stealing flows out of an evil heart.
HOW CAN ONE OVERCOME THE TEMPTATION TO STEAL?
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF
Be brutally honest about your actions in this area. Very few people are prepared to look at themselves in the mirror and say, “I am a thief. I have stolen.”
I remember stealing soda pop from a pop machine back when I was a student in junior high. The machine was close by. It was easy to reach up into the machine and pull out a bottle. I did it a number of times. I knew what I was doing; I was stealing.
Consider this:
- Students, if you cheat on a test, you are stealing a grade you do not deserve.
- If you check out a library book and never return it, you are in possession of something that doesn’t belong to you.
- If you take long coffee breaks or extended lunch hours during which you are being paid by your employer, you are being paid for a service that you didn’t provide.
- If you borrow your neighbor’s lawn mower knowing that you never intend to return it; you are stealing from your neighbor.
- If you renege on a loan or a contract, are you not being less than honest?
The question no longer seems to be, “Is it wrong?” but rather can I get away with it?
Be honest with yourself. Such actions are wrong. They are doubly wrong for a child of God.
CONSIDER THE TRUE COST OF THEFT
As I pointed out earlier in this message, each of us pays an extra $435 a year to cover the cost of theft. You pay these costs in higher prices, elevated taxes, burglar alarms, security systems, or increased insurance premiums.
However, that is not the only cost. Please understand that stealing is one of the sins that drove Jesus to the cross. One of the men hanging next to Him was a thief. Jesus took that man’s sins onto Himself. He died that those who steal might live.
SEEK INTEGRITY
I want to have you think back to Dalton’s gymnastic routine that you saw here last week. Wasn’t that great? The young man has talent. Again, he hopes to complete in the 2016 Olympics. Wow!
And yet, let me tell you something about Dalton’s talent that makes it all the more amazing. Dalton was born a gymnast. He was tumbling at 6 months. Working out on the parallel bars at a year. At the age of two he was completing on the rings. The guy is a phenom!
Now both you and I know better than that. For Dalton to get to where he is at today, he had to spend literally hundreds of hours in practice. He had to sacrifice. He had to be single-minded.
In like fashion, character is a series of habits; good character is a series of good habits. It is telling the truth. It is respecting other people’s rights. It is not taking things that do not belong to you. It is something that is called manners. It is being the same in one’s public and private lives.
BE CONTENT
The only way you can keep this commandment is to make a decision to be satisfied. The book of Hebrews says this very pointedly: “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, (New American Standard Version).
Someone has noted that discontentment makes rich men poor while contentment makes poor men rich. Contented people do not steal.
SEE YOURSELF AS BEING “IN CHRIST”
Second Corinthians 5:17 declares, “If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature.”
Notice this, if you will. If someone were to ask a Russian where you are, he would answer, “America.” If someone were to ask a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. where you are, she might say “Wisconsin.” A resident of Madison might say, “He/she is in Janesville.” If a close member of your family were to be asked that question, he would answer, “He is, she is at church.” Each answer is TRUE; however, the closer the person is in relation to you, the more apt that person is to know EXACTLY where you are at any given time.
God, our Father, says that when He sees you, He sees you as being IN CHRIST! Although we ARE in America, in Wisconsin, in Janesville, as well as in church, GOD literally sees our dwelling as being IN HIS SON. When He looks at us, He sees Jesus!
The phrase “In Christ” is one of Paul’s favorites. In fact, he uses it 164 times in Scripture. Ephesians 5:20 actually states it this way: “For we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones.” Martin Luther shared in regard to this passage: “By faith we are so glued to Christ that of us and Him there becomes, as it were, ONE PERSON, so that with confidence we can say: ‘I am in Christ–that is, Christ’s righteousness, His victory, His peace, His joy, ARE MINE!’ And Christ in turn can say: ‘I am that sinner–that is, his sins, his death, his sorrows, his pains, are mine–because he clings to me and I to him, for we have been joined through faith into one flesh and (one) bone.’”
Notice now Romans 6:11 (The Living Bible), “So look upon your old sin nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Your old nature with its sinful desires has been nailed to the tree and it no longer has any claims on you:
- You are therefore dead to stealing.
- Dead to lying.
- Dead to hatred.
- Dead to – you fill in the blanks.
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
So, friends, if the desire to sin comes knocking at your door – including the desire to steal – just let your sinful desires know that you and your past life, your past desires, your past habits – are dead and gone! You are now alive in Jesus Christ.
SO, IN CONCLUSION, the essential question is not, “DO YOU TRUST GOD?” The basic issue is, “CAN GOD TRUST YOU?” I trust that your answer is YES.
In order to be truly trustworthy, let me encourage you to:
- Be honest with yourself
- Remember the cost of theft
- Seek integrity
- Be content
- See yourself as being “in Christ”
Do these things and the chances are very good that you will not steal.
