Stop Thief!

Hear in Real Audio format

Or right click Written8.rm and select "save link as" to direct download the file.
You will then need to open it in Real Player.

Download free Real Player G2

---

Exodus 20:15 (KJV)

15. Thou shalt not steal.

The previous commandments have dealt with one's personal relationship with God, family, and others. There is an order of importance in the commandments. God is first, family is next, and other people third. Only after dealing with relationships does God then begin to deal with our possessions. The eighth commandment deals with taking that which is not yours. It is simply a prohibition against stealing. Let's examine it three ways.

1. God is interested in your material possessions.
   Some people believe God is concerned only with matters of salvation and not with matters that belong to this world. Not so. God is as interested in your car as he is your heart. He is interested in your house as much as He is your family. Why is that?
   1. God is the owner of all your possessions. "All the earth is mine, saith the Lord" (Exodus 19:5). The psalmist says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (Psalm 24:1). Everything you have, everything, is really the Lord's.
   2. God is the originator of all your possessions. "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." I know God owns the earth -- but surely not my retirement!" There is a big difference between birds and a paycheck. "The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich" (I Samuel 2:7). Everything you have, or don't have is from God. Therefore, if you have a need, you go to the owner of all things and ask for help.
   3. You are obligated to treat your possessions as His. "Everyone will give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12). In Luke 16:11 Christ says the way you handle your possessions is an indication of the kind of relationship you have with God.
2. Stealing is an indicator that you don't know God.
   "Thieves . . . shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:10).
   1. Stealing says, "I don't trust God." If He chooses to give His children what He determines, and if He promises to meet all their needs, why should I steal?
   2. Stealing says, "I don't like God." Some people steal by cheating their employer, the government, and others they feel "cheat them." But who governs the world and all within it? Stealing is saying, "God, I don't like the way you run things!"
      1. Character is revealed in the small things that are stolen.
         Do you give back the extra change? Do you turn in the found sunglasses?
      2. Character is restored by returning that which has been stolen.
3. Giving is an indicator that God is the Lord of your life . . .
   "Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor with his hands that which is goo, that he may give" (Ephesians 4:28).
   1. Grace leads a person to give . . . when a person is touched by Christ, the grace of God leads that person to become a giver, not a taker.
   2. Giving leads to more receiving . . . "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:8). God gives you more in order that you give more.