Don’t Steal

Don’t Steal

October 7, 2007 Evening Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: Stealing doesn’t always mean taking someTHING that does not belong to you.

Focus Passage: Exodus 20:15

Supplemental Passage: Luke 10:30-31

I. Attitude towards others: The Good Samaritan

a. Luke 10:30: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. The robbers’ attitude was, “What’s yours is mine: I’ll take it.”

i. What’s yours is mine (and I want it) (cheating on taxes, cheating on tests, con artists, etc)

b. “A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31-32)

i. What’s mine is mine (and I won’t share it)

c. A Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have’ (Luke 10:33-35)

i. What’s mine is yours; let’s share it.

ii. What’s mine is God’s let’s share it. (best attitude)

II. Accountability toward God

a. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” We are merely caretakers for God.

b. Urbana- 15,000 came to dedicate. Tony Compala told Billy Graham “isn’t this great?” Billy replied, yes, hopefully 2000 will go overseas. Go back to college, get in debt; get married more debt; conflict from parents and new jobs, etc.

c. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. (Malachi 3:8-9). God doesn’t need our money; He wants us to depend on Him for our needs. Failure to bring your tithes and offering to the Lord is robbery. The authority for that statement is God Himself.