1. Through gossip: We can say many things about people that can rob them of their good reputation.
2. Through being a bad employee. Not doing the job that we are being paid to do, or even perhaps dipping our hands in the till.
3. Through being a bad employer. An employer can easily steal from his employees by not giving them money that is rightfully theirs.
4. Through bad workmanship. We can sell things that are shoddy to people who pay with money that they had to work hard for.
5. Through bad-business practices. Every day businesses steal from the public by charging perhaps by the pound and not have the full pound in the packages. Some call this, "good business," but God calls it robbery. Deut, 25:13-15 says, "Thou shalt not have in thy bad divers weights, a great and a small, Thou shalt not have in house divers measures, a great and a small, But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Through bad representation. Many, each week, never rob a bank of thousands of dollars, but they think nothing about lying about their age to get a senior citizen discount, or lying about the age of their children to get reduced rates.
7. Through not paying bills. When we buy something, and agree to pay for it and then do not do so, we are not only stealing, we are lying also.
8. Through lack of integrity. Many men will seduce a lady with his smooth talk and actions, leading her into sin, thereby robbing her of her virtue.
9. Through actions. Bad, hurtful, actions rob others of happiness in life.
10. Through beliefs. We can live a careless life before others and rob them of their opportunity of coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
11. Through disobedience. God tells us the tithes are His, and if we take that money to buy things for ourselves we are letting God know we consider those things more important than obeying His Word.
Illus: Charles Finney was holding a meeting in a town and a man wanted to be saved. Mr. Finney was praying with him at the altar. Mr. Finney prayed, "Lord, here is a fellow who wants to give his whole life to you.' The man said, 'Amen.'
Mr. Finney prayed, “Lord, here is a man who wants to share his home with you.” The man said, “Aman.” He prayed, “Lord, here is a man who wants to share his business with you.” This time the man was silent. Mr. Finney stopped his prayer and said, “Why didn't you say, “Amen?" He said, “Because, I am not willing to do that!”
Many, each week prove they are not willing to do that. Each week they prove they love things more than they love the Lord.
Illus: A magazine reports that during the first ten month’s operation of a New York hotel, these items were stolen:
• 38,000 spoons.
• 18,000 towels.
• 355 silver coffee pots.
• 1,500 silver finger bowls.
• 100 Bibles.
Across the nation thefts from motel and hotels each year are estimated at 500 million dollars a year.
We are also told thieves take from 200 to 500 books a year from the average library - a national loss of 25 million dollars a year.
The U. S. Commerce Department has given some figures that are shocking. About four million people are caught shoplifting each year, but for every person caught, 35 go undetected. If the estimates are accurate, it means that 140 million shoplifting incidents occur each year.
We wonder why our prices are soaring. Someone has to pay for the items, so the loss is passed down to the consumer every time someone steals..
Illus: You hear statements justifying stealing like: If the child steals, he'll grow out of it. If the young man steals, it is because he has gotten into bad company. If the poor man steals, it is because he is poor. If the grown up steals, he is a kleptomaniac.
In God's sight anyone who takes something that is not his is a thief.
Illus: This article was found in the "Democrat Herald newspaper out of Oregon: "To whoever stole the fire extinguisher out of my 1971 Ford station wagon: where you are headed, you'll probably need it.'
There are many ways we can violate this commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."
But whenever a man chooses to break it is because he has the attitude that all lost sinners have, the ATTITUDE OF GETTING.
He is convinced that things are what are important, and if he can get this or that he will find the happiness he is seeking for. He is a man that will not allow anyone or anything to stand between him and a particular thing, even if he has to break God's commandment, "Thou shalt not stee.”
This morning you also saw concerning this commandment:
A. We have a model. (In the scriptures and in our society.
B. We have a mandate. (God said, "Thou shalt not steal.”
How can we keep from violating this scripture when there are so many ways to violate it? By letting God Save us from the ATTITUDE OF GETTING, and let Him give us the:
II. ATTITUDE OF GIVING.
A. We have our models.
1. Saints.
What is a Christian?
Illus: A Christian is a person who has become like God, the Father. He once lived his life strictly for himself. Whatever he saw - HE GOT! Even if he had to steal.
This is one reason it is difficult to get a person to come to the Lord Jesus - the sinner is convinced that the only way he can be happy is to have things, so instead of seeking the Lord, where true happiness can be found, he continues seeking the things he feels will eventually bring the happiness he is seeking.
lllus: A motivational cartoon illustrates exactly the way Satan teases mankind. The cartoon pictured a donkey hooked to a plow. The farmer was behind the plow. He had rigged an ingenious lure to get the donkey to keep moving. He had attached a juicy red carrot to a line and dangeled it from a pole in front of the donkey just far enough in front of him that he could not quite reach it, but close enough for him to keep trying. All the while he was trying to reach the carrot he was pulling the plow, so the farmer got what he needed.
The devil does that to lost man. He places certain things before him and makes him think he will be able to reach them, but try as they may they are not able to reach them. Every time he thinks this or that will bring happiness, he is disappointed and goes on trying to reach out for more.
Illus: A man in Columbia, South Carolina, could represent many all over this nation. He has a lovely wife and four children. He has been witnessed to on many occasions, but will not give his heart to the Lord Jesus. He is living primarily for himself. For example, he takes much of the family income that should be used each week for basic food, clothes, etc., and buys himself beer, liquor, and cigarettes, and he gambles the rest away. He knows that if he comes to know the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior he could no longer live for himself, but that he would then be conformed to the image of the heavenly Father, Who is A GOD OF GIVING, INSTEAD OF GETTING.
That man, like most of us, was familiar with the story of Paul, and many others in the Bible, and many since then, who have given their all for the Lord. This is the attitude we should have.
2. Savior.
God is so good to every one of us. He has given us our health, parents, families, friends, church, etc. Sometimes we hear foolish men say, "I have worked hard for everything I have, God has not given me a thing." Those who make this claim have not stopped to try to figure out what they would have if God had not given them the health and opportunities he has green them. The fact is, everything we have, we have because God is a giving God. When we came into this world we came naked, and we will leave it the same way we came. Anything we have to enjoy here, we have because God allowed us to have it. We must understand this about God - He is a loving and giving God. He could be selfish and have the WHAT CAN I GET attitude, but instead, His attitude is WHAT CAN I GIVE!
Illus; None of us go to sleep at night worried silly that God might suck all the air we breathe from planet earth, leaving us gasping for breath. That thought never enters our minds. We know God has given in the past, is giving in the present, and will continue to give in the future. Why? This is the kind of God He is!
The more we become like Him, the less we will have the GETTING attitude and the more we will have a GIVING attitude. The more we become like Him, the more we will recognize that winning souls to Him is more important than obtaining earthly things.
B. We have a mandate. God orders, “Thou shalt not steal." Never, under any circumstance, can we justify breaking this commandment.
lllus: A man came to D. L. Moody one day and confessed he had robbed his company of $ 1,500. He knew what he had done was wrong and now he wanted to give his heart to the Lord, but this stood in the way. He asked D. L. Moody what he should do. Mr. Moody asked him if he had any of the money left. The man told him, "Yes, I have $950.00 of it left." Then the lost man said, “Can I take the $950.00 and invest it in business and through the profit of this business pay the money back?” Mr. Moody explained to him that he could not do that because the money was not his, it belonged to the company he worked for and his only recourse was to go to his boss and confess what he had done and give the balance of what he had stolen back to the company and promise to pay the rest back the best he could. As hard as this was to do, the man did just that, not knowing what kind of response he would get from his employer. He confessed, with tears in his eyes. His employer not only said he would forgive him, but that he would give him time to pay the balance back. Later on that same man was promoted to a high office in the company because of his trustworthiness.
Perhaps God has revealed to you that you have broken His commandment in some way. If He has, you need to go to the person you have wronged and make things right as much as possible.
Conclusion/Summary:
I. ATTITUDE OF GETTING.
A. We have our models.
1. Society.
2. Scripture.
B. We have our mandate.
II. ATTITUDE OF GIVING.
A. We have our models.
1. Saints.
2. Savior.
B. We have our mandate.
Do you have the ATTITUDE OF GETTING, or have come to Christ, and let Him give you His ATTITUDE OF GIVING? If you haven't come to Him, there is no better time than right now to come... He wants to give you His eternal life.
