Stolen Pleasures
Notes
Transcript
- John 10:7-10
- John 10:7-10
7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
- Have you ever been stolen from?
- Have you ever been stolen from?
We all know what a thief is.
We all know what they are like.
Have you ever had something stolen from you?
I have,
Tell Story about brand new Computer I was violated.
It was mine,
I was supposed to be the one who enjoyed that computer
Shame on that thief who stole that pleasure from me Right?
Let’s talk about Jealousy has any one ever stolen your man?
Your man is yours right?
How dare some girl try to take whats yours?
Any one ever stolen your woman?
People have died for stealing another mans woman
How dare they try to enjoy that which belongs to you, right?
How about stolen from your House?
Have you ever been broken into at home?
In your car?
We have all been stolen from at one point or another
Kidnaping is even another form of stealing
You see, there are many forms of what we call stealing
Stealing is taking that or enjoying that which doesn’t rightfully belong to you.
Correct?
- How many of us are guilty of stealing?
- How many of us are guilty of stealing?
How many of us in here today are guilty of stealing?
Have we ever stolen something that wasn’t ours to enjoy?
The Apostle Paul questions this very thing in Romans
21 you then, who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal?
Let’s use this verse as a reflection of ourselves for a moment shall we?
Why did Paul even mention this anyway?
Because he knew how easy it is for us to fall into the trap of Preaching Christians Values
yet convincing ourselves, all that we have, is rightly acquired
Oh its very easy to steal what doesn’t belong to us.
Im sure after today you’ll never look at this issue the same again
But before we do this, lets look at what Jesus said about being a thief.
1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
Ouch,
A Thief comes to steal kill and destroy.
That sounds like an awful character
I wouldn’t want to be labeled a thief
I don’t think anyone of us in here is a thief.
None of us would dare to steal anything from anyone
Right?
All right then, what if I asked if we steal from God God?
Is it possible to steal from God?
Lets look at what Jesus says about that.
1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.
But wait, we are all Christians
We proclaim the victory of Christ over our lives.
We could never be guilty of Robbing God
“Could we?”
Well according to what Jesus said here, yes we can!
He is saying, if you go around Him to get, “Anything”
You have stolen if from Him.
- Anything outside the will of God is stolen
- Anything outside the will of God is stolen
According to Jesus, If you try to get anything, outside the will of God You are stealing it,
We are believers, so for a moment, lets look at Atheist.
Are they robbers of a God that don’t believe exists?
Why yes there are in fact.
They assume, there is no God,
Therefore they believe they have gained a “freedom” to live anyway they like with no rules.
Complete autonomy.
This false sense of freedom, was stolen from God,
Because they got it, outside the will of God for their lives.
What ever your joy is or what ever your gain is that is not given by God to you, is stolen from Him.
What ever your reasoning is,
If you had to violate God’s will to attain the pleasure of having it,
Then, it is stolen from God
In the book of Joshua, we are told that God gave the Israelites blessings in battle,
They were to conquer the land with His help.
They were a people set apart from the world for God, and He was blessing them for it.
But after a particular battle, being told not to keep and of the plunder for themselves, one of them did.
- The sin of Achin
- The sin of Achin
This is known as the sin of Achin.
In the story, we are told that Achin disobeyed and kept some of the plunder of which God had commanded no to keep.
He STOLE it, and stole it from God because he was told not too.
The entire people of Israel suffered because of the one man’s sin.
God removed His blessings from the people of Israel until they made it right.
We cannot expect to be blessed in any area of our lives while we have stolen goods among us.
Some of us can’t figure out why
you get so close, but can’t reach the summit.
Can’t seem to get that promotion at work,
can’t seem to get a handle on the bills
Just as soon as the washer gets fixed, the refrigerator goes out.
Or you are constantly robbing peter to pay Paul
Stop Robbing God, and He will bless you so that the soles of your shoes won’t wear out. etc.
Like He did for His people in the wilderness when they followed after Him.
Go home today and draw out a list of all that you gained dishonestly, then repent of those sins before the Lord.
Stop Robbing God, and He will bless you beyond measure.
When we first moved here from Chicago years ago, we enjoyed the lakes, fishing and camping available.
But as a working man with several children it was nearly impossible for us to afford a boat, which we really wanted.
We would sit on the banks of the lakes and dream of how much fun our little family would have if we had a boat.
I prayed for a boat, I didn’t care how God was going to do it. But I remained faithful,
To be honest, with all sincerity of heart, although I knew God could get me a boat,
I didn’t really expect that one would be under the Christmas tree or anything.
I was realistic.
One day however, at a customers house, I saw a tarp covered boat.
The tarp was ripped and waving in the wind.
I made a comment to the customer about the boat,
something like, I bet it’s fun to have a boat or something like that.
That customer said to me with all sincerity,
“If you want it take it.”
At that moment, naturally I thought, it’s junk, thats why they don’t want it
So, I changed the subject.
Finishing up, I was walking away, and she said to. “Aren’t you going to take the boat?”
To be nice, I said Ill take a look,
When I lifted the ripped tarp, I saw brand new upholstery
I took the boar home and we were blessed for several years with that boat,
God gave it to us Free
Many of us are guilty of disobedience, and we didn’t even know it
If His church here in Anna, Illinois, is to grow,
If His church here in the state of, Illinois, is to grow
If His church here in the United States of America, is to grow
If His church here in the world, is to grow, it has to be Holy,
And it has to be serious about being Holy.
The world around us teaches us and influences us, and our kids, that we can live just like them
Enjoy the same things as them
Dress like them
Talk like them
Sin; like them
But yet, we call ourselves Christian
Brothers and Sisters, of the church, We cant have our cake and eat it too!
For instance, sex outside of marriage
The world around us is rampant with it
They made fun of Tim Tebow because he wanted to abstain from sex until marriage
The world doesn’t understand, but you should
If you are enjoying the gift of sexual relations with a person
And that person hasn’t been given to you according to God’s will
You are stealing this pleasure from God,
And that makes you a thief.
Because instead of going through God to get it,
You hopped His fence,
climbed over
and just took it yourself
I don’t care if its
Homosexual,
Heterosexual,
Alien-sexual,
or animal-sexual
If you are getting it outside the will of God, then you My friend, are stealing from God
Revenge my friend is another example of stealing from God
If you don’t like what someone did to you or for any thing
And you set out for “revenge,” when you get it, you have stolen that from God
For He said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”
So, if you take matters into your own hands,
You are stealing those results from God!
Cheating on your finances in order to make this or that plan work to get this boat or car etc.
You are stealing that blessing from God.
If you call yourself a Christian but are still attached to this world that crucified Him
You are stealing the blessing of His name for yourself.
You, see there are many ways we can be guilty of it
Notice this:
- Your problems belong to God too.
- Your problems belong to God too.
If you are loaded down with guilt over sins you once committed,
You are stealing from the Lord that which doesn’t belong to you anyway?
You are Stealing it from the Lord And it really is stealing from him.
1 The earth and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants,
belong to the Lord;
But don’t be to dismayed.
There is hope for us yet.
We don’t have to stay labeled as a thief
Paul tells us in
25 Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity. 28 Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. 29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
Live your lives honestly before man and God.
Don’t cheat on your taxes,
Don’t cheat on exams in school.
Don’t be unfaithful in your relationships.
For when you do this, whatever you gained from that will be stolen from God Himself, and that makes you a thief.
- God is a righteous Judge
- God is a righteous Judge
God is a righteous Judge, you will reap what you sow.
Whatever you try to hide in secret, God will bring it out into the light.
The Bible tells us, “Be sure, your sins will find you out.” Numbers 32:23
Jesus said, those who try to save his life will lose it, but those who lose their life for His sake, will gain it.
25 The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.