The Giver Versus the Taker

Intro:

Good evening.

This morning we looked at the topic “Are You on the Lord’s Side?”

This evening I want to give a follow-up thought to that by giving you a comparison and contrast of our options.

In John chapter 10, we have a perfect contrast between the two options humanity gets to choose from to make Lord over our lives:

Will we choose the thief?

Or will we choose the giver of life?

Our title tonight is “The Giver vs. the Taker.”

Go with me to John chapter 10 if you will and and let’s hone in on verse 10:

Here the Master teacher Himself paints a crystal clear description between our two options — Will we choose Jesus as Lord and Master of our lives?

Or will we choose Satan?

Jesus describes Satan as the thief (the taker, we might say).

Meanwhile, Jesus describes Himself as the One Who GIVES — Who gives LIFE.

John 10:10 - “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Let’s look at this verse tonight and break it down into its two main thoughts, comparing and contrasting our two options.

The Taker:

This is option number 1 — The Taker, the Thief, the Devil.

Have you ever known someone who could be described only as a taker?

That is, he’s always there to receive what everyone else has to offer ...

But he’s never there to contribute anything himself.

We have terms for a person like this:

We might refer to him as a USER ...

Somebody who’s only your friend if he can get something from you — if he can USE you for something to his gain.

Brethren, the Devil is the ultimate of USERS!

Have you ever thought about what the Devil has to GAIN by your spiritual demise?

That is, by your spiritual death and ultimately being cast down to hell if you do not come to salvation in Christ?!

What does the Devil gain from that?

Well, he gains more followers, for one:

The Devil’s favorite sin, perhaps? Pride?

Well, if the Devil was the epitome of pride, doesn’t it stand to reason that the Devil prides himself on the fact that there will (sadly) be more people who enter his BROAD gate of destruction than there will be who enter Jesus’ narrow gate of life?!

I realize that the famous passage about Lucifer from Isaiah 14 is talking about Babylon, so there’s some debate about whether the passage is talking about Satan’s fall from heaven:

I tend to think that it IS, and that Babylon’s fall is being compared to Satan’s literal fall.

And what was the reason?

Pride!

(Turn and read Isaiah 14:12-17 in Bible).

So maybe, if nothing else, that terrible TAKER the Devil has his PRIDE to gain for dragging you with him down to hell!

That’s probably just the beginning of motivation for the Devil!

I think also he has a depraved enjoyment of watching human suffering, the polar opposite of a loving God Whose heart is pained when WE are pained.

I think the Devil is motivated by jealousy and envy — Again, He envies God’s POWER and position of Authority as the Creator of the universe, and I think that is a major contributor to his desire for your fall as well!

Make no mistake, the Devil is a TAKER, a USER, who is never satisfied!

Incidently, Proverbs 30:15–16 says: “The LEECH has two daughters— Give and Give! (*Not I’ll give to YOU, but YOU give to ME!!*) There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”: The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water— And the fire never says, “Enough!”

Incidentally, the Devil delights in destruction, in the grave, in the barren womb, etc. — Various tragedies of life.

Back to our main text - John 10:10 - Listen to Jesus’ description of the Devil: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

The Devil STEALS joy and steals goodness and steals life itself!

He kills! He destroys!

And its awful, isn’t it?!

And if you’ve ever lost a loved one unexpectedly and tragically, part of grieving that loss involves ANGER, right?

Just make sure you direct that anger in the right direction because it is the DEVIL who is to be blamed, not God!

Because the Devil comes to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY! :(

Now the contrast … :)

Let’s talk about …

The Giver:

Jesus Christ is our loving-kind Creator, He is our Sustainer, He is the GIVER of life!

And not only is He the giver of life, but He is the One Who gives life MORE ABUNDANTLY if we will accept the more abundant life of following Him!

Let’s notice our verse fully again so we can appreciate the contrast - John 10:10 - “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

“MORE … ABUNDANTLY!”

I looked this up in the Greek, and it is the idea of an EXTRAORDINARY life!

(I like to break that down into EXTRA … ORDINARY!)

The Greek also says that we may POSSESS abudant, extra-ordinary life!

To LAY HOLD OF IT!

And so abundant life that the Giver gives is something we don’t want to give up!

… So don’t let the Devil take it!

Now, let’s read this verse in the whole context and notice a more thorough contrast between our two options — Who will we let be the Lord and Master of our lives? (Read John 10:1-21).

Conclusion:

Our two options could not be any clearer!

What will we choose?

As we said, this morning, will we be on the Lord’s side?

Or will we allow the Devil to lord HIMSELF over our lives, causing us to follow a master of SIN — not a Master of LIFE?

So what will it be?

The Giver?!

Or the Taker?!

One final verse and the lesson will be ours:

Matthew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

(Give invitation).