Deuteronomy 5:19 - You Shall Not Steal

Introduction

[READING - Deuteronomy 5:6-21]

Deuteronomy 5:6–21 NASB95

6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 ‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. 16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you. 17 ‘You shall not murder. 18 ‘You shall not commit adultery. 19 ‘You shall not steal. 20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

[PRAYER]

[ILLUS] Perhaps you heard this past week about the death of Bernie Maddoff at the age of 82. Maddoff was a financier with an exclusive, wealthy client base, promising better than average returns on for his clients’ significant investments. It all went well until it was revealed that it was all fraud. Maddoff was using the investments of new clients to pay old clients expecting a return. When he was arrested he had swindled his clients out of around $65 billion—believed to be the largest Ponzi-scheme in history

Investors lost fortunes.

Maddoff died in jail.

His wife lost everything.

One son committed suicide.

Another died of cancer.

You shall not steal.

Violating it ruins lives and—more significantly—it offends God.

Q: Confession time: What’s the first thing you remember stealing?

I remember taking money from my mom’s purse to buy candy on a field trip.

But I really remember my sister trying to steal a necklace from Walmart. She got caught, and my mom took us to jail. She had the police officers talk to us, and she had them show us the jail cell.

My mom took stealing seriously… so seriously she was willing to have her precious children incarcerated!

We all should take stealing seriously.

God has said we shall not do it…

…but what shall we do?

[TS] I want us to look at Ephesians 4:28 and see a few different answers to that question.

Major Ideas

Answer: You shall not steal, but you shall work (Eph. 4:28a).

Ephesians 4:28 NASB95

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

[Exp] In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul talks about salvation by grace through faith and the revelation of the Gospel in Jesus. He calls for unity in the body of Christ and exhorts believers to live godly lives. Apart of that godly life includes work—“He who steals must no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good...”

This first line of Ephesians 4:28 not only teaches that we shall not steal in agreement with Deuteronomy 5:19, but it also teaches us that the antidote to stealing is working.

Q: What does this first part of Ephesians 4:28 tell us about the kind of work we should be doing?

First, it must be done with our own hands. That is, the work we must do must be work done by us and not someone else’s work that we are just taking credit for.

[ILLUS] A friend of my was in a design class in college and the guy next to him kept leaning over, looking at his computer screen, and saying, “Man, that’s looks great; that’s a really good idea.”

When it came time to show the professor the designs, the guy next to my friend had stolen my friend’s design and passed it off as his own.

That’s not how we should be working.

We should be doing our own work with our own hands.

Second, we must do work that is good. Good is not determined by whatever will earn some money; good is determined by God and we must only do that work that is good in His sight.

[ILLUS] People today make money by posting immoral pictures and videos of themselves to the Internet. Some have suggested that immorality like prostitution should be legalized.

This is not the good work we should be doing.

God desires not only that we work but that we do good work as He would define it.

Q: What other lessons from the Bible on work do you remember?

Listen to these verses on work.

Colossians 3:23–24 NASB95

23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 NASB95

11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

2 Thessalonians 3:10–12 NASB95

10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

[TS] So we shall not steal, but we shall work.

Answer: You shall not steal, but you shall own (Eph. 4:28b).

Ephesians 4:28 NASB95

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

[Exp] When we think back to Deuteronomy 5, we understand that the commandments, “You shall not steal,” and “You shall not covet...” both imply that God has not problem with ownership of property.

In other words, it’s not wrong for me to say this is my house, my field, and my ox; and it is wrong for you to come steal what rightfully belongs to me.

In the same way, it’s not wrong for you to own things; and it is wrong for me to come steal those things you do own.

Q: Now, Ephesians 4:28 says we must work to have something; and we know that some people just steal to have something today, but what other ways to do people try to get stuff today?

Some people mooch.

Mooching is depending on others—usually a parent or grandparent—when you should be out on your own.

Q: How do you handle a moocher?

Some people beg.

You’ve probably had someone come up to you at a gas station or in a grocery store parking lot asking for money.

Q: How do you handle a beggar in that situation?

Some people depend on welfare.

We are quickly becoming a welfare state. Rather than a government supported by its people, we are quickly becoming a government that financially supports its people.

Q: What happens in a nation once it goes full welfare state?

[ILLUS] Perhaps you’ve noticed around town just how many places are looking for workers.

One restaurant is willing to give $100 signing bonuses to anyone who applies and completes training.

Once you’ve been there two weeks, you get a $200 bonus. Once you’ve been there three months, you get a $300 bonus.

But as one local restaurant owner said, “It’s like people just don’t want to work.”

Why aren’t they willing to work? Because they’ve received welfare from the government in the form of stimulus checks and are banking on receiving even more.

To mooch, beg, or depend on welfare, when you can work is to steal.

God allows us to own things. It is even good to own things, just so long as we have worked for them.

Answer: You shall not steal, but you shall give. (Eph. 4:28c).

Ephesians 4:28 NASB95

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

[Exp] The antidote to stealing is working, but the opposite of stealing is giving. As followers of Jesus, we shall not steal, but we shall work so that we can give.

Jesus was no thief. He was a giver. In John 10:10 Jesus said...

John 10:10 NASB95

10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

If we steal, we follow the way of Satan, the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

If we give, we are like Jesus, the Good Shepherd who came to give life and to give abundantly.

Q: What is most difficult for you to give? Your energy? Your money? Your time? Your hospitality? Why do you think that is?

Whatever it is that we struggle to give, we can ask God to help us be more generous with that thing.

Jesus once said that just as He came to serve rather than be served, so we must serve rather than be served (Mark 10:45).

The same thing is true about giving.

Just as Jesus came to give rather than take, so we must give rather than take.

We shall not steal…

…but we shall work…

…and we shall own…

…and we shall give.

[TS] …

Conclusion

When the judge sentenced Bernie Maddoff to 150 years in prison, he lamented that 150 years was the maximum sentence he could give him.

The penalty seemed too small in light of the enormous theft that Maddoff committed.

But this past week Maddoff faced his real sentencing.

As Scriptures says, it is appointed for man to die once and then comes the judgment.

Unless we repent of every sin—including the sin of stealing—and call on the name of Jesus for salvation, we have reason to fear that final sentencing when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Let us repent, and let us call on Christ.

If we’ve stolen, it will be forgiven.

If it’s work we need, He will provide it.

If it’s generosity we need to learn, He will teach us.

You shall not steal…

…but you shall work...

…and you shall own…

…and you shall give.