Exodus chapter 20, the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on was there in verse
15. Very simple command, Thou shall not steal. And the title of my sermon is Thou Shall Not
Steal. Now when we think of this command, when we think of the word steal, what is stealing?
What does it mean to steal? How do people steal? Well, go to Leviticus chapter 19, so
flip one chapter ahead. Keep your finger back there because we're going to turn close back
to Exodus. Go to Leviticus 19. When you think of the word steal, there's a lot of different
things that can kind of mean to steal. If you look up in just our laws of today, the
laws of America, there's a lot of different variations of stealing. There's theft, which
is kind of commonly known as stealing somebody's property or stealing someone's goods. There's
robbery, which according to our laws in this country, robbery would be when you actually
use physical force to take something from somebody. And then there's burglary, where
burglary would mean you actually just are unlawfully trespassing on someone's property
with the intent of taking something. So if you're in someone's house but you weren't
going to try and hurt them, that would be burglary. If you're actually trying to hurt
somebody or threatening them, that would be considered robbery. And theft is just taking
something that's not yours. It could just be, you know, even in your own house or in
your own place, you're just taking something that's not yours even though you're allowed
to be there. But if we look at Leviticus 19, we're going to see the Bible kind of give
us some different ways that people steal. Look at verse 11, the Bible says, he shall
not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. So if you go back to Exodus,
go back to Exodus chapter 22, so we see three things there. We're not supposed to steal,
we're not supposed to deal falsely, and we're not supposed to lie. And when it's talking
about lying, of course there's a lot of things you can lie about, but it's in the context
of stealing. Lying so that you can steal someone's goods. So look at that first definition of
stealing. We see in the Bible a lot of places where the Bible talks about just taking something
that's not yours. In Exodus 22, go to look at verse 1, the Bible says, if a man shall
steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and
four sheep for a sheep. People aren't going to get ahead financially if they're just taking
stuff and getting caught and they're having to restore four or five fold. We don't see
that the laws in our country are, you know, exemplifying this kind of a restitution when
you steal. Now, when you think of stealing, I think most people just come to this definition.
Just taking something that's not yours. We see here is taking an ox or taking a sheep
and whether you're killing it to maybe eat it or as a sacrifice or something, or whether
you're just selling it to get money, it doesn't matter. They're just taking this for some
kind of benefit for their own. But we see if someone were to be caught in the Old Testament
law that they're supposed to restore fourfold or fivefold. I mean, that's going to really
discourage people from stealing. If you steal something that's a hundred bucks, now you
have to get five hundred bucks. I mean, that adds up really quick. If you steal something
that's a thousand dollars, it's five thousand dollars. That's going to really stop people
from wanting to steal if they ever get caught. We see that the purpose of God's laws when
he gives a punishment is to deter that action. It's not to just say, well, that wasn't great.
And you know, in America today, if someone steals something from you, you're lucky if
you just get part of it back. You're lucky if you just get it back and it's kind of damaged.
I mean, a lot of times in American culture, people when they have something stolen from
them, it's gone. It's lost. You're not getting anything. But we see that there's a lot of
theft in America because of that. We see if there was righteous laws, ones that would
actually deter people from doing bad things, that they would be, hey, you got to restore
fivefold. You got to restore fourfold. You know, I might even think of, I'm just going
to lay out, you know, some really good possessions in the front yard. And if they get stolen,
I'm going to get fourfold back. I'm going to get fivefold. I mean, that's obviously
silly. But we see that, you know, you're not going to be as worried about something being
stolen if they get caught. They have to give you four or fivefold back. We see that a lot
of theft maybe not even happened. I looked up in an article. It says in America that
U.S. retailers, they kind of have some statistics on how many things get stolen from them every
year. It says that $42 billion a year in goods are stolen in America. Every year, $42 billion
of goods and services are stolen every year. Why are you preaching this sermon? Because
there's a lot of fees out there. There's a lot of sticky fingers. There's a lot of people
that are just taking stuff that aren't theirs. And we see why they're not being deterred
is because they don't have a righteous law. They don't have God's law that says, hey,
you got to pay fourfold back. You got to pay fivefold back. Because the most thefts actually,
I looked up some of the statistics, most thefts are only like $900. So I mean, the average
theft of the world today is only $900. That's something somebody could pay fourfold back
or fivefold back. It would take a lot of time. It would take a lot of effort. It might
take months. It might take a lot of paychecks. But then that person might think twice before
they steal again. But today, a lot of petty theft and a lot of, you know, little crime
just goes unpunished. And then those people just want to steal more and more and more.
I mean, most people today, they think, oh, I'll just steal a couple of shirts from this
store or I'll just pick up this guy's wallet. And if they get caught, they're lucky if they
have anything really happen to them. I mean, they just get slapped on the wrist or maybe
at best they go to jail for a day or something. But they're not having to pay four and fivefold
back. I mean, sometimes they'll take food and they eat it. They're not paying it back.
They're just going to get, you know, maybe go to jail for the night or they might get,
you know, slap on the wrist or told that was bad. But we see if you actually have to pay
something back, according to God's law, might actually deter some. It even says when it
comes to stealing, and interestingly enough in the United States, that 43% of goods stolen
are from employees. They're not stolen from somebody walking in, just taking the shirt.
No, they're actually stolen from the people that work there. The people that have been
trusted by their employer to not steal from them. We see that even in the Bible, I mean,
we have Jacob and Laban. Jacob takes the sheep and it says that he's stolen. But the Bible
makes it clear that God's the one that gave it to him. But we see that even that, that
parallel in the Bible of people, you know, a lot of times when something's stolen, it's
from an employee. It's not just somebody walking up just taking goods, taking services.
We see even in America today that 43%, that's about 18 billion dollars of goods. And as
God's people, as Christians, we should never take from our employer. We should never steal.
We should follow God's word. We shouldn't be like the rest of the heathen. We shouldn't
follow a multitude of evil. We should never take that from our employer. I mean, it's
got to be hard to have a business, to have some goods, to have some services stolen from
you. But then even it's kind of like the twist in the knife when it's your own employee.
When it's the guy that you're given a job to, that you're taking care of, that you're
providing for him, and then you're just going to take from him. It just hurts even more.
And as God's people, we shouldn't be like them. So I think the main, you know, thought
that people have when it comes to stealing is just taking something that's not yours.
So go to Proverbs chapter 11. Well, see, the Bible also says a way that you can steal is
by dealing falsely, by, you know, having a false dealing with somebody. And in Proverbs
chapter 11 verse 1, the Bible says, a false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a
just weight is his delight. One of the ways that people would steal in the Old Testament
is they had a false balance. And you say, well, what does that mean? Well, in the Old
Testament, when they would have a transaction, they would have to give money and it might
be in weight of their gold or silver. So in order to make payment, these, the people that
make the transaction, they had some kind of weight. And this weight would equal, let's
say $100 or $50 or $200, doesn't matter. But they'd have this weight, they would lay it
on there. And then to exchange goods, you'd play your gold or silver on the other side.
And when it was even, that was how much you're supposed to pay. So it was just kind of a
way for them to make payment and have goods. But we see that the, there was a lot of people
that have a false balance. So they'd say, oh, this is $100, you know, measure or weight,
but it'd be $150. So they'd put it on there and the person would put their money and they'd
have to put, they'd have to keep putting. They'd have to put another $50 on the weight
just to get even. And the person thought the whole time they were paying $100. So the person
was dealing falsely with them. They had a false balance that was going to steal more
money from them. We see, go to Proverbs 20, go to just a couple more chapters. We'll see
this kind of repeated again in verse 23. The Bible says, diverse weights are an abomination
unto the Lord and a false balance is not good. We see a lot of people throughout history.
This isn't just something that happened yesterday or just America. No, people are constantly
stealing and dealing falsely and you know, cheating people and taking money. We see that
even in today's world, you say, well, when I go to the store, they don't get out some
measuring tool and they don't put a weight on the thing and I have to put my dollar bill.
I mean, that's silly. But how do people do that today? Well, what about, you know, mechanics
or these, the people that do automotive services? Now it's interesting. Most of them have a
pretty bad rap for doing this, but I looked up an article just to see, cause I'd always
heard that, you know, when a woman goes to an auto mechanic, that a lot of times she
gets a higher price. She gets, you know, it might be a $300 job and they quote her $500
or they quote her, you know, a different price. When I looked up an article in San Francisco,
they studied, you know, all the people in San Francisco and they found out that women
on average, when they go to the mechanic to get some kind of good or service, are charged
70% more than men. I mean, they're going in, they got the same problem, they got to get
their tire fixed or their engine looked at or oil change or whatever and they're getting
charged 70% more. I mean, you can, I found a lot of other articles. I mean, it's just
statistically proven that auto mechanics and these people a lot of times will take advantage
of people when they don't know what they're doing or they don't have any knowledge. And
it's not like they're just these sexist, you know, I hate women people. No, they're just
taking advantage of people they don't know. Just like the guy that has the balance and
he puts it on the weight. You don't have any idea how much that weighs. You got to kind
of trust the guy. You got to say, I guess that's a hundred so I'll put my money and
you're just kind of trusting in that guy. Just like the auto mechanic, the person comes
up to it and says, I don't really know how much money this costs or what it's like. And
they're just kind of trusting his word to be honest with them. And we see there's so
many people in today's world that will just deal falsely, that they'll just give some
crazy price, that they won't be honest in their dealings. We see that's not a characteristic
of God's people. God says, thou shall not steal. It's not just taking goods, but it's
even dealing falsely. It's by, you know, misleading people, by taking advantage of
the fact that they might not have certain knowledge or they might not be privy to certain
situations. That's wicked. That's evil. I think of, uh, there's a lot of other places
that you can think of. What about email scams? I mean, these people putting on these scans,
oh, you won $10,000. Just send us, you know, the taxes and the fees and we'll send you
your check in the mail. And they prey on all the elderly. They're dealing falsely with
them. You know, it kind of hits home to me a little bit because, uh, one time my grandfather,
he got a call, he got a phone call and this person was pretending they were failing themselves
to be my brother. They said that they were saying they were my brother. Oh, this is Greg.
Hey, hey, grandpa. I, I went on this trip to Mexico and I was out on a good time and
then they just arrested me out of nowhere. And now I have to pay this like $5,000 bribe
or I can't get out of jail. Can you wire me some money? I mean, they have this elaborate
story. They tried to say and prey on his weakness of the fact that his grandson, we love saying,
oh man, I'm can't get out and I'm too embarrassed to call anybody else. Grandpa, I'm too embarrassed
to call my mom or to call my dad or call my wife. Can you just bail me out please? And
guess what? They suckered my grandfather out a bunch of money. I mean, that's so wicked.
That's so evil. There's so many elderly people that are being snared, that are being tricked,
that are being dealt falsely with. There's women in the mechanic store. There's, there's
even men. I mean, it doesn't matter who you are. People out there trying to deal falsely
with you. And if you're God's servant, if you wanted to follow God's commandments, thou
shall not steal. And dealing falsely is stealing. But what was the third thing? It said lying.
You know, when God was talking about it, when you're saying the false way, he said it was
an abomination under the Lord. He didn't say it was bad. He said it was an abomination.
He hates it. If you have a job where you're trying to lie to people and trick people and
deal falsely, you have to serve God rather than man. You better get a different job because
God thinks that's an abomination, what you're doing. And you're stealing from people. Don't,
don't, don't lie to yourself. Don't say, oh, we're just kind of, you know, this is just
how it is. This is just the business. This is what we've done. This is what my dad did.
This is what they did. All the way back to the prophets, the false prophets with their
false weights and their diverse weights. Yeah. We ought not be like them. We ought
to go back to the Bible, the 10 commandments, thou shall not steal. Thou shall not deal
falsely with others. But the third way is you can lie to people. And it kind of, it
kind of is similar to dealing falsely. I think a lot of times maybe a distinction would be
when you deal falsely, you're not as direct about it. Maybe you just kind of put the weight
on there and you just kind of hope it goes away. But then when someone's just asking
you questions or trying to talk to you and you're just giving them straight out lies
because you know you're trying to steal from them, that's just wicked. Go to Acts chapter
five. We'll see a story there in Acts chapter five of someone who lied and man did it cost
him. Because there's a cost to your sin. Don't be a, don't think just because in the laws
of America you can get away with stealing that God's going to give you a pass. I mean,
the Bible makes it clear that abortion is murder, but in the American society we live
and you can kill your baby and nothing happens. So you think God in heaven is saying, well,
I know abortion is murder. I know that shall not kill, but it's illegal in America. So
I'm just going to let them slide. I just, I mean, I know my law says this, but I'm just
going to abide by the American. No, God doesn't care what your laws are. God doesn't care
what your culture says. And if you can get away with stealing in today's culture, that
shouldn't be the standard. Your standards should be God's laws. Look at Acts chapter
five verse one, but unto a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession
and kept that part of the price, his wife also being privy to it and brought a certain
part and laid it at the apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled
thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles
it remain, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not thine own power? Why
hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear came
on all them that heard these things. So I see a man, he sells a possession and instead
of just presenting himself as giving it all, he holds some of it back. He doesn't give
the whole price of the land, but he wants to be seen that he's giving it all. He wants
to tell people, hey, I sold this land and I'm giving you all of it. I'm giving you all
the possession. Now, when he comes to the priest or the prophet, when he comes to Peter,
he's saying, look, when you sold it, wasn't it your own money? I mean, you could have
given half or you could have given all, you could have given none. It was your choice,
but he purposed in his heart to lie, to be seen of men, to make it seem like he was giving
this great position and to hold back. And who was he really stealing from? He was stealing
from God because he's saying, hey, I gave you all, but he really didn't. He held some
back and he left lying to the Holy Ghost. And guess what God did? He killed him. And
you know why? I think that story is in the Bible and in the New Testament. So the next
time you're about to lie for filthy lucre's sake, you look at death in the eye and you
say, hey, I'm willing to die for this money because God can kill you for lying. God can
kill you for lying for filthy lucre's sake. And we ought to have some fear of God. You're
not special. You're not going to just get away with whatever you want. God's going to
chase and scourges every son whom he receiveth. Why do you think, oh, well, you know, we ought
not to get a hardened heart and think that we can just lie and get away with it, that
we can just sin and do whatever we want and God's not going to punish. No, the next time
you have a choice between money and lying, you better think, hey, God can kill me if
I do this. God can take my life. We ought not to just sin and think it's great. We ought
not to just willfully sin and not fear, you know, God's hand of wrath. God can pour out
his judgment on God's people. You can be saved. And Ananias, it's interesting, he was giving
money to the church, if you think about it. I mean, this guy was giving a large portion.
I mean, he sold his house and he was going to give or sold his lands and he's going to
give it to the church. That's a noble feat. That's a good thing. But guess what? He held
some of it back and he lied. And for that lie, God took his life, even though he was
doing a good thing. So even though you might be doing good things, even though you might
be doing something great, better not lie because God can take your life. Now, of course, we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. I mean, we're
probably all going to just commit sin and maybe even lie. But guess what? When it's
talking about a big piece of money and you're going to steal, you better think twice. Is
that money really worth it? Is my life really worth 500 bucks or 900 bucks? I mean, we talk
about, I said the average price of a theft is $900. Who in the world would choose $900
over a chance of taking their own life? I mean, can you imagine someone gave you a handgun
and they were going to play a Russian roulette and they said, if you win, you get $900. If
you lose, you lose your life. No one would take that bet. No one would want to do that.
But we see that people just take lightly the Word of God. They take lightly the judgment
of God. They think that they can just lie and steal and just get away with it their
whole life. But Ananias didn't get away with it. And there's a lot of people that aren't
going to get away with it. He said, why are you being all harsh and mean and talking about
this? The Bible says, by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged and by the fear of the
Lord, men depart from evil. What's going to keep somebody from stealing, from lying?
The fear of God. The fear that God can take your life. The fear that God can take things
from you. He can take more money from you. I mean, if you get, I think God may even just,
you know, execute his law on you whether you like it or not. Maybe you take that 900 bucks
and then your air conditioning goes out and it's going to cost you 5,000 bucks to fix
it. He's going to take that 4 or 5-fold from you. God's going to execute his law and we
ought not just think that we're just going to go unpunished if we just keep sinning,
if we just live however we want. So then the bit kind of begs the question though, if there's
all these ways to sin or all these ways to steal, why do people do it? I mean, if it's
just clear cut in the Bible, why are people stealing? So my first point of the sermon,
that was to kind of lay a foundation of what it means to steal. We want to get a good definition
of what it is to take a good or to deal falsely or to lie, but why are people doing this?
Go to Proverbs chapter 30. The first reason why somebody would steal is because they're
lazy, because they just don't want to work, because they're just, you know, they're just
looking out for themselves. Look at Proverbs chapter 30 verse 9. The Bible says, lest I
be full and denied and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name
of my God in vain. We see a lot of times in the Bible when it talks about people stealing,
it's because they're poor. And why is it that they're poor? Because they don't want to go
out there and work hard. They get poor, they don't have any money, and then they're tempted
to steal. They're tempted to take goods. They're tempted to take things. They don't want to
go out there and work hard for their money. They don't want to work hard to feed their
family. They don't want to work hard to get a car or to have a house or to give money
to the church or provide for their clothing or apply anything. They just want to steal
it, because they're poor. And obviously when you're poor and you're struggling, the temptation's
going to be stronger. It's going to be harder. It might be, you know, presenting itself more
often to you. But we see when someone's just lazy and they don't want to work hard, they're
just going to steal. They don't want to say, well, I'm poor, so I guess I should work harder
to get more. No, they just say, hey, I'm poor, I'll just take. I'll just steal. I'll just
grab something. Because they're too lazy to go out and work. Go to Ephesians chapter
4. In Proverbs 6, I'll read through, the Bible says, men do not despise the thief if he steal
to satisfy his soul when he is hungry. So we see that a man who's hungry, who doesn't
have any goods, he's going to steal probably. I mean, he's just a likely person to steal.
And the Bible's saying, a lot of times people don't really look that bad on it. They don't
really look down on it. It's kind of this like Robin Hood mentality. People are, you
know, they're robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. And we even see that in our government
today. Our government's just taking from people and giving to whoever they want. But that's
wicked. It's wicked to steal. It's wicked to take. And why? It's because they're lazy.
Our government isn't taking money from us because they're really hard workers, because
they really try. No, our government's lazy. They just hire a bunch of people to do nothing
and just keep taking money from the people, the hardworking people, the people that have
real jobs, the people that go out and work hard, work a hard job, a job that they can
actually lose, a job that actually takes effort. No, these government workers, they just want
to sit around and collect a paycheck because they're too lazy and they just want to take
it from the rich. They even take it from the poor. And then they'll of course hand out
a little bit to make it seem like the Robin Hood or whatever. But that's not what the
Bible teaches. The Bible says that we should be able to work hard, work hard with our own
hands. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 in verse 28. The Bible says, let him that stole steal
no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that
he may have to give to him that needeth. So you say, well, why are you saying that these
poor people, you know, should just go work and go get a job and work harder? Well, it
says here in Ephesians 4, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good. So there's a lot of motivations to steal, but
in the motivation of having food or having clothing or having goods, we see that the
temptation on the poor is to just steal it, just to take things that they don't, they
don't really deserve. Maybe to deal falsely with somebody so they can get ahead, so they
can get, you know, there's a lot of salesmen out there that'll do all kinds of stuff, they'll
say all kinds of things, just to get a paycheck, just to sell the next product, just to push
the next good on somebody that doesn't really need it, and they're just stealing. And we
see that that person should rather go out and work, they should rather go out there
and labor, they should rather go and get busy, because if you go and you work hard and you
try really hard and you're putting forth effort, you're going to be able to provide. If you
seek first the kingdom of God, all these things shall be added unto you. If you're chasing
the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're laboring for him, you're going to have food and clothing.
He's going to provide for you. If you're following his commandments, and some of his plans are
to go and work hard, to go out and labor, go get a job, go get busy, because when you're
not working hard, when you're not doing anything, you don't really have much respect for money.
You don't have much respect for your goods. You don't have much respect for the things
you have. That's why I see a lot of people that steal, they're just lazy. They're on
some welfare, some government assistance, they're on the Robin Hood program. And of
course they don't care to steal, because the government's stealing for them every day.
So they just went, oh, who cares, I'll just lay around and be lazy and not work hard.
No, we shouldn't steal. Thou shalt not steal. And just because Robin Hood took it for you,
you shouldn't take it either. Just because the government's going to steal for you, you
shouldn't take that, because you're a partaker of their evil deeds, which is stealing. You're
dealing falsely. You're encouraging them. 1 Timothy chapter 5, I'll read for you. Y'all
turn to John chapter 12. 1 Timothy chapter 5, the Bible says in verse 8, but if any provide
not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith
and is worse than an infidel. If you're not willing to go out and work hard and provide
for your family, provide for your wife, provide for those that need it. Set in Ephesians 4,
when you have goods, you can give them to him that needeth. Isn't it a blessing when
you're in church and you see someone that has a need, or you have a family member that
has a need, and you have the ability to help them. You have the ability to do something
for them. You see somebody that's struggling, they need some lunch, they need some dinner,
they need some clothes, they need a car, they need to get somewhere, they need something.
And you can step in and you can help them out. Why wouldn't you want to work hard for
that? To be a blessing unto somebody, to help somebody, to help your church grow, to help
your church send more evangelists out, to help preach the gospel more, to have more
goods, to have more DVDs, more Bibles, more tracts, more soul winning events, more things
that you can go out and preach the word of God. Don't you want to work hard and give
money to the church to them that needeth? Who needeth more than those that are unsaved?
We need to put more money into soul winning, more money into church that's soul winning.
That's why we should work hard, but those that are just lazy and don't want to labor
and don't want to work, they're just stealing. They're just stealing. Go ahead in John chapter
12, we're going to look at my second point. The first point why someone would steal is
because they're just lazy. In verse three, the Bible says, Then took Mary a pound of
ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with
her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his
wives, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment
sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor,
but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein. The second
reason that people would steal is because they just love money. They just love money.
They're just filled with covetousness. They're just filled with the love of this world, the
love of goods, the love of things that money can buy, the things that money can satisfy
in their life. They're just so filled with that love of money that they're willing to
steal. They're willing to take things that aren't theirs. We see Judas Iscariot, he was
willing to take out of the purse of the Lord Jesus Christ. The money that people are giving
him, he's just going to take. Why? Because he was just filled with the love of money
in his heart. Go to Jeremiah chapter six. We see this as a common theme in false prophets.
We see this as a common theme in those that would feign themselves with the word of God
because they love money and they see a lot of money coming in. They want to steal it.
They want to take it. They want to deal falsely. They want to lie so they can get money. Exodus
chapter 18. It was interesting that Moses, he was being instructed by his father-in-law
in Exodus chapter 18 and his father-in-law told him, you're bearing too much of a burden
with these people. There's millions of people here. You can't hear all of their causes.
You can't judge them for all of them. You need to find some guys to help you out. You
need to find some men that can carry this burden with you. In verse 21 I'll read for
you. He said, Moreover, thou shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear
God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands
and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens. Even all the way back
in the Old Testament, all the way back to the children wandering in the wilderness,
the wisdom of God was to find men that would serve him that hated covetousness. They hated
the love of money. They didn't want to have a bunch of money. They weren't chasing money.
They weren't willing to lie for money. They weren't willing to deal falsely for money.
They weren't willing to preach lies for money. They didn't want it. They hated covetousness.
They preached against it. They got behind the pulpit and they preached against the love
of money. They preached against using your money to satisfy the lust of the flesh. They
hated it, just like the men of God today, just like the preachers today should hate
covetousness. But look at Jeremiah chapter 6. This is more of a picture of reality, of
all the prophets out there. Look at verse 11. Therefore I am full of the fury of the
Lord. I am weary with holding in. I will pour it out upon the children of Rob and upon the
assembly of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken. He aged
with him that is full of days. And their houses shall be turned into others with their fields
and wives together. For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land,
saith the Lord. For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is
given to covetousness. And from the prophet, even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely.
We see that the prophets, we see that the priests of the Old Testament, they are false
prophets because they want to deal falsely for covetousness. They have the love of money
in their heart. They have the love of goods. They just wanted to chase that money. Filthy
lucre. And they were willing to deal falsely to get it. They were willing to have the unjust
weight, the diverse weight. We see that it's a big thing in the priesthood. And those that
are prophets, even in today's world, all these false prophets, all these preachers,
they're all chasing the dream of Joel Osteen. They all want to be T.D. Jakes. They all want
to be Kenneth Copeland. They all want to have the mansion and the jet. And they want to
travel the world. They want to wear designer suits. And they're willing to say anything
to get it. They're willing to deal falsely with anybody to have it. Look at Jeremiah
chapter 8. Go two more chapters over. We're going to see basically the same thing. We're
going to drive in this point. Jeremiah 8 verse number 7.
Yea, the stork in heaven knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle in the crane in the
swalom observe the time of their coming. But my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
How do ye say we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain
may he it. The pen of the scribe is in vain. The wise men are ashamed. They are dismayed
and taken. Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? Therefore
I will give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them. For
every one of them least, even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness. From the prophet
even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter
of my people, saying peace, peace, when there is no peace. We see that they are willing
to just preach lies. They are willing to just preach peace. Why? So that they can deal falsely
and they can be given into covetousness. For the love of money. They love the praise of
men. They love having all the money. We see that even in the Old Testament, even in today,
that many of the false prophets and priests were rich. They had a lot of money. They were
held in prestige. They had the nice houses. They had the nice clothes. They were eating
the good meals. They were just living it up. They were living their life for covetousness.
We see why do people want to steal? Because they love money. Because they love the things
that it can provide for them. That's why they're willing to deal falsely. They have no love
for people. They can see the old lady sitting here, she's only got 20 bucks to her name,
and they want to take it. They want to take her for all she's got. Because they hate people.
They hate the word of God. They rejected God. Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not deal
falsely. But we see these false prophets, these false teachers, they're just laughing
all the way to the bank. They're putting their commercials on the TV. They're taking from
all the old people. They're just bragging it in. They're just bringing in all the money.
We see all the suckers out there. They think that gain is godliness. They think that these
rich pastors are godly because they're racking up all this money. No. God people hate covetousness.
They hate stealing. They hate dealing falsely. We see that these televangelists and all these
creatures, they just love this money. I looked up the five richest pastors in the United States
today. Number five, Creflo Dollar at $27 million. Now obviously, you know, net worth can change a
lot from day to day. This was just taken a few years ago from an article. I'm sure it can be
different. But this article, I'm sure it's pretty close. They said Joel Osteen, number four, $40
million net worth. Benny Hinn, $42 million. We see Pat Robertson, the person on the 700 Club,
says $100 million net worth. I mean, $100 million? How many Bibles could that buy? How many soul
winning tracks could that buy? How many DVDs? How many evangelist trips could that buy? I mean,
it takes a couple thousand bucks for somebody to go to Malawi or go to Botswana. I mean,
how many people could Pat Robertson, you know, send to preach the gospel? Truly, the Word of God
can be preached under the ends of the earth. I mean, he's just got enough money to send as
many people. What about number one? And this one's just, I mean, it's like, it's hard to even say,
but Kenneth Copeland has gotten on TV and he's literally said that he's a billionaire. A
billionaire. This article attributes only 760 million to his name, but he even just
testifies. A billion dollars. A billion. That's a man of God. That's somebody that hates
covetousness. That's the guy that's not willing to deal falsely. That's not willing to lie. That's
not willing to steal. No, we see these guys, they must just be sons of Belial Temple. They're twice
dead. They just love money. They're like Balaam going for the reward. They just, they don't love
God. Jude chapter one says, woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily
after the error of Balaam for reward. We see the false prophets, the false teachers, those that
hate the Word of God, they love money and they're chasing money. And you know what? Just because you
have some money doesn't make you evil, doesn't make you wicked. But man, a billion dollars. I
mean, where's the line? At what point do you say, well, I guess I have enough as the man of God.
Maybe I should give them unto him that needeth. Do you really think that, you know, Kenneth
Copeland can't find anybody to give some money to? I mean, he's just got to keep hoarding up
that billion dollars. He's just got to keep getting more and more money. I mean, this guy's
got plane after plane after plane, lives in a multimillion dollar mansion in Texas, has everything
that he could ever want, that money could buy. But he'll burn forever in eternity in hell, just like
Balaam. Go to Luke chapter 16. The Bible says in verse 23, this is a true saying, if a man desire
the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless. The husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given the wine,
no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. He has
in two places, not greedy, filthy lucre and not covetous. He's got to ring the bell. Hey,
the man of God doesn't love money. The man of God's not willing to steal and deal falsely and
lie for money. No, he wants to preach the gospel. He's thinking of spiritual things. He's not
thinking of carnal things. What does a million dollars do for the man of God in heaven? Nothing.
What does a billion dollars do for the man of God in heaven? Nothing. Why wouldn't he have used
that to get more people saved, to help more people that needed it, to preach the gospel more, to help
more people do things? Look at Luke chapter 16 verse 13. I'm sorry, chapter 16 verse 13. The
Bible says, no servant can serve two masters, for either will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and man. And the
Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things and they derided him. And he said unto
them, ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which
is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. All these false prophets,
all these false teachers that are loved of the world are an abomination in the sight of God. All
the things that the world says that it loves is abomination in the sight of God. Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. We see that the man of God, he's not chasing money. He's not chasing the goods of
this world. We see all these guys that have all this money and have these planes and have these
mansions. They're not God's prophets. They're false prophets. They're stealing. They're dealing
falsely. They're lying. It's not, it's not a wonder. It's not all I'm not really sure. It's
clear cup. It's provable. The Bible makes it clear. The Pharisees are covetous. The Pharisees
love money. The Pharisees have the false weight. They have the diverse weight. They are so caught
up in their covetous and their love of money. We see this the same today. We see the false
prophets today are just like their fathers, the false prophets, the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
those that loved money. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2. I'll read for you in Luke chapter 10. The Bible
says, but he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering
said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped
him of his reindeer and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. Why would someone just beat
somebody up and strip them naked and just leave them on the side of the road? Because they just
love money. The love of money is the root of all evil. When you start chasing money, when you start
chasing the goods of this world, you're willing to go to any low. You're willing to go to any
death of Satan, of all kinds of wicked and evil things. You're willing to just kill people,
take their goods, do all kinds of wicked stuff. And we ought not to steal and lie. Why? That's
going to make us like the Pharisees. That's going to make us like the false prophets. You really
want to be like a false prophet? You really want to be like a Pharisee? One that's willing to steal
and to deal falsely and to lie to people just to get more money? 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1 says,
But there are false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways,
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall
they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. We see the Bible says over and over and
over that the false prophets love money, that they're full of covetousness, that they want
to make merchandise of you. That's why they got the book. So, buy my next book, buy my next DVD,
come give me a bunch of money on the TV, come buy my prayer shawl, come buy my t-shirt,
come to my church, just give me lots of money making merchandise of you. We see the false
prophets, but we see that their damnation slumbereth not. They're going to be damned
one day, they're going to pay the price, because they followed after money. Go to John chapter 10.
We're kind of hammering this point. John chapter 10, we're going to look at a lot of verses there.
Go to John chapter 10. We see that Jesus Christ was not like this. Jesus Christ was no thief,
he was not one that dealt falsely, he's not one that lied. John chapter 10, look at verse 1.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that enterth not by the door into the sheepfold,
and climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that enterth in by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. Look, all these false prophets,
they were trying to get people to heaven another way. Why? Because they were a thief and a robber.
They were just taking people for their money. They were just taking them for their goods. They
were just telling them lies. They're not going to get into heaven. They're preaching them lies,
just so they can take their money. We see that Jesus Christ, now the one that's going to preach
them the true gospel, he's the shepherd. He that entered in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep. Jesus Christ preached the true gospel, which was free. He wasn't making merchandise
to people. All the other ones were just thieves and liars and robbers. You see all the false
prophets. It says in verse 4, when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And the stranger will they not follow, but will flee
from him. For they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they
understood not what things they were, which he spake unto them. And Jesus said, and then said
Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever
came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door by me. If
any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go out and go in and out and find pasture. The
thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they might have
life and they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, coming and leadeth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catches them and
scatters the sheep. The hiring fleeth because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep. I read
that, that's a long passage, but Jesus Christ is comparing himself unto the false prophets. He's
comparing himself unto Satan. And what does he call him? He calls him a thief. He calls him a
robber. He calls him as a hireling. One that's chasing what? Money. The love of money is the
root of all evil. Look, these false prophets have one thing in common. They're all chasing money.
They love the money. They're just the hireling. And when the trouble comes, when something comes
that's not nice, they're just gonna run. They're just gonna flee. They don't care for people. They
don't care to save your soul. They don't care to do anything for you. They just want your money.
And whenever the times get tough, they're gonna run. They're gonna hide. They're gonna feign
themselves. See, the hiring, because he's a hireling, careth not for the sheep. Jesus Christ
is the only one that cares for the sheep. So we see the first point. Why would someone steal?
Because they're just lazy. Because they don't want to work hard. Because they're not willing to go
out and do something for themselves, to provide for others, to care for others. If you care for
others, you're gonna work hard so you can give them something. But if you don't care for anybody,
if you're just too lazy, and you just hate everybody, and you just only love yourself,
and you're just so self-involved, you'll just be lazy and never do any work. You'll never make any
money. The second reason is because they're just full of covetousness. They just love money. They
just love what it can buy. They love the goods of this world. They want to have the fancy suit. They
want to have a drive in the airplane. They want to travel the world. They want to have the big
old mansion on the hill. They just can't wait to get that money. They love what money gives them.
See, the false prophet is willing to go to any link to get that money. He'll preach to you any
kind of lie. He'll deal falsely with you. We see the people that even kill somebody. They beat him
up. They would strip his clothing. See that Satan himself is considered a thief. And then go to
Malachi chapter 3. This is my last point. The third reason why someone would steal that I found
in the Bible is because they lack faith. So we see that they would be willing to steal because
they lack faith. But my first point is that they were lazy. My second point is that they just love
money. They're lazy. They love money. The third reason why people would steal is because they lack
faith. Malachi chapter 3 verse 8. The Bible says, Will the man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me, but
ye say, Whereon have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. The person that did it, tithing
unto the Lord, giving offerings unto the Lord is actually stealing. He's not impartial. He's not
in the middle of the way. No, he's robbing God. And it's interesting when you think about the word
rob, because I told you earlier that robbery is being forced, is by using force, is by taking
stuff. So you're purposely taking your goods and not giving them unto the Lord. We see that Ananias,
he purposely hid the money from God. He lied in the Holy Spirit. He wasn't willing to give it unto
him. Now it was an offering. He didn't have to necessarily give him all the possessions that he
had, but he was willing to lie about it. Why? Because he lacked faith. He didn't trust in the
Lord fully. Go to Luke chapter 16. The Bible says in Psalms 62 verse 10, Trust not in oppression,
and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. We shouldn't be
trusting in money. We shouldn't be trusting in the oppressive government that's going to be our
Robin Hood and give us, you know, the goods that we need. No, we shouldn't set our heart on riches,
even if they increase. Psalms 49, I'll read for you, says, Wherefore should I fear in the days
of evil, when the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me about? They that trust in their
wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem
his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. We see that people that trust in the riches,
they trust in their wealth. They can't, you know, redeem anybody. They can't help anybody. God's not
pleased with them. Proverbs 11, the Bible says, He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the
righteous shall flourish as a branch. We shouldn't be willing to put all of our trust in money by
putting most of our trust on money. We put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to get saved. But
then after you get saved, a lot of people aren't willing to put their trust all the way in the Lord
Jesus Christ with their whole life. To put them, you know, what they would say, live for the Lord,
give your life unto the Lord. I mean, those people are, you know, that are saying that for salvation,
they're preaching a false gospel. But after you get saved, you can give your life to the Lord. You
can't trust them fully. You can trust them with your family. You can trust them with, you know,
your career. You can trust them with your wealth. You can say, Hey, you know what? I'm just gonna
seek the Lord first and all these things will be added unto me. I'm not gonna trust that money's
gonna get me by. I'm gonna trust in the Lord. And the person that's not gonna tithe, that's not
gonna give money to the church, that's not gonna follow God's commandments, is not trusting in the
Lord. They're trusting in manna. They're trusting in, you know, their own goods. We see that the
children of Israel that came out of the land, they were saved, spiritual sense. But guess what? They
trusted in the manna. They loved the manna. They didn't love God. They didn't trust in Him. So they
would store up extra and then it would rot and then it would just, you know, they couldn't gather
more than they needed on the Sabbath. Why? Because we need to be trusting in the Lord and He'll give
us the things that we need. Look at Luke 16 where I return, verse 10. He that is faithful in that
which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous manna, who will commit your trust the
true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you
that which is your own? God's saying, look, if He can't even trust you with just fulfilling the tithe,
with just the unrighteous manna, how is He going to give you the true riches? How is He going to
bestow unto you something big, something that's of eternal value? I mean, I think being a pastor
of a church is a lot more valuable than having a billion dollars in the bank. Even if my church
had five people in it, even if my church had one person in it, it's more valuable than a billion
dollars. And we have not steal from God. We have not rob from God. We have not do falsely with God.
We have not lie to God, but not tie Him. And the only person that does that, they don't have faith
in the Lord. They're trusting in the riches. They're trusting in their money. Go to Hebrews
chapter seven. I'll read for you in verse two of chapter six. Charge them that are rich in this
world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who
giveth us richly all things to enjoy. The Bible is saying a young man that wants to be a preacher,
he's supposed to charge them that have the money. He's saying, look, don't think to yourself that
you're greater than everybody else here. Don't think you're special because you have a bunch
of money. No, don't even trust in your money. Don't think that you have a lot of money, that
you're special, that you're safer, that you have things going. No, you need to trust in the Lord.
You know, one of the ways that you can show that is by giving the tithes of the Lord, by giving
offerings unto the Lord, being willing to give your finances. And then God will be able to
willing to trust in you, the true riches. Go to, uh, go to second Chronicles chapter 31. I'll read
for you a couple of places for the second time. In Hebrews chapter seven, the Bible says, and here
men that die receive tithes, but there he received them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. The
Bible says that even though men in this world or church is the one that actually receives the
physical tithe, God's the one that actually receives it as a spiritual gift, as something
that's bestowed unto him. We need to bring the tithe into the house of God. And it's not, you
know, you can't just go and give it to whoever you want. I can't just give it to some guy in the
street and say, Oh, God got it. No, you got to give it to the guy that God told you, the man of
God, the house of God. You got to give it to somebody that's preaching the gospel. That's truly
a man of God. I can't make my deposit at the wrong church. I can't make it with the false prophet
because it's going to his bank account. I got to give it to the man of God that hates
covetousness so they can go to the work of the Lord. So they can go to the service of the Lord
because the man of God, he's not laying up all those goods and that money that's coming to him
for himself. No, he's using it for the service of the Lord. In Deuteronomy chapter 14, I'll just
tell you, it says, thou shall truly tithe all the increase of thy seed. And you know, the tithe is
before the Old Testament law and it's also after the Old Testament law. Tithing is a commandment
of God and there's no thing in the New Testament that says we shouldn't tithe, that says we
shouldn't give offerings to the Lord. No, even in the New Testament, they gave more. They're willing
to give all. We should, as God's people, be tithing and it says of all thine increase. Doesn't say part of it.
Doesn't say just the portion that you get in your paycheck. No, it says all. It says all thine increase.
Second Chronicles 31, the Bible says in verse four, Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in
Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites that they might be encouraged in the law
of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance
the first fruits of corn, wine, oil and honey and of all the increase of the field and the tithe of all
things brought they in abundantly. And concerning the children of Israel and Judah that dwelt in the cities of
Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep and the tithe of the holy things which were
consecrated unto the Lord their God and laid them by heaps. We see that you can be encouraged by the law of
God by giving the tithe. I didn't read it for you, but when it talked about Abraham, it said that he obeyed
God's commandments and laws. And one of those commandments is he gave the tithe. That was before the law of
Moses. Abraham was obeying the laws of God before Moses. Why? Because every commandment of God's law is
something we should abide by. It's something we should follow. And in Malachi chapter three, verse 10, it says,
Bring ye all the tithes in the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith, saith
the Lord of hosts. If I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it. If we truly trust in the Lord with our riches, with our money, with what he gives us, and
we give unto him his tithe, he says it blesses. So ultimately, why would someone steal from God? Because they
just lack faith, because they're not really trusting him, because they aren't willing to give even that part of
their life. Hey, they gave their soul, the soul that's not going to spend eternity in hell. Why not now just give
them unrighteous mammon? Why not just give them your goods? Why lack the faith? Why don't you put all your trust
in the Lord? Why don't you trust them with every area of your life, not just your eternal soul, but even your
unrighteous mammon? And we see that thou shalt not steal the man that decides to just take things that aren't his,
the guy that decides to deal falsely, the guy that decides to lie, the guy that decides to just take things that he
doesn't, that aren't his. Why does he do it? Because he's lazy, because he loves money, or because he lacks
faith. I'll read for you one last place. It says in Proverbs 22, rob not the poor because he is poor, neither
oppress the afflicted in the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoil them.
God gives a promise that those that would steal from the poor, that those that would take goods, those that would
take things that they they don't belong to them, that God poured his judgment and wrath on them, and he would spoil
them. So we ought to fear God and depart from stealing. Let's close in prayer. Thank you God for your word. Thank you
God for your commandments. Thank you that we can just serve you and trust you, and that whenever we're willing to
trust you, that you'll bless us, that you can pour out the windows of heaven, that we can bless with things in this
life, the things that we need, and not only that, but spiritual blessings. And that if we're willing to trust you
with the unrighteous mammon, you would give us, you know, you could entrust to us the true riches, souls of men, the
things that pertain to you. I pray for every man in this room. I pray that we would just be not lazy, that we would not
love money, and that we would not lack the faith, but that we would trust you with all our hearts. In Jesus' name we
pray. Amen.