THE 10 | How To Live And Love In A World That Has Lost Its Way,

Respect The Property of Others: The Eighth Commandment

By Dr. Robert Jeffress | Exodus 20:15,

May 21, 2023

RESPECT THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS

The Eighth Commandment

Exodus 20:15

 

Introduction:  Although most of us have never committed armed robbery, everyone is guilty of taking something that does not belong to them.  Today, we are going to discover various ways we violate the eighth commandment which prohibits stealing and discover why such a command is necessary to maintain both a civilized society and a clear conscience.

 

Exodus 20:15  “You shall not steal.”

 

  1. The Need For The Commandment

 

 

 

Acts 4:32   “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.”

 

Philippians 4:11-12   11 “Not that I [Paul] speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”

 

 

  1. Three Ways To Acquire Possessions (Ephesians 4:28)

 

Ephesians 4:28   “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.”

 

  1. Work   (Deuteronomy 8:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12; Genesis 2:15)

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 8:18   “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.”

 

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12   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.”

1 Timothy 5:8   “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

 

Genesis 1:28   “God blessed them [male and female] and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

 

Genesis 2:15   “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

 

  1. Inheritance   (Proverbs 13:22)

 

 

 

Proverbs 13:22a   “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children [his grandchildren].”

 

  1. Theft   (Ephesians 4:28)

 

 

 

Ephesians 4:28   “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.”

 

 

III.      Four Ways We Violate The Eighth Commandment

 

  1. Despoiling

 

 

 

  1. Dishonesty

 

 

 

Proverbs 11:1   “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”

 

  1. Defrauding

 

  1. Failing to pay a debt.   (Proverbs 3:27-28)

 

 

 

Proverbs 3:27-28   27 “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.  28 Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it.’”

Romans 13:6-8   6 “…You also pay taxes for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing,  7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”

 

  1. Failing to treat employers and employees fairly.

 

 

Colossians 3:22-24   22 “In all things obey those who are [over you] on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  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.”

 

Colossians 4:1   “[Employers], grant to your [employees] justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.”

 

  1. Failing to give to God what He commands.

 

 

 

Malachi 3:8-10   8 “Will a man rob God?  ‘Yet you are robbing Me!’  But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’  ‘In tithes and offerings.  9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!  10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”

 

2 Corinthians 9:6-7   6 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

  1. Defaming

 

 

 

Colossians 3:8   “Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

 

 

  1. The Cost Of Violating The Eighth Commandment (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

 

 

 

 

 

1 Timothy 1:18-19   18 “This command I [Paul] entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,  19   keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”

 

Luke 19:8   “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’”

 

Luke 19:9   “And Jesus said to Zaccheus, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.’”

 

 

Conclusion