Alright please again turn in your Bibles to Exodus 20- Exodus 20 as we continue our series on the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. Alright Exodus chapter 20, I was wondering whether to read that again. Some of you are by now rather familiar, but hope by now we would have memorised alright the Ten Commandments. Perhaps for the benefit of those joining us for the first time, let me just read this again.

Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse 1. “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.”” Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we thank You again for gathering us here. We know that it is not our doing. You have brought us and brought us to hear Your Word, and therefore we pray that You’ll do good to our soul. Grant us understanding and also to humble our heart that indeed we may bow before the authority of Your truth, for we pray all these in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Now today we are looking at the eighth commandment- you shall not steal. So we are looking at stealing. This reminder was told at the shopping mall with these wordings, kind of a poster alright: “shoplifting is stealing”, as if we need a reminder. But nevertheless alright, they saw it fit alright that people need to be reminded to not shoplift or take anything from the supermarket. Now we might wonder where else we need a reminder about stealing. I think we can think of many places. 

Perhaps in the library, we should have this reminder: Borrowing without returning is stealing. Or maybe in the exam hall: Copying is stealing. Or perhaps in a restaurant: Eating without paying is stealing. Or perhaps even in a public toilet, using the toilet paper more than you need alright is stealing. Now, what about the church? Now we don’t see any sign alright. Do we also not need a sign? Maybe that’s an assignment for you. Go back and think what kind of a reminder we might need alright in a church hall or a church building.

Well, the Bible says you shall not steal. Now that is what we are looking at, and that is one of the Ten Commandments, one of the ten words alright that God has written with His own hands. Now it seems that everyone knows that sealing is wrong alright. We all know that. Even people who do not read the Bible, now they know that stealing is wrong. Not just adults, even children know that. 

You put a group of children alright in the room, and they know that the other child is not supposed to take things from me alright. So we know they learn very quickly even from a young age now the possessive pronoun alright very quickly. They learned pronouns like ‘mine’. This is mine alright. This is yours. This is his. This is hers. Now all these of course reminds us there’s such a thing as our things.

So people think that stealing is wrong. As I said not just adults but also little children, we all know that stealing is wrong. But stealing is wrong not because we all think that stealing is wrong alright. Stealing is wrong is because God says that it is wrong. And that’s why in the Ten Commandments it’s so important for us to know because it’s about what God is saying, and that’s our concern what God is saying. Question then is: Why? Why is stealing wrong? 

Now to understand that alright to see the reason for this commandment, we need to understand a few things. First of all, we need to understand the concept alright of personal possessions. The concept of personal possessions that means things that belong to you or to me. Now you see that God honours personal possessions or private ownership. Now, this is not you know some economics concept. This is a biblical concept.

In other words, the Bible dignifies private ownership alright- private ownership or personal possessions. You may say: Where in the Bible? But people who read the Bible, some people who read the Bible kind of got a different understanding. They think that: Oh, the Bible. Don’t you think that as Christians we must not always be talking about mine? This is mine. My money, my property. We should always feel that it’s for everybody. 

Now there are people, there are Christians actually who think like that, and they think that that’s what the Bible teaches. And where do they turn to for that? Well, they say first off in Acts chapter 4, and so obviously we’ll look at Acts chapter 4 and see what the Bible teaches about personal possessions. Now here in Acts, chapter 4 is about people who have been converted. People who were not Christians, now they are Christians, and then people said and so here tells us you know the behaviour of those people who became Christians in the early church.

So in Acts chapter 4, so what do we read of concerning the early Christians? Well in verse 32 alright- verse 32, it says here: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.”. There you see, they say. They see what the Bible says about when people believe in Jesus Christ; when they became Christians in the early church, something’s changed- something’s changed about their attitude towards possession. 

And they’re pointing to this verse and say and that these people, they loved one another so much they become of one heart and one mind, there are no more personal possessions. Everything is in common. So what this verse they say means is that my money is your money you know. Not sure whether your money is my money alright or what they say now everybody shares. No one can say that this is mine. Is that true? Well, that seems to be what that verse is saying alright. If you believe in Jesus Christ, don’t say anything is yours. 

But that is not true because if you read on also in this very chapter alright- in this very chapter in verse 34 alright- in verse 34 said: “Nor was there anyone among them who lacked (because they shared alright so no one lacked anything); for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. And”. Verse 36: “And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”.

Now what we have, what we see here is that these people were possessors of property. They have land, their own land. But what they did was that they willingly sold the land. Basically, they willingly gave away what rightly belonged to them. But they said: Really? Did these few verses say that these things rightly belonged to them? Aren’t these verses saying that they suddenly realised that these things or these properties do not belong to them, and that’s why they gave them up and distributed it?

So here is a form of communism you know, a form of socialism. Redistribution of wealth. Is that what really these verses are saying? Well, the only thing to discover, to find out is to read on alright- to read on. Now we must read the whole of Scripture, not just part of the Bible. Now if you read on, and what do we read? Then we go on to chapter 5 alright- we go on to chapter 5. 

And then here things become clearer as we read on because in verse 1 of chapter 5 it says here: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.”. So this is a couple. They saw what was happening, and they kind of did the same thing. They have possessions, they brought up a lot of possessions, a lot of property. They sold them, verse 1 end. Verse 2: “And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”.

Now the other people in chapter 4, they sold everything and they brought everything to the apostles’ feet to share with the others. But this couple, they did the same. They sold the property, but they didn’t bring everything alright. They only brought part of it. Both wife and husband, they knew about it. So is that a problem? So what really is the problem here? 

Is the problem the fact that they didn’t bring everything? You see everybody else shared everything they had. What about this couple? Is that really the problem? Now verse 3: “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?”. So here’s the problem that this couple didn’t want to share everything, and that is okay.

Why is that okay? Because verse 4 says: “While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this in your heart? You have lied not to men but to God.”. Now, what verse 4 is clarifying is that if you do not want to share, you don’t want to give away your property, that is okay. It’s still within your control. That’s what Peter is saying. You don’t want to give everything, it’s okay. 

But don’t give an impression. Don’t lie. Now that is a problem of this couple. They want to give a little bit but give the impression that they are giving everything. Now that is the problem. The problem is not that they kept back part of it. Now the very fact Peter says here that it’s okay that you keep back part of it, it’s okay means the Bible sanctioned personal possessions. It is in your control. It is your property.

You see, the Bible honours private ownership or personal possessions. So private ownership as I said, it is a biblical concept. There is nothing wrong to own things. So don’t feel bad if you have your property. We all have properties. You have a laptop alright. You have your handphone. You have your bags or you have your clothing. Now there’s nothing wrong. You have your own Bible. If we are not allowed to have personal possessions, then we shouldn’t have anything. Not even your handphone, your Bible, or anything. Everything should be in common. 

But the very fact that we’re allowed, we see is because the Bible says we’re allowed to have these things. Alright, some of you have these things, very soon you’ll have other things alright. You will have your own car, your own house, and your own money alright. So it’s nice alright, you see you have your own things. 

Now you see, the Bible dignifies personal possessions because our possessions is in a sense an extension of ourselves. God made us that way alright. In a sense, that way we’re created in the image of God. See, God has personal possessions. We are created in God’s image. I say personal possessions is in a sense an extension of ourselves, and that’s why for example we look at a house alright- a house in a sense is an extension of ourselves. 

Even our room or even your handphone alright, you will find that you’ll personalise your handphone. You understand it is part of you alright. And that’s why when people intrude into your house or into your room, they are intruding into your privacy alright. Don’t mess up my room alright. It’s my room. If there’s no such thing as personal possession, you don’t even can have kind of your room. Those kinds of concepts, you cannot have that personal kind of possessive pronoun there.

Alright and so to steal therefore, now to steal from another is not simply or merely stealing your things. Now if your things are an extension of yourself, stealing people’s things is not simply stealing people’s things. Then what is it? When you steal, you are actually assaulting the person’s dignity. When you steal, you are stealing or assaulting his right to his own possessions alright- when you steal from somebody, you are assaulting that right to his own things or the fruit of his labour. 

These people worked hard, they gained things, you steal it from him alright. You’re assaulting all these things of a person. And therefore respecting other people’s property is absolutely necessary because the Bible honours personal possession. But it’s also necessary because it is necessary for the functioning of a society. Now it will be chaotic alright- it’ll be chaotic if we all can take each other’s thing, if we all can steal from each other. Alright so respecting other people’s property alright is necessary for a functioning alright, proper functioning of a society.

So there must therefore be this confidence that things cannot be simply taken away from us. Anywhere in the world alright, we must have that confidence. Once we don’t have that confidence, the society breaks down. And I think society is kind of breaking down in many ways. You go to the mamak shop, you know that you cannot simply put your handphone on the table. Someone will just come and just take it away.

So when we feel so insecure, the more insecure, the more we don’t have this confidence, the more the society is not able to function properly. And we expect- we expect a higher level of this confidence or this trust in some places. Now we are realistic. Now if you’re old enough, you’re realistic to know that not everywhere is safe. Not everywhere you can have this confidence. I mentioned mamak shop alright.

Now many people have their handphone or handbag taken away if you don’t you know hold on to it careful while you drink your Teh Tarik alright or many other places. But in some places, we expect a higher level of this trust. Where? Like your own homes. At least when you come home, you go back to your house, you can put your things on the sofa seat or just on the table and rest in confidence that at least in the house nobody is going to take unless the door is open, someone comes in. 

But you know your sister, your brother is not just gonna simply take your things away and not tell you or steal it from you. Or your money. But in the house, we can. So we expect a higher level of this confidence or this trust in some places like the home and the church. So it would be a setting that we don’t even have that confidence in the church. We cannot simply live our purse around or our handphone around in the church, and that happens.

Alright once in JB someone put something in the church, and after the service: Eh, where is my thing? And he felt devastated, he said. It happens in the church, and what we expect this alright place to be a place where we feel safer. Alright so respecting each other’s property is therefore so very necessary. And therefore the Bible condemns. The Bible teaches strongly alright against stealing. Or in other words, the Bible teaches alright strongly this right to personal possession. The Bible condemns stealing.

And when you read the Bible, when you read the Old Testament for example, therefore you find that in the Bible, in the Old Testament there are so many Old Testament laws given to ensure this right. So as I said, it is a biblical concept and the Bible has many laws given to ensure this right. See for example in Genesis alright- Genesis 23. Genesis 23, now here we have Abraham after the death of his wife and he was dealing, he was trying to get a burial ground for his wife. And so he wanted to buy from some people.

And so what do we read here in verse 15? He wanted to buy based on money and get this land. In verse 15, those people said: “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead. And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.”.

So what do we see here in these few verses? We see a very meticulous kind of transaction that I’m going to give you this amount of money and that money you know is being counted in the hearing of witnesses. So people know that okay so this amount alright four hundred ringgit or four hundred thousand ringgit okay. People see here that there are witnesses given to you. And then so what do you give it to me okay? This piece of land including all the trees, there’s a borderline, and so on.

See, that is a very careful way of transaction- a very careful transaction here. Now, this therefore confirms or shows that the Bible respect personal possessions. This is yours, so if I want to get it from you, I have to pay you so much so I can get. And I know what I’m getting. I know how many trees I’m getting from you. And so that’s an example alright of the Old Testament ensuring this right with all this process.

And so you read the other parts of the Old Testament Scriptures, you read of way and measures and fences and inheritance laws. You think of the story of Naboth when King Ahab wanted his land alright but Naboth refused to give. He said it’s my ancestors’ land alright. So this inheritance law which no one can just scale it away, not even the king except by stealing alright. That’s what he did alright. He just basically took it by force.

But then you see, that was wrong. That’s what the Bible is trying to say. Why? Because God says is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Why? Because God honours personal possession or private ownership. And therefore when we come to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, so we have the Ten Commandments. And I said that after giving the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, the following chapters were actually a commentary or an explanation of the Ten Commandments.

And so when we come to chapter 22 of Exodus (Exodus chapter 22), now here we have an expanded explanation on property rights, about stealing. You shall not steal alright. So earlier on we have the explanation on you shall not kill, but now in chapter 22 and verse 1 alright. Look at verse 1: “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it and sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.”.

You see, it’s all about stealing and God here shows of different scenarios about stealing, ways people break this law. Or in verse 5. Verse 5: “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution”. Why? Because you are stealing because your animal goes and eats the grass from your neighbour’s field alright. And so that is taking other people’s grass or destroy other people’s property. 

Verse 6: “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that the stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.”. Now that is against destroying other people’s property alright. So you see this concept, this idea of people’s right to their own property is so much underscored in the Bible. 

Verse 7: “If a man delivers to his neighbour money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.”. And so you are entrusted with something, some valuables alright and you have to protect that because that belong to other people. And then in verse 14. Verse 14: “If a man borrows anything from his neighbour, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good.”.

So if you borrow anything and then being destroyed or being stolen, well you have to pay back because you borrow from another person means you have to return to the other person intact, not damaged. So you see that Moses here is kind of expanding on what that means about right to personal possessions. Now, so that is the first thing. Now you shall not steal, we have to, first of all, remember now understands that in context or in light of what the Bible teaches about personal possessions, and the Bible honours that. It is okay to own things. I say it’s part of what we are alright. So we all have possessions.

Now second thing, now to understand about you shall not steal is we also need to understand that the Bible honours labour or work as a means to acquire personal possessions. So here is the Bible honours personal possessions, but how do we have personal possessions? So Bible honours work. The Bible dignifies possession; the Bible dignifies work. So the theology of personal possessions is linked or tied to the theology of work alright- the biblical theology of work. 

So the Bible teaches that the way to gain possession is work, not cheating. That’s not the way to get personal possession, not gambling. That is not the way to become a millionaire alright. A lot of people go to Genting alright because I want to be the next millionaire. That is not the way, not the biblical way. And so not by cheating, not by gambling, not by stealing, not by snatching, not by all these ways alright. The way to gain personal possession alright, to have things is to work. That is the biblical theology of work.

So work is a good thing. But of course, work here doesn’t necessarily just mean a salary work alright you work or makan gaji kind of thing you know. You earn the salary. But work here could mean doing business or having investment alright. So all these are part of the legitimate ways alright. Not just salary, but business investment and so on. And we see that Paul clearly alright teaches this in his letters alright in the New Testament for example in Second Thessalonians alright- Second Thessalonians chapter 3.

2 Thessalonians 3:10, and Paul says here: “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”. So the Bible dignifies work. Work is a noble thing. It’s what God has given to us to do and also as a means to acquire things. Or in First Timothy alright- First Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy 5:17-18, now listen to what Paul writes here. He said: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine.”.

So we honour these people. What does honour here mean? We respect the elders in the church. But actually what Paul means is this in verse 18: “For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The labourer is worthy of his wages.””. The honour here Paul is thinking about wages, about people who work and he deserves. So working is the way alright, that’s what he means here to get things.

And the same thing alright. So this is not something that evolved along the way. Now in the history of mankind you know slowly you know initially we just take anything without working. Just eat and someone just feeds us. No, it is by design from the very beginning of creation. Now it’s by design from the very beginning of creation because we are told in Genesis 2:15 alright- Genesis 2:15 these words. Now, this is what God said to Adam, and God said this: “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to” what? “To tend (or to cultivate) and keep it.”

Now God says that here is a garden. You have all the things you need for food, for sustenance alright. But the way to get these things is to work. You have to cultivate this so that it’ll bear fruit. So from the very beginning, the concept of working in order to get alright is there. It’s part of God’s design from the very beginning. Now that was so before Genesis 3. As I said, from the very beginning, now that is still the case after Genesis 3.

In other words after the fall, after men have rebelled against God, it is still the same. God expects us to work so that we shall eat. That’s why Paul could say that in Thessalonians: “If any man will not work, he shall not eat”. So you want to eat, you work. But what happened after the fall is that we need to work harder to get our yields. So that is the difference. We still need the work, but it’s a lot harder.

So when you actually study the theology of work and when people today think about work, they have great problems with work. They find work a chore. A lot of people don’t enjoy work. They think of Monday as “Monday Blues” when they get back to office and things like that. Why is that so? It’s so because of the fall alright that things are made a lot harder for us to earn a living. We have bad bosses, we have difficult work environment, and so on and so forth in the fallen world that we live in. Nevertheless, we still have to work.

And so I said, after the fall we still have to work, although it’s a lot harder. And not only we have to work a lot harder to acquire things, but we also need after the fall (before the fall we don’t need alright)- but after the fall, we also need to protect our yields. Not only we need to work harder to get the things, but we need to protect the things that we have worked for alright. 

That is the reality in the world today, and that’s the reason why. That’s the reason why banks need armed guards. As you go to the bank, you see security guard with guns. And they have very complex security system, and they have to invest a lot of money on that. And that’s also the reason why that our houses need to have locks. Now, this morning I just locked the back gate; yesterday was not lock.

So we have locks and we have security system. And we were actually talking about it in the last church’s members meeting that perhaps we should have some security system like CCTV or something like that so that robbers don’t just come in and someone to monitor. But why about all these things? And you know the even your houses, now we all live in gated and guarded community and people who want to go to your house.

In the past alright in the olden days which is so easy to do evangelism, house to house evangelism. We just go right to the main door and knock “pom” alright, and the owner will just open the door. Yeah, what do you want? And then you talk to the neighbour. Then after that you know you cannot reach the front door alright, you had to reach the gate first alright before you reach the front door. And the gate, now it’s auto gate alright. And now you cannot even reach the gate. You have to reach the guardhouse alright before you reach the gate alright.

Now there are so many security systems there, but what is it telling us? It’s telling about the world that we live in that not only we need to work hard to get things, but we need to do a lot of things to protect the things that we have worked for. And so also we have in a modern-day, in the modern era alright, we have the need for pin number and password and so on. This is all about protecting the things that we have worked so hard for.

And so what the Bible teaches about possession is as I pointed out alright is tied to this, what it teaches about work. It teaches us that we need to honour- we need to honour people’s possession because God honours the possession. And we need to honour their possession because we need to honour their labour. They worked very hard to get those things, and that’s why God hates stealing. Why God hates stealing? Because what is stolen, I say it’s not just money or property but also time. People’s time, people’s effort, people’s labour, people’s memory.

Now you know when your house is robbed, things are taken. Maybe your wedding ring you know stolen. Ah, it’s not just the ring but the memory you know. I went all over the place alright to look for that precious diamond ring for my wife, and now it’s stolen. Now it’s about that kind of thing, it’s not just the ring. But you know as I say something has been stolen from you. Alright, so we need to understand about why God hates stealing because of what the Bible teaches about private ownership and what the Bible teaches about work.

Now finally, now then we need to think about the way we steal. So God hates stealing, but the reality is this: That we live in the world that is filled with thieves alright- that’s filled with thieves. I was just reading this alright and know that there’s one hotel reported in the first year of business having to replace thirty-eight thousand spoons, three hundred and fifty coffee pots, and one hundred Bibles. Even Bibles are not spare in a hotel alright. Now you know alright there are free Bibles alright, but people still take.

Now there are more than one way to steal. Now there are more than one way to steal, and that’s why we have the think of different protective or security systems so that people cannot steal from us. In fact, maybe I think our world is not coping alright. It’s not thinking fast enough, the security system. I think the thieves or the robbers are thinking faster of how to steal. But nevertheless, the word ‘steal’ in the Bible is actually a very rich word, I understand, and it means all kinds of stealing.

But in English, we have many words for stealing. I’m sure you already know some of it. Now words like burglary. What is burglary? Burglary means breaking into people’s homes and take other people’s things. That is burglary. And then there is robbery. Robbery means taking people’s property by violence. And there’s a word called larceny alright. Larceny means taking other people’s thing without permission and not returning it. 

Then there is a word called hijacking that is take other people’s things by force, now things in transit- hijacking. Then there is shoplifting, and that is taking things without paying. And then there is pickpocketing alright. That is the art of taking without people realising alright. And then there is purse snatching, well purse snatching or handbag snatching is the tug-of-war between a man and a woman alright. And there is embezzlement, and that is taking other people’s money under your care. And there is extortion that is taking by threat. And then there’s ransom and racketeering and under-declaring and plagiarism and false claim and so on alright.

So when I was looking for these words alright that has to do with stealing, it’s almost like an endless list of I think they are still including alright things like internet scams and downloading without other people’s permission and so on. Now the fact is that there is a form of stealing that is worse than all these stealing. Of course, you might think that maybe stealing other people’s husband, that is also stealing alright. But there is a form of stealing is worse than all these, and what is that? 

Well, we find in the Bible in the last book of the Old Testament in Malachi alright- in Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, and here we look at verses 8 and 9. Verses 8 and 9, it says here: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.”. In tithes and offerings. Verse 9: “You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.”. Now listen to this charge by God against the nation of Israel.

So you are a nation of thieves. You’re stealing- stealing from one another in all kinds of ways. That’s the same thing that’s happening in the world today. But the worst case of stealing is when we dare to steal from God, and we dare to steal from God. And here’s a charge against that nation. Now of course in the case in Malachi in the Old Testament, they have stipulated like a taxation system. In fact, the tithes were the taxation system because they were under God’s alright. That was a theocratic nation alright, and so there’s that. And so it applies to us. I mean we have a taxation alright, but here in terms of directly you know as to God, now God has given us… 

Then you people ask: So do we have tithing in the New Testament today? Do we have tithing in the New Testament today? Now I would say that we do not have in the New Testament find anything similar to the Old Testament. We don’t have a similar tithing system as in the Old Testament in the sense that they wouldn’t have this taxation because I said it’s a form of taxation in the Old Testament.

But nevertheless, does God expect us to give? I think from Paul’s letter to both the First and Second Corinthians he makes it clear alright- he makes clear that God has given us gifts. God has given us. And although He doesn’t come out with a system like the Old Testament, but there’s an expectation the Christian gives. 

And therefore in some similar way, now we can actually be robbing God. But we regularly rob God, not just in the form of giving back to God in terms of all the blessing, the money, the things that are given to us. I say it could be in the form of money, but it could also be in a form of possessions that God give us a car, we share it, give it back by using it for His glory. When God gives us a house, we use it for His glory. Now in all these ways, we are in a sense giving it back to God alright, acknowledging that these are gifts from God. 

But there are other ways that we rob God. You might ask: How? Well, Malachi again in chapter 1. Malachi chapter 1 where God also charged in verse 6 of Malachi chapter 1 said: “A son honours his father, a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honour? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? says the LORD of hosts”.

You see, God is saying that you know people who do not give that respect or honour, the glory due to Him. And when we steal His glory, when we do things and we claim glory for it. Now sometimes when people build a church, and his church grows and becomes a big, huge church, and go everywhere and tell other people: “You see, I can tell you. I can conduct a seminar alright to teach you a secret. It’s my secret of how to build a church.” We are stealing glory from God. We are thinking that it is our doing.

Now we are stealing from God because God says: Where is My glory? Where is My honour? Now we can steal from God that way. But we can also steal from God in other ways like in Daniel chapter 5. Daniel chapter 5. Alright Daniel 5, beginning in verse 22 alright- verse 22, and listen to what Daniel said here to the King Belshazzar. Verse 22 of Daniel 5: “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.”.

Verse 23: “And you have lifted yourself up against the LORD of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, and your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, and bronze and iron, and wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.”.

In other words, here is this person who knew everything that God did to his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. He knew everything, but he lived a life that’s opposite. He lived a life that is ignoring the God that He should have worshipped. Now in that sense, he’s robbing God of the worship due to God. See when people in this world live for themselves, you know what God says? This is a God who holds your breath, who gives you life, who gives you everything to enjoy. And yet you do not live for Me. You live for yourself. You’re robbing Me. You’re robbing Me, and that’s what Daniel tells the King.

And then there’s another way we can rob God of in Luke, in the New Testament. Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17, again look at verses 7 through 10. Verses 7 through 10 of Luke 17, and it says here: “And which of you, having a servant ploughing or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

But will he not (verse 8) rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”.

Now the Lord Jesus Christ is giving an example to illustrate a point that when a servant serves you, the servant has only done what is his duty to do and no more. That is his duty, and Jesus applies to us. We are God’s servants. We are duty-bound. We have a duty to serve God. And when we have served God, what do you expect? The church will come to you and say thank you, thank you for coming to church? Thank you, thank you for arranging chairs. Thank you. Thank you. We expect all the “thank you, thank you”, and then we go home and we expect God to say you know: “Thank you, thank you.”

Now you see that is how a lot of Christians behave. Now when we do something a little bit for God, a little bit for the church, we feel so great. We want all the praises. No! If you have not done, then you are stealing God of service. Then you’re stealing from God because you have only done what you ought to have done. That’s what Jesus said. And so you see, we can steal from God in so many other ways and in so many ways. And I said that is the worst form of stealing. It’s not just stealing people’s money. It’s when we dare steal from God and we dare steal from God in so many ways.

You see we must therefore read the eighth commandment as thieves. Are we not thieves? Have we not stolen from other people as well as from God? Then I want you to remember this: When our Lord Jesus Christ was hung on the cross that day, remember that there were two thieves. They were all thieves all around Him, now both were thieves. But there’s one difference between the thieves: One repented, but the other hardened. I want to ask you: Which of the two thieves are you? Let’s pray.

“Our Father in heaven, again as we meditate on Your words, as we study Your Commandments, the more O Lord we see our sin, see how far short we are of the glory of God. And we pray therefore that we might be like that thief, coming to see his sin, coming to see how wicked he is that he repented. Help us Lord to be repentant in our lives and that our life may be honouring and pleasing to You, for this, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.