TITLE: 10 Stupid Things We Do: Fail to Respect Property
TEXT: Matthew 6:19-20
PROPOSITION: Theft, in all forms, is wrong.
QUESTION: How?
KEY WORD: Ways
SCRIPTURE READING: Same

INTRODUCTION:

1. Everyone knows that stealing is wrong.

2. This rule from God goes to the heart of ownership and property rights.

3. Part of God’s plan:

   1. Work to earn

   2. Buy to own

God Owns It All

1. Genesis 1:1 God created all things

2. Exodus 19:5 all the earth is God's

3. Psalm 24:1 Earth is the Lord's and all its fullness

4. Psalm 50:10 Every beast of the forest, cattle on 1,000 hills

5. Haggai 2:8 silver and gold

6. James 1:17 every good and perfect gift

7. God holds the first mortgage

8. It is not wrong to own – just remember where it came from.

How do we violate this command?

1. Theft – 1 Peter 4:15

2. Extortion – Luke 3:14

3. Cheat – Romans 12:17, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
   Keep too much change
   They failed to charge for item you ate

4. Employee theft – Ephesians 6:6 – Not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

5. Employer theft – James 5:4 – Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out: and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

Does “size” count?

1. Large or small amount

2. Tangible or intangible

3. Good guy or bad guy

4. Small business or big corporation

5. Force or fraud

6. Legal or illegal

Who suffers when we take what is not ours?

1. Victim

   1. Loss of possessions

   2. Loss of trust

   3. Lose sense of safety and security

2. Public – we pay

3. Thief – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – thieves will not enter heaven

4. God – Malachi 3:8 – Will a man rob God?

   1. Time – Ephesians 5:16

   2. Mind – Matthew 22:38

   3. Body – Romans 12:1

   4. Love – Matthew 22:37-39

How can this sin be prevented?

1. Old Testament –
   Proverbs 23:5 – Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
   Ecclesiastes 5:10 – He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver: Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

2. New Testament – 1 Timothy 6:7 – For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we will carry nothing out.

3. Jesus’ teaching – Luke 12:15 – And He said to them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

4. Jesus’ example –
   Matthew 8:20 – Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
   Matthew 16:26 – What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

5. Stop blaming the victim – “It is your fault for leaving the keys in the car.”

What can the guilty do?

1. Repent

2. Restitution

3. Go to work – Ephesians 4:28