Ephesians
4:28a
"Let
him that stole steal no more:..."
Where
do we get that? From Exodus chapter 20, go back and look at it.
That of course is where the Ten Commandments are found, and right
there in verse 15 it says it as plain as day. We all should know this but we
want you to see it in Scripture.
Exodus
20:15
"Thou
shalt not steal."
In
other words, we have to respect the other persons property, so no one
has the right to just simply abscond it and take off with it. It is
one of the basic commandments of human society. To steal ones entry
into God's kingdom requires them and us to take it by force. That is to keep them in some manor away from entry and that is exactly what Satan is doing through mans religion. Man being simple, though some are highly educated by mans standards are blind to his schemes and craftiness. We here in America have many of such people on what we call capital-hill and our congress and we must not leave our highest court, they are all examples of Satan co-hearts, only more openly. The more devious ones run our religious institutions and churches. Now
again we have to remind people that, yes the moral law is still the
best system for society that you can find. In fact when we were
studying in the book of Exodus, we made the point that if society
could keep the commandments we could send our legislature home. We
could close the court houses, we could just simply throw away the
code books, because the Ten Commandments covers every aspect of
society. And if society could keep them they would be all we would
need. But of course human nature being what it is, it takes all the
above to even keep a semblance of sanity in our society today. Let’s
look at another one in Romans chapter 13, and here Paul says
basically the same thing. Even though we as believers are not under
Law, but rather under Grace. But yet these are fundamental even for
the lost of this world and the unbeliever professing belief.
Romans
13:8b-9a
"...for
he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law*. For
this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shall
not steal,"
*because
under Grace, Life and Love is the power that makes us operate.
That
is as plain as day. We realize that Paul writes to the believer, and
we do not expect the unbelieving world to not steal, because they are
going to do it one way or another. Whether it is stealing from their
boss’s time table, or cheating on their taxes, or any other way,
people are bent to stealing, it is part of the old nature. You can
tell them from these words of Paul’s to converts that they too had
come out of society that thought nothing of stealing or even lying. As even Saul of
Tarsus, a Pharisee's Pharisee he stool from God by imprisoning those
of the way and then the consenting to their death because even the Jewish Religion is
the thief under the Law. From here he moves us into the practical
side of things.
Ephesians
4:28
"Let
him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with
his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him
that needeth."
What
is the lesson? If those who have would give to those who need, they
would not have to steal. They (the unbelieving and lost) would not
resort to taking God's kingdom by force because those who understand
(the stewards) freely give what they have learned from Him. We guess
nothing irritates us more than when we read of some poor fellow that
is poverty stricken, and he is caught sealing little or nothing, and
yet he ends up in the state penitentiary. And that does happen. We
know that is awful, and we are all for punishment, but we are also
for fair punishment. And when a poor person is caught stealing just
to supply his and his families daily needs, to put him away is
ridiculous. But Paul is teaching us here for the community that has
more than enough, they should be willing to give some to those who
are in need. Both of the spiritual and with the physical supply. The important thing is this God's kingdom is mans soul and ever since Jesus gave His flesh and blood, things have changed. Changed from a purely external (Religion) to the spiritual internal kingdom in man (purely personal, relational). This is why our message is NOT a Religious message, it must be received and acted upon in understanding of faith. Because Faith is the receptivity of receiving the message, as a child would of Love, Life and Grace in the person of Christ, Who is True.
As
we read, especially the Jerusalem Post via the web and some of these
other periodicals, as much as we may disagree with Judaism, and much
of the Jewish Old Testament religion, we always have to give the
Jewish people credit for one thing in particular. You know what they
are? They are tremendous philanthropists. They will give by the
millions if they have it, and they do not do that with the same
motivation that we give. But there is something about their makeup
that if they have it they give it. Well Paul is making that very
point for us as believers, that if we have it, we should be willing
to share it with those who need it, and keep them from being prompted
to steal in order to survive, or even to enter God's kingdom. That is
why we do what we do because God has blessed us with His presence
within and therefore the scriptures are alive in us and to us. And
this we try to pass along to all. Verse 29 we suppose is a little
harder to define, but we are going to keep moving along.
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