Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
June 6, 2018
We are now ready for our next commandment; the eighth commandment which is found in Exo 20:15 "You shall not steal."
Lo' tignob --- correctly translated "You shall not steal", --- stealing refers to anything that falls under the category of things that are natural or spiritual.
- There is stealing materialism.
2. There is stealing your time.
3. There is stealing your talent. - There is stealing your talent.
5. There is stealing your treasure.
6. There is stealing your reputation.
You need to beware of being a victim and you need to guard His word in your heart so that you do not sin against God by becoming a villain -- one who steals from others.
We had a warning to protect divine institution #1, volition, or the freedom to choose life by honoring EXO 20:13 "You shall not murder.
We had a warning to protect divine institution #2, marriage when it says in EXO 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery."
Divine institution # 3 = The family - EXO 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you."
Life is protected, marriage is protected, and the family is protected, all by a commandment in the Mosaic Law.
We have NO right to take another person's life unless they are criminals who broke the Law and capital punishment is the penalty of the crime, or if you die in the military protecting the freedom of your nation.
We have commandments that honor divine institution #1, Volition, which is to protect our freedom; You shall not murder. Exo 20:13.
Divine institution #2, marriage, which is to protect marriage; EXO 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.
A violation of the property you own or possess in EXO 20:15 "You shall not steal."
This commandment, "You shall not steal" is for the protection of your private property and protection from the scourge of sin.
It establishes the divinely given right of the individual to own personal property and possessions, and it limits the role of government to the protection of this property.
The concept of privacy and private property is basic to the survival of individual liberty, and this commandment is another of God’s provisions for the protection of the human race during the course of the angelic conflict.
Stealing is a violation of your privacy and your right to own property.
If you steal something, you are a thief who thinks you have the right to take what you can or whatever you are lusting after.
When someone steals from us, it feels like we have been raped, of course it isn't as bad as being raped but Satan does torture us to try and get even at times.
If what you possess belongs to you, you have the right to do with it whatever you want or desire.
This was a test that the early church went through in the book of Acts; Act 5:1-11.
MAT 25:45, our Lord said "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me."
ACT 9:1 - Saul who later on became the apostle Paul, was threatening and murdering the disciples of the Lord, both men and women, and would bring them bound to Jerusalem to have them killed.
Who was Paul persecuting Jesus or the Christians?
It couldn't have been Jesus because He was in heaven seated at the right hand of God says Eph 2:6.
It had to be the people of God or the Lord's people that this verse is talking about.
I.P. -- To persecute the Lord's people is to persecute the Lord, or the Lord's temple where He indwells us corporately.
By corporately I mean as a community of believers who make up any local assembly as a Temple of God.
It is true that your physical body is a temple of the Holy Spirit but so is your spiritual body, the Church which you are a part of is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
That is your physical body but also a reference to the spiritual body that you have been called to in 1Pe 5:2, where you are to glorify God with your Time, Talent, and Treasure and operating in your spiritual gift.
The temple is called "we" not "you" referring to the church that you are a part of.
It is usual to regard these verses as referring to the individual Christian, but the Epistle is addressed not just to a believer but "unto the Church of God which is at Corinth,"
God the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to write these things to the believers who were at Corinth, 2Ti 3:16-17.
God is building a home or a Temple and He is using you to furnish it and finish it.
This means that you have the opportunity to build, the opportunity to live and the opportunity to build a soul-structure within, regardless of all the problems with the giants you may be facing in the "promise land."
The Church, the body of Christ, is referred to as a temple.
He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation of the Church and now He's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.
Paul gives us a very serious warning concerning not only our communion and fellowship with the Lord but how the church should have communion and fellowship with one another and not judge one another.
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you [you is the second person plural = ya'll or believers] you all are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you [second person plural = ya'll]?
1CO 3:17 If any man destroys the temple of God that is the church of God, --- [notice the temple of God is called the Church of God.]
God will destroy him, for the temple of God is Holy, and that is what you [Second person plural = you all] are.
Verse 19 tells us to be God's fool is the path to true wisdom.
That is not discerning the value of the impeccability of our Lord's physical body as well as it can refer to His Church, the spiritual body of Christ or the Temple of God.
Not discerning the blood of the Lord or His spiritual death and His finished work on the cross where He died for our sins and also for those in the Temple or His Church.
2CO 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh or according to human viewpoint but rather divine viewpoint;
EPH 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender‑hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
The divine viewpoint of the church or the temple of God is found in such passages as JOH 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
ACT 17:11 Now these were more noble‑minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.
For the best results and for the correct and the most accurate translation of any passage, it is wise to stay under the authority of the principle we call "ICE."
- Isagogics is the historical setting of the passage.
- Categories is the systematic theology developed from combining Scripture with Scripture.
- Exegesis is the grammatical and syntactical analysis of the passage from the original languages.
It is important that we also know not "what glorifies the Lord" but "how to glorify the Lord."
1Co 3:17 that God will destroy him, for the temple of God is Holy, and that is what you are.
Because you have not judged or evaluated the Lord's body, His church, His temple, correctly.
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep or died because they did not or do not discern the Lord's spiritual body which is His church, also called His Temple .
They did not or do not discern the Lord's physical body which He kept Holy and impeccable or His spiritual body which is His church and His Temple.
His spiritual body presently also known as His church, His Temple will forever be known as the bride of Christ for all eternity and it cannot be overstated or should ever be taken for granted; Pro 20:25.
The bride of Christ will be occupied with her right man, TLJC, for all of eternity and will do whatever her husband desires for all of eternity.
Do you operate with the Temple of God with your spiritual gift for in ROM 12:6 And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly:
Or do you neglect or reject your spiritual gift for 1TI 4:14 says Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you.
Or a the apostle Peter states in 1PE 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Notice the three main words I mentioned, exercise, neglect, serve.
Exercise -- ROM 12:6, let each exercise their gift accordingly:
I.P.= The operation of your spiritual gift has been given to serve others in the Temple of God or the Church of Jesus Christ.
How do you judge yourselves rightly?
PSD#1 - Rebound or confession of sin or rebound and recovery, if needed or necessary.
We need to be careful how we treat one another in the Temple of God as we would have treated TLJC.
PRO 11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.
This is especially true in the communication of doctrine for the last thing you want is to over-emphasize one doctrinal principle over another.
2TI 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
In 2PE 1:20-21, no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Here we see how the scripture reveals to the believer the very life and breath of God; Joh 6:45;63.
In JOH 6:63, it is the scripture or the words from God that carry the very life of God.
The Word of God, the very scriptures in the Bible, is really a revelation of to the fact that the word is God and God is the word, Joh 1:1.
Look at another principle concerning the importance of the scriptures because they reveal or bear witness of TLJC; Joh 5:39.
The scriptures also reveal the very life of God in the power of the Spirit, JOH 7:38.
If all these principles are true, and they are, then think how many times ignorant believers attack TLJC when they really attacking you and the Scriptures!
The way we treat others is how we treat the Lord.
Act 5 -- notice how this section describes two thieves as those in verse 2, who kept back some of the money for themselves and then both of them sinned willfully and had full knowledge of what they both were doing.
The whole congregation of believers was united as one‑‑one heart, one mind.
Being protective of others, they didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions.