430 likes | 643 Views
God’s Will for His People (Part V). Lesson 22. The Seventh Commandment. You shall not steal!. Psalm 24:1. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. From where do all things come?. GOD OWNS ALL THINGS AND ALL PEOPLE!. 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
E N D
God’s Will for His People (Part V) Lesson 22
The Seventh Commandment You shall not steal!
Psalm 24:1 • The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
From where do all things come? • GOD OWNS ALL THINGS AND ALL PEOPLE!
2 Thessalonians 3:10 • For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat.''
The way God usually gives people money and possessions: • WE WORK FOR THEM! • Other ways of honestly receiving them: • Gifts • Inheritance • Trading
1 Timothy 5:8 • If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Why does God give us money and possessions? • To support ourselves and our families.
1 Corinthians 16:2 • On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Why does God give us money and possessions? • To support ourselves and our families. • To support the work of the church.
Ephesians 4:28 • He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
1 John 3:16-18 • This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
James 2:14-16 • What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
Why does God give us money and possessions? • To support ourselves and our families. • To support the work of the church. • To support the poor and needy.
Romans 13:6-7 • This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Why does God give us money and possessions? • To support ourselves and our families. • To support the work of the church. • To support the poor and needy. • To support the government
Underline the correct statements: • God will always give us what we want. • God will always give us what we need. • The sin against this comm. begins when our needs become bigger than our wants. • The sin against this comm. begins when our wants become bigger than our needs.
1 Timothy 6:6-10 • But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
God warns against: • Discontentment and greed that lead to CHEATING and STEALING.
Genesis 13:5-12 • Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6) But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7) And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. 8) So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.
Genesis 13:5-12 continued • 9) Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left." 10) Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12) Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.
Genesis 14:12-16 • They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. 13) One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14) When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Genesis 14:12-16continued • 15) During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16) He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. • God Urges us to help our neighbor to improve his property and to protect his property.
The Eighth Commandment • You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. • Cf. Genesis 11 – God wants us to use his gift of speech in ways which are pleasing to him.
The Gift of Speech • (Genesis 2:18-19 NIV) The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." 19) Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
The Gift of Speech • comes from God and • is to be used for his purposes. • We are responsible to God for the way we use this gift!
Don’t Give False Testimony • (Proverbs 19:5 NIV) A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free. • False testimony = using one’s tongue for evil purposes
Don’t Give False Testimony • (1 John 2:21 NIV) I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. • Don’t tell lies about your neighbor
Don’t Give False Testimony • (Proverbs 11:13 NIV) A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. • (Judges 16:18 NIV) When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
Don’t Give False Testimony • Don’t betray your neighbor to hurt him.
Don’t Give False Testimony • (2 Samuel 15:1-6 NIV) In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2) He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." 3) Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you." 4) And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice." 5) Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6) Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
Don’t Give False Testimony • Don’t give your neighbor a bad name (gossip, slander). • See James 3:1-12 for a description of the power of the tongue
Do Speak the Truth in Love • (Ephesians 4:15 NIV) Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Do Speak the Truth in Love • (Matthew 18:15-18 NIV) "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16) But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17) If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18) "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Do Speak the Truth in Love 1. If a fellow believer has done something wrong, I should first (Step 1) talk to him privately about his fault.
Do Speak the Truth in Love If he won’t listen to me, then I should (Step 2) take one or two others along as witnesses to speak to him.
Do Speak the Truth in Love If he still won’t listen, then we must (Step 3) tell it to the church.
Do Speak the Truth in Love If he refuses to listen to the church (congregation) he must be told that he has cut himself off from the church. • The church will treat him as an unbeliver. • (This is known as excommunication)
Do Speak the Truth in Love (1 Samuel 19:1-6 NIV) Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David 2) and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3) I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out." 4) Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5) He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?" 6) Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death."
Do Speak the Truth in Love 2. If my neighbor is being falsely or unfairly accused, I should defend him and speak well of him.
Do Speak the Truth in Love (1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV) It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 3. Christian love will lead me to, take everything a person says and does in the kindest possible way.
God Protects our Good Name Proverbs 22:1 A good name is worth more than great riches.