S1: Today on bold steps with Mark job, we're discovering ancient
S1: words for new life.
S2: Thou shalt not steal means thou shalt not steal. We
S2: open up the small door of taking, and we open
S2: up a culture of taking in our lives that can
S2: invade our spirit, damage our soul, and begin to remove
S2: the favor of God upon us.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody
S1: Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New Life Community
S1: Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, as we move
S1: forward in our look at the Ten Commandments, we're looking
S1: at commandment number eight thou shalt not steal. And it's
S1: not as simple or straightforward as it sounds, is it, Mark?
S3: No, it's not Wayne. Most people that hear this maybe think, hey,
S3: I've never committed armed robbery or deliberately gone out and
S3: hijacked a car. Those are the extreme examples, right? But
S3: a heart of compromise that takes that which doesn't belong
S3: to us, even in the small things, I think opens
S3: up a door of repercussions just as severe as carjacking
S3: may be in the spiritual realm. Yeah. And I think
S3: that there's a lot more people guilty of the heart
S3: of thou shalt not steal violating that commandment than what
S3: we think.
S1: Well, let's open up our soul to the Spirit of God.
S1: So he speaks to us through this message. Thou shalt
S1: not steal. Here's Mark Jobe.
S2: I don't know if you've ever been robbed before, but
S2: there is something about someone taking something from you that's
S2: not theirs that just kind of stirs up this Sense
S2: of violation. How about it? How many of you have
S2: ever been robbed before someone robbed something? Uh, I was
S2: thinking a little bit, uh, a couple of years ago
S2: when we started our Humboldt Park campus. I was having
S2: a staff meeting at the church, getting ready to launch
S2: a service there, and so I was running late. I
S2: parked my car and ran into the to the meeting
S2: that we're having, but I forgot to take my GPS.
S2: I forgot to hide my GPS. And so an hour
S2: and a half later, when I came out, my the
S2: driver's side window was broken. They'd stolen my GPS, and I,
S2: I saw the car and I thought, where's the punk
S2: that did this? Well, I was mad, I was mad. Why?
S2: Because I had to find a I had to clean
S2: up the glass. I had to find a place to
S2: replace the window. They took my GPS and there's something like, hey,
S2: don't you know this belongs to me? You're not allowed
S2: to take this. A few years ago, I remember another
S2: incident where I was walking down a street in Madrid
S2: with my wife and, and I was walking down the street.
S2: I looked, I looked over at her, I noticed this
S2: hand in her purse and I turned around and there
S2: I caught him red handed, a 16 year old boy
S2: trying to rob my wife's purse. And so he took
S2: off running. I took off running after him. I mean,
S2: we were both going as fast as we could. But
S2: you say, pastor, what would you have done if you
S2: caught him? I don't know, I'd pray for wisdom from God. Um.
S2: He ran into a subway, chased him as far as
S2: I could, but he got away. But I remember feeling indignant. Hey,
S2: you're trying to take something that doesn't belong to you.
S2: This belongs to me. You can't take it from us.
S2: Anybody that's been robbed has felt that way. Why? In
S2: part because there is a sense of there are boundaries.
S2: And when something belongs to you, it is. It is yours.
S2: And when someone forcibly takes that without asking, it is
S2: a violation of not only the laws of the land,
S2: but it's a violation of spiritual laws that have consequences
S2: not only legal, but more importantly, there are spiritual consequences. Now,
S2: you may not realize this, but I am convinced that
S2: the eighth commandment, the breaking of the eighth commandment, has
S2: been so diluted that I believe that a great majority
S2: of our society practices the breaking of the eighth commandment
S2: in one way or another. It's kind of like the
S2: the husband that told his wife, hey, do you realize
S2: that the cleaning lady that came in to clean our house,
S2: I caught her red handed stealing our towels, and she said,
S2: what towels were they? He said, well, the ones with
S2: the Holiday Inn logo on them. I believe there's this
S2: sort of, this pervasive culture where we look at certain
S2: types of stealing and robbery as, okay, as long as
S2: it doesn't seem to be aggressive. We view it as okay.
S2: And I want to talk about that for a second,
S2: because I believe that, uh, we are sowing seeds that
S2: open up doors to the kingdom of darkness instead of
S2: the kingdom of light when we violate the eighth commandment.
S2: Jesus said in John chapter ten, verse ten, the thief comes.
S2: Speaking of Satan, the enemy. The thief comes to steal, kill,
S2: and destroy. Jesus said, I have come to give and
S2: to give life more abundantly. The kingdom of Darkness culture
S2: is characterized by taking the Kingdom of light. Culture is
S2: characterized by giving anything that becomes a taker is buying
S2: in to the values of the kingdom of darkness. Anything
S2: that is a giver is buying into the values of
S2: the kingdom of light. Jesus came to give. The enemy
S2: came to take. When we violate the eighth commandment, we
S2: are opening up our lives for the enemy to come
S2: in and begin to create a kingdom of darkness culture
S2: within our lives. I want to talk to you about
S2: some of the camouflage ways that the enemy actually has
S2: seeped into our American culture and made the breaking of
S2: the eighth commandment something that is culturally accepted, for example.
S2: I want to just give you a few ways that
S2: the eighth commandment is violated. Number one, property theft. That
S2: is to take something from someone else, a property that's
S2: not yours. For example, tools taken from the job. You
S2: work at a construction site. You figure the boss has
S2: a lot of hammers, a lot of saws, a lot
S2: of tape measures, and you don't have as many as
S2: he has, so he's not going to miss it. So
S2: you just take a few tools that you need to
S2: use in your project. In the back of your mind,
S2: you justify it by I will return it one day,
S2: and then suddenly you're building up a whole chest tool
S2: full of tools that all came from the job, and
S2: we excuse it as though, well, it's no one's going
S2: to miss it. It's no big deal, but actually is
S2: a widespread practice. And taking 60% of the inventory, 66
S2: of the inventory lost last year in America is attributed
S2: to employee theft. That amounts to not millions of dollars,
S2: but actually billions of dollars. In the United States, department
S2: store pilferage exceeds $4 billion a year. One estimate said
S2: that one out of every 52 customers a day carries
S2: away at least one unpaid item. My 19 year old daughter,
S2: while she's working her way through college, she actually is
S2: working at a at a at a clothing store. And
S2: there's been several days when she's come back to me
S2: and she'll say, dad, you can't believe how blatant people
S2: are about going and robbing clothes. I mean, it's just crazy.
S2: Not only teenagers, but their parents as well. If they
S2: can get away with it, they feel like, hey, it's okay.
S2: And you say, well, they must be in extreme poverty. Uh,
S2: it's not Limited to people in poverty. Lindsay Lohan is
S2: doing it and she's not in poverty. It's the idea
S2: that if I can get away with taking something without
S2: being caught, then it's actually okay. One economist has said
S2: that if thefts stopped in America, we could balance the
S2: budget between 3 to 5 and between 3 to 5 years.
S2: Property theft. The second camouflage way that we break the
S2: eighth commandment is employee theft. Employees admitted to an average
S2: of 20% of their time at work goofing off. That
S2: accounts for a four day a week, work day. Work week. 20%
S2: of your time talking social media. You're supposed to be
S2: inputting data onto your computer, and you're just checking Facebook
S2: statuses and emailing people and doing a little YouTube, entertaining
S2: yourself a little bit. And you say, well, pastor, everybody
S2: does it. It's no big deal. But here's the way
S2: it works. Listen, if you're being paid $15 an hour
S2: and you wasted an hour, you just stole $15 from
S2: your employer. You may not see it that way, but
S2: it's a violation of the eighth commandment. Thou shalt not steal.
S2: Coming late to work, leaving early and punching a card
S2: that makes it sound like you've been there. Violation of
S2: the eighth commandment. 50% of all working Americans admit to
S2: calling in sick when they were not. Nice day outside.
S2: Who wants to go to work in the summertime? Call
S2: up the boss. Are really feeling sick. I don't know
S2: what it is.
S4: Must be that bug going on. Please. I can't go
S4: in today.
S2: Click up. Put on your bathing suit down to Oak
S2: Street Beach. Um, violation of the eighth commandment, you say? Well, pastor,
S2: everybody does it. It's no big deal. But what I'm
S2: trying to tell you that it may not be a
S2: big deal in our culture, but according to God, you
S2: are violating a a commandment that opens up doors in
S2: your life for the seed of the kingdom of darkness
S2: to begin to infiltrate in your life. Deep theft. In
S2: other words, getting into debt without the intention of paying it.
S2: Psalms 3721 says, the wicked borrow and do not repay.
S2: Child support, theft, having alimony and child support that you
S2: try to slither out of by either not reporting the
S2: job that you're at, or being paid under the table
S2: in cash so that you can escape alimony payments. Let
S2: me tell you, I believe that that's one of the
S2: worst kind of thefts that can occur when you have
S2: a child and you try to work your way out
S2: of the responsibility of paying alimony for that child. In fact,
S2: can I tell you this? Unfortunately, I've had a few
S2: conversations of phone calls of of someone that will tell me, hey,
S2: pastor Mark, you don't know me. We've never met, but
S2: my ex-husband goes to your church, and I'm a little
S2: desperate here because they work. But yet there's been five
S2: years that I haven't seen a single payment given to me.
S2: Could you please do something about that? Listen, I don't
S2: want to get those calls. I want to get a
S2: call that says this. Pastor Mark, you don't know me,
S2: but my ex-husband goes to your church. Before he went
S2: to your church, he never paid one dime in alimony payment.
S2: Now that he's going to your church, man, he started
S2: to pay me on a regular basis because I don't
S2: know what God has done in his life. That's the
S2: kind of phone call I want to get.
S1: Discovering the deeper meaning behind commandment number eight. That's what
S1: we're learning today in this message from our series on
S1: rock solid Living. You're listening to pastor Mark Jobe, and
S1: this is Bold Steps to hear this message again, or
S1: to listen to any of Mark's previous messages in this
S1: new series, please visit us online at Bold Steps. And
S1: while you're there, be sure to sign up for Mark's
S1: email devotional. Start your week off right with a bold
S1: step or weekly, it's delivered right to your inbox each
S1: Monday morning and is free. Get to steppin in your
S1: walk with Christ today when you go to Bold Steps.
S1: Now let's step into the second half of today's message.
S1: Mark is titled it Thou Shalt Not Steal.
S2: There's not only child support theft, there's insurance theft. When
S2: you try to build the insurance company out of something.
S2: And hey, if you think you've escaped unscathed out of
S2: all of this and you say, miss me, miss me,
S2: miss me, you didn't get me, pastor ha! I think
S2: I'm doing good. What about pirating? Oh, I've never joined
S2: a pirate club. No, no, no, I'm not talking about
S2: pirate like Redbeard. I'm talking about copying, uh, movies, CDs,
S2: music that you haven't paid for, that you somehow get
S2: downloaded and you get it for yourself. And you say, pastor,
S2: it's not hurting anybody. But the bottom line, I'm telling you,
S2: is that it's still legally considered theft. Well, it was
S2: praise music pastor. Worse yet, even. The point that I'm
S2: making is that oftentimes we're violating the Ten Commandments. And
S2: you say, well, pastor, don't get legalistic about it. Everybody
S2: does it. And it's sort of expected in our culture.
S2: I mean, I walk through the grocery store and okay,
S2: so I give my son an apple and he eats it. And,
S2: and I have a little bunch of grapes while we're
S2: walking there. You pretty much fool by the time you
S2: get to the counter and you haven't paid for that
S2: food yet either. And although it may seem small to
S2: the rest of our society, here's the point. The point
S2: is thou shalt not steal means thou shalt not steal.
S2: We open up the small door of taking, and we
S2: open up a culture of taking in our lives that
S2: can invade our spirit, damage our soul, and begin to
S2: remove the favor of God upon us. That's why. I
S2: want to I want you to see a couple verses here,
S2: because I believe that violating the eighth commandment, stealing or
S2: robbery or thievery, stops the flow of God's blessing and
S2: the favor on our life. And let me give you
S2: a few verses to that effect so that you can
S2: see it. In Zechariah chapter five, verse three, the prophet
S2: is speaking to the people of Israel, and he's talking
S2: about commandment thou shalt not lie on one side of
S2: the tablets, and thou shalt not steal. On the other
S2: side of the tablets and he says, this curse is
S2: going out over the whole land. The curse of what?
S2: What is a curse? A curse is the opposite of
S2: a blessing. Blessing is the favor of God. Curse is
S2: the withdrawal of the favor of God. Blessing makes life
S2: go easier. Curse makes life go more difficult. Blessing is
S2: like the oil that causes the engine to run smoother.
S2: Curse is like the withdrawal of the oil that makes
S2: it difficult, more more difficult to to move forward. And
S2: the prophet is telling Israel, there's a curse that's going
S2: over the whole land. And they ask why? He says,
S2: for according to what it says on one side, one
S2: side of the tablet, every thief will be banished. The
S2: prophet is saying, there's a curse coming upon the land,
S2: because there's widespread thievery happening among the people that are
S2: supposed to belong to God. In Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 17,
S2: it says, cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's
S2: boundary stone. Now, in an agrarian society, your land is
S2: your most important source of income. You plow you till
S2: you plant and your income comes from that. So if
S2: you lose land and what some of the ancients would
S2: do is they would move the boundary, they would move
S2: at night, they would move the rocks that marked the
S2: boundary of their land. And if they could move it
S2: over 3 or 4ft, they would gain a whole stretch
S2: of land and increase their income. But it was robbing
S2: their neighbor. And God says, cursed is the man that
S2: moves the stone. In other words, when you rob your neighbor,
S2: there's a curse that comes upon your life the withdrawal
S2: of the favor of God. First Corinthians chapter six, verse
S2: ten says, do you know the wicked will not inherit
S2: the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. And then
S2: he lists a whole bunch of things that will not
S2: inherit the kingdom of God. And among them he says,
S2: nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the slanderers,
S2: nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. What I'm
S2: pointing out to you is that God takes seriously the
S2: breaking of the Ten Commandments, the Ten Commandments, but he
S2: takes seriously the breaking of the eighth commandment that violates
S2: the nature of God's heart, which is the heart of
S2: giving and turns us into takers. One last verse I
S2: want to give you under this is Malachi chapter three,
S2: verses eight and nine. It says, Will a man rob God?
S2: Yet you rob me because you ask, how do we
S2: rob you in tithes and offerings? You're under a curse,
S2: the whole nation of you, because you're robbing me. God
S2: is saying anything that you take that doesn't belong to you.
S2: Anything that you owe someone else, including what you owe
S2: to give to God. And yet you do not give.
S2: Becomes a curse to you. Now here's the way it works.
S2: I believe that giving and releasing Jumpstarts a Kingdom of
S2: God cycle in your life that counters the enemy's cycle
S2: of destruction. Notice what the Apostle Paul told to the
S2: Ephesian believers in Ephesians chapter four, verse 27 through 28.
S2: I want you to listen to this. This is huge.
S2: I want you to grasp this because some of you
S2: may be arguing, well, pastor, I don't see what the
S2: big deal is. Okay, so I checked out a half
S2: hour early at my job without working. I don't see
S2: what the big deal is. Okay, so I lied a
S2: little bit on my income tax. Do you know? I
S2: need the money a lot more than the US government
S2: needs the money. Okay, so I took a few tools
S2: from my job. Our tendency could be to excuse it.
S2: What I want you to understand is that it's not
S2: just about the quantity. It's not about the dollar amount.
S2: What it's about is the seeds that you are planting
S2: in your life, and the negative effect that they can have.
S2: And you may be sowing curses, so to speak, into
S2: your life without even realizing it. Upon the violation of
S2: the eighth commandment, I want you to see this. Ephesians
S2: 427 through 28. It says, the apostle Paul says, and
S2: do not give the devil a foothold. And spiritually, what
S2: God is saying is that when you give a foothold
S2: to the enemy, it means that the door is wide
S2: enough open so that more and more can start slithering
S2: in through that foothold that you've given to begin to
S2: bring about an atmosphere of destruction upon your life. And
S2: so the Apostle Paul says, and do not give the
S2: devil a foothold. And then he says, he who has
S2: been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing
S2: something useful with his own hands that he may have
S2: something to share with those in need. Hold on a second.
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with our Bible teacher, Mark Jobe.
S1: We'll continue this lesson and our current series called Rock
S1: Solid Living when we come back Monday. But quickly, I
S1: want to change gears for a moment and discuss a
S1: valuable opportunity we have for our listeners. Mark. Many parents
S1: wonder how to help their daughters and navigate the challenge
S1: in the tween years. And that's why we're grateful for
S1: our bold step gift this month. Lies Girls believe.
S3: Yeah, we have the author, Dana Gresh, with us today
S3: in our studio, and I'm so excited about this resource
S3: because I think it's so needed. And so, Dana, tell me, uh,
S3: how does this book help facilitate like conversations between specifically,
S3: maybe a mother and her 11 year old daughter.
S5: That is the whole point of it. My heart beats
S5: for parents to be in the driver's seat of their
S5: moral development, their faith development, because God's Word tells us
S5: it's not the pastor. It's not the Christian author. It's
S5: not the Sunday school teacher. It's mom and dad who
S5: are meant to teach them biblical truth. And I guess
S5: the best way to answer your question is to sort
S5: of share a story of what happened. One of the
S5: lies in that book is I'm a Christian because fill
S5: in the blank. And when I surveyed these 1500 tween
S5: girls to write the book, they would say things like,
S5: I'm a Christian because mom and dad are or I'm
S5: a Christian because I go to church or I'm a
S5: Christian because I was born one. Those, of course, are
S5: not biblical definitions of what defines Christianity or being a
S5: follower of Jesus. They have to understand their sinfulness. They
S5: have to believe that Jesus died on the cross in, in,
S5: in punishment for that sinfulness, and they have to say
S5: it with their mouth that they believe and receive him
S5: as their Savior. And so this girl is reading this book,
S5: and she turns to her mom, and she's like, mom,
S5: I read this in the book today. I don't think
S5: I'm a Christian. And they pull to the side of
S5: the road. Mom and daughter have a conversation right there.
S5: Mom gets to participate in this sweet girl coming to
S5: the throne of Jesus for the first time in authenticity,
S5: surrendering her heart to Christ. And they're able to drive
S5: home and tell dad, guess what? She really is a
S5: Christian now. I hear stories like that every day. As
S5: the girls identify these lies, they have a eureka moment,
S5: and then they go to mom because the book is
S5: telling them, go to mom.
S3: Yeah, I love that. Love it, love it, love it. So, Wayne,
S3: if one of our listeners wants to get this book,
S3: can you tell us how?
S1: Absolutely. Just let us know. You'd like a copy of
S1: Lies Girls Believe. When you make a donation of any
S1: amount to support Bold steps, call us today at 800. D.L.
S1: Moody that's 803 3566639 or give online at boldsystems.org or
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S1: bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60,006 ten.
S1: Just be sure to mention you want a copy of
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S1: of bold partners, dedicated supporters who make it possible for
S1: listeners nationwide to encounter the life changing truths of God's Word.
S1: Your consistent support creates lasting impact. And signing up is
S1: easy at boldsystems.org. By the way, when you give this month,
S1: we'll be happy to send you an additional resource titled
S1: More Than a Label Discovering Who You Are in Christ.
S1: A brand new 15 day devotional from the desk of
S1: Mark Jobe. In this powerful new resource, Mark takes you
S1: on a journey through God's Word to reveal the truth
S1: about your identity in Christ. Through this devotional, you'll uncover
S1: who God created you to be, why your identity matters
S1: and how to live out your true purpose and calling.
S1: So get your copy of this special brand new devotional today.
S1: When you give a gift to bold steps or commit
S1: to becoming a bold partner, set up your donation today
S1: online at bird-stamps.org. Well, thanks for joining us. Don't forget
S1: to tune in to our sister program, Bold Steps Weekend
S1: as Mark tackles a challenging topic how to survive a
S1: spiritual attack. It's a message you won't want to miss.
S1: Catch it this weekend at bold steps, weekends and on
S1: many stations. I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to listen again
S1: next week when Mark continues this message titled Thou Shalt
S1: Not Steal. It's part of our series on rock solid living,
S1: and you'll hear it Monday on Bold Steps with Mark John.
S1: Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry
S1: of Moody Bible Institute.