In the sermon 'Growing in Likeness of the Anti-Thief,' Jason Dohm explores the eighth commandment, 'You shall not steal,' focusing on what it forbids and requires from believers. Dohm explains that God is interested in our interests and is open-handed and gracious, drawing a parallel to Jesus, the 'anti-thief,' who gives abundantly rather than taking. The sermon delves into how individuals have failed to obey the commandment through various forms of stealing, such as cheating, withholding wages, and unethical business practices. Dohm emphasizes the importance of honest work, ethical buying and selling, and being open-handed to those in need. He challenges listeners to consider their giving, the allocation of their income, and whether they are guilty of receiving stolen goods or cheating on taxes. The sermon concludes with a call to emulate Christ's generosity and to live with contentment and trust in God's provision.

The title of the sermon this morning is Growing in Likeness of the Anti-Thief. Last week we started considering the eighth commandment, You shall not steal. We covered what the commandment forbids, forbids stealing. We covered what the commandment requires. It requires us to help, to be open handed With those who are truly in need, we covered what it teaches about God.

I'm sure it teaches more than this about God, but I said it teaches two things. One is God is interested in your interests. In other words, by commanding the world not to steal, he deters people from stealing. There are people who are not taking from you because God commanded people not to steal. And there are people who have a disposition to help you because of what God says and is His word is good and right.

So God really is interested in our interests. What a comforting thought that is. And then finally, that we learn about God, that He is so very open-handed and gracious. So that's where the title comes from, growing in likeness of the anti-thief. Who is the anti-thief?

That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Not anti-thief in the sense that He's against thieves, I suppose, in His perfect righteousness He certainly is that. Meaning He is the exact polar opposite of a thief. A thief takes what is not his or hers and diminishes the one that he or she steals from. Jesus is the exact polar opposite of that giving so open-handedly, so graciously and freely.

And we need to grow to be more like that. We're not very much like that and so we need to become more like that as God would give us grace and work in our lives through the Holy Spirit. As we come to our topic, let's pray. Oh Jesus, in the gospel accounts, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, We do see you in your glory. See this most wonderful likeness of perfect righteousness and In our heart of hearts we know that we're so little like what we witness in those gospel accounts.

We don't want to stay that way. We do want to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. We do want the Holy Spirit working on us, purifying us, making us so much more open-handed, tender-hearted as we see the Lord Jesus is. Please use the preaching of your word to help us, I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, so we covered those first three things of our pattern last week.

What the commandment forbids, number two, what it requires, number three, what it teaches about God. So this week is number four and number five. Number four being how we have failed to obey the eighth commandment. How we have failed to keep the eighth commandment. Last week I defined stealing as taking what belongs to another by fraud or by force.

By fraud, I can cheat you out of it or trick you out of it. Or by force, I can have superior power and just say that's mine and there's nothing you can do about it. We went to seven different texts, Old Testament and New, and saw that stealing includes cheating, robbing, withholding wages. That's stealing to withhold wages. Shifting boundary lines.

My property line was here, but now look, now my property line's here. How did that happen? You stole, that's how it happened. Differing weights and measures, having a light pound when you buy, having a heavy pound when you sell. No, no, no.

A pound is a pound. Not differing weights and measures, not cheating by messing with the measurements. And then in Colossians 3, Paul introduced the concept of eye service, working so diligently when the boss's eye is upon you, Working hard when the boss's eye is on you and hardly working when the boss's eye is not on you. Eye service. I want to run us through some specific instances of stealing that we didn't really fully develop last week.

Consider when you're buying or selling. When you're buying, borrowing and never paying back is stealing. You're buying, you don't have the money for it, so you borrow, but then you never pay back that stealing. You made a deal, you signed on the dotted line. I haven't run into this in a long time, but I have run into this.

I have known people who thought that bankruptcy was a wonderful idea. Bankruptcy is not a wonderful idea. It is the defaulting on commitments that you made. That's not to say that there's never an instance where when you're without the means to pay, there was something built into the deal that allows you to get out of it under certain circumstances. But generally speaking, filing for bankruptcy and defaulting on your debts is stealing.

Generally speaking, it is. When you're buying but you don't have the money so you borrow and then you never pay it back you didn't hold up your end of the deal or when you're selling when you're selling we're in the in an eBay Craigslist world now So more of us are selling to more people than ever before. Do you disclose everything that the buyer has a right to know? Or do you fudge the description? Like new!

Like new. Just a few cosmetic scuffs. That better be true if it's in the description. If not, that's a violation of the eighth commandment. Here the golden rule is a wonderful guide.

We talked about the golden rule, Matthew chapter 7 verse 12. Jesus says, whatever you would have men do to you, do to them. And that's the first rule we probably teach our children. However you want to be treated, treat them. What do you want disclosed to you when you're the buyer?

Then that's what you should be disclosing when you're the seller. Truthful disclosure and disclosing all that the buyer has a right to know. Regarding buying and selling, is there anything in your practices akin to differing weights and measures? Where you you change the measurement depending on whether you're the buyer or the seller in order to favor. And so you You get the favorable position if you're the buyer, but you swap places and if you're the seller, wait, you still have the favorable position because of what you do with the measurements.

Is there any unethical practice in either your buying or your selling, which tricks the buyer if you're selling or tricks the seller if you're buying. You can really do either. Those things are all a violation of the Eighth Commandment. You shall not steal. Next, consider what Thomas Watson calls the house thief.

It's not a person who steals a house, by the way, we'll get there. The house thief. Listen to Thomas Watson. The house thief is a hypocrite as well as a thief, for he has demure looks. Okay, Thomas, speak English.

He is speaking English, but it's older English and we don't use demure very much so I looked it up. It means reserved, modest, shy. He has demure looks. He looks innocent, that's the point. He has all these innocent looks and pretends to be helping his master when he only helps himself.

So when he's talking about a house thief, he's talking about a servant of the house, and he looks so innocent. But when the master of the house is not around, he's helping himself to the household assets. He looks so innocent. He looks so helpful. He looks like he's advancing his master's interests, but really the interests that he's advancing are his own interests.

He's the house thief. He's been brought into the house and given a place of trust, and he exploits the place of trust to gain, to steal. Are there any circumstances where you're using a special position or a trusted relationship to acquire something by fraud? You have the place of trust, So it's a special position or a trusted relationship and you have all these innocent looks. What does Watson call it?

Demure looks. You look so innocent. There you are just advancing the person's interests who's giving you the place of trust or you've even been brought into close relationship with them. Really you're stealing from them. You have access because of the special position or the trusted relationship and you use that advantage to exploit.

One example which probably doesn't apply to anyone here, but it's just to get the juices of your thoughts flowing, of an example that would pertain to you is the company's supply closet. Most companies that you work for have a supply closet with Just supplies that people in the company are going to need. Oh yeah, my family gets all of our paper towels from the company's supply closet. That's stealing. You have a position, you have access to this.

Because of your position, you're trusted, and you use that and actually exploit the trust that's been extended to you in order to gain something that you have no right to. Next, I'm just warming up. Consider the spending of your time and especially your work time. With your work time, You have a specific deal. There's a specific understanding.

The expectation, the understanding, the deal is that you're giving something in order to get something. You're giving hours and productivity in order to get a paycheck and benefits or something like that. And quantity and quality are all part of that. The expectation of you has to do with quantity and quality. Quantity has to do with pace and focus and output and hours.

Pace. Do you just dawdle at your work? Do you think your boss thought that was the deal? Focus. You multitask all the time.

So your mind is half on your work and half on the radio. Do you think that was your boss's expectation? Output. Ultimately, what they're giving you is for not just hours, but actual things produced, productivity, Hours. And quality is part of that.

Let me just address quality by asking this question. Is half-hearted work what the boss was buying? Is so-so work what the boss thought she was buying when you made the deal? Rhetorical question. I don't need an answer.

Everybody knows the answer. The answers built into the question, of course not, is the answer. Of course half-hearted work wasn't what they thought they were bargaining for. Of course so-so work wasn't what they thought they were bargaining for. Last week we went to Colossians 3.

There's a really similar section in Ephesians 6. So let's look at that one this week. Open your Bibles to Ephesians 6 so you can see this and follow along with what I'm reading. Ephesians chapter 6. It goes right to the heart of this.

The spending of your time and especially your work time. Ephesians chapter 6. I'll be reading verses 5 through 8. Follow along. This is what Paul writes.

These are new Christians in Ephesus. Coming out of a pagan culture, there's probably a lot that this church needs to clean up in their lives. They really, they've been saved by faith, but now they need to learn to follow Jesus, and Paul addresses this in their lives. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5 through 8, he says, bond servants, we might substitute employees. Be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

We might substitute the boss with fear and trembling in sincerity of heart as to Christ, as if Christ were the boss. Think about that, as if Christ were your boss at work. Not with eye service as men pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a freak." Let me tell you, an employer who employs Somebody who's gotten hold of this, who's indwelt with the Holy Spirit, has the power to do it, and has gotten hold of this, has a humdinger of an employee, because they're not working for Acme Company. They're working for Christ. And they want their work habits to reflect their love for Christ and obedience to Christ.

So the boss doesn't have to be in the room for them to work diligently. They work diligently because They work for Christ. Christ is the boss. And they owe him everything so they wouldn't consider slacking off. Verse 5, as to Christ.

Verse 6, as bond servants of Christ. Verse 7, as to the Lord. It's so easy to consider your employer to be who you're working for And then all of their deficiencies you can factor into the deal in your mind in your justifying why you work at half pace, why you multitask all the time, why you only work hard when His eye is upon you, because you know he's got all of his own shortcomings, so what if I cheat him just a little? That's not a person working for Christ. Eye service is the polar opposite of as to the Lord.

Oh look at me I'm working fast, no multitasking, the boss is here, the boss leaves the room, on comes my favorite radio program, I'm half pace, my work product is so-so, That is not as to the Lord. Our work habits matter. The quantity of our work was part of the deal. The quality of your work is part of the deal. Your employer made a deal with you.

What if they started giving you half a check? How long before you would complain? A nanosecond. Excuse me, something's missing. You're not upholding your part of the deal.

By the way, students and chore doers. Hello. That won't look up. That won't look up. Students and chore doers, this applies to you just like it does a worker in the workplace.

Next. Consider the allocation of your income. How do you allocate the dollars? If you'd like, you can turn back one page to Ephesians 4.28. We covered this last week.

Listen to what Paul writes in Ephesians 4.28. He had some recovering thieves in this congregation. Not surprising these are converts right out of paganism. I bet there were some recovering thieves in the Ephesian church. What does Paul tell them?

Ephesians 4.28. Let him who stole steal no longer. Stop it. But rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. We have both sides of the coin here.

Don't steal, stop it, he says, and do have an open hand to those who are truly in need. Work hard so that you gain enough provision and beyond so that you have something to give the person who's in need. So your work is providing for your own needs with leftover for you to be open-handed to those who are truly in need. Both sides of the coin are here. Or what about this?

Listen to Malachi 3. Actually, turn to Malachi 3. This is the Last book in the Old Testament, so it's easy to find, it's right before Matthew. Malachi chapter 3. Last book of the Old Testament.

Malachi chapter 3 I find to be breathtaking from both sides. It has this wild promise. And it has this breath-stealing warning, meaning if this warning doesn't make you afraid and If this promise doesn't make you exhilarated, you should check for a pulse. Anything happening in there, anywhere? Malachi chapter 3, I'll read verses 8 through 12.

Malachi 3, 8 through 12. Will a man rob God? Now think, we're in the eighth commandment, you shall not steal. The last person in the universe you ought to steal from is God. So this is what's on the table in Malachi chapter 3.

Will a man rob God? Will a man rob the all-knowing, all-seeing God, the Judge, yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field says the Lord of hosts and all nations will call you blessed for you will be a delightful land says the Lord of hosts. Let me start by expressing my profound thankfulness for how strong giving has always been in this church since the first day. So at an overall level, there's so much to be thankful for in this category. But I will ask everyone here to ask yourself, if my giving was the standard for all of our giving, either by the amount that I give or by the percentage of my income, pick one, it really doesn't matter for the question. If my giving was the standard for all of our giving, would this be a church with a full-time elder in a suitable building deploying missionaries?

For some, the answer is a resounding no. You go to a church with a full-time elder and a nice rented building and that helps deploy missionaries because others pay the freight. That's true. And the truth is you wouldn't go to the church that your giving affords. What do I mean by that?

Well, your giving would afford a completely bivocational pastor, one who gets all of his income from somewhere else. And so the sermons that you get are by necessity prepared for that man in an hour or two and that's the preaching that you get and he's certainly not in a position to drop what he's doing when you have a crisis he's working to earn and provide and you wouldn't be in a suitable building you'd be in the building that could be could be afforded you'd be jammed into a bad facility and you wouldn't be deploying missionaries I mean the Templetons would be sitting right here. If you went to the church that you could afford, you'd be out of there like that. Some people will never be able to afford to give because that's how they think of it. When it is quite possible that their giving constrains God's financial provision for them.

They dishonor God in their giving so God doesn't honor them in His provision. I stand on Scripture to say these things. These are some of the hardest hitting things I've said in nine years. I know that. I know you're saying, I can't believe He's saying those things.

Believe it. It is, it's here. It's here. Next. It's here.

It's here. Next. Consider if you've been a receiver of stolen goods. That can happen too. And my question is this, is it sufficient to say, where it came from is not my concern.

I don't know, and I don't want to know. When we receive, again, we are in the day of eBay and in the day of Craigslist. And I don't think we have an obligation to go to the nth degree to find out what the source of things were. But there are things that have to give off the signs that this probably came from somewhere that is not right. And I know the temptation to say, I don't know where that came from and I don't want to know because this is a great deal on something I want.

That perpetuates stealing. Next. That perpetuates stealing. Next, consider if you're paying your taxes. All of your taxes.

Jesus says to render to Caesar what is Caesar's. He was answering the question, should we pay taxes to wicked Caesar? He says, give Caesar what Caesar's. He says pay your taxes in Matthew 22. Paul says this in Romans 13 verses 6 and 7.

Romans 13, he starts by saying, all authority is from God. And he gives civil magistrates to restrain evil in a society. And then he says this, after starting the topic that way in Romans 13 verses 6 and 7, Paul says this, for because of this, because God has put people in place, a civil magistrate in place to restrain evil, because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing." you pay people to do that full time, your taxes do. Render, therefore, to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due. Again, Jesus was talking about Caesar.

Paul was talking about, probably at the time he was writing, one of the most wicked Caesars ever. So you can't say, well, we have an unrighteous government, an unrighteous system, so if Jesus had to had Jesus only know, Jesus did know. Had Paul only know, Paul knew. Paul was martyred under one of these Caesars. Cheating on your taxes is stealing, it's quite simple.

Finally, consider if you are stealing other people's work. Is there any area of your life where you're taking another person's work and representing it as your own. That's stealing. Major point number five, how the Lord Jesus has perfectly obeyed The eighth commandment. Are you ready for something happier?

Alright, point five. Let's talk about something happier. How the Lord Jesus has perfectly obeyed the eighth commandment. The eighth commandment, you shall not steal. These negatively framed commandments to tell you what not to do.

There's not much to say when you talk about Jesus. He never did any of the things that we're not to do. Never one single time in his life. He never thought it, let alone saying it or doing it. There's not even a hint of Jesus violating any of these principles or applications of the commandment not to steal in the Gospels.

Jesus did pay his taxes. He didn't just say to pay them, he paid them. In Matthew 17, a person responsible for collecting The temple tax comes to Peter and says, does your teacher not pay the temple tax? Peter says yes, yes, he pays the temple tax. And then Jesus gives him a way to go catch a fish, and my temple tax and yours will be in the mouth of the fish, and it was.

But on the other side of the coin where we are to be open-handed and gracious, remember that's the other side of you shall not steal, is helping those who are truly in need, being open-handed. You can't just not rob someone and say, I've kept this commandment. The commandment includes being open-handed to those who are in need. In open-handedness and graciousness, just giving lavishly, freely, fully, Jesus has no competition. Just read the gospels again.

He healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. He gave hearing to the deaf. He made the lame walk. He fed the hungry.

In summary, as Peter says in Acts 10.38, he went about doing good. Peter summarized Jesus' life and what we see of him in the Gospel is just right. He went about doing good. What did Jesus do every day of his life? He went about doing good.

From the time that he woke up to the time that he went in bed, went to bed. Listen again to Romans 13 verse 9. I keep quoting Romans 13 verse 9, but it keeps mentioning the commandments specifically that we're studying. We've got two more to come that is mentioned here. Paul writes this in Romans 13 9, for the commandments you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, the eighth commandment, our commandment today, you shall not bear false witness, that's next week, You shall not covet, that's three weeks from now, and if there is any other commandment are all summed up in this saying, namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Paul says take all these commandments, you sum them up with you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I mean, that tells you so plainly that obedience to you shall not steal goes far beyond don't rob someone. Love for your neighbor requires more than just what you don't do. It includes what you must do for those who are truly in need. Jesus is the anti-thief.

He is the exact polar opposite of a thief. A thief takes what isn't his or hers and diminishes the resources of the one he or she steals from. Jesus gives in abundance, right in the face of no rightful expectation. Who can say, Jesus owes me? Because you don't have a rightful expectation, so he has no compulsion to give to you, no need to give to you outside of his eternal character which compels him because he's a giving God.

That's his compulsion to give to you. Not your rightful claim to anything that he has or can give, but his own unchanging, eternal, gracious, merciful nature. He's a giver. He's so much more than not a thief. There's that Jesus, not a thief.

No, no, no, no. You could never stop there. You would have to fill that out. I'll end with 1 John 3, 16 and 17. And then we'll do a couple of applications.

We're not that close. 1 John 3 verses 16 and 17, by this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. That's how you know love. The cross. Jesus laid down His life for us with no obligation to do so, just because He's a giver.

Because His eternal nature is an eternally gracious, merciful, abundantly giving nature. Verse 17, 1 John 3, verse 17. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?" This goes right to what we're talking about. How can you be anything like Jesus? How can you have anything in any interest in Jesus If you see your brother in need and you just close up your heart to him, it's just evidence that there's no life there.

That's what's being said. Back to the sermon title, growing in likeness of the anti-thief. The day you're born again, you're so unlike the beautiful image of perfect righteousness that Jesus is. And some things you shed quickly, some things you shed slowly, but sanctification or growing to be like Jesus happens over a lifetime. Jesus is so open-handed and gracious.

I trust, I mean I know that the day after I was born again, however many years ago, I wasn't very open-handed and gracious. And I have so much room for growth to become more open-handed, more and more gracious. God wants to transform us into something that goes so far beyond not a thief. Oh, that Jason, he's not a thief. Applications, I'll give you three.

Number one, If there is anything that you need to make right, make it right. Step one is to stop. Some of this has pricked your conscience. Step one is to stop the bleeding. As Paul says in Ephesians 4.28, let him who stole steal no longer.

Step one, stop stealing. If you find that you're stealing. You can become so insensitive to this. My pastor friend who had been using other men's sermons had become almost totally desensitized to it over time. And then you get a jolt like a sermon.

It makes you think, I've been stealing. You know, you'll be asleep again before you know it if you don't take action right away. If there's something that needs to be made right, make it right. Two, remember something that I said last week. Behind Almost all theft, not all, but almost all theft is discontent and distrust.

God won't give me what I really need. I'm not content with the life that he's given me, the things that he's chosen for me. So I'll take it. Or distrust. I'm afraid.

And I don't think what I'm...my basic needs are going to be met, so I take out of fear and distrust. You know, that's just...oh, I was afraid. You know what? That's just sin. That's sin.

You don't get any points because you were afraid. That's sin. That's not an acceptable excuse. We have a God in heaven who is ultimately trustworthy and you don't trust Him. Call it what it is.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, 6, godliness with contentment is great gain. That's what we need. That's really what stops thieving. Being satisfied in God is ultimately... You put all sorts of safeguards in place and I think we should, we can go back through sermon notes and all that's fine, but I'm saying if you're not satisfied in God, you'll be back to thieving.

To be in the place where you just thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly trust Him and are content with what He's thought was good to give you is the place where not only do you not steal from other people but you're open handed and gracious. Three and finally, Matthew 10, Jesus is sending out disciples to preach and He's also sending them out to heal and cast out demons. He says this to them in Matthew 10 verse 8, freely you have received, freely give. That's it, that's it, that's all of it, that's the whole sermon, forget everything else I said. Freely you have received, freely give.

Has God been open-handed with you? Yes, He has. Has God been gracious with you? If you're in the faith, you know you owe a debt you could never repay. You received it freely, now freely give.

You have a reservoir to draw on. To be more like Christ, to be a giver, not a taker. Become more like the anti-thief. Exact polar opposite. Someone who takes what's not theirs and diminishes someone else.

I mean Jesus couldn't be further from that. How could you imagine Jesus being further from that? Our God, thank You for Your Word. Where You've pricked our consciences or maybe clubbed our consciences today, God, I pray that you would help us. Help us to repent and believe, to turn away from all that we're doing that is not right in your eyes, and to seek to be totally satisfied in the Lord Jesus so that we can just be so content knowing that everything you've given to us has been given out of perfect wisdom to have given us more would not have been as good as what you've done for us.

Help us to live by faith in Jesus name. Amen.