Home	Our Hope
Bible Study		August 9, 2020
Thieves

Introduction

Are you a Thief?

I expect you'll answer, "No!" At least I hope that will be your answer. But maybe you are and you don’t know it. From my own life, I remember an incident where I stole something and didn't realize that I had done it. Maybe you are a thief like that.

I expect you'll answer, "No. I think I would have remembered that. Besides, if I'm a thief what have I been stealing? Show me the person who says I robbed them. Show me the things I robbed."

I can't show you the person and I can't show you what was stolen, but it's the easiest kind of robbery. People do it every day and never know they've done it. That's the topic of our study.

Are You Robbing God of the Praise and Glory that Belong to Him

Paul is speaking to the church of Rome with this crime. He charges the Jews there who have become Christians with a list of charges that include theft. They would have been stunned to hear the accusation because they had never thought of what they do in that way. Paul isn't wrong though.

You therefore who are teaching others, you do not teach yourself. You who are preaching that people should not steal, you are stealing! ²² You who say that people should not commit adultery, you commit adultery, and you who despise idols plunder the holy place! ²³ And you who are boasting in the Written Law, you violate the Written Law, and you insult God himself! (Romans 2:21-23)

In addition to theft, Paul charges them with adultery, idolatry, and boasting. Either they were a terrible bunch or we don't understand what Paul is saying.

The first time I remember hearing these verses, my father was preaching them as though they were literal, as though the stealing, adultery, and idolatry were physical acts. As most don't, my father didn't understand what's going on.

Two things about this should alert us that Paul can't be talking about literal theft, adultery, and idolatry. The first is that Paul's words would be much harsher. The second is the phrase "you insult God himself." If they were literal acts, God would be more than insulted.

What if Paul is refering to spiritual theft, adultery, and idolatry, whatever those were? How would they have been stealing from God, committing adultery, plundering the holy place, violating the Written Law, and insulting God?

Then the verses would be quite different. Paul would be saying, you who:

• Preach people should not steal (physical things), you are stealing (spiritual things)
  • The spiritual posssesions of God are praise and glory. They were stealing the praise and glory that belonged to God.
• Say people should not commit (physical) adultery, you commit (spiritual) adultery
  • They had created a god from the covenant and worshiped it. We can do the same things with Bibles and churches. They can become more important than God.
• Despise (physical) idols, [you] plunder (spiritual idols from) the holy place
  • To plunder is to steal by force. They had "stolen" the things in the holy place of the temple and made themselves wealthy by them. They used their understanding of those things to benefit themselves.
• Boast in the (letter of the) Written Law, you violate the (spirit of the) Written Law
  • They thought themselves flawless in the Written Law, and thus insulted God

Stealing From God

Our focus in this study is on the aspect of stealing the praise and glory that belong to God. The same ideas would apply to adultery, and idolatry.

And all of the Angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four beasts, and they fell before the throne on their faces, ¹² saying, “Amen! Glory and blessing and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God for the eternity of eternities! Amen! (Revelation 7:11-12)

God is deserving of these things and they belong to him.

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psalm 34:1)

God does many things that are praiseworthy so praise should be flowing from our mouths.

Three ways a thief steals:

• Not giving what was owed - not praising God for the things that he has done.
• Taking what is not his - taking the credit for things that God has done so the listeners will praise you instead of God.
• Getting someone else to steal for him - telling someone how praiseworthy he is.

Examples

• Not giving what was owed - What if some of that praise didn’t quite make it past your lips?
  • I made me beautiful (or sexy or hot)
  • I made me strong (or fast or tough)
  • I made me tall (or thin or muscular)
  • I made me rich (or successful)
  • I worked for these six pack abs
  • I worked for this great car (or job)
  • I made me smart (or wise or educated)
  • I have a great talent (or skill)
• Taking what is not his - What if you diverted someone else’s praise onto you?
  • Church leaders do things like this sometimes. "Come on, give Him some praise." They want you to clap so they can bask in that adulation. What God wants comes from the heart and is from a true heart.
  • If someone says you are so great/funny/smart and inside you think, "Yes, I am all that."
• Getting someone else to steal for him - What if you taught someone else to steal like you and do it in your name?
  • Church leaders do things like this sometimes. "I taught him everything he knows."

So What Praise do we Deserve?

Everything we have, everything we are comes from God.

We only deserve praise for our choices, And only if those choices were what God wanted.

That praise comes from God We do not praise ourselves = boasting

Humility

How do we Stop Stealing from God?

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The problem started with Eve but it didn’t end there

The solution is understanding how little you are compared to God and fighting the desire in your body to be equal with God

How Does God Feel About Stolen Praise and Glory?

At that time, King Herod, who was surnamed Agrippa, was seizing the people who were in the churches, to do evil to them.

²¹ But on a notable day, Herod was wearing the royal garments and sat down on the judgment seat and was speaking with the multitude. ²² All the people were crying out and saying, “These are the sayings of God and not of men.” ²³ And because he did not give the glory to God, immediately the Angel of the Lord Jehovah struck him and he was infested with worms and he died. (Acts 12:1,21-23)

Summary

If you’ve ever said or thought:

1. I made …
2. I have …
3. I am …
4. Am I …

You might be a thief