Matthew 24:42, John 10:10 – What the Thief Steals – Bible study

Matthew 24:43, John 10:10 What the Thief Steals The thrust of this text is to always be ready and to watch for the Lords coming. If not, the thiefwho in this case is Jesuswill come and separate us from treasures that we are not prepared to lose. We dont often think of Jesus as being a Thief, but in this parable, Jesus is. When He comesand He is comingthose not prepared will lose all. However, I do not want to preach on the second coming this morning. Instead, I have selected this verse because of its emphasis on being ready. If we are unprepared, we become vulnerable to the thiefand I do not mean Jesus. For a moment this morning, let us focus on a different thief and on what that thief can take from us. The real thief is Satan. Jesus, speaking elsewhere of the thief, described him. John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Let us concentrate for a few moments on the thief and what he steals. I. If you are without Christ, the thief has stolen your soul. A. Let me speak about this thief for a moment. 1. It is Satan, the devil, Lucifer was his given name. 2. He is an evil, malevolent, malicious being. 3. The devil has no regard for you at all. Our trash pickup runs on Thursday morning and I sometimes pull the can under our carport on Wednesday so that I will not forget it Thursday. Then when I take the last bag out on Thursday morning, I roll it to the street. The other week I did that but the next morning when I rolled the can to the road, I was surprised to find an ant bed under it. I went and got my bug spray and sprayed the ant bed. I did not think of it until I was preparing this message, but I had absolutely no regard for those ants. I never considered them to be living creatures. I only considered that they were ants colonizing too close to my house and so I killed them. Satan has less concern for your soul than I had for those ants. His only thought about you seems to be to use you to hurt God. God loves you so if Satan can hurt you, he is hurting God and that makes him happy. 4. This is the one who comes to steal not just from you but he comes to steal youyour soulfrom God, Gods love, Gods purposes for creating you. B. How did this come to pass? 1. When God created mankind, God created him without sin. a. He was pure and had fellowship with God. b. Yet God warned Adam and Eve. Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 2. In the next chapter, Satan came with a different story. Ge 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. a. It is interesting that Bible doubters read this story and accuse God of lying. b. They say, "Adam did not die." c. In truth, the devil lied that day for Adam and Eve did die. (1) Instantly, Adam and Eve became separated from God. (2) Death is separation. d. What did Satan, the thief, steal that day? (1) He stole their souls, not in the sense that Satan gained a subject to rule over like the Charlie Daniels "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." (2) But in the sense that these two and all of their descendants became eternally separated from God. 3. From that point on, Adam, Eve, and all of their offspring were dead, separated from God. a. \#Ge 3:21\ God provided a temporary atonement to cover their sins, the sacrifice of certain animals. b. That covering had its limits: (1) It had to be applied individually. (2) It had to be applied personally. (3) It had to be applied repeatedly. c. The remainder were separated from God and if they died in that condition, would be eternally separated from Him, for that is what hell is, a place where God is not. 4. In the New Testament, Jesus came to provide a permanent atonement for our sins. a. The atonement must still be accepted individually and personally; but once applied, it last forever. b. Jesus coming negated the Old Testament sacrificial system so that Jesus is not a way to God, He is THE way to God. C. The consequences of this theft have reached all of humanity. 1. All are born separated from God. Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 2. The only hope of life is that they accept Gods permanent atonement, Jesus Christ. 3. To do nothing is damnation. John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 4. If you do not, Satan has already stolen the most precious treasure you possess. Mr 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? D. This is the urgency of the gospel. 1. All need to hear the news that Jesus saves and to ready themselves before it is eternally too late. 2. Do not suffer (allow) the thief to take your most precious commodity, your soul. II. Even if you are saved, there are precious treasures that Satan desires to steal from you. A. Satan can still your place and position – \#2Chron 26:16-21\ Uzziah 1. Uzziah was a king in the Old Testament who sinned against God so God smote him with leprosy. 2. What you might not know is up to this point, Uzziah had been a godly king. 2Chron 26:4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD." a. That means Uzziah had trusted in and obeyed God. b. He was also a great military and political ruler. c. He even lead the nation in spiritual revival. 3. But pride lead him to sin against God and take unto himself not only the office of the ruler but of priest. a. As he attempted to force his sin upon others, leprosy rose up his forehead. b. His leprosy forced him to surrender his position to his son. 4. He lived a good many years after this but was always condemned to be a leper. a. And why? b. Because even though he had lived for God for years, the thief managed to steal his place and his position. c. Perhaps I should not, but I will point out that the Governor (Bentley) resigned a few weeks ago amidst allegations of misconduct and thief. (1) I do not know him. As far as I know, I have never been in the same building or even on the same block as him. (2) But he was 74 years old, had the reputation of being a solid Christian, seemed to want to give to help make Alabama a better place to live, but the devil stole his place and his position. (3) Do not think the devil is not after you as well. B. Satan can steal your family – Lot \#Ge 19:14-35\ 1. Lot is a difficult man to understand but the New Testament does call him both JUST and RIGHTEOUS. 2Peter 2:7 And (God) delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 2. Yet, for some reason, he choose to live in Sodom, which must have been the most perverted city until recent times. 3. We dont know for certain why Lot did so, but it would appear he was worldlyhe wanted the recognition of others, but it cost him a great price. 4. God decided to judge the wicked city. a. God sent angels to tell Lot of his plans and commanded him to get out, but Lots family would not go. (1) His sons-in-laws laughed at him. Gen 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. (2) His wife left but longed to go back and was judged. Gen 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (3) His daughters left but brought their immorality with them. Gen 19:36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. b. The sons-in-law and wife died and I suppose died forever separated from God. c. The daughters lives for a time and perhaps came to accept God, but we dont know. d. Regardless, I believe we can say that Lot lost his family, stolen by sin and Satan. 5. Family is most certainly one of our greatest treasures and Satan desires to steal it. a. Immorality is not the sin the devil uses that breaks up most marriages. b. Selfishness is. (1) Sin always has "I" in the middle. (2) Whether it is selfishness that is lazy or lustful, (3) Whether it is selfishness that is demanding or demeaning, (4) Whether it is selfishness that is grasping or grudging, (5) Whether it is selfishness that is unforgiving or unfaithful, (6) It is all still selfishness and the devil will use it to steal your family from you. C. Satan can steal your joy – David. Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 1. This is what David wrote after he had sinned with Bathsheba. 2. Most of us do not know a good thing when they have it. 3. After Davids sin, he still had the woman, the throne, the crown, the army, the authority, the riches, the acclaim, the recognition, the wealth, the command, the loyalty, the pomp, and the palace, but HE HAD LOST HIS JOY. 4. I have seen some delivered from blinding, binding, bruising sins with great joy; only to abandon their deliverance and joy for a small trinket from Satan. D. Satan can steal your reputation – David. 2Sam 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme. E. Satan can steal your life – Unnamed prophet, \#1Kings 13:14-24\. The truth is that there is nothing that you have in this life without Jesusthat cannot be stolen by the thief. How can you keep your treasures? You must come to Jesus, trust Jesus, and walk with Jesus. There is no other way. III. What can we do to be ready against the thief stealing our possessions? A. I mentioned that the lost person can only prepare by being saved. B. But these people all had relationships with God. C. What could they have done? 1. The only remedy I have ever found is to stay close to Jesus, to stay in His presence. 2. The lost can keep the thief from stealing their souls by getting into Jesus presence and the saved can keep him from stealing their scared treasures by staying in Gods presence. D. To have Gods presence is not what most of us seek. 1. I have only recently realized that I have prayed incorrectly for most of my life by asking God for His power. 2. Others pray asking God for His protection or His provision. I will not call it a sin to ask for these things but I will say it is an incorrect prayer. 3. We should be praying to have Gods presence. a. If we get Gods presence, we will get also Gods possessions. b. To ask for Gods possessions without wanting His presence is to say, "God, I dont really want to walk holy enough to have your presence but if you would like to drop one or two of your possessions on me. I will take those." E. We need more than Gods things (possessions). We need God. There is an thief and he desires to steal from you. He is not interested in taking your junk. Hes interested in taking your treasures. What are you going to do abou it?