John 10:1-10 – The Thief Is in the House – Bible study

John 10:1-10 The Thief Is In the House There are few things so frightening than a thief being in your home, not merely because he/she might take your possession, but because one does not know what else they might do. Such an event is a violation that runs deep into ones psyche. It takes away your privacy, your security, your peace of mind. Unfortunately, I must report to you that there is a thief in the house. Lets consider the text. I. The thief is in the house. A. Jesus gave a parable in which He described the thieves and robbers \#8\ coming before Him, attempting to enter His house. 1. Of course, one of the main points of the parable was to inform us that there is only one way into Gods kingdom, through the Door, through Jesus Christ. 2. If you are attempting to enter heaven some other way, for example by being good, by keeping the commandments, by being baptism, by religion, whateveryou will not make it! 3. You become the thief and robber for you are attempting to break into His home! 4. That is Gods way of saying heaven is NOT your home. You dont belong there and you will not get there. B. However, I do not believe that was Jesus only point. 1. \#10\ Jesus was not longer talking about thieves and robbers (plural) but "the thief" (singular). 2. Who is "the thief"? I believe that is Satan, the devil. 3. Not only are there thieves attempting to break into Gods house to staythose who refuse salvation and attempt to enter heaven another waybut there is "the thief" who wants to break into heaven to steal some things that do belong in Gods house. 4. It is that thief that I want to talk to you about this morning. Satan wants to break into Gods house and remove what does belong there. Satan is "the thief." C. \#10\ Jesus told us what it is that Satan wants to do to the precious things that belong to God. 1. Satan wants to steal anything that is removable and of any value. That is what a thief does. He steals whatever he can carry out that has value. That is Satans goal too. 2. But Satan is not just a thief. He is also a murderer. Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. a. As I said, one of the fearful things about a thief is one does not know what else he MIGHT do. b. Jesus told us plainly what the devil would do. He will take your valuable and kill those in the house. 3. And last, Satan is a destroyer. If he cannot take it, he will destroy it. Satan will leave nothing. Anything too heavy or too difficult for him to take with him, he will destroy it. D. I have the sad new of telling you that the thief is in the houseright now, today. 1. What house? All of them. The thief is in Gods house, our house, your house. 2. For example a. The thief is in the family house. (1) For years, the devil has been stealing, killing, and destroying the home. (2) I believe that the divorce rate has been at 50% my whole adult life! That is terrible. How many people have been torn apart? How many children have been raised in a nightmare? (3) But divorce has not been Satans only crime against the home. There has been adultery, unfaithfulness to one another. It has been happening before marriage, during the marriage, and after the marriage. b. The thief is in the church. (1) Most churches have so lost their mission that they will not even mention sin, let along stand against it. They are so worried that they might offend a sinner that they have offended God, dismissed His Word, disobeyed his Word, slandered His holy name, dimmed His glory, and shunned His power. (2) The churchs identity as the herald of Gods Word has been destroyed. The church has unbelieving pastors, women pastors, gay pastors, and divorced pastorsall of which are condemned by the Bible. (3) Someone says, "Pastor, that offends me." Im sorry. Not that I said it, but that it you are so ignorant of the Bible that it offends you for I would rather you be offended than God. c. The thief is in our nation. (1) Our Supreme Court has removed prayer, outlawed God, licensed us to kill our babies, and told us homosexuality is good, decent, and protected by the law. (2) Our current president, dictator Obama, has commanded the people to accept men in the womens bathroom, women in the mens, and the confused everywhereincluding in our schools. If that is not a reason to take your children out of public school, I dont know what is. (3) Isnt kind of strange that privacy laws wont let the information center at a hospital tell you if someone is in the hospital but you a strange man can follow your daughter into the bathroom and watch her to do her business? 3. I can go on, but you get the picture. Satan, the thief, is in the house. 4. What is he doing? He is stealing whatever is good and precious; he is killing whoever is within it, and he is destroying whatever is left. II. How has the thief entered the house? A. Some of you have heard of Paul Harveys poem, "If I Were the Devil." 1. There seems to be two versions of that poem, one dated 1996 is likely the one you have heard, but here is the first known copy of the poem, dated 1963. If I Were the Devil If I were the Prince of Darkness I would want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. Id have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. So I should set about however necessary, to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whispers to you as I whispered to Eve, "Do as you please." To the young I would whisper "The Bible is a myth." I would convince them that "man created God," instead of the other way around. I would confide that "what is bad is good and what is good is square." In the ears of the young married I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be "extreme" in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old I would teach to prayto say after me"Our father which are in Washington." Then Id get organized. Id educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull, uninteresting. Id threaten TV with dirtier movies, and vice-versa. Id infiltrate unions and urge more loafing, less work. Idle hands usually work for me. Id peddle narcotics to whom I could, Id sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction, Id tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the Devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions; let those run wild. Id designate an atheist to front for me before the highest courts and Id get preachers to say, "Shes right." With flattery and promises of power I would get the courts to vote against God and in favor of pornography. Thus I would evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, then from the Houses of Congress. Then in his own churches Id substitute psychology for religion and deify science. If I were Satan Id make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. If I were the Devil Id take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. Then my police state would force everybody back to work. Then I would separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines and objectors in slave-labor camps. If I were Satan Id just keep doing what Im doing and the whole world would go to hell as sure as the Devil. http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/devil.asp 2. I do not know if Paul Harvey was a Christian or not, but I do know that he had more Bible sense in 1963 that most preachers alive today. B. How close was Paul Harvey to the Bible. Matt 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong mans house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 1. Jesus told us that before a thief can enter a home, he must first bind the strong man in the house. 2. Who is Gods strong man? Who did God leave to protect the family, the righteous, the very core of civilization itself? a. He left the church. Matt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. b. The church, Gods strong man, has been boundor even worse, some in the church have been felt sympathy for the thief. Like kidnapped victims who feel empathy for the kidnappers, they have become to help the thief! C. But again, how did Satan bind the church? How did he infiltrate it, sedate it, and subdue us? 1. He broke our dependence on God. a. He did this pretty much the way Paul Harvey observed in 1963. He whispered in our ear that the Bible is a myth, that God did not create man but man created God, that cocktail parties are fun and holy living is a drag. b. Satans campaign of lies has been based on the adage that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it. And they have. c. In short, Satan told us that the world was good and good for us but Godif He existsis a cruel task master. d. In time, the church replaced prayer with pleasure, truth with theory, and obedience with opinion. e. Most Christians today have been so confused that they do not know what truth is anymore and those who still have a notion are dismissed and maligned that they are becoming afraid to speak out. 2. He has divided the people of God. a. This has been one of Satans long-range goals as is seen by the creation of denominations, but it has grown far beyond that. b. Even inside denominations of similar beliefs, doctrinal fractures have occurred. It used to be that only a few major doctrines could divide the people of God, but todays Gods people cannot agree on much of anything. c. Perhaps that is true because the most basic and simplest of truths are no longer accepted in the church. (1) We cannot even agree on what a good Bible translation is, what is appropriate dress, or what is godly music. (2) Friend, if we cannot agree on those kinds of things, what is left? d. These divisions have left the church angry, arrogant, self-willed, and DIVIDED. e. And what Paul said would happen, has happened. We became ignorant of Satans tricks and he has taken full advantage of us. 2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 3. Perhaps he has darkened the minds of the believers. a. Typically a feat only able to be performed on the unbeliever, Satan has somehow managed it on those inside the church. Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: b. Perhaps that means that most inside the church today are just plain lost. (1) Before a Christians mind can become darkened, his spirit must become darkened. (2) Christians are not like other people. They do not operate on the thoughts of the mind alone, but they are influenced by their continuous spiritual connection with God. (3) Since the Holy Ghost abides within us, He is always speaking to us – warning, convicting, encouraging, rewarding. (4) That relationship cannot be broken! c. But if somehow Satan could darken the minds of the believers, they would be just as confused about right and wrong as the lost. d. Perhaps they would also (1) question creation. (2) wonder whether there are absolutes. (3) doubt the Bible. (4) think wrong is right and right is wrong. III. What will happen? A. I would like to go a bit further this morning to explore with you what I think will happen next, but I am out of time. B. Let me stop here by saying, I would recommend you ready for Jesus to return. I am not setting any dates, but I believe our world is getting close to the line of no returnindeed, we have already crossed it. C. Why? Five fast reasons. 1. The whole world is turningnot just from God but against God! 2. The time of Israel. They became a nation in May, 1948, 68 years ago. \#Matt 24:34\, if Israel is the fig tree, Jesus promised that His words would be fulfilled during that generation. 3. The church has fallen away \#2Thess 2:3\. 4. The devil is changing times and laws \#Dan 7:25\. 5. Gods glory is being trampled.