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
Lord’s coming. If not, the thief—who in this case is Jesus—will come
and separate us from treasures that we are not prepared to lose. We
don’t often think of Jesus as being a Thief, but in this parable,
Jesus is. When He comes—and He is coming—those 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 thief—and
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 you—your soul—from God, God’s love,
God’s 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 it’s 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 God’s 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 don’t know for certain why Lot did so, but it would
appear he was worldly—he 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 Lot’s 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 don’t 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 David’s 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 Jesus—that 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 God’s
presence.
D. To have God’s 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 God’s presence.
a. If we get God’s presence, we will get also God’s
possessions.
b. To ask for God’s possessions without wanting His
presence is to say, "God, I don’t 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 God’s things (possessions). We need God.
There is an thief and he desires to steal from you. He is not
interested in taking your junk. He’s interested in taking your
treasures. What are you going to do abou it?
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