(upbeat music) What does my stealing say about my soul? Stealing manifests in a lot of different forms. It could be looting, could be shoplifting, could be cutting corners at work, could be fudging on tax forms. But what is this impulse to steal, this urge inside of us? What does it say about us?

That was the question Pastor John took up in a 1986 sermon on Ephesians 4.28, a text where Paul writes this, quote, "Let the thief no longer steal, "but rather let him labor, "doing honest work with his own hands, "so that he may have something to share "with anyone in need," end quote.

That word on stealing was given to Christians in a local church. That's right, two Christians who are members of the local church in Ephesus on stealing. Here's Pastor John to explain. In the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by the devil. You remember what he said? The devil said to Jesus, "If you're the son of God, "turn these stones into bread because you're hungry." What he really said was, "Look, "why don't you just short circuit the way of the cross?

"Why don't you just do an end run around self-denial "and hard suffering work? "I mean, you have the power, it would be easy." And Satan comes to you and he says, "Look, why don't you just take it? "Why don't you just run an end run around hard work "and honesty and labor?

"Just take it. "You can have it. "Nobody would know." Satan tempts us to steal from our employees with unjust wages. He tempts us to steal from our employers with shoddy work and with long coffee breaks. He tempts you to shoplift at the store. He tempts you not to report all your income on your income tax.

Where does stealing come from? Jesus said, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, "murder, adultery, fornication, and theft." That's where it comes from. It comes right out of the heart. It didn't come from the moon. It came from my heart. That's why I steal. My heart is corrupt. And why is it corrupt?

My desires are bad. And why are my desires bad? Because I'm blinded and hardened in my sin and Satan has free access and he deceives me about what is valuable in the world so that I really believe it is more valuable to have this little pleasure in security than to have a clear conscience and to obey God and to love people.

Awesome deceit in the world. If we could see things clearly, we wouldn't steal. That's the first thing we can say about stealing. It's part of the old deceived self. Second, stealing, brothers and sisters, can be forgiven. It's so plain here in verse 28. "Let the thief no longer steal." He's talking to thieves at Ephesus.

There are thieves in the church at Ephesus. There are thieves sitting in the pews listening to this letter being read by the elders at Ephesus. And he's saying, "Now guys, ladies, don't do that anymore." Which clearly implies you're saved, you're forgiven. You don't have to go on stealing. There's possibility of being a new kind of person now.

And I can imagine an old recent convert from a life of debauchery and thievery standing up in the service and say, "Wait a minute, elder. All my life I've stolen and I think it's too late for me. I can't shake it. I can't get it out of my conscience.

I find it almost impossible to resist in the stores and marketplaces. I think it's too late for me." And you know what that elder is gonna say to him? He's gonna say, "Don't you remember the story the apostle told us when he came through here just a few weeks ago and what happened to Jesus on the cross at the end?

There was this thief. All his life he'd been a rotten thief and he got killed for it. He got hung for it. And in the last breath of his life, he looks over to Jesus and he says, "Have mercy upon me. When you come into your kingdom, remember me." And in the twinkling of an eye by the authority of God and the power of his cross, he says, "Today you will be with me in paradise.

It isn't too late." Thieves can be forgiven in the eleventh hour. Stealing must be conquered, not by your own willpower merely. That makes Pharisees, people who boast, who rise up above sinners and say, "I thank you God that I am not like this publican." Pharisees are produced by willpower.

Broken and humble saints are produced by grace through faith. Now, what truth must you have faith in to conquer stealing? Well, you could tell me the promises that will kill stealing in your heart. Listen to this one from Hebrews 13. "Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

For He has said," and here comes the truth that you must believe to conquer the stealing, "I will never fail you or forsake you. Hence, we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper. What can man do to me?'" Now, do you realize what this text says? This text says, every time you steal, you are an unbeliever in this promise.

The Lord of lords and king of kings who is strong enough to rule the world, wise enough to design the DNA and the Milky Way, and sovereign enough to govern the drop of every dead bird in Bangladesh, has said to every one of His children, "I will never leave you.

I will never fail you. I will never forsake you." Can you believe that and steal? No. You have to be a disbeliever in the promises of God to steal. That's why it's so horrid. That's why Paul said, "Thieves do not enter into the kingdom because they don't believe God in their day-to-day walk.

They don't believe His promises." Now, let me give you an illustration of how this week I was tempted to steal very genuinely, and how I fought the fight of faith. Mid-September, I got in the mail a bill from the Minneapolis Water Works and Sewer Department. And the bill was $84.20.

And at the bottom in a little box, it says, "After September 30, pay gross." And then it said $88.41. $4.21 more. And I said, "I'll pay that." And I laid it in a pile and forgot about it until Friday. Friday. That's October 3rd. I was writing my check for all these bills that I had to pay, and I got to this one and almost just listened to the voice that was saying, "You always pay your bills.

You're a good citizen. If you date your check September 30, they'll let it go. They won't give a hoot. You won't lose four of God's dollars." And then another little voice, the new John Piper who struggles to stay alive and fights for his breath at these times, said, "It's your fault for not standing it.

And it's not unjust of them to require more for delinquent payments. And the Spirit of Christ is always submissive to the governing authorities when no sin is involved. And a clear conscience is more valuable than $4. And your Master has bidden you not to steal. And He will never leave you nor forsake you.

And He will work all things together for your good." And the thought came to my mind as a specific illustration of that, if God thought it were good for you, He could heal the cavity in your tooth and save you $40 anyway. There are a thousand ways God can take care of His children when they're honest and obedient.

And a thousand ways He won't if they're not. So I fought what I believe is the typical fight of every day of our life, the fight to believe the promises of God. "Will He take care of me if I do right? Will He make my life better if I give up $4 instead of keeping $4?

Of course He will, He's God!" And God won the victory. And I feel good and clean about that now. Two days' worth of a clean conscience is worth $4. Always bringing the application down into the simplest everyday decisions of life. That was John Piper and his sermon preached on October 5th, 1986, entitled "Don't Steal, Work and Give." You can find the entire sermon right now at DesiringGod.org.

This is a clip that I like. It's one that I found while listening to John Piper sermons on my walks. Sometimes I do that. And if you have a favorite sermon clip of Pastor John's, send it to me. Give me the title of the sermon and the timestamps and the audio of when the clip begins and ends.

And tell me why it's impacted you. What is it about this clip that resonates with you? Give me your name and the closest city to you. Email all that information to me at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. That's an email address, AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. Put the word clip in the subject line, if you would please.

Be a little easier for me to find it. I appreciate it. Well, Friday is 8/28, August 28th. The date reminds me of Romans 8, 28. And it makes me think about all of the emails that have been sent in from you, the listeners. Those of you who especially have been enduring unspeakable suffering.

There's a lot of you out there, I know it. And on Friday, we're gonna look at one of, I think, the most heartbreaking emails maybe we've ever addressed on the podcast. I'm not even gonna preview it. Just join us, be with us. I'm Tony Renke. We'll see you back here on Friday with Pastor John and studio.

Thanks for listening. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)