Robert Jeffress - The Eighth Commandment - Respect the Property of Others (Part 2)

June 17, 2026 | 27:29

Pathway to Victory provides practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through clear, Biblical teaching.

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - The Eighth Commandment - Respect the Property of Others (Part 2) | June 17, 2026
  • ♪ music ♪
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  • From the pulpit of the first baptist church
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  • Of dallas texas, this is pathway to victory
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  • With dr. robert jeffress.
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  • Hi, i'm robert jeffress,
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  • And welcome again to pathway to victory.
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  • These days, economic hardship on american families
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  • Is at the forefront of our minds.
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  • Rising inflation and economic uncertainty
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  • Have put some in dire situations,
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  • And as a result,
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  • We're seeing an unprecedented rise in theft.
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  • So, what does the bible have to say about stealing?
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  • Well, god's opinion is clearly spelled out
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  • In the 8th commandment.
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  • My message is titled, respect the property of others.
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  • On today's edition of pathway to victory.
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  • ♪ holy, holy, holy ♪
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  • ♪ lord god almighty ♪
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  • ♪ early in the morning our song shall rise to thee ♪
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  • ♪ holy, holy, holy ♪
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  • ♪ merciful and mighty ♪
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  • ♪ god in three persons, blessed trinity ♪
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  • ♪ holy, holy, holy ♪
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  • ♪ lord god almighty ♪
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  • ♪ all thy works shall praise thy name ♪
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  • ♪ in earth, and sky, and sea ♪
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  • ♪ holy, holy, holy ♪
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  • ♪ merciful and mighty ♪
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  • ♪ god in three persons, blessed trinity ♪
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  • ♪ god in three persons ♪
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  • ♪ blessed trinity ♪
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  • ♪ amen ♪
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  • (applause)
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  • Before today's program begins, i want to invite you
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  • To join me for a special message about america's future.
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  • Our nation is celebrating 250 years,
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  • But can we survive 250 more?
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  • Mark your calendar for june 21st and june 28th
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  • To hear this timely message, america at the crossroads:
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  • Can we survive another 250 years on "pathway to victory."
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  • As our nation marks 250 years,
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  • America stands at a crossroads.
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  • Will we return to the god who blessed us
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  • Or continue down a path that leads to ruin?
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  • Through the in god we trust matching challenge,
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  • Your gift today will be doubled in ministry impact.
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  • For 30 years, pathway to victory
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  • Has pierced the darkness of our nation
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  • With the light of god's word
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  • By sharing biblical truth that transforms hearts.
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  • Join us in this critical hour by giving toward
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  • The in god we trust matching challenge today.
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  • ♪ music ♪
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  • Right now, baby boomers, those 60 to 80,
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  • Are beginning to retire
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  • And they hold over $140 trillion of wealth
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  • That over these next years they're going
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  • To be transferring either to family
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  • Or churches or other organizations.
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  • Now, that's good news for those of you who are younger.
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  • The bad news is you're probably not going to get much of it.
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  • Statistically speaking, there are a few
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  • Who will receive billions of dollars.
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  • There's a little larger group
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  • That will receive millions of dollars.
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  • But 90% of people will receive thousands of dollars,
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  • Not millions or billions of dollars.
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  • So you know, if you don't have the right last name,
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  • Chances are you're probably not going
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  • To inherit a great deal of wealth.
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  • We can work for money. we can inherit money.
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  • Those are legitimate ways to acquire property.
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  • But the bible says the illegitimate way is through theft,
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  • Through stealing it.
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  • Let him who steals steal no longer.
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  • Why do people steal?
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  • J.i. packer put it this way,
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  • He said the temptation to steal property,
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  • To deprive a person of what he has,
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  • Arise because fallen man
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  • Always wants more than he has at the present
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  • And more than others have.
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  • He's saying the basis,
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  • The reason we steal, is because of covetousness.
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  • We're not satisfied with what we have
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  • And we think somebody else has too much,
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  • And so we steal,
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  • Breaking both the 8th and the 10th commandments.
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  • Now, i know you're going to think,
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  • Well, this is one sin i'm not guilty of.
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  • I've never stolen anything.
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  • But remember, there's more than one way to commit adultery,
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  • More than one way to murder,
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  • More than one way to lie as we'll see next time.
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  • There's also more than one way to steal.
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  • Let me mention four ways we violate this commandment.
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  • The first way is by despoiling. despoiling.
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  • I know. i wasn't familiar with that word either.
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  • I was looking up for a word
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  • To help me in my sermon outline
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  • In my alliteration and came across this word, despoiling.
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  • You know what despoil means?
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  • One theologian says it's an act of violence
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  • When a man's goods are forcibly plundered and carried off.
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  • It's armed robbery.
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  • That's what despoiling is.
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  • Forcibly taking from somebody else
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  • What doesn't belong to them.
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  • How many of you have ever been the victim of a mugging
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  • Or the break-in of a car or even your own home?
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  • How many of you have had that?
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  • Large number of people.
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  • You know how violated you feel
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  • When somebody invades your space.
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  • But it's not just armed robbers who despoil people.
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  • Students who cheat on an exam,
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  • You're invading somebody else's space
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  • To take what is not yours.
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  • Employees who take home office supplies,
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  • They're invading somebody else's space to profit themselves.
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  • Did you know it's even possible to steal ideas from people
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  • Without giving them credit?
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  • Claim for your own what really belongs to somebody else?
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  • A few years ago,
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  • I received an email from a woman in georgia.
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  • She and her husband watched pathway to victory
  • 00:07:59.135 --> 00:08:01.203
  • On saturday nights on their local tv station.
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  • She said in her email, imagine my surprise
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  • After listening to you saturday night
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  • When i went into our church sunday
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  • And heard our pastor preach your message
  • 00:08:12.548 --> 00:08:14.951
  • Basically word for word,
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  • And not only that, he passed out an outline
  • 00:08:17.520 --> 00:08:20.323
  • That had come directly off your website.
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  • Now, that doesn't bother me at all.
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  • You know, everything's grist for the preacher's mill.
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  • Dr. crystal used to say all originalism
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  • And no plagiarism makes for adult preaching.
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  • But if you're going to quote extensively from somebody,
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  • Whether in a paper at school
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  • Or whether in a sermon or a speech,
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  • If you're going to do it word for word, give credit.
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  • Don't pretend it's yours if it's not yours.
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  • That's how we despoil by taking by force.
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  • A second way that we steal is through dishonesty.
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  • This is a little more subtle,
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  • But it's misrepresenting truth
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  • In order to gain from other people.
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  • Now, in biblical times, the way you did that
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  • Was to have dishonest scales and balances.
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  • In proverbs 11:1, solomon says
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  • A false balance is an abomination to the lord,
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  • But a just weight is his delight.
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  • If you were buying a commodity from a merchant
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  • And he had a false weight or a false balance,
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  • He might tell you he's giving you a quart of oil
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  • When he's just giving you three quarters of a quart of oil.
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  • He might tell you you're getting a pound of wheat
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  • When you're just getting a half a pound of wheat.
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  • Now, today, we're much more sophisticated
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  • In how we misrepresent the truth.
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  • How many of you have ever received
  • 00:09:45.775 --> 00:09:47.109
  • One of those phishing emails trying to get you
  • 00:09:47.109 --> 00:09:50.079
  • To surrender personal information?
  • 00:09:50.079 --> 00:09:53.082
  • Amazon tells you, oh, we've messed up your order,
  • 00:09:54.116 --> 00:09:56.552
  • And we need your social security number.
  • 00:09:56.552 --> 00:09:59.588
  • Well, it's not amazon or your bank telling you
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  • That you've got deficient funds.
  • 00:10:02.291 --> 00:10:03.926
  • It's somebody trying to get information from you.
  • 00:10:03.926 --> 00:10:07.596
  • In fact, just friday afternoon,
  • 00:10:07.596 --> 00:10:09.031
  • I was told there is a man in the country right now
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  • Calling people on the phone pretending to be me
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  • And saying that i need your credit card for $500.
  • 00:10:15.604 --> 00:10:20.943
  • Please give me your credit card number.
  • 00:10:21.811 --> 00:10:24.346
  • Now, i want to assure every viewer of pathway to victory,
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  • I am not going to be calling you
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  • Asking you for your credit card number
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  • Unless i really need it.
  • 00:10:33.756 --> 00:10:35.291
  • But, no, no, i won't do that under any circumstances.
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  • So, that's somebody misrepresenting the truth.
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  • That is dishonesty.
  • 00:10:42.465 --> 00:10:45.401
  • There's another third way that we steal,
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  • Despoiling, being dishonest,
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  • Thirdly, defrauding somebody.
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  • Defrauding means not paying somebody else what we owe them.
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  • It might be failing to pay a debt,
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  • A legitimate debt we have.
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  • Proverbs 3:27-28 say
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  • Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due
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  • When it's in your power to do it.
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  • Don't say to your neighbor, go and come back tomorrow
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  • And i will give you what you're owed.
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  • If you've got the ability to pay a debt, pay it.
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  • One reason we have sky-high consumer interest rates
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  • On credit cards is because people who don't pay their debts.
  • 00:11:25.541 --> 00:11:30.412
  • Another, by the way, debt we owe people
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  • Is not just one another,
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  • But we owe the government a debt.
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  • When you refuse to pay your taxes,
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  • You are defrauding government of what belongs to them.
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  • Yes, it belongs to them.
  • 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:46.195
  • Matthew 22:21, jesus said
  • 00:11:46.195 --> 00:11:48.898
  • Render to caesar the things that are caesar's.
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  • In fact, how many of you have heard the verse,
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  • Owe no man anything except a debt of love?
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  • You know that scripture?
  • 00:11:59.575 --> 00:12:01.177
  • I bet most people don't know the context of that scripture
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  • Has to do with paying your taxes to government.
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  • Romans 13, paul has just talked about
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  • Government being ordained by god.
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  • Listen, most people don't realize this.
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  • God created not just the church,
  • 00:12:14.723 --> 00:12:17.726
  • Not just the church and family,
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  • He created three institutions,
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  • The church, the family and government.
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  • Government is just as much of a god-created organization
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  • As the church is or the family is,
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  • And he's given to each of those three organizations
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  • Specific responsibilities.
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  • They aren't to get in somebody else's lane
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  • To do their responsibility,
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  • They're to keep their god-ordained responsibility,
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  • And the responsibility of government
  • 00:12:43.853 --> 00:12:45.855
  • Is to protect the citizens from evildoers.
  • 00:12:45.855 --> 00:12:48.858
  • And paul says in verse 6 of romans 13,
  • 00:12:48.858 --> 00:12:52.061
  • You also pay taxes for rulers.
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  • Our servants of god devoting themselves to this very thing.
  • 00:12:55.698 --> 00:13:00.269
  • Render to all what is due them.
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  • Tax to whom tax is due.
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  • Custom to whom custom. fear to whom fear.
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  • Honor to whom honor.
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  • Owe no one anything except to love one another.
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  • Don't be delinquent in paying anyone,
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  • Including the government, what is owed them.
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  • Another way we defraud people,
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  • Not only failing to pay a debt
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  • But failing to treat employers and employees fairly.
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  • Paul addresses this in colossians 3 and 4.
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  • He says, for example, workers,
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  • When you don't give your employer a full day's work
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  • For a full day's wage, you're defrauding them.
  • 00:13:37.640 --> 00:13:40.876
  • He says in verse 22 of colossians 3,
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  • In all things, obey those who are over you on earth,
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  • Not with external service as those who merely please men,
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  • But with sincerity of heart, fearing the lord.
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  • Whatever you do, do your work heartily
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  • As for the lord rather than men.
  • 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.895
  • Here's the jeffress paraphrase.
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  • Don't work when the boss is looking only.
  • 00:14:01.997 --> 00:14:05.434
  • Work when the boss isn't looking,
  • 00:14:06.168 --> 00:14:08.904
  • Knowing that the big boss is always looking.
  • 00:14:08.904 --> 00:14:12.574
  • That's exactly what paul is saying.
  • 00:14:12.574 --> 00:14:15.311
  • Give your employer a full day's work for a full day's wage.
  • 00:14:15.311 --> 00:14:20.015
  • But he also has a word for employers.
  • 00:14:20.015 --> 00:14:22.251
  • He says in colossians 4:1
  • 00:14:22.251 --> 00:14:24.086
  • Be sure you're treating your employees
  • 00:14:24.086 --> 00:14:27.456
  • With justice and fairness,
  • 00:14:27.456 --> 00:14:29.858
  • Knowing that you have a master in heaven.
  • 00:14:29.858 --> 00:14:32.594
  • We're to be fair with our employees.
  • 00:14:32.594 --> 00:14:34.363
  • We're to pay them what they're worth and what they're due.
  • 00:14:34.363 --> 00:14:38.033
  • We're not to take advantage of them.
  • 00:14:38.033 --> 00:14:40.502
  • A third way we defraud is not only refusing to pay our debt
  • 00:14:40.502 --> 00:14:44.006
  • Or refusing to treat employees and employers equitably,
  • 00:14:44.006 --> 00:14:47.977
  • But failing to give to god what he commands.
  • 00:14:47.977 --> 00:14:50.879
  • That is a form of robbery.
  • 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.748
  • You say, wait a minute.
  • 00:14:52.748 --> 00:14:54.616
  • Can you really rob god of something?
  • 00:14:54.616 --> 00:14:57.753
  • Can you really stick your gun in his face
  • 00:14:57.753 --> 00:15:01.090
  • And say, stick 'em up?
  • 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.959
  • Well, god said you can, and here's how.
  • 00:15:03.959 --> 00:15:07.196
  • Malachi 3, he asked the very same question,
  • 00:15:07.196 --> 00:15:10.232
  • Will a man rob god?
  • 00:15:10.232 --> 00:15:12.201
  • Yet you are robbing me.
  • 00:15:12.201 --> 00:15:13.535
  • But you say, have we robbed you god?
  • 00:15:13.535 --> 00:15:16.138
  • God answers in tithes and offerings.
  • 00:15:16.138 --> 00:15:19.208
  • You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me,
  • 00:15:19.208 --> 00:15:22.678
  • The whole nation of you.
  • 00:15:22.678 --> 00:15:23.879
  • What's the remedy for it?
  • 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.781
  • Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse
  • 00:15:25.781 --> 00:15:28.384
  • So that there might be food in my house
  • 00:15:28.384 --> 00:15:30.719
  • And test me now in this as the lord of hosts
  • 00:15:30.719 --> 00:15:33.522
  • If i will not open the windows for you of heaven
  • 00:15:33.522 --> 00:15:36.525
  • And pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
  • 00:15:36.525 --> 00:15:41.797
  • There's a fourth way we rob people
  • 00:15:42.564 --> 00:15:43.766
  • And that is by defaming them,
  • 00:15:43.766 --> 00:15:46.535
  • Robbing them of their most important possession,
  • 00:15:46.535 --> 00:15:49.872
  • Their reputation.
  • 00:15:49.872 --> 00:15:51.440
  • Whenever we spread slander and gossip about another person,
  • 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.677
  • We are guilty of robbing them of their reputation.
  • 00:15:55.677 --> 00:15:59.448
  • That is, by the way, such a serious offense
  • 00:15:59.448 --> 00:16:02.217
  • That god devotes a whole commandment, the 9th commandment,
  • 00:16:02.217 --> 00:16:05.854
  • To that specific sin that we'll talk about next time.
  • 00:16:05.854 --> 00:16:09.691
  • Let me say a word now
  • 00:16:09.691 --> 00:16:11.860
  • About the cost of violating the 8th commandment.
  • 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:16.298
  • When we steal something from somebody else,
  • 00:16:16.298 --> 00:16:19.401
  • No matter how we do it,
  • 00:16:19.401 --> 00:16:21.136
  • We are certainly robbing them of something valuable.
  • 00:16:21.136 --> 00:16:23.806
  • But listen to this, we're also robbing ourselves
  • 00:16:23.806 --> 00:16:27.810
  • Of something very valuable.
  • 00:16:27.810 --> 00:16:29.711
  • It's found in 1 timothy 1:19.
  • 00:16:29.711 --> 00:16:32.981
  • Paul said be sure to keep faith and a good conscience
  • 00:16:32.981 --> 00:16:37.453
  • Which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck
  • 00:16:37.453 --> 00:16:40.923
  • In regard to their faith.
  • 00:16:40.923 --> 00:16:44.126
  • Do you remember what a clear conscience is?
  • 00:16:44.126 --> 00:16:46.528
  • Paul says that it's essential if you're going to succeed
  • 00:16:46.528 --> 00:16:49.465
  • In your relationship with god.
  • 00:16:49.465 --> 00:16:51.934
  • Here's the definition of a clear conscience.
  • 00:16:51.934 --> 00:16:54.937
  • It's the knowledge that neither god
  • 00:16:54.937 --> 00:16:58.941
  • Nor anybody else can accuse you of a wrong
  • 00:16:58.941 --> 00:17:03.645
  • You've not attempted to make right.
  • 00:17:03.645 --> 00:17:05.981
  • A clear conscience is that assurance
  • 00:17:06.782 --> 00:17:08.884
  • That neither god nor anyone else can accuse you of a wrong
  • 00:17:08.884 --> 00:17:13.155
  • You haven't attempted to make right.
  • 00:17:13.155 --> 00:17:15.824
  • Are there certain people you try to avoid?
  • 00:17:15.824 --> 00:17:19.528
  • You don't want to run into?
  • 00:17:19.528 --> 00:17:20.829
  • If you see them coming, you go the other way?
  • 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:22.998
  • It's because you don't have a clear conscience.
  • 00:17:22.998 --> 00:17:25.434
  • You're afraid they're going to accuse you of something
  • 00:17:25.434 --> 00:17:27.669
  • Between you that you've not attempted to make right.
  • 00:17:27.669 --> 00:17:30.105
  • Now, lots of people who can accuse you of doing wrong,
  • 00:17:30.105 --> 00:17:34.510
  • But the key is that we've not attempted to make right,
  • 00:17:34.510 --> 00:17:37.513
  • And that's what a clear conscience is.
  • 00:17:37.513 --> 00:17:39.281
  • There's some people who avoid god.
  • 00:17:39.281 --> 00:17:41.717
  • They don't come to church, they don't read their bibles,
  • 00:17:41.717 --> 00:17:44.119
  • They don't pray because there's a gulf
  • 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:46.288
  • Between them and god.
  • 00:17:46.288 --> 00:17:47.489
  • They haven't confessed.
  • 00:17:47.489 --> 00:17:48.957
  • They haven't made right
  • 00:17:48.957 --> 00:17:50.425
  • What is wrong between them and their creator.
  • 00:17:50.425 --> 00:17:54.963
  • When you steal from somebody and you haven't confessed it
  • 00:17:54.963 --> 00:17:59.067
  • And attempted to make it right,
  • 00:17:59.067 --> 00:18:00.903
  • You're going to suffer from a guilty conscience.
  • 00:18:00.903 --> 00:18:04.072
  • Let me ask you this question.
  • 00:18:04.072 --> 00:18:05.374
  • Do you have the assurance
  • 00:18:05.374 --> 00:18:06.842
  • That when you meet god one day you won't be ashamed
  • 00:18:06.842 --> 00:18:09.711
  • On the day of judgment of what the bible says?
  • 00:18:09.711 --> 00:18:13.148
  • Are you sure that god won't be able to accuse you
  • 00:18:13.148 --> 00:18:15.918
  • Of any wrong that you haven't made right?
  • 00:18:15.918 --> 00:18:20.122
  • I came across this week an amazing story.
  • 00:18:20.989 --> 00:18:23.625
  • I had not known it, maybe you have.
  • 00:18:23.625 --> 00:18:26.528
  • It's from the life of davy crockett
  • 00:18:26.528 --> 00:18:30.098
  • Whom we often associate with the alamo.
  • 00:18:30.098 --> 00:18:33.302
  • Many people don't know that
  • 00:18:33.302 --> 00:18:34.636
  • Before davy crockett came to texas,
  • 00:18:34.636 --> 00:18:37.005
  • He was a sophomore congressman from tennessee,
  • 00:18:37.005 --> 00:18:40.943
  • And during the legislative session of 1829 to 1830,
  • 00:18:40.943 --> 00:18:45.514
  • One of the primary goals of the newly elected president,
  • 00:18:45.514 --> 00:18:49.685
  • Andrew jackson, was the passage of the indian removal act.
  • 00:18:49.685 --> 00:18:54.923
  • Now that's a nice sounding name
  • 00:18:55.557 --> 00:18:56.758
  • From stealing land from the indians,
  • 00:18:56.758 --> 00:18:59.361
  • Uprooting them from their southeastern homes
  • 00:18:59.361 --> 00:19:01.897
  • In the southeastern united states
  • 00:19:01.897 --> 00:19:03.999
  • And relocating them to indian territory,
  • 00:19:03.999 --> 00:19:06.868
  • Which is present day oklahoma.
  • 00:19:06.868 --> 00:19:10.038
  • To make that journey, they had to travel along
  • 00:19:10.038 --> 00:19:13.041
  • The trail of tears, it was called,
  • 00:19:13.041 --> 00:19:16.311
  • Not only because so many indians
  • 00:19:16.311 --> 00:19:18.280
  • Lost their life in the process,
  • 00:19:18.280 --> 00:19:20.449
  • But also because it meant
  • 00:19:20.449 --> 00:19:22.251
  • The giving up of their tribal lands.
  • 00:19:22.251 --> 00:19:25.354
  • Andrew jackson was a tennessean.
  • 00:19:25.354 --> 00:19:28.190
  • Davy crockett was a tennessean.
  • 00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:30.158
  • So it was thought that davy crockett
  • 00:19:30.158 --> 00:19:32.394
  • Would certainly vote with the president in this matter,
  • 00:19:32.394 --> 00:19:35.530
  • And that because they were both tennessean
  • 00:19:35.530 --> 00:19:38.100
  • That he would actually champion
  • 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:40.802
  • This measure by president andrew jackson.
  • 00:19:40.802 --> 00:19:44.306
  • Davy crockett did neither.
  • 00:19:44.306 --> 00:19:46.475
  • Here's what he said about this.
  • 00:19:46.475 --> 00:19:48.810
  • It was expected of me that i was to bow
  • 00:19:48.810 --> 00:19:51.246
  • To the name of andrew jackson
  • 00:19:51.246 --> 00:19:53.448
  • And follow him in all of his emotions and turnings
  • 00:19:53.448 --> 00:19:56.418
  • Even at the expense of my own conscience and judgment.
  • 00:19:56.418 --> 00:20:00.055
  • Such a thing was new to me.
  • 00:20:00.055 --> 00:20:02.324
  • His famous, or rather i should say,
  • 00:20:02.324 --> 00:20:04.259
  • Infamous indian plan was brought forward
  • 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:08.030
  • And i opposed it for the purest motives in the world.
  • 00:20:08.030 --> 00:20:12.167
  • Several of my colleagues got around me
  • 00:20:12.167 --> 00:20:14.636
  • And told me how they loved me,
  • 00:20:14.636 --> 00:20:16.672
  • But i was ruining myself.
  • 00:20:16.672 --> 00:20:19.174
  • They said this was a favorite measure of the new president
  • 00:20:19.174 --> 00:20:22.144
  • And i ought to go for it.
  • 00:20:22.144 --> 00:20:23.945
  • I told them i believed it was wicked,
  • 00:20:23.945 --> 00:20:26.515
  • An unjust measure and that i should go against it.
  • 00:20:26.515 --> 00:20:29.451
  • Let the cost of myself be what it might.
  • 00:20:29.451 --> 00:20:32.854
  • I voted against this indian bill
  • 00:20:32.854 --> 00:20:35.390
  • And my conscience yet tells me
  • 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:38.126
  • That i have a good, honest vote,
  • 00:20:38.126 --> 00:20:40.896
  • One that i believe will not make me ashamed
  • 00:20:40.896 --> 00:20:43.932
  • On that day of judgment.
  • 00:20:43.932 --> 00:20:46.835
  • Davy crockett finished his term,
  • 00:20:47.469 --> 00:20:50.706
  • Was promptly defeated in his bid for reelection,
  • 00:20:50.706 --> 00:20:54.176
  • Came to texas, gave his life at the alamo
  • 00:20:54.176 --> 00:20:57.446
  • For texas independence,
  • 00:20:57.446 --> 00:21:00.749
  • And yet when he met his creator,
  • 00:21:00.749 --> 00:21:03.018
  • He met him with a clear conscience.
  • 00:21:03.018 --> 00:21:06.388
  • He knew he could not be accused of stealing property
  • 00:21:06.388 --> 00:21:10.692
  • That was not rightfully his.
  • 00:21:10.692 --> 00:21:13.662
  • Will you be able to face god that way?
  • 00:21:13.662 --> 00:21:16.131
  • Knowing that there's no wrong in your life
  • 00:21:16.131 --> 00:21:18.934
  • You haven't attempted to make right?
  • 00:21:18.934 --> 00:21:21.670
  • Well, pastor, i'm guilty of one if not
  • 00:21:22.504 --> 00:21:25.307
  • All of those ways of stealing, taking what's not mine.
  • 00:21:25.307 --> 00:21:29.144
  • What should i do?
  • 00:21:29.144 --> 00:21:30.679
  • A good answer to that is found in the story of zacchaeus,
  • 00:21:31.813 --> 00:21:36.084
  • That wee little man in luke 19.
  • 00:21:36.084 --> 00:21:39.721
  • Remember his story?
  • 00:21:39.721 --> 00:21:41.490
  • Zacchaeus was a jew,
  • 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:42.724
  • But he was a tax collector for the romans.
  • 00:21:42.724 --> 00:21:45.360
  • He had purchased the right from the romans to collect taxes
  • 00:21:45.360 --> 00:21:48.663
  • And the romans allowed him to charge whatever he wanted,
  • 00:21:48.663 --> 00:21:51.533
  • Get as much money as he could,
  • 00:21:51.533 --> 00:21:53.101
  • As long as he sent the right amount to rome.
  • 00:21:53.101 --> 00:21:55.670
  • And so he stole from his fellow jews.
  • 00:21:55.670 --> 00:21:58.807
  • He stole a lot of money. he was very rich.
  • 00:21:58.807 --> 00:22:01.777
  • But that all changed one day
  • 00:22:01.777 --> 00:22:04.379
  • When he was up in that sycamore tree
  • 00:22:04.379 --> 00:22:06.248
  • And jesus passed by and pointed him out and said,
  • 00:22:06.248 --> 00:22:09.251
  • Zacchaeus, guess what?
  • 00:22:09.251 --> 00:22:10.485
  • I'm coming to your house to eat today.
  • 00:22:10.485 --> 00:22:13.221
  • Zacchaeus was so excited.
  • 00:22:13.221 --> 00:22:15.524
  • He invited the lord in, other guests,
  • 00:22:15.524 --> 00:22:17.592
  • We don't know what the conversation was that day,
  • 00:22:17.592 --> 00:22:20.762
  • But midway in the conversation,
  • 00:22:20.762 --> 00:22:22.531
  • Zacchaeus stood up and said, behold lord,
  • 00:22:22.531 --> 00:22:26.301
  • Half of my possessions i will give to the poor
  • 00:22:26.301 --> 00:22:29.871
  • And if i have defrauded anyone,
  • 00:22:29.871 --> 00:22:32.240
  • And the greek conditional clause,
  • 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.110
  • The first conditional clause is,
  • 00:22:35.110 --> 00:22:36.945
  • And since i have defrauded,
  • 00:22:36.945 --> 00:22:39.147
  • I will give back four times as much.
  • 00:22:39.147 --> 00:22:44.519
  • That was interesting, because the old testament law,
  • 00:22:45.554 --> 00:22:46.488
  • Leviticus 6:5 only required
  • 00:22:46.488 --> 00:22:48.590
  • That if you've stolen something,
  • 00:22:48.590 --> 00:22:49.925
  • You give what you stole back and add 20% to it.
  • 00:22:49.925 --> 00:22:54.696
  • Zacchaeus said, no, i'm going to do 400%.
  • 00:22:54.696 --> 00:22:57.999
  • Remember what jesus said
  • 00:22:57.999 --> 00:22:59.334
  • When zacchaeus made that proclamation?
  • 00:22:59.334 --> 00:23:02.537
  • Jesus said to zacchaeus,
  • 00:23:02.537 --> 00:23:04.206
  • Today, salvation has come to this house.
  • 00:23:04.206 --> 00:23:08.977
  • Was jesus saying zacchaeus purchased his salvation
  • 00:23:09.978 --> 00:23:12.914
  • By giving money to the poor and making restitution?
  • 00:23:12.914 --> 00:23:16.151
  • No.
  • 00:23:16.151 --> 00:23:17.085
  • But what he was saying is this.
  • 00:23:17.085 --> 00:23:19.521
  • Zacchaeus' willingness to make restitution was proof,
  • 00:23:20.622 --> 00:23:24.259
  • Was evidence, that he had received the gift of salvation.
  • 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:28.864
  • Yes, if you've stolen from somebody else,
  • 00:23:29.764 --> 00:23:32.567
  • You can be forgiven,
  • 00:23:32.567 --> 00:23:35.170
  • But with that forgiveness by god comes a responsibility.
  • 00:23:36.304 --> 00:23:40.542
  • A responsibility to make restitution,
  • 00:23:40.542 --> 00:23:43.545
  • To pay back what you've stolen
  • 00:23:43.545 --> 00:23:45.947
  • And to go and sin no more.
  • 00:23:46.515 --> 00:23:49.684
  • ♪ music ♪
  • 00:23:49.684 --> 00:23:53.889
  • Like the great american hero davy crockett,
  • 00:23:54.789 --> 00:23:57.759
  • And like the tax collector turned jesus lover zacchaeus,
  • 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:02.197
  • Will you be able to face god one day
  • 00:24:02.197 --> 00:24:04.432
  • With a clear conscience?
  • 00:24:04.432 --> 00:24:06.167
  • Whatever you're withholding today,
  • 00:24:06.167 --> 00:24:07.936
  • Go ahead and make it right.
  • 00:24:07.936 --> 00:24:10.906
  • Well, as america reaches this remarkable 250th milestone,
  • 00:24:10.906 --> 00:24:15.544
  • We need to ask, what is our real hope as a nation?
  • 00:24:15.544 --> 00:24:19.180
  • The only way we can change the direction of america
  • 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:22.450
  • Is by changing the hearts of americans,
  • 00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:25.854
  • And that is something
  • 00:24:25.854 --> 00:24:27.088
  • Only the gospel of jesus christ can do.
  • 00:24:27.088 --> 00:24:30.125
  • Right now through the in god we trust matching challenge,
  • 00:24:30.125 --> 00:24:33.261
  • Your gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact,
  • 00:24:33.261 --> 00:24:36.665
  • Up to $1.5 million.
  • 00:24:36.665 --> 00:24:39.067
  • Your gift today will help us reach people across our nation
  • 00:24:40.235 --> 00:24:42.938
  • With the gospel of jesus christ.
  • 00:24:42.938 --> 00:24:45.807
  • Now, please stay right there.
  • 00:24:45.807 --> 00:24:47.375
  • I'll be back with more pathway to victory in just a moment.
  • 00:24:47.375 --> 00:24:51.313
  • Most of us grew up seeing the 10 commandments
  • 00:24:52.280 --> 00:24:54.316
  • Posted in our schools and courthouses.
  • 00:24:54.316 --> 00:24:56.785
  • So, why don't we seem to follow
  • 00:24:56.785 --> 00:24:58.520
  • Those 10 commandments anymore?
  • 00:24:58.520 --> 00:25:00.789
  • In the 10, dr. robert jeffress shows us
  • 00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:03.692
  • These ancient truths were not given to us
  • 00:25:03.692 --> 00:25:05.961
  • To take away our freedom,
  • 00:25:05.961 --> 00:25:07.762
  • They were given to enhance our happiness,
  • 00:25:07.762 --> 00:25:10.298
  • And to invite us into a deeper love relationship with god.
  • 00:25:10.298 --> 00:25:14.002
  • In a culture where moral confusion reigns,
  • 00:25:14.002 --> 00:25:17.005
  • For what's right is wrong and what's wrong is right,
  • 00:25:17.005 --> 00:25:20.108
  • We desperately need to get back
  • 00:25:20.108 --> 00:25:21.876
  • To the basics of morality,
  • 00:25:21.876 --> 00:25:23.812
  • And that's exactly what the 10 commandments help us do.
  • 00:25:23.812 --> 00:25:27.616
  • The 10 by dr. robert jeffress.
  • 00:25:27.616 --> 00:25:30.318
  • A copy is yours today when you give a generous gift
  • 00:25:30.318 --> 00:25:33.054
  • To pathway to victory.
  • 00:25:33.054 --> 00:25:34.589
  • And when your ministry gift is $125 or more,
  • 00:25:34.589 --> 00:25:38.126
  • You'll receive not only the book,
  • 00:25:38.126 --> 00:25:39.995
  • But a personal and group study guide,
  • 00:25:39.995 --> 00:25:42.263
  • The 10 encouragement cards,
  • 00:25:42.263 --> 00:25:44.032
  • A colorful children's book
  • 00:25:44.032 --> 00:25:45.467
  • Called the 10 commandments for kids,
  • 00:25:45.467 --> 00:25:47.969
  • And the complete series on dvd video and audio disc.
  • 00:25:47.969 --> 00:25:51.940
  • You'll never make it to heaven
  • 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:53.975
  • By keeping the 10 commandments,
  • 00:25:53.975 --> 00:25:56.277
  • But you will have a much better life
  • 00:25:56.277 --> 00:25:58.613
  • Here on earth if you do.
  • 00:25:58.613 --> 00:26:00.048
  • That is the promise that god is making.
  • 00:26:00.048 --> 00:26:02.984
  • For 30 years, pathway to victory
  • 00:26:02.984 --> 00:26:05.286
  • Has been sharing god's truth
  • 00:26:05.286 --> 00:26:06.888
  • With a world that needs it now more than ever,
  • 00:26:06.888 --> 00:26:09.758
  • And when you give today,
  • 00:26:09.758 --> 00:26:11.326
  • Your gift will be doubled in impact
  • 00:26:11.326 --> 00:26:13.461
  • Through the in god we trust matching challenge.
  • 00:26:13.461 --> 00:26:16.665
  • Thank you for helping us pierce the darkness
  • 00:26:16.665 --> 00:26:19.267
  • With the light of god's word.
  • 00:26:19.267 --> 00:26:22.871
  • Theft, whether big or small,
  • 00:26:23.471 --> 00:26:25.340
  • Obvious or more discreet,
  • 00:26:25.340 --> 00:26:27.275
  • Is still sinful in god's eyes.
  • 00:26:27.275 --> 00:26:29.978
  • Just as we want others to value our own possessions,
  • 00:26:29.978 --> 00:26:33.481
  • We must respect the property of others.
  • 00:26:33.481 --> 00:26:36.618
  • Well, everyone tells little white lies.
  • 00:26:36.618 --> 00:26:39.587
  • What's the harm in bending the truth a little bit
  • 00:26:39.587 --> 00:26:42.323
  • If nobody gets hurt?
  • 00:26:42.323 --> 00:26:44.092
  • Well, next time we're going to see
  • 00:26:44.092 --> 00:26:45.694
  • Why lying made god's list of the top 10 commandments.
  • 00:26:45.694 --> 00:26:49.998
  • Stay tuned for a preview
  • 00:26:49.998 --> 00:26:51.299
  • Of what's coming up next in our series, the 10.
  • 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:55.270
  • I imagine all of us realize we may be engaged
  • 00:26:55.270 --> 00:26:58.506
  • In terminological inexactitude,
  • 00:26:58.506 --> 00:27:01.443
  • Or what the bible calls lying,
  • 00:27:01.443 --> 00:27:03.044
  • Which is the subject of the 9th commandment
  • 00:27:03.044 --> 00:27:05.780
  • We're looking at today in our series on the 10.
  • 00:27:05.780 --> 00:27:09.250
  • Exodus 20:16 says
  • 00:27:09.250 --> 00:27:12.187
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  • 00:27:12.187 --> 00:27:17.058
  • Set your dvr and join us next time for the message,
  • 00:27:17.058 --> 00:27:20.161
  • The 9th commandment: safeguard the reputation of others,
  • 00:27:20.161 --> 00:27:23.865
  • Here on pathway to victory.
  • 00:27:23.865 --> 00:27:23.865