The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Just to update you, um, Michael complained things very expensive in Ghana
and then, uh, we had 12 Americans there at one point. They all went back. They got home safely. Zack Grip told me they
arrived safely on Wednesday. Can I have the first slide? My first slide. Oh, sorry.
Ah, okay. We're going to talk about Americans today. How many Americans? We have our good friends David and Susan.
David and Susan, raise your hand. David, Susan, David's there. Susan's here. Where's Zach? My good friend Zach is
here. Anybody here from USA? USA. Any We have there some Americans.
Now, this is what American homes look like. American suburbia. So nice. Look at the
grass. Look at the driveway. So, and
this is Subong. So subser yesterday when we were putra
high heights they reached what mink complaining about robbery
okay here is so tragic and this is something we're very envious of you know so all our American friends they are
really blessed here we don't have this we end up living in prisons and in
America you can have nice glass beautiful in Malaysia
so here is the issue Okay. And and if you look at the press lately, we've been
having a spate of robberies and they getting very vicious. You you it's not just your homes that being broken into
or your cars being jacked. You hijacked. You can't even go to the shopping center nowadays without being mugged at the at
a car park and thieves now can cut away with oxy cutters. You know, your whole
telling machine or go to hospital and steal things. So here's a question we want to ask
ourselves as we look at the eighth commandment. How did Malaysia end up like this?
Why is it in the states or in Australia you can have homes without fences but
here we are prisoners of our own homes? It's important question. Why? And here
the question are you a thief? Of course you get offended. What kind of speaker the thieves are? We are victims of
thief. We are not thieves. Really? Can you all open up your laptops at home?
Let's check all your software inside there. Let go and check your DVD collection. Let's check your tax
returns. Then we find we are that being stealing has very a very wide
definition. And here's about stealing. A robber that breaks into your home and a
lot of us are victims of theft. I have been I think robbed a few times. My wife
would tell you they'll steal hundreds, thousands, maybe a million. But some
people can steal hundreds of millions of dollars. A lot of people you you think
what we have is unsafe. There are people out there that can steal hundreds of millions. And they are not people who
break into your homes. They are called bankers. And if you're in a banking industry, please forgive me. We're not saying
you're a thief. But bankers can steal a lot. And of course, if you follow the
business news, you'll know a few things. Barclay's Bank in England has been fined
290 million pounds of what? Because they've been fixing the interest rates
over a 4-year period and cause millions of pounds of people to lose their money.
Not only Barclays, of course, if you're American, those beautiful homes I just showed you, perhaps half of them are in
foreclosure. Why? Because people sell you assets. The
insurance companies covers you and the asset becomes toxic. And of course, you
have the very bad joke going around. If a robber is caught, he gets a jail sentence. If a
banker is caught, he guess what? He gets a bonus. You see, they don't get caught. And
here's the colossal effect of robbery on a big scale. It is global. It is global.
Look at what's happening in Europe nowadays. We call this sovereign debt crisis.
Sovereign debt crisis. Look at Greece. Look at Spain. So this morning we want
to look at stealing from a large larger perspective. You see, we think of
stealing as robbing a guy. pointing a gun and and taking money from you. But
stealing has a larger and much more interconnected relationship. And with
the banks, I just show you if you're irresponsible with another person's property, if you're irresponsible with
another person's money, if you're not trustworthy with the person's money,
property, his economic means of life being as today when we read in
scripture, you're as bad as a thief. So I want us all to have a bit of humility
this morning and as we go through this text and may God speak to us. Lord we
come before you now in utter humility oh Lord and we ask that uh not the clever words
of man not stage showmanship not charisma but
your word and your word alone anointed by the spirit goes forth into this hall
today. teach us not only be hearers of the word but be doers and guide us
through this text oh lord and we say this in Jesus name amen if someone
steals from you what is the worst thing they could steal but before we look at
stealing I think both brother yen and Dr. have been talking that the fact that we've been doing the ten commandments
have been a bit jumpy. So I want to do a bit of a wrap up on the ten commandments some some framework. So let's briefly go
through this. Number one, you must understand the first commandment grounds the rest. You find this when you read
both the ten commandments in Exodus and Deuteronomy. This phrase repeats itself.
I am the Lord God who brought you out of Egypt. I'm the Lord God. And in many
ways, everything we do ties back to idolatry. I give you example. Brother
Gideon gave a very good message on honoring your parents and he talked about filipiety. But filipiety in its
extreme form is idol worship because it's veneration of the dead. Dr. Tan
talked about coming to church saying hallelujah, hallelujah. Go out there and you swear. That's idolatry because you
turn praising God into a joke. So everything ties to the first
commandment. The second thing you must pick up. Jesus intensifies it. The
beatitude tells you. He says, you know, it is said you must not commit adultery. I tell you, anyone who looks a woman
lustfully has already committed adultery with her in the eyes. He does this with a lot of other things. We find it the
same with stealing. And here's the important thing. The ten commandments are fulfilled in Matthew 22 in loving
God and loving your neighbor. Let me put this in context of stealing.
Working backwards, it is not enough you don't steal. You must love your
neighbor. Stealing, the commandment of do not steal is an expression of loving
your neighbor. Why does Jesus intensify it? Because stealing has a root and we'll be looking
at a root and that root you will find is actually idolatry. So let's go back to
the question. Steal what? If someone asks you, if someone steal from you,
what is the most important thing he could steal? Let's look at Exodus 20.
And if you go now to Exodus 21, which is the next immediate chapter
after the ten commandments, and you look at the first verse of chapter 21, which
is how the laws are being uh uh uh explained to the Israelites, you find
this in verse two. If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six
years. Meaning during that time, it is common to sell yourself. Olden days they
call it bonded labor or slave. Nowadays we call it consultancy services. Architects are slaves. Okay. You're an
engineer, you're the same thing. The thing is you can sell your service for a
period of years. Okay. So the whole text in chapter 21 is about buying and
selling people. Now you look at verse 16. Anyone who kidnaps another and
either sells him or still has him when he's caught must be put to death. What
is this? This is slavery. But here this is theft. The stealing of a person for
economic gain. So I want to open what stealing is.
Stealing is beyond appropriating a person's money and a
person's possessions illegally. The deeper meaning of stealing is appropriating a person. Now let let's
pause for this for a while. Yeah. And I want to take you back a bit. Why is verse 16 such the punishment is so bad?
Because the Israelites were slaves. And here God has taken that of Egypt into
the promised land. Yet another fellow Israelite will make a person a slave. So the punishment is very severe.
So if you go back to Egypt, the Israelites were never always slaves
in Egypt. Under whose time were they really prospering? Under Joseph. But
what happened to Joseph? What did the brothers do to him? The brothers made him a slave. In fact, if you read the
account of Joseph, the brothers said, "What do we profit by killing him?
Better we sell him." And when Joseph became a slave, what happened to him?
His rights were taken away. His rights of justice. He was framed for rape. His
dignity was taken away and his time was taken away because he spent years
languishing in the prison. So here's the first thing for us and here's the first
question to all the tawes among us all of you who are for our non-Chinese those
of you in management position how do you treat your staff
because there is modernday slavery let me start of this you can be guilty of
stealing a person's life let me read to you Isaiah chapter 10 and this is the
indictment to the Judah woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue
oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights.
Other translations have to steal the poor or to rob the poor of their rights
and we hold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey
and robbing their fatherless. So we are looking at how those of you in
managerial positions in director position treat your staff. Here's the
human temptation. The human temptation is to treat your staff as an object.
That is what verse 16 of chapter 21 is. And not a human being. Once you do that,
you are guilty of stealing. I want to give a memory verse for all China men business people. They say Chinese are
the Jews of the east. Who's the first China man in the Bible? It's a guy called Laban. Okay. Laban's a real China
man. No. Marry all the daughter. Oh yeah. Yeah. You can marry my daughter. Go ahead. Go ahead. And maybe day he
swaps with another daughter. As you know the guy, you know, and then he cheats.
Now here is what Isaac says of Laban. You know I work for your
father with all my strength. He's complaining to the Laban's children. Yet your father cheated me by changing my
wages 10 times. This sound very familiar with Chinese businessmen. Huh? Do not defraud your
neighbor or robbed him. Leviticus say this. Do not hold the wages of a hired man overnight. So let me just ask all
our business people here. You issue a PO credit 60 days.
At the end of 60 days, ah no money, huh? I pay you half.
Then 90 days come, you pay the full and then load another order of 100,000.
Perpetually the credit you are owing the guy 100,000 and then you think you're very smart.
As far as the Bible's concerned, that's stealing, you know. So this is where our Christian testimony
goes right into the way we conduct our business. For all of you who are doing
business, here's the question God is asking you. Do you pay your suppliers,
your dealers, your vendors, your staff their overtime claims on time?
If you don't, the Bible says you're a thief. Do you deny your staff medical
claims? Do you work them over time every day of the week until 12 and night?
The Bible says you're depriving him of justice.
You are a thief. And here's the extent of how our Christian testimony is for
all of you who are own uh owners of businesses or managers of businesses.
Treat your staff well. That is your testimony. Is no point coming to church and serving if your
staff thinks you're a lousy boss or a lousy manager and they think you are
looking at them just as an object and not as a person.
And look at what uh James says. Look, the wages you failed to pay the workmen
who mow your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the years of the Lord
Almighty. you have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.
Here is this business is about making a profit margin. Making a profit margin is
about maximizing your profit and minimizing your overheads. So if you
want to really make money, you become very ruthless. So here's the point God is asking us
today. Now, now the economy is very good. Here I throw a challenge to you.
What happens after the elections? We go into a recession. A friend of mine Steven uh who knows uh
uh Waong worked for him before. Yeah. British architect. I lunch with him. He
told me when England went into a recession. He was working for a very big consultancy firm. The boss brought
everybody into a room and they said, "Okay, oneird of you are going to get retrenched.
the other two you got to work one hour more per day and take a pay cut. So of
course the staff asked him what about you? He said I'm the boss.
I'm the boss. Here's the question. If a recession happens, will you be prepared to take a
pay cut so that you can don't have to go to your holidays in Bali and stay in a five-star hotel and go for all those
expensive buffet dinners so that your staff can pay for the tuition fees for
their children. If you cannot do that, the Bible says you're a thief and your Christian
testimony is worthless. Why? Because you find the Bible particularly deplor
stealing from the poor and marginalized. Now we're going to open this up. How do
you treat your Indonesian mate? How do you treat the Nepali guard at
your condo? How do you treat the workers at the factory?
And if by making a margin on your business, these people have a terrible life, the Bible will hold it very
heavily against you. Amos says this to the northern kingdom of Israel. This is what the Lord says.
For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell
the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust
of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. I I used to spend a lot of time in Nepali ministry in Pantaai and
they'll tell you all the horror stories because when the Nepales arrive here they are helpless and then they go and
work in a factory and the factory people work them to the ground don't give them medical benefits stretch them to the end
and then send them back you know what's the worst some of these people are Christians you know we had a case of a
Christian person owning a factory who was abusing the staff you see this the thing about us
people go to church. We we have a split personality. When we come to church, we behave a certain way. When we go off on
Monday, we behave differently. The way we treat our mates, the guard, the
workers, the poor. And this God holds against us. Now, let's turn it around.
We've been having a go at employers. Now, let's have a go at employees. Okay?
The poor are not to take advantage of the rich. This two is stealing. Let me give you example in that time is an
agriculture society. We don't have internet. We don't have computers. And
this is what Deuteronomy says. If you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat the grapes you want. Why? Because
you're hungry. But do not put any of it in your basket. If you enter your
neighbor's grain field, you may pick kernels with your hand. But you not must not put a sickleer to his standing
grain. Meaning you mustn't take advantage of his generosity.
Okay, let's ask something to all you employees. When you at your computer screen, do you
have a little window down there called MSM messenger? Do you when the boss is looking oh very
hard looking boss turn around MSN come out there. My boss a very one kind one. Then go back there again. Do you when
the boss is not looking the handphone come out there and what do they say time? Time is what?
Money. You are paid to work 8 hours a day. If you clock in the number of time
you spend on MSM messenger, surfing the internet, going to bit torrent and downloading illegal things
and tweeting and SMSing, then ask yourself whether you are
stealing. How many of you help yourself to office supplies?
I I need to photo something, boss. Two sheets for a company, five for me. 10
pencils. Yeah, boss wouldn't mind. Take two back home. My my my daughter needs it to do coloring. How many of you when
you go out for your sales trip, half a go sales trip? Are you very hungry? Go to mama's store.
It is stealing you know and God knows. You see our testimony goes down to
simple little things like this. Simple little thing. It is not whether
I'm I'm preaching or I'm serving in VBS. It is my holiness.
I tell you what I used to like to do as a as a running my own practice. I used to like to bum up my claims. So I used
to ask my mother, hey you all your claims, give me give me pad it. You see pad it. You see?
But God knows you see. So one day my mother gave it to me. Nah here's a bill for hotel thousand something you shall
like one. So I told my mother I think not right. My mother say why? I say I
think God knows. So my mother said good on you. You see it's little little things. It's
second nature to us right? How many of you are really honest in your tax return claims?
Always know everything you do. God knows, you know, and it's always in the
little little things we do that shows we honor God. And when we show that we are
people of honesty and integrity and accountable and we are responsible for
people's possessions, then we don't go down the road of stealing.
Okay? So tomorrow when you go off to work, bosses, remember, treat your staff well.
Wives, mothers, treat your Indonesian mate well. Staff, when you go out there for your sales trip, remember don't go
out to the copy because all of this is stealing. Now, we're going to go to our main text now.
And I want you to look at Exodus 22. This our main text for today. And we're going to take about 10 minutes to look
at this. Let me start off by asking a question. And if a thief breaks into your house,
and I I' I've been a victim of this, and steals jewelry, my wife knows they stole
my all our wedding jewelry, so we understand how painful that is. steals your jewelry,
steals cash, steals all your DVD collection and steals your old laptop
which has no value but has all your files, all your insurance, all your receipts in there which is the most
important thing he has stolen is the laptop. Why? Because the laptop is what you use
to make a living. Now look at chapter 22 quickly run through with me. says this, if a man steals an ox or a sheep, what
must he do? He must pay back five times. Okay, you go further down, verse four, if a stolen animal found alive, pay
double. Verse five, a man grazes his livestock, meaning ox, sheep also, he
must make restitution. Then you go down to verse uh nine,
illegal possession of what? Ox, donkey, sheep, and garment. Okay, verse 10, a
man gives what? donkey, ox, sheep. Verse 14, if a man borrows an animal, what is
the concentration here? Ox, donkeys, and sheep. Why? Because during that time is
an agriculture society. Is one thing to steal a guy's gold. The
most is he got less gold. But the moment you steal his ox, he cannot provide for
his family. So the emphasis here is about robbing a
person of his means to make a living. And the text breaks itself into three
areas. Yeah. Verse one is about outright stealing. If a man steals an ox. Okay.
Let's look at verse seven. If a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and is stolen from the
neighbor's home, the thief, if he's caught, must pay double. But if the thief is not found, the owner of the
house must appeal before the judge to determine whether he has laid his hands on the other man's possessions. In all
cases of illegal possessions of ox, donkey, sheep, garment or any other lost
property about which somebody say this is mine, both parties are to bring their cases before the judge. The one whom the
judge declared guilty must pay back double to his neighbor. This is about
breach of trust. I lend it to you for safekeeping. Something happens. It goes missing. I
suspect you steal it. So I bring it before the court. Here's about breach of trust. Remember the illustration I told
you about banking. This is breach of trust, you know. Okay. Look at verse 10. If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep,
or any other animal for safekeeping, and he dies or is injured or is taken away
while no one looking, the issue within them will be settled by the taking of oath before the Lord that the neighbor
did not lay hands on another person's property. Verse 12, but if the animal was stolen
from the neighbor, he must make restitution owner. If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, he will bring
it to the remains as evidence. He will not be required to pay for the torn animal. Verse 14, if a man borrows an
animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies or the owner is not present, he must make restitution. But
if the owner the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire
covers the loss. Because during that time, you will borrow another person's animal to do your farm. Let me wrap it
up for you. I borrow an animal or I loan it to your
safekeeping. Something happens to it. I suspect you colluded for my animal to be
stolen. This is called breach of trust. That's what verse 5 down uh uh sorry
verse 7 to 9 is verse 10 to 14 is what is about negligence. I loan you
something. Something goes wrong with it. And let me give you a simpler example since we don't have oxes and donkeys and
and and and and sheep nowadays. Let's just say I I let's take example. Brother Wyouong has a nice Mercedes.
His Mercedes is an open uh open roof one. I ask him to show it to you. I say
one day, brother Wong, lend me your car. And I take his Mercedes and I think I'm
Van Diesel. I go around Janu drive and I I do a Tokyo drift on the
car and I spin a spin a spin and I spin the car into the longang and I totally destroy his Mercedes.
The Bible is telling you're not much different than a thief because a thief
steals an ax. The guy can't do a work. You total his car, you wreck his car, he
can't make a living. Let's just say I don't destroy his car. I take his car and now I don't think I'm Van Diesel. I
think I'm James Dean. And I drive the car to Sheraton Hotel. No drive. No. And then I get my car
down. I stop. I open the car. I walked off. Very cool. Stand.
No. And then I walk off and I forget the car keys are in the car. And somebody
else takes the car and runs off with it. And then tell not my fault. If I'm
white, I'll launch a police report against me because suspicion
will be placed on me that maybe I intended for the car to be stolen. That
is the function of the text. Let me put it for you in simple English. And here
is how scripture widens the definition of stealing.
Betraying trust. where you betray trust, whether you're a banker or an insurance
agent or selling credit cards, irresponsible in your actions. And here
the last one I didn't pick up to you. Selective in your charity. Go down to chapter 23:4. Here's a verse that will
blow your mind away. If you come across your enemy's ox, enemy, you know, or
donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. Enemy,
if you see the donkey or someone who hates you falling down under the load, do not leave it there. Be sure you help
him with it. Malaysians, a guy gets run down by a pig pocket, they will walk away.
Scripture teaches you your enemy if his livelihood is affected you
remember the enemy has wife and kids and you help him.
Do you know what we're looking at here? We are looking at loving your neighbor.
It is not enough for Christians to say I don't steal. That's what the rich ruler
told Jesus. I fulfilled all the commandments. I do not steal.
The question God tells you, are you negligent at work and because of your
negligence, people pay the price? Are you untrustworthy
that people are suspicious? You're pilfering the petty cash to take some money for yourself.
And are you selfish? You say, "This guy suit me. This guy me in Cantonese
couldn't be bothered. Let him die. Correct. Not I hope he die.
You won't say it so much your heart say for all of you non-Chinese is the tone
of it you should understand. And here's the verse. If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey, be sure to take it
back to him. What is loving your enemies mean? Loving your neighbor means is loving your
enemy. You see the the the grills
are not around the homes. You know the grills are around our minds because we
view theft from an individual perspective. But scripture teaches us theft is a divine and communal
perspective. I give you example. When someone steals rob their house, what the first question you ask? Hey, Indonesian
or not? Correct or not? Must be Indonesian.
Someone steals your car. Hey, must be Indian. Correct or not? Am I all right?
If someone scams you, hey, must be Nigerian. Correct. Everyone gets it. It's a
communal problem. So, let me give you example. You go to Indonesia years ago, you think
you're smart. Indonesian cheap labor. You don't think of them as people. You think of them as assets. You bring the
Indonesian guy over here. He brings his culture over which could be very rough.
You teach him how to build homes. Then illegally you give him a certain IC.
And then you keep arms away for him. You couldn't be bothered if he dies. He stays in the slum. You're not going to
go and help him. You build a nice housing estate next to his slum. Guess what they're going to do to you?
They're going to rob you. And that's why the solution to stealing
is actually a communal solution. And
that's why Christians must be involved with the neighborhood. Here it is for us church. When we go
back to work and we're people of integrity,
your boss trusts you so much. He will give you a blank check to do certain
things. You are a testimony. The moment the boss thinks although this guy is
Christian, he's very shady. You're as bad as a thief. Tomorrow when you go off to work and you
simply sign anything, you simply do all your sales to get your quarter.
That is no testimony. You know, because a Christian looks at the guy and sees maybe if I do this, his house will go
into foreclosure. If I I even if I sell you this Visa card, you're going to go and gamble. You are prepared to make
less money. This is what the Bible teaching. And here the killer. You look at the
Indonesian out there. You look at our African friends. You look at our all those that society is not treating very
well. And then you remember this verse. If you come across your enemy's ox, be
sure to take it back to him. And you ask yourself, when was the last time you did charity to any of these groups?
This is what Paul says in Ephesians 4:28. He who has been stealing must
steal no longer, but must work with your hands. Now, most of us, the verse stops there, but notice Paul extends it. He
says that he may have something to share with those in need. So, it is beyond
stealing. Paul is teaching us to transform a robber to a helper. It is
not enough to stop stealing but to also help those in need including those we
don't like. And Martin Luther put it very well. We are commanded to promote
and further our neighbors interests. And when they suffer any want, we are to
help, share and lend to both friends and foes. So tomorrow when you go off to
work, can you imagine if all of you here are so trustworthy in your handling of
other people's money, can you imagine if you're so responsible in the way you do
your accounts? Can you imagine when you treat your staff so well, when staff you
don't, you know, God is watching, not even one minute of your time you go on MSM?
Can you imagine the impact you make on the world? You know, one day I was caught for for speed. I know a lot of
you were caught. The policeman asked me, of course, he wanted a donation to the police fund.
Okay. And uh I I I just said, you know, in Malay
English means I don't think this right. God doesn't like it. He interject me. No. Hey, you Christian now?
I say yeah. Say now I tell you why.
It means it has happened to him before. So the you you catch one Christian, the
guy says, "I don't want to give." You catch the second Christian, he don't want to give. The third time the Christian does it, he goes back and
thinks what? There's something different about the Christian. Now you repeat that principle to the
MPSJ officer. You repeat that principle to your staff. You repeat that out
there. Your impact, brothers and sisters, is tremendous.
And you will fill this earth with Christians. That is our great
commission. Let me just go and end with this other section. We've talked really
a lot about theft. The broad definition of theft. I want to end now with why
people steal. Now, there are two reasons why people steal. One is they forced into it. And we're going to deal with
this in the next commandment I'm doing. Okay? Because the next commandment doing I'm going to talk about bribery and
corruption. That is very difficult. Okay? We're really going to deal the next commandment on do not lie. Let you
know book your time. Now we're going to talk about bribery. Okay, we've got all of us. I'm an architect. We're really
into it. But today, we're not going to do about that. That's one of the reasons why people steal is because of this. And
of course, this taken from Wall Street, the very famous Michael Douglas movie. Here's the thing. If I take off one of
the G's, what is it? Greed becomes your God. So, we've been talking a lot about
loving your neighbor. I'm now we're going to bring it now to loving your God. loving God with all your heart and
mind and soul because stealing is related to greed. And greed, the New
Testament tells us, is idolatry. Now, I want to open the definition of greed. Yeah. It's not just to money. It can be
to power. It can be anything. One day, I was asking this kid to go to a a camp in
this church. I won't mention names, okay? I said, "Hey, you go to this cam is a Christian cam. He's not Christian
boy. Uncle Anna take you and go and see Avengers." You know why he replied to me?
My father can download free. What for you take me? You know why the
father can do it? Because he can. Do you know what's greed bait fellow? Opportunity.
The moment you have opportunity and you have greed is a lethal
combination. So it's not just money. Yeah. It can be power, it can be
prestige, it can be because I like to be up here. I like people looking at me and respecting me. Is all greed. So we want
to talk about one very famous case which I think the root is in this
but I want to do this in a manner which is not sensational. Okay. Now before we start, let us be very clear here on a
few points. The church is not the place to sling mud at people. And I've been
praying very heavily on this. So few points before we get into this. Number one, a man is innocent till proven
guilty. Yeah. Point two, pray for City Harvest Church.
Pray for the four uh leaders including Pastor Kongi and his wife. Pray for
their children. We already read. If you come across your enemy's ox, be sure to take it back to
him. We are to love people. Point three, don't be don't be so self-righteous.
Don't be so self-righteous. You say, "Yeah, there. See there, like that, like that, like that." God say, "How about you? You got no sins in your life." So,
don't throw the first stone cuz we all sinners. Okay? So, I want to do that. We
don't want to sensationalize this. We don't want to spend too much time on this, but we're going to wrap up on this. But we don't talk about this is
wrong. Let me just quickly give you the case. The case is a CBD case about a
misappropriation of 23 million sing taken from the church building fund into
a fund called cross walk which is basically wife Sanho's music ministry.
She does it in Honduras and in Taiwan. I read very heavily on the case. There was a second transaction of 26 million. that
was brought back into the building fund via bonds and the Singapore authority
says the bonds are sham is a means of actually covering your the trail. Now
here's one very simple principle and why I'm I I am at FBC. Whatever you think
about this church, this is a church of integrity. This is a church where accounts above board and this is something we all need
to practice. You never reach a point where people have to investigate you to say, "Hey, your accounts are shady." You
must really be above board. That's what chapter 22 is. But here's where I think the main crux is. If you follow the
internet, a lot of people link it with a lot of things with him is linked to the fact that he has a 9.3 million
penthouse. Now, I want to quickly go through this. This is not the only case.
In America, there's a pastor called Eddie Long also had a scandal. He drives
a sports car. He has a very very big mention. Another case recently is Creo
Dollar also arrested recently also very rich. Have you noticed similarly on all
three Creo dollar is domestic violence Eddie Long is a sexual scandal with
Kongi is money. Do you know what's the the the the two things that link all of
them? One is a lifestyle where they all rich. Two is the gospel they preach. So
this morning we want to talk only about the gospel and I'm going to leave it to you to see whether you believe is right
or wrong. This is what we call the prosperity gospel. And we need to really look a little bit
of this and in a sermon which you can get on YouTube on understanding prosperity
uh Steve Harvest Church Dr. Kongi preaches this. He says you must become
successful to fulfill God's purpose in your life. It's a lifestyle. It's a way of living. Meaning God wants all of you
to be successful. Now let's pause for a while. Who wants to be poor here? Nobody wants to be poor. Now Chinese resonate
with this because Chinese talk about prosperity. Who doesn't want to send his children to study? Who doesn't want to have bad? Who
doesn't want to have good health? So prosperity gospel people teach is a way
of living. In another sermon he says this, your seed must be planted in good ground.
Farmers look for good ground to sew seeds to get a harvest. Be harvest minded. Don't go for the need of the
ground. Go for the harvest it can bring. He's preaching from the parable of the sewer. He's telling you invest in a big
church. The church will give you back its return. And here is what it is
interpreted in by members. So hear my words very carefully. This is what some of the members interpret it as. And in
the interview with Yahoo News, the name I've taken out, one member went online to say this. Whatever seed we sow, we'll
reap the harvests of his kind. When we sow love, we reap love. When we sow
money, we will be blessed financially. So that is in a simple nutshell what
this what is this what this teaching does. So I want to just quickly does go
through this. What does Jesus teaches about harvest? In the Bible the harvest isn't about you
making a return on your money you know or return on love. The harvest is about salvation of souls. Matthew 9 it say the
harvest is plentiful. The workers are few. Ask the Lord to harvest. Therefore, to send out workers into the harvest
field in a parable of the swer which is again about the kingdom of God. It is
not about investing in good soul to get a manifold return of 30 60 90. And in
one of the souls about thorns, this is what Jesus says. The man who received
the seed that fell among thorns is the man who hears the word but the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of
wealth choke it making it unfruitful. Now here's my point. Huh?
Greed is invisible. How many of you will acknowledge you're
struggling with greed? You ask a guy to acknowledge he's struggling from anger, he'll admit it. You tell him he's
struggling with lust, he'll admit it. You tell him he's struggling with uh with uh bitterness, he admit it. You
tell him he's struggling with greed, he says, "No, not me." Because greed is very very subtle. And because of that,
Jesus picks it up to say it's idolatry. And here it is. You look at the picture
of the of of the bull. What is it? The eyes are closed. You can't see it because greed, easy money, meaning what?
Opportunity. So the problem with teachings like this when it's couched in such language
whatever the intention is you're not going to judge it is very tempting when you're a member of the church you say
you know what I put money in there God is going to give me back 100 time
no matter what people caveat the message and pastor Kongi may caveat it you're
tempted to do that so here the question we ask ourselves how much do you think
you're struggling with greed The moment you are struggling with greed, you're tempted to steal. The
moment you're struggling with greed, you're tempted to treat your staff like assets. You're tempted to be
untrustworthy. You're tempted to be negligent. You're tempted to do a lot of things to increase your finances. How do
you and I know? How do I know I'm struggling with greed? And I think here
is the few litmus tests. Jesus tells the rich young man. The rich young man tells
him, "I've kept all the commandments including not to steal." Jesus says, "Very good. Go sell your possessions and
give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven." The key word is treasure in heaven. The guy can't do it.
So, he walks away very sad. And of course, Jesus says how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
And he says this in Luke 12 about after talking telling people not to worry. He says, "Do not be afraid, little flock,
for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor." Notice the same
thing. "Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven
that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart not here will be also."
So here's the point to know whether you and I are struggling with greed.
How much are you and I investing in spiritual treasures?
How much do you and I invest your thinking, your time for God's kingdom?
And what are spiritual treasures? Is about turning a person into a disciple
into carrying our cross into changing our bad habits. So we have the fruits of the spirits.
How much is that a priority? If that is only a priority on Sunday and the rest
of the week you are more concerned about putting money in the bank, making sure
your children's education is secured, making sure your health is right, then chances are spiritual treasures is not
your priority. The American dollar has one line above
that. What does it say above the word one? In God we trust.
Easy to do that when you got $1, isn't it? What happens when it's 1 million bucks? Do you still say in God we trust?
No. Quite likely you will trust the million dollars. Isn't it? So when you have abundance,
it is harder to trust God. So I want to end this especially I think
a lot of us here have got a fair bit of money. You really got to ask yourself
this morning whether greed is part of your life. For those of us who don't
have much ask yourself the same thing is do we really coveret to be rich. Let me
end with a saying from proverbs and this is what it teaches us in
proverbs. Two things I asked of you. Do not deny them to me before I die. Remove
far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me
only my daily bread. And Paul teaches us in Timothy, if we have food and
clothing, we are content. Otherwise, I may have too much and deny you and say,
"Who is the Lord?" And for all of you who have got a lot of money, who praise God with our lips on Sunday, who come
here and we say hallelujah, hallelujah, ask ourselves when we go back tomorrow to work, do we deny him? And we deny him
if our thoughts are on earthly investments and very little on spiritual
investments. The second line says, "Or I may become poor and still and so
dishonor the name of my God." And some of you here are struggling perhaps financially. You're tempted to do
dishonest things. Always know God knows. We ask the church will provide for you.
We ask that maybe you will be brave enough to ask us to pray for you so that you will not be tempted to steal. Let us
close now and come before God in prayer. Lord, we
we thank you for the commandment do not steal
and thank you for reminding us is not a simple matter of us not robbing the
bank. So Lord, as we go off to work tomorrow, teach us not to steal our
boss's time, steal our toughs, integrity,
teach us to be people of above board, people who are very trustworthy.
Teach us not to be negligent with other people's possessions so that other people can make a living. And above all,
Lord, teach us to be charitable even to people we dislike. By this oh Lord we
love our neighbor. We love our neighbor and that is difficult for us to do.
Teach us Lord to love you with all our heart and mind and soul by honoring you that by not putting idols.
Come on.
Yes.
