Series: Ephesians
Title: Robbers Restored to be Restorers
Text: Eph 4: 28
Date: July 12, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 4: 28: Let him that stole steal no
more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is
good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
This is
not law; this is grace. The law God gave
at Mt. Sinai said, “Thou shalt not steal.” (Ex 20: 15) That is it! No grace, no
spiritual discernment, and no constraining love is given by the law. There is only the strict command, “thou shalt
not steal.”
Proposition: Our text is not law but an exhortation God gives to believers
who God has saved from being thieves through faith in Christ, who God makes to
be restorers to the needy, not by law but by God’s grace.
Christ’s people are: Robbers Restored to be Restorers
In
these exhortations, we need to see the difference between law and grace? The believer—God’s elect called from among
the Jews or from among the Gentiles—is not under the law; we are under grace.
God’s
elect—spiritual Israel—are saved by the grace of God—by God giving us what we
do not deserve, by God giving what no sinner can obtain by the works of the law,
by God making us the righteousness of God—the righteousness of the law—through
faith in the Son of God who fulfilled the law on our behalf. So why did God give the law at Mt. Sinai? Why
did God give the law which said, “Thou shalt not steal?” (Ex 20: 15)
I. THE FIRST THING GRACE DOES IS TEACH GOD’S
CHILD THAT IN ADAM, WE BROKE THE WHOLE LAW OF GOD—Note it says: Ephesians 4:
28: Let him THAT STOLE steal no more:…that is why God gave the law.
We Broke the Law in Adam
Adam
represented every child born of Adam; Christ represented every child born of
Christ.
Romans 5: 17:…by one man’s offence death reigned by one;
much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5: 19: For as by one man’s disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Unregenerate
sinners hate the truth that we became sinners by the doing and dying of
another, Adam. But regenerated sinners love this truth because it also declares
that we are made righteous by the doing and dying of another—Christ Jesus.
So when
God gave the law at Mt. Sinai, every sinner had already broken every commandment,
even “Thou shalt not steal”, because of Adam’s transgression of God’s one
command in the garden. Why then did God give the law at Mt. Sinai?
Romans 5: 20: Moreover the law entered, that the
offence might abound.
God
calls his law given at Mt. Sinai: “the ministration of condemnation.” It is because God gave his law to teach his
people that we came under condemnation when Adam sinned in the garden. (2 Cor
3: 9) God calls his law “the ministration of death.” (2 Cor 3: 7) It is because
God gave his law to teach his people that death passed upon us by Adam’s one
transgression in the garden.
Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned:
We Broke Every Command in Adam
We broke
every law of Mt. Sinai in the garden when Adam broke them by his one
transgression of one commandment. God says “whosoever shall offend in one
point, he is guilty of all.” (Ja 2: 10) We broke the whole law of God by Adam’s
one transgression in the garden.
Exodus 20: 1: 3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Satan
told Eve “ye shall be as gods.” Adam’s
disobedience against God by transgressing the one law God gave in the garden was
his heart, saying, “I will not have God reign over me; I will be my own god!” The second commandment goes right along with
the first—idolatry is in the heart—the worship of self—which is what Adam did
by his transgression.
Exodus 20: 7: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD
thy God in vain.
Adam’s
disobedience was Adam cursing God.
Exodus 20: 8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
To rest
on the Sabbath day meant trusting God’s full provision. Adam’s transgression
was his refusal to rest in God’s full provision—believers rest in Christ our
Sabbath, God full provision of grace!
Exodus 20: 12: Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Adam’s
disobedience dishonored God his Father and he died that very hour
Exodus 20: 13: Thou shalt not kill.
Adam’s
disobedience was Adam’s heart murdering God and his authority over Adam.
Exodus 20: 14: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Adam’s
disobedience to God was spiritual adultery
Exodus 20: 15: Thou shalt not steal.
Adam’s
disobedience robbed God of the glory due unto him. You get the point. God gave many more commandments than just ten at
Mt. Sinai, but all were given that “the offense” might abound. We broke the
whole law of God by Adam’s one transgression in the garden.
Romans 3:19: Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God….23: For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Ignorant of the Spirituality of the Law
When we
thought we were keeping the law, we did not know the spiritual depths of the
law. By just thinking we were keeping the law, we were stealing from God,
because we were calling God a liar, because God says,
Romans 3: 20…by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
1 John 1:10: If we say that we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We had
no idea the many ways we were stealing every day. This is how strict God
is. Here are some examples of how we
steal and break God’s holy law.
·
To know our expenses are more than our
income, yet to continue to live off our creditors, is stealing.
·
To slander a neighbor steals their character
by ruining the good opinion of those who hear us speak—even giving an hear to
slander is stealing.
·
To not give our employer a full days work or
to not give your employees a full days wages is stealing.
·
To make someone wait is to steal their time.
The law
reaches, not only to the act, but to the thoughts and intents of the heart. God
says to use a false weight or measure when buying or selling is stealing. But
God condemns even thinking about doing so…
Deuteronomy 25: 13: Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers
weights, a great and a small. 14: Thou shalt not have in thine house divers
measures, a great and a small. 15: But thou shalt have a perfect and just
weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have:…
Matthew 15: 19: For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: 20: These are the things which defile a man:
We Stole the Glory of God in Salvation
The
worst of all stealing is to steal the glory which belongs to God in his Son—this
we all did while we were dead in sins.
For example:
·
To believe in our hearts that God chose his
people based on some good in us is to rob God of his glory in sovereignly
electing his people not based on any good or evil in us.
·
To believe in our hearts that Christ died for
all sinners, only making salvation possible, giving the sinner the glory of
making his blood effectual, is stealing Christ’s glory who by himself purged
the sins of his people and accomplished eternal redemption for us.
·
To believe in our hearts that we made ourselves
born-again is to steal the glory of God the Holy Spirit who alone regenerates
his people, irresistibly according to his own will.
·
To believe in our hearts that a sinner is
saved, though he never believes on Christ or does not persevere unto the end in
faith, is to rob God of his glory in giving faith and preserving his people by
his power and grace.
·
To believe in our hearts that a man is
sanctified by the works of the law by his flesh is to rob God in Christ of the
glory that belongs to him for being our Sanctifier and our Sanctification.
·
Simply to not believe on and rest in Christ is
to steal Christ’s glory—Joh 3:18 He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
Do you see
how far reaching God’s law is? The first thing grace does is to teach us that we
are guilty of breaking the whole law of God in Adam, as well as by our own
thoughts—Ephesians 4: 28: Let him THAT STOLE steal no more. This word does not suggest that some stole
but others did not—this word declares we all stole because we are all guilty in
our flesh.
II. SECOND, GRACE TEACHES GOD’S CHILD THAT
CHRIST ALONE FULFILLED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW FOR HIS PEOPLE.
When he
says to each believer, “let him labour,
working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him
that needeth,” we first must understand Christ did this for his people.
The Law of Restitution
God
requires not only that the law be kept but God requires restitution, by the
thief, to those whom he robbed:
Leviticus 6: 4: Then it shall be, because he hath sinned,
and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the
thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep,
or the lost thing which he found, 5: Or all that about which he hath sworn
falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the more
thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his
trespass offering. fifth part
We
robbed God and we robbed ourselves.
Restitution to God
Christ
Jesus never stole anything—from God or man. But his people did. So Christ made
restitution to God on behalf of his people
Psalm 69:4…I restored that which I took not away.
Christ
did so by glorifying God in his heart and his life in all things, by establishing
God’s law by his perfect holiness and righteousness, by satisfying divine
justice by his death on the cross, by his labor—by his finished work—Christ
made full restitution to God on behalf of his people.
Restitution to The Robbed
Here is
the part that is amazing! God’s elect
were the robbers—we not only robbed God, we robbed ourselves. Yet Christ not
only made restitution to God on our behalf, Christ made restitution to us, above
and beyond what we robbed ourselves of by making us righteous and holy before
God’s holy law, by sanctifying us by creating a new man in us in true righteousness
and true holiness, by making us eternally alive to God so “nothing shall be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8: 35-39)
By Laboring
Christ
did this for us, Ephesians 4: 28, by laboring.
Christ’s work on this earth was tiresome labor.
John 4:6: Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being
wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth
hour.
In the
garden of Gethsemane, his disciple slept because they were tired—because they
followed Christ as Christ labored on behalf of his people. But Christ did not
sleep.
Hebrews 12:4: Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving
against sin.
Christ
did! He labored for his people, striving
against sin.
Working the Good Thing
Christ
did this for his people, Ephesians 4:
28, by working with his hands the
thing which is good,
John 4:34: Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 9:4: I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
John 17:4: I have glorified thee on the earth: I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Christ Gives to the Needy
Christ
did this for his people Ephesians 4: 28:…that
HE may have to give to him that needeth.
We are
the one in need: the poor and needy, bankrupt, guilty, robbers! But because Christ labored working with his
hands Christ has all spiritual blessings to give to him that needeth. Christ
gives us everything we need for acceptance with God, for eternal salvation:
·
The gospel
·
Life and a new holy heart
·
Faith and repentance
·
Perfect righteousness, free justification
·
Constant protection from all our enemies
·
One day he will give us a new, glorified,
immortal body
·
He has made us joint-heirs with Christ of all
his eternal inheritance
Joshua 24:13: I have given you a land for which ye did
not labour,…
It is
all because Christ Ephesians 4: 28: laboured, working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have togive to him that needeth. So grace
gives the believer an entirely new motive: it is the mercy and love of God
freely bestowed upon us.
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15: And
that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
III. NOW IN LIGHT OF WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR
US, LET’S HEAR THE EXHORTATION AND THE REASON GIVEN—Ephesians 4: 28:
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
We Serve the Lord in our Jobs
Believer,
as we consider how fervent Christ was, in laboring to work out a righteousness
for us, who said, “I must be about my father’s business”, it is an easy and
light yoke for Christ to say to us, be
Romans 12: 11: Not slothful in business; fervent in
spirit; serving the Lord;…13: Distributing to the necessity of saints;…
Colossians 3: 22: Servants, obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in
singleness of heart, fearing God: 23: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord, and not unto men; 24: Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Colossians 4: 1: Masters, give unto your servants that
which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
Our
Master in heaven—by his labor—is just to give us mercy because he satisfied
justice so he is just to make us the righteousness of God in him. We have that
perfect measure God requires to be accepted of God. Christ gives it to us
justly and equally.
Giving to the Needy
Brethren,
it is a great blessing Christ has given us, to have a heart to imitate Christ
in laboring and giving to those in need. It is Christ our example whom Paul
followed as Paul set an example for the church,
Acts 20:35: I have shewed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
So God
says to us for whom Christ labored:
Hebrews 13:16: But to do good and to communicate forget
not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
God is
well-pleased with Christ’s sacrifices, well-pleased with communicating to us
the manifold riches of his grace, well-pleased as we give to the needy what God
has given to us—CHIEFLY THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST!
It is
the will of the new man, created within us, to always work an honest job and to
give cheerfully to those in need—especially through the furtherance of the
gospel—because we understand what great love God loved us in Christ
1 John 3:17: But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwelleth the love of God in him?
One
last thing: this provision should be sacrificial. Because we are called to trust that God, who
spared not his only Son, shall freely provide for us so we are able to minister
to those in need.
1 Corinthians 15: 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as
ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Hebrews 6:10: For God is not unrighteous to forget your
work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered
to the saints, and do minister. 11: And we desire that every one of you do shew
the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Amen!