God wants believers to serve Him in truth. In fact, it is this very issue that will determine “of what sort” our work is at the judgment seat of Christ.
What if God was true, but on a limited basis? This would be a cause for great concern; however, this is quelled by the fact that He is both true and faithful.
After Christ removes the church, He will establish the time of Jacob’s trouble. After this, Christ will return as a thief in the night to make up His jewels.
Men rob God by simply withholding what God requested. This robbing takes on two forms: not giving what God has required or giving less than one’s best.
To steal is to wrongfully and selfishly take something that belongs to someone else and place it amongst one’s own possessions.
When an individual gets things right with God, he should likewise look for opportunities to make things right with others he might have done wrong.
Many people choose to continue in sin thinking that the consequences are not mounting up. The scriptures indicate something quite different.
Most people assume the Lord’s actions are motivated almost solely because of His love for man. Yet, God works for His own glory and for His own name’s sake.
The relationship between the master and his stewards is one built upon trust. The master places his possessions into the hands of a steward. He will be reluctant to do this unless that man has proven himself trustworthy. The apostle Paul found no shame in claiming to be a faithful steward of God (1 Corinthians 4:1). As such, he understood the principle that the ministry was placed under his care because God had entrusted it to him (1 Corinthians 9:17; Colossians 1:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:11; Titus 1:3). This fact affected everything the apostle said and did. This truth constantly reminded him that he did not live for himself, and that one day he must give an account for his stewardship.
Sin can never be flippantly disregarded. If the Lord is just, and He is, He must mete out consequences for rebellion. The biblical descriptions of the Lord’s reaction to rebellion varies from “he will be wroth” (Joshua 22:18) to “then shall the hand of the LORD be against you” (1 Samuel 12:15) to “ye shall be devoured with the sword” (Isaiah 1:20) to “I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee” (Exodus 33:5) to “I will purge out from among you the rebels” (Ezekiel 20:38) to “I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings” (Malachi 2:2). Though there are variations in the response, the constant truth remains that the Lord hates rebellion and responds to the rebellion with judgment.
