The Chickasaw messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1880-1900, 1881-06-23
s'Thou Shalt Nos steal

~Fhou shalt Nos saeaI.n
We recently heard a very searchins
sermon preached from the above text
The preacher said he was not eoinr
to preach to cutthroals or outlaws
but 70 an intelligent and refined peo-
| pie who thought themselves honest
Or course, everybody knows that II
is wrong to steal a horse, or perpe-
trate a gross robbery, but there are
many who are guilty Of pilfering that
never imagine they are breaking the
eight commandment.
God requires as to consecrste 10
him our time talents, influence and All
that we have and are. Every faculty
Of our ransomed being should be
brought into subsection to the Divine
will, and II we fail at this point we take
from God that which belongs 70 him
by right Of creation and redemption
lie who does not employ bis time In
the service Of God, who does not use
the talents which God has given him
for the promotion OF bis glory, who
does not cast the weight Of bis in
auence in the scale Of Christianity is
tsking, from the Author of his being
that which justly belongs to Him.
Looking at this closely we find
that sin lies at the door Of many
hearts, aud that comparatively few OF
US can come before God ard claim TO
be honest men.
lie who buried his talent and re :
turned Il to his Lord at the appointed
time may have fondly dreamed that
he was acting in way that Would
meet the approval Of his Master, but
the rebuke which he received placed
an everlasting stigma upon his
lazness. So II wa hide our talents
"in napkin" and at the last day
present them to the Judge we shall
iud to our everlasting shame that We
have subverted the purposes Of God, |
and robbed him OF the glory which |
would have been given TO his name, |
had we improved what he gave Us. |
Many violate the spirit Of this com.
mand by physical iHactiritg. II is a
law running through the Bible and |
expressed by Paul In the words: "If
any man work not neither shall be
eat. 1t follows that those who do |
not work in some way and yet eat do |
what they have no right to do and |
steal from those who are industrious. /
What was said to Adam is applicable
to every man: "In the sweat OF thy |
face shalt thou eat bread The earth |
does not produce bread for the idler,
and If he lives It will be at the ex-
pense OF his friends, and ought to be
ashamed to live and afraid TO die.
Il Is certainly wrong in tue slOth to
steal a morsel of bread and yet that
is what the habitual loafer does all
the time. Laziness is going to keep
some men out of Heaven.
Another way of breaking this com.
is by putting into your
own pocket that which belongs to the
house of the Lord. Every thing in
this world belongs to God and man
Is His steward The duty Of the
steward is to use the goods Of the
Master TO build up and advance the
interest and not for his own
pleasure. Il is our duty to build
houses Of worship, send out mission.
aries, and in every possible way ad-
vance the interest of Christ by the
goods which He has entrusted to US.
They are His and If We use them
wrongfully we steal from Him. There
are many wsys in which men are
breaking this commandment. To
what enormous proportions has pub.
lie and general stealing grown, and In
all classes from the horse car con-
ductor to the judge on the bench.
How alarming when the judiciary can
be corrupted and State legislatures
and even Congress can be bought
with gold. What a humiliating fact
that people down to The very bottom
are giving themselves to thievery,
contemplate in some cases from ita
very littleness! What must We think
Of a three cent thief who steals from
The government By washing the ink
marks from postage stamp, and yet
i is estimated that the post Office
department loses annually nearly one
million dollars in this Way
The people are doing on q petty
scale what those in high places have
laugh them on 3 gigantic scale. The
same propensity reveals itself In The
Of shoddy fabrics, and
since Gains day people have been
taking advantage in weights and
measures. Your grocer will cheat
you ont OF pure articles, and often
will yeur legislature cheat you out
Of wholesome laws, ell from : dis
honest desire for gain. We have
not lost ell confidence in man. but It
is a lamentabla fact that numbers vii
do Just as We have said above, and
therefore what Christ said Wo re.