1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,280 All right, we're going to be in the book of Joshua this evening. 10 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,710 If you have your Bibles, that's right there with me. 11 00:00:28,710 --> 00:00:30,390 Joshua, chapter seven. 12 00:00:31,190 --> 00:00:35,230 Tonight, we're going to be talking about AI, Artificial intelligence. 13 00:00:35,230 --> 00:00:35,830 No, I'm just kidding. 14 00:00:35,830 --> 00:00:37,150 We're not talking about artificial intelligence. 15 00:00:37,150 --> 00:00:39,830 We're talking about AI, but not artificial intelligence. 16 00:00:39,830 --> 00:00:41,510 That's another sermon for another day. 17 00:00:41,990 --> 00:00:45,710 But here in Joshua, chapter seven, we're going to be talking 18 00:00:45,710 --> 00:00:52,150 about the sin that is in the camp in Israel and really the loss, 19 00:00:52,230 --> 00:00:56,390 the defeat at AI or depends on who's pronouncing it. 20 00:00:56,390 --> 00:01:01,030 I've heard some people pronounce it I or AI, but you guys 21 00:01:01,030 --> 00:01:01,710 know what I'm talking about. 22 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:03,750 When you get to this passage, you're going to see a word there. 23 00:01:03,750 --> 00:01:05,190 It's the letters AI. 24 00:01:05,430 --> 00:01:08,150 And obviously, AI is a buzzword in our culture today. 25 00:01:08,150 --> 00:01:12,030 But this is a place, and we're going to study this tonight. 26 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:16,510 We're going to be looking at the issue at hand. 27 00:01:16,510 --> 00:01:18,950 And the issue at hand is sin in the camp. 28 00:01:19,830 --> 00:01:23,310 And we're going to look at, yes, the literal story here in Joshua, 29 00:01:23,310 --> 00:01:27,330 chapter seven, which obviously has a huge impact in the life of 30 00:01:27,330 --> 00:01:30,730 the Israelites in their conquest of the land of Canaan. 31 00:01:30,730 --> 00:01:34,570 But also, we take by way of application what this means for us 32 00:01:34,570 --> 00:01:35,450 in our own walk. 33 00:01:35,930 --> 00:01:40,090 When it comes to God pushing forward with his plans in our life. 34 00:01:40,489 --> 00:01:43,250 As many of you know, as we've been studying the book of Joshua, 35 00:01:43,250 --> 00:01:45,770 that God had a plan and a purpose for his people. 36 00:01:46,010 --> 00:01:49,610 And the plan and the purpose was for them to be taken out of the 37 00:01:49,610 --> 00:01:53,440 land of Egypt, obviously, for many years, travel in the wilderness. 38 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,040 Now, it wasn't God's ultimate plan for them to be in the wilderness. 39 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,440 Many of the wanderings that happened there were because of the 40 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:00,400 people's disobedience. 41 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,040 But ultimately, the end of that plan was that God would usher 42 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,400 in his people into the land that he promised. 43 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,680 Now, because of rebellion, because of sin, certain individuals 44 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:11,960 were not able to make it in. 45 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,920 But God brings them over the Jordan river. 46 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,960 And that was a miracle in itself, that God would bring his 47 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,240 people across the river and lead them into the promised land. 48 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,680 And then they had Their first victory there at Jericho. 49 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,560 And Jericho was a fortified city. 50 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:31,360 Jericho was a city that had a high population, a lot of warriors, 51 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,040 and from the looks of it, it looked like it would be a difficult 52 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:35,439 battle. 53 00:02:35,439 --> 00:02:38,840 But God's promise to his people is that he would be there 54 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:40,080 with them through it all. 55 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,880 And so when they get to Jericho, you remember what happens. 56 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,270 God gives the plan to Joshua, and Joshua tells the plans of the 57 00:02:47,270 --> 00:02:47,430 people. 58 00:02:47,430 --> 00:02:50,510 And the plan was essentially this, to march around the city for 59 00:02:50,510 --> 00:02:53,110 those seven days, and then the last days march around those seven 60 00:02:53,110 --> 00:02:53,750 times to blow. 61 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:55,990 The trumpets shout and the walls came down. 62 00:02:55,990 --> 00:02:58,310 And we know that God gave them the victory. 63 00:02:58,550 --> 00:03:02,150 But if you remember back in Joshua chapter six, we're going to 64 00:03:02,150 --> 00:03:05,270 need to know a few verses in Joshua chapter 6 to understand what's 65 00:03:05,270 --> 00:03:07,350 happening in Joshua chapter 7. 66 00:03:07,510 --> 00:03:10,710 Look back with me to Joshua 6, 18 and 19. 67 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,320 Because in the midst of their battle and in the midst of their 68 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,440 victory, God gives them some orders. 69 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,080 He gives them some direction. 70 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,760 He gives them an opportunity for obedience. 71 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:27,040 And as they're winning the battle, God tells them in verse 18, 72 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,280 and ye in any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed thing. 73 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,120 Now in this case, he says, stay away from the things that the 74 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,560 people there in Jericho were worshiping. 75 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,450 The idolatry, the evil pagan worship. 76 00:03:40,450 --> 00:03:43,690 He says, stay away from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves 77 00:03:43,690 --> 00:03:47,410 accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp 78 00:03:47,410 --> 00:03:49,210 of Israel a curse and trouble it. 79 00:03:49,210 --> 00:03:53,090 So anytime God holds us accountable to something, he gives 80 00:03:53,090 --> 00:03:56,250 us the warning, he gives us the teaching, he gives us the admonition. 81 00:03:56,250 --> 00:03:59,410 And the admonition for the people of Israel was, when you're 82 00:03:59,410 --> 00:04:02,450 conquering the land of Jericho, don't partake in the accursed 83 00:04:02,450 --> 00:04:02,730 thing. 84 00:04:03,130 --> 00:04:03,490 Don't. 85 00:04:03,490 --> 00:04:04,770 Don't join in with them. 86 00:04:04,770 --> 00:04:06,930 Don't take anything of theirs and personalize it. 87 00:04:06,930 --> 00:04:07,210 Why? 88 00:04:07,710 --> 00:04:10,990 Because you will take that sin and put it into the camp of Israel 89 00:04:11,390 --> 00:04:12,910 and it'll be troubled. 90 00:04:12,990 --> 00:04:13,630 Verse 19. 91 00:04:13,710 --> 00:04:17,630 But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are 92 00:04:17,630 --> 00:04:18,870 consecrated unto the Lord. 93 00:04:18,870 --> 00:04:19,470 Meaning this. 94 00:04:19,550 --> 00:04:22,190 In that victory, everything was to be given over to God. 95 00:04:22,430 --> 00:04:24,790 It was not to be taken for themselves. 96 00:04:24,790 --> 00:04:26,750 It was not to be taken for personal gain. 97 00:04:26,830 --> 00:04:29,630 And it says ultimately that they shall come into the treasury 98 00:04:29,630 --> 00:04:30,350 of the Lord. 99 00:04:30,510 --> 00:04:33,950 So God gives them very clear instructions in this battle, in this 100 00:04:33,950 --> 00:04:34,430 victory. 101 00:04:35,260 --> 00:04:37,260 And on the front side of the battle, they obey. 102 00:04:37,260 --> 00:04:39,580 On the front side of the battle, they do everything that they're 103 00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:43,020 supposed to do by marching around the city, as silly that might 104 00:04:43,020 --> 00:04:43,300 be. 105 00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:46,340 And they do that, and ultimately God works through them 106 00:04:46,340 --> 00:04:48,900 to show them that it's not their strength that's going to give 107 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:50,460 them the victory, it's God's strength. 108 00:04:50,940 --> 00:04:55,100 But we're going to see here in Joshua, chapter seven that one individual 109 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:59,620 and his family essentially don't listen to this and allow themselves 110 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:03,750 to hinder the people of Israel in their next battle. 111 00:05:04,230 --> 00:05:07,070 And what we're going to see in Joshua, chapter seven is that this 112 00:05:07,070 --> 00:05:09,350 is a picture of harbored sin in our lives. 113 00:05:09,910 --> 00:05:10,630 That, that a. 114 00:05:10,630 --> 00:05:14,030 That a personal harbored sin in our life can affect our life because 115 00:05:14,030 --> 00:05:17,910 we're in disobedience to God, but ultimately it can affect others 116 00:05:17,910 --> 00:05:22,390 as well, when we are living in open rebellion to God or even secret 117 00:05:22,390 --> 00:05:23,430 rebellion to God. 118 00:05:23,670 --> 00:05:26,150 And so we're going to see here that God sees everything. 119 00:05:26,310 --> 00:05:28,910 And that even though this fellow named Achan thought he could 120 00:05:28,910 --> 00:05:32,450 hide from God, thought that he could take these things and have 121 00:05:32,450 --> 00:05:35,690 them for himself, that God ultimately reveals his sin. 122 00:05:35,690 --> 00:05:39,970 And we know a New Testament principle is be sure your sin will 123 00:05:39,970 --> 00:05:40,650 find you out. 124 00:05:41,130 --> 00:05:44,810 And that Achan certainly realized that here in this passage. 125 00:05:44,810 --> 00:05:46,290 So let's look at Joshua, chapter seven. 126 00:05:46,290 --> 00:05:50,610 It says, but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the 127 00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:51,290 accursed thing. 128 00:05:52,170 --> 00:05:55,890 And so right off the bat, we see that as God commanded it, as 129 00:05:55,890 --> 00:05:59,050 ultimately Joshua told the people of Israel that they were not 130 00:05:59,490 --> 00:06:02,650 supposed to be touching the cursed thing, that they should not 131 00:06:02,650 --> 00:06:05,010 take any of the accursed things for themselves, that those 132 00:06:05,010 --> 00:06:09,930 things were associated with evil, sinful worship, and that ultimately 133 00:06:09,930 --> 00:06:12,170 that is the sin here, is that they don't obey God. 134 00:06:12,170 --> 00:06:15,850 And then it goes to say, for Aan, the son of Carmi, the son of 135 00:06:15,850 --> 00:06:20,330 Zabdi, the son of Zerah, and the tribe of Judah took of the accursed 136 00:06:20,330 --> 00:06:23,850 thing, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children 137 00:06:23,850 --> 00:06:24,610 of Israel. 138 00:06:25,660 --> 00:06:26,860 And so they fight this battle. 139 00:06:26,860 --> 00:06:30,780 There's this victory, but through this victory they were told 140 00:06:30,860 --> 00:06:32,700 not to take of the accursed thing. 141 00:06:32,780 --> 00:06:33,580 So what happens? 142 00:06:33,740 --> 00:06:34,540 Achan does. 143 00:06:34,540 --> 00:06:38,660 Achan takes it, and he now is going to cause God's wrath to be 144 00:06:38,660 --> 00:06:40,380 kindled against all the people. 145 00:06:40,460 --> 00:06:44,780 Now what we're going to see here is that, yes, the Israelite 146 00:06:44,780 --> 00:06:47,420 people had this great victory against the people of Jericho. 147 00:06:48,060 --> 00:06:52,730 It seems like there's a lot of power on their side, but Israel could 148 00:06:52,810 --> 00:06:56,930 not be defeated by the enemy, but they could be defeated by their 149 00:06:56,930 --> 00:06:57,490 own sin. 150 00:06:57,490 --> 00:07:01,490 And ultimately God is going to judge them for that until they come 151 00:07:01,490 --> 00:07:02,650 to a place of repentance. 152 00:07:03,050 --> 00:07:03,690 Verse 2. 153 00:07:03,690 --> 00:07:05,130 Let's see what happens here. 154 00:07:05,130 --> 00:07:06,650 They're scouting for the next battle. 155 00:07:06,650 --> 00:07:10,610 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to AI, which is beside Beth 156 00:07:10,610 --> 00:07:14,330 Haven on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, 157 00:07:14,330 --> 00:07:15,530 go up and view the country. 158 00:07:15,850 --> 00:07:17,810 And the men went up and viewed AI. 159 00:07:17,810 --> 00:07:21,670 So these individuals, these spies, are going to basically survey 160 00:07:21,670 --> 00:07:24,390 the land and they're going to say, okay, this is what we need for 161 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:25,710 the victory, verse three. 162 00:07:25,710 --> 00:07:28,990 And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, let not all the 163 00:07:28,990 --> 00:07:29,710 people go up. 164 00:07:30,670 --> 00:07:31,390 Basically this. 165 00:07:31,390 --> 00:07:33,790 We don't need everybody like we needed with Jericho. 166 00:07:33,790 --> 00:07:34,110 Why? 167 00:07:34,670 --> 00:07:39,510 But let about 2 or 3,000 men go up and smite AI and make not all 168 00:07:39,510 --> 00:07:42,350 the people to labor thither, for they are but few. 169 00:07:42,430 --> 00:07:46,270 So the idea that they're sharing with Joshua is this. 170 00:07:47,010 --> 00:07:48,050 We don't need that many people. 171 00:07:48,450 --> 00:07:49,650 We've got it under control. 172 00:07:49,970 --> 00:07:52,890 We just defeated Jericho, which had a lot more people, which 173 00:07:52,890 --> 00:07:54,130 is a lot more fortified. 174 00:07:54,450 --> 00:07:56,610 We can handle this with just 2 or 3,000. 175 00:07:57,090 --> 00:08:00,490 And we're going to see that Joshua does listen to that, but he 176 00:08:00,490 --> 00:08:01,330 goes on the higher side. 177 00:08:01,330 --> 00:08:02,370 He doesn't go to 2000. 178 00:08:02,609 --> 00:08:06,050 We see that he's going to send 3000 people up to AI. 179 00:08:06,530 --> 00:08:06,850 And. 180 00:08:06,850 --> 00:08:10,170 And so what we're going to see here in this passage of scripture 181 00:08:10,170 --> 00:08:14,050 is that Israel's success is not depending on the amount of people 182 00:08:14,050 --> 00:08:17,270 that they have or the amount of swords that they have, or their 183 00:08:17,270 --> 00:08:20,390 plan or their tactics, but ultimately through their submission 184 00:08:20,390 --> 00:08:21,070 to God. 185 00:08:21,310 --> 00:08:24,230 And so we're going to see that they try to go ahead of God and do 186 00:08:24,230 --> 00:08:27,630 their own plan here without seeking God's wisdom, without seeking 187 00:08:27,630 --> 00:08:31,710 God in prayer, without coming to him and ultimately following his 188 00:08:31,950 --> 00:08:33,190 path for their life. 189 00:08:33,190 --> 00:08:34,950 And so Israel is going to be defeated. 190 00:08:34,950 --> 00:08:35,790 So verse 4. 191 00:08:36,110 --> 00:08:39,030 So there went up thither of the people, about three thousand 192 00:08:39,030 --> 00:08:41,150 men, and they fled before the men of AI. 193 00:08:41,550 --> 00:08:44,500 And the men of AI smote of them about thirty and. 194 00:08:44,570 --> 00:08:45,290 And six men. 195 00:08:45,450 --> 00:08:48,730 For they chased them from before the gate, even unto cherubim, 196 00:08:48,970 --> 00:08:50,650 and smote them in the going down. 197 00:08:50,730 --> 00:08:54,090 Wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water. 198 00:08:55,290 --> 00:08:58,610 So Joshua hears from his spies, and they say, you need only 199 00:08:58,610 --> 00:08:59,690 about 2 or 3,000. 200 00:08:59,690 --> 00:09:00,810 That should be plenty. 201 00:09:01,050 --> 00:09:03,650 Instead of seeking the Lord's wisdom on this, instead of seeking 202 00:09:03,650 --> 00:09:07,330 the Lord's guidance like before with Jericho going around 203 00:09:07,330 --> 00:09:11,700 the city, Joshua, even though he is a wise military leader, allowed 204 00:09:11,700 --> 00:09:13,580 for these men to go up to AI. 205 00:09:13,580 --> 00:09:16,420 And what we see here is that it doesn't matter how many people 206 00:09:16,420 --> 00:09:17,020 were sent. 207 00:09:17,260 --> 00:09:19,100 They were walking in rebellion to God. 208 00:09:19,100 --> 00:09:22,020 Therefore they would not have the victory and so there is, we would 209 00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:23,260 say, only 36 men. 210 00:09:23,260 --> 00:09:26,340 But 36 men killed is a lot more than what was killed at Jericho, 211 00:09:26,340 --> 00:09:26,940 which was zero. 212 00:09:27,580 --> 00:09:31,900 And, and we know here that this victory for the people against 213 00:09:31,900 --> 00:09:34,900 Israel wasn't a victory in their wisdom or their strength. 214 00:09:34,900 --> 00:09:38,120 It was a victory and a lack of seeking after the Lord's guidance 215 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:38,520 in their life. 216 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,120 And so the defeated AI showed what mattered wasn't the strength 217 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,400 of the opponent or the wisdom of the people, but really ultimately 218 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,600 the power and the presence and the provisions of God. 219 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,280 And so without God's help, they're lost, Israel's lost. 220 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:53,520 Without God's help, we're lost. 221 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,120 Now let's stop there and let's think about that in our own personal 222 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,040 lives when we come to what we would consider a battle in our life. 223 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,120 And we know that the New Testament tells us that we're fighting 224 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:04,000 spiritual battles. 225 00:10:04,650 --> 00:10:08,290 And some battles that we might face might feel like a physical battle 226 00:10:08,290 --> 00:10:11,330 and we might go through physical battles, but all of the 227 00:10:11,330 --> 00:10:14,130 battles that we face in our life ultimately stem back to where 228 00:10:14,130 --> 00:10:16,410 we stand in our spiritual life with God. 229 00:10:16,570 --> 00:10:19,730 So what I would say is this, when we're going into the battle, 230 00:10:19,730 --> 00:10:21,930 instead of looking at something like, well, that's nothing, 231 00:10:22,090 --> 00:10:25,290 I've accomplished that before, I've overcome this temptation before, 232 00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:28,050 I've fought this battle before and I've won many times. 233 00:10:28,050 --> 00:10:31,130 I don't need to be as stringent on my prayer life, or maybe 234 00:10:31,130 --> 00:10:32,650 I don't need to go to the Lord in prayer. 235 00:10:33,500 --> 00:10:35,380 Maybe I don't need to even study the word of God. 236 00:10:35,380 --> 00:10:37,900 Maybe I can just do this on my own without seeking his wisdom. 237 00:10:37,980 --> 00:10:41,540 Many times we set ourselves up for failure in our pride, in our 238 00:10:41,540 --> 00:10:43,700 ego, in our self righteousness. 239 00:10:43,700 --> 00:10:46,580 And so what we can see here in this is a lesson that I think all 240 00:10:46,580 --> 00:10:48,899 of us need to learn is no matter what victories we've had in 241 00:10:48,899 --> 00:10:52,580 our past, we need to remember that all those victories in the past 242 00:10:52,580 --> 00:10:56,580 came because of God's presence in our life, came because of us seeking 243 00:10:56,580 --> 00:10:58,460 God's will and obedience to God's will. 244 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,320 And we can never get complacent in that spiritual fight 245 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:02,200 that we're facing. 246 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,760 And so they get complacent here and what happens? 247 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,920 They lose, they are driven back and there's going to be grieving 248 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:09,320 in this. 249 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,040 Obviously Joshua is going to be confused because he just sees 250 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,080 this major victory in Jericho and now they're defeated by such 251 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:16,880 a lesser people. 252 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:17,880 And how could this be? 253 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,120 And Joshua, as it says here in verse six, rent his clothes and this 254 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:23,480 is a picture of. 255 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:28,290 Of being brokenhearted, maybe even in a sense, confused, maybe. 256 00:11:28,370 --> 00:11:31,490 Maybe to tear our clothes meant to be in a place of mourning 257 00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:33,250 for many people at that time frame. 258 00:11:33,250 --> 00:11:36,650 He's mourning the loss of these individuals, and he's going 259 00:11:36,650 --> 00:11:38,450 to go before the Lord and ask him why. 260 00:11:38,930 --> 00:11:42,250 Now, if you go back just at the end of verse five, I think it's 261 00:11:42,250 --> 00:11:45,330 a very picturesque way to describe the outcome of this. 262 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:48,890 It says that after they lose this battle, that says that their 263 00:11:48,890 --> 00:11:53,570 hearts of the people were melted, the people of Israel. 264 00:11:53,650 --> 00:11:57,730 And when anytime you see that phrase hearts melted, usually that 265 00:11:57,730 --> 00:11:58,610 means fear. 266 00:11:58,930 --> 00:12:01,890 That means to be petrified in fear, to be overcome with fear. 267 00:12:01,890 --> 00:12:04,570 And I think all of us maybe could identify at some point in our 268 00:12:04,570 --> 00:12:07,730 life, fear taking us over, where we almost feel like we're melting. 269 00:12:07,730 --> 00:12:10,850 We almost feel as if we can't do anything in our lives. 270 00:12:10,850 --> 00:12:12,850 And that's exactly the way the people feel. 271 00:12:12,850 --> 00:12:15,650 And that's sometimes how we feel in a spiritual battle and in 272 00:12:15,650 --> 00:12:16,130 a spiritual. 273 00:12:16,130 --> 00:12:20,290 What we would consider loss, a defeat because we are broken and 274 00:12:20,290 --> 00:12:23,170 because we can't look to anything else in our life to give 275 00:12:23,170 --> 00:12:23,610 us hope. 276 00:12:23,610 --> 00:12:25,690 And so their panic was in. 277 00:12:25,690 --> 00:12:27,210 In many ways understandable. 278 00:12:27,210 --> 00:12:30,530 But it's because they weren't letting God fight for them. 279 00:12:30,530 --> 00:12:33,010 They were trying to fight their own battles on their own, their 280 00:12:33,010 --> 00:12:34,970 own wisdom, their own strength, their own flesh. 281 00:12:35,370 --> 00:12:37,690 And so it says there that they became as water. 282 00:12:38,090 --> 00:12:42,130 And so Joshua grieves, Joshua mourns, and it says here and fell 283 00:12:42,130 --> 00:12:44,170 to the earth upon his face before the Ark. 284 00:12:44,790 --> 00:12:47,030 And the Lord until the evening tide. 285 00:12:47,030 --> 00:12:51,470 So he goes, lord, I think this is a proper response to a difficulty 286 00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:51,910 in our life. 287 00:12:51,910 --> 00:12:55,430 This is a proper response to sin in our life. 288 00:12:55,910 --> 00:12:57,910 This is a humbled response. 289 00:12:58,070 --> 00:12:59,510 It's a prayerful response. 290 00:12:59,750 --> 00:13:02,270 And I think this is sometimes where we need to be when we come 291 00:13:02,270 --> 00:13:05,750 to places in our life where we feel overcome, overwhelmed, and even 292 00:13:05,750 --> 00:13:07,030 in some cases, defeated. 293 00:13:07,270 --> 00:13:09,230 We come to him and we go before the Lord. 294 00:13:09,230 --> 00:13:12,310 And that's really the picture there is that he comes to the Ark, 295 00:13:12,310 --> 00:13:14,430 and that's the presence of God at that time. 296 00:13:14,430 --> 00:13:17,390 And he falls before the Lord, and he asked the Lord to give him 297 00:13:17,390 --> 00:13:17,830 wisdom. 298 00:13:17,830 --> 00:13:19,150 Why did this happen? 299 00:13:19,150 --> 00:13:24,430 And we see that he spends time with him and he grieves there before 300 00:13:24,430 --> 00:13:24,990 the Ark. 301 00:13:24,990 --> 00:13:26,750 And it says that he put dust. 302 00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:27,710 He and the. 303 00:13:27,710 --> 00:13:31,030 And the elders of Israel put dust upon their heads. 304 00:13:31,030 --> 00:13:32,510 And that's a picture of mourning. 305 00:13:32,750 --> 00:13:35,870 And that's their way of basically telling the Lord that they 306 00:13:36,030 --> 00:13:39,150 are broken before him and that they don't know where to go. 307 00:13:40,530 --> 00:13:42,050 So verse seven. 308 00:13:42,050 --> 00:13:46,170 And Joshua said, alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought 309 00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:49,930 this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the 310 00:13:49,930 --> 00:13:51,130 Amorites, to destroy us. 311 00:13:51,130 --> 00:13:54,930 And so Joshua's question is this, or you brought us all this 312 00:13:54,930 --> 00:13:57,010 way for us to lose. 313 00:13:57,970 --> 00:13:59,610 You brought us all this way. 314 00:13:59,610 --> 00:14:01,570 You've brought us through the. 315 00:14:01,570 --> 00:14:02,690 The bondage in Egypt. 316 00:14:02,690 --> 00:14:04,250 You brought us all the way through the wilderness. 317 00:14:04,250 --> 00:14:07,210 You brought us across the Jordan river to just get to this 318 00:14:07,210 --> 00:14:07,410 place. 319 00:14:07,410 --> 00:14:08,930 And now you're going to leave us. 320 00:14:08,930 --> 00:14:10,850 Now you're going to take your hand off of us. 321 00:14:11,010 --> 00:14:14,970 He says, would to God we had been content and dwelt on the other 322 00:14:14,970 --> 00:14:16,210 side of Jordan. 323 00:14:16,850 --> 00:14:21,730 And so Joshua knew that God had a plan for them, and he knew 324 00:14:21,730 --> 00:14:24,690 that God had been blessing them and had been guiding them. 325 00:14:25,330 --> 00:14:25,690 And. 326 00:14:25,690 --> 00:14:27,050 And he says, would it. 327 00:14:27,050 --> 00:14:29,490 Would it be better if we hadn't even come here at all? 328 00:14:30,530 --> 00:14:34,050 And we should have just not come, because now we need you. 329 00:14:34,050 --> 00:14:35,250 We need you more and more. 330 00:14:36,230 --> 00:14:40,510 And so this shows that Joshua does have concern for his people, 331 00:14:40,510 --> 00:14:42,590 but he also has concern for the glory of God. 332 00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:46,150 In verse 8, O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs 333 00:14:46,150 --> 00:14:47,110 before their enemies? 334 00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:51,709 The way that I see this is that he's a leader concerned and 335 00:14:51,709 --> 00:14:52,790 confused about where to turn. 336 00:14:52,790 --> 00:14:55,350 He says, what if our people turn our backs against you? 337 00:14:55,430 --> 00:14:56,390 We don't want that. 338 00:14:56,710 --> 00:14:57,990 We want to be for you. 339 00:14:57,990 --> 00:14:59,110 I want to be for you. 340 00:14:59,670 --> 00:15:02,550 And so he's concerned about the testimony of the Lord. 341 00:15:02,550 --> 00:15:05,630 He's concerned about the people and their reliance to the 342 00:15:05,630 --> 00:15:05,870 Lord. 343 00:15:05,870 --> 00:15:08,670 And we know that sometimes we're going to stumble, sometimes 344 00:15:08,670 --> 00:15:11,430 we're going to get to a place in our life where we do turn away 345 00:15:11,430 --> 00:15:12,990 from the Lord and his Word. 346 00:15:13,150 --> 00:15:15,950 And the prayer for all of us, as Christians should be that we get 347 00:15:15,950 --> 00:15:19,670 back on that path, that we realign ourselves with God's plan 348 00:15:19,670 --> 00:15:20,350 in our life. 349 00:15:20,429 --> 00:15:23,550 And obviously at this point in time, Joshua does not understand 350 00:15:23,710 --> 00:15:27,710 why this victory or this defeat happened. 351 00:15:27,950 --> 00:15:30,270 But we're going to see that he finds out here soon. 352 00:15:31,140 --> 00:15:34,220 So verse nine, he says, for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants 353 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:39,020 of the land shall hear of it and shall environ us around and cut 354 00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:40,500 off our name from the earth. 355 00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:42,900 And what will thou do unto thy great name? 356 00:15:43,620 --> 00:15:49,060 He says, if this gets out that we lost, people are going to not 357 00:15:49,060 --> 00:15:49,580 praise you. 358 00:15:49,580 --> 00:15:51,740 People are going to actually, on the other side around, come around 359 00:15:51,740 --> 00:15:54,420 us and defeat us, and you're not going to be glorified. 360 00:15:54,820 --> 00:15:55,420 Verse 10. 361 00:15:55,420 --> 00:15:59,840 And the Lord said unto Joshua And I think that this is so indicative 362 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,600 of the relationship that Joshua had with God. 363 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,560 But ultimately, the way that God sometimes needs to be stern with 364 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:07,920 his people, he says, get thee up. 365 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,920 Wherefore lies thou thus upon thy face? 366 00:16:13,199 --> 00:16:15,080 And so he says, get up. 367 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:15,760 What are you doing? 368 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,160 There's something to be dealt with right now. 369 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,320 Instead of asking why you need to be dealing with sin inside of 370 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,150 the camp, he says in verse number 11, Israel hath sinned. 371 00:16:28,270 --> 00:16:29,150 So it would be like this. 372 00:16:29,150 --> 00:16:32,110 It would be like our churches is broken, our church is struggling, 373 00:16:32,430 --> 00:16:35,470 and I go before the Lord saying, lord, why have you turned 374 00:16:35,470 --> 00:16:36,150 your backs on us? 375 00:16:36,150 --> 00:16:36,750 What's going on? 376 00:16:36,750 --> 00:16:40,510 And the Lord says, it's not me that has turned my back against you. 377 00:16:40,510 --> 00:16:43,230 It's you that have turned your back against me. 378 00:16:43,630 --> 00:16:45,870 He says, you need to deal with the sin in the camp. 379 00:16:45,870 --> 00:16:48,190 You need to deal with this issue at hand. 380 00:16:48,190 --> 00:16:52,800 You need to address this face on and allow the people to turn back 381 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:53,360 to me. 382 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,160 And so he says, Verse 11, Israel hath sinned. 383 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,960 And they also have also transgressed my covenant which I 384 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:01,160 commanded them for. 385 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,800 They have even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen 386 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,480 and dissembled also. 387 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,920 And they have put it even among their own stuff. 388 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:12,800 And so he says, get up. 389 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,200 He says, you need to move. 390 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,760 God says his teaching for Joshua is this. 391 00:17:18,180 --> 00:17:23,700 You need to fix your efforts, not just on prayer here in this case, 392 00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:25,460 but dealing with this sin in the camp. 393 00:17:25,460 --> 00:17:29,140 And so the idea is, is that God had not forgotten, forgotten 394 00:17:29,140 --> 00:17:29,700 about the people. 395 00:17:30,580 --> 00:17:32,700 So, you know, this morning I said, you know, there's good news 396 00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:33,380 and bad news. 397 00:17:33,380 --> 00:17:36,940 The good news is, is that God did not turn his back against the 398 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:37,180 people. 399 00:17:37,180 --> 00:17:39,180 The bad news is, is that they're living in sin. 400 00:17:39,180 --> 00:17:40,420 And that needs to be addressed. 401 00:17:41,380 --> 00:17:44,180 And so Joshua doesn't need to fear that God has turned his back. 402 00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:47,180 Joshua can look to the fact that God is still there with him. 403 00:17:47,180 --> 00:17:50,160 And that's what we see in, in first John chapter time. 404 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,960 For if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive 405 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,360 us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 406 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,840 You know, as a Christian, sometimes we think that because we're 407 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,280 going through a hard time in our life and because we've made bad 408 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,760 decisions, maybe God has turned his back on us. 409 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,560 But really what has happened is that we have turned our backs 410 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,640 against him and we have broken that fellowship. 411 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:10,560 Now, we haven't lost the relationship. 412 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,280 And I've used this analogy before with my children, but my children 413 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,440 can be living in open sin against their Father, that doesn't 414 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:18,880 mean that they're no longer my children. 415 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:20,320 I can't deny that. 416 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,320 And God does not deny his own children. 417 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,200 But there can be things that my children do because of sin that 418 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,320 could cause a break in the fellowship. 419 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:29,360 You know, my. 420 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:30,600 My children could say, you know what? 421 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,560 I'm not talking to my dad because I'm living in a way that 422 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:34,560 he doesn't agree with. 423 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,200 I'm living in rebellion to him. 424 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:37,640 I don't want him to tell me anything. 425 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:39,840 And so I'm going to break fellowship with him. 426 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,050 And so there is that aspect of our Christian life that we as people 427 00:18:45,050 --> 00:18:48,050 that are walking in sin, can break that fellowship with God. 428 00:18:48,210 --> 00:18:51,890 And we need to come back to him in humility and in brokenness 429 00:18:51,890 --> 00:18:53,650 and honesty and coming to him and. 430 00:18:53,650 --> 00:18:57,050 And as the Bible says, to confess, to say the same thing together 431 00:18:57,050 --> 00:18:58,370 with him about our sin. 432 00:18:58,690 --> 00:19:00,530 And so he tells Joshua to get up. 433 00:19:01,970 --> 00:19:03,490 He says, you need to deal with this. 434 00:19:03,490 --> 00:19:07,330 You need to have not just an intellectual change, but a heart 435 00:19:07,330 --> 00:19:07,650 change. 436 00:19:08,050 --> 00:19:10,290 And so God says that Israel had sinned. 437 00:19:11,140 --> 00:19:13,820 And he doesn't just say one man, even though we know that initially 438 00:19:13,820 --> 00:19:14,500 it's Achan. 439 00:19:14,500 --> 00:19:16,340 But he says it's not just one man. 440 00:19:16,340 --> 00:19:17,460 He says it's Israel. 441 00:19:17,460 --> 00:19:22,660 And so it's amazing to think that the whole nation is guilty by. 442 00:19:22,660 --> 00:19:27,420 By way of association, and 36 people died, all because of the sin 443 00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:28,540 of one man and his family. 444 00:19:28,540 --> 00:19:32,300 But what we see is, is we're going to get to a New Testament principle 445 00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:34,420 that a little sin that's un. 446 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:35,700 It's not dealt with. 447 00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:35,980 It's. 448 00:19:35,980 --> 00:19:36,260 It's. 449 00:19:36,260 --> 00:19:37,380 It's relinquished. 450 00:19:37,380 --> 00:19:38,690 Maybe, uh, maybe. 451 00:19:38,690 --> 00:19:39,330 Maybe for. 452 00:19:39,490 --> 00:19:42,530 I don't know, maybe sometimes we overlook sin or we wink at sin, 453 00:19:42,610 --> 00:19:45,170 or we just overlook it or don't think about it too much. 454 00:19:45,330 --> 00:19:48,850 But what we see is that unrepentant sin in the camp can cause 455 00:19:48,850 --> 00:19:53,330 major issues, not just for that family, but for everybody around. 456 00:19:53,330 --> 00:19:57,170 And so Paul speaks of that in First Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 457 00:19:57,170 --> 00:19:59,050 6, when he teaches of the. 458 00:19:59,050 --> 00:20:02,850 Of the principle of know ye not that a little leaven. 459 00:20:02,930 --> 00:20:04,130 Leaven if the whole lump. 460 00:20:04,130 --> 00:20:06,370 And in the New Testament, we see that leaven. 461 00:20:06,630 --> 00:20:08,430 And speaking of sin, it's a picture of sin. 462 00:20:08,430 --> 00:20:11,710 And he says that little leaven is going to eventually affect the 463 00:20:11,710 --> 00:20:12,230 whole group. 464 00:20:13,670 --> 00:20:14,030 So. 465 00:20:14,030 --> 00:20:17,470 So, for example, if we have someone in our church who is walking 466 00:20:17,470 --> 00:20:21,190 in unrepentant sin and they're walking and rebelling to God, even 467 00:20:21,190 --> 00:20:24,350 though I might not know particularly what that person is 468 00:20:24,350 --> 00:20:26,510 dealing with, whether we know it or not. 469 00:20:26,510 --> 00:20:31,230 Unrepentant sin in our camp can affect the overall goals of the 470 00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:33,000 church, whether. 471 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,080 Whether we know it or not. 472 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,000 The Bible says in the New Testament that our marriages can 473 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,280 be hindered and our prayer lives can be hindered because of 474 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,200 unrepentant sin that's in First Peter. 475 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,440 And so I want you to see that just because you might think, or 476 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,000 I might think, or anyone might think that I've got this private 477 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,480 sin that nobody knows about is certainly, even though it might be 478 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,480 private for a time, with the eyes of the people around me, the 479 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,320 Bible says, be sure your sin will find you out. 480 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,730 And also God already knows your sin, and therefore it is affecting 481 00:21:00,730 --> 00:21:01,530 people around us. 482 00:21:01,690 --> 00:21:04,730 There's a lot of people that I've heard that have said this basically, 483 00:21:05,130 --> 00:21:08,090 well, my sin's not hurting anybody, so why does it matter? 484 00:21:08,970 --> 00:21:12,370 Because to them, it might not be that their sin is hurting somebody, 485 00:21:12,370 --> 00:21:16,850 but we know that that sin is not just poison for the individual 486 00:21:16,850 --> 00:21:19,290 who's committing it, but we know that that could be a poison 487 00:21:19,370 --> 00:21:20,450 for people all around. 488 00:21:20,450 --> 00:21:23,210 And so that's exactly what he's explaining here in this passage 489 00:21:23,210 --> 00:21:24,610 that Joshua needs to deal with it. 490 00:21:24,610 --> 00:21:26,410 Verse 11, he says, Israel has sinned. 491 00:21:27,060 --> 00:21:30,020 And he says that they even have this accursed thing with their 492 00:21:30,020 --> 00:21:31,140 own selves. 493 00:21:31,140 --> 00:21:32,220 It's in their camp. 494 00:21:32,220 --> 00:21:35,420 And verse 12, Therefore the children of Israel could not stand 495 00:21:35,420 --> 00:21:36,500 back before their enemies. 496 00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:39,740 He tells them why they lose, but turn their backs before their 497 00:21:39,740 --> 00:21:41,540 enemies because they were accursed. 498 00:21:41,700 --> 00:21:45,980 Neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy that accursed 499 00:21:45,980 --> 00:21:46,900 thing from among you. 500 00:21:47,460 --> 00:21:50,500 And these are some strong words, but essentially what the Lord 501 00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:52,780 tells Joshua is like, if you don't get this right, you're not 502 00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:56,000 going to have victory, you're not going to have spiritual growth, 503 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,560 you're not going to have the promises of God fulfilled in your 504 00:21:59,560 --> 00:21:59,840 life. 505 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:01,160 And so it's. 506 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,200 It's really sobering to think about this principle that if we just 507 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,400 keep living in sin and then expecting God to just keep blessing 508 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:08,840 us, we're missing the point. 509 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,120 And so God's power can come into our lives and that fellowship 510 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:13,040 can be restored. 511 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,080 But if we're walking in that rebellion to God again, we don't 512 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,080 lose our salvation, but what we can lose is the joy of our salvation. 513 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,760 We can lose the fruitfulness of our salvation. 514 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,080 We can lose the effectiveness in our service for the Lord because 515 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:28,360 of unrepentant sin. 516 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:30,920 We can have human relationships broken. 517 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,520 We can have major pain and loss in our lives because we're walking 518 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:36,640 in unrepentant sin. 519 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,320 And I would warn all of us to the place of saying this. 520 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,520 If you know of something in your life that you're harboring against 521 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,320 the word of God, then in that case, make sure you handle it now. 522 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,620 Because sometimes we don't think it's a problem until it's too, 523 00:22:49,620 --> 00:22:51,740 too far gone, and we need to get it right right now. 524 00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:52,140 And. 525 00:22:52,140 --> 00:22:55,660 And when God deals with a particular area of sin in our lives, 526 00:22:57,420 --> 00:23:00,420 he's calling us to change, he's calling us to repent. 527 00:23:00,420 --> 00:23:05,460 And that comes through conviction, that comes through discomfort. 528 00:23:05,460 --> 00:23:05,740 I would. 529 00:23:05,740 --> 00:23:08,460 I would say that there's times in our life where God does make us 530 00:23:08,540 --> 00:23:11,380 come to a place of discomfort because we should not be comfortable 531 00:23:11,380 --> 00:23:13,060 with our sin as a Christian. 532 00:23:13,060 --> 00:23:15,770 We should not be comfortable feeling comfortable with the sin 533 00:23:15,770 --> 00:23:16,290 in our life. 534 00:23:16,690 --> 00:23:18,850 It should be so foreign to us. 535 00:23:19,250 --> 00:23:22,010 I. I was talking to a pastor one time, and he put it really in 536 00:23:22,010 --> 00:23:24,970 a good, clear way for me, especially because I like the fish. 537 00:23:24,970 --> 00:23:27,490 He was like, when you catch a fish and you pull it out of the water, 538 00:23:28,610 --> 00:23:29,810 does it die right away? 539 00:23:30,290 --> 00:23:33,010 I said, no, you know, the fish is still alive and flopping around 540 00:23:33,010 --> 00:23:36,210 and let you throw the fish in the water again. 541 00:23:36,610 --> 00:23:39,370 He's not going to live for very long, but he's going to live 542 00:23:39,370 --> 00:23:39,930 for a little bit. 543 00:23:39,930 --> 00:23:42,130 He says, okay, that's the way it's supposed to be for a Christian. 544 00:23:42,590 --> 00:23:47,030 Like, we might be able to survive in sin for a while, but it 545 00:23:47,030 --> 00:23:48,750 should not be something that we're comfortable with. 546 00:23:48,750 --> 00:23:52,190 It should not be the character and the lifestyle of a Christian. 547 00:23:52,350 --> 00:23:52,670 And. 548 00:23:52,670 --> 00:23:54,550 And so that's what we're seeing here in this case. 549 00:23:54,550 --> 00:23:57,310 God says, get this right before you go anywhere else. 550 00:23:57,470 --> 00:24:00,550 Get this right before you expect to have any more battles in 551 00:24:00,550 --> 00:24:00,950 your life. 552 00:24:00,950 --> 00:24:04,750 And get this right before you expect the Lord to be working and 553 00:24:05,150 --> 00:24:06,110 giving fruit. 554 00:24:06,110 --> 00:24:09,770 And so he says, verse 13, up, sanctify the people and say, sanctify 555 00:24:09,770 --> 00:24:11,450 yourselves against tomorrow. 556 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:14,130 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. 557 00:24:14,130 --> 00:24:17,090 There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel. 558 00:24:17,090 --> 00:24:20,850 Thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye may, until 559 00:24:20,850 --> 00:24:22,890 you take away the accursed thing from among you. 560 00:24:22,890 --> 00:24:23,850 What is he saying here? 561 00:24:24,010 --> 00:24:28,730 Well, verse 13, he's saying, this says, if you expect to have 562 00:24:28,730 --> 00:24:31,730 the victory of the Lord in your life, if you're expecting to 563 00:24:31,730 --> 00:24:34,090 have fruit, if you're expecting to win the battle with 564 00:24:34,090 --> 00:24:37,480 using spiritual tools, you have to make sure that you deal with 565 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:38,360 the sin in the camp. 566 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,360 And so if I'm a Christian and I'M expecting all these wonderful 567 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:43,000 things to happen. 568 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,240 God's word being, speaking to me and, and the conviction of the 569 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,120 Spirit moving me and the guidance and the, and the will of 570 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:51,320 God and all these different things. 571 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,160 And then I have sin in the camp. 572 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,400 The Bible says that, hey, we, we need to stand up for our. 573 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:58,360 To our enemies, but we're not going to be able to stand against 574 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:01,840 our enemies if we are allowing the accursed thing to be in our midst. 575 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,240 And so we need to be careful about that. 576 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:04,320 Verse 14. 577 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,840 He gives clear instructions to how to deal with sin. 578 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,400 He gives clear instructions of how to deal with this sin in the 579 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:10,640 camp. 580 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:11,440 Verse 14. 581 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,400 In the morning, therefore you shall be brought according to your 582 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:14,720 tribes. 583 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,160 And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come 584 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:19,880 according to the families thereof. 585 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:24,120 And the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households, 586 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:28,240 and the household of the Lord shall take, shall take, shall come 587 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:29,360 man by man. 588 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,840 And it shall be that he that is taken with the accursed things 589 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,400 shall be burnt fire. 590 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,760 And he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the 591 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,400 covenant of the Lord and because he hath wrought folly in 592 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:42,920 Israel. 593 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,000 So essentially this God is going to reveal who the person is 594 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:47,840 that has the sin. 595 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:49,560 And this speaks to the power of God. 596 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,560 This speaks to God exposing sin, private sin. 597 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,080 And this is conviction, but also more than that, it's judgment. 598 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,760 Obviously, the Bible teaches the law of sowing and reaping, the 599 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,040 principle of sowing and reaping in the book of Galatians 600 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,640 and and so this is Achan and his family reaping what they have 601 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:06,920 sown. 602 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:07,360 Verse 16. 603 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,560 So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their 604 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:10,920 tribes. 605 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:12,360 And the tribe of Judah was taken. 606 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,720 And he brought the family of Judah. 607 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:16,640 And he took the family of the Zerites. 608 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,080 And he brought the family of the Zerites man by man. 609 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,360 And Zabdi was taken. 610 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,640 And he brought his household man by man. 611 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,580 And Achan the son of Carmi, and and the son of Zabdi, and the 612 00:26:25,580 --> 00:26:26,420 son of Zerah. 613 00:26:26,420 --> 00:26:27,660 And the tribe of Judah was taken. 614 00:26:27,660 --> 00:26:31,380 And Joshua said unto Aan, my son, give, I pray thee, glory to 615 00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:34,460 the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him. 616 00:26:34,540 --> 00:26:36,700 And tell me now what thou hast done. 617 00:26:36,860 --> 00:26:38,300 Hide it not from me. 618 00:26:38,300 --> 00:26:42,180 And Aan answered Joshua and said, indeed, I have sinned against 619 00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:43,540 the Lord God of Israel. 620 00:26:43,540 --> 00:26:45,540 And thus, and thus have I done so. 621 00:26:45,540 --> 00:26:47,660 He essentially here confesses his sin. 622 00:26:48,220 --> 00:26:51,950 He gets to a place in his life after, after this confirmation where 623 00:26:51,950 --> 00:26:53,430 he confesses what he has Done. 624 00:26:54,230 --> 00:26:55,550 He's tried to cover it up. 625 00:26:55,550 --> 00:26:57,150 We're going to see that here in a few moments. 626 00:26:57,150 --> 00:27:01,830 But he is challenged to come forward and come clean, if you will. 627 00:27:02,310 --> 00:27:06,670 And so what we're seeing here is that this hidden sin that he has 628 00:27:06,670 --> 00:27:07,910 has power over him. 629 00:27:08,390 --> 00:27:11,990 And what I will tell us is that hidden sin in our life will 630 00:27:11,990 --> 00:27:13,830 control our lives whether we know it or not. 631 00:27:14,630 --> 00:27:17,950 And so he addresses this, and he does confess. 632 00:27:17,950 --> 00:27:20,800 He says, this is what I have done, verse 20. 633 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:22,520 And Achan answered. 634 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,400 And he says, this is. 635 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:24,320 This is what I've done. 636 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,200 I've sinned against the Lord God of Israel, verse 21. 637 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,040 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment. 638 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:32,120 So. 639 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:33,120 So he saw something. 640 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:34,560 It tempted him. 641 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:35,160 His. 642 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,040 His flesh was kindled. 643 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,320 And he saw what he wanted and he took it. 644 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,640 A Babylonish garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of 645 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,080 gold of 50 shekels weights. 646 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,440 And then he says, right here, then I coveted them. 647 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:50,360 So we see the sin. 648 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:54,160 Sin isn't necessarily that he took it, even though that is the 649 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:55,320 outcome of that sin. 650 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,400 The sin of the heart was covetousness. 651 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,600 The sin of his heart was that he wanted. 652 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:01,160 He wanted what someone else had. 653 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,400 We know that that is a sin that can cause us to fall into many 654 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:07,720 different avenues of despair. 655 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,800 And so he says, I coveted them and took them. 656 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:13,240 And behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent 657 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:14,440 and the silver under it. 658 00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:16,460 And so he. 659 00:28:16,460 --> 00:28:18,620 He admits that he wanted these things. 660 00:28:18,620 --> 00:28:18,820 And. 661 00:28:18,820 --> 00:28:21,420 And we know that you could go to a lot of passages of Scripture, 662 00:28:21,420 --> 00:28:25,220 but one that I would point to is in First Timothy, chapter 6, verse 663 00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:25,540 10. 664 00:28:25,780 --> 00:28:30,459 For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some 665 00:28:30,459 --> 00:28:33,980 coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves 666 00:28:33,980 --> 00:28:35,460 through with many sorrows. 667 00:28:35,460 --> 00:28:38,340 The Bible says that that covetousness, that love of money, 668 00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:41,700 can cause many people to fall into pain and suffering. 669 00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:43,840 And that's where Achan finds himself. 670 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,160 Achan finds himself in a place where his covetousness overcame him. 671 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:49,880 He desired it, he took it. 672 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,840 And now he is really dealing with the judgment of God. 673 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:59,760 And so Starting in verse 22, we see that the confession is confirmed 674 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,280 and we see that Achan is judged. 675 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,880 So Joshua sent messengers and they ran unto the tent. 676 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,040 And behold, it was hid in his tent and the silver under it. 677 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,710 So what he said came to pass. 678 00:29:10,710 --> 00:29:11,430 It was true. 679 00:29:11,670 --> 00:29:14,230 And they took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them 680 00:29:14,230 --> 00:29:17,150 unto Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them 681 00:29:17,150 --> 00:29:19,790 out before the Lord and Joshua and all of Israel. 682 00:29:19,790 --> 00:29:22,910 With him took Achan and the son of Zara, and the silver and the 683 00:29:22,910 --> 00:29:25,590 garments and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters, 684 00:29:25,590 --> 00:29:28,910 and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that 685 00:29:28,910 --> 00:29:32,150 he had, and they brought them unto the valley of Acre. 686 00:29:32,630 --> 00:29:37,780 And so we see that Joshua and the people of Israel are taking very 687 00:29:37,780 --> 00:29:39,460 seriously this sin. 688 00:29:40,180 --> 00:29:42,660 Achan and his sons and his daughters. 689 00:29:43,460 --> 00:29:46,340 The reason why I believe that his sons and daughters are lumped 690 00:29:46,340 --> 00:29:48,900 into this is because they knew they had knowledge of the sin. 691 00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:52,500 They weren't necessarily maybe the ones that directly committed 692 00:29:52,500 --> 00:29:55,860 it, but they did know the sin and they were harboring the sin. 693 00:29:56,100 --> 00:29:58,980 And what we're going to see here in this case is that God is 694 00:29:58,980 --> 00:30:00,500 going to extremely judge them. 695 00:30:00,980 --> 00:30:04,670 And this is a difficult passage for us to understand, but 696 00:30:04,670 --> 00:30:07,230 I think that we'll be able to tie it all together here in a few 697 00:30:07,230 --> 00:30:07,510 moments. 698 00:30:07,510 --> 00:30:09,630 And so they take him out to the Valley. 699 00:30:09,630 --> 00:30:10,310 Verse 25. 700 00:30:10,310 --> 00:30:12,630 And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? 701 00:30:13,030 --> 00:30:15,030 And the Lord shall trouble thee this day. 702 00:30:15,030 --> 00:30:18,630 And all Israel stone him with stones and burned them with fire 703 00:30:18,870 --> 00:30:20,870 after they had stoned them with stones. 704 00:30:22,310 --> 00:30:26,630 Now, obviously, we live in a different system in a different society. 705 00:30:26,950 --> 00:30:30,630 I don't encourage all of us to find someone in our church who is 706 00:30:30,630 --> 00:30:32,390 in open sin and do this very thing, okay? 707 00:30:32,390 --> 00:30:32,630 We're. 708 00:30:32,630 --> 00:30:34,350 We're living under a new covenant. 709 00:30:34,510 --> 00:30:36,950 And New Testament says, vengeance is mine. 710 00:30:36,950 --> 00:30:38,070 I overpay, saith the Lord. 711 00:30:38,070 --> 00:30:41,310 We know that God is the ultimate judge, but in this case 712 00:30:41,310 --> 00:30:44,190 we do see God is very serious about the sin in the camp. 713 00:30:44,190 --> 00:30:44,790 Verse 26. 714 00:30:44,790 --> 00:30:47,630 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. 715 00:30:48,030 --> 00:30:51,590 So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger wherefore 716 00:30:51,590 --> 00:30:54,430 the name of the place was called the Valley of Acor unto this 717 00:30:54,430 --> 00:30:54,750 day. 718 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:56,360 And. 719 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:01,240 And so the Israelites here know that God definitely is enacting 720 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,080 a justice and judgment. 721 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,440 And then this type of sin when. 722 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,880 When it's dealt with can bring us back to a place of victory. 723 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,560 And now Israel was in a position in which God could now lead 724 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:13,760 them. 725 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,360 And so, yes, this does seem like a very serious judgment, but 726 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,480 we see how serious God is in that case, and God's leading and 727 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,120 guidance in how to deal with that sin, and that is to get rid 728 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:28,320 of it, to not just accept it, to. 729 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:32,480 To not just get to a place where we say, okay, but next time 730 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,560 we're really going to make sure that we need to deal with this 731 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:34,960 sin. 732 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:37,880 Because what happens is that when we put off sin, it could be 733 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,799 like a disease, it can be like a sickness, and it can spread. 734 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,520 And even if we cut it back just a little bit, it'll come back. 735 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,480 The Bible very clearly teaches us to get that sin out of our life, 736 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,480 to completely deal with this. 737 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,370 And so this kind of victory only comes through a. 738 00:31:51,370 --> 00:31:52,090 A death. 739 00:31:53,210 --> 00:31:56,730 And we know that in the Old Testament, in this case, it was the 740 00:31:56,730 --> 00:31:57,610 death of Achan. 741 00:31:57,610 --> 00:32:01,250 But we know also that in the New Testament, it was someone's else's 742 00:32:01,250 --> 00:32:04,970 death that was able to pay the price for our sin, and that was the 743 00:32:04,970 --> 00:32:05,810 death of Jesus Christ. 744 00:32:05,810 --> 00:32:07,930 So now we get to have forgiveness. 745 00:32:07,930 --> 00:32:08,250 We. 746 00:32:08,330 --> 00:32:11,370 We might have dealt with covetousness in our life, we might 747 00:32:11,370 --> 00:32:14,090 have dealt with certain elements of sin in our life. 748 00:32:14,330 --> 00:32:17,130 But the beautiful thing about being a Christian and walking in 749 00:32:17,130 --> 00:32:20,170 the grace of Jesus Christ is that even though we do have sin, 750 00:32:20,170 --> 00:32:21,770 Jesus paid the price for us. 751 00:32:21,850 --> 00:32:25,370 And that God has dealt with that sin and that the price has been 752 00:32:25,370 --> 00:32:27,370 paid, and we can walk in that. 753 00:32:27,370 --> 00:32:30,490 But that doesn't give us an excuse to continue to walk in sin 754 00:32:30,490 --> 00:32:31,890 and to live in that rebellion. 755 00:32:31,890 --> 00:32:33,530 We need to deal with that in our own lives. 756 00:32:33,530 --> 00:32:37,650 And so it is the power of the victory of Jesus that gives us the 757 00:32:37,650 --> 00:32:40,290 opportunity and hope that, you know, what the truth is, is that 758 00:32:40,290 --> 00:32:42,570 we, many of us are Achan. 759 00:32:42,570 --> 00:32:44,810 Many of us have fallen into the trap of covetousness. 760 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:46,840 And so what do we all deserve? 761 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,360 We all deserve what Achan face. 762 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,080 We all deserve punishment and death. 763 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:55,400 But again, the grace that God extends to us is that we know that 764 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,200 even in sin, God will allow us to find forgiveness when we come 765 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:00,000 and trust in him. 766 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,920 And so we know that the victory is found in Jesus, not in 767 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:03,760 our own strength. 768 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,760 But here at the end of Joshua chapter 7, sin is dealt with. 769 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:12,680 And we're going to see that because of them getting that sin 770 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:17,000 right in the camp, that chapter 8 AI will be conquered, there 771 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:21,040 will be victory, and they will follow the plan of God, and hopefully 772 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,040 a lesson will be learned. 773 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,000 And I think all of us can learn lessons through our failures. 774 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,600 We can learn lessons through the other people's failures. 775 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,400 But the best lesson to learn is just simply following the word 776 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,680 of God, following his will for our life. 777 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,240 I've used this analogy before, and I'll probably keep using it because 778 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:43,600 it's one that I can understand and hopefully you understand when. 779 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,920 When we grew up in Florida, there were certain, you know, beasts 780 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:49,480 that would hurt us, right? 781 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:54,160 So you have, like, snakes, rattlesnakes were there, we had copperheads 782 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:55,560 you guys have copperheads up here. 783 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,360 We had different types of rattlesnakes. 784 00:33:58,360 --> 00:33:59,120 We had coral snakes. 785 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:00,440 We have water moccasins. 786 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,880 And so, you know, I didn't have to go get bitten by one of these 787 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,000 venomous snakes to know the dangers of it. 788 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,160 Like, I could take someone else's word for it. 789 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,520 I should learn from someone that knows better than me that, stay 790 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:12,440 away from those animals. 791 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:13,320 They'll hurt you. 792 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:15,800 It being an inquisitive child, I just. 793 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:18,200 Some people say, well, just don't grab any snakes, okay? 794 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:19,880 I. I just wanted to find animals. 795 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,040 I would pull, you know, turn over a rock. 796 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,280 I would turn over stones and try to find snakes and different 797 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:26,120 things and grab them. 798 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,560 And so I had to learn a lesson. 799 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:27,880 But. 800 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,680 But I didn't have to learn the lesson from being bitten by the snake. 801 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,080 I could learn the lesson by saying, okay, I know that there's 802 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,880 higher wisdom than me that I can apply to my life, that I can 803 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:39,480 avoid pain and suffering. 804 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:41,480 And that's the same thing with us as Christians. 805 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,600 There's a lot of people that come from the school of thought that 806 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,520 you have to just always keep messing up and finding your path. 807 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:47,480 You don't have to. 808 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,840 You can take the word of God, you can take the failures of others 809 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,120 and use that as a cautionary tale against the sins of this world. 810 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:55,760 And so we don't have to be like Achan. 811 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,230 We don't have to be like some of the other folks at face the pain 812 00:34:59,230 --> 00:35:00,350 and suffering of sin. 813 00:35:00,350 --> 00:35:03,590 We can say, lord, give me wisdom and allow me to learn. 814 00:35:03,590 --> 00:35:07,070 But the again, the grace of God is that even when we do sin, 815 00:35:07,390 --> 00:35:09,030 he gives us a pathway out. 816 00:35:09,030 --> 00:35:11,230 He gives us forgiveness, he gives us hope. 817 00:35:11,390 --> 00:35:13,670 But we cannot live in that open rebellion. 818 00:35:13,670 --> 00:35:16,670 So really, the big lesson in Joshua, chapter seven is this. 819 00:35:16,750 --> 00:35:23,590 Don't condone sin, don't tolerate sin, don't harbor sin, don't 820 00:35:23,590 --> 00:35:24,510 celebrate sin. 821 00:35:24,990 --> 00:35:27,110 There's all these different things that we can think about when 822 00:35:27,110 --> 00:35:29,750 it comes to sin, but really what we have to do is we have to 823 00:35:29,750 --> 00:35:33,310 reject it, we have to remove it, we have to kill it in our lives. 824 00:35:33,310 --> 00:35:36,790 The New Testament says, mortify our members, die to that 825 00:35:36,790 --> 00:35:38,110 old way of doing things. 826 00:35:38,270 --> 00:35:42,150 And so in Joshua, chapter seven, it's a lesson on knowing that 827 00:35:42,150 --> 00:35:43,390 the victory will never come. 828 00:35:43,390 --> 00:35:47,510 If we're harboring sin, if we're focused on the accursed thing, 829 00:35:47,510 --> 00:35:50,830 if we're living for ourselves, the victory can only come through 830 00:35:51,260 --> 00:35:53,900 submitting to the Lord and getting it right with God and walking 831 00:35:53,900 --> 00:35:55,100 in obedience to Him. 832 00:35:55,180 --> 00:35:57,780 Because if you Remember, back in Joshua chapter one, we'll end 833 00:35:57,780 --> 00:35:59,500 with this Joshua chapter one. 834 00:35:59,500 --> 00:36:02,300 He goes all the way back to verse eight. 835 00:36:02,460 --> 00:36:06,540 And he says, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, 836 00:36:06,540 --> 00:36:09,140 but thou shalt meditate there in day and night, that thou mayest 837 00:36:09,140 --> 00:36:11,500 observe to do according to all that is written therein. 838 00:36:12,220 --> 00:36:16,540 For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt 839 00:36:16,540 --> 00:36:17,500 have good success. 840 00:36:18,820 --> 00:36:23,540 So the success and the prosperity is not a material prosperity. 841 00:36:23,780 --> 00:36:25,140 It's not a material success. 842 00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:29,100 It's a spiritual success only found when it says there what that 843 00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:31,460 we speak about the Word of God. 844 00:36:31,620 --> 00:36:35,100 We meditate upon the Word of God, we observe to do all that is 845 00:36:35,100 --> 00:36:35,940 written therein. 846 00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:39,300 And so really, spiritual success comes from knowing the Word 847 00:36:39,300 --> 00:36:43,420 of God, speaking the Word of God, believing the Word of God, dwelling 848 00:36:43,420 --> 00:36:45,380 on the Word of God, and applying the Word of God. 849 00:36:45,910 --> 00:36:49,310 And so we can't expect to ever be successful in ministry, in the 850 00:36:49,310 --> 00:36:51,910 personal realm, in our business life. 851 00:36:52,070 --> 00:36:55,070 And when it comes, spiritually speaking, to doing things our own 852 00:36:55,070 --> 00:36:59,110 way, we must do it the way that God has ordained for us to live 853 00:36:59,110 --> 00:36:59,750 out in our lives. 854 00:36:59,750 --> 00:37:04,070 And so Joshua chapter seven is a cautionary tale of sin in the camp 855 00:37:04,070 --> 00:37:07,550 and a warning against harboring those things that cause 856 00:37:07,550 --> 00:37:11,430 us to have covetousness and ultimately disobedience to God. 857 00:37:11,900 --> 00:37:14,620 So we should just follow God when he says to do things, get rid 858 00:37:14,620 --> 00:37:14,860 of that. 859 00:37:14,860 --> 00:37:16,220 Don't associate with that. 860 00:37:17,260 --> 00:37:20,060 The Bible speaks of not having friendship with the world. 861 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:22,300 We're in the world. 862 00:37:22,300 --> 00:37:24,660 The reality is that all of us have to live in this world. 863 00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:29,260 We can't live in a bubble and refuse to be affected by the things 864 00:37:29,260 --> 00:37:29,900 around us. 865 00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:32,660 But what we do have to understand is that there's a phrase 866 00:37:32,660 --> 00:37:35,500 that many of you heard, we're in the world, but we're not of the 867 00:37:35,500 --> 00:37:35,820 world. 868 00:37:35,820 --> 00:37:38,620 And being of the world means trying to follow all the things that 869 00:37:38,620 --> 00:37:40,220 the world brings our way. 870 00:37:40,220 --> 00:37:43,020 But what we can say at the end of the day is this, Yes, I have to 871 00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:43,500 go to work. 872 00:37:43,580 --> 00:37:45,180 Yes, I have to go to the grocery store. 873 00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:47,860 Yes, I have to deal with all these different things coming my 874 00:37:47,860 --> 00:37:48,020 way. 875 00:37:48,020 --> 00:37:49,340 But I don't have to be like that. 876 00:37:49,340 --> 00:37:50,780 That doesn't have to characterize me. 877 00:37:50,780 --> 00:37:52,220 I want to be different. 878 00:37:52,700 --> 00:37:53,980 I want to be unique. 879 00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:57,460 You know, one of the things that we're trying to teach our kids 880 00:37:57,460 --> 00:38:00,980 and I'm trying to learn in my own life is that biblical Christian 881 00:38:00,980 --> 00:38:05,420 character is not just what we do in public when everyone's watching. 882 00:38:06,490 --> 00:38:06,650 Right? 883 00:38:06,650 --> 00:38:11,050 Because that's, you know, it's A shame that some Christians even 884 00:38:11,050 --> 00:38:13,090 publicly live open rebellion to God. 885 00:38:13,090 --> 00:38:15,970 But what we're going to say here is this, Most of us know how 886 00:38:15,970 --> 00:38:18,810 to act and behave and make other people think that we're pretty 887 00:38:18,810 --> 00:38:20,170 good people, okay? 888 00:38:20,170 --> 00:38:21,450 But that's not true. 889 00:38:21,770 --> 00:38:26,010 Complete Christian character, true integrity, true Christian character 890 00:38:26,010 --> 00:38:29,370 is that I'm going to obey God even when no one else on this world 891 00:38:29,450 --> 00:38:30,410 knows what I'm doing. 892 00:38:31,300 --> 00:38:33,140 You know, there's opportunities for us to do something 893 00:38:33,140 --> 00:38:36,860 that no one will ever know, but we can maybe think that we can 894 00:38:36,860 --> 00:38:37,500 get away with it. 895 00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:40,220 But what the Bible says that even Achan, maybe he thought he could 896 00:38:40,220 --> 00:38:42,420 get away with this, but God still sees it. 897 00:38:42,820 --> 00:38:45,340 What I would say is that growing in true Christian character 898 00:38:45,340 --> 00:38:45,860 means this. 899 00:38:45,860 --> 00:38:49,260 It's not just doing good in front of people to make them think 900 00:38:49,260 --> 00:38:50,100 that I'm a good person. 901 00:38:50,340 --> 00:38:53,380 It's not just avoiding the bad things so that I can be healthy. 902 00:38:54,020 --> 00:38:56,580 It's about doing what God has asked us to do. 903 00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:59,000 You know, it's about obeying him. 904 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:00,280 It's about glorifying him. 905 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:01,240 It's about loving him. 906 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:03,560 And so I would encourage you to think about this. 907 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,040 And one of the things that helped me in my life when it came 908 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,680 to overcoming certain temptations that come. 909 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,160 And I'm going to tell you, I don't think any of us will get to 910 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,880 that place where we completely overcome every temptation in our 911 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:14,040 life. 912 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,840 But what I will say is that one of the things that I was challenged 913 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,240 with at a young age was think about this sin in the eyes of God. 914 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:23,160 That, you know, what does God think about what you're about to 915 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:23,300 do? 916 00:39:23,770 --> 00:39:25,450 What does God think about this response? 917 00:39:25,450 --> 00:39:26,970 What does God think about this thought? 918 00:39:27,530 --> 00:39:29,130 What does God think about this action? 919 00:39:30,010 --> 00:39:34,010 And, and if I could do it before him and show him and have 920 00:39:34,010 --> 00:39:36,650 him be a part of it, then, hey, go forward with it. 921 00:39:36,650 --> 00:39:39,569 Because that's, that's the, that's living in, in no conviction. 922 00:39:39,569 --> 00:39:42,850 But what I will say is that many of the things that we do thinking 923 00:39:42,850 --> 00:39:45,730 that we can justify it, we would not be pleased if God was watching. 924 00:39:45,730 --> 00:39:47,290 But I'm going to tell you a little secret here. 925 00:39:47,610 --> 00:39:48,650 God is watching. 926 00:39:48,900 --> 00:39:50,100 He can see everything we're doing. 927 00:39:50,180 --> 00:39:51,780 We can't hide anything from him. 928 00:39:51,940 --> 00:39:54,540 And so what I would encourage you to do is to think about it from 929 00:39:54,540 --> 00:39:59,180 the perspective of this very sin that I get fleshly pleasure out 930 00:39:59,180 --> 00:40:01,860 of is what nailed my Savior to the cross. 931 00:40:03,140 --> 00:40:05,860 It's what caused me to deserve death. 932 00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:09,260 But ultimately my Savior, Jesus Christ loved me enough to go 933 00:40:09,260 --> 00:40:10,660 to the cross for me. 934 00:40:10,820 --> 00:40:12,340 To pay that price for me. 935 00:40:12,420 --> 00:40:13,940 How could I do that? 936 00:40:13,940 --> 00:40:16,020 And that's what Romans chapter six is about. 937 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:19,960 There are Christians who say, well, aren't I saved? 938 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:22,320 Like, I'm saved and God's forgiven me. 939 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:23,880 Why can't I just do what I want to do? 940 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,800 And Paul says, God forbid, how could you understand grace and continue 941 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:28,680 on that way? 942 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,240 It's just a misrepresentation of grace. 943 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:32,840 It's an abuse of grace. 944 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,160 And ultimately it is disrespectful to our Lord and Savior. 945 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:37,200 And we don't want to be that way. 946 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:38,600 So I want you to pray about that. 947 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:39,720 I want you to think about that. 948 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:43,740 I've heard this message preached a lot at a Christian school. 949 00:40:43,820 --> 00:40:46,300 We heard this message preached a lot when things went missing at 950 00:40:46,300 --> 00:40:46,620 the school. 951 00:40:46,620 --> 00:40:46,860 Right. 952 00:40:46,860 --> 00:40:48,180 Okay, who's aching in the house? 953 00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:49,580 Okay, we're gonna bring everyone up. 954 00:40:49,580 --> 00:40:51,340 And there was a lot of that guilt. 955 00:40:51,340 --> 00:40:51,580 And. 956 00:40:51,580 --> 00:40:54,220 And I understand, like, I'm not trying to guilt you in. 957 00:40:54,300 --> 00:40:56,900 I've been part of services that a preacher got up and said, 958 00:40:56,900 --> 00:40:59,700 we're not leaving the service till someone confesses their pub, 959 00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:00,620 their private sin. 960 00:41:00,620 --> 00:41:01,020 Right now. 961 00:41:01,020 --> 00:41:01,660 We're gonna stay. 962 00:41:01,660 --> 00:41:05,420 And, you know, it was like trying to squeeze everyone dry. 963 00:41:05,420 --> 00:41:06,340 That's not my goal. 964 00:41:06,340 --> 00:41:08,120 My goal is not to come here and try to make you feel. 965 00:41:08,190 --> 00:41:10,910 Feel guilty and put a guilt trip on you. 966 00:41:11,150 --> 00:41:14,270 Really what my goal is is for us to all inspect our own lives. 967 00:41:14,750 --> 00:41:17,790 As David says, search me, oh, God, know my heart, try me, and know 968 00:41:17,790 --> 00:41:18,430 my thoughts. 969 00:41:18,430 --> 00:41:21,390 See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 970 00:41:21,470 --> 00:41:22,230 That should be all. 971 00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:23,310 That should be our prayer. 972 00:41:23,310 --> 00:41:25,150 Just Lord, seek, seek in my life. 973 00:41:25,150 --> 00:41:25,870 Look into me. 974 00:41:25,950 --> 00:41:27,630 Reveal to me where I need to change. 975 00:41:27,790 --> 00:41:31,310 Reveal in me what is causing me to live that life of covetousness 976 00:41:31,470 --> 00:41:33,070 and sinfulness and brokenness. 977 00:41:33,070 --> 00:41:33,390 And. 978 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,120 And then when we do that, we're able to be refined. 979 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,160 I love the principle of being refined. 980 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,520 You know, God takes us and he puts us to the fire of trials of 981 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:42,840 life. 982 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:46,040 And what it really is is, as many of you know, there's that process. 983 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:50,200 And let's say, for example, we put gold in the fire, and as it gets 984 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,280 to this place of being heated up, there's an ability to remove 985 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:54,280 the dross, the. 986 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:55,400 The trash, the. 987 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:55,800 The. 988 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,440 The terrible stuff that makes it impure. 989 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,240 But that's what God's doing through our trials in our life. 990 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,080 He's refining us. 991 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,780 He's putting us to the trials of life, temptations of this world, 992 00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:09,220 the struggles that we might face so that we can have that dross 993 00:42:09,220 --> 00:42:12,300 removed so that we can be purified and sanctified and to be 994 00:42:12,300 --> 00:42:12,900 more like him. 995 00:42:12,900 --> 00:42:16,340 And so what I would encourage you to do is think about that process 996 00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:17,260 in your own life. 997 00:42:17,260 --> 00:42:19,900 What are some things in my life that God is working on me to 998 00:42:19,900 --> 00:42:20,340 remove? 999 00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:21,940 I'm not. 1000 00:42:22,580 --> 00:42:23,780 This should be our testimony. 1001 00:42:23,780 --> 00:42:26,580 I'm not the same person that I was 10 years ago. 1002 00:42:26,580 --> 00:42:29,600 I'm not the same person that I was even a year ago when it comes 1003 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:30,680 to my spiritual walk. 1004 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:34,160 If we've learned all the lessons in our life and we think 1005 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,360 that we've reached the pinnacle of our spirituality, that 1006 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,880 we're never struggling anymore, then I think all of us have 1007 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:41,080 fallen into the sin of pride. 1008 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:43,640 What we have to do is we have to say, I'm learning every day. 1009 00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:46,400 And God might speak to me somewhere that my convictions are 1010 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,840 changing, that I might need to be more strict in this area. 1011 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,760 Or maybe, I mean, maybe I need to have more grace in this area. 1012 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,680 Maybe I'm just not seeing this from the right perspective. 1013 00:42:54,900 --> 00:42:58,020 And so I would encourage you to think about that process as Joshua 1014 00:42:58,020 --> 00:42:58,220 did. 1015 00:42:58,220 --> 00:43:00,780 He comes before the Lord and the Lord says, get up and deal with 1016 00:43:00,780 --> 00:43:01,380 that sin. 1017 00:43:01,460 --> 00:43:04,180 And so I would encourage you to pray about that here this evening. 1018 00:43:05,460 --> 00:43:08,060 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1019 00:43:08,060 --> 00:43:08,660 podcast. 1020 00:43:08,900 --> 00:43:11,300 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1021 00:43:12,020 --> 00:43:14,220 You would like to find out more information about our church 1022 00:43:14,220 --> 00:43:17,700 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1023 00:43:18,020 --> 00:43:20,420 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1024 00:43:21,410 --> 00:43:25,850 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 1025 00:43:25,850 --> 00:43:26,210 Com. 1026 00:43:26,690 --> 00:43:30,170 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1027 00:43:30,170 --> 00:43:33,010 along for future podcast and updates. 1028 00:43:33,650 --> 00:43:34,610 Thank you so much. 1029 00:43:34,850 --> 00:43:35,570 God bless. 1030 00:43:35,810 --> 00:43:37,090 Have a wonderful day.