1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:04,900 Good morning. Great to be together the 2 00:00:04,900 --> 00:00:07,500 psalmist, David. He wrote in Psalm 122. 3 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:13,200 He said, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,400 house of the Lord, and I trust that you have the same 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,800 excitement, the same Joy of being here, as we are here to 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,800 worship him. Our God, he's done great things. 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,300 He has blessed us in so many ways, and we're here to just 8 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:31,600 give him back. What is due unto him this 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,800 morning? What I want to do this morning 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:40,800 is take a look at what is written in the Book of Joshua. 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,900 There's an account of a man that did something very wrong. 12 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,900 He did something in secret and later on it, it cost him a lot. 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,700 And as we see here in Joshua chapter, 7, beginning at verse 14 00:00:56,700 --> 00:01:00,400 number 1, it says, but the children of Israel committed a 15 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,599 trespass. Guarding the accursed things for 16 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:09,300 Aiken, took of the accursed things, so the anger of the Lord 17 00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:13,200 burned against the children of Israel. 18 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,000 So, usually, when we think about Sin, we think about it in a 19 00:01:19,008 --> 00:01:23,200 personal sense. We see it as something that that 20 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,400 I messed up. And so it's between me and God. 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,700 And so in that sense, I guess we would tend to think that most of 22 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:34,700 the sins that we commit that nobody ever knows except for me 23 00:01:35,500 --> 00:01:40,700 and my father, God, But the reality is, no matter if anyone 24 00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:45,500 might know about what we commit, no matter how big, or how small 25 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:50,300 the sin, that might be that we do sin, sin is still sin. 26 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,400 And so we transgress God's commands when we sin. 27 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,200 But not only that but also our relationship and our fellowship 28 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,200 with Christ are with God and Christ suffers too. 29 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,700 It's kind of like what John wrote here in John. 30 00:02:03,700 --> 00:02:06,700 Chapter 1 and verse. Number one is we begin a verse. 31 00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:11,200 Number 4, chapter one, Verse number 5 says this is the 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:16,900 message we have heard from him and declare to you, that God is 33 00:02:16,900 --> 00:02:20,300 light. And in him is no Darkness at 34 00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:24,000 all. If we say that we have 35 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,700 fellowship with him and walk in darkness, there's a result to 36 00:02:28,700 --> 00:02:30,300 that. He says we lie. 37 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:38,600 I do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he is 38 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,700 in the light, there's a result of that saying, we have 39 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:47,800 fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his 40 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:54,000 son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that, we have no sin, 41 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:58,100 we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 42 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:04,100 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us 43 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:07,800 our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 44 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,900 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar. 45 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:18,300 And his word is not in. Its you read this, in this 46 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:23,300 passage with John. And he describes sin as a 47 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:26,800 personal problem between us and God. 48 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:31,500 But sometimes our personal or some, maybe sometimes our silent 49 00:03:31,500 --> 00:03:36,400 soon's might turn into something more than just that they might 50 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,700 turn into something. That is much bigger and could 51 00:03:38,700 --> 00:03:40,700 potentially affect those around us. 52 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:42,400 And that's what I want to focus on. 53 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:47,600 As we talked about the account of Aiken and how sin that he had 54 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,300 committed just didn't affect him. 55 00:03:52,300 --> 00:03:58,000 It affected his family. It affected an entire nation. 56 00:03:59,900 --> 00:04:05,300 I want to talk about the dangers of our own personal sin and the 57 00:04:05,300 --> 00:04:10,200 potential of consequences that it could bring. 58 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:16,200 You go back a little bit before the context of Joshua chapter 7, 59 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:20,500 you're going to find that Israel had wandered in the wilderness 60 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:25,900 for those 40 years. And God had promised them over 61 00:04:25,900 --> 00:04:30,300 and over again, I'm going to give you a land, the promised 62 00:04:30,300 --> 00:04:36,000 land, the land of Canaan. I want to give you this land and 63 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,200 eventually that promise came true. 64 00:04:39,300 --> 00:04:42,000 So God, finally gave him that Promised Land. 65 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:45,900 The people of Israel, they came over, they crossed the Jordan 66 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:53,200 and they came to the first city, the city of Jericho, we all know 67 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,700 what happened there in the city of Jericho about how they 68 00:04:56,700 --> 00:05:00,200 marched around that that City for a whole week. 69 00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:05,000 One time around that City for those first six days and then on 70 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,400 the seventh day they marched around that City for those 47 71 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,600 days. One being quiet, nobody's saying 72 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,100 anything, and then the Horn of the ram was was blown and then 73 00:05:16,100 --> 00:05:19,500 the trumpets were blown and then the big shouts from the people 74 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:23,500 of Israel as they surrounded. That City and the scriptures, 75 00:05:23,500 --> 00:05:26,300 tell us that the walls fell in the pit. 76 00:05:26,300 --> 00:05:30,100 The people of Israel invaded. They captured the city, they 77 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:33,200 burned the city. It was a great victory for God's 78 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,300 people. In an effort to obtain the land 79 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:41,300 of Canaan as God had Promise them on this particular 80 00:05:41,300 --> 00:05:45,000 occasion, you can see the power of God on display. 81 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:51,600 How about how God had had helped them in their battle and how God 82 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:57,300 was was in with them, the whole way and perhaps, they thought 83 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:00,500 the people of Israel thinking, well, we have the Lord on our 84 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:03,400 side. No one is able to defeat us 85 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,300 after all, he's promised this land to us. 86 00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:11,400 We're invincible. And so, this was a great victory 87 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,700 for the children of God, but their next battle was not going 88 00:06:14,700 --> 00:06:20,600 to be so easy. and so you look at verse 1 again, as we read and 89 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:28,400 verse one starts with the word buds, And that word changes 90 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:34,800 quite a bit with the tone and what is about to happen in 91 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,000 Israel. So, what's changed? 92 00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:43,900 Well, as we see in verse 1, he rake and had done something that 93 00:06:43,900 --> 00:06:49,400 he was not supposed to do. He committed the sin of taking 94 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,000 some of the spoils from their battle there in Jericho and he 95 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,900 kept it for himself and he hid it in secret and from this 96 00:06:55,900 --> 00:06:58,800 secrets in it changed, how God would help his people in the 97 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:03,600 next battle. And so they go and they they 98 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,600 take assessment of land, little did Joshua and the others know 99 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,400 that they could have done this until they felt the results of 100 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,600 it a little bit later on because they learn the hard way and they 101 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,800 learn this when they plan their next town to conquer. 102 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000 And so, Oh, in their Pursuit, their pursuit to conquer some 103 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,200 more, the land of Canaan. They're looking to a I now and 104 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,900 so Joshua he sent out some guys to spend spy out, that City or 105 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:34,500 that town, see what we're up against and so they come and 106 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,500 they make observations, they come back and tell Joshua oh 107 00:07:37,508 --> 00:07:41,500 man, this is going to be easy. There's not as many people 108 00:07:41,500 --> 00:07:44,700 there, it's going to be an easy Battle For Us. 109 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:47,400 In fact, I think we only need about two to three thousand 110 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,400 people to go and fight these people there. 111 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:57,100 At AI, the amorites, And so that's exactly what they do. 112 00:07:57,300 --> 00:08:01,500 The Bible says, they sent about 3,000 troops over there to 113 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:04,300 conquer in an attempt to conquer AI. 114 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,200 Well, little did Joshua, and the soldiers know that the Lord was 115 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,100 going to teach them a lesson about the consequences of sin 116 00:08:12,100 --> 00:08:14,200 and Disobedience. Because when they went up there 117 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,500 to AI man, they were in for surprised it even though they 118 00:08:18,500 --> 00:08:20,600 had counted them as small a number. 119 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,000 And thought this is going to be a piece of cake that was not. 120 00:08:24,100 --> 00:08:27,700 the case, when they got up there to AI to fight these these 121 00:08:27,700 --> 00:08:35,400 amorites, in fact they ran away during battle with their tails 122 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:46,000 between their legs, back to Camp because they got whooped That it 123 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,900 was so devastating to the people of Israel. 124 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,400 Thinking this was going to be easy and about the 3,000 troops 125 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,500 that we sent over there. 36 of our men died. 126 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,900 And if you ask me, you send about 3,000 men and 36, don't 127 00:09:05,900 --> 00:09:10,700 come back. in my mind that this kind of good odds, I mean that's 128 00:09:10,700 --> 00:09:15,800 minimal loss if you ask me, but not to the people of Israel. 129 00:09:16,900 --> 00:09:19,600 They're thanking God. If you're on our side, nobody 130 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,900 should have died. We should have won that battle. 131 00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:30,900 So they were mad back. Joshua's, Matt, some of the 132 00:09:30,908 --> 00:09:35,200 leaders were mad, they tore their clothes because they were 133 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,800 just besides themselves and how did this happen? 134 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,900 Why did this happen? And so they start complaining 135 00:09:41,900 --> 00:09:44,300 and so Joshua. He cries out to God, in verse 136 00:09:44,300 --> 00:09:47,600 number seven here in Joshua chapter 7, the last Lord. 137 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,400 God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all? 138 00:09:51,900 --> 00:09:55,100 To deliver us into the hand of the amorites to destroy us? 139 00:09:56,100 --> 00:10:00,600 Old that we had been content and dwelt on the other side of the 140 00:10:00,608 --> 00:10:02,600 Jordan. Oh, Lord. 141 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,200 What shall I say? When Israel turns its back 142 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,200 before its enemies for the Canaanites and all the 143 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,600 inhabitants of the land will hear it and surround us and cut 144 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:17,200 off our name from the earth. Then what will you do for your 145 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,400 great name? And so we have Josh was 146 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,800 complaining to God. It'll end them believe that they 147 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,600 were, they were actually better off on the other side, Jordan 148 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,000 outside of the promised land when they were inside. 149 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,000 Because word was now going to get around about how the mighty 150 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,500 Army of Israel who had defeated Jericho, had been The Underdogs 151 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:42,600 to the rest of the habitats of cave Kanan, especially there, in 152 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:47,100 AI words, going to get around and those people of Canada. 153 00:10:47,100 --> 00:10:48,900 Going to think we got these guys. 154 00:10:48,900 --> 00:10:51,200 Whenever they come to our town, we're going to get them. 155 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,400 And Joshua is saying, if they think that they could beat us 156 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,700 and they already did beat us. What does that say about you? 157 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:02,300 God who said you're going to protect us? 158 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,700 What does that say about you? And about their foreign Gods 159 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:12,700 against you. And you can see why he was so 160 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:16,200 upset. And from all this complaining 161 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,800 about all this worry, Joshua asked God, why did this happen? 162 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:24,000 Why did you deliver us into the hands of the amorites? 163 00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:30,300 You know, what happened next? God answered him. 164 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,000 He answered him. Beginning at verse number 10, 165 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,800 I'm not going to read this. Our going to paraphrase this 166 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,200 beginning in verse number 10 because it appears to me God is 167 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,500 not pleased with them due to his response. 168 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,300 In fact, God told Joshua, Joshua, you get up. 169 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,700 You get up because I'm going to tell you why the amorites 170 00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:57,100 defeated you, it's because Israel sinned. 171 00:11:58,300 --> 00:12:01,400 And they sinned by breaking their Covenant with me by 172 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,900 bringing in some of the spoils about her battle that I 173 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:10,300 specifically told you not to do. That God went on to tell Joshua 174 00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:13,500 that he was not going to be with with Israel, protect them until 175 00:12:13,500 --> 00:12:15,900 they've solved, this problem and taking care of the sin. 176 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,800 Now Israel, they weren't they weren't ignorance of what rules 177 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,700 or regulations. There were one what they could 178 00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:25,800 and could not do and take from battle. 179 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:30,200 In fact Joshua had provided them instruction before they actually 180 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,700 went into battle against the people of Jericho, it says this 181 00:12:34,700 --> 00:12:37,900 and Joshua 6 verse 18 and You by all means. 182 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:41,800 Stain from the accursed things, lest you become a cursed, when 183 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,300 you take of the accursed things and make the camp of Israel, a 184 00:12:45,300 --> 00:12:50,800 curse and trouble it. They knew exactly not to take 185 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,400 from the spoils from their Victory. 186 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:58,500 There in Jericho. So, the Lord did not want his 187 00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:02,000 people to take anything from the battle, except for valuable 188 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,400 items like gold and silver. But when they were to take those 189 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,500 items, he specifically said that's for the treasury. 190 00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:18,600 That's for the treasury. But taking the spoils exactly 191 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,600 what happened at the Battle of Jericho and white Israel had 192 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:23,300 lost the battle against the amorites. 193 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:26,300 Is because someone broke the rule. 194 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,900 So the Lord told Joshua, I want you to start, sanctifying the 195 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:35,100 people for the removal of sin among them. 196 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:38,400 And I want us to notice this was a beat, this was to be an 197 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,500 immediate action. I'm going to kind of expand upon 198 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:44,500 that little bit later this morning, but sin was to be 199 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:47,900 discovered and sin was to be taken care of immediately. 200 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,000 So God commanded Joshua, prepare the people for sanctification. 201 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,800 Start the process in the morning. 202 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:56,200 And that's exactly what happened. 203 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,500 This process given to find out who was guilty, invar involved 204 00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:03,000 in narrowing it down to the tribe and to the family and to 205 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,300 the household and then to the man. 206 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,500 And so all the tribes, the 12 tribes of Israel were brought 207 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:14,000 before the leaders in Joshua in order to find out who is guilty 208 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,200 of the crime of taking the spoils. 209 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,500 Now, you've got a whole lot of people in the nation of Israel. 210 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,900 Some are saying there could be a few million. 211 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,500 Within that Nation. And so, how will the world are 212 00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:34,700 you going to determine who is guilty? 213 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:40,400 Well, I don't know the process but they narrowed it down as 214 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,100 they brought all the tribes before the leaders of the 12 215 00:14:44,100 --> 00:14:47,200 tribes. They selected, the tribe of 216 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,900 Judah and among the Twilight tribe of Judah, they narrowed it 217 00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:55,500 down to the family of the Czar Heights and within the family of 218 00:14:55,500 --> 00:14:58,200 the Czar, Heights, they narrowed it down to the household of 219 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,100 Zebedee, and then from the household of Zebedee, they found 220 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:06,200 him. Aiken was guilty. 221 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,500 He was guilty. And I don't think this is by 222 00:15:13,500 --> 00:15:18,300 just pure chance like they just drew the Short Straw out of the 223 00:15:18,300 --> 00:15:23,000 whole bunch. I do believe that God had a part 224 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 in choosing who was guilty of the crime. 225 00:15:27,300 --> 00:15:34,100 And imagine being Aiken. Imagine thinking, I'm in the 226 00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:38,400 clear what are the chances of them finding out that it was me. 227 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,100 One in several million or a few million. 228 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:50,600 But as it narrow down more and closer and closer to him to the 229 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,700 tribe and to the family in the household. 230 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,300 The heart racing, and the guilt building. 231 00:16:00,500 --> 00:16:06,600 Thinking oh man they could they could find me out and they did. 232 00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:12,300 And we felt that guilt before when we've done something that 233 00:16:12,300 --> 00:16:14,700 we thought no one would ever find out. 234 00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:17,800 But someone did find out. Imagine the guilt. 235 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,100 Think back to your childhood, something you did wrong and you 236 00:16:23,100 --> 00:16:24,000 think I meant. I hope. 237 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,600 Mom and Dad don't find out. Mom and dad always found out. 238 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:37,000 You think, man? I'm busted But he's taking a 239 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,000 Joshua. Joshua asked him to tell him 240 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,900 what he had done and why Israel is in such dismay so we find 241 00:16:45,900 --> 00:16:49,400 here as we continue on, in the book of in the chapter 78, 242 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:55,500 getting he lays it out, he spills the beans, And so he says 243 00:16:55,500 --> 00:17:00,000 an ache and answered Joshua and said indeed, I have sinned 244 00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:03,800 against the Lord, God of Israel. And this is what I've done. 245 00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:09,900 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment two 246 00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:13,000 hundred shekels of silver and a weight, a wedge of gold, 247 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,200 weighing 50 shekels. He said I coveted them. 248 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:22,800 And took them. And there they are hidden in the 249 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,500 earth and mist of my tent with the silver under it. 250 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,700 So upon him telling the true Joshua he sent some of his 251 00:17:31,700 --> 00:17:33,500 troops over there to a consistent. 252 00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:38,600 Sure enough they found what he had described there in the midst 253 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,100 of his Trent tent and so they brought them back to Joshua and 254 00:17:43,100 --> 00:17:47,200 if he asked me, what happens next is a horrible thing yet but 255 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:53,000 I believe it was a necessary thing. they took Aiken, they 256 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,100 took his family, they took over the spoils, they took his 257 00:17:57,100 --> 00:18:01,900 whatever he had for his livestock and then went just 258 00:18:01,900 --> 00:18:08,200 outside of Jericho and they stoned him and his children, and 259 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:15,100 his livestock, all the death. And they burned the remains and 260 00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:19,200 they threw a bunch of rocks upon the remains. 261 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,300 And from that day forward, they called it, the valley of achor, 262 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:29,200 which is just outside Jericho and those rocks are there to 263 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,300 serve as a reminder to Grindr reminder, to the people of 264 00:18:32,300 --> 00:18:35,700 Israel. It's wrong to sin against God. 265 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,500 And these are the consequences. For disobeying the Lord God. 266 00:18:44,900 --> 00:18:48,700 And so ends, the account of Akin a man who sinned and secret, yet 267 00:18:48,700 --> 00:18:54,000 the consequences of that secrets in in just affecting, not just 268 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,500 his family. Not just him. 269 00:18:58,700 --> 00:19:03,000 But an entire nation. So what are some of the things 270 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,300 we can learn from this passage and about the sin that we commit 271 00:19:06,300 --> 00:19:09,700 Even in our own life? Well, first of all this morning 272 00:19:09,700 --> 00:19:13,700 when sin and wrong are uncovered, God calls immediate 273 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:17,100 action upon the wrong that we've done in our life. 274 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,500 You see when the Lord responded to Joshua after Joshua had 275 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:24,400 complained to him about why they lost the battle of the Lord told 276 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:28,400 Joshua, begin the process of sanctifying the people right 277 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,000 away, for the process of fighting the sin to begin in the 278 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,800 next morning and there was no hesitation on gods. 279 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,200 And to take care of the problem. God did not tell Joshua what, 280 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:41,900 we're just going to let. We're just going to fill this 281 00:19:41,900 --> 00:19:45,200 out for a while. We're going to see if there's 282 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,500 anyone who's guilty enough that maybe it's going to burn on 283 00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:51,400 their conscience. Then finally they're going to 284 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,500 confess. We'll just let this one just 285 00:19:53,500 --> 00:19:56,400 kind of simmer for a little while and we'll see what 286 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,800 happens. That is not what happened. 287 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:07,800 They found out immediately. And God called immediate action. 288 00:20:09,100 --> 00:20:12,600 And that's a theme. Whenever you read about 289 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,400 repentance or sin throughout scriptures, there is always the 290 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,900 call from God take care of it now. 291 00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:25,500 Take care of it immediately and there's always that sense of 292 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:29,600 urgency in that call. And the reason there are, there 293 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,500 are reasons for that are urgency. 294 00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:34,400 One reason is that we don't get too involved in the wrong that 295 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,200 we're committing. And when we respond urgently to 296 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,600 our sins and keep us from going further in that wrong action, 297 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,600 And digging a deeper hole for ourselves. 298 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,200 But not only that, another reason is that we don't have to 299 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,600 suffer the consequences or maybe not as much from the that comes 300 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,100 from that sin. And one of the reasons why God 301 00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:00,900 wants us to stay away from sin is that we don't have to reap 302 00:21:00,900 --> 00:21:05,000 the consequences of it. God wants us to have the best 303 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,500 life possible. He wants that for me, he wants 304 00:21:09,500 --> 00:21:12,500 that for you. He wants that for everybody. 305 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:19,800 It is worth living a life of Holiness and righteousness for 306 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:26,100 the Lord, And he keeps us from having to endure consequences 307 00:21:27,100 --> 00:21:32,600 that are simply unnecessary from decisions that we make. 308 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,300 And so this idea is stated over and over in the Book of Proverbs 309 00:21:37,300 --> 00:21:42,300 of how Solomon as a father is telling his son about the 310 00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:46,300 lessons of life. And he's saying, son, you need 311 00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:50,900 to be wise and if you are wise, you will not have to endure the 312 00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:54,800 sufferings of the consequences that come from bad decisions in 313 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,300 your life and sin in your life either. 314 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:05,100 Now, sometimes a confession is too late to avoid discipline. 315 00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:09,400 But the primary purpose of a confession is not to get out of 316 00:22:09,408 --> 00:22:11,500 trouble. The purpose of the confession is 317 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:14,900 to re-establish fellowship, and turn our lives back over to God. 318 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:18,200 Now, when we do, give confession, what we reap 319 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,800 consequences of our sins after we confess them. 320 00:22:21,100 --> 00:22:25,500 Yeah, sometimes sometimes the damage is already done. 321 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:30,400 But with confession, there was always the need to repent of 322 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,500 what we've done. And so the best things that we 323 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:37,300 can do for ourselves is take care of our sins right away and 324 00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:40,000 tell others that we will never ever do that. 325 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,500 Do that again, maybe create a buddy system and accountability 326 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:46,700 system. If there's something that keeps 327 00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:51,100 popping up in your life, And work on that. 328 00:22:52,100 --> 00:22:56,000 After all, we are called to repent and that's what the lord 329 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,200 requires of all of us. But another thing we see from 330 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,200 this event number two is that we were reminded how nothing is 331 00:23:03,300 --> 00:23:08,200 escapes the omniscience of God, when Aiken took, what he was not 332 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,600 supposed to take from Jericho. He might have been able to do it 333 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,700 without anyone seeing him with that ever, ever being caught. 334 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,600 But even through his actions, even if nobody saw him. 335 00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:25,500 Someone was watching. You know who was watching? 336 00:23:26,900 --> 00:23:31,600 God, God was watching. He wasn't able to fool God. 337 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,400 And it's because of God's omniscient nature nature. 338 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,200 He was able to know exactly what Aiken had done. 339 00:23:40,900 --> 00:23:43,200 You know, we used to sing. It's not in this song books that 340 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,700 we sing from right right now in the pews. 341 00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:50,900 But we used to sing. There's an eye watching you And 342 00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:54,200 the song reminds us that sin never escapes the watchful eye 343 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:59,200 of Our Lord. We can fool ourselves and we can 344 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,000 fool others, but will never ever be able to fool the Lord. 345 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,900 And God sees the sin in our lives and he desires us to deal 346 00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:10,800 with it. He doesn't want us to hide it 347 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,700 and put it away. Hiding, it only hinders our 348 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:16,600 progress in, God's Will and plan. 349 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,800 You know, Solomon wrote this, he said in Proverbs 28 verse 13. 350 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:28,800 He said, he who covers his sins. Will not prosper. but on the 351 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:34,600 contrary, whoever confesses and forsakes them, He says, we'll 352 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:39,600 have mercy. And we see the contrast between 353 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:40,500 the two. Don't we? 354 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:46,000 Numbers 32, and verse 23 reminds us, he says be sure your sins 355 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,800 will find you out. And it's similar to the idea of 356 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:52,900 reaping, what we sow. Because of the natural 357 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:55,500 consequences of God, spiritual moral laws. 358 00:24:55,500 --> 00:25:03,300 And because of what, God, how, he how he, interacts with us, if 359 00:25:03,300 --> 00:25:08,100 you will through his word However, here in this passage, 360 00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:12,600 it does not just teach that sin will be discovered, but that the 361 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:19,300 consequences of our sin can be active agents in discovering us 362 00:25:20,300 --> 00:25:22,400 and finding us out. It's like what Paul wrote in 363 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:31,200 Galatians, chapter 6, verses 7 and 8 do not be deceived I think 364 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,900 the reason why, there's a reason why Paul wrote that because 365 00:25:33,900 --> 00:25:38,000 sometimes we can deceive ourselves, he says God is Not 366 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:43,200 mocked for whatever manso's that he will also reap for. 367 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,400 He Who sows to his flesh, shall of the flesh. 368 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,400 Reap corruption. But he use those to the spirit 369 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,600 will of the spirit reap everlasting life. 370 00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:57,900 So we have a choice to what we reap to do art, what we so too. 371 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,700 Repeating a depending on our choices and what we do. 372 00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:06,700 What are we going to reap good or bad? 373 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,500 We can all try to cover our sins and we could try to lie about it 374 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,600 but eventually our sin is going to find itself because of the 375 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:22,000 guilt that can way with in us, maybe people would, maybe if 376 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,900 there's so much guilt in our lives. 377 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,900 There could be people that are close to us. 378 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:29,800 That think there's something that might be troubling us, 379 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,300 maybe we're just not the same person, maybe we're not as happy 380 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,700 as we usually are. But that's what sin will do to 381 00:26:39,700 --> 00:26:43,100 us if we just try to hide it from other people. 382 00:26:45,700 --> 00:26:48,600 But another thing that we can see is we take a look at this 383 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,600 event. Is that the words that are found 384 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,100 in verse? Number one, the anger of the 385 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:55,300 Lord burned against the children of Israel. 386 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,900 Well, that dramatically calls our attention to the Holiness of 387 00:26:59,900 --> 00:27:05,700 God. And the reason why is because 388 00:27:05,700 --> 00:27:13,900 sin is no small matter with God. Again, it doesn't matter how 389 00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:16,400 secret our sin might be, it doesn't matter how little we 390 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,500 might think the Sin is Sin, is rebellion. 391 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,000 And even though Christ, died for our sins and stands up God's 392 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,600 right hand as our advocate in our intercessor. 393 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:32,500 God does not and he cannot treat sin in our lives lightly. 394 00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:37,400 There is absolutely no compromise about Sin. 395 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:44,200 Because it's against his nature. It's against his character. 396 00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:48,800 It's against his Holiness, it's against his righteousness, it's 397 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:54,400 against his love. and it's against his purposes for us 398 00:27:54,400 --> 00:28:01,300 because it hinders What he is able to do for us and how we can 399 00:28:01,300 --> 00:28:05,100 progress in our lives in the spiritual manner for him? 400 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:12,400 If we hold on to it. We can never ever. 401 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,000 Be justified by the sin that is in our life. 402 00:28:19,300 --> 00:28:23,300 And all its going to do is lead to Eternity and torment, because 403 00:28:23,300 --> 00:28:26,000 that is how serious sin is to God. 404 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:31,900 So we see the Holiness of God. And how he wants us to get rid 405 00:28:31,900 --> 00:28:35,300 of it, whenever it is in our lives. 406 00:28:36,700 --> 00:28:42,800 So the we've seen this morning. that if we choose to keep sin 407 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,300 hidden, Eventually, our sins are going to find this out. 408 00:28:48,300 --> 00:28:51,800 In sin is never secret before the Lord and God will judge us. 409 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,500 According to what he knows, and not according to what man knows 410 00:28:55,900 --> 00:29:00,000 According to second Corinthians 5 and verse number 10. 411 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,400 So, we've already read this at the beginning. 412 00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:13,100 What is it called to us? And I have failures. 413 00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:17,700 I make mistakes. I sinned, we all sin. 414 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:25,100 But God's promised us something. And this is the wonderful 415 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:30,600 promise he says, if we confess our sins, if I mess up and I 416 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:37,100 confess them He is faithful. What is he faithful to do? 417 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,400 He is faithful and just to forgive us, our sins and to 418 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,700 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 419 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:51,900 You know what that tells me? Tells me I have a second chance. 420 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,700 It tells me he's willing to look beyond my failures. 421 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,000 And say, I forgive you, I love you. 422 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:09,000 And I want what's best for you as long as I repent and confess 423 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,900 of what I've done. And he makes that same promise 424 00:30:12,900 --> 00:30:16,600 to you. If there is sin in your life. 425 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:22,200 You can repent of that and you can confess and God is faithful 426 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,700 and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you of all 427 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:30,600 unrighteousness, what a wonderful father we have, don't 428 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,100 we? We do. 429 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,000 He is better to us than we deserve. 430 00:30:39,700 --> 00:30:44,700 He all he wants every one of us to succeed, he wants every one 431 00:30:44,700 --> 00:30:50,400 of us to make it to heaven. We have to do our part in 432 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:56,600 keeping sin out of our lives. But if we do mess up, he's there 433 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,800 to help. Isn't that a great promise it 434 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:05,900 is? and so, We want to never close 435 00:31:05,900 --> 00:31:08,700 without offering the Lord's invitation to you. 436 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,300 If you've never become a child of God, you can't become a child 437 00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:16,800 of God, understanding the great thing. 438 00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:21,600 What the Lord has done for you sending Jesus to this world and 439 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,200 living living. The life that he did a sinless 440 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,700 life. Being the example, he was dying 441 00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:31,200 upon the cross for your sins, burying your sins upon that 442 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,500 cross. He died. 443 00:31:36,100 --> 00:31:40,000 He was buried. Praise be to God. 444 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,000 He was resurrected. So that we can have new life in 445 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,200 him. The scriptures tell us, you have 446 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,300 to believe that you have to have faith, that Jesus did that for 447 00:31:50,300 --> 00:31:53,700 you. And then the scriptures tell us 448 00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:56,700 to repent of the life that we're living and to live a life 449 00:31:56,700 --> 00:32:00,600 devoted to God, confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 450 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,100 as we find in Acts chapter 8 and then be baptized for the 451 00:32:04,100 --> 00:32:07,300 remission of your sins. As we see those people did in 452 00:32:07,300 --> 00:32:10,900 Acts chapter 2 and when those people did that, the scriptures 453 00:32:10,900 --> 00:32:14,100 tell us that the Lord added them to his church. 454 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:17,900 It wasn't something saying that the church just decided who was 455 00:32:17,900 --> 00:32:22,100 going to be saved or not saved. The Lord adds the people to the 456 00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:26,800 church based upon The Obedience of people to the Gospel of Jesus 457 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,200 Christ. If you haven't done that, you 458 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,400 can do that today. The Lord wants you in the 459 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,200 Kingdom. If you haven't done that today, 460 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,600 but if you have again, if there are Senior Life, take care of 461 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,900 it. Now, leave the guilt here. 462 00:32:45,100 --> 00:32:50,000 Leave. Leave with new purpose and leave 463 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,700 forgiven. Consider your life and consider 464 00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:55,900 this moment. And the goodness of God. 465 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,000 We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the 466 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:05,800 Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you 467 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,900 would like any additional information, or you would like 468 00:33:08,900 --> 00:33:12,000 to receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail. 469 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:16,500 Please email us at info at her Church of Christ 470 00:33:16,500 --> 00:33:20,500 Bakersfield.com. Our service times are on Sundays 471 00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:26,100 at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. 472 00:33:26,700 --> 00:33:30,200 Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our 473 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:31,100 honored guest.