Joshua 7 Part 2: The Consequences of Secret Sins

I am doing a series of posts about Achan in Joshua 7 and how his sin, though secret, was exposed and had serious consequences.  I hope this series of lessons on “Secret Sin” will challenge us examine our hearts for secret sins and confess them to God.  Yesterday, we looked a the lure of secret sins.  Today we are looking at the consequences of secret sin.

The Consequences of Secret Sin (or any sin)

First, sin angers God (7:1).  David said in Psalm 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight…”  He recognised that sin is ultimately disobedience to God.  Joseph said in Genesis 39:9 to a woman who was trying to get him to commit adultery,  ”…how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”  In Joshua 7:8-9, we see that sin damages the reputation of God.”

Second, sin affects the nation (7:1).  Even though Achan was the guilty one, the Bible says, “But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing…”  Our sin never happens in a vaccum; it always affects other people.  The reason our nation and city is such a terrible condition is because Christians are in such a terrible condition.

Third, sin renders us ineffective in life’s battles (7:3-5).  The Israelites who were victorious over mighty Jericho fled before a few men of Ai all because of sin.  They would never be able to stand before their enemies again unless they dealt with the sin (7:12-13).  Having sin in your life and trying to fight life’s battles is basically like going into battle defenseless.  Sin removes our breastplate of righteousness, cuts off our communication with our headquarters, and leaves us stranded with no armour.

Fourth, sin hurts others.  Achan’s sin cost the lives of 36 other men (7.5).  His sin also discouraged the other people (7:5), and our sin will discourage other believers.  We can even sense the discouragement in Joshua’s prayer in verses 6-7. 

Fifth, sin brings the judgment of God (7:15, 25).  God judged Achan for his sin.  He was stoned and then burt with fire.  The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”  We should not deceived ourselves into thinking that God will not judge us.  We may get away with sin for a little while, but if we do not deal with it properly, He will judge us.

Sixth, sin destroys those closest to us (7:24-26).  As a result of Achan’s sin, his family was stoned and burned with him.  The Bible says, “all that he had” in Joshua 7:24.  God’s Word asks the retorical question in Proverbs 6:27, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”  Many homes and families have been destroyed by some secret sin that started out as just a covetous look.

Conclusion: If you dabble with secret sin, you will pay a price. Read Proverbs 5:3-13.

Stay tuned for parts 3 & 4 of this series.

The Call of God

by James M. George

The call of God to vocational ministry is different from God’s call to salvation and His call to serve issued to all Christians.  It is a call to selected men to serve as leaders in the church.  To serve in such leadership capacities, recipients of this call must have assurance that God has so selected them.  A realization of this assurance rests on four criteria, the first of which is a confirmation of the call by others and by God through the circumstances of providing a place of ministry.  The second criterion is the possession of abilities necessary to serve in leadership capacities.  The third consists of a deep longing to serve in the ministry.  The final qualification is a lifestyle characterized by moral integrity.  A man who fulfills these four qualifications can rest in assurance that God has called him to vocational Christian leadership.

By W. A. Criswell

The first and foremost of all the inward strengths of the pastor is the conviction, deep as life itself, that God has called him to the ministry.  If this persuasion is unshakable, all other elements of the pastor’s life will fall into beautiful order and place.

Joshua 7 Part 1: The Lure of Secret Sin

 

I was reading my Bible today in Joshua about Achan and how his sin, though secret, was exposed and had serious consequences.  I hope this series of lessons on “Secret Sin” will challenge us examine our hearts for secret sins and confess them to God.

In Joshua 7, Israel had just won a great victory at Jericho. The walls fell down.  Rahab was delivered, and Joshua’s fame is noised throughout all the country.  

“But” there was sin in the camp.  After a great victory is often when the Devil will try his hardest to tempt us.  In the midst of a great victory, Satan can put the seed of sin that will destroy You.

The Lure of Secret Sin

• Secret sin allows us to sin and no one will know. (7:2)
  • Israel went up like nothing had happened. (2-3)
  • The Bible tells us that Achan saw it, took it and hid it. (7:21)
    • Seeing it was not wrong.
    • Coveting it was wrong.
    • Covetousness led to taking.
    • Our sinful thoughts will eventually lead to sinful actions.
• Secreit sin makes the false claim that it can be hid. (7:11)
  • Achan brought sin into his home.
  • He brought the cursed thing home.
  • It would be a curse that would destroy his family.
  • The thing that he thought would bring him so much pleasure would be the cause of great suffering and destruction.
• Secret sins are made sweet by the lies of Satan and the nature of the sin. (Proverbs 9:17-18, Prov 20:17)
  • The Devil tells us that it is just a robe, 200 shekels of silver, a wedge of gold (50 shekels).  Not much.  Not a lot.  Go ahead.  No one will know.  Nothing in comparison to all that is there.
  • He will say, “You have served God and followed God.  You have given a lot.  You deserve a little bit of pleasure and enjoyment.”

Setting Goals

I like new beginnings.  I like starting a new day, a new week, and a new year.  I am excited about 2009, and I enjoyed taking some time over the last few days to evaluate different areas of my life and set some goals.  Today, Teri and I did some planning and goal-setting for the upcoming year.  We set goals for our family, our finances, our home, and our ministry.  We also went through and talked about the upcoming church events.  

I hope that you will take some time to evaluate what God has done this last year for you, what areas you would like to improve in, and what goals you are going to set for this next year.  It has been said that, “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.”  I think we can overplan and almost plan God and people out of our life, we if we underplan, we will not be good stewards of our time and opportunities.  Here are some things to think about as you set goals.

1.  Set attainable goals.  Be optimistic yet realistic with your goals.  If you have never read your Bible through in a year before, make that your goal rather than trying to read it through fives times in 2009!  Try to lose 20 pounds instead of 120 pounds.  Aim to read one book a month instead of one book a week, if you only read one book over the course of last year.

2.  Set measurable goals.  We have a training centre, and we are asking God for a specific number of students by this fall.  We orginally were just praying for some students, but now we are asking God for a specific number of students.  (Maybe you would like to be one?)  Instead of aiming to “Save money”; aim to “Build up an emergency fund of $1000 (650 pounds) by June 2009.”  This is a goal that can be measured.

3.  Set time-sensitive goals.  Give yourself a deadline to accomplish the goal.  This will help you to push yourself to reach the goal.  Even if you do not make the deadline, you will probably accomplish the goal much sooner than you would if you had not set a deadline.

4. Pray about your goals.  Seek the Lord and His will.  Evaluate your goals in light of what God thinks is important.  Pray for wisdom and direction.  Make sure that your goals put God and His kingdom first.  It is never wise to put God second in your life, your marriage, your family, your time, your finances, in order to accomplish one of your goals.  The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:33, If we seek God first, then he will add all these things unto us.  In other works, if we take care of the things that are important to God, then He will take care of the things that are essential to us.

5. Remember a goal is just that a goal.  Sometimes you reach it and sometimes you don’t.  Failing to reach a goal is not the end of the world.  Just try again.  The Bible tells us that the just man falls seven time and rises again.  With God’s help, just get back up and try again.  Also, remember that sometimes, we can set a goal for ourselves that is not God’s will.  In that case, maybe you need to re-access your goals and ask God if He really wants you to accomplish a particular thing.  Or maybe He wants you just to be patient and to wait.

I hope this is a help.  I would love to hear any ideas you might have on goal-setting.  Email me or post a comment below.

Book Review: Hope for the Separated

 

I just finished reading “Hope for the Separated: Wounded Marriages Can Be Healed” by Gary Chapman.  In the book, Gary deals with:

• Taking constructive actions while separated in regards to your own personal life, your relationship with God, and your relationship with your mate.
• Loving one another while separated through kindness, patience, and all the other attributes of charity listed in 1 Corinthians 13.
• Handling loneliness, bitterness, reconciliation, and even divorce, if it comes to that.

I liked the book for several reasons:

1. It dealt with real-life problems.  Often, we paint idealistic pictures of marriage that often are very far removed from where the average marriage is.  I think that Gary gives alot of help to any couple who want to improve their marriage whether they are separated or not.
2. It gave very practical advice.  Gary takes the teachings of the Bible on love and explains how that love could look in a marriage.
3. It offers hope.  When there are marital problems, it might be possible for a couple to lose hope and resign themselves to divorce, because divorce is so common and seen as just a part of our society.  This book encourages hope, gives reasons to be hopeful, and practical ideas for how to put your marriage back together with God’s help.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book.  With only eleven chapters and 119 pages, it is a short book.   It will be a blessing to anyone who is contemplating marriage, wants to improve their marriages, or desires to heal a wounded marriage.

Merry Christmas

Teri and I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas.  We have a had a very relaxing and fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.

I wanted to publically thank all of the churches who sent us extra money for Christmas.  We were able to buy some extra special gifts for the children and for ourselves this year.

Thank you so much to all of you who so faithfully support us and prayer for us.  I want to especially thank our pastor Austin Gardner and our home church Vision Baptist Church for being such a vital part of our ministry here.

Also, I want to thank the wonderful friends we have made here in Northern Ireland and the people of Northwest Baptist Church and Roe Valley Baptist Church.  We feel so loved and appreciated by all of you, and we want to thank you for befriending us and making us feel so welcome in this country.

Pastor’s Retreat

My home church is hosting a Pastor’s Retreat for World Evangelism.  I want to invite you pastors to attend also.  Bro. Gardner and Bro. Howeth are two of the most gracious, helpful men of God you will meet.  They both have many years of experience in the ministry, and I know that you will recieve a blessing. The dates are February 23-25, 2009 and the cost is FREE. There is limited room and the spots are filling up fast, so if you are interested in coming, please register on them website.

Here is an invite from my pastor, Austin Gardner, taken from his blog:

We are having a Pastor’s Retreat to discuss the cause of world evangelism. You can get more information by clicking here.

We want to invite you to be a part of our 5th annual Pastors’ Retreat for World Evangelism. This year we hope for a very special time in the mountains of Tennessee as we gather to discuss topics of discipleship, ministry, and World Evangelism.

This year’s format will be limited to the first 30 pastors to register.

We pray that this meeting will be a great help to you as we work together to get the gospel message around the world. God bless you as you prepare to visit with us.

If I might be of any assistance, feel free to email or call at 770-456-5881.

Missionary Mistakes

A very good friend of mine, Jeff Bush, is a church planting missionary to Argentina.  God has greatly used him there to start two church, see many souls get saved, and a Bible insitute started.  

I met Jeff my first day at Crown College.  He had just returned from seven months in Peru and was very fired up about serving God and reaching the world.  He took me under his wing and spent alot of time with me.

I can remember often praying over the world together, reading the Proverb of the day in his car on the way to class, talking about what God was giving us in our devotions, and sitting together on the front row listening to preaching.  His love for God made a huge impact on my life.

Jeff has and is being greatly used of God.  He has written a series of posts on his blog called, “Missionary Mistakes” that took alot of candor and courage to write.  I have made all of these mistakes myself and tons more.  Here are the links to the posts.  I think you will really profit from reading them.

Missionary Mistake #1 – Building Churches Rather Than Building Men

Missionary Mistake #2 – Always Giving And Never Receiving

Missionary Mistake #3 – Getting Frustrated With Cultural Differences

Missionary Mistake #4 – Not Being Self Disciplined

Missionary Mistake #5 – Hiring Is Easier Than Raising

Missionary Mistake #6 – Not Listening To Advice

Missionary Mistake #7 – Preaching Poorly Prepared Sermons

Please Pray for My Brother

My older brother, Harley, and his wife Heidi are starting a church (North Pointe Baptist Church) in Wooster, OH, which is 45 minutes from where I was born.  I would like to ask you to pray for them.  Their opening service will be March 29, 2009.  

Here are some prayer requests from their latest prayer letter:

We praise the Lord for the local church that He is going to build in this region of great spiritual needs and opportunities.  As with any new church, there is a great need for a team of mature believers to provide the foundation upon which to build an indigenous work.  It is essential to immediately present to this community services that are well-attendedand ministries that are well-staffed. 

 

We are praying that the Lord will initially provide us with:

 

1.  Families to Attend/Serve for several months

Note:  These would come from surrounding churches with the blessing of their pastor.

2.  Musical Help (Pianist, Songleader, Specials)

3.  Groups to canvas our city with promotional materials and the Gospel.

 

 

If you are pastor, please join us for our Pastor’s Luncheon hosted at Mansfield Baptist Temple on February 19, 2009 at Noon.  This event will provide an update on the church plant and specific opportunities that may allow us to have further help from your church.

If you would prayerfully consider joining with us during the initial months of reaching Wooster, please contact us at your earliest convenience (248-459-2090).

Cottage Prayer Meeting

Last night, I had the opportunity to preach a short message at a cottage meeting outside of Limavady for a lady who has held monthly meetings in her home for the last eleven years.  The meeting was a blessing and encouragement.  A man from our church, David Laverty, and I sang a special song as well.  

It was great to meet some wonderful saints of God and talk with them about years gone by.  They gave us a 33 pound offering which will go to help our Christmas offering at Northwest Baptist Church.  I am excited about how God might use others to have cottage meetings that could be a help to many Christians.