Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: GAB
Program Code: GAB000001
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01:11 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Father in heaven, we thank You so much 01:16 for the wonderful privilege of being in Your house. 01:21 We thank You for Your word 01:24 which is a sure guide 01:25 in a world of confusion and rebellion. 01:28 And as we begin this series 01:30 on the "Great Apostasies of the Bible," 01:33 we ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 01:37 I ask, Father, that You will give us 01:38 clear minds and tender hearts 01:41 so that we might understand and receive Your word. 01:45 And we thank You for hearing our prayer for we ask it 01:48 in the precious name of Jesus, amen. 01:52 The title of our study today is "Four Steps to Ruin." 01:59 Basically we're going to study the story of Achan 02:02 but before we get to the story of Achan, 02:05 I like to say that we are planning today 02:08 to study the story of the pilgrimage of Israel 02:12 from Egypt to Canaan in four different ways 02:17 in which Israel attempted to conquer Canaan. 02:24 In fact we're gonna notice that the whole story 02:26 of the pilgrimage of Israel from Egypt to Canaan 02:29 is a type or an illustration of our pilgrimage 02:33 from this world to heaven. 02:36 Now as we begin I would like to mention 02:38 the four symbols of the story that we are going to deal with. 02:43 First of all we have Egypt, Egypt represents the world. 02:48 And as Israel was baptized in the Red Sea, 02:51 we have cut our connections with the world 02:55 when we were baptized into Jesus. 02:58 Canaan represents heaven where we're marching to. 03:03 In other words, we've left Egypt the world 03:05 and we are on our way to the heavenly Canaan. 03:09 But between Egypt and Canaan, 03:11 there is a sojourn across the wilderness, 03:14 there is a pilgrimage and that represents 03:17 our trek from the world to the heavenly kingdom. 03:22 And finally there's Israel, of course Israel represents us. 03:28 Israel represents God's people. 03:31 Now as I mention we are going to study four ways 03:35 in which Israel attempted to take the Promised Land 03:40 and it's gonna illustrate four ways 03:42 in which people react or which people believe 03:47 they can actually make it to heaven. 03:51 Now I would like to begin by going to the first method 03:56 that-- and maybe I shouldn't even call it a method, 04:00 I should call it the first illustration of the way 04:04 in which one fails in attaining 04:08 the kingdom or an attaining Canaan 04:09 because we're gonna notice 04:10 the three of these methods are actually failures 04:14 and only one of them is successful. 04:17 So let's notice the first example of failure 04:21 in attaining the kingdom. 04:23 Numbers 13:30-33 tells the story of when Israel arrived 04:30 at the borders of Kadesh Barnea, 04:32 the borders of the Promised Land. 04:36 They were about to enter the Promised Land. 04:40 They had left Egypt, they'd crossed the wilderness 04:43 and they were on the threshold of glory. 04:47 But we know the story when they arrive there 04:49 at the borders of the Promised Land, 04:52 twelve spies were sent out, 04:53 one for each tribe and ten of the spies 04:57 brought back an evil report. 05:01 And basically we're gonna read the passage 05:03 where we find the ten spies saying 05:07 that the enemies in Canaan were too powerful for Israel 05:11 and they could not be overcome. 05:15 And so we're gonna notice that everybody 05:17 decided that they would name a leader 05:19 and they would go back to Canaan. 05:22 In other words, they said 05:23 let's give up on the idea of going into Canaan 05:27 because it is too difficult, the enemy is too powerful, 05:31 the cities are walled all the way to the sky. 05:37 Now notice what we find in Numbers 13:30. 05:43 "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 05:48 'Let us go up at once and take possession, 05:51 for we are well able to overcome it.' 05:55 But the men who had gone up with him said--" 05:59 and they were right, 06:01 "'We are not able to go up against the people, 06:06 for they are stronger than we.' 06:08 " By the way they were right. 06:11 The Canaanites were stronger than they were. 06:14 I continue reading. 06:17 "And they gave the children of Israel 06:20 a bad report of the land 06:22 which they had spied out, 06:23 saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies 06:26 is a land that devours its inhabitants, 06:30 and all the people whom we saw in it 06:33 are men of great stature. 06:36 There we saw the giants 06:38 (the descendants of Anak came from the giants), 06:42 and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, 06:45 and so we were in their sight.'" 06:50 I must repeat that the people were right. 06:52 They were too weak to overcome the Canaanites. 06:56 The cities were too strong for them 06:58 and the Canaanites were too powerful. 07:01 And yet God had said that He would go with them 07:04 and He would give them the victory. 07:07 In fact, the two spies who gave a good report 07:11 and said that Israel could overcome 07:14 the Promised Land and take it, 07:17 Caleb and Joshua actually tried to encourage the people 07:22 to take the land. 07:23 Let's read Numbers 14:6-10, 07:27 so we can catch the positive attitude 07:30 of Caleb and Joshua, the two spies 07:33 who brought back a good report. 07:36 It says, "But Joshua the son of Nun 07:39 and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, 07:43 who were among those who had spied out the land, 07:46 tore their clothes" This is after the bad report, 07:51 "and they spoke to all the congregation 07:53 of the children of Israel, saying 07:55 'The land we have passed through to spy out 07:58 is an exceedingly good land. 08:01 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us 08:06 into this land and give it to us, 08:09 'a land which flows with milk and honey. 08:12 Only do not rebel against the Lord, 08:15 nor fear the people of the land, 08:17 for they are our bread, 08:20 their protection has departed from them, 08:23 and the Lord is with us. 08:26 Do not fear them.'" 08:29 In other words, the two spies Caleb and Joshua are saying 08:32 we can overcome the giants in the Promised Land 08:36 because God is with us. 08:40 But the people listen to the bad report, 08:42 the report of the majority 08:45 and therefore this open rebellion against God 08:50 and this desire to return back to Canaan 08:52 led God to doom them, 08:56 to go and wander in the wilderness 09:01 for a period of 40 years 09:03 because they wanted to go back to Egypt 09:07 instead of entering Canaan. 09:10 So the first attitude where individuals 09:14 come to the borders of the Promised Land 09:16 and they fail in taking the Promised Land 09:20 is because they've rebelled against God, 09:22 they say the obstacles are too great, 09:24 the enemy is too powerful, 09:27 by the way the enemies here 09:28 represent the devil, represent his angels, 09:31 represent the power of the world. 09:33 In other words, we are too weak to take the Promised Land, 09:37 let's at least go back to Egypt and enjoy ourselves. 09:41 Let's go back to the world and enjoy ourselves. 09:45 But now we must go on to the second attitude. 09:48 First attitude is simply open rebellion against God, 09:52 going back to the world where we left 09:55 and not persevering unto the end. 09:58 The second attitude is illustrated 10:01 by what Israel did after God doomed them to wander 10:05 in the wilderness for 40 years. 10:08 We find the story in Deuteronomy 1:41-46. 10:15 After God told them that they were gonna wander 10:18 in the wilderness for a period of 40 years, 10:21 they decided that they would go 10:23 and they would fight against the Canaanites. 10:27 And the Bible tells us 10:28 that when they went in their own strength, 10:30 God was not with them 10:32 and they suffered a terrible defeat. 10:36 Let's read about this in Deuteronomy 1:41-46. 10:43 "Then you answered and said to me, 10:46 'We have sinned against the Lord, 10:49 we will go up and fight, 10:51 just as the Lord our God commanded us.' 10:54 And when everyone of you 10:56 had girded on his weapons of war, 10:59 you were ready to go up into the mountain. 11:02 And the Lord said to me, 'Tell them, 11:05 "Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you, 11:10 lest you be defeated before your enemies.'" 11:13 'So I spoke to you, yet you would not listen, 11:18 but rebelled against the command of the Lord, 11:22 and presumptuously went up into the mountain. 11:25 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain 11:28 came out against you and chased you as bees do, 11:33 and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. 11:36 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, 11:39 but the Lord would not listen 11:40 to your voice nor give ear to you.' 11:45 " So the second attitude is let's take Canaan 11:48 as our possession through our own efforts, 11:51 not necessarily by the help of the Lord 11:54 but through our own strength and through our own power. 11:58 And the Bible tells us that when they thought 12:00 that they could enter Canaan through their own efforts 12:03 and through their own power, they failed miserably 12:07 because God was not with them. 12:09 And so we find illustrated here two different attitudes 12:14 towards entering the land of Canaan 12:16 or entering heaven in our case today. 12:19 Number one, is coming to the borders 12:21 of the Promised Land and saying 12:23 the enemy is too powerful, the world is too strong, 12:27 we can't enter Canaan, it's not any used to even try 12:31 and so we turn around and we go back to Egypt, 12:34 we go back to the world where we came from 12:37 and we live the worldly lifestyle 12:39 because we feel it's too great an effort 12:41 to enter the Promised Land. 12:43 The second method is to try and enter heaven 12:46 or take the Promised Land through our own efforts 12:49 and that also is a terrible failure. 12:54 But there is a third attitude 12:56 towards taking the Promised Land 12:58 and this is the one that I want to dwell on 13:00 especially in our study today. 13:03 And that is that we can overcome the enemy 13:06 and we can take the Promised Land 13:09 or we can enter heaven 13:12 while we cherish our own favorite little sins. 13:19 In other words, we can enter heaven in sin. 13:23 Now here's where we come 13:24 to this very interesting story of Achan. 13:30 It's a story which is recorded in Joshua Chapters 6 and 7. 13:38 And I'd like to say 13:39 first of all before we go into study this story 13:43 that Jesus had met Joshua outside of Jericho, 13:48 this is recorded in Joshua 5:13-15. 13:53 And Joshua had asked 13:55 the Prince of the host of the Lord who is Jesus, 14:00 "Are you with us or are you with our enemies?" 14:03 And the prince of the Lord's host said, 14:05 "No, I am come as the Prince of the Lord's host." 14:08 And then he told Joshua to take his shoes off 14:11 because where he was, was holy ground. 14:15 And the Bible tells us that Joshua 14:17 also knelt before this being. 14:19 So it was Jesus had actually come down to help Israel 14:24 in their fight against Jericho 14:27 so that they could take the Promised Land. 14:30 The Bible tells us that they went against Jericho 14:32 and we know the story. 14:34 Through the power and help of the Lord, 14:38 the city walls crumbled, 14:41 the city fell to the ground and Israel conquered 14:45 this first city of the Promised Land. 14:48 And so they said, wow, 14:50 this is going to be quite easy, 14:53 all we do is march around the city 14:55 and suddenly the walls crumble 14:57 and the city falls to the ground. 15:00 And so they say let's go now and fight the next city. 15:05 And so they went to a city called Ai 15:09 and they suffered a terrible defeat. 15:14 Why had they suffered such a signal victory 15:17 when they had gone into Jericho 15:19 and now they suffered such a terrible defeat 15:22 when they went against Ai? 15:25 The reason is that there was anathema among the people. 15:30 Someone who was cherishing sin 15:33 which made it impossible for Israel 15:36 to enter the Promised Land, 15:38 they could not stand before their enemies. 15:42 Let's read in Joshua Chapter 7 and beginning with verse 10 15:46 the story of-- the sad story I might say of what happened. 15:51 It says there in Joshua 7:10, 15:53 "So the Lord said to Joshua 'Get up! 15:58 Why do you lie thus on your face?'" 16:00 Because he was crying, now notice this. 16:03 I-- actually "Israel has sinned," 16:08 I want you to notice that, "Israel has sinned, 16:12 and they have also transgressed My covenant 16:15 which I commanded them. 16:17 For they have even taken some of the accursed things, 16:22 and have both stolen and deceived, 16:25 and they have also put it among their own stuff. 16:30 Therefore the children of Israel 16:32 could not stand before their enemies, 16:34 but turned their backs before their enemies, 16:37 because they have become doomed to destruction. 16:41 Neither will I be with you anymore, 16:45 unless you destroy the accursed from among you." 16:48 Now I don't know, I don't know 16:49 if you noticed here the number of times 16:52 that God says they, they, they referring to Israel. 16:58 Actually the Bible tells us that it was Achan 17:02 that took these things, 17:03 of course some of his family members knew about it 17:06 but all of Israel had not taken things from Jericho 17:09 'cause God had said don't take anything from Jericho. 17:13 So what is God saying by blaming all of Israel 17:18 for what Achan had done? 17:20 You see, folks, sin is a corporate affair. 17:25 Sin in the church is not an individual thing, 17:30 a little leaven actually causes the whole lump to rise. 17:36 A little sin leavens the totality of the church. 17:39 There is no such thing as individual sin. 17:43 And of course we know when an individual 17:45 develops cancer in his or her body, 17:48 that unless you cut out the cancer, 17:50 the cancer will take over the whole body. 17:53 And that's exactly what would happen with Israel 17:56 if Israel did not take care of this problem, 18:00 of an individual and his family cherishing sin and still think 18:05 that they could take Canaan as their possession, 18:08 that they could enter the land of Canaan. 18:11 Allow me to read you a statement 18:12 that we find in the book "Conflict and Courage" page 120. 18:16 This is a statement from Ellen White 18:19 where she says that sin is a corporate affair. 18:22 When an individual in the church is cherishing sin, 18:25 it leads to the defeat of the total congregation. 18:29 She says this, "The history of Achan 18:32 teaches the solemn lesson that for one man's sin 18:37 the displeasure of God will rest upon a people 18:40 or a nation till the transgression 18:42 is searched out and punished. 18:46 Sin is corrupting in its nature. 18:49 One man infected with its deadly leprosy 18:54 may communicate the taint to thousands. 18:58 Those who occupy responsible positions 19:01 as guardians of the people are false to their trust 19:05 if they do not faithfully search out and reprove sin." 19:11 And so God told Joshua, 19:13 "You must cleanse this evil from Israel." 19:18 Now they were two ways in which this evil could be cleansed 19:21 so that the people could take the Promised Land 19:25 as their possession. 19:26 The first way would be if Achan confessed his sin, 19:32 I believe that God would have forgiven Achan. 19:36 But there was another way 19:37 and that is that if he did confess his sin, 19:40 ultimately his sin would destroy him. 19:44 Notice what we find in Joshua 7:13, 19:48 we're gonna notice the process 19:50 that God followed in this situation with Achan. 19:54 It says there in Joshua 7:13, 19:57 "Get up," God is speaking to Joshua, 20:00 "sanctify the people, and say, 20:02 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, 20:05 because thus says the Lord God of Israel, 20:08 "There is an accursed thing in your midst, 20:11 O Israel, you cannot stand 20:14 before your enemies until you take away 20:17 the accursed thing from among you."'" 20:22 And as I mentioned there were two ways, 20:23 two possible ways of taking away the accursed thing, 20:26 that would be, number one, 20:28 for him to confess his sin and to repent of his sin 20:31 or the other way is to make sure 20:34 that your sin will find you out. 20:37 Now it's interesting to notice the process that God followed. 20:40 God gave Achan at least six calls. 20:43 God was saying I know where you are at, 20:46 I want you to repent, 20:47 I want you to confess your sin. 20:50 First of all Achan had seen the defeat of Israel 20:55 at the hands of the people of Ai. 20:57 He knew that they'd been defeated 20:58 because of his cherished sin in the congregation. 21:03 Secondly, he had heard the announcement 21:06 that Joshua had made to the congregation 21:08 that the next day the transgressor 21:11 was going to be found among the congregation. 21:14 And yet in neither of these two cases, 21:17 did he step forward and say I am the guilty party? 21:22 God gave him actually four other calls. 21:27 Notice Joshua 7:14, the process that was followed 21:31 in identifying the transgressor. 21:34 It says there in Joshua 7:14, "In the morning 21:39 therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. 21:44 And it shall be that the tribe 21:45 which the Lord takes shall come according to families, 21:50 and the family which the Lord takes 21:51 shall come by households, and the household 21:55 which the Lord takes shall come man by man." 22:00 Now the question is why did God follow this process 22:03 of choosing the tribe, then choosing the family, 22:06 then choosing the household and then choosing among men. 22:10 The fact is that God was saying to Achan, 22:13 I know which tribe you are in, 22:15 I know which household you are in, 22:18 I know which family you are in, 22:20 and I know who you are 22:22 and I know where you are at. 22:24 And so God through this process 22:26 was actually calling Achan to confess his sin 22:31 and to show sorrow for sin. 22:34 You know God knew where he was, 22:36 God could have told Joshua, 22:38 "Hey, go to Achan's tent, 22:39 he is the one that stole the stuff. 22:41 Go, take him outside the camp and burn him." 22:44 By the way the Bible says that he was stoned 22:46 and then he was burned. 22:47 That's a very interesting judgment 22:51 we will notice a little bit later on. 22:53 Now notice Joshua 7:15. 22:58 "Then it shall be that he who is taken 23:01 with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, 23:06 he and all that he has, 23:08 because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, 23:12 and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel." 23:17 And so then God follows the process 23:20 of identifying the transgressor, 23:23 the one who was hanging on to sin and cherishing sin. 23:27 Do you know that the Spirit of Prophecy says 23:29 that one sin cherish will annul all the power of the gospel 23:33 and it will definitely keep you out of victory over the enemies 23:37 and it will keep you out of heaven. 23:39 That's what God is trying to illustrate here. 23:41 You see it does no good for us 23:44 to rebel against the will of the Lord 23:46 and go back to the world, that's the first attitude. 23:49 It does no good for us to try to enter heaven 23:51 through our own efforts, it's impossible 23:54 but equally as serious is the idea 23:57 that you can enter Canaan and overcome the enemies 24:00 so that you can take over Canaan 24:02 and at the same time cherish your favorite sins. 24:08 Now I want you to notice 24:09 how the process is described in Joshua 7:16 24:14 and we're gonna read through verse 18. 24:17 "So Joshua rose early in the morning 24:19 and brought Israel by their tribes, 24:22 and the tribe of Judah was taken." 24:25 That was Achan's tribe by the way. 24:27 "He brought the clan of Judah, 24:29 and he took the family of the Zarhites, 24:33 and he brought the family of the Zarhites 24:35 man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 24:38 Then he brought his household man by man, 24:43 and Achan the son of Carmi, 24:46 the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, 24:49 of the tribe of Judah, was taken." 24:55 You see the calls had run out. 24:58 He had seen the defeat of Israel. 25:00 He had heard the announcement that the next day 25:03 the transgressor was gonna be found. 25:05 He had seen the tribe chosen, 25:07 he had seen the family chosen, 25:09 he had seen the household chosen, 25:10 he had seen the men blocked there 25:13 for the transgressor to be chosen 25:15 and yet he chose to hang on to his sin. 25:20 When he has discovered we find that Joshua 25:25 has some very clear and direct counsel for Achan. 25:28 Notice Joshua 7:19, "Now Joshua said to Achan, 25:35 'My son, I beg you, 25:39 give glory to the Lord God of Israel, 25:43 and make confession to Him, and tell me now 25:48 what you have done, do not hide it from me.'" 25:53 And then in the very next verse, 25:54 we find Achan admitting his sin. 25:58 Did you hear the word that I used? 26:01 I did not say that he confessed his sin, 26:05 I said that Achan admitted his sin. 26:09 It's different to confess your sin 26:12 than it is to admit your sin. 26:15 Notice verse 20, "And Achan answered Joshua and said, 26:21 'Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, 26:27 and this is what I have done.'" 26:29 And then he describes exactly what he had done, 26:32 we're gonna study that in a few moments. 26:35 You know it's kind of like a child 26:37 who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 26:41 You know and then when mom comes 26:43 and discovers that he's had his hand 26:45 in the cookie jar when mama said, 26:46 "Don't you dare eat any of the cookies." 26:48 The child says, "Oh, I'm sorry, mom. 26:51 I'm sorry." 26:53 But he's not really sorry that he disobeyed mom 26:55 and took cookies out of the jar, 26:57 he's sorry because of the punishment 26:59 that he knows is coming. 27:01 And that was the type of repentance 27:03 if you can call it repentance of Achan. 27:06 It was an admission of guilt 27:08 but it was not a confession of guilt. 27:12 Notice how Ellen White describes 27:16 this admission on the part of Achan. 27:20 "Conflict and Courage" page 121. 27:25 She says, "Achan acknowledged his guilt, 27:29 but when it was too late 27:32 for the confession to benefit himself. 27:35 He had seen the armies of Israel return from Ai 27:39 defeated and disheartened, 27:42 yet he did not come forward and confess his sin. 27:46 He had seen Joshua and the elders of Israel 27:49 bowed down to the earth in grief too great for words. 27:54 Had he then made confession, 27:56 he would have given some proof of true penitence, 27:59 but he still kept silence. 28:03 He had listened to the proclamation 28:05 that a great crime had been committed, 28:07 and had even heard its character definitely stated. 28:10 But his lips were sealed. 28:13 Then came the solemn investigation. 28:16 How his soul thrilled with terror 28:19 as he saw his tribe pointed out, 28:22 then his family and his household! 28:26 But still he uttered no confession, 28:29 until the finger of God was placed upon him. 28:32 Then, when his sin could no longer be concealed, 28:36 he admitted the truth. 28:40 How often are similar confessions made. 28:43 There is a vast difference between admitting facts 28:47 after they have been proved 28:49 and confessing sins known only to ourselves and to God." 28:54 That is a remarkable statement. 28:57 Now what I want us to notice is that Achan sin 29:00 followed a four step process. 29:04 And this will teach us a great lesson for us 29:06 because we're also marching to Zion, 29:09 we're marching to Canaan, 29:10 we have enemies to overcome in order to enter Canaan. 29:14 It does no good for us to return to the world 29:16 and rebellion against God, that's not gonna save us. 29:19 It does no good for us 29:21 to try to enter Canaan through our own efforts. 29:23 Israel was defeated in that method. 29:25 It does no good for us to hang on to our cherished sins 29:28 because we will not be able to stand 29:30 before our enemies, we can't take Canaan. 29:33 And when we notice that Achan sin 29:35 followed a four step process, 29:37 we learn many lessons that will be valuable for us. 29:41 Notice Joshua 7:21 29:43 and I hope you'll underline four key words 29:47 that we have here, notice. 29:50 "When I saw" Achan says, 29:52 that's the word I want you to underline, 29:54 "When I saw among the spoils 29:59 a beautiful Babylonian garment, 30:01 two hundred shekels of silver, 30:03 and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels" 30:08 Notice that were told that Achan saw those things. 30:11 Now let me ask you, 30:12 was it a sin to see those things? 30:16 Of course not, because all Israel 30:18 was seeing those things. 30:20 You see there is a difference between temptation and sin. 30:25 Temptation is when something momentarily crosses our mind, 30:30 sin is when you allow that to lodge in your mind 30:34 and it becomes an obsession and then you take action. 30:39 You know Martin Luther was very wise when he said 30:42 you can't keep the birds from flying over your head 30:46 but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair. 30:50 We can't keep temptations from flying through our minds 30:54 but we can keep those temptations 30:56 from lodging in our brain 30:58 and then becoming sin and thought 31:01 and then eventually sin in action. 31:05 So the first step was that Achan saw, 31:09 no sin in seeing but the problem is 31:12 if you continue seeing and you continue looking, 31:16 then you have the second step that leads to ruin. 31:20 Notice Joshua 7:21 continuing after saying that he saw, 31:26 it says there, "I coveted them." 31:33 You know Seventh-day Adventist, 31:34 we emphasize a lot that sin is wrong action. 31:40 But you know that sin 31:41 before it becomes a wrong action, 31:45 it involves wrong thinking. 31:47 In other words, sin has its origin in the mind, 31:51 sin has its origin in the brain 31:54 and then it produces fruit in action. 31:58 And so Achan says I saw these things 32:02 and then I, what? 32:04 I coveted them, that is I desired them. 32:08 Notice that he sinned before he took these things 32:12 because Jesus said that covetousness for example 32:15 is breaking the seventh commandment 32:17 in Matthew Chapter 5. 32:19 In other words, whoever looks upon a woman to cover her 32:21 has already committed adultery in his heart 32:24 Jesus says even before the action. 32:27 And that's the reason why David was very wise 32:31 when the Holy Spirit inspired him 32:33 to write Psalm 119 where he says 32:37 "The law have I hid in mine heart, 32:39 that I might not sin against you." 32:41 You see, we need to build barriers 32:44 against sin in our minds 32:47 because sin does not originate in action, 32:50 sin originates in the mind, 32:53 sin is first of all wrong thinking, 32:57 not wrong acting. 32:59 If you're gonna overcome sin, 33:01 it must be overcome in the level 33:03 of the thinking processes first. 33:07 But now notice the third step of Achan sin. 33:10 Joshua 7:21, I'm just gonna read the phrase. 33:16 He says, "And took them." 33:20 Now do you notice the process here? 33:22 He says I saw these things. 33:26 Then he says I desired or I coveted these things. 33:31 In other words, you know, 33:33 I sinned in my mind is basically what he's saying 33:37 because the tenth commandment says thou shalt not, what? 33:39 Thou shalt not covet. 33:40 And then when he covets these things, what does he do? 33:45 He takes them, action follows thoughts. 33:49 In other words, the wrong thinking 33:51 led to wrong action and as an Adventist, 33:54 we need to emphasize that sin begins in the brain. 33:57 You know we might not even commit the bad acts 33:59 but if we have the wrong thoughts, 34:01 it's still sin according to scripture. 34:04 And then I want you to notice the fourth step. 34:08 Achan continues saying there in verse 21. 34:11 "And there they are, hidden in the earth 34:16 in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it." 34:22 So what is the first step? 34:25 Trying to hide what he had done. 34:28 I saw, I coveted, 34:32 I took and I hid. 34:36 That reminds me of that verse in Proverbs 28:13 34:41 where the wise man Solomon said, 34:44 "He who covers his sins will not prosper," 34:50 and this is an illustration in the story of Achan, 34:53 "but whoever confesses 34:55 and forsakes them will have" what? 34:58 "Will have mercy." 35:00 By the way do you know what made Achan's sin 35:03 so particularly offensive to God? 35:06 It's simply because Jericho was God's tithe of the land. 35:14 Did you realize that Jericho was God's tithe of the land? 35:19 It was a first city that Israel conquered 35:22 and God said don't you take any of the gold, 35:24 any of the silver, any of the bronze 35:26 that all needs to be dedicated to the sanctuary. 35:32 And so Achan what he did 35:34 was he actually stole God's tithe. 35:39 Notice Joshua 6:19. 35:44 "But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, 35:48 are consecrated to the Lord, 35:51 they shall come into the treasury of the Lord." 35:55 Notice Joshua 6:24, "But they burned the city 35:59 and all that was in it with fire. 36:02 Only the silver and gold, 36:04 and the vessels of bronze and iron, 36:06 they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord." 36:10 In other words, Achan in a very real sense 36:13 stole the tithe. 36:17 Is that a problem in the church today? 36:20 Would something like that keep us out of the heavenly Canaan? 36:25 It's fruitful thought. 36:28 The Bible says thou shalt not steal, 36:30 it doesn't say thou shalt not steal from man. 36:34 It says thou shalt not steal, 36:35 if it's serious to steal from men, 36:37 how much more serious to steal from God? 36:41 Is it just possible that this is one of those cherished sins 36:44 that does not allow the church to overcome the enemies 36:47 that it might take the heavenly Canaan 36:49 as its possession. 36:51 Allow me to read Ellen White's comment 36:53 on this issue of the tithe 36:56 as it applies to the story of Achan. 36:59 Volume 3 of the Testimonies, page 268, 37:03 "The Captain of the Lord's host had led the armies of heaven. 37:08 The battle was the Lord's, it was He who fought the battle. 37:13 The children of Israel did not strike a blow. 37:16 The victory and glory were the Lord's, 37:19 and the spoils were His. 37:23 He directed all to be consumed except the gold and silver, 37:27 which He reserved for His treasury. 37:30 Achan understood well the reserve made 37:35 and that the treasures of gold and silver 37:37 which he coveted were the Lord's. 37:40 He stole from God's treasury for his own benefit." 37:46 Powerful statement. 37:48 You know there are other stories in scripture 37:50 that illustrate the same four steps to perdition. 37:54 You have the story of the sin of Eve in the garden of Eden. 38:00 Let's notice Genesis Chapter 3 and verses 6 38:03 and then we'll jump down to verse 8. 38:04 Genesis 3:6 and 8, 38:07 tell me if you find the same four words 38:09 that we notice in the story of Achan. 38:11 It says there in Genesis 3:6, 38:14 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 38:21 that it was pleasant to the eyes, 38:22 and a tree--" What? 38:24 "desirable" did she desire at first before she took? 38:29 "and a tree desirable to make one wise, she-" What? 38:33 There it is, "She took of its fruit and ate. 38:37 She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." 38:40 And then let's go to verse 8. 38:42 "And they heard the sound of the Lord God 38:44 walking in the garden in the cool of the day, 38:46 and Adam and his wife-" What? 38:49 There it is, "they hid themselves 38:51 from the presence of the Lord God 38:53 among the trees of the garden." 38:57 You could say the same thing about the sin of David. 38:59 I could give you biblical example 39:01 after biblical example of the four step process 39:05 that leads to sin. 39:07 You remember David, the Bible says 39:10 that in 2 Samuel Chapter 11 that it was the time that 39:14 when the kings of Israel should have gone out to war. 39:17 And instead of going out to war, 39:18 instead of being busy, 39:20 the idle mind is the devil's workshop and so David 39:23 instead of being out fighting the battles of the Lord, 39:26 he was nice and comfortable in the palace 39:28 and he walks out one day into the balcony 39:30 and he sees this beautiful woman bathing naked. 39:34 And if you read the story there in 2 Samuel Chapter 11, 39:37 you will discover the very same four words 39:40 as in the story of Achan 39:41 and as in the story of Eve's sin. 39:46 The Bible says that David saw this woman. 39:50 Then the story says that David coveted this woman. 39:53 Let me ask you was it a sin for David to see this woman? 39:56 No, he went on to the balcony, 39:58 you know, he looks out and he sees this woman. 40:00 Listen, you would have to run around, 40:02 you have to walk around with your eyes 40:04 blindfolded in order not to see 40:06 but even then you would have troubles 40:07 because you would have your, the eyes of your brain. 40:11 You know, it didn't help four monks to go into monasteries 40:13 because they took their sinful brain with them. 40:17 but anyway, you know, 40:19 David saw what he should have done, 40:22 see that's why you overcome, 40:23 sin is at the first step at the temptation, 40:26 you should have turn and said, I look no more! 40:29 But instead of doing that, 40:31 it says there in 2 Samuel 11 that he coveted her. 40:37 And then the word took her is used 40:41 and then that he tried to hide his sin, 40:44 he most certainly did 40:46 and he tried to do it by killing- 40:50 imagine that by killing his trusted general 40:53 Uriah the Hittite. 40:55 Unbelievable, the results that sin 40:58 leads to when you cherish sin in your life. 41:03 And so, folks, we cannot enter heaven, 41:06 the heavenly Canaan by our own efforts. 41:11 It does us no good to turn around and say, oh, 41:14 I better go back and enjoy the world anyway 41:17 because it's too difficult to enter heaven, 41:19 it requires too much effort, the enemy is too powerful. 41:23 It does us no good to hang on to sin 41:27 thinking that we can have heaven, 41:29 we can overcome the enemies, 41:30 we can enter the Promised Land 41:32 while we cherish our sins. 41:35 The question is then, 41:36 how can we take Canaan as our possession? 41:43 Well, in the story of the conquest of Jericho, 41:47 we have the secret. 41:51 It was actually a combination 41:53 of divine power and human obedience. 41:58 Divine power combined with human effort. 42:03 God had said to Israel, I want you to go 42:05 and I want you to march around the city of Jericho, 42:09 once a day, seven times on the seventh day 42:12 and I am gonna take care of the rest. 42:14 All you have to do is march around, 42:16 blow your trumpets, shout. 42:20 And the city is gonna fall. 42:22 Now Israel could have said that's the most ridiculous thing 42:25 that we've ever heard in our lives. 42:28 You don't conquer a city by blowing your trumpets 42:31 and by shouting and marching around it, 42:33 in fact, the people inside many of them 42:35 must have thought that the Israelites were fools. 42:39 That's not the way you do battle, 42:40 but God said- you know, 42:41 could God had made that walls of the city 42:44 crumble without Israel marching around 42:47 and blowing the trumpets and shouting? 42:48 Of course He could have, 42:49 but God wanted them to show obedience 42:53 and then He kicked in with His divine power 42:56 and gave them the victory over the enemy. 43:00 In other words, victory over the enemy, 43:02 taking Canaan means trusting in God enough, 43:06 loving God enough to do what God tells us to do 43:11 and He will give us power to overcome the enemies 43:14 and the obstacles no matter how large they are. 43:18 It reminds me of the story of Israel 43:20 next to the Red Sea, in Exodus 14 43:23 the Egyptians were coming with 600 of their chariots, 43:26 with their armies to defeat Israel, 43:29 Israel was caught in, they had no escape, 43:32 the sea was in front of them, mountains on one side, 43:34 desert on the other, the Egyptians behind them. 43:37 It looked like they're gonna be defeated. 43:39 God didn't say, you know, you guys need to-- 43:42 you need to go out and you need to fight. 43:45 You know what the Lord said? 43:47 He said be still and see the salvation of the Lord. 43:53 But do you know what Israel had to do? 43:54 To show that they believe in the salvation of the Lord? 43:57 The story tells us that Moses extended his rod 44:00 and the people had to walk into the waters 44:03 actually before the waters open. 44:05 They had to show their faith and trust 44:08 that God was gonna do what He said He was gonna do. 44:10 They actually got their feet wet 44:13 and then God opened the Red Sea. 44:17 We can find the same principle of the combination 44:20 of divine power and human effort 44:22 in the story of David and Goliath. 44:25 In every biblical story you find this. 44:27 Let me ask you, could God have caused Goliath 44:30 to have a heart attack? 44:32 Of course He could. 44:33 Could God had defeated Goliath 44:35 in many ways doing all by himself? 44:39 Of course but He said to David, 44:41 I'm gonna give you the victory over this giant. 44:43 Even though he's about 12 feet tall, 44:48 you know, you're just a little short kid, 44:50 I'm gonna give you the victory. 44:52 So what does David do? 44:53 Said I'm gonna sit down and watch you, Lord. 44:55 That's not what David does. 44:57 David actually goes down and he picks up five stones, 45:01 some people think it's five stones 45:03 because they were five cities in the Philistine Pentapolis, 45:08 other people believe that it was 45:10 because Goliath had five brothers. 45:13 We don't exactly know the reason why, 45:15 but David went and he got five stones 45:18 and he obeyed the Lord. 45:19 He hurled his slingshot and he threw the stone, 45:24 and guess what God did? 45:26 God guided the stone into the only vulnerable place 45:30 that was available, the forehead of Goliath, 45:34 in fact, it says that the stone had so much force 45:38 that it encrusted itself in the forehead of Goliath. 45:42 And by the way when he fell, 45:43 he wasn't dead because the Bible says 45:46 that David then went with his sword 45:48 with Goliath's sword and David killed him. 45:53 So once again the idea of divine power 45:57 combined with human effort, 45:58 the devil cannot defeat God's people 46:01 if they use this wonderful formula. 46:05 It makes me remember the story of the Triple Alliance 46:09 that had come against Israel, 46:11 this story is told in 2 Chronicles Chapter 20 46:15 and Israel was shaking 46:17 and so God gave some counsel to Jehoshaphat. 46:20 Let me read you from 2 Chronicles 20:15 and 16. 46:26 "And he said, 'Listen, all you of Judah," 46:30 This is a prophet. 46:32 "Listen all you of Judah 46:34 and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, 46:37 and you, King Jehoshaphat! 46:39 Thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed 46:44 because of this great multitude, 46:46 for the battle is not yours, but God's.' 46:51 " And so what does God tell Israel? 46:52 Sit down and see the salvation of the Lord. 46:56 That's not what He tells them to do. 46:59 Notice what we find in Chapter 20 47:01 and beginning with verse 24. 47:03 "So they rose early in the morning" 47:04 Notice that they obey the Lord, 47:06 "So they rose early in the morning 47:07 and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa, 47:10 and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 47:14 'Hear me, O Judah 47:15 and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: 47:18 Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established, 47:21 believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.'" 47:24 And there was a prophet who'd said go out against them, 47:27 and they obeyed the voice of the prophet. 47:30 And now notice verse 21, 47:31 "And when he had consulted with the people, 47:34 he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, 47:39 and who should praise the beauty of holiness, 47:42 as they went out before the army 47:44 and were saying, 'Praise the Lord 47:47 for His mercy endures forever.' 47:49 " See God told them to go on and sing, 47:52 they had something to do. 47:54 We find in verse 22, 47:56 "Now when they began to sing and to praise, 48:00 the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, 48:04 Moab, and Mount Seir, 48:06 who had come against Judah, and they were defeated. 48:10 For the people of Ammon and Moab 48:12 stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir 48:15 to utterly kill and destroy them. 48:17 And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, 48:20 they helped to destroy one another. 48:22 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, 48:25 they looked toward the multitude, 48:27 and there were their dead bodies, 48:29 fallen on the earth. 48:31 No one had escaped." 48:35 See once again this idea, you know, 48:37 we're going to enter the heavenly Canaan 48:40 by cooperating with God. 48:42 It doesn't mean that we work and God saves us, 48:46 it means that God saves us, 48:48 we trust in Him, therefore we obey Him 48:52 and we overcome the enemies. 48:54 Now notice Philippians 2:12-14. 48:59 Philippians Chapter 2 and actually verses 12 and 13. 49:04 Here the Apostle Paul explains this process. 49:07 "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, 49:12 not as in my presence only, 49:15 but now much more in my absence," 49:18 notice this, "work out your own salvation 49:22 with fear and trembling," 49:24 who works out the salvation? 49:27 It says, "work out your own salvation 49:30 with fear and trembling." 49:31 You say that's righteousness by works, 49:34 but then you have to read the next verse. 49:35 In the next verse it says, 49:37 "For it is God who works in you both to will 49:45 and to do for His good pleasure." 49:49 Do you see the principle illustrated in this passage? 49:53 Very clearly the Lord tells us work out your salvation 49:59 with fear and trembling 50:01 but then he says it is God who worked, 50:04 it is God who works in you both to will 50:09 and to do His good pleasure. 50:13 You know God had tried to teach Israel this lesson. 50:18 Notice Deuteronomy 3:22. 50:22 Deuteronomy 3:22. 50:26 God had warned Israel 50:27 when they entered the Promised Land 50:28 that they were gonna meet these powerful giants 50:31 and that the cities were gonna be wall to the heavens. 50:34 God had warned them 50:35 but this is what Canaan was gonna be like. 50:38 But God had also told them don't be afraid of them, 50:41 because I am more powerful than they are. 50:44 Notice Deuteronomy 3:22. 50:48 "You must not fear them, 50:53 for the Lord your God Himself fights for you." 51:00 There you have in a nutshell, 51:01 the principle that I'm trying to share with you. 51:04 The secret of victory over the enemies 51:07 so that we can enter the heavenly Canaan. 51:11 It means trusting in the Lord and allowing the Lord 51:14 to fight our battles through us. 51:18 Notice what the Apostle Paul has to say in Philippians 4:13. 51:25 Philippians 4:13. 51:32 There the Apostle Paul says this 51:34 and you've heard this verse before. 51:36 He says, I can do most things 51:38 through Christ who strengthens me. 51:43 Oh, that's not what it says, 51:44 that's the Steve Bohr 21st century version. 51:49 Okay, let's try again. 51:51 I can do some things through Christ 51:55 who strengthens me. 51:57 That's not what the text says. 51:59 The text says I can do all things, 52:03 except overcome sin, 52:06 through Christ who strengthens me. 52:09 That's not what the text says. 52:11 You know when people say it's impossible to overcome sin 52:14 because you have a sinful nature 52:17 and the sinful nature is too powerful 52:19 and you're gonna be sinning all the way 52:21 into the heavenly Canaan. 52:23 When they say that they're really saying 52:25 that the flesh is more powerful than God is. 52:28 They don't think of it this way 52:30 but if you say that it's impossible to overcome sin 52:33 before we enter heaven, you're saying 52:35 that it is impossible for God 52:37 that God is not powerful enough 52:39 to give us the victory of over sin 52:41 that the flesh and the world and the devil 52:44 are more powerful than God is. 52:47 Let's not limit the power of God. 52:51 Now I'd like to read a statement as we draw this to a close, 52:54 this is a marvelous statement. 52:56 It's found in "Christ's Object Lessons" 52:58 pages 3-- actually page 333, 53:03 page 333 of "Christ's Object Lessons." 53:07 And actually you know it would be good 53:09 if you read pages 331 to 333, 53:13 there's a lot of material that comes before this statement 53:16 but I'm only gonna read this excerpt from page 333. 53:20 That should be easy to remember, right? 53:22 333, half of the number of the beast. 53:25 How about that? You will never forget it now. 53:28 "Christ's Object Lessons" 333, 53:30 this is what Ellen White has to say, 53:33 "As the will of man 53:37 cooperates with the will of God, 53:42 it becomes omnipotent." 53:46 What does omnipotent mean? 53:49 It means that you can do everything. 53:51 It means you can do all. 53:53 What happens when the will of man 53:54 cooperates with the will of God? 53:56 The will of man becomes, what? 53:59 Omnipotent. 54:02 She continues saying, 54:03 "Whatever is to be done at His command 54:08 may be accomplished in His strength." 54:11 I love that. 54:12 Once again, "Whatever is to be done at His command 54:16 may be accomplished in His strength." 54:18 In other words God tells us what to do 54:22 and then He gives the strength to do it. 54:25 She ends the statement by saying, 54:27 "All His biddings are enablings." 54:32 In other words, everything that He bids us to do, 54:35 He also gives us the resources to do. 54:39 You know coming back to the issue of the tithe, 54:41 some people say, "Pastor, you know, 54:42 I can't return the tithe. 54:45 I just don't have enough money. 54:47 You know, after I pay all of my bills 54:49 there's nothing left." 54:51 You know I can give you a formula 54:53 where you'll always have enough money to pay your tithe, 54:56 that is pay it first or return it first. 54:59 You'll always have enough if you return it first. 55:01 "Oh, but then I've the creditors come 55:03 and foreclose my home." 55:05 Well, let me ask you, 55:06 what will be better to have your home foreclosed 55:08 or to steal from God? 55:11 Probably it'd be best for us 55:13 not to get into debt on our credit cards 55:16 and have good stewardship principles. 55:19 Then we wouldn't have troubles 55:21 taking the tithe and giving the tithe 55:23 and also paying the rest of our bills. 55:26 What I'm saying is that when God tells us, 55:28 you know, return a faithful tithe, 55:31 he's gonna make it possible for us 55:32 to return a faithful tithe. 55:34 When God says keep the Sabbath, you know, people say, 55:39 "Well, but what I'm gonna do, I have to work on Sabbaths. 55:42 They're not gonna give me Sabbath off at my job." 55:45 So what are you saying is God is telling you to do something 55:48 and He's not gonna give you the resources to accomplish it. 55:51 The fact is God says in His word, 55:53 He says if you love Me, 55:55 trust Me enough to keep My Sabbath. 55:58 And if you keep My Sabbath, 56:00 I'm not gonna leave you out to dry. 56:03 I'm gonna come 56:04 and I'm going to either allow you to keep your job 56:08 or else I am going to make it possible for you to find a job 56:11 that is better than the one that you have. 56:13 But we have to step out in faith 56:16 and we have to obey God because we love God. 56:20 So we find in our study today 56:23 four ways of approaching Canaan, heaven. 56:29 We have left Egypt. 56:31 We're on our pilgrimage across the desert of this world 56:35 to the heavenly Canaan. 56:37 The enemies are the devil and his angels, 56:39 the world, the flesh, they're powerful 56:43 and there are four ways in which we can approach this, 56:45 we can either, one, 56:47 say that enemies are too powerful, I give up, 56:50 I'm gonna go back and have fun in the world. 56:53 The second one, the second way of approaching to the same, 56:57 hey, I can take Canaan by my own efforts, 57:00 by my own works I can make it to heaven, 57:02 it's an impossibility. 57:04 The third is by reaching the borders of Canaan 57:08 and thinking that we can enter Canaan 57:10 and take possession of the Promised Land 57:12 by cherishing sin in our lives. 57:17 And the fourth is the true and only way 57:20 and that is by cooperating with divine power 57:26 to overcome the enemy in our lives. |
Revised 2014-12-17