Inspecting Our Church Field-1(2012)

INSPECTING Our CHURCH FIELD-I—Joshua 2:1-24

Attention:

Upon close examination, our perception of a situation may be much different than the reality.

Need:

Joshua sent spies to determine what they would encounter in the promised land.

We can & should determine/examine what we will encounter on our church field.

What will we discover about the people in our church field?

7 Discoveries in our own church field.

1—Examining our church field we discover...

People given to SIN(:1)

Explanation:(:1)Caught up in Culture & Self desire

:1—“Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, & came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, & lodged there.””

“a harlot whose name was Rahab”—Harlotry/Prostitution expected & condoned by culture/society.

—Culturally acceptable

Yet sinners convicted of their sin will be welcomed as opposed to the self-righteous.

Argumentation:

Jer. 2:19— “Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore & see that it is evil & bitter For you to forsake the LORD your God, And the dread of Me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of hosts.”

Isa. 1:4—“Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”

Rom. 3:10-18— “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing & bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction & misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.””

Gen. 4:7— “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."”

Rom. 7:14, 18, 21-23, 25—“For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin....For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not....I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, & making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members....Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Lk. 15:1-2—“Now all the tax-gatherers & the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees & the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners & eats with them."”

Rom. 3:21-24—“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law & the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all & on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

Mt. 21:28-32—““But what do you think? A man had two sons, & he came to the first & said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ “He answered & said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it & went. “Then he came to the second & said likewise. And he answered & said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors & harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, & you did not believe him; but tax collectors & harlots believed him; & when you saw it, you did not afterward relent & believe him.”

Mt. 9:11-13—“And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors & sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go & learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy & not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.””