SNAKEBITES & STOMPING
Part 3
Trojan Horses
Joshua 7
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pastor Brian Matherlee
First week’s Fighter Verse
James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Last week’s Fighter Verse:
I John 3:18, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
Satan’s first attack was against the family. Satan used Eve to get to Adam as well. He took on the man and woman. The next Biblical account was brother against brother. Following that we see all of humanity in such depravity that the entire human family—except Noah’s family, is destroyed. What happened? How did the things that would destroy families, humanity get into their lives?
Maybe this will explain some…
Video—Monty Python & the Holy Grail (scene of the wooden rabbit)
This, of course is a ridiculous rip off from the poet Virgil’s Aeneid account of the war between Troy and Greece. The Greeks couldn’t get into heavily fortified Troy and devised the plan to get into the city. The Greeks built the wooden horse, leave one man behind to con the Trojans and then the rest sail just out of sight. Two people warned the Trojans not to accept the word of the one man left behind. Thinking the decade long war was over with Greece the wooden horse was taken into the city as a victory trophy. At night when all the Trojans were drunk from celebrating victory, Sinon, let the soldiers out and Troy was defeated from the inside.
I want us to look at a story from Israel’s history that will give us insight into our Trojan horse problems.
Israel was blessed with a great victory over the people of Jericho. God gave particular commands for the people to abide by. It was a time of war and the need for provisions. The things of value were to go into the Lord’s treasury that would be used at God’s direction to provide for the nation.
Joshua 7:1-12a tells us the story.
Achan brought something into his home he thought would be a benefit. He wanted them more than he wanted to obey God’s command. Achan knew taking the things was wrong. He and his family paid the ultimate price—they lost their lives.
Are we very different from Achan? We invite things into our home that appear so harmless…so right. But they are Trojan horses that will attack us as their unsuspecting hosts.
Notice what took place for Israel when compromise had taken place in their midst.
1. They lost direction from the Lord
a. They weren’t aware of the broken relationship. They went on by themselves but were blind to their predicament.
b. They relied on spies once again instead of God and received poor advice.
2. They were powerless against their enemies
a. Even small things can defeat those who are overconfident. Think about Goliath
b. Ai killed enough Israelites to send the fighters off on their heels.
3. They questioned God’s care.
a. 7:6, “Why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?”
b. “It’s your fault, Lord!” they would say. “Don’t you care about us?”…. “How could you let this happen?”
c. When troubles come we fall back on the improper understanding of God’s role. He is not concerned with our blessing as much as God is concerned with our holiness and obedience.
Think of your family. Think of your relationships. What Trojan Horses is the devil using to threaten your lives?
Here are several Trojan Horses we need to be aware of…
1. MySpace Invaders
a. Technology is a wonderful thing
b. The problem is not technology—it’s us
c. Sometimes we have to choose to limit things because they will harm our families.
d. Watch TV with a young child and you’ll realize the garbage that’s on there. It’s so bad we should stop calling it a TV and start calling it a TW (terribly wicked!).
e. Many affairs have begun when a man or woman dissatisfied or bored “surfed” the web and came across a link or a chat room or a “friend”. Where they ended up was never where they thought they were heading. It’s a Trojan horse. Satan is a master of “it’s no big deal.”
f. Never be bound to technology. Don’t let your primary relationships operate through a screen. If the thing you turn on the most is technology…you’re in trouble.
2. American Idol (the drumbeat of success)
a. What is success?
b. An organization in Montana once offered a bounty of five thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two hunters named Sam and Jed decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests searching for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without any success, they both fell asleep. During the night, Sam suddenly woke up to find that he and Jed were surrounded by a pack of fifty wolves, with flaming red eyes and bared teeth, snarling at the two hunters and preparing to pounce. Sam nudged Jed and said, "Hey, wake up! We’re gonna be rich!"
c. Much of what we strive after is actually damaging our relationships.
d. Pastor Josh is leading the Parent Fuel class tonight and he told me about a great word picture. See a ladder against a wall and your kids going up. They’re making progress and maybe they’ll reach the top. The question shouldn’t be, are they going to make it to the top. The question should be, is the ladder on the right wall?
3. Will & Grace got hijacked!
a. Marriage is devalued
b. Sexuality outside of marriage is accepted (whether it’s Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve)
c. Divorce is routine
i. Godly people come down from the interpretation of Scripture that all divorce and remarriage is wrong to the other side that divorce and remarriage is okay because God understands our weaknesses.
ii. The Scripture is clear. Malachi 2:16, God says, “I hate divorce”. It only came about because of the hardness of hearts.
iii. In the church we need to wake up to the prevalence of divorce among professing Christians.
All of these things have an eroding effect. They sneak up on us and when we realize what’s going on the battle is so close it tears us up from within!
What’s the remedy? (Joshua 7:13-8:1)
1. Consecrate yourselves (7:13)
a. No change will take place until we reaffirm that God’s ways have not been our ways and His ways are best.
b. Then we set a path in the direction of God’s ways.
c. Living like Jesus goes against the pattern of this world and following Him means we will be different. That’s the point.
d. So once we’ve agreed to go God’s way, then what?
2. Confront the problem (7:14-24- Achan revealed)
a. This is where it’s time to be brutally honest about what’s going on in our life.
b. We must ask ourselves what we are going after. What are we pursuing? What is our desire for our kids? What is really happening in our marriage?
c. The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat or soften what sin is.
d. We need to evaluate what is best for our home life.
e. Our question should be are we pursuing the right things? Are we making progress towards Christ-like character? Where will this come out?
f. Sometimes problems are not over evil things but over good vs. best things.
3. Cut out the compromise (7:25-Achan destroyed)
a. To protect your family you have to push the Trojan horse out if it’s already there or be wise and refuse to accept it.
b. Limit your time with technology
c. Seek God’s will and live it!
d. Build godliness into your kids—keep life God centered, not kid centered.
e. Work on your marriage (give it time, give it effort, don’t quit, confess sin where necessary)
This week’s Fighter Verse—Proverbs 3:7, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”
It’s sometimes tough to hear God’s Word. It can cut us to the heart but God loves us and knows what is best. We can begin to apply this Fighter Verse by asking God to search our hearts, make us aware of the Trojan Horses in our lives and seek His ways to do right.
