“FINDING FREEDOM FROM YOUR SECRET SIN”
Joshua 7:1-26
FBCF – 2/5/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Dan Hall, Livingston Fellowship, sermon – “Where Is My Lord?” – Great sermon about Mary at the tomb after resurrection – John 20:13 – “They have taken away my Lord & I don’t know where they have put Him.” 5 things that can make us feel like someone has stolen the Lord from us.
Like me, Dan normally preaches through a book of the Bible or preaches a series of some sort. But on this particular Sunday, he felt strongly led of God to change his course & do a standalone sermon. God does that sometimes b/c He is sovereign & knows better what we need than we do.
Most of you know that I go away for a week or so each year to pray about & plan my sermons for the upcoming year. Always realize that the Lord has the right & authority to change those plans if He deems it necessary. And that’s what He’s done for the month of Feb. This series, “Finding Freedom,” is not what I had planned to preach in Feb. but feel strongly that God has redirected me to change course & preach these sermons on finding the spiritual freedom that we can have in Christ. Today’s sermon: “Finding Freedom from Your Secret Sin.”
EXPLANATION – Joshua 7:1-26 (p. 182)
ABC Wide World of Sport in 70’s – “The thrill of victory & the agony of defeat.” Vinko Bogotaj – Yugoslavian ski jumper
If Joshua 6 is the thrill of victory, Joshua 7 is the agony of defeat. Joshua 6 is a thrilling account of victory for God’s people. This victory was marked by their:
- Faith in God’s plan & in His leaders over them
- Obedience to what God had told them to do, even if it sounds a bit strange
- Courage to march around the walls of the city, putting themselves at danger from attack from people on top of the wall – sitting ducks out there
- Endurance to keep going for 7 days
- Trust that when they did what Joshua told them to do – which is what God told Joshua to tell them – then the promised victory would come.
- And that’s exactly how it all happened!
But when you flip the page to the next chapter in Joshua, you read the account of the only defeat that God’s people suffered in the conquest of the land of Canaan, & the only recorded loss of any of God’s people’s lives. It’s a crushing defeat.
Here's why it is such a horrible tragedy – 6:17-19. God made it abundantly clear through Joshua, the leader of the people, that the “devoted things” were to be completely destroyed & all the silver & gold, & vessels of bronze & iron were to be brought into God’s treasury.
- “devoted things” – items used in the depraved, demonic idol worship by the people of Canaan.
- All the valuables belong to God as a first-fruit offering to Him.
Achan completely ignored Joshua, God’s spokesman & leader over the people. Achan completely disobeyed God’s commands. Achan completely disregarded the warnings of the consequences. And when he did, it affected everybody – 7:1.
v. 21 – Achan “saw” – he “coveted” - & he “took.” Look at that pattern:
- “saw” – Eve saw the fruit – David saw Bathsheba
- “coveted” – Eve coveted the fruit – David coveted Bathsheba
- “took” – Eve took the fruit – David took Bathsheba
- And the results were all the same – Death, destruction, defeat
God did not take this sin lightly. It was a high-handed, willful defiance of His command – i.e., Achan KNEW what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway.
- It was serious
- It was selfish
- And the results were sickening – 7:2-5
o 36 men died – 36 families lost a father, a husband, a son, a brother
o 36 graves were dug
APPLICATION – Secret sin will wreak destruction in so many lives.
Luggage – All of us have some baggage in our lives. All of us deal w/ different temptations all the time. Most of us do pretty good on the “big” sins (large suitcases) – “I’m not going to kill anybody…steal anything…worship some weird idol.” Feel pretty good about those things.
But what about this one – that “hidden sin” – that thing that we keep to ourselves that we don’t want anyone to know about or find out about? Can be any number of things – a porn problem, a drinking/drug problem, a secret affair, an unethical or illegal business deal that’s going on. Whatever it is, it’s that thing we try to hide from view, that thing that we are getting away with, SO FAR.
- So far, we’ve been able to cover our tracks
- So far, we’ve been able to justify our actions
- So far, we’ve been able to keep up our appearance that everything’s ok
But there are 4 things we need to know about secret sin:
IT’S GOING TO WEIGH YOU DOWN – Imagine the weight that was on Achan’s shoulders as he considered what he had done & what his secret sin had caused!
- His sin had brought tremendous pain to so many people.
- His sin had cost the lives of men who were trying to do the right thing
- His sin had endangered his own family
- His sin had brought deep grief & confusion to Joshua – v. 7-9
As long as we keep our secret sin secret, the weight on our lives is going to grow heavier & heavier.
- Weight of fear
- Weight of regret
- Weight of guilt
- Weight of knowing the truth of Numbers 32:23 – “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Write that verse of Achan’s story & over your life, if you’re holding on to some secret sin.
IT’S GOING TO SLOW YOU DOWN – Running through airport in Charlotte last year – Gave backpack to my sister-in-law. Didn’t want anything slowing me down as I ran to catch that plane for our group.
The Christian life is a long-distance marathon. Hebrews 12:1 says, “So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up” (CEB). The longer we hold on to our secret sins, the slower our spiritual lives are going to be.
- Our prayer life will start slowing down b/c our sin blocks our prayers from God.
- Our involvement in church will start to slow down b/c we don’t want to hear sermons that convict us.
- Our giving to the church will start to slow down b/c we become more selfish w/ our material possessions.
- Our loving concern for others will start to slow down b/c we are more concerned about ourselves than concerned about anyone else.
- Our attention to the Word of God will slow down b/c we don’t want to come under conviction when we read it.
IT’S GOING TO SHUT YOU DOWN – Eventually, it’s not going to just slow you down – it’s going to take you out of the race completely.
Let’s go back to Hebrews 12 again: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
- We are supposed to “throw off everything that hinders us” – Instead, we are putting on things that severely hinder us.
- We are supposed to get rid of the “sin that so easily entangles” us – Instead, we are willingly staying entangled in our sin.
- We are supposed to fix our eyes on Jesus – Instead, we are fixing our eyes on ourselves & our ungodly desires & wants & passions & lusts.
Secret sin WILL shut you down because…
IT’S NOT GOING TO STAY SECRET – My intern to airline ticket agent: “Just this bomb.”
TSA security checkpoints are designed for our safety & for the safety of everyone else around us. We may not like them. Takes time. Hassle. But if they find something that’s not supposed to be in your luggage, you’re going to be in big trouble.
TSA agents do their best to find stuff that hijackers try to hide from view, but they are just humans & will sometimes they miss things. But God will never miss anything that is in our lives. And He will not allow those things that we try to hide in our lives to stay secret. Galatians 6:7 - "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap." (AMP)
CONCLUSION – In the midst of the heaviness of this message, there is hope. Numbers 14:18 – “The Lord is slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity & transgression…” God’s judgment against Achan was slow in some ways. The drawing of lots was God’s way of revealing who the guilty party was – v. 16-18. Why did He do it this way?
- First, to force the people to think long & hard about the seriousness of sin. As the process continued, the reality of what had happened & what was about to happen would grow stronger.
- Secondly, this process may have given Achan the opportunity to repent. As he watched & listened, his heartrate would have been increasing, his palms would have been sweating, his mouth would have been getting dry. What is he had come to his sense BEFORE his name was called & cried out, “Stop! Enough! It’s me!” I believe there’s a good chance that grace & mercy would have been extended & forgiveness granted.
Today, that same opportunity exists for you today. If there’s some secret sin in your life, now is the time to confess, repent, & get rid of it. Spurgeon: “When we deal seriously w/ sin, God will deal gently w/ us.”
