For the last several weeks, I have been preaching out of Joshua a series of messages on “Receiving Your Inheritance.” During this series of messages, God has given me several positive ones, such as “Pulling Down Strongholds” and “The Faithfulness of God”. However there are several messages that I guess you could consider as negative, since they serve more as warning than anything else. Last week’s message, “The Danger of Hidden Sin” was such a one. Today’s message will also serve as a warning as well. If there is one thing that hurts the church today, probably more than anything else, it is compromise. Now I want to make something clear, in the area of relationship, compromise is valuable. It is impossible to have a good relationship with another person without somewhere and somehow compromising. Relationships won’t last long if you are not willing to reach compromises. However, in the subject of warfare, compromise is deadly. In relationships, you usually have two people that share similar goals, but maybe just disagree on how to reach them. In warfare, goals and attitudes are extremely different and compromise rarely settles anything. Essentially, the United States reached a compromise in the Vietnam War and in reality, nothing was settled. For the Christian life, compromise is also deadly. For the child of God, Satan loves for you to compromise because by doing so, he gains inroads into your life. One of the things that I heard Doug Small say during camp meeting was that if Satan has an area of your life, if he has gained an inroad, if he has a place, then he is going to keep coming back again and again to view his property. This is why the Bible says in Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
Here is a little story that shows how dangerous compromise is. Winter was coming on and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear out of which he planned to make a warm coat. By and by he saw a bear coming toward him and raised his gun and took aim.
“Wait,” said the bear, “why do you want to shoot me?” “Because I am cold,” said the hunter. “But I am hungry,” the bear replied, “so maybe we can reach an agreement, or a compromise.” In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear’s fur and the bear had eaten his dinner. We always lose out when we try to compromise with the devil and sin. It will consume us in the end.
Here in Joshua chapter 9, Joshua and the Israelites reached a compromise with the Gibeonites. We are told that the Canaanites were gathering together for the purpose of war, but the inhabitants of Gibeon decided to work deceitfully for their survival and deceived Joshua and the children of Israel into ensnaring them and causing them to disobey the full commands of God as He had given them to Joshua concerning the receiving of the inheritance which God had promised to them. They were to totally destroy the inhabitants of Canaan, not to enter into a league (compromise) with them. I want to share with you this morning, three lessons from this text that we need to remember when (not if) you are tempted to compromise with the enemy.
I. BE AWARE OF THE ENEMY’S HOSTILITY.
1. Remember what I told you regarding the different regarding compromise in relationships and in warfare. As a believer, you must remember that you are not to have a relationship with the devil nor with sin.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
2. Remember that Joshua and Israel have now entered the promised land. They were standing on the land that God Himself had promised them. However, even though they had entered into it, there were still enemies that were all around them.
A. See the Enemy’s Power
3. Note verse one. The Bible says here that all of the kings who were on this side of Jordan heard of what happened to Jericho, then they gathered together with a single purpose.
4. What I want you to see is that this wasn’t just one or two, here reference is made to many kings coming against the people of God. The kings that ruled the cities in the mountains, the kings that ruled the cities in the valleys, and even the kings that were completely on the other side of Canaan, by the coasts of the sea, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, are all coming together. We are not told of an exact number but there were many. Here in Canaan, each city essentially had their own king, so what we are seeing is all the cities of Canaan banding together against God’s people. They had heard of what God had done at Jericho. They knew that they were dealing with a powerful foe, they knew that one by one they could not stand against the Israelites, they were scared so they joined forces. They were desperate for they knew that their time was short.
5. Did you know, that with God with you and against the enemy, the enemy is scared? He is desperate and since there is nothing in the heart of Satan that bears repentance, all he knows to do is to throw a desperate attempt against the people of God. Jericho had signaled that Canaan was defeated, so Calvary has signaled to the devil that he too is defeated.
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
6. When the enemy realizes that he is defeated, he does one of two things, he surrenders, or he throws everything he has into the battle. The devil is throwing everything he has into the battle. He is gathering every demon and every principality and they are throwing everything they have into the battle for your soul. He is a powerful foe and without Christ you can not stand against him.
B. See the Enemy’s Purpose
1. In verse two, the Hebrew word "lacham" {law-kham’} is used to describe their purpose. This word means to engage in war or warfare.
2. I want you to understand that the devil is going to fight against you. You have an enemy and he is hostile toward you. You may think, “I haven’t done anything to the devil, why is he hostile toward me?” From the moment you said yes to Christ, the image of God was birthed in you. Christ rules in your heart. This was territory that once belonged to the devil so he will fight against you to regain it. Just as Canaan was ruled by these kings, a new King has now came upon the scene and desires to rule.
3. All of Canaan was promised to Israel, not just parts and pieces of it. God desires all of it. May I tell you that God desires all of your heart, not just parts and pieces. The devil doesn’t mind you surrendering just part of your heart to the Lord, for if he still maintains property in your heart, he still has a place to stay and he most certainly will visit from time to time. He desires a place to survive in your heart. These kings were fighting for a place of survival in the land of Canaan.
4. This is why the devil loves compromise, for he gives him a place to visit in your life.
1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
5. Never think that you can co-exist with the devil, never think that you can sign a treaty, or enter a league, or compromise peacefully with Satan and sin. He will never be happy with what he has and will come again and again to gain more. The only relationship that we should have with the devil is that of warfare for that is Satan’s purpose, to wage war against you. Today, if you are a Christian, you are in hostile territory, as long as you live in this world. Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, Jesus called him the prince of this world and every Christian is in enemy territory. Every soldier knows that you behave differently behind enemy lines, more caution and more care must be taken. The enemy we have is powerful and he is united in his purpose toward you.
II. BE AWARE OF YOUR HELPLESSNESS WITHOUT GOD.
1. I want you to remember Who was responsible for Joshua and Israel to ever be where they were at. It was God that had delivered them from Egypt, it was God Who had destroyed Pharoah’s army, it was God that had provide food for them in the wilderness, it was God that had made a way for them to cross Jordan, and it was God that pulled down the walls of Jericho for them to have victory in the promised land.
2. You would think that knowing all that God had done for them, that they would realize just how much they needed God. I’m sure that if you could go back and ask them how much they needed God or how important God was to them, every single one of them, from Joshua all the way down, would have declared just how much they needed God. But here did their actions show it?
3. I’m sure that if I asked everyone here today, the same question, I would get answers like “Oh yes, I need God”. But do our actions declare it?
4. I want you to note the steps in their compromise. First note:
A. The Absence of Prayer.
1. After all that God had done for them, note here that in hostile territory, that they failed to ask counsel of God when the Gibeonites came to them.
Joshua 9:14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
2. Here notice that the enemy approached them in a new way. Instead of approaching them in armor, with weapons of warfare, they approached them with lies and deceit. The Gibeonites took old clothes and put on, they carried with them stale bread and old wine skins, and then they told the Israelites in verse 6 that they came from a far country and wanted to make a league with them.
3. The Hebrew word for league is the word "beriyth" {ber-eeth’} (in the sense of cutting); agreement, pledge (man to man) alliance (of friendship) or a covenant. It means to cut as to cut a covenant.
4. Remember that covenants were often blood covenants. When God established a covenant with Abraham, God instructed Abraham to take an heifer, a goat, and a ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon (Genesis 15:9) and cut them into two halves and God’s presence walked between the two halves to establish or cut a covenant with Abraham. The Gibeonites wanted to established a covenant with God’s people. They said nothing about changing their ways, they said nothing about changing their religion. Even though they came in a different way, the purpose was still the same as the other kings, to have a place of survival in the land of Canaan.
5. You may remember from last week, when Joshua sent men to attack Ai, he failed to pray and seek the Lord. Here again he failed to seek the Lord. Let me stress to you the important of having a good prayer life for if you don’t, you may fail to recognize the enemy when he approaches.
6. Recent statistics have indicated that the average pastor surveyed prays only three minutes each day. The average church member, less than that. And we wonder why the devil is making such inroads into the church. Nehemiah was tempted to meet with Sanballat and Geshem but he refused, knowing that they intended to do him mischief or harm (Neh. 6:1). How did he get such knowledge? He was a man of prayer.
B. The Acceptance of what the enemy offered.
1. Note that first of all, they ate of the enemy’s victuals. They accepted what the enemy offered. Now there is nothing wrong with eating, everyone has to eat.
2. Psychologists have notice a human behavior that they call the “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon. How many here have every purchased a car? Someone once said that purchasing a car ranks right next to having a root canal as a pleasant experience. Have you ever noticed that many car dealers no longer post the sticker price on the car? There’s a reason for that. You see, the “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon states that if you make a small commitment now, it is much easier to make a larger commitment later on for the same cause. What that car dealer wants you to do is first of all, ask about the price of the car. Then rarely will they tell you, they will, upon being asked about the price, talk about what a great buy this car is and then, before ever telling you how much the car is, ask if you would like to take a test drive. The moment you say yes, they know that they have set the hook. Once you complete the test drive, you still don’t know the price of the car. The salesman then asks, “why don’t you step into my office and we’ll discuss the price”. You make another commitment to step into his office. Once you are there, he will then ask you, “how much can you pay a month?” and you’ll make another commitment by telling him. YOU STILL DON’T KNOW THE PRICE OF THE CAR. Before long, after making so many smaller commitments, you will have brought yourself a car, that maybe you weren’t intending to buy.
3. The devil is an expert in human nature. He knows, if you will first accept what he offers, even though it may appear harmless, you’ll all the more easily accept whatever else he has to offer. They first accept the enemy’s food, and then they accepted the enemy’s lies. Beware of what the enemy offers, I don’t care how pretty it appears, never accept what the devil offers for whatever he offers, you can be assured that there is strings attached. Remember Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
III. BE ASSURED OF COMPROMISE’S HARVEST.
1. Compromise will always bear fruit, but it’s not good fruit.
Joshua 9:18 …And all the congregation murmured against the princes.
There was murmuring and strife among God’s people.
2. Now there is a mixture of religion among the people of God. It’s not long after the death of Joshua that the Israelites began to adopt the religion of the Canaanites. Where do you think they saw it, in the lives of the Gibeonites. Ultimately, this lead to a divided kingdom and God’s rejection of Israel.
