Introduction:
1. When it comes to great dreams and depending on God to fulfill those dreams it is certainly true. We may have great dreams for what God may do in the future, but great dreams begin with small steps toward those great goals. When it comes to our dreams, I can assure you there will always be some challenges to those dreams that will get in the way.
2. Things always look different to us when we are in the middle of a crises. I almost hate to do it, but I think it will provide the appropriate beginning to this morning’s sermon. Would you go back with me to the morning of 9-11. We were a nation in the middle of a crises. You didn’t have to live close to New York City or Washington DC to feel that crises. To help us feel just a little bit of that let me take you back through what was being reported and the times CNN was reporting them. . .
Cell #1— (Each item comes in separately)
8:45 AM: A large plane, crashes into one of the World Trade Center towers.
9:03 AM: A second plane, crashes into the second World Trade Center tower.
9:17 AM: The FAA shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM: New York city Port Authority orders all bridges and tunnels closed.
9:30 AM: Bush says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9:40 AM: The FAA halts flights in the U.S.
9:43 AM: An aircraft crashes into the Pentagon.
9:45 AM: The White House evacuates.
9:57 AM: Bush departs from Florida.
10:05 AM: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes southeast of Pittsburgh.
3. Even though that morning was nearly four years ago, just hearing the things we know happened, has a way of bringing us up short doesn’t it? When the nation is in crises, we feel it. The memories are bad!
4. The passage we’re studying this morning tells the story of a nation in crises. God had given His people a great victory at Jericho. Until a few days before the attack, no one knew how they were going to do it. Then, God gave a battle plan, the walls fell and as they say, "the rest is history." We love the Jericho experiences when God is at work and we experience great victories in the face of incredible challenges.
5. However, there are those others times when things don’t look good. A few weeks ago I had someone tell me that they remembered a time in our church perhaps 11 or 12 years ago when they wondered if the church would survive. This person’s perspective was that at that point things were bad and getting worse.
6. Most of you know that I tend to be an optimist. I always like to look at the positive side of things. I think that’s a good thing, but it’s not a good thing if we never face reality. There are those times when things don’t look good. The first part of the passage in Joshua that we’re focusing on this morning tells the story of a time when things didn’t look the least bit good. The story we’re focusing on this morning takes place in Joshua 7 and 8, but because of time, we will only read excerpts from the passage. Let’s begin with this first part of chapter 7.
Cell #2— Joshua 7:1-5
1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3 They returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few."
4 So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.
5 The men of Ai struck down about thirty six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Prayer
Cell #3—
I. The Danger of Sin Joshua 7:1-5
1. The seventh chapter of Joshua opens with that ominous little word "but." Chapter six has been a chapter of incredible victories as God came through in very dramatic ways. Suddenly, and it seems without warning we’re thrown face to face with a series of failures that stand in sharp contrast to the victories of the past six chapters. The joy of the last chapter’s victory has evaporated. The confidence that was so contageous before has been replaced by the gloom of defeat, and it is equally contageous.
2. God had been crystal clear that nothing in the city of Jericho was to be taken, absolutely nothing, it was all to be devoted completely to Him. Everyone understood, that wasn’t the problem, the problem was that not everyone obeyed. He saw some beautiful clothes as well as some silver & gold in the camp and he decided to ignore God’s clear instructions. He knew what God had said, but he apparently convinced himself, that he could do what he wanted and no one would be the wiser. So that’s just what he did. He took the items & hid them under the floor of his tent. Apparently, no one, outside of his family knew what he had done.
3. When you think about it, having the beautiful clothes and the money didn’t really do the man any good. He couldn’t wear the clothes & he couldn’t spend the money. What he’d taken stolen had to remain a secret. I’m sure he had imagined how nice he would look in those beautiful clothes and what he would buy with all that money, and one Bible scholars estimates it as being worth around $25,000. But there was a tragic consequence that Achan hadn’t even considered when the took the things which were under the ban. God removed His blessing from the nation. You know, sin is like that there are always consequences that we don’t know about when we sin. I love the way Bible teacher Vance Havner put it a number of years ago.
Cell #4—
Sin will always cost you more than you want to PAY, and keep you longer than you want to STAY. Vance Havner
4. Achan probably never considered that people we going to die because of his greed. He never thought about that, but that didn’t change the fact that 36 people were dead because of his sin. Now, I’m not suggesting that every time you or I sin people are going to die, that’s simply not the case, but I do want you to see that sin is a serious thing and we don’t usually take it seriously enough.
5. I think this difficulty was made even more challenging because only one family in the nation had a clue as to why this was happening. Everyone else was so thrilled after the great victory God had given them at Jericho that they didn’t even consider the possibility that they would lose at a little place like Ai. I mean, even the name sounds inconsequential. But they were defeated and it hurt, it really hurt.
Cell #5—
Difficult times are always much more difficult to face when you fail to SEE THEM COMING.
6. You can be sure that most of the people didn’t have a clue as to why they had been defeated so soundly at Ai. In fact, even Bible scholars have suggested a wide variety of reasons. I think most of them do that because the reason given just doesn’t sound serious enough. Let’s look at the reasons some have suggested.
Cell #6—
Commentators have suggested the following reasons for the loss at Ai:
1) The people didn’t RELY UPON GOD before they attacked.
2) The people were depending too much ON THEMSELVES.
3) Scripture gives only 1 reason for the loss, there was SIN IN THE CAMP.
7. Because we know that Jesus has gone to the cross and provides forgiveness for our sins, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that sin is no big deal. Let me say it clearly, sin is an incredibly big deal. We may not take it seriously, but I can assure you that God does.
8. As the title of the sermon suggests, a little sin can cause a lot of trouble. I thought quite a bit about how to illustrate this, & I’ve come up with two ways. The first is a little item we picked up at an Army Surplus store. It’s a grenade. Don’t worry it is certainly not alive, in fact, the bottom has been drilled out so that you can see it has nothing inside, but consider the point, this little thing, if thrown into the middle of a group of people could take the lives of a lot of people.
9. An even more dramatic illustration is the largest bomb ever made, don’t worry, I don’t have it with me this morning, but I do have a picture of it. Here it is.
Cell 7, (Picture of the largest Hydrogen bomb ever at the web site listed at conclusion of this sermon.)
10. This bomb was tested above the Arctic Circle on October 30, 1961. The explosion was so intense that the flash was visible over 600 miles away. People felt the air move over 160 miles away. Everything in a radius of 15.25 miles was completely destroyed. Very severe damage extended to a distance of 21.5 miles & the heat was so intense that people over 60 miles away would have experienced third degree burns if anyone had been there. All this came from a bomb that was a little over 26 feet long & with a diameter of a little over 6 feet. It was large to be sure, but it was tiny when you look at the power it packed. The point was that a small package can deliver an absolutely incredible punch. The same is true of sin, many people view it as, "no big deal," but God sees sin as a monster that brings incredible harm to those who are involved in it. 5
Cell #8—
II. The Necessity of Confession Joshua 7:6-26
Cell #9—
Joshua 7:6-7, 10-14, 19-26
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
7 Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
10 So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
11 "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
12 "Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
13 "Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ’Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst."
14 ’In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."
20 So Achan answered Joshua and said, "Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:
21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it."
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it.
23 They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
25 Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day.
1. Disobedience to God is a contagious disease that has serious effects on the broader community of believers. My sin will have an affect upon you and your sin will have an affect on me. As the old saying goes, "No man is an island." We impact one another whether we like it or not. Sin corrupts, and what is done in private has an affect on others who are around us.
Cell #10—
Our sin is never just our BUSINESS, it always AFFECTS OTHERS.
2. We have a tendency to do what the Jews did in this situation, instead of looking at themselves to see where they as a people might have messed up they immediately began to doubt whether God was going to continue to help them. The sin of Achan affected the entire camp, they just didn’t understand what was going on.
3. Instead of understanding that God’s lack of help wasn’t an indication that God wouldn’t help, it was related to the sin Achan had committed. What happens here clearly demonstrates an important principle. . .
Cell #11—
Anyone who thinks God isn’t SERIOUS about sin needs only read verse 12 to understand.
12 "Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
4. God tells His people that He’s not going to be there with them to help them as He did before at Jericho if they don’t deal with what has already happened. They must confront the sin that has caused the problems they are facing. Nothing guarantees a lack of success more than this threat not to have God involved in helping us. The fact that we could be totally on our own without God’s help is really scary. One of the reasons we sometimes don’t see God doing great things in our lives & in the life of the life of our church is that we aren’t serious about sin ourselves. We act as though it’s "no big deal." But it really is because. . .
Cell #12—
We have no hope at being truly successful if God isn’t WITH US.
5. Down deep we know this. Let me change directions for a moment but stick with me because I will tie it back in with what this passage focuses on. When you read the passage you will notice that God used a process of getting closer & closer to Achan’s family. But, I want to ask an important question, "Why didn’t God just tell Joshua who the guilty party was & save all the trouble of doing it the way it happened?" The truth is that we don’t know for certain, but I have a pretty good guess & here it is. . .
Cell #13—
God probably didn’t just tell Joshua who was guilty because He was giving Achan a chance to CONFESS. God might have shown mercy, but he waited too long and instead experienced God’s JUDGMENT.
6. We know from other passages that God stands eager & ready to forgive when asked. However, though He’s ready to forgive, He doesn’t forgive until we approach Him with humble repentance & acknowledge how we have let Him down. The truth of the matter is that confessing our failures is never much fun. But, God will not use us the way He wants to unless we do.
7. God never quits loving us, even when we fall short of all we should be. We will see Joshua as God’s representative dealing kindly but firmly with Achan. It’s no accident that we see both the tough and tender side of Joshua on display.
Cell #14—
We know that Joshua and ultimately God still cared about Achan because he CALLED HIM, "SON."
8. Achan was being judged and you might expect it to be completely without any emotion since the man was getting what He deserved. However, that’s not at all what happens. What I want to share with you next illustrates even more how Achan didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to what He did. Let me show you what I mean & I think you’ll understand it better. Achan wasn’t poor look at all he had. . .
Cell #15—
24 Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
The fact that Achan had a lot illustrates that Achan’s theft was inspired by GREED not by NEED.
9. Achan gave in to temptation the way others do. Look back at verse 21 and you will see the way it happened. Notice the progression that took place: 1) First he saw, then, 2) he coveted, and finally after that, he took. Eve followed the same tragic steps in the Garden of Eden when she ate the fruit God had said not to. David did the same thing when he sinned with Bathsheba. He moved closer & closer before he gave in.
TS In the remaining moments we have let’s look at the last point I want to make and the final part of this morning’s passage.
Cell #16—
III. The Blessing of Forgiveness Joshua 8:1-35
1. Finally, the focus shifts from Achan to the people and to the fact that in spite of this bump in the road, God hasn’t given up on them. He still had plans with what He wanted to do in their lives. Let me show you what I mean as we read this morning’s text.
Cell #17— Joshua 8:1-3, 25-27
1 Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2 "You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."
3 So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.
25 All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000— all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.
2. As serious as God was about dealing with the sin in the last chapter, His focus shifts in chapter eight. Why the sudden shift? Actually, I think there’s a very good answer.
Cell #18—
When forgiveness is given, God encourages us TO MOVE ON.
3. God’s not about making us feel guilty and when we do something good making sure we know it wasn’t enough. As serious as God was about dealing with the sin in the last chapter, He’s amazingly focused on God’s plans for the future.
Cell #19—
God often gives us what we want, but He does it on HIS TIMETABLE.
4. Let me show you what I mean. Did you notice that God was going to let the people share some of the goods they took in Ai? In other words, if Achan had just been patient, he would have got his share of the goods. It wasn’t that God refused to let him have them, it was that the timing was just wrong. It doesn’t pay to get impatient. God’s way is obviously the best way.
Conclusion:
1. God is willing to look out for us & take care of us. The truth is that we can trust God, even when we don’t fully understand Him. Let me conclude this morning’s sermon with a brief story from Franklin Graham’s fine book, Rebel with a Cause. It took place when young Franklin was still far from God. He met a man named Lester. Lester was full of faith in God. He wanted to be a missionary. The fact that he had no theological traing didn’t hinder him. He thought he could communicate to the local farmers in his own way. I couldn’t believe it when he planted 40 acres of barley about a month earlier than everybody else. As he sowed the seed he told me, "I’ll need rain within 10 days for the seeds to germinate." "But, Lester, it hasn’t rained here for months." I told him. "What do you need to plant barley for anyway?" Lester explained that if his crop came up earlier and thicker than the other farmers around him, they might come and ask how he did it, and then Lester could share his techniques with them and more important share his faith. But he needed rain. Lester got up looked me in the eye, and nodded. "It will rain. God showed me in a vision. I was to plant the seed, and He would make the barley grow. Don’t worry, Franklin, the rain will come." By the fourth night I had forgotten about Lester’s prayer. I went up on the roof as usual, turned my radio on, and didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until something struck my face. I brushed it aside and went back to sleep. Then I got hit again. I slowly opened my eyes. That ’something’ hitting my cheeks was wet. I sat up and shook my head. It was raining."
2. That brings me to the final point which I want us to learn in this sermon about how a little sin can cause a lot of trouble. God can work things out His way at the right time.
Cell #20—
God’s work done God’s way will never lack GOD’S BLESSING.
3. Do you have some areas in your life where you need God to help you this morning? Areas that you don’t know how to handle, except to be faithful? Let me reassure you, being faithful is what you need to do. There is no substitute for that. Will you commit yourself to doing that very thing? I hope so, let’s pray.
1) Robert Jones, "God’s Perscription for an Achan Heart" (sermoncentral.com) July, 2001.
2) Shawn Drake, "Wake Up Call" introduction only (sermoncentral.com) September 16, 2001.
3) John Hamby, "There Is No Such Things as a Secret Sin" (sermoncentral.com)
4) Adolph Harstad, People’s Bible Commentary: Joshua, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House)
5) Website information from, http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/TsarBomba.html
6) Franklin Graham, Rebel With a Cause,
