”Achan, Don’t Do It” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Joshua 7

Jesus name. Amen.

Joshua chapter 7 this morning.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

If you

I apologize and no, I don't apologize. I

don't apologize at all. I'll just state

if you came this morning looking to be

greatly encouraged by a message, you

should probably come back next week.

Okay, I'll just say that on the front

end so that you're aware. What I'm

getting ready to preach to you, the

passage I'm getting ready to preach to

you is a strong portion of scripture.

Its application is very strong to the

church today. I don't want that to scare

you though because what we need in our

culture is strong preaching. Amen. We

don't just need people who will tickle

our ears and encourage us every week.

Now, there's a time and a place for an

encouraging motivational message.

Today is a little bit more of a

convicting message and I pray it will be

convicting in your heart. I pray that

you will allow the Holy Spirit to take

the word of God and show you areas in

your life that need cleaned up.

I pray that you'll be receptive to the

word. And don't don't be scared or shy

away from that nudging of the Holy

Spirit over the next 30 or 35 minutes as

he touches your heart and says, "Hey,

you need to get this right or you need

to get that right." Respond to that Holy

Spirit so that we can leave today clean

and purified before our holy holy God.

Here's the title of the message today.

Achan

don't do it.

Achan

don't

do it.

We come to Joshua chapter 7 this

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

morning. I want to give you the context

of where we are in our narrative as

we're walking through the whole book of

Joshua. The people of God have just

concluded their conquering of the city

of Jericho. You remember that? Remember

there was the city of Jericho, this

walled fortress and the people of Israel

under the command of God went and six

days they walked one time around the

entire city of Jericho.

On the seventh day they walked seven

times around the city of Jericho. They

did this in complete silence. They

didn't say a word to one another. They

just walked in silence and then they

went back home. One time for six days,

seven times on the seventh day. And on

that seventh time around, on that

seventh day, the priest blew the

trumpets and the people all shouted and

the walls came tumbling, crumbling down

and the people of Israel, the nation of

Israel went up into the city of Jericho

and they conquered the city of Jericho.

God gave them a great victory over the

city of Jericho. God had promised a

great victory. He delivered on his

promise. He had given the people of

Israel a very simple command. Your Bible

is open to Joshua 7. Turn back one page,

you may not even have to turn to Joshua

6.

And verse 17 and verse 18, God gives

them a very simple command

as to how they are to respond to the

stuff of Jericho.

Look at what it says in verse 17. The

city that is Jericho shall be accursed,

even it and all that are therein to the

Lord. Only Rahab the harlot shall live,

we remember her. She and all that are in

her house because she hid the messengers

that we sent. Now, notice verse 18.

And ye in any wise keep yourselves from

the accursed thing. That is, don't touch

their stuff.

That's how we say it in Appalachian.

That's how we say it in Hillsville, all

right? Don't touch their stuff. Lest you

make yourselves accursed when you take

of the accursed thing and make the camp

of Israel accursed and trouble it. God

gives them a command, this command comes

with a stern warning. You go into

Jericho, I'm going to give you the

victory, but don't touch anything that

belongs to them.

Now, God was not just trying to make the

nation of Israel poor.

Uh God had a purpose in this because

when we get to Ai in chapter 7 or in

chapter 8, God's going to allow them at

the next city that they conquer to take

the stuff. So, it wasn't that God was

just trying to make them poor, but God

was giving them a command to see if they

would obey. Very simple. You I'm going

to give you a great victory. I'm going

to knock the walls down. You're going to

have a great spiritual and and literal

victory over Jericho. Just don't touch

anything that belongs to them. Don't

touch their stuff. Now, look at chapter

7 in verse number 1.

It begins with a conjunction. You

remember from English class what a

conjunction was?

It connects us to what came before. So,

chapter 7 is directly connected

to the battle of Jericho and what came

before. Look at what it says in verse 1.

But the children of Israel committed a

trespass.

That is that word trespass means a sin.

In the accursed thing.

For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of

Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of

Judah, took

of the accursed thing.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled

against the children of Israel.

Have you ever watched somebody do

something

um

for lack of a better word, you watch

them do something stupid

from afar?

Um

maybe a child or a grandchild and they

asked you what your opinion was on a

certain situation

and you said, "I wouldn't do it."

And then they did it.

And you're thinking,

Why? Why'd you even ask? Why'd you even

ask what I thought?

You watch somebody make a poor purchase

that you know is going to come back and

and and get them in the end. You watch

them make a decision you know is not

wise. They buy something that they

shouldn't. They move somewhere that they

shouldn't. They take a job that they

shouldn't. They start a relationship

that they shouldn't. And you know it's

not a good idea.

And maybe they didn't ask at all and you

just sat back and you watch this

these events transpire.

And you think to yourself, if I could

just get within earshot

for 10 seconds,

I would proclaim over their life as best

as I know how.

Individual,

don't

do it.

This is not going to work out good. This

is not what you think. This is not going

to go the way you have it planned. Don't

do it.

I was not there when obviously when the

nation of Israel conquered Jericho.

I did not see Achan go into the little

house and take the stuff that belonged

to the the people of Jericho.

I don't know if anybody saw him to be

honest.

But if I had been there,

and if I had saw him

from a distance, I see him go into the

house and he takes the stuff,

and he slips around the corner and he's

making sure nobody's watching him. I

hope and I want to believe that from my

position, my vantage point, I WOULD HAVE

SAID, "ACHAN, DON'T [screaming]

DO IT."

IT'S FOOLISH.

It is not wise.

Put it back.

Don't sin.

But I wasn't there.

But I am here.

And you are here this morning.

And so this morning as your pastor, I

want to proclaim

the very best way I know how.

Christian,

brother,

sister,

don't

do it.

Don't sin

against our God.

That thing that you

are having trouble with, that besetting

sin that continuously comes up in your

life, that temptation that you have,

that thing that's always getting you

down and you always feel defeated by it.

Can I tell you how to have victory over

sin this morning? Don't do it. Stay away

from it, get rid of it, run from it,

don't entertain temptation. You remember

Joseph when he went was it

uh uh working for Potiphar and

Potiphar's wife grabbed him by the coat

and said, "Come lay with me, Joseph."

What does Joseph do? He leaves his coat

and he runs out the door. "I'm not going

to entertain it. I'm not going to dwell

in it. I am not going to do it."

I wish somebody would have hollered at

Achan.

Achan,

don't do it.

And this morning, it is my job as the

pastor of this church

to preach against sin.

So, don't be uncomfortable this morning.

Embrace the text of scripture.

And allow your pastor to proclaim over

your life the very best as I can.

Don't

do it. Look at the text.

Verse number one again.

But the children of Israel committed a

trespass

in the accursed thing for Achan, the son

of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of

Zerah, of the tribe of Judah took of the

accursed thing, and the anger of the

Lord was kindled against the children of

Israel. I want you to write down number

one from verse number one, the

committing of sin.

The committing of sin.

So, this man named Achan directly

disobeys the clear instruction of

Almighty God and commits a sin.

He does exactly what God told him not to

do. God said, "Achan, don't take the

stuff. Don't touch their stuff." And

Achan decided that it was a good idea to

touch the stuff. He thought it was a

good idea to take the stuff.

And perhaps you're thinking, "Achan,

come on, man.

It's not that It wasn't that hard.

Just leave it alone. God's going to give

you more riches and wealth than you can

know what to do with when you get to Ai

in just a few days.

Just be patient. Wait on God. Don't

disobey, Achan. How foolish can you be,

Achan?"

But before we become too judgmental of

Achan and his committing of sin, I want

to remind us this morning that you and I

are Achan.

In fact, I heard a statement recently in

the last week, and I apologize to

whoever I heard this from. I cannot

remember where I read it or heard it.

It's not my statement. Here's what they

said, "I am akin

to Achan."

I almost titled the message that this

morning.

I am akin

to Achan. We like to judge people who

sin when it's not us doing the sinning,

right? "Oh, look at them. Look at what

they have done. I can't believe they

would go there. I can't believe they

would do that. I can't believe they

would partake in that. I can't believe

that's a habit for them. I can't believe

they're messed up like that." And we

look at Achan and we look at his life

and we say, "Achan, why would you do

that? What God clearly said don't touch

the stuff. And now you show up and you

think it's okay to touch the stuff. Oh,

Achan, how foolish can you be?" And I

say to us, church, how foolish can we

be? Because just as Achan directly

disobeyed the commands of God, so you

and I, every single one of us this

morning, directly disobey the commands

of our God. Do we not?

Any person who's here this morning or

watching later at home

who says, as I'm preaching this right

now, "Well, he's just young.

He doesn't understand. I'm a pretty good

Christian. I think I'm all right,

actually. I think I'm doing pretty good

when I think about all of I mean, you

put all of that together, I'm I'm

honestly coming out okay.

Friend, if you think you're a religious

enough, if you think that you are okay

when it comes to the topic of sin, you

no doubt have more sin than anyone else

in the room.

It is the sin of religious hypocrisy

that God hates.

And to think that you can come into a

church building and you can sit in a pew

and you can listen to a sermon and say

that doesn't apply to me. He's preaching

on sin and I don't have no sin. Friend,

you are in a desperate place. You need

to fall on your face before God this

morning and say, "Please forgive me of

my sin."

Here's all I'm trying to tell you this

morning. Achan committed a sin, you and

I commit sin. I can't go to the rest of

the sermon. I can't preach the rest of

the message today until we're all on the

same page and we understand this message

is for me.

Right?

It's not for the other person, it's not

for the the lost person, it's it's not

just for the drunkard, it's not just for

the the the addict, it's not just for

the the marriage that's fallen apart,

it's not just for the person who curses

all the time, it's not just for the lazy

person or the bitter person, it's for

all of us this morning. You understand?

Don't think about anybody else this

morning. You must think about yourself

and say, "I am akin to Achan. That's

me."

Not judging him for his foolish

decision. Was it foolish? Absolutely.

And I do the same.

And you do the same.

As your pastor this morning, the pastor

of a church, can you believe a pastor

has sin in his life?

Oh, listen, friends, I'm constantly

confessing sin before God. Constantly

coming before the throne of grace and

saying, "Oh God, I failed again.

I messed up again."

Why? Because I am akin to Achan. Achan

was a human, I'm a human. I have the

same flesh, sin nature that Achan had

and it could just as easily have been me

stealing that stuff.

It could have just as easily been you.

So, I want you to identify yourself as

Achan this morning. I want you to think

about the sin

that is in your life.

And then we can go to number two.

Number one, the committing of sin.

Number two,

we see the consequences of sin. Look at

verse number two.

Direct consequence of Achan's sin. And

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai.

Joshua does not know that this has

happened.

He's going on to the next battle. He's

ready to win another victory.

He's trusting God. He's moving forward.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,

which is beside Bethaven on the east

side of Bethel

and spake unto them, saying, "Go up and

view the country." And the men went up

and viewed Ai. He's going to send some

spies, much like he did to Jericho. He's

going to send some spies to Ai.

They're going to go see what it's all

about. See how easy or difficult this

battle might be.

They come back in verse three and they

returned to Joshua and said unto him,

"Let not all the people go up,

but let about two or three thousand men

go up and smite Ai.

And make not all the people to labor

thither, for they are but few." The men

come back to Joshua and they bring a

report. They say the the city of Ai is

much smaller than Jericho. It's not

nearly as well fortified as Jericho. We

don't need to send all of our military

up there. Just send two or three

thousand men. We'll go up. God is with

us. We'll make short work of Ai. Don't

worry about it, Joshua. We just need a

few. They're not a very big city. This

is a piece of cake. Look at verse number

four.

So, there went up thither. Again,

remember, they have no idea what Achan

has done. You and I do because God put

it in verse one, but they do not.

Verse four, so there went up thither of

the people about 3,000 men and they fled

before the men of Ai and the men of Ai

smote them about 30 and six men for they

chased them from before the gate even

unto Shebarim and smote them in the

going down. Wherefore the hearts of the

people melted and became as water.

What what what what just happened? We

just had an amazing victory in Jericho.

We go to take the small little city of

Ai and they

whip us.

36 men die. The rest of us are running

home scared to death. And they come

running back into the camp at Israel and

the Bible says the people's heart

melted.

I don't know what they would have

thought in that moment.

Perhaps I thought I would have thought,

God?

What in the world?

You promised victory. You promised if we

did it your way, you would have give us

victory. We we did it just like you

wanted. WE WE TRIED EVERYTHING. We we we

where's we what did we do wrong? Why are

we defeated?

What happened?

It's the direct consequence of a sin.

They got to get to the bottom of it.

The sin of Achan cost him and it cost

those around him greatly.

There's a statement that's been oft

repeated. I do not know who originally

said it. It's it's very popular. You

probably heard it before.

If you've not heard it, you should write

it down.

The statement says this, sin will take

you further than you want to go,

keep you longer than you want to stay,

and cost you more than you want to pay.

It will take you further than you want

to go, keep you longer than you want to

stay, and cost you more than you want to

pay.

Here's Achan. He has stolen the stuff.

He has disobeyed God's command. He's put

it into his tent. He's hidden it from

the people around him, and then he's off

to the next battle.

And they lose.

And the people begin to murmur and say

what happened. I thought God was with

us. And Achan in his soul knows it's his

fault.

He has disobeyed, directly disobeyed the

commands of God. Achan learned the hard

way.

An entire nation loses a battle, 36 men

lose their life because one man had

sinned.

Israel could not be defeated by her

enemies, but they have just proved that

they could defeat themselves through

disobedience.

Listen,

the devil has no power over you this

morning.

Your enemy cannot defeat you.

The Holy Spirit of God lives on the

inside of you. He's bigger and stronger

than the devil can ever hope to be. The

devil cannot defeat you this morning,

but you absolutely can defeat yourself

by allowing sin to rule in your life.

And maybe this morning in your life you

have been facing a battle and you've

been wondering, God,

I thought you promised victory.

I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE WITH ME. And

it just feels like I'm in the middle of

this battle and there's no victory.

And there's no hope and there's no

relief.

Friend, can I encourage you this

morning? Take some time

to look into your heart

and pray what the psalmist wrote.

Psalm 139, search me, oh God, and know

me.

Try me and see if there be any wicked

way in me and lead me in the way

everlasting.

This is what Joshua does.

So, we see the consequence of sin. I

have to move along. Number three, write

this down, on correction of sin.

So, if there is sin that is found in our

life, what do we do about it?

Okay, so so I understand that there's

committing of sin. We're all guilty of

committing sin and and then there is the

consequences that come with sin, but

is there any hope? What can I do? Well,

notice a few things.

Verse number five, excuse me, verse

number six down through verse number 15,

there's a few steps that we can learn.

Joshua went rent his clothes and fell to

the earth upon his face

before the ark of the Lord until

eventide, he and the elders of Israel

and put dust on their heads.

Joshua said, "Alas, oh Lord God,

wherefore hast thou at all brought this

people over Jordan to deliver us into

the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.

Would to God we had been content and

dwelt on the other side of Jordan? Oh

Lord, what will I say when Israel

turneth their backs from before their

enemies? For the Canaanites and all the

inhabitants of the land shall hear of it

and shall environ us round and cut off

our name from the earth, and what wilt

thou do unto thy great name?" Joshua

comes very honestly and boldly before

God.

We see in verse six down through verse

number nine, Joshua's prayer.

Verse number six, he rends he rends his

clothes

and he falls on the earth on his face

before God.

Here's the problem with many Christians

today.

We understand and we agree with the fact

that we have sin

and we look around us and we see the

consequences of sin

and we're okay with it.

When's the last time

you knelt down on your knees? I'm not

talking praying before your food.

I'm talking you messed up.

You fell again

and you became so broken over it

that you knelt on your knees

and bowed before a holy God and said,

"I'm sorry."

Most Christians have never done that.

And we wonder why there's no spiritual

victory in the church.

We wonder why there there's no spiritual

victories in our families. We wonder why

there's no spiritual victories in our

homes.

Could it have something to do with the

fact that we have sinned before our God

and we are okay living with the

consequences?

This is the danger of living in a first

world country, right?

Because we are rich and increased with

goods and as long as our flesh is

satisfied, we can put our spirit in the

closet.

We can stuff the Holy Spirit away. We

don't have to listen. We'll go to

church. We'll check our box and we'll go

back home and we'll we'll be fine

because I've got food on the table and a

roof over my head and a job that pays

the bills, so I'm just going to keep

going through the motions.

And one day we wake up at rock bottom

and things start falling apart and we

have the audacity to blame God for not

showing up in our trial.

When he's been there all along, we

ignored him, had no brokenness over our

sin, had no brokenness over our

laziness, had no prayerfulness over what

we had done to his heart.

Could it be

that if God's people would humble

themselves and kneel before the throne

of grace in humility and true

brokenness,

could we see revival

in our day?

Is it possible

to see God build a great church in our

community?

We've become so accustomed to the motion

of religion.

Where we just do the right things and we

say the right things and we make sure we

don't say the wrong things in front of

the right people and we we just got to

make sure that we're at church on Sunday

morning so nobody comes asking

questions.

And there is no repentance.

And there's no brokenness.

We've got to be broken over our sin.

Otherwise, there's no spiritual victory.

I don't know about you. Listen, I am not

okay without spiritual victory. There

are a lot of churches who might be okay.

There may be some pastors who are okay.

There's probably a lot of church members

who are okay living outside of spiritual

victory because like I said, they have

everything that their flesh needs.

That's not enough for me.

And I hope it's not enough for you this

morning.

Would to God that we would become like

Joshua.

Become broken

over our sin. Then in verse 10 through

12, Israel's problem. We already

mentioned this. I'll just read the

verses for you.

Israel has sinned, God said. Verse 11.

Israel has sinned and they have

transgressed my covenant which I

commanded them for they have taken of

the accursed thing and have stolen and

disassembled also and they have put it

even among their own stuff.

Therefore, the children of Israel could

not stand before their enemies. Listen,

you got sin in your life, you cannot

stand before your enemies.

Don't defeat yourself. But they turned

their backs before their enemies because

they were accursed. Neither will I be

with you anymore. What a What a

statement.

God said, I am not going with you. I'm

done until you get this cleaned up.

I wonder how many churches in America

are living right there and they don't

even know it.

God has said, I'm done with them until

they get this mess cleaned up.

And they don't even know it cuz they got

screens and lights and a and a and a fun

preacher, a motivational speaker, and a

great music team, and they come together

every week and they go through the

motion of religion, and they don't even

realize

that the presence of God has left.

How many homes

how many children are growing up in

homes where mom and dad go to church,

but there is no presence of the Holy

Spirit in the home through the week?

They just go through the motions. Yeah,

we're religious.

It's It's a thing that mom and dad do.

It's a thing that grandma and grandpa

do.

There's no presence. God says, "I'm done

with them until they get this sin out of

their life."

How many individuals

are so rich and increased with goods

that they live their life and they work

their job and they pay their bills

and they go through the motions without

the presence of God in their life. Do

you know that the blessings you are

missing when God's presence does not go

with you?

They're unimaginable.

Unimaginable.

Israel's got a problem, but God's got a

solution. Verse 13 through 15, God's

purifying.

Look at what God says in verse 13. He

said, "Joshua, get up."

Get up.

Sanctify the people and say, "Sanctify

yourselves against tomorrow."

For thus saith the Lord God of Israel,

there is an accursed thing in the midst

of thee, O Israel. Thou canst not stand

before thine enemies until you take away

the accursed thing from among you. In

the morning, therefore, you shall be

brought before the your tribes, and it

shall be that

the tribe which the Lord taketh shall

come according to the families thereof,

and the family which the Lord shall take

shall come by households, and the

household which the Lord shall take

shall come man by man. And it shall be

that he that has taken with the accursed

thing shall be burnt with fire, he and

all that he hath because he hath

transgressed the covenant of the Lord

and because he hath wrought folly in

Israel. God's got a plan for the

purifying process. Now, this plan in in

the book of Joshua chapter 7 is a

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

picture and and there it's a very stark

contrast. God is clarifying. He is

demanding that his people will be holy.

There are often times in scripture, I

don't want you to be confused by this.

There are often times in scripture where

God does something as a precedent to

picture his holiness. That's what's

happening here.

God is saying, "Hey, wherever there is

sin,

there's going to be judgment for that

sin." That's still true today.

You say, "Well, God's not going to catch

me on fire." If you die without having

received Jesus Christ as your savior,

you will absolutely burn with fire for

your sins.

Right?

Hell is a very real place.

And it is a burning place.

And God is setting a precedent. He's

saying, "I will be holy." Now, there's a

way, Joshua, for you to purify the camp.

There's a way for you to fix this,

but you're going to have to burn the sin

with fire.

So, notice what happens next. Write down

number three. I'm moving along. Verse

number 16 through verse number Excuse

me,

um I said number three, I mean point

number four. Verse 16 through verse 23,

there's the cleansing of sin. God's

given them the the way to cleanse it.

Let's read these verses. I'm just

reading the narrative to you. This is

This is not me being mean. I hope you

don't take this this way. This is the

Bible.

Look at verse 16.

So, Joshua rose up early in the morning

and brought Israel by their tribes. The

tribe of Judah was taken.

And he brought the family of Judah and

he took the family of the Zerahites.

And he brought the family of the

Zerahites man by man.

Zabdi was taken.

He brought the household man by man. Can

you imagine the

defeat

that that father Zabdiel feels

when his family is taken and he realizes

it is his family

that has caused all this.

Zabdiel the son of Zerah was taken,

tribe of Judah was taken.

Verse number 18, he brought his

household man by man and Achan the son

of Carmi, the son of Zabdiel, the son of

Zerah of the tribe of Judah was taken.

Joshua said unto Achan, "My son, give I

pray thee glory to the Lord God of

Israel and make confession unto him and

tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it

not from me."

And Achan answered Joshua and said,

"Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord

God of Israel and thus and thus have I

done. When I saw among the spoils a

goodly Babylonian garment and 200

shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of

50 shekels weight

he said, "Then I coveted them and I took

them and behold, they are hid in the

earth in the midst of my tent and the

silver is under it."

So, Joshua sent messengers and they ran

under the tent and behold, it was hid in

his tent and the silver under it.

And they took them out of the midst of

the tent and brought them unto Joshua

and unto all the children of Israel and

laid them out before the Lord. Number

four this morning, the cleansing of sin.

The only reason that Israel was able to

be purified is because they obeyed God's

method of cleansing.

God wants to cleanse you and I of our

sin just as he wanted to cleanse the

nation of Israel of their sin.

How do you and I get cleansed from our

sin? First John 1:9 says, "If we confess

1 John 1:9

with If we confess our sin, he is

faithful

and just to forgive us our sin and

cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Cleansing can be found this morning.

Pastor John, I don't want to admit what

I've done.

I don't want to tell anybody what I've

done. I'm ashamed that I have

participated in the actions that I've

participated in.

This morning as you have spoken, the

Holy Spirit has touched my life and I am

so ashamed that I have sinned against a

holy God. What do I do now?

In just a moment, we're going to take a

time to pray.

And I'm going to invite you to come

and bow humbly before a holy God

and just be honest with him as honest as

you've ever been and say, "God,

I messed up again

and I don't want to keep messing up.

I'm confessing my sin. I'm forsaking my

sin. Will you please clean me up?"

The Bible says he is faithful and just

to forgive us of all of our uncleanness,

all of our sins. When Jesus died on the

cross, he did not just die for some of

your sins. He died for all of your sins.

You realize your sins have already been

paid for. If you're saved this morning,

you're on your way to heaven, your sins

are paid for.

So, why don't you just come confess

them? Say, "Hey, I messed up again

and I'm real sorry."

And let's get broken over what we have

done. You can come. I've got one more

point and we'll be finished.

Number five,

the crushing

of sin.

Look at verse 24. What happens?

Joshua and all Israel with him took

Achan, the son of Zerah,

and the silver, and the garment, and the

wedge of gold, and his sons, and his

daughters, and his oxen,

and his asses, and his sheep, and his

tent, and all that he had,

they brought them unto the Valley of

Achor.

And Joshua said, "Why has you Why have

you troubled us?

The Lord shall trouble thee this day."

And all Israel stoned him with stones

and burned them with fire

after they had stoned them with stones.

And they raised over him a great heap of

stones unto this day, so the Lord turned

from the fierceness of his anger.

Wherefore the name of that place was

called the Valley of Achor unto this

day.

The chapter concludes

with the people of God stoning Achan,

burning him, and piling a heap of stones

on top of him.

Here's the picture

God is painting

for generations to come.

Sin

will not

be tolerated.

God is not a God who dabbles with sin.

God is not a God who plays with sin or

excuses sin. Politicians may play with

it.

Laws may excuse it.

But God will not tolerate sin among his

people.

He is a holy, holy, holy God.

The word holy literally means separated.

What is God separated from? He is thrice

separated from sin.

He can't look at it.

He can't think on it. He can't be

entertained by it.

He hates sin.

So, God gives very clear instructions to

the nation of Israel.

Take Achan.

Take him outside of the gates of the

community.

Stone him to death.

Burn him with fire, and then pile a heap

of stones on top of him.

Here's what God's saying.

Kill the sin.

And church this morning, if we want to

see God give us spiritual victories in

this place,

from my heart,

lovingly as I know how, I plead with

you,

kill

the sin.

Crush it.

Get rid of it.

It has no place

in the life of a Christian.

It has no place in the LIFE OF A CHURCH

MEMBER.

Stop being religious and start loving

Jesus enough to make some sacrifices.

You don't think this hurt the nation of

Israel?

Achan is their friend.

They went to war with Achan.

They loved this man. He was their

brother.

And they had to say goodbye because

their holiness before God was more

important than any relationship they had

on earth.

Oh, that people today would have that

mindset.

That what God thinks about me is more

important than anything anyone else

thinks about me.

And this getting this right, whatever it

sin it is in your life, it may hurt a

little bit.

It may bring some pain.

You may have to tell somebody goodbye.

You may have to stop doing something

that you have done for years, and it

might hurt a little bit. It might create

a hole in your life, but listen, there

is no hole created by sin that the

savior cannot fill.

So, tell it bye.

Crush it.

Kill it. Burn it. Get rid of it.

What does this mean? Very practically,

can I be extremely practical for 2

minutes?

Sir,

you might need to throw away your

iPhone.

You may need to get rid

of the computer.

It's not worth it. Kill it.

Ma'am,

you may need to take a break from social

media.

It's giving you anxiety. it's giving you

depression, you're constantly comparing

yourself with others. Just delete it.

Crush it.

I'm not going to entertain sin.

Christian, it might be time to throw out

the alcohol.

THAT BAD HABIT YOU HAVE,

end it today.

The words that come out of your mouth

when something doesn't go right, your

response that you say that first word,

stop using it. Just determine today, I'M

NOT GOING TO SAY that anymore. I'm going

to talk like a Christian.

I will not entertain sin.

The desire that you have that is not

right,

get rid of it.

The bitterness that holds you bondage

this morning, confess it and get it

right.

The anger that you struggle with,

that you feel towards that individual

that wronged you,

forgive them. Get rid of the anger.

Confess it, forsake it. The anxiety and

depression that control you so often,

repent and find freedom this morning.

Kill it, crush it.

The lackadaisical spirit that you have,

repent and get right. That gossiping

spirit that you have, repent and go

apologize to the person you've been

talking about.

I could go on

and on and on.

I don't know

what sin is in your life this morning,

but I know this, we all have a sin.

We've all got something we struggle

with.

We've all got something that constantly

tempts us.

I wonder what would happen

if today, a random Sunday in the month

of May on a little hill

in Carroll County, Virginia.

I wonder what would happen if there were

some people of God who said, "Today,

I'm going to get serious about loving

Jesus."

And if Jesus says,

"Don't do it." Today, it stops.

What would happen to our church?

What would happen to our community?

What would happen to your family

if you stopped playing the games of sin?

Christian,

don't

do it.

Stop it.

Crush it.

Kill it.

Maybe somebody in here needs to get some

accountability today.

I need somebody to be my accountability

partner. They can check in on me and

help me get victory over this sin.

Listen, God created brothers and sisters

in Christ for a reason, so that we can

help one another. Don't try and fight it

on your own. Get some accountability.

That's a great step. You hear me? That's

a great step in showing God that you are

serious about ending this is finding

some other human being

say, "Help me.

I am sick and tired of living defeated

by the sin.

I want some spiritual victory.

So, today,

I crush it.

I was not there

when Achan stole the stuff.

But if I had been,

oh, how I wish I would have been

in love with Jesus enough

to say, "Achan,

don't do it.

I wasn't there, but I'm here.

And this morning I love him enough and I

love you enough to stand before you and

say, "Christian,

don't do it."

Would you stand to your feet all over

the building, Father?

Thank you for your help this morning. I

pray your word would touch the hearts of

your people.