Avoiding the Agony of Achan, Part 1b

Let me tell you something about covetousness. You need to understand this, because covetousness cripples the unity of the church. Did you know that? If you're a person who covets something, if you're a person who is greedy for something that's not yours, if you're dissatisfied with God's arrangement for your life, It cripples the unity of the church. Over in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 5. Verse 9. Paul says, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral people. I did not at all mean with the immoral people of the world.

or with the covetous or and swindlers or with idolaters for then you would have to go out of the world but actually I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother If he should be an immoral person or covetous, Paul says, listen.

When I wrote to you about not associating with a covetous person, it wasn't the one in the world because the world's going to do that. The world covets. The world's immoral. The world sins. The world can only sin. That's all they know. But it's in the church. It's what destroys the church. That's why he said a little leaven leavens the whole lump. It said, earl on in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, you got to deal with the sin in the church, he says. Why? Because it cripples the unity of the church. And we forget that.

Even not just the immoral man who was committing. Sin with his stepmother, but the whole aspect of, and that's the context of 1 Corinthians 5, but the whole issue of having a covetous heart cripples the unity of the church. No that cripples the unity of the church. It confines your ministry in the church. It confines it. It stifles it. That's why the Bible says in Matthew 6, verses 19 and 20 and 21, that we're not to lay up for ourselves treasures On earth, where moth and dust doth corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal.

Instead, we're to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where none of that can happen. Because he goes on to say, Christ goes on to say, you can't serve God and money. You can't serve both of them. And you find yourself when you are coveting the ministry of your life being confined, being restricted. Why? Because you are not fit. Free to be used of God because you are so focused on that which you do not have. And that's why he says, seek ye first in verse 33 of Matthew 6.

The kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seek those things first. That's why Paul said. My life in Acts 20 is not dear to me. It's not. You see, covetousness stifles the missionary call. It stifles the call upon one's life to be used of God because you just can't get yourself out of the realm of the world, you just can't get yourself out of thinking about having more, you can't get yourself out of the realm of wanting what somebody else has, you can Realm, and therefore, you can't freed up to minister.

And the whole thing about serving Christ is: if any man come after me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross, and follow me. In other words, if you want to be a Christian and you want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you've got to forget about yourself and follow Christ. And that's why covetousness cripples the unity of the church and confines the ministry or your ministry in that church. It also conceals your identity. Covetousness conceals your identity. Over in the book of Ephesians, the fifth chapter, it says this.

Verse 3, but do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you as is proper among the saints. And there must be no filthiness, and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving thanks. For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Paul says, if you got a problem with covetous, if you got a problem with being dissatisfied with God's destiny for your life, You are one who has your identity concealed.

That is your identity as a Christian, your identity as a follower of Christ. It's hidden. It's concealed. And not only that, covetousness corrupts your morality. Why? Because a covetous person, Paul says in Ephesians 5, is an idolater. A covetous person is an idolater, and we are to flee idolatry. And therefore, we must understand that covetousness is a killer. Now, you got to ask yourself. What am I dissatisfied with in life and why? Because it's going to cripple the unity of our church. It is. And it does it in a very subtle, roundabout way.

It's like Ak. He was a man of great covetousness. He says, I saw it and I wanted it so bad because I wasn't satisfied not having the silver. I wasn't satisfied just being a Jew, one of the three million Jews. I wasn't satisfied just being in the land. I wasn't satisfied just being involved in a miracle or crossing it. That just wasn't good enough for me. There had to be something more. So I took it. I wanted it for myself. I longed for it. I was dissatisfied with the clothes that I had. I was dissatisfied with the money that I had.

I was dissatisfied with the things that I had, and so I took it. Now we have to ask ourselves, what are we dissatisfied with? Because if you're dissatisfied with something, you will ultimately do whatever it takes to obtain that which you do not have. And unfortunately, you'll hurt everybody in the process, including yourself. So they can do it. But see, his whole thing was that no one would know. It was secret. And for the people in the church today, for the people in the pew, there's this secrecy that goes on that we kind of hide things.

And we really don't think it affects the church. I want to let you know something. I am firmly convinced that our sin, mine and yours, affects this church in such a way. That is the reason this church is not full on Wednesday nights. That is the reason this church isn't filled three times over on Sunday morning. It's not because we live in this, we're in this facility. It's not because our building in the West Wing is being run down. It's not because we have this kind of program or not that kind of program.

Because the preacher is too long or the preacher is too short, it's not because the preacher is not good enough, it's none of that stuff. The reason churches don't grow is because of the sin in people's lives. And if you want God to grow the church, you've got to make sure that you are living the kind of life he's pleased with because God's not going to bring people to an imp church. He wants to bring people to a church that is on fire for the Lord and serving the Lord and living for God and is going to do whatever God says no matter what.

And God says, I'm going to put people there. And I've been involved in this ministry for 12 years, since day one. And I've seen great things happen. In the span of 12 years, supernatural things happen in the realm of this church. Fabulous things happen week in and week out from day one to year 12. And yet, I know, I know, that if I don't deal with the sin in my life, it will hinder this ch. If I don't deal with the sin in my family, it will hinder this church because I'm the leader of my family. And if you're a father here this evening and you're not dealing with the sin in your family, you are hindering not only the growth of your family, you are hindering the growth of this church.

Spiritually, financially, numerically, you name it. Because God expects his people to deal with sin. Because he wants to bring people to a pure place, to a holy place, not a perfect place. There is no perfect place this side of eternity. And it's not the fact that we don't sin, it's the fact that when we do sin, we confess our sin and we get it right. And what it's about? Sure, it is. Because we're all going to sin. So, what do we got to do? We've got to make sure we confess our sin, we repent of our sin, we get right with our God, we get right with our fellow man.

We keep close accounts with God. We keep close accounts with our spouse. We keep close accounts with our children. We keep close accounts with our boss. We keep close accounts because we don't want There to be any uncovered sin. We don't want there to be anything that would stifle. The ministry of the church. That's what's so important. And so we have to go back and ask ourselves: Am I dissatisfied with something? Am I dissatisfied in my marriage? If you're dissatisfied in your marriage, be careful.

That's the first step to an affair. Because you'll find someone else that will satisfy you. Be very careful. You're saying to God that His plan for you was not good enough. The man of the wife He gave you wasn't good enough. But they are because it's God's will for your life. So we've got to ask ourselves those questions. I told you it'd be a painful sermon. I told you it'd be a powerful sermon. I told it would be an insightful sermon. I told you it would be a useful sermon. I told you to be insightful, truthful.

But if you hear the words of God, you apply them, it becomes a delightful sermon. Because happy is the man who keeps the law of God. So here was Ach. There was his arrogance. From his arrogance to his attraction, which was based on his appetite. Then to his avarice, his greed, his covetousness. And that led to point number four: his animosity. His animosity. He says, I saw it, then I coveted, then I took him. That's his animosity. That is, he had, listen, a strong hatred for the law of God. God said, don't do it.

You can't take it. And when he saw it, he said, you know what? I don't care what God's law says. I want it. I'm taking it. It's mine. But it wasn't his. And whenever you sin against the law of God, it is the animosity inside of your soul that's showing itself. It's saying, you know what? I don't care what God says.

I don't care what God thinks. I don't even care what God's going to do because I really don't think He's going to do it to me anyway. It's animosity. So he took it for his own well he stole it because it was God's. He was a thief. He took that which wasn't his, and that's his animosity. And that led to his apathy. His apathy. See, animosity and apathy kind of go hand in hand. He was hard-hearted at this time. He didn't care about anything. He didn't care about what would happen to Israel. He didn't care what would happen to his family.

He just didn't care. By this time, his arrogance had so run the gamut that he was so hard in his heart. That when 36 men were killed in the battle at AI, he never batted an eye. He never went to Joshua and said, Joshua, you know, it's my fault these men died. He never went to their families and said, you know what, it's my fault that your father or your husband or your grandfather were killed in battle. It's my fault. I was wrong. Why? Because he had a hard heart. He was apathetic. He just didn't care.

The only thing he cared about was himself. The only thing he cared about was He had the silver, he had the gold, he had the mantle, he had long for, that's all he cared about. Just himself. And so his apathy begins to rule. Remember over in Romans chapter 2? Says this in verse number 4, or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Paul says it's the goodness of God, it's the forbearance of God, it's the patience of God that leads us to repentance. This is our opportunity to repent. This was Achan's opportunity to repent from the day he took what wasn't his. Before they actually drew lots and realized that it was him, he had at least 24 hours to repent. Because of the goodness and kindness and forbearance of God, but because of the stubbornness of his heart, but because of the hardness of his heart, because of the apathy in his life, he was storing up wr.

The wrath of God upon his life. And that's why the Bible says over in the book of Proverbs. The 29th chapter, the first verse, a man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

Wow, that's a hard word. But that's the truth. So you have his arrogance, his attraction, his avarice, his animosity, his apathy, and then you have his anonymity. He says, I took what was there and then I hid it in my tent. His anonymity, he wanted to remain anonymous. He wanted to remain out of the picture. He didn't want anybody to know. He just, you know, he was just one of the three million. That's all. He was just a number. Who wouldn know Aiken? He didn't have any leadership responsibility.

He didn't have any warriorship responsibility. He was just a number. He wanted to remain anonymous. And sometimes we think, you know, I'm nothing in the church. I mean, I don't lead in the church. I don't sing in the choir in the church. I don't Usher in the church. I don't teach in the church. I just kind of show up. I'm just a number in the church. The pastor doesn't even know my name. I'm anonymous. There, no one cares what I do. I can sin, and who is it going to affect? It 's me. That was Aiken's view.

Oh, how wrong he was. And how wrong you are to even begin to dream that up. Because it does affect the entire body of Christ. The Bible says that we are to rejoice with those who rejoice, we are to weep with those who weep.

Why? Because within the body, we are all one members of the same. Units and what affects you affects me, and what affects me affects you. And if I sin, it affects you. If you sin, it affects me. Because that's the nature of the body of Christ. And here was a man amidst his anonymity that he really didn't believe that anyone would know. That's why the Bible says, who conceals a transgression shall not prosper.

You have to confess it and forsake it to find the mercy of God. You see, the deception of sin is that Ach thought he was prospering. He was richer. He was better off for a few hours. He was better off. He had more money. He was able to put away money for his kids' college. He was going to build the beautiful three-car garage and a beautiful 4,500 square foot home there in the land of Canaan. He was going to have a boat to ride up and down the Jordan. He was going to be water skiing with his kids.

He had it all before him. He thought this was the greatest thing. And yet, yet his concealing of his transgression, he would never prosper. He lost. Then you move to point number seven, and that is his agony. His agony. The Bible says in verse 25 that Joshua says, The Lord's going to trouble you this day, Achan.

He took him out, took his family out. They stoned them and they burned them. And then they put memorial stones over them that are there to this day, the Bible says.

As a reminder of the seriousness of sin and the consequences of sin. And you know, we say, you know, I've sinned and I haven't died. I'm still alive. Folks, that's the grace of God. The mercy of God. Don't presume upon his grace and just expect that he's always going to let you live forever. S, well, I've sinned. I haven died. You know, God doesn't go around killing people anymore. I mean, God doesn't do that anymore. But you know, think about it this way: what is worse? Than the agony of physical death.

It's the agony of spiritual death. When our Lord was going through his sufferings, not one time did he cry out amidst all of his beatings and amidst all of the pain he was in. He only cried out one time. During his passion, and that was when he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Because that was the true agony of the cross. It wasn't his physical suffering that caused him pain as much as it was the spiritual suffering that is his separation from his father. Who is in heaven? That was the agony of Calvary.

And so, what is worse than physical death is that when I sin, I cut myself off from communion and fellowship with God. I no longer have that intimate relationship with God. I grow cold and stagnant. I grow stale in my walk with God. I grow bored with church. I grow bored with the things of God. The missionary call doesn't even affect me. The things of God just don't even interest me anymore. And I become further and further away from God. Folks, let me tell you something: that is the agony, the agony of sin.

It would be better if you just died and went home to be with the Lord than to live. Out of communion and out of fellowship with the living God of the universe, and try to make it through life. But we find people all the time. Who are bored with their life, bored with Christianity, stagnant in their walk with the Lord. It's all because of unconfessed sin. Sin they've tried to conceal, sin they've tried to hide, sin that happened because of their arrogance, and because of the appetite within their soul that caused them to be attracted to the things that.

Were in their mind more beautiful than the things of God. That's what it is. And that is. The agony of Achin articulated. How do I avoid that? How do I find myself not falling into that trap? Where does it all begin? Let me begin with point number one for you in understanding how we avoid the agony of Achan.

And it's this. When you become cognizant of sin, the moment you become cognizant that sin exists, that sin is present. You need to be prayerful and cons your Savior. That's number one.

I'm going to explain why that's most important and why it begins right there. And how it is when Christ said to his men, Could you not watch and pr with me? For one hour, he said, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Be careful. If you're not prayerful with me right now, you will fall in temptation. And Peter, in all of his arrogance, Lord, though all men deny you, I am your man. You can count on me. But when sin was before him, he was not prayerful. And he did not consider his Savior.

And Peter fell into sin, even when Christ said, Could you not watch and pray with me for one hour? And they couldn't. And folks, we need to realize that when sin is before us, There is something we must do, and we must do it quickly, or we will fall prey. To that sin, and thus experience the agony of Achan.