The Step Toward Worldliness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[Read a lot and do not get off topic, unless God prompts you. Be aware of the time and cut things as God directs.]
Israel is finally in the Promised Land! They have won their first victory and have seen God literally tear down walls so that they can go into the enemies’ city. They have gone into the city of Jericho and completely destroyed it.
Remember now that God had commanded them to do something that was unusual for that time period — they were not to loot the city for themselves. Joshua 6:17-19
17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.
Everything in Jericho was to be accursed — that is, to be devoted to destruction. It was all to be destroyed. The only things that could be taken were things made of gold, silver, brass, and iron, and those things had to be brought to the treasury of the tabernacle. They would be ultimately used for the Lord’s service, but everything else? accursed, set aside to be destroyed.
Joshua 6:24
24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.
So, victory is had, and everyone goes to camp. It seems, based on the next chapter, that they move their camp closer to Jericho, because it is stated that from Jericho, the assault on the next city is launched.
We have seen that Israel and Joshua have taken a series of important steps. Starting with the step of faith as they crossed the Jordan River. This is a step that their own parents had not been willing to take. But this generation is taking the step of faith. Despite the walled cities, despite the giants in the land, and despite these nations that are warring nations, the Israelites have decided to obey God and trust that God will remain true to His word.
Once they crossed the Jordan River, they took the step of consecration. Their parents had abandoned their covenant with God by rebelling and refusing to obey, but now this generation consecrates themselves to a life of worshipping and following God, and they do so by taking the mark of circumcision.
Once they are healed, they take the step of obedience. They follow God’s plan, even though strategically it does not seem sound. They obey, consistently, even though the first 12 laps around the city did not reveal that anything special was going to happen. And when they completed their 13th lap on the 7th day, they shouted and watched as God brought down the walls of the mighty city of Jericho and handed them the victory.
They followed through with their obedience by going into the city and fully destroying it, and consecrating that which was valuable to the Lord and His house.
But something happened. Another step was taken in the aftermath of it all, and it was a step in the wrong direction, and that is where we pick up today.
The Step Toward Worldliness
The Step Toward Worldliness
Go with me to Joshua chapter 7 as we begin to look at Israel’s next move. They are preparing to engage in battle against the next city — Ai.
Among the ranks of the men that fought to conquer Jericho was a man named Achan. Joshua 7:1
1 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.
As we go through the 26 verses in this chapter, we will look at and analyze some of the characteristics of worldliness and the effect it has on people.
Make no mistake, though he had consecrated himself to the service and worship of the Lord outwardly, inwardly, Achan was worldly. But there were also others who took steps toward worldliness besides Achan, people whom you may not have expected.
Looking back, we see Achan, and for those who grew up knowing his story, the name Achan has probably become synonymous with greed, rebellion, pride, and stubbornness. But there is someone else in this chapter that acted out of pride and presumption.
So join me this morning in our study of the Step Toward Worldliness.
So, as we just read, Achan takes of the things that were to be dedicated to the Lord and of things that should have been destroyed with the rest of the city. Note the wording of how this act is described — “Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing.” In other versions it is translated as “Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things,” or even “Israel violated their obligations with regard for the things dedicated to destruction.”
What we can tell later on from reading about this event is that it was done secretly, but when you do a word study on the original words used to translate the phrase, “Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing,” you find that the word translated “committed” is a Hebrew word — ma’al — which means to cover up, to act covertly, to act treacherously.
The word trespass comes from the Hebrew word ma’al (that earlier was translated “committed”), and it means sin, grievous transgression.
So, Achan, treacherously, covertly, sneakily doing what he knew he wasn’t supposed to do, sinned grievously in regards to the accursed thing, accursed being a word that means appointed to destruction.
But wait, it doesn’t say Achan committed trespass. Who committed trespass? The children of Israel. Achan was the one that took things that he was not supposed to, but it fell upon the whole congregation of the Israelites. And because of this sin, God’s anger was kindled against, not just Achan, but the whole of Israel.
And one of the things that we need to understand about worldliness is that it will affect those around us. More on that later, but right now, we need to remember what worldliness is.
Our definition comes from Warren Wiersbe that says “Worldliness is not so much a matter of activity as it is of attitude. Worldliness is anything in a Christian’s life that causes him to lose his enjoyment of the Father’s love or his desire to do the Father’s will.”
The Father’s will was for the items in Jericho to be either destroyed or dedicated to the Lord, and something in Achan caused him to not fully enjoy and be satisfied by the love of God nor to have a desire to fully obey God. Achan was worldly.
But as I mentioned earlier, Achan is not the only one that behaved in a worldly fashion. And it brings us to our first characteristic of worldliness.
Worldliness Is Presumptuous
Worldliness Is Presumptuous
The word presumptuous is a descriptive adjective. Presumptuous behavior is, as defined by Merriam-Webster, behavior that is too confident in an expectation or assumption (especially in a way that is rude); or done or made without permission, right, or good reason.
The driving sin behind the sin of presumption is pride, and the pride of life is directly related to the system of this world according to 1 John 2:16
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Achan was presumptuous in thinking that God would either not notice or not care that he had take that which he should not have taken, but who else was taking steps toward worldliness with their presumption?
Let’s continue reading verses 2-3.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
3 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 labour thither; for they are but few.
i want to isolate some phrases so that we can think just about these phrases and sentences on their own. Don’t worry, we will not be taking them out of context, though any time we isolate sentences or verses, that does need to be a concern.
But let’s look at the first phrase in verse two.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai...
There is nothing of note grammatically here that we need to look at, but I want you to think back, all the way to Joshua 1 and onward. Let’s look at some verses and compare them to chapter 7 verse 2, and tell me if you spot a difference.
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan...
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people...
Now look at chapter 3.
7 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
8a And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant…
9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.
1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3a And command ye them...
4a Then Joshua called the twelve men...
15 And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,
16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
2 At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
3a And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel...
14b ...And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
15a And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot...
2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
3a And ye shall compass the city...
7 And he [Joshua] said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city...
I hope you noticed a pattern in Chapter 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 that is not present in chapter 7:2.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
Joshua is now acting of his own accord. For the first 6 chapters of the book, we see Joshua move and act only after God tells him to. Joshua is consulting God about everything. But now, after the first victory, Joshua falls into this sin of presumption and starts to plan an attack on the city of Ai on his own, without seeking God.
After years and years of following God and experiencing the benefits and the victories, Joshua really said, “I’m going to do this my way.” And just assumed that God would bless it.
And something that may have driven that decision is the size of Ai. The word Ai means “heap of ruins.” How would you like to live in that city?! What kind of pride can you have in your own town if it is called Heap of Ruins?
Not only did it have a name that wasn’t all hat great, but its population was not all that much either.
3 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 labour thither; for they are but few.
They are few. And look at the presumption that the advisers to Joshua have also. “Joshua, Ai is a small town, we don’t need to commit the whole army to an attack. Just send 2 or 3,000 men, and that should be enough to take care of them.”
The nation had started to take a step toward worldliness. They lost interest in doing God’s will, and began planning and doing their own will.
Worldliness Is Costly
Worldliness Is Costly
Joshua and the Israelites would pay a heavy cost for their presumption and their step into worldliness.
4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty 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.
Israel’s 3,000 men were beaten back by the inhabitants of the Heap of Ruins. They couldn’t take the city, they couldn’t make progress.
It cost the Israelites the lives of 36 men. Thirty six families without fathers, husbands, providers. 3,000 men approached the gates of Ai and were chased back. For seven days they had marched around the mighty walls of Jericho with impunity, but now, they can’t even launch an attack on the Heap of Ruins Township without being chased away. not only were they chased away, but 36 men died.
This was devastating to the people of Israel. Note that their hears melted. This is the same fearful reaction that the Jericho-ites had in response to Israel crossing the Jordan. Now it is Israel who is in fear and deep distress.
But it is not just the nation in general that is distressed, Joshua also is deeply disturbed because of this. Joshua 7:6-9
6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
7 And Joshua said, Alas, O 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 Jordan!
8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
9 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 and the elders of Israel ripped their clothes and put dust on their heads and cried before the the altar of the Lord until it started to get dark. And Joshua cries out to God, not understanding what went wrong, “God, why did you bring us across the Jordan River just to let us die at the hands of the Amorites that live in Ai? I wish, God, that we had been content to just live on the other side of the Jordan River and never cross. God, what can we say, how can we defend our reputation if we run from our enemies?! Everyone is going to hear it, and what will happen with your great name, Lord?”
Worldly People Do Not Trust God
Worldly People Do Not Trust God
7a And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?
“Why did you bring us here, God, to destroy us?” When Joshua should have known that God had brought them into Canaan to take it. But Joshua started doubting God. In fact, he uses the same kind of language that was used 40 years ago by the Israelites who refused to go into the Promised Land. Numbers 14:3
3a And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?
“Why did God bring us to this land, so we would all be slaughtered?” And that is exactly what Joshua is asking. Forty years ago, Joshua tried to persuade Israel that God had brought them to Canaan to take it. He was godly back then. He was dependent on God and trusted Him. But now, 40 years later, Joshua has taken a step into worldliness by his presumption, and that step has had an effect on him, a bad one. He now is echoing the words of the carcasses in the wilderness. He has lost hope.
Worldliness Drives Us to Turn Our Backs on God
Worldliness Drives Us to Turn Our Backs on God
I want you to note some things in these verses — Worldliness drives us to turn our backs on God.
7 And Joshua said, Alas, O 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 Jordan!
Joshua and the Israelites have consecrated themselves to worship and to follow and to serve God for the rest of their lives, but now look at Joshua’s prayer. And consider that he, with his whole chest is saying this to God. “God, I wish we would have been content living on the other side of Jordan.”
In other words, “God, I wish I would have been content disobeying you. I wish I would have not obeyed you.”
What changed between the end of chapter 5, when Joshua is worshipping God and saying he will obey, to now? Joshua let worldliness creep into his life.
Worldliness Is Only Concerned with Self
Worldliness Is Only Concerned with Self
Notice Joshua’s concern. His concern is not about failing the mission of taking the promised land. Joshua’s concern is about reputation.
9a 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...
“Oh, no! Everyone is going to hear about this failure and this defeat, and the Canaanites that fear us, will no longer fear us! They are going to turn on us and kill us now.” This exclamation also shows the mistrust in God.
Worldly People Try to Manipulate God
Worldly People Try to Manipulate God
Something that you see in people that are consumed with themselves is this foolish attempt to manipulate God or manipulate His word. They try to weaponize God against Himself!!
And Joshua attempts this. Joshua 7:9
9 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?
“Oh, Lord, what will happen to your great name if we are defeated?” I am pretty sure that God’s name was great before Israel ever even existed, and His name will always be great.
Worldliness Makes Us Weak
Worldliness Makes Us Weak
Now it is God’s turn to respond, and we want to make sure we pay close attention to this.
10 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
The reason that the attack on Ai failed was because of the sin of worldly pride.
Achan was proud and presumptuous in his sin.
Joshua was proud and presumptuous in not consulting God about attacking Ai (because had he prayed and talked to God, God would have revealed that there was sin in the camp before attacking Ai).
The people were presumptuous in trusting their own strategy, sending less than 10% of the army to attack Ai.
And this pride, this presumption, this step into worldliness weakened the nation. It would not have mattered if all 40,000 men of war attacked Ai, they would not have been able to stand against Ai because there was sin in the camp, and that sin was wrought of pride, and the Bible clearly tells us in 1 Peter 5:5
5b ...God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
The idea in this verse is that God sets Himself in active opposition to the proud, that is what “resists the proud” means. And it wasn’t so much that God had set Himself against the Israelites, but that the Israelites, who had previously been on God’s side, now were on the world’s side.
And worldliness make us weak because we no longer have God’s strength with us.
Stepping Back toward God
Stepping Back toward God
But Joshua and the Israelites were not doomed. There was a solution for worldliness. Joshua 7:13-15
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: 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 ye take away the accursed thing from among you. [The first step back to God and godliness is the step of sanctifying ourselves. They were all under the covenant now, but they had stepped out, as a nation. Not in the way that their parents had 40 years ago, but nonetheless, they had stepped away from God. “Sanctify yourselves for the morning.” It is evening now, when God is talking to Joshua, and He commands that the people sanctify themselves. What is “to sanctify”? It has a very similar meaning to consecrate. It means to make holy, to set aside for a devoted purpose, to make clean. So God is telling Joshua, “Tell the people to make themselves clean for the morning. There is something that shouldn’t be in your midst, and it’s there. And in the morning we are going to have a meeting.”
14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to 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.
15 And it shall be, that he that is 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.
Stepping back toward God:
Sanctify yourself — deal with your heart
Deal with the sin — get rid of the sin
So, all night, Achan has the opportunity to go to Joshua and confess what he has done. He can take the things that he took for himself back to the treasury of the Lord in an act of repentance, because if he waits until he gets caught (that is what that word “taken” means — to be caught with), then his punishment is death.
God’s Grace
God’s Grace
Throughout the next few verses, I want you to keep one thing in the forefront of your mind — God’s grace. This may not seem like God showing grace, but it really is. Remember that it is the person who is “taken with the accursed thing,” the one who is caught possessing what they should not possess. That person will suffer judgment. But should that person confess and repent, then there is an opportunity for grace, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
18 And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. [It would have been just as easy for God to tell Joshua, “In the morning, go get Achan of Judah, because he is the one who took what he shouldn’t have.” But God allowed Achan time, and probably, the realization that he was going to be found out as Joshua narrowed down the search more and more. But Achan was not willing to let go. He was not willing to confess.]
19 And 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.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
23 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.
Achan’s confession comes too late. He had the chance to confess before he was caught, but never did.
Worldliness Ultimately Brings Judgment
Worldliness Ultimately Brings Judgment
Now that he is caught, he confesses, but that will not change the outcome of his judgment.
24 And 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: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou 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.
26 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. [Achor means “trouble.” The valley received its name because the family that had caused trouble in Israel was stoned there.]
Achan is taken and stoned and burned, but not just him, his family too, and all of his belongings. And that might seem harsh, but the likelihood of his family not knowing what he had done is very low, especially when you consider that he buried the stuff in the middle of his tent.
They also had the opportunities to come forward, the same ones that Achan had, but they did not.
When we decide to be live by the system of this world, led by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, then we will ultimately be under judgment, and those around us will suffer too.
Application
Application
This is an interesting event to study. But we must move beyond just knowing about an event that happened that prevented Israel from progressing in their mission of taking the Promised Land, to applying the principles in this passage to our lives and to our church.
There are several takeaways from this, and the one that I want to highlight first is that worldliness is easy to get sucked into. All it takes to begin to step into worldliness is a little bit of self.
Look at 1 Corinthians 10:6-7. In the previous 5 verses, Paul gives examples of how the Israelites rebelled in the wilderness. Then he says:
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
He says that we can look back at the Israelites that wandered and died in the wilderness as examples of not lusting after evil things. And you and I might say, “But I don’t have a problem chasing after evil things.” But then he says that we are not to be idolaters. And you might think, “I have no idols. I have bever been one to worship idols.” But there is an idol that we should recognize as a struggle for each of us to not worship. It is the idol of self.
And it is easy to put self above God. And when we do this, it is idolatry. An idol is anything that is placed at the level of or above God and His will for our lives; it is anything that rivals God in our life.
And before you think that it is something that you just don’t struggle with, Paul gives a warning.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
For those that are so confident that they never struggle with self, be careful, you may be on the verge of falling into idolatry of self and a great many other sins.
And this step into worldliness through self looks a lot of different ways. It looks like:
“I have a life, you know, and it doesn’t revolve around church.”
To which the Bible says, “What, don’t you know? Don’t you realize that you are bought with a price, and you are NOT your own? Therefore, glorify God in you body and your spirit which are God’s.”
It looks like: “But I have already served God faithfully for so long, it’s time for me to do something for me.”
It looks like: “I am young, I have my whole life ahead of me. I’ll focus on me and my needs and goals now so that I can serve God and the church better, later.”
It looks like: “I already serve God in this area, I don’t need to do anything else.”
It looks like: “I would do it, but I’d never be able to do it well enough, so I’m not even going to try.”
It looks like a concern over one’s own welfare, comfort, and/or benefit over anything else.
If my decisions revolve around what I feel comfortable doing as opposed to what God is showing me needs done, then I am acting according to self and calling it service to God.
It looks like: “I have been hurt in church before, and I don’t want to risk that ever again.”
Worldliness and self-centeredness looks like this and like many other things. But these are the ones that I encounter in myself and in the church most often. And yes, I said myself, because I also am tempted to do just what I want and nothing else.
Listen, I want to make it very clear. I am NOT saying that if you miss a church service you are being worldly. I am not saying that if you are not serving in a ministry that you are a worldly Christian. There are times when a person needs to go on a vacation, take family day or night, or genuinely need the rest.
But when things like this become the norm instead of the exception, when the motivation behind it is self-serving and self-seeking. When there was no consideration of taking this before God and praying about it before making the decision of taking or keeping a job that keeps you away from church or unable to serve in the body that God has placed you. THEN it becomes a matter of siding with the world.
It becomes a matter of presumption. I presume that this is a good choice. I will make this decision because I feel like i-I am entitled to make this decision. I will do this and that, I won’t do this or that because I feel like my comfort level is the way that God speaks to me. Wrong.
Some people are of the mindset that because God does not want us to be anxious, then it must mean that God does not want me to do anything that will make me anxious. No. In fact, God will often and repeatedly call us to do things that threaten to make us anxious, and the response we are to have is that we give that anxiety to the Lord and learn to let Him take care of us and provide for us and give us peace.
Church, we have a problem with this. Our church. Good News Baptist Church has a problem with this. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear something, some reason or excuse that is driven by a desire to fulfill self first before fulfilling what we as a church have been commissioned to do. It is a problem and it is a problem that troubles the whole church.
As of right now, we do not have enough people that will teach the kids on both Sundays and Wednesdays, so we are now transferring our workers to Wednesday nights so that we can have a somewhat full team on Wednesdays. Optimally, we need at least 4 teams — we have 2.
We have a shortage of nursery workers.
We have a shortage of toddlers teachers.
We had a Cares ministry a while back ago. It was intended to be a blessing to those that were shut in or experiencing difficulties with their health and things like that. But that fizzled out.
But the good news is, we have all the people here that we need to fill those roles.
The bad news is that we don’t have enough people that will even consider praying and asking God to direct them to what role or roles they could fill. There are people who have it in their minds, for whatever reason, “I will never do _______. Please don’t ask me to do that.”
I’ll close with this:
It is the to early 1800’s and a young man writes this in his journal:
“I poured out my soul before God. Again and again confessing my grateful love to Him who had done everything for me. I besought Him to give me some work to do for Him as an outlet for love and gratitude.”
The young man, determined to do God’s will and minister to other in anyway he could, found himself working for a pharmacist who often forgot to pay him. Determined in his own life to learn to trust God for everything in his life, this young man had determined to not remind his boss about missed pay. He would trust that God would provide by reminding the pharmacist to pay him, or by providing his food and rent necessary by other means.
One night, after working late hours, the pharmacist left him at the store to close up, again forgetting he had not paid his employee. The young man was left with only a half crown in his pocket — a single coin with roughly $7.60 in today’s money. Just like a quarter dollar coin could also be matched by having 2 dimes and a nickel, a half crown worth could also be made up by having 3 other coins — 2 shillings and a 6 pence piece. It is relevant to the story that this young man had a half crown coin and not 2 shillings and a 6 pence.
That weekend, a husband ask this young man to come and pray for his wife who had just given birth and dying. The young man readily agreed, but noticing that the man was Catholic, asked why he had not sent for the priest. The husband had asked for the priest, but the priest demanded payment of 18 pence, or 1 and a half shillings, and they were already starving and had no money for food.
The young man immediately thought of the one coin, that half-crown that he had in his pocket and it being the last bit of money he had to his name. Sure, he had a bit of watered gruel waiting for him for dinner, and a piece of bread for breakfast the next day, but he had nothing else to eat for the next day’s dinner in his house except for what he could buy with that half crown.
He also thought of how unfortunate it was that the money that he had was all in one coin, as he would have gladly given the family a shilling if he had 2 shillings and a 6 pence. The husband declared that he had an appointment with the retrieving officer the next morning, someone from the government appointed to help families in need, but feared that his wife would not live to see morning.
The thought of parting with a half crown was not one that had entered the young man’s thoughts until then. Even so, he writes in his journal, that he was willing to trust God to provide for him if he had 1 shilling and 6 pence, but not if he had nothing.
The two arrive at the house and the young man notices the family and their features. Five children stood about their mother, each with the sunken facial features of someone who has undergone slow starvation. Lying on a pallet on the floor was the emaciated figure of the mother with a tiny infant at her side. So weak was the baby that it could not muster a cry, but rather, only moaned.
Again the young man thought, “If I had 2 shillings and a 6 pence, I would so happily give a shilling and 6 pence so that the husband could buy a little food for his family.” But his lack of faith prevented him from obeying the impulse to give the half crown in its entirety.
He tried to comfort the family, but felt he did a horrible job. Still, he told them that they should not worry because there was a Father in heaven. He immediately felt the Spirit say within him, “You hypocrite! Telling these unbelieving people about a kind and loving Father in heaven, but being unable to trust that same Father to provide for you if you would give up that half crown piece!”
The young man, being there to pray for the wife, knelt down beside her and began to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven...” But as he opened his prayer, this young man wrote in his journal that his conscience began to rebuke him.
“Dare you mock God? Dare you kneel down and call Him ‘Father’ with that half crown in your pocket?” The young man ended his prayer, not knowing exactly how he got through it. But when he arose, he felt no comfort and was greatly distressed.
The husband pleaded with him before he left, “You see what a terrible state we are in, sir. If you can help us, for God’s sake, do.” And at that moment, God’s word flashed into his mind. “Give to him that asketh of thee.”
So he put his hand into his pocket and gave the half crown to the man. That half crown was enough to save the woman’s life and to feed the family for a couple of meals until they were able to find relief. But more than providing for a needy family, Hudson Taylor learned the deep lesson of complete surrender to the Lord at the risk of not having food for himself. And with that lesson he learned that there was no satisfaction in attempting to retain even the smallest portion of control over his own life.
Fast forward about 130 years to approximately the early 1970’s — there was a young man who was under deep conviction to do what God wanted him to do. He had surrendered to do whatever the Lord wanted him to do. He had made this decision public and was waiting for God’s direction in his life. Every Sunday during the invitation time, regardless of what was preached, that young man went to the altar. A deacon noted that at every service, this young man was at the altar praying about something very intently, so during one of the invitation times, the deacon once again noticed the young man walk down the aisle and kneel at the altar and begin to pray. The deacon approached and said, “I’ve noticed you for the last several weeks come to the altar and pray about something. Is there anything that I can help pray about for you?”
The young man responded, “I know God has called me into full-time ministry, but I just don’t know where. I keep asking and asking, and it seems that God is silent. It bothers me that God is not answering or that I am not hearing.”
Very wisely, the deacon said, “Is there anything or any place that you have told God you would not go?” To which the young man said, “Yes, I don’t want to go to Mexico, and I don’t want to go to China. But I will go anywhere else in the world.”
The deacon responded and said, “How do you expect God to tell you what He wants you to do if you have already put limitations on how He is allowed to call you?”
That night, that young man surrendered completely, even the things that he didn’t want to do, to the Lord. And from that night, God began to make it clear where and how he was to serve Him.
Fast forward about 40 years or so. The year was 2016. Another young man, another church. For about six months, this man has been desperately praying desiring to know how God wants to use him. It has been his life’s desire since he was about 18 years old, to serve God in whatever way God wants. There is not a person that knows him that does not know of his desire to serve the Lord. But for six months, it seems as if God has been silent in that area and it deeply troubles him. He has grown spiritually in other areas, but about this particular thing — where, how, and when God wants him to serve — complete silence.
The man began to read a book about a missionary to China. Like his father before him, he often went to the altar at church to pray, but his moment of surrender did not come at a church altar, but in warehouse in the middle of a workday. Having prayed for many months that God would reveal to him just what he was supposed to do and how and to begin opening doors, the man began to pray, “Search me, o Lord, and know my heart. See if there is any wicked way in me.” And it was after regularly praying this and confessing sin in his life, that God shined a light into this man’s heart. There WERE things that remained un-surrendered. Never out loud, but in his heart, this man had made a decision long ago that he would never go to the people of Iraq or Afghanistan. That would have to be someone else that went there. But that day, he surrendered his hatred and fears to the Lord, completely willing for God to use him in any area and with any people.
These three events in the lives of these three men represent turning points in their lives.
Hudson Taylor identifies this occasion as the moment when he found that giving up that half-crown piece was the moment when he found the blessing of joy that never left him. It was found in total surrender, and that lesson accompanied him during his time as a missionary to China in which God used him to turn China upside down for the Gospel.
The second man was my Father, who ended up a missionary to Mexico and has a ministry whose impact stretches across Mexico, Central America, the United States, Equatorial Guinea in Africa, and Southeast Asia. That conversation with that deacon was the day that he fully surrendered to the Lord, and began a ministry that God is still using to this day.
The last man is me. That day in the warehouse was a turning point in my life, and was the day that after 3 years of not hearing from God about ministry direction, I began to hear Him clearly in my heart once again.
Worldliness is sneaky. It sounds good, it looks good, it is enticing and promised to make you feel good, but it is sin, and will trouble you and trouble those around you and trouble your church and trouble your family, and if you hold on to it long enough, it will find you out, and you will regret it.
But if you were to give it up, let go of every self driven thought and attitude, confess it to the Lord, and trust Him, you would find grace, fulfillment, joy, and peace like you’ve never experienced before.
Invitation
Invitation
Life Groups
Life Groups
1. What is something that stood out to you from the sermon? Any questions or comments?
2. Was there ever a time when you were confident you could handle something on your own, but later realized you needed help, wisdom, or better preparation. What did that experience teach you?
3. Israel had just experienced an unmistakable victory at Jericho. Why do you think spiritual success can sometimes become a moment of vulnerability rather than a safeguard against sin?
4. Achan had opportunities to come forward before he was identified. What do you think God’s patience toward Achan reveals about both God’s holiness and His grace?
5. What are some subtle ways the “idol of self” can show up in a Christian’s life—not only through obvious rebellion, but through pride, control, comfort, reputation, possessions, or independence?
6. The sin in Israel’s camp made the nation weak before Ai. How can unresolved sin, hidden compromise, or unaddressed conflict weaken a believer’s spiritual life or weaken a church’s impact?
7. Is there a place where you have been delaying honest confession, obedience, or change because you hope the issue will remain hidden or resolve itself? What would it look like to take a humble step toward God instead?
This week’s challenge: Ask God to reveal an area where self, pride, comfort, fear, or worldly thinking may be shaping your choices more than His will.
If He reveals anything to you, spend time in honest confession rather than vague generalities. Name the attitude, action, habit, or compromise before God.
