Sin Will Find You Out
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The question of sin is ever paramount in the Word of God. It was sin that made necessary the death of Christ upon the Cross. In spite of this, we would like to discuss with you for a while, the world's attitude toward sin, in contrast with the Divine attitude.
1. Men belittle the heinousness of sin, while God magnifies it.
(1) Men belittle sin inasmuch as they deny its existence. How many there are in these days of revelry and licentiousness, who call the black, white and the evil, good. Satan, so far as a modern world is concerned, is no more going about seeking whom he may destroy, and sin is no more leading men to hell. That is, Satan and sin are not even recognized among the men of this world.
(2) Men belittle sin by excusing it. Even when the world admits the fact of sin, they think of it more as a joke, or an excusable folly. They say that they can easily quit when they want to. They speak of their sins as "a way they have." They will even gather, at times, in cloistered spots, and boast the extent of their evil deeds. One will vie with another, as to the evil they have done.
(3) Men think of sin as a sweet morsel a great satisfaction to their flesh. The dance, the gambling den, the beaches, the houses of shame, are to them no more than the fulfillment of natural promptings. To such people the fruit of sin is to be desired to make one glad.
2. God magnifies the heinousness of sin.
(1) God says that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. When the Lord Jesus spoke of the human heart, He had nothing good to say concerning it. He said:
"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."
The Apostle Paul speaks thus by the Holy Ghost: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like."
Thus we should all say of the natural man, "In me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing."
(2) God says that the wages of. sin is death. This is directly against man's conception. Man thinks that sin should be overlooked, excused. God thicks that sin should be punished. Man says, "There is no hell." God says: "The wicked shall be turned into hell." Man says: "I may sin, and live forever in the happy hunting grounds of Heaven." God says: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." He says again: "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Once more He says: "The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night."
3. As a result of this comparison as set forth in 1 and 2, let us consider, for a moment, what sin really is. There are five things said in the Word of God relative to this matter:
(1) Sin is the transgression of the Law. That is, sin is going contrary to what God commands. Its heart is that of rebellion, casting off God, and defying His Laws.
(2) Sin is knowing to do good and doing it not. Sin is not only, therefore, breaking the Commandments which say, "Thou shalt not"; but it is the disobedience to the Commandments which say, "Thou shalt."
(3) Sin is all unrighteousness. Everything in the heart that is unclean is sin. The Book of Romans in chapter 1, describes the sinner as one who is "filled with all unrighteousness." Then follows a most terrific exposure of the villainy of the human heart.
(4) Sin is everything that falls short of the glory of God. To the extent that man is not Godlike, he is sinful. In other words, God is the very consummation of all good, of all light, of all life. Man is a sinner to the extent that he falls short of these, and of every other attribute of God.
I. GOD CANNOT OVERLOOK SIN (Joshua 7:11)
Our study opens with Joshua 7:11, and Joshua 7:11 opens with the words: "Israel hath sinned."
1. Wherein Israel's sin is manifested. There are three things our verse sets forth:
(1) "Israel hath * * transgressed My Covenant which I commanded them." Sin is indeed the transgression of the Law. God's Commandments are not given to be memorized. They are given to be obeyed. Read what Christ said (John 14:21; John 14:23).
(2) "Israel hath * * even taken of the accursed thing." Israel's sin then is described as touching the things which God called unclean. The things which He disapproved, disallowed, and put under the ban. Here is a lesson to us all: Beware lest thou touch the unclean thing.
(3) "Israel hath * * put it even among their own stuff." Here is the effort of the sinning heart to hide his sin. He wears the robes of his righteous acts, in order to cover up the filthy garments of his flesh. This is hypocrisy.
2. How God deals with sin. Some one may say that God should have overlooked this sin in the camp, but a holy God cannot be just and at the same time pass over evil. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Sin brings separation. It also brings reproof and correction.
Had God passed by the sin that was in Israel's camp on that day, then Israel would in the future have winked at her sins, and condoned them with the thought that a righteous God did not care.
II. GOD SEES THE HIDDEN STUFF (Joshua 7:11, l.c.)
We feel that the words, "They have put it evert among their own stuff demand further attention.
1. The tendency of the sinner is to hide his sin.
(1) The story of Adam and Eve is the story of fabricated garments, made of fig leaves, with which they sought to cover their nakedness. It is the story of the hiding in the midst of the trees. This spirit which dominated Adam and Eve still prevails. Sinners revel in the night. They seek to carry on behind closed doors, sheltered nooks, shadowed places.
(2) The story of Saul is the story of sin excused. Saul said: "I have performed the commandment of the Lord." The Prophet replied: "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" Saul glibly answered: "The people spared the best * * to sacrifice unto the Lord." Then followed the Prophet's memorable words: "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Thus Saul sought not only to excuse, but also to hide the heinousness of his sin under the guise of a religious cloak. Some men, the farther they walk from God, the more they parade and assume piety.
(3) The story of Balaam. Here is a man who, having sinned, was warned of God when his ass spoke unto him as an angel withstood him in the way. He quickly said: "I have sinned," and then he added: "If it displease thee, I will get me back again." Thus did Balaam seek to play with God's warning, and to toss away every meaning of the angel with the drawn sword. He said: "I have sinned" but pressed on his way, and sinned the more. It was the call of the unrighteous mammon that lured him to his destruction.
2. The determination of God is to reveal man's sin. No sinner can put it over on Deity. It was David who said: "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising." He added: "There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." Does any man think that he can hide himself where God cannot find him? Though he takes the wings of the morning, and flies to the uttermost parts of the earth, God is there.
God will bring to judgment every man. He will make bare the thoughts of the heart and of the mind. He will bring to light every hidden thing. Our sins will surely find us out.
III. WHEN GOD REFUSES TO BLESS (Joshua 7:12)
1. The expression, "Therefore the Children of Israel could not stand before their enemies." When we read in Joshua 7:11, "Israel hath sinned," we doubtless demur, knowing well that it was Achan alone who had sinned. What God is teaching is a potent fact. Not only is the sin of the father visited upon the child unto the third and fourth generation, but sin in Israel's camp, or in ours, though it be but the sin of one man, passes judgment on to the whole camp.
For a moment, let us think of a church filled with godly men and women saints true both to the faith, and to service. Would the presence of a minority who sin, affect the victorious march of the faithful? Beyond doubt it would. God is still saying to us what He said of old to Israel: "For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, * * therefore shall thy camp be holy: that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee."
2. The expression They "turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed." This is one of the saddest stories of Holy Writ. A group of wonderful men, eager for the fray because of their victory at Jericho, and buoyed up by faith in the Living God, yet utterly smitten and turning their backs on the foe as they ran for their lives. Such defeat as they met was ignominy. It was shameful. Why did God permit such a thing? The answer is recorded: "Because they were accursed." Why were they accursed? because Achan had defiled their camp.
Let us go for a moment to the Church at Pentecost. When Ananias and Sapphira paraded a false devotion, lying unto the Holy Ghost, and keeping back a part of the price of their land, did God pass it up? He did not. Judgment fell speedily, and both Ananias and Sapphira, under the withering sentence of Divine wrath, fell down and gave up the ghost.
God gave warning to the early Church (Acts 5:1-11). It is true that the church of today operates under the example of that fiery indignation. Yet, also, how unmindful is the church of all of these things!
IV. WHERE VICTORY IS FOUND (Joshua 7:12, l.c., 13)
1. Victory depends on the destruction of the accursed thing. The last clause of Joshua 7:12 reads: "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you." The condition is very plain. The accursed brings defeat; putting away of the accursed, assures victory.
Perhaps Christians fail to consider how much their words and deeds have to do with the victories in Christ, which they hope to obtain. "Power belongeth unto God." Has God not said: "Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord"?
The New Testament records these words: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
2. Victory, therefore, depends upon the sanctification of saints. David recognized this, when he cried out: "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. * * Create in me a clean heart," etc. "Then," said David, "will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee."
Throughout the ages God has had one call, both to Israel and to the Church, one expressed will stands before us all "This is the will of God, even your sanctification, * * that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence." It is ever true that God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. When Israel went forth to meet the enemy at Jericho, they first sanctified themselves, therefore they met victory. When they went forth to meet the enemy at Ai, they were unclean, therefore, they met defeat.
V. SEARCHING FOR THE ACCURSED THING (Joshua 7:14-18)
1. They followed every detail to locate sin in their midst. This was all done under the command of God.
First of all they sought tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. In the tribe of Judah, they sought family by family, and the family of the Zarhites was taken. In the families of the Zarhites, they sought man by man, and Zabdi was taken. In the household of Zabdi they sought man by man and Achan was taken.
God did not allow any particular love that He had for Judah, for the families thereof, or, for the individuals thereof, to deter the search.
We wonder how Achan must have felt as he saw first his tribe taken; then the particular family, with which he was aligned, taken; then, the particular head of his own branch, and finally himself.
The time for Achan to have repented was before the search began. When the search did begin, the time for his repentance was before it struck his tribe, certainly before it struck his family, or himself.
2. Achan taken sin will out. Perhaps the wily Achan thought that he could hide from God. He found, to his sorrow, that the Word of God is ever true. God had said: "Be sure your sin will find you out," and Achan's sin found him out.
Thinkest thou, O vain man, that thou canst sow to sin, and not reap thereto? Thinkest thou that thou canst evade the judgment of the Most High God? Hast thou not heard that the books are to be opened and that everyone shall receive according to the things written therein?
VI. REPENTING TOO LATE (Joshua 7:19-20)
It is very interesting to note Achan's attitude after he was found out, and established as the guilty person, who had taken of the accursed thing. 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."
When Joshua accused Achan, Achan confessed and said: "I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel." Let us remember that all of our sins are against God. Even David, when he had killed Uriah said: "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight."
In Achan's confession four words stand out prominently before us:
1. "I saw." This expression showed that Achan was overcome by the lure of gold, and by the pride engendered in his heart by the thought of goodly Babylonish garments.
2. "I coveted." Covetousness is no little sin. The Lord says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." He also warns against the love of money as the root of all evil.
3. "I * * took." He saw, he coveted, he took. Here was where he yielded to temptation. His love for the spoil made him not only a thief, but a rebel to God's definite command.
4. "I * * hid." The very fact that Achan hid his silver and gold and the spoils which he had taken in the midst of his tent, is abundant proof that Achan knew all the time that he was doing wrong. When we try to cover up our tracks it is a concession that we are walking in an evil way.
VII. THE INEXORABLE RESULTS OF SIN (Joshua 7:25-26)
1. Sin troubles others. Here are Joshua's own words: "Why hast thou troubled us?" If one could sin alone, unto himself, it would be different. However, every man is indissolubly linked to every other man. Whatsoever the husband does, affects his wife and children; whatsoever the citizen does, affects his neighbor.
The truth is that sin blights everything it touches, and it seems to touch everything. Some one cries, "It is no-body's business what I do." Nay, it is everybody's business, because your sin affects them. Remember that your liberties end, where another's life is touched.
2. Sin troubles you, yourself. One cannot play with fire and not, himself, be burned. You cannot take a serpent into your bosom, and not be bitten. Sin brought to Achan enough of sorrow.
We have often seen the ravages of sin health gone, peace gone, money gone, friends gone, life gone who wants to play with sin?
What anguish, what heartaches, what bitter cups have always befallen those who followed in the paths of the unjust!
3. Sin ends in death. It is not alone the present that is marred by sin. Sin spells woe for the life to come. Achan died a physical death he was stoned because he had sinned. That was bad enough. How unspeakably worse is it to suffer eternal death.
Outer darkness, without one ray of light that is the result of sin.
Oh, to have no hope, no refuge,
No one to aid and cheer thee;
Oh. to have no Christ forever,
How dark thy life will be!
AN ILLUSTRATION
"Murder will out," is the old saying. Yes, and so will other sins out. They will not stay hidden. They begin to squirm and twist and push and pry just as soon as they are covered up, and heavy must be the lid that holds them down and in.
This is one of Dr. Deem's stories: A minister once called upon a class leader. After having prayed with the family, he said, "Brother, how is it that you have been a church member so long and yet you are not a converted man?"
"Are you my judge?"
"I know you by your fruits. You have no family worship."
"Well, I suppose that it is true; but I'd like to know who told you."
"No one told me; but had you been in the habit of having family Worship, the cat would not have jumped out of the window, frightened, as it did when we knelt to pray."
The erring class leader acknowledged the truth of the cat test and confessed that he had omitted family prayers because he did not wish his men to lose the time from their work. The Classmate.