Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

If you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to Joshua 7. This is message #2 in our series called Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude. Our theme verse for the entire series is Philippians 2:5: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

In this series, we’re examining our attitude in six key areas of our lives. What we want to do is measure our attitude in each area against what God has said in His Word, and then make whatever changes are necessary. The attitude of Jesus was always in tune with God’s Word, and that’s our goal for our lives as well.

Last week we talked about the most basic and foundational attitude of all: our attitude about God. This week, we’re moving on to the next key attitude that we need to talk about: our attitude about sin.

One of the earliest memories I have in my life is a time when my mom was ironing. I’m not exactly sure how old I was, but I know I was really young. I was watching my mom iron, and it just looked like the most fun in the world. Funny how things change when you grow up, isn’t it? Ironing doesn’t look nearly as fun to me anymore. Anyway, back to young Mike and his mother. My mom would constantly tell me not to touch the iron because it was hot and I would get burned. This instruction just didn’t fit with my plan. Ironing was fun, I was sure of it. So my mom turned her back for one second and I went for the iron. Guess what I found out? An iron is hot and it burned me. And this is why my wife does the ironing in our household. I have ironaphobia because I was traumatized by an iron at a very early age, so that is why Nicki does the ironing. Right honey?

As I think back on that incident when I was a young boy, I remember thinking that my mom’s rules didn’t make sense. It just seemed like she was just trying to keep me from having fun. But in reality, she was trying to keep me from getting hurt. This rule was made with my best interests in mind.

God, like any good parent, has given his children some rules. He has given us principles to live by. And we, like most children, don’t like the rules at times. We think that these rules are just arbitrarily handed down to spoil our fun. So we decide to do our own thing. We break a rule or two. We decide to sin. But sooner or later, we figure out that all we’re doing is playing with a hot iron. It looked like fun, but the end result is pain. As we talk about our attitude about sin, we need to remember that when God gives us principles to govern our lives, He has our best interest in mind. Now, let’s jump into our story.

In the Old Testament book of Joshua, we read a story about a guy named Achan. Achan was an Israelite. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were God’s chosen people. But Achan’s story is hardly one you would expect from someone who is one of God’s people. Here’s how his story begins. “Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites.” Basically what happened was that Achan stole some things that belonged to God and God alone. The NIV calls them the “devoted things.” These items were often given to God by completely destroying them, probably by fire. But Achan didn’t allow this to happen. Instead, he stole some of these things.

In the meantime, while Achan was busy making off with some of God’s stuff, Joshua, who was Israel’s leader, was busy making battle plans for his army. The plan was to attack the city of Ai. He sent some of covert agents to spy out the city. They came back and told him, “Man, this is going to be a piece of cake! They hardly have any troops at all. There’s no need to send the whole army. Just send one battalion and they’ll mop the floor with these wimps.”

So Joshua sent about 3,000 men to take the city, but the Israelite army was squashed by the men of Ai. No one in their wildest imagination would have dreamed that the mighty army of Israel would lose to the pitiful fighting force of Ai. It would be like the U.S. army losing a battle with Jamaica. This stuff just doesn’t happen. And this loss sent the Israelites spinning. The Bible tells us in verse 5 that their hearts “melted and became like water.” (NIV)

So Joshua and all the elders of Israel fell facedown before God. Joshua cried out to God, asking him why this defeat had happened. God answered him immediately. God said, “Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen the things that I commanded to be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them; they have also lied about it and hidden the things among their belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.” (Joshua 7:11-12, NLT)

The next morning, Joshua gathered all of Israel together. God singled out Achan as the guilty person. Joshua called Achan on the carpet and he confessed the whole thing. He admitted that he had stolen, “a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound.” (Joshua 7:21, NLT) The Israelites then took Achan, along with his sons and daughters, and stoned them to death and then burned their bodies, after which God was no longer angry.

This is more than a sad story with a violent ending. This is a story through which God has much to say regarding our attitude toward sin. I want to pull out four principles that we can learn from the story of Achan.

The first thing we learn from Achan’s story is that when sin is present, God is not. Look at verse 12 in Joshua 7. God says that the presence of sin “is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.” (NLT) Because of the presence of sin, God told Joshua, “You’re on your own now. I’ve set you apart to be destroyed. Unless you take care of the sin in your camp, I won’t be with you anymore.” When sin is present, God is not.

That is a key point to remember in our lives. We all want God’s presence in our lives. We want God’s blessing on our lives. But if you want to have a life that is blessed by God, you must be living a life that honors God. When sin is present, God is not.

Did you notice in the story of Achan that his sin affected more than just him? His nation’s army lost a battle because of his sin. Israel’s soldiers, along with his own sons and daughters, lost their lives because of Achan’s sin. Now, take that lesson from Old Testament Israel and apply it to the present day church. The results are the same. We are all interconnected in the church. The Bible says that we are all members of Jesus’ body. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one celebrates, we all celebrate. And when one sins, the consequences reach beyond the individual. The consequences affect the church as a whole. You may think that the sin you commit in secret doesn’t affect anyone else, but you are wrong. It can have far reaching consequences throughout the church. Why? Because when sin is present, God is not.

There’s a second lesson we learn from the story of Achan. Sin doesn’t just happen. It is planned. It is a calculated choice. Achan wasn’t ignorant. He knew what God had commanded about the devoted things. But look at his progression into sin. Achan confessed, “I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them.” (Joshua 7:21a, NLT) As you look at what he said, do you see the progression? Do you see how Achan fell into sin, step by step? I saw it. I wanted it. I took it. Achan wasn’t blindsided. He didn’t get to this point by accident. He wasn’t duped. Achan was here because of his choices. I saw it. I wanted it. I took it.

Achan isn’t the only one to ever fall into sin through this progression. Remember Eve in the Garden of Eden? God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from a certain tree. But Eve saw the fruit, wanted the fruit, and took the fruit.

Remember David’s affair with Bathsheba? He was walking around on the rooftop of his palace and he saw Bathsheba on another rooftop taking a bath. He could have turned his head and immediately walked away, but he didn’t. Instead, he sent someone to find out who she was. He was told her name was Bathsheba and she was indeed a married woman. Then he sent for her, she was brought to him, and he slept with her. He saw her, he wanted her, he took her. This is sin’s simple, but deadly, process. A man doesn’t just fall into bed with a married woman. It’s not an accident. It’s in your head before you’re in bed.

To have a right attitude about sin, we can’t make excuses. We can’t look for loopholes or cop outs. If there is sin in my life, it’s there because of deliberate choices that I have made. Sin doesn’t just happen.

A third lesson that we can pull from the story of Achan: You will never achieve all the victories God has planned for you if sin is ruling your life.

Back in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, Bud Wilkinson’s football teams at the University of Oklahoma were among the strongest in the nation. After he retired to the broadcast booth, Coach Wilkinson was asked about his team’s consistent success. How could he consistently mold young athletes into such powerful teams, year after year?

This was Bud’s answer: “When a football player goes into a game, he can play to a variety of audiences. He may play for the crowd in the stands, for example, working hard for their cheers and avoiding their boos. Or he might play for a special person in the stands—a girlfriend, maybe.

A player may allow the other team to dictate his play. In other words, if the man across the line isn’t very good, then he doesn’t play well either. If the opponent cheats and plays dirty, so does he.

Some football players allow their teammates to determine the quality of their play. Some focus on the game officials, the referees. And of course, some play merely for themselves—they work hard to be stars.

Many audiences vie for the attention of the players. My men know, however, that there’s only one person watching the game that matters—only one person whom they have to please…me. Regardless of the cheers or boos, the strength of the opposition, the fairness of the officials, or the play of their teammates, I am the only audience that counts. When everyone knows that and plays that way, they pull together, do their best, give it their all, and win.”

Bud Wilkinson’s teams had one leader: their coach. He knew that if anyone else or anything else ruled in the hearts and minds of his players, they would be defeated. When they all followed the same leader, they were consistently victorious.

Our lives are to be lived for God alone. But when we allow sin to become our ruler instead of God, that’s when we’re defeated. Israel was defeated because sin was present. Look at what God said to them after their defeat. “Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things.” (Joshua 7:13b, NLT)

God’s plan for the Israelites was to win the battle over the men of Ai. He had a great victory planned for them. But the plans changed when sin entered the picture. And he promised them that, until the sin was dealt with, they would never have another victory.

Like Israel, God has great things planned for our lives. God is your biggest fan. He has great dreams for what your life could be. But the quickest way to short-circuit God’s plans for us is to sin. Remember what we said earlier: when sin is present, God is not. If that is true, then it stands to reason that God’s plans and dreams for us will be snuffed out if we allow sin to rule our lives.

There’s one final lesson that I want to pull from the story of Achan. Sin requires bloodshed. According to the Old Testament law, death was the only option for Achan. Look at what Joshua said to him at the end of chapter 7. “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. (Joshua 7:25, NLT)

Because of his sin, death was the only option for Achan. And because of our sin, death is the only option for us as well. There is a price that must be paid. Sin still requires bloodshed. But because of God’s grace, the blood for our sin has already been shed. The death penalty that is required is already satisfied. It all happened at the apex of time, the crux of all history. It happened on a crude wooden cross atop a hill called Calvary. The penalty for our sin was paid in full by the death of Jesus.

I want to tell you about a woman named Farida. Farida is a Muslim, but she has developed a friendship with a Christian missionary. The missionary tells a story of the time that his friend, Farida, explained to him about the Muslim’s holy season of Ramadan. Farida explained the rules of Muslim fasting during Ramadan. She told her friend that certain people can be exempt from fasting, such as pregnant or nursing mothers, people who are ill, and so forth. Farida told her friend that, during this Ramadan, she had several weeks of “debt” to pay from past Ramadans when she was sick and could not fast. She would be fasting an extra 20 days this year. She said that all Muslims who are exempt from fasting must make up their debt at a later time.

The missionary said that as he heard Farida say that she must pay off her debts, he thought of the chorus that sings, “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song, Amazing Grace all day long, Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.”

Farida repeats “forgive me, God” 100 times a day to ensure that all the sins she’s committed to that point have been forgiven. We, on the other hand, have experienced the liberation of being “debt free” before God. This is the great difference between our faith and other world religions. In all other religions, it’s all about what you can do, do, do. Only in Christianity is it done. The price for our sin has been paid in full. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “God purchased you at a high price. Don’t be enslaved by the world.” (1 Corinthians 7:23, NLT)

Forgiving our sin cost God dearly. Knowing what lengths God would go to for us, understanding how high the cost was to buy us back, how can we allow sin to get a grip in our lives again? Sin requires bloodshed, and the blood that was shed came from the Son of God.

We live in a world that buys into the lie of relativism. What is right for you might not be right for me. What is wrong for you might not be wrong for me. Our culture has essentially erased the principle of right and wrong. But no matter what direction the politically correct wind may be blowing, God doesn’t move. God has said that, in fact, some things are right and some things are wrong. When we venture into the territory of wrong, God calls that sin. We can’t let our attitude about sin be dictated by our culture. Instead, our attitude about sin needs to come from what God has said in His word. When sin is present, God is not. Sin doesn’t just happen. It is a calculated choice. You will never achieve all the victories God has planned for you if sin is ruling your life. And sin requires bloodshed. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. To take our sin and stamp down “Paid In Full.”

If you’ve never made Jesus the Savior and Lord of your life, you need to know that Jesus died to free you from sin. He died so that he could erase every wrong choice you have ever made. He died so that your sins could be forgiven and then forgotten by God. Don’t let the sins of your past, or even your present, continue to rule your life. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and allow Him to wash the junk in your life away and give you a fresh start today.

Mike Edmisten