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"IT IS HID...IN THE MIDST OF MY TENT"
I. Introduction. Let's think
about the story of Achan.
A. Early in
1. But God had
promised them the land!!
2. Think of how
discouraged....Perhaps the spies were right!!
B. WHY?? (Joshua 7:8-11)
C. Now Read Joshua
7:16-26
II. WHAT WAS HIDDEN IN ACHAN'S TENT.
A. The story of Achan's sin.
B. Note...
1. How
his sin was unavoidably found out. cf 1 Tim
5:24
(1 Tim
5:24) The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment;
for others, their sins follow after.
ALL SIN IS EVENTUALLY FOUND OUT!!
2.
Note the effects of his sin on
a.
b. God said ISRAEL HAD SINNED!!
III. EVIL IS SOMETIMES
HIDDEN IN A CHRISTIAN'S TENT.
A. Sometimes,
Christians have something hidden in their "tents."
B. To look at them in the congregation, you
wouldn't know it, but it comes out that some sinful habit has planted itself in
their home.
C.
The result of Achans
in the church.....
1. The
damage to their home
a. loss of respect for God
b. loss of respect for the Christian
c. everyone is affected
2. Damage
to the church (the Israel of God)
a. Reputation is lost
b. When found out by the church
1) confidence is lost
2) If church doesn't deal with it
(discipline)...
GOD ALLOWS
DEFEAT
3. A N.T.
example....the fornicator of 1 Cor. 5:1ff.
C.
Some more modern obvious
examples.
1. Among
those who are not Christians we sometimes see the damage done
in the home by....
a. Alcoholism
or other substance addictions of a parent or child.
b. Fornication...esp.
in the form of "cohabitation."
c. When Christians allow these things to go on with their children
without
restraint.....THE CHURCH IS DAMAGED
2.
You might not hear of alcoholism
or cohabitation too much among professing Christians, but from time to
time equally dreadful things go
on in their homes.
a. Pornography
is kept.
b. Violence--children
or spouses are physically abused.
c. Alcohol
and other drug habits are maintained.
d. Sexual
misconduct (from adultery to pedophilia to incest)
Examples .... actually found to be in
Christians' homes.
IV. WHAT IS HIDDEN IN
YOUR TENT?
A. Now
consider too some less obvious examples of evil brought in and
stored away in Christians' tents.
1. Uncontrolled
television/movie watching.
(Eph
5:11) And do
not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even
expose them;
a. We invite the most vile people into our
living rooms
b. not all TV or Movies are bad
2. Gossip.
(Prov 6:16) There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:......(Prov
a. Murder of a reputation
b. causes lack of respect for God's people
c. divides families, friends, brethren ....
& CHURCHES
d. example of woman @
3. Marriages
where there is bickering...even hatred...between spouses.
(Heb
13:4) Let
marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will
judge.
Ephesians
5.....Husbands love your wives.....wives submit to your husbands
a. destroys God's plan for man....
b. children learn all the wrong skills
c. selfishness; bull-headedness; lack of
humility; wife's
submission
4. Habitual
ill-tempers.
(Gal
5:19) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident....... outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
(Eph
4:29-31) Let no unwholesome word proceed from your
mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of
the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by
whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger
and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
a. we overlook... we pamper... it is sin
b. the church's reputation is hurt by some
c. lack of humility.... selfishness
5. Materialism.
(Mat
6:19-24) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in
or steal; for where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also. The lamp
of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be
full of light. But if your eye is bad,
your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you
is darkness, how great is the darkness!
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon."
a. covetousness.... (like
Achan)
b. job or money first.... church or Christ
second
c. steal from the treasury (by not contributing
as we should)
6. Neglect
of children.
(Eph
6:4) And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
a. working mothers
b. too much freedom
c. too little discipline
Have you hidden some sin in your home?