Preparation for Purging - Prayer

Introduction: The Relevance of Achan's Sin and Its Purgation

0:01 As we resume our study this morning, I would remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16, in which he states that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine or teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And we're approaching then this section of the Old Testament Scriptures with the conviction that it is profitable for teaching. It is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction

0:45 in the life of practical godliness. And I've suggested that the passage that we've been studying has an even more intensified relevance for us in our life history as a church because of peculiar circumstances in which we find ourselves. It comes to us with special relevance in its teaching, in its reproof, and in its correcting authority. Thus far we have seen that the narrative concerning Achan's sin can be divided into three general divisions.

1:24 You have the setting of the history of Achan's sin, chapter 5, verse 13, through chapter 6 and verse 27. It's within the peculiar setting of the teaching of those verses that we understand the significance of Achan's sin. Secondly, we've begun to consider the substance of the history of Achan's sin, all of chapter 7, which also breaks down into three very natural divisions. We have the sin of Achan, its commission, verse 1.

1:59 The sin of Achan, its fruition, verses 2 to 5. And then the sin of Achan, its purgation, verse 6, to the end of the chapter. Now just briefly to remind you of the thrust of what we've studied thus far. You remember that when we studied the setting of Achan's sin, we saw that God in bringing His people to the borders of Canaan and now about to conquer Jericho on their behalf, was concerned to teach them two fundamental lessons.

2:34 And these lessons were to be regulative for the entire conquest of the land of Canaan. And the two lessons are these. Number one, all of their conquest would come by the putting forth of sovereign power on God's part. And secondly, their conquest would come by the putting forth of an obedient faith, on their part.

3:02 Sovereign power on God's part, met by obedient faith on the part of the people of God and the promise of God to Joshua would be fulfilled every place that the sole of your foot treads upon, I have given it to you. And so it is with us. Whatever the conquest God lays before us in the accomplishment of His purposes of redemption, He wants us to understand as He wanted them to understand that all is done by sovereign power from heaven, sovereign power met by the obedient faith of God's people. And then as we began last week

3:45 to study the substance of the sin of Achan, we saw the commission of his sin. It was basically the taking of a thing forbidden and the withholding of that which was to be brought into the sanctuary of God. He took, he took the Babylonish garment and then he took the wedge of gold and the shekels of silver. And then the fruition of that sin was that all Israel was held guilty and all Israel was crippled from further advance in the purpose of God.

4:19 And the great principle that we deduced from our study last week was this, that the sin of one individual in covenant relationship in covenant relationship to God and His people can cripple the entire community of the people of God in which he finds himself. The New Testament states it this way, know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. And so here we see Israel turning in defeat, finding themselves crippled before her enemies because of the sin of this one man Achan which God charged

5:00 upon the whole nation of Israel. And we notice that Achan's sin was a deliberate, willful, calculated disobedience to the revealed will of God. It was not the common sin that adhered to all of the Israelites and that commonly adheres to the best of God's people, but it was willful, deliberate, calculated disobedience against the clear teaching of the word of God. And so we notice that Achan's sin thus crippling Israel rendering her impotent to conquer her enemies.

5:37 Now that takes care of our review. Having considered the setting of Achan's sin, we've under the heading the substance of his sin have looked at its commission, its fruition, and now we turn to consider its purgation. And I have not chosen that word simply for homiletical effect, though I hope it does help the story to stick in your mind, but because the word accurately conveys what is taught in chapter 7, verse 6 to the end of the chapter. It is a record of how God purged this sin from the nation of Israel.

6:16 For to purge is to cleanse or to rid of impurities and foreign matter or undesirable elements. And into the camp of Israel had come this foreign matter, this Babylonian, this Babylonian garment, this wedge of gold and shekels of silver wrongly retained. And God had said to Israel, I will not be with you until there is a purging. The end of verse 12, except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you.

6:48 So then the sin in its commission, the sin in its fruition, then moves in the record to the sin in its purgation. And if you have the old ASV, the 19th, and I would imagine the new ASV is divided the same way. There are four paragraphs giving a record of the purging of the sin of Achan from the camp of Israel. Verses 6 through 9 comprise the first paragraph in which we have the prayer of Joshua and the elders.

7:22 And we're going to study that prayer this morning under the heading Preparation for Purgation. The prayer of Joshua and the elders. Then you have in verses 10 to 15 the pronouncement of God to Joshua. In other words, the directions for purging.

7:42 God tells him precisely how the sin is to be purged. Then in verses 16 through 21, we have the obedience of Joshua in the discovery of the sin of Achan. And as God's directives were specific, so Joshua's obedience was specific. And then the closing paragraph, verses 22 to the end of the chapter, give us the judgment of God upon Achan's sin and upon his family.

8:13 So then there are four paragraphs dealing with the purgation of the sin of Achan. It should be evident, if you followed it all, that far more space, far more detail is given to the purgation of this sin than to the purgation of Achan. We should not go to any other part of the whole narrative. Therefore, we should come to it convinced that the way in which the sin was purged from Israel is filled with helpful instruction to the people of God that we might know the way in which God would purge sin from us as His people.

The Prayer of Joshua and the Elders: A Call to Seek God's Face

8:52 Now then, this morning, just the first paragraph, the prayer of Joshua and the elders, preparation for, purging. And as we look at the prayer, I shall first of all read it, and then we shall break it down into its essential and natural divisions. And Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust upon their heads.

9:25 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to cause us to perish? Would that we had been content and dwelt beyond the Jordan. O Lord, what shall I say after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will compass us round and cut off our name from the earth.

9:58 And what wilt Thou do? For Thy great name. Here we have the prayer of Joshua and the elders' preparation for purging. Before the sin was ever brought to light, the man of God and the leaders of the people of God are found prostrate on their faces in the presence of God.

10:21 And out of that context comes the action of God to purge sin from His people. And before we even begin to break down the passage, there is a great lesson in the overview of the passage in the particular way in which it comes to us, reminding us that whatever calamities befall the people of God, whatever crises the people of God face, whatever apparent obstacles the servants of Christ faced in the ongoing of the purposes of redemption, every obstacle, every crisis, every particular frustration and every frustrating circumstance is a call not to carnal reasoning,

11:05 not to carnal scheming and conniving, but it is a call to seek the face of the living God. And yet sad to say that which should be the first response of the people of God is often the last response. For they try carnal methods and carnal means to overcome their obstacles until beaten and frustrated and feeling utterly shut up, but they are not. They are not.

11:30 They are not. Then in their desperation they turn to the living God. Read the 107th Psalm. It's an account of how this happened with Israel again and again and again when God brought them into bondage and into defeat.

11:43 It says, Then they cried unto the Lord. But thank God Joshua was no such man. The moment the report came back from Ai that 36 men had been killed, that Ai was standing unconquered and Israel, Israel was defeated, the first thing he did was to turn away from all human counsel and to prostrate himself in the presence of the living God. Now then, with that general introduction, notice first of all the object of the prayer of Joshua and the elders.

The Object of Their Prayer: Jehovah God Alone

12:21 The scripture says, Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord. The ark of Jehovah.

12:34 Now why does the writer give us this detail? What is the significance of the ark of Jehovah? Well, for all of you versed at all in the Old Testament, you know that the ark was the place where God in a very special way manifested His presence visibly amongst His people. The Shekinah, the visible glory of God dwelt above this place.

13:01 The ark of the people of God. Within the ark was the law of God. The reminder of that which became the standard of covenant obedience for the people of God. And so when the scripture says that Joshua and the elders fell before the ark of Jehovah, it is telling us that the exclusive object of their prayer was nothing other than the Jehovah God, the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God, the Lord of Israel.

13:36 Now, there are several other alternatives that Joshua could have faced. He could have turned, first of all, to these spies who brought him false information. For we read in verse 2 that Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai to spy out the land. These men came back and said, it's but an easy city.

13:56 Only send up a few and we'll take it. They were to be blamed for their misinformation. But Joshua does not turn to the spies and begin to consult with them as to why they did not give him different information. He could have turned to the soldiers who showed a real measure of cowardice.

14:16 When they saw a few of their brethren slain, they turned heel and they ran. That's the mark of a coward. A true soldier who's committed to the cause that he's fighting for stands even unto blood against his enemy. Joshua could have even turned inward upon himself and chided himself for his failure to seek the face of God in consulting about how to conquer Ai. But Joshua does not turn

14:43 to the spies who gave false information. He does not turn to the soldiers who displayed cowardice. He does not turn inward upon himself. But the scripture says he turned unto the God whose presence was manifested there above the ark.

15:01 The ark of Jehovah. He did not reason, well, you win some, you lose some. All is to be expected. No, no. God had

15:09 promised in Joshua 1 verses 5 and 6 that no enemy whatsoever would be able to stand before Joshua. As I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. And so he sees beyond whatever factors may have contributed to the defeat and he sees one basic issue. Ai

15:37 stands unconquered because the God of Israel, the God of the ark of Jehovah is displeased. In the conquest of Jericho, the ark was significant. The priest before it, the ark out with the people of God, the presence of God manifested upon that ark. God is saying Jericho is leveled by my power. Ai

16:03 stands and the God of the ark of Jehovah is saying, I am displeased, I am grieved, I am not going forth with your army. And therefore the object of this prayer was the living God himself. And may I by way of application give a special word of exhortation to the leaders of this assembly. An exhortation that comes home to my heart as one of the pastors, that comes home to the elders and to the deacons. What an essential

16:37 principle for us to grasp that whenever we as a congregation face any critical issues there is intensified responsibility upon our shoulders to be men who turn instinctively to the living God. Not to turn to one another, not to turn to the people, but to fall before the ark of God. That ark now of course is the mercy seat. That place where the Lord Jesus is our great high priest deigns to meet with all who draw near to him in the virtue of his own blood and intercession. And I

17:21 exhort you as a congregation as you pray for your leaders among other things, pray this, O God make the men of prayer, make the men to whom recourse at the throne of grace is as natural as breathing. Lord make the men who in every crisis are driven to their knees to seek your face with earnestness. The action of Joshua and the elders, it was prayer which had as its distinct object and its exclusive object the covenant God of Israel. Now in the second place, notice not only the object of their prayer but the attitude

The Attitude of Their Prayer: Grief, Humility, and Importunity

18:05 with which they prayed.

18:09 It's one thing to come to the right object, it's quite another thing to come with the right attitude. And the Holy Ghost has been careful to record not only that they came to the proper object in their praying, but they came with the proper attitude in their praying. What was the attitude? Well, we find here three things said about the attitude.

18:32 First of all, it was an attitude of genuine grief and Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening. He and all the elders of Israel and they put dust upon their heads. The genuine grief is found in these two phrases rent his clothes they put dust upon their heads. What is the significance of the rending of the clothes? Well, we read

19:08 in the scriptures, for instance, Joel chapter 2 and verse 13 where God says to his sinning people upon whom judgment is about to come rend your hearts and not your garments and turn unto the Lord with fasting and with weeping and with mourning. In other words, the tearing of the outer garments was to be a symbolic expression of the rending of the call of the human heart. It was a way of expressing that there was brokenness of heart, that there was a rent spirit in the presence of God. Likewise, the casting of dust

19:52 upon the head. Two parallel references that indicate that this is a demonstration of inward grief. Lamentations, the end of the book of Jeremiah, Lamentations chapter 2 and verse 10. Lamentations 2 and verse 10.

20:16 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground. They keep silence. They have cast up dust upon their heads. They have girded themselves with sackcloth.

20:31 The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads. To the ground. Here the prophet is beholding the desolations of Jerusalem after its destruction by the invading army and he says such grief has gripped the hearts of the elders. Such grief has gripped the virgins that we see the elders casting dust upon their heads to show the depth of their grief. Revelation

20:58 18, 19 is another parallel passage indicating this same emotion of deep pervasive and genuine grief. Revelation 18 and verse 19. Here the prophet John for he is here speaking as prophet depicting the fall of Babylon says that in the midst of that fall that they shall cry out as they look upon the smoke of her burning saying what city is like unto this great city and they cast dust on their heads and cried weeping and mourning saying

21:42 woe woe the great city wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness. You see then the clear teaching of scripture the casting of the dust upon the head the rending of the garment was the expression that the heart in its deepest recesses was gripped with the sense of true grief. What caused Joshua's grief? It was the fact that Israel had come to a point of defeat.

22:19 Israel was not accomplishing that for which God had brought her to this point in her history and Joshua could regard this as only one thing. The frown of God is upon us and when God frowns we must weep we must mourn we must know heaviness of heart and of spirit and then secondly we see that the attitude in their turning to the right object of prayer was one of genuine humility not only deep and genuine grief but genuine humility and how is this depicted for us? In these words

23:01 Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord no wall to wall carpet not even any tile he falls upon his face he puts his face in the dirt. Mighty Joshua leader of Israel the one who when he would walk through the tents of the armies of Israel the little children would look up admiringly and young men who aspired to greatness in the service of God would look at their great hero this great mighty lofty exalted leader is found upon his face in genuine

23:45 humility in the presence of the living God you will read in scriptures whenever God appeared in his glory to a man the man always found himself upon his face in the dust before that God he takes the posture of utter humility whatever God is doing whatever the cause of his frown I must never forget when I pray to this God he is God and I'm the creature he is exalted I am abased I must never trip into his presence as though he were my peer or my equal I must take my place in brokenness before him and then thirdly we find

24:30 an attitude of genuine importunity persistence in prayer for the scripture is careful to note that Joshua fell upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening he and the elders of Israel indicating that this was no momentary response some kind of a ritual through which Joshua and the elders were passing there was some lengthy period of time even until the evening of the day and assuming that they went forth to war sometime in the morning or early afternoon we have every reason to believe

25:14 that for at least a period of several hours Joshua and the elders are prostrate upon the earth their garments rent at least the garments of Joshua if the other elders did not join him in this act but certainly the scripture is explicit that all of the elders had dust upon their heads and lay prostrate upon the earth for a period of hours what were they showing they were showing that they understood long before our Lord spoke those words that men ought always to pray and not to faint they knew what it was to trouble the Lord until he heard them to

25:58 cry until there was some voice from heaven giving direction Joshua did not know the cause of this impasse Joshua did not know anything other than this God is displeased and until God comes forth to deliver us we are helpless so we'll stay in his presence until he speaks or until he moves on our behalf that's the significance of verse 10 and the Lord said unto Joshua get thee up indicating Joshua would have stayed there until some word from God came and often the greatest test of the depth of our attachment to the living God is not whether or not we begin to pray but it's whether or not we persist

26:42 in prayer it is a relative easy thing to turn in a moment of crisis and cry out oh God why it's quite another thing to stay before God in the words of scripture to wait upon the Lord until there is some word from God until there is the putting forth of the arm of God and so we have this beautiful description of Joshua and the elders not only turning to the right object in their prayer but turning with the proper attitudes of genuine grief genuine humility and genuine importunity by way of application may I

Application to Church Leadership and Congregation: Persistent Prayer in Impasse

27:26 again exhort the leadership of this assembly whatever impasse we face in the present and we do face one I received a letter this week in my absence from the mayor of Essex Fells telling us that it would be at least six months before we could hope to even purchase land that they own that's another impasse another impasse for it means that there will be no approval to go ahead and consider building on the other 2.3 acres nor would it be wise nor safe for us at this juncture to purchase the other if we would just have a white elephant upon our hands here's an impasse here's an impasse

28:09 whatever the impasse may be here's a very tangible one but there will be many other impasses we shall meet when it seems as though the heavens are locked up and the spirit is not poured forth in power to convert sinners into grand increase to the church when the conscious presence of God leaves us when the Lord allows as it were the protective hedge to be removed and a spirit of friction or bitterness and jealousy and dissension infects our assembly oh my fellow elders my fellow deacons all in a place of leadership you and I must seek by the grace of God to follow the pattern of Joshua and the elders and be found grieved with that which affects

28:54 the people of God found prostrate in true humility before God found in the place of genuine importunity if necessary giving ourselves to prayer and fasting and the relinquishment of sleep and rest and legitimate liberties until God is pleased to come forth with power upon his people as one reads particularly the narratives of the Old Testament how many critical periods in the history of Israel were found from the human standpoint pivoting upon the persistent prayers of a man of God in a place of leadership whether we think of Daniel and Daniel 9 whether we think

29:37 of Ezra and Nehemiah chapters 9 of both of those books whether we think of Moses when God says I'll blot out Israel again and again the history of the ongoing advance of the covenant people of God is the history of the prevailing prayer of the leaders that God has appointed and I trust that I take to heart this exhortation and each of my fellow leaders will but oh dear ones listen the scripture says he has made us all a kingdom of priests unto our God and there is no double standard there is an intensified standard for the leaders but no double standard and we as a congregation must learn

30:22 something and perhaps blessed be God this may be one of the reasons why we are in a present place of impasse that is God is saying to us we have new lessons to learn as a congregation of what it is to experience deep grief for those things that may be causing a crown of God upon us genuine humility and above all genuine importunity perhaps God is calling us to extended seasons of prayer such as we have hitherto not experienced as a congregation I do not know but the principles are here and I trust that God will write them upon our hearts having considered then the object of the prayer

The Essence of Joshua's Prayer: Objectionable and Commendable Elements

31:07 Jehovah God himself the attitude expressed in the prayer grief humility and importunity now in the third place and for the remainder of our time this morning look at the essence of the prayer of Joshua now this prayer is a very mingled prayer it has some things very commendable it has some things quite condemnable and then it has some things that are sort of a mixture of both you see the Bible is very honest when it describes the lives of God's people the same scripture that records David is a man after God's own heart records

31:51 his sin the same scripture that describes Peter standing with boldness hurling into the teeth of the very crucifiers of Christ these words you have taken him and by wicked hands had crucified and slain is the same Bible that records him whimpering and denying Christ in the presence of a little woman and the Bible that is honest about the lives of God's servants depicting both their virtues and their sins is the Bible that is honest about their that is honest about the prayers of God's people and those prayers often have much of sin in them and so as we look at the prayer of Joshua we'll consider first of all the objectionable

32:35 elements and then the commendable elements notice his prayer verse 7 and Joshua said alas oh Lord God wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to cause us to perish would that we had been content and dwelt beyond the Jordan does that language sound familiar oh yes that was familiar language but we find that's the language that Joshua often heard in the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness Exodus 14 and verse 11 listen to the similarity of the language Exodus 14 11

33:19 and they said unto Moses because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to bring us forth out of Egypt is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians it were better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in this wilderness over in chapter 16 and verse 3 the children of Israel said unto them would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots when we did eat bread to the full for you brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger

34:03 chapter 17 and verse 3 the language again the people strove with Moses and thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst by no stretch of the imagination can we justify the language of Joshua in this prayer this prayer was too much like the murmuring prayer of the Israelites that brought the judgment of God upon them but now notice very carefully God expresses no displeasure with this prayer when it's in the lips of Joshua now why when the children of Israel said

34:48 similar words God said I'm going to punish you and there were various forms of punishment one time it was the fiery serpents another time God allowed other judgments to come why not with Joshua for this simple reason now follow closely here was a believing man who had the root of the matter in him but who in a moment of weakness spoke with the language of unbelief this part of this prayer was contrary to Joshua's whole basic spiritual disposition it was the language of the man who could say Lord I do believe help thou mine

35:31 unbelief however in the mouths of the Israelites they had a heart full of unbelief and when these words were in their mouths it was simply an honest and accurate expression of what they were in the depths of their being now we learn a very fundamental lesson from this and the lesson is this don't be too quick to write a man off because he may say or do that which in some cases is a revelation of an unregenerate heart it may be the man acting contrary to all that he is as a new man

36:13 in Christ if all you ever knew of Peter was flying overhead in a helicopter at the moment he cursed and denied his Lord you'd say that man is no Christian and there are times when all we see and hear from a man is that which is like this part of the prayer of Joshua an expression of his remaining corruption an expression of his remaining sin an expression of his remaining unbelief it is not an accurate expression of what the man is in the root of his being and God is very patient with these expressions from his children we don't excuse them we don't call them virtuous

36:58 they are sin and in that sense this was an expression of sinful unbelief but it was unbelief in a heart that was a believing heart it was not the unbelief expressed by an unbelieving heart so it will help us on the one hand to be patient and charitable with one another judge righteous judgment and it ought to help us to take courage in those times when we say how in the world can I be a Christian and think what I'm thinking how in the world can I be a Christian and pray like I'm praying remember Joshua that wasn't a pattern

The Commendable Elements: Bewilderment and Vindication of God's Name

37:41 and if those times are not the pattern of your life Christian don't speak unnecessarily hard things against yourself there are enough legitimate problems without creating illegitimate ones now this was an undesirable element a condemnable element in the prayer of Joshua but now look at the commendable elements in verses 8 and 9 commendable element number one oh Lord what shall I say after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies well in verse 7 he had already said something but apparently he had some misgivings now he says Lord if that's not the answer what shall I say

38:25 it's a wonderful thing when a Christian moves from making wrong assertions in unbelief to where he starts making honest questions in a posture of faith Lord I don't understand your dealings I don't question them but Lord I don't understand them Lord what shall I say after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies it's the question of bewilderment Lord what shall I say what shall I say you ever have questions of bewilderment in your praying the psalms are full of them oh Lord how long thou clean cast off forever God's recorded those

39:09 as a legacy for his people and frankly beloved I find myself with that question of bewilderment many times in these days I say Lord what are you trying to tell us as a congregation Lord what are you trying to teach us as we meet Saturday by Saturday as elders to pray we've asserted before God and before one another we have absolutely no carnal ambitions for pretty building we have no idea that buildings are the church we've had our motives searched out we've said Lord all we want to do is minister to the people you're sending to us all we want is the extension of your kingdom in this area and as much as I know that I'm a child of God I know I can speak for myself and I know my fellow elders can that before God our

39:54 motives have been purified and cleansed and made holy and I must cry out Lord why what shall I say what shall I say to the people who've been praying in faith who though they may not voice it are wondering what's the matter that God doesn't seem to answer what's the problem that God doesn't seem to come forth for our assistance Lord why what shall we say ah dear child of God there's a way of asking that question in faith that is pleasing to God for remember this when we think of ourselves as servants of God the servant never questions what his master does

40:39 when his master speaks the servant is to obey but we are not only servants we're sons and daughters and my children have every right to come with a spirit of submission and say daddy I'm going to do what you tell me but would you mind telling me why you want me to do this or that I've never once to my son or daughters turn them away if they came with that attitude now if they come with the attitude I won't obey unless you tell me why I say look you obey because I've told you period you see their obedience must not wait upon having full display

41:23 of my reasons no no but if they've shown that they've embraced from the heart the command I'm delighted when they say daddy why it shows that they believe I'm a reasonable creature I'm not an arbitrary tyrant it's an expression of their confidence in me as their father and so child of God there's a proper sense in which we may come and say Lord what shall I say and then in the second place not only do we find the question of bewilderment which is commendable but the plea of vindication look at it for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will compass us round and cut off our name

42:06 for the earth and what wilt thou do for thy great name here is a plea for the vindication of the name of Jehovah God of Israel and I remind you that the name is synonymous with the person what wilt thou do for thy great name that is for thyself the revelation you've made of yourself as the covenant God of Israel the revelation you've made in the conquest of Jericho showing that nothing will stand before the God of the ark of Israel that God who has said this land is mine and I shall possess it the God who has shown the pudding by the pudding forth of his

42:50 sovereign power that he will conquer on behalf of his people this was the plea that Moses made in Exodus chapter 32 when God said I'll blot out the whole bunch and raise up another nation Moses says no no Lord you can't do that you can't do that because you made a promise that from this nation from this particular nation you'd make a great nation and fill the earth what will men think of you Lord your name is at stake when our Lord taught his disciples the framework of all true prayer what did he place at the top of the list of all the perspective of true praying when ye pray pray saying our father who art in heaven

43:34 hallowed be thy name Lord exalted be thy name exalted be thy character and the knowledge of thyself and isn't it interesting that the narrative says the moment he pleaded for the vindication of God's name and Jehovah said unto Joshua the key that unlocked the activity and the voice of God in this situation was the plea that struck closest to the heart of God the plea for the vindication of his own name may I say it reverently there is nothing that lies closer to the heart of God than

44:17 the vindication of his own name he has committed himself to make his name glorious in the earth the whole end of the redemptive work of Christ is found here father glorify the that's the whole end of it the scripture tells us when redemption has come around full cycle and all the elector gathered in God consumes this present world order with fires of judgment and institutes the new heavens and the new earth the promise of Psalm 72 will be fulfilled his name shall be glorious from shore to shore

45:02 the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness in the name of God is extolled and magnified oh dear children of God fellow believers as we plead with God in our own crises now and whatever they be I hope we don't view this as something that's locked up in its application to our present circumstance we must learn to rise above praise that has as its focal point our concerns and our witness and our desires and we must learn to pinpoint upon this great overarching concern the glory the magnifying

45:46 of the name of our great God and that name is now most fully revealed in him whose name is above every name even the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I find that this is my one place of comfort and rest in the midst of our present crisis when I come to the place where I say oh God you've established this work you have been pleased to get some little measure of glory to your name now Lord whatever measure of glory you deign to get from us do whatever must be done to get that residue of glory Lord glorify thy name then I find my heart is at rest in the

46:30 knowledge that in that context the Lord will speak the Lord will put forth the arm of his power and so dear fellow Christians let us not be guilty of the sin of unbelief the unbelief that looks and says with a Joshua oh Lord would that we were not in our present circumstances that's always the language of unbelief would that we were back there where things were easier no no that's the language of unbelief the language of faith may be the question of bewilderment what shall we say Lord but the language of faith will always proceed to that plea for the vindication

47:14 of God's name and we will hear in answer to that plea the answer that the father gave to the son when he said I have both glorified it and will glorify it again Jesus prayed father what shall I say save me from this hour no father glorify thy name and the answer came from heaven I have and I will and as our concerns are bound up in the interest of Christ in the salvation of Christ in the gathering out of the sheep of Christ in the calling of his elect we have every assurance that the father will say to us as we thus pray in Jesus name

47:57 I have both glorified it and will glorify it again what will God do I don't know maybe the Lord has some other whole direction for us at this critical point I don't know maybe some theater is going to go out of business the Lord wants us to buy it maybe there's a I don't know but one thing I know if he has a people here who say father glorify thy name and rid us of everything that is a hindrance to that glory God's going to speak and God's going to put forth the arm of his strength and the context in which the sin of Achan was exposed the setting the preview

Conclusion: The Greater Joshua and the Call to Salvation

48:41 which led to the purgation of the sin of Achan the preparation for purging was the posture of prayer and pleading in the presence of the living God and so if there be any Achanism yet amongst us if there be some Babylonish garments if there be some wedges of gold and shekels of silver those things will be dealt with by the living God as we take the posture of Joshua and the elders in the presence of our greater Joshua even our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then my final word is a word to you to whom

49:25 this is all been to be very honest frankly boring and you say what is there in all of this for me what is there in all of this for my need well my friend you cannot enter in sympathetically to the kind of praying that Joshua did you cannot enter into that kind of prayer marked by humility marked by genuine grief for the cause of the God of Israel and importunity the reason you can't is because you're estranged from that God of the covenant that God of the ark of Israel it's because you do not know him it's because you are cut off from the life

50:08 of that God and there is but one way for you to be brought to the knowledge of him perhaps some of you even thought of it as we read the passage do you see here at least a faint reflection of the greater than Joshua who himself fell upon his face overpowered with the responsibility of his conquest the father had given to him the responsibility of conquering everything in divine justice that stood in the way of men's salvation and when the Lord Jesus faced that Jericho he fell beneath the load of it and the

50:51 scripture says he fell upon his face and he prayed with importunity he prayed with earnestness until great drops of his sweat stood as it were as great drops of blood upon his forehead he said oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done and thank God the greater than Joshua entered into the agony of Gethsemane entered into the agony of his own concern that the father's name be glorified and he bore the weight of the father's wrath against human sin in order that I might have the unspeakable privilege of standing here today and saying believe

51:35 on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved repent of sin and turn to the Savior and be assured that there is mercy and forgiveness in him so then in the purgation of the sin of Achan we have this morning the preparation for that purging the prayer of Joshua and the elders the object of that prayer the living God the attitude of that prayer genuine grief humility and importunity the essence of that prayer the language of unbelief the language of faith both in the question of bewilderment and

52:20 in the plea for the vindication of God's name may God make this portion of his word profitable to us now and in the days to come let us pray O God our father we would come to you as did Joshua though you no longer dwell in the visible manifestation of your glory above an ark we thank you that all of your glory does dwell in and emanate from the Lord Jesus Christ the one to whom your spirit was given not by measure

53:04 who now possessing the plentitude of the spirit may shed forth that measure of the spirit which we his body his people need we ask that he may do that that the word we have heard this morning may prove to be factual to our sanctification as it is blessed by the spirit of the exalted Christ to this end we plead seal the word help us to feed upon it during the hours of this day be with us that we may bring praise to you and we ask above all else that your name may be glorified in the midst of this people through Jesus Christ our Lord

53:49 Amen