Discovery of Achan

Prayer for Experiential Awareness of God's Omniscience

0:10 Let us again look to God in prayer. O Lord, we have taken into our lips the words of the psalmist, wrung out of his own burning awareness of the omniscience of his God.

0:40 We confess with shame that so often we act and conduct ourselves as though we were not known by you. And yet we do read in your word that you have searched us and known us. You know our thoughts afar off. There is not a word in our tongues but lo, O Lord, you know those words altogether.

1:03 And we pray that in this hour as we shall be focusing our attention upon a portion of your word which fleshes out and illustrates the confession of David in the psalm we have sung. O give to us in this place an experiential awareness of your all-soulful, seeing eye. Bear down upon us, O gracious God, that we may know that all things are naked and open before the eyes of you, the God, with whom all of us have to do. Hear us and draw near to us and minister your word to us with grace and power through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Context of Achan's Sin and God's Judgment

1:59 We continue this morning. In our studies of this historical narrative found in Joshua, chapter 7,

2:12 a narrative that focuses upon the sin of a man named Achan, a man whose only claim to fame was this wickedness and the frightening judgment of God upon him for that wickedness. In this seventh chapter, as we've reminded you again and again, it breaks down very naturally into three divisions of thought. The sin of Achan, its commission, chapter 7 and verse 1. The sin of Achan in its fruition, chapter 7, verses 2 through 5.

2:51 Then the sin of Achan in its purgation, verses 6 and following through the end of the chapter. Thus far we have studied the first paragraph dealing with the purging of this sin, the purging of this sin, the purging of this sin, the purging of this sin, the purging of this sin, the purging of this sin, and the prayer of Joshua and the elders, verses 6 through 9, which we may rightly call preparation for purging, the prayer of the people of God. And that prayer was then followed by the pronouncement of God's for purging, verses 10 through 15. And now we are studying together, beginning with verse 16, the section in which we have the actual obedience of Joshua, the discovery and subsequent judgment upon Achan. I direct your attention now to verses 16 through 18. So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken.

3:55 And he brought near the family of Judah and he took the family of the Zerahites. And he brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man. And Zabdi was taken. And he brought near the family of Judah and he brought near his household man by man.

4:11 And Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

The Method of Achan's Discovery: Casting Lots

4:20 Last week we got only as far as this very description of the obedience of Joshua. Called on to perform a very distasteful task, yet the scripture says Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. His obedience to the tribe of Judah his obedience being on the one hand resolute and on the other hand thorough. And we sought with scripture as our guide to ask the question, what was it in Joshua that brought him to such resolute and complete obedience? And we came to the conclusion that it was not that which was in Joshua by nature but that which had been implanted by the grace of God. He had a clear word from God, a present sense of direct dealings with God. A living faith in a present God and a burning zeal for the honor of God and these things are that which prompted such resolute and complete obedience and we as the people of God will very little of that kind of obedience unless those things that were in Joshua molding and governing his life are in us and kept living and active by the power of the Holy Spirit.

5:42 And now beginning with the last phrase of verse 16 through verses 17 and 18 we have the discovery of Achan recorded for us in some detail. And the tribe of Judah was taken and he brought near the family of Judah and then the various households until we read the phrase and Achan was taken. And here then is the record of how God like the man who had been guilty of this sin which had crippled the nation and brought the anger of God upon that nation as we read in the latter part of verse 1 that the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel and in the ultimatum which God delivered in that paragraph beginning with verse 10 and bounded by verse 15 God had declared that he would not be with them to bless their military efforts in the conquest of Canaan unless the sin was discovered and judged and it could not be discovered and judged unless God put forth his power and his might so to discover it. And now then the record before us gives us some of the details of the discovery of Achan. What I propose to do is give a brief resume of the facts as they are found before us. Seek to open them up as to what happened in this discovery of Achan and then the bulk

7:12 of our time will be spent in seeking to ascertain what God is saying to Israel and to us in the manner in which he discovered the sin of Achan. First of all then a brief resume of the facts. The heads of the various groupings would be summoned to the front of the tabernacle and there in the presence of Joshua and most likely the presence of the elders and probably the priest this is what transpired. The scripture says that the various heads of the family were taken the various groupings were taken now this little phrase were taken is a significant phrase and it refers to those cases in which there could not be the normal of judgment in Israel. You remember that God had given a clear word that at the mouth of two or three witnesses any accusation had to be established. An individual Israelite could not simply come before the elders and say this fellow Israelite was guilty in such and such a sin and I demand that such and such a penalty be enacted upon him. No, there had to be witnesses to substantiate the charge. But in cases

8:29 where there could be no witnesses, where it was secret crime, God was pleased to use the casting of lots to bring to light the guilty party. Look at two instances recorded in the old testament. In 1st Samuel chapter 14 we have an instance in which the absence of testimony of eyewitnesses there was this reliance upon the casting of the lot. Saul had given this very foolish adjuration concerning the fact that soldiers were not to eat even on this great day of the Lord's victory in the camp of Israel and you remember Jonathan was guilty in ignorance and Saul is determined to find out who is the guilty party who has broken his mandate and because no one will bear witness against Jonathan we read in 1st Samuel 14 and verse 42 and Saul said cast lots between Jonathan me and Jonathan my son and Jonathan was taken so you see the little phrase so and so was taken and so and so was taken is not a unique phrase in the scriptures it refers to the disposition of the lot falling upon a given individual and thereby disclosing him as the guilty one. Turn again

9:58 to the book of Jonah for another example of the use of this phrase. Jonah chapter 1 you remember the setting these heathen mariners regarded this as being controlled by the gods and therefore when unusually fierce storms arose which threatened life and limb they did not look upon it in a purely naturalistic way they regarded it as the frown of the deity or the deities and we read in verse 7 and they the mariners said everyone to his fellow come let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause the evil is come upon us so they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah here again was the use of the lot to discover that which could not be discovered on the basis of eye witnesses and this was so prevalent that Solomon actually gives a proverb indicating that this is one of the functions which the lot had in the thinking and life of Israel in Proverbs 18 and verse 18 we read the lot causeth contentions to cease and parteth between the mighty here is an argument

11:27 that cannot be established by sound reasoning or by eye witnesses and Solomon said the lot is the instrumental means causing such contentions to cease you say well why could it be that a people who were obviously not cave people who were obviously intelligent cultured people a people whom we would say had a great deal of advanced civilization why would they rely upon so primitive a method as the lot well it reflected their whole world and life view they had a view of life and they had a view of the world that set above life and the world the absolute sovereignty of God so Solomon says in Proverbs 16 and verse 33 the lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing there is of the Lord what could be a greater event of pure chance than to take 10 or 12 little pieces of a broken pot call it a pop shirt scratch upon it the names of the 12 tribes of Israel put them in an urn shake the urn up and down and then turn it out into the lap of Joshua or the high priest you say well that's pure chance we can figure out the mathematical possibilities ah but Solomon says though the lot is cast into the lap God

12:55 is so much in control of his world that the very arrangement in which those lots are found by the shaking of the high priest or Joshua he so governs the law of gravity and its operation upon those pieces of pot shirt that the one that falls out falls out under the direct and present control of the God who not only made his universe but controls it even to the quote chance event of the casting of a lot now it's in that context that we find Joshua and the elders waiting upon God that God would discover the guilty party in Israel and so they do probably in all probability though some commentators say they consulted the Urim and the Thummim this little phrase they took the person was taken seems to me to be convincing that they use the lot as the means to discover the guilty one and further on the very book of Joshua you find some strong hints that the lot was used in other circumstances and that the lot was actually cast by these pieces of pot shirt in an urn that would fall out and indicate the mind and will of God Joshua chapter 18 and verse 11 is another example Joshua chapter

14:23 18 and verse 11 and the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came according to their families again in chapter 19 and verse 1 and the second lot came out for Simeon even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families as they're dividing up the territories and the lots are being cast these two little phrases are used it came up it came out indicating it was probably poured out of the urn and the one that was turned out and faced upward was the one that was indicated as the mind of God so then we have this little bit of historical background in order to make the passage live to us now get the picture here is Joshua gathered with the whole nation of Israel and in that out is the guilty man the mathematical possibilities of finding but almighty God has given directions to Joshua you shall take them by tribes you shall take them by heads of families you shall take the man by he that is taken and Joshua proceeds that morning with absolute confidence that almighty God is going to discover the guilty Israelite in the midst and first of

Achan's Torturous Discovery and God's Purpose

15:52 all then that larger rank is taken and the heads of the twelve tribes are lined up and on the potsherds is scratched the names or some symbol of the heads of the tribes and Joshua places them in the urn and the urn is shaken put yourself in Achan's place you stand there reasoning only one chance and twelve that my tribe will be found the urn is turned over and Joshua announces it is the tribe of Judah immediately Achan's heart begins to beat faster the cold sweat begins to stand out in his brow but then he begins to rationalize and says oh well that was just a chance that one in twelve and he's found the tribe but oh look at all the various heads of the households it doesn't tell us how many there were and then their names are carefully scratched upon the appropriate number of potsherds placed into the urn and the urn is shaken and it's turned up and now it's the head of the household to which Achan knows himself to be identified and his heart beats a little faster but he begins to rationalize and say oh well you know every man hits it right and a certain day people that play the horses are very much aware of this and this just may be Joshua's day but there's still a lot more weeding to be done still a lot more narrowing down to be done and then the various heads of the families are taken

17:21 and then one by one they are brought before him and the scripture tells us and Achan was taken as each grouping is brought near the noose is getting tighter and tighter until the man who had no courage to escape and no grace to confess his sin is finally singled out and set aside and when this happened there was absolutely no question in Joshua's mind and in the mind of the entire nation of Israel that God had discovered the guilty man now why did God go through such a long process for Achan this was really a form of torture is God some kind of a God who delights to see men burning in the accusations of conscience no no God had a lesson to teach the nation of Israel a nation that needed desperately not only to learn this lesson as it were once for all for it's a lesson none of us learns once for all but a lesson that he brought to remembrance again and again and again and again and again and again and the lesson that you and I in this congregation have been reminded of many times but we need to be reminded of it again this morning and I suggest that the lesson to Israel breaks down into three fundamental principles

Principle 1: External Privileges Cannot Prevent Sin

18:49 and this is the heart of our study this morning what does this infallible discovery of Achan say to us here in this place this morning as it said something to the nation of Israel gathered that day under the direction of Joshua the first thing it says to us is this that no amount of external privileges can keep a man from the worst of sins will you notice what the text says it is careful to point out that Achan was a member of the tribe of Judah and can you imagine the effect upon the whole nation when the lot fell up and simply delineated the tribe that was guilty Judah this tribe which had unusual privileges in the sovereign purpose of the living God this tribe that was singled out in the prophecy of Genesis 49 and 10 as the one through whom Messiah would come to the nation of Israel and to the world this tribe that because of God's sovereign selection of one of its number recorded in Exodus 31 1 to 5 had special privileges in the construction of the tabernacle for it was a man of the tribe of Judah upon whom God put his spirit to give unusual ability and cunning

20:17 workmanship for the construction of that which was more than just a symbol of the religious life of the people of Israel it was the monument of God's presence with his people and in the erection of that which was the symbol and monument and place where God dwelt in unusual glory and power there influence of the tribe of Judah in its very construction then according to Numbers 10 and verse 14 Judah was first in rank as the nation marched through the wilderness so that all of the other Israelites instinctively thought of Judah as the tribe of leadership the tribe of unusual privilege and responsibility and according to Deuteronomy 34 2 Judah was to have the largest inheritance in the land of Canaan and so here is a man surrounded with all what we might say general privileges of a member of the nation of Israel he had seen the opening up of the Jordan at flood tide he had seen God bring his people through safely into the borders of Canaan he had seen the mighty God blow down the Jericho he had seen the God's arm on behalf of his people he stood amidst not only the general privileges of all the tribes of Israel

21:44 he stood within that election within the election the tribe of Judah and all of its particular and distinguishing privileges and yet the scripture says the tribe of Judah was taken and God is saying to the entire nation as he says to us no amount of external privileges can keep a man from the worst of sin and I am speaking this morning to many who are of a privileged tribe you are not only closely identified with God's visible Israel here on earth his church by virtue of having a Christian mom and a Christian dad but you are like someone of the tribe of Judah you've had unusual privileges a mom and dad who not only bore the name of Christ upon their lips but reflected the character of Christ in God you've been part of a church which with all of its failures has known something of the favor of God upon it in the manifestation of his presence and in the consciousness of his nearness you've been blessed with a ministry of the word that has brought the word of God near to your understanding and near to your conscience in the authority and warmth and passion of the Holy Spirit you have stood as it were

23:11 amidst all the privileges not only general privileges that come to all gospel truth special privileges of God's special distinguishing undeserved mercy to us as a body of his people and yet listen carefully these privileges have no power whatsoever to keep you from the worst of sins if the only thing that is presently keeping you from the worst of sins are the barriers set up by these privileges you know what all these privileges are in the face of a valid temptation they are like a dam made of toothpicks before a rushing mighty river that has been swollen by torrential rains and though now yet from the worst of sins of this little toothpick dam let the right opportunity come and the right senses be arranged and all yours will be swept down by the flood tide of your own corrupt passions and lust and the enticements of the devil no amount of external privileges will keep a man a woman a boy or girl

24:38 from the worst of sins this is not only the teaching of this passage but it's taught throughout the length and breadth of scripture there was that infamous man who could eat with the son of God who could come into the geographical proximity of his very physical presence day in day out could hear him teach hear him pray sleep eat walk minister with him and in the right circumstances he would sooner give the son of God up to a bloody death at the hands of cruel men than have thirty less pieces of silver in his own bag Judas betrayed the son of God for thirty pieces of silver there was a man another man who could pray and preach and travel with the great apostle Paul and yet all the strength was swept away when the world produced its proper enticements and Paul had to say of the one that he had called Demas his fellow worker he had to say of him Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present age oh my dear people and I speak to you precious children and young people particularly today God has exercised my heart for you listen if you're content with anything less than a new heart

26:08 it's only a matter of time before all of your privileges will be swept away by the swollen flood tides of your own passions and lusts it's only a matter of time oh dear children listen to your pastor this morning don't be satisfied with anything less than a new heart God's inward work for God says when I give you a new heart I will put my spirit within you and I will cause you to keep my statutes and my judgments and though all should batter him of restraint the Lord Jesus by his spirit dwells in to keep you and though you may fall miserably you shall not be swept away in the flood of your lust for he says I have prayed for thee that you would be but thy faith fail not though the righteous fall seven times he will rise again and oh dear children you teenagers young people sons and daughters of godly moms and dads I plead with you this morning don't be an agent that external privileges and those little toothpick dams that those privileges erect will ever keep when the flood tide of passion and temptation really begins to beat

27:36 against that little dam no amount of external privileges can keep a man a woman a boy a girl from the worst of sins it is only the grace of God working upon the man giving sure making us new boy in Jesus Christ because God has been pleased to withdraw much of his common grace in the structures of society on every hand you and I as the people of God better be prepared for some heartbreaking shocking revelations to come because an awful lot of people have been trafficking in the visible church upheld by external privileges and now the time is ripe for it to be manifested that that's all they've had was the toothpick dam constructed by external privileges my friend if you're content with any of this anything less than heart work heart work wrought by the mighty operations of the Holy Ghost it will out before long and then there's a second great truth that God taught the nation that day a truth that he needs to underscore again and again to us

Principle 2: Calculated Secrecy Cannot Hide Sin from God

29:03 and it is this no amount of calculated secrecy can keep a man's sin from the knowledge of God no amount of calculated secrecy can keep a man's sin from the knowledge of God for you remember that later on in the passage Achan says this is what I did verse 21 I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold and 50 shekels weight and I coveted them and I took them and they are hid in the midst of my tent and the silver under it what could be more calculated secrecy than this than in the great confusion of the mopping up operations of Jericho when the soldiers are running every man straight before him they've broken ranks there is no order and they're putting the torch to all of the material possessions of that great city and they're gathering together gold and silver to be brought back to the treasury of God what more calculated secrecy could there be than to be lost in the midst of all that mixed up activity and then to go back in the privacy of one's own tent and under the earth or in the earth of that tent what calculated secrecy

30:32 but now the scripture says the tribe of Judah was taken and the family of the Zerahites was taken Zabdi was taken and Achan was taken what is God saying he's saying look you foolish man all your calculations calculated secrecy did not pull any veil over my eyes saw you when you coveted I saw you when you took I saw you when you returned I saw you when you hid calculated secrecy cannot keep your sins from my knowledge the whole process of discovery was an eloquent declaration in the New Testament language that all things are naked and open before the eyes of His book but when we him with whom we have to do. Achan, are you so foolish as to think that your God was present his eye upon his people when he led them around the walls of Jericho, kept them in guard, putting forth of the arm of his power the knocking down of the walls? Do you think that God was weary because he watched with his eye that march for seven days? Do you think God's eyes grew heavy, Achan, when he watched you march seven times on the seventh day?

31:55 God had to go. The wedge of gold, the shekels of silver, and the Babylonish garment. Achan, if you were so foolish so to think, I declare to you, Achan, and through you a nation, I say, no amount of calculated secrecy can keep a man's sin from the knowledge of myself.

32:26 There are two texts in the Old Testament which bear strongly upon this principle. In Proverbs 15 and verse 1, it says, Verse 3, Proverbs 15 and verse 3, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good. What a graphic picture. The eyes of the Lord, not as though it were distant from without looking in, but his eyes are in every place. God is saying, my eyes were in your tent, Achan. My eyes were under the earth. And when you opened up the earth, you hid nothing from my eyes, for my eyes are in every place. Not upon, but in.

33:20 Nothing escapes my glance. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 14, another eloquent statement of the same principle, Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 14, for God will bring every work into judgment with every hidden thing. Whether it be good or whether it be evil. Why? Because the eyes of the Lord are in every place. And when we get hold of this principle, that when we say the eyes of Jehovah are in every place, no amount of calculated secrecy can keep our sins from the knowledge of God, then we recognize we're accountable. Why does he behold evil in good? Simply as an imprecisely seeker? No, no. But with reference to his moral governance.

34:24 That he shall bring every secret work into. Hidden from his eyes is committed to judge righteously. And to judge righteously, he must have all the facts. Hence the scripture says in the day of judgment, he will judge according to the secrets of men's hearts.

34:47 Because many times the thoughts of the heart unknown to any but God are the surest revelation of a man's character. Your character is what God knows you to be. Your reputation is what we think you to be. And in the day of judgment, men will not be judged by reputation, but by character. By character. And if there's a note that needs desperately to be sounded in our day, it is this note. And if I could have some power granted me to gather Mr. Nixon and Mr. Magruder and Ehrlichman and Irwin and Sirica, both accuser before me today. Mr. President, in all due respect of your honor, I would like

35:35 your office all mighty God knows. Every word you uttered in the Oval Office. He knows the sins are your guilt. And I would say to Mr. Irwin and the other senators who are now reveling in their opportunity to accuse, he knows your graft. And he knows your dishonesty. And you condemn others are guilty of the same sins, I'd say to all of them. Giving them due respect as duly elected office bearers to whom I'm deriving.

36:11 To render honor in obedience to the word is known to the God of the universe. No amount of calculated secrecy can keep your sins from the knowledge of God in what is either on the one hand the accusation of your own generation, or the accusation if you stand before your God, pronounce the sentence of doom and of judgment. And I say to you, dear children present this morning, God. God knows all you are and think and say and do. And one of the most blessed things that can come to your infant heart is for that truth so to grip you that it will hedge you in on the left hand and on the right. How many of you remember old Mr. Steneckes who used to be with us years ago? Several

37:13 of you. Any of you remember old Mr. Steneckes? Well, I can tell this in the form of a story so you don't know him. It's a true story. Mr. Steneckes was a godly Dutchman who's since gone to be with the Lord. He used to fellowship with us years ago. And he left home as a late teenager in his early 20s because he didn't like the restraint of his godly home and he was going to take out in that course that would leave him most free to follow the dictates of his own heart. He was going to be a seaman.

37:41 And the day came when he packed his duffel bag and kissed his mom and dad goodbye. And he said, and he would often give his testimony down at the Goodwill Rescue Mission, a classic example of how the Holy Ghost could change a man's life. And he said, and he would often give his testimony down at the Goodwill Rescue Mission, a classic example of how the Holy Ghost could change a man's life. He had to be with a man's mouth. Mr. Steneckes in talking with you in normal conversation still thought in Dutch, and he had an awful time getting out English sentences. But turn him loose to give his testimony and say, my good friends. And God would be with his mouth and the words would pour out. And he would always share in his testimony how, when he left home to sail the high seas, the last words of his father were this son, remember, there is an all seeing eye upon you.

38:24 Remember, son, there is an all-seeing eye upon you. Remember, son, there is an all-seeing eye upon you. And he says wherever he went sailing the high seas, he couldn't escape the realization that eye is upon me. That eye is upon me.

38:45 That eye sees me. And even in the midst of shipwreck and near death, the sense that eye is upon me. Until he landed on the shores of New York and walking down the Bowery destitute and no place to go and not knowing much of the language, the Salvation Army officers stood up on the soapbox and began to preach. And the sense of not being right before that eye had taken the joy out of all of his so-called liberty and freedom, leaving mom and home and dad and all those.

39:18 He said to the man there, sir, I must talk to you. And he said, what can I do for you, son? He said, I must be saved. And God saved him right there on the spot.

39:27 He transformed his life by the power of God. But the point I want to make is this. That which was the first indication of true Holy Ghost conviction was that awareness that eye is upon me. I can't escape it.

39:42 And if I can't escape it now, when I merely feel the brushes of its eyelash, what will it face in the day of judgment?

39:58 And often the first indication that God is being gracious to a sinner is that the brush of God's eyelash, the brush of God's eyelash over the conscience becomes unbearable. Stand it. God sees me. He knows me.

40:13 He follows, tracking me down.

40:19 What will it be to meet him face to face and have no covering for my sin? Have no righteousness that he can approve? Have no covering for the vile pollution of my heart? Have no dazeman to plead my cause?

40:36 Oh, dear children, listen to your preacher this morning. Remember, Remember, son. Remember, daughter. There's an all-seeing eye.

40:47 Mom and dad, in their love for you, try to observe your conduct. Evaluate your character. Keep their fingers on where you go and what you're doing. Reprove you and admonish you when you sin.

41:00 Encourage you when you do what is right. But oh, listen. Mom and dad, even with their glasses on, have only got 20-20 vision. The eyes of the Lord are in every place.

41:12 In every place. It's in every place.

41:17 The lies spoken and the deceitfulness enacted and the double standard that you begin to create. Almighty God knows and sees it all. And that lesson he bore down upon the consciences of the nation of Israel, upon the conscience of the nation of Israel that day, when Achan said, Well, I did this in calculated secrecy. And God says, Yes, you did.

41:45 And no amount of calculated secrecy can cover your sin from my eye. And then there is a third and very fundamental principle in the text. And the principle is this.

Principle 3: Human Cunning Cannot Cover Sin When God Exposes It

42:02 No amount of human cunning can cover a sin when God designs to expose it.

42:09 No amount of human cunning can cover a sin when God designs to expose it. God is not only telling the people, no amount of calculated secrecy can hide your sin, but no amount of human cunning can cover it when it's my time to expose it. Do you catch something of the unhurried, unruffled character of God in these words? Joshua rose early in the morning, and the tribe of Judah was taken, and he brought near the family of Judah, and the family of the Zerahites, man by man, and Zabdi was taken, and he brought near the household, man by man, and Achan was taken. Do you feel something of the pressure of that passage? God, like a mighty conqueror who says to a nation that's in the path of his conquest, You're next. And with iron feet he marches in and plants the flag of his triumph.

43:17 God had said in the ultimatum, The man that is taken, thus shall be done to him. Joshua, obey me, and he shall be taken. It's my time to expose the sinner in your ranks. And when Almighty God says it's my time to expose him,

43:36 only a fool would dare to pit himself against the God of heaven. He's saying to the nation, No amount of human cunning can cover your sin when I design to expose it. This is an allegory. This is an eloquent commentary on the statement of Numbers 32, 29.

43:56 Be sure your sin will find you out. Be sure your sin will find you out. And you know what God can use? You know the little phrase we use?

44:09 Who told you that? A little bird told me. You know where that comes from? That comes from the scripture.

44:13 Like so many of our little proverbs, licking the dust, so-and-so licked the dust, that comes from the scripture. You turn to the book of Ecclesiastes, the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 10,

44:29 and look at verse 20.

44:32 Revile not the king. No, not in thy thought. And revile not the rich in thy bedchamber. Here's a man who's in his bedroom, and he's eating sour grapes.

44:46 So-and-so got a promotion. And rather than say he worked harder than I did, he's smarter than I did, he's more capable, he begins to revile him and said, Ah, he was doing this, he was doing that. He said, look, hey, hey, don't you do this. Revile not the rich in thy bedchamber.

45:00 Why? For a bird of the heavens shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. God will put a minor bird right on your window sill.

45:13 And you're cursing that man, and the little minor bird will fly right to his window sill and say, Jack, Jack says, Jack says, you're no God, Jack says. We laugh, but isn't that what the text says?

45:27 Isn't that what the text says? For a bird of the heavens shall carry that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Now, he may be using a figure of speech and saying as the heavens can carry something, but I'm not so sure but what he may have observed, something like a minor bird, disclosing what a man thought was secret. And the great principle is when God determines to expose a sin, no amount of human cunning can cover it.

45:59 And get this, God is committed. He is committed to expose every sin in time or in eternity. Because Jesus said in Luke chapter 12, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. Neither hidden that shall not be known.

46:22 Nothing covered. Thank God in grace, He sometimes uncovers our sin now to give us a little preview of the day of judgment that we might see. Take mercy while the door of mercy is still open. And I speak again to you dear children this morning.

46:41 Does it bother you the way you're praying mom and dad seem to be able to find out things about you that you don't want them to know? How I thank God for God's blessed discovery of my sins as a lad growing up. Just when I thought nobody was around, some neighbor had a window open when foul words came out of my mouth and the next day they told mom and dad and mom and dad would sit me down when everyone else went to bed and say, son, so and so has reported that you were using such and such words. Is it true?

47:12 And I was reminded again that no amount of my human cunning could cover my sins when God designed to expose and if that was true here on earth through human means, what pray tell would it be like in the day of judgment when God takes me in hand directly to expose my sins. And all through my unregenerate days, eight, ten, twelve into my eighteenth year, I could never sin with a high hand. And no matter what sin I tried to commit in secret, there was that awful haunting realization God could use anything to bring it to light to my mom and dad. You say that's a pretty low motive.

47:52 Yes, it was low, but thank God it kept me in check till grace gave me higher motives.

48:00 You Christian, you children of Christian parents, you better start thanking God. For a mom and dad to whom God lets things come into their sphere of awareness. That letter that someone wrote to you full of foul, rotten, filthy language. You thought you'd tucked it away conveniently out of sight, but you'd forgotten.

48:20 You left it in a place where mom happened to see it.

48:24 And she read it.

48:27 And she faced you with your sin. What's God saying to you, teenager? What's he saying to you? He's saying, I know all about your sin.

48:36 I can use a little forgetfulness to let you know. To let your mom know. But in that day, I'll tell you all that I know.

48:46 God can use a chance telephone conversation. A slip of the tongue.

48:52 A little lipstick on the collar of the man that's talked all faithfulness. Who's been hanky-panky on the side.

49:00 God can use any number of things. In this situation, what did he use? A military defeat. The prayers of a godly leader and the elders.

49:10 And the law of gravity operating on some pieces of broken pottery. That's what God used to bring the sin to light. And God can use anything he chooses.

49:22 And oh, I say to you, if God can do this as he did to Achan, if God can do this as he's done to many of us in our unregenerate days to remind us, then when he says, nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, he's not giving idle threats.

49:41 All sin will be uncovered. Either now,

49:45 uncovered, in Holy Ghost conviction that drives us to seek that only covering which God will respect, the blood and righteousness of his beloved Son.

49:59 Or he will uncover it in that day.

50:03 And we shall be sent into eternal darkness to bear the just judgment of God for every sin. But uncovered, your sins must be. There is nothing covered that shall not be uncovered. Uncovered nor hid that shall not be made known.

50:24 And if God in grace has uncovered your sins so that you cannot avoid it and it brings you to the realization that you must seek a covering of God's devising, then bless God for whatever heartbreak or shame or personal grief comes to any one of us in the uncovering of our sin now. While the door of mercy is open and the fountain open for sin, and the door of mercy is open and uncleanness is set before us, oh, may we all be found fleeing to it. As I stop and think of the many things that I would never want you people to know, the many things that I wouldn't even want my wife to know, of those images upon the inner chambers of the heart, what a blessed thing to know that God who knows them all is the one who says, I'll remember thy sins against thee no more. His blotting out is as extensive as his knowledge of my sin. That's why I don't want any human priest. He can only know what I tell him and absolve me for what I tell him.

51:34 My God can absolve me of everything he knows. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all unrighteousness, all that God knows to be sin. He purges in the blood of his own dear Son when I sue for mercy, as the old writers would say, at the feet of a sovereign Savior. These, I submit, are the three great principles that God was underscoring to the nation of Israel that day in the manner in which he took Achan and discovered him in his sin.

Conclusion: Sobering Truths and Call to Forgiveness

52:12 God is telling that nation as he tells us today, no amount of external privileges can keep us from the worst of sins. We need inwrought grace by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is telling us that no amount of calculated deception can keep our sins from the knowledge of God. He knows us all together.

52:39 And blessed be God, though no amount of human cunning can cover a sin when God designs to expose it, God exposes our sin now that we may seek forgiveness and cleansing. In the blood of his own dear son. As we shall see in the subsequent study of Achan's confession, this was not a gracious confession. He only confessed when he had no other alternative.

53:08 Therefore, only one thing could come from God, crushing judgment. My friend, the hour is coming when every man will confess his sin and own his sin. But if it's wrung out by the sheer pressure of the day of judgment, it will be followed by the righteous indignation of God consuming you in the fire of his holy anger as Achan and his family were consumed in the fires of the holy anger of the God of Israel. These are sobering issues, but these are the issues which alone matter in the light of eternity.

53:45 May God burn them into our consciousness and enable us by his grace to live in the light of them. Let us pray. O God, our Father,

54:08 we cannot fool you nor impress you with words, for you read the intents and the thoughts of the heart. And we ask that in your great mercy these weighty principles of truth so clearly illustrated in the instance of the taking of Achan and his sin may be inscribed upon our consciousness by the finger of the Holy Spirit himself. O Lord, for those who this morning have had conscience screaming at them very much awake and alert, O God, may that evil conscience be purged by the blood of Christ. May they seek a refuge, O God, may they seek a refuge in that fountain open for sin and uncleanness. And help us as your children when we so foolishly have tried to rationalize that you did not see or if you saw that we should not be concerned because it would never come to light. O God, forgive us for our folly, we pray.

55:19 Expose us, track us down, hedge us up until there is no recourse but the infinite merit and righteousness of your beloved Son.

55:32 Bless the ministry of the word to this end that grace may be the portion of the life of each one who has heard. Dismiss us now with your blessing and benediction resting upon us. We plead through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.