Joshua 7:19-21
Confession of Achan
Pastor Martin expounds Joshua 7:19-21, focusing on Achan's confession as a model for true biblical confession, despite Achan's lack of true penitence. He outlines the basic character of confession—strict conformity to divine directives and honesty before God—and its essential ingredients: acknowledging God as the offended party, taking unreserved personal responsibility, and thoroughly detailing the sin. Martin contrasts this with false forms of confession, such as Roman Catholic auricular confession or mere psychological catharsis, and applies these principles to both unconverted sinners and believers seeking ongoing sanctification, emphasizing that true confession leads to a deeper appreciation of Christ's atoning work.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 9 sections · 55 min
- Introduction: Achan's Sin and the Nature of Confession 0:04
- The Basic Character of Achan's Confession: Conformity and Honesty 5:56
- Application: True Confession's Conformity to Divine Directives 9:18
- Essential Ingredient 1: Acknowledging God as the Offended Party 18:36
- Essential Ingredient 2: Unreserved Personal Responsibility 28:15
- Essential Ingredient 3: Thorough Acknowledgment of Particulars 37:36
- Why God Requires Confession of Particulars 41:00
- The Glory of Christ in True Confession 48:12
- Call to Unconverted and Prayer 51:54
Key Quotes
“As one man of God has said, confession is the first act of an awakened sinner, the first mark of a gracious spirit.”
“And the Bible makes plain that an inseparable attendant of true faith in repentance is biblical confession.”
“As long as that man who stands as the officiator of Roman religion, And calls himself a priest, And lets human beings speak their sins into his ears, And says to them, thy sins be forgiven, We shall stand to say, this is man-made religion under the curse of God.”
“Until you begin to see that, my friend, you're as likely a candidate for hell in this moment as the devil himself.”
“You know why you and I sin? Because we want to sin.”
“And I'm convinced there may be some of you here today that are not going to make one degree of progress in progressive sanctification until you stop this abominable transference of the guilt of your sin to everything else and everyone else except your own bosom.”
“a child of God will confess sin in particular an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale.”
“thank God may I say it reverently Jesus became Achan in my place he took the stoning he took the burning he was consumed upon the altar of sacrifice that I might come and find forgiveness oh child of God measure the reality of your confession by the measure of the sweetness of Christ that follows if it's been true confession it's left you broken at his feet occupied with the glory and perfection of his sacrifice with the wonder of his patience and his grace”
Applications
The unconverted
- Unconverted children and young people, recognize that your lying, lusting, dabbling in drugs/sex/cheating/dishonesty are crimes against the God of heaven, not just parental rules.
- If you have never fundamentally seen your sin as against God, own your sin and rebellion, and seek His mercy in the appointed way.
All listeners
- All true biblical confession must be in strict conformity to divine directives and made in strict honesty as before the divine presence.
- Confess your sins to God through Jesus Christ with faith in his pardoning mercy, approaching God directly through the one priest, his beloved Son.
- Confess your sins to fellow believers when they affect your relationship with them, seeking their forgiveness, or for chronic weaknesses, to secure their intercession.
- Be conscious that you are dealing with the God who is Lord of the conscience, not just your own conscience, and speak truthfully without playing verbal games.
- Christian, in your acts of confession, honestly acknowledge that your sin is primarily against God, your Redeemer.
- Stop the abominable transference of the guilt of your sin to everything else and everyone else except your own bosom to make progress in sanctification.
- Unreservedly acknowledge personal responsibility for your sins, without subtle transferals of guilt.
- Confess your sins in particular to feel the horror and heinousness of your sin, asking God why you did it when He has been so gracious.
- On your knees before God, trace out what brought you to the point of disobedience, acknowledging how sin progresses from sight to desire to action.
- Do not abuse 1 John 1:9 with superficial confession; engage in serious, thorough confession that reflects a broken heart.
- Go to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, pour out your sin, and seek pardon through the virtue of his blood and perfect righteousness, trusting in God's promise of mercy.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 129 paragraphs, roughly 55 minutes.
Introduction: Achan's Sin and the Nature of Confession
We turn again this morning to the seventh chapter of the book of Joshua for the continuation of our studies in this very pointed, practical portion of the word of God dealing with the sin of a man named Achan. As God was about to bring his people into the possession of their promised inheritance in Canaan, he was concerned to teach them a great two-pronged principle, namely that their conquest of Canaan would be on the basis of his own sovereign power
and that that power would be operative on their behalf as they walked before him in an obedient faith. The narrative of Joshua's chapters 6 through 8 is an extended commentary on how God taught. This great principle, this two-pronged principle, in a very experimental and in a very tragic way, in some sense. After the sin of Achan had crippled the nation and Joshua and the elders had sought the face of God, God gave directives as to how this sin might be purged so that once again his blessing might rest upon them.
And the present place of our study finds us concerned with the charge that Joshua gave to Achan after he had been discovered by God sovereignly operating by means of the lot and following that charge, the confession which flowed from Achan in obedience to the charge of Joshua. I shall read verses 19 through 21. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and make confession. unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done.
Hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Of a truth I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. Last Lord's Day, morning and evening, we sought to lay out the truth of verse 19, the charge of Joshua to Achan,
the characteristics of it, gentleness and tenderness, and the positive elements of it, two vertical and two horizontal directives. Achan is to, give glory to God and make confession to God. He is to make an immediate and thorough confession to Joshua, the appointed representative. Now in response to that charge, we have in verses 20 and 21, the confession of Achan.
Now the very word confession should cause us to perk up our ears, since confession is a fundamental element of vital and saving experience. And though the word confession has some very negative connotations and strikes up negative vibes in many of us because of the Roman Catholic abuse in what is called their doctrine of auricular confession, the confession of one sinner to another fellow sinner through a black veil, I believe we have recoiled and overreacted against the word confession so that most Christians have a very ill-defined concept of what confession is. What constitutes true confession?
As one man of God has said, confession is the first act of an awakened sinner, the first mark of a gracious spirit. When God desires a habitation in which to dwell, He prepares a broken and a contrite heart, and the language of a broken and a contrite heart is the language of biblical confession. Now as we shall see in a subsequent study, although, there is no evidence that Achan's confession led to the experience of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, it is nonetheless a model of all the ingredients of a true confession.
This is one of those passages that is parallel to some of the words of Balaam, the false prophet, though he was a false prophet, he spoke profound truth. It was Balaam who said, under pressure to change the word of God, must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord putteth in my mouth? Numbers 23, 12. So Achan spoke truth, though he was a false prophet.
And Achan, I'm sorry, Balaam, and Achan gives us a true confession, though he himself was not a true penitent. And God wonderfully at times shows that He can so control the minds and the very tongues of men as to make them speak His truth, though their own hearts are strangers to the power of that truth. And so in the passage before us, we have Achan's confession, the model of true and biblical confession. To think our way through the verses, we shall consider, first of all, the basic character of Achan's confession, and secondly, the essential ingredients of Achan's confession.
The Basic Character of Achan's Confession: Conformity and Honesty
Now, what were the basic characteristics, or what was the basic character, of Achan's confession? Well, first of all, it was made in strict conformity to the divine directive, and secondly, it was made in strict honesty as before the divine presence. Notice his words. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Of a truth I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel.
God had told Achan, through Joshua, that his confession had to have these two directions. It had to be a confession to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and it had to be an immediate and thorough confession to Joshua, the appointed representative of God in Israel. And you will notice that Achan's confession flows along the channels cut by the word of God, and it doesn't break over those banks or cut its own channels. God had said, Confess to me, give glory to me, and confess to me, confess to my servant Joshua.
And the scripture says that Achan complied with that directive in a very explicit and thorough manner. Achan answered Joshua, he is confessing to him, and he is confessing to him immediately, and he is confessing to him thoroughly, yet at the same time he is confessing and giving glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel. He even uses the very words that Joshua had previously mentioned, give glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel. He responds by saying, I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel.
There was no altering of the directives. The basic character of Achan's confession is first of all noted as being one given in strict conformity to the divine directive. But secondly, in its character, it is made in strict, honesty as in the divine presence. The authorized version begins with this word, indeed, the American standard of a truth, the new ASV, truly.
And the word that Achan used is the word which has the same root in the Hebrew as the English word, amen. It is a word attesting to the truthfulness of that which is to follow. It is a verifying of the honesty and the trustworthiness of the following statements. Achan therefore fully conscious that nothing could be hidden from God, that he was dealing with this God who knew his sin from the beginning and now had sovereignly disclosed that sin by means of the lot falling first of all upon the tribes, the heads of household, the heads of families, and then upon the individual.
Achan now speaks fully conscious that he is confessing in the divine presence. And so the basic character of Achan's confession is twofold. It is made in strict conformity to the divine directive. It is made in strict honesty as before the divine presence.
Application: True Confession's Conformity to Divine Directives
And at this point, we must say by way of application that all true biblical confession will be parallel to Achan's confession in those two basic characteristics. Now follow closely as I make a statement as the background of the application. We must never obscure the fundamental note of the gospel, namely, that the only hope for guilty sinners is to be found in the gospel.
In the person and work of Jesus Christ, the God-man, we must never obscure this fundamental note of the gospel, that it is his righteousness which is our resting place. It is his blood which is the source of our cleansing. It is his intercession which becomes the focal point of our confidence that we shall be preserved even unto the end. And we must never make a savior of anything of the individual.
In the same word, experimental dispositions of the sinner's heart, our place of resting is Christ and Christ alone. But having said that, the word also makes it abundantly clear that the sufficiency of the saving merit of Christ never becomes the possession of a sinner until he repents and believes. No one can claim he is resting in the sufficiency of Christ in his work who has not repented and does not believe. And the Bible makes plain that an inseparable attendant of true faith in repentance is biblical confession.
Proverbs 28.13 says he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Now the mercy is not rooted in his confession, it's rooted in the infinite merit of Jesus Christ. But no one is ever linked up to that merit except in a way of biblical confession of sin.
And I'm disturbed on the one hand. With those who would make a savior of the inner states of the human heart, and unless people can analyze and dissect their confession and put it into 16 different categories and match it up with some man-made standard, they go all of their days a morning never hoping and never confident that they are in Christ. But on the other hand, we have those who would say such an exposition dealing with the essential ingredients of confession is to obscure the glory of Christ. No.
That isn't. It is to manifest the glory of Christ. For as we shall see as the exposition unfolds, it is only the work of Christ in grace that brings a man to such true confession. And the essential end of all such confession is that the confessing sinner will be preoccupied not with his confession but with the Christ who has forgiven and cleansed him.
So without any desire to obscure the glory of Christ. This is our savior or the absolute sufficiency of his work. We must be concerned with the character of the confession that we profess to make unto God. And if your confession of sin is valid biblical confession, it will fit the pattern of Achan's confession.
In its basic character, it will always be, number one, in conformity. Strict conformity. In conformity to the divine directives. God tells us we are to confess our sins to him through Jesus Christ with faith in his pardoning mercy.
Any confession to God that does not come directly to him through Christ mixed with faith for his pardoning mercy is a confession that God has never required of us. As surely as God said through Joshua, Confess your sin to Jehovah. God of Israel, confess it now to me. So likewise God says to us, This side of the full revelation of the gospel of his dear son, That we are to approach God directly through the one priest whom he has appointed, Even his beloved son.
And we are to draw nigh unto God in that new and living way. And secondly, Strict conformity to the divine directive will find our confession, At times going in the direction of men with a view to being reconciled to them and having a share in their intercession for us. Luke 17, 3, If thy brother sin against thee, rebuke him. If he repent, forgive him.
Here's the indication that there is confession one to another. And we have the mandate of James 5, 16, Confess your sins one to another and pray one for another. And that was the only two kinds of confession the Bible recognizes. That which is directly to God through Christ for his pardoning mercy, And having done that, sins that affect my relationship to my fellow men, I must seek their forgiveness.
Or, if it is an area of chronic weakness, I confess my sins to them not to be absolved, I get that at the throne of grace. But to secure an interest in their intercession, That God would give me more grace, That I might overcome the area of sin and weakness. Beyond that, the Bible knows of no confession. And therefore we stand to say today, With all of the talk of flirting with Rome, And with getting together with Catholic Pentecostals and Charismatics, And getting together in T73 joint evangelistic efforts, As long as that man who stands as the officiator of Roman religion, And calls himself a priest,
And lets human beings speak their sins into his ears, And says to them, thy sins be forgiven, We shall stand to say, this is man-made religion under the curse of God. And Pope Paul says the nature of true confession has been violated by our religious systems through the centuries. Then I'll begin to listen to the talk of a changing Rome. But at the heart of the system is not only the mass, With its offering of the cross, With its offering of the cross, With its offering of the cross, Have we heard up again and again of the sacrifice of Christ Intruding into his rights as the one high priest,
But you have an extension of that intrusion in the many little priests, Who take the place of the one great high priest, and dare to receive the confession of their fellow sinners. Of this confession one to another known In even Christian circles as group therapy, A psychological catharsis? The Bible knows nothing. We do not confess our sins one to another in the sense that we hope in so doing that we can somehow appease God if we're willing to have some kind of inner emotional tearing of our spirit and the humbling that comes when you open up your sins and spill out your guts to a fellow human being
that somehow that will bring healing. That's an abomination. We are to find healing of the soul at the throne of grace in the presence of a compassionate and tender high priest who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Or of that confession that is simply mumbling to myself in my closet, a kind of personal and emotional release.
The Bible knows nothing. Brothers and sisters, if our confession is to be true confession, it must, like Achan's, be given, be made. It must be made, be exercised in strict conformity to the divine directive. And secondly, it must be made in strict honesty as before the divine presence.
We must be able to say with Achan of a truth, this is what I've done. We must be conscious that we're having not so much dealings with our own conscience, trying to get the birds out of conscience by confession. We're having dealings with the God who is Lord of the conscience. Who has given conscience as that moral arbiter within the soul.
Who has shed the light of his word and his spirit upon conscience, causing disturbance for sin. And once we are conscious that we are engaging the living God himself, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, how dare we play verbal games with God, standing in his presence. We'll be able to say of a truth, thus and thus have I done. As David said in the confessional context, Psalm 51, Thou desirest truth in the inward part.
Essential Ingredient 1: Acknowledging God as the Offended Party
If ever that's desired, it is desired in the context of confession. Well, we hurry on now, having looked at the basic character of Achan's confession,
strict conformity to the divine directive, strict honesty as in the divine presence, consider in the second place the essential ingredients. And there are three ingredients of Achan's confession. First of all, it contained a clear acknowledgement of the person offended by the sin. Secondly, it contained an unreserved acknowledgement of the personal responsibility for the sin.
And thirdly, it contained a thorough acknowledgement of the particulars of the sin. Notice in the first place, then, it contained a clear acknowledgement of the person offended by the sin. Look at the language of Achan. And Achan answered, Joshua said of a truth,
Have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel? And thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoiled a goodly Babylonish mantle and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them. And behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the sin is done.
And a silver under it. The great bulk of the confession is taken up with particulars, owning responsibility. But he doesn't begin there. He begins with a clear acknowledgement of the person offended by the sin.
Of a truth I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel. He had been charged by Joshua to acknowledge that his sin had not been primarily against Joshua, the elders, or the nation of Israel. He had been told in verse 19, Give glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel. Make confession unto him.
Achan, you must acknowledge that your sin has been primarily against Jehovah, God of creation, God of redemption. Jehovah, the God of Israel, the God of covenant mercy, the God of Jericho, the God who is preserved, who sustained his people and you as a member of his covenant community. This God who has found your sin, this God who has disclosed your sin, Achan, give glory to him and confess to him. And Achan's response reflects this clear acknowledgement that the person fundamentally offended by the sin
was no one other than this Jehovah, the God of Israel. Now whether from a heart touched by true repentance or as I am convinced a mind seized upon by divine sovereignty, one thing is clear. Achan gives no mention of Joshua, the nation, himself, his family, but only the true and the living God. And if anything is made clear in scripture, it is this vital point that in all true acts of confession, whether of the penitent sinner applying to God through Christ, for the first conferrals of mercy,
or whether it is the mature saint applying to God through Christ for repeated acts of pardon and cleansing, this much is always true of every true exercise of confession. It contains a clear acknowledgement of the person offended by the sin. Psalm 51.4 is the classic example of the Old Testament.
David having pled for mercy, he then confesses against thee and thee only have I sinned and done that which is evil in thy sight. He looks beyond that Shiva. He looks beyond Uriah. He looks beyond the nation.
He looks beyond himself. He looks beyond his family. And he sees that his sin was essentially and primarily against the mighty, powerful, gracious, just, holy God of Israel. The same principle is seen in the confession of the prodigal who says, I will arise and go to my father and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.
It's found in the publican who would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but that's where his heart was, for he said, God, be propitious to me, the sinner. It's found in the confessions in Nehemiah 9, 6 and following. Daniel 9, 4 and following, where the confession of these men begins with the recognition of Jehovah as creator and the covenant God of his people. It is this aspect of confession which shows that we have truly discovered the essential character of sin.
It is heinous crime against one so mighty. It is moral madness against one so reasonable. So loving and so kind. And this side of the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ, it is this that shows the ugliness of sin.
That which opened the wounds of Jehovah Jesus. The vileness of sin as that which grieves and quenches the spirit of grace to whom we owe everything in the way of experimental knowledge and appropriation of God's gifts of grace to us. And I say to the unconverted, this morning, and oh, listen to me, dear children and young people, listen. You know it will be the first sign that the Holy Ghost has begun to work upon you in a saving way.
You know what it will be? It will be this. No longer are you going to regard those standards that mom and dad have set before you, that your preachers have expounded to you. No longer will you regard them as sort of the barnacles that have clung to the hull of history and they're just clinging from a bygone day.
No longer will you regard these standards and prohibitions and rebukes as your parents' unreasonable demands. The teaching of your pastors as old-fashioned ways. You'll see that your lying, your lusting, your dabbling in drugs and sex and cheating and dishonesty are crimes against the God of heaven. Until you begin to see that, my friend, you're as likely a candidate for hell in this moment as the devil himself.
When a man begins, to see that, there's hope that he may be soon in the way of mercy.
When you begin to see your crimes rise up to Jehovah, the God of heaven, and as Achan was not just one of those heathen of Canaan who had the light of natural revelation, but who was steeped in idolatry and the perversions that flow from the human heart, he was surrounded by the knowledge of Jehovah, the true creator, the one true and living God, creator of heaven and earth, Jehovah, God of the covenant, God of mercy, God who had showered his blessings upon Achan as a member of that covenant community. When it begins to break in upon your heart and mind as the son and daughter of a father and mother
who love you and pray for you and bring you to this place where the word is preached, who instruct you and teach you and entreat you in the home, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, the first sign that you've begun to believe in God, that your confession is more than just a form of getting the burrs off your conscience to feel better. You'll feel the pain of your sin because it's been sin against a God who is not only your creator,
whom you admire in the infinite wisdom of his work of creation without and within as one fearfully and wonderfully made.
But he's your redeemer.
And when you think that all of his ways have been ways of pleasantness and all of his paths, paths of truth, and he's done nothing but bear with you and care for you and provide for you. When you say, God, what reason is there that I should so foully revolt against your will which is good, acceptable, and perfect?
The reason is there that I should turn aside from your commandments that are not grievous. Your yoke that is easy and your burden that is light. This is the thing that breaks the heart of the child of God. And in every true act of confession that he's sinned against his redeemer, God.
I ask you, Christian, do you know anything of that in your acts of confession?
Essential Ingredient 2: Unreserved Personal Responsibility
An essential ingredient of all true confession is this honest acknowledgement that our sin is primarily against God. But then the second ingredient of Achan's confession is this. It contained an unreserved acknowledgement of personal responsibility. Before the sin, when I read the text, you will notice that I emphasize the many I's that are there in verses 20 and 21.
I have sinned, thus and thus have I done. When I saw, I coveted, I took. What's he saying? Achan does not transfer the guilt and responsibility to another, nor does he even attempt to share it with another.
I have done it. This sin, Joshua, that has now been, has been disclosed by God's sovereign power and might in directing the casting of the lots. This sin that will shortly bring me and my entire family to an untimely and ignominious death. This sin is wholly the product of my own heart.
I have done it.
Unlike Adam who began his pseudo-confession with an accusation of the wife and of God, seeking to transfer the responsibility with the words, the woman thou gavest, she this and then I, he begins, I saw, I took. I am the guilty one.
By application, let me say that this also is another indispensable ingredient of all true confession of sin. Whether in the penitent coming for the first time or the believer in his oft-repeated exercises of penitence, Psalm 51 again forms the pattern. Psalm 51 is full of David. David's eyes.
Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done that which is good, done that which is evil in thy sight. No word of the circumstances, no word of other people. Every confession that begins or is carried out by including and blaming others, including or blaming circumstances, including or blaming circumstances, some faulty element of our upbringing or our training or our environment, is open to suspicion.
All true confession begins and ends with a sanctified self-centeredness.
Thus and thus have I done. And though there is a clear hint in the very wording of Achan that the judgment upon his family was not arbitrary, for notice how he words it. He says, I saw it. I coveted and took.
But he doesn't say in the last part of verse 21, and behold, I hid. He says, they are hid in the midst of the tent.
He doesn't bear the same direct responsibility. I think there's a veiled illusion here that his family cooperated, but he doesn't even implicate them. He says, I'll take full responsibility for the whole business.
My friend, that's the mark of true confession. For if I'm confessing within the framework of divine direction, as in the divine presence, acknowledging that my sin is essentially against God, how can I be debating with God in the very form of my confession because he lays the charge of the sin wholly at my own door? Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. God arranged the circumstances.
God so ordered my upbringing and my background and my... Let no man say I am tempted of God.
You can do that not just directly, by saying God tempted me. It's a much more subtle form that we're guilty of. A sovereign God, you know, he arranges the circumstances. I couldn't help my background.
I couldn't help my upbringing. That's a lot of spiritual evasion.
Every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust. And in the Greek, it's emphatic. It's the lust of himself.
It's an intensive word of possession. Every man is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. And lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
You know why you and I sin? Because we want to sin.
That's right. You never sin against your will.
For you say, oh, I did it against my will. Oh, no, you didn't. If you didn't will it, you wouldn't have done it.
Now, you may have willed to sin against the strivings of that spirit who dwells within us, if you're a believer. For the spirit lusteth against the flesh as well as the flesh. Against the spirit. But you sin because at that moment you yielded to the enticements of your own remaining sin and corruption.
And in confession, we're echoing back to God what he charges. The sin is yours. Own up to it. And we say with Achan, thus and thus have I done.
I did it because of the promptings of my own lusts that are my lusts. Those disordered desires which are the product of my lusts. Those disordered desires which are the product of my lusts. Those disordered desires which are the product of my own corrupt heart and my own corrupt disposition.
And again, the prodigal son is a classic example in the New Testament. He did not say, Father, have mercy upon me because I was led away by the enticement of beautiful women and by the smooth talking words of men wise in the ways of this world. No, no. He didn't blame the harlots upon whom he spent his money.
He didn't blame the evil companions who joined him in his sin. He didn't talk about the seductions of the flirtatious world. He said, Father, I have sinned and I am not worthy.
And I'm convinced there may be some of you here today that are not going to make one degree of progress in progressive sanctification until you stop this abominable transference of the guilt of your sin to everything else and everyone else except your own bosom.
You live in a day that has turned God's order topsy-turvy. And we let criminals sell because they can't be blamed.
You talk about a determinism. They say, I don't like that Calvinistic doctrine. That's determinism. That's fatalism.
Biblical doctrine alone secures true freedom. They've got the fatalism. Man can't help himself. His genes and his environment and his circumstances made a murder out of him.
Let him go free. Can't help it.
God says he can't help it.
The day of judgment will be the year of judgment. We display the fact that man is responsible. And every two-act of confession is a little preview of that day. Oh, dear child of God, are you unreservedly acknowledging personal responsibility for your sins?
Are you? Come on now. Be honest. Are you making little subtle transferals of guilt and responsibility?
How many times have you had to say to your husband or wife, dear, forgive me for those quick words, but if you had, shut your mouth.
All that but if you had, you know what that is? That's just scrubbing out the reality of the first part.
You didn't lose your temper with your wife because she said something mean to you. You lost your temper because you yielded to the lust of your own heart.
Yes, that's why you did.
Because at that point when the wife spoke some angry words or some cutting words that you are saying is the cause of the sin,
had you been at that moment availing yourself of all of those gracious resources in Christ, you would have reacted as Christ did who when he was even openly reviled, reviled not again. Then there is a third element, ingredient of all true confession here in Achan's confession. And we see that it contained a thorough acknowledgement of the particulars of his sin. Look at the words in verse 20.
Essential Ingredient 3: Thorough Acknowledgment of Particulars
Thus and thus have I done. And then he expounds what he meant in verse 21. When I saw among the spoil a Babylonish mantle and two hundred shekels and a wedge of gold, then I coveted them and took them and behold they are hid.
You see what he's saying? He first of all acknowledges that he allowed his eyes to rest on forbidden objects. When I saw, then he allowed his heart to conceive covetous designs. Then I coveted.
I had illicit and inordinate desires for what I saw. Then he says, I actually took. This is the specific act of disobedience. That's what God had forbidden in Joshua 6 to 18.
Whosoever shall take of the accursed things shall make the camp of Israel accursed. Do you see what he's done? He's not only confessed the act of disobedience, he's traced the act back to its source. And then he traced it onward to its fruit.
Having taken, then I engineered the hiding of those things in my tent. Not content to confess the bare sin, he traces it back to its root and onward to its fruit. And he takes full responsibility of the entire thing. Once again, the scriptures teach us that this is no little part of true confession.
This matter of a thorough acknowledgement of the particulars of our sin. Again, I commend you a careful reading of Psalm 51 in which David speaks of his sin in particulars of blood guiltiness and traces it back to its source in his own innate depravity communicated to him at his very conception. Read Nehemiah 9 and Daniel 9, these great confessional chapters of the Old Testament and then the pivotal, text in the New Testament. If we confess our sin, general or sins particular.
What is it? If we confess our sins, plural. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, those that have been confessed and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. An old and wise writer said and I quote, a child of God will confess sin in particular an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale.
He will acknowledge he is a sinner in general whereas David doth as it were point with his finger to the sore saying I have done this evil. He did not say I have done evil but this evil. Psalm 51 I have done this evil in thy sight that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest. He points to his blood guiltiness and as I intimated earlier David not only speaks of the sin itself in its root in its fruit but he speaks of it in its root the very origin of it in his corrupt and depraved nature.
Why God Requires Confession of Particulars
Verse 5 Now what use is this? Why should God require of us the confession of our sins in particular? He knows what the sin is as in the case of Achan. He knew what Achan had done.
It was God who told him He told Joshua someone had done a certain thing. It was God who engineered this whole discovery. Why does Achan need now to say to Joshua and to God in the presence of all Israel details that God already knows? Well all of God's reasons are not known to me nor do I believe they are all revealed in the word but several are very obvious.
First of all in this way we are humbled at the perverseness of our sin.
Achan blessed as a member of the covenant community of Israel with all of the promises of the covenant mine. I will bring you into the land a land flowing with milk and honey. I will bless you in your kneading trough. I will bless you in your field.
I will bless the wombs of your wives. I'll give you the early the latter rain. I'll supply all of you.
Why in the world does this guy need to have a fancy garment and a few shekels of silver and a hunk of gold when he has the God of Israel committed in covenant promise to preserve him and provide for him.
My friend you want to feel the horror of your sin you start confessing it in particular. Say God why in the world did I do this?
When you've been so gracious so kind so loving and it's the confession of sin in details that shows the heinousness of that sin.
Second thing that's accomplished this kind of confession of the particulars of our sin alerts us as to the wiles of sin.
What a discovery of the wiles of sin Achan had when he had to show the progress. I saw I coveted I took their head if only I had said that thing is as good as consumed if only I had viewed that cloak I would have seen it as a pile of ashes but I viewed it with the eye of sight and of unbelief and rebellion and suddenly it began to sink its tentacles into my own heart and into my own affections the battle was lost and Achan had a discovery of the wiles
of sin in his own heart when he had to verbalize the particulars of his sin my friend again and again on your knees God will teach you something of experimental religion you won't learn out of books or any other place when on your face before God you wait and you trace out what brought you to that point of disobedience to an explicit command and you say oh God no no it can't be that but oh God it is it all began there when I let my eyes rest upon an object that they should have either seen through or turned away from and I allowed my heart to become fertile soil for inordinate desire when my heart should have repulsed
those seeds as concrete repulses seeds thrown upon it and you're humbled and the very heart is being broken in the act of confession when we descend from generals to particulars and this is why God requires of us that we confess our particular sins in particular unto him you won't be so quick to run back to it my friend when you've had the plowshare of God's word rip over the heart a few times it's surface dealings with sin that cause us to have such frequent falls into sin surface dealings
with sin that cause us to sin that cause us to have frequent falls into sin and if we're honest this morning we'll have to say much of our confession is sort of like the quickie paint jobs that you're offered for $29.95 spray something on quick to make it look good for a few weeks any paint job you get for $29.95 on your car everyone else will know about it in about three months it's only the outfit that finds every little rust spot sands it puts on the rust proof paint the sealer it goes down to the
bare metal and deals with the thing where it needs to be dealt with and so it is with the human heart so often sores keep erupting why? because we're just scraping the top and putting on a plaster of our own conceiving in some kind of a quick little surface confession that makes the conscience feel well for a very short time oh my friend if you're a Christian you also know that it is to be in the presence of God and to know you're having direct dealings with God and when your confession has taken into its compass these elements both in its basic characteristic according to the word as in the divine presence in its essential
ingredients a clear acknowledgement that you've sinned against God an unreserved acknowledgement of your personal responsibility for the sin a thorough acknowledgement of the particulars of the sin oh how blessed it is to leave the closet after having those kind of dealings with God and to know the reality of the kiss of forgiveness and inward release and peace and you don't need to go around absolving yourself God has spoken peace to your heart and when he does you know you not only have peace but you have a healing of the wounds you know what I'm talking about are you sitting there saying what in the world is he talking about I just go in God's presence
and forget just because it's invented that's it that's it is that it is that it there are times you know I've almost wished I could wrench first John 1 9 out of the bible and I said where would I be without it but it's been so abused there's no confession forgive me for Jesus amen my friend that's not confession at least the catholics concerned enough to take a little time to run down to the local padre and talk through the veil I think he shows a little more seriousness than the surface confession of many professing Christians
The Glory of Christ in True Confession
they say but you saying then that my waiting my grief somehow adds to God's no no I'm not saying that at all the virtue of forgiveness is in Christ in the efficacy of his blood but I'm saying the Holy Ghost doesn't apply that efficacious blood to a conscience and a heart that are just playing games with God the elements of true confession they're found here in Achan's confession are they found in you as I closed this morning I want to close on this positive and glorious note I've said it all the way through the last few expositions
I'm glad I'm not Joshua as though Joshua charged Achan to make a true confession and though Joshua stood there and heard God ring from this man a true confession Joshua had no warrant to say Achan upon such a confession if you will acknowledge your sin to Jehovah the God of Israel tell it now to me hide it not from me mercy will be yours Joshua had no such promise and he had to hear this confession rung out by the sovereign power of God and stand with a broken heart while they went in and got the goods that showed the confession was true he had to give the orders to see this man and his
family executed and stand there with a broken heart but thank God I can expound this morning or make an effort to expound the confession of Achan and say that if you will acknowledge your sin to Jehovah the God of Israel tell it now to the greater Joshua go to Jesus mediator of the new covenant pour out your sin seek pardon through the virtue of his blood and in his perfect righteousness and you have the promise woven into the fabric of the very character of God that says mercy will be yours for as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him may not perish but have eternal life thank God may I say it reverently Jesus became Achan in my place he took the stoning he took the burning he was consumed upon the altar of sacrifice that I might come and find forgiveness oh child of God measure the reality of your confession by the measure of the sweetness of Christ that follows if it's been true confession it's left
you broken at his feet occupied with the glory and perfection of his sacrifice with the wonder of his patience and his grace no man whoever truly confesses going away goes away congratulating himself that he's made a good confession he goes away with a heart filled with praise for the mercy of his God and the compassion of his savior these I suggest are the essential elements of true confession if you've never taken that place initially fundamentally basically seeing your sin is against God I declare to you in his name this morning rebel sinner
Call to Unconverted and Prayer
young person fellow girl man woman your crimes cry up to heaven this morning and demand that God send punishment upon you but in his long suffering he delays don't mistake his long suffering for indulgence cry to him own your sin own your rebellion seek his mercy in the way appointed and he's promised none shall seek him in vain let us pray oh God we do thank you this morning
for your infinite infinite inexhaustible mercy without which none of us could lift up the head this morning we thank you for the words of the psalmist thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon you oh God we call this morning that our past confessions may be cleansed in the blood of Christ there has been so much of carnality and fleshiness in even our deepest acts of confession
we would not look to our confession for peace but to Christ alone and we ask that from his hand there may be given to us a broken and a contrite heart the grace of true confession and Lord we would be bold to ask will you not arrest some careless sinner here this morning some boy some girl some teenager some adult someone perhaps moving into the twilight of life who has never seen himself or herself as a criminal is before the eye of the God who has made them Lord give them that sight this morning and give
them a sight of the glory of Christ crucified that they may flee to him oh Lord we plead that the word preached this morning will not fall to the ground but that you will accomplish that where unto you have sent it hear us oh God hear us in our plea and attend your word with power to our hearts as we leave this place and for these mercies conferred we shall praise you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is the central text, detailing Joshua's charge to Achan and Achan's confession, which Martin uses as a model for true biblical confession.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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