From His Heart

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Is your life full of trouble? We all have trouble. But why do some have more troubles than others? Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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We want to talk about a guy whose name really meant trouble. His name was Achan. Achan means trouble or troubler.

And so apropos because he brought trouble into his life, into his family, and into the lives of the Israelites. He did something so awful, so terrible, so horrible that his life serves as a warning to you and me of what happens when we blow off God's commands and we do things that we want to do.

Speaker 1

If you struggle with coveting sin or covering up sin, you're likely experiencing self-inflicted trouble. Would you like to know a way out? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today for a message simply entitled Trouble.

We'll discover today that to diminish our trouble, we must first get honest with the Lord, the one who is faithful and gracious to anyone's repentant heart. And today we'll learn how to do just that. This trouble message is from Pastor Jeff's 10 lesson series, Rising to the A Study of the Book of Joshua.

You can find out more about this series or the messages in it when you go to promisheart.org and click the listen link. Let's start eliminating some of our trouble. Open your Bible to the seventh chapter of the Book of Joshua as Pastor Jeff exposes what just may be causing your trouble.

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We want to talk about a guy whose name really meant trouble. His name was Achan. Achan means trouble or troubler. His life serves as a warning to you and me that we need to fear God and we need to steer clear of sin and look at sin as if it were a rattlesnake in the coil. You don't get close to it because it will bite you and it will bring judgment from God.

Let's look at the life of Achan. Trouble with a capital T. So God sent the people into Jericho, and the thing that was the first battle when they came into the promised land, they come across the Jordan. A miracle. God parts the Jordan River. They come across and then they go and fight the battle of Jericho. And God gives them Jericho in a great miraculous victory. God won the victory.

But now the Lord said this about Jericho in chapter 6 and verse 17: "And the city Jericho shall be under the ban." That means it's off limits to you. It and all that is in it belongs to the Lord only. Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But as for you, this is Joshua getting word from the Lord, giving it to the people: "As for you, keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban. So you would make the camp of Israel a curse and bring trouble on it."

But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord. They shall go into the treasury of the Lord. God's not mincing words. It's not hard to understand. Everything in Jericho belongs to God. And God says, burn it all with fire, except the gold, except the silver, except the iron, except the bronze. You bring that into the treasury of the Lord. Everything else is under the ban. Don't come near it, don't covet it, and don't take it.

So they have the great victory. And we read at the end of chapter six, it's just awesome. Nobody rebuilt Jericho. God said, and it says, "So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land." I mean, it ends on an exclamation point. Everything is good. And chapter seven starts with this word, but. But. That's like Scooby Doo saying, "ruh roh."

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But.

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There's a but in there. There's a ruh roh in there. It says, but the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah from the tribe of Judah took some of the things under the ban. Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel. Serious, serious sin. And we're gonna find out more about what he did.

Says in verse two. Now, Joshua sent men from Jericho to AI, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, go up and spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out AI, and they returned to Joshua and said to him, ah, don't let all the people go up. Only about two or three thousand men need to go up to AI. I mean, it's just a small place. Only two letters AI do not make all the peoples toil up there, for they are few. So about 3,000 men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of AI. And the men of AI struck down about 36 of their men and pursued them from the gate as far as Sheborom and struck them down on the descent. So the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of the Lord, until the evening both he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads, and they're in great distress. And Joshua prayed, and he said this. Alas, O Lord God, why did you ever bring this people over the Jordan only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we'd been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan, we should have just stayed in Moab, on the other side of the Jordan. Oh, Lord, what can I say? Since Israel has turned their back before their enemies, for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?

So the Lord said to Joshua, rise up. Why is it that you've fallen on your face? Israel has sinned. And they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban, and have both stolen, deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. They took my stuff and put it among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. Rise up, consecrate the people and say, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow. For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, there are things under the ban in your midst. O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.

In the morning, then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes by Lot shall come near by families, and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man. And it shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire. He and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel. Serious, serious consequences to the sin of Achan.

I want you to notice with me three warnings from Joshua chapter seven. See, cause we want to not follow in the footsteps of Achan. How can you avoid bringing trouble into your life and into your family and into the church and into the community of the saints? How can you avoid that? Three warnings.

Warning number one. Beware the sin of coveting. The sin of coveting. God said in Joshua chapter six that be careful with that stuff. It's all under the ban. Don't covet it. Don't go after it. To covet means to lust for, to long for, to desire, to take pleasure in things that God says no to. That's coveting. You know, that's the number 10 commandment on God's top 10. You shall not covet. You shall not lust for, long for, desire what? Your neighbor's house, your neighbor's spouse, anything that belongs to your neighbor. Your neighbor's stuff. Don't covet that. Don't go after that.

Jesus said in Luke 12:15, Beware and be on guard against every form of greed, every form of covetousness. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. So when Achan is chosen, Joshua says this to him in verse 19. Then Joshua said to Achan, my son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to him, and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.

So Achan answered Joshua and said, truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, our beautiful coat from Shinar. It was like an Armani suit. He said, I wanted it. And 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold, 50 shekels in weight. Then I coveted them and took them. That's what he did. He coveted and he took them. Beware of the sin of coveting.

Coveting is a very common sin. It's really, when you think about it, it's a sin that's included in every other sin. As Achan said, I saw and I coveted. I saw and I coveted. Very common sense. It reminds us of what Eve, the scripture says concerning Eve in Genesis chapter three, when the devil was working on her to deceive her. It says, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and desirable to make one wise, she took of the tree and ate and gave to her husband with her, and he ate. What did she do? She saw it. She fixated on that which was forbidden. That's exactly what Achan did.

That's what David did. King David in 2 Samuel chapter 11, when he's walking on the roof of his palace at evening time, and what does he do? He sees a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. He sees her. He wants her. The look turned to longing. The longing turned to lusting. The lusting turned to laying as he lay with her and committed adultery. Covetousness and coveting. It's a very common sin and it's a very serious sin. It's a serious sin because it brings destruction. It brings about death.

See, coveting happens in the heart. I read something from Erwin Lutzer and I've never forgotten it. He said, the eye sees what the heart desires. The eye sees what the heart desires. Coveting is a problem in the heart. It's a problem that says, I'm wanting these things that God has said no to. I need to have these things that God said no to. That's why it says, do not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's spouse, or anything that belongs to your neighbor, because that's his stuff. That's not your stuff. You be happy and content with what God has given you, with your spouse, with your house, with your stuff.

But beware and be on guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. Coveting, a serious sin. It's a serious sin that brings forth death. Look what it says in James. But each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Hey, let me ask you a question. Are you finding your satisfaction in the Lord, or is your heart being led astray to the things of this world? The Bible says, do not love the world, nor the things in the world. For if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away and also its lust. But the one who does the will of God abides forever.

Now, when we find ourselves not finding our satisfaction in Jesus, then we're susceptible to looking and seeing what our neighbor has to see. What's over the fence, what's over here? Maybe I could get involved in this. Maybe I could get involved in that. Whenever you sense your heart is starting to love the things of this world, it says, the love of the Father is not in you. It's kind of like your oil light that will come on in your car if you're low on oil. When the oil light comes on, that's an indicator light that's saying, hey, you got a big problem here. You're low on oil. You better pull over and get some oil in there or you're gonna have a devastating consequence with your car.

Loving the world is the oil light that comes on that says, hey, time out. Danger, danger, Will Robinson. You got trouble here because the love of the Father is not in you. You're not getting your satisfaction in the Lord and in James. Those verses we read in James, when it says, and each one is tempted when he's carried away and enticed by his own lust. That word entice means like a fisherman baiting a hook. And see, the devil will bait the hook and throw it out there, and he'll try and get you to bite. He'll try and get you to focus in on that bait and then to bite on that bait. That's what Achan did. He coveted. He said, oh, man, look at that. Look at that Babylonian coat, man, that would look so good on me. Oh, let me just try it on. I could try it on. There's no problem with trying it on. I'll try it on. Oh, it fits perfect. I mean, this must be a blessing from God. It's a 42 regular, and it just fits so well. Not a blessing from God. It's temptation from the enemy.

And then he sees the silver, he sees the gold, and he says, you know, Jericho's filled with all sorts of things, and surely God's not gonna mind if I take these things he coveted. The eye sees what the heart desires. The Bible says. Proverbs 4:23. Watch over your heart. Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life. Beware the sin of coveting.

Second warning. Beware the sin of covering. There's the sin of coveting. Israel has both. God says, coveted and deceived. Beware the sin of covering. Look at verse 21 again. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, that Shinar is Babylon. And 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold, 50 shekels in weight. Then I coveted them and took them. And behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it. He took that stuff. When they were going in to eradicate and exterminate all the inhabitants of Jericho, he took that stuff and he took it back to his tent.

And the Bible seems to indicate that his wife knew about it and his children knew about it because they're gonna pay the price too—they were co-conspirators in this lie. And he took it into his tent and he dug under his tent, probably under a rug or something. He dug and he hid the Babylonian coat, and he hid the gold, and he hid the silver. He covered it over and he says, no one saw what I did. But God saw. God saw. Because God sees everything we try to hide. He sees it all.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place. Proverbs 15:3 says, Watching the evil and the good. There's no creature hidden from his sight. But all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God sees it all. God hears it all. God. Everything you say, everything you do, everything you think, everything you desire, everything in your heart, God sees that all. He hears all of that. You know, man, God doesn't see as man sees. Man sees the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart and he knows today what's in your heart. He knows if there's bitterness there, he knows if there's lust there, he knows if there's jealousy there, he knows if there's so much anger and hatred toward another person, he knows that that's there. God sees it all. You can't hide that from God.

I love the story of Moses. You know, Moses had kind of a stumble at the gate when he started out his adult life. He was trying to help the Hebrews. And it says that he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. This is when he was prince in Egypt, you know. Cause he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. And so he wanted to pay that person back. And so when no one was around, he attacked that Egyptian. And the scripture says he looked this way and he looked that way. He looked to the left and he looked to the right. And when he saw no one was around, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. He looked to the left, he looked to the right, but he didn't look up. He didn't look up. And God saw what he did. Because God sees everything that you do and everything that I do. And his eyes are in every place.

So God sees everything we try to hide. And God will not bless hidden sin. Why is this so important? Because if you want God to bless your life, he's not going to bless your life if you have hidden sin in your heart. The Scripture says in the Book of Psalms, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. My prayers won't get answered. My life won't get blessed. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. But if you don't walk uprightly, he's going to withhold all kinds of good things because he can't bless you if you're in the darkness and not walking in the light.

God will not bless hidden sin. Look what it says in verse 11 when, you know, Joshua's kind of freaking out here because this is the one and only defeat that they have in the promised land. Joshua is a book of conquest. They're taking the land. God is saying, go get it. And Joshua is the general, yeah, we're going to go get it. And they have this great victory at Jericho. But then they hit AI this place that's small, and they get whipped. And Joshua can't figure it out. God, why did you bring us here if we're gonna get whipped like this? Then you brought us into the promised land and you're just gonna kill us. We should have stayed on the other side of the Jordan. We just should have stayed in Moab. And he's whining, he's griping, now, what are you gonna do for your great name, Lord?

And the Lord says, get up, get up. Why have you fallen on your face? The problem is not with me, Joshua. The problem is with you and your people. Israel has sinned, verse 11. And they have also transgressed my covenant, which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore, the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.

Well, good night. That's serious, serious consequences. I'm not gonna be with you anymore. Well, the only way that they're able to do anything is because God is with them. You know, Jesus said in the New Testament, John chapter 15, I am the vine, you are the branches, you abide in me. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Nothing. I mean, you can go out and do things in the flesh. You can't do anything that's going to matter on eternity's clock. We have to be connected to the Lord. We need his presence. We need his power because we're not able in and of ourselves. And God says, I'm not going to bless you if you don't deal with this sin.

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As Pastor Jeff Shreve pointed out today on From His Heart in his message "Trouble," Achan's sin was a serious one with implications for the entire nation of Israel. But why in the world would God hold the entire nation responsible for the sin of just one man? That's a great question, a universal question that has a distinctive and emphatic answer. We will have that answer tomorrow in the broadcast when Pastor Jeff continues through the series "Rising to the Challenge," a study of the Book of Joshua.

We're airing messages this month from this series that are packed with practical and powerful reminders of how God can be with us as we rise up to the challenge. But that means we must trust in Him and be strong and courageous. That's the title of the new six-lesson series we aired in the first part of this month, and it's also our gift of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. The series is teaching that will help you stop letting fear dominate your life and understand the reasons behind the fears in your life.

We all should feel and be free to walk confidently in God's promises, but we can only do that when we're completely surrendered to Him and Him alone, relaxing in His word that is desperately needed in our culture. Again, the six-lesson series "Strong and Courageous" is from Pastor Jeff Shreve, and it's our thank you gift for any amount this month. Would you pray about how you might support us with a gift this month? Then listen to the Lord and contact us to request your copy today.

Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org, and we'll say thank you by sending you "Strong and Courageous" on a USB flash drive, on CDs, or you can watch it on DVDs or download it as an MP3. Know that we literally could not be here broadcasting each and every day on your radio station or anywhere in the world as we do without your prayers and support. Thank you for standing with Pastor Jeff, and thank you for believing in the mission of From His Heart. We also thank you for helping shine the real truth of Jesus into more lives around the world.

Well, I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to be right back here next time for part two of this timely and extremely practical solution to your trouble. That's when Pastor Jeff Shreve will again open up God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart, here on From His Heart.

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There is tremendous truth. There is blessing. There is hope that you always dream love. He can heal every scar.

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From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more about that at fromhisheart.org.