A Christian Voice Nanosermon
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Nanosermon Script:
You know, I am so thankful that Jesus paid the price for my sin. If you too know his forgiveness then you will be thanking him as well. But, and there was always going to be a ‘but’, we can take the adoration too far.
Look, suppose you were an earthly king, and one of your subjects was always at the foot of your throne thanking you for your kindness, in the end, wouldn’t you get a tiny bit fed up with all the fawning?
Wouldn’t you be inclined to say: ‘Can’t you do anything? Write a letter, or tend my garden, or wash the dishes, or something?
Accursed thing in the camp
Under Joshua, the Israelites took Jericho in the power of the Lord. It was a victory like no other. It resounded around the country. Flushed with success, and without consulting the Lord, Joshua sent a regiment, about two or three thousand men, to capture the neighbouring town of Ai. It was supposed to be an easy victory, but the Israelites were routed.
They were defeated because the Lord was not with them. One of their number had earlier looted what the Bible calls an ‘accursed thing’, a garment from Babylon and some silver and gold with idolatrous connections, from Jericho.
There was an accursed thing in the camp. There is such a thing as corporate responsibility. It can affect a family, a church, or even a nation. One man’s sin weakens the whole body, until it is dealt with. So what next?
‘Rest in my presence’?
We read, in Joshua chapter seven and verse six:
Joshua 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
He had a moan to the Lord:
Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
He says they will all hear about it, and surround them, and kill them, and what will that say about God’s great name?
You see, Joshua didn’t know about the presence of the accursed thing in the camp. He was unaware of that sin. So there he was, on his face before the Lord. What did the Lord say to him? ‘Joshua, rest in my presence’ perhaps?
Let’s go to verse 10 and see:
Joshua 7:10 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
God said, ‘you have to get up and deal with the sin’.
Stuck at the foot of the cross
You see, we can get stuck at the foot of the cross. Yes, we are grateful to the Lord Jesus for forgiving us, but you can stay in ‘Thank you Lord’ or even ‘Thank you for the Cross’ mode too long. If you still have sin in your heart, deal with it. And if you haven’t, what are you doing there?
Either way, God is saying to you: ‘Why are you lying there? Get up and get on with it.’ Show the Lord how grateful you are for his sacrifice by studying his word, seeking his face, striving to be holy as he is holy and seeing what he wants you to do with the rest of your life.
He has a great plan for you, I’m sure of that.
SCRIPT ENDS
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