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Do you want to know what breaks the heart of God?  There are three stories that reveal God’s broken heart so very clearly…

• Jeremiah 42:10: God is broken when he see a nation in brokenness from the consequences of their sin.
• 2 Samuel 24:10-25: God is distraught up when David’s sin causes a nation to suffer.
• Genesis 6:5-7: God is broken when sin ruins the world and all of humanity except one family.

This same brokenness God has over the sins of the masses is experienced when one person breaks faith.  1 Samuel 15:35 tells us Saul’s sin leads God to regret.

Sin starts with a compromise. (1 Samuel 15:7-9)

• God’s mission is clear. (1 Samuel 15:1-3) God has here commanded total destruction of the Amalekites.  This goes back to Exodus 17:8-16 when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites as they were passing into the promised land led by Moses.
  • I suppose we don’t know all the reasons why God has commanded the destruction of the Amalekites.  But we know, God has put them under the “ban” this word is used on nations that were to be driven out completely.
  • We must realize that this will not happen again, God speaks to no nation the way that he spoke to Israel.  No country has the right or mandate to wipe out another people group.  So, while we might not understand it – we can accept this as a divine commandment and even exception that comes straight from the Lord.
  • These nations were known for destroying their own children in detestable idolatrous practices, something God abhors. God commands total destruction so no taint of their sin would remain.  In Joshua 23:11-13 Joshua reminds Israel that they must drive out the idolatrous nations before them or they would be ensnared by their idolatry and would fall.  This is eventually what would happen, but it took almost 1,000 years from Joshua to the deportation and captivity.  Talk about a slow fade.  When we deviate from God’s mission just a little bit we will eventually end up falling to our sin – it might just take some time.
• How do you defeat sin and temptation?  Completely – there is no half-way to righteousness.  What is it that you’ve let have a foot hold in your life?  Maybe you’ve eliminated everything but just one corner, maybe you tossed out all temptation except that one, maybe you’ve forgiven everybody but them…  What is it that you hang on to?

Compromise leads brokenness.  (1 Samuel 15:10-11)

• The brokenness that takes place is in us, but also in the very heart of God.
• Saul sees the choice sheep and cattle.  He values the possessions, not the people.  They keep for themselves what is under the ban.  Just like at Jericho God dedicated some things to himself or to destruction.
  • Saul compromises and kills the people, but keeps the goods.  Spares the king, possibly as a trophy.
  • In 1 Samuel 15:13, we see that he apparently believes he has done God’s will!  It started with a compromise and once he crossed that line it became all too easy.
• God regrets that he has made Saul king.  Does God have regrets for you?
  • Does he regret making you successful?
  • Does he regret giving you a family?
  • Does he regret giving you a place of leadership?

Repentance, not excuses bring wholeness. (1 Samuel 15:13-21)

• At first, Saul celebrates his sin. If Saul had any modesty shown by hiding during his coronation it is gone now as her erects monuments to his greatness.  He celebrates his failure.  We celebrate our failure.
• We erect billboards and celebrate our sin and brokenness.  While God just watches and weeps at the sight of our sin.
• When he’s caught, Saul blames the people for keeping the livestock.  Samuel calls Saul actions “the sin of rebellion”(1 Samuel 15:23), he equates that sin with divination.  The word for rebellion means to “press your case” we might say, “press your luck.”
  • Saul claims to know what God really wants and is for the people to keep their possessions.  I think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:23 to other people who claimed they knew him, “I never knew you, go away from me.”  It’s obvious they never knew Christ.
  • Saul even tries to say that the reason he sinned was for God’s benefit.  Samuel quickly reminds Saul that he would rather have obedience than excuses or even repentance.  This is what Paul reminds us of in Romans 6:1, “Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound?”  Absolutely not.
• What will you offer?  Excuses or repentance.  Proverbs 28:13, “No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

1 John 1:8-9, “8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We are responsible for each other. We must help each other to replace…

1. Desire with truth

• Perhaps “replace” is bit too strong a word, rather “temper.” Desire in and of itself is not good or bad, it’s the object and action of desire that determines that. Uninformed desire is dangerous, informed desire is much better.
• While the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manassah desired land for cattle, they never asked, “What God does desire?” Moses’ decision to let these tribes dwell in the land was done largely without God – if at all (Numbers 32, similar to Lot’s choice in Genesis 13:10-11).
• Moses certainly wanted to maintain peace, but at what cost. We need to make wise decisions. James 3:17, “Wisdom is first pure then peaceable.”
• The problem is that too many of our choices are focused on us. (James 4:1-3)
• We need each other to provide insight and balance. (Proverbs 5:18)

2. Suspicion with transparency

• This happens a lot, especially when we hear a sermon that convicts us. If the sermon is on money and we feel convicted to give – the first thing we say is, “All that guy wants is money.” If the sermon is on sin and we feel convicted – the first thing we say is, “That’s just hellfire and brimstone, the church is so judgmental.”
  • Or we’ll attack the messenger, “That preacher is a hypocrite.” Never mind the fact that the message is what’s important not the messenger.
  • We get more concerned with the church’s minutiae than real problems facing us.
• We need to be transparent with each other – this is not to say that you are transparent with everyone, but someone. We must live approachable and transparent lives.
• Transparency is a two sided problem; we need to do all we can to reveal our true selves to each other. What are we to do when we think someone may need to be transparent? 1 Thessalonians 3:5-6, Paul was suspected the Thessalonian church had fallen away so he investigated.

3. Isolation with community

• The means of isolation are limitless, TV, cellphone, internet, text messaging, etc. Quote came from: James Hillman and Michael Ventura, We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – And the World’s Getting Worse (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), 40-41.
• We isolate for many different reasons, guilt “I’m worse than you,” pride “I’m better than you,” suspicion is usually a manifestation of either. We are suspicious of people better than us afraid they will replace us, we’re suspicious of people “worse” than us afraid they will attack us and our value.
• To live in community however puts those aside and assumes no hidden agenda. It says, “You matter to me, and I matter to you.” It puts aside the comparison and replaces it with cooperation.
• Notice the cost of community, the Israelites we’re willing to sacrifice of their own promise, their own inheritance to make sure that their brothers and sisters were included in community. Joshua 22:19
• What are we willing to sacrifice? One night a week in a small group? One additional hour on Sunday morning? Your lunch break to visit somebody in your life who might be high-maintenance but definitely in need.

Note: A very helpful resource in this Joshua sermon and the entire Joshua series has been, Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, Be Strong (Victor Books: Wheaton, 1993).

One man’s sin sabotaged the entire nation of Israel, we are not exempt from the effects of sin. If we are to have victory over sin we must give everything not a half effort.

There are three steps to destroy sin…

1. Partner with God to search your life for sin. (7:6-18)

• We need to ask God for help for we may not always know our sins, Leviticus 5:17 requires sacrifices for sins committed in ignorance.
• Jeremiah 17:9-10, reveals that our heart is too corrupt to discern our own shortcomings.
• Psalm 139:23-24, is a prayer for God to search your life.
• Realize that when you pray for revelation this may come from your brother or sister, just as it did for Achan.

2. Be bold in naming and confronting sin in your life (7:19-21)

• This requires boldness/courage, especially when consequences and other people are involved. Achan’s sin was shared by his family. It would have been impossible for Achan to have dug a hole, inside his tent without his family knowing.
• Achan is pretty clear about what his sin was…It started with a look, then a want, then he took and then he hid.
• His sin started when he reclassified the objects from under the holy ban (6:19) as objects of spoil. Isaiah 5:20 reveals that God’s people have had a history of being confused with what’s right and what’s wrong. Don’t allow sin to pass because it’s gray, if it’s sin – it’s sin.

3. Confess your sin to God in order to destroy it. (7:22-26)

• We have a promise in 1 John 1:8-9 that God will forgive us our sins, if we confess them to him. God views your prayers of confession as a sacrifice for sin – the same as in the Old Testament, rolling them to the cross to be destroyed forever.
• Unfortunately for Achan the violence of sin was visited directly upon him. He received the death penalty because of treason to the state, sinning against God and the community.
• God’s judgment on Achan and his family is difficult to understand. While Joshua 7 is ambiguous about who was stoned, Joshua 22:20 implies that Achan alone suffered for this tragedy. Regardless Achan’s sin was shared by his family.
• Fortunately for us the anger and violence of sin has been taken by Jesus Christ. That is not to say that there will not be consequences but the violence of our sin on a spiritual level was absorbed by Jesus Christ.

We must destroy every trace of sin in our lives in order to have spiritual victory. Realize God will reveal your sin – either now in partnership with you or later in judgment.

The story about the woman with visions of Jesus comes from Brennan Manning’s, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up and Burnt Out (Portland, Ore.: Multnomah Press, 1990), 116-17.

Sunday we’ll be discussing guilt, the excess baggage that too many believers carry around after their forgivness.  Being guilty is something that all people share in common – it’s a universal truth that sin has placed upon humanity.  Conviction is the Holy Spirit and a person’s spirit working together toward repentance – it’s the awareness of sin.  Carrying guilt after forgiveness is an unecssary and taxing condition that plague many believers – it’s a curse.  As you prepare yourself for Sunday I would encourage you to prayerfully examine your life.  Ask that God would reveal to you any sin that needs forgiveness and any guilt that needs “forgotness.”  We’ll examine our guilt and the reasons we keep it around Sunday, as we study Romans 8:1-15.  As you examine yourself, hold up your life to the light of truth in this passage and see what God reveals.  See you Sunday!