Radical with David Platt
Sin In the Camp – Part 2
We need a radically God-centered perspective of sin. Sin has affected our lives and leads us to the mercy of God. In this message on Joshua 7:1–26, David Platt calls us to change our view of sin.
From unexpected olympic champion to martyr in China. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s win in the 1924 games.
In Glory Road, Radical’s new narrative podcast, we’ll follow Liddell’s remarkable journey, and discover the current state of the gospel in the countries he knew best.
Start listening to this 6 part series now everywhere you listen to podcasts or find out more at radical.net/gloryroad
We need a radically God-centered perspective of sin. Sin has affected our lives and leads us to the mercy of God. In this message on Joshua 7:1–26, David Platt calls us to change our view of sin.
From unexpected olympic champion to martyr in China. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s win in the 1924 games.
In Glory Road, Radical’s new narrative podcast, we’ll follow Liddell’s remarkable journey, and discover the current state of the gospel in the countries he knew best.
Start listening to this 6 part series now everywhere you listen to podcasts or find out more at radical.net/gloryroad
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite you to open with me to Joshua, chapter seven Joshua, chapter seven, and let me invite you to pull out those notes that are in the worship guide that you received when you came in. I've got to start this morning by telling you that I've discovered there is a noticeable difference between me and my precious wife, heather, when it comes to parenting. I say anoticeable difference. There are actually probably many noticeable differences, but one in particular is when it comes to this whole sleeping routine. My wife is an incredible mom and she, instantly when we got Caleb a year ago and then Joshua a couple months ago, instantly that radar went into effect in her that she can hear any sound that comes from him at all she is completely sensitive to. She can be fast asleep, Joshua in another room and he sniffles, and Heather will dart up out of bed and wonder if everything's okay and go to make sure. She's just so sensitive to that. I, on the other hand, can be in the same room with Joshua, him be crying profusely, loudly, wailing and I can be completely asleep, serenely, calmly asleep, like nothing is going on. Heather can walk in and say don't you hear your son? And this is the way it works.
Speaker 1:People ask me right now and they say well, how are you sleeping? And the reality is I'm actually sleeping great, just great. Our routine in the morning is I roll over in bed and I ask the first question how was the night? Because I have no clue, because I slept right through it. Usually she is just crawling back into bed and says don't ask, and she tries to catch a little bit of sleep and I feel bad. I feel really bad, but it's the way it is. It's this sensitivity and this complete lack of sensitivity. I hope it's not just a heartlessness, I'm just tired or just sleep well, I guess. But there's a difference there and I want to put that picture in front of you because I believe that this is a picture of the church today when it comes to our sensitivity to sin. This is a serious picture here.
Speaker 1:When you look throughout church history, what you'll see is that God's people have ebbed and flowed between two extremes. At some points in the history of God's people, you see an extreme sensitivity to sin. You see people convicted at even the thought of displeasing God. You see times in church history where there was a fresh conviction that just pervaded the people of God, where people were afraid of the thought of sin. Where in the middle of sermons and worship services, people would come rushing down to the front and fall on their faces in confession of sin. Where all throughout entire communities not just when they gathered together on Sundays, but there would be deep confession of sin in bars and marketplaces and workplaces and neighborhoods just incredible sensitivity to sin. At the same time, you look in the history of the church and you will see many times where sin has run rampant in the church and the people have seemed like they are asleep, they don't care, they think it's normal, they think it's natural, they think it's just the way it is and they are not bothered by it.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, I think that is where we find ourselves in the church today. I think we're asleep, and not just in the church, ie contemporary church in America. I'm talking about the church at Brook Hills. I'm concerned that we and I include myself in this picture we have grown so desensitized to sin that it doesn't bother us TV and hear God's name taken in vain over and over and over again, and we don't even notice that we have so little regard for His name.
Speaker 1:Today in the church, we can talk with each other in the church about brothers or sisters of ours, brothers or sisters who may be struggling, and we have this tendency to talk about them in a way that does not build up their character, and we call it the norm in the church. Gossip is the norm in the church. This is the way we talk. If we don't talk about each other, what will we talk about in the church? We have created a church culture where men let images from the internet or their imagination run rampant in their minds and they think it's no big deal. This is what men struggle with. We are living in a church culture where husbands or wives are being unfaithful to the covenant of marriage, breaking the covenant of marriage, breaking the covenant of marriage, and we think this is just the way it is in our culture. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not the way it's supposed to be. It is not the way it's supposed to be, and I'm praying that God would wake us up from our sleep.
Speaker 1:Cornelius Plantinga is a guy who wrote a classic book on sin called Not the Way it's Supposed to Be, and he wrote this the awareness of sin, a deep awareness of disobedience and painful confession of sin used to be our shadow. Christians hated sin, they feared it. They fled from it. They grieved over it. Some of our forefathers agonized over their sins. A man who lost his temper might wonder if he could still go to holy communion. A woman who for years envied her more attractive and intelligent sister might wonder if this sin threatened her very salvation. He continued. That shadow has dimmed.
Speaker 1:Nowadays the accusation you have sinned is often said with a grin and with a tone that signals an inside joke. At one time this accusation still had the power to jolt people. Ladies and gentlemen, can I be honest with you this morning I am praying that God would jolt us awake to see sin, as God sees sin. To see sin and abhor it, to hate it, to hate the thought of doing one small thing that would be displeasing. The thought of rebelling against a holy God would cause us to shudder and tremble and cause us to fear even approaching Him in worship, because we know we do not want to in any way profane His name. I'm praying that God would jolt us into a time where, when it comes to sin, we are shooting up out of our lives and saying I want to do something about that. I need to do something about that. And that leads us to Joshua, chapter 7.
Speaker 1:This is the second part of sin in the camp. Last week we were in Exodus chapter 32, and we saw this golden calf picture and the people of God worshiping the golden calf, and it was a sin of the people. They were all participating in this together and we talked about the golden calves that are rampant in the church today, but we didn't talk about sin on an individual basis as much as a corporate basis. This text actually leads us to a different picture. This text leads us to a picture of one man's sin and that one man's sin effect on the entire people of God, and so a little bit different from corporate confession last week. We come to a passage that leads us to individual confession today, and I want you to look with me at Joshua 7. We're going to read through the whole chapter. It's a whole story and I want you just to imagine this with me. Imagine this picture.
Speaker 1:It says but the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things. Achan, son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel of Judah took some of them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-Avon, to the east of Bethel, and told them go up and spy out the region. So the men went up and spied out Ai. When they returned to Joshua, they said not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it. Do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there. So about three thousand went up, but they were routed by the men of Ai who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes.
Speaker 1:At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same and sprinkled dust on their heads, and Joshua said Ah, sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan. Oh Lord, what can I say?
Speaker 1:Now that Israel has been routed by its enemies, the Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What, then, will you do for your own great name? The Lord said to Joshua stand up. What are you doing on your face? Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things. They have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They turn their backs and run because they've been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. Go, consecrate the people, tell them consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says that which is devoted among you. O Israel, you cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it In the morning. Present yourselves, tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord takes shall come forward. Clan by clan, the clan that the Lord takes shall come forward family by family, and the family that the Lord takes shall come forward, man by man. He who is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.
Speaker 1:Early the next morning, joshua had Israel come forward by tribes and Judah was taken. The clans of Judah came forward and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families and Zimri was taken. Joshua had his family come forward, man by man, and Achan, son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, the tribe of Judah was taken. And Joshua said to Achan, my son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, give him the praise, tell me what you have done, do not hide it from me. Achan replied it is true, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done.
Speaker 1:When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath. So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent and there it was, hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan, son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had to the valley of Achor. Joshua said why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today. Then all Israel stoned him and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them over Ach and they heaped up a large pile of rocks which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Acre ever since.
Speaker 1:Dear God, we pray that you would help us this morning to see sin from your perspective and, god, we pray that you would jolt us with the message of Joshua 7. God, that you would wake us up out of our slumber to see the seriousness of sin and to see the wonder of your grace of sin and to see the wonder of your grace. We pray that you would uncover what is intense all around your church today. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:The entire intent of this text is to show us the seriousness of sin. It would have been easy for Joshua 7 to begin and God to say to Joshua Joshua Achan took some things. You need to take care of that before you go up to Ai. Instead, we have this dramatic story unfold throughout the chapter. That is written not just to show them in that day, but to show us today the seriousness of sin and how God perceives sin. And that's the bottom line you've got at the top of your notes. The bottom line is we need a radically God-centered perspective of sin in the church today. We need a radically God-centered understanding of sin. Now, in order to understand this text, we've got to understand the context. You've got to realize that up until this point in the book of Joshua, everything was going great.
Speaker 1:Joshua, chapter 1, some of the strongest words from God to his people in the Old Testament. He says them to Joshua don't be afraid, joshua, be courageous, I am with you. It's an incredible chapter. You get to chapter 2 and 3, and God begins to lead them into the promised land, and he leads them across the Jordan River. He makes a way, miraculously, for them to cross the Jordan River Chapters 4, 5, and 6,. They come on their first battle in the promised land. It's the city of Jericho, with its massive walls all the way around it. And God says you don't even have to fight this thing, just play some music and I'll take care of Jericho for you. And so they play some tunes and these walls come crashing down and they take the city. He just gives it to them. Not one man dies in Joshua, chapter 6. They take the whole city of Jericho. Things are going well. And you get to Joshua, chapter 7, verse 1, and you've got the first word of the chapter.
Speaker 1:It says but the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things. Now, what's that about? What do you mean? Regard to the devoted things? Now, what's that about? What do you mean in regard to the devoted things? Well, go back to Acts, chapter Acts, joshua, chapter six. Look with me at verse 18. Look at Joshua six, verse 18, just one chapter before. And I want you to hear what God had said when they went into the promised land. He told them to take care of the devoted things. Listen to what he says, verse 18. Keep away from the devoted things so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
Speaker 1:All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury. Here's the picture. These pagan nations lived in the promised land, idolatrous. They had silver, gold, iron, these things that they had devoted to the worship of foreign gods. And they had devoted to them because they thought these gods had given them to them. And so they were all devoted to this pagan worship. And when God's people come in in fact, remember back in Exodus, chapter 32, what did they make the golden calf out of? Well, I just said it, it's an easy one. Okay, the gold actually made the golden calf. And what they did is they took these earrings and took all the gold they have that they had brought from Egypt that had been used for idols there, and they used them for idols to make the golden calf. So that's the picture. And God says I want my holiness to be clear in the promised land. And so you take everything, everything that is devoted to foreign gods, and you devote it to me, everything. You don't hold one of these things back. That's what he had told them. And you get to verse 24 in chapter 6, and it looks like that's what they've done. It says they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house. Looks like they're doing it. But then you find out in chapter 7, this one guy named Achan Looks like they're doing it. But then you find out in chapter 7, this one guy named Achan. It says in chapter 7, verse 21, when he confesses it, he said you know, I saw a robe from Babylonia, I saw some silver and I saw some gold. I coveted it. In other words, I wanted it, I desired it, and so I took it and I hid it. This is the pattern of sin we see all over Scripture. It's Genesis, chapter 3. Eve saw the fruit, she desired the fruit and she ate the fruit. This is David and Bathsheba. He saw this woman who was not his wife, he desired her and he took that. This is the picture of sin, the pattern of sin throughout the Old Testament, and it's the pattern of sin that we participate in. We see, we desire that which is not of God, and we take it in different ways, different circumstances, but really it's even deeper than that. That's what Achan said, but I want you to listen to what God said about this sin. Look in chapter 7, verse 11. This is when God describes what Achan had done, and I want you to listen to how he describes it. Verse 11,. Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things. They have stolen, they have lied. They have put them with their own possessions. Did you catch that? Six different verbs used to describe the gravity of one's sin? Achan's thinking all I did was take some stuff. God says Israel's sin starts out with a general picture. Then he says they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. Same words there that are used throughout the Old Testament to describe spiritual adultery. It is a picture of an unfaithful wife toward a husband or unfaithful husband toward a wife. You violated the marriage covenant with me. If you sinned, you violated my covenant. You took the devoted things, you stole, you lied, you put them with your own possessions. In fact, there's a word in verse 11 that's in the original language of the Old Testament but it's not included in most of our English translations here and it's just a conjunction. It's probably why they left it out. It doesn't seem as important, but it does give an emphasis. The word also is in between all those things, if you can imagine. Israel has sinned. They have also violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have also taken some of the devoted things. They have also stolen. They have also lied. They have also put them with their own possessions. Achan's thinking I took some stuff for myself. God says you have rebelled against me and my holiness. You have violated my covenant. You have transgressed the law I put before you. You have stolen. You have transgressed the law I put before you. You have stolen, you have lied. Ten commandments being broken all over this place. All he did was take a coat and gold and silver. One sin the whole picture here is intended to give us a depiction of the consequences, of the gravity of the seriousness of one sin You've got in your notes. I want us to unpack consequences. Seriousness of one sin. Number one one sin harms the entire people of God. One sin harms the entire people of God. How many people took devoted things? One guy took devoted things. One guy took a robe, some gold and silver and what happened as a result? Israel was routed by the men of Ai. Thirty-six men lost their lives. The entire presence of God among his people was thrown into question. We've got God saying it's the same picture we've seen in Exodus 32 and 33, I will not go with you. You're holding on to the sin. Presence of God and victory in the promised land. This was the only defeat in seven-year conquest of Canaan, of the promised land. This is the only defeat. And it all happened because one guy took some things for himself. One guy amidst thousands upon thousands. One sin harms the entire people of God. Now, this is not in your notes. This is a little extra for no charge, but I want you to write down two truths that are clearly depicted here in Joshua, chapter 7. Here's the first truth Sin always affects your faith, family, sin, one sin, sin always affects your faith, family. When you're reading this story, it doesn't sound like just one guy did something wrong, does it? From the very beginning? Chapter 7, verse 1, the Israelites acted unfaithfully. It says at the end of verse 1, the Lord's anger burned not against Achan. The Lord's anger burned against who? Against Israel. Same picture in the verse we just read in verse 11. Israel has sinned, not Achan. Israel has sinned. And then you see plural pronouns over and over and over again. They have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken the devoted things. They have stolen, they have lied, they have put them in their possessions. That's why I'm not going with you. You is plural there. The whole picture is is them they had sinned. Now it begs the question who sinned here? Was it Achan or was it the people of God? Was of God? Was it Achan or was it the Israelites? And the answer is both. It was Achan who had sinned. But the Old Testament does not make a disconnect between one individual sin and the entire family of God. This is so radically different than what we would expect in our culture. This is so radically different than what we would expect in our culture. Everybody's his own man. In our culture, my life doesn't have ramifications for everyone else's life. It is not true. In the community of faith, one sin affects the entire faith, family. That's the picture that is depicted here. It's all throughout Scripture 2 Samuel 21,. Famine for three years because of one sin on Saul's part. Famine for three years, 2 Samuel 24, one sin by David. Thousands of people die Just one sin. There is this corporate solidarity that's involved in one individual sin and the picture here is God saying I'm not going to go with all thousands of you because of one thing that's hidden in one guy's tent. Catch the gravity of that, the presence of God no longer with you as long as one guy has some silver and some gold and a coat under the ground in his tent. And I in no way am trying to make a direct parallel between Joshua 7 and the church today. There are differences, for sure. But I am saying this I am convinced, based on the authority of the word of God and the picture of God in this passage, the picture of God's judgment on sin, I am convinced that he would withhold the blessing of the fullness of his presence on this church because of one person's sin in this room. And you think about that, me, any one of you sitting where you are hiding something in your life that is not honoring to Christ and God would say to the church at Brook Hills I'm not going to pour out my blessing and my presence on this church because of your one sin. One sin harms the entire people of God. Sin always affects your faith family. I am convinced this is when I get flyer after flyer after flyer in the mail about conference after conference after conference on how to grow, about conference after conference after conference on how to grow your church and book after book on how to grow your church and how to do this or that. And we're all looking and the reality is the church is decreasing in her influence on our culture. The church is becoming more powerless in our culture, and so we've got to organize the troops and figure out what to do. And I'm just wondering if God is sitting back and saying I will show the fullness of my presence when you start going into your tents not all the tents that are wrong in the culture around you into your tents and start uncovering the sin that is there. You are missing out on the fullness of my presence because you have grown casual with sin and you don't think it's a big deal that this is going on in your life. The reality is, you are jeopardizing the entire blessing of God on the entire people of God because of your one sin. God is serious about holiness. Sin always affects your faith family. And second, here's the second truth Sin always affects your physical family, not just your faith family. Sin always affects your physical family. Did you notice the three times that Achan is described in this passage? He is always described with the names of his ancestors surrounding him, the names of his family surrounding him. Did you notice that at the very beginning, it's not just Achan took some of them, it's Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah. The tribe of Judah took some of them. He is attached to his family. And then later on, when they're brought out, tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, man by man, so whole family picture, the whole family is a part of this deal. And then when it says in verse 24, joshua, together with all the Israelites, took Achan, son of Zerah, and then the silver, the gold, the gold wedge, his sons and his daughters with him, this whole family's involved in this picture Verse 25, then all Israel stoned him. And after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. This is not an easy text. Mark it down. Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse 16 makes it very clear. Mark it down. Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse 16 makes it very clear. God said to his people in the law that children would not die for the sins of their fathers and fathers would not die for the sins of their children. Each one would die for their own sins. And so you can't come away from this text and say, well, because of Achan's sin, he had an innocent family and they paid the price for his sin. Instead, the picture we've got, based on the law in Deuteronomy, is a picture of Achan, who's definitely highlighted as the one who took the coat and took the gold and took the silver, but of a guy who involved his family in this sin, who maybe got them to help hide this stuff under the tent, who told them listen, here's what I've done. And the picture is of one man who dragged his family into sin with his sin, one man who dragged his family into sin with his sin. Sin always affects your physical family. It was a year ago this week that Heather and I got on a plane to head to Kazakhstan to meet Caleb. Hard to believe. In a lot of ways, we've been reminiscing a little bit where those parents now who just talk about the old days it's only been a year but about first holding him and that whole picture, that journey we went on when we adopted him, spent five weeks there in Kazakhstan and brought him back home, and then you know the story Joshua comes along unexpectedly and here we are now, a year later, with our two boys, having an absolute blast with these two little guys. But they have taken me. These two little guys have taken me to an entirely new depth in my relationship with Christ in a variety of ways, but I'll tell you the scariest way. The thought now of any sin of mine affecting them spiritually, of any sin of mine affecting their growth in Christ, the thought of my sin being passed on to them, is overwhelming. When I struggle with a sin, when I give in to a sin, and think that that will have an effect on my sons, that that will have an effect on my wife, that the consequences of sin are not just for me, they are for these that God has entrusted to me, does that not bring you to your knees, man? I'm not saying I know this whole picture. I've only been at this thing a year but that is overwhelming. I want to pass down nothing but righteousness to them. I only want them to receive righteousness from me. I look at the state of the church today and the effects of men who are not passing down righteousness to wives and children is rampant. Again, I am learning at this thing. I am not saying that I have got to market on this deal, but I do know this. Husbands and fathers in this room, based on the authority of God, I know this. If you are hiding sin in your life, if you are hiding sin that you think nobody in your family knows about, they may not know about it, but they are being directly affected by it. The consequences of sin are not just for you. They are for your family. They are affected by any area, no matter how small, that it's not honoring to Christ in your life. It is having an effect on those that you claim to love the most. I am convinced that one of the reasons that the church is so powerless in our culture today is because husbands and fathers and not just husbands and fathers, but men, whether you're husbands or fathers or not who have been given the God-given responsibility to care for the physical and spiritual well-being of our families and His church. We have shirked that responsibility, we have dropped the ball, and the results are everywhere around us. Do you not see it, men, when over half of kids do not have two parents in our country and nine out of ten of those kids don't have dads? Do you not see it when one article I read this week said the average father in America, based on study, spends three minutes of undivided attention with his children each day? It is time for men of God to see the seriousness of our sin, not just for us, but for those around us. This letter from a wife and mom reads the kids are in bed, there's nothing on TV tonight. I ask my husband if he minds if I turn the tube off. He grunts as I walk to the set. My mind is racing. Maybe, just maybe, tonight we'll talk. I mean, have a conversation that consists of more than my usual question, with his mumbled one-word answer or, more accurately, no answer at all Silence. I live in a world with continuous noise, but between him and myself, silence. Please, oh God, let him open up. I initiate once again. For the thousandth time. My heart pounds. Oh, how can I word it this time? What can I say that will open the door to just talk. I don't have to have a deep, meaningful conversation, just something. As I open my mouth, he gets up and he goes to the bedroom and the door closes behind him. The light showing under the door gives way to darkness, and so does my hope. I sit alone on the couch. My heart begins to ache. I am tired of being alone. Hey, I'm married. I have been for years. Why do I sit alone? The sadness undergoes a change, slowly, then with increased fervor, I get mad. I am sick and tired of living with a sissy, a wimp, a coward. You know he's afraid of me. Hostile, you say. You better believe it. I'm sick and tired of living in a world of passive men. My two sons like sports. They're pretty good. They could be a lot better if their dad would take a little of his precious time and play catch with them. I'm sorry, catch once a year. The church picnic just doesn't quite make the boys into great ballplayers. But dad's too busy. He is at work, he's at the health club, he's riding his four-wheeler, he's working on the car, he's playing golf. He is tired, he is watching a movie. So who plays catch with my boys? I do. My husband says you shouldn't be playing men's sports. So who's going to do it? He says he will, but he doesn't Remember. He's too busy satisfying himself doing what he likes. So my poor sons have to be second rate in sports. They could have been good, really good. My daughter is a teenager. She likes boys. They notice her, they pay attention to her and she responds. I know what's coming. I try to talk to her, but it's not me, she wants, it's dad. Yes, dad, if he'd just hug her, notice her, talk to her just a little, she wouldn't need those boys so much. But no, she turns elsewhere for attention and love, and there's nothing I can do. A mom isn't enough. Kids need a father and not just a body, a passive, silent present. And here's the killer. My husband's father did the same number on him, didn't hug him, didn't take him to anything, let alone watch his baseball games, and he hates his father. Now my husband's doing the same thing. Lest any man hear that and think well, there's probably another side to the story. Well, there's probably another side to the story. Be assured, there is another side to the story. Be assured, in any situation like this, there are two sides to the story. Lest anybody say it is all his or her fault. But, gentlemen, I remind you, you are the one that God has given accountability for your home. You are the one that God has called to lead your home in righteousness and holiness and His grace and in truth and in His word. And to shirk that responsibility is to commit the sin of aching and to live in your tent with all the things you enjoy, while you drag your family along with you. God, help us. God help us to realize husbands, fathers, men. Your sin does not just affect you, it affects your whole family. Wives, moms. Your sin does not just affect you, it affects your whole family. Wives, moms. Your sin does not just affect you, it affects your whole family. Children, students in this room. Your sin does not just affect you, it affects your entire family. And so, if not for your own sake, for the sake of those who you love and love, you get rid of the devoted things in your tent, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the blessing of God on the city of Birmingham, through his church. Get clean, get pure, get holy, humble yourself and uncover the devoted things. Pure, get holy, humble yourself and uncover the devoted things. Don't think that one flare of your temper does not cost your family, that one coarse word against your husband or your wife or your parents, one disrespectful word, does not cost your family. Don't think that one facet of sinfulness, one small sin, does not affect your whole family. It does. God help us to see that we're asleep and we don't realize it. Sin always affects your faith family and it always affects your physical family. You know I've got more sermon here to go in order to get through this outline, but I woke up really, really early this morning, very, very, very burdened for this whole picture in Joshua 7. I in no way want to appear harsh. I know that there are families struggling around this room. There are probably more families struggling than there are not. I know there are marriages struggling. I know that there are marriages that are experiencing the effects of struggling. I know that there are a lot of hurts and I am not saying that there is a simplistic answer to any one of the situations represented around this room, and I'm not saying this should be easy. It's not easy If it makes you feel any better. It's not easy for your pastor, his family either, but this is why we need the gospel in our families. This is why we need the gospel in our families, because it is Christ and Christ alone who at the core. Not saying there's not other issues out here, but I am saying there is one core issue in any facet of our lives and it is sin. And only Christ can address sin. Only Christ can overcome sin. Only Christ can take care of sin. Only Christ can remove sin. Aren't you glad that this picture in Joshua chapter 7 is not God's contemporary method for doing things? Aren't you glad that we didn't gather here together and begin to say all right, those who live in this zip code we're going to divide up and one zip code comes forward and one house comes forward, one family, and you're sitting there thinking what's in my tent that I need to make sure is not there. Aren't you glad that we're not being singled out like this in Joshua 7? Aren't you glad that one's singled out that we're not being taken outside the city gates to be stoned with our families? Aren't you glad that your sin is not being put in front of the entire people of God to see? Can you imagine your sin, or my sin, not only put in front of your physical family, your whole faith, family, all of your sin, put out for all to see. This is why Achan was trying his best to cover up. He could have easily, earlier in this process, come forward and said there's some stuff in my tent, but he didn't. If you can imagine going to sleep that night in aching shoes, getting up the next morning thinking does God really know what I've done? Does God really know? This is the same thing we do. We try to cover it up. If I can just make it through this worship service, then I can forget about this deal once I get to lunch and I can move on with my life. I don't have to deal with this thing in my life. I don't have to deal with these areas in my life that are not pure, not holy. I don't have to deal with those. I can just move on and everything can be all right and I can go back to business as usual. It's what Achan's thinking. You wonder, if he had come forward earlier, if the same thing would have happened. We don't know. But here we don't have to pretend like it's not there. We don't even have to fear it being brought into the open, because once it is, god does not stone us. He crucified his son instead of you. He doesn't even cause the penalty for your sin to come on you. Ultimately, he has already put it on Christ and he says to us stop trying to cover up like your sin is not there. You can't do it, I know it's there. There's not one sin that can be hidden from Almighty God in this room. Not one sin. So we can either try to cover it up ourselves or we can bring it out in the open and let him cover it with the blood of Jesus Christ himself. I'd rather let go of it and let him do it. He promises us, christian. He promises us, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. If you're not a follower of Christ here today and you have sin in your life and you've never confessed your sin to God, if you've never come to the point where you've acknowledged the fact that you have rebelled against a holy God, then he promises you trust in me to save you from your sins. Call out for me to save you from your sins and I'll do it, not based on what you do, based on the blood of Christ. The question is? Are we willing to realize that these things or this one thing that is hidden in each of our tents, are we willing to realize how serious that is in the presence of a holy God, and are we willing to bring it out in the open, no matter what kind of humiliation that means, no matter what kind of humbling that involves, because we want to be right before God. We want to know God, we want to know His presence and we want our family to know His presence. We want our church to know His presence. Are we willing to go there? This is worship. This is worship. We talked about it last week. We have manufactured worship without what, without humiliation. We've manufactured worship without what, without humiliation. We've manufactured worship where we don't have to deal with what's under the tent. We can leave that at home, come sing some songs and go back to our home and enjoy those things. We can leave this sin that's in our tent at work and we can go back on Sundays and we can worship God and we come back and enjoy these things. It's time to bring the devoted things outside the tent that have been devoted to the things of this world and let God bring his grace and his mercy and, ultimately, the power of his presence on his church and on families across this room. God, may it be so. And so we're just not going to go through the rest of this. We're going to spend some time in confession. We're going to spend some time in confession. We're going to spend some time in confession and I want to challenge you. We did this corporately last week, we're going to do it individually this week. I want to challenge every individual in this room this morning to ask God to show you what is in your tent that is not completely honoring to him. Some of you don't even have to ask. You know, at the very beginning, some of you think the list is just too long to go. It is not too long, for grace. I want to invite you to ask God what's in my tent, what in my life is not pure and holy, and I want to invite you to bring it to the forefront and to put it before you and to say I'm not going to try to cover it up anymore. I want you to take it. I want to invite you, challenge you, to do the same thing, not just with God, but with others. When we have sinned against another, then the picture in Scripture is to confess your sins to each other. And I want to challenge men. If there are areas of your life where you have sinned in a way that affects your wife or affects your kids, I want to invite you to turn to them, to go on the other side of the room to them and say I want to confess you, to turn to them, to go on the other side of the room to them and say I want to confess sin to you and I want to ask you to forgive me. If there are people in the faith, family, people in this room, people around you that bitterness or other sins have developed there, I want to invite you to go to each other Wives, to turn to husbands, kids, students to go to your parents and confess sins to each other and, before God, say well, that's a lot to do. This is worship. This is worship. This is real. This is worship. This is real. It's authentic. It's not playing games on Sunday morning in Alabama. It is real, honest vulnerability before a holy God about our sin, before a God who stands ready to show real grace, real forgiveness and real joy. You go to Psalm 51, the Psalm of Confession. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. I need to let go of sin. So I know your joy, power of your presence. That's the picture here. The only way we can do that is Christ, to run to Christ in our confession, and so I want to invite you to do that. I'm going to ask the guys to come and to lead us musically, just to play in the background, and I'm going to pray for us in just a minute, and then I want to open up this area in the front and if you'd like to come and kneel here or on the sides, you can feel free to do that. If you'd like to pray where you are, if you'd like to go to somebody, if God is telling you to go to somebody, if God is telling you to go call somebody who's not here on your cell phone, then I challenge you to do that. But don't miss the gravity here. If we continue to hold on to the devoted things in our tent, if we do not spend this kind of time in confession, then we rob the church and our families. The blessing of God, and so I want to invite you to wrestle with God over the things that you're holding on to in your life that may not be pure or holy and to spend some time in confession. Father, we know that you are holy, god, that you are righteous and completely good, and we know that, because of our sin, there is no way we could be in your presence. And yet we also know that, by grace, you have saved us from our sin. By grace, you have called us to Christ, to trust in him so that we could come into your presence. And so we come boldly. We come even with our sin boldly, before you and God, we know that that which is repugnant in your sight, we bring before you and you take it and you forgive us and you cover over our sins. And in Isaiah 43, 25, you tell your people that you remember them no more. God praise you for remembering our sins no more. Father, we pray that you would wake us up, that you would jolt us out of our slumber. God, to not be casual with sin, to not be complacent about sin, wondering well, what really is wrong with my relationship with God? Is there really anything that is there? God, help us to see the weight of our sin, help us to see the gravity of our sin, show us what's in our tents. And God, we pray that you would give us grace to confess honestly before you and before each other. God, give us grace to experience your mercy and to experience your forgiveness. We want it. We run to Christ. We need Christ in our families. We need Christ in our marriages. We need Christ in our homes. We need Christ in our families. We need Christ in our marriages. We need Christ in our homes. We need Christ in our lives, and so we run to him. Now I invite you all, across this room, to spend time in confession, confessing your sins to God, to each other. This area at the front is open if you'd like to use it. If you need to go to others, I invite you to do that. I invite you into a time of authentic confession. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.