____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER ____________________________________________________ "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ November 6, 2005 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Achan's Sin (Irvin Himmel) 2) Et Tu, Christian? (Rusty Miller) 3) News & Notes ____________________________________________________ -1- Achan's Sin by Irvin Himmel Jericho was the first city to fall when the Israelites began the conquest of Canaan. Scouts were sent ahead to Ai, the next city to be captured. It was not a large city, so the reconnaissance resulted in the recommendation to Joshua that only two or three thousand men be used in the attack. A force of three thousand moved against the city, but the men of Ai drove them back and the casualties numbered about thirty-six. The Israelites were startled at their lack of success in the initial move against Ai. Joshua and the elders put dust on their heads and complained to the Lord. Joshua reasoned, "O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!" God answered, "Get thee up...Israel hath sinned...." Joshua rose early in the morning to begin the unpleasant task of house-cleaning. There was sin in the camp. The guilty party had to be located. The guilt of one man was a stumbling-block to the advance against Ai. Joshua 7 tells the story. It was finally determined that a man named Achan was the transgressor. Only after appropriate disciplinary measures had been taken against Achan were the Israelites able to conquer Ai. Achan was stoned to death. Achan's Desire God put a ban on the city of Jericho before it was captured. No spoils were to be taken. Everything in the city was accursed or devoted to destruction except the silver, gold, and vessels of iron and brass. These valuables were to be put into the treasury of the Lord. All else was to be burned. Achan's first mistake was in seeing and desiring the forbidden. He later confessed, "I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them..." (v. 21). Sin often begins with unlawful desire brought on by what we see. Eve "saw that the tree was good for food" (Gen. 3:6). King Ahaz of Judah "saw an altar that was at Damascus" (2 Kgs. 16:10) and arranged for one like it to be built at Jerusalem. This was only one act of many that "provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers" (2 Chron. 28:25). David "saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon" (2 Sam. 11:2). That was the first step toward his committing adultery with Bathsheba. Simon "saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given," and he attempted to buy the power of the apostles (Acts 8:18). "Covetousness" is unlawful desire. Achan coveted the items of value that he saw even though he knew they belonged to the accursed city. Eve desired the unlawful fruit in the garden of Eden. Ahaz desired the idolatrous altar that he saw, knowing that God had forbidden idolatry. David lusted after the beautiful woman that he saw and made opportunity to gratify his lust, knowing all the while that the law said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Simon desired the power that he saw in the apostles, but for two reasons that desire was unlawful: (1) God's gifts are not for sale; (2) Simon had neither part nor lot in the ministry of the apostles. Achan's Disobedience Achan "took of the accursed thing" (Josh. 7:1); he acknowledged later, "I saw...l coveted...and I took" (v. 21). What he had taken he hid in the earth in the midst of his tent. This shows that he was conscious of his disobedience. Although a person may sin in ignorance, Achan sinned in a willful manner. He knew he was disobeying God. All disobedience is serious. Saul was rejected as Israel's king because he disobeyed God (1 Sam. 15). The man of God out of Judah lost his life because he "was disobedient unto the word of the Lord" (1 Kgs. 13:26). The people of Israel were taken into captivity because they "were disobedient," and rebelled against God, casting His law behind their backs, and they slew His prophets who testified against them (Neh. 9:26). The wrath of God comes upon "the children of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6). Achan's Detection What Achan had hidden in the earth in the midst of his tent was not concealed from God. In time, Joshua learned the identity of the guilty party. To use the words that Moses had spoken on one occasion, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). All trespasses are not detected by one's fellows in the course of life. Paul wrote, "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before the judgment; and some men they follow after" (1 Tim. 5:24). No act of disobedience and no wicked thought will escape detection in the day of judgment. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:14). "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Let us learn from Achan that no sin is kept secret from God. -- Via Truth Magazine XXIII: 7, p. 114, February 15, 1979 ____________________________________________________ -2- Et Tu, Christian? by Rusty Miller In all of recorded history, there are few more poignant words than those of Julius Caesar as he faced death from assassins. Looking around to see those who deemed him worthy of death, he was shocked to see the face of Brutus, whom he considered his friend. According to tradition, he looked him in the eye and said, "Et tu, Brute?" which is to say, "You too, Brutus?" The theme of betrayal, which runs through the story of Caesar's assassination, is what draws us to it, even though the event occurred over 2,000 years ago. It is also one of the things which make the story of Judas Iscariot so devastating. Betrayal is an event which stirs in us some of the strongest, most pained emotions we possess. No one, not even evil people, can countenance betrayal (witness what happens to mafioso who betray the "family"). Imagine then, what it will be like for some at the final judgment. They will be lost, and they will wonder why some of their friends, who had the truth all along, never bothered to tell them they were in such peril. They saw some of us everyday, and we never told them about the beauty of accepting Christ. We often sing a song which says, "You met me day by day, and knew I was astray, but never mentioned Him to me." What a sense of betrayal those people will feel! One of the most prominent themes of the New Testament history books (the gospels and Acts) is that when people found out about Jesus, they wanted to tell others. Andrew, the apostle of Jesus, made it his first duty after meeting Jesus: "He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah'" (Jn. 1:41). Where would the New Testament story be if not for Andrew's desire to share the message with the man Jesus named Peter, who played such a prominent role in building the early church? When Jesus met with the woman at the well in Samaria, her first step after talking with Him was to go into the city and tell them, "Come see a man..." (Jn. 4:29). In the book of Acts, the pages are filled with stories about those willing to share the message of the gospel. When the church faces its greatest challenge, when the much admired Stephen has been murdered, when Saul is persecuting the church without mercy, when they are scattered from their homes into new cities where they face the discouragement, not only of persecution, but also of being separated from one another, what happens? "Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). Paul, as he faced charges which would eventually bring about his death, found it less necessary to proclaim his innocence than to preach Jesus even to those with power to set him free (Felix, Festus, Agrippa). He closes his great defense before Agrippa with these most beautiful words, after Agrippa has commented somewhat favorably on Paul's attempt to convert him, "I would to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains" (Acts 26:28). What does all this have to do with our neighbors and co-workers on the Day of Judgment? Only that our goals should be the same. That is, we should be so excited about the salvation we have that we are not only willing, but also eager to tell others about it. Why should our zeal be less than that of the early church, who certainly faced more challenges than we do? It is not enough to "win people by example," though that is certainly a noble idea. Some people will not respond unless they see what the gospel has done in our own lives. But the fact is our example will only win people if they already know we are Christians. We cannot simply expect them to assume we are Christians. How sad if someone on judgment day looks at us and says, "Et tu, Christian?" -- Via Cahaba Heights church of Christ Bulletin ____________________________________________________ -3- News & Notes As mentioned last week, the Gospel Meeting at Park Forest begins today, and will run through Friday, meeting at 7:30 through the weeknights. Bob Pulliam (from Conroe, Texas) will be doing the preaching. We welcome those of you who are visiting with us today. Please come again. ____________________________________________________ MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST 1022 Myrtle Street Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 664-8208 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM Wednesday: 7:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go ____________________________________________________