March 28
Joshua 18:1-19:48
Which patient would ever be comfortable if I told them that when I did their surgery I would purposely remove only part of the cancer, but leave the rest of it in? Or, as the example that Pastor Lloyd gives, which wife would be happy if her husband said he would be faithful most of the time, even 99% of the time? The answer is obvious. But how many of us know sin for what it is, know God's Word concerning those sins, yet purposely continue to keep a little of it in our own personal lives. I'm not talking about stumbling, I'm talking about premeditatingly keeping these little areas of sin present. If you have struggled with alcohol or drugs and have mostly cleaned up your act, why would anyone purposely make exceptions on specific days, such as holidays, weddings, or weekends. If you have struggled with lust and have gotten rid of your addiction to pornography, why would anyone purposely toy with it. It is dangerous to continue to flirt a little. How many state, "You can look, but you can't touch"? How many still dress provocatively and take notice whether anyone is looking at them? If you have struggled with gossip, you know the areas and people who tend to draw it out of you, have you completely removed these areas and individuals or have you just reduced them and keep them around a little less. The point is do we see sin for the harmful thing that it is, or do we think that we have it under control, do we believe that we have mastered the ability to walk that fine line. Though Jesus didn't literally want us to do this, He told those struggling with lust to cut off their hand or their eye, if these led them to sin in this manner (Matthew 5:27-30). He was instructing us to deal radically with our sin.
The instructions from Moses couldn't have been clearer, as we read in Deuteronomy 20:16-18, "But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God." God knew that this would be like leaving a little cancer in the land. This little cancer of false worship to false gods would eventually permeate to the Israleites. But we read in Joshua 15:63, :As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day." The next tribe after Judah discussed is Ephraim, where we read in Joshua 16:10, "And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers." We read the same thing with the tribe of Manasseh in 17:12-13. We see the frustration in Joshua as we read in Joshua 18:3, "Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: "How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?" God had already won the victory, the Israelites just needed to follow through with God's plan of conquering the land. But they became complacent and disobedient. We will see in the book of Judges the result of this disobedience.
Many see the instruction of God to eliminate everyone that breathes among the Canaanites as cruel or unfair. This is only because we think we know better than God. God is sovereign and He truly knows what is best for us. We were in bondage to sin, every single one of us. We were helpless to rid ourselves of these habits that sought to ruin our lives. But Jesus paid the price by dying on the cross. He eliminated the punishment of sin and death by this one act when He took the wrath that we deserved upon Himself. For our part we simply need to stop following our own plan and agree with His plan for our lives, or change our minds, this is repentance. Then we simply need to accept Jesus' payment. He did it all, we did nothing. In this we read in Romans 8:37, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." The Israelites proved disobedient in removing the Canaanites from the land. God continued to forgive them when they cried out to them, pleading for forgiveness, but they continued to make such a mess of their lives. Likewise, God's grace and mercy is limitless for us, His children. But the longer we toy and flirt with sin the more of a mess we make of our own lives. God said to deal radically with sin. Jesus said the same thing. It would be much simpler to take God at His word then to think we have it all figured out and can straddle that fine line of walking with God and purposely keeping a little sin in our lives. It just doesn't work.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: