Vigilance Against Sin: Lessons from Achan's Disobedience

1) "Akin learned the hard way that sin will always take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you're willing to pay. But the thing about Akin is, he's not unusual. Akin is a reminder of how easily it is for any of us to be swept away into sin if we're not vigilant to follow the leading of God in our lives." [29:28] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Even when you think no one's watching, God is. God is. He sees everything. But the story doesn't end there. It goes from bad to worse. Because the next day, Joshua sends 3,000 troops to this little town of Ai. You may have heard it pronounced A-I. But this little town called Ai, and they go down there, and the Israelites get destroyed. I mean, they get whooped. They come running back towards Jericho with their tails between their legs, thinking what in the world has happened." [34:04] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "The process is so simple. He says, I saw, I coveted, I took, and then I hid it. The same process that every single one of us will walk through because this is the way of temptation. This is the way of sin. And so very quickly, I want to kind of walk through this and then I want to look at not just the pathway. I want to look at the price and I want to look at the prescription for how to deal with sin." [38:41] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "Temptation, folks. Is not a sin. Everybody say that. Temptation is not a sin. Temptation is not a sin. But what we do with temptation that comes our way can lead us to sin if we don't handle it swiftly, if we don't handle it correctly. So what is temptation? Temptation is the demonic baiting our flesh. From God's perspective, temptation is the opportunity to help us to grow, to help us to be more dependent upon him, to strengthen us, so that we trust in his power." [39:29] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Whenever we sin, something dies. Now, you may think, oh, I did this and I didn't die. I told a lie. I didn't die. But no. But you know what did die? Your credibility died. Your integrity took a hit. And if you lied enough or you lied to the right person, that relationship could have ended. It could have been a business relationship. It could have been a friendship. It could have been a marriage because of lying." [44:59] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Sin will always, always infect and affect people around us. Therefore, we must never underestimate the amount of damage our sin can have on ourselves or on others when we choose to live outside of the will of God. And that brings us to the third thing, the prescription of sin. For sin. Now, listen very carefully. There's not one of us in this room that's sinless. That's not the point here. We're all going to make mistakes." [46:29] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "Sin is not your friend. In fact, everybody say that with me. Sin is not my friend. Do you know who is your friend? God is. God's your friend. He's your friend. He's a friend. He's a friend. He's closer than a brother. But sin is not your friend. And so choosing to walk with God on a daily basis, minute by minute, living on guard against the schemes of the devil, this is how we overcome when temptation comes our way." [47:58] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "The closer you get to the light, the more the light's going to expose the darkness around you. The farther you get from the light, the more you're going to live in darkness. So we cannot minimize. We have to maximize God. And key to this is the scripture. Listen to what Psalm 119 says. How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands." [49:33] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "We have to realize that we are in a spiritual battle. And while we can't live blaming the devil, this isn't Flip Wilson and the devil made me do it. Okay? But we also can't walk around thinking there's a demon behind every bush. But there is spiritual warfare and we are engaged and we are experiencing it every day. And that's why Paul told Timothy, excuse me, Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians 6, he says, Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." [50:33] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10) "Don't allow sin to linger in your life. Here's what happens. When sin lingers too often in our lives, it becomes a dark friend. Because sin that lingers becomes comfortable. It becomes comfortable to us. And over time, we become inoculated to it. And so the best way to deal is when the Holy Spirit convicts us. When the Holy Spirit puts us at the top sign and says, Oh, what are you doing?" [54:12] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)