Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1913-12-11


Before proceeding against Jericho.
God, through his servant Joshua, had
given strict injunctions as regards the
taking Of anything from the city for
self-enrichment, ch. GIT, 1S. It waa,
necessary at the outset Of this cam
paign to safeguard Israel against any
such motives. The fruits OF their vio-
tories must in no way seem to be the
rewards Of. nor to be dependent upon.,
the efforts Of their own hands. Spir--
itual victories are, as we learned last
week, won by means and upon prin--
cip'es utterly foolish and inadequate:
In the view Of human wisdom. Nor
is the Christian dependent upon the,
principles Of human thrift for his sus-
tenance or enrichment. That does not
mean the enforcement OF the Chris
tian from those principles.
The story of Achan is an iilustra-
ton. While his sin was indivfdualistic-
yet 1t was national in its results ". IL
After the fall of Jericho, Joshua sent
detachment Of 1000 or 5000 men to-
take possession of the small town of
All 0iterally, "ruins''). The task was
seemingly an unimportant and an easy
one. but the result was that the expe--
dition was turned into a miserable,
rout (vv. 1-6).
Achan's Sins Revealed.
The stages Of the sin of Achan are
wonderfully revealed in the confession,
". 2D which was finally wrung from
II saw l coveted
took they are hid"
! l. Joshua's error, w. SO. It was
right and proper for Joshua to bring.
his difficulty to God, but ir was not
right for him to lay upon him the
blame for his defeat. Moses before.
him had made that same mistake (Ex.
5:22, 23), and it would seem that
Joshua should have profited thereby
In this, however. he is supremeIy hu--
man. We OF today with far greater
light are constantly making this same,
mistake Of accusing God, instead OF.
finding out and judging our sin
There Is, however, an underlying note
of the master passion of Joshua's-
i heart, that note which had so gov
erned the heart of his predecessor.
Moses. 1t is expressed in the last note,
or his complaint, What wilt thou -dou
TOT thy great name?' v. 9. This com
plant and petition sounds very much.
like those of the preceding generation
uttered in the Wilderness For us to-
wish ourselves to be content to dwell
beyond Jordon," when the testing
times of our Christian life come, when
the calls come for an advance. ia to
: doubt his wisdom. No wonder Joshua
was amazed when he saw Israel turn
It's back upon its enemies (v. 81. We,
must beware lest we, too, be dismayeti
when we see the church OF today give
way before the world and the devil.
". The cause of defeat, wv. 1912.
Joshua's petition is answered by the
voice OF Jehovah in terms of rebuke.
strong, yet tender. In verse two we
are told that Joshua sent men to view
AL Why? Because in the language of
verse one the children of Israel com
mitted trespass in the accurseds
thing' Joshua wanted the people to
know that the sin of Achan and it's
results was the sin of the whole ma
uon. COD brings the essential ono
ness OF the nation before us in verse,
eleven; for an illustration, see /. Cor.
5:1-7 and 12:12-14, 16
Gods Instructions.
! III. ne victory OF defeat wv 1915
IL Is testimony as to the spiritual
condition of this nation that the fraud
was so soon located. The early Chris.
tian church had parallel incident I'm
the case OF Ananias and Sapphira, Acts.
5:Ill. In each case the evil was
quickly judged and reveals the close
ness or God to his people. In the pro-
cess or years Israel passed from that
condition; has the church of today so,
passed! God had given explicit in
structions as to the spoil (ch. 6:1S R
w. God commands Joshua not to,
cry unto him. but to "sanctify the peo-
pie" The church OF Christ. as we'll
as the individual. needs to Judge its
sin and to set itself apart unto God.
1t was a stern judgment and the
query arises what sort of bonfire
would the church have today were ALI
sinfuiiy acquired property to suffer
similar destruction. 1t is noticeable,
however. that there is no suggestion
or any confession on the part of Achans
until the narrowing circle of Judge
ment had closed upon him. He con-
tessed only when there was no DOS
sioie escape. This seems like a stern.
hard process, but yet God was deal
ing In mercy with the whole people.
w. The Golden Text. The words of
this text were uttered by Moses to the
TWO and a half tribes who settled on
the east of Jordan. that in case they
refused to come to the help of their
brethren In the conflict necessary to
'ne possession of Canaan, their sin
would discover them. This lesson war
rants the application OF this principle.
sin against God results in injury to
your neighbor. 1t is a sin not to help
your neighbor and conversely to in