In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of believing and obeying the Word of God. He uses the story of Achan in the book of Joshua to illustrate the consequences of disobedience. Achan, against God's command, takes silver, gold, and a Babylonian garment from the city of Jericho. As a result, he brings a curse upon himself and his family. The preacher highlights the need to trust in God's provision and promises, and warns against the temptation to disobey and seek worldly possessions.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. If you want to open your Bibles to the 7th chapter of Joshua. Folks, before I begin, can I say something that bears upon what I'm preaching tonight? Do you remember when David sinned with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, her husband? He hid that sin for a whole year. How did he get free? How did he get delivered? He had been praying that year. He'd been weeping that year. He certainly had been in the Word of God that year for a season. But he still didn't get free from his sin. It was never brought out in the open. It was never dealt with until God sent a preacher. He sent a prophet. And a finger, we hear about that bony finger, say thou art the man. I don't believe it was that. I believe it was with tears and weeping and silent, piercing, a voice so soft it thundered. David, and I believe he had to turn away. Prophet had to look out the window with tears in his eyes. You're the man. And it was that revelation of the holiness of God, it was that direct, direct message to the heart, direct, direct message to the heart that delivered David from the stronghold of Satan and set him free and really made it possible for the glory of God to come down upon that kingdom once again. And that's why we preach as we do. And that's why I preach as I do tonight. We're going to have the Holy Ghost. We're going to pray the Holy Ghost come and speak to all of us. And I tell you, friends, when I preach like I did Sunday night and tonight about hidden sin and its dangers, I tremble. I tell God every day, Lord, I have to stand before you and answer for this. This will be replayed. To me, I would be damned and judged out of my own words, and it causes me to tremble. So I preach to myself. I really do. I preach to my own heart. Heavenly Father, I thank you that you're a loving God. You are full of mercy and grace. And because of that mercy and grace, you will not let us slide away. You'll not let us drift. You will not let us go on in our sins. You will come and you will point a finger directly and say, You're the man. You're the woman. You will name the sin. You will expose the sin. And then, Lord, if we repent and turn to you, unlike Achan's time, Lord, we have a Savior. We have one now, Lord Jesus, who has died for our sins. We have a lamb that was slain on our behalf. We just turn to you, O Lord. There is mercy and there is grace. Lord, pierce our hearts tonight. Lord, bathe my words in grace and mercy. And, O God, let the sword find its mark. Let it go into the cancerous areas and dig and probe and remove everything that is unlike you, Jesus, and begin it in me, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Achan was robbed. Now, you've heard of the sin of Achan. He was the Israelite soldier whose sin brought about a terrible defeat to the children of Israel in a little town or city called Ai. And his pitiful story is recounted here in the book of Joshua in 6th, 7th, and 8th chapter. And this story is very familiar to most of you as Christians. Now, if you're a new believer and you're a visitor here, you may not know about this man. He's famous only because of his sin. This story is found... Israel was told by God, See, I have given you Jericho. Now, they had crossed the Jordan miraculously and now they face one of the world... at that time, the world's most fortified city. And they were told to march around it seven times and on the seventh day, seven times around. They were to blow trumpets. God said the walls will come down. You rush in over the debris and take the city. I'm going to give this city to you. See, I have given Jericho into your hands. It's kings, it's mighty men of valor. Every marcher, though, is told explicitly, Do not touch the accursed thing lest you fall under a curse and make the camp of Israel a curse. All the silver and the gold, the vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord. They are the Lord's. He said that when you get there, you're going to see a lot of loot. You're going to see spoil laying around. He said, Don't touch it. It's not yours. After the battle's over, we'll have the Levites go in. We will pick up the loot. We will take care of it. Don't touch it. Don't even touch it. Leave it on the ground. You see a garment. You see wedges of gold. You see bags of silver. You see precious items. You see jewelry. Leave it alone. Don't touch it. This was a commandment of the Lord. Everyone knew it. Now, Achan is in the thick of this battle. Can you imagine the awe of Achan when he heard the rumbling suddenly and he literally saw the stones moving and crumbling and a huge cloud of dust and then the blowing of the trumpet stopped and you hear the roar of an army that has a victory cry and they're rushing up over the rubble into the city and the sword is being put to the enemy, the loud screaming and the bloodletting and what a sight and what a sound it must have been. Now, Achan in the thick of this battle evidently is in the rubble of some rich man's home, his house, and he looks down and something grabs his attention. There's an open bag, a pouch of silver coins and next to it there's a bright wedge of gold and underneath some rubble, he sees something that attracts him because, you see, these people have been in the wilderness, plain-clothed people, and there's something he hasn't seen, an incredible embroidered or fur-lined, whatever it may have been. It was a Babylonian incredible garment and he lusted after it. The very thing that he was told not to do, somehow he manages to get it under his tunic, he gets it under his clothes and probably edges his way back to the outer edges of the battlefield and yet pretends to go through the most... I don't think he ran to his tent, that would have given him away because sin always has to be covered and you have to look like everything's okay. But he follows the crowd back to the camp and he makes his way into the tent and he sends his children, probably his wife, out and he says, I would like to take a nap, it's been a long, long warfare. And while they're out of the tent he gets a scoop or a little shovelette or whatever he had and he digs a hole, he wraps the garment in some kind of cloth or skin and he puts the garment there and then the gold and the bag of silver and then he covers it over, smooths it over and puts the bed over top of it. It's all done and he comes out and he said, well, I feel better than I thought I would. Come on in. Joshua 7 chapter, 7 chapter, verses 1 through 5, But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-Avin on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. They returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai and make not all the people labor there, for there are but a few. So there went up to the other people about three thousand men and they fled before the men of Ai and the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shabarim, and smote them in the going down. Wherefore, the hearts of the people melded and became as water. Joshua could not believe it. He goes into mourning. He tears off his outer garment and falls in the dust and he's asking God, Why? And God speaks clearly to Joshua, I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the accursed thing among you. Get up and sanctify the people. There is a secret accursed thing in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you. Jeremiah 7, verse 12 and 13. Children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies because they were cursed. Neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you. Up! Sanctify the people. Sanctify yourself against tomorrow. God says, Tomorrow, I'm going to show you why you've become so weak. I'm going to show you why I've had to lift my hand and why I'm not with you now. And until you deal with it, I'm not with you anymore. It has to be dealt with. So the Lord, now remember, the Lord had been with children of Israel at Jericho. They'd had a great victory. This man, Achan, had been there when the Jordan had opened. He'd seen this miracle. He had watched in awe as the walls came tumbling down. The power of God was clearly manifested in his presence. So he knew the power of God, but he had no respect for the Word of God. He had no awe or respect for the living, holy Word of God. And the fear of God filled the whole land, the Scripture said. So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country. But now a secret, hidden sin broke the flow of blessing, and God was not moving with his congregation or his church in the desert anymore. Sorrow now, pain, and anger in the heart of God. The very next day, God sets about to teach the children of Israel a very important lesson, a lesson that was meant not only for Israel, but for all time and for us today, upon whom the ends of the world have come. You say, what a little trivial thing. What would God, the God of heaven, who is bathed and clothed in light and majesty, what would He want with a Babylonian garment? And what about a piece of gold when not even Paul would cover it? He said, silver and gold have I none. And if Paul doesn't need, why would God need a wedge of gold? And what's silver when God owns all the gold and silver in all the hills? Folks, it wasn't the garment. It wasn't the gold. It wasn't the silver. It was not the sin itself, but what it represented. God says, I'm going to teach you a lesson. I want you, and I want all mankind from this time to learn a lesson. We look at the sin of Achan and we think it's some little isolated story in the Old Testament that has nothing to do with us. We just marvel at it and we think it to be a very, very interesting story. And yes, God does deal with sin, but it has to do with us. Everything written, there's not a word written in this Old Testament just to tell stories. It is applicable to every one of us and to me as well. Joshua 7, 16 through 18. Read with me or follow with me if you will, please. So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken. Now, look at me, please. This was done either by the Urim and Thummim, stones in the breastplate of the priest, or it was done by lot. And usually by lot, there was a vessel taken and either 12 stones or 12 pieces of broken pottery were put in this and shaken and out the first one that came out or they would lay it down and turn them over. But God by lot, by lot, pulls out the stone or the identification of the tribe of Judah. Now, Achan is there because the whole camp, all of Israel was called before the temple, before the tabernacle. And they're there because they know that there's sin in the camp, they know something is wrong and God is going to put His finger on sin. Achan is there and you know what he must have been thinking because surely he'd lost the fear of God. Surely this man had so covered his sin that he'd become comfortable with it. He's thinking there's a million soldiers, there's a million men, so there's a one to million chance I'll ever be caught. And God says, I'm going to show you what I do with the odds of a million to one. I'm going to show you that it's not an accident. I'm going to show you what happens. And so they cast the lot and out comes Judah, the tribe of Judah is taken. And Achan by now said, well that's one in twelve, it's just an accident, it just happened. But then another lot is cast and the tribe of Judah was taken and he brought the family of Judah and he took the family of the Zarhites. Out of that whole tribe he took a clan, the Zarhites. Now this is the clan of Achan. I wonder if Achan is even trembling yet. His clan is taken, it's narrowing down and God is saying, I'm going to show you that you can't take my word lightly. I mean what I say. My blessings, my cursings, they are written, I have honored my word about my name. So the Zarhites are taken and he brought the family of Zarhites man by man. And now every one of these members of the clan and inside the clan, the tribes. And Zabdi was taken and he brought his household by man and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah and the tribe of Judah was taken. Now can you imagine, this is getting narrower and narrower, it's just everything coming into, funneling into one little moment here where God is saying to the whole world, be sure your sin will find you out. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. There could have been mercy, there was time, God was speaking, God was first. You know the first call when Judah's taking a little slap on the wrist, hey can you still have time? Run now, confess, get it right. You see God dealing and dealing and dealing, oh how patient the Holy Ghost is, how patient he is, I know that for a fact. He has been more patient with me than probably any preacher in the world. He has been so patient, he's been patient with you. You don't deserve to be here, you and I should have all been exposed long ago, if we got what we deserve, we'd be in hell right now. Oh the mercy of God. But here's God saying, I'm not going to go with you until this is dealt with, until this is brought out. You've covered a secret sin, and what God's saying, if you cover sin for any length of time, you deny it, you swear it isn't so, you even say, how can you even, I'm sure if even after his tribe had been taken, even the Zarahites had been taken, he would say, and someone would point to him, hey can you, you're the man, he said, how can you even think of a thing like that? Like the man who's caught in adultery, or somebody calls his wife and said, I'm having an affair with your husband, and he comes home, and she faces him with the truth, and he'll blow up and get mad, he said, how dare you say anything like that to me? A former president of the United States was accused of planning a break-in at Watergate Towers, remember? In the Democratic headquarters, looking for secret political information, remember when he appeared on television saying it's a lie? And he covered it up, folks, do you know he lost his presidency, not for the break-in, but for the cover-up? Because his sin found him out. And by the way, all his accusers are going to stand before the judgment too, and answer for all the hidden things in their lives. Beloved, nobody squilled on Akin, nobody knew his secret, but God did, and God was saying, out of a million men, a million to one chance, I'm going to show you that my word is good, and that you cannot take my word lightly. Jesus said, there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret for that it will not come to the light. He said, there's nothing hidden. There's no secret that's going to last. He said, I'm going to bring it out into the open. Psalms 89, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. Ecclesiastes 12-14, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Jeremiah 23-24, can anyone hide himself in a secret place, so that I shall not see him, says the Lord. Do I not feel heaven and earth? The Lord said, tell me where my eyes cannot reach. Tell me where I cannot see. Hide behind ten-foot lead walls and see if I cannot pierce it. Was I not there in secret behind closed doors? Was I not there when you did it? Is there any secret place? Is there anything you can hide from me? God says, no. God exposed Achan. Man didn't do it. Joshua didn't expose him. God did. Verse 19, and Joshua said unto Achan, my son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel. I see a pathos. I see a pity there. Even in Joshua, he says, my son, I pray thee, I beg of thee, give glory to the Lord God of Israel. Make confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, indeed, I've sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils of goodly Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. They took them out. So Joshua sent a message and they ran into the tent and behold, it was hid in his tent and the silver under it. They took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them to Joshua and unto all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah and the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold and his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his asses, his sheep, his tent and all that he had and they brought them into the valley of Achar. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned him with stones and they raised up over him a great heap of stones to this day so the Lord turned from the fiercenesses of anger wherefore the name of the place was called the valley of Achar unto this day. Now folks, that is the story of Achan. It's told in the Bible. I could preach another two or three sermons on just the passages we've already read but I want to go now to the heart of my message. Achan was robbed. I feel sorry for this man. I'm not sorry for what he did. I don't feel sorry for the righteous judgment of God upon sin as illustrated here. I am sorry, deeply sorry for what he missed. For what he missed. Achan was robbed by the devil. Absolutely robbed. And I'm going to show you something. If this does not... You see, folks, I've never believed that fear alone is enough motivation to get people away from their sins. Because if a man who's... a woman who's covering sin and they're not really believing God means what he says, they begin to justify it and there's an insanity that goes with it. There's an insanity. A man, literally, a woman who hides sin becomes... there's a measure of insanity. They can't see it. They can't think right. They can't do right. Not at all. Terrible insanity. But you see, God wasn't needing that silver, that gold. It was not that in itself. This man did not believe the word of God. He didn't believe what God said and he didn't believe that God could provide for him. He didn't believe that God could give him something better and that God could meet the desire of his heart, his way and his time. Let me prove it to you now. Go to the 8th chapter. Joshua 8, verse 1, And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed. Take all the people who were with thee and rise and go up to Ai. See, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land. Thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst to Jericho and her king. Now look at this. Only the spoil thereof, remember he told them he couldn't touch it in Jericho? Now listen to it. Are you ready? Only the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall you take for a prey or a prize of war unto yourselves. Look at me. If he had only waited a week, if he had only waited God's time, if he'd only had the faith to say, I believe what God said and allowed the fear of God to grip his soul because this man evidently was trying to, his thinking evidently is that, you know, we're going into this land and we're going to impoverish it, we're going to wipe out its cities and I want a vineyard and I want a house and I want to provide for my family and he is trying to take matters in his hand. He doesn't trust God. Now you, they go to Ai and destroy the city but they go in first, they go in later and they take everything. They dig through the rubble and everyone is not going, take all you can, bring it home, heavy down. You say, well that's a small town, very little loot or booty or spoil from little town but if you read your scripture, you'll find that they went on to Hebron and they went into all the other cities and the scripture said, the spoil of all these cities and of the livestock and the children of Israel took for booty for themselves and the psalmist remember wrote, later the testimony was, they moved into houses they didn't build, they were given vineyards that they didn't plant and oil that they didn't work for, God blessed and prospered them. Now here is an amazing thing. We have people today that are doing the very thing, taking matters into their own hand and getting deep into hidden secret things because they do not trust God's word, they do not trust God. Can you imagine if Achan had just waited? He could have had everything he could carry. It wasn't going to be a wedge of gold. It was going to be a fortune of gold he could have had. He could have had bags of silver carried out like the others. He could have looked over here and found a nice piece of jewelry for his wife over here. He could have found something to insure his children's future. He could have moved into one of the houses. God had something planned. God had a plan! That was in the heart of God all along! God didn't just suddenly say, you know, since I've got this wedge of gold and I'm going to open up this storehouse and I'll let you go in. No, no, no, no, no. You see, the whole thing has to do with obedience to the word of God. God was trying to say, if you'll obey me now, get a foundation of obedience. Obedience has its own reward. If you will do it my way. But no, a young lady says, I have prayed, I've waited, and I don't see anybody. And so a young man comes along and he's not even saved. And her heart goes out and she begins to lust after him. And so she, in spite of her pastor's dismay, in spite of her family and everybody else, she rushes in, marries the man, and within two weeks finds he's an alcoholic. And all hell breaks out. And it's not the sin itself that causes me grief. It's that if she would have just waited God's time, there would have been a Godly, holy young man that would have made a great husband to her. Folks, I'm not saying that if you walk in obedience, God's going to give you a Cadillac and he's going to give you a new home and new furniture. I'm not talking about material things. I'm talking about the true riches of God in Christ Jesus. I'm telling you that when you walk in obedience, the Lord gives you peace beyond understanding. He gives you joy unspeakable and full of glory. He fills you with the glory of His, the earnest of your inheritance. Hallelujah. God said He's not unfaithful to forget our labor of love. He said if you would have just walked in obedience, and I believe this is what the judgment day will be like for Akin, if you had only walked in obedience, if you had trembled at my word, if you had bleeped my warnings and obeyed my word, if you'd hid nothing from me, if you didn't touch what I had banned, then I would have blessed you with that which you could not have believed if someone had told you. Because the Bible said, I have not seen nor heard of the good things that God has prepared for them that love Him. A man walks out. This is happening all over the United States, ministers included. A man walks out on his wife, like the... I got a letter, and I told about it from this pulpit, but it illustrates well here, a friend of mine, a minister, he was my age. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. He was in his late 50s when this happened. He left his wife, children, because she got too fat, he said. And so, he found a young lady. I saw a picture, she appeared to be in her 20s. I mean, he's in his late 50s, near 60. And he had an outcry from all of the people who were supporting him, and so he sends a letter, and I got one of the letters, and you see, all hidden sin is justified by misappropriation and misinterpretation of Scripture. Remember what the devil tried to do to Jesus? To deceive him, he misquoted Scripture. This man goes into the Bible, and he does a study on concubines. He wrote the letter. This man is insane. He's trying to write to intelligent Christians in the New Testament day. And he's saying, well, all through the Bible, even prophets had concubines. Solomon had concubines, and he was blessed of God. And he says, God, in His mercy, in my old age, has provided me a beautiful young concubine. And he said, we have made a wonderful, marvelous ministry team. Then he asked for her support. How much money do you think I sent him? Going on ministering with the justification of these twisted Scriptures, taken out of context, just as the devil tried to do to Jesus. Do you know what I grieve about? Or men and women who take matters in their own hands. They won't wait on God. They won't trust Him. They won't believe His Word. And so they take matters in their own hand. And here's someone working at the job, and they've got a financial problem. And they're saying, oh, I'm in such need, and the rent is due, and the bills are piling up. And suddenly, there's an opportunity on the job to put your finger in the till. There's an opportunity to take something, a piece of clothing, shoes, as a salesperson. Those that have access to the cash box or to the cash register or some goods, just to justify, well, I'm in need. I'm in need. I'm really not a thief, but I'm in need. And they know the Scripture says that no thief is going to enter Heaven. No thief is ever going to enter Heaven's gates. They know the Word of God. They know it well. And yet they touch that accursed thing, and they take it, and they hide it. And they go on week after week, and then they wonder why God doesn't bless. I'm going to tell you something. If you have a hidden secret of thievery, if you have been stealing, if you've stole anything, I'm going to tell you, it's coming out. God's going to expose it. It could cost you a job. It could cost you shame. God said, your sin's going to find you out. He said, there's nothing hidden that won't be brought out. But you see, the thing that really agrees me, the thing that I'm focusing on tonight, is that you were robbed. While you were robbing, you've been robbed. You've been robbed of what God was about to do. God was about to hear your prayer. He's about to hear your cry. He was either going to give, He could have given you a promotion. He could have given you a raise. He could have done something supernatural, because God does not let His children go hungry. He would have heard your cry. There would have been no shame. There would have been no sorrow. You would have had a testimony of God's provision. Now you have to walk around wondering when the shoe's going to fall, and when the telephone's going to ring. I didn't expect it to get this quiet. I had a call from a young preacher this past week, and I was talking about this message, in fact, to the young evangelist. He said, oh boy, does that apply to me? I have a testimony along those lines. He said, I had a young lady. Remember, he said, a young lady, he said, you know all about it. Back when I was in my early twenties, and I thought I was in love with her, and she was the one, because she's so beautiful. But she wasn't spiritual, self-centered. The father was grieved over it. The mother was grieved over it. The sisters were grieved over it. Brother was grieved over it. There was no unity about it. It wasn't right. It didn't feel right. Everything was going wrong. And God dealt with it and said, this is not the woman. Lay it down. And he laid it down. He walked away, and she quickly found somebody else. I mean, it was like that. And God sent a beautiful, gorgeous, Holy Ghost blonde. It's my son, Greg. God forgive you for thinking what you did, a pastor talking about a gorgeous blonde. That's my daughter-in-law. I can say that all I want. Akin got robbed. Well, he could have had the joy. When you think of the husbands and wives that won't work out their problems, they're saying, my marriage is hopeless, everything is hopeless, and they've lost faith in the Word of God. They don't understand if they would just wait. They're little children. They could have grown up with them. They could have had Christmas times. There could have been respect. There could have been everything. God had a plan. God had a wonderful way of life, and they've lost it all. They were robbed of it. You know, the devil tried to rob our blessed Savior. He tried to rob Him. The devil knew all the prophets had proclaimed that a Lamb was coming who would die for the sins of the world. He was aware of all those prophecies. He was there when that child was born, and he tried to have Herod kill Him, and he couldn't kill Him. He was there. He heard John the Baptist say, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And His final attack came when He came in the wilderness to tempt Him, take Him up in the mountain, and tried to convince Him He'd been promised to rule with a rod of iron. And He's saying, Why go through suffering? Why go through the pain? Why shed your blood when you can have the rod and the scepter? I'll turn over my scepter to you. I'll give you the rod of iron. If you just... Just one bow to me. You know it's yours. The Father's promised it to you. Can you imagine how He tried to reason Christ out of the cross? To touch the accursed thing? And oh, I thank God that Jesus, our blessed Savior, would not let anybody rob His crown. The Bible said, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame? He said, Oh, no, no, no, no. My Father hasn't prepared for me this better. You can't touch it. I know what my Father's promised me. Oh, beloved, everyone who walks righteously before Him and comes and says, Oh, God, open up the doors of my heart. Turn on the searchlight. Lord, I know there are things in my life that are wrong. The covetousness, the ambition, the gossip, and the repeating of the sins of others. Lord, I want that all out of my life. I want to be an open book. Because I know the joy that You prepared for me. I know what You have in store for me because it's all here. Because the Bible said, Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, but the Holy Ghost has revealed it to us. The Holy Ghost has revealed. There's something deep in my heart. And this has been such a blessing to me. When the enemy comes in like a flood and tries to tempt, I say, Wait a minute. Wait a minute. God's made me a promise. God's made me a promise that my last days are going to be better than my first days. God told me that till the third and fourth generation, my children rise up and say, Blessed. The Lord has told me that day is going to come. I'll be able to stand before ministers all over the world and set an example and His good name being preserved that I will have an audience with these men. And I don't have that. I don't like to travel. I'm not talking about leaving this church, but I'm talking four or five times a year. God has shown me that there'll be ministers there that I'll be able to help and minister because He's kept me by His grace. And I would tell you something, folks. I see what He's prepared. The joy, the blessings, the favor of God. You think I'm going to trade that for an ice cream cone that's going to last five minutes? In closing, go to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. This will be my last second chapter. Go with me to verse 9 and 10, if you will, please. Chapter 2. But as it is written, if you have King James, read it with me. I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by a Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. All those deep things of God, spiritual revelation of who Jesus is, the glory of God, communion with Him, all of the heavenly blessings, He's prepared for us who walk before Him, confessing and forsaking our sins. Don't let anybody steal your crown. Don't let the devil rob you of the wonderful plan God has for you, His child. Hallelujah. God has a good plan for your family. He wants to save your family. Why would you abort that? Bring it out. Come to the cross. Come to the blood. He is so faithful. All God wants you to do is to turn around. God says turn away from your sin. Turn. I'll heal you. I'll forgive you. I'll cleanse you. And I'll give you a new heart. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Will you stand with me please? Now Heavenly Father, in your great mercy and grace, your everlasting tenderness, I stand before this people and I ask you, Spirit of the living God, that you come with your oil. Your sword has pierced our hearts. We see, Lord, that you mean what you say. That you're going to honor your word. We cannot take it lightly. But, oh God, you will not endure a people who will not trust you. You cannot walk with a people who will not fully trust you to do what is right. Lord, you have prepared something beyond anything we could conceive. Don't let us abort it. Don't let us sin against you for the pleasures of this earth and the lusts and passions that last but just for a season. And then they're gone and they bring such terror, pain, and death. Oh God, heal this body. Heal us of all of our sins. Blot out our transgressions. Lord, you're not trying to hurt anybody. You're trying to heal your body. Lord, cut these things out of our lives that we may be a living testimony of the gracious work of your blood. Hallelujah. There's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath that flow, lose all their guilt and stain. Saints, Christians, this message is for Christians. It's for the body of Christ. Achan was not a Canaanite. He was an Israelite. He was in the church of the wilderness. He was a soldier of the Father. He was a Jehovah soldier. He sat under great preaching. But he was robbed. I don't want you to be robbed. All you guys in these front seats, and all you girls from Sirhausen here in the house, the devil tried to rob you, didn't he? He tried to steal you. He did steal so much from you already. But I thank God for all those that were robbed. I thank God for all those that were robbed. Give me a heart of flesh a new heart That loves you and hides nothing Now just thank him for being true to his word Lord. I thank you for being true to your holy word true to your holy word Blessed be the name Blessed be the name of the Lord Hallelujah Look at me, please. How many in this church? How many of you are totally convinced That God is Love raise your hand But how many of you totally convinced? He's a God who's just and he has to judge sin Well, if you believe both of those and act accordingly, no one's gonna rob your crown. No devil No, you demon the hell is gonna rob you Hallelujah Hallelujah I've got joy like a river. I'll tell you if there's two repentance There has to be an outbreak of joy of the Holy Ghost Amen, a little bit. First of all, turn around and shake hands with three people and say God is faithful. God is faithful This is the conclusion of the tape