Biblical example of me who missed out with God (Achan)

[Music playing] [Speaker 1] Our Father, we are grateful unto You. Our God, we thank You. Our God, we bless Your name. Our God, we lift You high. To You be adoration. To You be praise. We give You all the glory. We thank You for life. We thank You for peace. We thank You for rest of mind. We thank You for quietness. We thank You, oh Lord, for salvation. We thank You for provision. We thank You for support. We thank You for assistance. We thank You, oh Lord our God, for direction. We thank You for hope. We thank You, Lord our God, for restoration. We thank You for pardon. We thank You for forgiveness. Lord our God, accept our thanks in the name of Jesus. [Speaker 2] Baba, unto You we gather this evening. We pray that Your Spirit will work within us among us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we trust in You for all of us. We who are here at the light camp physically, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr, as one people we look up unto You. We say, "Lord, meet with us all," in the name of Jesus. Wherever we are located, oh Lord, locate us. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 1] We thank God again for another Monday. Last Monday was the Easter Monday, and we took time to consider living with eternity in view. Our text was 1 Corinthians 15. It was a message of Easter. I don't know if any of us have anything to say before I go on about living with eternity in view. Anybody have anything to say before I move on? Okay. So, we considered living with eternity in view, and the long and short of that message in summary of living with eternity in view is something, honestly, throughout the week, that kept coming to me over and over again. That last verse in 1 Corinthians 15 where it says, "Therefore, my brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the works of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." Throughout the week, that scripture kept coming to me. That if you don't live looking at eternity, honestly, you will not be able to abound in the works of the Lord. And that's something that stayed with me throughout the week. That if we don't focus on eternity, you will discover that somewhere, somehow, you will be moved. Some things will move you. Let's keep looking, let's put our heart, our mind at the end of the whole thing. Our mind at the end of the race so that we can live correctly on the long, long, long, long run. Let's always remember, nothing physical or material will matter again. Nothing physical or material will matter again. Be careful about the physical world, about the material world because on the long, long run, nothing about them will matter again. The only thing that will matter is whether we have lived correctly. Whether we have lived correctly. So today we want to, like I mentioned last week, I said, "Who can remember what I said we'll be starting this week?" And I said I would not be the only one speaking on this matter. I will handle some of them. Some of our other brethren will be handling some of them. I said we'll be starting biblical examples of trying to bring different biblical examples to establish everything we have been talking about under God's dynamics of holiness. Whether you remember that when we were considering God's dynamics of holiness, we were using Leviticus 19 and a lot of things came to focus when we were doing that. A lot of things came to focus. And beginning from this week, we want to start looking at different biblical examples that help us to understand this matter very well. And the one I want to make reference to today is the biblical example of a man who missed out with God on account of covetousness. Whether you remember when we were discussing about God's dynamics of holiness, we took time to expand, to explain the matter of what God told them in respect of not having anything to worship, not having anything except God, not putting anything as an idol. And we noticed that the Lord warned very seriously about this. And we took time to talk extensively on this matter. We went ahead to look at when we were talking about what is idolatry. For our own time today, idolatry represents covetousness. He says, "And there should not be any man who is covetous among you, which is also idolatry." So, what we want to look at this evening is the biblical example of a man who missed out with God on account of covetousness. Don't forget what we discussed under covetousness. That for our own time today, what the Bible describe as covetousness is the love for money, the love for riches. Jesus said, "No man can serve God and Mammon." As it says in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters." And we saw that our Lord Jesus described riches as a kind of god that could get the attention of a man. As a kind of god that a man could decide to follow at the expense of following God. And that's exactly what happened with the man, Achan, that we want to look at today. [Narrator] Please, let's turn to the book of Joshua. To the book of Joshua. Men who missed out with God through covetousness and we are narrowing down on Achan. We are narrowing down on Achan. You remember what happened, we may not have to read every essence of the story but at least we'll be able to take those things that pertain very directly to us. Now, we begin from Joshua 7. I will take my reading from verse 1. The Bible says: "But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so that the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. Now, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them saying, 'Go up and spy the country.' So the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said, 'Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people, for the people of Ai are few.' So about three thousand men went up from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent; therefore the heart of the people melted and became like water. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, 'Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content and dwelt on the other side of Jordan! Oh Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it and surround us and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?' So the Lord said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things and have both stolen and deceived, and they have also put things among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turned their backs before their enemies because they have become doomed for destruction. Neither will I be with them anymore unless you destroy the accursed from among you. Get up, sanctify the people, and say, "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed things from among you." In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes shall come according to families, and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households, and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. And it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.' So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought the clan of Judah and he took the family of the Zarhites, and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. Now Joshua said to Achan, 'My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession to Him. Tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.' And Achan answered and said, 'Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them; and there they are, even in the earth, in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.' So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them before the Lord. Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.' So all Israel stoned him with stones and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with the stones. Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor to this day." [Speaker 1] Brethren, how is that story? It's a very sad story. It's a very sad story. And just before we begin to expand this matter and place scripture against scripture, when I read through this story, I've always read this story, but when I read through the story again, my heart just became sad. My heart just became sad. Sad because I just looked at it again that, "Wow." And then one crucial thing that came, brothers, I will begin to expand this thing is that, son, one vital lesson to learn from history is that men don't learn from history. I don't know whether that makes sense to you. I was just reminded again that one vital lesson about history is that men don't learn from history. You could see how covetousness brought a man to a point like this today. How many so-called Christians again are still covetous? The love for money for which reason we tell lies. The love for money for which reason we kill, we fight. The love for money for which reason we become people that are not sincere and straight. We begin to cover one or two things. I was dealing with a particular case, a man of God and his wife were having a counseling session together. And the bottom line was the wife said one thing that's here to understand, that she doesn't know how much the husband is earning. The husband said, "No, you know how much I'm earning. Why are you saying that you don't know how much I earn?" The wife said, "No, you know I don't know." And the husband said, "You know, you know." The wife now said, "I'm talking about following the recent increase in your salary." The husband now spoke to me that actually, [speaks in Yoruba: "Mi o tii so fun un. Oloun o so fun un" - I haven't told her yet. God didn't tell her.] the wife got to know that the salary was increased. I don't know what are you hiding? I'm just talking about covetousness. Covetousness in different ways. Why are many believers today having official age and then biological age in the places where they work? How do you explain the case of after a ceremony where congregation of people were gathered from one small church to a bigger church for a ceremony and at the end it became a serious trouble, a tug of war between the two pastors? Not what somebody told me, something that I saw. Not what somebody told me. And then it became, "No, you left your church here. The hall is mine, so the thanksgiving offering is mine." "No, since the people I brought them to use your bigger accommodation, the people they are my own, so the thanksgiving offering is mine." Are you understanding what happened? They had to have a particular ceremony, but my church could not take the people, so I went to another pastor whose hall is bigger to use his hall for the ceremony. So, a thanksgiving offering was taken for everybody who came for it, and that was a lot of money. And then it now became who will take the money. It became a tug of war between the two pastors. "No, the accommodation is mine." "No, the congregation is mine." And then, what am I trying to bring out of all of this is that part of us led to some of the things we discussed last week. When we have come to tell ourselves Jesus died to make us physically and materially rich, and so people have lost the view of eternity. I'm just saying that on a very general note that let us be on our guard. Let us be careful. Jesus warned us. He says, "Watch and pray." Peter spoke to us. He said, "Be vigilant. Be sober. Your adversary the devil seek whom to devour." So, don't think that the devil will come with three horns and a black suit to know that he is a bad man. No, devil can also appear in form of money. He comes in different ways. So, the first thing I want to call our attention to is that as sad as this story is, the love for money is still destroying many of us today. As sad as this story is, the love for money, the love for riches is still destroying many today. Let us be on our guard, let us be careful. So, let's look at this text a little. It's not a new story. It's a familiar story. Achan said, "I saw. I saw." Look at the statement of Achan. That's where I want to begin from. He said Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and this is what I have done. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them." Now, what is the background to this matter of Achan's covetousness? The matter is in Chapter 6. We will not read everything in Chapter 6. We are familiar with the fall of the wall of Jericho. We are very familiar, so I will not read that story everything. But you know the Chapter 6, Jericho was shut down so that nobody could go in or go out because of the fear of Israel. So God gave them a strategy. What was the strategy? Go round it seven days, but on the seventh day, you will go round it seven times and then you give a shout. Following that shout, the wall will come down. And when the wall come down, Israel, they were to do something. What were they to do? That is where I want to go. Let's go to what they were to do. Sometimes it's a good to read those things. "But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawn of the day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. And on that day only they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time it happened when the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua said to the people, 'Shout for the Lord has given you this city. Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction.'" Are you following the instruction? I want to talk about what led to the issue of covetousness. "Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction. It and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live. She and all who are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that we sent. Verse 18. And you, by all means, by all means. What does all means mean? That is, do everything possible. Do everything possible. This is not different from what we have in Luke 13 around from around verse 24 down. Jesus said, 'Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many I tell you will seek to enter but they will not be able.' am I correct? Somebody check that scripture for me. Is it Luke 13:24? Am I correct? I want us to read that scripture. I'm showing you a similarity between what Joshua said here and what the Lord Jesus said about our entering into heaven." Luke 13:24. I want to be sure I'm correct. Reading that statement, that scripture came to my heart and I thought maybe we could just quickly see that scripture and make a comparison. Oh, thank you. Luke 13:24. Please, let's have the reading from your Bible. [Speaker 2] "Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able." [Speaker 1] Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many I say to you will seek to enter, but they will not be able. Can we have it in NIV? NIV. Please, use the mic so that brethren can hear you. [Speaker 2] "Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail." [Speaker 1] Yes, many will try to enter, but eventually they will not be able to enter. The NIV I have here say and He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell you will try to enter but will not be able." And what I'm trying to make you understand is one of those things that disqualify men is covetousness. One of those things that disqualify men is covetousness. You tell me how I knew? Look at the parable of the sower. The seeds that fell among thorns. Why do they not be fruitful? You know they started well. They grew. But why do they not come to ultimate fruitfulness? Why couldn't they come to ultimate fruitfulness? He said the thorns, abi? What are those thorns? There was a word. That is Matthew 13:22. And the deceitfulness of riches. The deceitfulness of riches. You think if you can grab it anyhow it will be well. That was what Achan thought. But it took from him what was more than the riches. Am I not correct? It took from him. The deceitfulness of riches. What I'm showing you in that Joshua is that before they entered, before the wall came down, the instruction came very, very clearly that, "Look, you are entering this place, but be very, very careful about this place that you are entering into." He says, "Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it, only Rahab the harlot shall live." And you, by all means, by all means. The matter of not being covetous is a matter that from time the Bible have warned men that it is by all means. It is not very easy not to be covetous. When you begin to see certain things around you. You know why I'm saying around you and about you is because, please come to think of it, faith made Achan to put the blood on the lintel of the house. Faith carried Achan to be baptized into Moses. Faith carried Achan that he was not among those who were doing fornication while Moses was not seen when the Levites went and killed the Israelites. Achan was standing in faith. He did not take in. Achan again, when the people lusted after food, Achan survived it. He did not go with them lusting after food when they said they wanted meat. And God said, "Okay, you want meat. I will give you meat." While they were still eating it in their mouth, God brought destruction upon them. Achan was not the people at Meribah that strived against God. Faith made Achan to go through all of that. Achan went through all of that. And now we are looking at this young, this man Achan at another point. You know I'm just saying that on a very general note that let us be on our guard. A lot have happened in Israel. We didn't know at which point Achan was born and at which point he grew to this point. But I'm trying to make you see so many things have happened in Israel. So many things have happened. And Achan went, went, went, went, went, and now we are at another point. So many people fell from so many things. We are looking at Achan. Now, if we now take it the other way round, I want to show you another way round. Another way round because it is clearly written in the scripture to know it is possible that when all those things were happening, Achan was not part of them. It is possible Achan had not been born. Joshua and Caleb were the two people when at the last final one, the case of the spy, God said except for Caleb and Joshua. He said everybody above forty will die. Twenty upward will die. Those below... so we don't know whether Achan was born below. You get point I'm making. So it's likely that Achan was among those that were below. That was why as at the time of Joshua now, at the age of Joshua, they spent forty year. He had now become an old man and Achan now could now join the army. You know you must be thirty to join the army. I wouldn't know because in that place we read that it was Joshua and Caleb that was not part of that old generation. That's why I'm saying that it's possible that Achan was not part of that old generation that did all those things. He could have just heard stories. He must have learned stories. Ah, your... of course maybe his father died in that one, the mother died in that one, they know what killed them. So whichever way you put Brother Achan, Achan have some histories. Achan have some stories. Either he's a direct partaker or he saw the consequence of disobeying God. But whichever way you look at this thing, you know what is particular to me about Achan? Is that for Achan, Joshua said it would have been better if we had been content to stay at the other side of Jordan. Achan had faith enough in God to cross River Jordan. That we are very sure. I hope you are understanding me because Joshua said it would have been better. So, Achan was part of the people at the other side as at this time. They crossed together. Faith took Achan to cross River Jordan following this God, believing this God. Now, another faith again we saw in Achan that showed that Achan was not somebody who was nobody was that Achan was among those who bare the sword. And Achan was among the soldiers who shouted! And what happened? The wall came down. But what I'm showing you is that his breakthrough became his breakdown. He was able to break through the wall of Jericho. He was able to enter into something. But when he entered into that, it was also that thing that finished him. What I'm trying to say, brethren, from that is that success is sweet, but success not managed by the help of God is also destructive. Achan, Achan had a breakthrough. He took his sword. Look at what the Bible says in that place. "By no means, lest you become accursed when you take the accursed things and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it." So, do you see that the instruction was very, very fresh? It was a fresh instruction. And as they were about to enter, at the tangent of that breakthrough, the tangent of entering into that Jericho, the instruction came again very direct. That's why I tell people when you begin to see God speaking to our heart on matters and emphasizing it to us again over and over, God has His purpose. God wants to score a point. That's why I keep telling myself that the fact that Baba raised the matter of holiness with us this year, it's making me to become more careful. Particularly again as the Lord raised the matter of, "Look, I come quickly and My reward is with Me." Because you must not forget that there was really nothing wrong with marrying or giving in marriage. Because some people think that is what was wrong in the generation of Noah. No, that is not what was wrong. Jesus was just talking that the normal things of life will still continue. Don't think that when the Lord Jesus will come, there will be one sign. Gabriel will just appear, there will be one sword, that will make you be, "Ah, okay, let me..." No, the normal things of life will just be going on. They will be noting. That's why He told them, "The Kingdom of God will not come by sign." Have you read that scripture? When they say, "Show us a sign." He said, "No, the Kingdom of God is within you." It's within you. Be careful within. Watching within. Be careful. When the Lord begins to raise the matter of holiness, the matter of look, be careful, there are just two classes of people in this life. Those who have hope and those who are hopeless. Now, you should be careful in our bid to attain the other classes never ever to move from the fundamental division. Don't because of some thing material or physical move from the life of faith to the life of faithlessness. The Israelites, they could not enter into their rest because of what? Because of their unbelief. So, we'll not be beginning to raise matter. One of those things is that at the tangent of entering into Jericho, the warning came again, "Don't take any accursed thing or else you will be cursed, or else Israel, you will trouble Israel. Don't try it!" And as if they don't understand what God is saying, look at the emphasis in verse 19. "But all the silver and the gold, are you seeing? And the vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord. They shall come into the treasury of the Lord." So, the people shouted when the priest blew the trumpet and it happened that when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and then the wall fell down flat. And they entered and they began to destroy and destroy everything with the edge of the sword. Nothing is to be taken. That is the point. Nothing. The only thing that they have to take are what? Gold, bronze, silver. And when they see any of these things, what are they to do with it? They are to bring it to the Lord. But any other thing, destroy. The instruction was very clear. The man saw the first thing was he saw Babylonian garment. What made him to covet it? It was beautiful. What am I saying, brethren? Why did you tell a lie to get the job? I saw the job. The offer was juicy. If that Babylonian garment was not beautiful, it wouldn't have been coveted. He saw a Babylonian garment. To now make the life of this man more terrible, even when he now saw gold, when he now saw silver, what did he do again? Instead of bringing it where? To the sanctuary. What did he do? He took again. He became so bold that even what directly belonged to the Lord have men not becoming so bold today that while offering is going on, some ushers are pocketing the money? Have men not become so bold today that when people give to the Lord in form of giving and they give to the Lord it becomes God's money? Some people are converting it for personal things. Have men not become very bold? Different, different, different things in the way it happens today. We're talking about riches. As clear as the instruction was, the man felt he could make he could just make a quick one. And please, when Achan was doing this thing, what was on his mind? What was on his mind? You know he would have made himself to believe that nothing will happen. Be careful when you are acting against God's word and it look as if you are prospering. Be careful when the word of God is clear on a matter and look as if you are doing it and it looks like nothing happened. Everything was cozy. Everything was okay. Everything was okay. The point I'm trying to make, brethren, is this: That we prosper in what is wrong does not make it right. There will always be a consequence. There will always be a consequence. Look at something I want to call our attention to in Proverbs. Proverbs 23. I just want to show us something very, very important here about this matter that we are talking about. 23 is a very, very interesting Proverbs. I'll first read the beginning, then I will now go to verse 17 and 18. Look at the beginning of that Proverbs. "When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you're a man given to appetite. Put a knife to your throat when you are dealing with this world, when you are dealing with the things of this world. Put a knife to your throat. You want this, I want to become that, but as you are doing it, it may be not even what... you sit... even consider what is before you... put a knife to your throat." You know what Job said about himself? He said, "I made a covenant with my eyes." Do something about yourself. Men who live right, they did some intentional things. That's why I'm showing you Job that God was appraising. "I made a covenant with my eyes and I will not do this." He said, "Put a knife to your throat if you're a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food." [speaks in Yoruba: "E ma sora fun awon aye yii. E ma sora" - Watch out for these worldlings. Be careful.] Let's be careful about the physical things, the mundane things of this life, they are deceptive. They give false impression of the more you have them, the better. I was somewhere one day and I said I saw a vanity about the things of this life. It was a big meeting and people agreed with me. I said I saw a vanity about the things of this life, that the more you have it, the more your anxiety increases. That's the vanity I found. And I gave practical examples. If you have not bought a car, you don't have problem with mechanic. It's not a prayer point. Once you buy, it becomes a prayer point. If you say, "Oh, I want to use the latest of all cars so that I will not have problem with mechanic." By the time you buy, you begin to pray against kidnaps. When you drive on the road, some rich men were putting their Jeep at home and they were joining commercial vehicle. Why? Because the man that is carrying [speaks in Yoruba: "tukutuku" - a local onomatopoeia for a noisy engine] is he passing through the bush because he know they won't come and meet him? He that is down needs fear no fall. What am I trying to bring out of all of this is that's the vanity I saw about the things of this life. And I also found that the more of it you have, if you are not careful, the more of your time they take. If you are not disciplined, you know that when you have not gotten a phone, there was no hours scheduled for it. But when it came into your hand, you have to cut again that your time and give to it. What am I trying to bring out of all of this is He says the delicacies of the world is deceptive. The delicacies of this world is deceptive. That you have more of them does not mean a better life. It doesn't mean a better life. What actually add value to life is nothing material or physical. It is because our value systems have been corrupted. Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of what he possesses." So, what really add value to our life? They are not those things. They are something else. He says, look at the next thing. Verse 4: "Do not overwork to be rich because of your own understanding, cease. Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away like an eagle towards heaven." When he was through with that, the Bible jumps again. Let's now jump to verse 17 and 18. He says what? "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all day. Why? Why, brethren? Verse 18. For surely there is an end and your hope will not be cut off. Surely there is an end and your hope will not be cut off." What are we looking at? We're looking at a man who missed out with God because of covetousness. The man Achan. And what is this again that I want you to see, brethren? Do you notice that Joshua said, "My son, my son, give glory to God. Confess to me." What did Achan say? He said, "I saw this and I covet it." But brethren, I want to ask you, let us think about it. Is it really true that Achan was confessing wrong, or the sin of Achan found out Achan? Because if Achan was actually repentant, he wouldn't wait until when they were taking family by family, he was still hoping that [speaks in Yoruba: "boya nkan kan le sele" - maybe something will happen]. When they picked Judah, he was like [speaks in Yoruba: "ko le to yen, Olorun o roro" - it won't be that much, God isn't so strict]. Are you understanding me? What I'm trying to make you see about covetousness is that sin, that's why they call it deceitfulness of riches. It's deceitful. You look at it, while you are really and totally wrong, they make you feel as if you are not really wrong. The second one is that even while it is obvious that you can never escape, the covetous man still thinks there is something to enjoy. While it is obvious that you can never escape, something about riches, you begin to still feel that... Achan! I was thinking when they said Israel is accursed, Achan knew that what they were told: "If you take this thing you will be accursed." So, was Achan just knowing when Joshua was now saying that you are accursed? Was he just knowing? No! Immediately they said Israel is accursed for those things, if Achan was to be a man that was repentant, they need not go clan by clan, tribe by tribe. What I'm trying to make you see is that sin do give false security. There's this false security that sin gives. You just explain it away. You just explain the thing away. You just feel [speaks in Yoruba: "ko si nkan nkan" - there's nothing there]. That's what I'm trying to make us see. I'm talking about covetousness, the way this thing works. Let us take heed and beware of covetousness. Covetousness makes you feel that [speaks in Yoruba: "ibi to wa yen ko da to" - where you are isn't good enough]. Where you are is not good enough. I'm telling you, where you are is good, very, very good, than where you would be by covetousness. Mark my word. Where you are is very, very good, far, far, far, far better than where you would be by covetousness. The only thing that make an increase, a true increase is righteousness. Righteousness exalts a nation. But it is not by righteousness, I'm telling you, brethren. [speaks in Yoruba: "ibi to wa tele yen ko da to" - where you were before isn't good enough]. Where you were before before you introduced covetousness is far, far, far, far, far ahead of where you will be after the act of covetousness. It's far ahead of it. Like we saw in the story of Achan, the position he was now in was nothing better than the position he was before. It was not better. Anywhere righteousness places a man is far higher than anywhere covetousness places a man. You must get that very clear about life and set your values very clear. Set your values clear. Don't mix up the values. That was what happened to Achan. He thought he would be better. You are never better by covetousness. You are never. He said, "I coveted it. I coveted it." And one thing, one thing I want us to see as one last thing there that I want to mention about Achan in that place is that when the trouble comes, when the penalty came, how many people went for it? Everything. Everything. His wife, his children, his goat, his donkey, his cattle, everything went for it. What am I trying to bring out of that story? Is that let us note that when we do wrong, particularly in a family situation, when we do wrong and it looks as if the husband is saying, "This thing don't do it," the wife is saying, "This thing don't do it," I want you to know that by the time the consequences come, it is not just you alone. It affects so many others. And that is how we learn to be accountable one to another. We learn to be accountable one to another. On the other hand I want to say, let us be careful. Many things you do, you place your generation, you place your family, you place your home in a position that you have shortchanged them. This man shortchanged his wife, shortchanged his children, shortchanged every other person because of that singular act of his. And everything went down the drain because of that covetous act. Brethren, I close with this. Sometimes you might be thinking when I do this I will escape. When I do that I will escape. What I just want to make you know is this. It was just a singular act that wiped out everything about this man. Just a singular act. Let us be careful with the act that makes you to feel [speaks in Yoruba: "sebi ekan ni ma se e. Mi ni i se e mo" - as if once is enough, I won't do it again]. It's only this once. You may not have the opportunity to be able to live again after that act. Some may say [speaks in Yoruba: "eekan yii na ni n o ni i se bee mo" - just this once, I won't do so again]. Just this once. The opportunity may not be there. The Lord warns. No man can serve two masters. Achan wanted to serve two masters. The Master had spoken: "Do not!" But there was another master, covetousness. Let us be careful. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Once you love riches, you cannot serve God. You must choose who to love. Let's go ahead to pray this evening. Men who, dynamics of God's holiness. Men who missed out with God. Achan as a biblical example. You remember Ahab too? It was the same thing, covetousness. It was the same thing, covetousness, covetousness. Let's talk to the Lord this evening. The deceitfulness of riches. The deceitfulness of riches. Riches are deceitful. They give false impression, they give false appearance. Sometimes they intimidate us. Sometimes they make those who have to think that they are at the top of life. Sometimes they make those who don't have want to kill, steal so that they can have. Lord, Lord, riches, riches, material riches, worldly riches are deceitful. Lord, our God, we pray, help us according to scriptures to take heed and beware in the name of Jesus. Lord, in every little things of everyday life, for to take heed and beware in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Father, we know that You come quickly and Your reward is with You. We look towards Your coming. We live with eternity in view. Oh Lord, help us Lord because of this hope of Your coming to keep purifying ourselves even as You are pure in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, oh God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Outro music playing] [Background noise] The Outro mentions that the message is coming from Family Tent Ministry, which is located at Light Camp, Ilere community, Ondo state, Nigeria. Social media handles and phone numbers are also given. Ends.