You are listening to It's Preaching Time. This broadcast spotlights Bible teaching and Bible preaching that will feed your soul and stir your heart. May God minister to you spiritually as you listen to It's Preaching Time. in church on a Monday night. I sure appreciate you being here. And oftentimes there's nothing much good about a Monday. But I tell you what makes it pretty good is when you get to church on Monday night. And I believe it. The only thing better than church on Sunday is to go during the week. And we're blessed this week. We get to go to church on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. And if you want to come Thursday, you can come by yourself. But I mean, we're blessed, aren't we? God's been good to us. And I've enjoyed being here yesterday. Thank you for being so kind to us. And the warm welcome had a couple of the kids come up to me tonight and say, they didn't say, we're glad you're back. They said, where's Lincoln? And I said, well, he had to stay home. He's got school in the morning and they just about left. I think they're going to quit church over it. But I appreciate you being so kind to us. And then the fellowship and the liberty to preach yesterday, too, and the response. And thank you for responding. When God speaks to you, by the way, that's the way we ought to do church. The church is not a spectator's forum. When you gave an offering, it wasn't like you bought a ticket to watch something. You actually are supposed to get in on what God is doing. And when God speaks to you, you just respond and let God have His way. And I promise you this, you'll be better off for it and glad that you did it. And I've enjoyed it. Thank you for seeing the Rogers family. Thank you for being here. Just saw you a couple of weeks ago, I feel like, right? And it's good to see you again. Thank you for that. That's the exact same way I was going to sing. if he'd asked me. But he didn't ask me to sing, so I'll let you do it. But I was going to do it just like you do. It's good to have folks from our church here tonight. And thank you, fellas, for riding over here. And Brother Nathan on the front row actually just got called to be the pastor of a church in St. George, South Carolina. So that's Pastor Griffith on the front row there. And we're honored that he'd come. And the rest of these fellas as well. And appreciate you. And it's been good to be in church with them tonight. Thank you, Pastor, again for letting me come. Joshua chapter number 7. I want to read you a verse here, verse number 10 and verse number 11, and then we'll jump down to verse number 16, and I'll give you the thought God has lit in my heart for tonight. And I kind of went back and forth on what to preach, because you have to understand that it is natural that I would want to come in here and preach something where we would all stand up and run laps and shout her out. But that's really not the purpose and the goal of what we're doing. We want God to meet with us and meet the need that we have. And really, a revival meeting is different than a camp meeting. It's different than a jubilee. In revival meeting, we really want God to do a work in our hearts. and to get us right with Him. And I would say revival is a conviction that comes that brings forth a confession. And when we confess, then God can step in and clean us up. And that clears the way for God to move in our heart the way God wants to move. And I'm praying tonight that God will meet that need. Joshua 7, verse 10, the Bible says, And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up, wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff." Verse 12 says, "...therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, but turn their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed." Neither will I be with you anymore, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Verse 13 starts with this word, up. And I put in pen, not trying to change anything, but just for my own emphasis, after the word up in my Bible, I drew an exclamation point. Because I think God is saying, if we're going to take care of it, we've got to take care of it quick. We've got to take care of it now. We don't let it linger. Don't let it go on. Let's just deal with this thing, and then we can go forward. Now, verse number 16, look at it with me. The Bible says, 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 family of Judah, and he took the family of the Zerites, and he brought the family of the Zerites man by man, and Zabdai was taken. And he brought his household, man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zadai, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him. Now wait a minute, he's saying give God glory, but he's not saying shout Amen, he's not saying sing a song, he's not saying preach a sermon. He's saying what would bring God glory now in your life is that if you would just get right. That brings as much glory to God as anything else, if we would just get honest with God and get right. And he said, and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done, hide it not from me. And they can answer, Joshua said, indeed I have sinned against the Lord, God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. And then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they were hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." Now, if you study this chapter, and we're going to go through it, thirty-six men are dead. Thirty-six families have lost a husband or a father. Thirty-six men are dead, and that means they've left behind them friends that are grieving. They're dead. They're not coming back. And the reason why they are dead is because God could not put His hand on Israel. And the reason God could not put His hand on Israel is because of sin. But the reason God could not put His hand on Israel is more than just sin. It is not national sin, though it is accredited to the nation. It is personal sin that is not dealt with. One man did wrong. And it brought death to his nation. One man's sin, and it brought death to his camp. One man's sin, and it brought death to his people. My burden tonight is for our country. I'm not a missionary to a foreign field. I don't have some kind of a video to show you of brown-skinned people in a jungle somewhere and people in poverty. That's not what God has called me to do. My burden is for this country. And it bothers me, and more than bothers me, it makes me mad. And some days it discourages me what I see in our country, from every area, spectrum-wide, politically, educationally, socially, religiously. It bothers me what I see. And if you're like me, I've spent a lot of time preaching to people who never come hear me preach. And I let them have it. And it's some of the best preaching I've ever done, I believe. I mean, I've preached against the liberal politicians, and you won't believe this, they don't ever come hear me. And I've preached against Joe Biden, and if he did come, he'd forget. But he doesn't come hear me. And I've preached against the sodomites, and really, they're welcome to come, but they don't come hear me. But I promise you this, we could have revival if not a single dope house shut down. We could have revival if no bar closed. We could have revival if no sodomite got strayed, if no crooked politician got right. We could have revival. But we will never have chance of revival as long as God's people refuse to get thoroughly right with God. I was preaching with a preacher one time, an old time preacher, he's in heaven now. He said, I pray God will bring Mount Sinai conviction down and leave it on us. And tonight I pray that God will search my heart and yours. And here's what I want to preach on tonight. Your sin is killing our country. My sin. your sin. Let's pray. God, please help me preach. I pray for power. And I pray that you would take this message and tailor make it for this hour. And God, I pray that you control the service, the atmosphere, the tenor of it, everything about it. And I pray the Holy Spirit of God would do the work. And I pray you'd have me behind the cross and let me not be seen, but that we'd see Jesus tonight. And I pray that we'd be quick to listen and obey the voice of God. Thank you for this preacher and this church. I pray to meet the need of the hour in Jesus name. Amen. Let me read you a couple of Bible verses and I'll get into my introduction. Ecclesiastes 10.1 says, dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth the stinking safer. so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. Ecclesiastes 9.18, the words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Once you hear this statement, 1 Chronicles 21.17, and David said unto God, is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered, even I? It is I that have sinned and done evil indeed. In the book of Galatians, the Bible says, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I don't think we can overstate the impact that unrepented of and unconfessed sin has on everything or anything that God wants to do in the life of a church, in the life of a Christian, and in the Christian home. I want to preach tonight on this thought. Your sin is killing out of country. I love America. I don't blush at saying that America is an exceptional nation. I believe our country has been and is still yet tonight a nation that has been blessed by Almighty God. I love the statement that John Winthrop made when he quoted Jesus and he said he desired that America would be a city upon a hill and a model of Christian charity. They can try to revise and rewrite history any way they want to, but you cannot deny the statements by our founders that our nation was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles and the God of the Bible. I love America. I love our flag. I don't have much use for any kind of protester that would stomp on our flag, or burn our flag, or disgrace our flag. I love the colors of our flag. I love red, white, and blue. I don't really think a man or a woman ought to fly any other flag of any other country in our nation. I don't care what month of the year it is, no flag ought to ever fly higher than the American flag. I love America. I love our national anthem. I love the lyrics that say this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. I love this country. I love the pledge of allegiance for our nation. I love the fact that our pledge still says that we are one nation under God. I thank God for that. I love our currency. It still says on our money, in God we trust. And that God is not God Allah. It is not God Buddha. It is not some generic God. It is Jehovah God, the God of the Bible. There is no country like our country. I love America. I love our values. I love our traditions. I love our way of life. I love our founding fathers and the fact they knew that we have unalienable rights. And those rights are not given to us by government. Those rights were given to us by our God. I love this country. I get to drive across the highways every week of the world. We're flying an airplane. And I love to travel this nation. see the countryside littered with churches, I love that, as peoples rise and enter up the skyline of this nation, and no matter what the reprobate or the God denier says, they still have to hear the ringing of a church bell on Sunday, and I thank God for that in America, whether they know it or not. We slow down a little bit on some day, giving credence to the fact that day still belongs to the Lord. I love America. I love our republic. I love the equal voice that our government gives our citizens. I love our national monuments. If you were to go to Washington, D.C., you'd find inscribed on our monuments, Bible verses there above our Supreme Court. There's a big display of the Ten Commandments hanging above the head of the highest lawmakers in our land. I love America. I love everything about it. I love our military. I love every branch of our military. I thank God for the sacrifice that men and women have made so that I can go to church and I can raise a family and I can earn a living. I'm glad for those lives that have been surrendered to serve and they've given their lives on sandy beaches and in dense jungles and in muddy trenches for the cause of liberty and for our national security. It's a shame in my eye that we give one day to remember the lives of fallen soldiers and give a whole month to a bunch of queers and perverts in June in America. I love our country. I love the innovations that have come from America. If it wasn't for America, we wouldn't have a telephone and all the women ought to say amen. If it wasn't for America, there'd be no assembly line. If it wasn't for America, there'd be no steamboat. God has shed his grace on America. I love this country. This is where I was born. This is where I was raised. This is where I serve. This is where I'm raising a family. I don't care who gets elected president. I'm not looking to punch a ticket to Canada or go hide out in Europe. I have dug in my heels. And I will lift high my banner and I will say I am glad to live in this country. I'm not looking for an alternative. I don't need some backdoor exit strategy. This is my nation. I love America. I love the liberty that we have in this world, in this country. We have the most liberty of any nation in the world. I don't care how oppressed you think you are, you're still more free than any other people that is breathing air in this world. In our nation, regardless of your race, regardless of your age, regardless of your income, I'm glad we all stand on equal footing in this republic that's been given to us by our I thank God for America. I love the fact that even today our nation's leader still will take his hand and put it on a King James Bible as he takes the oath of the highest office in our country. I love America. You study history. Our nation has set other nations free. We have taken aid to those that could not help themselves. We have carried the mortal compass, if you will, for this world, and I believe God has allowed us to do that. because this is a nation that knows that Jesus Christ has been and is the Son of the Living God. Our founding father, Patrick Henry said, it cannot be emphasized too strongly or often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians. Not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love America. We've been guided by grace, hedged in by mercy, my prayer and led by old-fashioned Bible preaching. There is no country like our country. I'm for apple pie. I'm for vanilla ice cream. I'm for baseball. Amen right there. I'm for fireworks and burning tires and mud bogs and tractor pulls. I love America. But I want to say this tonight and we're going to apply it. I fear for our country. In fact, I find myself wondering how much longer we'll even have a country like the one we've grown up loving. It seems to me like there's a darkness that hovers over our head and the future looks pretty uncertain. And it's a sad day in America when you've got to think twice about speaking truth in a public space. It's a bad day when you go to the grocery store and have to worry about being a victim of a robbery or a victim of a mass shooting. It didn't used to be like that here in this country. It's a shame in our nation that churches shut down and people close themselves in over some manufactured disease from a laboratory in China. And that's where we're living at, home of the brave, my hind leg. I tell you, I'm afraid. When I get on an airplane, I look around. I see somebody with a rag on their head, a little bit darker complexion, and I'm not even raced. I just have no sense to know it wasn't me that bombed any buildings. I just look around and think, man, I might be the victim of a terrorist attack. That never happened before, but that's where we're at now in America. It's a bad day when folks don't want to look you in the eye and will not shake your hand and everybody's faces glued to the screen of their cell phone. It's a bad day when folks are more worried about catching a cold than killing a baby. Why in the world? Why in the world? I fear for our nation. We've already been founded upon the Bible and now we try to censor the Bible. I fear for a nation that's been edged about by prayer and now they throw a football coach in prison for praying with his team. I fear for a nation whose founders said were created upon Christian values and now the government says the church can have no influence over the state. I fear for our economy as the politicians spend our money and rack up a debt that our great-grandchildren won't be able to pay off. I fear for a country that doesn't know how to make anything anymore. All of our vehicles are made in China or over there in Mexico. Everything's made out of plastic. You fly an American flag and look at the tag. It'll say made in Taiwan. It didn't used to be that way. Used to be a man that get up and go to work in a plant. Go work in a factory. Go work on a line somewhere. Ladies be behind the desk. Them things were built in America. I fear for our country. I fear for our nation. Whenever they begin to say that the church is a non-essential entity. I fear for our leaders that want to muzzle the pulpit and they'll use some kind of a panic situation to control the populace. I fear for America where everybody's suspicious one of another, where nobody wants to be kind anymore, where nobody wants to say yes sir and no ma'am, where everybody has a victim mentality and acts like they're owed something from somebody. I fear for our country It used to say give me liberty or give me death. Now we say give me a free cell phone, a block of cheese, and free Wi-Fi. I'm concerned that we let other countries lead our nation. There's no way in this world that some World Health Organization ought to tell us what to do in our country. And there's no way some foreign adversary or friend ought to have anything to do with who gets elected president in this nation. I fear for America, where unelected officials have more power than the people they're supposed to represent. I fear for our country, as liquor stores pop up on every street and churches close down. I fear for our small towns, opening these craft breweries and these pot shops, and they're shutting down places that would actually help the community. I say shame on these small town mayors. and shame on these small town city councils that bring in every kind of sin to make an extra buck. Never mind the boy that gets killed drunk driving and the young girl that loses her purity high on pot. I say shame on you and hell won't be hot enough for a wicked crowd like that that'd sell their soul for salary. I fear for our country as that same Supreme Court that sits below the Ten Commandments would legalize sodomite marriage and deprove abortion. I worry about our country. They call you and I patriots xenophobic and then they'll look at the terrorist organizations and say we had a welcoming in. It bothers me there's an open door policy for illegals and a closed door policy for the church. It bothers me that I'm fitting a bill for a bunch of terrorists coming across the ocean coming across a river or climbing over a wall and then I got a fear preaching the truth getting locked in prison. It's a bad day when a baby in the womb has less rights than a terrorist on the battlefield. It's a bad day. It's a bad day when police officers have to worry about politics and can't do their job. There's a close to protect and serve and now they have to worry about social justice. It's a shame when our soldiers have less combat training and more sensitivity training. I say shame on this soft-soaking country. We're in a mess here in America. It's a bad day. I fear for our nation. In California they let the prisoners go and lock up people that pay the bills. It's a sad day. I fear for our nation that is so politically correct they can let an insane man walk in a room in a dress and make sane people say, how you doing honey? Can I say that's insanity to the highest degree? You can put a dress on a man and pants on a woman but it don't make them any more one or the other as if you put a suit of clothes on a monkey. That thing's still a monkey, say amen right there. Well I feel like preaching, I got an outline I just haven't got to it yet. Hey man, you can switch your clothes but you'll not change your chromosomes. I fear for an America that is divided on race and divided on class and it's done so by politicians that know exactly what they're doing. I fear for an America that has to pop a prescription pill to make it through an hour. We get mad about the heroin and we get on the dope pusher. What about the pharmacist that's selling pills and pumping them down folks' throats? Hey listen, I'm from a rural area in Appalachia and I know what's wreaking havoc in my area. It's stuff you can get down at the Rite Aid. I say shame on that crowd trying to keep us enslaved to big pharma. I feel like preaching. I haven't even listened to Alex Jones today. I just feel like preaching. I fear for an America where the home is devalued and marriage is mocked and made fun of. I tell you it's an abomination and shame on every church that does it when a preacher, quote unquote, would stand up there with Sam and Steve and join them in what's called holy matrimony. Can I say hell won't be hot enough for that man? Hey, God made male and female. God said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and cleave unto his wife. It is not a man with a man. It's not a woman with a woman. Even the animals at your farm have enough sense to know that mess ain't right. This is the greatest country in the world that I fear for America tonight. I'm afraid we're moving the pendulum far to the left. And if we're not careful, if something doesn't change, we won't have a nation like this much longer. But listen tonight, all that to say this, none of them people are here. If you are, I'm surprised. Welcome. This message is not to those people who are not here, because honestly, that's not where it needs to start anyway. I'm convinced that those things I talked about, though they upset me, and they are the result of the ball being dropped, that is not the cause of the turmoil that we're dealing with right now in America. It is far easier to point a finger outward than it ever is to direct a finger inward. It is a lot easier to cast shame on the sins of society than to get honest and look under the rug of your own heart and say there's some sin in there. My Bible says, let judgment first begin at the house of God. And tonight my message is this, if the death bell tolls on America, and if we have to put this country in a proverbial pine box, it'll say there on that obituary, the cause of death. Christians that refuse to get right, so that God might send revival. Can I say, if you and I would get right with God, what might God do? God could bless, and God could pour out His Spirit, and God could save, and God could move, but it won't happen as long as you and I hang on to our sin, if my people, which are called by my name, should humble themselves and pray. and seek my face and turn from the wicked way, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. Until you and I find an altar, we're never going to have an awakening. Until we get in sackcloth and ashes, we got no reason to shout. We'll never have victory until we lose ourselves to the will of God and say, God, let this Let's have access to me. See if there's any wicked thing in me. God, look in the corners of my life. Sweep in the claws and look in the dark places. And if there's anything there, God, help me get it out. Jericho had just fallen. We're going to give you three points from the text. Don't worry. Jericho had fallen to the army of Joshua. When you come to our chapter, the dust has not yet settled from that victory. You know the story, for six days they marched around the walls. On the seventh day, the people come past the city seven times and shouted with a great shout, the trumpets blasted, and then all of a sudden those walls that could not be knocked down came tumbling down by the unseen hand and the power of God. Now, you study your Bible. Jericho was a fortified city and a significant city. It was the key to conquering the rest of Canaan land. But it isn't just like God to do what man cannot do. And God brought those walls down. And Israel marched in and enjoyed the victory. I can hear it in my mind as they shouted the glory. They said, Hallelujah! We're on the winning side. Glory to God. He did it again. Do you see how God brought the walls down? God did what only God can do. And there's rejoicing throughout the camp of Israel. The next city in their way is Ai. Ai is a small town. It's not the fortress. Jericho was. It's not imposing. It's a small town. In fact, the spies go in and say, there are but a few, just in the small number of soldiers in there. Here's what they thought. If we can take down Jericho, A.I., no problem. The Bible says these soldiers march into A.I., 3,000 of them, and quickly those same soldiers that had won victory are defeated. Thirty-six men are killed on the battlefield. And as their bodies lay there in the dirt, the rest of them, their hearts melt and they race back to the camp. I can see as they run back to the camp and the women think, what happened? And the children wonder, you're back soon. And they look at the expression on the face of those soldiers and it doesn't look like it looked the other day when you took down Jericho. And they ran back and said, we don't know why. But they overthrew us, they overpowered us, and 36 of us are dead. All of a sudden that place had been shouting the victory. It's full of sorrow. That place where they just won the battle, now they're on the losing side. And I said this a minute ago, 36 men, that's 36 families with no daddy. That's 36 wives, no husband, 36 children. That's 36 maybe brothers or sisters without their sibling. 36 men that are dead. Joshua is so heartbroken over that. The Bible says he rends his clothes. He falls down in the dust, almost like Job. And he begins to question the will of God. And he said, God, it would have been better if we never would have crossed over. And He just wouldn't let us stay on the other side of the river. He's laying there, and I like what God does. God comes to Joshua. And I don't think he really did this, but if I was God, I'd have done it. Kicked him real hard. He says, Hey! Up! What are you doing laying there in the dirt? He said, there's a reason for this. He said, I'm not going to be with you any longer until you get this thing right. And here's what he said, Israel hath sinned. Now, wait a minute. Israel hath sinned? But God accredited the sin of one to the sin of the crowd. And He said, here's what we're going to do. Now, listen to me. I'm going to just take my... I'm just going to go through it quickly. He said, here's how you're going to figure this thing out. Now, you better thank God we don't do this nowadays. Wouldn't that be tight? He said, here's what we're going to do. I want everybody to come forward. Stand up! We're going to whittle it down. God gave Joshua discernment. He said, here's what you do. Assemble the tribes together. And so he assembles Judah there. And you can see in that crowd comes Achan. Achan's thinking, I wonder what this is all about. Just standing there. And then from Judah he whittles it down to the Zerites. Now Achan's heart begins to beat a little bit quicker. And from the family of the Zerites, he whittles it down to Zabdi. And now Achan's sweating a little bit. By the way, I don't have to preach to you for five days for you to figure out what your sin is. Come on now, me too, right? Then he whittles it down even more, and he pulls out Achan. Achan's standing there. Expose, and here's what he figured out. You can pull the wool over the eyes of Joshua, but you're not going to fool God. And he looks at Achan and he says, tell us what you've done. He said, make confession. In verse 20, here's what Achan says. Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. And thus and thus have I done. Watch this. When I saw, that's presentation among the spoils, a goodly Babylonian garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them, and he begins to lust after him, he begins to debate in his mind, should I take it or not? And then he does. And took them, and behold, there hid them the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sends men into the tent, they find all that mess that ought not be there, God said it was all flemish. God said all that is mine. They find it. They bring it out. By the way, that silver and gold should have gone to the treasury and given God glory. But because Achan used it on himself, it gets burned up in the fire. Let me apply that quickly and I'll move. There's a lot of things God gave you for His glory, but because you use it for self, one day it'll burn up in the fire at the judgment seat of Christ. And so here it is. They take Achan and all that mess, and they kill Achan and his family. Here's the thing. All those men are dead because Achan sinned. All those women are in mourning because Achan sinned. All those children now have no daddy because Achan sinned. Now listen, please put up with me for a minute. It is so true. that it's easier to look for trash in your neighbor's yard than to acknowledge the trash that's in your own yard. I know that too well because I'm just like you are and I find myself spotting sin in others so easily and overlooking sin in myself so readily. But I'm saying tonight you and I will never have revival until we get honest with ourselves and honest with God and say it It is me. It is me. It is me. And get that sin settled in your own life. Not sweeping it under the rug. Not putting it off. Not saying, next time. Let me give you three ways they can sin. And we'll be through. Number one, his sin was just simply the sin of being disobedient to God. Look at verse number one. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. Now, none of that stuff was accursed until God said it was. But because God said it was, it was. Not because he didn't think it was. Not because Grandma said it wasn't. When God said it was, that meant it was. God said no. He said, Joshua, you tell them, when you go into Jericho, you take all the brass, the silver, the iron, all that. Go to the treasury with it. Burn everything else. Keep none of that for yourself. It's all for the glory of God. God didn't stutter when he told Joshua. Joshua didn't stutter when he told Israel. That means Achan knew exactly what God wanted, but willingly disobeyed it. Now, I know what you're thinking. Preach against the pot dealer. Get back on the pornographer. Hop on the booze trafficker. Yeah, but that's not what's keeping you and I from having revival. I think the sin that is killing our country are Christians who know better and simply won't obey God. To obey is better than sacrifice. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft. Obedience is not a gray area kind of a It is not private interpretation. Obedience is to do right, right away, every time. There are some things in this book right here that are nailed down tight, that are in black and white on your Bible page, and it's not up for debate, and it's not up for you to decide, or me. God has said it, and then we ought to do it. And as long as we disobey God, we can't really come in saying, God would you bless us. What do you mean? What's killing our country? It's the Christian that knows God wants you to tithe and you won't. You say, well, I can't live off a 90%. Well, God could have you live off 10. Come on now. I'll be your friend tomorrow. I promise. It's the Christian that knows God has studied to show thyself approved unto God and you never read your Bible. We got a lot of folks that want to boast about being a Bible believer who aren't even Bible readers. It's the Christian that knows God says pray without ceasing and they don't ever pray. Amen. It's the Christian that knows the Bible says forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together. And if there's anything else in the world going on or if you've got a slight headache or if you're tired or if you're hungry or if you just don't want to, you ain't going to church. Now listen, I don't think you ought to complain about anything going on in your area that's bad if you don't come to church. Come on now, everybody alright? What's killing our country? It's Christians that know that God wants us to be soul winners, and you never share the gospel. Amen. It's Christians that know God wants us to be separated, and yet we're more worldly than the world is. And then we wonder why we're not having revival. I mean, our nation, listen, I worry about a lot of things going on, but until I get things that are easy, right, in my own life, how can I expect to have revival? It's not rocket science, it's just get right with God. You say, get right about what? The stuff you already know is wrong. Everybody alright? It's the Christian that knows God says forgive and you won't forgive. I know. It's in the Bible. I mean, it's the Christian. Think about that tonight. It's so basic. It's just obedience. We try to teach that to our kids. But it's the same problem throughout the entirety of our life is just obeying God. Number one is the sin of disobedience. Number two is the sin of distraction. Because here's what he said. Take your Bible and I'll show you the verse. Here's what he said. He said in verse 21, when I saw. Now wait a minute, what is Achan doing? Achan is marching. He's marching for seven days. He's in the battle. He's being faithful. He's doing the will of God. He's serving. He's right there. He's serving. I mean, he's doing what he ought to do. He's plugged in, man. He's all about it. He's going. He's there. When they marched on the first day, Achan's marching. They marched on the second day, Achan's marching. All the way through the seventh, he's there. When those walls came down, he's singing with them, Well, I'm on the winning side. Yes, I'm on the winning side. He's shouting her out. And then all of a sudden, while he's going in there, in that fallen city, something catches his eye. And he did not plan on that thing sucking him in. But it caught his eye, and then he took a second look at it. Fixated on it. Next thing you know, longed for it. Covenanted. Took it. Tried to hide it. Wait a minute. I want to say, Aiken, wait a minute. You're a soldier. You're not in the garment industry. You're not a banker. You've got everything you need at the house. You're a soldier. But he forgot about that because his eye got caught on something else. I think what I see when I travel is this. Christians who have their head on a swivel and they cannot keep their focus on the Lord. And every little thing in this world that glistens and glimmers gets their attention and focus off of God. And the next thing you know, they used to be in the choir. They used to go out witnessing. They used to be in every service. They used to love the folks at their church. They used to be involved. And now they can't have any time for anything godly because they're all tangled up in things of this world. Distracted. It's a shame that a Christian can sit through a four-hour football game or a two-hour movie, and then they cussed at a preacher for going 45 minutes. And I don't even preach that long usually. It doesn't pay any more to go shorter than that. I mean, it's a shame. The distraction. I'm talking about, folks say, well, I would, but I got, I got, we got Little League on this day, and soccer on that day, and basketball on this day, and fishing on that day, and golfing on that day, and hunting on that day, and making money on this day, and family on that day, and all that stuff is good, but none of that stuff is God. Isn't that right? All these things are alright in their place, but their place is not the throne. And I wonder how many mission fields are empty? How many pulpits have no preacher? How many church pews have nobody sitting in it? How many classes have no teachers? How many buses have no driver? How many offering plates have no money in it? Because somebody got wrapped up in this world, and they're missing out on God's will for their life. They're distracted. We can't even have revivals a week anymore hardly anywhere. Two days is about as long as people can go. So busy. And I understand that. I'm not trying to be hard on you. We are busy. I know that. But how do we expect to have Acts kind of results if we don't have Acts kind of meetings? The sin of distraction. Let me give you one more. His sin was the sin of dishonesty. Because here's what he did. Verse 21, he hid it. I don't know how many days it was between Jericho falling and Achan's sin being found out. It doesn't say. But here's what I know. However long it was, he lived like he was right, but he knew he was wrong. He talked like he was right. He hung out with the crowd like he was right. He did everything you would expect him to do being right. But he knew he wasn't right. I think really the reason we don't see revival is not because God's not speaking. I don't think it's because God's not speaking clear. I think it's because folks refuse to fess up. And you don't have to confess to me, but I'm talking about getting right with God. I guarantee it, when a preacher begins to preach, or even you just read your Bible, it doesn't take long for the Holy Spirit to put his finger on it. He's far better at investigating than I am. And I said, man, it don't take five sermons for you to figure it out. We know. But here it is. It's up to you to respond and get it right. Got to get honest with it. You've been looking at stuff you ought not look at, then you got to get right. You've been saying things you ought not say, then you just got to get it right. Amen. You've been putting more time into stuff that doesn't matter, then it's up to you to get it right. And until we allow God to get thorough with us and we get through with it, it's just going to be another meeting. But if there's anything in your life tonight that's hid, you've got to get that thing right. Honesty. I love our country and I love our churches. I sure don't want to spend my life running these roads just to put on a show and just to feel time. I want to see God do something. It'd embarrass us if God came down right now and had us confess our sin from the last hour, let alone the sin that we're guilty of. But if we refuse to repent, we'll never have revival. I'm going to pray the altar is open. If God dealt with your heart tonight about some things, you've got to come get it right. You've got to come confess. And you're not alone in that. All of us have things we can do better with. But if God spoke to your heart tonight, you say, I love our country. I do too. But you care enough about it to get right with God. Election? Not really. That's not what we need. You and I getting right with God is what we need. Let's just for a moment. Justice, if you go to the piano, I'd appreciate that. Maybe you're here tonight and say, well, the Coopers, you preach. God laid his finger on some things in my life. You say, I need your prayers. And you just say, pray for me. God knows my heart. But you lift up your hands. I need that tonight. Anybody like that? Be honest with me. I appreciate your honesty. Thank you for that. You're not alone. Many of us, all of us probably could raise our hand on that little different kind of a message. I know that. But it's what God laid on my heart. What about it? Distraction. Disobedience, maybe dishonest. Wonder what it is tonight that's in your life that ought not be there, that's harboring in your heart that ought not be there. Would you come tonight? Altar is open. Lord, I pray that you bless this invitation. You know the heart of every man and woman here tonight. And I pray, God, that you do it work. God, I love our country. I love our churches. And thank God for your people. But I pray you'd help us to love you enough to want to be right. Tonight, if there be anything in us that's wrong, that's wicked, expose it and help us, God, to do right. I pray in Jesus name. Altar is open. Why don't you come? What is it tonight? You say, what sin are you talking about? The one that's on your mind right now? The one that's on your heart? The one that's flashed right there in your memory? Whatever it is. That's sin. Are you willing to let God have His way? Would you come? Folks, you're coming. What about tonight? Maybe you ought to grab your family and pray. I don't know what the need is, but God does. If you'll let God have His way. Would you do that tonight? Is your heart cold? Is it indifferent? What about that? It's all form and no power, just going through the motions and no reality. It's all that motion without devotion. It's all the works, but there's no worship in it. It's just cold and it's dead. And then we expect God to do something. What about that tonight? How's your heart? This altar is open as the piano plays. If you need to do business with God, you just come. Anybody else? Have you read your Bible today? Let's just start there. Have you prayed today? Have you forgiven folks today? Have you tried to share the gospel today? Just these simple, basic Christian things. The altar is open. Folks are praying. You take your time and pray till you're through. I love this about God. He's so honest with us. He said, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, he said, I already know all of this falls short. But here's the good news. If you'll just confess it, he said, I'll be faithful and just to forgive you of your sin. That's a good deal right there, isn't it? He doesn't say you have to live sinless. You ought to want to do that, strive to do it. He said, but if and when you do sin, I've got a way for you to get right. Folks, you're praying. If you need to come, maybe you need to talk to somebody tonight. If you do, you come. Let us help you. Preacher, I'll turn it over to you. Altars open as the preacher comes. If you need somebody to pray with you, let me know or let somebody know, we'll pray with you. Altars open. You have been listening to It's Preaching Time. Tune in at the same time every weekday to hear more good Bible preaching.