| And the Lord said to Joshua, "Neither will I be with you [Joshua] ANY MORE except ye destroy the accursed from among you." (Joshua 7:12). What is the accursed thing today? "[And so], Joshua then began a diligent search to find out the guilty one. He took Israel by their tribes, and then by their families, and next, individually. "[And] Achan was designated as the guilty one. But that the matter might be plain to all Israel, that there should be no occasion given them to murmur, and to say that the guiltless was made to suffer, Joshua used policy. He knew that Achan was the transgressor, and that he had concealed his sin, and provoked the Lord against his people. Joshua discreetly induced Achan to make confession of his sin, that God's honor and justice should be vindicated before Israel: "And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and 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 have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment [that which is prohibited] and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, [those things that we lust after] then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent [like those secret sins of ours], and the silver under it [nicely hidden]. "So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord [like we should lay out the sins of those who are searched out to the church and the Lord]. "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, AND HIS SONS, AND HIS DAUGHTERS, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, AND HIS TENT, and ALL that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
"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 [sons, dauthers, asses and all] with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." (Joshua 7:19-25). 'How does this instance [in sacred history] compare with the course pursued by those [in the SDA church today] who will not raise their voice against sin and wrong; but whose sympathies are ever [ALWAYS TO BE] found with those who trouble the camp of Israel [the church] with their sins?
[Now, mark this point with the gravity it deserves: Because of this one man's sin, the Lord said to faithful Joshua, "Neither will I be with you any more except ye destroy the accursed from among you... Thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the accursed thing from among you [deal with the sin and the sinner]." (Joshua 7:12).] "The true people of Jehovah, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of faithful and plain dealing with sins .... Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's illustration [Ezek. 4:9] of the last work, under the figure of the men, each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: "And the Master said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." (Ezekiel 9:4). "Who are standing in the counsel of Lord at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God, and murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? It is those who... sympathize with those who commit wrong?--No, indeed! These [murmurers], unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work, and [by] in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, [these] will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of all the wicked.... Mark this point with care; those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done" IN THE CHURCH. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying. "But... all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of the Lord... is described in the order to the five men with slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay utterly OLD and YOUNG, both MAIDENS, and LITTLE CHILDREN, and WOMEN; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; AND BEGIN [the slaughter] AT MY SANCTUARY [the SDA Church]." (Ezekiel 9: 5-6). "God holds his people [you and me, all SDAs], as a body, responsible for sins existing in individuals among them. If there is a neglect with the leaders of the church to diligently search out the sins which bring the displeasure of God upon his people as a body, they become responsible for these sins. But this is the nicest work that men ever engaged in, to deal with minds. [But] All are not fitted to correct the erring. They have not wisdom to deal justly, while loving mercy. They will not be inclined to see the necessity of mingling love and tender compassion with faithful reproof of wrongs. Some will ever be needlessly severe, and will not feel the necessity of the injunction of the apostle, "And of some have compassion, making a difference; and others [who need a more stern approach] save with fear, PULLING them out of the fire." (Jude 22, 23). "There are many who do not have the discretion of Joshua, and who have no special duty to search out wrongs, and to deal promptly with the sins existing among them. Let not such hinder those who have the burden of this work upon them. Let them not stand in the way of those who have this duty to do. .... "... Should a case like Achan's be among us [and there are a great number of such cases today], there are many [SDAs] who would accuse those who might act the part of Joshua in searching out the wrong, of having a fault-finding, wicked spirit. [But] God is not to be trifled with [by disregard of duty], and his warnings disregarded with impunity by a perverse [SDA] people. "The manner of Achan's confession is similar to the confessions that some have made, and will make, among us. They hide their wrongs, and refuse to make a voluntary confession, until God searches them out, and then they acknowledge their sins.... They may even know that the church is burdened, as Achan knew that Israel were made weak before their enemies because of his guilt; [and] yet their consciences do not condemn them. "[Yet] They will not relieve the church by humbling their proud, rebellious hearts... and putting away their wrongs. God's displeasure is upon his people, AND HE WILL NOT manifest his power in their midst while sins are existing among them, and [are] fostered by those in responsible positions [elders, department leaders, pastors, conference officials and conference presidents, etc.]. [We are told that in order to "find out the guilty one," Joshua made "a diligent search" of "Israel by their tribes, and then by their families, and next, individually." Oh that such thorough searching out of sin may be done in God's church today, how many Achans would be found out, and what a thorough cleansing would take place in our churches]. " Those who work in the fear of God to rid the church of hindrances, and to correct grievous wrongs, that the people of God may... prosper in purity, and the name of God be glorified, will ever [always] meet with resisting influences from the unconsecrated. Zephaniah describes the true state of this class, and the terrible judgments that will come upon them: "And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem [the church] with candles, and punish the men [those shirks] that are settled on their lees [like dregs settles at the bottom of a barrel]; that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil." (Zephaniah 1:12).
"The great day of the Lord is near, IT IS NEAR, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord;... man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation... a day of the trumpet and alarm.... And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord;... the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." (Zephaniah 1:14-18). ".... It is in time of conflict when the true colors should be flung to the breeze. It is then the standard-bearers need to be firm, and let their true position be known. It is then the skill of every true soldier for the right is tested. Shirks can never wear the laurels of victory. Those who are true and loyal will not conceal the fact, but will put heart and might into the work, and venture their all in the struggle, let the battle turn as it will. The Lord is a sin-hating God; and those who will encourage the sinner, saying, It is well with thee, GOD WILL CURSE." Therefore, "LET EVERY ONE examine himself to see whether he be in the faith [and that you are faithful in reproving sin {'F.I.R.S.'}]" (II Cor. 13:5).
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