Evening Sermon

January 6, 2008

CIVIL WAR

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I had the privilege of studying the Civil War in a college history class taught by one of the nation's leading authorities on that war. His class was one of the most popular courses offered at Virginia Tech, and he was able to communicate the intense personal tragedy which the war really was. As a Virginian, he approached the war with the mind of Robert E. Lee, who was grieved at the division within the country but loyal to his native state. The war, as it was taught in that class, is called the War Between the States to a Virginian believing in the sovereignty of individual states, and it was a pure and simple tragedy, unnecessary if the autonomy of individual states had not be threatened.

That professor's view of that war was much different than the view I had learned in history classes growing up in New York State. In the north, the Civil War was fought for a noble cause, to preserve the union and to free the slaves. The Civil War, I had learned, was more triumphant than tragic, for the rebellious southern states were, in fact, defeated and the horrible institution of slavery was ended.

When I moved to Mississippi, I learned yet another interpretation of that war, which in the deep south is called the War of Northern Aggression. In the deep south, the war is not only a tragedy, but a horrible offense committed by ruthless northern invaders.

But whatever the historical interpretation might be, the great tragedy of the Civil War, and all civil wars, is that a nation fights against itself. Often family against family, brother against brother. And it is that type of tragic battle that faces the people of Israel in Joshua 22.

For seven long years, the men of Israel had fought arm in arm. They had been separated from their families. They fought against their enemies living in the land, and they had succeeded in driving them away. They had taken possession of their promised inheritance.

And the 2-1/2 tribes whose inheritance is on the eastern side of the Jordan River were finally allowed to return home. Shortly after they return home, they face a new crisis, a new conflict. They face the potential for civil war.

Thankfully, that civil war was avoided, and the whole nation continued to experience God's richest blessings. And this chapter is much, much more than an interesting history lesson. It teaches us how we, too, can experience God's richest blessings. First of all,

I. GOD'S RICHEST BLESSINGS COME WHEN WE ARE OBEDIENT. Actually, this whole chapter is a chapter about obedience. And it starts out with a commendation. Joshua tells those 2-1/2 eastern tribes, "Well done!"

Remember, Joshua had told them earlier that they could not go home to their inheritance until they helped the other 9-1/2 tribes possess their land west of the Jordan. They obeyed, and were praised for it. v.1-4

Their obedience shows us that:

A. Obedience is being faithful in our responsibilities. Obedience is being faithful, being dependable, being reliable.

What was their responsibility? Faithfulness. Josh.1:12-16

Faithfulness is doing what you say you will do. Faithfulness is finishing a job that you have started. Faithfulness is accepting your responsibilities and living up to them. Faithfulness is being dependable.

Illus: In the 11th century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted a s a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery.

"Your Majesty," said Prior Richard, "do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king."

"I understand," said Henry. "The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you." "Then I will tell you what to do," said Prior Richard. "Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you."

When King Henry died, a statement was written: "The king learned to rule by being obedient." The king learned that obedience is being faithful to our responsibilities.

The Apostle Paul also knew the value of faithfulness: 2Tim. 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Paul knew how important it was to find reliable men, men who would be faithful in their responsibilities. That is still the key to the success of any church today, ours included. And that is the goal of ministry-to train and equip such reliable men for further ministry.

Paul goes on to give three illustrations of faithfulness, three familiar illustrations--a soldier, an athlete and a farmer:

2Tim. 2:4 "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops."

Great examples of faithfulness: a soldier, an athlete, a farmer. God's richest blessings come when we are faithful in our responsibilities. That is a simple concept, isn't it?

After that example of obedience, these verses go on to define it for us:

B. Obedience is loving God with our unqualified devotion. v.5-9

This is a repeated theme throughout the Scripture. Obedience to God IS love for God. Love for God IS obedience to him. You simply cannot separate the two. They are opposite sides of the same coin.

The same command is given over and over in the Scripture, both in the OT and the NT. This is the summary and climax of all of God's law--Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

And what does it mean to love God? Look at v.5. It means to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him, to serve him with all your heart and all your soul. To love God means to serve God with ALL your heart and soul. Obedience is loving God with our unqualified devotion.

In other words, nothing else comes first. There are no restrictions, no hesitations, no exceptions, no qualifications.

Can you say of your own life, "I love God with an unqualified devotion?" Does anything else come first? Jesus says even your family can't come first. Our own pleasures and our own desires cannot come first. God must come first, and we must cling to him with all our heart. The things of this world can't come first, for we cannot love God and love the things of this world at the same time. We cannot serve two masters, for we will invariably hate one and love the other. Then, and only then, will God's richest blessings come upon us.

Our society is in great danger. There is such carelessness with which we attempt to serve God in this country. There are so many who say that they love God with the lips, yet whose hearts are far from him, so many who say that they love God but who are unwilling to obey even the most obvious of God's laws.

John teaches us that, 1John 2:4 "He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him."

Further, 1John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

People of God, do you love Him? Love him with all your heart? Live your lives with absolute devotion to him, without any reservations. Devote yourselves to obey his law. All of it.

In Joshua 22, the nation of Israel is experiencing God's richest blessings. They are receiving their inheritance, because they have obeyed him. That is a valuable lesson for us. A second lesson is that,

II. GOD'S RICHEST BLESSINGS COME WHEN WE RESOLVE CONFLICTS APPROPRIATELY. This chapter is not a story about conflict, but rather a story about a conflict that is resolved.

And the source of the conflict is pretty easy to understand. The background is given in: Deut. 12:4 "You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things. 5 "But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 "There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 "And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you."

In other words, Israel was not allowed to choose their own place for an altar. They had to offer their sacrifices at the altar which God had chosen. At this point in the life of the nation, the altar was at Shiloh.

But, soon after the 2-1/2 tribes went home to their land east of the Jordan River, they built their own altar. v.10

And it was a large altar, an imposing altar, one easily seen and recognized. Illus: When we lived near Charlotte, there was a church in south Charlotte everyone knew about. It was called the pink church. It was a huge church on a major highway linking two popular areas of Charlotte. That church was probably the most frequently used landmark for giving directions in Charlotte. You just can't miss it. You can't mistake it. It's huge. And it really is pink.

That is the idea that comes from this altar built east of the Jordan. You couldn't miss it. And the rest of the Israelites were immediately concerned, and ready to take up arms in war! v.11-12

So, what is the lesson for us? Essentially, the lesson is how to resolve conflicts appropriately. And how can we do that? First,

A. We should have an uncompromising zeal for the purity of worship. The concern of the Israelites was justified, because their concern was for the purity of worship. God had said, "You must offer your sacrifices only at the places which I choose."

These 2-1/2 tribes apparently were violating that command. It was a very serious offense! It was an act of rebellion. It was an act of apostasy. Everyone agreed. v.16

And they knew what would happen if the sin was not stopped. v.17-18

I want you to realize the state of mind of these people in Israel. They were not warmongers. They had spent seven long years fighting arm in arm with the other tribes. They had fought together, and there must have been tremendous emotion involved when they parted for their own land.

v.12 Truly amazing verse. They were now willing to take up arms against these very same men who had been their comrades.

Why were they willing to take such drastic measures? Because they had an uncompromising zeal for the purity of worship. They had an uncompromising zeal for God's honor, to defend God's holiness and God's word of truth. If there was rebellion against God, and if there was an attack upon the purity of worship, then there must be a battle. They would not sacrifice truth on the altar of peace.

Listen to the words of Francis Schaeffer: "I would to God that the church of the twentieth century would learn this lesson. The holiness of the God who exists demands that there be no compromise in the area of truth. Tears? I am sure there were tears, but there had to be battle if there was rebellion against God."

If we want to experience God's richest blessings, we, too, should have an uncompromising zeal for the purity of worship. We, too, must worship only in the ways in which God has called us to worship. Secondly,

B. We should have an open-minded investigation before passing judgment. What did the 9-1/2 tribes do? Did they march right off to war? No. v.13-15

They sent an investigation team, a committee, to use our language today. They went to find out what the story was. And they went with an open mind. They didn't immediately condemn. They didn't pass judgment based on appearances. They didn't jump to conclusions. They investigated. They weren't self-righteous, but they were certainly direct. v.16

A good leader was selected, Phinehas. Phinehas is the man who turned away God's anger when the Israelites began worshipping the Baal of Peor. As part of that false worship, one man brought a woman right up to the Tent of Meeting, and was intimate with her right before everyone's eyes. And Phinehas acted justly in putting them both to death. And God honored him:

Num. 25:11 "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal."

Phinehas, zealous to protect God's honor, led an open minded investigation, which also shows us that:

C. We should be gracious in seeking repentance. Again, there was no self-righteousness. There was no personal vengeance. There was no desire to condemn. Rather, they were seeking repentance. And they made a gracious offer: v.19-20

In other words, they said, "If the land is the problem, come back and share our land with us." They were willing to pay a costly price to reclaim their brothers. They were willing to sacrifice part of their own land if it would put an end to the rebellion. They wanted to see repentance. They wanted reconciliation.

Now, I believe that today, we ought to be just as zealous for God's honor. We ought to confront and investigate apparent sin. Church discipline is one of the responsibilities of the elders of the church, and individual confrontation of the sin of another is a responsibility that each one of us has.

But, we must always seek the goal of repentance. The goal of church discipline, even to the point of excommunication, is to seek repentance. The purpose is to reclaim the offending person. That is exactly what Phinehas and his committee were doing.

And there is one final aspect of resolving conflicts appropriately:

D. We should give and receive a soft answer with a reverent concern for God's honor. We should give--and receive--a soft answer. What do I mean?

What would you do, or many people do, if you were confronted about a particular sin by a fellow believer?

Many people would get defensive. Many would get offended. Many would get angry. "What right do you have to tell me how to live." Many people would just ignore it, saying perhaps, "That is your opinion. You believe what you want, I'll believe what I want."

And many people would misquote Scripture: "Judge not lest you be judged." Or, "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."

Neither of those verses eliminate our responsibility to confront others with their sin. Yet it is because of those sorts of reactions that we hesitate to confront one another with their sin.

How would you react, if you were among those tribes? How would you react if someone came to you today, and confronted you about a particular weakness or a particular sin? How would you react if someone loved you enough to confront you with an apparent sin?

The 2-1/2 tribes, accused of terrible sin and rebellion gave a soft answer. They didn't get all bent out of shape. They didn't get their dander up. They didn't get defensive. They just answered honestly. v.21-23

They were just as concerned about God's honor as the others. They even agreed with the punishment. They said, "If we did rebel against God, then let us be punished for it."

They answered the accusation with their own desire to protect the honor of God, The Mighty One, God the Lord!

And then they calmly and logically explained their actions: v.24-27, 29

The altar was not going to actually be used for sacrifices. And how did Phinehas and his committee respond? They, too, gave a soft answer. v.30-33

Every Christian needs to learn to relate with one another in the same way that these people did. We should resolve conflicts appropriately, not by ignoring them. Most people, most churches, ignore any form of church discipline, because we don't want to offend people. We think that if we say anything it will just make the situation worse.

On a personal level, instead of resolving conflicts, and instead of investigating and confronting apparent sin, we do nothing. We're lazy, unwilling to expend the energy and time and emotion necessary to resolve conflicts. Or when we ourselves are made aware of a sin, we react with anger. And all of that is wrong.

Gal. 6:1 "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."

Matt. 18:15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."

Like the Israelites, we will experience God's richest blessings when we resolve conflicts appropriately.

Well, what was the purpose of this altar, if they weren't going to actually offer sacrifices on it? Good question. We're almost tempted to doubt the answer they gave. But we shouldn't doubt their sincerity.

This altar was to be a witness.

A witness was used in making a covenant as a public demonstration of the contract. We still do that today. Certain documents require a witness, to demonstrate the seriousness and the reality of those documents. Some documents and some contracts require a witness to validate the contract itself. This altar was to be a witness of their commitment to God. And just like with them,

III. GOD'S RICHEST BLESSINGS COME WHEN OUR WORSHIP IS A PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF OUR WHOLEHEARTED COMMITMENT TO GOD. This altar was to be a demonstration of their wholehearted commitment to God. It wasn't going to actually be used as an altar, no sacrifices were going to be made upon it, but it would stand as a public testimony of their commitment.

We might often be tempted to allow our worship to demonstrate little more than our traditions. Each of us needs to examine our own heart in that. Why did you come to church today? Because of tradition, or because of a wholehearted commitment to God? Sometimes, it's even hard to distinguish between those two.

Did you come to church just to come to church? Or did you come because your whole life is devoted to God and nothing is more important to you than gathering in God's house with God's people?

I hope you can sense the difference in that.

Why should you come? Why should you come even on Sunday evening? Why? At least in part to demonstrate that your whole life is God's, that the whole sabbath day is God's, and that nothing is more important for your spiritual strength and health than meeting for worship, fellowship, and Bible study.

We do not have church services just to have church services. Rather, those services must demonstrate our wholehearted commitment to God. And in that as well,

A. Our worship is a witness to future generations. v.28

They were concerned about their children. How was this huge altar a witness to their children? I think I know. Because those children, from their earliest days, would see that altar. And they would know that the worship of God was important for their parents.

I believe that the best way to teach our children the importance of worship is to show them that it is important in our lives. The best way to make sure that children will grow up in the Lord and not forsake the Lord or the church later in life, is to show them that our worship is the most important activity in our life.

Thus the best way for children to learn about the importance of worship is to watch their parents worship. They don't have to understand everything themselves. They just have to understand that it is important for their parents. The best way for children to learn about the importance of reading the Bible is to watch their parents reading the Bible. The best way for children to learn about the importance of prayer is to watch their parents pray.

And anyone who has children knows this, that your children are watching you. And what is important to you will be important to them. And what is unimportant to you will be unimportant to them. We cannot expect the next generation of children to be devoted to the Lord unless we show them that we are devoted to the Lord.

Our worship is a witness to future generations. And,

B. Our worship is a witness of our service to the Lord. v.34 The altar was named. In the KJV, "named "ed"." Don't think of that as a personal name. "Ed" is the Hebrew word for witness. The altar was named, "Witness." Or perhaps it was even given the longer name, "A Witness Between Us That the Lord is God."

v.27 That is even more specific. The altar was a witness that they would serve the Lord, and serve him faithfully.

Witnesses are valuable today. This morning, we had such a witness. We had a sacrament before us that is a public demonstration of our wholehearted commitment to God. That sacrament, like that altar in Joshua 22, does not involve a literal sacrifice with literal blood. But it does represent real blood, and represents a real body. That sacrament represents the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

When you receive those elements, you are proclaiming the Lord's death, for yourself. When you receive those elements, you are publicly demonstrating that your life is wholeheartedly committed to God. And if your life is not wholeheartedly committed to God, then you ought not to take those elements.

What we do in worship is not a mere tradition. It is a witness, all of it. It is a testimony, an opportunity to be reminded that our salvation is not a matter of our own good works, but that our salvation was accomplished for us by Jesus Christ and received by grace through alone.

Therefore, as you worship the Lord your God this evening, let all that you do be a witness of your loving devotion to the Lord and of your wholehearted obedience to his word.

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