What Happens In Vegas...Doesn't Stay In Vegas!

By John Stallings

One day a band of strange men came to Israel’s camp at Gilgal.  [Joshua chapter 9.]

Their clothes were worn out and their shoes were full of holes. Their donkeys carried on their backs old sacks that were ready to fall to pieces. Even the skin bottles, which these men had used for carrying wine, were old and torn, and the little bit of bread that remained in their sacks was dry and moldy.

God had promised the land to Joshua, and he and the children of Israel were to destroy all the inhabitants of the land. The Promised Land included the neighboring country called Gibeon.

These strange men asked to speak with Joshua and with his officers. They said they had come from a country very far away, and that their people wished to be friends with the Israelites. But the men of Israel answered, “We do not know who you are. You may live in Canaan, and we cannot be friends with these people of Canaan because God has told us to destroy them all.”

The men showed their moldy bread and said, “See, we brought this for our journey and it was hot when we took it from our homes. We are indeed from a far country. When we heard how your God brought you from Egypt and helped you to destroy your enemies, our people became afraid of you and they sent us to ask you to let us live and become your servants.”

THESE MEN WERE DECIEVING JOSHUA

Joshua and his men examined the bread and saw that it was moldy. They believed the story the men told them. Joshua and his officers didn’t know they were being tricked and worst of all, they didn’t take time to pray about it.

The Bible says, “They asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.”

Joshua thought the matter was so clear that he had no need to seek God’s direction. So instead of talking to God about these people and asking God what to do, Joshua promised to let these men live and sent them back to their homes.

When the Israelite soldiers went out again to battle against the people of Canaan, they hadn’t gone very far when they came to the part of the land where the Gibeonites lived.

Then they learned that the strange visitors at Gilgal had come from Gibeon. They were near neighbors to the Israelites. They had taken dry, moldy bread and worn-out shoes and purposefully deceived Joshua and the officers of Israel making them believe they’d come from a country far away.

In realty, they were Canaanites—people whom God wanted the Israelites to destroy. Joshua was a great leader and loved God with all his heart- but he was fooled. Hind-sight is usually 20/20 isn’t it?

THE PRICE CAN BE HIGH WHEN OUR GUARD IS LOW

Normally Israel would be more alert but they didn’t think they were under attack. Is that not a favorite technique of Satan today? How many times do people who are in serious trouble begin their explanation by saying,

“I didn’t realize....”? “I didn’t realize taking a drag on a joint would lead to addiction. I didn’t realize a little flirtation at the office would lead to an affair.”

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS………NEVER STAYS IN VEGAS!

You are probably aware of the advertising slogan for Las Vegas. It plays on the latent adolescence in all of us. After some titillating, open-ended scene the ad ends with the wink-wink, "What happens in Vegas- stays in Vegas."

This slogan is an effective marketing mentality. The clear implication is that you can do pretty much whatever you want in Vegas. Of course, the irony is that you can do pretty much whatever you want to anywhere. And given our privacy invasion, everyone can know about it too, as many politicians recently have learned.

What happens in Vegas, comes home to your family, your church, and it appears in the test results in your Doctor’s office. It pops up on your bank statement and it lives forever in your conscience.

The market-slogan encourages you to believe you can hop on a plane, travel way out to the desert, enthusiastically indulge in all the hedonistic pleasures that sin city has to offer, when your Vegas trip is over you hop on your return flight and by the time your plane touches down you’re back to your normal life. Their promise is that-“what you do in Vegas stays in Vegas. There will be no connection between your secret behaviors in Sin City and the other 51 weeks out of the year."

There are even bumper stickers that say, “WHIVSIV.” There’s a line of clothing saying the same. The insidious intent behind this phrase is that there are vacuums in which sin is free. It says that there are actually “safe zones” that exist in which a person can sin and not be held accountable. But the Bible says,

“Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23).

Also, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7-8).

Can you smoke in Vegas and have no cancer risk anywhere else? Can you murder in Vegas without penalty back home? Can you lie, cheat, steal, drink, gamble, or be unfaithful in Vegas with impunity? I think not. Life is interconnected. Sin in one area of life causes repercussions in other areas. To believe –"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" is just another satanic deception opening a life up to attack. Here’s the truth; What happens in Vegas -follows you home.

Since Satan often uses lies and sneak attacks, like he did with Israel at GiIgal, I want to spoil his fun and share with you some techniques for catching Satan attempting to sneak into your life.

ASK DIRECTIONS FROM THE LORD

The devil wants us to commit “assumicide.” At the heart of all sin is the assumption that we don’t need God in some area of our lives. The most poignant comment in Joshua 9 is the statement in vs. 14,

“…the leaders…did not ask direction from the Lord.”  They examined the evidence through human eyes and the issue seemed a no-brainer to them –

#- But they did not ask direction from the Lord! Common sense suggested the Gibeonites were being truthful –

#-But they did not ask direction from the Lord. The whole situation seemed innocent enough –

#-But they did not ask direction from the Lord. Just to be sure no one will miss the point of this message, let me spell it out clearly –

#-  "Ask direction from the Lord!

If you are a teen and wondering whom to date, what are you supposed to do… Ask direction from the Lord!

If you want to find that special person and marry them what should you do…Ask direction from the Lord!

If you are about ready to give up on your marriage what are you supposed to do…Ask direction from the Lord!

If you are trying to choose a college what should you do...Ask direction from the Lord!

If you need to make a career choice what should you do…Ask direction from the Lord!

If you are surfing the net looking for something to interest you, what should you do… Ask direction from the Lord!

There are no circumstances in our lives where we do not need the Lord’s direction. Wise Christians slow down and take time to be in the presence of God before making major decisions.

 Proverbs 3 says,-“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

The first technique for catching Satan attempting to sneak into your life is ask direction from the Lord! A second technique for catching Satan attempting to sneak into your life is:

EXPECT THE DEVIL TO GANG UP ON YOU

Have you ever noticed how much help the Devil has? The Bible refers to the devil and his angels. He has help! He has-big time back-up! The Bible speaks of principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world. He has help! Look at how those on Satan’s side band together in vs. 1-2 –

“...when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things....they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.” Normally those city-states would go to war against each other.

When God’s people begin to do God’s will, the forces of evil will inevitably unite. It happened in the days Jesus walked this earth. Traditionally Pharisees and Sadducees couldn’t stand each other, but their common enmity for Jesus caused them to unite. Evil can put some strange bed-bedfellows together.

Herod and Pilate were mortal enemies but they became friends the day they crucified Jesus. The Romans and the Jews had nothing but animosity for each other but they co-operated to kill Jesus. Evil unites when it is threatened by righteousness. Listen to the words of Ps. 2:1-2 –

“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.”

If you take a stand for God evil will unite against you if it perceives you as a threat. If you are a new Christian let me be especially clear to you. You have recently won a great victory. People have said and done reinforcing things. You feel forgiven and clean and empowered to live a righteous life. Don’t be naive. If you become a threat to Satan, he will unite evil and attack. How do you catch Satan attempting to sneak into your life?

First, ask direction from the Lord!

Second, expect the devil to gang up on you.

The third technique for catching Satan attempting to sneak into your life is…

EXPECT THE DEVIL TO FREQUENTLY CHANGE STRATEGIES

Sometimes Satan can be in your face and loud. I Peter 5 describes the devil as… “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

At times you have heard his roar. At other times Satan can be so subtle you hardly recognize him. The devouring lion can change forms and become a sneaky serpent. II Corinthians 2 reminds us.. “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.”

Jesus said in John 8:44,

“The devil was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan prefers deception because if you don’t realize he is present, then you won’t try to get away from him. He loves to hear you say, “I didn’t realize....”

In Australia there is a plant called the Sun Dew Plant. It looks inviting. It's covered with a substance that looks like dew but is so sticky that when an insect lights on it, it can’t get away. As the struggling insect tries to fly the vibration alerts the plant and it begins to close up and in short time devours the insect. The very thing that attracted the hapless insect becomes the instrument of its death. That is how Satan operates. That’s why the Bible warns in Hebrew 3:13 –

“...encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

This story in Joshua 9 takes an interesting turn before it concludes centuries later. The story ultimately teaches us that…

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IS GREATER THAN OUR FOOLISHNESS

Eventually the Gibeonites become a blessing to Israel. David will put the tabernacle in Gibeon. One of David’s mighty men was a Gibeonite. Solomon offered sacrifices at Gibeon. It was at Gibeon that Solomon asked for wisdom. The Gibeonites came back from captivity with the Israelites and helped build the wall around Jerusalem. God’s mercy was bigger than Israel’s mistakes.  

Your life may be a hodgepodge of success and failures, of promises made and broken, of sin resisted and given in to. Your life may be a huge mess no man can straighten out. Here’s the good news. God specializes in messes.  Here’s another satanic lie…

“NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW”

Many will remember the late eighties when a world known evangelist was exposed for consorting with known prostitutes. He did the right thing by confessing his sin and to his credit has kept his home and ministry together.

He was cruising around and slumming in large cities  dressed like Willie Nelson, at least the pictures looked like that to me. His obvious intent was to hide his sin. He believed he could pull it off and the world would never know. The longer I live the more amazed I am at man’s ability to lie to himself and rationalize almost anything.

This preacher wanted to be famous and he was. He wanted to be able to go to any corner of the earth and immediately be recognized. And he could. He poured decades of his life into being, among other things the most famous preacher on the planet.

But then, on the other hand he occasionally wanted to slip out of the spotlight’s glare and redeem a small part of his privacy and go slumming. In his desire to just be incognito for a few minutes now and then, he convinced himself that he wouldn’t get caught because no one would recognize him. The question that still haunts is this; if the evangelist had never been caught would he have persisted in his double life? Another lie is…

“MY SIN AFFECTS ONLY ME”

No. Sin affects other people. Exodus 32:21.

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?”

The characters flaws and unrepented sins that were lodged in the heart of Aaron did not exist in a vacuum. Aware of it or not, his sins impacted Israel.

A Christian young man in our aquaintence recenlty found that sin has awful consequences. During his late teens he lived extremly loose morally. In later years he became a Christian, married a fine young Christian girl and they have several beautiful children.

One day the phone rang and what he heard turned his world upside down. One of the girls with whom he’d committed fornication and had borne his child had applied for Government assistance. Now this young fellow was being asked to supply DNA to ascertain who the father of the child was. The upshot was, this young man who was now struggling to support his new family has to also support a child he fathered during his wild teenage years. For this sin and indescretion he'll pay many hundreds of dollars per month for the next number of years.

When we teach our kids about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, we err if we don’t also stress the dibilitating consequences of any kind of sexuel contact outside the boundraies of marriage.

“I CAN STOP WHENEVER I WANT TO”

No. Sin entraps. Moses predicted this unforeseen result of sin in Exodus 23:33.

 “They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.”

Like the ancient Chinese finger trap, one may easily enter into the act of sin, but soon find that it is impossible to back out of it. One man found out that the sweet little clingy teenager who only needed the comfort of a strong male figure in her life turned into vicious, manipulative hustler once she had him in her clutches. Also, just as every coin has two sides, every individual act of sin has two sides: Commit the sin; Cover the sin. The instant a sin is committed the flip side comes into play.

"I CAN MANAGE MY WEAKNESS”

No. Sin opens the door to other sins.

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23.

How can rebellion possibly be related to witchcraft? How could iniquity ever share common ground with stubbornness and idolatry? Because all branches of sin grow from the same trunk. That’s why John the Baptist said,

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” Matthew 3:10.

The root of offense gives rise to many sinful branches. Saul didn’t conquer his initial disobedience; therefore, he experienced a chain reaction of repeated sin and tragedy in his life. David’s lust led to adultery; his adultery led to deceit; his deceit led to murder. Once the essence of sin gains admission into one’s life, it brings with it the seeds of further transgressions. James said,

“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” James 3:16.

“GOD WILL FORGIVE ME”

Yes, if you repent and forsake your sin because sin cannot go unpunished. When we sweep sin under the rug, when we treat it differently from person to person or when we simply let it slide the sinning person gets a false view of God’s justice. God knows that without consequences, sin loses its dread. A diminished view of sin means a diminished view of Calvary. Ambivalence toward sin casts doubt on the efficacious blood of Jesus.

Operate your life out of truth, not mythology.

Vegas lies when it says “WHIVSIV.”

Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”


Blessings,


John