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[0:00] The book of Joshua in chapter 2. And we are going to read the entire chapter. Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim.

[0:11] ! Go look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.

[0:27] So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab. Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them.

[0:40] She said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.

[0:53] But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof. So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan.

[1:07] And as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.

[1:29] We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

[1:41] When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you.

[1:59] Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my brother, of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and that you will save us from death.

[2:09] Our lives for your lives, the men assured her. If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.

[2:20] So she let them down by a rope through the window for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Now she had said to them, go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you.

[2:32] Hide yourselves there three days until they return and then go on your way. The men said to her, this oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless when we enter the land, you have tied the scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down.

[2:49] And unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head.

[3:01] We will not be responsible as for anyone who is in the house with you. His blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from this oath.

[3:16] You made us swear. Agreed. She replied. Let it be as you say. So she sent them away and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

[3:27] When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days until the pursuers had searched all on the road and returned without finding them. Then the two men started back.

[3:39] They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua, son of none, and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, the Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands.

[3:53] All the people are melting in fear because of us. I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 31.

[4:07] Hebrews 11. There are not many surprises in the Football Hall of Fame, the Professional Football Hall of Fame, or the Baseball Hall of Fame, or the Basketball Hall of Fame, because by the time they are inducted, their athletic accomplishments are well known.

[4:30] But today we find a huge surprise in Faith's Hall of Fame. Imagine these Hebrews Christians to whom this book that we're reading from in Hebrews 11 was first sent at the first century.

[4:47] And they're reading through Faith's Hall of Fame for the first time. And it begins with the pre-flood men of righteous Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

[4:58] And then it goes on and gives the largest portion of the Hall of Fame to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.

[5:10] And then to his son, Isaac, and his son, Jacob, and his son, Joseph. These are the revered patriarchs of the Jewish people.

[5:22] Great men of faith. And they were well familiar with them. And then there was Moses, the greatest leader of the Jewish nation, who led them out of bondage in Egypt.

[5:34] And then there was Joshua, who replaced Moses at the end of his life, and who brought them into the Promised Land. These were all men, and men of highest esteem within Israel.

[5:47] And then as they read on, without any notice, they come to, By faith, the prostitute Rahab. By faith, the prostitute Rahab.

[6:03] Rahab? The harlot? What's she doing in a place like this? How'd she get into the Hall of Fame? It's a most unusual inductee from the Old Testament into this Hall of Fame.

[6:23] A shocking surprise. Because she's not a Jew, is she? She's not a part of that privileged nation that belonged to God, to whom God gave His Word. Who rested under His favor and blessing, to whom God revealed the greatness of His glory, His law, His gospel.

[6:45] No, she's not a part of Israel. She's an outsider. She is under the blanket of Gentile darkness, to which she belongs.

[6:57] Furthermore, she's an Amorite, an enemy of Israel. She's part of that cursed people who were so wicked that they came under the ban of God.

[7:10] They were devoted to Him, to God, by being devoted to destruction. She's one of them. And furthermore, she's a woman.

[7:23] So far to this point, in the Hall of Fame, they've all been men. And she's a woman, and not only that, she's a very immoral woman, isn't she?

[7:36] She runs a house of prostitution. She sells herself for money. What a sad, miserable, sinful life.

[7:46] So what's an Amorite harlot doing in a place like this? How'd she get into this Hall of Fame? And of course, our text answers, by faith.

[7:58] The same answer for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and Joshua. By faith. The prostitute Rahab.

[8:09] That's the one reason she's here. And upon closer examination, it really is an amazing faith. So that's our assignment today.

[8:21] Let's look at this faith of the prostitute Rahab. Last week, we saw that Joshua and the Israelites were now coming into the land that had been promised to their forefather Abraham some 500 years earlier.

[8:36] And now they're coming in. It's the second time they've been here, the first time they turned away in unbelief. They're back after 40 years in the school of faith. And immediately, they face a huge test of their faith.

[8:50] Because there, the first city in conquering the promised land is this impregnable city with its great walls, Jericho. And then God gave them a battle plan for taking that city, which was an even greater trial to their faith.

[9:07] But they believed God. And so they followed his word to the letter. They trusted and therefore obeyed. And by faith, they marched.

[9:18] And they marched around Jericho. And the walls came a-tumbling down, as we sing. The Israelites rushed in and killed everyone as they were commanded, for the whole city was devoted to destruction.

[9:33] But there was one exception that we saw last week in Joshua chapter 6. One exception. One exception. They spared Rahab, the prostitute, and all of her family that was in the house with her, her parents, brothers and sisters, and so on.

[9:53] And here in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 31, we're told why she was spared. By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

[10:07] So here's faith receiving. That's what we see with Rahab. We see faith receiving. Receiving the spies and receiving salvation.

[10:22] Joshua had earlier sent two spies into Jericho. When traffic in and out of the city was still going on. Once inside the gates, they made their way to Rahab's house, perhaps thinking that they would not be noticed, since men were always going in and out of that home.

[10:42] And our text says that she welcomed them. She welcomed them. Now that may not sound like much to us upon the first read. But what she did was very dangerous.

[10:56] She harbored two enemy spies. And Jericho's secret service was on to her.

[11:09] They had spotted these men. They had detected their whereabouts and reported it to the very king. They went right to the top, the king of Jericho.

[11:20] And the king's soldiers came looking for these men at Rahab's house. And they brought a personal message from the king to Rahab.

[11:32] Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house. We know they're there. They've been spotted. Bring them out because they have come to spy out the whole land.

[11:45] Now that's the dangerous situation in which we read that Rahab welcomed the spies. She hid them. She hid them from her own people.

[11:58] And since her house was positioned and part of the wall structure, just again showing you the size of these walls, that a whole house is part of this wall structure, she let them out through the window at night, by a rope down, and helped them to escape undetected.

[12:22] To be caught as a traitor, helping the enemy, disobeying her king's order, would have been certain death for Rahab. There's no question about that.

[12:33] What was it that enabled her to hide the spies at such a risk to her own life and in order to spare theirs?

[12:44] Well, our text tells us by faith. That's what enabled her. Faith enables us to do things that we otherwise would never do. If Rahab did not have faith, what would she do?

[12:58] She would call up, or she would tell the messengers, you go back and tell the... She wouldn't wait for... She would just say, Come on up. I've got them on the roof. They're up there, under the pile of flax.

[13:11] And she would be the hero. She saved Jericho from the spies that had come in. That's what unbelief would have done. No, by faith she welcomed the spies.

[13:25] The spies. Behold the power of faith. The power of faith once more in this chapter.

[13:37] The power to do difficult things, even things that are contrary to nature. We see her faith in what she did in hiding the spies. But we even get to hear her faith in what she said to the spies that night.

[13:54] Let me just read it to you. It was just read in Joshua 2, 9 to 11. She said to the spies, I know that the Lord has given this land to you, and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.

[14:10] We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. And what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

[14:27] And when we heard of it, our hearts and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

[14:43] There's her confession of faith. She professed Jehovah, God of Israel, to be the God of heaven and earth, the whole shoot match, the whole universe.

[14:56] He's God. So she had heard a report. How did she come to know this God? She had heard a report about him. A report about the Lord, the God of Israel.

[15:09] You see, God had acted in such a way back in Egypt that his fame would be spread among the nations. And here we are seeing that. Indeed, what God had done at the Red Sea didn't stay at the Red Sea.

[15:21] That story just ran like wildfire. And all the way here to Jericho, and they heard about the God of Jacob, the God of Israel, that he is a God of power, of love, who acts for the salvation of his people.

[15:40] She had heard the report. And more than that, she believed the report. And because she believed, she acted accordingly. She wants to be on God's side.

[15:53] Not fighting against this God of Israel, but to be on his side. This God who acts in might to save his people. And so she forsakes her gods, her people, her nation, to become a part of God and his people.

[16:15] She confesses him as the God in heaven above and on the earth below. And she abandons her loyalty to her native gods and people and risks all to join the Lord and his people.

[16:30] I say, that's amazing. We saw the same thing in Abraham, didn't we? Abraham, when he was still, he's the man of faith, the father of the Hebrew nation, that when God's word found him as an idolater and called him to leave his people and his land and to go to a place that God would later show him, he didn't cling to that land that was his from birth, but he forsook it.

[17:01] Why? Because he believed God and he went with God and became the father of his people. He left behind his idols, his people, his country.

[17:12] And it was all motivated by faith in the God who spoke and revealed himself. Abraham, but Abraham, father of the faithful, has nothing on this Canaanite woman, this Canaanite prostitute, because she too forsook her inbred loyalty to her gods, her country, her people, and instead identifies with the God of Israel and his people.

[17:34] That's contrary to nature. It's not what people generally do. They're patriotic. They stick to their people. But here is the power of faith, more strong than the love of country and the fear of death.

[17:48] You know, something similar happened to that Moabitess Ruth. There she is in Moab. And what does she say to her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi?

[18:01] Do not entreat me to leave you. No, I'm going with you. I'm going with you. Though I've been raised as a Moabitess with all my gods and idols, I'm leaving them.

[18:15] And where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. And your people will be my people. And your God will be my God. That was her confession of faith. And it's very similar here with this prostitute of Jericho, forsaking, her own people to become one of God's people.

[18:35] That was the invitation that Moses made to his Midianite father-in-law. Come with us. Come with us. We're God's people. And if you come with us, we will do you good because the Lord has spoken well concerning Israel.

[18:50] And we who know him and are his people would say that to every one of you who are not his people. Come with us. We're going to the celestial city. Come by faith to Jesus.

[19:00] Jesus Christ. Forsake your people, your world, and come and join us because God has spoken good things concerning his people. without faith, she wouldn't have acted this way.

[19:17] But by faith, she welcomed the spies. That's the power of faith. Look, secondly, at the preciousness of faith. The preciousness of faith.

[19:28] And the preciousness of faith is seen in the precious blessings that it won for her, that it brought to her. She received precious blessings, nothing less than salvation.

[19:44] By faith, she was brought out of the world and into the family of God, translated out of the city of destruction, Jericho, and into the wonderful people of God.

[19:59] Notice how our text puts it. Verse 31, By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, what did it bring for her, this faith? She was not killed with those who were disobedient.

[20:11] So she didn't perish with all of her disobedient people of Jericho. When the walls came down and all were put to the sword and the city burned, she escapes the judgment of God.

[20:28] So when it was destroyed, she was not destroyed with it. And why? Because by faith, by faith, she welcomed the spies. And it was because of faith that she was not killed along with the other disobedient people of Jericho.

[20:47] Now, before anyone starts a pity party for the poor victims of Jericho, how could there be a God in heaven who's just if he commanded his people to wipe out the city of Jericho?

[21:02] Let me ask you a question. How many of you would complain if a bolt of lightning from heaven wiped out a whole camp of ISIS fighters who've been beheading children and people who do not confess Islam?

[21:19] He said, oh, not me. They deserve it. They're enemies of God and if God struck them with lightning, then they would well deserve it. Jericho was like ISIS.

[21:33] they were wicked, perverted, violent people. Grossly immoral, cruel, sacrificing their children to their gods.

[21:52] It's said that in building these huge walls around their city, they put live babies into jars and built them right into the walls, thereby hoping to appease the gods and win favor and protection that these walls would keep out the enemy.

[22:09] These are the people of Jericho. Don't get the idea that these are innocent people that didn't deserve to be destroyed by God's wrath.

[22:20] The land was vomiting them out. They are so vile. The land would not put up with their pollution any longer.

[22:31] That's how the Bible describes them. So, Jericho, under the ban of God.

[22:43] You know, over 400 years earlier, almost 500 years earlier, God had promised this land to Abraham and his descendants. You remember Genesis 15, he told Abraham, I'm going to give you the land but you're not going to receive it right away.

[22:57] You're going to have to wait a while, quite a while. Because you're going to have to live here like a stranger in a foreign land. So that means no foundations on your house, just tents.

[23:10] And you'll just float around. And then for 400 years, your people are going to go into another nation and there they will be mistreated and persecuted.

[23:21] And after that, I'm going to bring them out and then I'm going to bring them back to this land in the fourth generation. And the Lord tells Abraham why. Why the long wait?

[23:35] Why make his people wait so long that it would be a great trial to their faith and great inconvenience to them? Because the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.

[23:53] the people in the promised land in Jericho, they are sinners, they are wicked, they are vile, but their sin has not reached its full measure.

[24:03] The cup is not all the way to the top yet. Do you see the patience of God toward these wicked people? I'm not going to come with judgment yet.

[24:14] I'm going to be patient. And what did they do to God to show their thanks for his patience? They were disobedient to him. You see that in the text.

[24:25] She was not killed with the rest of the people who were disobedient. Who did they disobey? God. What laws did they disobey?

[24:37] They didn't have the scriptures like Israel did, but they had the law of God written on their hearts as human beings made in the image of God, stamped upon their conscience, the voice of God within that knew it was wrong, and they still violated conscience.

[24:57] They disobeyed their maker. Don't ever think that the moral laws of God are just for Israel in the Old Testament. God judged nations for not obeying his law.

[25:10] And here is the nation of Jericho. They are disobedient to God, and now the cup of God's wrath is filling.

[25:21] It's filling. It's all the way to the brim. Such sins that cry out for immediate punishment. Our text calls them disobedient. That's why they were destroyed.

[25:36] But that word can also be translated unbelieving. And of course those two words go well together, don't they?

[25:51] Those who believe obey. That's something that we find together. Those who have the left leg of trust in God have the right leg of obedience to God.

[26:06] Those who don't believe don't obey. And that was Jericho. So here's this city and its sins are up to the brim and don't think that Rahab is any better.

[26:19] She's not. If anything she's worse. So she too is devoted to destruction. She's not spared because she's any better.

[26:31] It's by faith that she was not killed. So they received the same report.

[26:44] These disobedient in Jericho. They got the same report that Rahab got. She believed and acted accordingly. They did not and went on acting accordingly.

[26:56] Well they believed enough to be afraid of this God but they did not believe enough to surrender to this God. And those are two different things altogether. they did not believe enough to say here's my life.

[27:07] God I want you to be my God. Take it all. I turn from my previous way of you take my life. No they only believed enough to tremble in fear but not enough to surrender in faith as she did.

[27:22] Can you see the preciousness of faith by what it receives? She was not killed with the rest of them. She was saved. That's what the New Testament is telling us that salvifically she was redeemed.

[27:36] She was saved by her faith. This is nothing less than eternal life. She was not killed just with this death but she did not receive the second death. She does not perish under the wrath of God but has a place among God's people forever to have him as her God and for her to become one of his people under his everlasting love and favor.

[28:01] What is that worth? Oh the preciousness of faith that it brings us such blessedness as to become one of his people.

[28:12] Now look briefly at the proof of faith. We've seen the power of faith to cause a woman to do what she otherwise wouldn't have. We've seen the preciousness of faith that it brings her salvation from God's wrath and thirdly the proof of faith.

[28:27] Rahab teaches us that the proof of saving faith is works. The book of James gives itself to that discussion doesn't it?

[28:40] And in a day when many claim to have faith in God I have faith in God someone says I believe in God but you watch their life and it's no different from the world and you say what do we do with this kind of situation where they say they have faith in God but their works do not line up with their profession.

[29:03] We're not left to just stay confused. James tells us what to think about them. Doesn't he? James chapter 2. He says the devils also believe.

[29:16] The devils also believe. In fact they even tremble. But the devils are not saved are they? James says that faith without works is a faith that does not save anyone.

[29:31] A faith that does not work does not save anyone. He's warning us that there is such a faith that won't save.

[29:41] It's dead. It's useless. It won't deliver in the day of God's wrath. It's a historical faith that simply believes the facts of the gospel.

[29:53] I believe that Jesus is the son of God. I believe that Jesus became man. I believe he was virgin born. I believe he lived a perfect life. I believe he died on the cross in the place of his people.

[30:06] I believe he was dead and buried and I believe he was resurrected. I believe he's coming one day and will send people to hell or heaven based on whether or not they have trusted in him. I believe it.

[30:18] But they have never committed themselves to this Jesus in the commitment of faith. He says here's my life. I want you to have it.

[30:32] I want you to come and I want my life henceforth to not be lived disobeying you but following you. That's the commitment of faith.

[30:43] But faith without works is a faith that does not lead men to obey God's commands. Faith without works does not lead men to be killing their sins and living a holy life. Faith without works does not move men to love and forgive others even their enemies.

[31:01] Faith without works is not willing to deny themselves and to take up their cross on which they will die in order that they might follow Jesus and live according to his way.

[31:18] and all faith without works is a dead faith that doesn't save because true faith in Christ not only brings his righteousness to my account in heaven but it also brings his Holy Spirit into my heart on earth and his spirit works in me giving me both the will and the desire to do what pleases him.

[31:44] Wherever there's true saving faith there will always be the works of obedience. And when James is looking for an example for this truth he goes back to the Old Testament take Abraham for example he believed God when God said here's my promise Abraham I'm going to give you a seed like the stars and Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness and James says but but that belief in God then acted and when God commanded sacrifice your son your one and only son whom you love Isaac that seed of promise what did Abraham do he obeyed his faith obeyed because he believed God he took his son up to make a sacrifice of him to God as God had said to him and then James says under the inspiration of the Holy

[32:44] Spirit let's go for another example from the Old Testament ah Rahab Rahab yeah Rahab she's a lot different than Abraham in many ways but she's one with Abraham in this that her life no less than his proves that where there is true faith there will be obedience and works that show it and so James 2 in verse 25 having showed us Abraham says in the same way was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off a different direction you see no difference on this point they both demonstrated their faith by deeds faith moved them both to surrender that which was most precious to them Abraham his own son Isaac and Rahab her own life their faith produced works of obedience that's what faith does that's the power of faith it receives

[33:52] Christ and his spirit and so therefore it bears fruit you can't be united to Christ without bearing that fruit of that fruitful vine well that's there's no exceptions to this no exceptions faith without works is useless whether you're a preacher or a prostitute and that's the main point of our story with Rahab don't miss it it was because she believed all the reports she heard about the Lord that she acted as she did in welcoming the spies that's why she was not killed along with the rest faith in God was the driving force of her behavior now lastly the surprises of faith last week we found faith where we would expect to find it in God's own people Joshua and the Israelites marching around Jericho today we've seen faith where we would not expect to find it inside

[34:53] Jericho inside the city that's doomed here's the surprises of faith to find it in the heart of a Canaanite prostitute and how we need this example of Rahab's faith it shouts to us that salvation is not given to those who deserve it but salvation is a free gift given to those who deserve God's wrath and God's destruction and yet who believe the report that's been given to them Rahab shows us the freeness of the gospel we don't have to be good enough to be saved just this week I heard of a young man who had been invited to this church and his response was I can't come to church because I'm not good enough folks the devil's lie is alive and well people are thinking they've got to be good enough to be saved Jesus doesn't God God so love the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever is good enough will not perish!

[35:57] have everlasting life! But many many many many people think that's what it means! The gospel says that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting and Rahab is a beautiful illustration of that picture she wasn't good enough to be saved she's an Amorite prostitute disobedient deserving God's wrath and she's saved by faith faith don't say I can't come because I'm not good enough that's precisely why you need to come to Christ he saves people who aren't good enough if you tarry till you're better you'll never come at all not the righteous sinners Jesus came to call to say I'm not good enough is like saying I can't go to the physician because I'm sick I'm not well enough yet it's like saying

[36:59] I can't go to the cleansing fountain because I'm so dirty I'm not clean enough yet folks that's why you go to the fountain to be washed and cleansed that's why you come to the great physician to have him heal you of your waywardness your love for sin I can't go to the feast because I'm hungry I can't come to the fountain of living waters because I'm so thirsty I can't go to the savior of sinners because I'm a sinner he came to seek and to save that which is lost and Rahab the prostitute came just as she was she trusted she believed and she was saved she didn't remain a prostitute you say but it still calls her Rahab the prostitute in the New Testament that's to the glory of God to remind us of what she was when grace found her but wherever faith is found in any human heart right alongside of it is that

[38:00] Siamese twin of repentance and she turned from her sin by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God's grace and her presence here in the hall of faith should encourage every sinner to come just as you are and put your faith in the Lord Jesus knowing that the vilest offender that truly believes that moment from Jesus forgiveness receives and her salvation should encourage all of us who have loved ones loved ones who are lost in sin and in nature's chains that God saved a prostitute from Canaan so keep praying keep witnessing our Lord Jesus is mighty to save and delights to save the very worst of sinners even the devils cast aways as George Whitfield said what a surprise of faith Rahab had so little to help her faith didn't she she just heard a report about

[39:02] Israel's God she believed it and acted upon it and was saved amazing just a single shaft of truth just a shaft of light just just a little bit about God but she she took it and she hung on to it said I want that God to be my God I want to belong to those people whose God saves them and the surprises don't end there because having joined herself to the people of God she later married a prince of Judah and became not only one in the great hall of faith but also one in the genealogy of Jesus Christ as you read in Matthew chapter one that as to his human nature our blessed Lord Jesus is a direct descendant of Rahab the prostitute that means that part of his genetic!

[39:57] code the genetic code of life that is today at the right hand of the father part of that genetic code was contributed and passed down from Rahab the harlot who believed and was not killed along with the others who were disobedient oh the surprises of faith the surprises of faith so there's a female voice in that great cloud of witnesses!

[40:29] is shouting encouragements to us to go on believing it's been a male choir so far hasn't it now there's a female voice a higher pitched voice and she's saying go on trusting put your hope in this God he saves his people and for these people who were first hearing this word the Hebrew Christians of the first century how they needed this faith of Rahab to spur them on to encourage them here they are thinking it's costing them to go on trusting Christ it's getting them into trouble because I hang on to the confession of Jesus of Nazareth that gets me in trouble with my own nation my own people they crucified him and now they're persecuting his people and the fires are getting hot and here in Hebrews 11 they're being told Hebrew Christian consider the faith of Rahab the prostitute when

[41:30] Rahab found her people in opposition to the God of Israel at great risk to herself she forsook her nation and chose to be identified with the enemy people of Jehovah can your faith rise as high as this gentile prostitute Rahab or will you be completely outstripped by her she has so little to help her faith such little light to compare to you Hebrew Christians yet she believed and if by faith she abandoned her country for God and his people will you do any last when you find your nation set against God and his anointed king follow her example of faith and live oh yes there's application for those first century Hebrew Christians but there's application for you you know the situation of Rahab is not all that different from every one of us here we come into this world born in sin we come as inhabitants of this great city of destruction that's where

[42:33] Jericho was that's where Rahab lived and we belong to the city of destruction because we have disobeyed God and we have gone our own way and God has been so patient and yet our cup of sin is filling and filling and we live in this city of destruction called the world and it's heaping up the wrath of God for the day of wrath and God has already said I'm going to judge it one day in fire and I'm going to judge it in everlasting fire and here we are in the city of destruction and yet just like Rahab we too have received a report about a God who saves sinners in fact we have a far more complete report haven't we that we've received about our God have you believed it Rahab believed the report have you believed the report anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar because he has not believed the testimony

[43:35] God has given about his son this is the testimony God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he that has the son has life he that has not the son of God has not life have you believed on Jesus and received eternal life have you trusted in him and therefore forsaken the people of this world saying I no longer identify with this world I come to be baptized baptized and to identify myself the world is not my people God is my God and his people are my people I belong to him he cleansed me of my sin I take him as my God and his people as my people you know you may have rejected him for years and he will receive you today and he'll forgive all your rejection and all your other sins he's just that good see it in

[44:36] Rahab see it in her and when God's wrath fell on Jericho there was one safe place from the destroying wrath of God even so the message has come to us the wrath of God is coming because of our sin but there is one safe place to be and that's in Jesus Christ who by his scarlet blood has cleansed us from our sins because in Jesus God's wrath has already fallen he has suffered the wrath that his people deserve and so all of Rahab's sins have been heaped on Jesus and Jesus has taken those sins to the place of punishment and now he bears all of her sins and all of her people's all of his people's sins and so he is under the ban he is devoted to destruction he is cursed that we might never be cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree this is how he saves us!

[45:42] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse himself becoming devoted to God's destruction in our place trust in him and experience his salvation salvation there are these surprises in faith's hall of fame let's learn from them the important lessons they carry and it reminds us that there will be surprises in heaven John Newton said he expected to find three great wonders in heaven when I get to heaven first of all I be surprised at who's there didn't expect to see her here Rahab wow converted homosexuals concerted converted mass murderers wow people like the thief on the cross who lived their whole life for self and sin and yet in the eleventh hour repented and trusted in

[46:47] Jesus blood yes they're here they're here for Jesus blood can make the foulest sinner clean and when I get to heaven I'll be surprised at who's not here who's not there that preacher who preached God's word every week to us with such help even to the saving of souls but he offered a Christ to others that he never took himself he gave the medicine to others without taking it himself he's not here Jesus says there will be many in that day who preached who will hear depart from me I never knew you surprising that who's not here where's that young teenager that was so vibrant for Christ carried her Bible to school was a witness for him oh you didn't hear she abandoned

[47:52] Christ she did not persevere in the faith it got tough for her she had to make a decision between a guy and Christ and she went with a guy she went with a job she went with this or the other and only showed that her faith was not the saving faith that produces a life of holiness oh yes I'll be surprised at who's there and who's not there but Newton says the greatest wonder of all will be that I'm there that I'm there me who sinned against such grace such love such light shocking surprising amazing grace that saved a wretch like me oh what Jesus has done for this soul of mine the half has never been told who would not know him who would not love him who would not serve him who would not offer themselves up to be on the

[49:01]  Lord's side let's pray thank you Lord Jesus that the record books of faith record a Rahab in them to teach us the freeness of the gospel that you would curse your own son that she might escape that curse and indeed that you would do that not only for Rahab but for every other sinner deserving of everlasting damnation who cast their faith upon you we've heard the gospel we've heard so much good news about you keep us from yawning under it keep us from just ignoring it help us to treasure our Lord Jesus and bring others to trust in him like Rahab and so to give you all the praise for your wonderful grace we pray in Jesus name Amen Amen