The Disobedient

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a secret. It is amazing that there are places in this world who have never heard the gospel never seen a church and have never read a Bible. But it's not because of a some secret. In fact there are many missionary organizations they're trying very hard to reach people that are part of this .6% of the world population who have never heard of Jesus.

This small portion of people are of those who represent the reality of what we read Deuteronomy 5:8-10

Deuteronomy 5:8–10 KJV 1900

8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

But still the gospel is not a secret. They have never heard the gospel because those that came before them had rejected the gospel and kept them from it. It is an entirely different situation in our country, or in western culture as a whole as it were. We have the luxury of living in a society where the vast majority of people have heard about Jesus.

A survey of 2000 children in the United Kingdom discovered that 2/3 of children between the ages of 10 and 13 do not know that Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ. That number is surely rising here in the United States.

But still. The gospel is not a secret.

We will tell anyone who will listen that the state of man is desperate. That all of sending come short of the glory of God and that left to our own devices we are destined to spend eternity under the wrath of God in hell. And we will tell anyone who will listen that this awful feet is entirely avoidable. That God who created us loved us so much that he would sacrifice his own son apart across pouring out the wrath due to you and I upon the only one who could bear it, the Messiah, Our savior, Jesus Christ. The Messiah whose body that would be destroyed who would die, only to rise again. — It’s no secret — We would tell anyone who would listen but if they put their faith and their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation that they would be spared that awful fate in hell.

What do people do with the knowledge of salvation so freely given?

An atheist group several years ago rented a billboard, and on that billboard was a picture of a little girl riding to Santa and her letter says “all I want for Christmas is to skip church. I am too old to believe in fairytales.”

Another group has invented a mascot, a mock god that they use to mock God. And they have gone to great lengths to circulate literature and billboards with their absurd creation.

In fact there is an organization. The Freedom From Religion Foundation. This organization ignorantly claims to be a sentinel for the separation of church and state. It is ironic, separation of church and state is found nowhere in the Constitution and nowhere in the Bill of Rights. It is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson as he wrote the Danbury Baptist Association. The only point of the statement was to assure those Baptists that they would be able to practice their religion without interference by a state sponsored government.

Ironically, this organization is nothing more than a political action group for the far left. And at the same time that they condemn conservatives for voting in line with Christian morality it also encourages those without faith to vote in line with the convictions of the religion of atheism.

As we come to Hebrew's chapter 11 verse 31 this morning we come to Rehab. It is fitting that we should close the specific list of people mentioned as having great faith with her demonstration. She lived among people who had rejected God. Most women with her profession we're in the profession out of financial desperation. What she was doing to provide for herself and for her family was likely crushing her spirit, making her feel dirty and unworthy.

But in our passage this morning we read how she would be remembered in scripture. The testimony of the Holy Spirit about this woman. If you have your Bibles follow along with me in Hebrews 11:31

Hebrews 11:31 KJV 1900

31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Rahab is remembered as a woman of faith. And her life illustrates well what has been our context through the book of Hebrews in chapter 11 verse 1

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Or as Cockerill put it and Rahab demonstrated it

Faith is living as if the things hoped for are real.

Our message this morning is entitled The Disobedient

Let’s Pray

A Wicked People

In verse 31 we read the phrase “with them that believed not,” In the greek it is all a single word ἀπειθέω (apeitheō), and with it’s suffixes it meant ‘disobedient’. — Rahab didn’t die with the disobedient.

And you could ask how old does defending your city make you disobedient? I think so that answer gets lost because we hear about Jericho and Rahab as children and sort of these abbreviated CliffsNotes version of what happened. And we focus on the events that are most likely to capture our imagination. Walls falling, spies hiding, ropes being let down over a wall, etc.

In Joshua 2:9-11 when Rahab speaks to the spies, she testifies of God and she tells them the heart of the people:

Joshua 2:9–11 KJV 1900

9 And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

The people of Jericho were terrified of the Israelites. They knew about that thing that happened 40 years prior when God allowed Israel to cross the Red Sea and for that seed to then consume Egypt. They knew of the defeat of the emirates. They knew of the defeat of Sihon and Og. — and our Bible says it caused their hearts to melt, they lost her courage.

The truth of God was no secret. Rahab closes saying “the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and an earth beneath.”

What Do You Do With Truth

What do you do with truth? Ironic that win the earlier spies 40 years prior went to the promised land the report that they brought back was that this was a land filled with great men who they would not be able to defeat in battle and that they lived in world cities that were not penetrable. But on the other side of the Jordan, those people who lived behind those war cities lived in fear of the Israelites. Not because they had great strength or military prowess they lived in fear of the Israelites because the god that they served was the god of heaven and the God of earth and that that God had already proven himself when he brought the Hebrews across the Red Sea and destroyed they're pursuers. How ironic is it that the pagans had more faith in God then did the chosen people of God.

I wonder if the reason the atheists they are so adamant and attacking Christianity is because they understand some things that most Christians seem to have forgotten and it is that the power of God and the truth of the Gospel are the greatest and the most powerful enemy of the ungodly.

I posted this to Facebook just a few days ago so you may have already seen it. But there was a preacher that said that he went to a church and as he was walking to the church he happen to come across that Occultic book shop. And he was interested so we went in and purchased a book of spells. Then when he came to the church to preach he had mentioned to them that he was going to read to them a couple example spells that were found in the book and what he had said that all of the people that were listening to the preaching were squirming in their seats and had upon their faces. He then confessed that he was just kidding about the book of spells but the people we're afraid what kind of darkness and evil would fall upon them and their families if they heard these words read from a potentially demonic source yet expected no power at all when they opened their Bibles every week to hear the words of God.

It is a shameful thing when the enemies of God have more faith in God and to his followers.

Back in Jericho

Back in Jericho, Rahab wasn't the only one who had heard the truth about God. Rahab wasn't the only one who feared God. But, she was the only one who obey God.

Why is this?

Well, we read back in Numbers 33:50-53 God’s instruction.

Numbers 33:50–53 KJV 1900

50 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

In Jericho they were idol worshipers. False religion is a powerful motivation. Leaving a religion will often isolate you from your friends and family and neighbors. Choosing God over Fox religion means that you have to admit that you were wrong and that alone is more than what many people are willing to do. But I think the hardest thing in walking away from a false religion is this truth: Walking away from a religion that your friends adhere to, Walk away from a religion that your family and loved ones adhere to, is to admit that those friends, family and loved ones are on the path to hell, or in hell if they have already passed. — For many being destroyed themselves is more agreeable than to admit that fate for those they care about.

The king and those in power certainly would not have wanted to give the power up. They knew what was coming, a prostitute living on the outskirts of town wasn't more in the know than the king and his men. — God’s will wasn't a secret.

But, rather than bow their knee to God they continued worshiping their idols. Rather than accepting that they dwell in the land promised and attempting to make peace with Israel they hunted the spies.

See knowing the truth is one thing but how you act upon it is what makes the difference.

Saving Faith

We have said this phrase over and over again for months. Faith is living as if the things Hope for our real. It's nothing more than believing the things that God says. We get instance after instance of people just like you and just like me who are given the opportunity to make a decision for God and they decide to be faithful and Rahab demonstrates that faith in a great way. She wasn't some person granted superhuman holiness. She was a prostitute. But she believed. And since she actually believed, not just giving lip service her belief in formed her actions and her faith saved her.

The book of James in a lot of ways Parallel’s Hebrews chapter 11. We read this in James 2:23-24

James 2:23–24 KJV 1900

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

and then it continues

James 2:25–26 KJV 1900

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Rahab believed. Her belief drove her to act according to that belief. The God of Israel was the god of heaven and earth so when that God’s spies came to her city she aided them. Even to the destruction of her city. — And God rewarded her with more than just her life. — This gentile prostitute was able to dwell among God’s people, in her generations that would follow, would be King David and the Messiah.

What Will Your Belief Do?

If you would, bow your heads and close your eyes. I want to conclude on this question. What will your beliefs do? Do you have lip service faith? That faith where you nod head in church whenever the great truths of the Bible are preached — but then don’t live in a way that reflects those truths?

Make no mistake — that sort of faith doesn’t save anything. I invite this morning to get real about God. To turn away from sin and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your lord and savior. And have your belief inform your actions. If you've been playing Christian and not living Christian I invite you when we close to come meet with me and to talk. Let's discuss real saving faith, so that you don’t perish in your sin.

That invitation is extended to you as well if you have never professed faith. Believe that God is the God of Heaven and of Earth. Make that decision follow Christ today. Again, I invite you to come forward after we close in prayer — I would love nothing more than to tell you about our savior.

Let’s Pray