Stepping Up In Faith, Pt.1

Intro; Faith is sometimes a word that is hard to grasp. For example;

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

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

Faith involves “the whole personality”: the mind is instructed, the emotions are stirred, and the will then acts in obedience to God.

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen [the intellect], moved with godly fear [emotions], prepared an ark [the will] for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

This is the type of faith that we’re going to look at for the next couple of weeks as we see Rahab and the Two Spies “Stepping Up In Faith”

Text; Joshua 2:1-21

Joshua 2:1–21 NKJV

1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.” 4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) 7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” 15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.” 17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.” 21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

Let’s look at the faith of Rahab according to our definition; intellect, emotion, will

1. Rahab’s Intellect; 8-10

Rahab believed [faith] in God by what she had heard.

[9] Rahab confessed “I know the Lord has given you the land”.

Know- to learn about, realize, knowledge of, to be acquainted with

1 John 5:13 NKJV

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

What was Rahab’s intellect faith based upon? Terror has fallen upon the land because of what we have heard about God!

[10] The Red Sea crossing [40 years ago] and the defeat of Sihon and Og recently.

Can the things we hear about God lead a person to saving faith in Him? Yes

Romans 10:17 NKJV

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2. Rahab’s Emotion; 11-12

[11] Rahab moved with Godly fear by acknowledging that Israel’s God is the only true God! Based on her hearing about God [intellect] it then moved to her heart [emotion].

[12-13] She also asked a promise of kindness [mercy], a “true token” of her faith.

[14] Our lives for yours. Trust! Have faith! Believe!

Ephesians 1:13–14 NKJV

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

[14] What a contrast to the believer’s relationship to Jesus Christ, for He wants everybody to know that He has paid the price of redemption and that they can be saved by trusting Him. If Rahab talked too much, her life was in danger; but if we don’t talk enough, the lives of lost people around us are in danger.

3. Rahab’s Will; 17-21

Though Rahab had an intellectual and emotional response to faith, unless her will surrendered to faith, and acted upon her faith in God, she would still be lost!

[21] Rahab tied the “scarlet cord” in the window right then not knowing when God would come and take Jericho. She put her life and that of her family at risk by faith trusting the God of Israel.

Faith begins privately between the Lord and a individual, but it cannot stay private. Faith is a public display of the power and mercy of God. Unless the whole personality is involved, [intellect, emotion, will] it is not saving faith as the Bible describes it.

Matthew 7:21 (NKJV)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Close;

Was it okay in the eyes of God for Rahab to lie about the two spies to the king to save them from death? [Joshua 2: 2-6]