Courage to Join
Notes
Transcript
Courage to Join
Following Jesus isn’t always safe.
Joshua sends 2 spies to spy out the land and specifically Jericho. Why? Did they need to be able to see what was inside the city in order to capture the way God had planned? Another test to see if they would give into their fear.
It was also a test for a woman they would find in the city. She had every reason to not trust God. Because of her faith she is allowed to join God's people.
We can join God's plan because our qualifications come from God, not ourselves.
We can move forward courageously because our qualifications come from God.
Rahab showed great courage to join God's plan. However, she had a lot of reasons to doubt herself as being worthy to join God.
1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.
2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”
3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.
7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
5 Failures That Cause Doubt
5 Failures That Cause Doubt
1. Our Past (1)
1. Our Past (1)
1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.
Spies’ Past
Last spies that went out came back and advised the people of Israel to go against God’s command.
Rahab’s Past
She is known as a prostitute.
Her house was used for lodging but she obviously gave more than just a room.
1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV)
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
2. Our Heritage (2-3)
2. Our Heritage (2-3)
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
Rahab
She is a Canaanite.
God had commanded the Jews to kill all the Canaanites and take their land.
They are going to be a thorn in the flesh of the Jews for many generations.
She is not a Jew.
The land was promised to Abraham and his descendents.
Our salvation is not based on our heritage.
Paul in Philippians 3:4-7
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Just because your parents were Christians does not make you a Christian.
Just because your parents were in prison doesn't mean you are unworthy of salvation.
3. Our Fear (8-14)
3. Our Fear (8-14)
8 Before the men 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, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign
13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
Rahab
She knew who to fear.
The right kind of fear and the right response to fear.
Doesn't say "your god", she says "the Lord"= YAHWEH
Fear is the result of no faith.
Fear of God proves you know your place.
Fear of man proves you do not trust God.
4. Our Weakness (15-21)
4. Our Weakness (15-21)
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.
16 And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”
17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.
18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.
19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.
20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.”
21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Rahab Entered the Covenant Despite Her Helplessness (21)
She had to trust the sign of the covenant.
God often used tokens to remind them of a covenant
Abraham- circumcision
Covenant with Israel at Sinai- covenant book and people sprinkled with blood.
Covenant with Noah- Rainbow
New Covenant- broken bread and the cup of wine.
The covenant token was the scarlet cord.
Reminder of the blood on the doorposts on the Passover. Death angel would pass over.
Here the scarlet cord was the sign for the soldiers to pass over.
The token is evidence of the covenant but not what brought salvation.
Rahab and her family's salvation came because they put their trust in the God of Israel.
She was helpless in the since that it was not based on her ability to make herself safe.
If she or anyone in her family tried to fight in their own power to stay alive they would die.
She had faith in their God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
Our salvation is not based on our strength but our weakness.
We do not have the ability to save ourselves
We do not have the ability to keep ourselves saved.
It is completely the work of God. The crimson blood that was shed on the cross for our sin.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
You didn't do anything to earn salvation and you cannot do anything to lose salvation. We have to enter the covenant by accepting the free gift of Jesus and God will do the rest.
5. Our Future
5. Our Future
Her future was going nowhere. A prostitute to a people who God was soon to destroy.
Her future outside of the work of God was death.
Because of God her future and the future of her
Rahab is mother of Boaz who married Ruth, whose lineage produced David and Jesus.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
CONCLUSION
Rahab did not just help God, she joined God.
"she tied the scarlet cord in the window."
Have you applied the death of Jesus to your life?
Have you applied the death of Jesus to your life?
The blood of Jesus has to be applied. The gift has to be received.
The time for judgement is coming. The time to apply the blood of Jesus is now.
