The Promise of Victory

Introduction

Are Christians ever at the mercy of others?

John 19:11 NASB95

Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

As God’s creatures, we are all at the mercy of God

The only reason we are alive today and draw breath is because God has extended his mercy in our direction.

Matthew 9:27 NASB95

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

An Enemy Recognizes God’s Future Victory and Appeals for Mercy

Joshua 2:8–13 NASB95

Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. “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 utterly destroyed. “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

Did Rahab Deserve Judgment or Mercy?

Rahab received mercy because she believed.

Hebrews 11:31 NASB95

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

How did Rahab come to have faith?

Romans 10:17 NASB95

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Ephesians 2:8–10 NASB95

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

An Enemy Escapes Destruction and Lives to See God’s Victory

Joshua 6:15–17 NASB95

Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

What do you make of God rescuing his people through judgment?

Think about our own situation right here in this country.

How many babies have we murdered since Roe v Wade?

This nation has

In Canada this past week, Bill Whatcott was fined $55k for calling a male who wants to be a female, a male. Because of his religious beliefs, Mr. Whatcott will suffer serious harm.

We live in a nation that murders innocent babies in the womb, that engages in all forms of perverse sexuality from homosexuality to rampant adultery, fornication, pornography, husbands and wives cheating on one another, lying, stealing, greed, covetousness and all kinds of evil.

But somehow, God is a moral monster and the principles of Christianity are morally repugnant.

God will deliver us from these vile God-haters in his own good time.

Romans 3:10–18 NASB95

as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 1:28–32 NASB95

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Rev

Revelation 20:11–15 NASB95

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

An Enemy becomes Part of God’s People and Shares in God’s Victory

Joshua 6:22–25 NASB95

Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Romans 5:10 NASB95

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Philippians 3:18 NASB95

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,

Romans 8:6–8 NASB95

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Why do we tend to not see God as having enemies?

Do you think America is an enemy of God?

What has God promise to do to his enemies?

Hebrews 10:12–13 NASB95

but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.