SF800 - SAVING FAITH (Hebrews 11 31)
Hebrews 11:31; Joshua 2:8-21
Introduction
This story is about the transforming power of saving faith
The woman's background
Pagan living in spiritual darkness
Harlot living in sinful degradation
Canaanite destined for sure destruction
The woman’s future
She was saved by grace through faith.
She eventually married a prince in Israel and became the great, great grandmother of King David. She became part of the bloodline of Jesus.
Three elements of saving faith...
Joshua 2:8 - 21
1A. The Source of Saving Faith (8-10)
1B. The work of God’s Spirit (8-9)
God the Father chose her
Ø The Holy Spirit had brought her to conviction before the arrival of these men.
Ø God knows your heart and He will begin to bring you to God.
Ø It was not by chance these spies found Rahab it was by choice! It was the providence of God.
Acts 8 - Phillip and the Eunuch
Ephesians 1:4 NIV 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. …
God the Spirit convicted her – “fear.”
Ø The Holy Spirit brings the desire for God to the heart of a sinner.
John 6:44 NIV 44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ….
2B. The witness of God's people (10)
She had heard what God was doing for His people. (10)
We need to be both the witness to and the evidence of God's work.
What God is doing in our lives should bring people under conviction.
Acts 2:12 NIV 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
There should be something about our worship and our walk that the world cannot explain it.
Acts 2:37 NIV 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
2A. The Steps to Saving Faith (11-21)
1B. She received the God’s Word (11-13)
She heard God’s Word (11)
Romans 10:17 NKJV 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
She believed God’s Word (12-13)
Ø She had faith in the Word they gave
Ø Her faith was based on God's Word!
Ø She believed that God was going to judge the city.
Ø She believed that she needed to be saved.
What do you believe?
John 3:16-18 NIV 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already ….
2B. She responded to God’s Word (14-21)
Faith is our response to God's Word. (14-20)
James 2:17-18 NIV 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
Faith relies on God’s Word (21)
Ø The scarlet cord professed her faith in the covenant
Ø The scarlet cord represented the blood of Christ
1 John 1:7 NIV 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Rock of Ages Cleft for Me
"Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure!"
3A. The Security of Saving Faith (6:20-23)
1B. Based on God’s promise (22)
John 6:37 NKJV 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
2B. Accomplished by God’s protection (23)
Jude 1:24 NIV 24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
3B. Dependant upon God’s power
John 10:28-29 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
Application
Do you think that it is by chance that you are here today?
It is not the amount of sin that condemns you it is the fact of your sin.
The worst form of badness is human goodness when that human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth.
Everyone needs Jesus!
No one too bad or too good to be saved!
John 1:11-12 NIV 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
The greatest tragedy – (11)
The greatest transaction – (12a)
The greatest transformation – (12b)
SAVING FAITH
Developing A Faith That Lasts – 12 of 16
Sunday, November 22, 1998 - Hebrews 11:31
1A. The Source of __________________ Faith (8-10)
1B. The _________________ of God’s Spirit (8-9)
God the Father ________________ her
Ephesians 1:4 NIV 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. …
God the Spirit ____________________ her – “fear.”
John 6:44 NIV 44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ….
2B. The ___________________ of God's people (10)
She had ____________ what God was doing for His people. (10)
What God is doing in our lives should bring people under ___________________.
Acts 2:12 NIV 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:37 NIV 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
2A. The ________________ to Saving Faith (11-21)
1B. She _________________ the God’s Word (11-13)
She ______________ God’s Word (11)
Romans 10:17 NKJV 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
She ____________________ God’s Word (12-13)
What do you _____________________? (John 3:16-18)
2B. She __________________ to God’s Word (14-21)
Faith is our _____________ to God's Word. (14-20)
James 2:17-18 NIV 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
Faith ___________________ on God’s Word (21)
1 John 1:7 NIV 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Rock of Ages Cleft for Me
"Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure!"
3A. The ________________ of Saving Faith (6:20-23)
1B. Based on God’s ______________ (22)
John 6:37 NKJV 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
2B. Accomplished by God’s s _________________ (23)
Jude 1:24 NIV 24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
3B. Dependant upon God’s _____________________
John 10:28-29 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.