1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,800 We're going to continue our Bible study in the book of Joshua. 10 00:00:27,270 --> 00:00:28,910 If you have your Bibles turn there with me. 11 00:00:28,910 --> 00:00:30,550 Joshua, chapter two. 12 00:00:31,270 --> 00:00:33,750 By way of review, what have we gone over so far? 13 00:00:33,750 --> 00:00:39,470 Well, the torch is being passed from Moses to Joshua as the 14 00:00:39,470 --> 00:00:42,590 leader of the nation of Israel. 15 00:00:42,590 --> 00:00:47,190 They've been led out of bondage, let out of Egypt, which 16 00:00:47,190 --> 00:00:52,430 we know is, is literal Egypt, but also a picture of being led out 17 00:00:52,430 --> 00:00:53,430 of the bondage of sin. 18 00:00:53,430 --> 00:00:56,800 And obviously we know that there was that time in the wilderness 19 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,760 where the, the nation of Israel was wandering and, and Moses 20 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,600 was, was barred from going to the promised land. 21 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,120 But now Joshua has the blessing to usher in the people to 22 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,120 the promised land. 23 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,120 And so God says, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 24 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,680 And that means a lot to Joshua because obviously Joshua was there 25 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,480 with Moses and so he saw God's hand on Moses life. 26 00:01:22,170 --> 00:01:24,930 But now he understands that that was a promise for him. 27 00:01:24,930 --> 00:01:29,170 And remember what God promised Joshua was that he would be there 28 00:01:29,170 --> 00:01:30,330 with him through it. 29 00:01:30,570 --> 00:01:32,410 He didn't promise him an easy path. 30 00:01:32,730 --> 00:01:36,610 We're about to talk about the people that Joshua was going to be 31 00:01:36,610 --> 00:01:37,530 taking the land from. 32 00:01:37,850 --> 00:01:39,210 And they're not nice people. 33 00:01:39,610 --> 00:01:42,170 They're not people that are just going to give the land up. 34 00:01:42,730 --> 00:01:46,090 But God made a promise to Joshua, saying, look, as you go through 35 00:01:46,090 --> 00:01:48,570 what I have called you to do, I'm going to be there with you. 36 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:50,000 It's going to be my power. 37 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:51,600 It's going to be my provision. 38 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,160 And so we see the picture of the Israelites moving from Egypt 39 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,400 to the promised land is a picture of us moving from a life 40 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,760 of sin to a life of salvation, a life of forgiveness, a life with 41 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:03,440 the Lord. 42 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,160 And so God made a promise to Joshua. 43 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,440 And Joshua responds by action. 44 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,120 He responds in faith. 45 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,600 And true faith produces true action. 46 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,740 Now remember, God said to Joshua, you want to be successful, 47 00:02:17,980 --> 00:02:19,980 you want to be prosperous, follow these things. 48 00:02:19,980 --> 00:02:21,660 And ultimately what he said was this. 49 00:02:22,060 --> 00:02:23,260 Stay in the word of God. 50 00:02:23,500 --> 00:02:27,660 Obey the Word of God, meditate upon the Word of God, apply the Word 51 00:02:27,660 --> 00:02:28,140 of God. 52 00:02:28,380 --> 00:02:31,379 And when we do that, when we trust in the promises of God and 53 00:02:31,379 --> 00:02:34,700 we live a life of obedience to him, we will See blessing. 54 00:02:34,700 --> 00:02:36,780 And so God makes a promise to Joshua. 55 00:02:37,020 --> 00:02:40,620 And Joshua's proper response was to move on that promise. 56 00:02:41,020 --> 00:02:43,900 And we saw that he moved on that promise last week when he said, 57 00:02:43,980 --> 00:02:45,180 look, we're going to prepare. 58 00:02:45,660 --> 00:02:47,980 We're going to get our provisions together so that we can 59 00:02:47,980 --> 00:02:49,900 move across Jordan. 60 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:52,300 And then there was the challenge to the other people that 61 00:02:52,300 --> 00:02:55,060 didn't need to cross the Jordan, but there was a challenge 62 00:02:55,060 --> 00:02:57,940 for them to help their brothers and sisters get across to 63 00:02:57,940 --> 00:02:58,780 the promised land. 64 00:02:59,260 --> 00:03:03,820 So we get into chapter two, and we see a continuation of Joshua 65 00:03:04,300 --> 00:03:07,980 preparing the people to move in the promise of God. 66 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,040 And all of us have to realize that, yes, God makes promises, but 67 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,640 the promises don't meet anything unless we rest in those 68 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:18,440 promises, believe in those promises, and act in faith. 69 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,360 And so we see in verse one of chapter two, and Joshua the son of 70 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:26,920 nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretively, secretly 71 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,520 saying, go view the land, even Jericho. 72 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,400 So the first place that God calls the people to go to conquer 73 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,000 is a place called Jericho. 74 00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:37,500 At least that's where they're going to scout. 75 00:03:37,740 --> 00:03:40,500 And he says, and they went and came into a harlot's house named 76 00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:42,060 Rahab and lodged there. 77 00:03:43,020 --> 00:03:47,660 So really, chapter two is, yes, a story of Joshua and the Israelites, 78 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:51,379 but chapter two is the beginning of a story of a lady named 79 00:03:51,379 --> 00:03:51,900 Rahab. 80 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:54,860 And Rahab is Canaanite, Rahab is a Gentile. 81 00:03:55,020 --> 00:03:58,140 But we're going to see this beautiful picture of God taking a 82 00:03:58,140 --> 00:04:03,060 woman in a life of sin, in a life of rebellion, in a culture of 83 00:04:03,060 --> 00:04:06,860 sin and a culture of rebellion, and moving her to a place 84 00:04:06,860 --> 00:04:07,580 of salvation. 85 00:04:08,220 --> 00:04:11,180 And we're going to see an interesting story of how this individual 86 00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:12,740 who really on. 87 00:04:12,740 --> 00:04:16,700 On the scale of being on paper was not someone that we would expect 88 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:20,900 God to love, but God extends his mercy and grace to her, just 89 00:04:20,900 --> 00:04:23,020 as he extends mercy and grace to sinners today. 90 00:04:23,580 --> 00:04:24,700 And we're going to study that. 91 00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:27,060 And there's some questions that we're going to have here in 92 00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:30,130 this study, because a lot of times we look at the life of Rahab 93 00:04:30,130 --> 00:04:30,570 and we. 94 00:04:30,570 --> 00:04:33,290 We are a little bit confused because some of you may or may not 95 00:04:33,290 --> 00:04:37,450 know that Rahab actually lies to protect the spies. 96 00:04:38,810 --> 00:04:43,890 And by just an overview, it might look like, hey, did God bless 97 00:04:43,890 --> 00:04:44,690 her lie? 98 00:04:44,690 --> 00:04:45,890 Did God bless her sin? 99 00:04:45,890 --> 00:04:49,090 But we're going to dive deeper into that because I think that there 100 00:04:49,090 --> 00:04:53,250 is a logical and biblical answer to reconciling all the things 101 00:04:53,250 --> 00:04:54,770 that we read here in this passage. 102 00:04:54,770 --> 00:04:58,010 So verse two, and it was told to the King of Jericho. 103 00:04:58,010 --> 00:05:01,650 So the spies go, and the king of Jericho finds out, saying, behold, 104 00:05:01,890 --> 00:05:05,530 there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel 105 00:05:05,530 --> 00:05:07,090 to search out the country. 106 00:05:07,890 --> 00:05:13,210 And so this, this type of careful preparation shows that Joshua 107 00:05:13,210 --> 00:05:16,210 and the people of Israel are being faithful to God's promise. 108 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:20,010 And so because they're preparing, it shows that they're 109 00:05:20,010 --> 00:05:21,570 trusting in the promises of God. 110 00:05:21,570 --> 00:05:24,750 So God's promises are of success that he gave to Joshua and 111 00:05:24,750 --> 00:05:27,470 to the people of Israel should never. 112 00:05:28,590 --> 00:05:31,230 And the promises that he gives to us, by the way, the promises that 113 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:33,870 God gives to us meaning, hey, we have everlasting life. 114 00:05:34,590 --> 00:05:35,830 Hey, we have victory over sin. 115 00:05:35,830 --> 00:05:40,910 That should never lull us in to a place of inactivity or apathy. 116 00:05:41,070 --> 00:05:43,470 Sometimes the temptation is, is that we have so much confidence 117 00:05:43,470 --> 00:05:46,110 in God that we can come apathetic in the things that God 118 00:05:46,110 --> 00:05:46,990 has called us to do. 119 00:05:47,870 --> 00:05:49,070 So what do I mean by that? 120 00:05:49,570 --> 00:05:51,810 We're supposed to, as Christians, go and tell the lost 121 00:05:52,530 --> 00:05:53,850 the gospel of Jesus Christ. 122 00:05:53,850 --> 00:05:57,450 But because of our comfort and because of the promises of God saying, 123 00:05:57,450 --> 00:05:59,890 hey, everything's okay for you, we think, you know what, I'm 124 00:05:59,890 --> 00:06:00,370 okay. 125 00:06:00,690 --> 00:06:03,970 And so I can just kind of be lulled into a sense of apathy. 126 00:06:04,210 --> 00:06:07,010 And what we can see here is that though Joshua is trusting in 127 00:06:07,010 --> 00:06:10,290 the promises of God, it's followed up in faithfulness and faithful 128 00:06:10,290 --> 00:06:10,610 action. 129 00:06:11,090 --> 00:06:14,850 And so the promises of God should not lull us into a place of 130 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:19,330 apathy or inactivity, but they should challenge us and motivate 131 00:06:19,330 --> 00:06:23,610 us to step forward in godly activity, acting in our faith and 132 00:06:23,610 --> 00:06:25,050 trusting that God is going to keep his word. 133 00:06:25,050 --> 00:06:25,930 And so that's what they're doing. 134 00:06:25,930 --> 00:06:27,770 They're preparing the way, they're scouting. 135 00:06:27,770 --> 00:06:31,049 They're getting as much information as they can before God 136 00:06:31,049 --> 00:06:33,370 brings them to that place there in Jericho. 137 00:06:33,370 --> 00:06:36,850 So Joshua shows wisdom, he shows planning. 138 00:06:37,090 --> 00:06:41,170 And ultimately God is going to show them that the victory is theirs. 139 00:06:41,850 --> 00:06:45,850 But through this story of victory comes the, the beautiful, 140 00:06:45,850 --> 00:06:49,930 I believe, story of the salvation of Rahab as well, and her 141 00:06:49,930 --> 00:06:52,650 family and how God ties in Rahab. 142 00:06:52,730 --> 00:06:56,250 If many of you know where I'm going with this, ties in Rahab to 143 00:06:56,250 --> 00:06:59,690 the line or lineage of Jesus the Messiah, which is an amazing 144 00:06:59,690 --> 00:07:00,490 story as well. 145 00:07:01,050 --> 00:07:04,090 But I want to give you a little bit of background on the people 146 00:07:04,890 --> 00:07:09,650 that Joshua and the Israelites are spying on who, who they're eventually 147 00:07:09,650 --> 00:07:10,410 going to come across. 148 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,880 And it will kind of give you a context of where Rahab is in her 149 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:15,200 life. 150 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,840 So what culture is Rahab living in? 151 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,760 It's not the type of culture that the Israelites were used to. 152 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,400 I want to point you to a few passages of Scripture that describe 153 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,520 the lifestyle of the Canaanites. 154 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,400 If you go back with me to the book of Leviticus. 155 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:32,720 Leviticus, chapter 18. 156 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,840 Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 30, tells us something very interesting 157 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,600 about the people there that were living in the land of Canaan 158 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,640 at the time of the Israelites coming back into the promised land. 159 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,880 It says in Leviticus 18:30, therefore shall you keep. 160 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,160 Keep mine ordinance, that you commit not any one of these abominable 161 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:53,720 customs. 162 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,360 And it's basically contrasting the way that the Canaanite, the pagan 163 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,960 people were living, which were committed before you, that they that 164 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,800 ye defile not yourselves therein. 165 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:03,880 I am the Lord your God. 166 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,800 And so the Bible says that the people that were living in this land 167 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,480 at this time were acting out abominable customs. 168 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,200 Essentially this detestable actions, things that we would not 169 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,240 want to talk about in public or even in private. 170 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:20,840 Another passage of Scripture that I think would be appropriate 171 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:21,760 to describe the. 172 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,760 The type of people that were living in the land of Canaan, just 173 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,680 so you understand the context of their rebellion and you understand 174 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,040 where Rahab is living. 175 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:34,039 There's another passage In Deuteronomy, chapter 18, speaking 176 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:38,359 of the pagan practices that the Israelites were supposed to avoid. 177 00:08:38,599 --> 00:08:41,719 We see in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verses 9. 178 00:08:41,959 --> 00:08:45,617 And, and you could even go further, but we'll just look at 9, 179 00:08:45,701 --> 00:08:46,559 10, and 11. 180 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,079 It says, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy 181 00:08:49,079 --> 00:08:52,919 God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations 182 00:08:52,919 --> 00:08:53,679 of those nations. 183 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,159 And so it says that they were committing abominations, verse 10. 184 00:08:57,239 --> 00:09:00,559 There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or 185 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:05,450 his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, 186 00:09:06,570 --> 00:09:10,730 or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, 187 00:09:10,890 --> 00:09:15,770 or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard or a necromancer. 188 00:09:16,170 --> 00:09:18,370 See, that's some interesting words there. 189 00:09:18,370 --> 00:09:19,210 What's that talking about? 190 00:09:19,210 --> 00:09:20,490 Well, basically it says this. 191 00:09:21,130 --> 00:09:24,290 The people of the land of Canaan at this time, the pagan people 192 00:09:24,290 --> 00:09:26,250 were attempting to cast spells upon people. 193 00:09:26,410 --> 00:09:29,930 They're attempting to call up the dead, essentially demonic activity. 194 00:09:30,660 --> 00:09:33,020 And it tells us here, if you didn't catch it there in the King 195 00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:36,580 James, it says that they would make their sons and daughters pass 196 00:09:36,660 --> 00:09:37,620 through the fire. 197 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:41,140 That's a way to say that they would burn their sons and daughters 198 00:09:41,140 --> 00:09:44,580 to the gods, they would sacrifice their children to the gods. 199 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:48,580 And so we see how terrible this culture really was. 200 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:52,860 And so there was evil going on in the land. 201 00:09:52,860 --> 00:09:57,550 Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 25, says that they were so bad that 202 00:09:57,870 --> 00:09:58,270 the. 203 00:09:58,270 --> 00:10:01,630 That God wanted to reject them and resist that evil. 204 00:10:01,630 --> 00:10:03,790 The Israel, the Israelites, needed to reject that evil. 205 00:10:03,790 --> 00:10:07,350 And so ultimately, what we can see here is that in Joshua, chapter 206 00:10:07,350 --> 00:10:09,830 two, they're not going into people that are kind, they're not 207 00:10:09,830 --> 00:10:12,990 going into people that are innocent, they're not going into 208 00:10:12,990 --> 00:10:14,910 a land that is. 209 00:10:14,990 --> 00:10:16,710 Is going to receive them well. 210 00:10:16,710 --> 00:10:19,790 And we're going to understand where Rahab is coming from when she 211 00:10:19,790 --> 00:10:20,590 comes to faith. 212 00:10:20,990 --> 00:10:23,550 So for her to lie would be just part of her culture. 213 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,640 For her to lie would be something that, especially if you 214 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,920 understand what her profession was, for her to lie was nothing. 215 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:30,920 It was acceptable. 216 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:34,680 And so she's young in her faith, obviously, but we're going 217 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:35,960 to see that God changes her. 218 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:37,120 So let's look at verse number three. 219 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,840 We're going to start to see the story of Rahab here and the story 220 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,880 how the spies go into Rahab's house and how ultimately God protects 221 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,480 them and God preserves Rahab. 222 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:49,520 So look at verse number three with me. 223 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,250 It says, and the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, 224 00:10:52,250 --> 00:10:55,610 bring forth the men that are come to thee which are entered into 225 00:10:55,610 --> 00:10:56,170 thine house. 226 00:10:56,170 --> 00:10:59,210 For they come, they become, to search out all the country. 227 00:11:00,730 --> 00:11:03,530 And this is where we see her use a misdirection. 228 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:04,770 And I've. 229 00:11:04,770 --> 00:11:06,890 I've heard commentators say, well, this is a good thing. 230 00:11:06,890 --> 00:11:11,050 We should lie if it's for the cause of the gospel or the cause 231 00:11:11,050 --> 00:11:11,930 of the kingdom. 232 00:11:12,330 --> 00:11:13,410 But that's not what God. 233 00:11:13,410 --> 00:11:14,530 That's not the character of God. 234 00:11:14,530 --> 00:11:17,700 God never expects us to have two wrongs to make it right or one 235 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:18,740 wrong to make it right. 236 00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:21,980 And so this puts us in a real predicament here, because some people 237 00:11:21,980 --> 00:11:24,660 want to frame this as a good thing that Rahab did. 238 00:11:24,900 --> 00:11:28,060 Other people want to try to say, well, basically God overlooks 239 00:11:28,060 --> 00:11:29,540 this sin because it was for his. 240 00:11:29,780 --> 00:11:30,500 His plan. 241 00:11:30,900 --> 00:11:32,980 But I. I think that there's a better way to look at this. 242 00:11:33,460 --> 00:11:36,140 And so let's look at it in verse number four, it says, and the 243 00:11:36,140 --> 00:11:37,700 woman took the two men and hid them. 244 00:11:37,940 --> 00:11:38,780 Not a bad thing. 245 00:11:38,780 --> 00:11:40,180 I think it's okay to hide people. 246 00:11:40,580 --> 00:11:41,220 But then. 247 00:11:41,700 --> 00:11:45,420 And said, thus there came men unto me, but I wish not whence they 248 00:11:45,420 --> 00:11:45,700 were. 249 00:11:46,740 --> 00:11:49,900 Essentially, she says, I. I don't know where they're from. 250 00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:50,940 And it came to pass. 251 00:11:50,940 --> 00:11:52,060 So again, everything okay? 252 00:11:52,060 --> 00:11:52,540 Verse 5. 253 00:11:52,540 --> 00:11:55,220 And it came to pass about the time of shutting the gate when it 254 00:11:55,220 --> 00:11:56,500 was dark that the men went out. 255 00:11:56,580 --> 00:12:00,500 Whether the men went, I want not pursue after them quickly, for 256 00:12:00,500 --> 00:12:01,660 ye shall overtake them. 257 00:12:01,660 --> 00:12:03,940 And so this is where the deception comes. 258 00:12:03,940 --> 00:12:05,300 She says, they've gone, they've left. 259 00:12:06,580 --> 00:12:10,510 And essentially what we can see here is that she misleads these 260 00:12:10,510 --> 00:12:14,590 people, but ultimately it brings about protection for these, 261 00:12:14,590 --> 00:12:15,270 these spies. 262 00:12:15,270 --> 00:12:15,870 Verse 6. 263 00:12:15,950 --> 00:12:19,990 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them 264 00:12:19,990 --> 00:12:23,710 with the stalks of flax which he had laid in order upon the roof. 265 00:12:24,110 --> 00:12:29,070 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords. 266 00:12:29,310 --> 00:12:32,790 And as soon as they which pursued after them were gone, out, 267 00:12:32,790 --> 00:12:33,710 they shut the gates. 268 00:12:34,430 --> 00:12:38,290 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon 269 00:12:38,290 --> 00:12:38,890 the roof. 270 00:12:38,890 --> 00:12:42,290 Now, we're going to stop there because I think it's important to 271 00:12:42,290 --> 00:12:43,610 understand what happens here. 272 00:12:43,610 --> 00:12:47,050 And then what we really see is her make a profession of faith after 273 00:12:47,050 --> 00:12:47,450 this. 274 00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:52,530 And so in, in the culture of the day, and, and even if you go 275 00:12:52,530 --> 00:12:55,090 to the Middle east today, in, in the culture that's already over 276 00:12:55,090 --> 00:12:57,770 there right now, hospitality is a big thing. 277 00:12:58,250 --> 00:13:01,290 And so for her to have these men come into her place. 278 00:13:01,290 --> 00:13:05,740 And by the way, I'll be kind of tactful when I say this, but this 279 00:13:05,740 --> 00:13:08,900 was a good place to go, to have anonymity, right? 280 00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:12,060 For, for this, for her being a harlot, there would be, there would 281 00:13:12,060 --> 00:13:13,660 be quietness on who was going there. 282 00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:13,860 Right. 283 00:13:13,860 --> 00:13:16,500 People were coming there and frequenting this place all the time. 284 00:13:16,820 --> 00:13:19,340 And so what would happen here is that they went in and there was 285 00:13:19,340 --> 00:13:20,340 no sin involved. 286 00:13:20,500 --> 00:13:22,860 This was essentially just where they went and where they were 287 00:13:22,860 --> 00:13:23,060 hit. 288 00:13:23,060 --> 00:13:26,060 And then what happens is Rahab, with that strong tradition 289 00:13:26,060 --> 00:13:28,260 of hospitality, takes them in and protects them. 290 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,520 She puts her own life on the line for these men. 291 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,480 And so initially it's something that she's doing out of 292 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:34,240 hospitality. 293 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:36,120 And what then? 294 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:36,880 What happens next? 295 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,680 Well, I need to make a note here. 296 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:41,520 The Bible simply just reports Rahab's lie. 297 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,600 I don't believe that it ever praises or excuses the lie. 298 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,400 We're going to see later on that Rahab is mentioned in the hall 299 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,120 of faith, but it's not her lie that is celebrated. 300 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,840 It's her faith that she's about to profess. 301 00:13:55,090 --> 00:13:59,330 And if you say, well, how could God praise Rahab for, you know, 302 00:13:59,330 --> 00:14:00,850 she, she, she was a liar. 303 00:14:01,890 --> 00:14:04,610 God praises a lot of people in the hall of faith that had a lot 304 00:14:04,610 --> 00:14:05,410 of sins in their life. 305 00:14:05,410 --> 00:14:09,210 And so it's not in, in the hall of Abraham, did he have sin? 306 00:14:09,210 --> 00:14:09,650 Yes. 307 00:14:10,129 --> 00:14:10,409 Right. 308 00:14:10,409 --> 00:14:13,490 We, we understand that all the people that are listed in Hebrews 309 00:14:13,490 --> 00:14:15,410 chapter 11 had sins in their life. 310 00:14:15,410 --> 00:14:18,850 And so just the simple fact that Rahab had a sin here in her 311 00:14:18,850 --> 00:14:21,660 narrative, that doesn't mean that that's what God is praising. 312 00:14:21,660 --> 00:14:23,940 God is praising her for her faith, which we're going to talk 313 00:14:23,940 --> 00:14:24,540 about now. 314 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:30,940 And so Rahab's lie was not justified, though it was understandable 315 00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:31,740 in her culture. 316 00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:32,020 Right? 317 00:14:32,020 --> 00:14:33,180 We just read about her culture. 318 00:14:33,180 --> 00:14:36,220 There was child sacrifice, there was abominations, there was 319 00:14:36,220 --> 00:14:36,780 witchcraft. 320 00:14:36,780 --> 00:14:39,020 And so for a lie would have meant nothing for her. 321 00:14:39,340 --> 00:14:41,180 But we see farther on what happens. 322 00:14:41,180 --> 00:14:43,180 Look at with me in verse number nine. 323 00:14:43,180 --> 00:14:47,750 And she said unto the man, I know that the Lord hath given you 324 00:14:47,910 --> 00:14:48,630 the land. 325 00:14:49,910 --> 00:14:52,390 She recognizes the victory of God. 326 00:14:53,030 --> 00:14:56,310 She recognizes the power of the one true God. 327 00:14:56,390 --> 00:14:59,110 And she says, I know that the Lord hath given you the land and 328 00:14:59,110 --> 00:15:01,910 that your terror is fallen upon us. 329 00:15:03,350 --> 00:15:06,870 We see a real recognition of the power of God. 330 00:15:06,870 --> 00:15:08,790 And what does the power of God bring? 331 00:15:08,790 --> 00:15:12,030 The fear of God, which, by the way, the fear of God is not a bad 332 00:15:12,030 --> 00:15:12,230 thing. 333 00:15:12,230 --> 00:15:13,350 We've talked about that before. 334 00:15:13,810 --> 00:15:17,010 There's a healthy respect that we should have for the power of God. 335 00:15:17,010 --> 00:15:19,650 And I believe, culturally speaking, we've lost that within 336 00:15:19,650 --> 00:15:22,970 the church and within Christianity itself, I think we should 337 00:15:22,970 --> 00:15:24,170 have a proper fear of God. 338 00:15:24,170 --> 00:15:26,530 And so she says, terror has fallen upon us. 339 00:15:26,530 --> 00:15:28,250 And I think that the unsaved. 340 00:15:28,250 --> 00:15:31,050 I mean, a lot of times we will say we don't want to scare them into 341 00:15:31,050 --> 00:15:31,370 heaven. 342 00:15:31,370 --> 00:15:32,930 And I understand what we mean by that. 343 00:15:32,930 --> 00:15:33,370 We won't. 344 00:15:33,370 --> 00:15:36,170 We don't want to just bring fear and terror to people when it 345 00:15:36,170 --> 00:15:37,170 comes to the gospel. 346 00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:40,050 But we do need to be clear about what is at stake when we are 347 00:15:40,050 --> 00:15:41,650 telling people the truth of Jesus Christ. 348 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,520 You just tell people that Jesus is going to make your life 349 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:44,840 better. 350 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:46,640 Some people might say, my life's pretty good. 351 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,200 I don't need someone to make my life better. 352 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,800 Well, Jesus is going to give you everything that you ever wanted. 353 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:51,320 That's a lie. 354 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,400 No, Jesus is saving you from the punishment of total destruction. 355 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,240 The wages of sin is death. 356 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:03,120 So Rahab understood that her only path to life and salvation was 357 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:04,360 through the God of Israel. 358 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:06,920 The same thing that we have to tell people today. 359 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,410 Your only path to salvation, your only path to life is through 360 00:16:10,410 --> 00:16:11,170 Jesus Christ. 361 00:16:11,730 --> 00:16:12,970 And so what happens here? 362 00:16:12,970 --> 00:16:18,530 She admits the power of God, and that's proven by her fear. 363 00:16:19,410 --> 00:16:22,370 Not fear and trembling when it comes to condemnation. 364 00:16:22,530 --> 00:16:24,570 We learned about that this morning in Romans, chapter 8. 365 00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:27,170 A Christian doesn't have to fear the condemnation of God. 366 00:16:27,410 --> 00:16:30,210 But there is a healthy respect for his power and his judgment. 367 00:16:31,250 --> 00:16:31,810 Then he. 368 00:16:32,130 --> 00:16:34,980 Then we see here in verse nine, it concludes, and that all 369 00:16:34,980 --> 00:16:37,100 the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 370 00:16:37,100 --> 00:16:39,300 So she recognizes that there's other people fearing, but fearing 371 00:16:39,300 --> 00:16:39,980 for the wrong reasons. 372 00:16:39,980 --> 00:16:43,660 Because, by the way, fear can produce two different things, right? 373 00:16:43,660 --> 00:16:46,300 Fear can produce faith, right? 374 00:16:46,300 --> 00:16:49,700 If I fear God properly, I align myself under him and I obey 375 00:16:49,700 --> 00:16:51,020 him and I trust in Him. 376 00:16:51,180 --> 00:16:53,940 But sometimes people, because of the fear of judgment, try to run 377 00:16:53,940 --> 00:16:54,460 farther. 378 00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:57,020 They try to rebel more, they try to ignore. 379 00:16:57,100 --> 00:17:01,830 And so we see that she responds properly to the judgment 380 00:17:01,830 --> 00:17:03,990 and fear of God where the others are not. 381 00:17:03,990 --> 00:17:06,950 They're just in fear that there's going to be some type of 382 00:17:06,950 --> 00:17:08,910 overthrow, and they don't want to have that happen. 383 00:17:08,910 --> 00:17:09,590 Verse 10. 384 00:17:09,990 --> 00:17:13,390 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea 385 00:17:13,390 --> 00:17:13,910 for you. 386 00:17:14,390 --> 00:17:14,710 So. 387 00:17:14,710 --> 00:17:16,069 So the story's out, right? 388 00:17:16,069 --> 00:17:18,110 People are hearing about God. 389 00:17:18,110 --> 00:17:22,990 People are hearing about his works when you came out of Egypt 390 00:17:22,990 --> 00:17:27,160 and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on 391 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,880 the other side of Jordan, Cheyenne and Og, whom he utterly 392 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:31,560 destroyed. 393 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:35,800 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt. 394 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,680 Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of 395 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:39,880 you. 396 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:44,840 For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth 397 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:45,240 beneath. 398 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,240 Essentially, what we see here is Rahab's confession of faith in 399 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:50,520 the one true God. 400 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,680 And so we see this outburst of faith showing that she recognizes 401 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:57,630 that God had a plan, and she. 402 00:17:57,630 --> 00:18:01,230 She recognizes that God has His power, and the only response 403 00:18:01,230 --> 00:18:02,630 to that is to submit to Him. 404 00:18:03,110 --> 00:18:08,310 And so Rahab here in this declaration, proves her fate. 405 00:18:08,710 --> 00:18:10,390 She professes her faith. 406 00:18:11,510 --> 00:18:14,670 I would argue that at this point in time, it's not strong faith. 407 00:18:14,670 --> 00:18:17,030 She probably doesn't know everything that she needs to know. 408 00:18:17,190 --> 00:18:17,950 She doesn't need. 409 00:18:17,950 --> 00:18:21,070 She doesn't know all the things that follow in obedience. 410 00:18:21,070 --> 00:18:23,310 But she does recognize that she needs God. 411 00:18:23,310 --> 00:18:24,870 And that's where salvation really starts. 412 00:18:25,210 --> 00:18:25,930 That's where it is. 413 00:18:26,810 --> 00:18:29,290 Like we were saying this morning, we don't expect someone 414 00:18:29,290 --> 00:18:32,330 who gets saved to know everything about everything when 415 00:18:32,330 --> 00:18:33,810 it comes to the things of God. 416 00:18:33,810 --> 00:18:36,970 But the one thing that we do have to have right is our faith. 417 00:18:37,610 --> 00:18:41,530 Faith in the right thing, faith in God, faith in him alone. 418 00:18:42,410 --> 00:18:44,810 And so we see that in Hebrews chapter 11. 419 00:18:44,890 --> 00:18:51,020 I want you to see that Rahab is mentioned here in the we call 420 00:18:51,020 --> 00:18:52,020 the hall of Faith. 421 00:18:53,140 --> 00:18:57,540 Obviously, most of you know that Hebrews 11 speaks of the definition 422 00:18:57,540 --> 00:19:00,180 of faith, the importance of faith, and the Examples of faith, 423 00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:01,220 right? 424 00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:01,460 We. 425 00:19:01,460 --> 00:19:05,140 We see in verse number one what faith is, believing in something 426 00:19:05,140 --> 00:19:06,020 that we don't see. 427 00:19:06,659 --> 00:19:08,580 We see the importance of faith in verse six. 428 00:19:08,580 --> 00:19:12,380 It's impossible to please him without faith, for he is a he. 429 00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:15,660 For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is 430 00:19:15,660 --> 00:19:17,420 a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 431 00:19:17,420 --> 00:19:21,630 And then if we jump ahead to verse 31, we see Rahab actually mentioned 432 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:21,910 here. 433 00:19:22,710 --> 00:19:28,510 It says by faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that 434 00:19:28,510 --> 00:19:32,630 believed not when she had received the spies with peace. 435 00:19:34,150 --> 00:19:36,630 The Bible essentially says that she believed the right thing, 436 00:19:37,190 --> 00:19:42,630 and her belief in the right thing caused her to not fall into 437 00:19:42,630 --> 00:19:44,910 the same category as those who believe not. 438 00:19:44,910 --> 00:19:45,990 So she believed. 439 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,960 There's another passage of Scripture in James, chapter 2, verse 440 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,280 25 that says basically she had true faith, but her faith was proven 441 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:54,560 by her actions. 442 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,920 So she wasn't saved by her works, but her works, her actions 443 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,800 there proved what she believed. 444 00:20:02,159 --> 00:20:07,320 And so for many people, it's appalling to think that Rahab who 445 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:08,800 was a harlot could be saved. 446 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,640 But the Bible very clearly teaches that nobody is too far gone 447 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,320 for the gospel to change them. 448 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,960 And folks, some of you might have a background that you're not 449 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,600 proud of, and maybe some people that you're praying for in 450 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,120 salvation aren't where they need to be. 451 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:27,720 And maybe you could say in a very material way, very human way, 452 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,040 I don't ever see that person ever getting saved because of the 453 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:31,080 lifestyle that they're living. 454 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,160 The Bible says that here the power of God is way more powerful 455 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,240 than the sin that we are living in at that very moment, because 456 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:40,200 God can change us. 457 00:20:40,540 --> 00:20:44,660 Rahab the harlot living in the land of Canaan, in Jericho, where 458 00:20:44,660 --> 00:20:47,340 there were all those terrible sins, God takes her out of that life 459 00:20:47,340 --> 00:20:49,180 and we're going to see that she acts in faith. 460 00:20:50,060 --> 00:20:54,620 And so despite the fact that she lives in this terrible, detestable 461 00:20:55,180 --> 00:21:00,220 culture that she's living a life of sin, she was not saved by 462 00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:00,940 her works. 463 00:21:01,420 --> 00:21:05,180 She didn't get cleaned up and fix everything and then come to God. 464 00:21:05,180 --> 00:21:07,980 Know what happens is that she comes to God and God changes her. 465 00:21:08,980 --> 00:21:09,220 She. 466 00:21:09,220 --> 00:21:16,020 She knew, she recognized who God was and she trusted God not just 467 00:21:16,020 --> 00:21:19,580 to make her life better, but to change her and ultimately to save 468 00:21:19,580 --> 00:21:21,060 her from punishment. 469 00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:22,860 And that's how we have to come to Christ. 470 00:21:22,860 --> 00:21:25,060 We have to come to Christ as our only option. 471 00:21:26,660 --> 00:21:29,140 The problem is, is that sometimes we want to come to God 472 00:21:29,140 --> 00:21:30,820 and then have a bunch of backup plans. 473 00:21:31,220 --> 00:21:31,660 And for. 474 00:21:31,660 --> 00:21:33,540 For Rahab here, she didn't have a backup plan. 475 00:21:34,030 --> 00:21:35,870 It was God or death. 476 00:21:36,270 --> 00:21:38,630 And that's really what it is when it comes to the gospel anyway. 477 00:21:38,630 --> 00:21:41,790 But we look at this passage of scripture and we see somebody who, 478 00:21:41,790 --> 00:21:44,230 again, they didn't get their life cleaned up and then. 479 00:21:44,230 --> 00:21:46,750 And then come and get salvation. 480 00:21:46,990 --> 00:21:49,710 They get salvation, and that's what changes a life. 481 00:21:49,790 --> 00:21:50,910 So, you know, there's. 482 00:21:50,910 --> 00:21:53,310 There's churches, and I've heard churches say this, come as 483 00:21:53,310 --> 00:21:53,790 you are. 484 00:21:54,910 --> 00:21:57,070 And we know the idea with that. 485 00:21:57,070 --> 00:22:00,470 It's like, come as you are and then stay as you are and then leave 486 00:22:00,470 --> 00:22:01,870 as you are, and nothing changes. 487 00:22:02,470 --> 00:22:03,590 That's not the way it should be. 488 00:22:03,910 --> 00:22:06,870 Well, biblically speaking, yeah, come in. 489 00:22:07,590 --> 00:22:08,550 Come in in your sin. 490 00:22:08,550 --> 00:22:08,830 Right? 491 00:22:08,830 --> 00:22:10,470 How else can you change that? 492 00:22:10,710 --> 00:22:13,430 As a church, we can't just accept people at the door that have 493 00:22:13,430 --> 00:22:14,150 everything, right? 494 00:22:14,950 --> 00:22:17,630 What we have to do is we have to say, come on in and let Jesus 495 00:22:17,630 --> 00:22:18,030 change you. 496 00:22:18,030 --> 00:22:19,430 Let the word of God change you. 497 00:22:19,430 --> 00:22:19,790 But. 498 00:22:19,790 --> 00:22:20,870 But let me say it this way. 499 00:22:20,870 --> 00:22:21,270 Yeah. 500 00:22:21,430 --> 00:22:24,630 So come as you are, but do not leave as you are. 501 00:22:24,630 --> 00:22:27,190 Leave, change, leave transformed. 502 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,080 Allow the word of God. 503 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,000 Allow the spirit to God to change a heart and to move the person. 504 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:33,320 So. 505 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:34,280 So what I would say is this. 506 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:40,120 If a person is truly saved through faith, God will change the 507 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:40,400 heart. 508 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,320 An individual should not stay in one sin, but to move. 509 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,520 And so, like, for example, let's say the story of Rahab was, 510 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,040 she said all these things, and then she said, you know what? 511 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,360 I'm just going to go back to the. 512 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,520 What I was doing before and live the way that I want to live. 513 00:22:54,070 --> 00:22:54,950 But that's not the case. 514 00:22:54,950 --> 00:22:55,950 We see that there's a change. 515 00:22:55,950 --> 00:22:57,190 There's a dramatic change. 516 00:22:57,430 --> 00:22:59,510 She has to leave her people and. 517 00:22:59,510 --> 00:23:00,790 And follow God's people. 518 00:23:01,270 --> 00:23:03,070 And so it's leaving that old life. 519 00:23:03,070 --> 00:23:06,030 It's leaving that old way and moving to this new path. 520 00:23:06,030 --> 00:23:09,990 And so what we can see here is that Rahab trusts in the Lord and 521 00:23:09,990 --> 00:23:12,590 we know that through many different passages of scripture. 522 00:23:12,590 --> 00:23:15,310 But ultimately we see in Hebrews, chapter 11 that it was faith 523 00:23:15,310 --> 00:23:16,870 that saved her and not her works. 524 00:23:17,430 --> 00:23:19,190 So let's go a little bit further here. 525 00:23:21,070 --> 00:23:21,630 Verse 12. 526 00:23:22,030 --> 00:23:23,030 Now, now there's this. 527 00:23:23,030 --> 00:23:25,590 This covenant that's made between Rahab and the spies. 528 00:23:25,590 --> 00:23:26,550 But ultimately it's. 529 00:23:26,550 --> 00:23:27,790 It's God's promise to her. 530 00:23:27,950 --> 00:23:28,510 Verse 12. 531 00:23:28,510 --> 00:23:32,230 Now, therefore, I pray you swear unto me by the Lord, since 532 00:23:32,230 --> 00:23:36,510 I've showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my 533 00:23:36,510 --> 00:23:39,950 father's house and give me a true token. 534 00:23:40,830 --> 00:23:42,070 What's she talking about here? 535 00:23:42,070 --> 00:23:46,890 Well, Ray, Rahab not only has a desire to see, but her life changed 536 00:23:46,890 --> 00:23:50,970 by God and be part of God's family and his people, but she wants 537 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:53,530 her family, people that she loves, to know God. 538 00:23:53,530 --> 00:23:57,610 And so Rahab had a desire to see her family saved as well, and 539 00:23:57,610 --> 00:23:59,570 she was willing to sacrifice for them. 540 00:24:00,050 --> 00:24:02,209 And that shows that she had love for them. 541 00:24:02,370 --> 00:24:05,610 And, and we show that we have love for people when we want them 542 00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:06,610 to come to the Lord. 543 00:24:07,090 --> 00:24:10,170 I can't say that I love somebody but don't have enough love 544 00:24:10,170 --> 00:24:11,570 to tell them the truth about Jesus. 545 00:24:13,020 --> 00:24:13,220 That. 546 00:24:13,220 --> 00:24:14,460 That's just the reality of things. 547 00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:19,820 I think that for many of us, it's hard for us to wrap our minds 548 00:24:19,820 --> 00:24:21,500 around what that type of love looks like. 549 00:24:23,020 --> 00:24:23,340 We. 550 00:24:23,340 --> 00:24:26,620 We had a discussion in our Bible study this morning, and I hope 551 00:24:26,620 --> 00:24:29,980 that the person that was discussing it with me isn't embarrassed. 552 00:24:29,980 --> 00:24:32,500 I won't say who it was, but there was this point where we're 553 00:24:32,500 --> 00:24:35,460 saying, like, how it's so hard to forgive people that are mean to 554 00:24:35,460 --> 00:24:38,140 us, like someone that's wronged us, it's like, so hard to 555 00:24:38,140 --> 00:24:38,700 get over that. 556 00:24:39,730 --> 00:24:42,130 And, you know, and I just, I had one of these moments where God 557 00:24:42,130 --> 00:24:43,130 put a light bulb in my mind. 558 00:24:43,130 --> 00:24:43,970 I said, you know what? 559 00:24:44,850 --> 00:24:49,410 When my children are mean to me, it's very easy for me to forgive 560 00:24:49,410 --> 00:24:49,570 them. 561 00:24:49,570 --> 00:24:52,490 I don't, like, hold it over my children's head like a proper parent 562 00:24:52,490 --> 00:24:54,690 can hear that, you know? 563 00:24:54,690 --> 00:24:57,010 And sometimes our children can lash out and say things that maybe 564 00:24:57,010 --> 00:24:59,090 they don't even mean, or maybe they do mean it, but we, we don't 565 00:24:59,090 --> 00:25:00,370 have a hard time forgiving them, right? 566 00:25:00,370 --> 00:25:03,570 I'm like, if my child yells at me and says something to me, I'm 567 00:25:03,570 --> 00:25:04,690 going to feed them today, okay? 568 00:25:04,690 --> 00:25:05,530 I'm going to take care of them. 569 00:25:05,530 --> 00:25:06,370 I'm going to protect them. 570 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:08,000 Why can't I forgive them? 571 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:08,960 Because I love them. 572 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:09,680 Right? 573 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,960 The love for that child supersedes the, the offense that 574 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,160 that person did to me. 575 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:18,760 It's the same thing when it comes to an ins. 576 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:20,600 Like, like, like someone in the church. 577 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,160 Someone in the church wrongs me. 578 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:23,520 So what do I do? 579 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,160 Well, I don't love them anymore. 580 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,440 No, I, I love them more than the offense. 581 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:31,680 So I forbear them in love. 582 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:32,880 I forbear them in grace. 583 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:33,200 And I. 584 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,570 And I leave an open opportunity and opening for rest, 585 00:25:36,650 --> 00:25:38,890 restitution, to come back and fix this. 586 00:25:39,610 --> 00:25:40,690 And so what do we see here? 587 00:25:40,690 --> 00:25:43,010 We see that if we love somebody, we're willing to tell them 588 00:25:43,010 --> 00:25:45,330 the truth about Jesus, we're willing to sacrifice for them. 589 00:25:45,330 --> 00:25:46,330 And that's what she does here. 590 00:25:46,330 --> 00:25:48,170 She says, I want my family to be saved too. 591 00:25:48,170 --> 00:25:49,210 It's not just about me. 592 00:25:49,290 --> 00:25:50,730 It's about others around me. 593 00:25:51,850 --> 00:25:53,090 And then we see what she says. 594 00:25:53,090 --> 00:25:54,930 She's like, swear to me, verse 12. 595 00:25:54,930 --> 00:25:55,930 Swear unto me. 596 00:25:56,090 --> 00:25:56,690 What is this? 597 00:25:56,690 --> 00:26:00,050 Well, I think this is a picture of her desiring to have assurance 598 00:26:00,050 --> 00:26:01,050 and confidence in. 599 00:26:01,050 --> 00:26:02,730 In some type of promise of God. 600 00:26:03,490 --> 00:26:05,330 She wanted to leave that sinful life. 601 00:26:05,490 --> 00:26:06,930 She wanted to leave that culture. 602 00:26:06,930 --> 00:26:11,650 She wanted to go to God and be part of his people and his purpose. 603 00:26:12,930 --> 00:26:16,810 So ultimately, I think that's a picture of a newly saved individual 604 00:26:16,810 --> 00:26:18,610 that wants to bring people with them. 605 00:26:18,690 --> 00:26:19,810 And sometimes, when. 606 00:26:20,130 --> 00:26:24,770 Sometimes the best evangelists for the gospel are newly saved believers, 607 00:26:24,930 --> 00:26:26,690 right, because they're on fire for God. 608 00:26:26,850 --> 00:26:29,170 Sometimes the people that have been saved for the longest amount 609 00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:32,530 of time have lost that desire and love and are comfortable with 610 00:26:32,530 --> 00:26:33,130 where they are. 611 00:26:33,610 --> 00:26:36,890 I think all of us need to rekindle that desire for those people 612 00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:38,490 to come to Christ that need Jesus. 613 00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:39,050 And. 614 00:26:39,050 --> 00:26:40,490 And so that's what we can see here. 615 00:26:40,490 --> 00:26:41,050 Verse 13. 616 00:26:41,450 --> 00:26:45,770 That you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren 617 00:26:45,850 --> 00:26:49,850 and my sisters and all that they have, and deliver our lives 618 00:26:50,010 --> 00:26:50,650 from death. 619 00:26:52,330 --> 00:26:53,010 Verse 14. 620 00:26:53,010 --> 00:26:56,170 And the men answered, our life for yours. 621 00:26:56,330 --> 00:26:59,920 If he utter not this our business, and it shall be, when the 622 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:04,320 Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly 623 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:05,000 with thee. 624 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,240 Then she let down, let them down by a cord through the window. 625 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,520 For her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the 626 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:13,960 wall. 627 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,240 And she said unto them, get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers 628 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,040 meet you and hide yourselves there. 629 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,800 Three days until the pursuers be returned. 630 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,320 And afterward may ye go your way. 631 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,200 And the men said unto her, we will be blameless of this thine oath 632 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,000 which thou has made us swear. 633 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,160 And so here, essentially, Rahab is extending to them more advice 634 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,800 and trying to help them more improving that she loves God by loving 635 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:39,240 his people. 636 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,760 And by the way, that's something I think that we can do, 637 00:27:41,999 --> 00:27:42,360 right? 638 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:46,680 First, John tells us the way that we prove our love for God is 639 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,320 not just saying that we love God. 640 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:54,500 Okay, I can say all day that I love my family, but unless I demonstrate 641 00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:58,420 that love, I can say whatever I want to say. 642 00:27:58,900 --> 00:28:00,700 And we can say all day that we love God. 643 00:28:00,700 --> 00:28:02,540 But first John says this, and. 644 00:28:02,540 --> 00:28:06,740 And the Gospel of John says that if we love God, we love his 645 00:28:06,740 --> 00:28:07,060 people. 646 00:28:07,780 --> 00:28:11,980 So we want to protect them when they're weeping, we're weeping 647 00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:13,260 when they're laughing, we're laughing. 648 00:28:13,260 --> 00:28:15,380 We protect, we lift up, we encourage. 649 00:28:15,540 --> 00:28:17,460 And so here, that's what we see happening. 650 00:28:18,590 --> 00:28:20,990 And we see the plan for her salvation. 651 00:28:22,270 --> 00:28:26,110 Verse 18 says, Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind 652 00:28:26,110 --> 00:28:30,790 this a scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst let us down 653 00:28:30,790 --> 00:28:31,150 by. 654 00:28:31,230 --> 00:28:34,390 And thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren, 655 00:28:34,390 --> 00:28:36,630 all thy father's household home unto thee. 656 00:28:36,630 --> 00:28:37,550 And so the. 657 00:28:37,550 --> 00:28:41,470 The sign is, hang out of your window. 658 00:28:41,470 --> 00:28:42,630 The red cord. 659 00:28:42,630 --> 00:28:43,550 The scarlet cord. 660 00:28:43,550 --> 00:28:44,670 Some of you know this story. 661 00:28:46,010 --> 00:28:49,130 And the plan would be this, to put that out as a. 662 00:28:49,130 --> 00:28:49,490 As a. 663 00:28:49,490 --> 00:28:52,570 As a sign so that they would not attack that household. 664 00:28:53,370 --> 00:28:53,730 Going. 665 00:28:53,730 --> 00:28:54,490 Going farther here. 666 00:28:54,490 --> 00:28:55,170 And then we're gonna. 667 00:28:55,170 --> 00:28:57,290 We're gonna dive a little bit deeper into that. 668 00:28:58,330 --> 00:28:58,970 Verse 19. 669 00:28:58,970 --> 00:29:02,170 And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy 670 00:29:02,170 --> 00:29:05,130 house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and 671 00:29:05,210 --> 00:29:06,250 we will be guiltless. 672 00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:09,570 And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall 673 00:29:09,570 --> 00:29:10,330 be on our head. 674 00:29:10,330 --> 00:29:13,970 And if any man be upon him, and if thou utter this, our business, 675 00:29:13,970 --> 00:29:18,290 then we will be quit of thine oath which thou has made us to swear. 676 00:29:18,530 --> 00:29:21,450 And she said, according unto your words, so be it. 677 00:29:21,450 --> 00:29:22,490 She agrees to this. 678 00:29:22,490 --> 00:29:23,650 She says, I will do this. 679 00:29:23,890 --> 00:29:26,610 And she sent them away, and they departed. 680 00:29:26,610 --> 00:29:28,610 And she bound the scarlet line in the window. 681 00:29:28,610 --> 00:29:31,530 She immediately obeys, and she immediately follows this path. 682 00:29:31,530 --> 00:29:32,690 She wants the salvation. 683 00:29:32,690 --> 00:29:35,290 And they went and came unto the mountain and abode there three 684 00:29:35,290 --> 00:29:37,530 days until the pursuers were returned. 685 00:29:37,530 --> 00:29:40,650 And the pursuer sought them throughout all the way, but found 686 00:29:40,650 --> 00:29:43,450 them not so. 687 00:29:43,450 --> 00:29:46,130 The two men returned and descended from the mountain and passed 688 00:29:46,130 --> 00:29:48,610 over and came to Joshua, the son of nun, and told him all the 689 00:29:48,610 --> 00:29:49,810 things that befell them. 690 00:29:49,970 --> 00:29:52,609 And they said unto Joshua, truly, the Lord hath delivered into 691 00:29:52,609 --> 00:29:56,210 our hands all the land, even all the inhabitants of the country 692 00:29:56,210 --> 00:29:57,330 do faint because of us. 693 00:29:57,330 --> 00:30:01,970 And so the sign is this, the scarlet cord. 694 00:30:02,860 --> 00:30:06,940 And so Rahab immediately puts her faith into action by identifying 695 00:30:06,940 --> 00:30:08,620 herself by the red cord. 696 00:30:09,580 --> 00:30:11,580 And many scholars, even. 697 00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:15,940 Even back as far as the first century, some of you may or may not 698 00:30:15,940 --> 00:30:16,500 know this guy. 699 00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:17,900 His name's Clement of Rome. 700 00:30:17,900 --> 00:30:22,020 He was Earl, one of the earliest Christian writers, very 701 00:30:22,020 --> 00:30:23,500 shortly after the apostles. 702 00:30:24,220 --> 00:30:27,860 Clement of Rome, identified the scarlet cord as a symbol for 703 00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:28,940 the blood of Jesus Christ. 704 00:30:29,670 --> 00:30:34,710 Others like Justin Martyr and other ancient theologians saw that. 705 00:30:34,710 --> 00:30:36,510 And I think that it's a picture that we can see. 706 00:30:36,510 --> 00:30:40,030 It's not a stretch to see that that scarlet cord was not just a 707 00:30:40,030 --> 00:30:41,750 literal scarlet cord, even though it was. 708 00:30:41,910 --> 00:30:44,870 But it's also a picture of the only saving grace that we have, and 709 00:30:44,870 --> 00:30:48,790 that is the blood of Jesus Christ, a precursor to what we trust 710 00:30:48,790 --> 00:30:50,310 in as a gentile believer. 711 00:30:50,310 --> 00:30:51,590 There's only one path. 712 00:30:51,590 --> 00:30:53,950 There's only one way to salvation, and that is the blood 713 00:30:53,950 --> 00:30:54,730 of Jesus Christ. 714 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,800 Without the shedding of blood, there's not remission of sins. 715 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,160 And so it's only through Jesus that we can find salvation. 716 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,920 If Rahab heard, hey, it's the red, the red cord, the scarlet cord, 717 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,080 and she said, yeah, but I've got other things I can do. 718 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:07,440 Why don't I do this color? 719 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:08,880 Or why don't I go this way? 720 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,960 There's a lot of people that say, okay, that's the way to go. 721 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,440 Well, I want to find my own path. 722 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,440 Rahab found the path to salvation through one way, and we 723 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,110 find salvation through one way, and that is believing in Jesus 724 00:31:21,110 --> 00:31:24,630 Christ as our Lord and Savior to know that that is the only path 725 00:31:24,790 --> 00:31:25,750 to salvation. 726 00:31:25,750 --> 00:31:29,110 And so we see here a sense of desperation from Rahab. 727 00:31:29,350 --> 00:31:30,350 This is my only way. 728 00:31:30,350 --> 00:31:31,670 I'm going to throw this out the window. 729 00:31:31,670 --> 00:31:33,350 And that's my only path of salvation. 730 00:31:33,750 --> 00:31:36,749 And so often we preach the gospel is this is just an option 731 00:31:36,749 --> 00:31:37,990 for you to add onto your life. 732 00:31:39,190 --> 00:31:41,390 It's just an app that you can add onto your phone. 733 00:31:41,390 --> 00:31:45,750 It's, it's just a, a, a, a add on to the package deal of life. 734 00:31:45,750 --> 00:31:50,900 No, salvation is the only thing that will save us from sin, 735 00:31:50,900 --> 00:31:54,340 save us from destruction, save us from eternal punishment. 736 00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:58,500 So what happens here is Rahab puts her faith to action. 737 00:31:59,220 --> 00:32:02,340 She, she trusted in the promise of God through the scarlet 738 00:32:02,340 --> 00:32:02,820 cord. 739 00:32:04,500 --> 00:32:06,340 So here in this case, Joshua. 740 00:32:06,340 --> 00:32:09,380 But by extension, God was the Savior for Rahab. 741 00:32:10,180 --> 00:32:12,660 In the same way Jesus is the Savior for us. 742 00:32:12,660 --> 00:32:15,240 For those that trust in him, he is a savior. 743 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,640 He judges those who don't go his path. 744 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,960 He judges those who don't believe in him. 745 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,280 Just as all those people in Jericho did not believe. 746 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,880 So, you know, ultimately God would judge them by destruction. 747 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,599 So God will judge all of those on this earth who reject him, who 748 00:32:30,599 --> 00:32:32,280 don't believe in the one true way. 749 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:37,080 There, there, there are a lot of well intended people, but I think 750 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,520 misleading people that will say there's more ways. 751 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,430 As long as you're genuine with what you believe, as long as you 752 00:32:43,430 --> 00:32:46,990 say you're religious, as long as you call yourself a Christian, 753 00:32:46,990 --> 00:32:48,310 as long as you're a good person. 754 00:32:48,870 --> 00:32:51,510 Folks, there's a lot of people that try to be good people, but we 755 00:32:51,510 --> 00:32:53,150 know biblically speaking, there is no good. 756 00:32:53,150 --> 00:32:53,910 No, not one. 757 00:32:53,910 --> 00:32:56,590 There's a lot of people that try to be religious, but religion 758 00:32:56,590 --> 00:32:57,350 will not save. 759 00:32:57,750 --> 00:33:00,030 There's, there's a lot of people that are passionate about 760 00:33:00,030 --> 00:33:02,590 what they believe, but they're passionate about the wrong things. 761 00:33:02,590 --> 00:33:06,470 Folks, we have to be okay with saying that Jesus is the way, the 762 00:33:06,470 --> 00:33:07,430 truth and the life. 763 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,480 People will ask me, do you think that these people over here 764 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:11,280 are Christians? 765 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:12,320 Are they going to heaven? 766 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:17,800 If they believe in Jesus, in faith, in Jesus alone, for salvation, 767 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:18,280 then yes. 768 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:19,600 I don't care what their title is. 769 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:25,800 But at the same time, if someone truly believes a countless 770 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,640 number of paths, if they, if they go that path, I don't even need 771 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,640 to list all of them, but if they, if they go any path that says 772 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,930 Jesus plus or Jesus who is different, or, or Jesus plus works 773 00:33:35,930 --> 00:33:40,090 or, or Jesus but in a way that we define, they're not saved. 774 00:33:40,170 --> 00:33:41,410 I don't care what their title is. 775 00:33:41,410 --> 00:33:43,610 I don't care if they call themselves Baptist, if they believe 776 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:46,530 in anything else other than Jesus Christ for salvation, they 777 00:33:46,530 --> 00:33:47,530 are not going to be saved. 778 00:33:47,690 --> 00:33:48,810 It's the red cord. 779 00:33:48,970 --> 00:33:50,410 Rahab only had one way. 780 00:33:50,410 --> 00:33:52,570 Her family only had one way to salvation. 781 00:33:53,130 --> 00:33:55,130 And like I said, they, they could have been skeptical. 782 00:33:55,130 --> 00:33:57,610 They could have been like, well, that's probably not a really 783 00:33:57,690 --> 00:33:58,330 good way. 784 00:33:58,810 --> 00:34:01,910 And that's what we're hearing today from people that are what we 785 00:34:01,910 --> 00:34:03,830 would call coming from Christian backgrounds. 786 00:34:03,830 --> 00:34:06,950 Well, isn't it a little bit narrow minded and bigot bigotry to 787 00:34:06,950 --> 00:34:08,510 be saying that there's only one way? 788 00:34:08,830 --> 00:34:11,990 What about a person who was born in a country that has other 789 00:34:11,990 --> 00:34:12,590 faiths? 790 00:34:13,310 --> 00:34:14,350 Doesn't matter, right? 791 00:34:14,750 --> 00:34:16,030 You know, it doesn't matter. 792 00:34:16,030 --> 00:34:19,510 We make concessions for people to say, well, it's okay as long as 793 00:34:19,510 --> 00:34:20,870 they want to find the right thing. 794 00:34:20,870 --> 00:34:22,830 There's a lot of people wanting to find the right way, but 795 00:34:22,830 --> 00:34:23,550 it's Jesus. 796 00:34:24,590 --> 00:34:27,430 And if you want to call it narrow minded, you're aligning with 797 00:34:27,430 --> 00:34:27,750 scripture. 798 00:34:27,750 --> 00:34:30,000 It's, it's the narrow path that saves. 799 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:32,080 Broad is the way that leads to destruction. 800 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,600 And so it is narrow for salvation. 801 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,080 And, and it's okay, I'm willing to say that I, I'm willing 802 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,920 to say it's Jesus and it's the only way. 803 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,000 And so when we get to that, when, when we come to the church, 804 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,160 that, that, that isn't going to be something that necessarily 805 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:48,560 excites people in our world today. 806 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,160 Actually when you say there's only one way, people start getting 807 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:55,960 very upset because knowing that there's only one way means I 808 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:59,360 cannot save Myself, you're just as desperate as Rahab was. 809 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:01,520 Israel was coming. 810 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:03,040 They were coming. 811 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,120 We're going to read about how they come to Jericho. 812 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:06,160 And it's a very interesting. 813 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:08,360 Most of you know there's a song about it. 814 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,240 Most of you know how they conquered Jericho. 815 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:16,360 And I'm going to tell you, not just Israel was coming, but God was 816 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,280 coming and judgment was at hand. 817 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,000 And so Rahab's like, I know that God is going to judge. 818 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:25,200 I know that everyone that is not believing in you is going to 819 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:25,640 be judged. 820 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:25,870 I know. 821 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:27,060 I don't want to be judged. 822 00:35:27,140 --> 00:35:28,340 That was her salvation. 823 00:35:28,340 --> 00:35:32,540 She wanted to find salvation, and that's the only way that we can 824 00:35:32,540 --> 00:35:32,780 find it. 825 00:35:32,780 --> 00:35:34,260 So what do we preach to the world today? 826 00:35:35,780 --> 00:35:38,340 Well, Pastor, don't be a fire and brimstone preacher. 827 00:35:38,340 --> 00:35:40,180 Pastor, don't be doom and gloom. 828 00:35:40,580 --> 00:35:42,259 Well, we always preach hope. 829 00:35:42,260 --> 00:35:43,380 The hope is Jesus. 830 00:35:43,700 --> 00:35:45,700 But we have to preach both sides of the coin. 831 00:35:46,180 --> 00:35:48,820 We have to preach the alternative to what happens when 832 00:35:48,820 --> 00:35:50,260 someone doesn't trust in Jesus. 833 00:35:50,900 --> 00:35:51,540 Judgment. 834 00:35:53,030 --> 00:35:54,830 Well, that means that you're calling people sinners. 835 00:35:54,830 --> 00:35:55,670 Yes, I'm. 836 00:35:55,670 --> 00:35:57,590 I'm a sinner, but just saved by grace. 837 00:35:58,950 --> 00:36:01,270 And so when we look at the world, we don't say, well, hey, it's 838 00:36:01,270 --> 00:36:01,670 okay. 839 00:36:01,830 --> 00:36:02,830 There's multiple ways. 840 00:36:02,830 --> 00:36:04,870 We say, no, there's Jesus, there's one way. 841 00:36:05,910 --> 00:36:07,829 And, and that's not a scary thing. 842 00:36:07,829 --> 00:36:11,350 If you are willing to submit yourself and identify that you are 843 00:36:11,430 --> 00:36:13,990 a sinner and that you need Jesus Christ as savior. 844 00:36:13,990 --> 00:36:16,230 Even someone who lived a life like Rahab. 845 00:36:16,710 --> 00:36:18,990 I mean, we wouldn't look at Rahab and go, well, that's the one 846 00:36:18,990 --> 00:36:20,870 that we thought from Jericho would be saved. 847 00:36:21,450 --> 00:36:22,570 Think about her lifestyle. 848 00:36:22,570 --> 00:36:23,930 Think about who she was around. 849 00:36:25,210 --> 00:36:26,810 But some of you might say, you know what? 850 00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:29,170 I wasn't like Rahab, but I had. 851 00:36:29,170 --> 00:36:30,810 I had a pretty difficult background. 852 00:36:31,290 --> 00:36:34,730 I came from a lot of different culture and different sin and. 853 00:36:34,890 --> 00:36:36,650 And I was raised not as a Christian. 854 00:36:36,650 --> 00:36:40,010 Maybe that doesn't mean that you're exempt from the blessings 855 00:36:40,010 --> 00:36:41,330 of God and the promises of God. 856 00:36:41,330 --> 00:36:44,650 That's the beauty of God's economy, is that it wasn't just for 857 00:36:44,650 --> 00:36:45,450 the Israelites. 858 00:36:45,450 --> 00:36:46,290 It's for all. 859 00:36:46,290 --> 00:36:47,770 It's for the Gentiles as well. 860 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,960 Yes, the Bible does say in Romans, chapter one, the gospel came 861 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:53,840 to the Jew first, but also to the Greek. 862 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,240 But we are all, I think, pictures of Rahab when it comes to 863 00:36:57,240 --> 00:36:59,600 our sin and our background and our culture. 864 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:00,440 Think about our culture. 865 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:01,360 We have no excuse. 866 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:02,960 We have. 867 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,760 It's such a sad thing now to talk to People, young people and 868 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,720 adults that have no, no biblical clue. 869 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,360 They couldn't even tell you one Bible story. 870 00:37:14,090 --> 00:37:16,050 They couldn't even tell you the true story of the gospel. 871 00:37:16,050 --> 00:37:18,410 I mean, it's just like out of their minds. 872 00:37:18,410 --> 00:37:21,930 It's not even been instituted into our culture anymore. 873 00:37:22,410 --> 00:37:25,770 So we use as an excuse, well, culture's so bad, culture so dark. 874 00:37:25,770 --> 00:37:26,970 That's just what it's going to be. 875 00:37:26,970 --> 00:37:29,809 No, I think all the more that's why Christians need to ramp 876 00:37:29,809 --> 00:37:30,570 up our message. 877 00:37:30,730 --> 00:37:34,010 The world isn't afraid of indoctrinating our, our children. 878 00:37:35,930 --> 00:37:40,010 You know, just turn on any streaming service that's not a believer 879 00:37:41,010 --> 00:37:45,050 based streaming service and you're going to find every way of 880 00:37:45,050 --> 00:37:47,650 sin and evil being indoctrinated to our children. 881 00:37:47,970 --> 00:37:49,330 It's just the reality of it. 882 00:37:50,290 --> 00:37:53,330 We've got to be on guard and we don't need to just be on guard 883 00:37:53,330 --> 00:37:55,490 on defense, we need to be on offense. 884 00:37:56,290 --> 00:37:59,490 Preach the gospel to your children, preach the gospel to your 885 00:37:59,570 --> 00:38:00,090 neighbors. 886 00:38:00,090 --> 00:38:01,730 Preach the gospel to your co workers. 887 00:38:02,130 --> 00:38:05,250 We as Christians cannot be afraid to profess the truth. 888 00:38:07,020 --> 00:38:09,980 We, we, we are victorious, right? 889 00:38:09,980 --> 00:38:13,820 So the Israelites, when they followed the plan of God, they were 890 00:38:13,820 --> 00:38:14,500 going to be victorious. 891 00:38:14,500 --> 00:38:15,580 Doesn't matter who they're against. 892 00:38:15,980 --> 00:38:17,460 It's when they went their own path. 893 00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:20,100 And some of you are, you're, you know, there's some foreshadowing 894 00:38:20,100 --> 00:38:20,780 that's going to come. 895 00:38:20,860 --> 00:38:23,900 It's when they went their own way, is when they found destruction. 896 00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:26,860 And so we'll conclude it with this. 897 00:38:26,860 --> 00:38:34,910 If you see the end of the passage here, Joshua, chapter two, 898 00:38:34,910 --> 00:38:42,190 verses 23 and 24, we see basically that the spies come back 899 00:38:42,190 --> 00:38:43,110 with confidence. 900 00:38:44,550 --> 00:38:48,110 They come back with the understanding that God would give 901 00:38:48,110 --> 00:38:49,590 them the victory they believed. 902 00:38:51,350 --> 00:38:51,870 It Sundays. 903 00:38:51,870 --> 00:38:54,670 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, passed 904 00:38:54,670 --> 00:38:57,670 over and came to Joshua the son of nun, and told him all the 905 00:38:57,670 --> 00:38:58,710 things that befell them. 906 00:38:58,710 --> 00:39:00,630 They tell Joshua the story of God's work. 907 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,080 They said unto Joshua, truly the Lord hath delivered into our 908 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:05,160 hands all the land. 909 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,560 For even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of 910 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:08,840 this. 911 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:17,520 And so the mission itself wasn't a mission to I think win at 912 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:18,280 that very moment. 913 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,760 I mean, they obviously didn't initially win, right? 914 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,400 They just went into spies or the spies. 915 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:29,010 And then what we see here is this, though it wasn't the initial 916 00:39:29,010 --> 00:39:32,450 victory, they were aware of God's power that's already working 917 00:39:32,450 --> 00:39:35,570 ahead of them so that they could have confidence that the mission 918 00:39:35,570 --> 00:39:36,290 is already done. 919 00:39:38,690 --> 00:39:46,370 So, so one woman's faith showed them that God's plan was already 920 00:39:46,370 --> 00:39:47,170 being at work. 921 00:39:47,170 --> 00:39:51,965 And so you, you may be the one who might doubt the promises of God, 922 00:39:51,965 --> 00:39:54,070 but, but how do we get fueled with the promises of God? 923 00:39:54,070 --> 00:39:58,190 Well, even though the victory isn't in front of us yet, like today, 924 00:39:58,590 --> 00:40:02,430 God has not completely sealed his victory, but we know the end 925 00:40:02,430 --> 00:40:02,910 of the story. 926 00:40:02,910 --> 00:40:05,230 So the confidence of knowing the end of the story should bring 927 00:40:05,230 --> 00:40:07,710 us the confidence to say the victory is won. 928 00:40:08,750 --> 00:40:11,150 And so that's essentially what's happening here, is that even 929 00:40:11,150 --> 00:40:14,430 though the victory was not there yet, they saw God working ahead 930 00:40:14,430 --> 00:40:14,910 of them. 931 00:40:14,910 --> 00:40:18,270 And therefore, because of God's work ahead of them, they realized 932 00:40:18,270 --> 00:40:19,740 that they would win. 933 00:40:19,740 --> 00:40:24,780 And so you may know people that, that seem impossible to come 934 00:40:24,780 --> 00:40:25,180 to Christ. 935 00:40:25,180 --> 00:40:27,580 Like, oh, man, you don't know their culture, you don't know their 936 00:40:27,580 --> 00:40:30,300 background, you don't know where they work, you don't know what 937 00:40:30,300 --> 00:40:31,220 they were raised like. 938 00:40:31,220 --> 00:40:38,740 But God's power is so strong that people like Rahab, people like 939 00:40:38,740 --> 00:40:41,180 the person you're thinking of right now that I'm describing, that, 940 00:40:41,180 --> 00:40:45,550 you know, can come to Christ through the power of the gospel, 941 00:40:45,550 --> 00:40:49,510 through the power of the Spirit, and God can still do amazing 942 00:40:49,510 --> 00:40:53,670 work as he did back all these years ago, you know, and I think 943 00:40:53,670 --> 00:40:56,510 about that, think so many times because of, for whatever reason, 944 00:40:56,510 --> 00:41:00,350 we sell short the power of God, that what he can do in our lives, 945 00:41:00,350 --> 00:41:01,309 who he can change. 946 00:41:03,070 --> 00:41:03,790 I do it. 947 00:41:04,270 --> 00:41:06,750 I, I look at, you know, a lot of times I make a judgment call. 948 00:41:06,750 --> 00:41:10,070 Well, this person is, is easier to talk to because they're 949 00:41:10,070 --> 00:41:10,550 more like me. 950 00:41:10,550 --> 00:41:11,590 And so I'm going to go after that. 951 00:41:11,590 --> 00:41:13,900 But this person over here, I, oh, they just, they just don't look 952 00:41:13,900 --> 00:41:15,740 like they're accepting the Holy Spirit. 953 00:41:15,740 --> 00:41:17,860 They, they, they wouldn't accept the gospel message. 954 00:41:17,860 --> 00:41:19,020 So I'm just going to avoid them. 955 00:41:19,020 --> 00:41:22,540 Who knows what kind of conversation, what kind of action 956 00:41:22,620 --> 00:41:25,020 that you do in your life could be an impact to someone. 957 00:41:26,140 --> 00:41:28,660 You know, God doesn't call us to reach everyone, but he calls us 958 00:41:28,660 --> 00:41:29,420 to reach someone. 959 00:41:29,980 --> 00:41:31,340 And I'm not going to reach everyone. 960 00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:35,300 God's, you know, getting into the ministry, I never knew where 961 00:41:35,300 --> 00:41:36,380 God was going to send me. 962 00:41:36,860 --> 00:41:40,530 My thought was that God was going to send me to a place that 963 00:41:40,930 --> 00:41:42,370 I was going to be comfortable with. 964 00:41:43,170 --> 00:41:46,850 And I've told you guys this story before, and I hate saying it 965 00:41:46,850 --> 00:41:48,410 because it sounds like I don't like Delaware. 966 00:41:48,410 --> 00:41:50,050 First of all, I didn't even know Delaware. 967 00:41:50,450 --> 00:41:53,010 It was just not even on my, like, mental radar. 968 00:41:53,570 --> 00:41:57,130 But when we, when I was praying privately about where God 969 00:41:57,130 --> 00:42:00,810 would send me I circled two areas of the country. 970 00:42:00,810 --> 00:42:01,810 I was just like, that's not. 971 00:42:01,810 --> 00:42:04,610 I just don't see myself, like, being there. 972 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:06,960 I don't have a passion for that place. 973 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:11,880 And one of those areas was around the northeast of the United 974 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:12,200 States. 975 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:12,520 I just. 976 00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:14,840 It was not somewhere that I felt, you know, growing up in the 977 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,520 south, you're told, those are a bunch of people that are different 978 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:18,000 than you. 979 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:18,360 Don't. 980 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:19,120 Don't go there. 981 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:19,760 They're different. 982 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:20,360 And they. 983 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:21,199 They act different. 984 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:21,800 They don't. 985 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:22,360 You know, they. 986 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,560 We were always told everyone was just going to tell you the truth, 987 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,560 because down in the south, everyone sugarcoats everything. 988 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:27,840 Like, just. 989 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,120 They'll talk bad about you behind your back, but they'll. 990 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:31,130 They'll bless your heart. 991 00:42:31,130 --> 00:42:32,090 They'll just love you. 992 00:42:32,410 --> 00:42:34,250 And that's what we were used to. 993 00:42:34,250 --> 00:42:37,690 And they're like, when you go up to the Northeast, people are going 994 00:42:37,690 --> 00:42:38,410 to tell you the truth. 995 00:42:38,570 --> 00:42:40,010 And I was like, okay, I don't know. 996 00:42:40,010 --> 00:42:40,770 I didn't know what that meant. 997 00:42:40,770 --> 00:42:41,650 Now I know what that means. 998 00:42:41,650 --> 00:42:42,690 Completely understand it. 999 00:42:42,690 --> 00:42:43,330 And you know what? 1000 00:42:43,330 --> 00:42:44,490 I appreciate it. 1001 00:42:44,570 --> 00:42:45,490 I appreciate it. 1002 00:42:45,490 --> 00:42:47,290 Now I know where people stand most of the time. 1003 00:42:47,690 --> 00:42:48,490 It's a good thing. 1004 00:42:48,490 --> 00:42:51,130 But the point I'm trying to make is I would have never dreamed 1005 00:42:51,210 --> 00:42:53,890 in a thousand years, number one, I would have never dreamed that 1006 00:42:53,890 --> 00:42:54,650 I would be a pastor. 1007 00:42:54,650 --> 00:42:55,930 That was not in my radar. 1008 00:42:56,260 --> 00:42:58,580 If you guys don't believe that, ask my wife, okay? 1009 00:42:58,580 --> 00:43:00,260 When we got married, I wasn't a pastor. 1010 00:43:00,660 --> 00:43:01,660 And we. 1011 00:43:01,660 --> 00:43:01,980 We. 1012 00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:03,220 We didn't sign up for that. 1013 00:43:03,540 --> 00:43:04,900 But God signed us up. 1014 00:43:05,220 --> 00:43:07,860 Secondly, we would have never dreamed that even if we did get into 1015 00:43:07,860 --> 00:43:09,300 the ministry, that we'd be in Delaware. 1016 00:43:09,300 --> 00:43:10,660 It just would have never been the case. 1017 00:43:11,540 --> 00:43:11,900 But. 1018 00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:13,340 But God led us here. 1019 00:43:13,340 --> 00:43:15,780 And therefore, if God leads us here, you know, I know I'm not going 1020 00:43:15,780 --> 00:43:16,860 to reach people in California. 1021 00:43:16,860 --> 00:43:18,940 I know I'm not going to reach people in other countries. 1022 00:43:18,940 --> 00:43:20,380 That's just not the reality of it. 1023 00:43:20,380 --> 00:43:23,220 God has me in Delaware to reach the people that I am in. 1024 00:43:23,670 --> 00:43:24,550 In Delaware with. 1025 00:43:25,190 --> 00:43:28,790 It's the same thing for you, God, and even take it on a more micro 1026 00:43:28,790 --> 00:43:29,110 level. 1027 00:43:29,190 --> 00:43:32,110 God has you in your workplace to reach the people in your workplace. 1028 00:43:32,110 --> 00:43:34,790 I might not be able to reach people in your workplace or your 1029 00:43:34,790 --> 00:43:37,750 sphere of influence, but God has you there for a purpose. 1030 00:43:38,550 --> 00:43:42,270 And so God led the Israelites to this place in Jericho. 1031 00:43:42,270 --> 00:43:45,030 And I don't think that they were coming on an evangelistic effort. 1032 00:43:45,030 --> 00:43:46,630 They were coming on a conquering effort. 1033 00:43:46,630 --> 00:43:50,400 But through this, Rahab comes to know God, and we know the story. 1034 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:50,840 If you. 1035 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:51,760 If you don't know the story. 1036 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:55,040 Rahab's destiny was to be married into the family of God and 1037 00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:58,480 be in the lineage of King David and be in the lineage ultimately 1038 00:43:58,480 --> 00:43:59,120 of Jesus. 1039 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:00,560 But who would have known that? 1040 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:02,120 No one would, except for God. 1041 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:03,720 God has a plan for each one of us. 1042 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:05,920 And you don't know who today you. 1043 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,720 Sowing into the life or praying for them could be an impact. 1044 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,640 I mean, it could be that you lead someone to Christ and they lead 1045 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,400 someone to Christ and they lead someone to Christ and it could 1046 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,200 be the next, you know, person that leads thousands of people to 1047 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:17,120 Christ across the world. 1048 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:18,240 You never know. 1049 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:23,560 You never know what one seed being sown or watered will do when 1050 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:24,960 it comes to the kingdom of God. 1051 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:29,480 And so we're going to talk more about how the Israelites crossed 1052 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,240 the River Jordan, which, again, awesome story. 1053 00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:35,240 Most of us know the story of them crossing the Red Sea, but they 1054 00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:38,640 also crossed the Jordan river, which is a really neat story as well. 1055 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:43,290 Then of course, you know that they eventually get to Jericho, and 1056 00:44:43,850 --> 00:44:45,130 that's a classic story. 1057 00:44:45,210 --> 00:44:48,290 The Book of Joshua, whether you know it or not, has many of the 1058 00:44:48,290 --> 00:44:52,250 stories that were told to us in, in our Sunday school classes. 1059 00:44:52,730 --> 00:44:55,210 And it's an exciting, exciting book of the Bible. 1060 00:44:55,370 --> 00:44:58,090 So if you ever attempted to think that the Bible's boring, Joshua 1061 00:44:58,090 --> 00:44:58,970 is not a boring book. 1062 00:44:59,050 --> 00:45:01,610 There's a lot of awesome miracles that happened. 1063 00:45:01,770 --> 00:45:05,770 And I believe, okay, I believe all of these things happened. 1064 00:45:06,250 --> 00:45:08,050 I believe this isn't just symbolic. 1065 00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:10,460 I believe that this isn't just fairy tales. 1066 00:45:10,460 --> 00:45:13,900 I believe these are literal people in a literal place having 1067 00:45:14,220 --> 00:45:16,140 real miracles that are happening in their life. 1068 00:45:16,300 --> 00:45:18,740 And I think the same God that's working these miracles is 1069 00:45:18,740 --> 00:45:20,140 the same God that's at work today. 1070 00:45:20,540 --> 00:45:23,420 And I think that when we sell short the power of God, we sell short 1071 00:45:23,500 --> 00:45:25,420 what God has promised us in our life. 1072 00:45:25,900 --> 00:45:29,420 Now encourage you to come back and study this passage of scripture 1073 00:45:30,780 --> 00:45:34,700 and we'll know more about this book of the Bible through the study. 1074 00:45:34,700 --> 00:45:35,500 It's a long book. 1075 00:45:35,690 --> 00:45:36,450 Joshua's a long book. 1076 00:45:36,450 --> 00:45:39,410 But I think there's so many other smaller stories within the 1077 00:45:39,410 --> 00:45:42,570 larger story that I think we'll really enjoy the study and 1078 00:45:42,570 --> 00:45:44,570 hopefully grow in this study as well. 1079 00:45:46,410 --> 00:45:49,050 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1080 00:45:49,050 --> 00:45:49,690 podcast. 1081 00:45:49,930 --> 00:45:52,250 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1082 00:45:52,890 --> 00:45:55,250 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1083 00:45:55,250 --> 00:45:58,730 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1084 00:45:58,970 --> 00:46:01,540 or find us on Facebook or YouTube to. 1085 00:46:02,260 --> 00:46:06,820 You could also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 1086 00:46:06,820 --> 00:46:07,220 Com. 1087 00:46:07,620 --> 00:46:11,180 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1088 00:46:11,180 --> 00:46:14,020 along for future podcast and updates. 1089 00:46:14,660 --> 00:46:15,620 Thank you so much. 1090 00:46:15,860 --> 00:46:16,580 God Bless. 1091 00:46:16,740 --> 00:46:18,100 Have a wonderful day.