Rahab: From Failure To Faithfulness

Introduction

Heb. 11:1-3; 31

My Mother Taught Me About...

My Mother taught me about Anticipation... "Just wait until your father gets home."

My Mother taught me about Receiving.... "You are going to get it when we get home!"

My Mother taught me to Meet A Challenge...

"What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you! Don't talk back to me!"

My Mother taught me Logic...

"If you fall out off that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

My Mother taught me Medical Science...

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."

My Mother taught me to Think Ahead...

"If you don't pass your spelling test, you'll never get a good job."

My Mother taught me Humor...

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My Mother taught me how to Become An Adult.. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

My Mother taught me about Genetics... "You're just like your father."

My Mother taught me about my Roots... "Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My Mother taught me about Wisdom Of Age... "When you get to be my age, you will understand." And last but not least...

My Mother taught me about Justice... "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you....Then you'll see what it's like!"

You Know You've Turned Into a Mom When...

You automatically double-knot everything you tie.

You find yourself humming the Barney song as you do the dishes.

You hear a baby cry in the grocery store, and you start to gently sway back and forth, back and forth. However, your children are at school!

You actually start to like the smell of strained carrots mixed with applesauce.

You weep through the scene in Dumbo when his mom is taken away, not to mention what Bambi does to you.

You get soooo into crafts you contemplate writing a book called 101 Fun Crafts to do with Dryer Lint and Eggshells.

You spend a half hour searching for your sunglasses only to have your teenager say, "Mom, why don't you wear the ones you pushed up on your head?"

You are out for a nice romantic meal with your husband, enjoying some real adult conversation, when suddenly you realize that you've reached over and started to cut up his steak!

Rahab: Outcast becomes Overcomer. From House of Shame to Hall of Fame.

On this Mother's Day, I wish to speak from what we know to be the "other side" or "another side"

Heb. 11:31 - "the harlot Rahab" James 2:25 - "Rahab the harlot" Matt. 1:5 - "by Rahad"

Joshua 2:1 - "a harlot named Rahab" Joshua 6:25 - "Rahab the harlot" Joshua 6:22 - "the harlot's house"

NOTE: Never let her forget where the Lord found her!

Theme Song: "If you could see where Jesus brought me from, to where I am today, then you would know the reason why I love Him so."

Today, we are studying a life, as well as a biblical principle, that is not only about a definition of faith, but a description of what faith looks like and how it works.

True biblical faith is not blind optimism or a manufactured "hope-so" feeling. Neither is it an intellectual assent to a doctrine. True biblical faith is confident obedience to God's Word in spite of circumstances and consequences. The world fails to realize that faith is only as good as its object, and the object of our faith is God. It is our total response to what God has revealed in His Word.

I. Faith's Definiton Heb. 11:1-3

A. Confidence 11:1

"faith is the substance of things hoped for" - the realization or confidence or assurance. Translates what stands under anything; a building, a contract, a promise. This word was common in business documents as the basis or guarantee of transactions.

Faith is the title-deed of things hoped for. Illustrate: Wilton's prayer to receive Christ Conviction: 11:1

"the evidence of things not seen" - the proving; this is an inward conviction from God that what He has promised, He will perform. The word implies a thought or belief that has been cross-examined, questioned so as to be tested for validity or reality. This word calls for a response; now the person lives his belief. His life is committed to what his mind and his spirit are convinced is true.

B. Concrete 11:2

Had borne witness to them or "were testified to." These are practical examples of faith in action and God took notice of them and bore witness to the reality of their faith.

Romans 8:16, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" How does He witness: fruit of Spirit and His power He provides

C. Certanity 11:3

It is on the basis of faith that we understand the universe. This is the doctrine of creationism. We believe that the world was originated by an intelligent Creator.

Why certainty? Because faith defined quickly moves to faith demonstrated. He does not simply define faith but literally shows it at work in lives. (Heb. 11)

II. Faith's Determination Description

Heb. 11:31; James 2:25

A. Salvation Is Determined By Heb. 11:31

Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Rahab knew little or nothing of God's great plan of salvation, of all the great and precious promises He had made to Israel, of salvation daily demonstrated in the altar and the sacrifice. She knew only that she was deservedly doomed, and therefore, she pleaded for a salvation she knew could come only from Israel's God, and God honored her faith.

Note her Confession: Joshua 2:9-11, "and said to the men: 'I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.'"

B. Salvation Is Demonstrated By Faithfulness To Obey God's Will. James 2:25

Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Good works cannot produce salvation, but evidence it.

James 2:25, "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?"

What she did demonstrated the genuineness of her faith. It served as the vindication before others of her claim to salvation. Her works displayed her faith.

James 2:18, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

Special Question: I hear we have someone on the inside of Jericho as an informant? Tell us about him, oh, it's a her!

A Gentile, an outcast, a prostitute, a woman under condemnation, living in a city under condemnation, a Canaanite, an Amorite.

Question: What makes you think we can trust her?

Answer: Well, actually, we are going to trust the God who she embraced!

You see, that is how God's grace works. His mercy is open to all who will receive it, and His grace has always been wider than Israel, even in Old Testament times.

III. Faith's Destination Matt. 1:5

"Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab"

What would I want to tell my Mom? Feb. 25, 1985 Thank her for her sacrifice

Worked 2 jobs (Century Mills/White Front Grill)

Six children: Buddy, Barbara, Mary, Norman, Johnny, & Freddy Thank her for believing in me.

Thank her for treating us all the same.

Ask her for her forgiveness.

The way that I talked back to her at times. Ask her to forgive me for not baptizing her.

Ask her to forgive me for not serving her more humbly and readily, and as a privilege. (bread, milk, Diet Pepsi)

Where Did Rahab's Faith Take Her?

She got married to Salmon and became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, the great-great grandmother of David, and she thereby came to be an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does Faith Matter? Ask Ruth!

"When I think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He picked me up and turned me around, how He placed my feet on solid ground."