Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the Word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. As we look at our Lifeway Bible studies, we get into our session three of Rahab. First of all, we talked about Noah, a faith that pleases God in Genesis chapter six and Genesis chapter eight. Our second session was about Joshua, a faith that is rooted in God's word, or basically Joshua, the courage of a God-centered faith. Here, as we look at Rahab, we see a fearless faith. Rahab's radical choice in a world of walls. And it's about a faith that's not held back by fear. In Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, verses 8 through 14, Joshua chapter 6, verses 22 down to verse 25. Here in this series, Risk Takers, The Adventure of Walking by Faith. People everywhere are searching for smart investment strategies. And the question is never stopped. Should I invest in stocks, real estate, or maybe launch a new business? Is my money secure? Well, where will I see the greatest return? And for every question, there seems to be an expert with an opinion. Most agree that age and risk tolerance play a very key role. And so young investors are encouraged to take more risk, while those near retirement are told to play it safe. But here's a deeper question. Have you ever considered your faith as the most important investment of all? If you're in a relationship with Jesus Christ, this is not the season to be spiritually conservative. Now is the time to step out in bold, risk-taking faith. Why? Because your walk with God is far more valuable than any financial portfolio. For your faith to truly grow, you must be willing to invest your time, your trust, your heart. One powerful way to do is that by learning from those who've gone before, men and women of scripture whose courageous faith still speaks today. And in this study, when we look at risk takers, here we're talking about the adventure of walking by faith. Well, I'm going to tell you, someone who lives with bold and unwavering faith and the one who is always faithful, We look and we realize that we see several of them that are in this category. The first one we talked about was Noah. The second one was Joshua. Here today is the third risk taker, and that would be Rahab. And so I'm glad faith acts when others are paralyzed by fear. True faith isn't the absence of fear, but the courageous act of trusting God when everyone else is paralyzed by it. And so Let's open up with prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus, depending not on our own strength or righteousness, but solely upon the finished work of the cross. Lord, in a world where fear runs rapid, the enemy raises up walls of doubt and despair. Help us to walk by faith like Rahab of old. Teach us to trust your promises, even when we can't see the outcome. Anoint this teaching with the power of the Holy Spirit. And in Jesus' mighty name, we pray all of this, that your will would be done. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. There was a child of God. Have you ever felt the grip of fear so tight that it almost made you forget God's promises? Well, Rahab was not a likely candidate for heroism or sainthood, a harlot by trade. But God didn't see her present. He saw her potential. And when everyone in Jericho was trembling at Israel's march, this woman had a revelation. She recognized the God of Israel as the only true God. And like the blood on the doorpost that were in Egypt, that scarlet cord hanging from her window would be her sign of salvation. What would your life look like if you stopped letting fear dictate your perspective, your position, and your purpose, and started letting faith lead the way instead? First of all, the first thing that we see in verses 1 through 4 in Joshua chapter 2 is faith sees what fear hides. The perspective is faith sees what it hides, but are you focusing on what fear shows or what faith reveals? Fear sees the walls, but faith sees the breakthrough. Will you read along with me as I get into Joshua chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, the Bible says, And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shaddam two men to spy secretly, saying, Go thee to land, even Jericho. And they went and came into a harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thy house, for they be come to search out all the country. And the women took the two men and hid them. Now, Rahab's house was on the wall of the city. And it speaks of a man's idea of security, both faith and it positioned her to the place where she could both see the danger and offer deliverance. God will always meet faith wherever it is found. And so when we begin to look, we see, first of all, faith sees what fear hides. And the first thing from that idea is fear focuses on the visible danger. They have every reason to be afraid. The king's command, the coming judgment, the whole city was frozen with terror. But the king of Jericho represents the world system under Satan attempting to silence the voice of faith. And so fear focuses on the visible danger when we look at how faith sees what fear hides. Secondly, faith focuses on the invisible deliverance. Because I'm glad that Rahab heard the stories and what she heard sparked faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. She had more faith in a God she had never seen than most in Israel had in a God that they had seen work wonders. And so fear focuses on the visible danger. Faith focuses on the invisible deliverance. And thirdly, God honors faith in unexpected places. You see, God used a harlot to bring in spies. That's grace. And so God's grace reached down into a harlot's house to pull out a gem of faith. And the cross makes the worst sinner clean. Praise his mighty name. Thank you, Jesus. You know what? A lighthouse doesn't remove the storm. It just shines through it. And Rahab's house on the wall was like that lighthouse. In the darkest night, her faith burned brighter than the flames of judgment to come. Are you letting your fear blind you to what God is doing? And what past victories of God can you rehearse? to strengthen your faith like Rahab did. I wonder, what would your life look like if you stopped letting fear dictate your perspective, your position, and your purpose, and started letting faith lead the way instead? And so faith sees what fear hides in Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 4. And so we see the perspective. Faith sees what fear hides. Are you focusing on what fear shows or what faith reveals? Secondly, faith aligns where fear resists. And what we see here is position. Are you aligning with God even when it means standing apart? In verses 8 through 14, the word of God, when we see that fear stays loyal to the world, faith pledges allegiance to the Lord. Start and read along with me in Joshua chapter 2. And before they were laid down, she came up unto them under the roof, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the river of the Red Sea for you, and when you came out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness that ye will also shoot kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token in verse 13 and that ye will save alive my father and my mother and my brother and my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death in verse 14 and the men answered her our life for years if he uttered not this our business and it shall be when the lord hath given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with thee well Rahab confesses with her mouth what she believes in her heart, in verse 11. She said, And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. That's powerful. And so this is salvation by faith that we're reading about. The same principle that Paul was preaching in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10. He said, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That means if you say out loud that Jesus is your Lord, that he's the one you want to follow, and you really believe deep down that God raised Jesus from the dead after he died on the cross, then Jesus will save you. And that means he'll forgive your sins, come live in your heart, and give you a home in heaven forever. Because he said in Romans 10, 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That word whosoever means anyone. That means you. You don't have to be big or perfect or know every Bible verse. If you call out to Jesus and say, Jesus, save me, I believe in you. He'll hear you. He'll come into your life like a bright light in the dark. And so I'm glad that we look and we see faith aligns where fear resists. in verses 8 through 14. And we see that fear clings to the familiar. Jericho was her home, her culture, her gods, her people, Rahab. But fear will always try to preserve the fleshly systems. But the flesh cannot inherit the promises of God. And so we see faith aligns where fear resists. Fear clings to the familiar. Secondly, faith takes a stand because her confession in verse 11, the Lord your God, he is God. This is not just admiration. It's surrender. She believed and confessed, and that brought salvation. And so fear clings to the familiar. Faith takes a stand, and faith seeks covenant protection. Rahab didn't just believe for herself. She asked for her family, too. Faith is never selfish. It always desires to bring others into the promise. Think of an old ship about to sink. Everyone's clinging to the rails. They're screaming. And then someone sees another vessel nearby. Strong, solid, able to save everybody. Rahab jumped ships. She let go of that sinking Jericho and grabbed a hold of Jehovah, hallelujah. Praise his mighty name. What are you still clinging to that God's asking you to let go of? Are you aligned with God's promises or with the comfort of your Jericho? What would your life look like if you stopped letting fear dictate your perspective, your position, your purpose, and started letting faith lead the way instead? You see, faith sees what fear hides. In verses 1 through 4 of Joshua, chapter 2, that's the perspective. Are you focusing on what fear shows or what faith reveals? Secondly, faith aligns where fear Resist in verses 8 through 14 of Joshua chapter 2 we see not only perspective from how faith sees what fear hides But we see position because are you aligning with God even when it means standing apart? But then it brings us to our third part and that is faith acts So others benefit in verses 22 down to verse 25 of Joshua chapter 6 We see our purpose because Is your faith doing more than just saving you? Is it changing others? Faith doesn't stop with you. It blesses generations. That's why ever since I've been saved, God has been using my life to bless other people that come across my path because that's my job, my purpose, my perspective. And that is to go out into the highways and the hedges and the byways and to take the great commission to everyone that crosses my path. Praise God. And so I'm glad, go ye into all the country, go ye and take the word of God. But we read as we continue doing our Bible study here in Sunday school, we see in Joshua chapter six, verses 22 down to verse 25. And it says in verse 22, but Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, go into the harlot's house and bring out thence the woman and all that she hath, as ye swear unto her, And the young men that were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brother and all that she had. And they brought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel. In verse 24, And they burnt the city with fire and all that was therein, only the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasure of the house of the Lord. In verse 25, And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she dwelt in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Well, I'm glad when we look at fearless faith, Rahab's radical choice in a world of walls. we begin to look and we see something that's very, very powerful because when we look and we see here that it was rehab of faith, not held back by fear. And so I'm glad that when we see that as we go on We look at Joshua chapter 2 verse 18. The Bible says, Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt buy this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee. Well, the scarlet cord in Joshua chapter 2 verse 8 is a type of the blood of Jesus, which alone brings salvation. Her house, Rahab, like Israel in Egypt, was passed over because of the sign of the blood, hallelujah. And so, faith acts so others benefit. In Joshua chapter 6, verses 22 down to verse 25, it's talking to us about how fear looks out for self. Fear says, save yourself. The world system says, survive. God's system says, surrender. And through surrender, salvation flows. Well, not only when we see this that fear looks out for self, but faith makes room for others. Rahab's request, save my father, save my mother, save my brethren. She had her family on her heart when she wanted to make this deal about coming into the family of God. Her faith didn't just save her, it brought salvation to her whole house. And that's the nature of true intercession. Faith makes room for others. And so fear looked out for self. Faith made room for others, but thirdly, faith leaves us a legacy. In verse 25 of Joshua, chapter 6, we read, And Joshua saved Rahab, the hard of life, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. What do we read? She dwelleth in Israel even unto this day. Faith leaves a legacy. And this Gentile woman was granted into the family of God, ultimately into the lineage of Christ himself in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5. That, my friends, is redemption. A single stone thrown into a pond creates a ripple that's far beyond its entry point. Rahab's faith was like that stone, one small act of obedience that would eventually touch Bethlehem. that would eventually touch Calvary, that would eventually even touch us today. And so it was a fearless faith, Rahab's radical choice in a world of walls. I wonder who in your circle needs your faith right now, huh? What step of obedience might unlock someone else's breakthrough? Friend, when Rahab tied that scarlet cord in her window that day, she wasn't just decorating, She was declaring everything. She was declaring that her house was bought by faith in the one true God. I wonder what's hanging in your window today. Is it fear or is it the scarlet thread of the blood of Jesus Christ? And so every one of us, maybe you need to sit down and make a list of God's past faithfulness in your life. You might need to intercede and pray for a lost family member every day this week. Or take one step of faith this week, even if it cost us you your comfort. Because when we look and we see not only Noah of faith that pleased God, Joshua of faith that was rooted in God's word, but Rahab of faith that's not held back by fear. Because fearless faith, Rahab's radical choice was in a world of walls. And she began to go and let the Lord use her in a mighty way. Because when we look back, faith sees what fear hides. And that is the perspective. Secondly, faith aligns where fear resists. And when we see that, we see the position. But thirdly, faith acts so others can benefit. That's our purpose. Because our faith, are we doing more than just saving ourselves. It's changing other people's lives. Faith doesn't stop with you. It blesses generations. Lord, thank you for the blood that still speaks to this very day. We thank you that no matter our past, your grace can write a new chapter in all of our lives. Help us to be like Rahab, fearless in faith, bold in confession, persistent in our intercession for others. And we plead the blood over all of our homes, all of our families, all of our churches, and all of our futures. In the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. you