We enter into the ministry of God's Word. Would you please open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter. Again, we're looking at two different passages, one in Hebrews and the other back in Joshua, as we were there last Sunday. It will be Joshua chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. So first of all, Hebrews. 11 verses 30 and 31, and then have your hand ready to open Joshua chapter two. If you're able, let's stand together to hear the word of God. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." Joshua 2 and verse 1, And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a prostitute, whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, true, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords, and the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land. and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, And there was no spirit left in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sure sign. that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death. And the man said to her, our life for yours, even to death. If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. You may be seated. Let's pray. Father and God, we are So very grateful to have the completed scriptures, an excellent copy in our hands. And we pray that you would grant us the grace this morning to make the most of this time. Open our hearts. May our hearts be prepared to receive the seed of the word implanted. Grant us the grace to believe that word, to love that word, and yes, to hide it in our hearts and to practice it in our lives. Strengthen us, Lord, that we might go forth from this place today and be a godly witness to those whom you bring us in contact with. Thank you for this time now, and we pray in Christ's name, amen. There's an interesting passage in the Gospel of Luke, the seventh chapter. It's the only time we read about a particular Pharisee named Simon. He invites Jesus to a meal at his home. There is a woman, the passage says, of the city or from the city who was a sinner. She was probably a prostitute, but we don't know for sure. Jesus is at Simon's home. He is with others reclining around the table, and this woman, hears about it, she comes in and behind Jesus she is weeping and the tears are falling to the ground upon his feet. She wipes his feet with her hair, she kisses his feet as she continues to cry, and then she takes most expensive ointment out and anoints his feet. Now, the Pharisee Simon is looking at this and he's saying, oh my goodness, if this guy were a prophet, he'd know what kind of woman is touching him, what she is about, who she is. Jesus, knowing Simon's thoughts, says, Simon, I would like to say something to you. And he says, say it. teacher, and Jesus talks about two debtors, one debtor owing a huge amount of money, another debtor not that much money. Both of them are completely forgiven their debts. He says to Simon, which one do you think would love more? And Simon says, well, I suppose it would be the one who was forgiven a whole lot of money. He says, Simon, since I've come here, You have given me no water for my feet. This woman has not ceased to weep upon my feet. You've given me no kiss, she has kissed my feet. You've not anointed me with just the common oil, but she has anointed me with her tears and with this very expensive ointment. You see, those who are forgiven much, love much. And then Jesus does something that causes the mouths to drop of the visitors in that room. He turns to the woman, he says, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Is this reminding us of another woman like this who many years before that, the Lord came to her? And she was a great sinner. She was renowned for being the prostitute in that house on the wall where men from out of town would go to see her. And yet, your sins are forgiven. Your faith is saved. You go in peace. That brings us to the proposition statement. God saves all sinners, even prostitutes. who humbly come to Him by faith, giving themselves over to Him fully to do His will. Again, the context, brothers and sisters, the scene is Jericho. Remember last week we saw the walls come down as they marched around. Well, we back up a couple of days, something like that, and God had, we know, had given the peoples within Canaan over 400 years to repent of their sins. And now starting with Jericho, his judgment is about to fall. The city is circled on the seventh day. The wall comes crashing down. Every man, woman and child is killed, along with oxen, sheep, donkeys slaughtered by the edge of the sword. All except one woman and her family. The story of Rahab is the story of God's loving redemption. Point number one. We look at our faith because in the faith chapter, we're looking at the faith of these names that the writer has listed there for us. And so point number one is Rahab's beginning faith. How did Rahab know about the God of Israel and come to believe in Him? In chapter two of Joshua, in verses 10 and 11, she speaks of what took place at the Red Sea, and she talks about Sihon and Og, two very powerful kings east of the Jordan, not that far away from Jericho. Abraham Kupfer in an address at one time spoke of this passage, and he was of the conviction that traveling merchants from Egypt and maybe from the east went through this city. Some say Jericho is the oldest city in the Promised Land. It was a hub. It was a place where merchants would go and buy and sell. And these people were passing on some amazing news. Did you hear about what happened at the Red Sea? They asked Rahab. No. Tell me, I'd like to know what happened. Or more recently, others coming from the east may be saying, those Amorite kings, you heard, I think, did you not, about Sihon and Og, just due east of us, right across the border of the Jordan? And they would share these stories and these accounts with this woman. Maybe they would share also about Israel's moral code. It set them apart from the other nations. These laws written down, these moral laws of light, of wisdom, speaking of God's character and God's will for his particular people. And then what about this wonder-working God? A God like no other gods of all the nations around us. What do you think of this? These stories, these accounts were passed on. And so Rahab pondered and began to believe. It's interesting, though, in this context, no one else did. This one woman, God is sovereign, He does all His holy will, no one else believed. Do you think that God maybe had a plan for His people? and their future right down to one person in this city? Of course he did. She came to believe in him. Look at 11b when she says, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. She was a Gentile, a woman, an Amorite. She was, on top of all that, a prostitute. She was a citizen of a condemned city under God's judgment. And yet, Rahab is listed in the great faith chapter as one having an exemplary faith, a faith that we can look at and learn from. And so as we've already asked the question, Mason led us through the answer to the question, what is justifying faith? I want to look at that answer again. This faith came to Rahab. Supernaturally, as it comes to every blind, spiritually dead sinner. Look at the answer again, and you can look at it if you wanna open your bulletin there. Justifying faith is a saving grace. It's by the grace of God, and it's wrought. God, the Holy Spirit, works that faith in the heart of a sinner, you see, by the Spirit and the Word of God. That's what God uses to bring sinners to the light, enabling them to see certain things. Like what? Well, look at the next line. whereby he being convinced of his sin and misery and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition. I'm lost. And that's what we want our loved ones that don't know the Lord and our neighbors and others around us to come to that place of realizing I am lost and there's no hope in my hands. or in anybody around me. I need a savior. And that they might not only assent to the truth, I believe that is the truth of the promise of the gospel, notice, but they might receive and rest upon Christ and his righteousness alone. that they might look outside of themselves. Saving faith doesn't say, I have some pretty good confidence in myself that my works plus Jesus, plus whatever is gonna all work out. God will accept me. No. The truth of true faith is I have no confidence whatsoever in myself. I look to someone else. I look to the one who saves. And I trust and rely upon him. alone in his righteousness. Therein notice held forth for pardon and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation. That's justification by faith alone. The spies, these witnesses, came to her door. What's the possibility of that? Well, humanly speaking, it's incredible. Why would they, in this huge city, coming from out of town, never having been there before, sneak in and go to Rahab? Now, it's probably true that many coming into the city, not sneaking in, heard about Rahab and went there for other reasons. But in the providence of God, He led them to her door. and she had been made ready for this encounter. And I believe this is now when she truly came to that marvelous faith and she believed in the God of Israel. Can God save anyone, anywhere, anytime? And I hope as you see this story, you realize that's one thing it's teaching us. God is not limited. God will go forth and He will save His elect, no matter where they are, the circumstances, the challenges they're facing, no matter what. And so, brothers and sisters, we need to keep praying. Keep witnessing. Keep loving those people around us, those members of your family that maybe you've prayed for, like I have my brother-in-law for decades, close to 50 years now. God can save sinners any time, any place, any one of them. And so I ask you this question. Will God forgive all of your sins? And the reason why I ask you is there are Christians who are genuinely Christians and still walk with a huge weight of sin upon them because of their past, because of their failures, because of their inconsistencies. this is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, and there are women out there that have come to faith in Jesus Christ, and they have this awful crime, this awful sin upon their heart and conscience, and they think God can forgive them for anything else, but not that. And the Devil will not let go of them. He will not let them pass beyond that. But brothers and sisters, God forgives not just some sins, but every single sin. When we turn to Him and look unto Jesus, His blood is omnipotent. It is able to cleanse us, enabling us to start a new life in Christ. Not just once. each and every day of your life, remember that as you look unto the Lord Jesus. Point number two, Rahab's expression of faith. She's pondering as she's coming to this faith, and now she opens her mouth and expresses her faith. She, as James tells us, received the spies and then she sent them forth. The spies are her new brothers. It's a marvelous time for her. She believed and now she verbalizes, she expresses her faith. This is her first opportunity to speak to believers. It's an amazing time. Can you imagine being the only Christian in the entire city, the only one who really believes in the living God, and then Christians appear at your door, and you're able to talk with them. But it was a very intense time because of the dangers about them. In verses 9 to 13 in Joshua 2, she expresses her faith. You see, she was used to men coming to her house. That was no big deal. But these men were different. They didn't come filled with lust. They came filled with the spirit. They came in judgment upon that city and in salvation to Rahab and to her family. Who knew that she would help save them, and they would save her and her family? Oh, the sovereign workings of God. Are they not marvelous to our eyes and to our ears? Notice what she says in verse 9. I know three things, and these things resonate with these brothers and they take them back and they talk to Joshua about them. They're greatly encouraged by her expression of faith. Don't forget that as we express our faith with one another, our struggles and our faith and our love for the Lord. Those are words of encouragement to one another. Keep it up. I know that the Lord has given you the land. and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. The Lord has given you the land. This lady, this stranger, they're in her home, and she's encouraging them. He's gonna give you the land. They believe that, but to hear someone else in the city say that is most amazing. The fear of you has fallen upon us. You may be afraid, we're more afraid. It's crushed us. And that all the inhabitants of the land, they melt away before you, not just in the city, but in the land as well. They are afraid, they have heard, and they are melting away before you. Now, it's interesting, as we go back in the history of Israel, go all the way back to chapter 15 of Exodus, and that is where we read the song of Moses, and the children of Israel have just crossed through the Red Sea. And God miraculously saves them and judges the army of Pharaoh himself, and they all die under those waves. And in Exodus 15, 14, listen to what they say in this song. The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed. Trembling seizes the leaders of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away." There's that same expression. Terror and dread fall upon them because of the greatness of your arm. the right arm of God Almighty. They are still as a stone till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased." Wow, what an amazing statement. And she, this is how she's talking, because she expresses her faith. She is a true believer in the Lord. She talks to them in verse 10 about the Red Sea, and how it was dried up, and how miraculously the people of God passed through. It must have been exciting for her to have heard. And then as she pondered that, what kind of a God can divide a sea? What kind of a God can save two or more million people from the powerful army of Pharaoh himself? And that's exactly what she heard. And nobody else wanted to believe the story. Rahab received it. She believed it. And then closer to home, just on the east side of the Jordan River, they then heard, and she heard, about the two Amorite kings. These are two powerful kings. These are huge regions. These are renowned kings of renown. And Israel, not necessarily a military type nation, a people, men, women, children, just making their way along the road. And this nation overtook both kings and their armies and took all their property. And they're living just across the river. You don't think that scared the people in Jericho and Beyond, look at how she describes it in verse 11. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted. There she says it again. And there was no spirit left in any man because of you. Our hearts melted, we are scared to death. And then she describes their God. I'm sure she thought about her gods, and the gods of the peoples, and the promised land. But then there's the God of Israel. They have little tiny idols that don't speak and can't see and can't hear and they move them around and they bow down to them and they burn incense and do these religious activities. But here is a God who is God of the heavens above and on the earth beneath. What kind of God is this? This is a God of power. This is a God who takes a people and overcomes a powerful king and takes those people out of a nation. This is a God that protects His people against these huge and powerful kings. That's the God Rahab, in essence, is saying that I want to believe in, that I do believe in. Look at verses 12 and 13. As she expresses her faith, she says, please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death. That is an expression of faith. Those men haven't even made it out of the city yet. What if they get killed? Then she will be killed along with her family, no doubt about it. Harboring spies. But she's talking as if they're gonna overcome the city, everyone is going to be killed, please save us. That's an amazing statement of faith by Rahab. And notice something else. It's not save me. Did you notice that? The Christian looks out for others, considering others more important than himself. She says, please save my father and my mother. She obviously isn't married, she has no children for obvious reasons, but she's concerned about them and her siblings, and maybe their husbands, wives, and children, and so on. Please, save them. At this point, out loud, she fully identifies with the people of God. These are her statements of faith. She's gonna live with the people of God, and if they die, she will die with the people of God. It makes me think of another Gentile woman in the Old Testament. You remember her name? The expression of Ruth to her mother-in-law, Naomi, when Ruth, her mother-in-law was leaving the country of the Moabites, going back home to Bethlehem, and what did she say to her mother-in-law? Ruth 1.16 and following, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you, for where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me. It's amazing how talking of life and death, Rahab is facing it, and so is Ruth. Do you realize that we are talking about life and death? The Gospel covers all of life. The Gospel prepares you for death. It doesn't just simply prepare you to have a good marriage, or well-adjusted children, or happy in your work, or whatever. It's much grander than that. It's much bigger than that. It's not only this world, but the one to come. It takes in all of it. And these sisters in the Lord, they saw the implications and they embraced them. Her faith. was commended as exemplary. We read about her in Hebrews 11.31. James talks about her having a justifying faith in James 2.25. We read about her, we'll look at it in just a moment, where she is listed in the genealogy of the Messiah himself. Here's a question for you. How much gospel did Rahab have? Well, the short answer is she had enough. She was saved. She's in this long line of godly men and one woman, Sarah. There's Abel and Enoch and Noah. There's Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and her name is right in that list. as having that marvelous saving faith. She had that understanding that God is a God of salvation, that God was gonna provide a salvation for her, that someone was coming who would be that great sacrifice, that great Messiah to take away my sins. And by faith, she trusted in God and she looked ahead to that hope. that was to come, just as we look back on the finished work of Christ. And so here's the question for you. What about you? Do you have that saving faith, that genuine faith? that you can say at the end of the day, I know and I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in Him and life and death, I've given my life over to Him. No matter what happens, I'm in His hands under His care. Nothing will separate me from His love. A final point this morning. is Rahab's obedient and blessed faith. You see, true faith ponders the gospel, it receives the gospel, and it expresses that faith outwardly, and it walks in obedience to the word of God. Now in verse 14 of chapter two here in Joshua, the man said to her, our life for yours even to death, if you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. Please don't speak of this to anybody. And you know what that says to Rahab? That says right now, Rahab, you must make a complete break with people, with friends, with the lifestyle. She literally forsakes all and embraces a new worldview. This was a life and death decision. And she, as we see by her actions, she made that decision. Kind of like what we read about Moses. Remember Moses? In chapter 11 of Hebrews, where we read, by faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Why? Well, he was choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Is that how you're identified with the people of God? Your faith in Christ? You are not gonna go out into the world and try to enjoy these pleasures of sin. There's a certain pleasure in sin until the hook gets a hold of you, and then you see the downside of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth. It was a riches to Moses to say, I believe in Christ, and no matter what you say about me, I glory in him. I glory in the cross. Greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. He left Egypt by faith, not fearing the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Rahab is a part of those who have that kind of faith. And she speaks to them again back in chapter two. And here's what she does. Look at verse 15. Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall so that she lived in the wall. And she said to them, go into the hills or the pursuers will encounter you and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterwards, you may go your way. She knew her way around there. This was her place, her territory. She told them exactly how they could escape. She's fully committed to this now. And they respond to her and they tell her, put a scarlet cord in this window, the one you let us down from, and stay inside and don't tell anybody about this. You must keep your family inside. If somebody in your family is wandering outside the walls of your house on this wall, then it will not be on us, it will be on them. It's interesting. Commentators go all over the place with the scarlet, the red cord. What does it mean? I can't give you the ultimate, final, definitive answer, but it makes me think of the Passover. When Moses is gonna lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, they take the blood and they spill it on basically the door jam of the house they're living in, so you can see that red blood. And then they're told to remain inside as the angel of death passes over them. So, they remained inside. The angel of death saw that blood, and it kind of illustrates where we are in Jericho, doesn't it? They saw the red cord, she and her family remained inside, and they were saved from destruction. And so, she said in verse 21, okay, I'll do it. And she went into action. And she tied that cord and she told her family, here's what's going on, you must stay inside with me. And she waited and she prayed inside and she kept her mouth closed. An obedient faith to the details of our faith. And she was blessed as a result. God honored her faith. In chapter 6, notice in verse 17 of chapter 6 of Joshua, the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her and her house shall live. because she hid the messengers that we sent. And then 22, the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said to them, go into the prostitute's house, bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore to her. And then I love verse 25, chapter six. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belong to her, Joshua saved alive, and she has lived in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out the land. She's honored, her faith is honored, her family and herself are saved, and God is pleased, Hebrews 11, six, when we believe in him. It's interesting, she is the only Gentile in the faith chapter. She is one of three women mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 1.5. Notice what that says, it's very interesting. And Salmon, the father of Boaz by Rahab. Rahab is the mother of Boaz and the father of Obed, okay? The son of Boaz is Obed by Ruth. And Obed, the father of Jesse, et cetera, moving to King David. And so you have these two Gentile women in this marvelous place of honor in that great genealogy. The Apostle James honors her by saying she had a true justifying faith. Her testimony to the spies is quite amazing when you think of the fruit that it bore. Back in verse 24 of chapter two, listen, and they, the two spies, said to Joshua, truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us. That's exactly what Rahab said to them. And they were encouraged by that. And they went back to camp, and they told Joshua. And the people of God were greatly encouraged through Rahab. Finally, her life testifies to future redemptive promise of salvation to the Gentiles' coming judgment. to the world. Back to the beginning, brothers and sisters, in conclusion, God saves all sinners, even prostitutes, who humbly come to Him by faith, giving themselves over to Him fully to do His will. Sanctity of human life Sunday. Millions, it's so sad and we cannot comprehend it, but millions of babies have been sacrificed on the altar of humanism. And God saves even those who kill their defenseless unborn child. by bringing them to a beginning faith, beginning to ponder what is this good news of the gospel as alternatives and other ministries get that gospel out to women in crisis. And these young women, and hopefully their boyfriends or whoever is responsible for this, hear the gospel and come to make a clear profession expression of faith, even entering into a life of obedience. Brothers and sisters, God calls us to bring the good news the transforming news of Christ to all sinners. God forgives sinners, the worst of sinners. God forgives sins. He's forgiven yours, he's forgiven mine, and now we have a job to do, a joyful calling of bringing good news to a dying world. Let's pray. Father, this is such great news. It's so difficult to express how wonderful and how marvelous as we read the Scriptures and we see your great, great mercies to sinners. And you have included us in your household. And I, we are amazed at your mercy, at your grace, at the expression of your love to us each and every day. Lord, use us as vessels, as those who will speak forth and live out the implications of the gospel each and every day of our lives. Help us to see that this is our calling. Where you have put us, where you have planted us, help us to be faithful to the jobs you've given to us. And in the being faithful and the working hard, may those want to know about why we live the life that we live. Help us to not only defend, but to explain the hope that is in us in Christ Jesus. Bless us even this week as we go forth from this place and look at many opportunities for gospel preaching and living. It's in Christ's name that we pray, amen.