Title: Victorious by Faith
Text: Joshua 2:1-24

As we look in to chapter two we see Israel preparing to enter Canaan, Joshua sends two spies across the Jordan to check things out. He especially wants to learn about the city of Jericho, which will be his first conquest.

Two weeks ago, as we began this book, I remarked that Joshua's life was an illustration of the power of faith, and how it taught us about victorious living. This morning we look at another person who was also victorious by faith. That person is Rahab.

Rahab is not someone who would generally be talked about in polite conversation. She is called a harlot in verse 1 and is known by that title in the New Testament as well. Today we would call her a prostitute, or worse.

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia some suggest the word means she was an innkeeper. This may be true as well because in the early days before Motel 6 the two professions were closely related. It would be wrong to think however, that she was just and Inn Keeper. The biblical narrative indicates that she wasn't one or the other but could have been both. Certainly it is clear from the New Testament that she was a prostitute.

I mention that because it helps us understand why and how the spies came to be at Rahab's home. It would be a place where two men could go, not necessarily for immoral reasons, but to find lodging without drawing too much attention to themselves. Also because it was located on the city wall it would provide a means of quick escape.

But, they did draw attention. The king found out about their presence and sent word for them to be turned over. Rahab, however, hid the two men and told the king's officers they had left the city and sent them on a wild goose chase.

Rahab's situation creates a moral dilemma because she deliberately lied to the king's men in order to protect the spies. Christian ethicists and theologians have wrestled with this problem for ages. A modern day comparison can be seen in the actions of Corrie Ten Boom in hiding Jews from Nazis in Holland in WWII.

One thing we know is the Bible is honest with us about events and people. It tells the truth without covering up. But, the Scripture never condones her dishonesty, never says a sin wasn't committed in this case. Rahab is never excused from her moral failures but she is commended for her faith.

The truth we see in the Bible is what Paul states so clearly in Rom 3: 10, and 23  "There is none righteous, not even one," "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (NAS)

The heroes of our faith are still men and women of flesh and blood born with the stain of sin, saved only by the grace of God who often have moral lapses and do things they should not do. Abraham did, Moses did, David did, Peter did.

The most important lesson we learn is as the Living Bible puts it ". . .the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God's abounding grace forgiving us."( Rom 5:20, TLB )

The grace of God is how did Rahab the harlot moved from the city walls of Jericho into the hall of fame of faith. Chapter two explains not only her journey, but how grace and faith work together to redeem sinners.

We discover first Rahab heard about God's deliverance v.10 "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 utterly destroyed. (NAS)

Today men and women must also hear the good news of God's deliverance. Rahab heard how God delivered the Israelites by parting the waters of the Red Sea. She heard how God delivered them in battle against the Amorites.

People need to hear how God works in our lives. They need to hear how God has delivered you from the wages of sin. They want to hear and see the evidence of God presence in your life and in your church. They want to hear how God is working now, not just how God worked in the past. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." ( Mark 16:15 NAS) The word preach in that verse means to herald, not that everyone is to be a preacher, but that everyone who is a believer is to be a herald is proclaim openly what the Lord has done for them, that people might hear.

The church is losing influence in the world because believers don't share what the Lord has done for them. There are many reasons we don't share, but the overwhelming evidence is that we don't. But people need to hear of the Lord's deliverance and they can't and won't unless we tell them.

The second thing Rahab did was believe. Verse 11 "And when we heard {it,} our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." (NAS)

Rahab recognized what she heard was truth and that Yahweh was, as the psalmist said, Lord of Lords and God of gods. Victorious faith requires belief, not just recognition. It's one thing to recognize Jesus was an historical person, that he died on a cross even that he arose from the dead those are historical facts. The belief of faith moves us beyond mere recognition of facts to absolute certainty of the supernatural implications of the historical facts.

When Paul writes in Rom 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (NAS) He is saying you must move beyond mere recognition of fact to belief that Jesus is Lord by the purpose and will of God and that He not only arose from the dead but that God supernaturally raised him, and that belief results in salvation. Rahab's confession demonstrated she had moved beyond recognition to faith.

A third thing we see is something we saw in chapter one. Faith requires us to do something. In Rahab's case it was protecting the spies. She hid them, she lied for them and she helped them escape this city by lowering them down a rope through the window of her house.

James uses Rahab in his discussion of faith in James 2:24-26.  James wrote "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without {the} spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." (NAS)

We have talked about this passage before because some believe James is talking about a works based salvation in opposition to Paul. However, that's not what James is saying at all.  Dr A. T. Robertson explains the term translated "is justified" in verse 24 in the Greek is present passive indicative and does not mean "is made righteous," but "is shown to be righteous." James is discussing the proof of faith, not the initial act of being set right with God. (from Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament) In the same way verse 25, as a proof of what he says in verse 24, tells us that Rahab was shown to be righteous, or demonstrated the reality of her faith, by the what she did in protecting the spies.

Then in verse 26 he points out the reality that when faith ceases to be active it is just like the body without the spirit or without breath it is dead. Our faith must be active alive faith for us to grow and mature as individual believers and for our church to grow and to be alive faith must be active.

The illustration of the muscles of the body is another example of what James is talking about. When you cease to use the muscles in your body they lose their strength. You see that in a person who has been in an accident and confined to wheelchair for any period of time how weak the muscles become and if it is a long period of time the degenerate and are for all practical purposes dead. When faith is not exercised it also degenerates and dies and becomes worthless. That's what Jesus meant when he talked about the salt losing it's saltiness and becoming worthless. We must continue to have a dynamic, active faith that we not become worthless and dead.

Victorious faith is also obedient faith. Rahab was obedient in the demonstration of her faith by hanging the scarlet thread out her window so when Israel attacked Jericho she would be spared.

Our entire lives as Christians must be characterized by obedience to the will of our Lord. It begins when we place our trust and faith in Him and continues until we meet Him in glory.

Obedience faith is victorious faith. We learn in chapter 6 Rahab was victoriously delivered from destruction. She married into the nation of Israel and became part of the genealogy of the Messiah, the mother of Boaz, as well as being a part of the hall of fame of faith in Heb 11.

Obedience leads us to victory as well. We hear, we believe, we demonstrate the reality of our faith, we are obedient to the will of our Lord. Our hymn of invitation this morning says there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. No other way to be happy to be joyful, to be victorious than to trust in Jesus and obey His will. How about you, are being obedient to Him in you life? If not the we invite you this morning to trust and obey.

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