Sermons.love Support us on Paypal
Contact Us
Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Dr. Tony Evans » Tony Evans - Rahab: The Deliverance of Faith

Tony Evans - Rahab: The Deliverance of Faith


Tony Evans - Rahab: The Deliverance of Faith
Tony Evans - Rahab: The Deliverance of Faith
TOPICS: Faith

What we've been doing is walking through the personalities of the Old Testament, as they've been written for us in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 11, and we've been touring, as in a museum, the Hall of Faith, and looking at the heroes. The men and women of renown, who God has placed for the New Testament church, out of the Old Testament Scripture for us to emulate when it comes to living by faith. As we now come toward the end of this series and the end of this chapter, we come across a most unlikely candidate for our faith museum. We come across a most unlikely hero for us to be analyzing, and that is a lady named Rahab the harlot.

Of all the people who are in this text, you would think she doesn't belong. First of all, she's a Gentile. She's not a Jew. She doesn't belong to the people of God by her historical background. She comes out of a world of pagan worship; but worse than all of that was Rahab's occupation. She's called Rahab the harlot. I mean, why couldn't God just say Rahab. Why you gotta tell us what she did for a living? She seems like an unlikely candidate for this Hall of Faith because we're told right off the bat, Rahab the harlot, in fact, chapter 11 verse 31 reads this way. "By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she received the spies with peace".

The story of Rahab that's summarized in chapter 11, verse 31 of Hebrews, is explained to us in chapter 2 of the book of Joshua. In the book of Joshua, we find out the story of this lady of the evening named Rahab. We talked about Joshua fitting the battle of Jericho and walking around the walls. Well, Rahab lived in Jericho. Joshua sent two spies into Jericho to spy out the land before they would take over the country through the supernatural power of God collapsing the walls. We're told in chapter 2 of Joshua, verse 15, that Rahab's house was built into the wall at the gate. So, as strangers went out or citizens came in, they would pass by the red-light district.

We're told in Joshua chapter 2, which gives us the story that's summarized in Hebrew 11 these words. "They sent two spies in, and they came to the house," verse 1 of chapter 2 of Joshua, "of Rahab the harlot and lodged there. It was told the king of Jericho, saying that these spies had come into Rahab's house". So, somebody saw the spies go into the harlot's home. So, verse 3 says, "The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, 'Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out the country.'" So, they not only were discovered, it was known why they were there. They were Israel spies who were trying to sneak into Jericho, and they snuck into this harlot's house, and somebody saw them and turned them in.

So, the king sent some messengers to get these guys. "But when they came, the woman took the two men," verse 4, "and hid them, and said to the people who came looking for them," verse 4, "'Yes the men came to me, and I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.'" That's called a lie. Girlfriend is telling a bold-faced lie. She had hidden them upstairs. When the king sent the men to get them, she said, "Oh, they left. They left just before dark. And if you hurry up, you might be able to find them". She lied. So, that raises the question, "When is it okay to lie"?

All right, 'cause I know some people think it's always okay to lie. Here you have a scenario with two sins on the table. The lie is a sin. The Bible calls lying a sin. Yet, at the same time, turning in these servants of God to be killed as spies would be a sin. So, you have two sins on the table, the same thing that happened in Exodus when the Hebrew wives gave birth and lied that the children came before the midwives could get there in time. It was a lie; and yet, the Bible says God blessed the midwives, and they lied. Whenever you have two sins on the table, and there is no other option, any option you take is a sin, then you must make the choice to choose the option that will bring God the greatest glory. Whenever you have two sins and those are the only options you have, then you must make the decision that God's name would be honored the most.

So, she makes the decision not to turn in the spies, and she'll tell you why in just a second. But to lie to the king and to his messengers, why does she choose the lie? She goes on to say, verse 9, she said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you this 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 Jordan". Verse 11. "And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted, neither did they remain any more encouraged in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is the God in heaven above and on earth beneath". She said, "We heard about y'all. More than that, we heard about your God. We heard about how he delivered you from Egypt, opened up the Red Sea, defeated the kings on the other side of Jordan. We have heard about your God. I have made the decision to align with you and your God".

Now, she was not given any more information than anybody else, 'cause she uses the plural, "we" and "us". "We heard, we were afraid. The message has been delivered to us. But in the middle of everybody knowing, I have made a different decision than everybody else. Everybody else wants to get rid of you, kill you, and destroy you. I choose to be identified with you; therefore, I will hide you". Okay, watch this. She made a decision against the culture because the culture had all heard about Israel, but she says, "I am not," watch this, "going to align myself with the culture. I'm going to align myself with the Lord". But because she made the radical decision to align herself with the Lord, even though that meant she would be disaligned with the culture, we still talking about Rahab today, and her name has been recorded in the Hall of Faith.

So, my question, first and foremost, by faith is who are you aligning yourself with? 'Cause if you're seeking the popularity of the world, you may go down with the world. If you're seeking the notoriety of the culture, you may go down with the culture. Every serious Christian comes to that place in life when you're going to have to choose the Lord or the crowd. You're going to have to choose the Lord or popularity. You're going to have to choose the Lord or notoriety. One of the realities of being committed to Christ is sometimes you find yourself by yourself, because everybody else had turned them down, but Rahab the prostitute made the decision, "I am going to align myself with God even though that means I will not be aligned with the culture".

After she makes her decision, she cuts a deal. She says, verse 12, "Therefore, in light of my decision to choose God, I beg you swear by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house. Give me a true token. Spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death". "So, the men answered her, 'Our lives for yours. If none of you tell this business of ours, it will be when the Lord hath given us this land that we will deal kindly and truly with you.' Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house was on the city wall and dwelt on the wall". She cuts a deal.

Now stay with me here. She says, "I chose God. I chose God over the culture. So, when God shuts this mama down, when God turns this place out, I want you to cover me and my family". She uses a Hebrew word, and it's translated in your Bible, "kindly". It's from a Hebrew word pronounced "chesed". Chesed refers to God's loyal covenantal covering love. It was God's covenantal word for how he would cover his people, the word "chesed," kindly. "I want you to cover me when God destroys Jericho". She wants to be covered, so she expresses the covering she wants by saying, "Protect me and the family," and the spies say, "Okay, I want you to bring all your family into your house. And when we shut this place down, everybody in your house will be covered". In other words, they won't collapse with everybody else. But watch this. She cut a deal. She cut a deal based on a decision. The decision was a faith decision 'cause she had to go against the culture in order to choose God. She made a faith decision and then cut a deal.

Okay, now, you heard me, but I don't know if you heard me. She made a faith decision, and then she cut a deal. That's not how we do it. We cut a deal, and then we say, "Now, God, do what I asked you to do; and if you do what I asked you to do, this is what I will do". But that's not faith. That's sight. Because you're not responding until he comes through. So, when he comes through, you promise him, "God, bless me with money, then I'll tithe. God, bless me with a new job, and then I'll represent you at work. God, bless me with this, and then I will", that's the wrong song. That's backwards Christian soldiers. No, no, no. She cut a deal after she made a faith choice. The faith choice must precede the deal. You want God to do something for you, with you, by you, from you before you've ever exercised any faith that you don't see yet. And without faith, it's impossible to please God.

God wants to see your faith before he'll cut your deal. He wants to see that you trust him without seeing, before he gives you something to see, which doesn't take faith now for you to respond to. Because without faith it is impossible to please God. He wants to see you take your step of faith without seeing him opening up the Red Sea, without seeing him opening up the Jordan River, without seeing him destroy Pharoah, without seeing how he's gonna do whatever he's gonna do next. He wants to know that you trust his integrity before you cut your deal. And so, she cuts the deal. They march around Jericho seven times on Saturday. They blow the trumpets, and the walls start collapsing, that except one piece of the wall 'cause verse 15 says her house was on the wall. So, when all the wall collapsed, there was just one piece of wall standing with her house attached to it. She got a miracle covering by God, a miracle covering by God. She was delivered.

One of the reasons why we are not experiencing more deliverance is God is seeing not enough faith. He's seeing Christians who live by sight. And if you live by sight, you're not living by faith. And if you're not living by faith, you won't see, or you'll be limited in what you see of the supernatural hand of God moving in your midst. But one of the most exciting things to see is when you live by faith, God responding to your faith because you made your decision up front. You trusted him in advance. And so, she not only saved her own life, says she saved her family's life. Chapter 6 of Joshua tells us that the walls came down. Rahab and her family were kept safe. And then it says that she was transported to Israel. Okay? So, we find in chapter 6 of Joshua, because Jericho has been destroyed, she's now transported, and now a prostitute becomes a proselyte. A proselyte is somebody adopted into the Jewish family.

So, a prostitute, a whore, a ho is escorted into the covenantal people of God. The prostitute becomes s proselyte. While in Israel, she meets a man. The man's name is Salmon. Let me tell you a little bit about Salmon. We're told in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, verse 51, that Salmon was the father of Bethlehem. I mean, he built the city of Bethlehem. So, girlfriend winds up in Israel and meets an affluent family, Salmon, who is the architect for a whole city of Babylon. Salmon falls in love with Rahab the prostitute. Salmon has to know she's a prostitute 'cause of the circumstances in which she came part of Israel and says that's not hidden in the Bible. Salmon falls in love and marries a prostitute.

Now, how do I know that Salmon fell in love and married a prostitute. 'Cause in Matthew chapter 1, verse 5, going through the lineage of Jesus Christ, it says, "And there was Salmon, who was married to Rahab". And through Rahab, they had a baby boy named Boaz. That shifts us to the book of Ruth 'cause Boaz is riding through the field, and he sees Ruth. He falls in love with Ruth. Boaz marries Ruth. Ruth has a baby named Obed. Obed has a baby named Jesse. Jesse has a baby named David, and David is the lineage of Jesus Christ. So, Rahab the prostitute, who becomes Rahab the proselyte, now marries an upscale family in Israel and becomes the great, great grandmother of King David and is written in Scripture as part of the high-class ladies in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

If God can take a prostitute, get her married off to somebody special, and put her in the lineage of Jesus Christ... I don't know what you did and how long you've done it. All I know is your past doesn't have to control your future. If God could ever get a hold of you, and you choose God over the crowd, God is able to take a mess and turn it into a miracle. Oh, but that ain't all. When James was writing his epistle, he came to chapter 2 of the book of James, and he wants to tell you faith without works is dead, beginning in chapter 2, verse 14. And he says faith without works is dead and he says, "Let me illustrate what I'm talking about".

The first illustration he comes up is with Abraham, and he says Abraham offered up Isaac by faith, but they wasn't words. He had to act on what God says, and he offered up Isaac to demonstrate the power of faith. He says, "Let me tell you another example," as he concludes chapter two. He says, "Let me tell you about Rahab, again, the harlot. She exercised faith when she received the spies and sent them out another way," and watch this. "You see, she was not justified by faith alone. She was justified by works". So, Rahab is used to give us another theological concept. It's called justification by works. That's what James called her.

Let me explain the difference. Justification by faith, what Paul talks about in Romans chapter 3 and Romans chapter 4, is where you trust Jesus Christ alone as your sin bearer, and you trust him for the forgiveness of sins, and you believe in him to give you the gift of eternal life. That's justification by faith, free of charge, by grace, through faith, nothing you can do to earn it. It's justification apart from works. You cannot earn a relationship with God. You must trust Christ, and he gives you forgiveness, and he gives you eternal life. That's justification by faith. But that's not what James is talking about. James is talking about a whole different justification. He talks about justification by works. That's different. When you accept Christ, that takes you to heaven.

Justification by works is when God brings heaven to you. Justification by faith is apart from works. Justification by works is faith demonstrated by function. And what faith demonstrated by function did was save her on earth 'cause she was protected. You see, many of God's children are living uncovered. You may have trusted Christ to go to heaven, but far too many of us will never see heaven until we get there, because there's no justification by works. Justification by works is when you act on your faith, which frees God up to respond to you in history, to respond to you in the nasty here and now, not just in the sweet by and by. It is when you declare, "I want to be identified with Jesus Christ, and I'm going to make my choices by faith, even though that means I'm soloing it. I'm against the crowd, and then I cut a deal with heaven for the needs I have on earth".

If you want to see God visit you in history, let him see some faith. Let him see you acting like he's telling the truth, even when you can't see any result. Let him see your faith, and then you'll see him work. Then you'll see him visit you in history. So, the message of Rahab the harlot is that God can work on your today, in spite of your yesterday, if you will choose him by faith that functions. I don't care how your past has crushed you, dirtied you, and tore you up. In the right hands, you still retain your value for a living God. Rahab the harlot's name, Rahab the harlot, Rahab the harlot, Rahab the harlot, Rahab the harlot.

"You keep telling me that she's a harlot". Because God wants you to know that no matter how messed up your past is, if you will choose him by faith over the crowd, over the circumstances, over the popularity, over the money, over whatever it is, if you will choose him by faith, his chesed covering is yours. Now what deal do you want to cut? I don't care how much dirt and trash that is in your yesterday, if you'll let the grace of God step on top of that, he can bring you out a better person than you ever knew you could be. Rahab the harlot tells you, it tells me God can reverse that thing, if he can get you to choose him by faith.

Most of us have to be delivered from something: from the repercussions of our history and background, abuse, misuse, from negative reputation and repercussions of decisions made in the past, delivered from dangers and needing help to get through adverse circumstances. The need for deliverance is a part of life. The beautiful thing is when we learn to live and walk by faith, we invite God's delivering presence and power into our circumstances, to flip them inside-out, upside-down, and even hit a bullseye with a crooked stick, turn the lemons of yesterday into the lemonade of today, turn our messes into miracles. Our God is a God of deliverance.
Comment
Are you Human?:*