Taffi Dollar - The God of Second Chances - Part 1

Watch
Donate

You know, we’ve been studying David and we’ve been studying the men of God in the Old Testament. We’ve been looking at different people and the things that they’ve gone through in their lives so that we could begin to glean from it. David was a man who wasn’t perfect. David was one who the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart. And you know, people look at the outward appearance, people look at the mistakes you make, people look at the flaws. They’ll begin to amplify maybe areas of your life, maybe your age or maybe your past, all kinds of things to even disqualify you or to discredit you. And so in spite of David’s brothers, his family who had disqualified him and said that, «You know, you just need to stick with the sheep and stay out there where you are, and you’re too young and inexperienced and untrained to be where we are».

And so David didn’t allow that to face the giant in his life. He didn’t allow that to keep him from being used by God and to understand the importance of that. And so we wanna look at some other examples today. I am blessed because I have always studied the life of Rahab in the Old Testament and I wanna spend some time with it as it relates to what we wanna talk about today and what we wanna title this is, is «The God of Second Chances». «The God of Second Chances». I don’t know about you, I’m thankful that he is the God of not just the first chance but the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, a hundred, a thousand, a million chance and it just keeps going on, and on, and on, because he is so full of love and so full of grace.

And it just amazes me because as a parent, as a wife, as a mother that I can begin to tap in through his example as a Heavenly Father, and as a earthly parent to try to model that same love, to model that same grace, to forgive and to give chances over, and over, and over again. And it’s just so wonderful to be able to see God’s love as it relates to how he used David, how he used Moses, how he used the Apostle Paul, how he used Saul. The list goes on, and on, and on. How he used Joseph. I mean, it was no one that didn’t make mistakes because we’re human and we’re gonna make mistakes but yet God was able still to allow them to get to that place, to fulfill the will of God for their life. And so we may just go ahead and jump into this.

Let’s turn over to the Book of Joshua and we’re gonna look at where we see some of the things that reference this woman who trusted God in the Old Testament. And so let’s start in chapter 2 and then we’re gonna go through up to chapter 6. Now, this is a story of a woman who as we know, if we don’t know, she was a woman who was a prostitute and prostituted herself for a long period of time and made a decision that in spite of that she was going to trust God.

And so let’s look at chapter 6 verse 23, chapter 6 verse 23. And we’re gonna look at this from the New Living Translation and then we’re gonna look at a couple of scriptures from the Message and look over at how the Bible describes her in Hebrews as even, you know, her being a prostitute, that she was included with the heroes of faith, think of that. Think of that, that she was recognized in that way. So it says here in Joshua chapter 6 verse 23, «The men who had been spies,» There were some spies who had come and needed to be hidden and she made herself available to hide them. It says, «The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, brothers and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family».

So not just her, but all her parents «To a safe place». Somebody say «Safe place». «They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel. Then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord’s house». And so we see here that because she was willing to give up herself as she had a place to hide those who were spies and then as a result of that she was able to put this scarlet red piece of fabric out and then they bypassed her. And as a result, she was preserved and she was kept safe. And so, you know this was the thing that caused her to be recorded as one of the heroes of faith, amen.

Now, let’s look at this here. God saves those with a past. No matter what our past whispers to us, no matter what our past holds, our past is a reason why Jesus was born. So God will save to the uttermost people like Rahab, people like ourselves with a past. And so Rahab had come across and she is one who the Bible speaks of and we know her profession. We don’t know why she chose to be a prostitute or prostituted herself, you know, in this day of time, was considered the adult entertainment world. But she came, maybe she came from a place of brokenness or childhood trauma which I see in many instances.

Women who choose that style of life, perhaps there’s some situation from the past or, you know, I don’t think that a woman would just decide, «Hey, I’m gonna be a prostitute,» but I think circumstances and situations, many instances lead to that. Maybe her past was one of pain or abuse that left her trapped by disrespect and shame. Maybe Rahab had been rejected or abandoned or made a choice but night after night, we know and we see that this was the decision and this was her life. So the good news today is that no choice we ever make, no scars ever inflicted can keep us from the saving grace of God. Our past is never good enough to earn God’s salvation nor enough to keep us from it.

So number one, I want us to understand this morning that God saves those with a past. God saves those with a past. We all have a past. And like Creflo was saying the other day, we just choose not to live in the past. I’m sure Rahab, you know, when she was presented with this situation, or maybe it was an opportunity to save the spies, people around her may have thought, «What is she doing? She’s a prostitute. Who does she think she is? Why in the world would a prostitute choose to get involved in this situation»? But for whatever reason, she made up in her mind that she would be a blessing and that she would get involved.

And then as a result of her choice and her decision, it saved her family and kept everybody safe. Not just her, she wasn’t thinking about herself but it saved her parents, it saved so many things to the point that everything else that wasn’t affiliated with her was burned down. And so I applaud her in the fact that she trusted God despite her past, despite where she had come from, whatever trauma, if there were trauma, brokenness or whatever led her into that but God was so important to her, to the point where she was willing to trust him and to allow him to use her.

And as a result, we see her name even included in the genealogy of Jesus. When we look at Matthew and we look at the genealogy through which Jesus came, the lineage and how he was birthed into the earth, Rahab is mentioned there and we’ll look at that in a minute but God will save those with a past. That’s good news this morning. And so, you know, we think so many times that our past has to be squeaky clean, that I have to just do everything right, dot every I cross every T before God will use me. But you know what? If God can use a prostitute, how many of you know God will use whoever makes themselves available? Whoever chooses to trust in him but it begins by making a decision, making a quality decision that I’m going to live this life and use my life as a sacrifice.

Look at what he says here in Romans chapter 12 verse 1, as it relates to being used by God. Romans 12 verse 1 says, «I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice». And see, the thing I love about Rahab is the fact that she was willing to sacrifice herself when she took in the spies. Because after the spies had been taken in, they came to her. They were looking for the spies. She had put herself in danger by making this decision. But you know what? She was willing to do what she felt needed to be done at the time. To present herself, her body «As a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service». So the first stage of finding God’s will for our lives just like Rahab was able to find God’s will for her life, she was able to be considered one of the heroes of faith, is by becoming a living sacrifice. Holy acceptable unto him as we read here.

And so number two, God uses those with a past. He will use those with a past. We looked at David, we looked at many people in the Old Testament. Moses, how he got himself in a situation where someone was murdered but in spite of that, he was able to be used because he trusted God, he renounced his past, he had an assignment on his life. And just like Moses, Rahab made the decision to do the same thing. God used Rahab mightily despite her past. In the first battle to conquer The Promised Land, God used Rahab to not only save the spies but to save her family, which we just read in verse 23. And so God had even more for Rahab. God used Rahab to shape the character, faith, and godliness of a man named Boaz who would one day rescue a young Moabite.

Let’s look at that situation here over in Matthew chapter 1. Book of Matthew chapter 1 and we’ll look at how it’s included here. I think it’s down in verse 15. Matthew 1 verses 1 through 5. Chapter 1 verse 1 through 5, verse 1 through 5, thank you. Now, «The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,» the book of, it shows how «Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac, Jacob, Jacob begat Judah, Phares and Zara of Thamar,» let’s go to verse 4. «Aram, Aminadab,» so forth and so on. It sees here «And Naasson begat Salmon». Look at what it says here in verse 5. «And Salmon begat Boaz,» that should be Boaz. «Of Rahab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse».

So isn’t it interesting how of all the people that could have been a part of Jesus’s lineage, he used Rahab to be a part of how the Son of God, the Christ would be birthed into the earth. The fact that there were probably more noble people who maybe didn’t have a past like Rahab, who maybe were not flawed as much as Rahab maybe not scarred from having so many relationships with men but the fact that God would choose someone like her and mention Rahab because he used her in spite of her past and to the point where Boaz was born. And we know Boaz was engaged to Ruth and married Ruth and they had kids and things like that. And it’s just shows and attest to the power of God. And once we begin to understand God’s will for our lives that we too can be used by God in spite of our past.

Many of you sit here today and you walk with the Lord and you figure, «Can God use me»? My answer to you is yes, emphatically yes. He will use whoever makes themselves available. And the enemy wants us to discredit ourselves, discount ourselves to count ourselves out, and God says, «No, count yourself in». Because when we understand the past, and the shame, and the condemnation that the enemy wants to bring on, the mind and to cause one to think that they’re unusable, that causes us to make a decision that we have to lean, rely, and trust in God and to abandon this ability in and of ourselves to be able to do God’s will but because we can do it through God, he’ll be able to work through us.

And so Salmon is the father of Boaz and Rahab is his mother. So Rahab was saved, she was a part of this. In fact, let’s look at a of couple things concerning her life. Turn over to James chapter 2 verse 25. James chapter 2 verse 25. God wants to use you more than you wanna be used. He wants to use you more than you want to be used. If you make yourself a living sacrifice and commit your life to the Lord, he will start developing your talents and directing you as soon as you get usable, God will use you. And let it just be a living testimony. I never had imagined that I would be before you today sharing scriptures and talking about the Lord just is a living testament to God’s grace and his power that he will use you, he will save you and he will do it in a way that is unimaginable.

So look at what it says here in James chapter 2 verse 25. It says, «Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way». Look at this in the New Living Translation. It says that she’s the harlot that was justified. It says «Rahab the prostitute is another example». Because I know sometimes, you know, in the church we wonder why, you know, do prostitutes have a place? Do the drug dealer have a place? Does the thug have a place? It’s like, you know what, who are we to determine who God can use and who is welcome into the house of the Lord? He says, «Rahab the prostitute is another example». I want her to be an example for you this morning.

You know, some people might say, «Well, you know, I can’t learn anything from a prostitute». Well, the Bible says, and mentions her and describes what she did and we can learn from her example. Of course, we’re not elevating and making it something to glamorize but the Bible talks about how she was shown to be right with God by her actions. She was shown to be right with God, think of that. That she was justified despite her past, with what she had done, the men that she had done it with. It says that she was right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers. Talking about the spies that we were just reading about in Joshua chapter 6. When she hid those spies and sent them safely away by a different road.

And so we see here that the scripture says that she was right with God. Somebody say, «I am right with God». And when we receive Jesus as our Lord and as our personal Savior, we got to remind ourselves that I am right with God. When he comes and moves on the inside of us, «I am right, I have the opportunity to be an example. I have the privilege by which my life can minister to someone else, that it could be used to change someone else’s life». And so that’s what Rahab was able to do. And so we must understand the will of God because she trusted God. We need to get to a point that we’re not doing what we do out of our own ability, out of our own strength but getting to a place where we do what we do through the power of God like she did, where she trusted God. And then as a result, God was able to trust her and use her.