May 12 - 13, 2007 HEROES! Hebrews 11: 25, Selected

RAHAB - PROSTITUTE HELPS GOD!

(Senior Pastor Roger Storms)

The Common Denominator of God’s Heroes is FAITH!

*** Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”
[New American Standard Version]

*** Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” [New International Version]

*** Joshua 2:1-21 “Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” [NIV]

God is far more interested in your future than your past!

*** Joshua 2:8-11 “Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. [9] "I know the Lord has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone is living in terror. [10] For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. [11] No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”
[New Living Translation]

• She Didn’t Have: the right FAMILY!

• She Didn’t Have: the right PROFESSION!

• She Didn’t Have: the right INTEGRITY!

• She DID Have the right FAITH!

*** Joshua 2:12-13 “Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families." [NLT]

*** Joshua 2:17-18 “Before they left, the men told her, "We can guarantee your safety only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house.” [NLT]

And all this because of her FAITH!

*** Hebrews 11:30-31 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” [NIV]

God is in the business of turning sinners into saints!

*** James 2:25-26 “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” [NIV]

It’s Faith that ACTS that makes the difference!

*** Joshua 2:21 “So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.” [NIV]

*** Matthew 1:1, 5-6, 17 “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:…[5] Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, [6] and Jesse the father of King David. [17] Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.” [NIV]

This former prostitute saved the world “By Faith!”

*** Ephesians. 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God….” [NIV]

From a Zero to a Hero…BY FAITH!