Joshua 2:1 -21 "When God Changes A Life."
A man was hired to take a census in the hills of Tennessee. He knocked on the door of a small cabin and a teenage girl came to the door. The man asked, "Is your mom home?"
"She ran off with a moon shiner." The man continued, "Is your father home?" "Nah, he pokes his head in once a month to take a bath." The man said,
"How about an older sister?" She said, "Nope, she's in jail for shooting at a sheriff."
The man asked, "Is your older brother home?" She said, "Nah, he's at Harvard." The man said, "Harvard? What's he studying?" girl said, "Nothing. They're studying' him."
I. She was Deformed 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Collins Dict.- 1. disfigured or misshapen or 2. morally perverted; warped
She was (a) Defiled (b) Dead (c) Doomed.- Man was made for fellowship with God.
A. The Down and Out - Mel Trotter was an alcoholic.(He Sold dead daughter's shoes)
B. The Up and Out - someone who seems to have everything but Jesus.
A person separated from God does not need reformation, but transformation.
He does not need a change of mind, he needs a change of heart.
He needs something done for him that he cannot do for himself.
He does not need to turn over a new leaf, he needs a new life.
II. She was Informed
A. She was Convicted by the People of God 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
B. She was Convicted by the Power of God 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
C. She was Convicted by the Person of God 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
III. She was Conformed -
Obedience To:- God’s Word, God’s Will, God’s Way
12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:
18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
I. It Speaks Of The Suffering Of Our Saviour
II. It Speaks To Us Of The Seriousness Of Sin
III. It Speaks To Us Of The Sacrifice For Sinners
IV. It Speaks Of The Simplicity Of Salvation Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Ex 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
IV. She was Transformed
James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
A. The Present Danger Alleviated
Judgment was only days ahead for the inhabitants of Jericho
Barber - Grace - Once Shaved Always Shaved
B. The Past Deeds Eliminated
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford.
The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four.
A year later, In 1871, every one of his holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.
Anna and her four daughters sailed to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. "Saved alone."
Horatio returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his hymn. (at the spot of drowning)
2 Kings 4:26. Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
C. The Positive Direction Inaugurated
1. A Blessing to those in faith (Spies) 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
2. A Blessing to those in her family 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.
3. A Blessing to those who followed - Matthew 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king;
She was in the family line of Boaz, Ruth, and was the great-great-grandmother of David.
My Father is rich in houses and lands, He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold, His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
I’m a child of the King, A child of the King: With Jesus my Saviour, I’m a child of the King
My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men, Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high, That we may be His, when He comes by and by
I once was an outcast stranger on earth, A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down, An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing: All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.
