Topic: Sunday Sermon Series – Living By Faith
Text: Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.- NIV
Title: Joshua’s Conquering & Rahab’s Saving Faith! (Part 1)
Intro: We have been walking through the 11th chapter of Hebrews in order to see what a “real, vibrant, biblical, saving faith” looks like in not only the good times, but in the hard times, in the face of tests, trails, tribulations, problems, persecution and pandemics!
The importance of faith cannot be overstated! Not only does the bible say…
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.
But the bible says:
A) We are saved by it!
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
B) Justified by faith
Rom 5:1: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1.,That means declared righteous and acquitted of our sin!
Mark 2:5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven‘.
D) Sanctified by faith
1. Paul in his testimony said that Jesus said this:
Act 26:18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me
E) Shielded by it
Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
F) Kept by it!
1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. -KJV
G) Can move mountains by it!
Mark 11:22-24: And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
H) Conquer kingdoms by it!
Hebrews 11: 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
I) The POINT OF THIS ALL IS TO REMIND US: That we are to live by it!
Hebrews 10: 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
38 And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Transitional statement: Our scripture passage presents to us in vivid detailed a picture of two vastly different individuals, on two different sides of this dramatic event’s fence. Yet it shows that by faith in God, one conquered, and one survived the conquest! Reminding us that it is faith that is difference maker in the battles of life!
One component of a faith that conquers begins with the proper:
I. Foundation:
A) Joshua? (Bit of a review from last week)
1. The promises of God!
2. The perseverance of men!
Joshua 1: 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
Hebrews 6:12b do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. – NKJV
3. The predetermination of God?
a) Predetermination is defined as the ordaining of events beforehand.
b) Point is that God had predetermined their plot of land: their territory!
Joshua 1:4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
c) God has predetermined our boundaries and territory!
Acts 17:26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
4. The presence of God!
Joshua 1: 5a No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life…
Q: Why?
Joshua 1: 5b As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
a) The presence of God (God going before you, with you) is essential to entering into the promised land!
b) You’ll recall the failure of the first generation in the wilderness?
Numbers 14: 9 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!” 41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,
5. The disposition of being strong and courageous!
Joshua 1:6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
GNT- Be determined and confident
a) And he says it 3x’s so that we don’t miss it!
Joshua 1:6a Be strong and courageous,
Joshua 1:9b Be strong and courageous.
Joshua 1:18b be strong and very courageous!”
b) Being strong and courageous is also a NT command!
1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. – NIV
c) Basis of our Strength and Courage?
Joshua 1: 7a “Be strong and very courageous. Joshua 1: 7b Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
c) Obeying the Word of God!
i. Doing life God’s way!
NLT - Then you will be successful in everything you do.
ESV- you may have good success wherever you go.
Joshua 1:8a Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips;
c) The picture is that of vocalizing the Words of God!
i. Make it the center piece of your conversation!
ii. Shall not depart from your mouth means that this book of the law should be a constant topic of your conversation.
Joshua 1:8b meditate on it day and night,
Meditate – ????? -hagah
1) To moan, growl, groan, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, imagine
Bruce Hurst - Meditation is the act of focusing one’s thoughts, of pondering, of reflecting, and of reviewing various thoughts by mulling them over in the mind and heart. The picture is one of "chewing" upon a thought, deliberately and thoroughly, providing a vital link between theory and action.
c) This is verified in this statement:
Joshua 1:8c so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
d) Simply put - There is a direct connection between meditating (thinking) and doing!
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
e) Ok so maybe you thinking “I’m to be strong, and courageous, but isn’t there a place for caution?
I suppose: Once you laid the foundation you flow into…
II. Preparation :
Joshua 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare….
A) Physical preparation:
1. Provisions
Joshua 1:10b provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. – NIV
B) Spiritual preparation?
1. Has to do with:
III. The Interregnum - A pause or interruption in continuity.
A) Pause?
Joshua 1:10b for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’
1. Wait for three days?
a) Pause is a part of spiritual preparation!
B) Purpose?
1. Back in Exodus you see that this was the period required for ritual purification.
Exodus 19: 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.-NIV
C) Point?
1.. Waiting of God is a vitally important principle of the victorious Christian life!
Isaiah 40 (NKJV)
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
3. But those who wait -???????? (w?·qo·w·yê)
a) to wait, look eagerly for, hope in, expect , lie in wait for, linger for.
D) Principle?
Psalm 37:9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
G. L. Jarman. - Resting in the Lord is the secret of the highest life, the truest strength and the richest blessedness.
Mark Wheeler - One of the important exhortations of the Bible is the call to “wait on the Lord.” Even though God promises special blessing for waiting, waiting is one of the most difficult exhortations of Scripture. Why is it so hard? Because, as a part of fallen humanity, we are so prone to take matters into our own hands, to follow our own schemes. Yet, over and over again we are told in Scripture “wait on the Lord.”
Matthew Henry- A fretful, discontented spirit is open to many temptations.
FB Meyers – "You can never reach the blessed life by resolutions, or pledges, or forms of covenant; your good self is as powerless now as your bad self was formerly; you must learn that your strength is to sit still, and that the rich blessings of God stored in Christ for you are an absolute gift to be received by the outstretched hand of faith.
E) Perspective?
1. We need to see on the idea of “pausing.”
2. It is found in the meaning of the word “wait” in the Old Testament!
a) Hebrew qavah. Qavah means (1) “to bind together” (perhaps bya) twisting strands as in making a rope), to pull together.
F) POINT ?
1. GOD WANTED JOSHUA TO WAIT BECAUSE HE WAS “PULLING SOMETHINGS, TYING SOMETHINGS TOGETHER” THAT JOSHUA AND ISRAEL HAD NO IDEA OF!
2. THE SALVATION OF A HARLOT AND HER FAMILY!!
IV. The Investigation :
Joshua 2:1a Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.”
A) Spies?
1. What? Why would he do that?
2. Didn’t he remember what happened with the spies 40 years ago?
Numbers 13:1 The Lord said to Moses 2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."
Numbers 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
3. And the Israelites cried out in unbelief and thus forfeited entering the land?
a) Why spies? Isn’t that a major mistake?
V. The Consideration:
A) Consider this:
1. At this point God never told him how they would possess the land?
a) Everywhere you set your foot?
b) We have to go out and get it don’t we?
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter. -CSB
c. I think it had to do with gathering of vital information:
d. A wise military leader, will gather information concerning the layout of the enemies camp, their defenses, their morale, and other factors that would be effect an attack?
e) Two spies is also acknowledging the principle:
Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
B) Contrast:
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges - The contrast between the glory of God and that of the king lies in this - that whereas both God and the king desire man's welfare, the former promotes this by making him feel his ignorance and littleness and entire dependence upon this mysterious Being whose nature and designs mortals cannot understand.
1. Again God was up to something that the forces of Israel could not at that time understand!
V. The Salvation produced by faith!
