Ever felt:
You were barely making it…Just hanging on…
Like the World in Which You Live was About to Crumble Around You…
Rope w/ a Knot @ End…
Hanging by a Thread?
Today - Look at a WOMAN - Literally Doing that…
Whole World is About to Collapse…
Her Entire Future Comes Down to a Thread…
Scarlet (RED) Cord = Difference of LIFE/DEATH!
Joshua 2:1- Joshua the son of Nun sent two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, & came to a harlot’s house, named Rahab, & lodged there. (4) And the woman took the two men, & hid them…(8) And before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof; And said to the men, I know that the LORD has given you the land, & the terror of you has fallen on us, & 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; & what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon & Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 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, & in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray, swear to me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father’s house, & give me a true token: And that you will save alive my father, & my mother, & my brethren, & my sisters, & all that they have, & deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if you utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly & truly w/ you. (17) And the men said, We will be blameless of this oath which you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet cord in the window which you did let us down by: & you shall bring your father, & thy mother, & thy brethren, & all thy father’s house, home. (21) And she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, & they departed: & she bound the scarlet line in the window.
PRAY
THINK @ IT
JERICHO
A Secular, yet religious society. With God being the least of all considered. Worship offered to 100’s IF NOT 1000’s of gods.
Well Fortified city…Chariots…Houses…
Joshua’s 1st Conquest…
NO Greater Book…VICTORY…Victory…
Right in the MIDST - HARLOT…PROSTITUTE… = Girl @ Corner of some dark spot in the City…
SELLS BODY for LIFE…
KNOWN by MOST…For WHO/WHAT She IS/DOES…
KNOWN AS/REMEMBERED AS “RAHAB the HARLOT”
NOT Exactly Whose Hands You’d Like to Place Your Life in…
WHO You’d THINK GOD Would Chose to Play a Part…
PROSTITUTE:
I’m Not Sure How You Can Get to the Point of Selling Your Body for a Living…
STUCK…SERIES of EVENTS…
LIFE = Series of ABUSES…FAILURES…WOUNDS…
DAYS HAVE LITTLE or NO MEANING…
NO REAL HOPE…JOY…LOVE…
THINGS MEANT to BE Something - Nothing…
People - Nobodies…
a HARLOT…
JUST Found Out What was Left of her World - DESTROYED…!
IF ANYONE - OUTSIDE Looking IN - Her…
If Anyone Has Reason to Be Concerned - Her…
YET - She’s about to Learn the Greatest Lesson of Her LIFE…
SOUL has been awakened in the Depth of Her Being of a WINDOW of OPPORTUNITY - HOPE About to Pass Her BY…
Breaking Up of the Hardness of Her Heart…
Awareness of GOD - Reality…Ability…Power…
v. her “gods”…
About to Exchange Her SHAME for GRACE…DEATH/LIFE…DARKNESS/LIGHT…
Rut…Knows there’s Something More than this - Yet Can’t Do anything about it…
FIND Out what Love is About…Life is about…Forgiveness…Hope…
FROM a Prostitute - Lineage of Jesus!!
FAITH is Spoken of in the NT Faith Hall of Fame…
TRUTH - Sometimes You Have to Get to the Bottom before You’ll LOOK UP!
NOT God’s WILL - The Course of Our Decisions…
RIGHT THERE -
With Nothing to Lose -
** TIES A ROPE HANGS ON…
NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU’D WANT TO DEPEND ON WHEN YOU’RE AT THE BOTTOM…
When You Live on a WALL - That is About to Crumble…
WHAT’S IT MEAN?
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN WORLD IS CRUMBLING AROUND YOU…
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN HANGING BY A THREAD
1. You Are Marked for Success
ALL Through the Bible -
We Find God going to Unlikely Places to Save Unlikely People - ALL Because He Had Chosen them…
Heard them…Saw them…Had Compassion on them…
Moses - Water/Death warrant…
Israel from Egypt…
David - from a giant…
3 Young Boys from a Furnace…
Daniel from a Lion’s Den…
Demoniac…Woman at the Well…Lepers…Funeral…
IT’S THE WHOLE REASON HE CAME TO EARTH!
Luke 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.
19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
SOMEHOW - God Found RAHAB & MARKED HER w/ His Favorite Color!
He Wants to Do the Same for You!
Mark You for SUCCESS!
I John 1:7 the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves…
2. The Power of Faith
Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
There Comes a time When You
Can’t See It…Have No Answers…
Nothing to Lose By Giving It ALL to GOD!
Rahab - With Nothing to Lose…Reached Out…Hid Them…Helped Them…SAW GOD!
**Without IT You Can’t Please God!
a. FAITH Hears From GOD
FAITH - Sees…Believes…Seizes…Braves…
LEADS US ON!
SOLUTION Based…
Deliverance is Possible from God…
FAITH Will Always Do What It Can
No More & No Less!
b. OBEYS God
ALL Through the Bible You Find People’s Lives Being Changed Because of their FAITH
Sometimes Faith Makes Sense
Sometimes It Doesn’t
You Can Know Your FAITH - Because FAITH Will Never Be OUTDONE By Your Actions…
You’ll Never DO More than Your Faith!
c. Waits on GOD - With Anticipation
Rahab - Tied the Rope the Day they Left…
DAILY Looking Out the Window…
Probably Still Having to “DO” to pay the Bills…
Nothing Changed AT 1st!
BUT 1 Day - She saw the Armies of the Lord Arrive…KNEW Her Deliverance was Coming!
**When You Have Faith You can Do What You Have to Do to Make It!
3. Victory Knows No Degree of Difficulty
We’re Serving a Big GOD!
Is. 59:1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
a. It Comes When We Least Expect It
b. It Comes from Where We Least Expect It
4. You Can’t OUTSIN God’s Love
Rom. 8:38,39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is NO DEGREE of SIN w/GOD
SIN = SIN
However:
Certain sins have greater Consequences…Stay with US Longer…
Hurt More People…
DO more damage - Even to SELF -
PROSTITUTION Would Have to Be one!
Don’t Believe in Self…
5. When You Can’t Get to God - He’ll Get to YOU!
Joshua 6:22,23 Joshua said to the two that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, & bring out the woman, & all that she has, as you swore to her. And the young men that were spies went in, & brought out Rahab, & her father, & her mother, & her brethren, & all that she had; & they brought out all her kindred, & left them without the camp of Israel.
**When You Can’t Get to God - He’ll Get To YOU!
6. You Can Do A lot With a Rope
a. Nothing
b. Bind Yourself - Even to the Point of Death
c. Wound Others
d. Find Freedom
· in God
· in Self
· Others
ROPE = GOD = JESUS/CROSS…
a. Nothing
b. Bind Yourself - Even to the Point of Death
c. Wound Others
d. Find Freedom
· in God
· in Self
· Others
I’m Not Trying to Offer a False Sense of Hope
Some Cords are Broken…
But I Don’t Want those that Have a “Glimmer” of Hope to Give Up…
But there are Some Here Today That Are Holding on by a Thread…
Children…Marriages…Homes…Salvation…Future…Stuff…Sin…Deliverance…$$…
When Hanging On By a Thread Joshua 2:1- Nov. 29, ’98
Ever felt like your world was about to crumble…Like you’re hanging by a thread?
Jericho…Joshua…Harlot…
Life a series of abuses…Failures…Wounds…Little or no meaning…
No real hope…Joy…Love…Things meant to be…
A harlot, yet she’s about to learn the greatest lesson of her life…
Find out what love is…Life is…Forgiveness…Hope…
From a prostitute to the lineage of Jesus!
Truth - Sometimes you have to get to the bottom before you’ll _______________
What you need to know when hanging by a thread:
1. You Are __________ for __________
All through the Bible, we find God going to unlikely places to save unlikely people….
It’s the reason He came to earth…Luke 9:56; 19:10
God found Rahab & marked her…He wants to do the same for you! I John 1:7
2. The Power of Faith Heb. 11:1
There comes a time when you can’t see it…No answers…Nothing to lose…
a. Faith _______________ God
Faith will always do what it can, no more & no less!
b. __________ God
Sometimes faith makes sense & sometimes it doesn’t
Your faith will never be outdone by your __________
c. __________ on God
Rahab tied the rope the day they left & nothing happened!
3. Victory Knows No __________ of __________ Is. 59:1
a. It Comes When We Least Expect It
b. It Comes from Where We Least Expect It
4. You Can’t __________ God’s Love Rom. 8:38,39
There is no degree of sin, however some sins have greater consequences…
5. When You Can’t __________ God - He’ll _______________ Josh. 6:22,23
6. You Can Do A lot _______________
a. Nothing
b. Bind Yourself - Even to the Point of Death
c. Wound Others
d. Find Freedom
Rope = God = Jesus Christ = Blood = _______________
