Rahab – No Longer a Wasted Woman (Part B)

The great part of being not only born again what Jesus taking you any immersing you in the third part of the trip, immersing you and God immersing you the spirit of God, and again, why should he do it anyone who is going to undervalue that claim.

Salvation the same time so I encourage you to not under value what God wants to do to you and for you. This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.

Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Genesis.

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Pastor Rick will begin in Hebrews chapter 11 and he will be teaching part two of his study called Rahab no longer a wasted woman.

The most important thing they had to gain was obedience to their God is when everything was back everyone was trying to be obedient to their God which brand pick one true process of elimination, you could easily arrive at the conclusion that God is wrong one because that God kills Leanna sent. That's why to look at Islam and says they think there's anything redeeming about it when in its own writings, they support the violence that they produce is just very simple. What is God and that's not right.

That is not consistent with my idea of a supreme being who is good that is consistent with my idea of an evil being, but not a good one, and it was it is not changed in all this time and this very simple way of looking at things is I think one of the first things the devil targets when he locks down an individual so that they cannot become free. But before we get to that part of the net as I hopefully I've saved the most powerful part of the message. If I may say so myself to the end.

But in the middle. There's building up to this is so much to glean so much to be reminded of talking about what Rahab saw how she saw. She saw what God was going to do before she even knew it was God showing her what he was doing and going to do. She was being exposed to divinity. True divinity at these fake gods that littered the landscape of Jericho and all of Canaan and everywhere else.

This was different, and though she was being drawn in and enjoying it still didn't understand. Joshua sent two spies into the land he wasn't going to go through this okay. Let's vote on it and no to yes.

This is not up for a congregational vote. This is an executive decision is executive being God we going to take this land. I need to good men to go in and I need them to choose for me, high-value targets so we can get the show on the road and descends to man in whom he knows our righteous men. Not only are they stealthy and and why is with their righteous be part of the story, not men like just capable like like Joab, Joab was very capable never killed everybody in the city. One of his homicidal fits, but is not a man like Joab.

These two men were spies. That was their mission. They were righteous and they impressed Rahab enough to begin to give her a hold and so he sends these two men and as I mentioned, they kindled her hope. There was a dread working in her. She already knew this, they didn't really care. They go to the house of the harlot because it's also in in and will. Where else are they going to go into the city.

That was the hotel that I can go to the mayor's office hi were spies from Israel without the copy we just want to see your defenses so it's not like they were doing something wrong by going to her house. This was how it was done does not mean that they engaged her services, not at all that would be diabolical thought and certainly not from the Scripture, but of all those again in Jericho. She alone saw beyond its destruction and saw beyond and entered beyond by faith. She entered beyond by faith as all those who have faith will enter and that is what Hebrews 11 is all about all these people struggle with their personal struggles of the flesh, yet they saw beyond this life and they are now in the next life in glory.

The time that Hebrews written they were no longer in paradise. They were with Jesus in heaven and that's where they are now. That's where every one of us who believe we are going. Also money at this about the Holy Spirit in this being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Bible teaches, there are cases where a person can be saved and not filled with the Holy Spirit, but I believe that is less than what God wants because it is less you can do through it. But the real evidence of being infused or immersed in the Holy Spirit and therefore infused by him is the love of Jesus Christ and the desire to do whatever he wants you to do that is the great part of being not only born again but Jesus taking you any immersing you in the third part of the Trinity immersing you and God immersing you the spirit of God, and again, why should he do it anyone who is going to undervalue that claim. Salvation the same time so I encourage you to not under value what God wants to do to you and for you and if you've experienced this filling of the Holy Spirit in the past and and but now it's kind of of Pittard out all you need do is come for refill. You just need to call out and say Lord again fill me not not immerse me again your bets and one-time event but refill me refit me for action power of your Holy Spirit is window spies showed up at her door. She knew this was her one chance she knew it.

And as she began to talk with these men. She knew that they were men that she could indeed engage. They were like all the others that would come to her door. These two men were different, that alone.

That alone is significant. It tells the power of God that we can block if we're not careful.

It also tells of the power of God can be unleashed if we are careful and I love that part about the story because these two spies you know there were two angels sentence Sodom they couldn't save the place they destroyed two spies and at the Jericho, they could say the place, but they could get out of Jericho, Rahab and her mother and her father and her sisters and her brother brothers and their the two witnesses that will come to earth. They can save this place, but they are used to extract out of the great tribulation. The great tribulation saints who otherwise would have been doomed with everybody else. So these lessons of God there there all over the place. One of the problems is when I'm struggling one.

Maybe it's a time of boredom in my life or time of waiting, which is very difficult when you have all of this energy for God knows times were formidable those times. Since Satan can shoot us in the ankles were not careful, it sweeps off her feet have to learn how to weight the right way for God and he do that yet the sea was beyond just the weight you can't think about what what if I don't, you have to trust in what you do what is what has already happened and that has to be sufficient but I'm getting ahead of myself will come to that when we talk about Mrs. Lott but now I mention this was her one chance I asked you to turn to Joshua chapter 2 Joshua chapter 2 verse verses nine through 11 speaks about her hesitation and there we read, and said to the men. This is Rahab speaking to the two spies I know that the Lord has given you the land that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land or fainthearted because of you that you two guys what you Israel, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea. That's all story for value to the right Red Sea for you pause there with me. I know I'm interrupting a lot of this, but I can't help the commentary. God dried up the sea for the people of God, but he didn't dried up for the people along with God. That's what he does. He makes a distinction between those who are his. And those who are not, and it is really just that simple. She says he dried up the water of the Red Sea, so if for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan Sihanouk who knew utterly destroyed. Notice her emphatic statement you blew the guys away. That's how we would say today to defeat them utterly wiped them out. I'd love to see her eyes when she prays those words, they probably squinted just to squeeze out the emphasis because this was something that was real to all of them because now these men with their passes by, other stories about the Amalekites and the all the other people of the wilderness of the Jews dealt with verse 11 and here's his will we find out what was going on inside her head. Before this moment, and as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did they remain any more courage and anyone because of you know what she's saying is I was part of that team. I didn't like that you showed up there was no more courage. It made everything failed because you were the enemy, but she's not talking to them now as an enemy, she couldn't risk her life with these guys for Yahweh your God, he is in heaven above and on earth beneath, and there's a great confession of faith for her to say such a thing been a capital crime, but she said it because she has been converted. God was moving her to this place had now that she has got these two Hebrew men in her dwelling place in her home. She can see for herself that they're not monsters or something more to this she wants she's ready for because Jericho did her no favors. She had become a failure in the city she know it wasn't right. This is what I want. My mom had in store for me. She raised me as a little girl's was a divine opportunity and it fell right into her lap and she was savvy enough to realize didn't have to. She could blew the whistle ratted them out. She could've been like Delilah she could gain momentary wealth, momentary monetary gain but she did not she saw chance to live a chance to start all over again to get out of the city. These people and the sin that is everywhere. She had a heart she cared about her mom and dad.

She cared about her brothers and sisters that man when she saw child sacrifice.

To me this is this didn't sit right was more to her than this should chance to learn of the only true God, and these men with a link chance to be free from the shame and the guilt and the filth she knew it chance to no longer be a waste of a woman in a failure. No more. I cannot identify with no longer being a waste of a woman, but I can certainly do identify with no longer being a waste of a man and that's that that's what this real to me and that's what it should be for any man. And this is what it should be for any woman when we understand that this is what's going on. She needed she wanted to get away from her past. For good because her past was no good.

A lot of people do that. A lot of people try to make excuses for the past so that they can continue with their past and their present. This is again the case with lots wife, Mrs. Lott, this Rahab risked everything on the basis of a deep spiritual discovery. I emphasize the word deep because that's what it was book with me at verse Joshua chapter 2 verses two through four and it was told the king of Jericho, saying, behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country for the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying bring out the men who have come to you who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country, then the woman took the two men and hidden them, so she said yes, the band came to me, but I did not know where they were from and it happened as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out with the men went. I do not know pursue them quickly for you may overtake them give her an Academy award. She's line is wrong and there is no way to justify line what God is bigger than her lie. I almost cringed to say that because if there is a Christian who was flirting with some Sam they may take that as their out and continue to sin as though it were not a big thing with God.

The puny list of sin, the sin of size of the fleet is enough to dam one soul to one eternity in hell without out. This is called conviction.

If you are the guilty one. She was convicted she not grown that far yet they they had some work to do with her common sense would say she did the right thing but we do not walk by common sense its supernatural sense God knew she was going to lie, so he allowed things to run their course, if she had made up her mind to tell the truth God would've done something differently to protect or to protect the spies. It is nothing for him to do what he does as Jericho is going to soon find out. As she already knows but she's just not yet developed it and that will come out in a moment. Also, unlike the Lott family the Lott family. A man named Lawton his family who lacked depth. Therefore, they lacked want to act as a higher see this is the depth of her spiritual discovery gave her a desire to get out to get right with God is God, that she had talked to them about they had to be impressed. I mentioned I love the world I would've loved to watch her eyes as the words left her mouth I would've then quickly glanced over at the two men and looked at their eyes as they listen to her recite for them what God had done it had to be impressed.

They had seen him this is a divine movement.

This is God, we could do with this stab her with a dagger, absolutely not. They enter into covenant with her because of her conversion lots family is forever remembered as the family that lacked depth.

They lacked depth, and therefore they had no want. They did not want God had to offer Lott for circus tent and he moved into the side of the me rephrase that Lott forsook his own tent where he had control of his destiny, more so than in Sodom where they could pick up and move. Should circumstances change when he moved out of his own tent into Solomon everything he lived for one up in smoke. Okay, that's an easy part of his story but there's much more to it.

Not only did Mrs. Lott move into Sodom with her husband, but worse still, Sodom moved into Mrs. Lott. There is the real danger of seduction. She allowed Sodom to move into her. That's what stories all about her, her parish. I don't know that you can never use that word parish without some alarm going off. Even when the Jews saw that the army of Israel perished. It was still a startling moment. They were in the presence of great things, lots wife perished, not because she look backwards, but it was that backwards look that indicated she had a different view to a different view of things she saw things differently and they were like what God saw that citizen would back at this trash is done.

No depth, no want for God. But when it came to sin. There was death. There was want. She was hungry and thirsty for the things of unrighteousness. Paul wanted the Romans to be ignorant when it came to the things of sin, and fill he wanted them to be knowledgeable wanted this for all the church for current from galleys. All of them he wanted them to be knowledgeable about things that were true, noble nobles, a big word decent.

That's things that are right, whatsoever things are true. That's first Formosa can get to decency in nobility without truth. The minute you inject ally. It is no longer true nobility.

Truth is gone. It's something else that you're dealing with now you're in salvage mode, whatsoever things are just, pure, lovely, good report this what he wanted is not what Mrs. Lott wanted. She enjoyed the thrills of the flesh, she had learned in her mind to sort out that which was over the top versus that which she could live with and she was fine with it. God was not her heart was divided. We see this in church, often too often we see divided believers their hearts into places and therefore their restless and the conviction is always something that does not work good with the world will serve them well.

It doesn't work good in them, and works resistance towards God when you bust them when you catch them. They want off the hook. They don't want to fix it.

Just think about the judgment they going to get. They'll think about what they been doling out those who have divided harder always unhappy, always unhappy and they spend all their time trying to be happy and in so doing, they make everybody around the miserable when they stay in the church we call them immature Christians. There's a difference between being an immature Christian and a babe in Christ babe in Christ is and had time to mature, by definition maturity requires time and immature Christian has had time and has not matured the word just to be wall is not grown like they should have something is not working the way it should. We should tolerate.

We should look to work with them nonetheless because we are not committed to shooting our wounded nor should we ever be Rahab. In contrast, in stark contrast to Mrs. Lott. She forsook Jericho to hunt about the look back at this place the board walls that have added she forsook her city and moved in with the people of God in everything she lived by before God's people showed up tumbled down, burned up spies ended up burning up her house they got her out and her family, but they were ordered to burn down her house and she should have it never did me any good or to have a heart like that when we look at sin every born-again believer wants that heart. This is this is the struggle that we have. We get a lot of it.

We don't get all of it in this life and causes us, discussed, and it should. We have to learn how to work with our personal discuss in the light of grace or also beat us to death. The grace of God's not being careless of us in quite the contrary. It's been careful about what Christ has done for me and I received the me get this right you want me to come to the cross and that's that. And I come to the cross. Genuinely something is going to happen to me that couldn't happen the world. Yes, that's what I wants is God that I do and that is something that Satan cannot undo when the Christian loses his temper hates it doesn't like it but still still continues to serve still commits to not doing it again, the enemy is nothing else to do so out of the ruins of Jericho, a new life is born for her and her family that is very significant because she could've said, because her family doesn't live with her. We know this because the story the spies tell her make sure your family is in your house. The deal is off is not two houses one house yours. They come under your roof, and they will come under the law of Israel and guaranteed the men will be circumcised and be grafted into Israel as converts they don't have to look any further. To understand but I'm I'm spending a little time more time and I want to and that I get back to this is enough to say about her that she left nothing behind.

I want that to be said about me everything he lived for was in front of him was ahead of him was beyond this, the things that he did in this life were with what is beyond in mind that's why he never look back at Sodom burn.

He was too busy looking beyond Sodom. That's the idea.

This is what she did.

This is what she teaches. He was one of the great attractive things about the only thing she left behind was a waste of life. She is on waste.

She is on wasted woman from this .40. You've been listening to cross reference radio daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick is teaching from God's Word each time you tune as we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast. This teaching is available free of charge at our website.

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