In the sermon titled 'Rahab: A Profile of a Godly Woman,' the speaker Jason Dohm discusses the transformative power of God's grace through the story of Rahab, a harlot from Jericho. The sermon begins with an overview of her role in aiding the Israelite spies, highlighting her faith in God despite her past. Rahab's belief in God's promises and her actions to protect the spies demonstrate a profound faith that is celebrated in scripture. The speaker emphasizes that her faith was not merely in words but was evidenced by her actions, aligning with the teachings in James chapter 2 about the relationship between faith and works. Furthermore, Rahab's inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew highlights the redemptive power of God's grace, showing that even those with a past of sin can be transformed and play significant roles in God's plan. The sermon challenges listeners to recognize their own need for God's grace and to embrace those who come to faith from broken pasts, encouraging a church environment that is welcoming and supportive of all believers, regardless of their history.

Joshua, Joshua chapter 2. I'll be reading the whole chapter. Joshua chapter 2. And as I read, may what we just sang be the prayer of our heart that God would show us Christ here in Joshua chapter 2. Joshua chapter 2 verse 1.

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 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. So 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. And then the woman took the two men and hid them.

So she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from, or where they were from. And it happened As the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.

And then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords, and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now 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, that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea 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, Sihon, and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my Father's house and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. So the men answered her, Our lives are yours. If none of you tell this business of ours, and it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.' And then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall. She dwelt on the wall. And she said to them, �Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you.

Hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way. So the men said to her, we will be blameless of this oath of yours, which you have made us swear, unless when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window, through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, His blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on Him.

And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear." And then she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window. They departed and went to the mountain and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them.

So the two men returned, descended from the mountain and crossed over. And they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And they said to Joshua, truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are faint-hearted because of us. Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is, Rahab, a profile of a godly woman.

The title is intended to be jarring. We've already been introduced to Rahab in Joshua chapter 2. She's a prostitute. She's not a godly woman in Joshua chapter 2, but the Bible actually has a lot to say about Rahab. And a study of Rahab is fundamentally a study about the transforming grace of God in His Gospel.

That He takes prostitutes and He reaches into their lives and claims them for His own. And uses them in ways that no one who knew them in their past lives could have ever believed that God would have done that. God loves to do that. He loves to transform people through the gospel. I want to begin by just having you here.

You don't need to turn there. Just listen to me read 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 15 through 18 where Paul speaks of harlots or prostitutes. Listen to what Paul says. He's writing to Corinthian believers. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her. For the two, he says, shall become one flesh." Paul is quoting Genesis there about the physical union of man and woman, two becoming one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him, is one spirit with the Lord.

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. There's a sense in which a sin against God is a sin against God. And there's a sense in which it's dangerous to start delineating some as if some are little sins that God doesn't really care about, but then we have really big sins. God has told us how we are to honor Him through His Word, and all Sin offends God.

All sin is treason against an utterly holy God. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul speaks of a sin that is unique in ways that he then describes. Sexual immorality. Joining physically with a harlot is unique in some ways. And as we study the teachings of Paul, we sort of get a different depth to it, and we learn that one of the fundamental reasons that this is different, that all other sins are outside the body, But this sin is actually a sinning against yourself in a unique way.

It's actually harming to yourself in a unique way. Because marriage is designed by God to be a picture of the Gospel. This makes this sin different. Consistent with marriage, being intended by God from the beginning of time to be a picture of Christ self-sacrificing, love, and full exclusive commitment to his people. He redeems them.

He lays down his life for them. And then the wife, the church, is to be fully devoted to Christ. Consistent with that picture, there are physical expressions of love and affection which were designed by God only to be within the marriage relationship. They are totally, utterly inappropriate in any other context. This is supposed to mirror the closeness and the exclusivity of Christ and his people.

So you don't go around, You don't start messing with the physical expressions of love and affection for money. The physical expressions of love and affection intended only ever to be exclusively within the context of marriage because it reflects Christ in the church, but in places where the Word of God has just been cast aside and completely rejected, there are places where it's so common that a woman will sell those physical expressions of love and affection, completely divorce them from love and affection and say that you can have the physical expressions of it just by giving me money. And those women are called harlots or they're called prostitutes or worse. And this sin, because of what the picture was intended to be, When women do this, it's very dishonoring to God, and it's very destructive to them. All the other sins are outside your body.

They have a different effect on you. But this one, in joining together in physical union, outside of the context that God has intended it to be, it sears the conscience in a different and deeper way. I think that's what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And When your conscience gets seared, your conscience gets dulled, it opens the flood gates to every other kind of sin. So often you find that people who are engaged in harlotry, or who are engaged in prostitution, their consciences are seared, and they are enslaved to a thousand other sins because this has opened the floodgates, their consciences are dulled, and now there is pretty much nothing they won't do.

So it comes with a host of other sins. That brings us to the starting point of the history we're looking at in Joshua when we study Rahab. Here is a woman whose inhibitions against sin and the things that dishonor God have been completely broken down probably for years and years. As we come to our text, let's pray, ask the Lord to help us and to reveal the glory of the transforming Gospel. God, I thank You for the power of Your Gospel to break in, even to lives where the barrier against sin has been so thoroughly and completely broken down that there's nothing that these people who have followed this track won't do.

To us, we would say that's hopeless, but to you, you seize an opportunity to demonstrate that you can save to the uttermost anyone. And to put your mercy on display. Oh God, let your mercy be on display today as we study. Rahab, thank you for this. It teaches us so much that we need to know.

We praise you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Hopefully your finger is still in Joshua. I want to finish this story by asking you to turn to Joshua chapter 6. In between Joshua chapter 2 and Joshua chapter 6, the people have crossed over the Jordan River.

In Joshua 2, the people are on the far side of the Jordan from Jericho. In between, God supernaturally parts the Jordan River, sort of like the Red Sea. The people cross over the Jordan on dry land. The whole nation of Israel crosses over on dry land. And they've been marching around the city one time every day, priests out in front blowing the trumpets around this walled city.

And chapter 6, where I'm going to start, begins on the seventh day, where they're now going to march around seven times, and then God has said, then you blow the trumpet and the walls fall down. So this is where we are in this account. I'll begin reading Joshua chapter 6 verses 15 through 17. And then I'm going to skip to verse 20 and I'll tell you when I do it. So if you're following along it won't be hard.

Joshua chapter 6 verse 15. But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened when the priest blew the trumpet that Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the LORD has given you the city. Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, and it and all who are in it.

Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent." Now skipping down to 23-25. So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets, And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat. And the people went into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, go into the harlot's house and from there bring out the woman and all that she has as you swore to her." And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had.

So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire, only the gold and silver and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. What has happened?

There have been 40 years of futility. This is at the end of the 40 years of futility. God brought them out. He was prepared to bring them into the promised land, but the people stopped short. They wouldn't go in because they were afraid of these nations that were in the promised land.

God said that no one 20 years or older would enter the promised land they would all die in this 40 years in the period and that generation has died off. And now Moses has just died and he's bringing the people into the promised land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Joshua is now the leader of the nation of Israel and he's gathering intelligence. And it says in Joshua chapter 2, we're back in chapter 2, it says, especially Jericho. So spies are sent into the land to gather intelligence about the land and how they should proceed in entering the land that is populated with powerful nations.

But he says especially Jericho. If you study the region, it becomes clear why he says especially Jericho Jericho is the gateway into the promised land if You're going to enter from this direction meaning that the terrain funnels you through Jericho. If you want to bring any sort of sizable people into the promised land from this direction, you have to go through Jericho. You don't have a choice. You cannot bring a couple of million people over the mountainous terrain.

You have to bring them through where the terrain funnels you and that brings you right to Jericho. There is no going around Jericho from this direction into the promised land. And so the people of God are on the doorstep of the gateway into the promised land. And the people of Jericho are painfully aware of this. We get this in Joshua chapter 2.

The two spies, they come into the city and they seek out a harlot's house. Why do they do that? Because secrecy is bound up with prostitution. And they need secrecy. The people of Jericho are not unaware that 2 million people or 3 million people are one day's walk away from them.

And that they've just destroyed two Amorite kings. Jericho is an Amorite city. These are the Og, King of Bashan, Sihon, this other Amorite king, are their brethren and they've just been utterly destroyed. Just been utterly destroyed by the people of Jericho are very aware of this. So the whole city is on high alert because Israel is one day's walk away.

What happens at Rahab's house stays in Rahab's house. Secrecy and prostitution go hand in hand. The text doesn't say that. I'm assuming this is why these men seek out this house. It is the need for secrecy and the extreme danger to which they are putting themselves to enter this Amorite city.

The king learns anyway because they are on high alert and everything is being watched. Numbers 26, to tell you what the feeling must have been like in Jericho, Numbers 26 says that the Israelites have an army 600, 000 men strong. If you had a 600, 000 man army a day's walk away from you, knowing that their objective was to come through the funnel of the terrain right through you to claim the promised land, You can imagine what they are thinking and feeling in Jericho. So there is a knock on Rahab's door and it is the king's men. And she lies.

She tells some whoppers. And she saves these men. If she says they are on the roof, they are dead. After being tortured and abused for all the information that can be got out of them, they are dead men. Now, Rahab has never commended for her lies.

She has commended for her faith. She sort of acts like a baby Christian. It's hard to know what she should have done. We only know what she did do. This is not a warrant for lying.

She saves the lives of these two spies and they are allowed to return to Joshua and the people of Israel with very, very, very valuable intelligence. Not just about logistical things, about Jericho and the promised land, but also that they are scared to death there. Now we know this is half the battle in warfare. When you know that the hearts of your enemies have melted, you've got them. What do we learn from Joshua chapter 2 and 6?

There's many things, but I want to draw four things out of the text. Number one, Rahab has been living a life in bondage to sin. Rahab has been living a life in bondage to sin. She is a slave to it. Chapter 2 verse 1, So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab.

Chapter 6 verse 17. Only Rahab the harlot shall live. Chapter 6 verse 22. Go into the harlot's house. Her name is not even said.

She is just a harlot in chapter 6 verse 22. Chapter 6 verse 25, Joshua spared Rahab the harlot. Her identity is bound up in this lifestyle of sin. She is known fundamentally as Rahab the harlot. You don't see just Rahab, she is Rahab the harlot.

If anything the writer drops her name, not her identity of sin. Listen to Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1-3. This is Paul writing to the Ephesians. Ephesus is probably a lot like Jericho in the sense that it is a pagan, idolatrous, wicked city. How many harlots were in Ephesus?

Listen to what Paul writes in Ephesians 2 verses 1-3. And you, Ephesian Christians, He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Could Rahab the harlot be the poster girl for Ephesians 1? Serving sin, dead in trespasses and sins, a seared conscience, totally dulled, insensitive to sin anymore because of The flood of sin that has been allowed into our life.

Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind by nature, children of wrath. Yes, this is exactly what we think of somebody like Rahab. But what does Paul say? Among whom also we all conducted ourselves. So we read Ephesians 2, 1 through 3, and we think of Rahab, Paul thinks of Paul.

Paul thinks of Paul, who was very respectable in how he served the lusts of his flesh and of his mind. Maybe we are not so different after all. Point one, Rahab has been living a life in bondage to sin and guess what, she's not alone. Point two, Rahab believes in God and his plan to do for Israel what he promised. So she believes in God and she believes that God is going to do what he promised to do for Israel.

Look back at Joshua chapter 2 verses 9 through 11. This is what Rahab says to these two spies. Verse 9, and said to the men, Rahab said to the men, I know that the LORD has given you this land, That the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted 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 and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." So it is a clear declaration that she believes there is a God in heaven directing these things and she talks about two things.

She doesn't say that they happened 40 years apart, but they did happen 40 years apart. She talks about the Red Sea crossing where God dried up the Red Sea so this whole nation of people who were getting away from Egypt could walk across on dry land. She says, we heard about what you did to the Egyptians. We heard that God dried up the Red Sea. And now we see what you've done to our brethren Amorites in destroying, utterly destroying, Augen's kingdom and Sihon and his kingdom.

And that is God keeping his promises. She knows that. She declares that. Not only that there is a God, but there is a God who is mighty on behalf of his people, who has made promises to his people and who is keeping them one right after the other. Don't you wish American churches would be filled with people who are so confident that not only there was a God in heaven, but that He is a promise making God and a promise keeping God?

Listen to Hebrews 11 verse 6. This is about faith. But without faith it is impossible to please Him. You cannot please God without faith. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Now how does Rahab stack up here?

Does she believe that God is? Absolutely. She declares that He is God in heaven. Does she believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. She says we see these mighty acts of God on behalf of His people.

He is giving you our land. Point two, Rahab believes in God and His plan to do for Israel what He promised. Point three, we know that she isn't faking Because she bets her life on it. In Joshua chapter 2, we are witnesses to treason. She's committing treason.

She's selling her people out. If the king finds out what she does, if her neighbors finds out what she does, she is dead. She will have earned it. Rahab in Joshua chapter 2 risks Everything So I love her declaration in 2 9 through 11 It's so clear that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But a lot of people say a lot of things and bet nothing and risk nothing.

She bets everything. She risks everything. You know she's not just talking. The security of her people depends on these spies being caught and interrogated. Point three, we know that she isn't faking because she bets her life on it.

Point four, She abandons her people and becomes part of the people of God. Rahab abandons her people, that's what she's doing, and she becomes part of the people of God. Let me read again The last verse that we read, chapter 6 verse 25, and Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had, so she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Whenever the book of Joshua was written, Rahab is alive and well and living in Israel because that's what this says. So she, so Rahab dwells in Israel to this day.

Remember our study of Ezra. In Ezra, the people had been in captivity for their sins for 70 years, and then God miraculously makes Cyrus the king of the empire when the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and in the first year of his reign, Cyrus puts the people of God, the captives, in his empire at liberty to return to Jerusalem, and Zerubbabel and 50, 000 Jews return. And there's just rubble in Jerusalem. They've got nothing. And they can't do everything so they do something.

They build back the altar. There's no temple. There's just an altar under the stars because that's all that they could start with. And so they begin worshipping God with what they can. And in Ezra chapter 6, they are about to celebrate the first Passover back in Jerusalem.

What would that be like? The Passover is one of a very few peaks, mountain tops, of the Jewish calendar. And the people have come back. Jews came back. Real, live Jews.

And you find out during the course of Ezra, they actually can prove their genealogical heritage. They can prove that they're Jews. But they come back, and not everyone was taken into captivity. Many of the poor were left in the land, and subsequent kings brought in other people from other nations who were also captives and repopulated them in and around Jerusalem. And the Jews have intermarried with them, so the people who are living there, this is several generations later, the people living there are sort of Jewish, sort of not Jewish.

It's all jumbled up. In dog language they're mutts. So we're going to celebrate the Passover. We're back. There's an altar.

We're going to celebrate the Passover. Can these other people celebrate with us? They are only part Jewish. Here is what we saw in Ezra chapter 6 verse 21. Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel.

So the purebred Jews come back and the mutts, so to speak, the half-breeds are there. And in the Passover, you were only welcome to celebrate the Passover if you were devoted to the Lord. And so, if you separated yourselves from the filth of the nations In order to seek the Lord God of Israel, in other words, you renounced all the other gods and all the filth of the nations in order to embrace the worship of God, only the God of Israel, then you are welcome." And many did. It has always been true that you could renounce the filth of the nations in order to seek the Lord God and be welcomed into. This is not a New Testament concept.

It comes to full bloom in the New Testament under the New Covenant sealed by Jesus' blood. It was always true, and we see it in Ezra chapter 6. This is what happened with Rahab. This is exactly what happened. She separated herself from the filth of the nations.

She had been wallowing in it. She had been fully participating in the filth of the nations, but she separated herself from the filth of the nations in order to seek the Lord God of Israel and she was received into the Lord's people. At the time of the writing of the book of Joshua, she's living as an Israelite. Turn to Hebrews 11. Those were the four things I thought I should draw out of Joshua 2 and 6.

Now to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible. It's the great faith chapter. It's sometimes called the hall of faith. Every professional sports league has a hall of fame where the most accomplished athletes in that sport are honored.

This is the hall of faith. This is where examples of outstanding saving faith are listed and honored for their faith. I'd like to begin by reading Hebrews 11, 1-3 and then verse 6 where we get a definition of what saving faith is, what real faith is. Hebrews 11 verse 1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were made of things which are visible." I read that wrong. So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Now verse 6, skipping down to 6. But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. We're being taught about what real faith is here.

You didn't see, you weren't here to see God make the world. But people who have faith believe, even though they didn't see it, they unshakably believe that God did this. That he formed the things that are visible from things that are invisible. And we must believe that God is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Now look at verse 30 and 31.

In between, of course, starting with Abel, there's a long list of people who believed God. Like this. Even though there were things they couldn't see, but they believed them anyway. They were sure of them. Verse 30, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. We hear about the people of Jericho, they didn't believe. Rahab believed. They all perished, she didn't perish, she was saved. She believed that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, and it saved her and her family.

There are only two individual women who are listed in Hebrews chapter 11. Sarah in verse 11 and Rahab. Sarah we get. Mother of Isaac, the child of promise. Wife of Abraham, father Abraham.

We have a sense that she belongs, but here's Rahab. And in our text, she's still Rahab the harlot. She's still called Rahab the harlot. In Hebrews chapter 11, By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish. There is no whitewashing of Rahab in Hebrews 11.

Even though she's honored as a woman of deep, abiding, saving faith, her history and past isn't airbrushed out. She's not photoshopped to be something that she wasn't. This is what I love about Scripture. Even the heroes you get to see. That it's by grace.

Even for the heroes of our faith. The second thing we see here is Rahab's faith. She's declared to have been saved. You might have to withhold judgment from Joshua 2 and Joshua 6 because there are people who make declarations that their lives never match. And they prove that They were saying one thing, but they were something completely different.

But now we know. So if you don't see Rahab after death, it's because you're not going to heaven. Meaning, She's there. Her place is secure. She's in Hebrews 11.

The jury is out on us, but the jury is not out on Rahab. She's there. I would describe Rahab's faith in three ways. I think this is important for us to understand. Rahab's faith in Joshua 2 and 6 is first primitive.

She knows there is a God in heaven and she knows that he has made some promises to a people and he is keeping those promises. It's a primitive faith she is articulating. Let me tell you, if you come to a baptism interview, and that's all you tell me, you're going back to your mom and dad for further instruction. But it's not to be despised. We see it's saving faith that she has.

It is a primitive faith. Secondly, it is a simple faith. It is a simple faith. It is a childlike faith. She just connects the dots.

God delivered these people from Egypt. He dried up the Red Sea and made them walk across. And they defeated these mighty Amorite kings. And that's good enough for me. Thirdly, it's a saving faith.

It's a saving faith. Saving faith can be primitive and should be simple. Now to James chapter 2. It's just a couple of pages from here. James chapter 2.

It happens to be situated near in the Bible. James chapter 2 is also a famous chapter. It's the Faith and Works chapter where James is developing this. He's explaining how faith and works relate to one another. I'll be reading James chapter 2 verses 14 through 26.

Follow along. What does it profit, my brethren? If someone says he has faith but does not have works. Can faith save him? Many translations here say, can such faith save him?

Can a faith like that save you? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to him, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith, I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." You believe that there is one God?

You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect.

And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. And He was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. Likewise was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way. For as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

There are two kinds of faith in view in James chapter 2. An alive faith and a dead faith. A genuine faith and a counterfeit faith. A saving faith and a damning faith. Yes, there is a damning faith.

A word only faith is a damning faith. The demons have it. Two examples of saving faith are given. So we came to Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, and Rahab's there, and I'm surprised by it. Of all of scripture, Such an enormous field to pick from.

Rahab is there. But it's a substantial list. After all, she is the last individual mentioned in the list. Maybe she snuck in, but in James chapter 2 there's only two. It's Abraham and Rahab.

And James says that both were justified by their works. This has troubled many people because it feels like we are treading on salvation by grace alone through faith alone. It's not that at all. Don't tense up when you read this at all. There are two definitions for the Greek word that is rendered justified.

This Greek word is used in those two different ways, multiple times each way in the New Testament. The first meaning is to render or pronounce righteous. This is the way that we are used to using thinking of that word. You are pronounced righteous. We are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ.

That is that first definition. But this cannot be that, Not only from teaching in other places in the New Testament, but just in chapter 2. If you say that's what James meant, that's the definition that he's using for this word, the whole chapter breaks down. You don't need anything even outside of James chapter 2 to let you know that it doesn't mean that they were rendered righteous by their works. Because in verse 23 James quotes Genesis Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

His righteousness was by faith. You don't even need to go outside of James 2 for that. His righteousness didn't come from works, it came by faith. The second definition means to show to be righteous. To exhibit evidence of being righteous.

Meaning you give evidence of being righteous. This is what James is saying here. Abraham had faith and his works gave evidence that it was real, living, genuine faith. Rahab had these works, she had evidence in her life that her declaration of faith was true. The point being made by James is that both Abraham and Rahab gave outward evidence in their lives, in their works, of the inward condition of their hearts.

Born again hearts. And they had proof in their life that their hearts were, that they were born again. They were born again and it showed up in their conduct. And if we learn anything from scripture, it's that it always shows up in your conduct. The Bible knows nothing of unchanged Christians.

The Bible also knows nothing of fully changed Christians. But it knows nothing of unchanged Christians, people who make a profession of faith, but their affections don't change, their lifestyles don't change at all. In Galatians 3, Paul says that the children of Abraham are those of saving faith. Now think about this, Paul is writing to Galatians, our Galatians Jews. There might have been some Jews in Galatia, but he's writing to a Gentile church.

And he's assuring them that Abraham's true children are not genealogical bloodline children. Abraham's true children, are children who have saving faith like Abraham had saving faith. And what that means is that Rahab was more a daughter of Abraham than many, many, many thousands of genealogical Jews. Rahab was more a daughter of Abraham than many, many, many thousands of genealogical Jews. Rahab was more a daughter of Abraham than many a Pharisee.

Turn to Matthew chapter 1. This is our last stop. Matthew chapter 1. I'm going to read 1 and then I'll skip down to five and six and I'll tell you when I'm doing it. Matthew chapter one.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, Colin. So this is the book of Jesus. This is what we are being told in the first verse. This is the book of Jesus. And Now I'm going to give you his family tree.

That's what's after the colon. Where did Jesus come from genealogically? Now verses 5 and 6. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begot Obed by Ruth.

Obed begot Jesse and Jesse begot David the king. And so on until Jesus. Joshua chapter 6 verse 25 says, so Rahab dwells in Israel to this day. In the Old Testament we don't get one more word about Rahab. That is it in the Old Testament.

If we didn't have the New Testament, that would be the end of the story. Salmon, who is mentioned here, is actually mentioned in the book of Ruth, but Rahab isn't even mentioned at all in the book of Ruth. Here at the beginning of the New Testament, we learn more. Rahab married Salmon. He took this former pagan harlot as his wife.

And he built a life with her. Wonder how many people told him, don't you do it. And they had a son, Boaz. Boaz so prominently in the book of Ruth. And when you read the book of Ruth and you consider Boaz at a hundred different places, it jumps out to you how godly this man is.

How could this man be the son of a harlot? How could this godly man be the son of a harlot? And so, when a Moabitess widow, another pagan, named Ruth, comes to Israel with her mother-in-law. There's a man who's ready to be her husband. Because he was raised on the knee of Rahab the harlot, the Gentile.

Sovereign Grace. The Gentile. Sovereign Grace. We read these accounts as if it's academic history. This happened and then that happened.

God was weaving. He was weaving. Oh, worship the Lord who reaches into broken lives with his sovereign grace and claims sinners to be his own. Praise him for his sovereign grace. From this line came King David, and then came Jesus the Christ.

Make no mistake, this genealogy is designed to teach us something about the nature of the gospel. That it's not for the well, it is for the sick. Don't worry, I've been crying all morning. It'll pass. To everyone, I have two.

Number one, Consider Mark chapter 2 verse 17. Jesus says, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The unspoken thing here in this verse is that there are no righteous. No, not one, says Scripture.

But there are those who feel the need and those who are completely insensible to the need. Those who feel the need of healing, humble themselves, and go to the physician. Those who are totally insensible to their need aren't even ready for the physician. If you don't feel yourself needy, there's no place for Jesus for you. You have to humble yourself and come to Him for healing.

If you don't feel the need, you're not ready to be born again. Put you to consider what Charles Spurgeon says. A person comes into church one morning. He's one of the most reputable men in London. He has never committed any outward vice.

He has never been dishonest. He is known as a staunch upright tradesman. Now to his astonishment, he is informed that he is a condemned lost sinner and just as surely lost as the thief who died for his crimes upon the cross. Do you think that man will believe it? Suppose however that he does believe it simply because he reads it in the Bible.

Do you think he will ever be made to feel it? I know you say impossible. Some of you, even now, are saying, well, I never would. Can you imagine that honorable, upright businessman saying, God be merciful to me a sinner, while he stands side by side with the harlot and the swearer? Can you Imagine him feeling in his own heart as if he was as guilty as they, and using the same prayer, and saying, Lord, save or I perish.

You cannot conceive it, Can you? It is contrary to nature that a man who has been so good as he should put himself down among the chief of sinners, but that will be done before he is saved. He must feel that guilty before he can enter heaven. Now I ask, who can bring him to such a leveling experience as that except for the Spirit of God? You know very well that His proud nature will not stoop to it.

We are all aristocrats in our own righteousness. We do not like to bend down and come among common sinners. If we are brought there, it must be the Spirit of God who casts us to the ground. Why, I know that if anyone had told me that I would ever cry to God for mercy and confess that I had been the vilest of the vile, I would have laughed in his face. I would have said, why I have not done anything particularly wrong.

I have not hurt anybody. And yet I know this very day that I can take my place on the lowest form. And if I can get to heaven, I will feel happy to sit among the chief of sinners and praise the almighty love that has saved me even from my sins." Now what works this humiliation of heart? Grace. It is contrary to nature for an honest and an upright man in the eyes of the world to consider himself to be a lost sinner.

It must be the Holy Spirit's work or else it never will be done. My prayer for us is that we would know this painful work of the Holy Spirit that He would bring us down where we would be happy to be shoulder to shoulder with the harlots and say, God have mercy on me a sinner. Number two. Understand what the gospel does. Consider Revelation 2 verse 17.

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name which no one knows except him who receives it." Rahab is no longer Rahab the harlot. He has a new name. Abram became Abraham.

Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. Rahab has a new name. The old things have passed away so that It's completely appropriate to title our sermon, Rahab, Profile of a Godly Woman. He can change us.

He can make us new. This is the glory of the Gospel. Parents, an application for you. Do not settle for word only faith in your children. We are aiming higher than that.

We do want to produce good citizens. Heaven help us if all we produce is good citizens. Who are respectful and good neighbors. What about their hearts? What about their affections?

Do they love this God who saves sinners? Have they felt the weight of their sins and felt what it was like to be free and clean? Rahab knew what it was like to be free and clean. Finally, church. We're trying so hard to get a Rahab in here.

We're out in the highways and byways. We are out there in the middle of town. We are out there at the curb of the abortion clinic. When God brings a Rahab among us, will you despise her deficits or embrace her graces? Is there even a place for Rahab here?

This is a searching question. And it goes deeper than, would we be nicer if she came? Could she marry her son? Does she have a spouse here? If a man comes with a history, was there anyone for him to marry here?

These are not easy questions. Here's what I mean by despise her deficits or embrace her graces. People who have lived who have been so far down this trajectory in their lives, Only the grace of God has kept us from that. But the people who have been there, they're going to show up. There's no telling what they'll wear or what they'll say.

We might find ourselves having to turn away and just sort of have a laugh. At how insensible they are to things that are just common practice among us. We'll have to compose ourselves and come back and be so gentle and patient. What about her graces? Will we gain from her graces?

In Luke chapter 7, at the home of Simon the Pharisee, Jesus encounters a woman who is probably a lot like Rahab. She weeps over and kisses Jesus' feet and anoints them with oil. It's really sort of an uncomfortable account to read as you think about it. Like if you were there, you don't have shoes on and there's this woman down at your feet and she's weeping and wiping your hair with her feet. What is that?

If you read it with fresh eyes, you'll be uncomfortable. And the host was uncomfortable too. Simon was uncomfortable too. Here's what Jesus said to Simon. Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much.

But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Now unspoken in this, just like in the previous verse, it was unspoken that there really aren't people who are righteous. In this, The unspoken thing is that no one is forgiven little. No one is forgiven little. You just sort of feel like they've been forgiven little because they don't understand the depth of their sin and they don't understand the holiness of this God.

But when someone comes who is so happy, afresh, that they are clean and free, that they want to weep and wipe his feet with their tears, It stretches your capacity to love God. That's what it means to embrace the graces. Because they just love, and you remember loving like that, and you see how far You've drifted from that. Is there anyone who can say, no, I've never left my first love. It's just like it was yesterday to me.

I don't think we can say that. It helps. If God sends us Rahab, it will be his mercy toward us. And we'll get as good as we give. Let's pray.

God, Send Rahab and her daughters here, please. We know it will be a mess. We know we are not hardly ready. Lord, please make us ready. If we're not ready enough, help us to know when it happens, how to adjust.

I thank You that you take pleasure in putting your hand on the viless to show the depths of your goodness and your mercy. We want to see it with our own two eyes, Lord. Do it in Youngsville. Please, God, pour out Your grace on people who are so broken, who are so past, even being sensitive to the great sins that they commit every day. Have mercy on them.

Have mercy on them Pray in Jesus name amen