0:07 Let's begin with a word of prayer. Our heavenly father, we praise and thank you for this opportunity you've given us to be together in your presence from different places, but we are together in one spirit. And we wait at your feet, 0:24 Lord, at your gates. We pray that you speak to each one of us, Lord. We are such needy people especially in these last days. We need a word from you so that we can be encouraged and strengthened and be true and faithful to 0:41 you in these last days. So be with us during this time we ask in Jesus precious name. Amen. Okay. anytime if there is problem in the um internet or anything or if you can't 0:59 hear if one of you can signal to me then I can repeat um in the Bible we read of many godly women who are our examples um people like Anna who was waiting for 1:15 the Lord Jesus to and she a prophetus who waited and finally she could see baby Jesus. Many godly women in the Bible. But there are some women also whose names 1:32 appear in the book of Hebrews where the women and men men and women of faith. The hall of faith I might say hall of fame or for hall of faith their names are recorded. And one of those is a woman called Rahab. 1:51 And strangely enough in the Bible it says Rahab the prostitute. It looks like her title, her surname was Rahab the prostitute. And God chose even women like her to be an example to us and whose name 2:11 appears in the book of Hebrews as heroine of faith. So I thought I'll um speak a little bit about her and what we can learn from her. I want I am reminded of this that he picks us all up 2:30 from a from a dirty filthy condition. In Hebrew in Ephesians 2 we read this verse. He picks us up when we were dead in sins, when we were disobedient. And by grace, he saved us. He showed the 2:50 immeasurable riches of his kindness and mercy and grace. He made us vessels of his mercy. We became vessels of his mercy. So even though we can look at think of Rahab as 3:07 a prostitute, we think of our own condition when we stand before the Lord and when he sees us. He doesn't look at anything of our past. He picks us up and forgives us, cleanses up us when we come to him in faith and 3:27 makes us his children and justifies us. He looks as looks at us as if we've never sinned. That's how he he has picked up and looked at a woman like Rahab. I want to give a little bit of the 3:44 history. We read about Rahab in Joshua chapter 2. I'm not going to read all that, but in Joshua 2, we read about the whole incident. And there are reference to her references in Hebrews 11:31 4:02 where where it says about Rahab as an example of faith and James 2:14 and James 2 25 and 26. These are verses which speak about Rahab. I'll read some of those verse as we go along. Now I 4:20 want to give a historical background before we all of us know this but just in quick I want to say the history of it. After Moses uh led the children of Israel uh to the edge of the promised land, God told Moses, you're not going 4:38 to lead the children of Israel further. I have chosen Joshua to lead them. We know that. And Joshua was chosen as the next leader. and Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who were sent to spy the land years ago and they came with a good 4:55 report where 10 other spies gave negative reports and that's why God punished them and let them wander around. So Joshua was one of those men of faith who said we can conquer the land. And God chose Joshua to lead the children and children of Israel. And 5:12 they crossed the uh river Jordan and came to the edge the uh land of Canaan. And there was a big city there called Jericho. We know that with huge fortified walls and thick walls and a gate which was heavily guarded. 5:30 And so Joshua was stood outside that and he was wondering how he can conquer this and take control of this city. You know lot there's lot of warfare and they don't children of Israel didn't have any equipment to win the war to defeat the to take over the 5:50 city. So when he was standing there he assessing the walls of the city he saw a man standing there with a sword outstretched and so he went to him and the things which were happening going on in Joshua's mind was how can I take control 6:08 of this and this is my first battle will I be able to do this is a tremendous task for me and he saw this man standing with the sword and Joshua goes up to him and says are you for us against us. Are you a friend or an enemy? And that man, 6:25 it was actually an he was actually an angel. He said, "I am the commander of the Lord's army. I'm in charge of this." What a comfort it was to Joshua to think that he doesn't have he didn't have to lead the children of Israel to win this 6:43 battle. The real commander was standing there with the sword outstretched and that comfort must have God must have comforted him said don't worry about this don't worry about anything I am in charge I'll take control of this 6:58 situation like that when we come in our daily life different situations like huge walls maybe some sickness maybe some difficulty at home job situation uh children, problems with our children, 7:16 problem with our health and all kind of problems and they are like huge walls in front of us and we think how will I ever be able to get over this even getting handling one day is difficult for me. Will I ever be reach the end of it? Then this 7:35 encouragement comes to us. In Isaiah, we read this verse. The government will be on his shoulders, on the Lord's shoulders. He'll tell us it's on my shoulders. You don't have to worry. I'll take care of this. Don't look at this 7:51 big mountain and this big wall which is ahead of you. I am in charge of you. [clears throat] Not only you, but all the people you're responsible for. I'll take care of them. What a comfort it is. So Joshua got comfort with that and in 8:07 the meantime he sent two spies into the city of Jericho just to assess and see how it would. Now previously as we know Moses sent 12 spies and they were far too much. He sent two loyal spies into Jericho and they had a look at it and 8:25 how what kind of people were there and uh whether how they should be prepared you know this warfare. They didn't know how they going to tackle the city. They didn't know that God had a miraculous plan already. But Joshua did what he was 8:41 supposed to do. Uh he said sending the spies. Even though we God promises us, we have to do our part and take our responsibility. Do what God wants us to do. be prepared by prayer and fortify ourselves and strengthen ourselves and 9:00 be ready for whatever may happen. We just can't think like, oh, this government is on God's shoulders. I don't have to worry. We have to do our part. That's another lesson. So Joshua sent those two spies in and then they 9:14 spied. And as they came were coming out, they came to this woman's house, Rahab's house, and she was a prostitute. Everybody knew about her. Even the king knew her name. And her house was situated with a strategic point just at 9:29 the on the city wall close to the gate. From that house, she could see what was happening outside and she knew the condition of the people inside. And she had heard that this group of people uh came from they were slaves in Egypt and 9:48 they came out and God helped them to part the Red Sea and they came out and did many miracles for them and she heard all about that and she had faith. From that time she started having faith. She must have stopped having um stopped 10:08 bowing uh worshiping the idols and things in that were going on in Jericho and she had started having faith in the true and living God. That's why when the spies came in, she told them look all the people in this town are terrified. 10:25 They they heard all the things that uh God your God has done for you and they are just so afraid. So I know that God has given you this land and I that is her 10:43 expression of faith. She expressed her faith saying I know God has will give you this land and he will take care of you. She started having faith from that time and she expressed her faith and she told the spies and while she was talking 11:00 the king heard about this spies had come and she said uh they were on their way and she heard that these uh king's officers were coming so she knew uh she'll be in danger she might be even put to death for harboring these spies. 11:17 So she quickly took them up. It was the roof and she, we know the story, she covered them up with the sheav of flax with the hay and all that so they'd be hidden. And then she came down there also. She had faith God would do some 11:31 God is on my side. She was bold. And then the officers came and asked her, "Where are these people who came? We know that they are spies. They came to spy on us." And she said, "Oh yes, those spies did come and uh they've just gone 11:46 out. if you go out quickly through the gate, you'll see them and uh just go in this direction and catch up with them. And she sent them and oh, she was so happy that she had got those spies away in the wrong direction. Then she went up 12:02 and she told um the spies come down. You're safe now. But I know God has going to give you the victory, giving you this whole land, even the city. But I have one favor to ask of you. when you take over the city, please spare me, 12:18 spare my family and save us. And the spy and the spies said, "Sure, we'll do that provided you don't betray us." So, they made a pact that she said, "I will not." Because if she had to reveal that the spies had 12:37 come and she helped them, she'd lose her life. So, she said, "I'll give you a plan. just go over to the woods and hide there for 2 or 3 days. By the time these officers would have come back, they won't find you. They'll come back and 12:51 then you can cross the brook and go back to the Israeli camp. And that was her plan. And they did that. And she let them down through um shield used a cord, a thick c rope, and she lowered them. And she said and uh they said uh we must 13:10 know your which is your house. So, you hang this red uh scarlet cord right down your window and we'll know that is your house and we'll keep you safe. We'll take care of you. That was the thing that happened. So, 13:26 um she and she called her family members and they hid in her house. Now she has to be careful not to tell her her relatives, her parents and her siblings about um um this plan because they might 13:44 leak this plan to somebody else and the news might get wrong and they'll all be killed. So she had to keep that discreet that plan discreetly and then she kept them all in her house. She didn't know what was going to happen when the 13:59 Israelis and how they would attack and how they would go. But she was sure that God had given them the city and she must have been watching over the uh window of her house. And what amazed her and the uh people in the Jericho in Jericho city 14:17 was instead of coming with warfare and bows and arrows and spears or whatever had those they had in those days the children God told the children of Israel just go around the city once a day every morning you the no armor no nothing 14:35 nothing just the priests and the people and the trumpets and singing praises to God just go around the city once every day. They did that for 6 days. We know that. And then the seventh day they went round seven times. And then at the end 14:51 of that uh the trumpets blew and all the people gave a big shout and the there was a big cracks in the wall of the city and the walls crumbled and the the city was open for people to get in and out. It's so wonderful that Rahab's house 15:11 didn't get destroyed in that. See how God took care of her even in that situation. She had faith and God answered and took care of her and her loved ones and the people spies went in or whoever went in, rescued them and 15:26 brought them up, brought them to the camp. In the meantime, the Israelis went in and finished off all the people. God didn't want any of that idolatry and all the evil practices in that city to come uh the children of Israel to come in 15:44 contact with all that was happening. That's why he said destroy everything. We don't want any of the idols. We don't want anything of Jericho. There [clears throat] may be diseases all kind of bad things which must have 15:57 been happening in that city. So he said we destroy everything and only the gold and silver bring it to the temple as a to the lord and they did that and uh so the uh then they took the Rahab and her 16:15 family and took them to the camp of Israel but they didn't let them go inside the camp they said you people you have to stay outside like a quarantine they wanted to see if they are fit to be part of Israel. They had any idolatry or 16:33 any bad habits, any diseases, who knows what. So the Lord kept them. That was God's law. So they were kept outside. Compare that with Lord's wife. Lord's wife when the Lord was warned, leave, leave Sodom and Gomorrah and leave. Lot's wife 16:52 couldn't leave all the things which she had left behind. Her heart was longing after those things. But whereas this Rahab, she left everything. She just she her relatives and she just escaped. No idols, nothing of Jericho was there 17:09 because she knew God didn't want anything of Jericho in the camp of Israel. That's another thing she she obeyed. So when we have faith, when Rahab has faith, just faith by itself is not enough. In James 2, it says faith 17:24 without works is dead faith. There's no use of such a faith. We could say, "Oh, I have faith." And do nothing about it and sit and we don't act on it. Then it's not real faith. Rahab acted on it and to prove that her faith was real. 17:42 So um that's what happened and God protected them. Now I wrote down a few of the uh lessons we can learn from this. I have mentioned some of them already. Uh the first lesson I learned is about 17:59 Joshua. How when Joshua he looked at the walls as I said earlier, he didn't think of he he he must have been perplexed. How will I I'm the I'm a new commander. I'm new to this warfare. I'm new to this being a leader. I'm new to everything. 18:16 How will I ever lead this ch children of Israel um into victory? and then he met the uh commander and chief of the lord. So when we stand before the Lord and we face any circumstance, any difficulty, 18:34 health problem, whatever it is, do don't think Lord, how will I ever manage this? I don't have the strength. Just like in Jehoshaphat, that's another king. Uh he said, we have no might against this great army that comes against. We have 18:50 no might. We have no power. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you. That's what Jehoshaphat said. And so like that we can say Lord I have no might no strength and the Lord assures us don't worry that I am the commander. 19:07 I'm in charge of this situation. All you have to do is trust me. Just put your hand in mine and I'll lead you to victory. Thank God in every daily circumstance we can just trust in him. We can have faith that he will and he 19:22 will take us through. And the strong walls of Jericho, they're not going to come down. The strong walls of our difficulties and opposition, they're not come down by our might or our strength. It says it's not by might, not by strength, not by power, but by my 19:41 spirit, says the Lord. So we by the Lord's strength, we do our part and he'll take us through. So we can take courage. Lord please help me not to quake with fear not to be tremble and terrified about any circumstance. Maybe 19:58 more difficult things may come in the future. I don't want my children to be afraid. Oh what's happening? What's going to happen to this country? What's going to happen here or there? New laws are coming. And we tell our children 20:11 don't be afraid. the Lord who took care of us up till now, he'll take care of us till the end and we can get courage from that. Then um about Rahab, some of the things which I learned about Rahab was Rahab 20:27 had a past bad past history, past she was trapped in a life of prostitution. Maybe that was allowed in Jericho in the land of Canaan. That's why God said destroy this uh you have to destroy all these people because they've got so many 20:46 bad habits. So Rahab was a woman who was trapped in that and God looked at her beyond that past beyond her past. Just like that God looks at us beyond our past. There are things there may be things in our lives which we are really 21:04 ashamed of. Why did I ever do this? Why did I ever have this friendship? Why did I ever write this letter? Why did I anything put that whatever regret we have which is haunting us and for which we are suffering now 21:23 [clears throat] because of some bad decision we did or some bad said uh which words which we said foolish things we did and the past can haunt us. But the Lord said just like he took care of uh Rahab, he says I'll wipe out all your 21:41 past. The past is dead. Don't have to make it res resurrected again. Let it be dead. I'll take care of it and I don't look at you as the past. I look at you as if you have never sinned. That's the meaning of justification. I look at you 21:59 as if you're a be uh because you have been cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus. I look at you as a new person. Whoever [clears throat] comes to when we come to the Lord, we are a new creature, not the old things are passed away and God looks at us. All 22:17 we have to do is repent. Repent and forsake the things we did in the past. Rahab's life was that she didn't want if she wanted to go back to the her old way of life, she would have been rejected forever. She made a decision enough of 22:35 my past life. From now onwards, I'm going to follow the Lord. So we all we have to do is repent and forsake the things which we did in the past, the foolish things, the foolish words and um the Lord will see us through and he 22:52 looks us at us as if we've never sinned. And another thing is don't look at others the past things of others. When we look at somebody, we think, "Oh, oh yeah, she's the ma girl, she's the Samaritan woman who was married five 23:09 times or she's the girl who did this or she's from this family or she's from in India, we have the cast system." And we look at person and say, "Oh, she's from a low cast." We can see that from her behavior and her talk. We should say 23:27 Lord I never want to look at people thinking of their past just as you look at me as a new creature help me not to look at others without any prejudice no prejudice or anything about the past no 23:44 judgmental attitude towards anybody you know we have an example in our Lord Jesus when Jesus went to his hometown to preach They didn't want to listen to him because they said, "We know Jesus. Isn't he the carpenter's son? And his 24:03 brothers, his sisters are here, his brothers are here. We know him and his mother is Mary and they had that judgmental despising attitude towards Jesus. So Jesus, they couldn't receive the blessing and the words that Jesus 24:19 had come to prepare to give them. In the same way we can take Jesus as an example that he received judgmental attitude from others, ridicule from others, despising dis attitude from others and he took it 24:36 all. And we can take it all at the same time. Don't look at others in a despising way. And about Rahab's faith, there's a lot about Rahab's faith. I already said how she had faith when she saw the uh spies and heard about the things which 24:55 happened in the past. when when Jesus says uh in in the last day when the son of man comes will he find faith on this earth and that's a challenge to us Lord when you come in the final day let me be one 25:15 of those who has faith faith in you not shrink away in unbelief as we read in the New Testament not shrink away not be afraid and be strong in faith. Here this verse I I 25:33 wrote this verse down in Luke 18:8. It says, "God will give justice to the elect who cry out day and night. Speedily he'll give justice. But nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, 25:50 will he find faith on the earth?" That's a a challenge for us. Lord, I look at these small circumstances and I have faith for that. But who whatever happens in the coming days until the day 26:07 when you come again on that final day, let me have faith in you. that may have the real faith that doesn't give way to unbelief that doesn't uh uh make other people lose their faith. When people see us having faith, 26:26 they should be challenged. If this sister can have faith in this situation which she's going through, I can also have faith. May the Lord give us that strength, that that nature, that faith in our hearts when we uh when the Lord 26:43 comes, he'll see us. And um um and I said that true faith leads to action. When um when she saw these spies coming, she was prepared to risk her life. Doesn't matter. I don't want even 27:03 if I get caught I know these are people of God. I'm going to protect them. I'm going to save them. She was she had her faith led to actions good actions and noble actions. In the same way when we have faith in the lord that will lead uh 27:22 help us to produce works in us. I mean faith with with works that's what we read in germs. Our life will be a product of our faith. Whatever we do and say will be colored by that faith which we have in the Lord can say, "Yeah, it's 27:41 not dark. It's not gloomy. There's faith in her life. There's light, there's radiance, there's hope, there's she's sure that God is on her side." That's the faith that Rahab had. She knew that God was with the with the Israelites. 27:59 And then she risked her life and she protected them and she was fearless. See when the officers came and asked her, she must have been uh like she's a woman and these officers came. Where are the people? We saw the 28:16 spies. Where are they? They are here. We want to search your house. Where are they? And they may have intimidated her. They intimidated her, but she was fearless. She said, "Oh, those spies. Oh, yes, I know about them. They just went there. 28:32 You just missed them. Just go there and you'll find them." She was fearless when it came to for the right things. It's like a brother, you know, you know, a brother Andrew who distributed Bibles and Coret and Boom who was fearless in 28:49 the time of uh difficulties. When the when there's real faith in our hearts, there'll be uh fear will drive be driven away. Faith and fear are opposites. When faith comes in, fear goes out. When fear comes in, we allow fear to 29:08 come in. Then we lose the faith. Little by little, we lose faith. That's why when there's faith, there's fearlessness for the right thing. Now we might be fearless about uh the wrong things by telling lies by taking a bribe or giving 29:23 a bribe and telling lies we might be those are all the wrong things which we should never do like even if we tell a lie some sometimes we tell lies to our children you know small lies so that we don't we can just get them to believe 29:40 something they can see through us say mommy's telling a lie now it's not true they can see through us. So fearlessness should be for the right things. And when she answered the officers, she was so bold that they believed her. They didn't see like, oh 29:59 yeah, she's saying this, but I wonder if it's true because her face looks like as if she's not telling the truth. And she was so fearless when she answered that they believed her and they went away. And another thing about her faith was 30:15 she hospital she was hospitable to God's people. Now sometimes we can be foolish and be hospitable to all kinds of people who come and take advantage of that God of us. God wants us to be wise. Don't be hospitable to take to people who will 30:33 take advantage of us and take us for a ride and plunder our things. I know I've heard of people um in India who received their friends and allowed them to have access to everything and some of them stole and uh some of their valuables and 30:52 left. I know true cases uh respectable people who had this disease of kleptomania you know stealing habit of stealing things they didn't know she they would allow them to come in and then they steal their money steal their 31:05 valuables and later they couldn't believe that this person came and stole uh my things so we should be wise but open our home to God's children offer hospitality in Hebrews 13:1 it says um to be hospitable and uh there's another 31:25 verse in Hebrews which says be hospitable but practice hospitality but do it without grumbling if somebody comes and we are hospitable to them and inside we are complaining so why why are they taking my time why did they turn up 31:41 at this time I'm so busy and why this why that then that hospitality is all canled it's of no use but practice hospitality without grumbling and complaining. That's the verse in Hebrews which says so um she that's a lesson we 32:00 can learn from her. Her faith led to being hospitable to God's uh family. [snorts] Then she had a burden for her family. See, when when she knew that she would be protected and she'd be saved, but she thought, "What what about my dad 32:19 and mom, my siblings? They they also should they might be destroyed. I want them also." She she said, "Please, can my parents and my siblings also be spared?" And the spice said, "Yes, you 32:37 bring them all and as long as they are under your roof, they'll be protected. If they leave the house and they go out, we can't guarantee their protection." And that reminds us of the time when um when the children of Israel were 32:53 leaving Egypt. Um the Lord said um all of you stay inside the house and you uh paint the uh doorpost with the blood of the lamp. And as long as that uh when the angel of 33:11 death comes and sees the blood uh on the doorpost, you'll be safe. But you must be inside that house. So the law that's what the spies told Rahab to do and she did that and she was protected. Like that we must 33:29 have a burden for our loved ones. Sometimes we think oh I am safe everything is okay with me and my children. And sometimes our parents and our siblings there's nobody to tell them. There's nobody even to pray for them. Some some of them may not want to 33:48 hear from us. Oh, enough. We've heard enough from you. But at least we can pray for them and say, "Lord, have mercy on my family. Don't let them perish. Let them hear this good news. Have a burden for our loved ones, especially our 34:04 household of the Lord, a house, our own family, and then we can have the burden for people outside our home." That's what RA rehab had. So play pray regularly for our family members, our siblings, our parents and others whom we 34:21 really love. Don't forget to pray for them. And of course our children. Rahab wasn't married but her we have a burden for our a responsibility for our children to pray for them and to keep them secure in the comfort of our home. 34:39 the security of our home that the devil doesn't snatch them away from the Lord and go into the world and get lost and perish in the world. So that's our responsibility towards our loved ones. Then the another thing we learn from 34:57 Rahab is the spies tell you hang this cord scarlet cord down your window so we'll know. And that reminds us of the blood of Jesus. The only way to salvation is through the blood of Jesus, Scarlet. The blood Jesus blood was shed 35:15 for us. There's no other way for us to escape. And uh if she had said, "Oh, what if my people what will other people think seeing this red rope hanging down? They'll come and ask me curious questions. I'm not going to do that. or 35:32 when the time comes I'll do that. If she had delay delayed u they wouldn't have known. So she obeyed everything that was told her. Our safety is in obeying uh the instructions which the lord gives us. Then the 35:50 another thing I learned is they were asked to stay inside Rahab's house. And that reminds me that our safety is to stay within inside God's house with the church. Our safety is in the church with the brothers and sisters 36:09 in the church. We think like oh my my relatives will take care of me or my worldly friends will take care of me when I'm in trouble. There are good people there. But our safety in our spiritual life, our true safety is in 36:25 the church. We should not neglect the meeting together with God's people. We should not think, oh, today I have a headache and today this is I'm busy with other things to do. I'm not going to church. We are the losers. Our safety is 36:41 in the uh in God's house. Just like for in Noah's time, the safety for them was to be in the ark. All those who are outside the ark, they perished in the flood. And and when she looked out and she saw this 36:59 thing, this parade going on outside her house, the children of Isel were just asked to go around the house. And then she realized this this battle is not going to be won by might. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. It's by 37:17 with the Lord's strength only we're going to win every battle. Don't think like, oh, if I do this, if I I'm prepared and I have this tactic, I can answer this question and I can tackle this person and I can do this. No, 37:33 our strength is from the Lord. It's not by our own cleverness or anything we have in ourselves. Not by might, not by power, but with God's help, we can conquer and we'll inherit. And the Lord says the meek will inherit the earth. 37:50 It's not the strong people. It's the meek. The we are doing the sermon on the mount these days in NCCF. So that's the verse which came to me. If you're meek and weak in God's sight and depend on his strength, then he will 38:08 take care of every situation. And God accepts us as we when we come to him as sinners. If we come, oh, I'm a self-righteous person and I'm I'm good. I've not done this. I'm not I'm not like this other person. I've [clears throat] 38:25 been good all my life. If you ask some people to give their testimony, they say, "I have always known the Lord from my childhood." Then we know a person who says like that has no conviction of the sin and wretchedness in their own life. 38:41 So remember that the Lord accept us when we come as sinners as humble and poor in spirit and who tremble at his word who respect him then uh he accepts us. Another thing which we I learned from uh 38:59 Rahab was she was loyal to the Lord and the Lord's people not to her city. She said, "Oh, the city where I grew up, this Jericho is my home. How how will I betray them? Will I be how can I be um um 39:18 I need to protect them and save them?" Her loyalty was not to that city which was going to be destroyed. Just like that, God sees where's our loyalty. Is it our loyalty with worldly things in the world and things of this world and 39:33 the people of this world or is our loyalty to God and God's people? And um she accepted everything that God uh told her to do. See, when she was rescued from um from Jericho, the city of 39:52 Jericho, while the children of Israel plundered and destroyed and all that, she she and her family were brought to the camp of Israel. And they said, "You have to be outside the camp. You can't come in. You have to live outside." And 40:08 no, she wasn't told how long she'll have to be there. It's like a quarantine period for her. She she could have thought like this. Huh? I did so much for these people, for these spies, protected them, saved them, and because 40:24 of me, this whole city, this whole nation was saved. And I'm a woman of destiny. I saved this. And look what they're doing. They're telling me to stay outside this camp. Is that the way you treat a person who's done so much 40:40 for them? And even her parents or her siblings could have said, "What is this Rahab? You've done all this for these people and they putting us out. They are keeping us like outcasts, keeping us outside the city, outside the camp and 40:54 we have don't know how long we have to live like this as if we are um outcasts and locals and whatever." She didn't feel like that at all. She submitted to the discipline and um uh 41:13 quarantine and everything that the Lord wanted and she stayed outside. And there also we have an example in Jesus in Hebrews uh 13 verse 12 and 13. We read this verse. Jesus suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem. Outside the gates. 41:31 So let us go to him bearing his reproach outside the camp. for our sake. Jesus bore the reproach and suffered was crucified outside the camp. And the Lord says, I give you the 41:48 chance. You make the choice. You come out with me and bear my reproach, bear my shame, and you'll be rewarded. That's our privilege. And he Jesus is our example. He was humble and he bore all that shame and ridicule and 42:07 suffering for our sake. It's our privilege. Whatever ridicule or whatever people way people despise us, it's our privilege to bear that shame for Jesus' sake. Not for the wrong things which you have done, but because we are 42:23 Christians, because we follow him, it's our privilege to follow him and go with him outside the camp. So um those are some of the u things which I and faith is always rewarded whenever we have faith in the lord he 42:42 doesn't send us he's a rewarder of those who seek him that's what we read in u Hebrews uh first of all we must believe god there is god there is a person as god there is a god we must believe in god and that he's powerful that's what 43:00 Hebrews 1 says Hebrews 11 first few verses and then then [clears throat] he's uh we take that step of faith and definitely the lord will reward us for our faith. Our faith which has um 43:18 resulted in good works and good life and change our lives and the lives of others. God rewards that faith. First of all, God rewarded um Rahab by seeing her by letting her see this mighty miracle. 43:36 She had faith and she saw she was alive to see this miracle of this walls of Jericho falling down, crumbling and falling. She witnessed that miracle. If we have faith, God gives us one of 43:55 the reward God gives us is that he he allows us to see walls falling down like impossible situations. God sees us through he takes care of impossible situations and we think how did I how could did I ever 44:13 think that I could take control of this? It's only the Lord who has done this for me. When we look back at our lives, we can all of us can think of many instances where the Lord miraculously led us. So when we look past don't look 44:30 at the past mistakes but say Lord you have done so many mighty things for me. You've given me privileges. You've given me health. You've given me miraculous way to be where I am now. You've taken care of me. You give me good family. 44:47 You've taken me through so many difficulties. I see your hand taking care of me. If it were not for you, I would have been dead. I know that we w confess our faith and faith in the Lord and [clears throat] faith in the mighty power of God. That 45:06 was one of the reward she got for the for her faith. And the other reward she got was she got accepted finally into the camp of the children of Israel. They said sure you are part of us now. You belong to our family. You are an Israeli 45:23 now. So we become part of God's family. That's our reward. And then thirdly, God gave her a good husband. Um a prince, a very rich man, a chief of the in the from the tribe tribe of Judah. his name was Salmon. Um he didn't think of her 45:42 like oh she is a ex-p prostitute or she had a bad past. Nothing like that. He said he saw this is a virtuous woman. This a woman of faith who put her trust in the Lord. I'm going to marry her. And he married her. And her son was Boaz. 46:00 You know Boaz who married Ruth. that was um the son he was the Boaz was the son of Salman and Rahab and Boaz's son was Oed. Oed's son was Jesse who was the 46:17 father of David. So God wo Rahab into that royal lineage. Not only did she become a part of Israeli family, God brought her into the royal family of David. One of the ancestors of King David. How 46:35 wonderful God is to us. He brings us into the royal family of Christ seated us in the heavenly places. From now onwards, you're inheriting the kingdom of God. This kingdom is your kingdom. You're part of the royal family of Jesus 46:54 Christ. What a privilege God has given us. So I praise and thank God for all these things we can learn from even a sinner ex sinner who was cleansed and forgiven and accepted by the Lord and the same the Lord has done for us. We 47:13 who were dead in our trespasses and sins, God has picked us up. And he's going to show just like he showed Rahab as a trophy of his mercy and his love and his grace and forgiveness. He showed Rahab as a trophy and honored her. He's going to 47:32 show us also before the angels and the people, everybody in the final day. Look at this girl. Look at this woman. her past I wiped it away and she's a glorious daughter of mine. God has given us each one of us the privilege to be a 47:50 daughter of God and to be in his kingdom. What a privilege we have. Time is up but there's uh couple of verses if you like to remember I written it down and then it says in the in the book of Malachi 48:08 in we know that Rahab's story is written in the hall of fame book of fame in Hebrews 11 her name comes there each of our names can be in the book of remembrance that's in Malachi there's this verse which says Um, okay. There's a verse in 48:27 Malachi to read that, but time is up. Let me read this verse. Malachi 3:E 16. You can write it down. Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one 48:44 another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord. and esteemed his name. So just like uh Rahab's name appears in the Hebrews in as a heroine of faith 49:04 each one one of us if we fear the Lord and reverence him and respect him and follow the Lord our names can be written in the book of re remembrance which God is writing and he is going to show the name written there that here look at 49:20 this woman she had faith in me she trusted in me in the difficult situations I'm honored to be her father and she's I'm I'm so proud of her. Thank God that he's writing we have a chance to get our name written in the book of uh 49:39 remembrance. Then this verse uh Psalm 113:5 couple of days back I read that it meant a lot. Psalm 113:5. Who can be compared with God enthroned on high? For below him are the heavens and the earth. He stoops to look and 49:58 lifts the poor from the dirt and the hungry from the garbage dump and sets them among princes. Praise God. Such a wonderful savior we have. He picks us up from the dirt and from the garbage dump and sets us among 50:15 princes among his chosen people. Praise God for this wonderful life he has for us. So our time is up. Shall we close in prayer? Our heavenly father, we thank you for the glorious examples in your word and the lessons we can learn. Thank you for 50:35 people like Rahab and the sinful woman who came to Jesus and the Samaritan woman. There are people like that whom you had mercy on and you picked them up and that's an encouragement to us Lord. Whatever our 50:52 pastures, whatever how our failures have been, whatever way we have even let you down and betrayed you, been unfaithful to you, yet Lord, you're ready to forgive us if we forsake all that and we come to you. And that's how we come to 51:09 you, Lord. And we want us, you want you to take our lives and make us women of faith, Lord, in these days when when you come, please find faith in our lives, Lord. When you said that question, will the son of man find faith in the final 51:27 day? Please find faith in our hearts and in our lives, Lord, help us to be women of faith. Help us to lead our children and our families in that in that life of faith. Lord, we are not we're not worthy of anything any of the blessings you 51:44 bestowed on us so richly. But we want to respond to you in faith and follow you, take up the cross, deny ourselves, do whatever you ask us to do, Lord. Bear your reproach. Do whatever you we want to do, whatever 52:01 you want us to do. And we want to be glad to do it. Lord, please help us. Give us grace. Lord, each one of us, we ask in Jesus precious name. Amen. [music]
