0:08 What kind of Hivite are you? Um Before we find out what a Hivite is, uh talk about the Hivite. I wanted to talk a little bit about how I listen to Jesus. Do I listen to 0:27 Jesus? Do I think I listen to Jesus, first of all? Do I? I think all of us would say, "Yes, I listen to Jesus." But I want to see how serious am I in listening to Jesus. I I believe I am. Yeah, a few weeks ago there was a sermon 0:44 being shared and and a brother as he was preaching was saying, "I'm sharing just the tip of the iceberg. I want you to go back and then read." And I was thinking about that and I was like, "Yeah, that's a good thing. I want 0:57 to go back and read it." If I don't have any inconveniences and all of that and if I get to it, yeah, let me do that. But what would have changed if if Jesus was sitting in the first row? I was picturing this. Jesus was sitting in the 1:11 first row and after the sermon, Jesus stood up and said, "You know those verses that was preached about? I want you to go back and I want you to go and read it again." What would you do? I'm sure if Jesus was physically sitting 1:26 here and he stood up and said, "I want you to go back and read that." I'm pretty sure I would have gone back and I would read it. And the Lord was sharing with me, "Why does Jesus have to physically be present for you to do that? If you hear the 1:39 words from the the words being spoken, the burden of uh being spoken, the Holy Spirit speaking to you, why don't you go back and read it yourself? Does Jesus have to physically be here for me to do that?" And as I was reading in Revelation, you 1:55 might remember in Revelation Jesus spoke to John. And then John went and spoke or he wrote the letters to all the churches in Revelation. And for all those churches in Revelation at the end, towards the end of each one of them, what does he say? 2:10 Listen to what Jesus has spoken. No, he says hear what the spirit has to say through John to the churches, right? It was the spirit who was speaking and so if I don't listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to me in a in a meeting 2:27 I can deceive myself to think, oh yeah, I'm going to listen to Jesus. And so as I was listening to that I I was convicted of that. How do I listen to Jesus? Am I really truly listening to Jesus when he's speaking? Or am I deceiving myself and 2:44 we do that even in the doctor's office. If doctor's a doctor goes and tells you, hey, I I need you to take this medication next week to get healed. What do we do? We go and listen to it. We take it. We're so faithful in taking that advice 2:55 from the doctor. But when we hear it from the the Lord speaking to our hearts, are we taking it with that same seriousness? So that was something that the Lord was convicting me of. Am I taking the words of his seriously 3:09 when I hear it? So who is a Hivite? And I'm going to give you a couple of options here. First option, someone who lives in in hives. Do you think that's a Hivite? Option A. 3:28 Someone who lives in hives. Option B, someone who has itchy skin. Do you think a Hivite is one who has itchy skin? Or B or I C, I'm sorry. A descendant of Canaan, son of Ham, the son of Noah. 3:47 So if you think C is the right answer, you can raise your hand. Okay, very good. So, yes, it was true that a Hittite was a descendant of Canaan, a descendant of Ham, the son of Noah. And one thing about Ham, 4:07 he was cursed for one reason. Do you know why he was cursed? He was cursed because he was not going to be one who covers another sin, but he was so interested in in in in making others' faults and failures known to others. 4:25 And for me, I look at myself, I can be like that. I can be like have that spirit of a Hittite. Where I see a brother or sister and I see something and then instead of covering their sin, I'm waiting to tell somebody else, "Hey, 4:42 did you know what about that brother, that sister, that happened?" If I'm in the church and I have the tendency to find fault or look at the failures of others and then try to share it with others, I have the spirit of a Hittite. 5:01 What do I not have? I do not have love to cover their sin. The other two brothers uh the other two sons of Noah had that love to cover the sins. But for Ham, he did not have that that ability to 5:21 Why? He was missing a blanket, a blanket of love to cover over the sins. And for me also, I want to be very careful. Lord, do I have a For any person in this church, do I not have a blanket of love to cover over their sins? 5:37 Or am I one who wants to go and find out what mistake they've made? Who will I find out the mistake of others? When will I do that? It's when I don't have a blanket of love for them. When I don't have a blanket of love for 5:49 them, I'm going to have find out, oh, what what what did they do? Or waiting for them to slip up. That's why you see if the Pharisees, what did they do? Always looking for Jesus. They were looking for a word where he would say something wrong so 6:00 that they could get a hold of him. Why? Because they did not have a blanket of love. And for me, too, I want to be careful. Lord, do I have a blanket of love to cover over the sins of others? Even as we're speaking about this, I 6:15 want you each one of you to think. This is not a group work exercise or to help your neighbor, but think for yourself. Is there anyone in this church family that I do not have a love that covers their sins? Do I not have a blanket for every single 6:32 person in this church? If we don't, that's okay. We can set that right. We can ask the Lord, Lord, for this brother or sister, I really truly don't have a love for them because every time I see them, I have the irritation or I have a 6:47 I have a finding fault attitude, Lord. But Lord, even today, give me a blanket of love so that I can cover over their sins. The Lord will do that. His desire is to knit our hearts in love, and he will do that. In Numbers 33:55, you can turn there 7:08 with me. Numbers 33:55, it's easy verse to remember. Numbers 33, verse 55. But this is something that God told the Israelites. If you go and fellowship with those who are Hivites, this is what will be the consequence of 7:27 that. They're They're living in sin. They have no desire for the things of God. This is what the consequence will be. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then it shall become that they these those who 7:43 you let remain, they will become as what? Pricks in your eye and what? A thorn in your side. They'll become a thorn in your side. And they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And I, as I plan to do them, so will I do to you. So, that's the 8:02 thing. If we entertain this spirit of a Hivite, it will become a thorn in the flesh. The thorn in the flesh, it constantly will start poking. If I'm a thorn in the flesh, and if I'm a thorn in the church, 8:20 it'll constantly be pricking. If I get up in the morning and I sit up, it'll be poking. If I turn around in my bed, it'll be poking. When I try to tie my shoes, it'll be poking. If I'm a thorn in the flesh in the body of Christ, 8:39 there's two things I can do. The first thing is the one which I should be doing, which is what? I should repent. It says in 2 Peter 3:9, 2 Peter 3:9, God's intention is not for one person to what? Perish. His desire is not for even one 8:58 person in this church to perish. But what does he want us to do? 2 Peter 3:9. It says the Lord is not slow about his promise, but is patient towards you, not wishing 9:16 that any to perish, but all come to repentance. So, if I see this spirit of a Hivite, where I'm a thorn in the body of Christ, the first thing I should say, "Lord, I don't have a love for this person or this I seek to find fault with this 9:30 person. I always look down on them with finding a with a critical attitude, Lord. I want a blanket of love, Lord. I want to repent. Then there's hope for me. But if I don't repent, there's another more drastic measure, 9:48 which is found in 2 Corinthians 12. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 12. If I'm If I'm one who constantly is a a thorn in the body of Christ, this is what will happen next. Verse 10:13 7. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. I'll be a torment in the body of Christ. And verse 8, what did it What did he do? He implored the Lord three times that it might leave him. And so, 10:32 if I'm a thorn in the body of Christ, and if I'm not repenting, what the Lord will do with me is one day he will he'll take me away. And so, I have to be careful. I'd rather go with option one of repenting. But if the Lord is asking me to repent 10:49 repent repent and I'm I'm being stubborn, then the Lord will have no option but to take me out from this body rather than me be a thorn in its side. Who is a Gibeonite? Option A, a good guitar player. 11:17 A descendant of a man named Gibeon. Again, this is a kind of a trick question. A descendant of a man named Gibeon. Or three, a person who lives in the city of Gibeon. C, I hear a couple of C's. If you said C, you are right. It is C. A person who 11:35 lives in the city of Gibeon. He's not a descendant of a Gibeon cuz there's no Gibeon in the Bible. There's a Gideon, but not a Gibeon. A person who lives in the city of Gibeon. And so, Gibeon was a city which was very close 11:49 to Jerusalem. And so, So, there was Gibeon. It was very close to Jerusalem. And you had Jericho to the east. And whoever was living in in Gibeon was a Gibeonite. And so, you had people from all different nations 12:08 surrounding them trying to destroy Israel. Among them, there was some in in in in Gibeon. And turn with me to Joshua 9. A few weeks ago, we heard this. Joshua 9. Verse 13. 12:37 Um Or actually, you know what? Let's read from verse 11. So, our elders and all the inhabitants of our company uh our country spoke to us saying, "Take provisions of your in your hand for the journey and go and meet for them and 12:52 and say to them, 'We are your servants. Now, make a covenant with us.'" This is our verse 12. This is our bread that was warm when we took it for provisions out of our houses on the day we left. And so, these men were deceptive. They had bread which was 13:06 stale. And they showed a perception that they were coming from a far away country. But they were really not from a far away country. They were from Gibeon. And they told the people in Jerusalem, "Hey, Joshua, we're from a far away place. We came 13:21 from a long distance. Make a covenant with us. Make a covenant." You might remember God said not to make a covenant with any of the Hivites or Hiddites or anything. But because they did not seek the Lord as it says in verse 13:39 14. So, the men of Israel took some of their provisions and did not ask for counsel of the Lord. Joshua made peace with them and a covenant with them. And so, God So, Joshua made a covenant with them because of their deception. They They 13:53 deceived them to saying, "You know what? We're part of your group. We're We want to be a part of your group." They used a little bit of flattery. "We saw what God did for for you. We want to join you. We want to be a part of 14:06 part of you. Make a covenant with us." And so, once they became a part of the the Israelites, uh they had a covenant with them. 14:24 They said, "You know, they they asked them, 'Why did you did do this? Why did you deceive us?'" And to that response, read with me verse 24. So, they answered Joshua, "Because it was certainly told your servants servants that Lord your God had 14:43 commanded his servants Moses to give you all the land and destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. Therefore, we feared greatly for our lives because of you and have done this thing. Now, behold, we are in your 14:55 hands. Do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us." But verse 27, but Joshua made them that day hewers of water and drawers of water of the congregation for the altar of the 15:13 Lord to this day in the place which he would choose. And so, they became hewers of wood and drawers of water all throughout their life from generation to generation that was their uh that's what they could do. That was the covenant that they would make with 15:30 them. And as I think about these Gibeonites the Gibeonites today, what are the Gibeonites today? They are ones who want to be a part of the church. They want to be a part of the people of God. But they're deceptive. They have enough they're close enough to 15:49 Jerusalem to say, "Hey, I'm I'm one of you." But deep down in their heart, what are they? They're a Hivite. Deep down in their heart they have the nature of a Hivite. But they have this hypocrisy. They can hear If you ask them, "Oh, look 16:06 at that. That man is doing some ministry for God." Look at him, he's hewing this the wood. He has a ministry. He's drawing the water. He's for the congregation. Look at him, he's serving the Lord. But deep down that's just a a show. 16:21 That's a That's That's something he does on the outside, but deep down inside he doesn't have the heart of Israelite. He did not see the other Israelites as brothers and sisters. He was a part of his small group. He had 16:35 a friendship with his small group of Gibeonites. But why did he not want to become a Israelite? Deep down he was not interested in the things of God. He was good enough with the hewing of trees and drawing of water. He was satisfied there. 16:51 It would be much much greater cost to go and become a Israelite. He says, "No, I'm satisfied here at Gibeon. We all in Gibeon will be Gibeonites. We'll have a a name that we're religious, but deep down we're not changed." 17:09 And they wanted to do it in the time of Ezra. You would remember. Turn with me to Ezra. Ezra is right after the Chronicles. 17:26 Chapter 4, verse 3, it says, "But Zerubbabel and Joshua and the rest of the heads of fathers of the households of Israel said to them, 'You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God. But we ourselves together build to the 17:44 Lord God of Israel.'" And so, these who are Gibeonites Gibeonites, they long to do the things of the Lord. They want to do the work of the Lord. But those like Ezra will say, "Hey, you know what? Your spirit is different. You 17:59 don't have a common spirit with us. You're not seeking to be one body in Christ." You remember that verse where it says he will knit our hearts together in love. When it comes to building the body of Christ, there's going to be a cross that 18:17 we need to carry. There's different brothers and sisters that the Lord brings from all over. And if I want to be a Israelite, then I need to be or I want to be a part of God's kingdom I I want to be a part of the body of Christ, there's going to be 18:34 a cross. When another member of the body of Christ is having a peculiar mannerism or something like that, there's going to be a cross. Am I willing to take that cross? It says about Jesus, he brought the Jews and Gentiles together through the cross 18:50 into one body. And for me, too, if I want to be a part of this church family, if I want to be a part of this body, if I'm a Gibeonite, I'm not going to pay that cost. The moment there's a friction with another brother or sister, I'm going to 19:02 say, "Hey, that's too much. I'd rather stay in my friendship circle here in Gibeon." But if I seek to be one among the child children of God who God is knitting together. There is going to be a cost. I'm going to have to be willing to pay 19:17 that price. Is there a Is there a benefit of being a Gibeonite? Oh, there's a great benefit of being a Gibeonite. You have a good reputation with the the people in the church. You have a good reputation in the world. The world still 19:33 sees you as a Hivite. The people in the church sees you as a Gibeonite. And so you have the best of both worlds. But secretly, you love this world. And you have a life enjoying this world. The other thing with the Gibeonites is 19:50 a few chapters later, you see that all these kings, the Hittites and all of these other kings, Hivites, they came against the Gibeonites to attack them. And the Gibeonites go to Israel and say, "We're being attacked. Come and come to 20:04 our rescue." Guess what? There is a protection in the church. These Gibeonites, even though they were not wholehearted, they had a protection. Israel went to war against again against all those five nations. Why? Because they cared for these Gibeonites, 20:20 which they made a covenant with. Gibeonites, what do you What does the Gibeonites do for the church or for the people of God? Not much. They hew the wood and they they um draw the water, but because they were 20:37 in the body of believers, Joshua and the Israelites went and fought. They defeated all the kings. And that's one of the few places, if you turn with me back to Joshua, one of the few places where God does something amazing 20:54 for the sake of Joshua and the Israelites. Not for their sake, but for the sake of someone else, for their neighbor, for the Gibeonites. Read with me here. Joshua 10, verse 32. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in that day when the Lord delivered the Amorites 21:13 before the sons of Israel and said in the sight of Israel, "O sun, stand at Gibeon, O moon, at the valley of Ajalon." So that the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. 21:29 And then it says, verse 14, "There was no day like that before it or after it when the Lord listened to the voice of a man." I like that expression, when the Lord listened to the voice of man. Will the Lord listen to the voice of a 21:48 man or a woman? Yes, he will. He will go through great pains. And what I hear from this, what I what I learn from this, he'll go through great pains if one is seeking to help his neighbor. He will even keep the sun still and the 22:06 moon still if he needs to. But there was not a day after like that and not a day before like that. And I believe that the Lord will do for each one of us as well. He will go through any measure for each one of us whose longing 22:19 is for the church. His longing is so that you know, that there's one weak lost sheep going going that way. Like the shepherd would go running after that sheep. Why? Because God has put a love and a care for the body of Christ in our 22:34 hearts. When he does that, he will go through no measure. There will be a day not like it before, not a day like it afterwards. In Luke 11, if we turn to Luke 11, Luke 11, verse five, he says, "Suppose one of you 22:54 has a friend that that a neighbor, a friend that has come and goes to him at midnight, a Gibeonite. Let's say a Gibeonite comes to your house at midnight and said, "Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come from a journey 23:08 and I have nothing to set before him." And his friend says, "Do not bother me. The door has been already shut." Verse 8, "I tell you even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence, 23:24 he will get up and give to him as much as he needs." And that's what the Lord will do for us. If we have a longing for the body of Christ, if we have a longing for those in the in the church family, he will give us bread for those who are 23:36 in need. He will help the Gibeonites who are in need. And so the Gibeonites again, they have a reputation in the world, they have a reputation in the church. They have the protection. Even in the church family, whether you 23:52 whether you like it or not, there is a protection in the church family for our children, for our families. Many of our children may come to know the Lord because they've heard it in the church. There is a blessing. There's a definite blessing 24:08 to be in the body of Christ. Even if we're not an Israelite, even if we're a Gibeonite, there is a blessing. And for the Gibeonite, he should have a longing. Lord, what should I do? I'm I have this nature of a Gibeonite where I just seek my own, my 24:26 family, the benefits of the church, but I'm not really longing to become one with this body of believers, Lord, because I'm not willing to pay the price. I'm not willing to get that love blanket for my family members. But there is hope. There is hope for 24:44 each person. But see, for this person who his longing was for this Gibeonite who was in need, it says verse 13, "If you then being evil, know how to give good Luke 11:13. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, 25:01 how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And so if I have a longing for the church to build each and every member up of this body, then Lord will fill me with his Holy Spirit because I say, "Lord, I do not 25:18 have bread for these family members. I don't have a blanket of love for these members of this church family. Lord, can you fill me with your Holy Spirit so that there your love is shed abroad in my heart for each and every member of 25:30 this body that I have a blanket of love that covers the multitude of sin, that I seek to not seek my own, but what's the benefit of my neighbor, my friend who comes at midnight? Lord, fill me, Lord, with the Holy Spirit 25:42 so that I will be able to be that to this body of believers. The Gibeonites will not go for battle. You might remember in Matthew 16:18, it says, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." 25:59 Who are those who are fighting the battle Lord's battles? It's the Israelites. The Gibeonites will not get into the battle. They don't have a care or concern for their brothers and sisters in the body of Christ to that extent 26:13 that they will be in prayer for them, that they they their if this enemy is attacking their families or they don't have any concern. As long as it's not affecting their small circle, they're okay. But for Israelite, no. 26:29 For those in the body of Christ, they will fight the Lord's battles. If there's something that's happening in the Lord's battles, they will be there to pray and and and and fight against the gates of Hades. You might remember Paul, 26:47 again another blessing to be in the body of Christ. You might remember Paul in Mat- Acts 27:23. He says the angel of the Lord came and told me, "Not only you, Paul, but everybody on this ship." Just because they're on this ship, they might 27:02 be a murderer, they might be a immoral person, it doesn't matter. But if they're on this ship, just because they're on this ship, guess what? Verse 23, Acts 27:23, "For this very night an angel of the Lord, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood before 27:19 me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted all those who are sailing with you.'" All of the people who are sailing with you, it doesn't matter who they are. They have a protection 27:34 because they're in touch with a godly man. I believe that if I'm in the midst of godly men and women, there is going to be a protection for me. And so, being a Gibeonite, it is good to be a Gibeonite. But am I willing to go further than 27:50 being a Gibeonite? Maybe I'm not a Hivite. Maybe I come close to Jerusalem. Maybe I'm doing a little bit of hewing of the trees and cutting the or drawing the water. But how am I going to press on further to be a part of that body that the Lord 28:09 is building? One one thing I wanted to mention here is when when the Jews saw that Joshua made a mistake. Joshua made a mistake. Right? He should have consulted the Lord before he made that covenant with the Gibeonites. 28:27 He didn't do that. Right? He made a mistake. A genuine mistake which would cost Israel for the rest of their lives. It was not a small mistake. It was be a mistake that from generation to generation they would have this covenant with the 28:42 Gibeonites. All because Joshua had not consulted with the Lord. Something that was not a serious matter. And then there was a complaint. The moment that there was a a situation, there was a complaint in the camp. You can turn with me back to 29:00 Joshua 9. Verse 18. Joshua 9:18, it says, "The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation, Joshua and others, had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the 29:20 leaders." And so, everybody Joshua knew that he had made a mistake. There was a complaint in the congregation. But the wonderful thing I see in Joshua is because even just because he made a mistake, he did not let that make a bad situation become worse by 29:37 justifying it or covering it up. He said, "Yes, we made a mistake. Okay, what can we do to solve that mistake?" And the way they solved it was making the Gibeonites hewers of hewers of wood and drawers of water. That's how they solved the problem. 29:55 They did not justify it. They did not they dealt with the problem. And I saw that. What I learned from that is, no matter if we fail in a situation, God wants us to get back up, set it right in the right way, and keep moving on. 30:13 We see a a starch a stark example to that in the other way in Samuel uh 1 Samuel chapter 13. Turn with me there. Verse 8. 30:31 1 Samuel 13:8, it says, "Now he waited 7 days." That's Saul was waiting for uh Samuel for 7 days. And he says, "You know what? I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting." And it became late and he saw all the people drifting away and all of that and 30:46 he says, "Okay, what should I do?" He was supposed to wait for Samuel to sacrifice. But he rushed and he did it. He says verse 9, "So Saul said, 'Bring to me the burnt offering, the peace offering.' And he offered the burnt offering. As soon 31:00 as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came." Samuel went out to meet him, to greet him. But Samuel said to him, "What have you done?" And then look at this. Instead of confessing his sin and repenting, what does he do? 31:17 Saul said, "Because" Once you have a because or a but, something like that, it's it's all the excuses after that. "Because I saw the people that were scattering from me and now he's blaming Samuel, and you did not come within the appointed time, and 31:32 the Philistines were assembling. Therefore, I I had to take matters into my own hand. I was not going to wait for you." You see all those excuses that came? He had a perfect opportunity to do what Joshua did. Okay, we made a mistake. 31:46 What can we do to solve the mistake and correct it? Instead, he made a bunch of excuses for why he did what he did. And so for us, too, we have two paths before us. One, the way making excuses for our sin or setting it right. 32:02 And so we always have that two ways before us. So, for a Hittite or a Gibeonite this is the question that we we we ask. What must I do to be saved? What must I be What must I do? I'm a Hittite. I have the spirit of a 32:21 Hittite. I have a critical attitude towards brothers and sisters in the in the church or I'm a Gibeonite Gibeonite. I have a show that I'm a godly person, but deep down my nature hasn't changed. I have a small circle of friends with which I love to 32:38 get together but when it comes with a cross of building fellowship, no, I'm too far. And so I want to share about one who was We don't know if she was a Hivite or not. But she was a Canaanite. One 32:57 who had no hope in this world. Turn with me to Ephesians. This is This is the word I would kind of describe if I if I were to describe Rahab. Everywhere in the in in in the in in the passages it will say Rahab the harlot. 33:16 Rahab the harlot. One who had failed. One who had sinned. That's That's what she was That was her name. Rahab the harlot everywhere. So the land of 33:42 You might remember Canaan was supposed to be conquered by the Israelites. All of the Israelites I mean all of the land of Canaan was going to be destroyed because of their sin. In In Genesis it says that the their sin wasn't ripe yet. It said there 33:55 had There was 400 years in Genesis 15 I believe it was. It says that the their sin was not yet ripe. So there was going to be a time where their sin was going to be ripe but that time had not come yet. And so the time was nearing 34:11 when their sin was going to be ripe. And Yeah, 15 verse 16. Genesis 15 verse 16. Then in the fourth generation they will return here for the iniquity of the Amorite has not yet 34:29 complete. Meaning it was not ripe yet. Their sin God was patient with them, patient with them, and their sin wasn't ripe yet. And all of this nation was going to be judged. And Rahab was sitting there in the midst of all these people, and she knew that 34:45 one, I'm not an Israelite. Two, the entire nation around me is living in sin. And in the midst of all of this, I'm a harlot sitting here, a sinner living in sin. 35:02 What hope is there for me? I'm not an Israelite. I'm not I'm a Hivite or I'm a Canaanite living in the midst of sinful people, and I myself am living in sin. I feel that she would have felt very 35:21 condemned and discouraged. But I see that the love the love of God that can reach to any place. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. You know that song it says 35:43 He looked beyond my fault and saw my need. He looked beyond my fault and saw my need, and I believe for just like for Rahab, for me, and I hope for you as well, that God You see God Oh, he's Read with me Ephesians 2:12. Remember 36:06 that you were at that time separate from Christ. And Rahab would felt like this, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. She was not an Israelite. And strangers to the covenants and promise. She didn't have any promises in 36:19 God. She was sitting there in a foreign land living in sin. And this word here, having no hope and without God in the world. No hope. No God in this world and that's how she 36:39 was sitting there. And in the midst of that God reached out to her, not looking at finding fault with her, but looking at her need. And she had faith that God, you know, somehow she had this faith that she mustered up 36:58 that God was going to do something for her. She preserved those those Israelite spies there and she said, "You know what? When God is going to come here I'm not asking you because I'm worthy. No. But can you have mercy on me? 37:16 That when you everything else is being destroyed around me that you would save my family, me and my family. Can you save me and my family?" And the spy says, "Yes, we will do that. Leave that scarlet rope outside the window and when I see that scarlet rope 37:33 you and your family will be saved." And for each one of us, if we want to become one in this body of Christ it has to start there. Where we've come to the Lord not because we're worth something, we've done something for God, but 37:51 Lord, I have nothing. I come from a people who are sinful people. In the midst of those sinful people, I'm the worst of them. Lord, would you have mercy on me? I'll leave this scarlet rope. Let me be saved. Let my family be saved. 38:10 And so she was rescued by that and I think about that, one who's been forgiven so much coming and being a part of the body of Christ. I doubt she would have ever had a critical attitude towards anybody in the body of Christ. You would have been so 38:26 happy. I should have been destroyed. My life was going was hopelessly. Nobody cared for me. I had no hope and no God in this world. And by God's mercy, he put me in this body of believers. I'm not going to I Who am I to go and find fault with 38:43 anybody else in this body of Christ? That's the spirit which Rahab had. That's the faith that Rahab had and it was proven in her attitude the remainder of her life. She would have never had a complaint about an Israelite. 38:58 She was just grateful that she found a place in Jerusalem and the people. Like Ruth said, you remember Ruth? When she became an Israelite, what did she say? Your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. 39:17 That's the spirit with which Rahab would have had. The spirit of faith that she had was that these people now I'm not a Hivite anymore. I'm not a Canaanite anymore. I'm an Israelite. I'm one among the people of God. I value each and every member of his 39:37 body. I'm unworthy to be here. I have no time to find faults on a God overlooked my sin and he had mercy on me and I'm going to have mercy. I I believe Rahab had a a blanket of love with which she could cover the sins of others that she had 39:53 seen. I'm sure she had it. And the beautiful thing is that she was a part of this Canaanite treat, a descendant of Ham, and God took her and grafted her as a descendant 40:12 a ancestor of Jesus. Both of Mary and Joseph, She was an ancestor. And God had put her there. I believe as one example of one who had failed so much, who had no hope in this world, 40:30 no promises without God, that God could reach down and graft into his family tree. I look at that and I say, "Lord, what an example. One who had been Who would have thought Lord, how could you use a harlot like me 40:49 in any way that you would save and actually put me in your story of salvation?" In God's salvation, the salvation of my life and your life, Rahab is a part of that salvation story. One who was a harlot, one who had no hope, God used 41:07 as a part of his salvation story. And the faith I get when it says Hebrews, it says, "Look at the faith of Rahab." The faith I get is he could use If she could If he could use a Rahab, he can use me as well to transform my story and make it a part 41:23 of his salvation story. And that's the ones who he takes from being a a thorn in the body of Christ and makes them a rib in the body of Christ. You might remember in Genesis, he says of his wife, "This rib, bone of my bone, rib of my This This is 41:43 what attitude we will have for every single map." That's That's what God looks at. He When he looks at it, he wants to look at a rib. One like a Rahab who has so much gratitude for the body of Christ, who's willing to pay any price to be a part of 41:57 his family. And that's how God can take a thorn and make it a rib in his body. So, that's the word of hope. No matter what situation we're in, whether we are a Hittite, 42:15 a Gibeonite, God has hope for us today. That he can take us and graft us into his family and his body. Do you know why I put that picture? Do you know what that picture is? It's a fish, very good. What type of fish? It's a salmon. 42:40 The reason I put that there was Rahab was married to Salmon, not to be confused with the fish, but he was but that was a reminder for me that God could take her and put her into God's family tree. And now you won't also forget who Rahab 42:58 was married. She was always She was married to Salmon, but may the Lord help each one of us to be grafted into his family and be a useful member of his body. Amen.
