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We had the reading from Joshua chapter 2, all right, and the reason we had the reading there is because it's the first time that we're introduced to Rahab, Rahab the harlot. That's what that's about. Now what I want you to do, just keep your finger there, we are going to come back to Joshua chapter 2 and you ask why we read about Rahab the harlot, well go back to James chapter 2 now, go to James chapter 2 and on Sunday afternoon I preached a sermon entitled Abraham Justified by Works, okay, and you know James chapter 2 is a chapter that's challenging, you know I've mentioned that the false prophets and false brethren even love to bring up James chapter 2 to teach that actually faith alone is not enough to be saved, you also need to have the works and the reason I preached for the sermon in the afternoon on Sunday afternoon was to show you that Abraham, because we look at James chapter 2 Abraham gets mentioned, that Abraham's offer of works was offering his son Isaac upon the altar and that is at the very bare minimum somewhere about 40 to 45 plus years after Abraham was truly saved, okay, when we compare the rest of the Bible, okay, Abraham was justified by faith, we proved that but then his works were added later in his life and it was you know 115 years old approximately, we offered up Isaac and these are works, you know the Bible does say in James chapter 2 that he was justified by these works and not by faith only and so the main point was to show you that James chapter 2 is not teaching us how to go to heaven, you know that's not the message of James chapter 2 and there's a lot of confusion, people don't understand, so the next person that's brought up there in James chapter 2, if you have a look at James chapter 2 verse number 24, James chapter 2 verse 24 it says ye see then how that by works a man is justified, so yeah that's what the Bible says and not by faith only, then it says in verse 25 likewise, so just like Abraham, likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, so the next question is okay I get the Abraham story, I get that he was saved long before you offered up Isaac but what about Rahab, how do we explain Rahab and truly what does it mean to be justified by works, what does justify even really mean I guess is the question, so the title for the sermon tonight brethren is Rahab justified by works, okay Sunday afternoon was Abraham justified by works, this is Rahab justified by works, now I understand you know there are certain words in the Bible phrases that are sometimes hard to understand and I would say the word justified is one of those things, it can be a little challenging to understand what it's truly speaking about you know I would say it's similar to the word repentance because the word repentance is not something we use in our English vernacular very often you know you can be you can be told that well repentance means attorney from sins but then when you show people that God repented say did God repent from sins like well they don't know how to answer that question because they've misunderstood what it means you know the word justified can be very similar the difference is the word justified is something we do use very often in our English vernacular and so let me just give you some thoughts and look I remember going to church and I love this you know I use the word cute with Christina she didn't know if it was right approach but I do like this cute definition for the word justified you know I remember going to church I've heard it from many pastors maybe I've said it I'm not sure but I've heard it say that people you know when people say well what does it mean to be justified they'll say well it's kind of like just if I'd there's a justified just if I'd never sinned so that's what justified means just as you've never sinned so if you've been justified before God it's as though you've never sinned and like I like that it's nice you know it's beautiful yeah you know when we're justified before God God looks upon us and our sins are not imputed upon us our sins have been taken away and they've been put on Christ you know Christ was judged instead of us and he faced you know the judgment the curse the the pain of carrying our sins so we don't have to be seen with those sins upon ourselves praise God I understand that but truly that's not what justified really means okay and I just want to give you some examples of this if you can please turn to you can move away from James now turn to Psalm 51 turn to Psalm 51 verse number four Psalm 51 verse number four because if you have this mindset that every time the Bible mentions the word justified that must mean just as I've never sinned you know then you're going to have problems when you read other passages of the Bible such as Psalm 51 verse four let's have a look at this Psalm 51 verse four you know this is the famous psalm of King David when he turns to God and he confesses his sins that he committed with Bathsheba before the Lord and he says these words in verse number four he says against thee thee only have I sinned so he's speaking to God right then he says this and then this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest King David is saying God you are justified is King David saying it's like you've never sinned God no obviously God has never sinned it's not like just as I've he's never sinned he's never sinned he's not a sinner okay but what does it mean to be justified he's saying look God because I've done such evil your judgment upon me the words that you've preached against me by the by the prophet Nathan these are justified you know I've been a sinner your justice your judgment is justified against me okay so you can see hey that doesn't seem to fit the justice I've never sinned because God has never sinned okay another just quick one oh you need to turn that to read it to you quickly in first Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit justified Christ was justified is that saying that you know Christ got to a point just as he'd never sinned you say well he's never sinned yeah you're right he's never sinned obviously that's what he's talking about it being justified in the spirit I believe that's referring to the Holy Spirit okay and we know that as Christ came to this earth the works that he did was by the power of the Holy Spirit by the power of the Holy Ghost okay even today you know for us to learn about Christ and his word we need the teaching of the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit that teaches us the truth of God's words and so you can see that the word justified even in other aspects of our English language has more to do with the root word of the word justified just as in just like the word justice okay and you know let me let me give you an example just regular everyday example because you know we like to take these words and think it's some you know sometimes we complicate things we think these are churchy words but what helps me when I read the bible is when I see a bigger word like even repentance I understand repentance in Spanish it's often used and it just means I've changed my mind you know in Spanish you would say you know they'll say look I was doing this but I then did this you know and they're just they're just saying I've just changed my mind you know but we don't use that word in English that often so we we struggled to kind of understand exactly what it means sometimes but again the word justified we use it quite a lot let me give you an example let's say you know someone quits his job all right and you might say well I don't know I don't know if that's the right decision you know why did he quit his job you know how's he going to take care of himself but then you know once he's quit his job soon afterwards he starts a new job that pays him better better hours you know it's closer to home what are you going to say you're going to say his decision to quit the job was justified because look what's happened now does that have something to do with being saved or going to heaven or being righteous before God no it just means that you know I can see now why he did that why he quit his job because he had a better job lined up in the future so he's justified what if a man is caught speeding okay and the cop pulls him pulls him over and says look I've caught you speeding and the man says look officer my wife is pregnant she's about to give birth you know I'm rushing to get her to the hospital you know people turn around and say well he well he was speeding he did break that law but he was justified in doing so there was there was a reason that caused him to take that course of action he's justified by his decision to speed because he had to get his wife it's an emergency situation had to get his wife to the hospital and so I'm just trying I'm just taking everyday examples to you okay and what I'm trying to say to you is that when we reject the two it's really no different than that and I'll show you soon why that is but you know I had a quick I just looked online just for a few definitions of the word justified let me give you just some random ones out there the first thing I just typed into google the first one that came up in google was having done for or marked by a good or legitimate reason okay the man was speeding he had a legitimate reason getting his wife to the hospital okay then I looked up dictionary.com justified having been shown to be just there's that word again just or right then the other definition that it gives is warranted or well grounded warranted or well grounded and the other one that I liked was from Cambridge dictionary that says having a good reason for something having a good reason for something right yeah he had good reason to quit his job because he had a better job lined up okay and so listen sometimes we just need to stop you know and put ourselves okay what is he saying what does the word justified mean exactly you know how do I use it in the context that I found this passage because we see that Abraham was justified when he offered up Isaac as a sacrifice now you say well that did that save him or does it fit these better definitions for example having a good reason for something warranted or well grounded having done for or marked by a good or legitimate reason you say why would you know Abraham be willing to sacrifice his only son well again when we looked at Hebrews 11 he knew that his son if he had to sacrifice his son if his son were to die that he would rise from the dead because he saw that this was a picture this was an image of the greater truth of Christ rising from the dead so you look at that action of Abraham like most of us will say man a man sacrificing his son that's ridiculous but the fact that Abraham understood that this was a message of salvation this was a picture you say well then he's justified to do so because he's expecting his son to rise from the dead but we're not looking at Abraham tonight we're looking at Rahab and Rahab's works because we saw also like was also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works now what's interesting about this if you say because let me say justified by works when she had received the messages and had sent them out another way she had received the spies into her house and she protected the spies from those that were looking for her so does that mean she got saved by doing those actions look she's Rahab the harlot well so so protecting the spies saved her but she could still continue being a harlot I mean is salvation by works because she's still a harlot and the Bible keeps referring to as Rahab the harlot okay and so you know if you think salvation is by cleaning up your life and doing the righteous works then Rahab's still not saved because you know she continued serving as a harlot for you know some time at least until the walls of Jericho were destroyed all right so I just I'm trying to challenge you to look at this passage you know I you know I don't think I'm you know going so far to say you know I'm creating some new definition I'm just taking an everyday word that we use in everyday life and let's reassess the passage that we're looking at and understand what this is speaking about you know our works ought to justify us yeah when we go door to door soul winning all right you say well it's justified because you've been saved you've received the words of eternal life and it's just it's proper it's well grounded it makes complete sense to have a heart to reach the lost and give them the gospel that's what works is about it justifies our faith it justifies you know our course of living that God wants us to live okay this has nothing to do about how to go to heaven okay and so let's go to Joshua chapter two now let's look at the story of Rahab the harlot Joshua chapter two and you know what brethren my apologies please go back to James chapter two I did want to touch upon one other passage there please go back to James chapter two okay they look similar on my notes James two Joshua two okay go back to James chapter two and let's backtrack a little bit in the book of James verse number 14 let's look at a little bit of the context before we lead up to Abraham and Rahab but James chapter two verse number 14 reads what doth it profit my brethren though a man say he have faith and have not works can faith save him say what is safe who what is this again this is not how to be your soul salvation going to heaven okay let's have a look at this because it continues verse number 15 if a brother or sister be naked or destitute of daily food if there's a brother that needs help they've fallen in bad times they don't even have food to feed themselves they come up to you what are you going to do about that brother well verse number 16 and one of you saying to them depart in peace and be warmed and filled notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit what doth it profit who the man who's naked without food if you say to him oh you're naked without food oh you'll be fine be fueled off you go brother look it profits that man nothing you've got to do if you can help step in and help that person do some works be a blessing to them that's going to profit them okay that's going to help them you know not to boast but we have a good situation today right now brother you need you need my car all right brother Michael's car's broken down all right gave me a call now I could say oh well brother you know let's have faith you know let's just have a word of prayer right now and and ask God to fix your car and there's nothing wrong with that okay there's nothing wrong with that but we know that his car is in the wreckers getting repaired or not the wreckers but in the mechanic getting repaired might take a few days all right now you know now when he needs to go to work tomorrow morning is that going to profit him that his car's still getting fixed or will profit him more to say hey brother I've got a spare car in the driveway I'll bring it to church tonight how about you drive that to work that's going to profit him more when he wakes up tomorrow morning having to go to work than his car been you know at the mechanic and we're just praying that God will fix it there's nothing wrong with God praying to God that he'll fix it but the prophet is you know taking some action and being a help to a brother you need that's works and you know what that justifies how does that justify you well you know what it justifies for me at least I'm not being boastful just examples like this right that I love the brethren all right you say pastor do you love the brethren well is this an example perhaps you know that I'll go out without my car you know is that an example perhaps of not being selfish but selfless wanting to give and being a blessing to other people am I justifying my love you know for God's people is that justification of course that's justification the actions justifies the fact that I'm saved and that I love my brethren okay that's it and that's all it is you know but again people get so is that how you get saved man you know it's like it's it's strange to me a little bit it's strange okay now look I've said it before there are challenging passages in the scriptures all right and here's my word of advice if you get stuck on a passage all right just pray to God God can you reveal this to me at some points and read the rest of the bible that's like the best thing you can do all right you know we are growing we're gaining knowledge you know even today I don't know every single passage of the bible you know someone asked me what does this mean and I don't have the answer you know I'm not so prideful to say you know brother I'm not that sure you know let me think about it maybe I'll come back to you maybe I won't maybe I need many years of more bible reading to finally get an answer to that passage hey maybe I won't even get an answer to that passage until I go home to be in heaven with the Lord and I can ask him myself I mean you know there's a lot of bible to learn okay and I just want you to be patient if you're struggling with something all right just set that aside Lord help me in the right time to learn that and go and learn other things that are more easier to understand easier to digest okay the bible contains milk of God's word which is easy to digest sometimes it's meats and requires a lot of labor and effort and cutting and chewing and digestion to fully understand what is being taught and that's fine because we're all growing we're all maturing we're all getting further understanding as God reveals his truth toward us back to Joshua chapter two please Joshua chapter two in verse number one now as I said the title is Rahab Justified by Works let's have a look at the story of Rahab and let me show you that Rahab was not saved when she protected the spies say when was she saved she was saved before that okay and I'll show you how that is okay Joshua chapter two in verse number one and Joshua actually let me give you a context so Joshua you know Moses is out of the picture so you know that Israel has been taken out of Egypt you know the adults did not want to go into the land of Canaan so they were to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and the next generation will be the ones that would go into the land of Canaan all right and you know after Moses they're under the instruction and leadership of Joshua so then we have this story when they go into the promised land and they're dealing with the first city that they're going to take over once they cross over the Jordan river and that's Jericho but it says here in Joshua two verse one and Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly saying go view the land even Jericho and they went and came into an harlot house named Rahab and lodged there and he was told the king of Jericho saying behold there came men in hither tonight for the children of Israel to search out the country so obviously if they want to defeat this city they want to destroy the city you know they're trying to get the lay of the land that you know how the city looks like they're trying to get some tactical advantage here so Joshua sends out two spies to report on the situation anyway the king of Jericho finds out that hey we've had two spies and they went to Rahab the harlot let's keep going to verse number three and the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab saying bring forth the men that have come to thee which are entered into thine house for they become to search out all the country and the woman took the two men and hid them say why did she hide them I mean these are two spies of for people that lived in Jericho the Canaanites there these would be enemies why would she hide people that would be considered enemies from you know within her own city but she does that okay and we find out that this was justification these were works that justified her justified what well let's keep going all right and hid them and said there came men unto me but I wish not whence they were because she goes I don't know where they're from okay and it came to pass about the time of shutting off the gate when it was dark that the men went out whither the men went I whatnot pursue after them quickly for ye shall overtake them she goes look when it got dark they left you know they went this way you just better go out and chase them you know you'll probably be able to catch up to them basically they're not in my house okay she's lying to protect their lives let's keep going there in verse number six and but sorry but she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them with the stocks of flax which she had laid in under sorry laid in order under the roof and the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out they shut the gates and before they were laid down she came up unto them upon the roof and she said unto the men now look at look what she says and she said unto the men now remember she's not an Israelite okay she's from Jericho she's a Canaanite woman her people do not worship the God of Israel okay they're an ungodly people it's time for their judgment to come at the hand of the Israelites but look what she says verse number nine and she said unto the men I know that the Lord have given you the land how do you know this Rahab the harlot you know for you to be a harlot I mean you're a low social class you know you're one of the lowest people you know of this land and you know that the Lord capital L O R D okay um is the one that's given the Israelites this land he goes and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faints because of you look at verse number 10 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 unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan Sion and Og whom ye utterly destroyed she goes I've heard of you guys I've heard your your Lord I've heard how he caused and did a great miracle and caused it and helped you to pass through that red sea when you came out of Egypt so how did you hear about this now again think of the timing the Israelites had already wandered into the wilderness for some 40 years so from the time that they crossed the red sea to the time she's received the spies is already over 40 years okay and she goes I've heard of this story you know I've heard about your Lord I've heard about his great miracles how can this be well keep your finger there in Joshua chapter 2 and go to Exodus chapter 9 please go to Exodus chapter 9 go to Exodus chapter 9 verse number 15. Now one of the things that you know I struggled with as a young man when I would read the story of the Exodus and you know when God would send Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh that you know Pharaoh hardens his heart but then eventually God starts to harden the heart of Pharaoh and I kind of thought that's a little bit unfair Lord I mean you know if you're not hard in his heart he might he might desire for the children of Israel to go I don't really understand why you're doing that Lord why are you hardening his heart you know until I understood what took place here in Exodus chapter 9 verse 15 there's a reason for this Exodus chapter 9 verse 15 it says for now I will stretch out my hand that I might smite thee and thy people with pestilence and thou shall be cut off from the earth okay and this is speaking speaking to Pharaoh here verse number 16 and in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee my power and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth there's a reason why God you know hardened the heart of Pharaoh you know that he would you know withhold the Israelites from going you know so Pharaoh would be raised up in power God allowed that to happen you know God allowed you know Pharaoh to harden his heart and continue to harden the heart of his so that everybody across the whole earth would hear about the God of the Israelites they would hear that these people came out of Egypt the great power of that time how yes God would open the walls sorry the the the red sea and would allow them to pass through the red dry land this was all the purpose that the people of the earth would hear about the Lord this same passage is repeated in Romans 9 17 which I'll just read it says for the scripture safe unto Pharaoh even for this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth you know what our job is to declare the name of God to the whole earth that's our job today okay but this occurred back when the Israelites were being held you know captive by the Egyptians the great miracles that God did you know caused these stories to go out and people heard the great news so what do we learn that eventually this news this information this God of Israel this Rahab the harlot eventually for the grapevine heard about it okay and she goes man this must be a great God and I've heard that he's delivered this land to you even I mean Rahab is science you know she's quite it's not like she doesn't know who this God is she knows who this Lord God is okay because obviously in order to be saved you have to know the Lord you have to know who he is what he's done who you're going to put your faith upon to be saved so what I'm saying to you is that Rahab has heard you know and I would you know we don't know exactly how she's heard but he may very well be a sole winner went to this you know to Jericho city and started to preach about the God of Israel we don't know exactly how she heard okay but that was the whole point that God caused Pharaoh's heart to be hardened to be raised up to be prideful and restrict the Israelites you know to that the name of the Lord we proclaim to the whole earth look at verse 11 sorry in Joshua chapter 2 verse 11 Joshua chapter 2 verse 11 look what she says now and as soon as we have heard these things our hearts did melt neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you now notice next words she says for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath what is she saying let's not read the Bible too quickly sometimes let's pause what are you saying Rahab she's saying look the God of Israel the God of these two spies he is the true God he is the God of heaven he is the God of this earth look what I'm trying to say to you Brevin is this woman Rahab is already saved she knows that the gods of Jericho are not true gods she knows who the true God is she's put her faith in that God okay you say can you prove it yes I can prove it keep your finger there go to Hebrews 11 go to Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 verse 30 Hebrews 11 verse 30 and of course what's Hebrews 11 about great men of faith hey there's also a great woman of faith mentioned here in Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 verse 30 reads by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days look at verse number 31 by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not so what do we learn about Rahab she believed she did not perish with those that believed not she believed when it says there when she had received the spies with peace she already believed when she had received the spies why did she protect these spies her works were justified she knew these are the people of God she knew they worshiped the same God that she has believed and trusted upon she knew this is God's people this is the land that God has promised them so her actions were justified her works were justified to protect these people of God okay that's that's what it you know really that's what it comes down to brethren you know how can Hebrews 11 be about an unsaved woman no it's not okay she she protect these spies she was already a woman of faith okay and you can see that she's already expressed she goes no your God's the true God your God's the God of heaven your God's the God of the earth she understood this she accepted this her faith and trust was on the God of Israel and she's a Canaanite woman okay she's a gentile in that sense all right now back to Joshua chapter 2 verse number 12 Joshua chapter 2 verse number 12 she says it says now verse number 12 now therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I have showed you kindness that you will also shine show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token and that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death just look you're going to destroy us I know this already but can you please protect my family please don't kill my family you know like just trying to make an agreement with these spies verse number 14 and the men answered her our life for yours if ye are not this our business and it shall be when the Lord hath given us the land that we will deal kindly and truly with thee then she let them down by a cord through the window for her house was upon the town wall and she dwelt upon the wall now I want you to think about she dwelt upon the wall don't forget it's the walls of Jericho that fell I mean her house is listed for destruction is what I'm trying to say because that's what takes place all right all right anyways keep going to verse number 16 and she said unto them get you to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers be returned and afterward you may go your way now what's the next verses are really important I want you to think about what's taking place here verse number 17 and the men said unto her we will be blameless of this thine of which thou hast made us swear behold when we come into this land thou shall bind this line of scarlet's thread in the window which thou didst let us down by okay so she helped them to get down from the wall with a scarlet thread what's scarlet means red okay it's a red thread all right so why is that significant oh let's keep going um the rest of us I'm 18 and thou shall bring thy father and thy mother sorry we're up to brethren 19 uh let me let me read verse 8 10 again behold when we come into the land thou shall bind the line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by yeah that's it and thou shall bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee this is all right you want to protect your family bring them all into your house okay the people that you care about and then it keeps going there verse number 19 and it shall be that whatsoever you shall shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street his blood shall be upon his head and we will be guiltless and whosoever shall be with thee in the house his blood shall be on our head if any hand be hand be upon him so look the best way to protect your family keep them in the house if they leave the house and they die that's not our fault they say look keep everyone protected in your house all right and then it keeps going there in verse number 20 and if they'll after this our business then we will be quit of thine oath which thou has made us to swear and she said according unto your word so be it and she sent them away and they departed look at this and she bound the scarlet line in the window so she kept that scarlet thread okay on her window say where does this come from why i mean this is strange now come into your house and you'll be safe you'll be protected she lives on the wall the walls are going to fall down in jericho i mean that's like one of the worst places you'd think this is going to keep this is a safe place for you know this is like the most dangerous place because god is going to destroy those walls of jericho but she attached a scarlet thread to a window she was to bring her family and keep them safe say where does that come from what why that idea why the spies given her this direction of course if you know your bibles this harkens back to the passover okay and let me quickly read to you from exodus 12 21 when the israelites were still in egypt remember they were to take a lamb and they would take that blood and apply it to the doorposts it says in exodus 12 21 then moses called for all the elders of israel and said unto them draw out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the passover and you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning this is of course when the that angel would pass over and when the lord would see that blood on the doorpost the people in that house will be safe but when god would not see that blood you know we know the firstborn would die and you know the first born of the egyptians they perished you know this was the last plague that would fall on egypt and then pharaoh would give in and allow the israelites to leave it says in verse 23 exodus 12 23 for the lord will pass through and smite the egyptians and when he see if the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts the lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you you see it's the same concept the same thought the spies experience this they know this great story of how the blood protected everyone in the house and say well you know you got the scarlet thread you got this red thread put it upon your house there everyone that comes into your house be safe and protected that scarlet fred represents the blood of the passover lamb and we know the blood of the passover lamb is a picture of the true passover lamb jesus christ salvation in christ jesus okay even a physical salvation for the families in this household and that's the symbolism that we're seeing in this story well can you please go to chapter six now go to joshua chapter six let's fast forward to the events when jericho is destroyed joshua chapter six and verse number one but i hope i've shown you that she already had a faith you know even before she received the spies she heard the great news of god the god of israel her faith was upon him she recognized he to be the true god okay and then because she recognized that and she recognized that these spies are israelites whose god is the god of heaven she protected them she had works her works are justifying her faith and trust in the same god that they're coming from that has sent them okay joshua chapter six verse number one now jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of israel none went out and none came in and the lord said unto joshua see i have given into thine hand jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valor and ye shall come past the city all ye men of war and go round about the city once thus shalt thou do six days so for six days they would go around walk around the walls of jericho once okay then it says there in verse number four and seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram horns and the seventh day you shall come past the city seven times and the priest shall blow the trumpet so on day number seven instead of walking around the city once they had to walk around it seven times and then the priest had to blow the trumpets okay and then verse number five and it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the ram's horns and when you hear the sound of the trumpet all the people shall shout to a great shout and the wall of the city shall fall down flat and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him so the walls of the city they're all going to fall so rahab lives on the wall isn't she going to be protected in her house drop down to verse number 20 so anyway joshua does what god instructs okay let's fast forward to the story into the story verse number 20 so the people shouted when the priest blew the trumpets and it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat so that the people went up 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 and ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword say what about rahab the harlot verse number 22 but joshua had said unto the two men that had been had spied at the country go into the harlot's house and bring out thence the woman and all that she hath as you swear unto her and the young men that were spies went in and brought out rahab and her father and her mother and her brethren and all that she had and they brought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of israel it took place what a great miracle that she's living on that wall the walls fall down i mean i don't know what's left protecting her house something's holding the thing up okay there are some frames left of that that wall that are keeping them safe and protected what a great miracle that took place okay truly she was a child of god god's protected her i mean look the spies can make a promise but it's got to be the hand of god that has kept her safe and she's protected her family praise god verse number 24 and they burnt the city with fire and all that was therein only the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the lord and joshua saved rahab the harlot alive and her father's household and all that she had and she dwelleth in israel even unto this day because she hid the messengers which joshua sent to spy out jericho i made amazing story praise god for this harlot this gentile woman okay that's been delivered she had a faith and trust i'll read it again hebrews 11 30 by faith the walls of jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days by faith the harlot rahab perished not with them that believed not again what do we learn rahab the harlot believed she had her faith and trust on the god of israel okay she heard the great news the miracles delivered out of egypt she goes you know what that's my god too that's the true god her faith was on the right deity okay it's her faith that saved her and again her works justified the fact that her faith was in the god of heaven the god of the earth the god of the israelites okay now can you please turn with me to um matthew chapter one matthew chapter one matthew chapter one and while you're turning to matthew chapter one let me read those definitions again from you know a few sources there what does the word justified mean let me read them against you google having done for or marked by a good or legitimate reason did rahab have legitimate reason to protect those spies absolutely yeah she was justified her works justified her okay dictionary.com having been shown to be just or right warranted or well grounded was she just and right to protect those spies to hide those spies say absolutely she was just and right to do that okay cambridge dictionary justified having a good reason for something did she have a good reason to protect the spice of course she did that's what justified means she was just it was right it was good for her to protect those spies all right her works justified the fact that she was a believer in the lord and that she knew the people of god she protected them from a wicked city that she knew would be destroyed she knew that the land would be given to the israelites her faith she was she it was her faith okay that brought forth these great works that she was able to accomplish now in conclusion rahab the harlot you know what a title to be given the bible rahab the harlot you know man the bible you know you've given my my you know my my wicked you know uh position you know it listed there and you think well rahab the harlot what we know what's what's the end result for her and you know i love her story so much primarily because you know primarily because when i read the book of matthew we know that matthew contains the genealogy of jesus the genealogy of jesus the the savior the one that would come to this earth to die for our sins our lord god that is risen from the dead but it says there in matthew chapter one verse one the book of the generation of jesus christ the son of david the son of abraham you go yeah you know son of david what a great king abraham what a man of faith he's a great man what a lineage to have for jesus look at verse number five and salmon begat boaz that's that's boaz that marries ruth begat boaz of rahab that's rahab the great man boaz that we read in the book of ruth his mom was rahab the harlot let's keep going there and boaz begat obed of ruth you go who's ruth okay we know rahab is a kainite from jericho ruth was a moab a mobitis these again non non-israelites so i mean think about that boaz is half kainite half israelite okay then he marries ruth who's a moabites okay and who do they have they had uh obed of ruth okay so obed what would that make him they make him a quarter israelite and three quarters you know uh gentile in that sense right go that's a bit of a strange you know mix you know and what do we this these are the ancestors from a physical line of jesus you say who's obed and obed begat jesse you should know who jesse is verse number six and jesse begat david the king jesse begat king david king david's not this special bloodline it's mixed with gentiles you know harlot background what i'm trying to say to you brethren is look people can mess up their lives you can make a lot of mistakes but god is not through with you god can use you in a mighty way rahab the harlot's probably just rejoicing that i didn't die when the wars of jericho came down i mean i don't know did she really know that her lineage would bring forth jesus christ what an honor yeah rahab the harlot but hey ancestor of jesus and that's awesome that's amazing what a great work of god but eventually bring forth king david and down the line you know her descendants were great men of god you know why because she was a great woman of god she had great faith you know and because she had great faith you can see that she was able to bring forth you know great works look at verse number six again and jesse begat david the king and david the king begat solomon of her that had been of the wife of urias hold on that's beth sheba who committed adultery you know what even god can use a woman who had committed adultery you know sometimes i hear your stories you know i talk to different people and you're like man i've got such a bad background you know i'm in this situation i've been divorced i've committed adultery i've been sexually abused i've had this and i've had it breaks my heart when i hear these things and sometimes i wonder lord but you know i don't know if is this right i mean i i grew up in a christian home i've been going to church my whole life i got saved when i was four years old you know i committed i've committed sin but i've never got into a really horrible sin you know i've had the holy spirit prompting me and directing my life and and when i hear the testaments and stories of people that are hurt you know it breaks my heart but you know the great story of ray have the harlot and you know ruth mobitis non-israelites beth sheba has committed adultery against her husband you know you can see how the lord has included them in this lineage of christ and what i'm trying to say to you you know if you've had a bad and messed up life please don't give up please don't look at other people like me who have had a pretty clean and good life and blessed life and think well you know pastor kevin can serve god but i don't think god can use me god can use you god can use you you've got faith in the god of heaven the god of this earth you know you're saved you've got the new man all right you can do great works you can do great works for god you can justify yourself you know the faith that you have in our lord jesus christ you can step out and do great works for him that justifies the fact that you have christ in your heart that you serve him that you love the brethren that you love god you can do great works regardless of how messed up your life is you can do greater works than a person like me that has had a great life a christian life hey don't let your past stop you from serving god don't let your mistake stop you from doing great works for god you've got the new man yeah the flesh you know the bible says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god yeah this flesh it's filthy we're going to get a new body one day but don't forget we all have the new man that new man is clean even when this flesh sins the new man remains sinless it's been born of god okay and as long as you walk in that new man you walk in the spirit you will be able to accomplish great things hey add some works to your faith hey justify yourself with works that you can do to the lord show people that you're a child of god that you've got great faith in the god of israel the god of abraham isaac and jacob the god of rahab the harlot okay the god that created all things that has given us jesus christ christ who rose from the dead and given us salvation your faith upon him will allow you to do great works you know and justify yourself with the works that you can do all right let's go to a word of prayer