[0:00] Good evening everybody and welcome once again to our evening service. I went through all the intimations and some detail this morning, so just pick out a few things.
[0:12] Just a reminder that over in Scalpy at 7.30 is the Gaelic Psalm singing for an hour, to which everybody is welcome. After the prayer meeting, on Wednesday night the deacon's court will meet briefly.
[0:27] And then on Thursday night we have the Healthy Gospel Church meeting, so please, if you are able to come to that, do so. Also on Thursday, Thursday morning, the Mother and Toddlers Gaelic group will be meeting here once again from 10 to 11.30.
[0:46] So all those with youngsters who fit that age group are more than welcome to attend. And these are all the intimations, so we welcome once again Reverend Kenny Ima Cloud to preach God's Word to us this evening.
[1:01] We're going to begin our service this evening singing to God's praise in Gaelic in Psalm 25.
[1:16] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8. Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8. Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[1:55] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[2:25] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[2:55] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[3:25] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[3:55] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[4:25] Psalm 25 and we're going to sing verses 7 and 8.
[4:55] And we're going to sing verses 7 and 10.
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[10:24] We're going to sing again now in Psalm 116. And this is from the Scottish Psalter, verses 1 to 8. I love the Lord, because my voice and prayer she did hear.
[10:39] I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear. Of death the cords and sorrows did about me compass round. The pains of hell took hold on me, I grief and trouble found.
[10:52] Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say, Deliver thou my soul, O Lord, I do thee humbly pray. God merciful and righteous is, yea gracious is our Lord.
[11:05] God saves the meek, I was brought low, he did me help afford. O thou my soul, do thou return unto thy quiet rest. For largely, lo, the Lord to thee his bounty hath expressed.
[11:19] For my distressed soul from death delivered was by thee. Thou didst my mourning eyes from tears, my feet from falling free. These verses are Psalm 116.
[11:31] I love the Lord. I love the Lord, because my voice and prayer she did hear.
[11:52] I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear.
[12:08] Of death the cords and sorrows did. About me compass round.
[12:24] The pains of hell took hold on me. I grieve and trouble found.
[12:39] Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say, Deliver thou my soul, O Lord, I do thee humbly pray.
[13:08] God merciful and righteous is, yea gracious is our Lord.
[13:25] God's hymn, the meek, I was brought, lo, he did me ever afford.
[13:39] O thou, my soul, do thou return unto thy quiet rest.
[13:55] For largely, O the Lord, to thee, his bounty hath expressed.
[14:09] For my distressed soul from death, delivered was by thee.
[14:25] That is my mourning eyes from tears, my feet from falling free.
[14:55] First of all, in Joshua chapter 2. Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim.
[15:12] Go, look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.
[15:30] So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab. Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.
[15:41] But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left.
[15:56] I do not know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.
[16:10] So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. And as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, I know that the Lord has given this land to you, and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
[16:41] We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Zion and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.
[16:57] When we heard of it, our hearts sank, and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
[17:09] Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you.
[17:20] Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death.
[17:33] Our lives for your lives, the man assured it. If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us a land.
[17:45] So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Now she had said to them, Go to the hills so that the pursuers will not find you.
[17:59] Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way. The men said to her, This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us, unless when we enter the land you have tied the scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.
[18:25] If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head. We will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him.
[18:43] But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear. Agreed, she replied. Let it be as you say.
[18:54] So she sent them away, and they departed, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.
[19:12] Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river, and came to Joshua, son of Nun, and told him everything that had happened to them.
[19:24] They said to Joshua, The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands. All the people are melting in fear because of us.
[19:35] And then we turn to Hebrews, chapter 11, and we read from verse 29. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea, as on dry land.
[19:54] But when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched round them for seven days.
[20:05] By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
[20:16] Amen. And may God bless to us this reading of his own holy word. We're going to sing again to God's praise from Psalm 26, and sing Psalms, Psalm number 26.
[20:28] I want to sing from verse 6 to the end of the psalm. Psalm 26 from Sing Psalms. I wash my hands in innocence, and blameless is my heart.
[20:42] I go about your altar, Lord, the place you set apart. I'll tell of all your awesome deeds, proclaiming loud your praise. Your glory fills your dwelling place.
[20:55] I love your house always. And we'll sing from verse 6 to the end of the psalm, to God's praise. I wash my hands in innocence, And live as in my heart.
[21:22] I go about your altar, Lord, the place you set apart.
[21:34] I'll tell of all your awesome deeds, proclaiming loud your praise.
[21:46] Your glory fills your dwelling place. I love you as always.
[22:01] Sweep not away, my soul, O Lord, With those who hate your way, Nor take away my life, With those who are to wound us slave.
[22:26] For their right hands are full of pride, They plot iniquity, But I will lead a blameless life, In mercy set me free.
[22:51] My feet will stand with confidence Upon a level place, And in the people's gathering, I'll praise the Lord of grace.
[23:17] Let's turn back for a little to our readings. We're going to consider the story of Rahab From Joshua chapter 2, But our text is in Hebrews chapter 11, Verse 31, By faith, The prostitute Rahab, Because she welcomed the spies, Was not killed with those who were disobedient.
[23:52] By faith. By faith. We know faith, of course, Is absolutely essential. Because the Bible makes it very clear That without faith, It is impossible to please God.
[24:07] And maybe that's something people don't really take on board The way that they should, But faith is an absolutely essential in life. And the woman that we're going to look at tonight Was a woman of great faith.
[24:21] Because we find her here, Alongside men and women of exemplary faith, People like Abel, And Abraham, And Isaac, And Jacob, And Joseph, People we look at as great stalwarts.
[24:38] And yet here's this woman, Rahab, And they were told that she was a prostitute. And yet here she is, She has been taken into the household of faith, And her faith, Her display of faith, And her confession of faith, Is quite remarkable.
[24:54] Now, as we know, This book, The book of Joshua, It's quite an exciting book. And Joshua, of course, Is one of the great men of God. And if you are ever sort of looking for encouragement, And seeing to yourself, You know, As a Christian, And maybe you're involved in Christian work, And you're maybe apprehensive, And you're unsure about what's happening, Chapter one of the book of Joshua Is a wonderful chapter to turn to.
[25:25] Because it's, Not just it's exciting, It's reassuring, Reaffirming of God's commitment to his people. And if you're wanting to lay hold upon some of God's great promises, That he gave to Joshua, And indeed that we can claim ourselves, We see, For instance, That the Lord is saying to Joshua, Be strong and courageous.
[25:49] And he says, As I was with Moses, So I will be with you. I will never leave you, Nor forsake you. Again, He says, Be strong and courageous.
[26:00] Do not be terrified, Nor be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you, Wherever you go. And that's a truth for us as well. Because it's very easy to become discouraged.
[26:12] Very easy to become afraid. Because we live in a world, That is full of fear. We live in a world, Where the God of this world, Satan, And his legions of angels, Try to cripple people with fear.
[26:26] And sometimes that fear, Makes its way into, Into the Christian church, Into the Christian's heart. And it's very easy, When you, We live in enemy territory.
[26:37] And if we were, At a natural level, If we were, Suppose, We were living in Ukraine, Or somewhere, Where there is war going on. We would, We would be feeling, Very, Very uncomfortable.
[26:50] We couldn't go to bed, And sleep, As soundly as we probably do, Just now. There would be, Always this element of fear, Of uncertainty. What's going to happen? What's going to happen next?
[27:03] And, At a spiritual level, We're living, In enemy territory. We are surrounded by enemies, That hate the Lord Jesus Christ, And hate his followers.
[27:14] It's very clear. And this world, Is at enmity, With Christ, And with, With his people. And Jesus makes that, Very clear to us. But the problem with ourselves, Is that the enemies, Aren't simply around, And about us.
[27:27] They're actually within ourselves, Within our own heart. And so that's what makes, The Christian, Journey, The Christian life, So difficult. So, It's a warfare, It's a battle.
[27:41] And that's why this, Particular, Book, And that particular chapter, Is so inspiring. Because it is a, A chapter, That, We find Joshua, Is preparing for battle, And this is how the Lord, Is encouraging him.
[27:57] Now, I can well believe, That Joshua, Would be very, Nervous, Very uncertain, Because he was taking over, From a legend.
[28:09] He was taking over, From Moses. Moses, The great man of God. There arose, Not a greater than Moses, The Bible tells us. And, I'm sure Joshua, Is saying to himself, Although he had been, Like he had been, Almost Moses' deputy, He must have been filled, With trepidation, In taking over.
[28:31] Will the people, Listen to me, In the way that they listened to Moses? Will, God accompany me, The way that he accompanied Moses? And, So he's bound to be, Concerned.
[28:43] And I believe that's the reason, Why God says, Over and over and over again, Don't be discouraged. Don't be afraid. Because obviously, Joshua is discouraged.
[28:54] He is afraid, Of what the future is, Is out, What it holds for him. And so God is, Reassuring him, Over and over, Just as I was with Moses, So I will be with you.
[29:09] And that must have been, Music, To Joshua's ears. And you and I know, That if we're ever going to do anything, For the Lord, If we're, Involved in anything, There is always, This sense of uncertainty, This sense of fear.
[29:24] And, Just as we highlighted, We live in, In enemy territory. It's hard going as Christians. And sometimes we feel, That we're going to go down, We're going to sink.
[29:37] Sometimes we feel, What if I, What if I don't make it? What if I, What if one day, The temptations become too strong? What if one day, That I, I go down, And I never get up again.
[29:50] And there's often, This kind of fear, Within the Christian heart. And so the Lord is, Reassuring over, And over again, That the Lord, Is going to be, With Joshua, At every step.
[30:04] But then when we turn, To chapter two, We would expect, It to be more of the same. But the focus, Turns straight away, To another character. And we read there, About this woman, That she is, Rahab, The prostitute.
[30:21] And one of the things, It does, Is it gives us, A tremendous insight, Into God's grace, And into God's love, And into the way, That God works.
[30:33] Because, Here is a city, That is ripe, For destruction. God is going to, Wipe out Jericho. Just in the same, Not in the same, Manner, But in the same, Way of complete, And utter destruction, As he did, With Sodom and Gomorrah.
[30:50] It was a different, Way of doing it, But the end result, Was going to be the same. And so here is this city, That is ripe, For God's judgment. And yet, In that city, God is going to, Demonstrate his grace, And his love.
[31:05] In the most wonderful way, That we will see, Before we finish, Just how amazing, God's grace, And God's love, Actually is. And so we find, That here is this, This woman, Now, We might say to yourself, Here is poor Rahab, And she is called, Rahab the prostitute, And you would say to yourself, Oh come on, Surely the Bible, Would say that, Why is she labelled, With us, Forever?
[31:32] That whenever, We read of Rahab, It tells us, About her lifestyle, Tells us what she was, Well do you know, The Bible does that, The apostle Paul, Never ever forgot, What he was, And he records for us, Over and over again, What he was, That he was a blasphemer, That he was a persecutor, Paul doesn't obliterate his past, And pretend that it wasn't there, He's open, And he confronts it, And he tells us, That's where I was, Yes God had mercy upon me, But I was a violent, Persecutor of the church, I hated Christ, Matthew, He never forgot, That he was a publican, And he calls himself, Matthew the publican, And so, God is a way of, Reminding us, And it's a way of, Humbling us, And God doesn't want us, To forget, Everything, Yes,
[32:32] We're taken out, We're taken on, And there is a, There is at one level, The past is behind, But we ought not, To forget, What we were, And what we are, And that every day, We are moving forward, And we are sinners, Saved by grace, No more, No less than that, And so, The Bible is a wonderful way, Of this honesty, And bringing before us, Just what we were, And so it is, With this, This woman, Rahab, And again, It highlights to us, About God's grace, Because, God chooses, The foolish things, Of this world, To confound those, Who are, Who are mighty, Because we often, We often make our assessments, In life about, We value, And we, We try and work out, And we say to ourselves, Right, We look around, And we look at people, Who are morally upright, And upstanding,
[33:33] And good people, And we say to ourselves, You know, They deserve to be Christians, We'll say to the Lord, Lord, These are really good people, They would make really, One, They actually, Lord, Why aren't you, Actually, Just taking them, A little further forward, They're just about there, Lovely people, They'd be fantastic Christians, And yet sometimes, We find that God goes out, And he takes people, That we might have dismissed, That people, We would say, Well, You know, Have you ever, Been quite honest with yourself, You've said to yourself, You know, There's actually no point, In speaking to this person, Or that person, About the gospel, They'd never listen, We'd say to ourselves, Almost within our own heart, Dismissed them, And thought, There's no point, Well, If it was up to us, I'm quite sure, That this woman, Rahab, Wouldn't have been saved, If it was up to us, I'm quite sure, That man, I say, Wouldn't have found repentance, I'm sure, If it was up to us,
[34:34] Zacchaeus, Wouldn't have been taken down, From the tree, And brought to repent, Before Jesus, If it was up to us, The persecuting, The thief, Not the person, But the one, The mocking thief, Who was initially, Mocking Christ, Before he was awakened, To see, If it was up to us, He wouldn't have been saved, You see, We have a, We have this idea, Of who should, And who shouldn't be, But God, God overrules all that, And he goes out, And he displays his mercy, And his grace, And the church is full, Of those who, Whose lives are just stained, From the past, And that's a reminder to us, Of the wonder, Of the wonder really, Of God's grace, So thankfully, It's not dependent upon us, And so we read here, That Joshua, He sends out spies, Now, Joshua of course, Is a military man, And he does what any military man, Would do, He himself,
[35:34] Had been a spy before, You remember, How Moses sent out the spies, Twelve of them, And two came back, With a good report, Caleb, And this man Joshua, The other ten said, You know, It's true, Great land, They brought back, The fruit of the land, But they said, We haven't a chance, Because of all, They're giants there, The warped cities, Will never do it, We remember, We remember the story very well, And Israel, Because of the rebellion, And sin ended wandering, Forty years in the desert, Well here's Joshua again, And at this particular point, He doesn't know, How God is going, To deal with Jericho, He knows that, Jericho is the first city, And he is trusting, That God will lead them on, But at this particular moment, He doesn't know the strategy, He doesn't know the plan, God unfolds it, Little by little, And that's what he does, With you and me as well, You know, Often we would love, That the Lord would set out, Before us, And say, Well, Here's kind of your future,
[36:35] This is how it's going to be, There'll be this and that, Well it wouldn't work, We would say to the Lord, Oh no, No, No, You've got to change that, And that, And that, God takes us on, Day by day, Step by step, And he does it, Through his wisdom, And by his grace, And so at this particular point, Joshua being a military man, Does what a military man would do, He sends out spies, To go to Jericho, To find out what the city's like, They'll be looking to think, Right, How are we going to, Plan an attack, Where are the weak points, Where are the strong points, All these sort of things, That's initially what he's doing, And so the two men, Go to Rahab's house, Now, Obviously, God led them there, But, The, The actual word, That is used, For a harlot, Or a prostitute, Could also mean, Although we know, That she was a prostitute, Could mean, An innkeeper,
[37:36] As well, And more than likely, She was both, That the house, That she had, Was used as an inn, And also, That was what she did, In it as well, So, Going there, From their point of view, Although they were led, By the Lord, Was, Likely to, Raise, Least suspicion, Because if you go to an inn, Then, That's, Sort of, The kind of place, If you're a stranger, Or a visitor in that place, That's more likely, For you to go, Like, You know, Quite a public place, Where people will go, But of course, We know it was the Lord, Who led her, Who led them there, And of course, The king of Jericho, Was informed, That, That two men, Two Israelites, The Israelites, Were camped, On the other side of Jordan, That two men, Had come into the city, And had gone to Rahab's house, And so the king, Send messengers, Bring out the men, And we find that, Rahab, Rahab tells a story,
[38:38] And people, People make a lot about her lie, She concocted a story, About how, Yes they were here, But how they went, And they've got, And she gave all the story, About where they had gone, And it's interesting, The Bible doesn't really say anything, About that, What we've got to remember, About this woman, Although she has come to faith, She's a brand new, A relatively new believer, In a culture, That is, Lying was the ordinary way of life, And scripture, It doesn't say anything about, What the only thing, Scripture really tells us about, Is commending her, For her faith, And, Sometimes you look at it, And you say to yourself, What would I have done, If I was in Rahab's situation, And, You know, There's all kinds of, Questions, And, Ethical, Discussions can be about it, But the scripture, Doesn't really say anything, About it to us, Now of course, We know that lying, Is not right, But, She tells this story,
[39:38] And of course, It's a story, That's believed, But what's beautiful, About Rahab, Here is, She, Hides the spies, Why?
[39:49] And this is where, We see that her faith, Has come into action, Because, She sees, That these people, Are now her people, God has been working, In her heart, God has been changing her, And she's come to see, These, These men, Represent, The people, That I want to be with, Because, I love their God, And, Their God, Is my God, And so, Here's an evidence, Of this faith, Now we'll see how this faith, Has come, Has come about, Just in a moment, But you know, This is, This is, The great, The great, Mark of, What has happened here, The Bible tells us, We know, That we've passed, From death to life, Because we love, The brother, Brothers, The brethren, And you know, When you become a Christian, That's one of the things, That happens, You get drawn, To other Christians, Before you were, Converted,
[40:52] There might have been, Christians within your family, There might have been, Christians that you knew, And you might have been, Friendly with, But it wasn't, It wasn't the main company, You wanted to keep, Or to hang about with, But when you become, A Christian, It changes, They become your people, They become part, Of the family, It's not that you turn your back, Upon, Upon the world, Of people who aren't converted, And I'm sure, You're still very friendly, With people who, Who aren't Christians, But there's a change, Your heart changes, There's a, There's an identification, With the others, And that's what had happened, With Rahab, These now, These are my people, And, A little later on, Not terribly further on, We find another woman, Who's very like Rahab, And that's, Ruth, The Moabites, And Moab, Was a, A nation, God didn't want, His people to have anything, To do with, And yet, Into,
[41:52] Moab, God works, In the heart, Of Ruth, And you remember, There was, There came a point, Remember when Naomi, Was going to head back, Heading back to Bethlehem, And she had lost her husband, She had lost her sons, And here were Ruth and Orpah, They had lost their husbands, And she said, I'm going back, And she said to her daughters-in-law, You go back, Go back, Stay here, There's no point, Don't come with me, There's nothing, At home for you, Nothing, Stay here, And you remember how, The three women, Were hugging together, And it tells us of how, Orpah, It's like she stepped back, And Orpah, Returned, To her own people, To her own way, To her own gods, But Ruth wouldn't, Remember what Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, Not to turn from following you, Where you go, I will go, Where you lodge, I will lodge, Your people will be my people,
[42:54] And your God, My God, One of the great statements, And in a sense, That's where, That's where, Rehob has come to as well, She has thrown in her lot, Just the way that Ruth did, Completely, With the people of God, And you see, That's what God wants, He doesn't want, To have kind of, Half-hearted Christianity, You know, There's some people, Who say to themselves, Well you know, Yeah, I would like to be a Christian, I'd like to be a Christian, For the security, I'd like to be a Christian, So that it'll end well for me, But I don't want, All the other stuff, That goes with it, I don't want, This whole invasion, Of Jesus, Coming into my heart, And completely, Changing me around, I'm not up for that, I'm not ready for that, And so you find, Some people, That say, Yeah, Yeah, I would like to be a Christian, On my terms, The Lord says, No, That's not the way it works, It's on my terms, The Lord says, No man having put his hand to the plough,
[43:55] Turning back, Is fit for the kingdom of God, Tells us that we are to take up our cross, To deny ourselves, And to follow him, And so Jesus is looking for this, Full, Total commitment, A severance, From where we are, In order to follow him, And that's what we find, In the life of Rehob, So how does she come to this place of faith, Well, When we read what had happened, For instance, In verse 10, It tells us, We have heard, How the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea, How did the faith begin in Rehob's heart, Well, Here's the start of it, We have heard, How the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea, Hearing, Where does faith come, Faith comes by hearing, And hearing from the word of God, So this is the beginning, And that's why it is so essential, That people will hear God's word, How will they believe in him,
[44:57] Of whom they have not heard, That's what the Bible says, And so that's why it's imperative, That the word of God is preached, The word of God is shared, That people hear about Jesus, This is a starting point, That they hear about the living and through God, And that's why it is essential for us, To witness, To tell people, About Jesus, The Bible tells us that we are living epistles, Read of all people, So that was the starting point, And the second thing it tells us here is, Verse 11, When we heard of it, Our hearts sunk, That's what it says, When we heard of it, Our hearts sunk, In other words, They were filled, That's what goes on to say, They were filled with fear, When we heard of it, When we heard of it, Our hearts sunk, And everyone's courage failed, Because of you, For the Lord your God is in heaven above, And on the earth below, And so on, But that's what we see, When we heard of it,
[45:58] Our hearts sunk, And everyone's courage failed, They were filled, They were filled with fear, And you know, That is often, It's not always the way people come to faith, But often it is, A sense of, Of fear of God, And sometimes, It's always a good thing, When we see people with conviction of sin, But conviction of sin, Isn't salvation, Conviction of sin, Leads, Very often, To salvation, But you know, You can have people, Who hear God's word, And can tremble, Under God's word, For a time, And then these feelings, These tremblings go, And that's as far as it goes, We have to push on, But then, Rea goes on further, Because she then, First of all, She tells, We heard, We believed, We heard, And we trembled, But then she goes on, She's the only one,
[46:59] Who goes on, To make this wonderful confession, And she says, At the end of verse 11, For the Lord your God, Is God in heaven above, And on the earth below, And you know, There's up to this point, That's one of the greatest confessions, That you'll find, From anybody in the Bible, Up to this point, And it's made in this city, Ripe for judgment, By the most unlikely person, That you would expect, But you know, Confession, Is also, Important for salvation, Sometimes we'd, We'd belittle it, Or we don't think it is, It is, We're told in the scripture, That we believe, With our heart, And we confess, With our mouth, That both things are said, And confession, Is important, It helps us, When we nail our colors, To the mask, You know, That's one of the great things, When we, Before we go forward, When we come, And we have a Kirk session,
[48:00] And we're not looking for anything, Because in communities, Like where we have here, Everybody knows everybody, But just to make that confession, Jesus Christ, Is my Lord, I love the Lord Jesus Christ, That's the confession we make, It's important, It's important to say it, It's important to nail our colors, To the mask, So that we are making that, We are making that confession, Before people, And that's important, And that's what this woman, Rehab is doing, She's making this confession, Great confession, And then we see, Her faith in action, First of all, She hides the spies, But then she says to them, It goes on, She said, Give me a sure sign, That you will spare the lives, Of my father, My mother, My brothers and sisters, And all who belong to them, You know, When you come to faith, Do you just look on faith, As something in isolation, And you say, You know, That's great, You know,
[49:01] I'm now safe, I love the Lord, And the Lord loves me, End of story, No, Straight away, Your heart goes out, First of all, To those that you love, Goes out to your family, Goes out to your friends, And the salvation, That you have, The Christ that you have found, You want them to find as well, So that you want, Your security, To be their security, And that's what we find, With Rahab as well, She's saying to them, I want all, My people to be safe, And so she's thrown in, Her lot completely, She's abandoned, Her people, Her culture, Her gods, Her everything else, And thrown in her lot, With the people of Israel, And then she says, These wonderful words, We find, She said, Give me a sure sign, That you will spare the lives, And we find in verse 14,
[50:02] The men said, Assured her, Our lives, For your lives, What they were doing here, Is they were making a covenant, Making an oath, Making a promise, And you find often in the Bible, Covenants being made, God made a covenant, With Noah, With Abraham, With David, And of course we know, The greatest covenant, That God ever made, Was with his son, Jesus Christ, The new covenant, The covenant of grace, Because Jesus, Stood, In our place, Imagine if God, Had made the covenant, With ourselves, It would be broken, We couldn't keep it, We couldn't keep it a day, Couldn't keep it an hour, But Jesus, As our representative, Jesus has stood, For us, And God has made a covenant, On our behalf, With his son, And Jesus will keep, To the last letter, Everything of that covenant, That's where our security lies, In Jesus,
[51:02] Because of what he has done, And so the spies say, Our lives for you, And you know in a sense, That's what Jesus, Has said as well, He went to the cross, And he said, My life for you, Isn't that wonderful, Can you say that tonight, That Jesus' life, Has been given for you, And if not, Ask him, Even now, Lord, Please, You went to the cross, You died for sinners, I'm a sinner, Please save me, So that your life, Will have been given for me too, And so this is what, What we find, And then, The sign that was given was, She said, If you, Our lives for you, And the men said, You're not to tell a soul, But this is what you're going to do, You're going to leave this rope, This scarlet rope, This red rope, That she was going to be led down by, And that rope,
[52:04] Has to hang, From your window, Her, Her home was in the wall, And that rope, Is to hang in there, And if you're not to breathe, A word, If you breathe a word of any of this, To anybody else, The covenant is over, The oath is finished, And it's also essential, The only way, That you and your people, Will be saved, Is by being in this house, With a scarlet rope, Rope hanging down, And she totally agrees to this, And you know, When you think about it, It casts your mind back to Egypt, And you say to yourself, I remember another house, Other houses, With a red, Remember the red, And the doorposts, And the lintel, When the angel of death, Passed over, Every house, That had the red on it, The red of the, The young lamb slain, That house was free, The angel of death, Didn't come in, And there's a picture of,
[53:04] Jesus, As the lamb of God, Where he gave his life, His blood, And it's the only place, Of shelter in this whole, Wide world, Is sheltering, Under the blood of Christ, And so this is, Again a picture, And it's wonderful, How the old testament, Gives us so many pictures, Of what is, We're actually finding, In the Lord Jesus, And so, The men go away, And they eventually go back, And they tell Joshua, And they say, You know, The land is ours, Their faith is, They're just so full, Of what God is going to do, And you know, It's very interesting, When we, If you follow through, When it comes to, Joshua chapter 6, At the end, There, We find that the, The city, Has been razed to the ground, And there's been, Terrible slaughter, We find in verse 22, Joshua said to the two men,
[54:05] Who had spied out to the land, Go into the prostitute's house, And bring her out, And all who belong to her, In accordance with your oath to her, So the young men, Who had done the spying, Went in and brought out, Rehob, Her father and mother, And brothers, And all who belong to her, They brought out, Her entire family, And put them in a place, Outside the camp of Israel, Complete security, And you know, You can't read that, Without going back in your mind, To Sodom and Gomorrah, And how different it was there, Because when God had told Lot, He was going to destroy, The city, You remember that, Lot went and he told his, Daughters, And their husbands, And what God was going to do, The daughters accepted it, Reluctantly, But the sons-in-law, Thought he was joking, They didn't, They wouldn't come, And of course they were destroyed, And we see here that,
[55:06] All Rahab's family, They all, The entire, Brothers, Sisters, Her father and mother, Everybody, And you say to yourself, What a wonderful deliverance this is, And it is, But it's not the end, God rewarded this woman, Wonderfully for her faith, You know, You're never the loser, When you do for God, Because, When you go on in the scripture, And you read about this woman, This woman, Rahab, She married, Into, The tribe of Judah, A prince, In the tribe of Judah, A man called Salmon, And Salmon, Had a son, Salmon and Rahab, Rahab gave birth, To a son, Called, Boaz, And Boaz, We know, Married Ruth, And, Boaz and Ruth, They gave birth, Ruth gave birth, To a son, Obed, Obed's son, Was Jesse,
[56:07] And Jesse's son, Was David, So Ruth, Was a great granny, Of David, And Rahab, This woman, Was David's, King David's, Great, Great granny, And this is, All, Follows through, The line, Of Christ, This is, The line, Of which Jesus was born, So not only is God, Rescuing, This woman out, He's actually, Putting her, Into the direct lineage, Of the saviour, Of the world, And it just shows, The marvel, Of God's grace, That God, In his grace, He's the saviour, Yes of the Jews, And the Gentiles, Yes of the upright, But also of the outcasts, Of those that we dismiss, And that's part of the wonder, Of God's story, Of what he's doing, For us, And, It just shows that, When we honour the Lord,
[57:08] He will honour us, Far and beyond anything, That we could imagine, I'm sure, Rahab never, Ever, In her wildest dreams, Would realise, That by, Hiding the spies, And identifying, With the people of God, That she would end up, Marrying a prince, And that she would follow on, When you go to, Say for instance, You can read about it, At the, In Matthew's gospel, It follows through, The Jesus' lineage, You will find there, Of Rahab, And you will find, Of Ruth, It will tell, It tells it there, And in different parts, In the scripture, So, These, These, These things, Are to encourage us, To throw in our lot, With the Lord, He will never disappoint, We disappoint him, But he, Will never ever, Disappoint us, Let's pray, Lord our God,
[58:09] We, We give thanks, For, The way you work, In your people, And the examples, That you set before us, We give thanks, For the great encouragements, That your word is to us, That, You bring before us, Things maybe, That we never expect, We give thanks, Lord, That you are the God, Who does wonderful things, And that you deal, In ways, Far, And, Differently, To the way that, We so often deal, Or even the way we think, Help us, Lord, To love one another, Give us, Careful hearts, Give us, Generous hearts, Give us, Hearts that, See people, In the way that, Christ saw them, Help us to see people, As living souls, Help us to remember, The preciousness, Of our soul, What shall we give, In exchange for our soul, What shall it profit, A man supposing, Gain the whole world, And lose his own soul, And so Lord,
[59:10] We pray, That we may value, A soul, Lord, Help us, We pray, To believe in you, To trust in you, Pray to bless, This congregation, We give thanks for it, Encourage them, Do them good, Prosper them, In every way, Physically, And temporally, And spiritually, Watch over us, And part us with your blessing, We pray, For giving us our sin, In Jesus name, Amen, We're going to conclude, Singing from, Sing psalm, Psalm 130, Psalm 130, And sing psalms, Lord, From the depths, I call to you, Lord, Hear me, When on high, And give attention, To my voice, When I, For mercy, Cry, Lord, In your presence, Who can stand, If your sins record, But yet forgiveness, Is with you, That we may fear you, Lord, The whole psalm, Psalm 130, Sing,
[60:11] Lord, From the depths, I call to you, Lord, From the depths, I call to you, Lord, Lord, Hear me, From all light, And give attention, To my voice, When I, For mercy, Cry, Lord, Lord, In your presence, To come stand, If you, Our sins record, But yet, Our lives, Is with you, That we may,
[61:12] That we may, May feel you, Lord, I wait, My soul, Waits for the Lord, My hope, Is in his word, More than the watchman, Waits for dawn, My soul, Waits for the Lord, O Israel, Worth your hope, In God, For mercy, Is with him, And full redemption, From their sins,
[62:13] His people, He'll redeem. Now may the grace, Mercy, And peace of God, The Father, Son, And Holy Spirit, Rest and abide upon each one of you, Now and forevermore.
[62:29] Amen.