Faith: Look At What Faith Can Do

Pastor Corey delivers his weekly message titled "Faith: Look At What Faith Can Do"

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I want you to take your Bibles and go with me to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11. And then I want you to go, if you don't mind, to Joshua chapter 2. Now, I don't do this often, y'all, but we're going to read a lengthy passage in Joshua, and we're going to stand in honor of the reading of God's word. Just so you realize this. In Nehemiah, the Bible tells us that when the walls were rebuilt, the city of Jerusalem, and temple, I mean, uh covenant worship was reinstituted by Ezra, the priest. It says that they came to the center of the city and they stood all day long for the reading of God's word. They stood all day long. And it says that all who were of age were there. So there's an inference there that there was that not only was there the first pulpit mentioned because it talks about there was a podium of wood that was made that Ezra could stand behind and lay the scrolls on to be able to read. But there was also the first nursery there in Nehemiah. It says, All those who are of age, can you imagine? I think of the people that stood all day to hear the reading of God's word, but can you imagine those poor nursery workers all day long? So I'm going to ask you to stand not all day, but just for a few moments as we read Hebrews 11, 30 and 31, and then Joshua 2, verses 1 through 24. So the Bible says here, by faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. And by faith, the prostitute, Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. So let's go to Joshua chapter 2 and let's find out who this Rahab was. She's mentioned in the hall of faith. She's mentioned in this great list of people who were faithful to God. And, you know, we have Moses and we have all these. We have these great leaders. We have Joshua that's mentioned. And then we have this woman who's not even Jewish. Her name is Rahab. She was living in Jericho. And she was a woman of the night. She was a prostitute. But I want you to notice something that happened here. In Joshua 2. Let's begin reading. It says in Joshua 2, verse 1, Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent spies from Shetim. Go look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. Now, just to give you a lay of the land, remember Moses led the people out of Egypt. He was headed for the promised land, but because of the sin of the people, they had to stay for 40 years. A whole generation had to die. And even Moses was able to see the promised land. He wasn't able to go in. Moses died. Joshua became the leader of the people, and God was ready to take them, to cross them through the Jordan River and into the land flowing with milk and honey, the promised land that God had given them. And the great city of Jericho needed to be taken. And Joshua, just like Moses had done, was going to send some spies into the land to go ahead and take the city of Jericho to see what the fortifications were and what he needed to do. So this is the context in which we're reading this. And then in verse 2 it says, The king of Jericho was told, Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. 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. 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, they left. I don't 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. So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the to the uh 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 you this land, and that great fear, 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. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. Now she's thinking forty years ago, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did in Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. 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. Our lives for your lives, the men assured her. If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land. So she left them down, let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, Go to the hills, so your pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way. Now the men had said to her, This oath that you made, made us swear, will not be binding on us, unless when we enter the land you have tied the scarlet cord on the window through which you led us down. And unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into the house, if any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads. We will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 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. So she sent them away, and they departed, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. Now I'm gonna stop right here. So you say, What's this story about? Real quick, before I let you be seated. So now God's people are getting ready to go in and take the city of Jericho. This woman knew about what had happened 40 years ago. She's not unlike a lot of people. Think about this. Rahab was a harlot, living ungodly, using her body in an ungodly manner. But yet she knew of Jehovah God. She knew the stories. And all of a sudden now she hears about them crossing through the Jordan now. And then she hears about how they overcame the Amorite kings and how they destroyed them all. And she was fearful and the entire city. And not only that, but she came to a place where she believed in God. And then years later, we find out that she's mentioned in this great group of faithful people. Why is that? Well, I want to break that down for you today and see how God can use anybody. Just like the song we just sang. You can become a child of God no matter who you are. See, there are a lot of people living this life. They know about God. They might even believe in him mentally, but they're not transformed by him so that their lives change. We'll learn about Rahab and how her life did change as a result of the encounter with these spies and how her faith did amazing things for her. So let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and thank you for the example of Rahab. Thank you that none of us are too far away from you. None of us are too dirty to be forgiven. None of us have committed too many things that we can't be used of you going forward. And I prayed in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And you may be seated, everybody. So I've titled the message today, Faith. Faith. Look at what God can do, or look at what faith can do. Look at what faith can do in someone's life. Now remember the description of faith that we've given you. It's faith described. True Bible faith is confident obedience to God's word in spite of circumstances and consequences. We see that in Rahab's life. Rahab was a woman who was not living well, but she was paying attention to the events going on around her. And she began to fear the one and true God. You know, you think about that. I think of my life when I think of Rahab and what was going on in my life at the time. And though I had a belief in my head, but I but I didn't have it in my heart. And I was living ungodly, and all of a sudden, I began to hear the word for the first time. I began to associate with true Christians. I began to hear God's word being preached. And for the first time in my life, I began to fear whether or not I was wrong. And what I, if what I had was good enough to go to heaven with. And a healthy fear came upon me. And that's what happened in greater ways, I think, to Rahab. So I want you to see several things here. Number one, look at what faith can do. Number one, faith starts with hearing the message of Christ. Faith always starts with hearing the message of Christ. In verses 10 and 11, it says that she goes, We heard how the Lord dried up the waters. And in verse 11, we heard of it. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Faith always starts with hearing the message of Christ. The Bible says, How shall they hear unless someone is sent? How shall they hear without a preacher? You know, it blows my mind. The gift of preaching is it's different than just teaching. I went to my first political rally when I was a kid. How many of you remember, if you remember political history, um, I forget his first name now. Uh Huey. Huey P. Long. He was the governor of Louisiana. He was one of the most powerful politicians in America. He became a senator. And man, you talk about some shady deals that he he concocted and got with taxpayer money for the state of Louisiana, all right? There are bridges all over Louisiana named after him. He was assassinated in the state capitol of Louisiana, and you can go see there in the marble wall there in the Capitol, in the main rotunda area. You can see the chips in the wall where the bullets went. And so Huey Long had a nephew named Speedy Long. And Speedy Long was given a political speech at our local high school out on the front lawn. And my parents took me there. And I just remember just the fire from this guy and all of the things, you know, he was saying. I just, and I looked at my mom and dad and I said, why is he so mad at us? Because he wasn't just talking, man. He was giving a fiery speech. And you see, preaching is a lot like that. Preaching is something supernatural that God does with a pastor, with a human being, with the preacher, and with the hearer and the listener. And God does his work through the Holy Spirit through it. And so the Bible says, how will they hear without a preacher? That's why it's important for us to open the Word of God and expound on it. Not just teach it, but preach it. It's a supernatural thing that happens. And that's when people begin to really hear the Word of God. I've told you many times over the years that, you know, I used to read John 3.16 before I was saved, and it meant nothing to me. But when I went to church for the first time, went to a gospel preaching church, and the preacher stood up and he began to preach the word of God. The first thing it did was it made me mad because I didn't like what he was saying. The second thing it did for me is it began to cause me to question my belief system at the time. And deep inside of me, what if he's right? The third thing it did was it began to cause me to want to hear more. And so here the testimony of what God had been doing through his people was heard. It was heard by Rahab. Look at what Romans 10, 17 says about hearing. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So the first thing you need to see how Rahab was changed supernaturally. She began to hear about the works that God is doing. You know, you might have a friend that might have heard about somebody that you know that gave their life to Christ and they were supernaturally changed. You may have heard about that, and it may have caused you to show some interest. And, you know, I've had people come to church here, and I said, How did you get here? Somebody invite you, no? Um, well, what made you want to come? Well, I've got a friend that comes, and I heard that this was happening. Then they come and they hear the word of God. So faith starts with hearing the message of Christ. So what we're doing here today is very biblical. Number two, faith becomes real when you believe what you hear. It becomes real when you believe the testimony of Jesus Christ. It says here in verse 11, when we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage filled because of you. Now notice what Rahab says. She goes, For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. This was a pagan woman. She wasn't raised in a Judeo Christian faith tradition. She didn't hear about the one and true only God until, you know, from her family and in her culture and the way she was raised. But she began to hear about it from the outside. And as she began to hear about it at some point in time, at some point in time before these spies came to her house, she had already become a believer. And we don't have all that information. But right here, she makes a declarative statement. She goes, for the Lord your God is God in heaven. So she had heard about what was going on, and at some point in time, she placed her true faith in the one true God. And faith becomes real when you believe the testimony. Listen, a lot of people have mental assent. Right up here. You know, the Bible says that the demons believe in Jesus, but yet they tremble. Biblical faith, biblical belief is a trust. I've given the illustration before of the chair. I'm looking, yeah, I see a stool up here. There we go. Now I hope my illustration doesn't fall apart because these stools are not the best. So you have this stool. Now these things are designed maybe to kind of lean on a little bit. All right. If you kick this stool out from under me right now, would I fall flat on my posterior? No, I wouldn't. I'm kind of leaning forward. I got my foot on the ground. I'm um I'm I'm not all in on this thing yet. I believe it can hold me up, but I haven't put my trust in it yet. Because if you take the stool away, I can stand. It's not until I get my foot off the ground and put my entire weight on this stool. Now, now I'm all in, buddy. I'm all in. And um you kick this thing out from under me. There will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from me. But I'm going down. You know why? I've put my entire weight on it. I am totally trusting the construction of this stool, the concept of it, the four legs of it, the whole thing, the seat, everything's great. I'm good. I've got my entire weight. I'm not trusting on anything that I can do. I'm trusting what this stool can do. See, biblical belief, that's what it is. It's putting your complete trust in Jesus Christ. It's, you know, saying, I'm trusting him. I'm all in. In other words, no longer am I going to live for the ways of the world, have one foot in the world, one foot in Christ. Nope. I'm all in on him. I'm going to trust him for my joy. I'm going to trust him for my happiness. I'm going to trust him for my eternal security. I'm trusting him completely. So faith becomes real in your life when you believe the testimony. That Jesus is the one. You believe the testimony of God. And that's what Rahab did. But I want you to notice a third thing. Faith is proven by what you do with it. Faith is proven by how you live. You say, how do you know Rahab was a believer? Well, first of all, I know it because Hebrews 11 tells me. We read it in Hebrews 11. She's included, and her faith was counted in her favor. But you notice what happened once she believed at some point. She states it with her own mouth that your God is the true God in heaven. And then she does something about it. How she lives. She listened to the two spies. Now, these two spies were leaders in Israel that Joshua trusted, and he sent out to come back and give them a report. These spies gave her instruction on what to do to obey God and to save her life and to save her family's life. Because when the Israelites are coming in, man, they weren't coming in to save anything. And you say, well, how can a God of love do that? You know, I'll tell you this. People ask me this all the time. And Frank Turek, somebody you can look up on online or on Facebook or what have you, he's a tremendous apologist for the cause of Christ. And he says it like this. He goes, you know, people always ask that question if God is so loving, why did he allow, you know, the Israelites to go in there and just annihilate a whole group of people? It's the same reason that people ask this. There's so much evil in the world. Why doesn't God do something about it? But yet when he does something about it in the Old Testament, people get mad. See, these people were pagan people. They were burning their own children and sacrificing them to the God, the false God Molech. They were worshiping Baal, some of them. They were worshiping false gods. They were sacrificing their own children. As evil as evil can be. And God said, I'm giving you the land and I'm using you as an instrument of my judgment to wipe them out. It's hard for us to understand that, but that's the way it is. And so Rahab didn't want to be caught in that tsunami of judgment that was coming. And so she lived up to her word. She hid the spies, she protected their lives. And then they told her what to do. And she was concerned about saving her family. They said, you put this scarlet rope right out here, this window seal, right where you let us out. That's what we're going to tell everybody when they come in. You see that, they're off limits. Because they have helped us. And Rahab's life was changed. She lived up to the commitments she made to the representatives of God. But I want you to notice a fourth thing. A fourth thing here. I don't know if you knew this or not, but oh, wait a minute. Did I miss a scripture somewhere in here? I missed it in verse. I'll get back to that in just a moment. Number four. Listen to this. Her faith made her part of Israel and the ancestry of Christ. She is part of Jesus' genealogy. You say, what? Look at what Matthew 1, verses 4 through 6 tells us. Here's the genealogy of Jesus. It says Ram, the father of Abinadab, Abinadab, the father of Nashan. Nashan, the father of Salman. Now listen. Ruth married this man, not Ruth, Rahab married this man, Salman, who was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz the father of Obad, whose mother was Ruth. Obed the father of Jesse. And this is the lineage of Jesus. Here you had a pagan prostitute who was far away from God. And all of a sudden, rumblings of this Jehovah God and his people started making news in her community. And she began to not just listen to it, but she began to believe it. And it caused fear in her. And then she began to listen to the message. And she heard what God was doing. And as a result of that, at some point she put her faith in that God, in Jehovah God, in the one and only true God. And her life was saved. All of her family's lives were saved. She married a man. That tells us we know that she changed her life and the way she was living. Her faith changed her life. And as a result of that, God allowed her to be part of the lineage and genealogy through which the Messiah came. And you said, how does that apply to me? I'll tell you how this applies to you. You think you're a nobody. You think God doesn't know that you even exist. You think that, you know, oh, you're not the pastor, you're not this person, you're not that person, you're just little old me, just doing my thing, living in my own little bubble, and I'm insignificant in the cause of Christ. Let Rahab be an example to you. That God can do amazing things with people of faith, people who believe, people who trust. Look at what her faith did for her. And we're mentioning her name today, not because of the way she used to live, but because of how her life was transformed by the one true God. And that's what God is in the business of doing, transforming people. Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart. One of our dear members, Miss Karen, gave me this months ago. Miss Karen, I don't know if you got this from a book or if these are your gleanings or your notes. I think they're your notes, right? You remember giving this to me? She's like, ah, she don't want me to recognize her anyway. Rahab, an example for today. Rahab demonstrates that we don't have to be perfect for God to use us in significant ways. We do need to respond to him in faith and with integrity. When we do, he will, as he did for Rahab, melt away the impurities of our character and mold us into the kind of women and men he would have us to be. God is free to use whom he will. We pass judgment on what we see, but we can only see the outward appearance. God also passes judgment on what he sees, but he sees inside and out, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Rahab reminds believers not to be judgmental. All have sinned, and but for God's grace, all would be doomed. God extends us his grace. We must extend his grace to others regarding not what people may seem to us, but what God may intend them to become. In other words, look what God can do in that person's life if they come to Jesus. Only God knows the potential that people have. It's the same beautiful principle of when God had rejected Saul to be king of Israel. And he was appointing and anointing a new king. And he sent Samuel the prophet to a man by the name of Jesse's house. And he said, You go to Jesse's house. One of the sons of Jesse will be the new king. And I'll let you know which one it is. And you anoint him. So the sons came one by one. And God said, Nope, not him. Nope, not him. Samuel goes, Surely this has got to be the one. Look at him. You know, he fits the profile. Nope, not him. And I think I think my memory just goes in and out. I think seven of the brothers came. And God said, no. So Samuel was like, do you have another son? And he goes, Well, yeah. Where is he? He's outside. He's tending the sheep. Ruddy-faced, little teenage boy that's out there. So Samuel said, Bring him in. I want to see this kid. And he brings him in. And he doesn't look anything like his brothers. His brothers are full-grown men. And here is little David. What a lot of people don't realize about this little David is he had already killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands to protect the sheep. He had a shepherd's heart. And God said to Samuel, this is the one. And I can imagine, you know, human beings are human beings. Samuel probably went, What? Do what? I don't know if he did that or not, but you can't prove that he didn't. So anyway, you know, good for me. Do I? Him? No way. And then this is what God said to Samuel. Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart. And inside the heart of that young little teenage boy was a warrior, was a future king, was a man after God's own heart. A man named David. It's the same principle in Rahab's life. So just think about this. Even in the Old Testament, even in the Old Covenant, prior to Christ's coming, prior to the church being born, prior to the gospel going to the Gentiles, God was still offering salvation and grace and mercy to anyone who would believe, no matter if they came from a pagan culture or not. That's the God that we serve. Look at what God can do. Look at what faith in God can do. Not faith in and of itself, but faith in Christ. What it can do. When I went back to Louisiana a few weeks ago, boy, my mind went into memory lane. And it's brought up a lot of memories that I had kind of, you know, just forgotten about or not thought of in many, many years. In those few short years that I was there at my home church, a lot, a lot of life formation happened for me. And who I am today is because of what happened there. That's where I heard the word for the first time. That's where I became a disciple. That's where I got baptized, declared my faith publicly in my home community. That's where I met my wife and the love of my life. That's where we got married. That's where I had a pastor who became, you know, one of my heroes of faith in my life. Brother Daryl Hoichik, who came here a few years ago, preached to us. That's where it all happened. I went back. But I also remember some things. I remember people saying, people saying, Christian people saying to Penny and I that they didn't believe that our marriage would last. Can I encourage you? Sometimes Christians think they're being used of God to speak something into somebody's life when actually they're being used of Satan to bring discouragement upon other people. And several of those very people that said that about us, their own marriages failed. They only saw what we had been and what I was coming out of, not what I was going into. But yet at the same time, I had people who spoke into us. Listen, Penny's aunt said this to me. She was one of the last people to speak to me and say something to me before I left, the last Sunday at my home church, before we left to go to Dallas, Texas, to go to Bible college in 1985. 1985. They had just come out with a push-button phone back then. Remember that? Remember some of us remember using the dial. The rotor. Sitting in the back. We were getting ready to leave. Church was over, and she goes, Come here, Corin Penny, come here. She goes, I want you to know how proud I am of you. And how excited we are that somebody in our family is going into the ministry. And then she said this. She goes, one day, Corey. She said, one day, the entire world will be able to watch you preach. And up until we started live streaming, I thought she had lost her marvels to ever say something like that. But you know she was right. Because anybody in the world right now can log on and watch us. What she was saying to me then was not that you're going to be a big shot. What she was saying to me then was that God's going to use you. You stay faithful to him. While other people didn't think that we could be used of God, God saw what others couldn't see. And that's the example of Rahab. This unbelievable woman who was living a very dangerous and ungodly life. But yet she was never too far gone, and she was not too dirty for God to cleanse and to wash and to make new again. And while others in her community probably, oh, look at her. She got her a little bit of religion now. Now they didn't know what had happened inside of her. And through her came the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Never doubt what God can do in your heart when you're obedient to Him. Let me say it like this. Never doubt what God can do through a life that's totally committed to Him. Never doubt it. So friends, as your pastor, I love you and I want to see you be everything that God wants you to be. Quit thinking that God's not using you in some extraordinary way. If you're a parent, you have the greatest responsibility in the world to train and to pour into your children the Word of God. The greatest opportunity. How many of you heard of the name James Dobson? Now, he's not as popular as he used to be back years ago. You know, he started a radio program, focus on the family. And uh matter of fact, you as a church back in 2005 sent me and my wife and my three children to Colorado Springs. You flew us there. It was a pastor and family retreat. We spent a week there. Um and I remember after I met Dr. Dobson and he preached to us that one day, I looked at Penny and said, Now I can die. A happy man. I got to meet one of my heroes. Tremendous, tremendous man of God. Impacted the world for the cause of the families and the cause of Christ as much as almost anybody other than maybe Billy Graham. But the backstory behind that is this. James Dobson grew up as an only child. His daddy was a Nazarene preacher and evangelist. Back in the day, his daddy was becoming very popular. He was speaking all over the country. His name recognition was going up. And he always had a vision. James Dobson's father had a vision that he, meaning the father, would be able to reach families, have a ministry to families. And he would go preach all over America and preach on the biblical family. But James Dobson had become a teenager and had become a problem to his mama. And he tells a story that one day he sassied his mama, and his mama grabbed, now boy, if I'm if my vocabulary is not right on this, women, just please forgive me. But his mama grabbed a brasier, I think it was, that had some lead in it or something. And she swung it at him and hit him right across the face with it. She'd finally had enough. She called James Dobson's dad and she goes, I need you home. I can't deal with him. And James Dobson's dad was preaching a meeting somewhere, and he goes, Okay, I'm packing up now. She goes, No, no, no. I don't need you to come home tonight. But when you finish this meeting, I need you home during the week. James Dobson's dad gave up his national career and pastored a little church in Sulphur Springs, Texas for the rest of his life. And his son was in middle school then, a young teenager, and James Dobson's dad was there for those formative years, and he poured into his son. And his son graduated with honors, went to USC, got a degree in psychology or what have you. I could be off on that, but I know, you know, got master's, doctor, whatever, doctor's degree and all of that. And his and his son, James Dobson's dad's, James Dobson, his son, started and created the greatest family ministry in the history of the world. All because this man chose obedience to his son. He realized that his greatest responsibility was to raise a godly son. And he came home and he pastored a little bitty church. Didn't have any national impact on anybody at the time. God can take something very small and use it for his glory in his way. And you may not ever live to see it. Look at what your faith can do. Your faith in how you live is impacting somebody's life. So stay faithful to the end. Remember what Rahab did. Okay, she let the spies go. Ah, we're good now. Surely they'll remember me. I don't have to put that stupid red thing and the that red rope in the in the window. I don't need to do any of that. No, she didn't have that attitude. She goes, no, I'm I'm gonna follow through with it. I'm gonna keep living the way I need to live. I'm gonna be obedient, and she did it. And her faith saved her. Be faithful to the end, like Rahab. Let's stand. Heavenly Father, help us to see that purity comes not from us living well, but it comes through the blood of Jesus washing our sins away. Though your sins be as crimson, they shall be as white as snow. And while others saw Rahab as a failure, as a nasty person, you, dear Father, saw her faith and transformed her life. And we are the beneficiaries of her faithful life today. I pray for the person that's here that feels that their life isn't what they wanted it to be at this point. Help them to see that you can take them right where they are through their personal faith in you, they can have an impact for the rest of their lives. Just with our eyes closed, heads bow for just a moment. If you've never done what Rahab did, you've never come to that moment in your life where you say, I believe that he is the one. And that happened to me. I had to come to that moment. Yes, I believe it. I believe in him. Then make that decision today. Follow him. Maybe you already gave your life to Christ recently. Come this morning, make your decision public. We'll get you set up for baptism here in the very near future. The altar's open for you. Maybe you need to be like Rahab and just come and seek God and for the protection of your family, spiritually and physically. However, God is leading you, let God have his way in us. And we pray it all in Jesus' name as our worship team leads us to worship and to make this commitment final in our hearts. You come.