Faith Based Welcome

*The sermon manuscript below was generated from the recording by AI…

It’s a very special thing to be welcomed into another person’s home and family, isn’t it? One of the things I always appreciated about when my family would go and visit with my favorite Brazilian pastor is you would walk through the door and his whole family would come to the door, and every one of them would line up and they’d all hug you. Every person would get a hug on the way in the door. And you just felt loved. You felt warmly appreciated. And as soon as the door opened, there would be a big smile on his face. And every time we went, he would say to me, “Logan, my home is your home.” And I just felt loved, felt wanted. It’s a special thing to be welcomed.

We had the joy today of seeing a family welcomed, didn’t we? They, they came from the South Island. We’ll, we’ll, we won’t hold that against them, um, nor our elder. But they, they came from another faith, and yet it’s lovely to welcome them in the name of the Lord, to welcome them not just into RBC, but into the invisible, eternal family of God. We welcome them, in a sense, into an eternal relationship. They will be family forever if they go on in their faith.

And it raises a question for us. How does one enter the family of God? I mean, we’ve probably all seen many people get baptized, many people profess their faith. How does one do it? How does one enter into the household of faith?

And what I want us to do is use Rahab as an example. Use Rahab as like a test subject for us to answer that question. Rahab’s a very fitting person for us to use, because Rahab was very bad. You know what a prostitute is, right? She was a seasoned prostitute. She was a prostitute who ran a house for prostitution. She’s not a very nice person, is she? Very unsavory sort of person you probably wouldn’t want in your home. The sort of person you wouldn’t want around your children. The sort of person you would probably avoid on the street. You know, she lives in one of those places that you don’t venture into. Y- you know what I mean. If you go to K Road, you’ve got K Road, which is reasonably okay, but then there’s the alleyways. Now, when I was an ignorant non-Aucklander, I had no idea about any of these things, and one day I came into central Auckland, and I just parked somewhere and walked through K Road and walked up one of the side alleyways, and I was quite shocked to see what I discovered. And there was all sorts of people offering me all sorts of things I definitely didn’t want. She’s one of them, and yet she gets welcomed into the household of faith.

And why is this important? Well, the argument is a little bit like the Apostle Paul. You remember the Apostle Paul? He says, “I am the chief of sinners, and I have been saved so that everyone else might know they can be saved. Because if I’m saved, and I’m a persecutor of the church, then you can be saved, too.” That’s the logic of the Apostle Paul, and we can apply that same logic here. If a seasoned prostitute from the dark alleyways of Jericho Road can be saved, then you can be welcomed into the household of faith, too. We can have confidence that no sinner is out of the reach of being welcomed into God’s family.

So let’s explore the story of Rahab. Rahab firstly heard and she believed. Rahab heard and believed.

News can have quite an impact on people, can’t it? We’ve You’ve probably seen it in recent history, when an event happens. L- Use the example of America, something like the George Floyd incident, and the news tells the story in a certain way, and what happens? Riots, police violence back between people and police, and everything just turns to utter chaos. Now, if there was no news, it never would’ve happened, would it? But the news impacted and affected those that watched it that caused a certain type of action.

And in our story, we heard of news. Rahab says, in chapter 2 of Joshua, that she and all the people have heard something. They’ve heard news. What was the news? She says 3 things. “We’ve heard that the Lord dried up the Red Sea.” I mean, that’s a striking thing to hear. The seas don’t normally dry up, do they? Especially red seas that tend to flood quite high. They had heard, in summary statement, that the Lord dried up the Red Sea, safely carried his people across, and destroyed the entire Egyptian army. Now, that’s a scary thing to hear. And then they heard that the people of Israel, they weren’t just delivered by miraculous wonders. They were delivered in sword battle, because they defeated Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and they were serious business. They were terrifying kings. And yet, the Lord gave them the victory over them, too.

And, and a reaction takes place. Rahab says that the people of Jericho are struck with fear. They trembled when they heard the news. They shook. They shook. Mm, but something very different happened when Rahab heard the news. It’s striking, isn’t it? Same people, same city, same news. 99% of the city tremble in fear and do nothing. Rahab is struck to the heart, and she says to them, “I know that God is God.” That your God, not my god, not the Jericho gods, but the Lord is God.

When she heard the news, she shook, but her heart was melted in the shaking. Whereas everybody else shook, but their heart was hardened in the hearing of the news. The Spirit of God took the news that came to Rahab’s ears and melted her heart, so that though they heard the same message, upon Rahab’s heart, a completely different effect was rendered.

And maybe some of you know this. Maybe you’ve sat in a sermon and heard a word, and you’ve thought to yourself, “This is a thing of wonder. This is amazing.” And then you turn to someone else and you say to them, “Did you hear that? That’s incredible.” And they say, “Hear what?”

I mean, you can sit in a lecture hall with an atheist and you can hear the word of Christ preached and rejoice with all of your soul and then sit with an atheist who says to you, “It’s all hogwash.”

And maybe some of you can remember, those of you who had conversions later in life, maybe you can remember a day when one day you woke up and you heard the word and it was different. You had heard it many times before and it had meant nothing. It sounded like the words of a wise man or the words of a prophet or the words of a rabbi. But one day, you woke up and you heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest.” And you knew that it was Christ speaking. And everything changed in the blink of an eye.

This is the story of Rahab. This is what’s happened for the New Yuns. They were Buddhists. That’s a striking thought. For most of their life, they grew up worshiping Buddha, burning incense, doing temple things. And one day, Van heard the voice of Jesus Christ, and he believed. And years later, the same would happen for Vi. As God in His mercy, by His Holy Spirit, reached into their heart by the word of Christ to make them new.

It’s a reminder for us, brothers and sisters, as we look at the life of Rahab, as we look at the life of the New Yuns, as we look at our own lives as believers, to recognize that faith, Paul says in Romans 10, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of Christ.

Now, it’s striking. He doesn’t say faith comes by hearing and hearing the Bible. He could have said that. It’s not the Bible that awakens a soul. It’s the word of Christ. As Christ speaks through the scriptures and through the preaching of God’s word, He awakens sinners. He awakens them to life.

And I think there’s some practical exhortations that come from this. first of all, it highlights our desperate need for preachers, right? You remember the argument of the Apostle Paul in Romans 10, don’t you? How will they hear unless someone preaches? How will they preach unless someone sends them? We need preachers. We should pray that God would raise up preachers from among us, men who would go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit under the authority of Christ, proclaiming Christ’s word into the darkness, both locally and abroad. Oh, that RBC might send out preachers to the ends of the earth. Oh, that we might pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth men.

Maybe you’re sitting here today and you’re thinking to yourself, “Maybe that’s me.” Well, be a man of courage. Seek the Lord. Pursue the Lord. Preach His word and see sinners brought into the kingdom of God. We don’t need more evangelistic outreach programs, though they’re good. We don’t need more university ministries, though they’re a blessing. But we desperately need preachers of the word of Christ.

I think there’s another exhortation here, and that is, well, how will they hear, another way of reading the passage, how will they hear if they don’t come? If we don’t tell anyone, brothers and sisters, that the word of Christ is heard here, why will anyone bother coming?

You know, in the olden days, evangelism was seen as a very simplistic thing. Do you know what you did? You said, “Would you like to come to church with me?” That was the primary method of evangelism, and somewhere in the last 100 years, someone decided, well, probably a group of people, but someone decided that, you know, church is a bit stuffy and church isn’t very good for evangelism. You know, w- what we have to do is convert them out there, and then once they’re converted, bring them in here to be fed. So church became like a nursery.

And yet, brothers and sisters, is, is the word of Christ heard anywarm- anywhere more loudly in your life than on a Sunday as the gospel is preached? Every sermon, Christ’s voice sounds forth from pulpits around this land. And so one practical thing you can do is invite your neighbors, invite your friends, invite your work colleagues. Come and hear the Word of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever wanted to hear Jesus speaking to you? You know, people will say, they say, “Well, if, if God spoke to me, then I’d be a Christian.” Say, “Well, praise the Lord. I can, I can find a place. I know a place where you’ll hear God speaking to you.” They go, “Oh, that’s exciting.” You go, “Yeah, yeah, my church. Come along. God speaks every single Sunday audibly to us.”

Well, wouldn’t that be a hook and bait? They might be a little disappointed when they turn up and find it’s just Logan preaching, but actually they might get convicted, brought to their knees, and saved because Christ is speaking audibly through the preaching of the gospel.

But there’s one more ex- exhortation here, and that is for those of you that are outside of Christ: have you heard the voice of Jesus Christ? He is speaking to you today, and he is saying to you, “All who come to me, I will not turn away. Believe in me.” He offers you eternal life today. Have you heard and believed? And if not, why not? It seems insane.

I’m sorry, I do not mean to undermine or denigrate you in any way, but s- but the Lord of the earth is offering you eternal life. All you have to do is believe. Will you have him? Will you have the Word of Christ and have your heart awakened?

And so Rahab hears. She believes.

But then we see in the story that Rahab welcomed and then sought. She welcomed the spies, and she sought refuge.

You know, faith doesn’t truly flourish until it’s tested, does it? It’s easy to say I believe in something. It’s a whole other thing to put it into practice.

I, I remember as a child, we, we used to go camping at the same place every year, and one time someone brought a whole bunch of abseiling gear and we did some abseiling down a rock face, and I can still vividly remember the very first time I did it, standing on the edge of the rock face with the ro- rope hooked up and thinking to myself, “I trust the rope.” But then I look over the cliff and I’m like, “I’m not sure how well I trust this rope. What if I let go? What if the rope doesn’t hold me?” And I had to put my faith in the rope and the gear and actually walk backwards off the cliff, and it was nerve-wracking. But it was interesting that the second I went over and discovered this rope does hold me, I was filled with confidence.

See, faith flourishes when it’s tested, and the same is true here for Rahab. Rahab’s faith comes to life when these spies arrive, right? I mean, it’s been 40 years since Egypt, right? It’s been 40 years, and it’s been a few weeks since Sihon and Og were killed. And, and yet it’s not until her faith is tested in the presence of the spies that belief manifests itself out of the heart of Rahab.

You see, these spies walk through the door, and what does she do? She immediately hides them. She immediately protects them. She immediately risks hers and everybody else in the house’s lives in the face of the wrath of the king of Jericho.

I mean, it’s a striking thing, right? 2 spies out of Israel. She hides them. The king comes and says, “Yo, I know the spies are there. Give them over.” And she says, “No, they’re not here.”

Now, we’re not gonna delve into the ethics of lying. You can ask me about that later if you’re interested. But just recognize, she risks her own livelihood and effectively rejects the people of Jericho and clings herself to 2 Israelite men with no knowledge as to whether it would work or not. She doesn’t know. She hasn’t asked them yet if they’ll save her.

Isn’t that striking? She doesn’t come to them and say, “Hey, by the way, if I rescue you, will you save me?” She risks her neck first, and then says to them, “I know that your Lord is gone. Will you give me refuge? Will you hide me?” To use the Psalm language, “Will you hide me under the shadow of your wings?”

She seeks refuge by rejecting her homeland, doesn’t she? She doesn’t stay with her kin, but instead accepts the name of Christ and, to use the words of Hebrews, like Moses, she considers the reproach of Christ worth more than the riches of Jericho. Prostitutes make a lot of money, and she is willing to forsake it all in order to be counted among the people of God.

Or, to use the words of Hebrews 13, she goes outside the camp and shares the reproach of Christ, recognizing that here we have no lasting city. We’re pilgrims, right, on another journey. She recognizes what Christ says, “Anyone who loves their father or mother, husband or wife, child, brother, sister, friend more than me is not worthy of the Kingdom of God.”

She is willing to sacrifice everything in order to be counted among God’s people, and that’s what true faith does. True faith forsakes everything and clings solely to Christ alone.

And I think it begs the question of us, what is it that holds us back? What, what things in this world, what relationships, what stuff are like ties that bind us here that we’re unwilling to let go? Is it a relationship with other people? Is it a friendship? Is it a work position? Is it a promotion? Is it a family member? Is it our pride? What is it that clings onto us like, like a disease that we just don’t want to let go of, and it, it stol- it stolters us, it causes us to fumble so that we can’t properly reach out?

Or to put it another way, what things do we need to put to death in order to live in Christ?

Faith is entirely exclusive, brothers and sisters. Jesus said, “You cannot have 2 masters. You cannot love both God and money. You will always hate one and love the other.”

You know, what would you say if the Nguyens had come forward for membership and, and they had said, “You know, we do want to join the church, but we just want you to know that we still have a Buddha statue in our lounge that we bow down to every night.” You’d probably have a problem if the elders had accepted them for, for membership, right? You know, I don’t think we should be doing the baptism thing yet. We’ve got some problems.

But can’t we be like that in our own lives at times? Brothers and sisters, to come to Christ by faith is to reject all other lords, is to reject all other saviors, including yourself. And like Rahab, be willing to risk it all to obtain the greatest prize.

And so Rahab heard and believed, she welcomed, and she sought, and then lastly, Rahab persevered, and she received.

She persevered until the Israelites turned up, and she received the outcome of her faith.

Children, it can be hard when a parent says to you, “Yes, but you have to wait.” Can’t it? You ask for something, you know, “Can I have a new bike?” or, “Can I have a new toy?” or, “Can we have McDonald’s for lunch?” And your parents say, “Yes, but not now.” It’s, it’s almost harder. It’s like, I know I’m gonna get it, but I, I have to wait. I have to wait for ages. And, you know, when you’re a child, 5 minutes feels like 5 hours, and so 5 days feels like a year.

Can you imagine being Rahab? She received a promise from the spies, didn’t she? The spies promised her, they made an oath, that they would save her, that they would fi- that she would find refuge, her and her household with her. Israel doesn’t come immediately, do they?

Now, put yourself in the shoes of Rahab for a second. The spies give you a scarlet thread. You tie it in the window. They leave. They go into the hills for 3 days to hide. Then they travel back to Joshua. You’re at home, right? You’re still at home. You’re telling the promise to your fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, family, to try and get them to join you in refuge, and you could imagine some of the Jerichoites think you’re a nut job. “Ah, it’s just Rahab the prostitute. She’s lost her mind.”

Well, after 5 days, the spies are back to Joshua. Then the people of Israel cross the Jordan. That takes a couple of days. Then they circumcise all of the males until they’re healed. Now, I have no idea what that means. No one does. How long does it take to get healed after doing that to an entire community? Well, maybe sometimes short time, sometimes long time. Who knows? I mean, the older men probably heal slower than the younger men. Welcome to the human body. So maybe let’s call it 2 weeks. Well, 2 weeks now. So now it’s 3 weeks, and then they have to make the plan and march up to Jericho. They eventually get to Jericho, and so for 3, 4 weeks, you’ve been sitting in your home with nothing but a promise and a scarlet thread.

And then you see the armies approaching, and you see the army watch, walking around the city, and you know, you know the reason they’ve come is to kill every single person in Jericho. The city is devoted to destruction.

What runs through your mind if you’re Rahab? What if they forgot? What if it was, what if it was a lie? What if they just used me like so many men in my life have used me? What if it doesn’t pan out? What if my house goes with the wall?

And you’re looking out of your window at the army, and you’re looking at the swords, and you’re looking at the spears, a- and you’re tempted to think, “I, I think I made a terrible mistake. I sided with the wrong army. I betrayed my city. I enabled the spies to get out, and I’m gonna face the consequence of my actions.”

What does Rahab do? What has she been given? She’s been given a promise, yes, but it’s very significant, the other thing she’s given. A, a thread, a scarlet thread to hang in a window. Why? And why hang it in the window? Well, yes, so they can see it. “Guys, the wall’s gonna fall down.” The scarlet thread’s gonna be gone when the wall falls down. Why does she hang a scarlet thread in the window? So that every day she might look at the scarlet thread and remember the promise of the spies. So that every day, though it’s not a sacrament, like a sacrament, it’s signs and a seal promise made to her by the representative of the Lord. It functions exactly the same as the baptism we witnessed today. It is a perpetual, ongoing reminder of God’s promise to save you from your sin, right? It is a daily promise.

And every time you remember your baptism, every time you go, “Hallelujah, what a savior,” the blood of Christ is sufficient to take away my sin. And so every day Rahab could get up, that 7day week as they marched around, she, the only house in all of Jericho, would see the army through the scarlet thread of the promise of God.

And what did she do? She lay held, hold of that promise, and she persevered by her faith.

And what happened? The wall fell down. Could you imagine? I mean, people are dying. You’re hearing men, women, children, animals being butchered outside as the Israelite army walks through, and all of a sudden your door opens. You’re Rahab. Your door opens, and you see 2 spies. And they walk in and they say, “The day has come. Today is the day of salvation. Come, be free.”

And you walk out over the dead bodies of the Jericho people, and you’re taken outside the camp of Israel, and then you receive a promise you long waited for. The outcome of your faith, you are joined to the people of God.

And the text tells us in Joshua 6 that she lived in Israel all of her days.

Now, you know the amazing thing? If you turn to Matthew, you don’t need to, but if you turn to Matthew, you’d find in the genealogy of Jesus Christ that Rahab is the mother of Boaz. You remember Boaz and Ruth? Rahab, the prostitute, the seasoned prostitute that none of us would want to spend very much time with, is welcomed to be the great-great-great-grandmother of King David. She becomes a true Israelite, doesn’t she?

How does she become a true Israelite? By faith. By believing in the promise of God and acting in keeping with the promise of God.

And so let me ask you, brothers and sisters, are you tempted to give up on your faith? You’ve started, like Rahab, you’ve started, and you’re halfway through your race, and because of fear and doubts and the voice of the devil and the screaming of this world, you’re tempted to say, “I was wrong.”

Let me encourage you to do something. Let me encourage you not to look to the scarlet thread, but look to the sacraments of Every Sunday we bear testimony to the fact that Jesus died Every baptism we’re reminded that Jesus died to wash us clean. And every day you get up and turn your tap on to brush your teeth and see the water, you can be reminded that once some minister somewhere placed the water of baptism on you, and you have a sure and steady anchor to cast into the sea. As the waves pound against you, to know I am a child of God. I have been received by God. I have received the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And so, brothers and sisters, Rahab, well, she heard and she believed. She welcomed and she sought. She persevered, and she received.

But it’s not just a historical story, is it? It’s not just there for us to marvel at the kindness and graciousness of God towards a prostitute. It’s here as both an invitation of mercy and a warning of wrath.

The writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 4 says, “Beware. Beware, lest you miss out on the rest. Strive to enter the rest,” he says. Rahab Will you? Will you enter the rest? Rahab’s entered the rest. She entered it then physically, and then she died and entered it spiritually. What about you?

Well, I think the challenge is captured by John Chrysostom quite well. He, he commented on the prostitute with these words, “It would be disgraceful if you should appear more faithless even than a harlot.”

It would be, wouldn’t it? But, uh, but after all, as Jesus would say, prostitutes and tax collectors are entering the Kingdom of God while you are being cast out. Is that true of you? Or are you pleased to be counted with the Rahabs of this world, and to be with Christ?

Well, may God grant you to enter that rest.

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