WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.640 Good morning. 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:05.839 Joshua chapter 2 is where we're at this morning, working our way through Joshua. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.839 We spent two weeks, the first chapter of Joshua, so now we're in Joshua 2. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.160 It's not our normal sermon. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:13.839 It's sort of like in three parts. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:22.079 The first section is on war, the second section's on lying, and then the third section is maybe a little bit more typical for our type of sermon. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.079 So it's sort of like ethics morning, I think, at Redeemer. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.679 What I can guarantee is this: I will not answer all of your questions. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.280 I can guarantee that. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:35.920 You know, seven minutes on war is not enough, and seven minutes on lying is not enough. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.119 But perhaps I'll give you some good lunch conversation. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.679 And you can go and perhaps figure some of this out. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:45.119 Now the issue is that the Old Testament is full of battles and wars. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:01:03.520 You read the Old Testament and you read about wars and battles and what causes so many of us problems, and many people reject the Bible, and that's why we need to talk about it, is that the Old Testament actually attributes battles and wars and victories and even deaths to God. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:06.480 And we're going to see that in Joshua. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.319 See it in Exodus. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:10.799 Now, I don't know how you feel about that. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.560 I have a problem with that. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.680 I just do. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:15.519 I wrestle with that. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:18.959 That's not something I just swallow and go, like, oh, no problem. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:26.159 I mean, like, I have a problem with, I will probably always have some measure of a problem with this issue. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:37.200 And I'm not finished wrestling with the Bible, and I'm not finished wrestling with God, and thank God he's not finished being patient with me as I operate in such partial knowledge. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:53.840 But we run into this question like, how does a holy, perfect, all-loving God that we know in the New Testament is an Abba Father, how do we then we read in the Old Testament, you know, this mighty warrior that's devastating people and that deaths are attributed to him. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:56.560 How do we process that? 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.439 Well, there's a few options. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:01.920 And this is me not being an ethicist. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:02.959 I'm not an ethicist. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.959 This is just me trying to figure out a few categories of ways for us to understand this. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:08.719 And option one is just sort of this. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:14.080 People go, well, this is just the sort of thing that proves the Bible's unreliable. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.599 Therefore, I question all of the Bible, or maybe I would just walk away. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:20.159 Right? 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:22.800 Maybe you know people, maybe you've done that, maybe you know people have done that. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:23.599 So that's an option. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:25.919 I wouldn't say it's a great option, it's an option. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:27.680 Option two is this. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:40.879 This language is from an ancient people attributing battles and their victories to their God, just as other people groups at the time attributed battles and victories to their God. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.800 So you this view would just say it's just language, nothing more. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.240 It's option. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:59.520 Option three is this God is the creator of the universe, sovereign and holy, and he holds the right to do as he wills upon imperfect, sinful people and in this world. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:01.360 That would be option three. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.159 Option four, there's only four options, don't get too stressed out. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:08.080 God is love. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:18.560 And he is in collision with injustice, which I understand partially and in mystery. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.479 So I'm in option four. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:21.280 That's where I'm at. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.960 Maybe you're in another option, I don't know where you're at, maybe you never thought about it, but eventually you will. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:29.520 Like you'll read something in the Old Testament and maybe you just disregard it, but eventually maybe maybe it'll bother you. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.520 And you're gonna land in one of these options. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.960 I'm in option four. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:38.159 I understand option three, I get it, but I live more in option four. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:40.400 This quote has helped me. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.560 It's from theologian Frederick Brunner. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:52.319 The wrath of God is not the irritability of God, it is the love of God in friction with injustice. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:53.759 See, I like that way to think. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:55.280 It helps me think about wrath. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:04.560 It is the warm, steady, patient, but absolutely fair grace of God in collision with manifest selfishness. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:09.280 God's wrath does not contradict God's love, it proves it. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:10.879 I love that. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.599 Pampers injustice is not lovable. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:18.399 Now, that doesn't give me all the answers I want, right? 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:26.240 It's not going to give you all the answers, but it sort of opens up this category for us to understand the wrath of God within the love of God. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.879 And certainly in this case, God's grace gets even bigger, right? 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.079 Like it's even bigger for us, or bigger for the Israelites. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:41.680 Now, my problem is there's still families, when we get into Joshua, there's still families in Canaan that are about to be destroyed. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:43.519 And these families are people. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.439 They're just normal people. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.879 And they just happen to be born into the wrong people group at the wrong time, living in the wrong land. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:53.519 And I wrestle with that. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:04.560 But the older I get, the more I welcome into these categories that for me feel very difficult, a little bit of mystery and humility, and still trust in the character of God. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:05.759 So that's about war. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.519 That's my end of seven minutes of war, and y'all can figure it out over lunch. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:11.120 Now let's talk a little bit about lines. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.279 So to catch you up on the book of Joshua and where we're at in this story. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:24.319 The Israelite army, uh about 40,000 folks, 40,000 men, they're about to come into Canaan to reclaim their land, to live there and live there peacefully. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.560 They came out of Egypt, the people, probably 600,000 people or so, they came out of Egypt. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:41.600 They should have taken a few weeks to get through the desert to go over to their land, but they they they got into apathy and laziness and just not trusting God, and they ended up in the desert wilderness for 40 years. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:51.920 And then we get this military hero, Joshua, who begins to hear from God, and God's calling him hey, lead the men over the Jordan and into Canaan, reclaim your land and live in peace. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:58.480 And so we get this story this week, this famous story about two spies sent ahead. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.480 Joshua chapter 2, verse 1. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:10.399 And Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men secretly from Shidom as spies, saying, Go view the land, especially Jericho. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.680 And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:22.879 Now, a couple of interesting words in that verse is the first, a couple of these is the first phrases came into. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.680 And the other is this word, lodge. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:28.000 Now, these words could also be used for sex. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:37.839 So it's very possible these two spies were with Rahab the prostitute for the exact reason why the reason you're thinking right now is the same. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:38.319 That's why. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.639 That's why they're there, perhaps. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:48.399 So they're there, and then while they're there, Rahab the prostitute becomes the hero. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:54.319 Now, not only is she a prostitute, but she says she owns the house, so perhaps she's sort of the madam of the brothel. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.319 So the madam of the brothel becomes the hero. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.079 And this is point number one. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.240 People are not just one thing, and we are people. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.920 And that's just sort of like a comment on humanity. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.240 I grew up watching 80s movies. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.240 As an 80s kid, I grew up watching 80s movies. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:20.399 There's a great 80s movie called The Breakfast Club, and it's a group of different kids from different walks of life, and they get Saturday detention. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:27.199 And there they at first, at first, they all hate each other because they're from different walks of life and different like groups within the school. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.959 Everybody's kind of represented in these different groups, and you probably associate with one kid more than the other. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.800 And at first they hate each other, but by the end of it, by the end of the movie, they come to some profound conclusions. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:44.480 And so at the end of the movie, uh they select the brainy kid to write this essay. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.800 And here's what he writes to Mr. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:52.399 Vernon, who is the principal that's in charge of them for this Saturday, and sort of the enemies throughout the movie. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:53.120 Dear Mr. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:08:01.519 Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice the whole Saturday and detention for whatever it is we did wrong. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.199 But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:13.519 You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:25.759 But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:34.399 So the point is, especially when we read this story in Joshua, Rahab's more than a prostitute. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:36.320 Of course she is. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.360 And of course you're more than just one thing. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:41.360 You're a sinner and a saint. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:42.639 You're a saint and a sinner. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:47.440 That's why we need the grace of God, not just to become Christians, but to live as Christians. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:54.720 And then we're called to understand ourselves and understand other people and the depth of humanity. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:57.519 That we're not just one thing. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:03.679 We shouldn't just categorize people in the simplest of terms and the most convenient of definitions. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:08.080 And redemption and love is available to anyone. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.480 And the heathen can be the hero. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.840 And sometimes you know the hero can be the heathen. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:19.600 But redemption and absolution and forgiveness. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:21.840 That's available to anybody. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.159 The story continues to unfold. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:32.720 So the word gets out that there's these two spies in the city, and so the guards, the guards come to Rahab's house, and Rahab hides them in. 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:41.600 And then she says this, Joshua 2, 4 through 7, and she said, True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came where they were from. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.360 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:47.440 I do not know where the men went. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.720 Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:59.200 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:03.840 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.600 And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.399 So here's point number two, and this is leading in this in this little bit of conversation about lying. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.200 We are called to the God of truth. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.919 And we're called to be people of truth. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.120 Here's what we know. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.720 We know trust is the currency of relationships. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:30.960 It's the currency to any real relationship, whether it be in family or friendship or community in church or at work. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:34.159 You have to have honesty and trust, or it doesn't work. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:35.120 It doesn't work out. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.399 People go on trial because of lying. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.000 People go to jail because of lying. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:51.679 Families are destroyed, relationships are destroyed, marriages are destroyed, parents to children, children to parents are destroyed because of dishonesty. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.399 So was Rahab wrong. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:55.600 She lied. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:09.120 And the Hebrews 11 declares her that welcome of her welcoming in the spies, which is an act of lying to her government at least, that welcoming in of the spies as an act of faith. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:14.799 So some say, well, that includes her lying, then some other people say, no, no, no, that doesn't include her lying. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:15.759 That's different part. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:17.919 She welcomed it, but she didn't really lie, and so it's not the lying. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.679 So you have this ethical dilemma, and you can read forever on it once you Google that. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.000 So either way, I just have a few questions for you. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:26.879 We can play along here, some ethical scruples. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:31.840 Is it okay for a woman to fake a heart attack if she's being attacked by a man? 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:40.240 If a man uh comes into your house with a gun and says, Where's your wife and children? 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.200 Do you tell him the truth that your wife and children are hiding in the basement, or do you lie? 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:47.759 Of course you lie. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:48.399 Right? 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.320 And everybody's saying, Yeah, of course you lie. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:51.039 Good lie. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:52.320 Great job. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:06.080 You know, honey, is am I as attractive today as a 40-year-old man with ear hair that I have to trim as I was when I was 25 and I had pec muscles and I was I had smooth skin and I was bronzed, right? 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.279 Like, am I as oh, you look great. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.080 Somebody asked me this week, how are you? 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:17.840 How are you? 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.879 We're passing on the sidewalk. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:27.679 I didn't go into the fact that the day before a friend of ours, his son was found in the woods because he had been committing suicide. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:29.759 I just said, I'm good. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:31.360 I'm good. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:33.120 Right? 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.080 I didn't want to have a one-hour cry session on the sidewalk, right? 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.279 So I lied. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.399 So what do we think about this, right? 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:46.480 Like we lie, and sometimes we lie just to make things go better. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.159 Sometimes we lie because there's a greater good, and sometimes we lie. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:55.039 It's just morally wrong, and there's no situation to even come close to it. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.000 Here's some ways to think this through. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.279 Option one is this is situational ethics. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.759 And so here's what a situational ethics would say. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:05.600 Right and wrong is based on the situation. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.919 The situation defines the ethic. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.519 This seems very dangerous to me. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.639 Seems like full of like subjectivity and rationalization. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.080 So that seems very dangerous. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.320 I wouldn't land in that option, but maybe you do. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:17.440 Situational ethics. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.399 Option two is this lying's always wrong. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:22.080 And that's the end of that option. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.480 It's just lying's always wrong. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.399 Option three is this. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:35.120 Lying is always wrong, and yet situations can be complex, meaning you should always tell the truth. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:38.799 And yet there are times we lie for a greater good. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:44.559 So the lie is wrong, and you still lie. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:47.919 Okay, no, that's not parenting advice. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:56.879 Okay, like your pastor didn't tell you to lie or tell your kids to lie, and parent our way through this is actually very difficult, or even for ourselves to wrestle through. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.360 I've been wrestling with this because I have kids. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.879 I want to be an honest person, I want to operate in honesty. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.440 At the same time, I recognize that there's situations that come up, and for a greater good, I'm gonna lie. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:09.519 And I'm not even gonna feel bad about it. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.360 And probably the same with you. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.919 So I was like, what's the bottom line of this, right? 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:15.600 Like this ethical scruple. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:21.039 I think this is the bottom line, is we're called to tell the truth always. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:33.120 And then, like, there's these incredibly rare circumstances where lying does not become moral, but it becomes understandable. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:34.720 And I would say those are rare. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.000 That is not me on the sidewalk. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:38.000 Me on the sidewalk, that lying is wrong. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:39.440 That is not for a greater good. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.960 That's just wrong. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:57.200 But every once in a while, there could be an incredibly rare circumstance where lying is for a greater good and it's still immoral, it's still gonna be filled with consequences, but for some reason that ethical scruple develops something within our humanity where we understand it. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.679 I think this gains us a little insight into Rahab. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:06.399 The story continues. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:08.799 Verses 8 through 11. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:37.840 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites when you were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:50.799 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there is no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on earth beneath. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.600 So, point number three is this more into our kind of typical Redeemer sermon. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:16:01.200 We need a high view of God and a loving relationship with God through Christ. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:10.159 We surrender, and as we surrender, that's what Rahab, all this language of Rahab, is very much just surrender language. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:13.519 Like, I have heard of this God, you know, it's an incredibly high view of God. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:25.600 We surrender into that high view of God and we grow in our awareness of a God that is beyond all of our thoughts and definitions, our abilities to put into a box. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:35.440 And yet, that mighty warrior, that creator God, sovereign, holy, that God regards us in love. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:41.279 And wants a relationship with us as an Abba Father would want a relationship with us. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.919 That's the ark of the Bible is taking us. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:53.279 Yes, it's taking us through a mighty warrior, but it's taking us to a view of God, an understanding of God that's an Abba that loves us as we are. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:00.000 So, as for application, the words that came to me for application were rest, reflect, and read. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:03.919 And I know they're all ours, and that's very much like a preacher, but that's what came up for me. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:11.599 As for application, of how do we how do we grow in our awareness of a high view of God in this loving relationship when we rest? 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:21.200 We get quiet, we quiet our busy hearts, we become still and know that He is God. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.000 We reflect. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.279 That would be prayer and meditation and repentance. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.759 And we read, we study, we learn the truth. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:30.640 What is the truth? 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:31.440 What's the truth for me? 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.319 What's the truth of God? 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.119 What's the truth of the biblical ark of the stories? 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:44.799 And we don't do that to earn anything, but we do that to grow in the awareness and root deeper in the identity we already have in Christ. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:50.000 So the sad thing of this story is Rahab wasn't quite sure if she was accepted by God, right? 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:57.359 Like you read this story and you read the language, she has this incredible high view of God, but she's not quite sure if she's loved by God. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.319 This is their God, this is not her God. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:03.279 And we go, of course. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:04.079 Can you imagine? 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.759 She's not of the right people. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.000 She didn't have the right resume. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:11.359 She's a city prostitute. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.519 I mean, can you imagine what she must have felt like? 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.519 It's impossible, it's very possible that you feel this way. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.279 Just unworthy. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:26.160 In the core of who you are, like you're not worthy of love for some reason or some way. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.079 I think there's days we feel like Joshua. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.440 I mean, Joshua was his military hero and everybody knew who he was. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:39.359 And I think there's days that some of us, perhaps a lot of us, and others days you feel this way. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.920 You feel like, well, you know, I kind of have my act together. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:43.839 I have a little bit of a resume. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:49.839 But then kind of deeper underneath that, there are a bunch of fears that you're wrestling through. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.079 Then I think there's days we feel like Rahab, just a mess. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:04.240 You got a high view of God, and you get it, there's a creator, but you have no, you just don't even know could he ever love you because you're just going like that, and you're so beat down and worn out. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:06.640 You have nothing to offer. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.519 So the story ends. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.720 These spies say, hey, the army's coming. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.799 But your salvation will not be in like fighting. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:22.319 Your salvation will be to hang a scarlet cord outside your window and you stay inside. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:24.240 Do nothing. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:29.759 That's exactly what she does, her and her family. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.839 And the army passes by. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:39.599 So it's her powerlessness, it's her surrender that is her salvation. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.359 See, Rahab points us to Jesus in this way. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:55.519 Because it's not us pulling up our bootstraps to feel more worthy or prove our worth or build a righteousness report or work our way out of some guilt or shame to, you know, get out of that hole. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:56.799 No, no, no, no, no, no. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:02.640 It's surrender into the sufficient grace of God and the work of Jesus for us because all of our sin is put upon the cross. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:06.319 His righteousness is given to us, so we are always beloved. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.160 Our slates are perpetually wiped clean. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:13.920 Guilt is removed. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:24.880 Resting and reflecting and reading and anything of the Christian life becomes us growing in the awareness of that which is already true about us. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.720 That's what maturity is. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.880 You see, we're both Rahab and Joshua. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:34.400 Both of them lead us to Jesus and point us to Jesus. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.400 We're both the prodigal son and the elder moralistic brother, right? 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.279 We're both sinner and saint. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.000 We're both saint and sinner. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:52.319 And we're just always needing the grace of God and the wisdom of the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us in our lives. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:21:05.200 My brothers and sisters, may you continue to live in the surrender, the surrender to the grace of God, the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life, and the relieving, healing grace of Jesus. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.240 Let's pray together. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:27.839 God, thank you for your wisdom for us as we just even begin a conversation of your wrath, which is inside of your love, and how far we are of understanding that, and help us to grow to accept that we are not in our own intellect the holders of this world. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.480 God, we confess that we're liars. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:43.200 And sometimes we lie for a thing that we think is good, and then no, we were really just lying because we're selfish, and sometimes we just lie because we're selfish. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.799 And we repent and confess that we lie too often. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:49.440 Help us to become people of truth. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:50.880 Always. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:17.680 God, would we have such a high view of God, but also would we be just ecstatic and astonished that in the gospel that you have loving regard for us that accepts us exactly where we are? 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:25.440 And would this create great overwhelming healing and redemption and gratitude in our hearts? 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:35.279 And by the power of your Holy Spirit, would you root us deeper and deeper into the great wealth of the identity that we have as your beloved children in Jesus? 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:36.079 Amen.