Advent Week #3 - Peace

If you have a Bible, you can open it to the Old Testament

book of Joshua will be in chapter 2 this morning and just

hold it. We're not going to look at it

quite yet. I'll start with a question, a

real time question for me, but I'm thinking this through in my

life. How many of you are done with

your Christmas shopping? Is that probably a 5050 split?

Some of you got done in July and some of you won't get done until

December 24th. No doubt.

And then there is the spectrum that exists in all things.

As I think about that question, I always think of my my

childhood years. And there was one gift my mom

wanted every year, especially as her kids got older.

And it was simply, I want my kids to get along.

It's all I want. It probably would have been

easier had she just asked for something from a store so I

could just buy it, give it to her, and move on with my life.

It was hard. It's still hard to give someone

the gift of peace. That's what she was essentially

asking for. A mother who had children who

were at odds. Like all children are just

wanted a moment of peace for her life.

Some of you mothers can relate to that.

Now I just want my life to be at peace.

And it is one of the aims of this season.

In fact, as a challenge, just listen how often the theme or

even the word peace comes up in the Christmas songs.

It is a desire of all people that someday there would be

World Peace. And yet year after year after

year, it is still on the list of things that would be nice to

have that are so often hard to get.

I bring that up because it is the third week of Advent.

It is the week where we will look at a story of one of God's

people that represents the peace of God.

And Jesus says, I give you peace, not like the world gives.

This is this is different kind of piece than just a momentary

time for kids to get along or a little ease on a vacation.

We're going to look at life transforming peace today and

we're going to do that in one of if not the most surprising

characters, the most surprising name on the list of the

genealogical record of the Messiah.

Remember the the foundational passage of Scripture for our

time in Advent is Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

The Gospel of Matthew starts by giving genealogical proof that

Jesus fulfills the requirements of Messiah, Abraham, David on

down the line. And we have been taking some

surprising names from the list. Some people that you wouldn't

necessarily think would be honored as Direct Line of the

descending king. And there is no more surprising

name on the list than Rahab. This is what it says in Matthew

chapter one verse 5 and Solomon begot Boaz by Rahab.

So remember all last week we looked at the surprising person

of Ruth the Moabitus who came from the outside of Israel and

was brought in to become the grandmother of Jesse who became

the father of King David. Well, Ruth married Boaz and Boaz

was the son of a woman named Rahab, and it is Rahab's life

that we will look at as a picture of radical,

transformational and surprising piece.

For those of you who don't know, Rahab is often thought of as

Rahab the harlot. It will come up in today's

reading. She's mentioned in the Hall of

Faith Hebrews Chapter 11 says Rahab the harlot by faith.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

So today we are looking at the life of a harlot as Bible speak

for prostitute and I don't know if any of you have a direct

reference point to that life. I met some women during first

service who had this message speak to them in real time.

But I don't think it takes a huge imagination or real life

experience to know that being a prostitute is probably the

farthest away you could get from a lifestyle of peace.

This is a, a tormenting lifestyle just in your physical

life. It's tormenting in the dangers

that you have to deal with and it torments your soul to have to

go through that. And yet we will look at the

person of Rahab as the hope that any one of us can have that God

can take any life. God can work in any

circumstance. God can take any part of your

past, your present, and your future, and He can give you

surpassing peace that will go beyond your understanding.

So I want all of you to listen. Some of you need to listen to be

encouraged for something you're going through right now.

And I just want you to have ears to hear that.

Yes, you can have peace. Joshua chapter 2.

Joshua 2 · chapter mention

We'll we'll do a fly over much like we did in the story of

Ruth. We're going to look at by the

largest text of scripture, the account given to us in Joshua

Joshua 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 of Ruth's life. There are other areas that will

kind of sum up her story, but her story can really be captured

in Joshua chapter 2. The scenes is set up in verse

Joshua 2 · chapter mention

one. Here is our backdrop now.

Joshua, the son of nuns, sent out two men from Acacia Grove to

spy secretly saying go view the land, especially Jericho.

So they went and came to the House of the harlot named Rahab

and lodged there. So the story is resuming where

Moses left off. Just say a very quick preview of

where we're coming from and the story of God's people.

So far, Moses has set the people free.

They've crossed the Red Sea, they've gone into the

wilderness, going into the promised land.

And because of the lack of faith of the generation that was set

free from slavery, Moses and that generation die in the

wilderness. Moses leadership is inherited by

Joshua son of Nun and he is going to very quickly after

taking over as the leader of the the nation of Israel.

He's going to send spies into the land.

The into the land means the promised land, the land beyond

the Jordan River, the land that Moses was walking towards but

never made it. He's going to send spies in.

And notice it says, especially Jericho, there's something

happening in Jericho that these spies needed to take special

note of. And so they go in.

And a spy, being shrewd, is looking for a good place to take

cover and not make a lot of noise.

So maybe by just mere convenience, maybe by part of

the plan, what better place to find some anonymous lodging than

the House of a harlot? So they find themselves at the

House of a harlot named Rahab taking cover to spy out the

land. The story now picks up and, and,

and starts to take let's say if there a a movie, a reference

point would almost be like a James Bond moment.

This is where the action is going to start.

It didn't take long. It's only going to take one

verse before we find out that their cover wasn't very good.

And the king ruling over Jericho has gotten word that there are

spies from the other side of the Jordan in their land and he

actually knows exactly where they are.

He says in verse 2. And it was told the king of

Jericho saying, behold, men have come here tonight from the

children of Israel to search out the country.

That's Bible speak for to do some military reconnaissance to

to make plans to engage in warfare to spy out our land.

So the king in in the defensive nature that would you would have

if you found out someone was spying your land to make war

says in verse 3. So the king of Jericho sent to

Rahab saying, bring out the men who have come to you who have

entered your house, for they have come to search out all the

country. So he's got Intel.

He knows where the spies are out.

He gives a word to Rahab. She now under his authority, is

being commanded to turn over the enemy of the state.

And this is where, classically, Rahab has a decision to make.

And we are now going to see what is often considered the moral

dilemma of the Bible. One of the great moments where

the Bible presents us with something you have to do for God

that would seemingly go against God because Rahab is going to

make a decision to side with the spies to go against the order of

her own king. It says in verse 4.

Then the woman took the two men and hid them.

So she said to them, them being those who have requested for her

to turn over the spies to the king.

She says yes, the men came to me, but I didn't know where they

came from. I didn't know they were spies.

I didn't know they were from the children of Israel and it

happened verse 5, as the gate was being shut when it was dark,

that the men went out. Where the men went I do not

know. Pursue them quickly, for you may

overtake them. But the fact is everything you

just heard me read in verse 5 is a lie.

She actually does know who these men are.

She didn't see them leave. She actually, when she said they

went of that way, she was lying, and it says in verse 6 in the

parenthetical, But she had brought them up to the roof and

hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order

on the roof. Then the men pursued them, The

men being the King's men, The men pursued them by the road to

the Jordan and to the Fords. And as soon as those who pursued

them had gone, they shut the gate.

And so they listened to Rahab. They believed her.

She sent them in the wrong direction.

The spies are seemingly safe, and we have no idea why Rahab

was willing to do this. And so the author is now going

to give us some insight into what Rahab was thinking.

It says in verse 8. Now before they lay down, she

came up to them on the roof and said to them, men, I know that

the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has

fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land,

Jericho, are faint hearted because of you.

So here is what's happening. The reason that she lied was

because she is essentially changing allegiance from Jericho

to Israel. So if you've ever been someone

who has been wondering about the moral dilemma, I think it's

fairly simple. She is risking her life.

She is harboring enemies of the state and sending the King's men

in the wrong direction with a lie so that she can change

allegiance from Jericho to Israel.

This isn't necessarily a lie. That would be something that you

would consider. You know, the, the, the 9th

commandment prohibits us from, from telling grievous lies.

This is a lie that I would put in line with spy games.

That's essentially what she's playing.

In fact, if we think about the the, the conversation she's

having, she's talking to two children of Israel who are also

not being exactly forthright. Why?

Because they're spies. And when you're a spy, you have

to, in a sense, walk under the cloak of what may can be

considered, yes, a moral lie. They're secretly entering in.

They're not telling their true intentions.

They're staying at the House of a harlot because they're playing

spy games. And Rahab, in the same sense, is

deciding to change her allegiance at risk of her own

life. That is the message of the story

in this moment. The message of the story is that

when it is time to decide who you're actually going to live

for, Rahab, king of Jericho or king of the Israelites, you may

have to put your life at risk and you may have to do some

things that would change your allegiance in radical ways.

And that is where we are going to see this story speak to us

because Rahab will, in her confession of faith, speak to

every single one of us about how to align yourself with God.

And that's why this particular moment in her conversations with

the spies, it's so worth our reading.

It's so worth our considering because Rahab essentially is

going to make a confession of faith.

So many people get caught up on what she said that wasn't true.

They miss the confession that she said that was so radical in

its truth. And her confession of faith, I

will point out, is some of the most simple theology that you

will ever hear in the Bible. And I'll, my, I'll remind you

again, Rahab is exalted in the Hall of Faith as a woman who had

incredible faith. And it was not because she had

an academic level of doctrine and theology.

Her theology is very simple. She never went to seminary.

She didn't grow up in Sunday school.

She did not have pastors and podcasts and Youtubes and all

the things that we love in our modern, modern version of

spirituality. They're all fine.

But I'll remind you what we studied for a year in the

pastoral epistles. May we not be people who zoom so

far into doctrine that we do more time disputing the

worshipping. Rahab has simple faith that

changed her life. That's what matters.

So let's look at a couple of moments of her confession that

are for all of us to measure a person of faith by first and

verse 10, it says, For we have heard how the Lord dried up the

water of the Red Sea. For when you came out of Egypt

and what you did to the 2 kings of the Amorites who are on the

other side of the Jordan, Sahan and Ogg, whom you utterly

destroyed. Of course you you know the

reference to the Red Sea as Moses was leading the children

out of slavery after the 10th plague.

Pharaoh has a change of heart and Pharaoh's armies are chasing

them. They get to the edge of the Red

Sea and by miracle of God the Red Sea parts they walk through

on Jai land and the enemies are engulfed in the waters.

This is something 40 years later that Rahab is referencing.

So somehow the amazing miracles of the God of Israel, this

testimony of those are spreading far and wide.

They've they've entered into the land of Jericho and they've

heard about what the people of Israel have had happen in the

name of their God. And not only a a miracle from 40

years ago, but also incredible victory recently, he says, Rahab

says, I heard what happened to Sahan and odd.

These are two kings that you'll find recordings of.

As Moses was journeying towards the Promised Land, he often

times had to battle people living in the wilderness, people

living in the land surrounding the Promised land.

And every time the battle happened, the people of Israel

won. And Rahab heard of that.

So here's the incredible theology, simple yet profound,

that Rahab has Rahab believed in the power of God.

It's very difficult to live by faith.

It's very difficult to have peace in the middle of your

storms of life when you lose sight of the God you're actually

believing in. And This is why so much of your

faith can be summarized in what you believe about what God has

already done. If you're looking for a a way to

stir up your faith, maybe a a new place to read in the Bible,

start at the very beginning. Genesis chapter one verse one

says in the beginning God created the heavens and the

earth. The heavens declare of his

glory. The the earth did have a

beginning. The universe did not pop out of

thin air. It was spoken into existence by

the God we worshipped today. And This is why it is worth our

time week by week to look back in this ancient text that we

study and remember all of the things that God has done to show

himself miraculous and powerful. She heard of the miracle of the

Red Sea. She heard of the power to defeat

kings, to uproot them. And so when a king comes to her

and says, you better turn over the enemies of the state, she's

like, you are going to die. The people that the God that

these people serve, he defeats kings just like you.

She believed in the power of God.

We would do well to believe in the power of God.

So why every time we gather, we make it a point to remember that

the pinnacle of our faith is a moment in history when Jesus

Christ rose from the grave. You worshipped a God this

morning that has power over sin and death.

And the same spirit that was raising Christ from the grave

now abides in you. And He was in you is greater

than He is in the world. Rahab's theology believed in a

powerful God and for that she had faith that changed the

course of her life. Look what else she had in in

chapter 2 verse 11. Not only did she know the power

of God, she also says this. As soon as we heard these

things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any

more courage in anyone because of you.

For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth

beneath. This is from a Pagan culture.

This is a radical declaration that the God of Israel is the

Supreme God. It was not uncommon to believe

in deities that had domain over certain parts of the world or

certain powers of the world. But what Rahab is saying is

yours is the God of gods, the King of kings, the Lord of

Lords. And because she had a knowledge

of that, because she knew of what God had done, she gives

this incredible report in Jericho.

People are afraid of your God. Their hearts are melted.

We have no strength of courage. Now, I want you to just hold

that report that Rahab is giving on behalf of the entire city of

Jericho. We're afraid of your God.

And contrast that to what happened earlier in the story of

the nation of Israel. Joshua was not the first leader

of Israel to send spies into the land.

You'll remember that Moses also spent sent spies.

He sent 12 spies and 10 out of the 12 came back from a report

after seeing Jericho and they told Moses we're dead.

We're like grasshoppers in their sight.

We have no strength and no courage.

Don't send us in. The people that Moses sent

represented the fear of man. The fear of man is when you give

the inappropriate authority to people in your life.

You declare that people are more powerful and more strong and

more authoritative over your life than they actually are.

That's what causes the fear of man.

But contrast that with Rahab. Do you know what she had?

She had the fear of God. Where the fear of man gives

inappropriate power to people, the fear of God gives

appropriate power and authority to God.

And because she had the fear of God, she was willing to

completely risk her life to align with God, because she

realized that God is powerful and His authority is real.

And her heart was melted before him.

Look what it says in Proverbs chapter 14.

Proverbs 14 · chapter mention

In the fear of the Lord, there's actually strong confidence.

You ever wonder how Rahab had the courage to reject the

command of the king of her land who could have killed her

because she had the fear of the Lord?

She had confidence that was not in the king of Jericho, but in

the in the Lord. It goes on to say his children

will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a

fountain of life to turn 1 away from the snares of death.

When you truly begin to fear God, the Proverbs say it's the

beginning of wisdom because now you're actually willing to do

whatever He tells you to do. When you have the fear of man,

you live under their authority, doing whatever they tell you to

do. But when you have the fear of

God, you're willing to align your whole life by faith under

His order. And the fear of God, it says, is

a refuge. The fear of God is a strength to

your life. The fear of God is confidence.

The fear of God saves you from your soul being trapped by

death, which means the fear of God is not meant to cripple you.

That's the fear of the world. The fear of man cripples you.

The fear of God blesses your life.

When you align yourself with God as the in the with the proper

authority of your life, your life becomes blessed.

And this is the progression of Rahab's theology.

She had a theology of the power of God that turned into the fear

of God and this turns into Rahab believing in the grace and mercy

of God. She then says to the spies, now

therefore I beg you swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown

you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's

house and give me a true token. Make a deal with me.

I, I've cared for you, you care for me.

Show me kindness. I fear your God.

I know the land already belongs to him.

Please give me mercy, not only mercy for herself, but she also

says, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters

and all that they have and deliver our lives from death.

There is such a such a simple and yet profound moment in your

life and you'd be shocked how many people miss this moment,

which is very simply the realization that you need a

savior. The realization that apart from

God showing you grace and mercy, you and the people you love are

doomed. I love being a preacher.

I get to share the gospel. The gospel makes no sense until

you realize apart from God's grace and mercy in our lives, we

are doomed. There is nothing you can do to

save yourself, to reform your life, to somehow bargain your

way out of the due penalty of the decisions you make in your

life that eventually turn into spiritual death and physical

death. We are doomed apart from the

grace of God. Psalm chapter 33 says, behold,

Psalms 33 · chapter mention

the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him and on those who

hope in his mercy. And I love that Rahab.

Just what a beautiful picture of a woman who had St. smarts.

She sent the the King's messengers the wrong way.

She's she's understood all these reports of the God of the

children of Israel are true. She's now begging for their

mercy. And then she says, and can I

make a deal for my family as well.

There's something powerful about family evangelism.

Lord, I need your mercy and I need your grace and can I bring

my child? Can I bring my mother, Can I

bring my sister, Can I bring my father?

There are people that God has given you as messengers of his

mercy and messengers of his grace.

I think some of the best evangelism is in the world is a

mother praying for her lost son, for a wife praying for their

hardened husband, for a a person within a household saying Lord,

not just for me, but for the people I love.

And so now the story will turn into a beautiful picture of the

grace of God. The men reply as God replies

when you cry out for mercy, when his power turns into the fear,

turns into the plea for salvation.

The men answer our lives for yours, if none of you tell the

business of ours. And it shall be when the Lord

gives us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you.

Mercy, grace, kindness. And so there is now an assisted

getaway where Rahab is going to help them escape as part of the

deal. Joshua chapter 2, verse 15, it

Joshua 2:15

says then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her

house was on the city wall. She dwelt on the wall and she

said to them, get to the mountains lest the pursuers meet

you. Hide there for three days until

the pursuers have returned. Afterward you're free.

Go your way. And so the men said to her, We

will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us

swear, unless we come into the land and you bind this line of

scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down.

And unless you bring your father, your mother, your

brothers, and all of your father's households to your own

home. So it shall be that whoever goes

outside the doors of your house into the street, blood on their

own heads, and they'll be and will be guiltless.

That's not our fault. But whosoever is with you in

this house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on

him. Many people rightfully point out

that Joshua, that the book of Joshua, the person of Joshua, is

a type of Christ. That just as Joshua took the

promised land by faith, the walls come down South.

Jesus enters, helps us enter into the promised land, that the

Holy of holies, the heavenly place.

And there is now a type of the salvation that Christ offers

through the story of Joshua in the picture of Rahab.

The only hope that Rahab has is that her house is marked by the

scarlet rope, the red rope that hung down from the window that

they escaped from. They said, leave this rope here

and we will have a marker that your house is marked by the

mercy of God. And they said, here's the deal,

though it's not our fault. Anyone who's not in the house,

we cannot help them. The only hope that you and all

of the household and anyone that you invite in has is to stand in

the household marked by the scarlet thread.

Whosoever comes will be saved. Whosoever doesn't will be

destroyed. This is the gospel of grace and

the banner of God's grace that you sing your songs under this

morning. This is the reminder that Jesus

comes onto the scene to fulfill the picture of God's peace

offering to the world. He says I am the way, the truth,

and the life. No man comes to the Father

except by me. There is no Pagan God that would

have saved Rahab. There was no hospital or school

or institute of academia or other religious offering that

Rahab could have done. Her one hope was to come to the

household marked by the grace of God.

And it is our only hope as well, that under the grace of God

revealed through the person of Jesus, the scarlet rope being

the blood of Christ. Anyone who stands under the

blood of Christ, believing that, whoever believes that God sent

His Son into the world, that none would perish, but all would

have life, you will be saved. That is the answer.

And don't you love the picture? Because not only is the scarlet

rope a picture of the cross of Christ, Rahab is the picture of

the sinners that qualify. It says that the rope comes out

of a House of harlotry that was literally built on the wall.

You can't get more fringe than the wall of a city.

You can't get more unrighteous than the House of a harlot.

And it would be that one single household that would be marked

by the grace of God. And for this reason, it becomes

clear that this was in fact the mission of the spies.

If you think about it, the the story will end, the chapter will

conclude, the spies come back and they they tell Joshua the

land is ours. The people are faint hearted.

Joshua already knew the land was theirs.

It was promised by God and God keeps his promises.

It was not a military mission to find cracks in the wall and to

come back with military Intel that would turn into the

strategy of conquest. It was a rescue mission.

Jericho is about to be destroyed, and I know that that

can be a tough read as you go through the Bible to see utter

destruction befall cities. But let me assure you that

Jericho needed to be destroyed, that the promises of God are

going to annihilate all of the things that represent sin in the

land. Jericho was a a known place of

just violence and perversion and sexual idolatry and at its worst

child sacrifice. And if you heard anything in

headline news now that was similar to what was happening in

Jericho, your heart of hearts that God gave you would say, is

there any way, could this just not happen in the world anymore?

As as much as we think that we're more merciful and more

just than God, when we hear the tragedies of sin reigning in the

world, we think, why does God allow this to happen?

And here's the reality. God is going to judge the sin of

the world just like God's judge Jericho.

There's coming a day when the Lord will return and he will set

everything to order and he will punish all injustice.

And our culture looks more like Jericho than it does like the

Garden of Eden. But here's the good news.

God offers peace before he destroys.

God goes in to find whosoever believes that he is merciful and

gracious. And he provides a household

covering that whosoever would like to come under it will not

perish, but have everlasting life.

And we don't know what Rahab did in her rescue mission, but we

know that Rahab had the gospel that anyone in Jericho who

Jericho who ran into Rahab, she said, come under my house.

Trust me, the the God that is coming to this city is gracious

and merciful. And it is the same now before

God puts everything to order and finally punishes sin, He comes

with good tidings, peace on earth.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to offer life to

anyone who believes. And this is a story and why

Rahab is exalted in our week of peace, because this is a story

of peace. In fact, look what Hebrews

actually says about the person of Rahab.

Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 31. By faith, the harlot Rahab did

Hebrews 11:31

not perish with those who did not believe.

When she had received the spies with peace, she was making a

truce with the God of Israel, and they offered peace to her.

And this is the offering that will transform your life.

If God can make peace with Rahab and a House of hollow tree, He

can make peace with your life and every aspect of it.

And this is how we'll close. We'll just take a moment to

consider the peace that was given to Rahab.

It was not simply a white flag of surrender or a military

conquest. Peace.

When you think about the life of Rahab, she became a person that

was transformed by this moment in her life.

And it affected her in every area of her life, from her past

to her present to her future. And I would venture to guess

that if you came into this sanctuary this morning and you

heard that we were going to have a sermon on peace and you needed

this sermon, it was for one of three areas of your life.

There are some of you who struggle with the tormenting

things of your past. Could be 40 years ago, could be

a year ago. There are some of you who need a

message of peace because what you think about most in your

anxious thoughts and your plague mind and the burden of your life

is all of the mistakes and the what ifs and the things about

your past that seem unresolved. Well, here's the good news.

Rahab represents a piece that transformed her past.

Let me just think about the practical moment of of Rahab's

life that changed from living in Jericho to living with the

children of Israel. She was a harlot.

She was known in a city by people who used her and and her

household for sexual pleasure. And I love that God did not come

in and reform her. So I want you to make amends

with all the the people that know you as this person.

He utterly destroyed her past. All of her clientele seemingly

gone, The house that was on the wall gone, the wall would be

destroyed. And there's not one reminder.

There's not one thing about her past that got to remain.

She is a new creation in this new citizenship.

And that is true of your past. When you give your life to Jesus

and you stand under the banner of his grace and you say my

household is now marked Mike, my confidence in the God of mercy.

He's not just reforming your past, He's not just giving you

some tips to to try to unthink your way through the mistakes of

your life, he says. I separate the past of your

transgressions as far as the East Bank of the Jordan is from

the West Bank of the Jordan. This is a new era of your life.

Your past doesn't define you. And Rahab would be remembered

not as a villain or a scandalous person, but as a hero of faith.

And some of you, no doubt related to the moment when I

said to you. And some of you have a need for

peace in your present. I know there's things happening

in your life right now that make this season not feel that great.

There are everyday reminders in the headline news of your life

that you're not in heaven yet and your hearts are heavy and

your mind hurts. And I just love this picture of

Rahab. It says the deal they offered

her was that she had to leave the scarlet rope outside of her

window, which means from the moments the spies left to the

moment the wall fell down and all the time in between, every

time she worried about this God of Israel and all the reports of

his power. And every time she started to

get faint hearted again and she started to lose hope, she could

look out that window and say I've changed my allegiance.

Every time she looked out her window, she saw the rope and she

said, I am with God now. This God has accepted me into

his people and I'm with him. And she had a constant reminder

of it in her life. I just want to assure you that

for those of you who have the banner of God's grace in your

life, you have a constant reminder every time we gather.

You are here not because of what you've done to earn your stake.

You are here because you believe.

And every time you look upon the cross with the eyes of your

heart, every time you remember the empty tomb, you say, I am

God's people. Constant reminder for today.

May the peace of God, Sir, be given to you, surpassing your

understanding and guard your heart for the present day.

You belong to God now, and that should give you a view of the

future that is hopeful. I'm going to show you the end of

the story for Rahab. It says in Joshua chapter 6, the

Joshua 6 · chapter mention

wall has come down that the people of God are now in the

promised land. And she kept her part of the

deal with the scarlet rope, and all in her household were saved.

God kept His promise, and it says that Joshua spared Rahab

the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had.

So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the

messengers. So oftentimes we think of our

future as just heaven. Our future hope is eternal.

But I want you to know that if you have given your allegiance

to the new King, if you are now rejecting the kings of this age

and bending your knee to King Jesus, be confident that you

have a future that is peaceful. Sometimes people are like, I

don't know, I'll give my my plans to God and I just hope it

goes well. I want to do the will of God and

I just, I don't know. I had a pretty good plan outside

of the will of God. Let me give you the confidence

of the day. God has good plans for your

life. God had a plan for Rahab, her

whole house, the wall, the city she once belonged to in the

entire country gone and she's now living as a citizen of

Israel. And you know what?

We'll end where we started. God had a plan to give her a

husband named Salman. God had a plan to give her a

righteous son named Boaz. God had a plan to give her an

incredible grandson named Obed and a great grandson named

Jesse, and a great, great grandson named King David.

He had a wonderful plan for her life.

And God has a good plan for your life.

As as I was waiting in between services, someone came up to me

and said, you know, my, my wife recently died.

But I have so much confidence that life will still be good.

Every time I visit her tombstone, it said, it says

peace means that God is in control.

He's got that on a grave. Peace means that God is in

control of your life. That gives you peace for your

past, peace for today, and peace knowing that whatever God has in

store for you, if you trust Him and live by faith, it will be

good. Thanks for joining us today.

If you would like to watch the full service, check out the link

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more, visit calvaryboise.com.