← ArchiveUNDEFEATEDFrom Shame to FameDateJanuary 24, 2021SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamText—Passages in this sermonJoshua 22:32Joshua 2:15:32Genesis 128:25Acts 321:20Psalms 5127:29Exodus 1231:27Isaiah 1:1831:47Hebrews 1134:24TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00*music*0:30Okay, welcome back. My name is Josh. If you don't know who I am, I'm a lead pastor here at Bethel, which is a local gathering of saints who gather in the name of Christ. And we believe three things. We believe that every word in the sacred scripture, the sacred writ, is good and right for our souls. Everything. There's not a word in here that is not right, that can correct us and train us and encourage us. We believe that Jesus Christ is undefeated, as we're going to see today, which means there is no sin or addiction or struggle or person that is not unredeemable.0:59Jesus changes everything about your life. And if he hasn't, he can. And until he brings us home in glory, he is building and molding you into the image of what he wants you to be. And we believe we say it like this. We want to bring this whole gospel to the whole world. We believe there's not a single person on the planet that does not need good news.1:26And the good news is that Jesus Christ saves. If you are a follower of Christ today, you say that's me, I have given my life to Jesus, our heart is that you would be encouraged, you would be refreshed, and you would leave here like never before, challenged to make a difference in the world. And maybe you're watching online. Maybe you would say, I'm not a Christ follower. I'm convinced, I probably shouldn't say this, I'm going to get in trouble, but that's okay.1:52I'll check that box for the day. I'm convinced we probably have members of this church that are not followers of Jesus Christ. So don't assume because you have been baptized or because you have joined a church or because you're in a building that you are a Christ follower. In our heart, for you, if you are far from Christ, that you would say yes to Jesus today.2:19By faith, you would follow him and he would take your shame and give you faith, as we see. So we're going to look at Joshua 2 today. Interesting subjects. So as you make your way there, I want you to listen how I describe Joshua 2. A secret espionage mission. The oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.2:48A brothel. An invading army. An enraged king of a fortified city. And the redemption of a social outcast. Now you might be thinking, I'm going to go home and watch that on Netflix today. It's not the most recent trending documentary. This is the story of Rahab and the spies.3:16You say, well, where is this found? It's right here in the Bible in Joshua 2. So join me in Joshua 2. I believe the most beloved stories in our life, the most loved chronicles in your life, are not always the sensational ones. But the stories where you say, I can identify with that person. Maybe you think back to movies or something you were told growing up and you say, well, I love this story because I identify with this character.3:41And it's interesting that the story of Rahab has been perpetuated in the church for generations. I think because we all want to believe that there is hope for every single person. And so Rahab, I believe many identify with her because we say if God can save her, then I have hope.4:04I have hope. And so as we read Joshua 2, I pray that we read with fresh eyes. I am thankful that this is not this is not family day. That's next week. So we will not look at this story next week with little eyes and little ears because there's some heaviness to what God is doing in Rahab's life and the life of Jericho.4:27Before we begin, for those who are watching online that are new, if you're here and you're new, help us pray for you and fill out a green Connect card. For the first time this year, it is in the pew. So you can touch that and you can write and put that in the basket at the end of the service. If you're online, you can go on the website and connect with us.4:56It's our privilege to hear how God is working. And for those who are new, are renewed, can we just give them a quick hand of applause and say welcome. We're not going to ask you to stand up. There's our thank you to you today. Joshua 2. Let's go. I guess I need to turn there. I'm reading from the CSB, the Christian Standard Version. I'm going to read the first seven verses. We will read the entire passage today.5:24So just mark your Bibles. You're going to need the word in front of you as you do every week. This is Joshua 2:1. Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from the Acacia Grove. Now some of your translations say Shittim, which means the Acacia Grove. And he said to them, "Go and scout the land, especially Jericho." So they left and they came to a house of a prostitute named Rahab.5:53And they stayed there. And the king of Jericho was told, "Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land." Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, "Bring out these men who have come to you and entered your house. For they came to investigate the entire land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them."6:21So she said, "Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they were from. And at nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out and I don't know where they were going. But chase after them quickly and I know you can catch up to them." But she had taken them to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax that she arranged on the roof.6:50The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan. And as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut." So we're going to stop reading there. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for a true story that reminds us that no one is beyond grace and favor.7:11And Lord, we all come to you right now with different pasts, with different reputations, with different histories and legacies, but Lord, we are reminded that in the cross of Jesus Christ, you can take what was shame and give faith and fame to that.7:37So Lord, would you meet us where we are? And by faith, would we trust that you are working in us an eternal weight of glory. Lord, refresh us, renew us, and save us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen and amens. Joshua. The entire book of Joshua is the story of the promised land.8:04It is the story of answering the question, does God keep his promises? Because if you've been reading the Bible with us, Deuteronomy ends with the death of Moses. And so you have to ask yourself the question, does God keep his promises? He promised Abraham in Genesis 12. He said to Abram, go from your land to the land that I will show you and I will bless you and I will make your name great.8:28This land that was promised in Genesis 12 is now being fulfilled in Joshua 2. So when you hear that the spies were spying out the land, we have to ask ourselves, does God really keep his promises? And that's the drama that is unfolding in the word of God.8:55Does God, is he faithful, does he keep his promises? And so we see Joshua gives us a resounding yes. Now you're going to have to stay with us, it's not going to happen today. But stay with us, give me three weeks. And we will see that God keeps his promises. But in all of this, you're thinking, okay, in a man's world, a woman steals the show.9:21Because chapter 2 is not about Joshua. It is not about the spies. It's not about Moses who's passed. It is about Rahab and the faith of this lady. So let's start from the beginning. Why in the world would Joshua send out two spies? What is he doing? Listen, does Israel need spies?9:51They've already shown that's a disaster waiting to happen. Now I find it interesting that the first time Moses sends out spies, there are 12. Because of the 12 tribes of Israel and Judah. And out of the 12, only two come back and say, we can do this. Caleb, who means dog, and Joshua, the same man. And now Joshua is sending out two spies. I guess he feels like, well, two came back faithful, so we'll send two.10:17But that's not necessary. All Joshua has to do is walk into the land and the people go, ah! That's what Rahab says. She says, our hearts are dying with fear. So what is Joshua doing? He's sending spies to the oldest city in the world. If you go to Jericho, and we are going at the end of this year. If you want to go to Israel, hit me up.10:44We're going to go at the very first of 2022. Jericho is still today the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. And they're sending troops, they're sending spies from Shittim, the King James says, or the Acacia Grove. Now you might not know where that is. Think of it this way. The Acacia Grove represents the last stop in the wilderness. It's the last memory of wandering and enslavement.11:12It's the last stop before the Promised Land. So when you hear Shittim, when you hear Acacia Grove, think this is the last stop before God is showing himself faithful into the Promised Land. So can you imagine the weight of the spies? They're leaving with the wilderness wanderings. Their fathers have died. Their mothers have died. Their grandparents have died. The old generation has died.11:41And now we are acquiring what God wants to receive. And in the midst of this, the spies go to Jericho and they go to a house. But not any house, right? Did you see the house they go to? They didn't go to the king. They didn't go to the mayor or the town council, the town crier. They go to a house with a reputation. The house of Rahab.12:09So let's talk about Rahab. Rahab in Joshua 2:1 was known as someone with a deeply personal and painful past. So much so that nine times, out of the nine times her name is mentioned in sacred scripture, five of those times remind the world of her sin. She's called Rahab the prostitute.12:38Think about that. How would you like it that if every time someone introduced you, they introduced you by your past and your sin? Hey, this is Josh the liar. This is so-and-so the loser. This is so-and-so the divorce. This is so-and-so the adulterer. This is so-and-so the cheat. This is so-and-so. And here's the sin. Can you imagine living with that?13:05And I believe even now, though, some of you are living with the label. You're living with the shame of your past. And so you can identify. You feel like every time I am acknowledged in the world, people know what I did. And yet we see, even in history, people try to dismiss this. They say, well, no, of course she wasn't a prostitute.13:33Josephus was one of the scholars that would say, well, she was just the innkeeper. No, I think she had a past. She traded economically. She traded intimacy for an economic exchange. And in this, man, the ancient world is showing us her difficult past. We don't know how she ended up in this life, do we? In the ancient world, economic factors were commonly what drove women into the sex trade.14:01Perhaps because she had no husband or no children. We see that because later on when her whole house is saved in Joshua 2, there's no husband mentioned, there's no family. So maybe she was driven to this because she had no alternative in her mind and her heart. We don't know the how. But we do know that she carried a very difficult, broken, painful experience.14:28And in the midst of this, listen, in the midst of this, something new happens. Something new happens to this woman. After Joshua in chapter 1, Rahab is the only personality mentioned by name. The spies don't have a name. The king, Jericho, doesn't have a name.14:56No one else has a name but Rahab. Think about that. The spies are Israelites. She's Canaanite. The spies are male and she is female. The spies are selected for a specific task. She has no task, it seems. But yet in all of this, God takes the one who is hidden in darkness and he brings her into the light. I love that. God is in the midst of her shameful history doing something new.15:25And I think of it like this. If anyone deserved to remain nameless in Joshua 2, it was Rahab. And she's the only one given the name. Think about that. If you've walked in here and you think, man, I don't deserve for God to mention me at all. That's the one that God elevates. That's the one that God restores. And I love what Bodie Bauckham says about this.15:54He reminds us that God is the God of second chances. He says this. He says guilt comes from within. Can you imagine the guilt of Rahab? She knew that this lifestyle was not God honoring. It wasn't God honoring of the Jericho. It wasn't God honoring of Israel. But shame comes from without. And I think we all carry both, right? We carry the things that we know that we did.16:21That if the world found out, you would be horrified. But there are many that are carrying the shame of society. Like Rahab did. And in this, God is reminding her. Rahab, you whose life is riddled with shame. You who the world says remain nameless. God gives you back your dignity. This is the hope of Jesus Christ.16:50So if you have come here today and you are shame filled. If you are guilt filled. Run to Jesus Christ. And he will give you your dignity back. God is the God of second chances. He is the one who gives name to the nameless. And as a reminder, even if you have a bad name, he will give you a new one. God is the God of second chances. Run to Christ today.17:19Find restoration. But it doesn't stop there. We don't know how the king finds out about the spies, but he finds out some way. Verse 2, the king was told, look, Israelite men are here. And so he sends word to Rahab. So we don't know if, I think what her house is, is think of Wild Wild West Saloon. Part brothel, part bar, part inn.17:45It's probably all of this. And so if you want to find information on a city, just go to the saloon and you'll find out. And so that's what's going on. It's most likely that one of the patrons in that location found that they were Israelite men and he went to the king. But we don't know. So the king comes to Rahab and says, you tell us where these two people are. And she says, what people? Oh, the two guys.18:14I don't know where they came from and I don't know where they're going. But that was not true, was it? Because in that, what did Rahab done? She hid the spies on the roof. And so she sends out the Jericho spies and then she sends out the Israel spies in the other direction for safety. She conceals information and sends the informants in the other direction.18:39Now, someone used this really quick, just as an aside. Someone used this as a proof text for situational ethics. Some would say, well, look at Rahab, right? It's okay to lie for the greater good. Because she flat out lied. Like, she knew the spies were on her roof. So some would say, it's okay to lie if there's a greater good involved. Let me just remind you of this though. Nowhere in scripture does the Bible affirm nor condemn her lie.19:07Okay? So in this, I think the greater truth is we're seeing her faith. The emphasis is not on the lie. So don't use this as a proof text to lie yourself into a good grace. That's not what is happening. So listen, don't excuse her actions, but also do not be troubled by them. But what Rahab shows us is the power of repentance.19:35Because in this moment, Rahab has two choices. She can either turn towards Jericho and the gods of Jericho and she can live her life for those in Jericho. Or she turns away from Jericho and Jericho's gods to Israel and the one true God. Listen, this is a picture of repentance in your life. You can't have Jericho and the promised land at the same time.20:02Literally, she has a conscious choice to make. Verse 4. But the woman had taken the two men. So she said. She has a choice in this moment to turn away from Jericho and turn to the God of Israel. Or turn to Jericho and turn away from the God of Israel. This is a picture of repentance in your life.20:28You cannot turn to Yahweh and turn to God. You cannot turn to Jesus Christ and in the same glimpse hold to your sin in your old life. So if you're here and you're wrestling with Jesus or my old life, Rahab would say you can't have both. You either have to let go of Jericho and grab hold of Yahweh or you cling to your past and deny Jesus Christ, deny Israel.20:51So church, what choice do you want to make? Will you live in your sin and your shame or will you turn from that today, repent of your sin and will you run to Jesus Christ? It's the reminder in Acts 3.21:20What must we do to be saved? And it simply says repent. Turn away. Turn back. So that your sins may be wiped out. And in this moment, Rahab does exactly that. She turns. She turns from Jericho and she turns to salvation of the spies. But wait. There's more. Let's look at verse 8. Verse 8. The men fell asleep.21:49So she goes up to the roof. And she said to them. I know that the Lord has given you this land. And that terror has fallen upon us. And everyone who lives in the land is panicked because of 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 Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan. She is now telling the spies about the one true God.22:18So from this moment on. This is fascinating to me. From this moment on. We witness everything through Rahab's eyes. Everything is set from her perspective. And what we see her do is make a dramatic confession. Did you catch the words that she said? Verse 8 again. She said to them. I know.22:47I know. I know. I know. This is covenantal over and over again. To know is covenantal language. She is not saying I have heard about God. She is now saying this God is my God. It's one thing to know about God. It's another thing for him to be yours. That's what Rahab is saying to us. But she doesn't stop there with the covenantal language of no.23:15She also says this. I know who? She says I know that the Lord. This is again a covenant. This is the same word that God gave to Moses. God when I go back to Pharaoh. What God am I going to say? Send me. And the Lord said I is. Send you. I am who I am. I will be who I will be. I was who I was. This is the covenantal name of the Lord.23:43And it's interesting. That this confession is not found on the lips of a king. It is not found on the lips of these Israelite spies. It's found on the lips of a prostitute. Which tells me this. There is not a single person on the planet that cannot confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There's not a single one.24:12And Rahab shows us there is power in the confession. Confession. Confession does for your soul what preparing the land does for the crops. It's plowing ground for the Holy Spirit's work. And as Yahweh had prepared Israel to receive the land. This confession had prepared Rahab's heart for God to be her God. It's the beautiful reminder in Romans.24:38If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart that He raised you from the dead. Rahab, you will be saved. What does your confession say about you? Have you ever confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Maybe you're thinking, well, He knows my heart. I don't have to confess. And the Bible says you do.25:06And there is no one on the planet that is beyond confessing Christ as Lord and Savior. Would you confess Him as your Lord? Can you say today, I know the Lord. He is mine. There is power in the confession of the name of Jesus. There is power in the confession. Verse 11, let's keep going. She said, when we had heard this, we lost hearts.25:34I love that. Jericho had lost heart, but here's Rahab giving her heart to the Lord. And she said in verse 11, everyone's courage fell because of you. For the Lord, the Lord, your God. And He is God in heaven and above and on earth below. Now please swear to me that by the Lord that you will show kindness. Circle that word, kindness to your father's family. Because I showed kindness to you.26:04Whether Rahab knows it or not, Jericho is under a curse. It's called Corban in Hebrew. They are now to the ban. God tells us people, do not touch anything in Jericho because it is mine. Destroy everything because Jericho is under a curse. And whether she knew it or not, the only way for her to avoid the curse is a new covenant.26:29Let me remind you, church, that you are also under a curse. We live under the curse of sin. And whether you know it or not, you are under a curse. And our world is broken because of our sin. And we are leading a daily road to destruction called hell, eternally away from God.26:52And the only way for your redemption is to make a covenant. And His name is Jesus Christ. You see, I don't think that Rahab chooses these words accidentally. I think the spirit of the living God is working in her. And she says, "It is because of your kindness towards me."27:17It's the word hesed. It's a word that means mercy and loving kindness. It's the same word in Psalm 51 when David has sinned with Bathsheba. David, the great, great, great grandson of Rahab, would one day pen these words. "God, be gracious to me.27:45God, according to your faithful love, your hesed, according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion." I wonder if David knew about mercy because his great, great, great, great grandmother told him about mercy. You see, the reminder here is that we need the kindness of God.28:10And I'm so thankful for a heavenly Father that does not meet us in fairness. God does not meet you with what is fair. He does not meet you with wrath. He meets you in loving kindness. So you might be thinking, "Can I bring my sins to God?" Yes! Because he meets you in hesed. He meets you in mercy and compassion.28:39That's the same way he met Rahab. It's the same way that he met David. And it's the same way that he meets you. God is the God of mercy. And I'm reminded in Scripture, those who need mercy most, find it first. Those who need mercy most, find it first. And I want to be the one that raises my hand and say, "God, I need your mercy. I need your loving kindness."29:08Let's continue, verse 14. And through this kindness, she receives a sign. The man answered her, "We will give our lives for yours." By the way, that's exactly what Jesus did for you. His life for your life. And most of us know the sign, right? The sign is that one day there will be a scarlet cord that will hang in the window.29:34And what I love about this moment, when the men answered her and said, "We will give our lives for yours." Salvation and deliverance came to Rahab's house that day. And so let me just remind you, as we continue through this, that never underestimate what God can do in you and the legacy of faith that will impact generations.29:57Rahab is known small part for her past, but in greater parcel for her faith. And maybe today, for your entire family, your faith can change generations. Because she chose to give her life for their life.30:25And here's the sign. The sign in verse 17. They say, "The men said to her, 'We will be free from this oath you made us swear, unless we enter the land when you tie a scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of your family to the house. And if anyone goes out of the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault."30:52Verse 21. "Let it be as you say," Rahab replied. "She sent them away, and after they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window." I could spend hours on this sign, but let me just say this. The scarlet cord, the crimson cord, was a visible reminder that could be seen by any spy many, many yards away.31:16You couldn't miss it. The same sign is the reminder in Exodus chapter 12 of when the Israelites had to put a crimson blood on their door. And that the crimson sign on the door would bring life to all who were inside. It's the same sign of redemption. It's the same sign of repentance.31:45And for us today, Isaiah 1:18 says it best. "Come, let us settle this," says the Lord. The same God who Rahab appealed to. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow. Church, the cross is your visible reminder that God will bring about salvation. I can think of Rahab pointing to that scarlet cord, telling her family, "Come inside, because God promised me that if this cord was here, He would save us."32:15And in the same way, listen, church right there, God has given us a sign that if you trust in the cross of Jesus Christ, He will bring about salvation in your life. To all who believe, God is still in the covenant business because of His mercy.32:42And in all of this, I'm reminded that if anyone had no hope, it should have been Rahab. If anyone had no hope of salvation, it should have been Rahab. She was an outsider. She had the disadvantage in the ancient world of being a woman, apparently unmarried and childless.33:08The description of her family is not mentioned. In her profession, she would have had no friends. Who wants to be associated with a woman like this? All things in her world shouted that she was an outsider. Maybe you feel like Rahab, maybe you feel like if there's no hope for anyone in the world, it's you.33:37Maybe you look around even in this room and think, "Wow, they have their life together. God can save them, but I don't. He could never save me." Listen to what God is doing in Rahab's life. God loves the outsider. He sent His son Jesus, not for the 99, but to find the one lost.34:02And that is us. That is you. Remember the story of Rahab. But the story doesn't end in Joshua. There's so much more to Rahab's life. I want us to think really quick about Hebrews chapter 11. Today's message that I didn't share earlier was from shame to fame.34:29From shame to fame. I ask you this right now as we enter into a time of response. What's the one label you can't shake? It's easy to answer for Rahab, but she was Rahab the prostitute. And maybe you don't carry that label. But we all carry labels, don't we? Maybe you grew up poor or you are poor and you just feel like, "I'll never shake that label and God will never use me because of this."34:59Maybe you have a past that is difficult to think about. Can I tell you what happens to Rahab? Hebrews 11 says this about her life. The shameful lady, shameful past, shameful occupation. Hebrews 11, which is called the Hall of Faith.35:28It's the Bible's Hall of Fame. It says this about Rahab. By faith, Rahab the prostitute, in case we forget, welcomed the spies in peace and did not perish with those who disobeyed. I believe that Rahab would shout to us the next chapter of Hebrews, chapter one. So now that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,35:56let us lay aside every hindrance, guilt, shame, sin, past, labels, and let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us in Christ Jesus.36:02And I believe Rahab is shouting to us, you can run too because of Jesus.36:27But that starts by running from your sin and repentance. And what we see in Matthew about Rahab, when Matthew is giving us the history of Jesus Christ, Matthew says this about Rahab. Rahab would have a son named Boaz. And Boaz would have a son named Obed.36:56And Obed would have a son named Jesse. And Jesse would have a young son named David. And David, 14 generations later, would have sons. And there would be a man named Joseph. And Joseph would have a son. And Joseph's son was named Jesus Christ. And in that, the shame of Rahab becomes the fame of the Messiah.37:24I don't know what label you carry today. But I do know that there is not a single person here that is not unredeemable. There is no guilt. Maybe you are carrying internal guilt. Give that to Jesus Christ. He will take it away. Maybe you are carrying shame that the world has put on you.37:52Give that to Jesus Christ today. Remove that. This is the story of a woman who lived in shame. Who ended up on the wall of fame because of faith. And as we enter into our time of response, would you do business with the Lord? If you have been carrying stuff for far too long. Today is the name. Turn from Jericho.38:22Turn from shame and say yes to Jesus Christ. Leave it at the cross. And find him faithful. Church, let's go to the Lord.← Previous in UNDEFEATEDBe Strong and CourageousNext in UNDEFEATED →You want me to do what?
