Rahab

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Hebrews 11:31

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

I. SHE POSSESSED SINGULAR FAITH.

1. She received no instruction from her parents.

2. She was not in a believing country.

3. Her means of knowledge were very slender; and there. fore, the food of her faith was comparatively scant.

4. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about her faith was that she should be a woman of such a character. She was apparently the most unlikely person to become a believer in Jehovah. She was a harlot, a woman that was a sinner, and universally known to be such.

5. The subject of her faith was difficult.

II. HER FAITH WAS ACTIVE.

1. It was active mentally. When she believed, she began to think.

2. Her faith was active in her own sphere. Home duties are one of the very best forms of the activity of faith, especially in Christian women.

3. She did all this to the best of her ability, and she used her common sense.

4. She was also active at great risk.

III. RAHAB'S FAITH WAS MARRED WITH GROSS WEAKNESS. She lied unto the men who came to the door to seize the spies. There were, no doubt, in her conscience indistinct glimmerings of an idea that to lie was an evil thing, but, nevertheless, her surroundings prevented her clearly knowing it as we know it. To this very day among many orientals it is far more usual to lie than to speak the truth. You must judge individuals from their own standpoint, and consider their circumstances, or you may do them an injustice. I am not going to excuse Rahab's lie. A lie in Rahab, or in Abraham, is as bad as in any one else; but in this case there is this to be said, she had not been taught, as most of us have been, that a lie is a degrading sin. Her fault was by no means one which we can afford to throw stones at; avoid it carefully, but do not censure it self-complacently.

IV. Rahab's was A FAITH THAT WAS NOT ABOVE THE USE OF OUTWARD SIGNS AND SEALS. There are persons in the world who altogether despise the outward ordinances; they may be good, but they are not wise. Rahab first of all required from these spies an oath that they would preserve her, and next they gave her a token, a scarlet line, which was to be hung up in her window. This was the blood red flag of Israel. Was it not hoisted on the Passover night, so that the angel might pass by and deliver the people? She felt great comfort when she had placed the token in her window. She was not superstitious; she did not believe that anything mystical was in the red cord, but she put it there, because she had been told to do so. Now, the highest faith in Christ is perfectly consistent with the obedient use of Christian ordinances.

V. HER FAITH WAS SAVING FAITH. I have shown how it was grievously marred, but it was effectual notwithstanding. So, true faith in Christ, despite its weakness, will save us, separate us from the world, join us unto God's Israel, give us kinship with the Lord Jesus Christ; and what higher dignity is it possible to receive?

VI. HER FAITH BECAME WITH GOD ACCEPTABLE, SO THAT SHE WAS THE MEANS OF THE SALVATION OF OTHERS. Oh, I like this in Rahab, that she did not bargain for her own safety alone. Her sin had not hardened her heart as sin does in many cases. She thought of her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and her sisters. Now, wherever there is a real child of God there will be anxiety for his family. If you do not want to have)'our children saved, you are not saved yourself.

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