On a day like Mother's Day, I think we all tend to picture that perfect woman, the ideal woman who's loving, kind, merciful. And we try to look at that woman and say, oh, this is what we should picture. This is one who's going to lead us to be like the Lord. And we want to picture that on this day.

But I want to tell you that on Mother's Day, that there is a woman in the Bible that there is, she did not have any of these characteristics. She's the most unlikely character that we can choose from. And she is one of the most honored women in scripture. And yet she did not fit the picture of what we would imagine in our minds at all. She wasn't raised in a godly home. She did not have the upbringing that many of us have in this place today. She did not have a respectable reputation. According to the culture and the religion of that time, in fact, many of us in this room today would wonder why God would choose this person at all.

And today, the person that we're going to highlight, our unlikely character for Mother's Day, is going to be Rahab. I hope that by the end of the service today that some of you will understand that we have much more in common with her than we want to realize. Although she did not have a perfect past, she made a faithful decision. A decision to honor the Lord in all that she did. A decision that would not only change her life, but would change her family. Would change the generations to come. That it would put her in God's redemptive plan.

For you this day, would you understand that for Rahab, it wasn't just about her salvation. She came into the family of God. She chose to believe for all those that she knew would come after her. Do you know, Church, that today the house of God is a mother to all the sons and daughters who would be born to this place? We must remember what your mother even reminded you of when you were a child. And that message was, it's not about you. Would you turn to somebody next to you and tell them, I'm sorry, it is not just about you this day. We really do have to know that.

It's not just about us when we come into Christianity in true faith. It is truly about those who are going to follow in our footsteps. And Rahab came to understand that. Her story is a legacy of faith that would touch the generations. A legacy is not just about wealth and possessions. It is about your actions, your decisions, everything that you do today that is influencing those around you. Influencing the generations after you. She did not have wealth and possessions to leave behind, but she left behind something far greater, a chance at redemption.

I tell you, whether you're doing it or not today of building up a legacy, you are building a legacy. Through every decision that you make, every choice that you make this day, everything that you do, there are eyes that are watching you. You are leading them to a place. And I want to ask you this day, where are you leading the people who are even watching you now? What will they say about your faith many years from now? What did you do for the generations that came after you? So today it is my prayer that we will begin to build a legacy of faith.

And the first thing we need to understand is that you have been elected for faith. God has nothing that He did not choose in your life. You are here sitting in these seats today because God has ordained it from the beginning of time. It is God's purpose that you would be here to hear the word of the Lord, to make a decision for him. Nothing is by chance.

When we begin to learn about Rahab, we understand that after the death of Moses, Joshua was the one who began to lead the people of Israel. And he is about to bring them over into the promised land. His message was clear. Cross over the Jordan River and take possession of the land that God had given to His promised people. And so he is about to go over, but the very first city that he's going to face when he crosses the Jordan is the great city of Jericho. With its high walls, the lofty walls are surrounding that city. And by the standards of any person, there's no way you're going to break through those walls.

They are impenetrable walls. They cannot be broken down. They cannot be infiltrated. But Joshua then at that time decides to send two spies over. They have to get military reconnaissance, getting information. Is there a breach? Is there a hole? Is there a back door? How are we going to get in? And it's in that time in scripture that you're going to begin to realize the election and the plans of God are always working in the background for his people. Because when those spies were sent over, it wasn't just for military information. God had already decided in His heart that He was going to save, that He was going to rescue Rahab and her family.

It was a predetermined decision on behalf of God that He had made. She is the unexpected choice of all the people in the city that God to save. It is a woman, it is a prostitute living in the city wall, which is the comparison of a modern day slum. And that's who God chose, is that some of us today who God had found us, some of us in a gutter, some of us in a hole, some of us in darkness, not some of us understanding the word of God, and yet God made a way for you to come in.

That's why we really cannot make any judgments in our heart about ourselves or somebody else that we know according to the judgment that man does. Oh, they'll never come to God. We make these judgments based on the things that only man judges, which is the outside. But God calls people in according to His good and perfect will. According to His sovereign choice, this is election. Romans 8.30, “Those he predestined, he also called. And those he called, he also justified. Those he justified, he also glorified.” That word predestined means that you were chosen from the beginning for your salvation. It was already predetermined that God in His goodness and His grace upon you and your family had chosen that you would become a son of God.

"Salvation is a work of God alone, but you can respond to God's goodness and His kindness towards you."

There is nothing in your life that can change the plans of God. It is His goodness and His eternal election that we would be here even today. It is not our own choice, but I tell you, you have the ability to respond to the grace of God, and that's where the ability of man comes in. Salvation is a work of God alone, but you can respond to God's goodness and His kindness towards you. You see, that's when we get the chance to show the world what kind of salvation we have received. We show Him because we are thankful that God has rescued us from our former ways of life, from our former jobs, from our former mindset, from the former things, and God has brought us into the new.

You see, your response to God's calling is where your legacy is built. And we've seen that in the Bible with all of the greats, with Abraham who was called out of his father's house, with Moses, with David. But we also see it with this contrasting character, with Rahab. God has taken her from something that was not and brought her into the new. Her background did not disqualify her. She is a woman. She is a prostitute. She is a sinner. And yet her old ways did not make God turn His face away from her. Hallelujah. I see somebody clapping back there because that is good news for us this day.

Regardless of who you are, where you have come from, what you have done, there is grace in the house of the Lord that you could be justified by the work of Jesus Christ. And that you also would be made new and to change the lives of those around you forever. This is the hope of the Christian, not just for one, but for many.

So let me read you the story in Joshua 2:2. “The king of Jericho was told, look, some of the Israelites have come here to spy out the land. So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab. ‘Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.’ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, ‘yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I do not know which way they went. Go after them quickly, for you may catch up to them.’ (But she had taken them on the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.)”

“So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. And as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.” Now the king of Jericho knew very well about the Israelites and the army that they had. He had heard about the victories that they have had in the desert. He already had won over many tribes that they came across. And the response of the town was to be in sheer panic. He was in fear and he was in paranoia of the coming army that was coming to them.

And so we see it in these scriptures. He sends the guards to Rahab's house. And they said, you know, who was here? What did they find out? What do they know about our country? You see his fear in that story. And as soon as those guards ran out of the city, the doors were shut behind them. Because he thought that those doors were going to keep him in safety. He thought that those doors were going to keep him protected. But I tell you now, no door will be able to come against and withstand the Lord of Hosts.

When we have fear of the Lord, you don't want to fight against God. You want to submit to Him. You want to submit in reverent fear to the Lord Almighty because the king found himself on the wrong side. So at this point in the story, Rahab can either give up the spies, which was the easy thing to do, or she could either walk in faith. And so she did not give them up. She chose through the fear and the wisdom of the Lord to hide the spies, saving them from their pursuers and saving them.

You see, the fear that the king had caused him to resist God. But Rahab chose to revere the Lord. And this is where she got the power to be able to stand up in her faith. This day, would you allow your fear of the Lord to give honor to God, our Creator? That day, she saw those spies showing up at her door as the grace of the Lord. You see, everyone else was going to be pursued. They were going to be destroyed. They were coming after the city. The war was coming to their doorstep. And yet on that day when she opened her door and the two spies were there, she saw God's grace and kindness. And she took that opportunity to go ahead and save them and make peace with God.

She was no longer an enemy of God. She said, oh, thank you. Come in. I'll hide you. I will rescue you. This is the kindness of God. He's not going to destroy me. He is for me. Church, is the Lord knocking at your door this day? Did he send you an outlet? Is He giving you the Word? Is He opening up your mind this day? Would you respond to that kindness and the grace of God this day and not miss your moment? Because she saw it, and that was her salvation. She saw the kindness of God.

And so on that day, she was never going to be the same again. She was going to be changed forever because she saw what God had done, and her loyalty was no longer for the world, but only for God. You see, some of us are more worried about saving face and our possessions and our jobs and our reputation. But Rahab didn't care anymore about what the world thought of her. She only cared about what God thought. And that's where we have that mistake. Would you put the priorities correct and begin to think, am I okay with God? Is God pleased with me? Am I giving my life for Him? Am I living for the world?

It is believed by some that Rahab also may have been a businesswoman. Because she was drying flax on her roof, you would have used that to make thread for clothing, for textiles. And even then, she did not care about preserving this business. She understood the need to choose rightly and choose now. There was an urgency and she understood the stakes that were at hand. Destruction was coming to her door and to the city and to her family. And at this moment, she would choose rightly to save those spies so that they would be able to rescue her family.

The world is sleeping, my friends. They don't see the urgency this day to get right with God. They are asleep because there are so many things that distract us from the Truth. Do you know this day that the technology, AI, our social media, love of money, our jobs, is only to lure you away so that you do not see the urgency of our situation? Would you understand that this is God's grace to us? This is your moment. Do not miss the moment to get right with the Lord. For He has come to rescue you. And those of us who have eyes that have been opened must choose rightly this day.

Romans 1:18, and some of us know this verse already. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” So we know destruction is coming to Jericho, and we wonder, is God just being mean? Does He just have a temper problem? Is this vindictive bitterness? No! He is a holy God, and the wrath of the Lord is when holiness meets sin. This is the response of a Righteous One who meets an unrighteous people. The wrath of the Lord, He cannot, as long as He is God, allow His will to be trampled by hearts who are unrepentant before Him.

My friends, just as it was in the day of Rahab, where judgment was going to come to the city, so too will God bring judgment for sin this day. The indifference about sin because men do not think that it is worthwhile to glorify God nor give Him thanks. That is the first of the sins of men. Secondly, moral blindness. Using speculation and using human reason to define morality instead of the Bible. We just think about what we think is right and wrong but never seek out the Word of God. Idolatry, worshiping created things rather than the Creator. We know this is from Romans. Sexual immorality, having debased and shameful lusts of the world. These are the things why the wrath of God comes to the world this day.

But I tell you, there is hope for the Christian. There is hope for the believer, for Jesus stands in the gap. He bridges that gap between a holy God and humanity that those who would put their faith in Him this day would be risen again from the dead. By His death on the cross, Jesus offers mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation to the Father. Now I say to you, if you were a mother or anyone else in this place, because Jesus stood in the gap for you, would you be willing to lead the way for others? This is the way of salvation. Jesus does it for you, and you would be able to live the life that He has called you to so others would know the way.

Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” You see, we have a responsibility to take. Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” And so the Christian does have that responsibility. And so Rahab is absolutely convinced of the power of God in this moment, and she puts her faith in the Lord. She knows the land belongs to God. She has heard about that covenant that God made with Abraham, that the land belongs to them. She heard of the crossing when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground 40 years prior.

Can you imagine living in the ancient world sometime and hearing how the Red Sea was dried up and how Pharaoh's army was sunk into the sea? And she had heard those stories even from her childhood. And she knew about the various victories, and so ultimately Rahab is ready to make a proclamation of faith. Joshua 2:11, And she's speaking here. “When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord your God is God of heaven above and on the earth below.” In a different translation, she actually uses the name that God had given to Israel for them to call Him. And so really, the translation should say, “I believe that Yahweh is God in the heavens and on the earth below.”

My friends, she had put her heart and trust into a relationship with a living God who had sent the spies to her house, was intimately in love with her, and she was able to respond with a message of faith. It was not just words, but her heart was being poured out at this time. Hallelujah. And she had put her faith in Him.

Rahab understood that Jericho was not going to stand. Do you know this day that this world will not remain, but even now it is already passing away, that the wrath of God is upon this place for the sins of the people? Would you choose to stand up this day for the sake of yourself and for the sake of your families, leaving a legacy that would last, that if others followed in your footsteps, that they would be taken to Christ.

Secondly, we have a faith that works. So we know that faith works for salvation, don't we? But salvation also must work. It works to produce obedience. It works to produce faithfulness, perseverance in the Lord. Our faith must work. It is not just about saying the words, for she did not just know the power of God for Him to rescue her. She bet her life on it. She hid the spies. She defied the king knowing that God was going to come through for her. That is the work that a transformed heart does. It performs because of what God has placed in their heart.

This is what God is calling us to this day. It cannot be hidden. It could not be put under a bowl. It must be put on display for all the world to see. Not just a testimony that speaks, but a testimony that will be displayed for the entire world to see what God has done, His amazing salvation for us. For a faith that does not move is not a faith at all. Faith must be put on display for all to see. James 2:24, “You see, a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” A little different, huh? “In the same way was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

And the real thing to take away here is that when she acted in saving those spies, that's when her faith was proved as true and genuine before the Lord. You see, we come into faith of Jesus Christ because He gives it to us, and that's how we receive our salvation, but then there must be an exchange where you are able to move in the power of the Holy Spirit, proving that you are a son of God. And so when she goes forth and she's then saving the spies, it was in the work that she did that proved that she was a true follower of God. True faith cannot be lip service or something that we just think in our head. It must show the power of our new life.

And so what action will God require of us today? What will we be expected to do? Faith is demonstrated for the world and so we must put away our former life. We must have unity with the Church and you must have a new way of thinking, getting rid of the negativity, getting rid of the pessimism, getting rid of being skeptical of the Holy Spirit, but believing He can infiltrate the metaphysical world that we live in. God is not just a spirit. He has come inside the hearts of human beings, of men and women who live upon this earth that must act out their faith.

"When you decide to honor God... you will bring the breakthrough that your family needs. "

And so Rahab continues to move by faith and she makes the spies swear an oath to her. She said, because I saved you, because I showed you kindness, make sure on the day that you come in that you rescue my whole family. My mother, my father, my siblings, and all who belong to me. She is working to spare them. And I tell you, one act of faith changed the generations. It wasn't just for her, but for her whole family. Today, I'm speaking to somebody in the church. I'm speaking to an individual here today to say that when you decide to honor God, in honoring Him by responding to His kindness towards you, you will bring the breakthrough that your family needs. Somebody's got to stand up. Somebody's going to have to do it and to believe what God wants to do.

The problem is so many of us wait for others to catch up, and we're waiting for them to reach what God has put in our heart, but God has graced you and you are responsible to the Lord alone. Every man is responsible to God unto Himself and He may use you as the forerunner for His whole family so that they may be brought to salvation. In contrast to what your financial advisor may have told you, I'm telling you that God today is saying that your legacy doesn't start when you're dead. Your legacy starts now with every decision, every choice, every action that you make. It begins when faith starts to move.

Joshua 2:17, “Now the men said to her, ‘this oath you're making us swear will not be binding on us unless when we enter the land you have tied this scarlet cord around the window which you let us down. And unless you have brought your father, your mother, your brother, and all your family into this house.’” You see, they say, tie this red cord out of the window that you're going to let us sneak out of. And unless you have everybody in your house, then they're not going to be saved. That cord was going to be an indication during the invasion. Here we are. You know, leave us alone. We're okay. We're good with you.

"Your legacy starts now with every decision, every choice, every action that you make."

And so Rahab was going to have to honor her faith by following through with what God had called her to. When you make a profession, you also have to follow through with God and there will be expectations. God will want you to move forward and to begin to prove your genuineness of your faith that you will choose to be faithful to the Lord all the way through. One of the most difficult parts about faith in action is following through our course. You must be perseverant. You must follow through in what you said you believe. If God is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, if He truly is Yahweh, then your actions are going to follow through.

Kris's favorite motto, what is it? Consistency over intensity. That's our famous line. A lot of the guys are picking up on that. But what does it mean? That you will not be tossed back and forth in the winds or in the waves, that you will not change the heat of what God is building in you, that you will remain consistent. That is the legacy. The legacy of the Lord that is found is those who will be consistent with Him no matter what comes in your way. And so we are building a lasting legacy that will be there for the ages.

We are elected for faith. We have a faith that works. And finally, we have a faith that redeems. This is about having a reliance on the Lord, knowing that He has the power to save us through His son, Jesus Christ, forgiving us of our sins to restore what was lost and to bring transformation. When God is doing a breakthrough, when He is bringing something new, He will restore all that is broken in our lives. All that does not match up with His Word. All that falls short of the glory of God. God wants to bring transformation into His house this day. For every impediment that we have, every missing thing, every lack of power and lack of spirit, God will fill you with all godliness for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the mission that He has ordained for you to do since the beginning.

For when God redeems, He will bring the legacy that will last forever. And finally, in chapter 6, we finally get to the point where Israel will invade. They follow the instructions of the Lord and they march around the city once a day for six days. Imagine poor Rahab trying to keep her family inside the house for six days, for anyone who would not be in the house would be vulnerable to the attack. We can just imagine her struggle, but she did not give up hope. She continued to be faithful.

And then on the seventh day, the army marched around the city for seven times. And this is Joshua 6:16, “The seventh time around, when the priest sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, ‘Shout!’ ‘For the Lord has given you the city! ‘The city and all that is in it, and all are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house shall be spared, because she hid the spies that we sent.’” And the wall comes crumbling down. All of it shatters to the floor when the shout of God came, when the armies of the Lord invaded all except Rahab's house. Her and her family and all who were in the house were rescued.

She becomes the model of faith for us in scripture because she feared the Lord and did of her what God had required. He was able to rescue her and rescue her with an amazing story of defeat. She was not brought into destruction, but destruction passed over her family and the Lord brought her into a place of safety. She is our outsider, a pagan, a prostitute, living in sin. But when she believed God, He brought her the greatest mercy that there was to be found. Rahab was never going to be the same again. She was completely different now from her former way of life.

And that's what God has for each one of us this day. He is here to change your situation. No matter how complicated, no matter where you come from, what it is, how you feel, God wants to bring restoration. For the depth of God's love can reach for you. Paul writes to us in the scripture and he says, Christ has come to save the greatest of sinners, of whom I am the worst. And I tell you, where sin abounds, grace will abound even much more.

There are truly two keys to redemption that we can find. And the first is that we must have true repentance. You must hate your old life. You must hate your former ways. You must hate the way that there is no life in your household. You must hate the way that we speak together. You must hate the way the mindset does not believe in the power and the wisdom of God. And when you turn away from your former life and embrace what God has for you, that is when God can move amazingly in your life.

She did not turn begrudgingly. She happily walked away from the former things. If you understand what God is calling you, you will also happily walk away from your former life. No begrudgingly, not, oh, I wish I could still have part of it, but you will follow after God. Hallelujah.

And secondly, we see that obedience, of course, is necessary for the work of redemption. The spies told her, tie this cord outside of your window, and then you will be saved from the coming invasion. And really, it's silly to think that a red string was going to save her from anything, that it would offer any type of protection. But you know that it wasn't really about the string. Truly, it was about her being obedient to what she had been told to do, and God honored that.

That red cord, that crimson cord was a sign to everyone that she trusted in God. Wave the cord out your window. Wave the cord of your heart and say, I'm trusting in God. I don't care how silly you think it is. The cord of the Lord is the precious blood of Jesus Christ to redeem man and bring them into the sight of God that we are those who are forgiven out of the grave and redeemed from our former way of life to walk into the new. On our path, we are walking heavenward toward Jesus in Heaven, in his throne room forever to worship Him, to look upon His majesty. God has truly changed our life.

"It is through the work and the power of the blood of Jesus that you can be made new."

That cord we hang with pride. It is the blood of Jesus that protects us from the coming destruction that we look around and we know is already here, my friends. The blood of Jesus. Some people may not understand why the blood of Jesus is preached. In Romans 5:9 it says, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more will be saved from God's wrath through him?” The blood of Jesus is what makes you right and acceptable to God. It is through the work and the power of the blood of Jesus that you can be made new. Thank you, Lord, for the blood that justifies me.

Just as if, we say, I've never sinned. I come before Him like Rahab. All of us do. A sinner, a pagan, far from God, living in the slums, not knowing Him. And when the blood of Jesus is applied to you, you walk over to the house of God. You who had no part in the kingdom of the Lord, in His household, in his family, and yet we come in and you are made white as snow. Hallelujah. The blood of Jesus justifies the sinner and makes us right in God's eyes.

Rahab and her family were not just spared. They were received. And I want you to listen carefully. This is a wonderful history about her life. Rahab became part of the nation of Israel so much so that she married into the royal family of Judah. She marries the son of Nashon, who was the leader of the tribe of Judah and the commander of their army. He was also a close associate with Moses and Joshua. His sister, Elisheva, was married to Aaron, the first high priest.

Rahab's story is amazing. Her story of redemption, to think that she was not even Jewish, and she marries into the royal family of the greatest of the families in Israel. And we know that this story goes even further, don't we? Because in Matthew, in the book of Matthew, gives the genealogy of Jesus. And it says that Rahab is recorded as the great grandmother of King David. This puts her in the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ. An outsider put inside of being a mother that would have a hand and a part in bringing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to this earth.

Somebody who was on the outside, if you've never heard of hope, I don't know what picture would be more than this story. To be brought in, Lord, I don't know your word, I don't know the church, I don't even know what they do here, I don't understand it. But somebody who couldn't be more further apart from the Lord and His family, brought into the holy family of God because of a radical decision of faith to follow what God is calling for her? Is there anybody here today who's not going to wait for others, but that you will respond to God's grace upon you for your eyes have been opened and His kindness is being poured onto you this day that you would hear the Word of the Lord and understand even the first time today.

God, I see Your kindness towards me. This place is going to destruction. The armies of the Lord are already at the door. They're at the gate already, God. I see it because they haven't cared to make sure that they were right with You. And I haven't cared to make sure that I was right with You. Lord, would you help me to turn away from my former life? To build a legacy in the house of God. In the house of the Lord where the children come to be received by our Heavenly Father. And that He would create a legacy in each one of you today. Not for when you're dead. Not for 10 years from now, 20 years from now. But today. With a decision, with a bold decision of faith that I will follow after You.