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POSSESSING THE KINGDOM

“Finding Life's Rahabs”

By Pastor Delbert Young

Life Gate Ministries

204 North Main Street, LaFayette, GA 30728

706-638-7620

www.lifegatechurch.com

We are in our series about POSSESSING THE KINGDOM. There is a kingdom that is available for each of us to enter. It’s a place of abundance for all of God’s children. It’s a place where all our needs are met – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s a place where we live in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. However, this kingdom is not simply handed to us on a platter. We must press in and we must possess it. It must be taken by force.

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the kingdom of God today. We are told that we cannot experience it until after the rapture and the great tribulation. After that great tribulation, a wonderfully heavenly world will be established where we walk around on gold streets and live in mansions. That is obviously not accurate because Jesus said the kingdom of God was actually inside of us.

After hearing Jesus teach about the kingdom one day some misguided teachers demanded to know when the kingdom that Jesus taught would come.

Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Jesus was saying, “Hello! Wake up! Get real! Stop believing in a fairy tale doctrine. The kingdom of God comes from within you, not from external things like a great tribulation.” The kingdom comes inside as we possess and live our dreams and goals. Once we have possessed the kingdom within, we can then live the abundant life outwardly.

The Bible says that the Lord is giving us a kingdom today to possess today just as he gave the children of Israel a kingdom to possess in the Promised Land.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

Notice that it is given to us, yet we are to receive it. We must take it. It’s at hand. He gave it to the children of Israel, yet they were required to possessed it.

Today’s lesson will be the second lesson in our series and today I want to talk to you about FINDING LIFE’S RAHABS. I realize that if you know who Rahab was then you may question my title. Nonetheless, if we are going to POSSESS THE KINGDOM then we must FIND LIFE’S RAHABS. Also, we must realize that we will be a Rahab to many.

As you POSSESS THE KINGDOM you will cross the paths of many people. Some encounters will be divinely orchestrated.

Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

If you are a good person then you have had and will have encounters ordered by God and by them your life has been and will be forever changed.

It’s with that thought that we find another principle of POSSESSING THE KINGDOM from the book of Joshua. The encounter with Rahab was a divine encounter.

Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Many times it is when the Lord is preparing us to enter the kingdom or to go to the next level in the kingdom that we will meet the RAHABS OF LIFE. These are divine encounters that may appear to be anything but divine, and if we are not cautious, we will miss them. And if we miss them, the enemy will capture us and even destroy us.

Joshua 2:1 …So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Susan Wilkinson, in the book “Getting Past Your Past”, writes these words.

“Her name was Rahab. She was a street-walking hooker living in the town of Jericho nearly four millennia ago. Women despised and shunned her. Men leered at, joked about and visited her. Of all the people you’d least expect God to use in a significant way it was this woman, Rahab. After all she carried with her a rather unseemly past. By all standards of decency she was a tainted woman. Yet her life proves a truth that needs to be shouted for all to hear, especially in our modern times: Your past does not determine your future, your choices do.”

God will cause our paths to cross with the most unlikely of people. Understand what I am attempting to say. I am NOT saying that we men should go to houses of prostitution thinking we will find the kingdom. Ladies, you cannot hang out with the Chippendales and think you will find the kingdom. You, most likely, will be ambushed. It must be a divine appointment.

Let’s think about Rahab. She was a Canaanite. That means that outwardly she was on the list of endangered species that were to shortly be exterminated. She was a woman and in those days a woman was slightly more valuable than a sheep or a goat. She certainly did not have any religious pedigree. Above everything else, she had lived a dark past as a prostitute. However, in her pagan society that probably wasn’t the illegal and immoral occupation that it is in our society today. Yet we would think her occupation and past would be important to God. However, did any of those things stop God from using her for the kingdom’s sake? No.

Without Christ all of us are an endangered species. You may not feel that you have much value. You may not have a religious pedigree. And I am certain that there are some dark things in your pasts. What I want to tell you is that none of that matters to God.

It is interesting as to how the bible refers to Rahab as the “harlot” when Rahab was actually a rescuer for the spies, but she is not referred to as ‘Rahab the rescuer.’ Adam disobeyed God but is not referred to as ‘Adam the disobedient.’ Moses was a murderer but not referred to as ‘Moses the murderer.’ King David was an adulterer, but not referred to as ‘King David the adulterer.’ The point is that Rahab is called the harlot for a reason. God is saying that I loved this woman, no matter what her circumstances, no matter what her past.

MY POINT IS THIS. GOD DOES NOT VALUE A PERSON BY THEIR PAST. GOD VALUES A PERSON BY THEIR FUTURE. Though most people would see Rahab as a parasite to society because of her past, God saw her as a pearl to the kingdom because of her future. I want to encourage you today. It doesn’t matter to God what happened in your past. God is only interested in your future! That is why it is so easy for God to forgive sins. He says, “Ok. I forgive that. Let’s get on with the future.”

God not only gave the spies a divine encounter. He gave Rahab a divine encounter. That encounter saved her and her family and placed her in the lineage of Jesus Christ (Mat 1:5). God wants us to FIND LIFE’S RAHABS. They determine our futures. And God gets to change their futures. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He found life’s Rahabs.

The disciples were some of Life’s Rahabs that Jesus found as he spied out the land to bring the kingdom. There was not a college graduate among them. Not one theological degree had any of them acquired. Matthew the tax collector was hated and an outcast of society. Some were rough uneducated foulmouthed fishermen. None of them would be thought to be lights of the world. Surely none of them would be thought capable of turning the world upside down. God did not value them because of their past. He valued them because of their future.

As Jesus spied out the land to possess his kingdom he found people like Mary Magdalene.

Luke 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils

You would think that Mary’s demonic past would matter to God. Yet it would be Mary who first saw Jesus after he was resurrected (Joh 20:16) and told the disciples. It wasn’t Mary’s demonic past that valued Mary. It was Mary’s future that gave Mary value for the kingdom.

What about the woman at the well? She had experienced several failed relationships and divorce.

John 4:18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband…

You would think that all those divorces and failed marriages would matter to God. Yet, that woman was used to preach and win an entire city for Jesus and the kingdom. It wasn’t that woman’s past that gave her value to God. It was that woman’s future.

What about you? You probably weren’t the sharpest tool in the shed. I would expect there are some dark things in your past. We think that God can’t get over them. There are some dark things in my past, but see, it’s not my past in which God is interested. It’s my future that gives me value. We are life’s Rahabs put into the kingdom to bring forth the Christ in the earth.

As we spy, we will meet a lot of people with dark pasts. We are not to condemn or judge their pasts. At Life Gate this is how it works. We value the future of every person. That is what God does. Don’t miss a divine encounter. If you do this properly then life’s Rahabs will protect you and aid you in POSSESSING THE KINGDOM and the abundant life that God has for you.

ANOTHER POINT ABOUT FINDING LIFE’S RAHABS IS THAT RAHAB WAS A RISK TAKER. Life’s Rahabs are bold, compassionate, and certain that life has a destiny and purpose for them beyond the level they now live. They are pursuing their dreams as are you, so risks are not foreign to them. They will take risks for you.

Joshua 2:3 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."

Joshua 2:4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

God will bring people into your life that will risks there own well-being for you. They will protect you even at the expense of their own lives and comfort. Supernaturally God links and weaves hearts together with a scarlet cord to accomplish his purposes.

I remember when I came to this city. I was received as were the spies by Rahab, but in a short time the king of Jericho came to arrest me and destroy me. The denomination that I was then in deemed me a dangerous spy and I needed to be terminated. I taught and supported a kingdom that they did not want to come. However, when the king of Jericho came people covered me with the flax of their lives. They hid me and protected me. They even provided a way for me to escape and continue my mission. It’s because of them that this ministry and Life Gate lives today. And today, I have a special scarlet tie with each of them.

I have had many divine encounters as I spy out the next attack. Every time God wants us to take a new area, I have a divine encounter with someone. I am given the information that I need to advance. My heart is forever linked with their heart and because of them the kingdom of God marches on.

Remember that Joshua didn’t want the spies to only spy out the land. He said “especially Jericho.” Joshua wanted to know if Jericho was prepared for war. He wanted to know the attitudes of the people. He wanted to know if he could take that city. Rahab had the answers.

Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites… whom ye utterly destroyed.

Joshua 2:11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

In other words Rahab told the spies that they could do it. God was with them. The enemy is weak. The enemy is frightened. We have no weapons to stop you.

That is what FINDING LIFE’S RAHABS do for us. They protect us and cover us. They encourage us. They give us the information that we need in order to live our dreams. They take risks for us.

GOD WANTS US TO REPAY LIFE’S RAHABS, NOT JUST USE THEM. Divine encounters are not just for us. They are for Rahabs too. The Hebrew word translated Rahab is Rachab (Strong’s #7343) and means proud. These are proud people who know what they want from life. We desperately need them to possess the kingdom. Rahab knew what she wanted.

Joshua 2:12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

Rahab wanted a sure sign. Rahab wanted to be blessed and wanted her family blessed. God wants us to repay Life’s Rahabs and help them acquire their dreams. Rahab was like Jacob wrestling with the angel and saying to the angel, "I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen 32:26). She was like the Canaanite woman who would not leave Jesus alone until Jesus healed her daughter. You know how the story of Rahab goes. Rahab provided a scarlet rope hung out a window for the spies to escape. That rope became the sure sign for Rahab. When Jericho was attacked she was to hang that same rope out that same window. By so doing, she and her household would be saved. Rahab was saved by the risk she took and by the same thing she used to save others.

Are you a risk taker? Will you take risks for others? God will take what you use to save others and bless you.

Rahab later married a Hebrew named Salmon and had a child named Boaz. She was grafted into the lineage and became an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ (Mat 1:5). She was a woman of powerful faith and I want to close with this thought. Mary the mother of Jesus was a tremendous woman of faith. Note the similarities to what Mary said to the angel and what Rahab said to the spies.

Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Joshua 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Life’s Rahabs are people of God’s word who bring the Christ into our worlds and earth.

There is a KINGDOM WITHIN YOU TO POSSESS. If we are going to POSSESS THE KINGDOM, we must FIND LIFE’S RAHABS. They are divine encounters who forever change our lives. They may have dark pasts, but that’s not important. It’s their future that God finds of value. They will take risks for you. They will protect you. Our job is to give them a sure sign of salvation. They will be people of great faith and establish the kingdom. I encourage you today to FIND LIFE’S RAHABS. I also encourage you to be a Rahab. If you will, you will POSSESS THE KINGDOM.

	Reaching people and making them devoted followers of Jesus Christ.