St. Tammany farmer., 1906-12-15
sERMoNETTE.

SSSS~Sey
an Of the town, has won a place
among the heroes Of faith Of
the eleventh Of Hebrews. Paul
in his enumeration Of the tri-
umphs which faith had won
tells how "the harlot Rahab
perished not with them that be-
Iieved not, when she had re-
ceived the spies with peace.
And James, who emphasizes
works as an evidence OF liv-
ing faith, turns to this same in
cident and declares: "Also was
not Rahab the harlot justified
by works, when she had re-
ceived the messengers and had
sent them out another way?"
Thus then we see in this in
cident the flashing forth Of a
faith which lifts the sinner out
Of his sin and links him with
the Creator, whose will it is
that "none should perish, but
all should come to 4 knowledge
Of the TRUTH"
Let US look first at the les
sons of faith to be learned by
this Old Testament incident,
and then consider the marvel
GUS mercy Of God which could
lift out Of the degradation Of
heathenism and elevate to the
exalted position Of one Of the
ancestors Of David and Jesus,
for Rahab became the wife of Sal
mon, perhaps one of the spies
whose life she had saved, and
the mother Of Boaz, the grand
father Of Jesse, who was the
father Of David. See Matt. is.
There were perhaps three
stages to the faith Of Rahab.
First, the awakening period,
wherein the thought Of a living
but invisible God was allowed
to expand under the growing
knowledge Of Gods dealings
with his people. Then there
was the period Of active, work
ing faith, wherein we find the
conviction bearing fruit in the |
outward life, and then there
was the period Of enduring
faith, the faith that could wait
for the consummation Of that
which the heart believed should
come to pass.
In reference to the first peri
Cd Of faith, that OF. the awaken
ing Of Rahab's heart to con-
sciousness Of God, we can say
briefly: There 10 in every hui
man heart, even Of the most be-
nighted heather, a hidden germ J
OF belief In the true God. And |
just az the stories borne to Ra- :.
hab Of the strange people and
their wonderful God called into
life this germ, 90 az knowledge
comes to every soul Of the true
God, this germ 10 quickened In
to life and, unless will.
fulness and the choosing Of the
evil rather than the good des-
troys the life Of that germ, it
will grow.
We find here the beginnings
Of a faith which will lead to a
transformed life, which marks
the second period, az exempii-
fled in Rahab's receiving the !
spies, even at the danger OF her I
own life, for had the king
known Of her treachery. he
would have made short shift Of {
her. But Rahab's faith not I
only placed her on the side Of :
Gods people, but It called forth {
that sacrifice and devotion Of 5
which both Paul and James {
speak.
And Rahab had that quality {
Of faith which could endure. 5
Perhaps the most severe test !.
ing which came to this woman 5
was when, the excitement Of {
saving TIL. lives Of the spies :
over, ana her own family gath {
cred about her, she had to wait {
day after day, day after day, un- {
til the very walls crumbIed {
about her and her habitation {
was swallowed up in the ruins. {
But faith just cIung to the 6
promise, the eye was kept {
on that scarlet cord, 6
and at last faith earned its re- {
ward. 6
And now, az to the marvellous {
mercy and grace Of God as set s
forth In this incident Of Rahab, e
we cannot do better than direct :
to the 27, 2e and 2eth {
verses Of the first chapter OF =
First Corinthians. {
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
THE STORY.
ITH trembling eager fingers Ra-
hab tied the scarlet rope in her