GRACED

The Power of Grace

Joshua 2:1-24

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. ² And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”

⁴ Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, which the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶ (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) ⁷ Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹ and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹ And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ¹² Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, ¹³ and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

¹⁴ So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”…¹⁷ So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, ¹⁸ unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. ¹⁹ So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”

²¹ Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

²² They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. ²³ So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”

I.                   WHAT CAN GRACE DO FOR ME

1.     Grace changes our position

Cháris - to rejoice

Grace, particularly that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, and acceptance, for a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude. It’s a favor done without expectation of return. It’s the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor.

2.     Grace changes our condition

Romans 8:3

³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.

3.     Grace is inexhaustible

John 1:16

¹⁶ And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace

4.     Grace empowers us

Ephesians 3:7

Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

Acts 4:33

³³ And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Acts 20:32

³² And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Hebrew 12:28

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

5.     Grace is Transferable

Ephesians 4:29

²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that, which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Believers are not to speak unwholesome (sapros, “rotten”) words (cf. 5:4), but helpful (agathos, “good, beneficial”; cf. 4:28) words for the purpose of edification. Good words benefit (lit., “give grace” or enablement to) the hearers

6.     Grace is a Covering (i.e. Umbrella)

Philippians 1:7

⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace

7.     Grace is sufficient for any problem

Romans 5:20

²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more

           

II.                YOU MUST HAVE FAITH IN GRACE

Romans 4:16

¹⁶ Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

Romans 5:2

Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

                       

                       

Answer Key: position; empowers; sufficient,