The Walls Will Not Save You

"The Walls Will Not Save You" – Joshua 6:20 Jericho had enormous walls that, humanly speaking, meant security, protection and confidence; but when the people obeyed God's instructions, the walls fell. It was not the shout and it was not weapons: it was God who brought down the impossible. What man trusts as strong, God can bring down in a moment; and what God protects, no one can destroy. In the midst of that pagan city one woman alone had faith: Rahab, who trusted not in the walls but in God, obeyed, was saved with her family and came to be part of the genealogy of Jesus. True faith always produces visible obedience.

I. Become lovers of the Scripture.

A. Everything here is vain; the one who prepares with the Scriptures gains much.

1. We stagnate when we give room to the old creature, which does not die until we leave this earth.

2. Our fight is not with this one or that one: it is with ourselves.

3. When the old life shows through, it is a lack of prayer, of the Word and of fellowship with the saints.

II. The walls had to fall (Joshua 6).

A. Jericho had to fall because the people were going to conquer the promised land.

1. There were instructions to be kept exactly as God commanded; we can never violate His rules.

2. We almost always do what pleases us; a righteous man washes another's feet.

3. The law of sowing and reaping: the life you do not change wounds others and shakes eternity.

B. Joshua prepared himself behind Moses until he became the leader who divided the land.

1. Six days one circuit in silence; the seventh, seven circuits, trumpets and the shout of the people.

2. When they obeyed, the walls fell; it was easy, because the best thing in life is to be meek and humble.

3. From Egypt to the promised land was four years; murmuring turned it into forty.

III. What man trusts as strong, God brings down in a moment.

A. Humanly the walls meant security, protection and confidence; when God acted, they fell.

1. It was no ordinary battle: not the shout, not weapons; it was God who brought down the impossible.

2. What mortal can fix anything? You shout and weep and nothing changes; only God acts on behalf of mortals.

3. We mortals raise walls: defenses that last until they are exposed, and the shame is ours.

B. No wall that is built can save us.

1. What is ours on this earth is seven feet down; the earth is not ours.

2. The church is no game: it is where the Holy Spirit dwells, where God heals and speaks.

3. Our absolute trust must rest in the sovereign God; in Him is the victory.

C. To have victory one must sow.

1. Those raised under the constant teaching of the Gospel rise up as soldiers and ministers.

2. Cursed is the man who trusts in man; seek your good on earth by cunning and there lies your defeat.

3. What God tears down no one can hold up; what God protects no one can destroy.

D. The shout of the people did not bring down the wall: obedience to God did.

1. There is an absence of prayer, and therefore a scarcity of hearing; without prayer there is no answer.

2. In the church of Christ we must learn what obedience is.

IV. Rahab: faith in the midst of a pagan city (Joshua 2:11).

A. A sinful woman, in a pagan city, makes a declaration of faith.

1. The fear of the LORD fell on her: she acknowledges that God is supreme and there is none like Him.

2. It was a reverent fear, that of one who has a covenant with God; the angels record even intentions.

3. Whoever is forgiven much lives differently; do not let yourselves be destroyed.

B. She did not speak like the rest: she spoke as one who had already believed.

1. Conviction, when it is from God, is immediate; no month of Bible study was needed.

2. All Jericho was afraid, but only Rahab had faith: fear paralyzes, faith moves to action.

3. You can hear God and not change, or believe and be transformed; each one decides.

C. She did not trust in the walls; she trusted in God, and that changed her destiny.

V. Rahab is saved (Joshua 6:22-25).

A. They bring her out with her family and place her outside the camp.

1. She was not an Israelite and had none of the people's rules: she needed a process of integrity and integration.

2. God keeps what He promises: what began with faith ends in real salvation.

3. No one in Jericho survived; only those marked by the sign, the scarlet cord, were saved.

B. Faith shows in the window: faith is seen in actions.

1. She believed, protected the spies and obeyed every instruction; she was meek to obey.

2. Rahab believes, the walls fall, Rahab is saved: she kept conquering, and whatever rises to destroy you must fall.

3. Being inside the right city does not save; being under God's covering does.

C. True faith always produces visible obedience.

1. Obedience shows through the pores.

2. When God tears down no one holds up; when God decides to save, no one can prevent it.

VI. By faith Rahab perished not (Hebrews 11:31; Matthew 1:5).

A. God does not look at the past when there is true faith.

1. She did not only believe: she acted according to what she believed, without protest or demands.

2. Faith changed her story: an outcast woman became part of God's plan and of the genealogy of Jesus.

B. True faith always produces works; visible faith is the faith that acts.

1. Works do not replace faith: they are the evidence that it is real.

2. God uses whoever responds in obedience; if faith is not seen in your actions, it has not matured.

3. Rahab was not saved for hiding the spies: she hid them because she had already believed.