A sermon by Ian Sutherland
from a lesson by Earl Kelly

Do you like a good mystery?
No matter who you are, I think that the enjoyment of a good mystery is part of what makes us human-
Whether it's CSI on TV or curling up with an Agatha Christie novel.. or even watching Blue's Clues with the kids...we all love a good mystery...
Today, we're going to look at a mystery unlike any you may have read... it's a mystery that relates to everything we do---
And we have three critical clues, three bits of evidence to uncover---
A Flashing Knife
A Scarlet Rope
and a Dead Body.....
To find our first clue, we must go back in time, to a place called Beersheba....
Abraham had been raising his son, Isaac for several years, and was pleased at the man his son was becoming.  He had already sent away Hagar, his concubine and Ishamael, their son into the desert.  He had made a treaty creating this community at Beersheba... and then ...
The story picks up in Genesis 22:

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" 
     "Here I am," he replied.
 2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
      "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
      "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
 
 

In studying this passage... I do not believe that Isaac was a tiny tot like we see in the Sunday School coloring pages.    I was speaking with a good friend about this passage, and he postulated that Isaac couldn't have been a teenager-- because to use a teenager as a burnt offering wasn't that big a sacrifice.   Joking aside,  he was probably... well, about Rob's age.  And he was no dummy. He knew something was up--- but he was obedient to his father, as his father was to the Lord...
 
 
 
 

 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

 
 
 
 
--- He took the knife in his hand
He raised it high above his head
The sacrificial knife flashed in the sunlight as he prepared himself to kill his only son
 
 
When suddenly......!!!
 
 
 
 

11The angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.
 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

 
 
 
We have our first clue--- The knife that Abraham used to sacrifice the ram that God provided... The knife that, in obedience to God, Abraham was willing to use on his heir, his son.
 
 
Time to hunt down the second clue- The Scarlet Rope...
Joshua and the Israelites were on the move.  Moses had just handed control of the children of Israel over to one of the greatest strategists the ancient world has ever seen, General Sherman's inspiration; Joshua,son of Nun.  The Israelites were fresh from victories on the east bank of the Jordan River and were moving towards the biggest challenge yet: the massive walled city of Jericho-  When facing a challenge the size of Jericho, you need preparation and information: So Joshua sent out his intelligence gathering team....
From 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.

 
 
Rules for successful spies, number 12- " If you happen to be strange men, go where strange men won't be noticed".  The spies went to a house of ill-repute... let's face it;  it made a certain kind of sense.  The one place in Jericho where you wouldn't notice strange men arriving and departing- the house of a harlot.
 
 

 2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 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."

 
 
Ooh.  Apparently their ruse didn't work.  Let's face it, these two guys weren't exactly MI-6 or Mossad material-- they got their cover blown on the first day in town.  The jig was up... the spies were a whisper away from certain death... worse yet, Joshua would not have the vital information he needed to carry out the offensive.
 
 

 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. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them."

 
 
Horses were mounted, swords were sharpened, torches lit... and into the darkening skies the riders of Jericho galloped in search of the spies of Israel... the great gates of the city clanged  shut behind them as they flew down the road that leads to the best place to cross the Jordan, the most likely path the spies would take.... they would ambush the spies as they tried to cross the Jordan river.... all on Rahab's word.
 
She must have been influential and successful in the city of Jericho.  Armies moved on her say-so.  The King obviously trusted her--- she had a house built into the wall of the city- prime real estate: one of the few places in Jericho where there was a view of the outside.  She had a lot to lose by hiding the.... we'll call them "unlucky" Israelite spies... wealth, position, power....
 
 
But Rahab had taken the spies, put them on her roof and hid them under stalks of flax that she had out to dry in the sun before they were crafted into linen.
 
Soldiers gone, dishonor and death averted for now, Rahab went up on the roof to speak to the spies in the still, quiet night.  She couldn't risk a lamp, it would be seen. She whispered, so she would not be heard by the busybodies who'd turned her in in the first place.  
 

8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 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 Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.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. 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 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

 
Rahab was a gentile.  She probably, up until then, had worshipped Ashteroth and Ba'al.  But what she had heard, and what she had seen had convinced her that the Lord was God of all. When strange men who'd shown up on her doorstep, she put two and two together, and made a leap of faith...and a bargain.  She must have been a brilliant businesswoman, because she made an incredible deal with the Jewish spies-
 
 

 14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
 15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
 17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
 21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

 
 
Our second clue--- the scarlet rope....   It hung there in her window for at least three weeks where everyone could see, proof of her faith in God. 
 
Let's see how this turns out, shall we?  Picking up in Joshua chapter 6:
 
 
 
 

 22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
 24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

 
 
This isn't like most mysteries, is it?  Both the knife and the rope are symbols of life, not murder and mayhem.... Symbols of faith..  You know, if we were playing the game Clue right now, I'd have the knife and Beersheeba and the Rope and Jericho crossed out.  Well, I would if they had Beersheba and Jericho on the gameboard.
Honestly, right about now, I'd be stumped. 
 
In solving any mystery, we have to look at two primary questions: Why are these clues important?  And what do they have in common? 
 
And, in this case, Third: Where's the dead body?
 
Once we figure that out, we'll have solved our caper here....
 
We're about to go to the Court of James.  Let's see where the testimony of Abraham and Rahab leads us....
 
 Chapter 2: vs 14-26, using the New Living Translation:
 
 

  14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
 
 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

 
I think we've found our dead body... James says that our faith alone isn't enough.  Without works, mere belief is useless.
 
 
 

 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

 
James, once again, comes down hard.  Without good deeds to back up our faith, we are vain and foolish-- and in that respect we are no better than demons.  Demons believe in God-- they believe and quake in their boots!  But that belief doesn't motivate them to do good works...
 
Now let's look at the evidence we have gathered so far:
 
 

 21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
 
24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.
 
26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

 
 
 
There it is.  We see the crime- faith without works.  It leaves a dead body.
 
Abraham set out on faith to sacrifice his son, Isaac-- the flashing knife is evidence that he believed, and he acted on his belief.  His faith added to his actions and his actions added to his faith and made him complete in the eyes of God!
 
Likewise, Rahab, in faith and obedience to a God that she didn't even really know and at great personal risk, hid Joshua's spies.  The scarlet rope that she hung out her window was a lifeline for her and her entire family!  She wasn't justified by her belief alone-- because we would never have known about an obscure prostitute who lived in the walls of Jericho had she just believed.  No, she believed and acted on that belief!
 
 
James says that our works are evidence of our faith.
Is there enough evidence to convict you as a believer?
 
Is there a body of works--- a body of evidence that would tip the scales of righteousness in your favor?
Now comes the time when we put our faith to it's first test.  If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, you do well.  Although James seems a bit sarcastic about it; I mean it.  You're off to a good start by believing that Jesus is the Saviour.   But that belief alone doesn't do you any good by itself, demons believe and tremble.  But demons don't take steps of faith or obedience.  For you, it may be time to start obeying by being baptised into Him.... and start building evidence in your own case for faith. 
 
The Flashing Knife is evidence that Abraham was faithful
The Scarlet Rope is evidence that Rahab was faithful.
 
Don't let the dead body be the sign of your faith....
 
Christ bids you come.