Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: God keeps showing us that all he really cares about is whether you and I are going to let God be God and keep his instructions. That's what he cares about. And God says, "If you're going to let me be God, you know what? I don't care what your background is. I don't care what you've been through. I don't care who you are. I'm looking for someone whose heart is willing to obey me." And sometimes it's not the guys that you would expect. As a matter of fact, it's the most unexpected people.

Guest (Male): Using our heads, studying hard in school, all these practices will take us a long way in life. But when it comes to God's will for our lives, there's something that'll carry us even further than logic, and that's doing the right thing whether or not it makes sense. That's the theme of our study today on Focal Point. And to complement this study, if you're a first-time listener, we'd like to get you a free copy of Pastor Mike's booklet, "Do the Right Thing." Just reach out online at focalpointradio.org. Now here's Pastor Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 30 takes us back into the biblical chronology to Joshua. We now get a picture of the most important battle that Joshua would fight as he goes as an arm of God's retribution on sinful people who are throwing their babies in the fire to conquer Canaan. The most important battle of all was the battle for Jericho, and the Bible reminds us in verse number 30 that by faith the walls of Jericho fell. Now, what did they do to win this city? They marched around it.

As a matter of fact, look at it. Joshua chapter 6, and you've got to know these are some of the most bizarre instructions that God could give for a group of fighters that knew that they had to take this city. You're out there sharpening your bows and arrows and your swords, you're ready to fight. And the Lord said to Joshua in verse number 2, "See, look at that shut up city, that big gigantic fortress in the middle of the promised land. I've delivered Jericho into your hands." It's like it's a done deal. How? Are they just going to hand over the keys to the city? How is that going to work? Well, here's what you're going to need to do.

Now, you're ready for the military strategy of God, and here it comes. It's a marching band. Look at verse 3: march around the city once with all the armed men. That sounds good. Maybe that'll intimidate them a little, psychological warfare. That'll be good. Do it for six days. Oh, and by the way, have the seminary grads carry trombones around and they can go "toot-toot-toot" as they march around the city. Have the priests carry trumpets and rams' horns in front of the Ark. You got the religious box, right? Carrying around the Ark of the Covenant, carrying around the tablets and all that.

Carry that around and march around the city seven times on the seventh day and with the priests trying to blow the trumpets. When you hear them sound the long blast on the trumpet, then have all the people shout. Just do that. Then the walls of the city will collapse. Now, you're Joshua. You're in the war room. What are you going to do at that point? I'm going to go, "God, that's great advice. And I know you're really good at writing Scripture and all that and thanks for the sun and the moon, but we'll handle this one. That's not going to work for us. Thanks, but no thanks."

There's conviction here for all of us because at some point we look at Scripture and we say, "That doesn't make sense." And the Bible would say follow his counter-intuitive principles and his instructions anyway. Is he not your God? And if he is your God, then obey him. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? Bottom line: trust and obey. Even when you're thinking, "I don't know where this is going to take us." They walked around the city seven times, overweight, pasty white, trombone-playing seminary grads, and the walls came down. And God said, "See, just do what I say."

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 31. There was an interesting little caveat in the story of the taking of Jericho. And it had to do with this lady in verse number 31. Now, we've learned a lot about obedience in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, but now what is interesting about this is the person that becomes a template for our faith is a gal that is introduced to us in verse 31 as the prostitute Rahab. Now, if you're looking for spiritual mentors, I'm thinking the business card should not read "prostitute." "I got a new discipler who's kind of training me in the Christian life." "What does she do?" "She's a prostitute." You don't want that. That doesn't fit.

Matter of fact, look at the past, scan your eyes through Hebrews 11. She gets the last full verse in the chapter. She's the one on the list that we end with in terms of particular specific examples that get some explanation. Rahab, the prostitute? Now, you remember the story. She welcomed the spies, sent them out another way, and she was spared. Now, we could look at how she did that and that's a story, but we've seen a lot of those in Hebrews 11. What's interesting and earth-shattering about this passage is that Rahab becomes an instructor of our faith. That's the amazing thing.

And it was amazing even in that day. Turn back to Joshua 6 for just a quick second. Rahab is spared. She does what she's told, she keeps the command at great risk to her own well-being, and now she's spared by Joshua and his men. Look what it says about her in verse number 25. 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. Now, we know that part. Now, here's the amazing part that just stops us in our tracks. Underline this: "and she lives among the Israelites to this day."

At the end, when Joshua's writing the chronology of the conquest, and this is years after it happened, he goes, "Oh, yeah, and by the way, down the street here and around the corner, yeah, this gal we just talked about, she lives right over there. I mean, if you want to talk to her family, they live right over here." The prostitute lives with you guys? And wasn't she a Canaanite? An inhabitant and a citizen of Jericho? You mean this sinful person from the sinful city from this sordid background and she's living with you guys now? What are you doing?

Well, here's the deal. What was important to us was that she was willing to do what God asked her to do, even if it was at great personal risk to herself, even if it was a bit counter-intuitive for the rest of the people who lived in Jericho. She was just willing to do the right thing. And here's the deal. If she's willing to do the right thing, she's with us. And she lives right over there. You want to go see her or talk to her? Interesting story. God took her out of that past and now she's living among us. It's an amazing thing.

It's an amazing thing because it's so much like God, isn't it? That God keeps showing us that all he really cares about is whether you and I are going to let God be God and keep his instructions. That's what he cares about. Is that how we get saved? That's not what it's about. It's about a path of obedience and sanctification. And God says, "If you're going to let me be God, you know what? I don't care what your background is. I don't care what you've been through. I don't care who you are. I'm looking for someone whose heart is willing to obey me."

And sometimes it's not the guys that you would expect. As a matter of fact, it's the most unexpected people. And we have a problem with it. We struggle with it. I just want to ponder that for just a few minutes. Rahab the prostitute now is our instructor in verse number 31. That's odd. How is that? Because God is not interested in her past. God is just interested in whether or not she's now willing to obey him. That's it. That's God's concern about her. Even godly people can really stumble over this.

Do you think Samuel was a godly man? Samuel's a godly guy. This guy's walking with God, hearing God as a kid. This is an amazing guy. And when he was sent out to get the second king of Israel because the first king was a failure. Why? Because the people of Israel chose the first king. They chose Saul, head and shoulders above everybody else. God says, "Great. You choose the first one. I'll choose the second one." Isn't that how it worked? So he sends out Samuel to go get the second king.

"I'm going to pick this one because your first one was an utter failure and you picked him. Now let me pick the next one." So he sends out Samuel with his flask of oil. "Now go anoint the second king of Israel." And so he goes and God directs him to the house of Jesse. And he's got all these big up-and-coming sons, all these very talented and good-looking sons, and he has them all out there and he says, "Okay, well, I guess God's next anointed king is here, so I got the oil. I'll anoint the next one."

The first one stands up. Now, you know that Jesse's going to send the most likely candidate first. And so he sets it. "How about this one? Is this the one?" And I don't know how, but Samuel's going to try to somehow get the green light from God here and he looks at him. Do you know what happened in that verse? Do you remember what Samuel said? Samuel said this: "Surely the Lord's anointed stands before me." He thought, "That's the guy. That's him. Clearly, this is the guy." First choice of Jesse, and I'm thinking he looks like king material to me.

This guy's going to be a great leader. He's going to teach us a lot. He'll be a wonderful leader for us. Do you remember what God said in response to Samuel's excitement about the first son of Jesse? He said, "Hey, Samuel, that's really great. I'm glad you like him. He's got his hair gelled, he's looking good, briefcase in hand. He's ready to go be king. But you know what? Here's the deal. Here's your problem, Mr. Godly Man. You're constantly looking at the outward appearance. And that's not how I view people. You're looking at their resume, you're looking at how they come off, you're looking at all the wrong things."

He says, "Because I look at the heart. That's what I'm looking at. Rahab the prostitute is going to teach us how to trust God absolutely. You know why? Because her heart changed. And her heart was now willing to obey God at great personal risk to her own safety." And God says, "Learn from that." Can you picture the scene? Samuel went through all the brothers. Jesse had them all and they were all gelled up and ready to go. And he was like, "Well, I just got a green light on none of them."

I mean, they were done interviewing. Dad, now this does not speak highly for David. Dad didn't even bring David to the interview. Samuel says, "Do you have any other sons? I don't get it. I'm supposed to be here, but none of these guys are supposed to be king." "Well, I got another one, but I'm not thinking he's the guy. He's a little runt, actually, and he's out watching the sheep. I don't know. He didn't even shower today. Not him." "Well, is that the only other son?" "Yeah, that is." "Okay, well, go get him."

In comes the kid. Think about it. All the other guys decked out and here comes the kid. And God says, "That's the one." Why? Because David was a man after God's own heart. What was God interested in? Heart. But the resume is not going to fit your resume. As a matter of fact, you're not going to pick a former prostitute to be your Sunday school teacher. I'm just thinking that's not going to happen. But God says, "No, you can learn a lot from that. I pluck these people out by my grace and set them in positions to do things for me because I am the God of grace. And it's about me, not about you."

Rahab, yeah. We need to learn to accept that. Number three on your outline: let us learn to humbly—and it's going to take humility—accept God's unusual family. And it's unusual. Just look around. I mean some odd folks that make it into this thing. I know you and I can do that and I know we can think about that. God has chosen some interesting people. By the way, think about how Jesus chose. He's choosing 12 people to change the world and turn the world upside down. Who does he choose? Are those the 12 guys you're going to choose?

I'm thinking if I'm going to choose 12 guys to turn the world upside down, it's going to kind of be like Trump and the Apprentice show. I want resumes, I want stacks, I want videotapes. I want to pick the best and then I want to get them in and I want to test them and see them in action and I'm going to pick the guys with just the right buttoned-up kinds of profiles. Who did he choose? Well, started with guys like the Sons of Thunder. Remember those guys? Those aren't the kind of guys you want on your executive team to change the world.

Sons of Thunder, hair-trigger, they're not the guys you want. Then you got guys like Thomas. You want him on your team? For what? What's Thomas going to do? Thomas is not the guy you want. And then you had a guy like Simon the Zealot. I'm not talking about Simon Peter, the other Simon, Simon the Zealot. That's what they called him. "Here comes the Zealot." And that was a particular political branding in Israel, and those were the nuts. Those were the guys watching the Jerusalem news at night and they're throwing their sandals at the TV set every night.

They just can't handle it. They are just, "Ah!" and okay, take the Zealot. That'll be good. And then you got guys like... let's throw in a turncoat IRS worker. Matthew Levi, the tax collector, which is worse than an IRS worker because they really were selling out to the foreign occupying power. And Levi, come on, Matthew, you're going to be on the team too. Peter's going to quarterback the team? You've read about Peter. Is this the team you're picking? Not the team I'm picking. That's the team that God picked.

By the way, when you're looking around thinking, "I guess he does pick some pretty unlikely candidates to be on his team," be sure when you're really struggling with that to bring a mirror to that little session because he let you in this thing too. I think if you think about it long enough and stare in the mirror long enough, you're going to go, "Well, I'm not quite sure why I got in." It's like Groucho Marx: "I'd never join a club that would allow me as a member." That's a good line.

If you think about it long enough, it's true. He brought you in with your past and your propensities. Think about that. Who did he choose? And now I know Matthias and the casting lots, Acts 1, but really the 12 apostleship was outstanding and God had picked that last one who would be younger and bring all of that into the next generation in the second half of the book of Acts. And he chooses the apostle Paul, who was named Saul, which is appropriate because it was much like the first choice of Israel for king: the wrong choice.

In 1 Timothy chapter 1, he describes himself as the worst of all sinners. I know you think that's just a low point, maybe he was melancholy that day and he's just hard on himself, it's hyperbole. It's not. Earlier in the passage, he calls himself a blasphemer. That's a capital offense for an up-and-coming Pharisee. He calls himself one who is a violent man and a persecutor of the fledgling church. "I opposed God's work. I didn't have the sense even to see that this was God. I'm angry, I want to kill people, and I blaspheme God and I was the worst of all sinners."

But God chose me. He says as an example of his unlimited patience, that he might be an example to those who would come later, like that's us, and believe on him for eternal life. Why is the guy who wrote half of the New Testament a guy that really had no reason to be a part of the team? Because God wanted to show that you have a part in the team and the guy across the way has a part in the team and Rahab has a part of this thing called the Christian life. And there's, oh, by the way, sidebar, your honor.

Have you read Matthew chapter 1? That's the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Guess whose name shows up in that list? The prostitute, Rahab. Rahab. Now, I'm thinking, "I don't want her in the genealogy of Jesus, please." And you know who else shows up? Bathsheba. Bathsheba? The gal who's having an adulterous affair with the king of Israel? Can we get somebody else to be the maternal ancestor of Christ? Tamar, she's in the list too, by the way. Tamar, having sex with her dad. Have you read that story? It's not good.

She is now honored with being a matriarch in the ancestry of Jesus Christ who you will bow down and worship one day. And you know who's going to stand in line saying, "Yeah, we were part of that genealogy"? Tamar. And Rahab the prostitute. And people like Bathsheba. What's God trying to say to us? Turn to one last passage. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Here's what he's trying to say. He's trying to say this is all about grace. I do some unexpected things when it comes to putting people in place.

Verse 26: "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards." You didn't find the PhDs. "Not many of you were influential." No one was calling you to do an interview on Nova on PBS. "Tell us, give us some insight here." Nobody asked you that. "And not many of noble birth." You weren't in the royal family, no paparazzi coming after you. Just a normal person. Everybody else around you is normal people, blue-collar people. We're just normal folks.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise." Because, by the way, across the page, all those wise men in their wisdom, they couldn't seem to find God earlier in the passage. All the philosophers of the age, they didn't get it. "But he chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." Verse 28: "He chose the lowly things of the world, the despised things." I'm getting the point, God, all right. "Things that are not."

This is not helpful for your self-esteem, I get it. But it's true. You and I are nothing. We are not the brightest bulb in the pack here. God chose us. He chose people like Rahab to be rich in faith to nullify the things that are so that, purpose clause verse 29, underline it, here's the reason, are you ready? "So that no one may boast before him." It ain't about you. God is God, you're not. Obey him and look in the mirror and look across the aisle and say, "Man, it's about grace. It's all about grace."

God is so good to choose lowlifes like us so that no one can boast. "It's because of him," verse 30, "that you're in Christ Jesus." That's what they're saying in verse 30: "it's because of him." You think that's what they said to Rahab? It was easy to say about Rahab. "It really ain't about you. You're not here because of you. You're here because of God's grace." Yeah, that's why he chooses the lowly to remind us of that. "It's because of him you're in Christ who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption."

We didn't get here because of our righteousness, not because of our holiness. We didn't produce our own redemption. God did all that. Therefore, bottom line, "As it is written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'" When it comes down to it, that's what this is all about. It takes ambitious faith sometimes to get ourselves off the pedestal and to say, "It's all about God." God is God. His instructions are to be followed, not selectively but wholeheartedly. You are our Lord, we'll do what you say.

When we look around and we say, "Who are we to be a part of this?" now you're thinking right. It's all about grace. The unexpected team, the unusual family that we're a part of. God is a great God. Let's just obey him this week. He's looking at your heart. He just wants you to follow him. Let's do that for his glory this week. Let's pray. God, help us please to be very simple and clear and straightforward about our resolve and our commitment to you and not about us being so smart.

"Let us figure out how we can carefully and selectively choose how we're going to be Christians in this 21st century." Let's just take the instruction manual and do it. Let's just do what it says. Let's not have a life for work and a life for Sunday school. Let's not have a certain kind of ethic for our extended family and then one for our immediate family. God, just let us live as authentic people who recognize that you are God and we're just here to serve you.

We're here to follow your instructions wholeheartedly. Love you with all our hearts. We want to get what's behind door number one. We want to live a life that is lined by your presence and by your favor, your daily presence that we have because we're doing what you ask us to do. If it sounds kooky, if it's weird, if it's like marching around a city, we'll just do it if that's what your word says. If it's as simple as dipping ourselves in the river, we'll do it. We're not going to hold back anymore.

God, we don't want to hold back. I pray for us here, and I know it's hard in an auditorium that's got all these people in it and we all come from different situations, different levels of spiritual growth. But I pray that there wouldn't be one person here today that doesn't think of the specific thing that we've been holding back on you, that we've been trying to rationalize our way out of. Let us all just come to you this morning with open hands just saying, "God, we're going to do what you say."

If it's a little embarrassing, if it's odd, if it doesn't add up, we're just going to do it. And then, God, we're going to look back and recognize that you are a wonderful God of grace that you take people like us, people like Rahab, people like Tamar and Bathsheba, people like Paul and people like Thomas, and you pluck us out of the world to show that you are a God of mercy and grace so that no one can boast before you. It's all about you. We want to affirm that you're God in our lives today and that Jesus Christ is our Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Dave: You're listening to Mike Fabarez on Focal Point in a message titled "Embracing the Unconventional and the Unexpected." You can revisit this lesson anytime by going to focalpointradio.org or by downloading the free Focal Point app, which puts the full library right in your pocket. For a limited time, we're offering a book called "Songs of the Son" by Daniel Stevens. It's a theological and devotional walk through the Psalms written to show how that ancient book points at every turn to Jesus.

It's more than poetry. It's a window into the nature of God, the work of Christ, and the voice of the Son running through Scripture. Daniel Stevens gives the Psalms new context and clarity for anyone ready to read them through a New Testament lens. Request "Songs of the Son" when you send a gift to Focal Point today by calling us at 888-320-5885 or donate online at focalpointradio.org. You can also mail your donation to us by writing to Focal Point, Post Office Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654. Now here's Pastor Mike with an announcement.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I'd like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026 on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We'll sail Holland America's Zuiderdam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City. We'll gather for devotional times in God's word, followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Grammy-winning musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty will lead us in worship.

You'll enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers. It's a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the Eastern Seaboard. Space is limited, so don't wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org.

Dave: Once again, that's focalpointradio.org. I'm Dave Drewy. Join us tomorrow when Pastor Mike Fabarez asks us to consider how we're using the days we have left. Don't miss this perception-changing message Wednesday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hi, Pastor Mike here. God's word promises it'll never return void. So I wonder, how is God's word moving in your heart right now? Drop us a line, let us know. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to be praying for you here. Just go to focalpointradio.org. Then be sure to join us again tomorrow right here as we continue to explore the depths of Scripture. We'll see you then.

Dave: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.