It's called Sovereign Grace. I've told you this before, but
I guess it was two or three years ago now, the manager of a local
radio station that claims to be Christian told me we cannot
broadcast your program on the station, on this station, and
I asked why. And he responded, because in
your intro and your ending, he said, you mentioned the term
sovereign grace twice, not just once, but twice. And it turns
out that that station was and still is an extension of a church,
and that the station manager with whom I spoke is actually
the pastor of that church. And that church believes that
sinners has a free will in their salvation. And this man knew
that for us to claim twice that God's mercy is sovereign and
that his grace is sovereign was to say that we don't believe
that. So I asked this man a very simple and direct question. That question was, is there any
grace given to a sinner that is not sovereign grace? And he
gave no answer, but mockingly chuckled. Tonight, I want to
talk to you about the subject of sovereign grace. That's my
second favorite subject. My first favorite subject is
Christ, the one who bestows that sovereign grace. And I think
most of you would say the same. Now you can turn to Joshua 2.
After you turn there, turn with me to Romans chapter 5. Hold
your place in Joshua 2. We'll get to it quickly. But
I want to show you something here in Romans chapter 5. Romans
5 verse 18. I'll give you a moment to get
there. Here Paul writing to the church at Rome in verse 18 says,
therefore, as by the offense of one, that being Adam, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation, even so, By the righteousness
of one, the free gift came unto all men, all those who God chose,
all the elect of God, unto justification of life. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. Now look at these next words.
But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so. I'm so glad he puts those two
words in there, even so. might grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, where does sin
abound? Well, it abounds in all of us.
Sin abounds in human natures and every individual of it. But the gospel, the good news
for sinners, that's what the gospel is. Good news for sinners
is that glorious news that Christ came into the world to save sinners. And he was made in the likeness
of our nature, yet without sin. Now that's very important. This
causes God's grace not only to abound, dear friends, but to
super-abound. It super-abounds by the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is God, dying in our place. Our sin has reigned
unto death, Paul said. That's what sin brings. The wages
of sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall
die. And this is just a matter of
fact and truth. But the last part of verse 21
says, even so, my grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life. Isn't that good news? By Jesus
Christ our Lord. And that's what we have in the
story before us tonight found in Joshua chapter two. Go ahead
and turn back there with me if you would. Now our story tonight
concerns a woman who is a wonderful and an amazing trophy of God's
free and sovereign grace. This woman lives in a city that
is marked for destruction. But before the world was ever
created, before time as we know it ever began, God determined
to save this poor soul according to the grace that's found in
Jesus Christ. It's the same with you. If God
chose you or if God saved you in time, it's because He chose
you in eternity. And what God does always comes
to pass. What God determines and purposes
always comes to pass. And it's sovereign grace. I'm
not ashamed to say it. That's the only kind of grace
that there is that will save dead sinners. Now this woman
is said by many to have been an innkeeper, but we're plainly
told that she was a harlot. No effort is made to hide what
she was. And those two trades, both the
innkeeper and the harlot, were often combined. Rahab the harlot
kept strangers in her home. I believe she was an innkeeper.
But she supplemented her livelihood as a prostitute. Now Joshua chapter
2, verse 1, and Joshua, The son of Nun sent out of Shittim two
men to spy secretly saying, go view the land, even Jericho. And they went and they came into
a harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there." Now her house
here is said to be a harlot's house. And that's where these
two men of Israel lodged, according to verse one. You know, Solomon
wrote in Proverbs chapter seven, verse 27, concerning the wiles
of a prostitute, a harlot. It says, her house is the way
to hell and going down to the chambers of death. But not this
harlot, not this harlot. No, sir. She's an object of God's
sovereign grace. This is the beauty of God's word.
It never attempts to cover the kind of people that God saves.
Never. In this book, Noah's actions
are declared. You remember Noah got drunk.
Abraham's shortcomings are revealed. He lied to two different kings
saying that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. Lot, Jacob, Samson, David, Solomon
are seen in the scriptures as they really are. God doesn't
attempt to hide it. It's the same with Christ's apostles. Thomas doubted the Lord Jesus. Philip was not sufficed with
Christ. You remember he said, show us
the Father, and that has sufficed with us. God in the flesh stood
before him, and he still wasn't satisfied. Peter denied his master. Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus. They all forsook the Lord. But
other than Judas, God, by His sovereign grace, saved them all,
every one. Now those words harlot and saint
do not go together in our self-righteous way of thinking, do they? A harlot
and a saint? Religion would prefer that we
call Rahab a reformed harlot, or they would prefer that we
say she had changed and turned over a new leaf. It's the same. Modern day religion would say
that she became a better person. And because of that, God saved
her. I remember growing up, you know,
I hear people all the time say things like, well, I got to get
this straightened up in my life and then I'll come to the Lord. Well, you'll never come to the
Lord because you'll never get your life straightened up. And
that reminds me of the passage we looked at Sunday in 1 Timothy
1 where Paul referred to himself as a blasphemer, as a persecutor. He said that he was injurious,
that he injured folks. You know the story of Paul, Saul,
But God showed him mercy in spite of all those things. And what
did Paul say? He said, I obtained mercy. And
he did so by sovereign grace. It's the same with all God's
saints. It's the same with all the elect of God. And it's certainly
the case with Rahab. She too obtained mercy. And it's called sovereign mercy.
And it's called sovereign grace. you know, just as the diamonds
and the pearls glitter against that black backdrop of the jewelers. I'll never forget the time that
I, it was one of our anniversaries, I don't remember, whichever one
it is for pearls, I wanted to get Teresa some pearl earrings,
and I didn't know, I don't know anything about jewelry, still
don't, didn't then. And she pulled out these pearls,
earrings, not expensive. And I'm like, oh, they look nice.
And then she reached down behind the counter and pulled out that
black felt pad she had and laid those pearls on that black pad,
and they just, as we say, popped. I'm like, wow, those are really
nice. Well, it's the same, dear friends, when God's sovereign
grace, with God's sovereign grace, it just glitters in glory and
majesty against the black drop of our sin and depravity. Now
this harlot, the same as all saved sinners, is made righteous
by the blood of Christ. That's the only way a sinner
can be made righteous and holy before God. She may be Rahab
the harlot but she's also Saint Rahab. But God will not have
us to forget that she was a sinner saved by the sovereign grace
of God and she is forever referred in scripture to or as Rahab the
harlot. It can never be said that she
was not an object of sovereign grace. In Hebrews chapter 11,
that chapter of God's great hall of faith, it said of Rahab in
verse 31 there, by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with
them that believed not. Why? Because she believed. when
she had received the spies with peace." Now, hold your place
here in Joshua 2 again, and I want you to turn with me to the book
of James chapter 2. James chapter 2 and verse 24.
James 2 verse 24. We'll go back to Joshua 2 and
I'll leave you there. I'm pretty sure the rest of the
message. But here in James chapter 2,
verse 24, James here writes, you see then how that by works
a man is justified and not by faith only. Well, now wait a
minute, preacher. You've been telling me for years
now that a man's not justified by works. Well, hold on a second.
So James asked this question in verse 25. He says, likewise
also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had
received the messengers and had sent them out another way? For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead also. How is Rahab, or any saved sinner
for that matter, justified by their works? Our works do not
justify us. Our works are the effects of
our justification, not the reason. Our works are the result of the
faith God gives us. You see, justification by a work
of ours would do nothing but frustrate the grace of God, making
void the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our good work never go
before justification, never. Our faith in Christ is the fruit,
it's the effect of us being justified. Good works are the proof that
God saved us by his sovereign grace in Christ and has given
us life. It certainly proved so with Rahab and does so with
all the elect of God. Now she knew these messengers,
these spies were of God. What proved that? Well, she received
them, we're told, and she sent them out another way safely. And did you notice here, I've
just got to mention this, because it's right in front of us, but
did you notice that James calls these spies here messengers? I thought that was quite interesting.
The word actually means shepherd or pastors. It even gives reference
to angels. Angels are messengers of God.
And that's what the spies picture in our text. What was their message? Well, it was no doubt the same
as ours. The wrath of God's coming on
all those that are without Christ, all those found in sin, all those
that have offended God's law and God's justice. God, because
of sin, is angry with the wicked, and He's angry with them every
day. God's gonna destroy his enemies. But Rahab, like Abraham, believed
God, and it was counted unto her for righteousness. And it's
easy to see in this chapter that Rahab believed God, and we've
said it many times. Abraham just didn't believe there
was a God. Most everybody believes there's
a God. Abraham didn't just believe some things about God. Most everybody
knows and believes some things about God. But Abraham believed
God. Do you believe God? Do you believe
what His Word says? Do you believe these things that
I preach unto you? He believed what God said and
so did Rahab through the many messengers that came and stayed
in her house. I can just imagine. Someone shows
up and stays in her house. Ms. Rahab, did you hear what
happened in Egypt? Well, God sent plagues one right
after the other. And finally, Pharaoh said, get
out of here and take all this stuff with you. Ms. Rahab, did you hear what happened
at the Red Sea? Pharaoh pursued the people of
Israel, after He had let them go and He was about to slaughter
them. And the Lord God of heaven and
earth, while He opened up the Red Sea and they passed safely
on dry ground. That's sovereign grace. Did you
hear what Israel's God did to old King Sihon and old King Og? That's what a preacher is. He's
a messenger, nothing more. Paul said, I plant in Paul's
waters, but God gives the increase. Bringing the message for sinners
to flee the wrath of God, which is to come. We've got to get
to Christ. It's what Danny Bruce says all
the time. No, you got to get to Christ. Rahab's actions show that she
truly believed God. If not, her faith would have
not proved to be genuine. That's what James meant when
he said, without works. Our faith is nothing. It doesn't
mean a thing. Faith without works is dead,
being alone. But the people of God are not
saved Because of works, my dad used to use that term, good folks,
a lot. He would say, oh, so-and-so and
their family, well, they're just good folks. But the people of
God are not saved because they're good folks. They consider themselves
to be wretched, just ask them. They consider themselves to be
less than the least. They're made holy and righteous
by the substitutionary sacrifice and righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. No other way. That's the only
way. Christ didn't come into the world to save good folks.
He came into the world to save sinners. Paul says a faithful
saint worthy of all our acceptance. Christ Jesus came to the world
to save sinners. And because they are depraved
sinners, only a sovereign God can save them. And that's why
it's called sovereign grace. Rahab married Salmon and gave
birth to Boaz, as you know, was the kinsman redeemer. Boaz married
Ruth and To her was born Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse,
and Jesse was the father of David. And Rahab is in the genealogy
of the Lord Jesus Christ. A harlot? Well, let me tell you
something. She wasn't a harlot anymore.
No, she wasn't a harlot anymore. Her recorded history begins here
in Joshua chapter two. So just for a few minutes longer,
let me give you some things to consider from this chapter. And
as I said, we'll look in more depth next time the Lord will
it. First, we see in Joshua 2, verse one, that these spies were
sent out by Joshua to spy secretly. You know, as I thought about
that, I thought that's what spying was. It's doing something secretly. You know, you don't walk into
a room and go, hey, I'm a spy. I used to think, though, that
that spoke of the spies secretly snooping around in Jericho, but
I don't think Joshua sent these spies to Jericho in secret as
to not be discovered by those living in Jericho. I believe
their spying was to be kept secret from the children of Israel.
The way I read that now, Joshua didn't want the people of Israel
to think that he had doubts about possessing the land of promise.
Because he didn't. He didn't. Why, him and Caleb,
two of the twelve spies, were the only two that believed God.
And him and Caleb said, let's go, let's take this land. I ain't
worried about no giants. I ain't worried about no big
walled cities like Jericho. So he didn't secretly send these
spies because he had any doubt about God being faithful to his
promise. It seems to me that the information
that these spies gathered was about he wanted to know how the
people of Jericho felt, where their mindset was. And this information
that the spies gathered was to be for the ears of Joshua only. His interest was not whether
Israel could defeat and take Jericho. He was already confident
of that. His interest seems to be towards
the minds and the attitude of the people of Jericho. Look down
at verse 24 here in Joshua 2. The spies said to Joshua upon
their return, truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands
all the land. Who told them that? Well, Joshua
had. Joshua, the Lord told Joshua
and Joshua told the people of Israel, the Lord's given us this
land, it's ours. He's gonna defeat our enemies.
We don't have anything to be concerned about. And then the
spies continue by saying, for even all the inhabitants of the
country do faint because of us. Joshua knew that God had caused
his name to be declared throughout the region as Rahab, later confesses. And isn't that what Paul tells
us in Romans chapter 9, verse 17? He said that's, for the Scripture
said, for this very reason have I raised up Pharaoh, that God
might show forth His power in Pharaoh. God easily defeated
Pharaoh, who was the most powerful man in the world at that time.
Why, everybody feared Pharaoh. He conquered nation after nation.
But in verse nine, Rahab said, I
know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your terror
is falling upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you. That's because God's name was
declared and his power declared throughout the land. Everybody
that came into her house, as I said a moment ago, was talking
about this. It was big news. Rahab had heard
some things, and friends, Rahab believed these things that she
heard. Now the question is, do we? Do
we? Do we believe the things that
we've heard? Look at verse 10. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. He did that for
you. when you came out of Egypt, and
what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on
the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these
things, our hearts didn't melt, and neither did there remain
any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Oh, this harlot had been revealed
some things, and it was by sovereign grace. Now, another interesting
observation is that when the presence of these two spies was
discovered by, and the king or some of his people questioned
her about it, she lied about where they were. Now some folks
are immediately going to ask, is it a sin to lie? Of course
it is. Of course it is. Yet Rahab's
lie was a sin that justified her faith. And that's not to
teach us that lying is okay. That's not what I'm trying to
say. That's not the case at all. But this does teach us that God
did not and does not prevent making use of men and women's
sinfulness to accomplish His purpose. Psalm 76, 10, you know
the verse well, it says, Surely the wrath of man shall praise
Thee, and the remainder of wrath shall God restrain. In the book
of Acts chapter 4, Luke wrote, of their own will and hatred
for Christ, Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Jews, and the Gentiles all
gathered together against the Lord Jesus for to do whatsoever
God's counsel determined before the foundation of the world. It doesn't excuse their evil.
It doesn't excuse their hatred for Christ. But God used that
to accomplish his sovereign will and purpose. And Sharon, that's
why it's called sovereign grace. Rahab lied and saved the spies.
but it was not her lie that worked the righteousness of God. Only
the work of Christ can do that. However, Rahab's sin did accomplish
God's grand design and divine purpose and providence. And from
her confession to the spies, we see that she believed God
and she bowed to his greatness. She heard, she believed, and
she sought mercy. That's what sinners do when they
see who and what they are and who God is. It most certainly
is. Rahab lived in a doomed world,
but she sought to be delivered one way, by the sovereign mercy
and grace of God. Oh, a picture of the gospel is
seen how the Lord preserved the lives of the spies by her keeping
her promise to them. She told them she would let down
from her rooftop, she would let them down by a scarlet cord. You remember that? There's no
doubt as to what that scarlet cord refers to, pictures and
typifies. It's a picture of God's salvation
by the scarlet blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that same
scarlet cord that saved the spies that hung in Rahab's window and
later saved her life when Israel came to destroy Jericho. Scarlet
cord, the blood of Christ. Like the blood on the doorposts
and windows of the houses of Israel in Goshen, those who remained
in the house were saved. Look at the words of the spies
in verse 18. It says, Behold, when we come into
the land, thou shalt bind this land of scarlet thread in the
window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shalt bring
thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's
household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his head, and will be guiltless. And whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head,
if any hand be upon thee." In other words, stay in the house. Stay in the house. In other words,
come into the ark. In other words, get into the
city of refuge. All picturing Christ. Every one
of them. That scarlet thread, the house
found in the house of Rahab. That ark in which Noah and his
family were saved. Oh, the wrath of God fell on
them the same as it did the world. But they were saved in that ark. And that ark is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, get you into the city of
refuse, the avenger of blood's on your heels. But if you can
get into that city, you're saved. And everything's gonna be all
right. Oh, I love the story of Rahab the harlot, I do. It beautifully
displays the sovereignty of God in the salvation of needy and
undeserving sinners. God shows us our spiritual condition
very often in the physical condition of certain men and women found
in the scriptures. I am that blind beggar found
by the highway side begging for mercy. That's a picture of me.
I need the sovereign mercy and grace of God. I do. I am that
lame and impotent man that laid there at the pool of Bethesda,
which is the house of mercy. I cannot lift myself up when
the angel stirs the water. I'm lame on both of my feet from
a great fall, just like Mephibosheth was. Why I'm that dead man that
Christ raised at the city gate of Nain? Because I'm dead in
trespasses and sin. And I am that man full of leprosy
who the Lord can heal, only if He will, but He's never turned
down one needy sinner. I'm that man with a withered
hand. I can't do any work or do anything for myself. Christ
must do for me what God requires. That's me. I have withered hand
and withered feet and a withered heart. And I'm like that woman
with the issue of blood. My issue of blood is a disease
called sin. And I'm that deaf and dumb man
that threw himself into the fire and into the deep waters, causing
myself great harm and pain. I'm that possessed man that lived
among the tombs, that needed divine deliverance. And I am
Rahab the harlot. I've sold myself out to my lovers
of sin. And unless God do for me what
he did for her and provide me with that scarlet cord of Christ's
blood, I'll forever perish in my sin. You see, friends, my
only hope of redemption and your only hope of redemption is that
my Hosea, the Lord Jesus Christ, purchase me as I stand there
on the slave block of sin and make me His own as Hosea did
Gomer. And my dear friends, that can
only be accomplished by God's sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now in verse 20, the spy said,
if thou utter this, our business, then we will be quit of thine
oath, which thou has made us to swear. And look what she said,
verse 21, according unto your words, so be it. And she sent
them away and they departed. And look at this, she bound,
she bound the scarlet line in the window. Did you notice her answer? She
said, amen, in verse 21, according unto your word, so be it. I believe
that's what the word amen means, so be it. Amen. And do you see what she did next?
As soon as these men departed, she hung, she bound that scarlet
line in the window. No sooner than they got out the
door, she hung that cord in her window. The Word of God says
she bound it. I got to thinking about that.
How tight do you think she bound that? Huh? I bet she knotted
it. I bet she double knotted it.
I bet she triple knotted it, triple bound it. With each knot
she pulled it as tight as she could. I don't want this coming
down. Now these men didn't tell her
when Joshua was coming. No man or woman knows the day
or the hour that our Joshua, the Lord Jesus, will come. We
don't. There's men that have predicted it time and time again.
I'll never forget one man that predicted it. I can't think of
his name right now, but it doesn't matter. He predicted it like
two or three times. And one time, Brother Mahan was
in a meeting with him out in California back in the 60s, I
think, when he heralded Camping. That's who it was. I don't mind
saying who it was. And someone asked Brother Mahan
when he was predicting that at the time Brother Mahan was with
him, and they said, well, what do you think about Brother Camping's
prediction and Brother Henry? Wisely said, I hope he's right. No argument, no fuss, it won't
do any good. I hope he's right. Ready for
the Lord to come. But we don't know when he's coming.
And I wonder, I just wonder how many times she checked that scarlet
cord, making sure it was still there. Did someone come and steal
it? Well, the thief cometh but to
steal and kill and destroy. I can just see her every hour
of every day, she's looking in that window, making sure that
scarlet cord is still there. Every hour, every day. Are we
looking? Are we looking? Now let me close
by turning you over to Joshua chapter 6. And I want you to
read with me verse 21. This is the account of when the
fullness of time for Rahab had come. In Joshua chapter 6, verse
21, it says, And they, that being Israel, Joshua and the armies
of Israel, utterly destroyed all that was in the city, that
being the city of Jericho, both man and woman, young and old,
ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword. Listen, it
don't matter who you are, how old, how young, how rich, how
poor. If you go out to meet God without the Lord Jesus Christ,
without that scarlet cord in your heart, you're gonna perish. But look at verse 22. But Joshua
had said unto the two men, that spied out the country, go into
the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all
that she hath, as you swear unto her." As you promised unto her. You see, that's a covenant. That's
the covenant of God's promise, Christ's promise to His people.
What did Rahab do? She stayed in the house. Stayed
upon Jehovah. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding,
as He promised, as He swore, perfect peace and rest. It's called sovereign grace.