Our lesson this morning will
be taken from Joshua chapter 2. I hope to bring several messages
from this chapter, but today I want us to read all
the way through. My subject is this, and it kind
of opens the chapter up, a trophy of grace. Every man saved by
the Lord is a trophy of His grace. And in order to get a clear picture,
I want us to read the whole of the chapter. So let's read Joshua
chapter 2, beginning with verse 1. And Joshua the son of Nun
sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view
the land, even Jerry Cole. Now, before I read any further,
I made mention last week about the Jordan River being at flood
stage. And I've often wondered, how
did these men get across that river, these two spies? Well,
a little later on, he talks about the fords where they would take
wagons and ford the river or pass through the river. So evidently,
there was boards quite a ways away from them, and that's how
these two spies, I suppose, passed over that river. It never says. He sent out a shit of two men
to spy secretly saying, go view the land, even Jericho. And they
went and came into the harlot's house named Rahab and lodged
there. And it was told the king of Jericho,
saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children
of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent
unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee,
which are entered into thy house, for they be come to search out
all the country. The woman took the two men and
hid them, and said thus, said to the king, there came men unto
me, but I wish not whence they were. And it came to pass about
the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men
went out, whither the men went I want not. Pursue after them
quickly, for you shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to
the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of which
she laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan unto the fords. So they knew that this was the
only place they could cross that river. And so from Jericho they
went back that way. And as soon as they which pursued
after them were gone out, they shut the gate. Before they were
laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof And she said unto
the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and
that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. But we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came
out of Egypt. And we also heard what you did
unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of
Jordan, Sion and Og. whom you utterly destroyed. And
as soon as we'd heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither
did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For
the Lord your God, he is God in heaven alone and in earth
beneath. Now, therefore, I pray you swear
unto me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness that you will
also show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token,
and that you will save alive my father and my mother and my
brethren and my sisters and all that they have and deliver our
lives from death. And the man answered her, our
life were yours if you utter not this our business. And it
shall be when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal
kindly and truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord
through the window, for her house was upon the town wall. And she
went up on the wall, and she said unto them, Get ye to the
mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there
three days, until the pursuers be returned. And afterward, may
ye go your way. And the men said unto her, We
will be blameless of this thou knowest, which thou hast made
us swear. Behold, when we come into this
land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window,
which thou didst let us down by. 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 on his head, and we will be guiltless. And whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head,
if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business,
then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us
to swear. And she said, according unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they
went and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not. So the two men returned
and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to
Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them. And they said unto Joshua, Truly
the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land, for even
the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. Now one man wrote this in his
commentary on these verses. He said that in this chapter,
the Holy Spirit introduces to us a wonderful trophy of His
grace, and her name is Rahab. Rahab. Was Rahab a believer? The Scripture
says she was. She was. In James chapter 2,
verse 25, it says that her faith, By grace, or you say through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. It says
that her faith was justified by her works when she had received
the messengers. They were spies concerning Joshua
and Israel, but they were messengers to Rahab. And when she had sent them out
another way. And you can read basically the same thing over
in Hebrews chapter 11 That's the roll call effect over there,
and mentions the same thing. From the standpoint of Joshua
and Israel, they were spies, unto her they were messengers.
And in the Gospel according to Matthew, he writes that Salmon,
who's that? That's Rahab's husband, after
Israel took over the land, they kept their promises, they were
kind to her, she married one of the Israelites, his name was
Salmon. And Salmon was the father of
Boaz. You remember our study in Ruth. She begat Boaz of Rahab, and
Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David
the king. So here's this woman that was
a harlot. And in those days, the harlots,
with their money, purchased inns, and most of them were innkeepers,
as well as being harlots. And evidently, this was either
something these spies thought, well, if we go into the house
of a harlot, they're not going to look for us there, or it was
the only lodging in Jericho. But this is where they went.
And Rahab is an example of God's sovereign grace. And if time
will allow, I have three things this morning I want us to see,
just in a general overlook of the chapter. We've already read
about the scarlet thread. Well, that's a message I'll let
sit. And other things in this chapter. But if time will allow
me this morning, I want us to see in this woman called Rahab
several things. First of all, I want us to see
that at the very beginning of God's kingdom being established,
he pictures in Rahab the salvation of the Gentiles. Remember that
this is a picture of God's kingdom being established on this earth.
And what was the very first thing that he did when he began to
establish this kingdom? The mystery of the Gentiles. Now Rahab was not a woman brought
up in the worship of God. I doubt that she had access to
the Word of God. And there was no one among her
people who had any interest in a coming Redeemer. She was a
Gentile. To the Gentile believers at Ephesus,
Paul said that before faith came, he gave a description. He told
them to remember where you come from. Remember who you are. At that time, he said, you were
without Christ. What does that mean? Does that
mean Christ didn't exist till a certain time? What's he talking
about? You were without Christ. They had no knowledge of a promised
redeemer. no knowledge of God's purpose
in salvation in his Son, or all the promises concerning God coming
into the flesh, doing for chosen sinners what they couldn't do
for themselves. And they were aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel. You had no connection. A Gentile
had no connection to the promises of God they were given to Israel.
All the promises of God are given to his elect. First thing has
to be established, are you elect? And there's no way you can know
that unless God gives you faith and a revelation of Jesus Christ. All that the Father gave it to
me shall come to me. They were aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel, had no connections to them and the promises, had
no relationships. with the Son of God. They were
strangers also of the covenants of promise, especially the everlasting
covenant of grace. The very first time I heard that,
I said, where is that? I've been going to church all
my life. I never heard one word about a covenant, especially
an everlasting covenant. And listen to this. Having no hope. There is no hope
but Christ. If you're ignorant of Christ,
there's no hope for you. Salvation is in the Lord. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. If you don't have Christ, you
have no hope. And without God, you can't have
God apart from Christ. We're accepted in the blood.
Chosen in Him. Made for living for Him. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. You not only had any hope, but
you were without God and you were in the world, in a fallen
world. And you and I are Gentiles. You
say, well, what's all this got to do with me? Exactly the same
thing it had to do with her. We're all Gentiles. Heathens. Left for a while to
hope in our vain imaginations. Left to worship idols. satanic
religion and its influence. Rahab was a harlot. And while that may seem as it
ought in our day to be a despicable profession, yet it was common
and acceptable in her day. I personally have said and done
a lot of things growing up in false religion that God denounces
in His Word as an abomination. This world is ignorant of God.
Men and women, for the most part, are left to themselves and whatever
outside influence they have to form opinions about God. We have a conscience and we have
creation. That's all we have of God. And
no man is going to be saved by conscience and creation. But
it does leave them without excuse. Without excuse. Paul said this,
they walk in a vanity of their mind, their understanding being
darkened. We did things in our church services
that we called worship, but God calls an abomination. We sang
songs with a message contrary to the character of God. And sometimes we even wept while
we sang. Does that make it okay? No. It makes an abomination. We listen to preaching contrary
to the Word of God, contrary to the purpose of God, and contrary
to the promises of God in Christ, and thought we were doing God
a service. We thought we were actually worshipping God. But what's your point here, Pastor?
My point is this. Because something is agreeable
to men, doesn't make it okay with God. Somebody said, that's
right. Better not take his word for
it. Better go find out in the word of God what God says. What was unthinkable to us in
the 50s is commonplace today. You never heard the word, very
seldom, heard the word homosexual, that wasn't even spoken. It wasn't
even spoken in the 50s. It was a shame to even say the
word. It's as commonplace as it is.
It's in commercials, it's in everything you see today. And
because something seems acceptable to this world doesn't mean it's
acceptable to God. Rahab was a harlot. Her profession
is used to picture worldly religion. You think about that. What a
trophy of God's sovereign grace as every Gentile believer called
out of darkness into his marvelous light. So Rahab is a beautiful
picture of the salvation of the Gentiles. A mysterious thing
happened. They went in there to spy out
the land and God saved this woman, this harlot. of all the people
that dwelt there. Priests, and religious folks,
and good folks, as some people say. Huh? God saves the heart. He did the same thing when Christ
came, and the religious folks said the same thing that people
say today. If he knew who that woman was, he knew who that woman
was, knew what she was. There's a beautiful picture of
the Gentiles. And then the second thing I see
here is an example of one of the many trophies of God's sovereign
grace. Well, you say, how so? Well,
first of all, by an act of God's sovereign election. Who's God
going to save in this world? Those he chose in Christ. Isn't
that what Paul wrote those Thessalonians after he established their election
of God? Then he writes them a letter
and he said, God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel. They said, if thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you. You believe
not, because you are not of my people, not of my sheep. So I see in this lady here God's
sovereign election. To be one of God's elect is not
just to be called to the possibility of salvation, but to salvation,
and that by the ordained means of God and by the provision given
us in His Son before the world was. And Paul said his apostleship
and place as a servant of God, now listen to this, was according
to the faith of God's elect, Titus 1. The faith of who? God's elect. Is there going to
be faith anywhere else? No. No. And that's how our election is
made known, by faith. She's a trophy of God's sovereign
grace by an act of divine election. And then secondly, I know this
because of an act of God's prevenient grace. First thing she told those
men is, we heard. We heard what happened. We heard
how God delivered you out of Egypt. Split that sea and drowned
Pharaoh and his army in it. We heard that. We heard how you
came up here to the edge of this land. We heard how you're coming
in here and God's going to establish you in this land. And we know
something about the terror that accompanies the people of God. And their God's God. He's God. He's God over all these little
gods that people make up. He's God. Not told how she heard, only
that she did hear that God was coming with his people to occupy
their land and that all their courage had melted away. This
world belongs to God and His elect are heirs together with
His Son. That's what Paul said. Don't
you know this world's yours? If you're an heir of His Son,
it is. And wherever God determines to
establish His kingdom, He's going to establish it. And they can
fight and kick and mock and do everything. They can jump up
and down and call you a bunch of Antichrist people, they come
up with every kind of name on the sun for the elect of God. But it doesn't stop God from
establishing His kingdom. If He wants a church right here,
He'll have a church right here. And when He's done with it, I
don't care what you do, it'll fade away into nothing. God's prevenient grace And John
said, And of his fullness have we all received grace for grace. And Rahab is a trophy of God's
grace, thirdly, by a revelation of God's salvation in Israel.
God has a people He chose before the foundation of the world,
and for whom He made special provision in His Son. Everything
He promised in His Son, they're going to have. They're going
to have. Not because of any merit in them,
but because of who He chose them in, and the provision He made
for them in His Son. Their success hangs on the person
of His Son, and therefore it's as sure as God is God. Because He could swear by no
greater, He swore by Himself. How do you think about that? Egypt was one of the greatest
nations in the ancient world, and God overturned him without
a single man raising a sword. He wouldn't even let the dogs
in Egypt bark in resistance. They wagged their tail when Israel
left Egypt. And he come up, and these two
Amorite kings are going to stand up against Israel, and he utterly
destroyed them. There wasn't anything left. And then lastly, I want us to
see this woman as she is in herself. The name Rahab means pride. What a contradiction of terms. A proud sinner. A proud prostitute. Can you imagine? What a contradiction
of terms. But she's going to bear the name
of her past, not as a judgment. Not as a judgment, but as a trophy
of His grace. In the Roke Hall of Faith, in
Hebrews 11, she's called Rahab the harlot. As a judgment? No. He's not talking about a
judgment. He's talking about His blessings
on her. In the examples of God justifying
his faith given to us in the book of James, he selects two
of God's saints to prove his point. Now listen, Abraham, and
of all the believers in the world, who else? Rahab the harlot. Huh? What do you think about
that? Old Simon, he came, he was covered
with leprosy, and God cleansed him. But for the rest of his
days, he's going to be known in the Scripture as Simon the
leper. As a judgment? No. As a trophy of God's grace. There was a madman who lived
in the tombs of Gadara, whom God saved and gave a sanctified
mind, but he'll forever be called the Gadarene demoniac. That's
a judgment? Uh-uh. That's a trophy of God's
grace. He'll wear that name. Paul said, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this
world to save sinners, now listen, of whom I am chief. I'm Paul
the sinner, but I'm Paul the saint. And for this cause, Paul said,
I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. Why must she wear this name Harlot
being a saved and sanctified woman? Why must she wear this
name Harlot? To give all the other Harlots
a reason for hope. Huh? That's why. What about the
lepers? Now there stands an example.
God cleansed him. And on and on you can go. Huh? Oh. Can I take my place with those
sinners? Oh, I hope so. I hope so. I hope I can wear
that name of my past without fear, knowing that that name's
not a judgment put on me, but as a trophy of God's grace and
an example of the power of God to save sinners. All right.