I want us to continue with the
same theme that we were considering this morning, that of how justifying
faith is justified, as we see here in the general epistle of
James. And as we continue with that
same theme then, I want now to direct you to the words that
we have here at the end of chapter 2. In James chapter 2, and verses
25 and 26. 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. This morning we were considering
more particularly what he said here concerning the faith of
Abram. Abram, the great pattern of saving
faith, Abram the father of all them that believe. And so we
were looking at those words previously, verse 21 following, was not Abram
our father? Justified by words when he had
offered Isaac his son upon the altar. so you see how faith was
brought with his works and by works was faith made perfect
and the scripture was fulfilled which says Abram believed God
and he was imputed or counted or reckoned unto him for righteousness
and he was called the friend of God so we said that Abram
was justified before God by faith in the promised seed. He wasn't
justified before God by any works that he had performed. He was
justified before God by faith in the promised seed. And that
seed was the Lord Jesus Christ. He was fully persuaded that what
God had promised he was able also to perform and therefore
it was imputed to him, that is, the promised seed was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now, obviously, historically
and physically that seed is identified with Isaac, the son that was
to be born to Sarah. But Isaac is such a remarkable
type of the Lord Jesus Christ as we see in Galatians 3.16.
How significant is that third chapter of the Galatian epistle. And there in Galatians 3.16 it
is stated quite clearly concerning Abraham, thy seed which is Christ. And the Lord Jesus himself in
John 8 says to the Jewish, your father Abram rejoiced to see
my day. And he saw it and was glad. Abram
saw the day of the Lord Jesus. He saw it in type, he saw it
there on the Mount Moriah. Those events that are recorded
in Genesis chapter 22 where he's commanded to take his son, his
only son, and to offer him for a sacrifice. And when we read
of Abram in Hebrews 11 in that great catalogue of the faithful
of the Old Testament. What do we read there at verse
17? By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and
he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten
son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called
accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the
dead from whence also he received him in a figure because Abram
doesn't sacrifice his son, there is that provision that God makes
as a substitute. There's the ram that's caught
there in the thicket by its horns, it's to be offered and so he receives Isaac as it were from
the dead. It's all typical, it's all directing
Abram to that true seed that was to come, Christ the seed
of Abraham, Christ the seed of the woman, Christ the seed of
David, the promised one, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Here is where Abraham is justified
before God by faith in Him that was to come. But I said this
morning that what James is really speaking of here is how that
justifying faith is itself justified by works. Works not before God
but works before man. We know that by the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. If Abram was justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. There's no works
that we have ever done that can justify us before God, that count
us righteous before God. All our righteousnesses are pronounced
as filthy rags. But in this whole section of
the epistle, James is speaking of those works that are to be
seen of man. Remember verse 18, I will show
you my faith by my works. There's an emphasis on works. Again, in verse 22, see how faith
wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect,
he says. Again, in verse 24, he's seen
it, that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only. Oh yes, before God, he is justified
by faith in the Son of God. But how do we know that that
faith is true faith, and not false faith? How do we know that
that's a living faith, not a dead faith? Well, works, what the
man does. that truth that follows. Let your light so shine before
men, says the Lord Jesus, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. We were thinking
this morning then of what he said here concerning Abraham
and Abraham's faith And now I want us to turn to see something with
regards to the faith of Rahab, but still taking up this theme
of how justifying faith is justified, made to appear genuine by those
good works that follow. Coming to consider something
of what's said here in these last two verses of the chapter,
likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when
she had received the messengers, the spies, and had sent them
out another way. For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also." First of all,
the person. The person of Rahab. Who was
she? What was she? What was her profession? Well, we read quite clearly here
of that profession. Rahab the harlot. She was a prostitute. She was
a prostitute. A woman of the streets, we might
say. And yet, in time, she marries a prince. A prince in Israel. A man called Saman. And he was
the father of Boaz. the Boaz that we read of in the
Book of Ruth. Quite remarkable really because
this woman Rahab is actually named in the genealogy of the
Lord Jesus. There in Matthew chapter 1 verses
5 and 6 remember how the New Testament begins with that genealogy
of Christ, his ancestors, and amongst them is Rahab. She was in fact the great, great
grandmother of David. And yet here we're told she was
a harlot, she was a prostitute. It does seem that that's some
sort of an embarrassment to the Jews. There's a book of theirs,
the Targum. It's a sort of paraphrase of
the Old Testament, probably a bit more than a paraphrase. It's a little bit of an exposition
of parts of the Old Testament. And in that Targum, they say
she was not a prostitute, but she kept a vitriol in house.
the guest house as it were. And you can see why they might
say that because when the two spies go in to search out Jericho,
they go to her house. It was like a place where people
would go. She was keeping a sort of public
house even. Well that's what the Jews might
say, but the scripture is quite clear on several occasions. There in Joshua of course, We
read the portions in chapter 2 and chapter 6 and she's referred
to as a harlot. And when we come to the New Testament
also we see that in what we have recorded in Hebrews 11 and again
here in this epistle of Jairus. So what is her profession? I
think we're left without any doubt that she was a common prostitute. But then also thinking of the
person of this woman, what people is she from? Jericho was one
of the cities of the Canaanites. And of course the Canaanites
along with other peoples were those who occupied that land
that God had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. and
they were wicked people and they were to be utterly destroyed
when the children of Israel are brought out of the bondage of
Egypt, God is going to lead them into that land and they are to
utterly destroy all the inhabitants of the land. Why? Because of
their great wickedness. And amongst the cities is Jericho
and Jericho is to be destroyed in Deuteronomy. There in Deuteronomy
chapter 20 at verse 16 and the following verses we read of those
cities of the Canaanites. Of the cities of these people
which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance thou
shalt save alive, nothing that breatheth. But thou shalt utterly
destroy them, namely the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites,
and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord
thy God hath commanded thee, that they teach you not to do
after all their abominations which they have done unto their
gods. So should you sin against the Lord your God. All the cities
are to be destroyed, And so it was with Jericho, as we read
there in the sixth chapter of Joshua. And what does it say there at
verse 17? The city shall be accursed, and
even all that are therein are an accursed people. And those
solemn words that we have at the end of that portion that
we read in that sixth chapter, And Joshua adjured them at that
time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up
and buildeth this city Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof
in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up
the gates thereof. He adjures them. Joshua adjured
them. What does that mean? Well, he
charged them under oath and curse. that they were never to rebuild
that wicked city of Jericho. And this is where this woman
belongs. She's one of the inhabitants, a citizen of Jericho, the Canaanite
citizen. Now, subsequently, we do read
that the city was rebuilt in the first book of Kings, chapter
16, a man called Hiram. And it says he laid the foundation
in his firstborn and set up the gates in his youngest son. It was just as Joshua had said
all those many, many years before. And here is Rahab. She's of that
people, she's of that city. But this woman, it appears, was
a woman of faith. And strange as it may sound,
she had faith before ever she received the spies, as we see
there in Hebrews 11.31. By faith, it says, the harlot
Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had
received the spies with peace. Those who perished, you see,
they believed not. that she perish not with them
that believe not, when she had received, and mark the word it
says she had, it's a simple past tense, having received, she received
those men in faith. Remarkable as it might sound,
where sin abounds, grace doth so much more abound. This is
the truth concerning this woman. There are none beyond that sovereign
grace of the Lord God. And of course, the epistle to
the Corinthians, that first epistle, and what Paul says concerning
them, there in chapter 6, verse 9, is addressing the church,
of course. We must not forget that when
we read these epistles. They are letters to churches.
And he says to these people in the church at Corinth, Know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminers, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners. What a catalogue! These shall
not inherit the kingdom of God, Paul says. And then these amazing
words, such were some of you, all such were some of you, but
you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The remarkable things that God
in His goodness leaves on record here in Holy Scripture concerning
the wonders of that salvation that was wrought and accomplished
by the Lord Jesus. Oh, the greatest sinner out of
hell, who lives to fill his need, is welcome at the throne of grace.
That precious blood to plead, that precious blood that cleanses
from all foul sins. And this woman, you see, as I
say she's there, In the New Testament, in the very first chapter of
the New Testament Scriptures in the Gospel, according to St. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 5
we read, O Sammon begat Boaz of Rahab. This is the person then that
we have here and what do we read concerning Rahab? Likewise also was not Rahab the
harlot justified by work when she had received the messengers
and had sent them out another way. It's in her works that we
see the reality of her faith. And we see something of the strength
of the faith of this woman. Or we see something of the strength
of her faith. Those cities in the Promised
Land were walled cities. Remember when Joshua sends out
the spies in the book of Numbers, there in Numbers chapter 13,
he sends out the spies throughout all the land and amongst them
of course we have Joshua and Caleb And they are faithful men,
believing men. They come back with a good report
concerning the land. It's a flourishing land. It's
flowing with milk and honey. This is the promise that God
has given to Abraham and the patriarchs. They're going to
inherit this land, but those other spies, they come back with
an evil report, because there are great giants in the land.
Must have been men, you know, like And Goliath, the Philistine,
warrior-type people. They'd seen these people, they'd
also looked at the cities. And what do we read there in
Numbers 13, 28? The cities are walled and very
great. That's what these spies say.
Oh, they're so fortified, their cities. And what of Joshua? Well, it's one of those cities.
Sorry, Jericho. Jericho's one of those cities. And at the beginning of chapter
6 in Joshua we're told how Jericho was straightly shut up. When
the children of Israel come there they're going to lay siege to
this great city and it is straightly shut up. Now the margin, sometimes
the margin readings are very helpful, they're alternative
readings, but often that a more literal rendering of what's there
in the original. And it's interesting there in
Joshua 6.1, the Hebrew literary says Joshua did shut up and was
shut up. That's a Hebraism. Jericho did shut up and was shut
up. It was straightly shut up. And
here is this woman, Rahab, she's living there on the walls. She's
living on the walls. And she must be aware, surely
she'd be aware, of the strong fortifications. Jericho is virtually
impregnable. But this is a woman of faith. She saw beyond physical things. Although as a fact we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. And that's what this woman is doing. She's like Moses. She's seeing
him who is invisible. And now we see her there in that
chapter that we read in chapter 2 of Joshua we see something
of a faith in the way in which she speaks to the spies when
she goes up to them on the roof verse 9 she says I know that
the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen
upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of
you. For 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
unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side,
Jordan, Sion and Ah, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon
as we 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 above and in earth
beneath. Oh, she is one who truly recognizes
that this God, the God of the Hebrews, is the true God. This
is the Lord, the Lord your God. He is the God in heaven above
and in the earth beneath. Now, therefore, I pray you, swear
unto me by the law, since I have showed you kindness, that you
will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me
a true token, and that ye will save the life of my father, and
my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they
have, and deliver our lives from death." Oh, she is speaking the
language of faith, faith in that true God, in spite of all that
her eyes witness with regards to the city and the fortifications. Here we see something of the
strength of the faith of this woman. She knew that with God
nothing is impossible. She asked these men to swear
by this God, the living God and the true God. She has faith. She has saving faith. She has
justifying faith. But then also, with regards to
this woman, we see that in a sense that faith is accompanied with
weakness. I suppose that's true of us all
in some sense. Dream not of faith so clear as
shuts all doubtings out, says the hymn writer. We're not sometimes broad to
acknowledge that we're little more than unbelieving believers. Our faith is so weak And this
woman, what does she do? Well, we're told here she's sent
out despised by another wife. And then what does she do? She
lies. She's a liar. She breaks the commandment. The
9th commandment says they shall not bear false witness. We said this morning in many
ways we see a similarity between the woman and her faith and also
Abraham and his faith. Abraham clearly did not justify
himself by obeying the law because the great incident that is spoken
of concerning the faith of Abraham is what's recorded in Genesis
22 where At the commandment of God, yes, but he is to sacrifice
his son, he is to offer his son. That would be the death of Isaac.
And the commandment is clear, the sixth commandment, thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not do any murder, but we could say, well,
with Abraham, you see, there's a mystery there because it's
God testing his faith. That's how that 22nd chapter
begins, isn't it? how God tempted or tried Abraham. But with this woman we don't read of God giving any
commandment to her, she just lies, she breaks the 9th commandment. So, if James is speaking of justification
by works, we might ask are the works that justify the sinner,
well surely we would have to recognize its obedience of all
God's commandments. It's our righteousness if we
observe to do all things that the Lord God hath commanded us.
There at the end of Deuteronomy chapter 6, that's what it says
in the Lord, it's our righteousness if we observe and do all the And if a man should obey all
the commandments and yet offend in one point, James says he's
guilty of all. Well, this woman has certainly
broken God's commandments in this point. She is a liar. She's
acted contrary to the ninth commandment. She's not justifying herself
by any works of the law. And solemnly we know that no
liars are to be found in heaven. There are no liars there in that
blessed abode, heaven. Look at Revelation, the last
verse there in chapter 21, there shall he no wise enter into it
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. No one that maketh a lie is in
heaven. Where are those liars? Well,
previously there were the sage, the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers. Oh, she was
a whore, that woman. And sorcerers, and idolaters,
and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone. which is the second death. Well that's, that's Rahab. And yet, what do we see? When
we read it, Rahab is silent. When that city is utterly destroyed
and burnt up and all its inhabitants, Rahab and all who were in her
house are saved and then she is received into the congregation
of the Lords. Joshua 6 verses 17 and 25. How remarkable, how remarkable, how
strange, how mysterious are God's works. Rahab received into the
congregation of Israel. Now Lying is not to be excused. Lying cannot be excused. Sometimes
I've thought like this. It was a time of war. And in
a time of war, to kill the enemy is not an act of murder. And we might say, well, what
of lying? It's a time of war. Interesting, back in the... In
the 19th century, there was a great minister in London, a strict
Baptist pastor, James Wells, sorry, Tabernacle. He had a vast
congregation, as vast as anything that Charles Spurgeon subsequently
had. And he preached on Rahab. And
in the course of his preaching, he did not condemn her for her
lies. He caused quite an uproar because many felt that that was
a wrong thing to say. say the least, it was the wrong
thing to say, to in any way excuse Rahab. There is difficulty with
Rahab and what she did and there is a mystery in Rahab and I don't
want to excuse Rahab but I do find encouragement really with
regards to the way in which the Lord deals with this woman because
she clearly is a justified person. She was justified. Likewise also
was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messengers and had sent them out another way. How was she
justified? Well she believed on him who
justifies the ungodly. That's what God does. The ungodly. and sinners who have no righteousness
and God justifies them. And how does he justify them?
By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the great apostolic
message, wasn't it? We referred this morning to Paul's
preaching at Antioch in Pisidia, there in the 13th of Acts. And what is the message? He preaches
faith. All that believe in Christ, by
Him all that believe are justified from all things that they could
not be justified from by the deeds of the Lord. All that's
looking to Christ, the Lord's, our righteousness, that's His
name. This is the name whereby He shall be called the Lord,
our righteousness. Jeremiah 23 and then 10 chapters
later, 33, this is the name with which she shall be called, the
Lord our righteousness. His name is the name that is
given also to his bride, given to the church, given to all those
who are the church, believers. And Rahab amongst all that blessed
name, Jehovah, Sidkenu. It's a lovely hymn, isn't it?
Robert Monty McShane. It's a shame it's not in Gatsby's
selection. It's a beautiful hymn. On Jehovah's
seed can you. I once was a stranger to grace
and to God. I knew not my burden, I felt
not my load. When friends spoke in raptures
of Christ on the tree. Be Jehovah's seed can you. It
meant nothing to me. Oh, but now you see. That's where
her righteousness was and is. It's the Lord our righteousness
and her justifying faith is justified
by what she did. She had faith and faith that
worketh by love. Did she not love the brethren? These two spies, these messengers
that come in or we know that we have passed from death unto
life, says John, because we love the brethren. And she wants to
identify with the children of Israel and she has received into Israel, into the congregation
of Israel, the congregation of the Lord. Yes, there is that
that we can criticize in the woman, but her faith was such
a real faith. And that's what James is really
declaring when he says that the harlot was justified by works. And how was that justifying faith
evidenced? By works? What sort of works?
Well, she received the messages. She sent them out another way.
And they were able to report back to Joshua and the city of
Jericho was duly taken. It's all in the gracious purpose
of God. The point I really want to make
today, as I said at the outset this morning, is that there's
no real contradiction between what this Apostle James says
and what the Apostle Paul says. also emphasizes that glorious
truth of justification by faith, that is our justification before
God. Faith in the Lord Jesus, faith
in that promised one and all the work that he has accomplished.
James is speaking of those works that follow justification and
give evidence that the faith, the justifying faith is a genuine
faith. not a false faith, a living faith,
not a dead faith. For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Let us join together in the singing
of hymn number 1003, the tune is Southwell, 239. O that the
Lord would guide my ways to keep his statutes still. O that my
God would grant me grace to know and do his will. Hymn number
1003. O that my Lord would guide my
ways, to keep his statutes still. O that my God would grant me
grace, to know and do his will. When thy spirit doth delight,
Thou, Lord of love, my heart, Nor let thy torment out disdain,
Nor act on my aspiration. of my eyes, that will corrupt
his heart. Oh, covetous desires arise within
this soul of mine. of thy word, and keep thy conscience
clear. Lift him, and crown him with
truth, and keep thy conscience clear. Make me to know Thee, I come
not, Ne'er to delight the God. O let my head upon Thy brow,
And darkness my goal, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God in the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all.