Turn with me again tonight to
Joshua chapter six, please. Last time we saw that the walls
of Jericho came tumbling down by faith, without a sword being
drawn, and as they say, without a shot being fired. God brought
the walls of Jericho down. God fought the battle of Jericho.
And as we discussed last time, gospel preaching is represented
by the ram's horn of jubilee being blown and the good news
of salvation being shouted out. And this is the intent and this
is the purpose and thank God this is the result of gospel
preaching. Resting fully and completely
and holy in Christ and his finished work of redemption, that is the
only thing that will deliver all who trust in him, the gospel,
Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's what it did for a harlot
named Rahab, and that's what it did for a wretched man like
me. I know you can say the same. Now in verse 17 we read, and
the city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein,
to the Lord. Notice that, that just jumped
out at me. I won't make many comments on that, but to the
Lord, a curse to the Lord. He's the one that blesses, and
He's the one that curses. And only these words, this would
be a great title to any message, Only Rahab, and you can insert
your name there, only Rahab the harlot shall live. She and all
that were with her in the house because she hid the messengers
that we sent. Now we've discussed many times
that little three letter word, few, that's mentioned in the
scripture. Truly, compared to the overall,
to the whole, only a few there be that find life eternal. Only eight people were saved
in the days of Noah when God destroyed the world with the
flood. Only two over the age of 20, Joshua and Caleb, among
the two to three million people that God delivered out of Egypt
entered into the land of promise. And now we see that out of the
whole city of Jericho, God was pleased to save one woman, a
harlot by the name of Rahab and those that were in her house. Now those are pretty small percentages
because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life and few there be that find it, Matthew 7, 14. Many
are called, but few are chosen, Matthew 20, 16, and Matthew 22,
14. Our Lord said the harvest truly
is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord
of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into the
harvest. I pray that very often. Lord,
raise up preachers, faithful men to proclaim your word. Once a man asked Christ, he said,
Lord, are there few that be saved? And the Lord said this, strive,
strive to enter in at the straight gate for many, there are many,
I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. And the truth of the matter is,
is that no man or woman is able to come to Christ except the
Father which sent the Lord Jesus. Draw him, no man can come except
God make him able. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from heaven, the Lord, John 3, 27. But there are some who are targets
of grace. And in the midst of the crumbling
walls of this world, the reason this world still exists, friends,
is because Christ still has some sheep that He's got to bring
into the fold. And I say He's got to because
the Father gave them to Him. And all that the Father giveth
me, He said, shall come to me and I'll know why He's casting
them out. Isn't that what the Lord told
Nicodemus? You must be born again. We must be born again to see
the kingdom of God and we must be born again to enter the kingdom
of God. And Rahab was one of God's sheep. The sun shines on the just and
the unjust, yes, but it shines for the just. I've often think
about that. Everything God does in this world,
He does for His own glory and for His elect people. Just amazing. And the sun shined this day on
a harlot whom God purposed before the foundation of the world to
be saved and a part of the lineage of the mother whose seed Jesus
Christ would crush the serpent's head. Isn't that amazing? God
used a harlot and His wonderful purpose and grace and mercy. Just maybe the Lord would use
me. Maybe the Lord would use you. Only Rahab the harlot shall
live. How particular is our redemption? Well, it's pretty particular.
Pretty particular. And I don't know why that makes
folks mad. God has a right to do what He will with His own.
Our God's in the heavens, He's done whatsoever He's pleased.
He has mercy on whom He'll have mercy, has compassion on whom
He'll have compassion, and whom He will, He hardened. In Mark
chapter 13, our Lord speaks of a time coming of affliction,
such as there has not been since the beginning of time, He said.
And he said, except that the Lord had shortened those days,
no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom he
had chosen, he will shorten the days. It's all for God's select,
it's all for God's people. Paul told Timothy that he endured
all things for the elect's sake. that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Everything
that God does is for His own glory, and everything that God
does is for His elect people. And I didn't say that, God did.
Both are the reasons Christ suffered and died. It was on the account
of the elect, it was to put away their sin, and it was for the
glory of God. This is why the Gospel is sent.
This is why the Gospel is preached. This is why the Gospel is published
to the world, that the elect might be saved and God might
be glorified. That's why God leaves us here
after He saves us. I heard one of the old preachers,
Brother Scott or somebody say one time, a great token of grace
if God saved us and then killed us. You know, you think about
that and we wouldn't have to suffer in this world, suffer
with sin. But God doesn't do that, does
he? Not in most cases. And it's for the purpose, means
of preaching that God saves those who believe. Those who believe
are the elect of God. And God is pleased to leave us
here to do just that. Bring other sheep into the fold
through preaching. A common question is, how do
I know that I'm one of the elect? Well, do you believe and trust
in Christ? If you do, then you are. And
it's just that simple. Some will say that Rahab was
saved because of something that she herself did. Well, it says
right there in verse 17 that Rahab should live because she
hid the messengers that Joshua sent. But you know, that's only
the reason behind the reason. The real reason. She hid those
spies is because she feared the Lord. And she knew that her hope
and salvation was found only in the will and the purpose of
the God whom those spies served. Like Ruth wanted Naomi's God
to be her God. You remember that? Naomi said,
you need to go on back home with your family and friends. And
she said, your God is my God. Your home is my home. Rahab wanted
Joshua's God to be hers. God honors the faith that he
alone gives, and God alone is the giver of grace and faith.
Rahab believed the promise and relied upon the covenant that
Joshua made with her through his messengers, those spies.
And she believed because she was one of God's sheep. That's
the case with every saved sinner. That's what the Lord Jesus told
the Jews. He said, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice and my sheep, and I know them and they follow me. How do I know if I'm one of God's
elect? Are you following Christ? Have you submitted to him? Are
you bowing to Him as both Lord and Savior? Oh, it's okay to
be my Lord, many say, but, I mean, my Savior, but not my Lord. Many
say it's okay if Jesus saves me with my help, but to bow to
Him, oh, that's quite another thing. But He's Lord and Savior. Lord, help us to bow to You.
Rahab believed and Rahab followed because she was one God had foreordained,
predetermined, predestinated to believe and trust in and on
Christ. No other reason. God was pleased
by the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. And
those are the ones that he chose long before this world was ever
spoken to existence. By faith, by believing, the harlot
Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had
received the spies with peace, Hebrews 11 31. And it was by
faith that Rahab received the spies, hid the spies, helped
the spies, and believed the spies. Jane said, you see then how that
by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise,
also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had
received the messengers and had sent them out another way? But
salvation by grace is but proven by a believer's work. It's not
the means or the cause of our salvation. We can never work
a perfect righteous work. that God would accept. It's gotta
be perfect to be accepted. We can't do that. Christ did
it for us. But out of love and appreciation
and worship and adoration of the Lord, who did for us what
we couldn't do for ourselves, we work in order to please Him. And it was because Rahab feared
God that she hid God's sermons. And it was because she loved
Joshua that she hid God's servants and did for them what she did.
She loved Joshua, whom at this point her eyes had never seen.
I thought about that a great deal today. Isn't that what the
Lord told Thomas? He said, Thomas, because thou
hast seen me, thou hast believed, but blessed are they that have
not seen and yet have believed. None of us have seen the Lord
Jesus Christ face to face. And so it is with the believer
in their Joshua, the Lord Jesus, we believe and trust in him whom
we've not seen. Rahab, she didn't put any trust
in the King of Jericho. Well, she lied to him when he
sent messengers to her to ask if she'd seen the spies. Rahab
didn't put any confidence in Jericho's walls, as high as they
were. No trust at all in them. She
gained no assurance from Jericho's mighty men of valor. Why? Because
Rahab knew that Israel's God had given all those things unto
Joshua. She looked only to Joshua for
salvation. Isn't that what we do? We look only to Joshua, the Lord
Jesus Christ, for salvation. And the Lord said, Only Rahab,
the heart, shall live. We're not told anything about
Rahab's family, not much, but I know this much about them.
They believed Rahab's words enough to come into her house. And all
that God might enable those that we love to believe our words
and come to Christ. Oh, keep praying, keep seeking
God for mercy for your loved ones. They're still breathing,
their heart's still beating, there's still hope. God is able
to do exceeding abundantly above what we could think or ask. Don't
stop praying, don't stop petitioning God's stone of grace. He is faithful,
the promised. By nature, men and women don't
fear God. That's what Paul said in Romans
3, verse 18. He said, there's no fear of God
before their eyes. That's pretty easy to see in
this day and time. We look around us, nobody has
any fear or respect for God. Not much, God's people do. A
lot of people in religion claim that they do, but when it comes
right down to it, they don't. No fear of God before their eyes.
John Newton said it well, in Amazing Grace, grace has taught
our hearts to fear, and it most certainly has. In grace, our
fear's relieved. We fear God, we trust, we respect. Reverential respect is what the
word means, fear. And yet, our fears are relieved. Any fears of things in this world
that can harm us, No, grace has relieved those fears. Look at
verse 22. But Joshua had said unto the
two men that had 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. That's the covenant of God's
grace. You swore these things unto her.
And God could swear by no higher than Himself when He promised
that He would bring all His people unto Christ. Go unto the harlot's
house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath,
as ye swear unto her. And the young men that were spies
went in, and they brought out Rahab." That's fetching grace,
isn't it? They went in and brought her
out. That's what David did for Mephibosheth, who was lame on
both his feet. Jack Shanks wrote an article
fetching Grace. It's in the back, the little
track. You ought to get it, read it. He brought out Rahab and
her father and her mother and her brethren and all that she
had, and they brought out all her kindred. I might put a footnote
in there, all that were in her house. all that came into her
house by her words. Can't you just hear, you've got
to get into my house. You've got to come into this
house where the scarlet cord hangs in the window. That represents
the blood of Christ. You've got to get under the blood.
Come into the house, come into the ark, come to Christ. The young men that were spies
went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother
and her brethren and all that she had. And they brought out all
her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel. And they
burnt the city with fire and all that was therein. Only the
silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put
into the treasury of the house of the Lord." Verse 25, and Joshua
saved Rahab the harlot alive. and alive she was. Alive like
she'd never been before. And her father's household and
all that she had, and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day
because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out
Jericho. Friends, faith without works
is dead being alone. Rahab was delivered because of
the covenant. That's what I want us to see
tonight. This is God's covenant to Christ. This is God's covenant to Christ
concerning His people. And oh, what a covenant it is. God not a man that He should
lie, not a son of man that He should repent. God hath said
it, it shall come to pass. As He thought, so shall it be. As He purposed, so shall it come
to pass. Everything God does is based
upon His covenant, His oath, His promise to all who trust
in Christ. And God's covenant is certain,
sure, and forever. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the
Lord that changes not. It's because of God's promise
to Christ. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He'll never leave nor forsake
His people. Never! Never! His eternal covenant of grace
guarantees the salvation of all the elect. And we have a single
commission. We shoot our arrows of the gospel
to all. but they're guided missiles directed
by God. And they always hit their target
every single time. We're looking for God's sheep.
I've been asked often, and I'm sincerely meaning this, I've
been asked this question a lot. Well, if you believe in election
and that God's gonna save his sheep, why don't you just preach
to them? And you know, That's really not
an intelligent question, because the truth, the answer is simple.
God knows who they are, but I don't. I don't know who God's elect
are. I believe it was Brother Spurgeon that said one time,
you stick a green label or fluorescent label on them, and that's who
I'll preach to. But we don't know who they are. God does.
God does. We have a message for God's sheep. We're hunting for sheep. We're
not looking for goats that we try to convert into sheep or
make into sheep by doing this and doing that. If you do this
and you do that, you the goat can become a sheep. No, that's
not what we do. We're looking for sheep. They've
always been sheep. They're just not yet of the Christ,
the Good Shepherd's fold. He said, them I must bring, and
bring them He will. We're hunting for sheep, but
only God knows who they are. So we preach to all. And God
makes the preaching of the gospel effectual to His sheep. So we
pull back the bow, we let the arrow fly, and God directs it
to the hearts that He's predetermined to save. And what is our message? It's a story of a covenant. It's a story of a promise that
God made. God chose the people before the
world began. He predestinated, predetermined
them to be just like His Son. How's that gonna be accomplished
when nothing like Him? God's Son, Jesus Christ, came
into this world of sin and He took upon Himself the responsibility
to pay the debt of sin that our sin incurred. He bled and He
died for His people and without reservation. I tell you that
it's blasphemous to believe that Christ shed His blood for one
who's not saved. It upsets me when I hear such
things. It's to lie on God. It's to make
the blood of Jesus Christ unaffectual. It's impossible for one whom
Christ died to be lost. Our Lord said, there shall arise
false Christ and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect. Matthew 24, 24. But it's not
possible. It's not. Christ became His people's
substitute and sacrifice. He died the just for the unjust,
that He might bring them to God. and bring them to God, he will. He took Rahab by the hand, her
family, and they took her outside of Jerusalem into the camp of
Israel. And that's where she dwelt all
the days of her life. That's the gospel. Not might,
as in maybe. but he died so he could justly
save. We have to be perfect to be accepted.
He became our perfect righteousness and Christ became our perfect
acceptance. How are we accepted? In the beloved,
in the beloved. He took our sin and he gave us
his perfect righteousness. There's never been a second,
not a single nanosecond when the salvation of God's sheep
has been in doubt. Not a second. I picture Rahab being led out
of Jericho to the safety of the people of God. But as she went
out, she saw with her own eyes the results of God's wrath. Those
high walls that She had lived behind in false security for
so many years, were now crumbled flat to the ground. How did they
come down? Was it dynamite? No, it wasn't
such a thing that I know of back then. How did they come down? By marching and blowing the trumpet,
the single note of the gospel. Jericho was destroyed by the
power of the gospel, noised out by a single note of the ram's
horn. Now, let me ask you a question.
Do you think that if one man or woman from Jericho before
this day, before the walls came down, do you think that they
would have come into Israel's camp and pleaded with Joshua
for mercy, that he would have granted it? Do you think that if one person
in the days of Noah would have come to Noah before the rain
began and said, can I get into the ark, that Noah would have
denied that? The power of God through the
one note of gospel preaching being blown and shouted, cried
out, it turned the city of Jericho and its high walled fortress
into dust and ashes. It was burned with fire. I don't know why folks today
think that God will not punish sin. Everybody has talked for
years about the love of God. Well, God loves too much to do
such things. You read this story right here
that we just read tonight, and you'll see that God is holy,
and He'll by no means clear the guilty. The day of the Lord will
come soon, and it'll come as a thief in the night, and it'll
be too late for some. and the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise. And I don't know what that noise
will be, I don't, but it could very well be the voice of God
saying, this is my beloved son, and you didn't hear him. You
would not have him to rule over you. God had warned, this is
my beloved son, hear ye him, but people stuck their fingers
in their ears and they would not have him to rule over them.
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up. The heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. So what shall we do when this
occurs? We'll look and we'll hasten to the coming of our Joshua. Like Rahab, we rejoice that our
Joshua has come and God will utterly destroy this world like
he did Jericho. Both man, woman, boy and girl,
young and old. Verse 21 says, notice this, it
says that all were slain with the edge of the sword. God's
word is a two-edged sword. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart, Hebrews 4.12. And he, Christ, had in his right
hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, and his countenance was as the sun shined in his strength,
Revelation 1.16. On this day, Rahab's house was
destroyed. You know, when we had the tornadoes,
a few days after that, I drove through Dawson Springs. In fact,
this church gave some money and we took it over there and it
was devastating to see these people's house destroyed. Well,
so was Rahab's, but she cared nothing of it. She now had a
house whose maker and builder is God. The grace of God puts
all things into perspective, does it not? When Christ is your
eternal possession, having Him as your substitute and your Savior
is all you could hope for and need. He provides everything
that we need. I had a man tell me one time
that believing in Christ the way you
believe is the way he said it. He said, he said it might get
me into heaven, but that the work he added to what Christ
did would land him a mansion and only me a shack. A prison would prove to be a
palace if Christ would dwell with me there. I'm not looking for a mansion
in heaven. I'm gonna be looking for scars, scars in the hands
and the feet and in the side, which proved that my Lord Jesus
died in my room instead. That's what I'm gonna be looking
for, not mansions. What God has promised, He will
perform. Jeremiah 33, 14, behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing
which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house
of Judah. Paul said, and being fully persuaded
that what he promised, he was able also to perform. What God promises, he performs. There's no doubt about it. There's
no ifs, ands, and buts. He can be believed because he's
faithful to promise. The question is never if God
can. The only question is if God will. That's what the leper said. Lord,
I know you can, but will you? It's at his discretion, it's
at his choosing, and it's according to his will and purpose. I'll
ask it one more time. Does God not indeed show mercy
to whom he'll show mercy? Is God not gracious to whom he'll
be gracious? Men may blame their unbelief
on God, saying, well, why does he yet find fault? You tell me
about this sovereign God who can resist his will, and if I
can't resist his will, then how does he yet find fault? And the
response is always, always, always the same. Nay, but O man, who
art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Does not the
potter have power over the clay of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? You better believe
he does." God took this wretched sinner
one day down to the potter's house like He did Jeremiah, and
He showed me that work that he wrought on the wheat. And one
lump was marred in the potter's hands. And out of the same lump,
he made it again. And he made a vessel of honor. It's at the potter's discretion.
The first one was marred in his hand. Abraham asked this question.
He said, shall not the judge of the earth do right? Oh, yes.
And he always does what's right. The skeptics told that broken-hearted
father. I've thought about it so many
times. They said, your daughter's dead. You're too late. You should have come sooner.
And if you remember, the Lord stopped on His way to that centurion's
house, and He healed that woman with the issue of blood. And
that poor fellow, if he's anything like me, I'm sure he sat there
patiently. And yet at the same time, like,
we've got to go. My daughter's dying. And as the
Lord finished His business with the woman with the issue of blood,
and healed her by His mercy and grace, and they approached the
house, the mourners came out and met Him before He got in
the house. And I just try to imagine how that man must have
felt. Had he waited too long? No! The Lord Jesus is never too
late. Always on time. Right on time. And as soon as Jesus heard the
word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue,
be not afraid, only believe. Oh, I take those words to heart
tonight. I give them to you. Be not afraid,
only believe. Trust in God. Trust in Christ. If we could only believe, fear
would always be driven out. We fear so many things, but grace
relieves our fears. when we believe and trust in
Christ alone. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and sure, for this is all my salvation and
all my desire, that we make it not to grow. Friends, this covenant
is written in stone with a pin of iron. You can't easily erase
it. You can't take white out and
mark it out. No, it's carved in a stone with
a pin of iron. Look at verse 22 again. But Joshua
had said unto the two men that had 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 her, as you
made a covenant with her. And the young men that were spies
went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother
and her brethren and all that she had. And they brought out
all her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel."
Every child of God loves the certainty of God's covenant of
promise. It's certain, it's sure. Why
doubt it? It's God that promised. All God's
people will inherit the land of promise, that place that they'll
forever dwell in Christ and with Christ. But it's not something
that we have to wait for. We can have it right now. The
promises of God are in Christ, yea and amen. Not when we get
to heaven, but right now. We can enjoy God's covenant of
promises right this very second. After all, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 5.1, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace. Right now we have
peace. Not we're gonna have peace someday
in Beulah land. No, we have peace right now.
That peace that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and our
minds in and through Christ Jesus. No weapon that's formed against
you shall prosper. Anyone or anything that comes
against us right now in this life shall not prosper. And every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment win right now.
In this life thou shalt condemn. Why? Because this is the heritage,
the inheritance, that's what the word means, of the servants
of the Lord. And their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord. If our righteousness is of Him,
then it's a perfect righteousness and it's a righteousness that
God accepts. And my salvation is as certain
as certain can be. Do you believe in and on the
Lord Jesus Christ? Well, there is nothing or no
one that can do you spiritual harm if you do. He that believeth
on him, Christ, is not this very second condemned, but he that
believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. But the child
of God no longer loves darkness. They love Christ, who is the
light and life of man. That's why they have no condemnation
right now. They believe on Christ. They
hate the darkness that once ruled within them. And the Lord said
in John 5, verse 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath, present
tense, they right now, this second, have everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but it's past. right now passed from death unto
life. Life's not something we get when
we die. Life's something we have right now, eternal life. Christ
hath already redeemed us from the curse of the law, being,
already has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made,
already made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. The curse of the law doesn't
have any claim on the believer. Christ has already been made
that curse for us. It's He that hung on Calvary's
cross to pay the debt of the curse against His people, and
it's been paid in full. Now listen and rejoice in these
closing statements. When all is said and done, When
the last trumpet is blown and all the elect of God are delivered
from this doomed, evil Jericho of a world in which we live,
the glory of God will not be given to the preachers that blew
the trumpet, the people who did the marching around and the shouting,
no. You won't be given to their faithfulness
to march and blow that trumpet. The word will be plain and singular
to the glory of God. What will it be? Verse 25, Joshua
saved Rahab the harlot alive. And her father's household and
all she had. And it'll be said of her that
she dwelleth in Israel even to this day. And that is still true. Rahab, along with every other
child of God, dwells in spiritual Israel, heavenly Jerusalem, the
eternal land of promise, and they do so forevermore. Verse
27, so the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was noise throughout
all the country. No comment needs to be made on
that. Our Lord Jesus Christ, God's with him in his fame, his
noise throughout all this world. And that's what we're doing again
tonight. We're blowing the trumpet once
again. It's note is one, it's melody is beautiful. You think,
how can a one note song be beautiful? Well, I don't know, but it is.
It is nothing but a noise to many, but it's the beautiful
message of the gospel to some, the glorious message of Christ
and Him crucified. And may God be pleased to make
it effectual to every heart here tonight for His glory, our good,
and for Christ's sake. Amen.