This morning I want to bring
you a story, a Gospel message from God's Word, the book of
Joshua, chapter 2. Joshua is the sixth book from
the beginning. Find that and follow along. Now,
the Gospel. Gospel means good news. It is
good news for sinners. How that Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners. Christ said, I did not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Those who think
they are righteous, those who think they are sinless, good
people, those who think that God is pleased with them, they're
going to heaven. Those are not whom Christ came
for. The Lord turned to some religious
people one day and He said to them, and they were shocked by
this, but He said, the harlots and the publicans shall enter
heaven before you do. The harlots. Now, if anyone thinks
they are going to heaven because of anything that they have done
or are doing or stop doing, if anyone thinks that they are going
to heaven because of their good works, because of their faith,
because they decided to accept Jesus, because they let Him into
their heart, if anyone thinks they are going to heaven because
they do good things or good deeds and don't do bad things. They
quit doing this and quit doing that and now do good things.
If anyone thinks they are going to heaven because of anything
they have done, that person is not going to heaven. Everyone in heaven knows they
are there because Jesus Christ saved them. because Jesus Christ
lived, died, and saved them, and brought them. The Spirit
of God brought them. Jesus Christ lived and died for
them, gave them His righteousness, and died for them, suffering
their wrath and their judgment. And the Holy Spirit comes in
time and opens their blind eyes, their deaf ears, gives them a
heart to believe, a heart of repentance, gives them faith.
Yes, by grace are you saved. That means a gift. Not a gift
offered, but a gift received, a gift bestowed. Everyone in
glory, everyone in heaven knows they are there. Because God chose
them. Because God had mercy upon them. Because God gave them this gift
of salvation. Because Jesus Christ came and
lived for them. That God gave them this life,
and this life is in His Son. They all know that. That because
Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to pay for their sins,
they are there. And they all worship the Lamb
that was slain. That's why they are there. No
other reason. They had nothing to do with it.
It's all Him. In this book of Joshua is a story
of a harlot. Let me not be offensive, but
this is the words of Scripture. This was a whore. A common street
walker. a woman who had sold her body
for pleasure, who lived in the lust of the flesh all her life. Her name is Rahab. Her name is
in Hebrews 11 alongside Abraham and Moses and Joseph. Why? Because they were saved
the same way she was, by grace. Her name is Rahab. In Joshua
chapter 2, it's the story of Rahab the harlot. Now it begins
by saying that Joshua sent two spies into the land, into Jericho,
and they went into the harlot's house. They were sent specifically
to Jericho and they lodged in the house of a harlot named Rahab. Jericho was a godless, wicked,
decadent city destined to be destroyed by Joshua. Does anyone
know what the name Joshua means? It means Savior. Well, Joshua
was a Savior. He came to save A sinful woman. He came into this city. He sent
these men. And He later came Himself. He sent them to save one sinner. A harlot. He's destroying everybody
else. And God Almighty is a Savior. Yes. But He said of Himself in
Isaiah, I am a just God. A holy God. I will by no means
clear the guilty. God will punish sin. God will
destroy this world. This whole world awaits the wrath
of God. No, the love of God does not
abide upon this world, but the wrath of God. Yes, He's a Savior,
but only to those in Christ, like those in the Ark of Noah.
That's where the love of God was. Outside of that Ark of Noah
was the wrath of God, the judgment of God. God didn't love those
people outside that Ark. He destroyed them. He was angry
with them. In this story, the one he came
to save was a woman that he chose to save and sent these spies
to reveal to her that he was coming, strike fear in her heart,
cause her to call for mercy, and then she was found in the
house where this scarlet line was, which was the token, the
promise, the sure promise and covenant of Joshua for her that
she would be saved alive, not because of her good deeds, but
because she was in the house where the scarlet line was. Do you know what that line is?
I'm about to tell you. Well, these two spies were sent
there. These two spies represent the eyes of the Lord. You and
I have two eyes, don't we? Well, the Lord has eyes, and
the eyes of the Lord are His Word. Scripture says, His eyes
are in every place. His eyes behold, His eyelids
try them sons of men. That's the Word of God, the Law
and the Prophets. That's the Word of God. And they
are sent, God sends His Word to first warn people. They didn't come into that city
and tell everybody, God loves you, has a wonderful plan for
your life. No, He's going to destroy this place. But God,
in mercy, in grace, sent these two men to tell one woman that
He was going to destroy this place, but where He sees the
scarlet line, like God said of the children of Israel, in the
house, under the blood, over the doorpost, and let on. He
said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. That represents
the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the mercy and the grace
and the salvation of God. These two men represent two Gospel
preachers. The Gospel comes to all of God's
elect, God's chosen, and lodges there. These men lodged in her
house. They set up their abode with
her. That's what Christ said when
Judas, not Iscariot, But Jude, the apostle, said, Lord, how
will You manifest Yourself to us and not the world? He said,
I will send My Word, and it will lodge with You. It will abide
in You. He that hath My Word and keepeth
it, it abideth in My Word, and abideth in Me. That's the one
who knows Me, or rather is known by Me and loved by Me. These
two spies came to this woman, and she received them by the
grace of God. As many as received Him, John
1, verse 12 says, they were born of God. That's why they received
the Word. That's why they believed, because
they were born of God. Salvations of the Lord in the
giving of it, in the receiving of it. Alright? She is not going
to give up these men for anything. The king sent word to her house,
give up these men. She said, no way. No, sir. She did not fear the wrath of
the king, and her life, her soul was at stake in these men and
their message. And so it is with the gospel.
Those who heard the truth, the gospel, they wouldn't sell it
for anything or anyone. Oh, no, thy word have I hid in
my heart, David said, that I might not sin against thee. Oh, God's
people, they hold to the gospel. They hold to the Word of God.
life and they won't sell it for anything or anyone in this world. She hid them on the roof. She
put them in a place of exaltation above her. Oh, and God has magnified
His Word above all His name. His name is the Word. Well, before
bed, before she went to bed that night, she went up on the roof
where these men were, and she said in verse 9, I know the Lord
has given you the land, and all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you. We've heard what you've done
to all your enemies from that day forth, and our hearts did
melt. In verse 11 she said, We know
the Lord your God, He is God in heaven and in earth beneath. Now, this is what everyone who
hears the truth from God's Word, from God's preacher, they know
and believe, that God is God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. They fear God. The fear of God. and they bow before Him, know
that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the
world and inhabitants thereof, everything and everyone. We don't
make Him Lord. He is Lord. He owns us. We don't let God do anything. When salvation comes to our house,
we find out it is God who has come to let us into His kingdom,
to bring us into His kingdom. Yes, she feared the Lord. She
knew the true God of heaven and earth. She knew Christ who is
Lord and He is God. And she feared Him. And she asked
for mercy. Verse 12, she said, I pray you,
swear unto me that you show kindness unto my father's house. Give
me a token. Save my father. Save my mother.
Save my brethren. Save my sisters and all that
we have. Deliver our lives from death.
She knew they deserved Listen, people. She's a harlot. She's a harlot. Joshua's coming
to destroy this decadent, sinful play. She knows she's no better
than anybody in Jericho. But she asks, she pleads for
mercy. You see, before there's mercy,
there's misery. Before there's grace, there's
guilt. Before any promises, before any tokens, There is a plea for
mercy. Oh, the Lord taketh pleasure
in them that fear Him and those that hope in His mercy. Mercy
means not getting what we deserve, and every single sinner on the
topside of this earth deserves the wrath and judgment of God.
But God is rich in mercy unto all them that call upon Him.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, his name is merciful. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved." Well, they said to her, and this
is the Word of God to all who hope in His mercy. They said,
We'll save you alive if you stay in this house under this cord. Verse 19, it says, She let them
down. Verse 18, She let them down on
a scarlet thread, a cord, through the window. Now what is that?
Well, that's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
line that runs throughout the Scripture. All the Word of God
from Genesis to Revelation is about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is the blood that makes the
atonement for the soul. God says, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And all in the house, in his
church, under the gospel, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, under
the blood, are saved forever from the wrath of God. They are
loved by God, chosen by God. God reveals this to them. It
is the sure token. It is the evidence. It's the
promise of God to all that ask for mercy. When I see the blood,
she said, I'll be here and my house will be here. Well, what
happened? Well, Joshua came. In chapter six, In chapter 6,
Joshua came into this town, and it says, he sent first his spies
into that town and says, go into the harlot's house and bring
her out. And they did. She didn't come out of her own
free will. They brought her out. She was saved by the cause of
that scarlet line and the covenant and the promise of God. And God
destroyed every single man, woman, and child, every living thing
in that city except where the scarlet line was. Do you know
what that scarlet line is? Are you under the blood of Jesus
Christ? Oh, may the Lord reveal Himself
to you. Amen.