to his foes, that so though all
hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never
forsake. I go back with me to the book
of Joshua chapter one. This message was born through. Reading this book. That's the
only way that God. Gives a message to a messenger. By word. It speaks through his
word. He speaks to a man through his
word who merely takes that and repeats it. This is God's message,
and I just enjoyed reading it, and you would, too, if you need
a place to start reading this book of Joshua. I'm very tempted
to go through this whole book, but I don't know. I do know this. Wednesday night, we're going
to look at how the walls of Jericho came down, so if you want to
read that, and preparation for Wednesday night. You can begin
reading and that's found in chapter six. All right, Joshua chapter one. The title of this message is
A Hope of a Harlot or Rahab's Scarlet Lion. In the first several
verses, God is speaking to Joshua. And as you probably know. Joshua
is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Meaning. Savior. And. Our Lord Joshua even spoken of. In the book of Hebrew. But in
verse five here's what the Lord says about Joshua he says to
Joshua and of Joshua there shall not any man be able to stand
before thee. all the days of thy life." Joshua is a type, a symbol, a
picture of Jesus Christ, the true Savior. Joshua, this one,
didn't give him rest, for God wouldn't have spoken of another.
But when the true Joshua came, Jesus, the Savior, He gave His
people rest. He actually brings all His people
into the Promised Land. And God gave Him a people, and
He came to save And no man can stand before him. They must fall,
every knee bow, and every tongue confess. That is what? Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. God's King, God's Conqueror.
Joshua, if you'll read this book, he went through and nobody could
defeat him. Whoever he came across, whatever
he decided, that is, that God gave him to take, he took it. From the very beginning, God
said, You're going through, you're taking everything, I've given
it all to you. And you will take it. Nobody's going to stop you.
That's our Lord, Jesus Christ. Ours is not this weak, pathetic
beggar standing outside people's door that won't let him in. He'd
bust the door down. That was old Savior, wasn't it?
Emmanuel, who came to the walls of the city and he broke them
down. Look at him. Joshua is a picture
of Christ. Then we have this town called
Jericho, chapter 2. It's a town called Jericho. Jericho is a doomed city. Jericho is a city destined to
be destroyed by who? Joshua. Joshua was a kind man. Joshua was a merciful man. Joshua
was a good man, a loving man. But he's not coming to Jericho
in love. He's coming to destroy it. And
isn't that what Christ said? Well, thank you that I'm come
to bring peace on earth. Nay, rather, a sword. Fire. That's what Christ said, didn't
it? Joshua, Jesus, Christ. And this
place, this world, is a doomed place. See what I'm saying? See
what I said before? Nothing's changed. This whole
world could be called Jericho. God's not in love with this world. He's going to destroy it by Christ. Destroy it. And so Jericho is
a doomed place to be destroyed by Joshua. There's a woman named Rahab that
lives there, though. What is she? Who is she? Well,
she's a fine woman. She's an upstanding woman. All her life, she has been keeping
the law of God, and she's a harlot. You know, when you think about
the worst person, when you think of somebody that's fallen as
low as they can fall, when you think of the chief of sinners,
what do you think of them? That's what you think of them.
A person who's fallen so low, a streetwalker, one who literally
sells their body for money and pleasure. Well, she's a wretched,
miserable, no good sinner. She's without God, she's without
hope, she's in the world, it's ready to be destroyed in Jericho,
but God. writes a whole book about her.
Puts her in the hall of faith right beside Abraham. Well, Abraham
wasn't any better. He was an idolater. Right? Yes, Rahab's mentioned over there
in Hebrews 11, right alongside David and all of them. A harlot. A harlot. Well, in verse 1 it
says that Joshua sent two spies into the land. The spy out Jericho
sent by Joshua, two of them, two of them, spy. Now what is
a spy? A spy is a secret observer, a
secret observer, unknown, if well hidden, he is unknown to
those whom he is observing. He sees them, but they don't
see him. He's watching them. They don't
see him. He sees everything they're doing.
They don't know he exists. What is, what are these two spies?
It's God's word. God's word. God's word, old and
new. Two witnesses. Two testaments. God's word. Psalm 11, verse 4,
it says, Thy eyes behold, thy eye lives tried, the sons of
men. God's Word says this is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart and it says all things are naked and open
before the eyes of him. What are they? These seven eyes
scripture mentions which run to and fro on the earth. God's
Word, the perfect Word of God. Well, the spies were watching everyone,
but they came to one person. The spies were watching everyone,
but they came and they ended up in a mission of mercy to one
person. They came to this Rahab. Before
she knew them, they knew her. They knew where
they were going, didn't they? Just humanly speaking, they knew
that any stranger coming into town would You know could go
in a harlot's house nobody think you can. Humanly speaking but
that's not why they went. In there they went because God
sent them to this chief of center in this doomed city to reveal
God's mercy. And her. She didn't know them
but they knew her and they came to her how many harlots you reckon
there were Jericho that. Many that came to her. Don't
you know, after this was all over, she was mighty thankful
that they came to her, that they chose her. And they found out
Rahab before she found them out. That's what Psalm 139 says. Thine
eyes did behold my substance before there was any. God knew
us long before we knew him. And his word came to us long
before it was revealed to us. You know that God's word is the
sea. And we don't know, and it's the seed of life, and it's the
incorruptible seed. He said it won't return void
when God sends it. It never returns void, and we
don't know when God plants that seed, do we? This is why you
parents of children have come here and left. You've still got
hope, haven't you? Come on, nod your head, do you?
What's their hope? Well, he's such a bad boy. What
about you? What was your hope? God's sovereign
mercy. What's their hope? God's sovereign
mercy. What was your salvation? The
word of God. What's going to be their salvation?
The word of God. Have they not heard? Yes. Maybe
the seed was planted. You don't know. The prodigal
left. How long did he stay gone? We
don't know. What about Onesimus? Huh? He's gone a long time. Got down
low. But he heard the word. See, he
was planted. And God brought forth the infant. Well, God's Word did see our
substance before we saw Him. And their spies, they came to
Rahab's house. As we said, how many were there?
How many harlots? But God chose her. And even at
this present time, there's a remnant according to the election of
grace. That's right. And I'll tell you who God chooses.
Harlots. He still chooses harlots. When
Jesus came, when the true Joshua came to this earth, who did he
save? He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. harlots and publicans, he said. See, this is how we
know, John, that he's the true Joshua, the true Savior. He came
and he saved all harlots. How? Same way. A red line. Sovereign mercy and a scarlet
rope. All right, they came to Rahab's
house. Where was she living? Look at verse 15. It says she
let them down through this corridor. Her house was on the wall. She
dwelt on the town wall. Rahab dwelt in Jericho on a wall. You know what the first thing
is coming down? When Joshua comes through, you know what the first
thing is going to hit the dust? The wall. So this woman, this
sinful, wretched, miserable, no good to anybody, to herself,
to anybody, woman. God Almighty and mercy sends
these these these men to her to reveal the certainty of the
judgment of that place. And she's dwelling in a place
that's going to be destroyed. She has a refuge. She has a dwelling
place. This is her home. This is where
she's dwelling. But it's going to be destroyed.
And the first thing God's going to do is tear down that refuge. Bring her out. Of that false
refuge. Robin, she may have been religious. She may have gone to the synagogue
if there was one. But she had a false refuge, a
refuge of lie, and God's going to tear it down and bring her
out to serve the living and the true God. A harlot, a disreputable
woman. Jericho, and over in chapter
6, we're going to see this Wednesday, was a city shut up, sealed up. They couldn't do anything. By
word I couldn't do it I couldn't come and go. Sam this world is
not free people are not free to shut up. Shut up to the judgment of God
that's right shut up and we're shut up to fight. Shut up the bank chosen put in
Christ long before we know it. See right here. Pay attention. She had something in her house. long before she really knew it
was there. It was there. The token. Her salvation. It was there. It was already there, Nancy. Oh, God's people have been under
the blood from the beginning. So the men came to her. Verse
5, it says, and it came to pass, well, she said to these that
came to to try to find the men and destroy them. It says in
verse five that when it was dark, the men came. So these men actually
came to Rahab under cover of darkness. And doesn't the word
of God come to us while we were in darkness and sheds light? There are two types of darkness,
you know that? God doesn't just save harlots. and publicans,
he saves good people who are just as bad as harlots. You know,
good people that are dwelling in a false refuge, a refuge of
lie called religion, called a decision that they made years ago. People
who are just so self-righteous, God didn't save many, but he
saved some. well and it's it is it is two
types of darkness the darkness of sin. Open. And we can and the darkness of
religion. Some of you were in that work.
Our Lord said if the life that is in the be darkness. How great is that there is double
dark worse it's really work. Really work. And so it gave the
man came to her while she was yet in darkness and they revealed
everything to her. But they came to her. And she
didn't know him at first. How many how many women in here
before the Lord revealed himself to you had had the word of God
in your house. Every one of you did you had
a copy of. Old and new. It was there, but
you didn't know it. You didn't know who it was. You
didn't know who was in there. You didn't know what it was saying.
God knew you. And in time, these men, they
came to her in darkness. She didn't know them. They knew
her. And after a little while, Tammy, they began to tell her,
we are, here's who we are. Here's who sent us. Here's what's
happening. They told her of the judgment
to come and who they were. And that's what God does to all
his Rahabs. Sends the word in time and reveals
the true God, reveals their danger and reveals Joshua. And in a minute that Rahab died. So they came to her and they
warned her. They warned her. Her. You know, it says, she said,
could you read with me how she said, everybody's heard. You
remember that? She said, everybody's heard you.
Do you remember reading that? Verse 11, as soon as we had heard
this, our hearts didn't melt. There's no man that would encourage
anybody because you've all heard of you and your God. Does the
scripture say that, Nancy, that have they not all heard? There
are people all over this world still in that darkness, still
in a refuge of lies, still in sin, though they've heard the
word. They've heard who God is, but
they flat out reject him. Well, why did Rahab believe,
and they didn't? Why did Rahab receive these men
and believe what they said and hide them and trust what they
were saying and cling to that hope, that token they gave her
and others didn't. Sovereign mercy of God, that's
why God chose her. That was her hope. And it says
in verse 4, she hid them. She took these two men and hid
them. She hid them. I told you these
men represent the Word of God. David said, Thy word have I hid
in my heart. God's Word. God's Word. Our Lord said this in John's
Gospel. He said, He that hath my commandments,
my Word, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. He said
this, If a man love me, he'll keep my words. Meaning, lay hold on and not
let go. Not give away, not sell out,
not betray. No. Hide. You can't have this. Something
you treasure, you hide it. You can't have this. Rahab's
not willing to give away these men, nor betray them for any
price. It doesn't matter who it is that
comes to her. It doesn't matter. She's laid hold on these promises.
And she's not selling out, selling them out, betraying them, giving
them away her hope for anybody or anything. No matter if it's
dad, mom, brother, sister, son, or my beloved only child, this
is my life. You can perish, but I'm laying
hold of my hope. I speak to people all the time
and I write back and forth to hear. Who profess to love this
gospel and maybe some of them will hear this I hope they did.
They profess to love this gospel but they're unwilling to make
the sacrifice to go where it is preached and there aren't
many places. And I quoted to them from God's
Word very plainly in Deuteronomy 12 and other places, many places,
of the place that God has chosen to put his name there. There's
not very many. Like a scattering scripture says of corn on the
mountaintops, it's here, it's there, here a little, there a
little. There aren't very many places that are preaching this
message. This is the only message. That's
right. The way. This is the way. Not
a way, the way. the truth and the life. And I
talk to them, and they're not willing to go where this gospel
is or sacrifice. They've given up that which they
say they love for other things. And I have to wonder about their
profession. As our Lord said, if any man
loves anybody, it doesn't matter who it is, and will not give
up anybody or anything for him. Not my discipleship. And I've seen people leave the
gospel that they claim to love. Christ is their life, and they
leave it, and they go to a place where it's not preached, thinking
that, well, it'll show up. No, it won't. I'm just telling the truth. This
woman is not going to give up these men for anybody. They tried
to bribe her. They tried to threaten her, John.
They said, give them up. Not going to do it. And these
men told her in the end, they said, if you if you give us up,
your blood's on your head. If you betray us, if you quit
us, if you go out of this house where this scarlet line is, if
you get out of this place, if anybody in your house is not
under this, you're a goner. Right. How serious is this gospel? It's life, and it's not to be found everywhere.
Sell everything, buy the truth, and sell it not. Forsake all,
go where it is, or be lost with this doomed world. Well, these men, it says, were
up on the roof. They weren't hidden in a basement.
They're up on a roof. You see how significant everything
is. If this woman's going to go up
to talk with me, she's going to have to go up, Sherry. God's
Word is high and lofty. God's name is to be exalted. Make mention that His name is
watched high and lifted up. God Almighty's throne is where?
In the heavens. You see, we're down low. He came
down. He condescended. Then John, he went back up. And
how we're going to meet him is he's going to bring us up where
he is. He's not going to come down again.
He's not going to condescend again. That's what the mass does.
That's what all these altar calls do. That's what all these decisions
do. They bring him down. No, sir. He's going to have to
bring you off the dunghill and lift you up to sit among princes. They have to go up, and they're
hidden in stalks, set in order. Anybody notice that? We've seen
it before. We've looked at this many times.
God's Word is in order. God does all things in order.
Everything by Him has been ordered and sure. And it's hidden It's
hidden to the wise and the prudent that revealed on the bay. And
if he calls you, it'll be a high, holy and heavenly calling. And
he'll bring you up into heavenly places and reveal to you the
scarlet line. Well, she went up on the roof
and she came up. Now look at her confession. Oh,
this is my confession. Isn't it, you Stan? This is my
confession. Just name us, Rahab, huh? Verses 9 through 11, she said,
I know, not I think, not I believe, I know that the Lord hath given
you the land. I know it's all yours. Barnard
used to say, men are trying to have Jesus as Savior before they
have him as Lord. You can't do that before you
ever even think he's your Savior. Before you ever even think He's
your Savior, you know He's your Lord, don't you? Huh, Jeanette?
Huh, Ed? Don't you? Before you ever had
any hope of Him being your Savior, because you're such a sinner,
you knew who He was, though, didn't you? Lord! Oh, I remember a long time
before I had any hope of salvation or any assurance that Christ
would die for me, I knew who He was. And then, bless God,
I heard a man Preach on what faith is and just
believe Him to promise you. And then I believe, I believe
He is my Savior. He's always called that in that
order, Lord and Savior. And that's how you know it. Lord
and Savior. I know that God has given all
things into Jesus Christ's hand. Don't you know that? Yes, sir.
That's the first thing you find that our God look at it and he
said she said in verse. Verse. Ten eleven I know the
Lord your God the last line your Lord your God he is God in heaven
and in earth. And she talked about terror.
Not love. She ever mentioned the love of
God? Did these men ever tell her? Smile, God loves you. Did these men ever offer her
an invitation or whatever? She says, I know Jehovah is God. There's but one God, and he's
God, and his terror is over all the land. Terrible God, just
God, owner of all things. God, he is God. Not trying to
be. He is God. He's the one doing all the wrath
of God is clearly revealed from heaven to his people. He's the
one doing all these things. I, the Lord, kill. I, the Lord,
make. I, the Lord, do all these things. I know he is God. Truly God. Ray had heard of the
living God. Ray had feared the living God.
Ray had believed God. And as we said, as the word said,
everybody heard. Everybody didn't believe. Everybody
heard, but this one harlot asked for mercy. This one harlot asked
for grace, asked for kindness. Look at verse 12 and 13. I pray
you. I beg you. She started begging. Kelly, she started begging. She
didn't claim it. What can a harlot claim? Huh?
I claim in the name... Get out of here with that. Beggars
don't claim anything. They beg for mercy. I beg you,
swear unto me, promise me, by the Lord, by His Word, that you'll
show me kindness, that you'll show kindness. Look at this.
He doesn't ask for just kindness per se. She asked for kindness for all
those around her. After she heard who the true God is, and the
doom and the damnation of the place, she asked for mercy for
everybody she knows. That somebody knows the true
and living God. There weren't others. Nobody really believes this.
It doesn't tell others about it. No. She told her house. She told
her family. And ask the Lord to save them.
Save alive, verse 13. My father, my mother, my brother,
my sister, they're all just like me. Sinners, beggars, we need
mercy. They're all just like me. I'm
a sinful woman coming from sinful parents. Would you have mercy
on us? Me included. My dad, he doesn't
know you either. My brother doesn't know you.
My son, my daughter, they don't know you. Would you please reveal
to them what you've revealed to me? Well, here's their promise. Here's
the promise of these two men. Two witnesses, both of them,
made the same promise. The men said, see both of them,
sounded like they both together were speaking the same thing.
They were, Sam. The same thing. Two voices, one
message. Verse fourteen, the man said, Our life, if we live, you live. If we die, you die. But if we live, you live. Didn't Christ say that very thing,
huh? What these men are saying is, you stake your life on us, your hope, your trust, and if
we live, you live. That's your hope. Read on. Don't give us away, don't destroy
us, or don't betray us. And it shall be, look what they
said, it shall be when the Lord have given us the land. They
don't say, if the Lord gives it, they don't say, and maybe,
possibly, if all things work out. Cross their fingers, hope
to die. When? When the Lord hath given
us. Joshua's coming through, and
no doubt about that. We're coming through. And the
place is going to be destroyed. And when he does, you're coming
out. That's our oath. That's our covenant. And you lay all your hope, all
your trust, your life on our word. Our life is yours. People, I stake my life. you. I don't believe. By the grace
of God anything anybody says anymore. They're all liars. God has proven
that today. But Roy Baldwin, God cannot lie. He's proven it to me many, many
times in this book. All the promises of God are yay
and amen and certain and sure everything he said that would
come come to pass either has years or shall. Christ said heaven
and earth shall pass away but not one word. And he said surely
I come quickly. Not I might come I'm coming it's
all mine and I'm going to wipe it all out. But. When I see the blood. Of the airline for years she
said give me a token first way would you give me a token. All
right in verse fifty she let them down she said that they
were getting ready to leave. They were getting ready to leave.
And. She went looking for something
to let them out the window with. Went looking for a rope, okay?
A rope. She went and she dug around the
chest where there's a yellow one. Or there's a hemp one. Or there's a blue one. Have you
ever thought why it was a red? How many colors are there? Roy
G. Bills. You are to know that red
orange yellow green blue indigo violet. Seven colors. Let's see here's a blue one.
Here's an indigo. Here's a red one. A scarlet one. That's a good color. God said,
get that one. None of them will do. None of
them will do. And so she let them down, verse
fifteen, upon, through, by a cord Now, through the window, now
this was no thin little thread. Barbara, this was no thin little
thread. It supported the weight of two
men. All the promises of God hung
on the red line. Can't break it. This line is red in my Bible. She let these two men, everything,
all her hope hung on this rope. All her hope, her life depended
on this red line. It wasn't a thin little wispy
thing that might break. It wasn't a little, it was a
rope that two men could hang. She could have hung on it. Her
whole family could have hung on it. two grown men. What is it? What is that scar
on the throat? Do I need to tell you? Well,
I'm going to. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the token of the covenant.
Oh, Christ said, or God said, when I see the blood, it's the
blood that maketh atonement for the soul. The blood's a token.
When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Everyone for whom
Jesus Christ died. He, the Holy Spirit of God, applies
that blood to their soul. And God, Christ, the Destroyer,
is coming through. But he sees the blood upon them,
and every one of them. And all the prophets to him give
witness, don't they? Old and new, they all bear witness.
They all hang on. They all point to Christ's crucifixion. The first sinners that San Avenue
what happened. One time I started to don't do
this you deface your Bible but I started to want to drill a
hole through my back. And put one of these scarlet. So that every page I turn. I see. It might be a good thing to do
yet, but it could probably tear it up, so don't do that. But
see, it all hangs on. It's all from Genesis to Revelation
is the Christ crucified. The only hope of any sinner being
when the overflowing scourge of God's wrath come, and it's
coming. Yes, it is. And it's so evident that it's
nearer than before. But that's so that on the Lord
Jesus Christ hath lain for repose. He said, I'll never, no, never
desert to it. So you're coming out. You're
coming out. Why? It's the blood. It's the blood. When I see the
blood. Well, back there in our text,
it says that she let them down. And you know, the church is full
of Rahab's in the Everybody in here could be rightly called
Rahab the harlot. And we all cling to this one
hope, don't we? It's our hope of every sinner. Well, they left her house, in
verse 19, and they said to her, if anybody's going to be saved,
it would have to be where this rope is tied on the windows. if anybody said. To be under
this red. Under the. It's the blood of
Jesus Christ God's son. It's a hope of any sense you
have from under and they will die. Well verse twenty they said
if you utter this our business will be quit of this I don't
give us away for anything or anybody. Betray us give us away
sell out You're a goner. What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? What would you give? What's this gospel mean
to you? Does Christ mean more to you
than your very life? That's where the true truth is
known. Well, verse 21, so it says, according
to your words, so be it. I'm going to do what you say. according to your word. Believers
are obedient, aren't they? Obedient to the faith. The obedience
of faith. They believe. They trust God's
promises that are in Christ Jesus. And so she sent them away, and
look at this, what she did. Verse 21. She bound the scarlet
line in the window. It was already there. It was
in her house. And then they took it and they
wrapped it And it was in the wind, it was already there, but
it says she bound it. She took it and wrapped it and
tied it tight. Let's put another knot on it.
This is her home. They said, when we see this scarlet
line, we're coming through, when we see this scarlet line, you'll
be saved and everybody in the house. So what'd she do? She
tied her tie back. Now, do you reckon, what do you
reckon she did every day? We don't know how long they stayed
gone. We don't know how much time she checked the room. We don't know how long Scarlett,
how long Joshua stayed away. We don't know. She didn't know
when he was coming. They did not tell her that he was coming
such and such a date, did they? They just said he's coming. You
got one hope. When we see that scarlet line
in your window. So every day, she went to check that rope.
You believe that? Huh? She did. Count it. Count on it. Every day, Jeanette,
she went, is it there? Tight? Every morning. Every evening. And here's what I'm trying to
say, here's what God is saying. He that hath Christ hath life.
He that hath Christ needs Christ, hungers and thirsts. He that
hath laid hold of Christ will not let go of anybody or anything. They will hold, steadfast to
the end, the beginning of their company. Why do you come here? Why do you come here, Sunday
morning, twice, Wednesday night? Why do you come here? You've
got to hear about the scarlet line, don't you? You've been
out in the world like Rahab. You're a sinner like Rahab. You
always wish she's still Rahab. I don't believe after this she
went back to that former life. I know she didn't. God changed
her. She's a new creature. That's
what God says. That's how He says. But she still
said. But her hope Barbara was that
our life she checked she made it that much need. Her life her
life. And this gospel. And God's true
people they got. Like bread they hunger for the
battle that that water the battle. Got. My. And she checked it every day.
Was it there? Yeah, still there, every day. And what happened? Joshua came. It's like he said. He came. Look over chapter 6,
and here's what we'll look at Wednesday night, Lord willing,
and we'll close here. Over in chapter 6, chapter 6, he said
in verse 17, the city is accursed. All that's therein, only Rahab. Boys, go get her out. Go get her out. Where is she?
Oh, she sees it now. She's got us scarred at last. Oh, my. Got us scarred at last. They did. Verse twenty-three,
the young men came. They never brought in the same
ones. brought out Rahab and her father
and her mother. Oh, the Lord had mercy on many, didn't he?
Saved her whole house, like Lydia. And the city was burned with
fire. And verse 25, this has a wonderful ending.
This story of Rahab has a glorious ending. It says, Joshua saved
Rahab, the harlot, alive. Joshua did? Single-handedly? Yeah, he did. I thought the man
I thought he sent the man and it will just know Joshua did
it. He gave the command whatever
he commands people do. Christ God now has given command
of the same thing and God's steadfast to the end, trust Christ,
Him crucified. And when I see the blood, I'm
coming through. When I see the blood, I'm coming
soon. Surely I come. When I see the blood, I'll bring
you out. You have my word upon it." Who's
the Savior? Many means. When He had by Himself
purged our sins, Jesus Christ, He's the Savior. And he's coming. That's why I say he's not sin.
He's sending his angels to the four corners of the earth. Scripture
said to gather his elect unto him. But it ain't Peter that's
going to meet us at the gate. It's him. He's the Savior. And Joshua, I believe Joshua,
met her personally. The great Joshua. The great Joshua. Dickie, the great Joshua, leader
of God's great people, in they bring this harlot. He says, Hello,
dear. Hello, sweet sister. Hello, my
beloved one. It's good to see you. I've been
waiting on you. I sent word to get you and here
you are. Come on in. Enter into the blessedness
of your people. A harlot! That's right, he's a savior of
sinners. And it said in verse 25, she's
still there. She dwelt there with Joshua,
and she's still there today. Well, you say, that was back
then, it's over. No, no, she's still there with Joshua, the
real one, the Lord Jesus Christ, just like Mary. Mary's still
at his feet. That's where she started at Old
Center Mary Magdalene, and that's where she stayed. And God, Christ
said, I'll not take it from her. And that's where she is now to
this day. So is every Rahab whom God has
chosen, loves, revealed himself to, sent messengers of the covenant,
revealed Christ to, given them this repentance and faith to
lay hold on Christ. They'll be there. Behold, I and
the children thou hast given." And do you know, does anybody
know who Rahab was? She's mentioned over in Matthew
chapter 1. This is a true story. Later on, later on after it's
all over, Jericho's destroyed and the people come in the Promised
Land, they're dwelling safely and all that, Joshua and all
that. Rahab is sitting there, has a child on her knee. She has a child on her knee.
And she's talking to that child, what do you reckon she's telling
that child? What great things the Lord had done for her. Savior
had mercy upon her, revealed himself and so forth. The Lord's
mercies to her and how he hoped, how she hoped the Lord would
have mercy on him, son. And she said something like his
son, be careful, be sure to entertain strangers. Be merciful, be kind,
take in people. Maybe God will have mercy on
you, son. If you see a down and out beggar,
a sinner, have mercy on them. God did to me, son. You know
what that boy's name was? Boaz. She's the mother of Boaz. And God's purpose. This is our
Lord. This is David's great, great,
great, great, great grandmother. She's got to come out. She's
the seed, John. She's the seed of whom the seed
is vitally joined to. She's got to come out. Isn't
that the best message you ever heard, buddy? Any Rahabs in here? Lay hold of Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And you have His word on it.
He's coming. It'll not come now you think
He'll bring you out. OK, let's sing a closing hymn. Let's turn to hymn number 272
and stand together. We'll sing verses one and three. Number 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath is covenant, His blood,
Support me in the welling flood. When all around my soul gets
way, He then is all my hope and stay. From Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand.