Now open your Bibles back to
the book of Joshua. And I want to read now a few
verses from chapter six. Look at Joshua chapter 6 with
me. Look at verse 17. Joshua is speaking to the people
and says, The city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein,
to the Lord. only Rahab the harlot shall live,
she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid
the messengers that we sent." Now down to verse 21 and following. And they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and
ox and sheep and ass, the edge of the sword. 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 ye swear unto 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. 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. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive, 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. This is a very appropriate and
timely message after the one we have just been studying in
the book of Ruth. Of course, the gospel is always
appropriate and timely. And because Rahab is mentioned
three times in the New Testament, three times her story is mentioned
in the New Testament. It bears looking into the fact
that the great Apostle Paul in Hebrews eleven listed this woman
in his great what we call Hall of Faith. Hall of Fame but Hall
of Faith in Hebrews eleven those people such as Noah and Moses
and Abraham and so forth. And he mentions this harlot in
with those people because of her faith. And then the great
apostle James and James, he only lists two people concerning faith,
the justification of their faith by their works. He mentions Abraham
and then Rahab of all people. One writer said that represents
Jews and Gentiles. That's good, isn't it? So her
story bears looking into is a remarkable one and I believe more than anything.
The purpose for her salvation the end of this woman's salvation
makes it most remarkable. Most remarkable see see the end
and the purpose for saving this particular woman when all of
this is said and done. And you'll rejoice with that.
All right, let's look at the story now. The story begins back
in chapter one of Joshua. Look back at chapter one. And
the other day I was thinking how that I had not, well a few
weeks ago, I was thinking how that I had not preached from
an Old Testament type in months and months and months until we
started the book of Ruth. And now I can't get away from
them again. I love the Old Testament types. I'm thoroughly blessed
by them. I've often said this concerning
the preaching of Christ from the Old Testament type, that
our faith is bolstered, it's strengthened, it's confirmed
when we see Christ so clearly revealed from an obscure passage
like a little book like Ruth, when we see the Son of God so
clearly revealed and extolled and honored and set forth before
our eyes, unmistakably, so complexly and so wisely, and the whole
story is so woven together in such intricate patterns, and
to reveal Christ so clearly, it strengthens my faith. I see Christ in the Old Testament,
and I say, He is the Christ. He is. He lives. And nobody can make me doubt,
doubt that he is. All right, the story here of
Rahab begins back with Joshua. Begins with Joshua back in chapter
one. We're going to see here God's
decree, God's Savior, and God's people. Now, God Almighty chose
a people. God Almighty chose a people in
the beginning to save those people. They were called Israelites,
or after Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Jacob was his chosen people,
and all of the kindred, the sons of Jacob, were God's people. Jacob, you know, his name was
changed to Israel later on. So before the nation or the land
of Israel was called Israel, the people were Israel. They
were Israel, the sons of Jacob. God chose those people, not the
Gentiles, but those people in Jacob, to save those people and
to give them a promised land. Remember they were in Egypt in
bondage and God chose those people to deliver them and bring them
into a land of promise, flowing with milk and honey. And that
is the physical land that we now know of as of being Israel,
physical land. Remember, Moses brought them
out of Egypt, but Joshua was God's chosen man to bring them
into the promised land. Moses could not, remember, because
he struck the rock. Joshua was God's chosen one out
of the people. He was chosen from among the
people to bring these Israelites into the promised land, to lead
them in, to conquer everyone before them. Now look at verse
3, and this is what the Lord said concerning Joshua. Verse
3, Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon,
I have given it unto you. Joshua, everything you step on
is yours. You're going to be leader, commander,
captain of these people's salvation. You're going to be Lord over
them. And everybody who stands in your way," look at verse 5,
"...there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all
the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will
be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee." Verse 6, "...be strong and of good courage, for unto
this people shalt thou divide for inheritance the land which
I swear unto their fathers." my marginal reference says, you
shall cause this people to inherit the land. Joshua, I'm giving
all this people to you, and all the land to you, and all of the
enemies shall fall before you, and if the people go into the
promised land, it will be because of you. Now, who do you suppose
that's talking about? talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the beginning, God chose a certain number of people
out of this God-hating, condemned world, and he calls them spiritual
Israel. You see, they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. He is a Jew which is one inwardly,
not outwardly. God's chosen people are chosen
by God in the beginning from before the foundation of the
world and given to the Lord Jesus Christ. The psalm says that he
has exalted one chosen out of the people, and that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came down to earth
as a man, as one of the people, and God highly lifted up him
and exalted him to be the captain of his people's salvation, to
lead his people, that is, to make them accepted unto God,
to bring them to God, to conquer all the earth, to put away sin,
to sacrifice himself, to put away all the people's sins, the
handwriting of ordinances, to blot them out, those things that
were against them, the law, the old man, to kill him, and to
bring them into the promised land. If they get there, it will
be because of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will conquer everything
and anyone that is in His path. The Lord says He'll put all of
His enemies under His feet. So Jesus Christ is who speaks
up. ...made concerning a sinner.
Look over chapter 2. So this thing began with the
Lord giving a people and a land into the hands of Joshua. OK? All right. In chapter 2 now,
Joshua, now this is significant. The Israelites were, at this
time, were in the land of Moab. They were in the land of Moab. They were about to cross over
the Jordan into Jericho and conquer that town and other towns westward
and all of the land that God had given them. And Joshua sent
out two spies. Verse 1, Joshua the son of Nun. Incidentally, the Old Testament
name of Joshua means Jesus. Jesus, God our Savior. Joshua, the son of Nun, sent
out of this town called Shittim in Moab, sent two men to spy
secretly, saying, Go view the land. Go view the land. Spy it out. And these two men
went, and it says, they came into a harlot's house, named
Rahab, and lodged there. A harlot named Rahab. Now, this was no accident. They
did not just happen upon this house, but the Lord had chosen
this woman for saving purposes. She was one of Abraham's children. She was one of his chosen seed,
and these men had to go to this house. There were other houses. This was a very large city, but
they must go to Rahab's house, according to God's sovereign
purpose, no accidents with God Almighty. And they came to Rahab. Now, Rahab was a harlot, and
a lot of your modern so-called scholars and theologians and
even some of the old writers would try to explain this away,
try to make her something more than she is. She was just a plain,
ordinary street woman, a prostitute is what she was, a harlot. She
was a notorious sinner, no doubt about it. Yet she was chosen
by God to entertain two strangers that would make with her a covenant
concerning her salvation. And this is noteworthy. This is very noteworthy. Rahab's
entertainment of these two men The fact that she had these two
men in her home and showed an interest in them, these two strangers,
was not for carnal pleasure, not at all. But she had proved,
she proves later on by her confession, that she was already being operated
on by the Spirit of God. The fact that she would even
entertain these men at all outside of her former profession And
if you'll notice that she had taken up a new profession of
some sort. She had stalks of flax laid in
order upon the roof. She had taken to gleaning the
little flax and so forth and trying to make an honest living.
Her life had been changed already up to this point. That's noteworthy. All right. Now, the men came
into her house. They came into her house. Now
let's look at verses 8 through 13. And she lodged them and hid
them. We read the story how that she
hid them from their pursuers. Verse 8, And before the men laid
down to sleep, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said
unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land,
and that your terror is fallen upon us, or that his judgment
is sure. And all the inhabitants of the land faint because of
you. 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 under
the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of
Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon
as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither
did there remain any more courage in any man because of you, for,
and here is confession of faith. The Lord your God, he is God
in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now, that's quite a
confession. And now, therefore, she says,
and she goes on, since God is God, therefore I pray you, swear
unto me by this Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you
will also Show kindness unto my Father's house, and give me
a true token." Give me a sure or true token of this salvation,
that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brethren, my sisters,
and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. So she says, I believe God is
God, and that you are His people. Joshua is your leader, the Savior,
and I am a nobody and a nothing. I am an enemy living in enemy
territory. I need mercy. Would you show
mercy to me?" Now, that's the confession of a sinner, is it
not? I need mercy. Look at the promises
they gave to her. Verse 14, following, And the
man answered her, Our life for yours. if you utter not this
our business. And it shall be, when the Lord
hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly
with thee." Then she let them down by a cord through the window,
for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the
wall. And she said unto them, Get to the mountain, the pursuers
will meet you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers
be returned, and afterward you may go your way. And the men
said unto her, Now we will be blameless of this, thou knowest,
which thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the
land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window
which thou didst let us down by. And thou shalt bring thy
father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's
household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his head." and will be guiltless. And whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head,
if any hand be upon him. And if you utter this our business,
then we will be quit if you will not perform this oath which thou
hast made us to swear. And she said, According unto
your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed. And she bound the scarlet line in the window. Our life
were yours, they said. our life for years. The promise
is sure. We have made an oath concerning you, and we've made
a covenant with you, ordered in all things and sure. Bind
the scarlet line in the window, and when we come back, you will
be saved and all your house." So Rahab bound the scarlet line
in the window, moved by faith. She bound this scarlet line in
the window. Now, all of this is a picture.
This is all a picture of God Almighty and his salvation of
sinners. God Almighty wrote a book of
whom these two men represent—the Law and the Prophets, two spies
who secretly come into the land. Nobody knows them, but it's one
chosen person. Old Testament, New Testament.
These two men represent the Word of God. And they come in, and
the Law and the Prophets tell us who God is. And they tell
us that God's judgment is sure against sin. And they tell us
that Jesus Christ is the captain of salvation, and that he's coming
into the land, and he's going to conquer all of his foes, and
he's coming, and he's going to be the victorious Christ overall. And God's Holy Spirit reveals
the truth to certain individuals, not everybody. The Word of God,
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3 that their minds are blinded to this
day in the reading of Moses and the Old Testament type. Very
few people see what you're going to see tonight. Very few people.
It's hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babe,
revealed unto sinners. But God Almighty, by His Spirit,
reveals the truth to certain individuals, and they're called
sinners. Harlots, publicans, the undeserving,
common people they're called, babes and sucklings, Christ said,
I've not come to call, or that is, reveal myself to the righteous,
not the scribes and the Pharisees, but the publicans and the harlots.
Not to self-helpers. God doesn't help those who help
themselves. He helps the helpless. Not to the do-gooders, but to
the no-gooders. Not to the wise and the prudent,
but to the common and the ignorant. That's who God Almighty reveals
the Word of God unto. So we come as little babes to
receive this revelation from God, and all of these people
were chosen by God before the foundation of the world to reveal
the gospel to them. And they all will hear it. They'll
all hear it. And these two spies also represent,
as David talked about in Psalm 23, God's goodness and mercy.
Remember that article one time about God's faithful sheepdogs,
goodness and mercy? He says, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. In other words,
if you are one of God's sheep, he will put his word, he will
put his goodness and his mercy on your trail until he catches
up with you someday. In his good time, in his appointed
time, God's goodness and mercy God's Old Testament and New,
his Law and his Prophets, God's Word will catch up and you'll
hear his voice. He said, My sheep will hear my
voice and they'll come to me and they'll believe and they'll
follow me. They'll follow me. And then God
reveals these things as he did to Rahab. He reveals these things
to the heart of every single one of his people. He reveals,
first of all, that God is God in heaven and in earth. that
God works all things at the counsel of his own will. He doesn't wait
on man's free will to be exercised. Man doesn't have a free will.
You who were dead in trespasses and sin, he hath quickened. God
works all things at the counsel of his own will. He doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand and say unto him, You
can't do that. That's not right. That's not
fair. Oh, yes it is. He's God. And every one of God's
people, every one of them, without exception, there's not one exception,
Christ said in John 6, 45, they shall all be taught of God. This primary lesson. They all
go to school. They all go to primary school,
and the number one lesson they learn is that God is God. And nobody else is. But God is
God. He reigns, He rules, He controls,
He directs everything that writhes or wriggles, and nothing happens
but what He didn't ordain it and purpose it and doesn't control
it. God is God. That's what Rahab said, didn't
she? She said, Lord, your God is God. It's what Pharaoh was forced
to say, wasn't it? And that's what everybody will
say in heaven, and even those in hell are someday going to
be forced to say it. God is God, isn't He? He is God. You don't let God do anything.
God does as He pleases. And then the second thing God
reveals to the heart of every single one of His children As
Christ said, they shall all be taught of God. The second thing
he reveals to them is that judgment is sure against sin, that this
God who is God is holy, and he will by no means clear
the guilty. And all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, and the soul that sinneth must surely
die. These are fundamental truths,
right? The soul that sinneth it must
surely die, and God will by no means clear the guilty. The judgment
of God against sin is sure. God is not only God, but God
is just. Number one. He's not a Savior
first. He is a just God and a Savior. Don't get the order backwards.
This generation's got it backwards. And unless you first see a just
God, you will not see a Savior. Why? Unless you see yourself
as a guilty sinner before a holy God, you don't need a Savior,
right? You just need a good buddy named
Jesus to keep you out of trouble, right? A sugar daddy to give
you all you need. But if you see a just and a holy
God and bow down before him as a sinner, then he comes to you
as a Savior. So that's the second thing they
see. Like Rahab. Rahab said, you're going to come
into this land and you're going to destroy it. And the third
thing that they're brought to say and to believe is, they need
mercy. They need mercy. That's what
Rahab said, didn't she? Would you show me mercy? When
you come in, not if, not if, but when you come into the land,
would you show me mercy? You don't have to. I'm just a
harlot. You don't need me. What in the
world good can I do for Joshua? But I'd be much obliged. if you'd
save me and my house." And what was the answer? The same answer
God will give to every single person who comes to God by him,
by Christ, in the same way, seeking mercy before holy God by faith
in Christ. They said, I will. We will. We'll
do it. Our life for yours. Christ said,
I'll do it. And he laid down his life for
his sheep. And the Holy Spirit does this.
The Holy Spirit convinces all of God's sheep of these things.
Convinces them. They become persuaded of these
things. And people, I just, I watched, I've got to hurry. I watched
a special on TV last night, I believe it was, on evangelism, and as
most modern things concerning the Bible and religion and so
forth. They put the scriptures and those who believe them in
a very bad light, a very bad light, make them out to be quite
ignorant and archaic and only a fool would believe them. Well,
that's about half right, a fool for Christ's sake. You know as I began to listen
to that and so forth I thought to myself can this it does this. Does this bother me. Does this
shake my faith at all because modern man doesn't refuse. Now
the foundation of God stand assure and they had these examples of
you know they put on that show examples of wildfire religion,
these so-called spirit-filled meetings of people shaking all
over and so forth. And that is ridiculous. That
is another spirit that is not of God, that is not the Holy
Spirit. And that's what this generation, that's what this
world of scoffers and mockers and so forth equate with. That's what the whole world is
moving toward, this baptism of the Holy Spirit-type, charismatic,
Pentecostal, shaking tongues, talking signs, wonders, and so
forth. That is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shall lead us
and guide us into all truth, the Scripture says. Christ said
in John 14, when the Spirit is come, he will convince of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. Three things. Those are the very
three things that Rahab was convinced of, wasn't it? She didn't have
some vision. She didn't have getting into
shaking fits. She wasn't speaking in tongues. She was just acknowledging
the truth, right? She was convinced in her heart,
first in her head and then in her heart. And then she made
this confession of mercy. And that's what the Holy Spirit
does. That is the true leadership or baptism of the Holy Spirit,
is to convince you of your sinfulness before a holy God, of your need
for Christ, and a certain judgment of God against sin. All right? Then through the law and the
prophets. The law and the prophets. Scripture says at the mouth of
two or three witnesses a thing is established. That's the reason
God sent two spies down there. Why didn't he just send one?
It's got to be at the mouth of two or three witnesses. Two or
three witnesses. At the mouth of two or three
witnesses, God reveals a true or a sure token unto his people
of this salvation. It's as sure as God is on the
throne. Rahab said in verse twelve, she
said, show me a true token. Give me a token. And she said,
I believe God is God, that you're going to judge this land, and
I'm a sinner and I need mercy. Would you give me a token that
you will show mercy to me? Something that will confirm this
oath. You said you'd save me. Something
that will bind this covenant. Something that will make this
covenant binding. What is it? Well, they said,
do this, verse 18, bind this line of scarlet thread in the
window. That will bind the oath. That
will bind the covenant, this line of scarlet thread. What
is that? Do you know what that is? That's
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the blood was on the doorpost
of the houses of the people of Israel when God passed through,
the blood that was on the doorpost, He passed over them and saved
every one of them. Everybody who was under the blood was saved
by God Almighty. The death angel passed over them. The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. And if we believe Him to
be our Lord, our only hope of salvation, and bind the blood
upon our hearts by faith, bind the blood of Christ upon our
hearts, take it into our hearts by faith, ask the Lord to have
mercy on us, the blood will be propitiation for your sins upon
the mercy seat. And when God sees the blood,
he'll save you. It's a sure token. It's a true
token. It is the blood of the everlasting
covenant. And it's sealed. It's sealed. You're under the blood, you're
saved. Just as sure as God's word says
it. So, when Joshua entered the city,
Joshua entered into the city. Look over chapter 6. Look over
chapter 6. Joshua comes into the town. We
read this little while ago. Joshua chapter six look at verses
twenty one through twenty three again and say they utterly destroyed
all that was in the city. Both man and woman young and
old and ox sheep ass with the edge of the sword. Joshua had
said under the two men that spied out the country you go into the
harlot's house and you bring out this the woman and all that
she had just like you swear under her. just as sure as the word
of God and the young men that were spies went in and brought
out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brother and
all that she had and they were brought out all her kindred and
left them. They left her and her kindred
without the camp of Israel without the camp. So you see everybody
was in that house with Rahab under that scarlet line was saved. Everybody was in that house under
that scarlet line. So it is that everybody that
are in Christ are saved. In Adam, all die. So in Christ,
all shall be made alive. All that believe, cry. All that
are under the blood. Jericho was a big city. There were many people in that
town, and perhaps there were some moral people. I know there
were. It was a big city. I forgot to look up how many
people there were, but it was a very large, prosperous trading
city, and there were a lot of people there, and there are bound
to have been some good people in that town, some moral people,
some fine people, some nice people, some good neighbors, some sincere
people, some well-meaning people. I guarantee you there were some
religious people. There was probably a church house on every corner
in Jericho, just like there is today. But only those that were
in Rahab's house under the scarlet line were saved. Nobody else. What was it to save those people
in Rahab's house? Huh? Was it Rahab's faith? Well, not really. It was a scarlet
line. It was a scarlet line. And every
person in that house was delivered. Well, God Almighty is going to
make an utter end of this world just like He did in Jericho,
just like Joshua did in Jericho. Jesus Christ is coming back to
this earth just as more sure than I'm standing here. And he's
coming back to this earth to destroy his enemies and gather
up his elect, as he swore unto us. Like he said in verse 22,
just like you swore unto her, Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you. And when I come again, I'll receive
you unto myself. I swear it. I'll take you back. Just like he said he would. He's
coming back to get his house. He's going to come to his house.
It is his house. the Lord Jesus Christ have, and
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. And all that the Father gave
him shall look for him, and they'll all be under the blood, they'll
all be under the blood of Christ, they'll all receive Christ by
faith, and every one of them will be saved. And as Hebrews
13, 13 says, they will go forth unto him. Anybody finish it? without the camp. Outside of
modern religion, outside of the great majority of people, they will
go forth as a minority without the camp of modern thought and
modern religion to Christ. And they'll be saved. You stay
in the midst of the mess, and you'll be damned right along
with it. You go forth unto Christ without the camp and you'll be
saved. And all of those were chosen, called, separated, sanctified
by Christ and brought to Christ. Now let me give you in closing
a few things to note about Rahab's faith. A few things to note about
Rahab's faith. This is interesting. Number one,
Rahab's faith was a gift of God Almighty. Rahab's faith was the
gift of God Almighty. It had to have been. She was
a harlot. Did she just up and turn over
a new leaf one day? Did she just up and say, one
day I'm going to change my ways? Is that it? No. The living God
began to work upon this woman. And he began to reveal some things
to her. She heard the word somehow. She heard from somebody about
God about Joshua, about the people of God, about judgment. And she
believed. And that's what changed her life.
Right? It was the mercy of God. It was
the gift of God. She was a harlot. She was living
in an ungodly city, a pagan city that nobody worshipped God in
that time. And she was untaught by her pagan
parents. She had to intercede for her
parents. Her parents didn't know. They didn't bring her up under
the Jewish religion. They didn't know it. They took
no thought of God. It was a gift of God. She had
to teach her parents. So I know it was a gift, right?
And another thing, she was living on a wall in town. You say, what's
it got to do with anything? Well, faith grows in unexpected
places. Faith grows in impossible places. She was living in a very obscure
place on the side of the wall on the outskirts of town. She
wasn't living in some nice little situation, you know, near the
parsonage down in the middle of the town with all her nice
neighbors around her and so forth. She was living in a dank, dark
place on the wall there, and God Almighty revealed the truth
to her. Now I'll give you an illustration of it. Faith grows
in unexpected and impossible place to see with man. It's impossible
with God. All things are possible. Joe
Parks and I were and Nancy and Mindy were up at a a greenhouse
like place, a nursery. We were standing outside looking
at all the growth and vegetation and so forth. And, you know,
this man had cultivated all of this land. It looked pretty and
so forth. Joe looked up. Joe was standing there and he
looked up and he said, Look up there. And we looked up above
our head and the highway was right up there and there was
a big concrete culvert. A big concrete culvert and about
oh maybe four feet of dirt and then the highway. And right on
top of that culvert with its roots growing every which way
was a tree. I mean a huge tree. It was shading
the whole place. Now that man did not plant that
tree. That tree was growing on that rock. Now, you and I, we
can prepare our soil. It's easy to grow something in
good soil, isn't it? You know, $4,000 later, five,
seven, eight truckloads of manure and compost and 500 pounds of
fertilizer and everything that angle hardware can put in a garden,
I've put it on there. And I'm going to get about $10
worth of beans. after $5,000 later. But God is called the
good husbandman in the scriptures. He can grow something on a rock. Anybody can grow something on
good soil. God has to take a rock-hard heart
like yours and bring faith out of that, doesn't he? Not good,
not decent, not moral, rock-hard sinners, obstinate, rebellious
sinners, insolvent plant that seed and water it and cause it
to grow on the rock. So she was an unlikely candidate.
And Scripture says, not many wise, not many noble, not many
mighty are called. Not the righteous, not the worthy,
not the good people. God has chosen the most unlikely
people, the most unlikely people, to give knowledge and understanding
and faith. It's a gift. And God gives it
to whomsoever he will. And the only qualification is
that they be sinners, that they be sinners. Why does he do this? Why doesn't God choose the good
people, the intellects, the high, the wise, the mighty, the moral,
and so forth, the righteous, that no flesh or glory in his
presence, that he get all the glory in their faith and salvation?
Next, another thing. Rahab's faith was a solitary
faith. She was one woman in a large
city. And she believed the truth while
the majority of those people did not. All those wise and prudent
civic leaders and religious leaders, they remained unfearful and unrepentant. But Rahab believed. That tells
me it's a gift of God. And she stood against the multitude,
and she stood alone. Rahab stood alone. And maybe
some people, I thought about this, too. I imagine some people
walked by every now and then, and they saw that scarlet line
hanging out of her window, and they thought, what is that? That
is a strange decoration, isn't it? Isn't that strange? Well,
God's few chosen people, they stand alone against majority,
against a world of unbelievers. John said the whole world lieth
in wickedness and unbelief. And like Rahab, they disavow
anything and everything and everyone for their faith in a sovereign
God. And some people, every now and then, they venture in a place
like this, where a few Rahabs are, and they hear about this
blood. And that's all they hear, practically. They hear about the person who
worked for Christ. They say, this is strange doctrine, isn't it? We've never heard this before.
But to the believer, the scarlet thread runs through all of the
scriptures. All of the scriptures. And they
are determined not to know or believe anything but Jesus Christ
and him crucified. And the scarlet thread is the
heart and the core of their salvation. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
is their only hope and their only plea. The song says, Jesus,
thy blood and righteousness My beauty are my glorious dress. And in another thing, Rahab's
faith was based upon the word of God. She said, We've heard. We've heard how that this and
that. And she said, And I believe. We've heard and I believe. And
it says, look at verse seventeen there in chapter six. It says
that Rahab would be saved because she hid the messengers that we
sent. Do you see that? She hid the
messengers. It says the same thing over in
verse twenty-five. Rahab was saved because she hid
the messengers. Christ said, if a man loved me,
he'll keep my words. In other words, she kept those
men in her house. The Lord said, if you love me,
you'll keep my words. within this tabernacle. You'll
keep them or take them into your bosom. You'll hide them out.
That word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against
thee. And the faith of God's elect
is based upon the word of God. And fourthly, Rahab's faith was
intercessory faith. She insisted to everybody that
would hear her, her family. She talked to her family and
she insisted She insisted that they must be in her house under
the scarlet thread. Now, she might have had some
good Methodists and some good Episcopalians. Her daddy was
a, you know, a this, or her mother was this. But Rahab said, now,
Daddy, I don't care what you've been taught. I don't care what
you believe, Mama, all your life. You're going to have to be under
the scarlet line to be saved. You're going to have to be. And
believers are insistent even dogmatic, and even thought to
be bigoted and narrow to all of their relations and all of
their friends and so forth, because they emphatically affirm that
unless you're under the blood of Christ, unless you're under
the sound of the gospel, you will not be saved. The sound
of the blood. And they might get some persecution
because of it, but that doesn't matter. If they're going to be
saved, They're going to have to be under the same gospel that
saved you. And then another thing. Rahab's
faith was persevering faith. Persevering faith. You can bet
Rahab stayed close to that house after those spies left that place. Don't you? They said, now we're
coming back. And when we see that scarlet
line in the window and everybody that's in that house, We say
we're coming back in a way she didn't know when you're going
to. Wait now I guarantee you she
stayed close to home. She stayed close to home and
she was watching and she was waiting she only went out into
the world long enough to meet her expenses why she had no she
had here no continuing city. She was going to play. And she
stayed close by. It reminds me of a fellow one
time, a fellow asked this fellow, what do you do for a living?
And the fellow said, well, Christ is my life, but I'm a truck driver
to meet expenses. Now that's a true believer. Christ
is my life. I'm a plumber to meet expenses. What do you do for a living?
Well, I drive a truck. No, that's not your living. It pays your
bills. Christ is your life. Scripture
says, if you be risen with Christ, then set your affection on things
above, and you will always be about the house. Those who are
truly in Christ, those who truly have their affection set on things
above where Christ is, and have here no continuing city, will
always be about their Father's business. They'll be about the
house. They'll be about the family business. They're watching and
waiting for Him to come back. And then lastly, look at verse
25 with me. Her faith turned into sight.
Verse 25, Joshua saved Rahab, the harlot, alive, 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. And our faith some day shall
be turned into sight. And hope will give way, the scripture
says, to reality. And when we dwell with Christ
in glory some day, we'll see him as he is, and we'll no longer
walk by faith. We'll walk by sight. We'll see
him as he is, and we'll be with him where he is. Now, I think I can see Rahab
a little later on down the line. I think I see her sitting at
her home. She moved down the road. She
moved with Joshua and the people into the land with them. Joshua
went into Jericho and then down the road to Jerusalem. And on
down the road was a little town called Bethlehem, just west of
there. And Rahab went into that place
and she got married. Married a man named Salmon. And
I think I see her later on in life as she's young married woman
and she's sitting there by the fire one day. And she has a little
boy on her knee. Dandling this little boy on her
knee. And she's talking to him about the Lord. And she's recalling,
recounting to him how the Lord saved her. And how he brought
her out of certain destruction and all because of the scarlet
line. He said, That speaks of Christ. That speaks of the coming Messiah.
He's going to someday redeem his people. He's going to walk
on this earth and redeem his people by his own blood. And son, I was told this by strangers. Strangers came from Moab one
day and told me all about this. And so son, here's what you need
to do. You need, from this day forward,
you need to bind that scarlet line of faith on your heart. You need to believe and look
to and trust in the coming Christ for your salvation. And son,
be careful, be careful to entertain strangers into your house, because
some have entertained angels unaware, just like I did, the
angel of your salvation. And you know what that boy's
name was? Boaz. Rahab's boy was named Boaz. And she said, son, if you're
saved, it's going to be by this Messiah. And you remember God's
mercy to me, and you show mercy to others. You show mercy to
others. And you can look that up in Matthew
chapter 1, verse 3 for yourself. And Ray had was a mother of.
Boas Boab was the father of Obed Obed was the father of Jesse
and Jesse the father. All right. You've heard of. Responsive reading
haven't you. A little responsive singing with. I'll sing a line you answer it
with me OK. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other clout I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. It's not of good that I have
done, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. This is all my righteousness. Jesus, O precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus.