Deuteronomy, the last chapter,
34, Deuteronomy. And then we're going to get over
into the book of Joshua, and I want to talk to you about Rahab
and the scarlet line. Rahab and the scarlet line. But I'm going to begin here in
the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, and I'll begin
reading at the first verse. And Moses went up from the plains
of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo to the top of Pisgah, that
is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the
land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of
Ephraim, and Manasseh. and all the land of Judah unto
the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of
Jericho, the city of palm trees under Zoar. The Lord said to
him, this is the land that I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and
unto Jacob, saying, I'll give it unto thy seed. I have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord, died there. He died in the land of Moab according
to the word of the Lord. And he buried him, that is, God
buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth
Peor. But nobody, no man knows of his
sepulcher under this day. And Moses was 120 years old when
he died. His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."
In other words, his mind was still very strong and his body
was not feeble. Verse 8, the children of Israel
wept for Moses. They wept for Moses in the plains
of Moab 30 days. So the days of weeping and mourning
for Moses were ended. Joshua, the son of Nun, was full
of the spirit of wisdom. For Moses had laid his hands
upon him, and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, as
did and did as the Lord commanded Moses. Moses dies. God buried him. in a grave that
no man has ever found, and now Joshua is the leader of Israel. Moses represents the law of God. Joshua represents the new covenant
of grace. Jesus who saves, his name means
Jehovah, our salvation. It was given to Joshua to lead
the children of Israel into the promised land. Moses couldn't
do it. He couldn't do it first because
he had disobeyed God earlier as they journeyed through the
wilderness when they were thirsty a second time. And God told him
to speak to the rock. And instead of speaking to the
rock, he hit the rock. And in that fit of anger, he expressed his frustration
with the people. He was not, at that point, an
ideal leader. He was a frustrated man, and
he disobeyed God. And for that reason, he couldn't
take the children of Israel into the Promised Land. But a bigger
reason is that Moses represents the law of God. The scripture
says that the law came by Moses. Grace and truth came by Christ
Jesus. God's law, it's strict, it's
good. Nothing wrong with the law of
God. It's holy, it's righteous, it's just in all of its demand. It can't take you into the promised
land. All the law can do is condemn. We've said before the law can
show no mercy. God's law and justice. It can't
show any mercy. It doesn't listen to any excuses. This is what the law of God says. This is the gist of it. This
do and live. disobey and die. That's the law. That's the law. God's law being good and holy
and just is very fair. Very fair. It doesn't demand
more out of us than is right. But it does demand what we can't
produce. Now, our inability to produce
that which the law of God demands doesn't release us from responsibility
to the law of God. We lost all ability. We lost all ability to obey the
law in the fall of Adam. Every act of every man, of every
woman is always corrupted by our own sin. That's why the Bible
says there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and
sinneth not. There's not a justified man upon
the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. There's not a righteous
man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. And the
reason is because we still have this fountain of sin. It's this
pollution this dirtiness that's within us and everything that
we produce is automatically defiled. Even the best deeds that we do.
You know, God in the law, in Leviticus, there was a provision
made for the sin of the holy things. Even when you're worshiping
God, even when you're You're doing things in seeking the glory
of God, seeking the honor of God. There's still pollution
in all of that. There's still sin in all of that. And the law of God demands perfection. It's a good thing that God shows
us grace through Christ Jesus. It's a good thing we have an
advocate. It's a good thing we have an
intercessor. It's a good thing we have one
who stands between us and a holy God. And our holy things, our
prayers, our worship, our honor, our Bible reading, our teaching,
our preaching, all of it is, everything's polluted by our
sin. It goes, first of all, to our
advocate, to our great high priest. And he makes it then, presentable
to the Father. And we bless Him for that. But
God's law, it can't save us. It can't save us. It's weak. The weakness is in us. Hold your
place there and look at Romans, if you would. Romans chapter
8. Let's read about a weakness here pertaining to the law. Romans chapter 8. Look at Romans 8 verse 1. There
is therefore now, right now, no condemnation, no judgment,
no death, no wrath to them who are in Christ Jesus. Let me ask
you this. Are you in Christ Jesus? You
say, yes, I am. Well, how long have you been
in Christ Jesus? Well, I can tell you this. If
you're in Him, you've always been in Him. You've been in Him
since the foundation of the world. You've been in Him since God
the Father put you in Him. You're united to the Son of God. Now, you were in Him also when
Christ died. You were in Him when He obeyed
God perfectly. When He offered to God that sacrifice
that put away your sins, you were in Him if any man be in
Christ. You were in Him when He lived.
You were in Him when He died. You were in Him when He was buried.
You were in Him when He rose again. You were in Him when He
ascended back to heaven. In fact, you're in Him right
now. We've always been united and joined to the Son of God.
So therefore, if any man is in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation. There can't be any condemnation.
Because in order for us to be condemned, our blessed Savior,
He would have to be condemned. And He's already been condemned
once. Once in the end of the world
hath He appeared and He put away our sins by the sacrifice of
Himself. So, condemnation for the people
of God, that's an impossibility. Twice payment God will not require,
so Augustus' top lady wrote, and correctly so. Twice payment
God will not demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Can't happen. So there is therefore
now, whenever you read this, it's always now. There is therefore
now no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. What is it to walk
after the flesh? To walk after the flesh is to
seek acceptance by God by your own righteousness. It's to seek
acceptance by God by your own works. It's to seek acceptance
by God, before God, by your own will. Not those who walk after the
flesh are not condemned, but those who walk after the Spirit.
Because here's what the Spirit of God does. He brings us to
Christ Jesus. He shows us the Savior who finished
the work of redemption for us. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free. I'm free, Paul says. from the law of sin and death,
for what the law could not do. Now, we're talking about the
law of God. That's what we're talking about over here in Deuteronomy.
Moses represents the law of God. What the law of God could not
do. Don't tell me it could do it.
It couldn't do it, and it was never intended to do it. It was
never intended to be a means to bring us to God. That wasn't
why God gave us the law. or what the law could not do
and that was weak through the flesh, our flesh. God sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. In other words, the reason the
Lord Jesus came to this world, it had to do with sin. That's
why he came, concerning sin. That's what that word for means,
concerning sin. It's a reason he entered into
this world. Not to be an example, not to start a new religion,
not to show people how they should be willing to die before God
and be submissive to Him, all of those. Now we can learn a
lot of things from the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
the reason He came to this world was concerning sin. This was
His purpose for coming. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. He came concerning
sin to do something about it, and He condemned sin. He condemned
all the sins of all of His elect, of all of the ages, and He did
it in His own flesh. He did it Himself. that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. Who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. So back over here in Deuteronomy,
Moses represents the law. The law can't bring us into the
presence of God. Here's what we read in Galatians.
The law was our schoolmaster. It's our schoolmaster to bring
us to Christ Jesus. And he was a very stern, cruel
master. Not forgiving either. He wasn't
a nice schoolteacher. He was a rough schoolteacher,
using the ruler on the hands all the time. That's the way
the law of God is. Striking us. Convicting us. Accusing us. And rightfully so. The law couldn't say, is our
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. How did it do that? By shutting
off every other way. You come to the law of God. Well,
I'm going to change my life to be accepted by God. And the law
says, this isn't the way. No, you're condemned. Die, sinner. That's what the law said. And
the sinner says, well, I'll join the church. And the law says,
die, sinner. The law says, there's no life
in anything you do. This is not the way. It's not
the way. And the law shuts off every other
way. And the Spirit of God says, this
is the way. Walk ye in it. It's the way of
grace. It's the way of Christ Jesus,
who is the new and the living way. And as Moses could not lead
the children of Israel into the promised land, it was rightfully
left for Joshua. Jehovah who saves. And he led them in. In fact,
over to Joshua, let me show you this reference in Joshua chapter
21. Joshua chapter 21. You know,
all of the promises that God made to Israel, all of the promises
that God made to Israel were fulfilled at the hands of Joshua. Do you know that? Let me show
you this. Joshua 21, 41. All the cities
of the Levites, 21, 41. All the cities of the Levites
within the possession of the children of Israel were 40 and
eight cities with their suburbs. These cities were every one with
their suburbs round about them. Thus were all these cities. And the Lord gave unto Israel
all the land which he sweared to give unto their fathers. And
they possessed it and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round
about, according to all that he had swear unto their fathers. There stood not a man of all
their enemies before them. The Lord delivered all their
enemies into their hand. There failed not aught of any
good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel.
All came to pass, and it was under the leadership of Joshua. Joshua. Everything was fulfilled
by the leadership and the authority of Joshua. Just as all of the
covenant promises of God are made in the Lord Jesus Christ,
they're found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother Allen read to
us from that great Psalm 89, the covenant Psalm. God said,
I've laid help upon one who's mighty. And God remembered His
covenant. He's always mindful of the covenant. And the covenant was made between
the Father and the Son. And all of the stipulations of
the covenant, the fulfilling of everything about the covenant,
it all rested upon and was based upon and was dependent upon Jesus
Christ fulfilling His oath made to the Father in the covenant
of grace. And all that God demanded, all
that God required, our great Joshua has already accomplished. And just like Joshua in the book
that bears his name, led the children of Israel into the promised
land and led them to inhabit and inherit all the land that
God had sweared unto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. So all the
promises of God in Christ Jesus are yay and amen. Absolutely
sure, sure. This one who is Joshua, our savior,
He came into this world the servant of Jehovah. Joshua, this man,
the son of none, he was a servant to Moses, a faithful servant. He did everything Moses required
of him. And our Lord Jesus came to this
world as the servant of Jehovah. He did everything that was required
of Him. All of the service He rendered to the Father perfectly,
perfectly. Did everything God told Him to
do. And then, having proved He's
the perfect servant of Jehovah, He laid down His life, He gave
His life a ransom for His people. Joshua then is the one to lead
the children of Israel into the promised land. Israel at this
time in Joshua chapter one, they're encamped upon the wilderness
side of the river Jordan. They're soon gonna cross over
into the land promised to them. But at that time, the land was
occupied by fierce people. people skilled in warfare. They're the Canaanites. Joshua
chooses two men to go into the city of Jericho as spies. He has no reason to believe that
any of the Canaanites will be good or kind or receptive to
these two spies. He just sent them out. And we
read in the second chapter in verse one, and Joshua the son
of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly. And this
is what he said, go view the land, even Jericho. Why Jericho? Of all the cities,
why Jericho? Because there's an object of
God's sovereign election in Jericho. Her name is Rahab. And she's
got to be confronted by some men who know the God of Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. And you'll notice Joshua is the
one who sent them. Just like our great savior sends
forth preachers. When our Lord sent forth the
12, when he chose the 70 disciples to go forth, he sent them out
two by two. Here goes two men, two men going
into the city of Jericho. Go view the land, and they went.
They came to the harlot's house named Rahab, and they lodged
there. They didn't know what God had
in store for them. They had no idea who this woman
was or how receptive she would be toward them. But these were
directed by divine providence to the house of Rahab. As I was
looking this over today, I was reminded of a verse and you don't
have to turn to it, I'll read it to you. Isaiah 42 and 17 reads
this way. God says, I will bring the blind
by way they know not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I'll make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do and not
forsake them. Here goes these men out. Where
are we going to go? I don't know how to cross the
river. Doesn't say. I got across the
river. Where are we going to go? Divine
providence led them to the house of this woman Rahab. She's a
harlot. She's a harlot. It's amazing
to me how many of the commentators, including Arthur Pink and Matthew
Henry, who tried to say she wasn't a harlot anymore. that this was
a previous lifestyle for her, but she had stopped that because
God wouldn't send these men to a harlot. Listen, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. I think we forget about that. She's just an old sinner. She
needs the God of Israel. She needs the God of grace. She
needs the God of mercy. She needs the God who saves the
outcast, the undone, the lost, the filthy, the vile. That's
who He saves. I think we forget about that.
Our Lord Jesus. He said, I'm not come to call
the righteous. I've come to call sinners to
repentance. And here is one, here is one. She's a harlot. Her name is Rahab. Well, then, you know, the Israelites
had been on the wilderness side of Jericho for evidently several
weeks. And of course, all the Canaanites
and the king, they knew they were there and they were watching
them. And somebody went to the king and said, I saw two men
come across that river. and they snuck into Jericho,
and they went in that woman's house right over there. And so
the authorities are sent to her house. Where are these men? Watch it. Verse two, it was told to the
king of Jericho, saying, behold, there came men in hither tonight
of the children of Israel to search out the country. The king
of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are
come to thee, which are entering into thine house, for they be
come to search out all the country. The woman took the two men, she
hid them, and she said thus, There came men unto me, but I
wist not whence they were. It came to pass about the time
of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark that the men
went out, whither the men went I won't not. Pursue after them
quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But Rahab had brought them
up to the roof of the house. She hid them with stalks of flax,
which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued
after them the way to Jordan under the fords, And as soon
as they were pursued after them, they were gone and they shut
the gate. Here she is protecting these
two servants. When I think about these two
servants, I think about preachers of the gospel. Let me ask you, how are people
going to hear about Christ Jesus and him crucified? In fact, that
question is raised in Romans chapter 10. How shall they hear
without a preacher? And here's Joshua, Jehovah who
saves. And what does he do? He sends
forth these two. Where do they go? They go to
an appointed sinner. This is sovereign grace on the
trail of one of the Lord's lost sheep. And that's the way it
was with us. The Lord knew where we were and
God sent a preacher. And he probably didn't know us,
didn't know anything about our background. He just came preaching
the grace of God, the person of Christ Jesus, the bloody redemptive
work of the blessed Savior. He just set forth the gospel,
the minister of the Lord did, not knowing the Word would find
us out. And that's what happened with
Rahab. The Word of God found her out. Well, in verse eight, before
these men were laid down, she came up to them upon the roof.
And she said unto the men, now listen, here's her confidence.
And I don't know, somewhere along the way, she had heard of the
God of Israel. She had become acquainted with him. And God
gave her a measure of faith. You see, she had faith before
the works. The works gave evidence of her
faith. And she said unto the men, I
know that the Lord hath given you the land. I believe that's
what she said. And that your terror is fallen
upon us. And that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard, we've
heard, we've heard how the Lord, Jehovah the Savior, that's the
word she used. This woman is not ignorant of
the God that they worshipped. She said, we have heard, oh blessed
day when you hear, blessed are your ears if you hear the gospel,
you hear the God of salvation. We have heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. And what He did unto the two
kings of the Amorites, They were on the other side of Jordan,
those being Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as
soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt. There's
humility. Our hearts did melt. Neither
did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. I've
melted before the God of Israel. For the Lord your God, watch
it, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. It's not
many people who believe that. But she did. She did. He's God in heaven. He does His
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can stay His hand. That's what she said. Now,
therefore, here's her request. Now, therefore, I pray you, I
want you to make a covenant with me. I want you to swear unto
me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you'll
also show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token. And that you will save alive
my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all
that they have and deliver our lives from death. That's what
I want. I want my life delivered from
death. Death, death is what I deserve. The wages of sin is what? Death,
the soul that's finished or what? Die, I need my soul delivered
from death and I want my family to be delivered from death and
nobody can do it. But the Lord of Israel who saved
his people from the Egyptians who parted away through the Red
Sea, who took care of those enemy kings, only your God can do this. That's her request. And the men
answered her, I life for yours, if ye 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, get you to the
mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there
three days. Unto the pursuers be returned,
and afterward may you go your way. And the men said unto her,
we will be blameless of this thine oath, 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, under the street,
his blood shall be upon his head, and we 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 thou utter this
our business, then we will be quit of thine oath. In other
words, we'll be free of the covenant that we've made. which thou has
made us to swear. And she said, according to your
words, so be it. And she sent them away and she
departed. And she bound the scarlet line
in the window. And she left it there. What does
that scarlet line represent? We know it represents the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the blood of redemption.
That's the blood that washes away our sins. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sins. You see this scarlet
thread, it's very much like the blood of Abel's lamb. It's very
much like the Passover lamb. The Lord said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. Here's this scarlet line, and
she leaves it hanging out her window in full confidence. This is my safety right here. I have all confidence, I have
all belief, I have all faith that the Lord God of glory will
spare me and spare my family on the basis of this scarlet
thread and what it represents. I tell you, this sinful woman,
she obtained mercy. She obtained mercy, not because
of anything in her, not because of anything done by her, but
because the Lord loved her, the Lord chose her. She was an object
of His sovereign grace. It is true. that she was spared. She and her household was spared
because she received the spies. She hid them, but she did that
not to get the mercy, but because she had already obtained the
mercy. You see, her works merely gave evidence that she believed
God. Go back to, go over to Hebrews
chapter 11 with me. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews 11. Look at verse 31. Just one verse here. Hebrews
11, 31. By faith the harlot Rahab perished
not with them that believed not. Don't overlook that. You know why the others perished?
because they believed not. They didn't believe God. They didn't believe God. But
she believed, she believed when she had received the spies with
peace. And she put that scarlet line
out, indicating she believed the Lord
would spare her the Lord would save her by his grace. I tell you what she did. She
believed the report of the God of Israel. She believed the report. I've heard about your God and
I believe him. I believe everything I've heard
about him. Do you? You know what Isaiah asked? Who
hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed. But this woman, she believed
the report. She believed everything she heard
about the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And then she
gave evidence of believing God. She received, she cared for,
and she protected God's messengers in her home at the risk of her
own life. Her own life. and she got what she wanted.
Because when Israel came through, Joshua gave the word, destroy
it all, except, except for that house right there,
marked with that scarlet line, destroy everything else. And
I'm telling you what, judgment's coming upon this world. This
old Jericho's got to fall. Jericho's gonna fall. And only
those who are marked by the blood shall stand. Go back, let me
just read a few more verses and I'll quit. Go back to Joshua
2. Yes, she got what she wanted.
She did. She was spared. Let me just show you a verse
over here in chapter 6, because the hour is getting late. Look
at chapter 6. Here's a question I want to ask.
Who really saved Rahab? Well, we know, you know the story
about how the marching around the city and the ram's horn play
and all of that, and the walls of Jericho fell. But look at
chapter 6 and verse 25. Who saved Rahab? Joshua 6.25. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive. You see, he had given commandment.
Go back up 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 had 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 her
out, all of 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. Oh, what beautiful language. Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive. Joshua, Jehovah, who saves? Who
saves us? Our great Joshua. And he saves
us alive. Alive! How long are we alive
for? Evermore! He gives unto his sheep
everlasting life. And she dwelt in Israel from
then on. And in fact, she married a man
of the tribe of Judah. His name was Salmon. And they
had a kid. That kid grew up and had a kid,
and that kid grew up and had a kid. Boaz, who married Ruth. And then you get over into Matthew
chapter one, and you find out that this Rahab, a heartlet. She's a Gentile, a
Canaanite woman. Lo and behold, she's in the lineage
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not ashamed to be associated
with sinners. The Pharisees, they were mocking
Him when they said, He's a friend of publicans and sinners. He
is and He showed it right from the beginning. And even when
Israel went into the very promised land, the land promised to Abraham,
right then the Lord showed He's the Savior of sinners. There's
old Rahab the harlot. Why, before God made the world,
he marked her out as an object of his sovereign grace. It came
the time to search for her and find her, and he did. And he
spared her. And she's in glory now. She's
in heaven now, an object of God's grace. And if we go, that's the
only reason we gonna go. Because we're objects of his
saving grace. Well, 472. Let's sing this one.