Joshua 2, and I'm going to read
the whole chapter. And Joshua, the son of Nun, sent
out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the
land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into
an harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was
told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither
tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. And
the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the
men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house,
for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman
took the two men and hid them, and said thus, There came men
unto me, but I wist not whence they were. And it came to pass
about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that
the men went out. Whither the men went, I want
not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But
she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them
with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the
roof. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan unto the fords. And as soon as they which pursued
after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they
were laid down, 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, and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when ye came
out of Egypt. and what ye did unto the two
kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon
and Og, whom ye 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 the Lord your God,
he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now, therefore,
I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's
house and give me a true token, and that ye 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. And the men answered her,
our lives 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 unto them, get you
to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves
there three days, until the pursuers be returned, and afterward may
ye go your way. And the men said unto her, we
will be blameless of this thine oath, which thou hast made a
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 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 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. And they
went and came into the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not. So the two men returned
and descended from the mountain and passed over and came to Joshua,
the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them.
And they said unto Joshua, truly the Lord hath delivered into
our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country
do faint because of us. That was a long reading. This is a very familiar passage,
I believe, to most of us. And I want to give an overview
of the previous chapter just to let you know what's going
on and to give you some highlights of some things that I've seen
there. Moses is now gone. Moses, from whom gave the law,
is now gone. So who is given the charge in
the absence of the law? Joshua. And we know what this
name means. We can look this name up and
it says Jehovah Saved, or Joshua. Joshua was the minister to Moses. In other words, he served the
law. The law which has been put away,
which is typified by Moses now being gone, not that Moses was
the law, but that he typified the law. And Joshua is now called
upon by God to lead the people of God, taking the people of
God into the promised land. Joshua being a picture of Christ.
Joshua himself was not obedient to the law, but as he typifies
Christ, he obeyed the law of God in our stead without wavering.
And in three days, they would possess the land. Jesus Christ
was in the grave three days and three nights and rose victorious
over death, assuring us of having life through him. God has men
who are armed, Walter went through this I think a couple of weeks
ago, are armed, they're on this side of Jordan, are armed for
those that are going to go to help those that are going to
go in to the promised land. Then we have two men who were
sent in secretly, where we're at now. However, people knew
that they were coming to spy out the land. I want to point
that out, because they told the king, and so the king sent men
to Rahab's house. Rahab took these men in. This
was at great risk to her own life. Had she been caught, she
would have no doubt suffered severe retaliation for taking
them in. I want to talk about two things,
and that is faith and the account of Rahab typified. Now, with faith, I want to talk
about the source, the object, a gift given, and faith proclaimed
in the gospel. I know Walter, Joe, and myself
have spoken on faith here recently, and I'm going to speak on it
again. I hope this, by grace, helps
others, but I study and bring this because I know I have much
trouble with this. I pray for understanding from
God in some way to get a hold of faith as it is revealed in
Scripture. Hebrews 12, 2 says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of, and take that word our out,
it does not belong there, the author and finisher of faith,
because you can tell that it doesn't belong there because
it says, who, for the joy that was set before him, that's Jesus
Christ, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus Christ is the author
of faith. Faith is of Jesus Christ. If when we think of faith, we
start to look at what we do as being the source of it, or the
keeper of it, or the completer of it, we have the wrong faith. Romans 3.22 says, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all that believe, for there is no difference. Again, Galatians
2.16 says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the
faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And one more, Galatians
2.20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, let me be clear. I said if our faith makes us
look to our doing. I did not say faith causes us
to do nothing. but more on that in a little
bit. Jesus Christ, it is clear in scripture because we are specifically
told this was the one who had first had faith. He authored
it or that is created it or had it. I don't know really the best
way to say that because God is eternal. But not only that, it
is he that completed it or perfected it. He did everything required
to finish our salvation. God is not trying to save us
now. He is not judicially trying to save us. That has already
been done. What he is doing now is in time
bringing those who he did save into the fold so that they now
know they are saved. He does this by the gospel. Next,
the object of faith. So now the object of faith, if
Jesus Christ is the author of faith, and he is, If Jesus Christ
perfected or completed faith, and he did, then faith is of
God. Faith looks to God. Faith hopes
in God. If I have faith of Jesus Christ,
then it will point me to Jesus Christ. Faith is what Jesus Christ
did. So if that is what I have, it
will always look to Jesus Christ. I will see who he is and want
to see more of who he is. I will see what he has done and
will look to see more of what he has done. I will spend so
much time wanting to see all of this, I will not have time
to look at anything else. That is if I'm doing this by
faith. Next, a gift given. Faith is not something we work
up. Faith is not a product of God giving us some special ability
to work up faith. It is simply a gift. A gift that
is not created by us, nor is it kept by us. God's faith given
to every believer in measure looks to all things Jesus Christ. Because he is the author and
the completer of that faith, it is this faith that will enable
you to believe Jesus Christ. This faith will hear those things
spoken by someone in the gospel, and that faith given of God will
believe Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is who He is
and what He has done. Now, someone might think or say,
well, does faith cause me to believe that I am a dead alien
sinner? The answer to that is, yes, it does. When by God's Spirit
through the scripture tells me that Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of God, Knowing this, it tells me I am not righteous. The scripture
also tells that he came into the world to save sinners. And
if he did, then I must be a sinner because I am not God. Jesus Christ
is God. Faith given us does not look
to our doing. But if our faith given by God,
which is of God, does not cause us to do some things, then it
is dead faith. And if you would, turn with me
to James 2 for just a moment. James 2. And I want to read verses 14
through 19 for now. What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith
save him? If a brother or a sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of you saying to them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding you
give them not those things which are needful to the body, what
doth it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Faith in Christ does not cause
me to look at my own works, but it causes me to work. That faith
given me of God is energized by love. So loving Christ, I
also love his gospel, his people, and his way. I will care about
the people of God and will not want harm to come to them at
all, as we will see more a little bit later. So next we have faith
proclaimed by the gospel. The gospel is what men sent of
God proclaim. That is the faith of Jesus Christ
himself. It is his faith to accomplish
all that the Father gave him to do, and him doing it, based
on who he is, and that is what the gospel proclaims. When this
is heard by those who have been given this kind of faith, they
believe and they obey. Scripture says in Hebrews 11
and 1, it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. It is the substance because
my hope is based solely on what Jesus Christ did and not on what
I do at all. Faith comes from Christ, faith
looks to Christ, faith believes Christ Jesus our Lord. I heard
Don Fortner say this in a message from 1994 that I just heard the
other day. I've heard other preachers say
this as well, but I was reminded of it in that message. Jesus
Christ must have the preeminence. He was saying all Christians
believe in the Trinity. That is, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But scripture declares that Jesus
Christ, the God-man, is to have the preeminence. Colossians 118
reads, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence, and that is Jesus Christ. Again
in Colossians 2.9 it says, for in him, that is Jesus Christ,
dwelleth all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If God
ever enables you to look to Christ, who he is and what he has done,
we will not have time to think about what we do. We are exhorted
to seek those things above. It says, seek ye first the kingdom
of God, that is Jesus Christ, and his righteousness, that is
what he has done. We have everything needed for
acceptance before God in Jesus Christ the Lord, who has been
made all these things unto us, who are his, who are the called
according to his purpose. Because of faith of Jesus Christ
the Lord coming into this world to save sinners, being made sin
for them and forsaken of God, raising again and ascending up
to the right hand of him on high, has assured us by his doing that
we will be with him one day. So he performed the work of faith.
Having given us life, he gives us this faith in measure, sends
us the gospel. By his spirit we believe him.
We obey him to the saving of the soul. God accounts this to
us as our righteousness which is in Christ, which is of Christ. We are righteous before God because
Jesus Christ is righteous. Jesus Christ is God. So what
does this faith look like when we look at the account of Rahab? The account we see here with
Rahab is something every believer experiences. And again, I want
to say this, this account really happened. Everything in the book
of Joshua really happened, and it happened just as it says it
happened. But we can glean some things here that we know from
scripture happens to every believer and see how it can typify anyone
who is brought to know Jesus Christ. If you can in no way
relate to these things, then maybe God has not dealt with
you yet. I pray that changes, but whether it does or not is
not up to me or any other fallen human being. It is up to the
sovereign God of scripture, whether he wills to do so or not. First,
the fact that Rahab the harlot, it shows this is typical of any
believer that is a harlot. This word harlot, this is what
the word means. To commit adultery, to commit
idolatry, calls to be or play the whore. Commit or fall to
whoredom, calls to go a-whoring, whorish. This is the meaning
of the word, so I do not say this to be brash or anything
like that. This is what the word means.
When it comes to God, we whore after our own inventions. That
is, gods of our own imaginations. We go a-whoring after idols,
whether there is something hewn out of stone or wood or not.
Read Psalm 106 sometime. But we also read in Ezekiel 6,
9, it says, and they that escape of you shall remember me among
the nations, whither they shall be carried captives, because
I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from
me with their eyes, which go a-whoring after their idols,
and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have
committed in all their abominations. And if you wanna know more, about
us as we are in nature, read the book of Hosea sometime. Man
in his flesh will always whore after another God and not be
joined to the God of scripture that is Jesus Christ the Lord. That is who we are by nature
towards God. But we also see in this account
that she hid these men. Then told those who came looking
for them, she did not know where they came from. She said, I don't
know who they are. But they left through the front
gate, that's what she told them. She told the men who came looking
for them that they should chase after them, trying to get them
away from where they were. So then sent these men, these
two men, out another way. That's what the scripture says.
A different way than where she told the king's men to go look
for them. James 2.25 says, likewise also was not Rahab the harlot
justified by works when she had received the messengers and had
sent them out another way. Faith given by God does not want
to see harm come to God's people. She did not tell these two men
when she knew they were spies of God to get out and she wished
them the best of luck. No, she hid them, and then she
told the men looking for them that they went out the gate and
sent them out to look for them. Then once they had left, she
sent these two men out another way. She did not just say to
them, be ye warmed and filled. No, she did what was needed to
take care of these men, because she already knew in her heart
she wanted to follow after the same God they followed after.
I want to stress here, there is nothing here that says these
men came in talking or saying anything to Rahab. Nothing is
recorded for us in scripture that says they did this as they
were coming in. The first word uttered were by
Rahab when she confessed to believe in their God, knowing all of
the things that he had done. These men were spies. I'm sure
they were saying as little as possible. They were spies. They wanted to see what the city
was about and what the people were about. They found this out
from Rahab as she spoke with them. And other people, as I
said before, they knew that they did not belong. They knew this
before they went to Rahab's place. Someone did anyway because word
got back to the king that they were spies in the land. The king
was informed that the men went in to Rahab. Rahab took care
of these two men, she protected them. She sent those who came
looking for them out of the city when she actually had hid them
in the flax on her roof. This flax was some kind of wood
bound up together, some kind of wooden product. And it's up
there to be dried out, that's what it's up there for. This
flax, as I read it, was to be used in clothing or ropes or
some kind of objects made from this type of linen. She then
goes up to talk to them before they went to sleep is what it
seems to say to me. I'm sure this was to get them
out of there because to keep them safe so that no one would
come back and find them. But she then begins to tell them.
The scripture says nothing about the men saying anything to her,
but she tells them that she knows God is with them, and he has
given them the land, including the city of Jericho. She said
the people of the city, when they heard everything that God
had done for them, their heart melted. They were afraid of them. Rahab's heart melted in a different
way. It melted her heart that she
knew what she wanted to join with the people of God. No one
else was doing this, but she knew, and she knew this not by
these men telling her, but by what she had heard. She had heard
what God did some other way. She heard these things from someone
else. Did she know much? I don't think so. But God sent
these men to her, did he not? This is that faith given by God. Hebrews 11 31 says, by faith,
the heart of Rahab perished not with them that believed not when
she received the spies with peace. Not sent them out another way
by peace, but received them with peace. She received them with
peace. It does not say she let them
leave in peace. When they first arrived, she
received them with peace. What would cause her to do this?
The faith of Jesus Christ given. Because of verse 11, let's look
at Joshua 2 and verse 11 if you still have that open. I want
you to look at this. I think I kind of stressed it
when I was reading it. Joshua 2 and verse 11. Yeah, verse 11. If I can get there. 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 the Lord your God,
he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. She believed God. This is what
tells me she believed God. We know this is true because
scripture testifies to it again in James 2, continuing on in
verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the
scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called
the friend of God. Ye see then how that by works
a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messengers and had sent them out another way. For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. She received these men in faith,
the scripture says so. So she had faith before they
came. She protected these men so it was not a dead faith. It
had works behind it because of the love that energized it. Now
in her talking to them, she asked for deliverance for what she
knew was coming. She knew that the city was going
to be wiped out. It says, if you read on, they
killed men and women, and that's young and old. That is both beasts
and humans. She looked for her family to
be spared from judgment. These men gave their word to
take care of her and anyone else that was in the house. That is,
her house. There was a window in this house.
In this window would be placed a cord. This cord, I would say,
was made of the same material that kept those spies hid. the
flax on the roof which had been cured by the sun. That is how
they would get this material ready to use in linens. They
would dry it out in the sun and then once it was dry, they would
take and beat it and get all the pulp out of it. This left
the fibers which were then put through some kind of process
to make it suitable for clothing or some kind of linen purpose,
ropes and that kind of thing. But notice this cord was put
in a window. This window which I believe typifies
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. But that thing or that one which
ultimately paid the price for our salvation is the same one
that protects us before we ever see the cord of Jesus Christ
in the gospel window. It is in what he has done that
protects us because we were chosen by God in Christ to this end. My whole life before God ever
revealed himself to me, I was kept safe by Jesus Christ, my
Lord, until the day to which in the gospel he would reveal
the cord to me. But this was not just a cord.
It was a scarlet cord, a crimson cord. What a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ and what he did on our behalf on that tree. This
window, which is where the crimson cord is to be found, is what
gives me hope of everlasting life, which only he could give. So now, one more thing I want
to point out, and it says that she let them down through the
window, which was in her house. Her house was on top of the wall
of the city. The city was going to be destroyed.
We know it was when we read further in the book of Joshua, as I said
before. But when the walls crumbled, the Israelites would come in
and destroy everything. Joshua 6 and verse 5 says, And
it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the
ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all
the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city
shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every
man straight before him. When God sends his gospel to
us, it will knock down the walls of rebellion against him. There
will not be a stone left standing. It says in 2 Corinthians 10 and
verses four and five, for the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. His gospel will come
in and knock down all the walls, but God be thanked, there are
some of us that have this crimson cord in the window. We have an oath that has been
given to us. I will never leave you or forsake
you." It will change your way of life for sure. There may be
those around you that do not think the same way you do. But
if it is Jesus Christ you see, this crimson cord, there will
be no other way for you. Once God does this, We will begin
to see him and begin to serve him, and the idols we once held
to in our whorish worship will begin to fall away being ground
to powder. I've heard some say, and I think
it's a good illustration, but there are some that said that
God's word is like an onion, like the different peels of an
onion. There are several different layers.
This is true at how we see God's word. He does not give it to
us all at one time. But I like this illustration
as well, and I'm not sure who I heard it from or when. I'm
not sure if any of you know what a 3D picture is, but you have
several layers of a picture. A 3D picture is one where you
overlay one picture with another, and then another, and then another.
As you lay them on top of one another, you begin to see the
picture as it is, in more depth and detail. It becomes a little
clearer as you pull in each layer of the picture. The scripture
is all about Jesus Christ the Lord. As you begin to put each
layer on top of one another, laying line upon line, precept
upon precept, here a little, there a little, you begin to
see Jesus Christ the Lord more fully. It is he that has the
preeminence, as I've already said. And if what we are seeing
is not Jesus Christ, then we are interpreting the scripture
and not proclaiming the scripture. God has revealed in his word
what he wants us to know. It is by his spirit he opens
our understanding to what has been revealed. What God says
in his word, he means. It must be He that gives us the
understanding of it as He has revealed it. We just need to
proclaim it. And it will not return unto Him
void. It will accomplish that for which
He has sent it forth to do, whether it be to condemn further or to
bring light. There is one person, Jesus Christ
the Lord, and what He did for His people that keeps them until
the time of love, woos them in, in the time of love, knocks down
their walls of rebellion when that time comes, brings salvation
near, keeps them safe, and will ultimately take them home. Jesus
Christ is the crimson cord which must be seen. That is, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. This one man and what he did
are hung in the window of the gospel for those to see, to remind
them that salvation is of the Lord. Are the walls crumbling
down around you? I would ask you, are the walls
crumbling down around you? I hope God is doing this for
you. Continuously breaking down your walls of rebellion. The
dust from our rubble will begin to cry out whoredoms against
God. He must continually keep grinding them to powder. If you
can, there's only one thing you can count on. That is the person
and work of Jesus Christ the Lord. if you can, and I even
have no problem with saying if you will. Because scripture says
we will be willing in the day of His power. As Earl used to
say, you can if you will, and you will if you can. Can you
believe Jesus Christ the Lord? Just believe Him. Amen. Dear Lord God, thank you for
allowing us to be here today. We know there's others that We're
not able to make it here today. Be with them, dear Lord. Others
who may be listening, comfort them, dear Lord. We hope that
our words honor you and give them some comfort wherever they
might be. Pray for us, dear Lord, that
we may honor your name and hold forth your name. It's not about
us, dear Lord. Help us to realize that. Crumble our walls of rebellion,
our idols that we often go to all things we ask in Christ Jesus
name. Amen.