I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to Hebrews 11.31. Hebrews 11.31. This is this blessed book, 11th
chapter. The Spirit of God gave a list
of different ones that God was pleased to show mercy to. I'd like to look at verse 31
for a few minutes. Consider that by faith the harlot Rahab perished not
with them that believed not when she had received the spies with
peace. Now, I want you to turn to Joshua
2, and I'm going to read, excuse me, I want to read Joshua chapter
2, 24 verses, and let's just see what happened.
How did this come about? Joshua 2, verse 1, 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
a harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. They laid 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 are become to
search out all the country. And the woman took the two men
and hid them, and said, Thus there came unto me But I wished
not, whence they were. Came to pass about the time of
shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whether 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 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 Lamb,
and that your terror is fallen upon us. that all the inhabitants
of the land faint were melting because of you. But we have heard
how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you
came out of Egypt, what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Om, whom you
utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any
more courage than any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Therefore,
I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my Father's
house and give me a true token that you will save a life, my
father, my mother, my brethren, my sisters, all that they have
and deliver our lives from death. And the man answered her, Our
life are yours, if ye utter not this our business, it shall be
when the Lord hath given us the land that we will deal kindly,
truly with thee. And she let them down by a cord
through the window, for her house was upon the town wall, dwelt
upon the wall, and she said unto them, Get you to the mountain,
lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourself there three days,
till 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. Thou shalt bring
thy father, thy mother, thy brethren, all thy father's household home
unto thee. It shall be that whosoever shall
go out of the doors of thine house into the street, his blood
shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. Whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head,
if any hand be upon him. 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 unto the mountain, and bowed 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." Now, here was a woman that was a She was an alien from the commonwealth
of Israel. Now, this woman is a beautiful,
perfect example of every one of us, a hearted, disrespectful, For God Almighty, there's not
one person in this room or in any other part of this nation,
this world, or ever has been one that's not just exactly like
this woman. Oh, you say, I'm not like her.
Well, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking about people that
know something. about what they are by nature. I'm going to tell you something.
I find great comfort having a heart to admit I'm just
like this woman. I need a Savior. I need someone that is able. the Lord Jesus Christ. I need
for God Almighty to do something for me that I can't do for myself. Here was one that was out of
every kindred, nation, tribe and tongue, this was one that
Almighty God was pleased from before the foundation of the
world. That's what you just said, Tom. that God Almighty was pleased
to show mercy to. This woman, I know, I just read
this back in Hebrews 11.31, it says, By faith the harlot Rahab perished not
with them that believed not when she had received the spies with
peace. I know this. This woman believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses wrote of Him. That's what
the Lord told those Pharisees. He said, if you believe Moses,
you believe Me. Moses wrote of Me. This woman knew something of
the glorious deliverance by sovereign saving grace. You say, well,
how could she? That was so long ago. The gospel is the eternal gospel. This is the gospel that was preached
in the garden. Substitution. God Almighty killed
an animal Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves
with some fig leaves. The Lord preached Christ to them. Covered them. This woman believed
God. She believed that Almighty God
had shown mercy to her by faith. She was just a harlot. just a woman
of the street, just a woman who just made her
living selling herself. Oh, but where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. I'm going to tell you something.
I find it very comforting when I read in the Scriptures about
the dregs of this world that God Almighty has shown mercy
to. Now, you that by the grace of
God have seen yourself to be just like this woman right here, this dear sister, Sister Now, this world never stand with
her. Well, I'm not going to stand with that woman. Well, I tell
you what, I believe there's some this morning that would gladly
embrace this woman. So, you know, you all met my
sister. Sister, this harlot that God
showed mercy to. I want you to look, first of
all, concerning her deliverance. And she's no different than anybody
here. I mean, if God showed mercy to
anybody here, He showed mercy just exactly the way He did this
woman. I want you to consider the providence
of God in her deliverance. The Scripture said we just read
where two spies were sent out secretly, but you know the very night that
they were sent out? The king of Jericho knew about
it. God Almighty made sure. How did
he find out? God allowed him the privilege
to be able to know it. If the Lord hadn't given him
information, I don't know how he heard it, but he heard it.
He knew it. Two men were secretly sent out
to view the land. And they came, the Scripture
says, to a woman's house named Rahab. She was a harlot. The Scripture does not reveal
that these two spies knew anything about Rahab. Joshua didn't tell them, say,
now listen, there's a harlot there, and I want you to go out
there and find her. You go and search out the land
secretly. How did they get there? Now, you know the answer. The steps of a good man. Not one good in himself. I know
that. But one that God Almighty has
been pleased to show mercy to. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. And he delighteth in his way.
The Lord delighteth in his way, and he delights in the Lord's
way. Before the foundation of the
world, predestinating grace, how did they get there? God sent
them. Almighty God sent these two men. His hand providentially, powerfully,
directed them to this very house, to the very one that He had chosen
to deliver. The Lord knew Rahab was there. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. How did you get here? The Lord
brought you here. Well, the way I got here, I was
dating this girl. I was dating this guy. Your mama always made me come
to church. I didn't want to, but she made
me come. How did you get here? The Lord,
in His infinite mercy and grace, put you. A few kids are sitting
here this morning. Thank God you've got some parents.
Almighty God was pleased to allow the privilege to be able to sit
here and hear. Yeah, but I don't like it. I
know. But by the grace of God, the
Lord may show mercy to you. He may. For adventure, he might. The Lord had purpose. that this
harlot, this prostitute, he was going
to spare this woman, not only in the day of Jericho's demise,
but he was going to show mercy everlastingly to this woman.
He'd always shown mercy to her. He'd always loved her. She was
always his. What was the ground of her faith?
I know, I know that the Scripture says that by faith, by the faith
of God's elect, by faith, this woman is listed in the 11th chapter
of Hebrews and God Almighty was telling us some that He showed
mercy to and gave them faith to believe. By faith, this woman
believed God. What was the ground of her faith? How did it get there? Well, it
got there the only way it ever gets there, by hearing. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God, hearing the gospel of God's grace. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of this gospel. This is the power of God. This is God's means. This is the way that God Almighty
sends through the preaching of the gospel is truth, the truth
of God. This is how faith cometh and
cometh. I'm talking about the faith that
you believe by now, right now, not yesterday. Faith cometh,
it cometh, it cometh. Yesterday's faith is gone. You're
not living on yesterday's faith. Faith cometh. If God Almighty
doesn't give you faith right now, you don't believe Him. Faith
is right now. It's, I need it now, I need it
now. Faith cometh. This woman heard
by faith. She perished not with those who
believed not when she received the spies with peace. When did this woman, when did
she hear? Faith cometh by hearing. That's what the Scripture says.
Well, the Scripture says back in Joshua chapter 2 that all
of Jericho heard. They heard something. Well, what
did they hear? Well, back in Joshua 2.10 it
says, For we have heard, and see, after she hid those men
up on top of that building and told those fellows, she said,
you know, she said, I really don't have any idea what happened. I just, they were here, but I
didn't know why they were here. I just, I tell you, you'll just
hurry. I think, I think if you hurry,
I think you'll catch them. And they were out of there. She
had hidden them up on the rooftop there. And she went up there
and she told them in verse 2, she said, We've heard. We've
heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. We've heard of God's deliverance.
We've heard how Almighty God was pleased to deliver His people.
How He opened up the Red Sea. And I'm just convinced that she
saw Christ, our Red Sea, rent. She saw the people of God walk
across and heard about that. Dry ground, no struggles. God opened the way. We heard
how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea and did it in
particular. She heard about particular redemption, did it for you. When you came out of Egypt, how
God delivered you out of that state of bondage, delivered you
from that which pictured your sin, what He did unto the two
kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan.
We heard of God's justice and God's mercy to you. And as soon as we heard these
things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you, the objects of God's
mercy. When did this woman hear? Here. She heard right there. We've
heard. We've heard in our hearts. Melted. How many of them heard? All of
them. All of them heard. They heard
the same message. But I'm going to tell you something.
Obviously, there were some wayside hearers. And there were some
stony ground hearers. And there were some thorny ground
hearers. But I know of one, at least,
that was a good ground hearer. How did she hear? She heard by
the grace of God. She heard by the mercy of Almighty
God. We all heard. All of us heard. We heard and we saw and had described
to us exactly what was happening. What was the ground of her faith?
The Word of God. Same Word. What was the effect
of her faith? The scripture says back in Hebrews
11, 32, she received the spies with peace. With peace. You're the messengers of God.
You are God's messengers. The Spirit of God produced the
fruit in that woman. And did it to God's glory, God's
honor. We know. I tell you, false faith
will give an intellectual assent to God's existence. The devils
know this. Demons know that God exists. I know most of you probably know
my kids. Some of you may know Gabe, but
I've got three girls too. The youngest. One of the last times that I
was ever in Ashland at the Bible school
was in your daddy's, my dad's house. Carrie was over at Bob's
and Becca, my youngest daughter, came to me one night and she
said, Dad, can I talk to you? She said, I'd like to confess
the Lord in baptism. I said, why? I wanted to hear
what she had to say. Why? She said, I've listened
to you all my life. She was probably, she's 18, 19
years old at this time. She said, I've heard you all
my life. And she said, I understand what
you're saying. I understand. She said, I know
the difference between Calvinism and Arminianism, I understand
the difference. I can give a good, you know,
I've described both of them and she said, I've understood it.
But she said, you know, though I understood the concept of the
gospel, I just didn't have a heart for it. But I believe the Lord's
given me a heart for Christ. And she says, ìNot just a doctrine
to me.î She said, ìItís a person.î I said, ìThatís about the best
description, illustration of truthfulness I guess Iíve ever
heard.î I baptized her. Men can understand the five points
of Calvinism. I understand. These men, women,
all heard. of God. We heard, we know. But faith that is not accompanied
by an obedience in walk, a consistent walk, faithful walk,
a following after. I understand. I know. I know
what they're preaching over at Hurricane Road. I understand
that and I believe that. Not unless you hunger after Christ,
consistently following after Him, staying. No. This woman
believed God, and she received peace, God's messages. Even so fake, James says, it
hath not works, consistency. It's dead. Dead, being alone. This woman received these men. Don't you look at the miracle
of the singleness of faith. And this is what I mean with
this, the singleness. I don't know how many. I mentioned
this. I don't know how many people
were in that city. I do know, according to that
woman's report, it was pretty universal. We've heard about
you guys. We've heard about what happened
to you. We know what happened when you
came out of Egypt. We know what happened. I know what happened
to Sihon. I know what happened to Og when
you guys were coming around and you were coming to Canaan. We
know that. And Sihon and Og didn't receive
you graciously. And you asked them, do y'all
mind if we pass through here? We're not looking for trouble.
We just want to kind of come through. Here's all we're asking."
No. No. Sihon went out and picked
a fight with them. That's what he did. All they
wanted to do, Tom, was go through. That's all we wanted to do. Sihon
came out here and started a fight with them. They wasn't looking
for a fight, but they wasn't running either. She said, we
heard. We heard what happened to Sihon. We know. When we heard what happened,
our hearts melted. Well, for a while, for a while,
they were fearful for a while, most of them. But because justice
wasn't executed because they didn't show up in Jericho speedily. Kind of waned after a while,
but not in her heart. Of all that heard, no one is
mentioned that truly believed God except this woman right here. It is a miracle of God's grace
that God would call any out of darkness. But how often do you
see, not always, not always, and I'm thankful for that, that
God Almighty would show mercy to any, but how often do you
see that there's one, two out of a group? I don't know how
big Jericho was, but I do know this, for one, one. that God showed mercy to. And
there were some that benefited from God showing mercy to her.
Her mom and daddy and her sister and their families and stuff
like that. Boy, you talk about a beautiful
picture of mercy shown to many for the sake of one. I've shared
this with some of you. Last time I was at Brother Henry's
here a few months ago, If I shared this with you, just
bear with me. He told me about when he was
in the war. He said, we were on our way to
Okinawa. He said, I just watched them
raise that flag there at Iwo Jima. He said, I saw them raise
that flag. And he said, we were on our way
to Okinawa. And he said, long line of transport
ships. And he said, kamikazes everywhere. He said a kamikaze plane hit
the ship right in front of us. He said it went down, all those
sailors with it, most of them perished. He said it hit the
one right behind us. He said that ship went down.
He said kamikaze never hit us. He said, yeah, Almighty God was
pleased. It's your mercy. to a bunch of
sailors and marines for the sake of one. Go call that man in time out
of darkness. Teach him the gospel. Raise him
up. Put him in Ashland, Kentucky. Call some folks out. Oh, the mercy of God for mercy
that was shown for this one woman. her family, temporarily at least,
God showed mercy. And here's this woman, alone,
preferred by God Almighty to show kindness and compassion
to, and this woman who had a heart for God's honor and God's glory,
and would take God's against everybody else in her city, I
don't doubt she knew a bunch of these people. Probably raised
right there, went to school with a bunch of them, you know, and
knew who she was and she knew who they were. But all I'd like
for us to consider one other thing. I'd like for us to consider
this woman's answer. to the messengers from the king,
came and talked to her. She was there, and this king
sent some fellows over. They said back in Joshua 2, they
said that the woman, verse 4, Joshua 2, took the two men and
she hid them and said thus, There came men unto me. I'll admit
that, she said, but I, I wist not. I just, I just, I don't
have a clue. I have no clue whence they were. I don't know where they came
from. I don't know what they wanted. I have no idea. what their business was all about.
And she said, this is exactly how it went down. This is exactly
how it went down. She said, it came to pass about
the time of the shutting of the gate, it was dark. Remember that? It was dark. The men went out. And where they went, again, I
just what not. She said, I'm just at a loss
to know what happened. Pursue after them quickly because
there I'm sure you can overtake them. And the scripture says
in verse 6, But she had brought them up to the roof of the house
and hid them by the stalks of flax which she laid in order
upon her roof. Now, let's ask ourselves this
question. Did this woman lie to him? The answer is yes. The
answer is yes. She lied to him. Now, I want you to listen to
what God said about what she said. It doesn't really matter
what man says about what she said. This is what God said. James 2.25, likewise also, was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messengers and had sent them out another way? Almighty God said that what this
woman did He was pleased with her, pleased with her. Her act, Rahab the harlot was justified
by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them
out some other way, and everything in between that justified her. Her act, all of it, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, was an act of faith. She believed
God. She had believed God, and had
she not done what she did, her faith would have been shown to
be not genuine. And God Almighty accepted what
this woman did in Christ and justified what she did. For this woman of the people, it was an act
of faith on her part, and it was judgment to those to whom
she spoke. I want you to turn with me to
2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. Now, my friend, we're on ground
right here that is so. Whether men believe
it, whether they don't, it does not change the Word of God. Now,
you listen to what God has to say. 2 Thessalonians 2. ten to
twelve, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish." Now, let me tell you who I'm relating this verse right
here to. Those that came to that woman
saying, listen, we've heard of some men come in here to spy
out the land. Where are they? Where are they? They heard what
she heard. With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that
they should be saved. They heard what she said. They
heard what she heard. Because they received not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie. that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Let me ask you what happened. When these men looked in for
the two spies, what happened? What did they want? According
to the Word right here, what did they want? They wanted a
lie. They wanted a lie. How do you
know they wanted a lie? because God says they would not
receive the love of the truth, and God Almighty gave them just
exactly what they wanted. God gave them just exactly what
they wanted. Who gave them the message? They said, well, it was Rahab.
No, it wasn't. God gave them just exactly what
they wanted. The Lord sent them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie. And God Almighty said that woman
was justified in what she did. My friend, here's power. This is power. Giving men exactly
what they want. a lie and not being the author
of their sins. That's power. God Almighty does
as He will. You see? He does as He will in
the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. God
Almighty is just. No one will ever lay at His feet
It was your fault. These men did just exactly what
they wanted to do. They heard the truth and they
would not receive the love of the truth. I don't want the truth. I don't want the truth. I'm going to give you a lie. That's what you want. That's
what you're going to get. And then lastly, I want you to
look at the reward of the faith that God had given her. What
I read back in Hebrews 11, by faith the harlot Rahab perished
not with them that believed not. gave their word concerning her
safety. He said, I want you to take this scarlet
thread, the one that they climbed down, and you bind this scarlet thread,
a beautiful, glorious picture of our Lord and promise. Here's
the promise. What's the hope of our deliverance? What's the hope? His Word, His
Word is Christ. These spies gave this Word and
they said, I want you to take this scarlet thread and you bind this. When we come
back, we come back, we're going to be looking for this scarlet
thread, and you best be inside this house, you best be in this
place that sets forth the refuge." Her house was a picture of Christ.
She was a type of Christ as being one by whom her family, all the
family, that scarlet thread was a picture of Christ. But I want
you to notice something that I just thought was just wonderful,
wonderful. I'm talking about faith. You
tie this scarlet thread in your window, be inside this house,
and when we come through, no harm is going to come to you.
We've got our Word on that. We've got God's Word on that.
Joshua 2. Joshua 2.21. I want you to, this was a blessing
to me. This woman didn't waste any time. Listen to this. And she said
according unto your words. She's still talking to them.
So be it. And she sent them away and they
departed and she bound the scarlet line in the window. I'm going
to tie this scarlet thread right now. Today is the day of salvation. The Scriptures reveal back in
Joshua 6, you can read it in verse 22, 23, 25, when they came
through, Joshua had given this instruction, you go get the harlot. You get that woman and her family. Don't you put
a hand on her to harm her. Let me tell you in closing what
happened. This woman, just a harlot, she was a recipient
of the mercy of God, a sinner. This is the kind that Christ
came to save, a sinner. This harlot lifted from the dregs
of sin and despair and saved by the grace of God. This harlot. God Almighty brought her out
of that. Brought her out of that sin and rebellion. She married
a man named Salmon. Married a prince named Salmon.
And this woman, Rahab the harlot, married this man and they had
a boy. And their boy's name was Boaz. And Boaz married a woman named
Ruth. And Boaz and Ruth had a boy. And his name was Jesse. And fourteen generations later, the Lord Jesus Christ came through
that line right there. Oh, the grace of God. Almighty God. Precious, precious Son. This was the human lineage. through which he came. And he
looked, and he saw this woman in mercy. I'm going to have mercy
on you. I'm going to have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish which I please, accomplish that
which I please. It shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sing." This is just an old harlot, but a harlot that God shows mercy
to. And if God shows mercy to this
harlot right here, It's by the grace of God.