I consider this a great honor to be with God's people, to be
where the Lord has raised up a faithful pastor. But Don has been my friend a
long time. We converse often. I love him, appreciate him, appreciate
this assembly. I pray today that God might be
pleased to meet with us. This may be the last time we
ever meet together. I don't know. We're not promised anything.
Life is but a vapor. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter
11. I'd like to read, and I'll be
preaching, Lord willing, out of that passage that Brother
Lindsey read out of Joshua 2. Hebrews chapter 11. This is what God has to say about
Rahab the harlot. Hebrews 11.31. faith. The harlot Rahab perished not
with them that believed not when she had received the spies with
peace." Now that's what God has to say. How often have we read or heard
this passage of scripture quoted? When Moses asked the Lord, he
said, would you show me your glory? And this is what God had
to say. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. And then in Romans 9, the Spirit
of God moved upon the Apostle Paul to write these words concerning
the Lord's answer to Moses. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now I know and you that believe
know this. It is not by the will of man
that men are converted. It's by the will of God. Now
we know that. Rahab the harlot by faith didn't
perish. I want us to look just a few
minutes. Turn with me back to Joshua 2.
Joshua 2. We'll be looking at a few passages
of Scripture here, but amazing passage concerning God's grace
to a woman who is without doubt a type of everyone to whom God
has been pleased to show mercy. What was it about Rahab that
was any different than any other person in Jericho? What was the
difference between her and everybody else? The grace of God. That was it. Here's a woman who
is one out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. He was one for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ shed his blood, God said, by faith, by faith. Rahab did not Somebody would ask, now, could
God Almighty show mercy to one such as I? If He's pleased to do so, He
will. He showed mercy to this harlot. What has she done that we haven't
done? At least in our minds, what has she ever done that we
haven't done? Now I want us to just consider,
just for a few minutes, concerning the faith of Rahab. That's what
I wanna preach on, the faith of Rahab. This woman believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman, by faith, she believed
by the grace of God and did not perish. The Lord Jesus Christ
said in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me. Now, does
that mean before, after? It means all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. This woman, by faith, came to
Him. She saw Him. by faith. Now I want you to just think
with me for just a few minutes. The scripture sets forth the
wonder and the miracle of God's grace that God would save this
woman. Now I want you to just think.
Now look at the providence of God concerning her deliverance. Two spies, we read in the passage,
Brother Lindsey read out of Joshua 2, two spies were sent by Joshua
to this place called Jericho, and they were sent there to spy
secretly, view the land, and they went, they came into a harlot's
house named Rahab and lodged there. Now, what does the scripture
say? concerning why they came to that
house. It doesn't say. Scripture has
no indication whatsoever that they even knew where they were
going. They came to a place that the
Spirit of God directed them. Why would they come to that house?
The scripture says, Psalm 37, 23, the steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. The Lord delights
to direct his people, and I'll tell you this, those who by grace
and faith know the Lord directs them, they're glad that God directs
too. Why are we here this morning?
Well, we just decided we were gonna come to church today. The
scripture says. that the steps of a good man
are ordered. Ordered. Larry, you're sitting here by
the grace of God. Don? I'm here by the grace of God.
That's the only reason. The Lord ordered the steps of
these men and brought them to a place where God was going to
show mercy. The Lord's hand providentially,
powerfully moved on these spies to the very house, to one that
he had everlastingly loved, chosen in Christ. These spies may not have outwardly
known God. Here's what, 2 Timothy 2, 19.
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. God knows. We come this morning to hear,
to preach and to hear the gospel of God's grace. We believe that
the gospel is the power of God and salvation. Prepare a message. God's people come. They want
to hear. They believe that God is going to bless His Word. Because
the Lord said, My Word is not going to return void. It will
accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. So the Lord had
purposed that this woman Rahab would be spared in the day of
the city's demise. So God sent two spies to this
house to assure this woman of God's promise, God's mercy, and
God's grace to her. I realized that there were some
in her family. I don't know what they believed,
but I know what God said she believed. This woman met these two spies
and the scripture says that they assured her of her safety according to God's promise. Now,
let me ask you this. What was the foundation? What was the ground? The scripture
says that Rahab, by faith, perished not. How did that faith come? Where did it come from? Well,
you said God gave it to him. Right. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. This woman believed. Now I want you to look in Joshua
2 with me and listen to the words of Rahab. Joshua 2, 9 to 11. She came up in verse 8 and talked
to these men. They were on the roof, hidden
in the roof. Verse 9, 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. Now listen to the words of this
woman. For 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 unto the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon Og, whom he utterly
destroyed. These were two kings. I can tell
you this. These were two kings over some
land and the Israelites just wanted to pass through. All they
wanted to do was pass through. They weren't looking for trouble.
We just wanted to pass through. And these two kings told them,
said, no, you're not passing through. And these two kings
raised up themselves against God's people. And God Almighty destroyed those
kings and their kingdoms because of their resistance to God's
people. And Rahab said, we heard about
that. We heard how the Lord opened up the Red Sea and how Sihon
and Og were 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,
now listen to the confession of this woman. He's God. In heaven above and in earth
beneath, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We're not told. who the messengers,
we're not told who said these, who preached these things, but
Rahab said, we heard. We've heard. We know. By faith, faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the word of God. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished
not. with those that believe not when
she had received the spies with peace. Now, all of Jericho heard. That's what she said. For we've
heard how the Lord, who's we? Well, the message went forth.
Obviously, there were some wayside hearers, there were some stony
ground hearers, there were some thorny ground hearers, By the
grace of God, I know there was one that was a good ground here. And that good ground, by the
grace of God, God made herself. And she heard. And the Spirit
of God, just like the Lord opened up Lydia's heart, gave her faith
to believe. The scripture says, by faith.
Rahab, perish not. Rahab told these spies, she said,
I know this. We've heard, she said, let me
tell you what I know. God is God. He's God in heaven
and earth. Here's the evidence of faith. God gives a man or woman a heart
that bows to God Almighty. He's not one that we we deal
with, we argue with, we connive with, He's God. I know this. Your God is God. The scripture says that they
heard, but obviously because of the lack of immediate retribution,
death, overtaking, They didn't truly believe God.
We heard this. This woman knew it, bowed to
it. Ecclesiastes 8.11 says, because sentence against an evil work
is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
are fully set in them to do evil. Children of Israel came in six
days. They circled Jericho. And you
know what happened? Nothing. Nothing. They just walked
around the city. But that seventh day, those priests,
they blew those trumpets. Those walls came down and Almighty
God brought victory for his people. Rahab said, I know this. God
is God. God Almighty The one that opened
up the Red Sea, the one that destroyed Sihon and Og, that's
the Lord. What was the effect of her faith? I know the foundation of her
faith was founded in the providence of Almighty God. The evidence
of her faith, she acknowledged, she believed the Lord. Now look
at the effect of the faith. The scripture says that she received
the spies with peace. Peace with God and peace with
them. What is the ground of our peace
before the Lord? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the ground of our peace
between each other? The Spirit of God that has wrought
a new heart in you, wrought a new heart in me. We have fellowship
one with another. What was the effect of Rahab's
faith? She received these spies. Received
them with peace as God's Spirit wrought a new heart, a new mind,
a new understanding in this woman. And the Spirit of God who gave
this woman faith to believe. Acknowledge these men as God's
men and hit them and hear the Spirit of God cause this woman
by faith to do something that only God Almighty could have
convinced this woman to do. She hid these men. From the authorities in her city,
she took them and put them up on the roof, and the Lord had
given her a new heart to receive them, led by God's Spirit. God
told her what to do. Now I want you to notice the
singleness of her faith. Here's a miracle, because as
far as I can tell, no one else was recorded to possess faith.
Again, I said, I do know that she asked my father and my mother
and my brother and my sisters, keep them in here. And they said,
get inside the house. Here's a scarlet thread and you
stay in this house. You get outside this house and
your blood's on your head. We come inside this house, blood
will be on us. But this woman, by the singleness
of God's mercy, Perish not. I don't know how many people
were in Jericho, but I can tell you this, all that perished,
perished because of a lack of faith. There was no one recorded
except Rahab to have believed God. Now, this woman alone preferred
God's will, God's men, God's message over everybody else. This woman alone exalted the
Lord to be God in heaven and earth. Now, I'd like for us to
consider an answer. Now this has been an amazing,
amazing thing to me. For a long time, I'd read this
passage of scripture and I would hear the answer that Rahab gave
to the messengers from the king. The king sent some messengers
to Rahab, and he said, I want you to send these guys over that
has come to your house. We've heard that they've come
into the city to secretly spy out the land. Send them over. And whenever Rahab heard that,
look at Joshua 2, 4 to 6. Now listen to her answer. 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. 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 flax
which she had laid in order upon the roof. Now let me ask you
something. Was what Rahab said, was it the
truth? How can a woman answer something
that was not the truth? And the scripture, I want you
to hold just a second before I say that. Turn with me to 2
Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. While you're
turning there, let me just remind you of what this woman had said. She said, we heard. We heard how your God divided
the Red Sea. We heard how God destroyed Sihon
and Og. I know, I know that God's given
you this land. I know God's given you this land. I know that you're going to come
in here according to God's will and God's purpose, and you're
going to take this city. I know you are. I know you are. Because I know this, that God
Almighty is God in heaven and earth. She said when you come into this
city, Would you have mercy on me and my family? Because I know
this, you're coming, I know you are. Would you have mercy on me? One
woman, as far as I know, one woman, believe God, one woman. How many heard all of them? We
heard, we heard, all of us. I can just imagine the message
was rampant. Have you heard, have you heard
about that? Red seals, Israelites that walked across on dry ground. Have you heard that? Did you
hear what they did to Sihon and Og? God destroyed them. This woman said, I know this,
God's gonna give you this land. This is your land. The scripture says that they
all heard. How many believe God? As far as I know, one. One. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
seven. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth will
let until he be taken out of the way and then shall the wicked
be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish 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 leave a lie, that
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. God sent the message of the gospel to
Jericho. Rahab said, we heard. We heard. How many believed? One. Because they receive not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for that
cause, for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that
they should believe a lie. Let me ask you this. Those that
receive not the love of the truth, what did they really want? What
did they want? God sent the truth and gave Rahab
faith to believe. They heard. What did they want? They didn't want the truth. What
did they want? They wanted a lie. What did God
give them? He gave them just exactly what
they wanted. Listen to what James, the Apostle
James says in James 2.25. Someone said, well, I just don't
understand. I just don't see how that, well, let me just say
that. What does God have to say about
it? And then we'll just end it right there. 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? What
did God say about what she did? was not Rahab the harlot justified
by works. God Almighty gave those that heard and would
not receive, did not desire the love of the truth. God gave them
just exactly what they wanted. My friend, Almighty God is God. He's God in heaven and earth.
That's what Rahab said. I know this. God's given you
this land. This land's God's. He does as
He will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. What did the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 11, turn
to Matthew 11 in closing, Listen to the words of our Lord. You
know the problem with man by nature? God's ways are not our ways.
And when Almighty God is declared to be God, man by nature, carnal
man, will not have this man to rule over him. I'm not going
to have him to rule over me. Listen to the words of the Lord.
Matthew 11. Verse 20, then began he to upbraid
the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because
they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it should be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. I'm gonna read
just a couple more verses, but I just, I read that verse of
scripture, and I think to myself, here's the Lord declaring not
only what he did or didn't do, but He's telling us what would
have happened had He chosen to show mercy to Sodom. If the mighty
works which were done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it should
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Why would God be pleased to send
the message of Christ to a city and give one woman faith to believe
and allow the whole city, the rest of the city to refuse that
message and say, I'm not going to hear what you have to say.
And then give them exactly what they wanted. sent them strong delusion that
they should believe a lie. And then the Lord Jesus Christ,
in praying, said, Father, I thank you, for so it seemed good in
your sight to do this. John 12.40 said, He hath blinded
their eyes, hardened their hearts, that they should not see with
their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I should heal them. Now my friend, this is the God
of the Bible. He who has power to show mercy
and compassion to whomsoever he will, and whomsoever he will,
he hardeneth. To leave a man or leave a woman
to themselves, Is it right that God does that? Absolutely. That's what Rahab said. He's God. God in heaven and earth. Heaven above, earth beneath.
The Lord, He's God. And then the reward. God Almighty's reward to this
woman who granted the faith God gave her faith to believe. What was the reward of God? What was the mercy of God? What
does Scripture say God did for her? By faith. Rahab the harlot
perished not with them that believed not. This woman, a harlot, a Canaanite
harlot that Almighty God was pleased to show mercy. Out of the dregs of sin and despair,
you that believe, where do you find you? Same place. This woman right here, saved
by the grace of God, married a man named Salmon. And they had a boy. Rahab and her husband, Salmon,
had a boy. And his name was Boaz. Boaz's
mama was Rahab. And Boaz married a woman named
Ruth. And they had a son. His name
was Jesse. And Jesse had a son. His name
was David. And 14 generations later, the
Lord Jesus Christ was born through that line. Oh, the grace of God. Here was a woman that God was
pleased to show mercy, a harlot. And God gave her faith to believe
and passed by everybody else. My friend, this is God we serve. This is God. This is God. Isaiah 55, 11, so shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void. But it shall accomplish that
which I please. It shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. God sent the message of Christ
to a place called Jericho and gave one woman, one woman,
life. Sent two spies there and sent
those two spies to that woman's house. One woman. And Almighty God, through these
two messengers, gave that one woman the assurance, you're not
going to perish. The scourge is going to come
through this land, but it's not going to come to you. You stay
in this house. And don't you ever leave this
house. When we come through, you stay right here. You'll be
safe. My friend, Christ is our ark. Being found in Him is life. It's life. If we believe this morning, we
believe by the grace of God, an almighty God that would send
the gospel to Danville, Kentucky, and give anybody a heart to believe
is a miracle of God's grace. And if the Lord's pleased to
raise up all of these other buildings where people are hearing and
are believing a lie, the Lord Jesus Christ said to his father,
Father, I thank you that you've hidden these things
from the wise and prudent. for so it seemed good in your
sight. Lord, give me that faith to believe. For Christ's sake,
amen.