The title of my message this
morning is The House on the Wall That Would Not Fall. When the Lord God sent Joshua
and the children of Israel across the Jordan River to begin to
take possession of the land of Canaan, the first order of business
was to destroy Jericho. Jericho was one of the largest,
the most prosperous and the most thoroughly fortified of all the
cities of Canaan. But Jericho was under the curse
of God. The curse had been pronounced
40 years earlier. You can read it in Exodus chapter
23. The city of Jericho was a cursed city, but no one paid any attention
to God's curse. The inhabitants of Jericho prospered
in the world. They worked hard and played,
laboring by day and partying by night. They filled their lives
with every amusement, comfort, and pleasure they could. Like
men and women in every generation, they ate and drank, they married,
and they gave in marriage. utterly ignorant of the fact
that they were a people cursed of God. I can't help wondering who in
this assembly is like the inhabitant of Jericho. The wrath of God is upon you.
Soon you will be in hell. unless God intervenes. Judgment
is yours. I'm not saying you shall be cursed. I'm saying you are. I'm not saying
the wrath of God may fall on you. I'm saying the wrath of
God is upon you. You abide under the wrath of
God that ought to terrify your mind if you had one. Under the wrath of God who can
sleep. who can be easy, who can live
in peace. But like the inhabitants of Jericho,
you eat and drink and marry and are given in marriage and you
work and make money and labor by day and party by night and
get all you can and have all the pleasure you can and you
go on about life just as though you will never die. Oh, poor,
doomed, damned, lost soul. I pray that God will stop you
in your way as you run madly to hell seeking destruction,
else destruction shall be yours. The scriptures tell us that the
children of Israel marched around Jericho carrying the Ark of the
Covenant every day for seven days. And then on the seventh
day, they marched around the city seven times and they blew
their trumpets and shouted with a great shout. When they did,
when they did, a marvelous, miraculous thing happened. The walls of
that mighty fortified city collapsed. They didn't fall over. They fell
to the ground, flat to the ground. The whole city was taken at once. But there was a even greater
miracle. There was one small section of
that great wall around Jericho that did not fall. There was
one house right there and one section of that wall standing
under that house. There was one house on the wall
that could not fall. Why? Because there was a woman in
that house who believed God. There was a woman in that house
who was sheltered by the scarlet cord that represented the precious,
sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read about
her and her house in Joshua chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6, verse 20. So the people shouted when the
priest blew the trumpets and it came to pass when the people
heard the sound of the trumpet that the people shouted with
a great shout that all that the wall fell down flat so that the
people went up into the city every man straight before him
and they took the city and they utterly destroyed all that was
in the city both man and woman young and old and ox and sheep
and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said unto
the two men that had spied out the country, go into the harlot's
house and bring out thence the woman and all that she hath as
you 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 all that she had and they brought out all
her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel and they burnt
the city with fire and all that was there in 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 now watch this and
Joshua saved Rahab the harlot of all people in Jericho, of all the people in Jericho.
Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and her father's household
and all that she had. And she dwelleth in Israel even
unto this day. because she hid the messengers
which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Though all Jericho was
destroyed under the wrath of God, Rahab and her father's house
were saved by Joshua. The house of the town's most
notorious woman could not fall. Being the kind of inquisitive
fellow I am, I just have to ask why. Why was this one woman spared? Why was this one house spared? Why is it that when the walls
of Jericho collapsed as flat as that floor so the children
of Israel didn't have to climb over the rubble, they walked
straight into the lamp? There stood one section of the
wall perfectly secure and one house sitting on it. How come?
Let me show you five reasons clearly set before us in scripture.
Understand that Rahab was the object of God's sovereign electing
love and distinguishing free grace. Oh, what a picture of
grace we have here. Rahab was a sinner by birth. And she was a notorious sinner
by practice. She chose to make her living
as a prostitute. She chose to make her living
as a harlot. Now, I know you pull up the commentaries
written by good religious people, upright, moral, religious people. They will strain hard to make
the word harlot read innkeeper. But it just won't translate that
way. If God, the Holy Spirit, had wanted us to believe that
Rahab was an innkeeper, he would have written innkeeper. Rahab
was a harlot. The only women who kept inns
in those days and in those countries kept a specific kind of inn.
We call them brothels. Rahab was a harlot. This woman
of debauchery. This woman who sold her body
for her livelihood. This woman who left herself in
the lowest of social standings. This woman that no woman would
speak with. This woman no woman would have
dinner with. This woman no woman would invite
into her house. The Lord God Almighty chose her
as the object of His grace. loved her with an everlasting
love, set his heart upon her from eternity, and would not
let her perish. I don't understand why people
have so much trouble with that fact. The Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world to save sinners. Real sinners. You good folks
are going to go to hell. Christ came to save sinners.
I mean that. I mean that. You good folks are
going to go to hell. Christ came to save sinners.
You who are righteous are going to hell. There's no exception.
You who think you aren't quite so low. You have astute to become
so bad. You have some character about
you. You're going to hell. And you will never know God's
grace. God makes you know you are a
sinner just like Rahab the harlot. I'm better than that. Go on to
hell. I won't, I won't stoop that low. Go on to hell. I, I will not
identify with a harlot. You will perish in your sins
then. Christ came to save sinners.
Listen to the book. This is a faithful saying. worthy
of all acceptation Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
of whom I am chief Turn to Matthew the ninth chapter. I want you
to read this Matthew chapter 9 verse verse 9 Matthew 9 verse 9 it came to
pass that As Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees, the good
religious folks, the Pharisees who had their pocket stuffed
full of tracts, and had bumper stickers on their car that said,
smile, God loves you, and carried a big Bible under their arms,
and had scripture sewn into their garments. The Pharisees, the
kind you know, the kind you know, the Pharisees saw it. Publicans and sinners. Publicans
and sinners. Folks that society despised. The folks that good folks would
live around. Publicans and sinners came and sat down with him the
Pharisees saw it and they said unto his disciples Why eateth
your master with publicans and sinners while we never saw a
preacher do such a thing That sure doesn't look much like a
preacher But who could imagine such? But when Jesus heard that
he said unto them they that behold need not a physician Now, my dear wife is much like
most women I know. Much like her daughter. Her daughter
learned it well. You ladies generally don't like
to go to the doctor. When Shelby goes to the doctor,
most of the time I have to arrange it so I tell her I'm not going
until you go. That's the only way I can get
her to go because she doesn't need a doctor yet. You don't
need a doctor yet. I'll be all right. I'll be all
right. When we came back from California, she was sick as a
dog. And she said, I better go see
Dr. Hendrickson. We stopped by there on the way home from the
airport. How come? She was sick. She knew she had to get some
help to get any better. They that be whole need not a
physician. You won't go to the doctor until
you've got to have it. They that be whole need not a
physician. Now, I know for some of you,
that might not be the case. Joe and Fred would tell me otherwise,
but for the most part, folks don't go to the doctor until
they need one. We don't. But they that be sick, verse
13, but go ye and learn what that means. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous but
sinners to repentance. I wonder if there's anybody in
this building. Anybody in this building. Who,
by the grace of God, you can take your place in the dust before
the throne of grace and acknowledge I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. That publican said, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. I've got good news for sinners.
There's never been one going to hell yet. Never been one go to hell yet.
Not one! Not a sinner in hell. Go ask
them, they'll tell you. Not one. Never been a sinner
to need mercy who didn't get mercy. Never been a sinner to
seek mercy who didn't find mercy. And the only reason you don't
seek it is because you don't need it. The only reason you don't trust
Christ is because you don't need Christ. The only reason you don't
seek his righteousness is cause you got your own. The only reason
you don't seek cleansing by his blood is cause you're not guilty.
The only reason you don't seek pardon is cause you're not guilty.
Find me a sinner and I'll tell that sinner God loves you. Christ
died for you. The Spirit's called you. You're
his. I don't hesitate to say so. Every sinner believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Mercy is for the miserable. Grace
is for the guilty. Redemption is for the ruined.
Righteousness is for the rotten. Rahab was a cursed woman in a
cursed city from a cursed race in a cursed condition dwelling
under the wrath of God and she obtained Mercy. I love the story. I've heard Ralph Barnard tell
many times. He was preaching up in North,
up in Canada. And back in those days, the evangelist,
visiting evangelist, preacher would take them around and they'd
go visit everybody in town, try to get them to come to church.
And they were walking through the community and visiting door
to door, trying to get folks to come to church. And Ralph
stepped up to a little gate leading up to a house and the preacher
tapped him on the shoulder and kind of held us out. We won't
go in there. Wrong thing to say. Rolfe could tell something was
up. He said, well, why not? He said, well, we'll just go
down the road. How come? Well, that woman, you
know, folks would talk. So Rolfe went on, knocked on
the door, opened it up. The lady opened the door and
she said, what can I do for you, big fella? And Rolfe said, I'm
the Evangelist here holding a meeting in that church right down the
road there. I'd like you to come hear me preach tonight. She said
you're kidding She said those folks would drop dead if I walked
in that church. He said it doing good. Come on
and she did and she heard the gospel of God's grace and God Almighty saved another
harlot That's his business Christ Jesus came into this world to
save sinners of whom I'm chief. Why did this cursed, cursed woman
obtain mercy? Not because of anything in her,
not because of anything she did, but because the Lord loved her
and chose her. It's true. She and her house
were saved because she received the spies and hid them and sent
them out another way. But that was an act of faith,
an act of God-given faith working in her, not in order that she
might obtain mercy, but because she had obtained mercy. Now,
understand this. Understand this. Faith in Christ
does not cause God to be merciful. Faith in Christ does not cause
God to look upon you in favor. Faith in Christ does not merit
something from God. Faith in Christ is the gift of
God, the fruit of the Spirit, the outcome, the outworking of
redemption accomplished by the blood of Christ. Faith is the
evidence of mercy already there by which now we receive the blessings
of God's grace. It was not by accident. that
the spies just sort of stumbled into Rahab's house when they
came to spy out the land. They came to Rahab's house because
so it was purposed from eternity. Come back to Joshua 2, passage
we read earlier. Let's read it a little bit again. Joshua chapter 2. Here the Holy Spirit describes
this harlot's experience of grace. By some means or another, this
woman Rahab heard the gospel of God's salvation. Look at verse
10. Now, I'm not guessing about this.
I want you to see it clearly. It's amazing how the Spirit of
God states things specifically that folks seem to just read
over and can't grasp it. Look at this. Ray had said, for
we have heard, we have heard, we've heard. They had been hearing
about these Jews and their 400 years in Egypt and Pharaoh and
the Red Sea and God delivering them across the Red Sea. They
had been hearing about it for 40 years. We have heard how the
Lord, what a word, How the Lord not just Lord like you would
say if you were Speaking in terms of using there's a reverent term
of reverence saying sir, not that not that the Lord the Lord
Jehovah that's the word by Jehovah The Lord. We've heard how that
Jehovah, God, who revealed himself in the bush to Moses, who said,
I've come to set my people free. Jehovah, who saves. God, the
Redeemer. God's redemptive name she uses. We've heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea. Watch this. For you, when you
came out of Egypt, And what he did to the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Shihonon, whom ye utterly
destroyed. Rahab's heart, when she heard
this, withered before the august sovereign majesty of the one
true and living God. Look at verse 11. And as soon
as we heard, just as soon as we heard this, our hearts did
melt. Neither did there remain any
more courage in any man. because of you for the Lord Jehovah
your God he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath now
the other inhabitants of Jericho heard all about this they heard
about this like you hear about hell and judgment damnation and
eternity I talked to you I talked to you tell you The reason Christ
died at Calvary is because God must and will punish sin. And
when God found sin on his son, he pulled out the sword of his
justice and in fury executed his son because God must punish
sin. And you hear it and you shake
for a little bit and then you go have a hamburger and forget
about it. That's what it was with these inhabitants of Jericho.
They heard about Israel. Well, they're across Jordan.
They won't bother us. They're dead. They're down the road of
peace. We don't have to be concerned about them. They're there. They're
taking care of shy haunted off We don't have to worry about
oh They're getting near and a triple but Rahab Her heart withered
before God and She learned that Jehovah the redeeming God of
Israel. He is God alone in heaven and
in earth Rahab believed God Which look at verse 9 verse 9 I know
this. She said unto the men, I know. I know what nobody else in this
town knows. I know what nobody who goes to the temple down yonder
knows. I know what none of the churchgoing folks in Jericho
know. I know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your
terror has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the
land think because of you. All right, here's the second
thing. Why was it Rahab's house could not fall? Rahab's house
was under the blood. Look at verse 18, chapter 2.
Not only was she the object of God's amazing, free, sovereign
grace in Christ, her house couldn't fall under the wrath of God because
it was under the refuge and protection of the precious blood of Christ.
That's what symbolized in this scarlet cord, the scarlet thread
hanging from her window. Behold, when we come into the
land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread. Now, don't
picture that as thread you're going to get on a spool and stitch
up your shirt with. That's the thread here was strong
enough that these two fellows could climb out of her window
down the wall on it. It was a rope. There's a you
should 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 she said, according to your
words, so be it. I believe what you said. And
she sent them away, and they departed, and she took the scarlet
thread. She took that scarlet line. She
tied that rope in the window. Now this scarlet rope, like the
blood of Abel's lamb, like the blood of the Passover lamb upon
the houses of the Israelites on that night when God destroyed
the Egyptians, like the blood of the sin offering upon the
altar in the tabernacle, was a picture and type of the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only salvation there
is. That's the only salvation there is. I know that people
think we're outdated. Our religion's crude. We talk
so much about blood. In this place, in this house,
as long as I stand in this pulpit and God help you as long as you
sit there and support the minister of this congregation, in this
place, The blood of Christ shall not only constantly be declared,
it shall be declared constantly, the preeminent thing, the preeminent
message of the pulpit. Redemption by the blood. Redemption by the precious blood
of Christ. It is by the blood of Christ
that we are redeemed, not with silver and gold, But with the
precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without spot and without blemish,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world for
you. Redemption is by blood. And in that blood redemption,
there is the forgiveness of sins. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Wherever the blood is
shed, redemption is given. For whomsoever the blood was
shed, forgiveness is given, so that the two always go together. Any fool, any religious fool,
any preaching fool, who dares declare that Christ Jesus died
for everybody in this world, equally declares that all in
this world are forgiven of all sin. The two things always go
together in Scripture. It is not possible that sin be
forgiven without blood atonement. And it is not possible that blood
atonement be made and sin not be forgiven. Jesus Christ, by
the shedding of his blood, effectually redeemed his people from their
sins. And by his blood, our sins are
forgiven us. This precious blood of Christ
that gives us peace with God gives us peace because by this
blood we have access to God. We come to God in the blood sprinkled
way. We come to God through the blood
and God Almighty receives us through the blood and we have
access and acceptance with him through the blood. It's the blood
of Christ sprinkled upon the conscience that purges the heart
from dead works and gives us confidence of acceptance with
him. So that trusting the blood of
Christ Trusting Christ precious blood we come to God And we open our mouths and cry
to him and pour out our hearts before him And never dream Larry that he's
going to hear what we say because of the way we say it are Even
because of what we say More than anything else before
God, I have to confess to Him my inability
to pray. I don't know how. My prayers are full of self and
sin. How about you? God, forgive me. Behind all that sin there are
groanings in my heart created by God the Holy Spirit that seek
God's glory and God's will. And the Lord God hears me pray.
I open my mouth and call him my father and have no fear that
he's going to turn me away because of the blood. I'm washed in the blood. I'm
washed in the blood. It's the blood that gives us
peace and confidence constantly. Talking earlier this week to
Shelby about the Harold Martin. First deacon I was privileged
to have. And he used to like her soup,
he called it stoop. I can't tell whether it's stew
or soup. I visited with him the last hours
he was cognizant of anything in this world. These are the
last words he spoke, Jonathan. Last words. He said, preachers,
good to come here and know that everything's under the blood. Good to come here. To the end
of my days and the end of my way and know everything is under
the blood. Rahab's house was under the blood. Her house was under the protection
of grace and of blood, and her house was under the protection
of God-given faith. Rahab believed God. She's mentioned
as the very last one whose act of faith is described in that
great chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, where God the Holy Spirit
gives us The names of imminent heroes of faith, Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob and Sarah, and right at the very top of the
list, very last name mentioned, Rahab the Heart. Others are mentioned,
but her act of faith is the last one mentioned, Rahab the Heart.
This woman was a woman of faith. James says now you folks who
think that you're justified by faith without works and that
works don't don't matter for anything He said you go look
at Abraham and you go look at Rahab Those folks believe God
they said they believe God Rahab said Jehovah He's the only Lord
God in heaven and the only one in earth. Let's see if you really
believe that Rahab Prove it Rahab. I will I will I'll hazard my
life for Christ. I'll risk my life for God and
His people. I'll lay down everything at His
feet. I believe God." And James said,
now that's what it is to believe God. She believed the report
she heard of God's salvation. Because she believed God, she
received and cared for and protected God's messengers in her home,
knowing that she would be put to death if she got caught. Knowing
she would be put to death if she got caught. And believing
God, Rahab sought mercy for her whole household. She said, now
wait a minute, wait a minute. You promised me. that you'll
do well with me. You promised me that you'll save
me. You promised me if I abide by
my word and leave this cord tied in my window, you'll save me
when judgment comes. She said, I want you to save
my daddy and my mother and my brothers and my sisters too.
They said, all right, we'll do it. We'll do it. She believed God. Rahab hung
everything upon the blood of the covenant represented in that
rope hanging from her window. Ray had the harlot so thoroughly
believed God. That she brought her whole family.
To faith in Christ. She so thoroughly believed God,
she brought her whole family under the shelter of the blood. She so thoroughly believed God,
she brought her whole family into the house of grace with
her. Now when I preach here, we can't do that. I read in this book about four
men who brought an impotent man, their friend, who could not come
himself. who could not bring himself to
the Lord Jesus. And they couldn't get in to see
him, Burl. They couldn't get in. The crowd was so thick they
couldn't get him in. But they wouldn't give up. They
somehow and other managed to climb up on top of the roof and
tore up the tiles and lifted this man up on his bed with them
and let him down before the Lord Jesus. And this is what the Master
said. Jesus, seeing their faith, said
to that man, get up, walk off. Oh, God. Teach me so to believe
you. So to trust you. No, you cannot
believe God in the stead of your sons and daughters. Your sons
and daughters must themselves believe God. But yes, we can. Oh, God, give us faith that we
may believe God for our sons and daughters. Hannah did. Rex, before Samuel was born,
she said, Lord, you gave him to me. I'll give him to you.
He's yours. He's yours. And that's all it
was to the story. That was the end of the story.
He's yours. I commit him to you. This old
harlot who had been the shame of her family, who had been the shame of her
family, was made in the hands of God
the primary Instrument and means. Of eternal
salvation. For her family. This old harlot. Who had been
the shame of her family. Rod, I managed that pretty well. I managed that pretty well. Was
in the hands of God. the primary instrument and means
for the salvation of her family. Oh, God, make me that. Make me
that. Rahab the harlot, believing God, obtained a place in the family
of God's own son. Read the first chapter of Matthew.
In that genealogy of our Lord Jesus, there are four women who
are named. And of those four women, all
of them had some blight upon their names. Tamar was the incestuous
woman who was more righteous than Judah. Ruth was a cursed
Moabite, a cursed woman from a cursed race. Bathsheba was
an adulteress. Rahab was a harlot. And these were the grandmothers
of our Lord Jesus. Sinner. Sinner. You may be such that your own
family won't speak to you. You may be such that you dare
not put your face in your father's front door. Hear me, hear me. Believe on the son of God right
now. And you walk out those doors
a member of the family of God. Heir of God and joint heir with
Jesus Christ. Rahab had something else protecting
her. Her house was under the blood.
Her house was protected by grace. Her house was protected by faith
in Christ. And her house was protected by
the promise of God. Ah, Rahab had God's promise for
the security of her house. Watch the city now. If you've
got it in your mind's eye, this huge city, high, high walls. Standing at a distance, you've
got to lift your head to see up there. There are houses all
around that wall. That's where folks used to live,
especially those folks who lived on the edges of society, like
Graham. Those folks down on the bad side
of the tracks, you know, kind of you don't want your daughter
to marry, don't want your son to marry. Those folks. There's a house. And suddenly,
God's priest blow God's trumpet. The gospel is sounded. And there's
a shout of victory that goes up. And the whole city collapses. But there stands a house. Markey
could not fall. As we used to say, come hell
or high water. Now that sounds like bad, but
the word is H-A-I-L, hail or high water. Come hail or high
water, can't fall. Can't fall. Well, nothing's like
that. Nothing's that sure. God sent
his messengers and they said, we will deal kindly and truly
with thee. This is God's promise given by
God's son through his own mouth. I've given to them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. But what if they shall never
perish? But that didn't talk about what they might do. They
shall never perish. But that didn't talk about the trials
and temptations. They shall never perish. That didn't talk about
their falls. They shall never perish. Well, preacher, you make
that sound like they shall never perish no matter what. That's
why I meant for that sound. They shall never perish, no matter
what. You see, our salvation doesn't
depend on us or our goodness or our works or even the strength
of our faith. Our salvation is fixed by the
promise and decree of God who said, I will never, no never,
No, never leave thee, nor forsake thee. No, never. No, never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. He who is our God declares they
shall never perish. When I was a young man, hadn't
been a believer very long. Just a few months after God saved
me, I was just dead sure it was all
over. It's all over. And I was just kindly thumbing
through my Bible in despair, and something caught my eye. And this is what caught my eye.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Faith is he that calleth you
who also will do it. I'll tell you one more reason why Rahab's family was safe in
that house that could not fall. They all stayed in the house. They all stayed in the house.
The spies said, you bring your family and stay in this house.
Anybody leaves the house, they're dead. Stay in the house. And when the children of Israel
came and the walls of Jericho fell, Rahab and her father and
her mother and her brothers and her sisters all stayed in the
house. Like the children of Israel on
the night of Passover, Stayed in the house till judgment was
over. Stayed in the house. I read that. I thought of these words. I'll
go with Him through the judgment. All the way. I'll go with Him
through the judgment. All the way. Christ alone. is our hope. And Christ, our
blessed Savior, is still in the business of saving sinners. Would you lift your minds to
heaven for a minute? I see the throne of the Lamb. And I see the elders, the 24
elders, sitting around that throne. And I see in the church of the
redeemed, the spirits of just men made perfect in the choirs
of those singing God's praises, an old harlot named Rahab. Who is that, John? Well, you
know her name. She's a chaste virgin. She's
washed her garments, made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Son of God still takes filthy
sinners like you and me, harlots, washes them in his blood. And
here we are, chaste virgins, pure and clean before God. I hope you can go home that way.
Oh, I hope God give you faith in Christ. Take you into His
arms and take you home that way, pure and clean before God through
the blood of Christ. Amen.