If you would turn with me to
Joshua chapter 2. Joshua chapter 2. While you're turning, I would
like to say that so many times in the Scriptures, I see my spiritual
condition before God in the physical conditions of certain, let me
add that, certain men and women found in the scriptures. It's easy for me to see that
I'm that blind beggar found begging by the wayside. That's a picture
of me. I'm that lame and impotent man
that lay all those thirty-some years at the pool of Bethesda
I'm that dead man that Christ raised at the city gate of name. That's spiritually me. I'm that man that was full of
leprosy that the Lord healed. I'm the man with the withered
hand who could do nothing for himself. I'm that woman with the issue
of blood, and my issue of blood is called sin. I'm that deaf
and dumb blind man that threw himself into the fire and into
the deep waters. And I'm that possessed man that
lived among the tombs that needed the Lord's deliverance. And I
suppose there's no other or no better picture, I might say,
of me by nature than Rahab the harlot. Now at home, we're studying
through the book of Joshua. And right now, we're in the second
chapter. So, the Lord give me grace tonight
to bring you a message of a remarkable story of a woman named Rahab. Throughout Scripture, she's referred
to as a harlot. And I'm sure most of you know
the story of Rahab the harlot. In verse one, we're told that
Joshua sent two spies into Jericho to check things out. And they wound up, was it by
accident? They wound up lodging in the
house of Rahab the harlot. She was an innkeeper. I had a lady that works with
my wife tell her yesterday that she was so lucky she was blessed. No. Friends, there's no such thing
as luck. There's no such thing as accidents. It's by the will
and purpose of God Almighty that all things come to pass. The King of Jericho got word
that these two men, these two spies, had entered into Jericho.
And he sent men to her house and sent word to her to turn
them over. You see that in verse 3. 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 become to search
out all the country." And friends, what would cause
this woman named Rahab to lie and disobey the orders of her
king? She had heard and seen the King
of kings, as we'll see as we go forward.
And in verses 4 and also in verse 6, we see that she told the king
that they'd left, but really she'd hid them on the rooftop.
And in verse 5, she tells them that they took off and they went
out the gate, and she herself encouraged the king's men to
go after them. She said, if you leave right
now, I bet you can catch them. And the whole time, they're hid
on her rooftop. And the king's men took off after
them just as Rahab the harlot had suggested we see in verse
7. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan and to the fords. And as soon as they which
pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And then in verse 8, Rahab goes
to the rooftop. She's going to consult with these
two men whom she hid. And we see in verse 9 that Rahab
the harlot had been divinely revealed. some things to her, and she knew
some essential things. Why, she had heard the good news
of how God's people had been delivered by the powerful and
almighty hand of God. And not only had she heard, she
believed. She believed. She knew and believed
that Israel's God was the true God. She believed that Joshua was
her Savior and that He was her Deliverer from death. And friends,
we believe, those of you that know Christ, believe our Joshua. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
only hope of redemption. I know many of you know, but
in case you don't, the name Joshua and Jesus basically mean the
same thing. Jehovah is salvation. The writer of Hebrews in that
amazing chapter 11, we call it the Hall of Faith often. By faith,
by faith. And it goes through many of the
Lord's people by faith. And in verse 31 it tells us that,
"...by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
not." So that tells me that she believed. Those that believe
not perish. That's the only thing, dear friends,
that will keep you out of glory. Unbelief. No, she believed and she was
saved. It was by grace that she was
saved. How are we saved? By grace through
faith. And that's not of ourselves. It's a gift of God. not by works
lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2.8. And yet God had caused Rahab
to hear and believe some things and to know some things. And
we see that clearly beginning in verse 9. Look at it with me.
And she said unto the man, I know. 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, was it
because of these two men? Absolutely not. It was because
of the God that sent them, the God of Israel. What did she know? She knew who gave salvation and
deliverance. I know that the Lord hath given
you, not going to. And, well, they didn't even possess
Canaan yet. The spies were over checking
things out, and they had yet to take possession of it, but
she knew it was already theirs. You know why? She knew who had
given it to them. She knew who had given it to
them. And I can't help but to think that's why the Apostle
Paul wrote in Romans 4, 17 that God calleth those things which
be not as though they were. If He's purposed it, it's as
good as done. He will accomplish all that He
said He would do. She believed God who calls those
things finished that are not yet done. And Canaan was theirs
already. You know why? There's none that
can resist His will, thwart His purpose, or stay His hand. Rahab believed the promise that
God had given Israel, and it was her desire to be a part of
Israel. And you know, Paul reminds us,
doesn't he, in Romans 9, for they are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. Jericho was a wicked place. It was a godless place. And God
was fixing to destroy it. And it's the same with this wicked
world, isn't it? Wicked world. And oh, may God
by grace cause us like Rahab to seek mercy at the feet of
Christ, our Joshua. Now Rahab goes on to say here
in verse 9, your terror has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
5.11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, what do we do? We
persuade man. The wrath of God is upon you
who are without Christ. Oh, we give warning. We say you better kiss the Son,
lest He be angry and you perish from the way. The problem we
have is that so-called preachers have so belittled God that most
people have no fear of God at all in their hearts. And I grew
up in a church that preach just that. God's trying. God's wanting
to. Won't you let God do something?
And friends, I am convinced that if you preach or portray God
as needy, the needy will never come to Him. That's what happened
to me. I had no fear, no respect, no
concern at all for God Almighty. Why? He was no threat to me. He was no threat to me. I had
no fear of Him. And why should I? They said,
God wants to save you. Won't you let Him? I'm not too
worried about that, God. My free will, my self-determination,
lack of fear, though, turned to terror when I heard about
the God of Heaven. and earth, who does as He pleases,
how He pleases, when He pleases. And God struck my heart with
fear." Oh, yes. She said, all the inhabitants
of the land faint in the presence of God. And it's because when
God shows a sinner the truth concerning who and what He is,
who God is, A sinner, by grace, begins to understand all this
by divine revelation where his or her place is. You know where
it is? It's in the dust. It's in the
dung hill. Stuck in the miry clay. In the hearing of the Word of
God, God reveals to the chosen sinner that all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as what? Nothing! Nothing. Less than nothing. And God doeth
according to what? His will. His will. In the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand, and
none can say to Him, what are You doing? That's the God of
this Bible. That's the true and living God. So it is then by grace that the
sinner What do we do? We wind up taking sides with
God against ourselves, don't we? Lord, I deserve nothing but death
and condemnation. You're righteous and holy, and
I deserve nothing but death. That's the attitude of a believer. It's then that we seek mercy,
isn't it? It's then that we seek mercy.
Look at verse 10. For we have heard, now this is
still Rahab talking, 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 and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. Now listen. The Word traveled, and it traveled
quick. Well, you know they had heard
about how God had delivered Israel from Egypt. You're all talking
about those plagues and how God delivered them out with a mighty
hand. Word traveled. And these folks knew. But you
know, I believe here when she says, we have heard, I think
she probably means her family. You know, they were the only
ones that Joshua saved. I'm sure that Rahab and her family
had many conversations as they kept the different folks that
came in to stay with them. Did you hear what happened down
in Egypt? Did you hear what happened? Why, they knew who the great
Deliverer was. They'd heard. It was God. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And she and her family had heard how the Lord had dried up the
water of the Red Sea. She says, for you, for you. He did it for you. And when they
heard it, they believed that only God could do such a great
thing. And friends, when you first heard
of the gospel, let me ask you, did you not know and believe
that only God, only God, could save a desperate and needy sinner
like you? God revealed that to you, didn't
He? I ran across the Discovery Channel
or something here a while back, and I don't know why. Men are
always trying to disprove the truth of the Scripture. And they
said something about, well, you know, at the time that God dried
up the Red Sea, it was only about three or four feet deep, and,
you know, that the wind blew a certain way. Ridiculous stuff. How in the world did He drown
Pharaoh's army in three foot of water then? If that's true, that's what He
did, because they perished, didn't they? We've heard how the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea for you. Oh, dear friends, she'd heard
some things. Not just some things, she heard
some things about God, about Him being the great Deliverer.
You see, it takes a great God to save a great sinner. Verse 11, and as soon as we heard
these sayings, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain
any more courage in any man because of you. Again, because of you
spies? No, because of your God. For the Lord your God, He is
God in heaven above and in earth beneath. God revealed something
to her, didn't He? Oh yeah, the preaching of the
gospel and free sovereign grace will cause the sinner's heart
to melt. And all man's courage will fail. The sinner's heart melts in fear
and terror, knowing by divine revelation that there really
is a sovereign God who rules and reigns as supreme judge. The God with whom we have to
do is no mamsy-pamsy God. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. He does as He pleases. Our God
is in heaven. He does whatsoever He pleases. And that God is angry with the
wicked every day. That will cause your heart to
melt in fear. And then at the same time, when
a sinner hears the gospel, the good news of Christ, how He came
to save sinners, and that He performs a powerful deliverance,
and God calls them by His grace and He shows them Christ, As
their only hope, their hearts melt with thanksgiving and worship. You tell me your heart didn't
melt when you heard the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
saved sinner's heart, our heart, the scripture says, is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. And who can know it? None but God. Oh, these self-righteous
hearts melt away and God gives us a new heart that's pure in
the righteousness of Christ. Our hearts did melt, Rahab said. Rahab bowed to God. And let me
say this, Joshua must need to go through Jericho. just as He
must in thee go through Samaria. Oh, let me tell you, dear friends,
what a blessing that is. I heard recently in a message
that Brother Don preached, that if God don't cross your path,
we're running to hell as fast as we can. And if God don't cross
our path, we're doomed. We're doomed. Now, in verse 12,
we have a petition and a prayer of Rahab. And I believe there's
much to glean from it here. Look at verse 12. Now, therefore,
I pray you, she's still talking to the two men, swear unto me
by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness. Now, is that why? Was she basing her merit upon
herself? No. Absolutely not. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. No sirree. She showed kindness
unto these men because God had already shown her who Christ
was, who the Deliverer was, who Joshua was. She says that you
would show kindness unto my Father's house and give me a true token. Now, I titled this message, A
True Token. A True Token. She asked for a
true token. When a child of God by grace
sees who God really is and what He does with the wicked outside
of Christ, they're going to plead. They're going to plead for a
true token. A true token. Rahab Rahab needed
and desired a true token. Friends, that true token is Christ.
Did you know what that word token means in the original language? Well, it means a signal or a
sign, but it means much more than that. It means a warning
or proof, but it means much more than that. It means an oath or a covenant.
Give me your word. Make an oath and a covenant with
me. But it means much more than that. Most importantly, it means a
distinguishing mark from the original Word. If you look at
a distinguishing mark. That's what this sinner needs.
I need a distinguishing mark. The child of God is marked in
the blood of Christ in distinguishing and particular grace. You tell
me that's not your hope. When God looks upon me, the great
sinner that I am, in Christ I now have a distinguishing mark. I'm covered with the blood of
Christ. All God's elect will plead for
that distinguishing mark. And her request continues in
verse 13. And she says, and that you will
save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and
my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from
death. Now here's another tremendous
blessing, and I believe a lesson for us to learn. Notice that
Rahab prayed for her family before she prayed for herself. A child
of God looks on the things of others more than on the things
of self. That's what Paul wrote in Philippians
2. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Isn't that
what our Lord did? He came to serve. He came to serve. And in verse
13 when she says, and that you will save alive my father and
my mother and my brother and all my sisters and all that they
have, then she says, and deliver our lives from death. Only after she had mentioned
her family, all that they have, which I believe means their children
and all other relations, then she mentions herself. Deliver
our lives from death. And if I may just take a minute
to tell those of you here tonight that still have lost loved ones,
children that don't know Christ, loved ones that don't know Christ,
keep praying for them. Keep praying for them. Keep praying
for all of them. God is often pleased, dear friends,
to honor a prayer like that. Okay, verse 14, and the men answered
her, and they said, Our life are yours, if you 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. Oh, isn't that a wonderful word
of certainty? Shall. How many times in the
Scriptures does God say, I will and they shall? Certain. No wonder He's called us surety. They shall. God will deal kindly
and truly with you and Christ, dear friends. He will. Our Lord said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in Me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Isaiah 42, verse 4 says, God
shall not fail, nor be discouraged. Christ said, I am the bread of
life. And He that cometh to Me, Might not hungry. Might not get
hungry. No, shall never hunger, and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst. He said, all that the
Father giveth me, what? Shall come to me. Shall come to me. People like
sure things, you know. Is it a sure thing? You know, men make investments.
You think it's a sure thing? There's only one sure thing.
Only one sure thing. That's trusting in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He shall. He shall. Now I want you to look at the
next three verses. And I apologize we're hurriedly
going through these, but trying to get to the meat of the message
here. Verse 15, 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 ye to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide
yourself there three days, until the pursuers be returned, and
afterward you may go your way. And the men said unto her, We
will be blameless of thine oath, which thou hast made us swear.
And look at verse 18, 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. Now here's the true talking.
Here's the true talking. You know, I've always read that
word, thread, and I don't know why, but I've always
thought of it as a little ribbon, you know, something that you
put in a little girl's head, you know, hair. Just a ribbon,
a very light string. But I'm going to tell you, it
wasn't. No, sirree, it was strong enough for two grown men, strong
men, to hang on to and be let down by. Salvation in Christ is not to
hang on by a thread. No, it's strong enough that all
the promises of God in Christ can hang on it. Is that right? It's strong enough to hold all
the Law and the Prophets. Our Lord said concerning love,
and love is only in Christ, on these two great commandments
hang all the Law. and the prophets. That thread, that true token
is Christ. It was a scarlet thread. It was
a deep red. I wonder why it wasn't green?
I wonder why it wasn't yellow? Why it wasn't purple? Blue? Because it pictures and represents
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. and that blood that was shed
for whosoever." Did you hear that? Whosoever. Believes on
Him. I got to thinking, where did
that scarlet line come from? Did she, after much thought and
deliberation, did she run down to the hardware store and pick
it up? No! It was there all along. God's people have always been
under the blood of Christ for the foundation of the world. I heard Pastor Paul Mahan say
one time that he thought about taking his Bible and drilling
a hole and drilling it through every page and out the back and
running a red ribbon through every page, a scarlet thread
through it. And when he was asked why, he
said, to remind me that the scarlet line runs through every page
of Scripture. That red line of redemption is
on every page of this wonderful book. Hebrews 9.22 says, without the
shedding of blood is no remission. Friends, there's no forgiveness,
no pardon, no redemption outside of this, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, this scarlet line. You see, it was the blood of
God Himself that was shed. And when God sees that scarlet
line, it's His Son that He sees. When God comes in judgment, He'll
see that beautiful scarlet line who is Christ, and He'll pass
over you just as He did those who had the blood on the doorpost
and lamp. I'll pass over you in mercy and
in grace. Well, the blood was condemnation
and judgment to those who didn't have it on the door. But it was
redemption and mercy to those who did. Oh, dear friends, can you see
the scarlet line? This is salvation and redemption,
that scarlet line, to whosoever has it hanging in the window
of their hearts. And I might just add, we should
hang it in the window for all to see. Verse 19, 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 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. Now they could preach a multitude
of messages on this verse, but you know what the message of
this verse is in quite simple terms. Stay in the house. Stay in the house. There's judgment. There's destruction. There's death outside. Stay in
Christ. Outside of him, there's nothing
but destruction, judgment, and death. And the only way, now
listen, the only way that Rahab and her family would leave Jericho
alive was if they stayed in that house. Isn't that what the men
told her? The only way we'll leave this
world, friends, alive is if we stay in Christ. Remember, He's
the house in which hangs the scarlet line. Verse 20, 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 word, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window. Now, did
you notice Rahab's answer right there? You know what she said? Amen. So be it. According unto Your Word, so
be it. Amen. She said, I believe it, so be
it. Amen. And notice what she did
next. As soon as those men departed,
well, I bet they weren't out the door yet, and she hung that
scarlet cord in the window. It reads that way. And they departed
and she bound the scarlet line in the window. She didn't have to sit around
and think on it, ponder it for a couple, three weeks, did she? No. I wonder how tight she tied it. I bet she knotted it. I bet she
double knotted it. I bet she triple knotted it.
And each knot, I bet she pulled it as tight as she could. Don't
you? Now, we need to understand that
these men did not tell her when they would return. I'm not sure
that they knew. They just did what Joshua had
told them to. And no man knows the hour, the
day that our Joshua was coming. But I tell you this much, she
did know that he was coming. She knew he was coming. I wonder
how often she checked that window to make sure that scarlet line
was still hanging there. I bet she checked it every hour.
of every day. Make sure it's still there. You
see, that was her hope of deliverance and salvation when Joshua came. Friends, we must constantly examine
ourselves. Check our hearts. Are we trusting
in the blood of Christ to cover us from all sin? I know every
time that believers meet to hear God's Word, they're looking for
that scarlet thread. Thank God you've got a man here
that preaches it. I told the folks at home this
past week that my prayer and my desire every time I preach
is to show them that beautiful scarlet line. If I can't show them that, I've
done nothing to benefit them. Do you by grace see that crimson
red blood that the Lord Jesus Christ shed to cleanse you from
all unrighteousness? To those of you that know Christ,
that's your hope. That's my hope. You know, Rahab
never had, in the past, had any hope or true rest and peace. She knew that they were coming,
that they were going to destroy the city, that her life was in
danger. There was no peace and rest in
that. But now she had peace. And you know what? It was by
believing. is by believing. She believed
the promise, the covenant, the oath that God's servants made. She believed in that true token. Now if you would quickly, and I'll
finish, turn with me to Joshua 6, just a few pages over, verse
22. But Joshua had said unto the
two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's
house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath,
as ye swear unto her. And the young men that were spies
went in, and they brought out Rahab, they brought out her father
and her mother and her brethren and all that she had, and they
brought out all her kindred, and they left them without the
camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with
fire and all that was therein. Only the silver and the gold
and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasury
of the house of the Lord. Notice verse 25. Here's the blessing. Here's the gospel. And Joshua
saved Rahab the harlot alive. And her father's household and
all that she had. And notice these next words.
And she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day. Now let me ask you, And if you'll
allow me for just a moment to read between the lines. And I
don't mean to be presumptuous, but this blessed thought came
to me and I believe it's worth considering. Rahab now lived
among the people of God. She was one of them. She was
much an Israelite in the eyes of God than Israel was. Rahab from the beginning, dear
friends, must be saved. You know why? Well, here she
is dwelling in Israel. And she fell in love with a man
named Salmon. And they had children. And one
of her children was, oh, blessed of the Lord, that he prospered
greatly. He was a God-fearing man. God
gave him great substance and he was wealthy beyond measure,
and yet he was fair and he was honest and he was a generous
man. And his name was Boaz. And one day, reading between
the lines, he came home and he said, Mama, I'm getting married. Many of you have done that, I
bet. And I want to introduce to you my future wife. Her name's
Ruth. And I'm sure Ruth must have said,
Mr. Rahab, I've heard so much about you from your son. I'm
so glad to finally meet you. Oh, I can't tell you how much
I love Boaz. He's been merciful to me. He
became my kinsman redeemer when no one else He allowed me to
glean from His harvest. Me, a wretched, no good for nothing
Moabite. And I can just see Rahab looking
into Ruth's tearful eyes and saying, honey, you don't even
know. You don't even know. Boaz beget Obed. Obed beget Jesse. And Jesse beget
David. And that harlot must be saved. She's in the lineage of our Lord
Jesus Christ. God saves sinners, and He does
it on purpose. And He does it on purpose. I
appreciate your attention. Let's take about 10 minutes,
and when you hear the piano playing, you can come back in and be seated
again.