One of the most characters to
me in scripture is Rahab the harlot. She's mentioned three times in
the New Testament. The passage I just read in James
chapter 2 verse 25. And James tells us that her works
prove the reality of her faith. She's mentioned in Hebrews chapter
11 verse 31, by faith the harlot Rahab perish not with them that
believe not when she received the spies with peace. And do
you know that she's mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord
Jesus Christ? I think that's so beautiful.
She goes from being a prostitute and now all of a sudden she's
in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was the mother
of Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, and she was the great-grandmother
of King David. That's enough to draw our interest,
isn't it? And let me tell you three things concerning Rahab.
First, she was a prostitute. It's pointed out in the New Testament,
the harlot Rahab. She made a living selling herself
to people she didn't even know. Obviously, she was a morally
bankrupt individual. I mean, that's pretty low when
you become a prostitute, and that's the way she made a living. During the course of God's providence,
she was given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a gift, the
gift of faith. What greater gift could you have? That's what makes you see Christ
himself. That's what makes you see that
salvation's in him. What a gift to believe the gospel.
She was given faith. She was evidently the only one
in Jericho that believed, and she ended up one of the ancestors
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now would you turn with me to
the book of Joshua? Joshua chapter 2. Now the Jordan
River had just been parted to let the children of Israel come
in and possess the promised land, the land of Canaan. And the city
of Jericho was the first place they were called upon to destroy.
Look in chapter 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." Now somebody may think, if the Lord told them
they were going to get the land, why did they send out spies? Well, when you go home tonight,
I dare say that you'll probably lock the doors, won't you? You'll
probably lock the doors. Now, you know it's already ordered
as to whether or not that you will have your house broken or
not. You already know that, but you're probably going to lock
the doors. This is the same thing. They're sending spies. They know
God's going to give them the land, but they're sending spies.
And they went and came into an harlot's house named Rahab and
lodged there. I was trying to listen to a man
preach from this passage of scripture, and he was trying to show the
only times it's okay to go into a harlot's house when you're
going there to witness or something like that. And I thought, why
even deal with anything like that? Come on, you know. And it is 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 thy house. For they be come to search out
all the country. And the woman took the two men,
and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I
wish not which they were. And it came to pass, about the
time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men
went out. Whether the men went out, I want not. Pursue after
them quickly, for you 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. Just another
incidental thing about this passage of scripture, there are also
men who try to prove that she had quit being a prostitute by
this time because she had stalks of flax and she had become, started
making clothes and she would never do anything like this.
And I think, why do, that's just another, that's the disadvantage
of studying. You read things that you think,
that's ridiculous. But, 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. Now before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon
the roof. Now she was laying in bed at
night, thinking about what had taken place. She had put herself
at great risk to save these men. She put herself at great risk.
Now, why did she do this? Why did she save these men? Why
did she lie? There's another thing. You should
never lie. Well, I reckon you shouldn't. But she did. She did. And she
did this to save these men. And this is called an act of
faith by the Holy Spirit. Well, it was a lie. Well, God
calls it an act of faith, so you can figure that out however
you can. But she was laying there, and
she went up to talk to them. She believed something, and we
find out what she believed. Now, as I said, both Hebrews
11 and James 2 make mention of the fact that she received the
spies with peace, as evidence of her faith. Now, what was her
faith? I mean, this is a very special woman. She's mentioned
in Hebrews chapter 11 in what's called the Hall of Faith. She's
mentioned in James chapter 2 as a demonstration of the works
of faith And she is mentioned in Matthew chapter 1, verse 5,
as one of the ancestors of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ
came through her. She had to have faith. She was
part of the chosen seed that the Christ would come from. She
wasn't going to be destroyed along with everybody else in
Jericho. Now, what was it that this woman believed? She's a
very interesting character, isn't she? What was it that this woman
believed? Verse 8, And before they were laid down,
she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said unto them,
I know. I know. She hid them because of what
she knew. You can't believe what you do
not know, can you? It is impossible. You can't believe what you don't
know any more than you can come back from a place you've never
been. What was Paul's lament concerning Israel? He said, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record. They
have a zeal of God, but not according to what? Knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. There is no faith without knowledge. I know whom I have believed. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. Paul said, I know that in me
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I know that. I
know that. That knowledge causes me to look
outside of myself for salvation. Our Lord said we speak what we
know and we testify what we have seen. This woman, Rahab the harlot,
received these spies because of something she knew. Now what was it she knew? Verse
9. And she said unto the men, I
know that the Lord hath given you the land. I know that. The Lord hath given
you the land. Faith knows what the Lord has
given. If you knew the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to me, to thee, give me to drink, you
would have asked, and he would have given thee living water. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. He that hath the Son hath life. This is the record that God has
given us eternal life. And that life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And notice also in verse 9, and
she said unto the men, 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 faint because of
you." Now, faith knows that God's grace is sovereign grace. She said, I know God hath given
you the land. She knew that God had made a
distinction between Israel and everybody else. She knew that. She wasn't complaining about
it. She wasn't saying that's not fair. She knew she came from
a cursed country. And she knew the only hope she
had was that He would have mercy on her. But she knew that God's
grace is sovereign grace. He gives it to whomsoever He
will. And if you have faith, you know
that salvation is of the Lord. You know that. I don't have to
convince you of that. It's not of Him that willeth, nor of Him
that runneth, but of God that soweth mercy. He gives it to
whomsoever he will. Now Rahab says, I know that God
has given the gift, the gift God has given the land to you. She believed in sovereign grace. Look in verse 10. Now remember
this woman is given to us as an example of faith. Verse 10. For we have How'd she know this
stuff? We have heard. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. And let me say this, you can't
hear, or you can't know something that you've never heard before.
It's impossible. You cannot know that which you've
never heard. She heard about what the Lord
did for Israel. Look in verse 10. For we have
heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you.
She had heard about what the Lord had done for Israel. She heard about what He did for
Israel. How the Lord fought their battles
for them. You see, if God be for us, Who
can be against this? She heard how God was for him
then and fought the battles. He dried up the Red Sea for them.
I love that passage of scripture in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1
and 2 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem and say unto her that her warfare is accomplished. God won it. Her iniquity is pardoned. It's put away, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, if I ever
have faith, I'm going to understand that salvation is what God does
for me. Not what I do for Him, but what
He does for me. Faith does not arise from believing
in what the Lord can do, but what He has done. Salvation is
rooted not in what God can do, if, but what God has already
done and completed. Now there's only two views of
salvation. Only two. One is do. The other is it's done. Oh, I love it's done, don't you?
It's done. She heard what God had done. Now, I am resting wholly on what
Christ has done. And that's faith. It's a reliance
upon what He has done for you. Now, verse 11, she goes on to
say, and as soon as we had heard these things." Now, everybody heard them. Everybody
did. Everybody in Jericho, but not
everybody believed them. Remember by faith, the harlot Rahab perished
not with them that believed not. Everybody in Jericho heard these
things. Not everybody believed. She did though. She was plucked
out as a brand for the burning. She was singled out to be an
object of God's mercy. And she says, And as soon as
we heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain
any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
He is God. In heaven above, and in earth
beneath." Now, when she heard the gospel, first of all she
heard, she said, our hearts melted. We had no courage. We see that
before this God, if salvation is dependent upon us in any way,
to any measure, to any degree, we don't have a chance. There's
no way we can be saved. If salvation is dependent upon
me before this holy God, it's over for me. Look what she said next, and
here's the very heart of her faith. For the Lord your God,
this is the last phrase of verse 11, for the Lord your God, He
is God. In heaven above and in earth beneath. The Lord your God is God. He's the God of the Bible, the
God of the Scriptures, the Great I Am. Holy. Absolutely sovereign. Immutable. Absolutely just. All-powerful. That's the God of the Bible.
Infinite. Not bound by space or time. The God who's revealed in Scripture.
He is God. Now remember, the Scripture had
been written by this time. Moses had already written the
first five books of the Bible. Maybe she somehow had a copy
of the Pentateuch. I don't know. But she knew the
God of the Bible. And she said, Your God is God. There is no other God. Now, if
the God I believe is not just like the God of the Scriptures,
I'm worshiping an idol, a man-made God, the figment of man's depraved
imagination. Your God. The God of Israel,
the God of the Scriptures, is God. Now is your God, let me
ask you a question, is your God the God of the Bible? Is He the God who's absolutely
just, who won't save at the expense of His justice? Is He the God
of sovereign grace? Is He the God of absolute holiness? Is He the God of the Bible? Well,
she believed in the God of the Bible, didn't she? Verse 12,
Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I've
showed you kindness, that you'll also show kindness unto my Father's
house, and give me a true token. Now that word kindness is the
word that's generally translated mercy. If I find out who the God of
the Bible is, there's one thing I'm interested in. Mercy. I don't want Him to give
me what I deserve. I don't want Him to give me what
I've got coming. I want Him to show mercy on me. Now remember in this thing of
mercy, you only ask for mercy when you see that your sin It's
all your fault. You have absolutely no merit
at all. And you're in His sovereign hands
where He can do with you whatever He's pleased to do. There's no... You can't believe it. You can't
ask for mercy if you don't believe those things. If you don't believe
those things, you're asking God to give you what you got coming.
You owe me this. But if I come into His hands
with no merit No merit. All my sin is all my fault. I
can't blame my circumstances. I can't blame anybody else or
anything else. And I know mercy is His to give
or to withhold. I come and say, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. Jesus, Thou Son of David, have
mercy. me. Now that's what Rahab was
interested in when she found out who this God was. She knew
I can't stand before him. What I need is mercy and I need
a true token. Did you notice that? I want something
that I can lean my soul on. I want a true token. I don't
want to be presumptuous about this. I want a true token that
I can rest in and believe in. Now I When she said this, I have
no doubt that that sparked a memory with these men. Turn to Exodus
chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12, verse 13. And the blood shall be to you
for a what? A token. The blood shall be for you a
token. Now, I don't have any doubt that
when these men heard Rahab say, I want a true token, they remembered
this. They remembered this. They heard
this with their own ears. The blood shall be a token upon the houses
where you are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." Now, the
token is a mark. What was the difference between
the people who were smitten and the people who were not smitten? The blood, the token. Any other difference? No. What if somebody put something
else up? I think I'm going to put up a copy of the law. I'm
going to put up a copy of the Ten Commandments. I'm going to
put up gold. I'm going to put up my Bible, whatever. What would have happened? There
would have been no mercy. No mercy. Here's what I like thinking about
the most. Let's say somebody that very
day had committed some heinous sin. Something that would make your
skin crawl. If they came in the house, were
they safe? I'm not in any way excusing a
horrible sin. But if you were in the house
with the blood over the door, I don't care if that very day
you'd murdered somebody. I don't care if that very day
you'd committed adultery. You were just as safe as Moses. Now is that so? What is the one condition God said, when I see the blood. That's the only condition. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. Not when I see your
faith. Not when I see your love. Not
when I see your repentance and the depth of your repentance.
Not when I see your sincerity. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. The blood shall be a token for
you. Now, back to our text in Joshua
chapter 2. She wanted this true token, verse
13. And she didn't only want salvation
for herself, she wanted salvation for her family. And you know,
when somebody is concerned about their own salvation, they're
concerned about the salvation of everybody else. They want
the salvation of their family. Look what she says. Verse 13,
and here's what I want after this true token. I want you to
save alive my father and my mother and my brother and my sisters
and all that they have and deliver our lives from death. We'll be
dead if you don't do something for us. We want to be saved.
We want to be delivered. I love those two words. Lord,
save me. Lord, deliver me. Oh, how greatly
she's desired this for herself and for her family. Verse 14. And the men answered her, I'll
lie for years if you utter not this high a business. And it
shall be when the Lord hath given us the land. I love the way they
talk. The confidence they speak with. It shall be when the Lord
hath given us the land. You know, in preaching the gospel,
we can preach with confidence, can't we? This is his word. This is his promise. When the
Lord hath given us the land. I love that. That we will deal kindly and
truly with thee. Then she let them down by a cord. a rope through the window, for
her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers
meet you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers
be returned. And afterwards you may go your
way. She told them what they needed to do. You go hide in
the mountains three days, before you try to take off back to Israel,
because you'll get caught. And after that, you can go back
to Israel. Verse 17, 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, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy
brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. And
it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of the house
into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will
be guiltless. And whosoever shall be with thee
in the house, his blood shall be upon our head, if any hand
be upon him." Now here is the token she asked for. I want some
assurance that you're all going to have mercy on me. Well, when we come back, if we
see this line of scarlet rope, thread's not like a thread, it's
a rope, it's a cord. If we see this line of scarlet
rope hanging out your window, everybody in your house will
be saved. Outside of the house, everybody's
blood will be on their own head. Now, a line of scarlet thread. Now, I found this very interesting. Why does he say a line of scarlet
thread? Well, that word line is used
34 times in the Old Testament, 23 times it's translated hope. It's the word usually translated
hope. Thou hast made me to hope. And
seven times it's translated expectation. Now what we're talking about
is our hope and our expectation. I expect to be justified before
God. I have an expectation and it's
because of the hope I have that what He did is all that I need. A scarlet cord. The collar of blood. I have no
doubt that what this represents is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. No question about that. Blood. What can wash away my
sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What is my hope? The blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything else? Nope. Nope. That's it. But what a hope that
is. That's all I have. It's all I
want. It's all I need. what security,
what expectation there is. When he said, it is finished,
his precious blood accomplished the salvation of everybody he
died for. Now, that is our hope. Our hope is that scarlet cord. Now, his blood is our hope. His blood is the ground of our
expectation. Why do you think God will say,
well done, thou good and faithful servant? And I believe he's going
to say that to me. You know why he's going to say
that? Because of the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It made it to where I am. I have
well done, thou good and faithful servant. That's how powerful
the blood of Christ is. Now, something that I think is
very interesting is that This was a rope that was already in
her house. She didn't have to go out and
find it and go out and look for it. It was already in her house. You see, the blood has always
been. It's always been my standing. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. She didn't have to go out looking
for that blood. That rope was already there. That scarlet rope. Now, she didn't know what it
was going to be used for, but she found out, didn't she? And
you know what she did? When they said that rope, we
see that. She went out and right then she
bound that rope in her window. Can you imagine how tight she
tied that knot? I mean, I can imagine every day
she'd get up for however long once they got there. Make sure
it's there. Make sure it's there. She bound that rope in the window. Now, that's the act of faith.
They said, if you're in a house with this rope, you'll be spared. Now, if she wouldn't have believed,
she would have thought, well, that's ridiculous. But believing,
oh, she bound that rope. She tied it tight. and let it
hang out the window, the scarlet rope. 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
house home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his own head. And we will be guiltless. And
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall
be upon our head, and any hand be upon him." Now, where would
you want to be? Would you go outside? No. You knew the only place of safety
was in the house. The only place of safety is in Christ. Nowhere
else. Verse 20, And if thou utter this
our business, then we will be quit of thine oath, which thou
hast made us to swear. If you tell somebody about us,
it's over. The deal's over. You're going
to get killed. And look at her response to the gospel. And she
said, According to your words, so be it. She wasn't arguing with what
they said. According to your words, So be it. Complete compliance with the
terms of the gospel. She's saying, Amen. No arguing. I can find safety here. If you
will save us, if you'll spare us simply because of this cord
in the window, I can find safety here. Verse 22, And they went
and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not. Now turn to Joshua
6. Now this is when the children
of Israel marched for six days once around Jericho, and I bet
carrying that ark, can you imagine them looking out over the fence
or whatever it was, the walls of the city, and thought, what
are they doing? They had that ark, and they'd
march around and go back, march around and go back. On the seventh
day, they marched around seven times, and they blew a trumpet,
and the walls went flat. by faith. And let's see what
took place. 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, and the people shouted
with a grunt shout, that the wall fell down flat. So that
the people went up into the city, every man straight before them,
and they took the city, and they utterly destroyed all that was
in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep,
and ass with the edge of the sword. No one survived but Joshua. That's Christ, isn't it? His name means Jesus, Savior. 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 sware unto her. And the young men that were spies
went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother,
and her brethren, and all 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 therein, only the
silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and iron, they put into
the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab
the harlot alive." Isn't that your confession of faith? The
Lord Jesus saved me. And her father's household and
all that she had And she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day,
because she hid the messengers with Joshua, which Joshua sent
to spy out Jericho. Now back to our text in James
chapter 2. Likewise also, verse 25, James
chapter 2, verse 25, likewise also was not Rahab the harlot
justified by works when she'd received the messengers and sent
them out another way? What would have happened to Rahab
if she didn't receive the spies? She would have been destroyed.
What was it that proved That she really believed that God
is, the God of the Bible is the only living God. And that she
was in trouble if he didn't have mercy on her. What was it that
proved she believed that? She received the spies. What
was it that proved that she believed when they said you tie that scarlet
cord and hang it out your window and you'll be saved? What proved
she believed that? She tied it in a window. It really
is that simple. Faith without works is dead. Just like a body without breath
is dead, so faith without works is dead. She proved what she
believed by her actions. Rahab believed and she is held
out to us as an example of faith. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are for
the simplicity of faith. How thankful we are for the completeness
of the salvation that's in your son. And Lord, we ask that we
might be enabled to imitate this dear woman. Oh, that we might
have her faith, which is nothing less than the faith of God's
elect, the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness.
Lord, give us this faith. for Christ's sake. In His name
we pray. Amen. What do you got, Matt? $359. We'll stand and say.