said. It's a great honor for
me to be back with you again. And I echo what he said about
this church, what it means to me. We go back a long ways. Old and dear friends. Everybody's
getting gray or bald or both. And it's just, I just thank the
Lord for you, for your pastor and his dear wife. We've been
friends a long time, and I highly value that. Old friends are very
special, aren't they? Need to nurture those and keep
them, hold on to them. And I thank the Lord for you,
Bruce, and that message you're preaching has blessed me so much
over the years. There's one fellow I listen to
the most. and then I turned to men like
you and Brother Todd and others, but I thank the Lord for that. I know you love my pastor, my
father, and my mother, and they know it, and you're always concerned
about their welfare, and I'll just tell you right now, they're
doing well, doing very well. love and their greetings, and
he wants to go home so badly, and I keep telling him, you can't
will it to happen. You can't will it, but they're
still in every service, and I'll give them your greetings as well.
So many of you have told me to tell them hello, and I'll do
just that. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews
chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I've got
an old, old story for you. One that, excuse me, one that
most in here probably have heard, and I'm just quite sure that
there's someone who hasn't, and I love the old, old stories,
don't you? The old types and pictures, and
the old gospel story, just can't hear it enough. I get excited
when I hear a man's gonna preach on these same old things. The other time I'd ask me, A
while ago, before I came here, what my text was, and I said,
I'm not telling. I want to surprise you. But Hebrews 11, you know this
chapter is the chapter, what we call the hall of faith. The
names of men and women, esteemed highly by the saints, esteemed
highly by God. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the names
go on and on, Joseph, David, Samuel, and others. And though
they are sinners, they were sinners, there's no mention of their sins
in this chapter. No mention. Because the book
of Hebrews, from start to finish, from chapter 1 up to chapter
11, is all about the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. about
the great high priest, about Christ, the Lamb of God, who
came to put away the sins of his people. And that blood did
actually put away their sins, and so when you come to chapter
11, there's no mention of their sins. No mention. They're put away. All but one, that is. one person,
her sin is mentioned. Look at verse 31 with them. It says, By faith the harlot
Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had
received the spies with peace. The harlot Rahab. She is called
that throughout the scriptures, isn't James referred, James spoke
of Abraham and his great faith and then he said, talked about
the harlot Rahab. Seems that she's destined to
forever wear this name, isn't she? The harlot Rahab. However, this is not a scarlet
A that she's wearing to her shame. Did you read that book when you
were in school? If you're over, I guess, 55 or
something, you were You had to read that book, The Scarlet A,
where this adulteress was caught in the act of adultery and she
was punished and sentenced to wearing this Scarlet A on her
for the rest of her life, to her shame, to her guilt and her
shame, wasn't it? Well, this is no letter or no
title of shame to her, but rather to the glory of the one who saved
her from this sin. It is a testimony, an eternal
testimony to the grace of God that saves the chief of sinners.
It's a reminder for all throughout eternity that Jesus Christ did
indeed come into this world to save sinners, even the chief. Do you not always refer to her
as Rahab the harlot? Do you not? But how do you think of her when
you refer to her? Now, you don't think down on
her, do you? In fact, Brother Chris, you think, boy, I hope
I'm with her someday. I hope I'm able to sit with her
in glory. That's what Abraham is doing
right now, and Joseph, and David, and Solomon, all sitting with
Rahab the harlot. An eternal reminder to everyone
that everyone's saved one way, the blood of God's Son. Everybody. An eternal reminder of the sovereign
electing mercy and grace of God and choosing them and giving
them to Christ and making him their righteousness and their
sin. And they all know it. And they're
all like our Lord. They're not ashamed to call her
sister. And they're just honored to be
there with her. The harlot, Rahab. The harlot,
Rahab. Her story is found in Joshua
chapter 2. Let's go over there. Joshua chapter
2. Joshua chapter 2. Now, you know that the name Joshua
is the Old Testament word, Savior. And the New Testament name is
Jesus. And Joshua is a picture, is a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was Lord and Savior of his
people. He represents Christ. Joshua,
in this story, God has made him Lord of this land. He's coming
into this land to take what is his, what has been given to him
and God's people by the Lord. And he's Lord over Jericho. This
message picks up where Brother Bruce has left off, talking about
judgment. Well, Joshua is coming to Jericho
to destroy this blood. They don't know it. They don't
believe it. But it's so. It's so. And Jericho represents this present
evil world, of which the scripture says so much about the destruction
of. In verse 1 it says, Joshua, the
son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,
Go view the land, even Jericho. Two men were sent to spy Jericho,
this godless, wicked, decadent city destined to be destroyed
by Joshua and his men, as is this present evil world. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
Aremda, He chose someone out of this place. And God has chosen
people out of this present evil world. And I believe that there's
a chosen remnant in this congregation tonight because he sent two gospel
preachers to you tonight. That's how you know. Rahab was
one of God's elect. How do you know? The gospel came
to her. The gospel came to her. He sent
these two men to a harlot, mind you, verse 1. It says they came
to this harlot's house named Rahab, a harlot. of all the people
to come to with this message. Well, who needed it the most?
A harlot named Rahab. Two spies were sent there. Two
spies. Who do these men represent? I've
already said they're gospel preachers, preachers of the gospel, but
the eyes of the Lord, the word of God. The eyes of the Lord
are in every place, beholding the good and the evil. His eyes
behold, his eyelids try. The word of God is a searcher
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word of God. The
law and the prophets. These two men also represent
mercy and truth that met together. The truth says Rahab's a harlot. She's guilty, but yes, mercy
says we're bound and determined to save her. Joshua's sinning. Righteousness and peace kissed
each other, met together, and righteousness said she's unrighteous,
but peace says we're come to bring peace with her. How? It's
gonna give her a sure token. It's gonna make an oath and a
covenant and show her a true token. The only way. The only
redemption for sinners like Rahab. And the gospel comes to his people
through preachers of the gospel, and this woman received these
two... This is a real story. This is not an allegory. This
is not some cunningly devised fable. This is a real story of
a real woman, a real sinner, who needs a real Savior from
real destruction and from her sin. And God sent two men with
this message of salvation. And she received them. And what
they said to her was that her life, her life depended on what
they said. She hung her soul on what they
said. Didn't she? And this message
we have for you tonight, these two men standing, is a message
of life or death, isn't it? It's real. Not playing games
here. We're all like Rahab. We're in
danger of the judgment. until we find out this message
of redemption. These two spies represent gospel
preachers, and she received them, and she esteemed them highly,
and she hung on every word they had to say to her, didn't she? She hung on every word. And it
says these men lodged there, didn't They lodged with her. Listen to what our Lord said
to Jude, the apostle. He asked the Lord, Lord, how
is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto
the world? How do we know that you're speaking
to us, that we belong to you, we're your disciples, you're
chosen one, and you will manifest yourself to us and save us and
have mercy on us and not the world? How do we know that? And
our Lord answered and said, if a man loved me, He'll keep my
words. He'll hold on to what I say.
He'll lay hold on to it for his dear life. And my father will
love him and we will come unto him and we will make our abode
with him. We'll live with him. We'll set
up residence there. And we'll never leave. Never
leave. So they came there and lodged
in her house. And she received them. They came
to her and she received them. She heard their message and she
believed them. And they lodged with her. And
it says in verse 4, it says the woman took the two men and hid
them. She hid them. Down in verse 6,
it says she hid them among the stalks of flax up on the roof.
She hid these men. Did not David say when he heard
the truth, thy word have I hid in my heart? What they had to say to her was
so dear and so precious and it was her life. She took it down deep in her.
These sayings sunk down deep in her ear into the recesses
of her heart and she laid hold of them by faith and she said,
I'm not letting go of these. Hidden in her heart. And she will not give them up
no matter what anybody says. She will not betray them for
anything. What does the gospel mean to
you? Have you bought the truth? If you have, you won't sell it
for anything, will you? Buy the truth and sell it not.
And this king of Jericho threatened her and said, give them up. She
said, no. She, like Moses' parents and
Moses himself, she did not fear the wrath of the king. She's
not giving them up for anything. Take what you will, but don't
take them. And take what you will, God's people say, but don't
take away this gospel from me. Don't take away my hope. Don't
take away my hope. You can have, take my life. And
how many martyrs down through the years, how many saints have
been threatened in their lives with their death and they say,
we're not giving it, not giving up our hope. It can't happen. Verse 6 says she hid these men
in the stalks of flax up on the roof. Every word is significant
by the crib. She hid them up on the roof.
She didn't put them down in a dark basement in a low place. She
put them up high. And people, this gospel of our
redemption, we make mention that His name is exalted. It's not
an afterthought, it doesn't occupy low thoughts in our minds, thoughts
of believers, it occupies the highest and topmost and foremost
thoughts of God's people. Our affections set on things
above, and the things that are higher, things that are nobler. High, our affections set on things
above where Christ is, in a low place. He hid these up on the
roof. It says in verse 8, before they
laid down, she went to bed. And these men were up there on
the roof and she went to bed. It's a real story now. And if
everything was written that was said and done, the books couldn't
contain it, couldn't it? Everything that they said to
her. But they told her of Joshua.
She had already heard of Joshua coming through and destroying
Jericho. And they told her this again. And the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. And she feared in her heart.
And at this time, they have not yet given her any promise of
mercy. At this time, she has not yet
heard any oath or any covenant or any promise to her that they
would save her. But she feared that Joshua, she
knew Joshua, who he was, he was coming through, sent by God to
destroy this place. And she knows she's a harlot.
She knows that. worse, the chief of sinners. And the Lord is going to destroy
this place because of sin. All right? And these men that
came with this message, she hid them and she went to bed, but
she's lying there in her bed with no peace, with no hope. They have not yet promised her
anything. They've not given her any token.
And she has no hope and no peace, and she's lying in her bed. And
so she's got to go talk to these men. This happened. And verse 8 says she came up
there, up under them on the roof, and she had one thing needful
on her mind. She needs to hear from them a
promise. She needs some hope before she
can lay her head on that pillow and go to sleep. She has no peace. She's the chief of sinners. Turn
with me to Psalm 119. Look at this. This just goes
perfectly with this. Psalm 119. Psalm 119. She had no, she has no hope.
She had no peace yet. You see, before there's faith,
there's fear. Before there's mercy, there's
misery. Before there's grace, there's
guilt. Before there's a promise, there's repentance. And before
there's a word of salvation or a word of promise, you're going
to call on the Lord for it. You're going to ask the Lord
for it. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. If you don't call, you won't be saved. If there's
anyone in here whom the Lord hasn't revealed himself to and
you don't know the Lord and you don't feel saved, you haven't
called. The promise is sure in it to all who call. Whosoever
shall call. The chief of sinners. She's going
to call. She's going to ask for this one
thing, for mercy. Psalm 119, 145 says this. David said, I cried with my whole
heart. Hear me, O Lord, I will keep
thy statutes. I cried unto thee, save me, I'll
keep thy testimony. I prevented the dawning of the
morning. She couldn't sleep that night,
Joe. And she said, I hoped in thy
word, mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate
in thy word. Hear my voice according unto
thy loving kind. Oh Lord, quicken me according
to thy judgment. So she has to go up and commune
with these two men and ask them one thing. Look at our text back
there in Joshua 2. So she did. She came to the men
and she said, now here's her confession. She said, I know that the Lord
has given you the land. She's speaking of a Joshua and
his men. I know the Lord has given you
the land. Your terror has fallen upon us. All the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. She says, we've heard how
the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you
came out of Egypt. We know what you did under the
kings and so forth, whom you utterly destroyed. Did not Paul
say, have they not all heard? Yeah, barely, the sound's gone
throughout the world. Everybody's got a Bible. They've
heard these stories, but they don't believe it. Look, there's no fear of God before
their eyes. That's what Romans 3 says. No one understands. They don't know the way of peace
they don't know. They're not calling on God. They heard the
gospel from the beginning, same as us, but not being mixed with
faith. But this woman believes. She believed. She believed. And verse 11, I think she's talking
about her and her house. She says, As soon as we heard
these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain
any more courage in any man because of you. The Lord, your God, He
is God. Isn't this salvation? Isn't this
when salvation comes, when you realize who God is? Doesn't John
17, 3 say this? This is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God. And what else? And Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent, the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is when salvation has come
to a half, when you learn who God is. He's the true God. Not
trying to be God, He is God. Lord over all, Lord over us,
everything about it. He is God in heaven above and
among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
And she says in verse 12, now therefore I pray you, swear unto
me by the Lord, make an oath with me. Promise me, she said,
I've showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto
my Father's house and give me a true token. Will you show me
kindness? And isn't the word kindness the
same word as mercy? Throughout the scriptures isn't
it? The word mercy is kindness. Where it should show wrath, where
it should show judgment, it shows kindness and spares the guilty
one. And she asked for one thing.
Didn't ask for a new apartment. I'm tired of living on this wall.
Didn't ask for a new horse or whatever, new clothes or new
furniture. She asked for one thing needful. Would you show me mercy? And in showing me mercy, would
you give me something that I might know that your promise is going
to be sure to make? Give me a sure token. Give me
a true token. Something that I can hang my
soul on. Something that I can go to sleep
on tonight and know from the bottom of my heart that you mean
what you say. A true toker. And verse 13, notice she's not
just praying for herself. Verse 13, in fact she prays for
everyone else first. She says, that you'll save alive
my father, my mother, my brethren, my sisters, and all that they
have, and deliver our lives from death. Isn't that what you were
saying, Brother Bruce, in your message? She had a burden for
those around her. Have you ever... I love the passage
that says, the Lord taketh pleasure in them that hope in his mercy. Don't you love that? Now that
just doesn't mean that you want mercy for yourself, but he delights
in the show mercy. He takes pleasure in them that
hope in his mercy for others. Wasn't that the Lord Jesus Christ?
Didn't he pray for others? The Lord takes delight in that,
in those that seek the mercy of others. And if you do that,
you're going to get it yourself. to the merciful, he'll show himself
merciful. So she prayed for her family,
save our lives from death. All right, listen to this. Oh,
here's the gospel in four words. Verse 14. These men answered
her and said, our life for yours. That's the gospel in it. Our
life for yours. If we live, you live. If we die, you die. Simple as that, isn't it? Isn't
that what our Lord said? Because I live, you live also. And also, because he died, you
must live. That's the token. You already
know what the token is, don't you? They said, our life for
yours. What you laid on, hold on, this promise, this is our
oath, this is our covenant. Our life for yours. And we'll
show mercy to you, since you've trusted in us. People, all who
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. You have his
word on it. You have his word on it. You
know, they say, the old saying is, a man's only as good as his
word. Our Lord's good, isn't He? He's true to His word, what
He said. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
do it. I promised it, and it shall surely come to pass. Oh,
she said, ask for a true token. Give me something that I can
hang my soul on. Give me something that these
promises hang on. A true token, a sure token, a
certain token. And in verse 15, it says, she
let them down by a cord through the window. Her house was on
the town wall that she dwelt on. She left them down by this
cord through the window. And then in verse 17, the men,
as they were climbing down this cord that was hung in her window,
they said to her again, we'll be blameless of this thine oath
which thou hast made us swear. Behold, you asked for a token. You asked for a proof. They said, when we come into
the land, You bind this line of scarlet thread in the window,
which you let us down by. You bind this line of scarlet
thread in the window, and bring your father, your mother, your
brethren, all your father's household home unto thee, and it shall
be. Not maybe, but shall be. Whoever
goes out of the doors of the house, into the street, his blood
is upon his head, will be guilty. But whosoever, whosoever shall be with thee
in the house, his blood gonna be on our head. Our life for
yours. His blood will be on our head
if anybody touches it. Nobody's gonna touch you if you're
in this house. where this scarlet thread is
hanging out the window. We promise you, you have our
word upon this, and from Joshua, who sent us, that when we see
this scarlet line hanging out this window, we will have mercy
upon you. You have our word on it. That's
it. The scarlet thread hanging out
that way. And you know what she said to that? She said in verse
21, she said, according unto your word, so be it. You know
what so be it is? Amen. She heard the gospel. And what she said was, amen. Now you know what this scarlet
line is, don't you? Do I need to ask anybody in here?
Well, I'm going to tell you. This is the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This scarlet line, it says it
was a scarlet line, a line of scarlet thread. This wasn't any
little feeble thread. This was a strong rope bound
and braided by many scarlet thread that made up one strong, heavy
cord that Rahab and everybody in her family could hang on this. These men hung on it. These men
that represent the law and the prophets, they hung on it. All
of her hope and all of her salvation hung on this rope. And her whole
family could hang on this rope. And this is the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You can hang your soul on this.
We're not saved by any slender thread. We're drawn with cords
of love, the cords of a man. Strong hope. in the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you, he said. You have my word on that. It's the blood. When I see the
blood, who shall lay anything the charge of God's elect? It's
God that justify. Who is he that condemneth? Christ
died. And this is that scarlet, the
threads that run throughout all the scriptures, all the types,
all the symbols, all the promises, all the pictures are all of one
thing, aren't they? The redemption that's in Jesus
Christ, his blood shed for the atonement of our, the remission
of our sin. In every page, I have a Bible
with one of these, and Mindy just had her Bible rebound, and
they asked her, they said to her, we can put more than one
or two ribbons in it, how many do you want? She said, five,
six, seven. And they said, what color? She
said, red. And that's good, isn't it? Everywhere
you mark your Bible, look for the blood in it, because that's
the story of this whole book. the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
cover to cover, start to finish, beginning to end. So she bound that scarlet line
in the window. Now that line was hanging out
the window on the outside, wasn't it? She's on the inside. She couldn't see it. It really
wasn't necessary for her to see it, was it? Like in the homes
in Egypt, when the Lord said, put the, to the elders, everybody
didn't do this, the elders put the blood on the doorpost and
the lamp. But they couldn't see it on the inside of that house.
But God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And
like those, like those people in the houses in Egypt, you know,
they were strong men like Moses, they were little weak children.
Scared to death, strong faith, scared to death, what was their
hope? Why was anybody going to be saved? Strong faith, weak
faith? Blood on that doorpost. And anyone in the house, he said,
whoever's in that house, your father, your mother, your children,
whoever's in this house, where that scarlet line is, When they're found in the house,
when we come and we find them in the house where that scarlet
line is, we will bring you out. We will. I promise you that. This is all my hope. Is it yours? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where did that scarlet line come from? You ever thought about
that? They came into her house and
they said, take this scarlet line here and bind it in the
window. It was there all along. And she didn't know it. It was in her house all along.
She didn't know it. Never gave it a thought. She
does now. But He was there all along. And
people, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has been applied
to God's people from the foundation of the world. Long before we
knew it was there, it's there. And like I said, the people in
the houses in Egypt, they couldn't see the blood. And Rahab couldn't
see that scarlet line. I'll tell you what. She'd go
to that window every now and then. She had to give diligence
to make her call in election shortage. I guarantee you she'd
go to that window every now and then and peek out there and see
if it's still there. You know she did, didn't you?
And why do you come here? I know it depends on the Lord
seeing this blood, but Frank, I need to see it every now and
then, don't you? And that's why we come here, isn't it? We come
here for a man to stand up and declare the Lord Jesus Christ
our hope, doesn't it? Just tell me one more time, are
you sure that blood's before the Lord? Tell me one more time.
And she tied that cord, she tied tight, wasn't she? A granny knot,
a square knot. Must make sure that cord will
hold her. And we come here to hear this
gospel and want a man to tell us again and again. We're never
tired of it. If you're a harlot like Rahab,
you want to hear this message. This is it, isn't it? This is
it. What do you reckon her thought?
Now, these men didn't tell her when Joshua was coming. She had no idea when Joshua was
coming, but they just told her he's coming. He's going to destroy
this place. And he's staying in her house.
You get out of that house, your blood's on your own head. You
stay in that house where that scarlet line is, and when we
come, you don't know when, but you be waiting, and when we see
this line, we're going to bring you out. You reckon she left
that house? Oh my, and people. Oh, that I might win. Todd said,
oh, that I might be found in Him. You leave the gospel. You get out from under the gospel.
There's no more sacrifice for sin. You will deliver to depart. There's no more sacrifice for
sin. Nobody can give you any hope.
But you stay under the sound of the gospel, and you hope in
His mercy, and you trust in Christ and His blood, You have his word
on it when he comes. Don't leave. That's what he told
the people in Egypt, too. Don't leave his house. You know, I don't know who she
talked to, but maybe she did talk to someone through the window.
And what do you reckon her conversation was? For the rest of those days,
what do you think her conversation was? About how to decorate her
home? Oh, no. about Joshua's coming. Joshua's coming. Didn't Peter
write to us in 2 Peter, he said, seeing that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation, heavenly conversation, looking for and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
the fervent heat. Nevertheless, we who have received this promise
the gospel. We, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Why? Because our Joshua, the Lord
Jesus Christ, said so, and he laid down his life for us. That's the sure token. The sure
token. But what happened? You know the
end of this story? What It happened exactly like
Scripture says it happened. Exactly as promised. Chapter
6, go over here. Here's the fulfillment of that
promise. Fulfillment of the word. In Joshua
chapter 6, verse 17, it says that the city shall be accursed. Joshua sending this word that
the city is going to be a curse, and all that are therein to the
Lord, only Rahab the harlot shall live. She and all that are with
her in the house, because she hid the messenger that we sent.
Verse 22, Joshua had said unto the two men that spied out the
country, go into the harlot's house and bring her out. Bring
out the woman and all that she had, just like you swore unto
her. Now who went to get her? The same man that came the first
time, the same man upon whom she hoped, the promises that
she hoped in the beginning came to her in the end, to gather
her. And if you laid hope on your
hope in the beginning, people, he's going to be with you forever.
This hope is sure. And it says, the young men brought
her out, and her father and her mother, verse 23, and her brethren,
all that she had, and they brought out all her kindred and left
them without the camp. Outside the camp. Verse 25, Joshua
saved Rahab the harlot. There she is, the harlot. He
saved her alive. She's alive. When they came in to get her,
they didn't ask her, would you like to go with us? Now, we can't take you out of
here unless you cooperate with us, unless you let us. Joshua
wants to save you so bad, and he's outside the door here, and
isn't that foolish? Joshua's going to give the word,
and this whole place is coming down. Just speak the word. They're going to blow a trumpet,
and this place is coming down. And he sent the word. Salvation
is by command, and Joshua sent command to these two men, don't
ask her, Go get her, go fetch her, like David and Mephibosheth.
Go fetch her, did they? They sure did. They got her,
laid hold of her, and brought her out. How'd they bring her
out? How'd they get in, and how'd
they get out? One way! These men came up the
same way they came in the first time, and got her, and they all
went out the same way. There's just one way. The blood. The blood. Just like he said.
Just like he said. Can't you see this? It's a real
story. And they're all climbing out this window and the first
one goes out. The first one that goes out, it held. And then the second one, the
second one, and maybe there are three or four at a time, Joe, hanging
on this thing. It's holding, just like he said it would. From
the first to the last, that scarlet line held them up. And people, you can hang the
weight of your eternal soul on this blessed promise that's in
Jesus Christ. The promises of God are sure
are yea and amen to the glory of God by us. Whosoever believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. You have this promise. Hang your soul on that promise. Hang your soul. Oh my. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end that this promise might be sure
unto all the seed. Now listen to me, I'm going to
close with you. Rahab has to be saved. She has
to come out. She has to be saved alive. Number
one, the Lord's promise is at stake. He promised her through
these men, through these preachers of the gospel, He promised her
that you've laid hold on this oath, this covenant, this promise,
and you've trusted our word, we'll not let you down. And people,
the salvation of God's people hangs on His word, doesn't it?
And His truth, His faithfulness, His veracity, everything, the
word of God is at stake in the salvation of one sinner that
trusts in Him. If every single sinner is not
saved that trusts in Him, God's Word is no good. Isn't that right? His Word, His faithfulness, His
truth, His oath, His covenant, His blood, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the efficacy of it is at stake here. If she doesn't
come out, if God's people, if every single person for whom
Christ died is not saved, the blood of Jesus Christ doesn't
put away sin. Everyone for whom Christ died
must come out. She must come out. And I read
you that verse in Romans 4, it says, the promise is sure to
all the seed. Rahab is the Lord's seed. There are four women mentioned
in our Lord's lineage in Matthew 1. Two of them are harlots. One
of them is an adulteress, the other one's a moabite woman.
Rahab's one of them. She's got to come out. But Christ's coming depends on
it. She's the seed. And so she did, just like the
Lord said would happen. She came out. And she got... She came out of that place and
she got married. and ended up in a little town
called Bethlehem. Married a man named Salmon. And she got married
and had a baby. Had a baby. What do you reckon
she taught that baby, Clare? Little baby boy, yeah. About
that scarlet line, about what the Lord had saved her from,
His oath, His covenant. She had that boy sitting on her
knee, talking to that boy about this redemption. She said, now
Boaz, the son, Her boy's name was Boaz. She
said, Boaz, now son, we're saved by sovereign mercy, electing
grace to the chief of sinners through the blood of the coming
Messiah. That's how we're saved, son. God has mercy on the chief
of sinners like your mother, your father. And Boaz, you show
mercy. You show mercy. You be merciful.
When you go to find a wife, don't look for the high and mighty,
look for the poor and needy, Boaz. You find you a wife that
needs a faithful husband, that needs a kinsman redeemer. So
he did. The Lord taught him the gospel.
He went out looking. He found the lowest of the low,
didn't he? Out there gathering handfuls on purpose. And her
name was Ruth. And this happened. You know it
happened. And one day Boaz is going to marry Ruth and he brings
Ruth in to meet his mother-in-law. He says, Mom, I want you to meet
Ruth. And like every respectful young
woman that meets her future mother-in-law, she says, Oh, Miss Rahab, I've
heard so much about you. And she said, I am so honored
to meet you, Miss Rahab, and I don't deserve to be a member
of your family. And Rahab thought, honey, you
just don't know. And so they had a baby, Obed,
and he had a son, Jesse, and he had a boy named David. from whom the Christ came. She's
got to come out. She's got to come out. How'd
she come out? One way. Same way we're going to come
out and go in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rahab, you
out there? Trust, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. You have God's word on it. Amen.