Would you turn to Joshua chapter
two? I've entitled. This message. The salvation. Of a prostitute. Both the writer to the Hebrews. And James point out that Rahab
was a prostitute. Now you have to be. a morally
bankrupt person to do that for a living. And she was a prostitute. But God the Holy Spirit selects
her to illustrate two things. And I pray that he'd be our teacher
tonight. He uses this woman to teach us what saving faith is. In Hebrews 11, by faith She received
the spies of peace. She didn't perish within the
believe not. And we also learn how that faith without works
is dead. And James uses her to illustrate
that. Rahab is also in the genealogy
of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can read about it, Matthew chapter
one. She married a man in Judah after she was delivered and she
was the mother of Boaz, the great or the grandfather of David.
So this woman was the great grandmother of King David. The Lord of glory
brought his son into the world through the line of this woman. The salvation of a prostitute. Joshua. is bringing Israel into
the promised land. Moses couldn't do it. You see,
the law can never bring anybody into the promised land. Moses
represents the law. All the law can do is condemn
and expose. Joshua, the Hebrew name, Jesus,
Savior, is the one who brings the children of Israel into the
promised land. Now, in order to be in the promised
land, the walled city of Jericho would have to be defeated. So Joshua sends two spies into
the city of Jericho, verse one of Joshua chapter two. And Joshua,
the son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,
Go view the land. even Jericho, and they went and
came into an harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho,
saying, Behold, there came many 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 thine 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 wist not whence
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, 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 under her roof. And the
men pursued after them the way to Jordan under the fords. And
as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they
shut the gate." Now Rahab lies. in order to save the spies. And this action is commended
in the New Testament as the action of faith. She lied to protect
these men, and this is what she is commended for. Now, some have
objected. How could telling a lie be thought
of as faith? The only way I know to answer
that is, I'm sure someone who makes that objection embodies
honesty and virtue so much that they could never conceive of
such a thing. She lies to hide them because
of something she knew. because of something she understood.
You know, one of the things that I thought about this, I'm not
advocating lying ever, but I'm saying whatever it takes to save
me. Whatever it takes to save me.
That was her concern. Her action was based upon something
she knew. Verse 8. And before they were laid down,
she came up unto them on the roof. And she said unto the men. I know. That the Lord had given
you the land. And that your terror is falling
upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of
you, for we have heard how that 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, Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And
as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt.
Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because
of you. For the Lord your God, He is
God in heaven above and in earth below. She hid them because she
knew God was God. And she knew he was going to
destroy that place, and she knew she had no power to stand before
this God and these people who had God for them. She knew that.
She understood that. So she was going to do whatever
it took to save herself. She had a motive. Look in verse
12. Now, therefore, I pray you, swearing to me by the Lord since
I showed you kindness. that you will show kindness unto
my father's house, and give me a true token, and that you will
save alive my father, and my mother, and my brother, and my
sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."
That was her reasoning. She wanted salvation for her
family. Verse 14, and the men answered
her, "'Our life for years, 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. 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 you to the mountains, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide
yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned,
and afterwards may you go your way. 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 thy house into the street, his
blood shall be upon his own head, and will be guiltless. And whosoever
shall be with thee in the house, and his blood shall be on our
hand, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business,
then we will be quit of thy oath, which thou hast made us to swear.'
And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they
departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they
went and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers returned. And the pursuers sought them
throughout all the way, but found them not. Now, if you go on reading
in the next chapter, the spies come back to Joshua and they
tell them about what took place and how Rahab protected them. And then in chapter three, this
is where God says, go take the city. And you remember the story
we considered last week. First, the waters of Jordan were
parted. They marched across. Remember
the way they marched around the city for six days, and on the
seventh day they marched around and shouted, the walls fell,
and so on. But prior to the walls falling,
look in chapter 6, verse 17. Prior to this happening, verse
17, and the city shall be accursed, even it 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 messengers that we sent.
And so the walls collapse, but look in verse 21. And they utterly
destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young
and old, oxen, 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 had 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 and 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 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. And
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. And evidently Rahab did not remain
a prostitute. She married a man in Judah, and
she became the great-great-grandmother of David. How the Lord blessed
this woman. Now, the writer to the Hebrews
said this narrative that I've just related to you from the
Word of God. is an example of what faith is. I want to know
what faith is, don't you? And I want to believe. And let's carefully examine this
story and see what we can learn of faith. And what I want us
to do is begin where she began. Her reason for receiving the
spies with peace, it was because of something that she knew. Look
back in Joshua chapter 2, verse 9. Now here's why she received these
men. She said, I know. I know that the Lord has given
you the land and that your terror has fallen upon us and that all
that happened inhabitants of the land faint because of you. I know. You can't believe what
you don't know any more than you can come back from a place
where you've never been." She said, I know. Her actions begin
with something she knew. Now, we make a great mistake
when we think that our heart can be right. Yet we believe
the wrong thing. The Bible doesn't acknowledge
anything like that. You cannot believe what you do
not know. Her faith began with what she
knew regarding the Lord God. Now, understand this about faith. It is not blind. Faith believes the word of God. Faith is not a feeling. And there's
feelings involved in faith. As a matter of fact, when, by
the grace of God, we exercise faith, there's a good feeling
that comes out of that. Peace. What a feeling that is. But faith
is not a feeling. Faith is not blind. Faith takes
God at His word. Faith hears what God says. Now,
somehow, I don't know how, she knew about God parting the Red
Sea. She knew that the Lord was for
Israel, and she knew if the Lord's for you, who can be against you?
She understood something, but that she knew that God was God,
that he was the only God. She knew that Jericho was going
to be destroyed. Now, how did she know all these
things? Well, I don't know, but she did. Somebody told her. Somebody
told her. Faith cometh by hearing. and
hearing by the Word of God. She believed what she heard,
and that's why she received the spies with peace. Now, our Lord
said we speak what we know, and we testify to what we've seen. I'm preaching what I know. I'm bearing witness to what I
have seen. I'm not just giving second-hand
information. I'm not just reading back to you something I read
in a book. I preach what I know. Paul said, and we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God. Now, they
may not know it, but we do. We know. There's no salvation
apart from knowledge. That's where you've got to begin.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. Now, we know our knowledge doesn't save us. It's not my
knowledge that saves me. It's Christ that saves me. I
know that. I know that. I'm just dead sure of that. Turn
with me for a moment. Hold your finger there. And I
want to read some scriptures from 1 John. 1 John. You know, 27 times. In this little epistle of 1 John,
he uses the phrase, we know or I know. Verse three of chapter two. And hereby, we do know that we
know him if we keep his commandments, he did say, if I know him and
keep it, not as commandments is a liar and the truth is not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word in
him, barely is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that
we are in him. Look in verse 20 of the same
chapter. But you have an unction from the Holy One and you know
all things. I've not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it and that no lies
of the truth. Now, he says to them, you know
all things. Now, I don't have omissions in
the sense that I don't know All things, but knowing Christ, I
know that he's all in salvation. I know all things. I know all
I need to know. Christ is my salvation. I know
all things. I know everything there is to
know about salvation. Well, how can you say something
like that? Christ is everything there is to know. He himself
is everything there is to know. He is salvation. So I know all
things. Now, that's not arrogance. That's not pride and presumption.
That's faith. We know it did a blessed thing
to know something. For instance, I know I'm a sinner.
I'm not. I know it. I know he's the Savior. I know his righteousness is the
only righteousness. I know salvation is by his sovereign
grace. I know these things. I'm not
just talking about something I read about so much. I know
I'm speaking as a witness. We know. Look in chapter three,
verse five of the same epistle. And you know, that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Verse 14. We know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal
life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren. Look in verse 24. And he that
keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby
do we know, do we know that he abided in us by the Spirit which
he hath given us. Look in chapter 4, verse 2. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Look in
verse 6. We are of God. He that knoweth
God heareth us. He that is not of God, here is
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Now I can just feel people gnashing their teeth when John says something
like this. Why? You think your way is the only
way. I mean, how can you say something like that? Well, if
you know, you can. It's not a thing of arrogance. It's a thing of
faith. Look in verse 13 of this same chapter. Hereby know we
that we dwell in him and he and us because he had given us of
his spirit. Chapter five, verse two. By this,
we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep
his commandments. Verse 13, the first John chapter
five. These things have I written in
you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name
of the son of God. Verse 18. We know That whosoever
is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know
that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that's true, and we're in him that's true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is a true God, and this
is eternal life. Now, this woman's faith began
with what she knew. She knew God was God. She knew
God was for Israel. She knew that if God's for you,
who can be against you? She knew that if she wasn't on
Israel's side, she would perish. Her faith began with what she
knew. And what she knew came from what
she heard. Look back in Joshua chapter 2,
verse 10. For we have heard, We've heard. Somebody told her. We have heard
how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you
came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you
utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these
things, our heart did melt. Neither did there remain any
courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, He
is God in heaven above. and in earth below. Now, here's
what she heard. She heard that God is God and nobody could stand
before him. She knew that there wasn't anything
she could do to save herself. She was convinced. She said there
remained no courage in us. We knew. Now, if God speaks to
you, one thing you know, you know that there's nothing you
can do to save yourself. You know that? I mean, this is
not something that you're not real sure about. This is something
you know. She knew that there was nothing she could do to save
herself. She knew the Lord had given them
the land, and she was completely helpless. She knew God was God,
not simply a title, but God indeed, all powerful, sovereign, the
only God. Now, let's look at what she says.
Verse 12. Now, therefore, I pray you, Swearing
to me by the Lord, since I've showed you kindness, that you
will also show kindness. Now, that's the word that's generally
translated mercy. What this woman wanted was mercy. Mercy. And you know, when you
want mercy, you want mercy. When you realize that mercy is
the only hope you have of being saved. That's when you want mercy,
when you know that your sin is all your fault, that you can't
bargain with God. That you stand before him in
his hands, he can do with you whatever he's pleased to do.
Your sin's all your fault and what you need is mercy. Oh, that's what she was looking
for. Mercy. Oh, I want you to show me kindness.
I want you to show me mercy. And look what she says under
my father's house. And give me a true token. Give
me a true token. Note the word true. You know,
when somebody is seeking the Lord, they cannot be satisfied
with anything short of the truth. They can't do it. If they hear
error, they've got something in their spirit that makes them
know this is not the truth. You see, they've got a new nature.
The nature that God's given them that makes them, it's almost
like a spiritual sixth sense where they can't be satisfied
with anything short of the truth. She says, give me a true token
that you'll show me mercy. Now, what is this true token?
I like the word token. I'll tell you another place that
word token is used. It's when the Lord passed through the land
of Egypt and he said, the blood shall be a token for you. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you." That blood is that token that God would pass. If you're in the house with the
blood over the door, God would pass by in mercy. Now, she says,
give me a true token. Now, let's look at these men's
reply. And that you will save a life.
I want salvation. That you will save a life. My
father and my mother and my brother and my sisters and all that they
have. And to live our lives from death. May you give us this true
token. So the men answer. Our life for years, if you had
or not, is our business. And it shall be when the Lord
has given us the land that we will deal kindly with mercy and
truly with thee. Then she left them down by a
cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall,
and she dwelt upon the wall, and here's what this token is.
And she said unto them, Get ye to the mountain, lest the pursuers
meet you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers
be returned. And afterward may you go your
way. And the men said unto her, We'll be blameless of this, I
know, which thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into
the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread." That
was a scarlet-colored rope. What's scarlet the color of?
You know the answer to that? Blood. Blood. Just, this is no
different than the blood over the door. Wherever somebody was
in this house with this scarlet line, this blood, represented
blood, that's what, that's the color of blood. Wherever anyone
was in this house with this one true token, they would be saved. Now you had to be in the house
with the token. If you were outside of the house, you wouldn't be
saved. And I like the way, um, they said to her, they said,
now listen, Here's your truth. Everybody in the house with that
scarlet line, if they're going to be saved, nothing's going
to happen to them. If you're in Christ Jesus, you're going to
be saved. That's that's where God's mercy is. That's where
his grace is. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you're
outside of this house, we're warning you right now. If you
go outside of this house, your blood is on your own head. It'll
be all your fault. There's mercy in the house. Now,
if I say to you. Whosoever. Here's what the Bible
says, here's what God says, whosoever, don't care who you are, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, if
I say that to you and you never call, whose fault is it if you're
not saved? It's your own fault, because
he said whosoever shall call. Now, I realize that God only
saves the elect. That's taught in the scriptures
as clear as anything else is. His salvation is for the elect. And it also teaches just as clearly. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Our Lord also said, Him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now, if he says that
and you don't come, whose fault is it? Now, if you're saved,
it's all God's fault. Amen. Amen to that. You know
that. You know that's true. If you're saved, it's all God's
fault. And if you're not saved, it's all your fault. Now, he
tells these people, if you're in the house. With the court,
you're saved, you're saved, but outside of the house, there is
no salvation. So let's go on reading. And she
said, verse 21, according unto your words, so be it. And she
sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet line
in the window. You know that scarlet line stayed
there. There it was. I don't know when they came back.
A few days later. And I bet some people thought,
what's that doing there? She knew. She knew. Her family knew. The only place
of safety is in this house with the scarlet line on the window.
And the only place of safety, the only place of salvation is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in you. It's not in
what you do. It's not in what you think. It
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what made Paul cry
out, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. I know that's where all God's
salvation is. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, What proved that she believed that there was salvation only
in the place where the scarlet board was? She got the house. Those people were in the house.
If anybody was outside of the house, they proved they could
really believe that. Anybody who really believed it, they
were in that house, weren't they? And I guarantee you, they were
afraid to go up. Can you imagine how they felt
in that house when When the Israelites were marching around, blowing
those horns, I bet they were wondering what's... Some of them
probably felt real confident. Some of them kind of like the
Passover. I guarantee you some people just
felt total confidence and some people were scared to death.
But the security wasn't how you felt. The security is where you're
at. If you're in Christ, you're secure. That's it. And that's where the security
is. And you prove that by being in the house. Now, so the right
of the Hebrews uses this woman as an example of faith. She knew
something. How'd she know? Well, somebody
told her. It's because of what she heard. And she proved she
really believed what she heard by receiving the spies with peace. She was going to do whatever
she could to save herself and her household. Now, James, would
you turn to James Chapter 2? James uses Rahab to illustrate
justification by works. Look in James Chapter 2. Verse
25. Likewise, also, was not Rahab
the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers
and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Now, what's James
talking about when he says Rahab the harlot was justified by works?
Because we read throughout the scriptures, you're justified
by grace, you're justified by blood. What in the world is he
talking about when he says she was justified by works? Well,
Rahab is an example of somebody not believing any more than they
actually put into practice. That's what that means. You don't
believe any more than you put into practice. What proved that
Rahab believed that God was for Israel and that she couldn't
stand before him because she took those spies and she hid
them in her home. And James actually, the word
where it says that she received them, the word is received with
hospitality as a welcome guest. The gospel comes as good news. You welcome it. All that she
believed was demonstrated by her hiding the spies. It proves
she really believed what she said she did. It's not complicated
at all. Somebody says, I believe the
gospel you preach is the gospel of God's grace. I believe that.
And then they perhaps may attend a church where the opposite is
preached. What do the works say? What do
the works say? What does that say about what
they believe? It really is that simple, isn't it? I mean, faith
works. Faith works by love. You see,
faith, understand this, faith in Christ is faith in a person.
It's a person you love. Now, you don't feel good about
your love. You feel like you ought to love him more. You're ashamed
of that your love is stronger than it is, but you love him.
You love him. You love how he is. You love
his characteristics. You love his attributes. You
love his way of saving. And you can't bear to listen
to that which is contrary to him. Faith without works is dead. being alone. Now, wherever there's
faith in Christ, there will be a love to Christ and those things
can't be separated and understand this about love. Love wants to
please. If I love you. I want to please
you. And I want you to be pleased
with me if I love you. Now, if I don't love you, I don't
care. But if I love you, I want to please you. And if You love
me, you want to please me. If I love Christ, I want to please
him and I want him to be pleased with me. Faith without works
is dead. Being alone. Now, this woman. Obviously, she was a morally
bankrupt person, aren't you glad the Lord saves morally bankrupt
people? Thank God for that. You know, that's the only kind
of people he saves. Morally bankrupt people. She obviously was a morally
bankrupt person, but she is an example to us of what saving
faith is. Now, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray together.