Joshua

[0:00] May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be of the second chapter in the book of Joshua.

[0:50] The last part of verse 21 in the second chapter of the book of Joshua and she bound the scarlet line in the window and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

[1:18] The whole verse reads and she said at Rahab according unto your words so be it and she sent them away and they departed and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

[1:35] So, this situation was a great change in that Moses, the man of God who had been instrumental in leading the people of God through the wilderness had been called from time into eternity and so great was the esteem in which Moses was held by the people over whom he was given charge that God sovereignly saw fit to take him aside and bury him himself.

[2:20] There was no human agency present at the funeral of Moses. It was God's blessing in preserving the people from idolizing the memory of a wonderful deliverer who under God had been the instrument in bringing them forth from Egyptian bondage bringing them through the wilderness with all that that meant in care and provision by God's own hand seen and known and to the border of the promised land.

[3:00] But, he was not allowed to take the initiative over Jordan and into the promised land. God showed to Moses that to do what he did with the tables of the law was something unacceptable with him and he was denied the privilege of entering with the people into the promised land but God in his rich mercy raised up Joshua that young man who was instrumental in so many ways for the benefit of the people and the honor and glory of his God and their God too.

[3:48] for now we have in the opening chapters of this book of Joshua some record of the entering of the people into the fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham Abraham and that promise being sustained by his own provision and his own guidance that they should come to the very borders of Canaan and that they should come into possession initially of the city of Jericho.

[4:30] Jericho was obviously a wicked city and God was displeased with the inhabitants of Jericho so that the initial entrance of the Lord's people into Canaan by Jericho and coming through the River Jordan this was a wonderful interposition of God's superiority over all the nations and there were several kingdoms associated the Hivites the Pheuzites the Jebusites and so on those nations that occupied Canaan as they were to be overturned and overthrown by the superior power of the

[5:33] Almighty and the wonderful strength that he gave to the people of God now to come more particularly to the subject we have announced this text this morning strange it may seem to our own minds that the person to which instruction should be signally given relative to the approach of the people of God to the city of Jericho should be Rahab Rahab the harlot messengers were sent to inform her of the impending approach and the overthrow of the city of which she formed a part for she had a house in the wall and she had loved ones in the city and she was obviously by this time one who feared

[6:46] God and was changed so remarkably from one we might say terrible exercise and activity in prostitution she was brought out of that and made the honoured instrument of God as God gave warning to the household of Rahab that the city was to be overthrown now Rahab means open house open house we can apply that interpretation to her activity as a harlot as a prostitute she had an open house house and my friends morally speaking that is a most degrading situation and manner of life oh one feels very very solemnly regarding the activity of prostitution wherever it appears on the face of the earth because it is so obviously under the curse of God but this woman although that was her say and practice initially

[8:18] God changed her heart and God gave her a different interpretation of her name open house she had an open house by God's saving power from the awful evil prostitution she had an open house to the messengers whom God sent to Jericho to warn them of what should come to pass what a wonderful as it were contrast we see in Rahab as a harlot made by God's goodness and grace an instrument to receive warnings and in consequence take into account her loved ones who were within the city that they should come and dwell with her through that exercise of the children of

[9:32] Israel overcoming the Canaanites in Jericho particularly and the walls should fall down and the people should be destroyed now what a solemn thing it is to be in a place and in a situation that's so obviously antagonistic to the will and way of the Lord and I say this morning my dear friends as we turn from 2005 into 2006 we are in a national sense exposed to the just judgments of God and it is by the Lord's mercy that we have come through 2005 without some terrible visitation we have heard of visitations in other parts of the earth that have made us tremble and fear in consequence of the way

[10:52] God can bring his judgments to bear upon offending men women and children but nevertheless God to us has exercised much long suffering and we as a nation deserve richly deserve God's judgments for our departures from him and his ways that are so obviously set before us in his word and we need to plead with him that his long suffering may continue and if it could please him rather than bring to bear the severity of his judgments in his mercy and in answer to the prayers of his people bring a day of reformation deliverance from our evil propensities I do think also that we must face the issue concerning the eventual terminating of time this world is not here forever

[12:05] God has created it in the beginning some 6,000 years ago and it has wonderfully continued under God's power through the changes of those years and we're coming sometime and only God knows the time when the Lord Jesus shall return in power and great glory for the people of God it will be the best day ever but for the wicked it will be the worst day they ever have known and that thought surely sharpens our desires to be found on the right side to be found identified with the people of God rather than enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season sin was made known to

[13:09] Moses in that context and he was forewarned to seek rather than the riches of Egypt the portion of the Lord's people and he turned from the wealth and pomp and ceremony of Egyptian royalty to identify himself with a despised people of God and I trust there is in many a heart I would it was every heart here present this morning such a living desire to be found right with God if we're right with God it matters not when the Lord shall come it will be well for we are exhorted and authorised scripturally to say say unto the righteous it shall be well with him but say unto the wicked it shall be ill with him my friends

[14:10] I cannot enforce too strongly the necessity of salvation being sought and found according to the goodness and mercy of our God well now Rahab was worried when the spies came from the Israelites to look around the situation within Jericho and in a wider field according to the decree and leading of the Lord and she realised that destruction was coming she received the warning and she was obviously prepared by God through those messengers that the

[15:12] Lord sent and we must remember that Rahab's reaction to the situation was an exercise of God given faith by faith she believed in the destruction of Jericho and by faith she believed that God could protect and spare her and her family that she was so obviously concerned about and I'm going to put this point to you I don't think it can be possible for anybody awakened to the solemnity of being under God's purposes to destruction who can possibly remain unconcerned for the spiritual welfare of those that are near and dear to them if God awakens our hearts to the reality and solemnity of being a lost soul we shall be anxious for the souls of those that are near and dear to us lest they be left to perish they be left under the curse of the

[16:38] Most High God and Rahab shows to us a spirit that I believe is in every gracious heart not only the benefit of being saved oneself but being saved also the souls of those that are near and dear to us and let me just interject this thought for some it pleases God to commence his saving work in a family in their youthful days we may be inclined in our youthful days to think that religion and salvation is something particular to older people and we may think that it's not yet time to be personally concerned about the salvation of our souls well my friends

[17:42] I know God to be a sovereign and I know God to commence a work of grace in the early days of life which is a great blessing indeed but I know in other cases God waits to be gracious and he exercises the souls of his people for the salvation of their dear ones sometimes through many years felt frustration and denial and they're tempted that their prayers are not heard they're tempted that their loved ones are not in the book of life and they're tempted to desist from praying concerning the salvation and protection of their loved ones from the just judgment of God I say again

[18:43] I can't understand how a person can be personally confronted with the terror of being a lost soul who can remain indifferent to the spiritual well-being of their loved ones God waits to be gracious and my friends it's not every desire in this particular area that is fulfilled but nevertheless we are exhorted both by word and by the example of the Holy Scripture to pray for those who are near and dear to us Rahab saw her desire fulfilled filled but what I want to come to is this that she was worried lest the whole family and household would be destroyed in the common destruction which God had warned her of relative to the approaching of the children of Israel into the land in which she dwelt the land of Canaan the messengers came she received them she took means to protect them from those of the king that were seeking after them after the king had knowledge that such people were present in his country he sent officers in a sense to find them out and he would doubtless have destroyed them if it were possible but

[20:49] God sent them God protected them and one of the means of their protection was when God directed them to the house of Rahab whose heart he had prepared and she did everything she felt convenient for their safety in taking them up upon the roof of her house and covering them with the flax that was there to dry and proved a sufficient protection for them while the officers of the king searched her dwelling place my friends God has means to protect we may read this history and wonder that Rahab apparently told to the officers of the king that an untruth she didn't give impression to them that they were still under her protection and within the confines of her dwelling place she seemed to infer in her remarks that they had gone out they had left the city and then she went and informed these two messengers from Israel that they were now safe for from the threat of these officers of the king that had come seeking for them now it is a difficult situation to explain that apparently the deceptive statement made by Rahab was overruled by God for the protection of his messengers you say well how could

[23:07] God use a lie in the mouth of Rahab for the furtherance of his purposes to the protection of the lies that had come into the place I remember a remark made by Mr.

[23:26] George Rose once when I heard that good man of God preaching the gospel and I think I may have referred to it before once in this place he said this God is not the author of evil but God can use and overrule evil for good the use of God doesn't justify anything that is evil but God in his sovereignty can make evil work for good and there is a sense in which in personal experience that fact is fulfilled the sin of our hearts as before a holy

[24:31] God sanctified by the spirit of God brings us to the point of deliverance from all of our sins in the washing of the precious blood of Jesus which alone can cleanse from all sin God can overrule evil for good but it never never makes good the evil never we should never justify evil the apostle Paul touches the same principle as it flies into my mind I find it difficult to quote let us not do evil that grace may abound he says most emphatically

[25:41] God forbid God forbid don't do evil saying well God can overrule this for his glory and for my good my friends that's very dangerous ground upon which to tread but nevertheless that God can as in Rahab's case overrule a deception that proceeded from her mouth to the messengers of the king that sent them out of the city is very much according to this record of holy scripture let us not do evil that good may come but it is well within the sufficiency of divine sovereignty to overrule anything and everything to advantage as it shall please him well now to come to the text she wanted some covenant from these

[26:57] Israelites to assure her that when destruction came to the city she and her household would be safe and the agreement was arrived at between them that she should put a scarlet cord in her window and when the armies of Israel came to overthrow the city that should be a token of covenant by these messengers that had been warned forewarned that they would be spared the house would be preserved and the inhabitants within that house should be safe now my friends listen she bound the scarlet line in the window what do you think that is typical of a scarlet line doesn't that incline our hearts and minds to think of the precious blood of the

[28:20] Lord Jesus Christ that scarlet issue from the fountain of his wounded side that which alone can take away sin that which alone can make peace with God turn as it were the just anger of God according to the sins of men that the mercy of God and the grace of God in Jesus Christ should prevail to the pardon of all sin that when God's final judgments are made over to mankind obviously legally justly condemning mankind for the transgressions of his holy law there is a way made as with

[29:30] Rahab in Jericho there is a way made for the people of God to be preserved for them to be kept safe and them as it were to under the influence of Christ's precious blood to be acceptable in the sight of a holy God accepted in the beloved now there's a scarlet line in the window and remember that that which is in a window is to be seen from without and it's to be seen from within now my friends the window of the soul is the eye is there a scarlet cord in our window what are we looking to for our deliverance from the just judgment of God which shall eventually settle upon the whole human race the sinful descendants of our first parents who sinned in the garden of Eden and defiled as it were the whole human race the scarlet line in the window looking unto

[31:22] Jesus as the author and the finisher of our faith knowing that eventually time will terminate and the just judgment of heaven will be exercised against the sins of mankind to what are you looking in what are you trusting shall shall surely die realizing my friends that by nature we're under the sentence of death as much as the city of Jericho was under as it were the sentence of death and destruction but this dear woman she had a type of the Lord

[32:43] Jesus Christ set before her and her faith rested and trusted in that covenant that when the scarlet line was seen in the window that should be a means of protection that should be a means of security now I'm saying to you this morning there's no protection and security for sinful man except in the atoning blood of the Son of God do you believe it has God made it known to your heart has the law condemned you when you say I'm a sinner exposed to eternal death oh my friends how the threatenings of the law of God make us seek seek and search for an answer and there is an answer there is an answer declared by God that those who are under the shelter of the atoning blood of Jesus

[34:04] Christ they're saved they're delivered from destruction and all the benefits of salvation are theirs for Jesus sake I'm here to ask you the question being a dying person with me your preacher and knowing that eternity is straight before us at the end of the road of life have you got the cord in your window are you looking to the Lord Jesus Christ as God by his mercy and according to the leading and teaching of his Holy Spirit interpreted for you the name and consequence of being a sinner and has he led you on to realize in the wonder of his love and grace that he against whom we've sinned has made a perfect answer for our protection from the consequence of our transgressions the blood of Jesus

[35:21] Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin no remedy for sin but the precious powerful efficacious securing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins now being brought in the sovereign leading and teaching of God the Holy Ghost my friends I'm back to the 17th of May 1948 when the

[36:25] Lord came into the bedroom where I was sleeping and brought so powerfully the condemnation of my guilt home to my conscience the agony of cry that went from my heart to heaven God alone knows I've never known an experience like it it brought the sweat from my whole body and the agony of spirit that I cried mercy mercy mercy and the Lord came in his mercy and spoke to my heart my grace is sufficient for thee and for the application of that precious word took my soul experimentally from the gate of hell to the gate of heaven heaven the grace of God in our

[37:30] Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved it's the only channel through which the love and mercy of God shall be showered upon you and your many sins your many sins and that one cannot exaggerate the number but how many sins thy sins which are many are all forgiven you if you've got the scarlet line in your window if you're looking to Calvary if you're looking to the Son of God and your whole trust is in what he has done to save sinners my friends your security according to the word of God is perfect and complete look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else no preacher has any authority to come into this pulpit and promise you salvation independent of the precious blood of the

[38:46] Saviour but that blood is of such efficacy that whatsoever may be your transgression of the commandments of heaven there is power in that blood to atone there is power in that blood to make peace there is power in that blood to deliver you and discharge you from all the penalty of the law of God whatsoever now in that sense as Rahab and those that were in the house with her were looking out of the window they got that token they got that to look to and look through as it were as they gazed upon the destruction of their city but their personal preservation nevertheless and the perfect preservation of the church in this world is absolutely central to the atonement of Jesus

[40:00] Christ on the cross of Calvary my question this morning what does the blood of Jesus Christ mean to you have you got a cord have you got this scarlet cord in your window are you looking you and I are in a body of sin and death I haven't finished with sins I would sometimes wish I had finished with sins but still in this body of sin and death we realize we're bringing forth fruits that are antagonistic that we're bringing forth fruits that must find their place in the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God or they will condemn us forever but nevertheless freshly incurred guilt a charge received in the conscience you ought not to have done that you ought not to be involved in this you ought not to have said that it's wrong it was wrong in the sight of God it was of no value to anything and anybody it was sin but then to look out of your window to

[41:31] Calvary to see that all sufficient sacrifice to make black sinners whiter than snow to see the unique pleasure and benefit of being in a world that is as it were the multiplied possession of the wicked for the time being they're going on in their sin despising the truth of God rejecting the precious name and work of the Son of God they're going on and like Jericho in the multiplied dwellings of the city they were destroyed the walls fell down all sense of security was lost to them but the security given to

[42:39] Rahab and her household under the influence of that cord in the window my friends they were safe they were safe and she bound the scarlet line in the window oh how often times figuratively speaking we're found bind in the scarlet cord again in our window no peace but in the Son of God no peace but in his pardoning blood we have to go in our confession and repentance before God again and again and plead the all sufficiency of Christ's atonement as a remedy for the sin of malady that brings so much sorrow in his wake she she bound the scarlet line in the window you say but what a feeble thing in which to trust what a simple token of protection was there sometimes

[44:11] I think my friends that the wise of this world despise the gospel for its simplicity they despise the gospel for its simplicity what a sinner looking to Christ who died upon the tree of Calvary looking to him alone for our soul salvation they say surely it needs to be something far more complicated something more mind stretching than that my friends the simplicity of the gospel suits some of us it suits some of us and with that precious token of the blood of Jesus Christ to plead before a holy God we look as it were to the scarlet cord in our window again and again as we pray what is the hope of our acceptance with the holy God

[45:21] God pleading the name and precious blood of the Son of God we look for answers to prayer with the scarlet cord in our window don't we we look for the promises of God to be fulfilled in our experiences because of the scarlet cord in our window yes the blood of all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus so as we plead for the fulfilment of God's promises both in grace and in providence we're looking with single eye to the Son of God for we've no hope of divine favour and blessing outside of the secret of salvation which is the crucified one who died in the sinner's place and was raised again for his and her justification the scarlet line in the window

[46:41] I'm just close but is it nothing to you or ye that pass by when I focus my sermon on the only way to be delivered from the just judgments of God against the sins of your heart and your life is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the tree of Calvary does that make Calvary precious to you does that make Calvary essential to you do you think it matters not what I lack in this world if I've got an interest in that great work the whole of the Godhead as it were is on my side and I shall receive blessings not only for time but also for eternity examine yourselves dear friends examine yourselves have you got the scarlet line in your window are you looking to the Lord

[47:53] Jesus Christ is he precious in the want of it do you cry to the Lord save me for Jesus sake because you've got no hope of deliverance except in the Son of God may God bless us all if it is his sovereign will with the simplicity of that saving look of faith to Jesus Christ who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him amen God God to God weonnen to his Firstly to Moses T man to you army upを him send