RAHAB: FROM CALL GIRL TO CONVERTED GIRL
Hebrews 11:31
ILL- The Arc de Triumph is a monument in Paris that stands 165 ft. in height & 145 ft. wide. It is so colossal that a daredevil pilot once flew his plane through it’s pillars. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Napoleon at the peak of his fame & finally completed in 1833.
All over Europe there are varieties of triumphal arches or columns, upon which are recorded the valiant deeds of their country’s generals, emperors, or its monarchs.
It seems that faith should have a monument raised to its honor, upon which its mighty deeds should be recorded. The writer of Hebrews did just that by building a magnificent pillar in the chapter before us. It recites the victories of faith with one triumph of faith after the other.
We have faith triumphing over death: Enoch entered not the gates of death, but reached heaven by another road.
We have faith triumphing over infirmity: Abraham & Sarah having a son in their old age.
We have faith triumphing over affection, as we see Abraham climbing to the top of the mountain & raising the knife to slay his only son at the command of God. Then we see God providing a lamb.
We have faith triumphing over worldliness. "By faith Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt."
We have faith triumphing over sin: "Rahab perished not with them that believed not…
Rahab is an example of the grace of God at work. Her salvation was not based on her character: she lived in a doomed city, practiced a sinful profession, engaged in rebellious activities, & lied about her actions. But she acted upon faith, & was spared the judgment of God.
Nature forms us, sin deforms us, the world conforms us, education informs us, but faith transforms us.
Here was woman who was transformed by faith.
What a terrible woman she was to begin with:
~She was a pagan living in spiritual darkness.
~She was a harlot living in sinful depravity.
~She was a Canaanite bound for sure destruction & yet this woman found grace through faith & was transformed.
She was so transformed that she married a prince of Israel. She became the great-great grandmother of King David. She became a part of the bloodline of Jesus Christ.
She went from a child of hell to a citizen of heaven; from a shady lady to a shiny star; from call girl to converted girl; from disgrace to dignity; from the house of shame to the hall of fame ---transformed by the grace of God.
How did it happen? You have to turn to Joshua 2 to see the story. God had commanded His people to take the land of Canaan. They came out of the wilderness & there between them & the Promised Land was the city of Jericho. Joshua selected two men, who were God’s representatives, who went into the city of Jericho & there they met Rahab. And through their witness she was converted.
I. She was Convicted by the Spirit. Joshua 2:9-11
****Notice Verse 11b, …for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above….
Can you imagine a sinful woman (an idol worshipper) making such a statement of faith? Who had been working on her? Who had been speaking to her? It was the Holy Spirit.
Think of the great city of Jericho…all of the people in that city. Do you think it was by chance that they happened to go the house of Rahab? NO!!! It was the providence of God! These men were in the stream of the Spirit & like a guided missile God brought them right to the heart; house; & home of a woman that He had been preparing.
What does that mean to us? All over our city the Holy Spirit is working... tenderizing hearts; & He wants you to be so led of the Spirit that a hungry heart & that a helpful soul winner will be brought together because the Holy Spirit is working both sides of the fence. Out there He’s preparing a heart & right here He’s preparing a herald (messenger).
*****In Acts 8 a very wealthy Ethiopian eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship. The wells of this religious city were beginning to run dry. He was out in the desert reading Isaiah. God saw his hungry heart so God went up to Samaria & found Phillip who was preaching a revival. Philip left a great harvest to talk to one man, but that is the mark of a true servant of God. We must go where He sends us; do what He tells us; & leave the results w/Him. God brought him like a guided missile to a man whose heart the Holy Spirit had prepared. And that’s how that man got saved.
*****In John 4 there was another shady lady---the woman at the well. Do you think it was just coincidence that Jesus happened to be at that well the same time she was at that well? I tell you it was not! Most Jew’s wouldn’t travel through Samaria they looked down upon them. But the Bible says Jesus must needs go through Samaria. Why? Because there was a heart there that needed grace! When Jesus went through Samaria, it was not geographical it was providential.
Dr. Adrian Rogers once said, “I believe if we get right with God, stay right with God, walk in the Spirit, we’ll have to backslide to keep from winning souls.”
II. She was Convinced by the Word. Joshua 2:12-21a
Notice vs. 21a-- And she said, According unto your words so be it.
James calls these two men in James 2:25, messengers.
They were more than spies they were spokesmen of God. And they were speaking God’s Word. Why did Rahab have faith? Because she said, So be it according to the Word.
What is real biblical faith? It’s not confidence; it’s not positive thinking; it’s not wishing upon a star. It’s not a leap in the dark, but a step into the light. Real faith is taking God at His Word.
ILL- Napoleon was riding in review before his troops, when his horse became out of control & dashed down the road; his life was in danger. A private, at the risk of his own life, leaped out and seized the runaway horse saving his Emperor. Napoleon, out of gratitude, raised in the stirrups, saluted and said, “Thank you, captain.” The man said, “Captain of what, sir?” “Captain of my Life Guards, sir,” said Napoleon.
The man stepped over to where the Life Guards were & they ordered him back into the ranks. He refused to go & told the officer, “I am Captain of the Guards.’
Thinking him crazy, they ordered his arrest & were dragging him away, when Napoleon rode up & the man said, “I am Captain of the Guards because the Emperor said so.” Napoleon said, “Yes, Captain of my Life Guards. Loose him, sir; loose him.”
Napoleon said it, he believed it, & that settled it!
Faith is your response to the Word of God. Romans10:17, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
It’s important that you listen to the voice of God…that your heart be tuned to the Word of God…that you get alone with God & spend time w/God & go into the Word of God & saturate your soul with the Bible for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You will never have faith until you begin to listen to God.
III. She was Converted by the Blood. Joshua 2: 21b, & she bound the scarlet line in the window.
They said to her-- you bind this scarlet rope in your window & when we see that scarlet line in the window, we’ll pass over this house & no judgment will come to you.
What does that remind you of? In Ex. 12 God had told His people to take the blood of a lamb-a perfect lamb; a spotless; a lamb without blemish--& to put the blood of that lamb upon the door posts of their house. And then God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Now why do you think these spies told her to put a scarlet line-a scarlet rope-in the window? It was a symbol, or as she said, "A token"-a sign that she was coming into the covenant of those who had been redeemed by the blood. Rahab was saved from destruction because she had enough faith in God to hang a red rope out of her window.
There’s been a scarlet line that runs all the way through the Bible:
***** In the Garden of Eden, when God made coats of skin for Adam and Eve. He had to shed the blood of an innocent animal to do that.
***** When Abel offered his lamb & God had respect toward Abel’s lamb, rather that to Cain’s vegetables, there again you see the shed blood.
***** When you see Abraham offering Isaac & there is a ram caught in the thicket, & that ram becomes a substitute-there you see the blood.
***** When you see 1000’s of smoking altars in the tabernacle & the Jewish temple, as the blood was shed, you see God saying over and over and over again, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin.”
Jesus had not yet died & all of these OT symbols, types & figures were merely shadows that pointed toward the blood redemption of Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches that all have sinned; Rahab sinned; you sinned; I sinned.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
There is no other way. I John 1:7---- The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, & sinners, plunged beneath that flood, loose all their guilty stains.
And because of her transformation she is not known as a harlot but she became the great-great grandmother of King David; in the bloodline of Jesus; listed in the genealogy of our Savior; listed in God’s Hall of Fame; spoken of by James as an example of those who are justified.
Conclusion:
How could a waving scarlet cord save Rahab’s house from the doom of Jericho? How could a scarlet thread save that house? Yet it did.
Faith in the Cross of Christ, that scarlet cord of mercy which God has flung out from the windows of heaven, can save us from death and reconcile us to God. Is the scarlet thread of the Cross over your soul? Is it over your home and your household? Are you as concerned for your household as Rahab was for hers? Is the scarlet thread of your faith in the redeeming blood of Christ waving in the window of your soul? God has made His eternal promise that he who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. He will keep that promise as faithfully as Joshua did when he destroyed Jericho, but spared the house of Rahab the harlot, where the scarlet cord was waving.
ILL- USA Today had about those who escaped the World Trade Center on 9-11. After interviewing over 300 survivors, they concluded that in the South Tower those who didn’t delay but ran for safety immediately are the one’s who survived. Those who delayed are the ones who perished. Your spiritual life is much the same; those who delay and put off coming to Christ often wait until it’s too late.
Those who didn’t delay are those who survived the world trade center. Those who don’t delay are those who respond to God’s calling and are saved.
One day the trumpets of judgment will sound, as they sounded of old over ancient and doomed Jericho. But where the scarlet cord waves, there is safety and refuge. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
* Special thanks to the late Dr. Adrian Rogers for the sermon outline. What a preacher!
