Let's bow our heads for a moment. Fathers, we come to your word, we ask again for grace, to hear it, to understand it, to believe it, to apply it and appropriate it to our hearts and lives. For Jesus' sake, amen. And if you still have your Bibles open at Joshua 2, may I suggest you leave them open there and I will read to you one verse from Hebrews chapter 11. So you're undeterred to it because once I've read it, I shall come back to Joshua chapter two. And if you've been here Sunday evenings, you know that we're going through the list of the heroes, heroines of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. And last time we looked at the destruction of Jericho, all right? And what is interesting, and I thought about this, it's strange that the order's not quite right, but, In the purposes of God, there we go. You see, because in verse 30, read this, look it up. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had passed about seven days. All right? And then the next one, by faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she received the spies with peace. Now that, do you think, would have come first? She, that's in chapter two, the other one is in chapter, but I don't know and I don't want to stay and discuss it. God knows what he's doing and it may be that the author just felt it flowed through. But our verse for tonight is By faith, the harlot, prostitute, Rahab, perished not with them that believed not when they received the spies, or she received the spies with peace. And some very simple little headings tonight. Three headings. Who, what, was she? What did she hear? What did she do? We should be all right with that, shouldn't we? Who was she? What was she? What did she hear? And what did she do? Now, we read, obviously, about this lady, this woman, in Joshua chapter two. And it's just, I love this story because it's just amazing. And if I was to give this message a title tonight, I would say, The Great Grace of God. simple isn't it? The great grace of God. What I want to try to do by the Spirit is to just remind us, you're not going to hear much that is new tonight if anything, but I want to remind us of the great grace of God for you and for me. God's grace is amazing. God's grace is great. God's grace is absolutely tremendous and we forget that, we take it for granted Oh yes, we believe in the grace of God, by grace we are saved and all that, but somehow it doesn't touch our hearts and our lives as it should be. There's something, I don't know what it is, is it a case of this world and so on, is it because we have personal problems and difficulties and families, but there's not this kind of Rejoicing every day when we get up, we should say, thank God for the grace of God. We go to bed tonight and say, Lord, thank you for your grace. God's grace is abundant, super abundant towards his people. And somehow we don't see it. I'm not gonna be talking to you, I'm killing myself here. We don't evidence it as we ought to. I mentioned recently a book called, by Dr. Martin L. Jones, on spiritual depression. And it came about through a series of sermons he preached at Westminster Chapel. And in his introduction to the sermons, and it's in the book, he says that depressed Christians, miserable Christians, are a contradiction in terms. Well, he said, I don't want to diminish obviously people's difficulties and problems. He said, but there's something about being a Christian, a Bible Christian, that should cause us to rejoice, even though times are difficult and trying and problems. It's no wonder that people outside are not interested in our gospel, because they look at us and say, well, you're as miserable as I am. Why should I become a Christian? You say, oh, this Christian is wonderful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't see it in your life. I can't see the evidence. You're just as miserable on a Monday morning as I am. So why should I listen to you? Why should I bother? It's a sad reflection. And we shouldn't be like that. I shouldn't be like that. You shouldn't be like that. So although I'm saying things you know, and you know as well as I, if not better, then just remind ourselves, how great is God's grace? So, let's look at, you know the situation, I don't need to go through that with you, you're about to descend on Jericho, and God has given instructions, and Joshua says, no, we'll spy it out, just to see what's going on, so he sends two spies, all right? So in verse one, and Joshua, son of, and sent out two men to spy secretly saying go and view the land in Jericho and they went and came to a harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there. Now Some will say, why on earth did they do that? That's not truly the place for people of God. A harlot's house, let's put it bluntly, a prostitute's brothel, by the sound of things, right? That's not the place to go, surely. Well, you've got to remember the circumstances. You've got to remember that this house, all right, would have been a place for strangers. Men would be in and out all the time. So to have two strangers stay in a house wouldn't be anything new. So there was a sense of, can I say earthly wisdom? I don't want to use the word worldly, but earthly wisdom in lodging in such a place, they wouldn't be noticed. Although it turns out that somebody obviously found out and won't mention it, but that was an ideal place to stay. All right, and in the providence of God, we must believe that is why they went there and were directed, I'm sure, by God. It's not giving you permission to go such a place. But anyway, so off she went, off they went and stayed with this harlot. So she is a harlot, she is a prostitute in common language. I was tempted to give a brief Bible study on harlots in the Bible. I thought, I won't do that. Because can you imagine somebody talking to you tomorrow, a neighbour or a friend or a colleague, and say, what did your preacher preach about yesterday? He told us all about prostitutes. I don't think so, but it is interesting. It is interesting, because I looked up the references, and I won't go through them all, but what I found interesting is that the word harlot, a prostitute, is often used not of the person, the woman herself, but of someone who played the harlot, who pretended to be a harlot, and strangely enough, sadly enough, God's own description of his people. who are behaving like prostitutes. They're leaving a God whom they love to walk off the other gods, these other lovers, as it were, and he accuses them of harlotry, prostitution. Very strange and very sad. Jewish folk are not happy with the use of the word prostitute because there are certain connotations with that, and they prefer to think of her, perhaps she just kept a bed and breakfast. Well, that's just twisting things and turning things. And the word that's used, I mentioned this previously, the word that's used in the New Testament is the word porno, from which we get pornographic. So she was a harlot. She was a prostitute. And yet, this is what's amazing about Grace. And yet God had dealings with her. God worked in her heart. And God will eventually bring her to faith in himself and into the kingdom and be one of his people. That is amazing. And you read stories in the Bible, you read stories in history, aren't you amazed that people God saves? Are you amazed God saved you? I am, I'm always amazed. that God could take the worst of people, the worst of sinners, and God should save them and bring them to himself. It's amazing. God doesn't look around for the best and say, that's the best there, that's the best, she's the best, he's the best. Sometimes it seems as if God takes the very worst to bring to himself by grace. and by his free favor. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, another of some favorite, he says that not many mighty, not many noble are called, not many great and grand people are saved. It's ordinary sinners that he saves, that he likes to save, not the foolish things of this world, the bottom of the pile, as it were. God seems to delight in saving such people. The wisdom of God is in this, that all these folk he saves at this bottom level, they've got nothing to boast them. They can't say, well, look at me. Yeah, I'm saved. Well, I should be saved. God has accepted me, so he should. Look at me, how wonderful I am. Look how great I am. Look how intelligent I am. I'm not speaking personally. Look how wonderful. No, no, these people, they're the wrecked eggs of society. They're dreadful, awful, and yet, And yet, God saves them. Why? To bring honour and glory to his name. That's what it's about. And right into the Corinthians, you know, he talks about homosexuals and deceivers and cheaters and adulterers, and a whole host of terrible names there. And he said, you were like that. You were like that once. You've been washed, you've been sanctified, you've been forgiven, you've been justified. God saved great sinners. So there's two things we just have to be careful of on this. The positive is that whoever you are, whatever you are, all right, however bad you are, God can save you. Hallelujah. And that's the message that we need to take outside to some folk out there who say, I'm too bad to be saved. God wouldn't want me. Well, amazingly, he would. And he does. He wants to save people like you. But we have to be careful that we don't give the wrong impression and say, unless you are as bad as she was in morality, unless you're as bad as she was, unless you're as bad as some of these other people, unless you're as bad as that, God is not interested in you. He's only interested in saving bad people, nice people he doesn't want. And that's not true either, is it? That's not true either. all kinds, the so-called good and the so-called bad. God saves them. You don't have to be a prostitute. You don't have to be a drunken. You don't have to be a cheater and all these other things. You don't have to be that in order to be saved, to be forgiven. God's grace comes to the so-called righteous in their own sight. And I went to the New Testament, and a thought came to mind of a man who said he was the chief of sinners. Now, you know the reference. It's Paul writing to Timothy. And you think, hold on a moment. Here's a man who could say, in Philippians, as touching the law blameless. Here was a man who outwardly kept the Ten Commandments. Right? He honored his Lord, his God, as far as he could. He kept the Sabbath. He honored his mother and father. He didn't steal, kill, and all those things there. Because yes, outwardly, I've kept them. For my lad, I've kept them. I've been religious, and I've been moral, and I've been zealous for what I understood as God's word and God's work in the Jews, and so on. And I hated those who in my way, in my mind, were contrary to that, this Jesus and his sect. And yet he described himself as the chief of sinners. Well, how come? Well, because Paul realized that all that he had, all he'd accumulated, was self-generated. All he'd accrued, he'd done. He had all these works. He had all these good things. He had all this good morality. It was all this. And he sought to establish his entry to heaven. He sought to establish his standing before a holy God with all these things that belonged to him. And God was saying, no, no, no. All those things are of you and they're filthy rags in my sight. And later he would actually describe them as dung. So you see what I'm saying? to know the great grace of God, you don't have to be a great sinner as in morally, you can be a great sinner sitting, singing songs, singing hymns in Gordon Road Evangelical Church. Now, I don't know, I know some of you, but actually, personally, I don't know you all, but I can't imagine any of you being nasty, bad, immoral, unkind people. I may be wrong, but I don't think so. but you still need the gospel. The religious people throughout Healesham, they're very religious and they do nice things and good things and belong to this and belong to that, they still need Jesus. When I was a young lad in our church back in home, I was 16 when I was converted, a bit of a wild lad, can you believe it? And I used to give my testimony with some of the young people's meetings, and I'd give my testimony. And I loved to give my testimony. You know, the Lord saved me. I was a foul-mouthed diss, rowdy, and all. I said terrible things. I did even at 16. And people were just, oh, it's wonderful, you know. And then somebody said to me once, Colin, I wish I'd been like you. And I thought, oh. I said, don't ever wish you'd been like me. I've got scars on my conscience that I can't take out. I've done things and said things that I can't forget. I believe God has forgiven me and cleansed me, but they're still there. Don't ever say that. Word to God that I had a Christian home and a Christian family and Christian parents and been brought up as a little one under the word of God. Now, in the chapel, it was interesting because there was a young lady called Audrey. Audrey was the daughter of the superintendent of the Sunday school, and I think he was an elder of the church. And she'd been brought as a baby to the chapel and lived all her life in the chapel. And at the age of whatever she was, she was a Sunday school teacher. And one preacher one Sunday said to Audrey, can I ask you something? He goes, are you really saved? A question. Here's this morally upright young lady. She doesn't swear and curse and blaspheme. She teaches in a Sunday school. Of course she saved. But actually, she wasn't. And she said, nobody's ever asked me that before. Well, I'm asking you now. So she said, well, I don't know. She said gently, I don't think you are. I was a bit of shocked, Audrey, because she assumed she was right. She said the right things, did the right things, came to chapel every Sunday, in the week, got involved in children's work. But then she realised that although she knew a lot about Jesus, she didn't actually know him as her saviour. And she said, well, she then trusted in the Saviour to hold upon him, ask him to save and forgive, and graciously she did. And what was lovely, when we went, excuse me, when we went to these young people's meetings, and we would both give our testimonies. So here was the bad lad who got saved, and here was the good girl who got saved. So it didn't matter who you were, what you were. If you were like me, you'd still get saved. If you were like her, you still needed to get saved. And that's the glory of the grace of God, right? How great is this grace that the chief of sinners can be saved, whether he's immoral or whether he is religious. And there are great stories. I think it's John Bunyan, the book, The Grace Abounding, The Chief of Sinners. He was a bad man and the Lord saved him. There's so many other stories that you know. That may be your experience. But it may not be your experience in the sense of being such a bad person. But even so-called good people need to be saved. Anyway, so that's where she was. She was a harlot. She was a prostitute. Okay, let's move on. What did she hear? What did she hear? We are told that as she or she realizes who they are and she says to them, find it exactly, she says to them, we have heard, right, we have heard. Now, that's what she heard, but there's more to it. That was just factual things that happened, that were physical, that was observable. But what comes next is much more important. Because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and earth beneath. Now that's an amazing thing for a pagan woman to say. Here's a woman who had many gods, the Canaanite gods, they're all kinds of men, female, female gods, they're all terrible, horrendous things. These Canaanite gods were dreadful gods because they so-called demanded sacrifices of babies. Sometimes, and I've said this previously, sometimes people say, well, that's a terrible thing to destroy these poor people. Here they are minding their own business, and God says, right, get out, because I want to bring my people in. If you read Leviticus, you'll see what a dreadful people they were, sacrificing children to their gods, because they believed their gods would be delighted to see the blood of babies flowing. They're bad people and bad gods. You're God. You're God, Yahweh, Jehovah, you're God. He is God in heaven above and earth beneath. Therefore I pray, swear unto me, by your God, show me kindness. I believe in your God. I believe in the Lord God, your God. He's the only God. All these Canaanite gods and goddesses, they're rubbish, they're nothing, they're hopeless. But you're God. She heard, she heard that, she heard that. People, dear ones in Halesham and district, they need to hear the gospel. They need to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. And sadly, they do not want to hear it. They don't want to hear the message. They don't want to hear the gospel. They listen and watch and read all kinds of absolute nonsense. Now, this is personal in the sense of this is my view, right, you might not share it, but I don't watch these Oscars and stuff and all that's going on, but I think I'm right in saying, and you can correct me if we know it differently, I think the film that's won the best Oscar ever is about two prostitutes. It's about, they call the phrases sex workers, as if some people work in the factory, some work in the office, and they work in the sex business, but it's just a job. What? They're prostitutes. They're sex workers, they're prostitutes. And it's won first prize, and it's a wonderful story. I think this is mad, absolutely madness. I could say other illustrations, but I won't. Now, we need to tell people the gospel. Because if they do not believe the gospel, then they will perish. Back to Hebrews for a moment. Let me read the words again. By faith, Rahab perished not within a believed not, hear it? She perished not. We love to quote John 3, 16. It's a lovely verse, great verse, big verse. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, whosoever believes in him. But we need to press the so, so, so, so, so. Because the verse says, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, whosoever believes in him, should not perish. should not perish. The clear implication is, if they do not believe in him, they will perish. Believe life, don't believe, perish, death, eternal death. And in the context of John 3, the Lord talks about the wrath, those who believe not, the wrath of God upon them. Now, now, and obviously consequently eternally at the Great Day of Judgment. The people need to know this message and they don't want to hear it. I was discussing this morning with someone about people who, if they're seriously ill, you need to tell them or they need to be told so something can be done. Some people say, don't tell me, don't tell me, I don't want to know. Well, that's silly. You need to know because you might be able to have help or whatever it is. I've used the illustration sometimes of a house being on fire and the people are sleeping upstairs and you can see the fire downstairs and you shout and you bang the window and you throw stones at the top window and say, you need to get out. Don't leave me alone. I'm sleeping. I'm here in my bed and my children and my wife. Leave me alone. Go away, you silly person. But your house is on fire. Get out. I don't want to get out. I'm happy. You're sleeping. Get out. You're calling that unrealistic. That wouldn't happen in real life. It's happening spiritually. People are perishing and they don't want to be told. They need to flee to the Lord Jesus. It's not come to Jesus and you'll be lovely. You need to flee to the Saviour or you will die eternally. What did she do? Well, this is what she did. When she had received the spies with peace, She believed what they said and what she should do. They believed and trusted in the message. What did I say about this little bit of scarlet? Well, all kinds of things are said. To me, it's a very simple little thing. It's a bit of red ribbon that distinguishes her house from everybody else's house. To say other things, I think it's going to be too much over the top. It's a little bit, it's a sign, it's a visible sign that when they come and attack, that this little house on the wall with a bit of scarlet ribbon or thread, they'd say, that's where the woman of faith lives. And she's to be spared and her family. Faith is to be evidenced. If a man says, a woman says, I have faith, then we demand the evidence. What evidence have you got? Well, I trust in the Lord Jesus as my saviour. Has it affected your heart? Affected your life? Does it affect, do you pray, do you read the Bible, do you have fellowship with believers? Oh, I don't know any of that kind of thing, but I am a Christian. Where's the evidence, where's the sign, where's the manifestation of that? If there's new life, if you're a new creation, there's new life. That's what Paul says, isn't it? If any man being Christ is a new creation, all things pass away, behold, all things become new. There's a newness of life and life. And if there's no evidence of life, then you're dead. You're absolutely dead, spiritually. This woman believed, and the evidence was she put a bit of scarlet there, and then when it came, she was delivered. But there's more to it. Just before we close, there's a bit more to it, which is not actually in the passage. But we know from other bits in the Bible, there's more to it. And I love this, oh, I love this. I said this morning, for those who are here, that God loves his covenant people and wants to bless them and give them gifts. There's so much more, so much more, so much more. Well, this lady, right, so she's been delivered now from And Jericho and her and her family are brought, and now they become, if I can use that word, adopted Israelites. They become a member of the covenant community. And what happens afterwards? Well, obviously she's not gonna continue as a prostitute. She's gonna learn the commandments of God, she's gonna learn God's way, she's gonna learn what is expected, and so forth, and live accordingly. We know from scripture that she got married. Hmm, that's interesting. Anybody in particular? Well, yes, she married Boaz's father. Well, fancy that. And her son was Boaz, and his son was Ubed, and his son was Jesse. Her son was David. She was the, I think, great-great-great-grandfather of David. Hi, David. Tell us about your ancestry. Oh, well, yes, my father and your... How far back can go? I can go far away. Was there something a bit kind of shady in your background? Well, actually, he said, yes, I grew a prostitute for my great-great-granny. Wow, David! Wow! A prostitute! Of course. But it's more than that, it's more than that. Because you see, she's in the line of David, and you follow David through, and who do you get at the end of David's line? The Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus. Read Matthew, read Matthew, and there in the middle of the ancestry, the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, Rahab. In the AEV it says Rakab, I don't know why that is, obviously something to do with the Greek, but it's Rahab. Ancestry of the Lord Jesus as a prostitute. Isn't that an amazing grace? Isn't that a great grace? Only God can be that great. Only God can be that great to great sinners, to people like you and people like me. Please don't say, well, I'm not anymore. Don't say that. You're as bad as she was in other ways. There's nothing in you whatsoever that commends you to God. All you've got to bring to God is your sin, and so do I. Even the faith with which we believe and trust, the repentance, the obedience with which we believe and trust and obey, all that is a gift of the Spirit, the working of God, the Holy Ghost. God's grace is great. I want you to think on that and reflect upon that and say, you know, hallelujah, hallelujah. I'm nearly finished. Back in the day, I was a young lad, I keep trying, of course I'm getting so old now, I've got trouble to say, so I remind myself, you know, back in the day, bear with me. We had a preacher in our little chapel called Henry Vaughan. Now, he came from Eastbourne. I can't trace him, so if anybody knows anything about a man called Henry Vaughan, I think he was a Brethren, and we're talking about 1960, all right, thereabouts. If you know anything, have a word with me afterwards. Anyway, this man, Henry Vaughan, he preached at a kind of convention, special meetings at our church. And he said, unto him shall a gathering of the people be. That was his text. 60-odd years to me, 70 years. Anyway, and he preached to them. And he said, unto him shall the gathering of the Lord Jesus Christ, unto him shall be gathering of the people for various things. And he started talking about the Savior and the greatness of the gospel. And then he came to the bit. He said, unto him shall be the gathering of the people for forgiveness of sins. Oh, I couldn't help it. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. My hand went up. Poor little girl next to me. And why wouldn't I? And why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you? Aren't you glad you're saved? Oh, we don't do that kind of thing, but perhaps you ought to. to rejoice in this great and glorious grace of God that can reach people like you, and can reach others. There's nobody in Halesham that's beyond this sovereign grace. There's nobody in your family that's beyond this sovereign grace. I've got folk in my family, as you've got, and they're so far removed from the gospel. But who knows? If the Lord Jesus can save the thief on the cross in those last three hours or so, he can save anybody, anytime, anywhere, because he is who he is. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this wonderful story of Rahab. We thank you, although she was what she was, yet she turned from that and believed in the Lord God. He is the only God in heaven. And we thank you that she came to faith, a personal faith in Jehovah, Yahweh, and she became part of the covenant people of God. And you blessed her. You blessed her with a man that loved her and cared for her, by whom she had a child. And that child had a child, and that child had a child. And then David was born. And then, humanly speaking, down the chain, the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. Oh, Father, thank you for rehab. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for the grace that we have known in our hearts and lives. We may not have been as bad as she has. We may have been worse. But Lord, whatever level we were at, we needed grace. And you gave us a little bit, a small bit, not just enough, abundant grace, lavish. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Oh, cause our hearts to leap and jump and say thank you and to make this gospel known to others by lip and by life. That they may notice we are different. We are different. And we're glad we're different. And we don't take any credit for being different. There but for the grace of God go I. Oh, Father, bless us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now, I'm hoping that this message will have been recorded. I'm intending, not just because it's me, but I'm intending to pass on to some friends who might find it helpful. If you think it might be helpful, I suggest you do the same. Now, we're going to sing a hymn. I asked a dear, dear, dear organist if she'd play a different tune. All right. Yes, I knew it, obviously, and I think some of you may know it. It's a great tune, it's called Rhyd y Groes, which translated from the Welsh is, There is the Cross, right? And it's about God's grace. So we're going to try it, you can play it through us completely for us once, and then we'll try it. It's just wonderful. Well, the words are wonderful, and I think a tune is best. It's a good tune. 106, great God of wonders, all thy ways are matchless, godlike and divine, but the fair glories of thy grace, more godlike and unrivaled shine. Who is a pardon in God like thee? Oh, who has grace, so rich, so free. This woman, Raya, could sing this. 106. Go for it. Who is a part in God like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Who is a pardoning God like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Let's try it. ♪ Great God of wonders, all thy ways. ♪ ♪ The mountains of thy family high. ♪ ♪ Out there their glory of thy praise. ♪ ♪ For all thy men, how bright would shine. ♪ Who is above in love like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Who is above in love like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? ♪ Such terrible offenses to forgive ♪ ♪ Such humiliating words to say ♪ ♪ This is our grand prelude of the day ♪ ♪ And in the honor none shall stray ♪ Oh, who is abound in love like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Who is abound in God like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? ♪ Angels and men raise high in your way ♪ ♪ To guilty mercy, love, and grace ♪ ♪ Victories crowned in older's name ♪ ♪ With an anthem from earl of grace ♪ Who is above me, God, like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Who is above me, God, like thee? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? ♪ In wonder, course, with trembling joy ♪ ♪ Meeting the pardon of our Lord ♪ ♪ Pardon for sins of dearest kind ♪ ♪ A pardon sealed with days ill-tried ♪ Who is abounding, bound right there? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? Who is abounding, bound right there? Oh, who has grace so rich and free? ♪ Stains this matchless grace ♪ ♪ This I've given you of love ♪ ♪ Fill the wide earth with rain of praise ♪ ♪ And all angelic hosts adore thee ♪ Who is a pardon God like thee? For who has grace so rich and free? Who is a pardon God like thee? For who has grace so rich and free? Be thy name. Amen.