What's neat about those words is Spanish. They're some of my favorite words that the Lord Jesus Christ said upon the cross. It means paid in full. It means there's nothing left for us to say to God, well, here's my goodness, or here's my baptism, or here's my church membership, or here's something good that I can offer you, and I want to help pay for my salvation. There's nothing that we can pay, there's nothing that we can do, because Christ paid it all. And that's why He said on the cross, He said, it's finished. He had fulfilled the work that God gave Him to do, and that's paying the complete price for our sin. you. Long ago I saw my Savior bearing shame upon a tree. Then my heart was touched with sorrow, for I saw He bled for me. In my stead he went on Calvary Christ rescued me. Lo, the sky was veiled in darkness. Sudden trembling shook the ground. As the angry crowd was jeering, mocking Jesus all around. loud he cried, Oh, what love! In my stead He bled on Calvary, Once more, O Christ, rescued me. Then my Savior called to heaven, As I saw His love anew. O my Father, please forgive them, for they know not what they do. Great salvation thou He offers, take His gift. O hear His plea! On the blood He crossed, behold Him! Join His shout of vict'ry! It is finished! Loud He cried! In my stead he led on Calvary, once for all, once for all Christ rescued me. And we can open up our Bibles to Joshua, chapter 2, that's great. And I want to begin this morning by reading a hymn that we have in our hymnal, just reading it as a poem. It's written by a man named Charles Butler and I don't know actually anything about Charles Butler and I probably should have researched a little bit as far as who he is. But one thing I know about Charles Butler is he understands what it's like for somebody to get saved. Somebody to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ from a life that maybe had no knowledge of God or no understanding of God. And a life like most of us had before he got saved, that's a life of sin. Because he said it this way, and it's him entitled, A Sinner Like Me. He said, I was once far away from the Savior, as vile as a sinner could be, and I wondered if Christ the Redeemer could save a poor sinner like me. I wandered on into darkness, not a ray of light could I see, and the thought filled my heart with sadness. There's no hope for a sinner like me. And then in that dark, lonely hour, a voice sweetly whispered to me that Christ, the Redeemer, has power to save a poor sinner like me. I listened, and lo, it was the Savior that was speaking so kindly to me. I cried, I'm the chief of sinners. Thou can't save a poor sinner like me. I then fully trusted in Jesus. And oh, what a joy came to me. My heart was filled with His praises. for saving a sinner like me. No longer in darkness I'm walking, for the light is now shining on me, and now unto others I'm telling how He saved a poor sinner like me. And when life's journey is over, and I, the dear Savior, shall see, I'll praise Him forever and ever for saving a sinner like me." I like that. What a sweet testimony. He wrote it well. Because the reality is, some of you that get saved, you come to an understanding of How could God love me? How could He care about me? I know what my life's like. I know the depravity of my heart. And that's what's expressed so very well in that song. But that person came to stay in faith in Christ. If we look at the story in Joshua chapter 2 this morning, we have a story of a woman that is a known sinner. In fact, somewhat sadly, except for the miracle of God's grace, her name is always associated with her sin. In the New Testament, twice her name is mentioned. Both times it includes her sin. It's either Rahab the harlot or the harlot Rahab. And so her sin and who she was, it was very obvious that this woman was a sinner. And 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. And they went and came into a harlot's house named Rehab, and they lodged there. They weren't seeking after sin as they went into this wicked woman's house, but they were seeking safety. as they went there. And we have, as I already mentioned, a very exciting story that we're reading in the Word of God. And it's amazing, actually, and I think a lot of people that are biblically illiterate would find it surprising that there's actually good stories in the Bible. Stories that have human interest. Stories that have intrigue and battles. I mean, it's pretty exciting. And there's stories like Daniel Lyonston and the three Hebrew children, or Esther, or stories in the New Testament, Paul and the shipwreck, or Paul being stoned, or Jesus Christ being crucified. And there's stories that grip the heart, and stories that are, of themselves, very exciting stories. And that's our story this morning. in verse 2 it says it was told the king of Jericho saying behold there came in hither tonight of the children of Israel came men in hither tonight to the children of Israel to search out the country and we know the rest of the stories we've already read this morning the king of Jericho comes to Rahab and says bring these men out she says they've already left they're gone and she had hidden them on the rooftop and so the men go out seeking the spies outside the city, and they're still hidden in the city. The gate is shut. There's no easy way out of the city now. And Versailles tells us, and before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the road. The Holy Spirit very clearly tells us this wasn't about sin. It was before they're laid down that this woman comes up and so nothing inappropriate here. She's coming up for conversation with these men and on the rooftop. Praise God, there's miraculous change that's going to take place in this woman's life. She's going to go from a life of sin, characterized by sin, as she is again known as Ray of the Harlot. She's going to go from a life of sin. to a life of faith. And you might ask yourself this morning, because we've read this story and you've already heard it, does it say in our Old Testament passage that Rahab got saved? Does it say that she was forgiven of her sin? Does it say that she received God's righteousness in the Old Testament? The answer is no. But thankfully, again, I mentioned that she's mentioned twice in the New Testament, both times mentioning her sin, but also mentioning her salvation, that she'd come to faith. James, the author of James, declares that when he's defending working faith, faith that works. In other words, faith that's demonstratable. He refers to 8 Rahab and says in James 2, 25 and 26, Likewise, also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? Wasn't she justified at least declared righteous when she demonstrated the faith that she had by rescuing these spies? Wasn't she declared righteous through that? And then he said, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. So, we're not saved by works. We can't go out and say, well, I'm going to get saved, so I'm going to do all these good things, and God's going to accept my good things, and He's going to forget about my bad things. That's not it. But if I really believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, am I going to be ashamed to be baptized? No. I'm going to say, hey, baptize me. I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I want to demonstrate my faith. Am I going to be ashamed to go up to somebody on the street and say, you know, let me just, I just want to tell you about Jesus. He's changed my life. It's a working thing. It's because there's been a great change in my life that I, there's evidence of it that takes place. This idea of being declared righteous, it's like a story I've told with George Minsik, who was a lieutenant in Al Capone's gang in Chicago. And I've told how George Minsik got saved. But after he got saved, he became a street sweeper and the gang would make fun of him. And then he started a prison ministry, going into prisons and preaching gospel. And so many of these prisoners got saved. Their lives completely changed. That the city of Chicago did something, I don't know that they've ever done it before, but they had a public ceremony where they took the record of George Mensah and they burned it. And he had a lengthy record against them. You know what that is? That's justification. Was he righteous? No, he was unrighteous, but they declared him righteous. And that's what God does when somebody gets saved. God declares them righteous. How? By faith. And a working faith. The author of Hebrews also includes Rahab in an awesome chapter. Chapter 11. It's sometimes called the Hall of Faith. In the United States we have a Hall of Fame for American football players. or baseball players, or different sports, Hall of Fame. This is the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11. It has men like Moses, or Joseph, or great men of God. And in that passage, included in that, in verse 31, is Rahab. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. She's saved. She had great faith in God, that God imputed righteousness to her. She didn't die with those that perished in their unbelief. Interesting. What a picture of salvation. When God judged that city, that wicked, heathen city, Rahab and her family were spared. She didn't suffer God's judgment like those unbelievers did. It's a perfect picture of salvation. But she is saved. And so we could ask ourselves this morning, Does our world stand in jeopardy of God's judgment? Those people in that city of Jericho, you read the stories in the Old Testament, people say, I've heard it said anyway, how could a God that kills all these innocent people, how could that be a good God? But did He actually kill innocent people? And the answer is, no. Whenever you see God's wrath in the Old Testament, you see it justified, or righteous wrath against the Anglicans. So wicked, heathen nation, a corrupt nation of people that were absolutely against God, except for Radon. And Rahab shows that these people could have gotten saved. They could have repented, but they didn't. Do we have, again, God's wrath against... We're not going to see... We don't have walls around us this morning. Well, not big walls, not castle walls. We're not going to see the walls come down and an invading army from God come and take us. But you know, there's a day coming where there is a little army from God that's going to come. The battle is called the Battle of Armageddon. And the wrath of God is going to come against the world, and God is going to literally fight against the ungodly. There's a day coming for every man when he's going to stand before a holy God and give an account. And there's a place that the Bible says was created for the devil and his angels, and whosoever is not found, written in the book of life, is going to be cast into the lake of fire. And so, is God's wrath coming against the ungodly? The answer is certainly. It absolutely is. And so, let me just give you a couple verses, or another verse. John 3.18, He that believeth on him, Jesus, is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Somebody that hasn't trusted in Christ, is God's wrath against them? Yeah. They stand under the judgment of God currently. It's not a future thing. It's not someday God's going to condemn them. They stand under the judgment of God today. Until, by God's grace, they either get saved or they die in the parish in hell. And so, we look at this story and say, Rahab is a sinner. Rahab the harlot, the prostitute. So how did this change take place? How did she come to faith in God? What was her course in life? And what changed to bring her to faith? And that's what we're going to look at this morning. So let's just think about that before we get to it. Let's pray and ask God to help us to really consider it in our heart. Father, I thank you now for the time that we can look at this story. of Rahab, the harlot, in her salvation. Father, I pray the Spirit of God would help me to be succinct in that which I say, help me to be clear, help me to be precise. Father, I pray in your mercy, speak through me. I know, Father, it's not the arrow. It is the power behind it. It's the authority of God. It's the power of God that we need to sworn in. Father, I pray, graciously give us insight into the salvation of this dear lady. And what a precious story may speak to our hearts. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. So, what happened in her life? Where was she? What was her course in life? First of all, she was born away from God. She wasn't a Jew. She wasn't a part of God's chosen people. She was away from God in a heathen nation. We've read it already a couple times, but verse 1, Joshua sent these spies into Canaan, into Jericho, and they went and they came into a harlot's house named Rahab, and they lodged there. So she didn't have godly parents. I don't know how permissive her parents was, but she grew up and she became a prostitute, so it doesn't seem like there was a lot of direction given to her life, and certainly it doesn't seem like within that society that it was maybe even that disreputable. They didn't perhaps even look down on her lifestyle. But her lifestyle was away from God, and without God's gracious providence, She would never have been spared God's judgment against her. She was far away from God's, and far away from God's fold. There's a biblical verse that speaks about this idea of straying as sheep. It says in Isaiah 53, 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Rahab. Rahab is a stray. Somebody that's not saved. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. Our world says, do whatever you want to do, as long as it doesn't hurt somebody. But the problem is, sin always hurts, but how often our human heart goes that way, just goes astray. And that's where we find Rahab. It's good sometimes to come across a news article on a major news source about Christianity. And I saw an article this week about a man by the name of Michael Landon Jr. You might know the name Michael Landon. There was a TV show that probably aired here as well called Little House on the Prairie. I don't know if that's a very famous TV show. Michael Landon was the father in that. But Michael Langdon Jr. grew up in this Beverly Hills neighborhood, had everything. But at 15 years old, his dad had an affair. His family life was suddenly ripped apart. He turned to sin, turned kind of like a prodigal son, and to alcohol and drugs, I think, as well. And his mom set him aside from the family finances and said, you got a good job. And he went to work. He was working in the kitchen, he said. And his mom Before this all happened, the turmoil took place, she'd go to her manicurist and she'd pretend to be asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to this lady. This lady was a Christian. But after everything happened, she started talking to her. And this woman had wisdom. And she asked her, where does this wisdom come from? And he tells in this story here that it was Christ. And then he said, she brought my mother to church there after my mom gave her life to the Lord. Then, of course, she wanted to share the good news with her son, who has absolutely no interest whatsoever. So just to get my mom off my back and to appease her, I went to church. And I couldn't tell you what the pastor said that day. I don't remember. But he didn't speak to my heart, and then it became just a series of resistance, and then going, and then resisting, and then going back to church until finally I surrendered and gave my life to Christ. This guy got saved. His life was a mess. And he's still, I guess, working in film and things. And I don't know the rest of the story as far as his lifestyle. But he got saved. Praise God. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. You want to ask, you know, who's more likely to get saved, Rahab or somebody that has a blessed life? And it's almost easier for Rahab to get saved. Why? Because Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Just like Michael Lennon Jr. knew where his life was, and he was away from God, so was she. Then, secondly, she saw a fear of God in the people around her. Verse 9 says, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. Isn't that an interesting testimonial from this city? The heathen people in the city see Israel coming and they are afraid. They're afraid. Now think back 40 years before that, the spies went into Canaan. These are giants. These are fortified cities. These are great warriors. And they're afraid. There was a beginning of a fear of God in the lives of these people. Proverbs 9, 10. says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There began to be in Rahab's heart this fear of God. This fear of God's wrath. My dad recently told me a story about a revival he was privileged to be a part of, and it was very unusual. The church went from 60 to 120 in a week, a week of meetings, and it stayed there. But a man that was a key part of that was kind of the roughest man in town. And a man back then had said, He said, I dare you. You say you're a tough guy. I dare you to go to my church. And I dare you to take your family. And I dare you to sit at least halfway down and not to leave the service until the pastor concludes at the end. This guy, big brave guy says, I'll go. Well, it was my dad preaching. My dad was young. He's only, I think, 26. And he was just starting a series on hell, two messages on hell. And here comes this guy. He sits down with his family there. And dad thinks, oh, you know, sometimes you preach gracious things that are just a little easier to take. This was not an easy topic. But he preached on hell. And Sam was his name. Sam sat there through the service. At the end, he went out and dad's wife was away, his first wife. Children were killed in a car wreck. But this is preceding that, and that wife and his son, they were away in California with her folks. And so dad is home alone, and this man, Sam, pulls into his truck, and dad thinks, oh great, what's going to happen now? And then he leaves. And 10 minutes later, he comes back, and he says to my dad, I want to get saved. And it leads him to the Lord. That night in the service, Dad's preaching. Sam raises his hand and says, can I say something? And Dad again said he didn't know what to do, but he said, alright Sam, you can say something. He stood up and said, I just want to tell you folks how I got saved. God's changed my life. He's forgiven my sin. Dad said, in the auditorium, he said, there were a lot of tears. And Dad just closed the service and said, hey, let's just rejoice with Sam and his salvation. Praise God, Sam, this big strong guy, somehow had the wisdom to be afraid of God. To realize that God's wrath is real. My dad preached a message on hell when I was a young boy sitting in church and it was that message that I went down afterwards and I said to my dad, dad I want to get saved. I don't know if it was the same message that dad had preached years earlier, about 10 years before that. But that's what the Lord used with me too. Why? Because that's good. It wakes us up and thinks maybe God's judgment is real. And it's good when the Lord brings those things into our life to get us to start thinking, you know, there is a fear that I have of God's wrath. Then also, she knew the stories about God's signs and his wonders, and she knew they were true. She didn't doubt, she didn't look at, they didn't have papers back then, I guess she didn't listen to what people were saying about the Egyptians and how these signs and wonders had taken place and we know the plagues that God sent against Egypt and how God brought them out of Egypt and the story of them coming to the Red Sea, the army of Egypt behind them and the sea parted so they could walk through. She didn't doubt the truth of that. She knew that God had parted that sea. She knew that there were walls of water on both sides. It's only modern day liberals that say it was knee-deep water and they walked across and then God somehow drowned the whole Egyptian army in knee-deep water. It's only liberals that say that. Back then, this was current, this was somebody that lived in that time period and she heard what was said and she believed it. She said in verse 10, For 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 unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side, Jordan, Sion and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. She looked at the power of God and it shook her. She realized she's not just afraid of this army that's invading, she's afraid of their God. A God that could take the Red Sea and part it and put walls on both sides that an army of people could walk through. And apparently the ground was dry, because otherwise you'd be mired up to your knees in the muck that is under that. It was dry. And a whole army comes across. She feared that God. It's good to see signs and wonders in fear. There was a good debate this past week, and if you didn't see it, and you're able to get online, you can link on our church webpage, down at the bottom right of the homepage, you can link to the creation evolution debate that took place. And Ken Ham brought up a wonderful fact, and that is creation science is supported by what you can see. Evolutional science is not. Creation science shows that kinds bring forth after their kind. So that we expect a horse to have a pony. We expect a cat to have a kitten. We expect a dog to have a puppy. Why? Because they bring forth after their kind. What does the Bible say in Genesis chapter 1? They bring forth after their kind. And there's so many other things that he pointed out in this debate. He talked about how people have now come to the conclusion through genetics that it's one human race. Well, that's what the Word of God says. That we come from all the same genes. That's one human race. It's not what evolution says where there's all these different groups and some are better and some are worse. They're not as clear in the textbooks now, but 100 years ago they were very clear about that. The world would be wise to look at the fact that, I like how Ken Ham says it, there's billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth. because there was a worldwide flood. And it's supported by geology and the layers that you see, and the fossil record that you see. And so Rahab looked at it and she said, I believe it's true. She was convinced that it was true. And then she not only knew the stories about God's signs and wonders and believed them to be true, but she admitted that God is the true God, verse 11. says, 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 beneath. She said, your God is the true God. Did the Canaanites have gods? Yes. They had idols. And she realized they're not true. There's nothing about them that's true. It's just our gods are not the same as your God. And our society has this perverse idea that everybody's gods are the same. But Rahab said no. She said, your God is the true God. You know, this morning, the God of the Qur'an and the God of the Bible are not the same. They're different. There is no way they are the same God any more than Jesus Christ and Buddha are the same. They're distinctly different. In fact, not only that, but the God, Jesus to the Muslims, to Jehovah's Witnesses, and to Mormons, is a Jesus who they say is not God. Well, that's not the God of the Bible. The Jesus of the Bible is God. How do we know? In the beginning, God created. And the Bible tells us in the New Testament Without Him was not anything made that was made, speaking about Jesus. He is the creator of God. It's supported over and over again in the New Testament. Jesus was worshipped. Only God is to be worshipped. So, there was this conviction in the heart of Raab. She said, your God is the true God. And then we find also that she pled for God's mercy upon herself and her family. Verse 12 and 13. She said, now therefore I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also 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 brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And she's pleading for God's mercy. She's saying, I acknowledge your God is a true God, please spare my life. not just my life, but spare the lives of my family. She's crying out for mercy. There's a neat story in the New Testament about two people that tried to go to God. And there was one man that went, and he was a Pharisee, and he was self-righteous. He believed he was a good person and believed that he'd done all these good things. And Jesus said, this is what the Pharisee prayed. God, I thank Thee, that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, he's looking over at a tax collector. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. Okay, so we got the Pharisees, self-righteous. Hey, I'm so glad I'm okay. The other guy is a publican, he's a tax collector, known for their thievery. And he just cries out to God and says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. OK, Jesus said, I tell you, this man, the publican, the tax collector, went down to his house, justified, declared righteous, rather than the other. Have you ever sincerely cried out to God and said, God, I'm a sinner? What I need today, I need your mercy. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't deserve your righteousness to be given to me, but I ask you for it. Because I understand that's my need. That's Rahab. Rahab didn't come saying, I'm a good person. She wasn't. She was a harlot. She didn't say, spare me because I'm such a good citizen. No. She just pled with them. She said, please spare my life. Spare my family. She was guaranteed God's mercy by these men if she obeyed the covenant. Verse 14, the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye 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. You say, OK, if you're faithful to this covenant, here's the promise. We promise that your family will be spared. You know, somebody that cries out to God and says, God, I need your mercy. A lot of times what God does, he leads them to his truth that promises them his mercy. Just like her, she's crying out saying, God, I need your mercy. And they say, OK, it's guaranteed. It's guaranteed. We've recently had the crisis in Syria. And I saw that Britain is taking in some of the refugees. Can you imagine how precious that is to somebody seeking to flee the country? And these are people that need help. And to get the guarantee, and I don't know what it is, whether it's a paper or whether it's finally their place on the boat or their place on the plane to get to Britain. But can you imagine how precious that is? I'm saved! I'm saved. Why? I've got the guarantee in hand. Revelation 22, 17. So in the Spirit and the Bride, that's Jesus and the Holy Spirit, say come. And let him that hear it say come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. If this morning any heart in here says to God, I want everlasting life, God says come, drink of the water of life freely, it's there, it's the guarantee, it's the promise that God says, all you've got to do is ask and you've got it. Just come. Just take it. And can you imagine again the encouragement in the heart of Rahab when they say, we'll spare you. on how God's word ought to encourage our heart and how we ought to put our hope in His unfailing word. Now lastly this morning, she entered into a covenant of mercy. She entered into a covenant of mercy and there's some awesome pictures in this story. And the first one is like the ark, the ark that Noah built, her home would be a place of safety from God's wrath. Her home is like the ark. If you're in the ark, you're safe. In her family, verse 18, it says, 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 head, and we will be guiltless. And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. They're saying if you're in the house, you're safe. And God forbid somebody breaks in and kills anybody in that house. If that happens, we're guilty. God's going to judge us. But if anybody gets outside of that house, there's no guarantee. In fact, God told them to kill everybody as they came into that city. So if you're outside of that house, you're going to be destroyed by the wrath of God. Just like the ark. 120 years. Noah's building the ark. Awesome story. Again, in the Word of God. He's a preacher of righteousness saying, God's judgment is coming. There's going to be a flood. We're building a boat. And there's plenty of space. Get on the boat. Sadly, just Noah and his wife, three kids, boys, and their wives got on the ark. But everybody on the ark got shut the door. The water came. I imagine this was the sound inside the ark. Noah, let us in. Noah, let us in. Until the water's too high. But you know what? It's too late. Why? Because the wrath of God has come. There's no safety. Rahab and her family, and I think about this this morning, and we're not told this, but I wonder how many good friends of Rahab were in the house. Not just family. Because she knew the wrath of God was coming, and she wanted to see as many spared as possible. Come on, get in my house. There's safety. There's safety. The judgment of the world is like that. When Jesus judges the world, only those inside of Christ will be spared His wrath. The second picture that we see also is like Judas. She couldn't be a hypocrite or she couldn't be saved. Remember Judas, the betrayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looked like he was an apostle. He was a disciple. But he wasn't real. And God, the Lord knew that when he put him into that position. He knew that he was a hypocrite and he was judged for it. But verse 20, they said to her, to Rahab, they said, if thou utter this, our business, then we will be quit of thine oath, which thou hast made us to swear. They said, if you're hypocritical, if you're just, and they couldn't see her heart, if they said, if you're just saying this and we leave and you betray us, It's over. You're going to be judged just like the whole city. So she had to be real. You know, when we get saved, it's not just praying a prayer. If it was just a prayer, I'd be going down the street saying to everybody I could meet, the guys coming out of the pub across from my house, say, hey, just pray this prayer because God will forgive you and you'll be saved. But if they just say it and it's not in their heart, it's not real and God's not going to accept it. Romans 10, 9. says that if thou shalt confess with thine mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So it's not just somebody saying they believe that somebody convinced in their heart say, I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. Can't be like Judas. And the last picture I see also, it's like the Passover blood, the scarlet line with spirit of God's wrath. Verse 21 says, 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. A scarlet line. Isn't that interesting? Do you think it's insignificant that scarlet's the color of blood? No. It's a picture of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that is on that house, and so the wrath of God comes, the blood of Christ is there, and judgment is not going to fall on that house. It's going to be spared. Why? Because of the scarlet line that's there. It's the same as Israel coming out of Egypt in the Passover lamb. They took the lamb and they put the blood on the doorpost. Why? So when the death angel came over, that blood was a picture of the Lamb of God. And they did that in obedience. God said, put the blood there. It was a picture of the cross. in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that death angel passed over and only those that didn't have the blood were judged. Same here. And it's the same for us this morning. As God looks at our congregation this morning, He looks and He sees the blood or He doesn't see the blood. If He sees the blood, there's no judgment. If the blood's applied, there's no judgment. But if the blood is not there, God's wrath will fall at some point. And so, again, what a picture. Rahab prays God she's safe. The scarlet line is there in the window. Again, I imagine that she didn't just get family into that place. I imagine she had some close friends that she was burdened about. She didn't want them to be judged by the wrath of God. She got them in. And again, that's another way we can see Rahab's salvation. It was real. Why? How do we know? She cared about others. She didn't want others to go to hell. She learned about it. I preached last week on evangelism. How we need to tell others about Christ. And how it is a response of a heart that's truly regenerate. There's a desire to tell others about Christ because of what God's given to us when God forgives us. So, what an awesome story. Praise God. A sinner like Rahab the harlot was able to get saved. So, how did her life change? Well, it wasn't her birth. She was born a sinner. But she saw a fear of God in the people around her. She came to a fear of God in her heart. She knew the stories about God's signs and wonders were true. She looked at what we would say the word of God, what others had said about God. She said, that's true. She admitted that God is the true God. She pled for God's mercy and she was guaranteed God's mercy. Then she entered into a covenant of mercy. Isn't that awesome? Praise God. Her life changed. I want to read the words again from Charles Butler's hymn. I wandered on in the darkness, not a ray of light could I see. And the thought filled my heart with sadness. There's no hope for a sinner like me. And then in that dark, lonely hour, a voice sweetly whispered to me, That Christ, the Redeemer, has power to save a poor sinner like me. I listened, and lo, it was the Savior that was speaking so kindly to me. I cried, I'm the chief of sinners. Thou can't save a poor sinner like me. This man sensed God speaking to his heart. I just want to ask you this morning, do you sense God speaking to your heart? Is there anything the Holy Spirit is doing in your heart this morning that is, I mean, it's the voice of God saying, there's hope. There is salvation in Christ. Because He ends with these words, I then fully trusted in Jesus. And oh, what a joy came to me. My heart was filled with His praises for saving a sinner like me. So praise God. Salvation is always a beautiful picture. You look in the Word of God and you see a murderer like Paul getting saved and becoming a great creature of righteousness. You see a thief like Zacchaeus accepting Christ and giving back the money that he's stolen from people. It's awesome to see God's grace at work in men's lives. Praise God for it. Let's pray. Father, thank you. For the Word of God this morning, think of this great story about a woman of sin, and not greater sinner than us, but Lord, a sinner just like us, accepting Christ, and by faith, not as we do, Lord, there is a difference between Old Testament and New, she trusted in the Word of God, the truth about who God was, the revelation that she had, and you gave her your imputed righteousness by faith. Father, as New Testament believers, we look at the cross and we see what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross for our sin. We see him rising from the grave and we put our faith in the finished work of Christ and trust in that alone. And Father, you give us the same righteousness by faith and it's called salvation. And Father, being here this morning, don't know for sure if they die, if they go to heaven, or if they know for sure that if they die, they go to hell, but that they want to accept Christ as their Savior today. I just pray they have the courage in their heart, even just now, during this time, to pray, to cry out to you, and just ask you to save them, and know that you're faithful, and that you spare them, just like this woman cried out for mercy for herself and for her family, and your mercy, Savior, Lord, you do the same for us. And it's as simple as that. As soon as she asked, she was spared. Same with us, Lord. As soon as we ask, you apply the blood and your wrath will never fall on us because we have the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so may that need be met today, and Lord as believers, I just pray that you'd encourage us in our faith, in our walk with you, our confidence in the gospel, and by that we faithfully tell this message that can set people free from their sin, even if their lives are characterized by sin, as Rahab's was. Thank you God for your grace. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Please just one last time, 452 in times like these, certainly this day, this hour is an important time to turn to Christ. So 452 in times like these.