From Harlotry to the Hall of Faith

INTRODUCTION: We begin to be comfortable with our salvation and begin to think it is our due. But we were due nothing. We all deserve the lake of fire. Yet, we have a God who specializes in saving the seemingly unsaveable. Rahab had no chance to escape the coming destruction; but God gave her a chance and she took it.

1. RAHAB LIVED A LIFE OF SIN (Joshua 2:1)
1. A harlot was a prostitute
1. Genesis 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
2. Jeremiah 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
3. 1 Corinthians 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
2. We are all sinners before God
1. Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
2. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
2. RAHAB LIVED IN THE PLACE OF JUDGMENT
1. Jericho was Condemned to Destruction (Joshua 2:9; Joshua 6:17)
2. A Lost Person is Already Condemned
1. John 3:18 He that believeth on him 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.
2. John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
3. RAHAB FEARED THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (Joshua 2:9-11, 24)
1. She Feared the Coming Judgment (Joshua 2:9-11, 24)
2. We Should Do the Same (Hebrews 10:28-31)
1. Hebrews 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
2. Hebrews 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
3. Hebrews 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
4. Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
4. RAHAB SOUGHT DELIVERANCE FROM JUDGMENT
1. Rahab Sought a Way of Escape (Joshua 2:12-13)
2. God has Provided a Way of Escape for Sinners
1. 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
2. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
5. RAHAB RECEIVED THE PROMISE OF DELIVERANCE (Joshua 2:14-19)
1. She Displayed the Scarlet Thread (Joshua 2:21); a picture of the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
1. Beginning with the coats of skins that God made for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21)
2. Ending with the blood of Christ for eternal redemption
1. Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
2. 1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
2. She and Her Family Remained in the House (Joshua 2:18-19); just as Noah and his family stayed in the ark (Genesis 7:1, 15-16)
6. RAHAB AND HER FAMILY WERE DELIVERED (Joshua 6:20-23)
1. Rahab Brought her Family with Her (Joshua 6:22-23)
2. Wherever You Go, You will Take Someone with You
1. Acts 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
2. Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
3. Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
4. Acts 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
5. Acts 16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
6. Acts 16:34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
7. RAHAB BECAME ONE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD
1. She Dwelt with the People of God (Joshua 6:25; John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:)
2. She Married into the Messianic Line (Matthew 1:5); she was Davids great-great-grandmother, her son Boaz marrying Ruth
3. She Entered into the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:31 - By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.)

CONCLUSION:  Have you received God’s deliverance from destruction?  In other words, are you saved?  If you are saved, are you daily thankful for what God has done for you?  What a wondrous salvation God hath wrought!