KJV Sermon Outlines

The Scarlet Cord

TEXT: Joshua 2 - The Story of Rahab

Joshua 2:18 “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.”

Isa. 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

INTRODUCTION: Here in Joshua 2, we have the story of Rahab recorded for us. Rahab, you recall, was one of the ancestors of both King David, and the Lord Jesus Christ. She was not an Israelite, not one of God's chosen people, but was of one of the people who inhabited the Promised Land before the children of Israel began their conquest of it. She was an inhabitant of Jericho, the first city they came against when they entered the Promised Land. God dealt with her in a magnificent way, and it was all based on her faith.

I. Rahab's faith was a faith that saved.  Scarlet Cord – Type of Christ

Joshua 6:22-24 “But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.”

Heb. 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

1. She would have been destroyed – Type of Hell
2. The others had the same opportunity she had to believe

II. Rahab's faith was a faith that worked. – Sacrifice  Joshua 2:4-6;

James 2:24-26 “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

1. She risked her life when she lied to the King for them
2. She hid the spies – treason
3. She applied her faith

III. Rahab's faith was a faith that testified. Joshua 2:8-13

1. She let it be known
2. Mouth – what she said
3. actions – what she did

IV. Rahab's faith was a faith that influenced others. Jos 2:18, 19;

1. Showed Concern – Evidence of Salvation
2. loved one’s – eternal destiny
3. she did something about it because she believed
4. pray and witness 
5. persuade – 2 Cor. 5:11 “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;”

V. Rahab's faith was a faith that resulted in abiding fruit.

1. She was saved and her family
2. She was married to prince and was King David’s Great Grandmother

We are kept by the power of God!!!
(1 Peter 1:5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Jesus is the author and Finisher!!!
(Heb. 12:2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

SUMMARY: From this, we see that the kind of faith which God wants all of us to have was shown by Rahab. She had been a heathen, a non-believer, but found favor with God because of her faith, which was shown by her works. Her faith resulted in blessing for all the world, as she became one of the ancestors of our Lord. Let us show this kind of faith; we do not now know what the results could be.

Illustration: Is it not a sad thing that we should think it wonderful for God to hear prayer? A little boy had attended a prayer meeting. He said to his Pastor who had conducted the prayer meeting, "Pastor, I wish my sister could be made to read the Bible. She never reads it."
   "Why should your sister read the Bible, Johnny?"
   "Because if she should read it once, I am sure it would do her good, and she would be converted and be saved."
   "Do you think so, Johnny?"
   "Yes, I do, sir, and I wish the next time there's a prayer meeting you would ask the people to pray for my sister that she may begin to read the Bible."
   "Well, it shall be done, John."
   So the Pastor mentioned that a little boy was very anxious that prayer should be offered that his sister might begin to read the Bible. John was observed to get up and go out. The Pastor thought that it was very rude of the boy to disturb the people in a crowded church, and so the next day when the boy came, he said, "John, I thought it was very rude of you to get up in the prayer meeting and go out. You ought not to have done so."
   "But sir," said the boy, "I did not mean to be rude. I thought I would just go home and see my sister reading her Bible for the first time."
   In the same way we ought to believe and watch with expectation for answers to our prayer.

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