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[0:00] About God's rescue plan. God's rescue plan. And we see that in the story.! Thanks, David. We see that in the story of the scarlet cord.

[0:11] ! Now there's many analogies or types or foretelling through history in the Old Testament that points to the cross.

[0:48] As Bible believers today, we look back at the cross, but they looked forward to the cross. And so we see that in Joshua chapter 2. So I'm just going to note a couple of things here just to make it clear what I'm talking about.

[1:09] Scarlet cord. Scarlet cord. Yeah.

[1:23] How's that? That's good. All right. So God's rescue plan. What is it? It's the blood of Jesus. That's what it is. God's rescue plan. We see that blood pictured here in Joshua 2.

[1:36] From verse 1. We read about the account where the Israelites were advancing into the promised land. They sent two spies ahead to spy out the land of Jericho. The city of Jericho.

[1:48] And they lodged at the house of a woman called Rahab the harlot. And Rahab confessed her faith in Israel's God to the men. Pick it up from verse 9.

[2:00] It says there what Rahab said. She says, So Rahab had heard of the miracle working salvation of God.

[2:45] Of the rescue of the people of God through the crossing of the Red Sea on dry land. Coming out of Egypt to head to the promised land.

[2:55] And now as they're on the other side of Jordan. We see the continuing work of God. And Rahab says, Now the king of Jericho then had heard of these men.

[3:18] These Joshua's men. And he sent a search party. And went to Rahab's house. Rahab had these two. Rahab allowed the Hebrew spies to escape from Jericho.

[3:30] By letting them down through her window. By means of a rope made of scarlet thread. Now I picked this up. I did some searching in that city of Jericho.

[3:41] I was able to find it for you. So here it is. The scarlet cord. You like the scarlet cord. That hung down from the window of Rahab. And she let down these two to escape to their safety.

[3:54] The scarlet cord. Three things about the scarlet cord we could reflect on today. That Rahab was saved by grace.

[4:12] Scarlet cord talks about grace, doesn't it? This blood red cord. This blood red cord was for Rahab the grace of God.

[4:26] Joshua 2 verse 18 it says, Behold, when we come into the land, this is what the spies said to Rahab. Thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst let us down by.

[4:40] And thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee. Friends, salvation is by grace. For by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves.

[4:55] It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Notice who it was of this great huge city.

[5:06] I don't know how many thousands and thousands of people would have been living in Jericho. But notice who it was that God in grace came and reached out to. It wasn't the religious folk.

[5:18] It wasn't the outwardly righteous people of Jericho. Grace found a harlot. She was a sinner. It was almost her surname, Rahab the harlot.

[5:32] She was known for what she was, a sinner. And it's like to Luke 7, 37, where there was a woman in the city which was a sinner.

[5:43] We don't know her name in that case, in Luke 7. But she came and she worshipped. In Luke 7, 37, behold, a woman which was a sinner. Grace came to her too.

[5:56] Thank God. Aren't you glad that his blood avails? And his blood can make the foulest clean? The scarlet shed thread shows that we're saved by grace.

[6:09] It says we're saved also through faith. The scarlet cord shows that we're saved through faith.

[6:20] Rahab believed. She says, I know. She says, I know your God. I know he is God. She believed. He is God.

[6:32] And she believed. She tied the scarlet cord, that scarlet thread. She tied that scarlet blood-red cord in her window as she was told to.

[6:44] And Joshua 2, verse 21, it says, And she said, According unto your words, so be it. She believed the promise that she would be saved. And she sent them away and they departed.

[6:56] And she bound that scarlet cord, that scarlet line in the window. Here is Rahab, a harlot in the city of Jericho. The scarlet cord speaks of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:11] It was a blood-red scarlet. Maybe it was dyed by blood to make that red colour. But whatever the case, it was red, blood-red. And it speaks to us of that scarlet thread that runs right through the word of God, from Genesis through Revelation, the blood of Jesus.

[7:31] Rahab believed. Hebrews 11.30 says, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

[7:50] Notice that when the walls of Jericho fell down, the Israelites took the city. Joshua commanded that Rahab and her family would be spared. That's Joshua 6, 22 to 23.

[8:01] Joshua said, Rahab must be spared. Grace, faith, the rope in her window was a sign of her faith.

[8:12] She believed that God would save her. She believed that the promise given to her by the spies on God's behalf, that she would be saved by the virtue of the scarlet cord.

[8:26] That rope in her window was a sign of her faith and of her salvation. She was not destroyed in the city of Jericho with the rest of them. That rope was scarlet, the colour of blood.

[8:37] The scarlet cord shows thirdly that we are saved in mercy. The scarlet cord shows that we're saved in mercy.

[8:49] Her city was bound for destruction. It was destined for judgment. And she, along with it, imagine as Joshua's army went round seven times.

[9:00] Six days, they went round once. And then seven, on the seventh, they went round seven. And I can imagine as they blew the trumpets, it would have struck fear into the people of Jericho.

[9:14] And they were wondering, what is going on here? You know, have you ever had that annoying neighbour making a bit of noise? You know, think, oh, what is that? It's so annoying.

[9:24] These guys had these trumpets blaring. It would have just rocked them and shaken them. What's going on? This would have been fearful. Seven times, seven times, they would have seen that scarlet cord, wouldn't they?

[9:40] Seven times, they'd have looked, oh, that's that scarlet cord, that's Rahab's house. She's the one that will be saved. They would have gone round and they'd have seen the scarlet cord seven times and seven times, sorry, six times and then seven times on the seventh day.

[9:56] So as Joshua's army tripped around, they'd have seen that scarlet cord. They would have seen Rahab was marked as saved. God was merciful.

[10:07] He showed mercy, didn't he? Mercy, there was judgment, but God extended mercy. Every living thing was under the judgment of God. Everything in Jericho, every living thing was going to face destruction.

[10:18] Yet Rahab was saved according to his mercy. It says in Titus 3, verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy.

[10:29] He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Rahab was justly condemned. Rahab the harlot. If anybody deserved the judgment of God against sin, surely it was her.

[10:44] But by faith, she tied the scarlet cord to a window. She trusted in the promises of God. She trusted in the grace of God.

[10:56] She trusted in the mercy of God. She was a sinner due the penalty of death, but she was delivered and her life was transformed by the scarlet cord at her window. Friends, it's the same today.

[11:06] God's mercy and forgiveness comes to us as it was for Rahab the harlot, signified by the rope of scarlet thread as a symbol of the blood of Christ yet to be shed.

[11:17] And the Bible's theme throughout is this sacrifice of God for mankind, for the redemption of those who would trust in him. The blood of Christ, it runs through the entire Bible.

[11:28] And this blood red cord we see in Joshua 6, it says, the people shouted. And the priests blew with the trumpets. These, what do they call them?

[11:39] The shofars. And we've got one in our midst who likes to imitate the sound of a shofar. But it's this blast, this, no, don't do it. They've got this blast, this trumpet, this blaring that would go on.

[11:51] And it says they shouted with a great shout. And the wall fell down flat so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him. And they took the city.

[12:02] And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword. This was a slaughter. The very judgment of God was poured out.

[12:16] Verse 22 of Joshua 6, but Joshua said, he had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, go into the harlot's house and bring out hence the woman and all that she hath as we, as we swear unto her.

[12:32] And the young men that were spies went in. They went into the harlot's house, into the house of the prostitute. They brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brethren and all that she had.

[12:43] And they brought her out, all her kindred, her family, and left them without the camp of Israel. She was spared. Friends, the safety because of the blood of Jesus, isn't it? When the trumpet sounds, when the walls are crumbling and we face the very dread judgment of God, the blood of Jesus avails, doesn't it?

[13:04] For those that will know the grace of God, he's extended it to us, we who are enemies, as David read, we who are enemies, God showed grace to us, grace to a prostitute of all.

[13:15] Faith was extended as the prostitute put the scarlet, blood-red cord out of a window and believed the promise of God that she would be saved.

[13:29] And then we see the mercy of God. As judgment came, she was spared and it was all thanks to God and his mercy. Amen. And we have the same trust today, don't we? That by grace, through faith, according to his mercy, we can be saved.

[13:45]  Amen.