Bible Devotion - 7/5/2021

July 5th, 2021

The Window with a Scarlett Thread of Mercy

There is a song that I used to sing when I was in the Bloomingdale Choir written by J. P. Schofield. It is entitled “Saved, Saved”.

Listen to it’s words:

“I've found a Friend who is all to me, His love is ever true; I love to tell how He lifted me, And what His grace can do for you. Saved by His power divine, Saved to a new life sublime! Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, For I'm saved, saved, saved!”

Schofield wrote the song after one of Mordecai Ham's meetings in Gonzales, Texas. Ham was preaching on the subject, "Christ Our Refuge." In the audience was a man that had already killed four men. This man listened to Ham explain that Christ is a refuge for sinners of any and every stripe and that the "Cities of Refuge" described in the Old Testament, are a type of Christ, who is a haven of hope and eternal forgiveness for all who will flee to Him.
Well, midway through the sermon this man jumped up from his seat and shouted: "Saved! Saved! Saved!" Sitting there in his seat, he found Christ as his refuge. Schofield was so inspired that the next afternoon he composed both the words and music for the song.
Now I don’t know about you but I like the word "saved." Unfortunately, it is not a word that is popular among many religious groups; yet, it is a word that I love to use. I just like the thought of saying I'm saved. It is a good Bible word.

We read in Ephesians 2:8:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

The word "saved" declares a wonderful Bible truth! The word simply means that we have been "delivered."

The Bible tells us in Colossians 1:13:

"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"

Praise God, I have been saved! I have been delivered from the power of darkness and the wrath to come.

This week I want us to look at salvation through the window of Rahab the harlot.
As we do so, we see one that was saved and delivered from the power of darkness and the wrath to come. In Rahab we have a wonderful Old Testament example of salvation.
Joshua 2:18 speaks about our “window for the week”.

"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."

Let's look through this window and see what it means to be saved and what happens when we are saved. First, notice with me:

1. THERE IS THE LORD THAT WE TRUST FOR SALVATION!

The Philippian Jailer asked the question, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Cp. Acts 16:30-31).

Salvation comes when we put our faith in THE Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Rahab is an example of one who trusted the Lord for salvation. Joshua had sent two men to spy out the land and the city of Jericho. The two men found lodging in the house of Rahab. It was learned that the two men were in the city, so Rahab hid them on her roof by covering them with stalks of flax. Notice with me what she said to the two men in verses Joshua 2:9-11:

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. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 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.

Twice she spoke of what she had heard. At some point and by someone she had heard of the God of the children of Israel. I think of how salvation is always preceded by hearing about the Lord. Each of us that are saved, somewhere and by someone, we heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. We heard the gospel message. As the Bible says: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

Rahab described how the message affected her and others. In verse 9 she spoke of how "the inhabitants of the land faint because of you," and in verse 11 of how when they heard about the Lord, "our hearts did melt."

The word "faint" in verse 9 means, "to soften." The word "melt" in verse 11 literally means, "to liquefy." It speaks of being made afraid or becoming fearful.

Notice again her words in verse 11: "...For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11)

Rahab was a Canaanite, and as a Canaanite, she would have worshipped many false gods such as Baal and Asherah. Yet, we hear her declaring that the God of Israel was God in both heaven and earth. She was confessing that there were not many gods, but one God. Her words and the actions that followed revealed that she was accepting the Lord of Israel as her Lord as well.

The second thing about salvation that I want you to see through the window of Rahab is not only is there The Lord That Is Trusted for Salvation, but also:

2. THERE IS A LIFE THAT IS TRANSFORMED BY SALVATION!

The Bible says: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Salvation produces a marvelous change in a person's life. When a person is saved there is a glorious transformation of their life, this is what the bible refers to as Repentance. Rahab is a wonderful example of how salvation changes a person.

There are many of you that can testify to the marvelous change the Lord made in your life. Many of us can sing: What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought Since Jesus came into my heart!

I know that in my life there was a marvelous change. The difference made in my life was as different as daylight and dark. My whole life changed. My desires changed. What I wanted to do and how I wanted to live changed.

There was a song that was popular years ago and certainly this song can be a testimony to us whose lives have been changed. It was a song entitled Thanks to Calvary:

Today I went back to the place where I used to go, Today I saw the same old crowd I knew before; And when they asked what had happened I tried to tell them Thanks to Calvary, I don't go there anymore. Thanks to Calvary, I'm not the man I used to be, Thanks to Calvary things are different than before. As the tears ran down my face, I tried to tell them; Thanks to Calvary, I don't go there anymore.

One of the amazing aspects of salvation is what a person often becomes after they are saved. When you think of Rahab, a woman who had been a prostitute, what she became after she was saved, wonderfully illustrates the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ. For one that had lived a life of shame, to see her afterwards, is a testimony of what God can do with a life.

That is what Jesus can do for a person! That is what the Lord did for us! There is the wonderful transformation of life that salvation can bring!

In closing, let me share with you one more thought from the story of Rahab. Lastly, I want you to see:

3. THERE IS THE THREAD THAT IS A SYMBOL OF SALVATION!

When you look through the window of Rahab you see a line hanging from her window. We read in Joshua 2:12, 17-21:

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

And the men said unto her, "We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 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. [20] And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear." [21] 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.

Rahab asked for a token and the two spies told her to hang a scarlet (red) line (rope) out her window. Let me in closing suggest that this red rope represented the price and proclamation of Salvation.

The scarlet line reminds us that the basis of our salvation is the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary's Cross. The grounds of our new life in Christ and our deliverance from the wrath to come, is that Christ died for our sins and shed His own blood that we might be saved.

I remind you that the only reason any of us are saved is because Jesus died for us and shed His blood to pay the price for our sins.

That scarlet thread was to hang from her window as a token that those in this house had been saved. It hangs there as a public proclamation that salvation has come to this house. When Joshua and the children of Israel attacked the city, it was an announcement that the ones in that house were to be spared. It proclaimed their salvation.

If you have been saved there is to be an announcement of your faith. The first act of announcing your faith is following the Lord in baptism. In baptism, you show forth as you stand in the water, the death of Christ. You show forth by your being lowered in and under the water the burial of the Christ. You show forth in your being raised from the water the resurrection of Christ. You are to follow the Lord in baptism as a public testimony that your faith rests in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That act of announcing your faith is to be followed with you sharing your faith with others. Time will not permit me to get into it, but as you read the story of Rahab you find her sharing her faith with her family. What you have found in Christ you are to share with others.
When we look through the window of Rahab, we see a salvation that is found in the Lord Jesus, a salvation that makes the difference for time and eternity!

Brother Jeff