Tie A Red Rope To Your Window
SIN LESS Part 17

December 14, 2014
MF Blume


Hebrews 11:30-31  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after 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.



One other woman was mentioned in Hebrews 11 amongst the heroes of faith.
•    Sarah.
•    The father of the faithful’s wife.
•    And of all women to put beside her, we read of Rahab a harlot.

Joshua 2:1-6  And 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 an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.  (2)  And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.  (3)  And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.  (4)  And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:  (5)  And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.  (6)  But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

Notice Joshua sent TWO SPIES 39 years after Israel sent 12 into Canaan when they were afraid of the walls and giants, AND TWO remained faithful.
•    Israel was infected with unbelief because of ten spies out of twelve who TALKED negative TALK.
•    And almost as though it was because only TWO SPOEJK UNBELIEF in the midst of negativity, ONLY TWO WOULD BE SENT THIS TIME into Jericho, A CITY WITH WALLS.
•    Walls were the very things they feared and talked about 39 years earlier!

So, two spies end up in a harlot’s house.

We find out she KNEW THE STORY OF EXODUS from forty years before.

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.  (10)  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.  (11)  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.


This is revelation to Israel!
•    WHILE THEY WERE AFRAID OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND, THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND WERE AFRAID OF THEM.

Numbers 13:28  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

She heard these people were coming to her doorstep!
•    She acted on her faith and risked her life to do it!

Joshua 2:12-14  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:  (13)  And that ye 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.  (14)  And 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.

She wanted MERCY and a TOKEN as a guarantee she’d be safe.
•    Their token to her was THEIR LIVES FOR HERS.
•    In other words, if she died, then they pledged to stand in death and have their lives taken as a result.

And so she let them escape by A RED ROPE.

Joshua 2:15  Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

Notice they were afraid of WALLS 39 years earlier.
•    AND SHE LIVES ON ONE!
•    It took faith for them to go to her house ON ONE OF THE WALLS THEIR PARENTS FEARED.

Remember their doubting and fearful parents had to die before they could enter Canaan.
•    And they feared and doubted because of WALLS.

She trusted those spies, which is significant because she was terrified all her life about them.
•    Imagine a people you heard of for years AND THEY’RE AT YOUR DOOR!
•    She CAN ONLY TAKE THEIR WORD.
•    You are going to see such a powerful faith in action as you read more.

What was part of her faith in letting them go and trusting all would be right, the men turn around and use it and it becomes her salvation.
•    She let them escape, but it would be the means for her escape!

Joshua 2:17-20  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.  And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

Take the rope you helped us escape with and tie it to your window and it will be the means of your deliverance.

If they found many ropes in windows because she let the word out, they would forget her.

But there is more to it.
•    God would respect the rope and DIRECT ANGELS TO TEAR THE WALLS DOWN AND PRESERVE THAT SECTION WHERE THE HOUSE STOOD ON THE WALL.

Now, appreciate this:  Rahab had no clue WHEN it would happen.
•    She only knew the rope was a signal to whenever Israel would rescue her while destroying the rest.
•    She acted and tied the rope right away, NOT KNOWING WHEN THEY REQUIRED TO SEE IT!
•    She just made sure it was up for they could =get her that NIGHT!
•    She did not know if they’d return that day or when!

Joshua 2:21  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.

She proved her faith by tying the rope to the window.
•    What weird things people had to do to see salvation!
•    Abraham offer his son on the altar.
•    Naaman dip seven times in Jordan to get cleansed of leprosy.
•    The widow woman gave her last bowl of food she kept for her and her son, and give to the prophet.
•    Put Moses in a basket in the very river Egypt drowned babies.

The Bible tells us to take the thought of Christ’s blood and DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
•    It stands for Jesus’ blood.
•    That death stood in the place as OUR DEATHS.
•    So when we think of the blood, we’re supposed to understand the death of Jesus that freed us from sin, since we were baptized into that death.
•    Our good works could not save us, only His death.
•    Rather than try to be good and overpower sin, DIE TO SIN through the death of Jesus.
•    And IT WORKED!
•    I DIED WITH HIM.
•    And that means I resurrected with HIM!
•    And God raised me up by HIS POWER and I need to rely upon the same power that raised me up to get me out of this mess I’m in now.
•    The blood reminds me God did it in rescuing me from sin, and so this peril coming up that I need deliverance from will see me saved BY FAITH IN THE SAME BLOOD THAT FIRST SAVED ME.

You need faith that even when you see destruction all around YOU KNOW YOU’LL BE SAFE because the blood that saved you and made you part of God’s family proves you CAN TRUST IN GOD AGAIN FOR THIS SITUATION!
•    It’s like a reminder… see the red?  It refers to the death you believed in to be saved from sin.  If I did that for you, I will do all else that needs to be done for you now, too!  TRUST ME like you did for salvation!

And listen to what they told her – OUR LIFE FOR YOURS!
•    Isn’t that what Christ’s death was all about?
•    HIS LIFE FOR OURS, so that when he died we can say WE DIED!
•    It gave Rahab confidence. 
•    But we get the same words in a different angle and it, too, gives us confidence!
•    HIS LIFE FOR OURS, means his death was our death and removed our sin so that GOD IS PLEASED WITH UIS AND WIL INDEED HELP US WHEN WE NEED IT!
•    Not our good deeds.
•    If you trust in good deeds, you will hesitate to believe God is pleased with you.
•    But if you know it’s not your deeds, but HIS DEED OF HIS DEATH that makes God pleased with you then you will not hesitate with struggling for self worth.
•    AND THAT GIVE SPOWERFUL FAITH!

She looked at the rope and SAID THEIR LIFE FOR MINE!

We look at the blood and THINK HIS LIFE FOR MINE!

HIS GOODNESS FOR MINE!  HIS HOLINESS FOR MINE!

Like Hebrews putting blood on doorways and saved from death, she put red cord in window and saved from death LIKE HER OWN LITTLE PASSOVER.

NOT A DOOR… A WINDOW!

BECAUSE WHAT YOU SEE NEEDS THE BLOOD APPLIED TO IT!
•    When Israel finally came while she waited not knowing how it would all go down, THEY MARCHED AROUND HER CITY.
•    Imagine her thoughts.
•    What are they doing?
•    (She did not know about the marching for ONE DAY let alone a WEEK!)
•    They’re not getting me!
•    SHE HAD TO WATCH NOT KNOWING WHEN SHE WOULD BE FREED AND KEEP TRUSTING.
•    So the window SHE LOOKED THROUGH TO SEE THEM MARCHING was where SHE NEEDED THE RED CORD!
•    They never knew that when they told her to tie it there.
•    But God had it all planned.
•    SO WHILE SHE SAW THE FRIGHTENING SIGHT, a rope was there to remind her ALL THE WHILE SHE SAW IT that THE PROMISE “OUR LIFE FOR YOURS” was a guarantee!

When you SEE troubles and God has not come through yet, KEEP REMINDING YOURSELF “HIS LIFE FOR YOURS!”

Imagine all the years of stories screaming in her mind while she watched the walk another DAY and not getting her!
•    THREE DAYS!
•    Most would be tempted to abandon hope!
•    THEY FORGOT!
•    But no, she held on to her faith!

You need to TIE THE RED BLOOD TO YOUR WINDOW!

YOU TIE IT THERE!

YOU KEEP IT THERE where you need to remind yourself and see it when you see sights!

I cannot tie it there for you to hold on and abandon it and throw it away.

YOU HAVE TO TIE IT THERE AND KEEP IT THERE.

She fought unbelief every day of that week.

She fought it by reminding herself of the WORD OF PROMISE.

Because HIS LIFE IS FOR MINE, God is pleased for me.

We get messed up with worthlessness in our minds when we think of how inadequate WE are.
•    It’s when you know the truth that it’s his life for yours so much that you laugh at looking at your good works, that you have CONFIDENCE I AM GOING TO BE ALRIGHT.
•    THE BLOOD MADE YOU WORTHY.

She would see the greatest fear that gripped the kingdom for forty years at her doorstep and still hold on in faith in the promise.

You have to DO SOMETHING WITH THE BLOOD! TIE IT TO EVERYTHING YOU SEE.
•    Most people untie it and throw it away and fret.
•    They will die.

And when the walls started to crumble and quake, and her house likely rocked a little and she heard the noise.
•    Then she heard the screams.
•    She had to look at that cord and remember!
•    I MUST BELIEVE!

Joshua 6:25  And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

And she is in Jesus’ lineage.

Matthew 1:5  And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

SERMONS