I'd like to thank you for that
reading. I have been thinking all day this verse 21 you just
read has been on my mind and on my heart, sir. We would see
Jesus. That's a blessing. Thank you.
Well, if I can get this on, I'll get started. It is just my delight
and honor to be with you all this evening. I have looked forward
to this meeting from the time Clay and I first talked about
it. It's such a blessing to me and your pastor and his family
are already very dear to me. I look forward to many years
of laboring together. If you would, open your Bibles
to 2 Kings chapter 7. I've entitled the message this
evening, The Incredible Gospel. The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace is incredible. It's incredible in the wisdom
of it. God's revealed His wisdom. He
found the way to be just and justifier. It's incredible, in
the grace of it, that God would send that gospel, the gospel
of His dear Son, to sinners like you and me. That's an incredible
gospel. Now here in 2 Kings 7, there's
a famine in Israel because the Syrians have surrounded the city
and they've besieged it. And it's not like the way we
set up an embargo on countries today. You know, the United Nations,
we set up an embargo. We'll still let medical supplies
in and out. We'll let food in and out. But
the Syrians, they knew something about an embargo. I mean, they
had this place locked down. Nothing coming in or out. Total
devastation because of this embargo. Now, if you look in chapter 6,
we'll see how desperate the situation had become. Verse 24. And it
came to pass after this that Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, gathered
all his host and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was
a great famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it,
until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver,
and a fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of
silver. Now, an ass's head sold for,
in today's money, about $400. And from what I read, this is,
of course, it's the head of an unclean animal, very little meat
on it. And what meat there was didn't
taste good at all. But people are so desperate,
they're willing to pay $400 for that little bit of bad tasting
meat from the head of an unclean animal. The fourth part of a
cab of dove's dung could have been, the writers don't know
if it was a very small amount of dung used for fuel, it was
about a half a pint of grain. And they sold it for $80. And
the point of all this is this. People were in a desperate situation.
They're willing to pay a whole lot to get nothing in return. Now isn't that man's religion?
Man pays a whole lot. They do a whole lot and get nothing
in return. Read on, verse 26. And as the
king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a
woman unto him, saying, Help my lord, O king. And he said,
if the Lord do not help thee, when shall I help thee? Out of
the barn floor, out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, what
aileth thee? And she answered, this woman said unto me, give
thy son that we may eat him today, and we'll eat my son tomorrow.
So we boiled my son and did eat him. And I said unto her on the
next day, give thy son that we may eat him. And she hath hid
her son. And it came to pass when the king heard the words
of the woman, Then he ran his clothes, and he passed by upon
the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth
within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so, and
more also to me, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat,
shall stand on him this day. Now you see the situation. Mothers, mothers are eating their
own children. And that's just so shocking to
us. Our mind probably can't comprehend
it. You know, if you're of a certain age, I tell you the name Andrea
Yates, you instantly remember that woman that killed all of
her children because it was just such a horrific event, you remember
it. Here, mothers are eating their children. The king, he's
not in his purple robes and his royal finery, he's covered in
sackcloth. The city is in total despair. And he's blaming God's prophet
for all this. Now in the midst of this despair,
I mean, when it got as bad as it could get, now God's prophet
is going to have some good news. And this is the way it always
works. Before the Lord ever closed you, He's going to strip you.
Before He ever feeds you, He's going to make you starving. Before
He ever gives you life, He's going to slay you. That's the
way it always works. And when it gets as bad as it
can get, then God sends His prophet with the message. Now look at
chapter 7, verse 1. Then Elisha said, Hear ye the
word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Tomorrow
about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
Now this is where Elisha is saying, I know how bad things are for
you. I know. But by God's grace, you're
going to experience some incredible things soon, tomorrow. I know you've paid $400 for a
donkey's head. Tomorrow, for one dollar, thatís about one
dollar, youíre going to buy two and a half gallons of fine flour. And not just any flour now, fine
flour. Theyíll make the best bread.
And I know youíve sunk so low youíve eaten your own children.
Tomorrow, for a dollar, youíre going to be able to buy five
gallons of barley. Thatís going to be enough barley
to make enough bread to satisfy all your hunger. No more going
hungry. And this is the message of God's
servant. You know, Elisha's, it's like these dollar stores.
I don't know if you have those up here, dollar stores. Everything
you need for a dollar. That's what he's saying. Now
this is the message of God's servant. I know. I know how bad things are for
you. I know. I know that you're a
sinner, that you're helpless, that you're hopeless. I know. But by God's grace, sinners experience
some incredible things. I have got an incredible story
of grace for you this evening. And to those of you who do not
know the Lord, I want you to listen to me. I know where you're
at. I know where you're at. I know
how lost in sin and shame you are. I know because I've been
there. I know how all your best efforts
don't get you anywhere. You're just spinning your wheels.
No matter what you do, you can't get any peace. You can't get
any rest. You can't get any comfort. You can't get any assurance.
Because no matter what you do, you can't produce enough to satisfy
a holy God. It's impossible for a sinner
to do. And if that's what we're trying
to do, we'll be left in total despair. And before God saves
anybody, that's the point He's going to bring them to. Total
despair. Do you see all of your inability? But God in His Word has promised
complete atonement in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now you
come to Him and you'll have rest in Him. You'll come to Him, you'll
have peace through the blood of His cross. You come to Christ
and you'll find in Him everything you need. You come to Christ
and you'll find everything that God requires of you in Him. And it'll satisfy you. I'm telling
you, Christ will satisfy you now and throughout eternity. It's Christ. Robbie said it.
It's Christ that's going to satisfy you in glory. It's not floating
around on a cloud playing a harp and streets of gold and a big
fancy house. It's Christ that satisfies. And I'm telling you the truth.
My message is better than Elisha's message. Elisha said tomorrow
for a dollar, you'll be able to buy everything you need. Salvation's free. My message
is you leave your wallet at home. You leave your good deeds and
your doings, you leave them at home. And you come to Christ
empty-handed, as a naked beggar. And He'll give you everything
you need. You come to Him, it's free. Salvation is free for sinners
in Christ. Now that gospel story is the
greatest story that's ever been told. It's still, I've heard
it as long as I can understand language. I've heard this gospel
and I'm telling you it still makes the hair on my neck stand
up. It's so thrilling. It still meets opposition, doesn't
it? People, few believe, few believe. Unbelievers hear this
message of salvation in Christ alone and they scoff. Look at
verse 2, that's what happened to Elisha. Then the Lord, on
whose hand the king leaned, he answered the man of God and said,
Behold, if the Lord will make windows in heaven, might this
thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine
eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof. Now this man very sarcastically
said, Elisha, unless God would rain food from heaven, what you're
saying is impossible. I'm not going to believe it.
Well, he's right. With man, this is impossible.
But thank God with him, all things are possible. And for his unbelief,
Elisha tells him, you're going to see it, but you won't taste
of it. And that's the message to unbelievers.
If you persist in your unbelief and your rebellion, you'll see
the gate of heaven, but you won't enter in. You'll see Christ when
He comes in His glory, but you won't enjoy His presence. Look
in Exodus chapter 6. This is the reaction of people
when they just think this news is too good to be true. In Exodus
6, here's when God sent Moses down to Egypt to set His people
free. And He went to His own people.
And he told them, God sent me to set you free from this place.
In verse 9, Moses spake so unto the children of Israel, but they
hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel
bondage. They just, they thought it was
too good to be true, and they just couldn't believe him. You ever been there? When you
find yourself there, ask yourself this question. Is anything too
hard for God? Now, is His ear heavy that He
can't hear? Is His arm shortened that He can't say? No, it's not. And as impossible as it may seem,
even when it seems too good to be true, God has promised to
save His people from their sins through the sacrifice of another,
through the obedience of another. And God always keeps His promise. He will fulfill all His word. God has promised to save His
people through the obedience and sacrifice of His Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you, Christ
came to this earth, that's exactly what He did. He saved His people
from their sins through His obedience, through His sacrifice. Their
sin's gone. I mean, it's not like it's gone.
It's not like God's ignoring it. Brethren, it's gone. There's
no sin to anyone in our Lord Jesus Christ. The transaction's
done. Salvation's accomplished. And
right now, the only reason this world keeps spinning is Christ
sits on His throne calling out His elect. And he's going to
wrap it up when the last one's called out. There's more preaching
to be done, Clay. God's got a people out there.
I know He does. He's still left this world spinning.
And right now, what He's doing is calling out all those that
He purchased at Calvary. And it may seem impossible. If
you'd known me when I was growing up, you'd have thought, well,
I'd give up on Him. I mean, it may seem impossible that God
would save a wretch like me. I'm so sinful, so wretched. And
I hope you feel that way. Because if you feel that way,
I've got an incredible story for you. Grace is for the guilty. God's grace is for the guilty.
Real, saving grace is always amazing grace. There's no other
kind of grace than amazing grace. Now look at verse 3 in our text.
There are four leprous men at the entering in of the gate,
and they said one to another, why sit we here until we die?
If we say we'll enter into the city, then the famine's in the
city, we shall die there. If we sit still here, we die
also. Now therefore come, let us fall
into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall
live. If they kill us, we shall but die. Now, leprosy, you know
this, and scripture is a picture of sin. These lepers, are us
by nature. What this disease of leprosy
has done to their bodies, that's what sin's done to our souls.
We're diseased. We're dying. We're destitute.
We're cut off. These men couldn't go to the
city. They couldn't go to the worship of the Lord. They're
cut off. That's what we are by nature. We're cut off because
of our sin. We have no help. Nobody's going to help these
lepers. We have no hope. They have no hope of a cure.
They're without help, without hope, and without Christ in this
world. That's what we are by nature.
Lepers. And these four lepers, they know
they're dying. Their disease is killing them.
And this famine is killing them. They're twice dead. Sin, that's
what sin's doing to the rebel. Sin is damning the rebel. Now,
what are they to do? Well, they said they got three
choices. First, they could enter into the city. They got walls
there. They got houses. They got streets
and all the form of civilization. Pretty good looking city. But
there's one problem. There's no life there. There's
no food there. Well, what are we to do for our
sin problem? Well, we could go to religion. We could. They've
got so-called preachers. They dress up real fancy. They've
got buildings. They've got organizations. They've
got rules and regulations. They'll put you to work doing
something. But there's one problem. There's no life there. There's
no power there. They have a form of godliness,
but they deny the power thereof. They deny the power thereof when
they tell you God's done everything He can do and now it's up to
you. Well, there's no power in that message. There's no life
in that message. They preach a so-called gospel
that cannot save. They preach a Jesus, little J,
doesn't even deserve to be capitalized. He's not a name. They preach
a Jesus who's powerless to do anything unless you let Him.
Well, the obvious conclusion is there's no life there. There's
no salvation in that message. You can go there if you want
to, but you'll die of hunger. You'll die of want because there's
nothing there. Well, the lepers thought their
second choice is we could just sit here and do nothing. And
if we do that, we're going to die. And you and me could do
the same thing with our sin problem. We could just sit around and
do nothing. Maybe we'll sit on the porch and wait for lightning
to strike. Maybe God will just strike me with lightning and
I'll be saved or something. Maybe we could just keep on trying
to do our best. Be a good citizen. Be a good
neighbor. Be a good husband. Be a good wife. Just somehow,
I don't know how, but I hope it will turn out alright in the
end. If we just sit around and do nothing, without repentance,
Without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will surely die. And
the situation won't get better. It'll simply get worse. So the
third choice. These lepers said, now we could
go to the enemy. And we could throw ourselves
on the mercy of the enemy. Now they might kill us. But we're
dying anyway. Could be they'll have mercy on
us, maybe. Now these Syrians here, they
represent God. God who hates him, he's awaiting
the appointed time to destroy his enemies. We have made God
our enemy by our sin and our rebellion. This thing in our
day, unholy familiarity with God, bothers me a great deal. You know, men try to bring God
down to our level. As soon as someone said, God
wants Just shut it off. That's not God. God didn't want
to do anything. What He wills, He does. This
week, this... I can't even think of the right
word for it. It's just, it's horrible. God does not love everybody. God hates sin. And it's not God's
fault he's our enemy. It's our fault. We have sinned
against God. We've declared war on God. The
carnal mind is enmity against God. We've made God our enemy.
Now we've got the same choices these lepers have. We could go
to religion. We've already seen that's not
going to do us any good. We could do nothing. That's not going
to do us any good. We'll die in our sins. Or we
could go to God and plead for mercy. Now God doesn't know it
to us, but if we go begging for mercy, you know we just might
get it. God just might spare us. Sounds
just like him. My grandmother, at the end of
her life, she had Alzheimer's. My wife, Janet, would go sit
with her and she'd tell her stories about things she did when she
was a younger woman. She said, well, I don't remember
that, but it sounds just like me. God just might show mercy
to a sinner who begs Him for mercy for Christ's sake. Sounds
just like Him. Now, in all justice, God should
wipe us out. Now, make no mistake, I'm not
telling you you go beg God for mercy and He owes it to you.
No, sir. God, the only thing He owes us
is justice, damnation for our sins. But it could be He'd have
mercy and spare us for Christ's sake. And there's just one way
to find out. Go to Him and beg Him for mercy. When I was a boy, I never did
understand this phrase, but sink or swim, I'm going to Him. Now I'm determined to stay at
the feet of King Christ and beg Him for mercy. There's no hope
anywhere else. None. Begging for mercy. If I
was that leper, and I am, I'm telling you, I'd go to Christ. Well, look at verse 5. What did
they decide to do? They rose up in the twilight to go into
the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the
outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man
there. For the Lord had made the host
of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses,
even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
Lo, the king of Israel hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore, they
arose and fled in the twilight. They left their tents and their
horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and they
fled for their life. Now, these lepers decided to
go to the camp of the Syrians. And the first thing they discovered
when they got there, nobody's stopping them. There's no guard
posted at the perimeter of the camp. Nobody's stopping them
from walking right in. And that's the first thing a
sinner discovers when he goes to Christ seeking mercy. Nobody's
stopping him. You know why nobody's stopping
him? God's drawing them. The reason they're coming is
God's drawing them. He's not going to cast out those
that He draws. The King has given commandment
for us to come and to bow. He's not going to cast out those
that have come and obey His commandment to bow to Christ. Those that
come to Him, our Lord said He'll never cast them out. Nobody's
stopping them. Now we preach election. And more
accurately, we declare the God of election. We declare God as
He is. He elected a people. God chose
to save a people through the sacrifice of His Son. And He
chose those people simply because it seemed good in His sight.
No other reason. There's no reason found in them.
The only reason found in God's election is in God. Now, election
does not mean that some people are welcomed in and some people
are kept out even though they're willing to come to Christ on
God's terms. That's not what election means. Anybody that
says that doesn't understand man's nature. Man's nature will
never come to Christ unless God gives him a new nature and God
draws him. Our only hope of salvation is that God chose us. That the
Son redeemed us by His sacrifice, by His blood. That He called
us through the preaching of the gospel. That He gave us faith
to believe and He made us willing in the day of His power. That's
our only hope. If God didn't choose us, we'd
never choose Him. If God didn't draw us, we'd never
come to Him. Salvation is of the Lord. And
those that God's chosen, I'm telling you, they'll come to
Christ. And there'll be no stopping them. Because Christ has already
removed every obstacle. The second thing these lepers
discovered when they came to the camp is there's a feast waiting
for them. All this happened about dinner
time. All the pots were boiling, everything's ready to eat. and
they all fled, and everything's getting done. Right at the time,
we got to Clay's yesterday, dinner was just, everything was getting
ready right then. That's the way these fellas were,
they came to the camp, everything was ready for them. God prepared
it that way. There's a feast waiting for them.
There's food, there's clothes, there's shelter, there's horses,
there's donkeys, there's asses, there's jewels. Everything that's
necessary for life has been provided for them in the camp of the enemy,
the camp of the Syrians. God had miraculously made them
flee. And that's the second thing a
sinner finds out when he comes to Christ. God has graciously
and miraculously provided life. provided spiritual life in the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's given us everything that's
necessary for life. He's given us life itself. He
gives us a new heart. He gives us a new nature. He
gives us redemption, sanctification, wisdom, righteousness, grace,
mercy, and peace. All in and by and through the
Lord Jesus Christ who defeated our every enemy at Calvary Street. Now I'm telling you, I enjoy
that. I enjoy preaching it. I enjoy
hearing it. I enjoy reading it. I enjoy that. Can you imagine how these lepers
were enjoying that? They were digging in. They were
hungry. They had good food ready for
them. Well, look at verse 8. And when these lepers came to
the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and
they did eat and drink. They carried thins, silver and
gold and raiment, and they went and hid it. came again and entered
into another tent, and carried thins also, and they went and
hid it. Then they said one to another, We do not well. This
day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace. If we
tarry to the morning light, some mischief will come upon us. Now
therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
Now these lepers satisfied their own need, and you certainly can't
blame them for doing that. As soon as they go out and tell
people, and people come out to that camp, those lepers aren't
allowed in there anymore. They satisfied their own need.
But they also saw this. There's a whole lot more here
we can never use up. We better go tell somebody this
good news. Everybody ought to know what we know. Isn't that
in the heart of every believer? Not everybody ought to know what
we know. Everybody ought to know who we know. Everybody ought
to know who Jesus is. He's the lily of the valley,
the bright morning star. Everybody ought to know who he
is. God's people do not think selfishly. Our desire is to spread the gospel
to every corner of this globe so that the fame and the glory
of our Redeemer would be known by everyone. I want everyone
that I know and everyone I preach to to come to Christ and enjoy
in Him what I've enjoyed in Him. So these lepers thought, we better
go tell somebody. Well, who are they going to tell?
They're going to tell the king's household the good news. And
that's exactly what preaching the gospel is. Telling the king's
household the good news. We're telling the king's family
who the king is. what the king did, why the king
did it, and where the king is now. This is the message of the
king for the king's household. And I preach with this confidence. I know this. The king's family
is going to hear. They're going to believe it,
and they're going to be blessed by it. I know it. I don't feel
any pressure to Get somebody to make a decision or get somebody
to do something. I feel no obligation, no pressure
to make you believe the gospel. I can't do it. My responsibility
is to preach the word. The king's family is going to
hear. They're going to hear. They're going to believe and
they're going to be blessed by it. God's word will not return
unto him void. So they're going to tell the
king's house, well look what happened in verse 10. So they came and
called unto the porter of the city and they told them, saying,
We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man
there, neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied
in the tents as they were. And he called the porters, and
they told it to the king's house within. See, these lepers, they
told exactly what they'd seen and what they heard. They just
told what they... They didn't know how it all happened.
They just told what they knew to be true. They didn't try to
explain it. They didn't have to exaggerate
it. Why exaggerate that story? No need to exaggerate it. They
just told what they knew to be true. And that's what preaching
the gospel is. Brother Walter Groover made this
statement. He said, I'm afraid we overcomplicate preaching many
times. Preaching is just telling what
we know. We're just witnesses. Just declare
God's word. Just declare it. You don't have
to explain it. It's a good thing because we
can't. You don't have to exaggerate the greatest stories ever been
told to get somebody to believe it. Our message is grace for
the guilty. Are you kidding me? What's better
than that? Grace for the guilty. You don't
have to exaggerate, just proclaim it. Thus saith the Lord. And that's what happened. And
the king's family heard the good news. Just like I told you, they
always do. Our Lord said, my sheep will
hear my voice. I'll make sure of it. But you know, their message
still met with resistance and unbelief. Look at verse 12. And
the king arose in the night and he said unto his servants, I'll
now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that
we'd be hungry, therefore they've gone out of the camp to hide
themselves in the field, saying when they come out of the city,
we shall catch them alive and get into the city. Now the king
said, this is too good to be true. You mean to tell me after
all this siege, we don't have to go out and defeat our enemy?
There's no way. Our enemies had a death grip
on us, and right at this point where we're in total despair,
you mean to tell me they just left? No way. And that's a sinner's
reaction to hearing the gospel. When they first hear it, they
say, that's too simple. I love when somebody says, that's too
simple. I mean, I preach the gospel right. The gospel's simple.
The simplicity of Christ. They say, that's too simple.
That's too good to be true. I've got a sin debt, and you're
telling me I don't have to pay my own debt? That's the American
way, or at least it used to be. You mean that I don't even have
to help a little bit? I don't have to make a down payment?
I don't have to contribute something? You mean to tell me that the
law that's against me, God who could justly condemn me, the
God that I've sworn a war against, you mean tell me He'll just let
me go scot-free? because of the obedience and
death of somebody else? That's just too good to be true.
You mean to tell me I don't even have to keep part of the law? Why would God do that for me?
I don't deserve that. There's got to be some trick,
you know, some string attached to this. No, sir. There's no trick. There's no
strings attached. There's full, and free redemption
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's part of the mystery of
the gospel. Salvation's free, but it was bought with a great
price. Salvation's free to you and me, but it cost our Lord
Jesus Christ his life. He shed his blood and he died
so that salvation would be free to his people. He suffered the
full curse of the law, so his people would be set free from
the law. And the king heard that, he said, that's just too incredible,
too good to be true. Well, look at verse 13. And one
of his servants answered and said, let some take, I pray thee,
five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold,
there is all the multitude of Israel that are left in it. Behold,
I say, there even is all the multitude of the Israelites that
are consumed. And let's send and see. They took therefore
two chariot horses, and the king sent after the host of the Syrians,
saying, Go and see. Now here's a picture of the fall
of man. The once glorious, mighty army
of David is reduced to two starving horses to go out and meet the
enemy. They thought they had five. By
the time they got to the stable, three of them were dead. There
were just two left. And that's these bodies. These bodies are
just a mere shell of the body that God created for Adam. Sin
is killing our body. These fellows that want to teach
evolution, they've got it all backwards. Man's not getting
better. Man's getting worse. It took sin 900 years to kill
that body that God gave Adam. It's not going to take 70 to
kill this one. Man's going down, just down,
down, down. And listen, we don't have two
horses left. We're already dead, spiritually
dead, in trespasses and sins, without any resources. We've
fallen from life to death. And this is interesting. The
king had the same choices the lepers had, didn't he? It doesn't
matter whether you're a king or a leper. You've got the same
choices. You're all the same. There's
no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Whether you're a king or whether
you're a leper, we've all sinned in Adam. We all died in Adam.
Sin's the great equalizer. We're all dead. And the king,
he could stay in the city. And if he did, he'd condemn the
whole city to death. Or he could do nothing. And if
he does nothing, he's going to condemn the whole city to death.
Or he could go to the camp of the Syrians and see if this story
told by these lepers is true. Now he might be right. Maybe
the Syrians are out there hiding in the bushes and they're going
to jump out and kill them. But they're all going to die anyway.
The only hope of life for all of Israel is that the leper story
is true. That God has provided life in
the camp of the hated Syrians. The only hope a sinner has for
life is that this leper story's true. That this leper story's
true. That God has provided life in
the Lord Jesus Christ, that hated man, Jesus of Nazareth. So the
king sent somebody to see if that story was true. Look at
verse 15. And they went after them unto
Jordan. And lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels,
which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers
returned and told the king. Now these spies discovered the
third thing, that a sinner always finds out when he comes to Christ.
They found out he was even better than what they heard. Even better.
Not only was the camp empty, full of food and clothes and
donkeys and horses and gold and silver, the escape route was
full of bounty. You know, the Syrians, they thought
they heard this army coming, and they gathered their most
precious possessions, and they took off running. And they started
running, they got scared, the army's getting closer to them,
and they threw those possessions down in the path, so they could
run faster. And the lepers, these paths full
of bounty. It was even better than the lepers
told them. My hope and prayer, especially
for some of these young people, you sit here for a number of
years, your pastor preaches gospel. And one day, the Lord is going
to give you eyes to see. He's going to give you a heart
that loves Christ. And you'll come to Clay and say, Pastor,
how come you didn't tell me? How come you didn't tell me?
Well, Clay, you just can't tell it, can you? You can't tell the
glory of Christ. Some things you just have to
experience for yourself. Donny Bell says it's heart language.
It's even better than what we heard. Well, look at verse 16.
The people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So
a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures
of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And
the king appointed the Lord, on whose hand he leaned, to have
the charge of the gate. And the people trod upon him
in the gate, just a mass exodus. And he died, as the man of God
had said, who spake when the king came down to him. The people
came out and feasted, exactly like Elisha said they would.
The barley and the wheat was sold for a dollar exactly like
Elisha said it would. Now it's not because Elisha was
so smart, everything happened like he said it would. You know
why everything happened like he said it would? Because he
spake according to the word of the Lord. He said, thus saith
the Lord. It happened just exactly like
God's word said. And when a sinner is blessed
by God to hear one of his true servants preaching the gospel,
preaching according to the word of God, saying, thus saith the
Lord. If they're blessed by God to hear one of God's servants
telling the most amazing story of salvation by grace, substitution,
and satisfaction, it may seem too good to be true. But once
we come to Christ ourselves, we'll say it's the cleanest sheep
that the half's not been told. It's even better than what I
heard. And we'll tell others, hoping they'll come to Christ.
This is good news, you come to Christ, you come here. And those
who refuse to believe, those who refuse to bow, come to Christ
on God's terms, are going to perish. An old friend of mine,
Brother Cecil Roach, Cecil was our eldest elder in Ashland for
many years. He told me, he said, I sit on
my porch in my rocking chair that talks to me. It took me
a long time to figure out what he meant. He meant a wooden rocking
chair that squeaks when he rocks. He's my rocking chair that talks
to me. He said, I'll read these stories. How God gave Israel
the victory and they never fired a shot. He said, I'll laugh out loud.
My neighbors think I'm crazy. Not if they've heard they don't.
No. So I tell you, you come to Christ. If you go to religion, you're
going to die for lack of provision. If you stay where you are, doing
what you're doing, without faith, without repentance, you'll perish
in your sins. But if you come to Christ begging
for mercy, you come to Him in the dust, begging Him for mercy,
a mercy beggar, He just might show mercy to you. Now, He don't
owe it to anybody. But He said He delights to show
mercy to sinners. Then come to Him as a sinner.
Come to Him, begging for mercy. God doesn't owe us mercy, but
God sent His Son into this world to save sinners, of whom I'm
chief. And I'll tell you, He has not
yet cast away a sinner who came to Him in the dust, begging for
mercy. And you won't be the first. In closing, let me give you this
about coming to Christ. I heard my pastor all my life,
growing up, say, come to Christ. Close with Christ. Burry Henry's
one of his favorite terms, close with Christ. He wanted people
to close with Christ. Look to Christ. And I go, boy, if you'll
just tell me where he's at, I'll go tell him. Just tell me where.
I'll look. Just point him out to me. You
know, I'll look. Let me tell you this about coming to Christ.
Coming to Christ is not walking an aisle and coming to the front.
Coming to Christ is not coming to the waters of baptism. Coming
to Christ is not coming to the doctrines of grace. Any more
than coming to Christ is coming to religion. Coming to Christ
is a movement of your heart. It's not a bodily movement. Right
where you sit, without moving a muscle, you come to Christ. Coming to Christ is a movement
of heart. It's submission. Submission to Him. Coming to
Christ is simply believing the testimony that God has given
us concerning His Son. You come to Christ in faith,
believing Him. That's why you come to Christ,
because you believe Him. You believe He saved sinners, and
you believe Him. You trust Him. You depend upon
Him to do all the saving. And coming to Christ is not an
isolated act. If you're looking back to some
time, some years ago, while I came to Christ, I'm afraid you missed
it. Coming to Christ is not an isolated
act. Peter said, to whom coming? The
writer of the Hebrew said, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. A believer continually comes
to Christ. I'm coming to Christ again today. I sat and looked over my notes
this afternoon and thought, I'm coming again. I'm coming again
to drink from the water of life. I hope, I pray, God in His grace,
we may be able to do the same. Come to Him, believe in Him,
rest in Him. God bless you.