May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate on his word. Let's turn to the
second book of the Kings, chapter 7, and we'll read verse 9. The second book of the Kings,
chapter 7, and reading verse 9. 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 till the morning
light, some mischief will come upon us. Now, therefore, come
that we may go and tell the king's household. This chapter speaks to us of
one of those wonderful occurrences, we might say miracles, that the
Lord God brought to pass. And how clear it is that the
Lord is able to do wonderful things. He's able to do wonderful
things without the help of anyone. Because as in this case, the
Syrians, they fled. They fled, they heard what they
thought was a noise. They heard what they thought
was a great noise. A noise of chariots, a noise of horses,
a noise of a great host. And therefore they believed that
the king had hired other kings to attack them. And the result
was that they left everything as it was. And they fled and
they were in such a haste to get to Jordan and across Jordan
that they took off their clothes to stop them and they left them
strewn along the way. It was the most amazing occurrence
really. But what was the whole aspect? Well it was to show forth the
power of God. Now let us never forget that
God does not change. Perhaps we don't see quite such
things of wonder today, but we do, in some ways, we do see the
Lord still appearing and still hearing prayer by wonderful occurrences. In that little paper that I gave
you this morning, those experiences, those men showed how the Lord
did appear in quite amazing ways. Therefore, in our life today,
we should not think that we come to a God who is not able to do
great things. Often today, sadly, we limit
the Lord and we draw a conclusion that the Lord will not hear and
the Lord will not answer, without in fact even looking for an answer,
even not really praying in sincerity and in truth, but just mouthing
mere words. Well, let us be encouraged by
such an account as this. And of course, in the midst of
this account, there is that wonderful dealing with those four lepers. There were these lepers, and
what we are told about them are four leprous men, and they're
entering into the gate. And they said one to another,
why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into
the city, then the famine is in the city. The reason, of course,
is there was a big famine in the land. And we shall die there. And if we sit still here, we
die also. Now therefore, come, let us fall
unto the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall
live, and if they kill us, we shall but die. And so that was
the position that they faced, and they did just that. And it
was then, when they went forward, they realised what had happened.
And they went into one tent and another tent and took out the
goods and took them back and hid them. then we see really
how their conscience was pricked. Clearly it was by the work of
God. And what did they then say one
to another? We do not well. We do not well. This day is a day of good tidings
and we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning
light, some mischief will come upon us. Now therefore come,
we may go and tell the king's household." Now, this conversation
they had one to another obviously had a good effect upon them and
they realised they should not be silent. And they realised
although they were lepers, they were still to go, and to tell
the king's household. So they came and were told they
called unto the porter of the city. They weren't really allowed
to go into the city. They had to call the porter.
They called the porter and they told the porter what the situation
was. And of course the porter went
and told the others and told the king. And of course the king
didn't believe it. He thought it was some plot.
He thought they were all going to be taken alive. But eventually
he was persuaded to send a couple of horses and horsemen to investigate. And they found that in fact the
Syrians had departed and had fled. And so they were able to
come and to spoil the city and take all the goods. and therefore
that which had been prophesied by Elisha came to pass. And we should always remember
that what God says comes to pass. God's work is a powerful and
mighty work and God can do great things which we could never envisage. Israel would never have thought
that such a thing would occur. But it did. And it was clearly
the work of the Lord. It was nothing else. Clearly
the work of the Lord. And how wonderful it is for our
faith today to read such accounts and to believe that we do come
to the same God, isn't it? It's an astounding consideration,
isn't it? After all these years, God still rules and reigns in
heaven in exactly the same way as he did all these years ago
in the days of Elisha when there was wonderful deliverance for
Israel. Well may these accounts truly
increase our faith, enable us therefore to say and do and think
those things which are right and God-honoring. And as we read
this ninth verse we see what occurred to these men, and how
they were moved by the Spirit of God. And they said one to
another, we do not well. I wonder whether we have to say
that. Whether perhaps we have had to
say it. We do not well. And I expect if we're honest
with ourselves, we would have to conclude that often we do
not well. We don't actually respond in
the way we should. We don't actually bring the honour
and glory to God that we should. And we're perhaps too concerned
about our own little lives. Too concerned about doing that
which pleases us and that we want to do. and not even recognising
God's great work and how he's appeared in some amazing way. But it's good when the Holy Spirit
comes into our heart and convinces us in words like this, when we
have to come and say, we do not well. That's not something that
we like to say naturally, is it? We like to think we do well. We don't like to think we do
not well. But nonetheless it's a blessing when the Holy Spirit
moves our hearts to recognise that that's been the situation,
perhaps that is the situation. We do not well. As they were speaking one to
another, they then went on to say, this day is a day of good
tidings, and we hold our peace. Well, in the history of the world,
there have been days of good tidings. In the history of the
Church of God, there have been days of good tidings. And it's
a very sad day. when people hold their peace,
when people don't acknowledge what God has done. It's as though God hasn't done
anything. These people, these lepers were just continuing,
weren't they? Until, as it were, they were
arrested. Perhaps we ought to say they
came to their senses. They realised how they've been
occupied with their own wishes and their own lust, I suppose,
in taking these things for themselves and never thinking, well, we
ought to pass on this good news. And what a blessing then for
us today, if we realise this day is a day of good tidings. And how sad if we have held our
peace. Word of God tells us, then they
that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and a book of
remembrance was written. When God works, when it's a day
of good tidings, do we not rejoice? Are we not
humbled? Do we not give thanks to God? Well I hope we always do. In
every eventuality. But then not to just hide these
things within our own heart. But to recognise the difficulty
or the problem that is with us. That we've held our peace. We haven't spoken. Suppose in
the day and age in which we live, this is one of the great problems
with the Church of God. They hold their peace. And yet
you know, when the Lord loosens the tongue to declare of his
goodness and mercy, there is a wonderful freedom and a wonderful
peace in so doing. Really it's the answer of a good
conscience because we declared the day of good tidings, the
good tidings of God toward us, the good tidings of God with
regard to His work in our soul. There's nothing more glorious
than to know the work of God in our soul. Because it's not
something which will just pass away. You and I can work on things
in this life and they pass away, but my friends, the work of God
in the soul is an eternal work. It's something which will take
us into heaven. It's something which is so wonderful. And it's without ourselves. And
we didn't have anything to do with it. These lepers didn't
have anything to do with it, did they? Naturally, there they
were. The Lord had appeared. The enemy
had fled. Good news it was. A day of good
tidings. And they held their peace. Well,
it's sad. It's very sad when people hold
their peace. when it is a day of good tidings,
when there's something to declare, something to bring glory to God.
We live in a day of small things, we're thankful there are still
those small things, but we glory in the small things, and we bless
God for them. And we might say, well what is
a small thing? And it's hard to analyse that, because any work
of God is a great thing. And so how wonderful it is then,
for us, in each of our lives, if we have had days of good tidings. Indeed, may we have many days
of good tidings. And may we not hold our peace.
May we not be found like these who were saying we hold our peace.
Now, the good news was, of course, they recognised their fault.
They recognised their failings. And they said, and we hold our
peace. And then they went on to say,
and how true this is, if we tarry to the morning light, some mischief
will come upon us, or as the margin says, some punishment
will come upon us. Now, I believe that is a very
solemn word. It's a very searching word, because
if we fail to honour the Lord. If we fail to acknowledge his
grace, his love, his mercy toward us, we should tremble to think
that perhaps some punishment, as the margin says, or mischief
will come upon us and perhaps we know what that is. Perhaps we have suffered Perhaps
we have found that, in one sense, it is as though the Lord's hand
has gone out against us and we received that upon us, which
made us think. Well, the lepers here, they were
really short-circuiting this. They anticipated what it might
mean. And it would be a good thing, you
know, if we were conscious of that. Not because we feared what
God would do, but because we desire to honour and glorify
his great and holy name. If we tarry till the morning
light, some mischief or some punishment will come upon us. It's stated here in a very positive
way. Will come upon us. Perhaps we
might think, well we hope it doesn't come upon us. Perhaps
we don't like to think about it very much. And yet how God-glorifying
it is to honour the Lord. My friends, may we appreciate
the privilege it is to honour the Lord and to think that we
have a day of good tidings. And good tidings spiritually
must be through the free grace of God that he has bestowed them
upon us. And it never is because we deserve
it or anything we've done. It's all because of his free
grace and his tremendous love to such unworthy, ungrateful
sinners. Have we been ungrateful? for
what God has done. Ungrateful for what he said to
us. And we've just carried on. Perhaps the Lord has touched
us here and touched us there, but it hasn't had very much effect.
But the solemn word here is that these lepers, and they said some
mischief will come upon us. They were very fearful that it
would come upon them. And what was the result? Well,
this is the result, how good it is. Now, therefore, come that
we may go and tell the king's household. And they didn't delay. They didn't delay. They didn't
make any excuses. They didn't kind of say, well,
I think we'll just do one more tent and just see what the result
is from that one. Or perhaps we just need a bit
more goods for ourselves. No. They went and they came and called
the porter of the city. And now therefore come that we
may go and tell the king's household. They had a right desire. What
a blessing if you and I have a right desire. to go and tell
the King's household. You might say, what is that?
The King's household must be the subjects of the King. They
must be, therefore, the Church of God. Now, the Church of God
rejoiced to hear good news from a far country. And this was indeed
good news to these people. We know, of course, that the
King doubted it before, doubted what it was, if it was real or
if it was something false about it, but thankfully he did listen,
he did send the horses and the people and the horsemen and they
did come back with the good news that it was indeed as these lepers
had said. And so as we think of this account
perhaps we might analyze it with another account in the Word of
God and that's the in the book of Esther. You remember, perhaps,
that Queen Esther, who was Jewish, and the decree had gone out from
Haman that all the Jews should be destroyed. And Mordecai, her
uncle, knew about this and heard it. And he told her that she
should go and apply to the king. that he might rescind or have
mercy upon them. But you see initially she was
not willing. She was not willing. But then
Morikei had to remind her and say, perhaps you come to the
kingdom for such a time as this. And you and I, you see, don't
know whether the Lord's touched our hearts and moved our spirit
for such a time as this. Well, the good words of Morikei
had a good effect upon Queen Esther. And what a good thing
it is when the words come into our heart and have a good effect
upon us, so that we are willing to do that which we should do
for the honour and glory of God. And in the fourth chapter of
Esther, towards the end, we can read Esther's response. She said,
she bade them return Mordecai this answer. Go, gather together
all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me
and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and
my maidens will fast likewise and so will I go in unto the
king which is not according to the law and if I perish, I perish." It's a very wonderful statement
and we know the result was Esther then went in before the king
into the inner court which she was not allowed to do And unless
the king held out the golden scepter to her, there was only
one result, and that is that she would die. She would be slain. So you see what a great thing
it was. But Esther, you see, had heard
Mordechai's request, and although we don't read about them physically
praying, it was seen by the expressions here, fasting, that's just what
they were doing for these three days. We read, so it came to
pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel and
stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the
king's house. And the king sat upon the royal throne in the
royal house, over against the gate of the house. And it was
so, when the king saw Esther, the queen, standing in the court,
that she obtained favour in his sight. and the king held out
to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther
drew near and touched the top of the scepter. Sometimes we
may perhaps fear. We may fear what the unknown
way is. We know what might be the result
and we fear the result. But you see, may God give us
that grace to be found like Esther was here. venturing forward. She wasn't high-headed. She wasn't boastful. No, she
was timid. She was fearful. But with the
blessed aid of the Holy Spirit, she went forward. If I perish,
I perish. Well, she didn't perish. And the Lord held out The king
held out the golden sceptre, which was the position to show
acceptance. And she was then asked her request. What is thy request, Queen Esther? What a mercy it is today that
we have a God who hears our requests. You may fear perhaps, as it were,
enter in into the inner court And we think it's just too holy
a place for me, I can't enter in there at all. Be encouraged
by the account of Queen Esther. She came, we can be sure, trembling. If I perish, I perish. Yet she
was wonderfully received. And here we have these four lepers
then, with that desire to come. and tell the king's household
the good news the good news well what a blessing it is if you
and i have some good news good news to tell the um the king's
house good news when's the last time we told the king's house
good news have we ever told the King's household good news. Have we got any good news to
tell? Well, we must all of course look
into our hearts, mustn't we? And be able to discern whether
there is any good news there. And indeed, if we have a day
of good tidings, many people have days of bad tidings. We
all deserve bad tidings. What a blessing when we have
good tidings. And what are good tidings? Well,
good tidings are when the Lord has appeared for us. When the Lord has heard our prayers
perhaps. When the Lord's revealed to us
something of his grace and mercy. and love toward us. These are
good tidings. And my friends, also on the negative
side, when the Holy Spirit convinces us of all our sin and we tremble
under it, it's good tidings because it indicates the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit, laying us low, bringing us down, into
the dust, making us consider ourselves and come like the Apostle
Paul when he said he was the less and the least of all saints.
My friends, good tidings. Good tidings, not pleasant perhaps
to the flesh, but they're good tidings because it shows forth
the blessed beginning of the work of God. The beginning of
the work of God is to convince of sin. Perhaps to make us tremble. It would appear Esther was like
that, wasn't it? She was very fearful of what
the outcome would be. But God was so gracious. And
there was that waiting upon the Lord. And if you and I have been
able to come, perhaps waiting upon the Lord. The Lord hasn't
turned his back upon us. He hasn't turned away and said,
you're just too bad. There's no good news for you.
He looked upon us. He's touched our hearts. You
know, we sang that hymn just now, which is really speaking
about Lazarus. You remember Lazarus? Dead, in
the tomb, bound hand and foot. no hope of any life. But you see, when the Saviour
came, and when the Saviour spoke those words, loose him and let
him go, what was the result? He could not be held anymore,
because there is power from the Word of God. There was power
from the physical words of the Saviour to him and my friends
today there is power from the Word of God as God's Word speaks
to our heart and it enters in and what a wonderful favour it is
if we are loosed perhaps loosed on the Sabbath
day when the Holy Spirit comes and does that for us which we
couldn't do for ourselves. Let me word, just like Lazarus,
bound up. Bound up. Loose him and let him
go. And he was freed. My friends,
you and I will be freed. We may be bound up with grave
clothes. We may be bound up with all our
sins. They may envelop us. So we don't
seem to be able to move. But when the word of the Lord
comes, directly to us, in that way, loose him and let him go. You see, no longer can the devil
hold us. No longer do we suffer from that
evil heart of unbelief. We then believe the word of God. We've heard his voice. Oh, it's
good news. It's good news, a day of good
tidings. Indeed, a day of good tidings.
My friends, we want days of good tidings, don't we? Days of good
tidings to know that God is dealing with us. He hasn't cast us off. We're not in the rubbish dump. we deserve to be but he's looked
upon us where we were yes he saw us ruined and loved us notwithstanding
all the love of christ is rich and free my friends the love
of christ is most amazing to undeserving sinners. The love
of Christ breaks down all barriers. You have to say, why me? Oh blessed Lord, why such a wretch
as me who must forever lie in hell? We're not salvation free. And
we'll appreciate what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us. We'll
understand that the hymn writer knew what he was saying. And
we will bless God then that this is a day of good tidings to our
soul. A day when the Lord has come
and we dare not tarry. We dare not tarry. What a blessing it is when the
Holy Spirit moves us in this way. As it moved these four lepers. And of course the picture we
have of lepers is really outcasts. And what does it represent? It
represents those covered with sin. We are spiritually like
lepers. The Lord had mercy upon these
lepers. What a good thing it is the Lord's had mercy upon
us and has come to us and revealed his goodness in destroying the
enemy, perhaps the enemy of our souls. And we were fearful of
what the future might hold and we find that he's fled. You see, the devil cannot face
the cross of Christ. He cannot stand there. Because
it was at the cross of Christ that the Lord Jesus Christ defeated
all the plans of Satan. And then, of course, after three
days, he rose from the dead. My friends, if the Lord leads
you and me to Calvary, to the cross of Christ, We should know
in some measure the freedom. We should know something of being
loosed from the chains the devil has put around us. He wants to
keep us close and tight and no room to move. Well here were
these lepers then. We might say here were these
sinners in this situation and They'd seen the good news. They'd
seen the deliverance that the Lord had wrought for them. What
a blessing when you and I see spiritually the deliverance that
God has brought for us. We feared the enemy, we feared
the devil, but he fled. What was there instead? Peace,
peace by his cross. Oh my friends, what a blessing
it is. May we know it, and may we earnestly
seek for it, and be blessed by it, so that it is then a day
of good tidings. And therefore let us not hold
our peace. These people said, if we tarry
till the morning, light and mischief will come upon us. Now therefore
come, that we may go and tell the king's household. So they
came. How often we fail to realise
the sequence of the things that occur in the Word of God. And
we take one line and we sit on it and stop there. But yeah,
it's good if you and I follow through the Word of God. Because
through these four lepers' statement There was deliverance indeed
for Israel, and they went and spoiled the camp of the Syrians. It was truly a wonderful day
of rejoicing, a wonderful day of blessing to the Church of
God. May it be so, my friends, in
our lives. May it be so in each of our lives.
We find we live in a day When there's not very much spoken
about the things of God, it's good when it is. It's good when
it is. Remember, the devil wants to
shut our mouths. The devil doesn't want any glory
to come to God. He hates to hear about the Saviour's
work. My friends, he can't stand against
it. because the Lord has conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave. And as the apostle says, and
we are more than conquerors through him. That's the secret, through
him. Look unto me, or look unto the
Savior. Don't look to yourself. The devil
will nudge you and say, well, you're unworthy. Of course you
haven't got anything to say really. That which you think you might
have is of not any worth. The devil's always been a liar
and he always will be. Don't listen to him. A little that a righteous man
hath is better than the treasures of many wicked. Just remember
that simple statement. And therefore cast not away your
little hope. These four lepers, they'd just
been into these two tents, they hadn't really seen a lot, but
it was sufficient to believe that the Syrians were completely
disappeared and gone. So may the Lord bless us with
a little And to be encouraged by that little, to know the Lord's
hand is upon us. He hasn't left us, but he's dealing
with our souls in love and mercy, and leading us to the Saviour,
and leading us to Calvary. To realise that there... Oh,
remember the little case of Christian, the pilgrim's progress, when
he came to the cross. He looked to the cross, his burden
fell off. into the sepulcher to be seen
no more forever. Forgiveness is a joyful sound. The manufacturers doomed to die. But my friends, if Christ is
ours, we have an inheritance which is incorruptible and which
will never pass away. And therefore surely we have
something to tell the King's household. Amen.