Well, we've read from the 2nd
Book of Kings, chapter 6, verse 24 to the end of chapter 7. And it is from this portion of
the Holy Scriptures that I will preach this evening. I trust
with the Lord's help and with His blessing. For a text, I take
the first two verses of chapter 7. The 2nd Book of Kings, chapter
7, and verses 1 and 2. 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. Then a LORD, on whose hand the
king leaned, answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if
the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?
And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt
not eat thereof. We're reminded by the apostle
that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. The things that we read of here
then, in the second book of Kings, were written for our learning.
They are written for our instruction. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works. Well, may we then,
this evening, be instructed, may we be taught of God as we
consider this portion of Holy Scripture. We see here three
remarkable things in this part of the Word of God. We see, firstly,
a remarkable promise. And then we see, secondly, a
remarkable providence. And thirdly, we see a remarkable
punishment. So firstly then, we see here
a remarkable promise. Samaria had been brought into
very severe straits. The city had been besieged by
the armies of Ben-Hadad, king of Syria. All supplies had been
cut off from the city, and the people were starving. We read
of these terrible straits here, there in chapter 6, verse 25,
And there was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, they
besieged it, until Anassi's head was sold for four score pieces
of silver, and the fourth part of a cub of dove's dung for five
pieces of silver. And we read of two women, we
read here of women who would eat their own children in the
siege. There was the complaint of the
woman to the king in verse 28 of that chapter, 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
will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and it ate
him. And I said unto her on the next
day, Give thy son that we may eat him. And she hath hid her
son, What a solemn, awful judgments. We are reminded of the curse
that should come upon Israel if they forsook the Lord. and
obeyed not his commandments. Deuteronomy 28 verse 15, But
it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and
his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these
curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Then in verse
53 of that chapter we read this particular curse. Deuteronomy
28 verse 53, And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body,
the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord
thy God hath given thee in the siege and in the straightness,
wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee, so that the man
that is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall
be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom,
and toward the remnant of his children, which he shall leave.
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children
whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him in the
siege and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall
distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman
among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon
the ground for delicateness and tenderness, Her eye shall be
evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and
toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out
from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall
bear, for she shall eat them. For want of all things, secretly
in the siege and straightness wherewith thine enemy shall distress
thee in thy gates. See how precisely, how exactly
the Word of God is fulfilled. It seems likely that the other
woman had hid her son that she might eat him secretly in the
siege and straightness. And it seems that this had a
profound effect upon the king. Verse 30, 2 Kings chapter 6,
it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman
that he rent his clothes and he passed by upon the wall and
the people looked and behold he had sackcloth within upon
his flesh. Why he put sackcloth on? A sign of mourning, a sign of
repentance. Ah, but is this real repentance?
Does he really repent? Does he truly, savingly repent? No. He is brought to despair
and in his extremity he rages against the Lord. 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. It is often the case with men
in an unregenerate state that when they're brought into trouble
or distress they blame God for their misery. They don't blame
themselves or their own folly. Many times we have heard it,
it's been put to me, that religion causes wars. The cause of all
the troubles in Northern Ireland was religion. The cause of all
the troubles in the Middle East is religion. The atheist mantra
seems to be Get rid of religion and you get rid of trouble. And
this, of course, was the sentiment behind John Lennon's awful atheistic
anthem, Imagine, one of the worst pop songs ever written, I believe. At the time of the Roman Emperors,
when any calamity occurred in the Empire, it was the Christians
who were to blame. And so, Christians to the lions
was their cry. And that particular form of execution
was called damnatio ad bestias. Condemnation to beasts. That
was the judgment. And it was a judgment that was
reserved for the very worst criminals. That's how Christians were regarded. in Rome at that time. The Christians
didn't worship, you see, the Emperor as a god. They didn't
bow down to the Roman gods. They didn't follow the ideology
of the day. They were not politically correct.
And so they had to be punished. They were the cause of all the
troubles that befell the Roman Empire. Or so it was here in
the case of King Jehoram. God do so to me, God do so, and
more also to me, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat,
shall not stand on him this day. It's Elisha's fault! Well, it was indeed true that
the Lord had brought this trouble upon the city of Samaria. The
prophet Amos says, Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord
hath not done it? Yes, but it was because of the
sins of the king and of the people that the Lord had brought this
judgment upon them. We read of the character of King
Jehoram in chapter 3 of this book. The second book of Kings. Chapter 3, the first 3 verses. Now Jehoram, the son of Ahab,
began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the 18th year of Jehoshaphat,
king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he wrought evil in
the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and like his
mother, for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he cleaved unto
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to
sin. He departed not therefrom." The
king and his people were deserving of punishment and the Lord visited
their transgression with the rod in accordance with all the
warnings that he had given them. Now this King Jehoram was brought to acknowledge,
he was brought to acknowledge this fact when he followed hard
on the heels of his messenger to see Elisha. See what he says
there, verse 33 of chapter 6, and he said, Behold, this evil
is of the Lord Behold, this evil is of the Lord." Now this doctrine ought to have
worked patience in his heart. It ought to have caused him to
hope in God, to cry to God, to wait for God and for His deliverance. It ought to have worked in him
that repentance. But what do we see? Behold, this
evil is of the Lord. What shall I wait for the Lord
any longer? He is brought to despair. What
should I wait for the Lord any longer? What is the point in
waiting for God any longer? He has brought this evil upon
us to destroy us. I will therefore give myself
up to the Syrians and surrender the city to our enemies. are
they not some who when they hear of the doctrine of providence
reason after this manner God is sovereign whatever will be
will be what shall I wait for the Lord any longer it doesn't
matter then what I do and are they not some who when they hear
of the doctrines of predestination and election reason after this
manner what shall I wait for the Lord any longer I like that
great 17th article of the Church of England's 39 articles. concerning
predestination and election, part of that article says, So
for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ,
to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's predestination
is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the devil doth thrust
them either into desperation or into wretchlessness of most
unclean living, no less perilous than desperation. Jehoram was a carnal man, Behold,
this evil is of the Lord. What should I wait for the Lord
any longer? He reasons. And there is even
the hearts of those who are regenerate, the Lord's people. In each of our hearts there is
His proneness to this kind of carnal reasoning. For do we not
yet have remaining in us a carnal nature, as well as that new nature,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness?
This is the cause, this remaining sin within us, this carnal nature
which we've inherited from our first parents. This is the cause
of all our doubts and fears. That carnal nature which says,
all these things are against me. That carnal nature which says,
what shall I wait for the Lord any longer? There's no hope for
me. like fallen reasoning which says I will give up on religion
I will surrender to my own heart's lusts or it could be a great
temptation to reason like this Asaph was tempted in this way
wasn't he in Psalm 73 At verse 13 he says, Verily I
have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. Well what then is the antidote
to such carnal reasoning? What is the antidote to all our
doubt and despair and desperation? Well it is the promise that God
has given. We see here a remarkable promise
given to the people of Samaria. 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 gates of Samaria.
Yes, within 24 hours the siege will be lifted and the famine
ended. You see, the Lord is able to turn the situation around
just like that. Within 24 hours you will have
a full store and a plentiful supply. Yes, today Anassi's head
is sold for four score pieces of silver. The fourth part of
a cub of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. Ah, but tomorrow,
about this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shackle
and two measures of barley for a shackle in the gate of Samaria.
Oh, the promise was remarkable for its timeliness. You see,
the people had lost all hope. Things were at the very worst
they could possibly be. There was nothing but despair.
And then the promise was given. Matthew Henry says, man's extremity
is God's opportunity for magnifying his own power. And so it was
here. And so it was in the beginning,
when man first fell. when he first sinned against
his Creator. Man had lost everything by the
fall. He lost his paradise and he lost his peace. It was then
when man was hiding from the face of his Maker that God sought
him out and gave him the promise of a Redeemer, the seed of the
woman who should bruise Satan's head. The promise was remarkable for
its timeliness, and the promise here was remarkable for its tenderness.
When we think of the awful idolatry of the people of Samaria, the
children of Israel, and of their king, they had bowed down to the golden
calves set up by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel
to sin. They were guilty of idolatry,
and they were worthy of death. that's the judgment under the law for idolaters,
death the king himself had come down to kill the man of God there
was murder in his heart but where sin abounded grace did much more
about and the Lord gives a promise of life so it was in the beginning,
wasn't it? Adam sinned and by his sin he
brought death into the world He brought the sentence of death
upon himself and upon all his posterity. All who are descended
from him by natural generation are sinners in him and through
him, being partakers of his fallen nature. All who are in him and
all who are of him are therefore guilty and worthy of death. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned." Ah, but there was the promise
given to Adam, the promise of life through a Redeemer. You
see, it was completely unmerited. It was altogether and purely
of grace. And that promise of life through
a Redeemer was held out to the church under all the dispensation
of the law? It was held forth in all these
sacrifices of the law? And the promise was reiterated
time and time again by the prophets until at last the blessed Redeemer
came? Paul spoke of this promise in
the synagogue at Antioch. when he declared, Of this man's
seed, that is, of David's seed, hath God, according to his promise,
raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. And again, in that same
place, Acts 13, 26, we read it, Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at
Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor
yet the voices of the prophets, which were read every sabbath
day, they had fulfilled them in condemning him. And though
they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate
that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from the tree,
and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen of many, and
he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare
unto you glad tidings, glad tidings, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto
us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. What is the gospel? The word
gospel means good news, glad tidings, glad tidings. It is
the promise of life in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, even to
those who because of their sin deserve nothing but death. And
so Paul writes to Timothy, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, according to the promise of life, the promise
of life, which is in Christ Jesus. And so John writes in his first
epistle, and this is the promise that he has promised us, even
eternal life. This promise is not for the Jews
only but for sinners of every nation. And so Paul speaks of
the mystery of Christ in these terms that the Gentiles should
be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the gospel. Well, this was, of course, intimated
in the very beginning in that the promise was first made to
Adam as the head of the entire race. For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Eternal life. Here then is a
remarkable promise. Here in 2 Kings chapter 7, I'll
put in the gospel, there is a far more remarkable promise. Secondly, we see here a remarkable
providence. In verse 3 of this 7th chapter
we read, And there were 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 will enter into
the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die
there. And if we sit still here, we
die also. And now therefore come, and 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 they
rose up in the twilight to go unto the camp of the Syrians,
and when they were come to the uttermost 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 hath 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, and left their tents and their horses and their
asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. It was
at twilight, at twilight, that the Lord put it into the hearts
of the four lepers to go to the camp of the Syrians. And it was
at the very same time, coincidentally, that 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. Or what? Terror had suddenly
seized that Syrian army. How true is that proverb, the
wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as
a lion. Again, in the Psalms, we sang
it just now in the Metrical Psalm, Psalm 53. There were they in
great fear where no fear was, for God hath scattered the bones
of him that encamped against thee. Thou hast put them to shame
because God hath despised them. And so shall it be with all the
enemies of God and his church. If the wicked flee when no man
pursueth, what terror shall seize them when they are brought before
the throne of God in the day of judgment and his justice pursues
them everlastingly to hell? Now we learn from this narrative
that providence is subservient or subordinate to the purpose
of God as revealed in his promise. Providence is a part of the outworking
of his eternal decree or his eternal purpose. All the events
which occur in this world are made to serve the interests of
Christ and of his church. The center of the universe is
the gospel church. The center of the universe is
the Gospel Church. And the Gospel Church is the
very center of God's attention and God's
purpose. It's also, of course, the attention
of Satan. And all the events which occur
in this world to serve the interests of Christ and his church and
we know Paul says and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God to them who are the called according
to his purpose that's his church and so Paul says again in Ephesians
that God has put all things under his feet that is under Christ's
feet all things are put under his feet and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him which filleth all in all. Now see how the Lord uses four
lepers. He makes use of four lepers who
were living outside the city gate because they were unclean. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world, to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence." Well, Lord Jesus Christ was despised, wasn't he?
He was despised and rejected of men. He was sent in the likeness
of sinful flesh. He was crucified through weakness.
But that despised man and that rejected man's death is the means
of the Church's salvation. But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. In Him is the
promise fulfilled. He is that seed of the woman.
The death which He suffered was that bruising of His heel. His
heel was His human nature. which he assumed at his incarnation.
And by his death that he died, by the bruising of his heel,
he has bruised Satan's head and delivered the church forever
from his fraud and from the condemnation of the law. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. As Peter said to the Jews on
the day of Pentecost, Therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Oh, the Lord God, He made use
of lepers to bring the glad tidings back to the city. And it has
pleased God to make use of mere men, not angels, but men, and
sinful men at that, leprous men. He's made use of to bring His
gospel to the king's household. He makes use of mere men in the
preaching of his everlasting gospel but we have this treasure
in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us says the apostle again he says it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe What is even more remarkable
is that God has been pleased in his providence and in his
grace to make use of poor Gentile preachers who, like those lepers
outside the city wall, were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world, but who now in Christ Jesus are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. Yes, Gentile preachers. like
those lepers outside the city wall are made heralds of the
good news of the gospel oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding
out and this is of course in accordance with the prophecies
of the Old Testament that Gentiles should be bearers of the good
news of the gospel in Zechariah chapter 6 we read, and they that
are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and
ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
In Isaiah 61, and strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and
the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedresses.
And again there in Isaiah, And they shall declare my glory among
the Gentiles, and they shall bring all your brethren for an
offering unto the Lord out of all nations, upon horses, and
in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift
beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children
of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house
of the Lord. And I will also take of them,
that is of the Gentiles, for priests and Levites, saith the
Lord. And he noticed that these lepers
had themselves eaten, they had drunk of the things that they
found, they had buried the treasure before they went to declare these
glad tidings to others. And so ministers of the Gospel,
those who preach the Word of God must know by gracious experience
the truths which they handle and which they preach. Those
who preach the unsearchable riches of Christ must themselves be
made partakers of those unsearchable riches. The problem we have today
is not so much inexperienced ministers, but unexperienced
ministers. The Bible colleges can churn
out ministers with a theological degree, but yet without a degree of grace.
And being destitute of grace, they infect professing churches
with errors and abominable practices inconsistent with the gospel
and the New Testament pattern. It's a solemn day we're in. The Protestant churches, these
days, are largely apostates. You know, at Portsmouth Cathedral,
a few years ago now, they showed that blasphemous film, The Life
of Brian. That was some time ago, but, you know, now they're
advertising a Black Lives Matter portrait exhibition. If you visit the Church of England's
website, as I did last night, to see what they're up to, Well,
they're advertising a climate Sunday service. Why don't they
preach the gospel? I'll tell you why. It's because they don't know
what the gospel is. They know nothing of the power
of it. They do not know it experimentally
or savingly. There are those who would seek
to reintroduce legal ceremony, ritual, and priesthood, holy days, Bring
them all back into the church. Let's imitate the church of Rome.
All these things were abolished at Christ's coming as the shadows
are dispelled when the sun reaches its zenith. And because they
are not Christ's, they would seek to bring the church under
the dominion of Antichrist and into communion with Rome. Thing
is, they're so bad that even Rome won't touch them. And because they are yet, themselves
yet in their sins, they would encourage others to continue
in their sins. They will not reprove the unfruitful
works of darkness, but would rather have fellowship with them.
They no longer speak of couples living together before they're
married as living in sin. That's what it was called once
upon a time. I spoke to a priestess in the
Church of England who told me that. They no longer refer to
it as living in sin. Why, they haven't even got the
gumption to say that sodomy is a sin. The established Church
of England is now conducting marriage services for so-called
transgender people. And we see now that the Church
of Scotland and the Methodists and the Church in Wales are blessing
same-sex relationships. Why, these apostate Protestant
churches make the anti-Christian Church of Rome look good! You
know, Rome says that the reason that she will not bless same-sex
relationships is because God cannot bless sin! Rome's saying
that! Where are the warnings to the
wicked? they say still unto them that
despise me the Lord hath said ye shall have peace and they
say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his
own heart no evil shall come upon you oh how solemn is the judgment that
awaits them When I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely die,
and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked
from his wicked way, to save his life, the same wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine
hand." A solemn judgment awaits these wicked false professors
who have infested the Protestant Church. Will it please Almighty God to
make use of these poor, despised lepers outside the city wall
to bring glad tidings to the poor, hungry, thirsty inhabitants
of the city? They had themselves really and
truly partaken of the good things they proclaimed. So it was with
the apostles, wasn't it? That which was from the beginning
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear
witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with
the Father, and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen
and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
His Son, Jesus Christ. Well, you read in verse 16, after
inquiry had been made into the truth of the report, and 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. A remarkable providence. And thirdly, we see here a remarkable
punishment. We read in verse 2, when the
promise was given, then a Lord on whose hand the king leaned
answered the man of God and said, behold, if the Lord would make
windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, behold,
thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. We read of how that word spoken by Elisha came
to pass verse 17 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 and he died as the man of god had said who
spake when the king came down to him And it came to pass, as
the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures
of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall
be to-morrow, about this time, in the gate of Samaria. And that
Lord answered the man of God, and said, Now behold, if the
Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he
said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes. but shall
not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him,
for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died. A remarkable punishment. The
promise and the prophecy concerning that Lord are repeated here in
order that we might take note. These things are, as it were,
underscored for us. And do we not see here in the
remarkable punishment of this man God's displeasure against
unbelief. Unbelief makes God a liar. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. And because Adam and Eve believed
not the word of God, but hearkened to the voice of the serpent,
they were banished from the Garden of Eden, you remember. it was
unbelief that prevented the children of Israel from entering into
the promised land and to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not
so we see they could not enter in because of unbelief you know all unbelievers shall
see Christ's glory yes they shall they shall see the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ but they shall not be partakers of it just as
this man saw the provision of God with his own eyes but he
was not permitted to eat thereof behold he cometh with clouds
and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him.
And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even
so, Amen. Remember the rich man that Jesus
spoke of. Luke 16 verse 23, And in hell
he lift up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Oh, the wicked, they shall see
something of the glory of Christ, but they shall not be partakers
of it. Those who have believed the report, those who have believed
the record that God gave of His Son, those who have believed
the promise, and embraced the promise, and who rest upon the
promise, they are made partakers of the grace of Christ here below,
and they shall be made partakers of His glory hereafter. They
are poor and needy sinners, spiritual lepers, feelingly unclean, spiritually
hungry and thirsty and they see in the person and in the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ that saviour that they need. Why have
you been brought to that? Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. As
Christ is set before them in the preaching of the gospel Their
hearts go out to Him in love and they embrace Him by faith. Well, what is the beginning of
faith but the end of self? Being brought to an end of ourselves,
we see in Christ the salvation that we need. Yes, the Gospel
is so simple and yet so profound. here in the gospel is revealed
a full Christ for empty sinners. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned. John says
he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of
God abideth on him. And we note how those poor, starving
men and women of Samaria must have rushed to the spoil for
this man to be trodden underfoot. Yes, true faith is not inactive. The kingdom of heaven suffered
violence, and the violent take it by force. The margin of that
scripture, Matthew 11, verse 12, reads, The kingdom of heaven
is gotten by force, and they that thrust men take it by force. Luke tells us that Jesus said,
"...the Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time
the kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth into it."
Or are we those who are pressing into the kingdom of God? Pressing
into the kingdom of heaven? Are we those who feel such a
hunger in our souls for righteousness and for peace with God and for
deliverance from the law of sin and death and from Satan's temptations,
or that we would, as it were, rush to Christ? That we'd run
to Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
and who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption? Oh, here is everything that a
poor, hungry, spiritually hungry sinner can need. It's all in
Christ. Oh, may God grant the gift of
faith to those who hear his word this evening. May the Lord Jesus
speak that word to our hearts, which he spoke to Thomas. Be
not faithless, but believing. If we are believers by God's
grace, then how we need to be on our guard against unbelief.
in our sinful hearts. We're so prone to it. We're so
prone to it. It's bound up in our fallen nature.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one
another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. for we are made partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. May the Lord bless his word and
the consideration of these things to each of our souls this evening
for the glory of his holy name. 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. Then
a Lord, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God,
and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven,
might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. Let us sing as our concluding
hymn, the hymn number 184. The tune is Halton 808. A fullness resides in Jesus our
head and ever abides to answer our need. The Father's good pleasure
has laid up in store a plentiful treasure to give to the poor. Hymn number 184.