Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it
wonderful to be here? Oh my goodness. You know, tonight
we're gonna look at the free grace of God. Our great God is
so merciful. So merciful. So full of grace.
So full of mercy. And his grace is free and sovereign. He bestows it upon whom he will,
according to his will and purpose, which was purposed in eternity.
And we're just mere receivers of this grace and this mercy,
aren't we? It's incredible. Last week, when we looked at
the first 11 verses of 2 Kings chapter 7, let's turn there,
where we saw the four lepers faced with certain death. Remember,
they were outside the city, but they were by the gate. And they
thought, well, if we stay here, we're going to starve. If we
go in the city, they're already starving. We're going to starve.
And so let's go and throw ourselves upon the Syrian camp. And if
they kill us, well, they said, well, we'll just be dead. So
they faced certain death. in their eyes, in their eyes.
Oh my. They did not know what Elijah
had prophesied in the city. See Elijah's inside the city
and he prophesied that there would be more food the next day,
so much food that it would cost pennies on the dollar, pennies
on the dollar. Let's read verses one to two.
We'll read verse one first where we see Eliza prophesies about
this wonderful miracle. It's all of the Lord too, isn't
it? It's his doing. Because remember, he scared away
the Syrians. He made them think that the Israelites had hired
the Hittites or the Egyptians as mercenary armies and came. But it was the Lord that did
that, wasn't it? And these Syrians, they're still running. We're
going to see in the text, they're still running. And they're actually
still flinging stuff off them to make them run even faster.
My, oh my. Look at verse one. Then Elijah
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. So he's saying it's going to
cost next to nothing for food tomorrow. pennies on the dollar,
shekels, pennies on the dollar. Then we see in verse two a sure
pronouncement of death upon the king's lord, upon whom he leaned
for advice. He was just a noble man of Israel. And he spoke though against the
prophet of God, didn't he? He spoke against that which God
prophesied. Because Elijah was just repeating
the words the Lord wanted him to say. Look at this. 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. Now here's
Elijah answering back to him. And he said, Behold, thou shalt
see it with thine eyes. You're going to see. You're going
to see the bounty out there. But shall not eat thereof. Now,
I'll tell you what. When God says something, it's
going to come to pass. Remember we saw that this man,
this same Jesus, shall come back? He's coming back. Right? And the Lord said in John 17
2, which we looked at too on Sunday, He said, All power is
given to me to give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me. We're living proof of that. We're
answers to that prayer, beloved. You ever think of that? You're
an answer to prayer, Dave. The Father answered Christ's
prayer. Zane, you're an answer to prayer. Isn't that wonderful?
My! We don't look at that, and we're
monuments of the grace of God, aren't we? Isn't that wonderful? And that's for every one of us,
too. Every one of us. Let's read now verses 8 to 20.
We're going to see what happens in the rest of this chapter.
Verses 8 to 20. And we'll look at this to see
the context, starting in verse 8, to see the context of our
text tonight, which will be verses 12 to the end of the chapter,
verse 20. And when these lepers came to
the innermost part of the camp, they went into the tent, and
did eat and drink, and carried fence, silver and gold, and raiment,
and went and hid it, and came again, and entered into another
tent, and carried fence also, and went and hid it. They're
doing the same thing we'd all do, right? They're just grabbing
stuff and they're hiding it. Oh my. 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. So they came and called
up to the port of the city, and they told them, saying, we came
to the camp of the Syrians. And behold, there's no man there,
neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied, and tents
as they were. These Syrians are gone, but everything's
just how they left it. Everything's there, but they're
gone. And he called the porters. And
they told it to the king's house within. And the king rose in
the night and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the
Syrians have done to us. Oh, he's suspicious. These lepers
come with glad tidings, don't they? They come with glad tidings,
saying everything we need to survive is out there. How they're like gospel preachers
saying everything a sinner needs. And not just gospel preachers,
but all believers, saying everything a sinner needs is found in Christ.
Everything. Everything. Look at this. They know that we be hungry,
therefore they are 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. So he's suspicious of what's
going on. Now here's, do you remember Nahum's
servants, Naaman's servants? Remember how we saw that Naaman's
servants said, well, why don't you just go and do what the man
of God says? Man, these servants are smarter than the people they're
serving. Look at this. Look at this. One of the servants answered,
he's talking to the king, and said, let some take, I pray thee,
five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold,
they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it.
Behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites
that are consumed. And let us send and see. They
took their four, so Tim James brought out that these are the
king's horses that are left. They ate all the rest of them,
but he said these are the king's horses. They won't eat the king's
horses. And notice too, remember when the king was walking along?
Remember when he was walking? He wasn't hungry. People are starving all around.
I'll tell you what, he wasn't hungry. Brother Tim brought that
out too. He wasn't hungry. And he had no concern, remember,
for them? And then he falsely wrapped himself in sackcloth
and ashes. My oh my, just deceiving people. Oh my. And so they took therefore two
chariots, verse 14, and the king sent out to the host of Syria
saying, go and see. So they took two chariot horses
and they went after the Syrians as well. 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."
They were terrified. They were terrified. "...for
a shekel in haste. And all the messengers returned
and told the king..." Look at this. "...and all 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. Now remember I told
you that the armies of past used to travel with huge baggage trains
and stuff. Cattle, hay, barley, whatever
they needed. And this place was packed. Because
remember it was a great host, right? There must have been so
much stuff. Gold left in the tents because
each person would also buy stuff. Gold and silver. My, it's a bounty
that you can't even probably put a price on. It's incredible. Look at this. And the people
went out and spoiled the tents of the Assyrians, 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. Look at that. What
God says, it's going to come to pass. It's going to come to
pass. And the king appointed the Lord
on whose hand he leaned. Now, you remember the fellow
that said, well, is God going to open the windows of heaven?
Just so brazen. He's probably an idol worshipper
like the king. Just so brazen. Well, look at
this. He's the king's right hand man,
so he's gonna hook him up with a good job, right? To be able
to see everything that comes back into the gate. But look at this. And the king
appointed the Lord on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the
gate. And the people trolled him in the gate. And he died,
as the man of God had said, and spake, or who spake when the
king came down to him." Look at that. He saw it. He saw the
people running out. He probably saw some folks coming
in. But the people were in such a haste to get out there, they
were starving, beloved. They trampled them to death. my and it came to pass it came to pass oh sorry 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 tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria. And the
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 shalt
not eat thereof. And again, and so it fell out
unto him. For the people trod upon him
in the gate, and he died. We're told twice about that.
You don't mess. You don't mess with the Word
of God. When God says something, we bow to it as believers, don't
we? We bow to it. We might not understand it, but
we bow to it. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter five. Romans chapter five. We see in
this text before us the response of the king of Israel to the
good tithings that the four lepers bought. The message was plain
and simple, wasn't it? There's a bounty. Come and get
it. It's free. Come and get it. Oh my. These lepers, these four lepers,
they proclaim, the siege is over. Kind of sounds like Isaiah saying,
the warfare is accomplished. We're going to look at that later
on. It's finished. Oh my. And the enemies of God's people
had fled. And all they had left was the
clothes that they were wearing. But we saw they're throwing off
raiment too, aren't they? They fled. Who put them to flee
in? God. The Lord. Amen, brother.
The Lord did it. He did it. By His almighty power
and His almighty hand. What did Israel have to do? All
they had to do was go out and gather the spoils. Partake in
it. Eat it. It's all free. It's right
there. It's already been provided. And
it's been provided by God. God provided it. My oh my, so all they had to
do was go and gather the spoils, which would not only, which would
not only alleve their starvation, but everything, think of this,
everything they lost, they gained back. Amen. What happened in Adam? We all fell, right? What happened
in Christ? We regained it all back and more. Isn't that wonderful? Amen. Oh my. Look at this in Romans. Look at this. And this is the
theme of the gospel, isn't it? This is the theme of the gospel.
Think upon what we lost in Adam. And that much and more has been
returned to us in Christ. Let's look at Romans chapter
five. We're starting verse one. We're gonna read this whole chapter.
I'm gonna break it down a little bit here. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at that. Justified by faith. God-given
faith and justified by faith in Christ. It's all Christ, isn't
it? It's all Christ and him alone. And what do we have as a result
of that? Peace with God. That's glorious. Look at this. By whom also we have access by
faith unto the grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. We have full access to God through
Christ. And what a hope we have. Our
hope's in God. Our hope's not just in a mere
man. Our hope's in God. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
who came to this earth to redeem his people. Are you one of his
people? Are you born again by the Holy
Spirit of God? Do you trust and rest in Christ right now? I can
say yes. Then I'm one of the ones who
he came to redeem. And if you can say yes too. by being born
again, the fact that you're born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
then you're one of the ones He came to redeem too. Isn't that
magnificent? Isn't it? Isn't that magnificent? It's amazing. And not only so,
but we glory in tribulations, also knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope,
and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God, look
at this, what's shed abroad in our hearts now? The love of God. love of God and shed abroad in
our hearts. By who? By the one who has enabled us to cry, Abba
Father. By the Holy Ghost which is given
unto us. Remember Christ said, I'll send
you the Comforter. And he sent just like the Son
was sent too. We found that out in Galatians
that he sent as well. My oh my. For when we are yet without strength,
dead in trespasses and sins, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. That's us. That's what we call
ourselves in our natural state, the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, but are yet peradventure for a good man Some
would even dare to die, but God commanded his love toward us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See, the
manifestation of God's love, that eternal love that he has
for us, that we had no idea about before the Lord saved us, was
manifested at the cross. That is the greatest manifestation
of love that this world has ever seen at Calvary's cross. Oh my. Much more than, look at this,
being, Dave, now. Now, now what? Justified. Oh my, isn't this wonderful?
You mean I'm justified right now? In Christ, yes. Paul's writing
the believers here. Look at this. Much more than being now justified,
how? How, Brother Brian, how are we
justified? By his blood. by the shedding of his blood.
Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sins.
And praise be to God Christ, shed his blood to redeem our
eternal souls. And we say hallelujah, don't
we? That's for sure we say that.
Oh my, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Look at this. There it is again.
We what? Shell. Amen. Shell. be saved from wrath through him.
Not maybe, shall. Every time I see that word now,
I'm gonna get so excited. It tells us it's sure. And it's
sure because of the blood of Christ, beloved. Because he was
sent to redeem us from all our sins. And he shall save his people
from their sins. And he did it. My, it's wonderful. My, we shall be saved from what?
From wrath through him, from God's wrath, which was poured
out upon him in our room and place. Oh, my. For when we were enemies, that's
in our minds, right? We were enemies in our minds
to God in our natural state. Look at this. Look at this. We were reconciled to God by
the death of his son. What? I was reconciled before
I was even born. That's what that text says, right? We had no idea, and as we talked
about, that regeneration for us in the giving of faith had
to occur in time and space. That's why it says we're justified
by faith. We now have peace with God. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. In God's economy, it was already
done, but it had to occur in time and space, beloved. Christ
had to come into this world and die for the sins of his people.
He had to. His blood had to be shed to save
us from our sins. My For when we were enemies,
we're born enemies with God in our minds. Look at this. We were
reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life. Now we're reconciled to God. Do you know the ministry of the
gospel is the ministry of reconciliation? Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely,
so again, we're reading this to see what was sitting there
in front of them. The leper said, it's all here. It's free. The gospel preacher stands up
and says, salvation in Christ is free. It cost him, but it's
free. It's free. Spirit of the bride
say, come. Christ himself says, come ye,
all ye that labor in our heavenly. I will, I'll give you rest, he
says. My, he given us rest, hasn't
he? Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Oh,
and not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at this, by whom we have
now received the atonement. Look at that. All Christ. Did you notice that? We're just
receivers. We're just receivers of his grace
and mercy, receivers of this wondrous atonement. You're getting
better and better, isn't it? I'll tell ya, it's amazing. Look
at this, verse 12. Next we'll see death in Adam,
but life in Christ in the next verses, from verse 11 all the
way to verse 21. Look at this. Wherefore, as by
one man, that's Adam, sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, right? The reason we die is because
of sin. That's why. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. We're just like our father, Adam,
we're a bunch of sinners. My dad was a sinner. All he could
beget was sinners. There's three boys in my family,
we're all sinners. I got two kids, they're sinners. All a sinner can do is begat
a sinner. Look at this. So death passed
upon all men for that all. Now that all there means all,
everyone. All have sinned. My, for until
the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where
there's no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. See,
again, we're all sinners. We're all sinners. But not as
the offense, so also is, look at this, the free gift. Here
we go. The free gift. It's free, beloved. We don't
have to do nothing. Isn't that wonderful? We just
look to the Savior and live. Right? All of us, all we who
are believers, we look to Him, didn't we? By God's grace and
mercy. And we believe. We believe. We freely and fully
cast ourselves upon Him, don't we? We renounce all our works. Say, I got no works that can
ever, ever, ever bring me any merit before God. It's all based
upon the work, the finished, complete, perfect work of Christ
on the cross. And I'll tell you what, it's
sealed with His blood, isn't it? Sealed with His blood, beloved. Look at this. But not as the
offense, so also is the free gift, for if through the offense
of one, many be dead. So there's Adam. We fell on Adam,
and every one of us, every one of us, death comes to us. We're
born dead in trespasses. Look at this. Much more the grace
of God, and the gift, there it is, the gift, it's a gift, it's
given to us, a gift of grace, which is by one man. It only
comes through who? Jesus Christ, has abounded unto
many. Do you notice it's not all? But it's many. It's many, isn't it? And that
many is a number no man can number. Isn't that wonderful? And remember
Sister Jill sang that song, Praise God He Included Me. We can say
that right after reading that verse right there. Look at that.
It's wonderful. Oh, my. And not as it was by
one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, right? So we're all condemned in Adam.
But look at this. But the free gift is again of
many offenses unto justification. Oh, many offenses. How much we
offended God in all our sin. Many. I'll tell you. Augustus
Toplady supposedly counted if you'd sin X amount of times per
day until you were 81, it was over some billions of sins, anyways. And Bruce Crabtree got up one
time and he said, he said, mine's more than that. Well, I'd agree
with him with me too. And you all would agree too,
probably, right? Billions of sins, many offenses,
all forgiven, all washed under the blood. Never to be remembered
again. Never to be remembered again. Oh my, what a Savior. What a
Redeemer. And look at this. The free gift
is of many unto justification. Justified before God. Sister
Linda, we're justified in Christ. We can stand before God in Christ. Justified. Isn't that wonderful? So beautiful, isn't it? So beautiful. It's just wonderful. Look at
this. Justification of what? Of life. Of life. First, by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience
of one. Now look at that. The obedience
of one. What was he obedient to? The
law of God. He did that which we could never
do for ourselves. He did it as our substitute.
He's absolutely sinless. We're saved by his obedience
and his death upon the cross, beloved. That's why you hear
me say his life is just as important as his death. Right? Spurgeon used to bring that up
all the time because by his life, by his substitutionary life,
we're made righteous. because he totally fulfilled
the law of God for us. And then his death is just a
sealing of that eternal life, isn't it? By his precious, precious
blood. And we're justified now by faith in Christ, in what he's
done for us. My, and again, that faith's a
gift. It's a free gift. Our salvation
we see all through here, it's a free gift. If we got what we
deserve, we deserve hell, don't we? Marvel at this though. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, that being
Christ. Now look at that. Here's another
one of them little words. Look at that. This word just
keeps showing up, doesn't it? Many might be? Many might be
if they make a decision? Doesn't say anything about a
decision in there, does it? Look at this. For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, that's
Christ, shall many, shall, shall, shall, many be made, what? Righteous. Brother, we're righteous before
God and Christ. That's what it says. And it says,
that's another one of those shells, right? Is there any doubt there?
See, let's look at that word is certain. Because that's what
it is. He shall save his people from
their sins. This same Jesus shall come back again. We shall be made righteous. We're
made righteous right now, aren't we? In Christ. Oh, it's wonderful,
beloved. Look at this. Moreover, the law
entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded,
aren't you glad for this? Grace did much more abound. That's a hallelujah. Oh my. Sin abounded in our lives, didn't
it? It consumed us. We were slaves to sin, but God's
grace has superabounded towards us, beloved. Saved by the blood
of Christ. mercy saved by the free and sovereign
grace of God in Christ. That as sin reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness. Look at that,
grace reigns through righteousness. Who's the Lord our righteousness?
The Lord Jesus Christ, right? And we hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Who is our righteousness? Christ. Oh, grace reigns through
Christ, beloved. Unto what? Eternal life by Jesus
Christ our Lord. Look at that. Eternal life. Eternal life, not temporary life.
Eternal life, beloved. Eternal life. That's what we
as God's people have. So stand amazed. These lepers
gave a report. They gave a report of the great
bounty and all of it for free. Free. Come and get it. Oh my. Now this was not a foreign message
to the people of God over in Deuteronomy. God promised this. concerning the promised land
to these rights. And it shall be when the Lord
thy God shall have bought thee into the land which he swore
unto his fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give
thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and
houses full of goods, which thou fillest not, and wells digged,
which thou diggest not, vineyards, and olive trees, which thou plantest
not, which thou shalt have eaten, and be full." Full. Satisfied. Right? My. My, it just gets better and better,
I tell you, beloved. So we have a picture here of
the declaration of the gospel. God has freely given his people
all things in Christ. We have everything in Christ.
Everything we need is in Christ. Everything. And you know what? There'd be no good thing withheld
from us either. And that's not talking financial blessings.
That's talking spiritual blessings in Christ. That's all we need,
isn't it? We can be the poorest people
on this earth, but if we have Christ, we're full. We're rich. Rich. My. Turn if you would. Turn if you would to Isaiah.
Now, this declaration that the siege is over, Isaiah chapter
40. Turn there if you would. Isaiah
chapter 40. This declaration, they're saying
the siege is over. Everything we need is out here.
It's already here. Who provided it? God provided
it all, didn't he? Look at this, Isaiah chapter
40. This is magnificent. This is, this is, this is true
comfort for the Israel of God. In Christ our warfare is accomplished,
beloved. In Christ, you know, our salvation
is sure. It's sure. As He who has saved
us is God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this, Isaiah
chapter 40, verses 1 to 5. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Now, I can't comfort you on my
own, but the preaching of the word can comfort you when the
Holy Spirit gets a hold of it, right? And that's our prayer.
Every time I get up, Lord, use it for your glory. Bless your
people with it, Lord, please. Comfort me. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.
That's the church. And cry unto her. Cry unto her. Your warfare is accomplished. My, crying to her that her iniquities
pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Blessings, spiritual blessings
upon spiritual blessings upon spiritual blessings. Undeserved,
unmerited, poured out on God's people. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Jehovah,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Oh, he's the king's
highway, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the narrow way. My, oh my. He's the celestial
city. Heaven will only be heaven because
Christ is there, right? Mine. Make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. God's preachers, we get up and
we just proclaim Christ. There he is. There he is, the
only way to heaven, the only way to God the Father, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight. Dave, we've been made straight.
We were crooked, man. And God's made us straight. And
the rough places plain. and the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it. Now remember what I said earlier
in the message? If God says it, it's sure. Isn't it wonderful? It's wonderful! Oh my! How did God do this? How did God accomplish our warfare?
By the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's how. That's how he did it. That's
how he did it. To redeem his people from all
their sins. And it was done fully, and it
was done freely by Christ. And it all came about, too, by
the absolute free and sovereign grace of God. And the conduit
of how it flows to us is the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. And God's grace is free
grace. I'll tell you what, His free
grace is absolutely free. And this free grace of God does
not sit well with the carnal nature of man. Did you see that king? Suspicious. He's all suspicious about all.
The Syrians are fooling us. It can't be this. It can't be
that easy. It can't be that simple. Oh my. In this free grace of
God does not sit well again with the carnal nature, the old man
cannot grasp the idea of grace, much less even the principle
of gaining, gaining God's grace without personally meriting it. We do not merit it at all. We
do not deserve it. So ponder, this grace of God
is free. No strings attached. It's free. No condition needs to be met
by us. None. No circumstances can negate
it either. Isn't that wonderful? No circumstance
and nobody can negate it. Oh. My oh my. God sent his son to die in the
ruined place of his people, and he did this freely. Freely sent his son to die for
us. Now this was at a great cost
to him, wasn't it? This is his only begotten son.
Didn't cost us anything. But oh my, and the Lord cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Oh my. And God the Father sent
his Son to die in the room and place of sinners, and when that
time came, he unseeth his sword of justice, and he plunged it
into Christ. that His justice would never
extract what we deserve to pay upon us. And Christ said, as Brother Dave
mentioned, it is finished. It's done. Salvation is obtained. Salvation is purchased. And He's
raised again for our justification. And how was it purchased? By
his blood. By his blood, beloved. The blood
of the God-man. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. My. And the carnal mind does not
understand this. The carnal man cannot conceive
the spiritual truth. It looks to It's a self-defined
reason for this abundance, but there's no reason to be found
in us. And false preachers say God looked
down through time and saw who would choose him. No. If God,
listen to what D.J. Ward said, if God hadn't of chose
some, heaven would have none. If God hadn't of chose some,
heaven would have none. Mercy. Mercy. Overbounding. Oh my. Look at how the king,
look at the king here. 2nd Kings chapter 7 verse 12. Look what the king says when
he hears about what the lepers have proclaimed. Look at this. And the king arose in the night
and said unto his servants, I will show you what the Syrians have
done. They know we're hungry. Therefore are they gone out of
the camp to hide themselves in the field. When they come out
of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into the city.
Right away. See, natural man has a love for
self. A natural man will venture into
the minefield of his delusions of goodness, the supposed power
of his will, and the value of his person to reach the conclusion
that he deserves God's grace, but none of us do. This is what
makes it magnificent. None of us deserve this. And
the fact that man refused the concept of free grace under the
preaching of the gospel is simply a reminder that the religion
of man is that of works for rewards. What can I get out of it? We
labor in the Lord because of His great love for us. Remember
we saw that in Galatians? We labor in the Lord because
of His love. Because of His love. And here we see the natural man
cannot grasp the fact that God's grace is a gift. It's a gift. which cannot be purchased, which
cannot be earned. And this king right away is suspicious. Can't be that. These lepers,
they're not going to lie to him. Remember, they felt guilty. And they're coming back saying,
let us spread these good tidings. Gospel's good tidings, isn't
it? Oh my. But we see this king, he's, he's
followed in the idolatrous footsteps of, of his father. We did that
too, didn't we? Whether it was love for self
or love for something else or... My oh my. My oh my. And he's dishonored God. And
now such a report of God's free and sovereign grace. This abundant
blessing causes the carnal mind to think that there's something
sinister going on here. It becomes suspicious. As I said
earlier, surely it can't be that simple. Surely it can't be that
easy. Surely I got to do something.
Yeah. Right on, brother. That's exactly right. Surely
there's something I have to do. Nope. Nope. Oh my. Now the king knew that
this siege was a result of the people's idolatry, but he couldn't see anything
in this blessing other than the conspiracy. Look at verse 12
again. And the king arose at night and said unto his servants,
I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They
know that we're hungry, therefore are they gone out of the camp
to hide themselves. Oh, they're hiding in the field. saying,
when they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and
get into the city. Now let us think of many who
hear the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, the good
news of a finished, complete work by the Lord Jesus Christ, and
all the manifold mercies that come with that, all the benefits
that come for the sinner with that, And they say in their heart,
this can't be so. That's what this king is saying. This can't be so. My, now workspace religion is
driven by the fact that they think there's something worthy
in man. But we know there's nothing worthy in us at all, is there?
Nothing at all. Oh my, we're just dead dog sinners. And it also boils down to the
fact that the unbeliever cannot believe the promise of God. Right? Even when it's fulfilled in their
ears. Remember the prophet had informed the king. Look at verse
1 again. Then Elijah said, Hear ye the word of the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord to-morrow about this time shall a measure of
fine flour be sold for a shekel, two measures of barley for a
shekel in the gate of Samaria. He had heard those words. And
here he is going. No. Surely there's a trap. He's already forgotten what the
prophet said, didn't he? Oh, how many put the gospel out
of their mind after hearing it? I was guilty of that. How many
put it out of their minds? And in that Lord who served the
king upon whom the king leaned. He didn't believe what Elijah
said. He made it manifest too, didn't he? By what he said. My, again, just as Naaman's,
and the thing I love in this text is verse 13, where the servant
says to the king, just like Naaman's servants. I hit that right away
today. I was like, oh my, look at that. It's the servant again.
And it's not the Lord. It's not the Lord who the noble
man. It's not that guy. This is just
a servant for the king. And one of his servants answered
and said, Let some take, I pray thee, verse 13, five of the horses
that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are as
the multitude of Israel that are left in it. Behold, I say,
There, even as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed,
let us send and see. Now, verses 14 to 16. They took
therefore two chariots and horses, and the king sent after the host
of Syrians, saying, Go and see. 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 messenger
returned and told the king, 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. That's what God said came to
pass. Look at that. Look at that. Shel. We're not going to look
at that word ever the same again, are we? Shel. Now again, the
king's servant had heard the good tidings. They'd heard the tidings of the
lepers, right? And their bellies are aching,
beloved. They're not eating like the king's eating. They may be
his servants, but they're not eating like the king's eating. And they said, we got five horses
remaining, sir. Why not? Why not send some horses
out with men on them? Why not? So in verse 15, the king sent
men out to search, and they went all the way to Jordan, finding
all on the way the spoils of the enemy, who was defeated by
God. Look at that. And then what happened? Those
people, they ran out that door, didn't they? They ran. They ran. They ran out to gather
those goods. There was a bounty that they...
Now think of this. There was a bounty that they
didn't earn, and there was a bounty that was completely free. And
they ran. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of God's power. Willing to flee to Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? Oh, it's wonderful. And their
bellies and their coffers would be full. Now I stand here in
front of men and women here who are full by the grace of God.
Right? In Christ. And ye are what? Complete
in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful. And it was free for us, wasn't
it? Oh my. My oh my, their bellies
and their coffers would be filled and what just hours before had
been a priceless commodity, food, was now just pennies on the dollar. However, the king and the servant
that he had sent to Elijah knew the promise. They knew the promise. They knew what Elijah said. And
they knew it had been fulfilled. And the servant who had heard
the promise was appointed to watch the gate. See what's coming
in and what's going out. Who's going out and what's coming
in. And he saw the fulfillment of the promise. But God dealt
with him, didn't he? God dealt with him. Look at verse
2 again. We see that it was told to him
by Elijah the prophet that he would see the bounty but he wouldn't
taste of it. Then a Lord, on whose hand the king leaned, answered
the man of God and said, Behold, if the Lord, that's Jehovah there,
would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He's mocking
him. He's mocking the man of God.
He's mocking what God said. And he said, Behold, thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. now we see the fulfillment of
it let's read verses seventeen to twenty again and the king
appointed the lord on whose hands he leaned to have the charge
of the gate and the people trod him down in the gate and he died
as the man of god had said would spake when the king came down
to him and it came to pass 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 tomorrow about
this time in the gate of Samaria. And that Lord answered the man
of God, saying, 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 shalt not eat thereof. And
then so it fell unto him, for the people trod upon him in the
gate, and he died." Judgment's sure, right? Judgment's sure. And we see that
this enemy of God was trampled down underfoot by the hungry
horde, seeking to what? Fill their need. Seeking to fill
their need. How plain and pure this account
is, if men need Christ. Oh my, they don't seek a measured
response. or control their behavior. Just
get out of their way. They're going to flee to Christ.
If they're being drawn by God, you ain't stopping them. And
we don't want to stop them. We encourage it. Flee to Christ. You might not have tomorrow.
Right? Now is the day. Now is the accepted
time. I was saying to someone today
about this very thing. I said, do you think all those
people that perished in those Hawaiian fires, do you think they thought they
had the next day? Sure they did. But they did not
know it was an appointment that they would never miss. And death's sure for all of us,
isn't it? It's sure for all of us. My, oh, my. Perhaps this king and servant
thought they could control the narrative of what happened. They'd say, well, we're the keepers
of the promise. I don't know. I don't know what
they were thinking. They might have also devised a plan to disperse
the goods, to keep record of, put them down there by the gate
so he could keep record of everything that was coming in. I wouldn't
put it past them. Wouldn't put it past them. And
then they could disperse the blessings to whomever they felt
the blessings of that food and that money to whomever they felt
was worthy of it in their eyes. Bingo. The Pope. Lies. Lies, lies, lies. I'll tell you what though. God's
grace and salvation is free. Absolutely free. And it's free
in Christ Jesus. And it's been purchased. That
salvation we have has been purchased by the precious blood of the
God man. Sealed by his blood, beloved. Sealed by his blood. And we're marked by the Holy
Spirit of God, aren't we? Sealed by the Holy Spirit of
promise. My, Christ didn't come to call
the righteous, did he? He came to call sinners to repentance,
didn't he? Amen, brother, you and I. Sinners
to repentance, that's what. And we're all living proof of
that, aren't we? Sinners. Helpless, starving sinners with
no hope outside of Christ. My, and what happens when the
Holy Spirit's drawn us? We're like that group of folks
going out that gate, aren't we? We're gonna fly out that gate,
aren't we? Fly to Christ. Fly to Christ, because we've
been made willing in the day of God's power. So what do we
say? I'm gonna say hallelujah. What
a Savior is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Brother Dave, can you close
us in prayer?