Turn, if you would, to 2 Kings
7. 2 Kings 7. What is the primary attribute of a
sinner that comes to Christ? What's the primary attribute
of a sinner that comes to Christ? They're needy. Needy. Oh, it's the fact of our need,
our need to be saved from our sins. And as the Holy Spirit
shows us through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, through the preaching of His word proclaiming salvation
in and through Christ alone and redemption by His precious, precious
blood, It's only by then, by the revelation of God, the Holy
Spirit, that we see our desperate need for Christ. And we see that
he is all we need. Is he not, beloved? Is he not
all we need? All in all, amen. He's everything. And this desperate need is born
of desolation, beloved. in ruin, as the Holy Spirit shows
us, that we're nothing but fallen sinners with such great sinfulness. And then He shows us the great
Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who a sinner
needs. The only thing that a sinner
really needs is Christ. When Hannah was speaking in terms
of the Lord killing and making alive, of making hungry and filling,
she's not merely stating facts, beloved. She's setting forth
the manner and the method of grace. God's grace, we who are the God's
people know, is stripping grace, isn't it? It strips us down to
nothing. It strips us from our pride,
thinking we can save ourselves. It strips us from our self-righteousness. It leaves us in the dust, beloved. And we don't move from there,
do we? As Scott Richardson said, we make our headquarters in the
dust after the Lord saves us. We are nothing and He is everything. Everything. But it takes the power of God
to take a rebel and turn him into a saint. It takes the power
of God to take a stiff-necked people and make us willing in
the day of his power. It takes the power of God to make a born-again, blood-washed
saint of God. Washed in the blood of Christ. washed in the precious blood
of Christ. And it all comes about because
of God's almighty power and God's almighty grace, beloved. And
we are but recipients of this magnificent salvation that we
have in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the most stripping doctrine
in the scriptures is the doctrine of God's grace because it leaves
nothing up to us at all. It strips us right down to nothing. It says, for by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And that faith that we are given
is one object, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. And God's grace will bring the
recipient of His grace to know that they have nothing to offer
God. Is that not true? Is that not
up to us, beloved? Have we not been brought to the
point where we now know that we have nothing to offer to God
to gain merit and salvation by anything we do? And now we've
been taught by the Almighty God, God the Holy Spirit. We've been
taught the things of Christ. We've been taught the perfect,
perfect, perfect sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ
is finished. It's done. There's nothing for
us to do, but just to look to Christ by faith. And it's absolutely
wonderful, isn't it? Everything we need has been provided. Do you know he's defeated all
our enemies, beloved? When Christ died on the cross,
he defeated all the enemies of God's people. Everything that
was against us, he crushed Satan's head. The law of God was against
us. The wrath of God should have
fell upon us. The justice of God demanded payment
for our sins, and he paid it all. So much so that when he cried,
it is finished. It is perfect in the Greek. It's perfect. My, what a wonderful
salvation we have in Christ, beloved. So we now know that
there's nothing we can do, say, or perform for our salvation. It's all in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. So with that, now let's read
the first two verses of 2 Kings chapter 7. 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. Now remember, they're being besieged
by the great Syrian army, a great Syrian army. And they have no
food, so much so that they're eating unclean animals. And we
saw last week they've reverted to cannibalism. And Elijah makes this proclamation,
he says, thus saith the Lord, this is the Lord saying this
through Elijah, 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. Pennies. They're going to be
pennies. Then the 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 thou
shalt not eat thereof. You're going to see it. And we're
going to see that. We won't see this tonight. We'll
see this next week. That man was trampled by the crowd going
out of the gate. Next, in our text, we're going
to read verses 3 to 11. In our next, in our text, we
are introduced to four unnamed lepers. Four unnamed lepers. Could be any one of us, beloved.
Because we're going to see that they're a picture of God's children.
They're pictures of sinners. Look at this. And they discover
that the Syrians have fled. They discover the Syrians have
fled, and then they eat and feast in the tents of the Syrians. And then what do they do? Then
they go and tell others. They go and tell others of this
great bounty of God that awaits those who come out of the city
and seek it. Now let's read verses 3 to 11.
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 here, we
die also. 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
outermost part of the camp, behold, there was no man there. What happened to them? Look at verse 6. For the Lord
had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and
the 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, their horses, their asses,
even the camp as it was, and fled for their lives." Look at
that. They left everything behind.
Everything. They didn't even take the horses.
Wouldn't you think you'd jump on a horse? You'd think so, right? Nope,
they left it all behind. And when the lepers came to the
outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent and did eat
and drink. Look at that. These guys are
starving. They're starving just like the people in the city.
But they're lepers, they can't go into the city, can they? Oh my, they're starving, but
look at what they're eating and drinking. And Carrie then silver
and gold around it and went and hid it. They got a bunch of gold
and silver and clothes, and they're like, let's dig a hole over here.
We need to keep this stuff. We'd all do it, wouldn't we?
Right? We'd all do it. It's not thievery.
It's just sitting there. Right? Brother Tim James says,
is this thievery? No. The Lord scared him while
he was just sitting there. It's theirs for the taking, isn't
it? Oh, my. Oh, my. They carried these silver
and gold and raiment and went and hid it and came again and
entered into another tent and carried that also. Hey, Dave,
let's go get some more, man. saying, come on, man. Brian,
there's the four of us. Come on, let's go get some more.
We got to bury some more. It's totally us, isn't it? It's
totally us. We'd all do the same thing. Oh,
my. And carried dents also, and when
they hit it, they did the same thing again. Oh, my. Now here, look at this. 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
them to the port of the city and told them saying, We came
to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man there,
neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied in the tents
as they were. And he called the porters, and
they told it to the king's house within. Let us ponder what we just read.
Four leprous men, what a picture we have before us of the grace
and mercy of God. abounding to the worst of sinners,
the worst of mankind. We know we were born dead in
trespasses and sins, and that leprosy is a picture of sin.
We were born cursed and unwanted and unwashed in our natural state. My, oh my. And the four lepers
were Jews. And they had to remain outside
the camp, didn't they? Here they are, the Syrians are
besieging this great city, and these poor lepers are stuck outside. They can't go inside. They're
lepers. They can't go to the Syrian camp.
They figure they're going to die. But if they stay where they
are, they're going to starve to death, aren't they? Look at verse 3. And there were
four lepers, men at the entering into the gate. That's where they
were. Tucked into the gate. Not in
the city, but tucked in by the gate. And they said, one to another,
why sit we here until we die? What are we doing? Be like us
sitting around, Dave, you're going to Zane and Brian and I,
why are we sitting here? Why are we just sitting here
dying? And these four lepers are starving,
just like the multitudes inside. They were just as much victims
of the siege and the desolation as those inside. Look at verse
four. If we say we will enter into
the city, then the famine's in the city. So they're not getting
anywhere by going into the city, are they? Because we saw last week they
reverted to cannibalism, some of them. And we shall die there. No one's
going to help a leper. That's the last person anyone's
gonna help, isn't it? Is a leper. And if we sit still here, we
die also. So death's staring in their face
if they stay where they are. Death's staring in their face
if they go into the city. And we will see here death staring
in their face if they go to the Syrian camp. Look at this. Now
therefore come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians.
If they save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we
shall but die. Hey, we're already going to die. Why not go to the Syrians? They've got what we need, don't
they? Nothing in the city can help
us. Why not go, what's the worst
thing they're gonna do? They're gonna kill us. Well,
death's there, death's here, and death's in front of us. The old time theologians calls
these four lepers sensible sinners. Sensible sinners. Through the hand of providence
they had nothing to lay hold of. All they had before them
was the cruel rightful death that awaited them. Oh, many die in their sin without
any sensibility of their estate. Right? And though, even though their
case is just as dire as these lepers, they say, I'm okay. I got all this stuff. I got money
to pay for doctors. I'll tell you what. When your time is up and my time
is up and whoever's listening to this message, their time is
up. There's nothing in this world that will stop that time. That's an appointment that none
of us are going to miss. Right? But think of this, these lepers
were doubly sensible of their plight. They were doubly sensitive
to what situation they were in. First, they were by a horrible
disease, unwelcome in the city, and they had a death sentence
upon them already. Right? There's no cure for leprosy
at this time. You get leprosy, it's a death
sentence. So they already were facing death, weren't they? They
already were. And wherever they went, they
would have to throw dust up in the air and cry, unclean! Unclean! And even they had to watch, they
had to cover their mouths, beloved, so that their spit and saliva
wouldn't infect somebody. This disease was so contagious
that way. No one could draw an eye onto
them. That's why it's so amazing. When the Lord touched that leper,
because you touched a leper, it was a death sentence. But
the almighty God, man, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, When
that leper said, Lord, thou can make me clean. He said, I will.
And he touched him. Oh, what a touch. And immediately
the leprosy was gone and nothing happened to our Lord because
he's perfect. He's sinful. He's sinless. And we are so sinful, right?
Our sins are imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ and he bears them
all. But death couldn't hold him.
He rises from the grave, doesn't he? He rises from the grave,
beloved. Oh, what a savior. Oh, what a redeemer. And secondly,
leprosy, again, is a death sentence. There's no cure available. There's
no cure available for these men. They've already got a death sentence
on them. So when they said, well, what's
the worst that can happen to us if we go to the Syrian camp?
We're going to die. They already know they have a
death sentence. What a picture. What a picture. They were as good as dead, without
any hope. And without any help in this
world. That's how we were before the
Lord saved us, weren't we? We didn't know we were God's
people, but we were without hope. Right? We had help, and we didn't
know it. We were without hope. I was without
hope. So what a picture we have here
set before us of a poor, needy sinner. These four lepers are
pictures of four needy sinners. And they got a death sentence.
Every person in this world, there's a death sentence. There is an appointed time when
we are going to leave this world. It's appointed on the man once
to die, but after this, the judgment. My, oh my. So what a picture
we have of hopeless sinners here. Conditions and circumstances
that we see here mirror the debilitating effects of sin. and how we are
all worthy of the wrath of God. But beloved, we don't get what
we deserve. Isn't that wonderful? Because
Christ bore that for us. And God's grace reveals. What
does it reveal to us when we first hear the gospel and even
when we keep hearing the gospel? What does it reveal to us? Well,
it reveals that there's hope for the worst sinner in Christ.
Right? And you know how we say, we know
that because he saved me. John Newton, someone came to
him and said, this notorious, one of the worst sinners supposedly
in the town. Oh, the Lord just saved such
and such. And he says, doesn't surprise me. The Lord saved me,
he can save anybody he pleases. Is that not true? We're monuments
of his grace, aren't we? We're monuments to that fact,
we who are his people. Oh my. And grace informs us that God
doesn't look upon his people in anger. but in love. Love, beloved. A love that's
an everlasting love. And then we find out that God
loves us as He loves Christ. And there's never been a time
when He hasn't loved us. Isn't it wonderful? There's three points I'd like
us to consider tonight. One, number one, what they didn't
know, what these lepers didn't know. Number two, what they did
know. And number three, what they did. What they did. First, let us
consider what they didn't know. Let's read verses three to seven
of 2 Kings chapter seven. 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. 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 to the camp of the Syrians. And when they had come to the
outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man
there. For the Lord had made the host
of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses,
even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
lo, the King of Israel 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 lives. Well, we see something here that
those lepers didn't know. We see in verse 4 and 5 that
they didn't know that the Lord had routed and put their enemies
on the run. Even the people in the city didn't
know. Now these four lepers had suffered
much at the hands of the Syrians. They were starving to death.
It's bad enough that they're lepers, but they're starving
lepers. And all they have in front of
them is death. And let us always remember that
our great God delivers his people. And when he delivers his people,
two things take place. The first is the destruction
of their enemies. We've seen that in our lives,
haven't we? God takes care of his people. Now, it does not seem so for
the believer in Christ. There's no natural indication
that the siege of sin has ended in our lives, is there? What's the biggest enemy the
Lord has delivered us from? Our sin. But in our natural state,
there's no indication that we've been delivered from that, is
there? Because we still battle sin every day, right? We're troubled on every side
from within and from without. Sin is all around us, sin is
within us. Oh, but let us ponder how faith
overcomes that. And that's faith that's God given.
That's faith that has one object, the Lord Jesus Christ. And faith overcomes that knowledge
of our sin and our sinfulness, because the word of God has assured
us that the serpent's head is crushed. It has assured us, Dave,
that all our sins are forgiven by the precious blood of Christ,
that we're washed clean in the precious blood of Christ. The
scripture assures us that as believers, as born-again, blood-washed
believers. It tells us in heaven forgiven
all your trespasses and sins in Christ. Brother Brian, we
hear our Savior's word. It is finished. It works done. That's what the word tells us.
It's finished. We've been redeemed, beloved,
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed how or what? I love
to proclaim it. Oh, we're redeemed. And the word
tells us the fact, even though we battle with sin every day,
this inward sin and outward sin that we see, we're battling with
it every day, and yet we're forgiven of all our sins, all of them,
beloved. So much so that God says, I don't
remember them anymore. Let's ponder that this week. God himself, who knows everything,
Knows everything. Everything is before Him. From
beginning to end, He says, I don't remember your sins anymore. I do. He says, I don't. Okay, Lord. Okay. Help me just to rest in that
truth. Help me to live in that truth. Oh, it's wonderful, isn't
it? Oh, Christ has bruised the serpent's
head, and the scripture tells us, no weapon formed against
us shall prosper. People can scheme and do whatever
they want. No weapon shall prosper against
God's people. My, oh my. And think of this,
faith transcends all circumstances, doesn't it? It does. You know why? Because what we
believe is not based upon us, it's based upon God's Word. God has told us, God's told us,
Sister Linda, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Never. No matter what circumstance we
go through, no matter what comes our way, He's promised us, as
His people, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. My! Do you see how faith transcends
circumstances? But it's all by God keeping us,
isn't it? And preserving us. But we do
exercise our faith, don't we, beloved? And I'll tell you what,
our faith is like a grain of mustard seed, right? But it's Him that preserves us.
It's Him that keeps us. And we just keep trusting and
resting in Him, don't we? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
he's so great. Yeah. Faith is based on what
God said, not what we see. What was before these lepers?
Death. That's all they saw. They saw
death in the city. They saw death if they just sat
there. They saw death if they went to the Syrian camp, didn't
they? My, oh my. That's a picture of us in our
natural state. Death awaits us. Oh my. Did you realize the whole
time when we were lost that Christ had already paid for our sins? We didn't, did we? God knew though,
didn't he? Yeah. Amen. Everyone, He knows every single
sheep, every single one. Oh my, He'd already delivered
us from our sins, hadn't He? Christ came into time and space,
Zane, you and I have been talking about, to do that which was accomplished
and purposed by God in eternity. It had to be done in time and
space, didn't it? He had to come to redeem His
people from their sins. His blood had to be shed to redeem
us. Our sins had to be imputed to
him in order for us to be forgiven. To be made the righteousness
of God, right? It had to happen, beloved. It had to. So he comes. And he finishes
the work perfectly. And then he rises from the grave.
And now he's seated at the right hand of the Father. And we will
soon be there, beloved. Oh my. So these four, these lepers,
they feared that they would die if they stayed where they were.
They feared that they would die if they went into the city. They
feared that they would die if they went into the camp of the
enemy. But what they did not know was that God had already
taken care of them. He'd already taken care of them.
Again, did we know that God the Son had already paid for our
sins 2,000 years ago before we were saved? We knew we were facing certain
death, didn't we? We knew that. Oh my, look at verses six and seven
here again. For the Lord hath made, see,
see, God had already taken care of the agenda. It's already finished. He's already provided for them.
And they don't even know it. What a picture of us. Salvation's
already provided for us when we were born into this world
and we had no idea. Growing up as teens, young men,
we had no idea. Right? Young lady, in your teens,
you had, you know. Well, thankfully the Lord revealed
himself to you, sister, earlier in age than us fellows here. But isn't that wonderful, though? Isn't that wonderful? Oh, my. Look at this, verses 6 and 7.
For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise
of chariots and 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." Oh no, they've hired mercenaries. That's what they're saying. A
lot of these countries would hire out their men as mercenaries
when they weren't at war with another country. It was a good
way to bring in money. So what do the Syrians do? Look
at verse 7, wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight and
left their tents and their horses and their asses and even the
camp as it was and fled for their life. Now these four lepers,
they had no idea that God had routed the Syrians, had destroyed
the Syrians basically. Those Syrians are running. They
are so terrified, they are running. They had no idea that there was
a great bounty waiting for them. Did we have any idea, Brother
Dave, that there was a great bounty waiting for us in Christ?
My, but there was, and we didn't even know it. All spiritual blessings
in Christ Jesus, we had no idea. We weren't even aware of it.
It was the last thing on our radar. My, oh my. Handfuls on purpose,
beloved. Remember Boaz? Dropped some handful
on purpose for Ruth there. Pressed down, overflowing are
the blessings that we have in Christ. And there was abundance
of blessings waiting for those lepers. And they had no clue. They had no clue. In short, they didn't know what
God had done, did they? They didn't know. They didn't
know what God had done. They had no idea what awaited
them. They just saw death in front of them, they saw death
behind them, they saw death in the city, and they saw death
right where they were. Basically, death surrounded them. My, oh, my. But their salvation
had already been accomplished, hadn't it? There's so much food in that
camp. There's so much food that things are going to be sold for
pennies on the dollar that day. There was such an abundance of
food. Think of all the gold and silver. Think of all the horses,
the donkeys, the armor. Think of the value of all that
stuff. And this is not just a few tents. This is what scripture
says is a great host. So much so it surrounded them.
Think of what's waiting there. Amen. Look what's waiting for
us in Christ, eh? Oh my. It's wonderful. You're getting the heart of it,
Dave. All we need right there. They don't even know it. Everything
they need is right there. They don't even know it. Oh my. My, oh my. God had already accomplished
that what they needed. It's already done. There are
no enemies there anymore. They're gone. They're gone. All that awaits them is that
bounty. Oh, in Christ the sinner finds
all spiritual blessings. And then they find they have
a home in heaven. Undefiled, right? An inheritance that cannot
be defiled by us. Where rust and moss can't get
at it. It's guaranteed. It's guaranteed,
beloved, by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they didn't know, think of
this too, these lepers didn't know about the prophet's words.
Look at the prophet's words again in verse 1 and 2 here. 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.
Look at that. They didn't know that Elijah
said that. They were outside the gate. They had no clue. They
had no clue. Oh, my. You know, we had no clue about
the words that Christ spoke when he said all that the father give
me shall come to me and come to me. I show no wise casting. Do we know those words? Before
the Lord saved us, we were totally unaware of the prophets words,
weren't we? Now we know them by God's grace,
don't we? Now they've been revealed to us and we rejoice. Oh, my. What a sweet picture
we see here. What a sweet picture. The feast
is already laid out. We will dine at the marriage
supper of the lamb, beloved. It's already laid out. It's already
laid out. What a sweet picture we see here
of the gospel. God has already provided all
we need. All we need. What a picture of the declaration
of what God has done in Christ Jesus. The salvation of God's
people is accomplished, it's finished, it's complete. And
Christ has defeated all our enemies, beloved, all our enemies. How? By his complete, perfect,
finished work on Calvary's cross as a substitute for sinners,
as a substitute for God's people. And the safe sinner finds in
Christ all we need, as you said earlier, brother, all we need.
Where do we find the forgiveness of all our sins? Justification
before God, redemption by the precious blood of Christ that
he's purchased us out from under the law by the shedding of his
precious blood. And that law had a claim on us,
doesn't have no claim anymore, free. Now we're free in Christ,
free from the law. Oh, happy condition, right? Oh,
what a happy condition that is. My, justification before God. We can now enter into the presence
of God. God sees us clothed in his son's
perfect righteousness, the best robe. Just remember the father
said, bring out the best robe, bring the best robe. What a picture
of the righteousness of Christ. And put it on him. Well, God
put on us the righteousness of Christ, beloved. Oh, it's absolutely
amazing. And what do we say? We say praise
be to God. All this comes in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise his mighty name. Praise his mighty name. God himself in the flesh has
accomplished this, this salvation. He's obtained it. by his perfect,
complete, finished work is done. And he died as a substitute of
his people on Calvary's cross, as God's wrath was poured out
upon him, as everything that the law demanded for the salvation
of ourselves, the payment for our souls, he accomplished it
all, having obtained eternal salvation for us, and it's eternal. You know why it's eternal? Because
it's God's salvation. It's God's salvation. No man-made
salvation can ever save anyone. And that's what works is. That's
what works-based religion is, man-made salvation. All it can
do is damn a soul to hell. My, oh my. My, oh my. Marvel at this that we like these
lepers in our natural state We do not know that we need Christ
in our natural state. We don't know that we think we're
fine. We think I'm fine. I Don't need to be forgiven But
meanwhile for God's elect salvation is already finished and then
God reveals to us Christ and We see how we're great sinners
in desperate need of Christ. I And then the balm of Gilead
is revealed to us. Christ Jesus, the only savior
of sinners. And what do we do? We praise
his name for the rest of our lives, don't we? And it ain't
gonna stop after we die. It's gonna keep going when we
get into glory. I'm gonna be able to sing when
I get to glory. Hallelujah. We'll be singing
perfectly, Dave! Oh my! We'll be looking at our
Redeemer, our Savior, praising His mighty name. Oh my! My, oh my, and it all comes about,
it all comes about. These lepers didn't know that
God had already delivered them from their enemies and through
the preaching of the gospel. God's people come to find out
by revelation of the Holy Spirit what Christ has accomplished
for us. And by an operation of God, we're born again and given
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to the salvation
of our souls. Let's consider the second point.
What these four lepers knew, what they did know, they knew
they were dead men, right? They knew they were dead men.
That's obvious. Look at verse 4. They knew that
whether they entered the siege city, or whether they stayed
where they were, or even if they ventured to the camp of the Syrians,
that their life was forfeit. It's worth nothing. It's worth
nothing. Look at this. If we say we will
enter into the city, verse 4, then the famine is in the city,
and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now, therefore, come and let
us fall unto the hosts of the Syrians. If they save us alive,
we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall
but die." We're facing death already. Facing death. If we go into the
city, we're going to starve to death. If we stay here, we're
going to starve to death. So what's the worst that can
happen to us? If we go into the Syrian camp, we're going to die.
Well, we're going to die anyways, right? That's what they're figuring.
That's what they're figuring. It said a dying man would do
whatever is possible to avoid death. So these lepers had the
camp, the gate before them, people were starving. They had the camp
of the enemy before them, people were eating. They had the situation
of staying where they were, they're just going to starve to death. And they had the situation, if
they went to the Syrian camp, they're probably going to die. But what they needed to live
was in that camp, wasn't it? It was in that camp. The one thing they needed to
live, sink or swim, And you know what? Hunger will drive, as we
saw last week with the cannibalism, hunger will drive people to drastic
times and drastic actions. So these starving lepers, their
need was so desperate that even the face of an enemy was not
even a consideration. We're just going to go. We're
just going to go. What will a dying, starving,
spiritually bankrupt sinner do to get to Christ? When Christ has been revealed
to them, what will they do to get to Christ? Well, they'll
come against even the gates of hell, won't they? You ain't stopping
them from coming to Christ. If the Holy Spirit's drawn a
man or a woman to Christ, they're gonna flee. They're gonna flee. They will discount family. They
will discount friends. They will discount form of religion.
They will discount anything and everything that stands between
them and their God. Because what they need is only
found in Christ. That's called irresistible grace.
When God's drawn a sinner to Christ, we can't resist it. We
don't want to. We're made will in the day of
God's power. You won't have to give an invitation
or come up with a simple plan. Just get out of the way. Just
watch what God does. Oh, my. Sinner friend, don't
wait to flee to Christ. So many people say, well, I'll
just wait. I'll wait until tomorrow. We've
seen in the last few weeks some disasters happen where those
people thought they had tomorrow. Right? They thought. They did
not know that that was their time. That they had an appointment.
So people say, oh, wait. You might die. You might die
that night. My, oh, my. Flee the Christ. If you're under conviction by
the Holy Spirit of God, flee to Christ. May God make you willing
in the day of His power to flee to Him. He's the only hope of
sinners. He's the only one who can save
your eternal soul. Hell awaits you if you perish
in your sins. It's a fact. It's not a scare
tactic. It's a fact. Repent and flee to Christ. He
says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And
what does the spirit and bride say to you? Come! Right? Come unto Christ. There's life
and a look to the Savior. And what did Christ come here
to do? Well, he came here to save his people from their sins. My. Now these four lepers, they
knew they were doomed. They knew they were doomed. They,
again, had the city gate there. They had the city where horrible
things are occurring. They had the Syrian camp where
all the enemies, deaths all around them. In their eyes, they're
doomed. And if they had died, they would
die trying to get food. We're going to see that now.
Our third point is what did they do? Look at this. Well, they went to where the
food was. They went to where the food was.
They were driven by hunger. Oh, what happens when God's drawn
a sinner to Christ? We're driven by hunger, aren't
we? And we still hunger and thirst after righteousness even now,
don't we? Oh, yeah. My, oh my. They were driven by
need. But more importantly, they were
guided by grace. Let that be the most important
thing we see here. They were guided by grace. They
had a great need. They were hungry. But they were
guided by grace. Do you know God guided every
one of us to Christ? Isn't that amazing? You know,
he turned every one of us to Christ. We were going this way. And he turned us right around
to look to him. Isn't that wonderful? It's so
wonderful. Oh, it's wonderful, man. I'll tell you why. Well, they dragged themselves
with their fate and energy. They probably didn't have much
energy left. But they dragged themselves to that Syrian camp.
We don't know how far their leprosy was either. We don't know. But we know they probably dragged
themselves there. When you're starving, you don't
have much energy, do we? No. And they were like dead men walking,
beloved. What a picture of us in our natural
state, eh? Oh my, they were walking into
the jaws of death. So they thought. So they thought. Look at this,
look at verse 5 again. And they rose up in the twilight
to go into the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the
outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man
there. There was no one. They were gone. There was not one Syrian left.
There was no more soldiers. There was no more servants. They
were gone. All of them. And everything was
left behind. They arrived at the edge of the
encampment in wonders of wonders. In simple words, it's said here,
so that we can understand it, there was no man there. Some say, well, that's impossible.
Nope. That's what God's word says. And by faith, we believe
it. There was not one left. Some
say, surely there was a few people mulling around. There was not
one left. They were all gone. The enemies
are gone. They're all gone. Where'd the
enemies go? They're gone. They've been scattered by the
Lord. They've been, these lepers have been delivered by God, haven't
they? What a picture of grace, beloved.
What a picture of the mercy of God in Christ to his people. And then, there's no enemy to oppose them.
There's no man where they have to announce their their fact
that they're lepers either, is there? You notice that too? There's no one there where they
have to say, unclean, unclean! There's no one there. The enemies
are gone. All they do is receive this bounty. It's all there. Right in front
of them. Now look at verse 8. What did
they do? I like this verse. They filled their belly, they
stocked their reserves, they buried some goods, and they did
it twice, from what we see here. And when these lepers came to
the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, did
eat and drink, and carried things, look at this, silver and gold.
The two most precious things for trading at that time. Silver
and gold. And Raymond, they could sell
the clothes too, right? And went in and hid it, and came
again, and they went into another tent, and carried this also,
and went and hid it as well. They're like squirrels, they're
storing stuff, aren't they? But there's so much, isn't there? They've taken all that they need,
and there's still more! God's grace, beloved, will never
be exhausted. Will never be exhausted. In what mercy and grace are set
before us, Is what else would a sinner do
when he comes to Christ but partake of the bounty of all the spiritual
blessings they have in Christ? We rejoice in that, don't we?
We embrace that fact that we have all these spiritual blessings,
not by anything we do, but all because of what Christ has done.
It's wonderful. What would a dying man do when
there's nothing but abundant life before him? but to seek
to secure a future. Nature dictates a love for self,
but the spirit dictates that though the bounty is ours and nothing is withheld, to not report the bounty is ill-conceived. We see that in verse 9. Look
at 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. So what'd they do? Yeah, they
went and told, they broadcast it, didn't they? They went and
told others, didn't they? Look at this bounty. Look at
all we need is right here. They went to the gates of the
seas and cried aloud at the destruction of the enemy. and the bounty
that was there for the taken. Look at verses 10 and 11. So
they came and called up to the porter of the city, and they
told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and
behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses
tied, and asses tied, and tents as they were. And he called the
porters, and they told him to the king's house wherein. And we see in verse 9 that they
feared sitting on the good news. Today was a day of good tidings,
they said. For though we preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea,
woe unto me if I preach not the gospel, our dear beloved brother
Paul said. And every gospel preacher will
say amen. Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. God's people, we cannot be kept
from bragging on the Lord. It's going to come out. It's
going to leak out. Scott Richard said, the Lord saves you, it's
going to leak out. I like that. Because it will.
It'll leak out. We desire to tell others about
this wonderful bounty we found in Christ. All that a sinner
needs is found in Christ. And now we desire to tell others,
don't we? There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from
Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose
all their guilty stains. Here, since by faith I saw that
stream, thy flowing sound supply, redeeming love has been my theme
and will be till I die. Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ
today as tomorrow may never come. We can be gone in a millisecond.
One thing is sure, death is sure. There's an appointment for everyone
that we will not miss. Death is sure. And eternal life
is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. There's
nowhere else, is there? There's nowhere else. May God
give us grace to rest and trust in Christ. And if you do not
know Christ, who will hear this message, may God give you grace
to flee to Christ, the only Savior of sinners. Brother Dave, can
you close?