We're in 2 Kings and starting
chapter 7. 2 Kings and starting chapter 7. This is the 18th lesson on the
life and miracles of Elisha. We're going to read the first
11 verses. 2 Kings 7, verses 1-11. It begins, it says, 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? Elisha said, Behold, thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 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, in Samaria,
and we shall die there. And if we sit still here, we'll
die also. Now, therefore, come and let
us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive,
we shall live. If they kill us, we shall but
die. And they rose up in the twilight
to go unto the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come into
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, their horses,
their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
And when these lepers came into the uttermost part of the camp,
they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried
then silver, and carried gold and raiment, and went and hid
it, and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried
thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another,
We do not well. This day is a day of good tidings,
and we hold our peace. If we tarry 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
they called 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 the tents as they were. And he called to the porters,
and they told it to the king's house within." Bruce, would you
lead us in prayer? Thank you again for about a half
an hour. We've come here to hear about
you and all about you and nothing else. We want you to know that
you're glorified when that happens. We're fed also. Give us a heart
to hear and understand. We pray to give you the promise
of spirit and the words that we need to hear. We look forward
to praying in Jesus' name. It's been a week and a half or
two weeks since we've been in the study of Elisha. And we noted
last week, or several weeks ago, that Samaria was in a siege or
under a siege. The Assyrians were all around the city. And
we noticed the depravity of both kings, the king of Israel and
the king of Benedab. And then we noticed the prophecy
of Elisha. that the horrible things that
was going on, there was tremendous famine in the land, plus there
was a siege, and we saw that one mother ate her son, shared
her son with another woman, and when she didn't share her son
to boil, that she got mad. So it's a despicable, the depravity
is immense all around, So this is where we're coming
to. But Elisha said, and of course, the king of Israel and his Lord
came with him. His intention was to take the
head off of Elisha. So then we note this prophecy
in chapter 7, verses 1 and 2. Though the Samaritans were in
a terrible fix, the city of Samaria, it's a horrible dilemma of hunger
and sin, Yet God, by His free and sovereign immutable grace
and mercy, would deliver them." This is the prophecy of the first
two verses we come on tonight. So we see that this deliverance
that God has for His people is, in this case, it's from starvation
to plenty in a matter of a day, from languish to surplus, and
from ruin to deliverance. So that got my attention right
off the bat. It sounds like something that
we need to hear tonight. We need to hear about, once again,
God's sovereign, immutable, glorious grace and mercy. That we have
a situation that is so desperate, which is like what we are, born
in sin, trespasses in sin. Desperate situation. They cannot
get themselves out of it. They're surrounded by a superior
army. Woe is them, so to speak. But then we see ruin to deliverance
in just a short period of time. So let's look at the first two
verses, and what I have here is this is a prophecy. This is
Elijah prophesying or preaching. Or it's simply good news. I mean,
listen to what he says. So they don't have any food. What he's saying back in dove's dung sold for five pieces
of silver. That's how bad it got. That's
how bad it got. And I made a comment, I think
back then, even John the Baptist, he ate locusts, it was a smorgasbord
compared to what they got here. So let's look at the first two
verses and look at this good news. Then Elisha said, Hear
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. That's the good news. And then
he gets this negativism, this unbelief. It's what it is, it's
unbelief by this Lord who's hand the king leaned, and he answered
Elisha, he said, if the Lord would make windows in heaven,
this thing's not going to happen. And Elisha answered him in the
last part of verse 2, you're going to see it, but you're not
going to eat of it. So here's the thought that I
had. True people, the true people of God, the true preacher of
God, the true prophets of God, they have the good news of how
God can save ruined and desolate sinners. So here's the Word of
the Lord, came to Elisha, and Elisha told it exactly as it
was told him, and that's what a true believer does. He reads
the Word with enlightened eyes, an enlightened heart, He doesn't
add to the Word. He doesn't take away from the
Word. He doesn't try to make it fit into His scheme. The bare, naked Word of God,
as He reads it, as it's preached to Him, as we believe it, we
simply tell it back. And so, this is the Word of the
Lord. It came to Elisha. And this is
a mark, or a sign, This is what true preachers do.
This is what true believers do. This is what the men and women
of God do. On the other hand, false prophets
or false preachers or false believers, they don't do this. It's gloom
and doom as this man, as this Lord whom the King leaned upon. Many unfulfilled prophecies are
half-truths. Or they just flat out don't believe
it. In verse 2 we see those who never believe. The promise is
never for them. This promise that there's going
to be plenty is not going to be for this particular man. And
we'll get to him next week or the week after. We'll see him.
He pops up again very sad. It's never for them. They may
hear of it. They may hear the good news. And they may see it in others.
but never come to the truth of God in Christ Jesus. Let's turn
to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. And this is
frightening to me, scary to me. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Verses 5,
6, but mainly verse 7. 2 Timothy 3, verse 5. These traitors, they're heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. They
have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. Paul tells Timothy, from such,
turn away. For of this sort are they which
creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins,
led away with divers' lusts." And this is the verse that concerns
me. Ever learning. These folks are
ever learning. They may be sitting under the
preaching of the Gospel for days, years, months and years. We've seen it among ourselves.
Three years. Five years. But this scares me,
ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. When they hear the truth, they
try to correct the preacher, or their mind is wandering, or
whatever happens, but they are never able to come to the truth,
because they know better, mom and dad taught them better, Maybe
they think they understand the gospel. I really like what Norm
said on Friday night when I was discussing it. You don't hear
the gospel, free will gospel, and that saves you, and then
you come to where the gospel is being preached and say, oh
yeah, this is just a higher form. And I've said this many times.
It is not a higher form of the gospel, it's the gospel. So if
you trace your heritage back, if you trace, you go back and
you say, well, I heard the gospel here and it was free will Armenian
or works religion. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. And I got an asterisk here. Have mercy on us. May this not
be our lot here in this church that we're never able to come
to Christ. We're always close but not closing with Him. We're
always close. We say nice things about the
truth, say nice things about the Gospel. And again, what's your definition
of our meaning? What's your definition of free
will? It's not the gospel. And I go
back and when I've had to clarify myself, I always use Bruce's
example. I've met many pastors, heard
many messages. This is still the best definition
of what we're talking about. Bruce made a comment. He's telling
somebody at a gathering about his son. And he describes his
son, and he says he's 6'8", he's got red hair and a beard. And then he ends the discussion
and he walks away. And that person wants to go meet
Matt. He's not going to find Matt. He's going to find somebody
else. And that's what I believe, and
I understand that false gospel, however many there are, that's
what I believe it is. You're not going to find THE
Christ. you're not going to find me Christ. So I pray that the
Lord will have mercy on us that we would not be close, but not
closing with Him. The second thing is, just look
at the four lepers. The four lepers. They say they're
four lepers and they're entering the gate. Now you know what leprosy,
the sin of leprosy and Leviticus and all the things that went
along with it according to the law. And they're just sitting
there because they can't go in and they can't commune and they
can't do this and they can't do that. So they say, if we sit
here, if we go in the city, we're going to die. If we sit here,
we're going to die of starvation. So let's just throw ourselves
on the mercy of the Syrians. Now these are they which typify
sinners unaware of God's goodness all around them. Then, by grace alone, they experience
and they taste His kindness towards themselves. But at first, God's
kindness is all around them. It's all around. God sends the
rain on the just and the unjust. He has sent the gospel to this
community. But a lot of times they're unaware.
They don't care. They don't care. So the first
thing they say is, they're going to die, they're going to die,
die, or dead. The first thought about these
four lepers. If we sit here, we die. If we show ourselves
to those of Samaria, we've got to proclaim ourselves unclean.
If we show ourselves to other men or women, we've got to throw
dust in the air. Unclean, unclean. So it's a constant
reminder of what they are. And if they go to the Syrians,
they probably will die. What I see here is the ways of
God that He uses according to His purposeful disposal to arouse
the lost, helpless sinner. Sitting here, they're driven
to do this, to not sit, to not go, but they're driven to go
to their enemies. And what God will do I guess
we could look at our own lives and what God will do to fetch
a sinner. And He's going to be successful.
He's going to fetch His people. He's going to save His people
from their sin. And in verse 5, one of the beautiful things
is He says, they rose up in the twilight, they went into the
camp, and they were in the uttermost part of the camp, Assyria. Behold,
there was no man there. No man. I think this is interesting. This is the beginnings of good
news. There's no man there. They're lepers. If they saw another
man, they had to say, we're unclean, we're full of leprosy, but there's
no man here. No man to condemn. There's no
man to accuse. None but the Lord of heaven alone. And what He's got for them is
found in the good news of the Gospel through the blessed work
and accomplishments of Christ. is plenty. This reminds me of, turn to John chapter 8. This
is what this reminds me of. John chapter 8. There's no man.
They went in there and there's no man. John chapter 8 verses
1-11. Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives early in the morning, and He came again in the temple,
and all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken
in adultery. And when they had set her in
the midst, they said unto Him, Master, this woman was taken
in adultery in the very act." We're guilty. That's us. It's
like these lepers. We're leprous. We can't go anywhere
without death. The very act, for Moses in the
law commanded us that such should be stoned." Well, what do you
say? They said, tempting Christ that He might have to accuse
Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger, He wrote on
the ground as though He didn't even hear them. So when they
continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself and He said to them,
He that is without sin among you, let Him cast the first stone
at her. And again, He stooped down and
wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted
by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest until the last. And Jesus was left alone and
the woman sitting in the midst. And Jesus lifted up Himself and
saw none but the woman. And He said unto her, Woman,
where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, No man, Lord."
There's nobody at the camp. They're all gone. It's just free, sovereign surplus
is to be had, is to be theirs. Blessed be our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and His sovereign pity. He had pity on these four
lepers. He had pity on this woman. No
man, Lord, no man to accuse Me. So back to our text. And verses
six and seven, for the Lord, not the Lord plus Elisha, not
the Lord plus the king of Israel, not the Lord, no, the Lord himself
had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots,
horses, and they fled. The Lord had made. You bet. That's what happens when God
comes in in His power through the Holy Spirit and convicts
sinners He by Himself. We get a glimpse of Him. He can make the files clean.
He can turn the hearts of whosoever He will. He can cause a massive
army to hear frightening things so that the mighty men of valor
are like scared little children. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? Is there anything too hard for the Lord in Jackson?
In this county? In the next county? East, north,
east, south, or west? No. There is nothing too hard
for the Lord. Let us pray. Let us beseech our
Lord to send forth rain in the time of the latter rain. And
when I'm reading this and jotting these things down, one of the
first thoughts I have is, where is Benedab? That's the king of
Syria. Where is he at? Where is his
boasting? Where's the cunning of men now? Where is man's boasted free will?
Benidad versus God. Benidad is nowhere to be seen.
God's will is always accomplished. We know of a certainty whose
will shall be done. Let us believe it and let us
live like we believe it. Thy will be done. The fourth thing I see under
this section of the lepers Verses 8-11, sinners experiencing God's
full and free grace. So they went to the camp, and
they went in a tent, and they stuffed themselves, they gorged
themselves. And they got silver, gold, raiment, and they hid it. And, you know, we do that sometimes,
we hide this under a bushel, we shouldn't be. But, they're
totally overwhelmed. And are we not, when God shows
His grace and mercy to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, are we
not totally overwhelmed? Isn't there total joy? They can't
believe all the stuff that they see. And in total amazement, we sing
that hymn, And can it be that I should gain an interest in
my Savior's blood? Died He for me who caused Him
pain? So total amazement. And they
took it all. They took everything. And they
started hiding it. And then they came to their senses and they
said, you know, we're not doing right. We need to tell others
about this grace that we've experienced. But I will say this, as in 1
Corinthians 3, you don't have to turn there, they took it all.
It's all ours. All things, he says in 1 Corinthians
3, verse 21, I've got, all things are for you. All things. All
things. But we still have the old flesh
in us and we try to hide some of this, but God will override
it to His glory and He'll give Himself honor. But then this
last section is, they said, this is a day of good
tidings. And that's what the Gospel is.
So let's go to the porter, let's tell the porter, and then the
porter tells the king. We must tell of such good news, of the
good news giver, not only about the good news, but the good news
giver, and how he miraculously gave of himself to deliver so
great sinners like us. That's good news. So may we not hide it, but may
we say it. They also said, verse 9, one
to another, we do not well. This is the day of good tidings.
And we hold our peace. Let's go to the king and tell
the king's household. So they came and called unto
the porter of the city and told him, saying, We came in the camp
of Assyrians, and behold, there was no man there, neither voice
of man, but horses tied, asses, and tents as they were. And then
the porter called and told it to the king's house. We'll stop
there. The final thought is, brethren,
may we go forth into the highways and byways to the harvest. Let us labor for Him. Tell our family. What Spurgeon
always says, you start, you tie the circle, and that's your family.
You start with your family, and then your friends, and then your
neighbors, Let us, as we have opportunity, go forth into the
highways and byways and tell people what great things God
has done for ruined sinners like ourselves. Matt, would you close
us?