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SHARE THE GOOD NEWS
2 KINGS 7
Introduction
Matthew 5:14-16–“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. [15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. [16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Tonight we are going back into the Old Testament Book of 2 Kings to find the story of four lepers who shared some good news.
These lepers were outcasts. They were ostracized because of their disease.
And to make matters worse, they were starving because the enemy Syrian army had cut off the city of Samaria from her food supplies.
These lepers came to know some good news. And when they came to know it they didn’t hide it but shared it to others who could benefit from it.
We need to back up a little before we look at these four men. We need to set the stage in order to understand what was going on in this story.
6:24 – The capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, ( Judah was the Southern Kingdom) was under siege by Benhadad the King of Syria and his armies.
6:25 – Food supplies were cut off and prices were exorbitant even for unhealthy food.
6:26-28 – These verses explain just how bad things were. Two women agreed to eat their sons. After one son had been eaten the other one was hidden by the mother. The other mother complained. How gross!
6:30-31 – The king was in mourning over the desperate situation. That’s why he wore sackcloth. He blames the Man of God, the prophet Elisha for this situation. In reality, because King Joram was sinful like his parents, Ahab and Jezebel, he was more responsible for the famine than Elijah ever would have been.
Isn’t it interesting how often people blame others for things that are their own faults. In this case the King sent an executioner to take Elisha’s life.
6:32 – Elisha had a “heads up” from God. Elisha warned that the executioner was coming. He instructed those with him to hold the door. Evidently Joram either had a change of heart or was coming to witness the execution. He was right behind the executioner he sent.
6:33 – I believe it is the king who says, “Behold, this evil is of the Lord: what should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
The king is at the end of his rope. Evidently he has settled down and isn’t after Elisha’s head at that particular moment.
7:1 – Elijah had a word from the Lord that promised cheaper prices in about 24 hours. He didn’t explain, and he may not have even known how God was going to accomplish this.
7:2 - The king’s closest associate very sarcastically expresses his unbelief. Elisha promises that this man will see it, but won’t eat any of the food.
Now we’ve set the scene for these four lepers to enter the scene.
We see some things in their lives that run parallel in our own lives.
I. THEY SOUGHT HELP – Vs. 4
Vs. 4 – These outcasts were starving. There was no use for them to enter the city of Samaria . Everyone was starving there as well. They realized that their only hope was to go ask the Syrians for help.
These men concluded that the Syrians might kill them or they might spare them. If they killed them it wouldn’t matter. They were going to die of starvation anyway.
Can you remember when you were at a point of desperation in your own life? When you became convicted of your sins, and came to God for mercy. When some folks came looking for God’s help, they weren’t sure if God would be merciful to them or not.
Of course, God’s mercy is centered on the Cross of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21–“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
God has always wanted people to come to Him for help.
God has always wanted people to throw themselves upon Him as their only hope.
Isaiah 1:18–“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 55:6-7–“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Matthew 11:28-30–“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Revelation 22:17–“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Of course when we came to Christ as received Him as our Savior we received forgiveness for our sins and eternal life.
But even after we got saved, we all have come to God when we have failed him or maybe allowed ourselves to be put back under the bondage of sin.
That’s also a time when we need to come to God for help. And He will help!
1 John 1:9–“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
But even when we are God’s child and we are living for Him, we still may find times when we don’t know what to do or we feel inadequate to do what the Lord calls us to do.
We are tempted to worry and despair, but we come to God and He graciously helps us and enables us.
Philippians 4:6-7–“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
THEY SOUGHT HELP
II. THEY FOUND ABUNDANCE – Vs. 5-8
Vs. 5 – These men evidently decided to enter at the far end of the Syrian camp. When they got there nobody was around.
Vs. 6-7 – Here we see why the camp was empty.
God had caused the soldiers to hear huge noises that sounded like a huge enemy army.
They drew some conclusions that Israel had gotten help and ran! It wasn’t an organized retreat at all. These people dropped everything and fled for their lives.
Proverbs 28:1 –“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Vs. 8 – These four lepers are in a camp that had housed thousands of troops who were evidently well supplied.
They began to enjoy the abundance of food and wealth they didn’t formerly have.
Here is the parallel: God has also allowed us to have abundance we didn’t formerly have!
A. WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF FORGIVENESS.
Colossians 2:13-14–“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; [14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
B. WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF NEW LIFE.
It is life that we did not have before and its all brand new!
2 Corinthians 5:17–“ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
And the life that we now have is everlasting life!
John 3:16–“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
And the life we now have can be a victorious life if we abide in Christ!
1 Corinthians 15:57–“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 2:14–“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
C. WE HAVE THE ABUNDANCE OF ANSWERED PRAYER.
Matthew 6:6–“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
John 16:24–“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
THEY FOUND ABUNDANCE
III. THEY BECAME CONVICTED – Vs. 9
Vs. 9 – What a great line is contained here for every Christian.
2 Kings 7:9–“ …We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace:”
The famine was over for them! Death was no longer eminent!
And the people of Samaria who faced death by starvation, could share in the good fortune of these four lepers!
But nobody knew this except these four lepers.
These men concluded that what they were doing was not right!
Others needed to know!
If they didn’t know they would still starve!
If they didn’t come and partake, they would still die!
They even seemed to be afraid that if they didn’t share, something bad would happen to them. Perhaps they would be punished for not sharing their good news.
I think you can figure out where I’m going with this.
You and I have had a salvation experience that has done all the wonderful things that we shared a few moments ago.
We have benefited with the abundance we have in Christ.
It is both our privilege and responsibility to tell others about the abundance that is available in Christ.
We must share the Good News with others.
And should we decide to keep silent, we should know that we will answer to our Lord and Savior as to why we were silent about Him when we shouldn’t have been.
If we have been saved, let’s be convicted enough to share the good news with others.
Psalm 107:2–“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;”
And we shouldn’t limit our sharing of our abundance to just the unsaved.
There are some saved people who need to know more about the abundance of victorious Christian living and answered prayer.
Hebrews 10:24-25–“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
THEY SOUGHT HELP
THEY FOUND ABUNDANCE
THEY WERE CONVICTED
IV. THEY TOLD OTHERS – Vs. 10-11
The Good News was told.
They simply went and told what they knew and what they had experienced for themselves.
That’s all we need to do. We just need to tell others the Good News of what has happened to us.
People can argue about Scripture and Theology, but they can’t sincerely test personal experience!
One of the best witness in our lives is Jesus Christ living in us and through us! That doesn’t mean we don’t talk to folks about Christ, but rather that our walk opens up opportunities for us to be heard.
Our talk talks, and our walk talks, but our walk talks a louder talk than our talk talks.
THEY SOUGHT HELP
THEY FOUND ABUNDANCE
THEY WERE CONVICTED
THEY TOLD OTHERS
V. OTHERS WERE BLESSED – Vs. 12-16
Vs. 12 – The King was skeptical as some will be at times.
Vs. 13-15 – A test was made and the evidence was there that the army was gone.
Vs. 16 – The people were blessed with the bounty that was available.
People will be blessed as we share the good news.
The unsaved will hear the Gospel and some will be saved.
Not only that, but we can be an encouragement to those who are saved to help them find the abundance that we have found in Christ.
Vs. 17-20 – This is a sobering note. Skeptics are in big trouble.
Conclusion
Have you sought help for your problem? It is available tonight!
Not only is it available but you will find it in abundance.
Maybe you’ve become convicted tonight about not sharing the good news that God has allowed you to discover.
We need to tell others so that they too can be blessed.
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!