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“Four Lucky Lepers who found the Loot”
Text: 2 Ki.7: 1-16 Intro.: The city of Samaria has been besieged by the Syrian army. There is great famine in the city as a result of the famine (2 Ki.6: 25-29). King Jehoram blames God and the man of God, Elisha, for the evil. He plans on killing Elisha and has given up all hope. “What should I wait for the Lord any longer?” But the man of God pronounces the tidings that God will deliver them and there will be an abundance of food within 24 hrs. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. God waits till all hope is gone before He sends deliverance that He might be glorified! The lord of the king refuses to believe the promise and his doom is predicted! This message is not revealed to reason but to faith. So too the gospel of salvation! Believe and thou shalt see! Turning now to the 4 lepers sitting at the gate we see . . .
A) Their Hopeless Condition (v.3-4) 1) There’s famine in the city. 2) Lepers are doomed to die. 3) Leprosy - Type of sin. They are unclean, and outcast. It is contagious and it desensitizes. May hide it for a while, but eventually it is known. No cure and it leads to death. 4) Picture of lost sinners - They are unclean, doomed to die, without hope, without God, sitting and waiting for help at the gate of a world that is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God, which is the “Bread of Life.”
B) Their Hard Decision (v.4) 1) To go or to stay - In desperation they weigh their options and decide to go. What all sinners must decide after discovering their hopeless condition! 2) ILL.: Prodigal Son - He came to himself and decided it was better to go to his father and be a servant than to perish with the pigs! 3) God will use such desperate situations to drive men to make a decision! 4) They are ready to do anything, go anywhere to find salvation. They have only one way of escape – Flee to the Syrians and hope for the best, expect the worst (“We shall but die . . . ”). 5) “What must I do to be saved?” is the language of one who has come to the realization of their own hopeless case.
C) Their Happy Discovery (v.5-8) 1) They find the camp deserted. 2) They find everything they need – Full and free salvation! 3) God had made the enemy hear a noise - “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” 4) When we, like these lepers, enter in at the only door of hope before us, we shall find, like them, that we are saved by the judgment and mercy of God. Our salvation comes through a divinely wrought victory!
5) They found abundance - “I am the living bread . . . if any man eat of this bread; he shall live forever . . . ”(Jn.6: 51) “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” There’s plenty for everyone! 6) It was free! “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is.55: 1).
D) Their Hoarding Behaviour (v.8) 1) At first they think only of themselves. They eat and drink and hide things for themselves. 2) Tradition says that the 4 lepers were Gehazi and his sons (The covetous servant of Elisha). 3) How many Christians think only of themselves! They eat the “Bread of Life” and drink of the “Water of Life” and hide the treasures of God’s Word in their hearts, but never tell anyone else! 4) ILL.: The story is told of a church which had a bell that was never rung. Upon investigation it was found that the bell was boarded up on the bottom and a door was cut out on its side. After opening the door it was discovered that the bell was used for a strongbox to store money. Do you keep your knowledge of the Bible, your joy of knowing God and your wisdom from above locked up inside? Sound out the gospel story! If your Christianity is worth having, it’s worth sharing!
E) Their Heartfelt Consideration (v.9-15) (Sincere, deeply felt) 1) They finally stop and consider the blessings they have received and they decide they must tell the city about it! 2) 2 Awakenings: A) An awakening to their own need. B) An awakening to the need of others. C) Have you had these two awakenings? 3) As in Samaria, so all around us there are multitudes perishing for lack of bread! 4) We must go and tell! 5) Untold millions are perishing, still untold!
F) Their Heralding of Good Tidings (v.10, 16) 1) They simply told what great things had been done for them! 2) Though the king doubted at first, he sent 2 messengers to go and see. They report back and the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. 3) Oh that we might tell others of the spoils of salvation!
Conclusion: You must, like the people, go out by faith and take those blessings which God has provided through the cross, where the enemy of our souls has been routed and where the spoils of salvation are lying all around for the lifting! Don’t be like the lord of the king - He refused to believe and he was trampled to death (a picture of those who believe not the gospel). “He that believeth...shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
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