1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,440 Folks, we're turning this morning to 2nd Kings and the 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,840 chapter 6, Second Kings, Chapter 6. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,280 We're going to read a couple of verses there and then move into 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,360 Chapter 7. So the Old Testament Book of 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:30,480 Second Kings. Second Kings Chapter 6, just to 6 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,800 give you the background here, you'll find that the armies of 7 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,880 Syria have besieged Israel and they're starving them out. 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,880 People are literally dying of starvation. 9 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,240 So you think we're gathering this morning and for a harvest 10 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,720 Thanksgiving to thank the Lord for the harvest that has come 11 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,640 in, come in. And yet here's a situation where 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,000 people are dying of starvation and the situation is desperate. 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,200 If we go down, first of all to verse 24, Second Kings chapter 14 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,960 6, and we just want to read verses 24 and 25. 15 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,400 And it says, and it came to pass after this that Ben Haydad, king 16 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,000 of Syria, gathered all his host and went up and besieged 17 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,240 Samaria. And there was a great famine in 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,040 Samaria. And behold, they besieged it 19 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:24,120 until an ass's head was sold for four score pieces of silver, and 20 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,480 the fourth part of a Cove of dove's dung for five pieces of 21 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,240 silver. And then if we go down to 22 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,480 Chapter 7 and the first verse, second King 7 reading there at 23 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,160 the first verse, then Elisha said, He ye the word of the 24 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:43,120 Lord, Thus saith the Lord, tomorrow about this time shall a 25 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,480 measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures 26 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,520 of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria. 27 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,520 Then a Lord, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of 28 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,600 God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in 29 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,280 heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt 30 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,800 see it with thine eyes, but shall not eat thereof. 31 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,360 And there were 4 leprous men at the entering of the gate. 32 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,480 And they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,760 If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the 34 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,440 city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. 35 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,920 Now therefore, come and let us fall onto the host of the 36 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,880 Syrians. If they save us alive we shall 37 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,880 live, and if they kill us we shall but die. 38 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:39,160 And they rose up in the twilight to go onto the camp of the 39 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,400 Syrians. And when they were come to the 40 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:46,320 uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,800 there. For the Lord had made the host 42 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,560 of the Syrians to hear a noise of Chariots and a noise of 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,520 horses, even the noise of a great host. 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,080 And they said, one to another load, the king of Israel have 45 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of 46 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,160 the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in 47 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,920 the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and 48 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:16,000 their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 49 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,520 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, 50 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,840 they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried 51 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,160 thence silver and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it, 52 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,080 and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence 53 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,200 also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, 54 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,800 We do not well, this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold 55 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,800 our peace. If we tarry till the morning 56 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,160 light, some mischief will come upon us. 57 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,480 Now therefore come, that we may go and tell the King's 58 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,320 household. So they came and called unto the 59 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,320 Porter of the city. And they told them, saying, We 60 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,040 came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man 61 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:06,000 there, neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied, and 62 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,680 the tents as they were. And he called the porters, and 63 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:11,760 they told it to the King's house within. 64 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,360 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I 65 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,160 will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. 66 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:23,040 They know that we be hungry, therefore are they gone out of 67 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,920 the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they 68 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,600 come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into 69 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,360 the city. And one of his servants answered 70 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,560 and said, Let some take, I pray thee. 5 of the horses that 71 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,600 remain which are left in the city, behold, they are all as 72 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,000 the multitude of Israel that are left in it. 73 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,680 Behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the 74 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,560 Israelites that are consumed. And let us send and see. 75 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,520 And they took therefore 2 chariot horses. 76 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,000 And the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and 77 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,520 see. And they went after them unto 78 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,800 Jordan, and lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, 79 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,760 which the Syrians castaway in their haste. 80 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,640 And the messengers returned and told the king, And the people 81 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,440 went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. 82 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:19,560 So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two 83 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,080 measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the 84 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,480 Lord. And the king appointed the Lord, 85 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,360 on whose hand he leaned, to have the charge of the gate, and the 86 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,480 people trod upon him in the gate, And he died, as the man of 87 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,240 God had said, who spake, when the king came down to him? 88 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,840 And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, 89 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,120 saying, 2 measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine 90 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,160 flour for a shekel shall be tomorrow about this time in the 91 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,720 gate of Samaria, that the Lord answered the man of God, and 92 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,240 said, Now behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, 93 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,960 might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt 94 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,960 see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 95 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,640 And so it fell out unto him, for the people trod upon him in the 96 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:11,920 gate, and he died. Amen. 97 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,840 And we trust the Lord will bless for reading this word for his 98 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:16,760 own namesake. Let's bow together in a word of 99 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:21,160 prayer. Father in heaven, we lift up our 100 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,120 hearts afresh and anew this morning, even in our Saviour's 101 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,880 precious name. We thank you, Lord, again, even 102 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,960 for Thy precious word, for the privilege of having it open 103 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,480 before us. And Father, we pray now that 104 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,400 indeed our hearts and our minds would be as open as this book. 105 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:39,440 Draw near to us, we pray. Pour out the very spirit of God 106 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,040 upon us. Lord, we pray that today they 107 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,400 would prepare our hearts and minds that they would draw near. 108 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,200 And Lord, if there any here this morning that have not that 109 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,960 assurance of salvation, then even before this service comes 110 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,680 to a close, Lord, may you speak with that voice that wakes the 111 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,320 dead. To that end we do pray emptiest 112 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,000 now of sin and of self. Nail the old flesh to the cross. 113 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,080 Lord, anoint us with the spirit of the living God, and grant 114 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,760 that help and that power and that fire that cometh from 115 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,760 above, for we ask it in Jesus name, Amen. 116 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,360 Amen. Here in Second Kings Chapter 7, 117 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,560 as I've said, the people of Israel are under siege by the 118 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,040 Syrian Army. Their supplies have been cut 119 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,440 off. The nation was starving to 120 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,400 death. There's no way out. 121 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,680 There's no way of escape. They were vastly outnumbered by 122 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,400 one of the most powerful armies in their day. 123 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,120 People are dying of starvation, foods running out. 124 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,560 As we've just seen in the chapter, they'd begun to eat the 125 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:46,680 horses. There was only a handful left 126 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,840 and therefore they're in a very fearful position. 127 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,720 But the Israelites had forgotten 2 very important things. 128 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:58,960 They'd forgotten the might of their heavenly Father to provide 129 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,680 a miracle, and they'd forgotten the right of a holy faith to 130 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:08,320 expect a miracle. And God did the unexpected. 131 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:13,560 God did the impossible because He specialises in both. 132 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:19,560 The Lord sent an invisible and jhalak army and He caused that 133 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:25,080 Syrian Army to turn tail and run and to leave behind them in 134 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:29,200 their haste. All the food, all the money, all 135 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,880 the clothing that they brought with them. 136 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,200 Everything that the nation of Israel needed was now left 137 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,280 behind as they heard this sound of a great army coming against 138 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,960 them and they ran and escaped back to their homeland. 139 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,200 And yet no one would ever have known as they were inside the 140 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:55,480 wall starving, if it wasn't for the faith of four lepers who had 141 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:01,120 the boldness and the audacity to discover what had happened and 142 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,640 then return to tell the people of Israel. 143 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,680 And because of what they did, an entire nation was saved. 144 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,000 They went from starvation to salvation. 145 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,840 That's really the theme that we see here in Chapter 7, from 146 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:24,720 starvation to salvation. Now, keeping that in mind, that 147 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,240 Old Testament miracles, they're a little bit like New Testament 148 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,240 parables. They're written for a purpose. 149 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,840 They have a heavenly meaning, and they're given to instruct us 150 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,560 and to teach us. And so as we come to look at the 151 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,400 7th chapter this morning, there's a couple of things I 152 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,120 want to point out. First of all, the situation that 153 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,320 they faced. The nation of Israel was 154 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,280 starving. In the previous chapter, in 155 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,320 those two verses, we read verses 24 and 25, we're told. 156 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,240 And it came to pass after this, the Binhaydad king of Syria 157 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,800 gathered all his host and went up and besieged Samaria. 158 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,920 And there was a great famine in Samaria. 159 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:11,320 And behold, they besieged it until and Ass's head was sold 160 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:16,440 for A4 score pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of 161 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,040 Dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 162 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,040 Now to pause there for a moment. The Holy Ghost here is 163 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,400 emphasising just how serious this famine was. 164 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,840 Things were so bad that a Donkey Head burger was being sold for 165 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:40,800 80 pieces of silver and the only thing for dessert was Dove 166 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,200 droppings. Now gents, I don't know what 167 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,120 you're going to get for your dinner when you get home from 168 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,720 church today. But you imagine if you go home 169 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,200 and you sit down and you say, dear, what's for dinner? 170 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,160 And out she comes and said it's a Donkey Head burger. 171 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,520 And if you're a good boy and you eat all of that, here's a plate 172 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,680 full of Dove's dung to wash it down. 173 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,520 You know, we can't really imagine, can we, this whole 174 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,880 situation of starvation because of the the country that we're 175 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,600 living in. But things were bad and they got 176 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,120 worse. Now you may be thinking, how can 177 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,560 they get worse? Donkey head burgers and Doves 178 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:19,720 dung? How can it get worse than that? 179 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:26,520 Well, it got so bad that some of the people even indeed resorted 180 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,320 to cannibalism. There was a mother who came 181 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,840 before the king to get a dispute between her and another mother 182 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,760 settled. And in chapter 6, there in 183 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,120 verses 28 and 29, we're told. And the king said unto her, What 184 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,880 aileth thee? And she answered, This woman 185 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:47,000 said unto me, Give me thy son, that we may eat him today, and 186 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:52,120 we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat 187 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,560 him. And I said unto her, On the next 188 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:57,000 day, Give me thy son, that we may eat him. 189 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,680 And she have hid her son. Can we even imagine the 190 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:07,560 desperation to get to that position where people are so 191 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:11,360 desperate that they'll eat anything they're so hungry? 192 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,840 And yet we live in a part of the world where we know nothing of 193 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,880 starvation. Well, the experts tell us that 194 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:23,360 to this day, 1/3 of the world's population goes to bed hungry 195 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,680 every night. But this whole picture here of 196 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:31,160 physical starvation reminds me of the greater famine that we 197 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,480 see in the world today. It's the famine the prophet Amos 198 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,800 spoke of in Amos chapter 8 and verse 11, when he said, Behold, 199 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:44,040 the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the 200 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:48,840 land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of 201 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:54,400 hearing the words of the Lord. Now, if the answer to a physical 202 00:12:54,400 --> 00:13:01,040 famine is food, but the answer to a spiritual famine is faith 203 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,160 in the word of God. And this world is hungry today. 204 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,480 And the reason why it is feeding on the filth and savouring on 205 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,800 the sin of this world is because we're living in a day when 206 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:14,840 there's a famine of the word of God. 207 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,840 If you're to drive down through the street of, of Carrie Duff 208 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,840 this morning, I wonder how many people there are, if even the 209 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,960 majority of the people in Carrie Duff never left their homes to 210 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,520 go out to the church to hear the word of God. 211 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,600 Today, we're living in a nation that has been blessed with the 212 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,560 gospel. We're living in a province that 213 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:42,000 in years gone by has seen great revival. 214 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,680 Back in the the 1857 revival, there was such a move in Carrie 215 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:50,560 Duff that they said that that the whiskey flowed down the 216 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:54,080 street as people were pouring it out as they got converted. 217 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,480 And yet today we look around and we see we're living in a day 218 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,040 when people have no interest in the things of God. 219 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,000 Yeah, worse than that, they spurn the things of God. 220 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,400 You seek to witness to people, just invite them along to 221 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,680 church, and you see the disdain in their face. 222 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,560 And then for those who do go out to church, there's so many 223 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:19,360 churches out there today that don't even deserve the name, the 224 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,440 Gospels not being preached. People are going from one to 225 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,680 another, just trying to find somewhere where the truth is 226 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,760 preached. Augustine was right when he said 227 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,440 the hard is restless and it will not rest until it finds its rest 228 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,080 in God. Today there's a spiritual famine 229 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,760 even in this province in which we live, but there's even 230 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,080 greater ones in other nations of the world. 231 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,720 So here they were. They were starving. 232 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,080 They are also susceptible. Looking again there at chapter 233 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,320 6, verses 26 and 27. And as the king of Israel was 234 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,240 passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, 235 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,320 Help my Lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not 236 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,440 help thee, when shall I help thee? 237 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,080 In other words, as the King's passing by at this time of 238 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,640 famine, there's a woman crying out for food, crying out to the 239 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,880 king to help. And even the king was unable to 240 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,120 help. The king couldn't help, There 241 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,720 was nothing he could do. Money couldn't help. 242 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:29,760 There was no food to buy. The influence couldn't help. 243 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,200 The king couldn't do anything. The government was no help. 244 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,000 In fact, they were part of the problem. 245 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,960 Education was no help. The more they learnt about this 246 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,480 situation, the less they wish they knew. 247 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,560 And similarly, if you're here this morning and you're without 248 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,560 Christ, you're in a very susceptible situation 249 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,760 spiritually this morning, as susceptible as the people in 250 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,080 this passage of Scripture. Now, you may think this morning 251 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,000 that you're doing all right without the Lord. 252 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,280 Yes, you're sitting in church, you're not saved, but you're 253 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,800 going through life. You've got tomorrow planned, 254 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,080 this week planned. And you may think that you're 255 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,440 going through life and you're doing all right without the 256 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,400 Lord. But little do you know that 257 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,160 there's a day coming when the only thing that will matter is 258 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:22,240 whether or not you're in Christ. When you come to death's door, 259 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,680 it doesn't matter how much money you've got in the bank. 260 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:32,480 It doesn't matter indeed what other possessions you have in 261 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,840 this world. When you come to that door of 262 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:41,040 death and that Bony hand of the Angel of death knocks upon your 263 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,680 heart door, there'll be no one else can help you. 264 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,600 The king on the throne won't be able to help you. 265 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,520 Politicians won't be able to help you. 266 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,200 The only one that will be able to help you is Christ. 267 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:55,760 And that's what they're learning here in this passage of 268 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:59,120 Scripture. You may find out too late that 269 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,920 only God is our refuge and strength, a very present help 270 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,000 and trouble. So this is a very sad situation. 271 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,599 You look there at verse 30 of chapter 6, and it came to pass 272 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,359 when the king heard the words of the woman that he rent his 273 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,079 clothes and he passed by upon the wall and the people looked 274 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:21,280 and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 275 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,240 So even the king here could do nothing in this situation. 276 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,040 In those days when a man would tear his clothes, when a man 277 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,320 would put sackcloth on, it was a sign of utter desperation. 278 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,200 It was a sign that all hope was gone. 279 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,560 And someone once said, man can live about 40 days without food. 280 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,880 He can live about 3 days without water, he can live a few minutes 281 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,440 without air, but he can't live a second without hope. 282 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:01,400 What's your hope for eternity? Where will you spend eternity? 283 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,480 When the apostle Paul was writing to the Ephesians, he 284 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,040 reminded them of what they were before they came to know the 285 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,560 Lord. And he said that at the time you 286 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:16,120 were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of 287 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:21,000 Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no 288 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,480 hope, and without God in the world. 289 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,240 How many families in Carrie Duff could we ride over the front 290 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,600 door of that home, even though they're nice people, even though 291 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,400 they're good neighbours, even though they've got many 292 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,200 qualities that society would commend them for over? 293 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,120 How many homes could we write that there's no hope because 294 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:47,480 they're without God and without Christ? 295 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,880 This is the situation that they faced. 296 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,600 But then something happens. When you come into Chapter 7 297 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,880 here, you find that four men, they decide that they're going 298 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,440 to step out by faith. The story turns their attention 299 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,280 now to these 4 lepers. These 4 lepers are going to very 300 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:13,080 quickly go from rags to riches as they decide to take a step of 301 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,920 faith. Everyone else is behind the 302 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,000 walls, hiding from the enemy, and they're sitting there. 303 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,680 And because they're lepers, they're outside the gates. 304 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,760 They're not allowed in. And as these 4 lepers sit there, 305 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,000 they're a picture indeed of the Saint who by faith accepts the 306 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,120 riches that he's found in Christ. 307 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,920 Now notice the fantastic discovery they make in Chapter 7 308 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,640 and verse 3. And there were 4 leprous men at 309 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,080 the entering of the gate. And they said one to another, 310 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,680 why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into the 311 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:52,920 city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. 312 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,280 And if we sit here, we die also. Now, therefore, come and let us 313 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,240 fall unto the host of the Syrians. 314 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,680 If they save us alive, we shall live. 315 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,840 And if they kill us, we shall but die. 316 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:08,880 I love the the, the logical way and the attitude that these men 317 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:10,840 have. They're saying, look, if we just 318 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,640 sit here with leprosy and do nothing, we'll die. 319 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,440 You know, what's the point of just sitting here being 320 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,640 miserable? Let's do something. 321 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,160 Even if we do the wrong thing, let's do something. 322 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,800 Now, of course they could have played it safe. 323 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,720 They could have just sat there and done nothing. 324 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,800 And if they'd sat there and done nothing, they would have 325 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,880 eventually died, either through starvation or through leprosy. 326 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,640 And isn't it a solemn thought to think that as far as God's 327 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:46,480 salvation is concerned, what do you have to do to perish in 328 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,240 eternity? And the answer is nothing. 329 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,560 Do nothing. Do nothing at all. 330 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,000 You know, you don't have to go and burn Bibles or tear down 331 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,680 churches. Just do nothing. 332 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:06,600 Just die as you've lived and you'll be in a lost eternity. 333 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:12,520 I came across a little poem some years ago about a man who did 334 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,480 nothing. It says he made no mistakes, he 335 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,520 took no wrong Rd. He never fumble the ball, he 336 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,800 never went down Neath the weight of a load. 337 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:27,840 He simply did nothing at all. He lost no hard fight in defence 338 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,440 of the right, he never bled with his back to the wall, he never 339 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,120 felt faint in his clone climb to the light. 340 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,480 He simply did nothing at all. So death came nigh, for life 341 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,760 slipped by and he feared for the judgement hall. 342 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,960 When they asked him why, he said with a sigh, I simply did 343 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,040 nothing at all. And doesn't that sum up a lot of 344 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,040 people today? They're going through life. 345 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,400 They're they're, they're eating, drinking, living, breathing. 346 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,280 They've got physical life, but spiritually there's no life in 347 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,040 them. They're without Christ. 348 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,280 And perhaps there's someone here this morning and you know, you 349 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:11,880 need to be saved, but so far that poem's all about you. 350 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:13,560 So far you've done nothing at all. 351 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,080 You're not saved. You haven't come to the Lord. 352 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,840 You haven't sought the Lord, You haven't got to that point where 353 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,760 you've prayed and said, Lord, give me Christ or I die. 354 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,400 You just do nothing. It's a solemn thing to think 355 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,520 doing nothing is all it takes to go out into a lost eternity. 356 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,560 But notice the desperation here of these men in verses 5 to 7. 357 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,680 And they rose up in the twilight to go onto the camp of the 358 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,640 Syrians. And when they come to the 359 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,920 uttermost part of the camp, behold, there was no man there. 360 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,680 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise 361 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,400 of Chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a 362 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,960 great host. And they said, one to another, 363 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,440 Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of 364 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,680 the Hittites, the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 365 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,160 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their 366 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:12,640 tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, 367 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:18,520 And they fled for their If these 4 lepers had not decided to get 368 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,560 up and to go forward by faith to take that step of faith. 369 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,440 If we sit here at the gate, we'll die. 370 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,240 If we go into the city, we'll die of starvation. 371 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,240 So let's take a step of faith and let's go towards the the way 372 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,320 of what we think is the enemy. And if they hadn't have done 373 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,040 that, they would have missed out on the blessings that God had 374 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:44,000 for them. You see, the Lord had already 375 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,600 dealt with the enemy. He'd sent this noise into the 376 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,080 camp of the Assyrians. They thought a great army was 377 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,920 coming and they'd fled. And while everybody's dying of 378 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:58,040 starvation, the tents were full of food, full of drink, full of 379 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,280 raiment, full of gold and silver. 380 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,880 Great blessing was waiting for them. 381 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,280 And as I read that, I wonder, you know, how many people are 382 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,000 there. They're just ignore the gospel, 383 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,360 neglect the gospel and they don't realise the great great 384 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,000 blessings that are waiting for them if they got saved. 385 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,920 For those of you that know me and know my testimony, I was a 386 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,360 atheist until I was 23 years of age. 387 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,160 Never went to church as a child, never went to Sunday school, 388 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,760 never went to a Sunday service. I was 23 years of age before I 389 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:37,000 heard the gospel for the first time and got saved, and after 390 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:42,160 having lived indeed a life without Christ, thinking as an 391 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:47,280 atheist that I was in charge of my life and all was well, and 392 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:52,360 then getting saved, I can tell you after almost 40 years of 393 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:57,160 salvation, I would never ever want to go back to live that way 394 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,200 again. Having lived on both sides of 395 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,920 the fence as it were, I would never swap what I have in this 396 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:05,760 life. I remember speaking to a man 397 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,040 years ago and I was witnessing to him and he said to me one day 398 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,520 he said, he said, how do you know there there is a God? 399 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,080 How do you know there is a heaven and a hell? 400 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,200 He said, what happens if you die and you discover there's no 401 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,080 heaven? And I said to him, you know, 402 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,240 isn't that a great question? And I said to him, I said, let 403 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,480 me, let me answer that question. I said, if I was to die tomorrow 404 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,160 and find out that there is no heaven, I said, let me tell you 405 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,080 something. I still would not swap my 406 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,400 Christian life for anything because of the joy of salvation 407 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,880 and the presence of Christ and the blessedness that it is to 408 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,160 live for the Lord. And that's speaking with almost 409 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,080 40 years experience. But I said to him, but let me 410 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,720 tell you something, what if I'm right? 411 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,160 What if there is a heaven, there is a hell? 412 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,640 And I said, what if you die tomorrow? 413 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,000 As you've lived without Christ, you've lost everything. 414 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,560 Not only have you lost your immortal soul, but you've lost 415 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,240 out on the greatest blessing that any man, woman, or young 416 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,280 person could receive, that blessing of salvation in Christ 417 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,840 and eternal life. These men, if they hadn't have 418 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,640 taken just a step of faith, they would never have known what was 419 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,760 waiting for them and the blessings that were there. 420 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,800 And you know, the whole message of this chapter is that you need 421 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,840 to take a step of faith. These men were just lepers. 422 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,040 They had nothing. You're in better health 423 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:35,320 physically today than these lepers were and therefore you 424 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:40,480 need to take a step of faith. The situation they faced, the 425 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,320 man who stepped out by faith, but then noticed these men also 426 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,360 had to share their good news. Here they were. 427 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:50,000 They're enjoying everything. They come across these tents and 428 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,480 they're eating food, they're gorging themselves. 429 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,560 They're finding all of the these new clothes in the tents. 430 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,760 Now remember, they're lepers, they're in rags. 431 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,840 And so here they are, they're dressing in these new clothes. 432 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,960 Then they're finding gold and silver. 433 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,920 And So what do they do? Let's go over there and dig a 434 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,680 hole and bury it. So we've got it for the future. 435 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,800 Then they go into the next tent and again they eat and they 436 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,000 drink and they find some more treasure. 437 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:22,120 Let's go bury that over there. And then they think, just a 438 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:26,840 minute, everyone else is dying of starvation in Israel and 439 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,360 we've now got food, raiment and treasure. 440 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,240 We need to go back and tell them. 441 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,160 They knew that they were responsible in verse 9. 442 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,640 Then as they said, one to another, we do not. 443 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,240 Well, this day is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace. 444 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,120 Just imagine if they'd never told anybody. 445 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,400 Imagine all those that would have died, the men, the women, 446 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:55,880 the children that would have perished if these men had not 447 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,480 gone and shared the good news. And that's the same 448 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,880 responsibility that falls upon every believer. 449 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,480 Surely the most selfish person in the world is the Christian 450 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:13,320 who refuses to tell others the gospel, who refuses to tell 451 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,480 others about the love of Christ, the need of salvation, the 452 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,760 indeed the heaven to be won and the hell to be shunned. 453 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,080 Now, of course, some Christians have the attitude, you know, how 454 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:31,440 can I tell others about Christ? My attitude always is, you know, 455 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:36,120 if you love the Lord and you really glimpse even a little of 456 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,520 what awaits you in glory, how could you not want to tell 457 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,800 others about? It was Oscar Hammerstein who 458 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,960 said a bell isn't a bell until it's rung. 459 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,640 A song isn't a song until it's sung. 460 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,640 Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay. 461 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,440 Love isn't love until you give it away. 462 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,400 How much do you love the Lord? How much are you giving the 463 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,240 gospel and deed to others? And they knew also they were 464 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,720 accountable in verse 9. If we tarry till the morning 465 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,280 light, some mischief will come upon us. 466 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:13,040 Now therefore come, that we may go and tell the King's 467 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:17,040 household, You know, if you've been saved, and you've come into 468 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,120 the unsearchable riches of Christ, then, believer, you're 469 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,760 accountable to God the Father, who said, When I say unto the 470 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,840 wicked, Thou shalt surely die, And they'll give us to him, not 471 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:32,040 warning nor speakers to warn the wicked from his wicked way to 472 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,000 save his life. The same wicked man shall die in 473 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:39,000 his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. 474 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,600 Here's the Lord speaking to a believer saying his blood will I 475 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:46,720 require at thine hand. You know, that's one of the 476 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,040 verses the Lord used to call me into the ministry when I got 477 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,360 saved. Having no Christian background, 478 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,280 you know, it was the last thing in the world I wanted personally 479 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,520 was to give up my job and career and go into the ministry. 480 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,040 But you know, when I read that little verse, his blood will I 481 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,360 require at thine hand. If you don't warn him, that's 482 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,280 when I stopped arguing. And I knew that the Lord had 483 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,480 something for me to do. There was a Christian man who 484 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,600 was holidaying in the Middle East, and he was trying to 485 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,720 witness to his Arab guide, But the Arab just wasn't interested. 486 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,720 And the Christian just kept pestering him and persistently 487 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,120 trying to talk to him about the Lord and his need of salvation. 488 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,440 And what struck my attention was that eventually the Arab got 489 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,920 upset with him. So the Christian man said to 490 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,440 him, look, I just want you to know that I'm sharing the gospel 491 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,640 with you because I want you to be saved and I don't want you to 492 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,320 be lost. And the Arab didn't say anything 493 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,160 for a moment. And then finally the Arab said 494 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,480 this. He says, you don't want to 495 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,880 commit the sin of the desert, do you? 496 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,080 And the Christian man said to him, he said, what's the sin of 497 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,600 the desert? And the Arab said to him, the 498 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,840 sin of the desert is to know where there's water, not tell 499 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,280 anybody about it. In other words, just leave them 500 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,000 to perish. And I wonder today how many 501 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,280 Christians are spiritually committing the sin of the 502 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,560 desert. They know the way of salvation, 503 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:21,280 but they're not sharing it with others. 504 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,840 The situation they faced, the lepers who stepped out by faith, 505 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,040 These men just shared their good news. 506 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,640 But then notice last of all, the man who spurned the good news. 507 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,840 What amazes me in this passage of Scripture is that in the 508 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,720 midst of all this blessing, there's one man who didn't 509 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,200 believe the nation was saved. Everybody's eating and drinking 510 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,200 and making merry, except for one sceptic. 511 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:53,400 He didn't believe because of his unbelief, he missed out on the 512 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,440 blessing of God. How did he do it? 513 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,080 How does anyone miss out on the blessing of God? 514 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,200 Well, look at the opening 2 verses here of Chapter 7. 515 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,560 Then Elisha said, hear ye the word of the Lord. 516 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,280 Thus saith the Lord, tomorrow about this time shall a measure 517 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,920 of fine flour be sold for a shekel and two measures of 518 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,560 barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria. 519 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,160 So what he's saying is here, look, you're in the midst of a 520 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,880 famine, you're being starved to death here. 521 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,200 But he's saying, listen, tomorrow there's going to be 522 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:28,120 such an abundance of, of flour and barley that it'll be sold 523 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:32,360 for those cheap prices. And then we're told then a Lord 524 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:36,320 on whose hand the king leaned, so here's a man of influence, 525 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,840 here's a man of position. He answered the man of God and 526 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:44,840 said, behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might 527 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,680 this thing be? In other words, even God 528 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,360 couldn't do that. And he said, Behold, thou shalt 529 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,960 see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 530 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,640 So Elisha preached that God had given his word that the next day 531 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:03,600 at this time there'd be specials going on barley and on indeed 532 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,960 the price of flour. As old Charles Spurgeon said, 533 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,400 God's word was fulfilled to the penny and to the hour. 534 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:16,320 But this man didn't believe. This man rejected the word of 535 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,160 God. And when you reject the Bible, 536 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:25,960 when you reject the word of God, you know you can't be saved. 537 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,080 Why? Because you can only be saved 538 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,080 through faith. And the New Testament says faith 539 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,920 cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 540 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,360 You reject the word of God. If you don't believe the word of 541 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:43,600 God, then you won't be saved. But before you condemn this man 542 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,480 too hard, I wonder how many people are in the same position 543 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,600 today. God has given His word to you 544 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:55,120 and to me that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 545 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,480 shall be saved. But perhaps you're sitting here 546 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,000 this morning and you haven't done that. 547 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,080 Perhaps you're a little bit like this man in the gate who just 548 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:10,040 won't believe the preacher. And this man refused the work of 549 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,719 God. In verse 2, he said that he 550 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:18,560 would believe what would happen if God made windows in heaven. 551 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,000 Well, you know, bless this poor fool's heart, he didn't know the 552 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,840 Lord has made windows in heaven in the past. 553 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,920 If you go right back to the first book of the Bible, we're 554 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,719 told in Genesis 7, in the 6th, 100th year of Noah's life, in 555 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,040 the second month, in the 17th day of the month, the same day 556 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,080 where all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the 557 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,560 windows of heaven were opened. And you go to other passages as 558 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:44,920 well. You go to Malachi also and read 559 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:49,639 about the windows of heaven. This man could not receive what 560 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:53,239 God wanted to give him because he wouldn't believe. 561 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:58,080 There's a thief called unbelief. And why do we call unbelief a 562 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,840 thief? Because unbelief will rob you of 563 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,200 your soul. It'll rob you of God's 564 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:06,040 salvation. It'll rob you of an eternity 565 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:11,400 with the Lord. Instead of receiving the 566 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,360 blessing of God, this man fell under the judgement of God. 567 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:19,040 Verse 17. And the king appointed the Lord 568 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,800 on whose hand he leaned, the same man, to have the charge of 569 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,720 the gate. So this man who didn't believe 570 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,960 that all of a sudden food would be available tomorrow, that the 571 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,160 king providentially puts him in charge of the gate. 572 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,600 Now the people in the city, they hear that there's food out there 573 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:42,200 in those tents. And of course, as thousands, 10s 574 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,720 of thousands of people are now wanting to storm out that gate, 575 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:49,760 you can imagine this one little bureaucrat standing there just a 576 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,240 minute. And what happened? 577 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:57,400 They stampled upon him. The people trod upon him in the 578 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,920 gate and he died. As the man of God had said, who 579 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,400 spake when the king came down to him, The man who didn't believe, 580 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,600 think about it, was trampled to death by the multitudes who did. 581 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,200 And so if you're here this morning and you don't believe 582 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:19,880 there's a heaven, or if you don't want to go to heaven, then 583 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:23,040 my only message to you is step out of my way, because I'm on my 584 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:24,400 way. And that's where I'm going. 585 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:30,920 I've got my eyes upon glory. You're welcome to come too. 586 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:36,760 In fact, I beseech you, and I plead with you even to come this 587 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,840 morning and receive Christ as your Saviour. 588 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,200 If you're starving for salvation, if you're longing for 589 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:48,760 the love of Christ, if you want that gift of eternal life, if 590 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,800 you want to know the joy of salvation, a joy you've never, 591 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:57,640 ever had until this day, then don't leave this meeting without 592 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:05,520 Christ because you're invited to go from famine to feast, from 593 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,000 starvation to salvation. But you've got to come by faith. 594 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:12,800 These lepers stepped out by faith. 595 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:18,720 The crowds went through those gates by faith, for by grace are 596 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,360 you saved through faith. When you come this morning to 597 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:26,120 Christ and place your faith in Him, we're thinking about the 598 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,000 harvest. You can think about the faith a 599 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,840 farmer has. He plants that seed in the 600 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:35,400 ground and he has faith that it'll grow into whatever crop he 601 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,280 has planted. Will you have enough faith? 602 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:42,720 Even the faith has a grain of mustard seed this morning to 603 00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:47,440 come and trust in Christ for the salvation of your soul for Jesus 604 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,560 sake, Amen. Let's bow together in prayer our 605 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:52,760 gracious God and eternal Father in heaven. 606 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,960 Lord, we thank you this morning for this Old Testament passage 607 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,280 of Scripture. Lord, there's much in it, and 608 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,400 we've gone over it very quickly this morning. 609 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,720 But Father, we pray that you'll bless that word to every heart. 610 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,000 We thank you for the faith of these lepers. 611 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,080 And Lord, we pray that every one of us in this meeting this 612 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,120 morning would be full of faith in the Holy Ghost. 613 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,640 Lord, may no one leave this morning without that knowledge 614 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,320 of sins forgiven and eternal life in Christ. 615 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:22,040 Come this morning. And Lord, grant fruit, grant 616 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:26,400 indeed a harvest to the gospel. We pray for Jesus sake. 617 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:27,520 Amen.