Why do we keep the message of the Gospel to ourselves?

Sermon notes from Sunday 11 September 2016

2 Kings 7 verses 1 – 10

Our minds are attracted to one particular issue going on in this passage – the plight of the nation of Israel.  They found salvation through the work of 4 lepers.  These men because of the hunger in their bellies and the vision they could see took a step out from where it was safe and content into enemy territory.  Let us think of these men and how we can draw comfort and a challenge from their actions.

Firstly there is the crisis these men where in.  Chapter 6 verse 24 Samaria was the capital city of the northern part of Israel.  The Syrian forces had come against Syria and ransacked the city and took the spoils and people captive.  As they did that they besieged the whole city.  Nothing went in and nothing came out.  There was a great famine in the city.  These 4 men couldn’t enter in because they were lepers so were sitting in the shadow of the gate.  They were in an awful crisis.  They saw something happening, saw their friends starving to death.  In fear of the enemy they could do nothing to help them.  In verses 18 and 19 we read of an earlier incident between Elisha and the Syrian forces.  There will be those who will come against us, oppose us, say all manner of things against us.  They don’t want to see God’s kingdom advanced.  If the devil can keep you out of God’s house he would do it.  We should never tire of hearing that message and thanking God for what he has done for us.  These 4 men were living in that situation.  In chapter 6 verse 18 the Syrian forces were coming against Elisha.  Elisha had authority, he had an ear in heaven.  We have got an ear in heaven too.  There is one who is listening to us, the one who bends down to listen to us as a man would bend down to hear his father’s last words on earth.  Elisha took these men and treated them with kindness – verses 22 and 23 “So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel”.  Instead of being put to death they were treated with kindness.  In verse 24 some years had passed and a new king in Syria decided to go up and raid the city of Samaria.  He forgot about the deeds of Elisha.  Sometimes memories are short.  Syria came against the people and left them starving with hunger.  They were in a crisis.  In Samaria the hunger had got so bad they were taking their own children, slaughtering and eating them.  Such was the situation – verses 28 – 30. 

The company these men kept.  In chapter 6 verse 27 the king of Israel said “if the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?”  These 4 men were looked down upon, shunned.  They couldn’t enter the city.  1 Corinthians 1 verse 27 “but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”  Remember how 5 loaves and 2 fishes were used to feed 5000 people one day on the hillside.  In John 4 the woman at the well was insignificant.  After she met Jesus she went out to tell her neighbours “come see a man which told me ever I did, is not this the Christ?” (John 4 verse 29) These 4 men were separated from the city by reason of their condition.  You and I are saved by God’s grace, we are a separated people.  These men were outside the camp by reason of their condition.  We too are separate from the world because of Christ and his salvation.  In Acts 4 the disciples had been arrested and put in prison, then released and came to their own company.  They sought out their own company, those who were saved by God’s grace – why – because they got together and prayed for God to move in their lives.  Deliverance was going to come through doing their daily business.  It still comes today to those who are prepared to be separated from the world, those who take a stand against everything that is happening against us.  Chapter 7 verse 4 “if we say”.  They were communicating with each other.  There were of the same mind, united in their work.  There was a harmony in their work.  That is what we need today, to be together as one.

There is the courage that was shown.  In verse 3 the 4 men got fed up with their situation.  They had nothing to fill their bellies with.  They had no hope for tomorrow.  They rose up to do something about it.  They had a vision in their hearts.  For these men it took effort to get up and move into the city.  It will take time for us, to make the effort, to come into the time of prayer.  Remember David who went down to face Goliath.  He had courage, he was ready and prepared to step out.  There came a day when he thought of his brothers, when he stepped out from the sheep to where the soldiers were.  He could hear the battle.  He came into a strange environment, saw the giant standing cursing the Israelites.  Even David’s brothers looked down their noses at David.  He was prepared to step out from the safety of his own home.  He stepped up to the mark.  He stepped up and it took courage for him to do that. 

The conscience that was stirred.  These men proved the wonder and power of God just by stepping out.  They would never have proved the delights of God if they hadn’t moved.  This was a work of God.  God sent a noise into the camp.  As the Syrian forces heard that noise they thought it sounded like an army coming against them so they fled.  These men’s conscience took them down into the camp.  The enemy heard the noise.  Does God hear the noise of us praying?  When these men went in to the city they found a feast.  They went to one tent and there wasn’t a soldier there.  Then they went into another tent and found it empty too.  We can only prove God when we step out, when we leave behind our coldness, apathy.  These men found a feast, they found the gold and silver, cloth.  They were proving God.  Their conscience pricked them – verse 9 “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.”  Maybe they had friends and families starving.  We need to tell other people about God.  If you are saved today, if you have proved the love of God working in your heart you need to tell others.  These men’s consciences pricked them.  They went back into the city to tell others what they had found.  Through these men God brought deliverance to the city.  Give your all to the Lord as these men did and tell others about Christ.  That is the challenge today – to tell men and women of God’s riches if they will only accept him as Saviour and Lord.