A Day Of Good Tidings…and We Hold Our Peace

A Day of Good Tidings…and We Hold Our Peace

Missions Emphasis Series

Chuck Sligh

February 19, 2012

A PowerPoint presentation of this sermon is available by mailing a request to me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

TEXT: 2 Kings 7:3-9 – “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? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6 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. 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and 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. 9 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.”

INTRODUCTION

Starvation in the Bible is a picture of the lost person without Jesus.

We read in John 6:35 – “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

Here Jesus calls Himself “the Bread of Life.” Man without Jesus is in a state of spiritual starvation, in need of the Bread of Life. He searches in vain for something satisfying to fill his empty soul. Only the Bread of Life—Jesus, can fill a soul and give it spiritual sustenance and health and life.

In our text, these four lepers were in a hopeless situation – verse 4 – “If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.”

If they did nothing, their condition was hopeless. The same can be said of us in the spiritual realm.

We can try to find spiritual sustenance in religion, or works through self-effort.

But if we trust in religion and good works to save us, we’ll die without Jesus. There’s no hope in these things. In the end, they leave us empty of real spiritual sustenance and nourishment, for only JESUS is the Bread of Life; only HE can satisfy.

Or a person can look for true happiness in a bottle, or a needle or pornography—something to take the spiritual hunger pains away for a while. But when he comes off the high, the hunger returns. The gnawing of his soul cries out for something better—something higher—in the only One who can bring true fulfillment and satisfaction in this life. And in the end, without the Bread of Life, he will die without Jesus.

And if a person simply does NOTHING—again, he’ll die without hope. Any alternative besides the real Bread of Life—Jesus Christ—ultimately leaves a person hopeless and empty. And the ultimate hopelessness is to die without the Bread of Life and be in hell for eternity—still hungry, yet FOREVER unsatiated, unsatisfied.

These beggars came for help when their situation was beyond all hope. With this in mind, note with me several things about this interesting passage of Scripture:

I. NOTE FIRST, A REMARKABLE INTERVENTION – Verses 5-6 – “And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6 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.”