Moving Forward
Theme:
Text:
2 Kings 7:3 ΒΆ 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? 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. 10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s house within.
Introduction
Times were rough in Israel. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, had surrounded the city of Samaria and blocked it up. There was no going out and no going in. The Bible tells us in the previous verses that a donkey’s head, which is the least likely part for food sold for 50 dollars. Then it tells us that the dung of a dove sold for three dollars in silver. In other words there was a major famine going on.
The Bible even gives us greater detail as it tells the story of two women. Both having child. It was so hard that they began to eat their child. Sadly enough we see the spiritual condition at this time. For as this woman went before the king she did not complain about the fact of having to eat her child but that the other woman would not share.
Oh how low this nation had become. Sunken so deep into rejection of God. Next we see in the verses that were read the plight of four lepers. These were standing at the gate of the city. This is where they practically lived. They were here to beg for food yet there was no food so they were here to beg.
Let me tell you these for lepers remind me of the church. The church whose sins were as filthy rags standing at the gate of decision. They remind me not of just the overall church but the Clifton church. Standing at the gate of decision. Many times God will bring us to a point of decision. He will break us down enough.
You see the devil has surrounded our church. The devil has surrounded this church. What he wants more than anything is to destroy it. What he wants more than anything is to distract you from the task at hand.
The task for Israel to do was to worship the Lord. All they had to do is to break down, repent and turn to the Lord. Yet in their stubbornness and distraction they would not bow.
The devil turned them against one another. For the King of Israel blamed Elisha and the city began to tear each other apart. There was no reason for Ben-hadad to come and capture the city for the city themselves would destroy one another.
Oh how we see a picture of the church. The claws of Satan tearing down the church. He don’t have to destroy it all he has to do is to convince us to destroy one another.
The church is at the crossroads of decision. What will we do? Well the lepers had a decision to make. The Bible tells us in 2 Kings “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.”
I. It was either move or die
What would they do? If they stayed at the gate they would starve. But if they went to the camp of the Syrians they run the risk of being killed. They had to make a decision to stay and die or move forward.
Let me tell you the church is moving forward. The church of Christ is moving forward. Oh what a powerful move of God this week. If you could only see what God is doing in the hearts and lives of people. How God is moving in a mighty way. The church is moving forward.
The church of Jesus Christ never stops. Yet the question we must ask our selves as the local church and the question we must ask ourselves as individuals is are we going to go with it? Will we move with the church or will we stay and the gate, remembering when the famine was not and die.
There are only two choices.
II. There is a risk with moving
But let me warn you, there is always a risk with moving forward. For with advancing the kingdom of God we take a risk. The four lepers took a chance. They were either to be killed or starve. The risk was being killed. They could easily wait at the gate and hope that something would happen.
The thing is that these four did not realize at this time that they were the catalyst to blessings and survival of Israel.
I wonder who here today wants to be the catalyst to revival.
A. We take a risk of change
You see with this risk we realize that we may have to change. We may have to change our mindset and our life. Things may not be the same. We may even have to change our limited view of Christianity and realize that it is not limited to only what we view but that God is working in different ways throughout this nation.
B. We take a risk of faith
There is the risk of faith. It will take a step of faith. What will happen when we move forward? Who knows? What will happen to our friends when we move forward, who knows? It is a step of faith. But let me tell you when you take a step of faith in the Lord understand that he will always walk with you. He just wants to see your faith in action.
But look what happened when they arrived. God not only met them half way but he took care of the problem before he arrived.
III. We must not keep this to ourselves
Now the lepers had a choice to make. They could keep all this blessing to themselves or they could share it with the city.
