Title: Becoming A Leper Or A King
Text: II Kings 6:24-7:20
Pray!!!
Introduction:
Joe Theismann enjoyed an illustrious 12-year career as quarterback of the Washington Redskins. He led the team to two Super Bowl appearances--winning in 1983 before losing the following year. When a leg injury forced him out of football in 1985, he was entrenched in the record books as Washington’s all-time leading passer. Still, the tail end of Theismann’s career taught him a bitter lesson: I got stagnant. I thought the team revolved around me. I should have known it was time to go when I didn’t care whether a pass hit Art Monk in the 8 or the 1 on his uniform. When we went back to the Super Bowl, my approach had changed. I was griping about the weather, my shoes, practice times, everything.
Today I wear my two rings--the winner’s ring from Super Bowl XVII and the loser’s ring from Super Bowl XVIII. The difference in those two rings lies in applying oneself and not accepting anything but the best.
- This what we are looking at this morning, having the right attitude in life and during the Christmas season.
- It has the power to change our lives forever if we chose wisely.
- I want us to look at two sets of people this morning, a group of lepers and the King of Israel.
- I want to ask you the question first, who would you want to be? I think all of us would say the King and not the lepers.
- But the lepers showed something in there character that we all need to possess, especially in the Christmas season.
- All of us go through testing times from the Lord that will determine our character or will shape our character. We never come to place where we have arrived.
- The King failed in God’s request to bring him and the nation of Israel back to Himself.
- The lepers were failing in this attempt but they later realized there desperate situation and took a chance and because they did, God developed there character and it saved a nation from starvation.
- There is a great spiritual principle that I all want us to see and this is what it is:
- Choosing to follow God in the midst of difficulty will point people in the direction of God. I will further develop that thought in my message.
- Circumstances should not determine your Christian destiny. But I realize that it does from time to time.
- We all get discouraged, defeated or down. The question is are we going to give up on God? Are we going to stay down, blame others for our defeat?
I like what Viktor Frankl said concerning his time in a Nazi Concentration camp.
He was captured with his family. The Nazi killed his family in front of him, they cut off his wedding band from his finger, was tortured and worked to exhaustion.
When asked how he handled his ordeal in the worst place his response was this:
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.
Transition:
- So during this Christmas season how can we keep the focus on Christ and not ourselves?
- How do we get people to see that we are different and that circumstances don’t change our attitude? How does Jesus make the difference and how can that become a reality in our lives this morning?
- I want to give you 4 points that will help from this story in II Kings 6:24-7:20
- We are going to look at how the King would flip flop back and forth in his relationship with God and how he didn’t get back up and how he blamed others.
- We are also going to see how the group of lepers took a step of faith and it changed not only there lives but also the nation they were a part of.
- Lets look at together.
Point 1: We Need To Have The Attitude Of Humility Not Pride
(Refer to II Kings 6:24-31)
- This was a time of great depression in the nation of Israel.
- They had departed from the Lord and as a result great famine hit the land.
- A donkeys head sold 80 shekals of silver, which is about 2 pounds.
- The undesirable of the whole animal and that’s what was for sale.
- Not only that, but people were eating there own off spring, there own children because the famine was so bad.
- Because Israel had departed from a covenant of trust in God, His people committed horrible deeds against their own family.
- A major result of throwing aside God and His word is the loss of family love and affection.
- When the King heard this from the woman who told him, he proceeded to tear his clothes and put on sackcloth as an outward sign of repentance.
- But it was short lived when he blamed Elisha for all the problems and wanted his head for this disgrace.
- This is all a result of people not humbling themselves.
- God was trying to get there attention to turn back to them so he could restore them, but instead of humility and repentance, they blamed others, were not truly repentant and full of pride.
Lev 26:26-29 says, “When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied. If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.”
- The lepers had the attitude of humility
- They could have blamed others for there condition, blamed God for where they were at but they didn’t.
- They portrayed the attitude of humility and took a risk.
- It wasn’t a big risk, but it was still a step in the direction of humility.
- The application is when we take one small step towards what God wants us to do, God does the rest.
- God does not want us to stay at the entrance gate and die, nor does He want us to go back into the city and do the things we did before, but rather trust in Him and take a step of faith and humble ourselves.
- The King was full of pride, blamed others, and lived with a defeated mentality with no faith.
- The 4 lepers took a chance and humbled themselves and it proved to be a blessing for them and all people.
Point 2: We Need To Have The Attitude Of Receiving Not Taking
- God wanted the 4 lepers to receive abundance from Him
- Our God does not take pleasure in seeing us suffer, but wants us to serve Him and turn to Him.
- It’s important to build yourself up this morning.
- The 4 Lepers had no one to build them up.
- They had to do it themselves and as a result were blessed and received much from the Lord.
- The King, the woman all wanted to receive from other people. Other people had to make them happy, and also other people had to be responsible for this misery.
- I want you to learn this morning the importance of receiving.
- Jesus received in
Matt 26:7-10 which says, “A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head….but when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste?.....when Jesus was aware of it He said….She has done a good work.”
- Here’s the point this morning, we need to allow the oil of service we pour out on others to be poured on you. Otherwise we can burn out.
- Sometimes we need to be restored, and it will be done by us.
- This is not a license to self indulge, but rather to be restored so we can keep on serving.
- We can either receive, or be takers in our attitudes.
- These men had leprosy, what worse shape could anyone be more in.
- But as we will see, God showed them a valuable lesson, that no matter what condition you are in spiritually, physically, emotionally, if you have the attitude of receiving in order to serve again, you will always receive what you need.
- There are two types of people who won’t understand the need to take care of themselves, they are:
- Religious Legalists who never stop trying to measure up to certain moral and religious standards
- Serve-a-holics who sacrifice self and family on the altar of endless church activity, believing that’s the only way to please God
- Judas was upset because it wasn’t the proper thing to do in the religious mind. He’s not thinking what’s in the best interest of people, but rather himself covered up with religion.
- We need to learn to take care of ourselves with the attitude of after I have received now I want to give again, even in the midst of hardship.
Point 3: We Need To Have The Attitude Of Giving Not Selfishness
- This leads to my next point, the attitude of giving verses being selfish.
- Giving not only money wise, but in our emotions, support and help. It will also include our time and efforts.
- The lepers moved from receiving to giving by informing the King of the fortune they had found. (Chapter 7 verse 9)
- No matter what our situation is we need to share it with all people.
- Here’s the spiritual principal that I mentioned earlier, the lepers did not horde the great news of salvation for themselves, but went and told all that the Lord had done.
- We need to tell all that the Lord has done to people that we come in contact with.
- But if we have the attitude of selfishness we will want to keep it to ourselves.
- We will hide and bury all the blessings and talents the Lord gives us for our benefit and not want to share it with others.
- The Gospel is meant to be shared with all people.
- All the promises found in this book are for all people who will call on the name of Lord to be saved.
- We need to give the Lord away to people who haven’t found Him yet.
- The Blessings were not just for the church but for all people.
- Another way the lepers gave was in there need.
- We all have something to offer people.
- You may say, well I am hurting and I have nothing to give to anyone.
- These lepers lost everything, but what they gave was something that saved thousands of people.
- If you will focus on what you have rather then on what you don’t have you can be a blessing no matter what situation you are going through.
- The Lepers focused on what they had and it blessed all.
- Church start focusing on what you can give, rather then always wanting to receive.
Point 4: We Need To Have The Attitude Of Rejoicing Not Complaining
- The Kings officer didn’t believe Elisha but rather complained.
- Because he chose to complain, he never received.
- When we rejoice the victory comes a lot faster.
- Believe that you have received what you have prayed for and start praising the Lord.
- When we don’t praise the Lord, we are found on the outside looking in all the time.
- The Officer was appointed as the chief gatekeeper, and was trampled by the people.
- He never received from the Lord what He was looking for because he chose to complain rather then rejoice.
- Again the Israelites are examples while in the desert, they complained and because they complained wondered in the desert for 40 years and died.
- Rather what we should do, is rejoice in our situation that God will provide and come through, because He will.
Conclusion:
- I close with this story that wraps up all I have been saying:
Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.
- I challenge you this morning to see what God sees, a person who is an overcomer in the Lord.
- It all depends how you see the situation.
- Do you see the situation with humility or pride
- Do you see the situation with receiving or taking
- Do you see the situation with Giving or selfishness
- Or do you see the situation with Rejoicing or complaining.
- You will always find what you are looking for and your attitude determines what you are looking for.
Lets Pray!!!
