2 Kings

[0:00] Depending upon the Lord for much felt needed help, I would direct you to the second book of Kings, the seventh chapter and the third and fourth verses.

[0:24] The second book of Kings, the seventh chapter, the third and the fourth verses.

[0:38] 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?

[0:54] If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there.

[1:07] And if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall into the host of the Syrians.

[1:19] If they save us alive, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.

[1:31] Friends, I've been very tossed. What to bring here this afternoon?

[1:43] I have two words, and I've only turned from the other word just before you sat down.

[1:57] The other word that was with me is in the chapter we read, where Paul and those men with him were shipwrecked, and it says there that something to the effect, they were many days without sun, stars, moon, and so on.

[2:31] You are no doubt acquainted with the verse, and all hope was lost of being saved. But I did not really feel absolutely settled whether I should speak from that or this.

[2:55] But I venture with this, trusting that it may prove to be of the Lord.

[3:07] I feel there are similarities in the two words. They are both desperate cases. They are both cases where they come to the end of their hope.

[3:30] They were surrounded and overcome by present things. They were distressed.

[3:46] There may be some of us here that are distressed, troubled, don't know how to continue.

[4:01] We might ask, why is it? Is it because we have a case where it is dark, where there seems no light, where there seems no prospects, of light?

[4:34] That's how it was with these lepers. That's how it was with those in that ship. These, the poor leprous men we have here, they had this disease of leprosy.

[5:04] A terrible disease, especially in those days, where there was no hope.

[5:16] It was a matter of time before they would die. But they, these also had other things.

[5:33] They were hungry. They had no food. that was a solemn day.

[5:50] And they realised that if they did not rise up, if they did not venture, if they did not do something, they would die.

[6:02] Now friends, how is it with you and I? Spiritually, are we lepers?

[6:18] That is, sinners? sinners? Are we aware of it? Are we conscious of it?

[6:29] Is it a burden to us? Are the prospects bleak? Are we striving against sin and its power?

[6:50] Do we not have to say that we don't seem to make any headway? The way is so dark.

[7:03] Our faith, if we have any, seems so weak. Ah, friends, these men were in a tried state, a desperate state.

[7:27] And it may be there are those of us here in that condition at this time.

[7:39] A tried, desperate state. We may fear that we are wrong.

[7:54] We may fear our religion is not right. We may fear that the Lord is not the author of it. There may be much temptation.

[8:08] We may be dismayed. We may be found crying and shouting unto the Lord.

[8:21] we may come to the conclusion that he shuts out our prayer. The heavens are as brass.

[8:37] But my friends, these leprous men, they didn't give up. you know, the flesh gets to that place sometimes where it's tempted to give up.

[9:01] It's tempted to call on Jesus' name no more. It sometimes is offended. It sometimes is rebellious.

[9:15] He doesn't like the why. But my friends, where else can you and I go for mercy, for help?

[9:36] The flesh and the devil says sometimes, well, the Lord's failed you. The Lord has left many promises in the word of God, but my friends, there are times when we question many of them.

[10:00] We can't say they're ours. We can't say the Lord has given to us. We're waiting, we're watching, we're hoping that they will be fulfilled in our hearts.

[10:17] But my friends, what is the way? The leprous men, they come to the conclusion, they weighed up their situation, they weighed up everything, and they could not lay down and die.

[10:47] They knew they were faced with death, whatever happened, whichever way they turned. And so, friends, there was a venturing.

[11:01] how is it with you and I, friends? Are we conscious of our sin, of our deserts?

[11:12] Does Satan and the flesh say, if you go to the Lord, you'll perish, you'll receive the due reward of your sins? my friends, are there not times when we strive to, what shall I say, better ourselves?

[11:45] Are there times when we try and walk closer with the Lord, when we make a desperate struggle to resist evil? That we might, somehow or other, please or merit God's favour?

[12:12] I can tell you this, friends, it doesn't work. That's not to say that we should sin deliberately, but we have to prove this, that God's love is free, it's sovereign.

[12:40] He comes when he sees fit. he saves sinners. And my friends, these four men were leprous men.

[13:01] And if you and I have that solemn disease of leprosy in our members, that is sin.

[13:20] if we are conscious of our sin, it would be leprosy.

[13:38] These men, they couldn't get rid of their leprosy. it was something that followed them. And so it is with a child of God.

[13:53] He can't get rid of that leprosy. He's solemnly aware and conscious of his sin. It follows him everywhere. My friends, the only time that you and I will ever lose the consciousness of sin is when the dear Lord sometimes is pleased to come and wash us in his blood and cleanse us from all sin and cast our sins in the depths of the sea.

[14:36] It may only be for a few moments but it is most precious.

[14:50] And I can tell you this friend, you won't be able to find a sin, not one sin. But my friends, your Lord is a sovereign.

[15:09] And that is something most precious. It's something that every child of God wants.

[15:22] will experience in their early days.

[15:42] Some do. the Lord is a sovereign, friends. There are many that have to wait till the end, the end of the journey.

[16:03] But the Lord does say that seekers shall be finders. So, friend, don't lose heart. If you're waiting for it, if you want it sealed into your heart, and you've waited many years, it will come.

[16:25] If the vision tarry, wait for it. And so, friends, there is an act in these four men acted.

[16:43] they went out. They went into the city.

[16:58] 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.

[17:10] now therefore, come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.

[17:28] So you see, friends, they didn't sit still and do nothing. Neither did the disciples when they were in the ship, laboring, toiling and rowing.

[17:51] the sea was tempestuous. It was dark, the darkest hour of the night. We couldn't make any headway.

[18:06] But my friends, they kept toiling in rowing. The man who enters a race, he has one thing in his mind, that is to reach the point at the end of the race.

[18:33] He often feels ready to drop, he often feels he can't go any further. But he tries, he strives, he refuses to give in until he reaches the goal.

[18:52] And so it is with the child of God. My friends, what keeps you and I going? Is it not that we hope to reach heaven at last?

[19:12] Is it not that we hope to find Jesus as our Saviour, the Saviour of the lost?

[19:32] These leprous men, they ventured, ventured forward. Think of it. it was a great venture.

[19:49] My friends, we often feel that we're afraid to venture. We're afraid of ourselves.

[20:02] We're afraid of the enemy. we're afraid of the enemy. But my friends, when we look to Jesus, we shall be able to go.

[20:22] We shall be able to go a little further. We shall be able to find strength.

[20:33] He will give us strength. There are many times, many places, many spots that we come into providentially and spiritually and we feel we're unable to carry on.

[20:53] It's too much for us. The burden is too great. It's too heavy. The anxiety is too great. We are often perplexed.

[21:08] Have we gone the right way? Are we going the right way? But if these men had stood still and not ventured, they would have perished.

[21:25] And so friends, there are times when we must sit still, stand still, and there are times when we must be up and going.

[21:43] You might say, well, when have I got to sit still? When have I got to stand still? When we're hemmed on every side and there is no way, then we cannot go forward.

[21:59] If the children of Israel had went forward, where would they have went? They would have tumbled into the sea and perished. and so that was the time for them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

[22:22] The Lord did appear. He came in his own time. He came all through the night hours.

[22:33] He caused the wind to blow. He caused the sea to part. But my friends, there are many times when we're not hemmed in on every way.

[22:53] And we're afraid. We're afraid of the enemy. We're afraid of ourselves. We don't trust ourselves.

[23:03] There are many people who trust themselves. But I believe the Lord's children are brought off of that.

[23:19] They don't trust themselves. They prove that they have been wrong many times. They prove they have made many mistakes.

[23:31] they come to the conclusion they have no wisdom or understanding. And then, my friends, they will come to the Lord.

[23:46] They'll seek his wisdom, his counsel. Ah, my friends, it's a wonderful thing.

[24:00] it is the truth. The word of God says, except you become as a little child, you can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.

[24:13] Except you become as a little child. What does it mean? It means just that.

[24:24] that we, if we are the people of God, we'll be brought to feel like a child.

[24:36] Have you ever gone to the Lord and asked him, begged of him, to take you by the hand and lead you as and like a little child?

[24:47] Because you feel your need to be led by him. My friends, it's a wonderful thing when a child, and we can put our hand into our parents' hand and we feel secure.

[25:09] secure. You know the feeling, no doubt. We feel secure. We feel we have a guard.

[25:20] We have one that is mighty, strong, that will keep us from danger.

[25:35] And my friends, so it is with a child of God. He feels time and time again, he needs one that is mighty, that is almighty.

[25:55] He wants to put his hand in the Lord's hand. He wants the Lord to guide him, to direct him, to lead him, to make a way for him, to stop him when he's wrong.

[26:18] Friends, it's a narrow pathway that the Lord's children have to walk in. So narrow at times, there seems hardly enough room to walk in.

[26:29] him. But my friends, where are our eyes? The lepers here, they ventured forward, they used the means.

[26:48] It's not wrong to use the means, friends. There are many times when we are perplexed and troubled and don't know what way to go, but the means is there for our use, my friends.

[27:07] But pray about it. If it's the Lord's way, if it's the Lord's will, he'll bless the means. If it's not his way, he can shut up the way, he can bring it to nothing.

[27:29] And I believe, friends, we're brought to that place again and again, where we have to seek the Lord for his direction, for him to guide us, for him to confirm his way.

[27:47] are you in a pathway, have you an exercise, a concern that is with you, that follows you about?

[28:04] What are you doing about it? You say, well, I'm still carrying it, but I'm afraid, I'm afraid to walk it out. Why are you afraid?

[28:17] afraid? You say, I'm afraid of self, I'm afraid of the enemy. What does the Lord say?

[28:30] What is that to thee? Follow thou me, follow thou me. me. We are to follow the Lord.

[28:42] We're to fix our eyes upon him. We're to trust in him. The lepers did, and my friends, they wasn't ashamed.

[28:54] They didn't perish. they didn't die. They didn't die. They didn't die. They didn't die. They didn't die. They didn't die. They didn't die. And we say, if we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city.

[29:10] If we shall die there, 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.

[29:28] If they save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall die. They were resolved. They were resolved.

[29:40] They were determined. They were made willing to venture forward. If it cost them their lives, so be it.

[29:51] They knew that if they stopped where they were, it would cost them their lives. But here there was at least hope of mercy.

[30:04] So it was with Queen Esther. Her life was threatened being a Jew. And my friends, she came to that desperate place where she must do something.

[30:21] she must go forward. She must go in unto the king, which was not the recognized thing.

[30:32] You couldn't just go in unto the king. And if you did, if he did not hold out the golden scepter, you died.

[30:45] She said, I will go in, and if I perish, perish, I perish. She knew she would perish if she didn't go in. So she ventured to go in.

[30:58] And the king held out the golden scepter to her. Ah, my friends, and so it is with a child of God.

[31:10] He comes to that place at times, from time to time, where there is no way. Everything is black, everything is bleak, everything is threatened, everything is marred.

[31:27] But my friends, and we look within self, and we find what failure. I will go in unto the king, I'll tell him.

[31:42] I'll lay my case before his feet. heart. Ah, friend, have you got a case? Have you got an exercise?

[31:53] Have you got a deep burden? Go in unto the king. Tell him you'll go.

[32:10] Friend, I can tell you this, if the Lord has put it in your heart, he won't fail you. He won't fail you.

[32:22] But you see, friends, you and I want the Lord to, as it were, be visible to us.

[32:33] We want him to be visibly in front of us. But we have to walk by faith. God's love.

[32:43] God's love. He's love. These lepers didn't know how it was going to turn out. And my friends, you and I, if we're the Lord's children, we come to those spots and places where we're exercised and burdened about certain things.

[33:07] and there's a way forward. And we are afraid. But we come to that place where we must go.

[33:20] Otherwise, we shall perish. We should go under. It's too great for us. The burden. The weight.

[33:30] light. And my friends, some of us have walked these things out. And we have gone.

[33:43] We've gone forward. Yes, and we've gone forward in darkness. Not light. Ah, the whole flesh says, oh, I can go forward if it's light.

[33:57] Of course you can. It'd be easy, wouldn't it? That's not always the case with the Lord's children. They're not always permitted to go forth in the light.

[34:09] They have to go forward in darkness. So were these lepers. They had to go forward in darkness. The disciples had to go toiling and rowing in darkness.

[34:24] They didn't see much prospects, did they, for them? The sea raged. But my friends, they have to, they had to go.

[34:39] They had to go forward. And my friends, some of us have had to go forward into various things, exercises that we have carried in darkness.

[35:00] What did we prove? Well, we proved that the Lord didn't forsake us.

[35:12] At first, we feared that we was forsaken. We feared we were the biggest fool that ever lived.

[35:24] we feared to venture. We would have run as far away as we could, and we couldn't. We couldn't.

[35:37] There was a venturing, and ere long the Lord drew near. he showed us that he hadn't forsaken us.

[35:56] So, friends, don't be surprised if you come sometimes into that state, into that pathway where you're heavily burdened.

[36:07] There is no peace. No peace in your heart. The thing will not leave you. can you give it up?

[36:22] You say, I've tried many times. I can't. It won't go away. No, it will not, friend. If the Lord's put it there, it won't go away. I've proved it in my own experiences.

[36:37] Try as we may. It will not go away. It will get heavier. Our case will get more desperate until we come to the place, the spot where we can hold back no longer.

[37:04] We're made willing. We have to say to the Lord, I will go. go. I will go in unto the king.

[37:15] I perish. I perish. You may say, well, I fear I shall be misunderstood.

[37:31] I fear that there will be those that will ridicule me. I fear there are those that don't like me.

[37:49] Ah, my friends, the Lord says, what is that to thee? Follow thou me? Amen. If you and I want to be released of the burden, if we want our consciences to be cleared, as it were, there's only one way, and that is to go forward.

[38:27] It will never be backward. There's no way backwards, my friends. no doubt many of you are familiar with pilgrim's progress, and there was Christian and another, I can't just remember the other one's name, they went through the slough of despond, what a struggle they had.

[39:02] One never did go across, he turned back, but not Christian. There's no way back for a Christian, friends.

[39:14] There's no way back for one who fears God, whatever danger he has brought in, he has to go forward.

[39:27] He has to leave the matter in the Lord's hands. He has to plead with the Lord to bring him through. And so it is when one comes to the end of the journey.

[39:47] At death, my friends, there are many that are brought to the end of the journey, and they're in great darkness, darkness, because the Lord often seems to hide his face at that solemn hour, and the enemy is gloating, is triumphing, is troubling, is firing his fiery dance.

[40:12] death. Ah, but the poor sinner has to fix its eyes on Jesus. Yes, it has to go forward.

[40:28] The Lord brings them through the swellings of Jordan. He delivers them out of the hand of the enemy. He does. Oh, my friends, what a wonderful place to be brought to, to prove that our Lord is faithful, that he loves with an everlasting love.

[40:59] We often, friends, get distressed and troubled and very concerned about loved ones when they come to the end of the journey and seem to be in darkness and there is no light.

[41:16] But my friends, as the tree falleth, so it shall lie. What is meant by it?

[41:30] Why? We see the tree, we see the person, we see their life, we see their walk, we've heard their speech, has there been any savour in it?

[41:47] Have you seen the grace of God in them? Has the Lord shone sometimes in them? Ah, sweet evidence of being one of the Lords.

[42:03] do you think that in the darkest hour they will be left to sink into everlasting perdition? Never, never.

[42:17] We do not always see to our satisfaction that all is well, but my friends, make no mistake about this, if the Lord has ever once shed his love abroad in a poor sinner's heart, they will reach heaven at last.

[42:37] They'll be delivered out of the hand of the enemy. They will. Well, I've wandered about and prayed, but if the Lord has given this word, then I believe there's a purpose.

[42:59] May use it. may it bear some fruit to his honour and glory. May he forgive anything that has been amiss. Amen.

[43:09] Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[43:40] Thank you.