The Biggest Enemy of Your Success

1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

In this chapter, Elisha prophesies a miraculous reversal of fortune during a severe famine in Samaria, caused by a siege by the Arameans. Elisha declares that by the next day, food will be abundant and affordable. A royal officer expresses doubt, questioning if even God could accomplish this. Elisha warns him that he will see the miracle but will not eat of it.

“You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”

This royal officer was so close to the blessing… he was able to see it, but an enemy came and stole the blessing from him!

The enemy called "Skepticism”- doubt!

Title of our message today: Skepticism, The Biggest Enemy of Your Success

God has a plan to bless this world, and God is going to bless this world.

And thousands upon thousands upon thousands will be a part of that blessing. And there are not enough demons in hell or outside of hell to stop it. God has a plan, and God's plan will be accomplished.

Now the question is: Will you be a part of that plan? Will you stay out of that plan? God wants to bless you, and God will bless you if you are not robbed of His blessing by the thief called Skepticism/unbelief.

Let me tell you that unbelief is a terrible sin. It is not a small sin; it is a great sin.

When men die and go to hell, they do not go to hell primarily because they steal, lie, cheat, or anything of that nature.

Look what the Scriptures says:

John 3:18–19 NIV

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

The sin that ultimately condemns man is unbelief or skepticism.

Unbelief is the greatest sin of all.

Unbelief points the finger in the face of God and says, "You are a liar."

Unbelief is the parent of all other sins. It is the chief sin.

It is the sin from which all other sins grow.

Why does a man tell a lie?

Because he cannot trust God enough to tell the truth.

Why does a man steal?

Because he cannot trust God and believe that He will supply his needs.

Every sin that man commits has its origin in unbelief.

Therefore, dear friend, unbelief is the worst sin, it is the sin that condemns, it is the chief sin, and it is the sin that defrauds you and keeps you from all the blessings of God.

Unbelief is your worst enemy!

We should be fed by faith, but many are deprived by doubt and robbed by skepticism—by the thief of sin.

I. The Situation Was Severe

Now, I want you to notice the situation from which our text today came.

The first point of this simple little message is the gravity of the situation.

And I want you to notice the gravity of the situation that existed in the land of Israel when our text was given.

See 2 Kings 6:24

2 Kings 6:24 NIV

24 Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.

Now, the situation is this: Samaria is under siege by the king of Aram = Syria.

At that time, they couldn't take the walled cities and the cities built on a hill. They didn't have tanks. They didn't have jets. They didn't have bazookas. But the way they took a city was to simply surround it and starve it to death. They called it besieging a city. And they simply besieged the city. Suffice it to say, God's people were suffering, because there was an enemy, an enemy besieging the city.

And let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that we have an enemy, and a real enemy. And he is the same invisible enemy that was behind the king of Syria back then, and he is the invisible enemy that is behind all of our visible enemies today.

He is the devil.

You have a real enemy.

Now you better prepare for him, my dear friend, and you better understand him.

The devil is real, and he has done it before and he is doing now.

The devil is real and has already plotted a plan to harm your life, sabotage your children, ruin your career, and destroy your joy and happiness.

Satan is very real and he is your enemy.

A. It was a time of famine

Now I want you to notice this serious situation.

First, it was a time of famine.

Second, it was a time of despair.

And third, it was a time of hell.

I want you to please notice verse 25, and notice the terrible famine. The Bible says, "2 Kings 6:25

2 Kings 6:25 NIV

25 There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.

Now, how would you like to sit down to dinner with a donkey's head and dove's dung?

Well, that's exactly what they were eating that day. And they were happy to eat it. The famine was very great.

There was famine because the enemy had surrounded them.

And the famine was worse than a donkey's head and dove's dung for dinner.

I want you to look, if you will, at verse 28 of that same chapter and verse 29:

2 Kings 6:28–29 NIV

28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”

Women were eating their own children. Cannibalism was rampant in the city.

There was a time of famine—a terrible, horrible famine. And it was caused by Satan.

And Satan has caused a famine in the world today.

And we see a physical famine in the world.

(Statistics from the WHO )-

Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa.

the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, warns that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030. The report shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

It’s hard for us to understand this, because America is an island of plenty surrounded by an ocean of want.

In the United States, we don’t see that physical famine—at least, many of us don’t.

But don’t think, ladies and gentlemen, that Satan hasn’t caused a famine yet.

Look at the text from Amos chapter 8 verse 11.

Amos 8:11 NIV

11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

What was the result of the famine in those days?

Well, first of all, there was a deplorable diet.

They were eating the head of an unclean animal, the head of a donkey, and they were eating dove dung. Pitiful.

Did you know that millions of people today are on a pitiful diet?

Do you know in American millions are eating a deplorable diet?

Why do people participate in human trafficking?

According to Forbes Magazine Human Trafficking is $150 Billion Business.

Today, there are 49.6 million people in modern slavery worldwide, and 12 million of them are children. (ILO, United Nations)

Do you know why these dens of iniquity and hell holes are filled with people, these things called gentlemen nightclubs?

Do you know why? //

Because there is a famine for the Word of God.

And whenever a man, a woman, a boy or a girl is not fed properly, he will have a deplorable diet. And he will be happy to get a donkey's head. He will be happy to feast on dove's dung.

You see, a deplorable diet was the mark in those days.

And a deplorable diet is the mark in our day.

But today we have a spiritual famine, a spiritual famine.

And today, people are feeding on all kinds of depravity and filth because they are not feeding on the Word of God.

Now listen, ladies and gentlemen.

The way to not partake of these filthy feasts, not do these deplorable things, not partake is not primarily by saying,

“I am a good boy and I won’t do that.” No!

The way for you to avoid these things is to just feed on the Word of God, to feast on the honey of the Word of God, to feast on the milk of the Word of God, to just feast on the meat of the Word of God—to feed on the Bread of the Word of God.

Illustration.

dinner at Fogo de Chão …

1st salad bar … I turned the dial to green … and the meats started to come … fried polenta … fried banana, grilled cheese with honey …

I went back to the salad bar to get pineapple, papaya & kiwi … I finished with a gluten free/sugar free tiramisu! :)

and you know, if when I left that restaurant you offered me some pigeon dung, I would say: "No, thank you". You would say: "Wouldn't you like to eat some donkey's head?" I would say: "No, thank you. I don't want to bite a donkey's head". And why not? I would tell you, I'm satisfied!

Thank you very much! I left that place satisfied.

You know, we need to learn to feed on the Word of God. And the things of this world "will become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace". Did you know that?

And when you're feasting on the manna, you won't have to go back to the back alley to eat out of the garbage cans with the devil's goats.

B. It was a time of destitution

Friend, it wasn’t just a time of famine; it was a time of destitution.

I want you to go back to 2 Kings chapter 6 and notice verses 26 and 27:

2 Kings 6:26–27 NASB95

26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27 He said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”

Now here was a king who had to say,

"There is nothing I can do."

This woman, who was seeking redress because her son had been eaten and now the other woman refused to give her son, came to the king for help. And the king was utterly helpless. There was nothing he could do.

I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that this is where we have come to in our world.

Even Winston Churchill, before he died, said, "The situation is beyond us."

And I want to tell you that it will do you no good to look to Washington. And it will do you no good to look to Brasilia.

That is not where your help lies. Our hope is not in Washington, nor in Brasilia, San Salvador, London, or Tokyo: our hope is in the Lord God Almighty. Until we realize that, my dear friend, we will be as helpless as this king was long ago.

C. It was a hellish time

It was a time of famine. Our time is a time of famine. It was a time of helplessness, and ours is a time of helplessness. And it was also a hellish time.

I want you to continue reading here:

2 Kings 6:31 NIV

31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

The king himself, who was so distraught, so frustrated, and so unable to do anything about this terrible situation caused by Ben-hadad, that the king of Samaria said, "Elisha, I'm going to rip your head off. And I'm going to do it today."

The strange thing is that Elisha was the only man who knew the answer.

But there was a hatred against the man of God.

And I have discovered—and it's good that you discover—that when you live for God in a time of famine and in a time of helplessness, this world is not going to like you.

You would think that the world would come and say, "Do you have a message from God?"

But there's something about a wounded animal that makes it want to bite the hand that feeds it.

There was a man sent to be a prophet to the king of Samaria, and that king turned against him.

You see, my dear friend, there is always a price to pay and a reward to receive.

And here's the price you pay when you start living for God: You will find yourself going against the grain all the time. And this world will not honor you.

The world will try to take your head off, quoting Leonard Ravenhill: "When God opens the windows of heaven to bless us, the devil will open the gates of hell to blast us up."

So point number one is what I call a dire situation: a time of famine, a time of despair, and a hellish time.

II. Time For Spiritual Revelation

The second point of this simple message is the spiritual revelation.

Please look at chapter 7 and verse 1:

2 Kings 7:1 NIV

What he was saying was this: "there will be food at bargain prices tomorrow around this time."

How did he know that?

He was in touch with God and he discovered that God had a plan. And God always has a plan; God always knows what He’s going to do.

A shortage of some material resource doesn’t catch God by surprise.

A downturn in the economy doesn’t catch God by surprise.

God always knows what He’s going to do.

Illustration:

Do you remember when Jesus got ready to feed the 5,000, and He called Philip and said, “Where are we going to get bread to feed these people?” But then the Bible says that Jesus knew what He was going to do—He already knew what He was going to do (John 6:5-6).

He was just asking Philip to test Him. The Lord already knew what He was going to do. And let me tell you, friend, I don’t know what your problem is, but God already knows the answer to your problem.

The widow of Zarephath thought she had an unsolvable problem - no more oil & flower ...She didn’t know how her need would be met, she didn’t know how this need would be resolved, but she heard the Word of God (1 Kings 17:13–14)

1 Kings 17:13–14 (NKJV)

13…“Do not fear; …

14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

She did not know how, but she trusted the Lord and she bank on it! God saw her faith!

And I want to tell you that God knows a way for you!

And God has a plan for you!

And God has a plan for all of us!

And God’s children should never panic!

Worry is an insult to Almighty God.

And so, in this serious situation, a spiritual revelation came.

I want to note and mark three things about this revelation quickly, because I’ll run out of time if I don’t.

A. Revelation with Authority

First of all, it was an Revelation with Authority. Notice chapter 7 and verse 1:

2 Kings 7:1 (NIV)

"Hear the word of the Lord." And I want to tell you, my friend, that this book, the Holy Bible, is the Word of God.

You know, I've noticed that the more liberal a preacher becomes, he doesn't like to call the Bible "the Word of God."

He likes to call it "the biblical record," or he likes to call it "the Pauline materials," or he uses some metaphor or some description other than "the Word of the Lord."

But, my dear friend, this is the Word of the Lord, spoken by His prophets, and it has authority.

It wasn't a guess. It was a promise that had the yes and amen of the dear Lord (2 Corinthians 1:20).

B. It was an Appropriate Revelation

It wasn't just an promise and a revelation with authority; it was an appropriate promise, appropriate revelation.

You see, God had a plan for them that day.

It was very appropriate. They needed food, and they needed food in a particular situation.

And God gave them food that was very appropriate for their need, as we'll see in a moment.

But let me just say something - God never changes. Amem?

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But His methods always change.

God never makes copies of miracles; He always makes original miracles.

God doesn't make two snowflakes alike.

God doesn't make two fingerprints alike.

God doesn't make two DNAs alike.

God is always dealing with the originals, never with a copy.

And that's one of the problems with trying to copy someone else's experience.

(the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda...)

You let God do something original in your life! Stop telling God how to do it!

C. It was an accurate revelation

A Revelation with Authority. This revelation was Appropriate. And this revelation was accurate, as we shall see, God’s Word always is accurate.

That is why we speak of the Bible as inerrant and infallible.

That is why we teach in the new members’ class that the Bible is inerrant and infallible.

F. B. Meyer said, “If any promise of God should fail, the heavens would be clothed in sackcloth; the sun, moon, and stars would go out of their courses; the universe would rot; and a hollow wind would wail through a ruined creation with an awful message that God can lie.” But God cannot lie.

There was a serious situation. And then, ladies and gentlemen, there was a spiritual revelation.

You out there in a serious situation, God is speaking to you!

God already has a plan!

God already knows what He is going to do and what He wants you to do.

III. The Danger of Contempt (2 Kings 7:2)

Now, the third thing I want you to notice.

Answer from the Officer:

2 Kings 7:2 (NIV)

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”...

Notice that this was an arrogant response to a spiritual revelation.

The prophet said, "There will be food—there will be plenty of food, and it will be sold at the gate of Samaria at low prices."

But the officer said, "Even if the Lord opened the floodgates of heaven, he could not solve this situation."

Note: You know, it's sad to know that the king had such an advisor, isn't it?

The man on the king's right hand was an unbeliever!

The Bible says: 2 Kings 7:2 - The officer on whose arm the king was leaning,

In other words, the king went to this man for advice.

Listen, people of God EVERYWHERE:

When you pray for your rulers, pray that they will have good counselors—men and women of faith—

that he will surround himself with godly men, that he will come to understand Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly” (Psalm 1:1), and that he himself will be a believer in God, that he will surround himself with godly men and men who know our Lord and will give him godly counsel.

And here is a man who was giving counsel to the king and he scorned God’s promise. He said, “That is impossible.”

And here you have a contrast between two men: one is a politician and one is a prophet.

A man who dealt with numbers and another man who dealt with faith.

But here was a man who expressed his unbelief, but his unbelief was expressed in religious terms.

Notice that he put God in the spotlight of his unbelief.

Notice again:

"The officer, (the politician) on whose arm the king was leaning, (he was the king's "advisor") said to the man of God: … “Even if the Lord should open the floodgates of heaven, could this happen?”

Now notice that he acted as if he believed in God, but he was an atheist in practice. "Even if the Lord" - he said he believed in God -

"should open the floodgates of heaven" he believed in heaven... in the abundance that is in heaven...

In my opinion, the greatest fool is not the man who says that God does not exist, but the greatest fool is the man who goes to church, sings, claps his hands, opens his mouth and says that God exists, is wonderful... and then does not live like one.

Here was a man who had a sterile religion.

In a way he believed in God. He had "a form of godliness, but denied its power" (2 Timothy 3:5).

And he was the great loser that day.

He was robbed by the thief of unbelief.

The man of God said to him: "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will eat nothing of it!"

Unbelief always keeps us from receiving the God's blessings.

Unbelief is our greatest enemy!

Jesus said: let it be done to you according to the faith that YOU have. (Matt.9:29)

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you receive it, and it will be yours."

IV. The Supernatural Demonstration

Now, I want you to notice what God did in response to this prophecy and this promise.

I am reading here from 2 Kings chapter 7

2 Kings 7:3–7 NIV

3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” 5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

verse 6 say - They actually heard something. … Now, what did they hear? "the sound of chariots and horses and a great army”

But from where? Who sent ? …

I tell you who sent, what they heard. They heard the cavalry of the army of heaven.

let me show you…

Let’s go back to chapter 6 for a moment and look at verse 14. Elisha is in Dothan.

2 Kings 6:14–17 NIV

14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Did you know, ladies and gentlemen, that as I stand here today preaching the Word of God, all around this auditorium there are angels all around me?

Did you know that? Did you know that as you serve the Lord God, there are angels of God encamped all around you, the ministering spirits?

Oh, if only we had eyes to see!

This may sound superstitious, but it is not, my dear friend—well, it is supernatural.

I am telling you that the angels of the Lord encamp all around those who fear Him (Psalm 34:7).

And the sound that these people heard, was just this great invisible army.

God allowed them to materialize a little bit so that the Arameans could hear the army and the noise of this great army of God's angels.

Let me give you a few verses to bless your heart.

Psalm 68:17 “17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.”

Psalm 20:7 “7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Psalm 34:7 “7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

Here was a supernatural demonstration. the Arameans heard a noise and panicked, and fled in dismay, leaving their supplies, and the devil became the DoorDash of God’s groceries.

And all this food was left there for God’s people.

Now, in closing, I want you to notice what happened to the man who treated the promises of God with contempt.

This man who said, “Even if God were to make windows in heaven, it wouldn’t be possible, it wouldn’t happen.”

Well, notice here in verse 16 what actually happened.

2 Kings 7:16 NASB95

16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

2 Kings 7:17–20 NASB95

17 Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.” 19 Then the royal officer answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it.” 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

Ladies and gentlemen, Here was a man who was robbed by a thief named unbelief.

Here was a man who could have been fed.

Here was a man who could have been blessed.

But instead, he was trampled underfoot.

Conclusion

The point of all this—it’s a very simple story, but the point of all this is this:

God always makes abundant provision.

“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

“Your [heavenly] Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). (Matthew 6:8).

But your sins have kept you from receiving good things, and unbelief is chief among them.

(All Standing)

Friend, I want you to notice that the same event that brought blessing to God’s people was the same event that brought judgment to the unbeliever.

Did you know that one of these days soon, Jesus is coming, and that event will be a blessing to me, but it will be a judgment and condemnation to some who are listening to me right now?

Did you know that? Did you know that the preaching of the gospel, which is a blessing to us who are saved, but if you are not saved, will be God’s method of judging you, because the Word of God that I preach is a sharp, two-edged sword that cuts both ways (Hebrews 4:12). It is a “aroma that brings life to some, but “aroma of death to others” (2 Corinthians 2:16).

That means that if you are not saved by the Word that I preach to you, or by the Word that you hear some other preacher preach to you, you will be judged by it.

Do you know what our Lord told us to do? He said, “Go out and preach, and if people will not listen to you, shake the dust off your feet.” And then he said, “The dust of their feet will be used as a witness against them on the day of judgment” (Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5).

What I’m trying to say here is that when God sent blessings to believers, God sent judgment to unbelievers.

And Jesus is coming to rescue His own, but He is coming “in flaming fire [to take] vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

Do you want God to bless you?

Find out what God is doing and get involved.

Find out the direction God is going and join Him.

And the first step is to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

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