Sharing Our Blessings
TEXT: 2 Kings 7:3-9
TOPIC: Sharing Our Blessing
Pastor Bobby Earls, FBC, Center Point
Sunday Morning, November 6, 2005
Message notes and outline resourced from Dr. James Merritt
Please take your bible and open to the O.T., and 2 Kings 7. We’re going to read of one of the worse accounts of the worse days of Israel’s history. Samaria, the capital city of the N. Kingdom of Israel was under siege by the Syrian army. All hope had been cut off. There was no way of escape. They were outnumbered by one of the most powerful armies in the world, the Syrian army. Flight was impossible, and fight was out of the question. Fright appeared to be the only option.
Conditions were so bad that the people had resorted to eating almost anything to stay alive including cannibalism. (Read 2 Kings 6:24-30)
24And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. 26Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29“So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” 30Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.
It was a very sad time in the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The capital city of Samaria was starving to death. In desperate times people do desperate things. Donkey-head burgers were selling for $50 while dove’s dung was considered a delicacy.
But Israel had forgotten two things: a Heavenly Father to provide a miracle and the right kind of faith to expect a miracle.
God did the unexpected and the impossible. Sending an invisible angelic army, He caused the Syrian army to turn tail and run, leaving behind all of their money, food and clothing the people of Samaria needed.
Yet no one would have ever known had it not been for four leprous men who were willing to share the blessings they had discovered. (Read 2 Kings 7:3-9)
3Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4“If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” 5And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. 6For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” 7Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. 8And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.
9Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”
This story is a challenge to every Christian who has discovered Christ as the Bread of Life, and who are surrounded by millions of famished souls who are in danger of dying of spiritual starvation.
1. THE PRIVILEGE WE ENJOY, 2 Kings 7:9 “this day is a day of good news”
There is a great spiritual lesson for us here. At this moment you and I are enjoying the Word of God. Today is a day of good tidings, and we sit here and enjoy it. What about getting the Word out to others? What are you doing to share the Word of God with those who are starving spiritually? You ought to be busy getting the Word of God out to needy hearts. I heard of a man who said, “I can’t speak, I can’t teach, I can’t sing, I can’t do much of anything except make money.” Believe me God has given him a talent for making money. He simply could not lose money. Everything he touched turned to gold. You see, his ability is a gift from God, and he certainly is using it to get the Word of God out. God expects each of us to use the talents He has given us to publish the good news about God’s love and offer of forgiveness to all men. We must not hold our peace in this desperate hour!
2. THE SIN WE COMMIT, 2 Kings 7:9 “We do not well”
This is true of a multitude of Christians who are committing the sin of silence.
Most Christians are like the Arctic River, frozen at the mouth!
Think of the Christians who go to church and sing and rejoice in God’s salvation, and then return on the following Sunday and do the same again, but during the week they have “held their peace.”
ILLUSTRATION of Jay Strack while in the Middle East trying to witness to an Arab tour guide with little interest in Jesus. Why? Because I love you and God loves you. The Arab said you don’t want to commit the sin of the desert. The sin of the desert is knowing where there is water and not telling anyone.
How many Christians are committing the sin of the desert. Someone has said that Christian witnessing is simply one beggar sharing with another beggar where to find bread.
Illustration: Did you hear about the 30 Chinese children taken from Sunday School by police.
Our sin of silence is a sin both against God and men. Everyone deserves to hear about Jesus.
3. THE DANGER WE FACE, 2 Kings 7:9, “We do not well…..if we wait until the morning light some punishment will come upon us.
Ezekiel 33:7-9
7 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
8 When I say to the wicked, `O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. (NIV)
4. THE ACTION WE MUST TAKE 2 Kings 7:9, “let us go and tell”
A. THERE MUST BE DETERMINED ACTION, “Now therefore come, let us go and tell…” If one Christian were to win 10 persons to Christ who in turn win ten by the tenth year the entire world would be saved.
B. THERE MUST BE UNITED ACTION, “Let us…” It is wonderful what one dedicated man can do, but how much more can a whole Church of dedicated witnesses do.
C. THERE MUST BE SACRIFICIAL ACTION, “go”
D. THERE MUST BE VOCAL ACTION, “tell”
E. THERE MUST BE URGENT ACTION, “If we wait…some punishment will result.”
What happens when Christians are willing to share their blessings? In verses 9-12 we are told: first the four lepers told one porter, then one porter told the other porters who then told the king, and the king told the city and thus the blessing spread.
Do you understand the privilege we have, the privilege of sharing our blessings with others? All around us every day are people dying of spiritual starvation. We have the bread of life. We must share our Jesus with others.