We'll start out just by going over the story that we just read here.
Of course, Elisha, at the beginning of the chapter, makes this pronouncement in verse
number one about what God's going to do.
Just to get you into the story, in chapter number six, the Bible explains that there
had been a severe famine in the land.
People are starving to death because the Syrians, the enemy, had basically camped around Jerusalem
and besieged the city so that no supplies could get in, so the food has totally run
out and people are starving to death.
They're willing to pay money just for any little scrap of trash to eat, whatever it
might be.
Basically, they're in the city, they're locked in, they can't get any supplies, and Elisha
prophesies in verse number one, he says that tomorrow, by the time the sun's hot, he gives
these prices, look down at verse number one, he says, shall a measure of fine flour be
sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
So he's explaining how you're going to be able to buy food cheaply tomorrow.
Says in verse two, then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and
said, behold, if the lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?
And he said, behold, thou shalt see with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof.
Verse three says, and there were four leprous men at the entering end of the gate, and they
said one to another, why sit we here until we die?
And basically, to make a long story short, these guys say, we already read the whole
chapter, but these guys say, look, we're four guys, we've got leprosy, we're outside the
gate because of the fact that we're dirty and so people don't want us in the city because
we have disease and contagion.
And so we're dying here because we have no food, just like everybody else is starving
from this famine.
So we can just sit here and die, or we might as well just go to the enemy, just basically
surrender to the enemy and just see what happens.
So basically, these four guys go to surrender to the enemy, but when they get there, they
find the camp of the Syrians just completely empty, completely abandoned.
But all the tents are still there, all the gear is there, all the food is there, so these
guys are starving.
I mean, there's been this long famine, they just start plundering everything.
I mean, they're eating.
I mean, look what it says in verse number, let me find my place, verse number eight,
it says, when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent
and did eat and drink and carried that silver and gold and raiment and went and hid it and
came again and entered into another tent and carried that also and went in.
So they're just having a blast.
I mean, they're coming in, they're eating, drinking, they're finding all kinds of money,
gold, silver, so they're taking it and hiding it, like getting it out of there and hiding
it so they can get back to it later.
And they're just having a great time.
And what had happened was that God had deceived the Syrians.
He sent this noise that sounded like all the chariots of the Hittites and the enemy.
They basically made them scared and run away.
So God sent fear into their hearts to where they abandoned the camp.
These lepers are just plundering everything.
Look what they say in verse number nine.
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.
So they came and called them to 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 tent says they were.
And he called the porters and they told it to the king's house within.
Basically they said, look, this isn't right for us to just enjoy all this and nobody else
gets to know about it.
Let's tell the rest of the city here.
Well they're not really allowed into the city because they're full of leprosy.
So they call out to the porter, the guy who handles the gate, and just explain to them
what happened.
And then the porter goes and tells the king, well the king thinks this is a trick.
You know, the Syrians have hired these guys to come lie to us, to tell us that it's abandoned
because we're hungry, we're going to go out there and they're going to ambush us and kill
us.
So they're pretty desperate though so they finally said, hey, let's just try this out.
Let's just send a few guys to see whether it's true.
They send the guys, they check it out, it's true.
The people go out there, they find all kinds of food, spoil, everything.
They're eating, they're drinking, they got money, everything's great.
And then everybody's so frantic about getting out there once word spreads to get the food
and to get the riches that they literally trample down on top of the guy who's there
to basically handle the door and supposedly run the door.
He gets trampled and killed.
This was the guy who did not believe what Elisha spoke but Elisha said, tomorrow at
this time, and the guy said, look, I don't care if God made windows in heaven, that cannot
happen.
And he said, well, thou shalt see it, but thou shalt not eat thereof.
And that's exactly what happened, he was trodden underfoot.
That's the story.
But I want to make a spiritual application of this story because, you see, verse nine
contains the key.
It says, then said, day 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.
You see, we can apply this to salvation.
You see, if we have got the good news of salvation, the glad tidings of the gospel, if we have
discovered the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ, it shouldn't just be enough that we're
saved.
We shouldn't just stop and say, hey, well, I'm saved, you know, I'm going to heaven,
I don't know about anybody else.
These guys could have just stopped and said, hey, wait a minute, you know, we've got everything
we need, we don't want to jeopardize our situation.
They said, no, we're not doing right here, we do not well to not tell others so that
they can also share in this bounty, that they can share in this blessing.
Look, it's not enough that we're saved, we've got to go out and bring the good news of the
gospel to somebody else.
Now let me prove to you that that's what this story is teaching.
First of all, look at that term, glad tidings in verse number nine.
It says, we do not well, this day is a day of good tidings.
Let's look at some other passages on good tidings.
Look if you would at Isaiah chapter 61, Isaiah 61, Isaiah 61 verse number one, the Bible
reads in Isaiah 61, one, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn.
So here, if you would keep your finger there and turn to Luke chapter four, he said here,
the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek and in Luke 4, 18, Jesus quotes this scripture and he says, the spirit of
the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the what?
The gospel, it says in Luke 4, he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He had sent me to heal the brokenhearted and he goes on with the list.
Look at Luke 2, 10, you're in Luke 4, you can take your finger out of Isaiah 61, but
go from Luke 4 to Luke 2.
It says in Luke 2, 10, and the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, Calvinist, for unto you is
born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord.
The Bible says that the glad tidings or the good news or the gospel, which is another
word for good news or glad tidings, the gospel, the good news, the glad tidings is that there's
a savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord.
He said, this is the glad tidings that unto you is born in this day in the city of David,
a savior, which is Christ the Lord.
He said, it's salvation.
Look at Luke 8, verse 1, Luke chapter 8, verse 1, this is talking about Jesus.
It says, and it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village
preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the 12 were with him.
Look at Acts 13, Acts chapter 13.
You see, the gospel is good news.
The gospel is glad tidings.
There's no reason why we should be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it's the
power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also
the Greek, which is good news.
The good news is that Jesus already died for all our sins.
The good news is Jesus paid it all, and if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall
be saved.
Look at this great passage in Acts 13, verse 32, and we declare unto you glad tidings,
how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God had fulfilled the same unto us
their children, and that he had raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the
second Psalm, thou art my son this day have I begotten thee, and it's concerning that
he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise
I will give you the sure mercies of David, wherefore he saith also in another Psalm,
thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep and was laid
unto his fathers and saw corruption.
But he whom God raised again saw no corruption, be it known unto you therefore men and brethren
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that
believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law
of Moses.
Isn't that clear?
You believe, you're justified from all things, all that believe are justified from all things,
he died for all our sins and all means all when he said, hey I've got glad tidings that's
for all people, but if you go to Romans 10, flip over to Romans 10, you're in Acts 13,
yes the glad tidings are for all people, yes all that believe on him will be saved from
all things, from all their sins, they'll be saved to the uttermost, but in Romans chapter
10 he explains what the glad tidings, the fact is if it's for everybody, why isn't everybody
hearing the message?
If he died for all, if it's good tidings to all, why isn't everybody hearing the message?
It says in Romans 10 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things, but they
have not all obeyed the gospel, for as I say, Lord, who had believed our report?
So that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
He said in Isaiah 52 7, you don't have to turn there, how beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.
The Bible is teaching here that the gospel is good news.
Salvation's good news because it's for everybody.
Hey, it's good news because you can be saved.
All you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
All your sins will be forgiven.
God will let go and forget everything that you've done in the past.
He said he separated us as far as the east is from the west.
So far God has separated us from our sins.
He's cast all our sins behind his back.
Our sins are in the depths of the deepest sea, the Bible says.
That is good news.
It's good news that salvation is a free gift of God, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's good news.
And we don't do well to say, well, I'm saved, I know I'm going to heaven.
Yeah, but does everybody else in Phoenix, Arizona know how to get to heaven?
No, and that's why we've got to go tell them about it.
Notice he said, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel.
You see, preaching the gospel is all about your feet.
That's what the Bible says.
He said that when we put on the whole armor of God, we should have our feet shot with
the preparation of the gospel of peace.
You see, it's all about the feet because it's always, go ye therefore into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
Now think about the illustration of what these guys had to do, these four lepers.
First of all, they're not the coolest people around.
These people are hated, they're disdained, they're outcasts, they're dirty, they're going
to contaminate, nobody wants to be around them.
I mean, these guys didn't have a lot going for them.
They weren't the coolest, most popular people.
They're probably the last people that are going to be trusted or listened to.
But yet God used them to present the message, didn't he?
God used the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
God used someone who was ugly, these four lepers, I'm sure they were ugly, I mean their
skin was rotting from the leprosy.
These men who were disliked, and yet they went and they brought a message, and the message
was kind of an unbelievable message, wasn't it?
I mean they've been sieged, the enemy has been surrounding them.
Why would the enemy just leave, and just leave all their 1070?
I mean, isn't it a pretty unbelievable message?
Pretty far-fetched?
I mean the king is saying, yeah right, I mean are you serious?
You expect me to believe this?
But yet, if you think about it, even though it seemed far-fetched, and the king woke up
in the middle of the night, you know, he couldn't sleep right because he was just thinking,
you know, man, we've got to check this out, even though it sounds weird, we need to check
this out.
But hold on a second, was it really far-fetched when it was based upon God's word spoken by
Elisha in verse 1?
I mean think about it, it's not that they were asking him to believe something based
upon nothing, because if these guys heard Elisha preach in verse 1 and say, thus saith
the Lord, this is God's word coming from a preacher that they'd seen the miracles, they'd
known of Elijah before him, they knew Elisha, they'd seen the miracles, they knew the preaching,
they knew the man, they knew that what he said is God's word.
That's why they were even there listening to him.
I mean that's why the king's right-hand man was sitting in the service listening to Elisha
preach, because they knew that this guy was the man of God.
And you know, it's funny how people seek out church when they're in trouble.
You know, when they're starving, everything's going bad, that guy probably wasn't usually
in church, but all of a sudden he's like, man, I need to go to church.
So he's sitting in there, he's listening to Elisha preach, and he heard the message, he
stopped at it, he mocked at it, but really what these guys had to say was based on God's
word, the message.
And the message we bring of salvation, you know, we may not be much to look at, you know,
we may not be that credible, but you know what, we're bringing God's word with us, we
got the Bible, we got the word of the Lord, we have a more sure word of prophecy than
even having an Elisha in our midst, because we have the written word of God, infallible
in Aaron, inspired, preserved, and so we have this word, this is our authority right here,
this is what we can point people to and say, hey, this is why what I'm saying is true,
thus saith the Lord, just like Elisha said in verse 1.
And so they had this unbelievable message that didn't sound right to people, but they
had God's word to back them up, and they brought the message, they were probably, you
know, first they were scoffed at and ridiculed, nobody would listen to them, finally somebody
came out and checked it out, but you know what, at least they went, and at least everybody
else got to enjoy too, and everybody else got to partake of the benefit of getting all
the food and suppose, and people's lives were literally saved, because people were dying
of starvation, and their lives were saved.
You know, we need to bring this message because it's an urgent message, look at verse number
9, he said, then they said one to another, we do not weld, this day is a day of good
tidings, and we hold our peace.
Notice this day is a day of good tidings, as the Bible says, now is the accepted time,
now is the day of salvation, this is a message that cannot wait until tomorrow, look at the
next thing they say, hey, we need to bring this message today because he said, if we
tarry till the morning light, look at the latter part of verse 9, 2 Kings 7, 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, they're saying look, we need to tell people before
it's too late, there's going to come a time, you know, some mischief is going to befall
us, we don't know how long we've got, we don't know how long this opportunity is going to
last here of this spoil being available, you know, if we wait until morning, if we don't
just do this at night, he said look, we're not going to get it done, we're running out
of time, look at John chapter 7, John chapter number 7, John chapter number 7, you see the
Bible says boast not thyself of the morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth, and these guys were smart enough to know that, hey, we don't know how long we've
got, we're doing wrong here by just gorging ourselves and stuffing our faces and laying
up all these treasures upon earth, and by the way, that's the alternative here, the
same applies in our life, are you going to spend your life gorging your face and just
feeding the flesh day in and day out, because that's what these guys are doing, remember
there's a spiritual application to this story, they had a choice, should we keep laying up
treasures, remember how they kept hiding treasure, are we just going to lay up treasures
on this earth, are we just going to gorge our face with all the food and all the pleasure
and all the just gratifying of the flesh, or are we going to care enough about somebody
else to stop eating, to stop hiding up treasures, and to actually go and give the gospel, to
give the glad tidings to somebody else who's dying, who's literally starving to death and
you're on your third meal, you're just trying to hide more gold and silver, what does that
work to somebody who's dying, and we can get caught up in the same thing, and look, you'd
look at these guys and say that it would be disgusting, wouldn't you, if they knew people
were dying in there, and they just kept sitting in those tents for days just eating, and didn't
tell anybody, wouldn't you be disgusted with that, wouldn't you be disgusted if people
were starving and you knew that the neighbor had food, you know, like the bible says, if
you know that your brother had need, he said, my little children, he said, if any, hey
goodnight, it's on the tip of my tongue, give me a second, I'll get it, tell me out here,
first John, it's on the tip of my tongue, in front of this thing, we're not going anywhere
at night, that's why I remember this, but if any man, goodnight, it's on the tip of
my tongue, see if his brother had need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how does that start up, help me out here, what do you got, there we go, that's the phrase
I need, but whoso hath this world good, and see if his brother had need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him, my little
children, let us not love in word, neither tongue, but in deed and in truth, you see,
is it loving if I physically have money, I have food, and I knew that my next door neighbor
is literally starving, and I just said, you know what, I'm going to hoard this to myself,
I'm going to keep, you know, I just want to make sure that I can buy an extra soda, and
I want to make sure I can have dessert, and all this, you know, when I know that somebody's
starving to death, you know, you'd say, you don't have love, how dwelleth the love of
God in you, and that's the same illustration here of these guys just feeding their faces,
not caring that somebody else is starving to death, and that's like you come to church,
you know, you're just feasting on God's word here, you're just feeding your face, you come
to church and you learn, and you learn, and you learn, and we sit around here, and the
four of us, you know, the four of us that are here tonight, and obviously there are
a lot more poor people here tonight, but you know, proverbial speaking, why don't the four
of us just sit around, right, and just, we can just dig down into God's word, and just,
we can just really get fed, and get in the meat of the word, and the milk of the word,
but you know, other people are starving to where they're dying going to hell, they don't
even know what this book says how to go to heaven, and we want to just feed on it, and
feed it, and feed it, and look, I don't blame these lepers for eating a meal, you know,
they needed that meal to get the strength to go tell others, you know, and I'm sure
they came back for a second helping in the crowd, but you know what, it's not right for
us to just sit around and say, well, you know, we've got our small group here, and this is
our church, and we're just happy with what it is, and we just want to come and get fed,
and study, no, we've got to go out there and give the message to the people who need it
the most, we don't have it at all, we need to go into the highways and hedges, we need
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, not be so busy laying up
treasures that we don't have time to go give the gospel, I mean, don't get your whole life
where it's just about making money, you know, and just lay not up for yourselves treasure
upon earth, where moth and rust is corrupt and where thieves break through, but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust is corrupt and where
thieves do not break through, for your treasure is there where your heart be also, I tell
you, turn to John 7, look at John chapter 7, the urgency, they said, look, we've got
to do this now, because if we wait, we might lose our opportunity, if we wait until the
morning light, some mischief may befall us, we might die, we might get hurt, the Syrians
might come back and kill us, we don't know what's going to happen, we don't know how
long these people are going to be gone for, we have the same urgency, we don't know how
much time we have, and we don't know how much time they have, somebody could be starving
inside the city while these lepers wait, but look at the urgency in Jesus Christ's voice,
Jesus Christ has been at this feast, and he's been preaching on a daily basis, he's been
coming into the temple, he's been preaching and teaching God's word, people are listening
to him, some people are disputing with him, other people are listening and learning, but
he's preaching all this powerful preaching on everlasting life, on salvation that he's
been doing over the last few chapters, and it says in verse 37, in the last day, that
great day of the feast, so this is kind of Jesus's last opportunity with this particular
group right, people who've traveled to Jerusalem to be at this particular feast from all over
the area, from outside of the area, it says in the last day, that great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and what? Cried. Why? Because it was the last day. Why? Because it's the
final chance. Why? Because there's urgency in his voice when he said, when he cried saying,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, he that believeth on me as the scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, but this fakie of the spirit
which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because
that Jesus was not yet glorified. Many of the people therefore when they heard this
saying said of a truth, this is the prophet, others said this is the Christ, but some said
shall Christ come out of Galilee? Had not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the
seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem and where David was? So there was a division
among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him, but no man laid
hands off. So same thing as in the Old Testament. There was a division in the king's household.
Some people didn't want to believe what these people had to say. Other people did believe
and they wanted to go check and see if that spoil was really out there in the tents of
this area. But look at the urgency in Jesus Christ's voice. You know, Jesus Christ really
cared. He isn't just sitting back just, well, you know, fatalistically, just whatever happens
happens, you know? If God ordains it, you know, if they're the elect or whatever, like
this Calvinist garbage, you know, well, you know, we just kind of do our best and, you
know, hey, I knocked a few doors, you know, I did my part. You know what? We need to go
out soul winning and really understand what we're doing. You know, when we go out soul
winning, literally people's lives are in the balance of heaven and hell. I remember when
I first, that dawned on me one time I was out soul winning and I said, you know, I want
somebody to Christ. This is like literally nine or ten years ago back in California.
I want somebody to the Lord. And I said to my soul winning partner, I said, you know,
isn't it funny how we just kind of flippantly kind of like, hey, should we go soul winning
today? You know? Yeah, let's go. You know, why not? Because that's kind of how we were
that day. And then we got this person saved and it's like, you know, this person's eternity
has been transformed just because we just, yeah, let's go. You know, we can get serious
and realize what we're doing when we're out there. It's not a game to me. You know, if
it were a game to Jesus, he wouldn't have been screaming in the middle. I mean, he was
yelling, you know, and sometimes people don't like the yelling preacher, but Jesus was a
yelling preacher. I mean, he got in that temple and he cried out because it was the
last day because he honestly loved and cared about those people. And I thank God that when
people heard him cry out those powerful words of he that believeth on me, all these powerful
words that he preached, they believed on them. They got saved. It's God's word that had the
power and they got saved. But you know, how serious are we when we go out and bring the
glad tidings, when we bring the gospel, do we really realize that people are in a worse
condition than if they were starving to death? Because you know what? Going to hell is worse
than starving to death. I mean, this is a worse death. This is the second death that
they're being saved from. And we have what they need. I mean, we have the answer right
here. We've got the truth right here. And we do not well. That's what those lepers say.
You remember? We do not well if we're going to keep it to ourselves. We do not well if
we're too busy with everything else or too busy taking care of ourselves and gratifying
ourselves that we can't go out there and maybe face a little ridicule, you know? And every
once in a while, I'll have somebody make fun of me. It's not that often. You ever go out
sowing and have somebody kind of try to make fun of you or call you a dirty name? Remember
that one guy that we ran into, Brother Chris? That Muslim guy? You know, that guy was crazy.
We knocked him out of the store and this guy comes out and he's got no shirt on, real skinny
guy. He was a Muslim guy, but he was a long-haired Muslim. And we said, hey, how you doing? I
just wanted to buy you a Baptist church. And he's like, well, let me ask you something,
are you going to build a mosque in your church? I'm like, huh? Are you going to build a mosque
in your church? I'm like, what? You know, I think he had to say it like three times
because I couldn't figure out, like, what? And then I said, no, we're not going to build
a mosque in our church, you know? And then he just slammed his own door. We were like
25 feet away, but he's just like slammed his screen, slammed, he was just like slamming
things and, and you know what Chris and I did? We basically just said, you know what?
That's it. We're done. I'm done. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it. And we went to McDonald's
because we said, let's eat, drink and be merry and tomorrow we die from the tainted meat
of McDonald's. No, that's not really what happened. You know what we did? We literally
just laughed, you know what I mean? We went to Wayne and said like, what just happened?
What was that? And we laughed and that's next door, you know, and eventually you're going
to find people that get saved. So what? You know, if somebody yells and curses you out
because they just finished watching Fox news about some ground zero mosque, so they're
just, I don't even know what that stupid argument's even about, but you know, they, you know,
they just build a mosque in your church. You know, how do you build a mosque in a strip
mall? You know, it's not going to work. I don't know if there's room in there for them.
I don't know where we're going to put the dome, but it's just, you know, you're going
to run into weirdos like that, right? I mean, the guy was a weirdo. The guy was crazy. You're
going to run into people like that. You're going to have people criticize you. Sometimes
I've gone to the door and Brother Garrett and I, we were out solo a couple of days ago.
We knock on a door and I start giving the gospel to this young college age guy. And
the whole time I'm giving him the gospel, his friends were making fun of him from the
other room the whole time. And I mean, they were mocking Jesus. They were masking the
gospel. I mean, I was saying like, you know, but God committed his love toward us and the
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And I could hear him say, Christ died
for us. Christ died for us. You know, just like mocking and repeating things. And then
somebody like rolled a ball to him, you know, like, well, we're trying to give the gospel
back, rolled a ball. And it was really distracting this guy a lot. And he was really uncomfortable
and embarrassed. This guy did not go to church at all. Because we asked him, you go to church?
He said, no, don't go to church at all. But he wanted to hear the gospel. He was interested.
I mean, he was very interested. I mean, even through it all, it was messing with my concentration.
I almost lost my train of thought a couple of times. But, you know, I just kept going
through it, kept showing, because he kept listening. You could tell he wanted to hear
it. And we went through it with him. We went through it with him. We went through it with
him. And, you know, got to the place where he understood it. He believed it. He said
he wanted to be saved. You know, he believed on Jesus Christ. We get through the whole
thing with him. And he sat there. And right there in front of his friends that were making
fun of him, you know, from, you know, I never even saw friends. I could just hear them make
fun of him. Because they're all, they're hiding, you know, the little, they're so tough,
you know, they're so, they're so bad and everything that they, you know, that they're hiding in
some other room, making fun of them. You know what I mean? They didn't come and face us.
They didn't come and say anything to us. You know, the pansies. But they're in the other
room, you know, making fun, blaspheming Jesus, literally. And basically, this guy bowed his
head and prayed and received Christ as Savior. Even with the mockery of his friends. And
you know that when he shut that door, he was mocked for doing it. I thought he might,
I didn't think he was going to do it just because I thought, you know, even if he believes
what he's saying, it's going to be hard for him to, to want to just do this right here
and now, to settle this right here and now with that going on. You know, I mean, are
we going to let that stop us? You know, what if I, I mean, I couldn't let that get to my
train of thought. And it was bugging me because, you know, when distractions, I remember one
time brother Dave, Burzins, gave the gospel to this guy. And I mean, somebody in his driveway
was blasting rap music so loud. I couldn't even figure out what brother Dave was saying.
And I've been saved for a long time and I didn't even understand the gospel that he
was presenting. And I know the Bible, but I'm like, I couldn't even follow him because
it's just blasting rap music, you know. But brother Dave just keeps giving the guy the
gospel, just doesn't miss a beat. Actually, he was right with the beat. You know, he was
blowing with the beat. But anyway, he's giving this guy the gospel. He's going through the
gospel with this guy and the guy, I think he's just so used to it because he's listened
to so much rap music that this guy, it was like, he wasn't even hearing the music. He
was just hearing everything brother Dave was saying. Okay. You know, he was just listening.
He was answering brother Dave's questions and the guy got saved, like with all that
And the guy had cranked the music, a different guy, just purposely because he didn't want
to be with the gospel. It was like, we got there, brother Dave starts witnessing to them
and they crank the music, you know, just to burn us. But you know what? We can't let that
stop us. I mean, there's going to be people that make fun of you. There's going to be
people that curse you and, you know, bless you out and whatever. There's going to be
people who blast music and make fun of you. But you know what? If you really understand
the condition of the loss that they're going to hell, you know, it's worth it. Isn't it
worth it then? That's right. It's worth it. And you know, the joke's going to be on them
one day, you know, and I'm not a vindictive person at all, but let me tell you something.
Whenever we knock on the door and somebody laughs in our face and makes fun of us and
slams the door, I always just walk away and just say, you know what? The joke's on them.
You know, sometimes I'll even say something like, Hey, I wouldn't want to be that guy
on judgment day because the Bible says, but I say unto you that every idle word that men
shall speak, they should give a count thereof in the day of judgment for by thy words thou
shall be justified and by thy words thou shall be condemned. And those people one day are
going to stand before God at that great white throne of judgment. When the dead are delivered
up from death and hell and the sea and they stand before God, the dead small and great,
you know, we'll be alive already because we've been alive for over a thousand years at that
point, but the dead will stand before God small and great. And he's going to remind
them and say, Hey, you remember that preacher that came to your door? You remember you laughed
at him. You made fun of him. You wouldn't even let your friend get saved. And you're
going to sit here and tell me, Oh God, it's not our fault. We didn't know. He's going
to say, you know what? You flat out said, you flat out said, you know, this is a joke.
You flat out made fun of these people. You know, you sent them on their way, you cursed
them out and they were there because they loved you. You know, it's not always going
to be a well received message, especially coming from four lepers, you know, especially
coming from somebody that they look down on or whatever. You know, sometimes people look
down on me, they don't like me. They might look down on you for whatever reason. The
prideful, arrogant people in this world might look down on you because of your race. It
might look down on you just because of your financial status. They might look down upon
you because of the way that you're dressed. They might look down on you for, cause you're
ugly, you know, not anybody here or anything, but like I'm just saying whatever reason they
might look down on you and see something about you to pick apart. You know what I mean? Like
whatever it is about your appearance or maybe, maybe the way you talk, maybe you're not that
smooth with your tongue. You know, maybe you stammer and stutter a little bit. Maybe you're
not very eloquent or maybe your command in the English language isn't there or maybe
like me when I give the gospel to people in Spanish. You know, I don't sound like I'm,
you know, a Castilian or something. I mean, you know, I do the best I can with it. I can
definitely make myself understood, but you know, I'm not perfect in Spanish by any stretch
of the imagination. But you know what? If God can use a pus filled leprous outcast who's
not even allowed in the city because he's so just vile to them, because he's so contagious
of them, and yet God's using that as the illustration of who he can use to give the message. I think
he can use you and I. You know, and we need to see that there are people that need this
message, they need the gospel, they need the good news, they need the glad tidings, and
how, why would you be ashamed of glad tidings? It'd be one thing if God commanded us to just
go out and just preach doom and death and hell to everyone. You know what I mean? That'd
be pretty depressing. You know, if God commanded us to go door to door just telling everybody
you're condemned, you're going to hell, there's nothing you can do, you will burn in hell.
But that's not the message that we have. The message that we have is, hey, you can be saved
right now, today. Oh, but I'm an atheist. You can change that right now and believe
on Christ right now. That's our message. Oh, I'm a Catholic. You can stop being a Catholic
right now, you can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can be saved this moment and
quit praying to all these dead people and graven images, and you can be saved right
now. The message we have is good news, because it's inclusive to everybody. Whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So let's get out there, let's not be
like these guys that do not well, where we're sitting around, looking at each other. Let's
go out there and get the message to the people that really need it. Let's get out there and
this isn't a social club where we just get together and eat and drink and be married.
We need to get out there and take this word, this truth, and get the gospel to the lost.
That's what God's called us to do, as far as that word of prayer. Father, please just
help us to learn from this story, from this illustration, dear God. Help us to understand
that we have the answer, we have the truth. People would like to know, just like those
people that were starving in that city, they needed help, God, and there are people out
there who would get saved if we would give them the gospel, but they're on their way
to hell tonight because we're too busy eating and drinking and laying up treasures. Help
us, dear God, to understand the urgency of the situation. Help us to understand the condition
of the lost, that they're on their way to hell. Help us to bring that good news. Help
us to bring those glad tidings, dear God. I know you can use us, God, if you can use
four lepers, if you can use that woman who'd been married five different times and she
was living with a man she wasn't even married to, you used her to preach the gospel after
she got saved. I know you can use us, dear God. Use us in a powerful way in this city,
dear God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.