2 KINGS 7:3-11

1. THINK ABOUT THEIR UNHAPPY SITUATION: VV3, 4:
1. They had all kinds of trouble. Their problems were manifold. They had misery galore and some left over.
1. They were going to gradually rot away with their disease and that would mean death.
2. There was a famine in the city and they would starve to death with all the others.
3. The Arameans had the place surrounded and were sort of like the Iraqi insurgents; they wanted to kill all their enemies.
4. What an unhappy situation: leprosy, famine, and the enemy all ganging up at the same time.
5. It was sort of like, "Choose which painful way you would rather die." Not, "shall we die," but "how shall we die?"
2. Like the lepers, the world is in a real mess. You know that.
1. Wars and rumors of wars abound.
2. Tsunamis and other catastrophic events upset the world.
3. Famine, pestilence, and affliction is the order of the day in many parts of the world
3. Worse than that, society at large is becoming more and more anti-Christ. There is spiritual leprosy (sin and moral depravity) and there is spiritual famine (people are not taking in God's Word as Soul Food.) We are surrounded by enemies (those who hate Christ and His church). Here are the evidences of that:
1. Teachers can't wish kids "Merry Christmas" for fear they'll encourage religion.
2. Judges remove the 10 Commandments from courtrooms.
3. Atheists want "under God' removed from the pledge of allegiance.
4. The President of the United States is criticized and belittled for mentioning God.
5. Genocide, infanticide (i.e, abortion), homicide, suicide statistics mount.
6. Sitcoms promote sex out of marriage, homosexuality, materialism and irreverence.
7. And worst of all, masses are going to a Christless eternity in hell. There is no more unhappy situation than that.
4. Talk about an unhappy situation, in January 2004, police in Durham, Ontario, responding to complaints from relatives, entered a ramshackle house and found two teenage boys locked in cages. Their aunt had adopted the teens. Through the years, the boys (now 14 and 15 years old) suffered at the hands of their adoptive parents. Ontario officials learned that though the boys did attend school during the day, they were sent to their cages at night. On weekends and holidays, they often were allowed downstairs for a bowl of cereal in the morning and then sent back to their cages wearing diapers, where they would spend the rest of the day. The adoptive mother was described to the court as a domineering, controlling woman whose husband was an illiterate and dyslexic handyman, who beat the boys on her command. Detectives released the 15-year-old from his cage. They told him he would never be locked in there again. The teen simply responded, "Really?" Released from his unhappy situation, something good was about to happen. So with the lepers.

2. THINK ABOUT THEIR UNEXPECTED SERENDIPITY: V8:
1. Serendipity: a happy discovery of something you weren't looking for: abandoned loot. They walked right into the camp of the Arameans, expecting to be killed, hoping they would be allowed to live. But, if Gomer Pyle had been one of them, he'd have said, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" God had provided. Matthew Henry said, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity of making His own power to be glorious: His time to appear for His people is when their strength is gone." The lepers found that to be true.
2. We have all had surprising finds. Sometimes it's at a garage sale where we find just the tool we wanted. I once found a $50.00 dollar bill laying in a puddle on a rainy night in a parking lot in Albany. Sometimes friends who have not seen one another for years, meet in a mall somewhere and old ties are renewed. But those are all temporal, material, and soon gone.
3. When people find Jesus, they find more than they have ever wanted and all they need. Their delight surpasses their distress. They can sing "I have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart." Their theme is "I'm so happy, and here's the reason why, He took my burden all away." They have a light in their eye, a smile on their lips and a bubble of joy in their hearts. There is absolutely no discovery more serendipitous, more satisfying, more life changing than finding Jesus Christ.
4. On his way to school one day, a young man found two canvas sacks lying in the street. When he looked inside he was amazed to see that the sacks were full of money! $415,000, in fact! When he returned the money to the Princeton Armored Service, he received a reward of $1,000. He was, however, unhappy and said he had expected a larger reward. "I don't understand it," he complained. "If I had to do it over again, I'd probably keep the money." Not the lepers; they found and decided not to keep it.

3. THINK ABOUT THEIR UNSELFISH SHARING: VV9, 10:
1. At first it was completely self centered enjoyment. "When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating, drinking wine, and carrying out silver and gold and clothing and hiding it." But soon they paused to think, "This is not right. This is wonderful news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some terrible calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let's go back and tell the people at the palace." Evangelism is lepers telling the people at the palace where the good stuff is. You'd think they might think, "Boy! If those people who shunned and rejected us could see us now! Well, we have it and they don't and it's good enough for them." But instead we see consideration for others in need.
2. There are needy people all around us and in all the world: the starving, oppressed, uneducated masses. But no need is greater than the need for the Love of God as we know it in Jesus. We can do no greater service than to introduce others to Christ. That's why we have a missions program. That's why we ask for Faith Promises. That's why we urge you to share your faith. We have been won to win others; saved to serve others; called to call others; told to tell others.
3. A girl I know once told me, "I know that I'm saved that's all that matters. If others go to hell, it's their problem." The lepers might have reasoned, "As long as we have enough for ourselves that's all that matters. If the others starve to death, that's their problem." But no, "This is wonderful news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone!" So they went and shared.
4. A man, we'll just call Bob, witnessed sometimes by handing out tracts on the street. One day he was sharing with a man and asked, "Are you a Christian?" The man bristled and said, "Mind your own business!" Bob said, "But this is my business. I work for the Lord and my business is telling others about Him." He handed the man a tract and he jammed it into his pocket and conversation was ended. About a year later, Bob got a letter saying, "Thank you for minding your own business on the street that day. I read your tract, and I am now a Christian." A soul saved because Bob unselfishly shared.

The lepers went from dilemma to delight to decision to determination and to deliverance of the good news to the people in the palace. If you have discovered the life Jesus offers, you'll want to share it with others, too. At home and abroad, we have a mission. Just as God provided for the lepers, He will provide for us. He places wealth, opportunity, and ability in our hands as means of helping others know Him. There are a couple of ways you can fulfill your mission. One way is to give financial support to those who are on the field. We will be asking for Faith Promises to support mission for the next few weeks. Be praying about your commitment. Another way is for you to reach out personally to that brother, sister, friend, co-worker, teacher, doctor, neighbor, waitress or whoever else God brings across your path If we don't share Jesus, we do not do well. "This is wonderful news, and we must be sharing it with everyone!" Will you make a commitment to Jesus today to help someone know Him? Will you make it the goal of your life to win at least one person to Jesus? You can decide to do that right now, just as we are singing,"We want to see Jesus lifted high!" / "I live, I live"