Unknown Lepers

good to have each one of you here both of those of you up here and those that are downstairs in the Overflow room as well we appreciate you and appreciate your faithfulness and being part of our service as well uh we're going to continue our series titled broken and we're going from Hebrews chapter 11 God's Hall of Fame and one of the things we learned from this passage is that God heals broken people and that God uses broken people and so there's hope for all of us in this room and we've gone through and looked at all the major character that were listed in Hebrews chap 11 but as we get down to the end of the chapter in verse 32 it says what shall I more say for the time would fail me to

tell of Gideon and of Barack and of Samson of jeffa and David also and of Samuel and of all the prophets and then he goes on down further and if you look at verse number 36 it says in others it's just a whole list of names that he could give us here and and just runs out of time which I understand as a preacher often happens and so he just kind of summarizes the rest of but I want to take a moment to talk about some of those others in fact for this part of the series what we're looking at we're looking at the unknown people in the Bible these are men and women that God used that God worked in their lives and God used their lives and yet we don't even know their name you know sometimes you

can feel like well I'm nobody in the church I'm not really important I'm not the pastor I'm not one of the deacons I'm not a Sunday school teacher and and my job is not important what I do in this church is not important I I I'm just nobody knows who I am anyway but you are important to God you're somebody that has a name to God you're somebody that is personal to God and what is going on in your life is important to him and God says I can use you even if nobody else knows your name I know who you are and I made you I created you for a purpose and a plan in my in my work and so each one of us may be unknown but we are known of God so I want you to go back to the Old Testament to Second Kings

all right Second Kings now second Kings is right after first Kings and it's right before 1 and 2 Samuel 1 and 2 Kings then 1 and 2 Chronicles so if you get to a 1 and 2 you're right there in the area 2 Kings chapter 7 2 Kings chapter 7 two weeks ago we looked at the widow woman who gave the last meal that she had she gave it to the Lord and God blessed her and then we looked at uh last week the little Maid of Israel a young uh junior high probably girl a young teenage girl who was ripped from her home and made a slave in a foreign land and yet was used of God and uh today we're going to look at uh some lepers in 2 Kings chapter 7 it says then in verse number one then Elisha said hear ye the

word of the Lord thus sayith the Lord tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekele and two measures of barley for a shekele in the gate of Samaria then a lord uh on Whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said behold if the Lord would make Windows of Heaven might this thing be and he said behold Thou shalt see it with thine eyes but shall not eat thereof and though there were four leopard men at the lepers men at the entering into the gate and they said one to another why sit we here until we die if we say we will enter into the city then the famine is in the city and if we shall die there and if we still will sit still here we shall die also

now therefore come and let us fall into into the host of the syrians if they gave us Save Us Alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die and they rose up in the Twilight to go into the camp of the syrians and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of Syria behold there was no man there for the Lord had made the host of the syrians to hear a noise of Chariots and a noise of horses even the noise of a great host and they said one to another Lo the king of Israel hath hired a against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us wherefore they arose and fled into Twilight and left their tents and their horses and their asses even the

camp as it was they fled for their life and when the these lepers came to the utmost part of the camp they went into one tent and did eat and drink and carried then silver and gold and rment and went and hid it and came again enter another tent and carried then also and went and hid it then they said one to another we do not well this day today is a a day of good things and we hold our peace if we tar till the morning light some Mischief shall fall upon us and now therefore come that we may go and tell the king's household so they came and called onto the port of the city uh 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 hopes T tied and asses tied horses tied and asses tied and the tents as they were now the story is is that the the kingdom the the city was surrounded by the syrians and and what they did put put a Siege on the city so no food or no water could get in and there was a Great Famine going on and these lepers were not allowed in the city because of their leprosy they were kept separate quarantined and and so they were outside the gate and everybody was starving to death and the lepers said you know what uh we got to decide what we're going to do you know the situation was pretty bad at that time you you ever said something like this you ever said something like I'm so hungry I could eat a

horse you ever said that well if you go back and look at 2 Kings chapter 6 look at verses 24 and 25 it say came to pass after this that benh Hadad king of Syria gathered all his hosts and went up and besieged Samaria and it was a Great Famine in Samaria and behold they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for four score pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of do doves dung for five pieces of silver and so here they were they were eaten the head of a donkey that was that was uh that was the big thing if you could get ahead of the donkey you had something I'm so hungry I could eat a horse now you ever had horse meat you know back in about 2013 2014 there was a big controversy

going on that a bunch of fast food chains McDonald's Wendy's and Taco Bell were accused of serving horse meat on their menu uh I don't know if you remember that or not no nothing was ever proved there but maybe you have a good horse Burger uh you ever had a good horse Burger you know imagine eating a horse head you know and and these horse it wasn't cheap a donkey's head the price that was going for that was about a year and a half's wages just for an ass's head a donkey's head and and for a a cup of dov's dung cup of dov's dong was worth a month's wage that's what they were down to they were so hungry and there was so little food that they were eating all of this stuff in fact in the whole

city later on the king wanted to send some of his servants to check out the story of the lepers and there was only five horses in verse number 13 of chapter 7 there was only Five Horses left in all of the Kingdom all the all the city it it was that bad so bad that they would eat things like donkey heads and Dove dong have have you ever been so hungry what's the worst thing you've ever eaten what what's the what's the worst thing that you've ever eaten Proverbs 27:7 says the full Soul loathed the honeycomb but to the hungry Soul every bitter thing is sweet so what's the worst thing now I found out last night but thanks to brother Nick he asked some questions of the teenagers I found out that

most of your teenagers have eaten pet food he asked the question I'm many eatting pet food and almost the entire Auditorium stood up you know parents this is good news you can save some money just go buy dog food for your teenagers that's all you need there you know and then after the service they were serving um Oreos and milk but they were also serving all the leftovers from the week and so they had made these uh they had bags of chips little bags of chips they would put taco meat in there and the other trimmings and they would eat that that was last night's uh Friday night's meal and but they had leftovers and so I walked down in the hallway and there was Hannah in one hand she had a

package of chips with tacos in it in the other hand she had a cup of cereal with milk in it and she was going back and forth between those two cups eating them back and forth and I thought man what a great sermon illustration uh you know and uh you know what's the worst thing that you've ever had what's the worst thing you when you've been hungry you said I I'll even do this maybe what it is you ever gone to the refrigerator and found expired milk and and said oh I'm going to drink it anyway because I'm thirsty and uh who was it found it last night was it was it was it Zeke you found it and I told Zeke I'd let him drink it today here so I'm not going to make you do that but you ever you ever

drink expired milk H how about uh maybe have you ever tried um you ever gotten so hungry you've reached down between the cushions and the couch and whatever you found there you'd eat the leftover Skittle or whatever it might be you ever gotten so hungry that you dropped something on the floor and you were so desperate you picked it up and ate it anyways of course a 3se second Ru right guys you know as long as it's three 5sec roll all right and uh so he got so hungry you dropped the flo you picked it up and ate it anyway I I mean are you that desperate have you ever gotten so hungry that you'd eat Fred saxon's cooking I I mean you must be really desperate to do that uh or or maybe maybe you

won't eat dov's dung but maybe what you would eat is grasshoppers I got some barbecued grasshoppers here and so Zeke and Alex I'm going to let you guys get to try these come on up here I I got to pick up the two of them and so I've got some barbecued Grasshoppers and they're going to go ahead and eat those all right I'm not going to make it doves dung but they're going to eat the barbecu Grasshoppers all right go go ahead guys one two three go how are they all right but anyway this is why you don't sit up in the front row all right but you ever gotten so hungry that you'd eat anything this is where they were they were at a point they were willing to to pay a a year and a half's wages for a

donkey's head they were at the point that they were willing literally to eat Dove's dung they were that hungry you know folks I want you to put a marker in First Kings I want you to turn to Philippians chapter 4 the book of Philippians chapter chapter 4 sometimes we complain how hard life is you ever said man I'm so hungry you know have you ever complained about the food on your table you ever complained about what you have in Philippians chapter 4 beginning with verse number 10 the Bible says but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that thou at the last year careth me flourished again wherein you were also careful but you lacked opportunity not that I speak in respect of one for I learned in what

sort of State I am there with to be content I know both how to be a base and I know how to abound everywhere in all things I'm OB structed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me you know sometimes we complain how bad we've got it but boy they had it bad here they were literally starving to death have you ever been at that point where you said you know I'm starving let me ask a question how many of you ever gone a whole day 24 hours without eating anything raise your hand how many you ever had to have I think most of us had to happen some point in how many have gone at least 3 days without eating anything

raise your hand anybody all right a few of you have how many have gone a week without eating anything at all you've never had nothing to eat a whole week you know that's when maybe you might be starving these people had gone weeks and months with no food in Matthew Chapter 5 and verse number six the Bible says blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled you know it's one thing to go maybe a day or a couple days or a week with without physical food but how long have you gone without spiritual food do you hunger and thirst after righteousness are are you desperate these folks were desperate for anything to eat are you desperate for the word of God

in Job chapter 23 and verse 12 it says neither have I gone back from the Commandment of his lips I have seen the words of his mouth more than my necessary food you see folks we need to have a hunger and a thirst for God for God's word for for God to feed us now the situation was is that they were starving there's a famine going on in the city and Elisha the prophet gets up and he says this he says yeah you know uh tomorrow uh you're going to be able to buy food for next to nothing tomorrow is going to be no problem at all it'd be like if I stood up today and predicted tomorrow you're going to buy a gallon of gas for a dollar or if I sit up today and say tomorrow you can buy a gallon of milk

for 50 cents a gallon could you imagine that could you imagine if if I predicted that and then it came true and that's what Elisha Elisha was saying tomorrow you'll be able buy food for nothing you'll be able buy flour and and and barley you'll be I'll buy it for next to nothing and and this is what he's predicting and sometimes it's hard to believe God's promises isn't it see God makes promises in his word and Proverbs chapter 3 and in verses 5 and six it says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own stand and all thy ways acknowledge Him and He Shall direct thy path here was this uh King's uh servant said you know that that'll never happen how can you get man to

come down from heaven how God would have to open the Winds of heaven and sometimes we have a tough time believing in the promises of God but we need to remember Philippians 4: 19 the Bible says but my God shall supply all your needs according to riches and Glory by Christ Jesus we need remember that we do have the promises of God to rely upon and sometimes it seems how in the world can this happen how can God do this but we can trust in him we can trust in his promises by the way you want God's blessings in your life you want God to open up the windows of Heaven like that servant said turn over your Bibles the last book of the Old Testament Malachi chapter 3 Malachi chapter 3 Malachi chapter

3 and beginning with verse number eight it says will a man rob God yet you have robed me but you say wherein have we robbed you in tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse for you have robbed me even this whole nation bring ye all the tithes in the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now that here with sayith the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there should not be in room enough to receive it you see sometimes we have a tough time believing the promises of God and today we're living in a world that's that's uh racked by inflation and we're having all kinds of financial challenges that we face and and

and God says listen just trust me just be faithful to me just continue to do what's right and I will open up the windows of Heaven to bless you and we need to trust the promise of God but as we go back to the story in 2 Kings 7 and veres 3 and 4 says the four leprous men were there at the entry of the gate they weren't allowed inside the city because of their leprosy and they they looked at each other and said you know what we're just going to sit here and die why why should we just sit here and die you know we can we can stay here and we're going to starve to death we can go in the city and they'll probably kill us and then if we not we'll starve to death there why don't we just go ahead

and go to the syrians what's the worst thing they could do they can kill us and we'll die there there's a famous quote by a very famous man I'm sure you've heard at some point in that let me put the quote on screen if you eat you're going to die if you don't eat you're going to die much better than to eat and then die and and they these guys must have known Pastor P Andy I don't know but they said you know what we might as well go and see with the syrians they maybe they'll give us food and if they don't what do we we going to do we're going to die Philippians chapter 1 verse 211 says for me to live as Christ and the die is gain if the worst thing that the world can threaten us with is death

then the world's got no power over us what's the worst thing that happen you might die now let me ask a question do you know where you're going to go when you die in 1 John 5: 12 and 13 says he that hath the son life he that hath not the Son of God ha not life these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life you see if you know when you die that you're going to heaven then there's nothing to be afraid of anymore if you know that you have eternal life if you know that your sins are forgiven if you know that you have peace with God God and I wonder today do you know for sure when you die that you're going to heaven do

you know that your sins are forgiven because you see these men they had a disease called lepry you and I we have a disease called sin in Romans 3:23 it says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible tells that the wages of sin is death you're going to die one day whether you like it or not we're all going to die in Hebrews 9:27 it says as appointed men once to die but after this the judgment so when you die are you going to heaven or are you going to hell you see if you know you're going to heaven then you have nothing to be afraid of because what can they do we die we go to heaven see the reason you can know for sure you're going to heaven is because Jesus already

died for you the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 5 and verse number 8 but God commendeth or show showed his love towards us now why are yet sinners Christ died for us he died upon the cross to pay for your sins he died to give you eternal life he died in your place and he was buried and he rose again and he has the power over death to give you Victory when you die in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 turn over there with me if you would 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and look at verses 1-4 1 Corinthians chapter 15 beginning with verse number one it says moreover Brethren I declare unto the gospel the word gospel means good news which I preached unto you which also you received and wherein you stand by

which also you're saved you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you believed in vain for I delivered on you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures that's the gospel that's the good news that Jesus died was buried and rose again and he died for you to give you eternal life to give you that that promise and that hope that when you die you're going to go to heaven but you need to call upon him in Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 it says that if thou shallal confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and Shall Believe in thine heart that

God has raised from the dead Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth on the righteousness and with the mouth confession is made onto salvation in Romans 10:13 it says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and if you're here today and you've never called Upon Jesus Christ as your savior you need to do that today so that you know that no matter what happens when you die you're going to go to heaven and that takes away the fear in life it it doesn't always take away all other problems you know these lepers we don't know if they ever got healed from the leprosy there's nothing in the Bible says whether they were healed from the leprosy but we do know that

they have the good news of Salvation and we know that you can have that good news as well to know that you're going to heaven when you die but have you ever been a point in your life where you just wanted to give up that's the way the people in the city were we might as well just die Bible says in numbers 11 verse number 15 if thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand if I have found favor in th sight and let me not see my wretchedness that's Moses Moses one of the Great Men of God got discouraged at Point said God just let me die then you got Elijah one of the greatest prophets that ever lived in First Kings 19:4 but he went himself a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness and came

and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said is enough now oh Lord take away my life for I'm no better than my fathers he said I I I just I want to give up and you've got job job God pointed out job to the devil said there is a man that is living the way I wanted to live and yet the Bible says in job 10: 18 and 19 wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb oh that I had given up The Ghost and no eye had seen me I should have been as though I had not been I should have been carried from the womb to the gra grave he said I wish I would have died when I was a baby Jeremiah another great prophet of God in Jeremiah 20:14 cursed be the

day where I was born let not that day wherein my mother bear me be blessed cursed be the man who brought Tidings to my father saying a Manchild is born unto thee making him very glad Jonah in Jonah 4:8 and it came to pass when the sun did arise that Jonah prepared a ven that God prepared a ven East Wind and the Sun Beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted and wished to himself to die and it says better for me to die than to live I don't know about you but there's been times my life you said Lord I just want to die and go to heaven I know I'm saved I know I'm going to heaven I'm just tired I'm tired of the fight in this life I'm tired of the problems of this life I'm tired of all the

things are happening and that's way life happens sometimes and sometimes we just get to that point we're discouraged and we just want to quit we just want to give up but don't do it because God hasn't forsaken you and I believe you went back to every one of these men and read and talked to them personally and tell you I'm glad I didn't quit I'm glad I didn't give up we just get that point sometime where we're discouraged Job 13:15 says though he slay me yet will I trust him but I will maintain my own ways before him listen the worst thing that could happen to me is that that I can die and go to heaven so I'll just trust God the other thing about the story of these lepers is this go back to 2

Kings chapter 7 2 Kings chapter 7 and I want you to look at verses 8-10 says when the lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp they went into one tent and did eat and drink and carried then silver and gold and rment and went and hid it came again entered another tent and carried then abble also and went and hid it so they ate all they could eat and then they took all the the spoils and buried in the ground and then they said one to another verse n we do not well this day is a day of good tidings we hold our peace if we T till the morning light some Mischief will come upon us now therefore come that we may go and tell the king's household and they went to the gate and told the porter at

the gate because no lepers is going to get in the king's household but here's the point I want to make the phrase in verse number nine we do not well turn over to Romans chapter 1 Romans chapter 1 look at verses 14- 16 I'm a debor both to the Greeks and to The Barbarians both to the wise and the unwise so as much as in me as I'm I'm ready to preach the gospel to you there at Rome also for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for as a power of God and salvation everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is the righteous of God revealed from Faith to Faith as it written the just shall live by faith we have good tidings we have the gospel we have salvation For

All Mankind in our hands and yet we do not well because we don't tell others these guys realize wait a minute we've got enough to share share we shouldn't be hoarded all to ourselves we've got good news now they went to the city and everybody doubted them and nobody believed them it took a while for him to finally figure out it was true but you know sometimes I'm afraid that you and I we're guilty of the same thing that that we have the blessings of God and we do not well we're coming up next Sunday to Easter Sunday and and we've got the good news of the death the burial the resurrection of Jesus Christ we've got the good news of salvation and how many people have you invited to church and

how many people have you asked to come and how many people have you shared your testimony with we do not well when we don't share it with others we've got the good news and we hold it to ourselves instead of giving it to everybody and I understand some of you it's like yeah but you know my neighbor will never come to church listen here if you ask them and they don't come they're not coming if if you don't ask them they don't come they're not coming I'd rather ask them and they not come you see these guys said you know we're going to die either way we might as well try dying and folks we need to try to invite people to church we need to try I can tell you 100% of the people you don't invite

will not come but statistics tell us that one out of 10 that you invite will come in fact at Easter time statistics tell us that four out of 10 have said that if someone would invite them to Easter services they will go the odds are in your favor but 100% of those you do not tell the good news will not come to Christ look at Mark chapter 1 Mark chapter 1 look at verses 40- 45 Mark chapter 1 and beginning with verse number 40 and there came a leop to him beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him if thou wilt thou can make me clean and Jesus moved with compassion put forth his hand and touched him and saith unto him I will be thou clean and as soon as he had spoken

immediately the Le he departed from him and he was cleansed and listen now and he straightly charged him and Forwood sent him away and said unto him see that thou say nothing to any man but go thy way show thyself to the priest and offer for thy cleansing things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them but he the leper went out and began to publish it much and to blaze abroad the matter in so much that Jesus could no more openly enter the city but was without in desert places and they came to him from every quarter Jesus said to this leper he said don't tell anybody what did he do he went out and told everybody Jesus tells you and I to go into all the world and preach the gospel and

what do we do we don't even ask our neighbor to come to church there's something wrong with that we do not well we've got probably one of the greatest opportunities of all year to get people to church and we haven't even invited anybody yet we do not well then there's another story about lepers in the Bible turn over to Luke chapter 17 and we'll close with these verses Luke chapter 17 beginning with verse number 11 says it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and G galileia and he entered into a certain Village there and met him 10 men that were lepers which stood a far off and he lifted up their voices and said Jesus Master have mercy on us and

when he saw them he said unto them go show yourselves unto the priest it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed and one of time one of them when they saw that he was healed turned back and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down in his face to his feet giving him thanks and he was a Samaritan and Jesus answered and said where there not 10 cleansed but where are the nine they are not found that return to give glory to God save this stranger folks Easter is an opportunity to invite people to Church Easter is an opportunity to get the gospel out everywhere but Easter is also an opportunity to praise God and give him glory let's not get so caught up in everything that we're

doing we forget what we're celebrating now I understand that Easter didn't happen on March 31st I understand that Easter doesn't involve Easter eggs and bunnies that's not the most important part of the story but folks what I do knows this for God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son to die on that cross a painful death to be buried and to rais again so that you and I could go to heaven when's the last time you gave God glory for that as we come into the Easter Sunday let's not be like the nine let's be like the one and give glory to God let's not mess up and miss the opportunity to invite others well and do not well but let's make sure we invite others to church that we tell others about Jesus and tell them about what the holiday is really about