A Day Of Good Tidings 10-19-25 AM
I. The lepers delight (vs. 8).
a. These men had decided that they were going to die one way or the other, so they might as well try to get some food..
i. They were dying men in the first place but they didn’t want to die of starvation.
ii. To die by a Syrian sword was better than starvation.
b. Once they found out no one was there, they went into the first tent to which they came.
c. They had a ball.
d. They got food.
i. Just a little earlier, they had no hope of food and now more than they could eat.
ii. Jesus is the Bread and Water of life and we have access to all the spiritual nourishment we need as Christians.
e. They got riches.
i. The life of a leper was one of abject poverty.
ii. They had to depend on help left for them by family members or aid given by others to have anything.
iii. Not only that, the siege of Samaria had left nothing for them.
1. Family inside the city would keep for themselves what little they had.
2. Why waste what they had on someone who had a terminal disease?
iv. Now they had all they wanted and then some.
v. Christians have wonderful spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).
1. God hears our prayers.
2. God grants us forgiveness.
3. God redeems us through the blood of His Son.
f. They got clothing.
i. They came into the camp dressed in the rags of lepers.
ii. Now they had their choice of clothing left behind by the Syrian army.
iii. As Christians, we get washed and become new (Acts 22:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
1. We get washed in the blood of Christ (Revelation 1:5).
2. We get new clothing (Isaiah 61:10).
g. These men now had everything they would ever need.
II. The lepers dilemma (vs. 9).
a. Can you imagine the fantastic feeling these men had?
b. At first, caught up in the euphoria of the moment, they thought of no one but themselves.
i. This would be understandable in their case.
ii. It was rare that anyone thought of a leper.
c. After the initial rush went away, they realized they weren’t right.
i. They realized they were hoarding up their blessings and not allowing anyone else to benefit from them.
ii. They had more than they could ever use.
iii. Those of us who are Christians don’t do well when we fail to tell others about the blessings that God has bestowed upon us.
iv. We are to tell others the good tidings (Matthew 28:19-20).
d. They came to understand that what they had was not just for themselves, but for all of Samaria as well.
i. We need Christians who realize that what we have is not just for us.
ii. There are so many who need what we have.
e. It was possible for them to keep silent.
i. The Syrian departure would surely be realized soon.
ii. They probably would have been put to death if found because they had not told the city.
f. What about when we keep silent?
i. We fail to keep the Great Commission.
ii. We fail our mission as God’s people to praise God as we should (1 Peter 2:9-10).
iii. We will answer to God for keeping silent.
g. We keep silent at times for various reasons.
i. Sometimes there is a famine going on in our own lives.
1. We fail to study as we should.
2. We don’t grow as we should (2 Peter 1:8-9).
ii. Sometimes there is fear or discouragement.
1. We fear how people react or get discouraged because some have reacted poorly in the past.
2. In the list of those who will be in hell, the fearful are the first ones liste (Revelation 21:8).
3. Just because people don’t react well does not mean we have the right to quit doing our work.
iii. Sometimes we think it is too difficult.
1. If we believe that Jesus died for us, was buried and was resurrected, we can tell others.
2. If we do two things we can evangelize:
a. Follow 1 Peter 3:15 - Give the Lord a special place in our hearts and prepare to give an answer for what we believe.
b. Pray:
i. For opportunity (1 Corinthians 3:5);
ii. For wisdom (James 1:5);
iii. For boldness.
III. The lepers decision (vs. 10-11).
a. These men decided that they could not keep this to themselves any longer.
i. They went back and told the porters at the gate.
ii. This message was then relayed to the king.
b. After debating on whether it was true or not, the king sent men to find out, and they found it was true.
i. The city came out and got what they needed.
ii. They even found goods strewn down the road on which the Syrians had fled.
c. The decision by the lepers took courage.
i. It took courage for a leper to approach someone.
ii. They stood the chance for death or rejection.
iii. It takes courage to tell people about the Lord and His plan to save them.
iv. Despite the reaction of those to whom we speak, we must still take the message out to the lost.
d. The decision took love.
i. More than likely, there were those in the city who had mistreated these men simply because they were lepers.
ii. It was common in that day for the family of one stricken by leprosy to go ahead and have a funeral service for them and never reach out to them again.
iii. We must show the world we love them by taking the gospel to them.
iv. It doesn’t matter how we have been treated or will be treated, we must love those who are in the world.
e. Their decision resulted in conversions.
i. The city was saved.
ii. We probably are never going to convert an entire city.
iii. However, there will be those few with whom we speak that will accept and heed the message.
iv. You don’t know how things will turn out when you speak to someone about Jesus.