sin of silence
Posted by: preacher30673 <preacher30673@...>
II Kings 7:1-20
THE SIN OF SILENCE
As we shall observe in this message, the worst of sinners are not necessarily those who do wrong, but those who fail to do right. For Christians it is probably true to say that we more often leave undone the things we ought to have done than we do the things we ought not to have done. James 4:17 says, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
The words of our text are the words spoken by four leprous men who had suddenly discovered the miracle of deliverance wrought by God which meant life, not only for them but also to all those in the besieged city of Samaria.
The historical setting was quite a simple one. Samaria was under siege, surrounded by the invading hosts of the Syrian armies. The city was in a desperate plight. According to the preceding chapter children were being boiled and eaten and the most revolting garbage was sold for silver.
Four leprous men were hopelessly trapped between the enemy and the walls of the city. They were banned from the city because of their leprosy and to enter into the camp of the Syrian army meant instant death. See verse 3 and 4.
BUT God had already suddenly intervened, and it was unknown to those in the city as well as the four leprous men.
I. ASTONISHMENT at what THEY DETECTED (5-7)
Consider the sight that the four leprous men found. It was a sight that at first leaves them speechless with astonishment.
A. Misery in which they were placed
They had found themselves in a desperate situation. They had no doubt been cast out of the city because of their leprosy, and they awake one morning and find themselves surrounded by the Syrian troops. The enemy had but one plan, and that was to starve the city into submission.
Their seemed to be no solution to their problem. All hope was taken from them. Death seemed to be the only answer.
B. Mystery with which they were faced
In their desperation, these leprous men arise and go to the camp of the Syrians. If they enter the city they will die and if they stay where they will die, but if they surrender to the Syrians, they might have pity on them, but if they do not, they will but die either way.
They go into the camp of the Syrians, but behold there are no men in the camp. Something has happened. God had intervened in their behalf. The forces that had encircled them had been dispersed and defeated. God had acted on their behalf. God intervened on their behalf.
I. ASTONISHMENT at what THEY DETECTED (5-7)
II. Absorbed In what THEY DISCOVERED (8)
These lepers go from tent to tent with excitement. Everything was theirs for the taking.
A. There was Sudden enrichment
Moments before they had nothing, but now they have all. What they needed was theirs now in abundance. They had been paupers just moments before, but now they were princes.
Did they need gold? It was theirs to claim. Did they need transportation? It was theirs to claim.
They had all the needed.
So it is with Christians. At what moment we are destined to hell (without hope and without a future). But then salvation comes to us, and we are instantaneously a child of the King and headed to heaven. God does not take from us but rather He gives to us. He gives us pardon, peace, and power. Suddenly we are no longer paupers but princes through Christ.
B. There was Selfish enjoyment
These men were having a wonderful time, eating and drinking to their heart's desire. What they wanted, they took and hid. All they thought about was self. They were enjoying the goodness of God without any thought of others. They enjoyed the provision that God had given them without any regard for others.
Here was a supernatural provision, a suitable provision, and a sufficient provision.
This speaks to me of the provision that God has made for us today in Christ Jesus .
But, how often do we do what they did as Christians. We bask in the rays of God's love and grace without any thought of others who have needs.
I. ASTONISHMENT at what THEY DETECTED (5-7)
II. Absorbed In what THEY DISCOVERED (8)
III. ASHAMED of what THEY Did (9-16)
A. Notice the sin that troubled these men (9)
Their sin was the sin of silence. They were leaving thousands in a the doomed city in their desperate plight while all the time they were enjoying themselves. They were guilty of leaving others without the wonderful news that deliverance had come. They were guilty of being silent about the deliverance that God had provided.
You and I might be greatly disturbed about the riotous shouting of a drunk man, but God may be more concerned about the respectable silence of a Christian man.
B. Notice the Sight that thrilled these men (16)
What a thrill thrilling sight it must have men to these four leprous men to see the people of Samaria coming out of the seemingly doomed city and making their way hastily to the camp of the enemy and finding the deliverance that God had provided.
Think with me of the men that God used to saved a city from destruction.
God used four lepers.
First of all, they were common men. They were common men. Four leprous men that were out cast, down trod, and not important. They were just common, ordinary, perhaps less than ordinary men and yet God used them.
God has a plan, and God's plan is to glory to Himself. God takes what the world calls a foolish message, and then God takes a weak messenger, and then He compounds these two in the crucible of His love and wisdom. The result is the glory to God.
They were also constrained men. Look if you will please in verse 9. They were men who knew that it was a sin to be silent in a day of good tidings.
They were also convicted men. I want you to notice the last part of verse 9. "Then they said o ne to another, we do not well: This is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace." Now notice this next phrase, "if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come on us. Now therefore come that we may go and tell the kings household."
Oh, the great sin of silence is going to bring mischief on you. Do you think that you can be disobedient and get away with it? Do you think just because you're saved by grace and not by works that it's going to make no difference? I want to tell you something friend and it may shatter you tonight, but there is a day of reckoning coming.
The apostle Paul says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and everyone may receive the things done in his body, whether it be good and whether it be evil.
Have you ever experienced the thrill that comes through seeing others that you have witnessed to come to know the deliverance that is found in Christ. There is nothing like seeing God use you in witnessing for Him.
God works through the witness of ordinary people sharing their faith with others they know or come in contact with.
For many today, death seems to be the only solution. O, the misery in which men find themselves today. To die cannot be any worse that they are now is the tone of many today. But if they only knew about Jesus!
The church today is silent about the deliverance that God has wrought. How many are perishing because we remain silent about Christ. Every Christian lives at the center of an expanding circle of contact. What a fantastic sphere of influence there is to be found in every single Christian life, and when we put all this church together the ` spiritual and moral potential of influence for Jesus is almost unimaginable.
There is no experience as exciting as allowing God to use you in making a difference in someone's life for eternity.
CONCLUSION
These four leprous men realized that they did not well if they continue to go in the way they were going. Thankfully, they did not continue to ponder what they ought to do, but rather they arose and came to the city and told the porter of the city what had happened.
If you do not well today, I exhort you to arise and change your doings. If you are guilty of the sin of silence, I challenge you to do something about it today.
IN HIS ETERNAL GRIP,
Pastor Jimmy Chapman
Victory Baptist Church
706-678-1855
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