June 6, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Awakened a Grace. I'm so glad you're listening today.
My name is Chad Roberts, and I believe God has
connected us for a great purpose. You're about to hear
a powerful sermon that I know is going to encourage you.
If you like what you hear, share it with a
friend and subscribe to our weekly devotions and get encouragement
right to your inbox at Chad Roberts dot org. My
(00:30):
prayer for you is that this year is the best yet.
The Syrians had come to capture him because they were
trying to ambush the army of Israel.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Every time they said in ambush, the.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Lord would speak to the prophet Elisha. This past week
I read the Book of Amos, and in Amos, God
says he doesn't do anything without first revealing it to
his prophets, and he would reveal to Elisha.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
What was ahead of the curve.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Elisha knew if famine was coming, and he prophesied before
it came that there would be a seven year famine.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And now they're in the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Thick of it, and the Syrian army has surrounded Dothan
and they're there to capture Elisha. And Elisha says, Lord,
open my servant's eyes that he may see what is
really happening. God did open his eyes, and you know
what his servants saw. He saw surrounding the Syrian army
(01:31):
that was surrounding them.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
He saw a heavenly.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Army, an angelic army that the Bible says was flaming
fire of horses and chariots. It was an angelic, supernatural
army surrounding their enemies. And Elisha, that great man of God, prayed,
and you know what God did. He struck that Syrian
army with blindness, says, oh, the people you're looking for,
(02:03):
they're not in this town.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Follow me and I'll take you. And the dumb dumbs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Followed him, and they got the enemy right where they
wanted them, and they could have slaughtered every one of them.
And the king said, shall I slaughter them? And Elisha said, no,
have mercy upon them. All the while God knew what
he was doing, they let him go. Now we fast
(02:32):
forward to the middle of chapter six. Do you know
what's happened? The King of Syria has gathered his entire army,
not a raid, his entire army, and they have besieged Samaria.
Our western minds cannot even fathom what a besiege was.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
In the ancient days.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Their crops and all of their fields were outside the
city walls.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But people lived within the city and they could lock
it down well.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
They had food within the city, but the food would
quickly run out. What they looked for when they would
besiege a city was the water supply, and if they
could find the source of the.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
City's water, they could either block.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
It and they would be coming out within days, or
they would poison it. In this case, they cut off
the food supply and Israel Samaria was under siege by
the enemy. Friends, things were as bleak, things were as
(03:41):
dark as they possibly could be, and the vivid imagery,
the picture the Bible tells us here is that this woman,
this mother, approaches the king and says, you have to
help me, and the king says, God isn't even helping us.
You want mean it is something God is not even
(04:03):
doing anything.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And she says, a woman came to me and said
this is so terrible.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
She said, let's boil your sun and we'll eat your
son today and tomorrow will do the same to my son.
She says, we did that and the next day she
hid her son. The king was so disgusted, he.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Was so angry.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
He tore his garments and he said, Elisha's head will
be gone by tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He's saying, we had the enemy, We had them right
where we wanted, and Elisha let him go. And now
look at the fate that's come upon us. The king
is angry. Elisha was living within the city walls. Elisha
was suffering the same fate as everyone else. They come
(05:13):
to get him, and if you go to chapter seven,
in the first verse, you'll see this is where we
pick up in the story. Elisha gives a sudden word,
he gives a breakthrough word, he gives a now word. Now,
remember the famine has been seven years, and now the
(05:35):
city is so besieged.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
They're out of food. They are.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Resorting to cannibalism. They are eating pigeon or doves.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Poop, bird poop. They're boiling donkey head. It's over. They
have five versus left. That's it. They've made everything they can.
They're going to die.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Friends, Things are as bleak as they have ever been,
and it is bad. And Elisha, the man of God,
gives this crazy prophecy, this crazy word. He says, by
this time tomorrow, what has been scarcity will be in abundance,
(06:29):
and bread will be plentiful, and you can buy choice
grain for a shekel. In other words, inflation is over.
The captain of the king's army.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Here's that. And the captain mocks the word of God.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And the captain says, if God himself opened windows of heaven,
this would not be. He made a mockery of the
word of God. He refused to believe God's word anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
He's really saying.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
He's saying, if God made trapdoors in heaven, this still
wouldn't work. You know what I think he was really
mocking was when God sent manna from heaven to feed
the children of it. God can't do that again. Midway
down and chapter seven were introduced to four remarkable people.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
This is where I want to draw your attention. Four
incredible men.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
The Bible says that they were outcasts, they were lepers.
The Bible says they lived outside the city.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Do you know why that was?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Leprosy was one of the most feared and dreaded diseases
of ancient times. There was no cure for leprosy. Leprosy
was a disease of the skin that remember we talked
about it with Nayman a few weeks ago. And if
you got leoprosy, your skin would turn snow white and
(08:04):
eventually just fall off. Your skin would rot, literally and
just fall off. It was a dreaded, dreaded disease. Matter
of fact, it was a highly contagious disease. And you
weren't allowed to live.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
With the population.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
You were an outcast by Jewish law if you even
got within a close distance of someone. And our culture,
our generation today knows a little bit about distancing, don't we,
But not like this. If you had leprosy and someone
got near you, you.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Were obligated by law.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
To yell unclean so that they would get away from you.
Can you imagine that going the rest of your life,
never hugging anyone, never living a your family.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
It's a terrible thing.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
These four men had leprosy and they were outcasts, and
the Bible says they lived outside the city. It's because
they weren't allowed inside, and they were dying and they
were gonna die of starvation. And these men reasoned with
one another, they said, if we can even make it
inside the city.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Just say that we can even go undetected.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
If we go inside the city, we're gonna die of
starvation because this famine is so severe. If we go
present ourselves to the enemy and we throw ourselves on
the mercy of the Syrian army.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Who knows, maybe they'll kill us, maybe they'll let us live.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But they said, either way, we have nothing to lose,
so let's go present ourselves and maybe they'll have mercy
on us.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
So at twilight.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
They go to the enemy's camp, and do you know
what they discover a miracle of all miracles. You know
what the scripture says, watch this, look at it in
your bibles. The scripture says that God caused that army
to hear a supernatural noise. They heard horses and chariots,
(10:22):
and you know what they said to themselves. They said,
Israel has hired the king of Egypt and the king
of the Hittites, and now they've come to ambush us
and friends. They got out of dodge. It scared them
so bad. In reality, do you know what they heard?
They heard that same angelic heavenly army that surrounded them
(10:47):
back in chapter six, God wasn't done yet.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
They heard the same supernatural army, and it scared them,
It frightened them. It brought such confusion to the enemy
that he ran. So can you get the picture in
your head? These lepers, they're out of all options. There's
(11:12):
so much out of options that they're willing to consider death.
And here they show up in the enemies camp and
no one's there. The horses are there, the tents are
all set up, the dinners on the stove, everything's cooking.
All their gold and all their silver, and all their
(11:33):
changes of clothes and all these great possessions and everything
is there, and not a soul can be found. Friends,
do you know what these beggars did? They indulged themselves.
They went tent to tent and looted it all that
(11:55):
I could pick. I just I picture them eating the
porge and saying, it's not too cold, and it's not
too hot, it's just right. And after they had enjoyed
themselves so much, they said, what are we doing?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
They said, here we are with the best.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
News and all the world and the whole city's dying.
They said, we have to go tell the good news.
You know what this story is really about. It's really
about the calamity of sin. It's really that when you
(12:38):
look at our world today and you look at the
lost condition of men and women today, it's as bleak
as it's ever been. There are more people living right
now today in hopelessness than ever before. And the calamity
(12:58):
of sin.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Is enormous. And do you know who we are? Do
you know who.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
We were the day that Christy Roberts walked through our doors,
the sunday that she came here in desperation over the
salvation of her family and her husband.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do you know who we were? We're former beggars. All
we are are beggars who have found the bread.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Of life Jesus Christ. And we're saying, let us tell
other beggars where to find it. Amen, Do you see
your life that way? Do you go to work complaining
about the job you have? Or do you see it
(13:58):
as I'm a beggar to tell other beggars where to
find food? Do you complain about the lot you have
in life and the place where God has you and.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Where you live what you have.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Instead of realizing that maybe God put you exactly where
he wanted you to tell other beggars where to find
the bread of life. Had those lepers, had those beggars,
those I've cast stayed in that huge encampment with all
(14:39):
the food in the world, you know what it really
would have been. It would have been a tragedy. But
thank God, that's not what they did. You know what
they did. They said, no, we're going to go tell
the good news. We have beautiful news to share. And
(15:00):
do you know what it is when you keep your
salvation to yourself. You know what happens when God puts
in your heart to tell a coworker that you're praying.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
For them, and you don't do it.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
God puts in your heart to share your faith with
a neighbor, and you don't do it, You don't get
outside of your comfort zone. It's a tragedy because who
you are is a beggar that's found the bread of life,
and who we ought to be our beggars telling other
(15:39):
beggars where to find it.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So they go to the king, and word gets to
the king, and even the king still doesn't believe the
word of God.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
He won't believe it, and he sends out scouts and
sure enough, it's true. From where they camp to the
Jordan River was twenty five miles, and for twenty five
miles they found for the enemy had left and fled.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
When word got out in the city.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Do you remember that captain who wouldn't believe God's word?
Remember that captain who made a mockery of God's word?
Do you remember what Elisha said to him? He said,
you'll see it with your very eyes, but you will
not taste any of it. You'll not eat any of it.
You know what happened the crowd He was assigned to
(16:31):
the gate, and the throng, the crowd so rushed the gate.
He was trampled to death by the crowd, and the
word of God proved true.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You know who I don't want to be in this story.
I don't want to be this captain.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I don't want to be somebody that although I believe
in God.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Oh, he believed in God. He said, if God.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Himself would open the No, he believed God existed. Friends,
you can believe in God but not believe God. Now
come on, get that somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You can believe in God but not believe God. And
that's where some of you are.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Some of us say things like I'll believe it when
I that erode your faith, that completely undermines your faith.
Some of us say things like, well, I see everybody
God answers their prayers, but God won't ever answer one
of my prayers. You know what you're doing, your undermining
(17:38):
your faith. Well, God's good to everybody, but me. There
you go eroding faith. Well, I'll tell you what. If
I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck
at all. You just shot your faith down. I don't
(18:00):
want to be that captain who believes in God but
doesn't believe God. No, I want to be a Christian
that although I may be in famine time, I may
be at the beginning of that seven years, I may
be in the middle, or I may be at the end.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I may be in that seven year drought. I may
be in that famine period.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I may be in the place where God hasn't manifested
yet what God has promised to manifest. But I believe
that God is who he says he is, and I
believe God will do what God says he will do.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And when God is ready, God will do it. Because
just as.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
There's a scheduled beginning to our trials, brothers and sisters,
there is a scheduled ending to our trials, and when
God's ready to move suddenly, he'll move suddenly.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
The question is do you believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
I'm not gonna let doubt undermine and he rode my faith.
I'm gonna believe the word of God. These beggars were
heroes this day. Not because they fought off the enemy.
They didn't have the ability to God did it. He
(19:26):
gave the help from heaven. They became heroes. You know why,
because they didn't keep the good news to themselves. They
shared the beautiful news. Friends, there's opportunities in this church.
There's opportunity after opportunity after opportunity for you to share
(19:46):
the good news. While we talked about at the beginning,
our mobile app alone is an opportunity to share the
good news. Are you faithful about it?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Maybe that you.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Work at your job for right now where you are
because God's planted you there. It may be that you
live where you live and you're in that neighborhood because
God has planted you there. Don't despise it. Take advantage
(20:22):
of the opportunity. And when you realize and you see
yourself as the beggar who has discovered the bread of life,
you'll be eager to share it with others. Let's about
our heads today. Who is it in your life that
you could do a better job sharing your faith. Maybe
(20:45):
that's taking someone to lunch. Maybe that's having someone over
for dinner. Maybe that's going to coffee with someone.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Maybe it's a.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Text message, maybe it's a Facebook message, maybe.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's a phone call. I know this. You don't have
to look far to feel the.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Calamity of sin in this world. And God is going
to cross your paths with person after person for you
to share the bread of life.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
The question is are you sensitive to it?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Or are you like the beginning of the stage of
these beggars where you come in here week after week
you feast, You feast on the word of God. You
leave and you go, oh, I grew so much? Should
I learned so much? Should I felt God?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
But who do you share it with? Who do you
share it with? For instance, news is too beautiful to
keep to ourselves?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Say why is the church so focused right now on addiction?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Because we have beautiful news to share?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Chad, why is the church so aggressive with global missions
because we have beautiful.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
News to share?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Why are you worried about people who will never come
to Kingsport and they'll never step foot inside preaching cross?
Or because we have beautiful news to share? Why are
there hundreds upon hundreds of names on a thirteen foot cross?
(22:47):
Because all we are are beggars. We were outcasts who
found the bread of life, and now we are passionate.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
About telling other beggars where to go to find it.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
God, I'm asking you that over the next many weeks
and many.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Months, that you will use us personally. Yes, use the church, Yes,
use Awakened, use mobile apps and use websites and use
all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, use it. But God, I'm asking use us.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Personally, our conversations, our interest in others, our willingness to
get involved in other people's lives, our willingness to take
on burdens and bear one another's burdens. Use us personally
(24:06):
to bring many beggars to Jesus.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
It's the greatest news ever been told to this world,
and it's ours. It's ours. What are we going to
do with it?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Did you know that I'm a pastor, husband and father
of four who suddenly went blind in twenty eighteen. Today
I teach people how life is not random, but it
is actually orchestrated by God for a great purpose. Learn
more about my story and Awaken to Grace at Chad
Roberts dot org
Welcome to Awakened a Grace. I'm so glad you're listening today.
My name is Chad Roberts, and I believe God has
connected us for a great purpose. You're about to hear
a powerful sermon that I know is going to encourage you.
If you like what you hear, share it with a
friend and subscribe to our weekly devotions and get encouragement
right to your inbox at Chad Roberts dot org. My
(00:30):
prayer for you is that this year is the best yet.
The Syrians had come to capture him because they were
trying to ambush the army of Israel.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Every time they said in ambush, the.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Lord would speak to the prophet Elisha. This past week
I read the Book of Amos, and in Amos, God
says he doesn't do anything without first revealing it to
his prophets, and he would reveal to Elisha.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
What was ahead of the curve.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Elisha knew if famine was coming, and he prophesied before
it came that there would be a seven year famine.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And now they're in the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Thick of it, and the Syrian army has surrounded Dothan
and they're there to capture Elisha. And Elisha says, Lord,
open my servant's eyes that he may see what is
really happening. God did open his eyes, and you know
what his servants saw. He saw surrounding the Syrian army
(01:31):
that was surrounding them.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
He saw a heavenly.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Army, an angelic army that the Bible says was flaming
fire of horses and chariots. It was an angelic, supernatural
army surrounding their enemies. And Elisha, that great man of God, prayed,
and you know what God did. He struck that Syrian
army with blindness, says, oh, the people you're looking for,
(02:03):
they're not in this town.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Follow me and I'll take you. And the dumb dumbs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Followed him, and they got the enemy right where they
wanted them, and they could have slaughtered every one of them.
And the king said, shall I slaughter them? And Elisha said, no,
have mercy upon them. All the while God knew what
he was doing, they let him go. Now we fast
(02:32):
forward to the middle of chapter six. Do you know
what's happened? The King of Syria has gathered his entire army,
not a raid, his entire army, and they have besieged Samaria.
Our western minds cannot even fathom what a besiege was.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
In the ancient days.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Their crops and all of their fields were outside the
city walls.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But people lived within the city and they could lock
it down well.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
They had food within the city, but the food would
quickly run out. What they looked for when they would
besiege a city was the water supply, and if they
could find the source of the.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
City's water, they could either block.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
It and they would be coming out within days, or
they would poison it. In this case, they cut off
the food supply and Israel Samaria was under siege by
the enemy. Friends, things were as bleak, things were as
(03:41):
dark as they possibly could be, and the vivid imagery,
the picture the Bible tells us here is that this woman,
this mother, approaches the king and says, you have to
help me, and the king says, God isn't even helping us.
You want mean it is something God is not even
(04:03):
doing anything.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And she says, a woman came to me and said
this is so terrible.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
She said, let's boil your sun and we'll eat your
son today and tomorrow will do the same to my son.
She says, we did that and the next day she
hid her son. The king was so disgusted, he.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Was so angry.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
He tore his garments and he said, Elisha's head will
be gone by tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know what he's saying.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
He's saying, we had the enemy, We had them right
where we wanted, and Elisha let him go. And now
look at the fate that's come upon us. The king
is angry. Elisha was living within the city walls. Elisha
was suffering the same fate as everyone else. They come
(05:13):
to get him, and if you go to chapter seven,
in the first verse, you'll see this is where we
pick up in the story. Elisha gives a sudden word,
he gives a breakthrough word, he gives a now word. Now,
remember the famine has been seven years, and now the
(05:35):
city is so besieged.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
They're out of food. They are.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Resorting to cannibalism. They are eating pigeon or doves.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Poop, bird poop. They're boiling donkey head. It's over. They
have five versus left. That's it. They've made everything they can.
They're going to die.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Friends, Things are as bleak as they have ever been,
and it is bad. And Elisha, the man of God,
gives this crazy prophecy, this crazy word. He says, by
this time tomorrow, what has been scarcity will be in abundance,
(06:29):
and bread will be plentiful, and you can buy choice
grain for a shekel. In other words, inflation is over.
The captain of the king's army.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Here's that. And the captain mocks the word of God.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And the captain says, if God himself opened windows of heaven,
this would not be. He made a mockery of the
word of God. He refused to believe God's word anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
He's really saying.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
He's saying, if God made trapdoors in heaven, this still
wouldn't work. You know what I think he was really
mocking was when God sent manna from heaven to feed
the children of it. God can't do that again. Midway
down and chapter seven were introduced to four remarkable people.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
This is where I want to draw your attention. Four
incredible men.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
The Bible says that they were outcasts, they were lepers.
The Bible says they lived outside the city.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Do you know why that was?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Leprosy was one of the most feared and dreaded diseases
of ancient times. There was no cure for leprosy. Leprosy
was a disease of the skin that remember we talked
about it with Nayman a few weeks ago. And if
you got leoprosy, your skin would turn snow white and
(08:04):
eventually just fall off. Your skin would rot, literally and
just fall off. It was a dreaded, dreaded disease. Matter
of fact, it was a highly contagious disease. And you
weren't allowed to live.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
With the population.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
You were an outcast by Jewish law if you even
got within a close distance of someone. And our culture,
our generation today knows a little bit about distancing, don't we,
But not like this. If you had leprosy and someone
got near you, you.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Were obligated by law.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
To yell unclean so that they would get away from you.
Can you imagine that going the rest of your life,
never hugging anyone, never living a your family.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
It's a terrible thing.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
These four men had leprosy and they were outcasts, and
the Bible says they lived outside the city. It's because
they weren't allowed inside, and they were dying and they
were gonna die of starvation. And these men reasoned with
one another, they said, if we can even make it
inside the city.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Just say that we can even go undetected.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
If we go inside the city, we're gonna die of
starvation because this famine is so severe. If we go
present ourselves to the enemy and we throw ourselves on
the mercy of the Syrian army.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Who knows, maybe they'll kill us, maybe they'll let us live.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But they said, either way, we have nothing to lose,
so let's go present ourselves and maybe they'll have mercy
on us.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
So at twilight.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
They go to the enemy's camp, and do you know
what they discover a miracle of all miracles. You know
what the scripture says, watch this, look at it in
your bibles. The scripture says that God caused that army
to hear a supernatural noise. They heard horses and chariots,
(10:22):
and you know what they said to themselves. They said,
Israel has hired the king of Egypt and the king
of the Hittites, and now they've come to ambush us
and friends. They got out of dodge. It scared them
so bad. In reality, do you know what they heard?
They heard that same angelic heavenly army that surrounded them
(10:47):
back in chapter six, God wasn't done yet.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
They heard the same supernatural army, and it scared them,
It frightened them. It brought such confusion to the enemy
that he ran. So can you get the picture in
your head? These lepers, they're out of all options. There's
(11:12):
so much out of options that they're willing to consider death.
And here they show up in the enemies camp and
no one's there. The horses are there, the tents are
all set up, the dinners on the stove, everything's cooking.
All their gold and all their silver, and all their
(11:33):
changes of clothes and all these great possessions and everything
is there, and not a soul can be found. Friends,
do you know what these beggars did? They indulged themselves.
They went tent to tent and looted it all that
(11:55):
I could pick. I just I picture them eating the
porge and saying, it's not too cold, and it's not
too hot, it's just right. And after they had enjoyed
themselves so much, they said, what are we doing?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
They said, here we are with the best.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
News and all the world and the whole city's dying.
They said, we have to go tell the good news.
You know what this story is really about. It's really
about the calamity of sin. It's really that when you
(12:38):
look at our world today and you look at the
lost condition of men and women today, it's as bleak
as it's ever been. There are more people living right
now today in hopelessness than ever before. And the calamity
(12:58):
of sin.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Is enormous. And do you know who we are? Do
you know who.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
We were the day that Christy Roberts walked through our doors,
the sunday that she came here in desperation over the
salvation of her family and her husband.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do you know who we were? We're former beggars. All
we are are beggars who have found the bread.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Of life Jesus Christ. And we're saying, let us tell
other beggars where to find it. Amen, Do you see
your life that way? Do you go to work complaining
about the job you have? Or do you see it
(13:58):
as I'm a beggar to tell other beggars where to
find food? Do you complain about the lot you have
in life and the place where God has you and.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Where you live what you have.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Instead of realizing that maybe God put you exactly where
he wanted you to tell other beggars where to find
the bread of life. Had those lepers, had those beggars,
those I've cast stayed in that huge encampment with all
(14:39):
the food in the world, you know what it really
would have been. It would have been a tragedy. But
thank God, that's not what they did. You know what
they did. They said, no, we're going to go tell
the good news. We have beautiful news to share. And
(15:00):
do you know what it is when you keep your
salvation to yourself. You know what happens when God puts
in your heart to tell a coworker that you're praying.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
For them, and you don't do it.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
God puts in your heart to share your faith with
a neighbor, and you don't do it, You don't get
outside of your comfort zone. It's a tragedy because who
you are is a beggar that's found the bread of life,
and who we ought to be our beggars telling other
(15:39):
beggars where to find it.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So they go to the king, and word gets to
the king, and even the king still doesn't believe the
word of God.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
He won't believe it, and he sends out scouts and
sure enough, it's true. From where they camp to the
Jordan River was twenty five miles, and for twenty five
miles they found for the enemy had left and fled.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
When word got out in the city.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Do you remember that captain who wouldn't believe God's word?
Remember that captain who made a mockery of God's word?
Do you remember what Elisha said to him? He said,
you'll see it with your very eyes, but you will
not taste any of it. You'll not eat any of it.
You know what happened the crowd He was assigned to
(16:31):
the gate, and the throng, the crowd so rushed the gate.
He was trampled to death by the crowd, and the
word of God proved true.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You know who I don't want to be in this story.
I don't want to be this captain.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I don't want to be somebody that although I believe
in God.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Oh, he believed in God. He said, if God.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Himself would open the No, he believed God existed. Friends,
you can believe in God but not believe God. Now
come on, get that somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You can believe in God but not believe God. And
that's where some of you are.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Some of us say things like I'll believe it when
I that erode your faith, that completely undermines your faith.
Some of us say things like, well, I see everybody
God answers their prayers, but God won't ever answer one
of my prayers. You know what you're doing, your undermining
(17:38):
your faith. Well, God's good to everybody, but me. There
you go eroding faith. Well, I'll tell you what. If
I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck
at all. You just shot your faith down. I don't
(18:00):
want to be that captain who believes in God but
doesn't believe God. No, I want to be a Christian
that although I may be in famine time, I may
be at the beginning of that seven years, I may
be in the middle, or I may be at the end.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I may be in that seven year drought. I may
be in that famine period.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I may be in the place where God hasn't manifested
yet what God has promised to manifest. But I believe
that God is who he says he is, and I
believe God will do what God says he will do.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And when God is ready, God will do it. Because
just as.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
There's a scheduled beginning to our trials, brothers and sisters,
there is a scheduled ending to our trials, and when
God's ready to move suddenly, he'll move suddenly.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
The question is do you believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
I'm not gonna let doubt undermine and he rode my faith.
I'm gonna believe the word of God. These beggars were
heroes this day. Not because they fought off the enemy.
They didn't have the ability to God did it. He
(19:26):
gave the help from heaven. They became heroes. You know why,
because they didn't keep the good news to themselves. They
shared the beautiful news. Friends, there's opportunities in this church.
There's opportunity after opportunity after opportunity for you to share
(19:46):
the good news. While we talked about at the beginning,
our mobile app alone is an opportunity to share the
good news. Are you faithful about it?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Maybe that you.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Work at your job for right now where you are
because God's planted you there. It may be that you
live where you live and you're in that neighborhood because
God has planted you there. Don't despise it. Take advantage
(20:22):
of the opportunity. And when you realize and you see
yourself as the beggar who has discovered the bread of life,
you'll be eager to share it with others. Let's about
our heads today. Who is it in your life that
you could do a better job sharing your faith. Maybe
(20:45):
that's taking someone to lunch. Maybe that's having someone over
for dinner. Maybe that's going to coffee with someone.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Maybe it's a.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Text message, maybe it's a Facebook message, maybe.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
It's a phone call. I know this. You don't have
to look far to feel the.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Calamity of sin in this world. And God is going
to cross your paths with person after person for you
to share the bread of life.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
The question is are you sensitive to it?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Or are you like the beginning of the stage of
these beggars where you come in here week after week
you feast, You feast on the word of God. You
leave and you go, oh, I grew so much? Should
I learned so much? Should I felt God?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
But who do you share it with? Who do you
share it with? For instance, news is too beautiful to
keep to ourselves?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Say why is the church so focused right now on addiction?
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Because we have beautiful news to share?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Chad, why is the church so aggressive with global missions
because we have beautiful.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
News to share?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Why are you worried about people who will never come
to Kingsport and they'll never step foot inside preaching cross?
Or because we have beautiful news to share? Why are
there hundreds upon hundreds of names on a thirteen foot cross?
(22:47):
Because all we are are beggars. We were outcasts who
found the bread of life, and now we are passionate.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
About telling other beggars where to go to find it.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
God, I'm asking you that over the next many weeks
and many.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Months, that you will use us personally. Yes, use the church, Yes,
use Awakened, use mobile apps and use websites and use
all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, use it. But God, I'm asking use us.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Personally, our conversations, our interest in others, our willingness to
get involved in other people's lives, our willingness to take
on burdens and bear one another's burdens. Use us personally
(24:06):
to bring many beggars to Jesus.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
It's the greatest news ever been told to this world,
and it's ours. It's ours. What are we going to
do with it?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Did you know that I'm a pastor, husband and father
of four who suddenly went blind in twenty eighteen. Today
I teach people how life is not random, but it
is actually orchestrated by God for a great purpose. Learn
more about my story and Awaken to Grace at Chad
Roberts dot org
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