OPTIMISM THAT FEEDS FAITH AND LIVES
OR PESSIMISM THAT FEEDS UNBELIEF AND DIES
MF Blume
December 6, 2015
Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is
not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
(25) But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.
2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are
seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Last week we taught about believing without seeing, to have faith.
• God is really digging into our hearts with these words.
• Elisha had eyes of understanding opened in his
servant to see those for us are more than those for them.
• It’s always the case.
• It’s always around us!
• We have to KNOW this.
• And knowing meaning learning!
And when we keep reading the next story, we learn more about the
difference between those who have faith and KNOW God is with them and
nothing can be against them, even moreso!
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
But I want to show you how unbelief works with pessimism and thinks the worst, and how important it is to THINK THE BEST.
Once we realize this we can pray for it and believe God to help us with this.
Remember how Elisha had God open and close EYES.
• Watch what he does with EARS.
Watch how ignorant the enemy is:
2 Kings 6:23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when
they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their
master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
NEXT VERSE:
2 Kings 6:24-25 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad
king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged
Samaria. (25) And there was a great famine in Samaria: and,
behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore
pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five
pieces of silver.
How stupid the enemy is to forget the power of God!
Look at how valuable worthless trash for food became due to the siege.
• Head of a jackass for 8 pieces of silver.
• ¼ cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
• That is how RARE the food was!
• Trash was extremely expensive.
2 Kings 6:26-30 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the
wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O
king. (27) And he said, If the LORD do not help thee,
whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the
winepress? (28) And the king said unto her, What aileth
thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we
may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. (29)
So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next
day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
(30) And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the
woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and
the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
Deuteronomy 28:53-57 predicted this is what would happen when Israel forsook the Lord.
The king is so upset and so full of unbelief that he starts throwing the blame on innocent people
• Even good people become bad when you are so full of pessimism and unbelief.
2 Kings 6:31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the
head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
How stupid we can be in forgetting the power of God as well!
This is when evil is getting hold of a person.
• The good are considered bad.
• Elisha foreknows the king is sending a
messenger and tells them to not let him, but lock the door.
• He knew the king was soon behind him.
2 Kings 6:32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with
him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger
came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer
hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut
the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his
master's feet behind him?
And even God becomes bad in their minds.
2 Kings 6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the
messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the
LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
Then the man of God speaks!
2 Kings 7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus
saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour
be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the
gate of Samaria.
One day would see everything change!
Here’s the lesson on PESSIMISM WITH UNBELIEF and OPTIMISM WITH FAITH.
What hope!
• Compare at the heads of a jackass at 80 pieces
of silver and ¼ cab of dove’s dung at 5 pieces of silver
with a measure of fine flour for a shekel and two measures of barley
for a shekel!
• Food is so scarce that you cannot by a
worthless donkey’s head for food without 8 pieces of silver!
• But FINE FLOUR would go for a fraction of the price – A MERE SHEKEL!
He said God was going to turn things around so much that the
unbelievable famine and scarcity of food that mean worthless junk cost
a tremendous amount of silver, would turn around with SO MUCH FOOD
PROVIDED that extreme quality food would be CHEAP!
• There would be so much food it would be absolutely inexpensive!
• But NO SIGN.
• NO VISIBLE EVIDENCE.
JUST A WORD FROM GOD!
Here is what happens at such words when those full of unbelief and pessimism hear great words of God.
2 Kings 7:2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered
the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in
heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it
with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
The man said even if God, Himself, opened the windows of heaven there
could not be THAT MUCH FOOD to make it so cheap that you could buy a
fine measure of flour for a mere shekel!
Strong faith, when everything looks bad and donkey heads cost 80
shekels of silver, and you can imagine what a measure of fine flour
would cost, speaks the POWERFUL WORDS OF GOD IN FAITH.
• But unbelief and pessimism is so vile that even GOD is considered as One who CANNOT HELP YOU!
The cover of the DAILY NEWS magazine in the USA said :
"GOD ISN'T FIXING THIS"
An article about mass shootings
With references to prayers all around it.
• Then saying asking for prayers are meaningless platitudes.
Elisha prophesied to the king’s adviser with his unbelief and doubt:
• He would see it, but because of his unbelief and insult to God, HE WOULD NOT ENJOY IT.
Then the furthest thing from HEAVEN’S WINDOWS OPENING UP is used by God to MAKE THE MIRACLE COME TRUE!
2 Kings 7:3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of
the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
They’re not even in the city.
• Outcasts!
• Repulsive people.
• Worse than the last people you’d expect
to bring a miracle, let alone God not even having enough in Heaven to
pour out and make such a thing possible!
God is fixing to show these unbelievers that not only could He open
heaven’s windows and pour out a blessing they could not contain,
but He would use the weakest, the most repulsive and cast aside means
of a people they could think of, and do it.
• And if God could do that when people think
Heaven’s windows could not pour that much out, what could
heaven’s windows actually pour out if such a monstrous miracle
could be done with FOUR LEPROUS MEN?
And after the King’s adviser… that pompous, wealthy man
who lived in the palace and hose HAND THE KING LEANED UPON, God takes
people that are not even in the city let alone in the palace where
royalty lives, whom people COULD NOT TOUCH AT ALL< let alone the
hand of the king lean on… FOUR LEPERS have hope.
• Four lepers are optimistic!
• Four LEPERS THINK THE BEST!
2 Kings 7:4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the
famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still
here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of
the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us,
we shall but die.
They figured they’d die at worst.
• So, why not take the route that at least they could say THEY TRIED?
• Talk about HOPE!
• Talk about going for the best.
We’ve all been discouraged and felt hopeless, and knew of better
ways to think about a situation, but felt so miserable we spit them out
and said, “So what?!”
Those are the times we need to avoid!
Those are the situations we need to stay away from by reminding ourselves of something like this very sermon here today!
• I’m preaching these things for you to
remember and live by and take advantage of when you’re in a bad
situation.
• To learn them now, so that by the time a bad
situation comes, you’re ready to avoid what you need to avoid in
order to be able to see GOD MOVE FOR YOU!
And God can take ANY LITTLE BIT OF FAITH AND HOPE WE HAVE – as
small as a grain of mustard seed, and USE IT FOR GIGANTIC MIRACLES!
2 Kings 7:5-7 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the
camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of
the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. (6) 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 against us the kings
of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
(7) Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their
tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and
fled for their life.
So God USED SOUND just like he used VISION!
• The previous story it was the SIGHT that God used.
• Made faithful men SEE MORE.
• Made unbelievers SEE LESS.
• Not only that, but God opened the eyes of the
servant of Elisha to SEE chariots and horses of fire to encourage him,
BUT touched the EARS OF THE ENEMY to hear the SOUND OF HORSES AND
CHARIOTS TO PUT THEM IN absolute TERROR!
• The EYESIGHT of chariots and horses encouraged
the people of God, but the SOUND of chariots and horses SCARED THER
ENEMY!
The SAME THING causes TWO OPPOSITE REACTIONS, depending upon if you’re someone who has FAITH or someone who has UNBELIEF!
Notice the contrasts left and right all over this story!
2 Kings 7:8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of
the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried
thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came
again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went
and hid it.
And they are so HOPEFUL and OPTIMISTIC and thinking of others that we read:
2 Kings 7:9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this
day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till
the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come,
that we may go and tell the king's household.
The lepers go back to the king and inform him, and the king is SO FULL
OF PESSIMISM and UNBELIEF and THINKING THE WORST, that when Samaria
really was delivered and God really performed a miracle and he was told
about it, HE IMAGINED A PACK OF NONSENSE.
When you are discouraged your imagination goes wild and you make things
up that make you feel worse that are not even true to begin with!
2 Kings 7:12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his
servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They
know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide
themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we
shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
So a servant convinces him to send spies and check it out.
The king did not even want proof for his imaginations to be confirmed, he was so convinced of them.
2 Kings 7:15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all
the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
The whole route the Syrians took when they fled was strewn with wealth everywhere!
Notice the four lepers knew more than anyone!
• The last people you’d expect.
• The crowd and the popular folks always seem to be the ones who are worldly and unbelieving.
• It seems the chosen are always the chosen FEW.
• Many are called but FEW are chosen.
• And you won’t find encouragement among the majority.
• The backbiters who run the church down and the
tongue wagers who criticize what God is doing because so they’re
so full of pessimism and unbelief that they want company for their
misery.
• They cannot serve God since they’re so backslidden they want others to join them.
The lepers knew the enemy was gone.
• The lepers knew the city was delivered!
• The lepers were eating and enjoying
themselves, while the CITY PEOPLE were doubting and totally unaware of
the victory, even when they actually were delivered!
• Why didn’t the watchmen on the wall know the surrounding enemy had fled?
Not only that, but notice how the enemy was so absolutely terrified that they snuck away without being so much as HEARD!
• And they were so scared that they tried to get
away as fast as possible by leaving behind all their wealth, and food,
and throwing things out of their wagons while they were fleeing, seeing
as it was strewn all along the route they left!
2 Kings 7:6 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
against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians,
to come upon us.
The enemy’s imaginations were running wild!
• They dreamed up the idea the Egyptians and
Hittite armies were coming, the sound of the chariots was so loud!
• And they never sent anyone to check and make sure either, they were SO AFRAID!
• And the king of Israel felt the same way that
a servant had to think of the idea to send spies and see if the enemy
was really gone!
Meanwhile the lepers are fat from eating food fit for kings!
In a day of good tidings and peace, EVEN THOSE DAYS ARE MISERABLE for the unbelievers and pessimists and glass-half-empty guys.
We have revelation and blessings and the miserable folks are stewing in their misery.
They’re not having my company when their misery wants it!
The Syrians left SO MUCH WEALTH and food behind, that we read:
2 Kings 7:16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of
the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two
measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
THE PROPEHCY CAME TRUE!
• And it God did not even have to open the
windows of Heaven top provide what a carnal backslilder thought could
not be done by God himself!
• HE USED FOUR LEPERS!
2 Kings 7:19-20 And that lord answered the man of God, and said,
Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a
thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but
shalt not eat thereof. (20) And so it fell out unto him:
for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
Recall that dude?
• He saw it but never ate a bite, because his
misery brought him down in judgment of God for such a doubtful insult
to the King of Kings.
• He was trampled on as the people rushed to get
the food the prophet promised would be so plentiful it was sold for
mere pennies!
Think of the way this happened.
• People were rushing for the very thing that he
said God could not even do, and trampled him to death while receiving
it!
• In other words, God would not only do through
four mere lepers what this backslider thought God could not do with
heaven’s windows, but the man would die while the people were
getting that very thing he could not believe God for.
• Like telling the adults who spied out the land
and the people who believed their unbelief that their children whom
they said would be slain by the giants would be the ones who would go
in and enjoy the land while their carcasses rotted in the desert, those
unbelievers!
Put away your doubts!
• Stop thinking the worst!
• Have HOPE even when things look the worst!
• The darker the night, the brighter will be the light!
• They that be for us are always more than they that be for them!