How you turn your Bibles this morning now to 2nd Kings chapter 2. 2nd Kings chapter 2. 2nd Kings chapter 2 and we'll read together from the verse number 13. 2nd Kings 2 and verse number 13. Again, you will remember the context here is of the translation of Elijah in the whirlwind into heaven. And again, the subsequent passing of the mantle into the hands and the property of Elisha. And here we have the verse number 13 of 2 Kings chapter 2. And let's all hear the Word of God. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were of you at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold, now there be with thy servant fifty strong men. Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest, peradventure, the Spirit of the Lord have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but found him not. And when they came again to him, for he tarred at Jericho, he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth, but the water is not, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruise, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him, and he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord. I have healed these waters, and there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. And he went up from thence unto Bethel, and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him and said unto him, Go up thy bald head, go up thy bald head. And he turned back and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tear forthly unto children of them. And he went from thence to Mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. Amen. May God again bless the public reading of His Word. Let's bow in prayer and again ask the Lord to help us as we come to His Word. Eternal God and our loving Father in Heaven, we thank Thee again for Thy Word. And we pray it would come freshness to our souls. We pray for the grace of God to help both the preaching and the hearing of thy word. Do speak to each and every heart. We pray, O Lord, there be a word and season for those out of Christ and a word of comfort and encouragement to the people of God. O Lord, touch all of our hearts today. May none miss the blessing in the house of God today, but may we all know what it is to be taught of the Lord for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. My aim, my objective for today is very, very simple. It is to remind you and encourage you that the gospel is the greatest good that we can give to any nation or community. It is to remind you that the gospel is our greatest possession and our greatest act of love to those around us is to present the gospel to those in need. I do not want you to be weary in well-doing Again, as another week of mission approaches, I want to encourage you afresh in the greatness of our task and the glorious privilege that is ours in the gospel. This fits very well in my own mind with our studies on walking with God. And in a sense, I see it simply as a slight divergence away from, but yet still linked to that series. Because we saw that if we are to walk in the Lord's statutes, we are to walk in love. and we are to walk in love first and foremost to God in Christ. But we are also to walk in love to our neighbour. And in light of those studies, my own desire was to point out to you that the greatest act of love that we have for our neighbour is to present the claims of Christ in their ears. That is our greatest love, that they would see their greatest need and find their greatest need met in our glorious Saviour. And thus, if we are to walk in love, we need to be those who are preaching Christ to a lost world. And we do so with the conviction that it is the greatest good. We are not going to be zealous in our outreach, in our praying or in our evangelism unless we are consumed with the concept that the gospel is the greatest good. So that's what I want to seek to do with you this morning by looking here at this We might term the first public miracle of Elisha. I say public as opposed to the private miracle or the more private miracle of dividing the waters in the Jordan. But whether it's the first or the second, that's neither here nor there. I want to look at the healing of the waters here in 2 Kings 2, 19 through to 22. Of course, miracles in the scriptures are signposts. And as was the case for Elijah, so also for Elisha. These miracles were to point to his authenticity as the prophet of God. He was no fraud, he was no shiraz, he was God's appointed prophet and the miracles were to attest to his words. To be also for Moses, to be also for Christ, to be also for the apostles. Miracles attested the authority and the authenticity of the prophet. But when you come to consider Elijah, you must see him compared and contrasted with his notable predecessor, Elijah. If you want something to remind you of the passing of time, next month is two years since we finished our studies on Elijah. No, no, I've misput the date down wrongly, but it's two years next month since we finished our studies on Elijah. And you have here again the reminder of Elijah, and his successor Elisha. It is significant that Elijah in the Scriptures prefigures John the Baptist. When you think of the words of Matthew 11 verse number 14 where it says, and if you will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come in reference to John the Baptist. Also Mark chapter 9 verse number 13, Elias is indeed come and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed as it is written of him. And so in the life and ministry of Elijah, you have a foreshadowing of the life and ministry of John the Baptist. One who prepares the way for the Lord. One who calls the people to repentance. As in Ahab's days, so in the days of the Roman oppression. But if you follow through with that type, you will then see that Elisha, in a very real way, prefigures Christ. If Elijah was the one in Scripture who was prefiguring the Baptist, then Elisha prefigures Christ. Names are always significant. There are no accidental names in the Bible. And Elisha's name means God is salvation. And whilst Jesus is the New Testament version of Joshua, yet surely you see the parallel. God is salvation in the name of Elisha and Jehovah is salvation in the very name of Jesus. And so we are seeing here, in Elisha's early ministry, we ought to see a view of our Saviour. We ought to see Christ in this time. Again, it is significant that this miracle of Elisha stands in contrast to the early ministry of Elijah. What was Elijah's entrance into the scene of time? No water, no rain, judgment. And what's Elisha's? The healing of the waters. Elijah calls the people to repentance and Elisha comes and ministered grace in this miracle. And so I want you to see it and look at it With that purpose in mind, that we are seeking to see the gospel as the greatest good for the individual and thus for the community. Very simply, I want you to first of all notice the men. Again, I've got four very simple headings today. First of all, we have the men. They're mentioned in verse number 19. And the men of the city. The men of the city. And as we think about the men, notice first of all the city itself. The men of the city. And the identity of this city is given to us in the verse number 18. For he tarried at Jericho. In the days of Elijah and Elisha, you can't understand the significance of Jericho without recalling the background. You go back to the chorus. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down. But you remember that we saw at that time and we studied The entrance of Elijah onto the scene of time that in the context of Jericho was one of curse. Joshua 6 verse 26, And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Curse be the man before the Lord that rises up and buildeth this city, Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. Do you remember, and please turn to it again, turn to 1 Kings chapter 16. 1 Kings chapter 16. And you will see the curse is fulfilled in the days of Ahab. Again, this city is brought to our attention. Again, very interesting study even through the entire Bible to see the various references to Jericho. You've got a wee man up a tree in the New Testament who sees the Lord in Jericho and you've different events in Jericho and times but here at this time it's a very dark picture. Ahab has come to reign and to display the wickedness of his reign the example is given of the building of Jericho in the verse number 34. In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho. And in fulfilment of the curse of God, he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which is spake by Joshua, the son of Nun. And the very next words in our Bibles, in light of Jericho and Elijah, We see the very entrance of Elijah and therefore the significance in both Elijah and Elisha in the context of this city under the curse of God. Furthermore, if you think about the dates and you trace out a suggested chronology of the years in view here It is suggested that the time when the men of the city come to Elisha is perhaps only 20 or 25 years after the rebuilding or at least after the entrance of Elijah onto the scene of time. Hence these men, more than likely the senior men of the city, I suggest were party to the rebuilding and were happy to live in a city which they understood to be pleasant. to sit you under the curse. These men were at least suggested to be part of that rebuilding process. But what about their complaint? You have their complaint in verse number 19. Behold I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord see it, but the water is not and the ground barren. Again, one of the old commentators suggests that this was linked to the curse. In light of the fact that it seemed unlikely that men would build a city where there was no fresh water supply. No water purification plants in those days, boys and girls. You had to have fresh water from a fresh spring. And so it seemed likely that this was a consequence of rebuilding. In light of the general context, of course, the particular context was that Hyell would find his family buried in the foundations. But in a general sense, the city under the curse now receives the curse of God in light of these waters. Now is it just the case that these bad waters have left the ground unfruitful? Is that the sense of the word barden? The water is not. That word not is the general word for bad. The water is bad or not and the ground barden. I want to suggest to you the word barren there is much, much deeper than simply this idea of being unfruitful. You'll see a clue to that in the end of the verse number 21. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. And it seems likely this word barren has the deeper meaning that is also given for it elsewhere in our Bibles. It's over there in the chapter 36 of the book of Ezekiel. You can turn over there please. Ezekiel 36. And you'll see the broader, the deeper meaning. Not simply its meaning of unfruitfulness. But I mean it goes beyond that. It's teased through these verses in verse number 12 through 14. The word is used on three separate occasions. And the word is translated as barren over there in 2nd Kings chapter 2. It says there, Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel, and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance. Thou shalt know more henceforth, bereave them of men. Thus saith the Lord God. Because they say unto you, thy land devoureth up men, and hast bereaved thy nations. And this is in the context of promises being given to the people of God of restoration. But the word bereave that's used there in verse 12 and bereaved in verse 13 and again bereaved in verse 14 is the same word barren that's used in 2 Kings chapter 2. And thus the sense is that the word carries the idea of causing to miscarry. And it has a sense of death as a result of this. Animals, perhaps women, suffering the loss of offspring. It's a tragic situation. These men are bringing their tragic situation to the attention of Elisha. Is it not more than likely that these men themselves have suffered loss, personal tragedy in their families, livelihood? And when you take these things together, the city and their complaints, is it not the case that these people were suffering for their wicked rebellion? That's not always the case. Don't be unbalanced in your view of scripture again. Job suffers as a righteous man. There are times when God's people suffer due to the tragic result of living in a fallen world. Again, undoubtedly you'll hear people suggesting that the Philippines is a wicked land and there is much idolatry in the Philippines and that's the reason for this typhoon that came upon those people. Maybe so. But be careful in making such judgements upon God. righteous people in the Philippines suffered. Be careful in terms of the judgments you make. That may be part of the story, but we cannot presume God's hand. You remember the account in John's Gospel? Who sinned? This man or his parents? He's blind. Somebody must have sinned. He says, no, no, no, neither. Neither had this man sinned nor his parents. So don't misread what I'm saying today. But in this particular context, In 2 Kings 2, in verse 19 and following, I do believe that we have men and nations suffering because of the consequence of their sin. Because that does happen. It's just not always the case. But here it is the case. And sin brings misery. It's pleasure to our butt for a season. But misery results. As the wise man says, good understanding, give it favour. But the way of transgressors is hard. So you have in their city and in their complaint the implication that these men are suffering under the curse of God as a result of their sin. It's a very solemn scene. But we all see their coming, don't we? And the men of the city said unto Elisha, this is remarkable. Again, I want you to try to step back and think what is happening here. Suggesting to you that these men, or at least their fathers, were part of a proud and arrogant, deliberate ignoring of the curse of God. Built this city, these are the consequences. And these men, or at least their families, were happy to ignore the warning of God. And yet here we find them coming to Elisha. Some suggest it could well be the effects of the school of the prophets that was in Jericho, verse number five, and the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho. Were they having an effect upon the city? I don't know, that's speculation, but it's a nice thought. Because righteous people have an effect upon a nation. And we see it here that these people, they come humbly, don't they? Behold, I pray thee. Those words, I pray thee, just a tiny little particle in the original Hebrew. I pray thee is the beautiful way that our translators translate it throughout the word of God. You could just put the word please in there. That's the sense of it. Please. This is a humble petition. They don't actually ask for anything, do they? Of course it's implied, but there's no question mark. The water is not, and the ground barren. It's almost Elisha, just look at it. We don't expect anything, we don't assume anything. But look. You see, by coming to Elisha, they are in fact turning to God. Remember the words of Matthew 10, verse 40. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. You're taking the prophet, you're receiving the one who sent the prophet. These men are coming to God and it stands in stark contrast to the last section of the chapter. Go up thy bald head. Go up thy bald head. We don't want you. We don't want your word. But the men of Jericho, they come humbly and plead for mercy. No sense of deserving God's favour. This is what happens when God deals with sinners. I'm just giving you the background, but this is what happens when God deals with sinners. Never, ever does God deal with a sinner whereby they come and demand of God. That is not what the work of grace does in the heart. Where people come and say, I have this right of God, and I have that right of God, and this must happen, and that must happen, and then I will come and get my life started out. What happens when God deals with a sinner is they come on their knees and they say, please, please. They don't expect anything. It's like the prodigal. It's like the man in the temple. Have mercy on me, the sinner. That's what happens when grace comes. I want to ask you this morning, have you ever been in that position? Were you a conscious? of your sin and without any expectations you bring yourself to God and say please, please Lord have mercy on me. That's how you're going to come. We're in a time of mission. Perhaps some of you have been troubled in the mission. Some of you young people have found your heart stirred up. How am I going to come? Well you're going to come and you're going to fall and you're going to say please, please have mercy on me. Proud men, sons of rebellious men, coming humbly to the God that they've despised. God blesses those who are under the curse of sin. God blesses those of cursed lives. That's the gospel message revealed here. These men have ignored the warning to the curse of God and yet God comes in mercy. Perhaps there are some of you young people here, and you have heard the warnings of God, but in your heart, your heart's saying, I'm going to ignore them. You've heard a text today, the way of the transgressors is hard. And you say, well, I don't care about that word. I'm going to ignore that word, and I'm going to go my own way. And you're ignoring the warnings of God. May these men speak to you of sin's consequences. Sin brings misery. But if you find yourself in a position where you're in a mess, and your heart's in a mess, God delights to bless those in such a mess. But you have to leave and get up and go and seek. And you've got to go to the right man. So having thought about the men, let's think about the man that they come to, Elisha. See, first of all, his appointed role. He is the chosen prophet of God, isn't he? Verse 13, He took up also the mantle of Elijah. Verse 15, the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. He's the appointed mouthpiece of God. He is the one who prays for and mediates on behalf of the people. Priests and prophets intercede for the people. The prophet brings the Word of God to the people. So thus the prophet in a very real way is a mediator between the people and God, isn't he? He prays, you see that in Scripture. He brings the Word of God to the people. He is God's mediator, appointed mediator. And that here is Elisha. But of course we're thinking of Christ, aren't we? We're seeing Christ as the one mediator between God and man. the one appointed to immediate grace for those under the curse of sin. If that's his role, though, note his response. Because in his response we see a most wonderfully precious truth. He is willing to immediate grace. No sense of judging here, is there? You brought this on yourselves. It's your own fault. Go and suffer. I am doing nothing for you. You sinned, wallow in your sin. This type of Christ displays the heart of Christ for the sinner. And it's not a heart of judgmentalism. Rather the one whose name means salvation from God willingly, without condemnation. Dispenses grace. Grace to the fallen. Grace to those who deserve the very opposite. Is this not the Saviour we see here? Do we not see Christ in this? You think over of John chapter 8 tonight. I've really been contemplating preaching on John chapter 8. I thought of preaching it on Friday night in the mission and the Lord dragged me away from John 8. But you think about John chapter 8. and the heart of Christ in John chapter 8. It is of course those early verses in the woman who is taken in adultery. And, if I preach on at some point, you will understand that at no point does Christ undermine her sin. He says to her, go and sin no more. Some have used this and abused it to say that Christ is soft in sin. That is not the point. Not at all. He calls sin what it is. And having called sin what it is, All the accusers leave, but with a heart of compassion to someone who deserves no mercy and no favour, but nothing but wrath and condemnation, he says to her, neither do I condemn thee. We see the heart of Christ in the shadow of Elisha. We see the heart of Christ in the history of Jesus. And we know the explanation for it through the Gospels and in the Epistles. Because the reason that Jesus has this heart for sinners and will not condemn them is because he's dying to justify them. That's the opposite word. I don't condemn because I can justify. And I can accept you and forgive you because my blood has been spilled for that very purpose. And thus I can come as Christ and say to the sinner, come, not in condemnation, but in mercy. I'm too far down the road. You know, perhaps there are people in this community. There's no hope for them. They're far too far down the road. Calvary's blood can cover their sins. And Christ's compassion is out to them. The challenge is to us, what is our heart towards those who are suffering from the effects of the curse of sin? There were those appointed to bring judgment. Elijah brought judgment. But we are in a day when we are serving as Christ's ambassadors upon earth. beseeching you in Christ's name, be ye reconciled to God. That is our message. That no matter how far down the road to sin somebody has gone, Christ will receive them. Christ will have compassion upon them. Is this not the greatest good for this area? Is it not the greatest good that we can come and tell them that Christ received a sinful man? Not men cleaned up and shaved and smelling nice and bringing nice clothes to church and all the rest. Simple men. Christ receives them. That's the man, isn't it? What about the means? Moving on quickly. The means in verse number 20. Moving back to 2 Kings chapter 2. We see the means in verse number 20. The means that he uses. And he said, bring me a new cruise and put salt therein. First of all, the simplicity of these means The means in and of themselves did not bring healing. No more than a tree in Mars waters brought healing. He's told, he tells them to bring a new cruise or a new bowl. The old comdier's gill and pool come together in this and they suggest that one that had never been used, that it might not be thought that the virtue was owing to anything that had been or was put into it. It's fresh. There's no virtue in this pool. There's no residual effects of something else that would cleanse these waters. If you like, and Paul makes this point, no one could dispute the miraculous nature of this cleansing. It's like Elijah and all the waters upon the sacrifice. No one can dispute its consumption was from God. Salt. Boys and girls, have you ever drank salt water? When I was a boy, before mouthwash, if you had a sore tooth, my parents who said they loved me, would put salt in hot water, mix it up and say swish and that. They did say they loved me. I'm sure it was for my good, but it stank. This water, yes, it purifies perhaps, but you don't drink salt water. Salt purifies, yes, but you don't drink salt water. Furthermore, a little salt into a spring would soon be gone, wouldn't it? This spring's running. It's just a simple bowl with some salt in it. We don't know how much. It's more than a pinch, of course, but we don't know how much it is. But the salt's in there and it's gone within a minute, wouldn't it be? So what's the point of this? Well, the point is that God uses seemingly hopeless means to change things. God, you're just seemingly, hopelessly inadequate means to change things. No power in the bull, no power in the silt. Can I turn you again to 1 Corinthians 1? Just to remind you again of this at a time of mission. It's 1 Corinthians 1 and verse number 26. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty and base things of the world and things that are despised hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in its presence. So in verse 21 it says, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It's only a wooden hut. It's only two humble preachers. But God uses the foolishness of the world to despise the things that are mighty. That's the confidence we must have. Salt is the sign. And the Word of God is the effectual cause. Look closely at what the text says. He went forth. Verse 21 again. Sorry, 2 Kings 2. He went forth under the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, Thus saith the Lord. God's Word is the cause. It always is. God said, Let there be light. And there was light. God said, let the waters be healed and they are healed. Elisha uses the salt, but does not look to the salt. His confidence is in the God who has appointed the means. Don't look to the means of the mission. Again, missions are vitally important for the people of God, but there is some time when the Lord hurts. A deep disappointment. We have ourselves, Philip, if only I can get them into the mission, that'll be it, sort of. And then it doesn't happen. And that deflated feeling in your soul. And it may not be, but it may be because you've looked to the salt and not to the God of the salt. Your eyes are towards the means as if the means are going to do the work. God uses means. But listen to what I said. God uses means. And thus our confidence is never in a preacher, never in a building, never in a mission. It's in the God of those things. Perhaps you said to yourself, oh, if only so and so was in last night, that would have been them sorted. It's God who does the work, kind of God. And it's so obvious, and it's so simple, that how often we forget it. Do not look to the salt, but look to what God can do through the means. Thus saith the Lord, they're healed. Why does believing Christ heal? I'm converted today. How can I be sure that if I trust in Christ, I'll be healed? Because God says so. Trusting in the word. Notice, these men didn't quibble with the means. They didn't argue about it. They weren't naming. Oh no, not that river, please, not that river. May as well be salt water, it's us thinking. That's naming spirit. These men, they don't... A new bowl? Salt? What planet are you from, Elisha? No, there's a believing acceptance. They have come and said, please. And thus, if you have a desire to see your soul saved and you come to God for mercy, you must come and accept the means that God has provided. The humbling death of Christ upon the cross, and the triumph of his resurrection, and the word of God that says, if you call, you shall be saved. That's the means. That's their simplicity, isn't it? Well, what about their significance? Very, very quickly. Salt. Certainly salt does carry the idea of purification in scripture. And it's that sense of that that's used here. Cast the salt in here and then I have healed these waters. And undoubtedly there is a correlation between the use of salt for purification and the healing of the waters. But I want to suggest there's more to it than that. Please turn to a few portions. I haven't been turning to portions today because I want you to see these verses. Leviticus chapter 2. Leviticus chapter 2 and the verse number 13. I want you to see three portions that give us a view of salt in the Old Testament that I believe is significant in light of this miracle and we'll see why that's the case. Leviticus chapter 2 and the verse number 13. Again, I don't have time to open up the verses in detail but I just want to show you the connections And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt, neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Ok, that's the first text. Then Numbers chapter 18. Numbers 18. Boys and girls, this can be a puzzle you do at home sometimes. You might think, well, where's the common theme in these verses? Well, here you have in Numbers 18, and the verse number 19, another reference. All the heave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee by a statute for ever. That's a reference to the inheritance given to Aaron and the provision that would be for their families. That provision is, covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee. So far you've come in words. You've covenant, you've salt. I'm going to add on to this now the sense of forever. Then one last portion, 2nd Chronicles chapter 13 and the verse number 5. 2 Chronicles 13, verse number 5. Again here, describing what God has done in David, his chosen king. And he says in verse number 5, not David, but the Lord says, Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt. And so yet again you see covenant, salt, along with the words forever. And keeping those three things in mind, turn back to 2 Kings chapter 2 and look at the verse number 22. So the waters were healed unto this day. And we'll come back to that in a moment. But what I want you to understand is, when you think about the salt, you're thinking of purification. But you're also thinking of a permanent promise. A permanent promise. And if you keep that in mind, and then see salt in the New Testament, that your speech be always with grace, season the salt, you combine these things together and you see that the salt is a beautiful picture of the work of the gospel. The gospel is a covenant of grace, isn't it? It's an oath-bound promise of God that if you receive his son, you shall live. Your sins and your iniquities will outnumber no more in the covenant. It's a covenant of purification. The blood of Jesus Christ is some cleanses from all sin and it does so permanently. This salt that cleanses from sin and the effects of sin pictures what the gospel does in the life of the sinner. Purifies by grace permanently. Which leads finally to the miracle itself. Going back to verse number 22. So the waters were healed unto this day. Undeserving rebels, proud men are humbled. They come to God desperate and ruined due to their sin. God in grace purifies the waters permanently. John Gill writing in the 17th century describes how there was still Elisha's spring in Jericho at his time of writing, and how he describes it as the water being very clear and cool, issuing in a copious stream. Later on, the writer Alfred Erisheim, who describes much of the times and cultures of the Jews, explains in his time that whilst other springs are brackish in those days, there is still one of refreshing purity. I'm telling you, this is a permanent miracle. And it shows us that the gospel has an abiding effect in our own lives, but also the generations to come. The gospel is a permanent covenant of salt to you. I wonder, although some of you hear and you wonder, is God going to forsake you? Is God going to leave you and abandon you? You put some salt on your dinner today, Do you remember that salt picture is the permanence of God's dealings and grace with sinners who are in Christ. It's a permanent covenant isn't it? And I will never leave you nor forsake you says the Lord. As the wise man says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever. Forever. You see this picture Surely it shows us the needs of our community. Our community lives in a time when sin's consequences are having full effect. God gave them over Romans 1. And all the consequences of sin are before us each and every day. And in that context, those undeserving sinners can come to the life of Jesus and say please, and they'll heal and purify them from their sin. That's the greatest good of a nation, isn't it? That's the greatest good for a community. It's the greatest good for you, just as it is today. And I ask you, I urge you, God warns you of the curse of sin, but also offers you the mercy of God in Christ. Come humbly unto the God of Elisha. Come humbly unto the God of Jesus. And fall, and say please, because of the cross. Let's bow together in prayer. Lord be pleased to use this picture, this picture miracle that is given to us in the Scriptures, to instruct and teach our hearts. Eternal God, we pray that you would indeed fire up our souls with a deep conviction of the saving benefit of the Gospel of Christ. O Lord, if all we're offering is a form of religion without any healing power, O God, keep us from preaching. But praise God, we offer something that is radical and revolutionary, a God of mercy and compassion, who will pardon the iniquity of the transgressor. Lord, help the men of God to preach Christ this week. And may we all look to Thee and not to the means themselves. We thank You for the means, but may our hearts' affections draw out towards Thee, the God of mercy, that You'd save our families, that You'd save people in the district of Ballamallard, and all for the glory and honour of Thy name. for Christ's sake. Amen.