We're turning in our Bibles to the scriptures we read together. 2nd Kings, chapter 2. And with our Bibles before us, we'll bow together just in a word of prayer. Our gracious God and eternal heavenly Father, we thank Thee for that day when we drank and our souls were satisfied. We thank You this evening that we have Thy word. It is a light unto our path. We recognize faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And we pray that even this evening that Thy Word going forth in this building, going forth across the internet, Lord, that faith would be born in hearts even this evening. So, to that end, I ask thee for help. Take away my every distracting thought and help us to point souls away from that which does not satisfy and to the Redeemer who alone can satisfy. So, hear our prayer for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. 2nd Kings, chapter 2. I want to draw your attention to the verses 19 and 20 of that chapter. We read, 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 on the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruise, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. In this chapter, we are brought through the gates of the ancient city of Jericho. In Bible times, it was a paradise of eastern beauty. Its streets were wide and adorned with palm trees. Its walls were so broad that Rahab had been able to build her house upon them. However, despite its beauty, it was in the days of Joshua overthrown, its walls coming tumbling down. The Lord not only cursed the city, but he also placed a curse upon anyone who would seek to rebuild it. Despite this, a man by the name of Hael, seeking to win the favor of wicked king Ahab, he reset its foundations. And as he did so, one of his sons was slain, and another was struck down during the setting of its gates. While the city eventually rose up out of the dust and became pleasant to the eye, we're told here in verse 19 that its waters were polluted. And as such, while their crystal flow set forth the promise of life and satisfaction, they, in reality, instead of quenching their thirst, they brought nothing but sickness and death. And as such, they, coming and drinking of this flow, they were deeply, my, deeply disappointed. And you see why the pleasures of sin like these waters seem promising. They are in reality powerless. They bring sorrow rather than satisfaction. Indeed, the Lord in the New Testament speaking to the woman at the well, he said, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. And he reminded her that that which would spring up out of this old, fallen, sinful world would never be able to fully satisfy. Again, Solomon, the wisest of men, said, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor ear filled with hearing. And he reminded them that the things of time, no matter what they were, no matter how abundant they were, they could never, never fully satisfy. You see, the pleasures of sin, while attractive to the senses, they are unable to satisfy. In fact, rather than decreasing that inner thirst of the soul, they serve only to increase it. Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general, conquering his enemies, he filled three bushels with gold rings. However, he being betrayed, my, he took poison and he ended his own life. Julius Caesar conquered over 800 cities. However, he was stabbed by his friends at the moment of his greatest, my, triumph. Napoleon going forth with his armies, he conquered nation after nation, yet he ended up in his last days in banishment. And you see while fame and power and riches may bring a certain degree of satisfaction, they can never, they can never fully satisfy the soul. And if you're tonight living for the things of time, then I have to say to you that you will be disappointed. Now you can go out and you can buy the nicest house, and for a while it may thrill your heart, but my, it soon becomes old. You can go out and you can, my, enter into entertainment, and for a while it thrills, but again it soon becomes old. You see, the things of time, no matter how bright they may seem, they don't satisfy. They cannot fill the heart. They cannot bring that satisfaction. And so I want this evening, for a short time, to consider this barren city. I want you to notice, firstly, the corruption that startled them. While this water bubbling up from the depths of the earth was cool and clear, yet within it there was some type of noxious material as well as affecting its taste. It seems that it was exceedingly dangerous. You notice here its source. Hearing the cries of the people, we read in verse 21, and he went forth unto the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there. Elisha seeking to sweeten its waters, he did not travel several miles downstream. The fact that he came to its spring or to its source indicates that its corruption was deep-seated. Indeed, when we go back into verse 19, we discover that it was not the ground that was polluting the water, but rather we find that it was the water which was polluting the ground. You see, it was corrupt. It was corrupt at its very source. And like this stream, it is not society which is corrupting the human heart, but rather it is the human heart which corrupts society, or pollution is deep-seated. Indeed, the Lord reminding his hearers of sin. unlike food does not first come into the mouth and then into the belly. He said in Matthew 15 verse 18, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defy the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. And he, tracing their sin right back to its origin, he reminded them that they had their beginnings in their heart. You see, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Our corruption proceeds out of our hearts rather than into our hearts. How often the little child misbehaving, being naughty. Now the parents, either through embarrassment or something else, they turn and they say, well, you know, wee Johnny, he's all right. He's not bad at heart. Or they blame society. But they're wrong. The source of the problem is not society, but the source of the problem is his heart. Plutarch once dreamed that his enemies capturing him, that they had tortured him. And as they were putting him to death in a boiling cauldron, his heart said to him, It is I that have brought thee to this sorrow. I am the source of all the mischief that hath befallen thee. He got it right. My, the problem was the heart. You see, the problem today is not so much society as it is man's heart. It is not society which is corrupting man's hearts, but it is man's hearts. that are corrupting society. You see, your problem tonight is not a problem on the surface. Your problem is a deep-seated problem. My, the problem is your heart. It is your heart. You see, those evil thoughts, those sinful words, those actions that are not good, my friend, they spring from your heart. It is because your heart is not right that everything else in life and everything else in your society is wrong. How quick we are to give when things go bad or we're caught in our sin, we like to blame someone else. But the problem tonight is your heart. It's at the source. Your heart is wrong. Your heart is evil. My friend, your heart has fallen. That's where the problem is. And that's where if it's going to be sorted, you need to begin. Not only do we notice its source, but notice its symptoms. This water spreading through the soil. We read in verse 19, 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. If you've got a margin in your Bible, you'll discover that the word barren here means, my could be read, causing to miscarry. The Jewish commentators understand it to mean that the waters caused their cattle to cast their young before their time, and the trees to shed their fruit before it was mature. It also rendered the women barren, unable to bring forth children. And while this water, no doubt, like the rest of Jericho, was pleasant to the eye, yet soaking into the soil, and then soaking into their bodies, it robbed them of their fruitfulness. It took away their ability to produce good fruit. And sin, like this water, not only defiles the heart, but it destroys the heart. It takes away its ability to be fruitful. Indeed, writing to the Jews who had been scattered abroad, James said in James 1.15, doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter. Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine figs, so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. And he reminded them that if the heart was corrupt, then it could no more produce that which was clean than a fig tree could produce my olives and a fountain bring forth sweet and bitter water at the same time. You see, sin is a thief. At entering into the heart, it takes away our ability to produce that which is good. Can you imagine tonight a Dalmatian dog wishing to be an albino? That is a dog without a single black hair. It can wish it until its tail falls off, but at the end of it all it still will be a Dalmatian. The Bible asks the question, can the Ethiopian change his skin? You say, well, preacher, it's possible. I think of Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson changed the color of his skin. No, he didn't. He had what is called vitiligo. And while it changed patches in his skin, it did not change his color. You see, unless God comes, unless God changes your heart, you will never be able to bring forth good fruit. You'll never be able to bring forth works that are pleasing to God. Sin entering into the heart, it corrupts the heart. It paralyzes the heart. It takes away its ability to do anything that is good. that could merit salvation. You see, tonight you can't produce anything to work your way to heaven or to merit anything good. Also notice its seriousness. This water trickling forth, we read at the end of verse 19, but the water is not, and the ground barren. The word not here is elsewhere translated in the Old Testament 31 times as evil. It signifies that which is harmful and that which is injurious. For example, in Psalm 144 verse 10, it is translated there as the hurtful sword. This water being consumed, it caused their cattle and it caused their women to miscarry. You see, it destroyed everything and everyone it touched, bringing death. And while sin is often pleasant to the eye, it is perilous to the soul. It brings forth eventual, my eternal death. Indeed, James tracing, it's awful of facts. Now he said in James 1, 15, then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Someone once described lust as the steam in the pipes of a boiler. And he said, if you don't turn it off, it will lead to sin. And sin will lead to death. You see, sin, whatever its type, whatever its nature, it causes a chain reaction, a reaction that will lead to spiritual death and then to eternal death. The American evangelist Billy Sunder used to say, one reason that sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake. And that sin, my friend, like The water in this city may look pleasing, it may look attractive, it may promise satisfaction, it may promise to cool that fever, my, that runs within, but it will bring, my, nothing but death, eternal death. Go on in your sin, go on rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, go on turning your heart away from Him. and you'll die, die eternally, just as those in this city having no water would perish. You see, my friend, this evening, you're like this city, your heart is born. The things of time can never satisfy, can never, my, bring life. Not only the corruption that startled them, but I want you to notice, my, the command that startled them. Elisha moving to heal the stream, he commanded them to bring up a new jar. It being free from contamination, he then told them to fill it with salt. You notice here, salt was a strange commodity. Rather than placing honey in the jar, we read verse 20, and he said, bring me a new cruz and put salt therein, and they brought it to him. the water bubbling forth from this fountain being bitter. My salt, salt, would have seemed a very strange remedy. When placed upon the ground, it robs it of its power, bringing death and desolation. For example, the waters of the Dead Sea being filled with salt, there is no flower and there is no vegetation for several miles. Surely, rather than sweetening the stream, my salt would serve only to increase its bitterness, making it even more brackish. And while salt, which in Scripture symbolizes grace, seemed a strange and a very foolish choice, yet being deposited In the fountain, it healed the water perfectly. You see, why the grace of God, like the salt to the human mind, may seem a strange remedy for sin, it is a more than sufficient remedy. It's able to heal, making the life sweet. Indeed, writing to the Corinthians, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.23, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jew and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. And he reminded them that while the gospel outwardly seemed to these Corinthians a weak and foolish solution, Yet it was the power of God unto salvation. It was able to save to the uttermost. You see, while the gospel to the human mind may seem inadequate, in reality, it is more than adequate. It being filled with the power of God, it's able to save, it's able to sweeten, and it's able to satisfy the life. What is the most common objection by men and women to getting saved? You talk to them, you set them down, you set before them the gospel. And how often they look at you and they say, well, preacher, it's too simple. It's too simple. There must be something more to it. It may seem to the human mind foolish to say, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And yet I want to tell you tonight that millions, millions looking away from self and looking alone to Jesus Christ, they have been saved. Doesn't seem to you, Sue, it's too simple. Maybe you're saying, preacher, I need to add something. My friend, just come. Just come as you are. Just come in your sin. Rest not on your work, but rest in Christ, and you will be saved. Not only was it a strange commodity, but salt was a sanctifying commodity. Look at verse 21, and he went forth unto the spring of the waters. and cast the salt in there and said, thus said the Lord, I have healed these waters, there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. In everyday life, salt purifies and preserves. It being distilled out of the oceans by the sun, it cleanses the atmosphere, keeping it healthy. When placed upon the wind, it scourges it, preventing blood poison. When spread upon the meat, it preserves it, slaying every type of infection. And as such, the prophet casting the salt into the water, it being energized by the power of God, cleansed it. It took away its every impurity. It cleansed it. And the grace of God dissolving into the soul, it purifies it. It cleanses us from every sin. And he's speaking to the Romans. Paul reminded them in Romans 3, 24, being justified freely by his grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The word justified simply means to make just or to make righteous. In other words, grace entering into their hearts. They in that moment were made righteous before God. You see, the grace of God is powerful. It cleanses the heart from all unrighteousness. It doesn't matter tonight by the nature of your sin. It doesn't matter tonight how deeply entrenched that sin is in your heart or in your life. My friend, the grace of God is able to cleanse you. It's able to take your sin-stained soul and to wash it whiter than the driven snow. Oh, God's grace is sufficient. It's sufficient this evening to cleanse you. Not only that, but notice here, the salt was a stipulated commodity. Look at verse 20, and he said, bring me and you, Cruz, and put salt therein, and they brought it to him, while it was God who healed the water. Yet they had to bring up the salt. And in placing it in a new jar, he was very careful in the instructions. They were not to mix the salt with anything else. And while salvation is of the Lord, yet man has a responsibility. There must be a taking, there must be an applying of the grace of God in your life. It's not enough to know that you're a sinner. It's not enough to know that Christ died. It's not enough to know that his blood cleanses from all unrighteousness. But just as the salt had to be put in the water. So you need to come to Christ. You need to trust him. You need to take his salvation. And you notice it wasn't to be mixed with anything else. It was just salt. How many today, and they take the salt, but they mix it. They mix it with their works, they mix it with their churchianity, but what are they doing? They're making the grace of God ineffective. Oh, my friends, salvation is by grace alone, through Christ alone. And if you're to be saved, you need to depend only on him. You need to come to Him. You need to trust Him. It's not enough to admire His salvation. You've got to trust Him. You've got to take Him to be your Savior. Not only the corruption and the command, but it was the cure that startled them. My, the salt healing, this fountain. Notice it was a permanent cure. There was nothing temporary, nothing superficial about this miracle. But we read verse 22. 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. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. The second book of Kings was written many years after the death of Elisha. And yet the writer now taking up his pen, he tells us that despite the passing of years, This water still was pure. The miracle did not need repeated. It was a once and forever miracle. And the miracle of God's grace is lasting. It never needs to be repeated or to be renewed. It outlasts time and life itself. Solomon said, I know that whatever God doeth, It shall be forever. You see, God's salvation, it is a forever salvation. It doesn't wear out. It doesn't burn out. But praise God, it lasts out. Maybe you say, preacher, I'd love to get saved. I'd love to know Christ. I'd love to know that satisfaction in my heart and in my life. but I couldn't keep it. Christ does the keeping. His salvation doesn't need to be repeated. He offers you tonight a permanent cure, a cure that'll last in the troubles and in death itself. More than that, it was a productive cure, the Lord touching this spring with his power. He did not dry it up. but rather he healed it. And rather than sending forth bitter and brackish water, corrupting and destroying all that it touched, it sent forth sweet and life-giving water. You see, as well as sweetening the life, Christ transforms the life. And instead of producing that which is bitter and corrupt, it produces that which is sweet and pleasant. The lips that used to blaspheme, blaspheme no more. But they speak of their Savior and of their Redeemer. You see, God's grace tonight, it's real. God's grace, it changes an individual. It makes them into a new creature with a new heart, new desires, and with new longings. More than that, it was a providing cure. We read at the end of verse 21, there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. The water being healed, their cattle were now able to bring forth offspring. Their fields now were able to produce crops. And instead of starving, instead of now thirsting, gasping for a drink of water, they received a stable supply. And you see in Jesus Christ, there is not only pardon, but there is provision. He'll meet your every need. He'll give you the grace for every situation. He'll give you the strength to do every task. My friend, He will supply your every need. Praise God this evening, there is a fountain. And if only you come and drink of this water, this water that Christ gives. My, like the woman at the well, you'll never thirst again. You'll never thirst again. He'll fill He'll satisfy your life. Oh, this evening, my friend, will you come? Will you come to Christ? Elisha was not a permanent resident here. Later, he would move on to Bethel, and then he would move on to Carmel. And as such, they, realizing that the man of God was passing through, they wasted no time. They came to the prophet, seeking a cure. And then you know Christ. Christ is only passing through. He will not always plead with your soul. He'll not always be challenging your heart. He will not always be offering to you the water of life. And as such, tonight, as he comes, as he comes and presents himself and offers you this salvation, could I urge you tonight not to run away, not to delay, Lest ye pass on, and in passing on, never return again. Oh, my friend, Christ is able. Christ is able to meet the need. His grace is able to change your life. It's able to take away the bitterness. It's able to make your life sweet. But you must come. you must take of His grace, as it were, you must put it into your heart. You need to trust Him. You need to seek Him. And I wonder tonight, why will you come? Will you come to Him and trust Him and know His part and experience His forgiveness?