Let's come together now to the Book of Second Kings, chapter 5
and place your finger there, verse 15.
As we will complete this chapter together this evening, I'll tell
you upfront that the focus of our study will be on two
individuals and the change in their spiritual condition, the
radical change in their spiritual condition.
The 1st is Damon and how his faith was converted to the true
and living God. The second is Gehazi, Elijah's
servant and how he compromised in his faith in the true and
living God. In Naaman, we're going to
witness the remarkable transformations of the
convictions of a very unlikely person.
In Gehazi, however, we are going to look at a minister and a
pupil of one of God's most remarkable prophets in all of
history and how this man was eaten up by covetousness.
This section is not only going to offer us lessons from each of
these individuals, it's also going to highlight striking
contrast between them. And when we carefully examine
those contrasts, it's only going to add to the stockpile of
revelation that we seek to accumulate tonight.
And that's what we do here. We discipline ourselves to read
and study our Bibles carefully, to dig into mine in order to see
all that God has to offer. And so let's do that.
Let's come to 2nd Kings 515. Last week, we studied how naman
was miraculously healed and cleansed of leprosy.
And right away we're going to notice that there was another
type of cleansing that took place in this man's life.
Not externally, internally, not on his skin, but in his soul.
Let's read the first few verses, beginning in verse 15.
Then he being named and returned to the man of God, he and all
his company. And he came and stood before
him. And he said, Behold, I know that
there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.
So except now a present from your servant.
But he said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will
receive none. And he urged them to take it,
but he refused. The Naaman said, If not, please
let there be given to your servant 2 mule loads of earth.
From from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or
sacrifice to any God but the Lord in this matter.
May the Lord pardon your servant.
When my master goes into the House of Ramon to worship there
leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the House of Ramon.
When I bow myself in the House of Ramon, the Lord pardon your
servant in this matter. He said to him, go in peace.
You know what we have before us tonight, The study, one of the
most notable Gentile converts in the Old Testament.
And again, as we mentioned in verse 14, we learned that this
name in his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean. But right away in verse 15, we
realized that there was an inner transformation, a genuine
conversion. He was saved.
And I want you to look back at verse 15 because this is more
interactive than on a Sunday. Is there anything from verse 15
that stands out to you that would validate Naaman's
transformation? And you can say it out loud.
You don't have to give a whole sermon, but just a word or two
about what you noticed from verse 15 that would indicate
that this man indeed was different.
Yes. OK, so he returned to the man of
God. That's significant because he's
going to make certain requests to the man of God.
We're going to elaborate on that.
Any other observations from verse 15?
Exactly. He made this claim about the
exclusivity of the God of Israel.
Absolutely. Anything else?
He humbly came and stood before Elijah.
Yeah. So he stands before Elijah.
Different posture, different mindset.
Anything about his mindset that was different from how we
studied him last week. Humble.
Absolutely. So I, I think we can look at 3
marks of this man's transformation and and some of
us already talked about at least two of them.
The first one was his confession, his profession.
He made this claim that there is no other God but the God of
Israel. Now, it was not uncommon for a
Pagan at this time to discover of a new deity and then to Adam,
to his panoply of gods. But that's not what Naaman does
here. He doesn't add this God to the
list of other gods that he respected and revered.
He makes this profession that a faithful Israelite would have
made, that there is no other God but this God.
And that's what the Bible unequivocally declares over and
over and over again, that there is only one Lord and it's this
Lord. And this is what Naaman does.
It's a massive declaration for somebody with his background to
make. Absolutely.
So he's already lining up with what the Scripture says about
the exclusivity of this God and his claims and his prerogatives.
The second thing that Naaman does, though, is that he is
demonstrating a willingness to respond sacrificially to the
experience that he had with the grace of God.
Notice what he says to Elijah. So accept now a present from
your servant. So a couple of people already
mentioned that Naaman goes back to the man of God.
It could have been very easy for him to have that miracle at the
Jordan River and then to make his way straight back home to
Syria. But instead, he, he travels many
miles back to come before the man of God because he wants to
leave something with the man of God.
And as we're about to discover, take something back with him to
Syria. Now, if you think that's
unrealistic for somebody to do this, to go back home after
experiencing such a marvelous thing, do you remember when
Jesus healed 10 lepers? How many of them came back to
give him thanks? One.
And he was a foreigner according to the Lord's words, just like
Naaman was. So Naaman goes above and beyond
to ensure that he can do what he can by properly responding to
this encounter that he had with God.
And so he makes this offer out of his gratitude.
He wants to repay the spiritual and the human instrument rather
for the miracle. But we're going to learn Elijah
rejects it and for a good reason.
So it's not that he just wants to give something though.
He wants to take something. Look at verse 17.
The Naaman said, if not, please let there be given to your
servant, 2 mule loads of earth. From now on, your servant will
not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any God but the
Lord. Was Naaman commanded to worship
the Lord? No, he he discovered a fresh
desire to worship the Lord, and there's no doubt that his
understanding of the things of God will develop.
But there's no denying the the purity of this priority.
He wants to do what he can to honor God, and it is no
different for a person who has genuinely encountered and been
changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In the same way, Naaman wants to go back home and reorient
everything around the true God being central.
When you've really experienced the gospel and responded to it
and repentance and faith, you will want to set up your life in
a way where Christ has preeminence and that he will
have your supreme devotion. If you've been cleansed by the
blood of Jesus, that will be true of you.
And if it's not true of you, then you have to question
whether or not you really have tasted of His grace.
And I find it fascinating how this is the same name in who
earlier when he was commanded by Elijah to go dip himself 7 times
in the Jordan, made these boasts about how the rivers and
Damascus were far greater, right?
And now what is he doing? He wants to take back with him
the dirt of Israel in order to honor God through it above
everything else back home. This man changed.
He's different, but it's not just his view of God that's
altered. How he views himself is
radically changed as well. How does he refer and identify
himself when he comes before the man of God?
He says what? Your servant.
And he says that twice more in verse 18.
Your servant, your servant. Compare this to how we saw
Naaman interact with Elijah in his first introduction.
Look at verse 11 of Second Kings 5, just as a reminder.
But Naman was angry and went away saying, behold, I thought
that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the
name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and
cure the leper. Much different, wouldn't you
say? And just like how Naman wanted
to worship the Lord, go back home and change everything about
how he views the world and views these different gods and his
idols, this is also a pattern for a person who's experienced
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter who you are, even if
you are the general of a nation's army, like Naman, you
will also want to serve your servant.
So when Christ doesn't work in your heart, He doesn't just
secure you. He doesn't just declare your
positionally as a St. he makes you into a servant, and the
effects of the gospel in that regard are repetitive throughout
the New Testament. One of my favorite texts to
prove that is Titus 214 when it talks about he who redeemed us
and delivered us from all lawlessness and to purify unto
himself a people who are zealous for good works.
You're not saved by good works. You're not saved even by zealous
good works, but you are saved for zealous good works.
So here you have name and now saying, yes, I want to worship
the true God, but I also want to be a servant.
So he calls himself your servant.
When you're saved, you're going to want to serve, serve God's
people, serve God's Kingdom, and you'll do so with joy.
Did you notice that in verse 16, Elisha rejects the gift, but he
said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive
none. And he urged them to take it,
but he refused. This is even more strange when
you remember how Elijah unreservedly accepted the
service of the shanimite woman, all those meals, and she even
extended her home, built a room for him.
He didn't object. So why is Elijah denying this
gift here and now? I believe it's in the same
chapter where you get a clue that indicates Elijah's wisdom
and discretion in this matter. Scroll down to verse 26.
We didn't read it yet, but look at what he says to Gehazi when
he confronts Gehazi about his greed as we're going to read
later verse 26. But he said to him, did not my
heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?
Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and
vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?
There it is. It wasn't the right time.
So it's not that Elijah's ministry had this unbending
policy where you couldn't receive any donations or
charity. It's that at this particular
moment he discerned that it was not appropriate to do so.
And why was it wrong? Why would it have been foolish
for him to accept this gift? Here's what I believe.
And I, I think this is the case that the scripture is making.
Elijah understood that he was dealing with a foreigner and he
did not want to give the slightest impression to him,
naman or the people that he was going to go back to that this
miracle was somehow earned or it was purchased in any way.
So Elijah's thinking beyond what's happening here, he's
thinking that when Naaman goes back and those around him that
knew of his condition and travel to Israel to receive healing
from the God of Israel, and they asked how was it that you were
healed by the God of Israel? He would respond based on what
Elisha does here with nothing, nothing at all.
I didn't pay anything. I, I didn't have to perform in
any way. He just asked me to do something
in simple faith, and in simple faith I received my cleansing.
And through that I'm sure that the message of the grace of God
would be unmistakable. That's what Elijah was trying to
protect. Paul made similar objections
when he served among the Corinthians.
He refused to be a financial burden to the Christians of that
area because he discerned that in that context, there were
adversaries that were trying to muddy his testimony and claim
that he was doing this for financial gain.
So he gave him no evidence to work with.
Even though he cut off the right of an apostle to receive
compensation for his work, he would not exercise that right
because he had a greater ambition in mind.
Both Elijah and Paul, among others, serve as a wonderful
example for ministers today and how they should operate in
wisdom. You have to learn how to be
flexible in your ministry and in your service, especially when
people want to respond by giving you something for your service.
There are times when the best thing to do is to not receive
anything. Could have Elijah use this As
the leader of the sons of the prophets?
We got a glimpse of how much the sons of the prophets needed
support, material support. I'm sure he could have used
this. I'm sure his students could have
benefited from this. But he refused to accept it
because in this mind he understood that there is a
superior spiritual goal that overrided any temporary material
profit. This is a man who had great
wisdom. Unfortunately, it wasn't shared
by his assistant, as we're going to discover.
So he tried to give it to him and he wouldn't take it.
So notice what he says in verse 17.
Naaman, that is the Naaman said, if not, please let there be
given to your servant 2 mule loads of earth, for from now on
your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to
any God but the Lord. OK, you won't take anything.
Fine. Can you at least do me this
favor? Can you fill up two of my cars
with some of the dirt of the land of Israel?
I want to go back and I want to worship God and honor him.
What does dirt have to do with devotion?
Here's how some explain it. That name.
And though he is truly changed, he's still in the infancy of his
faith. And with many heathens of this
time, they understood gods as localized deities.
So you have the God of the hills and the God of the valleys and
the God of that country and the God of that city.
And some would claim that Naman is still operating with that
filter. And when you, when you read back
at first kings, you don't have to turn there now where the
Syrians go to war with Ahab, God criticizes the Syrians for that
very kind of thinking that the God of Israel is is is the God
of this location and not that location.
And the Lord proved otherwise, that he's the God of everything
and over everything. So the idea here is that in the
innocence of his heart and the purity of his devotion, in order
to stay connected to the Lord, the God of Israel, he wants to
take some of the ground that God governed so that he can relate
and engage with him. That's the explanation many
people give. Here's why I have trouble with
that. Because if this is how Naman was
thinking, surely Elijah would have corrected him.
He would have gently redirected him and clarified this
misunderstanding. What's more likely is that
Naman, though he he was freshly saved, perhaps was able to
gather some information about how this God, the God of Israel,
should be worshipped. And there is one particular law
from the book of Exodus that would give commentary to why
Naman made this request and why Elijah allowed it.
You have to turn to Exodus 20 to see it and look down with me in
verse 24. This is the Lord speaking to the
people of Israel and what He demanded of them and how they
should worship Him. An altar of earth You shall make
for me and sacrifice on it Your burnt offerings and your peace
offerings, Your sheep and your oxen.
In every place where I caused my name to be remembered, I will
come to you and bless you. An altar made out of what?
Dirt, Earth. So this was before the
Tabernacle would be instituted and the temple would be
constructed. God made a way for the people of
Israel to construct an altar to worship Him, and even after the
Tabernacle in the temple was made, this was still applied in
many instances on special occasions.
Or people were too far from the temple and they desired to
glorify God in this fashion. Why dirt though?
Here's why God is so practical and so kind.
This would leave it open for anybody to worship.
This didn't limit people who had the ability to put together
special materials or stones in order to God, for God to be
honored, even if you couldn't afford anything.
Everyone has access to dirt, which means that it's an open
invitation for anybody to seek him and honor him and glorify
him, no matter where they are. It speaks of the accessibility
of God. And Naman, living in Syria,
understood that he couldn't make his way to the to the House of
God in Jerusalem. And so he asked, can I take some
of this dirt and build an altar so that I can present burnt
offerings on it? Elijah has no objections to
that. And it's evident that in this,
this man's conscience is is changing and he's now becoming
more sensitive to matters that he was not really concerned
about before. And it could be that on his way
back from the Jordan to the man of God in Samaria, he's not
thinking about his way of life back in Syria.
And he's concerned about how different things are going to
conflict now with his new found convictions, including his job.
And so he couldn't wait, I'm sure, to get to Elijah to get
some kind of guidance and clarity about something that was
pricking his heart. And he brings it up in verse 18.
Notice what he says in this matter.
May the Lord pardon your servant.
When my master goes into the House of Ramon to worship there
leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the House of Ramon.
When I bow myself in the House of Ramon, the Lord, pardon your
servant in this matter, there's something bothering Naman.
He knows that he's heading back to a place that honors and
worships different deities, but he made this claiming confession
that he will not worship anything or anyone else except
the God of Israel. So this scenario is playing in
his mind and he needs to be soothed.
He needs some kind of assurance. And what we learned from this
scenario is that Naman was not just the governor, rather the
general of. Of the army of Syria.
He was also some kind of an aide to the king of Syria, and one of
his responsibilities evidently was to join the king of Syria.
Whenever the king would go into the temple of Ramon and worship
this false God, and he would assist them in his worship.
It could be that the king of Syria was advanced in age and he
needed some kind of assistance to posture himself in certain
ways in order to worship Ramon the way Ramon demanded to be
worshipped, which will then require Naman to position
himself in a similar fashion. And and this concerned him.
He was discovering who the God of Israel was and he and he's,
he's asking the prophet, look, this is part of my duty.
I'm not really worshipping though, but when he leans on my
arm, notice how that's that's highlight that's so important,
showing that he's depending on naman again for physical
assistants to participate in these rituals.
When he leans on my arm and part of my job is to help him do
that. Will the Lord pardon me?
This is probably a very poor equivalent to kind of make sense
of this. Just imagine a Christian
caregiver who is living with a old elderly Muslim man.
And that Muslim man is a devoted Muslim and, and so he needs help
to pray several times a day and requires help to realign himself
and posture himself in order to pray in the way his religion
tells him to, to, to pray. And this requires the Christian
caregiver to do what he needs to do to assist him in that regard.
This is the struggle that Naaman has, and it amazes me how
practical something from the Old Testament can be to our lives
today. You know why?
Because it provides instructions for many of us who are in
settings or employed in places that intersect with people or
organizations that believe differently than you.
What do you do when you are surrounded or when you are
connected, not in your faith, but in your interactions and in
your duties with systems or beliefs or employers that don't
line up with the Scriptures? And there there is wisdom here
from name inside, and there is discretion and instruction from
Elijah's side from naming. You know what we learned that
when you're put in positions where you don't know if you're
compromising, you should seek the guidance of godly people,
including your spiritual leaders.
Our thinking can often be clouded when we're trying to
assess situations, and we can be overwhelmed, causing us to
either overestimate or underestimate our involvement in
certain actions or practices. That's where the body of Christ
comes in. And don't just go to any nominal
Christian. Naaman went to Elijah, the man
of God who represented the Word of God.
And so he's really seeking a person who operates and is
sensitive to what God's will is in his Word.
Do the same, do the same and from Elijah side what we learn
mature believer is not to be so rigid or legalistic and how you
also advise and counsel people in nuanced predicaments.
You know you have some Christians who believe
everything is black and white. I'm sorry to tell you not
everything is so straightforward.
Are the things in the Scriptures that are clear and indisputable?
Absolutely. And wherever it is clear, you be
clear with your convictions and with your counsel.
But there are some things that are muddy.
There's some things that are Gray.
And if you're not careful in how you advise other believers, you
can hinder them and you can actually invite unnecessary but
great harm in their lives because you are not considerate
or careful of how to apply God's Word in a situation that
necessarily doesn't have a verse to give direction in.
And I've seen it. I've seen it.
People become overly simplistic in how they deal with people's
lives and situations in their lives and they get those people
in trouble or confused or falsely condemned.
So be prayerful, seek the Lord for wisdom and and and
discernment on this and and ask God to be as close as possible
to his will. And something that doesn't seem
to be so obvious. What does he tell him?
Go in peace. God knows your heart.
You don't have to worry about that.
You're not worshipping him. This is not this is not Naman
going into the House of worship of Ramon so that he can blend in
and pretend that he's not really a different person.
Remember, he's going back home with piles of dirt to dedicate
an altar to the God of Israel. That's going to get you some
attention. This is him saying, look, I
serve my king. This is my job.
And part of my job is I have to go into this place.
He leans on my arm. I have to go down with him to
make sure I can bring the old man back up.
Is God going to condemn me for that?
And I just go in peace. Go in peace now we noted the
beginning of the study. Three significant changes in
Naaman that validate his conversion, while in contrast, I
want us to look at 3 unfortunate marks of Gehazi's change.
Naaman knew it. Inner cleansing.
Gehazi is about to see an inner decay.
Let's read verse 20. Gehazi, the servant of Elijah,
the man of God said, see my master has spared this name in
the Syrian in not accepting from his hand what he brought.
As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from
him. What stands out to you from
verse 20? Again, short answers.
What stands out to you that's concerning red flags in Gehazi.
Yes, I will run after him and get something from him.
Is that in alignment with the man of God or in defiance of the
will of God? Defiance, yes.
Anything else? As the Lord lives, this man even
has the audacity to invoke the name of God in this matter.
Good. Anything else?
Go ahead. OK, in what way?
He presume that they should have proceeded.
Yeah. So he thinks that this whole
thing of Elijah not accepting this gift is actually foolish of
him. So he's criticizing Elijah
ultimately. Any other observations before we
break this down together? Yeah.
Why did Elijah do this? Why did he let this man go
again? It's it speaks of his criticism
of the man of God. Well, that's precisely what's
happening here. The concern is that he says
something against Naman. He says something against
Elijah, and he does something with the name of God.
How does he address Naman? Look back again at verse 20,
This name in the Syrian, does that sound like the language of
somebody who values another person created in the image of
God? Nor is there any evidence that
Gehazi is rejoicing in this rare transformation that took place
in Naaman's life. There's there's no mention of
how this man is different. There's no mention of how this
man changed and aligned himself to the truth.
All you see here is that he is a dollar sign to Gehazi.
Notice what he says. As our brother mentioned, I will
run after him and get something from him.
Unfortunately, that's how some leaders in ministry view people.
View souls that walk into the church as profitable consumers
to fill their pockets or satisfy their egos.
I will get something from him. A true servant of God, like
Elisha, is someone who will be willing to help others even if
they don't get anything in return.
A true servant of God will be concerned with the spiritual
change, transformation, and development of any person,
whether or not they put something in the donation box,
whether or not they partner with that ministry financially.
A true man of God will trust in God providing for His ministry
as He ministers to people's souls, not their pocketbooks.
But men like Gehazi view ministry as a profitable
business. They use it as a platform to
gain, and that is a very dangerous approach to the
ministry, as you're going to discover.
So it's not just how he views Naaman, though.
How he views this man's miserable condition manifests
and how he speaks about the man of God, the true man of God.
Don't you find it interesting? Look back at verse 20, how the
Holy Spirit reminds us that Gehazi was the servant of
Elijah, the man of God. We already know who Gehazi is.
We we've read this enough to understand Gehazi was Elijah's
personal assistant. So why is the Holy Spirit
bringing this to our attention once more so that we again would
see and not forget that Gehazi experienced something special.
He had certain advantages that other people did not have.
He had a personal discipleship relationship with Elijah.
He witnessed remarkable miracles.
He saw in Elijah that it's possible to be consistently,
wholly, consistently compassionate.
He learned what it meant to walk with God in private by by
observing Elijah's ministry. And with all of that, and all
these other privileges, he still succumbed to covetousness.
You know what we learned from that?
We learned that unusual spiritual advantages do not
promise personal change. They certainly can help promote
it. But please know this.
The choice to be influenced depends on the heart living in
that environment. You've probably been puzzled as
I have been early in my walk, where you see somebody who sat
under incredible spirit empowered, faithful preaching of
God's Word, or someone who grew up with parents that were truly
godly and, and, and not fake godly, not legalistically godly,
no godly with joy and with the fruit of the Spirit and with
testimonies of God's provision and power.
And they served and they made service to God.
An incredible thing to seek and to enjoy.
Or maybe even somebody who had access to incredible resources
or relationships that would enable them to still serve God
and yet they still pursue the world.
If that's ever confused you, don't be too confused.
Look no further than Ghazi. He's seen it all.
He heard it all, and yet his heart was still filled with
wickedness and even criticize him like he didn't learn
anything. He didn't interpret the
situation the way his master did.
He says, as our brother said, my master has spared this name in
the Syrian. In other words, what a fool.
We're struggling here. We're suffering here.
Instead of understanding that Elisha was being strategic
spiritually because his heart was coated with covetousness, he
can only see a loss. And lastly, let's look at how he
invokes the name of the Lord. You might be thinking that
Gehazi is conscious of God and how he assesses this, but I say
it's just the opposite. Notice he says as the Lord
lives, as the Lord lives, I will run.
I will run after him and get something from him.
What what do you think he means by saying as the Lord lives?
Here's what I think. I think he's careless and I
think he's just being offhand, like how people throw around the
name of Jesus and and express the name of God flippantly.
So for him to use the name of the Lord in this situation tells
me something. He didn't fear God.
He wasn't truly conscious of God.
He didn't truly Revere God. And it shows right here as the
Lord lives, we see that the absence of this genuine
reverence for the Lord is seen in how he is committed to
materialism. Does he say I will walk to him?
No, he says I will run after him.
I'm not going to lose this opportunity.
I'm going to exert all the energy.
I'm going to give up whatever time it takes for me to catch up
to naming. And I want to tell you today
that that is dedication. This is enthusiasm.
And unfortunately, many professing Christians show
greater excitement for personal gain than for spiritual maturity
and influence. They'll run after to make more
money. When you ask those same people
to serve in the church, that running turns into crawling
there. There's a lot of hesitation
there, hesitation to work double the hour so that you can make a
little bit more cash. No problem with that.
I will run after him. OK, run.
See what's going to happen when you make money your God.
So what happens? He arrives in verse 21.
So Gehazi followed Naman, and when Naman saw someone running
after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said is
all well. So this is what something about
Naman, his change is consistent because he recognizes somebody
running to him. And he quickly learns that this
is Elijah's servant. And remember, this is the
commander of the Syrian Army Army.
He doesn't have to get out of his chariot.
But what does he do? He gets out of his chariot and
he meets him on his level. I believe we're going to see
Naman in heaven. And so he meets him face to
face, eye to eye, the ass. Is everything OK?
And what does Ghazi do? Lies.
Gehazi lies about himself. Gehazi is going to lie in the
mouth of Elijah. Gehazi is going to lie about the
sons of the prophets. Gehazi is going to lie to a lie
to a brand new believer. Read it with me verse 22 and he
said all is well. That's a lie about himself.
He's self deceived. All is not well.
Do you remember the last time that this question was asked?
It was when Elijah asked the Shunammite woman is all well,
she said all is well. In her case all was well, in his
case nothing was well. Far from being well, all is
well. Do you think people are honest
with their spiritual condition? Many cases no.
Either they are lying to themselves or they are self
deceived. All is well.
Now the next slide. My master has sent me to say did
Elijah send him? No, he misrepresented the man of
God. There have just now come to me
from the Hill Country of Ephraim, two young men of the
sons of the prophets. Please give him a talent of
silver and two changes of clothing.
He's lying about the sons of the prophets.
What do we learn from this? When a person is consumed with
greed, he rarely becomes an honest person in the process.
When a person lives for selfish material gain, that will often
be met with the encouragement to manipulate, to be disloyal, and
to implement trickery so that you can attain more.
And the way that Gehazi lies shows that he was he was a
skilled deceiver. Why?
Because he uses the guise of religious and charitable work to
demand and donation from Naman. We have two students from our
seminary that needs some money and some change of clothing.
Are you willing to make that donation?
Haman says. I'm going to give you more than
what you're asking. Remember, this is a changed man
now. He's generous, right?
You're telling me that I can make Elijah's multiply in
Israel? Let's do it.
It pains me to say this, but I have to tell you the truth.
It really does hurt me to say this, that there are some
ministries today that do the same.
They do one, they convince generous, good hearted people
like Naman that they're helping fulfill a need when in actuality
all they're doing is adding more to their personal bank accounts.
You don't think ministries are doing that at 2024?
You'll be shocked at the judgement seat of Christ.
Oh yeah, there are many people. We're taking advantage of God's
vineyard not to serve and feed and help and clothe and bring
the gospel, but so that they can they can have more and they're
willing to use the gifts of God's people to do so.
If you're that kind of a minister in this place or
hearing this later on, you don't fear God and you better repent
because I'm telling you straightforward, God's going to
expose you. You don't play around with God.
You don't play around with God's people and how they partner with
the gospel for personal advantage.
You evidently have No Fear of Him and you should.
Lying begets more lying, doesn't it?
Verse 23 and Naman said be pleased to accept 2 talents and
he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags
with two changes of clothing and laid them on two of his servants
and they carried them before Gehazi.
Obviously this is a sizable donation.
It's not like something you put in his pocket.
Neyman had to send two service to carry the stuff.
Gehazi is a little nervous here because he knows that he had to
escape the supervision of Elijah to make this happen.
So he has a little plan like he really thought this.
I don't know how long this run was, but he came with an
elaborate scheme. Verse 24, when he came to the
hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house
and he sent them in away and they departed.
So he didn't let him come too close to Elijah's whereabouts.
He's OK. Stop here.
Thank you so much. God bless you.
We'll send you your tax receipt. Thank you for your donation.
And he makes his way back to Elijah.
And look at the slithery snake verse 25.
He went in and stood before his master.
Standing in the Bible is a posture of service.
So he comes before his his teacher as well.
Nothing had happened and he's just waiting for any orders for
the day. Now I can understand where
Gehazi found the confidence to lie to Naman but to have the
courage to lie to the prophet. What's wrong with you?
Have you not seen what God can do through this man of God?
Are you not persuaded that you could be exposed?
Well, this is one of the marks of a person who does not fear
God. You believe that God is limited
in many ways. A person who doesn't fear God
thinks that he can actually keep things a secret in his life.
That's how you know, if you don't fear God, that you
actually think that there's there's parts of who you are
that will never be disclosed, that will never be unveiled,
that will never be made known. The person who fears God
understands that God not only sees things and knows all
things, he can make these things known.
One of the greatest fuels to sin is secrecy, but a person who
fears God doesn't believe that they can keep their sins a
secret. Name it rather Gehazi.
He can invoke the name of the Lord and he can lie to the man
of God who had unusual abilities because he didn't fear God.
To fear God is to believe all that he says that he is and it
actually applies to your life. That is not just some Sunday
school story that it's real in 2024.
That's why we're doing these Bible studies to realize, OK,
you can't play the fool with God.
This man does. So what does he do?
He went and stood before his math master and Elijah said
them. Where have you been, Ghazi?
I would be sweating bullets. Doesn't even blink before he
says the next thing. And he said them.
Your servant went nowhere here. Here's one of the strongest
contrast in the story. There are many.
We're not going to be able to touch on all of them.
What was Naaman's concern when he went back to Syria?
That when he would go into the temple of Ramon and his boss
would lean on his arm and he would fall down with him, that
God might judge him for that? When does Elijah say go in
peace? The Lord knows your heart while
you have Ghazi, who pretends to be a servant of God, standing
before his master, ready to do what he's called to do, when in
reality his heart was corrupt with covetousness and he would
be judged for it. What's the lesson in this?
Here's the lesson. Before God sees what you do with
your knees, with your hands, with your lips.
Above all else, he looks at your heart.
What's in your heart tonight? Not what's in your hand, not
what you're highlighting, not what songs you sing, not what
the preacher preaches. What is in your heart that is
what God considers above everything else.
That is the loud louder than your voice, more meaningful than
what you do outside of your inner man.
What is in the innermost part of your being?
God saw what was in Naman when He would go back to Syria.
God saw what was in Gehazi while he was still in Israel.
And the Lord only cares about that and where that leads to the
sincerity, the purity and the posture of your heart.
Above all else He lies. Look at verse 26.
But he said to him, Did not my heart go when the man turned
from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money
and garments? Olive orchards and vineyards,
sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?
What did Gehazi take from Naman? What do you take specifically?
Yeah, two talents of silver and two changes of clothing, Right.
So why is Elijah giving this whole catalogue of things that
are not even mentioned in the story?
Like, at first he mentions what? Look at it again.
Was it time to accept money and garments?
Well, that's what he took. But then he goes on to say olive
orchards and vineyards, sheep and ox and male servants and
female servants. What is he saying here?
Can I tell you what he's saying here?
He is revealing to Gehazi what his true desires are in life.
He's exposing Gehazi for what his ultimate ambitions are in
life. To have money, to have nice
clothes, to have land, to have estates, to have influence, to
have comfort, to have profit. He might even be exposing what
Gehazi was planning to do with that silver that he got from
Naman. And essentially he is revealing
to him that he knows, God knows what he ultimately wanted.
And what he was doing was he was willing to use the ministry as a
means to achieve those selfish things.
What's the punishment? The last verse of our study.
Therefore, the leprosy of Naman shall cling to you and to your
descendants forever. So he went out from his presence
a leper like snow. You want Neiman's money?
Take his leprosy too. Leprosy is one of the most
severe conditions that any human can endure.
We learned that a little bit last week.
So for the Lord to unleash this kind of disease on this man says
something about how he feels about Gehazi's decisions.
God doesn't play favorites. He healed a Gentile from leprosy
and he inflicted an Israelite with leprosy.
Do you see that? There's no partiality with God.
Sin is sin no matter who sins. Righteousness by faith, as
righteous as my faith, no matter who offers it.
OK, here's here's a question for you.
Now, as extreme as this might be, and you got to understand
that this is, don't you dare believe that God is going
overboard here, not, not for a moment.
This could have had generational consequences.
This could have made an impact not just on Naaman's perception
of God, but others that Naaman would testify to what just
happened. Now, Naaman ended up giving what
Elijah said don't give because he wanted to, to protect the
message and the image of God. And Gehazi just blows it all up.
So this is severe. This could impact souls.
But isn't the only time that the Lord Almighty inflicts his
servant with leprosy in the Bible?
If you know of another person in the Old Testament where the Lord
calls for leprosy to infect them, well that would have all
the same time. Wow.
Say, say 1. Miriam is 1.
And the other one, Miriam, is the first case of leprosy.
We learned that last week. But there's another one.
There's a total of 3, including Ghazi.
If you know, you can say you said it.
You're right. King Uzziah.
Miriam. King Uzziah, Ghazi, what do they
all do? They all sinned.
I understand they all sinned, but they all sinned in a unique
way. What led to Miriam's leprosy?
What was her sin? She spoke against the man of
God, Moses and Numbers 12, verse one.
What was Uziah's sin? Let me read it to you in Second
Chronicles 2616. But when he was strong, he grew
proud. He grew proud to his
destruction, for he was unfaithful to the Lord, his God,
and enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of
incense. And what was Gehazi?
Sin, greed and deception. So Miriam was leprous because
she was a gossip. Uziah became leprous because of
pride. Gehazi became leprous because of
greed and deception. Miriam was temporary.
Uzziah was permanent. Ghazi is an interesting case, as
we're going to read in the next chapters.
That teaches me, when I consider all of those individuals, how
God feels about these particular sins.
For him to call for leprosy shows me how he views these
particular vices. He feels very strongly about
gossip. He feels very strongly about
pride. He feels very strongly about
greed and deception. You know what's interesting
about all those cases? Every single one of them served
God in a unique way, and every single one of them, because of
their leprosy, were disqualified from ministry.
Miriam was a prophetess. She became a leper, temporary,
and she was isolated. Uzziah was called to be a king,
but he was so arrogant that he thought that the rules of
ministry didn't apply to him. So he dabbles in the priesthood.
He's disqualified for ministry. Gehazi uses the ministry as an
assistant to the prophet to try to make money, and he lies
through his teeth just for an extra buck, and he's
disqualified for ministry. Here's what this teaches me when
I consider all of these things. If I'm a gossip, if I'm proud,
if I love money, if I lie, I can't be used in the ministry.
And that's for all of us. What did Gehazi forfeit for two
talents of silver and two changes of clothing.
So he went out the last part of verse 27.
So he went out from his presence a leper like snow.
He personally lost any potential to be used by God in a more
significant way, and his sin brought havoc to his home.
Because this would have generational effects.
When we consider the pain that sin brings, when we consider
what sin takes from us, it will be less attractive to the
alternative in righteousness. A bit of a heavier Bible study
tonight, but it's the Bible, and we have to thank God for His
warnings as much as we might thank Him for His promises.
Can we do that? Let's thank Him.
And if the praise team can join the platform, Before I begin to
pray, I just want to encourage you in this silent moment.
Take these truths, meditate on them, and communicate them
before the Lord. Ask the Lord to protect your
heart. How we need you, Lord, Tonight
we thank you for the purging, fiery, sharp word of God.
We don't recoil, we don't shrink back, we don't duck.
When the word of God in its surgical ability comes for our
hearts, we open our arms and we extend our bosoms and we say do
a work in this life. Whatever you need to cut out,
Lord, cut it out. The early stages of things that
might lead to catastrophes like Gehazi, we pray that you would
deliver us from it right away. In the same way that we saw
early signs that there's something off about Gehazi.
Lord, if there's anything that's leading us in the wrong path
that would create greater harm and devastation because it was
not dealt with early on, we pray that you would consume it this
evening. Please, Lord, help us really
believe, like Elijah, that spiritual goals far outweigh
anything in this life, and even if we have to make sacrifices
for the temporary things in this world, it's always worth it for
the eternal reward. Help us never forget that.
Give us wisdom and discretion in all matters, how we advise, how
we seek advice. Lord, may you renew that purity,
in that longing that we see in Naman, who was so excited to
worship, so excited to testify, so sensitive in his conscience,
not wanting to grieve God in any matter.
Lord, may you show us any area in our lives where we become too
relaxed, but when we also know your comfort in places where we
are overly analyzing. We need your help, Lord, Give us
Your help in all things. And Lord, we all want to be used
by You, and so in this case, we pray that You would keep our
hearts from being infected by greed.
That Lord, if we rely on lies and dishonesty for personal gain
for any reason, Lord, we just pray that tonight would be the
night where we would never lie through these lips again and
that we would rather bear the reproach of telling the truth
than to enjoy temporary gain from our lies.
Use us, use us Lord, we want to. We want to be used until our
final day and we want no sin to get in the way of our potential.
So Lord, we pray this prayer as we sing the song.
It's really a cry from our hearts that you would make into
a reality in our beings. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen, Amen. Let's stand and worship the
Lord.