Morning, everybody. Would you
turn to 2 Kings chapter 5? I'd like to begin reading in verse
20. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha,
the man of God, said, behold, my master hath spared Naaman,
this Syrian. He let him off the hook in not
receiving at his hands that which he brought. Speaking of the money
that Naaman was wanting to give Elisha because of the healing,
and Elisha refused to take it. But as the Lord liveth, I'll
run after him and take some one of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman,
and when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from
the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? And he said, all
is well. My master hath sent me, saying,
Behold, even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two
young men of the sons of the prophets. Give, I pray thee,
a talon of silver and two changes of garments. He forges a lie
in the name of religion and says, Give it to him. And Naaman said, be content,
take two talents. He wanted to give him more. And
he urged him and bound two talents of silver and two bags with two
changes of garments and laid them upon two of his servants.
And they bared them before him. And when he came to the tower,
he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house.
And he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and
stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, whence
comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, my servant went
no whither. He lied to him. I didn't go anywhere. And he
said unto him, went not mine heart with thee when the man
turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to
receive money and to receive garments and olive yards and
vineyards and sheep and oxen and men servants and maidservants?
The leprosy therefore of Naaman. shall cleave unto thee and unto
thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence
a leper as white as snow. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And we ask that you would take
this passage of scripture and bless it to our hearts. Lord, we pray that your gospel
might be preached in the power of your spirit. We pray that
you'd give us hearing ears. Lord, enable us to hear your
voice in the preaching of your gospel. We confess our sins,
we pray for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, how, how we thank you for
the free forgiveness of sins that did my son. How we thank
you for him and his glory and Lord be with all your people,
wherever they meet together, cause your blessing to be poured
upon us for Christ's sake. In his blessed name, we pray.
Amen. Now this is the story of Gehazi's
greed and covetousness. And it's a story that's played
out constantly. You know, I think it's interesting
that covetousness is a sin that is not mentioned much. People
will talk about other sins. but not the sin of covetousness. It's the last commandment mentioned,
the Ten Commandments, and it's really the summary of all sin.
There's covetousness in every sin. But Hagazi was a covetous
man. And when Elisha began saying,
is it time to receive money or at the end to receive garments
and olive yards and vineyards and sheep and oxen, menservants
and maidservants, this is what he coveted. This is what he wanted. This is what he desired. Now, turn with me to Exodus chapter
20. Hold your finger there and turn
to Exodus chapter 20. We get some idea of what covetousness
is. This is the last of the 10 commandments. Verse 17. Thou shalt not covet. Thy neighbor's house. How many times have you seen
a nice house and thought I'd like to have that? That ever
happened? Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
wife. nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. Thou shalt not covet. Now, when
do you think that the word covet is first found in the scripture?
The first time it's found is in Genesis chapter three, verse
six, when Satan was tempting Eve And she looked upon the tree
that it was desired. That is the same word translated
coveted in the Ten Commandments. The tree was to be coveted to
make one wise. Now actually covetousness was
the first sin. That's what Eve was doing. That's
what Adam was doing. They were coveting God's position. You'll be as God. You'll be just
like God. They were coveting that place
of I'm independent from God. I'm just like God. They looked
at the tree that was good for food. They coveted the pleasure
of it. A tree pleasant to the eyes. They coveted the Sin of the eyes,
the lust of the eyes, John speaks of it. The desire for popularity,
the desire about what men see. It was a fruit desired, coveted
to make one wise. So we see the very first sin
was covetousness. Desiring what you do not have. And the opposite of covetousness
is contentment. Satisfaction, but what a sin
that drives people. It's really the, it's what is
behind all sin, covetousness. I think it's interesting when
Paul was speaking with his own experience in Romans chapter
seven, he said, I'd not known sin except the law had said,
thou shalt not covet. And when I tried to not covet,
It welled up in me to where all I did was covet. What about the
rich young ruler? You remember him? He thought he kept the law, but
he didn't know that he was totally dominated and eaten up with covetousness. Now he could look at the law
before After the Lord said, you know the commandments, he said,
well, all these have I kept for my youth up. And he was including,
thou shalt not covet. He didn't know he was a covetous
man, but yet that is what he was exposed with. And this is
what I think of what the Lord said when he said, you can't
serve God and mammon or money. You know what the scripture says
the Pharisees did? They derided him because they
were covetous. They were covetous. Now let's
look at this passage of scripture beginning once again in verse
20 in 2 Kings chapter 5, but Gehazi, the servant of Elisha,
the man of God said, behold, my master has spared Naaman. Now that's unusual language,
isn't it? You'll remember that Naaman wanted
to give Elisha money. He was so thankful he had been
of the recipient of this miraculous healing, and he wanted to give
Elisha money. And what did Elisha do? He refused. He wouldn't take a dime from
him. Now, why is that? Because he's going to be made
to know that the gift of God can't be bought. It's utterly
free. And grace is utterly free. There's nothing you can do. And
he refused to take this man's money. Now, you may remember
that Elisha didn't come out to him when he came to his home,
when Naaman came to his home. He didn't even come out to him.
This represents the preaching of the gospel. He just sent a
servant to him, and this servant was Gehazi. And when Gehazi went
out and opened the door, he saw all this gold and silver and
raiment, and he was pretty much taken up with it. And he thought,
wow, we're going to get somewhere with this. Elisha refuses it. Gehazi, I say, what's wrong with
you? I mean, you got it coming. What's wrong with you? You're
putting yourself and us in a bad position where you could have
made us wealthy, and what you're doing is wrong. And so he says,
in this passage of scripture, my master Elisha spared Naaman. That's an interesting word, isn't
it? He spared him. He should have taken money from
him, but he didn't. He spared him. He let him off
the hook. Now what Gehazi exposes about
his heart at this time is he knew nothing about what it is
to be a giver. He thought that Naaman was spared. He let him off the hook. He didn't
have to give. He's better off. And that whole attitude demonstrates
what an attitude he had. He knew nothing of being a cheerful
giver or the joy of giving. He thought when Naaman didn't
have to give, Elisha spared him. That was his attitude. Now, one
of the things that I thought about in thinking about this
concept, there are two kinds of people in this world, and
you know it, givers and takers. And he was a taker. He was a
taker. That's all he was. And he saw
this thing, and he said, well, I'm going to get something from
him. My master spared him, but as the Lord liveth, and that
shows he thought there was a good, justified reason for doing this.
He uses the Lord's name and invokes his name. As the Lord liveth,
I'm going to take something from him. Verse 21, so Gehazi followed
Naaman, and when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted
down from the chariot to meet him and said, is all well? And
he said, all's well, and then he forges this religious lie.
My master has sent me, saying, behold, even now there be come
to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the
prophets. See, he puts that word prophet in there, and that makes
it, you know. even more likely that he's gonna give to it because
Naaman now wanted to give. And he said, two sons of the
prophets, give them, I pray thee, a talents of silver and two changes
of garments. And Naaman said, be content,
take two talents. Don't just take one talent, take
two talents. And he urged him, he said, take more. And he bound
two talents of silver and two bags. This was a vast sum of
money. with two changes of garments
and lay them upon two of his servants. He couldn't carry this
by himself. And they buried them before him. And when he came
to the tower, he took them from their hand and bestowed them
in the house. And he let the men go and they
departed." And I can just imagine how good he felt. I've got goods
laid up for many years. I've got clothing. I've got silver.
I'm in good shape. I've got a lot of money. Verse
25. But when he went in and stood
before his master, and Elisha said unto him, whence comest
thou, Gehazi? And he said, I didn't go anywhere. And he said unto him, went not
mine heart with thee? I saw everything that took place.
Now, is this because he had some kind of supernatural vision or
because he just knew what kind of person Gehazi was? I guess
it could have been either. But I know if you'll look back
in, I think it's chapter three, do you remember when the Shumanite
came to Elijah and says Gehazi drove her away? She came with
this great need, her boy had died, and she comes to Elisha
wanting his life, and when he comes to Elisha, Gehazi comes
up and Scripture says he thrust her away. So we see that this
guy was a jerk. And I guess Elisha knew that.
Or maybe he supernaturally, somehow his spirit went with him. And,
um, I mean, that could be. And, uh, he saw everything that
took place, verse 26. And he said unto him, went not
mine heart with thee when the man turned again from his chariot
to meet thee. Is it a time? No, it wasn't a time. It was
a time not to take money. There's nothing wrong with money.
The problem is the love of money. Is it a time to receive money,
to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep,
and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy, therefore,
of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever. And
he went out from his presence a leper." Now, this is a story
of covetousness. That's all you can call it. I'm
going to take something from him. My master spared him. I'm
going to take something. from it. Now, what is the opposite
of covetousness, desiring what somebody has? Being satisfied
with what you have and not desiring anything else. Now, what was
the driving force behind Simon Magus. You remember there in
Acts chapter 8 that he wanted the gift of the Holy Spirit,
that he coveted the power he thought that would bring him.
If I can lay my hands on people and all of a sudden they can
heal, what power I'll have. And he offered money to have
this great gift. He coveted power. What about the deception of Ananias
and Sapphira? They gave less and told they
gave more. They coveted this perception
of them giving everything. It was a sin of covetousness. They wanted everybody to think,
look what they gave. What about Demas? He forsook
Paul, having loved this present evil world. And I think of what
John said about the world. All that's of the world, the
lust of the flesh. Coveting pleasure, the lust of
the eyes, coveting the well-thoughts of men, and coveting popularity
and human praise, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,
the lust for power, the coveting of power and power over men. The thorn-choked hearer. He scares
me so much. He didn't leave like the stony
ground here. He's still there sitting there, but he was overcome
with the lusts and deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other
things. He was controlled by covetousness
and he bore no fruit. He bore no fruit. He'd just sit
there like a on a log, and he bore no fruit." He was consumed
with this thing of covetousness. Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter
6. I want us to look at a couple of passages of Scripture. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 3, If any man teach otherwise and
consent, agree not to wholesome words, whole words, even the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine, which is according
to godliness. If he doesn't consent to these
words and the doctrine, which is according to godliness, here's
the reason he's proud. Knowing nothing, utterly ignorant. but doting about some kind of
perverted desire about questions and strifes of words, where have
cometh envy and strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings
of men of corrupt minds. Now this is, he's one of my preachers
here. He's talking about their doctrine and here's what it is.
Supposing that gain is godliness. Supposing that somehow being
enriched is indicative of God's blessing and God's favor. Supposing that gain is godliness. Now what does Paul say to do?
From such, withdraw thyself. And then he makes this glorious
statement. But godliness with contentment
is great gain. Now what is contentment? Satisfaction
with what one has. Godliness with contentment. Satisfaction is great gain. Four. Paul reminds us we brought
nothing into this world. Didn't bring a thing, did we? And it's certain we can carry
nothing out. You know, all this stuff, you're not taking it with
you. It's temporary. It's not important. Verse eight and having food and
raiment. Let us be content. Food and raiment. Now, yes, that's talking about
clothing. And if you have enough to eat
and you got something to put on, be content. But more than anything else,
Christ Jesus is our food and raiment, isn't he? He's who we
feed on. He is our clothing. How can you
want anything else? Having food and raiment, let
us therewith be content, but they that will be rich. That's their desire. I want to
be rich. I want to have the security and the power that money brings.
I want to have the prestige that money brings. I want to have
the buying power that money brings. I want to have a surplus in,
even you take this spiritually, I want to be above somebody else. I want to have more of whatever
it is that gives me some kind of recognition. They that will
be rich. That's their desire. That's covetousness.
They that will be rich fall into temptation and snare and into
many foolish and hurtful lusts, which is what covetousness is,
which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of
money, not money. Abraham was wealthy. David was
wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. Job was
wealthy. It's not money that is the problem. The love of money. Covetousness. The love of money
is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith. It's caused them to leave the
gospel. and to pierce themselves through with many sorrows. What a sobering passage of scripture. Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter
13. Verse five, the inspired writer
says to the Hebrews, let your conversation be without covetousness. May the Lord give us grace to
be content, to not be coveting. You know, I always admire seeing
anyone who lives within their means. I admire that. I respect that. Someone that
doesn't always have to be getting bigger and better. I respect
that. I respect someone who has the
ability to live bigger and better, but lives conservatively. I love seeing that. But really,
that being said, materialism is really not what's being spoken
of here. It certainly has its application
and every one of us got more than we need, a whole lot more
than we need. We don't have any reason to be
coveting anything materially. We all live like kings. But look
what he says in verse five, let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content. Be satisfied with such things
as you have. Now, you know as well as I know
that the only reason somebody won't covet is if there's nothing
for them to covet. Isn't that so? If I say don't covet that, what
happens? You covet it, don't you? Don't
covet Donald's car, that Volvo. I wish I had one of those. That
comes natural. You cannot stop coveting like
that any more than you can stop breathing. The only way you cannot
covet is if there's nothing to covet. You're content. Now, here's the point. Be content
with such things as you have. What do you have? I have Christ.
I have the forgiveness of sins. I have a perfect justification
before God. I have a perfect standing before
God. I have God the Holy Spirit. I have the riches of his grace.
I have the promise of his eternal presence. He said, I'll never
leave thee nor forsake thee. I've got Christ. Christ is all.
Didn't scripture say that? Colossians 3.11, Christ is all
in all. Well, if you have him, you have
all, there's nothing to covet, is there? There's nothing to
think, well, I'm missing that, I don't have that. You're complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You lack nothing to make you
perfect before God. Not only to make you perfect,
you are perfect before God. There's nothing you need to have
that'll make things any better for you. Christ is all. What is there to covet? Nothing. We may boldly say, look what
it says in verse six, Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he
has said, what a promise, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Lord's not gonna forsake me. Lord's not gonna forsake me.
He's not gonna leave me to myself. He's not gonna, I deserve to
be forsaken, do you? I deserve to be forsaken with
my covetousness, with my unbelief, with my sin. I deserve to be
forsaken, but he has promised for Christ's sake, I will never
leave thee. I've got his promise of his eternal
presence. I will never leave thee. When
I walk out the door, the Lord's with me. Right now, the Lord's
with me. When I'm not aware of it, the
Lord's with me. When I am aware of it, the Lord's
with me. But he has promised his eternal
presence. Content with beholding his face,
my all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy, would appear. And prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. Now look what he says
in verse six. So that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. And I will not fear what man
shall do unto me. Now, with regard to men, remember, you have nothing to
fear. They're in the Lord's hand. They're
the Lord's pawn, doing the Lord's will. When you go to work tomorrow,
everybody you see, Jesus Christ is their Lord. They don't know
it, but scripture says he's Lord of the dead and the living. He's
the Lord of the man dead and sins. He's the Lord of the living
because he's the Lord. And those men, you have no reason
to fear because the Lord's your helper. And you need not fear
in any way what any man can do to you, because in reality, they
can't do anything except the Lord's will and purpose for your
good and for his glory. Be content, be satisfied with
such things as you have. You have Christ? There's nothing
covetous there. There's nothing to reach for.
There's nothing that you think, I need that. I want that to make
it better for me. Because having Christ, you have
all that God requires, all that God demands, all that's beautiful
and glorious. There is nothing to covet.