Good morning. Would you turn to 2 Kings chapter
4? 2 Kings chapter 4. I'd like to
begin reading in verse 8. And it fell on a day that Elisha
passed to Shewim, where was a great woman. This is who God calls a great
woman. That's interesting, isn't it?
This is God's description of a great woman. And she constrained
him to eat bread, and it was that as often as he passed by,
he turned into her to eat bread. And she said unto her husband,
Behold, now I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which
passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber,
I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed,
and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. And it shall be,
when he comes to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it
fell on a day that he came thither and he turned into the chamber
and lay there and he said to Gehazi, his servant, call this
Shunammite. And when he called her, she stood
before him and he said unto him, say now unto her, he's speaking
to his servant to say this to her, behold, thou hast been careful
for us for all this care which is to be done. What is to be
done for thee? Which thou be spoken for to the
king or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell
among my own people, I'm fine. And he said, what then is to
be done for her? This is after Gehazi had come back with this,
she didn't ask for anything. And Gehazi answered, verily she
hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, call her.
And when he called her, she stood in the door, and he said about
this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace
a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou
man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived
and bare a son at the season that Elisha had said unto her,
according to the time of life. And when the child was grown,
it fell on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.
And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said
to Elad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and
brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon and
then died. And she went up and laid him
on the bed of the man of God, that room that she had made for
him. And she shut the door upon him
and went out. And she called unto her husband and said, send
me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses that
I may run to the man of God and come again. And he said, wherefore
wilt thou go to him today? It's neither new moon nor Sabbath.
And she said, it shall be well. What an answer, it shall be well.
Then she saddled an ass and said to her servant, drive and go
forward and slack not thy riding for me except I bid thee. So
she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it
came to pass when the man of God saw her afar off that he
said to Gehazi his servant, behold yonder is the Shumamite. Run
now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well
with thee? Is it well with thy husband?
Is it well with thy child? And she answered, It is well. Even though he was dead, she
answered, It is well. Verse 27, When she came to the
man of God to the hills, she caught him by the feet. But Gehazi
came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let
her alone. for her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord hath
hid it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I
desire son of my Lord? Did I not say, Don't deceive
me? Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff
in thine hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute
him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again, and lay
my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the
child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I'll
not leave thee, And he arose and followed her. And Gehazi
passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the
child, but there was neither voice nor hearing. Wherefore,
he went again to meet him and told him, saying, the child's
not awake. And while Elisha was coming to
the house, behold, the child was dead and laid upon his bed. He went in, therefore, and shut
the door upon them, twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he
went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth,
and his eye upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hand. And
he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child
waxed warm. Then he returned and walked in
the house to and fro, and went up and stretched himself upon
him. And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his
eyes. And he called Gehazi and said, call the Shumanite. So
he called her and when she was come in unto him, he said, take
up thy son. Then she went in and fell at
his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her son
and went out. Let's pray. Lord, we give thanks for your
word. We give thanks for your son.
We give thanks for your grace. We thank you for the forgiveness
of sins, and Lord, we ask in Christ's name that you would
be pleased to meet with us and speak in power to our hearts.
Enable us to worship thy son. Lord, we confess our sins, they're
ever before us, and we pray for forgiveness and cleansing. We
pray for your mercy and your grace upon us. We pray for the
upcoming Bible conference that you would be pleased to give
us a word from you and give us hearing ears. Lord, those that are going through
difficult times, we pray for your hand of grace and mercy
upon them. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together and accept our thanksgiving through thy
son. In his name we pray, amen. Now when it says, She was a great woman, verse
eight, and it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem where
was a great woman. Now when it says this was a great
woman, many have thought that this means she was a wealthy
woman and had a lot of money, and I don't really think that
that's what this is a reference to. As we read this passage of
scripture, we get a little understanding of what greatness is in the Lord's
sight. The first thing that I would
notice about this woman is that she's called great. The Lord
says that regarding her. You know, there's such a thing
as being great in the Lord's side. Wasn't it said about John the
Baptist that he was great in the sight of the Lord? What about
that Syrophoenician woman who exercised that faith? where the
Lord said it's not right to take the children's bread and cast
it unto dogs, and she said, that's the truth, Lord. Yet the dogs
eat of the crumbs of thy master's table. I need your grace. And
he said, oh, woman, great is thy faith. That's the Lord's
estimation. And I think of 1 Peter chapter
three, verse four, The scripture says, Peter says, that a meek
and quiet spirit is in the sight of the Lord of great price. Now think about that. In God's sight, this meek and
quiet spirit is of great price. What is a meek and quiet spirit? Meekness acknowledges that whatever
happens, God is the cause. Not only does meekness acknowledge
this, meekness justifies God in whatever he does. Whatever
he does is right. Not only does meekness justify
God, meekness approves of what God does because he does it.
No other reason is needed. It approves. And this quiet spirit,
this peaceable, it means you're not going to try to cause others
problems. You don't want to be a distraction
to others, a meek and peaceable, quiet spirit. In God's sight,
that's a great price. And that ought to make every
one of us want to aspire to this kind of greatness. great in God's
sight. Now let's consider this woman. She obviously had a high regard
for God and His Word because of the way she treated God's
prophet. The star here is not Elisha, it's this woman who has
such an esteem for the word of God that she wants to do this. Another thing about this woman
we're going to see is in verse 8, and it fell on the day that
Elisha passed to shoot him where was a great woman And she constrained
him to eat bread. She wanted the prophet to come
to her house. She wanted to know the prophet. She opened up her
home. As a matter of fact, as you go on reading, she wanted
to build a room on her house. And there was a bed and a stool
and a candlestick. And I think the candlestick,
she knew he was going to be studying the scriptures. And that's why
she wanted that candlestick in there. And she wanted the prophet
to stay with her. Here's another thing of greatness
is hospitality. genuine hospitality, wanting
to be hospitable to God's people. This is something every one of
us ought to aspire to, this thing of hospitality. She had this
room built for the prophet. And he said unto her husband,
Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth
by us. Verse 10, Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee,
on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table,
and a stool, and a candlestick. And it shall be, when he cometh
to us, that he shall turn thither. And it fell on a day that he
came thither. I love the way the scripture
speaks. It fell on a day because God
purposed it. Everything that happens, happens because he purposes
it. Everything. Isn't that glorious?
I don't understand what he's doing, but I know he does it.
And I'm thankful. It fell on a day that he came
thither and turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to
Gehazi, his servant, verse 12, call the Shumanite. And when
he had called her, she stood before him, and he said unto
him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us
with all this care. What is to be done for thee?
And what wouldst thou be spoken for to the king or to the captain
of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
What she's saying is, I don't need anything. I'm not doing
this for payment. I don't need anything. I'm satisfied. I'm content. Now, here is something
that is great with the Lord. Someone who is content. Now, understand this thing about
contentment. The only way you'll be content
is if you don't have anything to covet. What's that mean? Means if you have Christ, you
have all. There's nothing to covet. There's
nothing to reach out and grasp for. Content with beholding his
face, my all to his pleasure resigned. No change of season
or place would have 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." She
said, I'm content. He said, I got pool. I can go
to the king. I can go to the captain or the
host and get you whatever you want. I don't need anything.
I'm content. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. That's
not talking about material things, although we ought to be content
with our material things, but you have the forgiveness of sins.
You have justification before God. You have the favor of God. You have God, the Holy Spirit
within. What more could you want? Be content. She said, I'm, I'm
content. I don't need anything. Let's
go on reading. He says to Gehazi, well, what
about this? He said, well, he tells her she
doesn't have a child. Now, in Israel, it was a curse
to a woman to not have a child, and she didn't have any children.
Her husband was old, and the prophet hears this. So, verse
15, and he said, call her. And when he had called her, she
stood in the door, and he said, about this season, according
to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said,
nay, my lord, thou man of God, don't lie into thy handmaid.
It seemed too good to be true. And the woman conceived and bare
a son at the season that Elisha said unto her according to the
time of life. Now, she had a boy. She wasn't
expecting this, but she had a boy, the gift of God's grace. And some years pass. I'm sure
she treasured this boy. And he got sick. He was out in
the field with his dad. He got sick. He came up, said,
my head, my head. I don't know if he bumped his
head. I don't know if he just had a headache, but something
was wrong with him. And he told the servants, you
go send him back to his mom. He comes back to his mom and
she sets him on her knee till noon. He was still a young, probably
six, seven years old. I don't know. And he died. He died, and I'm sure she was
confused. Why did the Lord give me this child just to take him
at such an early age? Now she wasn't complaining, but
she didn't understand. Why is this taking place? She
was upset. The child that the Lord had given
her had died, and she couldn't understand. So look, reading
in verse 21, and she went up and laid him on the bed of the
man of God. She put him on Elisha's bed that she prepared for him
and she shut the door. She didn't tell her husband about
it. The door stayed shut. Verse 22, and she called unto
her husband and said, send me, I pray thee, one of the young
men and one of the asses that I may run to the man of God and
come again. And he said, what for? Why are you going to him
today? It's neither the new moon or
the Sabbath. And she said, it'll be well. And that was her assessment
of the situation. It will be well. Now, this is
what a great woman says. It will be well. You see, if
God is in control, no matter how painful things might be,
it will be well. That is her assessment. Verse 24, then she sat on an
ass and said to her servant, drive and go forward. Slack not
thy riding for me except I bid thee. Now, she was going to Elisha. She put the child on Elisha's
bed because she expected Elisha to do something about it. She
didn't make funeral arrangements. She goes to Elisha and she says,
ride as fast as you can. Don't slow down. And she went
and came, verse 25, unto the man of God at Mount Carmel. And
it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that
he said to Gehazi, his servant, behold yonder is that Shumanite.
Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, is it
well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with
the child? No, he's dead. She didn't say
that, did she? It is well. It is well. As long as God is
on the throne, ruling and reigning, it is well. Verse 27, and when she came to
the man of God to the hills, she caught him by the feet, but
Gehazi came near to thrust her away. You know what, we're gonna
find out that Gehazi was a jerk. I mean, he was a bad person,
and we find that out in the following chapters. And look at the way
he treats this woman. And the man of God said, let
her alone, for her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord hath
hid from me and hath not told me. And then she said, did I
desire son of my Lord? Did I ever ask you for a child?
No. Did I say, do not deceive me?
She was so confused. Then he said to Gehazi, gird
up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand. He thought this
would be the means, this prophet's staff would be the means of giving
this boy life. He wanted this boy to have life.
Then he said to Gehazi, gird up thy loins, take my staff in
thine hand and go thy way. If you meet any man, salute him
not. And if any salute thee, answer him not again and lay
my staff upon the face of the child. That was the means he
thought God would use. And the mother of the child said,
as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I'll not leave thee.
And he arose and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them
and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither
voice nor hearing. Wherefore, he went again to meet him, and
told him, saying, The child is not awake." Now, what do we learn
from that? Means are powerless in and of
themselves. The only way they work is for
God to bless them. You know, in the next chapter,
when Elisha tells Naaman the leper, you go dip down in the
Jordan River seven times, and you'll come clean as flesh. The
Jordan River didn't take his leprosy away, God did, but God
used those means. God is a God of means, and he
always uses means. He sent his son to die. He used
that means, didn't he? He sent his son to keep the law.
God is a God of means, but those means that he uses, like my preaching,
my preaching, powerless unless God is pleased to bless it. It's powerless to me, it's powerless
to you unless God is pleased to bless it. The means must be
blessed by God. So this staff didn't do anything.
Let's go on reading. Verse 32, and when Elisha was
come into the house, behold, the child was dead and laid upon
his bed. He went in, therefore, and shut
the door upon them twain. The woman wasn't allowed to be
there. The father wasn't allowed to be there. This was just Elisha
and the dead boy. And Elisha is such a type of
Christ in this passage of Scripture. There's not a clear type of Christ
anywhere in the Bible than right here. So remember that as we
look at this passage. He's a type of Christ. He went
in, therefore, and shut the door upon them, Twain, and prayed
unto the Lord, the only one who could do anything for this dead
boy. And he went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth
upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hand upon
his hands. And he stretched himself upon
the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Now, this is the identification
of Christ with his people. On the cross, he stretched himself
upon me. When he stretched himself eye
to eye, mouth to mouth, hand to hand, He became what I am, and I become
what he is. That's the gospel substitution.
And I think it's interesting, the flesh of the child waxed
warm, but we don't see where it lived yet. Let's go on reading. The flesh of the child waxed
warm, then he returned and walked in the house to and fro. He just
walked back and forth, and he went up again and stretched himself
upon him. And the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes. Now this is when he lived. Now,
he lived when his flesh waxed warm, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah,
when Christ was raised from the dead. I was
too, and I lived before God. I lived. Everybody he died for
lived before God. When he was raised up, we were
raised up with him. His flesh waxed warm. But I didn't
live until I was given life. And I sneezed, that's speaking
of life, seven times, seven the number of perfection. My eyes
were opened to see who God is, to see who I am. to see that
Christ is all in salvation. That's when I lived. Yes, I lived. I really lived. My life before
God was accomplished when Christ lived and when he was raised
from the dead, I lived. But I didn't live till my eyes
were opened. And I sneezed the sneeze of life. Somebody says, what's the significance
of those sneezes? I don't know, but I know he had
life. Now, look at this boy. His life
was foretold before he was ever born. You're gonna have a boy,
and he hadn't even been conceived yet. He was foretold. Now, what is that? That's election.
That's election. God foretelling the life before
it ever came to pass. What happened to this boy? He
died. Adam died. This is talking about
the fall of man, dead. And nothing anyone could do for
this man but God himself. And then we have the cross. When Elisha stretched himself
upon this man and fully identified with him, Eye to eye, mouth to
mouth, hand to hand, that represents substitution. This identification,
all that that man, Christ was made to bear his sins, that's
why he died. And this man was given life,
his body was warmed, he was given life, the cross. But he didn't
live until he breathed, until God gave him life, and he sneezed,
and that life comes back. That is a type of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look in verse 36. And he called Gehazi and said,
call this Shumanite. So he called her. And when she
was come up unto him, he said, take up thy son, don't you? You
know, she was expecting this. That's why she went to Elisha
in the first place. She was expecting this. You reckon she believed
sovereign grace? Ain't no doubt about it, is there?
She knew this is God alone that did this. And she went in and
fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her
son. and went out. Now what a woman. This woman was somebody the Lord
would call great. I want to aspire to be like this
woman, to believe God, to be content with Christ. May the Lord enable us all to
be just like her by his grace. You're asking the wrong person.
Donald Martin's here somewhere. Ask him. Huh? Yeah, I guess you're right.