Now, 2 Kings chapter 5, I want
to look at the last part of this chapter, verse 15, down through
the end of the chapter, verse 27, but I also want to make some
introductory comments about the first part of the chapter. I'm
entitling the message from what is said here, the rest of the
story. Now I want us to consider what
happened after Naaman was healed. Naaman was surely healed by the
purpose and power of God for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this, God saves and heals
every sinner on purpose, just like God healed Naaman on purpose. And God saves and heals and regenerates
every sinner on purpose. God's grace and God's purpose
works to the end of our salvation. We see this clearly taught all
the way through the Scriptures. The Lord said, I've spoken it,
I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I will do it. And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to God's purpose. God never saved one sinner by
accident. He always saves sinners on purpose. And His purpose is an eternal
purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord before
the foundation of the world. Now clearly, it is no accident,
and it was no accident, that Naaman was a leper. Naaman was
a leper. God had his eye on this man from
all eternity. Naaman was one chosen of God
in that covenant of grace. Surely he was. He was loved of
God, chosen of God, yet he was a leper. He was a leper. And it was no accident that he
was a leper. God brought that disease upon
him to glorify his own name. You remember in Luke chapter
4, when the Lord was preaching and declaring the sovereignty
of God in salvation, he said that Elijah went to the house
of one widow woman that was a Gentile, and God had mercy on her house.
And again he said, had mercy, God had mercy on one leper in
Israel and he was a Samaritan or rather he was a Syrian and
he names him Naaman the Syrian. So the Lord uses this very example
to show that he has mercy on whom he will have mercy. On that
widow woman, she was a Gentile. On Naaman the Syrian, he was
a Gentile. God will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. Now clearly it was no accident
that there was a little maid of Israel taken captive and put
in the house of Naaman. That wasn't an accident, was
it? It happened by purpose. It was the working of the Lord
in the mind of this little maid to bear witness of the greatness
of the prophet of God in Israel. She said, all of Naaman were
just in Israel and before the very prophet of God, the very
man of God, this man of God, would do something for him. And
it was the sovereign working of the Lord that brought Naaman
to the doorstep of Elisha's house. You see, all those things were
arranged and brought to pass. We call that the providence of
God. The sovereign providence of God. It was the working of the Lord
in the mind of the servant of Naaman to cool his rage when
Naaman was wroth and said, I thought. And then when he went away in
a rage, the Lord used this servant and came near to Naaman and said,
my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,
wouldn't you do it? He said, wouldn't it be just
much better just to obey the word of the Lord and wash and
be clean? It was the working of the Lord.
who worked in the mind of that servant of Naaman to cool his
rage. It was also the working of the
Lord that brought Naaman down in his pride, in his haughtiness. This man was somebody in Syria. He thought he was a great man
that just happened to be a leper. No, he was a leper who just happened
to be a great man. But God brought him down. caused
him to obey the word of the Lord, and he went down, verse 14. God
brought him down. You see, he denied them of a
broken heart, save as such as be of a contrite spirit. And
he went down seven times. What if he just went down six?
Would he have been healed? Absolutely not. He went down
seven times, according to the saying of the man of God, and
his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and
he was clean." We see the hand of God in all that, don't we?
You know, that's a picture of our salvation. We see the hand
of God in our salvation. It's all of God. It's all of
grace. We read in Isaiah 28, 29, this
also cometh from the Lord, from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful
in counsel, excellent in working." He's wonderful in counsel. Well,
he has to be, because his name is called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. In Psalm 118, concerning
our salvation, we read this, "...this is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes." It's marvelous how God saved
sinners, isn't it? It's a mysterious, tremendous
undertaking of God and all that's involved in our salvation in
the Lord's incarnation, in the Lord's crucifixion, in the Lord's
resurrection, in the Lord's exaltation, in the Lord calling us out with
the gospel. All of it is a marvelous thing
and it is marvelous in our eyes. We see this in our own salvation,
don't we? Everything that has happened
or is happening in our life, even before we knew the Lord,
was happening by the sovereign providence of God to bring us
to hear and to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
no accident you bumped into the gospel. You just didn't bump
into the gospel. God brought you to hear the gospel
of God's grace. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, they'll believe the gospel. God somehow, you read all the
way through the book of Acts, somehow God took Philip away
from a great revival and sent him down into a desert country
to preach to one man. God will cross the path of his
sheep. with the gospel, and he does
it according to his own purpose. He says here, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Someone recently told me that
a particular person said, well, he doesn't believe in predestination.
Well, a lot of people have some wrong ideas of what predestination
is as it's taught in the Word of God, but you cannot call yourself
a believer and believe what is written in the Word of God and
throw away some of God's precious truth. You can't just pick and
choose, well, I like that, I don't like that. You see, predestinating
grace is God's purpose in saving His people who are predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ. If a man says, I'm
a believer, but he throws away the precious doctrine of God's
sovereignty and salvation, he just immediately tells me he
doesn't believe God. What other conclusion can you
come to? The Apostle Paul said, we believe
all things that are written in the Word of God concerning salvation. You see, we are being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. We were the leper, like Naaman,
full of sin and guilty before God, made whole by the power
and purpose of Christ, our God, made clean in Him, justified
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, made willing to bow to
the Lordship of Christ. You see, it's God who worketh
in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Being confident
of this very thing, that God who has begun a good work in
you, Well, it might get done if you let him. Poor God, he
wants to, but you won't let him. That's another God. That's not
the God of the Bible. God does as He will, with whom
He will, when He will, for His own purpose and His own glory.
He'll raise up a vessel of wrath unto wrath, and a vessel of mercy
unto mercy, according to His sovereign will and purpose. Now, I want us to look at the
last part of this chapter, verse 15, down through verse 27. And
consider first of all in verse 15 down to verse 19 the rest
of the story about Naaman. Verse 15, and he returned. Now he went down a leper and
God made him clean and he returned to the man of God. He returned
a changed man. He came back a totally different
man. Not only did his skin look different,
but his heart was changed. He had a different mind, a different
attitude. He returned to the man of God.
He and all his company came and stood before him, that is before
Elisha. And he said, Behold, now I know
that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, take
a blessing. He doesn't call it take some
money. He said take this blessing. Take
this blessing of thy servant. Now what a change from behold
I thought to now I know God is God. How can that happen? It
only happens by the revelation of God to the heart. Here we
see a great change made in Naaman. Now who changed him? Nehemiah
didn't change himself. His body was not only made clean
and made whole, his skin, it says there, like the flesh of
a little child, and he was clean. His body was not only made clean
and whole, but his heart was changed also. The leprosy of
his skin was not only washed away, but the leprosy of his
unbelief was also washed away, was it not? Now I know. God is God. Now I know. You see, salvation of a sinner
is a heart work. It's a change of the mind. the
will, the affection, the desire, and it's a change of masters. Old Naaman thought he was somebody
until he met the one and only true and living God and he said,
now I know I'm a nobody and He's everybody. He is God. Beside
Him there is none else. He says like Joshua said, now
as Joshua said, as for me and my house, We're gonna serve the
Lord. We're gonna serve the Lord. Naaman
came back convinced of the power of God, didn't he? He came back
convinced that there is a God in Israel. He's the God who has
healed me. He acknowledges that God is God.
There is no God in all the earth, but the God who is the true and
living God. Those are best able Those who
are best able to speak of the power of divine grace are those
who have experienced His divine power in their heart. Nahum was
not just speaking by something he heard somebody say. He experienced
the power of God in his heart, didn't he? Those who are best
able to speak of the power of divine grace are those who themselves
have experienced the power of God's grace, such as Paul when
he writes, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. As Paul said again, he's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. The
gospel of God, he said, I'm not ashamed. It's the power of God
and the salvation to everyone that believe it. When that wild
man of the tombs was healed, remember, the wild man that nobody
could tame, naked, running wild, they tried to chain him up and
he'd break the chain till the Lord crossed his path. And the
Lord healed him, clothed him, set him in his right mind, and
he wanted to follow the Lord. You remember what the Lord said
to him? Go home and tell how great thing God had done for
you. This man had a story to tell,
didn't he? And he went home, it says there in Mark 5, the
wild man of the Gadarene that dwelt among the tombs, he went
home and declared how great things God had done for him. He had a story to tell. I bet
when Naaman got back to his home country, to his wife, to his
household, and he said, honey, look at me. How did that happen? God in Israel had done something
for me. You see, those who have experienced
the power of God, the grace of God, the transforming, converting,
regenerating power of God, they don't need to be theologians.
I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I
see amazing grace, how sweet to sound, that saved a wretch
like me. Many times in the book of Isaiah
this phrase is repeated, remember? In Isaiah 45. Twice it says, I am God, beside
me there is no other. I'm the only just God and Savior. Now he says, look unto me. I am God who declared the end
from the beginning, Isaiah 46, and there is none besides me. This is what the Lord teaches
us when He raises us from the pit of sin, corruption, guilt,
and death. He teaches us that in salvation
God is everything, that Christ is everything. All those who
have heard and learned of God, they come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wasn't that the testimony of
Saul of Tarsus when he was unhorsed and put in the dust? and made
to know that the Lord is Lord. He said, Lord, what would you
have me to do? And the leper who came to the
Lord in Matthew chapter 8 and said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. And the Lord said, I will. Be
thou clean. He prayed according to the will
of the Lord, and the Lord healed him. Naaman secondly returned
back to see Elisha and he turned back to give thanks unto God
when he came back a changed man. No longer does he think to buy
a cure as he says here in verse 5 and in verse 9, he brings the
silver and the gold and the raiment thinking that he has to pay for
a cure. No longer does he think he has
to buy a cure, now he urges Elisha to take a blessing not as a price
for a cure, but rather as a token of his love, as a token of his
appreciation. Look at verse 15. Now therefore
I pray thee, I beg thee, he's no longer commanding as a general,
he's a mercy beggar, isn't he? I pray thee, I beg thee, take
a blessing of thy servant, Oh, his heart is full of gratitude,
isn't it? His heart is full of thanksgiving.
He wants to shower everything he can, everything he has upon
the servant of the Lord. This too is an operation of the
Lord upon the heart. Those who the Lord has raised
by His grace, are also gracious to others. Naban was raised up
by the grace of God, by the power of God, and he desired to be
gracious to Elisha and to the house of Elisha. You see, grace
produces grace in the heart. God's people not only believe
grace, they're gracious people. You see, mercy creates mercy
in the heart. Be ye therefore merciful, even
as your heavenly Father is merciful unto you." You see, this is not
the fruit of the flesh, this is the fruit of the Spirit, which
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness. You see,
being forgiven by the grace of God in Christ from all our sin
helps us to freely forgive those who have sinned against us. Our
Lord said, if you won't forgive, it's only because you've not
been forgiven. You've never experienced forgiveness
in your heart. Thirdly, Naaman had a new desire
to worship the Lord. Look at verse 17. Took me a while to figure this
part out here. I looked at this a long time.
I couldn't figure out what he was saying. Naaman said, There
not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules burden
of earth. He wanted to take two mules as
much burden of earth that two mules could pack back to Syria
to make an altar to sacrifice unto the Lord. For thy servant
will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice
unto other gods, but unto the Lord." Boy, he got serious about
worship, didn't he? He wanted to offer a sacrifice
unto the Lord upon the altar of the Lord. Naaman, again, something
else we see, he said, in this thing, the Lord pardoned thy
servant, God be merciful to me, a sinner, that when my master
goeth into the house of Rimen to worship there, and he leaneth
upon my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimen, when I
bow down myself in the house of Rimen, the Lord pardon thy
servant in this thing." Now, he may be referring to what happened
in the past. And he may be even referring
to maybe something would happen in the future. But the thing
I want us to see is this, the Lord, he prays twice here, in
verse 18, the Lord pardoned thy servant in this thing. And we know this, Naaman prayed
for mercy and pardon from the Lord, and it was given unto him. The
Lord is rich in mercy. for his great love wherewith
he loved us." How do I know the Lord pardoned him of all of his
sin, even of his idolatry, past? Because of what's said in verse
19. And Elisha, the man of God, Elisha
speaking the word of God says, Go in peace. Go in peace. What a benediction. Go in peace. This man went home clean of body,
clean of heart. His sin washed away and he had
peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ who made peace for
us. This man was reconciled unto
God. I know that for a fact his sin
was gone. He was justified in Christ because
it says here, go in peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's the rest of the
story of Naaman. Now, the second part is the rest
of the story of Gehazi. But, verse 20, but Gehazi. The servant of Elisha, the man
of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian,
in not receiving at his hand that which he brought, but as
the Lord liveth, remember what Elisha said, as the Lord liveth,
I will, I don't need anything, I have everything I need, I have
enough. But O Gehazi said also, He uses
the name of the Lord as the Lord liveth. I'll run after him and
I'll take some what. I'm going to take him. 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, Yeah, it's going
to be well just in a minute, as soon as I get what I want.
All is well, my master. My master has sent me. He's lying,
isn't he? Saying, Behold, even now there
come to me from Mount Neph from two young men of the sons of
the prophets. Give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and
two talents of... and two changes of raiment. And
they have been said, Be content to take two talents, two talents
of silver, two changes of raiment. laid upon him two of his servants,
and laid them upon two of his servants, and they bare them
before him. And he came to the tower, this secret place, and
he took from them their hand, and bestowed them in his house,
and he let the men go, and they departed." He got what he wanted,
didn't he? He also got to himself judgment. Now what a What a true revelation
of this man. And here we see again what we
are by nature. Sinners, liars, covetous. This is what we are by nature.
Gehazi, now think about this. Gehazi spent many years with
Elisha. Heard the Lord speak through
this man. I mean, he heard the word of
the Lord. Saw the miracles God wrought
by this man, Elisha. knowing that God had supplied
their every need. And yet, he had a covetous, unbelieving
spirit. He had a covetous, unbelieving
heart. When Naaman came there with all
that 6,000 pieces of gold, 10 talents of
silver, and all those fine clothes. Boy, Gehazi's thinking, wow. He saw an opportunity, didn't
he, to enrich himself. He had a covetous spirit. He
saw the silver and the gold of Naaman, and he wanted it. He
coveted after it. You know, the scriptures teach
us that being covetous is idolatry, being in the presence of Elisha,
being the servant of Elisha, hearing the sermons of Elisha
wrought no grace upon this man's heart. He remained unchanged,
self-centered, self-righteous. You can be, and here's the thought,
and here's the warning, you can be associated around the gospel,
you can hear gospel sermons, good sound preaching of the gospel,
true preaching, and still have no grace given in the heart. You see, faith is a gift of God. And you can be void of the salvation
of the Lord. You can be where the gospel is
preached. You can hear good gospel sermons
and yet be void of the true grace of God in your heart. You know
who Gehazi reminds me of? Another one who sold and betrayed
the Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. You think of
all that Judas saw. all that Judas heard. And yet,
because of his unbelieving and covetous spirit, he betrayed
the Lord and sold him out for thirty pieces of silver. Or like
Simon Magus, In Acts chapter 8, when they saw the apostles
lay hands on some believers to receive the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, and old Simon Magus said, take my silver and gold and let
me purchase that gift that I may give these things. You remember
what Peter said? I perceive your heart is not
right in the sight of God, you're yet in the bond of iniquity and
in the gall of bitterness. Now, here's a warning for us. We are told in scripture to make
our calling and election sure. If you do these things, you shall
never fail. We are told in scripture to examine
ourselves whether we be in the faith. I don't want to presume
that I know God. I want to know him. I want to
say with name, now I know thou art God. I don't want to presume
that I believe the gospel. I want to know I trust Christ
in my heart and none other. Gehazi presumed to act in such
a greedy and covetous way, but he did it in a religious way,
didn't he? Look at verse 20. As the Lord
liveth, He used the name of the Lord in his greedy scheme to
enrich himself. Notice Elisha says, in the name
of the Lord, as the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive
none. I don't need what you have. Silver
and gold, I have all things in Christ. But Gehazi, he wanted
the gold and silver of Naaman. He sought deceitful means to
obtain it. The scriptures teach this. A
lot of people quote this scripture. You know, money is the root of
all evil. That's not what it says. The love of money is the
root of all evil. And that was at the bottom of
his lust, wasn't it? For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after have erred
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Elisha wanted no part of the
treasures of Naaman, because Elisha had all things in Christ.
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ, freely, how freely, I
love that, freely, how freely they flow. Gehazi couldn't wait. to lay hold of these treasures
while Elisha wanted no part of them. Such is the way of the
flesh, not seeking the glory of the Lord, not seeking the
furtherance of the gospel, but rather seeking self-glory, self-will,
self-centeredness, but rather seeking only means to satisfy
the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Gehazi received
what he went after, And he hid it. You see that in verse 24? And when he came to the tower,
or to the secret place, no doubt he had spied out this secret
place. He had this all plotted and planned
out. He was going to take this money,
really in a way of thievery, and hide it in this secret place.
And he thought, nobody's going to know about it. Oh, Naaman's
going back to Syria, and I'm going to have all this money,
and I'm going to buy me, as it says down there, I'm going to
buy me garments and vineyards and sheep and oxen, and I'm going
to have some servants, and I'm going to have some maidservants,
and I'm going to do all this." No, you won't. No, you won't. Not going to work, is it? Naaman
reminds me of another man. Achan was his name. We read of
him in Joshua chapter 7. Achan who hid the wedge of gold
and brought the wrath of God upon him and his family. Here's what Achan said when he
was confronted by Joshua. Achan said, when I saw the spoils
of the goodly Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, and a
wedge of gold, 50 shekels weight, I coveted them, I took them,
and behold, they're hidden in the earth in the midst of my
tent, and the silver under it. Remember what happened to Achan?
God found him out. Joshua found him out. They lined
up Achan, his wife, his daughters, his sons, his sheep, his oxen,
his family, everything, and stoned him to death, and covered him
with a pile of stones. Naaman was blessed and healed
from his idolatry and leprosy, while Gehazi brought judgment
upon himself and his family for his idolatry and covetousness,
and was turned into a leper. Now look at verse 26, or verse
25. He went in and stood before his
master, and Elisha said unto him, Where you been? I've missed you. Where you been?
Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went
nowhere. I didn't go anywhere. And he said unto him, verse 26,
Went not my heart with thee? Now, I mean, Elisha went right
with him. My heart was with you. When the man of God turned from
his chariot to meet him, you see, the Lord revealed this to
Elisha what happened. Is it time to receive money,
to receive garments, oliveyards, vineyards, sheep, oxen, menservants,
maidservants? Is it the time to receive all
this? And the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee
and to thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence
a leper as white as snow. Naaman was blessed and healed
of the idolatry, but Gehazi brought judgment upon himself and his
family for his idolatry, his covetousness, and he was turned
into a leper. God says through Moses, Naaman,
Numbers 32, 23, be sure your sin will find you out. You cannot hide from God. You cannot hide your sin from
God. Gehazi lies to Elisha, but he's
found out. One lie commonly leads to another. Did you notice when he started
lying, he just had to keep on lying? You tell one lie to cover
up another one, to cover up another one, to cover up another one.
It's a slippery slope, isn't it? The way of sin is always
downhill. And here's the point for us.
You cannot play the game of hypocrisy before God and get away with
it. He knows all things. He knows our heart, our thoughts
afar off. There is not a word in my tongue,
but O Lord, thou knowest it all together. Our Lord said to those
Pharisees, you or they would justify yourself before men,
but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. What would
Gehazi give now? after he receives his condemnation
for his sins. What would he give? What's this
silver and gold now? Now he's got leprosy, now he
knows he's going to die. What would he give? He'd give
everything, wouldn't he? He'd give everything away. What
Gehazi gained for a moment to satisfy his lust. What's two
talents of silver in the light of eternity, in the light of
judgment, two changes of arraignment? All this was quickly forgotten
by the plague that came upon him. He lost his health, he lost
his honor, he lost his peace, he lost his soul. in eternal
condemnation. Big price to pay for such little
temporary pleasure. Remember our Lord said in Matthew
16, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? Think about it. Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? I ask what the Lord says
about Moses You don't need to turn to this because we've read
it many times, but I'll turn and read it to you. Hebrews 11,
I like this, Moses by faith, verse 24, when he was come to
years, received to be called, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer the affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for
a season. esteeming the reproach of Christ's
greater riches than the treasure in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompensive reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him
who is invisible, our true and living God." You see, in Christ
we have all things richly and freely given unto us. justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? My God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory through Christ.
You see, believers are already rich in Him. For ye know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sake he became poor, that through his poverty, that
you through his poverty might be rich. We have all things in
Christ. Therefore let us be content with
Christ. We read this in closing. Let
your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as you have. What are the such things that
we have? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
For He has said, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that
we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what
man shall do unto me. You see, the point being, we
have all things in Christ. We've been blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
accepted in the beloved. We're being made heirs of God
and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
sons of God. We're richly blessed in the Lord
Jesus Christ. May God cause our heart to worship
him in spirit and in truth.