It says in verse 15 that Naaman
returned to the man of God. And Naaman returned a different
man than he was before, a different
man. Oh, yes, he was cleansed. He
had leprosy, and now he was clean. loathsome creature, but now he
was washed. He was an outcast, but now he
was a healed man. Skin like a baby. Free from leprosy. Totally free. No more leprosy. And this, of
course, is of monumental importance. great importance, greatest importance. But it's not the only importance.
He came back a different man, not only now cleansed, but now
humbled. Not only cleansed, not only free
of leprosy, as men whom God saves are free from sin, and righteous
in Christ. and holy before God. But he's
a different man. Notice verse 15. He returned to the man of God,
he and all his company, and came and stood before him. Before
this, he was so arrogant, so proud, he expected the prophet
to come to him. Back here in verse 9, when he
came to the prophet's home, he wouldn't even come in. He was
too big, too conceited, too arrogant, too proud to associate with this
humble servant of God. Too proud. He put distance between
him and this prophet. He didn't want his men to see
him show any friendship with this lowly person. And he just
kept himself aloof from him. But now when he came back, he
stooped. He stooped and went into the house, and he stood
before the prophet of God. He didn't have to study humility.
He had seen Almighty God perform a miracle. He had discovered
by experience that he was nothing. He didn't have to study it. He
didn't have to learn it. He didn't have to practice it.
He was humble. He realized that he was nothing
and God made him everything. That he was rotten and dying
and God made him clean. And that in itself This is the
only way a man who's seen God move in grace can operate. This is a natural response to
seeing God. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he
saw himself. And he said, I'm a man of unclean
lips. I dwell among a people of unclean lips. I'm nothing. I'm cut off. And when the woman
came back from this experience with God Almighty, He came back
a different man, broken, contrite, humble. And he came in and stood in that
little house in front of God's servant. He wanted to be identified
with him. He wanted everybody to know that
this man was his friend. And then he came back an enlightened
man. In verse 15, when he stood before
the prophet, he said to him, Behold now, I know, I know. I didn't learn this in school.
You know, our Lord said that to Peter. He said, Flesh and
blood didn't teach you this. My father did. I know that there's
no God in this earth but in Israel. I know there is no God in all
the earth but in Israel. I know that salvation is of the
Lord. I know that only God can do what
has been done for me. I couldn't do it and no man could
do it, but God made me whole. He stood in that water, a scaly,
diseased, rotten leper. And he walked out of that water
with skin like a little child. And God had delivered him. And God had healed him. It wasn't
a decision he made or an act he performed or a deed he did. Almighty God in sovereign, elective,
particular redemption had saved this man. And he said, Now I
know it. See, all a fellow has to do to
believe in elections is get saved. That's all in the world. All
in the world, a man has to do to believe God's sovereignty
is for God to do something for him in grace. And he'll believe
it. I don't expect anybody else to
believe it. If God's almighty, unless the
man has experienced it. I preached a meeting down in
Whitestone Jack, Virginia one day, one time, years and years
and years ago. And what I preached hadn't been
preached that too much. That's putting it very mildly.
And after the service, I preached a message, and after the service,
an old white-haired gentleman came down. I'm an old white-haired
gentleman, and he's about my age. He came down and said, son,
I never did hear that that way before. But you know that's the
way God saved me, on purpose, by his power. That's the way
God saved me. And this man came back and he
said, I know for a certainty there's no God in all the earth
but the sovereign, true and living God who's revealed himself to
Israel. He's a changed man. He's humble. He's enlightened. And he's a
thankful man, he's a generous man, listen. And therefore I
pray thee, he said to Naaman, take a blessing of thy servant. Thy what? What's he call himself? Not the
general. Your servant, where he urges
the prophet of God to take a blessing, and he said, I'm your servant.
I'm your servant, and I want you to take a blessing. Now,
isn't this wonderful? He's told that before he wanted
to exchange what he had for a blessing. Now he wants to be a blessing. He turned completely around.
He wanted to buy a blessing, now he wants to be a blessing.
He thought at first he was compelled to give, now he compels the apostle
to lend him. Oh me, what a change. Notice he didn't ask, I've heard
this so many times, he didn't ask the prophet if he needed
anything. You'll never be a giver. You'll
never be a blessing, and you'll never be able to do God's work
if you only give in response to this question, what do you
need? What do you need? People say,
if you need anything, let me know. They're not going to do
it. They're not going to do it. It's like a missionary friend
of mine, home from Mexico traveling over the country and in the course
of his travels he had to put a new transmission in his truck
and he'd come 3,000 miles in that truck from Mexico and driven
all around and he was going to different churches and he went
to one church and the treasurer of the church came to him after
he'd spoken and he said now What's your expenses? And the missionary
said, what do you mean? He said, we pay so much a mile
for the expenses. How far did you come? Well, he
could have told him I'd come 3,500 miles. But he means, how
much did you come from the last place where you were? We paid
$0.25 a mile or something like that. He said, well, I've come
about 250 miles. He said, well, he said, now,
if you need anything, ask me. Don't wait for someone else to
purpose and determine your gifts. Don't ever, ever, ever do that. Don't ask people what they need. 99% of God's people are not going
to tell you. They're not going to ask for
anything. They'll ask God for it. But what God does, He lays
it on the hearts of His people to supply the need. They don't
ask. You see, you don't ask somebody
else to determine your gift. Let me show you that in 2 Corinthians
8. And preachers are just as guilty
of this as any group of people, trying to determine what people
are to give. In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 8.
I'm going to start with verse 6. What I'm saying is this. It's
like a man down in the South who was a very wealthy man. told
some grace preachers, he said, y'all raise some money for missions,
and I'll match it. Whatever y'all can raise, I'll
match it. They called me and said, just
think of that, he's gonna match it. He said, I said, y'all gonna
match what we give. They didn't give what he wants
to. They didn't give what he purposes in his heart to give.
We're not gonna determine his gift. We don't tell him what to give.
Not gonna tell him about your tithe, give 10% of the income,
Don't let anybody determine what you give God or what you give
in the ministry. Listen to this. This I say, he
that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly. He that soweth boundlessly
shall reap boundlessly. When a man goes out into the
field and sows seed, the more he sows, the more he wants to
reap. If he puts only ten percent in
a certain place, that's all that's going to come up. Listen, every man according as
his neighbor needs, no, every man according as he purposes
in his heart, so let him give. You see what I'm saying? Don't
let anybody determine what you're going to give. Let that be purposed
and determined in your heart according as God's blessed you,
according as God leads you. According as God lays it upon
your heart. Don't ask people what they need.
If you need anything, call on me. They're not going to do it.
If God burdens your heart to give something, give it. If God
burdens your heart to help somebody, help them. If God burdens your
heart to buy something for someone, buy it. As your purpose, you
understand what I'm saying? Every man, everybody, and I'll
tell you, everybody according as he purposes in his own heart,
so let him give. That kills tithing completely. If it's a required 10% for me
to give, then I'm not purposing anything in my heart. I've got to purpose it right,
not begrudgingly. God won't use it, God won't bless
it. Not a necessity. Do you need anything? Whether
they need it or not has nothing to do with it. See what I'm saying? Not a necessity. Not because
I have to. Not because everybody else is
doing it and I'm trying to match their gift, like that fellow
was trying to do. God loves a hilarious giver. A cheerful giver. Here, this
is Natum and he come in there, he's come in there and he said,
I'm your servant, let me give a blessing. I've got something
I want to give. God loveth a happy giver. This
is a very important point. Don't let anyone determine what
you give God. Don't let them do it. Don't let
anybody tell you. You let your heart tell you.
Let your heart tell you. That's your relationship with
God. It's like you give your wife a present, or your children,
or a close brother or friend. You don't want somebody to tell
you what you can give, what you can't give. Just what you want
to give, out of love. And look at verse 8, And God
is able to make all grace abound toward you. You'll never come
up short. But you always having all sufficiency in all things
may abound in every good way. Everything you want to do, you
can do. Everything God leads you to do, your purpose in your
heart, you can do. And David said one time, I'm
not going to give to God that which costs me nothing. That's what costs me nothing.
All right, so that's the converted man. He's come back a humble
man, genuinely broken, different from what he used to be. He's
come back here a man believing in the Sovereign God, the Almighty
God, the Lord God of heaven and earth. He's come back here a
generous man, a thankful man who wants to be a blessing. Not
buy one, but be one. And then in verse 16, here's
a wise servant. Here's a servant of God. Here's
several things you're going to appreciate. But Elisha said,
as the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.
I will receive nothing. And Naaman urged him. He urged
him to take it, but he refused. Now I want to show you here how
Elisha was a wise servant. Under other circumstances, Elisha
might have taken a gift from Naaman to use for other purposes,
under other circumstances. But Elisha was a wise teacher.
God's servants, you see, are not only evangelists going to
make converts, but they're pastor's teachers. Our Lord said, you
go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples
and teach them. Teach them all things I've commanded
you. Use the wisdom I've given you
and the knowledge I've given you to instruct and teach these
babes in Christ. This is a babe. This is an ignorant. He's a believer, but he's an
ignorant believer. He doesn't know anything. You'll
see this in a minute. And Elijah's got teaching. He
can't just let him do anything he wants to do. He's got to teach
him. And he only wants to give up a bunch of money. He had $100,000
worth of silver, no telling how much gold and changes of arrangements.
He was a fabulously wealthy man, and the last he wouldn't take,
not anything. Why? Number one, this wise teacher
knows and preaches and teaches salvation's fruit. Salvation
is a gift to God. It's free. Being justified freely
by His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus the
Lord. This man, Naaman, is a man who's used to paying his way. Paying his way. He's used to
people taking advantage of him. He's used to people using him.
He's used to people following him for his money. And Elisha
wants him to understand that salvation is free, that we don't
return to God anything for what he gives us, nothing. And from
this young believer, this new convert, no matter how wealthy
he is, no matter how prosperous he is, Elisha would take nothing,
because he wants him to understand that salvation is for the poor
in spirit. It cannot be bought Nor can anything
be done in return for what God does for us. And he knew that
Elisha would get the wrong impression if he took this money now. Now
later on, in years to come, Elisha is going to know this, understand
this well in his heart. And whatever he gives or does,
or whatever he works with the pastor, the prophet to do for
God, he knows he's not paying anything for God's grace. Understand
what I'm saying? Elisha knew this. Don't take
it. Don't take it. Elisha may go
somewhere and say, well I was healed, but I gave them $100,000.
And they took it. Second thing Elisha wanted him
to understand, that he wasn't in the ministry for money or
for gain. Now Paul taught that. Turn to
Acts chapter 18. In Acts chapter 18 Paul went
to a new place called Caruth. He went to Caruth to preach.
Acts chapter 18. Won't you see this? After these things Paul departed
from Athens and came to Caruth. And he found a certain Jew named
Aquila. born in Patras, lately come from
Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded
all Jews to depart from Rome, and he came unto them. And because
he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought
for their occupation." By their occupation they were tent-makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue
every Sabbath day and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks concerning
Christ. But he took nothing from these
people. When he came to Corinth in the early days of his ministry,
when he first came, later on he came and took up a gift, an
offering from them and took it somewhere else years later. But
not when he was preaching the gospel to them. He worked as
a tent maker. And in Acts 20, let me show you,
he mentions that again in Acts 20, verse 33. He says in Acts
20, verse 33, Now I have coveted no man's silver, gold, or apparel. That's what Naaman had, silver,
gold, or apparel. You yourselves know that these
hands have ministered to my necessities and to them that were with me.
And why did Paul do that when he himself taught that they that
preach the gospel are to live by the gospel? He said, if I
minister to you spiritual things, is it wrong for me to take your
carnal things? You don't muzzle an ox that plows
the corn, you let him eat the corn if he's going to plow the
field. He taught that. But these were new people. He
was preaching to new people in Corinth. He didn't want anybody
to even have the slightest impression that they could buy salvation,
that they could do good deeds or give money and get favor from
God, or that he needed anything they had. God would supply his
need even if he had to work for it. He wouldn't take a dime.
And Elisha, that's exactly, he turned down everything they even
had, because he wanted them to understand the gospel can't be
bought. It's a free gift. And God's preacher
can't be wrong. Not God's preacher. Now when the nailman, later on,
when he's learned some things and grown in grace, and he'll
determine in his heart the purpose of God and the good pleasure
of God, and he'll give. When he was a naked, empty, diseased,
poor sinner and met the able, abundant fullness of God, just
leave it that way and let him go his way. New believers have
to be taught. We'll show you that in verse
17. Now, listen to Naleman here, and the prophet's got to teach
him something here now, in verse 17. And Naleman said, all right. Shall there not then, I pray
thee, be given to me? I'm your servant." You remember
he called him thy servant back in verse 15. Now, let give to
me, thy servant, two mules burdens of earth. I want to dig some
land up here. I want to get some earth from
around your house. I want to get as much as two
mules can carry, as much dirt as two mules can carry. and take
it home with me from your place here, around your diggings here. I want some dirt. Because, and
I got a good reason for that, now he says, henceforth I'm not
going to offer burnt offerings or sacrifice to any other God
but to the Lord. And what I want here, he said,
is some earth from around your house, because this is holy See what he wants? That's what
an altar was built out of earth. Let me show you Exodus 20, verse
24. Exodus 20, verse 24. Listen to this. An altar of earth. I don't know that he knew that,
but that's what he was going to do with it. In Acts 20, 24,
an altar of earth shalt thou make unto me. And she'll sacrifice
thereon thy burnt offerings, thy peace offerings, thy sheep,
thy oxen, and all places where I record my name, and I will
come to you, and I will bless you." An altar of earth. And so Naaman,
before he left, he said, I want you to give me something. I want
to build some land, some dirt around here, and I'm not going
to sacrifice to false gods anymore, but I'm going to build an altar
and sacrifice to God. with dirt from around your house.
Now don't fault him too much knowing his background. This
man is not taught. He's got to be taught. And don't
fault him too much, especially when you and your neighbors are
going to the holy land over there. That's right. And standing in
front of one of those empty caves and saying, God's here. Or going to a manger. or the
hill outside Jerusalem where they say the Lord died. Now don't
fault this man if that's holy land. He thought the same thing. He said this is holy land and
I'm going to take it back with me and I'm going to offer a sacrifice
to God and I feel like it will mean more because this came from
a luscious house. My friends, if we could just
understand that all these visual aids, like crosses, and pictures,
and buildings, superstructures, and shrines, and places. Turn
to Acts 17. This is what Paul said about
that. In Acts 17, listen to this. And like I say, Elisha's teaching
it. He's teaching this man. And he's not ridiculing him.
He's going to teach him. We don't have all of it there,
but you can be sure Elisha didn't give him any dirt. Now, you can
write that down. I don't find the answer that
he didn't give him any dirt. He said, now you just forget
that. Acts 17 verse 24, God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing he is Lord of heaven and
earth, he dwelleth not in temples made with hands. He's not worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he'd
give it to all life and breath and all things. God's a spirit. Worship him in spirit and truth, not in special holy places, special
dirt from certain places and certain prominent servants. And they shall all know me from
the least to the greatest, God says. Well, he's got another
problem. Here in verse 18. Now, he presents
this to Elisha. In this thing the Lord pardoned
my servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimen.
Now, Rimen was a false god. Of course, Syria and these countries
worship false gods. And they built temples to them,
and shrines to these false gods. And he said, my master goeth
into the house of Redmond to worship there, and he leans on
my hand. He's an old man, and I'm his
key servant. I'm his general. And he's going
to lean on my arm to go into the house of Redmond. Now he's
going to have to bow. If he's hanging on my arm, I'm
going to have to bow. Is that what he's saying? I'm
going to bow myself in the house of women." Now, when I bow myself
in the house of women, the Lord pardoned my servant in this thing.
You ain't got word? In the light of Exodus 20, verse
4. Let's turn to Exodus 20, verse 4. Exodus 20, verse 4. This is the word of the Lord. Exodus 20, verse 3, Thou shalt
have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
beneath the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them. I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous
God." Preach this and say, well, verse
19, Elisha said to him, go in peace. No, no, no. He's telling him goodbye after
he taught him some things. John Gill tried to get out of
this, and maybe it's true. John Gill says in verse 18 that
what Naleman's saying is, this is what I used to do. I used
to go in the house of Rembrandt. My master used to lean on my
arm. And I used to bow to the remnant. Will the Lord pardon
me? Yes, the Lord will pardon you if you used to go there.
The Lord will pardon you if you used to bow to false images.
The Lord will pardon you if you used to, a long time ago, go
to places where God is dishonored and denied. But once you meet
him, he won't do it. Isn't that right? Once you learn
who God is, You're not going to go where God is despised and
denied. You're not going to. So I know
that's what Elisha told him. Elisha, what I'm saying to you,
you see the necessity of teaching, especially the young, young converts. That's what we pastors and teachers. And he taught him about giving.
He taught him about giving. And then he taught him about
idolatry. You just don't need aids to worship. You don't need visual aids. You don't need something to feel,
or touch, or see, or bow before, or look at. We worship God in
spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus with
no confidence in the flesh. And we don't go to the house
of other gods. And he said, If this is what
he's saying, if I go back there and my master tells me I have
to go to the House of Reverend, I'll have to tell my master,
get somebody else. That's what Elisha told him,
I'm sure. And after he taught him, he said to him, go in peace. And he departed from him a little
ways. All right, in closing we see
that the covetous servant. We see what covetousness will
do to a man, a woman. Covetousness. And Gehazi, he
was a servant to Elisha, but this situation, you see, this
experience made Naaman a new man, a new person. This experience with God, this
This experience revealed the wisdom of God's servant. These
hard questions, you know when the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon,
she put some hard questions, this man has put some hard questions
to Elisha. But Elisha taught him well, taught
him well, truth says. And now this whole thing, this
whole story here exposes the covetousness of this false You
see, different things, the same thing will do a different work
in different people. A trial or an experience or a
revelation from God will bring out something good here and bring
out something evil here. It'll show up a man. It'll show
what he really was. Now watch this. But Gehazi, the
servant of the man of God, servant of Elisha, He said, Behold, my
master has spared Naaman this Syrian. You know, that bothers
me a little right there. That gives you something about
this man right there. He calls Naaman this Syrian.
You can call him our brother. You can call him our brother,
this dear man. No, he's a Syrian. My master
spared him. My master didn't take from him
what he should have taken. He spoke in a bad way, bad way
about Naaman. Then secondly, he disagreed with
the wisdom of his master. He disagreed with the wisdom
and the decision of God's prophet. Back down in verse 16, he heard
Elisha say, as the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I won't
take anything from you. I won't receive anything. I swear
to you, I won't receive anything. But Nahum, I mean Gehazi down
here in verse 20, listen to the difference. Behold, my master
hath spared Nahum this Syrian, and not receiving at his hand
that which he brought. As the Lord liveth, I will run
after him, and take it from him. This man is, you never know,
unless this happened, this would have never come out. But covetousness,
our Lord said, listen to this. Our Lord warns, take heed and
beware of covetousness. A man's life consists not in
the abundance of things he possesses. Paul said, mortify your evil
desires, fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness, which is idolatry. In Hebrews he said, let our behavior
be without covetousness and be content with what we have. He said in 2 Peter, Peter says
false prophets through covetousness make merchandise of you. And
this man's covetousness lay dormant till this money came along. You
see what I'm saying? Till this opportunity came along.
He never had an opportunity before. So you'd never know this was
festering in him. This covetousness. This desire
for the world. for riches, he gained it. It was there, unknown. When a
nailman came through, it came out. It came out. He said, I'll run
after him and I'll take something from him. Alright, let's go on.
So Gehazi followed the nailman. And when Naaman saw him running
after him, Naaman stopped his chariot, lighted down from the
chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? This is a changed
man. Isn't he a blessing? Just everything
you read about him. He jumped down out of that chariot,
came and met this servant. He said, All well? Well, he said,
All is well. My master sent me. That's a false
message. But covetousness It'll bring
out all these different evil things that lurk within unconverted
people. My master sent me, and this is
what my master said, Behold, even now there be come to me
from Mount Ephraim two young men, sons of the prophets. Ah, boy, that'll touch a tender
spot in the heart. These are just young boys, hungry
prophets, sons of God's prophet. I pray thee, Gil, I pray thee
a talent of silver. I told you this morning, a talent
of silver. I don't know, I learned these
things by looking it up. But a talent of silver in 250
years ago was when the book I was reading was written, 250 years
ago. And it said a talent of silver
at that time was worth $375, one talent. Today it's worth $10,000. That's
the difference. So the Gehazi's are asking for
$10,000 for these two boys, sons of the prophets. $10,000 and two changes of raiment. And listen to Naaman. Naaman
said, oh, take two talis, $20,000, $10,000 a piece. Naaman's a generous man. You
know, false preachers They robbed people. They robbed God's servants. He's playing on the warm, giving,
generous heart of Naomi. That's what these preachers on
television do. These widows and people on social
security and folks out shouting in the country have so little
and these preachers talking about the sons of the prophets and
all the boys and girls going to study to go to the mission
field. All these different needs they have. Send your money. Send
your money. Write the check right now. Send
your money in there. And they said, I'll write out
checks and send them in. Generous people. And old Raymond
said, don't take, don't take one dollar. Take two dollars.
Two changes of Raymond. And he laid, and he said, and
he laid them on two of his servants. He said, I'll give you two servants
to care for. You don't even have to care for
this. I'll give you two servants to care for. So when he came to the tower, in verse 24, he took them from
their hand, two talents of silver and two changes of raiment, garments,
and he stored them in the house and he let the service go and
they departed. And he went in and stood before
his master. And that's what everybody's going
to do someday. They're going to go in and stand before the
master. Give an account. Everybody's going to give an
account. Stand before the Master. Where have you been Gehazi? Elisha
asked him, where have you been? Why he said, I didn't go anywhere.
You know a man that'll lie to God will lie to men. If he'll
lie to God, he'll lie to you. If he'll lie and not preach the
true gospel, he'll lie to you about anything. Where did you go? I didn't go
anywhere. And he said in verse 26, did not, verse 26, went not
my heart with you? When the man turned again from
his chariot to meet you, see this false puppet had tried to
tear down everything Elisha had built. All he had taught this
young believer, Gehazi with his evil ways could have torn it
down, could have destroyed it. He could have destroyed him,
but he didn't give any thought to that. His covetousness made
him lie to God, lie to his master, and lie to this man, just a series
of lies. Covetousness is a terrible thing.
Is it time, he says to him, I'll close with this, Elisha said,
I saw him when he turned from his chair to meet you. Is it
time for God's prophets and servants to receive money and garments? and olive yards and vineyards
and sheep and oxen and men's services and maid's services.
That's what God sent us to do. It's not our task to preach the
gospel and wait on God, depend upon Him, lean upon Him and our
needs supplied by His people. Is this our business to be engaged
in business? And in verse 27, you know, before
I read verse 27, let me say this. Naaman came to God and he lost
his leprosy. He came to God and he lost his
pride. He lost his leprosy. He lost
his covetousness. This false prophet went away
from God to try to get the things of Naaman. And in doing it, he
got his leprosy, too. So if this preacher or any other,
or servant of God, or people of God, gets set their heart
on the things of this world, they're going to also have the
condemnation of this world, and the guilt of this world. A man
can't serve two masters, mammon and God. And that's what Elisha
said to him here. He said, all right, Gehazi. All
right. The leprosy therefore of Naaman
shall cleave unto you and your seed forever. And he went out
from his presence a leper white as snow. We started out with a leper white
as snow who came to God and went away cleansed. And a man who
was right here among the things of God, thought he knew was overcome with covetousness
and left. And he left a leper. Powerful,
isn't he? But that's what God's Word is,
powerful.