Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040118.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XXXVIII: Blessing By Valuing God Above This World
(2 Kings 5:10-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. It is not a sin to possess this life's riches and be famous; after all, Solomon was blessed with great wealth and fame for his wisdom from God as a reward for asking the Lord for wisdom, cf. 1 Kings 3:5-13.
    2. However, if we must choose between loving God and His truth versus loving this world and the things of this world, God wants us to love Him and NOT the world. This truth is illustrated in 2 Kings 5:10-27.
  2. Blessing By Valuing God Above This World, 2 Kings 5:10-27.
    1. Naaman was cured of his leprosy by putting his worldly pride aside and obeying God's Word by dipping seven times in the muddy Jordan versus dipping in a cleaner river, 2 Kings 5:10-14; cf. 1 John 2:15-16.
    2. Yet, for putting his worldly lust of the eyes for goods and worldly pride of fame for owning these things above God's testimony unto Naaman, Gehazi was judged to be afflicted with Naaman's leprosy, 5:15-27:
      1. Having been cured of leprosy for obeying God's Word through Elisha, Naaman returned to Elisha to express his new faith that Israel's God was the only true God, 2 Kings 5:14-15b.
      2. Naaman then offered Elisha a material reward for his service in the matter, 2 Kings 5:15c.
      3. Since Elisha did not want to detract from God's glory by letting Naaman think he deserved any credit for the miracle, Elisha steadfastly refused any reward from Naaman, 2 Kings 5:16.
      4. However, Elisha's servant, Gehazi focused not on upholding God's testimony, but on his lusts of pride and the eyes, and that led him to devise a plan to obtain Naaman's gift and to justify it before God:
        1. Gehazi, Elisha's servant did not focus on upholding God's testimony in the healing, but on how his master, Elisha had let a typical Gentile enemy like Naaman off without a financial charge, 5:19-20b.
        2. We also know from Elisha's later comments that Gehazi lusted after the earthly benefit to his pride and lusts of the eyes that Naaman's goods could provide him, 2 Kings 5:26b; cf. 1 John 2:15-16.
        3. Accordingly, Gehazi rationalized he could justly pursue the Gentile, Naaman and take his reward, justifying his plan with the right-sounding phrase, " . . . as the Lord liveth . . ," 2 Kings 5:20c.
      5. Well, the plan Gehazi hatched to gain Naaman's reward was itself a lie:
        1. Gehazi planned to pursue Naaman and tell him the false but moving story that Elisha had sent him to get Naaman's reward not for himself, but for some needy sons of the prophets, 2 Kings 5:21-22.
        2. Once he obtained Naaman's reward, Gehazi planned to stash it in a hidden place without Elisha's knowledge and later use the reward to enhance his material lot in life, 2 Kings 5:23-24, 26b: (a) After obtaining Naaman's reward, Gehazi planned to stash it in a secret place for later use so that Elisha would not know about it and thus condemn him for taking the money, 2 Kings 5:23-24. (b) Then, Gehazi planned to use Naaman's reward to advance his position in this life, attaining farmlands and livestock and servants of his own, cf. 2 Kings 5:26b.
      6. Gehazi's plan initially worked well, for when he approached Naaman with his story, Naaman even added a bonus to help with what he thought was a worthy need of some poor prophets, 5:22-23.
      7. However, by the time Gehazi returned to Elisha, the Lord had told Elisha of Gehazi's actions so that even Gehazi's effort to cover up his plot before the inquisitive Elisha was exposed, 2 Kings 5:25-26a.
      8. Elisha faulted Gehazi for undermining God's glory before Naaman in receiving a reward and for doing so to fulfill his worldly lusts of what Naaman's gift would provide; Thus, in punishment, the leprosy that had afflicted Naaman was perpetually passed onto Gehazi and to his seed, 2 Kings 5:26b-27.
Lesson: By Naaman's heeding God and His truth above his own worldly pride and dipping in the muddy Jordan, the Lord cured Naaman of his leprosy. However, by Gehazi's feeding his worldly lusts at the price of upholding God's truth and testimony, God judged Gehazi to bear Naaman's leprosy.

Application: As John the Apostle testified, we must realize that loving this world system and its things and loving God and His truth are SEPARATE LOVES -- they do NOT MIX, cf. 1 John 2:15-16! May we RESIST falling in love with this world and its things and cleave to God and His interests INSTEAD to enjoy His ultimate, eternal, lasting reward, 1 John 2:17!