One Man’s Blessing but Another Man’s Curse
By Pastor Jim May
II Kings 5:1 – 27
How we handle the provisions of God in our lives will determine whether those provision will be a blessing, or a curse. We must be careful to misuse what God has given us. For those who reverence and keep a proper perspective on the presence of God and what he does for them, it is truly a blessing. But if we abuse the blessings, or begin to take them for granted, they can become a curse in our lives. Let me take you now to a story in the Old Testament to show you what I mean.
2 Kings 5:1, "Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper."
Here is a might man of valor, a man who had devoted his life to a cause greater than himself. He had sold out to the service of his King back in Syria. There was none more honorable than he in all of the kingdom. His motives were right. His goals were admirable and his character was unquestionable.
He had done many mighty works in his service to his people. He had even protected them from invasion, overcame and driven out the enemies of Syria, and had received many accolades and much praise from every one around him.
If there had been a CBS, NBC or Larry King Live in those days, I’m sure that the name of Naaman would have become a household word as his fame and popularity grew. After all, everyone loves a winner. Everyone wants someone, some hero, to look up to. This man Naaman had accomplished things in his life that made him stand head and shoulders above the rest in the eyes of his peers.
No man could question his sincerity. No man could question his commitment. No man could question his loyalty. But there was a problem. As you have seen in this scripture, Naaman was a leper.
Everything else in life seemed nothing but an empty shell for Naaman. He was a commander of men, but he had no control over his own life or his own body. He could speak the word, and thousands of people would either live or die, but he could not stop the leprosy that was ever present and threatening his very life.
To even be around him, as an armor bearer, or a servant, could be a dangerous thing, for anything he touched could carry the disease of leprosy to those who handled those things for him. Though it may have been an honor to serve him, it could also mean death and suffering in return.
There are many today who, in this body of flesh, are suffering greatly. All of their accomplishments in life seem to matter little to them now. Oh what we would pay to feel good again. The man who has lost the use of his limbs through strokes or accidents would give all that he has for the chance to walk again. Anyone who loses their sight, or their hearing, would pay any price, if they could just see or hear again. But we all know that wealth, position or power cannot do one thing to restore those things to us.
Naaman had leprosy, and it was a death sentence for his body, for there was no medical cure or treatment that could stop its deadly destruction. It was only a matter of time before he would be forever separated from society and relegated to the past.
Leprosy today is a treatable disease and many have overcome its terrible effect, though in foreign lands it still takes a terrible toll. We don’t see it much in America, but we have our own diseases that are just as bad.
Today, we can liken the effects to those of the HIV virus, or AIDS. Once there is a pronouncement that this disease has invaded a human body, then it becomes a death sentence for there is no guaranteed cure. Another may be the disease of cancer, that slowly but surely kills its victim.
For those with such diseases, hope is lost for long term survival. Though life may be going on as usual for now, and things are great, there is always that knowledge that something is wrong. The rest of their days are spent waiting for the end to come and they can only hope that a cure may come before its too late for them.
A number of years ago, when I was working as a office machine repairman for the school system, I knew a teacher who developed breast cancer. I was told of this by the Assistant Principal who was a friend of mine. She knew that I was a Christian and ministered in the church so one day we began to talk about how she felt. She told me that she felt great. She felt that perhaps it wasn’t really true that she had cancer. She was still young, with a lot of life to live – at least that’s the way she felt at that time. But she also said that it was proven that something was there, something life threatening, and that she could never get it out of her mind. She knew that, no matter how she felt right now, there was no real future for her in this life. That thing that was inside wouldn’t leave and it would soon make its presence known in a terrible way. That was the last time that I ever spoke to her. Her cancer was so far advanced that within 6 months she was gone.
Naaman knew that his end was coming and there was nothing he could do about it. Mrs. King, the teacher, knew the same thing. Today, there are many who are experiencing their last days and they know it. Some things in life, you cannot control, no matter how much you want to or how hard you try.
That’s the way it is with the heart of man too. Every one of us is born into this world with a deadly disease. It’s called SIN, and it carries with it the power of death. There is no escaping it. We can deny its existence, but its still there. We can live like we will live forever, but there isn’t one of us who can escape its ultimate reign. Naaman was living on borrowed time, and so is every man, woman and child who are walking on earth right now.
2 Kings 5:2-7, "And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me."
This man Naaman was an enemy to Israel. He had led his army into Israel and taken some captives as slaves back to Syria. Little did he know that this attack upon the enemy of his country would result in his miracle of deliverance, but a little Jewish girl gave him a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps there was an answer. Could a prophet in Israel truly bring him healing and deliverance? It was worth any price to find out.
There’s where Naaman’s true fear came into view. No matter how valiant or powerful he was, he was willing to admit that he needed help.
That’s always the first step toward deliverance. Whether its deliverance from sickness of the body, or deliverance from the sin that condemns us, it can only come if we make that first step and admit that we not able to help ourselves.
You can’t cure your own leprosy. A man with AIDS can’t cure himself. Likewise, a man born in sin and lost in sin, cannot set himself free. If you are here today, and you are lost in sin, you can do nothing in yourself to break free. You need someone to deliver you. I want to be like that little servant girl in Naaman’s house and bring you a reason for hope today. Your hope is not in yourself, nor is it in medical science, nor in the wisdom of men. Your only hope for deliverance from the sentence of death that sin brings is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must come to him in repentance and accept his blood before the death sentence can be taken away.
The world doesn’t have your answer. Naaman’s king sent him to Israel’s king for help, but that was a futile attempt. The king of Israel wasn’t worried about Naaman. He didn’t care if he lived or died. After all, he was an enemy. All the king of Israel could think of was that this could be a trap that would bring on a war.
Most of the world will listen to your problems, but the only thing they can do is feel sorry for you, and then think of themselves. Most of them can only say, “I’m glad it’s you and not me.” They have their own fears, doubts and problems that they can’t overcome either.
2 Kings 5:8, "And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
Here’s the real mission of the church, and of each of us as ministers unto the Lord. We are all called to minister to the hurting, the sick and the dying. We have the message of hope, of healing, of deliverance and of salvation. Where else can they go but to the Lord? Only Jesus has the power to set us free.
But we have to have the faith that Elisha had. We have to know that God is with us. We have to know that we are walking according to God’s will. If we aren’t close enough to God to know him as we should, then its no wonder we don’t have anything to give.
2 Kings 5:9-10, "So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."
Naaman had found the source of his need. Elisha had his answer. You and I, and all of us who know Jesus as Lord, have the answer. Regardless of what the question is, or the need, Jesus has the answer and can meet that need. Our job is to proclaim Jesus.
Elisha didn’t try to heal Naaman on the spot. He told what God had said to do. Elisha couldn’t heal Naaman, only God could, and God would only do it his way.
Let us remember that when we begin to compromise with the world in order to bring people into the church. Our methods don’t work when it comes to saving a soul. Oh we can draw the numbers, build a huge crowd, but is anyone truly being saved or delivered? Are we doing it God’s way or man’s way? Huge crowds and excitement do not always translate into the saving of souls. It often is nothing more than a show or a façade. There is a confession that God is present and that the Holy Ghost is moving, but is it for real. Confession doesn’t bring possession until we do it God’s way!
2 Kings 5:11-13, "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"
Have you tried to talk to people who thought they were right and knew that they had all the answers? It’s hard to reach them isn’t it? Sometimes people come to me with questions, or with problems, and ask for counsel. The only counsel I can give that amounts to anything at all, or that possibly help you, is that counsel that comes directly from the Word of God and what the Holy Spirit leads me to give. My own thoughts won’t make a difference but God’s Word will!
Most of the time, what I have to give to them simply won’t do. They feel like they have the answer already. Most people, when they come for counseling, already know what they are going to do anyway and the only reason they come is to get approval for their decisions. They aren’t really seeking answers, but approval of their own answers. That’s why I don’t do much counseling. In the long run, very little of it does much good because people are too set on their own ways to listen.
My thinking is that if you have already made up your mind what you’re going to do, then why waste your time and mine if you aren’t going to listen anyway? Just go do your thing and then when it fails find an altar and repent. Then start listening to God.
You see, the answers from God’s Word are often too simple. We can’t accept the fact that God is all knowing and omnipotent and doesn’t need our help to make things happen. We fell like we have to do something to make it happen. No, all you have to do is obey God and he will do the rest. But we won’t accept it. We always think that we have a better way.
2 Kings 5:14, "Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."
Naaman went down, obeyed the words of the prophet and dipped seven times in that muddy water of Jordan. Why seven times? It was because 7 is God’s number of completeness. Naaman had to surrender his will and obey completely. When God says 7, 6 won’t do.
When God says that by the foolishness of preaching souls would be saved, that’s what he meant. He didn’t say by the loudness of the music, or the height of your jumping, or the excitement of the worship, or the sound of the band – but by foolishness of preaching.
Dreambuilding sessions on large buildings won’t do it. Telling people that everything is all right when sin still reigns in their hearts won’t do it. Catering your ministry to reach only a select crowd won’t work. No, the gospel is to be the same; preached the same and carried the same way to all people, young, old or in-between. The message of the cross of Christ must never change. If we do it any other way, then we aren’t doing it God’s way.
Naaman obeyed and was blessed, but on the heels of his blessing, another man would be severely cursed.
2 Kings 5:20-23, "But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat 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 them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two"
Let me tell you what I see in these verses. I see a man, a servant of the man who was the voice of God in his day and time. In effect, Elisha stood in God’s place for Israel, for in those days, only the prophets and the priests could do God’s work among the people.
Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, had been there all along. He knew the power of God. He knew the character of God and had learned it by watching Elisha. He had learned of God’s holiness and awesome nature, but he hadn’t truly sold out to God. Gehazi still had too much of the world in him to become a true man of God, and every decision he made would be tainted or influenced by his fleshly nature and desire for the things of the world.
Naaman had offered Elisha a reward, or payment for services rendered. But Elisha knew that it was all God, and not him. Elisha held God’s calling with the deepest reverence and would not accept payment, thus taking part of the glory that belonged to God alone.
Elisha’s commitment was complete, and he wasn’t willing to compromise at any cost.
But Gehazi had his heart set on other things. He wasn’t so much concerned about obeying God as he was getting ahead in life and becoming a man of wealth and power.
As I look around, I wonder how people think like Gehazi? How many people sell out to compromise to gain the wealth of the world? How many people compromise the message of the gospel, or compromise their worship, or invite the ways of the world into their church and into their lives, just so they can get something out of it for themselves.
The Bible calls preachers who do that, “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.” God calls people who do that “disobedient servants” or “unprofitable servants”. We must never forget that if the church is going to be built then we need to let God build it his way, and not rely on the wisdom of men or our own designs. Remember, it’s God’s house, not ours. If it’s truly God’s house it must be built according to His plans or it won’t be acceptable.
Gehazi ran to catch up with Naaman and through lies and deceit, took two talents of silver and several changes of rich clothing for himself.
Let me say this. The Bible says that those who work for the Lord in ministry are worthy of their hire, but he never said that any preacher should get rich off the offerings of the people in the church. When we start getting our eyes on the dollars and forget about the condition of the souls of those sitting in the church, is when we lose our purpose for being here.
2 Kings 5:25, "But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither."
Here’s the picture now. When a self-proclaimed Christian is caught in a trap, never believe what they say because Christian will lie as quickly as the world and they will do it with a straight face as though you had no sense at all and they expect you to believe everything they say.
We don’t want to confess when we are wrong, we would rather hide it than tell the truth. We are good at making excuses for ourselves but we don’t believe the excuses that anyone else has. Why is it that way? It’s very simple. We know that our excuses are just about always lies, so everybody else must be the same way.
Let me remind you that God’s Word says that “all liars” will burn in the Lake of Fire, not just worldly liars, or sinners that lie, but lying Christians as well. If we don’t repent of those lies and start being truthful with God, with the preacher and with one another, then we’ll all burn right along with the rest. This isn’t some kind of game to see how much you can get away with and still be acceptable. God is serious and we need to see how far away from sin we can get, not how close we can be to it and still be saved.
2 Kings 5:26-27, "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 oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow."
Do you remember what I said about Elisha being the voice of God and the very representation of God for Israel and for this servant? When we are disobedient, God knows it. His heart is grieved every time we fail. I wonder how often each of makes God cry? How often does he see us disobey him and do what we want in spite of he can do to stop us? In the spirit, Elisha knew what Gehazi had done. He saw him leave. He saw Naaman’s chariot turn around, and he saw Gehazi take the payment. Nothing was hidden. Nothing was secret. He only asked to see if Gehazi would confess the truth.
Naaman’s blessing became Gehazi’s curse that day. The leprosy that was removed from Naaman came on Gehazi and he went out from the presence of the Lord and probably died from that dread disease.
Let that be a lesson to all who would compromise with the world. Compromising is sin, no matter how we try to sugar coat it and make it appear good. Sin always brings death. Those things that may seem good to us now will be our curse in the end.
Compromising with the world will bring the church to ruin. It may have a big crowd and beautiful buildings, and even a great reputation for service to the community, but where is the moving of the Spirit? Is it excitement, or is it the Holy Ghost falling in the midst? I believe that there are a lot of churches that have excitement but God has written “Ichabod” across the doorposts meaning that He no longer visits there, or feels welcome.
Likewise there are many who call themselves Born Again Christians who are compromising with the world. They no longer feel the Spirit or hear the voice of the Lord, but they are living on past experiences and getting further and further from God.
There is hope, but it must come God’s way. Jesus has the power to deliver and set free if we will obey him.
"It was May 21, 1946 in a place called Los Alamos, New Mexico. A young and daring scientist was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific at Bikini Atoll.
"He had successfully performed this experiment many times before. In his effort to determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction -- scientists call it the critical mass -- he would push together two small spheres of Uraniam. Then, just as the mass became critical, he would push them apart with his screwdriver, thus instantly stopping the chain reaction.
"But that day, just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped! The hemispheres of uranium came too close together. Instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. Instead of getting away and possibly saving himself, he tore the two spheres apart with his hands and interrupted the chain reaction.
"By this instant, unselfish act, he saved the lives of the seven other people in the room. As he waited for the ambulance that was to take him to the hospital, he said quietly to his companion, "You’ll come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance myself." Nine days later he died from radiation poisoning.
2000 years ago the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, walked directly into sin’s core and stopped its power dead in its tracks. Jesus allowed himself to be touched by its curse, and gave his life for our sin. He broke that chain reaction and broke the power of sin."
If we are going to make it to Heaven, and if we are going to build a church, or if we are going to be a true Christian, then we have to do it God’s way.
Examine your life today. Is your life pleasing to God? Are you compromising with the world? I pray that all of us will stay close to God and be profitable servants in His kingdom.
