Please open your Bibles this morning to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 5, as we take up our consideration of the ministry of Elisha, the prophet. 2 Kings chapter 5, you'll find that on either on page 273 or 359 in your pew Bible, depending on which edition you have, 273 or 359. And this morning we're going to consider the one and only episode of Elisha the prophet that is mentioned in the New Testament, by Jesus no less, who said in Luke chapter 4, There were many in Israel with leprosy at the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was healed, except Naaman, the Syrian. Now by New Testament times, what was called Syria then was Aram in the Old Testament. So as we read about Naaman today, he's an Aramean. But we ask the question, why is this that Jesus could look back on the history of Israel and say that none in Israel were healed of leprosy during his time other than this Gentile, this Syrian Naaman? And it is because, as we've seen already, Israel had rejected the Lord and turned to false gods, and God was judging the nation with his curses. But even so, this judgment was upon Israel. Even so, the promise of God given to Abraham for his offspring was still in play as it is today. That through Abraham, the nations of the world would be included in the people of God through faith in Abraham's seed, that is, in Jesus Christ. The Messiah for the Old Testament that was yet to come, Jesus Christ, the righteous who has come and to whom we look back upon his work. And it's in light of this gospel promise, this covenant promise to Abraham that we must appreciate this story today about Naaman. And as we read this text, it's a long text, we're going to read the whole chapter, Now, it centers on verse 14. It's the pivot in the text where Naaman is immersed or baptized in the Jordan River. But even though that's the only place we see Naaman immersed, we must know as we read this entire story that throughout it all, he's immersed in the grace of God. God is at work in his life to bring him to that place and beyond. So read or follow along as I read to you the word of God from 2 Kings chapter 5. Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, if only my master would see the prophet who was in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy. Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. By all means, go, the king of Aram replied. I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read, With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, so that you may cure him of his leprosy. As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and he says, Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he's trying to pick a quarrel with me. When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message. Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stood and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him to say, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed. But Naaman went away angry and said, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord as God. Wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abena and Farpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed? So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman's servants went to him and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more than when he tells you, wash and be cleansed? So he, that's Naaman, went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as the man of God had told him. And his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, Now I know that there is no God in the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant. The prophet answered, As surely as the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not accept a thing. And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. If you will not, said Naaman, Please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry. For your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing. When my master enters the temple of Rimen to bow down, and he is leaning on my arm, and I bow there also. When I bow down in the temple of Rimen, may the Lord forgive your servant for this. Go in peace, Elisha said. After Naaman had traveled some distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him. So Gehazi turned after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. Is everything all right? he asked. Everything is all right, Gehazi answered. My master sent me to say, Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing. By all means, take two talents, said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away, and they left. Then he went in and stood before his master, Elisha. Where have you been, Gehazi? Elisha asked. Your servant didn't go anywhere, Gehazi answered. But Elisha said to him, Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or men's servants and maid's servants? Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever. And Gehazi went from Elisha's presence, and he was leprous, as white as snow. Here ends the reading of God's Word. This is quite a story. You have a five-point sermon coming. It's not as onus as it looks. We want to begin by making note of what is easy to miss, and that's the fact that Naaman was being immersed in the grace of God that is directed through providence. We tend to read these stories in all the circumstances that we get at the beginning and we don't pay attention to what we're told there. But we do want to pay attention this morning. In his providence, God graciously provided a unique period of peace between Aram and Israel. Ever since the division of the kingdom, Aram had been fighting against Israel. It had been non-stop war, back and forth. At one point, Aram, in 1 Kings chapter 20, insulted the Lord. And the Lord gave Ahab, that wicked king, Ahab, He gave him victory over Aram. And what did Ahab do? He took that victory and he despised the Lord and he granted life to the king of Aram and he made him his covenant brother. And they had peace. Peace against the will of God, but they had peace. For three years, and then one day Ahab got a little jealous. He went up against Aram to try to attack him and he was killed by that random arrow children. You know the story, the random arrow that killed King Ahab? And from that moment, their alliance was shaken but had not yet dissolved, and it was in that time window between Ahab's death and the outbreak of war in chapter 6 that Nahum still had passage from Aram to Israel and back again under the protection of both kings. And in his providence, God had graciously blessed Naaman with great means as well as an evidence of his accursed state. We read in verse 1 that Naaman was a great man in the eyes of his king. He was held in high esteem. And as a valiant soldier and commander of the army, he'd been well taken care of. He was a wealthy man. And we, the readers, are told the reason for this. The king of Aram knew that Naaman had brought him victory. But we know it was the Lord who brought him victory. Another act of God's providence. Now, we don't know whether this victory was against Israel or whether it was against Assyria to the east, which is the main reason these two countries were in league with one another. We don't know, we can't know. It makes the story even more incredible if he was a general that had marched against Israel and was brought into the land, but we don't know. But Naaman, in any case, was a man who had it all. This is a man who had power, who had prestige, who had possessions. But in the providence of God, he had one more thing, Something that overshadowed all those riches, and that was leprosy. We don't see leprosy today. We read about it in the Bible as if it's something that happened a long time ago. It's still in the world today, and it's a vicious disease. A disease that marks you as one who is destined to a slow, deteriorating, terrible death. And Naaman knew that that's where he was going. He bore in his flesh the mark of death. And in this, Naaman is a picture. He's a picture of the Gentiles in general. He's a picture of all men under Adam. That we walk through this life as dead men walking, so to speak. Those who are unaware and unconcerned. We have so many blessings that we look to for our strength. We have no concern for our death unless the Lord in his grace, by his providence, opens our eyes to see our state. And lastly, in this first point in his providence, God graciously provided Naaman with hope. A young Israelite girl, taken captive during a border raid, became a maidservant of Naaman's wife. As a captive in a foreign land, she had no power. She had no prestige. She had no possessions. But the Lord had given her one thing that Naaman didn't have, and that was faith in the Lord her God and confidence in his anointed, the prophet Elisha in Samaria. And this little girl displayed her faith in God by applying his word even in this terrible circumstance. And the apostle Paul would later apply it in the very same way in Romans chapter 12, verses 9 to 21, where we read Paul quoting Old Testament scripture that this girl would know. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, it is mine to avenge. I will repay. On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. And in doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil. Overcome evil with good. And that's what this girl did. She, out of faith, breathed grace to Naaman. Through his wife, to be sure, but through her, he was given hope. And this gracious act of faith by this insignificant little girl, This little Israelite girl that brought hope to a Gentile was also an indictment against all of the nation of Israel. A nation who had forgotten its calling. Its calling to be a light to the Gentiles. To give them hope and to point them to their God. Israel had forgotten God. And they had forgotten to be the light of the world. And from this part of the story, we learn and are reminded that God does not work in a vacuum. He works through means, even when he's working his grace. Now, he's promised to work salvation by the Holy Spirit through his word, his means of grace, to convert sinners and to strengthen the faith of believers. This is a particular means that God has given to the church. But he also works through people and circumstances and times and places. He works through you, and he works through me. And he calls us as his people, like this little girl, to be about the business. Appointing people away from themselves, away from us, and appointing them to God in Christ Jesus. Where their deepest needs can only be met, where salvation alone is found. So that's the stage upon which this story plays out. And unbeknownst to Naaman, he was already immersed in the grace of God, a grace that we see in our second point, that is, that he defied by his works. This lowly girl was used of the Lord to direct Naaman away from himself and to another, to the Lord's anointed in Samaria. But by nature and by practice, Naaman trusted in himself, in his own resources, in his own strength. And like any good general, he laid out a strategy for how he was going to go there and get this cure. And the first thing he did was use his power and prestige with the king of Arab, and he secured passport to Israel. A letter from his king would not only give him safe passage to the court of Israel, because of their covenant partnership, it would oblige the king of Israel to help him. Good strategy. And so he went to the king, and the king was more than happy to write him a letter. But we need to know the mindset of a pagan king. He was operated under the assumption that the God of Israel and the prophet of that God served the king of Israel. And so he wrote this letter to the king and he placed the responsibility for Naaman's cure at his feet, knowing in his mind that he could call upon God to do what he wanted. And he could call upon his prophet to do what he wanted. How little did he understand the relationship of God and his kings. But, letter in hand, Naaman gathered up his possessions. He was going to buy this cure. Money was no object. His life was on the line. And therefore, we read in verse 5, he took ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. I have no idea what ten sets of clothing is worth. But you can be assured it wasn't Kmart brand or Target brand or even Neiman Marcus brand. It was custom-made clothes fit for a king. But beyond that, if we just look at the silver and the gold and we use the weights that are in your NIV footnote and we calculated it based on Friday's close of business, he carried with him over a million and a half dollars to pay for this cure. This man was prepared. He knew what he wanted. And he had the means to get it in his own mind. And everything was going according to plan until that letter that he brought was read in the court of the king of Israel. In verse 7, we read that when the king read the letter, when the letter was read to the king, he tore his robes and he says, my God, can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he's trying to pick a quarrel with me. There's nothing he could do. There was nothing he could do to cure this man. But he knew in his covenant relationship with Aram, if he failed to do so, it would be taken as a refusal to do so. And the war would be on once again. He was without hope and he tore his robe. Despair. And in this act we see the king's lack of faith in God and we see the apostasy of Israel complete. He gave no thought to God or to the prophet that lived down the street. As Paul would say, he'd become futile in his thinking. His foolish heart was darkened. He'd exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. That's where Israel was. That's where this king was. And he had every reason to be afraid. But his fear was misplaced. He was in fear of a man when he should have been fearing God. And Elisha heard of the events at City Hall and he sent a message to the king and he rebuked him for his unbelief. Why have you torn your ropes? As if to say, don't you know God is right here. All you need to do is turn. God used Naaman the leper that day, the unclean of the unclean Gentiles to expose the spiritual uncleanness of Israel. And through Scripture today, he continues to bear witness against all who will deny the Lord God and his anointed. Not Elisha the prophet, but the one to whom Elisha appointed, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Well, despite all the efforts of all these men, Naaman's cure seemed further out of reach than ever. Trusting in themselves and in their resources, they neglected God and they defied his grace. And yet, at that moment, when all seemed lost, God renewed Naaman's hope with his irresistible grace through that message from Elisha, which not only rebuked the king, but instructed him to send Elisha to his home. And why? Because Elisha would have this Gentile know what Israel had forgotten, that there's a prophet in Israel, and God is with his people. And that brings us to the center of the text and therefore the center of your outline. With Naaman still unaware of the grace of God in which he's immersed, he arrives at Elisha's house where he needs to learn something. He needs to learn that God's saving grace is received only through faith. Naaman rode up to the curb outside Elisha's house and he parked with all of his attendants gathered around and he stood there in his chariot. He stood tall. He had power. He had prestige, he had possessions, they were all intact, he was still ready to go, and he waited. But he didn't have to wait long. Elisha sent out a messenger who told him just what to do. Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed. There it was. There it was, the answer to his quest on a silver platter. Well, it wasn't silver. You see, that was the problem. He rejected it. This was not how he deserved to be treated. He said in verse 11, I thought that he would surely come out to me. Didn't Elisha know who he was? Didn't he know how powerful he was? How important he was? What price he was willing and able to pay for this cure? Didn't he know? This is not what he expected. He was certain that Elisha would come out and call on the name of the Lord and wave his hand over the spot and he'd cure the leprosy. A little magic. It was supposed to be a big deal. It was supposed to be about him. It was supposed to be right now. But it wasn't. And he turned away. And what's this about a bath? I mean, if that's all it took, I could have done that in Damascus. There's these two great rivers there. Clean and pure and beautiful. I didn't come all the way down here for you to tell me I missed my bath 25 miles back at that dirty canal you call the Jordan River. This is ridiculous. This is foolishness. And he walked away. He had his expectations about how the Lord should save him. As every man does, and every woman does, apart from the grace of God. But God works in His ways, His wonders to perform. He doesn't work according to our plan, our agendas. Proverbs 15, verse 1 says, A gentle answer turns away wrath. And in the providence of God, by his grace, he's still pressing on Naaman. He brings his servant to him and he speaks to him gently and he says, In effect, my father, if the prophet had given you a great task and required all of your power, all of your prestige and all of your possessions to claim it, to earn it, you would have gladly given them all to be healed. Instead, he's given you a simple task. A task that no amount of power or prestige or possessions can get. It can only be received, wash, and be cleansed. And through that gentle word from an unbelieving servant, the grace of God broke through and Naaman got it. Naaman was humbled and he was made willing to obey the word of the Lord. So that we read in verse 14, So he went down and he dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times. Just as the man of God had told him. And his flesh was restored and he became clean like that of a young boy. Now the English Standard Version helps us here to feel the full weight of this miracle. Because it says that when he went to the river and he dipped himself, his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young child. And he was clean. From the beginning, Naaman wanted a cure for his leprosy, the restoration of his skin, of his flesh. But from the beginning, the Lord had promised him more. Not only the restoration of his body, but also the cleansing of his spirit. Look again at verse 10. To the word of the Lord that came from Elisha through his servant. He said, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed. This is two things. All along, God intended Naaman's outward and visible immersion in the waters of the Jordan to picture, to demonstrate, to show the inner and invisible immersion in the grace of God. The Jordan River didn't heal Naaman any more than the salt healed the waters of Jericho or the flower healed the death in the pot. It was, however, a fitting sign, the sign of baptism that the Lord used to portray His grace, to picture his grace, to Naaman. And it's still a sign we use today, baptism. It's a sign of the grace of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. See, Naaman the Gentile was saved by grace through faith. There's no other way of salvation. Never has been, never will be. Paul writes in Galatians chapter 3, verses 6 through 9, Consider Abraham. Consider Abraham. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham. And the scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you, so those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. And by the grace of God, Naaman had faith. He turned from trusting in himself and in his resources and he trusted in the promise of God given to him by the man of God. Wash and be clean. Wash and be clean. Naaman received faith in the God of Elisha, a prophet, a living prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ to come who is the one who provides the salvation. The salvation for which Naaman hoped. He didn't know all the details. He just knew the God of his salvation. But when Jesus came, he paid the full price of salvation once and for all, merit and salvation for all of his people, every place, any time. Naaman was told to wash and be cleansed. People of God, wash and be cleansed. Turn from yourself, turn to the Lord. Put away your own efforts and trust in his grace. He's already satisfied everything to make it available to all who will repent and believe. Now, lest you think I'm pressing this text too far that Naaman did not necessarily get saved that day. He just got clean. I think we need to continue on in the fourth point to recognize that the saving grace of God through faith that was poured out on Naaman is displayed in gratitude. We know our catechism at least well enough to know that we need to know three things to live and die in the joy of the comfort of belonging to Christ. The first, that we're sinners. That we're saved by Christ and his sacrifice for us. And third, that we want to be, desire to be grateful and to show gratitude to the God who has saved us in Christ. And this is what Naaman is doing here. Naaman displayed his gratitude in three ways. First, with a humble heart he made professional faith. Now according to verse 15, instead of heading straight home to Damascus, he was halfway home already. He packed up his troop and he drove back 25 miles to Damascus. He went to Elisha's house, he got down off his chariot, he went inside, and he stood before the face of Elisha, and he said to him, now I know there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one. Now we see a similar account of faith in a leper in Luke chapter 17. You know the story when Jesus healed the ten lepers. He sent them all to the priest. He said, go to the priest. And on their way, they all were cleansed. They all had their flesh restored. And out of those ten, only one returned. He came back to the Lord Jesus Christ, praising God, falling at Jesus' feet, and thanking him. And Jesus said, where? Weren't there ten? Where's the other nine? Of course, we don't know. They never came back. But Jesus said to that one man, He said, your faith has saved you. And I think this applies to Naaman. By his profession of faith, We can know that his faith had saved him. Secondly, Naaman offered the prophet a gift. A gift of gratitude. And in itself, such a gift was not inappropriate. We do it every Lord's Day. We just did it a few minutes ago. We bring our gifts and our offerings to the Lord our God out of gratitude for all that he's done for us. And Naaman did the same. But Elisha refused it. Elisha refused it twice. He refused it. And he said this to Naaman, As surely as the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not accept a thing. Naaman was headed back to Damascus and Elisha was determined that there would be no confusion in this Gentile's mind about how it was that he was saved. He'd come all those miles with all that strategy, with all that preparation, with all those possessions and all of his power to secure this salvation more than what he'd asked for. And he would not go home thinking that he'd done anything to get it. It was all of God's grace. It was all of God's doing. There would be no confusion in Naaman's mind when he went back home. In this, Elisha agreed with the Apostle Paul, who explains in Ephesians chapter 2, as we read this morning, it's by grace you've been saved, through faith. And that's not from yourself, that's the gift of God. It's not by works so that no one can boast. That's what he was telling Naaman that day. And the third evidence, the third display of gratitude from Naaman is that he committed to worship only the Lord, the one true God. now toward this end he asked for two mule loads of earth from Israel and you have to ask yourself why in the world did he want two loads of dirt I asked that question I came up with two possible answers and there may be more but it may be that he wanted to stand on holy ground when he was sacrificing to the Lord God in Aram outside of the promised land if that's the case it was certainly a pagan idea but it's certainly understandable for a man who had been raised in paganism and now had been converted that he would have that confusion. So that's a possibility. Another possibility is that he wanted to worship as the Israelites had worshipped when they were outside the promised land during the wilderness wanderings. In Exodus chapter 20, right after the Lord gave the people his law, he said to them, make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burn offerings and fellowship offerings. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. And that wherever that kind of altar was built to him. So maybe he had the right idea about having an altar to the Lord outside the land. We don't know. But we do know that his motive was to worship the Lord. And he had already begun to consider the consequences of that commitment to exclusive worship of the Lord God in his home. He was a commander of the army of Aram. And in his position, he lived at the intersection of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man in a way that many of us will never face. The way in which all of our soldiers face every day. See, through faith he was no longer of this world, but as the right-hand man to his king, he was still in the world. And one of his duties to the king was to attend him in his worship. The king of Aram went to the temple of Rimmon, and there he would worship. And Naaman had to go with him. And he was committing, he knew he wasn't going to worship this god anymore, but he was going to be there. And when the king of Aram bowed down as his right-hand man, he had to bow down too. And it's for this civil duty that he would fulfill on the side of many men that he asked for the forgiveness of the Lord, that it would be misconstrued as worship and would lead others astray. And we're anxious to hear Elisha's response, aren't we? Is this okay, Elisha? Is this a bad thing? You know, he doesn't say. But in that, like us, when we consider the worship of God, we have our strong opinions. We have our strong convictions. And some are more right than others, and some are less right than others. But Elisha answered this struggling conscience with a benediction. And he said, go in peace. And we shouldn't read into that approval or disapproval. We don't know. But we do know that he simply committed Naaman to the care of the God who had saved him. there was evidence that the Spirit of God was already working in Naaman to pursue the life to which all believers are called, to which you and I are called as Christians. As Paul writes in Romans chapter 12, in view of God's mercy, because of what God has done for you, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able, Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing, and perfect will. And that's what Naaman was doing. He's trying to sort this out. It didn't look right. It didn't feel right. But he had this obligation. How am I going to settle this? And he asked for forgiveness, knowing that he's going to face that challenge. And we need to know that's the challenge we all face. This is the Christian life. We're constantly growing in the grace and the knowledge of God in Christ as we study His Word, as we listen to it preached, as we meditate on it and we pray over it. And by the illuminating and enabling power of the Holy Spirit, we seek more and more, more and more, to put off those things that are old and they're disgusting to God and to put on those things that God wants us to put on. And we don't all make progress at the same pace, at the same time, in the same way. But for those who are saved by grace through faith, we do make progress. Naaman was off to a good start. Might not have been a perfect start, but it was a good start. And Elisha sent him away, go in peace. And I tell you today, people of God, like Naaman, we each day are to go in peace as we pursue God's good and perfect will, trying our best to the glory of God to live by his word. Sometimes we'll get it right. Sometimes we'll get it wrong. But we can know that we're in the care of the God who saved us and he'll work it out through us. And finally and briefly, we want to consider how in Gehazi the grace of God was despised by selfish pride. We've had great encouragement today from the story of Naaman. I hope you've been encouraged. We've seen the grace of God at work in this man who was outside of Israel and brought to saving faith. We've seen the gospel displayed in bright lights in him. But our story closes in verses 20-27 with a sad sequel that served an immediate purpose which was to indict Israel for its lack of faith and to serve as a warning for the church today that we'd be too full of ourselves and our own righteousness as we consider the Christian lives of others. You've heard the expression, the road to hell is paid with good intentions. Well, I'll tell you, Gehazi was on that road. He had good intentions. He disagreed with the free grace shown to Naaman and in his own mind he had good reason. In verse 20, he said to himself, now here's him reasoning to himself, The master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I'll run after him and get something from him. Here's a man who was convinced he was doing the work of God. Because Elisha must have made a mistake. He shouldn't have spared this man. He knew the law. And according to Leviticus chapter 14, an Israelite who was cleansed of leprosy had to pay. He had to pay for all the sacrifices that were offered for his cleaning and for his atonement. And even if he was a poor Israelite, he had to pay something. There was no free lunch. It wasn't supposed to be free, especially to an outsider. Naaman had to pay. And so he went to get payment. Now, Gehazi was right in one score. Someone had to pay. The price of salvation is not free. Someone has to pay. In the law, the people pay, but not to secure their salvation. It was a type, it was a picture, a demonstration of what needed to happen for them to be forgiven, for them to be cleansed, for them to be made whole. It pointed to Christ. Christ is the one who paid. For every Israelite that was ever saved, Christ paid. And for every Gentile that was ever saved, and will ever be saved, was paid by Christ. Naaman's price had already been paid. Naaman had taken the law in the wrong way, and was applying it in the wrong way. And so he raced after Naaman with good intentions, in the name of the Lord. And as he went, he devised this scheme for how he was going to get this money out of Naaman. And they thought he'd just use a white lie, tell him a good story, get a little money, all be good. Little did he realize what he would realize much later is how right Solomon was when he penned in Proverbs 1, verse 19, Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain. It takes away the lives of those who get it. Be careful what you work for. Be careful what you ask for. If it's ill-gotten gain, it will consume you. And somewhere along the way, the selfishness got twisted in with Gehazi's Israel pride. It started off with good intentions. It turned out to be a self-serving thing. By the time this was all said and done, he got back to Elisha's house. He was hiding what he'd done. He snuck it into the house. He hid it away. And he tried to play cool with Elisha and just kind of hang out. Elisha said, where have you been? Gehazi. And he lied to the prophet of God. Naaman didn't recognize his deception, but Elisha and the power of the Spirit did. In fact, he'd seen the whole thing. And he'd seen into Gehazi's heart. And we need to know that when Gehazi lied to Elisha, he was lying to the Holy Spirit who anointed Elisha. He had dishonored God's name as he coveted that which belonged to Naaman. And so in God's justice, it came swift and it came perfectly and it gave him more than he asked for, but nothing less than he deserved. And he was made a leper and his children forever after him. And Gehazi went out from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow. The stories come full circle. By the grace of God, Naaman, a Gentile, a leper, was cleansed in body and spirit and brought into the true Israel of God. And in the justice of God, Gehazi, who was a member of the covenant community, despised God's grace, inherited Naaman's leprosy, and was cast out of the covenant community. Gehazi portrays Israel. And this is what happened to Israel. They were cast aside. Naaman portrays to every generation, to you and to me, the hope of salvation for the true Israel of God, who are saved by grace through faith. Paul writes in Romans chapter 11, beginning in verse 5, reflecting on this time, actually about Elijah more than Elisha, But looking back to this time of Israel's judgment and how the Lord had set aside a hundred prophets for himself, he said, so too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works. And if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then? What's the significance of that? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. Paul was looking back at what we consider today. The story, this period in which we see Naaman rescued through faith, by grace. And he's saying that in the providence of God, Israel of old was hardened and stumbled and put aside so that the way is open for salvation to the Gentiles, to you and to me. Naaman enjoyed a foretaste of this great salvation that is now open to all who are immersed in the grace of God. Grace that is directed by his providence. Grace that is received through faith and grace that is displayed in gratitude to the one true God, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.