Naaman's Servant Girl [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

How can you think you're giving something to God when all you're doing is holding what he's already given you? You can't buy God's love, you can't buy God's grace and you sure can't buy salvation. The Gospel is simple and the Gospel is free. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series titled, God Used Who?

And you may just be surprised as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. And even though we're marred and broken by sin in this world, have you ever noticed that most people, unless they just have a totally seared conscience and horrible heart, you know, most people like to give you directions if you ask them. You've ever noticed that? Now, it's a little different now that we've got the GPS and we don't stop and ask for directions very much. Not that I myself ever needed directions, but have you ever noticed that most people, it might be an occasional person who's just ruthless, but most people, they like to kind of give you directions. You know what, like if there's some, you're lost, and you're just like, can you tell me how to get so-and-so, and they're from that area, and they know, and they can give that to you.

It's surprising how people do it. One time I was traveling with Jeff, our Sharing the Lights Executive Director, and we were trying to get from the Dallas area to some retreat center north of Lubbock, Texas, and we are on an isolated road in the middle of absolutely nowhere. One of those Texas roads that just, it just goes forever, you can see forever, and there's nothing you can see. There are no houses, there are no people, there are some cows, and no other cars, and the GPS, the phone went dead, and we're just lost. I just had no idea, and so we pulled over the side of the road, we don't even have a map, you know, you don't even carry maps anymore. Just count on your phone to get you there.

Well, if it goes dead, you have no idea. We're sitting on the side of the road, and an old pickup truck pulled up behind us, and we pulled up behind us, and we're like, okay, maybe this is good, and then he kind of pulled up beside us, and we looked in the pickup truck. It looked like a scene out of the movie Deliverance. I mean, these guys, these guys were weird.

I mean, there was an old cowboy driving this thing, and his his young son, it looked like he was about 20 years old, and he was sitting in there, and he wouldn't smile. He was just kind of staring at us like this, and they're like, what are you boys doing? And we're like, well, I thought about saying, we're fine, just take a little break here, but we told him where we were trying to go. He said, well, follow me, and he said, I'll just take you over that way, and so he started driving, and we're driving behind him. I'm like, are we going into a trap here?

But sure enough, he led us to where we're going. I mean, old codger, old crusty, old cowboy, and it's like, I kind of like to help you get where you're going. There's something inside of us that if you could give somebody a precious gift, it causes you some kind of joy. That's the only way you can explain why a little girl like this would want something for the man who'd taken her captive. It's something, but have you ever, what's the most precious thing you ever gave somebody?

Think of it. It's just, maybe it didn't cost a lot of money, but it was just precious because maybe only you could give it to them, and it meant so much to them. You see, it just means so, so much. We had a funeral this Friday for a very precious man, and her daughter, his daughter, Kathy, told me this story that her dad, Brent, had suffered memory impairment from stroke and disease, and he had come to that place where he could not articulate words very much, and he couldn't remember things. And so she, one day during Christmas season, she was just thinking about how she'd read that sometimes music will stimulate the brain, where you could remember things, that music, and it's true, and so she was remembering that there was this story that her dad would tell about a time when he and his wife were young, and this wife, Kathy's mother, who died when Kathy was two, and she never knew her mom, and Brent and his wife, when they were younger, went to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, and sat on the front row, and walked around deaf for three days, but how much they loved it.

It was this great memory, and so Kathy just had this come up in her mind, and she pulled out her phone, and decided to play a Lynyrd Skynyrd song for her dad, and she played Freebird, Freebird, and she said when the Freebird started, he started crying, and then he started laughing, and then he mouthed the words to the song, which began, if I leave here tomorrow will you still remember me, and at the end of the song he looked at her, and he said you remember, you remember. Now who's more blessed in that little gift, the dad or the daughter, if you can give somebody a gift of life, and she said, Kathy said, I saw grace, a gift that just came, when you see grace at work, when you see a gift that comes, and you've been the instrument through which that gift has come, there's a joy that is unspeakable about it. It is more blessed to give, than it is to receive, and there's no greater blessing of giving, than giving somebody the directions to Jesus. So this little girl in an unthinkable act of love, I wish that my master would go to Israel, there's a prophet there, and it may be just as shocking that Naaman would go, because there was so much animosity between Syria and Israel, even as there is today, this past week Syrian forces fired missiles against Israeli aircraft, as the Israeli Israeli forces are committed to destroying weapons that are developed in Syria, that are being funneled to Hezbollah, there is a very dire conflict that is going on, and millions of Syrians are escaping into Lebanon, into refugee camps, and there is still a tension, that same tension that was there in ancient time, and Naaman is the head of the entire military of Syria, and Israel is an enemy, and he's gonna go to Israel for his healing, when a person's need in the fullness of time is met by the offer of grace, that's when a person will be changed, his need was so dire, and he was willing to go, can I just say this, you will never be able to know, unless the Holy Spirit just shows you, which he can do, but you'll never be able to know for sure, you'll never be able to know for sure who it is, that's going to accept the things of God, and who's not, I have throughout my life, I have been mystified, people that I thought would be so ready to accept the gospel, and aren't, and people I thought would never be a chance, I'd be scared to even mention Jesus to them, might be the ones ready to just take hold, we've laughed over the years, my sister-in-law Catherine had a good friend that Catherine thought about inviting her to church, they were unchurched, but she thought, oh I just don't think, I don't think she'd go for it, and so just time went by, time went by, so she just never invited her, until finally her friend came to her and said, Catherine could I go to church with you, it was so funny, we put the two of them up here on this platform just to tell their story, and laugh about it, the fact is there's probably somebody in my life right now, and probably in yours, that you think like this little girl would have had every right to think, well Naaman would never go to Israel, he's the enemy, and yet God's been making the way, we had a man our church, King Brown, who just would walk around telling everybody about Jesus, and his theory of evangelism was actually pretty sound, he says I know that God's gonna save some of these people, I know he's gonna do it, so I just tell everybody, because you know you're gonna get some, kind of a good way to look at it actually.

That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. God's love, you've heard about it with your ears, you've believed it in your mind, now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end.

You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you, and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like. For any woman who has searched for true love, which you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of the five love languages, says, the incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love.

After all, it's a match made in heaven. It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. Then he comes, Naaman does. And this simple gospel is at first offensive to Naaman. Elisha doesn't even come out to meet him. He just sends a servant out.

Why? I think it's because Elisha is wanting Naaman to understand it's not about Elisha. Naaman says, I thought he would come out here and wave his hand and do some hocus pocus. It's like one preacher said, he wanted him to be the Wizard of Oz. If he told him, go get me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West and bring it to me and I'll heal you, Naaman would have done it. But instead he gave him nothing to do. The simplest, it's like it's the simplest thing that Elisha could think of. Just, oh go dip in the Jordan River seven times. Give him something. Elisha didn't want to give any appearance that this is about you being able to buy this or procure this through any of your prowess.

You see the irony. Naaman couldn't get healed in Syria and he had everything. Power, prestige, money, servants, and skills. So he came to Israel hoping to get healed. What did he bring with him?

Money, power, servants, prowess, and skills. So he brought all the things that couldn't heal him in Syria hoping that somehow it would work in Israel. And Elisha is led to the Lord here to say, I'm not even going to come out and talk to you because I want the exclusive attention to rest upon God who heals you. And it seems so simple that Elisha is offended by it. The simplicity of the gospel is a scandal.

Argentinian pastor and author Juan Carlos Ortiz is a hilarious and powerful man of God and he would do interesting things with his congregation. And one time he was trying to make a point about the simplicity of the gospel so he said to his congregation, he said, can anybody tell me what is two plus two? Nobody said anything. He said, it's not a rhetorical question. He said, somebody tell me what is two plus two?

Everybody's quiet. What's the trick? And so he said on the second pew, he said there was an actual professor, a mathematics professor, a PhD in math. And he said, professor, can you tell us what is two plus two? And professor sheepishly grinned and kind of said, I don't know. So he looked at a five-year-old boy and he said, son, can you tell me what is two plus two? And the boy said, four. He said, right. And then he made his point. Because it was so simple, everybody thought it couldn't be for them. Here's the irony. What it took for Naaman to be saved was for Naaman to bring nothing to the table.

When you get to the point that you realize you've got nothing that you could bring to the table, it is just that simple. These children that stood up here today and professed their faith, just simple, beautiful. I love it. We had baptisms last week. And as the baptismal candidate was put into the baptismal pool and would sit down in the water before being immersed, Pastor Dillon read a statement of faith from each one of them. And one was a small child, maybe four or five years old, which a four or five-year-old child can profess faith in Christ. Listen, you don't got to understand everything about God in order to be saved or else Naaman would be saved. And so this was the simplest little statement of faith. And I don't, maybe I'm paraphrasing it, but Pastor Dillon read out the words of the child who said, I believe in Jesus. I know God is real because why else would I be here?

Confound all the scientists with that question right there. It's such a simple thing. The gospel is simple. A little child shall lead them. Out of the mouths of babes he has ordained praise. Unless you become like a little child, Jesus said, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so closely related to it that Naaman was having to learn in order to really be saved, he had to understand is simple and he's humbled. And this is the other part of it.

It's free, utterly, completely, totally free. Thus when Elisha was healed and he came and he said, I know there's no other God now. I'm not going to worship any other God. And he is a believer now and he's so excited and he just wants to give, he wants to pay Elisha. And there's nothing wrong with obviously people of gratitude giving to the Lord and as we do every week and as we invite you to do. But in this particular case, what Elisha, the man of God knew, now is not the time, now is not the place because Naaman could be confused.

He could be confused. He's been paying for things his whole life and I don't want him to think that he's going to, that he's paying for this. This is utterly and completely free and it's what God did and I didn't do it and I don't want him to pay me and I don't want him, so I want him to understand it's totally 100 percent free.

There's just something in our nature that is drawn to the law and we want to feel like that somehow we can pay for something, we can merit something. But if you're really ever going to be saved, you got to understand it's totally free. Look at it this way, even if you were to give something to God and God would bless you because of that and you would be saved because of that, wouldn't it be that whatever good gift you gave God was already God's anyway?

He's the creator of the ends of the earth and he made you. Again, Pastor Ortiz one time went in to preach and he grabbed a deacon beforehand and he gave the deacon his wallet. He had a whole bunch of cash in it. He said, will you hold this for me during the service? The deacon said sure. Well in the middle of the sermon, Pastor Ortiz stopped and he spoke to the deacon. He said, would you please bring me that wallet out of your pocket? I want to take it and I want to take all the money out of it and keep it and not give it back to you and the man jumped right up and gave him his wallet and the whole congregation gasped and they said, what is this? People are just running up and giving him money out of their wallet.

He can't do that to people and he stopped and explained that actually he had given him that money before the service to hold it for him and in fact a matter if the man had said no it would have been a crime because he would then be stealing the money. How can you think you're giving something to God when all you're doing is holding what he's already given you? You can't buy God's love. You can't buy God's grace and you sure can't buy salvation. The gospel is simple and the gospel is free but Gehazi, the servant of Elisha who should have known better having been mentored by the man of God instead he got greedy he said this rich Syrian he's our enemy and he wanted to give us all this money so he just goes and conjures a lie and says Elisha has sent me and we have some people just come from some prophets young men and they need some provisions and he takes the money so it stands in contrast stark contrast the man who receives freely is healed and clean but the man who thinks that blessings come with payment attached lines up with Naaman's previous diseased condition grace heals grace sets free but if you think you're going to be in a relationship with God that's based on payments your soul will remain diseased and you'll miss the beauty of the gospel so it's a story in the end about a little girl who in a very unlikely way wants her captor to be healed and a little girl who in a very unlikely way believes that a mighty military man could be healed and a little girl who in that sense bears the cost of instead of holding in bitterness and hoping that her enemy would perish wants him to have life because it's meant to point us to the true suffering servant Jesus he came and he died for the ungodly while they were still in their sin this is love not that we first love God but that he first loved us and not holding bitterness against us for the sin and rebellion that we'd had against him he suffered all the way to a cross and he said father forgive them they don't know what they're doing he loved his enemies and believe it or not we can too and that's the gospel Alan Wright today's teaching Naaman's servant girl in the series God used who? Stick with us Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and today's final word God's love you've heard about it with your ears you've believed it in your mind now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book lover of my soul the bible is a love story from beginning to end you are the spiritual bride of Christ the perfect bridegroom the bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you to win you and to walk with you hand in hand for any man who has fallen in love with a woman you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like for any woman who has searched for true love what you long for can only be found fully in God Gary Chapman renowned author of the five love languages says the incredible reality that God pursues us and love comes to life and lover of my soul ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart accept Christ's proposal enjoy his embrace revel in his love after all it's a match made in heaven it's lover of my soul by Alan Wright the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org when we start the program every day Alan we talk about how our desire is to pray healing and hope by sharing the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and that seems extremely true with today's teaching you know it's a marvel to me Daniel this unnamed servant girl of Naaman scholars think perhaps it's likely she was taken from her homeland captured may have seen her parents be killed and she's held against her will and becomes a servant to this powerful man Naaman and she wants them to be healed yeah isn't that remarkable wow as she she wants the one who is her captor perhaps the one who's responsible for her parents murder she wants them to be healed it's a beautiful it's a beautiful story in a beautiful picture and in the end the invitation to us all like Naaman who didn't have anything that he could do no mighty deed no price that he could pay but just dipped in the waters and I think maybe for someone today God's just reminding you his grace is already there just immerse yourself in it today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries you