I'm going to give you the condensed version of a message that will probably be repeated somewhere down the road with many additions to it on a Sunday morning in preparation for preaching to preachers. And I've always wanted to preach on this particular individual of the Bible, but I never have. Matter of fact, in 39 years of being a Christian, I've only heard one message and it was over the radio and actually let's listen to it again on the internet. I just wanted to hear it again on this individual, a man by the name of Gehazi. How many of you lift up your hand and say, I've heard a message on the life of Gehazi? Okay, I think five people. Okay, maybe six. Maybe somebody's preached it. All right. I got enough preachers here that probably somebody has preached it and probably do a better job than I will. But anyway, 2 Kings 5, verse number 20. Gehazi's story is the sequel to Naaman's story that we saw last week. We're talking about the fascinating lives of forgotten people. The last eight verses of 2 Kings will tell the story of his tragic life. Look if you would, verse number 20. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared." It's an old English word used in a different way. We would use it spared in the sense of let him off the hook, but it actually means that Elisha has withheld himself. He's kept himself back from receiving what Naaman the Syrian wanted to give him. Behold, my master hath spared. He's held himself back. from Naaman the 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. What my master has refused, I'm going to take some of it. Look at verse 21. So Gehazi followed after Naaman, and when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him. Now that's a big deal. If you were a man of Naaman's status, you would not get off of your donkey or camel or whatever it was you're riding to meet someone that was a servant, a lesser station than you. It was evidence of the work that God had done in Naaman's life. Look what he goes on to say. He lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, It is all well. And he said all is well, everything's okay. My master hath sent me, we know that's a lie, don't we, 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 talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments or clothing, and laid them upon two of his, Naaman's servants, and they bare they carry them before him Gehazi. Look at verse 24, And we came to the tower, This is a fortified hill outside the city of Samaria. He took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house. Now we're not really told whose house it was. We don't know if it's Gehazi's house. We don't know if it's an empty house. We don't know if it's Elisha's house. We're not told. We just know that he hid them. It seems to indicate that it's either Elisha's house or near that. Look what he says. And he let the men go and they departed. Look at verse 25. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he answered, Thy servant went nowhither. I ain't been anywhere. Verse 26. And he said unto him, Went not my 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 olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave, cling unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Naaman's story is a story of faith. It's a story of deliverance and glory. It's a story of a leper, not a leopard, a leper who had been made clean. A sinner who had become a saint. He travels from Samaria at the word of a young maiden. He's stricken with the horrible disease of leprosy. He travels hundreds of miles from Syria to Samaria in northern Israel. And there, at the word of a young maiden who was a slave girl in his own home, he travels to the prophet Elisha. hearing that maybe he could recover him of his leprosy. Elisha sends word to Naaman to go and to bathe himself, to dip himself seven times in Jordan River. After a moment of anger and somebody talking some sense into him, he goes to the Jordan River, he begins to dip and bathe himself in the river. On the seventh time, in obedience to the word of the prophet given to him by God, Naaman comes out clean on the outside and he's clean on the inside. You say, preacher, how do you know that? His leprosy goes away, and he begins to put his faith in the true and the living God. Look back in chapter 5 and find, if you would please, verse 14. The Bible said that he went down, dipped himself seven times, and then look at the last part of it. His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and He was clean. But then when you come to verse 15, He returned to the man of God. He and all His company stood before Him and said, Behold, now I know there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. He puts His faith in the living and true God. He turns from idols to worship the living and true God. But Gehazi's story, the sequel, is a story of betrayal. and covetousness, and greed, and shame. Gehazi's name means valley of vision or sight. He was a man of vision, but like Lot of old. His was a vision of low places. He had sight, but it wasn't spiritual sight. His vision had become clouded by the sin of covetousness and greed, and Gehazi was a man who minded earthly things. I want to preach to you this thought. Gehazi, the man whose greed killed him. Gehazi, the man whose greed killed him. But you know what I found as I began to study the life of Gehazi? It didn't start out that way. As a matter of fact, I believe he started out a dedicated man. I believe he was a believer in the God of Israel. In fact, the Bible tells me in verse 20 that he was the servant of Elisha. He was servant to Elisha the prophet. The call of God was upon his life. He wasn't just an ordinary servant, no. He had dedicated himself to the prophetic ministry. I believe probably when he started out, his motives were right. His heart was hungry to be the man that God had called him to be, to serve alongside the great prophet Elisha, as Elisha had one time, what the Bible said, washed the feet or served his predecessor, the prophet Elijah. Oh, no doubt there was lots of promise in the life of this young preacher. Many may have predicted he would go on to do even greater works than even Elijah and Elisha had done. For many in Israel, no doubt the sky was the limit for a man by the name of Gehazi. Somebody wrote this. They said, "...Elisha fell air to the mantle of Elijah and to a double portion of his spirit, so that he could part the waters of Jordan, multiply a cruce of oil into a cellar full of oil, raise the dead, make a leper clean. And just as the mantle of Elijah had fallen on Elisha, so might the mantle of Elisha fall upon Gehazi." Gehazi had seen Elisha's godly character. He had seen his unswerving faithfulness. He saw his mighty, miraculous acts double the miracles of his predecessor Elijah. But none of that had found its way into the heart of Gehazi. You see, I believe he started out a dedicated man, but somewhere along the way, now watch it, he became a discontented man. I Timothy 6.6, the Bible says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. You know, I found one of the most difficult virtues of the Christian life is contentment. Paul said, I've learned. He said, I've learned through God's school of teaching and training. In whatsoever state I find myself, I'm paraphrasing, therewith to be content. The danger of a discontented heart. Naaman's going to return to the house of Elisha. He does, after he's cleansed. He's a new man. What was it first? A bribe to get his healing is now a blessing. Look what he says over in verse 15. He says, last part of it, he said, I know that there's no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. That word blessing means a gift. I want to reward you. I want to give you a gift. I want to be a blessing to you for you being such a blessing to me. It's interesting that when you go back to verse number 5, He's brought with Him an amazing amount of wealth. Back in verse number 5, he's got ten talents of silver on the back of donkeys. He's got six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of clothing. I began to do a little research and there was some difference of opinion, but I sort of landed that their name had a gift. that probably in today's money would be somewhere between two and four million dollars. It was an enormous amount of wealth, and he's wanting to give every bit of it to Elisha. Look what Elisha does, verse 16. But he said, As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive none. And Naaman urged him to take it, but he refused. In other instances, the prophets of God did receive gifts and blessing and love offerings from the people. But in this instance, Elisha refused. Here was a man that was newly converted from a pagan land. He knew little to nothing of Jehovah God. He knew little to nothing of the prophetic ministry. He had just received a gift of healing. And Elisha probably didn't want Naaman to think that somehow, some way, the gift of God could be bought with money. Can I help us to understand, folks, that when God gives, it is without money and without price. Amen? And he didn't want Naaman to think in any way that he had bought the grace and the gift and the goodness of God. I don't believe you wanted Naaman to think that he had anything to do with his healing. I believe that Elisha at that moment was pushing and deflecting all the glory to God lest that Naaman would go back to Syria and say, the prophet recovered me of my leprosy. No, he couldn't say that. Elisha had never seen him. He never spoke to him in person. He had never done any kind of hocus pocus and waved his hand in any incantation. Matter of fact, he had had no contact with the prophet at all. The only person that Naaman could give any glory to was the God of heaven. Elisha, in this instance, I believe, wanted all the praise and all the glory to go to God alone. It was a different set of circumstances. Gehazi saw the same donkeys laden with stuff that Elisha saw, but he had a different perspective. The green-eyed monster of jealousy had already bitten Gehazi. Somehow or another he was discontent with where he was at, and he wanted more. He was discontent in his own heart, and he wanted what Elisha had refused. Can I help us to understand something? When it comes to this matter of sin and failure, like in the life of Gehazi, people don't just fall into it. People don't accidentally fall into adultery. They don't accidentally fall into internet pornography. They don't accidentally fall into drug addiction and alcoholism and drunkenness. No. Can I help us to understand that people think they rationalize their way into sin. And that's exactly what Gehazi has done. He has rationalized himself into sin. Oh, it was a subtle little thing. It was just a thought that began to creep into. Can you believe somebody decided they want to call me while I'm preaching? That is nuts. I think the devil is having a fit tonight, isn't he? You say, Preacher, that's just technology. Well, at that moment, the devil made me mad. But anyway, let's keep going. I've never had that happen in all the world. Alright? So anyway, I'm thinking, who in the world is at home doesn't know that I'm at church on Wednesday night and I've got this thing on what you call Do Not Disturb. So who knows what? Let's get back to preaching, okay? And so anyway, Gehazi, now think about it. He began to creep into his heart. This discontent. This, I deserve better and I deserve more. Gehazi had served in the shadow of Elisha. No doubt, maybe he was tired of serving in the shadows. Maybe he was tired of being the servant of Elisha and he wanted to be the master. I don't know. Maybe it was tough living off of a prophet's wage and somehow or another he's thinking in his mind, listen, I did more than Elisha did in getting you down into that water and cleansed it. And he might not want anything, but I sure do. I deserve it. Maybe he was tired of being a servant, and he wanted to be served. Look over verse 26 of chapter number 5. The Bible said, and he said in him, this is Elisha talking to him in the middle part of the verse, Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? He's saying, Gehazi, is this a time for you? to enrich yourself and have all of these things that you're dreaming of outside the will of God for your life? Can I tell you that covetous has a way of bringing an ugliness out of our life that no other sin does? Just being envious of what somebody else has, or our station in life, or feeling like that somehow or another God doesn't bless us as much as we deserve to be blessed, or whatever it might be. It was covetous, listen to me, that caused Lot to take his family into Sodom. It was covetousness, the green-eyed monster of jealousy and envy and greed that caused Saul at the Song of the Women to say that Saul is slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands, and he's jealous, and he's envious, and he wants that fame for himself and nothing for David. And it caused him to hate David to the point that he would murder him. Can I tell you it would be the green-eyed monster of envy and covetousness and greed that would take King David in his middle ages, in that middle-aged years as he's on his rooftop. He's got women and wives in his harem, and he looks down and sees a young woman that's the only wife of her husband, and he lusts after her. And it's envy and jealousy and covetousness and greed that says, get her for me. I don't know about you, but it's pretty powerful stuff. Can I tell you, it's going to be greed and discontent that will cause Gehazi to betray his master Elisha. Look at verse number 20. He said, last phrase, "...but as the Lord liveth..." You remember, Elisha said, "...as the Lord liveth, I'll take nothing." Gehazi says, "...as the Lord liveth, I'll run after Him and I'll take something." I wasn't going to share this, but I am. I wasn't going to put it in your notes. I'm just going to give it to you quickly. I'll preach it again somewhere down the road. Can I tell you we're in danger of falling prey to the sin of covetous when we believe we deserve more than God's given us? It's not wrong to have. It's not. By the way, you don't have to be wealthy to be covetous. You don't. God gives us what He can trust us with. Remember I read that verse, Godliness with contentment is great gain? There's times that God knows if He allows us to have the wealth at times that we desire, that we will no longer be godly. Because it'll change us. I'm using that illustration sooner than I thought, Brother Wesley. Brother Wesley was sharing with me of a man that he knew of that had won the lottery. He instantly became unbelievably wealthy. But he's so wealthy that he's paralyzed by his own wealth. He owns cars, a high-dollar vehicle he paid cash for, but he can't even bring himself to go and get it. The man's literally drinking himself to death. You see, sometimes what we want will kill us. We know that we're in danger of falling prey to the sin of covenants when we're more interested in what we can get than what we can give. This is where it comes to preachers. I don't know if God... I don't know that I have the place or the right or the opportunity that will come to preach this on a larger stage. I know I have meetings coming up where there will be probably hundreds of preachers there. I don't know that God will give me that platform. But God spoke to my heart, and I know I'll preach it to our Bible college students. I know I'll preach it in some pastors' meetings. I believe that God's talking to us men of God, that when we're more concerned about promoting our name than we are proclaiming God's name, we're in danger of being covetous. When we're more interested in our name on the sign than God's name in the community, when we're more interested in the numbers we can tout than the glory we can give to God, we're in trouble of being covetous. Can I just go ahead and say this to us preachers? We may be in danger of being covetous when we're more concerned with our gain than we are God's glory. That's why the Bible says that if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And then he goes on to say, mortify therefore your members which are on the earth. And he gives a listing of sins. And then at the very end he said, and covetousness, which is idolatry. men and women of God tonight, listen, dear Christian, when you and I allow covenants to get into our heart, God said it is the equivalent of idolatry, because we want something and we love something more than God Himself. At that moment, Gehazi loved gain more than he loved God. He loved stuff more than he did his Savior. Do you see it? It's just there. He was a dedicated man. He was a discontented man. But here lastly, I'm telling you, I'm giving you the condensed version. He was a deceptive man. Look with me, if you would, please, as we continue the story. Gehazi's envy will turn to covetousness, which will turn to greed. His greed will grip him. Look at verse 21. He's thought it all out. He's rationalized it in verse 20. He said, I will run after him. That's all in his mind. But look at verse 21. Now he puts it into action. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. He didn't pursue God. He pursued gain. and he deceives Naaman. Let's read it. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lied it down from his charity. I'm trying to preach fast, if you can tell that, to meet him and said, Is all well? Is everything okay? He said, Everything's fine. But my master, he's made up a believable story. Can I just give you the details of it without reading it all? He says, listen, there's two sons of the prophets, there's a couple Bible college students, and they're needy, that have unexpectedly arrived from Mount Ephraim. My master Elisha really didn't want anything for himself, but if you could spare just a town of the silver and a couple changes of clothes, I'm sure he would count that an honor and be a blessing that he could meet the needs of those two preachers. We know every bit of that was a lie. He made every bit of that up just to get what he wanted. And he used Elisha and the Lord. Isn't it amazing how people blame God with their sin? As the Lord lives, God's will, God wants me to have that. He said, no, just take two. I got ten. I'll give you two. By the way, Gehazi is going to walk away with about $200,000 and stuff in today's money. He didn't live like a king in Israel. He didn't want to raise suspicion. Verse 24, so while the two Syrians are carrying it, he reaches a certain point outside the city and he tells the two servants, hey listen, you guys go on. I don't want to raise them. In his mind he's thinking, I don't want anybody to get suspicious. What am I doing with two Syrian servants and they're carrying a stash of money? And he hides it. Nobody knows he's gotten away. I can imagine as he stashes it in his house, his breathing starts to steady, his heart rate begins to decrease. You ever notice when people sin, how their breathing gets heavy and their heart beating fast? Suddenly it's all coming down. A smile comes across his face. Nobody knows. But oh, what tangled webs we weave when we practice to deceive. He didn't just deceive Naaman, he deceived himself. He's feeling good about the haul that he's hidden away in his house. He returns to Elisha as if nothing's happened. He forgot the truth of Numbers 32, 23, that be sure your sin will find you out. Look at verse 25, but he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Which comest thou, Gehazi? Where have you been? Where art thou? He's got to lie again. One lie is always going to lead to another lie. That servant, whence comest thou? That servant went no whither. I've not gone anywhere. I've been right here working all the time. A little out of breath, sweaty from weeding the garden. Do you need anything, Master? I'm here to serve you. All the while, Elijah knew exactly where Gehazi had gone and what he had done. He said, did not my heart travel with you? Did you not realize that I was there in spirit, that God has shown me the whole fiasco? There is absolutely nothing hidden from me, Gehazi. I saw it all. Then he tells him, is it a time? Think about what you've done. Do you not realize that you just dishonored your own name? You don't realize you've dishonored my name and you've brought reproach on the God of Israel? It's not about you, Gehazi. It's not about me, Gehazi. It's about the Lord, and to Him belongs all the glory. And not only have you gotten gain, but you've robbed God of His glory. Did you see it? Such is the destructive power of covetousness and greed. Oh, the dedicated man became a discontented man who became a deceptive man who lastly became a defiled man. Look at verse number 27. Elisha says, "...the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee." His shame just became your shame. His disease just became your disease. His defilement just became your defilement. The leprosy of which Naaman was cleansed now clung to the body of Gehazi. One minute he's a whole man, now he's a leprous man. Wealth does a leper no good in Israel. He's got it, but he can't spend it. He's an outcast. Greed hadn't just defiled his heart, it had defiled his life. And it disqualified him from the prophetic ministry. I'm convinced that there men of God that are so eaten up with greed that they still fill pulpits, but God's hand of blessing is long gone. Because they're more interested in the gain than they are God. Gehazi's story is a story of what could have been. If ever a man lived a life who was embodied in the Bible's warning, the love of money is the root of all evil, that man's Gehazi. If ever a man was ensnared by the root of all evil, that man was Gehazi. If ever a man was turned away from grace by greed, that man was Gehazi. Someone wrote, this grubby little man's heart never rose above talents of silver, changes of raiment, and making money out of ministry. Isn't that amazing? But can I tell you, it's not just Gehazi's of the world, but it's all Christians that battle envy and discontent and covetousness and greed. I'm just going to give you an instance and I'll close. There'll be a man that will decide that I'm not happy in the relationship I'm in. I want that woman. I deserve her. There'll be a woman that'll say, I want that man that's not my husband. Do I not deserve to be happy? Can I help us understand something tonight? God did not save us just to be happy. God saved us to be holy. And there is a happiness that comes with being holy. That's pretty powerful, isn't it? Let's just determine tonight that we're not going to be Gehazi's. Let's bow our heads in prayer.