Living Hope

Pastor Philip Miller: Friends, do you realize you're going to see Naaman in glory? Not because of his great possessions that secured his place in heaven, but because our great God secured Naaman forever when in grace, He took possession of him, Himself in love for all eternity.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Welcome to Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy and we're so glad you joined us for this series on identity traps. Pastor Philip, you see this transformation that's going to occur with Naaman from transferring his security to his possessions to something far more valuable.

Pastor Philip Miller: Yeah, it's a beautiful story, isn't it? You see this guy who's a former enemy of Israel being now brought in and experiencing the love of being adopted into the covenant family of God. I mean, this is amazing. It's glorious.

And it really is a fundamental transformation of his identity. He used to look to his possessions to give him a sense of security in life. That's where he felt safe or everything was okay, he had amassed enough. And now all of a sudden now he's going to find that it's in the love of God who has taken possession of him that his ultimate security lies. And so it's a beautiful moment of transformation and we get to watch it right in real time. We get to watch it today.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Well, beloved, stay tuned after the message because Pastor Philip and I are going to discuss practically how God transforms how we look at our budget, how we look at the market, how we look at our retirement. But now, let's go to the pulpit of the Moody Church for part three of the sermon, "Naaman: Seeking Security Through Possessions." Now, grab your Bibles. We're in Second Kings, Chapter Five, starting at verse 13.

Pastor Philip Miller: Let's look at Naaman's healing now, verse 13. "But his servants came near and said to him, 'My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you. Will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, "Wash and be clean?"'" Just pause here for a moment. The servants' question here is almost impossible to translate well into English. But let me give you the logic of it and a little paraphrase, okay?

What he's saying is, "My father, you wanted some great prophetic word. You wanted some grand healing gesture. If the prophet had asked you to do something heroic, wouldn't you have done it? But what if what he has asked you, 'Wash and be clean,' does actually heal you? Is that not a great word after all? My father, you came all this way in search of healing. Will you not do this simple thing and wash?"

See, Naaman is faced with a choice here. He can hold on to his pride and ride off in a huff and remain unhealed. Or he can swallow his pride, climb down from his chariot, take off all his military raiment and set aside all the possessions he thinks are so valuable, and in nakedness enter the water like a helpless child with nothing to offer and everything to receive.

Well, what will he do? Verse 14: "So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." See, Naaman's healing came through humility, didn't it? In losing his pride, he gained purity. In contrition, he was cleansed.

When Naaman stood naked before God, vulnerable, exposed without all his adornments and wealth and privilege and accomplishments, everything he possessed, when he laid it all down, went into the water with empty hands, with nothing to his name, it was then that the Lord God healed him and made him whole.

And notice the inner healing actually preceded the outer healing. His pride died when he in faith entered into the waters and let go of everything else to grab ahold of the promise of God. And it is only after that that his healing showed up on the outside. What began in his soul was then mirrored in his body. And Naaman is reborn. As he comes out of the waters, he is reborn.

Verse 15: "Then he returned to the man of God, and he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, 'Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So accept now a present from your servant.' But he, Elisha, said, 'As the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive none.' And he urged him to take it, but he refused."

Now, this is a bold statement of faith from this Syrian commander: "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel." Isn't that amazing? Such faith. And yet, Naaman again here tries to leverage his wealth, doesn't he? Elisha will not receive this gift. Why? It's not just that Elisha is above a bribe, although that's true.

Elisha is attentive to what the Lord is doing in Naaman's soul. How Naaman's tendency is to find his security through possessions. And Elisha discerns that in this gift, Naaman is once again trying to use his possessions to secure himself. If Elisha accepts this gift in exchange for the healing, Naaman will think he's evened the scales, won't he? "I got a healing, but I gave you a gift." So Naaman wants a transaction, not grace.

He's trusting in his wealth to secure himself in life. But Elisha knows this is not how God works. This is not the lesson that God is teaching. God is no one's debtor and you cannot buy your way into the blessings of God. They can only be received by grace through faith in the promise of God. Grace is a free gift, freely offered, freely received. And so Elisha refuses the gift. We're not turning this into a transaction.

And Naaman finds security as he learns to receive grace with open hands. You see that? It was grace that slew his pride and awakened his trust in the promise of God. It was grace that met him and washed him when he was helpless in the river in childlike faith. It was grace that healed him and gave him new life. And it is in that same grace that Naaman must now learn how to live in childlike faith all the days of his life, that he is secured forever in the love of the Lord God.

This is what he must learn. You see the man whose name means gracious is finally learning what grace is all about. When it comes to God, friends, we bring nothing but our dirty hands to Him. And He cleanses us and fills them up with His abundant gifts of grace. This is our God. And Naaman finally gets it. He finally gets it. That's why he asks for yet another gift, another grace, more grace.

Verse 17: "Then Naaman said, 'If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule-loads of earth; for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord.'" I want two wagon-loads of dirt, Israel topsoil. I want to bring it back to my homeland. I'm going to dump it there. I'm going to build an altar so I can worship the one true God, worship Him all the days of my life, the God who has healed me.

Naaman, like most of the people in the ancient world, believed that the gods were regional, that they were geographically tethered and bound. And so Naaman wants to worship the one true God. He has no concept of how that could take place in Syria. So this is his strategy. He has been healed by God, but he has a lot to learn about God, the Lord of the nations. Amen? But we're watching the fruit of his conversion. He has a desire to worship God who has healed him by grace.

As he thinks about his homeland, though, Naaman realizes that his personal conversion is going to cause him some professional awkwardness. Verse 18: "'In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there,'" this is the storm god of Syria, "'leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.' And Elisha said to him, 'Go in peace.'"

So Ben-hadad is a worshiper of Rimmon. In Naaman's official duties, he's going to have to go into the temple, he's going to have to bow at the side of the king when the king bows. And he says, "May the Lord pardon me when I do this." It's not exactly the most courageous act of faithfulness you can ever imagine, but remember, Naaman's a man in process, isn't he? He's only been a worshiper of the true God for like a few minutes, right?

So let's give him a little bit of grace, which is what Elisha does. He says, "Go in peace." Peace, Shalom. This is the Jewish greeting for fellow Jews. Shalom. This is amazing that he would use this here. Go in the peace of the covenant-keeping God, my brother.

This is astonishing. The Syrian enemy whose arrow had slain the previous king is now welcomed as a child of the covenant, secure forever in the love of God by grace through faith in the promise of Yahweh. Amazing. Friends, do you realize you're going to see Naaman in glory? Not because of his great possessions that secured his place in heaven, but because our great God secured Naaman forever when in grace He took possession of him, Himself in love for all eternity.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter how much Naaman possessed—his war medals, his bank accounts, all his acquired assets. It didn't matter what possessions he held. What mattered was who was holding on to him, who possessed him. Because ultimate security, friends, comes by the grace of our Father. Amen? Ultimate security comes by the grace of our Father.

In Hebrews 13, verses five and six, there's a fascinating passage. It reads like this: "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'"

Do you follow the logic of these verses? It's fascinating. Keep your life free from the love of money. Okay, we get that. And be content with what you have. Okay, that makes sense so far. For, here's the reason, He, the Lord, has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." What does that have to do with money? That feels like a hard shift, change of topics, doesn't it? It's not.

He just said be content with what you have. What is it that you have that is worthy of the contentment of your life? You have the Lord God Himself who will never leave you, who will never forsake you, who has washed you clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, who gave up all the possessions of glory in order to take possession of you forever. You are secure in the Lord God in a way that your money can never give you.

Inflation will never devalue the everlasting love of your God. Thieves will never break in and steal the gracious protection of your Savior. Recessions can never diminish the undying love and care of your Father. Bankruptcies cannot touch the glories that He is keeping in heaven for you. So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" You see that?

Friends, our ultimate security comes by the grace of our Father. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. But thank God we belong to Jesus Christ now and all the days of our lives and then forevermore. To be possessed by Jesus is better than all the possessions of this earth. To be secure in Him is in the end the only security that matters. Friends, where else can you find security like this? As Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." Amen? Amen.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: This is Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy. You know, I just want to acknowledge that this program is made possible because of generous supporters just like you. And as a thank you for your gift today, we have a resource we'd love to share with you. So go to LivingHopeOffer.com or call us, 1-800-215-5001. We're so glad you've joined us today as we disarm Naaman's identity trap. Now, Pastor Philip, I just love the thought of this and the truth of it, that to be possessed by Jesus is greater than all possessions on earth. So let's linger there for a minute. Tell us more about being possessed by Jesus and what that means.

Pastor Philip Miller: Yeah, I mean it's a beautiful truth, isn't it? That Jesus has made us His treasure. This is amazing. Look what He sacrificed to obtain us, right? You know, we've been bought with a price, not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, you know, for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame. And what was that joy? It's so that He might sit down at the right hand of the Father and bring many sons and daughters to glory as His inheritance. Like, we are the treasured possession of our God.

And if that's true, and it is true, then He esteems us. There's deep dignity and value that's conferred on us, right? Because you know, we always talk about the price of something is whatever someone's willing to pay for it, right? That's how value is established. Well, look what Jesus was willing to pay for you and me. He was willing to lay down His life. Not because we're intrinsically worth that, but He has valued us like that.

And so because we are His treasure, we do have value and worth, not because again we're so great, but because He's valued us to the skies. That's amazing. And to be treasured like that, and to be loved like that, is to be loved all the way down, completely known, completely loved, completely valued.

And it's a kind of security that takes us beyond the walls of this world, right? Like you can't lose this. If we are secure in the love of God forever, Jesus says, "no one will be able to snatch them out of my hand. I've got you. I've got you now and forever, you're my treasured possession." If we are safe in His arms and in His hand for all of eternity, even death can't touch this.

And so this is so much better. We can try to secure our days with a little bit of comfort and a little bit of affluence and a little bit of protection. It's true, money can protect you from certain pains and ills in the world. And you ought to save and we ought to do all those things. We ought to be wise financial stewards, absolutely. But what we can't do is look to our money and our possessions to provide us the deep security that our souls desperately need that only God can provide.

God is our security. And so the money can come and go, but if our security is anchored in who God is, that He is with us always and He is our portion, He is our treasure, and He's the one who's treasured us, that's going to hold us. That'll possess us all the way through life and through death into eternity, into the world in the age to come. And that's a security no amount of money can ever do that.

And so that Jesus leaves us with this choice: He says you're going to have to figure out who you're going to serve with your life. You're going to serve God or you're going to serve money, but you can't do both. And the reality is so often we're looking to money to do what only God can do. And we've got to learn to trust God for our ultimate security because that's the one that will never disappoint. Amen.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Stay there for a minute, though. What's the day-to-day of that look like? What's the practical application? So if I'm going to appropriate this, that I'm secure in being Christ's possession, how does that play out in my day-to-day life?

Pastor Philip Miller: Well, I think it just loosens our grip on our possessions, right? The great danger of our possessions is they end up taking possession of us. Like, we think we own stuff, but it actually owns us. And that's why if you threaten anything we possess, all of a sudden we get real possessive of it. And that shows you just how much it's taken hold of us and our lives.

And so I think the Bible would teach us to just hold everything a little more loosely. So when you think about your budget, instead of consuming it all for yourself and living up to the ends of your means, all of a sudden now you say, "Well, okay, hold on. I want to be a good steward and I want to give back to God because He's given to me." And so I want to tithe and I want to give and I want to sacrificially be generous with my money.

And I want to be a wise steward so I'm going to save and I'm not going to just consume everything as if I have to show everyone that I've got it made. And I'm not going to be necessarily a hoarder, constantly hoarding and never, you know, penny-pinching all the time because I know God's taking care of me. And so it just sort of loosens me up a little bit in the financial space.

And we're able to just hold things a little bit more appropriately and not let them have so much hold over us. And so our budgets can be a little bit more God-honoring and flexible because we have a better treasure than the one that's running through our fingers in everyday life.

Or when the markets go up and down. Sometimes when it goes up, you feel rich and you think, "Oh man, I've got it." And then it goes down and you feel like, "Oh no!" The amplitudes of emotions that are tied to the fluctuations in the stock market should show us something of how much our security is tethered to the wrong things. Or maybe we look at our retirement and we think, "Oh, once I get that number, I'll be safe." Well, will you?

I mean, the reality is there's never a number large enough that you'll actually feel safe if that's where your security lies. And so it allows us to plan for the future, work hard today, but be loose and generous with our possessions, letting God use us however He wants in the lives of others because we know He's got us. He's providing for us and He's our ultimate security. He's my helper, so I will not fear. What can man do to me? Amen.