It Seems Too Easy! - 2 Kings 5 - Grace Bible Church

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It Seems Too Easy! - 2 Kings 5

August 6, 2023 • Mike Burt • 2 Kings 5

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The prophet Elijah is named twenty-nine times in the New Testament while Elisha is named only once. “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). Naaman was a Gentile and the commander of the Army of an enemy nation – the Syrians. He was an enemy officer who kidnapped little Jewish children and then became leper who would have been isolated and left to die. These Syrians knew nothing of the grace of God – yet Naaman was seeking to buy such favors.

The story of the healing of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:1-27 is the account of a man with a very serious medical problem - leprosy. He found no hope in his own country, but he had heard that there was a cure available in Israel. He commenced a “top down” approach to bring about his healing, but, to his dismay, found that this method didn’t work. He learned that God had a “bottom up” solution to his problem. As we know, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble! (Psalm 138)

Our text Sunday describes how God quietly frustrates Naaman’s “top down” approach and offers a “bottom up” solution. God is not impressed or motivated by man’s “top down” efforts, because it is God who is at the top - not men! Men like Naaman, or the kings of Syria or even the kings of Israel did not hold sway with Jehovah – the little Jewish girl did. We should listen well to learn about this “bottom up” approach because it is normally the way that God works, especially when it comes to the salvation of men.

“We don’t rise to God’s level – He rises to the level of our needs.”

See you Sunday,

Pastor Mike

More from Walk With Me - Elijah & Elisha

Go Along to Get Along - 1 Kings 22

August 27, 2023 • Mike Burt • 1 Kings 22

The real danger in the World today for believers is not sympathy with the World but apathy in the World. Do you really want to know God’s will? Too many people really DON’T. Why? They have chosen to go along to get along – easy life! But doing God’s will and doing God’s work will bring opposition and obstacles. Ask Micaiah – a single story prophet contemporary with Elijah and Elisha. We skipped him earlier because I wanted to use his faithfulness as an introduction to the call of Timothy to walk with Paul in the New Testament. If we seek God’s will and hear God’s call then we have a problem – obey or ignore? So some will chose to merely go along in the World to get along with the World. Not Micaiah! He was a godly man in an ungodly day. This is a great story of courage, faithfulness, consequences and promise. Join me Sunday back in the court of Ahab – listen to the ease of men and the truth of God. Hear the clarity of faith contrasted to the melody of compromise. I am getting ready to share the Narnia book with the Greenhouse kids on Wednesday nights and I am reminded of a favorite quote in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as Mr Beaver responds to Susan about Aslan, “Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King!” The truth may not be safe – but it is the TRUTH! Pastor Mike

Desperate Times – Desperate Measures - 2 Kings 7

August 20, 2023 • Mike Burt • 2 Kings 7

“God, who foresaw your tribulations, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.” C.S.Lewis The 4 lepers were desperate! They were caught between the enemies of Israel who would kill them without hesitation and the city under siege that would not let them in due to their contagious condition – leprosy! The enemy soldiers were desperate to get in – the city was desperate to keep them out – the lepers were desperate just to eat. What the army could not do – starvation was about to complete. Into this desperate situation God speaks through the prophet Elisha – promise that did not seem even remotely possible. The lepers did not know of these predictions – they simply made a choice to act or die – they acted! Sunday will be lessons of humility and trust and desperation. Through all of life’s challenges God is good! Please come walk with us into the camp of the enemy and see that God is already there. Come and listen to the promises of God – they will be kept! Come hear the Word of God and know that it can be trusted. If nothing else – you will hear an explanation of Pascal’s Wager and how it worked for the lepers and how you can use it as a tool to share your faith – Walk with me Sunday! Pastor Mike

I Didn’t Mean To! - 2 Kings 6

August 13, 2023 • Mike Burt • 2 Kings 6

“Today's church wants to be raptured from responsibility.” Leonard Ravenhill When God calls on us to walk together – we must not assume that walking together is always easy – sometimes it is difficult or crowded or even accidents happen. Elisha asked for the ‘hard thing’ from Elijah – he got it! The ‘sons of the prophets’ are those gathered to study God’s Word with the preaching prophets – no mainly Elisha. As they are growing the dorms were getting crowed – time to build. As you might expect this bunch of scholars and students did not have an axe among them – so they borrowed one. Equally, as seminary students there seemed to be a lack of lumberjack skills – so the axe broke and the iron head was lost! Now this group of broke students must replace an axe head they had borrowed. This is an wonderful account of responsibility – trust – humility – priority. While I cannot make iron float – I can relate the story God gave of when He did it. Join us Sunday for a fascinating account of God’s working even in the smallest needs. God stands with us even when things happen that we didn’t intend. God is good – all the time! Pastor Mike