Greatness In God's Way

Let's just lift our bibles up, wave them around, make Jesus glad and the devil mad.

Let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, I have tuned in to live stream because I want to encourage the life of God and the revelation of the Word of God in my heart.

I want to exceed in all things that you've given me to do, and I do that by faith and by knowledge, by wisdom and by the help of the Holy Ghost.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Let's look at 2 Kings, chapter four, and we'll start reading verse eight, and this is talking about Elisha the prophet.

It fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a great woman, and that's what I want to talk about tonight.

Greatness, god's way.

How is it that the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of 2 Kings to call this Shunemite woman a great woman?

And so that's kind of where we're headed tonight.

What were the characteristics that the Holy Spirit saw in this woman?

So he went to Shunem, where there was a great woman is keep reading and she constrained him, that is, she laid hold on him, and to eat bread.

You know, she wanted fellowship, and so it was that as often as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

And she said unto her husband behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God which passes by us continually.

Let us make a little chamber.

I pray thee on the wall.

Then let us set for him there a bed, a table, a stool and a candlestick, and it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in thither.

And it fell on a day that he came thither and he turned into the chamber and lay there.

And he said to Gehazi, his servant I call this Shunemite.

And when he had called her, she stood before him and he said unto him say now unto her behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care.

What is to be done for thee?

Would thou be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the host?

And she answered I dwell among my own people.

And he said what, then, is to be done for her?

And Gehazi answered verily, she hath no child and her husband is old.

And he said call her.

And when he had called her, she stood in the door and he said about this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.

And she said Nay, my Lord, thou, man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

And he touched a raw nerve there.

No, don't be lying to me, preacher.

And the woman conceived and bore a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life.

So again, this Shunemite woman, the Bible calls her great.

So we want to examine tonight what was it about her that the Holy Ghost liked?

He liked her.

You know we were talking recently about grieving the Holy Ghost, quenching the Holy Ghost, and here, here, this woman, you know, she, she, she was doing things that that attracted the Holy Ghost.

So what are the characteristics that God calls great?

And so hence the, the title of a message greatness God's way.

You know, god's not against you being great, he's against against you thinking you're great for your own reasons.

You know, he's not against you being exalted, he's against you being exalted in yourself.

So God wants to promote you, god wants to lift you up.

So greatness God's way.

The first thing I see here in verse eight is that she recognized and cultivated God's presence.

You see, in the Old Testament, as we've said many times, the prophets stood for God, the, the only, the only ministries in the Old Testament that had the Holy Spirit.

Upon them were the priest, the prophet and the king.

This Shunemite woman was spiritually dead.

She had no presence of God.

The Holy Spirit was not everywhere present.

So to be in the presence of the prophet was to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and so the Bible says that she laid hold on him, she constrained him.

And why was it that she wanted that?

She wanted a fellowship, and not only would just this man, but she wanted a fellowship with God.

The fellowship with the prophet was the closest thing to fellowshiping with God and get something back from him.

And so, um, so, think about that, recognize and cultivate it.

You could say she was hungry for God's presence.

You know, that's one of the best ways I know of for God to call you great is when you're hungry for more of him, drawn near to God and he'll draw near to you.

All right.

And the second thing that I noticed about her I've got six things here.

The second thing I find is in first 10, where she told her husband let's, let's take it a step further.

Right now he's coming by when he's in town and he visits.

When he visits our town, he comes to see us.

I'd like for us to be a destination.

I want us to build a room on the wall.

I want us to make room for more of his presence.

I want, I want, I want to move from visitation to habitation.

She moved from visitation to habitation.

Oh, that was so commendable to the Holy Spirit.

She moved from visitation to habitation.

She made room for more of God.

She thoroughly and fully furnished that room.

You know, it's obvious that he could live there.

He could eat in that room, he could sleep in that room, he could write in that room, he could be comfortable in that room.

And then, and there was no ulterior motive, she didn't do it for the purpose so that she could have a friend.

She didn't do it for the purpose of gaining and currying favor with an important man that could help her with other people.

Because down here in verse 13, he said hey, do you want us to speak to the king on your behalf or to the captain of the hoes?

She said no, no, I dwell among my own people.

She wouldn't ask for any favors.

He said what do we do for all this care, for all this care, this ministry that you have lavished on us?

And see, it wasn't only on the prophet, who was on his helper, dehazae, you know, and she had to take care of both of them while they were there, and cooking for them and taking care of them.

And so she had no ulterior motive, simply wanted fellowship, and she made room for more of it.

She moved from visitation to habitation.

So then, as it went down, what's to be done for her?

What's to be done?

See, god wanted to do something for her.

And what was it?

Well, dehazae knew that her husband was old and they had no child.

You know, in days, in Israel's days, a woman without a child was a tragedy.

I mean, that meant that the family line would not be fulfilled.

It was considered a curse not to have children, and one of the blessings of the Lord was to have children and enjoy them.

And she had no children and her husband was old, so presumably they were too old to have children.

And so the prophet said you know, about this time next year, you're gonna have a baby.

She said oh, don't be lying to me, preacher, don't you mess with me, Don't you lie?

See, that was so.

You could tell that she was sensitive about that.

She desired a child, and yet she didn't even ask for that.

She separated her fellowship with any kind of request.

And so the third thing that pleased God about her was that she learned God as a reward.

You know, he, he that come at the God, must first believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

And so she was diligently seeking God because she sought the prophet without any conditions.

And so God is a rewarder, and she learned that.

She learned that God is a rewarder I it pleases God when we know that it pleases.

There's a difference between doing something for that purpose and knowing that it's true.

You know, we don't serve God for the reward.

We serve God because it's right.

We serve God because we can never pay him back.

We serve God because we love him.

But on the flip side, we should always know that he's a rewarder.

We should, we should know he wants us to remember that, that he.

It's not a one way ticket with God.

You know Jesus.

You know there's a quote in the, in the scriptures, and you can't find it any place else in the gospels that he said this.

But Paul quotes the Lord, and so the Lord must have told him that when he went to heaven and had that visitation and the Lord told Paul it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

That's not a verse anywhere in the gospels you can't find it.

It's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

And so I believe God is.

He's so blessed to give us things.

It blesses him to give us, to reward us.

It's a blessing to his heart.

Doesn't it bless your heart to give good things to your children?

And so she learned that about God and it it it made God realize what a great woman she was.

She was.

There's more to her than met the eye.

All right, now, we didn't get into the latter part of these verses, but if you keep reading all the way down, you find out that later on, after the child was born it was, it happened that the child was born just about that same time the prophet said and when the child was a little older, like like a little toddler, the child got sick and she held the child in her lap all day until the child died.

And she took the child and laid it in the prophet's chamber, laid it on his bed and she said get me a donkey, get me somebody to drive it.

I'm going to go find the man of God.

And the husband said what's wrong?

Is everything okay?

She said it is well, it shall be well.

It is shalom.

See, she.

She wouldn't say that her child was dead, she wouldn't say that anything was wrong.

And so you know, then, and you know she rides, the driver of the donkey is just going as fast as it'll go and they're going out there.

Going out there, we don't know how far it was, and but from a great distance, the prophet sees her coming and says, gahaze, I get out there and find out, is it well with her, is it well with the child?

And he goes out there and finds out and says, oh, the child is it well with her?

Is it well with your husband, is it well with the child?

And the woman still didn't tell Gahaze.

I said it is well.

And so then she came in, the man of God into the hill where he was, and she grabbed his feet and he knew something was wrong.

But he said the Lord has hid it from me.

He didn't know specifically what it was.

And see, her faith wouldn't allow her to say, oh, my child is dead, you lied to me, why did you do that to me?

I'd you know all of that kind of stuff, I'd get all emotional.

And yet she knew her child was dead and she just kept holding her confession as well.

And so the man of God said her soul is vexed within her.

Verse 27,.

The Lord have hid it from me and hath not told me.

Then she said did I desire a son of my Lord?

Did I not say do not deceive me, see?

In other words, I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for this to have my heart broken.

And then he said to Gaze, I gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go your way.

And if you meet any man, salute him not.

And if any salute you, answer him not again and go and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

And the mother of child said as a Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.

I will not leave thee.

And so, in other words, you can send your representative, but that won't do.

I need you, I want you.

You're the one that made with the promise.

I need you.

And so the prophet followed her.

And of course he goes on.

He goes up into the room the child is dead, and he walks up and down and he prays and he stretches his self over on top of the child.

And so it says, he went up and laid upon the child verse 34, put his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands.

He stretched himself upon the child.

The flesh of the child waxed warm.

And then he returned and walked up in the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him and the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes.

And then he gave the child to his mother and she bowed herself to the ground and took up her son and went out.

So he raised that child from the dead.

So notice what the Holy Ghost likes about her Number one during this extreme trial.

Number four, she kept her confession it is well.

She never complained, she never doubted, she said it is well.

And then the last part is she pressed in and made a demand on the anointing.

She made a demand on the anointing I don't get hate that no on the man of God.

See, gaze is not the prophet, gaze is not an order to the Holy Ghost.

And so she made a demand on the anointing, said I won't leave you nor forsake you.

And so he realized he's going to have to go.

And she wasn't in a hurry, she just wanted him to go and raise her child.

So she had that.

She pressed in and made a demand on the anointing.

When I read these verses, which I just read this today, I mean this is why I'm preaching this tonight, because this came in my normal reading.

This is my normal reading today.

I don't know how many times I've preached out of this chapter.

This chapter has got five miracles Elisha performed in one chapter and he was truly anointed with a double anointing of Elijah.

And this is two miracles in one.

First of all, a miracle that she had a baby and second of all, that he raised the baby from the dead.

Two miracles for one woman.

And so she made a demand on the anointing and she took her son home alive.

It kind of reminds me of the woman with the issue of blood.

She said, if I can just touch the hymn of his garment, I shall behold, I shall behold.

And she went and she made a demand on Jesus anointing.

He felt virtue go out of his, out of him, and she felt virtue come into her and she was healed.

He said go your way as you have believed, so it be unto thee.

Your faith had made you whole, see.

So God is always pleased with faith.

And because of her faith she was deemed a great woman.

Well, now the miracles are not finished, because you keep reading here in second Kings, chapter eight.

And Elisha had told the woman.

In chapter eight, verse one, it calls there's gonna come a famine.

And then spake Elisha, chapter eight, verse one, elisha, under the woman whose son he had restored to life, arise and go, you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn, for the Lord has called for a famine and it shall become upon the land for seven years.

And so she obeyed the man of God and left her home in lands and went to another nation, to another country where it wasn't so bad.

And after seven years you see here in this chapter that she came back verse three it came to pass the seven years in.

The woman returned out of the land of the Philistine.

She went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land, see, because while she was gone, others took her house and land.

She had abandoned it.

Well, it's still hers.

She just did what the prophet told her to do so.

She's crying for what belongs to her.

So the king was talking with Gahazai At the same time, and Gahazai is talking to him about his master, the prophet Elisha, who had raised this young child from the dead, and so forth and so on.

He's giving him a testimony and here comes this woman crying for her land.

He says, as a matter of fact, this is the woman, this is the mother of the child I was just talking to you about.

And so when the king found out, he restored her houses and her lands back to her.

She got a miracle of restoration.

I mean, what the devil stole, he had to give back.

Hallelujah, are you with me now?

I mean, what a testimony, praise God.

She didn't give up and she didn't give in.

See, that's, god loves it.

When we contend for what belongs to us, it's not jealous, it's not envy, it's not jealousy, it's not greed to desire what belongs to us, abin.

And so she learned a crowd in faith and her land was restored after seven years, praise God.

Now God calls her great.

That's greatness, god's way.

If we do the same thing this woman does, let her life be a pattern for ours.

Let's not have any ulterior motives.

Let's serve God with purity of heart, but let's realize that God is a rewarder and he wants us to have everything Jesus bought and paid for.

Come on, let's lift our hands and receive this little message greatness God's way, hallelujah, glory to God Abin.

Well, I enjoyed preaching that.

It's kind of short, but it's powerful.

This whole chapter is powerful.