03.32. The Confusion of Gehazi

The Confusion of Gehazi

"Give unto the people, that they may eat," is Elisha’s command to his servant; but Gehazi replies with a look that seems to say, Surely you cannot be in earnest. He counts their number—a hundred men, besides women and children, and all so hungry that these twenty loaves would scarcely satisfy ten of them. The servant, shaking his head, asks, "What! should I set this before an hundred persons!" And he utters his question with a tone and manner that seems to insinuate, that the prophet must be dreaming, or had issued an absurd command. He viewed the matter with carnal eyes, and attempted to gauge his master’s thoughts by his own mean and groveling conceptions. His scruples remind us of a person, who should take up a cannon ball, try how far he can hurl it, and then gravely declare to an intelligent soldier, that it can never be thrown to a distance. For Gehazi had just in this manner forgotten what it was that gave energy and impulse to his master’s command. That command was supported by a faith that could remove mountains; by such a reliance on the promises of God, as overcomes all difficulties. The energy of the Holy Spirit was in the order; yea, the power of the Almighty himself. How then could the people be otherwise than filled! But of all this Gehazi was too ignorant. He understood the command, "Give to the people, that they may eat," as if it were nothing more than what might have proceeded from his own lips. He did not consider that such words spoken by Elisha, were essentially different, because they had been spoken in the name and with dependence on the word of God, and therefore could do wonders. How presumptuous then were his unbelieving thoughts! It was his duty silently to obey and to distribute the bread; whether the people were to be filled or not was no affair of his; he was only required to perform the duties of a servant, but he acted as if the miracle depended on himself; and how often are we disposed to act in the same spirit! When our Lord sent forth his disciples, saying, "Go, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils;" how unbecoming would it have been for them to have replied, "Lord, our power and skill do not extend to such things." The commands of the Son of man were as good as promises; that is, what he desired them to do, he purposed to do by their means. In like manner, there is much enjoined us to do, which, were we to undertake it in our own strength, would come to nothing. We are commanded to overcome death, to tread spiritually upon serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy, to resist the devil that he may flee from us, to lift up our heads in the greatest affliction, to rejoice evermore, never to be cast down, always to be holy, as our Father in heaven is holy; and many other wonderful works. How are these great and yet positive commands to be received? Surely they are to be received like those which were given to the apostles, when our Lord said, "Go, and heal the sick." For they are commands full of encouragement and promise; and if this thought only take possession of the whole man, we become animated with strength and courage, with peace and joy; for we can then lift up our heads, and triumph over death, and the world, and every foe.

Elisha, in no wise embarrassed by the remark of his unbelieving servant, repeated the command with increased emphasis, "Give to the people, that they may eat;" and he added, "For thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof." And now, the servant having begun to distribute the bread as he was desired, beheld it multiplied in his hands. Every one partook of as much as he required: "they did all eat and were filled;" filled likewise, we trust, with gratitude to God. Yes, and there was still bread left in abundance upon the table. But it may be said, "This was out of the course of nature." Be it so: it is not more incomprehensible, than is the growth of the tree in the garden, or than that a single grain of wheat cast into the earth should return a hundred fold. The same almighty and creative power is displayed in the latter case, as in the former.

Let this miraculous transaction serve to strengthen our own faith, my brethren, as we trust it did that of the sons of the prophets. And you, in particular, who may be languishing under complicated wants and miseries, the end of which you cannot see; if the Lord be yours, "be careful for nothing;" for, as the Lord liveth, "he careth for you," and will relieve all your necessities. Fix your attention more than ever upon the great conclusion which you may obtain with infallible truth, from the still greater argument of the apostle; "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with Him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32. In this and in the following verses he breaks out into great rejoicing. His heart seems full, while he realizes, with one glance, all that is treasured up in Christ for the children of God: and at this view he appears to rise above the world and mortality. He beholds his enemies vanquished at his feet; he descries a righteousness of overwhelming brightness, and finds himself possessed of a fulness of gifts and blessings, the extent of which he is incapable of estimating; and under a protection so secure, that he seems to have nothing more to do upon the earth, except to triumph and give praise. Whence then does the apostle derive this superlative delight? Not from himself, but from a fountain that is daily and hourly open to ourselves. Christ is that fountain of blessings. All, all, is traceable to the love of God in Christ. Neither let us overlook that the apostle speaks not only of himself, but of every brother and sister in communion with him; and intimates, that if they cannot all break forth into the very same exultations with him, it must be ascribed not to any deficiency of their privileges, but to their want of faith. The first and last truth in which he exults is incomparably glorious and great. It is, "God is for us." In this truth we perceive the whole sum of the apostle’s privileges and power; here is his rock and his fortress. The Lord is on our side; He bears us on his heart; He graciously undertakes for us; He encompasses us with his love. This is, indeed, a truth in which we may well rejoice. But, can it be so? May sinful and helpless man really boast that God is on his side? The word of God here assures us, that he may; "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all," attests it, and attests it irresistibly.

We are primarily and ultimately directed to the love of God in delivering up his only begotten Son, who was from eternity with the Father in heaven; "His best Beloved;" "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person." How astonishing the fact of his having been sent to be the propitiation for our sins! Behold here, how eternal Love has triumphed! Behold the Son of God as an infant in the manger; veiled in our nature, divested of his glory; destitute, and exposed to a thousand dangers, unnoticed and unknown by the world; yea, an object of fiercest enmity and most barbarous persecution. Why was all this? It was because only at such a price could we be redeemed from merited condemnation. Yes, God for this purpose "delivered him up." The expression denotes a forsaking, a sacrificing. The same word is used, Matthew 10:21, where it is said, "And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death:" and in this sense of death it is employed in the passage before us. And then, he delivered him up "for us all." "For us" means "in our stead;" and thus our thoughts are at once transferred from the manger to the cross. Oh, what an affecting transfer! But the Scripture must be fulfilled; "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." The Man of gracious lips was permitted to exclaim, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" The Man who went about doing good, was nailed to the cross, and his compassionate soul was "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." If we are sensibly affected while thinking on the sufferings of God’s beloved Son; what must we think of the love of God towards us in thus not sparing him, but delivering him up in our stead! For he did deliver him up. Oh, unfathomable love! Oh, unutterable mercy! The apostle, having thus set before us the love of God, draws from it wonderful, delightful, and incontrovertible inferences, under which we may reduce every anxious care, and out of which we may form another Eden in this vale of tears. His first and grand inference is, "How shall he not with Him also freely give us all things?" Admirable is this inference, and beyond all contradiction. The truth of it is certain, and plain even to a child. Was his love to me such, that he gave his own Son to suffer death upon the cross for me? then he certainly will not refuse me inferior blessings. For all things in heaven and earth are as nothing compared with this unspeakable gift. How inconsistent is it to doubt the goodness of God as to the supply of our daily wants! Ye seem thus to say, "God has indeed given me his Son, so far, I admit, his love extends; but it is not so evident that He will give me clothing, food, and shelter." How absurd and blind are such reflections! What! shall the grace that confers upon you its crown, and heaven itself, fail to supply all your wants upon your pilgrimage? It is with reluctance I enter upon the refutation of such unreasonable thoughts, lest, by so doing, I should awaken a suspicion that they rest on some foundation. O be wise, my brethren, and consider how infinite that love must be, which places underneath you its everlasting arms. And, whenever doubts and fears arise, flee to Bethlehem, behold the young Child lying in the manger, contemplate the brightness of the love which there shines upon you, and ask yourself the question propounded by the apostle, "He that, for our sakes, spared not his own Son, how"—answer, ye angels; ye men and devils, join all your sagacity, and say—"how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The apostle draws another inference from the love of God. It is, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth." The inference here is likewise sound and unquestionable. Such was the love of God to us, that He gave his Son for us under the law, that he might fulfill it; under the curse, that he might sustain it. And the Son of God has actually fulfilled for us the law, and endured for us the curse. If, therefore, we believe in Jesus Christ, with the heart, unto righteousness, God will judge us according to the merits of his Son: and then, unto the last breath we breathe out of heaven, nothing, be it what it may, can deprive us of the right thus exultingly to inquire, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?" Yes, who shall accuse them? Shall Satan? he is "cast out." Shall the angels? here is a righteousness that will eclipse their own. Shall our fellow men? We should be sorry to find them at the last day our accusers; but they would; he found liars. Shall conscience? it is become "the answer of a good conscience towards God." The Supreme Judge has already pronounced us justified by a faith which worketh by love: and "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "It is God that justifieth." The apostle draws another inference. If, he argues, God be for us; if he spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, "Who can be against us?" How evident is this inference also, and how incontrovertible! As he pronounces the word, "Who," he looks all around, as though he would address the inquiry to heaven, earth, and hell. The most appalling objects may present themselves to his view, but at these alarming objects he is neither to despond nor to be made weak. He exclaims, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

Seeing, then, that for us also God hath given his only begotten Son, what shall prevent us from breaking forth into the same spiritual joy? Let us but be conquered by the same love that conquered Paul, and our place of defence is as "the munitions of rocks." We are then in a citadel, whose walls are fire; whose gates are decorated with the spoils of a thousand vanquished foes; and whose foundations are in the holy hills. The saints in this security are proof against all assaults. Here the weakest shall be as David, who, amid all the assaults of his enemies, lived in it uninjured, and then closed his mortal life, as he did his Psalms, with triumphant halleluiahs! In such a strong-hold does every true believer dwell. The love of God in Christ is their defence, and forms, with all the other Divine perfections, an insuperable barrier around them. Here we may be alarmed, but not conquered; attacked, but not overcome. "We are kept," saith the apostle, "by the power of God through faith unto salvation," and if so then "God is for us, and who can be against us?" In the strength of these three important inferences let us earn to hold on our way in holy fear, and consistent obedience. Are we disquieted about our temporal existence, let us, for a moment, thoughtfully retire, and quell the tumult of our hearts with this Divine suggestion: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Does a sense of sin, of sin constantly repented of and struggled against, depress us? Let us call to mind the infinite love of God. He has delivered up his own Son for us. "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth." Does fear lay hold upon us at the sight of the many enemies and difficulties we have to contend with? Let us recollect that God has given us, in His precious promises, sufficient warrant to exclaim with exultation, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Hallelujah! Amen.