06-02-2019 – Keith Cozort – When A Little Is A Lot (PM Sermon)
Spend our time this evening thinking concerning rather simple lesson, and yet it can carry great influence In our lives if we will allow it to. I want us to think about when a little is a lot That may sound like it’s contradictory. But in fact, when you examine the scriptures, you find that it’s not contradictory at all. God has used people in different ages,
different time periods, Even people of different sizes in order to accomplish his will. So I want us to spend some time studying about some small people that are spoken of in the word of God. If you’ll open your Bibles With me, the second Kings chapter five verses one through three, of course, this is part of the old Testament. We’re not governed by the old Testament.
We’re not under the old Testament. No one is under the old Testament today. And yet Paul tells us we are to learn from those things written the four time, Romans chapter 15, verse four. And so we’re going to try to learn something from here in second Kings chapter five. Hi, say it’s now naming captain to the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him,
the Lord had given a deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, But he was a leper And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress would God. My Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria for,
he would recover him of his leprosy. Here. We read concerning a little maid and the word that’s translated little here is that, which simply means it can be little in quantity, little in size number and figuratively it’s used as far as age or importance is concerned according to the Strong’s dictionary. But here we have a servant in the household of Naomen Naomi and is a great man.
He is a great military leader in serious army. And to the king, he is a very valuable man, but the one negative we have concerning Naomen is that he is a leper. Now it Was not always in other countries as it was in Israel, that those who had leper leprosy were to be segregated from the rest of society in order to keep from spreading the leprosy.
And yet here we have Naomen who is a military Leader and one Who is a great might. He is of great valor. We told, but he is A leper, but Then it goes on and it speaks concerning this little Maiden young girl Is the emphasis that is spoken of here and how that it is because of the little girl that Naomen is eventually going to find a cure for his lip.
I see She tells her mistress Nayman’s wife, that if only he were in some area, then he could Have contact with the prophet there and he could be healed of his leprosy. It is eventually told to Naomen concerning these things and then word eventually reaches the Caden Of Syria. And so the key, he writes a letter for Naomi and to take to the king of Israel,
The Northern kingdom of Israel, the Northern 10 tribes. And In that letter, the king says The king of Sirius as to the king of Israel That I am and Cindy name. And to you that you might recover him of his leprosy Verse six of course, king of Israel is going to be enraged. Am I God? They’re Just trying to pick a fight with us.
That’s what it is to think that I can cure this man of his leprosy. And so he tears his garments. He tears his clothes to show his utter frustration. Yeah, it is at that point, verse eight when it says, and it was so when Elijah, the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes that he sent to the king saying,
wherefore hast, I’ll rent. I close, let him come now to me. And he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So name and came with his horses And with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elijah. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times. And I flesh shall come again to thee and thou shall be clean,
But Naman was raw off and went away And said, behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord, his God, and strike his hand over the place and recover. The leper Are not Abana and Pharpar rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel, man, not wash in them and be clean.
So he turned and went away in a rage and his servants came near and speaking to him and said, my father, if the prophet had bid, they do some great thing. What does that not have done it? How much? Rather than when he said to the wash, it’d be clean. Then he, then when he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan,
according to the sane of the man of God, the flesh, his flesh came again like under the flesh of a little child. And he was clean. Elijah says to the king of Israel, sending to me, and when Naomi men in his entourage arrived there, a license house and license doesn’t even go out to meet him. Instead, he’s going to send a messenger.
He’s going to send one of his servants out there. And the servant is going to tell Naomen that he is to go and to wash in Jordan seven times. And your flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean. Now we Would think anyway, if somebody had leprosy, the way that Naman does and is suffering the way that Naomi is,
he would welcome anything where there might be the possibility of possibility of him being clean, But instead of Nam and goes away in a rage, you know, very Much like the person who goes to the doctor and the doctor says, well, you have to do this, this and this in order to be cured of your problem. And the patient goes out in a rage because of it.
Now, unfortunately, sometimes doctors are mistaken and this and this, and this may not help you at all. But if he is reputable and if he knows what he’s talking about, he may be a specialist or something like that. And when he tells you to do something like that, and it is something that’s causing you, great anguish, the likelihood is you’re going to be willing to do what He says.
Naman is one who goes away in a rage. And he says, behold, I thought, you Know, that’s one of the greatest problems we have in the religious world today. People are not willing to do what God’s word has to say. They have it in their own minds. What it is that they think they ought to do and what God will accept to what God won’t accept.
And yet it’s right here. What God tells us what he will accepted, what he won’t accept, or just like naming and behold, I thought, Oh, he says behold, I thought that he would come out and he would stand Before me. And he would call on the name of the Lord, his God, and strike his hand over the place.
And I would be recovered of buying leprosy. But Instead he goes and tells me I have to go dip in the Jordan river, seven times, yes. To immerse myself in the river. Seven times Are not the Rivers back home Abana. And Pharpar cleaner than that. Muddy Jordan river. Wouldn’t it be such that I could go and wash in those and be just as good,
Just as well off. Well, again, That’s just like people today in that when God says what one has to do to be, and what one has to do in order to be faithful unto him as a Christian, they say, well, I think I’ve got a better Way. I Think I can do it this way and I’ll get the same result.
The fact of the matter is it’s not possible, unless one Does it, the way that God prescribes, it’s not going to do the job. And there cannot Be any shortcuts that are taken. So many people are looking for the easy way. This was not necessarily difficult in what Naman was told to do to go and dip seven times in the Jordan river.
And yet Just as it is today, God requires obedience To everything that he has said must be done in order to receive the desired reward. And so it was with Naman and I don’t know about You, but I picture it in my mind anyway, from what is recorded here, that name and goes, and he dips one time and the Jordan river and he investigates himself and no change.
He dips a second time. Investigates himself, no change a third time. Fourth time, fifth time, six times still. There’s no change. What in, in the world is this doing for me? But after he dips that second time immerses himself, that second, that seventh time, excuse me, seventh Time. Then his leprosy is completely cleansed,
no longer leper, no longer happened in the problem that he had before. His flesh is as the flesh of a little child and is clean. When you look at what is recorded here, the lesson That we can see is that greatness is determined in many ways. This little maid is of trashed it with the great military leader of Naomi. And here you have The captain of the host of Syria,
the greatest of all military leaders in the nation of Syria, a great man with his master of mighty man of valor. And then you have this little maiden And yet the little maidens knowledge Of the prophet in Samaria, that being the<inaudible> Made her great. If it were not for the little maiden Elisha Or Naomen rather would never have received the cleansing of his leprosy,
He would have never been cured word. And so it is when you look at the application concerning this, we may not be great in wealth. We may not be great in social standing. We may be great in mite or strength. We may not be great in talents. We may not be A host as far as measure is concerned, but because we know the Jesus Christ,
no Him through obedience of his will and obedience of his word, We are as Christians. Okay. We may Be small. We may be weak. We may be. And yet our knowledge, our knowledge Of the word of God in our obedience to the word of God can be that which will make us great. A little maiden. It’s such a difference in the life of this great military leader.
Sometimes we get a little down in the dumps And we think I don’t really amount to anything. I’m not of any real value. And sometimes we will even Absent ourselves from the worship assembly because nobody’s going to miss me anyway. The fact of the matter is it doesn’t matter how little we are. It doesn’t matter how seemingly unimportant We are unimportant. We are,
we are always Important as far as God is good. Yes, sir. Sample that we have of little people is given to us in Matthew chapter eight T. There are in fact, two places here in Matthew anyway, where Jesus is going to use Children to teach great lessons. And so here we have, okay. In Matthew chapter 18 verses one through four,
and then the next chapter chapter 19 verses 13 through 15, where he’s going to use a little child again, as an illustration to the disciples. But notice here in Matthew chapter 18 verses one through four at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said,
verily, I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children. You shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore shall humble himself as this little child. The same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now, Again, as we spoke this morning, when you read concerning the kingdom of heaven in the new Testament,
the kingdom of heaven is a reference to the church. It’s not a reference to a literal kingdom. In fact, Jesus stated the pilot that his kingdom was not of this world. Otherwise his disciples Would fight, but It is such that his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom rather than a physical kingdom. The majority of the religious world today holds to the idea that Jesus was a failure because he could not set up his kingdom the way that he intended to do the way that he was supposed to do.
And so sometime yet into the distant future from where we are today, he’s going to come again. And at that point, he will set up his kingdom reigning literally for the city of Jerusalem, sitting on David’s throne for a thousand years. But that’s not true. That’s not what the scriptures Teach. The kingdom That Jesus came to set up is in fact,
set up. It is here right now. It is the Lord’s church. We as Christians are those who are a part of the kingdom of God. And it is such that it is a spiritual kingdom rather than a physical kingdom. John will make Mo mentioned in revelation chapter one, how that he is with those that he’s writing two of the seven churches of Asia in the king.
Paul talks about that. We are in the kingdom. Well, we can’t be in a kingdom if it doesn’t exist, but it does exist. It Is the church. It is the spiritual kingdom. That’s why it’s going to be an everlasting kingdom rather than a physical kingdom. But here Jesus speaks concerning the fact that those who would be great, he’s asked by the disciples who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
We do know That there Were at least two of the apostles who wanted to be looked upon as being the greatest in the kingdom to sit on his right and left hand. When he came into his kingdom, Jesus said, you Don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know what you’re asking about. That’s that’s with the Gentiles. That’s with those of the world,
but not in my kingdom. And Here Jesus speaks concerning the fact he calls a little child and he sets him in the midst. And he says, except you be converted and become as little children. You shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now Jesus says it’s possible to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Yes, but unless you become like these,
these little children become converted, like they are. Then you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child. The same as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. When you think about this little children are those who possess very important traits. And The, these are important for those who are a part of the kingdom,
as Jesus speaks of here, one of those traits he even refers to here in verse four, and that is being humble. Peter first, Peter chapter five, and in verse six, as we noted in our Bible class this morning, he says, as he’s closing out this book, humble yourselves, therefore under The mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,
Peter is writing to Christians. He is calling upon Christians to humble themselves. Well, children are those who are humble most times anyway. And you find them as those who are willing to listen to and abide by the authority of others. Well, if one Is going to be in the kingdom of God, then they have to be one who is going to be humble.
One who is willing to submit himself to doing what God’s will is what God’s word says and doing it the way that God says do it. As man Solomon says in Proverbs chapter three, and in verse five, trust in the Lord With all your mind, lean, not unto your own unders dandy. We Children are those who trust. They trust adults.
Sometimes that could be detrimental to them because those particular adults are not worth trusting, But trust it’s Characterized of little children. And yet it is also to be characteristic of those who Are a part of the kingdom to have A desire to please is certainly characteristic of children as well. And as the apostle Paul would write in second Timothy chapter two, and in verse four,
he says, no, man, that Wharf entangled with himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please him who have chosen him to be a soul. Sure, Please. The one who has chosen us, the one who has chosen Us and chosen us through the plan that he has given whereby we can become a child of his children, desire to please.
They also desire to learn. Peter Again says in first Peter chapter two, and in verse two, as newborn babes desire, the sincere milk of the word that you may grow, thereby Peter says we are to be. And again, he’s writing to Christians here. We are to be those that are like infants and how that they have this intense desire for their mother’s milk.
Peter Says, that’s the kind of desire we are to have for the word of God. When we have that kind of desire, then we are truly going to grow the way that God wants us to grow. And yet, if a child stays on milk for the rest of his life, he’s not going to grow the way he’s supposed to grow. He supposed to grow to where he’s able to go on to other subs,
more substantial food. So it is with the Christian as well. He is to Grow spiritually to where he is able to handle more substantial food in order to be able to again, grow the way that he is supposed to. As far as God has. When you think concerning children, you Also notice their willingness to forgive chapter four. And in verse 32,
the last verse of that chapter, Pete Paul says, and be kind one to another tenderhearted forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you writing to the church at Ephesus. Paul says we are to be those who are kind one to another, who are tender hearted, willing to forgive one another, Even as God For Christ’s sake,
hath forgiven us Children. Yes. Watch them. How many times do you see children begin to get In a fuss with one another? Somebody took our has one particular toy and the other one decides he wants the toy and there begins to have this FOSS between them. And sometimes they become extremely angry with one another and, and even maybe begin to push one another around It.
Isn’t it interesting how that just a relatively short period of time, most times anyway, they’re just the best of buddies playing along. Like nothing happened. Well, that’s the same idea that is To be toward those of us that are members of the church. We are to be willing to forgive one another. Now there’s more, that’s involved in forgiveness from what Jesus taught and the apostles taught,
of course, but it is such that there is to be that willingness to forgive those who may have trespassed against us, Because as Jesus says, if we’re Not willing to forgive others of their trespasses, we’re not going to receive forgiveness for our trespasses from them. God. So here we have the little children that Jesus is going to use as an example,
for those who are in The kingdom, as far as the kind of lives that they are supposed To live. Thirdly, okay. In Luke chapter 19, we have a man who is little in stature In height who has spoken up. And of course we know his name is Zacharias, but here In Luke, chapter 19 verses one through three and Jesus entered and passed through Jericho and behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was and could not for the press because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed in up into a Sycamore tree to see him For, he was to pass that way. And when Jesus Came to the place where he looked up and saw him and unto him,
Zacchaeus may, Cayston come down for today. I must abide at night, the house. And he made haste and came down and received Him. Joyfully here we have Zach. He is, he is A small man, a short man, as far as that is concerned, but he is also a publican. And remember that the publicans in the first century were those who were the tax collectors for the Roman empire.
They were those who were looked upon by the rest of the Jews as being traders, because their allegiance was to the empire to Rome. And it was such that they were gathering, collect taxes from the Jews in order to give to the Romans. Now, if they were just gathering the taxes that were due, that would be one thing. But the fact of the Matter is we know that what many of them would do is they would gather the taxes and then they would charge even more.
So, okay. Then they would give the government what belonged to them and they would keep the rest. And they became rich off of this. Zachary is, is rich. We don’t know that he conducted himself that way, but we do know that he is a publican and he is rich. And he is one who the people would frown upon. In fact,
several times in scripture, the publicans are classified with the sinners and the harlots, which showed the attitude that most people had toward publicans. Zacchaeus is one who made an effort to see Jesus as Jesus enters into Jericho. And Jesus Tells him that he is going to come to his House, which he does. But here is this little man of stature Who exhibits a penitent heart before the Lord.
And the indication Is from the speech that he gives that if he has wronged anyone, he will correct it. In fact, he’ll not only correct, it he’ll go over and above board and repenting of that and giving back to those that if he stole from them or if he cheated them and repetitive it’s of course is a change of mind, which brings about a change in a behavior change in attitude and is to result in a reformation of Life,
a change of life. That’s what repentance is all about. Repentance can be seen because yeah, it manifest itself in the production of fruit, by their fruits. You shall know them. John says Matthew chapter three in verse eight to the Pharisees, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. And so John says, prove your repentance. First of all, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
Repentance is sometime described as the most difficult part of being obedient to the gospel to become a Christian Because We end up having to give ourselves over to the will of God, rather than keeping it<inaudible>. And certainly that is true in so many different respects. And it does, according to the scriptures become exceedingly important in order For one to become saved from their sins.
Repentance is absolutely required. It is absolutely necessary. And here we have this small man’s that key is Who Is willing to put forth whatever effort is necessary in order to make sure that he is Right with God. Finally, we have a little boy that’s spoken of in John chapter six verses one through three. John says, after these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee,
which is the sea of Tiberius and a great multitude followed him because he saw his miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain and there, he sat with his disciples and the Passover, a feast of the Jews was nine. When Jesus and lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him. He say,
if into Philip, when shall we buy Bread that these may eat And this, he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him. 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them. That every one of them may take a little one of his disciples. Andrew Simon Peter’s brother Say, if unto him, there Is a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small Fishes,
but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the men sit down. Now there was Much grass in the place. So the men sat down in number about 5,000 and Jesus took the lows. And when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down likewise of the fishes, as much as they would when they were filled.
He said, unto the disciples gather up the fragments That remain that nothing be lost. Therefore They gathered them together and filled 12 baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above, under them, That had eaten. Then those Men, when they had seen miracle that Jesus did said, this is of a truth. That profit,
that should come into the world. When you look at Matthew’s Account, he tells us that it’s not only 5,000 men, but it’s 5,000 men besides women and children. So we often speak concerning Jesus feeding the 5,000. It was much larger than the 5,000 that would have been man magnificent and truly a wonder for him to take those five small barley loaves and two small fishes and feed 5,000,
but to feed 5,000 men besides women and children, and then to take up 12 baskets full of leftovers, truly amazing above them. Amazing Jesus has followed by this great multitude and he knows that they are Hungry. And so it is such that he says to Phillip, Where, where can we buy enough bread to feed everybody? And Phillip says, what 200 penny worth is not even enough to give him just a little bit,
just a taste. Therefore there was no place. Andrew says, here’s this lad, he’s got five loaves and two fishes. But what is that to such a great number of people? When a little is a lot, Jesus Though, he didn’t have to have even the five loaves and two fishes. As far as that’s concerned, Jesus is going to take that and he is going to bless it.
And he’s going to distribute to the apostles and they’re going to distribute to the people and everyone is going to eat and be filled. And they’re still going to be 12 baskets full. They end up with more than what they had to start with. And yet everyone has been able to eat and to be filled with what is here. But Jesus is going to use this as some described this lunch of this lad,
This little boy to teach A great lesson to all of these people, Because it is such that Jesus was able to make it to where they would all eat, not just a nibble, but They would all be able to eat until they were full. And then there would be abundance leftover less than, of course that is brought out here is that little,
becomes a lot in the hands of the Lord and being the one who is the creator of heaven and earth and everything that is contained Therein. Simply by Speaking the words, we know that he doesn’t need to start with anything to be able to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. And yet Jesus will use this lad in order to A great lesson, to those who are present here,
concerning who he is concerning his power, but also concerning his caring and concern for them. When you think concerning the idea of when a little is a lot, God can use a little, he can use That, which is considered to be insignificant even as far as people are concerned in order to accomplish great Things. These things may Involve the lives of others.
These things may involve the will of God. Even All we need to do is to be ready to allow God to use whatever it is that we have For his good, for his purpose. When you look at this idea of when a little is a lot, again, we need to understand that there are things that are spoken of in scripture as being little appearing,
to be rather insignificant. And yet when God Says these are things that must be done, They’re not little. They are things that are required In such as the case. As far as conversion is concerned, such as the case, as far as obedience to God in order to become a Christian. Then when you look at what the new Testament teaches, that one must hear the word in order to believe John six verse 45,
and you had one must believe if he’s going to have hope of everlasting life, mark 16, verse 16, but belief or faith in and of itself is not going to do The job to be saved. One Must also be willing to repent as we talked About even tonight. And as Peter told those on the day of Pentecost to repent acts two verse 38,
one must also be willing to confess his faith in Christ, Matthew chapter 10, verse 32, and must be willing to be baptized, to be immersed in water in order to have his sins washed away in order to become A Christian acts chapter 22 verse 16, mark chapter 16, Verse 16. If you’re outside the body of Christ this evening, will you Obey the gospel in order to become part of the body of Christ to be added to the kingdom of God?
The church that The Lord himself adds us to when he obey, when we obey the gospel acts two verse 47, the imitation song is selected to encourage you. If you’re needing to do that, if you’re one is already a member of the body of Christ, and yet you’ve gone back into the world and brought reproach upon the church, turn your back upon God,
turn your back upon his word. Will you come back and repentance, praying to God for forgiveness and begin again, walking in the way of righteousness. If we can help you, Please, will you come as together? We stand and as we sing.