From Servant to Shunned

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon

The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon was keenly aware of the dangers of pride. After his sermon one Sunday, Spurgeon was met by a woman who exclaimed, “Oh, Mr. Spurgeon, that was wonderful.”

“Yes, madam,” Spurgeon replied, “so the devil whispered in my ear as I came down the steps of the pulpit.”

Spurgeon had it right. Genuine compliments are no sin, but he knew that puffing God’s people up with pride is one of Satan’s favorite tactics. One reason the enemy uses this trick so often is that it is so successful.

Today in the Word, February 27, 1997, p. 34

I. Faithful Service

I. Faithful Service

A. Exampled Obedience v. 12, 15, 26, 29

My children struggle to obey and how many times have I struggled to be obedient to God?

Are you following God’s man?

B. Expectation Faltered v. 29-30

I was teaching an adult Sunday School and every week hitting them hard on subjects with no response I got discouraged but the reason was my pride a little seed planted.

Has there ever been a time you expected a result from your service and it failed to yield?

II. Fruitful Service

2 Kings 8:1-6

2 Kings 8:1–6 NASB95

Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”

A. Fateful Circumstances v. 1-3

B. Faithful Account v. 4-5

Gehazi was before a king and that with it brings pride. To have the king hold weight with what you have to say.

C. Fruitful Restoration v. 6

A win for Gehazi that begins to fester pride

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Subtlety of Pride

Subtlety of Pride

Paul W. Powell once observed: “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and the publican, said, ‘Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we are not like the Pharisee!

Today in the Word, September 23, 1995, p. 30.

III. Fostered Faith 2 Kings 5:1-19

A. Hopeful Soldier v. 1-5

B. Frightened King 6-8

C. Prideful Soldier Made Clean 8-14

D. Grateful Soldier 15-19

IV. Failure of Gehazi

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Snowstorm

Snowstorm

A U.S. Air Force transport plane with its captain and 5 crew members was flying over Alaska in the mid-50s when they entered an unusually fierce snowstorm. The navigator contacted an air base only to be told that he had veered several hundred miles off course. Correct coordinates were given to the navigator, who continued to insist that his own calculations could not be that far off. Soon the plane ran low on fuel. The six men decided to abandon the plane and parachute to safety, but because of the -70 degree Fahrenheit temperature and winds that gusted to 50 mph, they were all frozen within minutes of hitting the ground. A friend of mine was part of the rescue team that discovered and retrieved the bodies 3 days later. As a result of the navigator’s pride, 5 other people went to their deaths. Proverbs 12:15 tells us that “the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.” The results may not always be so dramatic, but we must all be careful to seek the counsel of God and wise individuals before making decisions of lasting significance.

Dave McPherson, Maranatha Bible Church, New Orleans

A. Gehazi’s Justification v. 20

We see this done in Genesis with Adam and Eve as they justify their sin before God.

Have you ever reasoned out in your mind justification for something you knew was wrong

B. Gehazi’s Greedy Actions v.21-24

1.The Lie

2. The Greed

3. The Cover Up

All of this is a perfect example of Sin and how it works.

C. Gehazi’s Price v. 26-27

Preachers Pride

Very brilliant knowing the Word and was preaching at the church.

However with increases in salary and engaging in justification before God the pastor and his wife became friends and another couple as pride and sin would have it this servant of God and his wife became engaged in immoral activity with the other couple.

Eventually they would lose their ministry, their testimony, and their marriage. After remarriage to the other couples partner the Pastor was diagnosed with cancer and his former wife became ill and died.

How does this happen in a Godly mans life. Pride! Are you a Servant or shunned?