In the book of 2 Kings chapter
5 is a wonderful story, a picture of Christ, a picture of salvation,
a story of how God saves sinners. 2 Kings chapter 5, I begin reading
with verse 1. Now Naaman, captain of the host
of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable,
because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was
also a mighty man, that is, a strong man of valor, but he was a leper. He was a leper. Naaman was a
captain of an army, a moral man, a victorious, strong, courageous
man, quite a man, but he was a leper. Now, leprosy back in
those days was always fatal. It was a disease that started
on the inside and did not manifest itself outwardly or visibly until
some time later. It began to show up in small
signs on the skin, small sores, until eventually it ravaged the
whole body and literally the person rotted away until they
died. Though he was a great man, yet
he was a leper. So he's as good as dead. He has
a fatal disease. Now this is a picture of all
men and women by nature. All mankind by nature is full
of the leprosy called sin. And it starts on the inside,
and it doesn't show itself very readily in the beginning as small
children, but it begins to manifest itself until finally the whole
person is corrupted with it. And it doesn't matter how great
a man or a woman is, they're lepers before God. It doesn't
matter what we accomplish like Naaman. We're going to die of
this thing of leprosy, of this thing of sin, unless someone
can give us life. Verse 2, it says there was a
young maid taken captive and she waited on Naaman's wife.
In God's sovereign mercy and grace and providence, he brought
this young girl into the house of Naaman. And so it is in the
salvation of every one of God's elect. He sovereignly brings
about all things for the salvation of his people. Verse 3, this
young maiden said unto her mistress, said unto Naaman's wife, O would
God my Lord were with the prophet in Samaria. He would recover
him of his leprosy. She said to Naaman's wife, there
is a prophet who would recover him of his leprosy, and if only
he could be with that prophet. And this is a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who can heal the sinner of his
sin, his leprosy. Verse 4, so one went in and told
Naaman, thus and thus said the maid that is in the land of Israel,
a little maid said then. Verse 5, Now the king of Syria,
Naaman's boss, said to Naaman, You go, I'll send a letter unto
the king of Israel, and you take with you ten talents of silver,
six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. You go to find that prophet and
see what he can do about your leprosy. So Naaman departed.
He took silver and gold and changes of raiment. Now this is a picture
of men and women who try to buy God's favor. Men and women who
realize they are in trouble. They either get sick or a death
has happened in the family or been a loss, deprivation in their
family. They get in trouble and they
try to Buy God's favor if you'll get them out of this trouble.
They say, Lord, if you'll do this, I'll do that. Men and women
try to do good works thinking it will appease God and get them
out of their trouble. Naaman took changes of raiment. What a picture this is of mankind
who says, I'll change my ways. I'll turn over a new leaf if
you'll do this or that for me. But Peter said, No, we are not
redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold or your
vain tradition or vain life or conversation, your works, your
religion, your turning over a new leaf. But we are redeemed with
one thing, one price, that is, with the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Only one thing is going to cure
Naaman and only one thing will heal us of this leprosy we have
called sin. That's the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now, in verse 7, when Naaman came to the king of Israel, it
says, the king of Israel read the letter and ripped his clothing. In other words, Naaman came to
him and asked him to do something about this leprosy. And the king
of Israel said, Am I God to kill or make alive that this man does
sin unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? He said, I can't
cure you of your leprosy. Now, this king, king of Israel,
represents a true gospel preacher, one who doesn't want folks to
come to him, who doesn't try to save people, who says with
the Apostle Paul, who is sufficient for these things, but only points
the sinner, points the one who comes to him, points them to
the only one who can save them, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, verse 8, It says that Elisha, the man of God, heard that the
king of Israel had rent his clothes. So he sent to the king, saying,
Why have you rent your clothes? Let the man come now to me, and
he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. When Elisha heard
that the king had ripped his clothes, he sent word to the
king and said, You send the leper to me. Send him to me. And Elisha
here represents the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ is that
prophet of whom Moses spoke. Christ tells all his preachers
to send people to him. Come unto me, he said, all you
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He
tells all of his preachers to point men and women to Christ. Now, he said, if he comes to
me, he shall know. He shall know there is a prophet
in Israel. And when a man or a woman or a young person finally
ever comes to Christ by the sovereign providence of God, by the sovereign
grace of God, by the working of God's Holy Spirit, when they
finally come to the Lord Jesus Christ and they hear the gospel
of Christ, they will know. They will know this is their
only salvation. So verse 9, Naaman came with
his horses, with his chariots, and he stood He stood at the
door of the house of Elisha. Naaman came with all his horses
and his chariot and his armor on, his uniform and so forth,
and he stood outside expecting Elisha, the man of God, to come
running outside and be so glad that he was there, the great
Naaman. Someone pointed out that Naaman
was all wrong. Everything about him was wrong.
He went to the wrong place first. He brought the wrong things.
He came with a wrong attitude, wrong thoughts. Everything about
him was wrong. But God, in His mercy and grace,
had purpose to save this man. And so it is with most people
who come to church, so to speak, for all the wrong reasons, have
all the wrong notions. But if God is pleased in His
mercy and grace, if this is one of God's elect, God Almighty
brings them to hear the gospel, brings them to Christ to save
them. But the first thing he must do
is what is done with Naaman here. He must be brought down. He must
be broken. He must be stripped. He must
be made to realize he is nothing. He is no one. Well, here comes
Naaman with his horses, his chariot, his money, and he stands at the
door of Elisha's house. Now, Elisha was a very plain
and ordinary man living in a humble abode. And the great Naaman,
the great captain of the host of Syria, came riding up, expecting
Elisha to come running out, saying, Here I am. Aren't you privileged
to have me? Aren't you so glad I'm here?
I have graced your little humble abode with my presence. But no,
Elisha doesn't need him or his money. Naaman needs Elisha. Elisha is not impressed with
this man. He's not impressed with anything
about Naaman. Elisha realizes he's a leper. He's just a leper. He's a leper
who happens to be a great man. And so it is with all human beings. There's nothing impressive about
anyone. All men and women are mere dying
lepers, some of which just happen to be great men and women. But
they're all lepers. God doesn't need anyone. Why
should Elisha bow and scrape to a leper? The Lord God doesn't
need man or what man can do for him. Man is the needy one. And
so his preachers do not tell people how much God needs them
and loves them so much. The Lord respects no man's person. He's no respecter of persons,
that is, someone's morality or their station in life. Everything
they are and have is by the grace of God. The Lord respects no
man's person. All are mere lepers in God's
sight. So here stands Naaman in his
great chariot, expecting a miracle. And verse 10 says, Elisha sent
a messenger unto him. Elisha didn't even come out to
him, but he sent a messenger, a mere messenger boy. And he
went out to tell the great Naaman, and here's what he said, Go and
wash in Jordan seven times. and thy flesh shall come again,
and thou shalt be clean." A plain, ordinary servant comes out to
Naomi, not Elisha, but a servant, and he says to him, you go down
to the muddy river Jordan, you get off your high horse, you
strip all your clothes off, all your armor, all your uniform,
and all your medals, and all your pride, you strip naked,
you go down into that muddy water. And you dip seven times until
you come clean. And this is a picture of salvation,
people. If you and I are going to hear
from the Lord, we're going to hear through a messenger, through
an ordinary servant of God, a preacher of the gospel who will tell you,
who's not going to brag on you and tell you how glad he is that
you're here and how much God needs you or how happy God is
that you're going to do something for him. No. What the true preacher
of God, the true servant of God will say unto every person is,
come down. Get down off your high horse. Down. Bow in the dust at the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. And get naked. Take off your
righteousness. Take off all your pride. Strip
yourself of your religion. Strip yourself of your profession
of faith, your baptism, all of those things you trust in that
make you righteous before God, and wash in the blood of Jesus
Christ. Yes, boasting must be excluded. Pride must be abased. We are
only dying sinners and we are only saved by grace. When Nahum
in verse 11 was angry and he said, I thought he would surely
come out to me and stand, and call on the name of the Lord,
and strike his hand over the place, and recover me." I thought,
and that's what's wrong with all human beings by nature. I
thought. And it's not like you think it
is. It's not like we think it is. Salvation is of the Lord. Verse 12, he said, in the name
of his wrath, and he said, I thought. He said, surely. There are other
rivers better than the old muddy Jordan. Surely I can go down
there and wash in some of these pretty rivers. Well, if I go
down to the First Baptist Church of this or the Second Methodist
Church of that, they'll tell me how great I am and how wonderful
I am and how much the Lord needs me and loves me and what I can
do for the church there. Why should I listen to this mere
servant tell me to get down and wash in a muddy river? Only one
way he's going to be clean, and that's get in that muddy Jordan.
So verse 13, his servants came and said, if the prophet had
told you to do a great thing, wouldn't you have done it? This
is very simple. Just get down and wash. So he
went down, verse 14, and dipped seven times. He got off his high
horse, stripped naked, got in that old muddy Jordan, and it
says he came clean. And so it will be with you and
I. Only when God strips us and breaks us of all our pride will
we become clean of our sin. May it be so with you and I.
Until next Sunday, good day.