Go with me, if you would, back
to 2 Kings 5. 2 Kings 5. For anyone who may not
have ever heard the story of this man Naaman, this is a precious
picture of grace. That's what this is. This is
a picture of grace. This story represents salvation
for sinners. That's what it represents. And
it tells us who God saves. And it tells us how he saves
them, who he saves and how he saves them. And by the time we
get to the end of the story, all you can say is, is by grace. That's the end of the story.
It's all by grace. Salvation is totally by the grace
of God, the grace of God. Now let's look at this story
together. Verse one says, now Naaman, captain of the host,
of the king of Syria. Naaman was a Syrian. The Syrians
were a heathen people. They were a heathen nation. They
were idolaters. They worshiped a false god. They didn't worship the true
and living God. And the Syrians oppressed God's
people. They fought against and they
oppressed Israel, God's people. But verse 1 says, 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, even though they were the enemy. All right, they
were the enemy, right? But even though they were the
enemy, God still gave them victory in their battles, including battles
against Israel. God gave it to them. Now, why
would God do that? The answer is good. That's the
whole reason. Good grace. That's the whole
reason. Why would God give the enemy
the victory in battle? Grace, goodness, kindness. Verse one says, Nahum and 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 in valor. But there was just one problem.
He was a leper. Big problem. He was a leper. That's the one problem that every
soul on this earth faces. That is the one problem that
every soul in this room faces. Every soul in this room, we may
see ourselves and others may see us to be great men and women. Honorable men and women of valor. But every single one of us was
born into this world covered from head to toe with a loathsome
disease. Every one of us. It's called
sin. It's called sin. After all the
good things are said, all the things that can be said about
us that are good things, when you get to the end of it all,
you have to finish with this. But he's a sinner. That's where
when you start talking about Gabe Stoniker, everything he's
done, everything he is, this is how you have to finish the
story of Gabe Stoniker. But he's a sinner. He's a sinner. Verse 1 says, 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 in valor,
but he was a leper. He was covered with a flesh-eating
disease. Verse 2 says, 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." Syria went to war with Israel and God gave them the
victory. And then they took captive a
little girl. They stole somebody's daughter. Can you imagine that? They literally
stole somebody's daughter. Why on this earth would God allow
that to happen? Why would he allow that to happen?
The reason is because God purposed to show mercy to a soul. That's
the whole reason. God purposed to show mercy to
a soul. That was the means that he chose
to use to show that mercy. He allowed that to happen. He did it for good, he did it
for mercy. That's why God does everything. Everything he does. We're in the middle of situations
all the time and we think, why is this happening? What is going
on? I tell you the answer, good and
mercy, grace, kindness. It's always the answer. We're
never going to fully understand his ways. We are never going
to fully understand his ways, but in time, he's going to prove
to us. He's going to prove to his people that every single
one of his ways are for the purpose of mercy and grace. Every single thing he does is
for the purpose of saving a soul. Everything that happens in the
earth happens to save God's people. Everything. every single thing. Verse 2 says, 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. Out of the mouth of babes. out of the mouth of babes. Why
did God allow this little girl to go to Syria? Why did He allow
her to go to Syria? It's because she knew who Elisha
was. She knew exactly who Elisha was. Elisha represents Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. This little
girl knew the one who could save. She knew him. She knew what he
could do. She had faith in him. Verse three
says, 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. She didn't say, I don't know.
I mean, you know, it's worth a shot. Couldn't hurt going over
there. She said, he would recover him. If he went to see the prophet
in Samaria, he'd be healed. He'd recover. Let's not underestimate what
our God is able to reveal to our children out of the mouth
of babes. Let's bring them at a young age
to hear about the man, Christ Jesus, the Lord. The one who's
able to recover sinners from their sin. The one who's able
to restore what they've lost. She said, Oh, I wish he could
go see this man here. This little girl is stolen from
Israel. Waiting on Naaman's wife in Naaman's
house, and she knows Naaman's a leper. And she said, Oh, I
wish he could go see that man. Is that not the desire of every
true believer? Is that not the desire, the groaning
of our heart for our loved ones? Oh, would to God they could come
see this man. Would to God. He would heal them. I'm telling you, he would heal
them. That woman at the well, she dropped her water pot and
she ran into town crying, you all need to come see a man. You
need to come see a man. He'll recover you. Verse three,
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. And
one went in and told his Lord saying thus and thus said the
maid that is of the land of Israel. Naaman was told there's a man
who can heal you of your disease. Somebody told him that and Naaman
wanted that healing. He wanted it, so he decided to
go see this man. Yes, I'm curious about this. Somebody hears about a healing.
Yeah, I'd like to know something about that. I'm curious about
that. I would rather have life than
death. Which one would you rather have,
heaven or hell? Life or death? I'd rather have life. I'll go hear what he has to say. That's the heart and that's the
mind of most people when they start to realize at some point,
men and women start to realize, I have an end coming. At some
point, men start to realize, I'm getting older. This life
is fleeting. I'm facing certain death, I know
I am. All of us, we all have an incoming.
So Naaman went. Here's what we're gonna learn
from this though. He went the wrong way. He went the wrong
way. Verse five says, and the king
of Syria said, go to, go. I will send a letter unto the
king of Israel. And he departed and took with
him 10 talents of silver and 6,000 pieces of gold and 10 changes
of raiment." This king represents the nature of a man, what is
naturally inside here. Man believes he's a king in his
own eyes. That's man's own rationale. He
believes that he can bring his best before God and God will
accept him. He said, I'm going to write a
letter. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make a resume. I'm going to give you a resume.
I'm going to write down all your qualifications. I'm going to
write down everything you've done. I'm going to tell him what
a great man you are. How honorable you are. And isn't
that what man does? Isn't that how in his heart he
feels he needs to approach God? People naturally believe that
in order to receive a healing, they need to put their best foot
forward. Now we're going to go meet God. Let's all put our best
foot forward. Put our best robe on. We got
to hide some flaws. Bring our best gifts. We're going
to try to make ourselves appealing. The fact of the matter is, in
this flesh, all mankind is, is a sinner. But he's a sinner. But he's a leper. That's it.
Just covered in sin. But Naaman came. He did come. Verse six says, And he brought
the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter
is come unto thee, Behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant
to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. This king
of Israel represents God's law. We're all holding it. God's law. Men and women want to be saved.
Men and women want to be saved. What do you want to be saved
or lost? I want to be saved. So where do they go? The law. Isn't that where they go? The
law was never given to save anybody. Never, never. The law was given
to expose sin. That's what the law was sent
to do. Verse 7 says, And it came to pass when the king of Israel
had read the letter that he rent his clothes and said, Am I God
to kill and to make alive that this man doth send unto me to
recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore, consider, I pray you,
and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. Now hold your place
right here. We're going to come right back.
Go with me to Galatians 4. Galatians chapter 4, verse 21 says, tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do you not hear the law? Do you not hear what
we just read what the law was saying, spiritually representing
the law? Ye who desire to be under the
law, you want to be saved? Alright, let's get into this
law. Let's see what this law says. You who desire to be under
the law, do you not hear the law? Look back at Galatians chapter
3 verse 10 says, For as many as are of the works
of the law, What that means is as many as are going to go meet
God and say, I've kept the Sabbath, I've honored my father and my
mother, I didn't commit adultery, I never stole, I don't covet. Verse 10, for as many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that continue with not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them. Miss one thing
and you've broken the whole law. It's like getting a ticket in
a 55 mile an hour zone for going 56. But 55 of those mile per
hour were good. Yeah, but it was that one. You
broke the whole law. That was the purpose of the law. Look at verse 24. Here's what
the purpose of the law did. The law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. The law was our schoolmaster
to point us to Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of the law.
The law condemns us. All we have to do is open the
scripture and we can see we don't stack up. The law condemns us
and then the law points us to Jesus Christ, points us to Christ. The law could never redeem us. Never redeem us. We were nothing
but sin. The law can't redeem us because
we're nothing but sin. Look with me at Romans 8. Romans
chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 3 says, For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, it could not justify this
flesh. It could condemn it, but it couldn't
justify it. It could not justify it. What
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That's what Naaman is
about to find out. That's what he's about to find
out. Now go with me back to 2 Kings 5. Verse 8. Let's read between the
lines here. Okay, let's read between the
spiritual lines. Verse 8. And it came to pass
when the king of Israel had read the letter that he rent, I'm
sorry, verse, yeah, eight. And it was so when Elisha, the
man of God, and that's Christ, had heard that the king of Israel,
that's the law, had rent his clothes that he sent to the king
saying, wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes Let him come now
to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. Does that at all remind you of
the end of the story of Ruth? Do you know the story of Ruth?
There was a nearer kinsman that represented the law. And at the
end of the story of Ruth, that nearer kinsman said, I cannot
redeem her. And Boaz said, Then give her
to me, I'll redeem her. I will redeem her. Christ told
the law, don't you fret. That law said, am I God to redeem
a man? Christ said, don't you fret,
you just bring him to me. Verse 8, It was so, when Elisha
the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his
clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast
thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he
shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with
his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the
house of Elisha. When God calls a sinner, that
sinner is coming. He's coming. Naaman went to the
king of Israel. That little girl said there's
a prophet. Is that where he went? No. He went to the king of Israel. He went to the wrong man. His
faith was in the wrong man. But when Elisha, in spite of
that, said come, he came. He's about to experience a rude
awakening too. He came and he's about to have
his eyes open. Verse nine says, so Naaman came
with his horses and with his chariot. He had his gifts. He had his robes, everything
he brought with him. And he stood at the door of the
house of Elisha and Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying,
go and wash in Jordan seven times. And thy flesh shall come again
to thee, and thou shalt be clean. He sent a messenger out to him.
Elisha is standing outside his house, or Naaman is standing
outside his house, and Elisha didn't come out. He sent a messenger
to him. And that's how God works. He
sends a messenger out. And that messenger told him something.
And do you know what his message was? You know what he basically
said to Naaman? He said, Naaman, you're going
to have to come down off your horse. You're going to have to
get down off of that horse. You're going to have to get rid
of all your gifts. Everything you brought. You're
going to have to be stripped of your own covering. You're
going to have to de-robe. You must acknowledge before God
and man that you are a leper. Stop trying to hide anything
from God. God sees it all. Humble yourself
in the sight of God and then go wash in the river of Jordan. Our Lord was baptized in the
river Jordan, wasn't he? That river represents the blood
of Jesus Christ. That blood is what unites a sinner
to Christ and Christ to a sinner. That blood, what can wash away
my sins? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said seven times. Seven is the number of perfection,
absolute perfection. It is a perfect salvation. It is a complete and finished
salvation. That is the message that will
save a sinner's soul amazingly. God's Spirit moves through that
message and he calls his own to himself. Look though how the
flesh naturally responds to that message. Verse 11 says, But Naaman
was wroth and went away and said, Behold, I thought And that's
his problem. And that's our problem. He said,
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 Havana and far par rivers
of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash
in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in
a rage. Is the pride of man not amazing?
Absolutely amazing. Here stands a leper. He's a leper. Here stands a man who is covered
from head to toe in a loathsome disease. He is nothing but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. That's all he is. He is so despicably
contagious, nobody will touch him. No human being will touch
him. He's a dead man walking, but
in his pride and in his anger, he said, I deserve better than
that. I deserve better than that. You
give me something to do. You give me something that I
can be glorified in. Give me some great honor to accomplish. Don't tell me to humble myself.
Don't you know who I am? Don't you know what I've done?
Man by nature will not have the blood of Christ alone. Will not
have it. I don't want that washing. I
want my own washing. I want to cleanse myself. I want
to sanctify myself. I want to choose my own way. Man by nature does want salvation. He does. But he does not want
it on God's terms. Isn't that right? The blood of
Christ alone. But when grace comes, Man, grace, let me tell you what
grace is. Grace is in spite of a sinner. That's what grace is. A sinner
is what he is before God. He's a sinner. He's a rebel and
God's grace comes in spite of it. Grace is so good. Grace is so kind. God's grace
overrules that hard heart. It's God's grace that humbles
a man. A man doesn't humble himself.
God's grace humbles a man. God's grace makes that sinner
bow. God's grace will make his people
willing in the day of his power when it pleases God. They're
willing. Naaman, he was full of anger,
full of pride, full of self-righteousness, full of sin. But God, who was
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved Naaman,
he dealt very graciously with him. That tells us how he deals
with us. If we belong to him, if we are
in Christ, if he's quickened us together with Christ, then
by grace we're saved. By grace. Verse 13 says, And
his servants came near and spake unto him. They spoke peace to
him. And they said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do
some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather
then when he said to thee, wash and be clean, what they said
was, why do you despise the riches of his grace? At some point,
God's spirit comes to this heart and says, why do you despise
the riches of his grace? You know what those servants
were giving him right there? A new mind. A brand new mind, a mind
and a heart of repentance toward God. God said in mercy and in
grace and in love, I'm going to take out that heart of stone,
Naaman, and I'm going to put in a heart of flesh in spite
of you. I'm going to do something in you. Verse 14, then went he
down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to
the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again like
unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Man, what grace. Can you imagine that? Wouldn't
you like to have been there? To watch that dear, precious,
rebellious man go down into that river. That perfect river. And when he came out, he was
clean. That right there is sovereign grace. That's sovereign grace,
that's particular grace. God chose him, and I'm going
to show you why, OK? I was about to read this to you
because I'm running long, but I'm going to take the time. You
need to see it. Hold your place. Go to Luke 4. Go to Luke 4. This is God's grace right here. This is God's grace. Luke 4 verse
27 says, And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha. Elisha the prophet. And none
of them were cleaned. None of them were cleansed. saving
Naaman the Syrian. He chose Naaman the Syrian. There were tons of lepers. Who
did God show grace to? That particular certain man. Sovereign, electing, choosing,
loving, particular grace. Go with me back now to the text.
I'm going to close with this. The Lord didn't just do a work
on his skin, he did a work on his heart. Verse 15 says, And
he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came
and stood before him, and he said, Behold, now I know that
there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Now therefore
I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. Before, he brought
all his stuff trying to buy his cleansing. He brought all his
stuff trying to buy it. Now he's clean. The cleansing
is over. He's clean every whit. And he
said, would you please take all this stuff? I just want to give
it to say thank you. Oh, dear God, thank you. Please
take all this stuff. This is, he said, I acknowledge
this right here is the true and living God who saved me. And
I just want to say thank you. Verse 16, but Elisha said, as
the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive none. And Naaman
urged Elisha to take it, but Elisha refused. Elisha said to
him, what just happened to you, Naaman? He's free. free. Salvation is free. It's absolutely
free. Mercy is great. Grace is free. Absolutely free. Verse 17, Nahum
and Sid. Shall there not then I pray thee
be given to thy servant, be given to me, two mules burden of earth,
would you please give me two mules load of the dirt here so
I can take the dirt from Israel back with me. the place of the
true and living God. Can I take a token home with
me? Because he said, thy servant
will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice
unto other gods, but unto the Lord. In this thing, the Lord
pardoned thy servant. He said, oh, I'm asking for forgiveness
on this, that when my master, the king of Syria, when he goes
into the house of Remen, to worship there. And he leans on my hand,
and I bow myself in the house of Rimen. When I bow down myself
in the house of Rimen, the Lord pardoned thy servant in this
thing." He said, now I have to go back and live in the world.
And I'm the servant of a master. And that master, I'm owed certain
things to him. And he's going to want to go
into his house of idolatry, and he's going to want to bow down
to his false idol, and he's going to lean on me to help him get
down, and I'm going to have to go down with him and help him
bow down before his idol. He said, Would you tell God I'm
sorry? My body's bowing, but my heart
is not. Please forgive me. Verse 19,
And he said unto him, Go in peace. Go in peace. Christ has made
you free. God is looking on your heart.
You're not under the law. He said, you go in peace, so
he departed from him a little way. He's going back home. Can you hear that man as he's
going back home? You know what he was singing?
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making
me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me that great salvation, so rich, so free. Let's all sing that
together. Stand with me.