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,
that is, moral, 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
corrupted or rotted away until they died. Naaman, 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 are lepers before God. It doesn't
matter what we accomplish like Naaman. We are going to die of
this thing of leprosy, of this thing of sin, unless someone
can give us life like Naaman. 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, Oh,
would God my Lord were with the prophet. That is 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. So one went in and told Naaman
that. It said, 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. to find that prophet and see
what he can do about your leprosy. So Naaman departed and 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 there's been a loss, deprivation
in their family. They get in trouble. And they
try to buy God's favor if he'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 in his epistle,
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 sin, this leprosy we have called sin. That's the
blood of Jesus Christ. Now, in verse 7, verse 7, the
king of Israel, 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. The king
of Israel said, Am I God to kill or make alive that this man does
send me 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 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. This is their
only salvation. So verse 9, Naaman came with
his horses, with his chariots, and he stood outside. He stood
at the door of the house of Elisha. He stood at the door. Naaman
came with all of 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 came to the wrong place. 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 and 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's nothing. He's 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 happen to be, 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. In 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 Naaman, 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 with 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 your 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. Linnaeus
in verse 11 was angry, and he said, 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, Naaman was
wroth, 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.