Naaman The Leper

Q: What does the story of Naaman tell us about sin?

Naaman's leprosy symbolizes the fatal condition of sin in all humans, highlighting our need for redemption. The story of Naaman the leper serves as a vivid illustration of the reality of sin that afflicts all humanity. Just as Naaman was a great man by worldly standards, he was ultimately rendered helpless by his leprosy, which represents the fatal condition of sin. The text explains that like leprosy, sin begins in our hearts and manifests itself in various ways, eventually leading to spiritual decay if left untreated. David says in Psalms, 'In sin did my mother conceive me,' indicating that we are born with this sinful condition. Hence, regardless of our earthly accomplishments, we stand before God as unclean and in need of salvation.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Scripture clearly indicates that Christ is the sole mediator between God and man, exemplified in the narrative of Naaman seeking healing. In the account of Naaman, we see that he needs to come to the prophet Elisha to be healed of his leprosy, which serves as a parallel to humanity's need to come to Christ for spiritual healing. The narrative emphasizes that there is only one way to restoration; after all, Elisha, representing Christ, was the one who could cure Naaman. The Scriptures support this as well, proclaiming in Acts 4:12 that 'there is salvation in no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' Therefore, it is through faith in Jesus Christ alone that we find the means of salvation, reiterated throughout biblical teachings. The exclusivity of Christ as the Redeemer is fundamental to Reformed theology.

Q: Why is humility important for receiving God's grace?

Humility is crucial because it aligns our understanding of our spiritual neediness with the grace that God offers freely. The narrative of Naaman emphasizes that before one can receive healing, there must be an acknowledgment of their condition, leading to humility. Naaman had to cast aside his pride and status, represented by his chariot and accolades, to obey the simple command to wash in the Jordan River. This reflects the broader biblical principle that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humility allows us to recognize our sinful state and our need for God’s mercy, as we come admitting that we bring nothing to the table except our need for grace. Without this humbling posture, we cannot receive the free gift of salvation that Christ offers, as true repentance is an acknowledgment of our total dependency on Him.

Q: What lesson does Naaman's story teach about self-righteousness?

Naaman's initial reaction reflects the futility of self-righteousness in the pursuit of God's favor. Naaman’s initial response to Elisha’s simple command to wash in the Jordan indicates a common human tendency toward self-righteousness. Rather than humbling himself and following God's prescribed method for healing, Naaman initially sought to negotiate his healing through impressive offerings and expected elaborate rituals. This represents a misconception that our efforts, contributions, or status can somehow earn God's favor. However, as Peter states in 1 Peter 1:18-19, we are not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ. Furthermore, it was only after realizing that his self-righteousness was useless, and accepting his humble state, that he found healing. This underscores a central truth of Reformed theology—that it is by grace alone, through faith alone, that we are justified, and not by works of righteousness which we have done.

Q: How does Naaman's healing illustrate God's sovereignty?

Naaman's healing illustrates God's sovereignty in using unlikely people and methods to accomplish His will. The account of Naaman demonstrates God’s sovereign plan through the humble means of a captive Jewish girl who pointed Naaman to Elisha. Despite Naaman’s status as a great captain from Syria, it was God’s providence that orchestrated the events resulting in his healing. This highlights a foundational truth in Reformed theology: God often operates through the weak and the lowly to bring about His purposes. The healing required Naaman's obedience to God’s word spoken through Elisha, showcasing that it is God who initiates salvation and healing, not man's efforts or status. God's sovereignty means that He is in control and uses every circumstance to display His grace and mercy, reminding us that His ways are higher than ours.

me by the storm. No, I'll do
nothing, no, except in the blood of Jesus. This is all my Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, Prussia, is that no more? Makes me white as snow. No others
that I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You may be seated. All right, let's go back to 2
Kings chapter 5. 2 Kings chapter 5. This is a wonderful story. This
is a story of how God saves sinners by and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is a picture of Christ. Verse 1, begin, 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. Naaman was a
captain, a great man. Naaman was an honorable man. The word honorable means moral. He was a very moral before men,
upright. He was victorious. He had been
many conquests which Naaman had wrought. That is, the Lord did
it through him. This man, you need to remember,
this is an enemy of God. an enemy of Israel. This is not
a Jew. This is one who took the Jews
captive. So you need to remember that.
Talking about this man's greatness, he wasn't great before God, but
before men. He was a great man. He was victorious. He thought he had done great
things, but it was the Lord that had done it all through him according
to his purpose. A mighty man of valor, strong
and courageous. What a man! What a man! But he was a leper. He was a leper. That made all
of that for naught, didn't it? All of his greatness was for
nothing. He was a leper. Leprosy was always fatal back
then, always. You always died of leprosy back
then. It was a disease that started on the inside, as all diseases
do, really. And it showed up—well, it didn't
show up at all at first, but then it began to manifest itself
in very small ways—a little sore, scaly skin or something, something
very minor it seemed, until finally it began to spread and until
eventually it just ravaged the body until literally the flesh
began to corrupt or literally melt away. That's exactly what
leprosy did. And though Naaman was a great
man, he was just a leper. He's just a leper, and he's as
good as dead. He's as good as dead. And this is a picture of all
men and women by nature, a picture of all of us who are full of
leprosy of sin. The leprosy that we have is sin,
and it begins in our newborn babies. It doesn't show itself
at first, but it doesn't take long for it to show up in little
ways. lies and tantrums and fits and
little acts of rebellion. And David said it and said, I
came forth from the womb speaking lies. In sin did my mother conceive
me. And we're born sinners and it
doesn't manifest itself until later, until eventually. If something
doesn't happen, it ravages us until we become corrupt, full
of sin, sinful. What a picture. What a picture! Well, it doesn't matter how great
we are before men. Before God, we're lepers. Right? It doesn't matter what we have
done, or what men think of what we have done, or what we have
accomplished in this life. We're lepers before God. It doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter what we've
accomplished. We're going to die of leprosy, and our Lord
said, you'll die in your sins, if, unless something happens. Unless someone can help us, like
with Naaman. He needed help. He's going to
die. Doesn't matter how great he was,
he's going to die, as it is appointed unto all men, once to die. Well, verse 2 says the Syrians
had gone out, they had captured Israel and brought away captive
people, and in those captives was a little maid, a young Jewish
girl who was brought away captive. And she waited. She was among
many captives, but this young girl was put in the house of
Naaman. to attend to Naaman's wife. In God's good providence, God
Almighty's sovereign providence, oh, how he works in strange ways,
doesn't he? He drew away captive a whole
nation to put this one girl in this house so Naaman could hear
the good news. That's how the Lord works, isn't
it? He brought this young girl to Naaman's house, verse 3. And
one day she said, evidently Naaman's wife was talking about Naaman
and his leprosy, and she's so concerned and worried about her
husband. You know, he's going to die of
leprosy and there's no cure. Well, this young maiden said
unto her mistress, it be according to the will of
God? Would that God would make it
so that my Lord, Naaman, my Master, were with the prophet that is
in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy. Oh, if God
were willing, if God would be willing to put Master Naaman
in the hands of or before the prophet, prophet that is in Israel. He'd recover his legacy. Now she said this to Naaman's
wife. She didn't say it to Naaman.
And you notice what she said. She said, The prophet. The prophet. There's only one. There was only
one. Elisha was the only one. What
a picture of Christ he is. Moses is the one that said that.
Moses is the one that wrote and said, The Lord, our God, shall
raise up unto thee a prophet, the prophet, that prophet, like
unto you. He's the one you're going to
come to. He's the one that's going to
deliver you. He's the one that's going to tell you all things.
He's the one that's going to heal you, save you." Well, she
said this to someone else. She didn't say it to Naaman.
And this thing finally got to Naaman, didn't it? Then the Lord worked in a mysterious
way. Naaman might not have listened
to this woman, this little maid, talk to him in person. She was
probably beneath him. He wouldn't have listened to
the maid. But nevertheless, he heard it. I thought about the story of my father-in-law. used to operate a golf course
in Kentucky. And the Lord has used that man
to witness to more people than anybody I know. And of course
he would say that he's totally incapable. But he, in his own
way, the Lord has used him to speak to more people and bring
more people to hear the gospel. Generally, eventually that's
what happens. They come to hear the gospel.
And many are there today through him speaking to them. But one
time he was in the clubhouse of the golf course talking to
a man about the gospel. He came back on Sunday after
service, you know, on Sunday's big golf day in the Mac, all
of them in the clubhouse. And he began to talk to a fellow,
and he got quite heated, I think. You know, it happened. He got
quite heated, and he was talking to the fellow about the gospel.
And, well, that fellow never came. He didn't hear, he rejected
it and all that. But there was another fellow.
sitting over in a chair, drinking coffee, and Ed is not soft-spoken. He talks like this and everybody
in the crowd can hear him. He was overhearing the whole
conversation. And years later, it wasn't until years later that
that man, and he went through the whole a lot of trouble, divorce,
and so forth, and remarried. And years later, finally, he
and his wife came to 13th Street. He recalled what Ed Ballard had
been talking about. I think I'll go here about this.
My pastor baptized him and his wife, and they've been there
for a long time. That's how the Lord works, isn't it? Well, Naaman
overheard this. Verse 4 says, And one went in
and told Naaman, thus and thus said the maid, This is the land
of Israel. They told the story to Naaman.
And the king of Israel, after he heard about it, he told Naaman,
verse 5, the king of Israel told Naaman, I'll send a letter unto
the king of Israel. I'll send you to Israel, you
find this prophet so that he can recover you of your leprosy."
So he sent Naaman with this letter to the king of Israel, and he
departed, verse 5, and took with him ten talents of silver, six
thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. He took
a lot of money. He thought he was going to just
offer all this money to the prophet to do this. going to pay him
to heal him and change his arraignment. I don't know why he took all
that, but he did. Well, I do know why. It's a spiritual
picture. And so Naaman departed. He left. And what a picture this is of
men and women who try to buy God's favor. Men and women who
get in trouble through whatever, sickness, Somebody dies, a friend
dies, a family member dies, or they lose, whatever. They get
in trouble, many troubles, and they turn to the Lord, so to speak.
They try God. They're going to try God, and
what they think at first is, if they can make a bargain with
God, if they can make a bargain with
God, maybe he'll So they try to bargain with God, and they
say, Lord, and invariably they say, if you do this, I'll do
this. I'll give this. If you heal me,
I'll do this. Or the change of the arraignment,
probably. I'll change my ways. I've got
a lot of bad ones, and I'll change my ways. I'll do this. If that doesn't work out, I'll
do something else. I'll change all my ways. That's really a
picture of man's righteousness. John is only one of righteousness. But man, righteousness is many
good works, he thinks, he does. And God ought to be pleased.
God ought to spare him for that. Well, Peter said this later. Peter said, We are not redeemed
with corruptible things, such as silver and gold. Can't bide
God, or from your vain conversation, your life, you do anything, you
change in your ways, it's not going to change God's will. You
change in your ways, it's not going to impress God. Turn over
a new leaf, it's not going to impress God. The other side is
just as bad. You quit your meanness and your
sinning and become religious, and then you speak even worse
to God. You're self-righteous. It's not going to impress God.
Peter said, we're not redeemed with traditions. No matter what
you do, go through all the traditions, works and religious works and
so forth, it won't do it. We're redeemed, Peter said, with
one thing. There's one way. And one way for Naaman. Naaman's
going to find out there's one way to get rid of this leprosy.
One way, and the prophet told him, one way. And we're redeemed,
Peter said, with one thing. precious blood. Are you washed
in the blood, to go on down under that bloody stream? One thing,
verse 7, so he came to the King of Israel with this letter. And
the King of Israel, when he read the letter, the King of Syria
said, I'm sending my servant, Naaman, a great man, you should
be happy to have him. He brings great honor to your
country, your house, and he's a great man, mighty, valiant.
He's done great things. Yeah, he's captured our country
and took our people away. Yeah, great man. He hates God.
He hates Jews. But he's the king of Syria, so
he's a great man, and you should be happy to have him, and he's
gracing your home to be with you and your kingdom. I want
you to tell that prophet down there to heal him. I want you
to recover him of his leprosy." And the king of Israel said in
verse 7, he ripped his clothes, read his clothes. That was a
sign of absolute anguish, just incredulous. He said, Am I God
to kill and to make alive, to recover this man of his leprosy?
Why is he doing this? Why does he send him to me? Has
he got something against me? Why does he send him to me? You know who this king represents
here? This king of Israel. He represents the true preacher
of the gospel. The true preacher of the gospel. whom people come to quite often
with their troubles and problems and so forth. And people, they
go to the printer, you know, to try to get them out of trouble.
And that man realizes, and he knows, I can't do anything for
your troubles. Why come to me? Paul, you know,
there was an argument in 1 Corinthians about amongst the people. One
said, Well, I'm of Paul. Another said, I'm of Apollos.
Well, I'm of Cephas. And Paul said, Paul wasn't crucified
for you. Peter wasn't crucified. They
can't do anything for you. All they can do is tell you about
the one who can. Don't come to me. The king said,
Why are they coming to me? And Paul the Apostle even said
this. He said, Who is sufficient for
these things? Who? Well, verse 8, it was so that
when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel
had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, he told the king
of Israel, saying, Why have you ripped your clothing? Let him
come now to me, and he shall know there is a prophet in Israel. Who does Elisha represent here? The Lord Jesus Christ himself.
He says to his preachers, who were not sufficient in and of
themselves, he said, You send them to me. You point everyone
to me. Send them to me, and don't despair. Don't rip your clothes in. I
know you're insufficient for these things, but don't worry.
Just send them to me. Let him come now to me." This
was the day of salvation for Nehemiah. This was the day. There was a
problem in Israel. And this was the day. Let him
come now. Come now. What if old Nehemiah
had gotten busy with something? Well, I think I see the sights
in Israel. He'd have missed it. Let him
come now. So Christ is that prophet. Christ
is the one who tells all his kings and priests, all his preachers
and people alike, you tell the folks, whoever you talk to, come
unto me. Tell them, come unto me, all
ye that labor heavy labor, I'll give you rest. You tell all those
lepers, come unto me. There's only one thing that can
take away their sin, come unto me. There's only one who can
put it away. Come unto me, come unto me. Now, it says in verse 8, he'll
know, he'll know that there's a prophet. And folks, when a
man or a woman or a young person finally does come to Christ,
if they're ever brought to see Christ as the only way, when
they finally do hear the gospel about that prophet, about Bewhon,
the only one, the healer of lepers, The Savior of sinners, the Redeemer,
when they finally hear it, they'll know. They'll know. Hell, they will. They'll know.
But I'm not too sure I can say that. John said, These things have
I written unto you, that ye might know that ye have eternal life.
And we know that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding
that we might know him as true. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. life, hereby we know. If they ever really come to Christ,
not just doctrine, that won't give assurance. If they really come to Christ,
they'll know him as their prophet, not just their prophet, but their
priest, their king, their their Savior, their Redeemer, their
substitute, their mediator. They're all and in all. They come to him. Come unto me. Tell them to come to me. Don't
come to you, come to him. Well, someone pointed out that
Naaman did everything wrong. He did everything wrong. It says Naaman came, here he
came, with his horses, with his chariot, all that money, all
those clothes. He had to have a couple of trailers
behind him, a couple of wagons, and stood at the door of the
house of Elisha. Someone said, Naaman was all
wrong, everything about him was wrong. Wrong. He went to the wrong place
first. He bought all the wrong things. He bought a wrong attitude. I
saw it, he was going to say. He bought wrong thoughts. He
bought wrong gifts. He bought everything about him
that was wrong. Everything but God, that purpose
to save him. And, folks, everyone in here
When you first came to hear, when you first came where the
gospel was preached, whether it's here or wherever it was,
when you first came, you came for the wrong reasons. I did. You know my story. You're getting
tired of hearing it. I don't. It's my story. I don't get tired
of telling it. You have your story, though,
and you know you came for all the wrong reasons, didn't you?
Whatever it was, all the wrong reasons. Everything about us
is wrong. We had all the wrong thoughts,
didn't we? When we first came and sat under the gospel, we
thought many things about God, about salvation, about the Bible,
but we were all wrong. We brought all the wrong things,
but God purposed to save us. Here comes Naman, and it says
that he came with all his horses and chariots and money and clothing,
and stood at the door of Elisha. Can you see this? Try to picture
this in your mind's eye. Naaman, this great man, he's
got his uniform on, all his armor. These soldiers love to wear their
uniforms with all their medals of valor, and it's their glory,
it's their honor. I remember as a young man, as
a child, I remember seeing this fellow from Ethiopia named Selassie,
this little captain or general is what he was, from the little
two-bit African country of Ethiopia. You know how big Ethiopia is.
You know how it's a nothing place. And there's this fellow who's
a general there in the army. You might as well say you're
head of the National Guard in Rocky Mountain. Well, anyway,
this fellow, he was about four foot eight tall. And, of course,
all politicians and everybody would court his favor. Wanted
oil from Ethiopia. And this little fellow would
show up. Every way he'd show up, he'd
have his uniform on. And you've never seen so many
medals in your life. You remember him? Any of you remember Selassie?
Hyles Selassie, like Hyles Hitler. Hyles Selassie. He wore this
string of ribbons and medals that went down past his waist,
everywhere he went. Big deal. Well, here stands Neyman. Can you see him? Here he comes,
great man, all his chariots. come riding up, all this commotion,
all this fanfare before, with all his uniform, his entourage
and all that. And here he stands, he's not
on the ground, he's standing in his chariot, standing in his chariot. Pulls
up, he thinks, well, they'll hear all the commotion. And he stands at the door of
the house of Elisha. Elisha was a very plain, ordinary
man, a very plain, ordinary Jewish man. And I'm sure he lived in
a very unassuming home, a very humble abode. And here comes
the great Naaman riding up, and he expects, he expects that little
prophet to come running outside Because here comes Nehemiah. He expects him to come running
out. Well, here I am. Aren't you glad to see me? Aren't
you privileged to have the great Nehemiah here? Well, I can do
your little congregation some good, Elijah. I've got lots of
money here. And if the lie should have been
any other of these false prophets today, he would have ran out
there and kissed his shoes, said, I'll do anything to be a member
of our church, you and your money. Well, Elisha didn't need him or his money, did he? Life sure is not only a picture
of Christ. Christ doesn't need any man or their money. God doesn't need man. Man needs
God. Who's the needy one? Who's the
needy one? I'll tell you what the true gospel
is. It's the one that makes man the needy one. It's the one that
makes God needing man and waiting on man and just at man's beckoning
call. That's not the gospel. And neither
is a preacher that does that. Lysa not only represents Christ,
but he represents all of God's true preachers. They don't come running to me
and courting their favor and their money and so happy to have
them. Well, Lysa doesn't even deserve,
I mean, Nahum doesn't deserve to be at the house of a Lysa. Nahum is an enemy. Why should Elisha come running
out to court an enemy? Why should Elisha come out and
kiss the boots of the man who hates his God? Why should Elisha
come out and thank him for coming to seek mercy? Who's the beggar? Elisha or Naaman? And that's what these two big
preachers do, begging people to come. Why should they do that? Because their God's a beggar,
that's why. Naaman needs Elisha. He's going to find out in a little
while. And Elisha's not impressed with anything about this man.
Elisha is not impressed with his medals, with his chariots,
with his entourage, with his great feats of victory. He knew he'd get that, as the
Lord did get that. Who made him to differ? Elisha
knew. And he'd be a duck private if
he wasn't for God's sovereign providence. Elisha knew that. He's not impressed with this
man. He's no respecter of his person,
and neither is our God. Is God impressed with the works
of men? They don't do anything. He does it all through them,
for them. God's not impressed with Naaman
or with a man, with any man. They're lepers. Elisha looked
out the window, and what did he see? And I'm not going to run out
and tell him how glad I am to see him. When he leaves here,
he's going to be real glad. God in mercy and grace brought
him here. He's going to see that I wasn't
a great man after all, I was just a leper. But God, rich in
mercy. And so the lasher just sits still. But here stands Megaman. Expect,
he's come to expect to receive his miracle. Expect a miracle,
somebody told him. Claim your miracle. Don't claim
it, it's yours. You don't claim anything. You
don't come to God bargaining. You don't come claiming. You
don't come expecting anything. You come begging. Well, here it is, verse 10. And
Elisha sent a messenger unto him. Elisha wouldn't even speak
to him. Elisha sent a messenger. Who
was it? Probably, he might have sent
a little, little barefoot boy out there. to the great Naaman, sent this
messenger out there, and the messenger said one thing. The messenger had one message. He didn't stand and argue, he
didn't explain, he didn't apologize for what the master said. He went out there and said in
verse 10, told me to tell you to go washing Jordan seven times,
and your flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."
And that's it. And Mary, man, wanted to argue, but that's all
the man said. He didn't argue with her. He didn't apologize.
I know you're not going to like this, but What this man said to Naaman,
in our language, was, this plain, ordinary servant, he comes out
to Naaman and says, go on down to that old muddy river, get
down to that muddy river, get off your high horse, strip naked,
and get under that water. Not once. Not a token. Not twice. You keep going down. Keep getting down. Get down.
Not a token. Get down. until you can't get down any
further. And God's preachers, though the
world doesn't think much of them, plain, ordinary men, like their
Lord, And their Lord is the one that
sends them. He said, if they hear you, if they hear from me,
they're going to hear from you. If they reject you, it's me they
reject. Elisha is the one that told him
to say that. But Malan got mad at the messenger, didn't he? Well, all God's preachers say
to people is, you get down off your high horse. Your pride is
going to damage you. You're nothing. You're nobody.
Get down in the dust. Get down. Bow down before the
Lord. Get down until you can get no
further down. At the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ, ask him to wash you in his blood. That's the only thing
that's going to put away your violence, your corruption, your
leprosy, that is sin. That's it. That's the message. Well, old Naaman got mad. Naaman got mad. Verse 11, it
says, Naaman was wroth. I've seen this wrothness. I've
seen it in people. I've seen the veins bulge out
of their neck upon hearing of man's leprosy. the gospel, and
abases man, and exalts God in all his sovereignty, and Christ
in his completeness, and man in his helplessness. And I've
seen their teeth gritting. I've seen them can't hit the
door fast enough. I've seen them. Do you know who I am? Yes, I do. You don't, but I do. You're a lover. My pastor once said, Most people
think that there are really good and great people who just happen
to have some thoughts. said, probably thought about
himself, I'm the greatest man, oh, I'm a great man, I just happen
to be a leper. Fact is, he's a leper who just
happened to be a great man. And so it is with all the sons
of man. They're all lepers. Some of them just happen to be
greater than others in man's eyes. They're all worms. Some
of them just little prettier worms than others, before men. Well, Naaman was wrath, and verse
11, I like this. He says in verse 11, he went
away, he left. I don't know who he's talking to, himself, I guess.
Whoever will hear him, he said, Behold, I thought, I thought,
I thought, That old black preacher preached
a message one time from Psalm 50, the title of it was, It Ain't
Like You Thought It Was. God says this in Psalm 50, he
said, Thou Faultest. I was altogether such a one as
yourself. But he said, You're wrong, and
I'm going to reprove you. I said, I thought, look, read
on, I thought he would surely come out to me. I thought that
Elisha would be happy to have me here. I thought surely he'd
come to me, that he's waiting on me, and that he would come
and stand and go through some call on the name of the Lord
God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leprosy. Naaman thought, well, he'll go
through some elaborate ceremony where he bags on my greatness
and tells everybody what a privilege it is to have me here. and go
through this ceremony to cover up his leprosy. Let's not expose
him now. He's a great man and just happens
to be. And he'll go through all of this
ceremonial procedure. There we go. Without any degradation
or humility. I thought that. I thought that.
You know most people upon hearing that, and it says he went away
in a rage. Verse 12, he went away in a rage. He said,
Are not Abbana and Phar-phar, rivers of Damascus, better than
all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be
clean? I had to get out of that old muddy river Jordan and other
prettier rivers. And you know, most people, upon
hearing the gospel, that abases man and brings him down, speaks
of one way and one way only, they get mad. And they say, your way is not
the only way. And they all say, without exception,
they say, there are other places to go. They say, if I go down to Firefire
Baptist Church, they make me feel good about myself. And it's
a pretty place, too, pretty. Look at this two-bit place you're
in, Elisha! And why ever came to this little
joint? Getting a muddy river, Jordan? Why, I go down to the old Abner
Methodist place, and they tell me all great things about myself. Tell me if I just give them my
money, it'll be all right. They make me feel real good.
He's a leper. You don't need to masturbate.
You don't deal with a disease by taking care of the symptoms. Do you? What if you went to a
doctor and you're dying, and the doctor said, here, take these
pills. Is that going to get rid of my problem, Doc? No, but it'll
make you feel good. But Doc, I got cancer. Either cut it out or something.
Don't just prescribe things to make me feel better. Tell me
how bad it is, and cut it out. And that's what the great physician
does. It's never good news about a dying sinner at birth. Never
good news. It's telling us how bad it is.
Never. Well, verse 13, about the heretics. So he said, May I not wash in
these beautiful places? So he turned and went away in
a rage. And it says in verse 13, His
servants came near and spake unto him and said, My father,
master, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst
thou not have done it? Do you know men would rather
do something great than bow? Men would rather go through some
great thing or ceremonial thing, anything, do great works, you
know, than anything than get down in the dirt as an old, dirty,
rotten sinner before everybody. The whole—everybody's going to
see him getting in this old muddy water and getting down and dirty. Everybody's going to see him
stripped. naked of all, he's going to take
all his medals off, all his armor, all those things that distinguished
him as being great from everybody. All those things he thought made
him a vipper, getting naked before everybody, and everybody's going
to say, he's just a naked leper, isn't he? I thought he was great. He's just a leper! Look at him! And get drowned in the old dirty
water before everybody. bow his knee, bow his head, kick
the face down, and do it until he has no strength left. I love this story. That's what
every sinner is going to—that's the point. They're going to come
to it. But man would rather do some great thing. And they said
to him, why don't you just wash and be clean? Why don't you just
go down to the Jordan and get in? And you'll be clean. Why don't you do it? It's the
only way. It's the only way. You see, why
would a person wash? Who washes? Dirty people. Who needs mercy? Guilty people. Who needs grace? Helpless people. Who needs the Lord to save them?
Those who can't save themselves. Who needs healing? Lepers. Who needs a righteousness? The
unrighteous. Who needs a Redeemer? Those who
can't redeem themselves. Who needs the gospel? The poor
and needy. Who needs a covering? The naked. Gotta be dirty to wash, gotta
be a leopard to be clean, you gotta come down before you can
go up. So what'd he do? He's brought to the end if he
wants healed. If he wants clean. He counted the cost. I'm gonna
lose everything. I'm gonna lose my standing for
everybody. They thought I was great. They're gonna find out
I'm a leper. I've got all this dignity that
I hold up before men, all this greatness, all my, you know, pride, but I'm dying. All that means nothing to me
if I die. I think I'll just—it's just all
done. I think I'll just throw it all
off, cast it away. I want to live. I want to be
clean. So what did he do? Verse fourteen, he went down. What did he do? How many times
did he dip? Seven times. That's what he said. Seven times. He went down and
he dipped himself seven times in that old dirty Jordan, the
watered got his mouth and his ears and his eyes, and he got
muddy and slime all over him. And he got down and dirty. And it says, according to the
saying of the man of God, the seventh time when he came up,
his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean. The seventh time he got up out
of that water, my leprosy's gone." According to the Word. I bet he was loathed to put on
that uniform again, don't you? Oh, my. Let me read to you in
closing, just as a...this is such a better comment than I
can make. Closing remarks. Listen to John.
Listen. My last word. John says this. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. We're lepers. But if we confess
our sins, he, and only he, is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and, and he quotes the rest of it.
to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Get in the Jordan. Just come
to cry. Get down before him, unto him
every knee shall bow, every tongue confess. And you need to do it,
you need to do it now. You need to do it now. Today
is the day of salvation. All right, let's sing in closing.
474. Nothing have I gotten but what
I received. Grace hath bestowed it, as I
believe. Boasting excluded. Pride I base. I'm just a leper saved by grace. Let's stand and sing 474. 474. Not have I gotten, but what I've
received, I have mistold it since I have believed. Most being excluded,
but I obey, I'm only a sinner. Save the grave for me, a sinner.

Naaman The Leper

What does the story of Naaman tell us about sin?

How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Why is humility important for receiving God's grace?

What lesson does Naaman's story teach about self-righteousness?

How does Naaman's healing illustrate God's sovereignty?

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Naaman The Leper

What does the story of Naaman tell us about sin?

How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Why is humility important for receiving God's grace?

What lesson does Naaman's story teach about self-righteousness?

How does Naaman's healing illustrate God's sovereignty?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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