Then Went He Down

Q: What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

The Bible affirms that God shows mercy to whom He wills, demonstrating His sovereign grace throughout Scripture. Scripture teaches that God's mercy is not dependent on human merit or effort but is a sovereign act of His will. In the story of Naaman, as recounted in 2 Kings 5 and referenced by Jesus in Luke 4, we see that Naaman was an object of God's mercy despite being a Gentile. This illustrates that being part of God's chosen people by lineage does not guarantee His mercy. Instead, it is a demonstration of God's sovereign choice to extend grace to whom He desires, underscoring God's authority in all redemptive acts (Romans 9:15-16).

Q: How do we know that God chooses whom to save?

The Scriptures provide examples, such as Naaman, that illustrate God's sovereign choice in saving individuals. The doctrine of God's sovereignty in salvation is illustrated through several biblical narratives, including the story of Naaman, a Syrian leper. Jesus Himself referenced this story to demonstrate that God is not obligated to save based on lineage or works but chooses to show mercy to whomever He wills (Luke 4:25-27). Furthermore, Romans 8:29-30 informs us about the golden chain of salvation that God orchestrates, emphasizing foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification as acts of His will alone. This affirms that it is God who initiates and completes the work of salvation without consideration of human merit or religious observance.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is essential as it allows us to recognize our need for God's grace and leads us toward true repentance and faith. Humility is a recurring theme in Scripture as a prerequisite for receiving God's grace. In the narrative of Naaman, his initial pride and self-sufficiency had to be dismantled before he could accept the humble means by which God offered healing. James 4:6 states that 'God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,' highlighting that pride is an impediment to coming to Christ. True humility allows individuals to see themselves as sinners in need of salvation, prompting genuine repentance. Only in recognizing our spiritual poverty and inability can we fully embrace the gospel of grace, as indicated in the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3) and demonstrated in the life of Christ Himself.

Q: What does the story of Naaman teach us about faith?

The story of Naaman illustrates that faith requires obedience to God's Word, even when it challenges our understanding. Naaman's journey of healing emphasizes the relationship between faith and obedience. Initially, Naaman struggled with the prophet Elisha's command to wash in the Jordan River, viewing it as beneath his dignity (2 Kings 5:11). However, faith led him to obey and perform the command which resulted in his healing. This connection between obedience and faith is foundational in the Christian life, as emphasized in Hebrews 11, which recounts the acts of faith exhibited by the faithful. It showcases that true faith is expressed through action, and when believers humbly obey God's instructions, they experience His transformative power. Naaman's experience ultimately reveals that God's methods may not align with human expectations, but they lead to genuine salvation and cleansing.

None other land, none other name,
none other hope in heaven or earth or sea, none other hiding
place from guilt and shame. Man beside thee My faith burns
low My hope burns low Only my heart's desire cries out in me
By the deep thunder of its want and woe cries out to Thee Lord,
Thou art life Though I be dead, thus far thou
art, however cold I be, nor hem have I nor place to lay my head,
nor home thy Let's turn back in our Bibles
now to the book of 2 Kings, chapter 5, 2 Kings. Now, I know you listened carefully
while Brother Eccles was reading this scripture, so I'm not going
to read it again. But I ask this question, why
is this story in the Bible? Why does the Lord God devote
an entire chapter to this man, Naaman, and to his experience,
and to God's dealing with him? Well, now, we know this. We know
the story is authentic. We know that it's true because
our Lord Jesus Christ referred to it in Luke chapter four. You
remember when the Lord went back to Nazareth where he was brought
up? And he went into the synagogue as it was his custom on the Lord's
Day, and he read that passage of scripture from Isaiah 61. All of these Jewish people were
sitting before him, and every eye was fastened on him. He said,
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears, the Messianic prophecy. and they all wondered at the
gracious words that proceeded from his mouth. And then he began
to rebuke them. And he said, in essence, that
these religious Jews, because they were Abraham's seed, and
because that they made an effort to keep the law by keeping a
Sabbath day and tithing going through the ceremonies and the
washings and all these things, and because they were Abraham's
seed, that God was obligated to them, that God owed them something,
that they were automatically saved, that they belonged to
God, that they were his chosen people, and that they would someday
reign in glory. And our Lord said to them this.
He said, I'll tell you a truth. I'm going to tell you something.
Now listen to it. He said, there were many widows in the land
of Israel, many widows in Israel, Abraham's people, Abraham's seed,
Abraham's natural people. There were many widows in the
land of Israel in the days of the prophet, but God fed none
of them. God fed none of them. The famine
was over all the land, and God was merciful to none of them,
except to a woman who was a widow in the land of Sodom, a Sarepta,
a Gentile. And God fed her miraculously
by the hand of the prophet. And he said there were many lepers
in the land of Israel, many of them, many lepers in the land
of Israel in the days of the prophet, and God healed none
of them except one, Naaman. a Gentile, a Syrian. And when they heard these words,
they were filled with wrath. What our Lord is illustrating
here is His sovereign mercy. He'll be merciful to whom He
will. He'll be gracious to whom He will. Because a man is Abraham's
natural seed, because a man is born to a family like Saul of
Tarsus was, a Hebrew of Hebrews, because he kept the Sabbath day
and went through the ceremonies and the fastings and feastings
and all these things, God was not obligated to take him to
glory. And so he illustrates that to
these people. They felt because they were Jews
that they belonged to God. And he said, God will have mercy
on whom he will. And God had mercy on this man,
Naaman. So we know the story is authentic
because our Lord Jesus Christ used it himself. to illustrate
his sovereign grace, his sovereign mercy, and the fact that he'd
save whom he will. And in this case, a Gentile,
hated by the Jews, despised by the Jews, someone who was not
even in Israel. But now there's another reason
for this story. There's another reason. I'm going
to try to show it to you. Now, you hold the story there
open. to 2 Kings chapter 5, and I'll
get to it in a moment. Now, when you were, when Jim
was reading this story, I imagine that two questions arose in your
minds. It did in my mind when I read
the story the first time and when I prepared to preach on
it years and years and years ago. Two questions came to my
mind. Number one, did the waters of
Jordan The Jordan River was just a common, ordinary stream of
water flowing through that particular land, a muddy, they called it
the Muddy Jordan. Did the waters of the River Jordan
have power to heal leprosy? And the answer's no. Of course
not. That water had no power whatsoever
to heal that leper. Well, here's the second question.
Could Naaman have been healed had he not gone down into the
Jordan and dipped seven times? Well, the answer is no. The Jordan
River has no power to heal a leper, but this leper could not be healed
unless he did what the prophet commanded and went down into
the Jordan seven times. So what have we here? What's
the Lord saying to us? Well, let's see if I can answer
that. I know this from the words of my Lord, from the words of
Christ our Lord. Naaman was an object of God's
mercy. I know that. Our Lord said he
was saved. God had mercy on him. God dealt
with him. He was an object of God's mercy.
Christ said that. God had mercy on Naaman. I know that. He was an object
of God's love. God had singled him out for mercy,
just like he did Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. just like he did Abraham. I'm going to preach
on Abraham's call tonight. God had mercy on Abraham. And
here this man, Gentile, of the land of Syria, not a part of
Israel at all. God sent His love on him. God
made him an object of His mercy. I know that. God will be gracious
to him. But Naaman doesn't know God. Naaman doesn't have any understanding
of God at all. Naaman is a proud, arrogant Syrian. A man, you know, when Brother
Paul was reading while ago from I Corinthians, not many mighty,
not many noble. It doesn't say not any, but it
says not many. Queen Victoria, who lived in
the days of Spurgeon, said this, thank God for the letter M. And
someone asked her, what do you mean, thank God, for the letter
Eom? She said, it doesn't say not any mighty, not any noble,
not any wise. He says not many. And so Naaman
was high up. Naaman was a somebody. And Naaman's
got to learn some things. Naaman's got to learn who God
is. He's got to learn who God is. Naaman doesn't know God,
and Naaman's got to learn who God is. You know, when he came
to the prophet, he said, I thought he would call on his God. Naaman,
you gonna call on your God. It's not just his God, it's your
God. He doesn't know who God is. Naaman's
got to learn his poverty. He doesn't know he's poverty-stricken. Naaman's got to learn his inability. Naaman's got to learn his helplessness
before God. That's what we have here. That's
what we have in this story. Almighty God singles out a sinner
like he did you one day, and me. But that sinner's got to
be brought to Christ. He's got to come willingly. He's
got to come humbly. He's got to come helplessly. He's got to come because he needs
Christ. That's what you were talking
about. Naaman's got to be brought down. Naaman's got to be brought
down, and his human pride has got to be crushed. God resisted
the proud. God hates pride. He said, seven
things I hate, and the first one's pride, and pride's got
to go. God resisteth the proud, and
Naaman's as proud as he can be. Human pride, human merit, human
works have got to be crushed. Here he goes to the prophet,
and he takes all this gold and silver with him, chains of raiment.
He's going to buy this thing of grace. Naaman got to learn
the salvations of the Lord. He's got to learn that. And we
have too, and that's what the Lord's saying to us here. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said, All that my Father giveth me. And that's
Naaman. He didn't love God. God loved
him. He didn't choose God. God chose him. He wasn't seeking
God. God sought him. He wasn't calling
on God. God was calling on him. You see
what I'm saying? Naaman found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Christ said that. Naaman, Gentile,
unlikely. If you pick anybody that God
would heal in all of the world, it wouldn't have been this proud,
arrogant sinner, but God chose him because God gets the glory
for that. But all that the Father giveth
me, watch this now, shall come to me. Naaman is going to come
to God. He's going to come humbly. He's
going to come willingly. He's going to come submissively. He's going to come broken. He's
going to come to God. God's going to make sure that
this man comes to Him and comes willingly. Elisha didn't take
Him down and put Him in the river. He went to the river. Elisha
didn't splash the water on Him. He got naked and got down in
willingly. You see what I'm saying? You know, the Scripture says
in that same passage in John 6, all that my Father giveth
me, they'll come. It says in John 6, 44, same passage,
no man can come to me except my Father draw him. But they
shall all be taught of God. And every man that hath heard
and hath learned of the Father comes to me. He'll come. He'll come. And then Psalm 110
verse 3 says, Thy people, God made them His people. It pleased
the Lord to make you His people. You don't get any credit for
this. He gets all the credit for it. He made you His people. It pleased God to reveal Christ
to you. It pleased God But thy people
shall be willing." When? In the day of thy power. In the
day of thy power. And then Galatians 1, the Apostle
Paul talking about his own conversion. He said, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb. Boy, that proud,
arrogant Pharisee doesn't look like one of God's children, does
he? But he is. That proud, arrogant Pharisee,
Saul of Tarsus, going about to establish his own righteousness,
trying to obligate God to deal with him in grace because of
what he's done. That proud, arrogant Pharisee
who hates the name of Jesus of Nazareth. who went down to Damascus
to kill even women and children and everybody he found worshiping
this imposter Jesus of Nazareth. Boy, he doesn't look like a child
of God, but he is. God separated me from my mother's
womb, but God called me. God called me by his grace. And all whom he separates, he'll
call. whom he foreknew, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son, and whom he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son, he called. And he's going to call Saul of
Tarsus. Maybe forty years old when he calls him, but he'll
call him. And Saul of Tarsus is going to be unhorsed He's
going to be brought off that proud steed down into the dust. He's going to bite the dust.
His face is going to fall flush in the dust. He's going to be
led about like a helpless blind man and go down and sit in a
place in a street called Straight for three days, not seeing the
light of day, till God sends somebody to do something for
him. Helpless, hopeless, unable. They're going to do it. They're
going to come. Other sheep I have which are not of this foal, I'm
going to bring them. And they'll hear my voice, and
there'll be one foal and one shepherd. And that's what God's
doing to this man right here, this man right here, bringing
him down, bringing him down, bringing him down, making him
know who God is and who he is and what he needs. and where
his salvation rests, and he's going to come willingly, humbly,
submissively, he's going to come to God. That's the way he's going
to come. If a person misses this conviction,
he's going to miss repentance. And if he misses repentance,
he's going to miss faith. And if he misses faith, he's
going to miss Christ. And if he misses Christ, he's going
to wind up in eternal condemnation. And it all goes back to this
matter of conviction being broken. Well, let's look at it. Verse
1, Now Naaman, Naaman was the captain of the host of the king
of Syria. He was a great man with his master,
and he was honorable. And because by him the Lord had
given deliverance, had given victory to this land of Syria,
he was a mighty man, a mighty man. Naaman had many commendable
traits. Naaman was a man of great accomplishments,
great accomplishments. But something was wrong. Something
was dead wrong. Something was terribly wrong.
Something that was so wrong that it made all this other meaningless
to name. He was a leper. He was a leper. He may have tried to hide it.
I'm sure he wore high collars. I'm sure he wore his cap down
as far as he could, wore white gloves, you know, and dressed. He was a general. He was a captain
of the whole army. And he went about, you know,
very proudly, but underneath all of this, underneath all of
this veneer and this show and this glamour and things of that,
underneath there was a rotting, corrupt, dying creature. And you know, that's true spiritually
of all of us by nature. I mean, there are people here
who I look around and see people who are intelligent and have
commendable traits. There are people who are qualified
to do so many things, like sing and speak and work on automobiles
and build houses. And your people are business
people and nurses and teachers and have so many commendable
traits. Your people who are honest in
your business dealings and all of this sort of thing. But there's
something wrong with all of us. We're born wrong. Underneath
all of our veneer, underneath all of our outward showing, where
people can't see, we've got trouble. You know what they're seeing?
It's a rotten, polluting disease called sin. In sin, David said,
my mother conceived me. I was brought forth from the
womb speaking lies. We're sinners before God. When
God looks upon, when men look upon us, they don't see much
wrong. But when God looks upon us, He
sees the heart and the nature and the soul, and He sees so
much flesh and and evil and guilt and filthy thoughts and hatred
and malice and all these things. It's sin. We don't love God with
all our hearts. We don't love our neighbors as
ourselves. We love ourselves. We're sinners. Are you a sinner?
Scripture says that. There's none good, no, not one.
There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth.
They all together become unprofitable. There's none righteous. No, not one. God looked down
from heaven to see if there's any good or righteous, and he
found they're all gone out of the way. Every imagination of
man's heart is evil continually. There's no difference. Even our
righteousness is a filthy rag to God's sight. All my sins,
the guilt of them, the filth of them, the vastness of them. I was preaching on television
one Sunday several years ago. And there was a young man up
in Virginia, right across the West Virginia border, David Kleiner. David is a coal miner, and he
also operates two coal hauling trucks. family man, and like
all Eastern Kentuckians and Western Virginians and West Virginians,
they're all religious. Mountain people are religious,
you know. Apple pie, God, mother, and church, and good singing,
and they're real religious. And old David was so religious.
But when he was looking for that good singing that Sunday morning
on television, he went over there and told me, he said, he went
over there and turned the television on to get some singing, and he
said, they're used to it. And he said, I just kind of backed
off and looked at you. And he said, you pointed your
finger. Just at the time I turned on you, you pointed your finger
at me. And you said, a lot of difference between you and me.
But we got one thing in common. You're a sinner and I'm a sinner. And old David said, I got so
mad, I just snapped the television off. I said, I ain't no sinner. And he said, I went over and
sat down in the chair. And he said, I sat down, I got, I was
just so mad. And he said, I got to thinking,
maybe I am a sinner. So he went over and turned it
back on you. And he said, I sat back and listened to what you
had to say about a sinner. And he said, you know what? I
found out. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. You know when a man takes his
first step toward heaven, it's not When he finds out who Christ
is, it's when he finds out who he is. That's right. That's right. You've got to be
lost before you're found. You've got to be naked before
you're clothed. You've got to be a sinner before you're saved.
And we'll realize that. And that was what Naomi... And
like I say, you have many commendable traits. I trust many of you with
my life, with everything I own. with my family. You're just commendable. But I tell you, underneath all
of this, in the heart, in the soul, in the mind, we're not
like God. Our sins have separated us from
God. We're sinners, unclean. That's right, lepers. All right. So Naleman, let's look at the
next verses. In verse 3, Naleman found out
there was healing. It said this little Israelite
girl, she said to her mistress in verse 3, would God, my Lord,
were with the prophet that's in Samaria. She knew about Elisha,
the prophet, the prophet of God. He would recover my master of
his leprosy. And one went in and told Naaman,
saying, this is what the maid said of the land of Israel, that
if you were with the prophet in the land of Israel, you'd
be healed. So the king, he went and told his king about it. Naaman
told the king of Syria about it. And the king of Syria said,
now watch this, Naaman found out that there was healing, but
he went to the wrong place. The little girl didn't say anything
about going to the king of Israel. She said, go to the prophet.
But old Abram wasn't going to have anything to do with this
simple prophet, this despised prophet. He was going to the
higher up. He was going to the king. So
look, it says, And the king of Syria said, Now you go, too,
go. I'll send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed
and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces
of gold, ten changes of raiment. He brought the letter to the
king of Israel saying, I've sent you my servant, Verse 7 said,
it came to pass the king of Israel read the letter. He tore his
clothes. He said, I'm not God. I can't
heal people of leprosy, kill and make alive. Old Naaman found
out there was healing, but he went to the wrong place. And I'll tell you folks today
are doing that. Folks find out that there's something between
them and God that's just not right. They find out something
about this sin business, a little bit about this sin business.
and they go to the wrong place. They go to Mary. The Bible doesn't
say anything about you going to Mary. Hail Mary, Mother of
God, pray for us poor sinners. The Bible doesn't say anything
about going to Mary. They'll go to the altar. The Bible doesn't
say anything about going to an altar. We have an altar. It's
in the heart here. They'll come down an aisle, they'll
raise their hands, and they'll say to everyone, they'll come
down an aisle, they'll stand before a preacher. And that preacher
will shake hands, and that preacher will tell him something. The
Bible doesn't say anything about going to a preacher. They'll
go to the law. They'll start looking at the
law. They'll go to the baptismal pool. They'll go to the sacraments. They'll go to all... The Bible
doesn't say anything about going to those places. It says, go
to Christ. The Bible directs us to our Redeemer. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, come
unto me. I'll give you rest. If any man
thirsts, Let him come to me. Out of his Venice shall flow
rivers of living water. Come to Christ." Neheman's a
commendable man, but something's wrong. He's got leprosy. And
so he finds out there's a cure for his leprosy, but instead
of going to where the cure can be, where the cure is and where
the need can be met, he goes somewhere else. And that's the
way men do. They go somewhere else. They'll
go anywhere but to Christ. I want you to turn to Acts 13.
Let me show you a scripture over here. This is one of my favorite
scriptures in all the Word of God. It's so clear, it's so clear
on the gospel. It's a summary of Paul's message
to Antioch in Acts 13, verse 38. Listen, Acts 13, 38. Listen,
Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man, this God-man, this man Jesus Christ, through Him,
in Him, because of Him, is preached to you the forgiveness of sin.
And by Him all that believe are justified from all things from
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. So where
do you go? Go to Him. Go to Christ. It's by Him, it's
through Him, it's because of Him that we have forgiveness.
Go to Christ. You know, when famine was over
all the land, back in the days of Joseph, and people came to
Pharaoh, they wanted some corn. Pharaoh said, go to Joseph. Joseph's
the one that fills the storehouses. Joseph is the one that's in charge
of the corn. Joseph is the one that feeds
the hungry. Go to Joseph. Don't come to me. I say this, old Naaman went to the king of
Israel, wrong place. And I say this very carefully
and very reverently, don't go to the father, go to Christ. Now God is able to save all that
come to him by Christ. And God, Christ, and the Father
are one. But I'm telling you, don't bypass
Christ Jesus. No matter how hated the prophet
is, no matter how despised, man despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrow is acquainted with grief, a despised prophet
and priest, but go to him. All right, let's see something
else about Naaman, verse 5. Well, he wanted healing, but
he went, he took the wrong things with him. It says here in verse
5, And the king of Syria said, Go, I'll send a letter to the
king of Israel. And he departed and took with
him ten talents of silver. I don't know how much this is,
but it's bound to be a lot of money. Because the king of Syria
and Naaman were wealthy, six thousand pieces of gold and ten
changes of raiment. He took the wrong things with
him. He was going to buy a healing. But you know, before we judge
Naaman too harshly, examine what's going on in religion today. Listen
to the preachers. Listen to them on television.
Give God your talents. Give God your time. Give God
your tithe. Do this, do that. Plant a seed,
you'll reap. In other words, it's sort of
an exchange. If you do this for God, then God will do that for
you. But Scripture says it's not by works of righteousness
which we've done. Not by the deeds of the law,
but the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified." Don't
bring anything to God. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. Don't bring anything. Turn with
me to Romans chapter 10 a minute. And this is one of the things
of which the Apostle Paul accused Israel, and one of their trying to work out their own
righteousness, trying to buy for God's favor. In Romans 10
verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
it's not according to knowledge. They're ignorant of God's righteousness,
and they're going about to establish their own righteousness. and
have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God."
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes it. Don't do anything. Don't bring
anything. Don't give anything. Don't set
forth to exchange anything to God for His favor. It's free. Nothing I've done before God
saved me contributed to my redemption, and nothing I've done after God
saved me contributed to my redemption. It's the free gift of God. In
my hands no price I bring, sent through the cross of Christ I
cling. I can't emphasize that too strongly. Nehemiah was a
prominent, commendable man, but some was wrong. He was rotten. He was a leper. And Naaman took the wrong things
with him. All you bring to Christ is an appetite. All you bring
to Christ is a sinner. All you bring to Christ is a
need. All you bring to Christ are empty hands. All you bring
to Christ is a lost sinner. Isn't that right? That's all. If you tarry till you're better,
you'll never come at all. just as I am without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come to
thee. Just as I am and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse
each spot, O Lamb of God, I come to thee." Well, let's see something
else about Naaman. Well, he got the word. Elisha
sent word, verse 8, When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the
king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king and said,
Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let Naaman come to me,
and he'll know there's a prophet in the land of Israel. So Naaman
came with his horses, with his chariot, and stood at the door
of the house of Elijah. Okay, well here we are. Now watch
this. And Naaman came and stood at
the door of the house of Elijah. Here's this prominent man, but
he's a leper. And he's gone to the wrong place
and found that out. He took the wrong things with
him. He found that out. So finally he comes to the right
place. Finally, people, you know, find out their centers and they
go to try to find salvation in this church and that church and
the other church and don't find anything. Like the woman with
the issue of blood, wasted her substance. It was no better.
And they go to all these places. Finally, they come and hear a
true man of God. But here's the way they come.
Naaman came to the door and he had the wrong attitude. You see,
I don't know what kind of house Elisha lived in, but I think
it might have been like those little huts down there where
Milton, Howard, Walter Gruber ministered. Some little, just
a lean to it. I imagine Elisha the prophet
had a little old round house, you know, made out of sticks
with a thatched roof, and this man nailed it. He's proud. He's,
boy, he's a He's a general. He's a captain. He's got money. He's got horses. He's got followers. He's got armies. He's somebody. He's not
going to go in that despised, despicable, lean to. He comes. He's somebody. Let
him come to me. He's got the wrong attitude. He's proud. He's arrogant. You see, here's his attitude.
He wants to be treated as a great man who happens to be a leper.
But you know what he is? He's a leper who just happens
to be a great man. And Elisha knew his pride. Elisha's sitting in there, and
Elisha knows he's out here. But Elisha, the man of God, wouldn't
come out and meet him. He knows this man's problem.
He knows his pride. He knows his arrogance. He knows
all about him, and he just sits in there. Here's Naaman, captain
of the host of seers, standing outside his door, and Elisha
calls a servant, Gehazi, over and said, Go out and tell him
to go dip seven times in the River Jordan, and he'll be clean.
Elisha wouldn't even come out and speak to him. You know, today,
Today's churches, they cater. They're proud folks come to church,
and the preacher recognizes them and brags on them, and people
brag on them and recognize them and cater to them. It just makes
them that much more proud and that much more arrogant. See,
our gospel's a humbling gospel. They advertise the church where
everybody's somebody. Well, this is a place where everybody's
nobody. Nobody. You're nobody. Elijah's
got to get that across to this guy. He's got to get this across
to him. And we've got, and you may think
we're a little bit fanatical or radical, but we've got to
get across to them. God's never going to close a
man until he's stripped now. God's never going to lift a man
until he breaks him. He's never going to give him
life until he kills him. He's going to kill us. He's going
to destroy our pride and arrogance and haughtiness and merit and
self-righteousness. If you don't come down, you'll
never go up. I guarantee you that. That's exactly right. And Elisha
wouldn't come out. He wouldn't come out. He just
sat in there. I, you know, I no gaze, I thought, what's wrong
with my master, the prophet? Doesn't he know who's out there?
Think what that man could do for us. Think what that fella,
he's got money, he's got prestige, he's got influence, he's got
followers. Why, he just say the word and
we could have a new building. We could have a new home. We
could have, we could ride in stiles instead of walking. Elisha
knew his problem. need be brought down. Oh, I tell
you, it hurts. And there he stands out there.
And that servant, look at this. Verse 10, And Elisha sent the
messenger with him, saying, Go wash in Jordan seven times, and
your flesh will come again to thee, and you'll be clean. And
what was Naaman's response? Verse 11, He was angry. And you know, through all the
years I've found that many of the people whom God is pleased
to save, their first response to the gospel is anger. I was
just out in Wichita Falls, Texas, and a dear lady, Miss Thompson,
she's about my age, about 65, 66, she came to me with tears
in her eyes. I'd never met her before. I went
out there to preach to a group of people. She came up and she
said, the first time that Mrs. Sharp gave me one of your tapes."
She said, I listened to it and I got so mad, so angry. She said, I brought the tape
back to Marsha and literally threw it at her. And I said,
don't ever, don't ever bring me another tape by that man.
I don't believe what he's preaching. She said, but somehow God led
me to come back and get another tape, and God just brought me
down. And she sat there and cried,
and she said, I see the God. There's a preacher out in Washington
right now, Norman Wells. When I was in California, Rescue
California, Norman Wells is a big, handsome preacher, preaching
the gospel of God's grace. Now, he was pastor of a Baptist
church in Central Point, Oregon. And I went out there to Central
Point to preach in a Grange Hall for five nights. And he came. And I heard his testimony in
rescue just this last year. This was five, six years ago.
I went out to Oregon. He said, when I heard you and
heard that message of grace and that message of Christ, I was
so religious and so lost, I went home and told my wife, I hate
that man. I hate that man. I hate everything
he says. I hate everything he stands for.
I hate that man." But he said, I had to go back the next night.
And the next night, and God saved him. He's a school teacher and
a pastor of a church, and he got up and told his church the
next Sunday God had saved him, and they fired him. They didn't
know what to do with the saved preacher. I'm telling you the
truth. And he went back teaching school
full time to make a living, and they fired him. Because he'd
come to know Christ. God brought him down. But he
hated it. And when the prophet's servant
went out there and said, Naaman, go dip seven times in the River
Jordan. Go down. Down. You've got to
strip and get to Christ. You've got to be broken and come
to Christ. You've got to confess your nothing
and get to Christ. Submerged in Christ. Baptized
into Christ. Christ is all. Dependent on Christ. Get rid of all that distinguishes
you and all that draws attention to you. Take off that uniform. Take off your stars. Take off
your uniform. Come down just like all these
other men. Just a naked, sinful leper. Let them see your leprosy. He
didn't worry about seeing that stuff. Let them see what you
really are under that uniform, and get down, down, down into
the muddy Jordan, and God may do something for you." Why? He
said, that's not what I thought. Naaman heard the true message,
but he had the wrong thoughts. See this man, so he, something
was wrong with him. He went to the wrong place, took
the wrong things with him, had the wrong attitude when he came,
and here, when he hears the truth, he's got the wrong thoughts.
I thought, listen, verse 11, this is what I thought. One thing
you'll learn when you come to hear the gospel, your thoughts
are not God's thoughts. That's exactly the opposite.
Your way is not God's way. You see, if he lets you have
your way, you'll get the glory. But if you come his way, he'll
get the glory. I thought, why, he'll come out to me. No, you're
going to come to him. You're going to come to Him broken.
Well, He'll come to me. Does He know who I am? And He'll
stand, and He'll call on the name of the Lord, His God. Oh, Naaman, this God's going
to be your God. He's not going to be Naaman's
God, Lysa's God. He's going to be your God. Every kneel-bow and every tongue
will confess that He's my Lord. Old Thomas said, Preacher can't do anything for
you. He can tell you who the Savior is. He can tell you how
the Savior redeemed. He can tell you about that precious
blood that we read about a while ago. But you're the one that's
going to come to the blood. You're God. I thought he'd strike
his hand over the place. That's what they're doing on
television. They're putting their hands on people and heal and
all this sort of thing. Demonstrations of their own.
pride and arrogancy, I rebuke thee, Satan. That's what old
Naaman thought Elisha would do. But God's preachers don't deal
in theatrics. They know it's not by might nor
by power but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. They know it's not
of him that runneth or him that willeth but of God that showeth
mercy. They know this not in the demonstration of the flesh
but in the demonstration of the Spirit of God. They know that
men are not brought to Christ with a whip of the law or the
promise of rewards. They're brought to Christ by
the voice of the Holy Spirit. And then he said, Are not Abba
Nun far for 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. Listen to me.
When your loved ones and friends hear the gospel and they're made
angry, Don't despair. Don't give up. It may be that
God's really dealing with them, because that's usually their
first response to the gospel. See, it offends their dignity.
When they find out they're sinners, it offends their dignity. When
they find out the gospel, like Paul said, comes by revelation
and not education, it offends their wisdom. And when they find
out that salvation is in the blood of Christ alone, plus nothing
minus nothing, it offends their pride. And when they find out
Jesus Christ is going to be Lord of all or not Lord at all, it
offends their love of self. So you've offended their dignity,
their wisdom, their pride, and their love of self. No wonder
they're mad. You kill their God. You go down
to some of these islands and go to killing their gods, and
you'll make some of them mad, too. Go down there where they're
worshiping some kind of molten or molded image and take your
brick bat and tear it down and they'll kill you. And we go into
the pulpit and kill these folks, these religious folks as God,
they get mad. But they'll never come to the
true God until you kill their God. That's exactly an old name,
and he was mad. But one of his servants said
to him, verse 13, And God uses the humblest vessel. God uses
the humblest vessel. Here's one of his servants, a
nobody. Here's his manager, a general.
Here's a prophet that dared even speak to him. He said, My father,
I don't understand this. If the prophet had given you
some great thing, would you not have done it? Something to do?
If the preacher, and that's what these preachers are doing. They're
bargaining with sinners. You do this, and God will do
that. You come, you take the first step, and He'll meet you.
God's done all He can do, and that's up to you. God has a wonderful
plan. Let God work His plan. Folks
love that sort of stuff. And if He told you to do that,
you'd have done it. How much more when He said to you, just
wash, just look, just believe. If I told you to do this to gain
heaven, to do that to gain heaven, to do that to gainâ€”you'd do it.
Well, you're wicked and you're dirty and you're slavvy and you're
shameful. You've got to wash. Wash. Wash me and I shall be
clean. Purge me with hyssop and I'll
be clean. Wash me. Get to the water of
life. Get to Christ and wash. That's
all. Just wash. Well, Old Naaman finally
did something right. I'm glad we got to verse 14,
aren't you? Finally, everything about him
was wrong, and that's the way it is with you and me. Everything
about us is wrong. We're so hard-headed, dumb, and
fleshly, I thought, so proud, you know, so arrogant, such as
somebody, all that. And finally, verse 14, then went
he down. Boy, I imagine there's an awful
sight here. He stood over there and he's
humble now. He... sink or swim, I go to him. I got to get to
Christ. If it costs me my dignity and my pride and my wisdom and
everything else, let it go. It's not worth it. What a man...
Prophets, he came to the whole world and lose his soul. His
whole name, he took off the gloves and there's those little scaly
hands. And some of the men had never seen him. And I imagine
some of them started backing off of him. I didn't know he
was such an awful looking thing. And he took off his coat and
that silk shirt with the ruffles, you know. And he laid aside his
pants and his boots. And there he stood, such a wretched,
scaly, corruptible, dying, vile, rotten thing in the eyes of God
in me. God knows us. And I'll tell you,
if we knew one another, we'd turn our eyes away like that.
I tried. I tried. And that's when you
say, when you come to confess Christ in the waters of baptism,
you're saying, I'm dead, I'm corrupt, I'm vile, I'm a sinner,
I'm looking to Christ. I'm dead. You've got to bury
me out of sight. I'm dead. Bury this old corrupt,
filthy, vile sinner. Bury him out of sight and let
him rise washed in the blood of Christ, the newness of life.
And old Naaman walked down into that water and seven times, the
number of perfections, the number of God, seven times, he submitted
Barnard one time said that word, "'Tis many as received Christ,
and then gave him the power to become the sons of God," that
word is submit. "'Tis many as submit. Naked,"
that's all, don't bring anything, don't hang on to, he didn't even
have his swagger stick power. He didn't have nothing to distinguish
him from the vilest leper up there in the leper colony. And
there he stood, and he went down that water, and he obeyed God. He didn't pay a dime, he didn't
give a nickel, he didn't do a thing, he just submitted. And the scripture
says, his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child and
he was clean. What do you want from God? I
want to be clean in God's sight. I don't want to be somebody special. I don't want to leave my name
on a granite stone. I want to be clean. I want to
stand in God's presence. I want to be accepted in the
beloved. I want to be a child of God. When the saints go marching
in, I want to march in, don't you? I sure do. And that's what he had. Well, how much more? What would you do? Anything but
look. What would you do to be saved?
Anything. Name it. I'll give my house,
land. Would you do nothing? Would you
just look to Christ? Would you be humbled? Would you
be brought down? Would you come as a naked sinner?
That's the way to come. Well, verse 15, let's look at
this just a second, and he returned to the man of God. Oh, he came
back to confess Christ, confess God. He and all his company came,
and he stood before him. Oh, he went in the house that
time. Oh, Elisha's still sitting in
there. He went in there and he said, Behold, now I know there's
no God in all the earth, but in Israel, therefore I say, take
a blessing from thy servant. Elisha didn't tell him to tithe.
He didn't tell him to give anything. He didn't ask him to give anything.
You see, God had done something for this man. He broke him, and
he came and confessed God, confessed Christ, and he came and stood
before the prophet, and he wanted to give something. And Elijah
said, No, as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I receive
nothing. He earned him to take it, but
he refused. And Naaman said, Shall not the
prairie just give you two mules? Least of burden, burdens are
there, for your servant will henceforth offer thee the burnt
offering of sacrifice to any other god but unto the Lord."
I'm committed to Christ. I'm committed to God. All right. I hope that's a blessing.
I hope God will use it for your and my profit. May God bless
you. Thank you. Turn to 4.74. Let's sing a verse
or two of this. Stand with me as we sing this.
If Naaman had a song to sing, this might have been it. Not have I gotten, but what I
received. Grace hath bestowed it since
I have believed. Most in excluded. Pride I abase. I am only a leper saved by grace. Stand with me, we'll sing a verse
or two of this. God have I gotten, but what I
receive, grace hath bestowed it since I have believed. Hosting excluded, pride I have
based, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. After a sinner whose heart overflowed,
loving his Savior to tell what he knows, once more to tell it,
would I embrace, I'm only a sinner. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my glory to God be the
glory. Only a sinner saved by grace. you

Then Went He Down

What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

How do we know that God chooses whom to save?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does the story of Naaman teach us about faith?

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Then Went He Down

What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

How do we know that God chooses whom to save?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does the story of Naaman teach us about faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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