Open your Bibles to 2nd Kings
chapter 5 2nd Kings chapter 5 in our Bible
school, or we've spent the last three days looking at Old Testament
pictures. And when Frank asked me to preach
tonight, I didn't see any need in stopping with the few that
we've looked at over the past few days. So here in 2 Kings
5, just for a few moments this evening, I want us to look at
this account of Naaman. being healed of his leprosy this
evening. Before we begin, though, consider
the words of our Lord. We read there in Luke 4 and 27. He said, many. There were many
lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Many. I don't know how many that is.
He said, many. But we do know this. He was pleased to save
one. However many there were, Almighty
God in mercy was pleased to cleanse one. And that was Naaman, who
we read here of this evening. Many lepers, but God saved one. Look at verse one of our text. Here we're introduced to this
man named Naaman. It says, Captain of the host
of the king of Syria was a great man with his master. Naaman was
a man, he was distinguished among men. A great man with his master. Naaman was an honorable man. Another word for that word honorable,
as it's used here in this verse of scripture, is gracious. Naaman
was a gracious man. He was kind. He was gentle. He was forgiving. And we read
that by him, by Naaman, the Lord had given deliverance. He'd given
victory to Syria. I picture him just dressed up
in his military outfit, just covered with medals. He was a sight to see. based
on this description, a mighty man, a man who would stand for
what was right. No doubt, men loved to follow
Naaman into battle, a great man, an honorable man, a gracious
man, a mighty man. But in spite of all that, in
spite of all those worldly traits that we like, I mean, have you
read anything in there yet that you wouldn't like to see in your
children or in yourself? Look what we read here. Naaman
was a leper. He had leprosy. And leprosy,
as we know, is a picture of sin. Scriptures say this, there's
none righteous. No, not one. It's like they anticipated
what we might ask. There's none righteous. None? No, not one. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Naaman was a leper. And this
leprosy, again, it's a picture of sin. What leprosy is to the
body, sin is to the soul. Leprosy, it was an inward disease. That's kind of surprising, isn't
it? Because we think of leprosy, we think of ears falling off
and scabs and horrible condition. But the real cause was inward. Those sores, that rotting flesh,
they were just symptoms of a much worse condition. And our sin
is the same way, much, much the same. We're not sinners because
we sin. We sin because of what we are,
who and what we are, sinners. Isaiah 1 verse 6 says this, from
the sole of the foot, even into the head, there's no sound of
sin, wounds, bruises, Putrefying sores. They've not been closed,
haven't been bound up, neither mollified with ointment. An inward
disease. Leprosy was a separating disease. Leprosy would have you put outside
the camp and separated from men. They were ceremonially unclean. They couldn't even go in the
temple to worship. In fact, we read that when they
would go out and about, they had to shout, unclean, unclean,
so everybody would know it and avoid them and stay away from
them. A separating disease. Isn't that
what sin is? A separating disease? Isaiah
59 verse 2, let me just read it to you. Your sins have separated between
you and your God. Your sins have hid His face from
you that He will not hear. Leprosy could not be cured by
human means. A man couldn't do anything to
get rid of leprosy in and of himself. He couldn't work to
heal his leprosy. He couldn't just say, well, I
wish it would go away, a desire. I'll just exercise my free will.
Leprosy, go away. It didn't work like that. Man's
will couldn't get rid of leprosy. This thing of sin, we have no
power to put it away. Again, it's who and what we are. In those Old Testament scriptures,
only God could heal a leper. Only God could make a leper whole. We sing that song, what can wash
away my sin? Nothing. Nothing but the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He and he alone can cleanse us
from our sins. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews 1 and verse 3. Here we read, who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself,
purged our sins. Who helped him with that? Did we play a role in that? It's
not what it says, is it? When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. He sat down on the right hand
of God. How's that possible? The work
is complete. complete. So here we see Naaman. We see his leprosy, his sin,
and then we see something of God's providence. Look at verse
2 of our text. Here we read that 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. I was thinking about this today. What good could possibly come
from a little girl, little maid, being taken from her family in
a battle and put somewhere else with another family. We know. Now listen, we know
all things work together for good. Him that loved God, him
called according to his purpose. But do you ever read those things
and just think, you know, I bet this little girl wondered. I
bet her family wondered. What good could possibly come
from this? Turn over there to Romans 8.
I know we're familiar with this passage of Scripture, but let's
look at it in God's Word. Romans 8, verse 28, and we know We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. I think when we look at these
things, we look at it from our lens. It says according to his purpose. There's mercy in store. for Naaman. Almighty God who
orders and directs all things, he causes, he allows this young
maiden to be taken into captivity and places her in Naaman's house
serving Naaman's wine. Moses Back there when Moses was
born, Pharaoh was killing every male child that was born. And the man that would deliver
the children of Israel, you think about this, the man that's going
to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt is going to be raised
in Pharaoh's house by his daughter. Listen, the woman that's going
to nurse that child is Moses' mother. Isn't that just amazing to think? All things, we know, all things
work together for good. God's providence. Let's read
on here. This maiden, verse three, she
said to her mistress, would God my Lord with the prophet that
is in Samaria he would recover him of his leprosy. I don't know how old this little
girl was. Says she was a maiden. I don't
know what she knew. But she obviously knew a few
things, didn't she? One, she knew something about
Naaman's leprosy. She knew he had a problem, didn't
she? She knew that God could use Elisha
if he was pleased to heal this man. And no doubt, he was able
to cure Naaman of this disease. How important is it as parents
and grandparents and aunts and uncles that we have our children
under the sound of the gospel, that they'd be taught of the
Lord, that they would be taught from his word, taught of the
Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation, that they'd be brought up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that we might be able
to say of our children what Paul said of Timothy. He said, from
a child. Wouldn't that be, to be able
to say that of our young ones, from a child, now has known the
holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, that they would hear
his gospel, that they would hear his word, and hearing they might
believe. Faith, scriptures say faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And this little
maiden, Again, she says, would God, my Lord, were with the prophet
that's in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy. You know, over there in the book
of Esther, Mordecai, he was going to destroy all the Jews. And
Esther had been made queen. And Mordecai says to her, he
said, why don't you go and intercede on our behalf? And she was troubled
by that. She was troubled by that. And
Mordecai, I don't know how blunt he was, but I mean, he said,
you're a Jew. Don't forget you're a Jew. You're going to suffer
the consequence of this as well. And you would think it would
be easy for the queen to just go before the king, but the law
said anyone who came before the king without being invited, they
risked being killed. Of course, we know that she went
before him, and he raised that scepter in mercy. Haman said, or not Haman, Mordecai
said this. Mordecai said, he said, you know
what, Esther? Maybe, just maybe, this is the
reason you were placed here. Maybe this is the reason God
made you queen and put you in this place. God's purpose. God's purpose in all things. His providence. ordering and
directing all things. You reckon that's why he put
this little maiden girl in Naaman's home? For this purpose, for this
sake. Fourth, we see man's self-righteousness
and pride. That little maiden had told Naaman,
she said, go to the prophet of God. There's only one place,
there's only one person to go to. She said, go to the prophet
of God, go to him, go to him for healing. We go to him for
the forgiveness of sin. We go to him for salvation. Listen,
there's only there's only one place, there's only one person
to go to, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we read? Salvation is of the Lord. But Naaman wasn't listening. Or maybe he was, but he thought,
I'm a fairly important person, so I should probably go to someone
more important than this prophet that you're speaking of. And
he goes to the king, takes a letter, takes his gold, takes some changes
of raiment, this old this old sinful nature. We'll lean on anything and everything
but the Lord Jesus Christ. We turn to the law. We'll keep the law. Turn to our
idols, false idols. We'll turn to our church association. We'll turn to our so-called righteous
works. turn to the priest, turn to,
we even turn to ourselves. We look to ourselves. In Mark
5, that woman with the issue of blood, scriptures say that she spent
everything that she had. We read, she suffered many things
of many physicians and spent all that she had. And what was
the result of that? She was nothing better. In fact,
worse. She finally went to the right
person, and she said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment. Verse 9, back to our text here. Naaman came with his horses and
with his chariot, and he stood at the door of the house of Elisha. Oh, there he is. There he is
with his gifts, and he's well-dressed in his best apparel. A dog and pony show is what we'd
call that, right? And I don't doubt for a minute
that what he was wearing were long sleeves, probably even had
some ruffles to cover up the tops of his hands. Anything,
anything to cover his leprosy. Just as Adam, just as Adam and
Eve, all the way back there in the garden, knitting those fig
leaves together to cover their nakedness, to cover their sin. Isn't that a picture of self-righteousness?
The works of our hands. Bringing our own covering. Listen, everything, everything
has to be cast off. Forsaking all others, forsaking
all things and clinging to him and him alone. The Lord, he told
that rich young ruler, remember that he said, you go and sell
all that you have and follow me. Everything you have, follow
me. That young man heard what he
was saying. And we read that he went away sorrowful. Those things meant too much to
him. He went away sorrowful because
he had great possessions. He could not let go. You know,
in contrast, Peter and Andrew, they were out there fishing,
cleaning up their nets, been working all day. The Lord went
up to him and he said, follow me. They left their nets behind and
they followed him. We must have Christ. We must
have him and him alone. And Elisha, verse 10, he sends
a messenger to him. And he said, go and wash in the
Jordan seven times. Thy flesh shall come again to
thee. Thou shalt be clean. Isn't that a simple command? Isn't that a... He told the children of Israel
when they had been bitten by those snakes, those serpents. We heard about that this week. They'd been bitten by those serpents.
One command, just one look and live. Look and live. The keeper of the prison, he
asked, what must I do? What must I do to be saved? What
is a sinner to do? Believe. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Let's read on here in our text.
2 Kings 5, verse 11. But Naaman was wroth, and he
went away, and he said, behold, I thought, I thought, Our Lord
declares in Isaiah 55, these things of our thoughts, He said,
My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways. Naaman said this, he said, I
thought He will surely come out to me. He'll come out to me,
and He'll stand and call on the name of the Lord, and He'll strike
His hand over the place and recover the leper. Why not Abana and
Farfa rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?
May I not wash in them and be clean? So again, he turned and
he went away in a rage. Turn back to Luke chapter 4. Look at verse 27. We read this
earlier. Many lepers were in Israel in
the time of Elisha the prophet. None of them was cleansed, saving
one, saving Naaman the Syrian, and all they that were in the
synagogue. Now, these are so-called religious
people. They're in the synagogue, and
look what happened. When they heard these things,
They were filled with wrath. And they were pretty angry, weren't
they? They rose up, thrust him out of the city, led him under
the brow of the hill whereon the city was built, that they might
cast him down headlong. They were furious. Let me ask you, how many men
and women have heard the gospel preached and left in anger. You've ate lunch with some of
them. The idea that God saves whom he will, when he will, how
he will, that he's sovereign in all things, that he's sovereign
in creation, that he's sovereign in providence, that he's sovereign
in salvation, it offends the natural man. Angers angers the
natural man went away in anger after hearing the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace rather than rejoice That he'd be pleased
to save one They went away in anger That man that was running
around the cemetery Naked and cutting himself couldn't be couldn't
be bound with chains Our Lord was pleased to heal him He was
pleased to show mercy to him. You know everybody in that town
had to see that. They had to see that man and
think, what's wrong with him? What is going on? And the Lord Jesus Christ crossed
his path. And we read that he was seated. He was sitting at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ, seated, clothed, and in his right mind. And the people of that town,
rather than rejoice in the Lord showing mercy, They said, we
want you out of here. Anger. Went away in anger. Why is that? Seeking to establish
their own righteousness, not submitted to the righteousness
of God. It wasn't what he thought should
happen. It's not what he thought should
be done. I thought he would do. This, Naaman was wroth. He was angry. And men continue
to be angry in our day. Angry with God's sovereignty,
angry with man's depravity. I'm a sinner? Yes. Yes. You're a sinner. That makes it
personal, doesn't it? Most folks don't mind when you
talk about men in general being sinners. But when you drill down
to it's me, well, that's something completely different, isn't it?
I'm a sinner. Boy, that means there's other
people in my family that are sinners, right? Chips away. Chips away on those false foundations
that we've stood on. angry that this gospel is a gospel
that must be revealed. Almighty God must open our eyes
and show us, show us our sin, show us our need of the Savior,
show us the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's redemption, it offends
man's pride. Naaman would have preferred to
do some great thing. Maybe build a gymnasium. Maybe donate some money and have
something named after him, right? No. The Lord Jesus Christ, he did
the work. He did the work. Speaking to
the Father, he said, I have finished the work which you gave me to
do. And that offends the natural
man. the Lordship of Christ. That
offends the natural man. Scriptures declare he's Lord. Man's not to be exalted. Man's
to be shoved down into the dust. Lord Jesus Christ, he's to be
exalted. Naaman, just like every sinner,
had to be brought down to find our place in the dust. Again, Romans 10 verse 3 says,
for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness
of Almighty God. And then last, God's power to
save. Look at verse 13 and 14 of our
text. His servant came near. And he spake unto him. And he
said, my father, if the prophet had bid thee to do some great
thing, wouldn't you have done that? How much rather then, when
he said to thee, wash and be clean? Verse 14. Then he, Naaman, went down. He went down. Brother Henry wrote
this in one of his commentaries. He said, when sinners are ready
and made willing to quit lying, to quit trying, to quit buying,
and just bow down. Bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ
and receive salvation. You receive it as a gift. That's
what it is. Receive salvation as the free
gift of God. He'll be saved. That man will
be saved. That woman will be saved. Well,
turn to Matthew 9. Matthew 9. Look at verse... begin with verse 10, Matthew
9, verse 10. It came to pass, as Jesus said
at meeting the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came
and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaning. All have mercy. and not sacrifice. For I'm not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Naaman,
are you going to do something great? Man, do you think you're
going to do something great? Our Lord said, I'll have mercy,
not sacrifice. So Naaman went down. Naaman went
down and he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according
to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh came again as the
flesh of a little child. And he was clean. He was innocent. Holy. That's what he's done for every
believer. Made clean. Made holy. Let me
close with the passage of scripture we open with. Let me just read
this to you. Read this in Jeremiah. Heal me. Heal me and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall be saved. For thou art my praise. Who gets the glory? Not man. Not man. We'll hog enough of
that to ourself. We'll try to anyhow. God gets
the glory in that. All right, Sean. Come
lead us. If you would, turn to song
number 257. and stand as we sing, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus."