Lessons From Naaman the Leper

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

Naaman's story illustrates that humility is essential for receiving God's grace and healing. The account of Naaman the leper emphasizes the necessity of humility in approaching God. God desires to exalt the humble, and Naaman's pride initially kept him from experiencing the healing he sought. To be saved and healed, Naaman had to recognize his own inability and surrender to God's prescribed means, which involved humility—he had to dip in the Jordan river as commanded by the prophet Elisha. This lesson is crucial for all who seek God's favor; without humbling ourselves, we risk being left unhealed, as God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Q: Why is it important to follow God's commandments like Naaman did?

Following God's commandments, even in humility, is essential for receiving His promises. In the narrative of Naaman, obedience to God's command, demonstrated through his act of dipping in the Jordan river, was crucial for his healing. Naaman learned that it was not the water itself that had healing power, but obedience to God's directive that demonstrated his faith. This act of faith, however humble it appeared, was necessary for him to receive God's mercy. Obedience to God's Word is central to the sovereignty of grace; it reveals our recognition of God's authority and our submission to His will. Therefore, Christians are called to heed God's commands faithfully, understanding that true healing and salvation come not from works but from God alone, who saves and heals based on His grace.

Q: How does Naaman's story illustrate the concept of grace in salvation?

Naaman's healing illustrates that salvation and grace come freely from God, without human merit. The story of Naaman is a powerful example of how grace operates in salvation. Despite his high status, Naaman was a leper—dying and powerless to heal himself. The fact that he had to wash in the Jordan river, a seemingly humble act, highlights the point that salvation is not based on personal merit or greatness but rather on God's mercy. This act of submission to God's will served as a reminder that all humanity, regardless of status or power, must come to God empty-handed and dependent on His grace alone for cleansing and salvation. The narrative teaches that, like Naaman, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge our inability—turning to God for salvation, which is available freely through Christ.

Q: Why did Naaman initially refuse to wash in the Jordan?

Naaman's initial refusal stemmed from pride and a misunderstanding of God's way. Naaman's refusal to initially wash in the Jordan river highlights the struggle between human pride and divine instruction. When instructed by the prophet Elisha to dip in the river Jordan, Naaman reacted with anger, believing the command was beneath him and that surely a grander show was warranted for such an important healing. This reflects a common misconception that salvation can be achieved through our efforts or expectations rather than through humble obedience to God's will. Naaman's eventual compliance teaches us that God’s ways may often seem foolish to us, yet they are the very means by which He imparts His grace. Recognizing our pride and self-sufficiency is crucial in grasping the depth of our need for God’s mercy.

Message today is lessons from
Naaman the leper Lessons from Naaman the leper now the scripture
will be found in second Kings chapter 5 now I'll be reading
from the amplified version But you follow along in your King
James or amplified or whichever version you use but I do want
you to listen carefully carefully to the reading of the word and
carefully to the message because, oh my, we can learn some valuable
lessons from this story. Valuable, valuable lessons. You
see, what makes this story so important is really two things.
Number one, the Lord God gave an entire chapter, an entire
chapter, 2 Kings 5, in the Word of God to the cleansing of Nahum
and the leper. Now you, did you see the importance
of that? There's a whole chapter in the Word of God devoted to
Naaman the leper, his cleansing. And then, now secondly, our Lord
Jesus Christ himself, the master himself, when he was on this
earth in human flesh, and was speaking in Nazareth, the place
where he was brought up, that very important sermon he delivered
in Luke chapter 4 to the people of Nazareth He used Naaman as
an illustration in his message. The master himself used Naaman,
the cleansing of Naaman, in his message as an illustration when
he spoke to the people at Nazareth. Now listen to the story, 2nd
Kings 5. Naaman, commander, captain of the army of the king of Syria,
accepted because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria a
mighty man of valor, an honorable man, but he was a leper. The Syrians had gone out in bands
and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little
maid, and she waited on Naaman's wife. She worked in the home
of Naaman. And this little girl of Israel said to Naaman's wife,
would that my Lord Naaman were with the Prophet in Samaria.
If he were with the Prophet, the Prophet could heal him of
his leprosy. Well, Naaman's wife reported
that to Naaman, so he told it to the king of Syria. And the
king of Syria said, well you go, you go to Israel and I will
send a letter to the king of Israel. And so Naaman departed
and took with him ten talents of silver six thousand shekels
of gold, ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter from
the king of Syria to the king of Israel, and the letter said,
when you get this letter, I will have sent to you my servant Naaman,
that you may heal him of his leprosy. And when the king of
Israel read that letter, he rent his clothes. He said, am I God?
Am I God to kill, to make alive? That this man sends to me a man
to be healed of leprosy? He must be seeking a war. He
must be seeking a quarrel. Well, when Elisha, the prophet
of God, heard about this, and that the king of Israel had rent
his clothes, he sent to the king of Israel, and he said, let Naaman
come to me, and he'll know there's a prophet in Israel. So Naaman
came to Elisha and he came with his horses and his chariots and
he stood outside the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent
a messenger, Gehazi, out to him. Elisha didn't even go out to
greet him. He just sent his servant out
there. And he said, you go tell Naaman to wash seven times in
the river Jordan and he'll be clean. Well, verse 11, Naaman
was angry and he went away. He said, behold, why I thought
he would come out to me and stand and wave his hand and call on
the name of his God and touch the place and heal me. Why he
said, Abbana and Farfa, rivers of Damascus are better than the
waters of Jordan. May I not wash in them and be
clean? So he turned away in a rage. And some of his servants came
to him and said, master, if the prophet had bid you do some great
thing, would you have done it? Well, how much rather then when
he says to you, just wash and be clean, wash and be clean. Now watch verse 14, four words. Then he went down. Then he went down. Dipped himself
seven times in the Jordan as the prophet of God had said and
his flesh was restored Like that of a little child and he was
clean Now when you read this story three questions come to
mind Three questions. I know these three questions
are in your mind The first one is this Did the River Jordan
have any special power to heal lepers Did the River Jordan have
any power to cleanse a leper? And the answer is no. The River
Jordan's just on their water. No different from any other water.
It's just muddy water. Like this fella said, the rivers
in his country are better than the rivers, the River Jordan.
No, it had no power to heal anybody. Well, here's the second question.
Could Naaman, the leper, have been healed of his leprosy without
dipping seven times in the River Jordan. Could he have been healed?
No. But you said the River Jordan
had no power to heal leprosy. It doesn't and it didn't. And
Naaman couldn't have been healed without going into the river?
Absolutely right. He had to do what God told him
to do. Then what's the reason for this great general, this
important Syrian, this honorable man, to take off his clothes
And to go down seven times in that muddy, muddy river. Now tell me, what was the reason
for this? Why in the world did the prophet
tell him to do that? The answer? The answer? It's true in your case and mine
also. God is pleased. God is pleased
to save and heal this particular man. He was a Gentile, he was
a Syrian. And God's purpose was to heal
him. God's purpose was to save him. But Naaman, like any other
son of Adam, must be brought down. He must be humbled. God resisteth the proud, giveth
grace to the humble. He that shall humble himself
shall be exalted, and he that exalted himself shall be abased. This man, Naaman, to be healed
of God, to be saved of God, to be blessed of God, must learn
that God is God. Now that's going to be learned.
God will have mercy on whom he will. That's what Moses in Exodus
33, he said, who are you? He said, I am that I am. And
in Exodus 33, Moses said, well, show me your glory. And God said,
here's my glory. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. Every man who comes to God is
going to learn that God is God. And secondly, this man must be
shown his own inability, his own helplessness. In the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. That which is impossible with
men, healing at that time for leprosy was impossible, absolutely,
utterly impossible. But all things are possible with
God. But Naaman's got to learn this. No, he can't be healed
in Syria. It's got to be by the power of
God. And then he must learn that salvation is of the Lord. That
it's all in the will of God. It's not my will, it's His will. It's not of him that willeth,
it's not of him that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy.
We're born not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man, we're born of God. So we've got to learn that salvation
is of the Lord. It originates with God. It's
executed by God. It's applied by God. It's sustained
by God. It's perfected by God. And then
another thing, human pride and human wisdom and human thoughts
and human works have got to be destroyed. It's got to be God,
all God. I'll tell you this, and you say,
what's that got to do with us? If any person me, you, anybody
else, misses, if we miss this humbling, stripping, convicting
work of the Spirit of God, if we miss this humbling, breaking,
stripping, convicting work of the Spirit of God, and our Lord
said when He's come, the Holy Spirit has come, He's going to
convince this world of sin, because they believe not on me, of righteousness,
Because I go to my father, he's our righteousness and of judgment. Because the prince of this world
is judged. And if we miss this convicting, this stripping, this
humbling work of God's Spirit, we're going to miss repentance.
And if we miss repentance, we're going to miss faith. Because
there's no faith without repentance. And if we miss faith, we're going
to miss Christ. If you miss Holy Spirit conviction,
you're going to miss repentance. And except a man repent, he'll
perish. And if we miss Holy Spirit conviction and miss repentance,
we're going to miss conversion. And except a man be converted,
he can't see the Kingdom of God. You see what I'm saying? A person may have some truth.
He may have some doctrine. He may have a profession of religion.
He may play the game and play it well. with a lot of talents
and gifts. But all who come to God, all
who come to the living God, come in repentance. They come broken. They come humbled. They come
converted. They come in saving faith. They
come with a contrite heart because God save it such as be of a contrite
heart and a broken heart. That's written all the way through
the Word of God. The sacrifices of God are broken spirits. a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
And I'll tell you, everyone who comes to God comes humbled, broken,
contrite, submissive. And their unchanging song is
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Unto Him be the glory both now
and forever." Now let's look at Naaman. And that's the story
here. Here's a proud honorable, victorious,
conquering, powerful man whom God intends to save and heal
and in whom God intends to show his power and whom God will hold
up as a picture and an example of his mercy. But he's got to
break him first. He's got to break him. Now, Naaman
was the chief army officer of Syria. He was a successful man,
an honorable man, an important man, and a great man, but something
was wrong. Something was wrong. Something
was so wrong that it made all that he was and all that he had
useless. Something was wrong. And here's
what was wrong. He was a leper. He was a leper. Death flowed through his veins. And I'll tell you this, application
time. The people of my day, some of
them are rich, some of them are wise in the things of the world,
some of them are strong, some of them are more successful,
more educated, more honorable than others, some victorious,
some have great strength, some great accomplishments. But I
tell you this, all of us have one thing in common, something's
wrong. Something's wrong. You know what
it is? Death, disease, and sin flow
through our veins. We're dying men. I don't care
if you're the richest man in this world. You're going to die.
And after death, the judgment. And after that, an eternity.
I don't care if you're the most popular athlete in America. It
doesn't matter to me if you're the wealthiest, richest, strongest,
most beautiful person in this world. honorable, victorious,
and got the world by the tail on a downhill pull. You're dying. You're dying. And you may die
tonight. Something's wrong. Something's
wrong with dying people. And if I tell you what's wrong,
it's sin. All that's sin that comes short of the glory of God.
The sting of death is sin. There's none righteous, none
that understandeth none that seeketh after God." We're dying
people. Something's wrong, and that's
Naaman. Here he is, the captain, the
chief, the general, the honorable man, the honest man, outwardly. But he was a leper. He was a
leper, a dying leper. Well, secondly, Naaman learned
from that little Israelite maid in his home that there was healing
in Israel. He found out that she said, go
to the prophet. But Naaman went to the wrong
person. The little maid said, would God,
my master, are with the prophet? The prophet of God. He'd be healed. But Naaman wanted nothing to
do with that lowly prophet. Elijah was nobody. Elisha was
a nobody. He wouldn't go to that prophet. Oh, he went to the king. He went
to the king of Israel. He took his need to the King
of Israel. He went to the wrong place. He
went to the wrong person. And that's so much like us today.
You see, that prophet is Christ. And you ever read Deuteronomy
18, where Moses made this prophecy? He said, God will raise up a
prophet, that prophet, him you shall hear from the midst of
the brethren, like unto me. And all that'll hear him shall
be blessed, and those that do not hear him shall be judged."
That's Christ. He's our prophet, priest, and
king. God raised him up. And if a man wants to be healed,
he'll have to go to that prophet. He's despised of men, rejected,
acquainted with sorrow. A man of sorrow is acquainted
with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from him. But he's
the Savior. He's the only Savior. He said,
you come to me, and I'll give you rest. Oh, everyone that thirsted,
come to the water, come to me. But not Naaman. He went to the
king. He went to the king. He went
to the wrong place. Went to the wrong person. But that's the
way folks do today. The Bible doesn't say anything
about sinners going to the Virgin Mary for forgiveness. That's
the wrong person. The Bible doesn't say anything
about you walking down to the front of the church and taking
some preacher by the hand and asking forgiveness. You're going
to the wrong person. That's just like Naaman. He went
to the wrong place, went to the wrong person. He went to the
king. He didn't go to the prophet.
The Bible doesn't say anything about us going to the law or
to the baptismal pool for cleansing or to the confessional. You're
going to the wrong place. The wrong place. Salvation's
in Christ. Come to me, he said, and I'll
give you rest. Come to me. Not to someone who
represents me. The king of Israel certainly
represented God. The king of Israel was the king
of Israel. But the one who had the power of God upon him and
the gift of God upon him was that prophet. And that young
lady told him, said, if you go to the prophet, but he went to
the king. And I tell you something else. He took the wrong things
with him. Old Naaman took the wrong things
with him. He not only went to the wrong place and the wrong
person, but he took silver and gold, 6,000 pieces of gold and
material gifts, he was going to buy healing. My friends, God's
mercies are not for sale. God's mercies and grace are not
for sale, they're free. But I tell you this, before we
judge Naaman too harshly, you take a good look at this day.
You take a good look at the television religion of today. And tell me,
is this not the way of today's religion to buy the favor of
God? Now, if you'll plant a seed,
if you'll give an offering, if you'll pay your tithe, if you'll
do this, then God will do something else. That's a lie. Salvation's
free. Salvation by looking to Christ.
And God's not going to be prompted to do anything for you because
you did something for Him. The scripture says, plainly,
ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the water. Come without
money. Come without price. Come and
buy wine and milk without money or price. I'd like to hear some
of these television preachers tell people that. I don't need
your money. I don't need your help. Almighty
God will supply our needs. You need Christ. You need God.
You need salvation. You need redemption. You need
Him. He doesn't need you or anything
you have. God said, if I was hungry, I
wouldn't ask you. If I was thirsty, I wouldn't ask you. Where is
the person who will say, in my hand, no price I bring, no offering
I bring, no money I bring, no gifts I bring, no works I bring,
simply to the cross of Jesus Christ I cling. Here comes Naaman. And here comes folks today. With
his chariot and his horses and all his change of raiment and
his fancy clothes, and his silver and his gold and his money and
his buildings and all these things and saying to God, here now,
let's swap this for a little salvation and a little forgiveness.
It's not by works. It's not by law. It's not by
gifts. It's by grace. Freely. Freely. Freely. Freely. Came to the wrong place, didn't
he? And he came with the wrong things. And watch him here. Well, he finally went to the
prophet. He finally realized that the king couldn't do anything
for him and no one else and knowing his trouble and Realizing no
one could help him and he couldn't help himself and he couldn't
buy healing So finally he came to the prophet, but he came with
the wrong attitude It says listen Naaman came with his horses and
his chariots and stood at the door of the house of the prophet
of God You see Elisha just lived in a little humble dwelling One
fancy wasn't anything to it. He was a prophet on a prophet's
pay. He didn't have anything. He's
not like today's television preachers. He didn't live in the biggest
mansion in town and drive the biggest car and wear the largest
diamond. No, sir, this prophet of God lived by the gospel. And
he lived in a small shanty, in a small little house, and this
old proud sinner came and stood outside the door and wouldn't
even go inside. Oh, he was proud. He had the
wrong attitude. He wasn't going to humble himself
to enter the humble abode of that prophet of God. He was a
great man, a proud man, a rich man, an arrogant man. And he
wanted that prophet to come to him. Now he'll just have to come
to me. You see, Naaman wanted to be
treated as a great man who happened to be a leper. But he wasn't
anything in the world but a leper who happened to be a great man
He was a leper first and foremost a dying man first and foremost
with a little fancy clothes on him And that's all you are It
doesn't matter how well you wear a $500 Cuppenheimer suit and
drive a Mercedes and live in a $400,000 mansion. You're a
dying mass of flesh. You're a sinner And these preachers
cater to rich men and cater to powerful men and cater to these
different places. I see it today. People want to
cling to human differences and human honor and human wealth
and human wisdom and human power. But in Christ, there is no rich
and poor. They're all poor. All poor. We must be made rich by Him.
In Christ, there's no male or female, just sinners. In Christ,
there's no wise or ignorant. They're all ignorant. He's the
wisdom. In Christ, there's no great or
small. We're all peanuts, needy creatures. And Elisha knew that
pride. He knew that arrogance. And he
wouldn't go out and speak to that arrogant chief of the army. He sat right where he was, in
his house. Sat right there. And wise servants
of God don't cater to proud sinners. Wise servants of God don't brag
on men of flesh. Wise servants of God know that
men are mercy beggars, and they'll not compromise the glory of God
for any of the goods of men. You get that. I don't mean to
sound hard, but I'm weary of this catering and bragging and
dignifying flesh. Elisha sat in his house, and
that proud sinner was outside. And he sent his servant out there
and said, you go tell that flaky Corrupted dying leper if he wants
to be made whole to go down dip in the river Jordan seven times
whoo when that servant came out and told them and that he Had
the wrong thoughts He had the wrong thoughts. Why he said I
thought he had come to me. Does he know who's out here?
Yeah, he knows who's out there He knows the nothingness of what's
out there Doesn't he know who's out here? Well, I thought he'd
come touch me. I wouldn't touch you. Well, I thought he'd come call
on his God. His God? Is he not your God too? Oh, I tell you, that proud sinner,
God's way to humble the proud sinner and get all the glory
is the way that Elisha's doing it here. Well, he stomped off
He got mad. He wouldn't have it God's way.
He wouldn't have it God's way. He's not a sinner. He's not a
beggar. He's not a needy creature. He's Naaman. And they need to
understand who he is. And so he stomped off, mad, in
a rage. And one of his servants came
to him and said to him, Master, he said, if the prophet had given
you some great thing to do, would you not have done it? Yeah, we
do. We like to do great things. We'll
give a little extra offering to this and a little extra offering
to that. We'll sign our name to this and we'll promote this,
you know. Give us a little credit for us.
Give us some great thing to do. Let us get God in debt to us,
you know. Well, we'll do that. Well, why
not just bow down and wash and be clean? And so old Naaman finally
did something right. He went to the wrong place. He
took the wrong things. He had the wrong attitude. He
had the wrong thoughts. He finally did something right.
You know what he did? Then went he down. He took off
his clothes. And there he was. He had no stars
to distinguish him now. No ribbons to set him apart from
these other men. He had no fancy garments to let
them know he was the greatest. He laid aside his swagger stick
and his big gold braided hat and he stood there naked leper
an ugly rotting leper and I imagine everybody turned their heads
but he was what he was he stood before men and God for what he
was and then he went down he went down and I'll tell you that's
what all of us gonna have to do is quit buying trying and
lying and go down go down and you know what happened he came
up clean He came up clean. There's a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners, real sinners,
plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.

Lessons From Naaman the Leper

What does the story of Naaman teach us about humility?

Why is it important to follow God's commandments like Naaman did?

How does Naaman's story illustrate the concept of grace in salvation?

Why did Naaman initially refuse to wash in the Jordan?

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Lessons From Naaman the Leper

What does the story of Naaman teach us about humility?

Why is it important to follow God's commandments like Naaman did?

How does Naaman's story illustrate the concept of grace in salvation?

Why did Naaman initially refuse to wash in the Jordan?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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