SEVEN DUCKS IN A MUDDY POND
11/25/2007
TEXT: 2 KINGS 5: VS. 1--14
INTRODUCTION: PRIDE IS SOMETHING THAT GOD ABSOLUTELY HATES. PRIDE HAS BEEN THE RUIN OF MANY A PERSON.
Prov 16:18
Pride goes before destruction ,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
PRIDE ALMOST CAUSED NAAMAN TO REMAIN A LEPER.
HE DID NOT WANT TO HUMBLE HIMSELF AND DIP IN THE MUDDY JORDAN RIVER.(“DO IT MY WAY.”)
HAD HE NOT FOLLOWED THE WORD OF THE PROPHET (WHO WAS GOD’S SPOKESMAN) HE WOULD HAVE REMAINED A LEPER, DIED A LEPER AND HIS STORY WOULD HAVE ENDED WITHOUT A HAPPY ENDING.
MANY TODAY WILL NEVER COME TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND RECEIVE SALVATION BECAUSE OF THEIR WICKED PRIDE. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO “DO IT THEIR WAY. “ AND LET SATAN CHEAT THEM OUT OF SALVATION AND ALL IT’S JOY.
NOTICE SOME THINGS ABOUT NAAMAN:
I. HE HAD A WOEFUL CONDITION (VERSE 1: HE WAS A LEPER)
(A) NAAMAN WAS A GENTILE, BUT HE WAS GIVEN THE SAME HONOR AS THOSE JEWS WHO WERE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR GREAT COURAGE. LEADERS SUCH AS GIDEON, DAVID, JEROBOAM AND ELIJAH.
THE WORD OF GOD RECOGNIZES NAAMAN AS BEING A GREAT MAN OF VALOR (GREAT MILITARY COURAGE)
(B) LEPROSY WAS A TERRIBLE DISEASE THAT ROTTED AWAY THE SKIN AND HAD NO CURE OR RECOVERY, OUTSIDE OF A MIRACLE.
1. IT BEGAN WITH SMALL RED SPOTS THAT GOT BIGGER AND THEN WOULD TURN WHITE, GET SCALY AND DETERIORATE UNTIL THE FLESH FELL AWAY. AND THE VICTIM WOULD WASTE AWAY UNTIL HE DIED.
2. THIS IS WHY THE WORD OF GOD LIKENS SIN TO LEPROSY, OUTSIDE OF THE MIRACULOUS SPIRITUAL HEALING THROUGH SALVATION, THERE IS NO HOPE.
JAMES 1:15: SIN, WHEN IT IS FINISHED BRINGS FORTH DEATH.
(C ) HIS CONDITION WAS A DREADFUL CONDITION.
LEPROSY WAS A DISEASE THAT CAUSED GREAT DISTRESS AND DREADFULNESS. **(EXPLAIN)
1. IT WAS A LIFE OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AND EVENTUALLY DEATH.
2. WHEN A SINNER BECOMES AWARE OF HIS SINFUL STATE; LOST, UNDONE, BOUND FOR HELL, THEN HE SHOULD REALIZE THAT HIS CONDITION IS HELPLESS AND HOPELESS AND THE ONLY CURE IS SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS.
II. NAAMAN HAD A CONDITION THAT CAUSED DEFILEMENT.
1. HE WAS CONSIDERED UNCLEAN AND UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY THING THAT INVOLVED CONTACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
2. JUST AS LEPROSY DEFILES, SO DOES SIN.
3. SIN WILL ROB YOUNG PEOPLE OF THEIR VIRTUE, ALL PEOPLE OF THEIR JOY, AND ANY PEOPLE OF THEIR SELF-ESTEEM.
4. SIN WILL ROB YOU OF THE WORTHINESS OF YOUR LIFE.
John 10:7-10
7 Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
C. He Had A Condition That Causes Death.
Having leprosy during the time of Naaman meant having a death sentence which was caused by this terrible disease. Naaman needed to have a miracle or else he would die from leprosy. Leprosy was perhaps worse than cancer, because no one could be healed without a great miracle from the Lord. Likewise, every sinner must have a miracle of grace or he will instead face eternal death in the Lake of Fire. “For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
III. . THE MAIDEN HAD A WEEPING COMPASSION. (Vv. 2-4)
“Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.” (V. 3a)
This young maid was a great example of how God can use His witnesses who find themselves in less than desirable circumstances. She could have been a very bitter captive, but instead she radiated the “glow of the Lord” in the household of her captors. She must have been raised in a home that taught her to believe in the Lord just as Daniel did while in Babylon captivity.
A. She Had A Tenderness That Moved Her.
Some of the strongest Christians that I know are tender… Tenderness is a mark of Christ. When one is tender, this means that the heart is not calloused over to the extent of being insensitive to others and to their needs. We should all desire that we be tenderly disposed to the needs of others. We must care about the people around us, whether we like them or not… Having tenderness will make you a better preacher, teacher, witness, or servant in any way to the Lord.
B. She Had A Testimony That Marked Her.
For this little maid to be credible, she had to have a testimony. Certainly her testimony added credence to her witness. She was able to speak and they listened. They heard what she had to say about the prophet that was in Samaria. She said with conviction that if her master was with the prophet in Samaria that “he would recover him of his leprosy”.
III. THE MAN OF GOD HAD A WONDERFUL CURE. (Vv. 5-14)
Our ways are not God’s ways, unless we are following Him. The ingredients in this story that brought about a cure did not involve the wisdom of the world, but instead, “the foolishness of preaching”. What Elishah told Naaman to do was too simple and too common, not to mention… too humbling. Elishah would have preferred a more challenging and demanding requirement and a more preferred river. Yet, God took all human instrumentality out of it and showed that the healing would require faithful obedience to what Naaman had been commanded by God’s man. As you listen to the requirements of the Gospel, please be reminded that God hung His Son on an Old rugged cross! It was the cross of shame and ever sinner must identify with that old rugged cross and He who was crucified there, if he hopes to go to heaven.
A. The Cure Came Because of the Concern of Others. (Vv. Cf. 3,4) (The little maid and those associated with her)
I want each of you that are in our services who may be lost to understand that what we do around here is based upon a people who care and who are concerned with where you will be spending your eternity. There is nothing more thrilling than for us to see precious souls come to Christ. We are supporting missionaries around the world because we are concerned. The little maid cared; we must do likewise. When this Church quits caring, then it has failed to serve its useful purpose. Jude speaks of some whom “have compassion, making a difference:” (Jude 22).Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
NIV
B. The Cure Came Because of the Courage of Others. (Vv. 5-12) (Elisha as he gave Naaman clear instructions)
I love those who exhibit courage when it comes to doing the work of the Lord. Elisha had the courage to simply send a message which would bring about the needed cure when he sent the messenger out to Naaman telling him to, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shall be clean”. Naaman, however did not like being told such and he became angry: “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, 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.” *****
C. The Cure Came Because of the Consideration of Others. (Vv. 13, 14) (Naaman, when he took himself out of the picture and started listening to and considering others)
CONCLUSION: THE CURE CAME WHEN HE DID what the man of god told him. When he faithfully obeyed, not only was he cleansed, he knew that there was a prophet in Israel. He knew that there was no God but the True and living God. When God saves you, you will know God to be who He really is and you will enjoy a relationship that you never knew before. This miracle demonstrates the great change that takes place when one comes to the Lord. Spiritually, we all have been blackened by sin until the Lord makes us clean. Then we can be white like wool…
