Transformed
2 Kings 5:1-18
Concerning the story of Naaman an illustrious English professor said, It is “The most effective short story in human literature.” It is far more than just a story of the healing of a man with a skin disease. W.A. Criswell said that this account is “One of the finest, most effective, pungent, illustrative, God’s revelation of the truth of anything you will find in the whole Word of God.” Naaman’s story is one not only of physical healing but it is the story of salvation illustrating the spiritual healing that man finds and the transformation that takes place only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. He was a Great Man
A. 2 Kings 5:1a “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor...”
B. Naaman was commander of the entire Syrian army as a result of God allowing him to be victorious in battle. He was a man of the highest bravery and valor and as such had achieved greatness and popularity. Next to the king, he was the foremost man in Syria. By the world’s standards he had was a success. “He was great in himself,great in his position, great in his possessions, great in his achievements, great in his authority: no element of greatness is lacking.”(M.G. Pearse)
C. Note that it was in the eyes of man that Naaman was great. The world measures greatness in terms of wealth and power, knowledge and achievement. The title of “great” is given to those who wield powerful influence over the lives of others – whose thought and speech impact the circles of world opinion. Charismatic individuals who can capture the attention, influence and sway the will of others are often touted as being great.
D. God, however, does not measure greatness The way that man does.
E. Man measures greatness by talents, feats, intelligence, charisma, appearance and achievements.
F. 2 Samuel 16:7 “...God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
G. No matter how great we may look to others God sees us the way we really are.
II. He was a Great Man with a Great Disease
A. 2 Kings 5:1b “but he was a leper.”
B. "But" -a three-letter conjunction. That small word changes everything.
C. Naaman in spite of his greatness was infected with the dreaded and incurable disease of leprosy.
D. Mycobacterium leprae, commonly known as leprosy has terrified humanity since ancient times and is still a major health problem throughout the world. Its symptoms start in the skin and peripheral nervous system (outside the brain and spinal cord), then spread to other parts, such as the hands, feet, face, and earlobes. Patients with leprosy experience disfigurement of the skin and bones, twisting of the limbs, and curling of the fingers to form the characteristic claw hand. Facial changes include thickening of the outer ear and collapsing of the nose. Leprosy destroys nerve endings that carry pain signals; therefore patients with advanced leprosy experience a total loss of physical pain. When these people cannot sense touch or pain, they tend to injure themselves or be unaware of injury caused by an outside agent. In fact, some leprosy patients have had their fingers eaten by rats in their sleep because they were totally unaware of it happening; the lack of pain receptors could not warn them of the danger.
E. Leprosy did not kill, but neither did it seem to end. Instead, it lingered for years, causing the tissues to degenerate and deforming the body. It spread throughout the body, until the whole person was filthy —bloated, pimpled, and scabbed. It is a vivid picture of man's ruined, utterly rained, lost condition as a result of sin. -Dr. Alan Gillen, Biblical Leprosy: Shedding Light on the Disease that Shuns, The Genesis of Germs, Master Books.
F. All of us have been contaminated with the highly infectious spiritual disease called sin which have infected all of humanity.
G. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”
H. Like leprosy, sin starts out small but then spreads, leading to other sins and causing great damage to our relationship with God and others. But unlike leprosy not only does sin damage our spiritual sensitivity, sin is deadly. (Romans 6:23)
III. He was a Great Man with a Great Disease needing a Great Cure.
A. Naaman needed a cure for his disease of leprosy, but there was no known cure. All the money on earth could not buy healing. All the works he could perform would not earn a moments reprieve from the ravages of leprosy. Not a single physician in all of Syria could cure the leper.
B. Charles Stanley said, “Search all nations, man has found no cure for sin. The whole world is one great leper-house.”
C. Isaiah 64:6 “…we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”
D. Naaman’s disease was great and he needed a great cure. His personal stature and greatness no longer mattered. Naaman was on the same level as everyone else who had been infected with leprosy – unclean and needing a great deliverance!
E. God’s Word declares that like Naaman we too are on the same level as all mankind infected with sin and are “without strength, without God, and without hope.
IV. He was a Great Man with a Great Disease needing a Great Cure that could only be provided by a Great Miracle
A. It would take divine intervention for Naaman to be genuinely healed. He needed a miracle of the great and mighty power of God to cure his great ailment.
B. Providentially God provided a way for Naaman to discover the power of God in his life.
C. 2 Kings 5:2-3 “And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”
D. A little captive maid is God's messenger to this mighty Syrian. She says, "Would God my Lord was with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would cure him of his leprosy."
E. Here was a little maid that had been taken captive by a Syrian para-military raiding party and is in a strange land away from her family and friends. Why would God allow this to happen to her? She was there location for a preordained moment that she could not have foreseen. She was not there merely to make the beds and clean the closets. From the beginning, God had orchestrated her life. All of her toil and troubles had prepared her. She may have considered herself poor and unworthy; her life, mediocre. But she was there by divine appointment – to be a witness in the house of a rich man. And one day made all the difference – the day she realized that she was there to deliver a life-changing message to a mighty man. – copied
F. You and I need to realize that we are where we are by divine appointment and that God wants us to look for those opportunities to share the great miraculous cure for sin with those in need of spiritual healing – the Lord Jesus. You will be radically changed when you begin to look at your life and see what God is trying to say and do through the events of your life.
G. 2 Kings 5:5-6 tells us that Naaman started out, carrying 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. Along with a letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel which said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”
H. Our futile attempts to buy a cure just like Naaman will never procure the miracle we need. You cannot buy salvation.
I. Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, "Go wash in Jordan seven times and your flesh shall come to you, and you shalt be clean." Elisha does not even come out to him; he sends a messenger.
J. Naaman’s initial response is anger. He supposed there would have been some great thing done to him. Not something as simple and humbling as dipping himself seven times in the Jordan. Great things often come in plain packages. He needed to simply believe the words of the man of God by faith.
K. Those in need of the miracle of God’s grace often think that there must either be some spectacular feeling or miraculous display done by God in order to receive the cure for sin. They fail to realize that all the work was done on the cross by the Savior long before they came to Him. They simply must listen to His word and by faith obediently receive Him as Lord.
L. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
M. 2 Kings 5:14 “So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
N. The moment that we obey God’s Word and by faith receive His grace we are saved and transformed
O. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”
V. As a result of the Great Miracle that provided the Great Cure for the Great Disease of the Great Man a Great Transformation took place within his heart and life.
A. 2 Kings 5:15b & 17b “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel... for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD.
B. We tend to focus merely on Naaman’s physical healing and overlook the remarkable inward conversion that accompanied it.
C. Naaman’s transformation was not merely skin–deep it was soul –deep. Naaman had been changed on the inside as well on the outside.
D. Naaman experienced God’s transforming touch upon his life, when he came to God on God’s terms, not his own and evidenced it by his confession and commitment.
E. Naaman changed his worldview. He now realized for the first time and openly acknowledged the true identity of the God who had been blessing him all his life and giving him victory in battle. He openly declares that the God of Israel is the only God there is in the entire world! He committed himself to worship and serve only the One True God. He was changed.
F. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
G. No one can be a Christian and continue living the way he did before he knew Christ. One who has turned in faith to Christ will live a transformed life out of great gratitude to the Great Savior who performed a great miracle to deliver him/her from the great disease of sin.
H. Are you growing in Christ? Do you see evidence of a transformed life? Are you winning your sin battles? Is your love for God increasing each day? When we are genuinely saved, it will always result in a changed life. Our daily lives will exhibit fruit of authentic salvation. We will all have a hunger to read God’s Word. We will look forward to prayer as our relationship with God grows. We will want to obey our Lord because we love Him.
