I invite you to turn in the Old Testament to the book of 2 Kings, chapter 5, and this is the healing of Naaman, an appropriate text this morning as we come to the table of our Lord. That's on page 394, if you're looking for that in your pew Bibles, 394. I'm going to read the first 19 verses. 2 Kings chapter 5, this is the word of the Lord. Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now, the Syrians, on one of their raids, had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. she said to her mistress would that my lord were with the prophet who is in samaria he would cure him of his leprosy so naaman went in and told his lord thus and so spoke the girl from the land of israel the king of syria said go now and i will send a letter to the king of israel so he went taking with him ten talents of silver six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothing and he brought the letter to the king of israel which read when this letter reaches you know that i have sent to you name in my servant that you may cure him of his leprosy and when the king of israel read the letter he tore his clothes and said am i god to kill and to make alive this that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy only consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me. But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king saying, why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean. But Naaman was angry and went away saying, Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Farpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in rage. But his servants came near and said to him, My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you. Will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, wash and be clean? So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan according to the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child. And he was clean. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company. And he came and stood before him. And he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So accept now a present from your servant. But he said, As the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. Then Naaman said, If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth. For from now on, your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any God but the Lord. in this manner may the lord pardon your servant when my master goes into the house of remon to worship there leaning on my arm and i bow myself in the house of remon when i bow myself in the house of remon the lord pardon your servant in this manner he said to him go in peace and there will end the reading of god's work of the entire old testament outside of genesis after the flood and the whole Abraham narrative. In the section of the Bible called the prophets, there really is nothing so grace-saturated and helping us understand gospel ministry. Nobody quite liked the prophet Elisha. F.W. Krumacher said, Elijah was a kind of evangelist and forerunner of him whose feet are beautiful upon the mountains. Elijah, not Elisha, Elijah was like a Moses who had to restore and vindicate the dignity of the law. And he goes on to describe Elisha almost like a new covenant pastor, preacher of the gospel. Really two different kind of ministries. And that contrast in his book, which I've been reading, Elisha by Krumacher, is really fascinating and I've really enjoyed. It's a very devotional read. I encourage it to you. Elisha really does give us a kind of New Covenant ministry operating in the midst of the old. He opens a door to us. He shows us something. In other words, when we look at Elisha's ministry, it feels like we're reading the New Testament. Aside from the part with the bears mauling the youths, that's the only one where he had to because of a rebellious people in Israel. But Elisha really does show us a ministry of gospel intention and grace in a fulfilling kind of way, fulfillment. It should be no surprise that in the midst of this, that the longest narrative, the most detailed narrative in Elisha's ministry has to do with a Gentile commander of Israel's armies becoming saved. Gentile commander, I'm sorry, enemies becoming saved. It's really a remarkable account, isn't it? And a way to shame Israel for their unbelief. That's essentially what these narratives anticipate. Something like Jonah does the same thing. It's a shaming to Israel. That they had not believed in God's word. They had fought God. They wouldn't listen to the calls to come. They didn't take it seriously. What is unique about it is how here we have every theme that we know in the New Testament unfold for us. It's not that the Old Testament doesn't have these themes, but we see something, as Krumacher said, of the character of the one who would come and preach the gospel of peace, Jesus himself. We see here how life is given. We see the struggle of bringing somebody to the place of saving faith we see it go out to the nations we see all the themes that that we study in our heidelberg catechism of guilt grace and gratitude unfold right here and i thought this would be a wonderful passage to help us look at this morning this great story of salvation of redemption the whole bible teaches us especially as we come to the table now and enjoy these things in fulfillment, which Elijah's ministry somewhat captures. But what happens here with Naaman anticipates this ministry that is being offered to you, this ministry of reconciliation that God has entrusted to us, and therefore it requires a kind of response that is important that we take seriously too. So how much then we can learn from this already in the Old Testament about the ministry that we enjoy, the new covenant, how much this passage will challenge us to see our struggle in the person of Naaman, our problem, our need, and how great God's sovereign grace is and is working to remedy the problem, to bring us into the kingdom, and to understand in fulfillment Jesus's words, he came to seek and to save that which was lost. All that is unfolded for us right here in this passage and this of course as we see the incredible mercy of God unfold demands a believing heart especially as we come to his table this morning as Elisha is fulfilling his ministry the narrative turns here in the midst of it to the great nation you'll notice here in chapter 5 to the great nation of Syria it zeroes in on this one very powerful nation in the earth the enemies of Israel whom they had had a long history of conflict and struggle with and right at the beginning we see that the Lord is doing something very unique here Naaman verse 1 commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and in high favor because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria a mighty man of valor within just um a few sentences we have every kind of accomplishment piled up and heaped on that this man has made uh and is really remarkable how he's presented uh by the holy spirit himself under inspiration commander-in-chief of the syrian army powerful man syria was a military giant at this time a powerful nation he was a great man it says a great man with his master the king loved this man this man had achieved a lot for the king honorable lifted up was naaman the greatest surprise in the narrative though the shame to is clearly in the statement the shock that imagine reading this by the lord by him the lord had given victory to syria we read right over that um that that would have been utterly offensive to the nation of israel that would have been somewhat perplexing to the nation of israel a surprise in this narrative that the lord was working in this he the nation and giving victory to them something that shamed them and this is why i uh made the point right at the beginning that elijah was his ministry was anticipating something his elijah elijah's ministry was anticipating fulfillment of um the gentile nations coming in in fact the new testament will use a lot of the themes of Elisha's ministry to chide the children of Israel for unbelief. Jesus used Elisha's ministry commonly to chide Israel. I'll come back to that at the end, and that will be a great application point for this particular passage and for us this morning. But for the present, nobody knew the Lord was doing this. Naaman was the most respected and powerful man in the eyes of the nation. He was treated as a God. He was lifted up, a mighty man of valor. it means strength, it means wealth. This man was rich, this man was strong. The text is really indicating to us, Naaman, there was nothing more he could have done in life. He achieved it. He was accomplished. He was wealthy. He was respected. Everyone bowed to Naaman when he walked by. A man of integrity. Everyone who knew the name Naaman spoke well of Naaman. A remarkable figure. Prestige, position, power. It's all set up, isn't it? At the very end of this long list of accomplishments comes a very brief, a very, very brief interjection. You notice it. Positive, positive, positive, and then comes the hit but he was a leper he had leprosy leprosy of course you know and you studied was this infectious disease disgusting disease characterized by large scabs and sores where the skin would turn white unbeneath and it would begin to to smell and eventually those parts of the body would fall off it would overtake your body from head to toe highly infectious spreading very quickly, at times even eating the flesh to the bone. You really, we've kind of eradicated it here in the West, but it's really remarkable. If you look back at pictures of lepers, and they still have them today if you go online and look at a leper, it is a really disgusting thing to see. It's a fascinating disease that the Bible often uses. In fact, the Bible gives constant attention to this problem of leprosy. You'll know something like Leviticus 13, and we have all these leprosy passages in the New Testament in Jesus dealing with lepers. Again, anticipation of Elisha's ministry. Notice in Leviticus 13, when the leprosore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall examine him. And indeed, if the swelling on the skin is white and it has turned the white hair white and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body the priest shall pronounce him unclean and shall not isolate him for he and shall isolate him for he is unclean what what do we think of when we think of flesh-eating diseases. When you hear it's over at Lake Havasu, you don't want to go, do you? It gets into the brain over there. I'm always amazed as to how much attention the Bible gives this particular one. Leprosy. It gives a great focus on this particular disease and this particular sickness. It's hard for those who are healthy to appreciate it. It's hard for us to understand it. but the Bible has a lot to say about it. I often think that when we have so much emphasis given on something like this, something that has so much prominence of a particular disease and a particular sickness, every time the Scriptures are calling us to pause, especially when we have Leviticus focusing on it like this, and ask, what is God particularly teaching us about this disease? Why is God showing us this? it should go without saying that leprosy in the bible has the peculiar function of teaching us what sin is like before god and you don't if you don't draw this this kind of connection uh throughout the scriptures with it you really do miss the effect you really do miss what uh these things are teaching us about spiritual problems teaching us about real problems of life before God. There are right now in our lives and this all fits in with the teaching of sin in general but there are right now in our lives particular leprosies affecting us. There are particular sins that are polluting your life. There are particular sins that you give in to. There are particular sins that easily master you. sin is like that it's a leprous it's it's part of our nature and what sins you have to think about do we hold on to in life what sins do we cling to what sins do we hold on to we can generally say as pastors we're all sinners we've heard it all our life but then to think about and be honest about what particular sins are dominating and mastering that we need to come to the lord about and confess and deal with is a whole different approach, isn't it? What sins are you doing in secret? What sins are you hiding? What sins are mastering? That is leprosy in your life. It's real. And it works its way out to death. That's the path. What do you do with it? What uncleanness. The lepers in the Old Testament had to run around saying, unclean, unclean. Some people's leprosy has reached to the surface of their body so as to do public damage. In other words, their sin is brought out and opened before all. So they live in others, live in denial about it and hide it. You have these paths constantly put out in front of us. The Lord, either some leprosies are evident to all. For many, that leprosy is hidden until they're forced to deal with it. Until they're forced to deal with it. Until it's done enough damage. You've taken enough risk with it. No matter at what stage you have, it's with you, it's leprosy. It's working its way out to destroy you. sin's path always leads to death in the end you're not getting away with a thing you're not getting away with a thing until we feel that we don't take these passages seriously that's the bad sick guy over there it's not us but that's exactly what these passages are intended to do you are a leper i am a leper before god that's what sin is like and the text is raising an insurmountable problem with Naaman this guy had reached the top he had gained the world this guy was the most prestigious this guy had wealth he had honor he had power he was a man of valor he had everything but lived in this awful state of leprosy working its way out to death and he's a slave to find a solution to it that's how the text is presenting him he's a slave to find a solution to it how many people get something chronic and their whole life becomes living to beat it living to conquer to find the remedy to find the solution to find what's going to heal him if medicine doesn't do it we go to holistic we'll go right down the line well we know this on a physical level and that's why all this is teaching us something very important about about naaman the text at this point transitions to show us that god is is working on the heart of naaman god is doing something very powerful in the life of naaman that he wanted israel to consider that he wanted all of us throughout uh every time we read the scriptures to consider there's something that had to happen to naaman the lord gives us a glimpse here the lord is teaching us a really about the the entire teaching of scripture of what must happen to somebody whom he is going to save and deliver whom he's going to heal to the place of receiving his gospel they've got to come here they've got to follow this path this is the most plain path laid out before you that all the scriptures teach us about about salvation we read in verse two that these syrians had gone out in raids and in the process they had brought it back this this this young slave girl from the land of israel and she was a servant to naaman's wife she was in naaman's house she was a slave this little girl pulled away from from her home powerful thought isn't it and the slave girl observed naaman's restless nights she observed naaman's real struggle this little girl and she makes a beautiful comment an offhanded comment but an intentional, beautiful comment to Naaman's wife. If only, if only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would heal him of his leprosy. What a, I'll come back to this. What a glowing testimony from a little girl. A believing little girl in the narrative. Naaman hears this and he runs to the king. The king says, well, then we'll solve this. I don't like those Israelites much anyways. He writes a demand letter, doesn't he? Now listen up. I'm sending Naaman to you. You know who Naaman is. He's going to come with all of his military chariots and he's going to arrive on your doorstep, king of Israel. Be advised when this letter comes that I've sent Naaman to you that you may heal him of his leprosy end of it you better do it so the healing has come with a demand letter a threat letter and now naaman begins to pack up naaman begins to pack up and he loads himself up with 10 changes of clothing and he loads himself up with all kinds of gold and silver and he's going to present a gift to the one who will heal him well not really when you have a demand letter you're coming to pay for this thing aren't you the king hears this and falls apart he wants to quarrel with me he's seeking a quarrel and so he says who am i to make alive i'm not god i can't do that and here is the prophet of samaria who hears elisha hears the king of israel respond this way and in verse 8 he responds But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king saying, why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Samaria. I like to stand back from all of this and think about everything that has happened here. This is a real moment, but the next scene that we have presented to us is this great King Naaman with all the military chariots arriving now on Elisha's doorstep. The most powerful commander of the Syrian army everyone feared comes under direct commission and command from the king of syria with a threat letter and money to pay for it it's a great moment you see the themes sort of all converge here what what is the mentality always of the rich this is why jesus gave so much intention to it in the new testament how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven what is the mentality of the rich they can buy anything can't they it presents a peculiar problem in dealing with salvation, and that's why Jesus wanted to use it. The rich have always been able to buy whatever they want, and because of that, it's really hard to accept God's economy of grace. It just doesn't work. So pride becomes the real focus of this particular narrative, which again, if I had time to develop the Elijah narratives, I'd show you how much this is all working on Israel and showing certain things to Israel. But I have a specific intention this morning of the supper and aiming for that. I want you to notice how the Lord is working here. What a humble path he has put this man on. It's a remarkable thing. We have letters from king to king. We have Naaman, a top-ranking official in the syrian government with riches and gold and silver and status and power and wealth but the answer came from where a little girl a little slave girl a little girl proposes the remedy that's just how god works doesn't he and you see sort of what what is unfolding and what he's doing here where did the answer come from a totally unlikely answer came from a totally unlikely weak powerless source but god has so put him in a situation he has nowhere else to turn he had no other option but to listen does your leprosy have to come out that far for you to get there? This is an important question, isn't it? That finally you'll listen? Would we ever be willing to stoop down so low enough to listen to a little girl with an apron on? Would we really think that an answer could come from a little girl, the answer of life to our problems? Well, I think you know the answer to that. Everything the Lord does is backwards. Always has been to our thinking and reasoning. Be careful of not listening to the little girl's voice. Be careful of not listening to that little girl's voice. And little girls, speak your faith. Speak your faith. What an encouragement to you. The Lord publishes his way through an unexpected means and ways, situations that will test you. That will test you. You think it's going to come this way, this way, this way, this way. This is how I'm going to get it. This way, this way, this way. And it never happens that way. Ever. Back to Elisha. God could have sent Elijah right to Naaman's door. God could have sent Elisha over to Syria. But no, Naaman has to make the long journey in his proud chariots, expecting to pay and to get. This is the rich young ruler, of course, running to Jesus. I don't doubt this is how many people come to the Lord today. I've made a sacrifice to be here. I have money in hand. There's a lot of pride in all of us. A lot. We think God does owe us something. It's there. We've put a lot in. We're overall moral. A lot of accomplishments. Doesn't this say it? Elisha. Meet Elisha. Verse 10. So Elisha sent a messenger to him. Stop. You did what? You come out and greet such a figure, Elisha. You don't do this to the king's most powerful commander of the army. Out comes a messenger. And the messenger begins to speak. And the way is proposed in verse 10. Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored. Go wash in the Jordan seven times and you'll be clean. Naaman is furious. Verse 11, absolutely furious. Naaman was angry and went away saying, Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not the Abana and the far part of the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash them and be clean? He even had expectations, of course, didn't he? If I'm going to make this great trip to Israel, if I'm going to go out to Israel to this prophet, I expect things. He better at least greet me. I have a lot to offer. He came to Elisha thinking that Elisha would heal him just how he had determined he would heal him. this is a faith healer isn't it he'll just wave his hand do a little magic and it's gone he's going to come out and he's going to wave the hand that's how it's going to go here come the chariots here come the mighty men here comes the presidential escorts all the the the cabinet all of them are standing out there and they park in front of elijah's lowly house he doesn't even come out he doesn't even come out there's no pomp there's no greeting Naaman said I want to see power this guy insults me I just made this trip all this way and he wants me to go get down on my knees in that filthy, stinking Jordan River that's like saying drive up 150 miles however don't take to the central valley that hole in the earth and dip in the king's river it's an insult this guy doesn't even come out to greet me scenario answer comes from an unlikely little slave girl an unlikely solution is given which requires a total emptying of himself a total humility of himself humbling of himself his pride is totally exposed his self-esteem is absolutely assaulted he's deeply enraged by the solution erin no way i'm doing that i mean i've got the Abana and the far part. Those are flowing rivers in Damascus. I could have just walked down there if that's all I needed to do. Turns away, walks away angry. This is quite a moment. And you know this happens every Sunday around the world when the gospel is preached. happens every Sunday. Where's Jesus today? Well, he didn't get up and come down to greet you, did he? You see him? I don't see him. Here we are. We came. We dressed up. We got here out of our busy lives. Don't expect too much of us, of course. He sends a messenger to you. You're all lepers. Some hear it. Some scoff at it. I can say that from experience. And then there's the problem of those who agree that they've got to deal with leprosy because it's working its way out. It's overtaking their life. Sin is really mastering them. They're feeling a lot of guilt. Jesus, of course, has always told us that he came not for the righteous, but for sinners. But it's hard to hear. It's hard to hear sometimes things from those whom we esteem the least, from a little girl who invited me to church, and then from a pastor who doesn't give me the respect and attention that I want, or Jesus himself. Does he know who he's talking to? Does he? I mean, when I first started preaching, I was thinking I was preaching at 27 years old to people 90 and saying these things. You can't make that up. You just, who would do that, right? You're telling me to go do something that to the rational mind makes no sense. A way was just offered, of course. A way. It's ridiculous, is it? It's the heart of the struggle of the ministry right here. You've got it all right here. We get a typical response before us this morning. Naaman turns away from the one who could heal and he storms away in anger. He left the sermon and said, I ain't coming back to that. Man made me mad. But God's not done. All of a sudden, here come other servants. You see, this is how it works, doesn't it? There's always somebody calling you back. There's always somebody he sends. There's always servants. There's another one. There's another one. Look at all the servants in your life trying to lead you back when you go astray. Father, my Father, our Father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? In other words, I read the 10 words this morning. If the prophet had told you to go keep Israel's law, would you not have tried it? If the prophet had told you to go love the Lord their God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, would you have tried it? I mean, give us something that gives us some kind of dignity back in this. Something that doesn't require me to stretch out hands. Are you kidding? And become a beggar. I mean, that at least makes sense to me. Give me something. I've got hands. I've got feet. I've got strength. Tell me. If he would have told you to just try to do something, you would have tried it. But you know what he's saying to you? All he's saying is, wash and be clean. That's all he's saying. He just told you, New Testament, repent and be baptized. Turn away from yourself, put your knee on the ground and receive. That's all he said. Let him wet you. Let him wash you. That's what Pentecost was all about. And this is our message today. I'm saying come to Jesus and all the great other ways that you think will promise salvation and everywhere else, I am boldly saying today, and it may offend somebody, all of it is out of the pit of hell. None of it will deliver you. All other ways that promise you whatever in this life, all other religions that promise you another way, every other God, every other false God, every other religion is wrong. That's Elisha. I can go to the far part. But I point you today to Bethlehem. I point you to the least of all the cities. I tell you that out of there came one not in a king's palace, but in a stable. I say from there came from despised Nazareth, one who would ride on a donkey. And that man was lifted up first not to heaven, but to a cross. And I'm pointing to you to something that's absolutely foolish to this world who will never accept it. That's what I'm pointing you to. And people today are just as insulted by that solution as ever, ever. I don't take it seriously at all. And we say the same thing. You're a leper. You're under the wrath of God because of sin. And here's the simple message. Here's the simple answer. Nope. I'm going to go to heaven my way. I'll get there. I'll get there. Everyone thinks they're going to heaven. I'm going to get there. I'll ride first class, but I'll get there. Wave his hand. Here's how it's going to go. It's going to give me ex operae operato, right? In other words, what that means is just by the hand of the pastor then. There's that problem. And Jesus says through his messenger, Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to me. Come to the waters. You have no money. Come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. You don't have to pay anything for it. Incline your ear and come to me. Here and your soul shall live. I'll make an everlasting covenant with you. See, if Naaman will go down to this Jordan, it's going to require faith, isn't it? That's it. He's going to have to believe. Where are you today? well verse 14 encourages you i'm ready to come to the second so he went down and noticed he humbled himself he kneeled in that jordan and dipped seven times according to the saying of the man of god and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child new testament theme by the way you got to become like a little child and he returned to the man of god and he stood before him and noticed the entire change in attitude and heart this man is humble now i know there's no other god in all the earth except in israel now i know and i want my whole life now to be a worshiping life i'm concerned that i got to go back to this country and bow in the temple of vermont but i won't i have no heart in that let me take earth that I may worship the Lord. This is the response of thanksgiving. He is so thankful now. He's not buying anything. He wants to give everything back. I close with this thought this morning. I could go on, but I'll stop so we can come to the table. But we come to the table, and you know, nothing real glorious seems to be set in front of you this morning. You know what's being offered to you? The same thing. come, dip in the Jordan, come to Jesus, eat what I have for you. Jesus chided the Jews over Naaman. After they had rejected and wouldn't listen and stormed out mad from him, he said there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian. He was saying you need to consider how that Gentile was healed. The same is true for you. How beautiful the message of salvation is to us this morning that a natural man would never receive because it's the most insulting thing in the world. But now you understand love and grace, I hope. Because when we look at Naaman, ultimately the story is what Jesus said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost. This is what sovereign grace brings. This is what his power brings about in you. He pursued you, He washes you, He saves you, He refreshes you in this fountain and cleanses you from all unrighteousness when you come to His Son. That same message was given to you today. May we always respond then if we have come to this fountain. All who believe should come this morning and be refreshed in this love of the Lord and respond by worshiping Him in spirit and in truth same way name let's pray gracious heavenly father thank you for your word this morning and thank you for showing us something that we need to see again and again let us not harden our hearts or stiffen our nets how easily it would be when all you're saying to us is watch and be clean what a wonderful mercy you've shown to us in christ may we come now to your table with believing hearts, tasting and seeing that you are good. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.