The Cure for the Incurable

We're going to be in two Kings chapter five this morning. Two Kings chapter five is where we're going to spend most of our time today. Two Kings chapter five. This is one of my favorite Old Testament stories. Now, I say that like like this song or hymn is one of my favorite hymns because I have a lot of favorite hymns and I have a lot of favorite Old Testament stories.

I enjoyed, I I grew up in church. So, as a kid, I I heard these stories growing up and didn't really know how they really fit in a lot of times to the gospel story because really the scripture Jesus said, if you believed in, if you believe Moses and the prophets, you believe in me for they spoke of me and these stories though there are are things we can learn that are unrelated to the gospel. They also fit into the gospel and you can see as you go through the Old Testament story after story how they have things in common with the gospel of salvation from the New Testament and this is one of these stories that you might not see this when you first glance at it but as we look at it this morning and use it as an illustration really of of salvation and the gift of sal and and and the gospel, the good news from the New Testament. I think you'll see how it works as a good illustration for that and I think these Old Testament stories, God had that in mind when he gave them to us. So, second Kings chapter five and we're going to read just the first four verses to begin here this morning.

Chapter five verses one through four. Now, Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and honorable because by him, the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor. But he was a leper. The Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel, little maid and she waited on Naaman's wife and she said unto her mistress, would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that is in Samaria.

For he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in and told his Lord saying, thus and thus said, the maid that is of the land of Israel. Let's go to Lord in prayer once more before we continue this morning. Lord, we thank you for your word today. We pray as Lord as we come to this part of the service.

Pray Lord that you would take away the other distractions. Lord, that we might focus upon your word and what you have to teach us from it today. We pray that the gospel would go forth clearly this morning and Lord, you would bring conviction to our hearts. Even those of us who know you as savior over the sin that still so easily besets us. And Lord, thank you that it has, it's under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Lord, that it is forgiven. And Lord, that we would also be convicted, Lord, to repent and turn from it. Confess it to you. Lord, we pray most of all, if there's one or two here today that have never trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, I pray that you would work in your heart by your word, in their hearts, by your word today. To open their eyes of understanding and Lord to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We thank you Lord for this opportunity to proclaim your word today and to worship you. In Jesus name, amen. First thing I want to look at this morning is Naaman's predicament. What is Naaman's predicament? Well, when you start reading the first verse, you think, man, this guy, he he's got it all together.

I mean, this this this guy, this dude is blessed. I mean, look at look at the the description of Naaman here. A great man with his master. His master is the king of Syria. So, he's got good connections there.

Honorable man, well respected because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He had won many many victories. He was hailed as a conquering general, captain in the army of Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor. I mean, he was a strong, able warrior.

Everybody knew it. The captain of the host of Syria, man of great prominence, man of fame, a man of power, military power, probably political power being so closely befriended to the king. Most likely a man of wealth and riches. Probably above most of his peers in his country and a man of great physical prowess. This is Naaman.

You say, boy, he's got it pretty good. He does. Except for one thing. He's a what? leper.

He's a leper. His position is that the captain of the host of Syria. His problem is despite all of these wonderful things that were said about him. He is a leper. Leprosy was in Naaman's day an incurable disease.

Today, it's also called Hansen's disease named after the scientist who discovered the bacteria that causes leprosy which now can be treated with antibiotics but for thousands of years, leprosy was incurable by any known human means. If you got leprosy, it was a death sentence. It was an incurable. It was a terminal disease and that is what Naaman had. It was a communicable disease.

Leprosy is contagious. Therefore, those found to have it were ostracized from the rest of society. We know this to particularly be the case in Israel where leprosy is sometimes used as an illustration of sin and the insidiousness of sin and we're going to relate it with that a little bit here in just a moment. It is a contagious disease and it is one that causes one to be ostracized from society. In certain places in the world and in Israel, they had what they had called leper colonies.

The only way they knew how to control leprosy was to isolate people so they couldn't pass it on to others and so that's what happened. In the Old Testament, there was a great king of Israel. His name was Uzziah. He was for the most part a godly king but He got the big head and he decided to take upon himself authority that wasn't his and he entered into the holy place in the temple where only the priest were allowed to go and God struck him down with what? With leprosy.

For the rest of his reign, he lived in isolation. Because of that. It is a contagious disease that requires this. It's an insidious disease. It has an incubation period of up to twenty years.

You can have leprosy in up to twenty years not know that you've got it before it becomes symptomatic. It's under the radar. You don't see the consequences. Yet, but they're there and they're coming. It is an insidious disease.

Alice, we'll see this morning so is sin. It is a humiliating disease. Leprosy spreads through the through as the leprosy spreads throughout the body, pale bumps and sores begin to show on the skin. They eat away at the skin. They eat away at the nervous system.

They eventually cause gross disfigurement. Wow. And so people that had leprosy would often clothe themselves in such a way so that you couldn't see their face because of the disfigurement that it caused. When people saw them, they would turn and walk away. Not only because of the contagiousness but because of how the person just looked.

It is a humiliating disease. The symptomatic individual was therefore easily identifiable and avoided. In Israel and other societies, they were called unclean. Lepers in Israel were required when anybody got close to them to say, unclean, unclean. So that people would know to stay away.

Adding insult to injury and at this point, it didn't matter so much who the person was because the person now is only known as a what? As a leper. Thus is the case. With Naaman. The end result result is death Though it could take decades to kill you.

Sort of like HIV. And AIDS in our society today. People can have it for years. But eventually, eventually, it takes its toll. It is a killer.

You may say, thank God, I am not a leper and you would be right to thank God for that. We don't live in that day when that disease and some others today that are easily curable were not. However, you are infected by an ailment today which is far worse than leprosy. That ailment is sin. Romans three twenty three, for all have what?

Sinned. Sinned and come short of the glory of God. I don't have it up there but in Romans five twelve, it says, wherefore as by one man, that's Adam. Sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have what? Sinned.

Sinned. We sin because we're sinners. It's who we are in here and so it's what comes out in our lives. The problem is not so much the individual sin that you did but the fact that you are a sinner at heart which results in behavior that is contrary to the will and to the law of God that brings condemnation. For the wages or the result or the consequences of sin is what?

Death. Death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is a consequence to sin and that consequence is death and the Bible says it is appointed on the man wants to die but after this the what? The judgment.

There's a judgment coming. We will die and we will stand before God and we will be judged. Yes. And we'll look at that a little more in just a moment. Isaiah sixty four six says, but we are, what's the next word?

Can you see it up from back there? We are all as a what? Unclean. Unclean thing. Remember the lepers?

They had to yell out what? Unclean. Unclean. God says we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf And our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.

What happens when the leaf fades? It eventually what? It dies. It withers away and it dies. We are all under the condemnation of sin.

Which begins with physical death but ends with eternal death. Without Christ Jesus. Sin is a terrible, insidious ailment that every human being that's walked the face of this earth suffers from. But one, Jesus Christ, our savior. There is a solution.

There is a way of escape. We'll talk about that more. In just a moment. We may not be lepers but sadly we are sinners. You were born with it.

You succumb to its desires every day. You know, there are things you should do, you don't do them. You know, there are things God said, you shouldn't do. You do them anyway. We succumb to it all the time.

We cannot beat it. We cannot get rid of it. We cannot be cured of it by any human means. I have high blood pressure. I take a pill every day to keep my blood pressure down to reasonable levels.

But there is no pill for sin. There is no surgery that can take it out of your life. There is no treatment. There is no therapy. There is no diet.

There is no human means by which we can beat it, get rid of it or be cured of it. You will face the consequences of it. There is no escape from it apart from who? Apart from Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter how much money you have.

It doesn't matter your position in society. It doesn't matter how successful in life you are. When it comes down to it and you stand before God at the judgment someday, only one thing is going to matter. Have you been forgiven of your sins? Through faith in Jesus Christ or have you rejected his forgiveness?

And thus, stand guilty. Before him. Because the fact is, every last one of us, if we're judged based upon our works, we will all, as that verse says, be found what? Guilty. Be found guilty.

Revelation 20. I'm I'm going to jump ahead a little bit but it fits right here. It says in Revelation 20, it says, I saw a great right throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great before the God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. God's going to judge the world someday and at this judgment called the great white throne judgment, these people will be judged based upon their what? Their works and what do we already know from scripture about our works?

They're tainted by sin. It says heal. Says here, and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast in the lake of fire.

You see, if your name is not written in the book of life and we'll get to that more here in just a minute again and that has to do with Jesus. If your name is not written there, then you bear the punishment and the guilt of your works and your actions and your sin before almighty God and there is only one possible result. And that is the lake of fire. You say, pastor, I don't like that kind of preaching. I understand but it's the truth.

It is. What a terrible preacher I would be. If I let you walk out of here this morning without giving you the truth. That's right. That's right.

About eternity. Because eternity is coming. The Bible says in numbers thirty two twenty three, but if you will not do so, behold your, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure you're what? Sin will find you out. Sin will find you out.

You say, hey, not me. I'm going to get away with it. You know, you may escape my eyes. You may escape your parents, your your your bosses, whoever. You can't escape whose?

You can't escape the Lord's eyes. He knows. He's keeping a record and unless that record is expunged, by grace through faith in Christ, then that record will stand against you. On that day. You say, but pastor, I'm not so bad.

I'm I'm I'm not in jail. I I I haven't murdered anybody. I I'm not as bad as those people. You know, certainly God will let me in. Well, there are 10 commandments, you know, not just two.

One of them is thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. That means thou shalt not lie. Have you ever done that? There say you have. Again, and again, and again.

Honor thy father and mother. You ever dishonored your father and mother? When I was a kid, I did that again and again and again. We could go on and on. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Ever done that? Ever said, oh my and ended with God's name? And you weren't talking to him or about him? You just took his name in what? In vain.

Fact is we're sinners. The fact is we stand guilty before God and there's nothing that we can do to cleanse ourselves. There's nothing we can do to fix our situation nor anything man can do. There's only one. That's Jesus Christ.

Galatians six seven eight says, be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall love the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall love the spirit reap life everlasting. That's a simple illustration from farming.

You you plant corn, you get what? Corn and you get more corn hopefully than you planted. That's the purpose but you sow, you will reap in greater quantities. God says, don't be deceived. God isn't mocked.

God isn't. God keeps his promises. God does what he says. You're not going to escape his eyes or his judgment. If you sow in sin, you're going to reap the results and the consequences of sin.

In your life. Here and also in eternity. In Luke chapter 16, there was a man, a rich man and there was a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man died and he lifted up his eyes where? In the torments of hell.

And he saw Lazarus far off in Abraham's bosom in paradise because he, Lazarus, had trusted the Lord in his life. The rich man had trusted in his what? And his riches. Most likely. And he called out to Lazarus, which would you bring just a drop of water to put on my tongue?

And God says, no. He can't do that. There's a great gulf fixed between you and him. He can't come to you. You can't go to him.

Once we die, our doom, our fate is what? Sealed. There is no opportunity and one day, all of us like that rich man are going to die and we are going to meet our maker. Naaman had a lot of wonderful things. Naaman was a leper.

You may have a lot of things. You may have a lot of respect. You may have a good name, a good reputation but there's only one that matters. That's right. And that is your reputation with who?

With God. Whether you have a relationship with him through faith in Jesus Christ. That's the one thing that's going to matter in eternity. So, we see Naaman's predicament and ours but next, we see Naaman's hope. Life had played a cruel joke on Naaman.

Despite all of his successes and effort, he was reduced and condemned to humiliated life by his leprosy. Sin has the same effect. When I was a kid, there were movies about Superman and there was a man who played Superman. His name was? Christopher Reeves.

Christopher Reeves is a person who seemed to have it all. He had wealth, he had fame, he had physical prowess, he had looks, he had it all. One day, he was riding his horse and the horse threw him over the front and he landed on his head and he broke his neck. And everything won. Everything changed.

He was no longer Christopher Reeves Superman, quote unquote. He was Christopher Reeves, a paraplegic, a quadriplegic. Couldn't even breathe without a respirator. I I know a man. His name is Jerry Thacker.

He at one time was a professor at Bob Jones University where I went to school. He is a good Christian man. One day, he gave some blood, at a blood bank. Doctor called him back, said, we can't use your blood. He said, why?

It's tainted with HIV. Jerry Thacker, godly man, good family man. Wife and three kids found out he had AIDS. So did his wife and so did his daughter. You see, when his wife was giving birth to their youngest child, she had to have a blood transfusion.

The blood transfusion was tainted. By HIV. And now for twenty years, they've struggled with it. Praise God. There's been a lot of progress and people live a lot longer than they used to.

But someday, it's going to take his life. Good things and bad things happen happen both to God's children and to those that are not. We are not immune. We also sadly are not immune to sin. No matter what you accomplish in life, death will overtake you.

Sin will win and you can do nothing to stop it apart from God's grace and mercy. You are indeed without hope but in God, there is hope. Naaman, got a glimmer of hope. A slave girl that a captive that they had captured from Israel. She told his wife that there was a man in Israel that could cure him of his leprosy.

And all of a sudden, there was hope. When a cure is found and you are sick, you're, you don't care who found it or who told you about it. Only that there is what? There is hope. Yeah.

There is hope. I'm here to tell you today, you may not know me, you may not like me, you may not think I'm all that intelligent a person or or eloquent a speaker and I'm neither of those things. But I'm here to tell you the truth of God's word today. I'm here to tell you there is hope in Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ came and he died on that cross for your sin and mine.

He took your punishment and mine but God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died. For us. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish in sin but have what? Everlasting life with God in heaven.

Praise the Lord. There is hope. I pray and hope that you will receive it today. If you haven't in the past How did Naaman respond? Look if you would in verse five and the king of Syria said, go to, go and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel and he departed and took with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 changes of raiment.

He brought the letter to the king of Israel saying now, when this letter has come unto thee, behold, I have there with sent Naaman my servant to thee that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. It came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter that he rent his clothes and said, am I God to kill and to make a lie that this man does send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore, consider, I pray you and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. So, how did Naaman respond? He responded with joy.

He responded with hope. There's hope. There's a cure and so him and his friend, the king, sent him to Israel and they sent him to where? They sent him to the king of Israel because well that would be the first place you would go. You think if anybody knew how to cure him, it would be the what?

It would be the king. He responded with hope. He went to the land of his enemy. Yeah. The Assyrian Israel were mortal enemies but when you're dying, that short of changes things.

And so he swallowed his pride and he went. To whom did he go? Well, he went to the king. Sadly, he went to the person who couldn't help him. He took with him a bunch of money that couldn't help him.

Sadly, often times in the world people go to every place but the one that really has the answer. You see no religion can help you. Only a person can help you. That person is not me. That person is Jesus Christ.

Amen. You see, no amount of money can buy your salvation from sin. Or your justification before God. No amount of success or power and often times when people are looking for answers, they go to people that are like that. They go to the people with the power and they go to the people with the money.

They go to the people that are success in the eyes of the world. Sadly, they don't go to the people and they don't go to the place and the person and the word that shows the success of God. The world may succeed in many things but it cannot save your soul. That's right. Money may help to buy many things but it cannot buy your salvation.

We are not redeemed with corruptible things or silver and gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The king couldn't help him. Physician's office cannot help you. A professor's lesson plan cannot help you. An empty religion cannot help you.

Only Jesus Christ can help you. There was someone who could and he heard about it. Verse eight, it was so when Elisha, the man of God had heard the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king saying, wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. Elisha says, king, send him to me.

I've got the answer. Now, what was special about Elisha? Absolutely nothing. But there was something special about Elisha's God. Elisha couldn't help this man but his God could.

Elisha wanted to introduce Naaman to the one who could cure his disease. I'd like to introduce you today to someone named Jesus Christ. He can cure what ails you spiritually. He can fix your life. He can give you eternal life.

Which is of the greatest value. He can wash away your sins by his blood on the cross. I'd like to introduce you today to Jesus Christ. For it is he that hung upon that cross, who had nails driven through his hands, who hung their humiliated before the world, not for his sin. But for mine.

And for yours. When I was nine years old, somebody introduced me to Jesus and I wasn't a theologian. I didn't know all the answers. I was just a kid but I was a kid who knew I was a sinner and if I died where I was going to go. And I was a kid who knew that Jesus died for me.

And I got on my knees and I asked him to be my savior. And he has since that very day. He forgave all my sins. He wrote down my name in another book called the Book of Life and he's given me life in him. And he'll give you life as well.

But you can't find it anywhere else but in Jesus Christ So, what did Naaman do? Well, he went. He went to see Elisha. In verse nine, so Naaman came with his horses, with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha and Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth and he 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 that's in Syria better than the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. Well, see first of all, he swallowed enough of his pride to come to Elisha and to Elisha's God. But then when Elisha didn't come out and make a big show, he didn't even come out to meet him.

All of a sudden his pride what? It shows back up and it gets the best of him. What do you mean he doesn't come out to meet me? What do you mean I have to go wash in that muddy? I've seen the Jordan River.

It is a muddy river and they say it is muddy all the time. He said, I can go wash in the cleaner rivers in Damascus. Why was it that God wanted him to wash in the Jordan River? Well, that muddy muddy river reminds us of the vileness and the filth of our sin. Blood of Jesus Christ shed on Cross Of Calvary.

Terrible thing to think of the shedding of blood. You don't want to get blood on your hands especially somebody else's blood. The only thing that can wash away your sin is the sinless blood of Jesus Christ. And because also the gods of Syria couldn't heal Naaman but the God of Israel There are many other gods that are worshiped in this world but there is only one true and living God and there is only one savior Jesus Christ. That's right.

The Bible says, neither is there salvation any other. For there's none other name under heaven given among men. Whereby we must be saved. Well, in the end, praise God, a friend of Naaman talks him into coming back and going to that river and guess what happened? He was healed of his leprosy.

Then, he went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan according to saying of the man of God and his flesh came again like under the flesh of a little child and he was clean and he turned to the man of God. He and all his company and came and stood before him and he said, behold now, I know that there is no god in all the earth but in Israel. Therefore, I pray thee take a blessing of thy servant but he said, as the Lord live it before whom I stand, I will receive none and he urged him to take it but he refused. Elisha said, I didn't heal you. God did.

I don't deserve the credit and I don't reserve the reward. He does. God saved my soul. He deserves all the glory. He'll save yours too.

He deserves all the glory. He deserves all your faith. He deserves all your allegiance. For it is by his grace and through the suffering death of his son that there is a opportunity for you to come to know Jesus, to be saved, and to have your sins washed away from the records of those books in heaven. Praise the Lord.

Naaman was healed of his leprosy. Not by the rivers of the Jordan River but by faith and the power of God. Verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation was passed from death on the life. Yes, we baptize people after they're saved but the waters of baptism do not wash away sins. The blood of Jesus Christ does.

Amen. When you put your faith and trust. And then God changes your life and he changes your heart and we see that evidence right here in Naaman's life. For God not only washed away his leprosy, God changed his heart forever. As he declares his allegiance to the only true and living God.

Jehovah, the God of Israel. He that believeth on him that is Jesus is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. There's only one way to get the gift of eternal life and that is you have to bow before Jesus Christ in faith as your Lord and savior. Have you done that? You say, well, I I know Jesus is God, okay?

The Bible says the demons believe and tremble. They know he's God. Have you bowed in your heart before him in faith? Have you repented and trusted in Jesus Christ as savior? Jesus said to his disciples and others around unless you repent, unless you turn, you shall it.

Lest, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Doesn't matter how long you've gone to church, doesn't matter how much you know. If you do not know Jesus as savior. I already said this verse but we'll read it neither is there salvation in any other for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and that is the name of Jesus but without faith, it is impossible to please him. That is to please God.

For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Let me ask you today, have you sought God? Through faith in Jesus Christ, have you sought his salvation? Have you come to him in humility and faith and said, Lord, save me. I am a what?

A Save my soul. If you haven't, come to Jesus in faith to save you from your sin. The Bible says, you are yet in your sin. Those sins are still written in that book. And you will they are the consequences one day.

There's hope. There's forgiveness. There's salvation in Jesus Christ. I am not of myself a good person. I am a sinner but I'm a sinner saved by grace.

Are you today? And Christian, if you are, will you be that little girl? Will you care enough to tell someone else? That they need Jesus, that there is a cure, that there is help, that there is salvation from sin. They're all around you.

They need him. Would you tell them? Let's pray. Pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you Lord for your word today, for what it tells us of our need.

We thank you Lord that you have the power to cure leprosy. We thank you Lord even more that you have the power to cure sin. We thank you Lord that there is victory found in Jesus Christ but there is also forgiveness and there is salvation and there is eternal life. Lord, we thank you that by no works of our own but by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we have received your gift of eternal life. Our names are written in the book of life and we will not stand at the judgment, the great white throne.

For our sins have been washed away. I pray Lord for those that are here today that have yet to make that decision. They have yet to come. That place in their life. Trust you alone as Lord and savior.

I pray that you would help them today not only to see their need but to come to the right person who can change their life forever and come to Jesus Christ and I pray as we give this hymn of invitation. We sing these words just as I am today. That they would come just as they are. But in faith. And trust you today.

To save them forever. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.