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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
CURING LEPROSY
II Kings 5:1-14
1 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 velour, but he was a leper.
2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 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.
4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 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 ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7 And 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 alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that 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.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Namaan was a VIP of Syria and had fought with distinction for the King of Syria. He had everything going for him except for one thing, his leprosy.
Leprosy is a fearful disease that destroys the body little by little. In those days it was incurable and very contagious. It isn’t clear what type of leprosy Namaan had but the fact is that he did have it. This dreadful disease would soon incapacitate Namaan.
The King of Syria, not wanting to lose one of his most able commanders, was grasping at straws to send Namaan to Israel to attempt to find a cure. There were captives from the Land of Israel who suggested that the prophets of Israel could heal Namaan.
The first mistake was that Namaan sought the aid of the King Jehoram of Israel. King Jehoram may have placed himself upon a pedestal to brag about his power and position but when it came to leprosy he was forced to confess that he could do nothing.
All of us suffer from a type of leprosy. It is called leprosy of the attitude, leprosy of the heart, leprosy of the mind, and leprosy of the soul. Like Naaman, we are all desperate in our search for a cure but, often, we don’t like the cure when we find it, even when there is no other way.
LEPROSY OF THE ATTITUDE – also called hardening of the head – eating away at our effectiveness, little by little our influence is destroyed until there is no power within us to work effectively anymore. Pride, arrogance, self-glorification, disobedience and rebellion are signs of this type of leprosy.
LEPROSY OF THE HEART – also called hard heartedness – our loves grows cold, we grow cynical, uncaring, self-preserving, self-centered. Who wants to hang around will someone who doesn’t care about you? Do you hurt for the hurting, sense the despair of the lost and sickly, have concern for others, or are you holding back so that you don’t catch something or been seen in the wrong light. Is all of life centered upon your desires or God’s desires?
LEPROSY OF THE MIND – also called ignorance and laziness – many people refuse to learn and grow but are satisfied with the status quo. They won’t read, they can’t learn, and they develop a know-it-all attitude that also brings on the Leprosy of the Attitude that we talked about before. Their mind is on anything and everything except the right thing. TV, radio, magazines, novels, anything but the Bible and God’s Word occupies their mind. They do not meditate upon God or His Word and fill their mind with anything but Him.
LEPROSY OF THE SOUL – also called eternal death – all of these forms of leprosy, left alone without cleansing, forgiveness and repentance will result in this final form of leprosy that is always fatal to the soul of man. We must never let these diseases go untreated. Repentance is the key. Turn to God, ask for forgiveness, then change your attitude, your mind and allow Him to live in your heart completely. Don’t leave a trace of leprosy or it will only grow again. We don’t want remission; we want a complete cure.
How to get that cure? Follow the example of Namaan! He went where he didn’t want to go. He did what he didn’t think was feasible. He went against every fiber of his being to do that, which was against all that he knew or understood. But that was His only cure.
It was God’s way or no way! You can’t determine your every move under your own knowledge. It must come from God, through His Word, His messengers and His Spirit.
There is a way – go to God and His word – that’s the only source of help in reality
God’s methods are never our methods. We may think we know how God will do it but we don’t know anything. Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, God’s methods don’t even make sense.
Namaan would do almost anything to be cured. He would have climbed the tallest mountain, swam the Mediterranean Sea, crawled on broken glass, paid huge sums of money, just whatever it took. A man in desperate straits is easy prey to anyone who can offer relief or deliverance. Why do you see “Preachers” like Rev. Ike, who can get rich preying upon those in distress?
He would do anything that would not destroy his pride but pride was more important than the cure at first. He refused to dip in the nasty water of the Jordan River. It was muddy, full of everything imaginable because the animals walked in it, bathed in it, and people drained their sewers into it. Why wash in dirty water when there is a clean river at home?
It wasn’t so much the Jordan itself but it was the obedience of Namaan, the pride in Namaan’s heart and his willingness to change were the key factors!
The pride in Namaan’s heart was the same pride that we feed today. There is no place in the Kingdom of God for a prideful spirit.
Like Namaan, we attempt to find any other solution that would help us to look good to other people. Also, like Namaan, we must inevitably surrender our will, swallow our pride, and do the thing that God called us to do in the beginning.
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He might exalt you when the right time comes.
Don’t carry around your leprosy anymore. There is a cure in Jesus. Keep the body intact. We need all the parts to accomplish the Work of the Lord!
