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you you you you you you you you you good evening welcome back to the house of the lord and again the only announcement really is that wednesday night lord willing there will be prayer and bible study once again um here at the church so if we could begin worship this evening by turning our bibles please to psalm 113 psalm 113. psalm 113 beginning at verse 1 praise the lord praise o servants of the lord praise the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the sun to its going down the lord's name is to be praised the lord is high above all nations his glory above the heavens who is like the lord our god who dwells on high who humbles himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth he raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy out of the ash heap that he may seat him with princes with the princes of his people he grants the barren woman a home like a joyful mother of children praise the lord amen but please turn with me in your hymn books to the first hymn which is 150 c as in cat 150 cat i'll ask you to please stand [Music] so [Music] is [Music] is [Music] me [Music] oh grace [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] amen you may be seated let's go to god in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our worship time here this evening let's pray our gracious and our loving heavenly father we come once again into your holy presence through your son the lord jesus christ and lord we are grateful for the whole lord's day that we can hedge the the day in worshiping you in the morning and worshiping you in the evening and father how we pray that it would not just be one day and seven but rather we would fill our days with worship of you that we be mindful of you that you are the god who grants life and and health and strength and father you've given to us minds you've given to us mouths to to worship and to praise you with and we pray lord that we would use these uh to worship you the the the high king of heaven and earth thank you father this is your world and even the the beauty of the day that we saw before us reminds us it reflects your graciousness your goodness in the in the creation as we see the the the bright blue skies and the sun sparkling off the sun or out the snow this afternoon truly lord these things are are cause us to be mindful the fact that you are a kind god a good god that you send us the seasons and you you hedge us in with uh that that nature does not go out of control get out of control even though it is um it is groaning under sin yet father you are gracious to us that we get to enjoy these sights and behold these things and ultimately trust that would bring praise and and honor to you the high king of heaven father thank you you're not you're not just a god in nature but rather you're also god who's given us the scriptures these 66 books to to to to give to us that that that knowledge of you we pray lord that you would help us to improve upon our our sanctification improve upon our knowledge of the lord we would use the scriptures as we reminded this morning that we would be diligent in this lore world fault we would learn of you and be taught of you and your holy spirit would teach us of the things of christ and make these things real and relevant and true and personal in each one of our lives thank you father you've given to us this this your word and we pray lord you'd bless this word bless it here this evening we do pray as it's opened up we pray you'd bless our pastor strengthen him father and the inner man and the and the outer man as well cause him to to to to to know that that word of truth and to communicate that word of truth again clearly this evening give to him a clear mind we pray and we do pray lord that your spirit would attend uh the opening up of your word we thank you promised that when the lord jesus christ left uh this earth he he gave to us another a comforter the holy spirit that would that would take the word of god and make it clear when the things of christ are taught when the things of christ are opened up that the the holy spirit has been promised to be there and to be present and to to to give us understanding and to to give us wisdom that would be that would come from your holy word so lord we do pray your blessing upon this evening we pray your blessing upon our worship time we do pray lord for those who are not with us this evening due to sickness uh not not being well we think of larry in the hospital again we we think of the new felds as well father we pray that your blessing might be upon each of these and any others perhaps who are who are ill or not feeling well these days we pray lord that you would bless them strengthen them we know that as we live in this lower world we are we are plagued with with with the effects of sin you do not create this world in order for there to be sickness yet because there is uh there is sin father we have to deal with these things and so we pray you would help each of these to to deal with them in a right manner we pray lord that they would know your help and your aid your strength and uh your spirit upon them the lord they would find their comfort and their strength through your word and by your gracious holy spirit we do pray lord we thank you that you've given to us this church we thank you father you are raising up in this church those who are seeking to to be elders those who are seeking to to to be teachers of your word we pray for ryan this night father we do we do ask your blessing to be upon him that you would strengthen him as he continues in his studies we pray lord that you would bless those studies and that would not just be a a a mental intrigue but rather it would be uh part of his his his whole life that lord he would he would desire it to to see others grow in the things of christ and be able to teach effectively your holy words lord do bless him in his studies we do pray we pray you bless me even this night as he spends time with the with the group in vernon we pray lord that you would strengthen that that group through your word and through through his mouth we pray we pray that uh in in the next couple of days when they return home the lord you would bless them with safety along the roads as well these are busy roads slippery roads and we pray that you would just preserve life there as well lord we do ask your blessing to be upon those uh those are our dear friends our missionaries in in in the far east we pray lord you're blessed you might be upon uh the children there that are being looked after and and taught the things of god as they've as they've closed down for their current uh new year celebrations and the children have gone gone back to their homes we pray lord that you would preserve those children cause them lord to to uh to to continue to be faithful we pray that spirit of the living god that is at work and alive in each of their hearts the lord you would preserve them when they go back into it and into homes of darkness and we do pray that uh in in in the coming weeks they'd all be returned to school safely and in good health and strength and we pray lord that that they would not be affected by the uh by the wickedness that uh in the homes that uh that they have come from we pray they would be able to come back and be able to be back in their school and school setting and uh learning of the things of christ lord do you pray that you would be pleased to to raise up the laborers for that harvest field of not just the far east but all around this world father you've called you've told us to pray to the lord of the harvest who would raise up um workers for the for the harvest is is is ripe and we pray lord that you would be pleased to send out yet more workers more more harvesters as it were even from this church raise up some of our young men father we do pray that you would be that you would have your hand upon individuals here in this place the lord we would see as we've seen in the past we see young men raised up and and sent out to uh to work in your in your in your kingdom we do pray this night also for uh for pastor mike kirkpatrick continue to strengthen him father hedge him in and we do pray you'd bless he and his wife and and and their their little family we pray lord they would just be strengthened from day to day that you would give to them all they stand in need of we do pray so lord we just ask your blessing now to be upon our worship time thank you that we are your children that we can call you abba father that you are a god who does care for your children we do pray that for any and all here in this place this night who perhaps come in with with uh with concerns with with things upon their heart or their mind we pray lord that your spirit would deal with them and that you would be gracious to them and that they would that they would know that that that help and that aid that does come from on highs lord bless us we do pray and we do confess you all of our sins and our righteousness thank you for your the blood of your son the lord jesus christ it does cleanse us from all unrighteousness we pray you'd be pleased to cleanse us even now from from our guilt and we pray these things in jesus precious name amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to hymn number 411 411 as we sing our second hymn i'll again ask you to please stand [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] seated and turning your bibles to leviticus chapter 14 as we continue through the old testament leviticus chapter 14 we'll just read the first 32 verses uh certainly something to keep in mind that as we read these chapters uh a lot of details about uh um the the cleansing of lepers and and whatnot well the new testament equivalent which i think is important for us to point out uh two perhaps this this chapter 14 of leviticus would be matthew 8 1-4 where where the leper comes to jesus and all the priests could do here in the old testament in leviticus chapter 14 uh was pr to pronounce the man or the woman whoever it was ceremonially ceremonially clean because they were already clean but in the new testament of course if you look later at the matthew chapter eight uh the first four verses uh in the new testament jesus actually heals the sin-sick soul of the individual he doesn't just he doesn't just call them clean because they're already clean but he's actually able to cleanse them he's actually able to heal their very soul and that truly is a is a praiseworthy um uh observation uh the difference between the the old the old testament here where as they say the priests could only could only ceremonially ceremonially pronounce them clean in the new testament the lord jesus can clean can can heal and that's that's a wonderful wonderful hope and promise let's turn now to leviticus chapter 14 as we as i say we'll read just the first 32 verses then the lord spoke to moses saying this shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing he shall be brought to the priest and the priest shall go out of the camp and the priest shall examine him and indeed if the leprosy is healed in the leper then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed to living and clean birds cedarwood scarlet and hyssop and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water as for the living bird he shall take it the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed in the in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water and he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose in the open field he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes shave off all his hair and wash himself in water that he may be clean after that he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside his tent seven days but on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows all his hair he shall shave off he shall wash his clothes and wash his body in the water and he shall be clean and on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish one you lamb of the first year without blemish three tenths of an ifa of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering and one log of oil then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean and those things before the lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering and the log of oil and wave them as a wave offering before the lord then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering in a holy place for as the son of uh for as the sin of offering is the priests so is the trespass offering it is most holy the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot and the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the lord and of the rest of the oil in his hand the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of his right hand on and on the big toe of his right foot on the blood of the trespass offering the rest of the oil that is on the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed so the priest shall make atonement for him before the lord then the priest shall offer the sin offering and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness afterward he shall kill the burnt offering and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar so the priest shall make atonement for him and he shall be clean but if he is if he is poor and cannot afford it then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waived to make atonement for him one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering a log of oil and two turtle doves or two young pigeons such as he is able to afford one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering he shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing through the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the lord and the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the lord then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot and he and the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the lord and the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed on the thumb of the right hand and on the big the big toe of his right foot on the place of the on the place of the blood of the trespass offering the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the lord and he shall offer one of the turtle doves or young pigeons such as he can afford such as he is able to afford the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering with the grain offering so the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the lord this is the law for one who who had a leprous sore who cannot afford the usual cleansing amen let's pray our gracious and our loving heavenly father we thank you for the fact that all of this points forward to the new testament to our to our savior the lord jesus christ who would be that sin offering who would be the one who would cleanse us from our sins he is not one who who simply observed that we were already clean in ourselves because we could not clean ourselves father we needed another and how we praise you that you provided that that sin offering you provided the lord jesus christ to to make an atonement for our sins how we truly do praise you that he is our propitiation he took our place and for that we are truly grateful this night father we pray that we truly would rejoice in the in the working of our savior the lord jesus christ his past workings his present workings his future workings that that he is before the before the throne room uh this day even making intercessions for us with groanings that we cannot make for ourselves truly lord we are thankful for the lord jesus christ we are thankful for all the things that the spiritual blessings that we enjoy in him and we pray lord that as we as we gather around your word now to hear the preaching the lord you would cause our hearts to rejoice in the fact that we do know the savior that he is uh that he has saved us from our sins and we do pray lord as we always do that if there be any in here who do not know this the the saving power of the lord jesus christ have not experienced that new birth as it were as it's spoken of in the new testament that father they would this night that you would be pleased to empower the preaching bless the bless the gospel as it goes forth in this place father that we would see the simplicity of believing on the lord jesus christ for the forgiveness of our sins we thank you for your word and we pray your blessing upon it now and in jesus precious name we pray amen amen well please turn with me in your hymn books now to the last hymn before the preaching and that is 429 429 and i'll ask you to please stand [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] my heart [Music] second kings chapter five i'll begin reading in verse 1. 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 but a leper 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 and naaman went in and told his master saying thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of israel then the king of syria said go now and i will send a letter to the king of israel so he departed and took with him ten talents of silver six thousand shackles of gold and ten changes of clothing then he brought the letter to the king of israel which said now be advised when this letter comes to you that i have sent naaman my servant to you that you may heal him of his leprosy and it happened when the king of israel read the letter that he tore his clothes and said am i god to kill and make alive that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy therefore please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel with me so it was when elisha the man of god heard that the king of israel had torn his clothes that he sent to the king saying why have you torn your clothes please let him come to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in israel the naaman went with his horses and chariot and he 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 to you and you shall be clean but naaman became furious and went away and said indeed i said to myself he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the lord his god and wave his hand over the place and heal the leprosy are not the abana and the 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 a rage and his servants came near and spoke to him and said my father if the prophet had told you to do something great would you not have done it how much more then when he says to you wash and be clean 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 and he returned to the man of god he and all his aides and came and stood before him and said indeed now i know that there is no god in all the earth except in israel now therefore please take a gift from your servant but he said as the lord lives before whom i stand i will receive nothing and he urged him to take it but he refused so naaman said then if not please let your servant be given two mule loads of earth for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods but to the lord yet in this thing may the lord pardon your servant when my master goes into the temple of riemann to worship there and he leans on my hand and i bow down in the temple of riemann when i bow down in the temple of riemann may the lord please pardon your servant in this thing then he said to him go in peace so he departed from him a short distance but gehazi the servant of elisha the man of god said look my master has spared naaman this syrian well not receiving from his hands what he brought but as the lord lives i will run after him and take something from him so gahazi pursued naaman when naaman saw him running after him he got down from the chariot to meet him and said is all well and he said all is well my master has sent me saying indeed just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of ephraim please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments so naaman said please take two talents and he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of garments and handed them to two of his servants and they carried them on ahead of him when he came to the citadel he took them from their hand and stored them away in the house then he let the men go and they departed now he went in and stood before his master elisha said to him where did you go ghazi and he said your servant did not go anywhere and he said to him did not my heart go with you when you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you is it time to receive money and to receive clothing all of groves and vineyards sheep and oxen male and female servants therefore the leprosy of naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever and he went out from his presence leprous as white as snow amen well let us pray our god and father we thank you for your holy word we thank you for all scripture given by inspiration of god we know that it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness that you may thoroughly equip each and every one of us and god we pray for the presence and the power of the holy spirit to guide us as we consider this passage as well god forgive us and cleanse us from all sin and everything that darkens our minds and understanding we thank you for your grace we thank you for the gospel of our salvation we thank you for the lord jesus christ and the the the every blessing that we have received in him and we pray in his wonderful name amen well as we come to this particular section it's always a bit difficult to just drop into old testament narrative there is context to be sure there is connection to be sure and as the name suggests the book is about the kings of israel and in this particular section beginning in second kings chapter 2 and continuing to second kings chapter 13 the emphasis is upon the ministry of the prophet elisha so elijah is taken up into heaven in second kings chapter two elisha is then his successor and elisha is typical of our lord jesus christ and what we see concerning elisha in the last ch last few chapters are in this area chapters three four and five and six even are miracles engaged uh performed by elisha under the power of god almighty and when we come to this particular section we'll notice that the grace of god is not confined to israel but it's also dispensed upon a pagan a heathen a man that was a leper and not only is he physically cleansed but he's also spiritually cleansed and he's brought out of darkness into marvelous light ralph davis comments on the context chapters four to six he says now we enter a segment of elisha's ministry in which he shows that yahweh's power is triumphant over debt chapter 4 verses 1 to 7. death chapter 4 verses 8 to 37 drought chapter 4 verses 38 to 44 disease chapter 5 verses 1 to 27 and then difficulty in chapter 6 verses 1 to 7. so god exercises his sovereignty through the agency of this prophet specifically in chapter 5 to manifest himself to this man naaman who was not only plagued by leprosy but a problem greater than leprosy which is sin and estrangement from the living and true god so we'll look first at the providence of god in verses one to eight secondly the healing of naaman in verses 9 to 19 and then finally the greed of gehazi in verses 20 to 27. but if you look with me first of all at the providence of god in verses 1 to 8 you'll notice the object of god's grace the object of god's grace verse 1. 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 so the grace of god has been demonstrated profusely in israel in chapters three and four and now it comes to this pagan we notice that this man is great and honorable because the he was the agent or the instrument by which god gave victory to the syrians now as we look at this particular section we'll wonder why that's good news well there's a bit of an uneasy truce between syria and israel at this particular time it's uneasy because the syrians still go on raiding campaigns and grab little israelite girls and take them and enslave them but in 1st kings chapter 22 we see that jehoshaphat is engaged in a campaign with syria to oppose israel and so there is this tenuous relationship that obtains that the king of israel as we see here in verses 7 or in verse 7 is a bit fearful of concerning this uh overture from the king of syria and when it comes to the particular problem that naaman has look at what we see at the end of verse 1. he was also a mighty man of valor but a leper so he was plagued by that plague that our brother just read about in the book of leviticus so he's got a big problem in terms of his physical condition so he is the object of god's grace but then notice the mystery of god's providence in verses two to four this israelite servant is taken captive verse two that syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of israel and she waited on naaman's wife just so happens she waits on naaman's wife just so happens that she's in the right place at the right time to be a means of directing this man to the prophet of israel it doesn't just so happen it's orchestrated by god god governs all his creatures and all their actions and when syria went on that campaign and when they abducted that little girl who no doubt was traumatized by this particular event she is then brought back to naaman's house and she is the servant specifically of naaman's wife notice that the tax never names her matthew henry makes the observation the unhappy dispersing of the people of god has sometimes proved the happy occasion of the diffusion of the knowledge of god that is an excellent observation and that is precisely what is happening in our passage so verse 2 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 now notice she says to her mistress she is obviously aware of the fact that naaman's got issues she's obviously obviously aware of the fact that naaman bears this play that naaman suffers with this disease called leprosy so she says to her mistress if only my master were with the prophet who is in samaria for he would heal him of his leprosy that seems to indicate that this girl came from a believing family a covenantally faithful family she had faith in yahweh and she had faith in yahweh's prophet and she understood and realized and knew that if naaman could get in touch with yahweh's prophet then naaman could be healed naaman could recover naaman could be washed clean of the leprosy that plagued him now notice before we proceed that god is sovereign over not just the big stuff but he's sovereign over little stuff as well if you go back to chapter three and second kings you'll notice that god is over the big stuff concerning the the the defeat of moab moab plagues israel god gives victory to them and then you have elisha and the widow's oil again that's not an international affair that's not a cosmic situation it certainly meant everything to this particular widow but in terms of the grand scheme of life and history this is kind of the small stuff elisha raises the shunamite sun again a big event a big deal for her to be sure but for the rest of us not so much moving on into chapter 4 elisha purifies the pot of stew so again he's sovereign in his providence not only over victory concerning moab but also over a poisoned pot of stew and then we see that elisha feeds a hundred men at the end of chapter four and now there's this international incident god most high weighs in on this particular situation his sovereignty is extensive his sovereignty is comprehensive his sovereignty is not confined to the geographical boundaries of israel davis says that yahweh the text implies controls syrian politics and foreign affairs he is no small-time director of an israelite ghetto not some mascot of a little jewish club here is the god of psalm 24 1 yahweh is both god of the church and lord of the world yahweh draws near to his people but that does not mean he allows pagans to run around unsupervised good encouraging reminder concerning our god in a day and age where we're hoping that god is supervising the pagans and that they are tethered ultimately by his providence and then notice still under the providence of god in verses one to eight we have the object we have the mystery of his providence and then we have the fearfulness of israel's king it's most likely johoram at this particular time the text is silent in terms of which king is on the throne but most likely it is jehoram notice in verse 5 the king of syria said our naaman gets this information from the servant girl he goes to his king and then the king of syria in verse 5 says go now i will send a letter to the king of israel so he departed and took with him 10 talents of silver 6 000 shekels of gold and 10 changes of clothing this is likely 750 pounds of silver a lot of silver likely 198 pounds of gold you see as far as naaman a bagan who served a plethora of gods was concerned this is how you did business with god you bribed him you brought things to him and then you hoped that he would visit you with the particular blessing the pagans treat god like a vending machine christians aren't supposed to but at times they do witness the health wealth and prosperity gospel we simply put in our time and god gives us boats that is absolutely ludicrous but notice how this pagan addresses his situation so he departs he brings all this stuff verse six he brought the letter to the king of israel which said now be advised when this letter comes to you that i have sent naaman my servant to you that you may heal him of his leprosy and it happened when the king of israel read the letter that he tore his clothes and said am i god to kill and make alive that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy therefore please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel with me so he tears his clothes this is a signifying statement of his fearfulness of the fact that he feels threatened he says as much at the end of verse seven therefore please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel with me they have this uneasy sort of alliance that as we know uneasy alliances can go awry pretty rapidly well jehoram knew this as well and he doesn't want it to go awry he feels threatened he's afraid and he recognizes god's sovereignty cognitively but he doesn't embrace it experientially notice what he says am i god to kill and make a life that's prerogative of deity so jehoram understands that but he doesn't rest in that he freaks out he loses his mind and it's up to the prophet to calm him down and that is precisely what elisha does notice in verse 8. so it was when elisha the man of god heard that the king of israel had torn his clothes that he sent to the king saying why have you torn your clothes please let him come to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in israel brethren it is one thing to confess god's sovereignty it is one thing to confess god's providence but it's another thing to find comfort in it it's another thing to rest in it to be stabilized by it and to know security as a result of it jehoram does not manifest this elisha does and intriguingly the servant girl who had been ripped from her family home in israel and brought to naaman's house she rests in that sovereignty as well she understands that providence she doesn't just have it up here but rather she understands well that if only naaman can meet the prophet then god will bless him with health with wholeness and with healing so if we confess sovereignty and we confess a belief in providence it should settle us it should provide for us that ability to navigate through this chaos-filled world in a manner that is consistent with the saints of our blessed lord jesus christ now notice secondly the healing of naaman first he's instructed by elisha notice that elisha doesn't even leave his house to come out and see naaman this is an affront to naaman i mentioned this morning the connection between the man the noble man who comes to jesus in john 4 and naaman now the nobleman's not quite as bad as naaman not quite as dramatic as naaman but still faulty in terms of his understanding the noble man thought that it was requisite that jesus leave cana that he go to capernaum so that there he could apply healing to the nobleman's son that was nigh unto death well a naaman has that same sort of a mindset the simplicity of the healing that he receives is simply an offense to him and it begins with this reality that elisha doesn't even leave his house to go out and see him notice in verse 9 then naaman went with his horses and chariot and he stood at the door of elisha's house i'm guessing elisha's house didn't look like steven furticks i'm guessing it wasn't a six million dollar palatial mansion out in the middle of nowhere that was attended by servants elisha was a simple man he was a simple prophet he probably dined on simple fair and he had a simple residence so you've got naaman there in all of his glory as a military commander for one of the uh the most notorious nations on earth at the time certainly you would expect for elisha to come out and fawn all over him but elisha doesn't do that elisha doesn't treat naaman as if he's an honorable man he doesn't treat him as if he's a man of valor he doesn't treat him as one who is equipped with military savvy he treats him as a leper who stands in need of healing elisha understands the score he understands the issue and elisha wants to demonstrate that in the confines of israel it's not the personality of the prophet but it's the power of god that makes the difference for pagans it was the personality of the prophets remember those pagans that served baal in 1st kings chapter 18. when elisha elijah rather issues his contest at carmel how do those pagans invoke baal they do it with dancing they do it with leaping they do it with cutting themselves and bleeding all over themselves and engaged in all kinds of frenzy to try to get bail to send fire down to consume their offering see the the idea among the pagans is we need to manipulate the gods we need to get the gods to work on our behalf we need to get them to perform that's why fornication was rampant among the baalists that's why there were temple prostitutes the idea was simple if you fornicate then you invite bale to fornicate with one of his uh girlfriends asherah for instance and when he is pleased with you he'll rain down and fertilize your crops this was commonplace with the pagans that you had to appeal to the gods to get them to act on your behalf well not the god of israel not the lord god most high we cannot manipulate him we cannot coerce him we cannot treat him as if he's a vending machine rather we are at his back in call we are under his sovereign command and we are under his providence so verse 9 naaman went with his horses and chariot and he 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 to you and you shall be clean the idea of seven times may reflect the seven day quarantine that we find in leviticus 13 and 14 excuse me 13 and 14. so he gives that simple bit of instruction again he doesn't treat him as a mighty and valorous man he treats him as a leper who needs to be cleansed from his leprosy so those are the instructions now notice the fury of naaman naaman does not receive this well naaman does not say well that's a a good process or a good procedure i'll go ahead and do that in the first place he expected elisha himself verse 11 but naaman became furious and went away and said indeed i said to myself he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the lord his god he will certainly come out to me i name it i demand that kind of respect i'm a mighty man i'm a man of valor i have been the instrument of yahweh's blessing upon the nation of syria to bring them victory and prestige certainly his prophet ought to come out and he ought to give me some instruction that is according to my status my stature notice that naaman expected prophetic razzmatazz he expected a show he expected some sort of an approach by the prophet that he was familiar with in his own pagan hometown he was looking for something like those prophets of baal who would dance around in a frenzy he would gash themselves with stones who would cry out from morning until evening look at verse 11 again indeed i said to myself he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the lord is god and wave his hand over the place and heal the leprosy as well he complains about the choice of the river jordan notice in verse 12 are not the abanau and the far par the rivers of damascus better than all the waters of israel could i not wash in them and be clean so he turned away turned and went away in a rage brethren this is symptomatic of the sinful heart isn't it the guy comes to name comes to elisha for healing elisha gives him instruction and he gets mad at him he gets upset have you ever had that you've given somebody some advice that perhaps they've taken that advice and it went awry they get mad at you it was advice i'm sorry it's simple as that i mean there are times and perhaps you've witnessed this and coming to see me there are times if you ask me what is the doctrine of justification by faith alone i'll give you the biblical answer i won't shrink back and i won't cut any corners i'll tell you the absolute truth but if you ask me my advice i'm gonna preface it by saying this is my advice i don't have chapter and verse but it seemeth wise unto me that this might be a way to proceed well if you take that advice and it goes awry i'm sorry but you were the one ultimately that had to evaluate that advice and proceed according to your own will but with reference to this idea or this rage he gets mad at elijah for doing what elisha does he gets upset because he has an expectation that israel's god should be just like the pagans gods dillard raymond dillard says naaman expected israel's god and prophet to be just like what he had known at home itching palms and magic shows he had brought plenty of money and so he expected the prophet to deliver on the magic naaman wanted vending machine grace put your money in and take your blessing the prophet was expected to appear accept the pay and wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy that's the way the pagans treat god that's why or they treat their gods that's why when we look at modern worship so much of it has more connection with baalism than it does with the worship of yahweh this whole emotional overflow this whole sort of back and forth waving this almost trance-like repetition of choruses ad nausea what is the purpose behind that in colossians and ephesians we are to sing and praise god most high to teach and admonish one another we can't do that by the recitation of the chorus 48 times that is a simple statement we are trying to be like baalists in the modern church to get god to bless us to get god to work for us we can pray we can petition we can supplicate but we cannot cajole we cannot coerce and we cannot manipulate the true and living god we need to learn that from the case of naaman he wants the razzmatazz elisha simply brings the truth of god's holy word this is probably why elisha did not go out to meet with them this is probably why elisha sent his servant out it was to defeat or rather to uh disenfranchise him of the no shed that it's the personality the prophet instead of the power of god that makes all the difference but before we move on to the healing of naaman look at the wisdom of the servants in verse 13. you'll find that in old testament narrative once in a while there's a perplexing situation and a servant will make a glorious observation filled with wisdom filled with ingenuity filled with biblical horse sense and that's what the servants do in verse 13. his servants came near and spoke to him and said my father if the prophet had told you to do something great would you not have done it how much more then when he says to you wash and be clean in other words calm down they didn't say it quite like that in other words chill out in other words listen to the instruction of the prophet of the true and living god if he tells you to go to the jordan and dip yourself seven times then go to the jordan and dip yourself seven times praise god for unnamed servants in biblical narrative because more often than not they set their masters straight and put them on the proper course that does please and honor god now let's move to the healing of naaman notice in verse 14 if you were reading the greek translation of the old testament scriptures you would have so he went down and baptized seven times in the jordan baptized dipping that's what he does he immerses himself in this water in order to wash himself clean now the water doesn't have healing properties neither does that water the water is simply emblematic it is symbolic it is representative it is simply what god calls upon the man to do in terms of the healing of his leprosy now notice he is washed and he is cleansed and at the end of verse 14 his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean so that's the physical manifestation of god's grace having come to him the man is healed the man is no longer a leper the girl the servant girl was right if naaman goes to meet with elisha then elisha will mediate the blessing of yahweh such that naaman will be cleansed he'll no longer be plagued by leprosy but you see god's grace is so profuse god's grace is so abounding god's grace is so glorious he doesn't stop at the physical he doesn't just heal the man externally but he heals the man internally he saves the man by his grace and for his glory and you see that change come over him in verses 15 to 19. notice his change of attitudes a change of attitude he goes from rage and fury and anger at the thought that elisha wouldn't even leave his couch wouldn't even exit his front door to come and meet this man of valor and military savvy five times in verses 15 to 18 naaman refers to himself as your servant that's what god's grace does it humbles people it knocks them off their high horse it takes them from this place of faking themselves eight foot tall and bulletproof to that place of your servant to the prophet of god even elijah notice the confession of faith that he makes in verse 15. he says indeed now i know that there is no god in all the earth except in israel turn over to joshua chapter 2. this is similar to other pagan confessions when they get converted to the true faith joshua chapter 2 you have rahab the harlot rahab the harlot that wonderful lady from jericho that god saves by his grace notice in joshua chapter 2 at verse 8. now before they lay down she came up to them on the roof excuse me and said to the men i know that the lord has given you the land and that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you for we have heard how the lord dried up the water of the red sea for you when you came out of egypt and what you did to the two kings of the amorites who were on the other side of the jordan sion and og whom you utterly destroyed and as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the lord your god he is god in heaven above on above and on earth beneath now therefore i beg you swear to me by the lord since i have shown you kindness that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token and spare my father my mother my brothers my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from the death it's a beautiful statement notice in verse 11. she says for the lord your god he is god in heaven above and on earth beneath that was not pagan thought pagans had gods for heaven god's for earth gods for hills gods for valleys that she is a scribing ascribing sovereignty to the god of israel shows the change in her heart and then turn over to the book of ruth ruth chapter one passages that you should be familiar with because these were persons outside the commonwealth of israel that that by god's grace were included among the covenant people in ruth chapter 1 verse 16 but ruth said and treat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you for wherever you go i will go and wherever you lodge i will lodge your people shall my be my people and your god my god where you die i will die and there will i be buried the lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts you and me so when we go back to the case of naaman he sounds just like that he sounds like a fresh convert he sounds like one who's come out of darkness in the marvelous light and has seen the glory and the majesty and the power of the living and true god so he says specifically indeed now i know that there is no god in all the earth except in israel and then notice his gratitude toward god now he's expressing gratitude in the only way that he knows but this does mirror or parallel the guilt grace gratitude motif that we find not just in the heidelberg catechism but what we find in the gospel there is that guilt we understand our sin and misery because of the law of god and then we receive god's grace because he's so good and merciful and he shows us christ and then we respond with gratitude we bless him we thank him we serve him and by grace we obey him notice what naaman does naaman says at the end of verse 15 now therefore please take a gift from your servant please take a gift again it's by as far as he's concerned you know it's consistent with his pagan religion it's consistent with sort of buying off the gods but here we could see it as the reflex to his reception of god's grace there is this gratitude and he wants to respond in kind of course elisha refuses that gift why do you think elisha refuses that gift because elisha agrees with the reality that grace is free he does not want to teach this pagan that god is like the gods of the pagans he does not want to underscore or affirm or confirm or give any idea to naaman that yahweh is sort of like baal yeah not only do you receive the benefit but you also have to proffer up the price give up some silver and gold and we'll call it a day no elisha flat out refuses that he wants to maintain the reality that god is a god of grace a god of mercy a god of kindness and a god who cannot be bought off notice res the resolution of naaman again these aren't the this this isn't an ordo salutus like what you find in romans 8 but it certainly mirrors conversion unto the lord lord jesus christ we are saved by grace we respond with gratitude and then there's wrestle resolution in our heart to serve the living and the true god notice what naaman says in verse 17. naaman said then if not please let your servant be given two mule loads of earth what does he want israel dirt for he wants israel dirt so he can take it back to syria so he has a peace of israel with him when he remembers yahweh when he worships yahweh he wants to have a piece of dirt that reflects the god of israel this seems odd to us but it certainly didn't seem odd to elijah it certainly didn't shock elisha it certainly didn't make elisha try and correct him and fastidiously get into his face and say oh no there is nothing sacred or holy about dirt sure go ahead load up two mule loads take it back home and when you worship yahweh do it on israel's dirt notice he says if not please let your servant be given two mule loads of of earth and then he says for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods but to the lord he is making a resolution this happens with converts this happens with those who are saved by grace they express gratitude to god and then they express their hopeful fidelity to god certainly they learn along the way what we sang there in the hymn we are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love but we always want to reaffirm we always want to renew that covenant that attachment to our blessed god and so naaman does that and it speaks well concerning his conversion but then notice his sensitivity he's got a sensitive conscience because he knows that there are going to be problems i mean after all he's the military commander of a pagan nation he is going to be in jeopardizing situations he is going to be in difficult situations he is going to be in compromising situations so he preemptively seeks to fetch grace from yahweh to meet that eventuality that's what we find in verse 18. again it seems strange to us but let's look at the text yet in this thing may the lord pardon your servant when my master goes into the temple of riemann to worship there and he leans on my hand and i bow down in the temple of riemann when i bow down in the temple of riemann may the lord please pardon your servant in this thing now riemann was the syrian version of baal and as naaman says his king worshiped that false god and in the course of the day that king would go visit the temple of riemann and when that king would go he would take naaman naaman knows this is going to happen naaman understands the compromising situation that this is going to be so in verse 17 he announces that his fidelity is to yahweh alone i'll offer up neither burnt offering or sacrifice to any other gods but to yahweh but i'm gonna have to go into the temple of riemann i'm even gonna have to bow down now take my word for it elisha i'm not doing that out of religious devotion i'm not doing that because i'm obliged to riemann i love i want to honor and i want to glorify yahweh of israel so elisha can you call upon the living god and ask him preemptively to pardon me for what is eventually going to be a very uncomfortable situation matthew poole points out this was not a religious action towards the idol but only a civil respect for his master he had an actual responsibility to perform to his master davis makes this observation the fact well let's just look at verse 19 first notice what elisha responds to then he said to him go in peace so he departed from him a short distance elisha doesn't take this time to correct him elisha doesn't take this time to instruct him on ethics elisha doesn't take this time to say oh you can't go anywhere near the temple of riemann christians simply just don't do that now brethren i don't want to overread into this text and give some sort of leeway for us to be uh uh uh engage and folly in terms of our life and our commitments and those sorts of things but at this particular juncture in redemptive history naaman didn't have a lot of information naaman did not know a lot about you know the kind of religion that that israel practiced but the fact that naaman had a conscience pricked that was sensitive about this eventuality speaks well concerning the grace of god in his heart there are persons who confess jesus christ today who live a whole lot less consistently in light of new covenant new testament religion in light of an entire bible from genesis to revelation so elisha doesn't take the time to correct him elisha tacitly says that this is a messy world and that sometimes we have to do things we'd rather not do so elisha bids him to go in peace davis says the fact is that elisha sent naaman off in peace and didn't seem overly concerned about the matter perhaps because naaman was miles ahead of scores of israelites you see if you've read first and second kings up to this point and if you continue past this point in second kings you will notice that the religion of israel while they may have had it up here it certainly was not fleshed out in their lives it was not practiced it was not applied so back to the davis quote he says note positively what verse 18 shows it shows a sensitive conscience here is a man who feels the rub between his exclusive allegiance to yahweh and the expectations of his workplace and it bothers him would that bethel visiting or baal kissing israelites were bothered like this would that they could have the uneasy conscience of this gentile would that appear with that apparent inconsistencies drove them to seek pardon so you see it is an odd situation it is an odd request a preemptive fetching of god's grace for an eventual situation but it does show that sensitive conscience it shows that he did in fact receive god's grace now let's look thirdly and finally at the greed of gehazi two things to note here the deception and the disease verses 20 to 24. you see gehazi's desire verse 20 gohazi the servant of elisha the man of god set look my master has spared naaman the syrian while not receiving from his hands what he brought i mean come on that that gold and that silver if not all of it elijah a few shekels our way could help us you know with the pot of stew we might get a bit of meat in the next pot that we make so gahashi's kind of licking his chops at the thought of a bit of a better life which he ultimately gets and then ultimately sacrifices so he sees the situation and then notice what he says in the middle of verse 20 but as yahweh lives i will run after him and take something from him brethren that's a special kind of wickedness when you design to rebel against god don't do it by adjuring god don't do it by oh thing to god as the lord lives i'm going to undo everything my master the prophet of yahweh has said and i'm going to run up to naaman and i'm going to get some money from him so that's his desire notice how he goes about it verses 21 to 24 20 of 21 so gahazi pursued naaman when naaman saw him running after him he got down from the chariot to meet him and he said is all well and he said all is well my master has sent me saying he's a liar he does this as the lord lives he's lying with the having adored the living and true god he's engaged in subterfuge just to try and get loot so he says that my master has sent me saying indeed just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of ephraim please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments and we see that naaman complies naaman's new to this religion of of israel naaman thought that perhaps this is just going to do a solid for these two new prophets that need a bit of money and a little bit of treatment elijah's done him a great service he's going to go ahead and repay this kindness so this is gehazi's plan to take from him notice verse 23 naaman said please take two talents and he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of garments and handed them to two of his servants and they carried them on ahead of him when he came to the citadel he took them from their hand and stored them away in the house then he let the men go and they departed now he went in and stood before his master elisha elisha said to him where did you go gahazi so you see he had to make good now he had to come to to grips with what he has done if he had no elisha to face he perhaps would have got away with it that's the the folly of every criminal they always think they're going to get away with it right oh yeah i i can get away with this sin i know billions of my my fellows have tried and have failed but i'll be successful it's kind of like communism we know that it's failed in every other country it's ever been tried but but we'll be able to pull it off in america we'll be able to accomplish it in canada yeah let's see how that goes so he's got the same sort of a mindset as far as gehazi is concerned he just wants money he wants a filthy looker as the king james calls it so he lies ultimately about god most high and then in terms of his having to pay the fairy man verse 25 he went in and stood before his master elisha said to him where did you go gahazi and he said your servant did not go anywhere brethren if you are in contact with a prophet of the true and living god can i give you a bit of counsel don't lie to him don't do that elisha is much smarter than gehazi elisha is the prophet gehazi is the servant gehazi's a wretch so he tries to continue to perpetrate this wickedness why do you think elisha doesn't want to pay or or receive rather the pay from naaman why do you think that elisha is upset with gehazi for having done this again davis why was elisha so adamant he he he uh note his oath notice in verse 16 as the lord lives before whom i stand same language that gehazi uses to pull off his crime so davis says why was elisha so adamant notice oath about refusing naaman's gift doubtless because he wanted to impress upon naaman that yahweh is a god of grace one doesn't bribe manipulate or cajole yahweh like pagans do their gods yahweh doesn't forever has have his hand out looking for a payoff yahweh is simply a gifty god raymond dillard says it was because gehazi was undoing what god had done god wanted naaman to know his free grace but gehazi was trying to put a price on the goodness of god the god of israel did not accept bribes he would not be manipulated by money or make room for human pride his grace was free gahazi was implying otherwise and it would be at a great cost to him the man's a wretch the man should have listened to his ser master he shouldn't have done this and that is precisely how the passage ends verse 26 then he said to him did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you is it time to receive money and to receive clothing olive groves and vineyards sheep and oxen male and female servants he's speaking about what gehazi planned to do with that money is it time for that gehazi you just want a life of luxury and ease you just want all of your needs met you want your needs exceeded you want your wants you want all satisfaction elisha is saying there is something far more important than our temporal ease than our temporal comfort then meet in our stewpot what is most important is to communicate the truth of god most high to persons in need he cannot be bribed he cannot be manipulated he cannot be coerced and we are not in the business of profiting as prophets is what elisha says to this man gehazi now notice in verse 27 therefore the leprosy of naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever and he went out from his presence leprous as white as snow i would imagine new testament christians read this and they say wow that's a bit over excessive isn't it that's a bit harsh isn't it no not at all matthew poole is right on he says nor was this punishment too severe for gahazi's wickedness which was great and various horrid covetousness which is idolatry the profanation of god's name by a wicked oath downright theft deliberate and imputed lying and that to a prophet a desperate contempt of god's omniscience justice and holiness a horrible reproach fastened upon the prophet and his religion and a mischievous scandal given to naaman and all other syrians that might hear of it it is not wrong for god to punish this man with leprosy for his having committed this crime and this sin before yahweh in the presence of elisha and in the presence of a brand new christian a brand new believer a brand new convert to the true religion from paganism we need to speak the truth concerning god in each and every instance we need to communicate the truth about the gospel in each and every instance remember that the book of galatians exists to show us that it's not faith plus anything that gets us salvation it's faith alone it's god's grace alone that's why this whole idea of faith as instrument it's the receiving hand that gets from god what he graciously grants to needy sinners well in conclusion there are theological lessons that we should derive and then there are some uh the gospel significance first the comprehensive sovereignty of god he's sovereign over israel he's sovereign over syria he's sovereign over naaman he's sovereign over this israelite girl that is taken captive and brought into naaman's house the providence of god the providence of god again just like the the the the the fever of that young man in john chapter 4 was the crushing providence that provoked that noble man to go out and seek out jesus to go and fetch healing it's providence that brought these these persons together it's providence that put this servant girl in naaman's house it's providence where the servant girl says to mrs name it if only your husband could meet the true prophet of god he would be healed that wasn't lucky it wasn't fortuitous it wasn't a chance event god governs all his creatures and all their actions thirdly and we ought to appreciate this not that we shouldn't appreciate the others the inclusion of gentiles in the covenant promises of god naaman was twice removed from the commonwealth of israel actually three times removed one he's not an israelite he's a pagan two he's a leper we've read in leviticus 13 and 14 how they were unclean they were having to live outside the communal society but thirdly he was an enemy ultimately of these people again it wasn't uneasy truths it was such that the syrians still went on raids and still abducted young girls from their families homes and brought them to syria so the inclusion and the gentiles and the covenant promises of god uh paul house says from genesis 12 2-3 onward in the old testament god desires to bless all nations through israel this ideal becomes a reality here due to the witness of the israelite servant girl and the work of the israelite prophet it is a most glorious display of god's blessing upon not only israel but upon the gentiles as well and in terms of the gospel significance first the humbling impact of god's grace he goes from a man who thought that elisha should dutifully run from his house and kowtow to him to your servant five times in discourse with na with elisha brethren a proud christian is an oxymoron proud calvinist is horrible proud reformed people is terrible we are to be humbled by the grace of god we are not saved tonight we are not heaven bound tonight because we're good it's not that we deserved it it's not that our works were right on it's not that we're law keepers it's not that we're upright we're wretched we're miserable we're sinful we're defectors we're transgressors we're lackers of conformity unto god's law and yet we have received grace it ought not to promote in our minds any conception of ourselves but it rather ought to humble us under his mighty hand secondly the simplicity of god's grace the servants point this out if he had told you something great you would have went and done it all you had to do all you have to do is go dip in the river seven times the simplicity of god's grace perhaps more people would be heaven bound if there was a litany of rules and a and a decree of commands and a whole host of things that that they could check off their list but that's not how it works it's grace alone through faith alone in christ alone i would imagine if you could convince somebody out there that really there was a heaven and really there was a hell and it cost five thousand dollars to get into heaven they would probably do whatever they could to gather up five thousand dollars and pay that price immediately they'll do those things that seem enormous when the call of the gospel is to believe oh no it's got to be believe and do it's got to be believe in perform it's got to be believe and obey know the emphasis and the accent falls in the new testament and the old testament as well on justification by faith alone abraham believed god and it was counted to him for righteousness believe on the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved you almost hear it in the mouths of the pagans that's it that's kind of what people think that that's it that's all that's all you have to do that's why you're going to heaven you mean you didn't have to go to this you know class or sit in a monastery or go stand on a pole you'd have to do all that and yet you're going to go to heaven it's believe on the lord jesus christ and you shall be saved thirdly the thoroughness of god's grace the thoroughness of god's grace he doesn't just partially deal with us you see it in naaman in a two-fold manner first the physical manifestation he's no longer a leper he no longer had that that melody he no longer had that affliction but you see it spiritually in what has happened to him he confesses belief in israel's god he expresses gratitude toward israel's god he expresses a resolution to none other than israel's god this wasn't a half-hearted conversion this wasn't just a decision just for the time so that he could be healed from his leprosy fifth you see in the passage specifically with the greed of gehazi the danger of attempting to add to god's grace we are not those who are trying to put a value on salvation there's no value you could place on it it is not the case that we put additions or supplements into the gospel call believe on the lord jesus christ dad and and do this with your children believe on the lord jesus christ and go to this particular church believe on the lord jesus christ and subscribe this particular confession no that's what's condemned by paul in the book of galatians there it was circumcision there was the ceremonies of moses there it was faith in jesus as messiah plus circumcision to identify with the people of israel paul anathematizes that approach to the gospel and then finally you can turn to luke 4 we'll tie up everything with what we saw this morning the sovereignty of god's grace the sovereignty of god's grace we noted this morning with jesus or john comments that jesus made this trip from samaria into galilee and he says that a prophet is without honor in his own hometown well you see this in nazareth in luke chapter four verse 16. so he came to nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up to read and he was handed the book of the prophet isaiah and when he had opened the book he found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing who could do that but the one who is the subject of that particular prophecy verse 22 so all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth and they said is this not joseph's son so at this point they're marveling at the grace that proceeds out of his mouth this changes when he tells them about sovereignty look at what happens in verse 23 he said to them you will surely say this proverb to me physician heal yourself whatever we have heard done in capernaum do also here in your country then he said assuredly i say to you no prophet is accepted in his own country but i tell you truly many widows were in israel in the days of elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a great famine throughout all the land but to none of them was elijah sent except to zarephath in the region of sidon to a woman who was a widow brethren she was a pagan she was part of heathenville she was not in the commonwealth of israel what's jesus point god's sovereignty is such that at the time of elijah he passed up a lot of israelite widows and ministered to this widow in zarephath but he doesn't stop there notice in verse 27 and many lepers were in israel in the time of elisha the prophet and none of them was cleansed except naaman the syrian see another demonstration of the fact that god cannot be manipulated god cannot be coerced or cajoled but rather god is sovereign in the dispensing of his grace and notice how the nazareth people respond now to his teaching on god's sovereignty so just remind yourself in verse 22 all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth now drop down to verse 28. so all those in the synagogue when they heard these things were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city and they led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built that they might throw him down over the cliff then passing through the midst of them he went his way god's sovereignty is an offense to those who are perishing but to those who by god's grace have their eyes open and their hearts filled with faith and repentance they see it as one of the most blessed things in all of the world sovereign grace is such a blessed benefit it is such a wondrous thing let us with naaman resolve to serve and glorify him alone let us with naaman seek god's grace and mercy and forgiveness when we sin when we come into places where we might sin and let us with naaman bless the god of israel and respond with the gratitude that is befitting for those who have received god's sovereign grace well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for your your blessedness and your and your holiness and and your goodness and the way that you save this pagan and our father in heaven we know that you are in the business even now of saving persons by your grace and for your glory bless the gospel as it has gone out today i pray that multitudes who have heard the sound of christ and him crucified and resurrected would be affected they would be convicted they would see themselves as sinners before a holy god and they would see christ as the one in whom there is forgiveness and a right and a righteousness that avails with you we thank you for your great salvation in our lives help us to respond in a manner that is consistent with what we find in holy scripture and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you