Thank you very much, Sam. It's good to be with you again tonight. Good to renew fellowship with you around the Word of the Lord. Could we turn please to 2 Kings, tonight's 2 Kings? 2 Kings in chapter 5, please, and this is a chapter which I'm sure most of us will be familiar with. Can I say that I have been enjoying listening to the ministry of other brethren in this assembly on the internet. It's great just to be able to sit back and enjoy the ministry of others and may the Lord continue to bless our brother Bert and Davy and Sam as they continue. Geordie, may the Lord bless you too, brother. And I'm not sure, do you take meetings as well, George? You don't? I'm here. You're here. Well, brother, you're gifted in every other way, and may the Lord bless you too. I just didn't want to leave you out, George. Well, it's good to be here, brother, and may the Lord continue to bless the ministry of the Word from this corner of the vineyard. Thank you. 2 Kings, chapter 5, and we're commencing to read from verse 1. And as I say, this will be a portion of Scripture that we'll be familiar with, but we trust the Lord will bless us as we study it together. 2 Kings, chapter 5. and commencing from verse one. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And it was so when Elisha the man of God 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. So Naaman came with his horses and 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 Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 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. 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. 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! 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." Amen, and may the Lord bless the reading of his precious word to our hearts this evening for his name's sake. The account of Naaman is one of the most remarkable changes were examples of a change of heart that we find in the scriptures. And really it could be summed up as a dramatic turnaround in a man's attitude and approach to the things of God. We have an expression that we sometimes use, swallow your pride. Well here was a man who learned a lesson that would alter the course of his life from that point onwards. He swallowed his pride before Almighty God and it was only when he did humble himself that he experienced the blessing of God. I wonder is there someone here this evening or someone listening to this message on the internet who needs to come to that place that Naaman came to spiritually speaking. Is there something that you will not do for God because you think it is beneath you? Is there something that you know the word of God commands you to do and you will not do it like Naaman because perhaps there is a stubbornness there? and that stubbornness has become a stumbling block to obedience. You know there are many who profess to belong to Christ who expect the Lord to bless them and to use them in spite of their disobedience to his commands. We're reminded of the words of reproof spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? We're reminded also of the words of reproof spoken by Paul to the Corinthian believers in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5 to those who were seeking a proof of Paul's apostolic authority and he turned it around to them and said, examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. Just as in the Corinthian church, in those early days of the church age, there are those today in the church who spend far too much time examining others under the spotlight of criticism, instead of examining themselves under the spotlight of scripture and the word of God. And it was such a serious matter that the Holy Spirit directed Paul to challenge such individuals to be certain of their own standing in Christ with regard to salvation first before beginning to make spiritual judgments with regard to anything or anyone else. Perhaps for you listening to this message tonight, perhaps for you it is a matter of being genuinely converted first. Now I would not dare to presume upon anybody standing in Christ. The Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity as Paul instructed Timothy. But perhaps that is your circumstance this evening. Maybe for you, as we've said, it is a matter of being genuinely converted first. God commands you in his word to realise that you're a sinner without hope before God, to repent of your sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour and the forgiveness of sins and justification through faith in his blood and you will be saved on the authority of the word of God and you will receive the gift of eternal life through faith in his name. But perhaps for you friend this evening, you will not do it because like Naaman at the beginning of this account, there's a stubbornness and a pride that is keeping you from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. But with regard to those who truly belong to Christ, there are many who expect God to bless and to use them, but who are not always willing to count the cost. and to do what God tells them to do in His Word. I believe all of us at some point or other, myself included, in our Christian experience have made a similar error to the one that Naaman made. And yet in spite of his error, Naaman learned from it and experienced a change of heart. It was a picture of genuine repentance. Now time will not permit us this evening to expound all 14 verses of this passage, but we want to consider some fundamental principles of scripture that this part of the account brings before us. We want to see the journey along which Naaman travelled during his experience and I believe this evening it divides into three sections. First of all, we have Naaman's disease. Secondly, we have Naaman's departure And then thirdly we have Naaman's deliverance. Now during the course of my study and preparation for this it became apparent that there's such a vast amount of instruction and such a spiritual wealth of teaching in all of the 19 verses in this particular passage on Naaman that it divided up for me into four messages in total. covering four groups of people who influenced Naaman in a particular way. Now we've just read the first 14 verses this evening and God willing when we return next week we'll look at the rest of the passage including the other five verses down to verse 19. Naaman himself next week will be more closely in the spotlight as it were. But there's someone else here in this account. There's another individual here in this account, and I'm sure you've identified her already. And her example, essentially, was the first significant influence upon Naaman. As we consider the change of heart that Naaman experienced, I wish to look with you this evening at the one who was the first person to be instrumental in leading to that change of heart. And really this leads me to the title for this message this evening. I want to speak tonight on Naaman the leper and the little maid. Naaman the leper and the little maid. Now just before we come to the little maid we want to consider Naaman's disease first of all. Notice verse 1 at the outset. Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. Now the introduction to this man does not begin with his disease, no, his credentials are outlined before his condition. And it's a record of success. He was, first of all, a great man with his master. That tells us that he had the utmost respect of the King. Then, secondly, he was honourable. Not only had he the utmost respect of the King, but he was upright before the King and before God. Because, thirdly, the Lord had given deliverance to Syria through him. He was undefeated in battle. And then, fourthly, he was a mighty man in valor. He was unrivaled in courage, fearless in battle. You remember that Israel was in a state of apostasy under the reign of Jehoram, the son of Ahab. He wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, not to the same degree as Ahab, because he removed the image of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, chapter 3 and verse 3 tells us that he cleaved to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which made Israel the sin, and departed not therefrom. And that was the state, the spiritual state of Israel at that time. Now meanwhile Jehoshaphat, king of Judah in the south, was a good king who walked in the ways of the Lord. You remember the kingdom was divided. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, walked in the ways of the Lord, just like his father Esau, who was also a good king, and he fought together with Jehoram in battle on behalf of Israel, but his influence evidently did nothing to turn Jehoram from his evil ways. And so the nation of Syria, to which Naaman belonged, became one of God's chosen instruments of judgment. Isaiah 10 and verses 5 and 6 tell us O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation, I will send him against an hypocritical nation. Sometimes today, in the church age, God will use unbelievers to rebuke the hypocrisy of those who profess faith in Christ. Now it will not justify the unsaved in the sight of God, but it will challenge professing Christians as to how they are walking before God. And so we can see how this man Naaman, with all of his talent, was the ideal instrument for the Lord to use to send judgement against his own chosen nation. And the fact that he was honourable is a remarkable thing to note. Here was a man outside of the fold of Israel, outside of God's chosen people, and he was more honorable than they were at that particular time. And by him, the Lord gave deliverance unto Syria. God commended him, but he was a leper. He was a leper. Yes, he had the utmost respect. Yes, he was upright. Yes, he was undefeated. Yes, he was unrivaled, but he was uncleansed. he was uncleansed. According to Leviticus chapter 13, if a man among the children of Israel had leprosy, he was to be pronounced unclean by the priest and shut up until he was cleansed of the leprosy. It was called a plague and Leviticus chapter 13 and also into chapter 14 contain all of the ceremonial requirements that were necessary for the discerning of leprosy and for the ceremonial cleansing of it. Like all diseases, leprosy was one of the consequences of the fall. It was a picture of sin. And sin, if it is not cleansed by the precious blood of Christ through faith in his blood, will spread like a disease. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death, James tells us in his epistle. And just as leprosy, if it was not purged from the body, would eventually bring death, so it was likewise with sin, and so it is likewise with sin today. And so leprosy in that sense was a reminder of sin, and of the destruction that sin brings, not only to the body, but to the soul. It was an unclean thing, just like sin and so for that reason the law concerning how leprosy was to be dealt with was so strict. It had to be, in order that the children of Israel might gain an understanding because it was like a lesson. An object lesson that would teach them the difference between the clean and the unclean and between the holy and the profane. And by it they would gain an understanding of the absolute holiness of God. But when we come here to 2 Kings chapter 5, we're now into the period of the prophets. And the ministry of Elisha, or Elisha rather, as probably it should be pronounced, is now in view. But it was down to the faith and initiative of this one little girl to introduce Naaman to the prophet of God. If it had not been for the courage and bravery and simple faith demonstrated by this little maid, Naaman might never have experienced the miraculous healing of God that he did. Here is a remarkable example of how the Lord used a little child and performed a mighty work as a consequence of the faith that she initially displayed. Notice how we're introduced to this little maid here in verse 2. And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid. Now notice that she is not named here. To anyone else she might have been insignificant, but she was important to God. I wonder is there a child or young person listening to this message? Or perhaps in one of your own families here this evening, and there is a desire on the part of that little child, a desire in their heart to serve the Lord. Well God can use you, provided you're obedient to him and to his word. I have a 14 year old niece. She's my sister's daughter, and I understand that she has a great desire to serve the Lord. Well, God can use her, provided she's obedient to his word, provided that little child is obedient to his word. First of all, they need to be sure that they are saved. that they have repented of their sin and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and are walking with Him day by day in prayer, reading the precious Word of God and fellowship with like-minded believers. This little maid was of such importance to God that He left her testimony in His Word to be read by all for generations to come. Why? Because of her faith. Look at her circumstances, first of all. She was brought away captive, verse 2. She was desolate. She was abandoned, separated from her family. Now imagine how that must have been for her. And yet there's no hint of moaning here, or grumbling, or complaining, like the children of Israel had done in the past while they were in the wilderness. No, there was none of that. And then verse 2 tells us that she waited on Naaman's wife. And so she was now a servant, a handmaid in the house of a stranger. Now such circumstances could not be agreeable for any child. Now could I say this, that the home that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and believes the Bible is the best environment for any child. Could I say also that the responsibility for teaching a child the way of salvation and the things of God and then the Word of God lies with the home, the family, where the father is the spiritual head of the home and the mother is the spiritual heart of the home. Sunday schools, if they are faithful to the scriptures and teaching the way of salvation and truth to children, can be and are a tremendous influence. but the Sunday school is not the substitute for the home. 1 Timothy 3 and verse 4, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. Speaking of course in the context in relation to qualifications for overseers, but the application is to all. That may be contradictory to the way of the world, but it's the way of the scripture. Proverbs 22 and verse 6 tells us, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Ephesians 6 and verse 4, and ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That is the pattern for bringing up children that we find in the word of God. We live in an age when government bodies are beginning to intrude into the affairs of the home and of the family. Well, could I say this this evening? It is neither the role nor the right of the state to intrude into the Christian home. nor indeed any whom, provided, of course, that they are not abusing their authority. Acts 5 and verse 29 tells us that we ought to obey God rather than men. But coming back to our text this evening, we find that this little maid had none of those privileges. So what did she do? Well, she exercised and demonstrated her faith. Not in the prophet, first and foremost, but in God. Notice the first words that proceeded from her mouth in verse 3. And she said unto her mistress, verse 3, would God, would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that is in Samaria. Would God, she said to her mistress, but really it was a prayer. It was a plea to God. Would God. It was a petition. If only God would do this, if God would cause this to come about, then my master would be healed. Would God. Would God do this? Such a simple exclamation and yet it displayed a faith in God that would put anyone else of the children of Israel to shame. Really this was a rebuke to Israel because of their apostasy. No one in Israel was upright enough for God to use apart from Elisha the prophet. And so God used the prayer of a child to bring this man to the prophet of God. And what came of it in the end was one of the most remarkable conversions that we find in the scriptures in the Old Testament. It demonstrated also her respect for her mistress and Lord in the home. And it demonstrated her respect for the prophet also because in her words she made the connection and recognized the relationship between God and the prophet. She saw that her lord was a leper and so she must have had compassion upon him. Now she wouldn't have had such a spirit as that if they had ill-treated her. But remember Naaman was honourable and so his home life would have reflected that. And his wife must have been of a similar temperament because the maid was able to approach her and to say this to her. That shows a close-knit home. And the testimony of this little maid would have influenced them both. Never underestimate the influence that any of us can have for the Lord if we walk in the light of his word and are obedient to it. Notice her confidence in the Lord's servant here. For he would recover him of his leprosy, she says at the end of verse 3. You see, she saw the debilitating nature of his condition. It must have impacted her because remember, it is a picture of sin. It must have moved her to determine in her heart to do something about it. And that is a reminder of the compassion that we ought to have for souls who are without hope and without God in the world. She took initiative. She saw a need. And she decided to do what she could to help. You know, I find it a very humbling thing when a little child who belongs to Christ has compassion upon someone else, particularly someone older than themselves, and they do what they can to help that individual in their own simple way. That is what this maid did, and the fruit of it lasted for eternity. Look at what her actions led to here. We've seen Naaman's disease at the outset, but now we see Naaman's departure. Notice how the chain of events began in verse 4. And one went in and told his Lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. Notice that she was recognized as coming from Israel and not from Syria. Now there's a vital lesson here. She had the mark of distinction. She was known for being different from the world around her. She was not conformed. And she spoke of the God of Israel, with God, she said. And so she brought the testimony of the God of her fathers with her into a strange land. You and I, believers, are called, according to Peter's epistle, strangers and pilgrims. and we are exhorted to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. You know that was all this little child was, a stranger and a pilgrim and it showed by her testimony. I'm absolutely amazed at what the Lord has taught me during the course of my studying from just a few simple verses concerning this little name. And this led to the beginning of a chain of events which caused Naaman to set off in search of this man of God. First of all, someone reported the words of the little maid. We've seen that in verse 4. We don't know who it was, but they must have valued the proposition because they considered it important enough to report it, to name him. He was, of course, the lord of the household. Then the king must also have received word of what the little maid had said. Notice verse 5. And the king of Syria said, go to, go, and I will send a letter on to 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. And so the king encouraged Naaman to go, but, and this is important to take note of, the king sent the letter with Naaman to the wrong man. The king of Syria, having heard the words of the maid, decided to send word to the king of Israel, and not to the prophet of God. Now look at the present that Naaman took for the king in the second half of verse 5. And he that is Naaman departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. What a present! It shows that in spite of being an honourable man, it seemed as though Naaman was too proud to go to the prophet of God, and the king of Syria was no different. It seems apparent that the king of Syria believed that only the king of Israel would be able to do this task. Ah, but the king of Israel was in a state of wickedness before God, doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And furthermore, we see something of politics at work here. The whole departure was marked by pomp and ceremony. And the king was too proud to condescend to send Naaman to the prophet. The power of the world corrupts, you know. and many who get a taste of it are only contempt to move inside their own circle. It also reminds us that many tonight are too proud to condescend to their knowledge of their need of a saviour, or rather to acknowledge that they need a saviour and that they need to be saved. They would rather be proud of their church or of their religion than condescend to acknowledge themselves as guilty sinners in the sight of a holy God. And sadly also, many today in churches are looking to a man, or in some cases a woman, and not to God. And if that person is popular and talented, so much the better. You hear it often, we have a great minister, you know. Ah, but is he saved? Is he faithful to the book? Is he faithful to the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ? Or is he just a harling? Such was not the case with Elisha the prophet. He was a faithful man. He was not doing evil in the sight of the Lord like the king of Israel. And the maid spoke to Naaman's wife of the prophet and not the king. You see, she was not looking to man. She was looking to God and she was looking for God's man. Nevertheless, Naaman set off in his journey, in verse five, and he brought the letter to the king of Israel in verse six, and look at what it says in verse six. Behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. I have sent Naaman thy servant to thee that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy." That was not what the little maid said. She said he, that is the prophet in Samaria, would recover him of his leprosy. You see the king had no respect for the prophet of God. But the little maid must have known the difference between the prophet and the king. That the prophet was the one who had the anointing of God and not the king. She never even mentioned the king. And that is interesting to note, could it be that before she had been taken away captive that she had seen the evil of the king and the evil of the land? And that she had seen that Elisha as the prophet was upright and righteous? The fact that she spoke with such assurance to Naaman's wife when she mentioned the prophet of Samaria shows that she must have known that he was different from those around him. And then in turn when she arrived as a captive in a stranger's home, in a strange land, that she followed that same example and stood out as different because of her God. Could I ask you this evening, listening to this message, are you different? Do you have the mark of distinction as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps that's one of the reasons why, for some believers, that they have not known the power of God in their walk with the Lord, in their service to Him, because they're not separate, and they're not different enough from the world. What does the epistle to Titus exhort us? In Titus chapter two, verses 11 to 14, for the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. That's what the grace of God teaches us. I believe that that was the testimony of this little maid, a peculiar people. Israel were supposed to be a peculiar people unto God, but they rebelled, and they apostatized, and they backslid into a cesspool of iniquity, and yet here was a little girl who carried none of that with her. She was different from the rest. How about you this evening and how about me? Do we carry the mark of peculiarity into a world where we are supposed to be strangers and pilgrims as a witness that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? Or is there that compromise and that worldliness that characterizes much of what passes for Christianity today? Well let us learn from the example of this little maid and be that peculiar people, zealous of good works, and carry with us into this world the mark of separation unto God and to our blessed Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, that men and women may take knowledge that we have been with Jesus and that we belong to him. May the Lord bless his word to our hearts for his name's sake this evening. Next week, God willing, we're going to be taking a closer look at Naaman himself and the miraculous healing that occurred and the influences upon his life. May God bless his word to our hearts and thank you for your reverent attention this evening. Perhaps our dear brother Bert will bring our meeting to a close in prayer, please. Thank you, Bert. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. The structure of my work, Lord, that's one of the positives concerning the name of the lover. Yes, we thank the Lord for focusing on bringing us all a little bit closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. To an estranged land, an estranged place like us. You've already made it, my Lord. Thank you for that, my Lord. We're estranged as pilgrims. And she had no hatred for the ones around her who took her captive. She was a slave there in the house really. She was taken away from her home. And yet she represented God. She had a list of things she bought. She spoke well to the Lord. And she had a love for her mistress. I look for a Master beyond all comparison. Many now say they could have rejoiced at the Master having leprosy and wish him to death. But that's not the situation. She has compassion indeed. What an example for us all. We are surrounded by a Godless, Christless society. Many people at work have got a sick boss. One who hits the Lord, hits the Bible, hits everything. And yet the Lord is one of the examples of Christianity really. Just don't get insulted. That's the odd with all of them of course. It's like a lesson taught to them. I think there's also a lesson taught just a little bit of praying. The demons have prayed. The king has prayed also. I thank the Lord indeed for how he's brought down to do exactly what God says is right. I thank you for that. Yes, there are many lessons inscribed in the book. We thank the Lord for all we are taking for granted. We thank the Lord for all we are taking for granted. We thank the Lord for all we are taking for granted. We thank the Lord for all we are taking for granted. They were very acclaimed for looking at these old casket studies and tapes. They were telling us all the script that was given to them for each of us. And it was followed up with a document for approval, for action, for instruction, for everything. The amount of gold we would carry, it was only 20 cents to all of us. That's how much gold they brought to me. I'm looking forward to the continuation of this Lord, and in 20 weeks time I will Lord. I would thank you for the lessons learned Lord, and we praise thy name Lord and thank the Lord for that. We thank you also tonight Lord, that Naaman was saved Lord. In spite of his rebellion and pride Lord, he came to that place of repentance really. and faced Jordan and the word of God to Lord Jesus Christ and dipped himself seven times in Jordan and was born again in the spirit of God. Thy word says, as grace came on, that I was a different child, a second and a new birth. And we thank you for that. The lepers of us changed completely according to thy word. And we thank you Lord indeed. Thy word counts us today in this dispensation because thy cross will be calibrated whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Amen. On to heaven and locus. Keep following us, and watch us for our sins and our own good. God's name be glorified forever and ever. Amen Lord. If you're watching this and some of you are an old sinner, listening to this message tonight, you might realise they can be like me now, and come to that place called Calvary. Do you accept what God's word says? Forget about Christendom, forget about religiosity, forget about what men say. Listen to what the word of God says. And do you accept that? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.