Men of the Bible Part 6

The man might have said: "Lord, I have been trying for years to take that bed up, but I can't. I haven't got the power. I have been shaking with the palsy for the last ten years. Do you think that if I could have rolled up that bed that I would have been brought here and let down through the roof? I haven't the power."

But when the Lord commanded him He gave the power. Power came with the command, and that man stood up, rolled up his bed, and started off home. He was blessed in the very act of obedience.

My friends, if you want G.o.d to bless you, obey Him. Do whatsoever He calls upon you to do, and then see if He will not bless you.

Christ went to a Pharisee's house one day while He was down here upon earth, to be entertained. They wanted to get Him to do something to break the law of Moses, that they might condemn Him to death, and so they put a man right opposite to Him at the table with a withered hand, to see if He would heal upon the Sabbath day. He said to the man:

"Stretch out thy hand."

Now, the man might have said, "Lord, that is a very strange command.

I haven't got the power. That hand has been withered for the last twenty years. I haven't stretched it out for the last twenty years; and you say, 'Stretch it out.'"

But when He told him to do it He gave him the power, and out went that old withered hand, and before it came out straight, right in the very act, it was made whole. He was blessed in the very act of obedience.

Now, Naaman had to be taught the lesson that he had to obey; and so, finally, he went down to the Jordan just as he was told to do. And if you will do just what the Lord tells you the Lord will bless you as He did Naaman.

You may ask, "What does He tell me?"

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

The word of G.o.d to Naaman was to go and wash; and the word of G.o.d to every soul out of Christ is to believe on His Son. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me _hath_ everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is pa.s.sed from death unto life." If a man believes with all his heart on the Lord Jesus Christ, G.o.d will never bring him to judgment for sin; that is all pa.s.sed--that is all gone. Take Him at His word; believe Him; believe what He says, and you shall enter into life eternal. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." HIM--mark you--not a dogma, not a creed,

NOT A MYTH, BUT A PERSON.

"He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons and daughters of G.o.d." That is the way you get the power.

Naaman goes down to the river and takes the first dip. As he comes up I can imagine him looking at himself, and saying to his servant:

"There! there I am, no better than I was when I went in! If one -seventh of the leprosy was gone, I should be content."

The servant says: "The man of G.o.d told you to dip seven times. Do just as he told you. There is no discount on G.o.d's word."

Well, down he goes a second time, and he comes up puffing and blowing, as much a leper as ever; and so he goes down again and again, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time, with the same result, as much a leper as ever. Some of the people standing on the banks of the river probably said, as they certainly would in our day:

"Why, that man has gone clean out of his mind!"

When he comes up the sixth time, he looks at himself, and says:

"Ah, no better! What a fool I have made of myself! How they will all laugh at me! I wouldn't have the generals and aristocracy of Damascus know that I have been dipping in this way in Jordan for all the world. However, as I have gone so far, I'll make the seventh plunge."

He has not altogether lost faith, and down he goes the seventh time, and comes up again. He looks at himself, and shouts aloud for joy.

"Lo, I am well! My leprosy is all gone, all gone! My flesh has come again as that of a little child."

If one speck of leprosy had remained, it would have been a reflection on G.o.d.

Ask him now how he feels.

"Feel? I feel that this is the happiest day of my life. I thought when I won a great victory upon the battlefield that that was the most joyful day of my life; I thought I should never be so happy again; but that wasn't anything; it didn't compare with this hour; my leprosy is all gone, I am whole, I am cleansed."

First he lost his temper; then he lost his pride; then his leprosy.

That is generally the order in which proud, rebellious sinners are converted.

So he comes up out of Jordan and puts on his clothes, and goes back to the prophet. He was very mad with Elisha in the beginning, but when he was cleansed his anger was all gone too. He wants to pay him. That's just the old story; Naaman

WANTS TO GIVE MONEY

for his cure. How many people want to do the same nowadays. Why it would have spoiled the story of grace if the prophet had taken anything! You may give a thank-offering to G.o.d's cause, not to purchase salvation, but because you are saved. The Lord doesn't charge anything to save you. It is "without money and without price." The prophet Elisha refused to take anything, and I can imagine no one felt more rejoiced than he did.

Naaman starts back to Damascus a very different man than he was when he left it. The dark cloud has gone from his mind; he is no longer a leper, in fear of dying from a loathsome disease. He lost the leprosy in Jordan when he did what the man of G.o.d told him; and if you obey the voice of G.o.d, even while I am speaking to you, the burden of your sins will fall from off you, and you shall be cleansed. It is all done through faith and obedience.

Let us see what Naaman's faith led him to believe. "And he returned to the man of G.o.d, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no G.o.d in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant."

What I want particularly to call your attention to is the words

I KNOW.

There is no hesitation about it, no qualifying the expression.

Naaman doesn't now say, "I think"; no, he says, "_I know_ there is a G.o.d who has power to cleanse the leprosy."

Then there is another thought. Naaman left only one thing in Samaria, and that was his leprosy; and the only thing G.o.d wishes you to leave with Him is your sin. And yet it is the only thing you seem not to care about giving up.

"Oh," you say, "I love leprosy, it is so delightful, I can't give it up; I know G.o.d wants it, that He may make me clean. But I can't give it up."

Why, what downright madness it is for you to love leprosy; and yet that is your condition.

"Ah," says someone, "I don't believe in sudden conversions."

Don't you? How long did it take Naaman to be cured? The seventh time he went down, away went the leprosy. Read the great conversions recorded in the Bible. Saul of Tarsus, Zacchaeus, and a host of others; how long did it take the Lord to bring them about? They were effected in a minute. We are born in iniquity, shapen in it, dead in trespa.s.ses and sins; but when spiritual life comes it comes in a moment, and we are free both from sin and death.

You may be sure when he got home there was no small stir in Naaman's house. I can see his wife, Mrs. Naaman, when he gets back. She has been watching and looking out of the window for him with a great burden on her heart. And when she asks him, "Well, husband, how is it?" I can see the tears running down his cheeks as he says:

"Thank G.o.d, I am well."

They embrace each other, and pour out mutual expressions of rejoicing and gladness. The servants are just as glad as their master and mistress, as they have been waiting eagerly for the news.

There never was a happier household than Naaman's, now that he has got rid of the leprosy. And so, my friends, it will be with your own households if you will only get rid of the leprosy of sin to-day.

Not only will there be joy in your own hearts and at home, but there will also be

JOY AMONG THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN.

Once, as I was walking down the street, I heard some people laughing and talking aloud. One of them said:

"Well, there will be no difference, it will be all the same a hundred years hence."