So he goes down to the river and takes the first dip, and 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." 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.
And 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." So 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. I never knew such a
thing. I never felt so happy in all my life. I thought I was a great
and a happy man when I accomplished that victory; but, thank God,
praise God, I am the happiest man alive!"
So he comes up out of Jordan and puts on his clothes, and goes back to
the prophet, and 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 God's cause, not
to purchase salvation, but because you are saved.
The prophet Elisha refused to take anything, and I can imagine no one
felt more rejoiced than he did. So 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 God told him; and if you obey the voice of God, 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 by the power of faith.
Well, you may be sure when he got home there was no small stir in
Naaman's house. I can just 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 God, I am well"; and then they embrace each other, and pour out
mutual expressions of rejoicing and gladness; and the servants are
just as glad as their master and mistress, as they have been waiting
eagerly for the news; and 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.
Another thought is suggested to us by this history of Naaman in the
fifteenth verse of the chapter; and which shows what Naaman's faith
led him to believe. "And he returned to the man of God, he and all his
company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I
know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now
therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant." Now what I
want particularly to call your attention to is the words,