11/20/2023 – True Baptism Requires Regeneration
2 Kings 5: 11 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
We can be very stubborn. Our human nature rejects the way God has provided. We would prefer any other way. The human heart is open to many possibilities; but opposed to the things of God.
Naaman was a commander in the Syrian army. He became infected with leprosy, and he knew God was his only hope.
We also know there is no hope for us except in Christ. We know we are lost. We know we need healing…We have tried other means of getting rid of our guilt. Naaman is promised…guaranteed healing…but it must be the Jordan river. He immediately asked- isn’t there another way? An easier way? A way more agreeable with my noble status?
There are many rivers where people want to be cleansed. There is the river of religion, the river of morality, of self-righteousness, of spirituality. The river of higher education. The World would like to think that these are better, that these hold the answer to the troubles of humankind. But there is a river…that flows from the very throne of God. We find it throughout the Bible- from Genesis to Revelation. This river represents the presence of God and His word.
It is always the servants who are the chosen instruments. My lord, they say…this is not difficult! You can do this!
Oh, that you and I would listen to God and His servants. You can do this. Get washed and be healed form your sin in the river that flows from the throne of God.