“Some Great Thing”

Introduction:
a. 2Kings 5:13 - “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?”
b. Making the simple complex.
a. First two rules of government bureaucracy:
i. To grow by becoming more complex,
ii. And to exist perpetually by making its work come complex.
iii. Have you ever asked a simple question and received a ten minute dissertation on subject?
c. The religions of men make the simple into the complex.
a. Matt. 11:28 - “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
i. Especially when contrasted with the doctrines of men.
b. 2Cor. 11:3 - “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
d. 2Kings 5:1-14
e. In Bible times, leprosy was a mark of shame, a death sentence, and a symbol for sin.

I. A Leper’s Lessons
a. Naaman was a great, honorable man, but he was still a leper.
i. There are many good, honorable, moral persons still in sin.
ii. Without the Gospel, they will not be saved.
1. Rom. 1:16 - “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation...”
2. 2Thes. 1:9 - “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
iii. Without the Church, they will not see God.
1. Eph. 5:23 - “Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body.”
2. Eph. 2:16 - “That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross.”
b. Naaman’s anger didn’t change his state.
i. Smashing the bathroom scales will not make one weigh less, not will breaking mirrors make one better looking.
ii. An angry, self-righteous mob stoned Stephen, but that did not end their lost condition (Acts 7:54-60).
iii. Turning away from the truth will not change the truth, nor absolve one of sin.
c. Naaman tried to develop his own plan of salvation.
i. “Behold, I thought...” (2Kings 5:11)
ii. A man’s reasoning will not save him.
1. Jer. 10:23 - “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
2. Prov. 14:12 - “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
iii. He must walk by faith, not opinion.
1. 2Cor. 5:7 - “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
2. Rom. 10:17 - “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
d. Naaman expected his leprosy to be prayed away; the work of his salvation done by another - 2Kings 5:11.
i. “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.”
ii. God had already given His plan of healing for Naaman.
1. He has already given His plan of salvation for us.
2. Heb. 11:6;  Acts 2:38;  Mark 16:16 (quote all)
iii. To pray for salvation apart from God’s commands is an abomination.
1. Prov. 28:9 - “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
e. Naaman thought his own religious substitutes would heal him.
i. 2Kings 5:12 - “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.”
f. God has never tolerated substitutions.
i. Cain, Nadab & Abihu? 
ii. Deut. 4:2;  Prov. 30:6;  Rev. 22:18-19 (quote)
iii. What could possibly make one think God will accept substitutions today

II. A Leper’s Lessons
a. Naaman was a great, honorable man, but he was still a leper.
b. Naaman’s anger with God’s plan didn’t change his condition.
c. Naaman wasn’t allowed to create his own plan of healing.
d. Naaman’s own religious substitutes couldn’t heal him.
e. God has never tolerated substitutions.
f. Naaman had to learn these lessons before he could be healed of leprosy.
g. One must learn these lessons before he can be made free from his sins.

III. Righteous Reasoning
a. 2Kings 5:13 - “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?”
b. The religious world dismisses the simple instructions of God in order to follow the complex rituals of men.
i. 1Kings 18:17-29 - priests of Baal (read)
1. Consider the suffering they put themselves through.
ii. Matt. 6:1-7,16-18;  Luke 18:9-14 – Pharisees (read)
1. Sinners often make good comparisons between Pharisees and some professed Christians.
2. Great public worship; lousy daily example
3. Quick to spread a public feast; slow to give a cup of cold water in private.
4. Outwardly act as if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths; inwardly are like the Pharisees, sepulchers filled with malice, manipulation, envy, scheming, speculation, and gossip.
iii. Col. 2:16-23 - first century denominations (read)
1. Many in the world would rather pass up the simple instructions in Christ in order to follow the complex doctrines of men.

IV. Simplicity of Salvation
a. Salvation through complex liturgies and rituals, an agonizing ordeal of begging, praying, pleading, and weeping, a vague formula that changes with fashion?
b. Or simplicity in Christ: scriptural salvation by faith that moves one to believe, repent, confess and be baptized?

V. Personal Prayer
a. A system of select intercessors?
b. Or directly addressing God through Jesus Christ, our High Priest?
i. Matt. 6:9 - “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
ii. John 14:13-14 - “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

VI. A Bounty of Bibles
a. Trying to learn a difficult, contradictory human creed outlined by self-appointed religious leaders? - Matt. 15:8-9
i. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
b. Or following the revealed, readily available word of God? - Matt. 11:25
i. “Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
ii. 1Tim. 4:13;  2Tim. 1:13, 2:15, 3:15 (quote)

VII. Accessible Afterlife
a. A Purgatory in which to burn off sins on the way to the next place?
b. Or as the Lord taught:  the righteous go to bliss and the unrepentant go to torments to await Judgment?
i. Luke 16:19-31 – (read)

VIII. Effectual Expectations
a. The impotence of human pomp and ostentation in religion?
b. Or the profound power of God’s way?
i. Isa. 55:8-9 - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
ii. 1Cor. 1:25 - “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Conclusion:
Has God asked you to do some great, complex thing?
Or just yield to the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?