Sermon Tone Analysis

Yes

The Healing of Naaman

The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories.

But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.

2 At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid.

3 One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria.

He would heal him of his leprosy.”

4 So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said.

5 “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him.

“I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.”

So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

6 The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman.

I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”

God speaks through others all the time and maybe we are not listening, maybe we are too busy, or to discouraged, or too resentful, or too hopeless, or too prideful.

She did not allow position to keep her quiet/ A lot of us in life think Who am I to make a difference I should keep my head down/ Answer was not in the girl, she knew where the answer was and had the faith to say something/ A lot of us don’t take the step of faith because we think it may not work/Her confidence was rooted in her faith that God can do all things/ God uses us all for his plans

God takes the ordinary and makes extraordinary

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “Am I God, that I can give life and take it away?

Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy?

I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”

8 But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset?

Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.”

9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house.

10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River.

Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away.

“I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said.

“I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel?

Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?”

So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it?

So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’

” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him.

And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it?

So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’

” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him.

And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God.

They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.

So please accept a gift from your servant.”

And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."

We realize that such reliance on God is possible.

But have we imbibed the actuality of it?

Faith is a spiritual muscle.

It must be toned up by spiritual exercise.

Faith operates in the realm of the impossible.

When circumstances enter the area of human impossibility, where there is no answer to our problems - that is the realm in which faith operates.

Faith operates in the realm of the invisible, the impossible, the unfelt, and the hopeless.

How To Develop Radical Faith

Bold: (of a person, action, or idea) showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous.

"a bold attempt to solve the crisis".

Synonyms: Daring, brave, courageous, daring, intrepid, brave, courageous, valiant, valorous, fearless, dauntless, audacious, daredevil

daring, intrepid, brave, courageous, valiant, valorous, fearless, dauntless, audacious, daredevil

Audacious: showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks.

"a series of audacious takeovers"

synonyms: bold, daring, fearless, intrepid, brave, courageous, valiant, heroic,

synonyms:

Warning: Don’t project, inflect

bold, daring, fearless, intrepid, brave, courageous, valiant,

It should be noted at this point, that General Naaman almost lost his healing: First - because of his preconceived idea of how God should heal him.

He stated, "I thought . . . he would . . .

etc.": Second - because of his pride.

He was insulted to be told he was to dip in the Jordan River; Third - because of his national Syrian prejudice.

"Are not . . .

rivers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel . .

.?"

heroic,

For this kind of faith, we must

1. Deepen our confidence in God.

(NKJV) — 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2. Live unselfishly.

This young slave was willing to give advice to her master, for him to be healed, when she will remain a slave.

She was willing to help someone else even when God

his young slave was willing to give advice to her master, for him to be healed, when she will remain a slave.

She was willing to help someone else even when God

3. Take action when prompted by the holy spirit.

Don’t project, inflect

It should be noted at this point, that General Naaman almost lost his healing: First - because of his preconceived idea of how God should heal him.

He stated, "I thought . . . he would . . .

etc.": Second - because of his pride.

He was insulted to be told he was to dip in the Jordan River; Third - because of his national Syrian prejudice.

"Are not . . .

rivers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel . .

.?"

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior We are driven by the Holy Spirit.

That prompt is easy to recognize and difficult to say yes to without choosing radical faith.

Say with me

Say with me

 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.