Naaman's story illustrates that true healing and salvation come from God's way, not human effort or impressive rituals. Despite his high status as captain of the Syrian army, Naaman was a leper, a condition that baffled earthly powers. His mistaken conceptions of salvation involved seeking help from kings and expecting costly ceremonies, rather than the simple obedience to God's prophet. Ultimately, Naaman's cleansing occurred when he humbled himself and obeyed, demonstrating that God's grace is a free gift, not earned by works or contributions. The sermon concludes by contrasting Naaman's marred confession, returning to worship false gods, with the call for believers to boldly confess and share Christ.
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It's been a joy for us to be here and we thank you for your kindness and fellowship in having us here. Valuable prayers for the days ahead. If the Lord will, Mary goes home to England tomorrow, so I'll have to get the big handkerchief out. But we're hoping to stay over if the Lord will just for a couple of weeks. There'll be a week in Columbia and then down to, well, wherever it is I'm going. And then back to Augusta before going home. It was a joy to be with you for your fellowship supper or whatever you call it today. You've got some good cooks. If they want a job, I'll give them a good recommendation.
By I will. But knowing this, that we were having this fellowship gathering, and knowing there will be some boys and girls with us, I thought that this evening I'd like to talk, I'm not just going to speak to the boys and girls, but I'd like to talk about a story that they know. I expect it's one of the most well-known stories in the Old Testament for boys and girls. Now let's see if we can guess which one it is. It's the story of a man whose name begins with the letter... Oh, doesn't begin with...
Yes? Noah. Noah! No, it's not Noah. right, Nehemiah. Oh, please, these boys and girls have heard the story of Nehemiah and a score it finds in London today. You older folks have heard it all your life, I'm sure. But the wonder on it is that it's still true. And I'll tell you something else about it. That one day when heaven and earth have passed away, Because the scripture says God's word will not part the way then, we're going to read the story of Nehemiah and glory.
And I think that's a wonderful thing. And sure, I want to talk about Nehemiah today. And if you would please, let's turn over into the book of Kings. And we will read together that familiar story, Two Kings, chapter five, if we may. Two Kings chapter five. Now then, captain of the host of the... Oh, by the way, I'm sorry. I get told off and moving away from this thing. It appears they're recording it or doing something with it.
But I'm never so sorry about that. So I've got to stay up here, see. I expect I'll forget it in about two minutes. Now Nehemiah, captain of the host of the King of Syria, was a great man with his master and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by company. and were brought away captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid.
And she waited on Nehemiah's wife. And she said unto her, Mistress, would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in and told his Lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid, that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the King of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
And he brought the letter to the King of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Nehemiah and my servant to thee. that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass when the King of Israel had read the letter that he rent his clothes and said, Am I God to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Therefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. Now the Lord will just bless that portion of the story and the remainder of it that we'll consider in a moment or two.
But let's sing a chorus or two. We've got five minutes just to sing one or two choruses. And we're going to sing number ninety-two, please. Number ninety-two. Our good organist, pianist is in good battle tonight. So all will be well. Number ninety-two. All your anxiety, all your care. Wring to the mercy seat, leave it there. Never a burden he cannot bear. Never a friend like Jesus. Number ninety-two. Thank you. All your anxiety, all your care, Then through the mercy seat, let it there, Never a burden he could not bear, Never a friend like Jesus.
Lovely. I must have a word with the ladies who do the cooking. Don't give them such big helpings next week. You're not singing as well as you did last night. Come on, let's try it again, please, please, and really sing it out. How about you young folk on the front row? Did you know it very well? Did you? Oh, aren't you glad you come? You heard something, look. Ah, let's try it all together then. Thank you. Oh, you'll enjoy it, see all your care.
Bring to the mercy seat, let it there. Never burden he cannot bear, never friend like Jesus. That's better. But isn't it good counsel? What wonderful counsel to come to the mercy seat and to know that we can cast our burdens upon the Lord. Now let's swear another, if we may, number fifty-seven. Number fifty-seven, please. Leave me to some soul today. Lead me to some soul today.
Oh, teach me, Lord, just what you'll say. Friends of mine are lost in sin, and cannot find the way. Few they are who seem to care, and few they are all who pray. Melt my heart and fill my life. Give me one thought of day. No need for me to remind you that this little chorus was composed as the result of the words of Mr.
Milley. You remember Mr. Moody used to say, Lord, let me speak to one soul every day about the same. Oh, lead me to one soul today. Let's call just the ladies, shall we? Just the ladies, please. Thank you. Friends of mine are lost in sin. Oh, in the word, you there are those who seem to care, and feel they all who pray.
Melt my heart, give me. Amen. Number fifty-one for our last little course. Number fifty-one, if we may, you'll never know real peace till you know Jesus. Number fifty-one, please. You? You'll never know if he's still in old Jesus, no matter how aware you try.
For life is but lost without him, Jesus, Jesus. He died on Calvary's cross to build a border. He used to just reply. is coming soon to take us to reign with him on high. Amen. Very good. Now we haven't finished our singing, but I haven't got the music, but it goes well.
I will remember her as a hat driver. That number. You know, because they don't want to do boys and girls here, I think we ought to say no, no, no, I say what I think. Boys and girls say to me, I must have it. You've got a new course. And all I do is go back about forty years. And get what we used to sing years ago. And we used to sing a little chorus in a clip like this. From the north to the south.
That is very good. Oh, you're clever. You've decided from the north to the south. From the east to the west. The gospel story is the brightest and the that Jesus came at his father's own request to save poor sinners who were dying. Sonny. A means all have sinned without a doubt. B, right. B means for sure your sin will find you out.
So he means come, all the invitations shall we, to all four sinners who are dying. You won't get up and go out with it, because I can't sing it, but I'll try. I'll do the best I can, and then you will help me. And if you've been pumped in a moment like the help, as long as you don't spoil it, we'll let you help as well. But it goes to something like this. Here we are now, our Sunday school for us. From the north to the south, from the east and to the west, The gospel story is the brightest and the best. That Jesus came at his father's own request, To save four sinners who were dying.
A means all have sinned without a doubt. B means be sure that your sin will find your act. C means come all the invitation chant. to all poor sinners who were dying. Thank you. I thought you would sing like that, deserve the clap. My dear. Now, come on, let's try it. Remember how it starts? From the... From the... Into the... The gospel story is... The brightest and the best. that Jesus came at his father's own request to save for sinner to adopt.
Right, are we ready then? We'll go. From the north to the south, from the east and to the west, The gospel story is the brightest and the best. that Jesus came as His Father's own request to take forth in the zoo of dying. Amen, go hunting without a doubt. Believe me, be sure that your faith will find you out. See me come forth in the zoo of dying. head of what we're doing.
We'll just have the big folk. I don't want any of the boys and girls to say, we mustn't help them now. We'll see how well they can do it. Just the big folk. Are you ready? And go back to Sunday school again. Now please, if you'd like to know who's coming in, I'll describe the next person. That'll stop you turning around. Please, the fuck now. Ooh, I say. Are you ready now? One, two, three. From the north to the south, from the east and to the west, The gospel story is the brightest and the best, That dreams are obtained, and it's part of his own request, To save for a sinner's due a dying, A means all, And this thing will act it out, Then it means for sure That your sin will find your house, Save me, come, Lord, the invitation to all four sinners who are dying.
Excellent. Well, not bad. But now, for the last time, just the boys and girls. None of the big folk now. Just the boys and girls. Sit up. Breathe in. Ah, that's ready. Are you ready now? Where do we go? From the north to the south, from the east and to the west, The gospel story is the brightest and the best. That Jesus came at his father's own request To save for sinners who are dying. Savings will have sin without the doubt. They may be sure that your sin will find you out.
Savings come, all the invitations shout. to all call us in New Zealand. You'll be surprised what talent we've got here. Ah, yes, that was love. But say, keep singing, keep singing, let folk know. When you go to school, put your hand up and say, Miss, I can sing my ABC. Amy's all a quarter. You'll get top marks in the class. You might get something else like it, but you'll get that. Right. Just a word of prayer.
Oh God and Father, we thank thee for the family fellowship. We thank thee that in the Church of God, there's room not only for those that in years have proved thy faithfulness, but for young folk who have just trusted thee. and those who have yet to trust me. And we pray thy blessing upon everyone here tonight. As we think again of this story so well known to us all, grant that we may know your presence with us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. I think you'll understand that over the course of years, I must have preached from the story of Nehemiah in a legion of time.
I suppose I've used all sorts of outlines about the story of Nehemiah. I remember the last one that I used. I asked people to think with me as we thought of this tremendous man. I tried. I asked them to think with me of his distinction. That he was captain of the host of the King of Syria. Oh, how distinguished was this man. I asked them to think with me of his disillusion. But he was a leper. Oh, it's so possible to be distinguished that then have something mar that life.
I asked them to think with me of a man in his desperate disappointment as he went to the person he thought could help him and found no help at all. I asked them to think with me indeed of his disbelief. when he was told to go and wash in Jordan's water seven times. And he turned away in a rage. But then, of course, I asked them to think with me of his deliverance. How many times have you boys and girls in Sunday school? How many times has your teacher said to you, I'm going to tell you the story of men. And he or she has used three words.
And they said that man went to the wrong person. He was told to go to the prophet, but he went to a who? They went to a king. He went to the wrong person. He took with him the wrong. What's the second day? He took with him the wrong. He took with him the wrong. Christ, right, he took with him the wrong price. He thought the gold and change of raiment, for all these things would bring blessing to him.
But if he went to the wrong person with the wrong price, he had the wrong, he said, I thought. He had the wrong. Well, maybe you'll teach him something. Let me ask a big quote. I thought, he said. I thought. Listen, you'll have to join my preacher's class. He had the wrong plan. He said, I thought that the prophet would come out and place his hand upon me.
None of it was of any avail. But tonight I don't want to talk about those things. Tonight, if I may, I want to draw your attention again to this tremendous story. And I want to remind you first of Nehemiah and his miserable condition. Is there anyone here today could think of a more miserable condition than to be a person, a personal courage? to be a person of honor and popularity and wealth, to be a person of esteem, a man who had reached and had done great things, and yet to have this out of you.
But he was a leper. But he was a leper. Oh, please. I have seen enough leprosy in my lifetime to feel that I never want to see it again. But there is one thing about leprosy that always stands right before me. Well, in Africa, one has seen men whose arms have been all tripped and up, whose face, whose nose and ears and toes have so crumbled that you'd hardly think they had any. Well, as you know, it mostly attached the extremities of the body.
Yet sometimes I have been in leper asylum and gazed at a person who looks just like these girls and boys in the country. You would see no act with evidence that they were lepers. But they're never. mostly children or young folk of parents who have gone down with leprosy. When the doctors have taken indeed their blood samples, they have found that although there has been no outward evidence of leprosy, it is there in the bloodstream. I am not going to suggest to you that leprosy is a type of sin.
I don't think sin needs any types. It is so prevalent, it's so well known to every one of us. There's no need for God ever to say something with a type of sin. We know what sin is. But you and I know this, that it isn't just a man who's a murderer, who murders, who's a murderer. It isn't just a man who was arrested and stolen at the feet? Let me illustrate what I mean. You know what I mean. But let me illustrate. Here is a man who breaks into a house, and breaking into that house someone hears the noise comes into the room, and the man churns and fired his gun at him, and the person falls to the ground, and the man washes from the hole.
that somehow the noise is heard and the doctor comes quickly. And because that doctor came and came quickly, that person won't be saved. But is the man who fired the gun any different than the man who fired a gun and the doctor didn't get nail and tongue? You don't have to murder to be a murderer! You don't have to be caught stealing to be a thief. As many a person has broken into a hole and just as they've got through the window they've been caught. The same person who would have taken everything from that hole unless they've been caught.
My friend, listen to you young people, we haven't got the same to be a sinner. My Bible tells me that each one of us were born in sin and shaken and iniquity. We're sinners. And because we're sinners, we sing. And men and women so often are lepers. There's no outward sign in it. But when the blood is tested, they find that the leprosy is there. Mr. Naaman was a leper.
I don't know how advanced his leprosy was. He was captain of the host of the King of Syria, so I presume it was not so advanced. I presume my Bible doesn't tell me, but I presume that he knew he was a leper. His wife knew he was a leper. Maybe why the servants knew, but the little girl came and said, would that my servant was within the prophet, which is in Israel. I only know I look around this whole world of ours today, and I find myself in the midst of what I called the other evening, a sin six as I, a sin six as I am.
Oh, listen, my fellow traveler to eternity, it's no good you coming to me and saying, oh, we're not so bad, because every one of us know He was a man. So many good things could be said about him. But he was a leper. I have a favorite little lesson for the children. I've got a strong feeling when I was with you some years ago, I might have used the lesson then.
I expect I don't remember, but I expect that. You see, I have a favorite lesson with my umbrella. I say, you all know what a gentleman's umbrella looks like, don't you? Not a lady's umbrella. I couldn't say what I'm going to say about a lady's umbrella. A gentleman's umbrella. I sometimes say something about a gentleman's umbrella when I hold it that way. I say something about a gentleman's umbrella when I hold it that way. I say something about a gentleman's umbrella when I hold it that way.
And everything I say about a gentleman's umbrella begins with a letter S. When I hold a gentleman's umbrella that way, it is a S. That's a good answer. It's not the right answer. It's a good one. I say, if you put another word in front of you, you might have it right. But then it wouldn't begin with S. So I ask that in front of you.
When I hold a gentleman's umbrella this way, it is a... Yes, the walking stick doesn't begin with S. You're not very good at spelling. When I hold a gentleman's umbrella this way, it is a standard. A gentleman's umbrella is thirty-six inches long. It's a standard. It's a yard long. I can take my umbrella and measure the chapel. One, two. I can stand you up and measure you. It's a standard. Do you know, boys and girls, the Lord Jesus came into the world, and sir, madam, the Blessed Christ of God came into this scene to be our standard.
He came, the Scripture says, to be an example, to show us how we ought today. The tragedy is, we've come short of the standard. We've come short of the glory of God, like Mr. Nairman. There's something wrong with it. Listen, when I put my umbrella up, it's not a standard. Now it's a... Oh no, it's a straight? No, it's not a straight. When I put it up, it's a...
It's a shelter. It's a shelter. Oh, you know, when I was a little boy, my mum would come to the door and she'd look out and because we live in England, you know, we get a lot of rain. Ah, we get a lot of green grass. But you know, the rain would come and my mum would look out and she'd say, boys, put your backs on. You know, your rain's out. Put your backs on. It's, what do you think? Yes. No, she didn't say it was raining. Yes. Speak up. No, stormy.
She never said that. She'd say, put your max on it. Speak up. Pouring. Pouring. Pouring, right. Put your max on it. Pouring. It's, I say, that's the word God gives. The word by Mary was to you. God says because we come short of the standard one day he's going to pour his wrath on this see he's going to punish him and I need a shelter and if Jesus came and lived amongst us to be our standard oh praise God he died on the cross to be our shelter a day Mr.
Nehman needed a shelter didn't he He was a lever. And there was no one, no one, no one that could help. But I say, let me finish the umbrella. Oh, it's nothing to do with Mr. Nehman. I hold it that way. It's a standard. I hold it that way. It's a... Yes. Yes. A star! What do they use a star for? Yes, but walking doesn't begin with ash. It's a...
It's a... It's a... It's a... It's a... It's a... It's a what, sir? A stroll? A stroll? You're worse than the boys and girls. Oh, okay. What do you use a stick for? Well, it's a support. It's a support. And the Lord Jesus lived to be our standard. He died to be our shelter. He rose from the dead to be our support. And do you know Mr.
Nehman needed someone just like them? The tragedy was this, that when I look at the story of Mr. Naaman, it's the story of his miserable condition, but it's the story of his mistaken conceptions. And maybe I ought to look away from the boys and girls and look at you, big folk, tonight. Sarah, madam, how many mistaken conceptions are there in the world today? When it comes to the matter of being cleansed, Do you think of what Mr. Nairman did? Mr. Nairman, first of all, he thought that he could have this blessing if there was an important commission.
An important commission. The king of Syria said to him, Nairman, come here. I will go to Nairman and send it to the king of Israel. You take it with you. Could you think of a more important commission than that? To take a letter from one king to another? Especially, please, especially when the king of Syria was the victor when it came to the battle. You could understand the king of Syria sending a command to the king of Israel, but it wasn't a command. Oh, what an important commission.
this man wanted to perform. I believe there are men and women today who can have the salvation of God for it's without money and it's without works and you can have it as a free gift tonight but you don't have it because you're looking for some big things of love. You imagine that it's saved there must be some important commission. Not only was he here A person who thought that there had to be an important commission, but he thought that there had to be an imposing contribution. Oh, I'm going to pay something, he said.
Ten talents of silver. Oh, six thousand pieces of gold. Ten changes of raiment. I think every one of us will agree that in the markets of man we're talking about money now. Here was wealth, tremendous wealth. And he said, I will go to the King of Israel and I will take with me ten pounds of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment. Why, I will go with this imposing contribution. I'm sorry to say that the sons and daughters of Nehemiah are still alive.
There are people who imagine that they can get salvation, that they can favor God, they can please God and will be pleasing to God. If only they did something. We must give this and we must give that and we must give the other. Listen my friends, if you can get salvation by giving something, then my God is true. He's a worthy God. Because if you can get salvation by giving something, then there was no need for Jesus Christ to go to hell. There was no need for him to shed his blood. There was no need for God to lay on him the iniquity of us all.
We sing sometimes in the morning meeting that lovely hymn, Jehovah lifted up his rod. All Christ did follow me. And if you can be saved by making some imposing contribution, then God is true. He did that to his son where it wasn't necessary. Ah, but there was something more. He thought, I'd like to be cleansed of my electricity. I will go with an important commission. I will take an imposing contribution.
Why? I will expect an impressive ceremony. An impressive ceremony. He went to the king. And the difficulty was, he just put the king in a terrible, terrible predicament. For the king knew he couldn't make this man to be cleansed. He knew there was nothing he could do. and the king who said what has this the king of Syria done sent his fat servant to me that I may cure him of his leprosy when he knows I can't do it why he's seeking a war with me if you and I come any other way but God's way not only will we upset ourselves but we'll upset anyone else as well and then when eventually they sent him to the prophet, he says, oh, there'll be an impressive ceremony.
I've seen men and women all over the world expecting God to answer and bring salvation and blessing to them through impressive ceremony. Have you ever seen them away in Montreal? as they climb the steps of the Catholic Church on their knees, you go to Montreal as a visitor. Wend your way to the great Catholic Cathedral, and you'll see hundreds of people climbing those three hundred and sixty-seven steps, some of them till the blood runs on their legs, fainting their pleasing God. I remember standing away in the heart of Africa by the sight of a river and seen over fourteen thousand Muslims dipping in the dirty river.
And some of them dipped ten times in that dirty river. They told me they dipped in that river once a year, for every time they dipped, they were removed at thirty-three thousand cents. You worked out how many times they went under. Some of them had done a bit of sin. But I tell you something. They were so sincere and they were willing to do it. Yet sometimes I looked at you and pleaded with you to come to Christ. You won't. Oh, there's no impressive ceremony if you want salvation.
It'll come to you if you come to the Lord as a child comes. He put a child in their midst and said, unless you become one of these little children, unless you'll trust the Lord Jesus, just as a child will trust its father or mother, you'll never enter the church. Oh, the story of Nehman is the story of a miserable condition. It is the story of a mistaken conception. But praise God, it is the story of a mighty conversion.
For Nehman, again through his servant, is it remarkable, is it remarkable how this learned, noble, tremendous soldier, the general of the army, However, owes almost everything that happened to him for good to a serving person. I think that teaches me something, you know. I think that tells me that while education and position is a wonderful thing, it's not those things that bring salvation. Here was a little serving girl who'd been made a slave when the Syrians had come in and fought against the people of Israel.
He was a servant of the prophet. And here was a servant of Nehemiah. And oh, when the servant of the prophet came and told him he had to dip into the water seven times, and he looked at the dirty muddy stream, and he thought of the clear rivers in his own land, I'm not going to dip in that water. I thought the prophet would have come out and put his hand on the leprosy. But his servant said to him, Master, Master, the servant said, Master, why aren't you sensible?
If the prophet had asked you to do some hard thing, wouldn't you have done it? If he had told you to pay great sums of money, if he had told you to walk on glass, if he had told you to burn it, why don't you do the simple thing? Oh, listen, my friend, may I say this to you this evening, that when I think of salvation and my need of salvation, I realize how costly was the price of my salvation. But I never had to pay it. He paid the debt.
He did not have. He paid a debt for you and for me. He died just for the unjust. He gave himself a ransom for many. Oh, my fellow traveller to eternity, there is for you tonight's salvation. But there's only one way you can get it. You've got to get it God's way. And God's way is without money and without price. The gift of... Oh, can I say that again? The gift of God is eternal life! I'm not sure.
I've had a look at your track frame. But I'm not sure whether... There is a reason why there... If there's not, may I just make mention to it? If there is, well, I'm sure it has been blessed of God. But the man who wrote that little gospel track, the reason why, maybe the track that has been used more than any other track, department safety, certainty, and enjoyment, was Robert Label, a beauty. I have the honor, and I've handed it a great honor, the beginning of my Christian ministry. I have the honor. of working for a while with Robert Laidlaw.
And I heard him tell a story. Now, please, please. It was not my story. It's his story. But he's gone on the glory. So he can't tell it now. Would you permit me to tell it? He told the story of a person, a fellow businessman. As you know, Robert Laidlaw owns stores like Sears and Roombas or anything. Now, that's their great store, the farmers market in New Zealand. And he was the president there, the founder of the company, the owner. A man of tremendous wealth, but a man who loved Jesus with all his life.
You know, he said that occasionally when having a little vacation, he would go fishing with some friends. And the business at Crentons went fishing with him. And while they were away from the shore, I don't know, trying to catch these fish, he had the opportunity of witnessing to him about Jeeva. His friend couldn't get away from him, and there he'd been through a boat. And he stopped a witness to him about the Lord. But the man looked at him and said, Label, I can't understand. Do you think to tell me that I can be saved and do nothing? This man had a very beautiful daughter.
A very beautiful daughter. And this daughter is, had trained as a nurse. There was no need for her to have trained as a nurse. She could have lived the life of a wealthy young woman that she wanted to be of some use. And so she trained as a nurse. Well, but they'd all looked at him and said, here's the moment. If your front doorbell rang and you went to your door and stood sore standing in the door, a dirty old moory naked. And he looked at you and said, Your daughter's a nurse.
My wife is dying of smallpox in my old mud hut up on the hillside. If you allow your daughter to come and nurse my wife back to health, I'll give you twenty-five pounds. about thirty-five dollars. What would you say? Said the man who looked at, well, Leglow, Leglow, I don't know what you're getting at. But are you asking me, would I allow my daughter, my beautiful daughter, to go to a dirty old mud hut and nurse a woman with smallpox for thirty-five pounds?
Of course I wouldn't let him go. She might touch more parts. Ah, but just a moment. What is why you were saying that to that lorry native? Your daughter came to the door and said, Daddy, I've heard what she'd say. If I don't know and nurse that woman, I'm going to have a lot of peace. All that I've trained for has brought me to me at this point when I am to be useful to someone else. day I must go. What would you say? What would I say? I try my best to persuade her not to go.
But she's of age, what could I say? What? You allow her to go and nurse a woman with smallpox for forty-five pounds. One man, you know, you know that if she had just the rate for nursing, it would be ten times as much as that. The man looked at Rob Legle as though he was going to fight him, and he said, Legle, I don't know what you mean. If my daughter went to nurse that woman from smallpox, she'd go for nothing, or she'd not go at all. Do you think I would sell the health of my daughter?
There's no need for me to tell you what Bob labeled. He just looked at him and said, Sir, do you think God would sell to you the death of his own son? The blood of Christ for your miserable good works. If you want salvation, you'll have it for nothing, well you won't have it at all. That's why the Bible says salvation is not of works. God does not sell the debt of his son to anyone. Christ had to die before you and I could be forgiven. God offers that forgiveness without money and without trust, the Bible says.
And here's Nehemiah. He goes down into the water. And he does exactly what the prophet tells him to do. Not once, not twice, not three, four, five, six, but seven times. Completely obeyed what the prophet said. And he came up clean. And the Bible says his flesh was like the flesh of a bay. I don't know what those words mean in their fullness. I only know this, that if he had the flesh of a babe, maybe they're telling us that's what's got to happen.
We've got to be born again. We've got to have a new life, a completely new life. And Nehemiah came out of the water rejoicing. I shudder, I shudder to say my last point. We have seen his miserable condition. We have considered his mistaken conceptions. We've praised God for his mighty conversion.
But there's something else in the story. His marred confession. God delivered him. God delivered him from his leprosy. And now he's going back to Syria. Now he's going back to his home. Back to the people they loved. If ever there was a man who could go back to a land with abundant evidence that there's a God in Israel. A God who can do what no one else can do. That man is the other.
He can go back and say, You remember me, I was the leper. I was the general of your army. Your king could do nothing for me. The king of Israel could do nothing for me. The prophet could do nothing for me. He only sent a servant to tell me what to do. But the God of the prophet could do something for me. If ever there was a man that had the opportunity of witnessing to others as to the only true God, that man was Nehemiah. But oh, how mad was his confession. Oh, I know he asked that he could take soil from the land.
that he could take it back with him. But then he looks at the prophet and he says, Oh, when I bow my knee in the house of women, may the Lord pardon his servant in this thing. That he was going to go back and instead of standing and witnessing for God, instead of showing what they knew, please, He wasn't standing, if I may say it, in cold ice. Their hearts and minds have been warned already because they've seen what had happened to him. He had the chance of witnessing for God.
But he goes back and he goes into the house of a false god and he bows before that false god by the sight of his mouth. I asked two questions the other evening. I first came to Durham thirty-five years ago. And some of you have been kind enough to tell me that you remember the first time we came. As everybody is, some of you have told me what I've reached about, and I can't even remember that myself. But nevertheless, when I first came, I came with my dear friend, dear Bill Pass.
We labor together so much. The Lord has taken over the glory. Been in glory for a long while. The devil used to have the habit of saying, every time you point your finger at anyone, you point three fingers at yourself. Three fingers at yourself. I want to point at you tonight if I may. I trust I do it lovingly and graciously because I want to point through fingers at myself. I asked two questions the other evening. May I ask myself and you those same questions again.
Are you a Christian? What sort of Christian? honor. Nebuchadnezzar was cleansed. Do you remember the expression? He was saved. But he goes back to Syria and he enters the temple of a false god and helps his master in as well.
and bows his knee before a horse god. Simply with the words, when I do it, will you forgive me? I don't think there's anyone in this service tonight that will agree with me when I say, how marred was his confession. Brethren, sisters, We are living in a day when there is a need for the gospel to be told out. Not just from the pulpit, but from the pew. We found a little chorus just now.
Lead me to some soul today. Oh, teach me, Lord, just what to say. The friends of mine are lost in sin and cannot find a way. Few there are who seem to care and few there are who pray. Oh, melt my heart. Oh, fill my life. Give me one soul today. Brethren, sisters, whatever else happens, if we have trusted Jesus out, if we've been trained, if we have found that salvation is not a work and it's not a money, it's a free gift from God.
And we've bound our knee and we've asked him to be our Savior. Why am I off with him? Let's go out not to be ashamed of him. Let's go out to tell it for. But Jesus. Say. May I go?