Word of Salvation – Vol. 20 No.52 – September 1974

 

Lord Use Me!

 

Sermon by Rev. Keith McPhail on 2Kings 5:2 & 3

Scripture Reading: 2Kings 5:1-19

Psalter Hymnal: No.315; 275; 85; 451; 493

 

Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ,

Satan tempts us in innumerable ways.  One method he uses is to give us a view of the world.  Then he lets us see how small and insignificant we are in this great universe, so that the possibility of us doing anything worthwhile in this life seems altogether remote, if not impossible.  Whether we are young or old, strong or weak, clever or dull, today’s text applies to us.  We may be older in years than was the little girl of whom we read, but we too have to face many trials and hardships.

In any case, don’t be deceived into thinking that you are just one person, unnoticed in this mighty great universe, so that it does not matter what you do because you cannot affect things, one way or another.  Remember how easy it is for one to put off doing what seems the little thing – the task beneath one’s dignity.

Remember Naaman.  He was a leading man in his home country and therefore, considered it too trifling a thing to wash seven times in the River Jordan.  Indeed the very suggestion that he do so, made him angry.  And it is probable that he would not have obeyed the word of the prophet, but one of his servants persuaded him, saying, “My Lord, if you were asked to do something like leading an army to battle, you wouldn’t think twice about it.  You would do the job with all your power!  Why not then do the simple task of washing seven times in the River Jordan?”

It was only a little thing that God asked of Adam in the garden, namely, obedience.  The Lord put all things in his hands but forbade him to eat the fruit of the one tree.  What a little thing to ask!!!!  Like Adam, we have no love for the little things.  Adam disobeyed, for he wanted to be as God.  We too have an eye to the big things.  Many young folk do not wish to go through all the little duties and disciplines of preparing themselves for later life.  They want to take but one step from childhood to mature adulthood.  We can’t do that.  There are too many steps in-between.  The process of growing up looks a little thing, yet it is not.  It is very important.  It is often hard work and painful.  It must be worked at.  It is never the Christian’s duty to do what he thinks is right.  No, not at all.  What we THINK is right may be the very opposite of God’s will.  Our duty is to do the will of God, to obey Him, even in small things.  And when little, insignificant people, like you and me, do the simple duties which the Lord requires of us, great things are accomplished.

Did not the Bible Societies in the world begin with a little girl in Wales?  Mary Jones earnestly desired to have her own copy of the Bible, because God had given her a love of His Word.  She had earned and saved her pennies for a long time.  At last she set off to walk the twenty-five miles to the home of a minister, carrying her boots lest she wore them out on the journey.  The Rev. Mr. Charles had no spare copies of the Welsh Bible, but when he listened to her plea, his heart compelled him to find one for Mary.  She went home with her precious Bible.  From the telling of her desire for the Word of God, the British and Foreign Bible Society came into being.  Out of that one little girl’s love of the Lord and His Holy Scripture, the Bible Societies came into being.  Out of the devotion of that one poor young Welsh girl there arose a work of translating and distributing the Scriptures to millions of people.

A little girl led of God.  A simple thing.

God did not say to her, “Now Mary, I want you to establish Bible Societies for the printing of millions of copies of the Scripture.  God did not do that because He leads us one step at a time.  I doubt very much that she ever knew what an important part she played in the plan of God.  All she knew was one simple little thing God had put it into her heart to work and to save month after month, to accumulate those few pence with which she would buy her Bible.  She had to obey God and she did..!!  So the blessing came to many.

* * * * * *

Now, who was this Naaman?

He was the Prime Minister of Syria and General of the army.  He would lead that army in battle.  From what we read in 2Kings, it was not so long since he had returned from fighting in Israel.

With the mind’s eye, let us observe Naaman as he returns from Israel.  He has gone to the palace to inform the king of the Syrian army’s success and to give the king his share of the spoils of war.  Now, as he approaches his own home, his servants see him coming and run to open the gates.  He rides up to the entrance in his chariot.  Following him are two of his most trusted servants, each in a chariot, and each chariot is filled with treasures which he has brought home for his wife and for himself.

He has just gone into the large hall where Mrs. Naaman meets him.  Almost immediately the servants begin to bring in the treasures: Silver, beaten copper- wear, bronze, gold, precious stones, fine cloth….!.  “Oh yes, my dear,” he says, “I almost forgot, I have something else for you; bring in the girl.”  She too was merely a thing.  A thing to help his wife around the house.

I wonder what she looked like?

The Bible doesn’t tell us what she looked like, but I think she looked sad.  It is possible that her mother and father had been slain trying to protect her.

Most likely, she did not understand the language spoken in this strange country.  She was far from home.  Far from relatives.  She was a stranger to the life and customs of Syria.  Some of you may well understand how uncomfortable she must have felt.  In any case, she must have known something of fear and loneliness.

How uncomfortable she must have felt in being numbered among the THINGS which Naaman brought home.

But worse than all this, having been brought up to worship the living God, she was cut off from the Temple and from others of like faith.  She found herself surrounded by a heathen people and temples built for the worship of idols.

But this little slave girl worshipped and obeyed God.

Does not the Scripture say, “You will love your neighbour as yourself”?  Therefore she was bound to please her mistress, whether she like it or not.  She was commanded by God to love Naaman, who had taken her captive and used her as a thing!!!  “You WILL LOVE your neighbour AS YOURSELF.”

It must have been very hard for her to believe what the Bible says, and harder still to apply it to herself.

How difficult to accept the fact that all things work together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose!  Like the Apostle Paul, she had to learn that in whatsoever state she found herself, therein to be content.

How could she do that???

God has put before all men sufficient evidence for them to realise that He, the Lord God Omnipotent, created all things.  Since He made all things, all things are in His hands!!!!

I’m sure that this little girl said something like this to herself, “I don’t know why God brought me to Syria, but He must have His reasons.”  I’m also sure that there was a godly frame of mind in her which caused her to become more useful in the service of Naaman’s wife.  As time went by, she would learn the customs, the language, and the duties required of her.

She learned too, that Naaman was a leper.

He suffered from that dreaded disease that eats away at the flesh and finally brings about death.  Her master, Naaman, was a leper.

In verse 3 we read, “And she said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, then he would cure him of his leprosy.””

Do you think that she was so frightened of Naaman that she herself dared not tell him of the prophet???  I don’t think so.  I believe that it was because she loved God and therefore loved Naaman and his wife, that she showed her respect for them by addressing not Naaman, but his wife, whose servant she was.

Had she not shown love and respect for her master and mistress, how could she have said anything which they would accept and believe?

Unless a sincerity, love, holiness and purity were seen in this girl, I suspect that Naaman would have disregarded her words.

The reason for this is that Naaman and his wife were human beings; they were people like you and me.  Before we can have confidence in the words of people we have to learn to trust them.  Naaman had such a degree of confidence in this Israelite girl that he went to his king, informed him of what he had heard, and set off for Israel.

There must have been many an occasion when this slave girl asked herself, “Why has the Lord our God let me become a slave in Syria?  Why has He cut me off from the Temple, and from the joy of worshipping with those who love Him and reverence His name?  He must know how I miss so many holy things in my life here in captivity and, besides, is it not His will that His people go up to His house to praise Him?”

Girls, boys, and older folk, have you noticed that this girl’s name is not even mentioned in the Bible?  And have you ever thought how important she was in the working out of God’s purposes?

From the evidence in this story of just a part of her life, observe that under God she moved to action the King of Syria, the King of Israel, the Prime Minister of Syria and also the prophet Elisha.  At the time when she spoke of the prophet of the Lord she did not know what her simple testimony would bring about.  It is by doing the little things that the Lord puts before us, by being obedient to him, that we are profitable servants of the Living God.

It was only a little thing to tell Naaman’s wife of the prophet and his God- given power.  Great things came out of it.

Imagine if you can, what thoughts filled her heart when she saw Naaman build his altar to Jehovah in Syria, and offer up sacrifices to the Lord God.

Did she say to herself, “Now I know why Jehovah brought me to Syria!”?  I wonder how many people there were in Syria who came to trust in the living God through Naaman.  Of course the Lord does not tell us, so we must not even try to guess.

What we do know, and what we must remember is this, that it doesn’t matter how small, how insignificant, how weak, and how powerless we seem to be, we have but to live in obedience to the Lord, then God will use us to do His good pleasure.

God’s will IS important, even if the part we have to play appears unimportant to us.  It is a case of “Father knows best.”

What can WE DO for the King and His Kingdom???

Is it not in our hearts to cry out to God, “Lord, let me do something REALLY WORTHWHILE.  I want to do something that will REALLY COUNT.  Like Naaman we don’t want to wash in the Jordan, we want to do the big things, to be a Mr. or Mrs. Big in our own sphere of life.

We have seen that God brings big things out of the small.

Whatever happens, do not give yourself over to despair.  Do not let Satan rule or run your life.  Do not be tempted to think that evil is so powerful and widespread in the world, and I am just one of the millions of people in Australia, therefore how can I fight against all this evil?”  Do not say, “I live in a day when wickedness increases and I am powerless to stand against it.”  Learn from the slave girl from Israel.  Whatever God has put into your hand to do, do it with all your might.

Does one of you say, “But I don’t like what I have to do!  How can I do it with all my might?”

The answer is plain and simple.  Nothing in this life happens by chance, but by the will of the almighty sovereign God.  Since that is true, go to Him with your troubles.  Tell Him that you do not like the duties which He has put upon you, and plead your case, saying, “Lord, will you make me to love whatever you give me to do?”  He gives us love for the things we find unlovely.

Is there someone here whose heart the Lord has stirred concerning another who is lost, who it seems is spiritually dead?  Has He made you to feel compassion for that one so that you would point him or her to Jesus???  It could be that every time you look at this particular person you think to yourself, “Oh, I couldn’t go to that horrible one, he or she is so hard and cold of heart, so bitter and full of anger against the gospel.”  Yes, there is nothing for it, but that you go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to give you a love for those who seem unlovable.

Perhaps the Lord has given you a heartfelt concern for someone who appears to be on a different social level, financially or intellectually.  Let your prayer be, “Lord, since you are love, and you dwell in me, make me to love this one too.”

Does someone say, “The world goes from bad to worse at a quicker pace than we are able to work for the kingdom of God?”

Whether things get better or worse is not your business.  That is God’s concern, leave it to Him.

Your duty as a child of God is to keep on doing whatever he puts in your hands to do, day by day.  And you are to do it as an act of worship before Him.  Whether it be your daily occupation or just some habit you have, it matters not what, do it to the glory of God.  Whatever cannot be done to the glory of God is best left undone.

The whole of life must needs be an act of worship.

Therefore do your duty with all your heart.  It does not matter how unimportant you job appears to be to you, so long as you know that you are serving the Lord where He has put you.  Remember Naaman!  Remember the girl!

It matters not how impossible of fulfilment your God-given task appears to be.

In God’s dealings with man, it seems that He is always about the impossible.  No wonder Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can a man be born again when he is old?  Can he enter his mother’s womb the second time and be born?”  God does the impossible.  What is impossible with men is possible with God.  Do not be deceived by the evil one.

There is much that you can do for God, for you are all very important to Him.  Did He not give His Son to die for you on Golgotha???

There is proof that His love reaches even to you!  You know that His love pulls at your very own heart.

Ah yes, Jesus knew all the corruptions of our weak, wicked, wayward hearts, but that did not turn him away from going to the cross, to die in our place.  Indeed He went on to die for us.

Even though every man, every woman, every boy and girl on earth should despise you, hate you, jeer at you, yet it matters not, because we are loved of God.  We are loved by a great Father.

Hear the words of 1Cor.2:27, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Did not God choose that little slave girl to do mighty things for Him even though she did not know it?  She thought it was just a simple matter of saying, “I wish that my master would go to the prophet who is in Israel.”

It is likely that some of you have heard of Dr. Werner von Braun, the famous German scientist who, after going to America at the end of the Second World War, became a key man in developing space flight.

There was a woman who worked in the same laboratory as Dr. Braun.  He would have been at the top of the list of staff, and she at the bottom.  She was the woman who dusted, swept, washed and polished early every morning where people had made things dirty the previous day.

Sometimes Dr. von Braun came to work early.  Over a period of some years he noticed that there was a quality of life in this woman which he lacked.

He saw her working, and just now and then she was able to say a few words about the Lord Jesus Christ, her Saviour.  In God’s appointed time, this man of eminence came to know Christ Jesus for himself, because of the woman’s testimony.

Suppose that the Lord led you to speak to someone in a high office, would you not shrink back and say, “I can’t do that!  That sort of witness bearing is not for me!” It was a very ordinary woman indeed whom the Lord used to win Dr. von Braun to Himself.

God uses some of his humblest servants to do his highest works.  Think not, “I am only a young boy or girl, or I’m only an ordinary man or woman.”  In the days of His earthly life, Jesus was born of a peasant maid in a stable, and worked as a carpenter.  He did not, and He does not, despise the humble.

Beloved in the Lord, go out into the world comforted in the knowledge that you belong to Jesus Christ and are precious to Him.

And since He loves you, He will give you to do that which is important in His plan, even though men and women of the world laugh at you for what you are and for what you do.  You know that in the plan of God, everything is important, and everyone is precious to Him.

Is there one here who fears that he is not in the will of the Lord?  Let that one, this very day, go to the quietness of his own room, shut the door and, alone with God at the throne of grace, plead for mercy.  Let him plead forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ which covers all sin.

May we all as a people of the Lord, go on to dare and to do those things for the Lord which He would have us do.

Amen.