2 Kings 5:11-12 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand… The history of Naaman, his position, disease, journey to Elisha, and the cure, so different from what he had expected. I. IT IS NATURAL FOR US TO HAVE PRECONCEPTIONS. We instinctively form opinions in advance. Picture the looks of a person whom we expect to meet, or of a place we expect to visit. Imagine how we will feel and conduct ourselves under certain circumstances. So with Naaman, who had pictured an impressive, dramatic scene. The prophet would come out to him, the great soldier, and there would be much ceremony and pomp. Men have conceptions. 1. Regarding the strength of conviction for sin. Wait for a certain kind and intensity. It is to be something that will take away sleep and appetite, that follows them day and night. They are to endure horrors, to be almost irresistibly driven to the Saviour. Is not this a widespread idea? 2. As to the manner of conversion. It is to be as if the heavens opened. Overwhelmed with joy and ecstasy. Not saved unless they pass from death to life shouting. 3. As to religious experience. A certain intensity of enjoyment. Clear and constant faith and joy, unmoved serenity, like that of some one else they knew. 4. As to the manner of dying. Clear mind, sight of angels, shouting. And yet the conviction, conversion, and religious experience may be altogether different from what we imagined or wished it to be. II. WHY WE SHOULD NOT BE INFLUENCED BY PRECONCEPTIONS. 1. May lose our souls by waiting for what will never come to us. Naaman had perished had he relied upon his way alone — had he not renounced his preconception. Such conviction, such conversion as you desire, may not be yours. 2. We will be rendered unhappy if we fall short of them. Better not have them. We will be unhappy because our conversion is not like that of some one else. We can't feel like others — we can't shout, and therefore think there is something wrong with us. Many good men are miserable because they have not the experiences of others. 3. God works along the line of individuality and temperament. No two look, or love, or are impressed alike. We are not cast in iron moulds. One man is reached through his reason, another through conscience, another through his emotions. One is alarmed by the thunders of Sinai, another melted by the Cross on Calvary. A man's conversion and religious experience are much like his temperament. There may be sudden light, like Paul saw, or it may come like dawn He may speak in the tempest, or in the "still small voice." There may be ecstasy, or only a sense of quiet peace. 4. Our conceptions have nothing to do with our salvation. God's own way for each, not for others to say what it shall be. Nothing in the Bible about kind of feeling — mode of conversion — a command to all — "Repent" — "Believe." You are lepers exposed to death, Christ the only physician, repentance and faith the only means of salvation. Do not be deceived by false ideas. It is Christ or death. Call upon Him, obey Him, and you will be saved. (J. L. Elderdice.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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