Falling Into the Ground And Dying

Yeah, amen. Thank you, brothers, for sharing. Before we close the live stream, I just wanted you to turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 5. And I thought of this man who was deceived. You know the story of Naaman, the Syrian who had leprosy. And I assume he had tried multiple different things to be healed. Nothing had worked. And it says in 2 Kings 5 verse 5 that he brought 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 changes of clothes. I don't know what that translates into in today's world in terms of wealth. But it looks like a lot. 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 changes of clothes. And so he was prepared to give up a lot of money and pay a lot for this healing. And yet he was deceived because the man of God gave him something that was too ordinary. I mean, if that man, here's the amazing thing about this story was that if Elisha had said, yeah, I'll take all of this stuff that you got. And like he says in verse 11, this is what Naaman was expecting. He was furious 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 wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. He was looking for a sign and something spectacular. And you know the story, Elisha simply didn't even come out to him. He sent his servant Gehazi and said, go dip in the river Jordan. And this Naaman was deceived. He thought in his mind, there's no way. And I see today also, most of Christendom is looking for something spectacular, something fancy, some waving of the hand and of course, take the money and the wealth and all the gifts that you give. This is going on in Christendom today. And yet Jesus gave a very simple message, fall into the ground and die and you will bear fruit. Do you want this life that we heard about today, where the fruit comes from within, where others can taste of us and see that the fruit is there? There's no magic to it. And that's why so many people miss it. I think if there was some sort of magic, some sort of supernatural event that allowed the life of Christ to come forth within us, maybe with some kind of feeling or lights or something like that, maybe more people would be taken up with it. But it's a very, very simple, taking up my cross in every situation, please myself or please the Father, defend myself or remain quiet. It's a very, very simple choice in every situation. Looks like the river Jordan, it's dirty and it looks almost like there's no way that that simple act of self-denial could actually produce the life of Christ. It's too ordinary, it's too simple, it's too ugly. There's no way that death in that situation would actually produce the life of Christ. And yet that is the only way. The only way Naaman could have been healed was in the Jordan. He even says, couldn't I have gone to one of these rivers in verse 12, Abana and Farpar. And there's many other alternatives that the devil will put in front of us. And yet Jesus says, there's a narrow way and few there be that find it. It's the way of the Jordan. Fall into the ground and die in every situation. Never seek your own. Think of others as more important than yourself. And the life of Christ will come forth. You don't need the gold and the silver and the change of clothes or any of that. Naaman didn't have to bring that. What he did have to bring was a willingness to lay down his pride, to humble himself. And thank God that his servants were wise enough to shake him out of that deception. I thought about that story, even how today that spiritual principle is playing out so many places. People are looking for something spectacular, some supernatural thing. And yet Jesus is very clear. Fall into the ground and die. John 12 verse 24, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains alone. But if it does die, it will bear much fruit.