Naaman - Demonstration of the Sovereignty of God

In this part of the sermon: The sermon highlights God's sovereignty in the seemingly dark and unjust providence of the little Israelite maiden's captivity, revealing it as a divine setup for Naaman's healing…

Martin vividly imagines the scene of the marauding Syrian band taking the godly Israelite girl captive, and the subsequent grief and unanswered questions of her parents, to illustrate a 'disappointing providence.'

Try to imagine the picture on that given day when one of these marauding bands came into a little village in Israel. And in that village there was a family that was obviously one of the 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to God. In the midst of that abounding idolatry, they worshipped the living and true God. Furthermore, they instructed their children in the ways of that God.

9:06 - 9:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explores why Naaman was singled out for healing, using Luke 4 to show that God is absolutely sovereign in dispensing mercy and grace, independent of human claims or…

He contrasts the open communication between Naaman and his wife, which allowed the maiden's report to be heard, with Christian couples who lack such trust, highlighting the unusual nature of Naaman's situation.

Why should Naaman and his wife be on such good terms that they obviously communicate freely and trustfully and respectfully so that the intimations from the lips of a little girl coming through a wife are passed on with credibility to a husband? There are couples here who don't even have that and are Christians in whom communication is so broken down that this never would have happened in your home. Why? Why?

15:16 - 15:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explores why Naaman was singled out for healing, using Luke 4 to show that God is absolutely sovereign in dispensing mercy and grace, independent of human claims or…

Martin dramatizes the Nazareth crowd's expectation that Jesus would perform miracles for them because of their familiarity, using it to illustrate human presumption on God's favor.

Excuse me. They say, now look, we're your kinfolk. You've done great things in other places. Don't we have a little niche on your miracle-working power?

16:46 - 16:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon demonstrates God's absolute sovereignty in influencing the hearts and minds of men, from Naaman's wife believing the maiden to Naaman himself being persuaded by a…

He describes Naaman's rage at Elisha's simple instructions, emphasizing his pride and expectation of special treatment, to set up the illustration of God's sovereignty in changing his heart.

He said, look, first of all, I come with all these gifts. I come in the name of my king. And that prophet doesn't even come out and say howdy. Doesn't even give me a handshake.

22:05 - 22:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Have an unshakable confidence that the unrivaled sovereignty of God extends to the military decisions and operations of the most godless of men and of nations, rather than becoming paranoid.

Martin uses the contemporary fear of nuclear war and missile statistics to illustrate the need for confidence in God's sovereignty over global military powers, providing comfort to believers.

We live in a day in which there is savor rattling around the world. It's enough to make your flesh stand up when they start giving the statistics in conjunction with the salt agreement. And when they start talking about hundreds of missiles and missiles with 10 or 12 or 15 warheads and every warhead more explosive power than all the bombs dropped on Berlin in the Second World War, my mind blows and my flesh crawls. And I say, oh, God, where will it all come to?

23:37 - 24:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Have an unshakable confidence that the unrivaled sovereignty of God extends to the military decisions and operations of the most godless of men and of nations, rather than becoming paranoid.

He cites Idi Amin as an example of a wicked ruler whose rise and fall demonstrate God's sovereign control over world leaders, reinforcing the comfort for believers.

And when I see God allowing a wicked, cruel man like an Idi Amin to come to power, then I see him top. I bless and praise the God who is upon his throne. Living in the day in which we live, you and I better have an unshakable confidence that the unrivaled sovereignty of God extends to the military decisions and operations of the most godless of men and of nations. Without it, you're going to become one of those who joins the society of the Christian paranoids. You're going to go get you a hunk of land up in the mountains of North Carolina, and you're going to stock it with dry foods, and you'r...

24:37 - 25:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty is the bedrock basis of our peace in uncertain times.

Martin recounts Dr. Williams' 'storybook' journey, filled with cancelled flights and providential encounters with Christians, to illustrate God's 'gooey-gummy' providences, contrasting them with 'dark providences.'

I hope sometime he's here long enough that in an informal church meeting he could tell the story. It reads like something out of a storybook. He said nothing like that ever happened to him before, and I doubt it'll ever happen again. He'd be so spoiled rotten he couldn't live with the rest of us.

26:37 - 26:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Exercise faith vigorously in the dark, trusting God even when providences are disappointing, grievous, or seem irrational.

He uses the metaphor of 'faith in the dark' to describe trusting God when providences are disappointing or seem to shatter understanding, emphasizing that true faith is exercised vigorously then.

When God allows what seems to be an evidence, why water drags those ruthless soldiers into a land of paganism? God says, my answer will come in its own time, trust me. Faith is never more true to itself than when it is vigorously exercised in the dark. The dark, thick cloud of a providence that brings grief, a providence that seems to shatter our understanding of what is right and good and rational. It is then, child of God, that we learn what it is truly to trust. Even ungodly people, when everything's going well, they'll make a little flippant acknowledgement, I must be in good with the man ...

27:43 - 28:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Exercise faith vigorously in the dark, trusting God even when providences are disappointing, grievous, or seem irrational.

Martin references Job's declaration, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust him,' to illustrate profound trust in God's sovereignty even when His hand seems to be against one.

I will love him when his hand seems to be against me in the language of Job, though he slay me. Yet will I trust him. It was easy to trust when the hand of God was putting out all those goodies for Job. Richest man, all those kids, all those sheep, all those cattle, all those camels!

29:24 - 29:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Have hope as you pray for the conversion of any sinner, no matter how unlikely, because God can magnify His grace in anyone.

He contrasts a child raised under godly influences who remains indifferent with an 'uninstructed, unsensitized, raw American pagan' who is quickly converted, to illustrate God's sovereign choice in dispensing grace.

We see that son or daughter, we see that child, that man, that woman, under the most wonderful influences, calculated to produce sensitivity to God and his truth and his salvation. And then God reaches down to an utterly uninstructed, unsensitized, raw American pagan who couldn't quote one verse of the Bible if he was stood at a wall and with a firing squad saying, quote the verse or you've had it. Couldn't quote a verse. God will bring a Christian in his path and in a half an hour of opening up the gospel, his heart is subdued and he's brought into a genuine experience of the grace of God tur...

31:15 - 32:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Take comfort that God's sovereignty is exercised in governing the hearts and minds of men in the little details of life, such as job applications or housing decisions.

Martin uses the scenario of applying for a job and competing with others to illustrate how believers can find peace in God's sovereignty over the hearts of personnel managers.

What do you do? You cut your nails and fret, and then if you lose the job, go back and rake over all your sins. What a wonderful thing to know when you walk into the office of the personnel manager. The heart of kings is in the hand of the Lord.

35:35 - 35:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Take comfort that God's sovereignty is exercised in governing the hearts and minds of men in the little details of life, such as job applications or housing decisions.

He uses the challenge of finding housing with children, where landlords often assume children are 'terrors,' to illustrate the need to trust God's sovereignty over men's judgments in daily life.

And in this area, the whole matter of housing, especially if you've got kids. Everyone assumes kids are terrors, because most are. And they assume if they turn their house loose to little terrors, all they'll have is a little messed up house, and it won't be a little house on the prairie, or a little house in Bloomfield, that nobody will want, or a little house in Montclair. What do you do?

35:51 - 36:13 Read in full sermon