Take Me To The River

Scripture Text

2 Kings 5:1–14 KJV 1900

1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 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. 4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5 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. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7 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? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 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. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Introduction

If I were to ask you today what is the most valuable natural resource on earth, what would you say

Perhaps oil, or gold, maybe diamonds or minerals

Natural Gas maybe??

But there is one natural resource that noe of us could live very long without

Water

The average adult human body is composed of approximately 60% water

Your brain is about 73% water

Your heart is about 73% water

Your lungs more than 80% water

Even your bones contain water

As a matter of fact every cell in you body depends on water

You can live weeks without food, but you would only last days with no water

And this concept is not unique to humanity

Our planet tells the same story

Nearly 71% of the earth is covered by water

when we discover new planets or investigate the possibility of life on the ones we already know about we look for water

And I want to tell you this morning that the God who designed our bodies and who designed this planet dependant on water

The one who said water will be the sign of life filled his word with water

As a matter of fact the first time we read about the spirit of God we find him moving over water

So before there was light, there was water

Before there was life, there was water

Before there was creation, the spirit was moving over water

And from the very beginning of the Bible all the way to the end, God established one pattern

Where He is bringing life, water is nearby

So I want to minister to you today on this subject “Take Me To The River”

Body

Throughout Scripture water represents several things

It represents Life

Again everything alive under the sun depends upon water

From the birds in the sky to the grass on the ground everything needs water

Psalm 1:3 KJV 1900

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 KJV 1900

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Life flows where the water flows

It represents cleansing

David said wash me

Isaiah spoke about washing and making clean

It represents separation and covenant

And finally and probably most importantly it represents the new Birth