II Kings 5:1-4, 9-14 “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. 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. 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. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha . . . And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 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. 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. 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? 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.”
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is that of Naaman; a man that apparently had everything going for him except for the fact that he was a leper. With his power, authority, wealth, and influence, he could do everything, but rid himself of sickness. In similar fashion, man with all of his resources can accomplish a lot of things, except rid himself of sin; “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When it comes to ridding man of his sickness or his sin; we discover that “Only God Can!” Please note the scriptural process by which God works. The process began with a faithful witness, “And she said . . . for he would recover him of his leprosy.” Here we discover the importance of being a witness; “ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8). Naaman would have never been encouraged to seek out a cure had the maid remained silent. Multitudes are dying in their sins all because they have never heard that there is a cure available; many of those live in sight of the church!
The second aspect of the process was a forceful word, “Go and wash . . . and thou shalt be clean.” Through his servant, Elisha delivered the clear command of God concerning the means of healing. It is a clear and concise word; it was clear in its command and concise in its demands! It need not be checked for political correctness or popular opinion; it is a word that needs only to be heard and obeyed; “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalms 119:9).
The final aspect of the process was a forfeited will, “Then went he down . . . and he was clean.” The first thing that we notice is the reception of the word is met with the resistance of the will; “Naaman was wroth.” The will of man is resistant to the message, “I thought, He will surely come out to me” and the method, “wash in the Jordan.” If man is going to reap the benefits of the word; his self-will must become a surrendered-will; “and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
Naaman experienced a physical healing, “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child” and a spiritual cleansing “now I know that there is no God in all earth, but in Israel”; all because of a faithful witness, a forceful word, and a forfeited will! When it comes to meeting the physical and spiritual needs of man; “Only God Can.”