Miracle of the Floating Axe-Head

Introduction and Redemptive-Historical Context

0:06 I would encourage you to turn in your own Bibles to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings and chapter 6, and I shall read in your hearing the first six verses, 2 Kings chapter 6, verses 1, I'm sorry, through 7, the first seven verses. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now the place where we dwell before thee, or more literally translated, or accurately, the place where we sit before thee is too straight for us.

0:51 Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there where we may dwell, or where we may sit. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will.

1:12 So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water, and he cried and said, Alas, my master, for it was borrowed, or literally it was begged. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place.

1:37 And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand and took it.

1:52 It hardly seems possible, but three whole months it passed since our last study in the life and ministry of this great man of God, Elijah. And as we return to our studies for the rest of this month and possibly into the early weeks of January, to consider further incidents that are set and made. before us in this section of the Word of God, concentrating on the life and ministry of Elisha, I would remind you of a very vital principle that you have had announced in your hearing many times from this pulpit, but since there are people here tonight who were not

2:34 with us in the beginning part of this series of studies, for their sakes in particular, I would announce this principle, namely, that whenever we come to study any section of the historical account of God's dealings with His people in Scripture, we are not studying an isolated little snippet with some interesting facts about God and His people. We are studying a segment of the great unfolding of the promise made in Genesis 3 and verse 15. Peter had our first parents sinned when God came announcing in these words His great purposes

3:16 of grace. He said, I will put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And in that outworking of enmity, God said that the seed of the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent. And that, in a very real sense, is the same explanation as God said, for the seed of the sense is the first gospel promise and as the history of the Old Testament unfolds, we are beholding the work of God in preparing the world for that great seed of the woman, even the Lord Jesus Christ who would utterly bruise the head of the serpent and all the while

4:00 we see the work of God in preparing the world for the coming of the promised seed, we see the work of the enemy of the souls of men seeking to undermine the purposes of the living God and so when we come to contemplate the life and ministry of Elisha the prophet, we must remember that these accounts fit into that larger context of the great drama of redemption and Elisha was called upon at this particular point in the conflict in a very peculiar way to be an instrument in God's hands. To preserve the godly remnant which was well-nigh obliterated by the apostasy and the Baal worship

4:43 of the nation of Israel, furthermore he was called upon to carry on the work of reformation and judgment which began under the ministry of Elijah, his predecessor. In addition to this, he was called upon to develop and extend the ministry of the word of God through these schools of the prophets and they are brought before us very frequently. In the text that was read in your hearing and then in a very real sense, this man was called upon to be the God-ordained instrument to preserve the very existence of the nation. As the subsequent passage indicates, Elisha was not at all strange to international dealings.

5:25 He's found at the head of battles and becomes the instrument in God's hands to preserve the nation. Not by use of the sword and the chariot. But by his prayers and by his power with God. And finally he was used at this period in the history of redemption to be a constant instrument through whom the Lord vindicated his own claims as the one true and living God, vindicating those claims both before the nation of Israel and before the heathen nations as well.

Connection to Preceding and Following Incidents

6:00 Well with that very brief overview of that great principle, let us now come to the incident that is before us, this very strange incident of a lost axe head that is made to swim in an isolated place by the river Jordan in conjunction with the need of these men called the sons of the prophets. And as we seek to grasp the mind of the Spirit in the passage, first of all consider with me the connection of this incident with what precedes and precedes us. It is the account of the life and ministry of Elisha.

6:41 Some of you, many of you I trust, will remember that chapter 5 closes with this frightening judgment of God upon a false servant of the prophet Elisha by the name of Gehazi. In all likelihood he was one of the sons of the prophets, for generally the personal servants of the prophets were chosen from the ranks of the sons of the prophets. And yet it was such a man who by giving himself over to the Judas-like sins of covetousness and avarice brought upon himself this frightening judgment of leprosy upon himself and upon his seed.

7:23 And chapter 5 ends with these terrible words, the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence. A leper as white as snow and notice the connective and the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha. Now that does not mean that the incidents were back to back two hours or two days or two weeks apart.

7:53 But when the Spirit of God guided the inspired writer to compile the materials, a connection is made between the frightening judgment upon a false servant of Jehovah. And this wonderful intervention of God on behalf of a true servant of Jehovah. in its setting. We see that it sets before us a wonderful example of what the scripture means when it says, behold the goodness and the severity of God. The severity of God has been seen in the

8:33 judgment brought upon Gehazi. The goodness of God is wonderfully manifested in this recovery of the lost axe head. And I would say very briefly by way of application with respect to this very point, how necessary it is for us to read the scriptures systematically. If we simply pick and choose, there is something in each one of us that will incline us more to behold either the judgment or the severity of God or the goodness and the mercy of God. And yet we are called upon to

9:10 behold God as he has revealed himself in fact as a God of severity and a God of goodness. And certainly as this principle underscores the benefit and necessity of systematic Bible reading both privately and publicly, it underscores the necessity of systematic expository preaching in which we let the content of scripture itself dictate our emphases. No one can end up with a false theology of God who is soaking his mind and heart in the secret place with the whole of scripture and is seeking to be honest in the opening up of that scripture in the public

9:54 proclamation of the word of God. Well, so much for that word concerning the connection of this incident with what precedes, just a word about its connection with what follows. It's interesting that we move from this very intimate, intimate family scene in the first seven verses, beginning in verse 8 and following to the picture of the prophet once again, out in the midst of warring nations in which the great concerns of God with respect to the preservation of the entire nation are at stake. And God has, as it were,

10:33 put this little, homely, intimate incident, this familial, this family incident, prior to this great sweeping national interest concern that follows, to remind us and underscore for us again that in the midst of the great movement of nations and the ongoing of the sovereign designs of God with respect to the rise and fall of nations, God is still the God of the individual, concerned about one man who loses one accent, and that's the same God who is seen at

The Setting: Elisha and the Sons of the Prophets

11:10 work in the great interaction between Syria and Israel in the passage to follow. Well, just a word now in the second place about the setting of this incident. I've already alluded to the fact that it gives us a glimpse into the intimate relationship that existed between Elisha and these groups of men who are called in the text the sons of the prophets. Now, that does not mean that their daddies were all prophets. Many of them

11:40 were like the sons of the prophets. They were like the sons of the prophets. They were like the sons of the prophets. Like you fellows and girls here tonight. Their daddies were ordinary people in Israel, but the sons of the prophets was a term used to describe these bands of men and not necessarily young men. For we read in an earlier passage that one of them died and his widow came as a destitute woman. And so we must not put the word young where the scripture does not use the word young, but they were bands of men who were gathered together to be instructed by the prophet. And there are

12:10 indeed indications from the text of scripture that they actually became the public teachers and in some cases were given the prophetic gift to speak messages on behalf of the living God. The thing that is so interesting in this passage is that it gives us another of those glimpses of the tremendous intimacy that existed between the prophet of God, Elisha, and these sons of the prophets.

12:40 At the very outset in his ministry, it was evident that these men recognized in Elisha the power and the spirit of Elijah. In chapter 2 and verse 15, we have the record of their bowing before him in acknowledgement that they are committing themselves to his leadership, to his tutelage and direction as God's representative in Israel. And so there was the greatest of respect.

13:10 For the man of God as God's representative, there was this tremendous sense of honor that he was above them and beyond them, both in station and in gift and in spiritual stature. But it's also quite evident that they sensed in him a friend. They did not think it beneath his dignity to be concerned about a lost hunk of iron that was lying on the bottom of a river. They did not think it beneath his dignity that he would be concerned about a lost hunk of iron that was lying on the bottom of a river.

13:41 They were concerned with such mundane matters, and when they asked him to accompany them on this mission of felling some trees, it's almost as though you get the picture. I wouldn't dogmatize that Elisha was thrilled that they wanted him to come along with them, and he gladly complies with their request. Well, that's the general setting of the passage. It grows out of this previously established relationship of great esteem.

14:11 And he was pleased with it. There was great esteem and respect and spiritual submission on the one hand, coupled with the deepest intimacy, friendship, and shared confidence on the other hand, showing us that those two things need never be exclusive. And it's a tragedy that so few men understand this. They feel that if they are to be recognized as the man of God, they must maintain an aloofness.

14:35 And others feel they'll not be able to speak with authority unless they become so intimate and basic. buddy-buddy with everyone, that they have a kind of a saccharine, gooey bond between them and those whom they would lead, only to find that when they try to lead, they cannot. For there is not that esteem and respect and spiritual submission. And the setting of this passage is one which beautifully displays that interpenetration of these graces of respect and honor, and yet mingled with them intimacy and the deepest friendship. Well, so much then for that

The Problem: A Growing Ministry Needs More Space

15:13 connection of the passage with what precedes and follows the setting of the passage, now consider with me the facts of the narrative as they are given to us in the text. And verse 1, the problem is introduced. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell or sit, before thee, is too straight. They didn't mean it was too straight in the sense of a straight line, but too constricted. It's too small for us. And the words used for where we dwell before thee,

15:55 often the word dwell is translated in the Old Testament sit, and no less an authority than Edersheim says that this is the proper rendering of the passage where we sit before thee. Now, what was the problem? Well, the problem was simply a problem with respect to a building that was too small for religious purposes. Sound contemporary? The place where we sit before thee is too small

16:22 for us. Now, it could either have reference to those times when the sons of the prophets would come together and actually sit before the prophet for instruction, in which case they are saying, our academy building is too small. Or it could also include those times when the faithful remnant in Israel gathered with the sons of the prophets to hear the man of God on the Sabbaths and on the special religious days. You remember that incident, some of you I'm sure. When in conjunction with the Shunammite woman, when she said to her husband,

17:02 Saddle me an ass, I must go to the man of God. He said to her in chapter 4 of 2 Kings and verse 22, she said, to her husband, Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath. In other words, the clear picture seems to be that he was accustomed to having his godly wife go on a saddled ass on the special religious days, each Sabbath and each new moon, to receive public instruction in the

17:41 word of God. In which case, what the prophets or the sons of the prophets are saying is this, Elisha, our building is too small for those times when we, with the faithful remnant in this area, gather for the instruction we so desperately need in the knowledge of Jehovah and his word and his ways. So the problem introduced, in a real sense, is one of the most encouraging

18:11 notes in that dark period. Baal worship gathers momentum on every side, and yet, in the midst of that, there is such a growth in the number of the sons of the prophets, men who are so concerned that the pure word of God be given to Israel, that they give themselves exclusively to that occupation, and the faithful remnant is so grown that the place is too small for them.

The Proposed Resolution and Elisha's Approval

18:41 So the problem is introduced to us, then, in terms of a problem in conjunction with physical facilities, a building that was too small for present religious worship and usage. Thou then consider, in verse 2, the resolution proposed and approved by the prophet. One of the sons of the prophets, or a representative group, comes with a proposition or a resolution, and the prophet approves it. Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan and take thence every man a beam and let us make us a place there where we may dwell.

19:25 And he answered, go ye.

19:29 Now since these men were not under contract to some local building contractor, their proper business was to sit at the feet of the man of God, to study the word of God, to meditate, to pray, to give themselves to concentrated ministry of the truth of God, they had no right simply to have a little caucus and decide it would be well for them to go on down to the Jordan, cut down some trees and build a larger and more commodious meeting place. And so for this reason, they demonstrate their true submission to the man of God. They come to him as their spiritual overseer and ask permission to do a very reasonable thing.

20:14 Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan and take thence every man a beam and let us make a place there where we may dwell. They did not ask the prophet to wave his hand and perform a miracle. That would be presumptuous. Nor did they ask the prophet, while these men in their dignified calling would not stain their hands with manual labor, he did not ask the prophet to go and find a group of Israelites who would build them a place.

20:44 Nor did they ask the prophet to go out and raise money so they could buy a larger place. They said, we are able, strong, healthy men. There are abundance of trees near Jordan. We ask permission to go to cut down the wood, to trim it and to build us a larger building.

21:03 To this suggestion and proposition, the prophet simply says, go ye. He puts his approval. He puts his approval on the proposition and all involved with it. Then in verse 3, we have an additional request and its fulfillment.

The Unexpected Crisis: A Borrowed Axe-Head Lost

21:19 And here is the request. And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. Could it be that the group actually began to leave and make its way to Jordan and then out of the group, one of them stops, turns and comes back and says to the man of God, Oh!

21:41 Oh, man of God, will you please come with us? And for whatever reason, and I can think of many reasons, the man of God yields to their request. Could it be that they have learned the value of his presence simply as a confidant and as one with whom when they worked they would find tremendous benefit in general conversation concerning the interest of God's kingdom? It could well be that that was the motive that prompted them.

22:17 Or it could be that his presence as their guide and instructor, as the one who had more unlimited and bold access to the throne of God was something they desired in case they should meet with any difficulties upon the way. It could be they just enjoyed his friendship. Well, for any one or all of these reasons, whatever they are, they make a request that to the person who is the prophet appears reasonable and he complies with the request. And now they go off together a few miles journey down to the bank of the Jordan River.

22:54 Well, verse 5 then sets before us the unexpected crisis. One of these young men is so busy whacking away at the particular tree that he is seeking to fell that he irresponsibly forgets to check how firmly his axe said he's fixed on the shaft to see if the wedge is pounded in well enough in holding it. He's worked up a lather of sweat and he's working away and now he comes down for the last swing that's going to fell his tree and off goes the axe head. Plonk!

23:27 Hits the water. Ripples go out. And he stands there in a state of shock for a moment. He sees a few bubbles come up and then in the midst of that situation, verse 5, but as one was felling a bee, the axe head fell into the water and he cried and said, Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.

23:52 No sooner does he see that axe head disappear out of sight, but he cries like a little child who's on his way to the store with his five nickels clutched in his hand and the dog comes by and scares him and his hand opens up and all five nickels go down the storm sewer. And the minute he watches and it dawns on him, he cries out, Daddy!

24:16 Well, that's the picture. That's the picture that you have here. No sooner does the reality of this thing strike him, but he cries out, the scripture says. He didn't simply come all calm, cool and collected and possessed.

24:29 The word of God is plain that there was an emotional reaction that expressed itself in the very way in which he gave vent to the inward state of his heart. He cries out, Alas! That's a word of despair. Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.

24:46 And most of the commentators are careful to point out that this word borrowed is really not a good translation. The use in the Old Testament of this word never has the clear connotation of taking something with a view of returning it. It could be better translated, Alas, it was begged. Master, I'm so poor I didn't even have my old axe head, my own axe head when I came off to school.

25:09 I had to beg one from one of my neighbors before I came. And if I was so poor as to have to beg an axe head, it's obvious I don't have money to go down to the local hardware store and buy another one. This is not a matter of just having my best axe head. It's my one and only.

God's Miraculous Intervention and Its Meaning

25:26 And alas, it was begged. And so this crisis unexpectedly breaks into the life of one of the sons of the prophets. Well then, verses 6 and 7 give us the record of the miraculous intervention of God in this crisis. All we're doing now is opening up the text.

25:44 Look at it. And the man of God, the old axe head, what in the world were you doing trying to fell a tree with a loose axe head? Don't you know you should...

25:53 No, he doesn't scold him.

25:56 The man of God responds as a true spiritual father and he asks the question, where did it fall? Where fell it?

26:05 And so the young man says, right over there. And the prophet does a strange thing. He either takes the axe with which he himself has been working, for the whole climate of this passage seems to indicate that Elisha was not there as the foreman barking orders. But he was probably there raising a few fresh calluses on his own hands, working along with the sons of the prophets, probably singing psalms and hymns of praise to God to make the time pass faster.

26:35 He says, where fell it? And he points to the place. And instead of waving his hand over the place and saying in the name of Jehovah return, he does a strange thing. He takes his own axe and goes to a nearby tree and he whacks off a branch.

26:49 And after he's whacked off the branch, he walks back to the place to which the young man or the man pointed. See, I fell into my own thing that I said we shouldn't do. The man pointed and he throws in the branch. And then a strange thing happens.

27:06 The text says, he cut down the stick and cast it in thither and made the iron to swim, literally to flow. The picture seems to be that the iron rose up from the bottom and came to the surface. And you can imagine what happens now. The last part of the text indicates that apparently the man as he beholds this is paralyzed.

27:33 I mean, here's his axe head. What would you do if you'd been hunting for something that you had lost and your eyes fell upon it? The minute it does, you pounce down and you grab it. But apparently he stands there gawking at this whole thing.

27:46 And so the prophet says, and he said, take it up to thee. Man, don't stand there. This miracle not only constituted a fresh revelation of the heart of God, it constituted a fresh assertion of the livingness of Jehovah in contrast to the deadness of all idols. All around these men, and no doubt even in the brief trip from Jericho down to the waters of Jordan, they saw the signs of Baal worship on every hand.

28:20 For God said of Israel, he had made her altars under every green tree. Everywhere you turned, there were the reminders of these gods who had eyes, but could see not. Ears, but who could hear not. The dead, dumb, deaf idols that Israelites were now worshiping in place of the living God.

28:44 And in the midst of that, the God of heaven and earth, the God of creation, the God who has made what we call the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the laws of nature, temporarily reverses and suspends some of those laws. For what purpose? To assert again to the hearts of his servants, I am the living and the true God. As you, my servants, preach and teach in the midst of abounding Baal worship, and you wonder at times, do I really live?

29:17 I have not come with fire as I came upon Mount Carmel in answer to the laws to the prayers of the predecessor, Elijah. I have not sent great strokes of judgment as I have in the past. Do you wonder if I live? Where fell it?

29:35 Over there, Elisha. And in goes the twig or the piece of the tree. And an axe said floats all of the so-called laws of nature are but the means by which God generally operates in his precise present control of his world. But to remind us that they aren't blind, brute, detached laws, when he chooses, he simply reverses them.

30:06 And now he makes that thing which should under no circumstances come to the surface, swim to the surface, float to the surface, to tell his servants, I am the living God. And that message was as powerful as if God had caused the heavens to split with a thunderbolt and trumpet sound as they did upon Mount Sinai. That man looking down with his fellow sons of the prophets and seeing a sunken piece of an iron axe head floating on the top of a river with tones that could not be heard any clearer am the living God.

30:51 Edersheim in his comment on this passage is bold to say that this is the essential message of the passage. He says that Elijah and Elisha were to be prophets of the prophets if we may use the expression in order that this great truth which alone could have saved the people might be presented in a concrete and vivid manner namely that Jehovah was the living and the true God ever present with his own whether for blessing or in judgment and this must always be kept in view when studying this history. You ask the question why so many miracles in conjunction with the ministry

31:36 of Elijah and Elisha here is the answer when there is the most abounding Baal worship and the worship of dead gods the living God is asserting the reality of his livingness so that those who speak in his name may speak with confidence but then thirdly it constituted to that immediate group of men a fresh confirmation of the unique call and position of Elisha. You see Elisha could lead with credibility only so long as his credentials were valid. These men did not submit to Elisha's leadership simply because he marched

32:21 into their presence one day with a hairy mantle on his shoulders and saying hey fellas you better follow me look I've got Elijah's mantle no no 2 Kings 2 and verse 14 says it was after he had taken that mantle and smitten the waters with the cry where is the Lord God of Elijah and when the waters part and split hither then it says when he passes over on dry ground the sons of the prophets fall before him and acknowledge him as their spiritual mentor and leader why? Because his credibility was established by the miraculous and if Elisha is continued to is to continue to lead these men with credibility

33:05 the peculiarities of his office must be manifested and in this setting it was the miraculous and so as he manifests that his contact with God is not a matter of past memory spiritual nostalgia but that here in the midst of the most mundane activities when the prophet has an axe in his hand he is in living communion with God and he can pause in the midst of felling threes in the name of Jehovah to make an axe head to swim you see what that would do the next time they went back to their new academy hall to listen there was a confirmation of the unique place that Elisha held in the purpose

33:50 of God as their spiritual leader and there's a great principle here for any one of us who would seek to lead others and seek to work in the training of men for the ministry and it's a principle that haunts me and one with which I live at times almost day and night and the principle is that the only credibility for any man who would lead others is the present endowment of the spirit of God upon his life in ministry past memories are not enough men who know God must sense that Jehovah is still at a man's elbow and that he lives and speaks out of living communion and that he

Application 1: The Miraculous is Integral to Revealed Religion

34:35 with the living God but the message of this passage is not only a message to those sons of the prophets and to the people of God of that day the scripture tells us that these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come and I would encourage you then to consider with me in the closing of our message tonight three very simple but to me profoundly helpful applications of this passage to us what is its message to us it's wonderful to know that some men stood by the brink of the Jordan and saw a piece of metal come to the surface and saw that manifestation of divine power but we don't see such things what can all of that

35:19 say to us well the first thing it says to us is this that the miraculous is an integral part of revealed and saving religion the miraculous is an integral part of revealed and saved saving religion doesn't it strike you as strange that they didn't seem to make any big deal about this nobody ran off and said oh we've seen a miracle let's build a shrine by the Jordan then we'll get everyone to come down here with their crutches and their wheelchairs and the miracle has occurred and let's hope if they get in the right place and throw sticks into the right place maybe a miracle there was no superstition it's as though this was something big deal so a miracle let's get on

36:03 with building our house around this man Elisha you see him all the time doesn't it strike you the almost blasé way that the narrative ends he picks up the axe head and then goes on to describe something else why is no big deal made about this thing why no shrine built why no psalms composed for the simple reason that here as in a multitude of places from the opening words of scripture the miraculous is an integral part of revealed and saving religion and you should see people try to get around the miraculous in this part they say oh what happened is this the river was not too deep at that point

36:47 and so when Elisha said where did it fall he was able to see it on the bottom of the river bed so he cut down the stick that was long enough and like a man who had great accuracy with a spear he threw it in and even now you see he must have had like fish eyes because he could take care of the refraction in the water he threw it in and it found the place right in the eye of the axe head and then the stick was big enough to make the iron float to the surface you laugh intelligent men with earned doctor's degrees have come up with that explanation so blinding is the anti-supernatural prejudice of the human heart that men with earned degrees

37:32 know my friends the miraculous is an integral part of revealed and saving religion from the opening words of Genesis in the beginning God created out of the nothing we don't make things out of nothing you don't but God does because you see if God is not the God of the miraculous who can order and control and suspend and reverse what we call the laws of nature then he's not the God who can raise his son from the dead he's not the God who can cause the enfleshment of the second person of the Godhead in a virgin's womb he's not the God who can raise us up

38:17 at the last day and if we have no incarnate Savior if we have no resurrected Savior if we have no final judgment so my friend if you sit here tonight a skeptic and say Pastor Martin you seem like a reasonably reasonably intelligent person you're a bit fanatical you holler a bit too much and a bit too theatrical in the rest but you seem like you have your head at least screwed on half right do you really believe that account that an axe head actually came you've preached like you really believe that my friend you've understood me very accurately yes I do believe it

38:59 and if I can't believe that I have no ground that Jesus Christ one man can die and atone for the sins of a great multitude for that which gives worth to his death is the dignity of his person he is the God man and without a God man you have no substitute for sinners and without a God man who truly dies in the third day is raised supernaturally from the dead as the validation of his personal claims and as the validation of the worth of his work upon the cross what place

39:43 can guilty sinners find for a refuge no no my friend the supernatural is an integral part of revealed and saving religion and here's an example no big deal is made about it it's just one more incident building up building up building up preparing us for that greatest of all miracles when that holy thing conceived in Mary's womb would be called son of God but then there is a second great lesson for us the people of God standing here in the last quarter of the 20th century and it is this the people most devoted to the service

Application 2: Devotion Does Not Exempt from Trials

40:27 and glory of God are not exempt from the most severe trials in this life the people most devoted to the service and glory of God are not exempt from the most severe trials in this life here's a man in whose heart there burns such a passion for the honor of Jehovah assuming he was a true Israelite and not like a Gehazi assuming as the passage seems to give us warrant that he was a true Israelite here's a man whose spirit burns within him when he goes out to the local marketplace and sees people on their way to offer sacrifices

41:12 to Baal when he hears his neighbors conversing and all they talk about is their Baal worship and their devotion to Baal and his spirit so burns for the honor of Jehovah that he has a powwow with his wife and decides he must leave his little carpenter shop or his little business and join one of the sons the bands of the sons of the prophets and must give himself to the study of the truth of Jehovah and sit under the tutelage of the man of God that he may just do some little thing in some little way to stem this frightening tide that could only bring down divine judgment and yet when the man goes off to join the school

41:56 of the prophets at Jericho he has to go to his neighbor who may have been a Baal worshiper even and beg an axe so that he'll be able to cut down firewood for his family and his family and make some little items of furniture so that they can live a modest and humble life here's a man devoted to the glory of God and to the service of God and yet he's poor and then added to his poverty that one thing he had that was such a vital instrument in his total lifestyle flies off the shaft of that axe and now lies on the bottom of the river Jordan and something

42:41 of the sense of grief grips him in his cry alas but it was begged and this man learned what every one of us must learn that the people most devoted to the service and glory of God are not exempt from the most severe trials in this life the apostle Paul above all others in his generation was utterly devoted to the service of God and yet he said I have learned how to be in one he said in hunger often sometimes that was self-imposed hunger he went on to say in fastings often but he made a distinction between hunger and fasting

43:25 he said there are times when everything in me longed for a half decent meal and I had nothing but my haunting hunger pangs for my companionship why why one so devoted to the service of God and to the glory of God why should I be why should he when pagans all around him have their three squares a day and all their needs are met and Christians of much lesser degrees of devotion never have a day of want why should this man of God be in want well you see God's concerned with something more than seeing us smile and look up to heaven and say thank you Lord for a full tummy

44:10 God's concerned as we were reminded this morning to make us into the likeness of his son the scripture says though he were a son with no indwelling sin to wrestle with though he were a son yet learned the obedience by the thing which he suffered and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him Jesus said in the world he shall have tribulation be of good cheer I can make iron swim I have overcome the world but I have overcome be of good cheer

44:54 perhaps some of you tonight need to remind yourselves of this simple principle it seems with every increasing measure of devotion that God by his grace draws from your heart comes a fresh baptism of trial maybe it comes in terms of physical suffering and pain and some of us know what that is hardly to know a day's existence week in week out month in month out without conscious carting continuous physical pain it's become a way of life for some of us we may be tempted to say Lord why because God's more concerned about seeing

45:39 the likeness of his son reflected in you than giving you the ease and the joy and even perhaps the grateful heart for a painless existence the moment you begin to allow your thinking to be molded by this world that the cheap end of life is to feel good and to have all your senses sending in nice feelings the minute you begin to absorb that wicked hedonistic mentality of this age you've had it if you're a suffering saint but if you can remember though he were a son yet learned the obedience by the things which he suffered whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges

Application 3: Do Not Despair in Trials, Turn to Christ

46:23 every son whom he receiveth no chastening for the present seemeth joy and then there is finally a third great lesson that comes down to us through the centuries and the lesson is this that the people of God are not to despair when their trials come the people of God are not to despair when their trials come this man instinctively turned to a well-known trusted proven friend in his crisis he didn't sit down by the riverbank and ring his bell his hands and commiserate and begin to write poems

47:07 about the cruelty of God the moment it dawned on him that his axe head was gone the text says that he cried out to whom verse 5 alas my master he turns to a proven friend with whom he has had previous intimacy of relationship a trusted friend who has power with God and oh my friend to me this is the glorious gospel picture in the passage the greater than Elisha is here and when we've walked with him and talked with him in days when the axe head is firmly fixed on its shaft

47:51 and there is no pressing immediate crisis and we've known something of communion with Christ and fellowship with Christ and something of frequency at the throne of grace in pouring out our hearts needs before him it's a wonderful thing in a crisis to bring to that crisis a previous and intimate relationship with the Son of God for this man it was a wonderful thing to have cultivated such an intimate relationship with the man of God that in the crisis he did not have to introduce himself and say oh Elisha by the way you know my name is

48:36 no no the whole picture is that all of that was already firmly established and he could now in his crisis build upon it that's the picture of the child of God who has cultivated fellowship with Christ so that when his hour of crisis comes in the language of Hebrews 4 he can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in his time of need but oh my friend what of you who have no such acquaintance with Christ your axe heads are going to be going to fall sooner or later man is born to trouble the scripture says

49:20 as the sparks fly upward and the calamities of life will come to you some of you are relatively young some of you relatively old and you think that's all a lot of preachers talk but it isn't it's the truth of the word of God calamity will come and if God mercifully spares you what the world calls calamity until that last great calamity comes when the angel of death begins to fall begins to wrap his bony fingers around your neck you've lived very comfortably with no acquaintance with the greater than Elisha all his calls to you to repent to believe to flee to him you've turned a deaf ear to them and said I can get on

50:04 under my own skin oh there are frightening words in Proverbs 1 beginning with verse 24 God says because I called and ye refused because I stretched out my hand and you would not hear me I will laugh in the day of your calamity then shall ye call my friend those are frightening words there are times when those words haunt me as I think of people who sit in this very school auditorium and hear the word of God and the gracious tender overtures of mercy week after week month after month

50:46 year after year God calls as the greater than Elisha with pierced hands and says come into the orbit of my friendship in the language of the text come stand by my cross and overwhelmed with the sense of my love to sinners let me pierce your ear through and make you my bond slave and you say no no no no my friend the hour is coming when your axe head is going to fall and everything at a given moment that lake makes life meaningful is going to be shattered and you'll be you'll cry alas

51:30 but you won't be able to say alas my master and God says when you begin to cry alas oh God oh God God says he'll stuff his fingers in his ears my friend don't those words strike fear to your heart if you're unconverted come on be honest don't they strike fear to your heart to have almighty God become like the gods of the heathen ears but he will not hear oh my friend don't you leave this building unconverted

52:11 because it is only the people of God who can afford the wonderful spiritual luxury of saying come what may live or die I am the Lord's and he is mine John Newton penned some words based on this miracle did you know that I didn't know that till my preparation there's this little couplet not one concern of ours is small if we belong to him to teach us this the Lord of all once made the iron to swim Newton got the message of this miracle

52:56 not one concern of ours is small if we belong to him to teach us this the Lord of all once made the iron to swim what a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian to have God's warrant to be anxious for nothing but in the everything to let our requests be made known to our gracious master isn't it wonderful to be a Christian I've been here long enough to see some of you come through the flower of your manhood into your middle years and now beginning to go down into what I would call the sunset years and what a wonderful thing it is to see some of you

53:40 even as I ask that question sitting there smiling and everything in you saying amen amen it is wonderful to be a Christian oh my friend when those years advance and take their toll on you will you be a sour cynical sinner ripening for judgment and a deaf God God forbid that it should be so you're going to have to deal with the God who makes iron swim it's that God who's going to call you out of your grave and stand you before his throne and welcome you into his presence and welcome you into his presence or consign you to hell may God grant that you'll have

54:25 dealings with him in grace while the door of mercy is still open let us pray our father we bless you that you are the living God the God who makes iron to swim the God who caused his own son to become enfleshed in a virgin's womb the God who raised him from the dead the God who now invites the neediest of sinners to come the God who takes upon himself

55:08 all the cares of all of his children throughout all the world and is never confused or weary in the meeting of those needs how we bless you for all that you are as revealed in your son oh God take this word that we've studied together this night write it upon our hearts and may it bear fruit even unto everlasting life and to the everlasting praise of our Lord Jesus Christ we ask in his name Amen