Well, tonight we're going to
look at a miracle which Elijah performs by the power of God
and by the might of God. The message is called The Swimming
Axehead. The Swimming Axehead. Turn, if you would, to 2 Kings,
chapter 6. Now, Elijah, again, is known
as the miracle prophet. Because of the amount of miracles
that God performed through him in his ministry. And a miracle,
a miracle is a miracle because the elements of it cannot be
accomplished by natural means. It's a miracle is something that
cannot be accomplished by natural means. A miracle is something
that there's no rational or humanly logical explanation for how it
took place. And in our text tonight, we will
see an iron axe head swim. An iron axe head swim. There's no simple explanation
for this miracle. And if we had seen such a thing
happen, we would have sat there and stood there in awe and in
wonder that an axe head would swim. we would have been literally
left, I know I would have been in awe and wonder at that happening. And miracles are not for explaining,
beloved. They are about awe and stopping
men in their tracks in order to confront their own inability
or our own inability. With our mouths open, and they are to turn our eyes
to the great, the great, magnificent, one true
God whose name is Jehovah. Because he is the one who performs
these miracles. Elijah's just a conduit, but
it's God who's doing all these miracles. And no miracle happens
by coincidence. No miracle happens by coincidence.
Miracles do not rely on circumstances. And they don't need men to fix
things up to bring them to pass. You ask some of these phony word
of faith teachers who say they can do miracles and heal people,
why aren't you in the hospitals then? Because everything they
do is fixed up and fake, beloved. That's why. They can't. They
can't. They're frauds. But true miracles
are ordained by God. Think of this, even our salvation,
the fact that we're saved is a miracle. And that was ordained
by God, wasn't it? At the exact time that God ordained,
we were born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and we were given
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who had already
redeemed us 2,000 years ago at Calvary's Cross. We'd been loved with an everlasting
love from eternity and we had no clue. God lets us in on it,
doesn't he? And we're in awe and wonder by
the fact that he did that. So miracles are ordained by God
and they fall within the realm of God's providential dealings
with his people. To show forth the glories of
his person to his elect. All the miracles we see in the
Bible, they shine forth His glory, don't they? And they're for us
to be in awe about. The world's not in awe about
them. The world's not in awe at all about them. But we sure
are, aren't we? We sure are. With that in mind, let's read
2 Kings 6 1-7. And the sons of the prophet said
unto Elijah, behold, now the place where we dwell with thee
is too straight for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto
Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a
place there where we may dwell. And he answered, go ye. And one
said, be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And
he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when
they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling
the beam, the axe had fell into the water. And he cried and said,
alas, master, for it's borrowed. It was borrowed. And the man
of God said, where fell it? And he showed him the place.
And he cut down a stick and cast it in thither. And the iron did
swim. Therefore, said he, take it up
to thee, and he put out his hand and took it. Now the elements
that surround the losing and recovery of this ax head took
place all for the loss and recovery of this ax head. What we just
read fell out according to God's providence and his will. that we may even look now and
be in awe at what happened. An axe-hood swam, just right
there in that text before us. An axe-hood, a piece of iron.
What does iron do when you drop it into a river? It goes right
to the bottom, doesn't it? Right to the bottom. Now the
axe-hood was lost. And it was lost where it could
not be found. where it could not be found.
And how it was lost was ordained. This young man was chopping down
a tree. And the axe had come off and
it went right into the River Jordan, fell into the River Jordan. And how it was recovered can
only be tributed to supernatural power and qualify as a miraculous
act of God. And we see this narrative comes
right after the departure of the leprous Gehazi. He's left the scene. And perhaps
because of it, the number of students in the prophet's school
had grown. Maybe word had gotten around that Gehazi did this,
and he was turned into a leprous man. And one might ask, what were
the school of prophets? Well, some people think right
away, oh, they were the prophet's children. That's not what they
were. The school of the prophets was
when the prophets or those who felt called by God would go to
the school. It wasn't a seminary. It wasn't a seminary. It's usually a prophet's house
where young men gathered to be taught by the prophet. And Elijah,
we seem to see through the teachings of Elijah that he spent a lot
of time with the sons of the prophets. You know what he was
doing? He's teaching up preachers, beloved. Isn't that wonderful?
He's teaching up preachers. God's raising them, and he's
teaching them. Because Israel was in a wicked time at that
time, fell into idolatry. But see, God will always have
a remnant, won't he? And there was three different schools in
three different places. And he went around and taught
at these places. And one cannot be taught to be a prophet any
more than one can be taught to be a preacher. You have to be
called. It's a calling of God. And there's
no more prophets anymore. People who say there's prophets,
they're lying. They don't know the scriptures. There's no more
prophets. There's preachers, there's evangelists, there's
teachers, but there's no more prophets. And if one among these young
men were ordained to be a prophet, it was an appointment made before
the foundation of the world by God. Turn if you would to Jeremiah,
Jeremiah chapter one. So if one of these men were to
be ordained to be a prophet, it was done before the foundation
of the world. He was chosen by God to be that. Look at this in the first chapter
of Jeremiah. We have proof of it right here.
And as I said, there's no more prophets nowadays. There's preachers,
and they're ordained by God to go forth to wherever he plants
them. I am in the place of God's footstool. I'm in Elmont, Oregon. I'm at
Oregon. I'm at Michigan. I'm thinking
Oregon because Vicki just got back. My part of the footstool,
Vicki wrote me and she said, enjoying my time in the western
part of God's footstool. after the Sunday's message. Well,
now she's back in the eastern part of God's footstool. But isn't that true? We're here?
I'm planted here in the, well, aren't we considered, are we
considered Midwest or Mideastern? I don't know what we're considered.
We're like a middle state, aren't we? Midwest? Okay. I'm planted in the Midwest
of God's footstool. There you go. Now look at this,
look at Jeremiah here, Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 4 to 9. Then the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Behold, now this is God speaking, Behold,
I formed thee, he's talking to Jeremiah, before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. How long's God knowing him for?
How long's God knowing us for, for maternity? This is so comforting. And before
thou comest forth out of thy womb, I sanctify thee, and I
adjoin thee a prophet unto all nations. Then said I, O Lord
God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the Lord
said unto me, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that
I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not
afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith
the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand
and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I
have put my words in thy mouth. My, oh my. Let's go back to 2
Kings now. So if any of those young men
in that school were to be prophets, it was ordained by God. If any
of those young men were to be preachers, it was ordained by
God. If any of those young men were to be teachers, it was ordained
by God. And whatever else they did was ordained by God, right? But we see in verses one and
two that the school, the prophets, the building had now become too
small. Perhaps after what happened to
Gehazi, more people came to the School of Prophets because it
appears here in the text here that there's more people than
can fit in the building. Look what it says here in verses
1 and 2. And the young man comes to him
and says, there's more trees by Jordan, by the River Jordan.
We could build there. But notice he will not do this.
They will not do this without talking to Elijah first. without
talking to the Prophet first. Look at this. And the sons of
the Prophet said unto Elijah, Behold, now the place where we
dwell with thee is too straight for us. Let us go, we pray thee,
unto Jordan, and make thence every man a beam. And let us
make a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
The Hebrew word there for dwell, you know what it means? It means
to sit. To sit. to remain still. So this was a place where they
could come and they could sit and remain still. And where were
they sitting? Where do we sit? At the feet
of the Prophet, don't we? At the feet of the Prophet of
all Prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ. They were sitting and
getting instruction from Elijah. He was teaching them the things
that he knew. But they were also living there too. Oh my, may the feet of Christ
be our dwelling place, where we sit. And notice the words
with thee in verse one. This brings forth that Elijah
was the teacher, and we see the respect and reverence that these
young men have for him, for the prophet. And they ask with these
words, we pray thee. Do we not go before the Lord
before we do things and say, Lord, if thou will, go before
me. Go before me. We're gonna see
in Exodus. Turn if you would to Exodus 33.
Oh my. Exodus 33. The words with thee
in verse 1 brings forth again that Elijah was the teacher and
they had great respect for him. These young men did not want
to go and do anything without the approval of Elijah. Look
at here in Exodus chapter 33. Look at this. This is magnificent.
You know that Moses did not want to go forth with the children
of Israel unless God went with him. You know, every time I get in
the pulpit, I pray that God go before me. Every time, whether it be
Sunday school, or whether I get in the pulpit, or whether it
be Wednesday night, I always pray, Lord, go before me. I don't
want to get in this pulpit by myself. Not at all. Look at this. This is marvelous.
Exodus chapter 33, verses 12 to 17. And Moses said unto the
Lord, that's Jehovah, See, thou sayest to me, bring up this people.
And thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me.
Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name." Look at that. He told
Moses, he said, I know you by name. How does he know him by
name? How long has he known him by
name? Well, he knows him by name because he's one of his sheep.
And he's known him by name since eternity. Since before the foundation
of the world, when the Father gave him to Christ. I know thee
by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Isn't that
what we heard said to Noah? Thou hast found grace in my sight. Do you know what? Every one of
us who are believers, we found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Isn't that amazing? all through Jesus Christ our
Lord. The same person that Noah found grace through, the same
person that Abraham found grace through, the same person that
David found grace through, oh my, the same person that Moses
found grace through, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I have found grace in thy sight, why even question it, right?
Oh my, the flesh, the flesh, the flesh. Show me now thy way,
that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and
consider this nation, that this nation is thy people. And he
said, look at this, what's the answer to that? My presence shall
go with thee. Oh beloved, let us pray for God's
presence to go with us. It does, but let us pray for
it too. Lord, please go before me in
anything I do. Please go before me. May your
presence go before me. Oh my. May your presence go before
me. He said, my presence shall go
with thee. Remember, there was a pillar
of fire at night and a cloud by day. That's Christ, beloved,
with them. Then there was a rock that followed
them all through the desert. Oh my, and I will give thee rest. Look at that. Oh, who's resting,
beloved? It's only in Christ, isn't it?
It's only in Christ. And he said, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. Look at that. If you
don't go with us, Lord, don't even take us up there. My, isn't
that what we pray? Don't let me go somewhere by
myself, Lord. Please go before me. Please go
before me. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight. Is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing
also that thou hast spoken. For thou hast found grace. in
my sight, and I know thee by name." That latter part right
there, we can all, every believer can say, I found grace in God's
sight, and he knows my name. And he's known our name, beloved,
from eternity. The whole reason Christ was sent
into this world was for those who have found grace in his sight
before the foundation of the world in Christ, who he knows
by name. Every single, think of this,
it's a number that no man can number, and he knows every single
one of us by name. Do you know, Zay and I were talking
this morning, do you know even our names? Our parents didn't
pick our names by random. That was ordained by God, too.
That was totally ordained by God. What's your name mean again? Oh, I love it. Zane was telling
me his name means God is gracious. I said, mine's Wagon Wheel. But
I love that name. God is gracious. God ordained
that your name would be that, brother. Isn't that amazing?
Isn't that incredible? My oh my. It just makes me just
so amazed at how sovereign and how great our God is. Oh my. So we see then that the
sons of the prophets not only sought the approval of Elijah,
but we're going to see they want his presence with them too. Because
they're going to ask him to come with them. They don't want to
go by themselves. Just like we don't want to go
without God, right? We don't want to go anywhere
without the prophet. Who's the prophet? Christ, right?
He's prophet, priest, and king to his people, but he's the prophet. All other prophets pale in comparison
to him. He's God in the flesh. We're
just mere humans, right? You, me, and I, we're just humans.
The prophets that were of old, they were just humans. No, they
were. ordained by God, but they were
still just men with like passions like we are. We know that from
Elijah, remember? I'm the only one left. And God
says, I got 5,000 who've not bowed the knee to Baal. My, he'd
be shouting after that. My goodness. And also notice
that they were all of one accord. Also notice they were all of
one accord. Look at this. And the sons of the prophets said
unto Elijah, behold now, the place where we dwell with thee
is too straight for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto
Jordan, and take thence every man a beam. They were in unity.
They were all going to go and work on this place. They were
all going to work. Let us take a beam and let us
make a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, go ye.
So they were in total unity. Is not the body of Christ in
total unity? We want to go forth for Christ, don't we? How can
two be together except they be agreed, right? How can we go
side by side except we are in agreement? My. Now look in verses three and
four of our text. They're all of one accord and
they want Elijah to go with them. And one said, be content, I pray
thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. And
so he went with them. And when they came to Jordan,
they cut down wood. We see in verse four, Elijah
went with them. He went with them, and they proceeded to cut
down trees. We read in verse five, my, that
one of the young students, he would fall on the tree, and his
ax head loose from the handle, went flying right into the river.
He probably watched it. He watched where it went, but
as far as he knows the proximity. But that axe had to just go right
to the bottom, won't it? And that Jordan's a deep river. Oh
my. Right into the murky depths of
the Jordan. Look at verse 5. And the young man, he's beside
himself. He's borrowed this axe. He's borrowed this axe, look
at this. But as one was failing the beam, the axe had fell into
the water and he cried and said, alas, master, for it was borrowed.
This man appears to be very poor, very poor. And it grieved the
young man to lose the axe head. Number one, he couldn't do any
more work. And number two, it wasn't his own. He had borrowed it of his neighbor
and now he's grieved, now he's grieved that he's lost the axe
head. And it would appear that he's too poor to purchase an
axe for himself. So being of an honest disposition,
he's distressed now because he's lost his friend's axe head. which he borrowed. Now let's
see in verses six and seven, Elijah asked where it fell. And notice here, notice the matter
of factly as this, notice the matter of fact of this, these
words. Like an ax head swims every day. It's just incredible the way
it's, it's incredible, but it's just told matter of factly. Look
at this. And the man of God said, where
fell it? Where'd it go? And he showed him the place,
and well, he went and cut down a tree, stick, tree in Hebrew,
and cast it in thither. And the iron did swim. Well,
it just swam. Oh my goodness. What would we do if we saw an
ax head swimming? Yeah, amen, brother, what exactly,
what is going on? Just a matter of fact, and the
ax head did swim. Oh, Elijah's here. Yeah, the
ax head's swimming. Oh my goodness. Therefore, he
said, take it up to thee. It must have swam right over
to him, right? Because all he had to do was
reach down and take it. And he put out his hand and took
it, look at that. Swam right into his hand. An
axe head, an iron axe head. Notice how amazing this miracle
of the swimming axe head is. Again, it's spoken of in matter
of fact language, isn't it? We're told the iron did swim. This is about fourth and verse
seven. Just as the young man, he was told to pick it up, and
he just went and picked it right up. How far it swam, we're not
told. But I'll tell you what, a flying
axehead would go a pretty good distance, wouldn't it? And when
it hit the water, you'd hear, plunk, wouldn't you? Well, I
ain't never finding that axehead again. Oh, my. And he did it without any fanfare
in the text. Have you noticed that too? The
son of the prophet just reached down, the young man just reached
down and picked it up. There's no... Guys, look at this! Look at this axe head floating!
There appears to be none of that, does there? Oh my, this young man, he must
have been amazed. He probably thought, that thing's
gone. But you notice he cried out to the master? You notice
he cried out to the prophet? Who do we cry out to? The prophet. The one true prophet. The one
who is the prophet of prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us remember always as
believers, these young men, they also knew the source of the recovery.
The reason it probably didn't shock this young man is because
he knew what Elijah had done in the past and what God had
done through him, right? So it probably didn't shock him.
Probably didn't shock him. They knew who the source of the
recovery was because Elijah had been used to the Lord in several
miracles, and it was the Lord who did this. Elijah, again,
it's just a conduit. The power comes from God. The
miracle comes from God. And remember too, this is appointed
by God to occur. To occur. Now, one might ask, how is Jesus
Christ typified here in this miracle? How is he typified in this miracle?
Well, let's consider our text once again, keeping in mind that
our Lord proclaimed, right, that this book right here was all
about him. And during the time of his life,
the whole New Testament wasn't written, right? But he said,
the law and the prophets, they testify of me. And we know, we
know the New Testament testifies of Christ too. It's a hymn book,
right? H-I-M, it's all about Christ. It's a hymn book. It's all about Christ. He said
again, the law and the prophets, they testify of me. And the Old Testament proclaimed
him. And again, we know the New Testament
does as well. And the wonderful book called
the Bible testifies of Christ. Testifies of Christ. Let's consider
first that this passage speaks of the church, all the born again,
blood washed saints of God, as it is expanding in need of a
larger place to meet and be sought. Look at this, let's read this
again. And the sons of the prophets said unto Elijah, behold now
the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us,
too small. Who adds to the church daily?
God does, daily. We might not see it here in Almont,
But God is adding throughout the world, right? His people daily. That's why
we send the message all out the world, don't we? And we just
leave it in God's hands. And I pray, and I know you're
praying too, that God would add to the fellowship here too, if
it be as well. But that's in His hands, isn't it? We don't
have to stress out about it. God has who He wants here right
now. And if he sees fit to add to it, well, that's a blessing,
right? But let us enjoy each other while we're here. Fellowship,
sweet fellowship we have. But God is adding to the church
daily. And let us consider that this
first, this passage speaks of the church, all the born again,
blood washed people of God. As God adds to the church, the
church is expanding. It's growing bigger. You need a larger place to meet
and be taught. And note this occurs out of necessity,
not church planting. Have you noticed that too? It wasn't because, well, we need
another school over there by the Jordan, Because this one's
already full, so we need to make another one. No, they all went
there. It wasn't a result of church planting. It was a result
of God giving the increase. There was nothing conjuring up.
They didn't have to invent ways to get people in. They just came. They just came. They didn't say, well, let's
build a giant building and we're going to fill it. No, only God
will fill it, if he pleased to do that. So let us remember that everyone
who God's ordained is here, even tonight, even listening in, right? And then on Sunday, everyone
who God's ordained is going to be showing up. Isn't that wonderful?
It's wonderful. And we get the fellowship together.
I think it's so sweet. It's so sweet. My oh my, the word being taught
by the prophet had resulted in more young men showing up to
hear. But again, it's the Lord who adds to the church daily.
It's God who does that, Acts 247. Second, let us consider
that we have another aspect of church in these young men, as
well as the prophet Elijah, because they were of one mind. Look at
this. Let us go, we pray thee, verse
2, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and
let us, notice the us, make us a place where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one
said, Be content, I pray thee, to go with us, and go with thy
servants. And he answered, I will go. They're
of one accord. The true gospel church is of
one accord. It's of one accord. We are here
for the furtherance of the gospel. That's why we're here. And we
get the blessing out of the gospel going forth from here. We get
the blessing of fellowship together, friendships, love with the brethren,
hearing the gospel, rejoicing with one another, bearing one
another's burdens. What a privilege, what an honor
to be together. So they wanted Elijah to come
with them when they built a bigger building. And again, it's out
of necessity. It's out of necessity. And they
wanted a place where they could all gather together and hear
the word. Sit under Elijah's feet, sit at his feet. Well,
the church is where you will find the prophet, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is where you'll find the
prophet, through the preaching of the word, through the gospel. And when John saw Christ revealed
on the Isles of Patamos, what did he see? He saw seven candlesticks,
and who was in the midst of them? Christ. Well, they represented
the church, the different churches. God's people, the elect of God,
not the buildings, but the people. We have a wonderful building
that we have, but it's not the building that gives us fellowship,
is it? It's each other. It's each other. It's being with
each other. And we know that the Lord said, if two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
He's right here tonight with us. Isn't that wonderful? We
have that promise from him. And everywhere else his gospel
is being preached. He's right there with them. He's
in the midst of them. It's amazing, Matthew 18, 20.
And then we find these words in the passage, iron, lost, fell,
Jordan, trees, found, and we find a dead thing made alive.
It's swimming. Isn't that incredible? Dead thing made alive, brother.
Oh, my. What were we? We were dead. We were graveyard dead in trespasses
and sins, weren't we? Oh, we were. So it takes no stretch
of the imagination for a believer to see these words apply to the
gospel. We'll look at them in no particular
order, but rather in terms of the story of salvation. First,
we have the description of an axe head. Look at this. Description of an axe head here.
But as one must fall on a beam, the axe head fell into the water
and he cried and said, last master, for it was borrowed. An axe head,
an iron axe head. Axe heads were made out of iron.
Iron is from the earth. It's found in many environments
and materials. It's found in the dirt of the
earth. and goes from the element of
ferrite, it must be taken from the earth and formed by skilled
hands to eventually turn it into the product of iron. Needs to
be worked upon. Man was formed in the elements
of the earth, weren't we? From dust thou art, to dust thou
shall return. We're made of the earth. Iron
is often used in language to metaphorically describe hardness,
coldness, unreasonableness, rebelliousness. These are all elements of the character of man, psychologically and of our rebellious
humanity. cold, hard, rebellious, unreasonable. And iron comes to its singularity in a forge,
formed by fire and heat. Humanity came to be what it was
in the fires of judgment against sin in the garden, beloved. dead in trespasses and sins. And finally, iron is inanimate.
Without life, it's not a living thing. It's stone. What does God take out of us?
A stony heart. Gives us a heart of flesh now,
doesn't he? A heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. And fourthly, thirdly, the iron,
or secondly, the axe head was lost in the fall. Guys fall on
the tree. There goes the axe head into
the water. Humanity became lost in the fall
of Adam. Thirdly, the iron fell into Jordan. It's often said that when we
cross from this life into glory, we're crossing the Jordan. The Jordan is symbolic of death,
men. When we fell, we died spiritually.
And the result of sin, we begin to die physically. See, before the fall, man was
a living soul. But as a result of the fall,
now the wages of sin is what? Death. So now man begins to die
physically. And we're born, the scripture
describes us as dead in trespasses and sins. And fourthly, the iron
was lost. It's lost in the Jordan, isn't
it? And it's a true thing that the
value of a thing grows more and more when it cannot be found.
The reason things become valuable is you can't find them as much
anymore. And there arises an urgency here.
When we lose something and cannot find it, this urgency may be
seen here in the words The words of our Lord, as he said, that
any man would leave the ninety and nine safe sheep in search
for the lost one. Matthew 18, verses 11 to 13,
the scripture declares this. For the Son of Man has come to
save that which was lost. That which was lost. How think
ye, if a man having a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone
astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into
the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? So if he's
lost one of his sheep, does he not go seek it? Well, good shepherd
will. And if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the
ninety and nine which went not astray. He rejoices in finding
that lost one. And the one who lost the iron
axe head, he knew where it fell. He knew where it fell. But it
was enwrapped in death in the Jordan. He couldn't go find it.
He had no clue where it was. He knew the proximity of where
it fell. But he couldn't go in the murky
waters of the Jordan and find it. So what does a young man do?
He cries to the prophet for help. Who do we cry to when we need
help? We cry to the prophet, don't
we? The Lord Jesus Christ. This young man could not find
it or retrieve it, and if it was to be found, God had to find
it. God knew where it was. Let's read 2 Kings, verses 5
to 7. God must do the finding. But
as one was felling a beam, the axe had fell into the water,
and he cried and said, Alas, master, for it was borrowed.
And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the
place, and he cut down a stick and cast it thither, and the
iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up
to thee, and he put out his hand and took it. Note that the man of God, he
doesn't drag the river, does he? Oh, let's get some nets and
drag this river and find this axe head. He doesn't do that,
does he? He doesn't drag the river. He doesn't use grappling
hooks. He doesn't reroute the waters
so that it would dry up a little bit and then the water would
go through. No, he doesn't do that. He doesn't even call on the iron
to come up, does he? No, he goes and he cuts down
a stick, which is actually a tree. He cuts down a tree. You know
our Lord is often referred to as a tree in scripture? Turn
if you would to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. Our Lord is often referred
to as a tree. A tree. Psalm 1 verses 1 to 3. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day
and night. This is speaking of Christ, beloved. 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 doth shall prosper. Now not everything we
do prospers, does it? But whatever Christ does prospers. Everything he does prospers,
and he's like a tree. It says there, verse three, and
he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water. And that's
rivers of living water. So I ask you too, Lord, I ask
you too, beloved of God, was not our Lord Jesus Christ cut
down? Was he not cut down? Scripture says in Isaiah 53,
eight, he was cut off from the land of the living. Daniel prophesies
that the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. Daniel
9, 26. Cut off. Could this tree not
also represent his cross or his crucifixion? Where was the tree cast? It was
cast into Jordan, into death. And that by the prophet himself. Elijah cast it in. He pictures
Christ, beloved. Did not our Lord by Himself enter
into death? By Himself? Did He not die in
our room and place? Was it not His choice? He did
it willfully, didn't He? Hebrews chapter 2, I'll read
this, says, In verses 14 to 16, for as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, so God became a man. That's through death. Death. Death is our substitute, beloved.
That through death, he might destroy him that hath the power
of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who, through
fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
That was us. Now God's people don't fear death.
We don't know how the Lord's going to take us out. We often
wonder about that. But we really don't have to wonder
that. He's already got it planned out. But we know that when we breathe
our last breath, we're going to be with our King. And it says, verily he took not
on him the nature angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
God became a man and then was cut down. And when he was cut down, he
made an end of our sins, beloved. He made an end of them. I was
listening to a preacher today and he said what I say all the
time in the messages. God, he looks at us, he doesn't
see Wayne, he doesn't see Zane or Dave or Linda. He sees Christ. Isn't that amazing? That's absolutely
incredible. Brian, he looks at you and sees
Christ. But it's true. That's why you
don't remember our sins, because we're clothed in that perfect,
spotless righteousness of Christ. And all our sins were imputed
to him, and he bore them all. He paid everything God demanded
for our sins. We say, hallelujah, what a savior.
And what's the result? What's the result of Christ dying
for our sins? Well, the Holy Spirit regenerates
the dead, doesn't he? The dead spiritually. This inanimate
object is now swimming. Swimming is a living activity.
Do you know that? Dead things don't swim. You throw
a piece of tree in the river, it don't swim. You throw a rock
in the river, it doesn't swim. You throw iron in the river,
it doesn't swim. What swims? Things that are alive. We were once dead, beloved. This
picture's us. We were once dead in trespasses
and sins. Now we're alive. We were like
that iron. Sunk down and seen. No one could
find us. We were so lost. We couldn't
even, we didn't even know we were lost. God knew where we
were. He brought us up out of that
miry clay, didn't he? Set us upon a rock. And that rock is
Christ. That rock is Christ. And the
word swim gives the inanimate, hard, cold, lightless thing,
the axe head, characteristics of animation. It swam! I don't know how, I don't know
how, but I believe what the Bible says, and it says it swam. And
that young man, all he had to do was bend over and pick it
up. The language declares that for
the iron to live, what a miracle. What a miracle that is. I don't
understand it, but I believe it. God can make the dead, spiritually,
alive. And you and I, beloved, are living
proof of that. We're living proof. And don't
forget, God is the, he's the commander, the sovereign one
over all elements. He can do things that we think
are absolutely impossible. We see it all through the scriptures,
the miracles. Look at Naaman, go dip in the river. Jordan's
just like any other river, right? Go dip in the river, do it seven
times, you're gonna come out clean. And then his servants
say, just do what the prophet says. What can that hurt? And
I'll tell you what, boom, seventh time. And then Gehazi, judgment
fall on him. He receives the leprosy of Naaman.
My goodness. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
3, verse 24. I found this real interesting. I was looking at this, and I
think I'm going to preach the message on this tree of life. You know
who the tree of life is in the garden? It's Christ. I was looking at this. Gil was
bringing it forth. Hocker was bringing it forth.
the tree of life, the way to the tree of life, is Christ.
How do we know that? Well, let's read this. Genesis 3 verse 24, So he drove
out the men, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep
the way of the tree of life. Now there's only one who's called
the way, and he's also called the life, right? He's the way,
the truth, and the life. And that's Christ. Now turn,
if you would, to Revelation. We're going to the very last
chapter of the Bible. So we're right there in the third
chapter of the Bible. Now we're going to the last chapter
of the Bible, Revelation 22. Revelation 22. Look at this. I think I'm going to do a message
on this tree. Lord willing. Revelation 22, verses 1 and 2. And he showed me a pure river
of water, of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and out of the lamb. And in the midst of the street
of it, and on either side of the river was the tree of life,
which bared 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Now turn, if you would, to Luke, chapter 23. Luke, chapter 23. And we see here that our Lord
calls himself a green tree. A green tree. Luke, chapter 23. My eyes were
just wide open when I saw this today. I just was rejoicing.
Because Christ is the tree. He's our life. He's our life
beloved. Look at this, Luke 23 verses
27 to 31. And there followed him a great company
of people and of women which bewailed and lamented him. So
they're crying over him. Look what the Lord says to them.
Look at this. He's on a mission, right? He
has come to save his people from their sins and he's heading there.
He's sent by God the Father to save his people. Look what he
says. But Jesus turned unto them and said, Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me. Don't weep for me. Why? Because he's going to
save his people from their sins. His face is set like a flint
to go to the cross, to redeem his people by the shedding of
his precious, precious, precious blood. Right? He says, weep not
for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. For behold,
the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the
barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never
gave suck. Then shall they begin to say
to the mountains, fall on us. When Christ comes back, man,
that's what people are gonna be saying. They're gonna be saying,
oh man, they'll be crying for the mountains to fall on them.
And to the hills, cover us. Look at this. For if they do
these things in a green tree, that's speaking of Christ. What
shall then be done in a dry? My, oh my. And now let's go back
to our text and finally note that in verse 7, the one to whom
the lost iron was so important is told to take it up. Who is
the lost children of God important to? God the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, right? And Holy Spirit, He regenerates
us and gives us life. And then we're gathered up when
we die. We're gathered up to glory. And
when the Lord comes back the second time, anybody who's left
alive that are believers, they're going to be gathered up too,
aren't they? They're going to be gathered
up. Look at verse 7. Therefore, said He, take it up
to thee. Take it up to thee. Where do
we go? We get taken up to glory, don't we, when we die? Right
up to glory. That's where we go. And he put
out his hand and he took it. Who receives us when we go into
glory? God. The Lamb. The one who bled and
died for us, beloved. The saved sinner is also given
to the church while they're on this earth, that they might be
used for that which they were made for and ordained for. My oh my. The widow of Nin, Christ
returned her son after he raised him from the dead. The family
of Lazarus, our Lord said, loose him and let him go. Let him go
be with his family. To Jairus, after he had raised
his daughter, Christ said, give her something to eat. Elijah tells the young man, take
it up. And what does he do? He took it up. He took it up. Swimming iron. What a picture
of a lost sinner, eh? Oh my, what a picture of a lost
sinner. Glory be to God. Amen and amen. Brother Dave, can you close us
in prayer?