Turn with me, if you will, to
Second Kings, the book of Second Kings. I receive literally hundreds
of letters every week that I try to answer with care. Two weeks
ago, I received a letter from a man. I have no idea who he
is. He lives in Great Britain. And he asked me if I would explain
to him the significance of the story related in 2 Kings 6, verses
1 through 7. I turned and read it, and I said
to him, let me give it some thought, and I will get back to you. And
I've had this passage on my mind now for two weeks, and trying
to study and seek a message from God in this text, and I believe
I have it. 2 Samuel 6, verse 1. And the sons of the prophets
said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with
thee is too straight, too small for us. Let us go, we pray thee,
unto Jordan, and take thence every man of being, and let us
make us a place there, a place 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. Verse
four. So he went with them, and when
they were come to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was
felling a bean, the axe head 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 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 there are many who find this
story incredible. They say that just can't be believed. They laugh at those of us who
believe this book is indeed the inspired word of God, complete,
perfect, without error, without misstatement of any kind. Yes,
God said the iron did swim. Now what do you reckon that means?
That means the iron did swim. I love what Brother Johnny Bell
said one time. Somebody asked him, he said,
you don't believe that myth about the whale swallowing Jonah, do
you? He said, I sure do. He said, if God said that Jonah
swallowed the whale, I'd believe it. We believe what God says
in his word. And we leave it to others to
stumble and trip and fall over these things that are blessings
to us. The iron did swim. There are others who look at
this passage and they are just as vehement in declaring that
the word of God is inspired and the iron did swim as we are,
and yet they have no idea why it swam. They don't have any
idea what the passage means. Certainly, this story in the
life of God's prophet Elisha demonstrates the power of God
and his protection of his people, his provision for his people,
and his care for his people. But is that all we're to learn
from this event? Certainly not. There's more,
much, much more than that to be gleaned from this passage.
Our Lord gives us the key that unlocks this text and all the
events of the Old Testament in the book of Luke, chapter 24.
Turn there if you will. Look at it with me one more time.
I want you to look at two very important passages. These two
passages unlock all the mystery of the Old Testament. They unlock
for us the mystery of that which is written in the law of God,
of the ceremonies of the law, the commandments of the law,
the curses of the law, and they unlock for us the mystery of
every event in history recorded in the Old Testament. Lindsay
has been teaching from Galatians. You'll remember in Galatians
4, Paul tells us that the events in Genesis 16 through 21 are
an allegory, an allegory, a thing that took place in history, a
thing that actually took place in time. But it took place not
to be used as, it took place to be an allegory of law and
of grace, a picture of salvation by the grace of God. Here in
Luke 24, our Lord is walking with two of the disciples on
the road to Emmaus after the resurrection. And as he walked
along with them, he opened their understanding and opened to them
the Old Testament scriptures. Now look at what he says in verse
25. Then said he unto them, O fools and slow of heart, to believe
all that the prophets have written. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses,
that's Genesis 1. And all the prophets, going all
the way through the book of Malachi, he expanded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. Now that obviously does
not mean that as our Lord walked along in this one event, on this
one particular occasion, that he opened to the disciples an
understanding of every detail in all the Old Testament scriptures. Not at all. This is what it means.
Our Lord Jesus pointed to the various things recorded in the
Old Testament. And he said these things talk
about me. Talk about me. How that I must suffer and die
and rise again and redeem my people. Look in John chapter
5. Here our Lord is addressing the
Pharisees. Religious folks, religious as all get out, they memorized
huge portions of scripture. Now don't misunderstand me. By
all means, memorize scripture. But as you memorize scripture,
take time to learn it, and ask God to teach you the meaning
of it. The memorization of Scripture in itself is utterly useless
if you don't learn of God what the Scriptures teach. These Pharisees
could recite perfectly chapter after chapter after chapter in
the Old Testament Scriptures, but they did not have a clue
as to what the Scriptures taught, which they recited time and time
again. Our Lord says to these Pharisees
in John 5.39, Search the scriptures. Search the scriptures. You do
well to search the scriptures. For in them you think you have
eternal life. You think you have eternal life
by your mere memorization of scripture. You think you have
eternal life by the scriptures. They are they which testify of
me. So our Lord tells us that the
thing we read back here in 2 Kings 6 speaks of Him. What does it
tell us about Him? The Old Testament Scriptures
come to life. They have meaning for us. They
are applicable to our lives day after day as we walk through
this world, only as we see that the Scriptures speak of Jesus
Christ, our Redeemer and our Savior. So what does a swimming
axe head have to do with the gospel of Christ? Let's look
at the passage before us, line by line, and let me show you.
Verse 1. And when the sons of the prophets
said unto Elisha, But behold now, the place where we dwell
with thee is too straight, too small for us. The very first
word in the chapter is the word and. It's a conjunction. It connects
what we read here with that which immediately preceded it. You
remember that Elisha had healed Naaman the Syrian, that great,
powerful, wealthy military man in Syria. He had healed him of
his leprosy. And Naaman had brought gifts
to Elisha, and Elisha said, I don't want your gifts. I didn't come
to get something from you. I'm here to give something to
you. God Almighty can't be bought. God's grace is free. Salvation
is free. It can't be obtained by something
you do or something you give to him. But after Naaman left,
Elisha's servant Gehazi, one of the prophets, was taken in
the flood of idolatry, wickedness, covetousness, and materialism
that had engulfed the entire land of Israel. Now Gehazi was
just like those among whom he lived. He was an idolater. He
had hid his covetousness and his greed for many, many years. But now it finally broke out. When Gehazi saw his opportunity,
he ran after Naaman the Syrian, this mighty, wealthy Syrian whom
he considered altogether unworthy of such mercy and grace as he
had obtained from the God of Israel. And pretending to be
seeking a gift for God, pretending to be speaking for God's servant,
pretending to be seeking that which would benefit God's prophets. Gehazi sought something for himself. Elijah said, is this the time
to receive? Is this the time to get silver
and to get clothes and lands? And for his greed, for his self-serving
greed, this false prophet Gehazi, whose God was his better, who
lived to get gain, was cursed of God and banished from the
school of the prophets as an unclean leper. Banished in uncleanness. There have been many times in
history when idolatry seemed, like it did in the day in which
Elisha lived, to utterly engulf the land. There have been many
times when idolatry has been so rampant, when ungodliness
has been so universal, that the cause of God itself seemed to
be in jeopardy. It seemed doomed for failure.
I think of the children of Israel while they're in Egypt. They'd
been there for 400 long, long years. God promised to bring
them out. He promised to deliver them.
He promised to bring them into the land of promise. But when
the time for deliverance had come, exactly according to the
word of God, after 400 years, the Israelites had decided that
God's promise had fallen to the ground, that God's purpose could
not be fulfilled, and they were settled down in Egypt. Then God
sent Moses. And God Almighty conquered the
land of Egypt through Pharaoh and his armies into the Red Sea
and brought Israel out of Egypt by the power of his outstretched
arm and by the blood of the Paschal Lamb. Elisha must have recalled
the time when Elijah came to Mount Horeb. In 1 Kings 18, you
remember Elijah had confronted the prophets of Baal. What were
there, 400 of them? And he stood alone. And he had
spoken for God, and God had shown himself mighty and glorious as
God alone. And then Jezebel sought Elijah's
life. She sought to kill him. And so
Elijah, that man who in 1 Kings 18 had a backbone as wide as a freeway. That man who would not bend or
bow or scrape to anybody trembles like a whipped pup, and he comes
back to horrible. Morose, dejected, in utter despair. He's decided now that the cause
of God is over. The battle has been lost. And
he comes back to Horeb, the place where it all began. This is the
place where God gave his law to Moses and the children of
Israel. And Elijah comes back to this place where everything
began, and he comes to report to God it's all over. But he
was mistaken. The Lord God told Elijah, I have
reserved to me 7,000 men in Israel. 7,000 men in Israel you don't
know anything about, who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and
my cause shall yet be triumphant. Those Jews who were carried away
into Babylonian captivity, as Jeremiah said they would be,
carried away for 70 years of captivity, carried away into
Babylon as captives because of their idolatry, surely must have
been brought to utter despair. They had settled down in the
land of Babylon. They had built shops in the land
of Babylon. And when the time came for them
to be delivered, they just did not believe it would really happen.
They had given up all hope that Israel would again thrive as
a nation. Then God raised up Cyrus and
brought Israel out, just like he said he would. Elisha must
have been dejected. He must have been a little discouraged
when he saw what was going on in Israel. When he saw Gehazi's
terrible fall, the idolatry of the land was manifest everywhere. Gehazi, that man whom he had
trusted so as his faithful servant, had proven himself to be among
the idolaters. And Elijah, Elisha must have
thought, Why go on? What's the use? Everything has
turned against me. God's word has fallen to the
ground. God's purpose will not prevail. But Elisha was mistaken. The idolatry of the land, and
Gehazi's deceit, his greed and his unfaithfulness, his betrayal
of his master's trust, his lying, his theft in the name of God,
did nothing to hurt God's cause, did nothing to injure God's kingdom,
did nothing to harm God's people, did nothing to frustrate the
purpose of God. I said, but preacher, aren't
these things injurious and hurtful? Not really. They just feel that
way. Not really. They just feel that
way. You see, the text that we have
here begins with that word, and. Begin with that word, and, because
the Lord God shows us connection. He doesn't say but, he says and. The sons of the prophets said
to Elijah, Elisha rather, forgive me if I get them mixed up as
I talk to you. You'll know I'm talking about Elisha. Behold
now, the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for
us. Gaza had fallen, Israel had fallen,
but the sons of the prophets only increased in number. Now
hear me, my brothers and sisters, hear me well. Hear me now. If you hear nothing else I say
this morning, hear this. All is well in Zion. All is well in the church and
kingdom of God. No matter how things appear to
our natural senses, no matter how things may appear to our
eyes, no matter how we may judge things politically, economically,
socially, and spiritually, all is well in Zion. The will of
God is secure. God Almighty will save His elect. The ransom to the Lord shall
yet come to Zion with shoutings of grace, grace unto it. Every chosen redeemed sinner
shall be saved and is being saved exactly according to the purpose
of God. Jesus Christ, our God and Savior,
is building His church. All is well in Zion. Now we have
here a mention of this prophet's school. We don't know much about
these sons of the prophets and their schools, but when we read
about the sons of the prophets here, Don't misunderstand what's
intended. The text is not identifying these
men as sons of prophets in a physical sense. It's not talking about
who their daddy was. But rather it is identifying
these as men who were taught by God's prophets. It refers
to the school of the prophets. Now we're told very, very little
about the school of the prophets. We don't know much else about
them except that they existed. One was found in Bethel, one
found in Jericho, and this one at Gilgal. It appears that the
prophets of God gathered around them men, probably young men,
whom they instructed in the things of God, teaching them Holy Scripture,
teaching them the truths of God's Word. Now this was not a Bible
college or a seminary like the ones I attended, not at all. This was a school of prophets.
Elisha was the teacher. The prophet of God was the theology
professor from whom these young men learned the things of God
and learned how to behave themselves as the prophets of God. When
I was in school, I had theology professors, and I had folks who
would teach you various things about preaching and pastoring.
But those fellows who did were, for the most part, men who had
never done it. The old adage is, those who can
do, those who can't teach. And nowhere is that more true
than in Bible colleges and seminaries. Elisha was not training young
preacher boys who wanted to be preachers. He was training prophets
who were prophets. He was training men who were
themselves established by God as prophets in the land. It is
a horrible, horrible, horrible injustice for anyone, any man,
to try to persuade another man to become a preacher or missionary,
to surrender to full-time Christian service. It's a horrible injustice. Those whom God Almighty sets
apart for the work of the gospel, He sets apart. And no man is
to think himself a preacher till God Almighty has made him one.
These prophets were men who were being taught by Elisha, this
older prophet, how to conduct themselves as God's prophets
and how to understand the Word of God. I think the best parallel
that I know of is the preacher school in Mexico. Brother Walter
Gruber started it 30 years ago, maybe more. We're in the process
now of helping them secure the property that's needed to have
a place to meet regularly. Those men who meet, I've been
there many times. Every time I go down, I set aside
a whole Monday to lecture to them the whole day. They're preachers. They're preachers. Almost all
of them. All of them are pastors of local
churches. And they come from many, many
miles away. Every Monday they make their
way into Merida and they sit down at the feet of Elisha. They sit down at the feet of
Walter Groover and his son Cody and are instructed in the things
of God. So do they ever graduate? No.
They don't ever finish. When a preacher has quit learning,
he's quit preaching. When he's quit studying, he's
quit preaching. These men sit and listen and
learn, and they go out to teach and proclaim the gospel. The
school of the prophets under Elisha had increased so greatly
in spite of the idolatry of the land, in spite of Gehazi's behavior. They were compelled to move somewhere
else because they were cramped for space. They said, look at
verse 1 again, verses 1 and 2. The place is too small for us.
Look at verse 2. Let us go, we pray thee, unto
Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us fit place there where we may
dwell. And Elisha answered, Go ye. All
right, go ahead. Now these prophets were ready
to work. to work with their own hands,
to build their place of residence. They were ready to put their
shoulders to the work, as believers should always do whenever there
is some work to be done for the cause of Christ. But they would
do nothing without Elijah's approval, without his direction. It was
not that they worshipped Elijah, or Elisha. It was not that they
were afraid of Elisha. That wasn't the case. They respected
him. They respected him. You see,
Elisha was the prophet God had given to them by whom they were
led and instructed. The prophet was that one by whom
God Almighty taught them the way and taught them his word. Look at verse 3. Elisha said,
Go ye. And one of them, one of these
fellows spoke up and said, Be content, I pray thee. Oh, Elisha,
please. And go with thy servants. And
Elisha answered, I will go. Not only did they seek Elisha's
permission to go, they wouldn't go a step without him. They wouldn't move without him. When one of these prophets said
to Elisha, be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants,
he was not simply being polite. He was expressing a deep sense
of need, not only for himself, but for the entire group. They
needed Elisha. They needed him. They said, I
don't need a preacher. I don't need a pastor. I don't
need a prophet. Oh, I believe I'd think about that again. Elisha
represented the word and voice of God to these men. They needed
him because they needed to hear from God. And God spoke to them
by Elisha. I need to hear from God as much
as ever I did. I had the privilege a couple
of weeks ago of sitting under the preaching of three faithful
men, men I admire and respect. And I went home every morning
and every evening. And I said, thank you, Lord,
that you continue to speak to me by the gospel. Oh, how I pray
God won't allow me to hear his word and not hear his word. These men needed him because
God spoke to them by him. Elisha represented to them the
word of God, conveyed to them the will of God, showed them
the way of God. Walking with Elisha, they were
in the path of blessing and blessedness, in the path of peace and protection,
in the path of instruction and direction, not from a man, but
from God. Certainly, the desire of these
prophets to have Elisha go with them was a stinging reminder
to the captives of Israel at this time that they were in the
mess they were in. They were engulfed in idolatry.
Their hearts were hardened. Their land was plundered. They were taken into captivity
because they refused to hear God's word by his prophet. Jeremiah spoke and they stuck
their fingers in their ears. Isaiah spoke and they stuck their
fingers in theirs. We won't hear this! We won't
have it. And they were brought into captivity
because of it. Blessed are those people to whom
God sends his word. I got a note yesterday from some
friends down in Franklin expressing again their gratitude to God
for sending them a preacher, someone to proclaim to them the
gospel of his grace. You see, God's word is the means
by which he reveals himself to us, by which he instructs us,
and his word is open to us by his prophets. When I hear the
prophet say to Elisha, be content, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. I can't help thinking of Moses'
prayer back in Exodus, when God sent him to deliver Israel out
of Egypt and carry them up into the land of promise across the
wilderness. And God commanded them to go.
Moses said, if thy presence go not with us, carry us not up
hence. And he answered and said, I will
go. Elisha was ready to go with them. You see, God's servants are men
ready to serve wherever they can, however they can, the people
of God and the cause of God. Elisha had plenty to do. You
read this book of 2 Kings and you'll see that this man never
lacked for something to do. But when they said, go with us
to build a house where we can dwell, where we can hear the
word of God explained to us, God's servant was ready to go.
God's servants are ready to do whatever they can to assist the
people of God and to assist the prophets of God wherever they
are. Faithful prophets. Hold up one
another's hands. And strengthen one another's
hands. And they're not afraid to get their hands dirty when
dirty hands are needed. The Apostle Paul. In the book
of Acts we see him on one occasion as he is shipwrecked with his
captors. His traveling companions, most
of them were his sworn enemies. They were taking him to execution.
But he's shipwrecked on an island, and the whole band is freezing
to death, wet, having been washed ashore from the troubled sea.
And Paul is gathering sticks to build a fire. This man, this
great man whom God used to write most of the New Testament, is
out gathering up firewood to build a fire. Here is Elisha
going into the woods to fell some trees. to build a school
for preachers. This man, through whom God worked
stunning miracles throughout his days, is ready to go cut
down some trees. He didn't think himself above
ordinary labor. He didn't think himself above
those other men who were doing the same thing. He didn't think
the mundane activity of taking an axe and chopping down trees
was beneath him. You see, godliness and spirituality
is not just reading your Bible and praying and singing hymns
and going to church. Not at all. Godliness and spirituality
is doing the will of God. It is consecration to our Redeemer. It is devoting yourself to His
cause, His glory, His gospel, and His people. Godliness and
spirituality often involve sweat and labor and dirt. They're far
more connected with common, ordinary things than most people imagine.
People think that spirituality is just sitting around reading
the Bibles. I knew a man several years ago
who had a heart attack. He's a preacher. And he thought
he was going to die. Doctors were sure he was going
to die. This has been 20 years ago. He's still kicking. Not
kicking high, but he's still kicking. And he's an old man
now. You know what he did? He just sat around and read his
Bible. About to die. I want to be in good spiritual
shape when I die. I want to meet the Lord, read
my Bible, and pray and preach. Godliness is walking with God
by faith in Christ, trusting his blood and his righteousness.
If that involves my responsibilities, providing for my family, that's
what godliness is. If that involves me taking time
to relax a little bit and pop my feet up in an easy chair and
watch a movie, that's what godliness is. Where would you want to be
when the Lord Jesus comes? Wherever I'm serving Him. Wherever
I'm doing His will. Wherever I'm doing what He's
put in my hands to do now. You got that? Now look at verses
4 and 5. So He went with them, and when
they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling
a bean, the axe head fell into the water. And he cried and said,
oh, my master, alas, master, for it was borrowed. While engaged
in noble work, in the work of building a preacher school, a
place where God's prophets could live and learn, while he was
engaged in the things that God would have him to do, this young
man experienced a horrible loss. He went into a great trial. He
had borrowed an axe from another man, and while he was working
away, the axe head flew off the handle and was hopelessly lost
in the murky, muddy waters of the Jordan River. Now, I don't
know about you, but I have commonly read this passage of Scripture,
and when I come to this passage, I thought to myself, what's the
big deal? It was just an axe head. Why was he so disturbed? Well, I thought those things
because I'd never stopped before to consider the plight this man
was in. Obviously, he was a very poor man, or he wouldn't have
had to borrow an axe. I mean, in those days, it wasn't
like something was rare for a fellow to have. If they lived, they
had to have an axe. They had to have some means to
get firewood. This man didn't have the means
with which to have his own axe, so he borrows one. By the loss
of this ax head, he had incurred a debt he couldn't pay. Now that
may sound strange in this day, but honest men are horrified
at such a thought. Honest men are horrified at such
a thought. This man was an honest man. He couldn't stand the thought
of now having a debt that he had no means with which to pay.
But most importantly, I think his expression seems to indicate
this. He was filled with grief. Filled with grief because there
was so much to do. He and his fellow prophets and
God's servant Elisha are out cutting down wood. They've got
this school to build. They've got these trees to fell.
They've got these logs to clean, put together. And here he is
in the midst of tremendous opportunity and tremendous responsibility,
and he's totally useless. Oh God, don't let me live to
be useless. I can't think of anything on
this earth more mentally distressing than a sense of uselessness. Uselessness. How often we've
been in this young man's position. The situation looked helpless,
but it wasn't. We thought things were bad and
getting worse, and nothing would stop the snowballing onslaught
of trouble and sorrow. And as far as we were concerned,
nothing could. But our extremities are but opportunities
for our God to show his greatness and his goodness. That's worth remembering. Our
extremities are but opportunities for our God to show His greatness
and His goodness. And we couldn't know it any other
way. As soon as this young man cried
out to Elisha, the prophet of God cut down a stick and threw
it into the water. He threw it into the very place
where the axe head was lost and the axe head swam to the surface. Look at verse 6. 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. What does the book say? With
God, all things are possible. Things which are impossible with
men are possible with God. With God, nothing shall be impossible. God Almighty can do anything
He will at any time. He can make iron
to swim like a dolphin. He can make iron to swim like
a dolphin. We can't. He can. Still, there was a man involved
in the work, wasn't there? And the man did the work by casting
a stick into the water. Why? Couldn't God make the axe
head swim without Elisha? Yeah, he could, but he didn't. He gave Elisha a great honor.
He caused Elisha to be an instrument by which he did that which was
impossible. He allowed Elisha to be an instrument
of delivering one of his own from great trouble. He allowed
Elisha to be the means by which comfort was given to another.
Oh, what a privilege. He cut down a stick and cast
it in feather and the iron did swim. Now, if you're in great
trouble, my brother, my sister, be of good cheer. Our God is
the God who can make the iron to swim. It's not needful for your eye.
Indeed, it is not best for your eye to know how he will do it.
It's best for us, in utter helplessness, to lift up our eyes unto the
hills from which cometh our help, to look to him who made the iron
to swim. Believe it. Trust it. Cast yourself upon him. Rest
on him. and see if he doesn't do it again.
Look at verse 7. Therefore said he, take it up
to thee. And he put out his hand and took
it. Now what would God the Holy Spirit
have us to learn from these verses of scripture? Let me give you
four things very quickly. First and foremost, We have in
this story a picture of God's salvation. The salvation of poor
lost sinners through the crucified Christ. Now, you might be scratching
your chin and saying, where did you get that? How did you find
that in there? Well, let's see. The word stick,
in verse 6, is the same word that in Esther 5.14 is translated
gallows. The gallows upon which Haman
was hanged. So the obvious reference is to
an instrument of death. There's a hint there that this
may have reference to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
turn to Deuteronomy chapter 21 if you will. Deuteronomy 21 beginning
verse 22. Let me show you this word again. Deuteronomy 21, 22. If a man
have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death,
and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all
night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that
day. Now watch this. For he that is
hanged is accursed of God, that thy land may not be defiled,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for inheritance. The word
tree here, it's the same word, stick, very same word. You remember
where this passage of scripture is quoted? It's quoted one time
in the word of God. We have it here in Deuteronomy
21, 23, and you have it again in Galatians 3, 13, where it
is written, Cursed. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Why did Elisha cut
down a tree and cast it into the murky waters of Jordan to
recover his axe head? Because there is no way by which
God Almighty can justify and save guilty sinners except by
the sacrifice of his darling son upon the cursed tree. Like
the axe head, we were lost. The place where the axe head
was lost was in the Jordan River, used constantly through the scriptures
as a symbol of death. And we were dead in trespasses
and in sins. As the axe head was lost in death,
so we were dead in our father Adam. As Elisha cut down the
tree and cast it into the water to recover the axe head, so I
preach the gospel to you. And what I'm doing is casting
into this muddy river of death called humanity, the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And when God Almighty is pleased
to bless His Word, He causes the dead to live again. By the blessing of God's Spirit,
when he opens the gospel, as that axe head was made to swim,
dead sinners are raised from death to life in Christ Jesus
the Lord by the gospel. Now notice this, the iron did
float. Is that what it says? No. Most of the modern translations
translate the word float. It's the wrong translation. Our
translation is exactly right. A dead corpse can float. I don't
care what you do to it. Throw it in the sea. After a
while, it's going to float to the top. Just a dead corpse.
But the scripture says here, the iron did swim. God took that
which was dead, inanimate, past feeling, incapable of anything,
and gave it life. Oh God, cause the iron to swim
today. Give life to dead sinners by
the power of your grace. Here's the second thing. This
passage is certainly designed of God to teach us that the Lord
our God cares for us. Do you reckon God cares for iron?
Do you reckon He's bothered with an axe head. If it's connected
with one of his own, he does. If it has any connection with
his people, he's concerned. John Newton expressed it in a
hymn so very well. If God in such a small affair
a miracle performs, it shows his condescending care of poor
unworthy worms. Though kings and nations in his
view are but as moats and dust, his eye and ear are fixed on
you, who in his mercy trust. 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. You remember what we read about
Peter? As he began to sink, his distress forced him to do
what he had not otherwise done. He cried, Lord, save me, I'll
perish. And the Lord saved him. The Lord
God cares for you, my brother. He cares for you, my sister. He redeemed you with the blood
of his darling son. He cares for you. Cast all your
care on him. Here's the fourth thing, our
third thing. God intervenes for the good of
his people. He intervenes in the affairs
of the world. He rules all providence for our
good and graciously, whenever needed, just steps right in the
path of time and changes the course of things for the good
of his own, causing the iron to swim. And the fourth lesson
is this. The Lord our God graciously restores,
refreshes, and revives His downcast children again and again. Here's
this man working, feverishly working, working for God, working
in the cause of Christ, doing things useful and suddenly he's
useless. He didn't lose his axe handle,
he had that in his hand. He lost the edge, he lost the
axe head, he lost the instrument of usefulness. He didn't lose
his knowledge of how to take an axe and fell trees. He knew
that very well. He just didn't have an axe to
cut with. He could do nothing without the
axe head. Once he saw his loss, he mourned it. It was a borrowed thing. He had
incurred a debt he couldn't pay. He confessed his plight to God's
prophet, Elisha. And he showed Elisha where he
lost the axe head. And the prophet cast in the cross,
cast in to his troubled soul, cast in to his troubled life,
cast in to his despair, cast in to his usefulness, the crucified
Christ. And the axe head swam to the
top. And Elijah said, take it. And he reached out his hand and
took it to himself. Have you lost your usefulness,
my brother? Have you lost your edge, your
heart cold and empty and hard? Come again to Christ. Look again to your crucified
Redeemer and God Almighty will revive your soul too. This is
what he says. Thus saith the high and lofty
one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in
the high and holy place, and with him that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, to
revive the heart of the contrite ones. They that dwell under his shadow
shall return. They shall revive and grow. Once, C.H. Spurgeon, as a young
man, was mightily used of God. When he was just a teenager,
he preached to thousands of people. Just a teenager. Thousands came
to hear him as he stood to preach the gospel of God's grace. His
congregation decided that they would rent I forgot whether it
was Exeter Music Hall or Surrey Gardens Music Hall, one of the
two. The largest place in London where people could gather. It
was unheard of in that day. These days, religious folks meet
in stadiums and coliseums everywhere. It was unheard of in that day,
never been done before. And they rented this huge, huge
music hall so that thousands, thousands could come and hear
the gospel at one time. Things were arranged and planned.
As he was preparing, Spurgeon stepped in and tested things
to see that he could be heard. He said, behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. Unknown to him, there
was a fellow up in the rafters working. And he heard the message,
just that message. Contacted Spurgeon the next week,
said God had given him faith in Christ. The first night of
the meeting, As Spurgeon was preaching, some jeering fool
cried, fire, fire! And of course the place was just
a stampede. People in panic were trampled,
two trampled to death. And Spurgeon was devastated. He just couldn't preach. He was
cast down in all the efforts of his friends to Encourage him
to comfort him or have no avail. He just couldn't preach. Two
weeks passed. He couldn't preach. And then
one Sunday morning, a text came to him. And he got up and went
to the pulpit. And he preached a sermon. I've
read it many, many times. I wish I could have heard it.
Wish you could hear it. and the ax head swam. This was
his text. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name that is above every name. May God be pleased this day for
you to make the iron to swim. Bring life to your soul, for
Christ's sake. Amen.