The Iron Sinking and Swimming

Turn to 2 Kings chapter 6.

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

While you're turning there, I guess I've got a couple questions.

!

I've had that happen.

And so if you've had that experience, then you might have a little in common with the man

that we're going to talk about tonight.

Go ahead and stand, if you will, with me.

We'll start reading chapter 6.

We'll read the first seven verses.

It says,

And he answered,

And one said,

And he answered,

So he went with them, and when they came to 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, 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.

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone that's here tonight, Lord.

I just ask that you would bless them for their faithfulness.

Lord, I just ask that you would work in our hearts.

Just let us glean what you have for us tonight.

Lord, I just ask that you would let me speak forth your truths found in Scripture.

I just thank you, and I love you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You can go ahead and be seated.

So with this being more of a Bible study tonight, that's kind of something I was doing.

And the Lord kind of had me going all sorts of different ways with this, and I think we finally got it settled tonight.

I was doing some studying, and the sons of the prophets, these were usually, these were kind of what I would consider for us to get an idea of would be like Bible college students.

These were young men who were devoted to learning Elijah and Elisha, and they wanted to be prophets, and they were kind of disciples, if you will.

And so being that I had gone to Bible college, I felt a little more kinship to this individual.

And the first thing I saw here was in verses 1 and 2, and I see the mission.

And we start off this chapter with a really good problem, growing pains.

They come to Elisha, and they're like, hey, you know, you could say our dorm, it's filling up.

We're cramped.

We need to expand.

And we know here at Plains about building projects, and there's always excitement.

You can hear the buzz, you know.

People are excited.

They're envisioning what could be.

There's also, with that excitement, a lot of times there's an expectation, right, that the project is just going to go flawlessly.

And, of course, you plan for things to happen.

You know, you want efficiency.

And the men, they got it all figured out.

They go to Elisha.

You know, Proverbs 29, 18 tells us where there is no vision, the people perish.

And they had a vision, you know.

I've been in a guy's dorm, and I remember we had 11 guys in that area, but we only had four showers.

So it was constantly a challenge.

Someone would leave their stuff in there, and you'd be like, hey, don't leave that stuff in here.

You know, and there was always sorts of button heads going on.

We only had one washer and dryer, so it was a fight to figure all that out.

So I can just imagine these guys are excited.

We need a place to build a new area.

And no doubt that these guys, they had divine guidance, wise counsel, clear direction.

We see here that they understood that it was going to take personal sacrifice.

There in verse 2, it says, every man a beam.

Everybody was going to grab those lumber after they'd cut them down and work.

It was a project that they were all on board with.

And they kind of understood what was going on.

I can kind of imagine them even singing, you know, we'll work till Jesus comes.

They're full of excitement.

Things are happening.

And Christ tells us in John chapter 9, verse 4, that we only have a limited time of work.

John 9:4

The Bible says that soon it'll be dark and there will be no time to work.

Paul writes to Galatians in chapter 6, verse 9,

And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

We know that there is work to do, and we've got to stay busy.

I think one of the phrases that came to my mind, and especially since I couldn't say it any better,

but the English cricketeer who turned missionary, C.T. Studd, he famously said,

One life will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last.

And these guys, what they were doing is building that place.

They wanted to learn, and everything, you know, this is good.

These first two verses, everything's kind of going the way that they want it.

In verses 3 and 4, I have the master.

We see that these workers were wise because they wanted their master to go with them.

They say in verse number 3, they say,

Any work independent from our master is a waste.

And beside that, Elisha would be somebody that you would want to be going with you.

In just 2 Kings, okay, we're in chapter 6.

In just 2 Kings up to this point, Elisha had already performed 11 miracles.

In 2 Kings 2, verse 14, he had parted the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:14

Chapter 2, verses 18 through 22, there was some poisonous water that he purified.

I kind of like this one personally, chapter 2, verse 23 and 24.

There were some youth mocking him because he was bald.

So some she-bears came up and got him, and I was like, hey, amen.

God doesn't cover his best furniture, by the way.

2 Kings 3, verse 16 through 25, he was able to dig ditches for water for Israel,

2 Kings 3:16–25

and they had victory over the Moabites.

Chapter 4, verses 1 through 7, he provided the widow with oil.

You know, they all ran and got the empty dishes and kept filling it up.

Chapter 4, verse 18 through 37, he raised the dead son of the Shunammite woman.

Verses 38 through 40 of chapter 4, he healed the poisonous pottage.

Again, I can kind of feel that was another time he had the sons of the prophets,

and they went out and they were putting a stew together,

and someone had said that he grabbed some stuff.

He didn't know what it was.

They tossed it in, and people were getting sick.

And so he healed that.

I can, you know, you're kind of a knucklehead in Bible college.

2 Kings 4, 42 through 44, he multiplied the loaves.

2 Kings 5, we see that he healed the leper Naaman.

2 Kings 5, verses 25 through 27, he cursed Jehazi and gave him that skin disease.

2 Kings 5:25–27

So this guy has some experience, some talents behind him,

and no wonder they would want him on their side.

And I believe in verse 4 there, it says that, well, verse 3, he says he will go.

Verse 4, it says,

So he went with them, and when they, plural, I believe that's Elisha included,

came to Jordan, they, plural again, cut down wood.

I believe he was right there in the thick of it with their growing pains.

So many times in our growing pains, God is there too with us.

Sometimes when things are clicking, we may not always notice.

But then that's what happens.

I can tell you one time when I was working at a previous job,

I was a stump grinder.

I just grind out stumps, and I pretty much hated that job.

But every day I would try to beat my record

and try to get so many stumps done.

And I was blessed one day that LES had done a line clearance,

and there was 40 stumps.

And I was like, oh, man, I'm going to beat everybody

because no one's in the top 40 stumps.

And I remember I was grinding away, grinding away,

and I had a, we called it the tree trailer.

It was not a dump trailer, but I had that, it had three-foot sides,

and I had this thing just heaping.

There was so much room I couldn't even get the stump grinder back on there.

So I knew I was going to have to go back and then hand unload it with a pitchfork.

That's why I did not like this part of the job.

And so I drove back.

It was starting to get dark.

And when I came back to the site, which was kind of out in the country,

I could not find the key, just this little piece of metal,

to get the stump grinder going.

It's dark.

My back is sore.

I'm hungry.

I want to go home.

And I can't find the key.

And it just kind of ruined my attitude.

I let that happen.

In verse 5, this is what happens.

We see the mishap.

I can imagine these guys at work.

You have one crew over here, and they're felling down the trees.

The trees are coming down.

You have another crew coming in.

They're bucking it up.

They're taking all the limbs and branches off.

They get carried off to another crew,

and they're getting the dimensions for the lumber.

They're cutting it up.

And you have another crew who are setting the beams and getting everything built.

And I can just imagine everything's just running smoothly,

and then you hear a cry.

You hear this, alas, is the word that he uses.

And we don't really use that word, so I had to look it up.

I was like, what is this alas?

And that's an expression for pain, for grief, for distress.

I've made a similar sound to that before.

If you've ever wrecked your knuckles when you're working,

and you're, ah, you know, it's just, ah.

If you've ever maybe had an accident, and you damaged something,

you're like, ah, you know, you're like, I can't believe I did that.

One time while I was stump grinding, we were taking down these bushes,

and it was on kind of like a waterway,

and there was like a six-foot drop-off where the, like a retaining wall.

And I was getting, I was working,

and the machine, every now and then it would kind of like do this jump,

and it rolled out of my hands.

And as the cutting wheel is turning, it hit that wall,

and it bounced straight up.

And so I'm underneath it, and I just see this machine coming at me.

I roll, and it goes right off the six-foot wall.

I made that same, ah!

You know, it's like my boss is going to kill me.

Well, this is what the problem this young man was having.

He yells, alas!

You know, it was borrowed.

It wasn't his axe.

This time, during this time in Israel,

you could basically say they're kind of at like the Bronze Age.

They don't have the type of equipment readily available.

It's not like he could have, oh, broke the axe,

I'll just drive down to Menards, get a new one.

That wasn't the case.

I mean, here he is, he's borrowed this,

and again, if he's a Bible college student,

I was living on Pop-Tarts and ramen.

I had no money to borrow tools and equipment,

but now you've broke it.

I can imagine the pain, the grief,

the distress that he's going through.

I think it's interesting that Scripture doesn't allude

to him being negligent.

He wasn't using the equipment improperly,

but sometimes things happen.

It was an accident.

You know, sometimes in our lives,

when we have these growing pains,

things happen.

It's part of life.

It's part of being human.

You know, not only is it a part of being human,

it's a part of being Christian,

because you're going to get tested.

And if you're a Christian who's trying to strive after God

and go above and beyond,

then you're asking for it.

And that stuff happens.

And those are the opportunities that we have for growth.

And so this happens.

I can understand that he's feeling distressed.

And so many times I know in my life,

I get that way.

I get discouraged.

I kind of want to have a pity party.

I want to pout.

I want to look at how everything is so much better

for everybody else.

But if you noticed in our text,

he didn't do that.

He says he goes to the master.

So verses six and seven,

we see the miracle.

Our young man went to his master, Elisha,

to solve the problem.

And I think we need to take a lesson from that.

Elisha calmly asked,

where fell it?

When it says that he cut down a stick in verse six,

behind that word,

there's a sense of crafting.

It's not like he just walked over,

grabbed a stick.

This is my personal belief.

So this,

you know,

this is the EDB version.

But he's making a new handle for that axe

because it's broke.

What good is an axe head without a handle?

And so there's probably some time there

to craft a good axe handle.

And I can just imagine,

if I were in this young man's shoes,

I'd be like,

Elisha,

please stop whittling.

I borrowed this from my dad

and I do not have money.

I barely pay my tuition.

I,

come on,

man,

I need help.

And so many times,

though,

we get like that with God.

We don't understand

why he's not working in our time.

And you know,

most of you know,

I've had a pretty big event in my life

where I didn't understand,

you know,

what God was doing.

Basically,

starting in 2019,

my whole life

was starting to really unravel.

The church that I was served at

and I was a member of for a long time,

I got really hurt there.

And it was really hard to see

what God was doing.

So I leave.

I go to another church.

And a couple of years later,

my dad is killed.

Again,

I'm wondering,

what are you doing,

God?

You know,

I went to Bible college.

You know,

I go to church.

You know,

I was helping as the assistant.

What is going on?

And this is what this young man

is feeling like.

But then we see the miracle.

He asked where it fell.

So the young man took him to the place.

He said,

this is where it went.

Elisha,

who'd been crafting this stick,

he throws it in.

And we see a miracle.

The iron floats.

The Bible literally says it swims.

This is just me again.

So this is just my preference.

I got to put that out there.

I personally believe

when he threw that stick

into the water,

the iron came up.

I personally believe

that axe became whole.

You might be thinking,

oh,

that's a stretch.

Well,

iron swam.

So,

you know,

that's what I personally believe.

And then I think it made sense

to the young man.

Wow.

You know,

it's whole.

I bet you it was a better handle

than it was before.

And you might be thinking,

man,

Brother Ethan went through

his points really fast.

Well,

we're getting into the meat of it now.

But the message,

you might be wondering,

all right,

Brother Ethan,

this is a neat,

you know,

little tidbit here.

What's it mean?

You know,

are we not supposed

to loan out our tools?

On the flip side,

are we not supposed

to borrow tools?

Oh,

I got it.

You know,

don't build on waterfront property.

You know,

hire professionals

because you get what you pay for.

You know,

those aren't what

I got out of this.

I used to read through Scripture

and I think it's a good thing.

But I would always try

to figure out,

what does this have to do

with me?

What can I learn from this?

What can I apply

into my life?

You know,

what are the do's and don'ts here?

And I think those are good things

to look for.

And it really wasn't

until recently,

which I feel

like a

moron,

but,

you know,

God's word

really isn't for us

necessarily

to better ourselves,

but it's

to get to know

who God is.

And

looking at it

from that perspective,

things

became a little more

clearer to me.

The first thing I noticed

was God's providence.

If you turn with me

to Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I think so many times

we think that God

is kind of like a goalie.

He's just on the defense.

When Satan attacks,

you know,

God bats it out.

But that's not how

God,

God

is so many steps ahead.

You know,

he's orchestrating

this whole

ordeal.

You know,

God knew

that Elisha

was going to be there

when it happened.

This kid,

he didn't know that,

but God was already

way ahead of him.

Romans 8,

28,

it says,

and we know

that all things

work together for good

to them that love God,

to them who are the called

according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow,

he also did predestinate

to be conformed

to the image

of his son,

that he might be

the firstborn

among many brethren.

As believers,

we don't need

the faint

during the

alas times,

during our times

of pain,

grief,

and distress.

Why not?

Because God

has a perfect plan.

It's a two-fold plan.

It's simple.

His glory,

our good.

His plan for us

and our desire

should be

to be like Christ.

If you'll turn with me

to Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

we'll start reading

in verse 4.

It says,

according as he

hath chosen us

in him

before the foundation

of the world,

that we should be

holy and without blame

before him in love,

having predestinated us

unto the adoption

of children

by Jesus Christ

to himself,

according to the good

pleasure

of his will.

This predestination,

it only pertains

to us

who are saved.

I have not been able

to find anywhere

in Scripture

where God

predestines people

to eternal condemnation.

Those people

choose to reject

Christ

and his free gift,

his shed blood.

Turn with me

to John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

just to further

drive that point home.

As I've gone out

and talked to people

about Christ,

there's been several times

people will ask,

well,

how can you serve

a God that

and fill in the blank?

I remember one guy,

he was Native American

and he asked

how I could serve

a God

that allowed

so much tragedy

to happen

to Native American people.

I don't have

an answer for you.

I just asked

how come

there's so many

babies dying

because I saw

that he had

a pro-abortion

sticker in his window.

There's no answer.

I'm not God.

but I think

there's interesting

things to know.

God already knows

this stuff.

John chapter 3

John 3:18

verse 18

getting back

to our point.

He that believeth

on him

which Jesus Christ

is not condemned

but he that believeth

not is condemned

already

because he hath

not believed

in the name

of the only

begotten Son of God

and this is the

condemnation

that light

is come into the world

and men love

darkness

rather than light

because their deeds

were evil.

For everyone

that doeth evil

hateth the light

neither cometh

to the light

lest his deeds

should be reproved.

God chose us

at the beginning

we see that

in 2 Thessalonians 2

13 and 14

let's turn there

we still got time

2 Thessalonians

verses 2

or chapter 2

verse 13 and 14

says

but we are bound

to give thanks

always

to God for you

brethren

beloved of the Lord

because God

hath from the beginning

chosen you

to salvation

through sanctification

of the spirit

and belief

of the truth

whereunto

he called you

by our gospel

to the obtaining

of the glory

of our Lord

Jesus Christ

he chose us

and those of us

who responded

to his call

were justified

will be glorified

let's turn real quickly

to John chapter 17

John 17:21

verse 21

that they all

may be one

as thou

father

are in me

and I in thee

that they also

may be one

in us

that the world

may believe

that thou

has sent me

and the glory

which thou

gave us me

I have given

them

that they

may be one

even as we

are one

I in them

and thou

in me

that they

may be

made perfect

in one

and that the world

may know

that thou

has sent me

and has loved

them

as thou

has loved

me

so we

already

share the

glory

of God

so then

why do we

get discouraged

why do we

get frustrated

our suffering

today

only guarantees

that much

more glory

when Christ

arrives

it took me

a little while

to understand

that the

heartbreak

that I went

through

at my

former church

was just

God

orchestrating

the opportunity

that I would

get to meet

my wife

I would

never would

have met

her

if that

hadn't

happened

God

just used

the person

to get

that going

and I don't

I've told

my wife

this

it's done

and over

with

I'm so

thankful

because

in Bible

college

I was

praying

God

I want

to have

a wife

I want

to have

a family

and years

you know

a decade

goes by

and I'm

still being

faithful to

the Lord

I'm still

doing what

I need

to do

and this

isn't

happening

well God

was orchestrating

it the whole

time

just like

God knew

that that

axe handle

would break

and Elisha

was going

to be

there

I just

didn't see

it at the

time

and

I'm so

thick headed

just like the

children of

Israel

you know

with the

business

I think

to myself

oh man

Lord

we're in

the thick

of it

you know

alas

and you

know what

God is

orchestrating

and he's

there

he knows

he knows

what's going

to happen

he's going

to take

care of

it

I just

have to

trust him

so that's

the first

thing I saw

in this

was God's

providence

but then

secondly

God's

attention

to the

little

things

you might

be thinking

about this

account

because I

know I

was

if I'm

going to

be

completely

honest

with you

I was

like

that's

neat

that's

a cool

account

you know

iron float

everything

that you

could have

put in

the Bible

and we

get this

story

frankly I

would like

to know

a little

more about

the Garden

of Eden

what fruit

really was

from the

tree of

knowledge

of good

and evil

I got to

thinking

it would

have been

more interesting

in my

opinion

to know

what exactly

was Jesus

writing in

the sand

when they

found that

adulterous

woman

I personally

believe it

was the

names

of the

guilty

but I

don't

know

I was

thinking to

myself

you know

we hear

about

behemoth

unicorn

leviathan

couldn't

we get

a little

more

information

I mean

the axe

head

was cool

but I

mean

these

are

fire

breathing

underwater

creature

that's

pretty cool

God

pays

attention

to the

insignificant

in chapter

5

of 2nd

Kings

Naaman

who is

the captain

of the host

of the

armies

of Syria

he's

basically

the general

of the

enemy

enemy

and he's

sick

and he

comes

and he

gets healed

by

Elisha

and you

know what

happens

the king

of Israel

starts getting

scared

he's like

what is that

guy doing

here

we're gonna

get attacked

we are about

to get

attacked

and there's

chaos brewing

you read the

rest of chapter

6

guess what

happens

Syria

comes

and they're

ready

to attack

and you see

another miracle

performed

one of the

servants

comes to

Elisha

and he's

scared

and Elisha

blinds the

army

we have

all this

chaos

all this

war

going on

and God

breaks

to give us

a story

about a

nun named

man

with his

axe

how important

are we

God says

that he

takes care

of the

sparrow

he dresses

the lily

he knows

the hair

on our

heads

some

of it's

easier

than

others

but he

knows

those

things

that's

how

important

you

are

he

sees

what

you're

going

through

and

sometimes

I look

around

and I

see all

the chaos

in our

world

and sometimes

I really

have to

rein myself

in

because I'm

like what

is the

point

there's

so much

evil

so much

wickedness

but you

know God

knows that

and he's

taking care

of the

little

things

when we

like the

man in

our

text

learn to

just

give it

to our

master

don't

worry

about

it

God

makes

a way

would you

have ever

guessed

that he

would have

made the

iron

swim

no

but God

has a way

to do

that

throughout

scripture

do you

think

he would

have

closed

up

the

lion's

mouth

for

Daniel

God

did

it

it

was

already

handled

I

think

about

Joseph

getting

sold

into

slavery

twice

and now

he's

rotting

in prison

he might

be

thinking

what

is

going

on

but

God

had

orchestrated

all

of

that

so

that

his

family

could

be

fed

essentially

saving

the

world

because

Egypt

was

the

powerhouse

feeding

everybody

all

throughout

scripture

there's

instances

like

this

God

has

it

under

control

and

all

we

need

to

do

is

trust

that

he's

caring

for

us

because

he

says

he

does

I

had

a lot

that

I

wanted

to

say

tonight

and

I

think

that's

where

I'm

going

to

leave

it

go

ahead

and

bow

your

heads

with

me

we'll

pray