John Smith was a loyal carpenter, working for a very successful building contractor who called him into his office one day and said, "John, I'm putting you in charge of the next house we build. I want you to order all the materials and oversee the whole job from the ground up." John accepted the assignment with great enthusiasm and excitement. For ten days before ground was broken at the building site, John studied the blueprints. He checked every measurement, every specification. Suddenly he had a thought. "If I am really in charge," he said to himself, "why couldn't I cut a few corners, use less expensive materials, and put the extra money in my pocket? Who would know the difference? Once the house is painted, it will look just great." So John set about his scheme. He ordered second-grade lumber, but his reports indicated that it was top-grade. He ordered inexpensive concrete for the foundation, put in cheap wiring, and cut every corner he could, yet he reported the purchase of much better materials. When the home was completed and fully painted, he asked the contractor to come and see it. "John," said the contractor, "what a magnificent job you have done! You have been such a good and faithful carpenter all these years that I have decided to show my gratitude by giving you this house you have built, as a gift!"
Ps 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
2 Kings 6:1-7 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go." 3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!" 6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
I. They Had a Problem.
a. 2 Kings 6:1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
2 Cor 12:9-10 But he (Jesus) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties . For when I am weak, then I am strong.
b. To the company ( Elisha’s students) of the prophets the problem was that the place where they were meeting was too small.
c. Problems are simply opportunities for God to do Miracles.
d. God’s Vision is in response to the problems we face.
i. Problem … more people
ii. Problem … more money
iii. Problem … more room
e. Whatever our problem is, God’s Vision will address those problems!
Peter Marshall - God does not leave us comfortless, but we have to be in dire need of comfort to know the truth of his promise. It is in time of calamity . . . in days and nights of sorrow and trouble that the presence, the sufficiency, and the sympathy of God grow very sure and very wonderful. Then we find out that the grace of God is sufficient for all our needs, for every problem, and for every difficulty, for every broken heart, and for every human sorrow.
II. They Had a Vision.
2 Kings 6:2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
a. Ezek 8:4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
b. Ezek 12:23 'The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.
c. Vision addresses problems.
d. It is a plan of action, a direction to take!
e. You identify the problem and then ask God to show you the solution to the problem.
f. The vision of the company with Elisha was that they needed to build a new place to meet.
VISION IS SIMPLY A DREAM WITH FEET!
"Where is the church at 11:25 on Monday morning?" The church then is in the dentist's office, in the automobile sales room and repair shop, and out in the truck. It is in the hospital, in the classroom, and It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? in the home. It is in the offices, insurance, law, real estate, whatever it is. That is where the church is, wherever God's people are. They are doing what they ought to be doing. They are honoring God, not just while they worship in a building but out there. A Christian church is a body or collection of persons, voluntarily associated together, professing to believe what Christ teaches, to do what Christ enjoins, to imitate his example, cherish his spirit, and make known his gospel to others.
g. Part of our vision is that the church will decide to be the church!
III. They Had Work to Do.
2 Kings 6:4 They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees.
Matt 21:28-31 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 29 "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered.
A man related this story, … My eight-year-old son told me a joke one morning while I was frying eggs for the family's breakfast. "Dad, how can you eat an egg without cracking the shell?" I thought about it for several moments before finally conceding that I did not know. He replied, "Have someone else crack it for you." // Now this reminded me of some church people. They want the benefits the church has to offer without sharing the responsibilities. They want revival as long as someone else does the praying. They want good programs as long as someone else does the work. If you want to eat eggs, you're going to have to break some shells.
It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?
Fly with the eagles! Don't run around with the Henny Pennys who are looking up chanting, "The sky is falling!" Your best friends should be individuals who are the "No problem, it's just a little, temporary inconvenience" type.
IV. They Had an Obstacle to Overcome.
2 Kings 6:5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water.
a. Rom 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
b. One of the men was cutting down a tree and the axe head flew off the axe and landed in the water… not only that it was a borrowed axe!
c. What were his options?
i. Get another axe? … no
ii. Keep beating on the tree with the axe handle?
iii. Recover the axe head.
Obstacles? The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: "I tell you . . . you will be weeping and wailing . . . and you will be sorrowful." But he calls these pains birth pains. And so, what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; and what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. Jesus changes our history from a random series of sad incidents and accidents into a constant opportunity for a change of heart.
On November 8, 1970, there was a hard-fought game between the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions. The game was nip and tuck, and it came down to the last final seconds to see who would win. The crowd gasped as they realized that the Saints were going to try a field goal of sixty-three yards. It had never been done before. The crowd looked for a man with a size 45 shoe and a chest as big as the back of a semi. But instead they saw a man run out onto the field who had no fingers on his right hand, no toes on his right foot, and only half of his kicking foot. When Tom Dempsey kicked that ball he set a world record that had never been done before.
Don’t let obstacles stop you!
V. They Had a Godly Solution to a Worldly Problem.
2 Kings 6:6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.
Oneday you may drop a brown seed in the black soil and up comes a green shoot. You let it grow and by and by you pull up its root and find it red. You cut the root and it has a white heart. Can anyone tell how this comes about--how brown cast into black results in green and then red and white? Yet you eat your radish without troubling your mind over miracles.
a. To recover the axe head, they needed a miracle!
b. We may face obstacles as we pursue God’s Vision. When we do, God will provide a miracle.
c. Not enough money?
i. God will provide a miracle!
d. Not enough People?
i. God will provide a miracle.
ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A METAL AXE HEAD SWIM TO THE TOP OF THE POND!!
VI. They Had to receive the solution to the problem.
2 Kings 6:7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Matt 10:41… a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Kim Duk-Soo will never forget November 20, 1950. That was the day North Korean Communist troops found him hiding with his father in a root cellar. "My Daddy told me we could not tell a lie to save our lives." Kim's father had pastored the same church for 42 years. He had helped his wife hide their children ut after two days of hiding, Kim uncovered himself. Just then, Communist troops approached the house. Kim and his father ran to the back yard and hid in the root cellar. "I told God I would serve him all my life if I got out of the root cellar alive." The soldiers found Kim and his father and took them off to a makeshift prison. They were to be executed the next morning. That evening, a captain approached Kim. "Are you a Christian?" he asked. For a fleeting moment, life for a lie seemed the only logical way to go. But the young boy remembered his father's instruction. "I am a Christian," Kim said. The captain drew closer, and whispered, "I am a Christian too. I used to be a Sunday school teacher before the war. You must escape tonight. I will help you." Kim fled that night, having to leave his father under heavy guard awaiting his eventual death. The young Kim reached an American army base, and while "hanging around" there discovered an organ and began teaching himself to play. For the next ten years, Kim played that organ for chapel services at the base. It is Mother's Day at First Presbyterian in Taegu. "A Mighty Fortress" reverberates from 2,000 Korean voices. As he has done for 30 years, Kim plays the organ. "I should have been killed after the Communists found me, but God sent that Christian guard to help me escape. When I play the organ at church. I am doing it for God."
