Not for the Faint-Hearted, but the Faith-Hearted 2 Kings 6: 1-7
Introduction
The company of Prophets had outgrown their meeting place and as they went to gather wood to build a new place of meeting, one of them with a borrowed axe head lost the axe head. He cried out to their leader Elisha who performed a miracle and recovered the axe head so that the work may continue. The axe head represents the power of the Holy Spirit to get whatever job in front of you done! You need the axe head, not its wooden handle to cut down spiritual trees and it takes the sharp, biting power, the cutting edge of the axe head to cut through the wood and bring down the trees. Without the cutting edge, that is the power of the Holy Spirit, believers will never be able a make a difference. Sadly many churches have lost the cutting edge, because they have become so tied to traditions and programmes. Today, you might’ve lost the cutting edge but if God’s edge is still around you, all’s not lost.
This message is about steps that you need to take to recover all that the devil has stolen from you, based on what we learn in the second book of Kings Chapter 6 from verses one to seven, beginning with the fact that:
Recovery involves Concession (v1)
In this passage, the company of prophets came to the conclusion that the place of meeting had become too small for them. They conceded that they needed a change of space, that they required a bigger hall; that they had outgrown where they currently met. This was a matter of increase and if you are growing spiritually, you need to expand. In Isa 54:2, the Bible encourages us to enlarge the place of our tent: stretch your tent curtains wide do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. Maybe you need to update your Bible and buy a good study Bible to aid you in your walk with God! The company of prophets approached their leader and told him what they thought. Do you imagine how some other leader would have reacted? Probably another leader would have dismissed the suggestions, but Elisha as approachable and humble, he knew he did not have a monopoly of wisdom. He simply encouraged them to "Go ahead". (2 Kings 6:2). This is a big lesson to many church leaders out there.
Recovery involves Concord (v2)
Concord is about harmony, being in one accord, coming into agreement. Even the trinity had to come into an agreement when creating man: Let us make man in our own image. Here, the company of prophets said, let us…we can build. As a Body of Christ, when we come together like the apostles came together in Acts 2, we can achieve the impossible. Look at how the builders of the Tower of Babel took giant strides, because they operated as one. Jesus made it clear that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25) and the Bible asks in Amos 3:3: can two walk except they agree? How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! (Ps 133:1). Unfortunately, many times, the attitude to church work is, let someone else do it. Few do the work while the rest stand back and criticise those who are working. Ask your neighbour: are you doing your bit? Are you in concord with other brethren?
Recovery involves Concern (v5)
In this passage, as soon as the axe head flew off its handle, the young prophet cried out in despair, because he was concerned about how the loss would affect the important work they were doing. Concern is a key step in recovering what is lost. Having the power of the Holy Spirit is not just about speaking in tongues, but realising that we do not have it, that is actually belongs to God. Many walk through life thinking they’re filled with the Holy Spirit, when they’ve lost his power without knowing it, as Sampson sadly found out (Jug 16:20). Many are working in the power of the flesh like the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-20) they are neither hot nor cold.
The lost Axe head meant that the young prophet had to stop working. His reaction was the opposite of what many of us would have reacted when we lose our cutting edge. Instead of crying out to God we go on dealing ineffective blows with the wooden axe handle. That is why we preach and there are no converts, teach but no one gets blessed, counsel but no problems are resolved. We have been leaning for too long on our own understanding, we announce glibly that where two or three are gathered… Sincerely, do we really have the manifest presence of God in our churches, like the Moses had when the Bible says the presence of God came down and covered the entrance of the tent of meeting?
Recovery involves Confession (v5)
There are two important elements to confession: humility and honesty. Immediately he lost the Axe handle, the young prophet confessed that he had lost the cutting edge. By admitting that the axe head was lost, he was also inadvertently confessing that he could have been at fault for losing it, because he didn’t heed the warning signs that the axe handle may fly off. If you have used an axe before, you will understand what I am talking about. It doesn’t just fly off; it gets loose before flying off the handle! The young prophet’s admission of the loss was another way of saying sorry for his action or inaction.
Many of us often find it difficult to say sorry. We want everyone to think that we are on top; that we are not in need of anything; that we are in control. Is there someone who is honest enough to cry out and confess: Lord, I need you more than I have ever needed you? I need your power to get things done. I have lost cutting edge. I have lost touch with you Lord! What we need, perhaps more than anything else in the Body of Christ, are honest hearts who will tell the truth about their condition. The Bible says blessed are the meek (the humble), for they will inherit the earth, blessed are the poor (the honest) in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Are you humble? Are you honest?
Recovery involves Comprehension (v5)
Losing an axe head may not seem that big of a deal to you and I, after all we can replace it at a nearby convenience store, but such tools and other iron products those days were very scarce and quite expensive (See 1 Sam 13:22). The young prophet couldn’t afford a replacement, that’s why he borrowed it in the first place. The owner trusted him to keep it and he comprehended that it was borrowed. We need to comprehend and understand that spiritual power like the axe head is also borrowed from the God and he will bestow it on those who can withhold it Ac 1:8. Be careful with the power entrusted to you, don’t take it for granted! The owner of the power may demand it if you don’t use it wisely.
Recovery involves Coming Back (v6)
The Bible says when Elisha heard about the problem, he called the prophet back to the place where the axe head was lost. Before it could be recovered, they had to go to the place where it had been lost in the first place. Before we can recover the power of God in our lives and in our churches, we must return to that place where we lost the power. We must uncover the reason why we lost the power. Was it as a result of sin? Misplaced priorities? Trusting in flesh? Where did you lose it? Unholy alliance with a fraudulent business partner? Bitterness? Anger? Row with your wife? You need to backtrack and discover where you wandered off course to be able to make correction and the glory will return. If you get lost on a road, you have to retrace your step to the point where you started wandering off course and start all over again. It is the same theory for recovering things that are lost!
Recovery involves Confrontation (v6)
There has to be confrontation between divinity and humanity, between darkness and light, between things temporal and things spiritual, good and bad, between the real thing and its shadow. Elisha cut a stick and cast it into the river and the axe head floated to the surface. It was a miracle of monumental proportions. When it comes to miracles, human means are abandoned and divine help comes to the fore. Miracle like the one we witnessed here are contrary to natural laws. Here, God was active and a higher law, the law of the miraculous took over as natural laws were suspended. Jesus often suspended laws and conventions to work miracles. Remember the woman with the issue of blood? He wasn’t supposed to allow the woman to come near him because it was contrary to the law. But Jesus cared more about the hurting than about laws and procedures. And the 10 lepers whom Jesus healed? They were meant to be languishing beyond the city limits but Jesus was more interested in healing them than adhering to the law.
Notice this: in working miracles in the name of Jesus, a piece of wood is often involved. When God wants to bring what we’ve lost within sight, he uses the wood of a tree, not the one wet with water, but wet with the blood of his dear Son! (Gal 3:13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us). The cross was made with wood and what Elisha threw in the water was also made of wood! Trusting a stick to make an axe head float sounds crazy, but it worked! Stop figuring it out, start trusting God.
Recovery involves Commitment (v7)
The Axe head floated to the surface and the prophet reached down for it. He committed to receiving by faith what God had done. He firmly reattached the head to the handle and went back to work chopping down trees. God’s power’s available to those who’ll reach out and take it by faith; that is why I’ve titled this message Not for the faint-Hearted, but for the Faith-Hearted. When God parted the Red Sea, if Moses had not been a man of faith, it would have been difficult to ask the people to walk on the dry land for fear of the sea closing in on them. Many people are overwhelmed by the miracle of God, so much so that some even lose their mind! How committed are you to experiencing God’s manifest presence and power?
Recovery involves Connection (v7)
Tell your neighbour: Don’t analyse, just appropriate. This young prophet did not ask Elisha to analyse the miracle, he just appropriated it. Times of miracles are not the time for the seeking explanation, they are not the time for reasoning, but the time to exercise of faith and simply connect with the miracle. Many of us are seeking to understand all of the inner workings of God's power. Can he give me son when the doctors have written my womb off? Of course he can if you believe and are ready to receive! Just embrace the miracle and take back what you thought you had lost for good! Will you do that today? Will you put out the hand of faith and grab what you’ve lost?
