Well, we come now to the ministry of God's Word. I want to invite you to take your Bibles and turn to 2 Kings 6. And we're coming back to our series on Elijah and Elisha. We are well into the life of Elisha at this time. And we're going to consider one of his lesser known miracles, still important. So we're going to look at 2 Kings 6, verses 1-7. 2 Kings 6, verses 1-7. Listen carefully, for this is the Word of the Living God. Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there. And he answered, Go. Then one of them said, Be pleased to go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. Then he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water. And he cried out, Alas, my master, it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where did it fall? When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, take it up. Then he reached out his hand and took it. Thus far, the reading of God's word, the grass withers and the flower falls. But the word of our Lord stands forever. We are grateful for it. Let's ask the Lord for help tonight in the ministry of his word. Oh great God and King, we pray that you would teach us through your word this evening. Help your servant to unpack this in a pastoral and relevant way. For we already know, Father, that your word is relevant. And when in unbelief and doubt we do not see relevance, it is our own souls that we need to examine. Examine our hearts tonight. Show them to us as a mirror. Let your word be a mirror to us. And we thank you in advance for the forgiveness that you grant us in Christ. And we pray that it would be fresh and new and appealing tonight. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Miracles in the Bible are not for nothing. I think oftentimes in our current climate, we think that the main place for miracles is for apologetic value, to prove that the Christian faith is real. And there's no doubt that it has great explanatory power, but the problem with that whole methodology is you must buy the methodology, you must buy the metaphysics of the Bible before you would even believe that such miracles are possible. But we need to remember as the children of God that beyond the apologetic value of miracles, there is also great value in miracles for practical purposes. Each miracle is a typical example of how God's wonderful and gracious power can cover all the defects of our work for him in the church. And certainly that is the case with this miracle tonight. When you compare this miracle to Moses parting the Red Sea, to Jesus healing the masses, making the lame to walk and the blind to see, it really isn't at the top of the list. Fairly mundane miracle. I mean none of us could do it, but nonetheless it doesn't rank very high. But when we think about the school of the prophets, we need to keep in mind that the school of the prophets is really a picture of the church. I mean, I want you to think about it for a second. Like the young prophets in this school of prophets, The church is in service to the kingdom. Like the young prophets, the church has a leader, our great High Priest Jesus Christ, who is with them. And what does he do? He covers their sins and makes up for their deficiencies. Like the young prophets, the church makes mistakes. We all make mistakes, but the Lord is faithful to use us anyway. Isn't that wild? I think that's wild. I think it's actually pretty amazing. I think I said something to the effect this morning, but I have to be frank with you. Ministry, whether it is vocational ministry or lay ministry, is one of the most wild things if you think about it. Here you have A group of sinners trying to help another group of sinners look like a sinless Jesus. I mean, talk about a recipe for disaster. Everybody's trying to take logs out of one another's eyes, and as they're coming towards somebody with a log lodged in their eye, they turn and they hit somebody with a log that's lodged in their eye, and it's just a big mess. It's like a WWF wrestling match. I just dated myself. I don't even know what it is anymore. What is it, WCW? I don't know. It's like a UFC match, you never know what's gonna happen. You know what I'm saying? You just walk in there, you got a big guy and a small guy, and you're like, I'm putting my money on the big guy, and then the small guy just comes and chokes him out with a rear naked choke. That's kind of like church life. It really is. It's kind of like you never know what's going to happen. The scandals that happen in the church, you're like, yeah, he was a nice neighbor, you know, kept to himself, and he's a mass murderer, you know? I mean, there's people like that in the church. There's fakes in the church. And the people that you would have suspected would be the impostors are actually the ones that the Lord has actually saved and sanctified. So talk about an occupational hazard serving in the church. Broken people trying to help other broken people get well. And that's why, beloved, the church is a project, right? The church is a hospital. I think it's important for us to remember that. And it's not just the people, but it's our leaders as well. People and leaders make mistakes. And, you know, I guess my question is, where did we ever get the notion that we were supposed to be perfect? Like, where did that come from? Where did we ever get the notion that when we mess up, we have to do penance for 15 years before we can forgive somebody? Well, I think we probably got that from Rome, and we're still trying to disabuse ourselves of it. But the church, beloved, the church is a place of grace. I didn't pick the name for Grace Covenant Church, but I remember eight years ago when I was looking at churches, even looking at the title, I loved the namesake. Grace Covenant Church. That is what we call ourselves. We are a church that, number one, understands, celebrates, and practices grace. And why do we do it? We do it because of the covenant faithfulness of our God. And who are we? We are the church. We are the called out ones. Every single word in that title has great meaning. So the church is a place of grace. And I'm not talking about the kind of grace that gives license for sin. I'm not talking about that kind of grace. That is what Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. And the Lord is not in the business of cheap grace. You see, cheap grace gives you a get-out-of-hell-free card, and then you just do whatever you want. But that's not the grace that Jesus gives to us. Nor is it the kind of grace that excuses everything such that we look less like Jesus. No. It's the kind of grace that slowly, but surely, transforms us into the image of Christ. The kind of person that you can't say anything to, the kind of person that will never be told what to do, the kind of person that cannot take instruction, the kind of person whose ego is so big that their head can't get through those back doors, is not a person who knows grace. Because the fact of the matter is you could be rebuked by an elder, you could be rebuked by a deacon, you could be rebuked by a church member, or God bless our children, out of the mouth of babes, you could be rebuked by a little child and you will receive it. Why? Because you want truth. You want to know if there are blinders on your eyes keeping you from seeing more of Christ. Pride is laid low in the wake of grace. And so what I want to do tonight, very simply, is I want to highlight for you four helpful lessons of grace for when the church makes mistakes, okay? You make mistakes. I make mistakes. Some are a little more mundane. Some are a little more egregious. And I want to say that when it comes to the repentant sinner who has made a mistake, there is always room for you here at the table. So let me give you four helpful lessons on grace. And here's the first one, very simply. growing pains. Growing pains. I want you to notice in verses 1 and 2, what started this whole fiasco of the axe head? Well, the school of the prophets were in some building somewhere, and they said, this place is too small. I mean, these walls are paper thin. I could hear Brother Prophet so-and-so snoring through the walls. There's not enough room in the bathrooms. This place is too small. We need a bigger place. And what was happening? They were growing. They were expanding. And just like we heard about the Kingdom of Heaven, what it does in the parable of the mustard seed today, it grows. It grows in its number. It grows in its efficacy. And why is it growing? Well, it's growing because the Sons of the Prophets are making a big difference. We don't hear a lot about the Sons of the Prophets. I kind of wonder sometimes if the archaeologists are ever going to unearth some scroll somewhere where it tells us about the annals of the lives of the Sons of the Prophets. I think that'd be fascinating. But they're making a difference. They're spreading the kingdom, and what happens when you make a difference? You become more efficacious, and more needs arise. The clamor for the same kind of change comes to us. And so, they come to their leader, and they say, we've got to expand. We need a bigger place. This place is too small. And guess what? The leader agrees with the vision, and off they go to work, and they go and expand. And in the process, accidents happen, unintentional mistakes. A borrowed axe head falls into the water and begins sinking to the bottom. So that's the first horizon. They have growing pains. And we see the same phenomenon in the early church, right? You think about the day of Pentecost. What an incredible day that was. I mean, that's like a Billy Graham crusade on steroids, right? Peter goes out and he preaches and 3,000 souls come to saving faith. And they all got baptized by immersion. And now, what's going on? Well, it's true that some of those people on the day of Pentecost, they were pilgrims. They were coming from all over the world, and they were going to go back. But not all of them were going to go back. Some of them were locals. And guess what? When you come to saving faith, you need to be discipled. And so there's this influx of people into the church. This is a small little church in Jerusalem. And guess what happens? Growing pains, right? More people means more needs, more problems, more drama. And drama is exactly what they found in Acts 6. In the distribution of the needs, the Hellenistic widows felt like they were being neglected. And there's no need to point the finger. Who was responsible? Why weren't they serving the widows? Was it racism? All of that is nonsense. The fact of the matter is that the church was accustomed to doing things a certain way for a certain number of people for a certain amount of time. And now there's more people. Things fall through the cracks. Not enough people are serving. And this is a very common thing that happens when churches grow. You get these new converts that come to the church, right? And you're all excited, and they're excited. There's a bunch of hoopla. There's that camp high, that Christian camp high. But these new converts don't know the right hand from their left. They don't know that when you come in, you actually need to serve. They don't realize that you were saved, among other things, to serve. You need to get in there and do something. You need to figure out what your gift is. And if you don't know what your gift is, you need to pray about it. But while you're praying, you need to jump in where there's a hole, right? So things fell through the cracks. The widows get neglected and the church has a crisis, but they figured it out. In fact, Their answer to the problem, an ad hoc bringing together of men anointed by the Holy Spirit, is where we get the foundation of the diaconate in the church. And what do we learn? When the church grows, we experience growing pains. But the growing pains, listen, they prepare us for the next season of ministry. Don't forget that. They prepare us for the next season of ministry. We have to adapt. We need to learn from our mistakes. We say, okay, this did not go over well. We're not going to do that again. Put that on the list of things to never, ever, ever do again. And this worked. And then sometimes there's things where it's like, this didn't work, but it's what Jesus told us to do, so we're going to do it anyway and, you know, damn the torpedoes. But we adapt and we grow. We need to disciple the young blood so that they know their place. And yes, everyone has a place. You don't get saved and come in and you're two days old in the Lord and we're going to lay hands on you and make you a pastor, or make you a deacon, or make you a ministry lead. No, we're going to be like, I got a great job for you. Every Thursday those trash cans need to be rolled out to the street and I think you're the woman for the job, right? Or the man, whatever the case may be. So everybody does have a place. And I think about our own communion through the years. We've experienced this in a number of different ways. Years ago, the church was smaller. Smaller churches do things a certain way. And then we had this big influx of people. And some Christians were coming from other churches. And there were other people who were new converts. And they all brought their own gifts and their own strengths, their own baggage, their own drama, their own blessings, and their own challenges. And we soon found out that we had to adjust some things in the life of our church. We needed to pray more. And so we made the evening service, which was kind of amorphous, into a bona fide prayer service. We needed to devote ourselves to corporate prayer. We needed to be praying for our missionaries. Our long-term goal is that every single one of you know all the names of our missionaries and all the names of their children and that you're praying for them on a regular basis. And one of the ways that we do that is by bringing those needs to your attention in the Vesper. We needed home groups. Why? We needed to cultivate greater fellowship and cohesiveness, and so we started to do that. And home groups have been a great blessing. They've been a time for people, especially the introverted among us, who, even in a small church like this, are not able to rub shoulders with people as freely, to come in a smaller, more controlled setting, and get to know people, and break bread, and pray, and share intimate prayer requests, and talk about the sermon. We needed a venue for Christian education. As the argument goes, if you don't get Christian education from the church, where are you going to get it from? YouTube? That's a great idea. Until it's not, right? And so, if anybody should be giving Christian education to God's people, it should be the church. gifted teachers and elders who have studied, put in the time, have wrestled with the text, understand the big picture, and understand how it applies, and so we started Sunday School. We also needed greater accountability as we minister to our children, so we started KidCheck. We need a greater watchfulness over the physical well-being of our people. I remember some years ago there was an influx or there was an uptick in shootings at public houses of worship. And our deacons very rightly said, hey, elders, we got to do something about this. We got to put some security measures in place. And so we did, in a desire to keep all of you safe as we worship. And of course, we had some cases of recalcitrant, unrepentant sin, and so we had to exercise the keys of the kingdom. And all of these things are uncomfortable changes. And there is a naive spirit, inevitably, that thinks, why don't we just keep doing things the way we've always done them? But you can't. You have to adapt to the flock that the Lord has given you. Some weeks back, Pastor Ken's text in the confession of sin portion of our liturgy was, know well the state of your flocks. Know well the state of your flocks. And it's a shepherding imagery, but it applies to the family and it certainly applies to the church. You have to know your people. You have to know whether they're ready to go to the next step, whatever that is. Sometimes there's the right thing to do at a church-wide level, but you just realize, look, we're just not there yet. And that doesn't mean you wait for every single person to be there. If you did that, no change would ever take place in the church because there's always one. But you wait until the majority of your church is there, and then you make changes slowly but surely. But that's also why we have leaders to navigate us through the malaise of change. We have to adapt to growth by making necessary changes to accommodate the particular flock that the Lord has given us. And there will always be grumbling, but the kingdom marches forward. Discipleship must continue. Worship must continue. The preaching of the word must continue. We laugh, we cry, we sing, we welcome new babies, new converts, new leaders, and we look at all of it as part of God's gracious plan to expand the kingdom. And so we see growing pains. But now, secondly, an empathetic servant leadership, an empathetic servant leadership, You know, it was good for this young man who did not want to let down the person from whom he borrowed the axe head. It was good for him to be concerned. I mean, it was good for him to see the Lord provide in a tight spot. It was good for him to see a leader who listened to the needs of his people. The place was too small. They were growing. They needed more room so they could work more efficiently, so they could rest more effectively. It was good for the young prophet and the other prophets to see a leader who not only allowed this expansion, but also went with them to accomplish it. Elisha wasn't an absent leader, but a very involved leader. He was like the king who not only went out to battle with his men, but was at the front of the charge. That is the kind of leaders that people want to follow. Now, as we think about that in the context of the church, what can we say? Well, so it is with Christ and His church. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but who in every way was tempted just as we are, yet without sin. Every emotion you've experienced, Jesus has experienced. Every injustice that you've experienced, He has experienced. In fact, it was more pronounced of an experience because He was perfect and deserved none of it. Jesus does not call us to anything that He has not first done Himself. You need to be willing to suffer to enter the kingdom of heaven. Check. He did that. You need to be able to separate from friends and family for the kingdom. Check. He did that. You need to be willing to suffer the ignominy of public shame for your convictions. He did that. You need to be willing to die. He did that. But you also need to be ready to resurrect and reign. He did that for you and for me, and he will continue to be that faithful founder of our faith who will lead us through the storms. And in the church, you should have leaders. Listen to me very carefully. You should have leaders who are striving to be what they call you to be. And notice I did not say who are what they're calling you to be. I mean, we are called to perfection in the sense of wholeness and completion and maturity. And even the greatest and most mature leaders still have defects. Look at all the leaders of the Bible. But the question is, what is the prevailing disposition of their life? The question is, are they striving for the very things that they call you Sunday in and Sunday out to be and to do? In other words, we need leaders who are not fakes. We need leaders who are the real deal. We need leaders who, when they call you to suffer, they know a little bit about what that means. So if a leader calls you to pray at Vesper, they should be there leading you in prayer. If leaders call you to worship, they should be there worshiping. You see, servant leadership exemplified by Elisha and ultimately in Jesus, that is our model, a servant leader. But now thirdly, I want you to consider when our best laid plans and earnest efforts don't turn out well. We come back to the first horizon in these sons of the prophets. We also see in this story an example that many of us are familiar with. This man tried his best in the service of his fellow prophets and of God, and in spite of his wholehearted zeal and good intentions, something went wrong. We all know what it's like when we do something stupid and we have to own up to it. But we also know when we've done everything right and something out of our hands happens, That has the deleterious consequences. We know what that's like. And what do we look for in such situations? It's one simple word. We look for grace. We look for empathy. We look for understanding. We're not trying to pass the buck. We're not disowning anything. We're owning everything. But we also want people to view the situation with a sympathetic and understanding mindset. Well, in the church it's the same thing. The question is not, will you make mistakes in ministry? It is, will you be humble and accept responsibility when you do? But the further question is, will you find grace from your brethren when they see your humble recognition of wrongdoing? Oh, that the Lord would continue to make Grace Covenant Church such a place. Oh, that the Lord would cause such a fragrant aroma of loving kindness to waft through this place that people see it as a refuge for repentant sinners. Sinners who make mundane, innocent mistakes and sinners who fall into more egregious sin. And I thank God, beloved, that we have a gracious congregation. You are ready and willing to forgive and love and rejoice at the repentance of humble sinners. And we've seen this over the years and we commend you for it. But now finally, I want you to consider looking for help and receiving it when it appears. Another thing we see in the story is the expectation and the follow through of the young prophet. He finds himself in a tough spot, and certainly there was some panic and anxiety. I mean, as a prophet in training, he probably wasn't making much money, if at all. And axes, well, the wood for axes grows on trees, but axe heads do not, right? They weren't plentiful. So how was he going to pay back the lender? But he doesn't lose hope, does he? He immediately turns to his master and expects big things. He believes Elisha can do something about his plight. But even when Elisha pulls up the axe head, and this is what's important, he tells the young prophet to take it. In other words, he has to act in faith. So he has to believe that Elisha can do something, and then he has to respond in faith and take it up. We see the same thing with the disciples. Jesus says, launch out in the deep and let down your nets for the catch. OK, so are we going to believe Jesus? Been fishing all night. There's no fish at all. Peter's getting a little testy and grumpy, right? But fine, Lord, you said they're there. So you still got to get those nets. Got to use those muscles. You got to pull it up. You got to throw it out. You have to act in faith. It's one thing to believe that Jesus is right and that there's fish out there. It's another thing to act on that belief and go out and get them. And so also with us, right? Trial hits, tragedy strikes, the unimaginable comes to your ears over the phone. You feel like your world is crashing down around you. You feel alone. You feel helpless. You may even feel like God has left you alone and you certainly don't see any signs of him. You may even be tempted to think that he is against you. Maybe he's punishing me for something that I've done. But what does Jesus say? Don't ever forget these words. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. These are precious words for repentant sinners. The child of God has been taught to say, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. God's presence, however, will not console the inconsolable. We have to be willing to be consoled. We have to be willing to trust that He is enough, no matter how much that takes from us. Now notice what I didn't say. Consolation isn't limited to God fixing your predicament. Consolation isn't limited to God coming in and doing a miracle and making all things happen. Consolation oftentimes, and I would say most times, includes trusting God in the absence of the thing that you want. Trusting that He is good. Trusting that He will not leave you nor forsake you. Trusting that even now He is building mansions in heaven that are being prepared for you. Or maybe, it's not an extreme thing, maybe it's not the unthinkable, but it's the predictable and the mundane. You're late for work, trying to get out of the house, and you can't find your keys. Not an earth-shattering trial, right? But it's important, it matters. Even then, am I going to freak out? Am I going to tear the house apart? Am I going to kick the dog and yell at the kids? Or am I going to trust that the Lord is up to something? Maybe what He's up to is that He wants me to be late. Maybe my tardiness will make me miss a pile-up on the 264. I'm going to calm my soul. I'm not going to try to figure out things that are beyond my control, and I'm going to pray, and I'm going to trust the Lord for the results. You know, there's one verse that I'm going to close with this, that for so long, it just really befuddled me. And it's James in 1.2. My brothers, count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds. Like, James, what are you talking about? Are you from Mars? What do you mean joy? And more and more over the years, as I have slowly but surely and yet painfully taken my white knuckles off that thing that I want to control and just said, Lord, take it. You want to take it? You go ahead. Because I know that you love me. I know that you're good. I know that as smart as I think I am, I'm not as wise as you. Oh, the depths of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. Who can be His counselor? And yet so often, we would never say it this way. We're like, Lord, I'm your counselor. I'm gonna tell you how this needs to go down, okay? I've got a 16-point plan. Everything is on timeline. Okay, I just need you to follow this plan. Are you listening, right? It's like, we are not God's counselors. He is our counselor. And if he wants to take something out, if he wants to put something in, he's up to something. He's doing something. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. You know, I have found this is one of the reasons I know that the Bible is true, because I have found this to be true in my life. I have found that before and after trials, I see a difference in my steadfastness. I am more steadfast after a trial. I see that the Lord is clearing the brush in my heart. He's saying, you've got some messed up stuff here, Josh. I know you don't think it is, but just wait. You know, you will. And then he brings this massive trial, and I struggle, and I fight, and I cry, and I kick, and I scream. And finally, there comes this resignation to providence. Oh, how sweet the sound of that word, providence. After my salvation, the doctrine of providence is the single greatest doctrine in the Bible. Because it tells me what you've all memorized, Romans 8, 28. All things work for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. All things! Well, certainly not, you know, the two towers that came down in 2001. No, no, all things, all things. The death of a child, all things. Cancer, all things. All things work for the good for those, listen, who love God and are called according to His purpose. It creates steadfastness love. Beloved, and let steadfastness have its full effect. Isn't that interesting? Let it have its full effect. Don't fight it. Now, God is not saying don't try to do anything to get out of this trial. No, do everything you can. I don't think that's our issue. Our issue is we've done everything that we can, and sometimes more shady, underhanded things. But then we come to a point where we're at the precipice and it's like, I've come to the limit and to the tether of my control. I have no more control. It's all up to you, God. Then all of a sudden we start coming to prayer meeting, right? Now we want to come to prayer meeting, now we want to pray. And then here's where the steadfastness comes in. When you get what you want. You're gonna stop coming to prayer meeting? Where's the steadfastness? You say, well, I'm good right now. Yeah, but your brother's not. Your sister's not. This beloved couple just miscarried. You don't want to come and pray for them? I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, beloved. I'm trying to show you that trials bring steadfastness, and instead of running in the opposite direction, we need to embrace them. and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect. That means mature, whole and complete, lacking in nothing. And is this not what Jesus did for the joy set before him? Here it is again. Here's this logic for the joy set before him. He endured the suffering and the shame for the joy. Why? He wasn't looking at that Roman emblem of pain. He was looking at the eschaton. That's what he was looking for. He was looking at the time when he would be on the throne and the myriads of angels and men and women and children would be surrounding that throne in eschatological bliss, beholding the beatific vision, and all would be right and all would be well. All things, as one novel says, will be made right in the mended wood. He was looking at the mended wood. The mended wood pulled him through the suffering and the shame. And the mended wood will pull you through the suffering and the shame if you let it have its full effect. Jesus has given us a pattern and he has shown us that this pattern of bearing up under suffering and shame has a glorious end. And you've been called to that end, beloved. You've been called to the eschaton. You've been called to steadfastness. You've been called to work for the coming of the kingdom and to trust that the Lord will bring it in his good time. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for this unexpected joy. And Father, we confess to You, we read these things in the Scriptures, and it's easy to talk about, it's certainly easy to preach at times, but Father, when things hit the fan, it's not always easy. And I pray that You would give us that joy. I pray that You would help us to see around the edges of the trial as Jesus did. and see what lies behind it. And I thank you that you have not left us in the dark as to what that is. You've told us all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to their purpose. So Lord, would you help us tonight? We pray that as we enter into this season of prayer that you would hear our prayers, that we would be able to be transparent and vulnerable with one another without fear of any retribution, but that we would bear our souls to one another and bear one another's burdens and trust that our great high priest in heaven will not only hear them, but answer them according to his good pleasure. We ask these things in Christ's name.