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you you Well good morning everyone welcome to Yeah, good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church Take your song books and turn to song number 40 Song number 40 in your song books will sing no disappointment in heaven And if you would stand we'll sing song number 40 There's no disappointment in heaven No, weariness sorrow or pain No, hearts that are bleeding and broken No song with a minor refrain the clouds of our earthly horizon Will never appear in the sky For all will be sunshine and gladness With never a sob nor a sigh I'm bound for that beautiful city My Lord's prepared for his own We're all the redeemed of all ages Seeing glory around the white throne Sometimes I grow homesick for heaven and the glories I there shall behold What a joy that will be when my Savior I see In that beautiful city of gold We'll never pay rent for our mansion The taxes will never come due Our garments won't grow threadbare But always be faithless and new We'll never be hungry nor thirsty Nor anguished in poverty there For all the rich bounties of heaven His sanctified children will share I'm bound for that beautiful city My Lord's prepared for his own We're all the redeemed of all ages Seeing glory around the white throne Sometimes I grow homesick for heaven and the glories I there shall behold What a joy that will be when my Savior I see in that beautiful city of gold They'll never be cramp on the doorknob No funeral train in the sky No graves on the hillsides of glory For there we shall never more time The old will be young there forever Transformed in a moment of time And more will stand in his likeness The stars and the sun to outshine I'm bound for that beautiful city My Lord's prepared for his own We're all the redeemed of all ages Seeing glory around the white throne Sometimes I grow homesick for heaven And the glories I there shall behold What a joy that will be when my Savior I see In that beautiful city of gold And let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we just want to thank you, God, just for another Sunday that we get to meet in your house and to hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would just be with our pastor, fill him with your power and spirit. We love you, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all of it. Amen. All right, you may be seated. And take your Mountain Baptist songbooks and turn to page number eight, no, page number nine, page number nine in your Mountain Baptist Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songbooks. We'll sing Psalm 139 on page number nine. Eight, nope, page number nine, page number nine in your Mountain Baptist Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songbooks. We'll sing Psalm 139 on page number nine. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly. Thine enemies take thy name in vain, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. I count them mine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Our afternoon services are today. Everything should be normal, so we'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m. today, and then before that, though, we'll have our soul winning time at 1 o'clock, so get up here, meet back up here a little before 1 o'clock, get teamed up, go out soul winning, and then also the regional soul winning times, just be on church group there for that. I think, brother Richie, you said you were going to move it to Tuesday, and so that being said, just be on the church group there when it comes to that type of stuff. Those are just tentative times and all that stuff when it's, generally speaking, going to be, but obviously those things are malleable. So, and then we do this coming Friday, we're going to have a firework display and all that stuff at Robinson Ridge, we're going to have food, all that fun stuff out there, so I think most have been out there, but we'll put the address in the church group there, and if you put it on your GPS, it should get you out there, but you better put it in your GPS before you get out there, because the service out there is non-existent. We live out in the middle of nowhere, so, but until you get there, actually, once you're there, then you get some service, but that doesn't help you if you're trying to find it, so, but if you have any questions about how to get out there, we can draw you a map too as well, but that being said, when it comes to the fireworks, all the big fireworks stuff we're going to be taking care of, it's going to be far enough away that you don't have to worry about that type of stuff, but we do ask that obviously all the parents are watching their kids when it comes to the sparklers, when it comes to just watching them in general, that your kids don't wander off into the woods and that we have to have a search party for them and all that stuff, so just make sure that parents, you're watching your kids, making sure that they're safe, all that stuff when it comes to that stuff, so we're not going to be handing them Roman candles or bottle rockets and stuff like that, but at the same time, we still don't want kids having to go to the emergency room for getting a sparkler to the eye, so we want to have a good time, and you know, praise the Lord, every time we've done this, I don't believe anybody's gotten hurt, besides maybe like scraping a knee or something like that, I don't know, but just being a part of that, obviously everything goes well there, all the food will be provided for by the church and everything, but the thing is, if you want to bring like a dessert or if you want to bring anything to eat or something like that, you're more welcome to, so that's just kind of a bonus if you want to bring that type of stuff, and so that'll be this Friday, so, and we're going to have it about, I think around 7 o'clock is usually when we state them, we're going to eat, and then it doesn't get dark until like 9, 9.30, so obviously we're not going to do the fireworks until it's dark, because we want it to look good, so, and then the prayer meeting's on the list here, we're coming into July, so today's the last day of June, right, tomorrow's first, right, so going into the month of July, that's crazy, that we're already in July here, but the prayer meeting's on there for the women's prayer meeting, the men's prayer meeting, and then soul winning marathons, we do have a Cumberland, Maryland soul winning marathon at the end of July, 27th, but then August 31st, we have Moorfield, West Virginia soul winning marathon, and then going into September, we don't have it set up or anything like that, but around our church anniversary, we always do a soul winning marathon, and I think we're going to try to go into the Pittsburgh area, we're usually up in the Wheeling area, stuff like that, so going to Wheeling, going to the Pittsburgh area is pretty much the same distance anyway, so, so that'll probably be towards, I think, what was it, 22nd or something like that, or 21st, 22nd is probably where we're going to be at with that, as far as where we're going to have our anniversary service, and do the soul winning marathon that Saturday, so we just don't have it on the list there, so, but that'll be here before you know it too, so, Psalm 126, so we're going into a new month, I know it's still June technically, but Psalm 126 is our new chapter memory, this actually should be a pretty easy one to memorize, if you don't already have it memorized, because we sing this song a lot, so, now when we sing the Psalms, obviously there's some repetition, you know, as far as repeating a line, so that's something that you'll need to know, is that if you sing the song all the time, there may be things that are said more than once in the song, but, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy, he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheep with him, but, you know, when you're singing the song, there's other portions of that, the beginning of it, that just kind of always stick out, where it says, you know, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, therefore, you know, going on with that, is that, that song, I believe, will help you, having anything, the music's going to help you, so all these Psalms that we've been singing is going to help you memorize them, so, this should be one, to where, you know, if you've been singing this Psalm with us, you should be able to get that one down pretty good, and it's not a long Psalm either, so, Hebrews 12 one is our memory verse for the week, wherefore seeing we also are accompanist about what so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, in a sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, so, longer verse there, but, good one to have memorized, birthdays, Amanda is on the fourth, born on the fourth of July, so, I don't ask the ladies how old they are, so, I know Amanda, Amanda's a spring chicken, like she's young, but I still don't ask, okay, so, unless you're like a child, if you're in your teenage years, then I ask, but after that, so, we have Amanda, did we miss anyone, or is there anyone else on the list that hasn't, that just had a birthday, but maybe wasn't here, we've had a lot of sicknesses, so, is there anybody's, anybody's birthday that we haven't got a chance to sing for, because, for whatever reason, weren't here when that was coming up, I just want to make sure we're not missing anybody, brother Lane, yeah, yeah, so, we'll sing happy birthday to Amanda, and then, anniversaries, we got a lot in July, so July must be a good month to get married, so, but that's coming up later, so, the last goes, you're on the 15th, and then, which I didn't realize yours was like really close to mine, so you're 22nd, so you're just a week away from ours pretty much, so, and then Holly and I are on our 10th anniversary, so we're hitting double digits, decades, she's had to put up with me, so, and then on the pregnancy list there, we have Crystal McCloy due in August, with twins, so be in prayer for her, and then Rachel Hiles is on the list, so, I think most everybody knew about that before that, but obviously I always want to make sure that we're not putting on there before they want, and all that stuff, but I figure since everybody knows, it's time now, right, so, be in prayer there for them, I'm pretty sure, they found out they were having a girl, right, so, so be in prayer for the Hiles family, Rachel Hiles, all that, and so exciting there, That's about all I have for announcements, offering box in the back there, if you want to give a tithe or an offering, mother baby room for the mother's babies only, brother Nick, you're reading this morning, right, so, brother Nick's going to be reading 2 Kings chapter 6 for us, after we do birthday, one more song, all that, so. All right, take your song books and turn to song number 81, song number 81 in your song books, we'll sing When We See Christ, but before we do that, we need to sing Happy Birthday to Amanda Spina, I didn't even, I didn't know your birthday was on 4th of July either, She is, and you're wearing red, patriotic, I mean, that's awesome, right there, yeah, wearing the Republican red, I'm just kidding, Trump all the way, she saw the debate, okay, anyway, all right, we're good, Ms. Amanda, you want to stand up, all right, cool, you want to stand up, no, you're good, oh yeah, three months ago, okay, just checking, all right, we'll sing Happy Birthday to Ms. Amanda, here we go, ready, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, God bless you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, and we will sing song number 81. Off time the day seems long, our trials are hard to bear, we're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair, but Christ will soon appear, to catch us right away, all tears forever over, and God's eternal day, it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life trials will seem so small, when we see Christ, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase, so brave we run the race, till we see Christ, sometimes the sky looks dark, with not a ray of light, we're tossed and driven on, no human help in sight, but there is one in half, who knows our deepest care, let Jesus solve your problem, just go to him in prayer, it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life trials will seem so small, when we see Christ, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase, so brave we run the race, till we see Christ, life's day will soon be o'er, all storms forever past, we're crossed the great divide, to glory safe at last, we'll share the joys of half, a heart, a home, a crown, the tempter will be banished, we'll lay our burden down, it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life's trials will seem so small, when we see Christ, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase, so brave we run the race, till we see Christ, All right, take your Bibles and turn to the book of 2 Kings, chapter number 6. 2 Kings 6, and your Bibles, we'll have brother Nick read that for us. 2 Kings, chapter number 6, if you find your place, amen. 2 Kings chapter 6, the Bible reads, And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us, let us go we pray thee unto Jordan, and take then to every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, 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. So he went with them, and when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood, but as one was felling a beam, the axe had 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. Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing, and he called his servants and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came by night and encompassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the lord and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass when they were coming to Samaria that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them, shall I smite them? And he answered, Thou shall not smite them, wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. And it came to pass after this that Ben Hadad, king of Syria, gathered all his hosts and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for four-score pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the lord do not help thee, when shall I help thee? Out of the barn floor or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aleth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and did eat him. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him, and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes, and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him, and the king sent a man from before him. But ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? Look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him, and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord. What should I wait for the Lord any longer? Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day to come into your house and hear the Bible preached and have fellowship with believers. Please help pastor to preach your word and fill in with your Holy Spirit and help us to be edified. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. So you're there in 2 Kings chapter 6, and there's definitely a lot of interesting stuff in this chapter. But, you know what, I was challenged a little while back on a certain subject here, a certain story. And so the name of this sermon is The Iron Did Swim. So, a lot of people were asking me, you know, what my thoughts were on this and stuff like that. So, but in the very beginning of the chapter here, there's this story where you have the sons of the prophets and Elisha, and they're basically trying to build some dwelling places and stuff like that. And the idea of this axe head that came off of the hell there and fell into water and it sank. And there's a miracle that's done here where the iron was caused to swim. Like basically the axe head was caused to basically float. And just getting into the application here. But let's first just look at the story. Because when it comes to any type of story, just look at the physical meaning. When you're looking at any type of parable or any type of thing like that, what is the main like just on the surface thing that's going on here before we jump into spiritual application. But in verse one here it says, And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us. Now straight there is not spelled with a gh. So straight there is like the straits of Gibraltar, right? It's talking about narrow. So when you're talking about the straight and narrow gate, we're not talking about straight as far as it's not crooked. It's just basically another way of saying narrow, okay? I'm in a straight betwixt two, means like I'm basically stuck in this narrow spot between two things, right? And so it's too straight for us, meaning this is that basically there's just not enough room for all of us to just be here where we're at. We need to build basically places to live. It's too basically too crowded here, okay? In verse two here it says, Let us go we pray thee unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And so basically they're saying let's just go over to Jordan, let's go get some wood, and we're going to bring it back over here, and we're going to build a place to dwell, right? And it's in one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants, and he answered, I will go. Now this is, now I know when you're reading this, the first thing that came to your mind is Bible college and dormitories, right? That's exactly what you're thinking about, right? Except you weren't. But this is like where the old I.B. will basically come in and say this is the school of the prophets. Though you don't see anything like school of the prophets, you see sons of the prophets because they are literally the children of prophets, right? And you'll see this throughout the Bible where you'll see literally the prophet Edo, do you know who his son is? Zechariah. And you'll see Zechariah, the son of Edo, the prophet, and Zechariah is a prophet, but his father also was a prophet. That would mean that it would make him a son of the prophet, right? And so just simply meaning this is that the men that are here with Elisha, their fathers are prophets, okay? And so it's kind of this thing where you kind of have this next generation, if you will, that's coming up. That's true, okay? But the idea that this is dormitories or that this is Bible college dwellings is ridiculous, okay? It's just the fact that these men are obviously there to help out Elisha and they're wanting to basically probably follow in the footsteps of their fathers when it comes to being a prophet and all that. And throughout the Bible, it was kind of an exception that Saul, you know, says is Saul among the prophets? And then Amos even says that my father was not a prophet, but the Lord said unto me, prophesy, right? And so the idea there is that it kind of tended to go down a line of like this person was a prophet, their son also was a prophet, and going down the line with that, but it's not always the case. You know, there's exceptions to the rule and all of that. So when you see sons of the prophets, it's just kind of like a well-known thing that, you know, the children tend to pick up the mantle of their father. Okay? So, that being said, you know, all that's really going on here is that wherever they're at, there's not enough room for them to all dwell there. And by the way, they have wives, right? It's not like these are like children that are just like, you know, it's all single young men here. Except for the fact that one of the stories, Elisha is helping out a widow of the sons of the prophets. In order to be a widow of the sons of the prophets, you kind of had to be married to one of them, right? So nowhere in here does it state that these are just like adolescents or that they're just like really young or anything like that. It's just the fact that their fathers are prophets. That's kind of what it's stating there, okay? And now anyway, that being said, is that they're basically, they're going to Jordan, they're basically going to go cut down wood, and they're basically saying let us cut down the wood and basically make it into a beam, make it into like basically lumber, right? Whereas we would just go to like Menards or to Lowes or Home Depot and just pick up like two by fours, two by sixes and all that stuff and, you know, just purchase them and go get them. You know, they're actually just going and cutting down the tree and basically cutting it into whatever beam sizes they need and all that stuff. So, but they have to carry it from Jordan to wherever they're at. So as they're doing that, in verse five here, so we get the story. The reason why they're even chopping wood is because they're basically making lumber in order to build a house or dwelling places and stuff like that. It says in verse five there, 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. Okay, so, okay, they're obviously felling a tree or felling a beam is basically just cutting it down, right? So, but you can think about it, they're either cutting down the tree for the beam or they're cutting the tree that they already cut into a beam, right? Because, you know, obviously you'd have like a saw mill that would do that nowadays or something like that, but, you know, you can do it with an axe. And actually a lot of this, you know, like reclaimed lumber that you see, you can see literally chop marks where they literally were using axes to make these beams. And so, they weren't out there necessarily with saws or anything like that when they were doing it. They were cutting it to fit via axe, you know? So, that being said, nothing new under the sun, because even a hundred years ago they were doing this, yay, thousands of years ago they were doing the same thing. But basically, anybody knows this, if you have an axe, right, you have the steel or iron portion that's on top that's basically you sharpen and you cut down the tree with that. But you have basically, usually a wooden, you know, staff if you will, or helm that you're putting it on to where you can basically take it with two hands and, you know, chop down the tree. But a lot of times what you have is that the way you usually put that on there, that iron or how you do that is basically you have like a bigger portion on the top and you take that piece and you put it down and then it tightens. And it's basically just tight with the wood. And, you know, sometimes what can happen is after a while that wood shrinks and that axe head can fall off. And throughout the Bible, actually in the book of Exodus, it'll talk about like if the axe head fall off the helm, right, and it smites somebody on the head, then you're not to be put to death, meaning that that was an accident. Right, and it's just kind of giving that as an example. So this is something that obviously happens to where, you know, and obviously you can make axe heads to where you can basically put, you could literally make, put bolts through it if you really wanted to and really hold that thing on there. But think about it back then, if something was happening to that, you just want to switch it out or maybe you want to carry it and all this stuff. There's reasons why maybe you wouldn't want it to be completely secured to it to where you can never get it off. That being said is that this is just something that happens and it says here, alas master, for it was borrowed. And what you have to understand with that is that in Exodus, I actually meant to put this verse earlier, but Exodus 22, the reason that they're upset about it, okay, is that it's not theirs. And in Exodus 22, there's actually, you know, a law or judgment, if you will, on dealing with stuff that's borrowed. Okay, Exodus 22 and verse 14, it says, and if a man borrow out of his neighbor and it be hurt or die, so obviously this could be talking about animals, it could be talking about anything really. The owner thereof, being not with it, he shall surely make it good. Meaning that the person that borrowed it, if you basically borrow equipment or you borrow something off somebody and you break it, you have to make it good. Unless the person's there with you and using it with you and stuff like that, and it's broken in the process at that point, you're kind of both using it and all that, right? It'd be kind of like if I had, if I said hey, I need some guys to help me out with something, and I gave them some tools, and in the process they broke one of the tools while we were working on a project together, I'm not going to be like, listen, you need to replace that. But, if the person's saying hey, can I borrow some tools off of you, because I'm going to go work on something over here, and be like yeah, sure, take that, whatever. If they break all my tools, and they completely annihilate them, what they should do is make it good. Meaning that they should replace it, or whatever, or fix it, or whatever they got to do there, right? Obviously, as Christians, we should, you should never borrow something that you're not willing to part with, okay? And that's just a general rule, because yes, that person should replace it, yes, that person is in sin if they don't do that, but at the same time, not holding grudges and stuff like that is something that we have to really be careful of, okay? And we're not going to law, we're not to go to law with a brother, and all that stuff too, so that being said, good practice here is that don't let someone borrow something that you wouldn't, you know, you wouldn't be able to part with, okay? And all that, so, but listen, those that are out there breaking tools and stuff like that know this, is that you're liable for whether the person doesn't hold a grudge against you or not, okay? Like that doesn't release you, just because the person's just like, yeah, I'm not going to hold a grudge against you, doesn't mean you're released from your duty to make it good, okay? So anyway, that's the surface level type of thing that's going on here, is that basically, they're out there, they're building some dwelling places, the axe head falls off, and the guy's upset that the axe head falls off and falls into this water, meaning like he can't get it, is the fact that it's not his. So now, you know, he's got to make it good, you know, he's got to get a new axe for his buddy or whoever he got it from. And so this is where Elisha does this miracle here, and it says in verse 6 here, it says, 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. So when you're looking at it as far as, okay, that's obviously a miracle. I mean, if you're just standing there with Elisha and all this stuff's going on, really all you're seeing is like, cool, I got my axe head back, right? That's a miracle, right? You're just looking at it as a miracle. But the idea here is that everything that's written in the Old Testament is for our admonition and for our learning. So yeah, there's the physical, that's a cool miracle, like God is obviously powerful and he can do things that are defying the laws of physics. And you can just take that away and be like, hey, yeah, God is powerful and the man of God working through that and all that. But there's obviously, I believe, a spiritual application here when it comes to this. Now when it comes to, many kids in here have probably done the experiment of whether an object will float or sink, right? And when it comes to iron, for example, you know, iron typically is going to sink, not float. Anna, stop talking. If you can't, you're moving over there. So iron, if you were to look at, okay, the idea of buoyancy, right, what would cause something to float, is that it has to be, the density of it has to be, water has a certain density, and if whatever material you're putting in there has more density to it, and if it's a one to one ratio, okay, let's say you just had a cube of like one inch by one inch by one inch of iron, it's going to sink, okay? And the difference between iron and water as far as density is ten to one. So if you were to put it into pounds, it'd be ten pounds to every one pound of water, okay? And in order for it to float, and you're like, well there's literally steel and iron ships out there, in order for it to float, you have to spread out the area to where you have more water displacement to the actual weight of the steel or whatever it is, or the iron, okay? And so, an axe head, guess what? It's not displaced that much, okay? So it's going to sink. And another point that I'm going to have is that if you took that axe head and the amount of weight that that had, and let's say you stretched it out to a big sheet, that was like really thin, but you stretched it out to where it was over a bigger area, and then you put that on water, then it will float, okay? And it all has to do with surface area, and making sure that you have enough surface area for that weight to hold it up, okay? And all that to say is that obviously an axe head, I challenge you to put any axe head in the water that's made of iron, it's going to sink, okay? Just weighs too much, weighs too much for it to float. So there's the science behind it, but the idea here is that God is not bound by those type of elements. He can obviously cause things to be supernatural. This is a supernatural event. No ifs, ands, or buts, okay? There's no physics problem you're going to do here where you put a piece of wood in the water and it caused the iron to float, okay? Does that make sense? There's no special chemical you put into the water. I mean I guess if you were to put a bunch of salt in there, like the salt sea for example, things float more in there and there's more buoyancy because of that. You have to literally change the density of water is what you have to do, okay? And putting a stick in the water isn't going to change the density of water, okay? So that being said, this is obviously supernatural, this is not something where scientists are going to come in here and be like, alright what exactly happened here chemically for this to happen, okay? So supernatural, yes. Now what is the significance or the spiritual application behind this? Now I'll say this is that I'm not saying that what I'm going to preach here is like the only application or this is like the best application or whatever. But I'll just say this, the thing that first popped into my head as far as just an application of this is Jesus and Peter walking on the water. And I'm going to get to that, but I just want you to think about that. That defies the laws of physics, doesn't it? To just walk on water? And the idea there is that obviously Jesus was the one that was causing Peter to walk on the water, but then he started what? Sinking. And all of that that's going on there, but what caused him to sink? What causes us to sink? All this stuff. And the thing that I first see here is that I believe the iron would represent sin in general. The idea of sin and being a weight and that that causes us to sink, okay? Go to Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah 17 verse 1. So I'm kind of just going to pull different elements here as far as what's going on here. And just to be honest, just to give you like the, what am I getting at here? I believe this is a good representation of salvation, okay? And the fact that iron just, if we're talking just a physical realm here, it sinks and nothing's going to cause that thing to float the way it is. Unless it's changed in form, or unless something miraculous happens, okay? Is that it's just going to sink like an accident, you know? That's just the way the physics works there, okay? In the world that we live in. So physically speaking, sin will cause us to sink. And Jeremiah 17 verse 1, it says, The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron and with a point of a diamond. It is graven upon the table of their heart and upon the horns of your fathers. So sin is like, you know, to basically something that's graven with a pen of iron and a point of a diamond. And the idea there that it's basically written in stone and obviously iron is something that's used to, you know, obviously cut trees down to do different things as far as the seal is concerned there. But go to Micah chapter 7 and the idea of sin and the idea of sin sinking. Specifically with water, okay? Because that's specifically what we're dealing with here. There's other passages in the Bible about, you know, Psalms and stuff like that about sinking into the mire and all this other stuff. And there's, I'm sure, applications there when it comes to this. But we're specifically talking about water. So I kind of want to stick with that element there. In Micah 7 verse 18, it says, Who is a god like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. Notice this. Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. In order for them to be cast into the depths of the sea, they have to sink, don't they? They're not just floating on the surface. They're going to the depths of the sea. In order for them to go to the depths of the sea, that means the sins would have to sink. So, obviously, in this case, sins would be equated with basically sinking in the ocean. Now, another example of this, which is obviously an extreme example, would be Mark Goode and Mark Chapter 9. Girls, I want you to separate now. Separate. You can't stop talking. You're separating. Cleric, over there. Like, all the way on the end. So, Mark 9. Notice it says in verse 42. It says, And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. Now, this is talking about offending, right? Offending a child, offending someone that believes in him, specifically a little child that believes in him. And it's saying that you're better off to basically have a millstone around your neck and cast into the sea. And obviously, what's that going to do? It's going to cause you to go quickly, sink quickly down into the sea. And then it goes on to say, kind of just in general, in verse 43 there, it says, And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off, it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell and into the fire that never shall be quenched. It says, Where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And it goes on to the feet and to the eyes and all that stuff too. And what it's given to you, the severity here, is that if you keep the whole law and yet offend at one point, you're guilty of all. Meaning this, it doesn't matter where you offend. And the severity of hell is that, you know, let's say you were perfect and you never broke any commandment. But you were about to break a commandment. You're better off to chop off a limb than breaking a commandment because what happens if you break a commandment? Hell. And it really just shows you that obviously, you know, if it was up to us to not sink down into hell, no one would make it. Right? With men, it is impossible. But praise the Lord, with God all things are possible, right? It's just like that axe head, it's impossible for that thing to float. In all manners of physics and everything that's surrounding that, it is impossible for that thing to float in the state that it's in. And it obviously, but with God all things are possible. And obviously God can cause that thing to float. And he can cause us to obviously be safe from hell. But it's not going to be based off of our physical means. Just as much as that axe head floating isn't going to be floating based off of the physical realm that we live in right now. Does that make sense? Without changing something about it. Just the state of being that it's in, that thing isn't floating. Unless there's some miraculous thing that happens. And when it comes to the ocean or the deep, a lot of times the deep can be almost equated with hell in the fact that when it talks about who shall ascend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the dead. And the deep sometimes can be talking about hell. The deep sometimes can be talking about the depths of the sea. I mean think about it, even with the prophecy of Jesus with Jonah and the whale, where did he go down to? To the bottoms of the mountains, but he was literally in the depths of the sea, right? Jonah was in the depths of the sea, but it represented obviously how Jesus was going to be in the heart of the earth in hell. And you can see that kind of correlation there. As far as the correlation between sinking in water and that being talking about hell. Now when it comes to iron, when you think about iron, obviously it's weighty. In that state of being of the axe head, it's not going to be buoyant, so it's not going to float. But also just the idea of iron as far as kind of an iron will that has to be broken, or has to be changed in order for someone to get saved, right? Go to Isaiah 48, Isaiah 48, and it likens the neck of Israel as being iron. Isaiah 48 verse 1 says this, Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. But they call themselves of the holy city, and say themselves upon the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his name. I have declared the former things from the beginning, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did them suddenly, and they came to pass, because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass. So obviously the brow is talking about this, but you think about the idea of, you've probably heard where it talks about stiff necked people, right? And you think about stiff necked people, this is brought up a lot about the children of Israel, that they're stiff necked, which means this, is that they're not going to turn. Anybody sleep on their neck wrong? And then instead of being able to turn your neck, you're just like, what did you say? Because it literally hurts to move your neck? Essentially what's going on there is that you can't turn from one way to another. You have to turn your whole body, and you're just like, ah! You feel like Batman, you know? And so, the idea here is that stiff necked is talking about being basically not willing to change, not willing to basically hear reproof, not willing to amend your ways, and in the case of salvation, not willing to put away your pride and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, right? I mean, Proverbs 29 says this in verse 1, He that being often reproved, hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy. And the idea of sin and the fact that sin obviously weights us down to where, if we don't deal with that, if that's not taken away, we're going to sink. Does that make sense? Spiritually speaking, if you die in your sins, you will go to hell, okay? And that sin will take you down to hell, okay? That weight will take you down to hell. But what causes someone to not accept that free gift of salvation is that iron as well, right? That iron will or that iron neck to where they just are not willing, they're too obstinate to basically just hear reproof and be humble enough to believe the gospel. And that is something that is in that element as well, is that iron will, you know, you stiff neck and uncircumcised hearts, you do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. You know, that's what Stephen said to obviously those that stoned him. Now think about this too, is that we get our sin through blood, and isn't it interesting that what's in our blood? Iron, right? I mean there's other things in our blood too. But if you think about it, what's one thing that's constantly being mentioned as far as do you have enough iron in your blood, right? And there's metallic type of things that are in our blood, and it's just interesting to me on how iron could be linked with sin as far as that's concerned, as far as the idea there. Now don't take it too far and be like, well did Jesus have iron in his blood? You know, all this stuff, okay? So don't be crazy here and just take it to that extreme, okay? Pastor Robinson's over here talking about metallurgy and the blood, and all I'm saying is that obviously we get our sin through blood, okay? Through the blood of our fathers, okay? And just to show you that, go to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. So really all I'm trying to prove here, if you want to say prove, is like, might have Dave come up here and finish this. Well, we'll see if I can get through this. I thought last week was rough. These allergies, at least I think it's allergies, are just destroying me. It's destroying my throat anyway. I'm trying to represent or basically link as far as what would the iron represent? That's essentially what I'm trying to get to here. And I believe just in general, I believe it would link our sin. The idea that sin, the wages of sin is death, that sin is what causes us to die. It's what's going to cause us to sink. That's what's going to cause an unsafe person to go to hell. And in Romans chapter 5 verse 12 here, it says, And it says, Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, up to the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. Now, what that means is that death passed upon all men, even though they didn't do the exact sin that Adam did. Does that make sense? But sin passed upon all men, and know this, is that it's in our nature, but for all have sinned. Meaning that it's not that we're just sinners because, you know, basically in our blood is sin, but we all still have sinned, right? The idea there is that to think that, well, I have a sinful nature, but I don't sin, that's not a real thing, okay? It talks about children coming forth from the womb speaking lies. Okay, so, that being said, but they still have a sinful nature even in the womb. Even though they have none good or evil, you know, as it talks about with Esau and Jacob, the reason that a baby could die in the womb is because they have that sinful flesh there. Even though their soul or spirit is innocent, and obviously they would go to heaven if something happened. You know, that's what's going on there. But, it's through Jesus Christ's blood, we can't inherit heaven with our blood, because it says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, okay? Because why? Because corruption cannot inherit incorruption. We have corruptible blood, we have sinful blood, that cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But, Jesus' blood, that's how we can go to heaven, because notice, go up a little further in the passage here in Romans chapter 5, it says, verse 8, So, I just think it's interesting that obviously we're not born of blood, but of God, right? And it's not by the will of the flesh, or a man, or blood, because obviously that isn't going to save anybody. That physical means isn't going to save anybody, isn't going to cause anybody to get saved or deal with that sin. The only thing that can deal with our sin is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, okay? And his blood. Now, that being said, hopefully I made a good case on the fact that iron would kind of represent sin, as far as that's concerned. Sin causes the sink, that's the just natural state of affairs. And obviously at this point, there is nothing out of the ordinary there, right? Like when you read the story and you see the axe head sunk into the water, is anybody like, why did it do that? That's odd. No one is thinking that, you're just like, of course it did. Because we've all seen that type of stuff happen, right? It's when this next element comes into play, when it says that Elisha cut down a stick and cast it into the water. That's what Elisha did that caused this to happen, and on the surface you're like, what in the world is that going to do? Right? I mean, imagine that you're just reading this story in isolation. You're like, what in the world is that going to do? But what I want to show you is that this isn't the first time that basically something was cast into the water and changed something, okay? Because notice what it says here, go to Exodus chapter 15. And I believe the stake would represent the cross, okay? Iron represents our sin, the stake represents the cross, and the cross is what causes us to rise. Okay? Simple as that. You want to just like, that's what I believe the spiritual application is here. Is that by all physical means and all natural means, there's nothing that's going to raise that iron. We know that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. I mean, there's nothing physical that by the laws of physics that's going to cause that thing to float on its own unless something intervenes. Something supernatural happens, okay? But I want to show you this other story in Exodus chapter 15. It says in verse 22, it says, So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went three days in the wilderness and found the water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. So we know that's what that means, it means bitter. Now bitter usually means like it's salt water. They're next to the Red Sea, so that makes sense, right? Anytime you're next to the ocean, there's going to be places that maybe are offset from the ocean that are salt water, okay? And so, obviously you can't drink salt water, well you can, but it's not smart and you're not going to get hydrated, that's for sure. But going on from there, it says, And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. So, very similar, okay, as far as what's going on here. Obviously we're not talking about an iron axe head floating, but we are talking about they can't drink these waters because they are bitter. So what's he do? Cuts down a tree and throws it into the waters, okay? Now, I mean, I don't know how big this area was of water, but the thing, physically speaking, that some trees are just going to suck up all the salt that's in that water. In natural means, okay, this is obviously a miracle. Just as much as water coming from a rock is a miracle later on. This is supernatural, so like trying to answer this with physical means, you know, I don't believe you can do that. But what would a tree represent in the New Testament? The cross, I mean, no doubt. Like if you're like, does a stick represent? You know, well you're like a Jehovah's Witness now, you're talking about sticks, is it like a stake? Is it, you know, the Romanian like stake, you know, that's Vlad the Impaler? Listen, anybody knows that if you pick up a stick out there, it doesn't mean it's just one piece, right? A stick or a branch, most of the time, isn't just one straight thing with a big point at the end of it. You kind of have to make it into that anyway. So stick, tree, I believe we're all talking about the same thing. Plus he had to cut it down, okay? So he cut down a stick, we're talking about a branch, we're talking about something like that, or a tree, or something like that. Anyway, here it clearly says tree. Like what does that represent? How about he, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree? It literally states that Jesus hung on a tree in the New Testament, and that he bear our sins on the tree. Okay, so when you're looking at this story, making the bitter water sweet, I mean it's very clear that that would represent the cross. That would represent the bitterness of sin and how it was cleansed and made sweet through the cross, and the idea of cleansing through the cross. But this story is just so similar, to think that these don't link together, like I think would be just kind of looking past what's going on here. So with that being said, that's just kind of another story that's kind of similar, that I believe very much represents kind of the same thing. Different avenue, right, we're talking about something floating, over here we're talking about from bitter to sweet. I'm not saying bitter means sink, but a lot of times in salvation, there's a lot of different ways to explain the same thing. Just as much as there's a lot of different ways to explain eternal security, right? As much as eternal life never ends, and he will not cast you out, and no man can pluck you from his hand, and you'll never die. Even the opposite is true, you'll live forever but you won't die. It's like, duh, right? Obviously that would have to be true. But that being said, there's a lot of different ways to explain the same thing. When it talks about just being salvation and what it does, and how it's performed, all that stuff. There's a lot of different ways, different perspectives you can look at the same thing. And so, when it comes to the cross, the one thing that I thought of as Colossians chapter 2 is dealing with the transgression. It says in Colossians 2 13, it says, And you being dead in your sins and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So obviously when he was, it says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew not of sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Whose own self bare are sins, and his body on the tree. And what you have to understand there, notice that in both these cases, with the tree that's cast into the bitter water, and the stick that's cast into this water where the axe held is, is that, isn't, wouldn't the water represent, you know, basically kind of like the fact that, well you could say death or hell, right? Because that axe head sinking into the deep would be that, right? And that means that Jesus died for us with our sins on him. And so when it comes to the bitterness of the water, when it comes to causing this axe head to swim, is the idea that he took our punishment. He had to go in there for us, does that make sense? Right, the cross with the tree, or with the stick, is representing that that had to go in where we were at, in order for it to be safe, or in order for that miracle to happen. That means that Jesus had to become flesh, right? It says that the word was made flesh and dwelled among us. He had to become flesh and blood, the Bible says. It says, even as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, even himself also likewise took part in the same. And it talks about the fact that he did that for what reason? That he might be a faithful, and I'm going to misquote that, faithful merciful high priest making reconciliation for the sins of the people, essentially is what it says in Hebrew chapter 2, is that it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a faithful and merciful high priest, and things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. And he had to die on the cross, he had to die. And that is a representation of the fact that he just didn't do it from afar, he had to actually take it upon himself. And the stick going into the water, the tree going into the water, really shows that hey, he had to go in. He had to come into the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. The idea there that he had to send the son into the world in order to save the world. So whether you want to say that the water represents hell, or whether it represents the world, either way, he did both, right? Because his soul was not left in hell, neither is flesh to see corruption, because what happened on the third day? This Jesus had God raised up all our witnesses, and because he lives, we shall live also. Because he's raised from the dead, we shall be raised also. And the reason that we can raise is because the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, there is a supernatural event that happens the moment you believe where you're cleansed from all your sins, and where it couldn't be possible physically. In the state of the natural physics of this world, it was impossible for us to be cleansed from our sins through Jesus. All that's washed away, and we can raise with him, and we will raise with him. How about this? You say, well, I'm not convinced that the iron represents sin. How about the iron furnace? Think about the representation of Egypt. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 4. How about hell is represented as a burning, fiery furnace? And Egypt is represented as an iron furnace. Notice what it says here in Deuteronomy 4 and verse 20. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 20. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 20, it says, but the Lord had taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, and ye are as ye are this day. Now is Egypt, the land of Egypt, actually a literal iron furnace, or is it likened unto that? It's obviously likened unto it. And you say, well, how does that represent hell? How about the fact that when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, what was the first thing that had to happen before they came out of the land of Egypt? The blood of the lamb was put on the lentil and the doorpost, and that represented the Passover. And, literally after that, You ready to preach tonight, brother? I'm just going to suck down throat-lossingers after this. But they literally left early the next day, right? After the blood was applied. And then they went to the Red Sea, and they passed through the Red Sea. The New Testament says that this is the baptism that's represented baptism. Then they go into the wilderness, which would represent the Christian life, as far as going through the wilderness, persecution, tribulations, and then they reach the promised land. And just that picture alone right there, you can see the picture of being saved from hell, getting baptized, living for the Lord, and ultimately, we labor to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. We're laboring so other people will go into the promised land with us. And so, when it comes to this, the Bible says this in Matthew 13, and I'm going to kind of go quick here, just so that I make it through this. Matthew 13, 42 says, dealing with the parable of the tares, It shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wheat, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. When it's talking about casting people into hell, or casting people into outer darkness, which it would obviously be talking about the lake of fire, it likens it onto a furnace of fire. And an iron furnace. But know this, is that Jesus, when he rose from the dead, the Bible says this in Revelation chapter 1, it says, I am he that liveth, and was dead, and beholden to my life forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. That he has the keys. The grave couldn't hold him, hell couldn't hold him, it was not possible that the pains of death, that he should be holding of it. And because he did that, we also will be risen. And this all goes into the fact that you say, why do we have this story here? Because by all physical means, it's impossible for that axe head to float. It's only through Christ, it's only through the cross. It's not partially because of the physics that are going on there. No, it is literally because of the cross that you're raised and that's it. The thing that I also noticed with this is that it says it was borrowed. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now, you can think about that too, is that because it was borrowed, that means that that person that lost the axe head, was indebted to the person that he borrowed it from, which also shows you that that person is now in sin if he doesn't get that thing fixed. So you can apply that as well. And debt is associated with sin because it says forgive us our what? Debts, as we also forgive those that are indebted unto us. And in Luke it says forgive us our sins, as we forgive those that are indebted unto us. Unless you're in a Catholic church and it's transgression. But, tomato, tomato, right? But the thing that I kind of just, off the cup, was thinking about when it talks about borrowed is 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19 says this, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. How about this in Ecclesiastes, it says, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. This idea of like basically kind of returning what God gave us, were borrowed, you know? And obviously it's talking about a saved person. And like I said, obviously this represents eternal salvation, okay? I believe that. But I also believe that this also represents physical salvation, okay? Because as a believer, obviously, spiritually speaking, we're saved. The moment you believe, saved, all sins washed away, you are risen in Christ, you are walking in, you know, like you, in spiritually speaking, everything is made new, all that's true, right? But we still have the body, don't we? And like I said, Peter walking on water is the thing that I just thought of. When I thought of this story, I thought of Peter sinking, and Peter walking on water to begin with. And obviously that's a supernatural event, but let's go to that story, Matthew chapter 14, and this is kind of like, my last point really is with this, is that yes, spiritually speaking, I believe this represents that. The cross, you know, causes obviously that weight of sin to be lifted, to where you can now swim, you're not sinking into hell, you're no longer dead in trespasses and sins, all of that, right? But physically speaking, we still have the sinful flesh, right? And Peter in the story is saved. I mean this is before he says thou art the Christ, the Son and the Living God, but in John chapter 2 it says his disciples believed on him, okay? That's before John was put into prison. John was put into prison in Matthew chapter 4, so we are way past that, okay? Peter's saved, and notice in verse 25 here, let's just read this story here real quick about Jesus walking on the water, but also Peter does the same thing, obviously through Jesus. It says in verse 25, and in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is the Spirit, and they cried out for fear. But straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come, and when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. Now would anybody say that this is just like physically speaking possible, right? Physically speaking, I'm talking about the physics of this world, how is this possible? Obviously this is supernatural, isn't it? And it says in verse 30 here, But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Now this is clearly where Peter got spiritually saved, and now he's going to heaven. Because when you get saved spiritually, the first thing that Jesus says to you is, Why did you doubt ye of little faith? That would make perfect sense. Now obviously he's talking to Peter in the fact that obviously Jesus can save us physically, but the idea there is that if he just would have had faith and didn't doubt, he wouldn't need Jesus to come and save him physically, okay? But the idea here is that what caused him to sink? Fear. What's the first thing on the list in Revelation chapter 21? Eight. But the fearful and unbelieving. What do we see here? Now obviously Peter's saved, okay? But the idea here is that just because you're saved doesn't mean that you can't commit those sins on that list. Does that make sense? When you got saved, did you never lie again? You never did black magic again? I'm just kidding. Hopefully you weren't doing that anyway. You and your sorceries, okay? But obviously we can still be careful. We can still be lacking faith. I mean the man where Jesus, the one man said, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. The idea there is that I believe, I believe the gospel, but struggle with faith, having faith in what God's going to do and all of that. And so when it comes to this is that being fearful and unbelieving, having sin will cause you in your Christian life to sink. And this is a, a constant battle that we have to go through as believers to not sink as a Christian, okay? Obviously no matter what, we're going to heaven, right? Spiritually speaking, we'll never sink. But when it comes to the daily Christian walk, I mean that's a constant battle. The thing that I didn't mention too in that story is that notice that Elisha says that he had to take out his hand and take it, right? For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except it be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and glad tidings of good things? The idea there is that in this physical world, you still have to reach out and take it, don't you? You still have to accept salvation, okay? And, know this, is that Jesus didn't go to save Peter from sinking until Jesus said, Lord, save me. And in this physical world, you have not because you ask not. And when it comes to this in the physical realm as far as not sinking in the Christian life, how about this, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's not talking about eternal salvation in that chapter. That chapter is talking about your joy being full and having fellowship with the Father and the Son and having fellowship with other believers and it's talking about walking in the light and not being in darkness. And you want to not sink in his life? Confess your sins to the Lord. You want to not sink in his life? Don't be fearful, don't be unbelieving. Having faith and trusting in the Lord, that'll cause you to swim, okay? And the last thing I want to say here is that when it comes to that aspect there is really in order for that axe head to swim physically in this world it has to be transformed, right? Something supernatural had to happen. But if you can just think about buoyancy, okay? If you were to take that same iron you can make it float. Melt it down, put it into a sheet and I can make that thing float physically, okay? But in order for that to happen it has to be transformed into a different shape, doesn't it, okay? That's how ships float, okay? Notice how the Titanic floated, okay? Don't make me preach the whole sermon on the Titanic. I'm just kidding. Venice, Abraham, Lincoln, you know, all these different ones, anyway. Some of you know that inside joke right there. Go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. The last thing I want to say here is that when it comes to being able to float in this life, being able to swim in this life, in this world that we live in, you really have to renew your faith in the world that you live in. You have to renew your mind. And this gets into walking in the new man. This gets into walking in the light. Obviously you need to get sin out of your life, okay? What's our memory verse, right? Hebrew chapter 12. It says, wherefore, seeing we are also encompassed about what so great a cloud of witness. It says, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us, right? Sin is likened unto a weight and it'll hold you down, whether it's swimming. Listen, I don't know about you, but I don't think people that are trying to do really fast swimming, they're putting weights on when they do it, okay? They're actually trying to get every bit of weight off of them than they can in order to be able to swim well, okay? So in this life, you want to swim well, get that weight off to begin with, but how about this? In Romans chapter 12 and verse one, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies of living sacrifice. Be ye not conformed to God, which is your reasonable service. Be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So in this world, we're physically here, in order for us to float, we need to be transformed. And obviously, through God, we can do all things, through Christ we can do all things, and obviously he has given us the ability, the divine nature that's there, through Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory, to where we can float in this life. And as a Christian, that applies to us. That story of the iron floating or swimming, you know, the iron did swim, yes, applies to spiritual salvation, but I believe also applies to physical salvation on a day-to-day basis as a Christian, and that, guess what? When it says, if thou shall confess, I'm sorry, if it says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness, in context it says, by the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. Guess what, that cross, the same cross that saves our soul is the same cross that we go to for the physical purification that's there, okay? That physical cleansing on a daily basis, that physical salvation, it all goes back to the cross and why that's even possible, okay? And so, that's my interpretation of the iron did swim, okay? Whether you like that or not, it is what it is. But, you know, I always like being challenged. It's not that I didn't know that story, it's just I never really dug into like why, what may be an application with it, but I think that's kind of like the kind of main one that just is in your face, in my opinion. And so, I'm not saying there aren't other applications, but that's what I see there. So, let's end with a word of prayer. We thank you for today, thank you for your word, thank you for this passage. Lord, help us to swim in this life, thank you for allowing us to swim spiritually in general when it comes to salvation and providing that way for us to be saved. And Lord, we love you. Pray also in Jesus Christ's name, amen. Lord, the day will come to sing one more song and that will be dismissed. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 100. Song number 100. I think your songbooks will sing day by day. If you would stand, we'll sing song number 100. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what he sees best Lovingly he is part of pain and pleasure Mingling toil with peace and rest Every day the Lord himself is near me With a special mercy for each hour All my cares he fame would bear and cheer me He whose name is counselor and par The protection of his child and treasure Is a charge that on himself he laid As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure This the pledge to me