We will see here two miracles
performed by Elijah. 2nd Kings chapter 4, we're looking
at verses 38 to 44 this morning. We see in our text here that
Elijah has come to Gilgal. This is where he was with Elijah
a little before his ascension to heaven, a little before he
went to heaven. You'll see that in 2nd Kings chapter 2 verse
1 which is now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to
heaven by a whirlwind. Elijah and Elijah were on their
way from Gilgal. Let's read verses 38 to 44 of
2nd Kings chapter 4. And Elijah came again to Gilgal
and there was a dearth in the land and the sons of the prophets
were sitting before him And he said unto his servant, Set on
the great pot, and seed the pottage for the sons of the prophets.
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a
wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and
came and shred them into the pot of the pottage, for they
knew them not. So they poured out for the man
to eat. And it came to pass, as they
were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, O thou
man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
But he, being Elijah, said, then bring a meal. And he cast it
into the pot, and he said, pour out for the people that they
may eat. and there was no harm in the
pot. And there came a man from Baal Shalishah and bought the
man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves of barley and
full ears of corn in the husks thereof. And he said, give unto
the people that they may eat. And his servitor said, what should
I set this before an hundred men? he said again give the people
that they may eat for thus saith the Lord they shall eat and shall
leave thereof so he said it before them and they did eat and left
thereof according to the word of the Lord just like the Lord
said it would happen we see in verse 38 that Elijah Elijah comes again to get Gilgal And there was a dearth in the
land, there was a famine in the land, beloved, a famine. And
the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said
unto his servant, sit on the great pot and seed the pottage
for the sons of the prophets. Now take note, beloved, where
the sons of the prophet are, what they're doing. They're sitting. They're sitting at the feet of
Elijah. That's a good place to be. That's
a good place to be, beloved. Remember the man whom the Lord
had cast out the demons from? Scripture says he was sitting
at the feet of Jesus, in his right mind, and clothed. Which
pictures him born again of the Holy Spirit of God, clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. And what's he doing? He's sitting
at the feet of Christ, beloved. He's not a wild man anymore.
No. He's sitting at the feet of Christ.
This is a good place to be. To sit at the feet of Elijah.
To sit at the feet of Elijah. And how we as believers need
to sit at the feet of Christ. And just listen. Being teachable,
right? We're to be teachable. And we
feed on His words. Just like the sons of the prophets
fed on the words of Elijah. Because what was He talking about?
He was teaching them the Word of God, beloved. He was teaching
them the Word of God, and so they were feasting upon it. He was teaching them and instructing
them. And the words that he spake from
the Scriptures fed them, fed them spiritually. But note that
there's a dearth, which is a famine in the land. Turn, if you would,
to 2 Kings 8. Famine in the land. And it was
for the wickedness of those that dwelt there. Now, Israel had
fallen into idolatry. And so this famine had come upon
the land because of their wickedness. Because of their wickedness,
they fell into idolatry. Look at this in 2nd Kings 8.1, Now
Elijah had said to the woman whose son he had restored to
life, the Sheolamite woman, Then spake Elijah unto the woman whose
soul he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou in
thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn.
For the Lord hath called for a famine, and it shall also come
upon the land seven years. This is going to be a long famine.
It's going to be a seven year famine. Seven year famine. So we see in our text that the
famine has hit the land. Has hit the land. But there's not a famine of the
word of God, notice. Notice there in our text, there's
not a famine of the word of God at this point, though, because
Elijah is teaching the sons of the prophet. There's a famine
in the land of natural food, but not spiritual food. No. Not all are in idolatry. Not all. No. God always has a
remnant, beloved. He always has a people. He always
has a people. Oh my. And Elijah is there teaching
the sons of the prophets. Teaching them the truth from
the Word of God. And take note that Elijah in two places takes
care of those to whom he preached. He tells his servants to go and
get herbs and collect them to make
a stew and then he also tells him later on to distribute the
one who comes to him and brings him offerings, a tent to be given
to the priests, he says distribute among the people. Distributed
among the people. Two places he takes care of those
whom he preached to. Feeding them. There's a famine
in the land though. There's a natural famine in the
land and he was concerned about how it Concerned about it now
because of the famine would affect the sons of the prophets. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
37. He was concerned that the sons of the prophets might not
be ashamed in this evil time, but even in the days of famine
might be satisfied. We see this truth brought forth
in Psalm 37. Psalm 37. Let's read verses 18
to 28. And I think this will greatly
bless we who are the children of God, because no matter what
we go through, the Lord will always provide for us. He'll
always take care of us. So Elijah, in telling the servant
to go and make a stew, he's taking care of the sons of the prophets
who are listening. And then later on again, as I
said, we'll see that the person who brings the barley loaves
to him, he says distribute them among the people too. Distribute
them. Look at this. Our Lord will never
leave his people. He'll never leave his people.
Even in a famine, they shall be satisfied. Look at this in
Psalm 37, verses 18 to 27. The Lord knoweth the days of
the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall
not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine, they
shall be satisfied. They'll have food. They'll have
food. They'll be taken care of. Because
the Lord always takes care of His people. Now, beloved, there's
a famine in this land right now of the Word of God. But God takes
care of His people, doesn't He? He feeds us through the preaching
of His Word. He feeds us. He takes care of us. Oh, my. Look at this, verse 20. But the
wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be
as the fat lambs. They shall consume into smoke,
shall they consume away. The wicked boreth and payeth
not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. For
such as the blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that
be curse of him shall be cut off. Those who are blessed in
Christ, we inherit eternal life. But those who are outside of
Christ are cut off, beloved. Cut off. The steps of a good
man are ordered by the Lord. Look at that. Look at that, we
are only good in Christ, aren't we? And he delighteth in his
way. Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down. What a verse for we who are the
people of God. Though we fall, how many times
do we fall? A lot. We will not be utterly
cast down, beloved. We will not be utterly cast down,
no. Because our Lord takes care of us. For the Lord uphold him
with his hand. Look at that. Who upholds us?
Who keeps us like the scripture says? Who keeps us from falling? The Lord. And I mean falling
away when I say that. Now we fall all the time in our
sin. But we don't utterly fall away, do we? Because our Lord
preserves us below. Now in the hymn that is able
to keep you from falling, right? To present you faultless. And
that falling is to fall away into apostasy in Jude. As we
know, Jude's talking about apostasy in that epistle. He's able to
keep us from falling. He presents us faultless before
God's throne. Christ does that. With his hand,
beloved. I have been young and now I'm
old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging bread. Have you ever seen the righteous
forsaken by God? Never. He never, look back in
your lives. He's never forsook you. Never. He always takes care of you.
He always upholds you. No matter what. He is ever merciful. That's our God. He is ever merciful
and lendeth and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil and do good
and dwell forevermore. Let's go back to our text in
2 Kings chapter 4. We'll read verses 38 and 39 together. And Elijah came again to Gilgal,
and there was a dearth in the land, and the sons of the prophets
were sitting before him. And he said unto his servant,
Set on the great pot and seed pottage for the sons of the prophets.
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a
wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and
came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew
them not. Now Elijah now commands one of
his servants to prepare a stew in a great pot for the sons of
the prophets. Gil brings forth that they seem
to have lived together in one house or college, and to be the
number of 100, therefore they required to have a large pot
set on to boil pottage for them all. And we see that, look at verse
43. What should I set this before
a hundred men? So we see that right there. Now we see here that using herbs
and vegetables in a stew is nothing new under the sun, is it? Nothing
new under the sun. Even for us today, we see that
Elijah's servant goes out to gather herbs and he finds a wild
vine. He gathers wild gourds. and prepares
them for a stew, shredding them and putting them into the stew. And we see the truth of Psalm
104, 14, which says this. We see the truth of this brought
forth right here before us in Scripture. He causes the grass
to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man. It's
God who causes your vegetables, gardens to take right off and
for your service, for the service of man. That's right there in
Psalm 104, 14. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle
and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food
out of the earth. Again, man sows, and it's God
who gives the increase, beloved. It's God who gives the increase.
Each time you have a garden, give God the glory, because he's
giving you the increase right there. It's him. You see that
in your own life with that, if you have a garden. Even the flowers,
we love to plant. You see it right there. We plant
them in there and we just pour stuff on them and He gives the
increase. It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful. And again, take note that the
servants shred them into the pot of potage. Several commentators said that
he was probably not familiar with the different types of vines,
therefore he just grabbed whatever he could. Not knowing one may
be poisonous or another may, he wasn't very schooled in botany.
Now the sons of the prophets would, because they would go
out and gather what they would, and they'd know the different
tastes and all that. We'll see what happens later
on because of that. But this servant wouldn't know
that. He's just going out, he's collecting wild vines, There's
a wild vine which is called Coloquintida, and the leaves of which are very
like to a vine, and they grew in this area. And it was bitter
to the taste, and it can cause violent stomach issues, like
violent stomach issues. And if it's not remedied, it
can lead to death. A lot of commentators think that
this is what he picked. This is what he picked. and it'll
produce ulcers eventually in your bowels, and eventually lead
to death. So with that in mind, let us
read the next verse, verse 40. So they poured out for the men
to eat, and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage,
that they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there's death
in the pot! And they could not eat thereof.
So the extremely bitter flavor of the Kolokwintida, it's a word,
kolokwintida, fruit. So alarmed, the sons of the prophets,
when they began to eat the dish, that they cried out, there's
death in the pot. Because they know, they know
what this could lead to. They know just by the taste of
it. Just by the taste of it. There's death in the pot. There's
some deadly thing in the pot. And again, they gathered that
from the bitterness that this fruit, this vine would produce.
the bitterness that it would produce. And some may have discerned
that it was, obviously one of them discerned that there was
death in the pot. And we see here the effects of
the curse, don't we? We see here the effects of the curse, beloved.
The Lord pronounced upon the sin of Adam is by no means confined
to the human family, is it? No. Cursed is the ground for
thy sake, Genesis 3.17. And we see the effects of that
right here. We see the effects. What a fearful
sentence. Romans 8.22 says, The whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And no matter where one looks
with the observant eye, we can behold the consequences of the
fall, can't we? We see it all over. Even though
we see the beauty which God created, we also see we're constantly
reminded of the fall. No section of creation has escaped.
Even the fields and the woods bring forth not only thistles
and thorns, but that which is poisonous and lethal. Even in the insect world with
the mosquitoes lately in the area here, we see that. The effects
of the curse, beloved. Things we can see right before
us. And so some of the most innocent
looking herbs and berries, they can produce horrible suffering.
And death if eaten by man or by beast. And they're rare. There's not a whole lot of them.
But they're out there. And God has mercifully provided
adequate protection against such evils as we learn which plants
to eat and which ones not to eat. And the instinct of the animals
and the intelligence of man causes each of them to leave them alone.
Don't go near them. We don't go near them. And they're
either discovered by the eye, the nostril, or the palate. And
then they're guarded against, aren't they? And we guard against
them. Now think of this, the poison
in the food here in our text. Spiritually explained leads us
to consider how cautious men should be, and especially the
sons of the prophets, in consenting to anything but that which the
apostle calls wholesome works. Wholesome works. Even the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beware, there's death in the
pot when anything is mixed with the finished work of Christ.
There's death in the pot. Oh, there's death. You mix anything,
you mix just a drop. And it's no longer grace. And there's death in the pot. Christ is the only way a sinner
can be saved. The wild vines and gourds are
like our wild works, all poisonous, beloved. All poisonous. Flee these things. Christ alone
is the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation. The first and
the last. The all in all and the redemption
of his people. Turn if you would to 1st Timothy
Chapter 6. 1st Timothy Chapter 6. You mix
anything, anything into that. Oh my. Nothing can be mixed with the
finished work of Christ. Nothing. Look at this in 1 Timothy
6, verse 3, and then we'll look at verses 11 and 12, and then
we'll turn to 2 Timothy. Look what Paul writes here in
verse 3. 1 Timothy 6, verse 3. If any man teach otherwise, and
consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrines which is according to godliness,
Stay away from anyone who does not teach the things of Christ.
Then look at verses 11 and 12. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness, fight the good fight of faith, lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and has
professed a good profession before many witnesses. Verse 3 there,
it tells us, if any man teach otherwise, other than the Apostle's
doctrine of salvation in Christ and Christ alone, the free grace
of God. Don't consent to it. Don't consent
to it. Oh my. That which is offered for intellectual
and spiritual food in the world today, it's nothing but unwholesome
and poisonous. Unwholesome and poisonous. in
the fields of false religion have many wild gourds and many
wild vines growing in them. And the end of them is there's
death in the pot. There's death in the pot. Turn, if you would, to 2 Timothy
chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. False doctrine is fatal doctrine,
beloved. It's fatal. It'll lead to one's
eternal destruction. It'll lead to one's eternal destruction.
2 Timothy 2, verses 14 to 17. Of
these things put them in remembrance. charging them before the Lord
that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting
of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase unto more ungodliness, Look at this, and
their word will eat as doth a canker, of whom Hymenaeus and Philetus,
it'll false doctrine will eat at you like a canker. It'll lead
to destruction. And we see that Paul compares
the errors and heresies of false teachers, those two men mentioned,
to gangrene almost. They'll just eat away at you.
If it's not cut out, it'll spread to all the adjoining parts until
it destroys a man. And these false teachers and
their heirs are to be opposed, beloved. They're to be opposed. And those infected with them
are to be cut off, lest they corrupt the whole church. Turn
again, if you would, to 1 Timothy 6. Go right back there again.
Look what Paul speaks of wholesome words. to Timothy about false
teachers and true contentment. Look at this, 1 Timothy chapter
6, we'll read verses 2 to 8. I wanted us to read that portion
over in 2 Timothy before we go back here. Verse 2, And they
that have believed in masters, let them not despise them because
they are brethren, but rather do them service because they
are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. These things
teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise and
consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to Godliness, he
is proud knowing nothing." Look at that. Look at that. So our Lord says if anyone speaks
contrary to the words of Christ, they're proud and they know nothing.
Look at that. They're not sent from God. Not
sent from God, but doting about questions and strife some words
I'll tell you I've seen more things in these these I don't
even go into them anymore these debate sections and thing where
people debate doctor It gets sickening to be honest with you
They're just wasting time It's it's crazy how much people
can get caught up and in one little thing and you know what
I'm just gonna preach Christ And let God do the work beloved
I don't have time to get caught up in all these arguments by
these people and whatever. I'm going to preach Christ, and
I know you'll love that. That's what we gather together,
to hear Christ preach and proclaim and for the furtherance of the
gospel. We're not going to get caught up in all these foolish
things that people get into. Oh, look at this. These false
teachers, they're proud not knowing nothing. They don't know about
questions, and they cause strife. They cause strife. Look at that. In strides of words, whereof
cometh envy. Oh, they get jealous, jealous
of one another. You know why? Because they're after that which
Paul says is killer. They're after the preeminence.
There's only one who gets the preeminence, and that's Christ
and Christ alone. He gets all the preeminence,
all of it. Oh, they're jealous, they're
envying, they cause strife and rallying and they think about
things that they can cook up. Perverse disputants of man, of
corrupt minds. Look at that. They're but corrupt
men with their own minds and their
own ways. There it says they're destitute
of the truth. Look at that. destitute of the truth, supposing
that gain is godliness, from such, withdraw thyself." Look
at that. Withdraw themselves. Wow. Think of all them health, wealth,
prosperity folks. You know what they're after?
Exactly what that scripture just said. Money. Withdraw yourself. Have nothing to do with any of
them. Because they're proud boasters of self, beloved. Oh, yes. But look at what he says. But
godliness with contentment is great gain. Just being content
in your situation. Wherever the Lord has us, I'm
content. If you can be content in the
situation you're in, oh, it'll bless your soul. It'll bless
your soul, beloved. And God's grace does that, doesn't
it? It works in us contentment. It works in us contentment. It's
great gain in a sense. Look at this. For he who bought
nothing into this world and is certain that we can carry nothing
out. We're not taking nothing with us when we go, beloved. So some men strive for great
wealth in accumulation of things. But when they die, it gets distributed
amongst whoever their will says to distribute it to. You can't
take nothing with you. Think of that. The richest man
in the world, Bill Gates, if he dies today or tomorrow, he's
the poorest man. You can't take nothing with him,
and he dies and goes to hell. And yet we who are the saints
of God, who are content where God puts us, When we die, oh, what riches
await us. Christ is our exceeding reward.
Oh, my. We get to be in his presence
forever. See, I keep saying, right, we're the richest people
in this world. Even though we don't have a whole lot while
we're in this world, we have everything yet. It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. And
that helps us through our journey through this world. That helps
us. So these men, they subvert people,
they cause strife, and they're after gain. And Paul condemns
all those who do not agree with what he teaches in verse 3. He
says some of these false teachers, they despise authority and dominion,
and we know that from 2 Peter 2, verse 10. And some even encourage disobedience
to parents or masters or government. But the words of Christ and the
doctrine of Christ are in agreement with the godliness of heart and
life. They are wholesome words to the believer. The words of
Christ are wholesome words to us, aren't they? They're wonderful. They speak life. They speak life
to us. And the gospel is the mystery
of godliness which promotes both internal and external holiness.
It leads to faith and love and humility and patience and all
the duties which we owe to our fellow men. We can't work that
holiness in ourselves, but we're holy in Christ, beloved. And now we're constrained by
the love of Christ to not do the things that we once loved.
And we actually hate them, don't we? We wish we'd never sinned
again. We wish we could never... We
wish we... And one day we will never sin again. When we're in
the presence of the Lord. And what a day that'll be. It'll
be glorious. It'll be absolutely glorious. The gospel of God's free grace
in Christ, the gospel of the complete, perfect, sin-atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, I'm going to repeat that,
because it's worth repeating. The gospel of Christ is the gospel
of the complete, perfect, sin-atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Perfect and complete. And it's done by the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God incarnate in the flesh. When He shed His
blood to ransom the souls of His people, He did it. Never to be repeated. And His people hearing of this
truth, oh, it's food for our souls, isn't it? Isn't it? Oh, it's food for our souls,
beloved. There was a time when we didn't want to hear it. But
now that's all we want to hear. That's a miracle of grace. That's
a miracle of grace. Oh my. So we see then that the sons
of the prophets, when they began to eat the pottage, that they
discovered its deadly character. They discovered its deadly character. And beloved of God, be thankful
if God has given you the ability to discern that which is helpful
to your soul and that which is harmful, because not everybody
has that discernment. Be thankful. If God's given you
the ability to discern that which is helpful to your soul and that
which is harmful to your soul, that comes to you by the grace
of God. Again, because not everybody has that discernment. God's people
do. And give them the glory. Give
Him the glory if you are able to detect error from truth. Give
Him the glory. Because there was a time when
we couldn't detect error from truth. If you are able to discern Satan's
poison from the sincere milk of the Word, give Him all the
glory. Give God all the glory. Be on guard, beloved. Be like
the Bereans. Listen to the words of our Master.
Hear my words, O wise men, and give ear unto me, that ye have
knowledge. For the ear trieth the words,
as the mouth tasteth meat. That's in Job 34, verses 2 and
3. Hear my words, O ye wise men,
and give ear unto me, that ye have knowledge. For the
ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. We try the things
that we hear, don't we? We're to study to show thyself
approved. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing
the word of truth. Try the words you hear. And let us not miss the connection
here between what is said in 2 Kings 4 verse 40. and that which is set before
us here in 2 Kings 4.38. Let us not miss the connection
here. Those who were sitting at the feet of Elijah discovered
the poisonous nature of the gourds. There's a connection there, isn't
there? There's a connection. So what
a lesson we have brought before us here and recorded for our
learning. Let's read those verses again. Verse 38, and Elijah came again
to Gilgath, and there was a dearth in the land, and the sons of
the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servants,
set on the great pot and seed pottage for the sons of the prophets.
And in verse 40, so they poured out, so we see the sons of the
prophets, so they poured out for the men to eat, and it came
to pass as they were eating of the pottage that they cried out
and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot, and
they could not eat thereof. There's a connection there. What
a lesson is brought before us here and recorded for us. For
our learning, those who are instructed by the true servant of God will
be the ones who have the most spiritual discernment and better
judgment than others not so favored. As those who are under the sound
of the gospel will grow in the grace and knowledge and truth
of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. By
the power of the Holy Spirit. And those who sit under the gospel,
who are born again of Christ, will take heed, won't they? They'll
take heed what you hear. You know the difference between
truth and error. You know when a man's lying to
you and when he's not. You've been taught of God. You're
able to discern that. And that's what God's people
can do. By the grace of God. By the grace
of God. Just as God by his sovereign
mercy endowed certain animals with instincts to avoid certain
foods, poisonous foods, so he's graciously bestowed upon his
people spiritual senses. Spiritual senses, which if exercised
can discern between good and evil. I couldn't tell the difference
between false doctrine and the true gospel before the Lord saved
me. I had no clue. When I was in Catholicism, I
just thought everyone was all the same, pretty much. I wasn't
your average Catholic who thinks that salvation's only in the
church. I just thought, well, if a person's a good person,
well, you know, I found out what that leads to, right? And then
I got into religion, and it changed a little bit, but not a whole
lot, not a whole lot. You know, because then anybody
who professed Christ, didn't matter what their doctrine was,
well, they were all okay. And then God shows you the truth
of salvation in Christ alone. And you realize you're given
the ability to discern that which is true and that which is not.
Between a false gospel and the true gospel. And you give all
the glory to our great God. You give him all the glory. All
the glory and honor and praise. And thus God's preachers are warned against
unsound writings and preachers, so that a stranger they will
not follow. God's people will not follow a stranger, but they'll
flee from them. Because why? They know not the
voice of strangers. They know the voice of the shepherd,
and they hear it through the preaching of the gospel. They
hear it through the preaching of the gospel. Look at Elijah's
response in verse 41, but he said, Then bring meal, and he
cast it into the pot, and he said, Pour out for the people,
that they may eat. And there was no harm in the
pot. Here is the first miracle before
us in this text. Elijah commands, Meal is bought
and cast into the pot. And what occurs is a miracle
of God. Brother Tim James brings out,
pictures Christ, who is the bread of life for the believer. Therefore,
it is symbolic of Christ through the word, through the word of
God. And what do we feast on? What do we live on, beloved?
The word of God. Because it speaks of Christ,
who is the bread of life, the bread of life. We feast on the word of God,
the gospel. Now to the world, it may not
seem like much. But beloved, it's sufficient
to feed all the elect of all the ages. You ever think of that? The same word we're feasting
on today is the same word that the saints in the 1800s and 1700s
and 1600s and 1500s, you keep going, have all fed upon. Peter and Paul and James and
John all preach from the Old Testament, which testifies of
Christ. They feasted on the Word of God, beloved. They feasted
on the Word of God. He's a bread and wine for us.
He's our sustenance, isn't he? He's our sustenance. So the warning here presented
as death in the pot is metaphorical language employing the effect
of the wild gourds from the wild vine. And this represents, Brother
Tim James brings this up, I want to quote him, this represents
our personal input into the Word of God. It cannot and does not
belong in this death in the pot. So we can deduce from that that
man-made doctrine then Things that man promote that aren't
in the scriptures, which we often see, is death in the pot. Is death in the pot. God can't do anything without
you letting him. Death in the pots. Death in the pot. Just walk this
aisle and bow your head and repeat a prayer. Now you're part of
the family of God. Death in the pot. Well, you must be baptized to
be safe. Death in the pots. Death in the pots. Well, you
must have this checklist, and we must check these checklists
off to make sure you're safe. Death in the pots. Death in the pot. Oh, my beloved. And this represents, again, our
personal input into the Word of God. It cannot and it does
not belong. Anything that's added to the
finished work of Christ, anything that's added to this Word is
death in the pot. Death in the pot. Man-made doctrine
has no place with the teaching of God's Word, which proclaims
salvation in and through Christ alone. Period. Plus nothing. And it proclaims that salvation
is a gift from God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You
add a pinprick of your works and it is death in the pot. Death
in the pot. And this stew is not palatable
until the meal, which represents Christ the bread of life, is
cast into the pot. And thus, this is who this whole
word's about. Christ. Christ and Christ alone.
It's not about us. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. All about Him. Oh my. We will fade like a leaf, beloved.
We will fade like a leaf, but the Word of God The Word of God
is forever, it endures forever. We see them leaves, they come
up and they're on the tree for a year and then, look at them
now. All over the ground. Dead. We're gonna fade like a leaf.
We blossom like that leaf, we come out like that leaf and then
we're gone. Our life is like a vapor. Like a vapor. But this Word, oh, this Word
endures forever. And it proclaims salvation in
Christ alone. It proclaims that sinners are
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ alone. And that the
only merit we have before God is the merit and work of Christ
in Him alone. Anything else is death in the
pot. Death in the pot. And think of this. Think of this.
You ever think of this? Why do I ask those questions?
Because we do. This Word of God has sustained all the elect of
all the ages. It's precious to us. It's sustained
all the elect. Because it speaks of Christ as
being food for all the elect of all the ages. Oh my. My oh my. It's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. Let's read verses 42 and 44 now. And there came a man from Baal
Sheol, Isha, and bought the man of God bread of the first fruits,
20 loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the house thereof.
And he said, give unto the people that they may eat. And the servitor
said, what should I set this before in a hundred men? He's
like, a hundred men? This is gonna get gobbled up
in no time. He said again, Elijah says, give
the people that they may eat, for thus saith the Lord, they
shall eat and shall leave thereof. There's gonna be extras even.
So he said it before them and they did eat and left thereof
according to the word of the Lord. Now, turn if you would
to Matthew chapter 14. This reminds us, doesn't it,
of a story we're familiar with. And we see here This reminds
us of the loaves and the fishes that fed the 5,000 in the hands
of Christ. And we see Elijah as a type of
Christ here, commanding the 20 loaves of barley and the full
ears of corn to be given to 100, and saying there's going to be
something left over. Look at this in Matthew chapter
14, starting in verse 13. When Jesus heard of it, he departed
thence by ship into a desert place, apart. And when the people
had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. So they followed our king. He
departed and went into a desert place, and the multitude followed
him. A multitude of people followed
him. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude. We find
out later on that's 5,000 men besides women and children. There's
a lot of folks there. And Jesus went forth and saw
a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them.
And he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his
disciples came to him saying, this is a desert place and the
time is now past, send the multitude away that they may go into the
villages and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, they
need not depart. Oh, here we go. Here's again
a manifestation of our great God, who he is. He's God incarnate
in the flesh. Look at this. They need not depart,
give ye them to eat. And they said unto him, we have
here but five loaves and two fishes. Again, they're doubting,
right? Well, we only got this. He said, bring them hither to
me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and
took the five loaves and the two fishes and looking up the
heavens, he blessed and break and he gave the loaves to his
disciples and the disciples to the multitude and they did all
eat and were filled. Isn't this amazing? And they
took up of the fragments that remained 12 baskets full. And
they that had eaten were about 5,000 men. and beside women and children.
This is a great miracle, beloved. It's a great miracle. And this
is a miracle that's done by God's almighty power. Done by God's
almighty power. It came to pass, it came to pass
by God's almighty power. Just as the famine we see in
2 Kings and the famine we've seen in the life of Joseph has
come to pass by God's almighty power, right? By the almighty power of our
God. And let's go back to our text.
We see that this famine, though, is not universal famine because
there's barley which had been grown in Belshazzar. There's barley which had been
grown over there. And there came a man from Baal-Asherah
and bought the man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves
of barley and full ears of corn in the husk prepared thereof. And he said, give unto the people
that they may eat. Oh my. So this man is bringing
a tent to the man of God. And we see then that the famine
wasn't universal because there was still barley growing in that
land. Now, let us remember. Let us remember this, too. I
was thinking about this. Really struck me. That every
day, every year, we who are the people of God, especially here
in Michigan, we get to see the hand of God at work just by the
seasons changing. Just by the seasons changing. Over in Genesis 8.22, the scriptures
declare this. And this was a promise of God
after the flood. While the earth remaineth seed
time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and
day and night shall not cease. We see that promise every year.
Every time a season's changing, we see the promise. If you want
to write down Genesis 822, we see that promise. We see that
promise fulfilled. Each year, continuously, we have
before us the absolute sovereignty of God, beloved. Ruling and reigning
in absolute sovereignty, how? By the changing of the seasons
even. Now we just take it for granted sometimes, don't we?
We think, well, now it's fall. But we have that promise, while
the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer
and winter, day and night shall not cease. Even every day we
see that. His absolute rule is ever before
us. His absolute rule. We see His continuous rule, His
absolute sovereignty before us. Turn, if you would, to Amos chapter
4. Amos chapter 4. Amos chapter 4. Look at this in verse 7. Amos
chapter 4. Again, we see the absolute sovereignty
of our God. And also I have withholden the
reign from you. when there were yet three months
to the harvest, and I have caused it to rain upon one city, and
caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon,
and the piece whereupon it rained not withered." Brother Neil,
I remember talking to you a few years back, when we had a bad
storm roll through here, and I said, did you get that storm,
Brother Neil? And he said, nope, didn't get a drop of rain. You
hadn't got a drop to rain and we just got hit. The truth of
that scripture comes right before us. He can cause the rain in
one place here, and just a few miles over, there's no rain at
all. So again, we see His absolute
sovereignty. Now I want us to close with us
considering a couple of things here. Considering the Old Testament
shadow and the New Testament substance, which is Christ. and
take note to compare the contrast between the two. The contrast with the substance.
In each case, in the two miracles, the miracle that Christ performed
and then the one that we saw with Elijah when he said about
the loaves, the bread, and the ears of corn. With Elijah, there
was only a crowd of 100 hungry people, but with the Lord, There
was 5,000 men plus women and children. What a contrast. And Elijah took pity on them,
but Christ had compassion on them. Christ had compassion on the
needy multitude. And a few loaves formed the principal
article of diet in each case, and they were barley ones. And
in each case, the order went forth to give, not to sell. Think
of that, too. The order went forth to give,
not to sell. Because the gospel is without
money and without price, beloved. It's without money and without
price, it's not for sale. It's not for sale. That the people
may eat. And in each case, an unbelieving
attendant raised objection. Elijah fed the crowd through
his servant, and Christ through his apostles. And in each case, a surplus remained
after the people had eaten. But let us take note, though,
in how Christ, how the Lord Jesus Christ receives the preeminence
over the shadow, which was what Elijah did there, and in the
substances, which is what Christ did in feeding the 5,000. Let
us note how he receives the preeminence. He had a much larger company,
didn't he? A hundred, 5,000. 5,000, minimum 5,000. Plus women and
children, you're talking, we don't even know the number, do
we? Instead of 100. And he had fewer loaves. He only had five instead of 20.
Five instead of 20. And then he supplied a richer
feast because he also supplied fish, not ears of corn. And how did he do it? All by
His almighty power. Both miracles were by His almighty
power. But we see how Christ received
the preeminence in His miracle. All by His almighty power. Now
may this comfort us this week. We who are the sheep of God.
May we take comfort from this, what we've learned today. This
fact. God always takes care of His
sheep. Always. Praise His mighty name.