On Easter Sunday we had lunch out at the house and all the kids and grandkids came over. Sister Betty was there too. It was a good time. Family all getting together. But after we were done eating some of us went out MUSHROOM HUNTING. We were looking for MURREL mushrooms or the BIG WHITE ones that turn into PUFFBALLS when they dry out. Anyway, we went down by the creek where I found them before. And ... I came up empty handed. I didn’t find a one. Back, a year or two ago, Brother Wayne brought me some. They were delicious.
Now you can find different mushrooms besides MURRELS and the BIG WHITE ONES but I’m not sure which ones are safe to eat and which ones aren’t. But I DO KNOW that you don’t want to eat the MAGIC MUSHROOMS that grow in COW PATTIES. For more than one reason.
But this morning I want to look at a passage of scripture that’s NOT preached on too often. 2 Kings 4: 38-41. So let’s go ahead and read this passage.
“And Elisha 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 seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39 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.
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 is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
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.”
If you get the opportunity today, read the entire chapter of 2 Kings 4. I love this chapter because in it God performs some WONDERFUL MIRACLES.
I LOVE the story of the widow woman and her two sons who are at the point of DESPERATION. The CREDITORS are coming to ENSLAVE the two boys and she runs to Elisha and begs him to help her. Elisha says, “Sure, what do you have in the house?” Maybe he thought they could have a Garage Sale and make a little bit of money. Evidently they had already done that because she answers, “Uh, we have NOTHING but A POT of oil.”
Let me ask you today, How many of you all know that my God can take something so SMALL, so MINUTE and then MULTIPLY IT into something HUGE? And that’s what He did. They began using THAT POT of oil to fill EMPTY POTS with oil and it wasn’t long until they had sold enough oil to pay off their DEBTS and LIVE!!!
The second MIRACLE that God performs in this chapter is the story of the KIND OLD COUPLE who BLESS Elisha with a place to stay when he comes into town. They aren’t able to have children so God gives them a SON. Later that same son has a Heat Stroke and dies but GOD raises him from the dead. That’s just a summation of this Chapter but that brings us up to this STORY and MIRACLE that I want to look at today. So let’s go ahead and go to the Lord in Prayer.
Brother ____, would you lead us in Prayer?
I. The first thing that we see as we read this passage is that Elisha is in Shunem and he drops DOWN to the SOUTH a pretty good distance to Gilgal. And when he arrives there he finds out REAL QUICK that there’s a DEARTH in the land. A FAMINE. It seems there wasn’t a whole lot to EAT there in the area around GILGAL. And the SONS of the PROPHETS are setting there looking at him like, “We’re hungry, what are we gonna do?” These were students of his and he probably felt a responsibility for them. So he says to his servant, “Well, let’s get out the BIG POT and we’ll make a batch of STEW.” So that’s what they began to do.
Maybe you think I’m stretching this a bit but I am telling you this morning that there is a DEARTH in our LAND TODAY.
Not of FOOD. Most of us have plenty to eat. Just take a look at us.
Not of WATER. There’s PLENTY to DRINK.
Not of MONEY!!!! The governments printing BILLIONS of it EVERYDAY!!!
No there is a DEARTH, a FAMINE of COMMON SENSE!!! It seems that COMMON SENSE is NOT so COMMON anymore. When you have to WARN PEOPLE NOT to EAT Laundry detergent then you’ve got a PROBLEM.
When you have to WARN PEOPLE that COFFEE is HOT, and DON’T SPILL IT ON YOURSELF, you’ve got a PROBLEM.
And when you have a GOVERNMENT that wants to PRY IT’S WAY into every part of your LIFE ... You’ve got a PROBLEM. We have a DEARTH in the LAND!!!
But the MAIN DEARTH or FAMINE in our land, is the LACK of HEARING the Word of God. The PROPHET AMOS told us in Amos 8:11,
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
I can tell that TODAY we have a FAMINE. A DEARTH of HEARING and OBEYING the Word of God. If people would just LISTEN, can you imagine what a difference that would make? The RIOTING would be over. The EVIL WICKED POLITICIANS would be VOTED OUT. And PEACE would be the NORM once again. But things will continue on as long as we have a DEARTH in the land of HEARING GOD’S WORD.
Here’s the sad part. It’s hard to hear the Word of God when it’s NOT being preached. It’s hard to hear the Word of God when something OTHER THAN IT is being SPEWED OUT over our AIRWAVES.
ILLUS: Listen, I can turn on the RADIO and I can HEAR a PREACHER talking, but too many times what you hear is PSYCHOLOGY and NOT the BIBLE.
Too many times what you hear is more MYSTICISM and NOT the TRUTH. I heard a preacher talking the other day about a CHANT that you were to say over and over until you got what you wanted.
I hear the NAME IT, CLAIM IT, HEALTH, WEALTH and PROSPERITY GOSPEL. That’s NOT Bible. Some of the GREATEST Men of God died PENNILESS.
Listen, there are some GREAT PREACHERS out there today that BROADCAST over the AIRWAVES. I’m thankful for them but too many times they are the EXCEPTION and not the RULE. There is a DEARTH. A FAMINE in our land.
II. So because of the DEARTH, the FAMINE, Elisha takes charge. And as I said earlier, it seems that Elisha had the RESPONSIBILITY to take care of these young men.
In fact, two Chapters over, Chapter 6, Elisha begins a BUILDING PROJECT to put a ROOF over their heads.
But here we see that he begins to prepare a MEAL for them. They were to set on the Great Pot. Now that doesn’t mean they were to SET ON the Great Pot, but to set the GREAT POT on the FIRE. That’s some of that COMMON SENSE coming through there. But POTTAGE was going to be PREPARED for them to eat. A GOOD THICK STEW. MMM MMM that sounds good doesn’t it? You’re probably setting there all hungry and here I am talking about FOOD. So as the water begins to boil they were probably adding different ingredients. I hope they added some meat. Maybe just a little bit to add some flavor to it. Maybe some lamb or beef. Even fish or chicken. I doubt if they threw any HAM HOCKS in it.
But I bet they probably aded some LINTELS. Some Peas. Maybe some Tomatoes.
Some Carrots and Potatoes.
You definitely have to add some ONIONS and GARLIC.
And SALT. You have to have SALT.
And they added ALL of these GOOD things to this POT. I bet it was smelling good. Now I’m getting hungry!!!
And I want to tell you something. We are ALL responsible for somebody else. We are ALL RESPONSIBLE for what we add to their lives. What we THROW into their POT.
A. Parents, WE are responsible for what we FEED our families. And I’m NOT just talking about FOOD. I’m talking about ALL of the different things that we PUT into their LIFE.
Listen, you can feed your children JUNK FOOD or you can feed your children NUTRITIOUS FOOD.
You can feed them with the JUNK on TV or the WISDOM found in the WORD of GOD. BIBLICAL TEACHING.
You can feed them with hours and hours of SCREEN TIME or you can feed them with TIME spent with you.
You have a choice. Proverbs 22:6,
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
B. Listen you married folks, YOU are responsible for your wife or husband. What we THROW into the POT that I’m gonna call MARRIAGE.
You can FEED THEM with JUNK FOOD or FEED THEM NUTRITIOUS FOOD.
You can feed them PUT DOWNS and INSULTS. All kinds of NEGATIVITY or WORDS of ENCOURAGEMENT.
It’s up to you but YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for them. Ephesians 5 is a Chapter that every married couple needs to read every once in a while, just as a REMINDER of how Jesus wants us to treat each other.
C. Now some may say, “I’m NOT MARRIED, I don’t have any KIDS. The ONLY ONE I have to take care of is ME!!! Just LIVE and LET LIVE.”
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!
Whether you like it or not you’re going to ADD something into the POT of everyone you come in contact with. In Romans 14:7, Paul tells us,
“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”
Listen, you, as a Child of God have a RESPONSIBILITY to HELP others and to SHARE Jesus with others.
Galatians 6:2 tells us,
“Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Romans 15:1,
“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:42,
“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
The GREAT COMMISSION that Jesus gave in Mark 16:15 wasn’t to just the DISCIPLES.
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
That was to you and I too. We are RESPONSIBLE to share Jesus with others. We are RESPONSIBLE to put GOOD THINGS into their POT. Their LIFE.
III. And then let’s see what happens next. Somebody MESSED UP. Oh man, look at Verses 39 and 40.
“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.
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 is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
Bad news. I don’t know what this fellow was thinking. I mean, he goes out into the field and he finds some WILD GOURDS growing out there. Maybe he thought it was some weird shaped PUMPKINS. It says there, “for they knew them not.” This fellow really didn’t KNOW what he was picking.
It would be like me hunting for Morrels. I can’t find any of those so I’ll pick a bunch of TOADSTOOLS and throwing them in the POT. I don’t know if they’re POISON or NOT. It would be like me picking the MUSHROOMS out of the Cow Patties.
Anyway, they take these GOURDS, shred them up, and THROW them in the POT. I can just see it setting there boiling. I bet their stomachs were growling. They were HUNGRY. And finally, it’s done. It’s TIME TO EAT. Come and Get it. Boy they’re dishing that stuff up and all of the sudden one of them says WOOOO!!! STOP!!!! There’s DEATH in the POT!!!
That fellow had ruined the STEW. They couldn’t eat it. I don’t know if one or two of them got SICK or it just TASTED BAD. But never-the-less, there was DEATH in the POT.
And as I was studying this, it occurred to me that I’m the fellow who got the FIRST TASTE. And I’m here today saying WOOO. STOP!!! Because there’s DEATH in the POT. The things that are being thrown into the LIVES of PEOPLE all around our country is DEATH.
This might make you upset, I hope is doesn’t but the JUNK that BLM is putting out there today is POISON. There is NOTHING GOOD about it.
The WHITE SUPREMACISTS, the KKK, and some of these MILITIA GROUPS are gathering up POISON GOURDS, shredding them up and throwing them in the POT.
The JUNK that ANTIFA is pushing for will KILL US.
There’s DEATH in the POT!!!
And there is ONE MASTERMIND behind all of this STUFF that is going on in our country. And it is SATAN. He wants to DIVIDE US. He wants to cause HATRED. He wants to DESTROY US, so he throws DEATH into the POT.
And I’m here to say it. And I hope you’ll say it with me. “STOP!!! there’s DEATH in those WORDS. There’s DEATH in those ACTIONS. There’s DEATH for many more LIVES. And there’s DEATH for this COUNTRY if we don’t TURN AROUND.
There’s DEATH in the POT!!!
IV. But yet, there was a SOLUTION. Look at Verse 41.
“But he said (This is Elisha), 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.”
Elisha was there to CURE the PROBLEM.
He had the SOLUTION.
Take some MEAL. Some GRAIN that had been GROUND UP and THROW IT into the POT.
WOW!!! What a simple solution. Look what it says there.
“And there was no harm in the pot.”
The people were able to eat it. No one got sick. And their HUNGER was SATISFIED. Even in a DEARTH. A FAMINE. Even when things looked HOPELESS, there was a SOLUTION.
The United States of America has been called the BIG MELTING POT. People from all over the world have come to this land to become part of the American Dream. But as I said earlier, there’s POISON in this MELTING POT. But there is a SOLUTION. And it’s NOT TOO HARD. We simply put God into this POT and let Him be the CURE for what AILS US.
We put God back into our HOMES.
Back into our MARRIAGES.
Back into our GOVERNMENT.
Back into our SCHOOLS. It wasn’t that long ago that teachers could still pray in the CLASSROOM.
The BIBLE could still be on the TEACHER’S DESK.
Gideon Bibles could be handed out to each student.
And by doing this, BY ADDING GOD TO THIS POT THAT HAS BEEN POISONED BY SATAN, we put GOD back into our lives. Now THAT would CURE what AILS America.
Even in a time when there is a WORLDWIDE DEARTH, a FAMINE of COMMON SENSE.
A FAMINE of the WORD of GOD being PREACHED.
A FAMINE of just PLAIN OLD MORALITY.
Even in these times there is a SOLUTION.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Dr. Larry Petton tells the story of a fellow who would often go to the alter and cry, rededicating his life to God. He would pray “Lord, please remove the Cobwebs from my life. Lord, please remove the Cobwebs from my life.” Over and over he would do it. Finally one day the preacher got down beside him and prayed his own prayer. "Lord, don't take the cobwebs out........just kill the dad gum spider!"
You know folks, we pray for God to HEAL all that ails our country but what we really need to do is kill the SPIDER. Repent and get rid of the Sin. And it starts with each one of us individually. Has God spoken to you? If so I ask you to come.
