2 Kings 4:38-41 “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.  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. 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. 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.  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.”

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1. The Dearth In The Land

There is a dearth in the land today. The dearth in the land of America is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Did you get that? There is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. But you say, “What do you mean by saying such a thing as that, Brother St.James? There are millions of Bibles all over the earth, and especially here in America! What is more, in the English language are extant over two hundred versions of the English bible for us to imbibe.”

But I say to you this is the very problem! [THE PROBLEM] It’s a problem that has troubled the land. [TROUBLE] The scholars and the folks on Madison Avenue have troubled the land. [Amos 8:11-14] “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:”

For all the multitude of bible translations we are starving for the lack “of hearing the words of the Lord.” I am not saying we are hungry to hear the words of the Lord. I am saying we are starving to death due to the lack of a desire for the true words of the Lord. We have a desire to find a bible of our own making [MANUFACTURE] and one filled with the imaginations of men.

As a consequence of our impure motives we will search for the word of the Lord IN VAIN. Guess what! God will insure that we will come up DRY! “And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.”

This has happened here in America as it also happened in Amos’s day in Israel. “They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.”  We have doomed ourselves to fall and we will never rise up again as a people and as a nation.

We wanted, at any price, to be lied to and be deceived by false teachers. We installed the scholars in the high places to fabricate over 200 false bibles to soothe our bitten conscience. Motive? The motive was to get rid of the true Bible … the true words of GOD in the English language. Because we got tired of hearing of the words of the Lord, the Lord has sent lying spirits to us.

Now, you’re saying, “Brother St.James, You are off your rocker! God would never send a lying spirit to fool us.” Lighten up, friend. You need the pure word of GOD [KING JAMES BIBLE] to straighten you out, my friend.

HEAR THOU THEREFORE THE WORD OF THE LORD!

Go to 1 Kings 22:19-23, and see the bizarre scene. “And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead?  And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.”

We have presumed that GOD will tolerate messing with the BOOK he wrote. GOD has messed with our minds. Just as it was prophesied by Isaiah concerning Israel and fulfilled when Jesus Christ came to this earth the first time. They heard but did not hear, and today we hear but we do not HEAR.

It is a heart problem! Turn to [Matthew 13:10-17] and see. “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

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2. Sitting Before The Man Of God … In Hunger

This is the brethren, sitting before the man of GOD, in the 21st century … hungering and thirsting for the hearing of the words of the Lord. In the local independent Baptist churches today, there are a few who remain sitting before the man of God who believe the Book, and are hungry “for hearing the words of the Lord.”

The preaching of the word of GOD is their delight! Oh! They love the fellowship of the brethren, and the singing of the hymns and spiritual songs, but they love PREACHING, and they are sitting before the preacher … in a training program … learning to preach the word of GOD. Something is placed inside of them [desire] to stay by the stuff, and to hear the instruction [as the Scripture saith in II Timothy 4:2], “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” They want to follow the command of the captain of their salvation [JESUS CHRIST] to PREACH.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” [Mark 16:15]

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” [Acts 5:42]

“And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.” [Acts 10:42]

“Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” [Acts 17:3]

This is true today [as it has been true all throughout the church age for the last two thousand years] because the preaching of the cross to the believer in Jesus Christ is the [POWER OF GOD]. The preaching of God’s word is, for the believer, his necessary food. The saved sinner knows the foolishness of preaching is [THE METHOD] that God has chosen to use to deal with the sinner in this age. [1 Corinthians 1:18] “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

There they are. They are the believing brethren … the remnant in the last days of the church age … sitting before the man of GOD … still on board for the program of this age, just like Elisha’s sons of the prophets that were sitting before him in his day. “And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”

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3. The Message … Set On The Pot

These sons of the prophets were sitting before the man of GOD, and hearing the words of the LORD, which produces FAITH. [“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17] They hear the command to his servant: “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.”

Now the believer needs to eat. We need to eat … brethren … physically and spiritually … in order to grow and stay alive. The spiritual food is as necessary to the new man in Christ as the physical food is to the body. Amen! We need the nourishment of the good wholesome food of the Bible. When Jesus was lining out [REBUKING] the Devil in Matthew 4:4, he said this: “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

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4. Pottage For The Saints

39a “And one went out into the field to gather herbs,” … watch it! So the servant sends out others to gather the ingredients, or the pottage, to seethe in the pot. The teaching and preaching of GOD’s WORD [DOCTRINE] is our milk and wholesome meat! Good POTTAGE for the soul and FOOD for the spirit.

· “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, [DOCTRINE] whereunto thou hast attained.” [1 Timothy 4:6]

· “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine [DOCTRINE].” [1 Timothy 4:13]

· “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine [DOCTRINE]; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” [1 Timothy 4:16]

· “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, [DOCTRINE] for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16-17]

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5. Heresies Within [Or Wild Gourds Gathered]

39b “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.”

The admixture of the wild gourds with the good nutritious herbs produces a rot gut poison to the body and will KILL you. The admixture of false teachings and solid bible doctrine produces HERESIES in the body of Christ. Yet even here GOD has the plan!

The Lord has established a principle that has been placed into operation for the last two thousand years. In I Corinthians chapter 11, verse 19 we find these words: “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” [More on this later.]

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6. Death In The Pot [Or Unbelief Will Kill You]

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.”

There is death in the pot!

The death in the POT for Israel … two thousand years ago … when they rejected their MESSIAH [JESUS CHRIST] was UNBELIEF.

John 1:10-11 “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

Jesus Christ’s own kin received HIM not.

Jesus Christ’s own neighbors received HIM not.

[Matthew 13:54-58] “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Israel, in particular, rejected Jesus Christ “because of their unbelief.” The NATION of Israel was cast to four corners of the earth [71 A.D.] when the Roman emperor Titus entered Jerusalem] because they rejected their Messiah … Jesus Christ THE SON of GOD. [Romans 11:20] “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear” [Romans 11:21] “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” [Romans 11:22] “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” [Romans 11:23] “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.” [Romans 11:24] “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?” [Romans 11:25] “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

The death in the POT for the body of Christ is UNBELIEF. The death in the POT for the believer in the body of Christ is UNBELIEF. There is death in the pot! Unbelief is a wild gourd! Unbelief  KILLS. It is A HEART PROBLEM! . It’s a UNIVERSAL thing. Unbelief will kill you. It’s DEATH in the pot!

You and I got it … when we were born of human parents! [1 Corinthians 15:21] “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” [1 Corinthians 15:22] “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Amen!

1] Unbelief comes from an evil heart. [Hebrews 3:12] “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

2] Unbelief will not allow you to come into GOD’S REST – Jesus Christ [Hebrews 3:19] “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

3] Unbelief in all our hearts [the hearts of men] is universal. [Romans 11:32-33] “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

GOD said it! I believe it!!! Do you? Amen! Now there can be MERCY. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

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7. The Antidote … Believing The BOOK

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.”

Unbelief DISPELLED! What can you do once you realize that you possess a heart of unbelief? The answer is this, go to: [Mark 9:24]. “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF! … an honest prayer.

The free fall end result of sin is always unbelief. One of the methods God uses to break the free fall in our lives [as a brother or sister believer] is to have the brethren [fellow believers] “exhorting one another daily” to be in obedience to the BOOK in the fellowship of THE SPIRIT …to the WORD of GOD so that all honor goes to The Word … The SON of GOD. [Hebrews 3:13] “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Another method is for the brethren to uphold the other in prayer. [Ephesians 6:18] “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

The last method I will give is from something mentioned earlier in this message. Here it is! God has established a principle that has been in operation for the last two thousand years. In every true Bible-believing Baptist church we will find heresies [False Teachings] that slip into the body. God’s WORD states it must happen. It is because we, as believers, are still in this old world in these natural bodies. Yes, sin still abounds because of the flesh, the world and the Devil. Amen! That is why we have these words in I Corinthians chapter 11, verse 19: : “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”

The important thing to note here is the word: [APPROVED]. God uses the presence of heresy to show the body of Christ those who are APPROVED by the Holy Ghost. The contrast between that darkness [of heresy] and the light [TRUE TEACHING] is used to give discernment to the body of Christ those who are the false teachers from those who are the true teachers. God has some strange ways in our eyes in the means and methods that he will use to bring us through this life. We just need to take HIM at his word, and claim the promises. [PROMISES] Are you ready?

The Antidote is to Believe The BOOK! [THE BIBLE] This is God's Holy WORD to you and me! Do you believe it? The A.V.1611 [or The King James Bible] is God's word PRESERVED in the English language for you, and me. It came from the English Reformation. This Bible declares that: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." [II Timothy 3:16] God's inspired word is preserved in the A.V.1611.

The word "preserved" means maintained inspiration. "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." [Psalm 12:6-7]

“PRESERVE.”

You see what God is saying here? GOD promises that no matter what man does, even with his corrupting influence in all these Madison Avenue money-making productions, which have resulted in over 200 "new" English translations of the Bible in the last 100 plus years, HE WILL [in spite of the scholars] "PRESERVE THEM FROM THIS GENERATION FOR EVER!"

Stick with the Book!

“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.”

FOOD for the BRETHREN!

THE WORD! BELIEVING THE WORD! Amen! Amen! AMEN!

Next: The True Bible