And Elisha came again to Gilgal, and there was a dearth or a famine 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 there of the wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. See, 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 said, pour out for thy people, for the people that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. And we do trust the Lord will bless the reading of his own precious and fallible and earned and inspired word to our hearts this morning. Sadly, one of my favorite pastimes is eating. Why does it have to be so enjoyable? And I usually say, if it's bad for you, I probably like it. Things that are healthy, unfortunately, I don't seem to have an appetite for the healthy things at all. I read about a meal that's supposed to be the biggest meal in the world. The Arabs have it, and some of the nomad people, Now, apparently they take some eggs and they stuff them into a fish. They then take the fish and they put that into a chicken. They then take the chicken and put it into a sheep. They then take the sheep and put it into a camel and cook the whole thing, and then they start to eat it. I have no idea what that would be like, but I certainly wouldn't want to face it at all. I'm a very plain eater, as most of you know. And sometimes I remember when Marcel and I were going out, there was a Chinese restaurant in Cookstown And it was tasty and I wouldn't be very adventurous when it comes to Chinese. I was taking a sausage supper. That's as adventurous as I would get with Chinese. But I remember eating this sausage supper one Saturday night and there's something even about it I thought wasn't right. The next day, on the Lord's Day, I was violently sick. I had picked up food poisoning. And I think I went to work on the Monday and I come home early. And I think that's the only half day I took off work in 15 years of work. It just was so violent. If you've ever had food poisoning, you'll know what it's like. It really is gut-wrenching and really terrible indeed. We have a case in Pointe this morning of some food poisoning, something that was in the meal that wasn't right, and it caused the men to cry out their death. in the pot. And I think you're wondering this morning, what on earth can we learn from this passage this morning? What would God have to say to us this morning? It would be tempting for me to read on the rest of the chapter. There's a great miracle as we come to the end of 2 Kings chapter 4. But this miracle is something that I couldn't pass, and we'll get to the point eventually. I want to talk first of all about Gilgal revisited. You'll see in verse 38, Elisha came again to Gilgal. You'll remember back in 2 Kings 2, it was there that his faith was tested. Do you remember Elijah told him to go back? to go back, and Elijah did this on three occasions, and he was sort of making it easy for Elisha to go back home if he wanted to. What Elijah was doing was testing his commitment. And so here is Elisha, if you like, and he's going back to that place where his faith had been tested. And I think as we see Gilgalder visit, we see a man with a pastor's heart. Remember what we said last week, he was with a widow woman, a widow woman who was very wealthy, a widow woman who's described as a great woman. She had provided for him a little room and in that room the prophet had everything that he needed. Surely it would have been easy for Elisha to stay there. Surely it would have been so easy to have a comfortable life and there he could operate surely in that area. He would by now be well known and no doubt very popular. But here we see him going to Gilgal. But what was in Gilgal? Well it says that there was a dearth. That word dearth simply means that there was a famine. Here were some of God's people over in Gilgal and they had a particular need. Would have been easy for Elisha to stay put. But he had the heart of a pastor. Indeed, he had the heart of a believer. He knew there was a need somewhere. He knew there were those who needed him, and rather than remain comfortable, he's moving to an area where there is some great need. And that challenges me, but I think it challenges all of us, doesn't it? Do you know someone this morning with a great need? As we come into December, as we approach Christmas time, it's difficult for people. Some people find it very difficult. It brings back painful memories. And I know with the children and all, it's a wonderful time of the year and they love it, but there's others and it's difficult. Would you spare a thought for those who have needs? And maybe even go beyond a thought. Maybe someone could just do with a word from you, something to help. So here is a man with a pastor's heart. He didn't stay where it was comfortable. There's a verse in first Corinthians 16, as we even think of serving the Lord. And it's interesting what Paul says, but I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. Why? He says a great door and a factual has opened onto me. Well, that would make any of us stay. The door is opened and the Lord is going to use it. But then he goes on to say, there are many adversaries. You would think when there were many adversaries, you would hightail it out of the place, but not Paul. Paul realized God had opened this door. He realized there were adversaries, but that didn't put Paul off. That didn't cause Paul to run away. And sometimes when we meet a problem in the work of the Lord, we want to run away. But Paul saw that not as a reason to run away, but to stay put and to seek the help of the Lord. And may the Lord encourage us through his word to be like Elisha, not to run away from trouble since, but to be there to help them. I believe we see a man with a pastor's heart as we think of Gilgal Revisited. We could say something about its place in history as we think about Gilgal. There's always debate over whether this is the same place or not, but certainly in terms of its name, 600 years previously, the children of Israel had crossed the river Jordan. They had gone through, remember the Lord rolled the sea back and they came to Gilgal. It was Gilgal that was there. They were circumcised. It was there that they ate the old corn of the land, Joshua 5 verse 11. And that would tell us that this was an area where there was plenty of grain and plenty of supplies, normally speaking. Krumach, or the Jewish... A commentator says this, as far as the eye could see, nothing but golden cornfields all around. Wagons were loaded down with the rich treasures of harvest. Vines and pomegranates would bend because of their luxuriant burdens. The blessing of affluence and peace would abound everywhere. That's what it was like. Normally that's what Gilgal would have been, a rich place, some of the best land in Israel. You see the pastor's heart, you see the place and their history. Then you see the problem that's horrible in verse 38. Elisha came again to Gilgal and there was a dearth. As I said, that word dearth means a famine. That's how it's translated in Genesis chapter 12. How the picture has changed. Instead of this great pasture, there's a famine in the land. Now, when you get into the Old Testament times, famines were a way that God would use to speak to people and even a way that God would punish people. I'm not saying he doesn't do that today. Indeed, I think there are lessons for us to learn from even what we would call natural disasters today, but events, especially in Old Testament times, Deuteronomy 28 verses 23 to 24, God warned him if there was a disobedience that indeed there would be a famine upon the land. And so here are days of disobedience and there's a great famine in the land. Let me tell you, there's a famine in the land today. It may not be a famine of food, but as Amos said in Amos 8 verse 11, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing of the words of the Lord. Certainly, spiritually, there's a famine when it comes to the teaching of the word of God. And of course, I'm speaking generally. Here in Northern Ireland, indeed, right throughout the British Isles, right throughout the United Kingdom, there's certainly no desire for the Word of God. And some places are living like Gilgal in past victories and past glories. And they have a name that they liveth, but they're dead. That's what the Lord said about the church at Sardis. All they had was a great name. And there are some of the denominations, they have a great name. You go back to some of the founders, great men of God, really used of God. They have a name, but they're dead. They're dead. I sat through a funeral service last week and I said from beginning to end, not a word about the cross, not a word about Christ, not a word of gospel. They have a name. What a building it was. Huge. But they're dead. Dead man with a dead message to dead people. What a disgrace. And there's a famine in the land for the teaching and the preaching of the Word of God. And maybe, you know, it's not just the churches. Maybe we could make it more personal. Was there a time when your life was fruitful? You were like Gilgal. You were fruitful. Every time you looked, there was something there for the Lord. But listen, you're going through a spiritual famine. Has there been disobedience? Have you turned away from what the Lord has to say. You see the pastor's heart. You see a place with a history. You see the problem that's horrible. Then you see a position that's humbling. Look at verse 38. And Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a dearth in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. In spite of the dearth, here are the sons of the prophets. You see, here are some who really want to know what God has to say. And in spite of the dearth, let's not become like Elijah. Do you remember what Elijah said? I'm the only one left. Let's never think that we're the only one left. But let's be thankful for those who have an ear for the Word of God. Those who love the Word of God. Those who want to go on with the Lord. And I'm so thankful for people who still want to hear what God has to say. I'm thankful for the Mary's. Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her. Do you remember she sat at the feet of the Lord Jesus because she wanted to hear what he had to say. And I thank God for those who still have an interest in the midst of the spiritual famine and darkness and declension that we're in. Thank God there are still those who have an ear for the word of God. And so you see Gilgal revisited here, you see the pastor's heart, you see the place in history, the problem that was horrible, the position that was humble. They were still sitting at the feet of Elisha to hear the word of God. Then you see the practical help and verse 38 and Elisha said unto his servant in the middle of the verse set on the great pot and seed pottage for the sons of the prophets. Elisha realizes these men needed to be fed. You see, there's the practical needs, and of course, there are the spiritual needs. And the practical needs are important. And he asks his servant, who I assume is Gehazi, to get the pot ready and to get everything ready. And you know, I think that Gehazi has some responsibility here. He wasn't the man who gathered the vines. We'll see who that was in a moment. But he certainly was in charge of this, and it seemed like a simple task. It seemed like a menial task. It seemed like an unimportant task. But as we discovered on Wednesday night, Epaphroditus was a man who was just a messenger. He was sent with a gift from Philippi to Rome to Paul. He helped Paul. He ministered to him. It's likely he bandaged him. It could be he prepared his meals for him. It could be he washed his clothes for him. We don't know exactly what he did, but he certainly ministered unto the Apostle Paul. These things are menial. These things seem unimportant. But do you know what Paul says? He says it's the work of Christ. It's the work of Christ. I don't care what you do and connect it with the assembly here. It's the work of Christ. If you're cleaning the toilets, if you're washing the floor, if you're making tea, and I'm not saying that's any less than what I'm doing. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. It's the work of Christ. the work of Christ. You see, when it comes to a church, in the church you have elders who are responsible for the spiritual things in the church, and you have deacons who are responsible for the practical issues in the church. But even though they're responsible for the practical issues, they're still supposed to be spiritual men. Spiritual men. It's not menial tasks. It's the work of Christ. You know, if Acts 6 points out the first deacons, this is what it says of the seven men. They had to be of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. You know, if they're full of the Holy Ghost, those are men who are spiritual men. If they're of honest report, they're of men of good character and good reputation. If they're full of wisdom, they're men of discernment. And so the qualification for an elder or for a deacon are spiritual qualifications. They may be looking after practical issues, but they should be spiritual men. That means they should be at the meetings. That means they should be at the prayer meeting. Or perhaps sometimes I know wives and husbands rotate and that's fully understandable. But they should be spiritual men and men of prayer. There are no menial tasks. when it comes to the work of Christ. That's what I'm trying to say this morning. And maybe you're doing something which you think is menial. Let me tell you, it's the work of Christ. It's the work of Christ. And whilst there may be many here who don't take note of it, the Lord takes note of it. The Lord takes note of it this morning. We're thinking of Gilgal revisited this morning. And here we have this great pot. What application am I going to make this morning? You can see this great pot, it's common to all, it's central to all. And what could this great pot remind us of this morning? I wanna give you three areas where I wanna make the application. I wanna think about the church and our teaching or our doctrine. I wanna think about the believer. and our deportment or our behavior. And I want to think about the gospel and its content or our declaration. So I'm going to talk about the doctrine, I'm going to talk about the deportment, and I'm going to talk about the declaration. I'm going to bring something else in at the end as well. But you can see Gilgal revisited. Before we get to that, look at the gatherer's reward just so we get the story right this morning. Look at verse 39. And one went out into the field, we're not told who he is, to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered the rough wild gourds, his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. Here's a man, and he goes out, and his job is simple. He's to get herbs. But here he sees this wild vine. It must have looked more exciting than the herbs. And he takes it upon himself. to try and add something in. And so he looks at this wild vine, he gathers these wild girds, and he brings it back, and he's gonna throw the whole thing into the pot. Let me say this, I believe his intention was sincere. I think he really wanted to add to the pottage. I think he thought he was helping, but he was adding, he was acting on his own initiative. If you like, it was rationalism. This seemed to be better. This looked tastier. This looked to be helpful. I have no doubt the fact he found it. He may even have thought it was off the Lord. Do you remember when Jonah wanted to run away from the Lord, he found a ship? And sometimes we're like that. We say, oh, because there's a ship there, it must be off the Lord. It wasn't. Jonah was going in the wrong direction. This man found a gourd. He must have thought, surely the Lord has put that here. The Lord didn't put it there. Sometimes we can read into our circumstances and we can blame the Lord and say, well, the Lord put it here, it must be off him. Not every opportunity is off the Lord. And sometimes circumstances are there to tell us what not to do, not only to tell us what to do. But you see the intention. And then you see something that's inevitable. It says he found a wild vine. It says he came with his lap full. Even though it was a time of famine, he had no bother finding this wild vine. And there's plenty of wild vines about. They were all over the place. You see the intention. You see something inevitable, and then you see the ignorance in verse 39. And I'm not talking about ignorant in a behavioral sense, but just he didn't know, or they didn't know. One went out into the field to gather herbs, found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into pot of pottage, for they knew them not. All was mixed into the pot. It says they knew them not. No one could see the danger. No one could see the harm. Everything looks fine at the moment. You see Gilgal revisited, you see the gatherer's reward, he brings in these wild vines. And then you see the grub that was repulsive, I couldn't think of anything better than that. Look at 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. The sons of the prophets knew something was wrong, something was dangerous, something was risky, this was unedible, this was dangerous, this was deadly. Now let's step back and make our application this morning. Let's think of doctrine this morning. Think of the great pot that we've been handed down. And in this assembly in Raphaelian we've been handed down a great pot. Right from the conception of the church here in Rephraim. Faithful men of God have ministered the word of God and they have handed down the teaching of this church from generation to generation. I think it's in fulfillment of what we have in 2 Timothy 2 verse 2. And the things that I have heard of many witnesses It's the same commit now to faithful men who shall be able to teach others. We have an inheritance, a rich biblical inheritance. We have a responsibility to hand that down to generation, to generation, to generation. This is where I'm at this morning. What a wonderful inheritance we have to declare the whole counsel of God. What happens sometimes? People bring things in that are wild, and they're not of the Lord. And they bring them in because they look better. They seem to be more attractive. They seem to be more appealing. They certainly seem to be very popular. But their wild vines are not of the Lord. And things are thrown into the pot. All sorts of funny mixtures. All sorts of weird and wonderful things are thrown into the pot and it's poison. And it's poisoning a generation. and they're being weaned off the pure, sound Word of God, and they have an odd mixture out there which is off the devil, and it's pure rubbish. It's absolute poison. Jeremiah made the cry for the old path. Just the old part, just back to the simple belief in the Word of God. As this book says it, it means it because all scripture is given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. We can't let the wild vines in. And listen, there's an abundance of them. Paul said in 1 Timothy 4 verse 1, there'll be those who will depart from the faith. He said in 2 Timothy, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. There's air everywhere. There's all sorts of wild vines trying to get into the church. And some have opened the doors. And the great pot has been contaminated. And the mixture is pure poison. And the people have it taken before they catch on the damage it's done. When I think of the great pot, I not only think of our doctrine, which is so important, that we keep the wild vines out. Then I just thought about my behavior. Because it's easy sometimes. Doctrine seems to be something that's there and that's fine, but then we make it very personal. Are there any wild vines in your life? You see, this pot was to give life, but instead it was giving death. You and I who are saved this morning, we are to give life. We're to bring them in from the fields of sin as we were singing. And we are to spread the message of life. As Paul told us in Philippians, we have the word of life. And we are to reach out with the word of life. We are to be conduits, if you like, channels of blessing that people might find life, but sometimes they see death. Sometimes there's a wild vine of jealousy in us. Sometimes there's a wild vine of anger, bitterness, moral failure, lack of devotion. Sometimes it's our tongue. What a wild vine the tongue can be in the mouth of a believer. And you're looking for life in someone and you see this wild vine. And everything else might be okay. You know everything else in this pot was grand. But you wouldn't take your Sunday lunch if you knew 1% of it was pure poison. There's nothing appetizing about it. There's nothing appealing about it. And there's nothing appealing about a believer whose life is filled with wild vines. Jealousy, anger, bitterness, moral failure, lack of devotion, a tongue, disobedience, rebellion, snobbery, self-centeredness, greed. Wild vines are everywhere. And sadly, sometimes you see them in the child of God. How disappointing. How disappointing to have believers gossiping. How disappointing to have believers criticizing one another. How disappointing to find hypocrisy, half-heartedness, even sometimes hatred. And instead of having a pot that's appetizing, life-giving, it's repulsive, it's stinking, and it just gives death. Is there wild vines of good into your life? Do you need to do some spiritual weeding this morning? You see when we think of doctrine, you see when we think of deportment. And then of course there's our declaration. I just thought of the gospel. This really burdens my heart. Because I know a church last Sunday evening where they preach the gospel week by week by week that a man on last Sunday night and we had friends went to the church, I'm not going to mention the church, they said, we never heard a word of the gospel. Not a word of the gospel. It's hurtful. And there's churches and there's no gospel. You couldn't fault the teaching in the morning or the evening, but there's no gospel. There's no heaven, there's no hell. And the wild vines have come in. I told you about what I listened to the other day. It was dead from beginning to end, full of wild vines, full of nonsense, nothing absolutely in it. And sometimes the preaching of the gospel has been abandoned. And churches are no longer able to say, we preach Christ crucified. They're not able to say, we preach the gospel, we preach the word in season and out of season. They can't say that because they don't do it. And people are coming to us and saying, look, we're getting nothing in our own church. I'll tell you, the wild vines have come in. And God's people are being robbed. And the lost are being left in darkness. Society's full of wild vines. Modern education, it's all about evolution and the world viewpoint. Modern ethics, transgenderism, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, gambling, the whole lot. It's all legalized. It's all glorified. That's the society. There are wild vines everywhere. When it comes to modern broadcasting, you can just see how the world is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-the gospel, and there's death in the pot. And in much of modern religion, it's ecumenism and liberalism and all sorts of modernism. And there's death in the pot. We have to keep the wild vines out. But here's the positive thing this morning. Here were some men. They realized this wasn't right. They had discernment. You see, they had sat at the feet of Elisha. And they realized this is not right. And do you know what they do when something's not right? They spoke out about it. And they said, there's death in the pot. It's not easy sometimes to disagree with people. But if there's death in the pot, you have to be honest with the people. And these young men knew that something wasn't right. Thank God for young men and young women, and indeed older men and women, who have the discernment to know and to keep the wild vines out. Keep it out of the church. Keep it out of your life. Keep it out of the gospel. You see Gilgal revisited it. You see the gatherer's reward. You see the grub that was repulsive. Then you see they're given the remedy. Look at verse 41. But he said, then bring meal and 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. Bring meal. Now I know this was a miracle, but they had to bring wholesome meal. And you know the meal pictures the living word, Christ, and the written word, the Bible. And I'm thinking especially of the written word this morning. Take the meal. and apply it to the situation. Take the church and take the meal of the Word of God and apply the Word of God to it. What a difference it makes. No longer is there death in the pot, there's no harm in the pot. Take your life this morning and set it beside the Word of God. You know the meal offering in the Old Testament, you know it was made from fine flour. I don't want to go into it all this morning. There was no coarseness, there was no roughness. It's pictures Christ. Christ was totally without sin. There was no rough edges in Christ. You and I, listen, we've got rough edges everywhere. And we can often say, God's still working in us, but I'll tell you, Christ was perfect. He was fine flour. You take your life and set it against the fine flour of Christ. You take your life and set it against the meal of the Word of God. And see if there's any wild vines, any wild gourds. any wild things that have come in. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. The Lord Jesus says, Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. And you see how the meal was applied? Same with our gospel preaching. Does it add up to the Word of God? Is it in keeping with the Word of God? Are we preaching another Jesus? Are we preaching another gospel, which is no gospel according to Paul? You can see how the meal made all the difference. The wholesome meal of the Word of God. That's why the emphasis in Raphael and Baptist Church has to be in the Word of God. Has to be in the Word of God. We still have a Bible study. Some people have shut it down. And they've moved to home groups and it's all over the place. And they'll have a little talk about a passage. They'll not get into the Word of God and open up the Word of God. Because we believe we need the meal. To keep the wild vines out. Keep them out of the church. Keep them out of your life. We don't want there to be death. in the pot. We certainly don't want death. coming from our lives. We want men and women to see something appetizing, something edifying, something that will bring them to the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6 verse 3, If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, and that word was used of male, wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ unto the doctrine which is according to godliness. Let's stick to the wholesome words that will bring life. There's the remedy this morning for the wild goers. There's the remedy this morning for the wild vine. There's the remedy this morning to keep the wild things out of the church. Keep them out of your life. And don't let them contaminate the gospel. C. H. Spurgeon said this. He once told of sitting in a nice restaurant He says, as he ate, he kept noticing a rather angry-looking man across the dining room who scowled at him every time he looked his way. Spurgeon decided to go over and speak to him. And as he goes up and started to walk over, he realized that he was looking into a mirror. Sometimes when we come to the meal of the Word of God, we don't like what it has to say. And we don't like what it shows us. If the Word of God has revealed some wild vines in your life this morning. You can ignore what this book says, or you can do what Elisha said, cast it into the pot, throw it into the pot, and see the difference it'll make. There was death in the pot, and then there was no harm in the pot. Jesus Christ was holy. harmless, undefined. See, when there's no harm in the pot, then we're just being like Christ. I'll say a bit more about it tonight. Let's close in a word of prayer. Our dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Word of God this morning. And Lord, we thank you for this miracle. Lord, it seems to be something we could just read in passing. And yet, Lord, may we be in our guard. Lord, help us to keep the wild vines out of our frail and Baptist. Lord, they might look appealing. They may seem to be attractive. They may even bring people in. But oh Heavenly Father, they'll cause death to be in the pot. Help us, Lord, to keep them out of our lives. Lord, if there'll be nothing there, we'll take away from the beauty of Christ. Really, we can say, let the beauty of Christ be seen in me. So Lord, bless thy word to our hearts this morning. May we have the grace to throw the meal into the pot and apply the word of God to our situations. For our sin and through our Savior's precious name we pray. Amen.