This is our study passage. In this passage, we see divine provision. Divine provision, and our title for today is sufficient provision. We see sufficient divine provision. And about this provision, We're going to see three things with one thing which doesn't really fit the mould shoved in the middle. I'll explain. We've got four points. The first point is dependence for divine provision. The second point is the mediator of divine provision. The fourth point, skipping one, is the sufficiency of divine provision. And shoved in there is the third point, is human incredulity. I've just thought we could have divine provision there. Human incredulity about divine provision. There you go. Got it in all four points. The first point, we'll jump straight in. It's clear what's happening. This is Elisha, by the power of God, providing for God's servants. So firstly, dependence for divine provision. In verse 42 of our passage, We see a man come from Baal Shalisha, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits and newly ripened grain in his sack. Bread of the first fruits and newly ripened grain. Or fresh ears of grain, as you may have it. Now the first question we have to answer is, why was this man bringing Elisha this food? Gotta remember, what are they in the middle of at this time? Famine. Famine. Now these barley loaves were probably not very big, more like, you know, you might see those mini baguette things from the shops, something like that, something like that size. Small, maybe a meal for one person, a small meal. But not really. But nevertheless, 20 of those are newly ripened grain in a famine is worth quite a lot, isn't it? So why is he bringing it to Elisha? Well, to understand this, we have to dive into the scriptures. Leviticus chapter 23. That's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus chapter 23, and verse 10, we see this. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. You are to bring the first fruits, that's the first part of your harvest, to be as a wave offering before the Lord. That's an offering that would literally be waved before God. Now this wave offering, the purpose of it was to demonstrate a dependence upon God. You're taking the first fruits, the first things from your harvest, you're taking them to the priest, and you're showing to God, I believe that you've given me this, And that's why I'm taking this for a wave offering. It's a demonstration of dependence upon God, a recognition that all things come from God, and therefore, all things are owed to him. Now, he doesn't ask for the whole harvest, just the first fruits. You might ask then, well, in 2 Kings chapter four, is Elisha a priest? No. Are these sons of the prophets priests? It doesn't seem so. So why are they bringing it to him? Well, I think it's a needs must. They would have struggled to go to Jerusalem. This is in Israel. So at this time, remember, the kingdom of Israel, the whole kingdom, has been split, and the top bit's been called Israel, and the bottom bit, which is where Jerusalem is, is called Judah. And the king of Israel doesn't want them going into the land of the king of Judah, so he doesn't let them. So they couldn't really go to the priest. and give it to him. You might say, well, why wasn't there any priest in the land of Israel? Well, maybe there was, or maybe there wasn't. You see, King Jehoram was king. Now, he was one of the sons of Ahab, and he was wicked. He didn't like God. So it makes perfect sense to me that there were perhaps no priests around. So it's a needs must. It's, you're not a priest, Elisha, but you're a man of God. I'll give this to you, and I think that was right. In situations of difficulty, you've got to make the most of what you've got, haven't you? And he was also with these sons of the prophets, these servants, who probably did, in the absence of the priests, if they were absent, which they probably were, these sons of the prophets probably did a large part of what the priests were supposed to do, in teaching and in keeping holy, et cetera, et cetera. To what extent, I don't know, but we're speculating. But it makes sense, doesn't it, in that light? that he would bring this offering to Elisha and the sons of the prophets. But remember this point, the wave offering, it was given to show reliance and dependence upon God. He has given us this harvest. Now we're gonna jump back to one more place. Numbers, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, chapter 18 and verse 12. Now that's the wave offering. But what happens to the wave offering after it has been used? Well, Numbers 18 and verse 12, God says this, through Aaron. No, to Aaron, sorry. All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. He's speaking to Aaron and the priests. The firstfruits that they give to the Lord, I give to you. And he also speaks about the wave offering elsewhere in this passage. So, this is where we are. These are the firstfruits, they're being given to Elisha because this is the important thing is to give the wave offering to the priest. There doesn't appear to be a priest, they can't get to Jerusalem, so they give it to Elisha instead. But also, when that wave offering had been given to the priests, the priests would wave it, but then it would appear that they would consume it. God has given it to them. It's God's special provision to them. Do you see, God told the Levites in Numbers 18 and verse 20, or the priests, he said, you shall not have an inheritance among the children of Israel. That means this, the other children of Israel got land where they would grow their things and they would keep their living. The priests didn't get that because they were to trust on the provision of God. And while these sons of the prophets are not priests, they are being treated as such here. And so, if that has confused you with going back into the Pentateuch, I'll bring it in here to make it simple. The food that Elijah is given shouts reliance upon God. This is food that is given to show reliance upon God. And the reason that they eat it is a sign of their reliance upon God. The whole message of this first verse here, of this perhaps seemingly insignificant little passage, is this. We must depend upon God for our nourishment and provision. in all things. We must depend upon God for nourishment and provision in all things. Do we recognize God for his provision? Even though we may have metaphorically hewn the ground, do we thank him for the rain and the strength to hew the ground? Children, do you thank God for what He has given to you? For the food that you've got? For the clothes that are on your back? For all the pleasures in your life? For the parents that you have, do you thank God? Do we all thank God? It's all come from Him. Breath, being, and everything we possess. thanking ourselves or just thanking others and not thanking God for what we have is like someone who receives money from someone else, goes and buys some food, eats it, and then thanks themselves for getting the food, but doesn't go back and thank the person who gave them the money to buy the food. You see, it's all come from God in the first place. It's all from Him. we need to rely upon God. But not just thanksgiving and reliance for physical food and physical things, but also for spiritual things, which we shall look at much more deeply as we move through this. Just note first, from verse 38 of this chapter, that these sons of the prophets did rely upon God for spiritual provision. They, in verse 38, were sitting before Elisha. They sat at his feet. They wanted his word from God. They wanted God to speak to them, and that is how we must be. So that's the first point. This is the second point, children, a bit on your front. The second point, the mediator of divine provision. In the passage that we have in 2 Kings, who gives out this nourishment? Whose job is it to divvy it up amongst the sons of the prophets? It's Elisha's job. Elisha is the one who cares for their needs here. Elisha is the one who is given the responsibility of handing out this food, not literally, but responsibly. He orders his servant to hand it out to the sons of the prophets, doesn't he? He's the one who must do this. He is the medium through which the bread comes, if you like. And as we'll see later, the bread is multiplied by this miracle that is wrought by God through him. He is the one who gives this bread out. Well, spiritually speaking, is Jesus not the one who mediates spiritual provision to us, the soul food that we need. Does that not come from the hand of Jesus? Elijah was a type of Jesus. Jesus was sent from God to give God's people bread from heaven. We saw that in John chapter six, didn't we? Particularly Christ offers this bread of himself, and he offers eternal life. Look at John 6, verse 26. Jesus says, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him the Father has set his seal. Who's the Son of Man? Jesus. He will give the bread of eternal life. He is the one who has been appointed by God to hand it out. And he is the bread of life. Verse 35, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And then verse 38, for I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Jesus is the mediator, he's the one who comes from God to give that bread of eternal life. And if you're a Christian, he's given it to you and he continues to give it to you. And if you're not a Christian, then maybe he will give you that bread of eternal life. today. In John 6, the emphasis is upon the fact that this bread gives everlasting life. Have you ever thought about that? A bread that could give you, you eat it once and it gives you everlasting life. Jesus claims to be able to give that, but it's not physical bread, it's himself. He says that, doesn't he? He says, I am the bread of life. He says, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Now he's not talking physically, actually eating his body and blood, of course not. He is talking spiritually. We must take Him by faith. Just as much as you take a piece of bread and eat it and it is yours and it gives life to your body, you must take Jesus Christ to yourself by faith. Take Him to yourself and make Him yours. His sacrifice is for any who repent and believe. Through faith, if you're a Christian, He is. yours, his broken body, his shed blood, he did it for you if you believe by faith. He uses the imagery of eating because if you eat something, it is so thoroughly yours and it is so thoroughly given you life and so if by faith we take the Lord Jesus Christ, if we believe in him, then he will be ours. The faith that we have will give us life in Him. We had the Lord's Supper last week, didn't we? And the Lord's Supper is a picture of this. We don't believe that the bread and the wine is actually the body and blood of Jesus, but it signifies the body and blood of Jesus. And as we take it by faith, it is a picture that Jesus is for us. He's just as much mine as that piece of bread that I ate. His blood is just as much shed for me as that wine that I just drunk. Do you see? Received by faith, he is the mediator of eternal life. But Christ also offers spiritual vitality through the word and spirit. The vehicle through which this bread of life comes to us is the word of Jesus and the word of God. In the same chapter, a verse we didn't read in verse 68, Peter says something very profound. When Jesus asks them, do you want to leave me as well? He says this, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Jesus has been speaking about how he is the bread of life, and Peter says, you have the words of eternal life. This is the vehicle with which it comes to us. You know what a vehicle does? It takes you from spot A to spot B, sometimes in style, sometimes at speed, sometimes not. But the vehicle, that's what it is, that's what it does. Takes you from here to there. What is the vehicle which brings eternal life to us? which brings it to our doors, which opens it up to us, which stops at our feet and means by faith we can take it, it is the word of God. Because if there wasn't the word of God, we wouldn't hear about this salvation, we wouldn't know Jesus was the bread of life. And so the word of God brings him to us and he is there, he is here. And we can have him by faith. but he also gives us a new heart and he sanctifies us. And this takes place through his word and by his spirit of life. Jesus gives us the strength to go on as Christians. Jesus provides for us. We must rely upon God and Jesus will provide all that we need in our spiritual lives. John chapter 14 and verse 15 says this, Jesus speaking, if you love me, you will keep my commandments and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. And then verse 26, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. When Jesus goes, he will send his Holy Spirit, and he has. And that Holy Spirit will take the word of God and will apply it to our hearts. And through that, we will be spiritually enlivened. This mediator, he cares for us. He brings to us all the wonders which we otherwise could not have. He is glorious. and how much we owe Him, and how we are saddened by our own ingratitude, by our own not listening to His commands, by our own lethargy, that is, seek repentance and seek His spiritual provision. But thirdly, human incredulity, human incredulity about God's provision, about divine provision. Verse 43 of our passage in 2 Kings 4 says this. His servant said, how can I set this before 100 men? This is human incredulity. His servant doubted. So they had 20 loaves. These were small loaves, remember, and these are 100 men. Now, they're setting that for 100 men. Humanly speaking, That's a pretty pathetic meal. In fact, it's not going to go anywhere to actually satiating the hunger of 100 men in the middle of a famine. Now if you had 20 people round to your house, and the designated cook was in the kitchen, and you were next to them, you were watching them, and said, right, I'm gonna get started. They put their apron on, they rolled their sleeves up, and then they crack three eggs in the pan, scramble them, get one piece of warbuttons, toast it, put a little butter on it, put it all on a plate, and say, right, we're ready, let's go through and feed the multitude. What would you say? What would you say? What? Before 20 people? That might feed one not-so-hungry person, but 20 people? Surely not. You see, humanly speaking, that's a perfectly reasonable reaction, isn't it? And while we don't want to become over-harsh on Elisha's servant, he is in the wrong. So what's the difference? What's the difference between this situation, 2 Kings 4, and any normal situation? What's different? Elisha is different. This is Elisha. This is not a normal man. This is the man of God, who has the power from God. Do you think the disciples were any different? Well, we read the passage just before, didn't we, in John chapter six. They weren't. John chapter six and verse eight to nine, no, seven and eight to nine. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. Jesus asked him where they shall get food. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for, so many? Five barley loaves, it's the same thing. Small loaves, and two fish. You see, that's a normal lunch. Five barley loaves and two fish. But not for 5,000 people. Right? Humanly speaking, this doubt is perfectly reasonable. But what's different? They're dealing with Jesus, the Son of God, We need to not be like Elisha's servant and not like the disciples here. Although, to be fair to both of them, after they were told to do it, the servant of Elisha twice and Jesus' disciples once, they did it anyway. Nevertheless, we don't want to be like them. Why did they fail to see what was going to happen until it actually happened? Well, we might think one reason is, and you've got two reasons here, children. You see, the little eye and then the two eyes. Perhaps, this is the first one, perhaps they doubted their master's ability. Perhaps they doubted their master's ability. Maybe Gehazi doubted that Elisha could actually make this bread spread between 100 people. Perhaps the disciples thought five barley loaves and two fish before 5,000, probably more like 10,000 or 15,000, including women and children. This is ridiculous. How's it possibly gonna spread that far? We've seen him heal the sick, but come on. This is crazy. Perhaps they doubted their master's ability. Or secondly, you've got the second point there. Perhaps they were just not of the same mind. Perhaps they were just not of the same mind. You might say mindset. Maybe they wouldn't doubt. Maybe they've seen the miracles and they'd say, yep, I believe they can do that. But they're just, their minds are not on the same level. They're not thinking in the same way. Either way, we need to make sure that we do not doubt our master's ability and that we have the same mindset as Jesus Christ. Do you doubt that Jesus can provide? Particularly, do you doubt that he can give eternal life to those who believe and that he can give all that is needed for spiritual preservation in this life? You have a question there on your sheet, children, which says at the end of it in brackets, answer using your own knowledge. That means I'm not gonna give you the answer, that's a personal thing. You write what you think, okay, about your own mind. But we all need to ask ourselves this question. Do we doubt that Jesus can provide? Are we tempted to shop elsewhere because we don't think he has everything we need? I have an applicatory point here that doesn't really apply to anyone here. Are we sometimes, is this why we're only in church for a short time on Sunday? Because we're shopping elsewhere, we're going elsewhere. Jesus can only give me partially what I need. But like I said, I don't think that applies to anyone here, but take it as a warning. Let us all take it as a warning. You do not want to be here for a short time on Sunday. We are here, the Puritans called it Sunday, the market day of the soul. And church is the best bit of the market. You know, when you go to a market and you're seeing all the things and all the food and all the wonderful things out there, you know, have some of that fish and some of that steak. We'll get some nice potatoes, we'll do this and that and the other, and you're getting all this stuff to feed yourself. This is what Sunday is like, and the church is the best part of that. And if we believe Jesus provides all we need, we'll be here a lot, won't we? Gathering, gathering things for ourselves, to feed ourselves spiritually, even emotionally. Let us not be here for a short time. Let us concentrate when we are here. It's easy to lose concentration thinking about other things. Jesus can provide. If you have doubts, worries, take them to Christ and listen to Him. Let us not spend short time in the week with our Savior. We don't have to spend hours each day, but we should go before Him and meditate on His law and pray before Him. Jesus is sufficient. Be filled with the provision that he has to give. He has eternal life to give and spiritual vitality. You may know that you doubt Jesus. You may know that you are not a Christian. Well, you are under the judgmental eye of God, if that is the case. And you may not know that you're under the judgmental eye of God, but you will do, one day, if you don't change. Jesus does offer the bread of life. Don't doubt anymore. He came from heaven to tell you that. Why doubt? He is present in his word. The power of his word is evident. Is he speaking to your heart? If so, believe, do not doubt. Jesus can provide. But you may ask, I do believe I am a Christian. Maybe you know you are a Christian, but I don't know if I'm doubting Jesus. How do I know if I'm doubting Jesus' provision? Which is a fair question. Sometimes preachers preach things and you think, I just don't know if that's true of me or not. We must seek to apply these things to ourselves, but here's a handle. If we are seeking assurance for the future in anything other than the blood of Jesus and in his grace, in an ultimate sense, if we seek anything else for life in the future apart from Jesus, then we are doubting that he truly can provide. Why? Because we are not fully believing that in him we have eternal life. If it is some other thing, some doubt, for instance, a doubt or a thought, well, maybe when I die, there will be nothing. There won't be heaven, there won't be hell, and although I won't like that, that'll be okay, at least I won't be in judgment. Clinging onto a doubt like that, that's not good. Believe in Jesus. If you believe in him, he will provide for you eternal life. There's no need to worry about contingencies. There's no need to think about other religions or think maybe all roads lead to the same place. Jesus is the one who provides, don't doubt. Jesus is the bread of life. But also, you may know if you are doubting Jesus, if you are seeking anything else for strength to persevere in the life of faith now. Yes, we use the means God has given us, Christian friends and the church, and even the good things in the world, but ultimately, it is the word of Christ through the power of the Spirit that vitalizes us, and we must trust that Christ will give that to us if we seek it in his word. We must not be seeking that ability elsewhere. We must sit at the feet of Jesus. We must sit and listen to His teaching. We must hang on His every word. We must seek the strength that we need to persevere in the spiritual life Not in things like forgetting about difficult people, or not talking to people who are hard to talk to, or trying to forget about the difficulties that we have in our minds, but rather going to Christ. Here is a warning for us all. If we feed on Christ, yes, if we're true Christians and we go to Him and we listen to His words and we seek Him, but we also go to other things on the same level, in a sense, if you're a true Christian, won't go quite on the same level, but you know what I mean. Then you will not be strong. You will not be strong in the faith. You will be weak in the faith. Like if you give up mostly food and just eat a bit, you become skinny and anemic. There'll be no strength in your body. But if we feed on the words of Christ, if we seek him first and foremost, We will be strong. As we before thought, perhaps Elisha's servant and the disciples didn't doubt in that way that we've been talking about, but they hadn't the same mindset as Jesus. Their minds were maybe too caught up with what is possible by the laws of nature. There's 20 barley loaves, 100 men, nope, it's not gonna work. Five loaves and two fish, 5,000 men plus women and children, that's not gonna work. Do you see, maybe their minds were just on a different level, they were thinking by the laws of nature. Is this you? Maybe you struggle sometimes to understand that Christ can provide for you because the provision you think about is provision for the things in this world only, the temporal things, the physical things. This is like a young man or young woman who doesn't want a child with their spouse because they like their free time. You see, the free time is a good thing. And the things of this world, they're good things. And you'll enjoy your free time. But as I'm sure those will attest to who've had children, you're missing out on a dimension. You're missing out on a whole dimension. Will children take away your free time? I'm sure they will. But you receive something else, don't you? This is what we've been made, ultimately, to be like. God made Adam and Eve to marry and to have children. And it's like that. If we only think of the things of this life, or if we are true Christians, but we think too much of the things of this life, and we think, well, Christ isn't giving me this or that or the other, so I don't think he can provide. We're on the wrong mindset. Get on the spiritual mindset. Get on the glory train, as it were. We're looking for heavenly things. We're looking for spiritual life. And then Christ shall provide. As the hymn writer says, covet not this world's vain riches that so rapidly decay. Seek to gain the heavenly treasures that will never pass away. And that's not to say Christ doesn't provide the earthy things we have, he does. but we're speaking of the more central, the more essential matters. And the fourth and last point, and then we'll be finished, the bounty of divine provision. Back to 2 Kings 4. So he set it before them and they ate and had some left according to the word of the Lord and had some left Over, this reminds us of the feeding of the 5,000 where there were what, how many baskets? 12 baskets. 12 big baskets of bread and fish left over. After feeding 5,000 men plus women and children. The picture here, God provides. God provides. He provides bountifully. Do you know that word, children? Bountifully. It means in abundance. I've used another big word. It means lots and lots and lots. God provides lots for those who ask Him for the right things. This picture's the spiritual. Elisha. is a picture of Christ, and as Elisha provides the food in that lesser way, 20 loaves for 100 men with some left over, it's a miracle, but it's not 5,000 men plus women and children. Nevertheless, he depicts Christ, and Christ, he gives not just physical bread there, or at least it's a depiction of him giving spiritual things, eternal life, the goodness that we need to persevere. If we go to Christ, we shall return with our plate, spiritual plate, laden. I don't know if you remember the story of Joseph with his 12 brothers. Was it 12 brothers or 11 brothers? 11 brothers. And they've gone to Egypt and they don't know it's Joseph yet and he takes them for a meal and he has them sit down and he has them sit down in age order and they're all wondering how did he do that? How do you know what ages we are? Or maybe it's just great ages. And then they're all given a big plate of food. But Benjamin, he has a massive plate of food because he was all Joseph's true brother. Well, he was Joseph's brother by the same mother, and he loved him more than all the others. If we go to Christ, our plate will come back bountifully laden with spiritual food. We spoke before of the bread of life, which gives eternal life, and the provision of Christ, of his spirit, to keep us and teach us through his word. Is that which Christ gives us enough? Yes, it is enough. Let us take first the grace provided for us in our spiritual lives to persevere in the faith and in the truth. Christian, you can persevere, and if you go to Christ, you will persevere. He will give you sufficient. His word and spirit are enough. We shall not be overcome by the world and the devil, but we shall persevere in the provision of Christ. They shall not starve us. They will try, but they will fail. In 2 Corinthians 12 verse nine, Paul is talking about this thorn in the flesh which he has, which is thought of most commonly as a sin that he has, that he's struggling to get rid of, And do you know, the ascended Christ actually speaks to him and says to him, my grace is sufficient for you. That's what he says. This word and spirit, the grace of Christ, is enough for Paul. And if you're a Christian, or if you believe on Christ today, it will be enough for you. This preserving grace from God has kept those in the faith who have been through terrible things. Those who have been faced with beasts, roaring lions in the Colosseum in Rome, who would tear them asunder, but they stood firm. People who've been faced with being burned alive, but they stood firm. People who have been tortured, those who've been divested of all their earthly possessions, but still have come to Christ because His grace is sufficient. So yes, this grace of God is sufficient for you to persevere if you have faith. But what about the eternal life offered in Jesus Christ? What about his sacrifice? We're talking about forgiveness of sins now. Did Jesus do enough? Is there enough bread for us? Is there enough sacrifice for our forgiveness? Is it possible that the grace of justification offered in Christ is sufficient for us? We know the answer. Yes, the gospel call is to all who will come. Any who repent and believe shall be saved. Therefore, there is grace sufficient for forgiveness for all your sins. Christ is the bread of life. He is not just a pure human being. He is actually divine, and God sent him, the divine one, to die, his only begotten son in his humanity, to die. so that we can have forgiveness and salvation and justification. The work Christ did, it is like an ocean. His work as the pure God-man was so incomparably valuable that it can wash away all who come. It can wash clean all who come. There is an ocean to wash in. There is a never-ending stream to refresh those who repent. The train of the garment of Christ's righteousness is so long that garments for all the people who have ever lived could be cut out of it and they could be clothed in his righteousness. That is how great Jesus is and how full and free the forgiveness is that I hope you all have or will have in your lives. Be comforted, Christian. Rely upon God. Your salvation is sure. Your forgiveness is taken care of. Your perseverance shall be so, because Christ's grace is sufficient for you. Let us spread this glorious news far and wide. Amen.