"There Is Death In
The Pot!"
2 Kings 4:40
as they
were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, "Man of God, there
is death in the pot!"
The account in 2
Kings 4 is an interesting one. Not only does it demonstrate the power of
God working through Elisha, it also teaches us many lessons.
I. We cannot judge
based on appearance alone. The gourds appeared to be good for food, but
their appearance was deceptive.
A. Scribes & Pharisees.
1.
Lk.
18:10-13 - parable of Pharisee & tax collector. Luke 18:10-14
Two men
went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,'God, I
thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I
give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing
afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his
breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this
man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted."
o
Who
appears to be more righteous?
o
Vs 14
- Who really is?
2.
Mt. 15:7-9 - They try to appear good:
"Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people
draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But
their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as
doctrines the commandments of men."
3.
Mt. 23:25-28 - Jesus further describes them. Matt 23:25-36
"Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of
the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and
self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup
and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs
which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead
men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear
righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the
tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say,
'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been
partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' "Therefore you are
witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the
prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents,
brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of
them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in
your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come
all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous
Abel to the blood of Zechariah, whom you murdered between the temple and
the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon
this generation.
What happens in this
generation? Was this an “end of the world prophesy” for that
generation?
Cannot
escape hell This generation would not, but not like it started this
generation
Sending
prophets and wise men
Some they would kill and crucify
Some they would scourge in the synagogues
Persecute from city to city
Why didn’t they see
how they were fulfilling this prophesy against them?
Why don’t we?
Then they were told
in vs 32 “fill up the measure” of your
father’s guilt
What you will do will be worse
You would do what they were unable to do
They only killed prophets, you will
kill the son of God himself!
B.
Searching for food is like searching for truth.
1.
We use
manual to identify what food is good, not just appearance.
2.
We use
Bible as our manual for truth, comparing words of men to it.
o
Jn.
7:24
- "Do not judge according to appearance,
but judge with righteous judgment."
3.
How do
we do this?
o
2 Tim.
2:14-15
–
o
"Remind
them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about
words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth."
-
Not to
“strive about words” to no profit
-
Making the
Bible say things it doesn’t
-
Establishing authority when it isn’t there
-
ex. 1
Cor 1:1-3 16, Heb 10:25, Eph 5:19, Mt 19:5 etc. etc. etc.
-
Preaching
as doctrine the commandments of men
-
It
becomes a tradition and is then hard to break
-
what if
2 million believe one way and you another?
-
Heard
this from denominations before, from brethren?
-
Maybe this
is the most important part of this verse, but it is ignored
o
Acts
17:11
- example of Bereans:
o
"These
were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find
out whether these things were so."
C. Judging others.
1.
We
cannot decide that someone is good by their appearance.
o
1 Sam.
16:7 - when Samuel went to annoint one of Jesse's sons as king:
Eliab
o
"But
the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height
of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as
man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at
the heart."
2.
We
cannot decide someone is not interested in the gospel based on
appearance.
o
example of Saul. He did not want to hear of Christ, he wanted it
stopped
o
Appearances may be deceiving about the person
-
What was
Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Funny eyes? Tell of email
o
Some
people do not appear ready, but that may be wrong
o
2 Pet.
3:9 – "The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance."
II. Good intentions
are not enough. The servant who gathered the gourds had good intentions,
but his good intentions did not keep the gourds from being poisonous.
A. example of Paul.
·
Acts
26:9 - "Indeed, I myself thought I must do
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of
Nazareth."
B. We are not
allowed to alter God's word because of good intentions.
1.
Prov.
30:5-6 - "Every word of God is pure; He is
a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."
2.
Prov.
14:12
- "There is a way that seems right to a
man, But its end is the way of death."
III. One wrong part
ruins it all. We do not know how many ingredients were added to the pot,
but it only took one poisonous one to ruin the whole pot.
Sin works the same
way in our lives: Can’t walk the fence, can’t serve God and mammon
Can’t try to justify
yourself by how good you are. James
2:10
"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."
1.
Lev.
10:1-3 - Nadab & Abihu.
2.
Num.
20:7-12 - Moses strikes rock, "Must we bring water..."
3.
Lk.
18:18-23 - rich young ruler, "You still lack one thing."
4.
Acts
5:1-10 - Ananias & Sapphira.
5.
Mt.
28:20 - "...teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you."
IV. There is a cure
for the death. Just as Elisha had a cure for the death in the pot, God
has a cure for the death of sin in our souls.
A. 1 Jn. 1:7 - John
tells us the cure of the death from sin:
"And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin."
B. How do we receive
the cure?
1.
Jn.
5:24 - hear & believe: "Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has
everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from
death into life."
2.
Rom.
10:9-10 - confess: "That if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation."
3.
Acts 2:38 - repent & be baptized: "Then
Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit."
C. We must keep the
cure in effect.
·
Rev.
2:10 - "Be faithful until death, and I will
give you the crown of life."
Is there death in
your soul? Why not obey the gospel and remove it today? Replace the
death of sin with life in Christ.
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