Sunday Evening Worship Service
by Nathan Whitley
November 7, 2021 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 2 Kings 4:38-41, Hosea 9:15, Amos 8:11

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nathan-whitley--sunday-evening-worship-service-197
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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you start making your way back to your seats but i believe what the word of the lord has said and i want you to believe it as well if you have your bibles i want you to go with me to second kings chapter number four and as you are turning there i want to say we are so honored to have our guest another guest with us here tonight we're so glad to have mame taylor can we welcome may taylor here tonight we're so glad that you are here with us all the way from betrel amen we welcome you and i want to say that was one extraordinary sermon that we heard this morning my my my pastor anthony that is a the bible says be in season be in season that's an end season sermon we heard there uh in our sunday morning worship service today and if you didn't get a chance to hear it go onto our facebook page and our youtube page and uh watch that over and over again that is such a timely word i give honor to our pastor pastor mccool doing the anniversary services for bishop atkins in newland north carolina this weekend we're praying they have great services there today we give honor to bishop mccool and sister mccool in our leadership here tonight second kings chapter number four and we're going to begin reading at verse number 38 second kings chapter number four beginning at verse number 38. and elisha came again to gilgal and someone said gilgal and there was a dearth in the land and the sons of the prophets were sitting before elisha and he said unto the 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 pod 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 potted that they cried out and said oh thou man of god there is death in the pot and they could not eat thereof now look at verse number 41 but he said elisha said then bring meal or flour 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 tonight i won't preach long i promise if you'll help me i want to preach on death in the pot death in the pot why don't you help me pray one more time lord we thank you for great services today great times of worship great word we heard today great time of fellowship and rest on this lord's day but i pray that the word of the lord would be a lamp unto our feet and the light and to our path tonight let us come and dine at the table of your word again and prayed i pray that you would help us find nutrients and nourishment from it that we might be changed by it in jesus name we pray and everyone said amen why won't you clap your hands again tonight come on i want you to clap your hands real loud can you do that [Music] oh hallelujah hallelujah death in the pot elisha had come back to gilgal and it was here that he was teaching the sons of the prophets gilgal was east of jericho close to the jordan river gilgal was a memorable place in the history of israel it was here israel crossed the jordan river on dry ground and set up the twelve stones here at gilgal was the place where israel circumcised the young men who had been born in egypt and in the wilderness it was at gilgal that the manna stopped and israel first ate of the corn of the land of the promised land but it was also at gilgal that saul disobeyed god by not putting all the amalekites to death hosea 9 and 15 states this every evil of theirs is in gilgal there i will begin to hate them because of the wickedness of their deeds i will drive them out of my house gilgal of great place of god's blessing and great memorials had become now a place filled with backsliding they worshiped false gods and forgot jehovah gilgal brothers and sisters was in need of revival it says there in the very verse verse 38 and there was a dearth in the land it's in the midst of a famine gilgal geographically was close to the jordan which was a place that should have had some moisture in a place that had could have been a great place of harvest and fruitfulness and vegetation because the water was very close by however because of israel's backsliding there was a famine in the land the famine didn't begin in the fields instead the famine began in the hearts of god's people the famine was in israel's worship the famine was in their hearts and in their devotion to jehovah it begins to get cold and dry it begins to produce a famine and other parts of our life when we allow a famine to take place in our devotion to jesus are you hearing me the first man adam whose fault would cause every man to become a sinner knew firsthand of the hardness of a land that became cursed adam's disobedience led to god's cursing the ground so there is little doubt that a famine and gilgal was due in part to israel's rebellion and backsliding listen to me now today we may not experience a physical famine such as that but amos 8 and 11 says this there would become there would come a famine not of a hunger for bread or a thirst for water but a famine of hearing the word of god today men have itching ears and refuse the strong meat of god's word doctrine which is profitable unto all things is considered old-fashioned and outdated the truth has become nothing more than relative it's my truth and your truth when really that's just simply your opinion a famine has come into the land in which we need a revival of the word of god because man cannot live by bread alone he needs every word that proceeds from the mouth of god nothing will satisfy you like the word of god nothing will bring you nourishment like the scriptures there's just nothing like the inspired infallible divine word of god and if you believe that i want you to lift up your voice and clap your hands and thank god for his word we need the word of god in our life let's not forget his word let there not be a famine of the word of god in our life and the sons of the prophets were sitting before elisha listen to me now in the midst of a famine and backsliding there were some who were hungry for the word of the lord in spite of their environment and their culture and their context they still had an insatiable hunger for god's word the sons of the prophets sat at the feet of elisha to glean from his knowledge of the holy i believe now i believe that today that there are a group of people who still hunger for god's word that's why you're here tonight that's why you're here on sunday mornings that's why you're here on wednesday night that's why you're at be free that's why you're at adultish that's why you're at project 180 because you've got to have the word of god in your life i thank god for fellowship i thank god for communing with god's people but i need the word of the lord you need the word of the lord in your life oh i thank god for those who will still sit at the feet of a man of god and learn the word of the lord oh and he said unto his servant set on the great pot and seethe or cook some potage for the sons of the prophets now listen to me this is a famine elisha there's a famine here we're hungry but the sons of the prophets were hungry for but for both the word of god and for physical nourishment the famine of god's word and their culture and the famine of bread left them depleted and dilapidated their souls needed fed as well as their physical bodies it's at this moment that elisha's faith kicks in he hears the rumble of their empty stomachs and the ache of their faith elisha's faith calls for someone to get not just a pot but he said get a large pot i want you to get the largest pot that you could find i want you to get a fire ready because we're about to cook something up in here we're going to eat let me tell you something if you want a crowd tell them that there's going to be food there when we started adultish on on wednesday nights and we had a bird ashley and i had a burden and some of our young men had a burden for this age group i said i don't want to just have this class i want to have some snackies and man when i say snackies those kids are like you just show me where we're going we got we we done we've done cupcakes we've done muffins we've done chicoutery boards which is just a fancy word for a lunchable cheese and sausage and crackers and ma'am you know what we pack it up we pack it out upstairs you know why because we've got some kids i say kids i don't mean that derogatory we've got some young adults who are hungry for the word of the lord they're hungry for growth and maturity that can only come thank god for a time of fellowship but we've got we got 40 kids kids i don't want to say kids young adults up there on wednesday night studying the word of the lord i'm thankful for that you want a crowd you just tell them hey we're going to have a potluck dinner oh lord how can i can i bring my family yeah you can bring your family can they bring their family well sure yeah can they bring their neighbors well we might start running out of food that's all right it's just we'll see what happens we get because listen we like to eat don't we there's something about going to church when i was a kid can i just let me just be honest with you when i was a kid there was nothing like going to church and and when he'd get in the car i'd say mom can we go out to eat oh and most the time it was no but when she said yes we got to go out to eat with our friends oh man there was something there was something exciting about that going to noble romans pizza going to mcdonald's when they actually had like kids food and stuff like that and you know just it was a good time it's just good and you have special services and maybe you want to go out to eat it can we go out to eat i remember just man i couldn't wait can you tell i still like it i just grew up that way it's just what we do we like to break the word of the lord and we like the breaking of bread with god's people someone i know you say amen to that i know you're thinking brother nate taco bell closes here in this a little bit but you know you do crazy things when you're hungry you do crazy things when you're starving and elisha could hear the rumble in the stomachs of the sons of the prophets and he said go get a large pot we're going to cook something up around i know it's a famine but god is going to fill that pot god is going to prove i'm gonna listen isn't it amazing that he's teaching about the word of the lord and as he's doing that he's going to demonstrate god's powerful provision just i know it's a famine but go get a pot because the god from this word if he said it he can do it [Applause] i have never seen the righteous begging for bread he said i just i'm telling you what god can do now go get me a large pot and god's gonna fill it just as he is filling your spirit with his word i'm gonna i'm just gonna tell you god's gonna fill this pot with some food but look at verse number 39 one went out into the field to gather herbs and found the wild vine and gathered there of wild gourds his lap pool and came and shred them into the pot of potatoes for they knew them not now listen it's not in the text here it might have happened but our text does not say that elisha told him to go get food he said go get the pot this young man decided to go out and gather something for this stew can i tell you when you go and try to fill yourself up and others without any instruction to do so you might end up with some wild ingredients god's going to provide this young man thought i might just need to help god out a little bit i want us to notice a few important aspects of this gathering of the herbs again keep in mind this is a famine what grows during a famine wild things something wild grows in a famine the stuff that no one should eat second he didn't recognize the poisonous vine from the fruit the word wild here means uncultivated his ability to discern between good fruit and bad fruit was rendered ineffective he couldn't differentiate between what was deadly and that which was healthy and notice the poisonous herb grew alongside the good stuff i'm going to start to preach now what you start to gather to put in the pot you're about to feed others it's vital that you're able to distinguish between good and bad that's right the wheat and the tares grow together you have to be able have you ever i remember when i was a kid and you would have you go outside and then there's like you there's there's uh you know mushrooms and stuff like that and you what's the or berries or something and somebody go hey don't eat that's kill you how do i know it looks good right how do you know when he goes out he begins to pick something he can't differentiate that which is poisonous and that which is good we need to be baptized with some discernment we need to be able to discern between that which is healthy and that which might be poisonous in a time of spiritual famine like we're really living in here in the 21st century there is no short supply of wild herbs or wild teachings and false doctrines there are some wild doctrines in our world today you can go and gather any type of teaching that you like you can heap to yourself any type of teacher or teaching you please and just put it in the pot but it might just be poison it might be deadly these wild herbs must have looked like the others he was gathering what we need in these desperate times brothers and sisters we need to be baptized with some discernment there's something we need to look at and say i'm not so sure i want to feed my family with that i'm not so sure i want to bring that into the church there's just some things that i don't want to partake of i'm not are you hearing me tonight i'm not putting that into the pot it might just kill us you're going to have some discernment in your life look what happens next so they poured out for the men to eat and it came to pass as they were eating of the powders that they cried out oh thou man of god there is death in the pot and we cannot eat thereof the man who gathered the herbs began cutting them up and putting them into the pot no one seemed to notice the deadly herbs going into the potty just cut them up and mixed them all together once the concoction was ready they began to pour out some for the hungry prophets as they began to eat they noticed something funny about their stew now a starving man listen to me now isn't really picky beggars can't be choosers but there is something that they tasted or felt that opened up their senses that there's something deadly in this pot can i tell you satan is a great imitator he can turn himself into an angel of light and deceive many he can make what is evil look pleasant and if you can't discern the poison it will kill you you better be able to check your spiritual senses what you're watching what you're listening to it might look good it might look healthy but you better have some senses that go hey whoa hey something's not right about this we need to have we need to start sensitizing our conscience and our spirit to some stuff that we're putting into our lives hey there's death here hey this is making me sick this is making my family sick here's how you can check to see if what you're feeding your family is making them sick i'm not talking about your casserole now i'm talking about what you're feeding your family spiritually are things getting better or worse if you are teaching your children to not be faithful to church does that make them better or worse does being bitter and talking bad about the church and the leadership make your home healthier or is there death in the pot is disobeying god's word making things better or worse you better check to see if there's death in that pot you're cooking up is that doctrine of living any way that you want to because you're under god's lascivious grace that you're making making things better is it is it death in the pot is what you're listening to on the radio or on your ipod making you better or bitter is that television show that you constantly binge making you more spiritual or is it desensitizing your conscience to the things that are an abomination to god well you can sit there if you want to but i'm going to preach anyway you better check to see what's in that pot that you're cooking up for yourself and for your family you better check the the ingredients you better check that recipe is it making everybody sick is it making you sick how about that thing you constantly dwell upon you fantasize about how about that bitterness that you keep harboring and you just keep putting back in the pot and you keep drinking of it is it making you better is it making you bitter oh my somebody hear me tonight i've sat in bible studies with people over the years who have put all kinds of doctrines and teachings into their pot and i can see the effects of the poison we sat with a young lady one time who would get all of her teaching from youtube she would sit and watch all kinds of different preachers and teaching she would google doctrines so when we would meet with her she was one confused lady she had some good and she had some wild herbs there was some good in there and there was also some bad mixed in there and i'm and as a bible study teacher sometimes you just you have to pull on the knot sometimes you just have to pull on the knot gently so you don't break the thread and so you just have to begin to pull gently on something and say hey that might not be so that might not just necessarily be correct that might not be good that might be poisonous for you you better watch what you're gathering and discern if it's healthy or if it's poison what are you cutting up and mixing into your spiritual pot here's what it says here's what elisha does he says bring me the meal and cast it into the pot it was too late listen to me now it's too late to get the poison out have you ever ordered something at a restaurant if they put mushrooms in it i'm out i don't like dirt in my food i don't like something that is also called fungus in my food jason huff i know you do not want any bit of onion in your food if there's onion in there forget it because you know what happens if you if you get something in there that you don't like is that a carrot you can't get it out can you i remember when i was a kid my mom couldn't tell me what was in some things just eat it just eat it is there onions in it just eat it i cooked it eat it and i'm going like this that's an onion that's that's a pea home what am i going to do with that mushroom now mom wouldn't make mushrooms she wouldn't she knew better than they'd put anything in mushrooms in it because i just wouldn't eat it i'm out i've tapped out and i'm done i'll start before i eat a mushroom i've tried them fried i've tried them baked i've tried them grilled it still tastes like fungus to me and i can listen mom y'all so i grew up and i just and brother bernard gave me some peppers uh the other night i'm telling you these are hot peppers i love hot stuff and mom mom knew to keep on in stock in our house hot sauce i mean salsa taco sauce tabasco sauce uh tapatio whatever she kept it all because nate is gonna spice things up and so when ashley and i got married she said no now ashley i'm going to tell you something about nate if if you cook something and he goes hey where's the hot sauce he's not offended he just needs it really spicy my mom listen to me now i it's just i would mom put salsa and chips in my lunch that i took to school in elementary school i would take chips and salsa when i got home when i got my snack when i got home from school jalapenos on chips like i just i love that but if you put any mushrooms or peas or anything like that i'm out i'm going i don't care how much hot sauce you got and so elisha said i'm not because you can't take it out it's already in there and so elisha said get something that can remedy the poison he said we can't take it out but i'm going to tell you put some flour put some meal in it puts it's representative of the word of god can i tell you the best way to get the poison out is to get the word of god in come on it's the hostas that'll make it better if you'll just put the word of god in it it'll make the poison of your soul go out it'll bring the depression out it'll bring the anxiety out come on if you'll just put the word of god in it'll give you peace it'll give you joy [Applause] he said don't take it out it's too late a little leaven leavens the whole lump can't get the 11 out so what you got to do is get something in that counteracts the poison what counteracts can i tell you what counteracts false doctrine is not coming up and hammering on false doctrine all the time the best way is to present the word of god present the word of god to somebody now let me just say this now let me just can i say this don't you go onto facebook acts 2 38 or hell why why don't do that don't do that don't stir the pot come on somebody give a little flower to it put a little honey in the word of god let me tell you about what the word of the lord's done for me it's made my home peaceful it took away my anxiety it took away my depression it helped me oh somebody if you would just present the word of the lord as a blessing and a delight it will take the poison out of this world stand your feet come on musicians i'm done i told you i'd be fast tonight i got to talking about food now i'm hungry amen oh hallelujah listen if you're going to get the poison out put the word in stop listening to depressing music stop listening to the things that stir up old feelings and emotions that you know is going to bring back some drama [Applause] if you would replace it with the word of the lord he said put it in put the flower in put something in that's going to make it better put it in the word of the lord come on it's going to fix the death in the pot there's no harm in that there's no harm there now listen when i when i used to evangelize as a single young man i went to some death in the pop places and there were some times i stayed at places and it's just the way it is you go somewhere and uh you know i'll just tell you this little funny little story and um when ash and i got married and we came on staff here we had i had a few engagements that i couldn't i couldn't cancel on so she was going to go with me to finish out that schedule and we went somewhere and then we walked into this hotel room they had this big old basket they had chocolate covered strawberries they had like sparkling grape juice and all kinds of stuff in there and she's like nate this is incredible this is so awesome you get gift baskets like this everywhere you go i said no no as a single young man i didn't get no gift baskets like this i only got gift baskets like this because you're a mccool that's bishop's granddaughter we better get something nice oh it's that single ball-headed guy put him in a sunday school classroom somewhere [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i was somewhere one time they put me at this place and i stayed there for a while it was it was it was we had a great time great time and they put me in a rough part of town and there was a gas station that there was a lot of like just you could tell there was a lot of nonsense happening there whether it was dark at night or in the day like it was just something going on there and i got in this the place i was staying they had me staying in and it had no lock on the door no lock on the door and i'm going oh jesus and your mind starts going every day you start thinking of every scary movie scary book you're just like the worst is going to happen here i'm just going to be honest with you i couldn't sleep and if you you don't know me very well if you've not been around me like outside of church it does not take hardly anything for me to fall asleep i can fall asleep quick i've done my whole life i'm not i'm not a night owl if you give me a pillow and a fan i'm out i'm good i couldn't go to sleep and i was worried i mean i have to preach you're having a revival and your mind is so important while you're in these types of situations and i couldn't sleep i was kind of stressed out i called brother gills like can you pray for me i just i don't i feel like there's a spiritual warfare going on here but i just can't sleep he said yeah i'll pray and i remembered something i remembered that the word of god brings comfort and peace and that door might not stay closed with a chair in front of it all night long but you know what i did brother ellerton i got my bible and i put it under my pillow and i said lord i know your word can give me rest and i know your word can give me some peace and i know your word is a sword it's my weapon but god right now i needed to help me get some rest and you know what happened i got sleep i'd put the word of the lord under my people i think brother nate that is crazy talk but let me tell you something when you're in a famine the best thing for you to do is you get the word of the lord and your spirit when you're in a spiritual season of famine like pastor anthony talked about you know what you need to get is the word of the lord turn it on get the i mean open there's free audio bible books right you can go and listen just listen to it and all of a sudden have you ever just sometimes you get so and all of a sudden you open that book the lord is my shepherd i shall not he maketh me to lie down and all of a sudden the word starts to become your comfort and the poison that was once there begins to dissipate under the ingredient of the word of the lord can i tell you brothers and sisters the greatest thing that you can add to your life is scripture if you would get a healthy diet of scripture in your give us this day our conference bread give us this day our tri-state camp meeting bread give us this day our sunday night bread no brothers and sisters give us this day our daily daily bread if you would partake of god's word every day i guarantee you wouldn't fight so many battles on your own because you would have a sword [Applause] and when you're hungry it becomes bread and when you're thirsty it becomes milk i want to tell you if you can't get the poison out get the word of god in and it'll take care of the death that's in your power won't you lift up your hands right now lift up your hands right now and lift up your voice is there somebody who would come to an altar and commit themselves to the word of the lord maybe you're fighting some type of poison you just can't get it out can i tell you can i prescribe to you tonight the word of the lord prescribing unto you the word of god if you would just put it in if you would just put it in if you would just take it and believe it it is done it is done he said it it is done [Applause] it is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i believe [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i believe [Applause] it is [Applause] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] god we believe god we believe that we believe [Applause] [Music] god we you believe up your hands right now but you lift up your hands i want you to pray it is written it is written it is written [Applause] when the devil comes and gets your mind it is written when the devil comes against your home it is written if you would get the word of god in your heart and in your mind and in your spirit if you would arm yourself with the greatest weapon the word of god when the death of life begins to poison your family get the word of god out get the word of god out and get it into your life jesus when he was tempted in the desert now listen to me turn these stones into bread if you are the son of god turn these stones into bread jesus said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mountain of god jesus refused he refused to serve himself [Music] to himself instead he became that bread for us so we could partake of him he said my body is bread partake of it if we would partake of the word of god it will bring us resurrection life where death is where poison is the word of god can turn it around and bring life into your home into your finances into your into your mind into your wherever it is the word of god can bring life one more time would you clap your hands all you