John 4:34-38 (NKJV)
Jesus said to them My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36. And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
I. JESUS CALLS HIS DISCIPLES TO OBTAIN A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Behold, I say to you, LIFT UP YOUR EYES …
Application: The call of the Gospel is always up … God is continually calling us to see, to live, and to love on a higher plain. God wants us to view life from His perspective.
Isaiah 42:8-9 (NKJV)
I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Isaiah 43:19a (NLT)
For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
Application: What “new thing” is God working in your life? If you are only looking for the same old thing - if your perspective is only on what is behind you, then you will never see the new things God wants to work in your life.
One of the legacies we have as New Testament Christians is the ability, yes, even the call, to live life from a different perspective:
Acts 2:17-18 (NKJV)
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
Application: Prophecy is always a look at the here and now or the future.
II. JESUS CALLS HIS DISCIPLES TO GAIN A DIFFERENT FOCUS
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and LOOK AT THE FIELDS, FOR THEY ARE ALREADY WHITE FOR HARVEST!
Illustration: Crazy eye pictures: The only way to see the image is change the focus of your eyes. You must blur the images around you in order to focus upon the image in the picture.
Acts 17:26-28 (NKJV)
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27. so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28. for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
Application: So many times we are looking for God to “show up” when, in fact, He’s been there all along. The problem is that we’re so focused on the things around us that we cannot see Him.
Jeremiah 29:13-14a (NKJV)
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord,
1 Chronicles 22:19a (NKJV)
Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
III. JESUS CALLS HIS DISCIPLES TO BECOME INVOLVED IN LIVING
And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life,
Application: Remember the title of this sermon: “Life Is What Takes Place While You’re Waiting For Something Else To Happen”
Illustration:
HOT CHOCOLATE
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.
During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups -porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each others cups.
Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us.
God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate
Romans 12:3-18 (NKJV)
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5. so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7. or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8. he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11. not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12. rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13. distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. 14. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. 17. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
IV. JESUS REMINDS HIS DISCIPLES THAT LIFE IS INTENDED TO HAVE PURPOSE, REWARD, AND JOY
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together
Acts 2:28 (NKJV)
You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
Exodus 9:16 (NKJV)
But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.
Ephesians 1:11,2 (NKJV)
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
2 Timothy 1:9-10 (NKJV)
[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
CONCLUSION:
