Opening illustration: A business executive, after hearing an inspiring sermon, said to the preacher, “Your sermon was excellent. However, if you were one of my employees, I would have to fire you.” Then he explained, “You’ve sold me completely, but you didn’t close the deal.” The preacher was convincing, but he didn’t call for a commitment.
Writer Jill Briscoe had a similar experience in the Bible study she was leading. A shy young mother had been coming to the study for weeks. Jill would pray every time she drove this woman home: Lord, don’t let me rush her into making a decision. Help me to give her time to understand.
One day, in exasperation, the woman asked, “Jill, when are you going to help me find Christ? I’ve been praying that you would have the courage to speak to me!” With Jill’s help, the woman tearfully confessed her sin and asked Christ to be her Savior. A week later, her husband received Christ and they began serving the Lord together.
Jesus taught that harvest time can be anytime (John 4:35). He demonstrated this as He helped a Samaritan woman trust Him as her Savior. Pray for eyes to recognize someone who is already ripe for harvest.
Introduction: It is a matter of fact that farmers must wait for a period of time between sowing and reaping. But Jesus wanted His disciples to realize that this is not true in the realm of the spiritual. They didn't have to wait! If they would use their spiritual vision, gifts and perception they would see that it was already reaping time. It was harvest time. These spiritually hungry Samaritans needed to be reaped into the Kingdom of God. The time is ripe for reaping. Today it might seem folks around us are not interested and might reject the proclamation of God’s Word upon their life … our business is not to get discouraged with what people say or think but do the will of the Father just as Jesus did.
How to get ready for the harvest?
1. Move in the prophetic realm and use the ‘Power Gifts’ (vs. 27-29)
Jesus had used the gift of knowledge of the Holy Spirit in order to let the woman know about her previous life and the men that she had been involved with … even the man she lived with presently was not her husband. There was a void in her life that needed to be fulfilled and no one could do it till Jesus came into her life and changed her completely. Many of us have been running away from life and trying to fill that void in our lives by different means … unfortunately nothing works other than Jesus. Jesus had been very consistent in using the gifts of the Holy Spirit powerfully.
If we are seeking after the harvest which God wants to give us, are we using the power gifts to the fullest. Jesus did not contend whether to use the gift or not upon this woman because she was not a believer, neither did he contemplate and perceive as to what would she think or what the people would think as it was demeaning for a Jewish man to talk to any Samaritan and that also a woman. He did not seek for societal approval for operating His gifts. He operated it by discerning the need of the hour and the conviction of God the Father upon His very life.
Right now you may think you could never have that kind of boldness. But let me ask you something: What would you do if Jesus appeared to you today? How would you act if He latched His arm in yours and told you that from now on, He would be physically present with you in every situation? If you became sick, He would lay His hand on you and you’d be healed. If you ran short of money, He’d pray and multiply your resources. If you encountered a problem you didn’t know how to handle, He’d tell you exactly what to do.
Under those circumstances, you’d be very bold and confident, wouldn’t you? Every time you ran into trouble, you’d just glance over at Jesus standing next to you and suddenly, you’d have great courage. You see, the Holy Spirit is the muscle of God. Every time you see God’s power in manifestation, you can be sure the Holy Spirit is on the scene. Don’t get the idea from those examples, however, that the Holy Spirit is simply a mindless source of raw power. Far from it! When He moves in on a situation, He does it with wisdom and understanding so vast that it staggers the human mind.
So decide right now to start opening that door. Develop an awareness of the reality of the Holy Spirit within you. Stop spending all your time meditating on the problems you’re facing and start spending it meditating on the power of the One inside you who can solve the problems. In other words, start becoming more God-inside minded! Do you know what will happen if you do that? All heaven will break loose in your life. Think about it … why were you baptized in the Holy Spirit? Don’t waste it!
Instead of walking around moaning about how broke you are and how you can’t afford to give much to spread the gospel, you’ll start thinking about the fact that the One with the power to bring God’s Word to pass is living inside you, and you’ll change your tune. You’ll start saying things like, “God meets my needs according to His riches in glory, so I have plenty to meet my own needs and give to every good work!” Maybe you’ve been waiting for God to do something in your life or in the lives of those around you. Maybe you’ve been saying, “I know God is able to change this situation. I wonder why He doesn’t do it! Cause He is doesn’t need to so that He can change you.
Then the Holy Spirit within you will go into action. He’ll give you plans, ideas and inventions. He’ll open doors of opportunity and then give you the strength and ability to walk through them. Instead of sitting around wishing there was something you could do for your sick, unsaved neighbor, you’ll march into his house, tell him about Jesus, and then lay hands on him fully expecting the Holy Spirit within you to release God’s healing power and cause him to recover. Instead of sitting around simply admiring the works of Jesus and reading about them each Sunday in church, you’d hit the streets and do those works yourself—and even greater works (see John 14:12). Just as Jesus did … will get us ready for the harvest.
2. To do and Accomplish ‘God’s Will’ (vs. 30-34)
Jesus’ disciples are confused about the food that Jesus had been talking about. He then clarifies and tells them that His food is to do and fulfill His Father’s will. This was a second thing on His agenda to get ready for the much awaited harvest. According to Luke 4:18 tell us that the will of the Father for Jesus was “To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.” And go to the cross for the redemption of our sins. The stage was being set for the coming harvest as Jesus was about to fulfill His Father’s will.
God doesn't accomplish His will on earth through angels; He does it exclusively through you and me not that He cannot but that is not their profile. That special work to be accomplished is for you and for me. This petition is a prayer of commitment to fulfill God's purpose, or will, for our lives. When sincerely prayed, this is a prayer for God to take control and fulfill His purpose for our lives.
God's will is often not the easiest or most comfortable, but it is always what is best for our character. The key to true and lasting happiness and purpose is finding God's will or plan for our lives. The obstruction for Samson to accomplish God’s will in his life was the wrong woman in his life. It stunted and destroyed his life.
Are you in desperate need of some “tweaking”? Don’t worry, God is working in you, and He will perfect you, through Jesus. “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” ~ Philippians 2:13. Surrender, quit trying on your own, and let God work in you, through the power of His Holy Spirit. He takes great pleasure in us, His creation fashioned in His image. Don’t forget that. He knows exactly what we need and will complete us!
No other person than your Creator can tell you why He created you. You were brought here by God: Joseph said, "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God" (Genesis 45:8a). If you feel like a square peg in a round hole, it might be because you have allowed circumstances to move you away from the direction God has planned for you. The reason you aren’t satisfied or fulfilled is that you aren’t moving in the right direction. You will never have the degree of spiritual success you could have in life until you find God’s will.
God didn’t look at Paul when he was 20 or 30 years old and say, “Wow, you’ve spent 20 years studying under Gamaliel and have all of this knowledge under your belt, so I think I’ll use you to preach the Gospel and write half the New Testament.” God doesn’t operate that way. As a matter of fact, most of us would have picked Peter to go to the heathen, believing he was half heathen himself. When Jesus called Peter, he was probably out there in the boat cussing. Peter had an attitude. It seemed like the only time he opened his mouth was to change feet! He was always doing something wrong.
Peter wasn’t polished or religious, so most of us would have thought he would have been a great guy to send to the heathen—and we would have sent Paul to the Jews! Paul was schooled in the Jewish religion; he knew the law frontward and backward. He also had a revelation of grace. Who better to convince a legalistic Jew than Paul? He was the greatest Pharisee of them all. Yet, God sent Paul to preach to the heathen and Peter to preach to the legalistic Jews.
Illustration: My story of serving God. How God brought me the Middle East even though I was reluctant, brought my mentors in my life the opportunities I got to serve and minister and now we serve you. My parents had vowed before God that I would serve Him but along the way they got caught up with the lures of the world and forgot about it … God did not forget. He is accomplishing His will in my life and He can do the same for you.
3. Watch out for the ‘White Fields’ (vs. 35-39)
The illustration of growing crops was used regularly by Jesus during His ministry. Yet Jesus used this familiar picture in various ways in order to emphasize different aspects of the work of God’s kingdom. One of those differences can be found in Jesus’ use of the words, “field” and “fields.” At first it wouldn’t seem to make much of a difference, whether singular or plural, but there is a noticeable difference in Jesus’ intent. Notice that Jesus uses the word “fields” in that verse. Having already established the fact that the world is God’s field, we might become curious about Jesus’ use of the plural “fields” in this verse. We might compare it to a farmer who plants several different kinds of crops on his farm - corn, beans, alfalfa, and so on. While all the world is God’s own field, Jesus reminds us that He has many different fields with different kinds of crops within His vast property of the world. The context of John chapter four demonstrates the importance of Jesus’ use of the plural “fields” by pointing to the separate field of the Samaritan people.
Jesus had just met with and had a very meaningful conversation with a woman who was a Samaritan. Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews because of their mixed race. Yet Jesus, a Jew, takes the time to reach out to this woman with the assurance of forgiveness for all her sins through faith in Him as her Savior. For several days following, Jesus spends time in the Samaritan village preaching and teaching. We are told that the result was that many believed in Him during His stay there (John 4:41).
So what does that mean for us? We must remember that God has established many different “fields” within the “field” of the whole world. Some of those fields will be hard fields which will produce smaller amounts while other fields will be fertile fields which will produce greater amounts in the harvest. God called Isaiah to work in the hard fields of his own people. God told Isaiah, “Go, and tell this people: ‘ Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed’” (Isaiah 6:9-10). The prophet Isaiah and many other Old Testament prophets were sent by God to work in fields that would produce little in the harvest. Though the work was difficult and had few visible results, God had promised to preserve a remnant.
On the other hand, God often sent workers to serve in fields that were very fertile. Not long before the prophet Isaiah was called by God to work in the harvest of Israel, the prophet Jonah was called by God to work in the foreign field of Assyria. Jonah was unwilling, but through his reluctant preaching, God brought about a great harvest among the souls of Nineveh who “turned from their evil way” so that “God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them” (Jonah 3:10). The field of Nineveh was not a field that man would have chosen, but God had established it as a field to be harvested, and it brought about a great harvest.
As we consider the fields which are white for harvest, we must realize that God has established the fields, not man. When the disciples returned to find that Jesus had been talking to a woman - a Samaritan woman - John tells us that they “marveled” (John 4:27). They wouldn’t have been caught speaking to such a person! The fields are the Lord’s not ours, and they include people we often would not expect. Like Jonah and the disciples, we at times allow our own human prejudices to limit or hold us back from working in fields which God has clearly established. May the Lord of the harvest preserve us from such neglect of our calling, and by His Holy Spirit make us faithful workers in the harvest work of His kingdom!
Application: How are you getting ready for the harvest?
