I. The church needs to regain its anguish for the lost. (v.31-36)
- This is a word you do not really hear much use of in our churches today
- Anguish!
- What interferes with our anguish
1. Narcissism
2. Lack of prayer-instead of praying over things in the church that bother us we gossip and backbite because:
a. We do not have scripture to back up our complaint
b. We do want to face the conviction of God when we are wrong.
3. Clichés- we feel free to be over critical of everyone else but those who are in our clichés because we are not intimate with them.
4. Critical spirit-willingness to tear down everything that is not your way or preference. Some people cannot tell the difference between what a personal preference is and what a move of the God is. Sometimes we want think they are the same when they are not.
5. Pride-it has to be 100% my way or I am leaving
6. Jesus is no longer your first love
7. Rom_3:18 there is no fear of God before their eyes.
- If you leave your church and find a perfect church don’t go there. If you do you will mess it up.
II. God has prepared hearts to receive us. (v. 37a)
- Jesus saw the crowds everywhere He went.
- The crowds were neglected and in need of being reached with the gospel
- The crowds were ready to be reached
- That is why Jesus had an anguish for them
- Matthew 10:14 Jesus said to knock the dust off your feet when you are rejected
- For these people Jesus anguished.
- There was no knocking off the dust
- Their hearts were ready
III. Delay in Gathering the Harvest is just not necessary. (37b-38)
- Why were these people left to themselves?
- Because the religious people were too self-involved in trying to protect their own little world in their religious circles.
- When we are to self-involved in our own lives
- We leave no time for the lost
- If there is no time for the lost then we are doing something wrong.
