God Wants Us to Live Like Jesus Lived!
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 9:35-38
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - Feb. 19, 2017
(Revised November 29, 2021)
MESSAGE:
*There will always be a family resemblance. "Like Father, like Son," we used to say, or "He's a chip off the old block." And I am not just talking about our physical appearance. I'm talking about the way we talk, our mannerisms, our quirks, habits, and attitudes.
*What's true about our earthly families is also true about God's Heavenly family: There will be a family resemblance. That's because saved people are born again into God's family by God's Holy Spirit. The Lord explained this truth to Nicodemus in John 3:3-6. There:
3. Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.''
4. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?''
5. Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
*"You must be born again," Jesus said. The reason why is because physical birth can only give physical life. Horses produce horses. Dogs produce dogs. And mortal people produce mortal people. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."
*But "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." In other words, "That which is given birth by God's Holy Spirit is spirit. The Holy Spirit produces a new kind of person through a new kind of birth. It is God's spiritual birth that gives us His eternal life.
*When we are born again, we get a brand-new nature, so we can, and we should begin to resemble our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, both with our hearts, and our hands, with our attitudes, and our actions.
*On the night before He died on the cross for our sins, Jesus washed His disciples' feet. John 13:12-15 tells us that then Jesus sat down and said:
12. . . "Do you know what I have done to you?
13. You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."
*Just a few moments later, Jesus said:
34. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.''
*God wants us love like Jesus loves and live like Jesus lived here on earth.
1. IN TODAY'S SCRIPTURE THIS MEANS WE SHOULD SEE WHAT JESUS SEES.
*God wants us to see like our Savior saw in vs. 35-37:
35. Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few."
*Jesus saw the multitudes, but what did He really see? -- In vs. 35, He saw hurting people, people who needed help, people who needed Him. Then in vs. 36, Jesus saw people who were "weary" or "fainted" in the KJV. They were weary, exhausted, worn out and despondent. The root-word picture is something melting or dissolving.
*In vs. 36, Jesus also saw people scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. The word picture for "scattered" is sudden motion. It's talking about people suddenly tossed around and thrown to the ground by a heartless and powerful enemy.
*One author said: "Jesus saw people led in all the wrong directions by blind guides . . . Jesus saw people without Him, sheep without a shepherd, people with no protection from the powers of hell, people with no protection, and no real direction in life." (1)
*What did Jesus see? -- In vs. 37, Jesus saw people as a great harvest. Brett Blair explained that this great harvest is made up of "men, women and children of every age and nation. These people are the most important fruit of the earth, and someone is eventually going to reap this harvest.
*To put it in the simplest terms, people are going to be won either for good or for evil. They are going to live in darkness, or they are going to be brought to the light. They will come to see the greatness of living with God, or they will live under the reign of the devil.
*People will live out their days in the heights of hope, and faith, and fulfillment, or they will feel smothered in the depths of despair and frustration. To put it in the barest terms, the harvest of mankind is a matter of heaven or hell." (2)
*That's why God wants us to see what Jesus sees, and nobody has seen much better than Lottie Moon. "Lottie" was a nickname for Charlotte Moon, and our Christmas Offering for International Missions is named after her.
*Lottie Moon was only 4' 3" tall! But she was a giant in serving the Lord. Born in 1840, Lottie grew up in an old Virginia family. Mom was a devout believer who read the Bible to Lottie. There was no church nearby, so Mrs. Moon held services every Sunday for family, neighbors, and servants. As a little girl, Lottie loved God's Word and missionary stories, but she didn't receive Christ as her Savior. And as she got older, Lottie went through a time of rebellion.
*She shined in school, and was one of the first southern women to earn a master's degree. But Lottie was fairly ungodly in her college years. She refused to go to church, and she liked to play tricks on people.
*Then in 1858, Lottie got saved at the age of 18, and it happened because some school friends invited her to a revival meeting. Lottie only went to that revival because she wanted to be with her friends. And she went with a mocking attitude. But God got hold of her heart, and she decided right then that she wanted to become a Christian.
*Fifteen years later, in the spring of 1873, Lottie heard a sermon on John 4:35. In that Scripture Jesus asked His disciples: "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!" Right then, Lottie Moon made up her mind that she would become a missionary to China. And that fall she was on her way.
*Lottie faithfully served the Lord in China for 40 years. She faithfully served the Lord through poverty, war, and plague. When Lottie was in her early 70s, a terrible famine struck China. She gave her food and her last dollar for famine relief. Lottie grew so weak and undernourished that her doctor ordered her home. She died on the way, on Christmas Eve of 1912.
*Lottie Moon once said, "I would that I had a thousand lives that I might give them to the women of China." She gave her one life, and millions have been blessed. Why? -- Because she saw what saw what Jesus sees. (3)
*And none of us may go to China like Lottie Moon, but all of us can be like the friends who invited Lottie to go to the church where she got saved! That's why God wants us to see what Jesus sees.
2. GOD ALSO WANTS US TO FEEL WHAT JESUS FEELS.
*"When Jesus saw the multitudes in vs. 36, "He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."
*Jesus was deeply moved with compassion for people. The root word here is "bowels," and the idea is that Jesus was so deeply stirred in His heart that He could feel it in His gut. Jesus felt deep compassion for people.
*Jerry Shirley explained, "This means Jesus didn't just see a man with leprosy. He also felt his pain, rejection, loneliness, and isolation. Jesus didn't just see a man whose daughter had died. He also felt his sorrow and bereavement. When Jesus saw people with broken hearts, His heart broke too. And Jesus didn't look on an adulterous woman in the judgmental way we often do, He looked at her with love, compassion, and forgiveness, wiping her slate clean." (4)
*God wants His people to have the same kind of compassion. Moses had it. In Exodus 32, when the Lord's anger burned against Israel:
31. Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!
32. Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.''
*The Apostle Paul had this same kind of compassion. In the Holman Bible, Paul said this in Romans 9:1-3:
1. "I speak the truth in Christ -- I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit --
2. that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart.
3. For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood."
*Then in Romans 10:1, Paul said: "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." Paul was so passionate about seeing fellow Jews get saved that he was willing to give up his own salvation, if that would have helped.
*I've never even come close to having that measure of compassion. But I know that we can grow in our compassion for other people, because God wants us to have His compassion. Jesus does have compassion on those lost and drifting people, and He wants us to feel what He feels.
*One of the most kindhearted people I ever met was Anya Slad from Zhitomir, Ukraine. I met Anya and her husband during a mission trip in 2005. She was only 23 when she started ministries for abused, neglected, and abandoned children. Seventy years of Communism in Ukraine left family life in shambles, with rampant alcoholism.
*I wanted you to see a picture of Anya. This was taken at the hospital, where she had part of her ministry. Anya is the lady on the left. The lady on the right was a missionary from Germany. And that little baby girl was abandoned at the hospital by her parents.
*One little boy was there with a broken arm, because his mother had thrown him out the window from her third-floor apartment. It was a miracle that he survived. And I did see that little boy smile that day.
*While we were there, Anya showed us the very large house they were building for foster children. They called it "The Miracle House," because it never would have been possible without the Lord's help.
*Many of those alcoholic, drug-addicted parents didn't care at all about their children. But Anya and her team have the compassion of Jesus Christ. And the Lord wants us to have it too! God wants us to feel what Jesus feels.
3. HE ALSO WANTS US TO PRAY LIKE JESUS PRAYED.
*This is what the Lord told us to do in vs. 37-38:
37. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.''
*When you think about it, God gives us an extraordinary prayer request right here, -- so please listen to it again:
37. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.''
*It's amazing to me that God would tell us to pray for workers in His harvest. Is there is anything on earth more important to God than His harvest? I certainly don't think so! It's why He sent His only begotten Son into the world. And it is why Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
*The harvest of people for God's Kingdom is extremely important to Him. And He does so many other good things without us praying, it surely seems like He would send workers without us asking.
*But Jesus tells us to pray for workers in His harvest, and here are some great reasons why we should obey His command:
-First: Our praying reminds us of the power and importance of prayer.
-It also helps put the lost on our hearts until we get to the point where we will say, "Here I am, Lord. Send me!"
-Also, our praying helps us to draw closer to the Father, trusting Him for the results.
-And nothing in this world was more important to Jesus than the harvest, so His prayer request reminds us that we can trust our Father with the most important things in life. He is worthy of our trust! And so, we should pray.
*Here in vs. 38, Jesus is telling us to pray passionate prayers. This word, "pray" means "asking, begging, desiring, and longing for something." One of the root word pictures is binding something, even fastening it with chains. The idea is binding yourself to God on the one hand, and to the request on the other, so that you will not let go until you see the answer!
*Here, God wants us to passionately pray for more workers in His harvest, binding ourselves to Him, and not letting go until we get an answer. When we pray like that, miraculous things will happen.
*About 30 years ago, Jimmy Smith was going to Houston Baptist University, and while he was there, Jimmy got interested in foreign missions. Two of our missionaries heard about it, they and invited Jimmy to visit their work in Guatemala.
*Money was very tight, so Jimmy and his wife knew the trip would be impossible unless God intervened. Several weeks later, Jimmy went fishing with a deacon in his church. His name was Gene Alexander, and Gene talked about an upcoming fishing tournament that offered a $20,000 prize for catching the best fish. Gene knew about Jimmy's desire to visit Guatemala, and he promised to donate $5,000 for the trip if he caught the prize fish. When Jimmy's wife heard that, she put it on her prayer list, and began asking God.
*Then, on the day of the tournament, Gene Alexander reeled in the $20,000 fish as his first catch of the day. The officials figured the odds of him doing that were 1 in 6.8 billion!
*I'd call that a miracle any day. Jimmy and his wife were able to go on that mission trip. That's when God confirmed His call on their lives. And they later returned to Guatemala to serve as full-time missionaries. (5)
*Now, I'm not asking you to pray for a prize-winning fish. But our God is always a miracle working God. And He can use our prayers to help send more people into His harvest. It might even help send you.
*God wants us to pray like Jesus prayed. The other thing to do is be the answer to that prayer. We need to help harvest other people who need Jesus. Find ways to work in God's harvest. Be the answer to this prayer. Find ways to work in the harvest all around us, -- because nothing matters more!
*Nothing matters more than the good news about Jesus Christ. Nothing matters more than the cross of Jesus Christ! So be like Lottie Moon's friends: Invite more people to church. Be like Lottie Moon. Go across the street or across the ocean to help with God's harvest.
*Be like Anya and Sergei Slad! Do everything you can to show God's love to children and lead them to Jesus. Be like Jimmy Smith's deacon friend. Give whatever you can to help the cause of Jesus Christ.
*That's what matters! Find ways to work in the harvest all around us.
CONCLUSION:
*God wants us to love like Jesus loves, live like Jesus, see what Jesus sees, feel what Jesus feels, and pray like Jesus prayed.
*Let's get started right now, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Original source unknown
(2) Sermons.com sermon "The Challenge of God's Harvest" by Brett Blair - Matthew 9:37-38
(3) Adapted from various sources below:
-"In Other Words" - Fall 1999, p. 11 - Topic Influence - produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net
-Nelson Stories
-KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 29393 - SOURCE: Http://www.wfu.edu/users/selpjw1/lottiemoon.htm - TITLE: The Life Of Charlotte (Lottie) Diggs Moon - AUTHOR: Courtney Denihan
-http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5526&LanguageID=1709
-http://www.baptistheritage.org/StoriesforKids/TheStoryofLottieMoon/tabid/259/Default.aspx
(4) SermonCentral sermon "Harvest Time" by Jerry Shirley - Matthew 9:35-38
(5) Leadership, Nov. 1993, p. 4 - Source: Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net - Topics: Providence, Religion, Big Fish Story
