In this series I have encouraged you that the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former house. I have challenged you to get plugged into the vision of the house and to leave your comfort zone and go into your gift zone and from there you will enter the challenge zone and then score in the end zone.
I told you that you had a voice of one that was crying from the wilderness for this city. I asked you to leave your boat and step out.
Today as you are making your way out of the boat I want you to set your course on the harvest. This morning and tonight we will conclude this sermon series focusing on the harvest.
Many of you have heard of the great missionary and explorer David Livingstone. He heard the call of God at a young age and followed that calling into Africa where he spent most of his life sharing the Gospel message.
On May 1st 1873 he knelt down to pray and died on his knees in prayer. His body was sent back to Britain to be buried but his heart was buried under a tree near where he knelt in prayer for the last time.
His heart remained in the place it was called too; carrying with it the vision for the harvest of Africa.
This series was put together to challenge you to go into this last day harvest and bring them in. The vision I have been casting for this house is one of preparation, if we get the barn ready we can hold the harvest. I have been asking you to sow into this ministry into this house and vision so that we can get this house ready to hold the harvest.
We got to make sure that as we go into the harvest this house can hold it without losing a single grain or a single soul.
In Luke chp.12 verses 16-21 we read the story of a rich man that built bigger barns for the harvest but he stopped working he thought he had enough and just took it easy.
Church, I want to build bigger barns for the harvest but I don’t want to ever stop gathering, when we fill this house we will build another and when that one gets full we will build again. I don’t want to stop gathering the harvest, the fields are white and I got to get into the harvest field.
Joe 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.
Re 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
The harvest is ripe we must be about the Father’s business and thrust our sickles into the harvest and gather it in now is the season for the harvest.
My heart is for the harvest the harvest of this city. I am not worried about the churches overseas they continue to grow and many of the world’s largest churches are in other countries.
As the church grows overseas the church here in America struggles to keep its harvest. All around us we see churches on every corner but they are not packed out. The church has lost its vision and the people of America have lost their way.
Some of the nations that are having great moves of God are what we’d call “under developed nations”. The largest church building in world is in Lagos Nigeria, 50,000 seats under 1 roof. It’s debt free through people we consider poor. It doesn’t matter how much you make, it matters how much you have left to give. America makes more money but spends all it takes in & is up to eyeballs in debt to creditors. We spend an average of 2.5% more than we make on big screen TV’s, SUV’s.
Don’t care how many TV’s, how new the car, or how big the house, don’t care how well you live as long as the church & the Gospel doesn’t suffer because of your elaborate lifestyle. When GMAC, MASTERCARD, VISA, & LENDINGTREE get all your money and God gets none something’s wrong. When people that walk to church have a 50,000 seat building and we drive up in BMWs etc… & can’t spare $20 for souls, something wrong.
America has put its faith in money, knowledge, science, medicine, & technology rather than the things of God. 200 years of Bible preaching & none of the largest churches in the world are in America & nations you think lagging behind & under developed are winning souls by the thousands, we’re missing something. You know why they’re having it? They learned how to obey & trust the Spirit.
That is why we must hear the call for the people of this city. If no one else will work this harvest I will. Will you?
This series was designed for the HARVEST, THE HARVEST, THE HARVEST, not for us but for them. It was to equip us for them.
I.Focus on the Harvest
John 4:35 said …behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. The word “look” means to give your full attention to something.
When I wanted my hard headed nephew to listen to what I had to say I made him look at me and give me his full undivided attention, that meant if I had to pry his eyes open I would just so I knew he was paying attention to me.
God is saying the same thing to us that he wants our undivided attention so that we can understand what He wants from us.
He is calling us to look at our families, to look at our friends, to look at our neighbors, to look at this city, to look at every race, to look at every social class, because these are the people that are searching and yearning to find and know Him.
Our focus must be like our Father’s focus. We need to give our undivided attention to look at what He looks at and focus on the harvest.
It is time for the harvest, and the harvest demands that we change. The gospel was not given so that we could build our own kingdom or pad our comfort zones.
The gospel was given to be good news to the world. There are souls who must be won, which sometimes demands that we leave our comfort zones to do so, but still there is no greater joy than to do the work of the kingdom.
It is time to humbly go before the Lord with a sincere heart and allow His will to be done, no matter the cost. The
Harvest has a voice and it is calling to us!
That is why I am so focused to build; a farmer will never build while in the middle of harvest, he builds before in preparation of the harvest.
When it is harvest time you will notice that on a farm everybody works, that it requires long hours, there is so much work to do there isn’t time to complain, that it takes unity, determination is a motivator, all pain is forgotten, and in the end there is joy, peace, satisfaction, and laughter as the reward.
On the discovery channel I like to watch Deadliest Catch, on that show you get to see real life fishermen working hard and in hard conditions just to make their catch. These men will work 36 hours straight with no rest and no breaks it is a fast paced work that can take a life, but at the end of the season there is rejoicing all they worked for paid off, it was hard but it was worth it.
That is the way we got to be as we are fishers of men, we must pay a price but the reward is worth it.
II.God has a plan and it needs to be ours
God has a plan and an agenda for us, it is a specific purpose. God has a timetable that He is working by. It is not like God is flipping a coin in Heaven on when Christ is to return.
There is a divine purpose and plan and God’s agenda will come to pass.
Since the beginning of the world a plan was placed into motion. None of this was happenstance, the cosmos and mankind where not the result of chance. God created everything Himself and for Himself.
Paul said in Acts 17:23-25 (KJV) 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; There is nothing that God needs; however He does desire our worship, and it is His plan and purpose for all nations to worship Him.
The reason you are here today the reason you were born for this time period and not another is because God appointed you to be in this last day generation. Ac 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
We are living in the last days these are perilous times we live in but it is for such an hour as this. Ac 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
All men, all nations must repent to receive salvation by the blood of Jesus. Hag 2:6-9 (KJV)6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
When God finishes His plan it will be the grand finale, and it will end greater than how it started. You ain’t seen nothing yet!
In this grand finale everyone will participate your role is determined by you. We as a church get hung up on the way it was and miss out on how it is to be. We think all the great moves of God have come and gone that the clouds with the latter rain have moved on.
Let me tell you in the words of a servant that was spoken to Elijah, “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man‘s hand” And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.
Church you may not see it now but there is a spiritual cloud the size of God’s hand that is about to cover the world. Get out your umbrella it is going to rain.
God has been anticipating these last days, so He can show Himself great and strong. God sees the big picture, and for this reason He has given us a vision that will impact, not only this generation but many other generations that should come. We got to be like God and see past the here and now.
Helen Keller said “What could be worse than being born blind?” “That is to have sight without Vision.” Pr 29:18 Where [there is] no vision, the people perish:
III.A Godly Vision
Luke 14:25-33 (KJV)25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
There are requirements for a Godly Vision. First and foremost His will must be first. Not your will, not you your families, not your pastor’s or church, but God’s will must be first. There is order to our priorities; God first, then your spiritual well being, then your family, and then your ministry.
In verse 26 Jesus spoke it very clearly when He said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
God requires that He be first in your life, God must be King of Kings and Lord of Lords of your life no one is to be on the throne but Him.
Now this verse never said you go to a commune and distance yourself from your families. He is not trying to bust up a marriage and a family, but His point is that He has to be first. In Rev. He speaks of those that “lose their first love”. They love everything but Him and He needs to know He is first.
This verse is showing the level of commitment and the seriousness of that commitment that He asks of us.
Obedience to His will must be first and foremost in our lives if we are to be His Disciples.
This level of commitment is no different than a husband and wife. I put the needs of myself and others below the needs of my wife; she is my first priority after God. God is first and after Him then comes my wife.
I know we live in a time when commitment is a joke; we live in a time when a man’s word means nothing. People will go to the banks take out loans and if they can’t pay oh well we can always file chp.11. Get married today and 6 months later file for divorce saying, “we are just two different people”.
When it comes to the commitments I made here in my life I plan to see them through. Any business I do I plan to fulfill, if I take out a loan I plan to pay, and if something happens and I can’t I will work with the creditors to find away, but I will not ruin my name. This beautiful young lady right here I am committed to her and our marriage. Even when she drives me crazy!
But above all when I committed my life to Christ I surrendered all to Him. I can’t live a day without Him.
The next requirement is found in verse 27 where He said, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” The cross here represents your calling/the life and plan God has for you. When Jesus picked up His cross it was the redemptive plan of God for each of us. His cross He bared and died upon was so that you could have life again; though you are dead in sin in Him you can now have life.
When He calls you to pick up your cross He is calling you to Himself so that you can go into the Harvest. Will you pick up the call and carry it forward even if it means change, transition or reposition. Or do you think that this is to much for Christ to ask of you?
Church we have looked for the easy way out, if Staples really sold an easy button we would have it. It seems like we have lost our passion and desire.
We give more time and energy to the TV than we do the things of God we will get on the phone and tell people about whatever we bought from the store, we can tell people they should watch this new show or tell them how to work this gadget, but when it comes time to share the Gospel we act like we don’t have the time or don’t want to hurt or offend anybody.
We can stop to tell a stranger how to fix their car or whatever but we can’t tell them about the one that can repair their soul.
What is wrong with us? Why can we not be faithful to God and the Church?
Finally the last requirement is verse 33 where Jesus said, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Now I know many will say, “Whoa now I got too much invested in my life to give up and just follow”, then I must say you will never be His disciple just like the rich young ruler who told Jesus he kept the commandments and followed the law, and Jesus then ask him to sale all he has and follow Him. The young man leaves and doesn’t come back because he loved what he had more than he loved God.
I know many of you have followed Him and done all that He asked of you, many of you have heard the call and followed and forsook it all, but this last point I want to make is you have accomplished much in the former season but now is a new season and a new phase in this and your ministry.
Church we have nothing to lose we only gain when we make up our minds to follow Him and do His work. All we need to be is obedient to Him and His will, deny ourselves and pick up our call, and forsake all that you have accomplished to go on.
It is about sharing His message to those out there. What you fight to keep, you lose; what you release will come back to you. When you are obedient to what God requires of you, He will reward you in ways you have never dreamed.
The bottom line is this; it is time to lay all we have on the altar of God and let Him take us and make us into something great or His Kingdom. Above all it is about Him and not us.
The harvest is white and now is the time as laborers that we go into the harvest and reap.
I have counted the cost; I have looked at my spiritual bank account and saw that it is time to spend the anointing that God has given me on the Harvest. I can’t afford don’t to be obedient I can’t afford not to do the will of God.
God is telling me to go… go… go… I got enough word, you got enough word, I got enough anointing, you got enough of the anointing; it is time to leave the confides of the church and Go into the Harvest.
