Harvesters In The White Fields
June 24, 2001
Ill: Was reading about a man who had bought a lottery ticket. He had bought it early and so he was just waiting for the day the numbers were called. During this time, he broke up with his girlfriend. This caused a lot of turmoil and distress in his life. He begins to move out…putting things in the car loading it up and moving out. Months go by and he has forgotten about the lottery ticket. One day he’s cleaning the car and in the glove box, under a bunch of stuff, he finds the lottery ticket. Out of curiosity, he calls in the numbers, only to find out that they were the winning numbers, but that the ticket had expired. It was too late…the ticket was no good.
1. The Missed Opportunity
A. Jesus’ Meat to Eat
a. I want to look at a man that didn’t miss His opportunity…but at the same time, knew that time was running out
b. He seized the moment and tried to immediately teach from the incident
John 4:31-32
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
c. Jesus had just got done talking to the woman at the well…He is looking out at the fields which are green
i. His disciples are trying to get Him to eat, but He doesn’t have time…He looks out at he coming crowd
ii. And then makes this profound statement
John 4:35-36
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.
B. Where They Picking Cotton?
a. I began to ponder on this and He makes the comment, “There are still four months.”
b. It wasn’t harvest time…yet He is looking out at the harvest… “It is white, already to harvest.”
c. In those days, the people wore white turbans – all their cloths was white
i. And so here, Jesus is looking at the crowd of people…calling them the harvest…they are ripe, they are in need
ii. It is already to harvest – don’t look around at the fields…don’t look around at life and think that you have four months
C. Time Running Out
a. What He is saying, don’t sit around thinking you have time…time is running out
b. And if you and I are going to touch the world for Jesus, then we have to have the same attitude that Jesus had
c. Every man and woman must mean to us a white field to us
i. Every person must be a sheaf of wheat ready for harvest
Charles Spurgeon talks of a man who is from Switzerland. This land is nothing but rock. Grass is very scarce and so every opportunity to gather some is taken. And so one day this man is walking and notices some grass growing on a ledge on a cliff. And so from the valley he had caught sight of it, so he thought that by climbing above it, he would get a better view of it. But the rock was too steep even for such a good climber as he. So he looks around trying to figure a way to get to the grass. He is looking for a pathway, anything to climb down to the grass. He knows that this little grass will feed his goats and help in the winter with feeding the cows. Every armful of grass is very valuable. And so he tries in vain to find a way down. He finally goes and calls his son, who is a little more experienced in rock climbing. His son attempts to, but it is just too difficult of a climb. He comes back up and says, “Father, it can’t be done.” “My son, it must be done.” It’s only an armful and doesn’t amount to much, but to this man, even the very little is precious. So the man ties a rope to a huge boulder and begins to climb down to the grass. He finally gets to it, cuts it, bundles it and carries it back up. IT seems like such a little reward for such a dangerous climb
i. I wonder if that is the way God feels about souls…every little one counts
ii. Every single soul is precious in His sight…and He would have us looking from every mountain side, up the cliffs and around the corners for precious souls
iii. The harvest truly is ripe…but the labors are few
D. Seeing Through The Eyes of Jesus
a. Oh, Beloved, If we could only see through the Eyes of Jesus
b. If we could only see the value of a soul
c. How many have ever been in an airplane (expound), a ship
i. These are awesome, but they do not compare to the value of an immortal soul
ii. The most glorious work that we can ever do is to reap as many as we can
2. Appreciating The Full Value of a Soul
A. Loving the Sinner
Contents: The indifference to human life our world demonstrates is truly shocking at times. A recent news article described how dozens of tourists watched impassively as a woman drowned while trying to save her child. One person even videotaped the drowning, saying "I got the whole thing on tape." No one watching made any attempt to help. How willing are we to get involved in rescuing others from sin? Are we content just to watch as people drown spiritually, or will we turn away from our own indifference and do what we can to rescue them? --David Charlton, Proclaim, April/May 1997 ("Tourists Watched Woman Drown," The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 29 August 1994, A3.)
a. How easy it is for us to be distracted from our calling to evangelize
b. How close are the white fields to us…our family, neighbors, friends
c. The disciples were worried about food…Jesus had to point out the harvest to them…this is the food of the father…souls, precious souls
I’m just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about Somebody, who can save anybody.
A story is told of a woman whose husband was sick and dying, and she went to St. Peter in her sorrow and asked him to prolong her husband’s life, and he said, “I will do it on condition that you will become a beggar.” She said, “I do not need to; I have money enough to support us.” Peter said, “You must not beg for money, but for time. You go out and beg for time, and nay person you find who will give you any time, you can add that to your husband’s life.” She went out and found one of the ten lepers that Christ had healed, and she asked him for a day of his life, and he said, No, he had lost so much of it that he could not spare any; she found the young man that had been raised by Christ, and she asked him, but he said he knew what it was to be dead once, and he didn’t porpose to die again until he was obliged to. She put the same question to men and women, asking for a day, or an hour, or a minute of their time to add to her husbands life, and she was coming back disconsolate, when the thought came to her mind, “Why not give your own life?” And she came and asked St. Peter if she might give her own life for the life of her husband. He said she might, and he took from her one-half of her days and gave them to her husband, and they went through this world hand in hand until they came to the river of death, and went across it together.
B. Not Enough Time
a. Beloved, you give your life to others
b. We may give up our ungodliness, and our worldliness, and our slothfulness…because one day we are going to find that our foolish pleasure amounted to so little
c. It’s amazing how we don’t have time for Jesus, yet find time for pleasure
i. And yet in the end, we are going to find, as we reflect on our lives, how much we really wasted our lives
ii. Yesterday, there was a couple in their 70’s evangelizing my neighborhood
iii. As I drove back from church at 10:45, all around me I saw the Jehovah witnesses…yet, nowhere did I see Christians evangelizing
C. Losing Focus
a. I feel we have good men and women who are Christians, but something has happened
Contents: A store near Dallas, Texas, sells nothing but water. Building a business on sale of something most people can get for almost nothing is quite an achievement. This store is successful because it focuses on one product. Customers can peruse the shelves and find all kinds of water: distilled, purified, spring, artesian, normally filtered, extrafiltered, naturally carbonated, artificially carbonated, deionized, mineral, demineralized, distilled, flavored, unflavored, imported or local. The problem with many churches is not that they lack commitment of resources; too often they lack focus. Churches need to understand that they have a focus, and that focus should be bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost world. --Dale Charlton, Proclaim/Fall 1998 sep98
b. What’s your focus today…Can you spare an hour, can you spare a minute, a second…That you may preach the Word
c. How Jesus has cleansed us, washed us, changed us…and so easily ignore the scripture
Matt 10:7-8
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
D. The Distraction
a. As you look at the scripture we read…the disciples were distracted…they were worried about eating
b. What are we distracted by today…a distraction means your facing the other way or looking down
c. Jesus said, “Look up, look at the fields, they are white already to harvest.”
Prov 11:30
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
2 Tim 4:7-8
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
