Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
TRAVELING LIGHTLY
Mark 6:7-13, "And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them."
The coming of the Lord is drawing closer every day and if we are ever going to reach lost souls for Christ, this is the day that we should really be working. If we are going to work in the fields, reaping a harvest of lost souls, we don’t need to carry around any extra burdens that will wear us out or slow us down.
Luke 10:2, says, "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest."
That is my prayer and the prayer of this church, that God would send us forth as laborers in the harvest to help people get ready for Jesus’ return.
How many of you believe that Jesus is coming soon? I can remember that even as a teenager, I was convinced that Jesus could return at any moment. I can’t tell you the number of times that I looked toward the Eastern sky to see if I could see His return. I don’t know how many times that I looked at the moon and it seemed to turn almost red in color and the words of John would jump out of the pages of the Bible and into my heart where he wrote in Revelation 6:12, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"
I was convinced then that the Lord was coming soon and I am convinced that Jesus is coming soon now. That coming could be at any moment and in the twinkling of eye we will all be gone to be with Jesus in the air. Everyone, that is, except those who have not made themselves ready.
There will be multitudes of millions of people who will be left behind in that great and terrible day. Those millions are the harvest that you and I need to work with.
Jesus has given to us that same power that He gave to the original disciples of the early church. We still have power over unclean spirits and demonic powers. We can still heal the sick. We can still pray for the sick. We can still lead people to the Lord in the prayer of repentance. God has given us His word and His promises and left us with the command to…”go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
If we would act toward this assignment from the Lord to work in His fields the same way that we do in our jobs, so much more could be accomplished.
Jesus commanded His disciples to …”take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.”
In other words, don’t get too burdened down with the cares of life, the provisions for your personal needs and the things you like to have with you. Your work is going to require that you are light on your feet and able to move at a moments notice.
I believe that if there was ever a time in history when the church, and the laborers for the harvest, were burdened with too much, this time, this hour is it.
The harvest is lacking because God’s people, who are supposed to be working the fields are too heavily burdened to carry the gospel and do the work that the Lord has called them to do.
How many people do I say that are so burdened that they have no time for what God wants? I tell you that there will be many who will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ in the near future, will have to answer for the blood of multitudes who will not make it into Heaven because the laborers in the harvest were too busy and too burdened down to go out and reap for the Lord.
Would you go to work at the office tomorrow and carry along your entire wardrobe?
Would you go on the road, making your calls and doing your job, while dragging your lawn mower behind you? Would you ladies carry your dishwasher to your job?
Of course none of us would do such things, but we sure carry too much with us when we go out to work for the Lord.
Some people carry burdens that God never intended for them to bear. One of Satan’s favorite tricks is to so overburden us that we are unable to move when God says to move.
Some of us are bowed down by job requirements. I know that we all must earn our living and support our families, but the American dream takes a heavy toll on the American family. In our day it isn’t unusual at all to find every member of the family involved in making money to get more and more things that we really don’t need.
A lot of people desire the “toys” that make like more enjoyable, but we don’t think about the burden of paying for the toys and the time that all of this takes. We don’t have time for God but we have time for everything else but God.
The journey through life, working for the Lord, is a transient life. Jesus even told us that we are pilgrims and strangers in a foreign land. Just as God told Abraham to step out by faith and claim the land that God would give to him as an inheritance, God is telling you and I to step out by faith and claim the best that He has in store for us too.
Are you too burdened financially and you think it’s impossible to give your offerings and pay your tithes to God’s work? If so, then you are too burdened and it’s time to lighten the load you carry. In our day of free credit, when every credit card company in the country is trying to shove one in your wallet, it is too easy to get into deep debt and then Satan has us in a trap where we have to work all the time to pay off those creditors and we don’t have any time for working for the Lord.
Are you too burdened with caring for your home or other possessions? It’s a great thing to have property, homes, lands, cars, and other things, but if those things are requiring all of your time and energy to keep them up, then you are too burdened to work in the Harvest for souls.
God’s command was not for us to “go ye out into the world and buy lands and houses.” Neither was His command for us to “go ye out into the world and get all you can and then can all you get.” His command was to go out and preach the gospel and reach souls for the harvest of the Lord.
In our society, we are deceived easily into a race to keep up with our neighbors and friends. If they get a new home, we want one too. If they get a new car, our two year old car begins to look like junk very quickly. If they get a new boat and we don’t have one too then we just have to go get one. All of us are guilty of at least some of the desires to have the best of everything. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these things but they can become a burden that keeps us from serving the Lord like we should.
I know people who can’t come to church on Wednesdays because they can’t afford to turn down overtime. I know people who miss church on Sunday morning because that’s the only time they have to mow the lawn or wash their car. I know people who won’t walk out of the house unless they have on the best clothes from the most popular manufacturer in the world lest others think that they are poor and ignorant.
God help us when the temporary things of this world become more important to us than the eternal souls of men, women and children who are dying and going to hell without God.
Even among ministers of the gospel there is a lot of excess baggage that slows them down in the work of the ministry. It is a shame that as much as 75% of the churches in America have pastors that have to work 2 jobs in order to pay bills. Sad to say, the economy of our nation makes demands upon all of us that force us to have to do things that we would rather not have to do. I know that I am a bi-vocational pastor, and I thank God for allowing me to pastor and to keep my job. I know that the church cannot, at this time, afford to have a full time pastor. But folks, how limiting is it when for 40 hours a week the pastor has to step out of the role of pastor to be an employee? How much more could be done and how much more could we reach out to lost souls if we weren’t so burdened with extra baggage?
Not only does the economy place heavy burdens upon us but we put even more burdens upon ourselves by taking on projects that we shouldn’t.
I find it hard to say no when people ask for help but we have to learn to prioritize our time. We need to create a personal mission statement so that whenever we are asked to do something, we can look at our mission statement to see if doing what they ask will bring us toward accomplishing our mission or lead us away from it.
Somehow, I cannot perceive of a minister, who is supposed to carry the gospel to a lost and dying world and care for the flock of God, needing to be golf pro. I cannot understand those who claim to work for the Lord, and yet they spend the majority of their time in front of the TV or taking leisurely times to do fun things. How can they reach souls when they are too pre-occupied with these things?
I don’t think that is what God will call a “good and faithful servant”!
We are too concerned with making life pleasant and having the best of everything to be concerned with lost souls.
Jesus told those disciples to not be concerned with the necessities of life but just go into the fields and work. The Bible still says in Matthew 6:31-34, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Philippians 4:19 also says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
God’s commandment to His disciples is that we should walk and live by faith. Living by faith is not making every dollar we can make to have the best of everything. Living by faith means that I will do the work of the Lord first, put God first, and then let God see to it that my needs are met.
I’m not proclaiming to anyone that they should leave their job and get to work for the Lord. God may just let you do without for a while for being so ignorant. The Bible also declares that man will earn his living by the sweat of his brow. But we still need to do what God calls says, even if it means that we don’t get everything we want in life. You can’t get everything in life anyway, and even if you did, it wouldn’t satisfy the hunger in your heart like God can.
I’m simply saying that we must put God first. Everything else must take second place.
God is looking for workers for the Harvest and there aren’t many who will answer the call. Mankind and even Christians are too caught up in the temporary things of the world to be concerned about the things that are eternal.
Everything around you today, every possession you have, every hobby you enjoy, everything – will soon be burned away and what will you have then? The only thing that is permanent is the soul of that son, daughter, friend or acquaintance that you have led to the Lord. That’s the only thing you can take to Heaven with you and faithfulness to God’s Work of ministering to the lost sheep is the only thing that will allow you to hear the words, “well done my good and faithful servant.”
I am reminded of the story of the Rich Man who filled his barns in Luke 12:16-21, "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Where is your treasure today? Is it in the Work of the Lord or is it in the work of your hands? Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart is also.
It’s time to lay aside our burdensome load and get to work for the Lord! A true disciple of Christ will keep ready for the journey wherever it may take them.
Wherever God takes you, that’s where we are to minister. If our ministry is effective and people are blessed then stay there until God moves you on. If God calls you to minister and no one will hear the message, then shake the dust off your feet and move on.
Do you want to see miracles in your life? Do you want to be used by God to bring miracles of healing, deliverance and salvation to other people? That should be the desire of every Child of God!
If that’s your desire, then cast off the excess baggage, put your trust in the Lord, get rid of the clutter in your life and commit your life to God’s work and then watch Him bless you in ways you never dreamed possible.
You will be counted as one who has answered the call of God and you can be a laborer in the Harvest fields for Him.
