“Do You Love The Harvest?”
Mt. 9:35-38
Introduction
· In the book, “Every Believer, A Minister,” Dr. Rex D. Edwards graphically paints the pathetic picture of far too many Christians today.
o “We sing the words of the hymn ‘Onward Christian Soldier,’ and wait to be drafted into His service. We sing ‘Oh, For A Thousand Tongues,’ but don’t use the one we have… ‘Serve the Lord with Gladness,’ yet we complain when someone asks us to do something…”
· To prevent ourselves from falling into this category, we need a to change our mindset about the church.... God’s church! It’s time that we, as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again… Move from a state of Survival to a state of Revival…!
·
If you love the harvest…
I. Let it effect your Ministry, 35
A. Notice some folks need Godly teaching
1. Teaching literally means to learn or to catch
2. It carries the idea of educating the mind
3. If it’s not learned or caught, then it’s not properly taught
B. Notice some folks need Godly preaching
1. Preaching means to ‘bring forth’
2. It carries the idea of motivating the heart
3. The gospel of the kingdom
a. Used 4 times in Bible (Mt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14 and Mk 1:14)
b. Refers to the ‘good news’ of the kingdom
4. This is the message that Christ is come to establish His kingdom, both in heaven and on earth.
C. Notice some folks need Godly healing
1. Isa. 53:2-6
2. Mark 9: 20-24 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
If you love the harvest…
II. Let it effect your Compassion, 36
A. Open your eyes, ‘when He saw’
1. Ps. 119:18 18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
2. $20 bill ill.
B. Open your heart, ‘He was moved’
1. The heart is the seat of all your emotions
2. The heart is the seat of all your desires
3. The heart is the seat of all your troubles
C. Open your reasoning, ‘because…’
1. We should have compassion because others are ‘fainting’
a. Means to ‘relax’, ‘to loose’, ‘unloose’, ‘to weaken’, ‘to exhaust’, ‘to become faint hearted’
b. The idea is that these people were in a weakened spiritual state. Thus, we should have compassion on them
2. We should have compassion because others are ‘scattered’
3. We should have compassion because others have ‘no shepherd’
If you love the harvest…
III. Let it effect your Prayers, 37-38
A. Because of the immediate need, ‘the harvest is plenteous’
B. Because of the immediate shortage, ‘the labourers are few’
1. Because some are AWOL, ‘For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, II Tim. 4:10
2. Because some are Traitors, I John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
3. Because some are wounded, Acts 15:36 (Paul doesn’t want John Mark to go on Mission trip)
C. Because of the immediate power, ‘Pray’
1. Pray to God
2. Pray for labourers
Conclusion
· A city boy visited his cousin who lived on a farm in the country for the first time. The city boy had never seen wheat growing in a field. It was an impressive sight for him, the wheat golden brown and ready for harvesting. He noticed that some of the wheat stood tall in the field, whereas some of it was bent low, touching the ground. The city boy said to his cousin, "I bet the ones standing tall are the best ones, aren’t they?" His cousin smiled knowingly and reached over and plucked the head of one of the tall-standing wheat stalks and one that was bent to the ground. He rubbed each of them and the city boy saw that the tall one was almost empty of seeds. But the one bent to the ground was full of the promise of a rich harvest.
· Those Christians who are ‘bent over’ in the posture of prayer are the most fruitful. Does this describe you?
