Sermon Tone Analysis

*SUN CITY BIBLE CHURCH MISSIONS WEEK-END*

*SEPTEMBER 2007*

*“HARVEST TIME” - MATTHEW 9.35-38*

* *

*Message #1* – Saturday Evening

*The Method of Harvesting*

 

AS ONE DRIVES THROUGH THE BEAUTIFUL AGRICULTURAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA THIS TIME OF YEAR AS WELL AS SIMILAR AREAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, IT IS EASY TO TELL THAT WE ARE DRAWING CLOSE TO THE END OF SUMMER.

THERE ARE SIGNS ALL AROUND THAT HARVEST TIME HAS COME.

THE FARMERS OF OUR LAND HAVE ALREADY HARVESTED MANY OF THE CROPS AND THERE ARE STILL MORE THAT ARE READY FOR HARVEST.

DRIVING UP AND DOWN THE ROADS, YOU CAN SEE ROADSIDE STANDS THAT HAVE BEEN EMPTY DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE YEAR, NOW BURSTING WITH THE PRODUCE OF THE FIELDS AS THE FARMERS SELL IT TO PASSERSBY.

AS I WAS PREPARING THIS MESSAGE I HAD OCCASION TO GO TO MY BANK AND NOTICED THE TENT THAT HAD SUDDENLY APPEARED ON THE SHOPPING MALL PARKING LOT.

FARMER FENCEL WAS SELLING HIS SWEET CORN, TOMATOES AND MUSKMELONS AS WELL AS OTHER VEGETABLES FROM HIS FIELDS.

·       IT IS THE WISE FARMER WHO KNOWS THAT WHEN HARVEST TIME HAS COME HE MUST BE BUSY AND FOCUSED ON THE TASK OF HARVESTING.

·       HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS A LIMITED WINDOW OF TIME TO HARVEST HIS CROPS.

·       HE KNOWS THAT IF HE DOES NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HARVEST TIME, HIS CROPS WILL DIE AND ROT IN THE FIELD AND HE WILL NOT RECEIVE THE REWARD OF ALL THE LABOR OF PLANTING AND NURTURING THAT HAS OCCUPIED HIM THE REST OF THE YEAR.

THERE ARE MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHYSICAL HARVEST WHICH WE OBSERVE IN ITS PERENNIAL SEASON AND THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST WHICH GOES ON IN THE REALM OF THE SPIRITUAL, LARGELY UNOBSERVED TO THE WORLD BUT EVEN MORE VITAL TO A MAN’S WELL BEING THAN FOOD ON HIS TABLE.

ONE IMPORTANT DISTINCTION, HOWEVER, IS THAT IN THE REALM OF THE SPIRITUAL …

·       THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SOUL IS NOT MERELY A FEW WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR … IT IS EQUAL TO THE SPAN OF A MAN’S LIFE CLOSING ONLY WHEN HE DIES AND IF HE DIES WITHOUT HAVING BEEN BROUGHT TO CHRIST HIS SOUL SHALL ROT IN THE AGONY OF ETERNITY’S TERRORS.

·       BUT NEITHER IS THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SPIRITUAL FARMER CONFINED TO A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

·       THE CROP BEING PREPARED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS A NEVER ENDING ONE.

THE FIELD IS PERPETUALLY RIPE.

·       THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SPIRITUAL FARMER ALSO CLOSES ONLY WHEN HE PASSES FROM THIS LIFE INTO THE NEXT.

WE LIVE IN A DAY WHEN THE HARVEST IS AS RIPE AS IT HAS EVER BEEN.

THE FIELDS ARE BURSTING WITH AN EVER INCREASING NUMBER OF SOULS THAT ARE READY TO TRUST CHRIST.

BUT WE ALSO LIVE IN A DAY WHEN THE CHURCH, AND A GROWING NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS EXISTING AND LIVING IN THOSE FIELDS ARE EMPTY HANDED.

I AM REMINDED OF THE WORDS OF CHARLES CARROLL LUTHER WHO WROTE THESE WORDS IN THE LATE 1800s

 

/Must I go, and empty handed, thus my dear Redeemer meet?

\\ Not one day of service give Him, lay no trophy at His feet?

/

/ /

/Must I go, and empty handed?

Must I meet my Savior so? \\ Not one soul with which to greet Him, Must I empty handed go?/

/ /

/Not at death I shrink or falter, For my Savior saves me now; \\ But to meet Him empty handed, Thought of that now clouds my brow.

/

/ /

/Oh the years in sinning wasted, Could I but recall them now, \\ I would give them to my Savior, To His Will I'd gladly bow.

/

/ /

/Must I go, and empty handed?

Must I meet my Savior so? \\ Not one soul with which to greet Him, Must I empty handed go?/

 

OUR PASSAGE IS FOUND IN MATTHEW 9.35-38.

/ /

/ //Then 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.

38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”/

WE WILL HAVE THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO COME TOGETHER IN THESE TWO DAYS TO LOOK INTO GOD’S WORD.

IN THOSE TIMES I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU ON THREE SEPARATE FACETS OF THIS PASSAGE:

 

·       *THE METHOD OF HARVESTING (9.35)*

·       *THE MOTIVATION FOR HARVESTING (9.36)*

·       *THE MEANS OF HARVESTING (9.38)*

 

*THE METHOD OF HARVESTING* (9.35)

/35 //THEN 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.

/

 

*I.

**HE WENT *

* *

*a.     **ABOUT*

* *

THE TEXT TELLS US THAT JESUS WENT ABOUT ALL THE CITIES AND VILLAGES.

THE JEWISH HISTORIAN JOSEPHUS, WRITING ABOUT A GENERATION AFTER CHRIST, SAID THAT THERE WERE OVER 200 TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE REGION OF GALILEE, ALL WITH A POPULATION OF LEAST 15,000.

·       THAT IS A LOT OF PLACES AND A LOT OF PEOPLE TO VISIT.

BUT JESUS CAME TO THIS EARTH IN ORDER TO MINISTER.

·       HE WAS NOT A SPECTATOR, NOR AN UNINVOLVED PASSERBY IN THIS LIFE.

·       JESUS WAS ALL ABOUT MINISTRY AND HIS MISSION WAS TO REACH PEOPLE WITH THE OFFER OF FORGIVENESS AND ETERNAL LIFE.

WHILE IT CAN BE SAID THAT JESUS HAD MANY APPROACHES TO MINISTRY WITH PEOPLE THERE IS A COMMON THREAD THAT RUNS THROUGH HIS ENTIRE LIFE OF MINISTRY AND THAT IS THAT JESUS “WENT OUT” AFTER PEOPLE.

·       IF YOU TRACE THROUGH THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF JESUS THREE YEAR MINISTRY, FROM THE TIME HE WAS 30 YEARS OF AGE YOU CAN IDENTIFY AT LEAST 47 DIFFERENT CLEAR GEOGRAPHICAL MOVEMENTS OF THE LORD JESUS.

THAT’S MORE THAN ONE PER MONTH.

·       FURTHERMORE, JESUS WAS WALKING FROM PLACE TO PLACE … HE WAS NOT DRIVING THROUGH IN A CHAUFFEURED LIMOUSINE.

WALKING FROM PLACE TO PLACE WAS GUARANTEED TO BRING HIM INTO CONTACT WITH PEOPLE IN EVERY LITTLE TOWN AND VILLAGE THEY PASSED THROUGH ON THE WAY FROM ONE DESTINATION TO ANOTHER.

·       HE LAID ASIDE HIS OMNIPRESENCE AND FOR THAT REASON WAS ONLY ABLE TO BE IN ONE PLACE AT A TIME … JUST LIKE YOU … AND JUST LIKE ME.  BUT FOR THAT REASON, HE KEPT MOVING, GOING FROM PLACE TO PLACE WHERE THE PEOPLE WERE SO THAT HE COULD MEET THEIR NEEDS … JUST LIKE YOU AND I OUGHT TO DO.

·       HE DID NOT SIT BACK IN HIS OFFICE AND WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO HIM.

HE DID NOT SIT WITHIN THE SAFETY AND COMFORT OF THE CHURCH WALLS AND WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO COME THROUGH THE DOORS.

DID YOU KNOW THAT LOST PEOPLE ARE NEVER COMMANDED TO COME TO CHURCH?

BUT CHURCH PEOPLE ARE COMMANDED TO GO OUT INTO THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS AND COMPEL PEOPLE TO COME IN.

·       HE WENT OUT AND FOUND PEOPLE WHERE THEY WERE.

LUKE 19.10, JESUS SAID OF HIMSELF, /“FOR THE SON OF MAN HAS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST.”/

IT IS FAULTY THINKING WHICH SUGGESTS THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THE TASK OF REACHING THE LOST FOR CHRIST BY PASSIVELY SITTING AND WAITING FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO WALK THROUGH THE DOOR.

THE FAMILIAR COMMISSION GIVEN TO THE DISCIPLES AND THE EARLY CHURCH ASSUMED THAT THEY WERE GOING … /“AS YOU ARE GOING, THEREFORE, MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, 20 TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU; AND LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.” AMEN./

AND THEN THERE ARE THE WORDS OF JOHN 20.21:  “SO JESUS SAID TO THEM AGAIN, /“PEACE TO YOU! *AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I ALSO SEND YOU.*”/

THE FATHER SENT THE SON INTO THE WORLD … TO SEEK THE LOST.

BASIC TO HIS METHOD OF OPERATION WAS THAT HE WENT OUT AMONG THE PEOPLE … SEEKING THEM OUT.

HE, IN TURN, SENDS US IN THE SAME FASHION … INTO THE WORLD … TO SEEK THE LOST AND SHARE WITH THEM THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL.

WE SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT JESUS WAS NOT EXCLUSIVE ABOUT WHERE HE WENT:

* *

*b.    **HE WENT EVERYWHERE*

* *

ALL THE CITIES AND VILLAGES … LARGE AND SMALL.

JUST IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW WE SEE HIM:

·       IN THE COUNTRYSIDE – MATT.

5.1

·       IN THE SYNAGOGUES HERE IN 9.35

·       ON THE MOUNTAIN - 5.1

·       ON THE BEACH - 4.18

·       IN A BOAT - 8.23

·       IN A CEMETERY - 8.28

·       IN PRIVATE HOMES - 8.14 AND 9.19

THERE WAS NO PLACE THAT JESUS WOULD NOT GO AND NEITHER SHOULD WE BE RELUCTANT TO GO ANYWHERE CARRYING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.

WE GET SQUEAMISH ABOUT GOING TO THE INNER CITY,

·       TO THE REMOTE VILLAGE, TO THE SMALL TOWN,

·       TO THE FOREIGN COUNTRY,

·       TO THE NORTHERN COLD OR THE SOUTHWESTERN HOT,

·       TO THE LOWER CLASS OR THE UPPER CLASS,

·       TO THE EDUCATED OR THE UNEDUCATED

·       TO THE MUSLIM, THE JEW … TO THE HISPANIC, THE BLACK …

·       TO THE ELDERLY OR THE VERY YOUNG.

NOT JESUS … JESUS WENT EVERYWHERE AND SO OUGHT WE.  DID HE NOT COMMAND:

·       MATTHEW 22.9 - /THEREFORE GO INTO THE HIGHWAYS, AND AS MANY AS YOU FIND, INVITE TO THE WEDDING./

·       ACTS 1.8 - /BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU; AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM, AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH.”/

·       DID NOT ISAIAH PROCLAIM PROPHETICALLY ISAIAH 45.22 /- “LOOK TO ME, AND BE SAVED, ALL YOU ENDS OF THE EARTH!

FOR I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER./

THERE IS A GREAT NEED ACROSS THE LAND AND AROUND THE WORLD FOR BELIEVERS TO GO AND TO SEEK THE LOST IN EVERY COMMUNITY AND SUB-COMMUNITY AND IN EVERY STRATA OF SOCIETY.

·       APART FROM SUCH AN EFFORT, WHILE WE SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THEM TO COME TO US, MILLIONS WILL REMAIN UNREACHED AND ENTER INTO A CHRIST-LESS ETERNITY.

BUT LISTEN, FRIENDS, LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT GOING ACROSS THE LAND AND AROUND THE WORLD WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGINGAS WELL THAT THERE IS A GREAT NEED HERE IN SUN CITY FOR THE BELIEVERS WHO ARE SUN CITY BIBLE CHURCH TO GO AND TO SEEK THE LOST IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD AND DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP.