Sermon Tone Analysis

*SUN CITY BIBLE CHURCH MISSIONS WEEK-END*

*SEPTEMBER 2007*

*“HARVEST TIME” - MATTHEW 9.35-38*

\\ *Message #3* – Sunday Evening

*The Means of Harvesting*

 

AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST IN NEW YORK SAYS THAT THERE ARE MORE NEARSIGHTED PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK CITY THAN IN ANY OTHER.

HIS SUSPICION IS THAT IT IS BECAUSE PEOPLE ROUTINELY OPERATE DOWN AMONG THE SKYSCRAPERS, HEMMED IN BY THE WALLS OF HIGH BUILDINGS, WHICH IN TURN LIMIT THEIR FIELD OF VISION.

FOR MANY THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR DISTANT VISION IS TO LOOK UP AT THE SKY, WHICH VERY FEW DO.

THUS, HE SAID, THE CONSTANT USE OF THE EYES FOR SHORT DISTANCES TENDS FOR NEARSIGHTEDNESS.

I CANNOT ATTEST TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS CLAIM BUT I DO KNOW THAT AT TIMES WE, AS BELIEVERS, CAN BE SO FOCUSED ON THE IMMEDIACY OF OUR OWN LITTLE LIVES THAT WE LOSE SIGHT OF THE WORLD, AND THE PEOPLE AROUND US.

 

IN VERSE 35 OF CHAPTER 9, MATTHEW SUMMARIZED THE THREEFOLD MINISTRY OF THE LORD JESUS AS HE WENT ABOUT THROUGH ALL THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ISRAEL, TEACHING AND PREACHING ABOUT THE KINGDOM.

HIS HEALING MINISTRY WAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTHENTICATING HIS PERSON AS THE MESSIAH OF PROPHECY.

THIS SPECTACULAR ASPECT OF JESUS’ MINISTRY ATTRACTED LARGE CROWDS AND AS HE OBSERVED THE CROWDS, MATTHEW SAYS /“HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEM.”  /JESUS SAW THE CROWDS … HE SAW THAT THEY WERE OPPRESSED AND HELPLESS, LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.* *THEY WERE LIKE SHEEP BEATEN DOWN AND MORTALLY WOUNDED BY WOLVES AND UNABLE TO HELP THEMSELVES.

HAVING NO SHEPHERD TO GUIDE AND PROTECT THEM, THE PEOPLE WERE MALIGNED BY THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, HELPLESS BEFORE THEM, AND WANDERING ABOUT WITH NO SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE.

THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR SHEPHERDS, WERE KEEPING THE SHEEP FROM FOLLOWING THE TRUE SHEPHERD.

A. T. ROBINSON SAYS, /“THEY WERE BEWILDERED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT THEM; HINDERED FROM ENTERING INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, LADEN WITH THE BURDENS WHICH THE PHARISEES LAID UPON THEM.”/

WE HAVE THUS FAR LOOKED AT THE METHOD OF HARVESTING AS GIVEN TO US BY THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS AND WE HAVE, JUST THIS MORNING, EXAMINED THE MOTIVATION FOR THE HARVESTING AS DISPLAYED IN THE GREAT MOVING OF CHRIST’S HEART WITH COMPASSION OVER THE CONDITION OF THE MULTITUDES HE SAW AS HE WENT FROM PLACE TO PLACE.

WE HAVE NOTED THAT HIS METHOD AND HIS MOTIVE ARE SOMEWHAT LACKING IN THE CHURCH AT LARGE TODAY AND MY HOPE IS THAT OUR TIME IN THIS PASSAGE TOGETHER WITH YOU HAS BEEN USED OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO STIR YOU INTO A RESPONSE WHEREBY YOU … AND THIS CHURCH … WILL BE MORE ACTIVELY AGGRESSIVE IN ALLOWING GOD TO WORK THROUGH YOU TO REACH ONLY THE FAR REACHES OF THE GLOBE … BUT PERHAPS EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY … YOUR OWN COMMUNITY … SUN CITY … THE MENIFEE VALLEY.

I SAY MORE IMPORTANTLY BECAUSE THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES INVOLVED IN REACHING THE FAR CORNERS OF THE EARTH.

BUT IF SUN CITY AND THE MENIFEE VALLEY ARE GOING TO BE REACHED AND IMPACTED FOR CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL;  IF THE LOST HERE ARE GOING TO BE EFFECTIVELY RESCUED, IT MAY BE THAT ONLY YOU … SUN CITY BIBLE CHURCH … THE PEOPLE … YOU FOLKS … ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO WILL BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH IT.

 

AND THAT BRINGS US THEN TO CONSIDER THE THIRD ASPECT OF THIS PASSAGE:

/ /

*THE MEANS OF THE HARVEST*

/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.”/

* *

*THE REALITY OF THE HARVEST*

JESUS CHANGES HIS METAPHOR HERE FROM SHEEP TO THE HARVEST ALTHOUGH THE “HARVEST” IS ALSO A BIBLICAL THEME AND FREQUENTLY IT IS USED AS A PICTURE OF THE END TIME HARVEST … OR THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

·       HERE, AND IN OTHER PLACES, JESUS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE END-TIME HARVEST BUT RATHER THE HARVEST OF SALVATION THAT IS READY NOW AND THAT IS TAKING PLACE AS THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED AND PEOPLE BELIEVE IT, TRUSTING CHRIST, THEREBY BEING RESCUED FROM THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS AND PLACED INTO THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.

LUKE 10.1-2 - /AFTER THESE THINGS THE LORD APPOINTED SEVENTY OTHERS ALSO, AND SENT THEM TWO BY TWO BEFORE HIS FACE INTO EVERY CITY AND PLACE WHERE HE HIMSELF WAS ABOUT TO GO. 2 THEN HE SAID TO THEM, “THE HARVEST TRULY IS GREAT, BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW; THEREFORE PRAY THE LORD OF THE HARVEST TO SEND OUT LABORERS INTO HIS HARVEST./

JOHN 4.35 JESUS SAID TO THEM, /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!”/

 

NOTICE THAT IN EACH INSTANCE, JESUS AFFIRMS THE SIMPLE REALITY THAT THE HARVEST IS READY, IT IS PLENTIFUL, IT IS GREAT, IT IS RIPE!

 

THE WORLD HAS MORE WINNABLE PEOPLE THAN EVER BEFORE ... BUT THE CHURCH BY AND LARGE IS EMPTY HANDED AT A TIME OF HARVEST.

FOLKS, IT IS HARVEST TIME! 

·       IT HAS LONG BEEN TIME TO STOP PRAYING FOR THE HARVEST TO RIPEN.

·       FOR TOO LONG WE HAVE WASTED TIME PRAYING THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE OPEN TO THE GOSPEL, NEVER NOTICING THAT GOD IS ALREADY DOING THAT WORK IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND US. \\ \\

SATAN WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE JUST AREN’T INTERESTED ANYMORE.

·       HE WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE THAT THE HARVEST IS PAST,

·       THAT PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT GOD ANYMORE

·       THAT NO ONE IS INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CHRISTIAN IN THIS DAY AND AGE.

IF THAT IS TRUE, THEN GOD IS FAILING TO DO HIS JOB. 

·       HAS GOD FAILED IN THIS DAY AND AGE TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST?

·       HAS THE SPIRIT OF GOD CEASED IN HIS LABORS TO WOO PEOPLE TO FAITH BY CONVICTING THEM OF SIN, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, OF JUDGMENT AND OF THE NEED FOR A SAVIOR. 

 

MAY IT NEVER BE SUPPOSED THAT HE HAS FOR EVEN TODAY HE USES THE WORD OF GOD, AND CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS AND PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES TO CREATE WITHIN THEM A BURNING THIRST FOR SOMETHING THAT THEY CANNOT PROVIDE THEMSELVES, NEITHER CAN THEY EARN OR BUY IT.  GOD HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE PREPARING A HARVEST.

 

THE MISSION AND VISION OF CHRIST THROUGH THE HIS BODY, THE CHURCH ON EARTH, IS TO REACH A WORLD IN DESPERATE NEED WITH THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL.

·       HIS VISION IS ONE OF A GREAT HARVEST OF SOULS.

·       AND HAS PROMISED THAT AS WE GO OUT AND ABOUT IN THE CITIES AND VILLAGES … AS WE GET OUT IN THE FIELD AMONG THE PEOPLE TEACHING AND PREACHING AND TOUCHING THEIR LIVES FOR CHRIST THAT EVEN THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST US. 

*SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?  *

 

ALL MEN EVERYWHERE ARE FAINTING, WEARY, BEWILDERED, SCATTERED, AND THEY ARE AS SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.

THE LORD’S VISION IS A WORLDWIDE ONE.

IT INVOLVES EVERY HUMAN LIFE ON THE PLANET.

JESUS SAID, /"SAY NOT YE, THERE ARE YET FOUR MONTHS, AND THEN COMETH HARVEST?

BEHOLD, I SAY UNTO YOU, LIFT UP YOUR EYES, AND LOOK ON THE FIELDS; FOR THEY ARE WHITE ALREADY TO HARVEST.

AND HE THAT REAPETH RECEIVETH WAGES, AND GATHERETH FRUIT UNTO LIFE ETERNAL: THAT BOTH HE THAT SOWETH AND HE THAT REAPETH MAY REJOICE TOGETHER" /(JOHN 4.35-36).

*SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?*

 

THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE, /"AND LET US NOT BE WEARY IN WELL DOING: FOR IN DUE SEASON WE SHALL REAP, IF WE FAINT NOT"/ (GALATIANS 6.9).

*SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? \\ * \\ THE HARVEST IS GREAT.

IT IS PLENTEOUS.

THERE ARE FIELDS AND FIELDS OF PEOPLE GROWING IN THE VALLEYS AND HILLS OF THE WORLD.

·       THEY ARE GROWING HERE IN THE MENIFEE VALLEY.

·       IT IS A HARVEST THAT IS READY AND DESPERATE TO REAPED

·       IT MUST BE REAPED IN ITS SEASON … IN ITS GENERATION.

THERE IS ONLY A DESIGNATED TIME FOR EACH GENERATION IN SHICH IT CAN BE REAPED.

EVERY GENERATION HAS TO BE REAPED IN ITS GENERATION.

EVERYONE HAS ONLY A CERTAIN SEASON (GENERATION, LIFE-SPAN) WHEN HE CAN BE REAPED.

HIS SEASON FOR BEING REAPED IS ONLY AS LONG AS HIS LIFE WHICH IS BUT A VAPOR THAT APPEARETH FOR A LITTLE TIME AND THEN VANISHETH WAY AND IS LOST FOEVER.

*SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?*

 

·       A HARVEST OF CHILDREN NEEDS TO BE REACHED AND TAUGHT.

·        A HARVEST OF YOUNG PEOPLE NEEDS TO BE REACHED AND GROUNDED IN THE WORD.

·       A HARVEST OF WOMEN NEEDS TO BE REACHED AND TAUGHT THE CONFIDENCE AND PROTECTION OF GOD’S LOVE.

·       A HARVEST OF MEN NEEDS TO BE REACHED AND TAUGHT THE STRENGTH AND SECURITY OF GOD’S DIRECTION AND CARE.

·       A HARVEST OF SENIORS NEEDS TO BE REACHED WITH THE COMFORT AND ASSURANCE OF LIFE ETERNAL BEYOND THE GRAVE THAT IS SECURED ONLY THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST.

* SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?* \\ \\ THERE IS A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY OUTSIDE THESE DOORS FOR A HARVEST.

·       THERE ARE FIELDS AND FIELDS OF LOCALITIES, NATIONALITIES, CLASSES, PROFESSIONS, HEALTH, ABILITIES, APPEARANCES, EMOTIONAL STATES, AND MENTAL CONDITIONS—AND ALL ARE LOST, SPIRITUALLY SICK, AND UNREACHED.

·       THERE IS NO END TO THE FIELDS OF HARVEST.

* *

*SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?* \\ \\

WELL THERE IS A PROBLEM … A TERRIBLE PROBLEM … A PROBLEM TODAY JUST AS THERE WAS IN THE DAY OF THE LORD JESUS.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH THE HARVEST.

THE PROBLEM IS THE LACK OF LABORERS.

THAT IS WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR!

 

*THE CHALLENGE OF THE HARVEST*

THE HARVEST IS RIPE, BUT THE LABORERS, SAYS JESUS, ARE FEW."

 

THE HARVEST IS GREAT BUT THE WORKERS ARE FEW.

CHRIST NEEDS PEOPLE, THAT IS, BELIEVERS: MEN, WOMEN, BOYS, AND GIRLS, HE NEEDS MANY LABORERS AND HE NEEDS THEM NOW.

UNLESS THERE ARE REAPERS TO GO FORTH, THE HARVEST WILL DIE AND ROT UPON THE EARTH.

YET, WHY ARE THERE SO FEW LABORERS?

CHURCHES TODAY ARE PACKED WITH BELIEVERS WHO CLAIM CHRIST IS THEIR VERY LIFE.

·       HARVESTING IS HARD WORK.

IT REQUIRES SOME COMMITMENT.

·       YOU CANNOT HARVEST THE CROP FROM INSIDE THE CHURCH BUILDING … YOU HAVE TO GO WHERE THE CROP IS, OUT INTO THE FIELD.

HARVESTING REQUIRES A TEAM EFFORT.

THERE ARE THOSE WHO USE THE SICKLE TO CUT DOWN THE CROP.

THERE ARE THOSE WHO GATHER THE CROP IN BUNDLES AND BASKETS TO BRING TO THE STOREHOUSE.

BUT EVERYONE WORKS TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CROP DOESN’T ROT ON THE FIELDS.

WHY ARE THERE SO FEW LABORERS?

·       SOME REJECT THE CALL OF GOD, THINKING THAT IT MUST BE FOR OTHERS BUT NOT FOR THEM.

·       SOME POSTPONE THE CALL OF GOD, THINKING IT IS TOO SOON … PERHAPS AFTER THEY GET MARRIED, PERHAPS AFTER THEY SETTLE DOWN AND HAVE CHILDREN … PERHAPS AFTER THE KIDS ARE GROWN … PERHAPS AFTER THE GRAND KIDS ARE GROWN … PERHAPS AFTER THEY ….

AND THEN THEY ARE DEAD.

·       SOME GIVE THE CALL A LOW PRIORITY, PURSUING THEIR PROFESSION OR LIVELIHOOD INSTEAD OF LABORING IN THE HARVEST FIELD.

·       SOME PREACH A FALSE GOSPEL, CHOOSING INSTEAD TO PROMOTE THEIR OWN IDEAS INSTEAD OF THE TRUTH OF GOD.

·       SOME ARE SATISFIED WITH THE TRADITIONAL EMPTY RITUALS AND APPROACHES OF RELIGION.