Wanted: Laborers For God
Pastor David L. Brown,
Ph.D.
Sermon Delivered 8/31/03
Luke 10:1-3 "After
these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and
two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would
come. 2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is
great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 3 Go
your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."
- God needs laborers in his harvest field. In this message we will look
at…
- The Potential of The Harvest (2a)
- The Problem of The Harvest (2b)
- The Power of The Harvest (2c)
- The Perils of The Harvest (3)
FOCUS
- The Potential of The Harvest
"The harvest truly is great…" (v.2a)
People need the Lord! Wouldn’t you agree? Our Lord said, "For the Son
of man is come to save that which was lost." Matthew 18:11
The Apostle John wrote, "And we have seen and do testify that the Father
sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." 1 John
4:14.
All men and women are sinners, already condemned, unless they repent of
their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. That’s the reason
Jesus "sent them two and two before his face into every city and place."
(v.1)
We read in verse 2a, "The harvest truly is
great…" Focus on the word great for a moment. It is the translation
of the Greek word poluv - polus (pol-oos; 4183) that means great in
number. The parallel passage in Matthew 9:37
translates the same Greek word plenteous.
The point of this verse is that the fields are filled and ready to be
harvested. The context of the passage is seen in Matthew 9,
the parallel passage. Christ is talking about the lost people who needed
to believe on Him. Verse 37 says, "when he saw the
multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no
shepherd." The verse speaks for itself.
Christ said in John 4:35, concerning the
potential harvest of souls, the fields were "white already to harvest."
This phrase means the fruit was fully ripe and needs to be picked! But,
is that true today? The answer is YES! There were about 150 million
people in the world at the time of Christ. Today there is almost double
that number in the United States alone and over 6 billion people in
the world.
Let’s consider the United States for a minute. George Barna heads the
Barna Research Group, LTD. (www.barna.org). His organization found
that 33% of Americans are unchurched and 20% who are members of
a church believe that living a good life will gain them a place in Heaven.
When you consider just those two statistics that shows that at
least 53% of our nations population is lost! If you were to throw
in the atheists, agnostics, skeptics, new agers, occultists, and those who
have made false professions of faith, the percentage is more like 75 to
80% of Americans are unsaved. Is their any doubt in your mind that
"the harvest truly is great?" There are lost, Hell-bound sinners in
need of the Savior all around us. Who is going to reach them? The fields
are "white already to harvest." There are people all around who need
Jesus. Many are ripe for the picking. But, there is a problem. Let’s look
at…
- The Problem of The Harvest
"The labourers are few…" (v.2b)
The same problem that Christ faced in His day, we face today! There are
very few laborers who are willing to work in the Father’s field. I
will admit that reaping the soul harvest is challenging work and very few
are willing to roll up their sleeves, as it were, and get in the field and
start working. But remember, the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian
believers "For we are labourers together with God…" 1
Corinthians 3:9 Christian friends, the crop won’t pick itself! I
have zucchini squash in my little garden along the fence. I have a few
tomato plants there as well. But, I have yet to find that they have picked
themselves. It’s not going to happen. I have to go out into the garden and
pick them myself and if I do not, they will rot on the vine. The same is
true about bringing men and women to Christ. We have to go into the field
of the world to reap the harvest.
Brother and sisters in Christ, we need more laborers here at First
Baptist Church! We need Christians who will roll up their sleeves and head
into the harvest field. And, if you don’t know how to win souls or
disciple your converts, join us on Monday evenings for the Training
Evangelist Lay Leaders class.
Remember our Lord’s challenge, "…Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men." Matthew 4:19. I think one of the men in the
preaching class that said in reference to this verse – If you’re not
fishing, you are not following! We are all supposed to be fishing. We are
all to be laboring in God’s harvest field.
We have looked at the potential of the harvest; it is great. We
have looked at the problem of the harvest; the laborers are few.
Now we come to…
"…pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth
labourers into his harvest." (v.2c)
To be sure, we are to plant the Gospel seed and we are to
water it with the Word of God, but it is God who gives the increase (1
Corinthians 3:6). Since it is God who gives the increase, the verse says
we are to pray! The power of the harvest is prayer, praying to "the
Lord of the Harvest" who is God. It is God, who through the Holy Spirit,
bring about the miracle of the New Birth (Titus 3:5).
That is why we must pray over the harvest.
But is prayer effective? I have video set on Revival by Dr. Ken
Connolly in my office. One of those tapes deals with the revival that took
place in New York City in 1857. The nation was in bad shape. Vast
multitudes of people were out of work. Many banks had failed, railroads
were in bankruptcy, factories closed and thousands of small businesses
were forced to close their doors. It was in these bleak days that Jeremiah
Lanphier invited men to a noon prayer meeting to be held on Wednesdays. On
the flyer he handed out was printed,
"This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks,
strangers, and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call upon
God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. It will
continue for one hour; but it is also designed for those who may find it
inconvenient to remain more than five or ten minutes, as well as for those
who can spare the whole hour."
At the first prayer meeting six people showed up to pray. The
next week forty people came. At this meeting it was decided to meet
daily at noon. Within six months ten thousand men were gathering at
noon to pray. The result? Revival broke out in New York and spread. Within
two years a million people were saved and added to American churches. One
writer says before it was over 1 out of every 5 people in America had come
to a saving knowledge of Christ. How did it all get started? People prayed
and the Lord of the Harvest responded.
Studying for this message has been a good prompter for me. I need to
pray more for souls to be saved and soul winners and I would urge you to
follow the same pattern. My last point is…
- The Perils of The Harvest
"Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." (v.3)
Gill says, Our Lord compares the laborers (soul winners) "he is sending
out to ‘sheep’, because they were meek and humble in their spirits,
harmless, and inoffensive, in their lives and conversations." The desire
of the Lord’s sheep is to do the shepherd’s bidding. But, there are the
wolves. Their desire is to attack the sheep, and scatter them, keeping
them from their appointed task. Wolves want to strike fear into the hearts
of the sheep. The wolves want the sheep to run and hide. The wolves want
the sheep to withdraw from Christian service. Tragically, fear of the
wolves prompt many Christians in our day to withdraw from serving the
Lord.
With that thought in mind, I want to close with the story of Nicolo
Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy, Oct 27, 1782. He was one of six
children born to Teresa and Antonio Paganini. He was an Italian violinist
and a composer, considered by many as the greatest of all time. Paganini
died on May 27, 1840 and in his will he left his violin to the city of
Genoa on the condition that it must never again be played upon. While it
is true that the wood in a violin will wear slightly when it is handled
and used, it is also true that when left alone it will crack and
degenerate. That is what happened to Paganini’s violin. The once lovely
toned instrument became worm-eaten and useless.
Christian friends, this story serves as a reminder that a life that
withdraws from Christian service to the Lord degenerates and becomes
useless. God wants laborers. God wants you!
- Review
- The Potential of the Harvest is Great
- The Problem of the Harvest is Too Few
Laborers
- The Power of the Harvest is Praying to The
Lord of The Harvest
- The Problem of the Harvest the Wolves Want
to Keep The Sheep From Serving the Lord
|
