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| Preparing For The Harvest August 15, 2010
Matthew 9: 35-38 35And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. The Harvest is truly plentiful but the laborers are few. What makes a field ready for picking? It must be ripe and ready for harvesting. I don’t know of any farmer or gardener that wouldn’t love for someone else to do all the work and preparation that goes into growing a crop so that all he would have to do is pick the fruit when it was time! How wonderful. But the truth is, in order to have a harvest, there must be a certain amount of work and preparation put into a crop in order to get a harvest. What happens to fruit picked too early? 1. Bad taste (leave a bad taste in people’s mouth) make sour Christians 2. Never becomes sweet and pleasant tasting to others--- loses its quality 3. Does not ripen or develop the ingredients that make them healthy for others 4. Can die before they can be used 5. Damaged inwardly so that they cannot produce more fruit One common mistake many churches and Christians make is we try to harvest fruit without doing any of the work and preparation, and in many cases we end up with all manner of fruit that is not healthy or mature to be consumed or used. We love to quote the above scripture but forget that Jesus was looking for people who had been truly prepared for His coming through John the Baptist and Jesus’ teaching. Mark 1: 1-8 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Even Paul who won 1,000 of souls for Christ talked about the preparation work by many that had gone into the people he was winning for Christ. I Corinthians 3: 5-9) 5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. So Jesus saw people ready to receive, but didn’t have anyone there to help them make that final step. THE HARVEST WAS TRULY PLENTIFUL. So does this mean we there is no harvest today? NO. It’s just that we don’t do a lot of the work and preparation needed in order to have a plenteous harvest! We keep watching and waiting to find that grand, huge field where there are 1,000s of souls just ready to be harvested in to the kingdom. What needs to happen: I. Start clearing the fields of weeds. Jesus went around teaching and preaching and helping people. Nothing prepares and clears a field of thorns and briars better than for believers to reach out and help others around them. II. Plant the seeds of God’s Word. Give them the right stuff. Share you faith and YOUR EXPERIENCE. III. Water them. Be the water in other’s lives. Live out what you talk. Be the encourager in their life. IV. Be a team player. You can’t do it alone! Jesus had John the Baptist and He used His disciples. Paul had Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, Mark V. PAITENCE. Don’t harvest too early! VI. Let God Give the increase: Remember you are not the Holy Ghost or God that can cause them to grow. Our job is to help and assist VII Harvest! Bring them into the kingdom! Pray, Share, invite them to become followers. DO HARVEST THEM! ? |