The Harvest

1. Introduction
   1. In East Texas, knew I needed to make a change
      1. Read a small book about Matthew 9:35-38
      2. Realized that I had a duty to work for the harvest, no matter what I was doing
      3. Thus, I ended up in Korea
      4. Later, this same passage led me to Dallas, and eventually to this church.
      5. What is so special about this passage?
2. Sending forth laborers
   1. Matthew 9:35, 36 – Before Jesus ever gave a command, he served as an example.
   2. He made a concerted effort to go to where the people were.
      1. He had compassion on the people; he genuinely wanted what was best for them.
      2. What is your level of concern about souls? Does it bother you to know that many people will be lost? Does it bother you that many people suffer needlessly because they don’t know God’s way of living?
         1. Think of all of the problems that so many people face: broken relationships, strife, abuse, addictions, poor health, the results of dishonesty and greed, difficult children, etc.
         2. God has solutions to all these problems. The inspired writings offer foolproof solutions to these and other problems. But how will people find out?
         3. Isaiah 52:7: Bringing good news to people is one of the best things we can do.
         4. Why don’t we do more?
            1. Sometimes, it’s laziness.
            2. Sometimes, our priorities are wrong.
               1. If you don’t have time for what God wants you to do, then your priorities are wrong. Everyone has time to do God’s work. Everyone.
            3. Sometimes, we’re just playing church and aren’t really converted.
               1. We can’t share what we don’t have.
               2. What good is it to attend church week by week and still refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to convert us and to transform us?
               3. When I was in college, I spent a year teaching at a mission school on the island of Majuro, in the middle of the Pacific ocean halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
                  1. All schools on the island were known by their initials. Ours was SDA. However, I quickly learned that taxi drivers on the island didn’t know where to go if I told them to take me to SDA. I had to tell them to take me to “seven day.”
                  2. That’s interesting. Are we Seventh-day Adventists, or “Seven-day” Adventists? Has the Kingdom of Heaven permeated our entire lives, or do we just go to church because that’s the thing to do?
   3. Jesus had great concern for souls; He spent His entire ministry with that focus.
3. Matthew 35:37-38: After we see Jesus’ example, we read His instructions.
   1. God is always at work around us. The problem is that there aren’t enough people who are willing to get out and do the work.
   2. “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”
      1. The Greek word translated “send out” is ἐκβάλλω. It comes from ἐκ, out, and βάλλω, throw. It means to cast something out decisively, without giving an option of refusal.
      2. Here are a few ways ἐκβάλλω is used in the Bible:¹
         1. Matthew 7:4, 5: “Or how dare you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove (ἐκβάλω) the speck from your eye,’ and look, there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take (ἔκβαλε) the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to remove (ἐκβαλεῖν) the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
         2. Matthew 8:16: “Now when evening came, they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove (ἐξέβαλεν) out the spirits with a word and healed all who were ill.”
         3. Matthew 12:20: “A shattered reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, until he brings (ἐκβάλῃ) justice to victory.”
         4. Matthew 12:35: “The good man brings (ἐκβάλλει) good things out of his good treasure, and the evil man brings (ἐκβάλλει) evil things out of his evil treasure.”
         5. Matthew 22:13: “Then the king said to his assistants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw (ἐκβάλετε) him out into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
      3. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus tells us to pray that people will be ἐκβάλωed into His harvest–cast, thrown into the harvest?
      4. And if we pray for workers, who will those workers be?
         1. In this passage, Jesus was talking to His disciples.
         2. In the parallel passage in Luke 10:1, 2, we learn that this command was given to the 72 who Jesus was sending out. He asked them to pray because they were already working.
         3. What of those who aren’t already working? Those are the ones targeted by this prayer.
         4. Every believer who isn’t already working in the harvest is to be thrown out into the harvest.
      5. This isn’t small-time service Jesus is asking for. It’s serious.
4. So, what is our duty?
   1. Quote:

      One who believes in Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour is to be a co-worker with Him, bound up with His heart of infinite love, cooperating with Him in works of self-denial and benevolence. Christ has withdrawn Himself from the earth, but His followers are still left in the world. And they are to give in word and action, and in their unselfish benevolence, a representation of Christ’s love. They are to be the means, by practising self-denial and bearing the cross, of implanting the principles of love in the hearts of those who are unacquainted with the Saviour by experimental knowledge.

      Upon all who believe, God has placed the burden of raising up churches. The express purpose of the church is to educate men and women to use their intrusted capabilities for the benefit of the world, to employ the means God has lent, for His glory.²

   2. God calls everyone to be a harvester. It’s all hands on deck. For those who aren’t already working, the prayer Jesus asked us to pray is that they would be thrown into His service.
      1. There should be no excuses. Anyone who is not actively working for lost souls is disobeying God.
   3. The harvest is time sensitive. We can’t afford to procrastinate.
      1. Illustration: Lost potato harvest in Korea because of poor timing.
5. Appeal
   1. For those who aren’t true followers of God, I urge you to get right with Him.
   2. We need all hands on deck. This is the harvest, and there should be no shirking of duty. I appeal to every single person in this church to be actively involved in the harvest.
      1. Attend every meeting. Don’t miss any. If you don’t have time, adjust your priorities.
      2. Help out where needed. If you don’t know how you can help, get in touch with one of the church leaders and we’ll put you to work.
      3. Join the visitation team. Training is today at 2.
      4. Befriend people
         1. Friendship is so important to evangelism. But,
            1. Don’t use Adventist jargon, and
            2. Don’t talk about any subject that Byron hasn’t presented yet, even if they ask about it.

Footnotes