“CALLING WORKERS TO THE HARVEST”
Matthew 9:35-38

Wednesday Evening
June 2, 2010
Macland Baptist Church
Dr. Richard Walker

There are many things that set America apart from the rest of the nations of the world. I believe these things include our democratic political system, our wealth, our military might, our high standards of education, our industriousness, our ingenuity, and our courage in times of danger. Yet, as I look out at our land, I now see something that makes us just like the rest of the world, something that is often thought of as existing only in the pagan or remote regions of the world. When I look at our nation and at our culture, I now see lostness. I see a people separated from God and in need of a Savior.
There was a time in the ministry of Jesus when He looked out over His own land and the vast multitudes that had come out to hear Him preach. As He looked into the faces of those before Him, He was overwhelmed by their poor spiritual state, and saw them as lost sheep having no shepherd. He saw the multitudes as a vast harvest field that was ripe and ready to be reaped. Yet, He also saw that the task was so great that a vast multitude of labors would be needed to bring in an abundant harvest. He asked that prayer be offered that the Lord of the harvest would send out labors into the fields. The truth of the passage that I am about to read is that the harvest field is all around us. It is vast, being made up of a great multitude. Jesus is calling you to join Him in bringing in the harvest.

1. THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

Matthew 9:35 – “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.”

If we are to enter the harvest field and win souls to faith in Christ, our ministry must be a Biblical ministry, it must be a Christian ministry, it must be the ministry of Christ. In verse 35, the ministry of Christ is revealed to be a ministry of preaching and teaching. There is no substitute for this kind of ministry. It is revealed to be a ministry of spreading the good news about the Kingdom. This speaks of the Lordship of Christ, of His reign in our hearts and lives. It is revealed to be a ministry of healing and deliverance. Jesus came to set the captive free, and He has the power to do so if we will trust Him. This is the kind of ministry that God will bless. This is the kind of ministry that will win souls to Christ.

2. THE COMPASSION OF JESUS

Matthew 9:36 – “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

Something that is sorely lacking in many churches today is compassion for the lost. In many cases, compassion has been replaced by contempt. Christians are often so repulsed by the sin, they forget that they are supposed to love and have a broken heart for the sinner. Loving compassion leads to action, and action touches hearts and lives under the anointing of the Holy Spirit in such a way that the most calloused heart can be mended and brought to a saving faith in Christ. As the old say goes, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Compassion for the lost is a necessity if we are to ever make a difference in our lost world.

3. THE CALL OF JESUS

Matthew 9:37-38 – “Then He said to the His disciples, ‘The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest field.”

Americans almost always respond to the call to service at a time of great crisis. This is true during great crisis in our own nations, and in times of crisis in numerous nations around the world. That being the case, the church better wake up to the fact that it is facing one of the greatest crises of the church age. Whole denominations are rejecting the one, true gospel of Christ while our nation as a whole is turning its back on God. We are on the verge of losing 90% of the young generation. If we do not take action soon, this generation will be lost forever and the nation and the church will become something far removed the nation that was once “one nation under God.”
Jesus is calling us to action. He is calling us to ministry. However, there is much resistance to this call. Most Christians never win one soul to faith in Christ during their lifetime. There are many who feel inadequate or unprepared for this call, and their place of service insignificant. The place and size of our service really does not matter. I learned this lesson very early in my time in vocational ministry. We are not called to be “successful,” but faithful. We are all called to win one soul at a time.
There is a little song that has been on my heart lately that speaks to this issue. In fact, I will be singing it on a Sunday morning in an official capacity in a few weeks, but I want to give you a little preview tonight.

“LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT”
by: Kittie J. Suffield

1. In the harvest field now ripened,
There's a work for all to do.
Hark, the voice of God is calling,
To the harvest calling you.
CHORUS:
Little is much when God is in it.
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' name.
2. Does the place you're called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He'll not forget His own.
3. When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
"Welcome home, my child, well done."
CHORUS:
Little is much when God is in it.
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' name.
Little is much when God is in it.
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' name.
Little is much when God is in it.
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' name.
If you go in Jesus' name.