The Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

May 18, 2003

 

Jesus Christ taught by both precept and practice. So often the clearest lessons gleaned from the Gospels are found in the way that Jesus lived in relation to those about Him. While Jesus declared, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost," the Gospel writers illustrate the precept by our Lord's practice in proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and calling men to repentance. He demonstrated passionate concern for those lost in sin.

 

Can we that know the saving grace of God show any less concern for the lost as did our Lord? One of the dangers facing Christians is that of becoming so comfortable as Christians that we forget what it was like to be separated from God. Some have painfully described this as Christians hunkering down in our "Christian ghettos," escaping the dirtiness of the unbelieving world and neglecting any pursuit of the lost. But the teaching and practice of Jesus Christ compels us to abandon the Christian ghettos to compassionately reach the lost with the gospel. The cry of the gospel harvest lies before us. Will we join Christian laborers in the harvest?

 

We must understand a few basic thoughts as we consider this passage. First, the Lord uses Christians to reach non-Christians. He could have written the gospel in the sky or sent angels to proclaim the gospel or spoken audibly from heaven. But instead, the Lord has declared us to be His ambassadors of the good news, the salt and light that display through life and lips the glory of the gospel (II Cor 5:17-21; Matt 5:14-17).

 

Second, every Christian has responsibility as stewards of the gospel for joining in the cause of global evangelization. The task cannot and must not rest upon the "paid staff" in Christian circles. Just as the early Christians joyously lived and proclaimed the gospel to their communities and beyond, so too we must join in that practice. It is the height of selfishness to taste of the delights of Christ and offer no morsels to the lost about us.

 

Third, we must never hide behind our theology as an excuse for being a worker in the harvest. Some have gravely mistaken notions of biblical theology, particularly the doctrines of election, particular redemption, and irresistible grace. These are wonderful, cherished doctrines that ought to encourage us of the certainty in our evangelism. To hide behind them with a fatalism that 'whoever will be saved will be saved' mentality, smacks of arrogance, and certainly shows disobedience, not to mention a complete unconcern for the lost. We must beware of having such a tight little package of theological beliefs that we lose sight of the heart of the gospel as good news for all men.

 

Fourth, we must avoid the other extreme of making evangelism a game or means to impress others of our spirituality or simply a thing we do in church. The church has suffered greatly under the man-centered ways employed in modern evangelism. One North American Mission Board "specialist in evangelistic follow-up" made the observations that "less than 1 in 10 people who make decisions as a result of Southern Baptist evangelism are active in Bible study one year later." He cited the problem of poor follow-up methods but I agree with my friend Tom Ascol, "But might it be possible that follow up is not the issue but that we need to do a better job at evangelism?" [Founders Journal, issue 52, Spring 2003, 9]. If we look at evangelism simply as the means to church enlargement, then we will stoop to manipulation and easy-believism to pad the rolls.

 

With these things in mind, let us look at the Lord of the Harvest for the example in biblical evangelism.

 

I. The method of Christ

 

There was nothing haphazard about the methodology of Jesus Christ. We've already noted in Matthew 4:23 that Christ traveled throughout Galilee "teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people." Matthew repeats the same method of Christ as He continues His ministry throughout the Galilean region. "Jesus was going through all cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." He did not do mud wrestling to draw a crowd or swallow goldfish or bring in the big stars or offer incentive programs to become His followers. As a matter of fact, He taught that to follow Him was to embark on the way of the cross and to choose death to one's own way. He demanded - not suggested as optional - obedience. He spoke of the high cost of being a disciple. His methodology consisted of teaching, preaching, and healing.

 

There was simplicity in what our Lord did. Surely the packages might differ from person to person and region to region and culture to culture, but the simple practice of teaching, preaching, and healing commends itself to Christians everywhere as appropriate for evangelizing in our day.

 

1. Teaching

 

The basic goal of teaching is instruction. Truth understood by the one teaching is conveyed to those that will listen. As with our Lord, sometimes truth is being clarified as He often did with the superstitions and wrong notions of the people. Over time they had developed misconceptions of the nature of God and the promise of Messiah and the right use of the Law. So Christ's teaching corrected these ideas, setting forth truth to be applied to the mind.

 

If one is to teach another he must first be a learner. Jesus Christ was an avid student of the Scriptures. "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men," wrote Luke (2:52). He often quoted the Old Testament Scriptures when refuting the fuzziness and misunderstanding of the people. He set the example for each of us in being students of God's Word. Not everyone can attend seminary or Bible College for the intensive offerings they provide but each of us can be students of the Word of God. I have met a number of people that never had the chance to attend seminary but frankly have few peers in their understanding of God's Word among seminary graduates. Do not fumble through the excuse box on why you are not a student of God's Word. Just do it! If you are young, you have a lifetime to dig into the Scriptures - start now not later. If you are older, redeem the time that God has given you by devoting your life to knowing God's Word with thoroughness and accuracy.

 

Having made that point, I hasten to encourage all of us to be involved in teaching. I do not mean that all of us will have regular teaching ministries in classes. Only a small percentage will be involved in that work. But all of us can be involved in teaching others the Word of God. By this I mean, if we are faithful in studying the Scripture then we always have something to share with others. It is a matter of using our opportunities to instruct those without understanding concerning the nature of God or man or Christ. We are to use our opportunities to correct some of the foolish, superstitious ideas that people have grown up believing. You do not need a classroom to do this; you just need the willingness to plunge right in as God gives opportunity. You might also create some opportunities. A couple of our men have been involved in teaching at a Bible study organized for medical personnel. Another started a Bible study in the office where he works. Some of our students have done the same in dorm rooms.

 

2. Preaching

 

Christ also went about "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom." The "gospel of the kingdom" has been central to our study in Matthew's Gospel. It refers to the kingly reign of Christ over those embracing the gospel. It is both a sphere in which we live - God's kingdom - and a rule over our lives - the Lordship of Christ. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel," Jesus proclaimed (Mark 1:15). Proclamation differs from teaching in one major way. Both are involved in offering instruction in the truths of God's Word. But preaching or proclamation "is the point at which teaching becomes personal," [James M. Boice, The Gospel of Matthew, vol I, 163]. As I've heard Stephen Olford say so often, "Preaching demands a verdict." It is the call to action. Information is given and applied in teaching but preaching, in a way that has been ordained by our Lord, calls for response. Just as the ancient herald proclaimed the king's declarations calling for action by the people, even so preaching the Word of God does the same.

 

Preaching has been minimized in importance in our day. Entertainment, social commentary, and warm fuzzies seem to have taken over the pulpit. But Jesus Christ embraced the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom as His method of calling for a decisive verdict regarding the gospel. It is indeed foolishness in the eyes of the world to say the least, but it is still the means God has ordained to set forth the gospel and call for repentance and faith (I Cor 1:18). Dare we minimize preaching or take it lightly when God has ordained it as the means of calling people to faith in Christ? Instead, let us see preaching as gospel opportunity so that we work diligently to bring our friends, relatives, neighbors, and fellow students to our times of biblical preaching.

 

3. Healing

 

We considered the healing work of Christ a couple of weeks back but let us again think on what Christ was doing. As He healed "every kind of disease and every kind of sickness," He demonstrated (1) His power over the natural realm, (2) His power in overcoming the effects of the Fall, (3) His concern for humanity, and (4) His offering a foretaste of the hope yet before us when all vestiges of the Fall will be removed (Rom 8:18-25).

 

What Christ was doing we cannot imitate to the same degree. But we can show compassion for the hurts of humanity. We can pray for those in need. We can use our resources and the means God has given us to minister to the needs of others. In doing so, we must recognize that even as with Christ, this is part of our whole work as gospel messengers. Everyone healed did not become a disciple of Christ. Yet Christ ministered to them anyway, showing a true love for others that was willing to give without expecting any kind of return. Do we not demonstrate the reality of the gospel at just this point? Christ does not call us to a sterile environment in which we teach and preach, then quickly move away. He has called us to dirty our hands with the needs of others so that God's love might radiate through us even as we do proclaim the gospel.

 

II. The sensitivity of Christ

 

Christian outreach can become canned and cold if we do not guard our hearts. Sometimes the impetus for reaching baptismal goals or carrying our certain evangelistic strategies or embarking on evangelism programs lack the kind of sensitivity that Christ exemplifies. We do well to take a look at our Lord, and plead with Him to reproduce this same sensitivity for the lost that He carried.

 

1. Shepherd-less sheep

 

The description of the multitudes as "sheep without a shepherd," was a common motif in the Old Testament. Ezekiel and Zechariah both reproved the unfaithful shepherds of Israel - their supposed spiritual leaders - for leaving the flocks in deplorable condition (Ezek 34; Zech 11). Micaiah prophesied to the unfortunate alliance between Ahab of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep which have no shepherd" (I Kings 22:17). Isaiah describes our sinful condition as "all of us like sheep have gone astray" (Isa 53:6). In the case of our text, the shepherd-less sheep were due to the failure of the scribes and Pharisees to teach the people the way of God. They laid heavy burdens of legalism on the shoulders of the people but failed to teach them the way of grace and faith.

 

Christ saw the people as "distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." The first term actually means to be flayed or stripped. It was used metaphorically for bewildered or harassed or troubled people. The second implies those that are cast down as though felled by a mortal wound. The thrust is that the people had been spiritually abused by the religious leaders' failure to teach them the way of God, and thus they were lying helpless under the load of guilt, ignorance, and confusion. The religious leaders did not enter the kingdom and they did their best to keep others out as well (Matt 23:4, 13). John MacArthur offers a piercing application of this verse.

Many religious leaders today are still endeavoring to keep people out of the kingdom by distorting and contradicting God's Word and perverting the way of salvation. They still keep them from the true Shepherd. By telling people they are already saved because "a good God would never condemn anyone to hell," they lead people to be content with themselves and to see no need for repentance and salvation - thereby shutting tight the gracious door God has provided. Or when people are told they can work their way into God's favor by avoiding certain sins or by performing certain good deeds or participating in some prescribed ritual, they are likewise deceived and left in their lostness [MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 8-15, 113]


2. Compassionate observer

 

But consider the difference with Jesus Christ. "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus Christ saw men for what they really were. His gaze pierced through the fa�ade and pretense, settling upon the reality of their lives. "He felt compassion for them," Matthew tells us. The term suggests the idea that deep in His gut He felt the anguish of their souls. They may have laughed and talked but He saw through it all with deep emotion welling within for their spiritual condition. As Charles Spurgeon put it, "his sympathies were awakened; he could not look upon a mass of men with an indifferent countenance, his inmost soul was stirred" [MTP, vol. 19, 458]. The passive voice of the verb conveys the idea that what Christ saw moved Him into tenderness and pity.

 

Have you ever felt that burden of Christ? Maybe you have been in a huge stadium or arena with thousands of people talking and cheering, but in your own heart you were frozen as you thought of the spiritual reality represented in such a massive crowd. The first year that we began doing mission work in southern France we made our way into the city of Nimes. Asking what to expect, I remember the missionary pastor telling me, "Out of every 100 people you see, none of them are Christians." Since that time we've stood at the edge of a French college campus, watching hundreds of students come and go. We rarely, out of the hundreds that we have given tracts and engaged in gospel conversations, ever met a college student that was a genuine believer.

 

Go to the local malls, and just sit and watch people. How many are concerned for their souls? Or stand on a college campus, watching as hundreds and thousands of students move about. How many have come to terms with their mortality and with eternity? Or watch the parking lots empty at one of the large companies in our city. How many realize that they were created for the glory of God? Oh my brethren, let us pray that the Lord might give us something of His eyes to see the masses, and His heart to feel compassion for the lost! Let us see men for what they are rather than admiring their position or status or wardrobe or education, or bemoaning their lack of these things. Let us see them as men and women without Christ, and so without hope. Until we know something of this passion of Christ, we can mechanically go about evangelism but that is not biblical evangelism. Or we can feel guilty because of what we are not doing and then follow someone's prescribed steps of evangelism or ministry. Or we can withdraw into the "Christian ghetto" to feel safe once again from the thought of carrying the gospel to the world. But let us not take the low road. Study the compassion of Christ and ask Him to reproduce it in your own life.

 

III. The challenge of Christ

 

That brings us to the challenge of Christ. These are familiar words; some of the best known of this Gospel. "Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest"." The first clause does not even have a verb. It is terse, "The harvest plentiful but the workers few." There is both optimism and pessimism presented. Those of you that grew up on farms know that the best of harvests mean nothing if you lack the means to reap it. Harvests do not last forever so the workers must busily seek to gather it before the weather or vermin spoil it. We do not want to press this metaphor further than we should but we do want to understand that Christ sets forth both great possibility and great need, all wrapped in urgency.

 

1. Challenge of the harvest

 

The "harvest" refers to those in need of the gospel. John Broadus explains, "The harvest signifies, not (as some explain) the elect, those who will actually be saved, but men in general, who unless gathered and saved will perish like wheat that is not reaped" [Selected Works of John Broadus, vol 3, 211]. Our concern must be for the harvest, which is another way of saying the world. Christ was not paralleling this as the mass of people that would be saved. Instead, He uses this metaphor to elevate our imaginations to think upon the vastness of lostness, and the potential for gospel witness. It is like the harvest field that will spoil unless the workers get to work. With almost 6.3 billion people in the world can we even venture to guess how big the harvest might be? Over 4.2 billion have nothing to do with Christianity. Out of the 2 billion that make some gesture toward Christianity, most of them are clueless concerning the gospel. The point is quite clear. We do not have to look far to find the harvest fields that desperately need workers. The harvest is "plentiful."

 

Like Jesus Christ, we must see the harvest fields as "distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." Think of the billion people in India trapped in Hinduism and Islam. Consider the hundreds of millions that have culturally adopted Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism, and dozens of other religions. Think about Europe, the center of Christianity for several hundred years, and how some of its largest countries have less than one-percent evangelical believers. How about the multiplied millions in Latin America that have a blend of Catholicism and animism? Our own city has thousands of non-Anglo residents, most of which are not Christian. And the Anglo non-Christians surpass the non-Anglo unbelievers in our own area. Let us ask the Lord to see the world about us as a harvest that desperately needs workers. And let us notice that it is "His harvest." This world belongs to Him and He calls upon us to feel compassion with Him, and labor in His harvest. The assurance of Christ is that if laborers go they will find a harvest. Like William Carey and Adoniram Judson, we may have to labor long and hard, but the harvest day will come. It is His harvest, and He will give fruit for labors.

 

2. Challenge of the workers

 

Who are the "workers" that "are few"? They are the disciples of Jesus Christ that He is ready to send into the harvest. The next chapter illustrates this clearly as Christ calls the Twelve, sending them out to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (10:6). Compared to the harvest the workers are few. But multiply workers and you multiply what is reaped in the harvest. The workers are the gospel messengers that carry the good news of the kingdom into the harvest fields, teaching, preaching, and healing. Spurgeon helps us to see this.

There are certain persons in the world who do not believe in instrumentalities, and habitually depreciate them. Our Saviour was not of their mind. He did not say, "The harvest truly is plenteous, and the labourers are few, but that matters not, God can bless a few, and make them accomplish as much as many." He believed in his Father's omnipotence, but he also believed that the Lord would work by means, and that many labourers were required to gather in a plenteous harvest, being proportionate to means used, and he therefore bade us go to the root of the matter practically [461-462].


There is no hesitation by our Lord to exhort us to pray for more workers to head to the fields - to go into the world with a view to reaping the gospel harvest. This is where we must see ourselves as "workers," willing and ready to go into the harvest fields. Each of us has something to contribute to the harvest. Engaging in gospel conversations, starting a Bible study in your home or dorm or school, speaking to your fellow workers at the lunch table about spiritual matters, leaving a gospel tract or booklet or a tape or CD that explains the gospel with a friend or co-worker - all of these things and many more, contribute to the gospel harvest. But we must see ourselves as workers in the harvest. It is very easy to see someone that is a missionary or an evangelist or pastor as workers - and they are. But we must see ourselves having a part in the work. Do not worry if your part is not as large as someone else's. I remember harvesting some of the crops that my dad and I grew when I was much younger. It amazed me how much he could gather compared to how little I gathered. But I was doing what I could do, and that was enough. Do not fret by comparing yourself to another; do what you can do to the glory of Christ and that is enough.

 

3. Challenge of prayer

 

John Piper reminds us, "God has willed that his miraculous work of harvesting be preceded by prayer" ["Prayer at Harvest Time - Now," 1/3/82]. Upon seeing the plentiful harvest and few workers, Jesus commands, "Therefore beseech [ask, beg] the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Are we so concerned about the harvest and the paucity of workers that we pray regularly for the Lord to raise up missionaries, ministers, and Christian workers? The "therefore" implies that the reality of the need has struck us so we must act; the action called for is prayer. Pray for the Lord to send out - literally, thrust out - workers into His harvest. In the 16th century, when the population was only a fraction of what it is now, John Calvin commented on this text, "There never was greater necessity for offering this payer than during the fearful desolation of the church which we now see every where around us" [Calvin's Commentaries, XVI, 421]. With the rise of paganism, animism, Islam, nominal Christianity, apathy, spiritual confusion, and a host of other things, there "never was greater necessity for offering this prayer."

 

Conclusion

 

Will you ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into His harvest? Will you volunteer for duty yourself? Let us be mindful of the harvest as we go about our lives, and even more mindful that we are the workers being sent forth by our Lord.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.