It's Time to Harvest

The weather has turned colder and the leaves are starting to fall, pumpkins are now in the stores and decorating people’s porches. We have officially reached the time where churches are publicizing their Fall Harvest Festivals. We are full on in the Harvest season.

But did you know that we have actually been in the harvest season for some time - the harvest season for souls that is. We need to recognize that God is in the soul saving business and as the Proverbs say, “He who wins souls is wise (Prov. 11:30).”

Tonight we are going to look at what Jesus had to say about this harvest of souls that we are to take part in. Look with me in your Bibles in Matthew 9:35-38.

Matthew 9:35–38 ESV

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

1. Preach the Gospel (v. 35)

Matthew 9:35 ESV

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Jesus main way of spreading the message of the kingdom was by preaching about it

We have a gospel message - good news to tell people

Today we have a belief that preaching won't work anymore. We don't want to invite people to come and hear the message and we don't want to preach the message ourselves. We must get back to the primacy of preaching the gospel if we are going to see people saved.

Application:

Do you find in yourself a subtle or even flagrant belief that people will not respond to preaching the gospel anymore? Think about it for a moment. We don’t have guests in our services like we should because we don’t want them to come in and hear something that is intended for members that might embarrass us or them. We don’t want to say anything when they come in about a particular sin, because we are afraid it might run them off.

God is drawing the lost to Himself and will save them, but it is the God-ordained method of proclaiming the gospel to them that He uses to save them. Don’t be ashamed of it and don’t apologize for preaching the gospel.

2. Love People (v.36)

Matthew 9:36 ESV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

The people were harassed and helpless. Their leaders had not been helping them find God. They had burdened them down and left them as lost as ever.

There was a leadership vacuum (compare Ezekiel 34)

Ezekiel 34:10–11 ESV

10 Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. 11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

They needed a shepherd to guide them. This is a job that God has given to us as Christians. We are to shepherd our families and hour friends and neighbors to Christ.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Application:

Is it possible that the real reason we don’t share a heart for evangelism is that we really don’t care if people get saved or not? Maybe we have the heart and mindset that as long as me and my family are saved, I’m good. That is a horrible way to think.

3. Pray for the Mission (vv. 37-38)

Matthew 9:37–38 ESV

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Jesus assesses the landscape. He sees the task at hand.

The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Jesus didn't make excuses for why the mission couldn't be accomplished and it wasn't any harder for people to get saved in His time than in ours.

We have a great need and a great opportunity to reach people with the gospel.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16)

Application:

We are guaranteed success in harvesting souls. There are going to be rejections, but there are also going to be so many that do believe. Remember the fields are white unto harvest.

4. Recruit Others to Join In (v.37)

Matthew 9:37 ESV

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

It's hard to pray for God to send out others and remain obstinate to going out and preaching the gospel ourselves

We should pray for workers to harvest the fields, but we must not neglect our responsibility to go also.

William Shakespear said

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.

William Shakespeare

If we are going to win the lost for Jesus, we can’t just talk about doing it, we have to actually do it. Then the joy will come!

Word for send out is "drive out" in Greek

Conclusion

It’s possible that because we won’t go and preach the gospel and because we won’t go and invite others to come and hear the gospel that God is driving us out. It’s possible that He is removing our comforts so that we will awake and accomplish the mission that He has given us.

Let’s be a church that is going church. Let’s be a praying church. Let’s be a serving church. Let’s personally commit to winning souls for Jesus.

R.A Torrey, the great evangelist of the early 1900s and the first superintendent of the Moody Bible Institute, established by the famous D.L. Moody once said.

I would rather win souls than be the greatest king or emperor on earth; I would rather win souls than be the greatest general that ever commanded an army … My one ambition in life is to win as many as possible. Oh, it is the only thing worth doing, to save souls; and, men and women, we can all do it.