Harvest 10.13.01
Harvest
10/13/2001 and 10/14/2001
John 4
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."
32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"
34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
35 Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
37 Thus the saying `One sows and another reaps' is true.
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour."
-Jesus was saying that He was consumed with the purpose of God. The thing that consumed Him was CLOSURE-to finish the work.
-In order to finish the work, He had to recognize and focus on harvest.
Proverbs 10:5 “He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”
WHAT TIME IS IT ACCORDING TO GOD?
-It is harvest time. What part do you have in that harvest?
-With all that is going on it is very tempting to get swallowed up in the end time prophecy.
-It’s ok to study it. There is a new movie coming out, Megiddo. It is soon to be at Loretta’s.
-The real key is to focus on how to take as many people as possible with you.
-Whether Jesus returns in our lifetime or not, it is always a good thing to reap the harvest.
Acts 1
1 ¶ In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
5 For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit."
6 ¶ So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
-The disciples were trying to figure out the when and Jesus told them to get busy with the harvest. He told them to be Spirit Filled and reach the world with the good news.
-What is keeping Jesus from coming back?
2 Peter 3
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 ¶ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
9 ¶ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 ¶ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
James 5
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
-What is it saying?
-God is waiting for the harvest of our generation. Whether this is the last one or not!
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
1. SYNCHRONIZE OUR WATCHES TO GOD’S TIME
-We have to recognize the time.
Matthew 16
2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, `It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,'
3 and in the morning, `Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
1Ch 12:32 “.. men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do-….”
-We need to be a wise people.
-A foolish son sleeps during harvest.
-Farmers don’t go on vacation at harvest time.
-It is a seasonal thing.
-When its ripe you have to get it.
2. PRAY TO THE LORD OF THE HARVEST FOR LABORERS
Mt 9:38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Lu 10:2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
-We are in a season of prayer, specifically for America.
-Prayer is LOVE AT WAR.
-Believe that your prayer matters.
PRAY FOR AMERICA
PRAY FOR A LOST PERSON
(OPEN EYES/LABORER)
3. SOW FOR THE HARVEST
Romans 10
12 ¶ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
-We can all be senders.
-When you give money to FTD, or tithe, or Haiti or whatever….PRAY OVER IT AND CLAIM THAT YOU ARE A SENDER.
-It will cost a lot of money to reap the harvest in America.
-You may never leave this country but pay for multitudes to go.
-Historically:
When a nation with the gospel stopped reaching out, the people without the gospel invaded that nation. An example is Britain and the Vikings. If we don’t go, they come.
Romans 1
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am bound both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
16 ¶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. (KJV)
-Example of DEAD SEA VERSUS SEA OF GALILEE.
-Some are called to go, all are called to sow.
-David Shibley: “ One of the first precepts that I teach to church leadership in developing nations is this: “Find a way, every day, to give something to God and something to people.” That is the way to true freedom.”
4. STAY FOCUSED
-In the video the boy commented that people who normally fought were getting along.
-There was something more important at stake.
-This for all the chips.
-Life is too short to get hung up with people we disagree with.
-Of course you and I disagree, we are human.
-The question is whether or not we are mature enough to not let it affect us.
-I called somebody who really hates me just to tell them that I don’t want anything between us.
-I think there is a call to reach the millions of muslims who don’t know Jesus.
-There are women behind those covers who need Jesus.
-There are people being told that if they kill the infidels they have a place in paradise.
-That is a lie. Those men wake up in hell.
-Jesus died for the muslims.
Pray for a harvest among muslims.
