An Old Charge to a New Church
Notes
Transcript
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
He Went About
He Went About
Teaching
Teaching
Preaching
Preaching
Healing
Healing
He Felt Compassion
He Felt Compassion
The People Fainted
The People Fainted
They were weary (NKJV), harassed (ESV)
They were scattered. He’s talking about His people-weary, troubled, scattered.
“Used here of the common people, it describes their religious condition. They were harassed, importuned, bewildered by those who should have taught them; hindered from entering into the kingdom of heaven (23:13), laden with the burdens which the Pharisees laid upon them (23:3).
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Mt 9:36.
“Sheep without a shepherd” They are without Moses or a Joshua.
Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
They are without a king.
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
God Himself would be their shepherd. Ezek. 34:11-16
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
For the idols have spoken vanity,
And the diviners have seen a lie,
And have told false dreams;
They comfort in vain:
Therefore they went their way as a flock,
They were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
He Gives a Command
He Gives a Command
Pray
Pray
(ask, request, beg)
“to ask for with urgency, with the implication of presumed need—‘to plead, to beg.’ “
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 407.
Please pray in these ways today:
Pray for your pastor and church
Pray for your pastor and church
Pray for your community and the boldness to share the gospel
Pray for your community and the boldness to share the gospel
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Pray that God will multiply His workers
Pray that God will multiply His workers
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
For the longest time I set a calendar reminder on my phone at 10:02 to pray for laborers unto the harvest. (Lk 10:2)
You can do that too, or you can use Matt 9:38 and set an alarm at 9:38 to pray for workers unto the harvest.
It’s pretty amazing that when we are praying for other-newer-more workers unto the harvest, that we are more active in the harvest ourselves.