Expand or Expire

Expand or Expire

Matthew 9: 35- 38: 10: 9- 10

In our text, Jesus uses a metaphor to convey a powerful message to his disciples.

Within the confines of this chapter, we find Jesus extremely occupied with his father's business,

In the latter part of verse 35, Jesus is preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

a. Verses 2-7 He heals a paralyzed man.

b. Verses 18- 25 He raises a Ruler’s dead daughter.

c.Verses 20-22 Cleansed a diseased woman while on his way to raise the Dead.

d. Opened the Eyes of 2 Blind Men Verse 27- 30

e. Set Free a demon-possessed mute man verse 32& 33.

4. In the first part of verse 35 Jesus went about in all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues.

a.Verses 3-6 Scribes - His authority to forgive sins.

b.Verses 11-13 Pharisees - The purpose of His association with sinners.

c.Verses 14-17 John's disciples - A lesson on fasting.

d. Verses 37-38 His disciples - A metaphor of the great work of God.

5. In verse 37 Jesus metaphorically describes the multitude as a harvest.

a.In Jewish culture harvesting was a great task!!

b. Gathering the Harvest usually took place between April and June!

6. Look at John's analogy of the Harvest,... John 4:35 Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then comes the Harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest!

7. What Jesus is saying in Matthew 9:37 and John 4:35

There are scores of people in the world ready to be gathered into God's storehouse, but there are only a few of God's people willing to do the job!

WHY????????

Agriculture in Jesus day was tough work!

John 4:36 & 37 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37. For here the saying holds true, One sow and another reaps.

All of this says to me, that the seed must be sown in order to reap the benefits of God’s Great Harvest!!

This is not what Jesus would say if he were here, but what he is saying because he is here!

We are Bound By God's law of sowing and reaping when it comes to evangelism!

We either EXPAND OR EXPIRE!!!

Achieve or Abort the mission

Build or Backslide

Capitalize or become Capsized

Deliver or become Defeated

Forward or become a Fugitive

Growth or the Grave

Gain or you must Give up

Higher Heights or become Hung up

Increase or be Inaccurate

Job or you are a Jinx

Kick in your part or be a Killjoy

Lead-out or be Left behind

Move or become Mounted with Mold and Mildew

None stop or be stuck in Neutral

Possess an Optimistic Outreach or be Opposed to the Lord's Operation

Progress or you Perish

Quest or you have to Quit

Reach Out Or be Rejected

Startup or Stall out

Tackle it or become Tied Down

Up or we're Unproductive

Vigilant or be stuck in a Vice

Wake-Up or we'll Waste-Away

First Century's Xerox or we will be an X-factor

Yearn or be Yoked-up

Zealous or be like a Zombie

We either EXPAND OR EXPIRE!

ENLARGE YOUR FIELD read it (v. 35-36)

When Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion for them.

1. Can you see the multitudes?

Distressed and stressed out

Perplexed by religious matters

Who are upset and frustrated.

Lonely and unhappy.

Lost and confused

B) These are times of fast food and slow digestion;

Tall men and short on character;

Steep profits and shallow relationships.

C) We spend too recklessly;

laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly,

stay up too late, get up too tired,

read too seldom, watch too much TV and pray to Seldom.

D) We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values.

We've conquered outer space, but not Inner Space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

E). There is a multitude of people that need the Lord!

F). People are all stressed up and have nowhere to go!

G). This is when our compassion should kick in, WE HAVE THE ANSWER to all manner of spiritual sickness and every Spiritual disease among people!

JESUS IS THE ANSWER!

H). We should see people as Jesus saw them.

He saw them distressed, lost, and downcast!

He saw them as sheep having no Shepherd.

Hopeless without Him!

When we see people as Jesus saw them we will ENLARGE OUR FIELDS.

How can we enlarge our fields?

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore and teach All Nations

Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

EXPAND OR EXPIRE

II. EXPAND YOUR FORCES read it (v. 37 & 38)

When we get a larger view of the Lord's fields then we will need more workers

1. The problem - the Harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few

2. The solution - Pray therefore the Lord of the Harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his Harvest.

How many times have you prayed that the Lord uses you to reach those who were willing to listen and obey God’s Great Treasure!

Our task is a great one, and it's going to take every member of the church being active, working sacrificially if we are to make an impact on this community!

THE LORD IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN!!

III. EXTEND YOUR FAITH (10:9 & 10)

Matthew 10:9-10 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer, deserves his food.

I don't have to worry about anything, the Lord will provide!

Jesus here emphasizes the “by faith” principle. For we walk by faith, and not by sight.

It's not enough to just say, “I have faith”.

Faith is not proven till it exercises itself in the laboratory of life.

James 2:17 & 18 Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. 18. Yes, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Many times we are like deep divers, enclosed in suits designed for deep waters, marching bravely forth to dive in a bathtub to pull the plug!

God calls us to lunch out, to reach out by faith to a world that needs our help.

It's not enough to just speak about it, but we must be about it!

Dr. lane says that everybody in the world has Hurts, Habits, or some Hang-Ups!

There are thousands of people dealing with stress, problems, headaches, tough challenges, disappointments, broken dreams, and they are in need of a Savior to help them deal with life struggles!

JESUS IS THE ANSWER!

Sickness

Loneliness

Hard ethical decision

Financial problems

Recipients of vicious gossip

Job precious

Pressing deadlines

The death of a loved one

ENLARGE YOU FIELD

EXPAND YOUR FORCES

EXTEND YOUR FAITH