Good
Morning!
My
name is T Welch, wife: Julia, daughter: Piper. We have enjoyed meeting each of you this weekend and look forward to partnering with you to reach youth and Winston Salem for Christ.
Turn
in your Bible to Luke 10:1-2
As you are turning in your Bibles allow
me to walk you through the first 9 chapters of Luke. Luke 1-3 records the
Christmas story or the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke 4-6, tells the
story of John the Baptist, the calling out of the first disciples and the
attitudes a follower of Christ should possess. Luke 7-9, records Jesus
teachings on love and forgiveness, as well as his prediction of His own death
for the very first time. Luke 10 opens up with the sending out of seventy
individuals. Luke 10:1-2 records the sending out of the seventy into the
villages and cities in which Jesus is about to go. The sending of the seventy
is important because this is the first time the Lord appoints missionaries.
MacArthur writes, “Jesus first appoints the highest rank of spiritual service,
the Apostles, down to the next level. And here we find what everybody else was
commissioned to do and that was to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. They
are set apart to be the first Kingdom missionaries.” Today, we are going to
walk through two verses and ask ourselves four questions, “Who is the Lord of
the Harvest, Who are His laborers, where are the fields and what are are we to
do?
Please stand
for the reading of God’s word: Luke
10:1-2
Who is the Lord of the
harvest?
The
Lord of the harvest is none other than Jesus Himself. The same person who sends
the seventy out and the same person who sends us out is also Lord over the
harvest! We
must remember that the Lord of the harvest is the same God who created
everything. God spoke and the world came into existence. The Lord of the
harvest is a God of diversity, creativity, and sophistication which He has put
on display in the universe, on earth and in our bodies. The Bible says that the Heavens
display the glory of God… God is SHOUTING at us with blue skies, He is SHOUTING
at us in the humidity of summer, He is SHOUTING with brilliant sunsets and
sunrises. Through it all, He is SHOUTING, worship me, trust me, and surrender
your life to me.
The
Lord of the harvest is not only creator but He also never changes. He has no birthday. No time when He came into being, He has
always existed and He will always exist. He was the living God when the Universe was created and He will be the living God 10,000 years from now when every building on this campus has crumbled to the ground. The Lord of the
harvest is all-knowing. He knows our thoughts before we
think them, our actions before we commit them; He knows our lying down and our
getting up. God knows all. God is holy and because of His holiness He cannot
look upon sin. Man is sinful and cannot get to God; however, thanks be to God
because He has made a way. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and
only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting
life. Who is the Lord of the harvest?
The lord of the harvest is none other
than the eternal creator, the all-knowing, all sufficient, everywhere, never
changing, creative, and holy but loving God!
Who are His laborers?
(Vs. 2b)
In
the immediate context these are the seventy elders who are going out and as they
are going they are told to pray that God would raise up more men and women to go
and share about Christ. A Pastor in Philadelphia writes, “The extraordinary
thing about the seventy which Jesus sent out is there ordinariness. There lack
of extraordinary abilities.” We should take great comfort in this quote. Let me
read it again, “The extraordinary thing about the seventy which Jesus sent out
is there ordinariness. There lack of extraordinary abilities.” God’s workers,
God’s laborers are ordinary men and women who have fallen in love with an
extraordinary God. Do you feel ordinary this morning? Do you feel inadequate?
PERFECT! You are just the man or woman God desires to use. God uses ordinary
people to proclaim His extraordinary love! Every one of you can change the world. Every one of you young or old can impact your family, your school, your church, your
neighborhood, your city, your state, your nations, and yes, even the world! Who are these workers? They are ordinary men and women who have
fallen in love with an extraordinary.
Where is the harvest?
(2b)
Jesus
sends out the seventy into every city and place where He is about to go. Now;
the harvest obviously is a lot bigger and includes the whole world. Did you
know that there are 7 billion (with a b), 7 billion people on this planet and
sadly over half of the world’s population has little access to the Gospel.
Where is the harvest? The harvest is in every corner of every city in the
United States. Did you know that in Winston Salem alone there are 20,000
individuals who don’t claim a religion? 12% of the population has no religion.
Think about where you live. Do your neighbors know Jesus? Do your co-workers
know Jesus? Do your classmates know Jesus? What about your family members? The
harvest is not only in America but the harvest is in Africa where there are
300,000 tribal animistic religions completely devoid of God. The harvest is in
East Asia; where there are 350 million Buddhists. The harvest is in South Asia;
where there are 950 million Hindus worshiping more gods than you or I could
even imagine. The harvest is in communist nations such as North Korea, China, and
Cuba where individuals have grown up in an atheistic philosophy that completely
denies the existence of God. The harvest is in the Middle East where there are
1.3 billion Muslims fasting, giving alms, making pilgrimages to Mecca and
praying five times a day to a false god. Where
is the harvest? The harvest is on
every corner of planet Earth.
What will be our
response?
There
are only three responses to today’s sermon: go, send or disobey.
GO:
I
believe God has been working in someone’s heart this morning and He is placing
a burden on your heart to reach the nations. We need individuals to go! We need
men and women to go to every corner of every city in the United States because
there are hundreds of millions of people who are going to a Christ less eternity
and we should long to see them worship God. We need men and women to go to
Africa and tell the tribes that there is a God and He is worthy of every single
one of their praise. We need workers in East Asia and South Asia because Buddha
is not worthy of worship, Jesus Christ is! Hindu worshipers must be told that
there is ONLY one God and He is the way the truth and the life. We need workers
in the Middle East working with Muslims because Allah is not worthy of praise,
NO, only Jehovah is worthy of their praise. Will you take the Gospel to the
Nations both at home and abroad?
SEND:
The
second option is to send. Senders are those who for whatever reasons are unable
to go to the mission field but God is going to use these individuals through another avenue. This
avenue is sending. Look at verse two; look at what the senders are commanded to
do: we are commanded to pray. We are commanded to pray for the nations. While you watch the news take time to pray
over the nations. Pray that God would open the eyes of those whom the enemy has
blinded. Pray that God would send missionaries to the unreached peoples of the
world. Pray that God would encourage missionaries serving overseas. Pray and
ask God what your role will be in taking the Gospel to the nations. Second,
partner with other missionaries which your church sends out. Do you know the
missionaries which your church supports? Talk with your WMU, GA, deacons and pastors for
information about missionaries and then send the missionaries a word of encouragement. Third, send
money. Every little bit helps. Did you know that if you make $25,000 per year you
are in the top 10% of the world’s wealthiest people? Please, use what God has
given you in order to send out more missionaries.
3)
Disobedient:
The seventy elders
could have chosen not to go when Jesus sent them out. They could have chosen to
stay at home, enjoy time with their families rather than listen to their king,
but instead they went. The same is true for you; you may choose to open your mouth and share the Gospel or you may choose to remain be disobedient and remain silent.
Conclusion:
In
closing, after this sermon church will end and your church will be called into
council to vote on whether or not you will call myself as Associate
Pastor/Minister of Students. My wife and I are excited about the possibility of
serving God with each of you in the coming years. While the vote after church
is important there is a more important vote going on today and that is the vote
which will take place in each of your hearts. Every day we have the vote to
either join Christ on mission to take the Gospel to the world or to be disobedient
and remain silent. How will you vote on that question? Will you vote yes to take
the Gospel to the Nations or will you vote no? Will you vote yes to prayerfully
supporting missionaries or will you vote no? Will you vote yes to sharing the Gospel
with your neighbors, co-workers and class mates or will you vote no? How will you
vote?
No comments:
Post a Comment