THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

Sermon of the Week #200701- January 7, 2007

What do you see in a great assembly of people gathered together to watch the Old Year go out, and the New Year come in? What do you see as you watch that great crowd at the Rose Bowl Parade? What do you see in that great crowd that watches the Super Bowl contest? Jesus looks upon the same crowd, and sees a harvest of lost human souls that will perish because the reapers are few.

Jesus said, “The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He send forth laborers into His harvest.”

This prayer needs to be prayed by every Christian as we look upon lost humanity, and hear Jesus say to us in John four, “Look upon the fields that they are already white unto harvest.”

In the gospel story, here are four candidates for the ministry. Of the first three, one was a scribe, and the other two from the multitude of disciples.

THE FIRST THREE

The scribe told Jesus, “Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” Then there was another of His disciples who said, “Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.” And another who wanted to go home and say farewell to those he was leaving behind.

The first one was ready to follow Jesus right now, and the other two wanted to wait awhile. To the first Jesus said, “The foxes have holes the birds of the heaven have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. Do you really want to follow Me where there may be no housing and no hospitalization insurance?”

Many today may be turned off by the possibility of such a lifestyle. But suppose God had said, “Sending My Son Jesus to planet earth is too hard. I think I will keep Him up here in Heaven with Me and let the world go to Hell.”

I had a professor in Bible College who gave us fair warning; one day he looked over the class and said, “Boys, you are not a man until you have been crucified.”

The second one said, “Suffer me first to go and bury my father.” This man wanted to wait a while and then follow. Jesus said unto him, “Follow Me and leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the Kingdom of God.”

While we know the Lord would not want this man to neglect his family, it may have been because this man was using this as an excuse. When his father died, he might say, “I will follow you after I get the estate settled.” A man told me one time he wanted to be immersed, but he would have to wait until his father died. His father died later, and he was still not ready. After several more years he died and he never did get ready to obey the Lord. Suffer me first to go and bury my father.

The third one wanted to follow Jesus and also wait awhile until he could say farewell to them at his house. But Jesus said unto him, “No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Before the days of mechanization when farmers plowed with a horse and plough, there was an oft-told story of the young man who went out to plow corn. It was a hot, humid day and he looked up and saw a strange cloud formation. He left the team in the field and went home and told his father he had been called to preach. He said, “I saw white clouds in the form of the letters G.P.C. Evidently the Lord has called me to GO PREACH CHRIST.” His dad said, “I think G.P.C. means GO PLOW CORN.” The decision to preach Christ is not to be taken lightly.

When the Apostles received their orders of world conquest just before the ascension, did they wonder how they would finance this worldwide program? In all probability any eleven of us have more money on our persons at this moment than the Apostles had with them when Jesus gave them their orders of world conquest. It doesn’t seem that they were concerned where the money was coming from because they were talking to the One who had arisen from the dead. They figured if He could raise the dead, raising the money was a minor problem.

What Paul said in Ephesians may be an encouragement, “God is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ever ask, or think according to the power that worketh in us.” Think of that! God is able, but not only that, God is able to do, but not only that, God is able to do exceeding abundantly, but not only that, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all, but not only that, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ever ask, but not only that, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think, but not only that, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. But not only that, God is able!

All three of the candidates so far were concerned about following Jesus when they could afford it. Since we do not have the insight of the Lord Jesus in every other man’s situation, it is not for us to censure anyone who waits for a more opportune time. There may be a fine line between faith and foolishness. It is abundantly true that many a person has waited for that opportune time, and rendered valuable service this way and many do, while at the same time we admire the philosophy of the revolutionary who works without the net of security. These are the ones who are accused of turning the world upside down. God is always looking for a man with a Matthew mentality, “And he left all, rose up, and followed Him.”

“Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” One wonders if these three had known where the Lord was going, would they have been so anxious to go? “LORD, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”

Imagine a conversation similar to the following: Jesus says, “If you will follow Me, the first thing you need to do is get in the boat.” “Great, Lord, great! Where are we going? Are we going on a cruise?” “No, not exactly. We are going into a storm.” “A storm, Lord?” “Yes, a storm. The thunder will resound; the lightning will crackle; the wind will blow, and it will be a storm where experienced fishermen will despair of life; the kind of storm where everything will depend on Me, or all will be lost. Do you still want to follow Me?”

Actually this story that happened about 2,000 years ago has its counterpart in the church today. On the Day of Pentecost the Old Ship of Zion was launched, and the crew was the same crew that was on that fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee; and here they are again on the O.S.Z. The Old Ship of Zion was launched on the Day of Pentecost; and preachers and teachers today using the word of the Apostles are the crew on the O.S.Z.

We too, in the service of the O.S.Z. will sail into many a storm. We will encounter the hurricanes of heresies. Constantly, people will assail us with questions in the cult area—Sabbath Day, tongues, astrology, witchcraft, and rejection of the way of salvation. Constantly, these questions will come even from members of the Church.

Then there will be the icebergs of indifference. Many will come on Sunday morning if they feel like it, and stay home if they don’t. While a donut and a cup of coffee may give us a jump-start for the inspirational message, we will despair that the Church will really ever go anywhere. All looks hopeless.

Add to this the winds of worldliness, and things look even worse. There doesn’t seem to be any difference between members of the Church and the people of the world. Close to this are the gales of Godlessness. Then pile on top of this that the crew is always in a state of mutiny. And the worst part of it is the preacher may be blamed for the failure of the voyage whether he is or not, and be set adrift without a compass.

The time comes for us as it was with the Apostles in the boat. It seems the Lord is asleep concerning our problems. They complained, “Carest Thou not that we perish?” It may seem to us that the Lord is oblivious to the storm that comes to us. But it is well for us to remember, the sleeping Christ is aware of our storm, and the gospel song says it well, “No storm can swallow the ship where lies the Master of oceans and lands and skies.” And that brings us to the fourth man who would follow Jesus. His name was Legion.

LEGION

And when they came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him a man possessed with demons. Legion was a menace to society and all efforts to tame him had failed. Jesus cast out the demons, (that possessed Legion) and they went into 2,000 hogs that jumped off the hill and drowned in the water. When the people saw what Jesus did they told Him to depart from them.

I asked a farmer, “How much does a pig cost?” He said, “A rule of thumb would be a hundred dollars for a pig just big enough to take to market.” Using that figure, the 2,000 hogs must have been at least $200,000 lost to the local economy. “Lord, you cost too much; depart!”

They had a strange sense of values; they thought more of ham than Heaven, more of bacon than baptism, more of sausage than salvation, more of pork chops than prayer, more of hog houses than church houses, more of lard than the Lord, more of chittlins than Christ.

The situation at Gadara was a microcosm of life today. For one thing Legion had his dwelling in the tombs. Evidence today of cemeteries in every community bears witness that every person on this planet will die in just a few years. And beyond this, the tombs are a silent reminder of the teaching of the spiritual deadness of people without Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 2:12-15, Paul reminds us that we were dead in trespasses and sins, and then were made alive when we were buried with Christ in baptism and raised up. At that point our sins were nailed to the cross. Without obedience to Christ you are a walking, breathing corpse.

Another similarity in Gadara and the modern day is the breaking of chains. Legion broke the chains and locks that bound him and no man could tame him. This is a fulfillment of the words of the Psalmist in the second chapter when he predicted, “They shall break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.”

The world today wants to be free from the restraints of any moral law of God. The morality of the Ten Commandments has been trashed. Today the polls are our guides of morality. I saw a cartoon in a magazine that showed Moses holding the Ten Commandments and a black-robed figure standing beside him identified as the Court, and the black-robed fellow was saying to Moses, “Hey Bub, where do you think you are going with that thing?” Good question! We are all wondering today, just how far will they go?

We are living in the days not unlike Isaiah talked about in his fifth chapter, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put light for darkness, and darkness for light; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”

Things that used to be regarded as a disgrace are now regarded as normal behavior. And how does God feel about this? The Psalmist says, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh He shall hold them in derision.”

Another observation with Gadara and the present day is the devilish statement, “What have we to do with Thee Jesus Thou Son of the Most High God?” The world today wants nothing to do with God, His Christ, His church, or His Word as revealed in the New Testament.

Depart from our borders is the message of the world to Jesus Christ. That request has an ominous sound. It is the same request Jesus will make on the Day of Judgment in Matthew 25. Since they told the Lord to depart, He will tell them, “Depart from Me ye cursed into the eternal fire.”

Jesus will not stay anywhere if He is not wanted. He got in the boat to leave and Legion made the request to go with Him. Jesus refused and gave him his commission, “Go unto thy house and thy friends and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how He had mercy on thee.”

Legion wanted to go with the Lord. Actually the Lord told him, “You cannot go with Me, but I will go with you.” That is what Jesus always says in a commission, “Go ye! I will be with you always.”

Legion accepted that commission and went throughout all the region of Decapolis, and told them what great things the Lord had done for him, and all men marveled.

I don’t know the details, but one day Legion was walking down the street, and one of his old buddy’s saw him and said, “Hey Lege, is that you? Last time I saw you, you were all scratched up like a man who climbed a thorn tree with a chain-saw in his hand, and a wild cat under each arm.”

Legion said, “It is true! I used to cut myself with knives and rocks, and you should have seen my insides; my innards were all scratched up with all that booze I was swilling, and all that fire I was sucking into my lungs; but I met Jesus the Son of the Most High God, and I don’t do that anymore.”

Another time an old buddy saw him and said, “Hey Lege, Is that you? Last time I saw you, you were running around town naked. Now you are all dressed up with a three-piece suit and alligator shoes. What happened to you?”

Legion said, “It’s true! I used to be known as the town streaker, but one day I met Jesus the Son of the Most High God, and I was embarrassed and I have been wearing clothes ever since.”

Then another time an old buddy saw him and said, “Hey Lege, last time I saw you, you were down at the cave feeding on all that rotten dead meat. We have missed you, where have you been?”

Legion said, “It’s true! I used to like to frequent all those hellholes, bars, and saloons. I surely did enjoy that rotten smell, but one day, I met Jesus the Son of the Most High God. I can’t stand those places any more.”

Mark tells how Jesus came back to Decapolis and they brought a man to Him that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. Jesus spat on the ground, put his fingers in his ears, and said, “Be opened.” The man heard and spake plain. The people were impressed this time and said, “He hath done all things well. He maketh the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.”

Evidently they changed their minds. Now they think more of Heaven than ham, more of Christ than chitlins, more of baptism than bacon, more of church houses than hog houses, more of prayer than pork chops, and more of the Lord than lard. What changed these people? Evidently Legion had been faithful to the commission given to him, “Go tell them what great things the Lord has done for thee.”

Remember, Jesus has also given us the Great Commission, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” So lift up your eyes upon the fields that are already white unto harvest. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He send forth laborers into His harvest. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.

Is there some desert Father, or some pathless sea

Where Thou good God of angels wilt send me.

Some oak to rend, some rock to break;

Some handful of golden grain to take

To scatter far a field, Till it shall yield

A hundred fold of grain of gold

To be fed the children of my God.

Show me that desert Father, or that sea

Is it Thine enterprise Great God send me!