Place: Lurgan Baptist: 14:7:2002

Reading: John 4:27-42

" THE LORD'S HARVESTER'S "

Would you agree with this statement. We get what we go after in life. Now the disciples were interested in food. So they went into the city to get food and they came back with it. But the Lord was interested in souls. He was interested in saving men and women from sin and giving them the water of everlasting life. He, too found what he went after. Now what are you interested in ? Are you interested in the things that are transient or the things that are eternal ? Have you a love for the unlovely and a burning passion for souls ?

1. Christ Had: He stood one day on the heights outside

Jerusalem and wept because that city, the nation had

rejected him ( Lk 19:41) Of the Lord Jesus it was said:

" he was moved with compassion on them " ( Matt 9:36)

2. Paul Had: Do you recall Paul's farewell message to the Ephesian elders, he says " I ceased not to warn every one day and night with tears." ( Acts 20:31) And with the tears streaming down his face unto the parchment he speaks of those " whose end is destruction and whose god is their belly."

( Phil 3:18-19)

3. Joseph Alleine: Had a burning passion for souls. Of him it was said " he was infinitely greedy for the conversion of souls and to this end he poured out his heart in preaching and prayer." Think of,

4. David Brainerd: That missionary to the North American Indians. He said: " I cared not how or where I lived so that I could but gain souls to Christ. While I was asleep I dreamed of these things and when I awoke the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen and all my hope was in God."

5. Henry Martyn: a missionary standing on India's Coral strand cried: " here let me burn out for God." What about us ? Does it concern you that 57% of the

world's population have never even the heard the name Jesus ? Does it convict you that a large percentage in this town do not go to church ? Does it affect you that each year 60 million die ( 2 every second ) many without Christ ? Now what has all this got to do with

( John 4) ? Everything. For here the Lord Jesus is speaking of a Spiritual Harvest when he encouraged

His disciples " Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest." ( 4:35) Now if we study the context in which these words occur we will see that they have an immediate application to those of us who would be the Lord's Harvesters. Firstly notice:

(1) " A PURPOSE WE ARE TO ACCEPT "

" My meat ....." (4:34 ) Now the word " meat " is used here as a figurative expression for that which satisfied.

" My meat," that which imparts satisfaction to me and in which my soul delights is to do the will of Him that sent Me. Now who sent the Saviour ? The Father was the Sender ( 5:36 ) And what was the will of the Father who Sent Christ into this World ? Was it not " to save sinners ? " Was it not " to seek and to save

that which was lost ?" Here was the great purpose and passion of the Saviours life to woo and win the souls of men. Indeed this was the Purpose of:

(a) The MASTER Who was Sent by the FATHER:

" Seek your life's nourishment in your life's work," said Philips Brooks. In this case, leading the woman to salvation was true nourishment for Christ's soul. The disciples were satisfied with bread, but He was satisfied with accomplishing the Father's work. Do you recall that as a boy the Lord was found in the Temple. Doing

what ? His Father's Business. " Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business ?" ( Lk 2:49) What

was that business ? " To seek and to save that which was lost." ( Lk 19:10 ) My .... it was that great purpose that brought him down to earth and there was a Divine Necessity about it for he Himself said " I must

work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work." ( John 9:4) At the beginning of this very chapter we are told that He " must needs go through Samaria " ( 4:4) Why ? Because there was a Lost Sheep who desperately needed to be rescued by the Divine Shepherd. This was the Purpose (a) Moreover this was the purpose of:

(b) The MEN Who were Sent by the SON:

Twelve Ordinary men. Real people, faltering mortals who lived on some avenue and street in some Galilean town. And why did the Saviour call them ? That they might be " fishers of men " ( Mk 1:17) An old legend imagines the Lord Jesus arriving in Heaven after the Ascension welcomed by all the angels. Then the angel Gabriel asks Christ " You suffered much dying for the sins of mankind does everyone on Earth know that ?"

" Oh no " replied the Saviour " Just a handful of folks in Jerusalem and Galilee know about it." " Well Master," continued Gabriel " What is your plan for World

Evangelisation ?" The Saviour replies " I told my apostles to tell others who will in turn tell others until the last person in the farthest corner has heard the story." Gabriel's face clouds for he spots a flaw in the plan. " What if after awhile Peter forgets and goes back to the fishing. Suppose Matthew returns to his Tax-booth and the others lose their zeal Master what then ? After a pause comes the calm voice of the Lord Jesus,

" Gabriel I have no other plan." My .... the apostles

did their job well but the Great Commission has not yet been fulfilled and the Saviour still says " As the Father hath sent me even so send I you." ( 20:21) For this is to be the Purpose of:

(c) The MULTITUDE Who are Sent by the SPIRIT:

Do you recall what happened in the church at Antioch ?

" As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Seperate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." ( Acts 13:2) My .... what is to be the master passion of our lives ?

The Salvation of the lost. A friend of William Booth

was speaking with him before he left on an Evangelistic tour he said this " I dropped on my knees with General Booth at my side and prayed a stammering and stuttering prayer. Then he talked with God about the outcasts of London, poor of New York, the lost of China, and the great World lying in wickedness. Then he opened his eyes as if he were looking into the very face of Jesus and with sobs he prayed Gods

Blessing upon every pastor, evangelist, and with his eyes still overflowing with tears he bade me goodbye and started, away over 80 years of age to preach on the continent the good news of the gospel ! (1) Is this your purpose in life ? (1) But notice there is:

(2) " A PERIL WE ARE TO AVOID "

" Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh harvest .... " ( 4:35) Perhaps the disciples had been talking about the coming harvest. Or perhaps it was a common saying among the Jews, " Four months between seed time and harvest." Whatever the Lord Jesus used the physical fact of harvest to teach a spirtual lesson and the lesson was that the soul harvest was ready for the plucking now. My .... what procrastinators we are. I can remember in my early days in Carryduff Baptist Church, proposing to the elders that we should have a Gospel Campaign. One of the brethren whom I greatly respected responded by saying, " Do you not think we should wait until there's more unity among the people of God ?" Now unity among God's people is important, but if we waited until all of the saints stopped their squabbling, we would be waiting for ever !

For some reason when it comes to witnessing for Christ, it is always the wrong time and the wrong place. How often we say, " there's plenty of time " Do you recall the people of God in Haggai's Day ? They were challenged to build the Lords House and they responded by saying " The time is not come the time that the Lords House should be built." ( Haggai 1:2) My .... they had time and money to pour into their own luxurious homes but they had neither time or money for Gods House. Do we not hear the same complaint

today ? Believers complain because of the furnishings in Gods House but what about the furnishings in their own House ? " The time is not come. My .... have we lost the sense of urgency ? Have we failed to grasp that the folk we rub shoulders with today may be out of reach tomorrow ? They may move House, die. Have we failed to grasp that the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh ? There is not plenty of time. Listen to the words of the Wise Man in ( Prov 3:27-28) " Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when thou hast it by thee."

Oh with what urgency, fervency, intensity, the Cults pump out their damnable propaganda while all the time the Church sits amidst the ruins of the temple and says,

" The time is not come "

" The fields all are ripening and far and wide

The World now is waiting the Harvest-tide

But reapers are few and the work is great

And much will be lost should the harvest wait."

(3) " A PERCEPTION WE ARE TO ACQUIRE "

The Lord Jesus said " Lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest." ( Jn 4:35 )

You see, the Samaritans had listened to the striking testimony of this woman and they were now on their way toward the well and pointing to them Christ said

" Lift up your eyes .... " (3) You know you can look without seeing. I think it would be true to say that the disciples saw the woman of Samaria as a loose-liver. She had 5 husbands. I heard the story of a woman who had four husbands. The first was a banker, the second was a film star, the third was a minister, and the fourth was an undertaker. When asked about these four husbands she said this. " One for the money, one for the show, one to get ready, and one to go." Now as far as this woman was concerned the disciples despised her. But what a different vision Jesus had. Christ saw her as a precious Soul whom he had come to save. I think it would be true to say that the disciples regarded Samaria as a most unlikely field to labour in. They never dreamed of telling the Samaritans that the Messiah was

just outside their gates. They needed a New Perception

My .... is this not what we need ? So often our vision is blurred by prejudice. We see the Sins of people but not their Souls. Often our vision is blurred by despair. We

look on some as hopeless cases. But not the

Saviour. My .... when folk come into our Gospel Campaign perhaps, fellows with earrings, holes

in their jeans will you see beyond that to their Souls ?

When folk come in from a different background perhaps RC will you befriend them for Christ's sake ? The famous Bishop Tucker of Uganda chose the career of an artist in his youth and was one day painting a

picture he meant to call " A Lost Woman." It depicted a

stormy night in winter with a thinly clad woman walking along a dark deserted street, all the doors of which were closed and barred. As he tried to depict the agony on the face of this unfortunate woman his emotion deepened, his perception deepened and finally he threw down his bush and exclaimed " Why not go out and seek to save some of those who are actually lost ?"

There and then he forsook his chosen career

and resolving to prepare himself for the Ministry he went to Oxford and on the completion of his studies he plunged himself into rescuing the perishing which took him through the slums of London and out to the dark regions of Uganda. Here was a man who acquired a New Perception. Do we need to do that ? Do we need to develop a sensitivity to the need of souls around us ? Then see how the Lord Jesus Loved the Souls of men.

( Matt 9:35) Meditate on the Value of just one Soul.

( Mk 8:36) Get a Glimpse into Eternity. ( Matt 25:46) Into Heaven and into Hell and ask the Lord to open your eyes. ( Ps 119:18) Now very often the question is asked " How am I to do this work of soul-winning ?

(4) " A PLAN WE ARE TO ADOPT "

This plan is indicated in ( 4:36-38) You see we are to engage in Sowing and Reaping. Now:

(a) SOWING IS A COSTLY MINISTRY

Its costly in terms of Time, Patience, Energy. Indeed the

word that the Lord Jesus uses for " laboured " in ( 4:38)

signifies " to toil to the point of exhaustion " To sow the

seed is to be engaged in an arduous task, a less

spectacular work than reaping yet it is to be engaged in something which is Indispensable. The Lord Jesus said,

" One soweth and another reapeth," ( 4:37 ) and this leaves us all without excuse for if we cannot reap

we can certainly sow. Could you not give out a tract ? Write a letter ? Sow a seed of Kindness ? Invite someone along to the Gospel service ? (a) But

(b) REAPING IS A COMPLEMENTARY MINISTRY

For reaping completes the task which sowing began ?

Isn't that a lovely story I put in the Quarterly Bulletin ?

About the commercial traveller named Rigby who used to travel in Scotland ? When he was in Edinburgh he always worshipped at Free St. George's where he

was attracted by the Ministry of Dr.A.Whyte and he always tried to persuade some visitor to accompany him to the services. One Sunday morning a fellow traveller who had gone to the service with Rigby was so impressed that he asked to go again at night. That night he was gloriously saved. The next morning Rigby was passing Dr. Whyte's house when an impulse prompted him to call and tell the preacher of the help he had given to one soul. As the Doctor listened the tears rolled down his cheeks and then he told how he had come away from that previous evening feeling that everything had been a failure. Then he said " By the way what is your name ?" " " Rigby " " Why said Whyte you're the man I've been looking for years " and so saying he went into his study and returned with a bundle of letters, all of which had been written to him by men who had been brought to the services by Rigby and who had come to Christ as the result of hearing Whyte preach. You see Rigby sowed and Whyte reaped and if only you and I could adopt this plan, between us we could influence hundreds of souls. My .... When was the last time

.... you invited someone along to hear the Gospel ?

Last week, month, year, never ? I want you to notice finally that this passage has a forward looking hope for there is:

(5) " A PROSPECT WE ARE TO ANTICIPATE "

For the Saviour said " he that reapeth .... " ( 4:36) You see as we engage in the Ministry of Sowing and Reaping we are to anticipate that day when we stand at the Bema Judgement and say " Lord here am I and the children .... given me." You see, there will be:

(a) A DAY OF REWARDS

Undoubtedly, the reward is Partly Present, for is it not a

reward to see fruit gathered unto life eternal. But, the

reward will be Chiefly Future when we stand before the Glorified Lord.

The Nature of these Rewards to be bestowed at the Judgement Seat is spoken of in the NT as 5 Crowns:

1. The Incorruptible Crown: To those who practice self control ( 1 Cor 9: 25 )

2. The Crown of Righteousness: To those who love His appearing. ( 2 Tim 4:8 )

3. The Crown of Life: To those who endure trial.

( James 1:12 )

4. The Shepherd's Crown: to those who faithfully tend the flock ( 1 Pet 5: 4 )

5. The Soul-Winners Crown: to those who are faithful in witnessing for the Saviour. ( 1 Thes 2:19 ) On that day will you receive wages ? Will you hear your Savior's commendation ? (a)

(b) DAY OF REJOICING

" That both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together " ( 4:36) On that day there will be no jealousy or envy amongst Christ's servants but all will rejoice together for Fruit that has been gathered.

Now tell me, do you ever feel despondent ? In that S.School class ? Working with the youth ? In the

Tape Ministry ? Do you ever say " Is it all

worthwhile ?" My .... the wages are yet to be paid, and fruit is yet to be exhibited. Henry Morrison a 40 year old veteran of missionary service in Africa was returning to the USA and happened to be travelling on the same ship as Teddy Roosevelt. As the boat entered New York Harbour the President received a great fanfare. Henry Morrison got no fanfare and he became

quite dejected about it until a small voice whispered to him " Henry you are not home yet. "

When you get Home, will you receive an abundant reward ? Will you hear the Master Soul-Winner say

" Well done thou good and faithful servant."