FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38

I. The Waiting Harvest – Continued

A Christlike Commission

From Last Lesson: The five operations on the crippled boy were performed, and some two years later, the boy came back into the gymnasium.

Sangster spoke to a group of women later, “I was in the gym the day that the young boy came back. He picked up a basketball, dribbled it down the court and leaping off his feet, he placed it in the basket. My heart nearly jumped out of my breast I was so excited. I said to myself, ‘There is one boy that I have helped.’ ”

But, as Margaret related the story, her voice trembled. She asked the crowd of women: “Do you know where that boy is today? I wish I could tell you that he is a teacher, carpenter, an electrician, a doctor, a lawyer, a preacher, or governmental employee. Unfortunately, he is none of these. In fact, he is in the penitentiary. He murdered seventeen people!” Then Margaret Sangster said with great insight, “I was so busy teaching that boy how to walk that I forgot to teach him where to walk.” It is ever the job of the church to point people to Christ and to say to them, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

II. The Necessity of Enlisting the Layperson

Jesus knew that the success of His church was dependent on enlisting the layperson. He chose twelve disciples as He began His ministry, and there was not a single priest or Levite in the group.

When Jesus told His disciples that the laborers were few, they must have been shocked. The priests in Jerusalem were so numerous in Jesus’ day that they had to take turns in performing temple ceremonies. There were twelve tribes in Israel, one of which was the tribe of Levi. Every member of that tribe was dedicated to religious service. In the face of this, Jesus shocked His disciples by saying, “The laborers are few.” The temple dominated the landscape in Jerusalem, yet Jesus said the laborers were few. There were many synagogues, and yet Jesus said the laborers were few. Religion was the biggest business in Israel, and yet Jesus said the laborers were few.

If the world is ever going to be won to Christ, it must be won by the laypeople of the church. Jesus said that we need to pray for laborers. The difficulty of the church today is that Christianity has become too professional. We have a “let-the-preacher-do-it” syndrome. We must ever remember that all Christians are in full-time Christian service. The minister works at the church. The laypeople work outside the church, but they, too, are in full-time Christian service.

A man was once asked, “What is your occupation?”

“Being a Christian.”

“No, what’s your chief interest?”

“Being a Christian.”

“No, what is your business?”

“Winning people to Christ. I work at my other job to pay expenses.”

That must ever be the attitude of every member of Christ’s church.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38

I. The Waiting Harvest – Continued

A Christlike Compassion

When Jesus saw Matthew, He did not see a conniving, cheating, and thieving politician. Rather, He saw the writer of the first Gospel. When Jesus met Simon Peter, He wasn’t looking at a cursing fisherman. He was anticipating the day that Peter would be the great preacher of Pentecost. When a woman taken in adultery was brought to Christ, He did not see her as a harlot; He saw a potential home missionary. And when Jesus saw Saul of Tarsus persecuting the church, He did not see a cruel persecutor; He saw the greatest missionary the world would ever know, the apostle Paul. Christian history shows that the worst sinners can become the greatest saints. You and I are to reach out with an arm of love to bring them to our Savior.

That is the same type of compassion you and I need, the compassion of the Savior. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He began to weep and encouraged us to lift up our eyes to the fields that are ripe for harvesting.

A Christlike Commission

As we see the world, we will not only have a Christlike compassion, but I think we will also have a Christlike commission. The purpose of our ministry must be clear. There are many members in churches today that do not have a clear understanding of what they are to do. You and I are to be about the business of winning people to Christ and teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus taught us that people need to be reached, for the Bible states, “Jesus went about all the cities and villages.” People need to be taught. Matthew tells us that Jesus was “teaching in their synagogues.” People need to hear preaching. The Bible states that Jesus was “preaching the gospel of the kingdom.” People need healing. As Jesus reached people, taught people, and preached to people, He ultimately healed them. Matthew tells us that Jesus went about “healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

The church is to evangelize people, enlist, and enlighten people (Matthew 28:19-20). When our Lord won Zacchaeus, He summarized His whole ministry in one sentence: “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:9). In the final business meeting with the church before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, there was only one item on the agenda: evangelism and world missions. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, once said, “The only business that you have, young ministers, is the salvation of souls.” Professor Schmearton of Edinburgh University, who long since has gone to be with the Lord, stated to a group of seminary graduates, “Gentlemen, reckon your ministry a failure if you do not win souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I read a story of Margaret Sangster, the great religious poet, writer and editor, that indicated her patience, compassion, and love. As she did some volunteer work in a gymnasium in a metropolitan city, a boy came hobbling in on two crutches. His feet were turned in almost facing each other. Sangster’s heart went out to him.

One day she inquired, “Have you ever gone to a doctor to see if you can be helped?”

The lad responded, “My parents are so poor that we have never even talked about that.”

With the permission of the boy’s parents, Sangster took the lad to an orthopedic surgeon. The findings were encouraging. The surgeon said, “Margaret, with a series of five operations that will take a period of two years of convalescence, I can have that boy walking and running.” The doctor offered his services without cost. A local banker raised the money to pay the hospital bill and incidental expenses. The five operations on the crippled boy were performed, and some two years later, the boy came back into the gymnasium.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38

“No one cares for me” is the statement that many people in our world are saying. Hundreds of years ago, the psalmist wrote, “For there is no one who acknowledges me . . . No one cares for my soul” (Psalm 142:4). That is the attitude of many in our world today. Against that backdrop, God sent His Son Jesus to journey from heaven down to earth to show us that God really cares. God in heaven is vitally concerned about you.

If someone were to ask me to summarize the whole ministry of our Lord in one word, I would use the word compassion. This is a word of Latin origin, coming from com, meaning “with” and passion, meaning “to suffer.” Our redeeming Savior suffers with us. As a matter of fact, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet He was without sin. He knew what it was to be hungry, weary, thirsty, tired, and even angry. He even comprehends what it is like to die, having died for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

The Gospel of Matthew records that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion because they were like sheep with no shepherd. They were like a field white unto harvest with no reapers. That describes the desperate condition of our world today. The word “weary” in verse 36 has reference to a corpse that is laying by the side of the road, flayed and mangled. The word “scattered” in the same verse, means to lay prostrate with deep, mortal wounds. This is the way men and women are, apart from God.

When Jesus saw the multitudes in this desperate condition, He encouraged His disciples to lift up their eyes, saying that the fields were white unto harvest. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

This is the pressing need of the church today. You and I as Christ’s church need to lift up our eyes to the desperate spiritual condition of men and women, boys and girls in our world today.

I. The Waiting Harvest

When the Pharisees looked at people, all they could think of was that they were contemptible sinners. On the other hand, when Jesus saw the crowd, He saw them as sheep who had no shepherd. The unregenerate are not able to quote the beautiful twenty-third Psalm with any form of assurance. The Lord has never really become their Shepherd.

One of the greatest things the church of the Lord Jesus Christ can do is to reexamine its purpose for existence. Jesus never saw a hungry man that He did not want to feed. He never saw anyone who was sad that He did not want to comfort. He never saw a lonely person that He did not want to befriend. He never saw a sick man that He did not want to heal, and He never saw a sinner that He did not want to save. The church could do and is doing many wonderful things, but we must ask ourselves, “What is the church’s chief purpose for existing?” The chief purpose of the church of Jesus Christ is redemption.

When our Lord saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion. He did not see them as they were, but He saw what they could become. We must look at the world through the eyes of our Savior.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.