Transcript:

The Abounding Harvest

Luke 10:1-20, John 4:34-38, Matthew 13:24-30

Immanuel - 11/6/22

As a follow-up to the sermon series on Revelation, we have been considering the Church’s ministry of reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul declares that God is reconciling the world to Himself. This is His world, and He will not allow it to be lost or destroyed. No! He is reconciling it to Himself. In fact (marrying two passages), for God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, to reconcile sinners to Himself.

And since Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father – as King of heaven and earth – He sends out His Church as ambassadors. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Our work is to reconcile this world unto God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are Christ’s ambassadors. If we are going to live as faithful ambassadors, then we need to understand how to do our job, how to speak our message, and how to understand our context. Such has been the goal of this sermon series. I want you all to be equipped for the work of the ministry of reconciliation.

Today we are going to look at a series of parables in which Jesus illustrates our evangelistic calling with images of a harvest: Luke 10:1-20, John 4:34-38, Matthew 13:24-30.

Purpose

1. The harvest parables informs our ministry of reconciliation.

2. It is time for the laborers to reap the harvest!

3. Three effects of reaping.

Read Luke 10:1-20

The last time we visited this passage, we focused on the particulars of Jesus’ commission to the 72. As the disciples go out, they carry the gospel with them. As they come near, so comes the kingdom of God.

Even today, the kingdom of God is near, as close as your breath, as present as this room. It is entered and experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was true then, it is true now.

Grievously, there will be many who greet the gospel of the kingdom of God with indifference or hostility. It might sound harsh, but Jesus instructs His disciples not to waste their time on such people. Elsewhere, Jesus said,

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” -Matthew 7:6

Neither should we cast the treasures of the kingdom to those who would only trample them underfoot. Instead, we move on. Find the person of peace who will welcome you and your message. They are the ones in whom we should invest our energy and resources.

Those were some of the particulars we considered. Today will now zoom out for a larger, more universal view. There we will see a bigger picture of the ministry of reconciliation.

I told you that we would be looking at some of Jesus’ parables; but, to be sure, Luke 10:1-20 is not a parable, it’s a narrative. And yet, embedded within it is a short, mini parable. We find it in verse 2.

Read vs 2

Image and Truth

There’s the parable. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” And we are going to dive deeply into it.

Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. To see just how abounding it is, let’s put ourselves inside Jesus’ image for a moment.

Imagine being surrounding by fields, fields that stretch to the horizon, fields in all directions. All these crops are ready to be harvested. Yes, harvesting is hard work, but finding where to harvest is the easiest thing in the world. Step in any direction and find the harvest. Reach down in any place and pull up ripe grain.

Yet as you survey the harvest – exciting as it may be – you cannot help but be overcome by the overwhelming task, for only several other workers dot the golden landscape. Let’s say you count 71 in your sight. You know that over the horizon the fields continue. Cross the oceans and still find ready harvest. Even if you, and a thousand more, work yourself to the bone, and spend your whole life gathering harvest, you will barely make a dent.

This is the kind of harvest Jesus speaks of; and the implication is that you are surrounded by fields, fields stretching to the horizon, fields in all directions.

There are many passages where Jesus employs elements of this same imagery. Let’s go to our second harvest parable for today.

Read John 4:34-38

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” -John 4:34-38

Again, the harvest is plentiful and ready. Here, Jesus says it is white for harvest. In this passage Jesus is saying now is the time for harvest. When Jesus spoke these words, it had eschatological significance. The prophet Amos applied such an abounding harvest to the new covenant age (Amos 9:11-15).

The disciples did not need to wait, they were living in the dawning of the new covenant. It was harvest time. It was time to work. It’s why Jesus told them to proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near you (Luke 10:9).”

And, it is why Paul wrote, Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. -2 Corinthians 6:2

The disciples lived in the dawning of the new covenant. They were the firstfruits. The first grains to be harvested. In 2022, the new covenant Son has fully ascended and abundantly shines God’s favor upon sinners. How much more is the favorable time now? How much more is today the day of salvation?

Yes, the fields are just as white today as they were in Jesus’ day. There is no reason to think the harvest is not yet here. And God has appointed us, each one of us, to reap this abounding harvest.

Jesus told the disciples that His food was to do the will of the Father. Obedience sustained Jesus, energized Him, satisfied Him. Obeying the Father is the highest height of Jesus’ soul.

In the context of John 4:34, Christ is talking specifically about His obedience to gather in the harvest. God sent Jesus to gather in the elect, so Jesus lays down His life for the mission. And as the Son of God dies for the elect, the Father is deeply pleased in His Son’s self-sacrificial love. And to have the favor of the Father is the Son’s greatest pleasure. It was the joy set before Him.

Jesus went before us, to show us what it means to obey the Father and bring glory to God. Just as He laid down His life, 1 John 3:16 tells us that we should also lay down our lives. Just as Jesus devoted His life to gathering in the harvest, so should we devote our lives to gathering in the harvest.

To do so is to fulfill the Great Commission, is to be faithful ministers of reconciliation. To do so is to obey the Father and Son.

Now, let’s look at just some of the elements in Christ’s parables and apply their real-world meaning. So, we’re going to strip away the imagery because we want to be as simple and clear as possible to truly understand what Jesus is telling His Church.

· The fields represent the world.

· The crops are the people that fill the world.

· The plants that are ready to be harvested are people ready to receive the kingdom of God. They are ready to come to Jesus in faith.

· We – the ambassadors of Christ, the people of the Church – are the labors; we gather in the harvest.

· The seed that is scattered and the sickle to gather, both are gospel proclamation.

Once we step out of the image, it becomes painfully obvious that this is just an illustration; and no single illustration can capture the complexity of the real world. Life is messy, and never exactly the same as what a single image can convey. This is one reason Jesus gives us so many different images.

For instance, though there is an abounding harvest, Jesus also tells we don’t just encounter only good and ripe crops. There are also weeds.

Read Matthew 13:24-30

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” -Matthew 13:24-30

This is certainly an added layer of complexity to the Great Commission. As we proclaim the gospel, weeds will come in with the harvest. Stripping away the imagery: people will positively respond to the gospel, they will appear as if they belong to the church, but they are weeds.

They have not come to Jesus recognizing their own sinfulness and helplessness, seeking forgiveness and life; they have come to feed their own self-righteousness and religiosity. They are such good hypocrites that no man can properly sort them out. Only God, who judges the heart, knows the wheat from the weeds.

So it will always be in this new covenant age. This is why we receive warnings to look into the depths of our own souls.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. -Philippians 2:12-13

Notice the link between knowledge of salvation and obedience. Let the weeds of the Church hear the warning of Christ’s parable: if you do not repent, and in faith, obey, you will be gathered up and burned!

But for us who are new creations in Christ, there is a helpful application here. As you share the gospel and people come to faith (perhaps even in your own family) but later they fall away; do not rack yourself with guilt. It is not your fault that anyone turn away from God. In these parables, their turning away proves they are weeds. It is not that they lost their salvation, it is that they were never wheat to begin with.

Note, the weeds are only categorized as weeds at the judgement, at the sorting. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a person is a weed, or a wheat bearing fruit, until then. Because as long as it is called today, they can be saved. Weeds can repent and become wheat, entering the kingdom of God!

3 Effects of Reaping

Now, let us consider three effects of reaping. Remember, proclaiming the gospel is how God’s laborers reap, and gather in the harvest. Jesus tells us three things will happen when we faithfully proclaim the gospel. For this we will return to Luke 10:1-20.

Read vs 3

1. You Will Be Hated

When you proclaim the gospel, as Christ’s faithful ambassadors, some people will hate you for it. They will treat you as ravenous wolves treat helpless sheep.

No one wants to hear that they are not good enough; that they are evil. Even worse, no one wants to hear that their most authentic self earns condemnation from God.

This is precisely why Jesus went to the cross, to face God’s wrath so we would not have to. He died the death we all deserve. Then He rose from the grave, defeating death, and ascended to heavens throne as our Lord.

Now, if we would repent and believe that Jesus gave Himself for us, God forgives us and brings us into His kingdom. He became sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is the gospel, and it tells us that our identity, apart from Christ, is evil and condemned. But everyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and given a new identity: sons and daughters of God, ambassadors of Jesus Christ, ministers of reconciliation.

Still, our depravity is a critical element of the gospel, because it shows us that we need a salvation we cannot achieve for ourselves. We need a Savior. This fits into what Paul calls the “offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11). And it is for this that people will hate us.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that His followers would be reviled, falsely accused, and persecuted. And remember what Jesus said about throwing our pearls before pigs? If we are not careful, we could get ourselves attacked. In other words, as we proclaim the gospel, some people will treat us as ravenous wolves treat helpless sheep.

Or, they will try. We are helpless only in the sense that we will not revert to dishonest tactics nor pick up arms and fight. We are not entirely helpless.

Listen to the parallel that we read in Luke 10:3.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” -Matthew 10:16

I’m going to paraphrase this: when sharing the gospel, don’t be an idiot. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble by indiscriminate gospel sowing. You can get others into trouble too. In this room, some of you could lose your jobs, alienate loved ones, get kicked out of organizations, and have all kinds of hateful things said about you.

These things may happen because you have been a faithful ambassador. But, it is possible that these things happen because you have been cavalier, your have rushed situations, you have been unnecessarily forceful, or other hasty and foolish tactics. The way of wisdom is to boldly maximize your ministry of reconciliation, while minimizing the collateral damage.

Again, for faithful gospel proclamation, there may be real life consequences. But the consequences we may have are dwarfed by what other flocks face.

There was one particular moment this past year that I will never forget. I was in the Middle East, and the group I was with had just finished training some brothers and sisters how to be ambassadors in their own country, a country other than the one we were all presently in, a country where Christians regularly disappear. If their government catches them laboring to bring in the harvest, they face consequences that only hide in the shadows of our American nightmares.

Before we parted, and they prepared to smuggle the kingdom of God back into their country, I and the other Americans circled around them in prayer. The weight of what they were walking into was heavy on all of us. We all prayed. I prayed Matthew 10:16 over them: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” As they faced the possibility of death, this verse came alive.

Surely, we can bear our American dangers for the sake of the gospel! For what good is it to gain the whole world and lose our own souls (Mark 8:36)? If people hate us for speaking about our great, reconciling God, then we are blessed; for our reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12)!

2. Ingathering

The second effect of gospel proclamation in our world is ingathering – the bringing in of the harvest. People believe in the gospel and are brought into the kingdom of God! They are saved. They become worshippers of the crucified, risen, and ascended King of all the earth. You, brothers and sisters, are a part of that ingathering.

But something strange happens to every grain that is gathered into the kingdom. They are immediately transformed from harvest to laborer. Everyone brought into the kingdom of God is expected to then turn around and work for the harvest, to become an ambassador.

According to the Great Commission; we believe, we are baptized, and we are taught to obey Jesus. In order to obey Jesus, we then go out to fulfill the Great Commission. The harvest becomes the harvesters.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus said we should be praying for laborers. Though there are a couple ways to understand this, I think Jesus primarily has in mind the very many fields where there are no, or nearly no laborers. There are hundreds of people groups, and millions upon millions of individuals that will never meet an ambassador of Christ. They need ambassadors to come to them!

Every other month we highlight one of these Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPG). Next week we will highlight the Kunbi people of India, an enormous field with nearly no laborers. As it stands today, nearly every single Kunbi person – more than 15 million – will live their whole life and never hear about their King, Christ Jesus. Pray that God would send laborers. Perhaps God would send you.

The harvest is exceedingly bountiful. Though there are weeds and wolves, there is no lack to the people that are receptive (yellow and green lights). According to Jesus, they are everywhere. All you need to do is believe Jesus, draw courage from His words, go out there and proclaim the gospel. You do not save, you speak. Swing the sickle of the gospel and be amazed at the ingathering!

The third effect of gospel proclamation is supernatural.

Read vs 17-20

3. The Felling of Satan

Jesus told the 72 that they would be like sheep among wolves. I imagine they set off on their mission with a heaviness upon them. But they return joyful and excited. They can’t believe that the demons are subject to them.

Let’s take a brief moment to consider what Satan, as the ruler of the demons, is trying to accomplish on the earth.

“When [Satan] lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” -John 8:44

“The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” -John 10:10

Hours before Jesus is arrested and crucified, He said,“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” -John 14:30-31

From these three passages, we can see that Satan is trying to rule this world, and he uses his unholy powers: lies, theft, murder, destruction.

Do you see how the gospel of the kingdom of God topples all these powers?

Satan’s lies are shattered by the eternal truths of the gospel. Where Satan tries to steal our joy and peace, the gospel offers heaven’s treasure of unceasing joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. Where Satan murders, Christ gives live, and life abundantly. Where Satan destroys, God makes all things new!

Satan’s feeble attempt to overthrow God have been thwarted. The ruler of the earth is not the devil. No. This earth belongs to the Lamb, standing though He was slain, the Lion of the tribe of Judah! To Him has been given all authority in heaven and on earth!

Satan is no king. He has fallen like lightning. The cords of the gospel have bound him and thrown him down. He has not been entirely vanquished. But so long as the gospel goes forth, the devil’s power to kill, steal, and destroy is ever diminishing!

Oh the power of the gospel of the kingdom of God! It offends the wicked, gathers the harvest, and binds the enemy. Through the gospel, God is transforming the world, reconciling it to Himself. Let us not be shy, then, in our proclamation. Let us with boldness and love, call all people everywhere to be reconciled to God.

Today is the day of salvation!

We live in the midst of an abounding harvest. You have been given the sickle and the time for reaping is now. The Lord of the harvest calls you to harvest!