Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today, we're featuring a sermon preached at the Bob Jones University 2024 Bible Conference, where the theme was missions. Dr. Alan Benson will be concluding the message from yesterday, titled, Cultivating a Heart for the Harvest. And then he says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. You see, on the cross, he could say the ultimate purpose that the Father sent me to accomplish, it is all done in every detail because I lived it with passion.
That's what I was focused on. All of it, where I went, what I said, what I taught, who I interacted with, when I healed somebody, when I didn't heal somebody, all of it was ultimately directed by this passion. I want to do what God wants me to do. And what was that?
What was this food that sustained him? Well, Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. Matthew 5 17. Do you not think I've come to abolish the law or the prophets? I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
What did that mean? Jesus said he came to divide. Luke 12 51. Do you think that I've come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
What does that mean? I think as he moves through his purpose, he explains it. Matthew 10 34. Don't think that I've come to bring peace to the earth. I've not come to bring peace, but a sword.
How? Mark 2 17. He came to call sinners.
Those who are well have no need of a physician. So when I come, those are going to be people that might receive the sword. That's where the division will come because they don't think they need me, but I've come to call those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Luke 5 32. I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus came to serve and to give his life.
Mark 10 45. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus came to proclaim good news.
Luke 4. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. You see, Jesus went on to say that he came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19 10. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. He came that the world might be saved. John 3 17. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
You see, when you put it all together. John 10 10 tells us a thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly. John 12. I've come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. And he says this when standing before Pilate in John 18 37. Pilate said to him, so are you a king? Jesus answered, you say that I am a king for this purpose. I was born and for this person purpose. I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Friends hear me. The father sent the son to be the savior of the world. And when he left, he gave us a great commission.
And we so easily make the excuse. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to do this.
I have to do that. I have to get my education. I have to get my career. I have to establish my family.
I have to figure out where I want to live. And I ask you, what is it that is at the end of your list that finally now you can say it's all done? So do the will of the father in sharing the gospel. Because I believe what Jesus is saying to these disciples is it should be the first thing on the list. It should be the thing that permeates all the other things in life. That your career gives you a mission field. That your education prepares you for a mission field. That the gospel ought to be at the top of our mind.
Thirdly, I want us to see an unexpected messenger. We won't go into the story, but this woman that they're wondering why he's even talking to her doesn't just get saved. She actually becomes the evangelist. They marvel that he talked with this woman. And then John records for us that the woman then left her water pot.
Again, comparison. Before we get to this chapter, chapter three, we have Nicodemus, a religious ruler who comes to Jesus by night. He was a man and a Jew and a ruler. He was learned and powerful and respected and orthodox and theologically trained.
And we would say, now there, there's a candidate for salvation. And then there's this woman. She's a woman in their culture. She's a Samaritan. She's a moral outcast. She was unlearned. She was without influence. She's despised.
And she's capable of only some form of a cheap folk religion. And you know what we see? Through Jesus' eyes they both needed to be saved.
But only this one of the two is the one that we know of that becomes an evangelist at this point. Jesus' disciples come back and they interrupt this conversation, it seems. They're there consumed with food and we see this unexpected messenger because she leaves her water pot and off she goes into sidecar. She goes back to the city and it's shocking, right? Why is she at the well in the middle of the day?
To avoid people. So she comes because she needs water. So she comes to get this water.
And here's this stark reality. Whatever happens with Jesus, it is so impacting to her that two things are true. One, she leaves her water pot.
And two, she runs back to the people she's avoiding. You see, our third excuse is this, not me. I'm not good enough. I don't know enough. I'm too broken. I don't have the words to say. There are others who do it better. Somebody else has better language. Other people can relate.
And we have all these reasons why it's not me. You see, the disciples thought that this woman was an unlikely candidate for the gospel. And that is exactly what made her a likely candidate to be an evangelist. You look through this story, it's striking. What is striking the most is whatever happens when she comes to the realization of who Jesus is and why he came.
There's now an eagerness to tell people about it. So notice the statement that she makes when she goes to the townsfolk. She says, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. What was the very thing she was hiding? She was hiding from people because they knew what she had done. They knew how immoral she had been. And she was an outcast from them. And now she comes and says, here's a person that told me everything I ever did.
Could be some hyperbole because we didn't see that in the conversation with Jesus. But what she knows is this. He knows all about me. He knows every piece of my life.
And he loved me in spite of it. Then notice the question that she asks. She asks this interesting question to them, a probing question.
Could this be the Christ? And through her words, somehow the people are so impacted and impressed by the change in her, by the candor that's come to her life, by the statement of reality that she mentions about this one, that they're drawn to him. The one they've cast out, the one that lives in the shadows and avoids them, is now the very one that they're listening to and intrigued by. You see, God intends to use people who are gripped by his grace. People who realize what God has done in saving them.
People who can't get over the unmerited love of God that he displayed in sending his own son to die for their sin. Friends, I believe that we lose evangelistic fervor because we have lost the fervor of our own conversion. You see, she's an unexpected messenger, but she shouldn't be.
She has just had a fresh dose of saving grace. And it's those who are gripped by that grace that are to be the messengers of the gospel, are you? Have you gotten over what Jesus has done for you?
Have you gotten over the mountains of sin debt that he paid for you? Fourthly, I want us to see there's an unexpected harvest time. Verse 35 says, say not ye. So he's referencing their thinking. This is what you're thinking.
This is what the norm would be. There are yet four months and then cometh harvest. But I say lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they're white already to harvest.
And I believe he really engages them. There's a number of explanations for what may be going on here in this passage of scripture. Everything from ancient myths to modern proverbs. But no matter what it is, I believe that Jesus simply at this point is pointing out to them that by ordinary thinking, the way you would do the math, you would say there are four months between sowing and harvest. You're thinking in natural terms. You're thinking about the way things are. And the way you're thinking right now, where we are at, what we're going through, we're passing through some area, we're going to Galilee, what you are thinking in your mind is this is not harvest time. And he says, I want you to look on the fields.
There's an illustration here for you. You're right. You're looking out there and in your thinking and normal thinking, according to the normal laws of nature, it's not time for harvest. But I want you to know I'm telling you something different. And our excuse is this, not now.
Not now. We tell ourselves that the timing is not conducive. We put off the opportunity of now by telling ourselves that we'll do it later. Jesus in verse 36 uses this little phrase, even now. It could be read in verse 35, but I think in John's normal usage, it fits his argument better that it comes in verse 36. And so he's saying, even now the reaper draws his wages, or even now the one that is harvesting is harvesting.
You're saying it's not for four months, but I'm telling you it's happening right now. And I believe he's making reference to the fact that he knows this woman has gone into town and the people of Sychar are coming to him. The harvest is being harvested.
The one who is reaping is working right now and the wages are being harvested. And what he's saying to them is an answer to our excuse and to their excuse. When is the time? We look at the circumstances and we rationalize and we think through them and we try to explain it away and we say, ah, it just wasn't right or it just wasn't this or just wasn't that. And the reality is we are avoiding sharing the gospel.
Because we don't think the timing or the conversation is conducive. And the reality is what Jesus is saying to them here is he talks about this timing and the sower and the reaper being glad together. He references this incredible truth that I think comes from Amos 19 where he talks about the plowman overtaking the reaper and the treader of grapes him that sows the seed and the mountain shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt and I believe that he's given him a picture.
This is something different than the normal planting and harvesting schedule. This is something that God does and it's outside of the normal natural order. This is the work of God and you get to be a part of it in unique and unusual ways that God himself should get the glory for it. Just share the gospel.
If there's someone who will listen, don't look for the circumstances to all align in some magical or mystical way. Lean in, press in to sharing with them as much as they will allow your faith in Christ. Why Jesus came, what Jesus did. I believe what Jesus is doing here actually is leaning in and he says in this is this truth now going to be seen that one sows and another reaps. You see, these disciples had gone to Sychar and they found bread and they came back and they come to Jesus and say what in the world are you doing? And the woman leaves and goes into the same city and shares the gospel and brings a crowd to Jesus. They totally missed it and it would be easy for Jesus to say okay boys you weren't thinking right you missed it why don't you go stand over there because this lady has done some gospel work and now she's going to get to harvest. Maybe next time you'll figure this out and you'll get involved and Jesus doesn't do that. He actually says to them you're going to get to enjoy the harvest even though you didn't labor, even though you didn't sow the seed and there's this wonderful truth friends that we never know what God has done before we enter. It could be that we enter into a field and God has just called us to plow or God has called us to sow seed and somewhere at some time in some future day someone else will come into that field and they'll get to harvest that growing seed but the reality is there are times that we step into a field thinking we're going to have to plow and someone's already plowed and somebody's already sown seed and God is already watered and there is a harvest ripe to be harvested and God allows us to do that.
Don't make the excuse that says this isn't the time not now. And so then one last thing, an unexpected harvest. Those who came from Sychar said we believe not just because of your word but because of his word. Verse 39 says and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him.
They believed on him for the saying of the woman and then they believe because of his word. Our excuse oftentimes is not them. Not them.
God that person, I don't know, somebody may be able to get through to them but not me. Not them. Look at them. Look how hardened they are. Look how wicked they are.
Look how distant they are. Look how unkind they are. God they're not my audience.
They may be somebody's audience but they're not my audience. And you see that's exactly what the disciples would have been thinking. But that's not what Jesus was thinking. And a remarkable truth comes out of this passage. You realize John gives Jesus a title and he uses these Samaritans to give it to him.
It's the only place that we find it. John is going to record it again in John 4.14 but the Samaritans confess that this man Jesus actually is the savior of the world. They're the only ones to give him that title. You think they appreciated that he wasn't just a Jewish Messiah. That he didn't just come to save Jews. He came to save them. False worship.
Half-breeds. Unloved, uncared for by the Jewish people who called themselves God's people. This one was a Jewish Messiah but to them he was the savior of the world. Oh young people. You will not meet a person made in the image of God that Jesus doesn't have the capacity to be their savior. You look at them and you think I don't know. Maybe somebody else but I can't witness to them.
Not them. You see when we say things like that or any of these other excuses do you realize that we're actually impugning the gospel and we're impugning the gospel. We're impugning the gospel and we're impugning the God of the gospel.
Jesus here and all these unexpected things undoes their excuses. I want to finish with one story and then we'll close. I was pastoring in central Florida. I was young, raw, ripe, gung-ho. I wanted to teach the Bible. I wanted to teach people how to defend their faith.
I was filled with passion. God had been working in my heart and I decided that one of the things I was going to do was teach a course on the cults because I could really teach people right from wrong and truth and as I got into that I'd used all my books and all my notes and God really burdened my heart that if I was going to do this I actually needed to go see what it was the cults actually taught. The internet was a new thing back then so I started going to the web pages of each of the cults that I was going to teach on. I'd go to the Jehovah's Witnesses web page. I'd look at what they actually said.
I got that. I compared it to the Bible. That's what I was teaching. I did that with Jehovah's Witnesses. I did that with Seventh Day Adventist. I did that with Mormons and God was doing the work in my heart.
In the process of doing that my own heart began breaking for the people that were bound in the darkness of these cults because it was so close to what the Bible said and yet it was error and it was damning and God had softened my heart for the very people that I came in to say look church I want to teach you how these people are so wrong and God broke my heart that they were so lost. On a Sunday night I got up to carry out our service the way I normally did and we sang and I got up to preach and I looked back at the back of the church auditorium and there were three young men in black pants and white shirts and black ties and I knew immediately I said to myself I bet if I go outside there's three bicycles and sure enough there were. I preached that night we went through the service the service ended and I thought I want to see if I can get to those guys started making my way down the aisle but as I was like a quarter way down the aisle they'd come the other three quarters.
These guys walked up to me and stuck their hand out. Pastor thank you that was a wonderful message. We were wondering if we could come by and visit you sometime. I'm thinking wow like this is amazing of course what are you doing tomorrow?
Oh tomorrow would be great we would love to come by and see you tomorrow. We talked for a while they meet people in the church and off they go and I think Lord you're going to give me the opportunity after having preached to share the gospel with these three young Mormon missionaries. Little did I know that Mormon elder Micah Wilder had decided that he was going to come to Calvary Baptist Church and Winter Garden and he was going to convert the pastor to Mormonism and thus lead the entire congregation into Mormonism.
He came in fully convinced that this is what's going to happen. This pastor I think he's right for the picking. I don't know what I preached that night but for a Mormon to think I'm good I'm good to be picked. So he comes marching halfway down the church man can I come by and see you and lead you into Mormonism and I'm saying yeah come on by. So the next day Micah and two of his friends come by and we begin to talk and I've just been studying Mormonism so I get out my book of Mormon set it on the desk I begin talking to them about I let them talk walk me through the journey I'm listening and I'm answering we have a great conversation. I begin to give him truth from the word of God and Micah begins to wrestle with that. The next week he comes to church and he comes back again on Monday and he brings two different people with him. We begin to talk again after the third week the lady in my church comes up and says hey pastor do you know those guys that have been coming to church I knew exactly who she was talking about I said yeah. She said well they came to my house knocked on the door and I came out and opened the door and there they were and they wanted to tell me about Mormonism and I said well I'm you know I'm a Christian they said oh where do you go to church and I said well I go to Calvary Baptist Church in Wintergarten they said oh we go there too and she said pastor I think the fact that they're coming to church is something they're trying to use to influence people towards Mormonism and my heart broke. So that week I met with them and I asked them about that and then I said gentlemen I need you to know something you and I don't believe the same thing according to what you believe if I believe what I believe about Jesus when I die I'm not going to heaven and according to what I believe if you believe what you believe when you die you're going to go to hell we don't believe the same thing and I can't put the gospel at jeopardy so we're not going to be able to meet anymore I'll never forget it Michael Wilder began weeping he was somewhere between sad and angry and he said you can't say that I believe you believe the bible I believe that you really do love God you can't say that you can't say that we don't believe the same thing and I said Micah we don't believe the same thing in that conversation I said to him Micah do you believe that this the book of Mormon is based on this the bible he said yes I said have you ever read this to prove that this is based on this he said no I said that I want to challenge you I want you to put this the book of Mormon away and I want you to read this like a child like it's the very first time you ever saw it well Michael left my office angry and he purposed that he was going to read the bible and he's going to prove that baptist pastor wrong and bring him into Mormonism over the course of the next six months Micah read the bible completely three times and he read the new testament ten times and reading the bible all by himself he came to faith in Jesus Christ at the end of his Mormon mission they have to go in and bear witness to the fact that they believe everything that Mormonism teaches and that the prophet is the prophet and Micah knew what was going to happen and he walked in that day for examination and he said I don't believe the book of Mormon I believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and I've asked him to save me from my sins he was called back to Utah Salt Lake City he was brought before a council he was excommunicated for Mormonism his mom was a tenured professor at BYU he went and shared his faith with his mom and it took a while but his mom came to faith in Jesus Christ his girlfriend left Utah they married his brother and sister both came to faith in Christ and they wrote their story his mom wrote a book called unveiling grace which takes the Mormon temple and turns it upside down to show that it actually is truth standing on its head it's error Micah wrote his book called passport to heaven which is the testimony of him coming to faith in Christ and out of his testimony thousands of young Mormons have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ you see Micah was not an obvious candidate for the gospel it wasn't a ready field it wasn't somebody that I normally would have been ready to share the gospel with thinking I'm going to have great success here I would have given every excuse in the book and that's why I'm so thankful that I can stand before you tonight and say Alan Benson did not lead Micah Wilder to Christ I pointed him to the word of God and God did something beyond what I and a simple witness could ever do the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword it is the word of God that brings men to faith faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and young people I believe that what God wants to do and cultivating in us a heart for the harvest is actually to bring us back to a place where we say no more excuses no more excuses God I want to share my faith in Christ with those that you are working in so that they might come to faith in Christ God I want to be a ready witness wherever I am whatever I'm doing to whoever is there and I want you to give a harvest that maybe I never expected because God you deserve the glory Jesus said to his disciples lift up your eyes and look on the fields the cultivating of our heart is a call to lift above our circumstances and ask God to renew in us a passion for the gospel and for those who are lost I'm praying that through the services this week in this theme what God will do is cultivate every one of our hearts with gospel passion you've been listening to the second part of a sermon preached by Dr. Allen Benson from the Bob Jones University 2024 Bible Conference. Thanks for listening and join us next time on The Daily Platform.
